Scenes From Our Weekend

SCENES FROM OUR WEEKEND

Camilla has a secret handshake with her Dad. This weekend it finished with him kissing her thumb. She likes to complete any thumbs up or hi-fives with kisses. I was able to sneakily snap one of them on camera, but I cannot give away any more details of the secret handshake. 

A special moment from the weekend was making a surprise trip to the botanic gardens; running through the flower patches, playing on the swings and slides and finding feathers on the ground. 

It was perfect (even though we were boiling hot and starving). Some times you can still see magic even though your stomach feels like its eating itself. 

I like adventuring with our little Moo2 tribe. 

Burlesque!

Channelling my newly found Chicago Sexy I went to this hens party full steam ahead! We were going burlesque dancing, the bridesmaids (of which I am) had hired corsets, and the brides sister (maid of honour) had bought the bride a delicious white ensemble to keep... ;)

When we were going to the burlesque dancing I was getting quite nervous, thinking we were about to learn some sort of strip tease - not quite! Our burlesque was to a Sophie Ellis Bexter song and was a mix of burlesque and hip hop, we were taught about a 30 second routine in 1 hour. So. Much. Fun.

Afterwards, we went to a bar/club. A real live place with flashing lights and music. Sorry. Being a Mum and a resident of Christchurch this is quite un heard of. All of us were saying "this feels so weird, what do we do here again?" We flashed the business card of our dance instructor and got 2 for 1 bubbles. Oppsies. Sorry. Wasn't supposed to tell anyone that! ;)

We stayed at the one place and went home when the clock hit midnight.

Living in Christchurch you need to get quiet creative with your social times, not having a CBD really limits your options, it was great to have something awesome like a burlesque dance class to go to together. I can definitely recommend it if you're organising a girly event! And get dressed up! So much more fun!

Our bride had a lot of fun :) Weddings coming up soon! Can't wait!

I tried to re-enact the dance routine for Mr Moo the next night and failed miserably. 

For the Christchurch ladies this one's done at the Salsa Latina studio on Bath Street with Monique.

Loving Family Vacations

Last weekend the Moo2s travelled a little while to a small thermal town in South Island, New Zealand.

We packed the portacot and our togs and were on our way! The whole weekend was great and I loved doing something different with our family! We had lunch out, dinner in and soaked in the hot pools amongst the darkness and steam. It was amazing.

We also went geocaching with my brother and Milla while we were there. I love geocaching and it was nice to do it with Milla, it takes us to places we've never been and probably would never go (Mr. Moo does not walk anywhere), off the beaten track there is so much beauty and life! 

Two caches took us adventuring into a forest I've heard about so many times but have never bothered to go see. We were a few kilometers in and it started pouring with rain, Milla was crying and as we were walking out her head made contact with a hard elbow. Poor little baby. Screams! I pulled up my top and was able to breastfeed her as we made our way out. 

Looks like a horror movie waiting to happen does it? heehee

Along with the good is was also very tiring, lets be honest. Travelling with a baby is hard work. For whatever reason she wouldn't sleep in her portacot and woke up every hour crying. On saturday night she spent 3 hours sitting on our bed (at 2am) clapping whenever the shadows from the trees moved *sigh*

Along with that we were also travelling with my large family, they were full on and Milla is not. She spent most of the weekend shaking with fear and crying whenever I wasn't holding her! 

We came home exhausted but happy and had big afternoon naps to catch up :)

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Last time we went to Hanmer

Lay My Hiney Down

Weekdays and weekends sort of blur together around here. Often times I look forward to Monday after a busy weekend that is often much more work and more demanding than any other day of the week. Often I say "thank God it's Monday".

Is it like that in your household?

This weekend, however, I am looking forward to. This week has been so busy. I am aching for a rest, to lay my head and my to do list down. 

Thank God it's Friday.

I've been working my little hiney off this week; newspaper and magazine interviews, sorting out my website to offer advertising options (I've been pre planning this for months, but there was still a lot of work to do behind the scenes)(I'll tell you more about it later). I have barely lifted my eyes from my laptop screen. 

Some fresh air will be nice I think, maybe a picnic, perhaps the sun will make an appearance to dry some sheets so we can have fresh linen? 

