Fun things to do in Auckland - a trip to Auckland Zoo

It's been a long time since I have paid a visit to the Auckland Zoo and since the recent arrival of Anjalee the Asian Elephant as a friend for long term resident Birma I was very keen to return and what better time to do it then a, showery, mainly fine Winter's weekend. 

So, thats exactly what we did today, we went along to the Auckland Zoo with our friends and their little boy for a fun day out. We had so much fun and it was great to have a nice long walk around the zoo checking out all the animal exhibits, my favourites being, of course, the elephants, monkeys and giraffes.

Although the visit was mainly for us adults - with Ella being too young to understand - Ella was very happy today and seemed to enjoy the trip out and seeing something different, she liked looking at all the animals including squealing and smiling at them - a win all round I think!

A trip to the Auckland Zoo is definitely worth the money it's a not-for-profit organisation with every spare dollar raised channelled into caring for the Zoo's animals and to support conservation projects that help endangered animals in the wild. It has particular focus on trying to save the endangered Asian Elephant in countries such as Nepal, Sri Lanka and Sumatra by researching elephant populations, protecting their natural habitats and trying to prevent human and elephant conflict.

An adult pass is $28 per person, a child pass (ages 4 to 14) is $12 and infants under the age of 4 are free. Family passes are also available. It is definitely worth it! So, if you are in Auckland or perhaps visiting I recommend you go pay the Auckland Zoo a visit - you won't regret it!

The first stop on our trip was to visit the "Pridelands" it's currently under construction, in the view of improving the enclosure, but we still had a great view of the Giraffes, Zebra's and Ostriches.

There are six giraffes, one male Zabalu, and five females, Rukiya, Kiraka, Shira, Mdomo and one calf born in 2015.

On to the Lion exhibit, it seemed all the animals today were making the most of the Winter sun by sleeping, sunbathing and not doing much else really but I did manage to take a couple of pics when two of, the three, sleepy lionesses raised there heads to give us a cursory glance.

 Next on our visit was the highly anticipated Elephant clearing which houses Asian Elephants Birma and new arrival Anjalee. Following the passing of Kashun in 2009, Birma, sadly, became the sole occupant of the elephant enclosure until the arrival of her new mate Anjalee only just this past week.

Much to the surprise of Birma's keepers, the pair hit it off much quicker than anticipated and we were fortunate enough to see them in action during the Elephant encounter today. This was by far my favourite part of our visit!

Anjalee

Birma

Anjalee and Birma 

 

Checking Birma's teeth

Checking Birma

Following our visit to the Elephants our next stop was to the Orangutan enclosure where the were let out into their big enclosure to hunt for their food.

The cheetahs are beautiful animals and them like every other creature at the zoo yesterday enjoyed sunbathing and not much else.

The tiger were enjoying the sun just as much...

The "Aussie walkabout"enclosure... Wallabies, Emu's and a Rainbow Lorakeet.

The Alligator that looked like a statue...

A beautiful Tui bird, not an exhibition but it just happened to be hanging around the lemur enclosure.

The gorgeous ring-tailed lemurs, they are so cute!

One of the tiny little Cotton-top Tamarins scooting around their enclosures...

The only picture I managed to capture of the spritely little Squirrel Monkey's...

One of my favourite encounters was the Spider Monkey's with their lanky, long limbs they were incredibly amusing and I could have watched them all day!

All in all we had an incredible day out at Auckland Zoo, it was so much fun and we all enjoyed ourselves including Ella and her Daddy!

So, if you are looking for something to entertain the children this coming school holidays why not take them for a visit to Auckland Zoo!

What are somethings you love to do or places you take your kids to? I'm always looking for new places to go!

A (typical) day in the life of a stay at home Mum...

I've been finding it increasingly difficult lately to blog on a regular basis particularly as Ella has been rather challenging for the past week or so. There's also been quite a few developments in our household over the past week or so which is taking quite a lot for me to get my head around - all will be revealed in a couple of weeks or so.

Finally, though things seem to be on the up, she's perked up a lot the past couple of days, aside from a rip roaring tantrum at bath time tonight, I'm hoping she's through the worst of this particularly difficult "developmental" stage. I'm hoping now that she's sleeping better in the day and generally happier I will be able to blog a bit more frequently.

So, when thinking about what to write I thought I'd share a typical day in the life of me and what we get up to on a daily basis!

So, here goes...

