N.Z's Wild Weather

N.Z Has been battered by wild weather, the whole country has seen lashing rain and ferocious winds. We saw this on the news tonight and it is unbelievable. How lucky was the guy in the car, check it out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtCzlZogjZQ

Thursday's Playdate

Paddy and Georgie had Heidi and Amy over to play today after kindy, and while they were here they went out onto the trampoline and Paddy had a great time jumping. Before the operation Paddy was always losing her balance so it was fantastic to see her nice and stable and getting some great heights! Way to go Paddy!

Before going outside the girls played up for the camera. Amy was too shy to join in but we think she had a good time! Looking at the photo Heidi is either extremely tall or P & G are very short!

Afternoon tea at the Walsh's!

After school yesterday Emma had a couple of friends over before they headed off to gym. As always they all had a good laugh!

Georgie, Paddy, Saskia, Sophie and Emma

When it rains......

What do you do when it is pouring with rain and the kids are at kindy and school, make marmalade of course! The other day my friend Nicola whose girls go to school with my three came round and we had a fantastic day marmalade making (very Martha Stewart). We have been so inspired we are going to give relishes and chutneys a go!

Paddy and Georgie

The other day when I was trying to figure out how to use the video on my old camera when I came across these photo's of Paddy and Georgie that were taken in December of last year. They had been helping me make John's birthday cake and as you can see they had a great time licking the cake mixture from the bowl. I thought they looked so cute I had to put them on the blog!

Paddy walking!

Jenna this is for you and for everyone else who would like to see Paddy walking.

I hope this is OK as I am not too up on the play of doing video's. As you can see Paddy is doing great, she has a little bit of a limp, but as the day goes on she walks better and better. We are so proud of her! Please excuse my bad videoing and sorry there is no sound!

For Paddy

Today (please don't be freaked out by this), we picked up Paddy's foot from the hospital (don't worry it was vacuum packed and in a brown paper bag so we couldn't see it) and we buried it with a Camellia tree (named Cinnamon Cindy).

John and I talked about this a lot before the surgery, should we or shouldn't we do this. I personally couldn't bear the thought of Paddy's foot being cremated with all the hospital rubbish so we thought it would be a nice thing to bring it home and bury it in the garden. I know this is not every one's cup of tea, my Dad was horrified that we were even contemplating the idea (much to the amusement of my friend Lisa!) However to us it is closure (without sounding too new age like) and it just felt right! So Paddy's little foot is now safely in our garden with a Camellia tree on top. The reason we choose a Camellia is that they flower in winter in N.Z and we will always have a nice reminder on the anniversary of the operation!

Back to school!

Today is the first day back of term three for school and kindy, and I can't believe that the holidays are over all ready. It has been so nice not to rush in the mornings , no school lunches to make, and staying in our P.J's till late, what bliss! Most of all it has been really nice to see the girls getting on so well and playing together.
So Paddy went to kindy for the first time with her 'magic leg', everyone was so excited, they all wanted to see, and Paddy was practically walking without a limp. In fact now that Paddy has her leg and standing straight I am having trouble telling them apart when they are not together if that makes sense. John was asking Georgie to do something the other day and was getting frustrated because he got no response, then he twigged it was actually Paddy! I wonder if they will fool the teachers at kindy!
It is just so good to see Paddy back to her happy self, with her wonderful sense of humour! I am so happy that the surgery is behind us and that she has her leggie and so far seems not too fazed by things! Kids eh, they are truly inspirational!

On your bike!

I looked out of our kitchen window today, and there Paddy was riding her bike! I nearly fell over with surprise. She is out there now with her sisters having a great time, and it is so good to hear them laughing and having fun. I am so pleased that she is back riding again, as before the operation she was on her bike every day, I honestly thought it would be ages before she could do it again, leave kids to their own devices, they have no fear, and have no concept of things being too hard, they just give it a go. I am soooooooooo happy for Paddy.





This is Paddy doing her 'cute' face!

Paddy's new shoes!

Due to the fact Paddy has now got her magic leg, last week we thought it was about time we got Paddy some new shoes. Up until now we have been very restricted with what Paddy could wear. She always had to wear a 'boot' type shoe or something elasticated otherwise it would fall off. Pretty shoes for Paddy weren't on her shopping list, and we always had to buy two pairs as her foot was so much smaller. Well no longer are we restricted and it was a very exciting time for Paddy, we actually ended up getting two pairs, Nanny Pat (my Mum) wanted to get her a pair as well, so Nanny got her a fabulous pink pair of boots with pom poms (what every young girl should have in her wardrobe!) and I got her a more sensible pair of everyday shoes, however they are red! Paddy was in 7th heaven she had a great time and of course was very pleased about the shopping trip, our next stop will be the Fairy Shop and we can get her some sparkly slippers a must have for our Paddy with her magic leg!

So how is Paddy doing? Well she is doing great. She wears her leg most of the day, which is a lot more than I thought she would. She doesn't walk on it all day, I think that it would be too much for her. She has a little limp when she first starts off then she seems to be OK. The other day we walked up to our local shops which is a 1/2 a km walk and she walked the whole way. She would not hop into the pram, Paddy is a determined wee thing! The only problem now is that she is complaining that her leg hurts. She might have over done it. We went to the Limb Centre on Monday and they did a few adjustments, I am just hoping that it takes awhile to get used to the leg, just like a new pair of shoes I guess? However when she is distracted like when she plays with her sisters she gets around no problems, it is only when she doesn't want to walk any more she says 'my leg hurts', I think she is trying it on, so I always make her walk a little way then I pick her up, hopefully it will get better.

