Yada Yada Yada

Now its time to say...

2009-02-06T10:16:00.004+11:00

24 months in the making. 24 hours left on the reel. That's the Melbourne chapter of the Hill whanau chronicles written into the family diary.

Here's our 5 Most Mentionable Melbourne Moments of the blast two years:

5. Receiving the freedom of functionality - Melbourne works - the freeways, sports stadiums, city markets, aquatic facilities, Koorong, shopping centres, playgrounds, beaches - you name it, Melbourne's got it and it works like you want it to - love it, lived it, will miss it.
4. Successive 40+ degree days - least we forget.
3. Knocking the bugger off. We actually did it and grew heaps from it. Believe us when we say it was a mini-mission moving house and family across the ditch for a two-year stint. But we did it and feel that God has greatly blessed us through it.
2. The week in-week out practice of Keelia graceful - culminating in a heart bursting ballet recital that brought more than a tear to the eye.
1. The entry of Nathan Kenzie Roland Hill into our world - a gift from God.

Glen didn't quite achieve his goal of making poverty history (in fact the Global Financial crisis means the world's probably worse off then when he started at World Vision) but I don't think we've reached the end of that story line.

Well that's it. To all our friends in Australia - thanks for being awesome! To all our family and friends in NZ - we miss you lots and will see you soon!

Princess Keelia

2009-01-22T17:41:00.001+11:00

Four fabulously fun days of festive adventure

2008-12-30T23:12:00.007+11:00

For the first time ever the Hill whanau had a slow-paced, relaxing Christmas Day. No stress whatsoever or rushing around like mad people - you should try it one year, it's great! Although, we did miss the Hill/Miller family celebrations too :(

On the day, the kids didn't wake up til 9:30am (there goes the plan of going to the 9am Christmas service - oops!) so we let them open their Santa stockings while we waited for Justus & Susan to come back from church. Both kids were very happy to sit there patiently and play with their stuff while they waited. It was a bit weird, but nice to not have everything unwrapped in 5 mins of mayhem.

Once Justus & Susan got home we got into the family & friends presents. Keelia even took a break from opening presents to skim read a set of books she got given. We were told in no uncertain terms that she wasn't going to open any more presents til she had read her Pearlie books all by herself! Fine by us.

Nathy was a bit of a pro opening his presents carefully and giving big "wow" and "looka" noises when he saw what was inside. His 12 new little trucks (from various givers) have taken pride of place in his daily play routine, along with his 9 new books on vehicles of all sorts. I am still amazed at how excited he gets when he spots a truck on the road let alone the 'pleasure overload' he has when he sits down to read one of his truck books!

Keelia was very happy with her new books, toys and pretty clothes, but her shiny new red & pink bike definitely stole the show for her. Those 3 hours it took Glen to put together was definitely worth it.

The whole present opening took us til 12:30pm before we finally figured we'd missed out on breakfast so headed straight for the left over ham we'd cooked for our lovely Christmas Eve dinner at a friends house the night before.

At some point in the afternoon I whip up some desserts then we head off to another friends house for a dinner with them and our other kiwi friends. Lamb & Pavlova was on the menu, well to start with, they didn't stay there very long. I actually forced Justus to give me the last lamb cutlet that I then had to share with Glen!

Keelia sat on the couch and listened to our host/friend Jo tell her the real Christmas story with the help of a great little box set Rachel Jeffery gave me years ago - thanks Rachel!

Christmas Day spilled over into the two following days which we used to head outside and enjoy the sunshine. The first day we enjoyed a yummy picnic & pioneering bike ride at one of our local parks and then on the second day visited a Strawberry Farm and a picture perfect beach. I couldn't have asked for a nicer way to spend 4 days with our little family - oh alright - the only thing I would have asked for is all my NZ family & friends to be there too!!

Check out our Christmas album

Fact or Fiction - Take 1

2008-12-08T19:35:00.000+11:00

Boy meets world

2008-11-29T18:37:00.004+11:00

It's a bit of a shocker but our little boy is already catalog savvy and shops his way through the latest mailings.

Slip sliding away

2008-10-19T13:50:00.002+11:00

Going, going, GONE

2008-09-13T21:56:00.009+10:00

A vote was taken and it was unanimous, Nathy was headed to the chair for the chop. It was decided that yes indeed his hair was getting long and straggly and since he was now 1 and an official "boy" he needed his first ever haircut.

It all started as fun and games for Nathy. He isn't normally allowed to play (chew) with his toothbrush so even though he was strapped into his highchair in the bathroom, it was all smiles as he was handed his treasured dino toothbrush. However it didn't take long for the toothpaste and the novelty to wear off, and the tears to start!

In comes Distraction Object 2 - the talking and singing Puppy. This proved a lot more fascinating and therefore gave Daddy some much needed opportunity to bring the clippers out for some quick 'back' and 'sides' work.

Half way through his looks were getting a bit more desperate and more tears threatened to start. However the clever big sister discerned the higher stress levels and decided to dance along with the Puppy's songs. This was Distraction 3 that Nathy happily welcomed. He loves a good boogie and joined in the dancing. Away go the clippers (no good on a bopping bubba) and hello again to the scissors that wait patiently for a 'still' moment to make a few snips.

All in all, it has to be said that Nathy was mostly wonderful for his first experience of the chop.

It also has to be said that Mummy is very sad that her baby has now definitely gone, but she still loves her little boy just as much. Don't grow up too fast Nathy!

The day Nathy turned ONE

2008-08-18T22:45:00.003+10:00

We only had a small window of 2 hours where our complete little family would be together today as Glen had to spend all night talking at a World Vision event. So we decided 1-3pm would be a fun filled, jam packed time of adventures for our gorgeous little boy.