A (typical) day in the life of a stay-at-home Mum:

7.30 - Ella wakes up, her wake-up times vary from day to day. So, depending on how tired this Mumma feels, and whether I've gone to sleep at a sensible hour or stayed up most of the night eating and Facebook bingeing, we both get up and I'll change her nappy and then she give her a bottle. If, however, I'm feeling pretty tired I'll bring her into my bed for cuddles and a bottle and then we'll snooze for an hour or so.

8.30 - Is breakfast time for both of us. Since it's Winter, it's been freezing in our neck of the woods, we've both been having porridge. She has half fruit (either pear and apple or apricot, peach and pear) and half porridge. I have mine with milk and a little bit of brown sugar.

A frozen morning

0 degrees outside today.

9.00 - Solids feeding is a messy business so it's time to change her out of her pyjamas and in into her outfit of the day. I love picking out her outfits - it's like dressing a doll as a child all over again - but I hate changing her, it's always such a battle and normally ends in tantrums and tears. It's even harder to change her now that she's more mobile!

9.30 or 10 - Ella is generally pretty tired and grizzly by this stage so I'll put her down for a nap. She's an infamous catnapper so she could nap anywhere from 30mins to 2 hours (if I'm very lucky!)

10am to 12pm - Say I'm lucky and she decides to sleep for two hours, I'll have a bit of a break and then try and do a couple of loads of washing, the dishes or general cleaning - thrilling stuff!

11.30 or 12pm - Second bottle of the day.

12.10 - Playtime! I'll set her up with a few of her favourites toys to play with or I'll sing her a couple of songs and we'll play with blocks or play peek-a-boo.

1.30 - Lunchtime. She gets three meals a day and lunchtime is a finger food meal. I'll offer her different things every day such as toast soldiers with a tiny amount of vegemite, rice rusks, fingers of pear or apple, bits of cooked chicken or some plain yoghurt. If it's a good day I'll try and have lunch as well, lately I've been having chicken wraps.

2pm to 3pm - More playtime, and if it's a nice day we'll have some time in the sun with her in her exersaucer or tummy time on a blanket.

3pm - Nap time again. I'll do the same, i.e cleaning, washing and have "chill out" time.

4pm - Generally, she won't sleep as long in the afternoon. But, who am I kidding? She could sleep for any period of time! This will be her last nap of the day so then the aim is to try and keep her as entertained for as long as possible. She'll also have another bottle at around this time.

4.15pm - More playtime and then maybe some time in the Jolly jumper, as a good distraction. If I'm running out of things to keep her entertained I'll take her for a walk in the Ergobaby carrier.

5.30pm - Dinnertime for Ella. She'll have a couple ice cubes of defrosted, pureed veges (such as pumpkin and potato or carrot, kumara and potato or pumpkin, cauliflower, carrot and parsnip. I try and give her lots of different variety) or a chunk of chicken or meat to chew/suck on.

5.45pm to 7pm - It's Daddy time (if he's not working late), cuddles, playtime and then bath time. During this time I will start dinner, get her pyjamas ready and make her a bottle.

6.30pm to 7pm - Bedtime for Ella - relax time for Mum and Dad, yay! Depending on how tired she is or how well she has slept during the day she'll go to bed at 6.30 or 7pm and then that's her for the night - relief!

7.15pm - I'll finish off dinner and then we'll sit on the couch and watch a bit of T.V - how civilised!

7.45pm - If I have the energy I'll do a tidy up, pick up her toys, fold some washing and maybe do the dishes and then...anything goes!

10 - 12pm - Is bedtime for us, as I said earlier depending on how sensible I'm feeling I'll go to bed at 10.30pm or so. If I'm not, which is more common, I'll stay up to a stupidly late hour and then wonder why I'm tired in the morning!

So, there you have it a typical, non-glamourus day as a stay-at-home Mum. I'm sure you can all relate!

Our days do vary throughout the week, we'll meet up with other Mums and babies for social time or do a bit of shopping and run some errands etc. Friday is swimming lessons for Ella and it's, generally, Tom's day off so anything goes really as with the weekends.

I hope you enjoyed reading about a day in the life of Ella and I!

6 Month Favourites

Now that Ella is 6 months old - it's time I shared my favourite things I use.

She's on solids now, she actually started when she was almost 5 months, and is having 3 meals a day. I find it easier to make my own baby food - it's certainly cheaper than the pre-packaged stuff. Generally, when the Husband is home, i'll spend an afternoon stewing and pureeing different fruits and veggies which I'll then freeze. These are a couple of my must-haves to help making homemade baby food so much easier!

1. Mumi & Bubi Solids starter kit - these are amazing, they come in a pack of two, they are so easy to use when it comes to feed time as they cubes are curved so they slide right out. I've got two packs of them from Baby City.

