The Boy's 1st Shiner

There it is! My son is an over-achiever, it only took 14 months for him to get that nice black eye. How did it get it?

My son the neighborhood bully? No

The klutz? No (do not rule this out for future accidents he is mine after all)

He decided to try once again to eat the cats tail and he lost.
Aidan learns things the hard way.

As I watch Aidan-Boy (as Madelynn calls him) bumble through his 2nd year of life I wonder how he's made it this far.

At 8 months old---His 1st concussion when his stupid parents each thought the other was watching him and he tumbled down the stairs in his walker.

At 11 months---His 2nd concussion when his klutzy mom drops him hard on the concrete when she trips over the sidewalk.

At 12 months---Walks into the door frame and has the bump on his right temple the size of a large egg

At 13 months---Learns walking isn't all it's cracked up to be and falls on the same sidewalk I tripped on holding him and cut open his lip

At 14 months---He mastered climbing EVERYTHING although doesn't master how not to fall.

At 14 1/2 months---The battles with Gretel the cat begin.

This little guy is just covered in bruises! The other day I laid him down to change his diaper and I could see under his chin he had several faint ones. How the heck did he get any there? Yesterday I took Madelynn to preschool and I was worried someone was going to report me for child abuse.

My biggest fear for the boy at the moment is the oven. I cannot keep him away from it. I walked around the corner the other and he had the door open and was crawling into it. He already was on all 4 on the door. Thank heavens it was not in use and we were eating microwave reheated leftovers for dinner.

He has no fear and I thought Madelynn was a busy baby! Aidan has her beat hands down. Hope Papa has a nice comfy lawn chair and lots of popcorn because watching this boy is going to be entertaining for a long time to come.

My Own little George O'Malley

McDreamy! Oh my yes he is! He can put his stethoscope under my bed anytime!

I just love Monday night television. I can't wait to put the rugrats in bed and have 2 hours of quality tv time with Desperate Housewives and Grey's Anatomy. Brendon enjoys both shows too so we sit and watch together.

Now Brendon knows that I have a "thing" for Patrick Dempsey. He doesn't mind, he knows it's harmless fun. I mean he can't complain with all the sexy girl pictures that my dad sends him via email in their father-in-law/son-in-law bonding sessions.

But that doesn't stop him from asking every episode "Am I McDreamy too Babe?" I hate to say it but no.

I love Brendon and I think he's very sexy. I mean I married him after all and I'm glad I did.

But he is not McDreamy....he is George O'Malley. Yep, the bumbling boy next door, Handsome in a boyish kind of way, shy with girls, genius IQ science geek! I found the New Zealand version of George O'Malley. Just look at the hair it's almost a dead ringer for the style of Dr. O'Malley sports. hehehe

He may not be the neurosurgeon like Derek Shepard, but in a couple of years he'll be a Dr. too (Ph.D) and then you can address all those envelopes to Dr. & Mrs Gill. Yeah, I think I'll keep my own George O'Malley.

A feeling I can't find

You know that warm fuzzy feeling you get when you hear a song that just feel good to the soul? A song that just makes you feel like "home" and when you hear it on the radio you just can't help but stay in the car and listen until it's gone. I cannot find that in New Zealand. It doesn't help that there isn't a country music station either!

Man I really miss country music! I get the auction listings everyday for the country music section from Trademe. I am able to find a top name CD sometimes for a bargin. My recent finds, Martina McBride and Brooks and Dunn. Sometimes you can find the odd artist at The Warehouse (NZ's version of Wal-mart) But sadly, I don't know who is who in country music anymore. Who the heck is Dierks Bentley, Phil Vassar, Carrie Underwood, Eric Church? I just checked the latest American Country Countdown top 40 chart and didn't know who 24 of the top 40 are. And what the heck happened to Bob Kingsley? Talk about feeling like I'm out of the loop. But...I digress

Today I had a rare moment to go to the grocery store without the kids and when I was driving back I put Brooks and Dunn in the cd player. It was their "Red Dirt Road" cd and that feeling I used to get back in my radio days when I heard a song that I knew was going to be a hit just washed all over me. A meloncholy feeling for good music and days gone by. I can't help but think of my old radio days and kind of miss them.

