An Early Christmas - the Beach

Jo and Bruce were headed to Australia over the holidays, so we celebrated Christmas with them a week early. I highly recommend splitting the holiday over two weekends - otherwise it's just too many places that you have to be at one time. I love splitting it up this way, and if I had it my way, would do this every year.

The weather was great - this is not always the case...in NZ it can be very up and down, but we lucked out with a warm (hot!) sunny day with very little wind.

Wyatt's first Christmas

We ate, drank, ate, drank...

The boys were spoiled. Toys, wool sleep sac for Wyatt, diggers, and more toys! Luca actually screamed when he opened some of his gifts. His scream would stop Wyatt in his tracks, and then of course Wyatt would have to crawl over to Luca to 'help' him play with his new toys. We were all spoiled with an amazing Lunch and dinner, and we got to catch up with Bruce's kids and their families. It was the first Christmas with multiple littlies. Luca also screamed with delight when James opened his gift - a remote controlled helicopter! James would go outside and attempt to learn how to fly it. Luca would wait patiently till it crashed then go run after it. Almost like a bird dog! ha ha

and then before we knew it, it was time for more drinking and eating! We left around 8:30pm, with full bellies, and we had to actually 'load' the car up with toys and boxes. Luca was so hyped up that he managed to stay awake for the whole car ride home.


It was a wonderful celebration with family, but I've got to be completely honest about one thing.

I've given it a good five years....and I definitely prefer the northern hemisphere Christmas. It's just not the same without cold weather and snow, Christmas lights, and indoor cozy parties. Having Christmas in the winter gives you something to look forward to during the cold months, it helps to break up the year. In NZ, you wait all winter (and it's a LOOONG winter) and then you have summer break and Christmas all in the same few months. Besides, snowflakes, snowmen, and pine trees just seem odd when you are in the middle of summer. Oh, and this year I heard that St. Louis actually had a white Christmas. How cool is that?! But regardless of my opinion, here's some cool beachy Christmas shots...

Wyatt's first crawl on the beach

Jo and Bruce's amazing view and backyard - the beach is literally just through the dunes

Backseat driver

It had just started to rain (again for 5th time in the morning) as we were driving into town today. In a very soft and innocent voice Luca said "Mommy you're being naughty." When I asked him why, he said "because you don't have your wipers on or your lights!" Easy, tiger it had only been raining for a few seconds! Ha ha....he's pretty funny. My three year old driving instructor.

He will also occasionally tell Daddy and Oma, "Slow down, it's not a racing car." I don't think our little blue car could get to speeds anywhere close to that of a racing car, but now Oma's car.... now that's another story. ha ha

Christmas Prep

Christmas festivities have been in full swing for the past few weeks. I waited till James got back from Singapore and we decorated the tree and got out our small box of decorations. As a young (can we even call ourselves that anymore?!) couple, we just don't have that many decorations - I think it's something we'll need to aquire over the years. Our tree looks pretty good, and thanks to Grandma Cassie, we got some pretty sweet stockings. The new house is bigger, and thus we need a few more decorations to add to the collection. Two really cool things we got to do this year.
1. Hang stocking on the fireplace! One of the main reasons I wanted a mantle was to have a place to hang the stockings. Now....trying to hang them was another mission. In the states you can get these stocking holder things - like paperweights - but in NZ each one costs about $50. Yeah....Crazy expensive. In the end we used those 3M sticky hook things, and they actually look pretty good.
2. Hang matching wreaths on our front doors. I'm a big fan of wreaths, and I wanted two to match for our double doors. After visiting every single christmas shop in town, and seeing how expensive they were I decieded to make my own. And...they look pretty darn good If I do say so myself.
Since putting up the tree - I've had to redecorate it about a dozen times. Wyatt is our expert tree dissassembly man. Now we only have it decorated from midway to the top. Oh! Along with the new wreaths, we also purchased an angel for the top. That was an exciting day, as I found one 1/2 off last week. In fact, I don't think you should ever pay full price for christmas decorations. Does that make me sound cheap? Yeah, probably but when you are struggling to afford diapers and petrol, christmas decorations are a pretty low priority!


