Woohoo 2 years!

It's our second wedding anniversary today! Been an amazing ride.

I so love being Mrs Booth-Smits.

Late February moon tails

Well I know I’m a week late but I guess better late than never. Oh and I didn’t write a moon tails last month as I did nothing and I mean nothing. I think I cleaned the house and that was about it. Exciting stuff.

Well this moon tails was different we had a great day out. My mother in law came down from Palmy. So mum, MIL, John and I went into Welly to go to the European Masters exhibition at Te Papa.

August Mackie Little Walter’s toys 1912

We first went to the Museum Hotel for coffee. I love the Hotel it’s so beautiful and the toilets are amazing. John had a play on the ground. Funny to watch John rolling around on the floor of a four star hotel. Though no one seemed to mind.

The exhibition was pretty good. It’s great to get special exhibits come to Welly. I bought John a cute poster which I’ll frame and put up in his room. I don’t normally buy things at exhibits but I figured it was John’s first exhibit. Cute. He was very well behaved. We then had a wander around Te Papa looking at it’s permanent collections. It’s such an amazing museum I haven’t been there in years which is sad so I’m going to make an effort to go more often.

We played in the discovery section of Te Papa John wasn’t very interested in playing with the toys he did like watching the other kids playing with drums. Was very cute. Then MIL and I  watched a short film about the history of NZ. Was very interesting will definitely have to watch it again. Will be so great to take John to Te Papa when he’s older.

We then went to One Red Dog for lunch. Haven’t been there in years. So yummy. John ate a huge piece of broccoli well he more sucked on it for the next hour. It was so cute as he was crying but was very muffled as he had this huge broccoli piece in his month – but he didn’t want to let it go!

We then went out on the hunt for some custard that had kelp in it as my MIL feed it to Mr Ecochick and so we though it would be good for the little man. So we went to Common Sense Organics. It’s a great shop I love it. Bought John some new bottle teats and some pasta stars (so cute). Found some at New World. He loves it!

We met the rest of the family for a lovely dinner in the Cosy Club. It’s always so wonderful to have the whole family together. I love going out together so cute all the kiddies playing together.

My first publication!!

John at 4 months in our beloved itti bittis

I am so excited I’ve been asked by my local parent’s centre to provide them with a short column/ article each month. I’m SO excited as this means I’m going to be published! Well meaning other people out there will get it sent to their inboxes but that means published right? Guess what the topic is? Of course cloth nappies! My favourite topic!!!! Who knows what this might lead to!!!! Article is below:

So you have a new baby and you think why would I want to make even more work for myself? Trust me you’re going to be doing a lot of washing and changing A LOT of nappies, there is no way around either of these things. What you do have is a choice about is what you put on your baby’s tush. There are many reasons why you may decide to use cloth; save money, the environment, can be better for your little ones skin (ie less nappy rash), reduce your family’s rubbish output, etc.

One of the main reasons we decided to use cloth was to save money (plus the environmental ramifications). So what is the true cost of having a baby in nappies? Figure a child is in nappies for about 2.5 years; so using cloth (including washing, drying, etc) would cost about $1750 and sposes would cost about $4250. So cloth can save you loads! It doesn’t have to be all or nothing though, a lot of people use cloth part time. Even if you only use 1 cloth nappy every day you’ll save around $300 and 310 kg of waste going into the tip!

Most people when they think cloth they think of those white squares with pins that our mothers used. Well not anymore! Now there are so many different types of cloth companies and nappies that it can actually be overwhelming; the Nappy Network does a great overview.

I wanted an easy nappy system as I didn’t want to be folding or putting different layers on but also wanted a nappy that was cute. I mean crazy a cute nappy! The ones we use are brightly coloured and fluffy! We’ve been using cloth nappies since John was a week old and have never looked back. It’s just such a normal part of our life and cloth is not only easy, money saving but also fun. So go ahead join the club. 

Jury service

Last week I was called to do my civil duty as a juror. When I got the notice in December I thought it would be interesting to go on a jury. Since this is how the New Zealand court system works I have always strongly believed it was ones duty to do jury service. This is the second time I have been called to do jury service (couldn’t go the first time as I had university exams) and so I was keen to go. I thought it would be an interesting experience.

Well after having spent a whole week in court I can understand why a lot of people don’t agree with our jury system. I mean if you’re not called on the jury you have to come back every day that week to see if you get called to a case. I understand that we need a large amount of people to be there to get a good cross section of society but I can also see the waste in work hours that this causes everyone.

So how does my view differ after having now completed my jury service? I definitely found it interesting and challenging. Though I’m not sure it’s a great use of public funds/ time. In Holland they have a 3 judge system where trained judges hear the cases and pass judgement. In some ways this seems a much better system as judges know the law and so will not be moved by emotions though I guess when you have 12 jurors who have to come to a unanimous decision I guess this gets rid of emotions too? Not really sure what the answer is but I still like the idea of juror being a civil duty.

Keeping love alive

We went to a friend’s wedding on Saturday it was so lovely to see the new love of a newly married couple. I remember that day oh so well. I so wish I could go back to that day and do it all over again as it was so amazing. 

Trash the dress!!

Mr Ecochick and I have been together for 5 years and married almost 2. We both work hard to keep our love alive and fresh; trying not to take each other for granted. I would love to believe that it’s because we love each other so much that everything is so super amazing but I think a lot of it has to do with the amount of relationship/ self help books we’ve read. I’ll share some of these secrets with you. The latest book we’ve read which was great, and is currently doing the rounds of my coffee group is Baby proof your marriage; it’s a fantastic book that talks about how to stay in love and be a couple once tadpoles come along. I think it’s REALY helped both of us.

A quick fire list of my favourite books that I’ve read a few times and bought for oh so many people;

- Love and respect; was that book an eye opener or what. I must track down my copy to reread it.

- Why men don’t listen and woman can’t read maps; I LOVE Allan and Barbara Pease. They are hysterical. Actually you can read any of their books but this is my fav. I even own a signed copy of this boy was I excited when I saw this on trade me!

- 5 love languages; I think this is my favourite book I have read it so many times and I have bought about a million copies of it as gifts for people (I think I should get a commission!).There is also an edition for children’s love languages so I must get a copy of that. This book has helped our relationship so much so I can only imagine it’ll be great for our relationship with our little man too. 

- Men are from Mars and woman are from Venus is a classic and was the first book I read on the topic. I’m currently reading Children are from Heaven. So far so good.

I can only really thank these books for the wonderful romantic evening I had last night. A bedroom lit with candles and a wonderful massage. I love to be Mrs Booth.  

On a note of good role models (I believe this really helps our marriage too); my parents have the most amazing marriage and is a constant inspiration to both of us. Their amazing marriage is a wonderful reminder of what a great marriage is and also how to have the most fantsatic life together.