 

2. Kenwood Wizzard Hand Blender - An essential for pureeing and easy to clean without having to drag out a big food processor. 

3. Babyco Patina Highchair - Aqua - Obviously, with solids feeding you sort of need somewhere to contain the squirming child whilst you try and feed it. It's not flash but I love this high chair, it's easy to clean, easy to move, reasonably priced and I love the colour! I got mine from Baby Factory when it was on sale, which it currently is now!

Bedtime favourites

4. Sleeping bags - Now that Ella is no longer swaddled in her Love to Dream she now sleeps in a sleeping bag. It's easy to use, warm with the cold winter nights we've been having and it stops her from wriggling free of her blankets and pulling them over her face. Currently, the one we are using (interchanging with a Cotton on sleeping bag) is this Plum Wild Roses 2.5 Tog sleeping bag from Baby Factory. 

5. Jellycat Bashful Bunny Comforter - Ella has always loved to rub soft blankets or toys on her face to help her sleep so I got her this one from Mighty Ape online - it's super soft and she loves it!

On the move!

6. Diono Rainier carseat - As you've probably seen on my Facebook page, I've had to upgrade Ella to a big girl carseat as she's out grown her Maxi-Cosi capsule. I'm in love with the Diono Rainier, in graphite, the weight and height limits mean this carseat could practically fit her until she no longer needs one! It converts from a carseat to a booster seat - so no need to buy a new one. I purchased mine off Kellie from Tether my Treasure who also installed it for me so I know that it is safe and installed properly.

7. Ergobaby Carrier Organic Navy - As I no longer have the convenient option of transferring Ella from the car, in her capsule and clipping her onto my pushchair it means I have to drag the whole contraption out every time I need to take her somewhere. The Ergo has been a lifesaver when I know I'm only going to be somewhere for a short time and I can't be bothered dragging my pushchair out. Only regret, is buying the dark colour - it's faded already!

So, there you have it just a few of the favourites/ necessities I use for Ella on a daily basis. Hopefully, these may help you in some way.

If you've got any favourites you think I just have to have, then leave me a comment down below and I will be sure to check it out!

Social media is a dangerous thing...

When I scroll through my Facebook news feed, generally, it's filled with photo's of happy families, happy babies, achievements, milestones, beautiful houses and smiley faces - all of the happy moments my Facebook friends experience. 

It's great to see these wonderful moments and share in the memory's created, but at the same time it creates an unattainable image of perfect lives, perfect parenting and perfect children. I know it's in no way deliberate, we all want to share with our friends the happy moments in our lives - I know I do - after all who wants to see our messy houses and our screaming children?

The problem is though, these images tend to paint a picture of perfect domestic bliss when in reality its often quite different. Following my "rant" post awhile ago, I did some thinking about the things I wrote and I why I was feeling that way. Why do I put so much pressure on myself to have it "all together"? It's not realistic, I have a 6 month old baby for goodness sake - I  think I deserve a break - having a young baby is hard work. 

But, when I see these images I begin to compare myself and my life to them and it makes me second guess myself and my capability as a parent - how do they manage to cope with young babies AND have a clean house? I can't. 

That's where social media becomes a dangerous thing. It's unrealistic. It's too perfect.


This is where common sense needs to prevail but it doesn't always. This is where I need to remind myself that just because, on the surface, everything looks perfect it's not always. We only show a small snippet of our lives - on social media - and it's not always so easy or so perfect.

We don't show the crap days or the pile of stuff shoved in the cupboard that we can't bring ourselves to organise. But we do post the one smiley picture in a day full of grizzling and temper tantrums. 

It's times like these where I need to take a step back and remember that life is not always as rosy as it appears. We all have our crap days and no one is an exception to the rule. I need to not compare myself to others and realise that it's ok to not be "onto it" or to have all my "shit" together.

So, next time you're scrolling through your newsfeed and all you seem to see, from that one particular friend, is nothing but smiles and sweetness just remember that what we see is barely a scratch in the surface of life and the struggles that most of us suffer through on a daily basis!

Because - let's be honest - 9 times out of 10 my hairs a mess, my house is a mess, my child's spent the day in a permanent state of grizzling BUT you can, practically, guarantee that the Mum whose posted that beautiful, smiley pic of their gorgeous baby is going through exactly the same damn thing.

Alanah's Birth Story

My latest birth story feature comes from Alanah, a new Kiwi blogger, who blogs over at New Zealand Mumma, she contacted me on Facebook offering to share her story but... she wasn't sure I would want to post it.

Alanah's birth story was a traumatic and heartbreaking experience and it's something that no woman should have to go through. 

