Friday Five - Favourites

I'm sorry I've not blogged this week, again I have been crazy busy, Harry Potter at the cinema, highlights in my hair, pedicure, going to my school's end of term party, watching the Year 6 production, and today I'm packing for a long weekend away at a friends wedding. Who said this stay at home mum business would be at home?? Anyway this weeks Friday five is in response to Kat's questions. Here goes!



1. Favourite cuisine: Italian. Hands down, I loves me some Italian food! Spaghetti alla vongole, risotto, tiramisu, pannacotta, you name it I love it! Oh and don't get me started on a really good thin based pizza with artichokes, olives, pancetta and mozzarella!

Our group, left to right: Me, Andrew, Amy, Delia, Fran, Kay, Dr Mel, Dennis, Paul and in front Graham.


2. Favourite vacation: In NZ and the UK we call a vacation a holiday, but I digress. I think (and this is quite a hard choice because I've been on a lot of holidays, both in Europe and further away!) I've chosen Egypt. We spent two weeks in Egypt with 9 friends over Christmas 2007. It was brilliant, I've seen all the sights, pyramids, tombs, the Nile etc etc, but do you know what the best part was? Two or three days in a town called Siwa which is very remote, only 50km from the Lybian border. We rode bikes, ate great food, relaxed in hot pools in the dessert!! and went sand-boarding down the dunes. Sometimes its nice to get off the beaten track.

Sand-boarding.
3. Favourite hobby: I've got lots of hobbies but my favourite is definitely scrapbooking! I love recording our memories, cutting and pasting and choosing the lovely papers. Some people (Andrew maybe) might say that I've got too much stash, but you can never have too much stash surely?

Andrew and I on a sand dune enjoying the sunset.

4. Favourite Holiday tradition: I've not done this in a while because we've been in the UK for Christmases but I love the $5 present. On Christmas night we have anything from fifteen to thirty plus people at our family camp-site (it is summer in NZ remember) and that is far too many presents to buy! Each person buys one present worth $5 that fits the theme set by my mum (she's the youngest of seven and the unofficial boss) last year it was bottles. All the presents get put in the middle and the first person in the circle chooses one and opens it in front of everybody. The second person looks at that first present (still following me??) and has to decide, do I want that present or a new one? If they take the first present, the first person goes back and takes another present and opens that, and then its the third person's turn, and so on. It gets quite hilarious because some presents (one year it was some naughty dice) get hotly fought over and someone always ends up with the duds!

Waiting to go on our bike ride.

5. Favourite “the-baby’s-asleep-the-chores-are-done-now-what-shall-I-do” pastime: Drinking wine. Lounging on the couch, watching some TV and (not often enough) blogging. It’s my way to unwind. Confession, I mostly read blogs, and need to write more, but thanks to Kat for the answer to number five.

Fran on the main street of Siwa
PS the photos are from our visit to Siwa!

She's a half - Chicken's birth story

My little Chicken is a half!  Six months ago I was in hospital pacing in my cubicle, waiting for the call to go down to the operating theatre so they could get Eilidh out through the sunroof.  I'm not sure if I've blogged about this and I'm not techie enough to work it out, but I had to have a caesarean section because she was breech.

We found out just before Christmas that she still hadn't turned the right way round and the hospital told me that they would call me on Christmas Eve with a date for the operation.  By five that day I hadn't had a call, so it was a very tense Christmas.

By the 29th (the first day back at work after the holiday) I was getting quite frustrated and was on the phone at 9am sharp.  The person I spoke to had no idea, and they told me I'd get a phone call later.  At three that afternoon I was waddling around the supermarket and they finally called.  The news was not good, they had no spaces to deliver Chicken the week I was due!  I was like, "But you've got to get her out, she can't stay there forever!"  Basically I had to wait till either a space came free in their schedule or until I went into labour and I would have an emergency section.  Some how I made it home (no idea, a cab I think?) and phoned Andrew and then my mum in New Zealand in hysterics, I mean, how could there by no space??