I don't miss working the 6 days a week, I don't know if even really miss being on the air. I think I miss most is the music and the fun times. Sitting in the van tonight all those fun times came rushing back. Hanging out with a young Bryan White, interviewing Tim McGraw, secrectly getting my picture taken with George Strait so I could give to mom for Christmas. Hitting the streets looking for Kenny Chesney when his bus broke down, just hoping he'd call me "Darlin" again. Ty Herndon wrapping his arms around me in the photo above and whispering something that just made me laugh. Not to mention hanging out with one of the greatest radio minds I've ever met. (Yes Glenn, it's you!)

It's all about the music man! I miss the music, that's a feeling I just can't find.

My New Secret Weapon

Our Sanyo 1800 watt vacuum cleaner. It is by no means a secret weapon against household dirt, although it is helpful.

It is my secret weapon because Madelynn has figured out it sucks up stuff! And she's terrified it's going to be her stuff!

I'm not sure where this new fear developed from. I've never threatened her by telling her I'm going to suck up her toys. It wouldn't have worked anyway, Madelynn's no dummy. In the last week however something must have clicked.

I need to vacuum at least once a day around here with Aidan and Madelynn leaving crumbs around the house as if they were Hansel and Gretel. Aidan loves the vacuum, since he was mobile it is the thing he goes to. He now tries to ride it like a horse as I use it and Maddie fights him for it sometimes.

Yesterday and today I turned it on and she just freaked out! She started picking up anything that was on the floor and crying. I tried to reassure her that I wasn't going to suck up anything other than the popcorn crumbs but that didn't really sink in for her. The whole time my mind wasn't racing with "How can I help her overcome her fear?" it was "YES! I can now use this to make her pick up her toys!"

Does this make me a mean mommy? Part of me says yes, the other part sees a clean house in the near future. Well if nothing else the old Sanyo can go back to it's other secret weapon job..."guard dog" strategically staying in the path by the door so anyone breaking in the middle of the night will trip on it and wake us up.

Customer Service

That is something that just isn't heard of in New Zealand I'm convinced of it! Not only are we overcharged for just about everything, the service that comes along with the product is shocking!

New Zealanders I think want better customer service, they complain about how poor it is, yet they do nothing about it. And when you do complain they are just gobsmacked that you actually did!

Yesterday is a prime example:

A bit of background on Pixie Photo first: They are photographers that are similar to the photo studios in Wal-Mart. They also have a mobile unit that travels to the rural towns like mine. I HATE THEM!! But I have no other choice in getting a portrait of the kids. Their prices are just outrageous too! They charge $240.00 or more a similar package that costs $1.99 at Wal-Mart, and they think they are affordable!

Well yesterday I made arrangements for my darling friend Nikki to help me get Aidan's 1 year old photo taken. So she came and picked up me and the kids. They were supposed to be there from 9-12 am and 1-4 pm. This is how they always do it you don't need to make a booking you just go. I always aim to be there at 9 am to get this over quickly while the kids are still clean and reasonably happy.

We arrived at 9:10 and the photographer was not there! Her set up was there, covered from the previous day but she was no where to be found. She finally showed up at 9:20, using the same story "oh, sorry my car!" What a crock of shit! She's been late before at another time I was getting the kids pictures taken and used the same line. This time her appearance pretty much told the story. Her underwear were hanging out her pants and they were on BACKWARDS! Hello, newsflash! Your car is fine, it's your alarm clock that needs fixing or you need to quit going to bed with guys you meet at the pub the night before and getting dressed in the dark as you sneak out of their bed on the way to work!

