i tried to upload these with the other photos and couldn't do it
more pics of matakana island- the fire pit and view of mainland from matakana.
and a pic of my view of mybelly last weekend - 22 weeks from last weekend...

the roses are going off in the yard- tons of beautful roses- i didn't do any planting of other flowers like i usually do or veggies - so this is all we have. but it's still really nice.
i haven't been sewing and knitting - because i've been x-mAs stressing - not really but i want to get the things together to send overseas soon - or it will be late--as always..
and work has been ........tiring . last night we had a work function that was all day all the way into the night .. it was cool , it was our regional induction hui .. and the Maori King - came and ate with us and there was lots of singing and
kapa haka
performances .. the baby likes singing i think - because he gets active when we sing or others around are singing. at work ,we have kapa haka every week for about an hour and a half , but i don't always go because i am stressing out trying to get stuff done..when i do go - i am so happy that i did.. so i am going to make a commitment to go from now til baby arrives.

random pics , my friend jane recently burnt me a CD of pics from our last year's staff /work retreat we had on Matakana Island. We stayed on a marae and it was so beautiful - it was the first time i'd seen the ocean in a long time - as we live in land a bit-it's about 2 hours to the closest beach ...seeing the ocean made me feel very happy. and we had fresh pipis from the ocean at every meal ... and the kitchen was great!! in a marae you have a big eating house and kitchen and everything is done communally... cooking - eating - cleaning up- washing up.. the kitchen had a great fire pit that you can see ...
and a pic of my studious hubby - who is
in the home stretch of his studies - he's due to finish when baby is due!


i am very excited for the weekend- as once again i plan to SEW- but will it come to be???

i've been concentrating on making baby wraps of different sorts and baby slings. and pregnant lady clothes.. though i am not that big- 36 inches around my opu...at my piko ...and 64 kilos.. i can't wear any of my old clothes save for a few dresses. my entire weekend i am devoting to sewing - first time in a long time- it's just been knitting and crocheting..
I have a few friends that preggers or just had babies-- actually more than a few like 10 people i know- which is cool -- so i want to make gifts for everyone especially now while i have time.
and x-mas is around the corner- which i keep forgeting - because it's getting warmer here and summer is almost here in the southern hemisphere- and it's taking me awhile to get use to WARM - HUMID equals X-mas , cold foggy rain = june and july... so i am completely behind with making anything for x-mas.

anyway - just working alot and try to swim as much as possible- will post some pics this weekend.

here are some pics of my ever expanding belly... and my sweet kitties.. i love them.. though yesterday i came home and there were feathers all over the house ... paul had come home and picked up the dead bird or bird parts and deposed of them and left . so by the time i came home it was just millions of feathers everywhere!!!! fun to clean up!
slowly working on the baby blanket, but now i want to make a little hat for my friend's erin and jan's baby- that is due in April - May. i am either going to crochet a little chenille frog hat or a stripey one- haven't decided yet ,but i'll make it a little bigger so he can wear it in winter 2007 ...

IT'S A BOY - here is a pic of the wee one - 20 weeks in utero...
we went for an ultra sound and found out it's a boy!!!
i still can't believe sometimes that i am pregnant - and half way there !!!
today i went to work - got stressed- bought a huge new bra at lunch time and then went for a swim at the indoor pool - which was really lovely and DE-stressing..
i am going to bed now