Daily Photo Challenge - Week 39

Wow what a week!

This week has definitely been out of the norm and quite interesting, and unfortunately has meant the SLR has had to take a back seat and the iPhone take over the shots for the week.  Monday I spent the night in hospital due to my blood pressure and some other issues, with the plans to bring this baby out the following day (unbeknown to me I'd like to add!).  Fortunately though things appeared to calm down and I was sent home on Tuesday afternoon with instructions to have strict bed rest (yeah right!) until Friday which saw me return to see the specialist and make a plan as to what we were going to do.

So bed rest with a 2 year old improved impossible and while I definitely haven't been 'bed resting', I have been taking it very easy with only one outing this week to Kiwi Valley in Henderson with Mr A.  Definitely not how I had planned to spend our last few weeks together but unfortunately my health and the baby's has had to take precedence.

Lets see what next week will bring!

Charlie Brown

Productive use of my time in hospital

Baby Monitoring - it was a moving and a grooving so we didn't have much luck!

This bed rest stuff is a b*tch...

Pony Ride at Kiwi Valley

Chilling with Uncle Mike

Cuddles with Dad

Daily Photo Challenge - Week 37 & 38

Another two week update - I know I'm behind, I'm trying I'm trying!!

I've officially been off work for a week and while I would like to say I have been relaxing its far from the truth... in fact I've been in and out of labs, hospital, and midwife appointments due to a few complications with my blood pressure which seems to be behaving for now.  Also throw into the mix moving/cramming our office into our lounge room, working on lots of pricing for our business, madly doing washing in case my blood pressure did decide to throw a wobbly meaning I may be admitted to hospital - all this has meant updating photos has been a low priority!

But here we are, another couple of weeks done and dusted.... enjoy!

Spring has definitely arrived

Pink or Blue?

Final Rays

Twilight in the city

Iced Up

Last day at Educare with best friends Alex & Stella

Newest family member - Charlie

Wiggly Fun

Early Morning Walk

Rocking the Sunglasses at Auckland Zoo

Cheeky Charlie stealing Ash's couch

My beautiful boy

Playball Action (thanks Educare for letting us stop in to finish the term!)

Getting ready to be a big brother

Daily Photo Challenge - Week 36

Ok so I'm late again this week... and for that I do apologise!  However, I am as of 4pm today a free woman (at least in the full time employment sense) as I left TVNZ for the last time as an employee for a year.

This week and last has been a mix of emotions - I am excited about leaving work and beginning the next chapter (plus having a little bit of down time and spending some quality time with Mr A), but also devastated as Mr A has had to leave his beloved Educare that has become such an important part of our lives for the last 16 months.  Having never experienced another daycare I can't firmly say that Educare provides the best care or any of that jazz, but I do know that I have developed relationships with all the teachers and other mums that I don't think you can get with another daycare as they're not literally in your back pocket.  We are so very lucky to have a daycare within our company - Ash has literally been on the next floor down from me for the past year and that is a luxury I don't think many can claim.  His teachers have been amazing - right from the day that we started.  He has loved going to daycare, to the point that some days I have had to literally drag him out kicking and screaming because he's wanted to stay and play.

Another blessing has been the friends he has made.  Since nearly day one, Ash has been best friends with Stella and Alex.  The three of them are only about six weeks apart in age and while their relationship borders hate one minute and love the next it has been awesome watching their friendship develop.  We have had many mornings where the three of them have been walking around our floor with their buzzy bees, and often they have walked down to daycare holding hands, racing each other or aggravating each other.

I know a couple of the Educare teachers do look at this blog from time to time and I just want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for becoming such an integral part of our lives.  And thank you for putting up with the 8 month blubbering pregnant woman for the last week - I know I've been a bit of a mess but leaving you guys has been the hardest part of this journey to date.

Right, after that spiel here are the photos for last week xx

Fathers day - saying hi to Grandpa Coles

Speed Racer

Post Bath Kisses

The Bed Hopper

My day started at 5:30am...

35 week Bump

Pregnancy Cravings (home made of course)

Daily Photo Challenge - Week 34 and 35

The last two weeks have literally flown by in a haze of work, being a mum, being a business owner and being a student.  Oh and growing another baby!

