The Garys

Long delayed post....

2009-08-16T08:42:00.002-05:00

Okay since I have now been back in the US for 3 weeks it is probably about time I at least finish up some post-action updates from New Zealand! So I will start where I left us off in Rotorua for this post and try my darndest to remember! Also, in a effort to be succinct I'm going to do the "twitter" version of the trip (i.e., a series of "tweets" to describe our experiences) Granted, I don't even have a twitter account so we will see how this goes....

-Freezing in our kiwi batch
-Yes--Erica and mom found water bottles--fill with boiling water, lay them in the bed, and ta da--warm beds!
--Awesome breakfast next door at the B&B--fresh squeezed kiwi, apple, and orange juice!
--after a late start, checking out the geysers!
--tour guide took a liking to Erica and gave us free tix to the Maori cultural performance-Liam loves the haka!
--Erica is rolling down a hill in a giant ball (aka "zorbing") Liam keeps asking to go too
--On a mission for Erica to get a pic of an "oreo"cow she spotted with a heart shaped spot
--Dinner at subway--too tired to do anything else
--Up and ready to head to Kiwi 360
--pit stop at the manuka honey place--who knew how many products you can make from honey? Loaded up on lotions, etc.
--Did you know that the kiwi is the most nutritional fruit in the world?
--Asian tourists love Liam--they all want to take pictures with him (not just of him) There must be many pics of Liam now floating around in various Asian homes!
--Lunch in town and scheduling appointments at the thermal spa
--Evening at the spa for a dip in the thermal pools and massages for all (except Liam)
--Quote from Liam--"this is a stinky pool"
--Don't care that it's stinky--it feels great!
--Overall, nice trip to Rotorua now back to Auckland via Waitomo
--Raining the whole way to Waitomo--let's hope the caves stay open
--Some caves open--mom, Liam, and I will do the walking tour--Erica's giving blackwater rafting a try
--Erica is looking awesome in her wetsuit and already freezing--just wait until she has to get in the ice cold water in a tube!
--Checking out the glow worms!
--Back to pick up Erica--she said she has finally thawed out after a freezing trip through the caves
--Back home to Auckland--goodbye "monster car" (liam's name for our rental)

Alright then--our trip to Rotorua in a nutshell! I will add some pics once I'm back on my computer (in Horseshoe Bay with the padres right now--loving days spent on the boat and by the pool. Must say I did miss that aspect of summer while doing our second winter in NZ!)

Slowly but surely I promise I will capture the rest of our trip here! Josh is still in NZ until September. We are missing him a ton but I suspect he may miss us even more (especially since Liam is here with me) He's trying to make the most of it though and gave blackwater rafting (said it wasn't as cold as he expected) a try last weekend and then headed this weekend to the Gold Coast of Australia for a little warmth and beach time. I'm looking forward to hearing all about it from him!

Last pics from Queenstown

2009-07-19T16:03:00.004-05:00

Okay--so to finally wrap up our trip to Queenstown (weeks later) Here are the last pics of our adventures there. Our last day was spent jet boating on the Shotover River (very cool and very cold--apparently about the coldest they've ever done it, because much colder and it ices over) followed by a quick trip to Arrowtown to wander through the shops. Then we stopped by the home of bungy jumping--where it all started (we opted to just watch not jump!) and then lunch and a tasting at a nearby vineyard.

Getting ready for Shotover Jet

On the boat

Liam really wanted to ride with us but this is as close as he could get!

The closest we got to bungee jumping!

The bungee jumper!

Who knew the fam had their very own store in Arrowtown!

Delayed pics--finally posting

2009-07-15T22:44:00.002-05:00

Okay before I fill you in on the rest of our Rotorua trip and the awesome waterbottles in my next post--why don't I go ahead and at least share some pics from our trip to queenstown. The bulk of day 2 was spent doing a flightseeing trip to beautiful Milford Sound followed by a cruise through the sound. The plane trip over was awesome although I think mom found it a bit scary (we were in this tiny plane and at points felt like we were so close to the mountain that we could just jump out and go skiing!) The day was beautiful which is so unusual since it rains 300+ days a year in Milford Sound. We even managed to see some dolphins (we even saw a baby nursing underwater with his mom!) I'll let the pics speak for themselves:

Still here!

2009-07-13T03:26:00.002-05:00

Sorry for the insanely long delay in updates. It has been busy here in New Zealand! Between work and all of our great visitors, it has been tough to fit in the blogging. Mom and Erica (Mimi and EE to Liam) have come and gone. We had a great time and it was so great to have both of them here (and Liam loved it too--I think he may go into Mimi and EE withdrawal!)Now Dianne (Josh's mom and Liam's GiGi) is here and Dennis (PawPaw) will be joining us Thursday. Then, if you can believe it, we head back home Wednesday for Bryan's wedding. I can't believe it's already time to head back, it has gone by so fast. Liam and I will stay behind in Texas (probably much to the excitement of all of my work colleagues who are probably happy to have me back on normal time--I don't blame them)but Josh will head back to Auckland for another 5 weeks or so. We will miss him so much! Skype will definitely be getting used a lot! I should warn you in advance that this will have to be a picture-less post. Internet here can still be spotty and it seems to be particularly slow this evening. Tomorrow I promise to add pics from Queenstown (which I know I left off on Day 1!) as well as from Rotorua and the Coramandel Peninsula which I will update you on now!

So Mom, Liam, Erica and I decided to rent a car and take 4 days to head south to the Rotorua area for a long weekend. The day we left was beautiful so instead of going through Waitomo (home of blackwater rafting and the glowworm caves)we decided to spend the day above ground and head to the Coramandel Peninsula east of Auckland before heading to Rotorua. The drive proved to be unbelievable in both good ways and bad. In the good sense--it was absolutely stunning driving along the coast around the peninsula--every second was a kodak moment. We stopped in a town towards the top (when we were about to cross over to the other side of the peninsula) and had a nice lunch and shopped in the cute little shops there. While there--some woman who clearly was directionally challenged told mom and Erica that it would take us about 2 hours to get to Rotorua from there, so we prepared ourselves for a nice leisurely drive south. Ha--little did we know what we were getting into.

So it turns out that Hwy 25--the little road that heads around the peninsula must be the windiest road in the world. Seriously, I'm going to google it--it has to be on the list. Basically all of us with the exception of Mom (who we made drive) ended up green around the gills. Even poor Liam who looked like he had never felt like this in his short life. We would have made more stops along the east side but we were quickly running out of time--2 hours didn't even quite get us to the bottom of the peninsula! So we made one quick pit stop at the hot water beach (you can dig a hole at low tide and voila--your own personal hot tub) and that was it. Unfortunately low tide had been at 9 AM (make sure you check with the Hot Water Beach Store the day before you go!) so we weren't able to experience the "hot water" phenomenon--we may try that with Dennis and Dianne. We completely bypassed Cathedral Cove where some of Chronicles of Narnia was filmed--once again--a trip for another day.

