My life, my kids, my everything

Happy 2012

2012-01-19T09:51:00.005+02:00

I was just chatting to a friend and she didn't realise I had a blog. Well, I said, it's not much of a blog anymore as I never seem to have time or need to write and express my feelings anymore. When I was a teenager, I would never let a week go by without writing in my diary. I still have them all, dating back to 1985 and it's such fun to read them every now and then to see how much a person changes as they get older and "wiser"

2011 ended with shocking news hence the start of 2012 has not been the greatest.
Christy (my bestest friend since 1984) was diagnosed with AML (acute myeloid leukemia). She went to the doctor with unexplained bruises on her arms. The doc sent her for blood tests and 24 hours later the doc called her in to tell her the bad news. She had to get to Constantiaberg within an hour if possible.
Phil, Christy and Aidan moved to Franschhoek in June 2011. They ran the restaurant and wedding venue, De Huguenot in Johannesdal for about 6 months or so, but that did not work out and Christy even reckons that her illness could have been triggered by the stress of that place. They started their own little pavement champagne bar in Franschhoek central. I think it's in Huguenot square ironically they live in Huguenot road as well. Funny how that Huguenot monuement has always given me bad memories of boarding school in Franschhoek and now my best friend lives there.

So she spent the night of the 23rd Dec in hospital, had a platelette transfusion as her own plateletes were only down to about 3 (normal person has 150 - 480)
She was allowed home for Christmas but straight back in on the 27th DEC where they had to do a small operation to put in her J line for the chemo. She started chemo the next day for 7 days, 24 hours. She was quite well on the chemo, being able to get out of bed and go for little walks. She is well loved so has thankfully been getting many visitors. Visiting hours are 08h00 to 20h00 so it is good that we can go visit whenever.
After the chemo finished she was still in good spirits. She first had to hair extensions taken out and hair cut shoulder lenght, then one of Reto's hairdressers came in and cut it short, pixie look. It really suits her.

She spent New years eve in hospital. Phil was with her till about 22h00 and then went to Mike and Liz. We just had a quiet evening with Jill and Hilton (neighbours on other side of wall) and we were home by 01h00ish. I had such a migraine and eye ache between Christmas and New year so was not up for much. Think it was due to the shocking news of Christy.
Christy was allowed home round about the 05th Jan or so but her temp got up to 38 during the night and the doctor ordered her to come straight back. So Phil and Arne drove her back at 02h30 in the morning. She was very depressed about being back and put her on sedatives. She also had some chest pain which she has had many times before so could all be related to the leukemia but was misdiagnosed as costran... something or other, I can never say or spell the name of it.
This past week end she had had enough and was ready to pull the tubes out and walk out of the hosptital. I can only imagine what it must do to your emotions. But on Sunday she heard that the man in the ward next to her had passed away unexpectantly. He had a bowel infection that the doctors detected too late. That also can't do much for your confidence! Monday she didn't want to talk to anyone as the doc had told her that she had zero platelettes and zero white cells so at very high risk to infection. I spent the day at boulders beach with mor and kids feeling so guilty for being able to enjoy such a beautiful day and constantly worrying about Christy. She was very tearful and lucky Phil had managed to come thru already at 15h00. 15h30 she received some slighly better news, the bone marrow biopsy had come back clear. This was her first biopsy done after the chemo, so this means the chemo had done it's job for the bone marrow but the blood results were still a bit baffling.
Tuesday morning her platelette count and white count had increased ever so slightly and Wed up again. This morning I spoke to her she said she heard the path care nurse saying up 10 platelettes so let's hope that means her body is now producing platelettes and white cells again. I did read this can only happen 2 weeks after chemo, so maybe her body was just a bit slower than "text book".
The other patients don't know where she gets the energy from. She only sleeps a few hours every night. Most of the patients sleep most of the day and all night.
So, the doc said if her results were good today she can go home till Monday, which is great news and even on Monday she only has to come in for a hour or so for observation and tests. Here's holding thumbs.
I think our motto at the moment is "One day at a time"

OMG, Can I even remember how to blog?

2011-08-22T14:28:00.003+02:00

Ja, so as you can see, it's been over a year since I logged on to my blog. I have been reading other people's blogs and realised how badly I write and how boring my blog must be to read, but hey, just looking through the old pics now and seeing how much the kids have grown since I started this blog, is, well mindblogging!

Obviously I cannot recap what we have been up to the past year, but the events that come to mind are:

My 40th held in January

Alexanders 4th birthday in February

Annual Waldorf fair in March

Easter in April

Denmark trip June, July

and up to date, Thomas's 9th party 06 August, lego themed.

But yes, it's nearly the end of August and then Spring comes and before we know it, it will be Christmas again. We have had quite a mild winter with little rain so still expecting the rain to come! Will probably rain the whole of September. Not complaining as we really need the rain.

Yowzer, long time no blog

2010-07-26T13:09:00.006+02:00

Wow, I knew it had been a long time, but 2009!! Not a single entry for 2010. And what a significant year it's been.

Thomas started grade 1 in January

Alexander turned 3 in February

Then summer ended and we enjoyed Easter.

April I had my boob reduction and mor ended up in hospital for over a week with pancreatitis and being diagnosed with diabetes.

May, winter set in.

June/July Fifa world cup! and what an event it was.

And now we are coming to the end of July and heading towards August when Thomas turns 8. A crown birthday of note, turning 08 on the 08th of the 08th month.

It almost feels too long since I have last blogged, where do I start, where do I finish?

It's so hard to believe we are already 1/2 way through 2010.

I wanted to make a post at the start of the world cup, though it must have been the most documented event on the web, in the papers etc at that point. We couldn't switch on the tv or open a news paper without seeing something about the world cup.

We started off the event on the 11th June, most offices and business closed early so all could get to their respective venues to watch the opening ceremony and first match. I missed the opening ceremony because I went straight over to Craig and we, including Steven caught the train to Cape town station and walked to the waterfront to Ferrymans where we met up with Sakkie, Elouise, Jason and Allie and watched the opening game there. So much "gees" in the waterfront. We were lucky that Craig had booked a table way in advance as there were people fighting for our table, never mind a glimpse at the tv screens. Simpiwe Shabalala scored the first goal of the world cup and we ended up tying 1-1 with Mexico which everyone celebrated as a win. I think most people deep down thought we were going to lose horribly to Mexico.

The boys went to the Greenpoint stadium for the firstC Cape town match (Uruguay/France 0-0) and us girls stayed behind and had dinner and more wine. (I had been offered 2 tickets to the box at the stadium but it was too late to get there and it would have been a bit rude to have to choose who to take over Allie and Eloise and leave one behind)

The boys came back after the match. They were starving and cold as they had not had a chance to eat anything. We met them at Quay 4, and we were all home by about 01h00.

The next game in Cape town, Craig was going with Jason, Mark and Dirk. Craig had bought alot of tickets nearly a year before. He was going to sell alot of them buy hey, the world cup only comes to your own country once in a lifetime if you are lucky, so he decided to go and enjoy as many games as possible with friends and family. This game Italy/Paraguay Ronnie called me at last minute again and asked if I could make it to the Riverclub in 1/2 an hour. One quick call to ask Mor if she could babysit and I was there!! Bus ride to the stadium was fun. Our driver took the "middle" lane following the police and we got there quicker than anyone. It was lovely to watch the game from a warm hospitality suite with free flowing wine and good food. I did phone Craig and waved to him accross the other side of the stadium where it was less dry and warm. (snigger)
We got home about the same time just before midnight. The score, 1-1

Craig went to another 3 games. The Algeria/England game Sakkie took him and Jason. England did not play well in this tournement! I watched this game in the fan zone in the waterfront with Phil, Christy, Liz, Mike, Amanda, her dad, Alisa, Andre, Andrew and Leslie anne. Was fun but a bit too much loud music at 1/2 time and after the match.

Craig took Phil, Thomas and Aidan to watch a day game, Portugal/North Korea. It was a great game for the kids to watch because Portugal scored 7-0, and they had seats just behind the goal posts.

The game I watched was Cameroon/Holland. Craig took me, his mom and his dad. It was Dawn's birthday that day. It was a good game, and Holland won, but Denmark was playing Japan at the same time and sadly Denmark lost 3-1 to Japan and just like that both Denmark and South africa departed without making it to the next round.

France and Italy also did badly and didn't make it to the next round. And they were the 2 teams that played in the final of the last world cup where France won! Amazing how things can change in 4 years.

We hosted one "soccer evening" at home when Denmark played Cameroon. Denmark thankfully won that one and only game. It was a bit chaotic at home with 8 kids and adults, but it was fun anyway, and I made butternut soup and Danish hotdogs.

We also did the fan walk with the kids, Met Michelle and Stef and a few others on the way but lost them as there were thousands and thousands of people. It was the day of the Argentina/Germany game. Germany won. We went home to watch the game, we were very happy to be out of town by 14h00 as the fans were pouring in and getting stuck in serious traffic.

