I've been taking Gracie swimming recently and she loves it! Paul came with us today and apart from one little scare when Paul came up from under the water (she also finds this scary when he does it in the bath!), Gracie had the time of her life!
Today I took Gracie to her friends birthday party. I know it's a bit sad to be posting about my daughters social life but I was very excited for her as it was the first party she has ever been to in her whole life. I was also able to play dressing up and I put her in the most beautiful dress sent to her by Esther. Here is a photo for you to enjoy!
We haven't blogged for a while as we've pretty busy with life!
Gracie has been teething and now has one tooth and another almost through. This process has been exhausting with her refusing to eat, waking at night and generally being unhappy during the day!
We've still got my brother Ed with us although he is now travelling in the Sounth Island and seems to be having a great time. We've also just said goodbye to our friends Wendy and Ian from Sheffield. We had a great time with them and had an added bonus day when we were on the way to the airport on Saturday morning to realise the flight didn't leave untill 11:30 pm not 11:30am! We had a great bonus day climbing Mount Eden and going into Parnell to have hot chocolate.
Yesterday was cluster Sunday, a day when the church breaks off into smaller groups to do different activities. Our cluster went to the zoo which was a bit crazy but fun all the same!
So it's been a crazy few weeks and just when we feel life is slowing down again we have to gear up for the church camp, then to move house and then finally we will get a break in Oz!
Gracie is slowly starting to move! She can now roll about the room and has started to move backwards. This photo was taken this morning, as you can see, going backwards can be tricky when you get stuck under the sofa! It reminds me of a photo of Ed when he was a baby-very cute!
Well my brother Ed has arrived safely. It's great to see him and he seems to be a big hit with Gracie! We will no doubt post many blogs about all the adventures we get up to during his stay.
These photos are for you Steffi-Thank you so much for the gorgeous hat-she looks very cute-also note the top she is wearing!
Just to let you know that we're moving house again! Its just down the road from our house now- a friends house who is moving to China so we've got a great deal in a great house! I think the plan is to move next month so watch this space for a video tour!
It's that time of year again when we have an influx of visitors and the trip to the airport becomes a regular occurence! This weekend we have been hosting Mike and Becky Breen whilst they have been in Auckland spending time with St Paul's guys as well as some others which are part of The order of Mission which Mike heads up. We've also had our friends Emma and Dan up from ChristChurch to see us and Mike which has been so nice.
(ED-THIS BIT IS FOR YOU!)
On Thursday the long awaited arrival of my brother Ed comes to an end! He will be the first member of my side of the family to meet Gracie and we can't wait! He is in New Zealand for about 5 weeks so Gracie will have plenty of time to bond with her uncle, although i know he has plans to continue his adventures exploring this beautiful country.
And then on Sunday our friends Wendy and Ian from Sheffield arrive. They will be staying with us for a couple of days before heading South to see Emma and Dan. So all in all it's a busy time for us, but it has been, and will continue to be really great to see so many friends and some family.
Oh, I just thought i'd add that Gracie is growing up so fast-here is a photo of her wearing a new top given to her by Rachael and her hair clip-very cute indeed! (Steffi, i will get a photo up of Gracie in the gorgeous top you sent her soon-promise!)
Sorry its been a while since our last post but we've all been sick! Firstly I (Laura) had bronchitis for 2 weeks, followed by Paul who had tonsilitis, followed by Gracie who had her first ever vomiting bug followed by a cold and fever which still lingers. It's not a fun time in the Kingsley-Smith household!
On a happier note, we've been away for Paul's birthday with Rosie and Pete, Matilda and Harry for the weekend and had a fantastic time. The weather in Whangamata was beautiful for two out of 3 days and we spent our time on the beach, eating on the deck and playing settlers. Paul had a great time and ever said it was one of his best ever birthdays!
A few months ago we were given a snow suit for Gracie. It looks so cosy and i've been waiting for it to be cold enough for Gracie to wear it. The weather is just amazing at the moment and i've been out in the garden today weeding in just a vest top. Yesterday it felt a little fresh so i took the opportunity to put Gracie in her snow suit whilst we went for a bike ride. It turned out to really warm outside and we were both sweating by the time we got home! Anyway, I took a photo of her as she looked so cute and as fat as babies come in it!
