Following the leaders....

Hannah and Christi that is anway! I've decided to move my blog over to

http://americankiwi.wordpress.com/

At least give it a try for the moment because I'm finding blogger a bit of a pain when it comes to loading pics and stuff. So I might be back but for now come and see me over at the link above.

Musca domestica

or in other terms $%(&*&@)# house flies! Yuck! One thing I totally hate about New Zealand is the lack of screens upon windows to keep out the flies and other insects.

Sure, you can find a screen door here and there, in fact our house has 2. You won't find screens on the windows however and that is just bloody annoying.

Instead, most Kiwis buy fly spray (ie: Raid) and run around spraying them. How is this more effective? You spend more money, you pollute the air with chemicals and you also breathe them in. Then you have to run around and clean up after all the dead flies. Ugh!

Yesterday we had the worst batch at our house. I had most of the windows closed and the doors open with the screen doors shut. Of course with Aidan and Madelynn (and Brendon) it's always a mission to get them to close the door once they open it. Brendon came home and when I went to open the back door, the door and the back deck were just swarming. There must have been at least 300 flies. We started spraying the fly spray though the screen and then Brendon took it and started to spray outside. All this just to get him in the house.

After he had done that he went to wash his hands and in the bathroom I hear him yell "bloody hell!" He had to fetch the spray and kill about 200 more flies. And I had just spend the morning cleaning that room too!

After they all all died off he took the vacuum and cleaned them all up. He said he lost count of the flies there were so many. He then re-cleaned the bathroom before bathing the kids.

What a total waste of time all New Zealand needs are screens on the windows. Obviously too much to ask.

Fisher-Price, we have a problem!

Neither one of my children are really "attached" to a lovey item. I've tried to get them so it was easier for bedtime but no real luck.

Aidan likes his blankie but only in bed. He does not drag it around, which is fine by me, because I remember my brother dragging 3 or 4 around at a time. Then of course he lost them and we found them the next spring buried in the garden. LOL

Enter Sammy, a Fisher-Price Puppy Pal that mom sent 2 years ago for Madelynn's 2nd birthday. Madelynn liked him, played with him from time to time. Each night she chooses something from the toys to sleep with. Most nights usually a different toy. Then about 6 months ago she started to pick him consistantly to sleep with at night.

Now Aidan has decided that he wants Sammy at bedtime and the fighting is pretty intense! We are trying the take turns each night but neither is having any part of that. Talk about a power trip if the other one wins Sammy for the night.

I sent Mom on a hunting expedition to Wal-mart to see if she could find another one. No such luck. She did find something similar in color. I showed Madelynn the picture and asked her if she wanted it. She of course said "yes, and then I will have that dog and Sammy Too!"

Also, if Sammy ventures out in the day the fights start then too. It's like "He who has Sammy rules the world".

I've searched ebay and found another puppy pal named Ari. Trying to decide if I should get that or not and try to end the fighting.

I know that kids fight over toys, but you should really see this at bedtime. It's making it a real hassle to get them settled. Who would have thought a stuffed dog? It's kind of funny but my sanity is at the brink since I'm not the most patient person at the moment right now.

Bull-headed children....another trait they inherited from Brendon of course. I'm not bull-headed at ALL!

Kiwi Garage Sales

I LOVE garage sales! I love to find a bargin at garage sales, I've even got Brendon to where he likes them too. I'm addicted to them but there is a difference in garage sales in New Zealand and the USA.

One difference to me is they never price anything! You have to ask how much they want for each item. What a waste of my time! Then, when they tell you the price and you put it back they are just dumbfounded that you won't pay that price for it! Kiwi's think that at garage sales it's the time to ask near new prices for things.

Once I went to a sale and I found heaps of baby undershirts for Madelynn. Of course they were were not priced and they were in really good condition. I can buy a pack of about 3 for $10.00 NZ new. I asked the owner how much and she says "$3 each. They weren't worn very much and they are in still good condition". I just looked at her and put them back. The look on her face was priceless, she couldn't believe it. I'm sure no one ever questioned her prices before.

It really is mind boggling to see items still in the original box, perhaps a few years old the original price sticker still on it and they are only asking $5 less than that.

I've seen some real doozies over the past couple of years but last Saturday I ventured out to one that just took the cake. When I got there the 1st thing I noticed was the sign...it had a totally different street and address on it as if to tell you where the "real" sale was. That should have been my first clue.

When I got up to the garage. There was a few people looking around with the same look on their faces "As if to say, this is it?" There was a man about 35-40ish sitting in a DIRTY garage 1/2 full of firewood and on the other side an old couch which he was sitting on surrounded by more firewood and 3 boxes of old jars from jam, mayo etc... He was telling one person how he just really needed to get rid of all this stuff, it had to go, and he was willing to let it go for bargin because he wanted some money.

I just about wet myself! All the stuff he should have just put into the weekly recycle bins that they collect on Thursday. Only in New Zealand!

April 3rd, April 13th, April 23rd?

Go on pick a date and any of the above dates could be correct for my due date. Yep, had a visit with my midwife today and got all the above. Why? According to the scan we had they placed the baby's age younger by a week so the due date by scan is April 13th. Of course they will let you go 10 days over due before they start to induce so then it goes to April 23rd.

Of course the baby will come when it comes but ALL I can think about is Aidan and this baby sharing a birthday on the 11th. I just really don't want that to happen. Who wants to share a birthday with your sibling? I share one with my dad and that fine. I think it's cool, but if it's a sibling who gets all the attention? It's supposed to be "your" day.

Well my original due date is the 3rd and I'm sticking to that one. If I have to go and bounce on a trampoline this baby will be born by then.

As usual...this is all BRENDON'S fault.

(P.S. scan picture is not of my baby)

(P.P.S Thanks for all the name suggestions in the previous post, I just need to get Brendon to read them and see if anything stands out for him besides "Rufus")

28 weeks and still no name

Maybe this baby shouldn't be born. It will have to go though life with the moniker of "baby" it's whole life. Poor wee mite. Neither Brendon or I can come up with a name we like. In fact, there seems to be no motivation or inspiration to even find one. It's like we ran out of names after Aidan.

He hates what I like and vice versa (nothing new in that department) He came up with the name Corrine and I thought I was going to hurl. He then pops up with Cameron and Lauren. How funny is that? They are lovely names but he didn't realize they were my friend Christi's sweet, adorable little girls names. LOL I informed him also that Lauren was too close to his mother's name and also the name of my cousins new baby.

He nixed my idea of Sophia/Sophie, Isabella and Olivia. His reasons...Sophia is the name of the old lady on the tv show the "Golden Girls", Isabella is "dumb" and Olivia is the name of the obnoxious child from the "Cosby Show". What kind of reasons are those? I think he watched way too much tv as a kid.

For a boy...we got squat there too!

So, I guess this post will help me decide if anyone other than Hannah and Christi actually read this blog as we are asking for any and all suggestions.

Cravings

Now, I don't like fruitcake, never have. When I found this cartoon last year it pretty much summed up my feelings on this cake. LOL

Seriously, though it must be pregnant cravings because I really don't like fruitcake but I want some more of the cake I had at my mother in laws on Sunday. It wasn't great but I just want to eat it!

I'm sure it's pregnancy now that I think about it. When I was pregnant with Madelynn I hated lamb. I thought the smell was revolting and now I love it! While I was pregnant with Aidan I despised Christmas mince pies, now I like them and now fruitcake? Holy crap, I am not having anymore kids or I'll end up liking liver and onions!