It started with us all quietly creeping into his room with 4 huge balloons and his presents and then watching him slowly wake up and see not us, but the balloons, and then the fun started. Our little boy LOVES balloons and seeing them always evokes lots of "oh wow" and "wow wee" talking along with pointed fingers and a few very loud squeals! I'm sure he thought he was in heaven being woken up with the 4 huge balloons in his room. It took a while before he even wanted his presents, but luckily for him his big sister was very helpful in unwrapping them all and laying them all out nicely for his approval.

After the present ceremony we headed off to one of our local malls and bought him his current favourite food for lunch - fish, olives, cucumber and pasta. He gobbled it all down with his left hand (not normal for our very right-handed child) because his right hand firmly held onto yet another balloon that he had charmed off the Wendy's Ice Cream sales assistant when we walked past. I imagine it's very hard to ignore a little boy squealing with delight and repeatedly saying "oh wow" while pointing excitedly at your balloons. Nathy didn't even care that it was bright pink.

After his buffet lunch we headed off on a mission to pay for Nathy (& Keelia of course) to go on every kids ride in the mall. This is a new favourite activity for Nathy and he especially loves the car ones where he stands tall and proud while "driving" his car, the whole time commentating his adventures to all who can hear! Today added a whole new dimension to his experience though. It is normal practice for Mummy & Daddy to NEVER put money into these rides, as we are always begged to visit at least 5 every time we visit a mall and it was decided $2 per ride would add up pretty quickly! We prefer paying for trips back to NZ with our spare change :o) However today was a pretty special day so we added motion to Nathy's ride experience and the huge smiles and excited babbles made it worth every dollar.

Next up was a trip to the pet shop where Nathy got to check out all the little puppies, his favourite animal at the moment. It's interesting how the puppies only ever want to play with the little kids, none are interested in boring adults!

The mall trip was finished off with a visit back to Wendy's for some sorbet and another balloon before we headed home to eat some birthday cupcakes, another one of Nathy's favourite foods. And just like a boy should, he picked it up and shoved as much into his mouth as he could and got it everywhere! A perfect way to end a wonderful couple of hours with our adorable birthday boy. We love our little Nathy and thank God every day for him being in our lives.

I'll drink to dat

2008-06-15T21:48:00.005+10:00

Well our little wee boy finally looks like he is getting over his flu. It was so sad, he was the only one in the house who got sick. He could barely make a noise and was so raspy but now he seems to have bounced back a bit. Just look how cute he is.

May in motion

2008-06-08T14:58:00.007+10:00

"We like to move it, move it.."

Nathy's moving moments
1. His hair moved downwards - we said goodbye to his cute baby sticky-upy spikes and hello to longer, flatter, boy-like hair :o(

2. His teeth moved outwards - we said hello to two more teeth that popped out (all without me noticing til a friend pointed them out!)

3. His legs pushed upwards - bathtime is now a very closely watched event as Nathy insists on pulling himself up to standing at the side of the bath for 90% of the time he's in there! And to make matters worse he thinks it's hilarious when his little feet start slipping backwards and he loses his balance!

3. His body moved forwards - and the most momentous movement was Nathy finally starting to crawl. Yes I miss the peace of knowing he is restricted to one fixed abode but it is very cute seeing him dart across the room, with a cheeky look on his face, in a vein attempt to grab the remotes. What is with males and remotes? Whenever I hear him excitedly babbling in the lounge then I know what he's managed to get in his hot little hands!

Glen's mammoth movements
On a similar 'movement' style, Glen also ran his first official fun run - racing the Puffing Billy Steam Train over a 13km cross country style course. Yeah, yeah we know it was only 13km, but it had a lot of steep hills! Glen ran it with our friend Richard, and left Danielle and myself to do the hard part - get our kids in our cars and meet our husbands at the finish line. Sounds easy. It was NOT! We got stuck in horrendous traffic and then our tired hubbies (once they walked to us in the traffic jam) made US do the u-turns in the banked up traffic! Apparently they had wobbly tired legs :o)

Our final move involves the whole house. Unfortunately we have to say goodbye to this lovely house that we have called home for the first 18 months as Australian Residents. The new owners of the house have decided to move in and start their renovations, so we are moving out. Fortunately we have found a new house of similar size and only 2 mins from World Vision for Glen. Unfortunately the kitchen is nothing compared to my current one :o( However I tell myself it was better to have a big house with a small kitchen than a small house with a great kitchen (another house we got offered). It wouldn't do to have all the kids toys and computer desk in the kitchen now would it!

And in a trans-tasman 'move', myself and the kids will be back in Aotearoa for a few weeks starting 26 June. The flight time of the cheap airfares 'happened' to coincide with my birthday and also coincidentally allows me to visit a few new babies that have been born :o)

Julia

Mummies day 4.0

2008-05-11T18:54:00.002+10:00

I love my mum because she is lots of fun. We hang out together, paint together, bake together, sing together, laugh together, shop together and even dance together. We are a perfect match. This is my fourth mummies day celebrating my mummy and each year I just keep finding more and more things that make my mum so lovely. Lots of love Keelia xoxo

My first mummies day

2008-05-11T18:44:00.003+10:00

'Is she making faces behind me?'

I have been feeling a bit sick over the last couple of days. In fact I was up every couple of hours all through the night. But you know what - every time I got a bit upset my mummy was there to pick me up, give me a cuddle and make me feel better. I love my mum. I tried my best to be a good boy and I think I did a good job of it. Mummy said I am especially cute when I am sick. Yesterday daddy and I went out with mummy and Keelia and bought them some new clothes. I'm not sure what Keelia did to get something for mummies day - it must have been from Sleepy. Love from Nathy!

