Baby's First Christmas

it was a lovely first for our family :) i had done the present shopping in november to avoid the crowds in the mall. we took her to sit on santa's lap last week. we took her to the ward christmas party on saturday and she got a present from santa then (stacker which is perfect for her). then yesterday, we sat her on the brown chair and she opened each present (slowly and with a little help) and she did pretty good ripping the paper off the gifts for a 4 month old. she's so dang cute! we then skyped with grandma. then she played on her activity mat (after nap time of course) with her new toys while i baked 5 dozen gingersnaps, baked 14 potatoes, roasted 2 pans of chicken and got the other stuff ready (beet salad, cucumber salad, corn on the cob, tzatziki) while hubby took care of baba and entertained guests (he can't do the kitchen stuff like i can), uncle onive braaied the borevors and the missionaries chilled and helped here and there. there was a lot of food. a lot! we've had people over for christmas luncheon for the past 3 years and each time there is just enough food. i was not interested in having to go to mcdonalds for christmas dinner this year so i went a bit overboard. we will be eating leftovers today and tomorrow. which is alright cuz then i don't have to worry about cooking.

cuz we'd been working hard the past couple days getting ready for yesterday, i've decided to do nothing today except relax, watch my christmas presents (twilight BD2, madagascar 3 and big bang theory season 2) and play with baby. i sat her on the brown couch and we played with her new soft ball. she loves it! we had so much fun rolling it back and forth. this woman is very smart and strong. then i read her the new book of colors/shapes/numbers/opposites. i have done a load of laundry tho cuz the mountain was big. but i think i'll just leave it at that one load. i also went swimming while hubby watched baby this morn. it is a hot hot summer day here in the southern hemi. we attempted a walk at 9:30am but it was waaay too dang hot and baby's legs were in the sun no matter what i did to hide them. so we scraped it 10mins into the walk.

see how cute the little woman is opening her pressies!

Yehaw!

I am thoroughly enjoying this stage of my baby-3 to 6 months! she's 3 months and 2 weeks. so delightful. she is still an adorable baby with the most kissable delicious cheeks but now she has a nice routine and has more play time and she "talks" a lot with me and smiles all the time and gets excited and loves to look at stuff and be outside. she's even doing funny things like she'll be on her activity mat tugging on her hanging toys and talking away at them, then she'll grab Cotton (her pink kitty) and put it beside her and will watch Three's Co and more often than not, laugh at the correct parts!

note mr and mrs roper on the screen, baby on one end of her "bark-a-lounger" and Cotton on the other end. I promise you, I did NOT set up the pink kitty or baby to sit as such, baby did it all on her own.

she'll make faces at things that smell bad. she does these ab crunches to sit upright-not that she lasts long in the upright position as she's still developing balance. she's really strong!! she's even got a few cute tickle spots and the way she wriggles with a cute smile and squeak when i gently tickle her. O.M.G. I can't get enough of this adorable child. i spend about 80% of the day saying "you are sooo cute!" she's clever too! when we have story time, she turns the page...the correct direction! she usually grabs more than 1 page at a time but at least she's got the jist of how to work a book. and she really pays attention to you while you talk to her. infact, she gets mad if she's trying to talk to you and you don't make eye contact. look at how she's listening to daddy.

she's like that with all conversations.

I love feeding her! she grabs my thumb in one hand, pinky in the other and squeezes (sometimes I think she will break my fingers) and gently twists/turns them. it's so cute. she has become an easily distracted eater though. her eyes are all over the place and she's turning her head every direction that a sound comes. this woman even tries to watch the tv while eating! and if daddy enters the room, she gets all wide eyed and bushy tailed. if I talk to her she stops eating and flashes me some smiles then tries to conversate back. her feet are all over the place too. when i pause to wipe her chin she ab crunches up and tries to grab at her milk back to her mouth and gives a couple "hey!s" until the food is back in her mouth. she's got an appetite fo sure. i love it.

i miss her when she sleeps. but am glad she is sleeping cuz then i can get stuff done, like now i'm bloggin. i can also do some dishes, make dinner (chicken breyani tonight!) and of course express milk.

i've knocked the expressing schedule down to 4 times in the day and once at night when she wakes up sometime between 3-5am for her meal. it's much less stressful and i still get out the same amount of milk in a 24hr period so why should i knock myself out and express 8 times for the same results? i've done lot's of searching for info on partial feeding. there's not much out there. it's either breast is best or formula amounts for baby. there's been studies on just 50ml of breast milk a day providing a host of amazing benefits for the little one, which makes me feel better. i can't help but wonder how different everything would have been if baby and i were successful at est EBF. i'd been a lot less stressed and we'd have saved tonnes of money on lactation prescriptions, lactation herbals, breast pumps (yes plural), bottles and of course formula. that's on the top of my list when i go to heaven-why couldn't baby and i EBF????? but alas, there is purpose in all things (like maybe someone in my future will experience the same and i can provide "advice" and comfort) and it is what it is. o, i can say that now. i think i've finally stopped crying about it. i wont even try to describe the emotions felt behind this cuz it can't be described. only those who experience can understand. anyways, that's not what i want to talk about.

baby still loves bath time! can't wait till she's sitting without support so i can take the little basin outside and she can splash around while i sit beside and play with water squirting toys etc. i love the smiles she flashes me during bath time. her face is extra cute (if that's even possible).

here's what our day of fun looks like:
sometime between 6-8am-breakfast 1 (she eats 5x a day and once at night)
chats, smiles, cuddles in my bed as daddy has gone to work (her bed is in our room. she used to sleep beside me in my bed but she's grown and the bed isn't big enough for 3)
nap for mommy and baby-she usually falls asleep while playing with my hand, sooo cute
wash up and dressed in day clothes
then we begin the 2.5 hr intervals of the following-
activity time (once a day it's outside and once a day mommy has exercise time while baby plays on activity mat), meal time, variety time (hang laundry with mommy/story time/song time/scripture time), nap time

she's pretty good at napping...now. she didnt used to be but as i look back, it's cuz i didn't have any kind of routine in place for her nor did i get that she needed a little help to take a nap after a certain period of being awake. that's why we had a bit of a fussy baby. anyways, live and learn. i think special spirits are chosen to be the first born cuz the parents don't really know what they're doing and need a hardier baby to practice on.

advice for future mamas-spend more time reading/learning what to do with baby when baby comes. spend less time stressing on pregnancy. i was so obsessed with the pregnancy and upcoming birthing that i didn't really prepare for what to do once the baby comes! and to know what the baby needs more in the way the needs are to be met. also read-Baby Sense and the Womanly Art of Breastfeeding. 2 books i wish i had known about/encouraged to read while pregnant.

anyways, can't wait to give baby her first bites of solids! and of coures, baby's first Christmas :) presents are bought and wrapped already. not that she'll really know what's going on or even how to open the present but it is her first christmas so it's important. she will also be sitting on santa's knee.

