The Night of Long Whines

On Friday night Kieran decided to throw a tantrum. Why? Because he fancied some attention. We were beside ourselves as his little stunt began around midnight, before finally tailing off around 2am. To say that Chris and I were shattered the next day would be an understatement. Naturally the boy was knackered as well so a happy time was had by all. He went down for his nap at 11, rousing just before 2, when we high-tailed it up the hill to go see the Santa Parade. It was grey and spitting but not actually raining for the event and K had a ball!! He had an early bedtime that night though and slept like an angel. Typical!! Sunday was a very relaxed day. I was still shattered and couldn't focus on my assignment, eventually crawling off to bed for a nap. Today we headed off to Oratia playgroup - courtesy of Suzie who picked us up this am. It was wet and muggy so naturally K played outside- becoming ever damper. I was thinking about heading up to the shops and library this afternoon but will see how we go. If it is wet I shan't, and if it is dry...maybe :P There might be more books about owls. K LOVES owls and one of his favourite books is The Owl and the Pussycat. I am able to recite said book from memory now :P.

I was thrilled to see that the Wiggles are coming to Auckland in late March. K LOVES the Wiggles and tickets must be procured. I checked out the prices online and nearly wept... $30 EACH!! Ouch. Well, we certainly won't be buying them when they go on sale next week. We shall have to see if there are any left after Xmas.

I must go now and upload photos and video of the Santa Parade onto Facebook.

Ho Hum

Life has been ticking on as usual... bouts of nausea, constant fatigue and kidwrangling haha. Ruth came round on Wednesday afternoon and it was great catching up with her. Finn raced around checking out the sights before being bundled into the car. I stayed home Thursday morning as I wasn't sure if any of the coffeegroup girls were coming round. They didn't and I missed storytime. Aaaaiieee. I made up for it by taking K up to the library and shops in the afternoon instead. K was whiney and clingy on Thursday and nearly did my head in. It didn't help that some speeding maniac had killed a duck and it was lying on the road directly outside our house. If people can't be bothered driving safely in an area rife with children they could at least have the decency to remove the carcass from the road! Chris wasn't home either as he was doing printing at work - and didn't get home until nigh on midnight. Today we headed into the bookbinding place to see to the binding of Chris's theses (multiple, haha). K was exceptionally well behaved and as a reward I took him up to the Wriggle and Rhyme session at the library. He had a great time and cavorted gloriously. After he woke up we went down to the local playground. The swings have not yet been replaced but a boy and his bunny were there. K was thrilled to see the rabbit, giving it gentle strokes that Bandit would give his right leg to receive. Bandit was also thrilled to see the rabbit and I had to eventually remove our little party from the playground before things got too...interesting.

Tomorrow is the Glen Eden Santa parade. It is at 2pm rather than noon so we may have to wake K up to go there as he normally only wakes up around 2 - 2:30. It should be fun though.

Splishy splashy

K had a lovely time at playgroup choosing to spend most of his time with the water feature. He began to get a bit cross and grumpy as 11am hit and then actually bit a boy who was heading up the slide before him. It left an imprint but wasn't hard enough to cause the other boy to squeak. I was pretty ticked and will keep a beady eye on K. Woe betide if he does it again for he shall surely regret it!! On Tuesday I took K up to the library and shops. The weather was a bit iffy but I decided that we needed to get out of the house. It began to spit as we headed home but that was ok 'cos we made it inside without being drenched. It sunned up nicely in the afternoon - apart from cloudy periods - so I half filled the paddling pool and let K romp about the garden clad only in a long sleeved t-shirt. My little nudie rudie loved it - but kept trying to heave his wet self onto my nice dry lap!!

Today Chris had a half day off as we had a midwife appointment.We ran around pricing the cost of getting 6 copies of his thesis printed and bound. Printing alone comes to $600. Jesus wept!!! Chris is now looking seriously at buying a laser printer for $450 and going that route. I booked my tickets for the contact course today. Through cunning planning I managed to save $60... but it is still a truckload of money. Why do we have money issues right before Xmas I ask you!! Still, at least we are not doing xmas pressies this year which helps... A LOT!!