April Update

2008-05-09T21:25:00.004+10:00

April brought along a few firsts for us... our first weekend holiday in Victoria, (thought we better actually see a bit of this State while we live here!) And also my first time with 'milk fever' - NOT nice! Due in part to Nathy getting his first teeth - more NOT nice (on my part :o)

Glen and I managed to escape for a few hours to see a movie - Street Kings - won't be doing that again in a hurry - $50 for a coffee then movie! I think it was more the experience of getting out of the house by ourselves, it's been a while.

We've also been on a few weekend train adventures into the city. On one trip we ventured up the Rialto Tower to a 360deg view of Melbourne city. Impressive at the start, very giddy by the end! However, our favourite city haunt has to be the wonderful Queen Victoria markets. We wander the aisles of stall after stall. Firstly clothes/toys/junk etc.. then we enter the fruit & vege section and finally our favourite, the meat/seafood & deli section. The day is ended with us sitting under a tree watching the live reggae band, drinking our coffee and eating Danish donuts...mmm. Then we head home on the train with our backpacks a lot heavier than we started. Although the poor olives never make it off the train. Glen & Keelia always make quick work of the chosen variety of the day.

For the Anzac weekend we headed off south to a place called Inverloch with two other families that we are friends with (Bruce's and Latif's). We all had 3 year old girls and 7-11 month old babies. So it wasn't hard to agree on a very family friendly holiday park to stay at and child-friendly adventures to go on. The 'jumping pillow' at the holiday park was a definite hit with the girls, but I think the babies enjoyed the trip to the beach the most - what is with babies eating handful after handful of sand? Surely it can't feel that nice, let alone taste boring!

The night we arrived home from Inverloch, my second 'first' experience kicked in... fever, achey body, and headache after headache. A few days before we left on holiday my adorable son decided to try out his brand new teeth on a couple things he shouldn't be trying them out on! He also decided being on holiday was far more interesting than continuing his important feeding routine. Hence my first experience of Milk Fever and 24 hours of feeling like death was near :o) I can almost say it was worth it to have Glen stay home from work and look after me & the kids. He even did painting and glue-ing with Keelia and cleaned the house on his day home! I need to be sick more often...

Shooting hoops

2008-05-05T18:00:00.004+10:00

He probably doesn't have the genetic preposition for basketball brilliance so Nathy is looking to develop his hand eye as early as possible. From the very first day he opened his Christmas present (from his big sister) 'Dino' has been his favourite past time. But it was only the other day that he went from watching to playing.

Mummy Time

2008-02-23T19:27:00.003+11:00

Look what happens when given a free afternoon with no kids - three full hours of reading (some good quality magazine trash), a couple of latte's, a head massage and a (long over due) cut & colour thrown in! I return home to a VERY happy smiley husband but two slightly stunned little kids - "excuse me, who are YOU and what did you do to our mummy?"

Sydney side, Kilpatrick guide, Princess pride

2008-01-21T22:26:00.000+11:00

Most would say 'time flies'. I say it disappears. If it wasn't for the fact that I have a little boy who is growing & changing every day then I would seriously be asking who stole the last 6 months of my life! It's not that I don't have memories, I do, they just seem to be past day dreams, not reality.

Reflecting on these "day dreams" I will try to give you a little update on life of late with the Hill Whanau...

Little Nathy is a darling who we ALL adore, he even has Uncle Justy on his cute little side. I think Nathy gets the "replacement cat" cuddle that Justus used to try and pry out of Keelia. Although Nathy smiles at all of us when we enter a room, Keelia is definitely his favourite face. He is besotted with her and doesn't even seem to mind the million crushing "cuddles" he receives from her. A regular occurrence in the morning is the both of them watching Playschool on the beanbag cuddled up together. Yeah, yeah I know what you're thinking... tv is bad for them... but Playschool isn't really tv is it? Actually I should stop Keelia from watching it then maybe she'll stop pestering me to make all these wonderfully creative things out of toilet rolls and cellophane!!

Backing up a bit - just before Christmas we disappeared up north for a lovely holiday in Sydney. Family friends had lent us their very nice house (& pool) to stay in while they were back in NZ. It would have been a very relaxing holiday had it not been for us killing their goldfish on our 2nd day and then breaking their air conditioning! Not really our fault, but I assure you, it still felt like it was! Amongst our adventures in the city of Sydney we managed to visit Hillsong and CCC, as well as getting in some mall rat time. However, our biggest effort was devoted to eating lots of fabulous food. We all loved the time away up there, especially once we conquered the complex traffic system!

After arriving home in the early hours of Christmas Eve, we headed straight into Christmas then began our build up to the arrival of the Kilpatricks - all 3 of them (yay for that!) It was nice to catch up, even in the midst of 40deg heat which forced us to hole up in our family room under the one air conditioner. The heat saw Laura decide to sleep on the couch under the aircon unit while Glen & Sam stayed up til 4am playing Wii (what else do boys do when it's too hot to sleep?) When we did manage to venture out Sam took the opportunity to teach Keelia some Southside moves and Laura got in some good practice for her future baby endeavours with Nathy. Although one time he did want more than practice and she wasn't yet fully equipped!

We also took Keelia for her first haircut. For too many reasons to list, we decided the long hair had to go! So off to the hairdressers she happily went (anything to look like Charli-Rose) and there she happily sat (mostly) while her hair was cut & layered. Goodbye to our little sweet baby girl, and hello to our grown up 3 year old!

Furthering her make over, daddy recently busted out the nail polish to add finishing touches to one of the many princess outfits rotated to wear that day. In order to achieve the finishing touches to these princess pampers I have to patiently untangle her many "jewelleries" and put them on her EVERY single morning and then another 4 times each day.

