Where's the Easter Bunny?

Photos are becoming more interesting now that Luca can hold up his head when he's on his stomach - cute huh? Look at the cool quilt - that was a gift from my Aunt Karen, and Luca loves looking at the bright colours on it.
Easter was fairly non eventful for the Deegan/Loomis household. James had to work on Saturday so Luca and I spent the day out at Foxton beach and spent the night out there at Oma's house (Oma means 'grandma' in Dutch....that's what we call Jo). Luca expierenced sand for the first time - when I dipped his feet in the sand his eyes got really wide - 'what is this stuff between my toes?!' After our walk on the beach I had to shower him 2x in one day to get all the sand out between his fat rolls and in his ears. We celebrated Easter with by going out to eat with James' parents (Oma and Pop) on Sunday night and spent the rest of our break working on the backyard.
For those that got to expierence the dirt bowel that used to be our backyard....look at it now! Green lush grass is AWESOME and I'm going to do everything in my power to keep the weeds from invading it! The deck is still work in progress but the main bit is finished and I stained the rest of it today. The BBQ/pit area and pathway is still being worked on.

Big events for this week....Luca's 3 month shots (hopefully it won't be as sad as the first lot was!), My birthday (29 on the 29th!!! Woo hoo!), and then before you know it Luca and I will be on a plane to the States.

Baby friendly activities

Okay, I have to admit it, but I'm really enjoying the baby-friendly activities. Never before had I even taken notice of where the best toliets with changing stations where, or what cafes I could easily bring a baby too, or what baby friendly activities where around town. Now I know all of them. You have to if you want to get out of the house...and Luca and I - we do enjoy getting out and about (if you couldn't tell that already!)

Over the summer James and I have been taking advantage of the 'free family stuff' offered in Palmerston North. Most of these are provided thanks to PNCC - where I work! Free concerts, Events, Shakespear in the park, gardens for picnics....'Free' being the key word b/c James and I are on a ....um.....VERY tight budget at the moment. Every Tuesday over the summer we also took part in the super 7's series - a community 7K run/walk. We did almost all of them. After getting out of the hospital we started walking them, and then progressed up to running. I'm not a fan of running at all, but as James as my coach I manage to somehow run most of it. The super 7's series helped me prepare a little bit for the Triatholon I did a few weeks ago. The last of the super 7's series was last week - here's Luca with his certificate to prove he did it! At times over the summer I felt like jumping in the buggy with him!

Some other fav baby friendly activities - Buggifit at my gym where on Monday mornings you can bring your baby along for a fitness class that incorperates cardio and toning and the stroller. Its fantastic b/c I get a work out and don't need to find a sitter.

Today I expierenced 'bring baby to the movies'. On Wed mornings they have one show selected where you can bring baby for free and Mom's get discounted admission. They have a change table set up in the back of the theater and you can breast feed and feel comfortable if baby makes a cry or gurgle in the middle of the movie. How cool is that!? Today Luca and I went to go see P.S. I love You (although it got bad reivews I thought it was sweet, but a bit sad...the tears came out a few times). I had fears of a packed theater filled with crying babies everywhere, but it there were only 7 moms and babies in the whole place. And the babies were all really well behaved. Luca watched the screen with intent for the first 20 mins than slept in my arms for the rest :-) Next week is 27 Dresses....and we'll most definitly be there to see it.

Big Kudos to my Gym and also to the local cinema. How cool is it to involve activities that mothers with new babies feel good about going to? I'm loving it, and if one day I own a cafe/resturant (highly doubtful) you can guarentee I'll put in the nicest baby changing facility

e-v-e-r.

Little man in a big hotel bed!
Stopping off to view seals on the side of the road on our way towards Christchurch. It's been a filled week and half visiting with Dad and Fran. In less than a month Luca and I will be traveling to the states to visit the rest of the family - we can't wait!!! But until then I am staying busy looking after Luca (he demands pretty much all my attention all the time) and James is finishing up the backyard landscaping....hopefully it will all by finished by the time we get back from the states. Just about when winter begins here in NZ so maybe if we're lucky we'll get to spend a few nice evenings outside before the bittery/windy cold winter sets in :-) We've recieved both Luca's passports in the mail so we are all set to go. Luca is the little traveling man - he did so well on the train, boats, and planes he has been on. It's good to have him back in his own bed and try to re-establish some sort of routine though.

