Just a note to say that I've re-written the previous blog entry. So if you've already read it, you should re-read it because it is completely different. When I came to write it the first time I completely forgot what it was I wanted to say. All I could remember was the Title I wanted to use.
Also, hopefully I will have some photos to illustrate it soon too.
Cheers,
Megz
25 October 2008
23 October 2008
Sicky Vicky
In her first (almost) year of life Victoria has had quite a number of "health" issues. Not health problems like some poor sick children face. Just lots of little things going on.
She caught her first cold when she was just a week old. It lasted for a couple of weeks. Nothing too bad but her breathing was very stuffed up whenever she was lying down.
When she was very little we had lots of trouble keeping her neck folds clean and dry. The skin would get very red and irritated. Neither ointment or baby powder did much to clear it up. Eventually we found the nappy rash powder worked. But getting it into her neck folds was extremely difficult as she would tense up and cry. As she got older and spent more time sitting up it went away on its own.
But no sooner had the yucky neck folds cleared up, then she got dribble rash all over her upper chest and neck from contantly dribbling while teething (see photo).
She got her first tooth at 4 months (in April), and it was pretty much one or two new teeth a month until August.
She has had a bad nappy rash on and off for the last six months. We have tried everything to relieve it with no success. It's more on the sides of her legs than anywhere else. I eventually took her to the doctor, who said it was a fungal infection and gave her a steriod cream. We've been using that on and off ever since.
She had one cold every month for the last six months.
In July Victoria got her first ear infection. Kathleen never had ear infections so it came as a bit of a surprise. She had a perforated ear drum so I took her to the doctor again, who prescribed antibiotics.
In September Victoria got her second ear infection with perforated ear drum, and was again put onto antibiotics.
Two weeks later we all went to a party, where Peter and I later came down with gastro-enteritis. Victoria also threw up a couple of times so I suspect she had a touch of it as well.
Ten days later she broke out in chicken pox. She actually seems to have gotten off pretty lightly, with half a dozen spots on her front and the same on her back. The most annoying ones were scattered around her nappy area but were only small. The infectious period with chicken pox lasts until the last spot crusts over so she was probably infectious for about 10 days. She still has the spots but they are all healing now.
What was worse than the chicken pox was the cold she caught a few days later. Poor little thing was all stuffed up and couldn't breathe well for days.
Then a few days ago her first molar tooth came through. The one on the other side isn't far away either.
Victoria really has had one thing after another this year. She is well now, but I do wonder what's around the corner...
-Megz
PS: It's confirmed, Kathleen is now covered in chicken pox spots too.
She caught her first cold when she was just a week old. It lasted for a couple of weeks. Nothing too bad but her breathing was very stuffed up whenever she was lying down.
When she was very little we had lots of trouble keeping her neck folds clean and dry. The skin would get very red and irritated. Neither ointment or baby powder did much to clear it up. Eventually we found the nappy rash powder worked. But getting it into her neck folds was extremely difficult as she would tense up and cry. As she got older and spent more time sitting up it went away on its own.
But no sooner had the yucky neck folds cleared up, then she got dribble rash all over her upper chest and neck from contantly dribbling while teething (see photo).She got her first tooth at 4 months (in April), and it was pretty much one or two new teeth a month until August.
She has had a bad nappy rash on and off for the last six months. We have tried everything to relieve it with no success. It's more on the sides of her legs than anywhere else. I eventually took her to the doctor, who said it was a fungal infection and gave her a steriod cream. We've been using that on and off ever since.
She had one cold every month for the last six months.
In July Victoria got her first ear infection. Kathleen never had ear infections so it came as a bit of a surprise. She had a perforated ear drum so I took her to the doctor again, who prescribed antibiotics.
In September Victoria got her second ear infection with perforated ear drum, and was again put onto antibiotics.
Two weeks later we all went to a party, where Peter and I later came down with gastro-enteritis. Victoria also threw up a couple of times so I suspect she had a touch of it as well.
Ten days later she broke out in chicken pox. She actually seems to have gotten off pretty lightly, with half a dozen spots on her front and the same on her back. The most annoying ones were scattered around her nappy area but were only small. The infectious period with chicken pox lasts until the last spot crusts over so she was probably infectious for about 10 days. She still has the spots but they are all healing now.What was worse than the chicken pox was the cold she caught a few days later. Poor little thing was all stuffed up and couldn't breathe well for days.
Then a few days ago her first molar tooth came through. The one on the other side isn't far away either.
