WAITING....

FINGERS CROSSED

TODAY IS THE DAY

EMILY IS BORN

ABOVE:  My overnight bag is packed, and I have Emily's Baby Bag all ready too.....

ABOVE:  PRETTY... I took this Macro photo using the new camera.

ABOVE: Coco.... looking adorable..

ABOVE:  a lovely photo  of Stew and the two dogs.... they always sit on him when he's home, never me.  *sniff*

ABOVE:  resident Junior Stud....

ABOVE:  my 'Main Man'....lol.

Today:  got quite a bit on my list of 'To Do'.... mostly hum drum shit.... and I am going to cross everything and hope Amanda goes into LABOUR today... she's had a few 'signs' things are about to start.... SO EXCITING.

ABOVE:  the new camera.  Chosen for it's High Definition video capabilities, it's high Megapixels and excellent zoom.  Obviously not for it's compactness... which is what I thought I wanted until I actually held a slim compact camera... nope, not for me!  I am too used to a chunky 'substantial' camera.  Oh well... nothing about me is 'compact' eh?   ha ha ha.

ONWARD...

4% of babies get born on their 'DUE DATE'.....

ABOVE:  Meet Emily Drew O'B****, born this morning at 7.32am, weighing a healthy 7 pound 9 ounces...BANG ON HER DUE DATE!
I was there, it was wonderful.  Amanda did a fantastic job.  But right now she does not want another one!  lol

*SIGH*... I got a speeding ticket 5 minutes from the hospital... doing about 70km in a 60km zone.  BUGGER.  But at least I got there in time eh?  lol

ABOVE:  one more for today.  Emily and her Dad.  So cute.

Spent the afternoon on the couch trying to have a sleep... didn't happen. 
I spent hours on my feet last night at the hospital... and 3 hours driving there and back.. so I am quite tired.
Luckily Grandbabies only happen once in a while or we would be wrecks.

I better pull finger now and do something about dinner....

End of Day:  pork chops for dinner... Steve did them on the BBQ.  Hoping to get into bed early tonight.... sooo tired.
DIET: not bad, not good.
nite nite

A BIG THING TO A SMALL GIRL

Yesterday we did something for Brylee, I will let the photos tell the story:

So, quite a day for our Brylee....  I made all my other girls wait until they were 13 to get their ears pierced... but decided Brylee could do with a boost so ... they are done.  She is wrapt.. sort of!  lol

I'm sure once they stop hurting she will be feeling like the bee's knees.

Today:  well if it's a lovely day maybe we can go to a beach near here... can't go too far as I am expecting that phone call from Amanda any day now... and I want plenty of time to get down to Hamilton to be with her when Emily is born.

ONWARD...

Well today has not gone quite as planned... we ended up going into town so I could find a new camera.  I was almost 100% sure I wanted a slim, compact digital... but after driving the salesman nuts changing my mind every 10 minutes I eventually got a new camera.
Now I have to read the instructions to find out how to use it.

After that we bought the groceries.... Ikkkk.  Though the smokes fish I ate for lunch was bloody nice!

ABOVE:  I have been playing with the new camera... it's not TOO hard to work out...  I'm happy that I can make it work at all really!

TESTING VIDEO FROM NEW CAMERA... not good quality cos we had it on the wrong setting.

End of Day:  feeling happy, got a new whizz bang camera... all is good in my world... And Amanda is nearly ready to have her baby ... any day now.... HURRY UP!!!
DIET: not bad!
nite nite

THIS AND THAT

I expect today to be BUSY.
We are going into town to pick up some new business shirts/ties for Stew... and also get Steve a few items to pad out his miserable wardrobe!

Later this afternoon ...insert:  *SQUEALS*... My dear friend Sandra C from Palmerston North is calling in for afternoon tea... they are up for the weekend visiting family.  I am really excited, I havn't seen her in 9 months already.

Now I just want to touch on what I was talking about yesterday.

Would you happy about this:

- A midwife who's not had a baby of her own telling you "come on, it's not that painful?"(yep, it's happened to me)

- A person who's never raised a child telling you how to do it, when you've raised 2-3-4-5-6-7-8-kids?  (and oh my god that has happened to me once too often... my SIL is good at that, Grrrr)

- A weight loss leader who's never had a real weight problem telling you how hard it is to lose weight, but "YOU CAN DO IT, just like me?"

Just saying....

ONWARD...  be back later with lots of photos hopefully!

 ABOVE:  many hours and $$$'s later... we are home.  Steve is the new 'bag boy'... and  he owes me about 90 hours babysitting!

 ABOVE: new business shirts and ties for Stew.

 ABOVE: nice....

ABOVE: NICE TOO...

ABOVE: Hamming it up....   

