2.3.06 - 9.3.06
Off to the MTB Oceanias today. Had to tow the coffee cart, and we have decided to go camping, so tonnes of stuff to pack and take. Had quite a good trip down, arrived in Vegas late afternoon. Some confusion where the cart was going to go at the MTB site, so left it sitting in the middle of the paddock and got the tent set up at the Thermal Park. FREEZING COLD. A huge cold front came over the country. Snowing all over, and really, really cold in Rotorua. Goodie. Dave Meikle stopped by the campsite for a few (and then some) beers with Richard. Emily went to bed like a good girl, but because we didn't have a bed for her, she shared with her Mum. Hmmm, not the best nights sleep then. Rick snoring on one side, the kid snuffling about hogging all the blankets and sleeping bag on the other. Grrrrrr.
Still freezing. Unbelievably bad weather. It's going to be miserable as all buggery at the Worlds in August. Rick spent ages trying to get everyone to agree where the cart should be sited this morning. The doctors ran away with the baby (and wouldn't give her back) and Keighley got chatting to Jeff Anderson who offered us his cottage. Couldn't have accepted any faster. Who needs another cold, sleepless night in the tent? One or the other, OK, but not both at once! Packed up the Munchie and spent the afternoon relaxing at the cottage, before meeting Rick at the 4X that night.
Still freezing. Munchie snores worse than her Dad, but it was good to be inside last night. XC on Saturday and DH on Sunday. In between making coffee and looking after Emily, we didn't see much of the riding, but we did catch up with most of our mates who were down there.
There was some chit-chat about staying in Vegas Sunday night, but Emily had a doctors appointment first thing Monday morning for her first JABS!! She did really well; her mother was a lot more upset than she was. Took it easy the rest of the week as she was a bit out of sorts. Can't wait for the next ones - NOT! She'll probably have a lot more idea of what's going on.
Rick got to look after Cedric Gracia and his guys as they did the rounds of the bike shops in Akld before heading to the States. Should we have gold-plated the kitchen chair that he sat on??
25.2.06 - 1.3.06
Keighley's Birthday! To celebrate, we all had breakfast in bed. In the afternoon, Don McGlashan was playing at the zoo, so we took Stevie and Helen and packed up the car with goodies to eat and drink and headed off. The last time we went, everyone had a kid but us, so it was nice to go with our own 'accessory' this time. The concert was great, and S & H had a good time pretending the baby belonged to them. She went for a tour of the zoo with them while Mum and Dad had half and hour to themselves. Apparently, she was quite well behaved. Not like the people who feed the alcohol to the hippos...... might not be any more zoo concerts thanks to them. But imagine the pissed hippos!
On Sunday, Greg and Debs came for dinner (and ended up buying and making the dinner - we're sooooo unorganised!). It was great to see them; Emily loved having a cuddle with Greg, he's so huge. Tuesday was coffee at Sally's. Cool to see all the little babies, even Mick came with Sali, and he's only a couple of kilos. Emily looks like a giant next to him.
Melissa and Jamie came over on Wednesday, and we all went out to Woodhill for lunch and to pick up pinecones in the forest. It was nice to get out of town. Tomorrow we are off to Rotorua for the Oceanias, so it was fairly inconvenient of Munchie to throw a screaming fit in the afternoon when we were supposed to be packing for the trip. Dad bundled her up in the car and took her to see DB and Donna so Mum could have five minutes peace and finish the packing. She took one look at DB and his dog-infested jersey, and snuggled down for the duration. What a kid!
18.2.06 - 24.2.06
Margaret and Eric are staying with us this week, so an action packed calendar for everyone. We all spent the day at home on Saturday, playing Meet and Greet with the new grandchild, and writing up a list of odd-jobs for Eric to sink his teeth in to. The boys did a terrific job sorting out the spouting on the new deck pergola thingy. Margaret and Keighley left them in charge of the baby for half and hour or so and popped out to the shops. Hmmmm, not the best of ideas, since Keighley took the hooties with her, and the kid decided a feed would be in order. Rick was not a happy camper....
Sunday was a day trip down to Paeroa to see the motorbike street racing for the lads. The girls carried on and had lunch with Nana Helen, stopped off to see Nana Halloran, then back for a couple of hours with the Redshaws in Waihi before collecting the boys in Paeroa and heading home. Steve and Helen had invited us to dinner at their place as well, so after one of Stevie's famous lamb roasts and a pav for dessert, we were all buggered. Off home to bed.