Well--we thought the winding would stop once we were out of the peninsula--no such luck--we continued to wind around until about an hour from Rotorua. 5 hours from the time the lady told us it would be a 2 hour trip--we arrived at our destination: the Waikeke (I may need to correct this--I'm too lazy to look up the correct name right now!)Lodge B&B. There we weren't actually staying in the B&B but in the little bach (pronounced like batch not like Johann) that the owners also owned. It was a great tiny little 2 bedroom lake house built in 1934 (and still pretty much like it was then!) Only problem was that the heat hadn't been on (no central heat--just space heaters) so we were freezing our tushes off that first night. My room had an electric blanket on the bed (I still feel guilty about that) but Erica and Mom didn't, so they put to use the Kiwi art of the hot water bottle. I'll leave you to guess what that is (must have some suspense in this blog!) and will let you know about that as well as our other Rotorua adventures tomorrow! (pics included then I hope) Good night (or good morning to most of you!)

Queenstown more photos from day 1 (and day 0)

2009-06-27T04:17:00.004-05:00

Hello to anyone who is still interested after my last few rambles. I already filled you in on day 1 and the escapade that was "day 0", so I thought I'd share a few pictures for our memorable 8 hour bus ride. As you can see--it was beautiful--just unplanned! (and the $80 dinner left something to be desired--how on earth pre-made sandwiches and bad fish and chips cost so much--I have no idea. At least we had vouchers.)

Also, here are a few more from Day 1:

On the gondola

View from the top with Mimi

Walter Peak Farm

Getting a kiss from the deer

Feeding the furry cow

With the baby lamb

Feeding the sheep

Check out the sheep dog giving the stare down--he herds the sheep without any barking--just by the way he looks at them!

Queenstown--day by day

2009-06-24T04:07:00.006-05:00

Well--we are back in Auckland after 3 great days in Queenstown and 1 lovely day in a bus (see previous post if you have no idea what that means). Fortunately our trip back was not nearly as eventful as our trip there (despite all of the pessimism from Josh, my mom, and I--we were so certain that another disaster was imminent). Rather than give you one long download of our goings on--I figured I'd break it up by day and post it over the next couple of days (mainly because I'm too lazy to write it all in one sitting, but also because I figured you could only handle my ramblings in smaller doses). So here I go with day 1!

The start of day 1--Liam ready to go in front of our apartment!

We had two big activities on our first day there--a trip on the Queenstown gondola and a boat ride over to Walter Peak Farm. The gondola basically takes you up the side of a very large hill (don't think it quite meets mountain standards) and from the top you have great views of queenstown and the lake it sits on (not to mention the beauty of the surrounding mountains). They also launch a few paragliders from up there and there is a bungee jump so if you get lucky you might see some crazy person attempting that (Queenstown is the home of bungee jumping and considers itself-with reason--to be the adventure capital of the world). While we did not attempt either of the above while at the top--we did see some great views and got to do the "luge". The best part about the luge was that Liam could ride as well and he absolutely loved it. Unfortunately, we don't have a ton of closeup pics to see his happiness so you will have to take my word for it.

View from the top

Liam and Josh at the top

Liam and Josh headed up for the first luge run (the trip up made mommy aka me very nervous for my little boy!)

Liam and daddy on the luge

Mommy and the "helmet" aka Liam on the luge

Even "Mimi" took part!

Heading back down in the gondola

After the luge we had a great lunch in town at a pizza place called Winnie's. Great food, great atmosphere, and great fireplace (did I mention we were freezing our patooties off?) What more could you ask for?

Lunch at Winnies

After our tummy's were full--we jumped a boat to Walter Peak Farms which may have been the highlight of Liam's trip to Queenstown. Chasing after baby lambs? Feeding sheep that were bigger than him and thus constantly knocking him over? Chasing sheep dogs? It was a dream come true. The visit to the farm involved all of those things. They really did just let us loose with the sheep (sheep have no top teeth thus biting isn't a concern--apparently due to their long time vegetarian status =)) Plus Liam got to feed some really cool longhaired Scottish cows (they have a much better name than that, but I can't remember) and many other animals. We also saw a cool sheep dog demo and got to watch them shear a sheep. Plus we got to take some time out for a "cuppa" tea and some great treats to go along with it. A great way to kick off our mini-vacay! Unfortunately, my camera battery died midway through our visit to the farm. My mom got some good pics but she left her camera cord at home so I may not be able to share those until much later!

On the boat ride to the farm

Feeding the deer

Feeding the "furry cows"

Up close and personal

After all that excitement, Liam was out for the count on the boat ride back (as were we). Dinner was steaks on the grill back at our apartment. Our place was just off the courtyard and included some gas grills that guests could use, so you know we put them to use!

I'll write more tomorrow to tell you about our other adventures in queenstown. I'll also make sure to add some pics of the real day 1-the AWESOME bus ride from Christchurch!

Welcome to Queenstown...errrr...Christchurch?

2009-06-22T03:25:00.002-05:00

So our trip to Queenstown proved quite the adventure. We left from Auckland at 9 AM on Saturday and were due to land in Queenstown at 10:50 AM. Apparently Jetstar (the airline we were on that has only been operating in NZ for about a week) doesn't have the right navigation to land without full visibility in Queenstown and since there was low cloud cover--we were out of luck and were diverted to Christchurch. (and by the way--Liam was on his worst behavior ever--he was that screaming uncontrollably two year old for basically the last half hour of the trip. Poor thing was just beyond tired and couldn't fall asleep so he turned into crazy irrational boy. All we could do was apologize to everyone around us profusely!)

Upon arriving in Christchurch we were told to go to baggage claim and they would let us know what we needed to do there. Of course we get there and there is no one to be found. When my mom finally finds someone to ask, they tell us to go to the end of the terminal and there would be someone there that would tell us what to do. So we walk and walk to the end of the terminal where a woman who works for Jetstar waves us outside and points us to some buses. So we think- okay--are they taking us to another terminal? Oh no--the woman next to the buses tells us to get on and we ask--uh to where? Oh to Queenstown of course. WHAT?!! Queenstown, mind you, is an 8 hour bus trip from Christchurch!! So of course we ask the most important questions--when do we eat? are there snacks on the bus? Oh we will be stopping in 4 to 5 hours or so. WHAT?? That will be 5 pm...and we left at 9 AM..and we have a tired, grumpy, two year old, people!! So to say the least, we tell them they need to wait a few minutes so we can change a diaper and grab some snacks or something.

