Update on Bee

Seeing how Bee just turned 7 months I thought maybe a quick update would be in order.
He is still a very mellow little guy. Sleeps well, nurses well and just all around a very easy baby.
We have started him on solids early but due to his own decision we are still mostly nursing and if that makes him happy it certainly makes me happy. He still never used a bottle and at this point I would imagine he never will.
Sleeping has never been an issue and there is really nothing I can say about that.
His whole world and the understanding of his surroundings comes from Bug.There is this magical connection in between the two of them and I so hope that it stays that way.
Phisicly he is very strong and LOVES standing and jumping. I am giving him another month and he will be cruizing around to my delight!
He is over 11 kg and about 73 cm.
As you can tell I am totally in LOVE with our children.

School Break

I am happy to announce that we have survived the first week of the school holidays.
Bug is off for two weeks and the anticipation leading up to the first day of her holiday put us in quite a good mood.

Naturally we have been busy with things around the house but to my greatest delight the weather also allowed us to spend some serious time on the beach or at the park.
I always worry that keeping my hyper super duper energetic little girl busy will be impossible and that she will turn into this out of control kid I pretend I never met.

Can I just say "NOT this time!!". She has been fund and helpful as well as a good sister. We have developed this something for something system and it seems to be making both of us happy.

We have been able to share our outings with her little friend Jake and the two of them can get lost in their pretend world for hours while Jake's mom and I enjoy a little "gossip" time.

I also think we might have found the best kept secret of St. Heliers. This little co op ice store carries very limited variety ice cream but the are absolutely delish....

Rotorua a.k.a. Rotovegas

On our latest journey we set out to check the local "Vegas". No, not because we wanted to gamble. Not even because of the wonderful magic shows. WE wanted to spend some quality time in the stinky geothermal pools, Rotorua is well known for.

We found a quaint little hotel on the "strip" with it's own tiny thermal pool, self containng kitchen. Perfect for a family traveling with small children kind of place.


Besides the first day of rain we actually got to spend some time just walking, playing and dipping into the stinky thermal water everywhere we wnet.

The scenery is quite amaizing, the pools are incredible. You can see steaming air everywhere you look. The smell of the thermals' is so apperant that at the time of our arrival I naivly but totally seriously commented that "someone had a poopy diaper!"

The reason the locals call the place Rotovegas is that it is a major destination for domestic or international tourists. As soon as you reach the city limits you can tell that most of it's population is set to "milk the cow".

Really we had a fantastic time. One well deserved get away and we loved it all the way. Well, maybe not our breakfast at the "most amazing" and "best of New Zealand's" cafe but hey it can't be all perfect.

Melting heart

Each day I wake up and I am so thankful to have two beautiful, happy and healthy child.
Each day some things drive me crazy and some things just melt my heart.
Today was that kind of a day.

Our day started out a bit slow, a bit groggy and a bit crazy at the same time. I was certainly ready to pull out my hair if I had any. Thankfully I shaved it recently.
It is quite a well-known phenomenon I would imagine in every family house.
Wake up, have breakfast, nurse, change diaper, use the potty, get dressed, brush hair and teeth, make lunch box ingredients, have a sip of coffee (if you can just jug down as much as you can, while you can, but be careful the beverage you are about to drink is HOT!!!) make sure everything is packed, get to the car, buckle up…….

Every day when we get to kindy, I help Bug settle in. There is a routine we follow each day we go. Today wasn’t any different, besides that I decided to hang around a little.
As I was sitting there Bug came up to me holding another little girl’s hand, one whom I haven’t met yet. She seems to be older, definitely taller and way more shy than Bug has ever bin.

Just as I was about to ask her name Bug introduced her to me and told me that “she just got back from a long vacation”. Once again I automatically turned to this new friend and asked her “where she spent her vacation”? To which I got no response, but a nice little smile. At this point Bug came to her rescue, took her hand and off they went with an “see you later mom.”

I watched them run to the swings while laughing at something invisible to me. I watched them enjoy their newfound friendship where words didn’t seem to matter.
Later I found out from one of her teachers that the new little friend has spent 3 months in Croatia (where she is from) for 3 months and her English has gone out the window.
Bug took it on herself apparently to teach her everything she needs to know and make her feel welcomed back and comfortable.
As I said, she melts my heart.

I'm dreaming of a lemon tree

Guess what? We've got a lemon tree!
Well,not really! Our neighbor has lemon tree that is full of ripe lemons at the moment. Yeah, that is what I thought too! It is winter here and we have a citrus tree full of it's juicy fruit.

Seeing how they would go bad unless we rescue them, Bug and I decided to put them to good use.We picked them ourselves right off of the tree, we put on our baking aprons and squeezed out their delicious juice to make our favorite LEMON BARS!

Bug loved making them so much that now we have a plan to make lemon cake, lemon torte, lemon jelly, lemon pudding, lemon soup, lemon muffins, lemon shots.......

Where the wild things are

After our decision to make the big move I became so excited about the wonderful landscape New Zealand has to offer. It is THE perfect place if you love the outdoors.
You can say we are those people. For the first time I took Bug for a hike, quite a long one I might add, she was only about a year old. It was always quite important to us that our kid/kids end up liking just being outside, running wild and loving nature.
Even though we live about 5 minutes outside of the city even our neighbourhood has great reservoirs and "bush walks" as they call them here.
It seems to be something that both Bug and Bee enjoy, it is free and time well spent!

Playing Dress Up

We played dress up. Well, actually we dressed Bee up and than laughed and laughed until we almost peed our pants. We laughed at him and he laughed with us. Poor guy if he would know that we were laughing at him.