The night that England lost to Germany, we braaid at Christy and Phil. Christy had not been so well. She had been fine the night before where we all went out for a girls night to a club in Noordhoek. But Sunday she was not so well. By the evening she was struggling to breathe. Lucky we were all there, so that Hugh could drive her and Phil to Constantiaberg. He had to do mouth to mouth all the way and ended up on resusitation at Constantiaberg. Lydia, Craig and I stayed at the house with the kids who at that point were also quite hysterical as Aidan had watched the whole thing. Christy stayed over night in hospital and was diagnosed with pleurecy. Thank goodness she was fine the next day, but it was one of the scariest moments as I thought I was losing my best friend. I'd hate to think what was going through Aidan and Phil's minds, but Phil handled it very well and remained calm, which was good. And shame, England lost horribly to Germany and also got booted out of the world cup.

End of the year is near

2009-12-15T11:36:00.004+02:00

I can't believe another year is nearly nearing it's end. It's become quite a cliche to say "Where does the time go" But seriously, Where DOES it go? It's true what they say, "The older we get , the faster the time goes".
I can't believe in less than a months time I will be celebrating the last year in my 30's. To think how depressed I was about turning 30. Oh to be 30 again!! What fun I'd have.
Now, I'm not saying I haven't been having fun this year, in fact it's been a good year. I wanted 2009 to be a good year, and it may be too early to say it's been a good one, as it's not over yet, but compared to what a lot of my friends, collegues and family have been through this year, ours' has been good.
Craig has done well in buying soccer tickets for the world cup 2010. Now he just needs to sell them so that I can have my breast reduction, and so on and so on. Speaking of that, my appointment with Dr Barker, is on the 18th Jan. It will be interesting to see what he says.

Well, I can't really say much has happened since my last blog, which would have been just before Thomas's birthday.
He had a good birthday with his friends from school. We did sandart, played a few other games and the kids had a great time.
Speaking of sandart, it's been going well with selling. Some months are quiet and other months I get loads of calls. I'm not going to become a millionaire selling it, but I have my grandmothers Jewish blood and love to feel the notes between my grubby paws. I have also done 2 markets, one in Retreat and one in Muizenberg. I did better at the Retreat one, but I did sell 2 home kits, which is the one that makes the best profit.

The kids are growing up fast. Thomas has been going to a few castings, through Kids inc. He got a print shoot for Flora overseas in August. Not sure if they used it but he got paid nearly R600 after tax and then he did a tv commercial for Ernstings family (clothing company) That was hard work. Hot day, shooting the whole day at a guest house in Rosebank. Thomas seemed to have fun. We were there at 08h45 and finished off at 17h30. They even cut lunch down to 1/2 an hour. Delicious lunch and breakfast, and snacks, coffee, water etc provided the whole day. Was quite exciting to on set of a real live commercial, even though we may never get to see it and even though it's only about 20 seconds long! I spend the day chatting to the other moms, trying to sneak a peek every now and then and reading a good book.

12:34:56 07/08/09

2009-08-07T12:41:00.002+02:00

The only time in history the numbers are going to be aligned like this.
Ok, so I'm a few minutes late coz Christy popped in to drop something off and chat chat chatted.

I haven't blogged for a while coz for some reason I can get in fine from work but not from home and well, at work I've either been working or playing farmtown on facebook.
My bad, I know!
But right now I do actually have a load of work on my desk which I have to get through, so I will update with photos some time soon.

Thomas today is 6 years old on the 07th day of the 08th month of the 09th year. Tommmorow he will be 7 on the 08th month of the 09th year.

I should have studidied numerology!!

Till next time!!

Easter's here and so is summer (still)

2009-04-09T11:37:00.002+02:00

Well, well, it's been a while since I wrote here, in fact looks like I've skipped out the whole of March.
It has been a busy time at work, even working late which I don't think I've done since Thomas was born.
I can't say much has been happening in my life since my last entry.
Tine is here for a short 2 week visit. She arrived on the 27th March and leaves already tommorow. She has been lucky with the weather. It's been between 25 - 30 degrees every day, apart from one or 2 days. It poured with rain the night she arrived and was actually cold. We were worried that the winter had started but it seems we have been blessed with a few more weeks of summer.
Tine arrived Friday night. Saturday we had the waldorf fare. I had baked a cake and bought a cake out of guilt of not being on cake selling duty. The weather had cleared up and there was no rain. Mor and Tine were going to come but I called them to say we were leaving. They came over for dinner and we braaid a fillet, and I made a potato bake and bearnaise sauce and salad. Was a nice evening.
Sunday the weather was great, so we went to boulders in 2 cars. Craig took Thomas to navy day and Mor, Tine, Alexander and I went to boulders. It was windy but down at the beach totally sheltered. Christy, Phil and Aidan were also there and as usual we were joined by a few penguins. At least the beach is not as smelly (from penguin poo) as I remember it. Craig dropped Thomas off and went off to do the shopping. So Thomas only had a little time as we had to get going to try avoid all the navy day traffic.
For most of the week, Tine just relaxed by the pool at Mor's house. I think Peppi popped in for a few visits. Mor had the Friday off, but I couldn't take off unfortunately. It was a scorcher wind free day and they went to Fish hoek beach. There are not many days in the year where one can sit on Fish hoek beach and not get blasted away. Saturday, Craig dropped me and the kids off at Nate's party in Noordhoek and he went to visit Mark (they haven't seen each other for a while)

Crown birthday 2-2-2

2009-02-02T15:25:00.006+02:00

Phew, I can't believe that I gave birth to Alexander 2 years ago. It's his crown birthday today, turning 2 on the 02nd day of the 02nd month, so it's actually a triple crown birthday. Felt a bit sad leaving him this morning with Caroline to go to work, but that's life, and luckily he is too young to understand. We did all sing "Happy birthday" to him, and we will go to the spur tonight to open pressies. And then I'm having a little party for him on Saturday at the house.

So, we went to the spur, which he loved. Just us, Papa Joe, Gogo Dawn, Linda and Jonathan. He opened his pressies. I had bought him a little boy doll called Edwin that he loved and kissed all night. He got some more duplo from us and a cd and book (which was actually for Thomas) and some beach toys. We came home and he had no problem going to bed. Still can't get over he is 2 years old already!

For his party on the Saturday the 07th Feb, we had about 10 kids and 10 adults more or less over for his "bug" party. I got some fishing nets from proto trading and put sweeties and goodies in them and those were the party packs that they got at the beginning of the party. They could then fish sealed bug sweets out the small pool. It was so hot, 35 degrees, so all the kids ended up in the pool. Surprised there was even any water left in the pool with so many people in it at once, but at least the kids were cool and had a great time which was the most important thing. The party was from 14h00 till 16h00. Adrian, Katja, Lexi and Kayla stayed a bit longer for a glass of wine or 2. Christy, Phil and Aidan stayed on for a braai. Was such a lovely hot evening, sat outside all night. Alexander got spoilt again. He got the cutest little tricycle from mormor.

I'm still 37 years old....

2009-01-07T16:47:00.007+02:00

well, at least until Friday! sniff sniff. Don't know why, but even though I'm looking forward to the day, I am not looking forward to turning 38. It just seems so much closer to 40!

It has been really good having leave this week, though it's gone super fast. Over New years days we took it easy. I had a mild flu on the 02nd and 03rd Jan. Craig went out for lunch to Panama Jacks with Marc and Anthony and he dropped Thomas off at Gogo's, so I could sleep when Alexander slept, and he slept for his usual 3 hours so it was a good time to nurse myself and recover, so luckily it only lasted 2 days. I couldn't move my arms at all, but not sure if that was flu or the after effects of wii boxing. I think it was a combo of both coz I really felt snotty, sneezy and sore and tired and had a sore throat. But with loads of Efferflu and Coldcaps and sleep it went away fast.

On Monday we got up super early and fetched Mor. We had a few stops on the way and got to boulders at 09h30 to be told that the beach was already full and that the tide was high (which we knew) so we went to Windmill beach and had a stunning 1/2 day there. Left the beach at lunchtime and the moron tourists were fighting for parking even up on the main road, would love to know how they all fitted on the beach. It's good to be a local and know about the hidden secrets.

Yesterday, Tuesday we went to the aquarium and the waterfront. Had a lovely lunch at Ferrymans (one of the first pubs/restaurants to open in the waterfront back in round about 1990. Got home at 15h00ish and had a swim. So nice to come back to the pool after a day out or on the beach. We really do appreciate it.

Today we have just slumped around the house and done not much, except for tidy up a bit and lie by the pool.

2009 is here already!