I have two weeks of work left and I feel like I'm on the final stretch.  This pregnancy has been good to me as its only in the last week or so that the third trimester tiredness has kicked in and while I'm still running on adrenalin things are starting to slow down.

I've had two growth scans in the last few weeks which have bared not such great news.  When Ash was born he was 10 pound 9 - delivered naturally (with the help of a lot of drugs, thanks modern science!), and this baby looks like he or she is following suit with the guestimated weight of 10 pound at term.  I have always wanted to experience a natural birth (with Ash I got to 8 cms drug free - then stayed at 8cm for 8 hours so thank goodness I took the drug option!), and this baby is not looking like its going to give me much of a chance.  I know scans are notoriously wrong and my amazing midwife and I have a few options up our sleeves, but for now I have to face a specialist visit to talk through options and possible interventions to get this baby out.

Not the most ideal news, but one that I have come to terms with in the last week or so.  The most important thing to me is that this baby is healthy and that I am healthy so whatever the professionals think is the best course of action suits me fine.

In the last two weeks we have had one major milestone in Ash's life - he's moved into a big boys bed.  We've only had one night so far - he stayed there till 5am then jumped ship into ours.  A pretty good first effort but something I am going to have to work on as I can't have him jumping into our bed once number two is out.  He loves his big boys bed though, he helped dad put it together, then proudly showed Aunty Vicki last night when she came around.  And even though he was up at 5 this morning, he's settled quite well for both night sleeps and the one day sleep he's had in it (well, after a bit of threatening to shut the door on him if he DIDN'T go to sleep!).

So life continues in our little household, and here are a few snapshots from the last couple of weeks (sorry Ann, I promise to be better next weekend!)

The latest obsession

Dadda Cuddles

Happy Birthday Dadda

Rainbow 

Wet

Sunrise over The Kaipara

Spring is nearly here!

The Farleys

The Whale

Cheeky

Sick

A Box is not a Box

Toes

My Big Boy

Daily Photo Challenge - Week 33

Wow 33 weeks down, just 17 to go.  And 8 weeks till I become a mum of 2!

This week has been a mixed week, I managed to get a couple of shots I liked, and others were just snapshots of our day to day lives.

Saturday afternoon we spent a lovely couple of hours at the beach (we are fortunately to live very close to Woodhill Forest which has beach access that is very quiet compared to Muriwai ten minutes up the road).  Ash had so much fun being a terror and I was fortunate enough to get some nice shots with him in some spectacular light.  Spring feels like it is in the air - hopefully summer hurries up (and we get rid of this god awful rain!).

So that all said, here are my shots for the week :)

Running to see the lions...

Launch pad

Mum has a wee addiction... 

You tube - enough said

No. 2

Early mornings through Riverhead Forest

Rimmers Rd

Daily Photo Challenge - Week 32

This week has been a good week for me.  Every night I have consciously tried to extend myself a little more with my camera instead of just doing snapshots.  Lots of photos taken, not so many made it through the cut - I hate that my SLR only goes to 1600 ISO which makes anything in artificial light nearly impossible.  BUT on the upside, when we get home at we've managed to catch some of that beautiful afternoon light before it disappears.

I have only five weeks left of work before I become full time mum again which I am super excited about - more than anything because I'm (hoping) it will make it easier to get shots during the day.  I'm not one who likes to hang around home much with Mr A so I'm looking forward to a few adventures before number 2 decides to enter the world.

This week a good friend of mine gave birth to a beautiful little girl (see August 8th).  Meeting her and giving her cuddles has given made me really look forward to our number 2 - this pregnancy I've been focused on everything else going on our in our lives I haven't actually comprehended that there is indeed another little being inside my tum.  And meeting baby Khloe has just reinvigorated the desire to become a mum again, and now I have a feeling these last nine weeks are going to drag when the last 31 have disappeared so quickly.

I hope you enjoy my daily snippets :)

Dessert

Puppy Love

Peek a boo with Benson

Beautiful Khloe

My gorgeous wee man

Last light

Swimming bomb