Seeing the bright side in this--we did get to see some beautiful scenery and the weather (ironically) was beautiful the vast majority of the trip. Liam got his nap soon after we got on the bus and was back to his sweet self the whole time. The ironic thing was that before the trip I had considered flying into Christchurch and doing the road trip (over two days) to Queenstown with stops along the way, but opted against it. I ended up getting the abbreviated, no scenic stop, version after all. =) I took a lot of pics which I will add once back in Auckland but they are all through the bus window as it drives by!

We finally arrived and got to our great 2 bedroom apartment, which has proved to be perfect for us, and the rest of the trip has been amazing so no complaints here! It just started a little off plan.

I will tell you all about it, and include some beautiful pics, once we get back to Auckland (I failed to bring my camera cord so I can't upload any pics until we are back to our NZ home)!

Finally an update!

2009-06-17T03:45:00.004-05:00

Sorry to have gone radio silent. By the end of this post you will be probably be glad I did since not all that much has been happening so this could be boring! This past weekend was pretty low key. First of all it was supposed to pour all weekend so I didn't really plan much. As one of my Auckland colleagues pointed out though--a forecast of rain all weekend is code for sunny and blue skies. And lo and behold she was right--I guess the forcasters here aren't known for their accuracy.

Josh was working "days" on Friday and Saturday and all I have to say is thank goodness that is the only time he will be doing that while we're here. Working "days" on the weekend means working from 7:30 AM to 10:30 PM so basically Liam and I didn't see him all weekend. Boo! Liam and I decided to pass the time by heading to Kelly Tarltons, a place here that has an aquarium and an Antarctic habitat for penguins (Liam's fav animal of late--he was so diappointed that they weren't on display at the zoo that I had to make sure we saw them somewhere!). Liam loved it and you really do get to see the penguins up close and personal from these little "snowcat" machines that you take through the exhibit. The real adventure for me though was my attempt to take the bus there. I still haven't really figured the transportation system here yet. I knew I could take the 756 from a stop by our house but I didn't know I apparently had to flag it down. As I sat there trying to study the bus timetables on the bus stop sign (which I also have not figured out how to interpret) I hear a bus go by and looky there--as I see the back of the bus I notice the number is 756. Then I read on the sign "must signal bus to stop". Apparently my standing at the stop with a kid and a stroller was not enough of a "signal". As I mentioned, I didn't really understand the time tables but it sure looked to me like the next bus may not come for an hour (likely a misinterpretation but I was too worried to wait and see). Fortunately, I knew that a free shuttle left from the Sky Tower to Kelly Tarltons so up the hill we trekked (in the opposite direction from the direction we would ultimately be heading of course). Anyway--we did get there eventually but I opted to not even try the bus home since I knew the walk back was only about a 5K (along the waterfront!) and it was nice enough day. Along the way we got to play at a small beach and check out a cool playground. Plus we discovered a mini-golf course that Liam is very excited about trying out in the future! Being able to walk everywhere is absolutely one of the things I love about this place! Here are a few pics from the day:

Checkin' out the fish at Kelly Tarltons

View of Auckland from Kelly Tarltons

At the beach

Picking the best seashell

Going down the slide for the umpteenth time

Other than that--it has been pretty much the same here. The excitement will be starting soon though--Mimi (aka my mom) gets here Friday! Then we head out Saturday to the South Island (we will be staying in Queenstown) for some real adventure so I will be sure to add lots of posts and pics of that!

Kiwi Speak

2009-06-11T18:38:00.002-05:00

So one of the highlighted i-reports on cnn.com right now is from the author of a book called "Kiwi Speak".

http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-269477

He has Americans and others visiting NZ attempt to say kiwi phrases. The cnn link is alright but I personally found the video of him on a TVNZ morning show even better. I haven't heard all of these phrases yet but you know I will be listening for them now! Enjoy mates!

http://justinbrownbooks.com/speak.htm

Pop a bunny

2009-06-11T03:08:00.002-05:00

Okay so it's been a pretty standard work week with not too much exciting going on (except that we are in New Zealand!) but I did have to share Liam's new fav phrase. So apparently here in NZ (pronounced en-zed) another way to say "you tooted" (as is often the case with Liam) they say "you popped a bunny". Hilarious. So now of course Liam keeps running around tellimg us "I pop a bunny!" followed by shrill laughter. What a crack up (at least he thinks he is!)

Josh will be experiencing a true New Zealand winter night tomorrow---he'll be heading to a rugby game! We will all go as a fam sometime soon also but just Josh and I were going to try to go tomorrow with some of the docs he's working with. Unfortunately Jess isn't available (she tried a few friends but no luck) so no babysitter. That's okay though since as Josh says "you're usually in bed by 8:30 anyway". That's an exaggeration by the way--but it is true that I tend to hit the sack a heck of a lot earlier than my night owl ways so that I can be up by 5 or 5:30. I'm still shocked at myself that I've been able to pull that off--I've never been much of an early AM person!

I'll make sure that Josh takes notes so that I know what the heck is going on when we see the rugby matches on TV--I find it very confusing! And maybe he will even take some pics so I can post here!

Observations on New Zealand and our life here

2009-06-08T00:55:00.004-05:00

Alright--I'm back to the grind. Today was my first day back at work and it was Josh's first day at Auckland City Hospital. He of course isn't home yet--I'll let him tell you about his day when he gets a chance (not that I expect he will actually be willing to write anything on this blog!) I have to say--Monday is my new favorite day. I expect it will be the day when I cram to get all the real work done since it is the day I'm guaranteed to not get many interruptions since it is Sunday in the US (and yet I still emailed back and forth with quite a few people today--that's McK for you =)) Liam seemed to do well with Jess--he got a little upset right before I was about to leave and wanted me to "hold" and give me a hug but once he got that--he was good to go. Sounds like he had a day full of fun--Madagascar and playing with the doggy at Jess's house followed by a trip to the park. He was so excited he didn't take a nap apparently. You wouldn't know it though since he is bouncing off the walls right now--he clearly enjoyed his day!

Since telling you about my day at work isn't very exciting---I thought I'd offer a few early observations on life in New Zealand. I will add others as I see and think of them over the next few weeks.

1) I don't know if it's a rule or what, but all of the wine bottles sold in the grocery store (and there is an extensive wine section) have screw tops...and I love it. Both because I feel like it keeps the wine better between servings and because it meant it was one less thing I had to buy for the apartment (no cork screw here--along with many other things--I already had to purchase a casserole dish and a chopper. It's also killing me not to have a food processor or blender---mom do you think you could fit one of those in your bag? Just kidding...sort of)

2) I have become a clean freak. This is what being in a small apartment does. It has to be clean for it to feel reasonably comfortable. That's fair warning for everyone coming to visit.