That's enough new decorations for one year. Next year my mission is to find matching fake greenery for the mantle and also for the front hall table. Our house looks more cozy with the decorations up, and I will be sad to take them down - we really do need to get some things to make our home feel more 'homely.' If only we had a Garden Ridge here....

I was hoping to get some cutsy decorating the tree photos with the kids - after all it is Wyatt's FIRST CHRISTMAS but Luca was in a 'mood' and refused to wear clothes, and all Wyatt wanted to do was play with the sparkly balls. Bless him.

I'm at home with the boys every Mon/Tue/Wed until I start back at work full time. It's all good when it's nice outside. We visit friends, we go for walks, we go to the park or for hikes (sometimes twice a day) but when it rains, it's not so fun. I've checked out every children's christmas picture book, and DVD that I could find from the library. We've made cards, cookies, and gifts for teachers at the preschool. Being inside all day drives me crazy. Or maybe it's the kids that drive me crazy.

Anyways, here's a few pics of our cookie making project.


I'm hosting a second annual cookie exhange at my house. My big plan was to make peanut brittle. I failed. 3 batches failed (using two different recipes) - plan B was to make more sugar cookies. 5 dozen more! The cookie exchange was a success. Lots of girl talk and drinking of bubbles. Gotta sample all my brands somehow.
I think I'd rather make these cute cookie jars instead. This way I don't end up gaining 5 lbs from eating batter and cookies laying around the house. Oh, and get this...no one in NZ has ever seen this concept. Well most people haven't. They all thought I was so clever to make this up. Ha, yeah right. Luca loved helping me make them, and he'll get a kick out of delivering them to our neighbors on Christmas eve.

We took the old fashioned steam engine train to fielding to see their christmas parade. Luca loved the train, and of course the parade. But honestly I think the train was the highlight of the day. Oh, and riding the mini ferris wheel with Daddy.

Hard to believe only a few more days until Christmas! We're hosting James' family at our house on Christmas day, so we are hoping for sunny weather so that the kids can go for hikes on the trails and play on the slip n' slide. This whole week has been wet and windy. I almost wish it would snow - then it would feel like Christmas.

Memory Lane

A friend from CG just had twin baby boys a few nights ago. She now has a grand total of 3 little boys for her house. Luca, Wyatt, and I went to the hospital for a quick visit and delivery of breastfeeding fuel (see previous post). Being in the hospital, seeing these two gorgeous and perfect tiny little boys, and visiting with my friend brought back a rush of emotions of how I was in the same situation just a few months ago, and how completly amazing the childbirth expierence is. Okay, right....the situations aren't exactly the same. She has two, and mine came out the sunroof....but the emotions are the same.



She's got an enormous job in front of her. I can't even fatham how people with twins deal. I guess they just do...they get on with it, and it becomes easier. I have huge amount of admiration and respect for her. Having 3 heartbeats inside you for 37 weeks...then going through the pain of labour...twice. She looks amazing. AMAZING. Total admiration. The CG will be there for her...supplying her with meals and enteratainment/babysitting for her older son.




My eyes get all teary just reflecting on the birth of both my boys, but more recently and fresh in the memory is of Wyatt's birth. I was telling my friend about how I stayed in the hospital as long as I could to get routines established, and bond with new baby before the madness of going home. I'm pretty sure she's thinking about doing the same (who can blame her....with TWO to deal with!)



Why would you want to rush home? Those days you will never have back, you might as well have the support of the nursing and midwife staff, and let them do all the cooking/cleaning while all you focus on is healing from birth and bonding with your little bundle.


The swaddling, the tiny sqwaking sound they make, the big blue eyes looking up at you as they feed, the tightly closed fists, the tiny heartbeat....Ohhhh....it makes my overies ache just thinking about how amazing it is. If you haven't had kids, you'll probably think I'm being all sappy. You're right. I am.



