Recent videos

Leni smiling at one month.

 

http://youtu.be/pryZN1D2U28

Anika opening a gift on Christmas. She thanked Santa and I couldn't let the old guy get the credit for a gift she loved! ha.

OH baby

My baby is already one month old!
NO. STOP IT NOW!!!!!!!!!!

Here is Leni next to Lenny the Lion, Andrew's childhood stuffed animal! We brought him back from New Zealand last year.

She is such a sweetie and so far, a wonderful baby. I am kind of obsessed to be honest.  She is 10 pounds and 22 inches. We went to the ped the other day for first time to get her check in as a patient and she was perfect head to toe. Duh, I knew that, but just went as a formality.

This was one year ago in New Zealand. I cant believe its been a year. I wish we were there this year!

We picked up this vintage coat from the 60's while in Austin. They have lots of neat vintage shops.

This is one photo from our family Xmas card.

We finally made it to see Santa. Anika sat on his lap without crying!! She still didn't want to talk much. He asked her what she wanted and she told him she was too shy to tell him. ha.

I probably wont be back on here before Christmas, so MERRY Christmas!  

 

The Home birth Story of Miss Lennox

I decided to take down this post.  IF you would like to read it, I have it saved in a word document.
Just ask and I can email it to you :)  Kiwisandcocktails@gmail.com

We went to Texas

Last Thursday we woke up at 3 AM to catch an early flight to Texas! We actually flew from NH to Baltimore and then switched planes to Austin.

 

 

The reason for our trip? My college roommate's wedding!

The wedding was supposed to be in the fall and to be honest I was planning my pregnancy around her wedding, but the date kept changing! We had tried the month we went to NZ last year (December) but I knew we missed my "special dates" to get pregnant because I actually ovulated while we were flying for over a day to get there!  Then we didn't try in January because of the wedding. In February, we said oh well and went for it. And, well...we have Leni now :)  It all actually worked out- had the baby just like I wanted to and still go to be in the wedding!

 

When the wedding date changed to December 7th, I was pregnant.  I thought oh, that's good. I am due November 6th. The baby will be a month and we can all go.  But really I knew I would probably go 2 weeks late again. We booked tickets on Southwest because if you miss the flight you can use the tickets/credit up to a year on another trip.   Also Southwest allows 2 free checked bags for each passenger! Their rule is that a baby has to be 14 days to fly. Other airlines have one week rules. I had to have the baby by November 21st to fly on Southwest. She was born the 19th.   I know some people worry about the germs travelling. We went to NZ last year this same time of year and no one got sick. I guess I have never gotten sick from flying, so based on my own personal experiences, it wasn't a worry. Also, the newborn was worn by me and nurses (I have super milk if you didnt alredy know that) and she doesn't touch stuff. IT IS THE TODDLER who touches EVERYTHING and was into all kinds of nasty stuff.  IF anything, she will end up sick first. 

Lennox didn't make a PEEP on any of the flights.  She was a perfect baby. Anika had some issues with the descents on all the flights. Her ears hurt her and she yelled about it. Andrew's sinuses often hurt him too and did this past weekend on all the descents. Anika hadn't been sick so I am not sure why they hurt her. She nursed all the other times we flew, so I don't know if that's why we haven't run into the issue before. She doesn't nurse anymore, so We gave her sucky candies and stuff but nothing was working.

 

We arrived in Austin at 11:30 AM Thursday. We got our rental car and we couldn't fit our 2 car seats and an adult in the back! We had my mom with us, so we needed the room in the back. We also had the 2 big suitcases, the Bob stroller and other bags.  We did not bring a pack n play though so I think we travelled fairly light for 2 kids and 3 adults.

 

We finally kind of figured the car out and drove to the cottage. I should mention that Austin (and Texas) had unusually cold weather while we were there. It was in the 30's!! It had been in the 80's days before we got there. Being from New England we are used to cold temps, but we were NOT planning on it in Texas, so we didn't have warm clothes.

When we got to our cottage we couldn't find the heat and it looked like we only had one bed, but we soon discovered how to turn the modern looking couch into a queen bed (not like any couch bed I've ever seen) and we found the heat, although it was wonky.  Other people were staying at these cottages too, but we were the first ones from the wedding there. 

We were all hungry so we headed out to look for food.

We were near South Congress Street. We ate at the Congress Street Café. It was so wonderful. Great food and service! When Andrew ordered a coffee, Anika did too. The waiter looked at us. We asked if they had something for kids and he said he would see what he could do. HE brought her some hot cocoa in an espresso cup. She was tickled. Then, she ordered a runny poached egg! haha. That wasn't on the menu. He was like, really?  He made that happen for her too. I thought that was really nice.  We were noticing how friendly people in Texas were compared to New England.

Leni continued to do this in my carrier. I am wearing Lennox in a K'Tan in all of these photos. I love it.

We walked down the street to a boot store.  Lots and lots of cowboy boots.

I think this pair was thousands of dollars. A little above our price range. ha

Anika tried on some kid's boots.  She has a pair of cheap cowboy boots she rarely wants to wear anymore so we didn't get her a nice pair. The nice kids boots were about $70-130. If she was into boots, we maybe would have- especially since we have Leni now- nice items will get worn twice as long.   But, in the end, no boots for her. We went to some other stores and my mom ended up getting some vintage cowboy boots and even got me a pair of black ones. A bit more in our price range.  I have my brown frye boots and brown boots from Andrew's dad's shop in NZ, so black seemed better for me to have.

