After 12 years of heartache their miracle arrived
Tamati and Rebekah Norman endured a failed adoption and some serious heartache before baby Mackenzie entered their lives. …
Creating and nurturing a strong family
Family matters. It's that simple. And here at OHbaby! we want to celebrate those who put family first. One of the ways we are doing that is by introducing you to fascinating families. This isn't lifestyles of the rich and famous. It's simply a celebration of normal, everyday parents and their kids - doing it their way, and doing it well.
A quick dash from Florida to NZ during the pandemic
WHEN LIFE THROWS YOU AVOCADOS, MAKE GUACAMOLE! SO WHEN A GLOBAL PANDEMIC FORCED THEIR RETURN TO NEW ZEALAND FOR QUARANTINE, THAT’S JUST WHAT THE GILMOUR FAMILY DID. I remember the day we argued about whether it was socially responsible to sit in a …
How community connection can boost your parenting skills
Parents need all the help we can get! Psychologist Chantal Hofstee shares her tips for building your much-needed tribe. Who hasn’t heard the phrase “It takes a village to raise a child”? This African saying is often used to describe how each child …
Strong roots: meet the couple growing a relationship, a business and two boys
Tori and Brendon Veysey share their secrets for nurturing a strong relationship while growing two boys and an ethical brand. Kauri trees and tamariki have something in common: in Aotearoa, they’re both considered taonga – treasures to be …
Family: raising boys in rural bliss
The Burke family take a break from their demanding schedule of building businesses and raising sons to sit by the stream with Marianne Falconer and savour a moment or two of rural bliss. Hayden and Lucy Burke have packed a lot into their first …
Surprise! We're having number four!
Pippa Henderson goes barefoot at Mount Maunganui with the Cummins family, and hears their story of an unexpected blessing. Back in the day, before readily available contraception, family trees were laden with unexpected extra siblings, and parents …
Caravan of love: a caravan makeover
Freedom to sing your own tune and walk to the beat of your own drum. The Reweti whānau discover slow summer days in their caravan. It was Nicola Reweti’s bright idea to get a caravan for the whānau. She trawled TradeMe for months trying to find …
A family's fertility journey
Kylie Cooke and Brant Fraser overcame huge challenges to become parents. Here they open their hearts and their home to OHbaby! Watching the sandy haired toddler building up and gleefully knocking over a set of blocks on the floor brings extra …
The sandwich generation: when your children and parents need your care
An increasing number of Kiwis are finding themselves looking after ageing parents and young children simultaneously. Catherine Tafto looks into the difficulties of this dynamic, and shares tips to help you prepare and cope when the pressure …
Eco-Family - Going Off The Grid Can Change Your Life
How Auckland couple Andrew and Maxine Finlay turned their lives around after going off the grid in Vanuatu. In a tiny pocket of suburban Auckland lives a couple of greenies who are showing that you don't have to be hippies on a self-sufficient …
Sharing the love: solo parent Hannah Noel makes the most of her village
Pippa Henderson pops in for a cupcake and a catch-up with the Noel family – a mother and daughter duo living to honour others. Elise Noel is four, and “more-than-a-half”. She puts a lot of weight on that fraction. It reminds me of how people …
The Batts family: heartfelt wisdom on finding balance
Emma Batts, of Heartfelt Kitchen, opens her heart and home to Pippa Henderson with the inside story of nourishing her own growing family. Many women find the transition to motherhood a challenge. It’s such a complete change of scene, change of …
House of Grace: a haven for young mums
Sarah Tennant talks to the founders and some former residents of House of Grace, a home for struggling young mothers. The suburb is serene and leafy, verging on posh. The house is an immaculately painted Cape Cod, accented with box hedging and …
Seven ways to connect with your kids
In the busyness of parenting sometimes we can lose our personal touch. We've come up with a few fun suggestions on how to reconnect with your child. 1. READ TOGETHER You just can’t beat a bedtime story – or a lunchtime story, or a pre-breakfast …
Table for ten & extras always welcome
