bliss

This weekend we celebrated the end. The end of our looong journey to have kiddies. We (really, me, who am I kidding) wanted to really do something nice so we went away for a night. We are quite simple people and not into ostentation at all, so this was a big deal and unusual. A massive amount of thought went into this (by me again, Dida just said ok to whatever). I wanted somewhere close, in the city and not have to leave the hotel at all. It's winter and freezing so walking around the city like we love to do would be revolting at night.

So we chose here, and got a super package. Early check in, bottle of champagne, dinner, late checkout, valet parking and breakfast. Nice.

We left the kiddies with Nanny. The first sleep over at her house and the second time we had both been away from the kids at the same time overnight. Poor Nanny had 4 million instructions until she gently reminded me that she had raised 3 children of her own. Oh yes, forgot that for a moment. We left with Rupi yelling good bye, happy as anything which was wonderful.

We arrived, checked out the room and went down to the lobby for afternoon tea. We chose a sushi and seafood platter with a beer. The giant prawns were a bit much for us, too many legs, but it was lovely otherwise. We then watched Hunger Games in our room with the champagne and went out for dinner.

Dinner was a degustation menu which we had never done before. Lots of small courses which took forever. As I said before we are simple, like good food and not mincing around with giant plates and tiny portions. We got the wine matching with each course. This equalled tiny glasses of wine with tiny portions of food. There was a lot of waiting around for the next course with an empty plate and dry glass. We drank a lot of water, ha!

We slept until 9am and then went down for breakfast. You could ask for whatver you want to be made so I got waffles and bacon and fruit, followed by waffles and ice cream and fruit. Dida was horrified.We then went back to the room and watched the E! channel. We don't have Sky TV so are sadly (or not) deprived.

It was amazing. The kids loved being with Nanny and had been promised a visit to the zoo. Nanny took them round lunchtime to dodge the rain so we had even more time alone. We finished off at Wynyard Quarter for hot chips and coffee/ beer.

Connecting again for an extended period of time was lovely. Dida is my favourite person and we have such fun together. Loved it and can't wait for next time!

bye bye

We are free of the potty. 100% free. Blossom uses the big toilet for everything. The potty has been part of our lives for over 3 years. We have done the elimination control method which means that the kiddies have been on the potty since they were about 8 weeks old.

Rupi was dry all day from about 14 months and Blossom from her second birthday. And they say girls train faster than boys! Blossom being Blossom decided a couple of weeks ago that doing any kind of anything on the potty did not suit her. Neither did a training seat on the big toilet. So my little shrimp maneuvers herself onto the toilet and voila!

The potty is one part of babyhood I am happy to leave behind. Along with his friend Mr Nappy Bucket. Good bye and good riddance!

the face

I saw the movie "What to expect when you're expecting" last night. It was fabulous, although I couldn't have watched it a couple of years ago. It's about having a baby and chronicles 4 different women and their journeys. I saw so many facets of our journey in the movie...

One young girl falls pregnant after a night of passion with someone she's not even dating. She tells the boy and after some trial and tribulation they reach a space where they are together and even celebrating the pregnancy. She wakes one night and is miscarrying. At this point I started crying (and my beautiful movie-date friend, sensing why I was crying started crying too). It was because of the face. This young actress has either miscarried or knows someone close who has because she nailed it. The look of knowing in your head that you are miscarrying while hoping against hope in your heart that you are not. The movie caught her in the moment between realizing that she was bleeding and the confirmation from the doctor that she was miscarrying. That suspended period of time where you can keep the reality at bay because it's not confirmed. The moment where hope is fiercely ablaze even while the rain drops start falling.

Then there was another face. This was the story of a couple of could not conceive and had decided to adopt. They traveled to Ethiopia and in a beautiful ceremony, the new mother was handed her child. I know her face too and again I just cried. The face where awe and reverence are tangled up with relief and breakthrough. Where a love ignites, beyond anything you imagined. The face of a lioness emerges who will protect and nurture and encircle. I loved seeing her face. For me this was a private face, between my boy and I.

And finally there was another face. A face at the end of childbirth where the mother was handed her child. And I know that face too. The face of utter physical exhaustion, endurance and pain. The look of triumph and knowing the power of your body. The moment where the pain is forgotten and a sweet love floods your soul. Of knowing you would do it all again just to reach this moment. The moment you held a tiny, newly born baby. For me this was the face of healing & completion. No tears watching this, just a pure unfettered joy. Our family was complete. How we had got there, adoption or egg donation, was irrelevant in this moment. We were a family and my face says it all.

texans

Warning: terribly random post ahead...)

There's a TV show on called GCB. You may have seen it. I am utterly addicted. It's the only TV I watch (seriously)

[Ok, except for Sherlock Holmes on Friday night which I love but got so frustrated with as the story line was like swiss cheese. Three were so many silly mistakes and things where you went "but he would never have done that because he would had his phone on him" or "everybody in the whole room, all 15 of them, would have seen the taxi guy and wondered why sherlock went with him". So I stopped watching because life is too short to watch stuff that you can unravel as you are watching it.]