2009-01-04T17:24:00.017+02:00

So, 2009 is upon us already and the last entry I made was the sad entry of 01 Dec. Christmas has passed, New years has passed, friends have come and gone from Denmark, and well, as I always say ,time just flies by in a blur.

The advent went down well. The kids got a little surprise in their stockings every morning, which mean't each day started at the crack of dawn with the stomping of Thomas's footsteps down the passage to check what the stocking had in store for him. Thankfully he would cme to our bed and fall asleep again so we could at least sleep until 07h00ish. Thankfully there was only one day that required a piece of coal in Thomas' stocking as a reminder that good behaviour is required for good rewards. It's heartbreaking to see his sad face but sometimes it's tough to do good.

Joan and Jan arrived on the 05th December and stayed with us. Both Mor and I were stil at work the first week so they hired a car and did their own thing during the day. In the evenings we had a few dinners/braai's here and the other nights they would go to Mor or out for dinner. The Friday they arrived, we had a braai here. The Saturday night they invited us out to dinner, we went to harbour house, which was stunning. Sunday night Craig looked after the kids and I drove the 4 of us to Moyo. I had booked a table in the treetops but when we got there they couldn't find our booking. Luckily they still had tables available in the treetops, but it wasn't what I had expected. It was also quite high up which meant Mor and Jan would struggle with the steps, so luckily there had been a cancellation at a lower treetop table and we basically had the whole "landing"

to ourselves.So it was very cosy and entertaining and the food was good. Jan and Joan paid again, which was not the meaning. Naughty! The next night Moyo called me to check if we were still coming! Duh! they had obviously booked the wrong night. One of the nights we went to the spur so we could bring the kids. Mor was off the following week and they had booked a week in Hermanus so they went there for the week and Joan and Jan came back the Saturday afternoon and left that same evening back to Denmark. It was a short 2 weeks but it was lovely to have them and see them again. We also got some lovely Christmas candle deco from them and they spoilt the kids with lego and duplo.

We also did Uncle Paul's Christmas party on the evening of the 13th Dec. Mel and Darren had tickets but she didn't want to go so she gave me 4 tickets, Christy didn't feel like going and nor did Craig, so Reina and Kyra came with Thomas and I. They had such fun and the weather turned out great. We had been worried about the wind as the Cape doctor had been howling the whole week. It was just as magical as the last one we went to. We met Marc, Bev and the kids so it was good to know someone else. My car had overheated sitting in the queue when we arrived so Marc followed us all the way home to make sure I didn't get stuck.

We also went to Kirstenbosch for our annual babynet Christmas get together on the 07th Dec, where one of the dads volunteered to be FC and hand out gifts to the kids. It was a hot day and was good to come home for a swim in our pool before heading out to Moyo.

On the 15th Dec we went to Karen and Frans' annual Christmas get together. Frans does such a great job of being FC. None of the kids ever suspect a thing and Karen buys gifts for all the kids. They are such kind-hearted people.

I worked all the way until the 24th Dec, where I left work at 12h30, came home and started preparing for Christmas eve which we were hosting. I layed the table and wrapped the rest of the pressies. Mor came round at 16h00 and started the roast. I made the red cabbage. The family arrived from 18h00 onwards. We were 13 adults and 5 kids, and fitted quite comfortably round the table. We had a lovely evening. The kids got spoilt. For the first time I tried not to stress about the traditions. The kids ripped apart their presents while we were eating, but it was fine, coz that's what Christmas is all about, the kids! and getting together for a nice meal. The last people left just before 01h00 which I think was a sign of a good evening.

I woke up with a bit of a hangover on the 25th, but soon cured it with some headache tablets and a good breakfast. We had the whole day to clean up and recover and wrap more pressies for the present game at Linda's. We went to Linda's at 19h00. Had drinks with the friends and family and had our usual Christmas feast made by Linda and Dawn and Karen who made the trifle but unfortunately wasn't there as she was sick in bed with flu. We played the game and Craig and I did quite well.

New years was fairly quiet but fun. We bought Thomas with us for the first time. We went to Christy and Phil and set up our tents for the kids. The kids were all in the jacuzzi just before midnight with Alex (Phils sister in law) We were about 20 people all together, and had a good time. We played wii games, we sang karioke and chatted till early hours of the morning. I went to bed at about 03h30, Craig sat up chatting to Lyn, Arne and Christy (Phil passed out in the chair sitting up) They must have come to bed at about 04h30, just as the sun was about to rise.

HAPPY HAPPY NEW YEARS!!! Here's hopin for a great 2009!!!

Rest in peace Les

2008-12-01T20:38:00.005+02:00

Today is supposed to be a happy day, a day that marks the beginning of the advent and count down to Christmas.

But, sadly, it is not a happy day. Our friend and colleague Les, passed away this morning. She was diagnosed with lung cancer just 12 days ago. I have bearly had a chance to tell people. We had lived in hope until she was due to see the oncologist today. I miss her so much already. Her deep happy voice and the way she said my name, Rix. Even the last sms I got from her was Thanks Rix.

I bought a sunflower on Saturday and planted it on Sunday and vowed to think of her and send karma to her everytime I looked at the sunflower. This morning when I woke up, I looked outside and looked at the sunflower and had a very bad feeling. I got to work and felt suspicious. Howard looked a bit sad and when I went into our office, I thought Gail also looked sad. But I was relieved to hear it was just work "stress" and having to work over the week end, that was getting her down. Gail actually got the call from Heather midday and I saw Gail closing her eyes and saying " I don't believe it" I was too scared to ask, and didn't even think it could be Les, until she confirmed it was. Heather told Deanne and she went into Ronnie's office crying. Ronnie didn't even come out of his office to offer words of comfort, but I guess each to their own. He later told us that one of his clients had also passed away last night in Amsterdam.

But life just goes one and one has to suck it up. Work has been so hectic for everyone with the Irish being down so we just had to get on with it and save our grief for home.

When I came home I just lay on Thomas's bed and hugged the kids and shed a tear or 2. Thomas asked me how adults cry, and I said. "just like children" I asked him if he had ever seen me cry and he said, No mommy, are your crying now, because your cheeks are wet. Which of course made it worse!

I am so glad that Les got to celebrate her last birthday at our house in Feb, when we combined a girls night and surprised her with champagne, a home baked cake (by me!) and pressies. I still have the champagne bottle, as she sms'd me on their way home to ask me to keep it. I never got to tell her that I still have the champagne bottle. Well, now I'm going to cherish it forever, along with the memories of our lunch at the Brass bell, our drunken nights at the Avis box, including the night we got kicked out at 02h00 in the morning and Les had her car locked in the parking garage. What a mission it was to get out. The travel bags lunch that she invited me to. She was such a good person and even though she didn't have alot, she always gave what she had.

My thoughts are with her family - Her parents, and her 3 children, Jessica (7), Bradley (26) and Mike (24)

Death is not easy to deal with. We really have to enjoy and cherish each day as life is so short.

R.I.P my friend, Les. I love you.

We have a parrot in the house

2008-11-07T22:38:00.011+02:00

I wonder how authors must feel when they've written a whole chapter and then somehow delete it by mistake or forget to make a draft or back up! I have just spent a little hour writing and I must have clicke on the "back" button coz I cannot find my entry ANYWHERE! I thought with this blog site, it saved to draft every few minutes, but obviously NOT IF YOU HIT THE BACK BUTTON!!!!!
I'm so tired how, I honestly cannot write more, so I'll just copy/paste a post I made on babynet a few days ago with a little update on Alexander.

"Every month older Alexander gets, I think THIS must be the cutest stage. Oh gosh, he is so sweet. He now repeats, or tries to repeat every word we say. He even says big words like Deleeeeeshus, to Taaasty when he gets something yummy to eat. He woke up this morning and pointed at Thomas and said his name perfectly. Before today it's been Bomas, Pomas, or just Mas. He sometimes leaves out bits in the middle, like he can't say Papa Joe (Craigs's dad) so he says Pa Joe. He can't say Caroline yet so he say Caline. When he wakes up in the morning, he spends a good 1/2 an hour in his cot just talking to himself before I pick him up. He goes through all the names he knows, Mama, Dada, Maya, Gogo, Dawn, oocie (lucy) Molly, Lola, Alex (our cat) Weeka (Rikke) and many many more. It's just so cute to listen to. When he gets hold of something that he knows he's not allowed to have, he runs so fast I can't catch him. He knows EXACTLY where the sweetie jar is. When I come home from work he runs to the fridge and points to the top of it saying, Schweetie schweetie. He also knows how to ask for things that he needs like Strawberries, juice, water, milk. (He LOVES strawberries, don't know what I'm gonna do when they go out of season!)"

This past week end, Friday night Mor came around as usual and we braaid some ribs. Cheated a bit on my weigh less diet (once again) that I started on Monday. Saturday after swimming and shopping I took Thomas to the spur. He played on the jumping castle and I read my book. I met Honey (Christy's cousin) who also came armed with her book, but she sat down (her daughter Morgan also went to go play with Thomas). We had a nice chat which was great, coz even though I've known her since she herself was a little girl, I've never really gotten to "know" her and chat to her, so it was a lovely co-incidence.