However, my blog is all about honesty and I think it's important to share her story - remember every birthing experience is different.

This is her story...

1. What was your due date?

8th of August 2014


2. Were you early or overdue? Any predictions on your due date and whether they were accurate or not?

Well, my labour started on the 4th August, I went to the birthing centre on the 8th of August and had my son on the 9th of August, so you could say early/on time?


3. Where did you plan on birthing? I.e Hospital, Birthing Centre, Home etc

My plan was the birthing centre.


4. Did you have a birth plan? If so, tell us a bit about it.

I had a very strict birth plan. I was going to stay at home for as long as possible, then go to the birthing centre with my partner and my Mum. My plan was no pain relief other than gas and absolutely no c-section or epidural unless it was life or death. My partner would cut the cord after it stopped pulsating and I'd have skin to skin for at least the first hour of our sons life.


5. Did your birth go according to your birth plan? Give us a brief overview of your labor and birth.

No, not at all, to be honest I think it went the furthest from it that it possibly could have. I have quite a long birth story (5 and a half days worth actually) so i'll summarise as best as I can.

On Monday, the 4th of August, I started having contractions at work - I called my midwife and she said to keep an eye on them until they got closer together and stronger.

That didn't happen until Friday the 8th of August. At 10am I rung my partner and told him he needed to come home as I thought it was time. He made it home by about 10.30 and I rang our midwife who had just gotten home from a 24 hour birth, so we arranged to meet her back up at the birthing centre - our midwife lived an hour away and wanted to catch up sleep before coming in.

We headed off to the birthing centre around 1pm - once the contractions became pretty intense. I got checked once we were there and they found I was 6cm dilated, so we made the decision to stay at the birthing centre.

Fast forward to 11pm when my midwife told me it was time to push. At 6am there was still no sign of our baby and I was exhausted so we were transferred to the hospital for an assisted delivery with the possibility of a c-section.

After arriving at the hospital I was administered the epidural and taken to theatre and despite everything our healthy baby boy, Lucas, was delivered at 8.11am via emergency c section, weighing 7lbs12oz.  

However, that wasn't the end for me. After suffering a massive post-partem haemorrhage I was rushed to theatre where I received a 4.5L blood transfusion and then - to save my life, they gave me a hysterectomy.

After 2 days in HDU and 4 more days in hospital we took our little boy home.


6. How do you feel after the birth?

Happy that I have a healthy baby boy but still a little in shock as to how it actually went, and pretty guttered that I cant have any more babies naturally.


7. What are the top 5 items you packed in your hospital bag that you couldn't have done without or wish you had packed?

1. Phone charger
2. Camera
3. Different sized baby clothes...as newborn didn't seem to be the same in every shop.
4. Stretchy pants!!!!!!
5. Shampoo and conditioner


8. What's one piece of advice you could offer to any Mum preparing for child birth?

Have an idea of what you want but just remember it doesn't always go the way you want it. As long as you all make it home, thats all that matters!


9. Is there anything you would do differently next time?

If there was a next time, I'd probably be a little more open to plans changing.

Thank you so much for sharing you story Alanah, even though your birth didn't go to plan and turned out to be a quite traumatic and life altering experience - you have such a positive attitude, it's so refreshing!

Feel free to add this badge, below, to your blog.

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If you would like to share your birth story, you don't have to be a blogger, you can contact me at akiwimumma@gmail.com.

I've been nominated for a Liebster Award!

I've been nominated for a Liebster award!

A HUGE thank you to Charlene from Teacher by trade - Mother by nature for nominating me for my first ever Liebster award! If you haven't heard of Charlene before or you haven't visited her awesome blog already then I suggest you hurry on over and check out her page. 

She's a fellow Kiwi Mumma, who's birth story I have featured right here on the blog, and blogger - she blogs about life with her adorable children, awesome diy's, crafty ideas and activities for kids and heaps more! You can also follow her on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

I had, sort-of, heard of the Liebster Award before but as A Kiwi Mumma blog is only a few months old I wasn't 100% up with the play on what the Liebster Award involved. 

Basically, the Liebster Award is designed to spread the blogging love to all bloggers, especially newbie bloggers, (with under 1000 followers) to recognise their blogging efforts and to help spread the word .

Accepting a Liebster Award involves answering 11 questions from the blogger that first nominated you, offering 11 random facts about yourself and then nominating other bloggers (who also have less than 1000 followers) for a Liebster Award as well. 

Make sense? Here goes...

My 11 Questions - from Charlene, Teacher by trade - Mother by nature.