I was so pissed off when I got home I called the head office to complain. In typical Kiwi-style they were just dumbfounded that I had some sort of complaint. They didn't know what to do about it. Didn't offer me anything for having to wait etc....so I told them when my photos arrived, I won't be buying any extra, just taking my free one and walking away. I just don't think that kind of service needs to be rewarded with purchasing their products.

The list of places I've dealt or that Nikki has had a bad experience with would just make your blood curdle.

Ok, maybe I have some anger management issues with the customer service in NZ, but I really don't care. After 7 years of this I've just had enough!

What ever happened to the "customer is always right?"

Vent over.

The Spoon

What is approximately 3 inches long, blue, plastic and caused Madelynn to go into hysterics? A lost spoon! Madelynn has never been afraid of the bath drain. Almost since the day she could sit up in the bath she was playing with the drain, sticking her fingers in it when the water goes down it and giggling. Well yesterday you would have though the sky was falling! Aidan and Madelynn were having their bath and I told her it was time to get out, pick up the toys as I was pulling the plug.

As usual she didn't listen, I picked up most of the toys and only a few were left in the water as I got Aidan out. The water made that "ssssggggggggggg" sound as it does when something is blocking the drain and Madelynn just lost the plot! Tears from nowhere yelling for her spoon. She thought it had gone down the drain. Now this is a little spoon that matches her tea set she got for her birthday that I thought wouldn't have gone down. "Oh well, I told her we can't get it back" Stupid thing to say, I found out. Madelynn just cried harder. I have never seen her this way, and over a spoon no less.

She was inconsolable, she even didn't want her game before bedtime etc....So I thought, I would try to trick her. I found another of the spoons from the set and went to the bath and then called her in and I "magically" pulled the spoon out of the drain. She was much happier but she still looked rather upset.

After managing to calm her down I tucked her in bed after her story and she wanted to sleep with the spoon! I refused knowing she'd lose every 5 minutes and I'd have to go and find it in her blankets. I left it on the dresser and she knew where it was.

5 minutes later she calls me "Mommy! Mommy!" almost crying again, "Poon pees!" (spoon, please) I said no and I told her it was going out in the hallway on the bookshelf until morning. She was happy with that and I was relieved as it meant I could get 2 hrs of peaceful TV time.

3:30 am this morning she's crying for me and what the heck does she want? Yep, that spoon! I told her she could have it when the sun came up. Now, I'm really starting to hate that stupid little spoon because it was the 1st night in weeks that I was having a sleep without crying babies!!!!!

6:45 am I hear here "Mommy, I poon!, Mommy...Mommy!...Mommy poon pees!" I go I get up and hand her the spoon and tell her to be quiet so she doesn't wake up Aidan. Too late he's up now.

She took that spoon everywhere today and I mean everywhere! It made her happy, she was pretty well behaved I could finally deal with the spoon.

The icing on the cake? We got into the bath tonight and she started to cry for the spoon again. I handed her some other toys to play with and she just got more and more upset. I finally emptied out a plastic bucket that was in the bath and what do you think was in that? Yep, you guessed it...the spoon that "supposedly" went down the drain last night and She DIDN'T want it!! What??

3 year olds! UGH!!

A good day for Madelynn

After the last blog entry I just was dreading today. It's been nothing but day after day of battling with Madelynn over everything but....Today was a good day!! We introduced the toilet training chart with stars for her. Told her every time she goes to the toilet she get star, every time she wets her pants she loses one. When she gets five she gets a prize/treat. She says "o-white" (alright) and runs to the toilet! LOL

It only took her about 10 minutes to catch on and she had her 1st star. She earned three through the day and lost only one. She was a bit upset with losing one so I thought that was good. She's learned that she needs to work harder.

Then she had her appointment at the audiology department at the hospital. Everything is GREAT! She can hear!!!!! No hearing loss at all. She finally passed all her test with flying colors. That was a huge relief for Brendon and I. Madelynn seems to enjoy it too, she got into wearing those headphones for the tone tests.