The next day I was pottering around at home and the hospital rang.  The lady on the phone said that they had a date and that it was soon, so did I want to sit down?  As my due date was the 17th of January I was expecting it to be sometime just before then.  But no, the lady on the end of the phone said, its the 4th, like as in five days time, five days, OMG!!    Again I phoned Andrew and Mum to tell them the news and then I began to make some final plans, I was not at all ready!

Fast forward through a very quiet New Years Eve, and five days later we found ourselves driving to the hospital to have our little girl.  It has to be said I wasn't that excited that day, mostly I was nervous and sad.  I was nervous for obvious reasons, as Andrew liked to tell me, "They're gonna gut you like a fish".  But mostly I was sad because it wasn't going to be just the two of us any more, I mean, we really wanted children and I knew I couldn't wait to meet Chicken, but everything was about to change!! (Duh)

We got to the hospital and spent a nervous couple of hours talking to the surgeon, the anaesthetist, and the midwives about the operation.  We then got called and walked down the the operating theatre, which has to be one of the most surreal moments of my life, walking to my caesarean!  Not long after that, at 2:21pm to be precise my little Chicken was born.  And she was perfect and the most beautiful girl in the world!

Later this week I'm going to blog about what's going on for us at age six months, but for now here she is, six months ago, how was she ever that small?

Friday Five - My little bro

I've been thinking about my brother a fair bit lately.  We don't see each other very often, only three times in the last six years actually but I'd say we were quite close and we get on well.  It hasn't always been the case, our late teenage years were a bit tough but on the whole he's a cool little brother.  So my Friday Five today is all about my brother Scott.

1.  He lives in the USA.  Scott lives in Vermont and is the Director of Tennis at Stratton Mountain.  I haven't been to visit him there but we are going in September and I can't wait.  He's also lived in Miami and Indiana.  In 2008 my friend and I went to Miami for a week and stayed with Scott.  We were driving over the MacArthur Causeway from Miami Beach back to his apartment when he decided to stop at Star Island.  Star Island is a private man-made island that loads of celebrities have houses on, Gloria Estefan, A-Rod, Rosie O'Donnell to name a few.  Anyway there is a gate and Scottie just leaned over and asked the guard if we could go and look around since we were from New Zealand, I was sooo embarrassed and was sure we were going to get told to get lost, but no, it worked.  That's my brother for you, bold!

2.  He was the MC at our wedding.  Scottles loves to speak in public, in fact, my Mum, Scott and myself all like to, doesn't scare us.  He told funny stories, made sure everything ran on time and generally did a great job.  He also read a beautiful poem during the ceremony, The Key to Love.  About a month before the wedding I had dream that Scott stood up to speak and to get everyone's attention he clapped his hands teacher style, and everyone clapped back.  He then started to speak just like a teacher, e.g. oh I can see that Bob's table is ready to go and get their food, they are sitting nicely.  Thank goodness he didn't do this, but I was a little bit worried.

3.  He's quite tall.  6ft 5in even, yep my little brother is a giant.  Being tall has lots of advantages, and these two stories show a few of them.  Scott used to threaten to give our mum, Marg G 'The Rack'  The Rack is when you pick someone up by their feet and dangle them out in front of you.  As Marg G is only 5ft 4in it was definitely possible to give her The Rack.  And apparently one day he did!!  NB this may just be folklore, I wasn't actually there.  Sometimes when Scottle Modottle and I used to catch up when I was away at uni he would stand on my feet (without me knowing) and then push me over.  If someone is standing on your feet you can't regain your balance and you fall over, which I did.  I then went to get him and he would put his had on my forehead with his arm out straight (can you picture that?)  Basically because he was so tall and his reach so long I couldn't get at him, rather comic really.

4.  He comes home for Christmas every year.  This is quite a feat really, Vermont is a long way from New Zealand!  He runs a business with some friends selling ice to festival goers in our town and then goes to the festival itself for NYE.