Does the old adage ‘the more, the merrier’ really ring true when it comes to family size? Pippa Henderson asked the Messam tribe to share their secrets. Marianne Prentice (née Messam) is at the very heart of the OHbaby! team. She’s been on staff …
Sisters doin' it for themselves
Pippa Henderson gets back to grass roots with Gisborne’s entrepreneurial Thorpe sisters, with seven daughters and multiple businesses between them. It’s tempting to start this story with “Once upon a time…” as there’s something idyllic about the …
The Recordon family’s unexpected joys
Ellie Gwilliam caught up with the Recordons, a family with a contagious passion for life and a home filled with faith, hope and happiness. James and Zara Recordon live in a charming little bungalow in Onehunga with their three children. While the …
The Fitzjohn family: European style on home turf
Ellie Gwilliam caught up with the Fitzjohns, a family combining European style with Kiwi comfort for a cultural balance that feels like home. I met the Fitzjohn family in their classic Kiwi bungalow beside the Waikato river. Their Hamilton home is …
Helping kids cope with moving to a new town
Moving towns can be an exciting adventure for a young family, but without a good strategy, it can quickly get stressful. Kirsty Foster, mum of an ex-Air Force family, shares her game plan. While our family was with the Air Force, we went through a …
Broken but beautiful: one family's story
Expectant parents often declare their hope is simply for a healthy baby. For some families, however, children arrive with a prognosis for a life far from ordinary. One mother describes her exceptional family. I’m a mother of two, a wife, and a …
Finding refuge in New Zealand
Catherine Tafto meets a mother who fled her home country in the hope of finding a safe home and future for her children in New Zealand. When we become parents, the fierce love we feel for our children leaves no doubt that we would do anything to …
Having twins – twice! One couple’s double delight
Being told you’re having twins is a big moment. Being told you’re having twins again? That’s something the Fuimaono family have come to expect. Zoe and Junior Fuimaono are in their mid-twenties. They’ve already trained and worked in their …
Meet the family behind Needle and Nail
In a battery-powered digital world, can a crafty couple support their growing family with handmade toys? It seems they can; with faith, freedom and a whole heap of imagination. Ellie Gwilliam meets the Rolston family. Windy tree-lined country roads …
Let's get busy: meet the Lett family
Photographer Alice Veysey captures everyday family life through the lens of her camera. PHOTOGRAPHY: ALICE VEYSEY, PAPERANDPEARL.CO.NZ …
The art of family
Alice Veysey sits down with a busy teaching family for a rare moment of relaxation on the eve of a new stage of life. Life can be unpredictable when you’re parenting young children. Nothing is guaranteed. At the time of our interview it is school …
Feeding the Family with the Van de Elzen's
Simplify, focus on what matters and do the best with what you have — these are the life lessons that food loving family the Van de Elzen's share with former OHbaby! Editor Ellie Gwilliam. Passionate people are easy to spot. They exude charisma and …
Three ways to create Team Family
Creating a happy family is all about encouraging team spirit, giving each member a sense that everyone is on the same side, writes former OHbaby! Editor Ellie Gwilliam. Here are three ways to foster Team Family: 1. Encourage chores Even very …
Busy days: fitting in family time
A busy couple take the best of their rural upbringing and mix it with an urban lifestyle. In a quiet street in central Hamilton live a busy family who make the most of every 24 hours. The day we travelled south to visit them, the rain was so heavy …
How to connect with your parenting village
Raising kids is hard work and we weren’t designed to do it in isolation. But not all of us have family and friends ready and able to offer the support we so often need. Catherine Tafto describes how reaching out to the people in your neighbourhood …
Meet the family who are putting their best foot forward
Great shoes can make your day. Ellie Gwilliam caught up with a family busy designing shoes and embracing life in all its seasons. Rebecca Anderson was on the couch in front of the television at 8.30pm on May 14th, 2015. At seven months pregnant, …
Family size: one...or more?
