Too Cute!

Luca turned 10 months today. Most babies at this age can roll over - for some reason Luca's just not interested in it (no matter how much we try to teach him). I've witnessed him roll over just three times...I think mostly he rolls be accident. Low and behold I caught the third roll today on camera. It's soooo funny. He looks quite stunned. I think I've already watched this 15 times today. Check it out - it's pretty cute.

Airports and bling

I love airports. Honestly I do. I love the hustle and bustle, the smell of the airplane fuel, the anticipation of going somewhere new, the wandering where everyone else is going and what their story is. I love it - almost as much as flying. The airport at Ohaeka Air Force base was a bit different though....

Luca and I went to go pick James up at the airport on Wed. There was quite a crowd of wives, girlfirends, kids, and family at Ohakea military base to welcome the plane home. Most that were on the plane had been gone for 6 months in Afganistan on a rebuilding/peacekeeping mission. It was actually pretty emotional (not so much in our case....James was only gone 3 weeks) but watching everyone else. Makes you realize the sacrafice that those in the military make...but not just the soldiers...the families left behind. Anyways on to the good stuff....

The river that runs through the middle of Dubai

The night markets in Dubai...apparently is so hot during the day, everyone shops at night, and everyplace is open late.

James brought us back some goodies!

A great brown leather belt, sunglasses, and a purse for me

A stuffed animal camel for Luca....'Alice the Camel has 2 humps, Alice the Camel...'

An obnoxious mosque alarm clock that wails prayer chants when it goes off

WEDDING BANDS....he did really well on this one. His is a combination of rose gold and white gold....

Yes...it's a horrible photo (we really need to get a better camera).Mine is 18K white gold, with a flat profile, different twisty type design. Looks good on its own, and also looks good next to the engagement ring. You'll just have to wait till after May 22nd to see it in person.

James also got his and his brother's suits for the wedding (they look great!) Very expensive name brand suits for very little money. Yay!!!! Two big tickmarks off the wedding to-do list.

Art

When James and I decieded to move back into this house, we did so with the understanding that the house would need a major redecoration. We've painted, put in a new kitchen, wallpapered, relandscaped, recarpeted, etc etc....and the house looks good now. Not a dream home, but it's good for now. For the past 1.5 years we've had pretty bare walls. We've been looking high and low for some really nice artwork that was in our budget price range. We've come up with a solution...Photography Art. Here's a few of our favourites - we picked out several to enlarge and frame in a series. It looks great on our wall, and now our 'home' doesn't feel so bare.

(Look at how his little baby belly flops over like that...and the toes....bliss!)

These were taken by the same photographer that did our really cool pregnancy photos. Now we just need some great B&W wedding pictures to add to the collection.

Stroller Update

The stoller is in my hot little hands. I wasn't the only one excited by this. When Luca saw the stroller all wrapped up in plastic, he started crawling all over it. We took it for a test drive spin around the block - even though it was past his bedtime.

The new stroller lives in the trunk of my car, and although lately the mountain buggy has been getting more use (I've started going for runs...yes, all by myself...it's amazing the power of an Ipod and how it motivates me) it's going to be perfect for when I treat myself to a bit of shopping at the mall and for traveling. I've got the pram, now I just need some round trip airline tickets to the States. Any offers?

When we get the camera back, I'll post Luca modeling the new pram. What - you'd rather see the wedding bands that James has bought for us in Dubai instead?! Well...you're no fun...

thump, thump, thump

That's the sound I hear down the hall when Luca's on the move. It's so cute...you just hear this thump, thump, thump of his little hands and knees moving as fast as they can. In the past two weeks he's grown up to become a little boy. The world as opened up to him now that's he's mobile. Drawers to explore, mommy's expensive hair conditioner to spread all over the bathroom, electical cords to play with, cat doors to try and escape from, dirt and rocks to put in his mouth. Yes...the possiblities are endless. He follows me around like a little puppy, and when I call out to him I hear silence followed by the familiar thump, thump, thump.....then his little head peers in from around the corner and his eyes light up, and he breaks into one of his heartmelting smiles, dimples and all. Yes, he's just so amazing cute.



(Photo taken during our coffee group beach party a few weeks ago. We knew that shirt that Oma and Pop brought back to us from Fiji would be good for occasions like this!)

My Latest Obsession

Strollers. It was the first baby item that James and I purchased when we found out we were pregnant. We got a second hand Mountain Buggy for a good price. The Mountain Buggy has been great - Luca practically lives in it, as we tend to go for lots of walks around town, and of late I've been running with him in it. The Mountain Buggy is big, burly, and great for off road stuff too. What the Mountain Buggy is not good for is, taking in and out of the car trunk (it's heavy and honestly takes up the whole trunk), travel, and navigating cafes/shops/places with crowds.

