SUNDAY FUNDAY

Yesterday was Sunday, and a rather fun day actually. After having had Matt sick most of the week and then myself landing an extra design job that had me working all day Saturday, I really was in desperate need of a break. So come Sunday morning, I whipped out the beater and started making a fresh batch of pancakes for brekkie. I mean, really, there aren't many better ways to start a day than with pancakes! We sat down and demolished the whole lot before toting off for a wander down our local shopping strip. After exhausting the shops (not to mention Matt and Summer!) we headed off for a spot of fun, chasing each other amongst the autumn leaves of the Kauri Grove in Cornwall Park.

It was an awesome family day, and I'm rather keen to make this 'Sunday Funday' a tradition. It's so easy to let family time slip by in these busy lives of ours, but it's really one of the most important parts OF our lives. Summer adored throwing the leaves around, 'baaaing' at the sheep and giggling as we chased her through the park. It really was a special time for all three of us and Matt and I had a lot of fun trying to capture the moment. For those of you with children, you'll know how hard it is to get a good, non-blurry photograph of a toddler, but we did our best! Here's a few shots from the day:

OUR LITTLE MUNCHKIN

Thought it was about time for a wee update on our little toddler - can you believe she's less than a week shy of 16 months?! Time really does fly! Here's a 'Top-10' snapshot of Summer today:

1. She walks now! Thank goodness. I can't remember if I ever posted the fact that Summer was a bum shuffler? Well, I'm telling you now. At around 11 months old our dear Summer chose shuffling as her mode of transport and, quite frankly, it was often a royal pain in the a**. Not only did it make it harder for her to get around (you try shuffling uphill!), I was constantly repairing or replacing her holey bottomed shorts and longs. Actually, the only items of clothing I found to be bum shuffler friendly were dresses and skirts - as at the end of the day it was only her disposable nappies to ditch. I guess I could count that as a positive, as most mothers do love to dress their little girls in pretty and feminine things and sometimes crawling can get in the way of that. Shuffling also made Summer memorable, and countless people I'd briefly meet would always remember Summer weeks or months on from the first encounter, saying, "Oh, how could I forget a little redheaded bum shuffler!" Others would stare in utter fascination, "I've heard about these bum shufflers - but I've never seen one in real life!" said one fellow. Summer was somewhat of a showstopper. Cute? Yes! Very actually, but oh so much work for me! So when she upped and walked one Sunday morning at around 14 months, I was beyond excited - screaming at Matt to get here quick to witness this glorious sight! She moved forth in leaps in bounds from that day and is now practically running. Goodbye and good ridden's holey pants!

2. She says around 12 words now. They are Mama, Dada, ball, car, nana (banana), baby, clock, bubble, Nana, dog, up and flower. Although, right now she's calling everything a 'car' - I blame Daddy!

3. She is obsessed with organising and matching things up - and you do not dare mess with her pile of neatly place items, categorised by type or shape!

4. Books, books and more books. This one has never really changed - she's always loved books and has been turning pages since 10 months old. Most days she will toddle off to here room where I find her with an array of books surrounding as she sits quietly 'reading'.

5. Blankie. Oh how she loves her blankie, a soft Peter Rabbit muslin cloth that she calls 'Bee'. Every sleepy time 'Bee' must be there and she snuggles into it like nothing else.

6. Balls and Bananas. Must be something with these 'B' words - because these are two more loves of hers.

7. Family. Summer loves her Nana's, Poppa, Uncles and Aunty's, her Daddy and her Mummy (Me, yay! I must be doing something right!). Nothing beats a snuggly cuddle with our little one. Mmm, she's so scrumptious.

8. She loves music and dance. She is even trying to sing! Whether listening intently to the singers of Hi5, the Barbie Musical or Strawberry Shortcake, I hear this quiet lilting coming from Summer as she sings along - it's actually so sweet. She's been dancing before she could walk - grooving on the spot and clinging the side of chairs to get her toes tapping whenever she heard a song she liked. She's fussy though, and wont take any-ol' artist - Rhianna will not be on her playlist, so I discovered! However, she'll go for a bit of Blur or The Black Keys - go figure.

9. Beach. Loves the sand and loves the surf. Guess she's living up to her name:)

10. Dogs/animals. Put a baby doll in front of her and she swats it away. Put anything that resembles an animal whatsoever and she hugs, nurtures and says 'ooof, ooof (woof, woof)' - at this stage of life every animal barks in her mind.

There are HEAPS more things I could share about Summer - but then, I'm not sure anyone would want to read a 10,000 word post! I love this little girl and everyday she surprises me with new skills and every morning I swear she looks more grown up. But right now, this is quite enough to give a snapshot into the life of Summer.

