Eltham Trip {Day 4 ~ Saturday}

Saturday started early -- about 4:30am for me!! Jarrod and I went with Uncle Mike to his 4 Square to help with the baking and such that has to be done before the shop even opens. Several hours later the family arrived to get Jarrod (they couldn't get everything into the trailer without him apparently . . . ) and Danielle joined us at the shop. We all met at Uncle Mike and Aunty Sonia's for lunch before hitting the road. We had a pretty good trip, stopping for dinner in Te Kuiti and arriving home around 8pm.

: : Laura with everything before it gets loaded up! : :

: : The queen of faces! : :

Others to Wellington

My dad flew to Wellington with three of my siblings (Jarrod, Monique, and Danielle) for a week over the holidays; from December 24th to 31st. They went to see my dad's side of the family, who live down there. For some reason we thought their flight down was late at night, so we were out shopping late that afternoon; since it was also Bryce's birthday, we had planned to have a dinner and dessert for him, and give his presents. When we got home though Dad said they needed leave for the airport in about half an hour...oops! We gave Bryce his presents and got him to open them at break-neck speed (ok, maybe not quite!) before Mum took the others off to the airport. Diana and I stayed home, and with Bryce's permission we constructed his new wooden garage. (And I only had to take things apart and redo them in the right place about three times!! hehe :P)

We thought the rest of us might have a bit of a 'holiday' while the others were away; Mum had wanted to go to the zoo as well. One week gets booked out pretty quickly though! Although one would think that with four family members away there would be less to do around the house, we soon realised that since the ones away were the most capable ones, it felt like there was a lot more work! Throughout the week, we spent a fair bit of time at the business - checking emails, picking, packing, and dispatching orders. Oh yeah, and waiting for the courier (to pick up the orders). We also spent time tidying the house, relaxing, doing the clothes boxes (which I already mentioned in a previous post, along with the cards I made). 

I read a few books (I almost never make time for that during school terms, so better get a year's worth of reading into the summer holiday, right?) and we decided to hit the Boxing Day sales for the first time. There were some really good specials, and others were pretty average I'm afraid. By the end of the day we were exhausted and I just wanted to go to bed. Mum, however, had thought of something else she wanted to buy and we had planned to drop by work to check for orders. Since we were already home (it was really late when we left the shops so I said we needed to come home and have dinner! :P) I convinced Mum to look online to see how long the sale she was interested was on for (three days...) so we left that for another time, and decided work would be ok...lol. Mrs. Smith looked after four of the littlies one day (thanks!) so Mum could have a break. She ended up deciding it was the perfect time to wrap some of her New Year's presents. 

On Saturday, Auckland had really nice weather, so we went for a walk at the Botanical Gardens with Becks. Well at least, Becks and I walked; Mum took a picnic blanket and sat down with the little ones' since Maria wasn't feeling well. Just for the record, I remembered sunscreen! :P Afterwards Becks came here for dinner: sausages and salads. We made a pecan cake or something (a Tupperware recipe we got around eight years ago . . .) for dessert. YUM!! Punch seems to make the dishes easier to do as well. {smile}

We never made it to the zoo; before we knew it New Year's Eve was upon us...and the others arrived back from their trip.

The arrival of Laura Yvonne Jago

Written 30.3.12

My mum’s eighth pregnancy appeared to fly by; the birth to creep upon us. One minute there were three months to go, the next, this new addition could make an appearance any day!

We washed, dried, and folded seemingly mounds of baby clothing – could anyone possibly be small enough to fit it? A car seat was organised, meals arrived for the freezer, and midwife visits became more frequent. People began asking whether we had news yet. My parents leafed through baby names books. Finally, we were ready, and were left to wait.

Thursday night/Friday morning of the following week, Mum thought things may have begun. Everything stopped, however, and our day continued as normal.

Mid-morning on Saturday of the following week, things started again. Despite a promising start, they slowed down, but did not stop entirely. Danielle and Diana attended a birthday party from mid-afternoon ‘til early evening, hopeful that they would have a new sibling when they arrived home. Chores were done, and our day continued.

My uncle took my siblings and me to church on Sunday morning, and the midwife (Mrs. Vivian) arrived at our place soon after our departure.

After lunch, my siblings went to my cousins’ place, and Uncle Pete and I did the dishes and made a roast dinner.

At one point, my dad thought the baby might not be far away. After assuring my uncle that there wouldn’t be anything to hear during the birth, he refrained from using his earphones, but was still adamant that he would put them to use if even the slightest hint of noise reached us.

Then, at 4:22pm, Sunday March 18th, Laura Yvonne made an appearance. She measured 54cm long and weighed 8lb 12oz - the heaviest of us all. Almost unbelievably, her arrival occurred on big sister Maria’s second birthday! Laura’s middle name, Yvonne, is after our aunty- Yvonne de Bruin.

Laura had many brothers and sisters eager to hold her, or simply be with her, when they arrived home about an hour later.

Uncle Pete took most of us to the evening church service, leaving mother and baby to sleep, and Dad to have a somewhat needed rest.

Trip Home

Hey everyone,


We left for home maybe around 10am on Saturday.


Dad wanted to go visit his Uncle Allan, so we did that for maybe an hour?? (I was busy listening to music on my MP3 Player, so I dunno!)


I guess we must have had lunch sometime too.


We stopped at a park somewhere for fish and chips.


I have no idea what time we got home, but it wasn''t that late.


CYA,
Bee