Here's Tyler's 2007 Santa photo:

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all our family and friends, we hope you had a lovely day. Ours was reasonably quiet. Tyler amazingly slept till 8am and then launched into his Santa Sack with gusto. He took all his booty into the lounge where Chris said "There are more presents under the tree." "Wow!" said Tyler "Really? How cool!".

Later in the morning Tyler and I went over to Mum's with the Howards and we all swapped gifts. Tyler's favourite seems to be his mock sword from the Howards, but he is also very much taken with a gift from Granna and Richard, which is a magnetic-paged book with various streets on which cutouts of various types of trucks, and heavy machinery can be placed. It is lovely watching him move them around, making the appropriate noises and telling a story about them out loud.

We had the traditional turkey with gravy and/or cranberry sauce with new potatoes and mint from our garden. We picked up Anton late afternoon and had more turkey with salad and new potatoes again for tea, followed by plum pudding with custard and cream. Chris is working night shift tonight so Tyler and I are having a quiet night in - he watching his new 'Thomas' DVD and me reading a new Dean Koontz (thanks Howards!)

Tomorrow we are having a Howard/McLeod/Parsons lunch at Mum's.

Isn't it funny how one day your life can be going along happily, and then BAM!! something just comes out of left field and leaves you reeling.

On Saturday, Chris and I went along to the local ultrasound clinic for a scan of our baby to confirm dates. We had only told close family that I was pregnant. So there I was lying on the table and heard the words "I'm sorry folks, the news is not good". It was as if my life suddenly developed this huge crack in it, so that one side was my happy shiny life and on this side, one split-second later was a black void. We were told that there was no heartbeat and that it looked as if the baby had died one week before. I should have been 8 weeks pregnant. Instead I had a dead baby inside me.

So what that I am 44 and the risk of miscarriage is higher? So what that we already have a beautiful little boy? So what that 'it must have been for a reason'? All of that is utterly and completely irrelevant. We wanted THIS baby.

I am so lucky that I have such a wonderful man as Chris to get me through this hateful blackness. And Helen and Mum who know the power of family love. And my friends Rachel, Alania, Kate & Ruth who have reached out with words and hugs and love.

As I write this I am waiting to miscarry. I am torn between wanting this dead baby out of me and not wanting to let it go.

RIP little 'Leo'. Maybe your soul will return to us in another form.

Graduation Day!

SIT graduation today and I am glad I went, despite having to wear one of those daft trenchers. It didn't fall off and I didn't trip going up or down the stairs to the stage so that's a bonus. We got to do the procession through town even though there was light rain. And because SIT is fighting the issue of decreased funding in a very feisty way, there was a big item early on the 6pm TV news and there I was!! Well for two seconds anyway.

Santa Claus is comeing to town

December is here and we just put up the the Christmas tree. This is Tyler 'helping' me. He didn't quite grasp the point of the little loops at the top of each ornament so just kept nestling each one in the branches. But he had a lot of fun and that's what matters. Here's the finished product. The angel at the top is a special one Mum gave me - it is singing :)

The end at last!

My exam is over and - thanks to a kind tutor who let me know my results early - I know that I got an A+ woohoo!!! Great way to finish the Diploma. Graduation to look forward to now (apart from the funny hat).

Not much to report here. Both Chris and I got sick last weekend with some kind of tummy bug. I had a mild dose but he was quite crook. Luckily neither of the boys got it. Anton has just come back from school camp which he really enjoyed - lots of outdoor activities like kayaking. Tyler's latest favourite saying is "I'm gonna give you hand, Dad". The weather has been fabulous so we have been enjoying the farmlet lifestyle.

Here's a pic of the boys carked out on our bed watching Harry Potter.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUM!! :)

Here's a pic of Chris and Tyler when we were at the museum (who's name completely escapes me at the moment) in the old Dunedin Railway Station.

Nothing much to report at the moment. Tyler's toilet-training is going well. He amused me no end the other day when he was getting ready for bed and pulled his pj pants up under his armpits. "You look like a nerd" I laughed. "I am" he replied!

