We had photos taken by Nadine Ireland from a Facebook competition that we won.  The day was stunning, the sun was shining, and it all started off well....but...Bella decided after about 30 mins that she was finished, so that was that!!  Luckily we got some good ones.

Hmmmmm....first baby foods.  Bella was already on Solids by this age as she stopped sleeping through.  A bit of food and she started it again, so it was an easy fix for her.  Maddie is another kettle of fish.  Reflux, so an unsettled tum, she has not slept through yet.  This girl likes her food.  So at just over 5 months I thought I would see if she is ready to give it a go.  She has been showing signs of being ready-grabbing food if any of us are eating and in range, opening her mouth when we eat, so I thought baby rice would be a safe bet with her unsettled tum.  Let's just say it went down pretty good.  I hope she is not as fussy-a-eater as her sister is!!

Sunny Spring!

We are just Loving this weather!  A group of us T girls thought since it was a long weekend, we might head to Mission Bay so the kids can play and we can chat. Of course we had no idea that there was a market on, so parking was diabolical, but we found a shady spot, and the kids had us running a muck! So it was picnic, a play, a stroll through the markets and Bella had her face painted with a butterfly.  I was so surprised she sat so beautifully while the lady did it. She looked just beautiful...mwah!! Love you Bella Bear!! xxx

Bbe

Jolly good Jumping!!

Both my girls have loved the Jolly Jumper.  I think it is the chance to finally have some freedom to be able to (almost) stand on your own two feet and see the world as you should be able to.  Of course with Maddie's reflux, we have had to improvise to save the carpet!!

It is a shame I hate using them though,  they are so fiddly to get kids in and out of!

Back to basics-and lack of green fingers

Ok...I'll admit it.  I hate gardening.  Can't stand any form of it, houseplants, shrubs, raised gardens...NOT my thing!!  I can almost manage a vege garden though.  There is something about growing your own food, which I enjoy.  Jani is even less a gardener than me, so our house is destined to have terrible gardens.  Our back garden got really neglected after a pregnancy, sick newborn and a terrible winter weather wise...the above picture says it all!

Today we cleared the garden of weeds and overgrown herbs in preparation for feeding the soil ready for seedlings.  Bella took great joy in helping  weeding  joining in.

There is more than one way to carry your baby...

And the Auckland 2010 slingwalk was a great way to see the variety and rainbow of colours that babies, toddlers and even older kiddies could be carried.  We managed our two in a borrowed Manduca and our brand new Limited edition Manduca that we had ordered from Aussie.  Maddie was carried on my front, Bella on Daddy's back.  We walked along East Tamaki Dr from Kelly Tarltons, to Mission Bay, where we sat and had a picnic lunch.  Then we popped over to Movenpick for an ice-cream....yummy!!!!  It was another glorious day, so sunscreen and hats were out in force!

farewell to Belinda

From when Bella was a wee bub, we went to Rhymetime at Takapuna Library.  A bit of a hike, through school traffic simply because Belinda was the best.  She has been the Children's libriarian for a long time, and really has a way with the kids.  Bella ADORES her. She just has a way with kids.

Sadly Belinda is leaving us to move to Christchurch...she will be sadly very sadly missed here. Some action shots of her and Bella...

the weather has been gorgeous...especially after the terribly wet winter we have had so we went outdoors for some photos in the grass.