Pink

is how I'm feeling now. My  baby is napping!!! Ahh, nice and calm. She had 3 nice naps yesterday and went to bed nicely too. She's on her 3rd nap now. When she awoke from her am nap (I bring her into bed with me so I can fall asleep after our morning chat as daddy has gone off to work early so there is plenty o room for wee one), I peeked in to the room to see how she was. And there she was quietly looking around until she caught my eye, then she flashed her gorgeous infectious smiles and started her baby babbles and squeals of delight. That stuff makes my day. She's such a dolly faced delight. She had a bath this morning. She loves baths. She gets all wide eyed and bushy tailed when she sees the towel...she knows whats about to happen. She's a clever 11 week old. She's taken to holding the bottle with both hands to feed herself these days. I'm sure once she's walking, she'll potty train herself. She even watches Three's company with me. No joke. I sit her in my lap after she eats (must keep her upright for a bit on account of her reflux you know, soon she'll grow out of that) and she literally watches Three's Company from beginning to end. Plus, I got to exercise this morning. That always makes a lady feel good.

It's hot out. Christmas is coming. Never feels like Christmas with the heat. I feel more Christmasy in July here than December. I pray next December, we'll have enough mula to take a vacay up north to have some fun in the snow with Santa.

Well. That's my story morning glory...today anyways.

Blue

is a bit how I'm feelin today. I feel like I'm not doin much as a mom. Like a couple of my other friends with babies are doing things like cooking fancy food, crafting clever home tools, caring for older children, breastfeeding (I may be pained on this forever) all while devoting love to their DH. I on the other hand am eating instant oatmeal, growing a pile of laundry, wearing the same outfit everyday like a cartoon character, expressing 15ml of milk (down from 30ml when I was on the lactation Rx) and ripping my hair out in frustration at trying to be a semi good mom to a very high maintenance allbeit incredibly cute baby. Sometimes, I even forget to drink water. I do not have it together and I am not super mom like my friends. I wish I had some family or friends in this country to help and bring us a casserole or clean my bathroom. My DH is trying his hardest by working, cooking once in awhile, doing dishes and helping with our sweet little primadonna. My mom's curse worked-when I was a young challenging child she said "I hope you have babies exactly like you! Then you will know what I've gone through." and here we are with an adorable, smiley baby who is exactly like me-stubborn, demanding, easily pissed off and wants it her way. I love her more than life and want the best for her. This is why I'm going crazy.

Isn't she cute!!

Have I Done Enough?

let's just state the obvious- motherhood is THEE hardest job on the planet!! i've worked for the govt with strict policies and procedures, a pharmacy full of ghetto grumpy customers, 2 very demanding realtors and a host of other jobs. they all pale in comparison to this. i knew it would be hard but didn't quite get just how hard, i mean i had nannied for 3 different families so taking care of children is no unknown event for me. and you know why motherhood is so hard? (this i figured out 2 days ago) because you are RESPONSIBLE for another LIFE that is 100% dependent on you for EVERYTHING-learning, development, nourishment in all sense of the word, love and any need they have. in a nanny/daycare job, you go home at the end of the day and are just responsible for their safety and wellbeing from 8-4 with a lunch break and other helpers (if daycare). but this is 24/7 FOREVER. that, my friend, is a lot of pressure!!! that's why it's so so hard. and to top it off, for the first 8 years, i'm accountable for their actions too. eiyeish!

don't get me wrong, i LOVE being a mother and LOVE LOVE LOVE my angel face who by the way i totally WOULD die for if i had to. she is the best blessing i've ever and could ever receive. it's true. the love you feel for this precious little being is something that cannot be described, it is to be experienced and even then it's tough to comprehend.

now please allow me a moment to vent a bit. babies are hard work. mainly cuz they can't tell you what is bothering them or what they need. they can only fuss/cry/smile in their communication efforts. it's a guess work. and when you think you've figured out what "that cry" means, it changes to mean something else different with age. oyvey.

breastfeeding. OMG, breastfeeding! had i known all the finer intricaces and challenges and emotions of it, i'd done a hell of a lot more in preparing for this trial. the number of tears i've shed surpass any tears i've shed over anything else in life, including losing a loved one (not minimizing the trial of this cuz this obviously sucks more but i digress). one thinks-easy, baby is instinctively designed to do it, women are naturally made to do it. so what's the big deal? well, it is something that can be damaged from day one with just one bad experience. the baby can build an aversion with just one wrong move (if sensitive enough), you can experience extreme physical soreness with an incorrect latch. you know what, i can't even touch on all that can happen here cuz there's books written on it (for a very good reason). just here's some advice if pregnant or going to get pregnant with baba number 1-study everything on breastfeeding and the how to's before baba comes so you can be prepared. cuz if it isn't successful, the emotional torment you feel is too much. again, i feel responsible for this little life and as the mother, i'm suppose to provide this miracle nutrition for her. but somehow between day 1 and today, something happened for her to gain an aversion. we did all those things to make it happen like using a cup and spoon to feed her for the first few weeks (to avoid nipple confusion and in hopes of her latching), SNS, blah blah blah. just we did it all and so far she's only done it 6 times in 10 weeks. i've been using an electric pump to keep my milk supply somewhat going incase she decides to nurse and so i can get at least 1 bottle of the miracle food into her. i know of 2 women who's babies took 3 months before they'd do it, so i'm hanging in strong (with the occasional emotional breakdown) until that mark in hopes that maybe she'll do it. i'm grateful that she has done it 6 times tho, cuz it's a beautiful fulfulling experience and also, i know she CAN do it, she's just refusing to do it right now.