3) Black carpet doesn't show stains but it does show crumbs. Given number 2--this has proven to be a major issue--I am constantly feeling the need to vaccuum.

4) Maids in New Zealand likely have bad backs. At least they do if they are using the same vaccuum I am. I have to crouch over the whole time I use it. Painful.

5) Aucklanders think 50 degrees is "freezing". It makes me smile everytime someone comments on how it's too bad the weather is so "cold" for us.

6) A "short" coffee is not a small coffee. "Short" is just code for "so strong you will only want two swallows so we will make it really tiny". Basically a couple of shots of espresso--blechhh.

Those are top of mind right now but I will definitely be adding more!

100% lazy day

2009-06-05T14:02:00.002-05:00

So yesterday (Friday) we did....absolutely nothing. I think all of the walking we have been doing just wore us down so we pretty much just spent the day around the house reading, doing laundry, etc. Jess (the nanny) stopped by so we could give her the "tour" which took about 1 minute. Also, I went to Foodtown to pick up some stuff for dinner (New Zealand greenshell mussells) while Liam and Josh went over to the little park next to the Arena by our house but that is it. I started reading Auckland's equivalent of D Magazine so I could get to know the city better =). Next up will be New Zealand's Womens Weekly which is basically NZ's version of US Weekly (although probably a little closer to Star in that you can only believe about half of what you read in there). Meanwhile back home my US Weekly's will be piling up and losing relevance by the minute--at least Courtnye can enjoy the July editions!

Liam is finally getting back to normal sleep-wise. Thursday night he only woke up once at 3 AM and fell back asleep on his own and then managed to sleep until almost 7 AM. He also took a good 3 hour nap on Friday (one of the nice things about being around the house). Last night he didn't wake up once and he and Josh are both still asleep and it's after 7AM. As you can see, I was up early as usual but I don't mind since these are the new hours I'm going to have to keep for work. I have a 5:30 AM call on Tuesday (that at least I will take from home). Jess will be working 7 to 5 Tuesday to Friday and 8 to 6 on Monday (since that is the one day I get a break since it is Sunday in the States). I'm going to miss being home with Liam and Josh but both Josh and I have to work sometime! Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Two more beautiful days in Auckland

2009-06-04T01:26:00.006-05:00

Wow--I'm hoping that God saves a little more of this weather for the rest of our time here and isn't just giving us all of it in one big dose. It has been amazing!

The days here continue to fly by--there are just far too many things to do (and that's just in Auckland--the rest of the country still awaits!) Yesterday was pretty low key. We headed out in the mid morning and walked up "the big hill" to Parnell. Once there we checked out a few of the cafes and shops and finally settled into lunch at the Alphabet Bistro which proved to be quite good with interesting twists on lunch (e.g., I had the Mediterranean BLT which was pancetta, tomatoes, lettuce, and shaved parmesan on sourdough drizzled with some kind of balsamic--yum!) Since he day was beautiful we sat outside and were enjoying ourselves so much we had to stay a little longer for cappuccino. Of course that's when I realized that I had left diapers at home. Thus we decided to head back to the apartment for a bit before continuing the rest of the day's plans.

View from the top of the "big hill" heading into Parnell

Once we had picked up the necessities we headed up to Greenlane Hospital which is the private hospital where Josh will be spending some time while here (most of his time will be at the public Auckland City Hospital. We went up there to meet a couple of the people who have been helping Josh make all the arrangements to be here. Like everyone else here, they were super friendly. They suggested that we use the afternoon to visit One Tree Hill which was just down the road. We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Cornwall Park (which was beautiful) and managed to successfully trek to the top of One Tree Hill for the amazing views (see pic below. By the time we made it down it was practically dark so we hurried to catch the Link bus back home (which proved to be a long haul since we apparently jumped on clearly opposite of the side of the "loop" where we would be hopping off!)

Views from the top of One Tree Hill

Greenlane Hospital

Liam running around in the wide open spaces

Cool tree in Cornwall Park

Today we headed out to Waiheke(Why-hee-kee)Island for the day. Took the ferry out there and enjoyed a short tour followed by a picnic lunch on the beach, a glass of wine in a cafe, and a trip to one of the many, many vineyards out here. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves on this one. It was breathtaking and we will definitely be back.

Auckland Days 2 and 3

2009-06-02T02:34:00.003-05:00

So first of all-we Gary's are clearly not over the time change. Here it is 7:30 at night and I am writing this while barely able to keep my eyes open. Next to me on the couch sit Josh and Liam--both sound asleep with Liam almost snoring. Let's hope he (Liam) manages to stay asleep longer tonight since he didn't even make it to 5 AM this morning.

Secondly--the weather here has been amazing. Not a cloud in the sky for the last two days and that's the forecast for the next 3 days as well. Also--everyone keeps talking about how "cold" it is. And I learned today that this is apparently as cold as it gets. Yet--we have spent basically every waking moment outside in this "frigid" weather. I know it will rain but it seems that it actually is wetter in Aug/Sep/October, so Liam and I may miss much of that since we will just be here June and July.

The last two days have mainly been spent getting the last things checked off our to-do list, like finding a nanny and getting a bank account, as well as more exploring of the city. Starting tomorrow we hope to hit more of the "tourist" places and even take some small treks outside of Auckland (even if it's just the 30 minute ferry to Waiheke Island)

Monday we interviewed our first nanny candidate (to cover for the two weeks I will be working before my mom or Dianne are here--they will be watching Liam when they are around) She was awesome. Apparently the job market in New Zealand is pretty bad so there are a lot of really great people who are doing babysitting, etc. right now that are qualified in numerous fields. This girl is 22, just graduated in May with a PE degree and is currently watching an 18 m and 3 year old. She will likely nanny all year next year for a fam in Dubai and she is looking to bridge the gap with short term roles. Oh and did I mention she just spent 5 months teaching 3 to 6 year olds how to ski in Aspen? If she can do that--she can do anything. We loved her and decided there was no need to interview anyone else since there could only be 2 results that came of that--1) all nanny candidates rocked and we are stuck turning down multiple great people or 2) We still loved the first candidate the best and then just feel bad for wasting everyone's time. So we are super excited to have that resolved!

After we interviewed Jess (the nanny) we had her drop us off in the Parnell area to explore. This is a great suburb with lots of cafes and shops. We didn't really stop anywhere at that time but plan to go back and do lunch or brunch later this week.