How much Wyatt has changed in 10 months. First tooth broke the surface today, he's now 'wrestling' with Luca on the ground and captivated by his big bro, and crawling everywhere. Seems like just yesterday we were in hospital together....you fast asleep. Me trying to get fast asleep before you wake up. Up at all hours, those long nights looking at the clock thinking "I can't wait till it gets to be 6am...because then everyone in the hospital will be up, and I won't feel so alone....how much longer till the next meal comes?" Little did I know that probably everyone else on the maternity ward was thinking the same thing! Those precious days. I miss them already.


I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat.

Secret recipie

We have been nominated to host Christmas Lunch at our house this year for James' Dads side of the family. With spare time on my hands now that James is away I've been surfing the net for recipies. I think we're going to supply the ham (which can be cooked in the slow cooker), the mashed potatoes (which I can make masses of the day prior), cookies and treats (which will come from cookie exchange), and some alcohol. Hopefully the rest of the family will bring the other bits and pieces. Fingers crossed for nice weather so we can set up a slip n' slide to entertain the kids.

While recipie searching I came across something that I made last night for a baby shower today and also for a friend in hospital who has just had twins. It was rated 5 stars online, so I just had to try it. The hype was correct. The whole plate was finished at the shower and I had 3 people ask me for the recipie. I was almost embarresed to tell them how it was made. Maybe I should have let them all think I was some kind of gourmet chef or something....anyways, my friends I'll share the secret with you. SOOO easy.

A double package of regular oreos
A block of philly creame cheese (I used full fat version, but I'm sure you could go low fat)
melting chocolate (milk or white)

Blend in food processor. Then put in fridge for a bit. Take out and roll into 1 inch balls and put on wax paper. Put in fridge a bit longer. Melt chocolate. Roll and gently spoon chocolate onto balls. Let them dry on wax paper and then put back in fridge to set. For gourmet look stripe white chocolate onto the chocolate covering.

My Little Turkeys

We had our first turkey while celebrating Thanksgiving in NZ this year. The boys and I (James is still overseas in Singapore) went to another American's house to celebrate. It is their first year living in NZ so they went all out - turkeys, stuffing, food galore! Everyone brought a dish to share - I baked pumpkin pies!

It was the best Thanksgiving dinner I have had in a long time, and it made it even more special to celebrate with my new American friends. It has also motivated me to host something similar at our place next year.

Thank goodness for family (and skype), my husband, and our two little turkeys. We have had a hard ....very hard....year, but we've survived, and we have lots in our lives to be thankful for.

Guess who is crawling now? Yep, Mr. Moon himself. Dad and Fran got to witness him take his first shuffles, flops, and then master the art of crawling while they were visiting us. Life has just become more hectic (I forgot about this stage) but he seems quite pleased with himself, and his independence has just shot through the roof....who thought it could get any higher?

Grandpa Den Den and Grandma Fran

We've just had the pleasure of hosting my Dad and stepmom, Fran for the past 8 days. It was the first time that 'Granpa Den Den' and Fran had met Wyatt, and also the first time they had seen our new house. It takes international visitors for us to scrub and clean the house - our floors were sparkling upon their arrival (which only lasted for about the first day!)

Their visit was short, and we tried to do as much as we could without exhausting ourselves. Like my sister Erin, who was here a month ago, they too, got the Manawatu tour and a peek into our everyday lives.

Having dinner with Jo and Bruce, the day before Jo went into surgery and the first night Dad and Fran were in NZ.

A friend from my coffee group loaned us the 'people mover' so that we could take a little trip to the Hawkes Bay. Luckily the people mover was also available to help pick them up from the airport because, they had LOTS of luggage. In that luggage was a plethora of goodies for the kids and a few requested American treats for us. Luca was beyond excited that we were borrowing the people mover for a few days. The evening that I went to go pick it up, he woke up in the middle of the night asking 'has mommy got the people mover yet?'. I would love to have our own people mover - you can fit so much stuff in it, and I just keep thinking about the camping trips we could take, or how much easier it would be when people came to visit us. Alas, we'll just drive our trusty little blue car until it dies...and then maybe consider something a bit bigger. This is what is looks like in our little blue car - squeezing someone in between the two carseats....not comfy!