the basics. well, we've covered a part of eating but as you see i can only do 1 bottle a day and of course that's not enough. so enter formula. i'd cry everytime she had to eat for the first 2 weeks of her life. i'm grateful my husband is awesome and fed her during that time. not only did he feed her, he had this great commentary going on to entertain her and i. but now, we use bottles so there's the washing and careful preparation of formula. and this woman likes to eat! she's got my appetite. she wants to eat every 1.5-2hours, even though the books say baby should be eating every 3-4hours now. first off, do any of you out there go that long without passing something through your lips whether it be water, gum, or a snack? so why should we expect that of a baby who gets their drink, snack, nutrition, etc from their milk? plus, they're growing. next, cleansing. again i'm grateful for a hubby who's so helpful cuz bathtime requires 4 hands. baby loves bath time so it's fun for all of us. but the tricky part is drying her off well. she hates getting out of the bath. she is afterall naked and wet. uncomfortable. but babies have creases that are tough to dry properly. especially with a baby that moves as much as mine! and clipping her nails? o my! she don't keep her hands still unless she is eating. plus they're so tiny i can't see very well so i have to be extra careful. you know, more careful than i already am with my precious baby. and lastly, toilet etiquette. did you know that babies are born potty trained? they just lack the ability to get up and use the toilet. they don't like to pee/poo themselves. i mean, really, who does? we, "civilized" people, diaper train them. that's why baby will often pee AFTER you take off the diaper. that doesn't bother me. none of the diaper/toilet stuff, surprisingly, bothers me. it's just that she pees a lot and thus taking naps becomes an issue. who can sleep comfortably with a wet bottom? plus, again, she moves a lot making diaper changing a workout for both of us. plus she screams bloody murder 99% of the time during a diaper change. perhaps she's embarassed to have peed her pants.

sleep. or lack thereof. i knew i'd get little sleep. but the thing is, the sleep that we do get is interrupted sleep. that's the hard part! waking up naturally is nice. being woken up abruptly is not nice. i don't want to sleep like a baby. i want to sleep like an adult. who's the idiot that coined the phrase "sleeping like a baby" anyway? the other hard part is once you're woken up abruptly, you have to get moving quickly to the demands of the little noisy one that woke you up abruptly. you know that feeling when you first wake up, the one where you need to learn how to walk and see? try doing things in that state carefully with a precious baby.

mother. the one who gets put on the back burner. i don't mind putting myself off to the side to love and care for this cutey pie but i do miss some things like eating a meal all the way through when i'm hungry or showering. i've been trying to cut my nails for days now but there isn't time between expressing milk, washing bottles, preparing formula, changing diapers, cuddling baby bear, soothing baby bear, activity time, tummy time, story time, getting baby calmed to get some nap time, etc. and i really really do need to get back to exercising cuz my pre pregnancy pants dont fit nice! but when and where shall i accomplish this? the good thing is my biceps get their workout with growing baby.

household chores...get put to the side, sorta. if i was a normal person, they would totally get put to the side but i CANNOT function in a chaotic environment so the house does get some small attention. my husband, again, wonderfully takes a leadership role in accomplishing this. he has also become the head chef. i rarely cook. i don't have time. instant oatmeal and toast is my friend. baby does love to go hang laundry with me. she could be crying, but will stop when we go outside...most of the time.

emotions. you start to think about things you wouldn't normally consider before baby. such as, i can't take the stroller by the flowers cuz a bee might sting her or it's windy and i'm worried a contagious disease may be blowing in the wind. i cant even pee without taking the baby to be within my eye view. before my bedtime i wonder "have i done enough today?" did she get enough cuddles? did i feed her too much/too little? was she comfortable? was there enough tummy time? was she warm enough when we went outside? did i express enough times to maintain milk supply? did i engage her intellect enough to grow and develop? etc etc etc my husband wonderfully assures me that i'm a wonderful mother and he thanks me for all my hard work and continuing to express milk and not giving up (even though he told me in the beginning i can stop anytime and we can just do formula if it's too demanding or stressful for me)

all venting aside (is stating the obvious venting??), i love motherhood. it's something i'd been looking forward to since i picked up my first dolly. i'm glad my time is here. i can't believe it sometimes. when my baby FINALLY falls asleep, i watch her cutey face and wonder when she'll wake up so i can cuddle her and shower her with kisses again. she's been having a good afternoon nap right now :) this is good cuz she won't be grumpy. i'm sacrificing other things to write this long overdue blog (a nap myself and cutting my nails) but it's time to write. writing is therapeutic and an eye opener for me.

I'M ETERNALLY GRATEFUL FOR THE BLESSING OF MOTHERHOOD WITH THIS PRECIOUS LITTLE ANGEL FACE, HONEY BEAR, BABY GIRL OF MINE!!!

and i do have the best husband who helps at every turn and then some.

The Birth Story

All births are a story. Here is my baby's birth story...

Fri Aug 17, 7:25am. Woke up starving. Went into kitchen and felt a little trickle come out. Thinking, dang my bladder must be really full! But realized it was a little bit of water. Yay, membranes have started to release, labor is imminent J all day my membranes kept slowly trickling out a little here, a little there. Hubby also had this unusual need to pee every 10min…sympathy water breaking?? I had him keep working on my acupressure points during the day to see if we could get them surges going cuz I knew that I had 24hrs on the clock before I’d need to have some antibiotics administered to keep infection at bay. I just relaxed all day. Laid down, watch Friends, played some cards and had hubby massage me feet. Then at about 9:30pm, I started to feel mild cramps and thought yay, labor is got to be starting now, right? Hard to say for sure as I’d been having them mild cramps for a couple weeks here and there. I didn’t want to get my hopes up. Then at 10:30pm they started picking up in frequency and intensity-yes, I’m finally in labor! We waited until they were 3mins apart and about 1min in length. Why, cuz I wasn’t interested in my baby’s birth becoming a medical event if arriving at the clinic too early.