We braaid again Sat night. Craig had bought loads of lamb so we asked Christy and Phil and Aidan if they felt like coming round, last minute, short notice, but luckily they are far more spontaneous than we are, so they came for dinner. We had an early night as they have the wedding show on all week end.

Sunday we went to Jaydon (Lydia and Hugh) name giving ceremony. There was a lovely brunch, and the ceremony was beautiful. Lots of touching speeches, dedications and songs. Heather Mac's daugher Amber sang a lullaby with ironically woke Jaydon up for a view moments. Hugh sang a song on the guitar that he had written, and Heather's boyfriend, Mark ended off with a happy jolly song. Christy and Phil left soon after the ceremony as they had to get back to the show, and we left shortly after that. We braaid AGAIN in the evening, even though it had started raining.

And now it's already week end again. It has been a busy busy week at work. We are going to Tulbagh tommorow and then Bimse and Kenny's farm in Wellington on Sunday for their combined birthday.

When the days go by..

2008-10-30T10:31:00.018+02:00

It is scary how fast this past month has gone since we came back from Denmark. I didn't even get a chance to blog about the rest of our trip, so in brief:

The wedding was AWESOME. A whole romantic week end. I said goodbye to Bjarne and Lisbet on the Thursday morning and went home with Tine, HJ, and Mor. We dropped Mille off on the way.

We had a fantastic evening the day before (Wednesday night) They arrived at 18h00 for dinner and Peter got delayed on the train so he only arrived at about 20h30. We had an amazing dinner as Lisbet always does. We had dessert at midnight coz by then everyone had had a few glasses of wine and Lisbet was well into talking mode and had forgotten that she had taken the pie out the oven an hour before. Tine and I laughed so much. Gosh, writing this all down now, I realise how much I miss them so much already. After dinner, we all went accross to "my house" where the billard/games room is. HJ and I played billard, and I actually managed to win! yaaay! Mille and Peter got on like a house on fire (first time they've met) and they played darts. Lisbet and Tine just wanted to chat, and Mor fell over at about 01h30 so she went to bed before the games started. At 04h00 we all went to bed. I woke up the next morning with a hangover that I haven't had in a long time. I took one bite of my breakfast and couldn't have any more. Luckily HJ had a good little pill that sorted me out.

We went for a nice long walk (mor stayed back coz he knee was sore from her slight fall)

We left after lunchtime, and I said goodbye, not knowing if I'd see them again. They did say they'd come to Julle's on the night before we left for a cuppa coffee and say goodbye, but phew, it's a looong drive there and back for a cuppa coffee, and they were going to some kind of fair down the road the whole day that they had to sell coffee and cakes, so I'm sure they would be tired.

So, the night at Tine and HJ we just chatted and I sat on the computer a bit. Tine suddenly felt very sick and even called the doctor, but felt better so doc got cancelled. Thank goodness, coz I was very worried about her being so sick just before the wedding etc.
We were going to leave before lunch the next day but we took it easy and left after lunch and got to Gilleleje hotel at about 16h00. We checked in and went to our rooms. I went into town with Tine and HJ and we went down to the harbour and had a quick hotdog. Beautiful little town. I was quite sad I didn't have more time to walk around and do a bit of shopping

Everyone else started checking in and coming by to say hi. When we came back from town, Sisse and mor were already having a glass of wine in our room. She was looking so relaxed and happy for someone that is getting married the next day! Britta also came by for a glass of wine and Maya and Rasmuss checked in (room next to us) and came for a smoke. That's the worst part about mor being a smoker, even in a non-smoking room, smokers make a plan and don't really care about the non-smokers. We got ready and went accross to the hotel for the tapas and welcome. Sisse and Michael had paid a fortune to get some red wine from Diemersfontein shipped to them specially for the wedding, so we really enjoyed that. Sisse and Michael had their welcome speech. We ate deeevine food, tapas (prawns, salami chunks, ementaler cheese chunks, chicken drumsticks and loads of yummy dips and breads) Sisse and Michael made us all promise that we would finish by midnight as the next day was going to be a loooong one. So that we did and said our goodnights at midnight.
The next morning, we all met for breakfast between 09h00 and 11h00. I wanted to go down to town again, but nobody else felt like going and even though Maya said I could borrow their car, I still don't feel comfortable driving on the right hand side of the road, even if it is a small town. So, I went for a walk along the path towards the beach but I never got down to the actual beach, but the view was very pretty. I came back and most of the girls were upstairs in the bridal suite keeping Sisse company while she got ready with some champers and fruit. Later we all went back to our rooms to get ready. We went to the church at 14h00. It was about 8 kilometres out of the town and we nearly got lost. We even saw Jeppe stopping the bridal car so that we could pass!

The ceremony was beautiful and of course Sisse even more beautiful. Michael cried as he saw her and that got all the girls in the church sobbing

We came back to the hotel for drinks and snacks and photos and then all got seated

The food was devine again. Some sort of white smoked fish with asparagus for starters and for main course some wild game baked in a kind of peppercorn pastry with veggies and of course lots of gravy. For dessert some creme bule, apple pie (famous for the Gilleleje badehus) and icecream in a brandy snap type basket. And then of course coffee and choccies out in the lounge later. The speeches were so touching. I think most of the women had to redo their eye make up couple of times. There were no songs, but that was their own request (not to have any) Even Preben's speech was very emotional when he spoke of Tida (the daughter he lost) and everyone shed a little tear again including him (and as he said, he normally gives the cheer up speeches

After dinner and speeches and all sorts of traditions, the band was setting up and we all had a good party and danced till the wee hours of the morning. The music was all Danish, but it made me feel so proud of my roots and so good to be able to spend such a special day with my special family.

We got to bed at 04h00! but of course the evening ended off with some "natmad" (night food) A gulash type soup and crispy warm bread. Amazing how hungry one is again at 03h00 in the morning after all the dancing and drinking!

Wonderful Copenhagen

2008-09-17T12:32:00.004+02:00

Or, should I say wonderful Verup! The little town just outside the bigger town Dianalund, where I am staying with Bjarne and Lisbet.
It is so peaceful and quiet here and I really feel as if I am on a retreat. (Not that I have ever been on a retreat before!)

So, the departure was not as stressful as I thought it would be. Dawn came to fetch Alexander so he was happy to wave goodbye to me and left with her before we left the house. He had been a bit clingy that day, almost as if he could sense that I was going somewhere. So I was a bit worried he would cry when I said bye but I think I took it far worse than he did, and yet I was totally in control and felt as if I was just saying bye for the night. Thomas came with to the airport. There is so much construction going on, so unfortunately we couldn't see any of the aircraft. We said goodbye and Thomas and Craig went over to domestic side to see if they could see our flight take off, but Craig told me later on the phone that it was just as bad there and the spur was almost nonexistant, but they did manage to see the Emirates flight take off which took off about an hour before ours, so he just told Thomas that Mormor and I were on that flight. Our flight took off 1/2 an hour later than scheduled anyway.

The flight actually went quite well considering mor couldn't smoke. She drank quite a bit of wine, but she seemed ok. We had 6 hours in Heathrow which dragged on a bit, but before we knew it, we had landed in Copenhagen. Tine and Joan came through to airside to meet us (as they both work in the airport) Outside, Bjarne, Mille, Hans Jørn and even Michael had taken the train from Odense to surprise Mor, and of course Sisse, were all there to meet us. We dispersed and went our own ways. It is over an hour drive from the airport to the farm. It was so good to see everyone again. Bjarne and Lisbet look the same and haven't changed much.
The life here on the farm is very different to city life, but so much more relaxed and the pace is much slower. People are more friendly and not in such a rush as the Copenhageners are. What a lovely life to have as they are still young and fit enough to enjoy it and not have the worries of getting up early and cathing busses and trains to get to work. I think Lisbet is so grateful that she didn't have to work another 5 years at SAS. Bjarne still does a bit of advertising work here and there and writes a few articles for the local newspaper.

I need to go and pack now already as mor, Tine, Hans Jørn, Mille and Peter are coming at 17h00 for dinner. Lisbet is running around cleaning and preparing (some things don't change) and I feel a bit bad that I am sitting here here on the computer. Bjarne has gone off on his quad bike to paint the other gate. They are all sleeping over here tonight and then I got back with them and then it's off to the wedding for the week end. Then on Sunday I will stay over at Julle's and the probably at Tine and HJ on Monday night and then we leave already on Tuesday. The time has just gone so fast! but then again I knew it would.

