Wow!

It has been forever since I blogged last. Since my last post so much has happened…

1. Max had his 2 year Plunket check and measured a lanky 90cm in height and weighed in at between 12 and 13kgs – it was hard to get an accurate reading since he thinks you are supposed to stomp on scales
2. Max started daycare
3. I started work
4. We attended the first wedding for 2013
5. BMTB turned 3 and we had a massive Kitchen Aid giveaway
6. We made the tough decision to shut down the business we started when we moved to New Plymouth
7. Max had his ‘Cowboy Party’
8. Max turned 2!
9. Pete and Sharon have moved in with us
10. Wendy got back from France
11. NL has made Shane redundant – he finished up at the end of April

So lots has been going on – life has been stressful to say the least, of course in amongst it all we have done our usual tiki touring, there has been lots of baking, gardening and playing and Max continues to stun us with his leaps and bounds in development.

I will have to publish a few catch up posts – it’s Easter tomorrow and my last post on here includes the Xmas photos, that is a real worry…

It’s 2013!

We had an amazing Christmas, Max was quite into it this year – both Shane and I are excited to see how crazy he might go for Christmas morning this year.

With ‘Ganga’ and Wendy in France we skyped them while Max opened everything, he very happily showed them everything that Santa had dropped off. We had Nana Bear and all three of my sisters over for lunch. It was great, lovely food, nice and relaxed. Max was thoroughly spoiled by everyone, he is an incredibly lucky little boy.

Unfortunately, Shane and I ended 2012/started 2013 with a nasty virus. Luckily Shane had booked some time off work anyway and we enjoyed a bit of R&R and once we were feeling better took a day trip to hot water beach which was lots of fun for all three of us!

2013 is bound to be another big year for the Kilpatrick family, I’m back to full time work in 12 days which will be a big adjustment for all of us. This means Max starts daycare three days a week as well as a day with Ganga and a day with Daddy. I’m sure that by the end of the first term most of the big obstacles will have been overcome, it’s all about making sure we’re organised and getting into the groove of things. Max has a couple more daycare visits next week and his 2 year old Plunket check. I will need to finish all the decorations for the big cowboy party before I start work too, as we are off to Taupo for the first of the 2013 weddings at the end of my first week of work! All go – but then again when isn’t it?!

Summer Days…

The last couple of weekends we have enjoyed some phenomenal weather here in Auckland, it’s meant that we have been able to get out and about and it’s also meant that we’ve had a few swims over at ‘Gangad’s’ place.

This weekend just been we took a trip up to Matakana to check out the market and have lunch.

We are a week out from Christmas now, I had thought because of Max’s age we’d probably have to give tiki touring and looking at the Christmas lights a miss this year. But, on Saturday night he just couldn’t seem to drift off after his big day out so we hopped in the car and went through to Franklin Rd to check out the best light display in town and the Telecom wishing tree!

It’s amazing how some weekends fly by in the blink of an eye and others feel like they’ve lasted a week, this weekend just past was one of the later, even though it was jam packed our two days as a family felt like a mini holiday at a time of year when stress can creep up on you like no other!

To cap off an awesome weekend George was in town and came to visit on Saturday, she is back for Christmas too which is cool.

As much as I am looking forward to Christmas I think I am even more excited about New Years, we aren’t doing anything but Shane has 5 days off and even though lots of awesome things have happened in 2012 it has been a big but very stressful year for our family and I’m looking forward to starting anew in 2013. Which, is already looking like a great year, I have an awesome new job to start at the end of Jan, we have weddings to go to in Feb and April, Max turns 2, BMTB has some exciting plans in the pipeline and if all goes to plan we might be able to escape for a wee holiday.

They call it the ‘Silly Season’ for a reason!

Or maybe they should just call me silly? Since moving back it really has been flat out! Although we expected it as it is ‘that’ time of year. I made myself available for relief and managed to pick up a few days between my old school and my new one. I’ve checked out and enrolled Max in daycare for next year, we’ve gone to visit someone or had friends and family at the new house every weekend. We’ve hosted our housewarming/my birthday, we’ve been to three birthday BBQ’s/dinners, a Christmas party, had a few random drinks with friends and had two quite big BMTB events – a lovely picnic and our first baking class! Now planning for our family Christmas celebrations is in full swing…

We have managed to find some family time though, Shane took my birthday and the day after it off work and his usual two days off followed so we had some time together at last. We hung at home, planned our gardens, visited Santa at Smith and Caughey (where we got stuck in the lift!!!) and went to Kelly Tarlton’s which absolutely blew Max’s mind!

After looking at the above photos I decided Max needed a hair cut, we decided to get a ‘big boy’ cut and in a matter of minutes my ‘baby’/toddler became my little boy! His new hair cut really suits him and his rough and tumble attitude, although there aren’t many pics of it as he is obsessed with wearing hats at the moment. – look at him!

Another thing I don’t have a photo of is Max’s first official swim of the summer, I say official as the day before he decided to take a dip while we were at the beach – fully clothed, including that hat!!! Max loved swimming in Grandad’s pool! He would have been in the water for the best part of 30 minutes but refused to hop out even when his lips started turning blue – wonder where he gets it from?!

