Monday 20 August 2012

Daily Photo Challenge - Week 33

Wow 33 weeks down, just 17 to go.  And 8 weeks till I become a mum of 2!

This week has been a mixed week, I managed to get a couple of shots I liked, and others were just snapshots of our day to day lives.

Saturday afternoon we spent a lovely couple of hours at the beach (we are fortunately to live very close to Woodhill Forest which has beach access that is very quiet compared to Muriwai ten minutes up the road).  Ash had so much fun being a terror and I was fortunate enough to get some nice shots with him in some spectacular light.  Spring feels like it is in the air - hopefully summer hurries up (and we get rid of this god awful rain!).

So that all said, here are my shots for the week :)

Running to see the lions...

Launch pad

Mum has a wee addiction... 
You tube - enough said

No. 2

Early mornings through Riverhead Forest

Rimmers Rd



Saturday 11 August 2012

Daily Photo Challenge - Week 32

This week has been a good week for me.  Every night I have consciously tried to extend myself a little more with my camera instead of just doing snapshots.  Lots of photos taken, not so many made it through the cut - I hate that my SLR only goes to 1600 ISO which makes anything in artificial light nearly impossible.  BUT on the upside, when we get home at we've managed to catch some of that beautiful afternoon light before it disappears.

I have only five weeks left of work before I become full time mum again which I am super excited about - more than anything because I'm (hoping) it will make it easier to get shots during the day.  I'm not one who likes to hang around home much with Mr A so I'm looking forward to a few adventures before number 2 decides to enter the world.

This week a good friend of mine gave birth to a beautiful little girl (see August 8th).  Meeting her and giving her cuddles has given made me really look forward to our number 2 - this pregnancy I've been focused on everything else going on our in our lives I haven't actually comprehended that there is indeed another little being inside my tum.  And meeting baby Khloe has just reinvigorated the desire to become a mum again, and now I have a feeling these last nine weeks are going to drag when the last 31 have disappeared so quickly.

I hope you enjoy my daily snippets :)



Dessert

Puppy Love

Peek a boo with Benson

Beautiful Khloe

My gorgeous wee man
Last light

Swimming bomb


Sunday 5 August 2012

Daily Photo Challenge - Week 31

Wow another week over, and we're definitely heading towards the end of winter.  The days are slightly warmer (and also much wetter), and there appears to be a little more light at the end of the day.

This week has been another busy week, and this weekend I came to the realisation we only have ten more weeks before number 2 arrives.  Our spare bedroom is very much a full functioning office housing all our Smith & Sons franchise gear, as well as my beloved Mac, and another massive corner desk.  Upon a total freak out of my half, hubby helped me clear out a heap of stuff and we moved the change table from Ash's room into the office.  Even this very small token has made me feel more prepared - it means I can start getting his room ready for a big boy bed, and slowly transition the office into a baby room.  We still haven't actually figured out where we're going to put everything (we live in a 80m squared house!!), so our already small lounge/living/dining area is about to obtain a massive office desk and Mac to boot.  The plus side will mean when editing etc I can be with Bryce, but it also means Mr Nosy will have full access to my other baby 24/7 which is not ideal.  It also means the office paraphernalia which manages to fill an entire room will now encroach even more on our relaxation space but at the moment we just don't have much choice!

Photography wise I've tried to chill out a little bit this week.  I've been using my phone more and am amazed at the quality of pictures it takes.  It will certainly never replace my SLR but at least its nice to have something that can be there at all times of the day when the SLR is not.

Here are the photos for the week :)

Feeding the ducks

Rainbow (Northern Motorway)

My little tiger (Raaar)

Kisses for bubba

Sleepy sausage

Taking the car for a spin

The baby's room (a work in progress!)

Wednesday 1 August 2012

Daily Photo Challenge - Week 30

Another week over - and another week of snapshots!!  Last week was massively busy, (please see rant in previous post if you really want to know why), but every day is a day closer to December 31st :)

Back home to the toot toots

The baby made me do it (I would like to add this wasn't in one sitting I promise!)

Home from the car hospital 
Superman

Our very full lemon tree

29 Weeks...

Drying Benson after his bath

The "Please Feel Sorry for Me" Rant :)

So I'm a little behind this week - the busyness of every day life has taken hold and I just haven't managed to get my project online.

To give some perspective, here is a run down of my general day.

6am: hubby gets in shower, I lie in bed wishing for a few more minutes of shut eye.  When hubby is out of shower I'm normally stumbling around looking for something that will actually fit around my belly.  He gets Ash up, one of us dresses him, the other one gets toast in the toaster

6:20am: If its a good day Ash and I are both eating toast by this stage, hubby is normally looking for shoes, my phone, my wallet or anything I appear to have lost in the 12 hours I've been at home (I really really do have a fantastic hubby!)

6:40am: Ash and I are out the door, normally with a lot of yelling because we're never running on time, and Ash always wants to do something - change his shoes, play with a ball, not go out in the dark... whatever you can think of as an excuse he will come up with.  We begin our 50 minute commute to work

7:30am: Depending on how ludicrous traffic has been we will usually be walking up the hill to my office where Ash will want to watch Wheels on the Bus and I will catch up on emails.  If we're lucky Ash's on again off again girlfriend Stella will be there and they play while Stella's mum and I catch up

8am: Drop off, and my work day really starts.  If I'm lucky I get a lunch break but most days my break consists of venturing to the office cafe and eating at my desk.  But then I again I leave early so to get my 40 hours in I need to skip lunch

4pm: Pick up/wrestle from daycare, and it normally takes 25 mins getting down the dam hill because Ash never wants to leave daycare

5:30pm: Rock in the door, start Ash's dinner.  If hubby is home he helps out massively, sometimes its just me on my own and I hate those nights - Ash is grumpy, I'm tired, belly is wriggly - its just not a good time!

6:30pm: One of us cooks our dinner while the other one bathes Ash.

7pm: Bottle and bed for the tired wee man, and then hubby and I start doing paperwork for the business with dinner plate in hand.  This normally sees us through until about 9:30/10pm where we will finally roll into bed to do it all again the next day.

Being a full time working mum is the hardest thing I've ever done.  Managing a business on top of that has been even harder, and I don't think people actually realise how involved I am with the day to day running of the business.  This year has been one of the hardest of our lives, and while adding pregnancy into the mix wasn't really part of the plan I actually wouldn't change a thing.  Although as crazy as it sounds I'm actually looking forward to having a newborn, as it will enable me (hopefully!) to slow down during the day (well in the sense I don't have to do that dam commute!), and also being able to commit my brain to just being a mum and a business owner rather than throwing my 40 hour a week job in the mix as well.

So now I've had my rant hopefully people will realise why I complain about being busy every dam week of this challenge, and also why I'm running a little late for the last couple of weeks :)

Thanks for reading x

 

Daily Photo Challenge - Week 29

Aaah!!  Sorry folks I'm a little behind on my daily photos - will come up with every excuse in the world in my next post xx


4 Wheel Driving

Skype Date

Hi Mum!

Birthday love

Wellington

The Toot Toot Stamp

Wellington on a bloody nice day