We had our last visit with our midwife yesterday, which was a little late, but we still wanted to get together! (Usually Midwives only see their patients until 6 weeks old here, then you get assigned to a Plunket nurse who is also called a "well child nurse." They watch over the kids here until about 5 years of age and do regular checkups to make sure the kids are healthy. If they are ever sick or need shots--then they go to a doctor.) I am going to miss my midwife soo much!! My views and thoughts about midwives, birth, and doctors have changed so much since coming to New Zealand--it's going to be weird going back to the states that is for sure! Well, maybe not weird...but definitely different. Paxton weighed in at 12 lbs 6 oz. and is 24 inches long. So since his appt. last week he has gained a whole pound AND grew an inch. w.o.w. I know people warn you all the time that your kids grow so fast (and I've seen it in so many of my nieces and nephews!) but really, this is ridiculous! Slow down! :D Just kidding... (kindof)--it's so fun to watch him grow and learn right before my eyes!! I feel truly blessed to be able to spend every day with him!!!!
I thought I would post that video so you guys could see him in all his cuteness (I'm pretty biased but what can I say?) AND... yeah....I'm really embarrassed about the dusty fireplace (which I didn't even know about until I watched this video)--we've had birds flying into our chimney and flapping around in all the ashes and the dust must leak out of it...stupid birds. We took a little road trip last Saturday to Castle Hill. We had been there before when my mom was here, but I didn't go out of the car to see it due to the weather and Pax needed some foodies. Paul had the day off and it's nice to get away from the farm and the house and not feel like you have to work or do things--so we just left! It was such a beautiful day and this area is truly amazing!! Apparently the station that it's on is for sale, so, if your interested--it can be YOURS! :)
It's weird to be in April and it be Fall. We would probably normally have around similar temperatures to back home but it's been SUPER lovely out last week and this week as well! The leaves on the trees are all changing colors and is really pretty, but it's definitely not as beautiful as falls in Michigan! You don't see nearly the amount of color differences, but here the grass is still really green everywhere! We still haven't gotten a frost, and I am getting heaps of tomatoes everyday--which is nice, but I'm running out of uses for them!!
It's now officially 28 days until we leave for home--Yikes!!! I'm definitely getting excited about seeing everyone again!! Pax can't wait to come "home" too...even though he's never been there...he's still excited I can tell! Love you all!
(this is from my Mom and Paul's trip to Castle Hill but it's a better picture of what is there and how huge these boulders are!)
weight and length:
11lbs 4 oz and 23.6 inches
nicknames:
Pax, Paxman,Bubby, Bubbers, Pooperscooper, Doodey, Sir Pax-a-lot, little man, big guy, shmoopy, buddy
likes:
"tarzan" Wubanub (Thanks Auntie Kara!), being cuddled, your HANDS! being patted on the back, bath time, playing the "beep beep" game with your pipey, listening to music, your bouncy seat, mommy and daddy reading to you, following around your new buzzy bee, smiling, Lady Antebellum song: Never Alone--it's your fav. right up there with the blessing song
dislikes:
being put down for naps awake, not moving while in your car seat, immunizations, waking up and realizing your sleeping far away from mom or dad, having poopeys in the middle of the night, the checkout line in the supermarket Other Pax-isms:
you are gettting soo big! your 3 month pj's are getting really tight on you vertically....not horizontally--so you wear this little sleeping bag type thing alot--you seem to like it.
you wake up at least twice a night
we just started really "implementing" babywise right now---hopefully you'll sleep through the night soon--ish
(we can hope right?)
you usually wake yourself up in the middle of night trying to poo so I go and get you and help you relieve your little trapped gas, (it's sad, but really cute at the same time)
you suck on your hands like it's nobody's business....it's adorable--you might get your whole fist in there soon :)
happy 2 months little buddy we love you!
Happy Easter to everyone back home!!!! What a wonderful weekend to celebrate the death of our Savior on a cross and his resurrection from the grave--to overcome sin, death, so that we may live forever with Him! Praise be his Name!!!!!! I wonder do you know my Savior? This clip is a wonderful video partially describing who He is--I encourage you to watch it. I say "partially" because I don't think we can ever fully understand or describe Him. He's so amazing--so loving--so incredible. Do you know him? He knows you, and died for you because he loves you. OH HAPPY DAY!
Yesterday, we went to our church and had an amazing Easter service with involved one of our friends we met here getting baptized. It was so awesome to see! Praise God! Also, it was a blessing because Paxton slept the whole service! (2 hours) It was pretty great! I really don't mind leaving the service to go nurse or to calm him so that we don't distract people--I can still listen to the sermon and worship just the same--but sometimes it's really great to sit next to my hubby and worship and learn along with the whole church...ya know? Well, I'll be thankful for each service I can enjoy now that we have a baby :)
Next, we spent the rest of the day with Andy and Tricia and their family and had a wonderful day! The weather was beautiful!!! Paxton also enjoyed (somewhat--he was a little cranky...) being held by the many friends, Nana's and aunties. :)
Why else was this a WONDERFUL weekend? Well we have a new addition to our family! Wade and Christi welcomed little Easton Creed on April 6. He's so cute and we can't wait to have all kinds of cuddles with him! Please keep them in your prayers as they adjust to life with another little one and that his broken collar bone will heal quickly! Poor little buddy!
