Crazy July

Hi everyone!

To sum up the last few months - life has been hectic! We are so sorry the blog hasn't been updated more frequently, but I have been inspired to start over again and will try to keep things coming more regularly.

I've titled this entry Crazy July because, well, July is a pretty crazy month for us. Three important birthdays - Nana, Erin AND Keira's.

Roland has also been working hard at the bathroom renovations when he gets the time in between various work committments, and we are hopefully in the end stages now - just the painting, floor tiling and new toilet / cabinet to go.

The NZ winter is also here in all it's wet and dreary misery, but we have been making good use of our fireplace and I've also been making a few woolly bits and pieces for the girls to wear so they stay extra warm.

We are off to Wellington in four days for a bit of a break, and will be visiting Roland's brother & family - they have three girls, so it's going to be a busy and exciting time!

When we get back Erin will start morning kindy, and then shortly after that will be the BIG birthday party for the girls - I suspect there will be a rather monumental photo post around then ;)

Keira's life can still be summed up pretty easily - she is a happy, healthy little girl who loves to laugh at her big sister, eats like a (small) horse and busily crawls around exploring / destroying whatever she can lay her hands on.

Here are a couple of more recent shots of the girls to tide you all over until next time.

Love from Jacquie, Roland, Erin & Keira xoxo

Here we go again...

For those of you that haven't already seen the photos on Facebook, the madness has begun again! This time we are renovating our bathroom, to finally remedy the fact that we have been bathtubless for more than three years.




The door to the bathroom has moved, it used to be in a really stupid place right by our front door, but is now in the hallway. We're also getting rid of the shower box and will have a shower over bath instead.



And for sheer enjoyment, here is a photo of Erin & Keira at dinner time just a couple of nights ago:

(And don't worry, the beer isn't Erin's !!)

Hard to believe that Keira is almost 7 months old already, and when she turns one later this year Erin will be turning 4 !!

Life has otherwise settled into a reasonably predictable rhythm, but with enough variety to still allow us to visit friends and family.

Roland has also returned to his regular Thursday night squash games, and I haven't quite made it back to yoga class yet but am hoping to get there some day !! Meanwhile we probably need to start making more use of the Wii we treated ourselves to for Christmas.

Anyway, hope all is well with you out there, even though the updates might not come often we miss you all and think of you lots.

Love from Jacquie, Roland, Erin & Keira xoxo

December snapshots

Merry Christmas (tree!)

Santa's (not so little anymore) Helper

Some kindy artwork by our clever big girl that got sent away and made into a calendar!

Keira & Erin

A future model in the making?

Daddy & Keira

Erin fast asleep buried under all the couch cushions!

All our love for the holiday season,

Love from Jacquie, Roland, Erin & Keira xoxo

November Photo Retrospective

Keira, Erin & Nana Trish

Keira & Erin

Keira

Erin

Mummy, Erin & Keira

More updates to come very soon, promise !!

Love from Jacquie, Roland, Erin & Keira xoxo

Our summer gardening efforts have begun!

This is mostly a photo post, but there should be captions for most things... and most of the credit goes to Roland for digging and planting everything, I just helped pick what went where then took the pics!

Lots of Love from Jacquie, Roland, Erin & Keira xoxo

New photos of Tiny Girl & the Big Sister

Lots of Love from Jacquie, Roland, Erin & Keira xoxo

Adventures in gardening

A few weeks ago I was greeted by Erin coming home from kindergarten holding a little paper cup full of dirt... well ok, not just dirt but apparently a tiny little sunflower seed too, that we were under instruction to take care of so it would grow into a big flower.

Well so far it is making very good progress, so here are the first of the photos into Erin's own little gardening journey...

We will definitely be keeping you all posted on this one! :)

Lots of Love from Jacquie, Roland, Erin & Keira xoxo

Nana's Training Camp?

Look what Erin got up to at her Nana's - such a good helper!

