Third week in Timaru

We moved in!  Loving our new home.  Sunrise right at our face everyday!

We have unpacked all that we can.  We now have to wait till the additional shelves to be installed before we could unpack further.  When we bought the house,  although brand new, there were a few tweaks here and there required.  One of them is the rebuilding of my walk in robe.  The walk-in robe is very small, probably less than half the size of my Auckland home and there is just no way it could house all my clothes.  So I am getting it redesign to maximize the space and hopefully can fit more.  Downsizing is still inevitable, sadly.  

This week, AJ started at the new school and he is loving it.  He comes home with a big grin from cheek to cheek everyday and always very looking forward to go to school in the morning.  As a parent, nothing beats seeing a happy child.  I really couldn't ask for more but feeling extremely thankful.

I have also enrolled Arwen into a daycare, starting in November.  Part time for now.

Things will be rolling in the coming weeks.  Curtain, shelving, walk-in robe etc will be installed.

In the meantime, a Lake Tekapo picnic tomorrow!

First week in Timaru

We arrived.  Safe and sound.  Temporary accommodation was provided by Rick's new company at Panorama Motel.  It's actually a 2-bedroom fully furnished house.  Nothing fancy, just adequate.

The whole week was all rushing mad to get things sorted mainly on our new home to meet our move in date while juggling with two kids.  To be honest, I am amazed at our productivity. We pushed through and got heaps done.

Today, our cars and stuff arrived. Looking at all 280+ items/boxes, I had a rude awakening. Panic attack almost.  Unpacking is a killer!

It's going to be frantic the next few days to get the house all setup.

Back to the South....

My life here in NZ has been a big roundabout.  Auckland was the very first place in NZ I set foot in.  I moved from Auckland-Dunedin-Christchurch-Wellington and back to Auckland 6 years ago.  It was for good...or so I thought.  Who would have known...I am now returning south again! 

Timaru.

Life has been quite a roller coaster past 12 months.  There were many changes, both planned and unforeseen.  A tough ride it was.  I was emotionally and physically challenged.  The dust still yet to settle as we "speak".  Tonnes of things to sort out and organised.  It is a big move after-all and what more with a little baby in toll.  It's funny.  The last time we moved from Wellington to Auckland, AJ was 9 months old.  And 6 years later, we are moving with Arwen being about the same age as AJ then.  I can't help but to think if it's coincidence or we just like this kind of excitement.  A postnatal change may be? :)

People asked if I would miss the abundant yummy asian food in Auckland.  That yes, but I will miss all the friends here the most.  Genuine friends are hard to find these days, and I found them in Auckland.  For that, I am forever grateful.

Timaru is a very small town.  50K population may be? It is a lifestyle change that we have never attempted before it is nerves testing.  But we only live once, if not now then when?

Right now my time are spent between kids and packing.  It is frantic but we are getting there.

4 weeks to go....

My life now.....

Oh my, has it been 4 months since my last post?  Has it really?  Geez...time flies!  Totally not my intention to abandon this space for that long.

THIS is my life now......

Yeah, my baby gal was born 3 months ago.  She is making the whole family falling head over heels for her especially her ever so loving brother.  She is the apple of his eye.

So what's next?

Busy life ahead.  Juggling two kids is an art.  Time is gold.  I am glad AJ is independent and always willing to help around the house.  He is my little helper.

Hopefully I could update more often.

AJ turns 6

This is his much anticipated day of the year, for the party and pressies of course.  He started counting down 2 weeks ago.  Kids are just that simple!

We initially decided not to organise any party this year, just a quiet one at home.  But it seems just too cruel especially he has quite a bunch of good mates at school and in the neighbourhood.

So long story short, it was party at Xtreme Entertainment!  2 games of laser tag + 1 hour unlimited timeout arcade games.  

Yeah, let them go wild.

The birthday present from us that he would never have expected

Big boy toy fits for a big boy

Sydney girls trip

Right, let’s dust off this place shall we?  It’s been a while………

I got lazy.  VERY lazy.  As cliché as it may sound, the chilly weather plays a big part of it J

A lot has happened in the past few months.  In fact, 2015 so far has been quite a roller-coaster ride for me.  Work, life, health and all.  Glad that I am still alive and kicking hard!  What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, they say.  I AM STRONGER!

I had a gals trip to Sydney back in May.  Not long, just over a long weekend.  Shopping, food sampling, meeting friends and also drowning myself in the magical Vivid Sydney!

I didn’t get much fashion haul this time.  Merely 4 pieces.

Also met my virtual bff for the very first time!  So we are now on real term!  Hahahaha 

Last weekend

We now have extra family members living with us.  Things are a bit different now but all is good. 

In the weekend just passed, we made full use of the nice sunny weather having BBQ, picnic and fun at the beaches.  It was indeed a nice and relaxing weekend.

Underage drinking! (dark grape juice. lol)

There was however a brief episode on Sunday morning.  We noticed AJ became rather inattentive on Friday.  We had to repeat our speech multiple times and talked with louder volume.  We put that down to him being over exhausted after a long full day.  Nonetheless, his hearing condition worsen and by Sunday morning he seemed half deaf to me albeit there was no discomfort whatsoever.  To say that I was worried is an understatement.  Without further ado we took him to the A&E.  A quick look into his ears found that there was a fluid build-up in his Eustachian tube which affects the effectiveness of the eardrums, hence the partial loss of his hearing ability.  A very common condition among young kids.  He has been having running nose and chesty cough for weeks so that all makes sense.  There was no prescription needed as the fluid would clear once he is off his cold and cough.  Phew!

Family day out

We thought we were due for a family day, so both Rick and I decided to take a Friday off and had some fun with the little one.  It’s school holiday after-all.

We started the day with breakfast at McD, then off bowling followed by 1 hour of arcade entertainment. 

We had lunch at this Malaysian eating place, recommended by friends.  The chef kindly shouted us a plate of rojak after learning that it was our first time there.  We had a brief chat with the lady boss too.  There was certainly a good sense of warmth there.  Top service and we hope to return soon.

We then headed for some glow in the dark mini golf adventure.....

And this was more than a week ago.  School resumes tomorrow.

Superheroes + mini golf

AJ attended a superhero themed birthday party.  Weeks prior to the event, I asked him what superhero he would like to be.  “Ironman”!  His immediate response.  Well, Ironman he became on the day!  The party had a little surprise.  We were all superhero-struck when two of the Avengers came marching into the house.  We were in awe.  We were only two short to a full Avengers team, Thor and Hawkeye.

                

We had a mini golf session one Saturday.  AJ’s first time (and mine too!) with golf.  His comment, “Golf is like hockey they both use a stick!”  LOL.  He likes hockey by the way. 

Easter is just around the corner.  We did an Easter egg hunt last year with AJ and his Declan ko ko.  They both enjoyed it.  We are planning to do it again although this time it would be AJ alone to crack the code.  No help this time from ko ko.

Happy Easter!