Things I Think I Will Miss (or Miss Already)

My friend and fellow expat over at Midwestern Berliners is on the countdown to heading back stateside (in fact almost all of my expat friends have made similar plans recently - uggh).  As part of this countdown, the most recent post was entitled Things We Miss.  I COMPLETELY enjoyed this.  Personally, I liked number three the best!

When I read this I began thinking about the things that I already know that I will come to miss.  I would like to document this list for now and see how it changes when it is our time to return to the states.  Here goes:

1.  Pampers.  I am not a cloth diaper mamma.  I wish I were but the truth be told between JJ's schedule, three babies in thirty-four months and working from home, I like the convenience of disposable diapers.  In fact, I love the way a new box of Pampers' Baby Dry smell when I open them up.  It speaks to all the new baby snuggles I love having with my AJs.  Personally, I think that Pampers should send me a years supply of size four Baby Dry for two babies and I will promote them to death here.  It's time for Pamper's to break into the New Zealand market (Huggies suck and I am so sick of changing wet sheets!).

2.  Unlimited data.  I work from home so I have to have internet access.  In New Zealand you only have an allotted amount each month.  You can double it if you find you are running close but it's still not unlimited.  If you use your portion and the doubled amount you end up with something reminiscent to dial-up from 1998.  We haven't had to double ours yet so it looks like we will be just fine BUT I still obsess.  Cell phone access is expensive and I miss my AT&T unlimited package (which unfortunately will not be waiting on me back in the states, it is no more).

As a side note, when we left the states I tried to talk AT&T into placing our contract on hold (I was month to month and could cancel at any time).  I offered to pay a premium (they actually have this program but will not let you use it for more than six months total).  They refused.  I could wax poetic as to why this was a bad business decision for them (and I did to the customer retention guy) but instead let's just say that I feel the opposite about AT&T that I do about Pampers Baby Dry.  Thank the Lord that the iPhone can be used with other carriers as this family will never use AT&T products again (even if they build that dang tower in Scottsville ;).

3.  Having access to online television.  We can't watch Hulu, Netflix or any online US networks.  I wasn't expecting this and have had moments of frustration surrounding it.  Although, if I could, it might eat up my broadband allotment and then I would have to obsess further!

4.  I almost didn't add this because there are so many family members and friends that I miss but hopefully they all know who they are, they are working on getting on Skype (or already are) and know that I would LOVE to have them here.  That being said, in the last week I have had serious pangs for three people.

Cari Kramer the babysitter.  I am fortunate enough to call Cari my friend as well but she is AMAZING with my children.  Like, literally amazing.  My kids LOVE some Ms. Cari time (and so does mamma).

I love both of these ladies equally.  My gal Courtney at Salon Cielo in C-ville and Missy Flick in my hometown of Muncie, IN.  I've only known Courtney for the three years that I was in Charlottesville but every time I walk into Missy's salon it's like a family reunion -- literally!  The last time I was there I saw Missy and two of my cousins.  In addition, I saw three other family members on her calendar for the same week!  I hate to have someone else mess with my hair!!

Only time will tell what I will add to this list.  I am doubting that Pampers takes me up on my offer so maybe I will just start potty training AJ3 at 11 months (soooo, not my parenting style).

I feel like AJ1 and AJ2 are camera hogs so here is AJ3 for a change.

Pilgrimage to Piha

It's been a rough week.  We've had illness and technical issues and attitudinal issues, blah, blah, blah...Work of all kinds has piled up and yesterday being Thursday (it is now 3:15 am Friday morning) I was convinced I was going to tackle it all and put my life back on track, then JJ came home at 3:45 pm and told me to stop what I was doing and come along (I'm a total sucker for random adventure)...

The next thing I know the two big AJs, JJ and I were headed into the Waitakere, through the sub-tropical forest and out onto Piha Beach.  It was just what I needed in ways that I could not have foreseen.  Here is what we found (and let me tell you, the AJs are lucky that I had not made this pilgrimage in my less responsible 20's because the waves and another way of life may have called me to stay)...

Someone had etched this into the sand and I couldn't find it any more appropriate

Now you may ask why I am up at almost 4 am bringing this beautiful information to you and the simple answer is that shortly after we arrived home, I stuck a bacon slathered meatloaf in the oven and had mashed potatoes on the stove (don't judge, it's winter here and I've been running 45 minutes a day) AJ2 kindly came into the kitchen (seriously kind as there is no carpet) and began vomiting the cup of milk he had on the way home.  I have been busy ever since.  Ahhh, the joys of being a mamma...I wouldn't trade it for a hippie commune in the Waitakere Ranges.

A Day in the Life Part II

Soo, I have been trying to post a link to follow me on Instagram on here but it seems to be taking my non-techie mind WAY too long so I decided to just jump back into typing up what's happening (which I can do most of the time).  I left you with the cliff hanger of our Saturday, my perfect day (I know, it was SO exciting) so here we go again...

I think I left you with lunch (om, nom, nom...) and super, super exciting after that, JJ fell completely, totally asleep on the couch.  He began to get cranky when I kept waking him up asking to go to the beach so I finally took the boys outside and played in the secret garden for an hour.  When the hour was up I began bugging the daylights out of JJ again and low and behold, he arose from the couch and took us over to the playground.