Some more kids boots.

 

Anika was up from 3 AM until 11 pm Thursday night!! She was just so wired with excitement.

 

On Friday, we had the rehearsal for the wedding in the morning.

We went to the venue.

The bride gave Anika and Leni some cowboy gifts!  Anika got a cowgirl outfit...pictured further below.

 

This is a cowgirl shirt onesie for Leni. By the way Anika calls her Lena sometimes. ha.

This was at the cottages.

 

her cowgirl outfit. ha

After the rehearsal on Friday morning, we went over and had some lunch at Home Slice Pizza. Actually, we were running late for the next activity so the bridal party got pizza to go. Andrew, my mom and Anika stayed and ate and went back to the cottage while I took Leni with me. I had to eat my pizza outside on a bench in the cold while simultaneously nursing Lennox before heading into a jewelry store! ha.

 

The bride let us pick out a piece of jewelry. I wanted something to wear in the wedding.

I chose a pair of earrings. The jeweler is Kendra Scott.

Lennox is half hanging out of my carrier because I had nursed her and then my hands were full and I was busy drinking champagne and picking out earrings- Priorities! ha. kidding. kind of.

This is at the rehearsal dinner later that night. Anika in her cowgirl outfit eating veggies.

The rehearsal dinner was supposed to be outside at our cottages but it was too cold! So, change of plans and we just ate at the wedding venue. Anika wanted to eat with her new friends and even said she was drinking kids beer and did a cheers! ha.  SHe just loves people. Lots of people over the course of the weekend told us she will never lack friends- she is a social butterfly. Although...I will add that she was NOT on good behavior for me! That's why I let her roam and be with others because she was a sweetheart to everyone else. She kept having tantrums for Andrew, my mom and I, but out in public with everyone, she was great. Lack of sleep was to blame, but also she is still transitioning to being big sister and sharing us and definitely pushes the boundaries.

 

Anika and Leni were the only kids all weekend. 

Oh, I will mention everyone else went out dancing and drinking Thursday and Friday night and even to an after party on Saturday after the wedding.  If I just had Anika, I could have left her home at the cottage with my mom or Andrew, but I cant leave Lennox yet due to nursing and I cant get bombed. ha. I can have a little wine or champagne and nurse, but that's about it. Also, we didn't bring a crib, so she was sleeping in bed with us, so no drinking when co sleeping.

Saturday we went and did some browsing around the city and then I met the ladies at the bride's cottage. Everyone got ready at the bride's cottage right next to mine, so I could go back and forth from ours and it was super convenient to stay right there.

My hair

 

We had to wear jewel tone dresses.  I actually ordered my dress on line from Mod Cloth days after Lennox was born. I had no idea what my body would be like.  I needed something cheap since I wont be this size long, the color the bride wanted and something I could easily nurse in.  Luckily, it arrived and fit!

We had to wear beige or nude shoes so I went to Payless last week and picked up a pair.

I liked my makeup. I also noticed (my mom did too!!) That I am aging in my eyes :)  Getting those wrinkles around my eyes.  Its ok. For now! haha.

Andrew found these shoes a while ago and based his outfit from the shoes.  I think his outfit needs a tie though.

 Wedding

Anika is obsessed with Erin (bride). She told her, "I am the flower girl and you are the princess"

She also just kept telling her she loved her, etc.  She was such a sweetheart saying the cutest things. She was a hit.  Although, she did NOT want to let go of Erin's hand and she was sad when Erin walked down the aisle with John after the vows. She turned to me and said "Erin left me for JOHN!" lol  ANika thought this wedding was all about her and Erin.

These pics were in  the side room we hung out in before the ceremony and left our stuff.  This place holds conference and is a co-working space.

bridesmaid and flower girl

My mom and Lennox

During the reception- my sleeping babe.

 

I didn't get a photo, but the food was a food truck! We went right outside the venue and they had a heater while you got your food. A very Austin thing is food trucks I hear. We obviously don't have them in NH.

CAKE!

My girls- Anika would take breaks from dancing to tell us she was tired, but when we said ok lets leave, she took off dancing with strangers. She just went up to people and asked them to dance. HA!

US and bride.

 She had a flower wand instead of a basket of flowers. Major cute.

 

We had brunch the next morning. Our flight left Austin at 5:15 and we flew to Chicago. Had a couple hours there and then flew home to NH.  It was snowing in Chicago and then it started to snow on our car ride home from the airport in NH. We live an hour from the airport- we got home at 2 AM.  My friend had brought Piri to our house earlier in the day from the kennel so she was excited to see us.

So glad we made the trip. I knew we might not be able to make it my entire pregnancy and we were playing it by ear. With my mom and Andrew and Leni who sleeps most of the time, it really wasn't too bad.  Anika was definitely the most challenging and she wasn't THAT bad :)

 

Oh, this was on Sunday before we left doing some vintage shopping.

WE got Anika this coat from the 60's. So sweet.

I was looking for vintage cotton nighties for her. She loves nighties but all the ones these days are polyester and flame retardant- yuck.

Anika likes to read the "instructions to the plane" and  she said the slide looks fun and she wants to go on the bouncy castle. LOL. Andrew went along with it and told a story and said so you jump onto the bouncy castle ...and then pray.

This happened on one flight but mostly out of the 4 flights, Leni and I slept and Andrew entertained Anika- she was generally too wound up and excited to sleep.

this was playing little red riding hood and big bad wolf in the airport. Andrew called it something else.