And the icing on the cake...the preschool called and she starts this Thursday! I just feel so darn happy as we've just had bad day after bad day with her and today it was a nice change.

The Divine Miss M

Madelynn is such a smart little girl but she does have a rough time. I think she just hasn't figured out her place in life yet.

The oldest & the middle child at the same time. She's having lots of little rough patches at the moment and I just don't know what to do with her. Her speech problem is getting better but she is still hard to understand. She bites her nails and toenails until they bleed sometimes. She chews her hair and her toilet training seems to have hit the skids. She's so ready to go to preschool but we are still waiting for them to call and say she can come. She needs more than I can give her at home. Aidan takes up so much of my time and energy that sometimes there is nothing left for her. I'm sure her little rough patches have to do with that. She just wants my time and attention and I try to give her all I can but I just can't help if wonder how I can do better.

Today, I had been dealing with Aidan and when I was finished I walked around the corner to find her sleeping on the edge of the couch. I knew Sponge Bob could put someone to sleep, ha!

Only once before has she ever fallen asleep in her tracks like this doesn't she look divine? The Divine Miss M....captured on film once again.

My favorite song that reminds me of my little Madelynn.

In My Daughter's Eyes
by Martina McBride


In my daughter's eyes I am a hero
I am strong and wise and I know no fear
But the truth is plain to see
She was sent to rescue me
I see who I wanna be
In my daughter's eyes

In my daughter's eyes everyone is equal
Darkness turns to light and the world is at peace
This miracle God gave to me
gives me strength when I am weak
I find reason to believe In my daughter's eyes

And when she wraps her hand around my finger
Oh it puts a smile in my heart
Everything becomes a little clearer
I realize what life is all about

It's hangin' on when your heart
has had enough
It's giving more when you feel like giving up
I've seen the light
It's in my daughter's eyes

In my daughter's eyes I can see the future
A reflection of who I am and what will be
Though she'll grow and someday leave
Maybe raise a family
When I'm gone I hope you see how happy
she made me
For I'll be there
In my daughter's eyes

Spiderman in training

Some days I just want to scream...Do they want to see me locked up in a rubber room with no key? Do they really want to be raised by a single parent? Shipped off in a box to their grandparents? I don't know what my children's motives are but I just know one day they are going to take me away.

Aidan and his climbing is driving me nuts! He's such an active baby! (14 months old in 2 days) Is it because he's a boy? Or are my children just more physical? Madelynn was very good at climbing and had the running and climbing down early but Aidan he takes the cake!!!!

Today he fell off the couch twice because he tried to jump! He's got a nice little raised mark on his forehead where he landed. He got it because he landed on one of those magnetic alphabet/numbers you put on the fridge for the kids to play with. I'm convinced he got my coordination (or lack thereof) and if he had been a girl I should have named him Grace.

After his nap today he figured out how to climb up on the dining room chair. I turned around and there he was! Sitting in the chair like a big boy. The look on his face was so cute...grinning from ear to ear "Look at me Mommy!" So being the proud mom what do I do? I run for the camera of course, only to come back and see him standing on the table doing his version of a native American Indian dance.

So all day long it was chase Aidan off the table top. I honestly wouldn't care if he climbed up there as I've found that as long as you usually don't make a big deal out of things he loses interest quickly and then it's not a problem. But this guy would fall off because he's just that much of a busy boy. He'd probably try to jump and see if he could fly. He's only 14 months old for heaven sake, where did this incredible desire to spend all his time in the emergency room come from?

When Brendon came home from work he was quick to show Daddy his new skills. I could tell Brendon was impressed deep down and was trying to hide it. His "That's my boy!" chest started to swell before he told the boy to get down. So after a long, hard and exhausting day of chasing Aidan here I am ready to head to bed and the boy cries. So I went to check on him and he wanted a cuddle. I picked him up and he smiled and stopped crying. He snuggled into my chest and said "ducka ducka ducka" I don't know what it means but I think it was "Thanks for catching me again Mommy".