Only 2 weeks till my final Commerical Law paper exam. Eeks. I know I will pass, but I want to pass well. And here I am playing on the computer instead of studying. Oops *blush*

Touch season is well under way. I'm only playing one game a night (for PRL) but Chris is playing his usual 3. So far the weather has been not too bad. Nephew Stephen plays for my work team too, it's great having a fit young thing with plenty of skills on board. Last Thurday we played against the Smelter team that Chris plays for and we drew 4-4, which wa s probably the ideal outcome!

Tuesday was a very sad day - my Grandma died. She was 93 and had been in bad health for some time, so we knew this day was coming. Doesn't make it any easier though does it? We are having a memorial service for her tomorrow in Dunedin where we will celebrate her full life.

This is a picture of her playing Peek-a-Boo with Tyler earlier this year.

Here's our very own Bob the Builder. Daycare had a 'dress up as your favourite character' day and luckily TWH had this costume for a reasonable price. 'Bob' has had a bit of a sniffle and cough for the last few days. TT is progressing - still some accidents but getting better.

And a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Stephen - 14 years old yesterday.

A big 'Hello' to our Village friends from Tyler!

Red-letter day on Tuesday, Tyler did No.2's on the toilet for the first time!! Look - it was the highlight of our day OK??! We are progressing slowly overall with toilet-training. Bribery is being employed :)

Chris is about to change crews at work for some specialised training. That will change his days on/off roster as well, so I will have to rewrite the calendar and change all T-man's daycare bookings. *sigh*

It's raining this morning and we are smiling because both tanks were almost empty. In fact we had resorted to taking the portable tank into town to fill at a friend's place so that we had enough water for the calves. The two lambs (Fluffy and Batty) are doing well, the little fatties.

Do diddly da do do da DOOOOO!!! That was me blowing my own trumpet. Annual vocal competitions last weekend and I came away with three first placings, two seconds, a second equal, two thirds and a highly commended, not to mention $400 in prize money. Not bad for a weekend's work. I did one aria in character - here's me in my 'Musetta' costume...

We are in the process of toilet-training Tyler. He is great at daycare, dry all day and happily having potty-time. But at home it's a different story. We can ask every 5 minutes if he'd like to go and he insists firmly that he has 'No wees or poos!' and then a minute or two later wet himself. The only time he will happily go to the toilet is before his bath where does the full stand-up thing. We can't figure out why he's like this, so until we do, I guess we'll be doing extra washing.

This morning Tyler and I sat on the couch reading books before going to work/daycare. We were reading "Goodnight Moon" and I usually leave the last word - an object - off each sentence and Tyler fills it in e.g. Balloon, moon. I point to the object at the same time. The first page has a lovely full moon on it. So he dutifully supplies "Moon". The next page shows the moon in its crescent form. I point to it and wait for his response. Nothing. So I say "Moon" and Tyler responds " No! That's not a moon, it's broken!"

Yes, it's been a while. We have all been struck down with illness to varying degrees. First Tyler was sick on the actual day of his 3rd birthday and then Chris and I were sick the weekend we were supposed to have his party. I copped the worst of it, having 3.5 days off work - unheard of for me. I never want to be that sick again.

Anyway, today we finally had Tyler's party, although it was really just an afternoon tea. I made a cake and here's a picture to prove that my talents lie in directions other than cake-decorating *lol* He had a great time and will probably be hyper for a few hours yet.

Tylers' latest favourite saying is "Would that be good?" after setting out a proposed course of action. So cute :)

I had the first test for Commercial Law, it is worth 20% of the final mark. Unfortunately I was sick all the week before, so not only missed that week's lectures but also was unable to study. So I took a day to cram the day before the test. It was quite straightforward, but the lack of prep will definitely impact on my mark. I also had a mental block on the word 'plaintiff'. Weird and irritating!

Four days and our little man is going to be 3!! Where on earth has the time gone? Every day we feel blessed to have him, especially with child abuse horrors that we are constantly unveiled. His actual birthday is a Wednesday so we will have his party on the following Sunday. I have finally decided on the cake but will keep it secret in case I stuff it up :-)

We had parent-teacher interviews for Anton on Thursday, and although were told that he needs to pull his woolly head in sometimes, we were quite encouraged by his overall achievement and potential.

