Summer's on its way!

Saturday night we visited James' parents at Foxton Beach - which is about 25 mins away from our house. Their house is right on the beach, and when we woke up this morning, it was gorgeous weather so we all went for an early morning walk. The weather really lifted my spirits as the past 3 weeks have been non stop wind....like hurricane gale force winds, but here they just call them 'gale force winds' and everyone goes about their normal routines. Anyways...look how gorgeous it was today?! I can't wait for summer to arrive....and well the baby (8 more weeks!)

This is Jo and Bruce's back yard...nice, eh?

We've had a busy week - I've been swamped at work, wondering why I've taken on additional tasks, when I already have so much to do before I go on maternity leave. At this stage I'm planning to work right up until the birth, but I'm already realizing that I would like a week or so to rest and prepare for the biggest change in our live...ever!

Saturday we had our Practical Parenting class - this is part of our antenatal classes. They bring in a newborn baby and show you how to bath and dress it, and give you all kinds of practical tips about carseats, cots, bassinets, baby products, diapers etc. It was a really informative class, and we both enjoyed it. Each couple was a given a baby - and I've got to brag about James a bit....he won the diaper change competition. Of course it was just a doll (otherwise I think he might have dislocated a shoulder or two) but it was still kind of fun.

Labor Day weekend! Not ours...but the NZ Holiday

31 Weeks - outside house - look how big the belly is looking now (some days it looks big, others it looks small - all depends on what I wear). I am constantly amazed at the random belly comments I get. One day it's...'oh, you are so small for 31 weeks...you must be having a small baby' - ha ha, fat chance! I was a big baby AND so was James, so I'm expecting the worse - and the next day someone will say....'Wow...you are REALLY popping out!' - well, duh! that's what happens when your're pregnant. The comments keep me amused as they can be different each day.


We had a glorious 3 day weekend (it's Labor day in NZ) so we made the road trip up to Auckland to visit friends we hadn't seen in a long time. It was so nice catching up with everyone and just feeling like we were getting away, and especially good to talk to my friend Caroline who is 20 weeks pregnant. It's good comparing notes on pregnancy, talking about what the best baby products to buy, etc. So nice to be able to have friends going through the same thing that James and I are. We also visited Karie and Simon - they haven't joined the pregnancy club yet, but do have a fur baby - a very spoiled cat :-)

Auckland is about 6.5-7 hours North of Palmerston North, but James and I kept each other amused the entire car trip - talking, singing to the music, making stupid jokes, and just being silly. He really is my best friend, and there's no one I'd rather spend the rest of my life with -even long car rides are fun with him. He's going to be a fantastic father too! I'm really looking forward to seeing him in that role.

We came back from Auckland to spend a day working on the house. James worked on the tiles for our backsplash in the kitchen - we also have some really cool glass moisaic tiles that will be the next layer on top of these creme ones. While he tiled, I cleaned, scraped, sanded and painted the window in the babies room. We've decieded to work on that room next, as the baby could realistically come any day now.
Here I am in my glamorous painting outfit - The belly is definitly bigger now, and my back has really started to hurt.....even during the day when I'm sitting at work, it hurts. Not fun. Oh, yeah...tonight in our anetanatal class we watched THE VIDEO. It's was a 'natural' birth from the 1970's and the women looked like a horse that was dying...well it definitly looked less than pleasant. When the head was crowning...well I thought I was going to puke. I just keep telling myself that there will be drugs available and I won't have to watch what is happening...I'm just going to go with the flow. But still the video has made me a bit more nervous than I was before. James thought the video was okay - of course he'd say that...he's not the one who has to endure the whole thing! I think that's the last video I'll be watching for a while - ha ha!

The Big 3-0!

I can't believe how fast time has gone by! We're now at 30 weeks, and it seems like just yesterday we were only at 12....and that means we've been back from the States for about 10 weeks now (no wonder the tan is completly gone).

