amerikiwis

The beautiful South

2010-06-30T02:44:00.001-07:00

We just got back from a weeks vacation in Christchurch (Mark's home town in the south island).

We rented a house about 15 minutes out of town right next to the beach. Unfortunately, being winter and not very good weather, not much beaching was done other than 'wrapped up for Antarctic temperatures' beaching.

A really cool week though, and we did a heap of fun family stuff including: Orana wildlife park, Port hills Gondola, a fav Cambodian restaurant, Spagalimis pizza, and Mark's highlight - an Afghan restaurant where he got to eat Afghan food and speak Dari for the 2nd time in about 4 years. A very happy Mark.

Now back to reality. Sigh.

Orana Park

Introducing Milan to Mark's 97 year old Nana

Laila would spend all day at the beach if she could!

Stylista

2010-06-16T02:37:00.000-07:00

Laila has recently shown some remarkable interest in, and raw talent in the world of fashion.
She loves to parade around in a variety of outfits from fairy wings, to tutus with plastic high heels, plus a few other quite unique ensembles of her own design, which she insists on modelling herself in the hope that these trend setting designs will take off.

I love the slightly cocked leg!

She has also taken to sharing some of her accessorising secrets with her sister, as Marnie found out the other day.

After hearing a period of quiet (always suspicious) Marnie called out 'what are you doing Laila?' to which she replied 'playing with Milan'. What a good and kind sister!

After a few more minutes of quiet Marnie came out to check and found this:

Looking proud Laila said 'good sharing huh Mommy!'

Back to the present

2010-06-16T02:00:00.001-07:00

A few photos from them past couple of months:

We keep looking back at photos of Laila at the same age as Milan and are amazed how much alike they look - here's two photos of them at the same age:

Family lawn mowing session

Is that a wedgie with that wild hair?

I'm two!

2010-06-16T01:40:00.000-07:00

3 weeks after Milan's birth Laila had her 2nd birthday. Both sets of grandparents were there (Marnie's folks came over for Milan's birth and stayed a month) and we had a cool party in the park with some of her friends.

Laila's pretty birthday dress

Grandma and papa - lifesavers during a tough 1st month with Milan!

#2 and a bit of a catch up

2010-06-16T01:14:00.001-07:00

Sigh...I've been maening to update this for ages. I actually had a blog written 4 months ago but it crashed just as I was posting it. I'll try again.

Most of you know that we had another little girl on Jan 30th this year - Milan (yes...as in the Italian city) Grace Anderson. She can almost a month early and weighed in at 6lb 1oz. Despite being early and a bit small we were able to take her home after a day or so, and though she lost a bit of weight and flirted with needing to come back to hospital for a fer days with jaundice, she everntually picked up and got healthy. Here's a few photos:

She came out pretty fast - faster than Laila even (about 25mins) and had some pretty seroius bruising - looks like she has a goatee!

Big sister Laila has had a few jealousy issies but has been pretty good, and now loves her sister to bits

Babies,weddings and that kind of stuff

2009-12-18T00:06:00.000-08:00

Marnie's was picked up early the other Saturday by her friend and taken to have her hair and nails done (she had no idea why at that stage). After that I picked her up and took her down to the church where her friends had organised a baby shower for her. The had gone to heaps of trouble contacting people from the states so that they could send gifts and cards, and even arranged a live skype hook up with a couple.

In other news, we celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary on Wednesday! One of these years we'll be able to celebrate it without Marnie being heavily pregnant, but despite that we had a really cool day...spent the whole day together just hanging out...it was really fun. I love my wife...she's beautiful and smart and loves God and is a great mother. I am amazingly blessed to be with her - love you babe!!

Some more cool kiddie shots from the last month or 2...

2009-12-17T23:45:00.000-08:00

The waterfront at Kaikoura

Marnie came out one day to find Laila with her toy lamb stuffed down her top. She asked her 'what's that in your tummy?' and Laila replied 'sister'. How do they pick this stuff up?

Out cruzin' with the boys

Who do you think she takes after as far as hair colour goes?

Further updates from the past

2009-12-05T17:49:00.000-08:00

So I know we're miles behind the times...I suspect facebook is to blame as most of the photos and updates seem to go on there nowadays, but I (Mark) prefer blog...I'm an anti facebookionist so I'll try to put up a few updates from over the last couple of months.
I've been training to do a half marathon in the new year...a few weeks back I decided to stretch my training and enter a local fun run...a 17km (10 1/2 miles)run over a local mountain range (the Rimutaka range). For the most part it was ok...the down hill on the otherside was fast but by the last km or 2 I was struggling. Marnie took this video at the end as I powered past her energetically, and on to the finishline...somewhat reminicest of a mortally wounded buffalo.

bumble bee and Belly

2009-11-10T00:55:00.000-08:00

Halloween isn't a huge holidy here in New Zealand. It's important to me though to make some of those things from home a part of our family culture here so on a beautiful spring day we dressed Laila up and went around to visit a few friends. They were gracious enough to dig some goodies out of their cupboards for her, a new word in her ever expanding vocabulary "Lolly" (Candy for us Americans out there). I only wish we could find some of those big orange American pumpkins....maybe someday.

On a different note, we have hit the 25 week mark in our pregnancy. I don't even know if we've made an announcement, certainly not like we did with Laila. I guess you lose track of time when you have a toddler to run after. We are expecting another little girl and she's due in Feb, right on Laila's due date actually. Baby seems to be doing well and Laila is anticipating finding out what all the fuss is about. Right now she seems pretty happy to hold the phone up to my belly and say 'hi' to her little siste, it's pretty cute.

Catchin up, holidays abroad

2009-11-10T00:44:00.000-08:00

Just doing a bit of a catch up on the last few months. We had an Australia holiday a couple of months back to see one of my favorite friends and former teammate, Sara and her husband Ramon. We had such a great time. I sure do miss my special friends. Here were some of the highlights

walks on the beach

Introducing my little girl to some of my favorite people

cuteness

Beautiful scenery

getting to use the passports once again

a couple of videos

2009-10-27T12:24:00.000-07:00

I think one of my favorite times of the day is about 6:30: dinner is done, Mark is doing Laila's bath and I get to jump into "America-land" and watch Friends. It's not a show I'd really encourage Laila to watch but as soon as the theme song comes on, she runs from wherever she is in the house to dance....different day, same song, same dance. It is pretty darn cute.

We also just had a fantastic three day weekend. We got our veges and flowers in for summer, tons of work done around the house and Laila finished the day with a run through the hose. I love how kids don't seem to mind their clothes getting all wet and muddy. This is a huge step for our little girly girl as well, she usually gets quite upset if her hands or clothes get dirty, didn't seem to mind so much while getting hosed down by Daddy though.

helping out!