My team lost its netball game today which means we probably won't make the semis. Damn. It's been fun though.

T had his yearly checkup with the dental nurse today. Apparently he is teething! What the??? Turns out he still has one molar left to come through.

Tyler's latest favourite toy is....a plunger. It is very handy for shooting people, banging loudly on other objects and just generally swinging around. He accessorises with a cowboy hat. Naturally.

This second photo is the same plunger end-on. Kind of looks like some weird alien thing.

This morning we had another waterless start, as the pipes had frozen. You don;t realise how many little things you use water for until you haven't got it. Anyway, it's running again now. We have resorted to using a gas heater in the hallway to help take the chill off the bedrooms. The heat pump just can't cut in these low temps.

Tyler is toasty warm thanks to the new 'jerwy' Granna knitted him. In this photo he's crying because he hates having his photo taken, not because he doesn't like the jersey!

Chris has been crook for the last 10 days with a cold which has turned into a full on chesty thing. Being a man, he won't go to the Dr and get something to knock it on the head. *rolls eyes*

I've started my last NZ Dip. Bus. paper - Introdution to Commerical Law. It should be quite handy in my present job.

Tyler is over his phase of not wanting to get dressed although he demands to take off his sweatshirt the moment he is inside. I have discovered that if you want a small child to do something you don't ASK them to do it, you tell them. e.g. if I say "Tyler would you like to put your socks on?" it's likely the response will be "No sanks Mummy".

I took Tyler to East Road Pets on Saturday. He just loves the turtles and kept returning to their terrarium. Probably a bit young for his own turtle just yet - I suspect we would find it wandering loose about the house a fair bit!

I passed my Economics exam with an A. Didn't do as well as I'd hoped in the exam. Too many dang diagrams. I can haemorrage words but I just don't do diagrams. Not complaining though, pretty happy with an A! Only one more paper to go this semester - Introduction to Commercial Law - and then I will have my NZDipBus. 12 papers and one baby later, feels like I've been studying forever.

Anton is up at Bruce and Ali's for the week. Chris is supposed to be on days off at the moment but has a 2-day course. Never mind, ot means he gets an extra two days later on.

Here are our two boys cosying up on the couch.

OK what have we all been up to? Labour Weekend we headed up to Oamaru on the Friday night and stayed with Dave and Leona. Tyler was very excited to see Diesel the dog again. Saturday we went through to the Methodist camp near Waimate to attend Chris' cousin's 40th. A good time was had by all. I think the male members of our bunk room could set up a Wind Band - they were very musical ;) Sunday we met Rosina at Timaru for brunch then headed through central. Stopped for icecream with Ange, Tim and the kids at Cromwell, then a cuppa with Ron and Noeline at Arrowtown.

We have all suffered from various forms of sickness over the last couple of weeks. Tyler got off lightest with just a sniffle but I had quite a bad head cold and Chris had a tummy upset which is still lingering.

We are relieved that it has rained at last (could have done without the hail, snow, lightning, thunder and gale force winds though) as now the tanks are full.

I have my final economics exam Thursday week, but have already got 50.88/60 for internal assessment so basically just have to write my name on the exam to pass. However, have decided to aim high and if I can get 86% for the exam, I will get an A+ overall. Wish me luck!

Tyler's latest favourite phrases are:

"How about ....." (the most used version of that would be "How about some i-cream?") and "Just a second Mum". He also likes to announce what he is doing "Tyler's here", "Tyler's coming".

He is getting more independant with his clothes and I have we have just been through a phase of him insisting on wearing his PJ pants to daycare. We managed to knock that on the head by telling him he wouldn't be able to play outside with the other kids unless he wore trousers. He is also getting the hang of doing up a zip, but taking off his t-shirt usually ends in a knotted tangle.