ONE

I can't believe my little one is 1. The year has flown by and I can honestly say it's been the best year yet! Summer brings so much joy into our life and we look forward to many more years watching her grown into a little lady.

Here are a few snaps from her 1st birthday, 'Summer-themed' celebrations. It was a heap of fun making fan-circles and tissue pom-pom decorations and fruit filled cones, but my favourite of all was the vanilla flavoured sandcastle cake I made, with vanilla glaze and vanilla biscuit crumbles... mmm vanillary!

SUMMER SHAPE UP

I've been on a mission over the past 3.5 weeks... lose weight and shape up. I've been half attempting this since Summer was born 8 months ago and have lost the majority of pregnancy weight with about 2kg of bubba blubber remaining. I started running again at least 3 times a week when she was 5 weeks old, and I was semi cautious of what I consumed.  However, I just couldn't knock those last few kgs off. To be honest, I didn't really care all that much and it has been really nice enjoying the freedom of not caring. That's not to say I didn't want to look good, wear nice clothes, do my hair, lead a healthy lifestyle and those sorts of things - it's just having a little one, puts what's important in perspective.

Pre-pregnancy I was incredibly strict on myself. I remember an incident a few years back on holiday in Newport Beach, California with Matt. The sun was shining and it was the beginning of the US spring break... it was perfect ice cream weather, and when Matt suggested we get one, I gave a definitive reply of "not for me thanks". He got one anyway, and I remember longingly watching him eat it and really, really wanting one. I don't know why this particular event sticks in my mind, but I always look back and think, "why the heck didn't I just have an ice cream???! I'm on holiday!" It's not to say I didn't eat well, I did, I just steered away from anything I knew to have high fat and sugar content... which, let's face it, is the most fun stuff to eat on the planet!

Anyway, since having Summer I feel I've developed a really nice and enjoyable balance between wanting to look good, and enjoying life. However, that's not to say I don't want to lose those extra kgs... I just don't want to deprive myself in the process. So, a little under a month ago I suddenly got a surge of determination to really get myself in shape for summer... the no stress and non-restrictive way. My fitness was already up to parr, and it seems so obvious, but I needed to start taking a really good look at my diet. I downloaded a fantastic app for my phone called MyFitness Pal and it is SO awesome! In a nutshell, it's a calorie counter, that works out how many calories you need to consume each day to healthily lose weight. You can choose to maintain your weight or set a goal to lose 1 or 2 pound a week based on your age, gender, height, current weight etc. You can also record any exercise you've done in the day, which adds positive calories onto your total (so you can consume more if you want!). It's pretty straight forward, very logical and nothing new really... however, the great thing is it contains almost all NZ foods and brands (so you know it's calculating correctly) and it does all the counting work for you. Check it out www.myfitnesspal.com

Basically, for me, it's opened my eyes and educated me to which foods contain the most calories... and there have certainly been A LOT of surprises! Needless to say, I've since changed a lot in my diet. Things I thought were ok were actually chocka full of calories and I have now found just as yummy substitutes to take their place. I love this app because, if I know I'm going to have some dessert that night or go out for a drink Saturday night, I just eat super healthily to allow for it... which gives me great balance and I don't feel guilty when I do have my 'treat'.

I've continued to run a minimum of 3 days a week, and since implementing the My Fitness Pal calorie counting, I've lost 3kg! I'm so stoked... I've still got a few more kgs to lose to get to my goal weight, but I've been keeping a record of my measurements week-by-week as well as a photo diary (which I may be brave enough to blog later on... maybe).

It is hard at first, but after the first 3 weeks it just becomes a way of life and you start to know what you can have. Just gotta keep sticking to it!

 

A NEW SUMMER WARDROBE?

Time to start buying Summer's 'summer' wardrobe!? I've just discovered these super gorgeous clothes in Cotton On Kids and she'll be the perfect size to wear them come summer time. I'm sure they weren't in there last time I visited and I fear I won't be able to get them in the right size or colour if I leave it too late. I particularly love the grey shortie jumpsuit, mint shorts and coral sundress. Super duper cute!

6 MONTHS TODAY!

My darling little girl is 6 months old today... wow how time flies! I decided to do a nice winter's day photoshoot to remember this moment. Happy 6 months bubble, you are the love of our lives. xxoo

EVER CHANGING

Well, my little girl is changing so much. At 5.5 months old, she now weighs 8kg and is classed as tall and slender on the Plunket percentile graphs… however, she's definitely still a chub, chub! She is getting closer to sitting unsupported, loves to grab everything insight, laughs regularly, is eating two servings of solids a day and developing an array of funny, quirky and adorable expressions every week.