Fresh linen does wonders for the soul.

Following our home birth my midwife and helpers put fresh sheets on our bed. It was so snuggly and cosy. Perfect for that first night and day in bed :)

I do hope you have a good weekend, and if you're like me and they end up being much busier than they are worth, lets just take a moment to breath in, be strong, and release it all. Lets enjoy what we have because life is fleeting, isn't it? One minute I have a brand new baby and fresh cuddly sheets, next minute she's 10 months old.

Do you have any plans for this weekend? Leave a comment and let me know!

Then and Now

36 weeks Pregnant. August 2011.

8.5 months old. May 2012.

Yes, I am one of those lameos. I am even so annoyed because we got the order around the wrong way for the photos. I am usually SO proud of my photographic memory, however my nappy brain has failed me. 

I much prefer the way I looked in August. I loved the way I looked while pregnant. My skin and hair both felt amazing. I felt a little bit plump. Now I feel gangly and chunky in the wrong places, and my skin feels like it always needs a good rub down with a pumice stone. 

We had a good day out at Tai Tapu anyway, the In-Laws took us (well, technically we took them in our *new* car eeee)(but they paid!) to celebrate mothers day and Mr Moos birthday. We played terrible games of pool, drank a glass or two of red wine and ate delicious pizzas. Such good times. 

This Week in Emotions

Everything is a bit all over the place at the moment.

In Awe.
We had a fantastic connect group on Tuesday night, a little dinner party with 6 of our closest friends. 8 people around a dinner table, laughing & sharing. It was an absolute delight. I was in awe listening to everyone share about how God had transformed them and their marriages as a result of coming to our connect group. It's so important to work on things. Hearing everyones own personal stories blew me away. Hearing those I know its all worth it.

Unorganised.
I have so much to do this week, my lists are getting out of control and I am feeling a little like I am drowing in them. I also mega failed at our groceries this week. Usually I am super organised, list and budget in hand, meal planning extraordinaire. This week I dropped the ball, picked up a few things here and there, spent way more over the course of the week and didn't get nearly as much food as I would have liked. Oh well. There's always next week. Tomorrow is going to be too busy. I just know it.

Nervous.
I got given a flyer today for an up and coming womens event at our Church. It says "Special guest speaker: Sophie Moo2" ... That's me. Special? I have not picked up a microphone in yonks. I definitely didn't put up my hand for this so I am assuming God has some special plan and something inside me he wants to share. Actually, I am FULL of new works that God is doing. How to communicate them to others? The challenge. Stay tuned.

A little bit of hope
I may have just stumbled across a great moisturiser for my oily and dehydrated skin (yes, it's possible). Hope! (I'll give it another week and then I may just boast about it! What skin type do you have? Do you use the right products for you?)

Nervous again.
We are going to a concert this week with baby in tow. I am very nervous, mostly at what people will say. Thankfully I have a super encouraging Mum who has always taught me "have baby will travel". So I'm not particularly nervous about taking Milla. She's so cruisy. Really. I will be shocked if she doesn't hold up. It's more the other people. I have thin skin, I dont want people to think I'm a bad mother.

Excited
We are doing so many cool things this weekend (hence the mad preparation needed) AND we are going to visit some old time long lost friends. We were only blessed with having these guys in our lives for a short while before they moved away again but they had a huge impact on us while they were around and we are SUPER EXCITED to have the opportunity to see them again. I. CANT. WAIT!!


There you go, I just proved I am female. All of that going on in one brain. Amazing.

I hope everyone is having a great week and you are all staying safe and happy above all :) Thank you for reading my words time and time again. You are all wonderful :)

And a little video to finish off with.. This week Milla mastered the crawl (She's been caterpillaring for a month now) and also figured out how to pull herself up on lowish objects. I'm so proud (but also a little concerned. I am not prepared for my baby to grow up!!)

Weddings on the Wild Westcoast

I'm so proud of my cousin tying the Knot after so many years! We had a wonderful weekend on the wild Westcoast (Take that year 11 english!) celebrating with the family! What a beautiful wedding filled with a few tears, lots of laughter and a whole lot of sun!