We got to medi clinic at 11:45pm ish (not sure exactly). Went into labor room with nice midwife (Diane). She asked who our dr was. She then informed us that Michelle was away for the weekend and the on call dr is Johan. I was so upset. I said I didn’t want him, I don’t like him! That was about where hypno birthing ended for me as I totally lost my mental A game. I started to cry (all his hypno mom’s ended in cesar and we just don’t like him cuz he’s a jerk in wanting his own damn way). I wanted to go back home and just have the baby there. The irony of it all-the gynae we fired in April was the gynae who was going to deliver my precious child despite my best efforts. Went over the birth preferences with Diane but she was all this is a clinic and we have certain protocol and some of these things can’t and won’t be done. She also said that she had her babies with midwives and I should have hired someone if I wanted a birth like that. She was really nice about it though cuz she’s obviously supportive of natural birth but she was more warning me or preparing me for what will happen.

She checked me and I was 3cm dialated. I begged her not to call Johan until I was ready to push cuz then he wont make it in time and she could deliver my baby. She said she would get in big trouble. Then I said, we could just say it all happened too fast and we won’t tell him! She laughed. I really liked her. She left hubby and I to labor alone in peace. No IVs or anything hooked up to me other than that initial 20min baby heart read on arrival. When she left, my body moved along quickly. I really think it all had to do with the fact the Johan was going to be there. It’s like my body said “alright guys, we got a situation on our hands. Lets do this and let’s get er done quickly. Fire it up in top gear!”

My surges started to just roll on top of each other and got stronger with each one. Man it was so intense. My legs would shake uncontrollably before one came. They were so strong and fast, I had no time to regroup and do my breathing. I tried my best. It was intense. I made lots of noise. Couldn’t even help stop the noise-my way of getting thru each one I guess? I’m sure I sounded like a walrus at one point! So embarrassing now, but didn’t care then. See I thought “pain” would take a back seat to embarrassment…nope! The surges weren’t like a broken bone or burned skin pain. It was different. It was more of an incredible force of intensity than pain per se. It apparently made me quite strong cuz afterwards, hubby said he thought I was going to break the metal frame of the bed as I grasped on for leverage.

Then I had that need to push. Of course, not allowed cuz it would cause the cervix to swell which is not conducive to the baby coming out. Holy crap, that need to push is indescribable. I’d say it’s like a huge poo you want to shoot out but really that is incredibly not even close to the holy Hannah intensity desire force of nature to PUSH!! So, I channeled that and pushed with my lungs (my chest hurt afterwards and at first, I couldn’t quite realize why). Whoooo, they musta heard me a block away. That’s why you see some ladies yell during labor. Not cuz they’re in extreme pain (well, most might say they are)…but cuz it’s the only way to get thru that.

So I went from 3cm to 7cm in an hour and 20min. then from 7cm to 10cm (unfortunately Johan got there when I was 9.5…if only he had had a couple more red light enroute) in 15-20min. and finally, I got to push-yay! O, and it felt sooooooo good. Such a relief. Yes, to push out a baby feels good. Not like a sexy good or a Disney ride good or a massage good but more like a big poo out of me good. That little fart stayed posterior until the first push, then she turned. Little procrastinator. Then I got in trouble for not pushing “right” on the second one…they said I made too much noise and it channeled the force away. So on the third push, I got it right (according to the medical staff) and she shot out like slippery worm. There was no crowning of head, first shoulder, what what. It was was bingo bango out like trout. Ahhh. Baby on chest straight. And it was surreal. First thing I said was ‘thank you for coming out of me’ and welcome to earth. Possibly more dumb sitcom type comments but I don’t remember them all. O, I forgot to add that at 7cm, I cracked and asked for a shot of Pethidine to take the edge off cuz there was no way I could have totally got through “transition” without not pushing otherwise.

Hubby cut the cord and said I was really strong! Couldn’t believe how I shot her out. Diane was also really nice and said I was brave and a super star. Apparently, about 99% of the births there are cesar more because the women are so scared they don’t even try natural birth. If they do, they walk in the door begging for an epidural before any real surges set in. I had four stitches, laid for a bit with baby and husband. Then off for a shower and to my room. At first I had to share with a lady who had a ceasar the day before. But only for a few hours. I guess I was special cuz of the rare natural birth as the nurse moved that lady to a different room so I could have some privacy and more comfort? I got VIP treatment with the weekend staff. Monday staff, not so much but luckily I was out of there that evening.

Our baby girl is such a character and o so beautiful. Of course, we think she is but I say this as everyone else tells us she is beautiful so it must be true and not just blind parental love! She is strong, dang, she is strong. She loves to stretch her long legs way out and cross them at the ankle. She is so dang cute when alert after a full belly. Most times, she sleeps after a full belly but sometimes she is wide eyed and bushy tailed. I can’t get enough of her. We love skin to skin time. She sleeps beautifully when on me or in my arms. She is my precious little pumpkin and am loving every moment. I’m utterly and truly grateful that I was able to bear her with no problems and have a short natural birth without any problems. It is truly a miracle and I still can’t believe I did it and have a sweet baby for eternity out of it J Ps, hubby is the most amazing hands on daddy ever! Again, I’m truly blessed.

Nothing is Mahala

So hubby and I went for a nice walk. We were having a nice time, the weather was cool and fresh, we were laughing and all was good. Then some young guy stops to tell us of a new company and how they’re running this promotion and giving away free prizes and then handed us a scratch ticket. We won a R50 meal gift card. And he said cuz we look like such a nice couple (and it was clearly a slow day) we get another scratch ticket. It was 3 palm trees in a row and he was all shocked cuz that’s the grand prize and there are only 5 of those being given away. Hubby was excited, I stood there recalling all the times I’ve “won” a grand prize trip and was wondering what the catch was (what did we have to buy, endure, or pay to claim this grand prize trip). He said to claim our prize we just need to hear about their new business in an hour presentation. I immediately asked if it was a timeshare presentation. He said, not quite but more on timeshare points plan or something like that. We walked over to their swanky little office amongst the pricey restaurants so I was calmed that it couldn’t be a “give us your bank details” scam (that's more likely to be via text), but more of a forced selling of timeshare type presentation. I endured one of those in Florida for $100. So due to that former experience, I thought we’ll at least get that meal gift voucher out of it. I knew the grand prize trip wasn’t going to turn into anything more than a let down so I wasn’t even pumped about that “win” to begin with.