Craig and the kids are coping well. I have spoken to Craig a few times. I haven't "spoken" to Alexander but I have spoken briefly to Thomas. I asked him if he was missing me and he replied "sort of" Well, it would have been far worse if he had started crying or something. So, they seem to be happy and thriving. I am very lucky that Zac and Dawn are so capable and love having them.

So, that's it for now, but I'll update on the whole trip, probably only when I get back.

1 week to go!

2008-09-04T22:34:00.003+02:00

So, now it's down to 1 week till we go to Denmark. My feelings are still the same though I'm getting more heart jitters now. I can't wait to see everyone though, and I'm really working fast to try make sure all my work is up to date so that I don't need to hand to much over.

I still have 1 more week end to sort things out. Not quite sure what I still need to sort. Maybe I should start making lists like mormor used to do and pack a week before! I am hoping to get Wed 10th Sep off, as I have a hair appointment on the morning of the 11th and a meeting with Thomas's teacher the afternoon of the 10th, so I'm hoping I don't need to go back to work after that.

It would be now that Alexander decides to get so darn cute. I'm almost too scared to miss out a day of his life because he changes daily. He is a little monkey and imitates everything we do. He can't quite speak the words, but his tone and voice are exactly like ours. He also has quite a temper on him and makes it quite clear when he doesn't like something. More often than not, it's one of us taking something away from him that could be potentially dangerous. He just shouts NO, NO, and then tries to swipe at us with whichever object he is holding. Thomas thinks it's very funny but I'm trying to tell him not to laugh as Alexander will thinks it's cool and turn it into a game.
His vocab is coming on. He still says the arb words like baba, whenever he sees one. He calls Dada dada, in the mornings, so cute.He says Kitty and makes a meeoouw sound. He can point to a pictures of a cow, sheep, pig, horse and duck when asked. He points to his nose, mouth, teeth, ears, eyes, head, hair when asked and then points to ours. When he wants to have a bite of his food, he points to it and says "num" It is truly amazing how babies learn to communicate. Even though he only says a few words, he can make it very clear what he needs and wants. He gets quite upset in the morning when we leave the house, so I try to make our leaving as undramatic as possible. I just hope he doesn't cry when I leave the house for the airport, coz that will just destroy me.
Thomas will come with to the airport with Craig and they will wait until the plane takes off. Somehow I think it's good for Thomas to actually see me leave in a plane so he can get an idea of how far away I'm going, and that I can't just come home in 5 minutes. Ag, I doubt the kids will even miss me, I'm sure they will have a splendid time with Gogo and Papa Joe. Dawn will be taking Thomas to school in the morning after dropping Alexander off here with Caroline. He will sleep over at Dawn, so she will fetch Alexander in the evenings and leave Thomas with Craig. I hope it won't be too much disruption for the kids, but at least Alexander's day time routine won't change and he has stayed with Dawn and Zac so many times, he hopefully won't feel lonely or out of place.

So, maybe the next time I blog will be when I come back from Denmark, unless I can log on while I'm there, but I have so little time with my family I can't see myself wasting any time being online.

Chow till then!

1 month to go!

2008-08-11T15:29:00.007+02:00

And so the count down has started. 1 month exactly till mor and I leave for Denmark. My feelings are very mixed. On the one hand I'm very excited to see everyone again, the wedding, having time to myself, no kids, no Craig etc. BUT on the other hand, it's going to be the furthest and longest I've ever been away from the kids. I'm scared I'm going to worry about them, wonder how they are doing, wonder if Craig is coping, wonder if they'll miss me, wonder if I'll miss them!
Everyone is telling me I must just have a fabulous time and not worry about them, but as a mother, how can I not!? I'm hoping once I get there all will be fine, and I'll make sure that Craig phones me every night to let me know how the kids are.

I think for Thomas, as long as he is happy, he won't miss me, and Alexander, well hopefully one day to him will be the same as 10 days, because I've been told that kids under the age of 2 don't have a concept of time. I'm hoping that is true, because he has become quite clingy lately.

The rest of Thomas's birthday went off very well. In fact, he had a 4 day birthday, starting with gift from Christy on Thurs night. The family coming over on Friday night and spoiling him rotten. The spur party on Sat night went down well. A bit chaotic in the beginning, but I think everyone got on and were comfortable enough. The kids had a ball, they were either jumping on the poor jumping castle, colouring in or playing video games and going on the kiddy rides. So that was really what mattered most. I had JUST enough party packs. I had made a few extra but they all went and Thomas didn't get one, but I told him his is at home, and he was quite alright with that. He got some lovely gifts from everyone and TJ, Kayla Mae and him seemed very chuffed when the spur staff came to sing their special Happy birthday song (or whatever it is they sing/chant/rap!)

We left at about 20h00. Poor mor was exhausted because I had left her on Alexander duty. He was happy though, sitting in the kiddy chair munching and sucking on ribs. Not sure how much he got to eat, but he was covered from head to toe in spur sauce and he looked happy enough. He was so well behaved, even when we left he was tired but not moaning or crying. He had his bottle in the car but still didn't fall asleep which is good coz he seriously needed a topping and tailing before going to bed.
I was fast asleep by 21h30!!!

08/08/08 - what a special day today!

2008-08-08T22:08:00.004+02:00

What a date, the 06th birthday of our first born. I can't believe how fast the time has gone. 6 seems to be such a milestone age. Craig has been feeling very emotional this week about Thomas turning 6 today.

I honked and cheered along with Gareth Cliff this morning at 08h08 on the 08th day of the 08th month of the 08th year. Got a small tear in my eye to think exactly 6 years almost to the minute my first miracle happened and was lifted into the theatre lights to take his first breath of air and face the world.

Happy birthday our son, we are so proud of what you are and what you have become.

He has had a lovely day. He woke up at 06h00 and went to fetch his troublesome truck that Christy, Phil and Aidan gave him last night (they are going away for the weekend) we told him he could open them last night but only open the seal of the one this morning. I then dropped him off at school with choc cake (that I BAKED!) and cupcakes. Rushed thru my work at work and left at 12h00 to fetch him and Jake, who was coming home for a playdate. Unfortunately both Craig and I missed the birthday ceremony but Thomas was happy and didn't seem to miss us too much, so that is all that matters. We were a bit sad and Craig angry that we had missed it, but that is the price one pay of being full time working parents.

He had a lovely 3 hours of play with Jake (I had the afternoon off) and Mormor came over at about 14h00 and Jeanne fetched Jake just after 15h00. At 18h00, Linda, Jonathan, Steve, Mel and Gogo and later Papa Joe came to wish Thomas and spoil him with gifts. He got loads of more Thomas trains from us and a stunning birthday edition from Linda and Jonathan from Hamleys. He also got a Paddington bear dvd and stationary and car and more Thomas trains from us. From Mor, he got a new bike. He jumped around fro joy. I must say Thomas has always shown appreciation for gifts no matter what he has gotten, but to see the look on his face when he saw the bike shape in a black bag was priceless. I'll upload some pics once I have loaded onto the laptop.

We ordered pizza and had salad with it. I bought some cupcakes which I put 6 candles in and we lit them up and sang happy birthday.
Now Thomas and Craig are lying here fast asleep in bed next to me, and I guess I better sign off coz my eyes are also getting sleepy. But I just had to post on today's date! a very special date indeed.

Happy 90th birthday Madeebs

2008-07-18T13:58:00.006+02:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MADIBA!!

I can't believe this legend of a man turns 90 today. What an amazing legacy and even though we may not think so, he has done so much for this country. It seems it was just the other day that he was released from jail, just a short while ago, we had our first democratic elections and abolished apartheid. Pity Robert Mugabe can't take a page out of his book.

PARTY ON MADIBA MAGIC!!

I'm a bit hungover today coz we went out for dinner for Jason's birthday to a little Tapas restaurant called Fork, in Long street. Jason picked up the bill which was very sweet of him. It was Craig and I, Mark and Sioux, Ronnie and Carole and Kyle and his girlfriend. So, I'm paying today, but have made it past lunchtime, Craig bought me 3 slices of pizza so I'm feeling very strong now.

Alexander has a little play mate at home. Caroline bought her daughter and granddaughter to work. Anakho is helping out with the ironing and Lilethu and Alexander "play" so sweetly. She is walking already and is not even a year old. She is so so sweet.

Alexander has a new face he makes. When I say Robert Mugabe, he pulls a face like a gorilla. Have a video clip of it as well, which I'll post here if I can get it right. Have tried posting pics today, not working. In fact it's taken me all morning to get into my blog coz I couldn't remember my username!

I'm trying to organise Thomas's birthday, can't believe it's in less than 3 weeks time. Looks like it's just going to be the spur thing! But I'm sure it will be very exciting for him to have an "evening" big person party at a restaurant. We also did the spur for Craig's birthday, just Steve, Linda, Zac and Dawn, us and the kids. Thomas thought it was very funny when they sang Happy birthday to Craig and bought a sparkler. We did the same for Mor on Friday night the 04th, went to the Bergvliet one, Mor, Jennifer, Gay, Marilyn and me. Jennifer stormed out coz Mor insisted on paying the bill, but anyway, so it goes, we had a lovely time.

