I really should be cleaning...

Jarvis is napping, the house is looking kind of like a tornado has whipped round the lounge, but instead of tidying it up I keep being drawn to the computer...

Loving the new car. My back in particular is loving the new car. I don't think my chiropractor will be so enthusiastic (from a health perspective he will be, but I'm sure he'll be missing the daily transactions!).

It was also pretty cool being able to go up the whareratas without having to drop to second gear. After my internet man comes to give me a proper reliable connection this afternoon I will be sure to post car photos! In the tradition of Barack Obama & his jeans, it is most definitely a 'Mom Car', but being that I am now a 'Mom' I figure it's just perfect.

We attempted to go walking yesterday, but it was a total disappointment. I loved walking for a couple of hours along the path by the beach in Napier, we did it almost every day we were there. I think we'll be back to walking along our road & back again after yesterdays effort, we drove to the botanical gardens (where I'd never actually been before), got out the pram, bundled in the boy, and after exploring every possible pathway were back at the car within fifteen minutes. Any handy hints for nice places to walk in Gisborne are appreciated! Please!

A New Car!

A superb day in Hawkes Bay! After realising our little car was posing a health hazard to Jarvis & I, we decided a new (to us) car was in order. I found a fantastic one online, & it happened to be in Hastings - perfect! Or not...I arranged to see this car on Sunday, called the man on Saturday evening & he's already sold it...Grrrr!!!!! Many passive aggressive exclaimation points!!!

Anyhow, after much ranting & raving about the bad man who sold my car, I formulated a new plan which involved scouring Hawke's Bay for a car. Mum, Jarvis & I set out on Sunday afternoon in the howling wind to check out the caryards. This involved Mum & Jarvis playing in the car while I ran around like a crazy lady with my notebook & pen.

I thought I'd found something which would work & was super excited. Then I got home, did my mandatory safety check on the LTSA website & found that it was horribly unsafe & possibly a death trap. Crossed off the list.

This morning we took a new approach. Jarvis went into his pram all rugged up, and we marched around Napier checking out cars. He thought this was quite enjoyable. Or it may have been the new dangly toy thingee on his pram.

After a whole lot of failure we found a great car, but it was too expensive. Thank goodness for the buyers market - I told the car yard man that it was perfect but I just couldn't stretch to that, so he knocked a thousand dollars off the price, got it AA checked for me, & even offered to get a carseat bolt installed if it was all to my liking. Done.

Can't wait for tomorrow!

Nappies!

A fantastic visit from the courier this afternoon - my clever sister made these gorgeous nappies for the little guy! The prototype nappy (she made one as a test run before going into production!) is better than any of the hideously expensive ones I bought, and far cooler :) Yay!

Oh how we've grown...

I was just watching Jarvis playing on the floor with his favourite cow Bepanthen (as she was dubiously renamed by my husband...I'm sure her name used to be Claribelle?) and realised she's an excellent measuring stick for just how big he is! The second photo is from April 27th, when Jarvis was exactly a month old, the first one I took this morning, he's now 3 1/2 months. Back then the cow was bigger than the baby!

We've been contemplating our little person's speedy growth this week, with him having to shift out of his bassinette and into his cot, out of the pram and into the pushchair. Fortunately he seems to love his new bed and sleeps with his arms stretched out as far as they will go, just because he can! He woke up this morning & had a conversation with his new bed for about half an hour before he wanted more stimulating company.

He's less certain about the new pram arrangement, I had to take the sunshade off so he could look straight up & see me! I think he quite liked being able to see out once he got used to it, still kept glancing up to check I hadn't run off though...Next mission - how to get the thing into the car!

Puku!!

Mr Gobbles has worked out that if he uses his arms, he can stay on his tummy for much longer! He was having some fun hanging out with his friends today, surrounded by buzzy bees & rattles made of curtain rings...Good times!