Last night Tyler said "Mummy, I burped in my bed". This was after he called out to me about 3am and I went in to find he had expelled the contents of his stomach into his bed. That was one heck of a big burp son. It must have been some 24 hour bug, as he is quite perky now and has just started eating again. I stayed home with him this morning while Chris and Anton went mountainbiking. Haha, I don't miss slogging up Bluff Hill 3 times in a row. Two tired and muddy boys have just arrived home.

Tyler has just been through a phase of getting very upset when I leave him at daycare. Of course as soon as I was out of sight he would be fine. As suddenly as it happened it disappeared and now almost as soon as we are in the door it's "Wave Mummy out the window". Sometime he's so busy playing with the plastic skeleton hanging beside the window he forgets to wave and I have to tap on the glass. (Yeah, bye Neil)

Anton has changed classes at school and is obviously agrees with him, because he is enjoying his classes, is learning things (always a bonus) and he hasn't been getting detentions - at least not that we know of ;)

Apart from that, life just chugs along. I have another Economics test this week so have Monday and Tuesday off to study.

I just got my first bouquet from Tyler. Only it wasn't flowers. You see he has a cane basket that holds his toys in the living room. And he has a little plastic saw. And being an industrious wee bloke, this was the end result....

He's a funny wee doodle. I mean, running round the house clad only in a PJ top with a plastic bucket on your head?

Or how about taking your PJ's off and tucking them under your arm, putting on a hat and shoes, and swinging a cosmetic bag and a nearly-empty bag of nappies over your other arm? (and what's more, 10 seconds before that, there was a cowboy hat on top of the other one)

Today was gumboot day - we bought them for the whole family except Chris. That's what you get for having size 14/15 feet. Tyler has a styley red pair with tractor motifs. Mine are a very fetching almost-to-the-knee black pair and Anton has good solid blokey ones. Gosh our lives are riveting eh?

I took Tyler to the Hi5 show at the stadium yesterday and he really enjoyed it. At first he was most excited by the swirling light patterns on the walls, but then he focused on the performers and even did a wee dance at one stage. He also tried to kiss the wee girl next to him (in his defence he knew her from daycare)!

We had our monthly wine-tasting meeting later that afternoon and he ate his body weight in sausage rolls.

A sporting weekend so far. I had two more netball grading games, playing at centre so I was pretty knackered by the end. We lost the first but one the second, where we really started to 'click' with our combinations.

Chris played rugby for the Senior C's against Lumsden (at Lumsden). Despite having only 13 players they still won 49-0!!

Some more photos from Easter. First Tyler checking out Great-Grandma's walking frame... Swinging with Nan...

And a very cute meerkat.

For the Easter break, we left Invercargill on the Saturday after Chris finished nightshift and travelled up to Dunedin where we had lunch at Eureka with Rachel, Sam and the upwardly mobile Morgan. yummy food courtesy of Chris (not mine, Rachel's - coincidence that they are both chefs and both called Chris). Then on to Oamaru to stay with Leona and Dave in the gorgeous villa. Once he got over his initial alarm, Tyler loved playing with Diesel, Kim's dog. Sunday we travelled through to Christchurch where we popped into Rosina's for lunch.

The following day we popped out to Rangiora and had lunch with Dad and Jan (who had hurt her back - hopefully much better now). We then took Tyler to Orana Park. We couldn't wait for him to see the lions, tigers, cheetahs, giraffes and monkeys. Guess what he found most riveting?......the ducks!! Oh and the planes flying overhead. Takes after his cousin :) Here's the wee dude on the (not real) baby elephant.

We picked up Anton and his mate Matthew and we all went out for tea at Jetts.

Tuesday we left early and had breakfast at Ashburton then lunch at Dave and Leona's. When we got to Dunedin, Tyler and I popped in to see Grandma who was looking well. Finally home at teatime, rather tired.

Sorry for the length between posts. Work has been totally mad. Why do clients suddenly decided that just because there's a (small!) holiday coming up that anything they were planning to do, despite having no deadline, suddenly has to happen beforehand? Ah well, the upside is I am already half-way to my budget this month :)

Because of the madness I have missed the last three Economics lectures. That's 6 hours worth of eye-crossing graphs, formulas and explanations I've missed. And we have a big TEST straight after the semester break. Looks like some late nights of study for me.