2009-07-28T17:32:00.001-07:00

Ever had one of those days where the clothes don't fit quite right (well, due to an expanding belly they hardly fit at all) so you have to put the pj bottoms back on after the shower? When it begins that way you should probably just call it a miss of a day and resign yourself to the fact that nothing will get done like you wanted and you might as well give in to the chaos. Earlier this morning I realized that Laila had gotten very quiet. I went to check on her and was shocked to find her in her room with all her clothes pulled out of every drawer, every book pulled off the shelf and toilet paper scattered around the room. When I asked Laila what she was doing she simply told me "helping". I didn't even know she knew that word but I'm not too sure she understands exactly what it means. Here is where we now stand 2 hours later....permanent pen on the arms and face, lunch all over the clothes, flour everywhere in the kitchen (she helped me make cookies too), cookie dough on the windows, sandwich smeared in the curtains and the drying laundry scattered all over the living room....when I finish my cup of tea and go out into that mess I'm sure I'll find more. What can you say, when it all starts with not being able to button your pants you might as well give in. I've given up and we'll start again tomorrow to get things done, for now I'm quite happy to kiss my messy little girl and tell her what a good little helper she is.

Learning the ABC's???

2009-06-30T17:26:00.000-07:00

I think every parent brags at their child's genius. They show off their latest tricks so proudly while onlookers simply nod and smile politely yet think to themselves, 'yeah, not so much'. Now, we don't think Laila to be a genius per se, but she shocks us sometimes with the things that come out of her mouth and the level to which she totally understands us. Yesterday we were looking at some pictures and she pointed to the letter B, saying "B", then went on to say bee, ball, boon (balloon) and biscuit. I thought 'surely she didn't just do that, it was a fluke, she's only 16 months'. I was telling Mark about it later on and I'm not too sure he believed me since she wouldn't do it a second time. He took her out to the store however and in the car started saying, A, which she automatically followed up with, "apple", B "biscuit", C "coat", D "duck", (some letters she misses), F "finger", she doesn't say it but waves them around and finally landing on L-where she roars like a lion. To be fair she has an ABC book that she is basically repeating from memory, but that is what reading and learning is all about. So, it's your turn to simply nod your head and smile while I show off our daughter's genius over a lunch of tortillas and cheese!

just thoughts

2009-05-31T14:48:00.001-07:00

I find blogging a bit of an on again off again thing. I only have one kid so no excuse really, but just can't find the time, or can't think of anything really interesting to say....we live a normal every day life now and sometimes it depresses me to be honest. I need, however, to see the every day things of life to hold the significance that they really do. We are aspiring to raise our daughter with a heart for God, a respect for other people and a love for life. Mark and I are trying to love each other in a way that truely reflects Christ. Mark is providing for our family and I'm trying to keep up with the laundry while studying for a final exam. That, I think is a much harder road and full of way more adventure than any Afghan or Pakistani journey could offer....Lord please help me to remember. With that said here are some photos from the past month or so. We had a surprise party for Mark's mom, it was a fantastic weekend with the family. We also took a trip to the zoo the other day which was great fun, wild animals in the middle of a city always gives me a chuckle.

walking with my little girl

kayaking in the sounds, what beautiful water.

Laila having nanna cuddles (she says cuddle now, so cute, although it sounds a bit like dudle)

Watching the giraffes at the zoo

wild safari

Super Energetic and Amazingly Fit

2009-04-24T04:05:00.000-07:00

So we decided to enter a fun run the other week. A friend of Marks came 2nd in the marathon last year & had a good chance of winning it this year, so we both decided to enter the 10km (about 6 mile) event.
With only a couple of training runs, Mark came 11th of about 300 in the 10 km run, & Marnie about the same in the 10km walk (tho the 'walk' part got boring after about 2km). Bring on the Olympics!

In other news...Laila kisses boys. This is her best friend Kian & the other day she wouldn't stop kissing him. When he wasn't into it she would grab his shirt and pull him in. Get's it from her Mum I guess.

got me some new slippers

2009-04-01T18:50:00.000-07:00

Laila really loves her new walking trick, especially in her new fluffy purple slippers. So cute, not a waking moment without them!

surprise guys, I can walk

2009-03-25T20:02:00.000-07:00

Laila surprised us this past weekend. We were at a friend's house and she was standing with Mark and turned around and walked straight to me. We couldn't believe it, we didn't think she was anywhere near walking. Her main mode of transport is still crawling but she's almost there, then a whole new world awaits us....like hospital visits, already we've had a split eye from falling into the coffee table not to mention the speckled bruised forehead. It's hard growing up.

I've also posted some photos from our afternoon in the sun. Laila can get a bit grumpy in the afternoons and today the only thing that seemed to keep her happy was to take all her clothes and nappy off, put her ducky bath outide, give her a cookie which of course got put in the bath and fill the bath with clothes pins, one of her favorite toys.

lookie lookie me, just a little photo catchup

2009-03-19T20:54:00.000-07:00

After an hour and a half battle, Laila is finally sleeping and I would hate myself if I spent my entire 'quiet time' on the computer, so I'll just post some photos and get on with other important things....like a power nap and a cup of strong coffee. Our little Laila is on the go and from the photos I'm sure you can imagine why we're a bit tired. She is everywhere all the time and definitely keeps us on our toes, but as I was reminded last week when she was really really sick and unable to eat, smile, play etc....a messy house means a healthy child! That is what I'm telling myself today anyways.

Direct quote "Now why would you think I need to go to sleep? I don't need sleep and when you come in here to tell me off, I'm just going to smile at you and you'll give in...I know it"

Getting Laila to wear her bike helmet was a bit of a mission at first, but after mommy and daddy walking around in theirs she decided it was OK. Ok to wear everywhere, and most definitely to swing in. She loves to ride behind daddy on her bike seat.

yummy blueberries!

Hope guests don't mind that the toilet paper is always in a wad at our house. It's the "plop" of things being dropped in the toilet that my ears usually tune in to.

We love walking outside with our little walker, great Christmas pressie Nana

On the move, walking and kisses, love them

Please tell me this will eventually get old to her.

Happy Birthday little Laila

2009-02-24T14:31:00.000-08:00

My little girl has turned 1. Was it really only one year ago that I was denying the fact that I was in labor and thought I just needed to go to the toilet? We had a great party for her with friends and family. She loved being the center of attention, loved her first taste of cake, and loved not having to take an afternoon nap. Here are some pics from the day. The birthday cake had a bit of an accident and ended up face down on the floor (drama drama) so none of those cute first birthday cake photos...it tasted good, just didn't look too pretty.

At first she spit the frosting out, then licked her lips and tried again, one bite, two bites....oh yeah baby, give me some of that!

look at me, I'm soooo cool.

forever different

2009-01-24T23:48:00.001-08:00

top 10 reasons going to the beach for the afternoon will never be the same again

1. Sand- Why does it get put straight into the mouth and how does it manage to get in every crack and crevice if a little person?
2.Swimsuit- The figure I was once uncomfortable with in my bikini seems like a dream. I'm now the boardshort mom.
3 waves- Aren't at all fun, rather when they come in they put Laila in a near panic, even little ones.
4.Sun- The hole in the ozone is no myth, no more tan, just straight burn
5. book- No more gripping travel memoir I usually enjoy, it was a bit of Dr. Seuss and ABC instead
6 serenity- Being on constant alert to make sure Laila didn't choke on rocks, shells, seaweed, sticks, garbage, and sand wore me out a little bit
7. swimming- I know sharks are mostly in Australia, but we're close enough to let my imagination get the best of me and scare me out of the water...plus it's too cold to stay in too long.
8 picnic- Forget dinner on the beach, there was too much sand in the way to allow food into Laila's mouth, dinner had to wait till 2 hours past it's normal time. Not good for the cry factor.
9 stuff stuff stuff- It seems like a silly thing to pack up the whole house just for an afternoon on the beach, and even sillier to clean it and put it away...I always remember my mom doing that...oh wait, I'm the mom now. I forget that sometimes.
10. seafood- Despite a long day, an exhausted momma an even more exhausted baby, and a burnt daddy, Laila is asleep, we are finally fed and clean and my wonderful husband is cooking up the scallops he went diving for. Fresh scallops, a glass of wine...not a bad end to a crazy day.