Once inside, they offered us something to drink and I said I’d take the orange juice and hit the loo cuz preggy belly wasn’t gonna make it thru an hour yapping without emptying the shrinking bladder. Came back and hubby was filling out a form, you know the kind-name, phone, email to harass you with, what do you do for work and your income bracket. I thought I was being clever by circling the lowest bracket to avoid a heavy sales pitch. Not that I would cave to a heavy sales pitch, but that I wasn’t interested in spending my morning as such. The lady was hovering as we filled out the form and as soon as she saw me circle the lowest bracket she said we needn’t bother to complete the rest of the form and she’ll take it from there. Obviously, she saw that a sale won’t be made with us today based on a judgement of our perceived income level. I forgot a tidbit of info. On my way to the loo, I saw one sales consultant chatting with a nicely dressed couple doing his sales pitch bit. Anyways, she came back and said all the sales consultants were busy (funny as I only saw one guy pitching while the others were milling about) but she’ll give us our “prize” before we go. She handed us our “grand prize trip” voucher which she explained was just hotel accommodation in either Mauritius, Spain or the Canary Islands (we’d still need to cough up the change for the flight and the meal option whether we wanted it or not said the fine print on the back). She also said we have 30 days to register our voucher and the registration is drum roll please R89 per person. So typical of the winning grand prize trips I’ve experienced in the past. She also said we have a year to redeem the voucher and if we don’t then the R89 will be refunded. She also pointed out that we have to reference the voucher number on top which was number 12 thousand something. Clearly, not only 5 of these were being given away. But honestly, my hopes not dashed there cuz I expected much less plus I've been around long enough to know what is and what isn't too good to be true. Side note-did you know that even when you win on a true game show (Price is Right, Who Wants to be a Millionaire, etc), you still have to reach into your pockets for Mr taxman who is standing right there beside your prize? There's ALWAYS T&C's in any prize giveaway. Anyways. Then I asked the whereabouts of our meal gift voucher. She said they gave away the last one yesterday. O how convenient. So either, they weren’t giving any away or she deemed us not good enough to have that R50 gift voucher to dine at one of these fine restaurants. I hate that. I hate being judged like that. Really pisses me off. Even in Florida when we didn’t buy a dang thing from their presentation, they still gave us our $100. Nothing is mahala. Mahala means free.

Ps, I didn’t even get that free glass of orange juice they offered me.

Poor Little Will Power

I’m in a phase where pregnancy cravings are getting harsh. I’m not craving weird combos or anything just very specific foods in a most serious manner. The craving changes every few days. After the dreaded 1^st trimester of all day nausea (why didn’t I lose weight there????) my cravings were wonderful things like purple grapes and carrots. But now, it’s high calorie foods! It’s stressing me out cuz I don’t wanna be fat again! It’s such a struggle to lose weight for me. The last time that I had the most success was when I scrutinized every calorie to a max of 1700 a day in my mouth along with a 10km walk mon-thurs plus weight training and yoga. I walked to work and it was 5km one way. The walking wasn’t tough, it was a very pretty route thru very expensive mansion type neighborhoods with giant tree lined streets. The calorie control was very hard. The counting was relentless. I don’t like math. And I confess, I like food. It’s delicious. I like sophisticated foods too. Those are usually very high in calories with the butters and creams used. I also like healthy foods so it’s not like I only eat beef bourginon. I love salads and raw food pizza etc. Anyways. 1700 a day isn’t much to divvy amongst the day’s meals. I aimed for 400cal at breakfast, lunch and dinner plus 3 150cal snacks (doesn’t equal an exact 1700 but gave room if I went over a few cals at lunch or dinner). It was tough but I was dedicated and succeeded a fair amount. Not as much as I would have liked to but I was contempt with what I lost in the given time.

During weeks 15-17, I was experiencing appetite suppression from all that HCG (like that diet rage going on now) and was a little excited! Hey, if we keep this up, I’ll lose a little during pregnancy.

But now, I’m gaining. Of course, it isn’t all fat. There is extra blood and fluids plus of course the baby. But according to my weight at the start of pregnancy, I have a smaller amount of weight allowance to gain. At 19.5 weeks, I’m 1.5kg heavier than I should be. That’s almost 4 pounds extra. It would take me about a month and a bit to lose that on my rigorous weight loss routine of 1700cal a day along with a lot of intense exercise. Oooo, sigh. I can’t even bare the thought of the struggle ahead of me after this precious bundle of joy comes out. I’m getting older. It’s harder to lose. Would you believe I attempted to diet last week? I think my plan lasted 2 meals, then I slipped. You just don’t understand the severity of cravings until you are pregnant. It’s not even about will power. My poor little will power is cowering in a corner shaking in fear from the pregnancy craving voice yelling: SALT AND VINEGAR CHIPS!! CHEESECAKE!! I try to fool the voice and have some cucumber slices with a little salt and vinegar or a banana with a tbsp. of peanut butter and a glass of skim milk…that just angers it! It gets louder. My poor little will power is now rocking itself back and forth, tears streaming down it’s face repeating ‘I can’t do it, that pregnancy craving voice is too loud and scary for me.’ Poor thing is gonna need therapy after the baby comes.

3 more items off my list

#11. Replant my african violet into a bigger pot

Went to Stodels to get my bigger pot and potting soil. I also redeeming my free monthly gift and ta da, it was a plant! It’s usually some kind of bag of fertilizer or peat moss or something. This plant is actually a tree that will grow between 2m-4m high. Hopefully it’ll last for a year or so in this bigger pot until we can get a home with a garden.  I had to gather some rocks for the bottom of the pots (drainage) and felt sheepish about picking them up in the street. O well, done.

#19. Prepare a week’s worth of meals in one day so I don’t have to cook for a whole week

Did this last Saturday within a 3 hour period! I made two meatloaves out of one packet of ostrich mince/ground meat, chicken naranja (orange juice, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, lemon juice, sesame seeds), chicken fajita bake (peppers, onion, chicken, spiced tomato sauce…cheese to be added on day of baking), sloppy joes from ostrich mince. Two days were meatless days which I threw a couple potatoes in the oven and chopped up a quick greek salad. I forgot how much I enjoy a baked potato from time to time. Easy and satisfying. And we were at a friend’s house for a bbq one eve. So technically, due to the baked potato nights (2) and dinner at friends we still have 2 meals in the freezer for this coming week! Bonus. This cooking for the week, into the freezer business, is awesome. I don’t think I can look back now. Doing it again for this week. It doesn’t take long-I mean 3 hours in total including prep and clean up is pretty smashing, we only grocery shopped once that week so our budget was in tact, and the stove/oven had a break as did I, plus the minimized load of dishes in the sink were nice. It’ll make dinner time easy for when baby comes.