Down South

More Lochmara Lodge....After taking the water taxi back to Picton we picked up our rental car and drove to Able Tasman National Park for a few days. We stayed in a lovely holiday house and spent a day hiking around the GORGEOUS bays and admiring all the family 'baches' on the beach. Made us think that we'd love to have a holiday house to stay within our family throughout the years...
Able Tasman National Park - filled with Mellow hiking trails - we hiked for about 5 hours with pit stops at beaches along the way. We were all pretty tired at the end...and enjoyed a few beers at the holiday house (which funnily enough came stocked with beer!) Ha ha
Luca's getting so strong now -he holds his head up a lot! We also enjoy having 'conversations' with him. He's so much more responsive now...so much fun :-) Unfortunatly the water was just a bit too chilly for him to get in it. Dad and Fran also thought it was really cold. Our summer in NZ feels like their Florida winters.
After Able Tasman we made our way to Blenheim - the vinyard capital of NZ...famous for making Savignon Blanc. We did the wine tour, picked up a few bottles along the way.
Luca and Dad on the wine tour. Luca looks passed out...but I swear he didn't have a drop of alcohol!

Marlborough Sounds

Bruce (James' Stepdad) was celebrating his 60th bday by inviting family and friends to Lochmara Lodge in the Marlborough Sounds. Lochmara Lodge, an 'ecolodge' only accessable by water taxi, is a beautiful and relaxing place intermixed with all kinds of random art work, endangered animals, hiking trails, glow worms, night floursants in the water, and fine dining. James and I discovered Lochmara last year when we came to the sounds to hike the Queen Charlotte Trek, so it was cool to revisit it a year later with our families - and also to help Bruce celabrate the big 60th!
We were never short babysitters while we were here as there were two sets of Grandparents, and lots of James other Australian realatives willing to watch Luca while we went out for a paddle or walk. Here's a pic of Fran babysitting.
Luca's first hike - we took him for a 3 hour hike in the front pack - Lochmara bay is below. Luca generally enjoys being toted around in the front pack, but we have to be careful not to cover him in sweat when hiking.
Bruce (James stepdad), Fran, Jo (James' mom), and my Dad on the deck. Now Bruce and Jo have met both sets of my parents...they just need to come out to the States and visit...they would LOVE it!

Luca all dressed up for dinner in his cowboy outfit - soooo cute! Look at his boots :-)

Dad and Fran's Visit

What a busy two weeks we've had...Dad and Fran arrived into NZ and spent a few days traveling around the North Island (Bay of Islands, Auckland, Rotorua, Taupo...) before arriving into Palmerston North. I think Fran was relieved to turn in the rental car and let us do the driving, and of course they were both really looking forward to meeting Luca. Dad and Fran really enjoyed NZ and were cramming each day full of activities - so they got a bit of a break when they arrived to Palmy.
We showed Dad and Fran around Palmy, went for walks, BBQ'd, attended Bruce's 60th bday at the beach, played golf, and attended a City Council Summer Concert. It was good that they could come visit - see where I work, where we live, meet Luca! They also came with a huge box of goodies for Luca that was from them and Sherry and Dennis. It was better than Christmas! So many cute new things for our little man (and a tent for Mom and Dad too....we can't wait to take Luca camping!!!)
We couldn't find exactly matching shirts, but thought this was close enough. Now if only I could find some overalls for James...After visiting Palmerston North for a few days we took the morning train down to Wellington to catch the ferry to the South Island. It was a week of many firsts for Luca...on the train, on boats, hiking with Mom and Dad. Every time he did something new it was like, 'This is the first time Luca has (fill in the blank)' It never ceases to get old to show this man all the new things in life.
And on the Ferry to the South Island to meet up with James' family at Lochmara Lodge.