Family size is a complex and deeply personal decision. Ellie Gwilliam talks numbers with a mother of one and a mother of many, and reflects on her own decision to sit somewhere in the middle. I come from a family of four kids. If one was to …
The Lakatani Family share their Heart & Soul
The Lakatani family have learnt that from adversity comes strength, and through their passion for the arts, they’re keeping the love alive for their own family and the community they live in. This is where love lives. Inside a black and …
The battle against breast cancer
Brave mum Ana plays the match of her life against breast cancer -and is winning, thanks to team work, attitude and the support of her key players. Last September, 34-year-old Ana Falconer was an active busy working mum of two-year-old Ollie. She …
Can Money Buy You Happiness
Can money can buy happiness? That depends on how you spend it. Dr Melanie Woodfield offers eight tips for getting more bang for your buck. Doughnuts? Or maybe cronuts? Whatever your pleasure, they’re worth every penny, or so says a friend of mine. …
The Hansen Family - Business & Pleasure
Meet the Hansen family; busy parents with three busy kids, determined to make life work. Jamie and Anna Hansen are trying their hand at living a “blended” lifestyle –a term they’ve coined themselves to describe life with three children, two …
Down Syndrome - One Family's Story
Louis, aged five, is a great ice-breaker. He's well-known in Titirangi, west Auckland, for his friendly disposition. He'll say hello to strangers, even taking them by the hand or surprising them with a big hug. A lack of inhibition is …
Christmas presents of love
DR MATT SANDERS "Christmas is for kids" it is often said. I guess that idea comes from the enjoyment most parents feel watching the huge smiles and delighted squeals of young children as they open their presents on Christmas morning. It touches our …
Memories kept quick - the Family Quote and Memory Jar
Love this idea! I don't know if you're at all like me - but I always have these grandious ideas about keeping journals for each of my children with all their special moments and memories and photos of them for them to keep when they grow up and for …
Family time Q and A with singer Anika Moa
Recently releasing a new album: Songs For Bubbas, Kiwi singer Anika Moa talks about life at home, her cleaning obsession and the Wiggles song that drove her to write her own music for toddlers. Anika Moa has twin boys aged two and a half with …
The Stanaways
In the first of our new profiles on fascinating families, we meet the Stanaways living the good life on Auckland's North Shore. At the Stanaways' Murrays Bay house, the writing's on the wall. There, right behind the dining-table it's spelt out as …
The Warnes family
As our series on fascinating families continues, the food-loving Warnes tell us what whets their appetite for good living, naturally. Take one ambitious 20-something chef, add a pretty and smart young female colleague, marinate for eight months in …
Tami Neilson - Country singer on family life
A love of travel, music and the great outdoors keeps Tami Neilson's family in perfect harmony. Wearing a Johnny Cash-inspired "Crawl The Line" onesie, and with the lyrics to John Lennon's Beautiful Boy framed on his nursery wall, little Charlie …
Endless Summer - Family Life in Piha
Life's laidback and carefree for this surf-loving family at Auckland 's Piha. When your fondest childhood memories are of long, hot, carefree days in the sand and surf, it's understandable that you'd want your own kids to have the same idyllic …
Isla Fisher, Borat, Sacha Baron Cohen, Ali G
One half of a Hollywood power couple, Isla Fisher talks films, family and living with the hilarious Sacha Baron Cohen. Diminutive Isla Fisher, the one-time Home and Away actor-turned-movie star, has been married to the Brit comedian Sacha Baron …
Cross-Cultural Joy
By the time little Skyla is ready to start kindergarten she’ll speak three languages as well as having her adoring family wrapped around her little finger talofa world. Skyla is the first child of Jacob and Lisa Yandall, and the cherished first …
Jared Noel - The Legacy He's Leaving
Words to live by Cancer patient and new dad Jared Noel shares with Ellie Gwilliam the legacy he’s leaving his daughter . In this busy life, time on a friend’s couch simply talking and drinking tea is a rare treat. We watch the clock, squeeze in …
