The eve of moving house

Yes finally this is the last night prior to moving into our own home. A good date for a move with tomorrow being 1 March. We are very excited about it - altho D probably too tired to think. The wardrobes are in (doors still to be attached), appliances & dining table have been delivered and couches will be delivered tomorrow. Still to do some skirting and window sills, as well as painting the bathroom so plumber and sparky can complete this. So for moment will be using garage toilet and shower (no bath for Alexa!). But hey who cares! Plus of course the many odd jobs that having your own home means. I am keen to get into the garden and grow some veges for the first time.

We will miss our Taka residence - Anne's cooking, lots of stairs for A to climb, evening wine before our meal, and the care of both A&J. We couldn't have had better.

Looking forward we have some exciting times - David starts work on Monday, our wedding on 10th in Taupo, the larger celebration the following weekend on 17th at Te Puke near my folks, and then I will start looking for work.

Our move may mean blog updates are fewer than usual as we haven't connected to Internet yet. But will try my best on trips back to Taka. Promise to send finish pics of house & wedding etc.

Tinkling the Ivories

Starting young but she already shows a desire to be musical... if she could only just reach the keys. Luckily she has her older cousin Ethan (7) to show her what to do. He is very good at remembering tunes and playing them to an enthralled (Alexa that is) audience.

Alexa's First Birthday

Sat 24th we had a small party for Alexa at our new home - nope we still haven't moved in yet, but we could picnic on the lawn with plastic plates. There were 9 of us at the party; us 3, both Grandparents, and Alexa's Great Grandpa and Jenny. Alexa absolutely loved being centre of attention and after being passed from one to the other, at her demand, showed us her latest tricks learned from day care. Then it was presents time and she loved her first pressie from Mum & Dad - A wooden cart filled with shaped blocks and perfect as a baby walker. She is enjoying being on her feet and loves being walked around - this will do the job without us having to bend over holding her hands. Here she is showing Dad her pressies, and then high fiving after her first taste of chocolate. I think we can all agree she likes it!

The Bathroom

The bathroom didn't have a shower, only a bath. So we have ripped the whole thing out (vanity, toilet, tiles and all) and replaced it with a shower over bath, plus new fittings. Pic 1 - (top left) the original bathroom; Pic 2 ripping it all up; Pic 3 the walls being waterproofed prior to tiling.

Master Bedroom

The Master Bedroom is a lovely large and light room. You can see the door out to the hall and in Pic 1 you are looking at an old wardrobe and drawers built in with a smaller wardrobe (half width) just to the left of the door to the hall. We decided to remove the drawers and expand the wardrobe adding byfold doors. The half width wardrobe we have closed up and can be accessed from the spare room next door. Next steps for us are to paint and recarpet. That is next week's task! Will show you photos once all done.

What have we been doing?

We have spent the last 2 months working hard on our house with the hope of moving in 24 Feb. It has meant we have been very antisocial - but for a good cause. Soon we will be settled into our house and can enjoy the rest of summer. The house is a 1930 bungalow with lovely features - high ceilings, matai floors.

These three shots show the changes to the kitchen looking thru to the lounge. All shots are taken looking at the same space. We have pulled up the carpet exposing the Matai floorboards, removed the wooden skirting and detailing and replaced it with a skirting the fits the era of the house. Most of our time has been spent painting the walls racing to a deadline of having it completed before the 'floorman' comes in to sand and polish the floors. We have lots of help from Anne, John, Lynne, and David's cousin Jon and g'friend Grace.

Pic 1 shows the original look, pic 2 we have added the new skirting and also cutting back the brick from the fire to expose more floor area. Pic 3 and we are almost complete. D is putting the finishing touches to the feature wall. Sorry for the clarity of this image - I think I had grubby hands from sanding!

Latest tricks

Alexa is now standing, crawling at a fast pace and chatting in her own language. Yesterday she had her first day at daycare. I dropped her off at 9, coming inside to play with her for the first 30mins, then I left her happily playing. She was mostly pretty happy only crying when it was time for her sleep. I think I found it harder than she did. I have booked her in for 2 days per week for the moment, and will increase it to 3 when they have availability and I find work. Here she is helping Dad open his mail.

A hot day

Alexa and I recently took a trip to Pukehina to see my parents, while David stayed in Akl working on the house. It was a hot and muggy day, so midday we emptied Alexa's toy box and she had a 'paddle' outside. We are encouraging her to drink more water, which she isn't very good at doing. Here she is sitting up in the highchair that Gran found and recovered G'dad is trying to get her to sip from a teaspoon. We tried flavouring the water with lime juice and orange juice, then I saw Carly drinking out of a sipper bottle that has a silicone straw. This has seemed to do the trick with A, and she is happy to drink lots of water now from this.