Nikki

I think it's very rare to find a "best" friend. Friends come and go but it's those true friends who stay for the duration. I've been lucky, not only do I have one best friend but I have TWO!

Adjusting in an foreign country isn't easy any of my friends from the American-Kiwi group will tell you. It's hard to make friends and the culture shock is just....well...shocking!

I arrived in NZ in June 1999, I had a made few friends, mostly co-workers who were super nice and we got along quite well, and a few that were Brendon's friends that took me under their wing and they are all wonderful people; but it wasn't until 2003 that I found "Best" friend number two.

Nikki came into my life in a pretty funny way. My step-daughter's grandmother met her while working and made mention that she knew of another American living here. She managed to give us phone numbers for the other one and we finally got to talk on the phone. What I thought is the funniest twist was that Brendon knew her husband and talked to him frequently at work!! Neither knowing the other was married to an American woman they had met on the internet. It wasn't long after we met that Brendon and I moved to Morrinsville. So we now only live about 2 minutes from each other.

Nikki has been such a wonderful friend. We complain about the trials and tribulations of living in New Zealand, being married to stupid men, and the joys of motherhood. We talk on the phone nearly everyday, much to the bewilderment of our spouses. They just don't understand what we could possibly talk about all the time. If we aren't on the phone, it's emails or chatting on the American-Kiwi group message board.

Nikki is very talented:
She's a poet, she can pull a poem out of thin air.
She's a terrific mom, loving and caring and you can see that come across in her children.
She's brave! Don't dare her to do anything you just might regret it.
She's fun to be around, and has a wicked sense of humor.

I could go on and on but then it might go to her head (I know she's going read this) :-P

So if I haven't told you already Nikki, thank you for coming into my life and being my Best friend.

Freezing your ass off

It's nearly 10:00pm and I'm finally starting to get warm. I've been freezing all day it was about 55 degrees F. I woke up at 7:00am today to a house that was an ice box and it's just never recovered. Why am I freezing my ass off?

"Because in New Zealand we heat a room not the house mate!"

That is a true quote I heard from someone along the way in my nearly 7 years down under. I can accept that things are different in this country but this one still baffles me. Why should I and my children have to walk around like Eskimos to stay warm?

Believe it or not I'm one of the lucky ones. We have a heat pump in our house, most have just portable electric or propane space heaters. Some homes have fire places or wood burning stoves and believe it or not many homes don't have insulation. Hello McFly?

I have 2 words for New Zealand....Central heating! WE HAVE THE TECHNOLOGY...Yet the concept of central heating eludes this country.

I keep 2 portable oil heaters going though the winter in the kids rooms and run the heat pump most of the day but it's still cold. To give you and idea how cold it is:

This morning there was ice on the van and it had to defrost. Not unusual for me growing up in Colorado. One just starts the car and gets out the ice scraper for the windows. We don't own an ice scraper. In fact I don't think I've seen one in 8 years! LOL So Brendon gets warm water from the kitchen (which took 2 minutes to come though the pipe) and pours on the windshield.

There are 2 winter duvets on my bed, a blanket and flannel sheets and that big hot water bottle I call Brendon. (hehehe)

This morning the Pepsi and the beer in my kitchen pantry needed no refridgeration to keep cold, it was perfectly chilled.

It takes 3 days to dry the clothes on the line

I've got me and the kids dressed in 2-3 layers of clothing.

Winter just started 6 days ago...it's gonna be a long winter. Anyone got an extra set of long-johns I can borrow?

What can we afford??

"First time home owner" a phrase I find hard to imagine us using in this country! I know the price of owning homes has gone up in the United States but at least you can still afford to buy your own home if you have a decent job and Brendon does. In fact his salary puts him in the top 17% of income earners. If we were in the US that would make us rich. In New Zealand, we are just above the poverty level.

