Christmas Day

Christmas day started at about 8.30 when we heard the usual pitter patter of feet heading towards our bedroom... Emma was very excitied to see all her presents - especially her little bike which was too big and difficult to wrap. She spent ages opening each present saying 'rip rip,' as she did - and she spent ages looking at each thing before moving onto the next present! We then had yummy pancakes for breakfast! And enjoyed some family time together.

Mum came over mid-morning and had a simple lunch with us. Then it was time for the traditional Christmas snooze.... Energy revived it was time to head over to Skip & Janelle's for more presents and food (delicious turkey and lamb on the BBQ - yum!) Dale & Nell travelled up from Taupo so it was great catching up with them. Emma lasted beautifully through out the day I thought she would need to go down at Janelle & Skip's but at 10.15 she was still going strong! We even managed to check out the Franklin Road lights on the way home (a street famous for it's houses covered in Christmas lights.) All in all we had a fantastic Christmas and the build up this year was amazing - I actually feel sad that it's over... Oh well roll on Christmas 2008!!

Playgroup Christmas Party

And the best Christmas party so far was the final playgroup of the year. There was a wonderful music session conducted by two very holy angels! Lots of incredibly delicious party food. One of the highlights for Emma was a fire engine coming with real fire fighters. Now the reason this was a highlight is because Emma has the DVD 'Elmo goes to the firehouse' - so today when she saw the fire engine the first thing she said was Elmo! Elmo is currently her latest obsession! Someone she's not to sure about is Santa. Today she managed to go up to him because he was holding out a present for her! Otherwise with all the shopping trips we've made she is happy to wave at Santa and say "Bye bye'" but if he talks to her she becomes very very shy!! Maybe next year we'll get Emma in the photo with Santa....

Christmas @ the Zoo

This is a bit different from the things some of you will be doing in the UK! Going to a special Christmas celebration at the zoo - complete with a very summery pacific Santa (Samoan and wearing a lavalava). We had a lovely picnic with the rest of Auckland and with a very cheeky Pukeko who wanted to try my not very tasty quiche! Emma had her first experience on a bouncy castle which lasted 30 seconds or so! As well as Christmas carols and entertainment. And then of course we had to visit the animals while we were there - the monkeys were especially entertaining tonight and the hippo (who Emma has named Harry) always puts on a good show tonight showing us his teeth! When we asked what she liked best she stated it was the elves & mice (people dressed up as...) We've recently purchased a Friends of the Zoo pass (thanks to UK birthday money) so we have lots of Summer zoo trips planned. Last week we went with Jo, Alex and Hamish - so thats when the gorgeous photo of Em and Alex having a cuddle was taken!

Christmas Angel!

Last week we went to Mainly Music for the first time with Jo, Alex & Hamish - Emma had a great time. Although there's one song that she cries in every time - it's a song we do at playgroup too not sure what the association is with it or whether she just doesn't like it! Anyway we went along again today for the last one of the year which was a Christmas Party. Here's our wee angel dressed as an angel. My cousin Lianne makes these gorgeous smocked dresses and I don't get the chance to dress Emma in them too often - so dressing as an angel was the perfect excuse...

Christmas in Emma's Room...

I once watched Dr Phils wife suggest that it's a good idea to decorate a child's room for the holidays as it helps them to understand what the holiday is about... I thought that sounded great and I've tried to do this for Emma. And then my friend Gillian let me know that the Warehouse had bargain fake small trees and she was getting one for each of her kids - and I thought Super! This morning we started the decoration process - some of the decorations Emma has made (and then she pulled some to bits this morning too...) But we had lots of fun with Christmas Carols on in the background. Here's some photos before the tree gets pulled to bits...(All part of the fun!)

I'm also loving some Christmas ideas from other peoples' blogs this year. This is one that I got from bestlife - it's an advent calendar.... Which is a row of numbered socks each with a few hidden stickers inside. Bring on Christmas!!

Sticker Girl!

Thought I should share this one! Whenever Emma gets a sticker she puts it on her cheek - so when she got hold of Daddy's sticky labels they ended up all over her face. Also Emma is now sleeping in the cot without a side - so far there's only been one tumble out... It makes stealing kisses when she's sleeping a lot easier!