1. What motivated you to start your blog and how long have you been blogging?

Boredom mainly and a desire to share with other Mum's the thing I discovered about pregnancy and having a new baby. I was busy but bored at the sametime, the amount of time spent breastfeeding or with a sleeping baby on me was huge so why not use my spare hand to write about it!A Kiwi Mumma blog has been going only 5 months.


2. What does your family think about you blogging?

I sort of try and keep it quiet, I'm not sure why but I sort of feel like some of my family might not take me or my blog too seriously. My Mum and my Sister are big supporters of it and seem to enjoy reading it.


3. What is your favourite quote?

"The days are long but the years are short" This serves as a reminder to me when I'm finding getting through a particularly long day tough. It's so true and although the days can drag the months and years pass so quickly.


4. What makes you laugh out loud?

My Husband - he never fails to make me laugh even when I'm trying to be a grump. Ella - with her new noises, quirks and faces, she is constantly doing new things that make me laugh.


5. What is your most prized possession?

A materialistic, prized possession would be the jewellery my Husband bought me, especially my wedding and engagement rings. I recently lost the very first piece of jewellery he ever bought me and it's devastating, i'm going to start the process of replacing it because I don't think it's coming back.

Something else I consider to be a prized possession is that of my family - they mean the world to me and family is so important.


6. What is the best feedback you have ever received on a blog post?

As i've not been blogging very long any feedback is good feedback for me! I'm always so touched when people take the time to leave me any sort of positive feedback.


7. Who inspires you?

Argh this is a tough one! No one in particular really, I suppose you could say my daughter inspires me - after all the content of my blog is, practically, all about her.


8. What is your favorite post that you’ve written? (Please provide link!)

I'm not sure it's my best but it's a post that I enjoyed writing and it made me laugh. "You know you're a Mum when..." Is a few bullet points of some of the discoveries I've made after becoming a Mum. All the delightful, disgusting, relatable things that comes with Motherhood.


9. What are three things you cannot live without?

Good food, family and my animals.

10.What is your greatest joy in life?

My daughter!


11. Knowing what you know now, what advice would you give your 13-year-old self?

It's really not the end of the world like you think it is. You'll survive. Make the most of a being young and free. Work hard at school, go to University and earn yourself a qualification.

11 facts about me

1. I've ridden horses for 17 years, I left school to work with horses at the age of 16.

2. I'm only 5ft1, my husband is 6ft1!

3. I love watching quiz shows, mainly "The Chase" - an english quiz show.

4. I don't drink any alcohol.

5. I love to watch rugby, especially the All Blacks.

6. If I ever won a big amount of money, I'd love to open an animal rescue shelter.

7. My favourite city is a toss-up between London and Rome.

8. My favourite food to eat is pasta!

9. We live in the middle of nowhere, no cell phone reception or broadband internet!

10. I've worked two seasons on my Husband's family's dairy farm milking cows.

11. I studied martial arts for 10 years, I was a third-degree black belt. I started when I was 4 years old and my Dad was my sensei.

My Nominations are...

I've not been in the blogging world for very long so I've chosen a few of the bloggers , who haven't already been nominated by Charlene, who's blogs I love to read and think deserve a Liebster Award.

Jasmine from A Gathering

Mary from The hearty life

Leanne from You're glowing and other Mummy myths

Angela from Days in a bed

Your questions:

1. Why did you decide to start blogging?
2. What is the story behind your blog name?
3. What is one thing you couldn't live without?
4. Name three things on your "bucket list"
5. What is your happiest memory?
6. Name two of your favourite bloggers whose blogs you enjoy reading.
7. What was your very first blog post (other than an introduction)?
8. What do you do to relax or wind down?
9. What do you consider to be your biggest strength?
10. What is your biggest achievement in life?

Go for it! :-)

Ella's 6 Month Update

I am: 6 Months old, on the 30th of May 2015.

I weigh: 8.5 kg

I measure: at 68cm long (at my last Plunket check-up under a month ago)

I am:

- Eating solids twice a day

- Eating pumpkin, sweet potato, carrot, cauliflower, apple, pear, apricot and peach

- Eating porridge and fruit for breakfast

- Eating baby rice rusks - I love them!

- Still sleeping well in the night.

- Able to sit unassisted for a little bit.

- Trying to push my knees under myself when I am on my tummy.

- travelling in my new car seat!

- In the middle of my first cold - I'm feeling a lot better now though

- In the middle of developmental leap 5 - relationships

I love:

- Playing peek-a-boo

- The Insy Winsy Spider

- The dog and cat

- My glow worm

- Eating real food

- My Mummy and Daddy

- All of my family