We had a great time in the Hawkes Bay - in fact I didn't want to come back home. One of the perks (the few and far between) of military life is using the military 'leave' houses that are scattered throughout the country. They are usually booked up during holidays and the summer, but since it was an odd time of the year, one was available in Napier. OMG - it was so nice. A whole house for only $30. I think we are going to try and go back to Napier as soon as we can get this house again.

A photo stop inCape Kidnappers, in the Hawkes Bay (apparently there's a world famous gold course nearby). There are many wineries near here - we visited three on our self guided winery tour of the region.

The weather was gorgeous. Much warmer than where we live (although we are only 2 hours away). Less windy, and sunny - I even got a bit of a tan. We went to Ocean Spa so Luca could burn off a bit of energy in the pools. Outdoor heated swimming pools. I can't even begin to tell you how good it felt to swim outside, and not be shivering the whole time. The sun on my skin was theraputic, and if it was up to me, I would've stayed there all day. When looking at the photos I can't believe how starkly white we all look, and then I started thinking that it has probably been since our honeymoon in Mexico that my body has really seen any sun. That is way too long for a lover of outdoor swimming pools. We need to plan a trip to the States ASAP. I miss swimming during the hot midwestern summer - or year round in Florida! Where we live there is only a very short window of outdoor swimming...and even then, it's still a bit cold.

We visited several wineries, a cider brewery, a strawberry farm, Cape Kidnappers, the Port of Napier, and Napier city. We saw as much as we could while accomodating for both children's naps - such a pain when they are on opposite nap schedule. Needless to say there was lots of sleeping in prams, carseats etc.

Dad and Fran also got to attend a function at the Officer's mess with James and I. We try to go to all the functions that they have because they usually put on a dinner and free babysitting with food for the kids. How can you say no to that?

They also met a few of our friends, and the whole coffee group at the joint 3rd Birthday Party. Unfortunatly James had to leave to go to Singapore about halfway through their visit, but it was nice having the extra hands to help out in absence.

Dinner at Breakers in Napier - one of the few child friendly resturants we could think of. Luca was beyond excited to eat dinner in the fake VW bus.

Luca chilling out at one of the wineries - in between sips of wine, we would take turns playing with him and Wyatt. We figured out there were 3 things that were good deals in NZ (compared to USA)

• 1. Wine!


• 2. McDonald's Ice Cream cones (Grandpa Den Den would often double fist them!)


• 3. Avocados (according to Fran)

We went to a strawberry orchard and had some of the juiciest sweetest strawberries I've ever had in my life. Pricey yes, but way better than the ones I get on special at Pak n' Save (the el cheap-o store that sells grade B/C fruit and veggies). Sadly all the good stuff in NZ gets exported because kiwis can't afford it.

Dan and Fran's visit flew by, and we are so grateful that they were able to make the trip over to visit us. We are looking forward to flying over to the States sometime next year.

Dad and Fran couldn't get over the no security at our wee little airport. It's funny how doing such routine things like going to the airport become BIG events in our household now that we have kids. We talk about it for days prior, then get to the airport and watch all the people, luggage, planes. Talk about it all, run around and explore different parts of the airport. The night that Grandma and Grandpa left, I tucked Luca into bed and said, "Grandma and Grandpa are still on the plane right now. Right now they are up in the air flying home." Luca responded with, "OPEN THE CURTAINS!!! I want to see the plane, where are they?" Awwww......

His eyeballs will be popping out of his head, and he'll be wiggling around with excitement when we get to take our next plane ride (not sure when that will be, hopefully sooner rather than later). Last plane ride for us was June 2009 - and in Luca lifetime, that was so very long ago.

Mr. Independant

It's hard to imagine our little man is now 9 months. My next post, I will probably be able to announce that he is now on the move. I predict the crawling will begin sometime this week (uh, oh!).