Here he is right before he took that unofficial dip…

Things In Auckland With Young Kids

After living apart for two and a half months,  then moving cities and setting up a new house it feels like forever since we had quality family time. It is a long time, especially in the life of a 21 month old! It is something Shane and I both really want to prioritise but we are heading into ‘that’ time of year which makes it really hard. BUT with my return to work set for not long after the festive season ends we need to make the most of getting two days a week as a family, once I’m back full time Saturday will be our only full day together – sniff – I’ve really enjoyed being at home with Max for so many reasons and one of them has been getting full weekends with Shane. For the first 3 years of our relationship we didn’t really have any set days off together, I did try and make my Fridays at uni light days so we could have time together, then when I went teaching we had 3 years of one day off a week together and extra time in the holidays. It will be nice for Shane and Max to have Fridays together, although I’m sure I will be very jealous and counting down the minutes until I can come home to them and get on with making the most of our family time. So with that in mind I’ve decided to make a list of things that are ‘Max friendly’ that we can do and aim to do all of them at least once by the end of 2013…

Things to do out and about:
Auckland Zoo
Motat
Kelly Tarltons
Kiwi Valley Farm Park
Auckland Museum
Butterfly Creek
Crystal Mountain
Voyager New Zealand Maritime Museum
Local library for Storytime
Tintin Panda playground, East Tamaki
Chipmunks indoor playgrounds
Lollipops indoor playgrounds
Sheep World
Ambury Farm Park
Karamatura Farm
Cornwall Park
Beaches: Clark’s Beach, Maretai, Beachlands, Orere Point, Takapuna, Campbell’s Bay, Mission Bay
Glenbrook Railway
Whangaporoa Railway
Mini Train at Mangere
Ride the train/bus to Britomart
Ferry ride around the harbour
Farmers Markets: Clevedon, Pine Harbour, La Cigale, Matakana
Go to the pools
Botanical Gardens
Random discovery tiki tour north, south, east and west

Things to do at home:
Build a fort
Camp out in the yard or lounge
Have a crazy themed dinner once a month (Thanks Julie)
Movie night/afternoon
Bake and decorate cake/cupcakes/biscuits
Make mud pies
Messy play – painting/colouring/water play/cloud sand/play dough
Make (and maintain) a kid friendly garden that Max can be part of

I am sure there will be more things I can add to both lists, I’ve just jotted down the first things that popped into my head and looked at a few other lists floating around the net to compile this but it’s a start. I think we might try and cross Kelly Tarltons of the list this weekend – the weather looks like it’s going to be crappy so it’s a good enough excuse for me!

Home Again…

We are Aucklander’s again! We are starting to feel very settled in our new home and things are going well. We’ve dispatched more orders for our business, I’ve been offered and accepted a job with MHJC next year (yup, a job within 7 days of moving home) and we have been enjoying catching up with family and friends.

We have been enjoying some fantastic weather this week! It’s actually been quite hot, so hot in fact that I set up a paddle pool on our new deck – which is huge, perfect for BBQ’s and right off our lounge!

We had Halloween this week and Max dressed as a little pirate to help hand out mini chocolate bars to trick or treaters, we only had a few groups and he looked so cute!

The move was hard, poor Shane did 3 trips in 3 days and on moving day Max and I didn’t get away from NP until just before 5pm which means not arriving at the new house until 9, the truck didn’t roll in until 10…But it’s done and it is so good to be living as a family again – I mean look at Shane and Max’s faces! Max can’t get enough Daddy time and the feeling is mutual.

I have a days relief lined up at AC on Monday so Max is going to hang with one of his coffee group buddies for the day. It’ll be the first time he has been looked after by someone who’s not family but I am pretty confident that he’ll be ok though, having a wee mate to play with all day long should be a good enough distraction.

It’s Moving Week!

It has been a full on last couple of weeks, Max who has never been really sick (bar a one day bout of conjunctivitis and a few sniffly noses) got a tummy bug, seemed okay for a few days then threw a few random temps and then he got the flu. It is horrible watching your baby in pain without being able to tell you how you can help. Max being unwell involved…

Watching Disney Jnr at all hours of the night…

Max falling asleep on me for the first time in over a year at the wrong times of the day, lots…

Unfortunately I got Max’s flu and I was the sickest I can ever remember being all with the pressure of the move and then a job interview (in Auckland) added to the mix it was not great timing! Although I could talk well enough to explain myself during the interview I didn’t feel 100% on top of it which is a bit sucky so we’ll just have to see how I go.

There are only 4 sleeps left here in our house in New Plymouth, I am so excited that our family is going to be reunited again. Our new house is nice and spacious and really close to friends, I can’t wait to get settled there and start enjoying it!

Max is getting even more independent, dinner has always been a bit of a struggle so we have always fed it to him but right now he has to feed himself everything! It is so frustrating for me because he can’t control the fork and spoon properly so stuff slides off and goes everywhere, mess is made, food goes cold and goes to waste but he is insistent about it and I guess it is part of his development and growing up. 

So next time I update the blog it will be from our new home!