We have had some really bad weather. Craig and I were on leave while Thomas was on holiday. It rained for the first 1/2 of the week, but it poured! and flooded, 16 000 people without homes. We took Thomas to watch Kung Fu Panda (Craig watched the Incredible Hulk, on his own) We did a lot of Mcdonalds (where is that embarressed emoticon) We went to Rhodes memorial the one day it had cleared up because we wanted to go up Table mountain, but the line was about 2 hours long. The view was so beautiful with snow on the Paarl and beyond mountains. It was snowing quite a lot in Ceres and thereabouts. Would have loved to take Thomas to see, but a bit of a long drive, considering the cost of petrol at over R10.00 a litre! We also went to Fairview the one day where we took Alexander. Had a lovely lunch there and bought our usual cheeses.
And then the rest of the time mostly just relaxing, getting some things done that one normally can't do in a working day. We also took the Monday off, so Tuesday morning was tough getting up early and getting ready for school and work.

But TGI, it's Friday already and looking forward to a week end with not too many plans.

He runs, he talks, he hides

2008-06-18T10:16:00.006+02:00

I have noticed that Alexander doesn't even crawl anymore. Amazing how fast he mastered the walking and now he charges down the passage, and then falls on his nappy-padded bum and says, "Ow" in the exact same tone as I say it. They are like little parrots at this age.

He also waves his hand and says Shushu when he sees that the fire is lit, and even when it's off he goes up and puts his hand in the air near it to see if any heat is coming off or not.

I'm not sure what "Dodo" means coz he says that when he sees dogs, and he says it when he sees his Gogo (Dawn). The other day when Caroline came in, he said "Molo" to her!! It's so cute everytime he says something new or associates a word with a particular person or thing. When mor comes he says Mormor, but then later calls her Dodo, so he's a bit confused at the moment.
When he drops things he says "Uh oh" and he loves to throw his bottle out of his cot in the morning when he's done.

He also says words like "door" when he sees us locking yet another door on him, as he's about to take a swig of Handy Andy or Ajax! He is obsessed with the fridge and we have to get things out very fast before he runs over and ransacks the fridge.

Thomas and him seem to have started a new game, Hide and seek under the bed, I often come in the bedroom and there they both are giggling under the bed, which is not such a good idea because Alexander forgets where he is and tries to get up and then bumps his head, and then I have to get down on my hands and knees to try and drag him out!

We are now done with the high chair (it was beginning to smell a bit siff) We have bought another sitright chair and now Thomas and Alexander sit at the table and have dinner together. They have switched roles. Alexander hates to be fed and wants to feed himself even with a spoon, which means LOTS of mess and 1/2 the food ending up in his lap and on the floor. Thomas on the other hand takes forever to eat his food, and often wants one of us to feed him like a baby. He loves to act like a baby. In fact he has a few aliases. His favourite alias is Barker, a little dog. Sometimes he only listens if we call him Barker. "Barker, eat your dog pellets", "Barker, go fetch your slippers and put them on your paws", "Barker it's time for your dog bath" , "Barker, it's time to snuggle up in your dog basket"! etc. He also has his polar bear alias which takes place on our bed, and his Tiger alias which takes place on the lawn outside. And then one day I was trying to get him to brush his teach and I started speaking in an Alien voice, so now I've created a baby and mommy Alien!! There's also baby Orangutan, that one I also started because I thought Thomas looked more like a red headed Orangutan rather than a white polar bear.

Update on what we've been up to:

We got the invitation for Sisse and Michael's wedding last week end. It is so beautiful and looks like a lovely venue, it's a whole week end wedding. About and hour after I opened the invite, Mor called to say she had recieved it and she has decided to come to the wedding. I'm very excited about this, as I was a bit sad about going there on my own. I know Sisse really wanted her to be there, so I am glad she has made this decision. It will be hard to be away from Craig and the kids for 10 days. It's also very short to go overseas for only 10 days but I am lucky that I haven't had to pay for the ticket. Ronnie kindly gave me the company's voyager miles and has paid for the airport taxes, in lieu of an educational (which we never get these days!)
And now that my ticket is issued, and Mor wants to go on the same flights as me, her ticket is going to cost over R10 000 but I have managed to buy some voyager miles from a client at the same price the Lufthansa flight would have cost, so at least now she can fly with me at the same fare as it would have cost if she had gone Lufthansa via Frankfurt.

Friday the 06th June we went to Karen and Frans for Karen's birthday. She made the most deeevine finger food as she always does. Nice relaxing evening chatting. Mor babysat the kids.

For Christy's birthday she didn't really do anything. She was having Aidans' party on the Friday night and the family thing on Sunday so she didn't want to mess the house up on Saturday night as well, so her, Phil, Aidan, Lydia and Hugh and Angelina came to our house and we had Mexican. Everyone bought something. It was a lovely evening. Sunday we went for a fillet lunch at Christy and Phils, for Aidans birthday.

This past week end was a long week end. Friday night Craig went out to watch soccer with the boys, Mor came over for her usual Friday night visit. We talked about our Denmark trip and the wedding etc. Saturday after swimming, I went to gym and that evening we went to Jonkershuis for a buffett curry with Jason and Allie.
Sunday was Fathers day, but we dont' do those type of holidays in our house, in fact Craig did all the cooking and cooked up a nice lamb roast. Clare, David and Ethan came around and we had a good afternoon catching up.

Nobody can believe how well behaved Alexander is. He just struts along and entertains himself and never cries. In fact the only time he cries is when Thomas is harrasing him or trying to take away his toys, or the odd accident when he bumps his head or falls, but his tears are very shortlived, and within minutes he is back to his sparkly self.

Monday, Youth day, we went to Zac's party at the Adventure farm in Phillipi, was lovely. Thomas so enjoys chasing the bunnies and feeding the animals. I really want to get him a bunny but first I need to convince Craig to build a hutch!

Officially walking now

2008-05-25T18:06:00.003+02:00

Well, I guess I can officially say Alexander is officially walking now. It's amazing how fast it goes from crawling to taking a few steps to almost running. He very rarely gets down and crawls now. So I guess at 15 months he has moved from baby to toddler. He is getting cuter by the day and despite the fact that there is definately still some sibling rivalry between Alexander and Thomas, they seem to getting on a bit better. Alexander is getting quite a personality and makes it very known when he is not happy about something, even throwing mini tantrums when he doesn't get his own way.

He still wakes up at about 06h00 am, even though it's pitch dark outside. We bring him to our room in his camp cot and he still lies quietly until about 07h00 when he gets his bottle. He still has his morning nap at about 11h00 for 2-3 hours, but we have become a little less dependant on his schedule, so if we want to do something at 11h00, he will just have to catch up on a power nap in the car on the way there and back. Orf he will sleep after lunch. He has 6 teeth already, and they are very sharp! Keep fingers out!! He can chew almost everything I give him. He loves his finger food and actually gets quite annoyed if I try feed him mush, he just wants to grab the spoon and feed himself.

I had a real treat yesterday, I bought some sexy boots in the morning, went for an 1 1/2 hour long pedicure and facial at 11h00. I've never had a facial before, and it was heaven. It was my birthday gift from Linda and Dawn and only using it now. I could become addicted, and she is only 1 road away from me, I actually walked home coz Craig dropped me off after shopping. I had to walk barefoot coz my nails were all pretty and painted and still wet. Sadly they are selling and immigrating so it's a great pity I've only just discovered this hidden treasure. Will have to start supporting Peps in her new studio and take the trip around the mountain.

Last night Craig and I went for a romantic dinner to Harbour house. Had a lovely little table in the corner overlooking the sea. We had the winter special, all three courses! YUM! Mormor babysat.

I also went out Friday night for a girls night with some friends in the industry. We were 8 of us and went to Bohemia in Fish hoek. Lovely restaurant where the owner puts on a Russian or Polish accent and sings to everyone. She has an amazing voice and the food was great, pricey, but delicious and you are paying for the entertainment in the meal as well, so a very good evening out, got home after midnight. Got a lift with Maureen (from BA)

Today we had lunch at Cafe Roux in Noordhoek with Christy, Phil, Hugh and Lydia and kids. Was chilly when we got there but once mist lifted turned out to be a lovely day. Went to Fish hoek beach for 1/2 an hour and came home.

Last Friday I also went out for a girls night with my BN girls to Aniques house. She made us chicken wraps and we had some red wine and a good chat. Some went out, but I was feeling very tired and have a bit of larangitus or something, but have had no voice for a few days.

Next Saturday we have Katja's 40th birthday party. Last Saturday we went to Arne's 60th birthday party at the Seven seas club. Very civilised, but went back to Christy and Phil and got into the jacuzzi with some vino. Slept over. No kids!