He thinks he is years beyond his age. Always grabbing, wriggling around when I try to change his diaper, insisting that he only feed himself (but obviously lacks the coordination, so most of it gets on his chin/bib/floor), constantly looking around the room, trying to move, trying to keep up with his brother - who, just in case you are wandering, runs around at 100 mph).

He gave us a bit of fright when this week he figured out how to sit up in his cot all by himself. The parents out there will know how shocking it is to see that for the first time. His new trick is getting himself into strange positions, backing up into the corner, or sitting up and not being able to lay back down in the middle of the night. Never fear, little bubba, we are here to save you. Yes, that's right. I must be part kiwi now, because I sometimes call my baby 'bubba' (only 2 years ago I detested that name...now I use it?!) His other nicknames are 'Why-guy', 'little buddy', and luca's favourite, 'Mr. Moon.'



Wyatt gives the best cuddles. I love the cuddle he give me when I pick him up from daycare, or see him first thing in the morning. His chubby little hands grasp on for dear life and he rests his head against my chest - often rubbing his snot into my shirt. Ahh, bless.

He's got the most gorgeous dimples, and I love his baby fatness. I think 9 months must be the chubby stage. He's storing up all that energy for when he starts to crawl. I know it's selfish, but I wish he could stay this age forever.

Some of my favourite memories of the past 9 months are taking him to the baby session at the movies. Wyatt and I have had 5 or 6 dates. Every Wed at 10:30 they have baby sessions - discounted for moms and free for babies. You don't have to stress if baby cries, because there's usually others crying too. When he was younger I'd cuddle him, and breastfeed him till he feel asleep in my arms. It was perfect - We got to spend time together, and I got to indulge in popcorn and a movie.

Ha! fat chance of that happening anymore. I took him for the last time a few weeks ago. We saw Eat, Pray, Love (which to be honest, was a bit too slow for me) and I could no longer get him to sleep or sit still. He was too awake, too aware, too active. It was anything but relaxing.

Another sad part of losing his babyness is stopping breastfeeding. The thing I was most scared of prepregnancy, turned out to be the most enjoyable. The bond you have while feeding a baby from your body is just MAGICAL. Our bodies are made to do some incredible things. I fed both Luca and Wyatt till 9 months. Now I have a pile of maternity bras and tops that I have literally lived in, and it's sad to think of getting rid of them.

The sadness lasted about two weeks (being able to enjoy in alcohol again has also helped).

Mr. Moon is growing up - too fast. It's endearing to watch him 'play' with his brother, and begin to look at books by himself. I love putting him to sleep at night. After a bottle I stand up and cuddle him for a few moments. He usually has a burp so loud that everyone in the house can hear it, then he sighs, drops his head, and his body goes limp. His little legs just hang loose, and he's so long now that his toes touch my waist. Mr. Independant becomes my little bubba again, and I kiss him on the head as I lay him in his cot.

We love you Wyatt

5 legged sheep

Yes, you read that right. This is a photo of a very freaky 5 legged sheep. See the bent leg coming out of it's chest? That's the fifth leg.

One advantage of me studying extramurally is that my schedule is a bit more flexible so I've been able to be a 'parent helper' on a few of Luca's field trips. About 2 weeks ago they took his whole center (the babies, toddlers, and preschoolers) to an animal petting farm about 30 mins away from town. Half the fun, was the kids getting to ride the bus together.

It's an odd place. This couple has a bunch of land, and a bunch of strange animals - your typical farm animals, lots of rabbits, chickens roosters, cows, pigs, goats etc and they also have emus, ostriches, peacocks, chincillas, and all kinds of other things. When you arrive they give you loaves of bread to hand feed the animals. I think some of the animals where donated to them, because some looked a bit ill or out of place (including the 5 legged sheep!)

Regardless, the kids had a blast, and the teachers and parent helpers where VERY worn out by the time we got back on the bus to leave.

These two little spotted piggies where my favourite animal of the day!

Luca and his friend chillin' in the double buggy.

Snack time! It's pretty cute to watch all the kids together - and suprisingly they are well behaved en masse.

