Waikato's World 2009

It's that time of year again...show time! You might remember us going to this last year - and how we thought it was nice, but nothing exciting. Well we went again this year, mainly for 2 reasons:
1. So my parents could experience the local version of the 'Ekka'.
2. There is no entry fee this year - so you can go in and see all the animals, competitions etc. and only had to pay for rides.

We got to see horse judging , sheep dog competition, farrier competition, pigs, cows, goats (including South African Boerbokke), sheep and alpacas. There was also a small baby farm animals enclosure where we could go in and the kids could pat the animals. Ben was keen on this and patted a few sheep, goats, very hairy cows (obviously from somewhere in the highlands); Joanna is going through the 'afraid of going near any animals' stage (which Ben was going through this time last year), so she didn't pat anything, although she did like looking at all the animals.

The rides etc. were the same as last year - except you had to pay for them this year (as opposed to paying an entry fee and the rides being free like last year). So we let the kids have one turn on the Jumping Castle - which they thoroughly enjoyed (little kids are easy to please!).

Overall we enjoyed our Waikato's World experience much more this year than last. Mainly for a couple of reasons:
1. The weather - it was nice and sunny and warm this year, compared to last year where it was overcast, windy and cold.
2. Last year we were in the middle of a failed attempt at toilet training with Ben.
3. We had some idea of what to expect, so our own expectations were more aligned with what was experienced.

And Naomi has now been to her first annual show! (at the young age of 1 week and 2 days old)

1 week old

Naomi was 1 week old yesterday...The midwife came and completed her 1 week health check, which she passed with flying colours (well except for looking a bit yellow). She has already passed her birth weight and now weighs 2890g (10g heavier than birth weight), so she is obviously eating well.

And then there were 7...

My parents arrived last night, after a marathon 3 days of travelling for them (they came all the way from Denmark - where they had been visiting my sister). They are staying with us for 5 weeks, so there is now 4 adults and 3 children in the house. The plan had been that they were to be here a couple of weeks before I had Naomi, but as you all know, Naomi had different ideas. Ben and Joanna are excited about being able to play with Granny and Grandpa B while they are here.

The story of the birth...

Once upon time, a long long time ago (last Thursday), it was a normal day, just like any other day. I rode to work, as usual, at around 8am. Once I got to work, I checked my email and so on. And then Mel rang me... saying she thought her waters had broken. She wasn't sure, so she was going to see the midwife to see what she needed to do. She dropped the kids off at Lisa's (a friend from playgroup) and then headed to the hospital, where Val the midwife was attending to another birth. Val decided that yes, it was Mel's waters that had broken, and yes, baby was coming soon. So Mel rang me and got me to ride to the hospital. I arrive about 11h30. After being there for a little while, contractions got a little more frequent and intense, and a little girl popped out, at 14h54. All rather quick really.
Because Naomi was techinally premature by 9 hours, the doctors wanted to make sure her blood sugar levels were satisfactory before letting her out. So, rather than letting her transfer to a nice comfortable birthing centre, she got to sleep in a noisy, old hospital instead. That wasn't the most comfortable, so they both came home the next day - Friday. Her blood sugar levels were fine.
And that's the story of the birth.
The End.

Three peas in a pod...

We've been thinking that our three kids look pretty similar to each other as babies... people have also been asking if Ben and Joanna had dark hair when they were born. So, I've dug up photos of each of them when they were 2 days old... to see just how similar they are. There's an odd one out - but only a little bit different. Which is which?

Naomi Jayne Waldeck

Was born this afternoon (at 14h54, 2880g). Mel was 36 weeks and 6 days, so little Miss Naomi was technically a few hours premature. But that's OK - she's fine and Mel's fine too. Anyway, there's another few photos on flickr, and more details etc will be up here in due course!(Apologies for the slightly funny colour on the photos... our desktop computer is currently not operational, so I had to do a bit of a hack job from our netbook to get these up...)
(EDIT: Replaced the dodgy-colour photo...)

Furniture for summer...

We bought some secondhand outdoor furniture about 4 months ago for our wedding anniversary (which was in February)... the idea was that we'd get something more affordable that we could restore to being nice again. I'd been attempting to sand it all back by hand, which was a very slow process. I eventually gave in and borrowed a couple of sanders from Tony and the job only took another couple of hours. The kids helped to oil the table last weekend and the chairs this weekend. This is the result... nice outdoor furniture - even if it is a little late as an anniversary present, it's just in time for summer!

The weather is looking up...

After a few days of constant rain this week and my despair about having to get the thermals out again during the school holidays...the weather seems to be finally warming up. The yesterday and today have been beautiful sunny days, with the maximum reaching above the teens (ok...so it got to 20C - that's warm over here). We have dug out our T-shirts and some of us (Peter) have got out shorts too!

Dump shop bargains...

Had to go to south-west Hamilton today to pick-up something from the couriers and on the way back I realised that my route conveniently took me past the recycle shop next to the dump. So I stopped in to have a quick look around. I ended up picking up:

1. A pair of plastic racquets for the kids - Ben has made passing comments in the past that we don't have any sort of racquets to play with at home.
2. A soft toy sheep - I've just started wanting to get things together to create a collection of nativity/Christmas story dress-up/pretend play items for the kids to play with in the lead up to Christmas.
3. A large picture frame including glass - cheap way to get glass for Peter to use in one of his home made frames.

= $6

And the most exciting and best bargain...

4. A Sunbeam Ice Shaver for $8! So now I'll be able to make nice cold summer drinks.

Hit the wall...

This week, I've seemed to hit the wall as far as energy levels go. I think it just end of pregnancy tiredness (I'm 35 weeks now). Usual everyday tasks tire me out and by lunch time I'm really ready for an afternoon nap which I don't want to get up from.