Monday and Tuesday were at-home days, with Rick joining us for lunch, and the grandies taking Emily for walks in the buggy. Wednesday morning, we met Helen for coffee at Cigana. Rick took the afternoon off and we went into the Museum. While the boys had a look at the Da Vinci exhibition the girls went for a walk around the gardens. After stopping to feed Emily every five minutes, we all headed out to Woodhill for some MTB (lads) and walking (ladies). Emily was very well behaved, and we even managed to have a nice dinner at Miconose in Kumeu on the way home.
We all had a big adventure on Thursday afternoon, with Emily taking her first train ride and first boat ride. We parked the truck up in GI and took the train into Britomart. After living in Auckland for more years than we could count, this was also the first time R & K had taken the train here as well! Then we took the ferry over to Devonport and had a sift around the shops for a couple of hours before heading home.
Ma and Pa left on Friday afternoon, and had the pleasure of Fainty, Gale and Mitchell sitting in front of them on the plane. Our midwife, Mary, also had her last visit to us as well. We are very upset she is turning us over to Plunket as she has been amazing. Emily now weighs 4.6 kilos, and is doing really well.
Big ups to Ma and Pa for all the cooking, gardening and odd jobs. A week is not nearly long enough you guys!
11.2.06 - 17.2.06
A hugely busy week for the Redwoods. Rick was making coffee with Tom and Giant James out at Riverhead on Saturday. Only an 8 hour event, but they had to be on the road by 6am-ish to get out there in time. Good thing Emily is getting us up in the early morning. The girls wandered out a bit later on to catch some of the action, after a visit from Jon, Cheryl and Laura. On the way home we stopped in to say Hi to Scott and Amy, who were having their engagement party. A couple of hours kip, then off to Trish and Callum's for one last hurrah before they move to Wanaka. Man, this kid is getting around....
Sunday was the Lantern Festival in Albert Park, so we wandered round there for a couple of hours with Steve and Helen and James and Kimberley. The food is fantastic... one of everything please! Heaps of cool lanterns as well. The power bill must be huge.
Monday, Coffee Group at Jenni's. Nearly everyone from Ante-natal has had their baby now, and it's so cool to see them all (and of course, have a little comparison. Emily stacks up nicely against the others. She's not quite as scrawny as the boys and having lots of hair makes her look a bit better too). The car is still getting fixed in Thames, so Rick took the day off which was nice. God only knows what was in his coffee this morning, but when we got back from morning tea, he was trimming the big hedge with our electric trimmers and the ladder. Now, I usually hire a crew to do this job, so big ups to Richard. As a bonus, he managed not to kill himself crawling all over the top of it, but there's 2 metres he couldn't reach at the end. Who cares, that's the bit the neighbours look at, not us!
Tuesday was Valentines Day, so we had Steve and Helen round for a romantic dinner for 4 (ha ha). It was a good excuse to cook a decent meal and have a soak in the spa. Mum was totally stuffed after that, so she went to bed. Emily woke up and started giving her Father a hard time, so Aunty Helen stayed and helped Rick get her sorted. Thanks H! The pic is Rick feeding Emily for the very first time. Pretty cool.
Friday we all tootled down to Thames to pick up the car. Nice morning tea at the nursery just outside town, then Rick headed off to Hamilton for the day while the girls went home to have lunch with Aunty Helen. Busy afternoon as we had a quick trip to the mall then off to the airport in rush hour traffic to pick up Nanna and Grandad from Wellington. Went without a hitch of course, except that Munchie screamed the whole way home as it was right on feeding time. Just after I had got through telling them what a good girl she was and how there wasn't much screaming.... oh well. Margaret whipped up some dinner for us while we sorted Emily out - very much appreciated.
4.2.06 - 10.2.06
Let's call this 'The Week Everything Turned to Custard'. Or alternatively, 'The Week Everyone Came to The Rescue'. Either way, it pretty much sums it up!
We drove down to Rotorua with the Munchie on Saturday to see the N-Duro. Pretty good day had by all. Emily was a bit unsettled, but still turned on the charm when we arrived at Nana Helen and Poppa David's in Katikati later that afternoon. She was feeding like it was going out of fashion, and d'oh, Mum didn't realise this was a growth spurt. We all had a bad night, so Helen and David asked us to stay a few days and help us get sorted out. So, off to Baby Boot Camp - Hurrah!
Rick discovered the 'lawn mower', and spent about 6 hours mowing the lawn. He only ran over 2 trees out the back, and didn't put it in the lake. Not bad for a first attempt!