Every Monday night we have our antenatal classes - which is quite entertaining to be in a room full of other pregnant couples expierencing the same things that we are going through. We've both been reading up on pregnancy so much of the classes is a review, but we have learned some interesting things from the class....like how to get the baby in position, and exactly when to ask for the epidural before it becomes too late!!! (which is one of my major concerns...I definitly will be asking for drugs (if I feel as though I need it....and the gas - who could resist it? James has never had laughing gas before...I'll have to let him try some!) Apparently next week in class we are watching 'THE VIDEO' - yuck!

We've just come back from our 30 week dr's appointment and all seems to be doing well. Baby is head down, kicking and moving a lot, heartbeat strong, and no signs of prenatal diabetes. My iron was a bit low, so I've been given some iron tablets but all else is looking good.

Little Santa Baby

Okay, tell me this little onesie is just soooo cute. I was at Farmers last week (the major department store in NZ) and they were having this big Spring sale where everything was on sale. I just couldn't resist getting this set of 3 outfits - I've wanted to find a red outfit to bring out baby home in - a little Christmas outfit. Although looking at the striped outfit it kind of reminds me of 'Where's Waldo' ha ha. I've been trying not too purchase any more baby clothes b/c we already have a fair amount of used items and well the baby doesn't care what he's wearing but sometimes it's just so hard to resist. I justified buying this for 4 reasons

1. It's RED - perfect for Christmas (hey I could've got a santa suit!), AND....if our next baby is a girl....she can wear it too!

2. It was on Sale

3. It had the side snaps - which apparently everyone tells me is easier to get on than over the head ones - but who knows

4. It's for the BABY - I don't feel guilty buying him clothing...especially when I can't fit into super cute clothes anymore.

Speaking of Christmas....on Sunday morning it felt just like it. At 8am the All Blacks were playing France in the quarter finals of the World Cup (the game was live from Europe, which explains why the whole country was up at the crack of dawn getting ready to view the game on TV). We hosted a small group of people at our house to watch the game and eat a big breakfast together. We have this great projector and pull down screen in our lounge for watching movies an sports games - it really does make it feel like you're at the theatre or bar with massive screen. Anyways....this wasn't just any game. It was the game of the year. The whole country watched it (the Rugby world cup only happens once every 4 years) and as most of you know, Rugby is THE sport of NZ. Bigger than anything else - almost like a religion. Seriously.

To make a long story short. NZ lost. We were expected to win the whole thing and we were knocked out of the quarter finals. All of NZ has been in a bit of a depression since Sunday. The stock market is expected to slow, the morale of the country has been crushed, the coaching staff have all resigned, and well basically...it's not good. But...it's just a GAME. NZ will snap out of it (eventually).

It reminded me of Christmas though b/c everyone got up early, ate a big yummy breakfast, and all sat around together - except we were all glued to the TV instead of opening presents. Give me Christmas over Rugby anyday! Especially THIS YEAR - yay!!!!

Last Saturday we attended an engagement party for our friends, Karl and Kylie. This is a picture taken at the party with James, his mom Jo, and stepfather Bruce.

Sometimes I almost forget that I'm pregnant - except for the kicks that remind me every now and then - but the other guests at the party couldn't let me forget. Being pregnant is like having a constant ice breaker with strangers - everyone likes to comment on my belly, and some go so far as even touching it! If I wasn't pregnant and someone touched my belly I would be a bit put off - after all it is a pretty sensitve part of the body. I think the next person that touches my belly I'm going to ask them to rub my feet as well! Ha ha! No seriously, I don't mind it that much, or talking about baby stuff to random strangers - after all it is pretty exciting. What did I talk about before we were pregnant?! Hopefully post baby I'll be able to remember, and I'll have a flat stomach and have to come up with other ice breaker for meeting strangers at parties.

Monkey Business! Here's our wee little man's new bed - cute, eh? We were so excited to get home last weekend and put it together. Even though we don't have the mattress yet (that's this weeks purchase) I couldn't resist putting all the bedding in it - just to see how it would look. Fortunatly for us the walls of this room are already blue so it matches perfectly.