Well Laura recovered from her Bronchitis, but I've spent the weekend sick with Tonsilitis. I spent most of the weekend in bed, but today managed to squeeze in some infomercial viewing, and Neighbours (Which I haven't seen in months) and to my hilarity Lou & Andy from Little Britain were on as Extras! Possibly the funniest Neighbours scene ever!
Here are just a few photos of Gracie hanging out with her friends over the past week.
With her birthday money, Laura bought herself a new bike. We've bought both her and Gracie a helmet, and a baby seat to attach to the back. Laura just couldn't wait to try it out and has made several trips up and down the drive with Gracie in the basket!!!
Just to keep you updated....
I was thrown a surprise birthday party the other week by some friends! It was a great night and the cake Alana made was amazing...
I also took Gracie to the park and she had a first real go on the swing, as you can see, she loved it!
Gracie just loves going to bed at the moment - the last couple of nights I've heard lots of laughter as Laura has put her to bed - tonight I got a little of it on film. Enjoy!
This week has been pretty busy. On Wednesday it was my birthday so Paul took the day off and we met friends for coffee in the morning followed by an amazing chocolate cake in the afternoon made by Paul.
On Thursday Gracie had a photo shoot! We were stopped in the mall a week or so ago by a photographer called Rachael Hale and asked if she could meet up with me about using Gracie as a model. She came by on Monday and it turns out she's published a book already and is well known in New Zealand and her work is sold around the world. In the past she's worked with animals but is now picturing babies. So anyway, we went to her studio on Thursday and she took the most gorgeous photo's of Gracie-i can't wait to get the copies!
Yesterday Paul went away for the weekend with church so i spent the afternoon with Rosie (his sister) and we took the kids swimming. It was Gracie's first time in a pool and she loved it. I then stayed over at their house which was lots of fun and we watched Will Smith's newish movie, In pursuit of happiness. It was a great film-a real eye opener-I recomend it.
Ok. so thats my busy week! I'm now looking forwards to some of the girls coming over tonight-should be lots of fun!
A huge congratulations to my friend Esther who gave birth to a beautiful baby girl on 9th June named Lois Ellen. I think she looks gorgeous and both mother and daughter are doing well!
Here is a couple of photos hot of the press. She is wearing a gorgeous hat that Laura's mum made for up - it looks great on her. Thanks Powell Management!
Well this week has been another busy week. I (Paul) have been working pretty hard this week - there is plenty on at the moment to keep me busy - tonight is SOAK at church, so I'll be heading back there pretty soon to practice with the band, and get a few things set up.
Gracie has been doing really well - in the last week she has mastered sitting up, rolling over from her tummy, and has started having solid foods. She is so much fun, and we're loving every minute of her. Here are a couple of pics of her this week.
Dear Tech Support,
Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and noticed a distinct slow down in overall system performance particularly in the flower and jewelry applications, which operated flawlessly under Boyfriend 5.0.
In addition, Husband 1.0 uninstalled many other valuable programs, such as Romance 9.5 and Personal Attention 6.5 and then installed undesirable programs such as NFL 5.0, NBA 3.0, Nascar 2.0 and Golf Clubs 4.1.
Conversation 8.0 no longer runs, and Housecleaning 2.6 simply crashes thesystem. I've tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix these problems, but to noavail. What can I do?
Signed, Desperate
Dear Desperate:
First keep in mind, Boyfriend 5.0 is an Entertainment Package, while Husband 1.0 is an Operating System.
Please enter the command: "http: I Thought You Loved Me.html" and try to download Tears 6.2 and don't forget to install the Guilt 3.0 update. If that application works as designed, Husband 1.0 should then automatically run the applications Jewelry 2.0 and Flowers 3.5.
But remember, overuse of the above application can cause Husband 1.0 to default to Grumpy Silence 2.5, Happy Hour 7.0 or Beer 6.1. Beer 6.1 is a very bad program that will download the Snoring Loudly Beta.
Whatever you do, DO NOT install Mother-in-law 1.0 (it runs a virus in the background that will eventually seize control of all your system resources).
Also, do not attempt to reinstall the Boyfriend 5.0 program.
These are unsupported applications and will crash Husband 1.0.