We caught up with some more of Emily's family in Waihi, and had a nice lunch with Norma and Leone, Anne, Julie and the boys. Came home Monday night as Emily had an appointment with the cranial osteopath on Tuesday. All checked out OK, so back to Katikati for some more R & R on Wednesday. So far this week, we have shoved a dummy and a bottle in her mouth, and she seems to be coping OK. 'Coping' is not a word I would use to describe her mother, but nothing about 4 weeks worth of sleep wouldn't fix!
Mary-the-Midwife came to visit us on Wednesday morning before we headed off, and Emily now weighs 4kg. Obviously nothing wrong with the chow she is getting!
Back in Katikati, Emily played the Hostess with the Mostest, and had all the Nanas over for dinner (thanks Helen!). While Mum and Nana Anne were at the supermarket (and Emily was under Nana-Supervision) she crapped herself big-time, and had the place in an uproar getting her cleaned up and changed. Mum arrived home to find three Nanas looking very pleased with themselves and a child wearing new clothes and a rather bemused expression. Like, what was all the fuss about??
VERY exciting trip back to Auckland on Friday, as the car broke down just outside Waihi. Called the AA who sent a tow-truck. Dad was very impressed to hear Munchie had been for a ride in a truck. We camped out at Norma's until Rick could pick us up later that night. The car went for a trip to Thames to the Ford dealer to get fixed.
28.1.06 - 3.2.06
A busy week showing the kid off with trips to Jungle and Montana. She is taking all the attention in her stride. Sleep deprivation hits home this week, and Mum turns into a howling mess. Melissa and Jamie came to visit, and Mary has been making regular visits - the support has been really great. Still loads of visitors, and cards and presents from all over the country and the world. It's quite overwhelming. We kicked her out of our bedroom and into her own room which has worked quite well. It's amazing how noisy she is when she sleeps. The weather has been so muggy which is driving us all nuts, and of course she has got a massive heat rash. Rick is coping really well with two screaming, crying women, and is having every other day off work. It's great to have him around, especially at this early stage when none of us know what we're doing!
Dad made this cool change table for her. It comes complete with safety belt for when she gets wriggly!
20.1.06 - 27.1.06
Well, the next week passed in a blur, as we adjust to life with the new kid. Keighley & Emily spent a couple of days at Birthcare learning the important stuff like feeding and changing nappies and bathing and sleeping (that last one's a joke! Apparently there won't be any more sleep till she is at least 5....). It was a bit weird having Rick 'visit', instead of being there all the time, and the nights were a bit long and lonely. Happily it all went well and we went home on Saturday at lunchtime. Steve was having his 40th birthday party that night, so we came home in time to take Emily to her first social function. Sorry Stevie, she may have stolen the show....
Lots of visitors and pressies arrived over the next week. We're all still running on adrenalin at this stage, so it was a pretty good week. Emily spent a couple of nights sleeping in our bed, but we moved her into her own hammock pretty quickly, although still in our room. We had to push the bed right up against the window to make space, as the hammock takes up quite a lot of room. Rick thought this was like being on holiday, but I suspect it had more to do with the fact that we didn't make the bed as I was spending so much time in it! As you can see, she's pretty little (that's a blanket that Nanna Margaret knitted for her), and she's got this cool thing with her arm going on where we think she's practising crossing the finish line on her bike. She also does a pretty good Mexican Wave, especially if she's startled.
And we mustn't forget, the most important thing that happened this week was deciding on a name. Faced with the enormity of picking a name for this new person, we were completely fazed. Yeah OK, we had a few ideas before we had her, but when push came to shove, it suddenly seemed a lot harder than we thought. I mean, it's not like naming a pet cat or something.... Happily, an afternoon at Steve and Helen's got things moving (that, and the seemingly hundreds of txt's wanting to know what her name was!), and Rick came up with Emily Morgan Redwood. We always knew she would be a 'Redwood', and 'Emily' was on our original short-list, but the Morgan was right out of left-field, and fits perfectly. It's Margaret's maiden name, and we think it works really well.
Mary Bowie, our amazing Midwife, has been making regular visits, and by the end of the week Emily has put on the weight she lost in the first few days. Keighley's milk has come in well, and Dad had his first 'poo emergency'. Oops, forgot to tell him it looks like pumpkin soup now...!!
8.3.06
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ERIC!!!
19.2.06
Hi!
Well, we thought we'd better give this blog thing a go. And since the biggest thing to happen to us in a long time is Emily, we'd better start with her.
Emily arrived in a flurry of activity on January 19 2006. After a 16 hour labour the doctor got things moving with a ventouse delivery, and our very own little Redwood baby was born. A healthy 3.5kg (7lb 12 oz) at 12.56am. Aunty Helen and Uncle Steve were on hand to help (thanks guys!), and a very proud Dad took this photo.