I cried today....

2009-01-11T19:32:00.000-08:00

Grieving over the end of our Christmas holidays. Mark went back to work this morning, it was just me and Laila sitting there staring at each other, the weeds in the garden were screaming to be pulled up, 2 weeks worth of laundry was waiting to be done, bags were still sitting unpacked...OK, it isn't really all that bad but I sure wasn't ready for vacation to end and real life to begin again. I love holiday time and this year was fantastic, especially now that we have Laila to share it all with. We spent the past few weeks on the South Island enjoying time off work, time with family, beautiful weather....I can't be bothered writing about it, I'll just let the photos tell it all, IT WAS SO MUCH FUN

The beaches in 'the Catlins', the area at the bottom of the South Island, were beautiful, not known for their weather, we were blessed with sunshine, warmth, and now tans!

Our little dare devil, Laila loved her time with daddy!

Mark's brother Craig took him out in his plane, landed on the beach and the guys got to spend their time fishing, diving, hunting and being eaten by mosquitos. We also took another trip out on the boat, without the baby, and Mark and Craig caught us fresh scallops for dinner, still waiting for the lobster I have to say.

Girl time.

these boulders are freaks of nature, looking like they have simply been deposited out of nowhere, Marnie is convinced aliens will one day emerge and take over the world...too many movies perhaps

If Laila could say more than, "look", "what's that" and "hi/bye" she would tell you her favorite part of her holiday was spent being absolutely spoiled and lavished with the attention of cousins, aunts, uncles and especially Nanna and Grandad. We loved being around Mark's entire family, it doesn't seem right to have them spread all over the country, we won't even mention Marnie's family...if only.....

1st Christmas

2008-12-24T16:45:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas everyone!
I've gotta say, Christmas is more exciting with kids. Even tho Laila doesn't get the Christmas thing yet, it's fun helping her open all her gifts (tho she did pretty well herself, and of course she got way more than us), and just seems like a real 'family' time of year.

We are looking forward to going down south tomorrow to spend a week or 2 with Mark's entire family - some who have never met Laila before. 2 weeks off work in the sun (hopefully) yippee!

We had a cool Christmas eve service celebration at church last night. Marnie and I sang and played together with the band which was great. I like the last line of 'Silent night' - 'Jesus, Lord at thy birth'
Have a great Christmas and New Year everyone :)

On the move!

2008-12-24T15:55:00.000-08:00

Laila hasn't gotten the whole crawling down yet, but she sure can move across the floor in a worm like fashion. I don't know why I'd assume she'd crawl like everyone else, she seems pretty pre-disposed to doing things differently. She sometimes lands so hard on her tummy she leaves little pukes across the carpet....yummy.

On removing drawers from drawers...

2008-12-24T15:35:00.000-08:00

Laila discovered the other day that she could open drawers. She was so excited to find that she could keep pulling stuff out, throw it on the floor,and do it all over again...and again...and again. Yippee!

She speaks!

2008-12-21T11:57:00.000-08:00

Laila may be the last of all her friends to crawl...but she sure isn't short of words. Most days are filled with baby jibberish, but she has begun this new CONSTANT pointing at things and saying "sss dat?" She doesn't say 'mommy', sometimes 'daddy', but constantly repeats "what's that". So the naming and renaming of EVERYTHING has begun. I love seeing her constant attention to details. This morning I asked her where the Christmas tree was and she turned and pointed to it. I know most parents think their kids are geniuses, but at 10 months that's pretty good.

two years ago....

2008-12-15T12:30:00.000-08:00

we said I do. It feels like it's been a lifetime already but it's still just the beginning. As time goes on, I see more and more how we were chosen by God specifically and perfectly for eachother....I can't wait to see what more he has planned for us in the years to come. I love you Babe!

JELLO FUN

2008-12-12T15:55:00.000-08:00

Each week friends from our pre-natal class get together for some coffee at one another's houses, it's a great time to talk, share baby stories, cry, laugh, and allow our kids to play together. The kids are all starting to outgrow our living rooms so we decided this week to take them outside and do some messy play. I cried when I first heard of messy play, it seemed like such a 'mom' thing to do and I was afraid I wouldn't know how to 'play' with my child. I worried that she would grow up with a mom who didn't know how to be a fun. What a great idea messy play is! Kids need to have a chance to get dirty and explore, and what better way to do that than with a big plate of Jello. It took a few seconds for the kids to get a finger into it, then hands, then feet, then watch out... they were soon splashing and squealing away. Most of the kids who could crawl eventually found better things to do, but not our Laila. Her and her friend Oscar continued to splash around in what was now a liquid sticky mess. Laila wasn't content to simply splash, she had to get her face in it and slurp the jello off of the tarp, and when the tarp wasn't enough, she needed the whole plate. The photos don't capture it well, but hands, faces and feet were dyed a fantastic dark red even after a bath. It looks like Jello will have to go into the Christmas stocking this year and messy play is now on the top of my list of favorite things to do with my child, we are both learning how to play.

here they come, ohhh, that feels nice

We love how it splashes all over our bodies

forget the hands, it tastes great, especially slurped off the tarp.

move over guys, I love this stuff

Yeah baby, I LOVE JELLO!

VICTORY, well steps towards it anyway!

2008-11-30T12:02:00.000-08:00

I have a secret not many of you may know about me. I may have packed it up and lived in Afghanistan, but I am a closet scardey cat. I have these funny little things that scare me and one of the biggest is my fear of riding bikes! I can count on three fingers the amount of times I've gotten on one since I was 10 years old. It terrifies me, it bruises my bum, I hate it. Apparently this is my year to start facing my fears and we have decided to do family bikes for Christmas... since we found a good deal this weekend, Christmas came early for me. Being outdoors and doing things together as a family is important to us. We live so close to a fantastic river trail, it would be ridiculous for us to not spend some time on it as the kids get older, also I can hardly tell Laila to go outside and ride her bike if I refuse to get on one myself. I went on my first bike ride in about 20 years last night and I have to say it's wasn't that bad. I'm still pretty much going to stay in areas where there aren't too many people till I get more comfortable, but already I'm picturing the baby seat we just bought attached to the back and peddling down the road on a warm sunny day. I'm determined to overcome it and if I can get over my bike riding fear, (which don't laugh is a pretty big one for me) then watch out other fears.....you're next....like swimming in the deep ocean...wait, I might need counseling before that one.

Good thing Mark was with me in the bike shop, the only thing I really cared about was what color it was, thankfully he knows a thing or two more than I do. Oh, it's silver and white with pretty pink flowers of course.