Our other fun & exciting event is working out how to have a nap longer than 45 minutes. Yesterday I spent a couple of hours running around the house like a crazy person doing housework, tiptoeing back every few minutes to peek in & check that my little friend was in fact still asleep. We'd tried a myriad of complex plans to get more sleep in, with extreme failure every time (and much pain & suffering...). Latest plan is to sneak up on him about 35 minutes into the nap (he has a built in alarm clock and wakes up without fail every 45 minutes), hide under his hammock & bounce it to stop him waking up! One of the books I read (the no cry nap solution) seems to think if I do this for a week or so, he'll stop waking up in between - I'm liking that! Will see if it comes to fruition...

Just had my wonderful friends & their babies round for lunch, my soup was such a success I thought I might pop the recipe on here...

Yummy Kumara & Bacon Soup...
Some kumara (any old colour, 3 or 4)
Chicken stock (or vege. or water would probably do it!)
A bacon hock
An onion or shallot.

Roast the chopped up Kumara, onion & bacon hock for an hour or so.
Put the whole lot in a pot or slow cooker, cook it for ages.
Pull out the bacon hock, puree up the soup with a whiz stick.
Pull the meat off the bacon hock, put it back in the soup.

Yummy!! Works really nicely with pumpkin instead of kumara too.

Aries Baby

Something I found on www.bubhub.com.au...

The Aries child is strong, vigorous, vital, outgoing and very affectionate. Starting from the time he is born, he will try to get everybody's attention and he usually cries till he gets what he wants. His body is strong, as well as his voice. The great energy he is born with propels him into action, and he starts walking and talking at an early age. He shocks people with his physical strength, moving chairs and other heavy objects. This applies to both boys and girls. He will always be attracted to what is forbidden to him. You need to keep an eye on him because he is so curious and restless that he may be prone to occasional burns or bruises. He does not learn quickly by experience, but always intends to do better.

Due to his vitality, he recovers from illness quite rapidly. He is very loving and at the same time he needs effusive demonstrations of love. He is a day- dreamer and sentimental and he will have a bright imagination. He is proud of himself and he seeks admiration. He sometimes loses his temper with explosions that can be frightening, but these explosions disappear as fast as they come. He is not spiteful and he is always willing to forgive and forget. He is trusting and sincere, so his parents should be frank with him, in order to strengthen his self-confidence and ability to be discerning.

Aries Baby may have a problem with being lazy about his school work, but neither scolding nor comparing him with his brothers and sisters is a good policy. Instead of making him feel ashamed, challenging him is a good tactic. He will be a leader among his friends. He will make up new games and will always try to win. The Aries child must learn to obey at an early age in order to avoid big problems in the future. His heart is soft; he is overly trusting and he is tenacious and persistent. His pride is also weak and he can easily get hurt.

Birthday presents must be kept well hidden because he is very impatient and he cannot wait for the proper time. He is very generous and a spendthrift, so money will never stay in his pocket. If he receives bad treatment as a child, he will probably be very aggressive in the future. It is better to ask with a smile rather than to order him, so he will try even harder to please his parents. He needs to keep busy, participating in sports or developing creative interests. It is very important to remember that you have to praise Aries children to make them grow up with a feeling of well-being.

Guess we'll have to wait & see! So far looking kind of accurate :)

A curious combination

We have a miracle - my beautiful little man has been asleep for 2 hours! After many battles with 45 minute naps I think I may be winning...(or not, he may prove me totally wrong tomorrow). Have been taking the 'sneak up & bounce the hammock just a little bit at about 40 minutes' approach, as well as playing his lullaby music on repeat right next to where he sleeps. As I'm listening to national radio it makes for an interesting cacophony of sounds. Jim Mora plus Music for Dreaming. Hmmm. Too scared to turn it off though, just in case that breaks the spell.

Usually I'm the lime pickle lady, but this year my lovely husband took over the job as I was just a little bit too busy...

A couple of days before Jarvis's arrival.

An oldie but a goodie...

PS

Sorry about the weird formatting... I need to work on getting my photos in the right place!

Beach flowers

Those lovely photos were taken by my clever husband at Pourerere, on the coast of Central Hawke's Bay, where we went on Jarvis's first holiday over Queen's Birthday Weekend. It was the most horrendous weather imaginable for a beach holiday, but we had a fantastic time hiding in a little old bach right next to the sea.

