Life without Dad

Caleb headed back to Lagos when Neriah was a little over 2 weeks old. She is now 7 weeks old. I can't believe how fast the time has gone, and how big Neriah has grown. Since Caleb left, she is smiling, holding up her head, beginning to roll, and starting to 'talk'.  Being away from Caleb this long has been tough, I miss him more than I could ever know, but the worst part is not being able to share these special moments of Neriah's development with him.  I am thankful for technology which has meant that I can upload videos to youtube, and Caleb can see her on skype as she gets bigger and bigger. We miss you so much babe!!  Only two and a half weeks until we are back in Lagos!

Neriah's Travels Begin

We decided to get Neriah off to a flying start, so at about a week and a half old we loaded her in the car and the travels begun!  My mum and dad have recently built a beach house in Whakatane, and so we were able to head there to have our first time alone as a family. We were really able to get to know Neriah during this time, free from the (wonderful) distractions of visitors.  Figuring out what her different cries meant and just getting to spend time together enjoying her.

 

Introducing Neriah Lin Archer!

We headed back to NZ to welcome our little girl into the world.
She was born on the 22nd August 2011 at 2:50am, weighing 3.9kg (8lb11) and measuring 53cm.
We named her Neriah which is a Hebrew name and translates as 'burning light of God'. Her middle name is Lin to honor Caleb's grandmother who has selflessly served as a doctor in PNG for over 60 years. She is one of the most inspirational women I have ever met.  Check Lin out here for her incredible story.

 But back to our little girl. I had the most incredible 5.5 hour labour. It was such a beautiful experience, and so worth it! I definitely recommend the birthing pool!

Proud daddy!

Delicious skin to skin goodness

2 days old

Leaving the hospital - 4 days old

I am amazed at how much I love this little being.  She is so perfect and beautifully made.  I feel so privileged that we get to raise this child!

The First Half of 2011 In Brief

I know I have been incredibly slack since my last post... but for a very good reason! 
Here is what has happened in our lives since the last post...

1. Christmas - what an amazing adventure in Europe! We lost our luggage for 15 days of the 21 day trip. Caleb arrived into snowy Milan in his jandals and shorts and neither of us had a change of clothes, or the snowboarding gear we would need for our 10 day snowboarding holiday in the Italian Alps. Oops. We had an amazing time regardless, it was actually pretty great to travel around with nothing but a small backpack! We spent New Years in Munich on our way to visit friends in Prague, where we spent an amazing week exploring the beautiful city and spending quality time with awesome people. I also experienced my first European sauna. Very eye-opening (or eye-evading?).

2. We found out we were expecting a baby! - well, technically that happened before our Christmas holiday, and in fact, I spent most of our Christmas holiday sleeping (so fatigued) and eating (to ward off the nausea).  It was a pretty scary time as I had malaria when I conceived, and had to take the treatment which is not recommended when you are preggers... I am so glad our beautiful girl is healthy.

3. Prenatal care - ouch! I pretty much cried on my first trip to the Ob/Gyn when I had to fork out two weeks wages on blood tests. 

4. Cape Town, South Africa - It was cheaper to fly to South Africa and have our 20 week check-up done there. We discovered our little bug was a GIRL! Yay! Spent two weeks with the most incredible family - Shaun Kemp, you have such a beautiful family!

The Kemp Family

Joined in with the family tradition of nothing but pickled fish and hot cross buns all day on Easter Monday. All day. Breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert. It was pretty good... but I can see why you need a year to get over the overload before you are ready to tackle it again.  
We really fell in love with Cape Town. The gorgeous coast road, the stunning beach, Table Mountain, the Botanical Gardens, and the meat. MMM.

5. Baby Showers - I was totally blessed by my gorgeous friends, including my womens bible study ladies and some of the teachers from my school. Oh, and I can't forget the parents of our youth as well. I cannot believe how spoilt we have and how generous people have been towards us! Neriah is one lucky little girl to be so provided for! I cannot thank people enough! We have been gifted port-a-cot, bouncer, cot, change table, rocking chair, not to mention we were able to purchase so many baby necessities (and luxuries) which the Tates shipped back from the States for us. Back to the baby shower though... check out the incredible cake organised by the wonderful Patty!

WOW!

Carrying baby Naija style