Sunny days

2008-11-30T11:46:00.000-08:00

Summer is almost here and the weather has been awesome! It has been so good to get outside as a family. It's been a great weekend spent in the garden, at the newly opened kids pool, and out in the park. Our favorite place to go right now is the duck pond, it has these crazy ducks that are way to used to humans feeding them, horses, swings, a swimming hole, and a good running path. We love to pack up dinner and head down to feed ourselves and the ducks on a warm evening. Laila is fascinated by the birds and I can actually get some dinner down her cause she's distracted and doesn't realize she's being fed. After a long weekend in the sun, we all fell into bed last night exhausted but happy!

Laila's feeding daddy some of her sausage, mommy sure won't eat it.

Mark took Laila for a run and I tried out the new bike, sure is a lot easier and faster than running. As a matter of fact, I may never run again!

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-23T23:41:00.000-08:00

It wasn't on Thursday, nor was it cold, no football game, and the Turkey cost an arm and a leg.... but we got together with some American friends and Kiwi spouses to have Thanksgiving dinner. So much fun. Happy Thanksgiving everyone from down under! Thanks for hosting Trista.

Behavioural issues????

2008-11-23T23:32:00.001-08:00

I'm sorry, you expect me to eat what? And NO, I won't get my feet off the table!

Does this look like the face of a kid with issues? The eating saga continues with Laila now totally rejecting being fed at all! Grrrrr. There could be a number of things going on and I feel like I've tried everything. We've been basically standing on our heads trying to get her to eat and the only thing that works is to give her food to feed herself and hope to get a few bites into her. I am hoping to get into a family center to observe her and hopefully help us get to the bottom of things cause we just had her checkup today and although she has put on weight, it's not at the rate we would hope. It's been really frustrating in the Anderson house, if any of you have suggestions or have had kids who are as stubborn as mine or not so stubborn but still didn't eat, I'll take it...I'm desperate!

do you see what I see?

2008-11-18T17:21:00.000-08:00

That's right, strawberries and raspberries!!!!! Most of you who read this are hunkering down for winter. Not us, we've got our first fruit coming, now we just have to wait for the tomatoes, green peppers, lettuce, spinach, and zucchini to come, yippee.

just me

2008-11-18T16:53:00.000-08:00

I sure think I'm cute so I'm gonna share some photos of myself, I am my favorite person to look at at the moment, so why not!

I love to go on walks, especially when we head in the direction of the park. Don't tell mommy and daddy this, but I hate my hat, they always make me wear it but I usually take it off and throw it.

Sigh, a little rest on the floor. I bet mommy wants to give me some of her chocolate.

I'm trying to crawl like all my friends can but I'm not very good, I usually just go around in a circle or backwards which really frustrates me. I'll get it though... someday.

I had a Christmas party with all my friends from my pre-natal class. We get together a lot for our moms to have coffee and boring grown up conversation. They also get ideas on how to make us sleep and eat better, they think they know but they don't really, we like to keep them guessing.

little helper

2008-11-10T11:57:00.000-08:00

Laila likes to be involved in what I'm doing around the house. She likes to watch me fold laundry, sits on the counter while I do the dishes, and is fascinated by watching water boil on the stove. I love telling her what I'm doing and explaining how I do it. I know she doesn't totally understand what I'm saying but sometimes she sits there and listens like she does and I find those times very sweet, especially when I'm done talking and she responds with a very sweet, "Ba". Who knows, maybe if she watches enough I can get her cleaning toilets and washing dishes by time she's walking and I can sit down for a cup of coffee. I'm sure the time will come when hanging out with me is the uncoolest thing in the world, but for now, I want to take advantage of every minute I can just being with my daughter....for me it's cooler than anything I've ever done before.

uh oh...it's starting, the doc says so

2008-11-06T14:38:00.000-08:00

We took another trip into the doctor this morning since Laila has decided again she doesn't want to eat. She was hungry but as soon as she swallowed she would start crying and hit the spoon away (yeah cereal all over the curtains), I took her in just to make sure she wasn't still having issues with her sore throat. The Doc took a look at her throat, and although it's not still infected she does have a bit of thrush. I thought, "good, we have that sorted we'll get some medicine and all will be normal again". The doctor then looked at me and said, in her very strong Russian accent, "now, in my opinion, her thrush isn't very bad and it looks like you are dealing more with a behavioral issue". I asked for clarification, and she told me that Laila's eating problem probably lies more in the fact that she could be strong willed and stubborn! I couldn't believe it, almost 9 months and we are already diagnosed with having behavioural issues! Laila is a very sweet and loving baby, and I don't take the docs comments too much to heart, but she does have a stubborn streak...I guess in this family you better or you won't survive. It's going to be a long 18 years I recon.

A new kind of pumpkin patch

2008-10-30T13:03:00.000-07:00

One would think that NZ and America are very similar countries, I mean it's not like we live in Afghanistan or anything. We are so similar in so many ways, but because of that it can be harder to handle at times, even after living here for almost 2 yrs. I have looked at all your photos of your cute little kiddos in pumpkin patches, getting ready for Halloween and can feel, sense, and see the anticipation of the holiday season. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year, the weather getting colder, colorful trees, football, scarves and hot apple cider.

You know what October-December means in New Zealand? Warmth, planting, growth, pinks and yellow, BBQ and beaches, flip flops and shorts. I am loving the shedding of winter and am anxiously awaiting summer time, but I have to say I am a bit missing the 'feel' of home and kinda sad that Laila might not ever know that like I do. Rather than wallow in self pity we have decided to bring some of those American traditions into our mixed little family. Trying to explain a pumpkin patch to a NZ er is greeted with blank stares, especially since it is a kids clothing store here, so a trip to a pumpkin patch was out of the question, plus, pumpkins aren't orange here, they are small and white and used for roasting. I went to the local produce shop, bought a white pumpkin, took a trip to the craft store, got some orange paint....and walla, Happy Halloween!!! I might have to take cute kiddo pumpkin photos out in the green garden with blooming rose bushes, but it's as close as I'm going to get. Happy Fall guys, enjoy the season, we're going out to the garden to enjoy the roses!

a terrible bloger

2008-10-30T12:39:00.000-07:00

I m horrible at posting blogs, I think about getting on the computer all the time, then either something else distracts me, or I just can't be bothered and prefer to sit down with a coffee during those moments when Laila is asleep. It's still no excuse for my bad communication, no blogs, no e-mails, and no calls home, which is cheaper than making phone calls here in NZ! Sorry guys, I'll try to be better about it.

Here are some recent photos of Laila taken over the past month. Mark and I of course have no photos of ourselves, but then again, we're just the same as always and not nearly as cute.

The days are getting both warmer and longer down under. We are enjoying good walks, time out in the garden, and of course the park! Laila has discovered and fallen in love with the swings. often in the evening we pack up dinner and head to the park down the road to eat, here is Laila just finished with her meal and ready to play.

My poor little girl has been so sick this week. She has had a really bad cold virus, high temp and sore throat. She was refusing to eat, for three days in a row she fed in the morning and wouldn't even drink water after that, I was having to get water down her throat with a syringe, not fun at all. She is such a social kid, even when she is sick and crying from being miserable she loves to have people around her. I needed to take a shower and Laila wasn't too happy about it. I took the mirror from our bedroom and put it in front of her so she would have someone to talk to while I was busy. You wouldn't even think there was anything wrong with her, she was talking and laughing and sharing her toys with her new little 'friend'. I not only got my shower, I got my hair done and the laundry started before she remembered she was sick and was no longer happy with the mirror. Funny kid!