On a side note, it's not just Keelia's appearance that is maturing, so is her knowledge of 'issues'. Over lunch recently with my princess I got grilled about my past jobs...
K: "so Mum, before you had me & Nathy, what did you do?"
M: "worked for Harvey Norman"
K: "so you didn't work to help the poor kiddies like daddy does?"
M: "um, no"
K: "why did you work for HN?"
M: "ah... to help them make lots of money (??)"
K: "but why would you do that when you could help the poor kiddies instead?"
M: "well...um... how's your lunch sweetie?"
If only she was that concerned about the injustice of me cleaning up her messy toys!! :o)

For those of you missing us madly, there is less than 6 weeks til we are back in NZ. And since I am there for a whole calendar month (1-31 March), there will be plenty of time for lots of personal catch ups. Glen will only be in NZ for the wedding weekend (Mum & John are finally getting hitched!) but will fly back later to speak at eCamp over Easter.

So there is the Hilldown for another wee while. Keep in contact and send us lots of emails cause we all love to read them.

God bless.

Refreshing

2008-01-15T18:33:00.000+11:00

A refreshingly positive story of Christian leadership.

Merry Christmas

2008-01-14T23:05:00.000+11:00

Well our first Christmas away from home and away from NZ went by at a rapid rate. Thankfully the morning started well with a sleep in until 9.30 am when Keelia hopped into bed with us (much appreciated after only arriving home at 2am that morning after our long drive back from Sydney) She happily stayed in bed with us til BIG brekkie time (bacon, eggs, etc.) at 10am :o) What's more - there was not even a squeak of complaint out of her about the fact that the lounge (& Christmas Tree + probable presents) were out of bounds til Nathy woke up (at 11am).

Big brekkie came and went and finally she was allowed outside to see if the reindeer had eaten their carrot and then into the lounge to see if Santa had drunk his water and eaten his cookie (can you tell our little girl doesn't like milk?). Much to her delight Santa had filled the two stockings with pressies. Let the games begin! Paper did fly pretty thick and fast for a while, til half way through unwrapping Nathy's Santa pressies, she uncovers a Wiggles DVD. "ummm.... (silence) umm.... I think Santa got this wrong, I think this one is meant for me". Enter Daddy with "No I don't think Santa got it wrong, he never does, HOWEVER, I don't think Nathy will mind if you share it with him". Problem solved - phew! Nathy sits there happily watching the goings on from the comfort of his "lazy-boy" til he's finally given some paper to chew on and crinkle - woopee!

After the tiring morning shenanigans, Nathy pretty much slept the day away. Nothing more exciting for a baby than to watch his sister delightedly unwrap almost every present under the tree and exclaim every time "wow, I LOVE it!!" followed by a "what is it?"!

Before we know it it is time to head off to Simon & Rachel's for lunch with 15 other kiwis. Five hours later, fill of turkey & ham and plenty of bad food, we perform a quick pit stop at home before heading to Charli-Rose's house for supper & coffee. Finally about 10pm we drag the two kids home and put them to bed, with smiles still on their faces.

Christmas didn't stop there for the kids though - packages continued to arrive in the post a few days later from Poppa and also Grandma. Then Sam & Laura arrived with more presents from friends in NZ on New Years Eve.

I simply cannot believe our families carried on their family Christmas traditions!! There were rumours of fun & mayhem galore, despite my strict instructions that no one was to have fun with us not there!

We definitely missed the church family part of the occasion. It really was sad to miss the traditional Christmas Eve service at MBC. We even missed our (Crossway) church's Christmas services (travelling to Sydney) and the big Hillsong one (travelling back to Melbourne). Although despite the huge expense at both of these events, neither would have come close to the fever & excitement (& nervousness on Glen's part) of being at our beloved MBC church at 11:15pm Christmas Eve.

Maybe next year...? God bless.

First family picnic

2007-11-10T19:11:00.000+11:00

Beautiful sun, heaps of grass & trees, three playgrounds, big lake, cycling tracks galore, plenty of picnic lunches, cricket bats & balls, three minutes from our house... two photos from our first family picnic that we had at our local "park" today.

Check it out now funk soul brothers

2007-11-10T18:56:00.000+11:00

http://www.freerice.com/index.php

I was made for loving you Nathy...

2007-11-04T22:36:00.000+11:00

For those of you who don't know, I'm a big sister now and I LOVE my little brother. He's so cute and has these squishy cheeks that I love to kiss. Mummy says my cheeks are squishy and kissy too but I think his are better.

I call him "Nathy" (pronounced Nay-fee) and I show him to everyone. I have to protect him at my kindy though cos some of the little kids there poke him a bit too much.

I'm getting better at not hurting him, or maybe he's getting more used to me? Mum still tells me to be gentle on him but I wish he'd hurry up and be tough so we can rough & tumble properly! While I wait I'm teaching him to dance. After I help him move his arms around I then show him how I can do ballet moves. He loves watching me and always smiles at me.

My favourite thing is how he hops into bed with me in the morning to wake me up. I give him big cuddles and always tuck him into bed with me. My second favourite thing is having a bath with him. Well almost. He's not allowed in the big bath with me, but Mummy always lets me help bath him if I'm not having a bath too. He doesn't even cry when I accidentally get water in his eyes!

I also love changing his nappy. I got all his clothes off and even his nappy before Mummy even realised! Now she lets me do it all the time as long as she's watching. I'm not allowed to do the pooey ones though. I can't quite get the new nappy on but I do try. I reckon it won't be long before I've got it sussed.

I used to give him his dummy when he cried too, but now he doesn't like it. He likes to suck his fist instead. So I give him a cuddle now when he gets upset. Sometimes I squish him a bit too much on accident but he knows I love him and I'm pretty sure he loves me lots too.

Keelia xx
PS. If you want to see some photos of me loving Nathy then click here.