Emma's Teddy Bear Picnic

Teddy Invites Emmy having a play pre party


Today we had Emma's 2nd birthday party which was a teddy bear's picnic. Above is an example of the invitations that were sent out to four of her favourite wee friends, Aunty Janelle, Uncle Skip and Grandma.

Thankfully it was a gorgeous sunny morning so we could have most of the party out on the deck. The obvious decorations were teddy bears - thanks to Grandma and Aunty Janelle we had heaps round the place. I also did little paw prints made out of brown card leading people to the front door. Emma's bedroom is right near the deck so I did a teddy bears picnic scene in there that the kids could see through the window.

Food glorious food! Party favours

The children all had indvidual picnic baskets of party food - which they then got to take home with bubbles, stickers and tiny teddy biscuits. They also got to take home the calico bears they had decorated with buttons and bows. The cake of course was a teddy bear. Emma seemed over whelmed when everyone sang her Happy Birthday! We did try to do a group photo with all the kids and their teddies however Sophie was the only one willing by this time!

Emma's favourite word for the last week has been 'party!' And she loved having all her friends here. Everyone seemed to have a good time and happy memories were made!



Teddy Birthday cake & Calico Bears



Sophie waiting for a group photo! & Grace



Favourite photo of the day with Aunty Janelle.

Claire's 2cents Worth!

Last week our car was towed! Yep $180 later - more than just a slap on the hand for parking in the wrong spot (all my fault...) but an almighty whack that hurt! The thing that hurt that most was the pleasure the towing company seemed to gain from me turning up flustered with a toddler on my hip! (How do they sleep at night?) Anyway.... I have been meaning for a couple of months' to start a gratitude journal - or at least to write at least three things in my diary each day that I'm thankful for. Simply to try and be a little more positive... On the day my car was towed I was very happy - Emma and I had visited a toy shop which was full of very grumpy, very flustered, very unhappy staff. Didn't really suit the beauty of the shop - so Emma and I made up for it by being very happy and playing with lots of toys for over an hour... However, my mood soon changed when after visiting the next shop to come out and find my car had been towed. I went from happy go-lucky -nothing -can -bother -me to a very angry crazed woman within minutes! Which kinda got me thinking... Anyway my gratitude comments are under way in my diary - but here's three real easy one's to think of straight away...

1. Emma - the joy and sunshine of our lives. No one makes me laugh as much!

2. Rob - I've been mostly a grumpy wife this last weekend - full of a cold and sick of being sick and sick of working... I'm grateful to Rob for the things he does round the house - like water blasting the deck this last weekend. I'm grateful he's a fantastic Dad and a wonderful provider.

3. I forgot to mention in my towing story - there were some fantastic workman close by who took pity on me - and one guy drove me to the towing yard. If he hadn't of done this I would probably still by wandering how to get to New Lynn from Mt Eden! Also I'm grateful that I could easily make up for the fine by doing an extra shift at work - made it easier to tell Rob too!!

Play, Book & Park

If during our morning snuggle I ask Emma what she wants to do today she'll generally say one of three things which are: 'Play, Book or Park!' Sometimes she'll mention someone's name too as if she wants to see that person - not always easy when it might be cousin Maia in England that she suggests! Above are some pics of her doing some of her favourite things...

Small bits of Life!

Here's a few snippets of different things we've been up to lately...

Last Friday Rob was off work sick so we headed off to Kelly Tartlons to use our free pass. We loved the penguins I never realised they were such show-offs! Emma especially was very entertained and now has a newly found interest in fish. When we were at Jansens' (again) the other day she was saying 'that one, that one, that one!' to the many colourful fishes for sale!

We were excitied to see signs of Spring in Cornwall Park as the daffodils are coming out. I love walking along Twin Oak Drive when it's lined with the gorgeous daffs. I love Spring flowers (hint, hint Rob!! - in fact don't worry I'll be buying them myself!!) We even saw heaps of baby cows - now we're just waiting for the lambs.

This morning we had a Ticehurst adventure - after buying a bike seat for Emma on trade-me we headed out to a very flat area to try it out. Rob had to spend a bit of time yesterday servicing our bikes (I haven't been on mine since 2003!) But we had great fun and Emma loved zooming along even if she was somewhat close to Daddy's bottom! Poor Dudley seemed to suffer the most having to run to keep up! No photos of this sorry - co-ordination not good enough to be able to ride and take a photo!