Then we also have Christy's birthday coming up and Aidan is having a girls dinner party at CFM, so maybe Christy will just combine the 2.

Feeling a bit sad this week

2008-04-24T15:56:00.003+02:00

It is amazing how the death of a child no matter who's child or where in the world he or she is, affects a parent.
One of our babynet moms lost her little daughter, Sandra on Sunday. Last week we heard about the accident, but we were all holding on to hopes and prayers that a miracle would pull her through. Unfortunately on Sunday the doctors and the parents made the decision to turn the machines off. We all mourned her death even though most of us have never met these people in real life. Sandra's mom Jessica, posted a bit and had Sandra's photo on her signature after every post she made. I got so used to seeing this little face with tearful eyes looking back at me, and just the thought that she is now gone makes me go numb.
I hate to think what her poor parents are going through. Some moms from babynet have set off balloons in her honour. I think of her when I light candles in the evening. I can't seem to get her picture out of my head and I have only ever seen this one photo of her. I don't even know how old she was but on the photo she doesn't look older than 3 years old.
I know no words will bring her back, and who knows if her mom will ever even come back on line and read all the condolences, poems and messages that have been written to her. I don't think I would have the strenght to come back to a site where mothers still have their children, who talk about their kids and their unborn children, who carry on with life as if nothing has happened. That is the way I'd feel. I'd want the world to stop, I'd want to die myself.
I think of the times I have been angry at Thomas and wanted to hit him. Or the times that I have moaned about having to get up in the middle of the night to see to the kids, or to change nappies or to feed.

Life is so precious, especially that of a small child.

RIP little Sandra, may you soar with the rest of the angels that have been sent to heaven before their time.

He walks!, well sort of!

2008-04-20T17:48:00.003+02:00

So, babs finally took his first 4 steps on Friday night, the 18th April. He crawled properly for the first time on Christmas day and he got is first tooth on his birthday. I thought he' walk on Easter week-end. Well, it wasnt too be, though Easter came very early this year, so I'm thinking if Easter had falled in mid April like it normally does, I would have been spot on!

Mor was here and she felt very proud to have witnessed his first steps. It may not have been his very first steps, but they were the first ones I witnessed. I ran for the video camera but by then I had made his bottle and he had spotted it, so he was in no mood for playing circus monkey, but I did manage to record all of 2 steps!

He is starting to say things that are actually audible. He points at pictures of babies and says "baba" and gets very excited when he sees his reflection in the mirror and points and pokes the mirror saying , Baba, baba. He also says Dada and Mama and Kitty, when he sees us or Alexander.

I just discovered today if I say, piggy, he holds his nose and snorts like a piggy. Not sure where he learn't that from. He also follows simple insructions like when I say "arms up" he puts them up so I can take his clothes off, and when I say just "up" he stands up, or puts his arms up to me so I can pick him up. He is also a bit of a gadget freak. He knows that my cell phone is a slide up and that Craig's is a flip up, and he takes the 2 remotes and points the 1 at the tv and the other at the video machine.

He is extremely bubbly and has a great sense of humour and hardly ever cries. Thomas and him are playing better. On Saturday morning before I was leaving for my mini educational, we got our first bit of winter rain. Craig put the blanket in the lounge and Thomas bought his duplo out. The 2 of them played so nicely.

The educational that I went on was head office and Three cities hotels. We met (11 of us) at Mandela Rhodes place http://www.mandelarhodesplace.co.za/ at 10h30.We first stopped off to see Imperials new offices just outside the waterfront. (they were also a sponsor as they were transforting us around) We then headed off to Franshhoek. Even though I've been there plenty after leaving boarding school, it has changed so much, and for the first time I actually saw the town for it's beauty and not for the bad childood memories. We went to the Franshhoek hotel and spa for hotel inspection, and lovely lunch in the rose/lemon gardens. http://www.lefranschhoek.co.za/ My camera battery went flat so follow the links for photos. We then went up to another restaurant in the mountains to have a look/see and check out the view. Stunning stunning views. It started raining as we arrived, but made one feel as if in the middle of a Swiss mountain range. And people fly 10 000 km's to go overseas when we have this beauty in our own backyard!

We then went to Lagoon beach for sundowners. http://www.threecities.co.za/index.cfm?page=hotels.hotels&h_id=15&b_id=7

Again, lovely views of the sea, and Table mountain. We had sundowners there, though the wind was a bit chilly. We then went back to the hotel, had 1 hour to have a bath or a nap. I called Craig to check up on how the babysitting was going. He seemed to have it all under control. I had a nice hot bath and then we met downstairs and went to The Peninsula hotel for a lovely dinner. http://www.peninsula.co.za/

By the time we got back to Mandela Rhodes it was already 23h00 and I was tired! So no town jolling for me. I made some tea and fell asleep on the couch watching discovery channel. Went to bed. Set my cell phone alarm for 07h15 but obviously screwed up the snooze thing coz when my alarm went off, the snooze alarm did not go off 10 minutes later. So it was eiher a quick shower or cup of coffee. I chose the shower. Met downstairs at 08h00 and we went through to the Cape Milner for breakfast. http://www.threecities.co.za/index.cfm?page=hotels.hotels&h_id=16&b_id=7 I didn't realise that this used to be the Milhof Manor hotel. Karl and I lived across the road in a flat. (in fact if you click on above link you will see our floor behind the big palm tree, in the background! The hotel has TOTALLY changed. I could not recognise a thing and I worked there for about 6 months, ok it was about 14 years ago! We had a lovely breakfast, and we were done by 09h30. I went to the Deerpark and met some of the babynet moms, for a cuppa coffee. Did shopping on the way home and was home just after lunch. Craig and kids were very relaxed and I feel quite confident to leave them alone again on an overnighter. But I think Craig had a bit of cabin fever and wanted to go out somewhere, but by the time we had fed kids and unpacked groceries, it was already 15h00 we just took it easy. Weather better than yesterday but you can definately feel a winter nip in the air.

We have had a few birthday parties in the past couple of weeks. 2 weekends ago we went to Nates 3rd birthday at Sandi and Stu's house in Capri. It was a Buzz light hear party. There was even a female Buzz to entertain the kids, and the cake was beeeeutiful.

The following week end we went to Deegans party। Melissa had it at his school, Monterry, I drive past that school so often and never realised how lovely it is, and what an awesome playground they have। The theme was Cars, and she had made everything Lighting Mcqueen, and all the other characters. It was really an awesome party and the weather held out. On Friday, the 18th, I took a 1/2 day. Craig dropped Thomas off at work at 13h30 and I took him to Isabelle's party. This is JoJo's little sister. Jo Jo was in Thomas's class last year but moved on to grade 1 this year. Now Isabelle is in Thomas's class, so he still got the nod to the daughter of the CEO of woolies' party. (Yes, I am name-dropping!) Their house is so stunning, I love going there and relaxing in luxury. Thomas has been on a few playdates there with Jo jo, but Jo jo is very much a tomboy and loves to have boys round to play. I think Belly is more of a girly girl, so this may have been the last time we got the nod!

February almost over

2008-02-25T11:28:00.000+02:00

It frightens me how fast this year is going. I have barely taken down the Christmas tree and pack the deco away, but I see Easter eggs in the stores already. OK, I know Easter is early this year and we are at the end of Feb, but wow! time does fly. I wonder if it has anything to do with age.

We went to Phil's 40th birthday party on the 09th Feb. It was held at the Lindenberg gallery in Muizenberg, a casino party. It was great fun and I really did well at the Texax hold'em table, though it was towards the end of the evening that I started rolling it in. Pity they were just play play chips and not real money. Christy and Phil had really organised the party well. We had play play money to buy chips, 25 chips each to start off with. There was a poker table, a roulette table and a black jack table, also a crabs table in the smoking courtyard (for those that knew the rules!) The drinks were flowing and the food was divine. It was a black tie event, so everyone looked really formal in tuxedo's and black evening dresses. I will add some pics later.
I got a bit drunk, but hey, Craig had promised to drive and the kids were of course staying over and gogo and Papa Joe.
I think we got to bed at about 02h00ish, as the party ended just after midnight.

Next morning, I had a bit of a hangover. We fetched the kids, did the shopping and spent the rest of the day resting and sleeping where I could. But luckily no huge headache, as I usually get.

Last week end, the 16th/17th, we had a mini school reunion meet at Kirstenbosch. This is the 2nd one I've been to and it's amazing that 20 years out of school, we can get together and have a laugh. In fact I wasn't even friends with some of these people at school, as we didn't have much in common then, but now we get together and talk about kids, feeding, nappies etc, and then still have a good laugh about "other" things. Funny how as we grow up we tend to have more in common. There is no pier pressure or anyone that we need to impress. So far, it's been girls only but a few guys have shown interest and I'm sure in the future, more guys will come. We are going to get together one of these days to start organising our BIG 20 year reunion. Scary thought!! I thought 10 years was bad, but the last 10 years seem to have gone faster than the first 10 years out of school, and as for the 12 years IN school, those just dragged on, and we couldn't wait to finish school!