Life's a Beach

2007-10-21T21:53:00.000+10:00

In honour of hitting our first 30deg day since winter, we decided to take our newly expanded family to the beach. One packed picnic lunch (which Keelia ate in the car on the way) and 30 mins later we arrive at Frankston beach for some sun & fun.

Keelia decides she's not interested in the playground til she's explored the beach first. So off we go to play in the water and dig in the sand.

Keelia shrieks when she goes to pick up a funny looking shell and it wobbles in her hand! Lesson one: difference between a shell and a partially buried jellyfish. Lesson two: don't crouch down in a pool of water, it gets your undies wet! Lesson three: even though there's a cool wind at home, it doesn't mean there will be at the beach, so ALWAYS pack Keelia's togs!!

After an ice cream break and some people spotting, we finally head off to the playground where Nate surfaces from his shady cove and out into his first bright sunny beach day, much to his surprise! He's not too keen on the sun but loves watching the kids in the playground, especially his big sister who he adores. He really was not happy about wearing Keelia's old hat (I swear he knew it had flowers on it!) but he settled down after he realised it kept the sun out of his eyes.

It took Keelia 2 minutes to make friends with William and then the 2 of them proceeded to horde the slide and castle for the next 10 minutes with their constant amusement of going up and down it lots of different ways.

Finally we manage to drag Keelia away from the playground to finish the day off with a walk down the long pier. Daddy gets time to reflect on the day with his little princess while I push the now sleeping little Nate. We watch boats sail past and kids jumping off the pier under a perfect cloudless sky. Couldn't ask for much more on a Saturday really... (for photos of all the above click here)

Thanks for having us

2007-10-03T23:12:00.000+10:00

Well we are all back safe and sound in Melbourne after our whirlwhind home coming tour to te Rewa. We just wanted to deliver a truck load of thanks from the hill whanau to all our lovely hosts back in New Zealand.

We know that when you visit a place you only really get to experience the 'best of' version - like watching the trailer of a movie - but our trip home really made us realise just how ka pai our Kiwi friends and whanau are.

Everywhere we went we were treated to fantastic hospitality, big smiles and lots of 'we miss you fellas'. And even though we are back in the land of AFL we must say that there is still a little piece of us back in New Zealand (Glen's toe nail clippings - sorry Grandma he left them on the bedside table).

Bye for now but we promise to keep in touch.

Homecoming Tour

2007-09-11T18:17:00.000+10:00

Kia ora everyone. I hope you have all been missing us. We have been missing you. I am looking forward to going back to New Zealand and seeing all my family and friends.

Mummy said to tell you that we fly in this Friday 14 September. Daddy leaves on Sunday the 23 September but me and mummy and my baby brother get to stay until Monday 1st October.

Do you like my little brother? I love him and smother him with kisses all the time. Sometimes he likes it but sometimes he cries - especially when my hands are cold.

See you soon.
Keelia Grace xxx

Name to the face

2007-08-22T14:53:00.000+10:00

Nathan Kenzie Roland Hill

Nathan meaning 'gift of God', Kenzie meaning 'handsome'
and Roland Hill being family names.

Well I have just been into the city to Births, Deaths and Marriages so there is our little boy's official name.
Hope it was worth waiting for - we like it.

Photo genic

2007-08-21T10:47:00.000+10:00

If you are looking for a stronger fix then reading an email check out the latest pics in the Hill Whanau photo album.

Quick.. but easy?

2007-08-20T08:46:00.001+10:00

Well whoever said that second babies come faster are right!!
I never thought I'd be one of those mums who was stuck pushing her baby out while still in the car!

The day before he was due (Fri 17 Aug) I noticed my tummy was tightening while at lunch with the family. But there was no pain so I didn't think much of it and was even able to sleep all night while these "tightenings" continued. Before going to bed we all had a discussion about when it would be convenient for me to go into labour and deliver the baby. Glen decided 10am the next day, due day, was the best time for me to go into labour and to deliver around 3pm. Ok sweet, see what I can do... 9:50am the first "tightening" came with pain - was that labour? Still not sure. By 12pm, I was SURE!! Things were regular but not too bad. Come 2pm they were SORE! I ring the Birth Centre and they said as long as I'm coping at home to not go in til they are about 3 mins apart and lasting 1 min in length. Or if I'm not coping then go in. They're only about 5 mins apart at the moment so I stay put. At 3:15 I am NOT COPING! :o) Well I'm doing it of course, but it is more intense than with Keelia and I go to Glen "it feels like I need to push already" SURELY NOT! So we jump in the car and 20 long painful minutes later get to the hospital carpark where the first big push hits me. I manage to get out of the car halfway through pushing, "I am so not going to deliver this baby in a carpark!!" is all that goes through my head. Glen races off for a wheelchair while I am making a bit of noise in the carpark, my head buried in my hands the whole time because I don't want to see how many people are in the carpark who can see and hear me!! Once I maneuver onto the wheelchair Glen then runs me inside and up to level 3, me pushing (& yes groaning/screaming, whatever you like to call it :o) the whole way! Reception had called the midwives upstairs and they meet us outside the lift where I'm escorted straight into the delivery room and proceed to deliver our beautiful little boy less than 20 mins later! Poor Glen gets asked a few times "are you okay?" by the midwives. I have my head buried in pillows to stifle the screams, but I think he was having a hard time coping with the speed and noise of the situation. It is important to know here that when delivering Keelia I didn't make much noise at all, but this time - I can't say the same thing! :o)

Gee that was quick! The midwife does mention afterwards that maybe next time I should leave for the hospital when the contractions are 10 mins apart! Next time? Who said that?

Anyway despite the speed and intensity of the situation, I felt great afterwards and on top of the world. And still do. I didn't get any sleep the first night (last night?) despite our little man sleeping 11 of 12 hours. I think I had too much adrenaline going through my body still and I was too mesmerised by my beautiful boy sleeping next to me some of the night.

