Tina, Amber & Scott

Not a lot to report since the last update. Amber had a really bad ear infection and was a very grumpy girl over the Easter break, but she is back to her old self now. 

Easter was fun, first taste of chocolate for Amber  and she loved it (Surprise surprise). We also moved her from the bedroom closest to the lounge to the back extension bedroom, and now we can be noisy  with action movies etc and not have to worry. so that went well even though we did it on the weekend she was poorly she still settled into her new room very well.

Coffee group took all bubs on the train on Wednesday for our weekly meet up, and the kids loved it Amber just kept running up and down the carriage, it was very funny and tiring. Scott and I are both well, work is actually going ok for both of us, with Scott successfully completing his big move downstairs, and I am finally playing catch up before payroll kicks off again next week. At least it means money is coming into the house.

Scott is after a Google phone or something like it, and is trying to sell some of his discworld figurines to raise the funds, so if your interested look here http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=283484883

Clocks have just sprung forward  in the UK, and were now 12 hours distant, just for the week though, 11 next week as ours go back an hour as we fall into Autumn.  On the good side we have a four day weekend to look forward to this week, and two four day working weeks, yum.   Ok then news, work is getting harder and a pain in the neck, but it pays the mortgage and I’m lucky to have one in the current climate.  Last week I managed to get a couple of days leave and painted the bathroom.  We were going to have the whole week off and go up North for a relax, but after Amber smashed my front tooth, and Tina had an unexpected Dental appointment, well that blew the holiday reserve money,  I can’t wait to win the lottery, must be my turn soon.   As I said, the bathroom is finished painting, I just need to fit the window trims and the skirts, then onto the Washroom, sand, paint, and trim,  then fix the loose brick over the garage, then lay the path,  it never ends.  Oh, and we managed to get a heat pump installed into the back room the other week, so we’ll use the four day weekend to move Amber’s nursery into the back. Hopefully she won’t mind the move much, and the temperature is controlled, I just hope I can fit the office desk and a double bed from the back room, into the front room.  Thank goodness we didn’t decorate with children’s wallpaper when we did the nursery first time round!

Saturday was nice weather, Tina and her mummy pals organised an outing to the Blueberry farm, near Stag lands in the upper hut.  Lovely weather, but we didn’t spend too much time picking blueberries, or at least I didn’t, I think Tina was in her element.  Amber had fun running around and exploring with all the other toddlers.  She charmed the pants off everyone with that smile of hers and those blue eyes    The two girls in the shop at the farm were from Germany and Newry. Small world indeed. Sunday was a vege day, Amber had a long nap and we both vegged out on the couch. Amber woke us both at 5am this morning, teething bless her, her molars are coming through, and she hasn’t been happy all day.  Time for bed now though, and do it all over again tomorrow   Oh, and nearly forgot, Tina won a competition at work for dressing up as a Nerd   $20 for wearing a T-Shirt, with the title of the blog on it. I don’t think many people non tech would have got it though,  As they say, "There are only 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, and those who don’t"

Amber is almost 14 months old and she is amazing, she is not only walking but running! stopping and sudden changes of direction are still under progression. she says Ta, Dog, Mama, Dada, Look and a new one over the last few days what! I think she is trying also to say down.

She insists on feeding herself and use a spoon but she cant yet get the food loaded so mummy or daddy load it up first. She prefers to eat everything with her fingers and let Sam have a lick. She has progressed on to whole milk no more formula.

We are teaching her to communicate with words more rather then tantrums yes they do start at 12 months not 24 as the myth goes. So teaching her new rules all the time, like say Ta when you are given something, down if you want to get down and up if you want to get up. She understands loads too, and can blow kisses and wave bye bye on demand, she also likes to give mummy/daddy kisses & cuddles.

New sounds and faces are forever emerging, and she has 8 teeth 4 at the top and 4 at the bottom with molars coming I think! Oh it must be tough being a baby.

Life is good here at the moment, my work is going very well, and I enjoy playing with the grown ups in the morning and then spending all after noon with Amber its a great balance for me, and I do hope that this jobs lasts longer than 12 month but we will see.