That night we attempted to find a sushi place that Jess told us about (Saki Bar Rikka for Kacy if you are taking notes for your trip!) Unfortunately it was closed for the Monday holiday (the Queen's birthday). Too bad, since we walked probably a mile worth of laps trying to find the place and must have passed it 4 times before we realized it was the dark, barely labeled place that we had been walking by. We will return though and this time we know right where to go! Also since it is right next to Victoria Park--we got to check that out (it was okay--basically like other parks in the world!) Also--since that didn't work out--we ended up wandering around the Viaduct Harbor area and eating there(beautiful and all I could think about was how much my Dad would love looking at all of the yachts!)

Today we had plans to do the Sky Tower and the Auckland Zoo. But only ended up doing the Zoo (will probably do Sky Tower tomorrow). Only ended up having time for one because we got sidetracked with getting a bank account (which took a little more time than we expected) and stopping by the McK office to pick up my wireless card and access badge. Very nice office by the way with an amazing view over the harbor--I'll have to take pics of the view from the office I will be borrowing--it's pretty ridiculous! The Zoo is a great zoo--Liam was bummed that the penguins were off display but I told him we would go to this Antarctica adventure place that they have in Auckland (Kelly Tarlton's) and see the penguins there, and that seemed to appease him! They have tons of tigers and lions (and two of the tigers are cubs who will be celebrating their first b-day next week!) Liam of course loves the lions since they are all "mommy and daddy Ees" For those of you who don't know, "Ees" is Liam's much loved stuffed lion who he has had since he was born. When he sees the male lion he just yells with crazy excitement "That's Ees' daddy!!"Soooo cute--I love him!

So overall--not too much exciting to report--I hope to have something more fun over the next couple of days! (although we wanted to do a wine tour on waiheke but all of the tours say--"not recommended for children" so we decided we might feel a little too much like lushes if we ignored that and dragged along our 2 year old anyway! Thus, vineyard tour stories may have to wait for a day when we have a babysitter!)

Here's one pic for you--a view of the harbor at dusk. My battery ran out right after this one which is why I don't have others (we did get some video at the zoo today though so I may try to add that later!)

Welcome to Auckland!

2009-05-31T10:34:00.001-05:00

Alright, after too long away from this blog, I have been given a reason to renew it, and reinvent it as "Living as Kiwis: The Gary's Adventures in New Zealand" or something like that. (As I've said before--creativity is not my strength).

For those of you who this is a surprise to--let me give you the basics. Josh and his buddy and fellow ortho resident, Henry, drew the short straw on going to England with their residency program. Not one to sit back and mope-Josh decided to come up with and alternative "international rotation" option for them. Their friend Mike had already done some legwork last year to set something up in Auckland, so they picked up where he left off and voila--a few months later we are living in Auckland temporarily!

Josh will be a here a full 3 months and Liam and I will be here until the end of July. Everyone asks if I am taking a LOA from work and the answer is no. My job is one where I can work from almost anywhere, so I could have just done it from our home here, but even better-- my company has an office here in Auckland so I'm able to work from there. I will, of course, be taking my fair share of vacay too, but not 2 months worth!

So here we are! We arrived in Auckland yesterday after a 2 to 3 hour flight to LA and a 13 hour flight to Auckland. Liam did really well and 13 hours in coach was not nearly as bad as I thought it could be (mainly because Quantas is a pretty sweet airline). Liam did get some sleep but it was probably only 7 hours or so, not his usual 12 (more on the consequences of this later)

Our first intro to Auckland was a friendly one, the airport volunteer who took one look at our 10 luggage items and knew we needed help. She helped us load up two luggage carts, get them through customs (and our close call where we could have been fined since we forgot to declare my "gum boots" aka rain boots/wellies), and then direct us to the best transportation option, all without expecting or taking a tip.

Our next adventure was our arrival to the new apartment--at 6:30 AM. Technically check-in (since it's an apartment/hotel) isn't until 2 so it was a little dicey for the first half hour since we weren't sure if we would be able to get into the place early or just walk the streets of Auckland for 7 hours. Fortunately, once the manager arrived she was able to give the okay to let us in early and we got to see where we would be spending the next few months.

The thing about doing this "corporate apartment-type" option was that we knew there would be some big benefits but suspected there may be some, trade offs too. Below I will list the "good" and the "different" (since there is no such thing as "bad" here--we are in New Zealand people!) about our new home away from home.

Good

Immediate cable and internet (no need to set anything up--it was just plug and go)

Really good location--right around us there are a few restaurants and bars and plenty more in walking distance. Parnell--one of the neat suburbs (what they call neighborhoods around here) is also walking distance as is my office and downtown Auckland. Best of all the big Auckland grocery store is across the street which is hugely beneficial-even more so than we thought it would be as you will see in the "different" section.

Nice, new place with new furnishings etc. and full stocked with appliances, kitchen-stuff, etc. (I'll post some pics below)

Different

This place is small! Nothing around here is that big but there were a few options at least somewhat bigger. I think this is probably around 650-700 square feet so Josh, Liam, and I (and anyone else coming to visit) will be getting very close over the next couple of months. Plus it was pretty hard to find spots for our clothes and our 10 bags and suitcases!

Just enough stuff for 4 What I mean by this is that there is exactly 4 of everything--(e.g., 4 forks, 4 glasses) which means we will need to wash dishes frequently and may have to buy or request a few extras for when we have guests here. Interestingly--there are only 3 chairs for the dining table though!

And now--for the most different of all--I would like you to witness exhibits A and B.

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

Yes, that is our refrigerator you are looking at, or as Liam calls it, "Liam's frigerator" since it's just his size (he's already broken one egg since he can just reach in and pull out whatever he wants) So as I mentioned earlier, we will definitely be taking advantage of having the grocery store across the street since we will need to make daily trips!

Here are a few more pics of the place:

Above is the view from the balcony (you can see the top of the sky tower in the top left corner)

Okay, if I haven't bored you by now--I'll finally get to what we actually did with our time today. For the most part we just got our bearings and got some basics for the fridge (and some NZ cell phones). The weather was great in the AM but we got to experience the Auckland rain (very cold and windy) in the afternoon--it didn't stop us though! Liam was replaced for much of the day by someone we will call "impostor child". Our sweet, always good, little child was possessed. Clearly these are the consequences of not enough sleep. At one point today, after we let him take a nearly 3 hour nap--we got him up so we could head out for the afternoon and also try to get him back on schedule. That's when Liam screamed over and over again words I never thought I'd hear him say "Liam stay in bed! wahhhhh!" Eventually he seemed to recover once we got him outside. A few pics:

The "Impostor"

Feeling a little better in the rain

Liam loved the rain so much--when we got home he just wanted to hang out in the cold on the balcony

And then he fell asleep--standing up and in the cold =)

We were all asleep by 7 pm--which explains why we are all now up at not quite 5 AM on Monday

I promise my other entries shouldn't be this long! But I will basically be using this as my online journal to chronicle our adventures here, so if you are interested--feel free to stop by and take a peek every once in awhile!

