How many times have you heard the phrase, “It’s important to be a tourist in your own town”, or something like it? I’ve heard it a lot. When we first moved to New Zealand, it was fun and easy to be a tourist in Auckland. Everything was new to us and we wanted to see… Read More Living in New Zealand: Tourists in Your Own Town
We love to read to Joe. Even before he was born, I was already buying books for him. Thankfully, I had the foresight to buy most of them from our library’s withdrawn books sale. They’re already banged up, so I don’t mind if Joe tosses them around, crawls on them, bends (or rips!) the pages,… Read More Dreamboat Books
I do not have a gentle child. He loves to crawl and bang into things and beat his palms on the floor (or on me). He loves to grab and yank and drop and yell. He burps and passes gas and laughs at me when I say, “No”. I’m serious – if I say “no”,… Read More Duck Bites
I thought that I was being so smart. Daylight savings time is coming to an end here in New Zealand. I was already dreading the effect that turning the clock back 1 hour would have on Joe. I envisioned him waking up at 4am, ready and raring to face the day. No thanks. I decided… Read More The End of Daylight Savings Time
When we first moved to NZ, one of the things we were told was that the traffic in Auckland was horrible. It’s not. Well, not compared with Boston. Or New York. Now that’s terrible traffic. Traffic here just seems like regular, big-city traffic, the likes of what you’d expect in a country’s largest city, but… Read More Living in New Zealand: Give Way Rules
Here’s how things usually go when Chris and I try to watch a movie: Me – I feel like watching a movie. Chris – What do you want to watch? Me – I don’t know… you pick something. Chris – (sigh) Here we go… He then proceeds to start picking all sorts of movies: Kung… Read More Watching Movies With Chris
New Zealand truly is a beautiful country, but just like anywhere, it’s got its share of pigs: That’s a photo via the NZ Herald, showing just how piggy people can be. This is in front of a McDonald’s in downtown Auckland. It doesn’t normally look like this, but add in an event, lots of people,… Read More Here, Piggy Piggy, and Wet Weather, too!
One of the main reasons (that I hear) people offering up for moving to New Zealand is that they’re looking for a simpler lifestyle with a better work-life balance. New Zealand does a great job at providing employees with vacation time and encouraging them to take it (I believe that employees here are entitled to… Read More Living in New Zealand: Work-Life Balance
Pavlova is a quintessential Kiwi dessert. Named after ballerina Anna Pavlova’s tour of New Zealand around the 1920s, it used to have hotly contested origins, but has recently been accepted as a distinctly NZ creation. The first time that I had pavlova was when we were still living in the States. My sister-in-law, Becca, researched… Read More Pavlova Love
Somewhere between our apartment and Westfield’s, there is a little lost monkey pillow. It was Joe’s neck pillow, and it went just about everywhere he went. Bye-bye, little monkey! You served us well.
Dear Joseph, You’re 9 months old, baby! You are such a sweet, creative, smart, strong little boy. I’m so happy that you’re our son and that we have the privilege of raising you 🙂 Movement In addition to crawling everywhere and getting into everything, you’ve also started “cruising”, or moving around while standing and holding… Read More 9 Months
I’m tired today. I worked my first 12 hour shift in over a year yesterday and, unfortunately, my bus home was late. This means that I got home just before midnight, and was so keyed up from my shift that I wasn’t asleep till nearly 2am. Joe was bright eyed and bushy tailed a few… Read More Getting Over Monday
I absolutely love that I can shop for groceries from the comfort of my own home. It’s not just an issue of convenience. For me (and for many other parents) it’s a matter of preserving our sanity. Taking Joe to the grocery requires a certain amount of coordination. That coordination jumps up a level when… Read More Living in New Zealand: Online Grocery Shopping!
There are some days where I look like a hot mess. I didn’t shower the day before, Joe woke up before I could take a shower after running the next morning, and now it’s 11am and my hair is, in a word, icky. What to do, what to do. Time for the sock bun! Easy,… Read More The Sock Bun
Something strange is going on around here… Changes are taking place in our apartment… “Things” are happening… Our apartment is not our own anymore! Basic, everyday functions have been hampered… We. are. baby-proofing! And all because of this guy: It’s up to us to protect him from himself 🙂
Apparently, writing a post at the end of the day after a glass of wine and a busy couple of hours in the Emergency Room isn’t always the best idea. Or maybe it is. I don’t know, but I feel the need to clarify, and that’s probably my fault. When I said that I didn’t… Read More A Clarification
I sometimes forget that not everyone who reads this blog has followed it from the beginning. As a result, there are probably a few of you who wonder what made us decide to pick up and move across the globe to New Zealand. We moved here for a pretty straightforward reason – Chris, my husband,… Read More Living in New Zealand: Why We Moved Here
Just a few photos of my funny baby boy 🙂
I tried a new recipe tonight. And you know what? It was sooooo good. Healthy, too. And yes, it was pizza. And I love pizza. You should try it. It’s pretty easy. And the crust? There’s no grains in there – it’s made from cauliflower. Cauliflower. Check it out. This is what fresh cauliflower looks… Read More Pizza Made From Cauliflower? Yes, Please!
I love that Joe loves to eat. It’s wonderful, but it’s also a lot of work. There have been times where I’ve missed the ease of a solely breastfed baby, but I’m also appreciating the bit of freedom that it’s given me. I try to keep his meals as simple and economical as possible. My… Read More Adventures in Baby Food: Banana Sweet Potato Bites