Va Va Voom!

2008-10-07T15:55:00.000-07:00

Watch out Broadway, here I come. It seems like I could never hide the feather boa well enough from Laila, she would inevitably see it and scramble to get her little fingers around those tempting pink and purple feathers. I finally gave it to her to see what she would do with it, after showing off her future stage performance potential, I had to fish those feathers out of the back of her throat. Sorry Laila, maybe when you're older and everything doesn't automatically get put into your mouth.

fun games

2008-10-01T14:04:00.000-07:00

We love highchair time! Not only does Laila get really excited when she gets her food, she loves games with the washcloth, she is so easily entertained, I hope this continues as she gets older. Right who needs toys when a washcloth will keep her busy for a long while and lets me get the dishes done. It's fantastic

We're back!

2008-09-07T14:33:00.000-07:00

Long time no hear from! We have just returned from a month enjoying our friends, family, and summer in the states. It has been a shock to our systems getting back into NZ winter, Mark has returned to work and I am trying to ignore the fact that Laila won't take a nap and is currently in her bed trying to cry herself to sleep...sigh, nevermind, we had a fantastic trip and already miss everyone at home. There's no way to sum up a whole month so here are some of the highlights.

TRAVEL

Laila was a champ. Traveling with a baby means traveling will NEVER be the same but she did great. We traveled a lot between Roseburg, Portland, Seattle and Spokane and I couldn't have asked her to be any better. She loves being around people and didn't mind at all being passed around, I think she's having issues being back with just boring old mom at home. I hope we start working through those soon cause we're a bit tired.

a little TV never hurt anyone, especially on a plane where we had the only kid.

Our best purchase ever, This little travel tent was Laila's bed for the past month, she slept everywhere in it, even airport lounges!

FAMILY

It was so much fun to be with my family again, we enjoyed a lot of time outside in the beautiful sunshine and my brother Daniel came home from the Airforce to meet his new little niece.

four generations!

believe it or not, I can still beat up my 'little' brother

We all went camping together with my parents, brother, and 2 nieces, Aria and Kalliste

FRIENDS

One of the things I miss most about being in NZ is having close friends around. I have been spoiled in my life with such amazing friends, making new ones has been a struggle this past year. A lot of my close friends have had babies recently and it was fun to meet them in person. Life sure has changed.

Krista is a freind from High School and she had Libby just 5 days after Laila, they are destined to be buds, even if you can't tell just yet.

my good freind Heather had little Raine at just 24 weeks weighing 1 lb 9oz, what a miracle, she was able to finally take him home from the hospital at almost 7 lbs and doing well, meeting him was one of my highlights.

SUMMER TIME

I love Summer, I love sunshine and we really enjoyed every last ounce of warmth. We spent a lot of time outside. It was quite a shock coming stepping off the plane in Wellington blasted by freezing wind and rain. I guess one good thing about winter here, summer will soon follow. For any of you would like to escape in January or so....we have a spare room waiting.

Look who's sitting up now at 6 1/2 months.

Laila loved being outside and she loved being with her daddy all day.

some much needed time in the sun at the river.

GLUTONY

America... big country, big trucks, big portions and free refills, I love it. I have missed big restaurants and lots of ice in your drink, something we just don't have here in NZ.

Roasted hot dogs anyone?

So, that was our trip. We are slowly getting back into the swing of things. To everyone Stateside, we miss you we love you and can't wait to see you again sometime soon.

little happy family

2008-07-22T13:33:00.000-07:00

5 months old already

Mark has been home from work more lately because of nasty weather, good for us, bad for the bank. Laila loves having someone else to play with her during the day and daddy plays in ways mommy never would. Mommy puts Laila on top of the yoga ball, daddy puts the yoga ball on top of Laila, she loved it when she realized her voice echoes in the ball when she squealed and she went crazy. I love watching her learn what she can do, you can just see her her little mind working all the time and it's such a blessing to be her mom and help her grow up!

milestones...not caught on camera!

2008-07-13T17:09:00.000-07:00

Laila seems to be a little camera shy, stopping all her tricks as soon as I get the camera out. It's OK, she's still pretty cute. She has rolled over a few times, although I don't think she's really all that interested in it. She has also had her first bites of solids. She opens her mouth and swallows but poor thing has been destined from conception to have allergic reactions like her momma and the cereal doesn't seem to agree with her very well, hence the naked video clip, she has a horrible rash on her bottom and most of today has been spent in the buff. It's a good excuse for me to turn the heat up. She is getting to be really fun as she interacts more and is more aware of her surroundings. A good chunk of this morning was spent outside in the sunshine, she seems to really like being outside and loves to watch the cars drive by. She is finally asleep, worn out from all her 'activities' this morning and I am off for a much needed shower...finally (didn't quite make my 12:00 deadline for showers, but that's Ok, I'll take them when i can get them)

Don't mess with me

2008-07-12T23:39:00.000-07:00

Poor Marky, he came home from work with a pretty nasty looking eye this week. As the blood has spread across his eyeball it looks even more fierce than it really is. He got it at work when a nail gun kicked back and knocked him in the face. I am so glad the actual nail didn't get him, or that there wasn't more damage done to his eye. The question I heard all day today was, "Marnie, what did he do to deserve that black eye". I kept trying to think of funny answers, "He talked back to me", "He put me on a spending budget", "he asked when I was going to lose the baby weight"....but tried as hard as I could, I just couldn't really respond, Mark would never do anything that could make me hit him, nor could he ever do any of the things I was thinking would be funny to say, he's just about perfect (just about), even with a nasty looking eye!

"ohhh say can you see"

2008-07-05T19:49:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of July!

What memories I have of warm sunny 4th of July celebrations, BBQ's sunshine, swimming, long weekends, and fireworks. I have celebrated on a donkey with US troops in Afghanistan, I celebrated last year by just finding out we were going to have a baby...but never, I repeat never have I ever celebrated the 4th of July IN THE SNOW! We had some friends over last night for a mid winter 4th of July BBQ. It was great, we dressed up in red white and blue, had an American quiz and even planned to light off some fireworks. When I say fireworks however, I don't want to confuse you with those brilliant displays of wonder you oohh and ahhh about down at the park, Instead we had a fist full of crackers built by a 15 year old who was generous enough to share from his stash he had saved to blow things up with his mates. It was a little scary lighting them off in the road (did I mention in the snow?) and ducking for cover, but so much fun. It hasn't snowed in Upper Hutt for years, so fitting really that it would begin on the day we celebrate a part of summer where I come from. God Bless America. Hope you guys had a great weekend and enjoyed the sunshine.

Laila in her little America outfit. Thanks Karen! I think it's supposed to be a dress, but in NZ in July you need to be dressed in thermals!

Run for cover! Everyone ducks out of the way to escape the wayward fireworks and smoke.

Brrrrrrr!

Baby videos

2008-06-29T01:31:00.001-07:00

Here's a couple of videos of Laila - the first is when she first discovered her toes...and that they wiggle when she asks them to.
The 2nd is just last week when she discovered she can lift her arms up and hit the butterflies above her head - very exciting! She also loves the sound of her own voice...she talked for 53 minutes not stop the other week! Very cute.

And now, for something completely different...

