That it has my friends, that it has.
Anyway, an update.....
Im still happily living in New Zealand with my wonderful Joanna. In October 2008 we were blessed with the arrival of our daughter and two became three.
Jaya Harvell Phillips arrived kicking and screaming on a sunny Wednesday lunchtime. Just after 12 pm if i remember rightly. a good and healthy 6lb and 6 ozs. Jo was amazing as i knew she would be and has taken to motherhood perfectly.
We were so sure that it was a boy. so sure that we we had no names sorted for girls. Sadly Jaya was nameless for a few days whilst we decided over a short list. It was only with the visit from our great friends Esther and Jarlath that the name Jaya stood out. There is something nice about a soft irish accent reading names from a baby book.
So Jaya it is and for a middle name "Harvell" would be perfect.
Its been an amazing 15 months of parenthood so far. i would say there have been far more ups than downs but that said its hard being so far away from friends and family. The lack of support on a day to day basis is tricky , especially with me working so hard at Weta.
Jo is , as i have said, amazing and is such a good mum. Sometimes she doubts herself but all you have to do is look at this incredibly clever, kind and caring little girl and you can see that it is all passed down from her mum.
Jaya is very gentle, well most of the time ;-)
She will rub or kiss you better if asked and even though she smacks me in the face first thing in the morning it is soon followed by and "Aaaaahhhhhh... (kiss)"
Jaya loves animals (see... like her Mum) and the rabbits are a great source of entertainment. Did i say we had rabbits already? maybe not. well we have two. Dr Fleischman , named afetr the Dr from the TV show "Northern Exposure", and Beauty who is a Belguim Hare and pretty big.
They have a hutch the size of a small house just outside our back door.
More on them later im sure.
With the impending arrival of Jaya in late 2008 we decided to buy a house here in Wellington. We wanted to be able to have the house ready for jaya's arrival in the October. In June 2008 we eventually found a house just around the corner from the one we were renting on Knoll Street. Its much higher up the hill which keps us fit and the views are just amazing.
Its a five bedroom house built in the 1920's and is traditional wood weatherboard. She has great bones and we knew straight away that it was for us. Jo says she knew the moment she saw it on Trade Me in the for sale section . "Just a feeling" she said.
Well the house buying process here is alot quicker than in the uk and with in a week of seeing the house we had bought it.
I moved in while Jo was on holiday in the UK in the july of 2008. Our great buddy Carl helped me (cheers Carl) as the steps were a bit of a killer.
All was ready for when jo arrived back in to Wellington. Log burner installed, bed in , sofa in, tv and internet all hooked up. The reason for that was a week later i flew back to the Uk on my own for a visit and for a friends wedding. It was a shame that Jo and I had to have seperate holidays but things needed sorting here in NZ and it was better that Jo was resting up in the Uk. Plus all Jos family and friends got to see here heavily pregnant.
We had only a couple of months once I was back before Jaya was due to get the house sorted.
I dont think ive spent so much money in my life (apart from the odd skateboard) than i did getting all the baby and house stuff. We felt like we were going to the baby shops every weekend. to be honest it got pretty tiresome . We had to remind ourselves at least we werent house hunting anymore !!
Anyway, an update.....
Im still happily living in New Zealand with my wonderful Joanna. In October 2008 we were blessed with the arrival of our daughter and two became three.
Jaya Harvell Phillips arrived kicking and screaming on a sunny Wednesday lunchtime. Just after 12 pm if i remember rightly. a good and healthy 6lb and 6 ozs. Jo was amazing as i knew she would be and has taken to motherhood perfectly.
We were so sure that it was a boy. so sure that we we had no names sorted for girls. Sadly Jaya was nameless for a few days whilst we decided over a short list. It was only with the visit from our great friends Esther and Jarlath that the name Jaya stood out. There is something nice about a soft irish accent reading names from a baby book.
So Jaya it is and for a middle name "Harvell" would be perfect.
Its been an amazing 15 months of parenthood so far. i would say there have been far more ups than downs but that said its hard being so far away from friends and family. The lack of support on a day to day basis is tricky , especially with me working so hard at Weta.
Jo is , as i have said, amazing and is such a good mum. Sometimes she doubts herself but all you have to do is look at this incredibly clever, kind and caring little girl and you can see that it is all passed down from her mum.
Jaya is very gentle, well most of the time ;-)
She will rub or kiss you better if asked and even though she smacks me in the face first thing in the morning it is soon followed by and "Aaaaahhhhhh... (kiss)"
Jaya loves animals (see... like her Mum) and the rabbits are a great source of entertainment. Did i say we had rabbits already? maybe not. well we have two. Dr Fleischman , named afetr the Dr from the TV show "Northern Exposure", and Beauty who is a Belguim Hare and pretty big.
They have a hutch the size of a small house just outside our back door.
More on them later im sure.
With the impending arrival of Jaya in late 2008 we decided to buy a house here in Wellington. We wanted to be able to have the house ready for jaya's arrival in the October. In June 2008 we eventually found a house just around the corner from the one we were renting on Knoll Street. Its much higher up the hill which keps us fit and the views are just amazing.
Its a five bedroom house built in the 1920's and is traditional wood weatherboard. She has great bones and we knew straight away that it was for us. Jo says she knew the moment she saw it on Trade Me in the for sale section . "Just a feeling" she said.
Well the house buying process here is alot quicker than in the uk and with in a week of seeing the house we had bought it.
I moved in while Jo was on holiday in the UK in the july of 2008. Our great buddy Carl helped me (cheers Carl) as the steps were a bit of a killer.
All was ready for when jo arrived back in to Wellington. Log burner installed, bed in , sofa in, tv and internet all hooked up. The reason for that was a week later i flew back to the Uk on my own for a visit and for a friends wedding. It was a shame that Jo and I had to have seperate holidays but things needed sorting here in NZ and it was better that Jo was resting up in the Uk. Plus all Jos family and friends got to see here heavily pregnant.
We had only a couple of months once I was back before Jaya was due to get the house sorted.
I dont think ive spent so much money in my life (apart from the odd skateboard) than i did getting all the baby and house stuff. We felt like we were going to the baby shops every weekend. to be honest it got pretty tiresome . We had to remind ourselves at least we werent house hunting anymore !!