New Zealand is a beautiful country with a lot of good things but it really is bizarre. They are a nation who value owning a home above any other sort of investment. Therefore the prices of homes are over inflated. Just this morning I found out the price of a piece of land just around the block from were we live being divided into 2 sections. Front section - 376 sqm, Back section - 442 sqm and the cost? Only $150,000 EACH!! That's fine and dandy if you want to live on the "P" of a postage stamp. That's not including the house you'd have to build on it either.

It's so frustrating to see a house that is not brand new, not a mansion and costs 1/2 a million NZ dollars. So we continue to search for the perfect house we can afford, one that can fit our family and we can call HOME.

Oh and this house in the picture....is the ONE we can afford!!! It is located on the ass-end of NZ between Invercargill and Bluff.

Compassion

Madelynn

&

Aidan

They didn't come with instructions or a manual!

I asked my midwife, Julie, several times after they arrived. I look at these two gorgeous little people and I wonder how the heck am I supposed to teach them everything? It's just mind boggling sometimes and I wonder if I'm going to screw them up with all my insanity.

Then they both surprised me today~~~It was kind of magical :-)

I was changing the sheets on Madelynn's bed. I bumped my head while tucking the end in on the top bunk and I hit it hard. I felt almost immediately like I was going to throw up it was that bad. I just slipped down to the floor and leaned against the wall. Tears filled my eyes it hurt so bad! (still does 6 hours later) Aidan and Madelynn were both in the room and watched me. I didn't say anything except "ouch".

Madelynn pipes up "Sorry, Mommy!" Then Aidan toddles over and cuddles me and gives me a kiss, he doesn't give them very often (he's a bit stingy with them). Madelynn follows him and does the same hugs and kisses my head. Aidan backed up looking at me and then kissed & snuggled into my chest again and again. It was then I realized, my kids know compassion.

com·pas·sion ( P ) (km-pshn)n. Deep awareness of the suffering of another coupled with the wish to relieve it.

I have somehow managed to teach them compassion in their small time on earth. Something that many adults lack. I felt like a good parent for the first time in a long time. (I did have good teachers) Parenting, maybe I'm doing ok after all.

RELIEF!!!!

Brendon still has a job!!! The last 6-8 weeks have been most likely the most stressful time we've ever had to deal with. Through our 8 years together we have dealt with me moving across the globe, NZ immigration, death of family members....all hard things to cope with. Nothing quite prepared us for the fear of Brendon being laid off from Fonterra.

I don't think we coped very well. We picked at each other and let little things get to us. Yesterday was finally the day that we would know if they still wanted to keep him. Thankfully, Fonterra, in its infinite wisdom, have seen fit to retain him in his position of Research Scientist.

It felt like the world fell off our shoulders when we got the good news. I wouldn't wish that feeling on anyone. You just can't think straight and you walk on pins and needles for weeks.

Thanks for all that praying from our friends and family. I'm sure you all had something to do with it.

Ah....memories

It's June and it's winter! It is still an odd thing to get used to. June should be summer in my mind, always will be.

It's funny how watching something can trigger a memory. Growing up my brother and I used to fight over 2 melamine dinner plates that we got from McDonald's. I can remember the round plate very well. It had a picture of Ronald raking up leaves and then Grimace running into the pile to mess it up. It also was worded: "Ronald McDonald likes to have great fall fun, but wait until poor Grimace sees what he's done!"


Yesterday I decided to take the kids outside for some fresh air and got to raking the leaves. Madelynn without any prompting from me...started running and jumping into the freshly raked pile.




Do kids have instincts for this stuff?


The minute she did it all I could think about was that plate that Michael and I used to fight over at dinner time. Ah...memories!

Blog...Blog....Blog!!!!

It's all the rage isn't it? Everyone's got a blog...so I guess I had better join the newest craze. I love reading my friends Christi and Glenn's blogs so thought why the heck not join in. Of course I'll never be as eloquent as Christi but I'll be more productive than Evil Glenn! Ha!