I needed an urban stroller but it had to have these requirements:

• Umbrella stroller that folds up small enough for airports and will live in the trunk without taking up much room
• A basket underneath for a bit of shopping
• Handles long enough for me - most of the umbrella strollers are designed for midgets
• A seat that reclines
• A good quality robust stroller that will last us 5+ years
• So I did my research...spent way too much time online, and also looking at everybaby store in town
  
  
  

And I found it! Here it is.......

Isn't it pretty?! Ha - actually the one we are getting is in Red. I figured unisex would be better in case we have a girl one day. The thing is...the Maclaren stroller is expensive, but after doing research I was convinced it was the one I had to have. I almost bought one at a department store that was similar ( a chinese copycat version), but half the price - until I realized the mesh bag on the display model was already ripped. Ha, yeah right...if it's already falling apart then how will it last 5 years of rough treatment?! After that I proceeded straight to the store to put the MacLaren on layby...it turns on a dime, folds down without using your hands.....it really is a dream. I can't wait to take it home. Is that sad that I'm so excited about a new stroller?

Man on the Move

James left on Sunday morning. Sunday afternoon I witness Luca roll over for the first time (yeah, I know...he's a little behind on that one!). That was exciting. He looked a bit shocked and stunned to realize had had flipped over, and he didn't do it too gracefully - The only reason I saw him do it was because I looked over after I heard a big 'thud'. Regardless it was still exciting. But then....then comes the real excitment...

Tuesday afternoon he starts to crawl - forward. It was so so cool to watch him finally get the hang of it. He'd go forward a bit, then fall, then go forward, then fall....to watch his little legs moving, and his butt thrusting in the air...well it was really cool (I think I already mentioned that). I had an urge to shout, "James, come quick...he's crawling, come fast, look at this!!!" But sadly, James is not here. Just figures that after he leaves all these milestones are achieved. I can't even take a picture or a video to post because James took the camera with him to Dubai. We didn't think that one out very carefully now did we?

At least James is only gone for a short while. I can't even imagine all those military folks that are gone for months at a time, and miss out on so much of there children's development...thankfully James will never have to be in that position.

So for now, you'll just have to imagine him crawling, and I'll post a video clip when James returns. Or give me a skype and you can watch it live!

Found it (sigh of relief)

Losing It

I wanted to post Luca's modeling pictures but the disk has somehow gone missing. Not only has that disk gone missing this past week, but my sunglasses, and my phone have also disappeared. Turns out the cellphone was stolen and someone gave me a lovely $100 bill to pay. Sunglasses, who knows....but the disk of photos!? If this doesn't turn up soon, I'm seriously going to lose it myself.......ahhhhhhhh.....everything seems so disorganised!!!! Hopefully I'll find it and be able to post the pictures soon.

Longer out than in

It's official. Luca's been out longer than he's been in. My how the time has gone by. When you have a baby you get sick of everyone telling you...."cherish it...they grow up so fast" and at the time I was like, "yeah, yeah, yeah..." but it's true. They do! It seems like just yesterday we were in the Palmerston North Hospital, staring at our newborn baby, and celebrating NYE in the hospital room with Grandma Cassie. Then before we knew it he turned 3 months and those gorgeous first sounds and cooing escaped his lips...then 6 months when we finally got him into a routine and he started sleeping through the night...ahhh we regained our sanity, and now....the big 9 months - he's feeding himself and prepared to become mobil...If only he could just figure out how to move forward. But, hey...I'm not rushing that...it will come soon. Then our world will start to change forever.

We had some gorgeous professional photos taken at 6 months. Our photographer requested him to come back and be a model for a project she was working on. Okay, so how cool is that!? Every mother out there thinks that their baby is the best looking baby ever, but when a photographer that sees babies all the time, tells you that...well, okay, I was a little chuffed. So our Luca is now a model. We got some cool pics out of it for free. It's for some upcoming Library marketing material. Hmmm...now I know this sounds bad, but the thought had crossed my mind....maybe he could make money for us! KMart catalogs...things like that. If only we lived in a thriving metropolitis where that was even available. Model or not, we do think he's the best looking baby in world. Yeah, yeah...we just a little biased.

Oh, wait...I vowed not to make evey post about Luca.....

Well, I did flowers for the mayors office this week that turned out really well. I'm investigating doing some online floristy study. Again, the thriving metropolis doesn't offer courses for me to actually go to...so I have to do it all online. James is leaving to go to Dubai on Sunday. He'll be away for 3 weeks....sad. He's off to go buy our wedding bands and possibly have the suits made for the wedding. Oh, and he's also doings some army stuff while he's there. ha ha