He is such a great sport though. He let’s us do whatever we want as long as we keep him entertained. So, this time around we took out a huge hat, a small hat, a cape and Bugs wonderful flowery hair band.

Maybe next time we pull out the tutu’s lining Bug’s closet and everything pink. Hey, who said a boy can wear whatever his sister wants?

Walking in the winter wonderland

Sorry, but we have been hibernating. Winter has come and is almost gone and I could not be happier knowing that all this rain and “cold” weather is about to end.
Living in Southern California makes you forget that winter actually brings some changes to the weather for the rest of the world.

This year New Zealand’s winter was quite mild compared to last year’s. Right after we arrived in Auckland we experienced cold weather we never imagined a “tropical” country could have.
Having four seasons allows us to experience all the different colors, smells, noises that New Zealand has to offer.

During the winter months we took, as many walks as we could take be that early in the morning or late afternoon. Our neighborhood has great streets that lead right down to the bay, which of course offers an amazing playground.
Bug loves to ride her bike but lately she actually prefers to walk.

While we walk we talk. When we talk we talk a lot. She asks lot of questions and they all have to be answered. We have to talk about how the moon gets home and if it would drive a car what kind would it be? Or, we talk about superheroes and their hobbies besides saving peoples’ lives.

Sometimes we stop by the coffee shop for a cup of hot coco and a grandee vanilla late. If she has been really good we ask a pastry to come along.

We love to take pictures and explore. Bug picks flowers but only the ones we find on the ground. She thinks they need lots of care and the warmth of our home. Needless to say they last about a day and than they quietly “go away”.

So this is how we hibernate. Soon winter turns into spring and that will be our new reason to take our long walks. Only to explore what spring has to offer……

Happy People

This was taken while getting ready for our weekly shopping trip. Yep, we get quite excited about that. Not because shopping itself is fun but because we can spend some time together and make some very serious decisions together. Also, because Bug gets treats while on these outings. I think the latter is the reason for the big smile on her face. On the other hand Bee is yet to really understand but seeing his big sister smile certainly makes him smile.

When time comes

I LOVE this stage. His little world is expending and it is so much fun to be able to witness every moment of it. Lately I have been thinking about this little guy being so little and cuddly and how it will change with a blink of an eye. Who will he be? What kind of man will he become?
The difference between Bug and Bee is already evident. He is so much more mellow and patient. Does that mean he will stay that way? He already has a great disposition, which I hope to nurture.
While I hug his little body today I think of him hunching over to hug me when I am old and gray.

Funny Fashion Friday

This was not my idea of a winter outfit....

Let's shake it up

Fun is the name of the game. In our house we like to have fun and laugh a lot. We achieve that by dancing a lot, going to the Museum or to the beach a lot, helping our dolls move out of their house and replace them with our wild animals instead or by simply making fun of our newest addition farting up a storm in his diapers. Now that is what we call fun.

Pulling a little Donnie Darko

...not really, but that's what this picture reminds me of.
Bug had a "farm" themed fundraising party at kindy last Friday and this was the picture we could purchase to help the school out with. One of the things we could purchase. There were lots of other useless things for sale and to be good candidates we made sure to spend a lot of money so that the kindy's pond and yard can be updated with the collected money.
Bug had fun at the party. She was dresses as a farmer and got her face painted as a "mean" tiger. There was BBQ-ing, face painting, dance routine and treasure hunt in the dark.

Who needs rubber duck ducky

One of the daily reoccurring events we have at our house is bath time. Needless to say one should have a large enough bathtub to fit three but that is not quite the case with us. We do have a decent size tub but certainly not enough to fit us all especially not when all Bug wants to do is swim. We now also have a little guy who gets way too excited when we turn the water on and get him undressed. I give him a few more moths and he will be “swimming” in there next to Bug.

Bee is our gentle giant

Bee (Big Easy E) is a week short of being 4 months old. He is an incredible baby. He smiles all the time and laughs out loud when you crack him up. His eyes can talk. He talks. He talks all the time. He doesn’t try to get your attention by crying but by talking. He is mellow and has a great temper. He sleeps well and eats well. He is HUGE. He can fit in things that are way out of his “league”. He refuses to drink out of a bottle and will not take anything other than the boob. Yes, I said it. The boob. I can say it again: boob, boob, and boob…
I’m thinking to start him on “solids” in few weeks as I think he needs the extra pounds. Never mind that I have a hard time carrying him around in his car seat.
He is now turning from tummy to back and vice versa. He found his left thumb and sure loves to suck on it.

Funny Fashion Friday

"All you need is your own imagination
So use it that's what it's for
Go inside, for your finest inspiration
Your dreams will open the door."

Table project

I have been meaning to take care of Bug's little, old and sad table. It was the very first table we bought her when she was ready to start doing craft stuff on her own at her table. I think we might have even used the table at some point for her to eat at, but that did not last too long as I realized that unfinished wood could not hold against my toddler's dangerously gross eating habits.

After we moved here the table had to be put into her room as that was the only place we could fit it. Over the course of almost a year it was covered with books and paper and who knows what? This little old table was almost forgotten....until I decided to give it some time and love.

I have had this amazing "chalkboard paint" for a while now and was planning to use it on our wall, but seeing how we are renting, well that wasn't going to happen any time soon. What better use of it than to paint Bug's little old table and allow her to draw all over her furniture? Actually only all over this table but that just a matter of detail.

To say the least she loves her NEW little old table. She can't get enough of it. It turned out great and even gave me some other ideas what to use the paint for. That will be another post though.