Tyler has had a bit of a sniffle and has been very tired....and chickenpox is doing the rounds. Hmmmm. *checks Tyler for signs of spots* Nope, nothing there *crosses fingers*

We are off to Oamaru and Chch on Saturday after Chris comes off nightshift. I will drive while he sleeps. We'll stay with Leona in Oamaru and then we have motel in Chch and will catch up with Rosina and Dad & Jan. Chris is keen to take Tyler to Orana Park, Willowbank and the Antarctic centre.

Today was a very significant day for my Mum - she retired. She was the subject of a feature article in the Southland Express and the head-note on the front page was "End of an era - Dot retires" She is so famous she is known by one name - like Pele or Madonna! I think her office was a florist shop by the end of the day and it'll take her months to get through all the choccies.

We now have some more calves, so 15 in total. They are very cute. I will consider them even cuter when they make us some $$. The three sheep and the goat got shorn the other day just in time for the weather change.

Aaaargh, I can't believe it!! The dang thing ate my post!! All because I used an exclamation mark in the title!! Grrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!! (I defy to eat all those ones)

Right here goes again....

Here is a photo especially for Nan who bought Tyler this cool t-shirt. He loves it so much he won't take it off!

Chris is back from Nationals with proof of his two jumps of the Auckland Sky Tower.....

Tyler has had his final arm check at the hospital and was pronounced fit and well. The skin has healed well too, just very dry and scaly with a few scabs now. He is back on the trampoline which he is very happy about :)

Now for those who hadn't realised it, there is a link at the bottom of every post here where you can comment if you want to. Go on, you know you want to ;) Just click the word Comments.

The saga of Tyler's cast.....with it being so hot he has been very itchy underneath it and scratching lots. Then about two days ago it started to smell. And it got worse, really stinky, like you could smell it when you walked into the room. I knew that wasn't right so I rang the orthopaedic clinic this morning and we went down just before lunch. The nurse took one whiff and said "there's something very dodgy happening inside that cast!". She sawed it off and then we had to soak the underneath layer off because it was stuck to his skin. The whole top layer of his skin was peeled off and his whole arm was red and raw and bleeding in places. He looked like he had a really bad burn all over his arm. They think that something little got inside the cast, got damp and then reacted with the padding stuff (some people apparently have reactions to the stuff they use).

Anyway they x-rayed his arm and said because it was healing so well that they could leave the cast off. So they cleaned his arm and put bandaging all over it. I have to soak it off in the shower on Friday morning and if it is healing, then all good but if not I have to go back for it to be re-checked. And then we still have to go back Friday week for a final check of the bones. Poor wee man, he was really good and only cried when they started sawing off the cast. The problem now is that they told me not to let him jump off things in case he broke the arm again! Helloooooo this is a toddler!! *rolls eyes*

Chris flew of to Aux today for Touch Nationals, so we are missing him already. But - it has been raining steadily all day, so our tanks are filling up again, yay!!!

Oh and I've got a solo to do for our next A Capella concert - Brindisi from Verdi's La Traviata. A nice high B to finish on.

Tyler and Sam

Last weekend Tyler and I went to Dunedin for Samantha and Morgan's christening. We stayed with the Harwood's. I got us Hell pizza for tea and didn't realised the pepperoni on one of the pizzas was hot, so when Tyler took a bite he got a nasty surprise :( He kept trying to cool his tongue in his glass of water.

Tyler managed to behave during the christening, although at one point he whispered loudly "Sing Happa Birthday now Mummy?" (it was an Anglican service with quite a bit of singing). He got to go to Sunday School too which he was quite impressed with because they got given Tiny Teddy biscuits!

Today we went back to the hospital to get his arm checked. Fortunately only there for an hour and a half this time. It was x-rayed through the cast and they said it was healing well, and that he was to come back again in 2 weeks, when they would remove the cast and xray it again. Hopefully he will not need another cast.