Victoria really has had one thing after another this year. She is well now, but I do wonder what's around the corner...
-Megz
PS: It's confirmed, Kathleen is now covered in chicken pox spots too.
09 October 2008
SOLD
Our house has been sold. After less than three weeks on the market.
With a worsening economy we were resigned to taking whatever offer we could get, knowing that everyone who would be interested had already had a look, and no new buyers were going to come along any time soon. However we were pleasantly surprised to get an offer fairly close to the registered valuation. We had only two open homes in the end. The first one attracted 33 groups. Which confirmed my suspicions that there is a big pool of people wanting to buy in Island Bay, who swoop down on every newly listed house. Most of them said that there was too much work to do on this house, which I fully understand. Having done most of the prep work already for renovating and/or redecorating, I know there is a lot involved. And most people haven't got the time. But this house was just perfect for a couple of people out there.
So, in December this house will pass out of my family's ownership for the first time in 38 years. Which will be more than a little sad. But for now I'm focussing on the future. The new owners have a lot to live up to, as the person who owned it before us had it for 44 years! And before that it was just bare land.
So now we've got about a month grace before everything turns hectic ... Victoria's birthday, Peter & my anniversary, Moving house, Peter's birthday, Christmas, New Year, Kathleen's birthday. But I love that time of year. I love all the activity. And the summer sun. And relaxing in the sun when all the activity is over. We'll just be doing it somewhere different this year.
Cheers,
Megz
06 October 2008
Under Offer
The tender for the house closed on Thursday afternoon. We received multiple offers, and have accepted one of them. Subject to a couple of conditions, but it should be all confirmed by Thursday or Friday this week.
It all worked out so well. We got a price we were happy with, sold to people we liked, and the time frame matches up with the purchase of our new property. So all being equal we will be moving house in December.
And in other news...
It is currently school holidays, so the girls and I are enjoying a break from our regular activities. Last week we went to Te Papa, but unfortunately most of our time off so far has been marred by illness. Last weekend Peter and I both came down with a bad case of food poisoning. Kathleen seemed to escape but Victoria was a bit poorly as well. Then no soon had we gotten over that, than Kathleen came down with coughing and sneezing and itchy spots on her legs. I knew she had been exposed to someone with chicken pox a couple of weeks ago, so took her to the doctor. Luckily he said the spots were insect bites and the coughing and sneezing was just a regular cold virus. So thankfully no chicken pox. But still one very sick little girl. We have spent a lot of time in front of the TV these school holidays. Then over the weekend Victoria came down with something as well, waking up with a fever one night. She has already had a couple of ear infections in the last few months, and I suspect she had another one. Making her very grizzly and sleepy (but is also back to waking up during the night again, grrr). And now Peter seems to have come down with something else as well too. So it has really been a house of illness over the last week and a bit.
Next term Kathleen will start going to Playcentre two days a week. Victoria and I will still attend one day a week, but Kat will go on her own on a Monday. However her creche has closed down due to staff leaving. So the net effect is that she still only has one day at preschool by herself a week.
Victoria is quite proficient at crawling now, and pulls herself up to stand on everything. She cruises the furniture with ease but isn't yet showing signs of standing on her own or walking. She's now 10 months old which is one of my favourite ages. She is learning so much. She can respond if you ask her to clap or bounce or wave. I've also started teaching her a couple of baby signs, and she has so far learned the sign for "more" pretty well.
I've been slowly going through our photos from the last few months, and hope to have them uploaded to Flickr soon. Keep an eye out.
Cheers,
Megz
It all worked out so well. We got a price we were happy with, sold to people we liked, and the time frame matches up with the purchase of our new property. So all being equal we will be moving house in December.
And in other news...
It is currently school holidays, so the girls and I are enjoying a break from our regular activities. Last week we went to Te Papa, but unfortunately most of our time off so far has been marred by illness. Last weekend Peter and I both came down with a bad case of food poisoning. Kathleen seemed to escape but Victoria was a bit poorly as well. Then no soon had we gotten over that, than Kathleen came down with coughing and sneezing and itchy spots on her legs. I knew she had been exposed to someone with chicken pox a couple of weeks ago, so took her to the doctor. Luckily he said the spots were insect bites and the coughing and sneezing was just a regular cold virus. So thankfully no chicken pox. But still one very sick little girl. We have spent a lot of time in front of the TV these school holidays. Then over the weekend Victoria came down with something as well, waking up with a fever one night. She has already had a couple of ear infections in the last few months, and I suspect she had another one. Making her very grizzly and sleepy (but is also back to waking up during the night again, grrr). And now Peter seems to have come down with something else as well too. So it has really been a house of illness over the last week and a bit.
