Live...

I know, I know – I really am not very good at keeping this blog regular and posting updates as life happens, but I do try and surely “it’s the thought that counts”? ;p

September has flown by in a haze of coping, making it from one day to another and I now realise living.

I have celebrated a birthday, attended a scrapbook convention {which really fed my soul}, watched my oldest daughter sing her heart out at her concert and do us {her mom and Dad} totally proud, attended a fantastic show with some good friends and made some decisions regarding my next impending medical drama!

So in essence I blinked and now we are in October!

Getting older certainly gets better each year as I become more comfortable with who I am and what is important, and once again my special people made me feel very special on my birthday early in September! My husband really got it this year… and put a whole lot of effort into my birthday cards, and I received one from him {which made me laugh, and love him a little more if that’s possible} and one from each of my girls which they chose out themselves and which totally represented their personalities and made my heart melt. For me the gifts are lovely but not imperative, it’s the effort and thought that means the most and Shane certainly scored very high points there this year! So a good start off to the month <3

Then I got to attend the International Scrapbook convention held in Johannesburg. I used to attend this every year, but with moving, pregnancy and just general chaos, I haven’t been in a few years – It was amazing to catch up with my TT {Thursday Therapy;)} girls, let alone all the scrapping, but it was kinda bittersweet as it REALLY made me miss them and my old life when it was time to go home. The funny thing though is that since it was my first time flying since my medical drama last year, I was thoroughly amused to find that my Dr wasn’t kidding and I can longer pass the security checks without setting off alarm bells because of all the metal clips etc. now permanently taking up residence in my abdomen! I was searched thoroughly (luckily just short of the glove) each time! Why this amuses me so, I’m not quite sure, but it does and each time I have a good giggle! {Insert shrug here!}

I will post some of the fantastic projects we did shortly, as I’m sure you’ll all enjoy a peek!

Then after months of practice I got to experience such a “proud mommy moment” or two;), when Kayla took to the stage, the youngest performer at just age 8, with the oldest being 18! So confident she did her thing and literally sang her heart out, even contending with a bit of the flu, she made us so, so Proud! Who knew she could have such a good voice? And to remember all those dance moves, I could never do that! She was amazing! <3

 

This month I also finally got to attend Madam Zingara – WOW! The wait was well worth it, we had a table of twelve good friends and had such a fantastic evening! We all dressed up for the theme “theatre of dreams” and had an absolute ball. I really felt like I’ve lived this month! Madam Zingara is a circ de solei kind of act, which takes place in the last glass and mirror tent left in the world! A privilege to have been able to experience it, especially with all the laughs and fun had amongst our good friends!

On the subject of living, I realised that I had been holding my breath, waiting for this next operation… and have resolved to try my best to LIVE and enjoy my beautiful girls and special friends and all the amazing opportunities that are all around us every day.

It seems an easy enough thing to do, and I thought I had learnt this lesson already last year after missing out on so much while being bed ridden, but it happens so easily…we get caught up in all that’s going on – three young children can be a handful, let alone running a household, running a business and trying to find time for Shane and I as just us, and our lives are chaotic, but I am learning to find that balance a little better and to prioritise the IMPORTANT things and people.

So, the decision we made (and I say we as my surgeries can effectively have a huge impact on my husband, just as much as me and I need him to be sure of the steps I take). After doing so much to-ing and fro-ing with pro and cons lists (hehe – can’t help myself it seems) we decided that we are going to go ahead with the op. Big Sigh* We feel that since it is inevitable that my gallbladder will need to come out at some stage, we might as well opt for it to be taken out by a set of prepared and informed doctors in a calm surgery, instead of waiting for an emergency and not knowing who will be operating and raising the risks that much higher.

So I psyched myself up for the 25th September, organised the kids, did a million lists and informed all who needed to know, only for one of the doctors to end up being not available at the last minute and so I opted to postpone! Huge anti-climax…

I only realised after the op was cancelled, how nervous I was as I literally felt lighter and felt like for the first time since making the decision, that I could actually breathe!

Anyway, the op has been postponed till the second week in October (I am still waiting for date confirmation) and although some days are hard to handle, I am managing and the handfuls of meds that I am taking to solve this and counteract that in the meantime, seems to be helping. My family as usual have been amazing and I think this time I will be perhaps more prepared emotionally and better equipped to get through whatever comes my way! Everything for a reason I am reminded!

I’ve had September to LIVE, to remind me of the little things and to take stock once again of just how blessed I am.

This journey has been a long one and is sadly far from over, but the people I have met and what I have overcome along the way has been worth it, let alone my little miracle that manages to burst my heart right open every day…and I will continue to learn and love and live till it’s over.

Thanks for reading and for all your support.
xxx

Weighing it all up...