 ABOVE:  Boys can wear pink right?...

ABOVE:   yummmmm, nothing like a spunky semi nakid man behind the kitchen bench.... *drool*          

I could KICK MYSELF!  Sandra and her hubby called in for about an then left. I forgot to get a photo of us together!  How remiss of me... talk about a missed 'blog fodder' moment!  

It was so lovely to see her again.  Makes me miss my Palmy girlfriends so much, *sniff*.

Not cooking dinner tonight, we have been too busy to give it a thought.  Stew has gone to get Fish 'n' Chips.    

End of Day:  well it was busy as expected.   Yes Ashlee Steve is single.  

DIET:  so-so today.

nite nite.

                       

WEIGHT WATCHER LEADER...

So last night I surreptitiously took some photos of my new Weight Watcher Leader.... so you could see how thin she is...

 ABOVE:  obviously it's a bit blurry, can't really 'identify' her on me blog without her permission can I?  Can you see  how skinny she is?
She knows her stuff, I'll give her that.  But... time will tell just what sort of leader she is.
I know I'm not the only sceptical person in the group.

TODAY:  making a start on Baby Bag for Jo down in Wellington.
That's about all for now..

ONWARD...  Steve and I are doing the housework!  As we have two vacum cleaners it's getting done super quick.... now off to wash the floors.

OK... I did a little vacuming, washed the floor and hung out some washing... that wasn't too much!  I've since then done NOTHING.....OK?

Now back to the WW Leader.  I don't dislike her as a person, I just don't get why WW's would employ someone as a 'Leader' who in MY HUMBLE OPINION really can't have any idea what it's like to have a big weight problem!  As I said before, she was already within the ideal weight range BEFORE she lost 10 kilos... now she is probably below the ideal... underweight in fact.

HOW can she emphasise with a 50 year old 'average' woman who has 30+ kilos to lose?  What experience does she have with a lifetime of yo-yo dieting, feelings of self hatred, ridicule from others, the misery of clothes shopping as a 20+ sized person, feeling like a sub-human???

I just can't see it.  Having her stand up there and go on about how well she's done to lose the 10 kilos and eating healthy is fine, just don't tell me you know how it feels to be in my shoes, or the other 30 people there last night with me.

To tell you the truth it felt condescending.
BUT I am still going to attend that meeting, and see how I GO.  If she drives me nuts... I shall tell her. 

OMG and PLEASE don't go thinking I'm JEALOUS of her...cos nothing could be further from the truth!  I NEVER EVER want to be that skinny and .....I don't want to be like her at all.  I am totally happy with who I am, just not how much of my GORGEOUS SELF there is!   SO THERE.


Someone mentioned she looked like Barbie... AHHH NO... Barbie had a bum.  This girl can't even fill out her size 4 pants.

End of Day:  a neat day... Steve and I got heaps done that would normally get done on the weekend, so less for Stew to do now.  Yaaa.
DIET: quiet good thanks.
nite nite.

MY OWN LITTLE HELPER

Yes!  There are some benefits to having a grown-up son move home!
I don't have to do so much .... all I have to do is ask 'Junior His Nibs' and he does it... lol!

 ABOVE: yesterday afternoon Steve put up the shade sail on the morning patio, so we can sit out there without the sun glaring in our faces... and it also acts as a privacy screen too.   Now that the horrid tree is gone it was needed. 

ABOVE:  score!  Now all I have to do is get the tree clippings in the bin and waterblast the concrete and it will be all nice and TIDY again. 

TODAY:  not sure... maybe if my back is feeling OK Steve and I can go out and about. 

Whatever we do... it will be lovely to have some company again during the day.

ABOVE: yesterday at the Hospice Shop I also saw and bought a really funky, chunky 'bangle'... which I thought I'd give to one of the girls... but Steve saw it and claimed it immediately.  I thought it had a dragon on it... but would you BELIEVE IT... it actually has a Griffin on it!  In case you don't know, a Griffin is a mythological creature, with the head of an Eagle, body of a lion and wings.  How amazing that I should find it and not even realise it was that!  AND... it cost $1.

WHOOPS! I obviously forgot to come back here.... Steve and I went out, I bought some fabric for a Baby Bag that I'm making for a girl in Wellington... we had morning tea in Sylvia Park mall... had a look around the shops... came home.... fell asleep.... read and commented on a  few blogs.. and NOW:

getting ready to make dinner then go to Weight Watchers, where I expect ANOTHER bloody gain!
NO EXERCISE... none whatsoever...and still eating a bit too much.  *sigh*.
I will get on top of it all... and introduce a lot more exercise once my back is 100% better again.
Steve being here is going to be extra motivation, he's going to drag me out walking after dinner most days hopefully!