Today Chris spent 5 (count 'em - 5) hours down at Fracture Clinic with Tyler. The vast majority of that was waiting. Do they not understand that a 2.5 year old does not understand the concept of waiting quietly?! Anyway, they took off the half cast and re-xrayed the bone. It had a bit of a bend in it so they gave him some gas and straightened it out. Ouchies, but he was a brave wee man. He is now completely zonked out and hopefully will stay that way for the rest of the night. Here he is asleep on the couch earlier. He chose the colour of his new cast all by himself....

Another milestone in the life of Tyler - his first broken bone. Last night he fell off the seat of our picnic table and has a clean break just above the wrist of his left hand. So he and I spent all evening down at A&E. He is in a plaster cast for a week then it gets removed, the bone re-xrayed and another cast (hopefully a light fibreglass one) is put on. He is coping pretty well, although we all had a very broken sleep last night. He has got over tugging at the edge of the cast and asking me to "take a off" and seems to have accepted that it's there for now. Bathtime tonight will be interesting! Here he is blowing bubbles this afternoon.

It was a beautiful day today, so we all (including Anton's friend Matthew) went to Riverton around lunch time. We caught lots of crabs which Tyler really enjoyed, although not to the extent of having a baby one on his hand. Then we paddled in the shallows. Tyler was a bit hesitant at first but was soon right into it and loved the waves coming in. His constant refrain was "Again!" and fortunately the sea obliged ;)

Tyler is now permanently in the next room up at daycare and absolutely loves it. He actually pushed me out the door the other morning he was so keen to get into it! He is fascinated by Gilligan the axylotl who is one of the pets in his room. The first day I was there I said to Tyler "Look, he's smiling" (hoping T wouldn't notice that the 'smile' contains a row sharp little teeth) and a little boy behind us piped up and said "No he's not, he's sad". I asked why and he said "He misses his Mummy". Hmmm, maybe he ate her?

We went to the Edendale Crank Up today. It was glorious weather and Tyler was in 7th Heaven with all the tractors. We also took Rebecca and Stephen and three kids of Chris' crew-mate. I treated myself to a helicopter ride which was awesome. The kids went on the big Titanic air-inflated slide and Stephen took Tyler with him. It's very steep and at the top, Tyler's face was saying 'Crikey'. They slid down at high speed, disappeared into the soft landing area and then we heard at great volume "AGAIN!!!"
Rachel, Sam and Samantha visited in the afternoon. Mr Moo is so pleased with his pulling-up and cruising efforts.

First day back at work, yipee. NOT! It was pretty boring as no one was organised enough to hand over any files to me till right at the end of the day, so most of the day I just finished off technology projects.

Another hot day, although quite windy. Millie is back - she went AWOL two days ago and we rang the pound, who rang back today to say they had her. Looking a bit sorry for herself and covered with bidi-bids.

Tyler goes back to daycare tomorrow, so no doubt he will be tuckered out by the time I pick him up. I'm sure he knew I was going back to work today as last night he woke up 4 times, the little ratbag. He's been sleeping right through for a while now (although going to bed quite late).

Had a visit from an internet friend yesterday (Hi Tuppence! *waves*) We yakked for ages and she got caught up on our BB.

We had our paddocks mowed yesterday to make into baleage. Tyler was very excited by the tractor and got to ride in it for a while. Today they made the bales and we walked around later tucking the ends in.

Tyler has now peed in the potty two nights running - tonight he was crouched at the side rather than standing up. He was very pleased with himself (as were we).

This morning I cashed in my voucher to the Beauty and Beyond spa which Chris gave me for Christmas. Spent the first half hour soaking in a Cleopatra Milk Bath, then an hour of back massage and facial, including an eyebrow wax and hand massage. Oh bliss!

So here we are in 2007. Our plans to have another baby have sadly not come to fruition, so I am busy listing Tyler's baby clothes on Trade Me.

I am enjoying the summer break although the weather hasn't been playing ball. Yesterday Tyler and I went to the annual Cromwell touch tournament. Chris couldn't come as he was working, but Tyler's cousin Stephen came with us and played. We did OK considering a number of our top players weren't available. We dropped Stephen back at Alexandra afterwards where the Howards are staying in the camping ground and had tea with them. So it was a long day, as we didn't get back till 10pm.