Now that we have got over our colds, and it is school holidays, and it hasn't stopped raining we have been trying to keep the kids occupied, John took them to see Kung Foo Panda and they just loved it, conveniently McDonald's has released the toys to go with the film with their Happy Meals, to be fair they are actually quite good toys, you just have to buy the McDonald's to get them, and we only go to McD's about twice a year! We have also been to the circus, a great hit with the girls and yesterday we went to feed the swans and ducks at a park, we got that in between rain showers! Roll on summer! John's Mum is here with us for six weeks and has left the British summer, she is finding it very cold!

For Taylor, William and Sophie.

Here you are, a picture of Polly the dog as requested! We miss you lots and Emma, Paddy and Georgie want to know when can you come and play. Might be a bit tricky now that you have moved to Australia eh?

School Holidays

Camping Walsh Style!

Today was the first day of the holidays and it has been soooo cold and wet. We all have cabin fever a bit as we have been so unwell and haven't been able to get out of the house (except for a few quick visits to the limb centre that is) so as a treat we set up camping for the girls and they all sleep on a futon on the floor. They all think it is such fun! Looks pretty cosy to me!

Ta Da!

Well folks today we got Paddy's magic leg and it is just fantastic. The wonderful people at the Limb Centre did an absolutely brilliant job, and most importantly Paddy just loves it!!!!!! We didn't expect to get her leggie till Tuesday or Wednesday so when we got phoned up today to see if we could go in and pick it up, we were off!

She is walking quite well with a walker she now just needs time and practice before she can walk on her own, but I am sure it won't be long, well I hope not anyway.

John's Mum arrives from the UK tomorrow and how good will it be that we will be able to go to the airport and Paddy will have her leggie on! I am so excited!

Paddy's magic leg!

Today was the day we went to the Limb Centre and Paddy had her leg fitted to make sure everything was ok before they finished it off. They told us before we went not to expect too much as it wasn't the finished product, but I have to say I thought it was gorgeous! It was really dainty and cute!

First off we were in the children's fitting room and Paddy wasn't too happy she didn't want to participate at all, John and I were literally holding our breath as when Paddy decides she doesn't want to do something well that is it. Some how between John and Jason (the prosthetic limb fitter, not sure of the technical term for him), they got the leg on Paddy, and I have to say she didn't like it one single bit. Jason made a few adjustments and it seemed to make all the difference in the world, YAH HOO!

So after a slow start and a lot of encouraging Paddy took her first steps with the help of a little walker and she was a STAR. We were so proud of her, I mean to say I cannot imagine what it must feel like to walk with this prosthetic on your leg. Paddy whispered to John half way through she wished she had her real leg back, jeez what do you say to that, we try and explained that it was either that or have a terrible limp the rest of her life but I guess it is black and white to them, before the operation she got around just fine as far as she was concerned and now she has this cumbersome thing on the end of stumpy. I know it will take time and before she knows it she won't even be bothered by it.

It was so wonderful to see her standing straight, on two legs the same length, in fact it was kind of odd? We are just so used to her being our hippity hoppity girl, and I can't quite get my head around it.

The next few days they are going to finish the leg off, put the fabulous fabric on and then we will be home with her new magic leg!

Paddy getting her leg fitted

Catch up time!

The Walsh Family have all been sick with the flu so I haven't had a chance to post recently, so I am feeling better today, Emma has gone back to school after three days off and the twins are tucked up under blankets watching TV. I have a pile of ironing, washing and the house needs a good tidy but I would much rather write a bit on our blog! So where do I start, well first off Emma, every Monday at school she does Playball and it is so good for the kids it teaches them all sorts of ball handling skills but also confidence and how to play well in a team, not only that Emma loves it, she runs around with a grin from ear to ear, and she doesn't even realise that she is exercising... bonus! Last week she got player of the day and she got a little trophy, she was very proud of her self! Emma with her trophy

Also last week Emma's school had their disco, Emma and her friends were in a state of high excitement all week, it was the talk of the school playground! When I dropped her off it was so sweet to see them all dancing, well the girls were, the boys were just chasing each other round and round the school hall! You should have heard everyone scream when the DJ played a song from High School Musical, the kids went nuts! In fact the poor bloke had to tell every one to calm down, what a laugh.

Emma off to her school disco

Another bit of exciting news is my lovely friend Anna and her partner Jules had their baby!! They welcomed Grace Isabelle into the world last Friday weighing in at 7pd 5ozs, and I have to say she is just gorgeous, I got to see her on the Sunday after she was born and you forget how small they are, there is nothing like a new born baby, they are beautiful. I just can't believe I had two at once plus a 19 month old, no wonder I didn't get out of my PJ's for the first three months, I must of been in a complete daze!

Lizzie with baby Grace

Finally this Friday we are off to the Limb Centre for Paddy's first fitting of her leg, we are all very excited, I just hope it goes well for Paddy, she gets around so well now, but it will be just fabulous when she will be able to walk again and keep up with her sisters!