The imtimate ceremony was in their own backyard (cooool!) and the reception was on top of a cliff a few hundred meters down the road. A huge marquee was erected and the views were simply stunning! Off that edge it seriously just goes straight down. Scary and amazing!

We took lots and lots of photos. And I had red lipstick on. Very very red. I felt like a movie star!

While we were waiting for the speeches we travelled down the cliff with the buggy (off roading!) It was a perilis journey but we made it there safely with the help of some strong muscles! My goodness, the Westcoast is simply breathtaking. I say it often and I'll say it again, you haven't seen New Zealand if you haven't been to the Coast.

All of this, right below our feet. How could you not want to come and visit?

We loved our weekend away and it was nice to see everyone so shortly after we had just left.

Akaroa on Show Weekend

This long weekend in Canterbury we took a trip to Akaroa with my inlaws. Akaroa is a sweet little town nestled in Banks Penninsula. The first people to buy the land off the native tribes were the French so all the signs are in French and the whole area has heaps of history around it. The whole area is really beautiful - New Zealand in a snap shot.

I share the same birthday week with Graeme's Mum so we took advantage of their weekend away and spent some time with the family celebrating! 

We had family dinners and lunches, watched a movie on a rainy Saturday afternoon, visited a market, did some walking and went to a beach on our way home. We stayed up late and played cards and a hilarious game of charades. Probably the best game of charades I've ever played. The night ended with me going to bed first while I could hear Michael Jackson playing downstairs amongst lots of laughter. Perfect.

 I woke up in the morning to my birthday! Graeme started to teach Camilla to skateboard (gotta start em young) and in the afternoon we made our way home.

Even though Akaroa is crazy touristy now and much of its original French charm has been exploited by the tourism industry I still appreciate the area for its history. You might remember, we went their a few weeks ago and visited the families Marae. While I was there I did a little reading and learnt how the French did some deals with the local Maori tribes to buy some land - they went back to France to get their settlers and 2 months later the English came in and officially colonised New Zealand. The unknowing french returned on their ship and discovered they had no where else to go, so they stayed in Akaroa. I find stuff like that really interesting. I love history and I love learning.

Thanks Phillip for the photos! :)

Baby Lists

If you know me, I'm a bit of a Listy. I have lists for everything. Even lists about lists I need to write. I get so much satisfaction out of crossing things off them. You might think this is because I'm administration-like and organised but really its because I'm not. I learnt a long time ago that I had to write things down or things turned ugly. 

My current lists to get ready for Baby:

• "Things Needed for Homebirth" (Just need to finish making the "birth mat" and to warn the neighbours!)
• "Things to make sure of when Sophie goes into labour" <- that's for Graeme ;)
• "Things to get for the Baby" (Just need a cot. Will probably buy that at the end of the year)
• "Meal Ideas to freeze and extra things to buy" (Waffles, soups, pastas, ice blocks and more!)
• "Questions to ask the Midwife" (Currently all questions have been answered (and if not by her then by Google)
• "Thank-You Cards to be Sent" (Have bought the cards and slowly gathering addresses. Want to include a baby photo so they will be sent later down the track. Hoorah)

So far most things have been crossed off most of the lists. I am feeling very very satisfied with our progress. A lot of anxiousness was relieved this weekend when Graeme blew up our birth pool (with his bare lungs!!) we did have an electric pump to use for the job but maybe doing it manually was more manly and satisfying? It was entertaining to watch anyway. We filled it (took about an hour and a half from a pretty low pressured tap) and managed to connect the hose to our kitchen tap. 

Success! 

**I still need to write a "To make sure of if Sophie goes to hospital" list :)

Hospitality Love

It was so lovely to go to a friends 21st party at the weekend and experience such great hospitality. I think this family must be gifted in parties because every part of it was great!

There was also a photo booth which printed off automatic photos for you to put in her guest book and keep a copy for yourself! Such a brilliant idea for a party!!