Another thing I've noticed changing over the past couple of weeks is her hair. At 6 weeks I posted a pic of Summer and her striking reddish hair. She was born a redhead, and over the weeks following her birth, her red hair only became more pronounced. You can read that post here. Over the months I have been certain she is going to be a beautiful redhead. I imagine her with long, flowing, red locks and, in my mind I plan the pretty outfits I'm going to dress her in to compliment her hair as a grown up little girl… yes, I get a wee bit carried away! But gosh, isn't that what mother's do when they have little girls? It's fun! Anyway, over the last couple of weeks I thought I noticed her hair getting lighter. Maybe it's changing, or maybe it's just the light. Sometimes it's so hard to tell. Usually Summer's hair looks it's reddest when the sun shine on it, especially in photos. So, I was quite surprised to see it looking a lot lighter in these pics that I took today. I'm not saying there's no red in there, there definitely is, it just seems to be getting quite a bit lighter as the days go by. I'd say it's probably more a strawberry blonde at the moment, with a bit of dark red baby hair at the back. It will be interesting to see what's actually going to happen… I love watching, it's so interesting.

She's also still teething, and has recently developed bronchilitis. Ah, so hard to take care of a teething and sick child. Poor thing has been so miserable over the past week, and we've become rather accustomed to the sleepless nights. However, she seems to be on the up after being prescribed some antibiotics. Here's hoping for a quick recovery.

It's hard to believe 5 and a half months ago I hadn't met Summer. I just can't imagine ever not knowing her. So much has changed in our lives since she arrived and we wouldn't change a thing! She is nearly 6 months now and the time has flown. Before I know it, she'll be 1. Roll on the next 6 months… I can only imagine they'll be even better than the first 6.

UPDATE

Oh dear. I really haven't posted for a while. Life has been super busy, but busyness mostly brought upon ourselves!

A few weeks back we were invited to a friends 30th cartoon-themed dress up party. Already coping with a teething 4.5 month old, you'd think hiring a costume would be the way to go… but alas, we decided it would be fun to start from scratch and create our own. So over the past few weeks Matt and I have spent our evenings manipulating fabric, cardboard and various other materials into the shape of Optimus Prime and Tinkerbell. Optimus took a total of 30 hours to complete (split up of course!). Although it was a lot of work, it was totally worth it. I loved working with Matt, being creative, figuring things out and laughing so hard when the clock struck 11pm and we were overtired (yes, 11 is late for us now!). It was also really rewarding getting compliments on the night and even better when Matt won best dressed… Prize? A bottle of Champagne, yum!

The other big (on-going) event of the last few weeks has been Summer's teething. Poor wee thing hasn't been 100% herself lately. Gnawing at everything in sight with a terrible look of frustration. Drooling like there's no tomorrow. And looking at me with her big blue eyes as if to say, "Mummy, make it stop.' It completely breaks my heart to know there's not a lot I can do. I can see the little white culprit sitting smugly just below the surface of her gum. Come on tooth! Make your appearance and give me back my chilled out baby girl! It's not all bad though. Some days are better than others, when the pain must subside. Those are the days I get to play with Summer, hear her giggles and watch her cute wee smile. And those are the days I hope for every day!

BEAUTIFUL REDHEADS

I came across these gorgeous photos of three very beautiful little girls from a blog that I wish I could read! It's in another language, but you can view all the photos here. It makes me so excited for the day my little Summer has long hair... I wonder if she'll keep her red hair and look like these cuties? Absolutely stunning!

- SUMMER'S DAY -

A wee video Matt and I put together to celebrate and capture Summer at 3 month. We hope to do these regularly to record her growing up... plus, they're so fun to do!

Blogger has compressed it so much. But you can view a better version here

- BECAUSE I CAN -

I love taking photos of Summer... I have billions of them and she's only 3 months old! Here are some recent ones. She gets so fascinated by the camera that she stops smiling... one day I'll decently capture one of her big grins!

- I SEE RED -

Our gorgeous wee bubba was born with red/ginger hair. I must say it was rather a surprise, as Matt and I are both blonde and aren't aware of any redheads in the family… but it must be in there somewhere. We have put it down to our Scottish heritage, and just recently my Nana told me there was Irish in the mix as well… that'll do it! However, since Sum Sum's birth her hair is slowly falling out (from the front to the back, and now the sides!) and the new little sprouts look a lot lighter and more blonde, or maybe strawberry blonde. Anyhow, her eyebrows and eyelashes are blonde, so we are now wondering if it's going to grow back blonde or red?  I have heard that either can happen, but I'm so impatient to see what her real hair colour will be! It's fun watching her grow, but why must it take so long? Patience is a virtue and I must work on achieving it!