 This was a screen shot of Easton while we were skyping!!! HI EASTON! WE LOVE YOU! Also, this week marks Pax's seven weeks of life--so it's time for another picture!! This week Pax will be headed to the doctor to get some immunizations and a check up from the Doctor. So we're starting off the week with a bang! (Update on shots: overall, it went well, they gave me this HUGE bottle of Tylenol--for free--swwweeet--and we did end up needing it later in the day--poor buddy--he definitely got lots of extra cuddles and kisses from Mommy that day!)
Love you all and hoping you had an amazing Easter weekend like we did!!!!  cutie  Visiting Dad at work!  Happy boy in his bouncer
Back here we are ANXIOUSLY awaiting the arrival of our newest niece or nephew...so while we wait I thought I would post something about our trip to the North Island! (this could end up being a long post due to all the pictures I want to include!)
Everyone whom I had talked to had told me that the South Island was their favorite, so I wasn't really expecting much when we were going to Auckland, but this was probably one of my most favorite trips so far!! (probably due to the two handsome men I got to go with)
We arrived on friday afternoon and got our rental car and headed into downtown Auckland to get Paxton's citizenship and passport all figured out, which it went really well, and little Pax is now an American and can travel back into his country. Yippy! The rest of the day we spent touring around the Marina and a little bit into the city, but we aren't really city folk, so we stuck around the Marina and dream built on all kinds of big boats :)
The next day we headed up into the Coromandel peninsula and stopped at a Holiday Park on Hahei Beach. Our little condo was right near the beach so that was fun. We walked to Cathedral Cove, which was used for the beginning scenes in Narnia (Prince Caspian). We thought it was just going to be a quick walk on the beach, so Paul decided to not wear his shoes....turns out you have to go over this GIANT hill up and down rocky paths...oops. but it was beautiful and worth the pain! (right paul?)
Paul's favorite
Paul and Paxton on the beach
Cathedral Cove
After that we headed down to Ngatea to visit a family who Paul had met in MO a few years ago. They own a bit of Dairy farms in NZ and other places as well, and they let us stay with them for the night. We were planning on heading back up to the beautiful Coromandel peninsula, and after staying at their beautiful beyond beautiful house they offered to let us stay at their apartment in Whitianga, which was right on Mercury Bay. We didn't really have plans in stone so we decided to go up there and relax for a few days. It was BEAUTIFUL! Not only does the Coromandel have beautiful drives, but also beautiful beaches! It was so nice to just relax and enjoy the beautiful views from the apartment. Not to mention Paul enjoyed the large Yachts coming and going out of the Marina. Paul went Kayaking during low tide and brought us back some mussels to eat for dinner, and another night, Paul splurged and we got a really nice meal at a restaurant right at the Marina called SALT. yummmmy! Unfortunately Paxton decided he wanted to eat most of the time while we were there, but it was still a great time! Whitianga is now probably our most favorite spot in New Zealand. It's such a neat town, not too touristy, and just really really beautiful. (I think it helped that we stayed at such a nice place, but still...right now it ranks pretty high on our list)
View out of the Apartment in Whitianga
Paul, bringin' in our dinner :)
Mussels.....not really fond of them, but filled my tummy none the less
sunrise from our appt.
After that, we headed down to Rotorua to check out the "thermal-ness" of the place. It has geysers and hot pools, and bubbling mud all over the place, and it a pretty central place of Maori (the NZ natives) culture. We ended up being able to see the geysers right from our hotel room, so we saved the $50 it would have taken to go see them :) We walked around a park to see all the bubbling mud, and steamy pools. It was really neat to see, but really, Rotorua just smelled like rotten eggs--at least it has some cool sights! And finally to end our trip, we went to the most awesomest beyond awesome place in New Zealand....are you ready for it....HOBBITON!!!!!! AKA the SHIRE! (Non Lord of the Rings Fans, this is your cue to stop reading...because you won't appreciate the rest of this, tata!) Even before we came to New Zealand I have wanted to go to the Shire and see all the cute Hobbit Holes, and finally my dream came true!!!! Paul is not a Lord of the Rings fan like myself, so he "offered" to stay back, save a few bucks, watch Paxton, and not go on the tour. But...he definitely missed out in my opinion. They are currently filming the Hobbit in New Zealand right now, and finished filming in Hobbiton back in November. The movie people left up all the Hobbit Holes and the whole village up just for touring. It was so awesome! I think there are over 70 little homes and it's so cool. None of the holes are finished in the inside, that filming was all done in a studio. It was so neat to be there, then to come home and watch the 1st movie, and see all the places I was at....yup I felt peeeerrrty special. :D I could go on and on about how much I enjoyed this trip and tour, but I'll stop and just post some pictures of it!
Hobbiton--Bagend is at the top of the hill.
part of the village
Sam's house!!!!
real gardens and everything!
Bilbo's house!
After Hobbiton, we took our time getting back to Auckland, driving through Hamilton and Cambridge. Pax slept pretty much the whole flight back as well as the hour drive back to our house in Ashburton. It was such a wonderful and memorable trip! Thanks for Reading!
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