Hayley Hindle is excited to be celebrating her first Mother's Day tomorrow with her baby daughter Madelyne Hindle.
The Rotorua new mum said for Mother's Day her husband and 15-week-old baby had something planned, and last night she had to leave the house so they were able to get it ready for the big surprise.
She was also getting her hair done today as part of her gift, as having the time to go to the hairdressers had become quite rare, she said.
Mrs Hindle said being a mother was "amazing and it's actually really, really rewarding".
She said it was a lot better than she had thought it was going to be, especially with such a good baby.
Mrs Hindle said her favourite part was seeing Madelyne develop and discover things, such as starting swimming lessons and seeing her in the water smiling the whole time.
This week Madelyne sat up by herself with her pillow behind her and had a tooth coming through. She had also discovered sounds, making different ones with her voice, Mrs Hindle said.
"She likes the sound of her own voice."
The best thing was going in to see her in the morning and she had a big grin on her face, she said.
Mrs Hindle said the lack of sleep was hard and when trying to organise things there was a lot more to think about than before she became a mum.
Through the Rotorua Parents Centre they did a 'Baby and You' class where new mothers get together, as well as activities such as guest speakers.
"It's quite cool. It gets us out of the house and she gets to hang out with other little babies."