#44. Do the 45 min bird walk on intaka island in century city

This is a little bird sanctuary (16 hectares) of wetland habitat in the midst of a thriving urban environment. My husband, who’d lived here for 10 years didn’t realize this place was there. He’d heard of Intaka Island, but thought it was like Woodbridge Island-houses and golf course. I’d seen the sign a couple times when driving to or from Century City/Canal Shopping area and thought it was like an industrial area as they tend to give nature sounding names to industrial areas here (Montague Gardens, Paardeneiland- pronounced Parden Island, etc). But when I was doing up my list, I looked up free things to do in the Cape and saw a write up on this place. It’s a nice little bird sanctuary. I thought of Laura and how she’d come with eagerness and her fancy Canon to capture the birds. Then she might enter the wildlife photo competition that takes place at HR Macmillan Space Center. We went to that one year with Heather (Heather also gave me her bird sanctuary membership card when she moved. Heather is a nice lady who is lotso fun!). I remember that there was this one lady won all the categories. Can’t remember her name, but in winter 2008, we referred to her whenever we saw a bird in a sanctuary type area while taking a photo or seeing a photo of wildlife. I remember not liking her cuz she won all the categories. That’s just not right. You can’t win best overall photo plus all the other categories. My fav part was sitting in the bigger bird viewing shack thingy and feeling like we were on a boat amongst the various birds. One of my husband’s first comment in the sanctuary was “this would be a great place to shoot an action movie.” Really honey? The serenity of birds makes you think action movie? I don’t think he took into account the fact that the area is WETlands. Not so friendly with the walking and running aspect of action. But I think he was just focusing on the many tall reeds and maybe thought Rambo or Vietnam war or something. I can’t say for sure as we didn’t get into it.

I am loving checking things off my list. It’s fun! I’m working on 2 items that take a few days/weeks to accomplish: hair and makeup every Sunday for a month & reading the 1^st book of a popular series. I got Twilight from the library today. I know my friends suggested Harry Potter over Twilight but the library didn’t have the 1^st Harry, so vampires it is. Besides, I followed the plot in the Twilight movie series much better than the first few Potter movies. Near the end of the movie that came out in 2009, I turned to Laura to ask who Voldermort is. I mean that right there says how much I got out of the movies! Laura was quite angry at my question. You other Potter fans might also be angry right now after reading that confession. It is what it is. My talent does not lie in following fictional series.

Item 39 and 82, booyah, done baby!

#39 Check out hout bay organic market (thurs mornings 41 victoria rd) REPLACED WITH prepare 72 hour kit

After re-reading my list, I decided I didn't really want to go to the organic market in Hout Bay. It was just an item I listed near the end when I was running out of goals to accomplish. But yesterday morning, I woke up to a voice saying that I'm not prepared in the event of an emergency. I have no emergency bag packed ready to go in case I need to evacuate quickly. You can't really even grab things together during an emergency as you are not thinking clearly. So, I took the bulk of the morning and assembled 2 kits. One for me, one for husband. I used the list from our church website. Our kits are not 100% in that there is no shovel nor axe, but all the basics are there to get us through. I'm going to add to the food portion I set aside yesterday as I know I won't be happy on canned foods and nuts alone. I'm going grocery shopping after this blog, then I can add some yummies to our kits. The contents are in nice sealed big ziploc bags ready for evacuation.

#82 Attend a community/city event/festival

This was an improptu moment. When I woke up this morning, I had no plans of taking part in a community event today. Also, when I wrote up this list, I had something much different in mind like a carnival or festival. So, I went for a walk along beachfront as the weather was reminiscent of Tofino. I went down to the beach and sat and watched the surfers. I saw alot of people with yellow bags picking up garbage on the beach. I looked over and saw a bunch of garbage where I was sitting. Then I thought, why not take part in this community event? I wasn't wearing the right clothes or shoes for beach combing, but at least the blasted sun isn't burning hot today.

I walked over and got my yellow garbage bag and blue glove and set off along the dune part of the beach. Garbage collects nicely in there amongst the low lying beach foliage. At first, I was so excited and was raring to fill my huge bag. But after about 25mins of sifting teeny pieces of styromfoam, tissue and cigarette butts, the drab reality of my bag being full before I tire was drifting into the ocean. I combed for quite a distance, bending over ever few seconds to pick up something small. I got really excited when I found a big crumpled Nando's takeaway bag. I contemplated walking over to the restaurant and asking if they had any garbage for me to take. But that would be cheating and perhaps a bit weird. So I continued. Of course that hot ball of gas was shining bright and causing me to sweat and drain my energy.

After about 50mins of intense combing, I threw in the perverbial towel. I took my 1/6th filled bag to the collection area, tied it up, emptied a gallon of sand from my runners, wiped the sweat off my face, entered the draw for a free surf/kite board and walked home tired yet satisfied. Too bad I didn't have my garbage bag on the way home cuz there was a treasure trove of crap littering the streets!

Item #76 Completed :)

#76 Do 3 tourist things that I haven’t done yet

The following 3 touristy things were yesterday afternoon. 2 of the 3 were free. I like free. Free is rare on this continent so I relish in free when the opportunity presents itself J

1^st stop was the Afrogem factory and showroom. I opted for the free tour. I learned stuff about jewellery making too. The first room showcases gems in the raw. I must say, they had a huge diamond chunk but it looked like a big chunk of worthless glass. From now on, when in the streets and I come across a chunk of glass (that obviously isn’t from a broken beer bottle), I think I’ll pick it up and ask at the jewellers if it’s diamond. But I digress. Then upstairs I saw people working on jewel making starting with the cutting of the stone.

For the ring portions, they make a plastic mould that looks like a tree. Then they pour plaster over it. Once that hardens, they pour the melted gold into the tree moulds. Then they cut off the rings and steam clean any white bits off.

