Insert witty title here...

Welcome to November! We've been enjoying(!) the spring weather - some gorgeous calm, sunny days interspersed with some gale force winds and driving rain. Nice! The garden appreciates the rain though...

Josh is very proud of the crop of gorgeous bronze irises that have come up this year.
Duplo continues to be a favourite past time in our house, with the games becoming more and more elaborate. The Duplo figures are gradually being named. So far we have Iris, Phoebe and Arlo and a few other yet to be named fellows. The Duplo family visit farms and houses and also seem to bit a bit naughty as they are often sent to time out or to bed.

Phoebe helps Arlo prepare for another adventure.

Iris shows off her best ever tower - they get taller as she gets taller!

A Campbell pile up.

The latest in spring fashions in Titahi Bay. Note the stunning combination of blue socks and pick sandals and the pom pom hat which really sets off the tiger face.

Hard at work on a cutting review of the latest edition of that great New Zealand institution.

Who says tigers don't have pink stripes?

Hey Lily, want to play derplo? (Phoebe's alternative pronounciation).

Iris has discovered the art of making funny faces. We haven't told her that scary story about the wind changing...

And finally, Lily is pleased to announce that she is a big girl who eats real food now.
Yum, pears and baby rice...More please!
Stuffed!

Randomness

Once again weeks have slipped by without us posting on this blog. We've been so busy that we haven't even been taking many pictures. Iris has moved to Titahi Bay Kindy and is loving every second. The girls and I go to music and two different play groups each week as well as catching up with friends, hunting for the Wellington region's best playground (still undecided!) and going to the beach. Josh's job is going well and in non-work time he spends time with his girls, rides his bike and potters around the house (he's currently reattaching our shade sail over the deck in preparation for summer).

Some random pics from the last few weeks...

Lily is now 5 months and getting bigger and bigger. Still oh-so-cuddly!

Scott practising for the arrival of Hemsley baby#2 in January.

Late September pool play - it was hot, but not that hot this day.

Smiley, styley girl.

Sarah and Shirley and four of our five girls off for a walk along the beach at Raumati.

Lots of Lily

And let's not forget the baby! Lily is just shy of four months and is a delight, if I may say so myself. She sleeps, eats, smiles, sleeps, eats, babbles, sleeps, eats, smiles etc etc. She's very interested in Iris and Phoebe's antics (getting ready to join in, I'm sure). She happily fits in with the activities already on our busy schedule and has actually been awake at play groups, kindy gym and music for the last few sessions, having blissfully slept through all her previous visits. She's very keen on the idea of sitting but still needs a little help. Not so keen on tummy time - don't tell the Plunket nurse... For the last week, she's been happily sleeping in her own room, having made the transition from bassinet in mum and dad's room to cot in her own room. Think we're all sleeping better now. We just have to convince Phoebe that 6am is TOO EARLY!

Plenty of Phoebe

Next in line is Phoebe, our big two year old! She loved her animal-themed party and the trike she got ("just like Iris"!) Yet another chatterbox, she talks in complete sentences and makes her thoughts and needs very well known. Frequently used phrases are: "Look at me", "Go away Iris", "I want...", "Me come too" (usually when we drop Iris at kindy) "Cuddle me, Mummy" and "me cuddle Lily". She's growing like a weed and is not that much smaller than Iris (quite an achievement given that Iris' current height is off the top of the Plunket charts).

Birthday girl on her new bike and wearing her birthday "girt", a rainbow skirt from Granmarg.

Wearing Dad's slippers (rather brave, you wouldn't catch me putting these on;)

Enjoying Iris' first day of kindy. I wonder if the teachers would notice if I dropped Phoebe off with Iris...

Phoebe Picasso.

New gloves for the collection.

Hamming it up for the camera...

...followed by her lovely gappy smile. Those teeth are coming in veeeery slowly!

It's all about Iris

Since we're playing catch up, I'll do a post for each Campbell girl, starting with Little Miss Kindy (aka the "big girl"). Iris is definitely a "kid" now, as opposed to a toddler. She's been going to kindy this term and to say she loves it would be a huge understatement. She never stops talking, meaning life in the Campbell household now has a constant running commentary (with an echo, thanks to Phoebe!) Iris' current favourite things are swimming, "ammals" (animals of any kind), yellow, riding her bike, Duplo, hassling Phoebe, cuddling Lily and stories (reading and listening). Still to come - pictures of Iris' new haircut.

First day at kindy!

The birthday Duplo - a "leece" car!

Iris and Phoebe under the amazing quilt Iris got for her birthday from her Great Aunt Maureen. Details you can't see in the photo are the patches of fabric decorated with irises and the nursery rhymes around the edge. This is a firm favourite and gets used daily, on her bed and on the couch for DVDs.

Our backyard gets a little muddy in winter...

Jamie and Iris, the mud monsters.

The loving big sister.

At Karori Wildlife Sanctuary with Dad. They set out with high hopes of seeing lots of exciting native birds and came home having seen two ducks! A fun day, despite the kakas, kiwis and their mates hiding.

Pre-empting Amanda's birthday cake with a play dough creation (the little blue blobs are candles).

Resuming normal transmission...

PARTY TIME - IRIS' 3RD BIRTHDAY

Yes, we know it's been more than 2 months since June 20th. Blame blogger for not letting us load pictures easily! The theme of the party was "yellow", chosen by Iris in honour of her favourite colour.

The baby couch -Danielle (3 weeks older than Lily) and Lily.

Yellow cousins, aunts and grannies!

Blowing out the candles on another of Amanda's wonderful creations.

Arthur got into the swing of the yellow theme.

Phoebe, the tiger.

Iris' birthday presents from Mum and Dad (the big yellow one is a Duplo police station and the trike has been a huge hit).

Lily with Great Auntie Ro (aka Frank and Arthur's Granny Ro), down from Tauranga.

3 weeks and growing!

It's hard to believe that Lily is 3 (nearly 4) weeks old now! As you can probably imagine, it's been a busy time for us. Here's a few snapshots...

Amanda and Devon popped round to meet Lily when she was all of two days old.

The "big" sister takes time to relive her babyhood in the bouncinet...

Our first outing as a family of 5 was a picnic and checking out the rock pools in Plimmerton - look closely and you'll see Iris, Phoebe and Josh looking for crabs...

...while Lily slept through the whole thing!

Lily at 1 week old.

Phoebe and Lily get some sister time.

Iris' doll, Baby Emma, often mysteriously appears next to Lily. She also freaks Mum out on a regular basis with feet, head or other body parts that look way too similar to the real thing sticking out of places where newborn babies shouldn't be...under the couch, buried in a pile of cushions and so on!

Iris and Lily have an early morning cuddle.

We had a visit from Sarah's cousin Ayron, his wife Ali and their two boys, Samuel (above with Phoebe) and Lucas, on holiday from Perth. It was great to see Ayron (for the first time in 21 years as we figured out!) and meet his family. We hope they enjoyed the rest of their holiday in NZ and hope it's not another 21 years before the next get-together!

Lily at 2 weeks old.

Three bathing beauties.

More pics to come...