Emma & Dudley

Well not much gets Emma down... Despite being sick again this time with tonsillitis she is still happy playing. Here she is happily deciding Dudley looks a bit chilly so dressing him in a scarf found in my wardrobe. She also is very observant noticing that Dudley hadn't had his fur brushed today so she gave that a go too - using Daddy's hair brush!! Life lesson from Emma for the week - find amusement in the little things despite how you may be feeling!

Child Abuse - A National Problem

Yesterday at 12.12pm everyone in New Zealand was encouraged to stop what they were doing and to stand out on the street for three minutes. This was to symbolize that we as a nation are not going to tolerate child abuse and if we see something dodge we will do something about it. The statistics of child abuse which has ended in death in New Zealand is shocking. The recent three year old that was killed in Rotorua shocked me to the core. So I did stand out on my little street yesterday (although I did get a little distracted picking up old raisin packets from the car!) But today watching this youtube video it made me just want to scream again....

Painting!

One of the things I love about blogging is being able to share Emma's firsts... And the above pictures are the evidence of her first real attempt at painting this afternoon. I've been trying to encourage painting every now and then with not much success - but today I brought some cool sponges from the $2 shop and they were a hit. Emma seemed to love it and kept saying "Wow!" (Her word for the week). She did enjoy using a paint brush as well as the sponges. Watch this space for more paintings in the future from our little budding artist!

Sickie Girl

Our wee baby girl is currently on her first ever course of antibiotics... Emma has a nasty ear infection & a sore throat. She was miserable on Thursday with a temperature and much the same again on Friday.. we went to the Dr's and by this stage her temp was 40 degrees. I always feel a little split with the child sickness thing and when to take her to the Doctors. There's half of me that says I'm a paediatric nurse - we don't need a Doctor (arrogant I know!) And then there's the part of me that panics and cries when she has so much as a sniffle! Rob's at a conference all day today - so I'm very thankful that Aunty Janelle & Grandma came over for lunch & a catch up.

Furry Festival

Yesterday we had an interesting Sunday morning - we went to the Furry Festival at Jansens' Pet Shop. We took Dudley with us and he had a grand time. Emma loved the mobile farm and being able to say hello to lots of rabbits. There was also a bouncy castle, face painting, sausage sizzle but the most exciting for us a competition called Pet Idol. I registered Rob & Dudley in the pet/owner look-a-like category! So funny seeing them up on stage on the 'cat walk!' We didn't win - but we did win a spot prize (Rob reckons he was 2nd) which was a family pass to Kelly Tartlons (an aquarium and somewhere Emma hasn't been.) Emma also had a great time saying hello to other dogs/pets there - she really has no fear with animals happily wandering up to a huge Newfoundland to say "hi!" But she is gentle and lovely with animals.

Stormy Day!

Cold, wet and very stormy day in Auckland today... Picture this - happily making muffins with Emma in the kitchen, heater on in the lounge, drier on, lots of lights on when suddenly there's a power cut at 5pm... Felt a tad stressed with having to leave for work in just an hour and a half - and a whole lot to do beforehand which involved power... Emma was very fascinated by the candles and after singing 'happy birthday' to everyone we know - I decided to give Emma her first bath by candlelight. Perfect thing to do with limited lighting and Emma acted like it was a treat! I even started singing Christmas Carols deciding it was a Mid-Winter Carols by Candlelight Bath Special! So blessed to have these special moments with Em! All power is restored now - home from work and managed to avoid all fallen trees!

PS Photo not really related... but it was Emma in 2005 after her first real Carols by Candlelight service in Taupo.

This is just to show off the gorgeous poncho and hat my Mum made for Emma recently. It's adorable and really soft and warm. I love the colour and it makes her eyes look really green. I sometimes call her 'Apple' when she wears it! Everywhere she wears it we receive comments on it and we have people asking for the pattern! So cheers Mum thanks for all the gorgeous things you make for Emma - they are truly appreciated and loved! I'm currently trying to knit myself with a lot of help from Mum!