5.  He is incredibly generous!  As a brother, brother-in-law and as an uncle Scott is kind and caring and we (Andrew, Chicken, and I) are  very lucky.  He also buys great gifts!  So far Chicken has been given Crocs, a Dior shirt, a giant bear, loads and loads of clothes just to name a few.  Scott is very excited about being an uncle and can't wait to meet his niece in September.

Seasonal Changes

I have a winter baby, I am used to wrapping her up warm.  

We wear fleece body suits, hats and use the sleeping bag in the pushchair all the time!

There is always a blanket handy.

I am an expert at putting a very reluctant child into a cardigan, and woolly booties!

 We wear a lot of clothes to bed!

But now, well now spring has sprung and today we had a high of 22c! (71f)  that's practically sweltering in England!  I'm not sure what to do with my Chicken, I certainly don't want to roast her, but I'm finding it challenging finding the right balance!  I've found a few things that help us so far.

This pink hoodie vest was a gift from my Auntie Robyn G, thanks!  Its fleece and keeps Chicken warm but not sweltering, the hood also doubles as a hat if it gets breezy.  The sheepskin she's sitting on was a present from my Mum, thanks G!  Sheepskins keep you warm in winter and cool in summer, and they're just comfy!

I've also taking to stripping her off, I mean there is ample padding on those thighs!  Today for example, she was wearing a long sleeve bodysuit and jeans.  I took off the top layer of the sleeping bag in the pushchair and we headed out.  I was wearing 3/4's, a t-shirt and flip-flops/jandals, so it was a warm day!  We get to the children's centre where I was asked to demonstrate breastfeeding for a group of expectant mothers and answer any questions, and she was quite warm so I took off her jeans.  As we got to leave I realise its still too hot for jeans but too cool to be pushed by a power walking mum (well not so fast any more, I'm having to 'wear in' my winter feet again) I dug about in the baby bag and found a muslin cloth.  Perfect - big enough to wrap around her legs but thin enough to keep her cool, and when the sun is in her eyes it drapes nicely over the front of the canopy! 

I'm really looking forward to summer (who isn't!) and have found some funky outfits for her, dresses with cute frilly knickers that cover up the nappy and a denim play-suit, I only hope that the sun comes out for a decent period of time!

Happy Mother's Day part one

Today I'm going to (attempt) three Mother's day posts, starting with the most important person, my mum, AKA Marg G!

This is Mum and I on my wedding day just over two years ago.  This was taken before the ceremony and boy was I nervous, Mum looks great, I'm a wreck, hence the nervous smile!

My mum is amazing, I've known this for a while, you see she organised our whole wedding in NZ and we flew in ten days before to find it all but done.  Mum said it was easy up until when we arrived!  Mum is also amazing because she doesn't mind (too much) that her baby (me) has chosen to live on the other side of the world for the past six years.   She even came to visit me in 2007 and we had a great trip around Ireland, Scotland and Belgium. 

 Cycling in Belgium.

Sampling the goods at the Guinness factory in Dublin.

Standing on the Swilken bridge on the Old Course at St Andrew's (the home of golf!)

On a tour of Wimbledon tennis centre.

 Now I have my little girl, and G has two little girls its a lot harder on both of us, I miss her like crazy!

Mum came to stay with us for three weeks when Chicken was a newborn and it was amazing, she cooked, cleaned, cuddled, read, rocked and generally looked after the both of us. 

Mum and I Skype around three times a week and now Chicken is older and has more strength in her head she can lean against a pillow and 'chat' to her Nana.  And the best thing is that in 22 days I'll get to see her (and Dad) in NZ-that's right I'm taking Chicken home for a visit, thanks Mum!!

The main reason my mum is so amazing is that she has shown me how to be a mum, and if I can be half as good as she is I'll be a great mum too!  Happy Mothers Day G-Dog, love you heaps!