Scott is doing well, he is manically busy at work and often forgets to take a break (Not good), and tries to fit way to much into his day, we are both struggling to find an evening routine  that works for us both at the moment, Scott gets home anytime from 5:30 – 6pm, and wants to exercise on the wii fit which takes half an hour, Amber wakes up between 5:30 and 6:30pm and demands her dinner within 5 mins, so If I haven’t cooked its a case of given her tinned food (oops), I guess we will figure something out.

Went into Wellington today as there was an underwear sale on in the overseas terminal, and I managed to get a bargain, but the real bargain was all the other free stuff that was on down the waterfront, it was a beautiful day so all along oriental parade was buzzing as normal, but there was also lots of free shows relating to the circus in Waitangi Park, Dragon Boat racing, and other events going on in Frank Kits park, its endless, you can never be bored here. Even just walking down the street you are approached by three teenagers on unicycles, I love it and to think Amber is going to think that this is normal, but I am dreading that the time she’s 18 will probably think its boring in comparison to exciting England. It is true your rarely appreciate what you have, I hope she doesn’t resent us by having her here. But then her first Passport came through this week (British) so she can go on OE and stay with her cousins when she is 18 and they are 26 and 28.

Scott is cooking up delicious smells in the kitchen so I am off to investigate. Until next time…

Morning all,  Its been a while so lets bring you up to date.  Work, Home work home,  seems to be a repeating Cycle.   Amber is well, and toddling along nicely,  she is a fast little mover and always into things,  We had to move all the books off the bookshelf’s up a level and replace the items with her own toys and books to throw around and read.  Friday we picked up a Trade me item for her, a little pool floater she can sit in with her legs wiggling around underneath. I got home at half 6 and we got changed jumped in the car and went down to the Tawa Pool for a swim around for an hour, she had a great time splashing and playing with her new toy.   The bathroom is getting there,  the plastering is all done, and I sealed the grout yesterday and we bought paint on Saturday from Mitre Ten in Petone, after we had visited the Petone fair.  Nice day out. So I just have to pick a time to get the painting done.  This weekend was out as the weather was fine, and the grass needed culling once more. I cant wait for winter so the grass stays short. While I was cutting the grass I noticed what I thought was large rain clouds gathering on the horizon. Turns out it wasn’t rain it was Titahi Bay on fire !  A couple of little scrots had set a fire in Whiteria Park, which had spread to the whole peninsula. helicopters were dumping water all night and residents were evacuated.  They managed to get it all under control, and let people go home this morning at 8am.   Full story HERE.  Some impressive photos on Flickr though, if you want to search for them.  This week, same old, same old.  oh and a birthday Friday.  42,  oh bugger.

My Turn again, the weather has been so strange this summer we had a really nice November and December was rubbish! Jan has been half and half some really hot days 30 + like today and then 15 like yesterday, really bizarre.

Anyway just a short note to say that we are all well, Amber had a bad case of runny bum a few weeks ago which made her miss her own pool birthday party, which is why we swapped to the park at the last minute. but she is on the mend now. We had a busy weekend with Bryden’s first birthday party on Saturday, and Daniels naming ceremony, followed by Birthday party, followed by Carol’s welcome home party on Sunday, we are all pooped especially Amber.

Scott and I are planning the year ahead and realised that we may have a few visitors in Oct and then December so we might try and get away for a few days at the end of the summer. We have the Fujitsu people coming round this week to give us a quote for installing another heat pump/air conditioner in the back room, so that we can move Amber out there soon.

We also got plan’s to finish off the bathroom this weekend so we might have to go paint shopping! 1 more 1st Birthday to go in a few weeks and that the party season over for us until November again Well I say Party but of course the Wellington Sevens are on this weekend and the party season starts now ish really, there is a wine festival going on and martin borough fair soon, plus ACDC are playing everywhere and people are out on the waterfront having a good time, You just gotta love Wellington on a good day!