Lots of Love from Jacquie, Roland, Erin & Keira xoxo

Deja vu...

So we've been getting this wierd sense of deja vu lately, but it wasn't until today that we figured out why...

That's Erin on the right at about twelve weeks old, and Keira on the left at nearly 8 weeks old now.

Photo update!

Erin, Daddy & Keira

Working hard at keeping that head up!

Little Miss Smiley Pants

Hopefully there will be a few more to come soon, if the fine weather keeps up and we make it out to the zoo this weekend!

Lots of Love,

Jacquie, Roland, Erin & Keira xoxo

One Month!

It still seems so surreal - yesterday (August 29th) marked our full first month with Keira, amazing! She is still an absolute delight, is making an effort now on occasion to lift her head when she's on her tummy, and the baby 'gurgles' have also started to surface.

Big Sister is back at kindy having fully recuperated from her chest infection, and enjoying it to the full - we are going to have to make space this week for all the artwork she has been bringing home too.

Here are a couple more recent photos of the girls...

We have also started making some vague plans for *gasp* Christmas! We are looking forward to a family gathering in Taupo, mostly Roland's relatives, which should definitely be entertaining (and a good break away from the usual humdrum).

Well that's all for now, take care folks!

Love Jacquie, Roland, Erin & Keira

How time flies...

So this week we'll be coming up to a whole MONTH with Keira, time seems to be going a bit quicker this time around, but she has just slotted into our family so naturally.

Generally things at home are reasonably quiet as we are still having broken nights, although nothing we can't seem to cope with.

Erin is getting over a bit of a chest infection / cold, but will be back at kindergarten this week, and Roland has a full plate with work as always.

Anyway, we got out Erin's old playmat with arches and dangly toys today to see what Keira would think, and so far so good! Here are a few photos for your enjoyment...

All our love,

Jacquie, Roland, Erin & Keira xoxo

Proud Big Sister !

Welcome to the World!

Just thought we'd finally make an update here to announce that on Wednesday morning (29 July) at 9:33am, at home after 2.5 hours of labour, weighing 7lb 3oz - Keira Marie was born !!

Here is a photo, and we promise more details (and photos) soon :)

Mum & Dad are pretty pleased with themselves, and Erin is doing an excellent job of being a big sister.

All our love from Jacquie, Roland, Erin & Keira xoxo

Happy Birthday to our wonderful 3 year old !!

Someone we know turned 3 on Monday, but we celebrated the night before... here are a couple of snapshots!

Happy Birthday to our not so little girl !!

All our love from Mummy, Dadda & your soon to be Baby Sister xoxo

Nana Trisha's Birthday !!

Well, it was technically yesterday, but Nana Trisha was busy with a course all day and we celebrated tonight instead with a yummy thai takeaway dinner.




Happy Birthday Nana Trisha !!

Love Jacquie, Roland, Erin & Baby Bird v2

More renovation photos...

All of the cove / architraves / edging is finished now too, and one coat of gibstopping done - one more coat of that to go, then sanding, then painting - yay!

So as mentioned before, the next steps after this should be putting the carpet back down, sorting out curtains, and moving furniture back in.

Lots of love from Jacquie, Roland, Erin & the bump xoxo

It's hard work being a nearly 3 year old...

And of course I was sitting here wondering why it was so quiet! ;)

Zzzzz...

Lots of love from Jacquie, Roland, Erin & the bump xoxo

Erin's new trike!

A big thank you to Nana Trish for this - she is still learning to pedal and steer properly, but will get there with plenty of time and practice I'm sure!

Lots of love from Jacquie, Roland, Erin & the bump xoxo

Easter '09

We didn't let her eat the whole thing, honest! ;) (It last all three of us a good couple of weeks in the end, and yes it was hollow!)

Hope all of you out there had a great Easter too!

Lots of love from Jacquie, Roland, Erin & the bump xoxo