Then they set the stones if it’s not a simple band type ring. See the pretty topaz, the drawing/design of it is under.

This is a yellowish diamond (I can’t remember but I think it’s a poor clarity when it’s more yellow) about to be set in a ring.

Then they're finished off with a polish.

I got a free gift bag of semi-precious stones J One is clearly rose quartz, the other I’m sure is Amethyst and the rest, not sure.

Next stop was the National Library of South Africa. I had to check my bag with security. The guy asked if I spoke Portuguese. Do I look Portuguese, I thought? Is my Canadian accent confusing him? When I said no, he then said I must only speak Zulu and Xhosa. Sorry man, don’t speak that either but I speak French. To which he said Bonjour, comment ca va? Then I asked if he spoke Hungarian. No? How bout Swahili? That was the end of our wise guy conversation. This library is not a lending institution. You must read the collections on campus. Well, that’s a big undertaking to sit down and read a novel in one day. So I picked a fun African kids book called the Giraffe with a Knot in his Neck. There were about 7 choices of which language to read this book. Well after our convo about languages, I choose the English and another language which I think was Zulu. But I could be wrong, it may have been Tswana or Sesuthu or something. But I’m pretty sure it was Zulu. I read the English page first, then the African language page next. Some words I could figure out which were which. But some sentences had either many extra words or a few very long words. While reading, I had a very strong desire for some children’s books in Kirundi or Swahili for my baby and I to learn. Not gonna lie. African languages are tough. Example- ndagukunda or ntiranyibagira. Long words usually with a couple consonants placed together. But how cool to learn one of them well. So far, Swahili is the easiest for me. But my mother-in-law speaks Kirundi so that’s where my focus should be.

Now, you can’t take photos inside so here’s a brochure pic and an outside shot.

Stop number 3 was the Iziko Slave Lodge. This was not free, but not expensive. I will note that all the Iziko museums are free on commemorative holidays. There are 7 of these throughout the year plus Heritage Week. So I will hit the National Gallery during a commemorative holiday (not to be confused with a public holiday like Easter or Christmas cuz those days are not on the list of free days).

I’ve walked by the Slave Lodge many a times on my way to the Company Gardens (free and pretty). Didn’t notice it much until recently. Don’t even recall ever seeing anyone go inside or come out for that matter. I, perhaps foolishly, asked the lady if it’s worth it to see the exhibit. I will say, when she hesitated an answer, I wondered if I should slowly back out and go to Nando’s for lunch instead. But after she reluctantly said yes, I thought, o what the heck I’m here anyways and I might learn something.

It started out a bit slow with black and white photos of tent camps and malnourished children along the walls of a couple small rooms. But I never back out of something at first impressions. I will say the photos were well done and some even tugged at my heart strings but not quite what I was expecting of a museum. Mind you, after that weird exhibit in one of the museums in Budapest, it wouldn’t have shocked me if that was the bulk of the slave lodge.

Then I ventured upstairs. Surprisingly, into an ancient Egypt exhibit. Were those 3 small rooms the end of the slave portion of the lodge? Onto other museum type things I guess. O, I like Egyptian artifacts and such. I was surprised at how much I remembered about the civilizations’ ways from a former exhibit I saw in Budapest (I saw a few museums there). Then into a room about an Italian movie made about the Zulu tribe in (ooo, I’m bad with dates) I think it said 1927? It was an interesting room. It had displays and photos about the making of this movie. There was a photo of a young Zulu man and the write up said he was wearing stuff given to him by his girlfriends. The young men may have many girlfriends but they can only marry one at a time. My focus went on the “at a time.” So they can marry all their girlfriends but not all at once. Well, of course. Can you imagine more than 1 bride at a ceremony? The best part of this room was the actual movie was playing on two plasma screens. I watched a bit. The movie is called Silvia Zulu (again, I may have got that name wrong. There’s no maps, I didn’t write anything down and I’m pregnant! My memory consists of take vitamins and what not to eat so get off my back and go to the museum to find out details yourself). Anyways. Then the next room was really old toys. The cool toy was this big Noah’s Ark with many animals walking two by two from the boat. It came from Germany. That I remember. Then a room of antique instruments. Then down a hall of old accessories. Then to another room of silverware. Then a room of weaponery. Then the last room upstairs had pottery. Very unusual collection of slave lodge type things, no?

Back downstairs on the other side, I saw the slave lodge slavery related museum collection. One room was quite creepy and had a dark feeling. There was also a courtyard to walk around in. Again, no photos allowed except in the courtyard and the entrance. So here you go. I say, it’s worth the check out but if you’re feeling cheap (like I usually am) go on a commemorative day.

Items 6, 9, and 90 Completed

#6- Have a change jar towards our Disney 2022 savings fund

As you can see, I made a change holder out of an old bottle. Not only do I recycle, I also re-use (and I reduce).

Note the painted canvas in the background-my daddy painted that so it's extra special to me and has more value than a Monet.

According to today’s prices…

-air Cape to Paris R6000 per person (oldest child will be 9, second will be 6 or 7 who knows if there’ll be more? Do airlines charge full fare for 6 year olds? I’m sure they do for 9 year olds) at 3.5 people is R21,000

-4 night stay including room at Sequoia Lodge, park tickets and breakfast is R9285 (kids under 12 stay and play for free and one night and one day is free)

…Disney portion of Euro family vacay will cost R30,285 plus lunch and dinner and airport transfer. Now in all fairness, the air from Cape is more accountable for our family visit to Budapest and Sweden. So perhaps, I’d be better to find the fare of air from Stockholm/Budapest to Paris. Or even more entertaining, the train! So if we include the air, I’d need to put R252 a month in our Disney jar otherwise, if it’s just the actual Disney portion of the trip, I’d need to put R77 a month in our Disney jar, which is roughly $10. I like that figure!!

#9 Take all glass bottles to be refunded and put proceeds into either Disney or baby savings

All those bottles were returned at our corner 7 11 and I promptly put the returned deposit into the Disney jar.

#90 Go to the dentist for check up and cleaning before week 26 of this pregnancy

I made my apt for next week and that will be the extent of the blogging I’ll do on this subject other than it’s a perk of my medical aid- 2 free cleanings a year and up to 3 fillings a day (how many teeth does he think I have that 3 a day need to be filled?) I’ll just stick with the cleanings for now thanks.