We still have no decided name, but that's ok, we have a gorgeous boy to kiss and cuddle whenever we want.

We've taken a heap of photos (as you do) but this is my favourite of my two boys...

Love Julia xx

For the record

2007-08-19T16:09:00.000+10:00

Baby boy born - 8.6lb - 55cm
handsome, very. All well. Yay!!

Countdown

2007-08-17T21:17:00.000+10:00

Any day now. The second child of Glen and Julia Hill is scheduled for arrival. Keelia is amping for Mummy to deliver on her plan and produce the bundle of promise for all the kissing, smootching and cuddling a big sister can muster.

Mummy is comfortable but ready to take the next big step in the journey of production - having previously moved from the euphoria of conception to the joy of incubation - she now tackles the challenge of facilitating evacuation.

Daddy is his usual cool, calm and collected self offering all the love, comfort and support that a wife could want as she waits for her parcel of piercing pain to roll into town.

Thank you for all your input on the name front. The supreme suggestion came from Stefan Krzyzewski - edging out the rest of the competition (of which Stefan Krzyzewski was the only other entry). Full credit though, with a name like Krzyzewski you got to be stoked with winning any kind of name game.

Well the next time you hear from us it should be the lowdown on the latest life to leap into the legend that is the story of the Hill Whanau.

Aroha nui

Name it and claim it

2007-07-29T20:17:00.000+10:00

We are struggling. Three weeks out from delivery date and we still don't have a firm favourite for a girl or a boy's name. Yeah, yeah - I know, wait upon the Lord - we are doing that but we also know that God speaks through others, so if you have any suggestions for what we could call our child throw them our way.

Just post a comment giving us a name and its meaning and you could claim first prize in the Hill Whanau name game - name it and claim it.

Gender tender results

2007-07-18T22:05:00.000+10:00

The results from the first ever Yada Yada Yada online poll are in. The final tender of the Hill Whanau Gender Tender was... 17 votes to 6, suggesting that the newest member of the Hill whanau will be a... boy. Now its just a matter of determining which of those votes was God's.

Head space scripture

2007-07-18T19:01:00.000+10:00

Can't get this passage out of my head...
^{1 -4}If you've gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don't push your way to the front; don't sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don't be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.

^{5 -8}Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn't think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn't claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.

^{9 -11}Because of that obedience, God lifted him high and honored him far beyond anyone or anything, ever, so that all created beings in heaven and on earth—even those long ago dead and buried—will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, and call out in praise that he is the Master of all, to the glorious honor of God the Father.

The Lee down

2007-07-10T19:20:00.001+10:00

Well it's nearly been a week since they left but we still miss little Sammy Lee's squeals and adoring stares (don't worry, Monique knows we love her too, but Sammy was new and ooooh so cute!). He adored me & Keelia, well we like to think so anyway! He did seem to stare at us in a love-struck way that only a 5 month old baby boy can do to two new BIG girls in his life! Keelia especially loved him too and took her big sister role very seriously (giving him books to read in the car and putting his dummy back in his mouth when it fell out). Which was good for me to watch as hopefully it means she will be just as helpful and kind when her real baby sibling comes in 5 weeks!

No other news really to report since then except Uncle Justus arrives tomorrow night to live with us. So that's exciting. I'm actually going to attempt to teach that boy to cook! And to make Glen & I good coffee on our new coffee machine :o)

Oh and Keelia had her first corporate lunch date yesterday. She insisted that Mummy & Daddy go with her though (no complaints from us!). Keelia is besotted with Rob Kilpatrick (Aunty Sam's Dad - I think he's the closest person she's got to replacing Sam in her life). She always wants to go see him at Daddy's work, so Rob took Keelia out for lunch yesterday and like the princess that she is, she got all dressed up and was very excited and off we went to lunch with the big fella. She was a bit shy at the start but she ate all her lunch and was then rewarded with a huge snake lolly from Rob - talk about spoilt!!

Love Julia

Mog Cam

2007-07-08T15:00:00.001+10:00

We recently had a visit from Mogs and Sammy Lee. We had lots and lots of fun and miss them already. For those of you who might be missing us - we have put some video from 'Moniques cam' online.

Big bed now

2007-06-16T22:07:00.001+10:00

Saturday 16 July - Keelia sleeps for the first time in a big bed.

After an eventful day it was good to see the fruit of our labour in the form of Keelia all wrapped up like a little button in her big bed.

Mental note - however tempting it may be to use rent-a-bomb's $57 a day van rental - do not give in to such temptation.

We had been offered a free bed from one of Glen's work colleagues so to continue in that money saving vein we hired a van from 'rent-a-bomb'. With 530,000kms on the clock, an extremely potent odour of an unidentifiable flammable liquid, various scraping and knocking noises, and a column gear shift that would not go into 1st, 2nd or reverse - the van lived up to its billing. Indeed we had rented a bomb and at each turn we anticipated the detonation that would lead to our celestial promotion. Understandably, whenever we stopped at a set of lights Keelia would seize the opportunity to cry out, "I want to get out" or "I want our car". This sort of plea would have been useless when we were in motion as her cries would have simply been drowned out by the 'ambiances' of the van. However, we survived the attempt on our lives and are better learned from the experience.

Check out the Hill Whanau photo album for pics and videos of Keelia's exciting graduation into the a big bed.

Amazing Grace

2007-06-06T21:03:00.002+10:00

Although my memory's fading, I remember two things very clearly. I'm a great sinner and Christ is a great Savior. - John Newton

For anyone who might be feeling a little tired or uninspired in their daily hoisting of the cross - Amazing Grace is a movie that may inspire.