Next term Kathleen will start going to Playcentre two days a week. Victoria and I will still attend one day a week, but Kat will go on her own on a Monday. However her creche has closed down due to staff leaving. So the net effect is that she still only has one day at preschool by herself a week.
Victoria is quite proficient at crawling now, and pulls herself up to stand on everything. She cruises the furniture with ease but isn't yet showing signs of standing on her own or walking. She's now 10 months old which is one of my favourite ages. She is learning so much. She can respond if you ask her to clap or bounce or wave. I've also started teaching her a couple of baby signs, and she has so far learned the sign for "more" pretty well.
I've been slowly going through our photos from the last few months, and hope to have them uploaded to Flickr soon. Keep an eye out.
Cheers,
Megz
02 October 2008
For Sale
Well our house has finally been listed for sale. Actually it's been on the market for 2 1/2 weeks now. The listing can be viewed at Open2view.
It's not really the best time to be selling a house, given the market conditions. Peter wanted to sell as soon as we bought the farm in Levin. I wanted to wait for spring, and to wait for the painter to come and paint the exterior of the house to create a good impression for buyers. The painter has had lots of delays. We are still waiting for him to say when he can start the job.
We are selling it by Tender, not necessarily a process I like but it's the way it's done around here. The tenders close this afternoon, so by tonight we should know if we have a buyer or not.
Over the last few months I have done a lot of work to get the house up to a reasonable standard for selling. We have put a lot of our stuff into storage so that the house appears to be large and roomy, instead of cramped and cluttered. We've put up new curtains. We've rearranged the rooms to take advantage of the roominess. The front room has again been turned into the living room. The family room has become a dining room again. Victoria is still in the small room/office off the kitchen. Kathleen is back in her original room again, and we are in the master bedroom.
I have attempted to tidy up the garden, although with two little ones, a busy schedule, and lots of wet/windy/cold days, I haven't done as much as I should have. I have laid limestone chips along the front pathway to tart it up, and it makes a huge difference.
But the biggest improvement has been in the bathroom. A room which had peeling paint and mould, would fill up with steam every time you had a shower or bath, and was the most unappealing room in the house. A couple of coats of paint, new vinyl floor tiles, a shower door and a ShowerDome to keep the steam inside the shower, have all combined to make it one of the nicer rooms now.
Here are some before and after photos...
The Shower Dome & Door Frame
I probably still need to paint the skirting board, but this is as far as I have managed to get so far.
So, keep an eye out for another post in a few days (if I get time LOL) with an update.
Cheers,
Megz
It's not really the best time to be selling a house, given the market conditions. Peter wanted to sell as soon as we bought the farm in Levin. I wanted to wait for spring, and to wait for the painter to come and paint the exterior of the house to create a good impression for buyers. The painter has had lots of delays. We are still waiting for him to say when he can start the job.
We are selling it by Tender, not necessarily a process I like but it's the way it's done around here. The tenders close this afternoon, so by tonight we should know if we have a buyer or not.
Over the last few months I have done a lot of work to get the house up to a reasonable standard for selling. We have put a lot of our stuff into storage so that the house appears to be large and roomy, instead of cramped and cluttered. We've put up new curtains. We've rearranged the rooms to take advantage of the roominess. The front room has again been turned into the living room. The family room has become a dining room again. Victoria is still in the small room/office off the kitchen. Kathleen is back in her original room again, and we are in the master bedroom.
I have attempted to tidy up the garden, although with two little ones, a busy schedule, and lots of wet/windy/cold days, I haven't done as much as I should have. I have laid limestone chips along the front pathway to tart it up, and it makes a huge difference.
But the biggest improvement has been in the bathroom. A room which had peeling paint and mould, would fill up with steam every time you had a shower or bath, and was the most unappealing room in the house. A couple of coats of paint, new vinyl floor tiles, a shower door and a ShowerDome to keep the steam inside the shower, have all combined to make it one of the nicer rooms now.
Here are some before and after photos...
| BEFORE | AFTER |
 |  |
 |  |
 |  |
The Shower Dome & Door Frame
I probably still need to paint the skirting board, but this is as far as I have managed to get so far.
So, keep an eye out for another post in a few days (if I get time LOL) with an update.
Cheers,
Megz
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