A few Christmas pics

2009-01-18T23:18:00.003-06:00

actually pre-Christmas at the Adolphus Children's Parade

Next to one of his gold clubs--staring in fascination at Rock Band (Daddy is playing it)

Oohhh--herramientas!

My little quarterback

Christmas party at the Brewers with the Connor and Nathan

2009-01-18T23:13:00.002-06:00

At Horseshoe Bay with Mimi and Granddaddy

2008-11-17T22:08:00.003-06:00

At Dr. Reinert's ranch

2008-11-17T22:05:00.002-06:00

Liam at the park

2008-11-17T22:00:00.002-06:00

Halloween at the Tri-Delt house and the McKinsey office

2008-11-17T21:54:00.002-06:00

Pics from state fair 3

2008-10-04T16:07:00.000-05:00

pics from the state fair 2

2008-10-04T16:04:00.000-05:00

Pics from Liam's trip to the State Fair of Texas

2008-10-04T15:57:00.000-05:00

Some funny pics

2008-07-10T21:17:00.003-05:00

Okay--sorry for the complete lack of updates. You won't get much here either unfortunately! But I did want to post a few funny pics of Liam. I'll add some from our Colorado trip and the 4th of July soon!

I love portobellos

2008-06-03T17:58:00.003-05:00

Liam's favorite part of Aunt Kaitlin's wedding was the portobello mushrooms at the reception! Notice I had changed him out of his all white outfit prior to this moment--good thing!

Kaitlin's wedding

2008-06-03T17:53:00.002-05:00

Here are a few pics from Kaitlin's (Josh's sister) wedding:
Kaitlin and Dennis

Delivering the rings (Liam's favorite part!)

Me and Daddy

The Cruikshanks

The Gary's (minus Kaitlin)

Moms Out Loud

2008-05-28T00:06:00.003-05:00

Okay, okay--I know I've been a poor, poor blogger who doesn't keep her promises (how long ago did I commit to updating "this weekend"? Some teaser that was!) And I will fail to offer much in the way of Liam now as well, although I did at least save some new pics off of kodak photo gallery that my mom took and, I swear, I really will post soon!! (how bad is that--this is my first child and I already consistently forget to take pictures and therefore have to rely on getting the pics from my parents or in-laws)

But I'm taking the time to do a quick post now to let all of you moms out there know about my enterprising friend, Rebekah, and her vision. Some of you may have heard me talk about Rebekah. She was my boss at Frito (the best boss ever!) and I actually bought my house from her. This house alone is a testament to her vision (if you've ever had a chance to check out the before and after pics in my hallway.) I never would have been able to see that what was once a complete dump could become the amazing place I call home today--but Rebekah could! So now Rebekah is a mom to two and--as is the case with many natural entrepreneurs--she saw a need and set out to address it!

Rebekah saw a need to build a place where moms could connect--especially with moms they may already know and just not have enough opportunities to connect with. A place where moms could get info on local businesses that would be relevant to them--and from sources they could trust--other moms. Thus--MomsOutLoud.com was born! It's still in the early stages but signing up now allows you to be a part of something from the get go--and it's so fun to watch the idea grow! Plus you get to be a part of defining what MomsOutLoud can ultimately become.

Right now--the focus is Dallas/FortWorth, but of course, Rebekah's vision extends much further. To learn more--check out momsoutloud.com and become a beta mom (keep in mind that the site doesn't officially launch for another month, so at this time you can't use most of the features to come--but you can go ahead and sign up to be a part of it as a beta mom) You should also check out Rebekah's blog (listed in my friends' blogs list) at mykindofmom.com to learn even more about her vision for MomsOutLoud. I hope you'll have as much fun as I've been having living vicariously through my friend as she makes her dream a reality!

Updates--a teaser

2008-04-23T22:37:00.003-05:00

Okay--I admit--I'm a horrible blogger. But for those devoted few who actually still check this now and again--I promise some real updates (at least picture updates) over the next weekend or so. There is so much to catch up on with Easter, Liam's Aunt Kaitlin's wedding, the first haircut and other good stuff! Here's a glimpse of pics to come....

Liam's new use for book shelves....

Wearing mommy's glasses

Liam in his favorite new spot (he always climbs in this thing!) Notice his "cheese" smile. This is definitely his "I'm a little ham" fake smile when he squints like that. I think he's trying to copy mommy's look =)

Liam's first haircut--so exciting and a little scary at the same time! But he looks so grown-up now!

Liam and Granddaddy on the boat at Horseshoe Bay. Liam is in the new lifejacket that Granddaddy bought him. This made for a much more enjoyable boat ride for all vs. the last time we tried this with another lifejacket that Liam found way too constricting!!

More birthday pics

2008-02-17T21:28:00.003-06:00

Well I am finally home from Austria so I'm trying to get the blog updated. Austria was a fantastic time by the way, although I did miss Liam and Josh back home. All went smoothly in my absence thanks to Josh's great parenting and some help from his parents and my friend Courtnye in getting him to day care in the morning (since Josh has to be at work too early) Only bad thing was that Liam was sick one of the first days I was gone. Fortunately, Josh's parents were here to help him out through a very long night! Anyway, here are some additional pics from his birthday party a few weeks ago!

Happy Birthday Liam Layne Gary!

2008-01-28T22:23:00.000-06:00

I can't believe it has been 1 year since our tiny little boy entered the world! I remember thinking that I just couldn't even fathom what life would be like as a mom and now I can't really picture it any other way. Liam has been a blessing and a joy to his entire family and I'm looking forward to all of the years to come!

We celebrated his birthday with a party on Saturday. As you can see from this picture--he thought it was the most exciting event in his short life. =) More pictures to come soon! (including a more well lit version of this one)

More Christmas pics (a little late!)

2008-01-20T22:59:00.000-06:00

Our friend Dominique (who is the mom of Liam's friend to be, (in just a couple of weeks!) Landon)--just sent us these cute pics of Liam at their Christmas party. He was up late partying that night!

Go Mavs!

2008-01-20T22:41:00.000-06:00

We bought Liam a little Mavericks warm-up suit yesterday and it looks so cute on him! You can't see it that well in this pic--it even has "MAVERICKS" on the back! He was just in such a sweet mood today that I had to take some pictures. We were having so much fun playing. Also--he now poses for the camera. He would have a serious look and I would say "Say Cheese, Liam!" and that squinty smile would light up his face!

At long last....updates!