 

I shared this photo yesterday in my post. Originally it had another photo on the bottom part but we cut that off and left it in their guest book... During the photo shoot a bare bum had appeared next to me without any warning!!! For those who have seen the photo you will see that Graemes arms are still around me so despite popular belief he cannot be framed! You may never know whose moon it is! ;)

6 Family Drives

Family drives, sunny afternoons and raspberry and cokes <3

Did I mention that last time I played pool I sunk 4 balls in a row and kicked Graemes bum? This time I lost miserably. I think it must have been the baby putting my balance off ;)

Yes Mum, I know I should be wearing lipstick...

Our Family Moon

A few months ago my Dad pitched us an offer I couldn't refuse. He said he was going to Hanmer Springs and would be hiring a holiday home. "Do you want to come and have free accomodation?" he asked. HECK YES WE DO!!! I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to take a second BabyMoon (We went to Australia for our "official" one). Basically, a BabyMoon is an opportunity to take a mini break away while its just the two of you to connect, love and make memories together before your little one arrives and makes a very busy and stressful life for you both. Essentially, its a time to fill each others love banks. A weekend in Hanmer ought to do it!

Infact, it was included in last weeks Huggies pregnancy update. I figured it was meant to be!

Lesson #1 - Be extremely upfront about your expectations with yourself and your partner. 

Subconciously in my head I had dreams of candles, romantic dinners, swimming in thermal pools, building snowmen and light hikes to geocache. Although I had these pictures swimming around my head I never actually vocalised them. 

Lesson #2 - Be adaptable.

Last week I found out some of our family would be attending this Hanmer trip. I have a big family. There was 12 of us staying in this one house. 12 People + a feotus makes for a lot of adapting. 

Lesson #3 - Go with the flow and have a ridiculous amount of fun.

We almost didn't make it there. Our beloved car, Max, started to give up on us and wouldn't change gear. We soaked up half the petrol in a very short distance and considered calling for a tow. While away for the weekend we had to breathe out and not let it worry us. We topped up the transmission fluid and made it back but will need to be replacing our transmission and finding a new car verrry soon. This could have dampened our weekend, but we both prayed about it and decided to not let it get us down. 

I seriously love my big family. Most of the time they are crazy and most of the time I have so much fun with them. I'm the youngest of my brothers and sisters and I'm finding that as I get older I'm realising they are pretty cool too! I actually enjoy their company. It's a wonderful thing. 

I'm glad that Graeme and I got to spend time with them all before Camilla arrives. I don't see them nearly enough as I should and we probably wont have another chance to before her arrival so It was really great to have quality time with them before hand. 

There was no romantic dinner, instead there were joint lunches and dinners. No candles but lots of dancing, two trips to the thermal pools and Graeme got to hydroslide with our nephews while I watched and laughed. No geocaching but lots of games of cards, and no snow men but an extremely excited household when the snow did fall. And one extremely romantic moment being in the hot pools and having snow flakes land on our heads. Bliss!!

I love family holidays and I am super thankful that my family is really really good at doing quality time together. That's something Graeme and I both want to be good at installing in our family too. 

I had such a good weekend that this was the only photo I took as a few of us were entering the pools. 

What a good time! It wasn't really a BabyMoon, more of a FamilyMoon. Stoked on it. 

Honey, I'm home!

This weekend we have had a Waffle & Game Party, our first out-of-town-guest-stay-over, an Icecream and Community screening and WELOVEIT!! 

We feel like newly weds again - everything is exciting and a novelty. I'm not sure how long that will last but while it does I am lapping it up :) Can I let you in on a little secret? In our 2+ years of being married we've never actually lived alone... It's a little bit nerve racking and a little bit exctiting! Up until now we've always had a boarder / flatmate to help cover expenses which has been cool and I would do it all over again. Living with others taught us a lot about our roles in a marriage and helped us to communicate well and be more hospitible + when we got married first we really wanted to be a blessing to others. We thought the best way to do this would be to take people under our wings and look after them a little bit and provide them with a nice environment to live in. But it is so nice to have our own space.

We have mostly unpacked, still to complete MiniMoos room and our bedroom. MiniMoo's can wait but I hope to have our bedroom unpacked by tomorrow.