2008-06-29T00:32:00.000-07:00

View from the front

So I know it seems like our life now does not exist outside of Laila, and that's pretty much true, but just for those of you who are interested, here's a couple of photos to update you on progress of the house my boss and I are building. It's a huge house (540 square metres or 5812 square feet) and we've been building it for over 6 months now. After some slow going getting the lower half built (thousands of conrete blocks), we finally got the 2nd storey slab poured and have now got the frames up. Hopefully be getting the roof on in about 3 weeks or so, but still a long way to go.

From the back - the 2nd level

And now that winter has hit and the price of veges are going through the roof (along with the price of everything else), I have again impressed myself by growing perfect broccoli which we've picked and frozen to get us through the winter, along with cauliflower which are growing well, and carrots.

And just so that you don't feel as though you're missing out on a cute baby photo, here's the latest...our little homey girl

Four months old

2008-06-22T01:33:00.000-07:00

Hello, I'm now four months old now! Life is good. My favorite toy is my stuffed hippo, I like to chew on it and squeal in delight. My favorite place is the supermarket, I like to talk to everyone I see. My reflux is getting much better, but if mommy eats dairy I still cry from a sore tummy. My teeth are starting to come in which is fun for all of us. I am a happy little girl who is growing well and developing a fun out going personality! I can't wait to meet most of you when we go to America in August. See you all soon

Laila

Little Kangaroo

2008-06-14T02:25:00.000-07:00

We have just come back from a weekend away at Lake Taupo for a church leadership conference. It was fantastic and we have both come back encouraged and stoked to what we feel God is leading us to do with missions at our church. Here are a couple pics of our wee family. I was a little bit nervous about taking Laila, wondering if she was too young and if we would be able to be in the sessions. She was PERFECT, better than I have ever seen her at home. I think she liked all the attention, she is becoming quite the little social butterfly. I love this photo of her with her dad, she looks like a little Kangaroo!

MOOOOOM! I don't think this vest really fits me!

2008-06-09T20:47:00.000-07:00

I think Laila was getting annoyed with me while trying to get a photo of her in her new winter vest. She just looks so cute and it seems to suddenly fit her, well kinda, but close enough. She has had bit of a growth spurt lately, waking me up in the middle of the night starving. It seems that suddenly none of her clothes fit anymore and I have had to once again loosen the straps in the car seat. She's still on the smaller end of the growth chart. Someone has to be and I'm not overly anxious for her to get any heavier. It's still weird to me that it's winter...it's June! I'm still a little confused in my seasons, we were walking downtown the other day and a guy was out playing his sax. We were all bundled up and I had that feeling of Christmas anticipation, then had to check myself, it's not Christmas time, it's almost 4th of July time...oh wait, we don't have that here either, sigh, I'm not sure if I'll ever be a real Kiwi.

and the point is?

2008-06-07T21:10:00.000-07:00

Mark took me out on a surprise date last night, it was fantastic! I knew we were going somewhere special, and since the All Blacks were playing the Irish in the first game of the rugby season, I assumed that is where we were heading. I was pleasantly surprised however when he revealed it wasn't the rugby we were going to but to the musical Cats (ahhhh). We dropped Laila off with his brother, got all spiffed up and went off to the Oprah house. Cats is one of the most well known musicals out there and we both waited in anticipation for the show to begin. We enjoyed the music, the dance, and the costumes, but to be honest had no idea what was going on! Does Cats have a story to follow at all or are we just newbies at the whole musical thing? I just couldn't see what all the rave is about and I'm sure Mark was wishing we were at the rugby instead. I would love some insight if any of you know better than us. We had a great evening none the less and enjoyed getting out alone and doing something different. It ended with a very romantic dessert....because Laila won't take a bottle anymore we couldn't be gone for to long...so it was apple pies at McDonalds (again, ahhhhh). Laila did great too and was sound asleep when we went to go pick her up, a perfect end to a fantastic evening.

Bringing out the big guns

2008-06-03T16:36:00.000-07:00

Being a mommy means I have had to give up a lot of things. Most I am fine with, one of the hardest, however, has been my coffee. Being a good NW girl, I love a good cup of coffee. Laila and her reflux just can't handle it so its had to go. I have found various ways to combat my urge for a cuppa....tea, hot chocolate, hot water, decaf, I've even resorted to chewing gum (now I sound like a serious addict)! Today has been a rough one, and they day isn't even half over. It's noon and I still haven't been able to take a shower, Laila has been crying most of the morning, she won't sleep, and decides to poo as soon as I put her in a clean diaper (that's happened twice already). I could keep going about the state of my house but for my own well being, I'll stop there. I have been battling my need to sit down with a mug all morning and just can't fight it anymore. I've tried all my normal distractions but the green tea isn't doing it for me. It's one of those days where I've got to do what I've got to do to keep my sanity. With great anticipation, and absolutely no guilt, I made myself a big ole cup of Joe...and am savoring every little drop! It is well worth it, it's cold and rainy outside so I'll just bunker down at home and wait for the consequences of my short lived delight and count down the hours till Mark comes home. Only 6 more to go!

Sorry Crystal

2008-05-29T15:47:00.000-07:00

My sister Crystal HATED pink. I have to admit that these were the only clothes that I had clean for Laila this morning and as I was getting her dressed, pink shirt, pink pants, pink onsie, on a pink blanket.... I couldn't help but think of my sister and laugh, she would have vomited. I miss her and wish that she was here to get to know her little niece. Mark and I have a friend who plays guitar with Mark and stops by all the time for a chat or with some CD we just have to listen to. He was over last week and it hit me, my sister would be older than Dave if she were still alive. She wouldn't be just my little sister, she would be an adult, a friend who stopped by just to see what was in the fridge. Time passes and eases the pain, but it sure doesn't get rid of the ache that comes when you remember little somethings about the person who is gone. I used to joke that when I had a girl I would dress her all is pink just to get Crystal riled up....well, sis, this outfit is just for you. I think Laila would agree with you, she doesn't seem too stoked to be dressed in pink either.

Bed Time!

2008-05-29T13:43:00.001-07:00

Now, why would you want to put this face to sleep? Laila has figured out that I am a whole lot more likely to pick her back up when she smiles at me than when she screams. She was so fussy and tired this morning but it took her 45 minutes to stop talking to the flowers on her wall and go to sleep, funny girl, oh well, I'll take it!

Tricky Mommy

2008-05-29T13:29:00.000-07:00

My daughter HATES spending time on her tummy. I have tried everything to get her to spend more than a minute on her stomach. Well, it's all about creativity and I've found a way to get her to be on her tummy for a bit longer. I sure hope this doesn't continue as she gets older or we'll be in trouble

Beach trip

2008-05-02T03:51:00.000-07:00

We enjoyed a three day weekend last weekend by a little trip to the beach. It was our first real 'outing' as a family and Laila got her first taste of cold NZ wind and long road trips. We had a great day with a picnic and walk down the beach on a beautiful day. We are enjoying Laila getting a bit older and her reflux calming down a little bit, it makes going out a lot more enjoyable.