One of the neatest things was the visitor book, which went back to the 1960's - you could follow some regulars who stayed in the bach as little kids, right up to when they were grown up & came back with their own kids, the lady who owns it now used to visit when she was just a nipper! We left our mark too so that in another 40 years or so some curious visitor can read about our adventure. Unfortunately no crayfish in our story (unlike many of the others), with the snow falling 5 minutes inland it wasn't really a weekend for diving!

An excellent weekend though for hibernating inside, reading books & drinking dark beer. We had a curiously named beer - Three Boys Oyster Stout - which we assumed was just a nifty name, until, after reading the back a bit more carefully, we realised actually used oysters in the brewing process!!! I am probably the most vehement anti oyster campaigner you'll ever meet, so this was NOT what I wanted to read! You couldn't actually taste anything fishy in the beer, but the whole idea of oysters simmering away in the malt creeps me out a bit! Apparently it's an ancient style of beer making, something to do with the health giving properties of stout mixed with the health giving properties of oysters? Curious...

Holiday...

Busy busy busy...

So pleased to finally see my photos on here, I was ready to call our internet man & say some very mean things to him...(he hides from my phonecalls anyway so it would have been a very mean voicemail message!).

My number one discovery of the day was car-seat subsidies from Turanga Health - our little man now has a carseat he can stretch his legs out in :) He was looking pretty squished up in his capsule, and luckily before we forked out a fortune on a seat, the subsidy was brought to my attention!!

Other great achievements today were going to the chiropractor, and filing my tax return. Hmmmm...not the most exciting Monday in history, but I suppose they were all things that needed doing. I can now burn the mountains of paper with maths equations scribbled all over them, the joy of having such a small business that it's not worth hiring an accountant...

Next exciting adventure - salvaging a few leaves from the almost bare lemon verbena tree for a cup of tea. Mmmmm....

Success!!

Finally some photos!! So exciting!!

Maybe today...

The battle with my internet connection continues...perhaps today will be the day a photos makes it onto the internet?

A big shiny tui just landed in the tree right outside my window, went to take a picture & much to my disappointment the camera battery is totally flat! Feeling a little photographically challenged...Yesterday it was the biggest fattest kingfisher I've ever seen, in the same tree. Quite the wildlife sanctuary out there! Don't think cows really count as wildlife, but they're out there too & if I ever manage to upload any photos they'll be online too.

The cows are one of my favourite things about living on a Biodynamic property - once a year they come to wander around the vineyard & munch on the grass. They're quite unusual in that they're totally tame & you can go up & give them cuddles, which I make sure I do every day. I have a great photo from last year where Starlight & I are taking a nap together, my head on her warm tummy...magic.

Maybe I'm having a technologically challenged day in general, the easy sunday morning playlist in itunes has just started blasting out some very loud Pixies, not condusive to small baby taking a nap!
Still waiting on the photo to upload too...even though it's teeny tiny it's still taking a hundred years...

Still no photo! Maybe next time...

hmmm still no photos...

Still working on getting my photos to upload...one of these days!!

I'm Back! The adventure begins :)

After meaning to get online for ages, here I am! Jarvis is taking a nap in his hammock, the sun is shining, the cows are staring at me from outside, life's good :)

Our beautiful boy is 3 months old now, born on March 27th. Not the home birth we'd imagined, but we did manage to stay here for most of the labour, and only went to hospital for the last 5 hours after his heartrate went up & the midwife thought it was best to transfer up where they could keep an eye on him...turned out to be a good idea as we needed a bit of extra help in the end!

Jarvis came out with a full head of hair & a wise look on his face - both of which he still has - lucky for him he hasn't rubbed his hair off like so many babies do!

We had a rough first few weeks, at 10 days the poor little monster was admitted to hospital as he's lost too much weight (and since I hadn't done any of this before I had no idea my milk hadn't come in properly!), was hooked up to all kinds of hideous machines & had food pumped into him through a tube...not cool at all. I was hooked up to an electric milking machine which made me feel rather like a dairy cow! We managed to escape after a few days, and now I have a big strong healthy boy - just hit 7.1kg this week!!! I want to go and show the paediatrician sometime just to show off!

I'll write about some of our adventures of the past few months soon, but for now here are some pictures! (if they ever load...this internet connection is driving me insane!)