All went well with the midwife and we got to hear the baby's (singular!) heartbeat. It was nice and strong. I am almost beginning to believe that we might actually end up with a real baby in May. I got back home and realised that Chris had forgotten to close the back door. Bandit was also excessively shrill and it wasn't until Chris had headed off to work that I realised that ducks had invaded Chez Seal while we were away. Yikes!! No wonder Mr B was ticked!! We were going to buy the Slinky Malinki's christmas crackers book from whitcoulls today at 50% off as we got vouchers in the mail but dear Mr Ditz headed off to work without said vouchers... sigh. This afternoon we aren't going out. I am just too tired by the time 2pm rolls around! Our local park is a bit boring as the swings have been removed from the vandalised frame - leaving only the slide. K does love running around on the grass though, so maybe...

Hip Hip Hooray!

Why do weekends flit past so very quickly? I had my sleep-in on Saturday and K celebrated by waking up with a nightmare around 9pm, then shrieking awake at 4:15am. There's always something!! At 5:45am he began chanting the vowels that he knows - excepting I and U which weren't deemed worthy of his attention while he soulfully ran his milk bottle along the bars of his cot. I should mention that the cot is RIGHT NEXT to my side of the bed. Chris lumbered out of bed to retrieve his pride and joy while I debated the merits of removing him into his very own room that night :P As he left Chris closed the door. Why did he do that you ask? Well, last weekend, on my sleep-in, Kieran came running into the bedroom not once but Twice! Waking me up and ruining my moment of extravagance. We didn't do too much on Saturday as Chris claimed the unsettled night had ruined him :) On Sunday we headed out to Alex's 3rd birthday. K seemed to have a good time but nearly fell asleep 3x in the car on the way home. I spent much of the trip with my arm wedged up his top tickling him and snapping my fingers in his face. He responded with a lovely 2 hour nap in the toddler bed. Tomorrow Suzie has graciously agreed to collect me so I can go to Oratia playgroup - yay. K will be superthrilled! I also need to book my tickets for K and I to head down to Wellington. I couldn't believe that K pays the same fare as I do - meaning that this trip to head down for a mandatory Massey contact course is costing over $300!!! We have decided that we are not doing xmas presents this year. Money is just too tight and with Chris's contract expiring in February it is best to be financially prudent!

I am still thrilled that my bloods came back with chickenpox antibodies - but I can't wait for the pregnancy tiredness to go away!

Tiptoeing through the week

On Wednesday Chris was marking at home for the morning. I instantly took advantage (hey, it was raining!!) and got him to drop K and I off at Mainly Music. K had a brilliant time, boogying along and thoroughly enjoying himself. It was even better exiting the venue, seeing the pouring rain - and hopping into the car :). We kicked back and stayed home that afternoon as the weather wasn't fantastic. On Thursday I had coffeegroup so we hit the library, vege shop etc before heading to the rooms. It was great catching up with everyone. Again K had a great time before, at 11:30 precisely, dropping to the ground and lying on his back as he eyed me meaningfully. He only had to do this twice before visions of him falling asleep in the stroller spurred me into gear. Despite sprinting at LEAST half the way home I had to tap his face and joggle him to keep him awake. He slept well, however he woke after and hour and twenty minutes - just as I had completed my student loan stuff - and when I popped in, replaced his bottle and lay down on the futon he fell asleep again.. as did I!! He had a 3 hour nap - in his toddler bed which was pretty impressive! I took him to the Barnea playground at 4 where he chased ducks, ran up the tiny slope and had a great time running after Bandit. Of course, getting him down was rather vexing as he was still full of beans :). Today, while not sunny, wasn't too wet so I took the wee beastie up to the library for their active movement class. K wittered a little but did enjoy himself. We got home and I forced a banana into his maw before popping him down for his nap. I can't be bothered going out this arvo. That hill and being preggers is not a marriage made in heaven, so I might prep for a stirfry and bake a lemoncake. K LOVES lemoncake. This weekend I need to work on some assignment essays and also hope to turn out the garage, making it more user friendly for me :). Chris was going to obtain some cardboard boxes from Uni but I have seen no signs of these obviously rare items as yet!!

The weekly update

Yawn.