Our little Anderson

2008-05-02T03:46:00.000-07:00

Laila wears her name proud. She's just over 2 months old now and thankfully has started sleeping through the night, we are loving it. She is also starting to hold her head up and has discovered her toes. It's really funny to watch her staring at her little feet in total wonder, oh the things she still has to learn.

happy birthday daddy

2008-05-02T03:34:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Mark's 34th Birthday yesterday. Happy Birthday Marky!!!! I sure love you. His parents are here for the week hanging out with Laila and we've had a lot of fun together with a little family party. Laila LOVES her nanna and Grandad, saving all of her smiles for them, even in the middle of tears, she'll take a break to give them the sweetest big smile.

smiley girl

2008-04-23T00:43:00.000-07:00

These are our two favorite looks that Laila has. The first one we call the "I didn't do it look", the second is her smile. Admittedly, most of her smiles are focused on inanimate objects such as the wall or the curtains, but every now and then she will bless us with a huge cute grin, we love it.

Laila Fun

2008-03-09T17:42:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos we've taken over the past few weeks. Laila is almost 3 weeks old and it has gone by fast. She has reflux so cries alot ( so does mom), and we are all trying to figure out what to do during those times. We enjoy the awake and alert times and pray through the screaming ones. She is growing tons though, and has found that if she can just get her hand in her mouth at the right angle it makes her happy. It is so fun to see how much she has grown and are thankful that her eyes have stopped crossing and can focus on things around her. My parents are still here from the states, and it has been so wonderful to have them here to see NZ and to help out with Laila....plus mom cooks and good ole American food has been fantastic for us all!

.
Everyone around here is a bit tired! With Laila's sore tummy the only way she likes to sleep in on our chests. It is sweet at times and can be tiring. I guess we should enjoy this, there will be a time when it's the last thing she wants to do.

Look, I have an ear and it is attached to my head!

I'm so pretty!

Proud daddys! We had our first coffee group with our friends from pre-natal class. So much fun to see everyone with their new babies.

Laila loves her new jungle gym from Gramma!

Laila Crystal

2008-02-26T16:33:00.000-08:00

Oh how life has changed!

Hi, I'd like to introduce myself to you all. My name is Laila and I'm now 5 days old. I was born on the 21st of Feb at 11:14 PM and weighed 7 lbs 5 oz. Mommy started going into labor with me that morning, but spent the day wondering if it was the real thing or if it was just her bowels (she's not very smart). It was the real thing, and after dinner time contractions went from 20 mins apart to 3 mins apart very quickly. Daddy called the midwife when mom said he'd better do it or else I was going to be born on the bedroom floor. The midwife came over to check me out and told my parents it's time to go to the hospital. Her last words to mommy were 'don't push', and to daddy, 'don't stop for anything'. Daddy did have to stop for something because a police man thought he was going too fast. We all think it was very funny, just like in the movies. I was born about 40 minutes after we got to the hospial. Mommy didn't have any time for drugs and sure didn't like it when people touched her...she yelled at them. I think she just wanted to see me.

I am a very happy baby, except when I'm hungry or my tummy hurts, then I cry. I usually sleep in 4 hour spurts and mommy sometimes has to wake me up to feed me. Mommy and daddy love me very much and think I'm really cute, they are blessed to have me and I pray they do a really good job as I grow up and learn to be a big girl who loves God. I will keep you all posted as I grow up, bye for now.

Laila

Being Grown Up...

2008-02-05T13:42:00.000-08:00

With our daughter due in just a few weeks, I managed to get away with a mate for an overnight fly fishing trip as it will probably be my last chance for a while. For me this place is paradise on earth (Marnie calls it the swamp) - beautiful scenery, and rainbow trout all over the place. Between the two of us we caught about 12, averaging about 3 lbs each.

In other news, we have enjoyed the firstfruits of our recently planted garden - our first zuchinnis; with tomatos not far off. I feel like my dad doing all this mature 'house owner' stuff, but it's quite fun, I just wish I had a bigger garden!

a career change

2008-01-29T23:17:00.000-08:00

Well, we've made it to 36 weeks and Marnie is now finished with work and officially a stay at home mom. Everything is going well with the pregnancy and we are anxiously waiting for the arrival of our baby girl. For a while there we were praying she would stay in as long as possible, now with the heat of summer Marnie especially is praying for her to come out. We can't wait to share her with you all! Official due date is Feb 27th

Christmas holidays

2008-01-03T20:42:00.000-08:00

Well, this was Marnie's first summer christmas. Even though she is used to singing 'let it snow, let it snow, let it snow' it didn't dampen the fun of Christmas holidays with both a turkey and BBQ for Christmas dinner! Because Christmas falls during summer time, most NZ ers take off for their summer holidays and we both had almost 2 weeks off of work. We spent most of the time down with Mark's family. It was the first time he and his four brothers were all together for years! We baby sat a baby goat, went boating, fishing, swimming, sat in the sun, visited the vineyards, took naps, and had a whole lot of BBQ. Here's some photos of our trip down South, we didn't have any snow, but we did have a lot of beautiful sunshine.

One year down!

2008-01-03T20:28:00.001-08:00

Mark and I have just celebrated our first year anniversary. Never in a million years would we have thought we'd be 7 months pregnant, but the way this past year has gone, I guess it shouldn't be any surprise. When I first got to New Zealand a friend sent me something about the 5 top major stressors in life

1 moving

2 changing jobs

3 marriage

4 buying a house

5 having a baby

We can put a check mark by every single one of those and when we reflect on this past year, we are totally amazed that we're still doing pretty OK. It has been a hard year, but full of so many good things, and we are thankful. We are thankful for being blessed with each other, for our marriage, for our home, for our jobs, and for our soon to come baby girl. We do hope however that this next year has a bit less change, I'm guessing that a new addition to the family will be all the change we can handle.

We love holidays (vacations for the Americans among you)

2007-12-01T22:04:00.000-08:00

Our first year anniversary is fast approaching and we had planned a trip to Thailand to celebrate. We wanted one last horah before the baby came. Because of the complications with the pregnancy however we were advised not to go overseas. We were hugely disappointed but took the week and a half to travel up to Northern New Zealand instead. It wasn't Thailand but it was fantastic...beautiful, great weather, great beaches, fresh fruit ice cream, starbucks, bed and breakfasts, surfboards, and best of all, no work! In a way I'm glad we didn't go to Thailand as I wouldn't have been able to enjoy what I love doing there, laying on the beach for hours with my big ole belly isn't an option anymore.

Back in the water

2007-11-23T00:19:00.000-08:00

How many times while in dry, oceanless Pakistan & Afghanistan did I dream of swimming in the ocean, or to be more precise scuba diving under it.
Finally after being back for almost a year, and waiting throught the cold winter, I got out my gear the other day and got back in the water - I wasn't dissappointed, the crayfish (lobster for you non-kiwis) were plenty and my mate and I got about 20 or more between us, of which we kept the best 6 each - our limit bag! If only I liked eating them...

6 months and counting

2007-11-07T15:18:00.000-08:00

I have talked to so many women who 'just loved being pregnant', they felt fantastic, their hair and nails grew long their skin looked radiant....I don't believe a word of it! Don't get me wrong, I love that we are having a baby, I just wish as times that we could just place our order and come back in 9 months to pick up our little bundle of joy. I was wondering last night as Mark and I sat in a Christology class and were going over the incarnation of Christ....did Mary worry when the baby didn't kick for a day or two? Was she scared at any sign of cramping or early bleeding? Did she have to run to the toilet every 20 minutes? Did she freak out just a little bit when all the suitable rooms were full in Bethlehem? This whole pregnancy thing seems hard to me, I can only imagine what it will be like when the baby actually makes an appearance.

