Heartbreak called Bruce.

Beyond heartbreak. Beyond sad.

We have, so sadly, made the descion to re-home our beloved Bruce. Even just writing that sentence has made me break down in tears. I think it's the hardest decisions we've ever had to make.

We found Bruce, then known as Henry, at the Lost Dog's Home when we lived in Melbourne. We needed a playmate for Timmy when we worked during the day and not long after Jacob found Bruce on their website. We were stoked to see that he was part Baseji like Timmy and his photo really made me smile.

Riding to the beach!

We went to see him at the Home and I totally fell in love. He was so cute and soft and such a nuggety little dude, he was perfect. He and Timmy got on like brothers do. Adventuring out together at the dog parks, going for walks, sleeping next to each other and rumbling like true siblings.

He was 7 months old at the time. And still such a puppy.

Cooking lessons

4 years later, he is still the Scrappy-Do he has always been. After moving to NZ, we started going to a new dog park where he is a hit among the dogs. Everyone loves Bruce and remembers his name.

Timmy & Bruce

Now, with Hendrik and Willem here with us, sadly we are unable to give him the amount of attention he actually needs. Timmy has adjusted, but Bruce struggles.

Loving the sunshine

If you know of someone in Wellington or somewhere close that would be able to give Bruce the love and attention he craves, please let us know. He needs to go to the right person/family.

Sylie & Hugo helping Bruce with his wardrobe

He is about 5 years old now. He's a Basenji and Jack Russell mix. Chipped and up to date on all of his vaccinations. We is registered with the WCC until next year.

I am so unbelievable heartbroken having to write this. But we have to do what is best for our beloved Bruce...

xx

 

Adventures for Springtime

Jacob's Amazing Gardening Skills. And building skills.

 

He knocked this up in one day! Yeah, he's a legend.

Let the planting begin!

These little men.

Some days they melt my heart. Others they break me in two.

Teething is the bane of our existence at the moment. The mood swings, the crying, not eating, not sleeping. Sadly, Pamol is my best friend right now. I hate medicating my children, but as soon as that orange flavoured syrup hits the lips, there is calm, there is quiet.

It's not that bad when it's only one boy. The last week it's been Willem, but now it's Hendrik's time to shine. And there is always a few days of overlap. So not only are we dealing with 3 weeks of hell, one week of that is both boys in agony.

On the plus side, I can't wait to see those new pearly whites! Fingers crossed - not long now!

Nine. Months. Seriously???

Unreal. Time is just flying by! Yesterday, I had the amazing privilege of holding wee little Lewis, just over a week old. He's newest addition to the already lovely Burns' family (love you guys!) and it was the first time holding a baby younger than our boys since they were born. I almost cried! Not for being clucky, but I barely remember our big guys ever being that small! Just so tiny and helpless... Wow...

It's such a different story now. Our once wee boys are turning into such little men. Yesterday, afternoon we spent a bit of time sitting on a blanket, in the sunshine, watching their Dad trimming a few trees around the house. There they sat in their sun hats, clapping and crawling, giggling and keeping a keen eye on the local tuis. It's so cool to see them change so much in such a little amount of time.

I can honestly say, this has been THE most difficult thing I have ever done. EVER. I know that, yeah, someday it will get easier, someday I may regain a sliver of sanity, maybe catch up on sleep, but for now we go on day to day, just scraping by, just surviving. Everyone said it would be hard, no one said it would be easy. But not one person ever actually warns you of, sadly, how much you're going suffer. All completely worth it, don't get me wrong. But be prepared to suffer and be tested at ever single turn.

Hendrik on the move.

 

With Hendrik now commando crawling, and Willem not too far off, I'm starting to feel a sense of relief. But I'm sure that won't last. They'll soon go from crawling to walking to running - in completely different directions I'm sure.

Duets with Willem

Our wee mover and shaker, Hendrik

 

In all of this chaos, one of the most rewarding things at the moment is food. They love it. They can't get enough of it and will scream at you until they are completely satisfied. I must say, baby led weaning is the way to go! Well, for us at least. I love watching them try new foods. Textures, hot, cold, flavours, they are curious about it all!

Some of their favourites are omelettes with spinach, parsley, and cheese. Chicken and pesto. Peas with mint and ricotta. Kiwi fruit. Mandarins. Oranges. Garlic hummus. Porridge. Greek yogurt. Apples. Roasted chips. Fruit bread. BBQ chicken and BBQ pineapple. The list goes on...

 

So, this bread, (yummo) was based off of this recipe from a great blog. We switched it up a little bit since strawberries aren't quite in season here, but a cup of frozen raspberries, strawberries, and blackberries did the trick. It bakes up quite nicely. Because we have a fan-forced oven, foil over the top of a perfectly browned bread helped it not to burn. The boys loved it. I loved it. Win win!

 

As our little nuggets become their own people, I love seeing all of those things that people say twins do. They are becoming good little playmates. They are babbling amongst themselves when I'm not in the room. They sing together. They cry together, which is a killer for me and appropriate of an entire blog post all it's own. And while, they are stealing each other's toys, they are also starting to pass them back and forth to each other. It's pretty damn cool.

On that note. I'm keen to start writing about a lot of our experiences with the boys. Pregnancy, feeding, sleep, dealing with stress, marriage, etc. Twins affects everyone differently. There are a lot of books and a lot of other blogs and websites about it all, but I think it's good to gather as much information as you possibly can in the early days. So for my therapy, and so other people can take what's worked for us and what's not... Consider this my challenge.

Happy 9 months, my dear darling boys, Hendrik and Willem... xx

A lovely Sunday with my wee boys!

What a lovely day.

While Jacob built an amazing new garden bed (in ONE DAY!!! Photos soon I hope!) and I actually got to do something that I've been wanting to do for ages... Take photos of the boys! I know I have a damn good excuse, but feel pretty slack for not taking as many photos as I hoped I would.

After doing this today, I think a day in the life of editorial is in order!

 

Happy Spring!

 

First BBQ of the season!

Well, the weather was warmer for about 2 days and hopes for an early spring warmed the hearts of all of us here in Wellington, then reality struck. The temp has dropped back down to a lovely 3C overnight. Oh well.

I finally feel like life is slowly coming back into control. Our boys are sleeping through the night, sometimes. But for the first time in 9 months, maybe longer including pregnancy, have I felt somewhat human again! Amazing what 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep can do for the soul...

We've had quite a journey the last year. We've made it this far, amazingly, just by doing what every other new parent in history has done - winging it! Yes, research helped. Books, chatting to other parents, classes (some that paid off in the long run, some not) but most of the time we just go with our gut. You figure out what's best for them as you go. And as we didn't have any children before these two and didn't have ANY prior experience, sometimes you question yourself, which is probably the worst mistake.

But for now, here is to surviving the winter and looking forward to seeing more tulips in our yard along with warmer sunny days. Hello Spring!