Being sick is EXHAUSTING!! On wednesday I took K along to Mainly Music where he frolicked and leaped and had a wonderful time. On our way there in the stroller I picked flowers and leaves for him to examine turning our walk there into a nature trail haha. Once we arrived I discovered that K had lost Pirate Duck - the toy he had dragged into the stroller sigh. We practically fled after the session as K has been going down for his nap between 11:30 and noon - and it is a half hour walk.. and when the session ends late as this one did.... We skidded off home with me keeping a sharp eye out for pirate duck - to no avail! It was that afternoon that I had a suspicion that K and I were falling ill. The next day Ruth, Finn, K and I headed out to CraigAvon Park. The boys had a ball. They frolicked in the playground, chased each other round the trees, stole other children's inflatable balls and had a whale of a time. And we even managed to get K home, awake! The sun was shining and all was well with the world apart from my fear that K had chickenpox! After K awoke we headed up to the Dr's where I saw a very nice Dr and had more blood taken from me. This time I had a toy, a book, and a chocolate rabbit for K... and he could not have cared less that I was having blood taken. They took it from the same arm that my preg bloods had been done from and my arm ached for a few days. Ouch! On friday we headed out to Horizon where we had the nuchal fold test. It seems unlikely that the bubs will have Downs - always a bonus - and the due date is May 29th.

The weekend was a bit of a blur. I was super sick across it - missing Ruth's baby shower - which I had been looking forward to - tho I did catch up with Jen mid sunday. Simon and Catherine also dropped by, but didn't stay for long.

The weather and my continued ill health, and K's perhaps chickenpox meant that we didn't go to Oratia playgroup on Monday. Hopefully next Monday we will be healthy enough and can do the buses and walking to get there. The Dr's called and I have chickenpox antibodies yay - so even if K does now come down with chickenpox I can be somewhat relaxed!! K was adorable, cute and very well behaved yesterday - I can't think what got into him :P. Today was fairly boring - just a trip to the Barnea Circle playground and chasing K around like the wicked wee weasel that he is :)

Where, oh where, is Spring?

The weather in these here parts could at best be described as damp.

The weekend passed in a bit of a blur as Chris was making the changes to his thesis and will see his supervisor tomorrow - yay!! I handed in my baking for the Plunket cake stall - astounded by how much Rachel had baked!! Talk about feeling inadequate!! We had Colin and Ros over for dinner on Saturday so of course once I issued the invite our day went to hell in a handbasket and K finally fell asleep at 8. They had been in the house for nearly an hour by the time I hauled my ass downstairs - grrrr. Monday was Oratia Playgroup - which I did NOT take K to - a combination of poor buses and a wet day. Sigh. I am going stircrazy. I am cool with walking everywhere when the weather is nice, cloudy etc - everything but rain... but rain I refuse to do!! Today dawned gorgeous, the birds are singing, the council is excavating bamboo from our little playground - and the black clouds are rolling in!!! I did however walk K up to Westview Medical where I had some bloods done. K screaming and crying in the stroller the whole time that I gave blood. I settled him and took him into the library afterwards to cheer him up. It seemed to work :) I have decided to cheer myself up by painting a picture for K's room.

Remember, remember the 5th of November

Indeed mateys - it's Guy Fawkes in this here part of town. I must say that while I like fireworks as much as the next person my enjoyment of them diminishes in direct proportion to how long they keep my baby awake. Apparently the denizens of Barnea Circle feel that their lives are incomplete if they cannot start firing off fireworks from 6:30pm till late. Sigh.

I haven't done much this week to be honest. Monday we had the scan and so I missed playgroup. On Tuesday it rained.On Wednesday it was sunny. Sadly the weather only cleared up after it was too late for me to walk to Mainly Music and get there before the session started - so K missed out on that. Boo! I did get a load of washing done and hung out though - bonus. I took K up to the library where he had a wonderful time.

Today was storytime at the library. It was also hosing down. Ruth came to visit and K and Finley frolicked mightily before K dropped to his knees and begged for his nap at noon. He is sleeping like a dream in his toddler bed and we have gone back to 2 hour naps- yay. Yesterday was almost 3 hours, and today was 2 hrs 30 mins. I can cope with this :) Hopefully the weather improves for Friday as I am stir crazy. I have however promised to do some baking for the Plunket Cake stall on the weekend, and shall be preparing a Cape Brandy Tart - sans brandy as we have none :). Our plans for the weekend involve me babywrangling while Chris makes the changes to his thesis. Good times. I have also started study towards my summer school paper - and boy, isn't that a blast!!

BUT Chris brought home a bunch of roses for me today - what a dear sweet man :)