Thank You (1)

Hi Everyone,

Just wanted to do a quick thank you to all the wonderful family and friends who have helped, supported, gifted and generally made us feel like we are parents so early on in the piece.

So a very big thank yous to:

The Hsu and Muir Families

Thank yous to the two patient and understanding mothers (very proud soon-to-be-grandmothers!) for not minding the wait till the 3-month mark.  I know you two knew something was wrong, and I knew you were worried about me, but thank you for not over worrying too much.  Oh, and thank you mama for not spilling the beans to baba!  That must've been very difficult!

Thank yous to the sisters (Tracy, Kirsten and Tam) for their kind offers of clothes, surprise visit, and promise to bail me out of the house.

Thank yous to the proud great aunties to be - Dina and Donna, great uncle Maurice, and the grand parents on both sides of the families.  Big thanks to Dina for checking up on me after every earthquake, they mean a lot to us, and we think of you often.  Donna, I really hope you can read these... if not, please let us know.

Thank yous to the overseas family members too!  I hope you can read the Mandarin blogs, and that the Aussie and South African side doesn't feel left out either.

Thank you to my God Mother, who has offered to fly all the way over here from Taiwan to help babysit the Muir Baby.  I am also living in the shirts she has given me, cos all my other work shirts no longer fits!  Thanks and we look forward to your visit next year!

A quick thank you to Auntie Tina, who bought us great baby and parenting books from Taiwan.  They are a great read and we have learnt a lot already!

The 'Very Good Mother' - Karyn Pearce

My good friend Karyn and I first met when I went to an evening session of the knitting circle at Knit World in Cuba Street when I first arrived back in Wellington.  It was the dreary winter of 2009 and I was single, working 50 hour weeks, had an empty house to myself and no one to talk to after work.

Karyn got my wacky humour straight away, and didn't mind my Sunday bombardments to her establishment, asking her to show me how to do patterns.  Our friendship supported me through my illness, time away from Wellington, new relationship (with Andrew), engagement then marriage, constant threat of leaving her to go to Auckland etc.

Now, she celebrates our happy news and has kindly offered the family heirlooms of the baby stroller and the bassinet.  With all her experience with babies, the solid dependability of her no-nonsense attitude and wicked sense of humor, I thought she would be the ideal candidate to be our child's God Mother.  However, since I'm not Christian, and Andrew's not bothered either way, we are anointing her with the new title  of the 'Very Good Mother'.  Because she is indeed a great mother, and I hope I continue to learn from her and raise a healthy and happy child just as she has done with Ashlee.

Thank you Karyn for being there for me and helping me make sense, or most times, talking sense into me!  It is very much appreciated.

The Chang Family

Keane and his wife Serene have been really great friends even while I was studying down here in my old Vic Uni days.  Keane was kind enough to offer his services as designer and photographer during our wedding endeavours; which without his help, would not be the classy affair that it was!

Serene has already provided great advise on weddings and pregnancy to date. I feel like I'm walking in her footsteps, except not doing as well as she did (Serene undertook double weddings and double births with the serenity only she could pull off).

Thank you for all the wonderful information and support you guys have shown us.  We really appreciate it and hope we could share baby sitting duties in the not too distant future!

The Woodfield Family

Marti and Jarod have also been friends since my uni days.  They have been raising their bundle of joy Atticus since Christmas last year.

While I was contemplating pregnancy and motherhood, Marti was kind enough to let me drop in and visit with her and Atticus.  It was a privilege and a great learning experience watching Marti take care of Atticus in those visits.

Marti, Jarod and Atticus has also very kindly offered us Atticus's treasured items from his old life as a newborn.  The Muir Baby thanks you for your generous gifts, and hope it gets to hang out with Atticus in the not too distant future!

All the well wishers

There are simply too many wonderful friends to name (cos my brain is shot and memory is patchy at best).  I thank you all for your offers of congratulations and offers to baby sit.

Your kind words mean a lot to us, and it helps keep us going when the going is tough.  It also makes being away from you all a bit easier, especially during trying times such as earthquakes and aftershocks.

We hope you are all enjoying the blog and the comments.