James and I had taken the boys to this petting farm before, but we usually combine it with a trip to the Irish pub for a beer afterwards. Somehow I didn't think the daycare wanted to stop there on the way home.

Big pigs squeeling and playing in the mud.

The boys trying to take the chicken's eggs. Look at their white diapers peeking out from their pants. Cuties! Although I do wish Luca would learn to use the toliet, I will miss the bubble butt diaper look when he finally does. It's oddly kind of cute. Although I loved getting to spend time with Luca and Wyatt and watching them interact with their teachers and friends, it was incredibly tiring watching all those kids. I felt a bit guilty leaving them with their teachers in the afternoon after the trip so that I could go home and do some school work. I know those teachers must have been knackered!

Ice-Scream 2010

What do ghosts eat for dessert? Ice-Scream!

That was our halloween joke that we tried to teach Luca for trick or treating, but he didn't get it -he thought each house was suppose to give HIM ice cream. Ha ha!

No picturesque pumpkin patches over here. We got ours from the fruit and veggie weekend market - your typical small white/green pumpkins that people use for their roasts. Not the best carving pumpkings (they have really thick skin and flesh) but James was able to carve them after Luca painted them.

Wyatt is at the 'grabbing everything stage' and when I wasn't looking he managed to grab the pot of paint and paint my pants. Lovely.

For a country that doesn't really celebrate halloween, we had an eventful weekend. The holiday is definitly growing over here, and you can now buy decorations and more costumes bits and pieces at the likes of the dollar shops and the warehouse. We kicked off the weekend with a kids party hosted by one of the coffee group mothers. All the kids were dressed up, and she went all out with decorations, Luca loved it - even the 'scary' decorations.


Wyatt (the dragon) is being held by my friend Amy (she's due in a few weeks with TWINS!)


Saturday was filled with not 1 but 3 (yes 3!) Halloween party invites for James and I. The kids were whisked off to Jo and Bruces (yay!!!) and we made it to two of the parties. James was a witch doctor and I was a lady bug and then later a witch. One of the parties had a witches and wizards theme (how wierd is that? To have a theme for a halloween party?). Although we had a child free night, I can't bring myself to staying up late anymore, so although we had a good night, it wasn't a very late one. On Sunday we got to sleep in till 9am, and then get on with household things... How sad is that. The kids were away, and instead of just relaxing I have this urge to clean the house. James finished tiling the kitchen backsplash. Very satisfying to actually get something done on the house.
After a visit to pick up the kids from the beach, we got ready for trick or treating. This was the first year we had trick or treated in NZ. It was good to meet a few more of our new neighbors, but it was an intersting expierence. The kiwis obviously don't understand trick or treating etiquette. A few differences between us and America.

1. It's light out - because we are going into summer
2. People answer the door and look suprised, then run off to rumage through the kitchen to find you something. We got lots of granola bars and bags of chips...lol. Also some of the candy (gasp) is unwrapped. You go to someones house and they give you 3 jellybeans, or a gummy worm. That's NZ for ya! ha ha

3. Some people don't answer the door at all - which we found odd. We saw them in the window, they saw us - but instead of answering the door and just saying 'we don't have anything, but boy you guys look cute...' they just DONT answer. To me, that seems kind of rude - but whatever...
4. There's still some anti-halloween people (churches) out there and although the holiday is celebrated as a non secular holiday the media still has to report about the pagens and witches holding ceremonies on halloween (as if people in NZ need another excuse to hate the holiday).

Regardless of the differences, we enjoyed our trick or treating around the culdasac. There's only about 14 houses, so it was a perfect number. Poor little Wyatt crashed out after house #3, so I ended up carrying a sleeping dragon the whole time (he's getting heavy too!). We met some lovely people, and Luca now requests candy for breakfast. Uh, sorry little boy, don't think so.

Everyone thought their costumes were adorable (thanks Grandma Cassie!) and we look forward to more halloweens to come. I'm using every bit of self control not to gobble up 1/2 of Luca's halloween candy while I'm working on assignments. So very hard.