In summary, Husband 1.0 is a great program but it does have limited memory and cannot learn new applications quickly. You might consider buying additional software to improve memory and performance. We recommend Food 3.0 and Hot Lingerie 7.7.
Good Luck,
Tech Support
This last week has been a week of firsts for Gracie. Paul spent alot of time with her over the weekend which she loved and has learnt how to sit! At first it was for just a minute but she can now sit for quite a while unaided. I've also been encouraging her to roll which has been successful twice but she hasn't done it since - I blame the huge cloth nappies as she was in disposables when she rolled!
Gracie has also become a lot more interested in books in the past few days. I went out for coffee this morning and she sat in her pushchair looking at a book for ages-it was bliss as I sat there with earache relaxing in the chair.
I love being a mother because I spend a lot of my mornings going to various coffee groups! Its such a great place to be with other mums where we can take and share advice as wells as talk about our babies nonstop!
Since moving to New Zealand I have found it hard to make friends outside of the church because I had nowhere to meet them. Apart from a couple of nanny friends i've made over the past 2 years my friendships consist of only church people-don't get me wrong, i really, really love my friends-yet i find it suffocating and boring to only be around those who think in simular ways to me.
Thats why i love my coffee groups- its somewhere where i can be challenged, engaged with the 'real' world and make a difference. I don't suggest i have the answers and others don't, its just that i hope the way i live and love, will challenge my friends in a simular way they challenge me.
Gracie is below with her friends from our anti-natal group.
We've had a lot of complaints recently about our lack of blogging so i thought i'd write a little update on our lives.
A couple of weekends ago some of our small group/cluster spent the day at a foster home in south Auckland as part of the City Lights outreach project, which is run by YWAM and some of the churches here. The day was so much fun, starting with a time of worship and teaching then out to the many projects they support. About 7 of us spent the afternoon playing games with the children, weeding the garden, washing the van, fixing bikes, and doing a BBQ. Gracie was a great hit and a couple of the older children took it in turns to push her around the garden in her buggy and make her smile!
I've been spending alot of time keeping our house tidy as our landlords decided to sell. Things move quickly here as they told us on Good Friday that they we're thinking of selling and they are settling the deal today-crazy!
Although this was very stressful and unsettling at first, it turns out that the lady who has bought it wants us to stay here and will even do some 'touch ups' in the house to make it even better.
After a really busy couple of weeks, seeing friends etc. we had a relaxing quiet weekend at home. It was so nice just to be a family together and relax. Our neighbours gave us an old chest of drawers they didn't need any more so we've sanded and painted them for Gracie's room and did a few finishing touches so her bedroom is now complete. Photos will follow soon....
Have you noticed recently that our blog posts are becoming infrequent? I blame face book and myspace! Ever since my dear husband has joined these new technological diary's our blogspot has been neglected.
However much i complain, i must confess i have been sucked in by face book and now have my own page; yet i'm already over it-what purose does it serve? I still can't get my head around e-mail and texting. I think i was meant to be born 100 years ago!
On other news, we've had James and Dawn Wilson with us in Auckland for the weekend which has been lovely. We've taken them to St Hellier's beach for brunch and up One Tree Hill for the sights. They are off exploring this week before continuing on their world adventure on Friday.
Gracie is as gorgeous as ever! She has been a bit unsettled over the past few days and seems to be chewing on her fingers all the time, so i'm guessing those teeth are starting to make their long, slow and painful way through the gums. I'll leave you with a photo of us snuggling after our nap time!
For the past month Paul's parents have been in New Zealand. Its been lots of fun showing them our lives and introducing Gracie to Granny and Pops. Here are just a few of many photos taken during their time with us; there will be some more posts giving some more detail over the coming days!
A little update on gracie's social events...
This week we spent time with Rachael...Gracie and Rachael were hanging pretending to be 'barry boys' in her car!
This is just Gracie looking very cute!
Then Amélie and Gracie spent the afternoon playing together-so cute!
We have Emma and Dan with us today up from Christchurch which is lovely, They are just off to the beach whilst Gracie and I have a sleep.
Tomorrow is the day Paul's parents arrive-we are very excited that they will meet Gracie at last....what a busy time of year!
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