End of Day:  I was tempted to not go to WW this evening...or go but not weigh in... but I went and I weighed in... and I GAINED .500 grms.  *sigh*... could have been worse I suppose.
I will do better next time... hopefully I will get some exercise in the next few days eh?
DIET: OK
nite nite.

MY BIG SECRET

We left Palmerston North 2.5 long years ago.  We also left our two youngest sons there... and oh my, we have missed them!


The two little kids have too.... especially Griffin, who is particularly close to his two uncles, Steve and Mike.


Every time I spoke or text'd them I would always end the conversation with "Move to Auckland".... and finally one of them has!

I have known since last thursday that Steve was moving up here, I organised it in fact, and picked him up last night from the bus stop... without letting anyone know.   I wanted it to be a surprise for Stew and the kids!

 ABOVE:  9 hours on a bus...

 ABOVE:   blurry... but you can see his smile....

 ABOVE:  home again... with the kids and dogs...

ABOVE:  now I can feed him up and get some weight back on him.  I do believe he's missed my home made pies!  lol

Sleeping on the couch did NOT help last night... and I forgot to take pain meds in the middle of the night, so I'm in pain this morning... not quite enough to make me throw up... but nearly!

Serve me right for not taking the pills eh?
Off to Hospice now, but I am going to take it easy and sit behind the serving counter for the most part.  If it's too much I shall just come home early.

ABOVE:  two lovely shirts I got for Brylee today... I just love the top one.. it's going to be too big right now but we can hold it until she's bigger.  For $2 it's worth it. 
I left work early today, started to feel really ill around 11.30.. so came home at 12.00.  Steve had made me a toasted sandwich for lunch.. so better go eat it.

End of Day:  I did pay for going out this morning... quite sore this afternoon... drat.  The kids got home and had a lovely afternoon/evening with Steve... it was neat cos there was no need for me to keep an eye on them at all.
DIET: not good,not bad.
nite nite.

GIRLS HAD FUN

Yesterday Brylee had a new friend home for a play date.... and it went so very well... I'm thrilled to bits.
I made sure I had the time organised into activities that would be conducive of both the girls having fun together... and it worked.

They swam, had afternoon tea then sewed a little heart cushion each:

 ABOVE:  Brylee watching 'C' sewing her heart....

 ABOVE:  Brylee sewing her's...

 ABOVE:  'C' showing her wee heart cushion (sorry for the blanked out face, but I forgot to ask her Mum for permission to publish her face... let me assure you 'C' is just beautiful) and a darling wee girl who was delightful to have here.

 ABOVE:  Brylee sewing her heart... this was the first time she had ever used my machine, or at doing applique... and she did an amazing job!  Look at how precise she is at keeping on the edge!  Way to go Brylee!

ABOVE:  Brylee's heart cushion... she is so very proud of it... she's taking it to school today to show her class.  I'm so glad I thought of it... what a fun activity for the girls.

Now Griffin wants to make one for his Teacher!  Awwww what a sweetheart.

TODAY:  well I have a few jobs to do ... but will be taking it VERY CAREFULLY.. no housework.  Just need to do a couple of things in the mall.... so I'll go down and get them done then come home and read a few blogs I think.

ONWARD....

SO I went out and paid a bill... looked around the mall slowly for about half an hour then came home.   I am doing just what the doctor said... taking it easy!
It's rather hard to do though!    I keep seeing stuff I should be doing, like the housework... but I want my back to get better asap! 

I had lunch, then intended to read blogs...but ummmm.... I fell asleep!  What a nana I am!

lol...WELL.. I am!  Any day now Amanda is going to make me a Grandma for the 7th time!   She is due in a few days.... every time my phone rings or I get a text I jump thinking it will be her telling me to get in the car and come be with them for baby's birth!  I can't wait... and of course I want Amanda to get the birth over with cos she must be so hot and uncomfortable in this heat.

I know... I had a baby in January, in February, in March AND in April...all summer babies!  It's not fun.   I enjoyed the June and November babies much more cos it wasn't so hot.  I haven't forgotten any now have I?   ha ha ha.

Now:   for everyone out there who didn't like what I'd hung on the end of my new necklace... I decided to look around for something else,  cos I have to kinda agree that it wasn't in 'keeping' with the other materials.  This morning I found something else. 

ABOVE:  the final edition.  It's a bone and wood fishing hook, styled on a Maori design and I really, really love it!  It's still got a nautical theme...  do we all agree it's perfect now???

Obviously not everyone will like my necklace the way it is now... but I do and that's what matters.

End of Day:  I've been sitting on a secret for almost a week.   I can tell you about it tomorrow.
DIET: not bad.
nite nite.