We had a little surprise left for us in the storage cupboard when we moved in and put a light bulb in there: Some type of animal vomit! It. Was. Rank. A carpet cleaner has been around, a dehumidifier is running as we speak and another cleaner is coming around on Tuesday to finish the job off. Hopefully it removes the smell and if it doesn't they'll probably have to remove the carpet in there. Any other ideas to de-stink the little room?? If you come around before then, hopefully we have managed to mask it well enough with glade plug ins and carpet deodoriser. Hehe.

Its a long weekend, what are you doing with your extra day tomorrow?

Easter Weekend

Well, let me tell you! I have had the best weekend!

Mostly, I watched a lot of Lost (up to season 3.5, don't spoil it) but that also involved awesome friends, some quality time with the Hubs, great food, Church and celebrations, hot cross buns, creme eggs, BBQs, board games and card games, awesome weather and general happiness <3

Graeme and I managed to slip in some time to eat ice-creams in Sumner while doing some Earthquake tourism (We haven't really gotten out much and seen the city to be honest). It was wonderful and the sun was just setting.

(Taken on Graeme's iPhone)

On [resurrection] Sunday we had 2 Church services to attend. After the morning service we had a great big [free] feast. Graeme and I were on Potato Salad Serving Duty (we were the best). I'm not sure how many people were there, but they filled up our whole auditorium and it was honestly such a delight to have them in Church to celebrate Jesus' sacrifice and resurrection! I seriously met so many new people who have been coming to our Church for a few weeks now and somehow they had evaded my eyeline. So glad I got to meet many people and make some new friends! It seems C3 is growing right under our noses.   

  (Photos taken curtosy of Matt Lang of http://www.mattlang.co.nz/)

 (Photos taken curtosy of Matt Lang of http://www.mattlang.co.nz/)

 (Photos taken curtosy of Matt Lang of http://www.mattlang.co.nz/)

At the end of both Church services we also celebrated Baptisms - a bunch of people were baptised symbolising their death to sin and resurrection into Gods Grace! What a special weekend to be baptised too! Congratulations if that was you!

I have so much to be thankful for on the anniversary of my saviours betrayal, death and resurrection - but mostly I am thankful that it was him who took up the cross when certainly, I should have been there. For all of my sins, I deserve that death. The difference is, I would have been guilty and I would still be in the tomb. Thankfully, Jesus was guilty of nothing, was the Son of God and he rose from the dead, sealing our salvation. What a man!

Happy Easter!

At The Weekend

At the weekend, John came over for a visit, and when he left we heard a chainsaw in our driveway going off. Turns out he was sick of the tree hanging over the drive way. Reason #245 why John is awesome. Thanks! You are a legend.

I also baked cookies :)

Carefree Roller Derby

I am really enjoying this carefree stage of life that Graeme and I have. No serious bills, no great responsibility, a whole lot of potential and ideas to come to fruition. At the same time I long for some stability, to be grounded and feel like I am building something or working towards something greater. In the mean time, we get to do awesome things like the ROLLER DERBY! Woot.

I love the Derby for many reasons. 1) full contact womens sport. Women are brutal, vicious and have big swinging hips. It is excellent to watch. 2) the punk scene comes alive. Think colours, fishnets, wacky costumes and a lot of fun. 3) the atmosphere. I don't care who you are, if I'm sitting next to you, expect me to jump up and down, chant, yell, scream, boo, cheer, laugh, and anything else that I could think of in that exciting moment. 4) We get to dress up. Not everyone does, but why wouldn't you? team spirit, atmosphere and a night out all come from dressing up.

Here are some photos from this weekends Derby final. Sadly, our team Filthy Habits lost to Carnage Academy. But it was a really close game with a lot of great moves by both teams. I can't wait to next years bouts!

See you there in 2011!

Roller Derby

To conclude my birthday posts, we went to the Roller Derby!

An [awesome] bunch of my friends gathered in blue and went to the Roller Derby together. A full contact, all women, fast paced, punked up sport.

Our team (the CellBlock Brawlers) got smashed, but they were way more fun to support anyway.

The final is next saturday, go to Cosmic Corner to get your tickets! We'll be supporting Filthy Habits so dress in gold! :D

Yay for birthdays, thank you everyone for helping it to be so special and memorable! xxx