I am very thankful to be at a place where the baby is technically viable. At about 20 weeks we learned that part of my placenta had detached and because of this we are at risk of pre-term labor, abnormal low growth, or fetal demise. I admittedly have struggled with trying not to worry, as my midwife suggested. I am relieved with each passing week and pray daily that our little girl will contiue to grow strong and stay in there long enough to survive on her own without months in the neonatal unit. So far things are looking good, no signs of early labor, no excessive bleeding, and I hope she is growing at a normal rate. My belly seems to be growing that is for sure. Do you think Mary ever felt like she looked fat?

It's a girl

2007-10-02T22:31:00.001-07:00

We don't mind telling people, we were quite excited to find out ourselves. We had our half way scan done last week. It was a week or so early due to a bit of a scare, but our little girl seemed to be doing fine, and so is mamma. It's amazing to be able to see the heart, brain, kidneys, bladder, hands and feet....no way you can say we evolved by chance! It was absolutley amazing. Here are some of the first pics of the baby, We can't wait to meet her!

18 Weeks

2007-09-22T14:03:00.000-07:00

We're almost half way there! Just so you know, that isn't a photo of our baby, but one we got from a website we go to to watch the growth of the baby. We are coming up to 18 weeks and Marnie is feeling ready to start looking pregnant rather than just looking like she's eaten too much. We have a midwife who comes to the house and heard the heart beat again last week.....156 beats per minute! There have been a few issues with the pregnancy and Marnie was in the hospital for a night, but the baby seems to be doing fine and continues to grow. Last week the baby was felt for the first time which is very exciting! Stay tuned for belly shots, once Marnie actually starts to look pregnant that is. Mark likes to show off his belly, maybe we can post one of him, he looks more pregnant at times than his wife does.

So, this is what grown ups do!

2007-09-22T13:41:00.000-07:00

Yes, those are rubber boots my husband is wearing!

It's Spring time in New Zealand! I have to say that being cold is one of my least favorite things in the world. Since New Zealand homes don't have central heating, well, I've been missing the warmth of American summer. I have gotten a lot of complaints that we haven't updated our blog very often. Sorry, our lives have become....well, very ordinary and we just aren't quite used to that. We feel as if we've gotten a bit boring as we've settled down, and to be honest are pretty OK with that. Since jaunting off into the mountains of Pakistan, or exploring the markets of Kabul aren't an option anymore, we've found a new hobby. Well, one we don't know much about but are trying to experiment in, we've started gardening.

Mark is busy making a new lawn and garden bed and I spend my time planting flowers and picking weeds. For fun on the weekends we head to Mitre 10 mega, the NZ version of Home Depot. We have enjoyed cooking dinner together when Mark isn't working the night shift, and going to bed early (mostly because I am still so tired from the pregnancy). We really want to take advantage of this time before the baby comes and it all changes again. For now we are more than content to sit back and watch things grow, both in the garden and in my belly, it's a slow but exciting time, and we know we probably won't have it again....until we're 60 and start gardening again that is.

Um...well whadd'ya know!

2007-08-13T21:55:00.000-07:00

So...when we had marriage counselling and all that stuff, someone must have omitted to explain something very important.

So, hey presto...we're having a baby - how wild is that!

We're 12 weeks along and had the first scan a couple of weeks ago - things are all looking good and our little 'alien like' Anderson (see 12 week photo) has a 170 beats a minute heartbeat.

Thankfully, Marnie hasn't been very sick, though has been having headaches and back pain which we're not sure if is pregnancy related or not. She has cut back in her hours at the gym slightly as she gets tired easily too.

Estimated time of arrival is end of Feb 2007 so we have a bit of time to get things ready. Mark is slowly being educated on things baby...like the fact that the baby needs a room to itself! (A cot in the corner of the computer room is apparently not sufficient!)

Watch this space for further progeny related updates.

In other news, Mark's work at the Police is going on...still a bit unsure about whether it's really me or not - the shift work is hard for us both, particularly with a baby on the way and all!

That's all for now from the Andersons

The world of Rugby

2007-06-09T22:18:00.000-07:00

The rugby world cup is upon, us and man is it getting New Zealand all in a tizzy. Marnie is pretty new to the sport of rugby, but Mark is an avid fan. The New Zealand "All Blacks"...the mere mention of the team makes grown men tremble with excitement and women scream and shout. Mark surprised me with tickets to the game this weekend and it was so much fun! It was a freezing cold night yet you can't help but be warmed by the excitement of the crowd. American football fans have nothing compared to New Zealand fans, where their home team plays on the international level and is not simply the state in which they have the closest affiliation like in America...it's a national pride issue. I soon learned that a 'try' cannot be called a touchdown (although it looks like one to me) and that you can't just pass the ball forward to get a first down, that's illegal you have to pass sideways or backwards, and it's OK for grown men to cry if 'their' team looses. Even though I don't totally understand the game yet and was just as happy about the American hotdogs as I was about the game, I'm getting pretty into it and enjoy the fact that one sport can bring a whole country together....wearing black and white and cheering for their very short short no pads wearing team! Go ALL BLACKS.

Happy Birthday Marky

2007-04-30T15:51:00.000-07:00

Today is Mark's birthday. I just wanted to tell everyone how much I am thankful for such an amazing, Godly, kind, romantic, funny, encouraging, and loving husband I have. He's going to kill me, but I just couldn't resist posting one of my favorite photos of him, it's one he sent to his nephew for his birthday last year....but we'll regard it as his birthday photo as well

hi ho hi ho, it's off to work we go!

2007-04-13T16:28:00.000-07:00

Marnie has started full time work this week. Mark has been working with a builder friend of his while he has gone through the application process for the New Zealand police. He will be working with emergency calls and goes in today to start his first day of training. Marnie meanwhile has taken a job at a gym working in the sales department. She basically brings people into the gym, takes them on tours and sells them a membership. Although it's not her dream job she really enjoys the people she is working with and loves that her job is working with people all day, particularly with people who want to make healthy choices and start regular exercise. A bonus for her is a free membership, and part of her job is having a personal trainer and doing the group exercise classes so she knows what she is selling....yesterday it was boxing, and let's just say ouch! She knew she was out of shape, living indoors in Afghanistan will do that to you, but man, she hasn't been this sore.....well, since never! It's good though and again, one more step towards feeling a bit more settled.

I DO

2007-04-09T20:21:00.000-07:00

As most of you know, we are newlyweds still and being newlyweds we can be cheesy and invite people to look at our wedding photos. To view them on line, you can go to www.sjharmon.com In the mean time, here are a few of our favorites.

first time home owners

2007-04-09T18:26:00.000-07:00

I think the most amazing thing for us in buying a house, was how good it felt to put our toothbrushes in one of those toothbrush holders that you have next to the sink...and the even better part...that toothbrush holder is ours. We love making this place our home. Both of us have been living out of bags moving from one place to another for so long that to have our own place really is a gift. We really can't say how long we will be in Wellington, or whether or not we go overseas again, but for now we are both more than content spending saturday afternoons puttering around doing 'normal people' house stuff