101 Goals in 1001 Days

Inspired by my friend Kristi, I've decided to embark upon 101 goals within 1001 days. It took a couple days to come up with my list but I did it. This challenge is to run from February 27, 2012 to November 23, 2014. I was encouraged to come up with some goofy ideas too but after comprising my list, I failed at the goofy. Yes a bit odd seeing as I'm quite a goofy person to begin with. Maybe that's why goofy isn't on my list. Cuz it's a normal part of my everyday as is. So here's my quite practical list divided into a few categories:

Travel (this category is small due to the time frame and money required in such a small chunk of time)

1.       Go to Ushaka Marine World in Durban (as close to a "Disney" experience as I can now)

2.       Go to Burundi to visit hubby's home country and family

3.       Take the train with Freddy somewhere interesting but not too far away

4.       Go on a romantic mini break with Freddy (best before baby arrives!)

Home

5.       Own a sofa/couch

6.       Start a change jar towards our Disney 2022 savings fund

7.       Compile a book of my fav recipes including mom’s Hungarian ones, print and bind

8.       Get new sheets for the bed

9.       Take all glass bottles to be refunded and put proceeds into either Disney or baby savings

10.   Defrost freezer (not something I WANT to do but more HAVE to do)

11.   Replant my african violet into a bigger pot

12.   Complete all FHE activities in our FHE book (except a max of 5 which are impractical to our situation)

13.   Grow my own veggies

14.   Grow my own herbs

15.   Live in our own place that has at least one bedroom and yard area (rent or ownership)

16.   Own a washing machine

17.   Own a deep freeze

18.   Own a kitchen table

19.   Prepare a week’s worth of meals in one day so I don’t have to cook for a whole week

20.   Prepare a month’s worth of meals in one day so I won’t have to cook for a whole month

21.   Keep baby nursery to bare basics- bed, change table and breastfeeding chair

22.   Have at least 4 month’s food storage

23.   Have 3 month’s living expenses saved

24.   Get content’s insurance

25.   Make tortillas cuz they are really over priced here

26.   Paint a canvas to hang on the wall

27.   Bake wacky cake, cut into squares, wrap nice and have Freddy sell to co-horts on mtn

28.   Open an acct for baby’s education savings

29.   Have X saved in baby’s savings

30.   Frame and hang our wedding invitation

31.   Frame and hang our wedding photo

32.   Make baby’s first foods from scratch

33.   Prepare a CAD traditional festive meal for one of the holidays

34.   Make pumpkin pie (not sure why this recipe intimidates me?)

35.   Get pretty boxes to organize memories-my travels before marriage, me and freddy, baby

Leisure

36.   Eat out at Moyo

37.   Use our complimentary dance lesson voucher

38.   Check out the Kalk bay theatre sports

39.   Check out hout bay organic market

40.   Go to the reconciliation labyrinth at slangkop lighthouse in kommetjie

41.   Check out Long Street Baths for a mere R12 per person

42.   Photo shoot at 8 months pregnant of baby belly (I'd like to have some henna done on belly too)

43.   Serendipity maze at sea pointe

44.   Do the 45 min bird walk on intaka island at century city

45.   Check out cool runnings toboggan track in bellville

46.   Ride along the canal in the red bus co boat

47.   Get a tent

48.   Have family camping trip near Simonstown after baby turns 1

49.   Revisit Ratanga Junction and ride monkey falls and crocodile gorge until I get bored of them

50.   Go to the neighborgoods market in Woodstock

51.   Go to access park which is a bargain hunter’s dream

52.   Throw a birthday party a la my website style (me/freddy/baby)

53.   Start writing Freddy’s story of escape, survival to success

54.   Read the 1^st book of a popular series to see what the big deal is (harry potter or twilight, etc)

55.   Read all the remaining books of that popular series

56.   Watch a non-hollywood movie

57.   Watch a movie at grand west casino

58.   Learn how to play chess so Freddy and I can play our game

59.   Take the free tour of parliament

60.   Swim in the big pool in sea pointe

61.   Do the full circuit in the outdoor free gym at sea pointe

62.   Go to the national gallery

63.   Go skating with Freddy

64.   Go fruit picking in Ceres

65.   Play in snow in Ceres or somewhere else that gets snow in SA

66.   See some game animals

67.   Attend a local football game

68.   Go out for breakfast

69.   Try crocodile meat

70.   Host a nice garden party with finger sandwiches, teas and hoighty toighty mini pastries

71.   Host a mad hatter tea party

72.   Swim with the penguins again

73.   Revisit Kirstenbosch complete with a prepared picnic and really explore all the garden has

74.   Go to the observatory

75.   Go to Clifton beach

76.   Do 3 tourist things that I haven’t done yet

77.   Eat alot of sushi after baby is born

78.   Go to an exhibition (baby, food, health, whatever)

79.   Go to a theatre show with hubby

80.   Go bowling with hubby

81.   Bike a portion of that trail along the R27 with hubby

82.   Attend a community/city event/festival

83.   Sign up for somekind of mommy and me class

Health

84.   Get down to specified weight sometime after baby 1 is done breastfeeding and before getting pregnant with baby 2

85.   Get rid of x on foot

86.   Successfully complete a fruit and veg cleanse for a whole weekend after breastfeeding is done

87.   Do yoga everyday for one week

88.   Get Freddy on medical aid before he turns 35

89.   Do regular breast exams once a month

90.   Go to the dentist for check up and cleaning before week 26 of this pregnancy

91.   Hypnobirth my baby

Personal

92.   Do dad’s temple work shortly after his one year mark

93.   Do my hair and make up every Sunday for 1 month

94.   Reconnect with 3 friends on facebook

95.   Write an old fashioned letter and mail to 3 family members

96.   Replace all current clothes (except lululemon stuff) with new pretty clothes

97.   Finish reading new testament all the way through with hubby

98.   Learn enough Kirundi so I can conversate with mama Gene

99.   Get a winter jacket

100.   Own more than 2 pairs of pants, 3 skirts and 2 shorts

101.  Carry my baby African style at least once- on my back with aid of a towel

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can do all these things within 1001 days. Here goes....