I would suggest a group screening as a worthwhile investment for personal nourishment, leadership encouragement or spiritual armourment.

"Will you use your beautiful voice to praise the Lord or change the world?" - William Pitt. A historically accurate yet timely reminder of the public nature of our faith. That is Christianity is not a private love affair where restoration is limited to ones own soul but a public passion where the world is reconciled to God.

God sometimes does His work with gentle drizzle, not storms. Drip. Drip. Drip." - John Newton A movie that serves as a powerful witness of the force of faithfulness and the pavement of perseverance that allows the wheels of change to turn towards Jesus.

Too close for comfort

2007-06-01T21:47:00.000+10:00

“It is poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish.” Mother Teresa of Calcutta

I thought I might as well jump on the band wagon...

Working at World Vision I am well aware of the fact that the sick and needy die needlessly in our world. The basics of life - food, shelter, medicine, education, water, electricity - on paper there is enough for everybody but it just doesn't seem to make it around.

The 'Haves' of course want to have more. And this feeds the cycle of frenzy where the fat cat chases its tail of profit.

Of course we all know that everyday thousands die in the genocide of greed but the thing is that it normally happens with the lights switched off. That is, in the places of our world that we cant really see. I mean it is not like people are dying needlessly in our own backyard. Well that is with the exception of Mrs Muliaga - a sick South Auckland mother who died because she was $168.40 behind in paying the family electricity bill.

Well the verdict is still pending as to why exactly she died. But no matter what - we know she died in the cold, surely saddened by what was happening and undoubtedly afraid.

It all just makes you want to chuck stones. Who gets the first metamorphic missile? The contractor? Mercury Energy?

Mrs Muliaga died because a man was forced to make a decision in a culture that values money over mercy, getting over giving, more over less, profit over purpose, me over we, us over them. This isn't a picture of an ugly man making an ugly decision or a cruel company making money from pillaging the poor. No, this is a snapshot of our age - our values - our priorities - our confusion of what makes our lives good.

I only wish I would live differently. Yada, yada, yada.

Read more opinion
But wait there's more

Photo Update

2007-05-27T21:04:00.000+10:00

Apparently the photos of Keelia are a lot more popular then my rants and raves. So by popular demand, here is a photo from Mainly Music (Aus style).

For many more images (of equally cute proportions visit, the Hill Whanau photo album

Note: Many of these are taken on our phone since we had our digital camera stolen. And on that subject, if you would like a print out of any of these photos just deposit $5.95 into the Hill whanau digital camera fund at any major bank.

Smacks over Snacks

2007-05-14T19:34:00.000+10:00

One of the great perks of being the child of a World Vision worker is the well informed "eat all your dinner because there are starving..." lectures at the dinner table. On occasion Keelia's dinner time life lesson has even extended beyond the dinner table, across to the lounge room to view a video message of just how bad some kiddies have it in various parts of our biased world. Needless to say that at 2.5 years Keelia has developed quite the sense of social justice.

The other day Keelia was at work with me and as I left she saw the pictures on the walls of some of our worlds most needy. Obviously touched, she turned to me and said, "I don't like the poor kiddies". I was a little surprised so asked her why. She replied, "Because it is just too sad". I don't think that this is a feeling limited to the heart of my little two year old.

The agenda of poverty and injustice doesn't make the daily play-list of many homes, workplaces, text messages or my space postings. For that matter the fact that NZ/Aus are amongst the very worst givers of world aid (while 30000 children die every day from hunger or preventable disease) doesn't even seem a big enough issue for a pulpit prompt let alone a holy protest. The problem is that until these thing make our daily diaries nothing will be done. Unless these issues become a point of focus nothing will change. Alternatively, look at what happened when the church rose up on multitude and said enough is enough to the unthinkable travesty that everyday 30000 children would go without their daily smacks.

The thing is that I don't think poverty and injustice gets overlooked because people don't care. On the contrary, I think it is just too sad. And we aren't good at sad. Let's not think about it.

Most Popular Bible Speak

2007-05-03T19:58:00.000+10:00

Most of us 'Christanese speaking people' have a favourite verse of the bible. It is the kind of thing we keep close at hand to remind ourselves in time of great need or better yet to remind others of in their time of their great need and/or failure (all the while advertising our own magnificent bible competence).

With all this bible speak going around - the obvious question becomes - what are the most popular verses?

Well it isn't scientific by any means but the ESV (English Standard Version Bible) kept a record of the most popular bible verse searches and discovered:

Here are the most popular verses (including complete chapter views - so if there was a search for Matthew 1 and then another search for Matthew 1:4, then Matthew 1:4 would have recorded two hits):

John 1:1, 1:13, 1:12, 1:14, 1:3, and the rest of John 1 dominate the list
1 Corinthians 13:4, 13:13 and the rest of 1 Corinthians 13.
Genesis 1:26, Genesis 1:1, and the rest of Genesis 1
Romans 1:16 and the rest of Romans 1.
John 3:16

Here are the most popular verses excluding complete-chapter views, which should give a better sense of popular verses (so in this case the verse only records a hit if it was specifically searched for):

John 3:16
Proverbs 31:10 and following. We speculate that these verses appear because people often only look at part of this chapter.
Matthew 5:27-30. Verse 30 is the most popular of the four verses.
Romans 8:28
Romans 3:23
Genesis 24:27

What are the least-viewed verses? Not surprisingly, they’re pretty obscure. At the time of our analysis, no one had looked at the following verses except as part of their complete chapters. (We’re introducing statistical noise by linking to them here.)

Australia's next top model

2007-04-25T22:16:00.000+10:00

Kids are very observant and Keelia is no exception. Seeing the attention her Mummy (and yes Daddy) have been paying to the TV series Australia's Next Top Model, Keelia decided to strike a few poses of her own for the camera in an attempt to gain back our attention.