Anyway.

I love love love GCB. So I started wondering why. And I figured it out. The story is based in Texas and so much about Texas and the characters are like South Africa. And at the bottom of it, I spent the first 22 years of my life in South Africa and things just resonate.

So I have decided I like Texans and Texas and this is why:

1. The women dress up. In South Africa you don't leave the house without your hair done, make up on and dressed well. Growing up I never ever once went out without shoes, in gym clothes (you change AT the gym), or my hair brushed. This was just normal.
2. Texans do BIG. So do South Africans. The bigger the better. And flashy too. This is sooo different to New Zealand. Here understated is best. Texans and South Africans are not actually showing off. It's just how they roll. BIG.
3. On the program (and I realize this may not be the actual reality in Texas) church is part of normal life. A lot of social activity centers around church, it's like the hub. It's expected that everyone goes to church and it's a family thing. That's how I grew up.

So Texas, I think you rock. Go big!

loving lots!

Linking up with Meghan (not sure what's up with the button, it's also half black on her blog page. Sorry I am not techno-savvy enough to sort it)





♥ My husband

He has just been away at a conference for a couple of days. I seriously struggled without him. Kids, sickness and work meant I merely survived while he was gone. I truly appreciate this man. He's a fantastic hand on Dida and supporting and encouraging husband. I am blessed.

♥ Gluten-free and Allergy Show

This annual event showcases information and products for those of us whole are living with or have a child with allergies or food related illness. Last year I went looking for help. I was desperate. This year was so different. I am so much more informed now (yay!) so I went for just the great show deals on all Blossom's favorite products. Dairy free products are expensive and the show deals are soooo good.

I went home with: 12 loaves of bread, 9 boxes of cereal, 4 packets of biscuits, 4 packets of dairy free choc chips, 3 packets of dairy free chocolate bits, 2 jars of coconut oil, 2 packets of rice cereal, 7 packets of popcorn, sesame seed bars and 2 bottle of kids omega 3 juice. I was shameless and loaded up like a small camel. I may have caused some embarrassment to my mother who was my show-partner.


♥ My small fish in the making

I went to watch Rupi at hois swim lesson on Friday. It's offered by his pre-school. I was shameless (again) taking 27 photos and 7 videos of him. I was running up and down the side of the pool, SO proud. It was one of those moments I waited a life time for. I gave him the double thumbs up at one point and he did them back and yelled 'I love you Mama" across the pool. Melt.my.heart.

So much to be thankful for!

first day

As expected Blossom was ready yesterday with her backpack at 6.01am. That backpack was at her side (or on her back) as she got dressed/ ate breakfast/ went to the toilet/ walked around.

She bounced out the car, threw herself through the gate and ran in. She knew where to put her backpack and was off. Blossom knew this was HER day. She did not even want to be distracted from her game for a nano-second to kiss her mother good-bye. Oh well.

She had a wonderful day! The nanny picked her up all sunshiny and smiley. Love it. And had no accidents (well, she has practiced going to the toilets there a LOT).

Blossom is now a pre-schooler. And rocking it.

technicolour

This is Blossom's face. A technicolour forehead and two black eyes, nice one. She fell down some stairs on the playground while I was inside drinking coffee. Felt like mother of the century. I am not sure if her nose is broken (Dida says no and stop being dramatic). She banged herself right between the eyes but maybe caught the stair with her nose too? Like I say, I was INSIDE, not looking, drinking my cup of guilt-laced coffee.

Anyway.

Blossom starts pre-school tomorrow and has been awake half the night for the last forever. The two bits of news are related.

She is dropping her day time nap. This of course goes against all the books and advice we get from people. Children DO NOT drop their naps before at least 3 years old. But this is the same incredibly strong willed tiny person who weaned herself completely before she turned one years old. If she naps at all during the day (no matter how little sleep she got the night before) she will be awake at 3.38am. And stay awake. And make sure Mama stays awake too and is paying attention.

Her nap was the only issue I had with her starting pre-school. She is super ready for pre-school. She rocks in the place like she owns it. Joins in on whatever activity is going when she's there, pops off to the toilets every time we are there and knows where all the stuff goes/ books live and teachers hide. Super ready.

So she's starting complete with Winnie the Pooh backpack and pink lunch box. She will do 3 mornings a week until the end of term and then 3 full days (9am to 3pm) starting next term. I am not even sad. She is so independent and comfortable in that space. And she needs the stimulation and socialising. We had tears with Rupi and angst from me and slow separation. Blossom is already separated and does not even want to hold my hand when we walk in. She's off running ahead to see what she can touch/ do/ see.

Whatever sadness I felt has been felt already. This little girl is very ready to face the world and the next step in her life. She knows she is starting pre-school and wants her backpack near her at all times. Just in case we bring the start time forward...