See Summer's hair progress below:

- SUMMER IS 6 WEEKS OLD! -

Tomorrow, Summer is 6 weeks old, and boy has she changed in that short amount of time! Once a very sleepy baby, she has now decided she does not like to nap during the day and instead insists on getting herself overtired and grumpy. When we first brought her home she would fall asleep easily without any coercing. Now she is exercising her free will and does not want to nap when she could be playing with Mummy, Daddy or hanging out with guests! Matt and I have come to the conclusion she is a social little girl, as she doesn't have any problem sleeping at night. In that respect we can count our blessings and hope that it continues that way. We put her down at 8pm (after her feed, bath and cuddles), she then sleeps through till 3am for a feed and after that doesn't wake again until 6.30am. What an angel!!! Please, please let this continue.

Summer is also a lot bigger now too. At her last Plunket visit  at 5 weeks she weighed 4.9kg... 1.1kg larger than her birth weight. She is now sporting a cute, little double chin and scrumptious, chubby little legs.

Her hair is also changing... or should I say, falling out! Her current hairdo now resembles that of a balding old man, but she rocks it all the same. We are interested to see what colour her new hair will be. She was born with a very coppery tone, but I think the small new sprouts are looking a bit more blonde. We will have to wait and see.

Smiles. These are more and more frequent now with Summer averaging about 8 big smiles a day. She has the most adorable smiles and expressions and she makes my heart melt with each and every one of them.

These past 6 weeks have been a wonderful and precious time for Matt and I, and we continue to enjoy watching our little pumpkin grow before our very eyes. Roll on the next 6 weeks, can't wait to see what's in store!

- GOALS -

In between nappy changes, feeding and cleaning up baby fluids, I've started thinking about what I want to achieve this year. What are my goals and what do I hope to have ticked of the list come December 31, 2012?

So I thought I would start writing a list. I'm sure I'll add more throughout the year, but here's a start…

1. Surf again! I have really missed surfing this summer. Usually by this time of the year I would have caught numerous waves and been on a number of 'crack-of-dawn' surf missions. Of course, being a new mummy is SO amazing and I wouldn't trade if for anything in the world, but I do long to catch a wave soon… so hopefully I can squeeze a few in before it starts getting too cold.

2. Regain my pre-pregnancy fitness. I'm very eager to get running again, at least 3 times a week. So once I feel my body has completely healed from the trauma of childbirth, I hope to start building up my fitness to it's pre-baby level. Hopefully along with regaining my fitness and by targeting troubled spots, I'll get closer to my pre-bub body. Here's hoping!

3. Grow my hair. Towards the end of last year I got the chop and sported a tidy, just-under-the-chin style. It was fun for a bit, but now I'm bored and want long hair again. Although, once I achieve this goal I'll probably get bored again and the vicious hair cycle will continue!

4. Sew some clothes. Before I got pregnant, I used to love making items of clothing for myself. From skirts, to dresses, to altering some old clothing to make it current… it's a hobby I put on old due to my ever-expanding belly. Now though, I'm on the other side, so when I get a spare few minutes (or more likely hours), I'll whip out the trusty sewing machine and whip me up some new glad rags.

5. Plan my kick-ass 30th birthday! I'm not sure how and what form this birthday celebration will take… but I'll be 30 this year and I'm sure as heck gonna do something for it! Summer will be 9 months then, so of course I'll want to consider how she will be involved, but whatever the case, there's bound to be some bubbly!

6. Go snowboarding. Another sport I had to put on hold while preggo with Sum Sum. But this year I definitely want to get the old board and bindings out. Whether we get to the mountain, or just have a few runs at Snow Planet, just getting back on the board will be awesome!

- SUMMER HAS ARRIVED! -

Introducing our beautiful wee girl, Summer Renée, born on 28 December and we couldn't be more delighted or in love! She is such a joy and I'm loving motherhood more than I could have imagined. I can not believe how instantly, crazy-in-love, I became when I first laid eyes on her. Every day she grows and changes, and it's the most special thing to watch her unfold and develop into this new, unique little person.

I can not express how much I love this little girl - she truly makes my heart melt!

These are some photos I managed to take after a good and satisfying feeding. It wasn't easy to get these shots, and I had several attempts after each feeding until she opened her eyes wide and got her pose on!

- WAITING, WAITING -

So it's my due date today and no bundle of joy is being cradled in my arms as yet. Yes, it's somewhat disappointing, but rather expected at the same time. They say first time mothers are often late, but you always hope that you will be on time (or a bit earlier) all the same! I just really want to meet this little girl - for over nine months she has felt so close, yet so far away. I never thought I'd feel this way, after all, I have been waiting for 40 weeks. But now her arrival is just around the corner and the wait is harder than ever! This is a real practice of patience for me (and I'm not the most patient of people!). I know she's not far away… it's just a matter of time. Hoping. Waiting. Can't wait to meet you baby.