Click here to take a peak at our little model's latest portfolio shots.

You can also check out photos of Keelia at Mulgrave City Council's funday. If you want the run down of what happened there, including Keelia's work of art, send Julia an email and ask her to forward you a copy of the email about the big day.

The new kid in town

2007-04-13T17:53:00.000+10:00

Ella Maria Barr and her whanau came to town over the Easter weekend with much fun had by all. There was even a cameo appearance made by the young Diack's (Ben + Nicol).

For a full run down of the weekends festivities send an email to Julia

Check out the Hill Whanau Family Album for the pictures

Top of the pops

2007-04-03T20:29:00.000+10:00

Your top 5 is a very precious thing. An armful full of candidates vying for a handful of slots.

Therefore it is with some consideration that I dare to offer you 'Reign over me' (Adam Sandler & Don Cheadle) as a movie of top 5 proportions. Now I'm not saying it does make my top 5. I am simply suggesting that this is the type of movie that would turn up suitably dressed to my top 5 cocktail party. It would not be out of place with other guests such as 'The Green Mile' or 'Big Fish'.

I like movies that offer me a personal challenge. However 'convenient' I found the resolution of this movie the inconvenient solution was only found through an example of unconditional acceptance that challenged me on the way I look at some of the uncomfortable people of our world.

This isn't a movie review so I am not going to tell you any more about the film but if you are looking for another excuse to throw away another couple hours of your life for the cause of cinema watch 'Reign over me' and let me know what yout think.

Ka pai - glen

Girls Get together

2007-03-29T21:57:00.000+10:00

What could possibly put smiles on the faces of two very tired little 2 year old girls?... Them seeing each other at the Melbourne airport after 6 weeks apart in different countries of course! It was 11pm Ella's time and 9pm Keelia's time, way past both their bedtimes, but upon spotting each other at the airport both became VERY happy and excited. The 30 min drive home from the airport consisted of lots of squealing and "ooh, see the blue & pink lights Keelia!" (Ella) and "look Ella, a big tunnel!" (Keelia). Ella had already been telling everyone at the airport "I love Keelia, I going to Julia's house" before also being spared the customs line like Keelia & I. And of course once we got home Ella got the royal tour by Keelia which ended in the toy room where they squealed and giggled a whole lot more for at least 20 mins before we finally dragged them off to bed, for no other reason except so us adults could go to bed. But instead we stayed up and discussed politics and the anti-smacking bill! Well actually it was really Glen & Catherine discussing while I tried to pretend I knew as much about politics as those two! (whatever, there's no competing with them :)
The first day together went without a hitch, the two absolutely adore each other and we got through the day with only a few minor squabbles. Ella even has her own Sleepy (the blue one) which they push around in their pushchairs or take on adventures through the tunnel & tents Keelia has setup in the lounge. We're off to Mainly Music tomorrow then hopefully the beach on the weekend, just gotta pray this rain stops! (don't tell any Aussies I said that!)

To the max

2007-03-21T21:01:00.000+11:00

I am officially a minority. I now play for the other team. An alien in a foreign land as the Apostle Paul would say. I know I will meet some resistance on this one - but just try it, give it a go, not just a taste but commit to finishing a six pack - Pespi over Coke (Pepsi Max over Coke Zero).

Kapai - Glen

Local ducky pond

2007-03-21T20:38:00.000+11:00

Our local duck pond sits outside the Wheelers Hill Library. It is about a 25 minute walk from our whare or as we like to call it a 5 mintue drive. Here are some pictures of us eating fish and chips at the pond before feeding the leftovers to the ducks and the massive fish that live in the pond.

Big birthday bash

2007-03-20T18:47:00.000+11:00

Glen has been super organised this year and already bought me my 30th birthday present (my birthday is 30 June for those who forgot :o). It just so happened that on the night of my birthday the All Blacks are playing the Wallabies at the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground for those who don't know that either!) for the Bledisloe Cup, so we are off to I think my second ever All Blacks game - yay!! We got good tickets but only just in time before it all sold out the day they went on sale (thank you Justus for casually mentioning it to Glen!) It's kind of for Glen's 30th too since we never really got to spend those vouchers on a "holiday" for us. And don't worry girls, we are going to make a night of it with dinner etc...

Well must go
Julia xx

News story

2007-03-20T08:46:00.000+11:00

So what drives the news we watch (or don't watch) on any given night? What news gets to fill our newspapers? What makes news news?

Of course there a numerous factors that makes a story 'newsworthy' like timing, location, 'weirdness' but in the end the things that drives our news is ratings. Essentially the media are like any business and in that television networks and newspaper companies fill their 'store' (their media e.g. tv, newspaper, etc) with 'product' (stories) that people will want to 'buy' (read).

Therefore the news we watch is not necessarily an accurate picture of what is taking place in the world but instead is a snapshot of consumer culture. For example if a plane crashes in the USA and 100 people are killed it will saturate the news, on the other hand thousands of people will die today in the Sudan through preventable causes and the world will hardly notice.

Yada, yada, yada - anyway, if you want to read a more accurate picture of some of the things that are going on in our world visit: www.alertnet.org Well I find it interesting anyway.

Kapia - Glen

In the beginning

2007-03-19T22:27:00.000+11:00

New job, new baby, new country, new blog - it is a year of new beginnings for the Hill whanau. So even if it is only for our own records we thought we might write a blog. Sometimes you might hear from Mummy, sometimes Daddy, sometimes Keelia and maybe even baby.

With all four of us taking turns to write things we might even stand a chance of keeping the blog updated - so if for some strange reason you are remotely interested - keep on tuning in for much much more than you ever needed to know about the Hill whanau.