We are currently borrowing a car from the most generous of families (until hopefully this Saturday when with everyone's prayers we will find our dream car costing no more than $3500 -- this would make it the most expensive car I have ever paid for) so we had to be taken over in groups.  I took the two bigger AJs while JJ dropped us off and went back for Ma-maw and the little AJ.  I find that this situation just adds more quirk and since we didn't have far to go, it was fantastic!

The playground was INTENSE.  Auckland playgrounds seem to have the sole purpose of freaking out the mamma in the family from what I could tell.  There was this crazy rope thing that you could climb up to a two story "ship", swings that you could bash (as AJ1 says) into other swing riders in a circle, some sort of merry go round with tires that really reminded me more of a ride at a small town festival and the two story, no safety strap having disk, hanging from a second story zip line that my three year old just HAD TO GO DOWN.  He stood in line looking antsy so I was hoping he was chickening out but JJ informed me that "No, he just didn't want to wait!".  I am so in for it with three boys born within three years!

That's my boy

We decided to leave the playground and walk to the beach.  Actually, we just kind of followed JJ as if he were the Pied Piper and all walked at least two miles in the wind pushing umbrella strollers down to Mission Bay (I was a little worried about Ma-Maw but as usual she was a trooper).  I loved it!

Once we were in Mission Bay we had ice cream at Movenpick and played on the playground. When the time came for JJ to take the first batch of us all home he hoofed it back to the car and came back to pick up Ma-maw and the two smallest AJs. It was a great opportunity for AJ1 and I to have a few minutes together on the beach. It was cold by this time and the wind was blowing but we had fun digging in the sand, talking about gravity and finding seashells. AJ1 even did a few song and dance numbers for me while people looked at us like crazy Americans!

Finally, we came home, happily exhausted!

A Day in the Life

So, it's late Sunday afternoon as I write this post but Saturday was exactly as I would like for everyday of my life to be...

I did some online exploring on Friday night to determine the best things for our family to explore on Saturday morning.  I started out getting up at the crack of dawn (6am) and beginning preparations.  We finally made it out at 9 and headed down St. George's Bay Road to the La Cigale French Style Market.  It was a great day for it, cloudy but not windy or raining.  

 When we got there I was immediately in heaven.  I have recently had a serious urge to go back to France so the prospects of anything French were so very exciting to me.  The feeling of this market wasn't exactly French to me but fully European in a way that I have experienced continuously since we arrived (I have been working on that blog but want to make sure I am much more concise when describing my first impressions).  Unfortunately, instead of helping me feel fulfilled of my need to be in France this market only made me long for a European vacation a bit more (Jesse hasn't ever been to Paris and we have a momentous anniversary coming up soonish...)

 Pretty much any kind of foodstuffs you could be after were available at this market and we sampled and savored and filled Trader Joe insulated bags and our strollers to the gills.  Wines, spreads, meats, cheeses, ice cream, growing herbs, loose herbs, coffee and the list goes on (and on and on).

If we're Facebook friends, you probably saw a short, off center video of these two singing. My kids were completely entertained and danced (and so was I and so did I :). There were also Americans serving coffee and it was nice to wander up to a counter and hear a stranger speak in my own accent (okay, maybe not MY accent but US none the less). It's funny how being away from home can make you connect with randoms in a way you never would before. Three weeks ago I might have looked at those coffee servers and wondered if they were ax murderers -- yesterday, I just loved them on sight (well, on hearing).

The boys were entertained by this gentleman who created balloon swords for them.  They could have chosen anything they wanted but were being bashful.  I was reminded by the creator that fear of strangers is a good thing which brings up a point that I may expand on at a later time but Kiwi's are not afraid to parent random children even when random parents are around -- I believe it takes a village but I have been quite caught off guard by this at times.  Anyway, I requested that whatever he made, he made two of the same so they wouldn't fight and he gave them swords to fight with -- clever little man.

I am definitely taking one of these home with me next time -- bacon anything -- ummm, yes! We also saw someone hanging bacon in the front yard on the way home -- it looked pretty earthy. We took tons home (not the earthy stuff) and had a fabulous lunch!!

Saturday, In the Park, I Think It Was the 14th of July...

Let's just start by saying that call works differently here (and shout a huge, Thank God!).  Most UVA residents who are sent to NZ come out of the lab, not junior residency so the hellish years are not as easily recalled as they are for my family.  I'm not complaining but stating a simple fact that while JJ learned to do his thing, the last year or so has been hard on me soooo, JJ being on home call is AH-MAZ-ING!!!  In fact, I found myself becoming an angry middle-aged woman last year but that's another post all together (I know, poor me, my husband has to work hard...).

JJ is on-call all weekend but we had a better family day today than we have had in weeks, I mean months, I mean years (okay, maybe a slight over-statement but you get my point). JJ got up "early" (like 7 am) and went to hospital, came home and we all walked over to the park called Auckland Domain.  The Domain is the oldest park in Auckland and has an interesting history (including being Camp Hale, a US barracks from 1942-1944).  Of course, like everything, it's a volcano...

We had a nice time and I got some photos, nothing incredible, but I'll share at any rate..

AJ1 LOVES to fly kites (and he really is good at it).  Flying a kite is one of the few memories that I have with my dad so I love to indulge this.  We headed to the toy store yesterday and specifically purchased a "pocket kite" to have on hand.  We put it to good use today.

There is so much beauty here, I cannot wait to see what things are like when the weather warms up a little (not that it's really cold here now).