This past week end, the 22nd, 23rd. Mor came over for her usual Friday visit. Craig made prawns and calamari steak, but I had toothache, so wasn't feeling great. It comes and goes and I dread it, but I know I need root canal treatment. Dr Jackson just filled the tooth and said I must see how it goes, coz maybe there was a small chance he could save root canal treatment, but after a few weeks of on and off pain, I don't think it's gonna go away.

Saturday night we had a girls night at our house. Craig went out, so did Robin. From the office, Deanne, Gail and Chantal arrived with Les (Avis). Christy and Mor also came and later Maureen (BA) came and Lucy and her friend popped in for 1/2 an hour. We all bought snacks and drinks. Had a good laugh. We made it a sort of surprise birthday party for Les, as it's her birthday on Tuesday. We chipped in and bought her a voucher, and I made a gecko card out of hama beads. I baked a carrot cake and wrote "Happy birhthday Les" in red (for Avis) icing. Christy also gave her a gift of cards. She was so surprised and overwhelmed. She is such a sweet person and has always been so generous to us. We chatted till about 01h00am. Deanne was chauffering Maureen, Chantal, Gail and Les home, so they must have gotten home quite late. Craig was home by midnight and I think I only got to sleep at about 02h30. It was a fun night.

All I want for my birthday is my 2 front teeth

2008-02-04T21:12:00.000+02:00

lso

and he got 1 of them. On the morning of Alexander's 1st birthday on the 02nd Feb, the little angel got his first tooth cutting through. It looks quite sore and red and sharp, but it doesn't seem to be bothering him. Nothing seems to bother that kid much. I can't get to take a pic coz he won't let me but I'll wait till he's sleeping one day and take one.

The photo above (the spotty outfit one) was actually the only one I took of him on his actual birthday (note the teething drool) because we didn't do much, other than take Thomas swimming and run around and prepare for the party the next day. Came home and had a swim and babs had a nap, and I went to buy Alexander's bday pressie, a house shaped tent from Mr Price and went to tackle pick n pay.

Was a bit worried about the power because Friday night (the 01st Feb) the power went out at 20h30. Mor was here for dinner and we had just finished eating. Lucky we had candles on and Craig got all our charged camping lights out. It's quite cosy in a way but no joke with all these power cuts and load shedding. This one was out for 6 hours and was we found out the next day was just about the whole Cape penisula. Scary times we live in! I guess loads of load shed babies will be born in 9 months time (no pun intended)

So, the party went very well. We spent the morning cleaning up and getting the house ready. Craig put all the cushions and orning out. Then it started pouring!! Great, I finally have a baby born in summer to have a summer party and it rains! but luckily it cleared up. The weather report had said overcast but 24 degrees and 0% chance of rain. Well I guess the weather can be wrong sometimes. So Craig put all the cushions out again. The family and friends arrived at 12h00ish. Liesl came a bit earlier and bought bagels, quiches and the beautiful fish shaped cake.

There was a good mix of kids. Sam and Alexander 4 months apart. Max and Finley both 2 years old, Aidan, Gian Luca, Thomas and Jasmine all between 4 and 7 years old.

So everything went very well. Alexander overdosed on sugar. He ate flings, birthday cake, sour worms, smarties, humus, liver pate and tsatsiki and whatever else he could find on the ground. I'm surprised he didn't choke.

We sang Happy birthday to both kids, and opened pressies. Got spoilt again. Thomas of course helped with opening them and wanted to open all the boxes too. In fact he was not too keen to let Alexander play with his own birthday presents.

Christmas, New Year, birthday, all over

2008-01-15T13:11:00.000+02:00

Yes, it's all over now and I can start 2008 off with motivation and a good diet. Yeah rite! It seems so difficult to get motivated for the year ahead. I still seem to be in holiday and play mode. I have no excuse anymore because all my clients are back and ready to book for the new year.

My birthday went very well. Ronnie was kind enough to give me the day off and I found out at last minute that the whole family was free for breakfast. So I booked the range for 10h30. Picked mor up and met Bimse, Kenny, Kennaird, Amy and Stan, Mip, Liesl with Max and Gian Luca, Peppi. I got so spoilt. Lovely glass bowl and some mugs from Mip and Liesl, some panties and body lotion from Peps. From Mor a chopping board, steak knife and fork set, some panties, a kaftan and 2 bras (which I changed for a pink dress from woolies) From Amy some lovely candles and from the Barretts the most beautiful Carole boyes bowl (very naughty!) We had a lovely breakfast and the kids played nicely. It was so hot so Liesl and kids came to the house and had a swim.

Damn server went down while I was trying to post my video of Alexander whistling. I even wrote about the rest of my birthday etc, took forever and now it's gone!! I even checked my drafts thinking it may have saved there, but nadda!!!

So, where was I, yes, Thursday, hot, had to work, Friday night went to Bev's 40th at the Fat cow restaurant (just for those that think I'm calling our host a fat cow) Lovely company, lovely food, 12 of us. Got home at 01h00. Kids at Craig's parents.

Saturday, went to buy more hama beads at supplier in Claremont. Our latest little craze, don't know who's more addicted, me or Thomas. Gonna upload a picture of a star that he made all by himself. I was so amazed when I came back from work to see what he had made.

Saturday night we went to Jakes to celebrate my birthday with my friends. Was very good. The food was excellent and company always good. Craig, me, Anthony, Anique, Jason, Allie, Marc, Bev, Karl, Kimon, Christy, Phil, Katja and Adrian. We had such a good laugh. Will add pics later. I had a voucher for R300.00 that we got as a Christmas gift from Ronnie, so that was nice that I could add that, plus we bought 4 bottles of wine and paid in R500.00. I got spoilt rotten again. So, I've had a wonderful birthday. Nothing great about turning 37!!!

One week down

2008-01-08T10:21:00.000+02:00

So, the first week of 2008 has passed. It would have been mormors birthday today, who knows how old she would have been. I still remember her so clearly even though she has been dead for over 20 years! The first week back at work didn't go too badly. This week is picking up a bit, everyone back at work it seems, but not too hectic yet. I'm trying to get all done today so I can take the day off for my birthday tomorrow. I think I will meet with the family for brekkies at the Range at 10h00ish and then just get pizza in the evening and then on Saturday night I have booked a table at Jakes for friends to join us. I didn't really want to celebrate this year, not much to celebrate turning 37, heading fast towards 40! but at least I feel I have accomplished most of the things I wanted to do before 40, except for take a scuba diving course. That was meant' to be before 30. Not sure where I will find the time now, or if I even still want to do it. Maybe I should just jump out of an aeroplane or bungee jump instead! Yeah right, me with my vertigo!

I have added a pic of the boys and I taken last year in about October, I called it camo day! Hopefully I will soon start adding more up to date images once I have loaded the latest pics with my latest camera on to my laptop, and will add them here.

Well, hello there!

2008-01-04T13:04:00.000+02:00

Right, looks like I'm off to a good start. I started typing and now it's gone!!!
Oh well, at least I hadn't written a novel yet.
So, I thought it was time to move to a new blog site since my last and first one was a pregnancy blog and well, I haven't been pregnant in nearly a year, so it was time to move on.
And hopefully in this blog I will be able to post some photos. The last one I could never get it right. My photos were always too big and I was too lazy to re size them. I promise to re size them here if I have to. There, you have it in black and white (or pink and black)

I can't believe we are in 2008 already. Last year just flew by. Alexander is nearly a year old and Thomas a 5 year old! I can't actually believe it. They are both adorable as ever. Thomas being very jealous though of Alexander. He loves to give him a little whack every time he walks past him. Alexander is beginning to know this and gives off an angry yelp every time his brother comes near him. I hope this sibling rivalry won't last forever, or is this just the beginning!

OK, I just browsed through my profile and found my original text under drafts. This is far better than my pregnancy blog which didn't save anything in case of power failure, clicking on new URL, etc, so just for the record, here it is:

Hiya
My first entry on my newest blog. I thought it was time to finish off my pregnancy blog, since well, it's been nearly a year since I was pregnant!! I can't believe how fast the past year has gone, and that we are in 2008 already. I think it's the fastest year in history in my life. I can't believe I will be 37 years old in a weeks time. Yikes!! heading towards 40 is a scary thought!
I could never figure out how to post photos in the last blog, so I hope I can do it here with no problems.

Oh lovely, there is spell check here! That will help!!

PS. Just to test that my photos work, I have uploaded one of Alexander enjoying his first biltong stick a few months ago. I don't have many photos on my work pc, so this one will have to do for now.