Playdate with Lilah

Yesterday Bella, Zach and I went to see Michelle and Lilah. Bella went a little crazy with the blow up Thomas the Tank Engine!

Smiles

Zach is a very smiley baby! He'll smile at anyone and everyone. He looks so cute when he's smiling. His face really lights up. Unfortunately, I can't manage to capture his full cuteness on camera.

Bella in the Basin

When Bella gets home from Kindy we always wash her feet and hands and change her clothes. The other day she decided she'd have a full bath in the baisin!

Zach and Daddy

Zach always looks so cute after his bath in the evenings but the lighting is terrible for photos! I think I'll have to start bathing him in the morning so I can get some great picture of him.

Bella's Pig Tails

Bella's hair never seems to get longer as it just grows in spirals. It's actually deceptively long. I put it in pigtails the other day in the bath. She looked pretty cute!

Jacob and Connor

Yay, Shell and Dave have had their beautiful twin baby boys, Connor and Jacob! We got to meet them on Monday and they were so cute! I got to hold Connor (the little blonde one). Zach looked like a big pudger next to them. They're doing really well and growing quick so it won't be long until they catch up!

Zach's new nappies

I wasn't sure I was going to do cloth nappies with Zach but it seems I can't resist their cute patterns. I thought I'd just do them at home but them I bought 6 new nappies and 2 new wraps and I decided I'd better get my money's worth and do them fulltime! Here is a picture of Zach playing with his new swim nappy! He thinks cloth nappies are very comfy and seems to sleep longer when wearing them!

Great Aunts and Uncles

On Sunday Sarah hosted a morning tea to welcome Meg to the Waikato and for Zach to meet some of his Great Aunts and Uncles. Zach was a perfect angel!

Meg bought lots of old toys for the kids. Bella now has a new doll called Kashaleen which is her current favourite. She's also got some new necklaces and hair accessories. Thanks Meg!

Family Shot

Erica managed to get a picture of all four of us together.

Erica and Ian come to visit

Erica and Ian came to visit on Friday. It was so great to see them and meet their baby girl. Bella said at dinner time "Mia's beautiful Mummy" and at bedtime she told me she loved Erica. Bella loved having a baby girl in the house. We wish they'd move back to NZ so we could see them all the time!

Bella's First Colouring Competition

Bellla entered her first colouring competition at the weekend. Let's hope she wins because I've already decided what to spend her $250 chemist voucher on!

Caitlin and Sophie

We had a playdate with the Wright Family yesterday morning! Caitlin and Sophie thought Zach was lovely. Zach particularly liked Caitlin and gave her lots of smiles and cuddles. It appears he likes brunettes!

Carrots from the Garden

Matt and Bella have grown some great carrots in the garden. Here is a picture of Bella with her harvest.

The Teddy Bears' Picnic

On Sunday we went to the Teddy Bears' Picnic at the Hamilton Gardens with Dave, Michelle, Lilah and Fifi! Bella took her teddy "Pinky" and Zach took "Arnold". Bella had a pretend tea party with Lilah, danced on the stage with Zappolina and went on the bouncy castle. It was very hot and noisy but Bella had a great time.

The Man Oven

Matt has started bonding man time with Zach showing him how to clean the bbq.

Bella calls the bbq the man oven. She has the cutest name for things. When she was little she used to call the phone "the help". This was because I used it as an intercom to call Matt when I was covered in spew so my first word was always "help". She calls the TV "the news" as that's what we watch. She's just started watching some TV in the morning so she says to me "Mummy, do you want to come and watch my news?"

Bella and Mummy Day

We have decided to make Mondays Bella and Mummy day. We decided to slow down this term and give up playcentre and jumping beans and not join playgroup. That means on Mondays we can stay home and relax.

Here are some pictures of Bella enjoying painting and playing in her box house that Aunty Sarah gave her.

Bella does letter sounds

Bella is obsessed with letter sounds at the moment and she's really good at guessing what words begin with. She's especially good with B words as her name starts with a B and so does "bottom" according to Daddy!

Zach time

Zach thinks it's great once Bella has gone to bed and he gets some one on two time with Mummy and Daddy! That's probably why he's decided that bedtime is 11pm!

Bella's creative side!

Bella is a great painter and loves to get up to mischief. One of her favourite games is going into the bathroom and make lots of bubbles in the sink. The other day she decided to give the bathroom basin hair. While I had to tell her it was naughty, I was secretly trying not to laugh.

Ashurt Park Playground!

In the weekend we found a new playground. We had fun swinging, jumping and climbing!

Nanny comes for Dinner

Grandad is away in Auckland doing some training so Nanny got to come for dinner. Bella and Zach thought it was the best thing ever.

Zach wouldn't stop giving Nanny big goofy smiles and she couldn't stop cuddling him.

Bella had fun doing Nanny's hair and playing with her doll's house. After Nanny left she said "It was nice having Nanny over" and in the morning she was still saying in the most excited voice ever "Nanny came for dinner!"

Nanny is off to the South Island for a whole month. We are going to miss her and Grandad lots. Bella asks me at least 5 times a day "When are we going to get to see Nanny?" It is going to seem like Nanny is away forever!

Bella asked me "who is Nanny going to see in the South Island?" I said she was going with "Jill and Don". She said "Jill and Don go up the hill..." then she decided it should be "Jill and Cooper (Jack's brother)...". She kept herself amused for 5 minutes trying out different combinations of names with the rhyme!

Bella Ballerina

For Bella's 2.5 year birthday, Nanny bought her a pretty pink tutu! She thinks it's the best thing ever. She looks so pretty all dressed up with her new ballet shoes that Aunty Sarah got her for Christmas and the hair accessory Brodie bought her.

Sleepy Time

Bella just loves reading books to bunny in bed! It's pretty exhausting work!

My little brother

Bella loves her little brother. She always wants to hold him and have photos with him. It's pretty impossible to get a good photo of both of them at the same time but at least they're looking at the camera in this one!

Zach at 6.5 weeks old

My super cute boy! The midwife measured him this week and guess what's he's tall and skinny like his sister. His hobbit parents have produced a child who is currently in the 91st percentile for height. Long may it may last!

Yarndley's Bush

We took Nanny on a bush walk around Yarnley's Bush. Zach got to try out his new sun hat! Bella loved playing with the tickle ferns, talking to the cows, climbing up the platform and of course spending time with Nanny.