In Wellington

It feels like the time here in NZ is fast coming to an end, this week has been interesting because I've done lots of visiting people who I didn't see last time. Richard is sanding the flakey paint on our house and so has been in the neighbourhood. I wandered around the yard and looked at the growth of all our tree's chatted to neighbours as they walked past on the street and popped over and had a cuppa with some.
Our wee niece arrived on saturday so friday night was long and full of timing contractions, doing accupressure, passing drinks and povitive affirmations. It's the first birth I've been to that was planned as a hospital birth, the birthing units are OK, they move into the new hospital next week so I guess they have been better, but they don't stand the comparison to Liam's time in Denver Children's Hospital, and the ward is definately an experience I'm pleased to have missed. The new mother seems to be going well, today the men folk including Liam are helping shift them to their new abode.
My league experience is coming in handy, but I am aware that I haven't done calls for a while. I went to a LLL meeting here too which was a lovely huggy feeling with lots of people I've meet before and leaders I enjoy seeing.  

Today we're off to the park with the small and middle one's and a bit of shopping think we'll try to take the bus.

Big and small

I have this email that comes to me once a week and reminds me that I'm pregnant (they think they're telling me about each week but...) somedays I have these oh thats right I am pregnant moments. So apparently they caculate me to be twenty four weeks and the baby is 21cm long. I'm feeling lots of wriggling from in there but mostly people don't pick that
I'm pregnant but none of my clothes fit, and I have let out the adjustment on my preggy jeans severl times now.
This weekend, husbandless, the rest of the family went to a picnic that my midwife hosts at a park once a year. Liam and Madeline played really hard for three hours with the other kids and I got to talk to some adults some of whom had very small babies. We had a nice picnic and I collected some maternity tops and newborn clothing from the swap pile. I had nothing to contribute having already passed anything we are not using or expecting to need next winter.
I do now feel like there are a couple of options on what to dress this baby in when it arrives. I'm glad I collected up woolen things when we were in NZ 'cause there don't seem to be the same sorts of things here.

Sunday needed an activity, the day always proceeds smoother with a bit of a plan or direction. Liam was keen to visit 'Stan' and although initailly reluctant to drive to Alberquerque again (we took Richard to the airport yesterday) it wasn't a bad choice of activity. Madeline was also into a dino-saur visit and we had some dynatheatre passes we could use to see one of their films. So we loaded up and headed down to Alberquerque, we had lunch at the museum cafe, bith kids demolished their pizza which weren't small and I had a delicious chicken and green chille baked potato with guacamole, it had cheese it it and whipped butter yum! Then it was on to see 'Stan' in his central position in the museum atrium. We continued though the walk through time backwards, then forwards and finished up with a trip down the Nile river in Mystery of the Nile in the dynatheatre. We emberged into a very warm afternoon with the car saying it was 103 F but I think it reads a little high. The water I had left in the car would have made an acceptably temperatured cup of tea. Santa Fe wasa much more pleasant 90 F when we returned. Were forecast 90 F (about 32 C) for most of this week.

Another canyon

We arrived in New Mexico a year ago on the 18th so we've had two memorial days here now. We had the school picnic on Saturday this weekend at which we drew the raffles school has been using for fund raising. I now need a child minder so I can have the haircut and go out for dinner. I have some lovely new red glass earrings and a voucher for $100 worth of cosmetics.

We then left town Sunday morning and headed to Villanueva State park, not to far away but a nice canyon with a very full Pecos River running through it.

It was good to get our camping gear all together again and remember what it is we always forget (pillows again). The park had ramada's at each site which are built to look Spanish colonial, so they were more substantial than the usual roof on four poles which was nice when it rained and thundered for a bit in the afternoon. I didn't find the mats as comfortable as usual but my pelvis is not in as gooder shape as it has been.

We walked up to the canyon rim and along getting views over the Pecos Valley. This area is very fertile and well irrigated (thanks to the river) and a lot of the produce for the Santa Fe Farmers Market comes from around here. It's also very popular with fishers but with the level being very high and the water quite muddy the few we spoke to hadn't had a lot of bites.

We think we might manage a 10 day trip soonish but we're trying to decide where. Maybe Texas? or Utah?

The other project seems to be coming along, I can feel lots of movement and I met with my midwife on Friday and heard the heartbeat for the first time. Madeline was a bit unsure about the noise coming from my tummy, but told the midwife there was a baby in her tummy too.