2008-01-13T21:08:00.000-06:00

So after a couple months away, I have finally done a bulk update! You'll need to scroll down all the way to the "Hawaii" post if you want to see all of the new ones. As for a general Liam update....he is crawling around like speedy gonzalez these days! Starting to pull up although no real "cruising" yet. He also finally has some teeth! He started getting both of his two bottom teeth right around 11 months. His first birthday is right around the corner which means a couple of things: 1) He gets a new view of the world when we finally turn his car seat forward 2) He switches off formula and on to whole milk (we're already starting to mix in a little.)

In other Liam news, we were sad to say goodbye to his Nanny Carlene at the end of December. It was getting too tough for her to watch both Liam and Thomas. We're hopeful that Liam will still get to see her some when she babysits on occasion. Sadly, we were having trouble finding a nanny to watch both boys so we decided to split up Thomas and Liam. The Andrews' found a great nanny and we also found a great nanny to watch Liam temporarily (she lives too far to do it long term.) And in a couple of months, Liam will start going to day care 3 days a week (with the other 2 days spent with his GiGi.) We think it will actually be a good thing for Liam since we'd like him to adjust to being around other kids more (and not always being the center of the world!) but he'll still get plenty of one on one time with his GiGi and with us on the weekends.

On the general Gary front, my job is still going great and I'll actually be headed to Austria in a month to be on faculty for a training program. It will be a lot of fun but I'll miss Liam and Josh a ton! Josh just switched to the VA (after 6 months at Scottish Rite and Children's) and I have to say--call is much better!

That's all here!!

Granddaddy's future hunting buddy!

2008-01-13T21:04:00.000-06:00

Here are some pics of Liam in one of his Christmas presents from Granddaddy, a camo fleece! For some reason he is squinting his left eye a ton so he looks a little "one-eyed willy" but he's still cute!!

Hanging out with the McClendon and the Gibbons families!

2008-01-13T19:35:00.000-06:00

We finally had a chance to catch up with Josh's two best friends from high school (Steven and Michael) and their families. We go way too long between visits! I think it's a little surreal to all of them that they now hang out with their wives and kids! Thank you Sundey for the pic which I blatantly stole from your blog and thanks for the shout out--I feel practically famous!

Liam's First Christmas!

2008-01-13T19:31:00.001-06:00

Liam Christmas morning with his new play table (it has a piano on it!)

Liam and Aunt Kaitlyn on Christmas Eve

Pre-Christmas festivities

2008-01-13T19:21:00.001-06:00

The build up to Christmas was a ton of fun with a Christmas dinner with Gram and Gramps, Santa at the Cooksey's, and plenty of time to play with the Christmas tree with Thomas! (my buddy who I shared a nanny with)

Thanksgiving

2008-01-13T19:07:00.000-06:00

We had a great Thanksgiving with both families this year! My parents, brother, and Grandma B (dad's mom) came to visit and we joined the Gary's for Thanksgiving at their house in Rockwall.

I'm so cute!

Cruikshank Christmas card picture

Mmmmmm! This stuffing is great!

Hanging out with Grandma B.

Our trip to Hawaii

2008-01-13T19:00:00.000-06:00

So I am finally updating the blog and I'm starting by sharing a few pics from our trip to Kauai (2 months ago!) It was Josh and I's first real vacation together in almost two years! It was hard being away from Liam for a week but we knew he was in good hands with his Mimi (my mom.) Unfortunately, Mimi got more than she bargained for when Liam got his first major cold plus an ear infection in each ear two days before we left. Then, to top it all off, the cat got sick too. So at 8 am the morning we flew out, I was at the vet's office trying to get them to see poor Abby without an appointment so that she could get her much needed kitty meds! Thankfully, despite all that--all seemed to go well in our absence. Although I'm pretty sure mom was ready to have a full night's rest again once we got back and took our sick baby off her hands! So enjoy a few of our pics and I would highly recommend Kauai as a vacation spot if you want a combo of a "lay around on the beach" vacation (Josh's style) and a "Do some fun things" vacation (my style.)

For everyone out there who thinks Liam looks like "Josh Jr."....

2007-11-11T22:20:00.000-06:00

Apparently Sundey was right on in her comment that Liam looks like a complete mix of Josh and I! I stole this from the Gibbons' blog. Isn't it cool?

Liam's 9 month check up

2007-11-06T07:40:00.000-06:00

Just thought I'd post Liam's stats from his doctor's appointment yesterday:

Weight: 19lbs 11oz, 45% Length: 28 1/4, 50% Head: 17 3/4, 50%

So my little boy--who for the first 6 months was way off the charts on the bottom (<5% on weight) is now smack dab in the middle! Pretty average, just like his parents!

My little baby is growing up!

2007-11-04T21:50:00.001-06:00

So I don't have any video--but I'll add it soon. My sweet baby is crawling! Just in time for his 9 month doctor's appointment he finally managed to move from the "1 crawl and then frog-legs"--to the "I can go across the room--look at me mommy!" stage.

I also had to go and buy 4 (yes--4!!) new car seats today since Liam is outgrowing his infant seat. Unlike the infant seat-convertible car seats don't let you buy one seat and multiple bases. So for every one of Liam's care givers--I had to buy a seat (Nanny, GiGi, me, and Josh.) Ugh. The lady at Babies R Us kept asking me if I wanted gift receipts- because what kind of person buys 4 car seats for themselves?!

Also, this weekend our Sunday School class had our family picnic. The weather was beautiful and we got a great pic of Liam and his little friend Whit (2 weeks his senior) going tandem on the baby swing! It was Liam's first time to swing and he got a kick out of it!

Diary of crazy working mommy

2007-11-04T21:33:00.000-06:00

Okay--so I like to think I usually have it all pulled together nicely. In general, I feel I've achieved a pretty good balance in my life despite working full time and still having to travel on occasion. No--the house does not always look as nice as I'd like it and I'm terrible about keeping the blog and the baby book updated--but I feel like I get to spend plenty of time with Liam (not always as much time as I'd like with Josh but that's partly because of his job) and I love my job (and this is the first time in a long time--probably ever--that I can say that!) However, I still have my moments....here is a little evidence of that...

"What?" you think, "how can that be evidence of anything but how cute Chase and Liam look in their Halloween costumes?" Well, well my friend--the issue is that in this picture Liam is a chile pepper..great costume-but Liam was supposed to be a dragon! That's Chase's costume from last year that he's wearing!!

