Word up

Despite our attempts to dress Richie up like any other baby, his personality is really starting to show through and he has a way of making each outfit his own. Take this Rumplestilskin-esque nightcap and gown for example, he manages to get the hat at just the right angle to give himself some street cred. "Word to your mother!" I imagine him saying.

OMG! What did I do?

Tonight Richie dropped a bomb. That's the most polite way I can think of saying Richie pooped in the bath. We heard a boom and thought it was just gas but soon the bits were floating to the surface. So we had to mount an emergency evacuation effort to get Richie out of the tub as quickly as possible and remove any traces of contamination from the area (ie dump the bath water out, clean the tub and start over again). Richie took it in stride and looked surprisingly calm during the calamity but I thought he did have a bit of a "Oh my, what did I do?!" look on his face while bundled up in his appropriately named Winnie the Pooh towel! Apparently babies do this all the time and Paul said he was lucky that we made it 9 weeks before the bombing.

Buckle up for adventure!

When I put Richie in his car seat, I always try to make a game of it and tell him to "buckle up and get ready for another adventure!" Mind you, that adventure usually ends up being a trip to the grocery store or out for coffee with my mother's group. But he plays along anyway. Here I thought he looked like he was riding a roller coaster! I don't think my driving is THAT bad though.

Good Morning!

Unlike his mom, Richie is definitely a morning person. In the first few moments after waking from sleep, Richie is at his most charming. It's enough to almost make you forget about how little sleep mom and dad are operating on.

Win a trip to NZ!

Yep, it's strange but true. For all those who have wanted to visit but haven't yet had the chance, this is for you. By clicking on the below You Tube link, you could win an expenses paid trip for two to New Zealand!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VB24JazI7JQ

And if that weren't motivation enough, you'll get to see a clip of Paul and me with our new baby Richie when he was just 3 weeks old in August.

As you know, we liked Napier, NZ so much we decided to live here, and the folks here have asked us to help promote what a great place it is to live back in our homeland. So they put us in front of a camera with bright lights that scared the heck out of little Richie, who had been a cutie pie right up until the camera started rolling. The end result is a video intro with a crying baby and two sleep-deprived looking parents, which if you ask me isn't all that enticing for their campaign, but it's worth a laugh and the video in between shows you what you're missing here in NZ and why we stayed.

To win the free trip for two of our friends, we have to have the most views of our clip on You Tube from our home country. That's where you come in. Forward this link to all your friends, post it on your web site, circulate it around your office, put it on your Facebook page, whatever will get it the most clicks possible. It looks like we're up against some stiff competition from a Russian family who already has nearly 10,000 page views, so start clicking!

Thanks and enjoy the video.
Cheers,
Jen, Paul and Richie

Smiles 'R Us

Since you've seen "Prelude to a smile," I figured I better post some of the real thing, or at least as close as I could capture on film. He's what the Kiwis would call a "cheeky wee fellow."

Back at the clubhouse

This weekend Paul competed in the final round of his club championship. He made it there after winning many rounds against seasoned golfers with much lower handicaps. We think Richie was his good luck charm so he caught up with Daddy at the clubhouse on Sunday afternoon. Of course it won't be long before Richie will be caddying for Dad but in the meantime, I think he's already starting to look more and more like Dad every day.