Yes--crazy mommy that I am--I realize half an hour into our traffic plagued 1 hour drive to Plano on Halloween night that Liam's sweet little dragon costume is still sitting in the kitchen! In my craze to get everything ready after flying in from LA that afternoon--I managed to walk out the door without it. At this point, it's way too late to turn around so I'm just stuck feeling sorry for myself and the fact that I've ruined my son's first Halloween. Overdramatic? Of course--after all Liam could care less if he's dressed up in some goofy costume--but it still upset me. Fortunately, the always thoughful Thompsons came to the rescue. They dug out Chase's costume from last year (gender neutral fortunately!) and let Liam borrow it. My heroes!

And Liam and Chase (a darling flamingo) had a great time-- so I was upset for nothing!

Adults-only Halloween!

2007-11-04T21:26:00.000-06:00

Don't worry--no risque pics here! Just some pics of the 3rd year residents and wives from the Ortho Halloween Party. Josh and I had the weekend at home alone while Liam's GiGi and PawPaw (Josh's parents) took him to visit his Mimi and Granddaddy (my parents)in Horseshoe Bay. This gave Josh and I plenty of time to prep for the Saturday pre-party at our house before heading over to the big event at Across the Street Bar. Every year the 3rd year residents are in charge of planning the event and they also do a group costume. This year's costume was "tennis greats". See if you can pick out who's who!

The Dallas Arboretum Pumpkin Patch!

2007-11-04T21:22:00.000-06:00

Liam was in a mellow mood and refusing to smile. I think he was hungry. Who can blame him? I wouldn't smile if I was hungry either!

Anderson's 2nd birthday and Liam's 1st trip to the zoo!

2007-11-04T21:18:00.000-06:00

I don't know how we managed to leave with no pics with the b-day boy and his parents, Michael and Sundey. Probably because all of Anderson's fun new toys were far more entertaining to him than any of us!

First trip to the State Fair of Texas!

2007-11-04T21:07:00.000-06:00

It was a beautiful Tuesday night with the Thompsons (Eric, Elyse, and Chase!) Liam especially loved the petting zoo--see his pic with with camel--who's nose he kept tring to pick--ewwww!

Liam's "faux-hawk"

2007-11-04T21:03:00.000-06:00

Liam, his faux-hawk, and Nanny Carlene!

FINALLY updating the blog!!

2007-11-04T20:41:00.000-06:00

So much to add after over a month without posts! I'll attempt to cover the highlights. I'll start with a few old pics that haven't made it on here yet...

Liam with PawPaw in his hippo float. Can you tell how much he loves to swim!

My little dude in his goofy sunglasses--this is about the only time he has ever let me put them on him!

"Looking" at mom's yearbook before my 10 year h.s. reunion---hmmm--who is that nerdy person he's reading about?

"Watching" the Cowboy's game

2007-09-16T23:18:00.000-05:00

This is what I came home to after returning from the grocery store this afternoon!

Dr. Liam

2007-09-16T23:08:00.000-05:00

Here is Liam in his scrubs. Josh wanted him to hold a knife for these pics to show he is a surgeon (he was dead serious in this request)--I quickly vetoed. Besides, everyone who knows Liam knows that if he's any kind of doctor it will be a vet! He loves animals--especially his sister kitty, Abby.

Oh and notice that he's sticking his

tongue out in a couple of these--that's his latest trick!

SMU games are sooooo exciting!

2007-09-14T16:50:00.000-05:00

I like to eat wild game!

2007-09-13T22:48:00.000-05:00

Nonnie and Mom's visit

2007-09-13T22:47:00.001-05:00

Trip to New Orleans

2007-09-13T22:39:00.000-05:00

We took Liam to meet Josh's Aunt Opal and Uncle Max down in New Orleans. Unfortunately, we have no pictures with them! I need to get better at this photo-snapping!

Liam month by month

2007-09-13T22:38:00.000-05:00

I can't find 5 months!

Bad Blogger!

2007-08-09T21:52:00.001-05:00

Okay--I officially admit it--I am a terrible blogger. I am so bad about updating this thing!! I am very quick to blame it on my job but that's only part of it. The reality of it is that since I'm not home with Liam all the time--when I'm here--all I want to be doing is cuddling with him. And when he's finally asleep (not that it's hard to get him to sleep--he's such a good baby!) but when he is asleep, I want to be spending time with Josh. So all of that to say--I suck at keeping this thing updated--because if I'm spending time in front of the computer--I'm usually doing work. The exception is moments like these when my work computer sits open in the other room, a half written speech lighting up the screen, and I sit here in the study--explaining my lack of blog updates and procrastinating. Okay--to be nice--I'll leave you with a few pictures and a promise to update soon. Now it's back to writing that speech!

More fun at Horseshoe Bay

2007-07-26T21:58:00.001-05:00

I love to swim with mommy!

This bath is kind of funny!

Trying out rice cereal

2007-07-26T21:52:00.001-05:00

2007-07-26T20:53:00.000-05:00

Liam's baptism weekend

Liam hanging out

2007-06-23T10:24:00.000-05:00

There's nothing cuter than a baby in camo long johns!

Liam's first cubs game!

2007-06-23T10:16:00.000-05:00

His daddy was a little disappointed that Liam's first Cubs game wasn't at Wrigley--but the Ballpark was a decent substitute--and the Cubs won! You can probably tell by Liam's flushed cheeks--it was a tad hot. And notice all of the lovely spit up on Josh in the pics!

Liam--month by month

2007-05-08T23:09:00.000-05:00

Liam 1 month
Liam 2 months
Liam 3 months

Liam 4 months--he's finally starting to look a little chubbier!

At the Dallas Arboretum

2007-04-28T22:06:00.000-05:00

My sweet little Texas baby--in the bluebonnets!

2007-04-19T08:33:00.000-05:00

Bath time!

2007-04-19T08:31:00.000-05:00

Chillin' with my bear

2007-04-15T10:17:00.000-05:00

I love my bear! It smells so good that it helps me calm down--like a trip to the spa...thanks Mrs. Matthewson!

Hanging out in my Bumbo!

2007-04-15T09:46:00.000-05:00

Visit from Mimi and Granddaddy and trip to Houston

2007-04-15T09:43:00.000-05:00

Catching up on Liam's first few months

2007-04-14T23:03:00.000-05:00

Since I'm only just now starting this blog and Liam is nearly 3 months old, here is a slide show of moments early on in his life. From here on out I'll post more recent pics.

2007-04-14T22:56:00.000-05:00

Liam's first 4 days in the world! (and Josh's first foray into the world of video production)

Welcome

2007-04-14T22:40:00.000-05:00

well I've decided to create this blog so that our friends and family can watch Liam grow up along with us! If you know me well, you know that I've never been successful at keeping a journal unless I was receiving a grade for it (Senior year english class!) so I expect this blog will be less talk, more pictures. I'll try my best to update it as regularly as possible though. Enjoy!