It’s been a rough week. So to update all those that have been asking...

I took another visit to Hillcrest Hotel; I mean hospital, last week. The usual pain in my abdomen, but also something new; a pain in my lower back, and up my shoulder blades and this awful pressure below my ribcage…and still the constant nausea.

{You would think that with all this going on and me not managing to stomach much, that I’d be feeling pretty fab when stepping on the scale, but just my luck it seems, my body is still in “trauma mode” and so stores anything I do manage to get down my throat – grrr… What’s with that!?}

Anyway aside from my frustrating body issues…it turned out after scopes and x-rays and ultrasounds, that I have Gallstones and that my Gallbladder needs to be removed! Never a dull moment round here!

But this has opened up a whole new debate… usually a gallbladder op is pretty simple and routine, but as usual in my case never a simple thing! Because of the previous surgeries and scar tissue and other issues, doing it laprascopically may not be possible.

The info we have been given is once again terrifying for me and I’ve had a week now of weighing up the pro’s and con’s and trying to make the decision that the doctors won’t make for me due to the risks involved! To Shane and I this decision just seems impossible...

The issue is this, my pain threshold is now incredibly high and so I am feeling discomfort and bouts of extreme pain due to the gallstones, but am in pain daily anyway in my abdomen so on the whole I am able to push it aside, put on those big girl panties of mine and carry on. {Which apparently in itself is not altogether a good thing.}

So my first response was that if I can deal with it – no more ops… The thought of not knowing in what state I am going to emerge from another op scares the daylights out of me – so I’d rather deal with what I know. But in the vein of never being simple – you apparently can’t just leave a sick gall bladder!

There are risks of inflammation, stones in the bile duct, peritonitis, and more so something HAS to be done…

The options I have are to open me up in the small area above the old scar and go in and remove the gallbladder and hopefully not touch any of the previous trauma area. The doctors can then assess conservatively and then at the same time have a look at my abdomen and the adhesions and if possible try to loosen the adhesions allowing more mobility of my internal organs and hopefully reducing my daily pain. But I am told that the surgery alone will be high risk and going into my abdomen and poking around can open up the possibility of bowel nicks, septicaemia, and peritonitis amongst other risks, all of which can cost me my life.

I then go back to the fact that one would think: okay no problem, let’s just leave the abdomen and go in take out the gallbladder and get that “issue” out of the way… but again not as easy as that as depending on the adhesions, the scar tissue and how vascular my abdomen still is or isn’t they may not be able to get to my gall bladder without encountering problems…sigh*

So in a nutshell I have no idea what to do! How do I make a decision when even the experts can’t or won’t decide what is best?

I guess once again I simply need to have faith and trust that the picture will become clear and that we will make the right decision.

 Wish me luck!

August catch up!

Sorry for my absence...

We have had such a wonderful time away with our little getaway to our beach house and then the kids mid-term break and snowfall inbetween it all!

I have had loads of photo opportunities but not much "download" time. So I appologise and will endeavour to catch up and carry on!

Day 4 - What's for dinner...

 This was the most divine dish ever! Once you've got your head around waffles not being sweet - you can truly enjoy the savoury type - waffles with avo, bacon and cream cheese from the Waffle house down the South Coast. Yummy...

Day 5 - A Sign...

My beautiful family...what more can I say <3

Day 6 - Makes you smile...

This is my Izzy Bizzy Girl... my soft, kind and gentle, funny little princess. Always ready with the best hugs ever and always able to make me smile.

Day 7 - The weather today...

My sister-in-law and I took an impromptu road trip to the newly fallen snow in Notingham Road. It was such a fun afternoon. We had heard the reports of snow on the radio and decided that it would be fun to take the kids to play in it... and oh boy was it ever ;) best idea! We had no idea where we were going, but that was half of the fun of it and once we were theere our littlies just loved it - snowball fights and of course the creation of our very own Frosty...Olivia tasted EVERYTHING and now prefers her carrots chilled! Teehee.

Day 8 - A furry Friend...

This is my Delilah! Such a beautiful friend, so gentle with the kids and a special piece of my heart.

Day 9 - Something Old...

Don't you just love this? It is the wheel of an old wagon that was parked at the Lion Park that we took the kids to. There is just something beautiful about the aged wood and rusty metal...

Day 10 - Heart...

This heart just spoke to me... life is so uncertain, it can change in a heartbeat and I'm feeling the need to play, have fun and actively find joy in the little things as this make my heart happy...

Day 11 - Childhood...

How beautiful are these Cherry blossoms? We went for brunch with some special friends at Makaranga lodge and took a walk around their beautiful gardens... the girls took such open glee in running down the multitude of paths and pretty places and seemed to just soak up their beautiful surroundings. I sometimes wish we didn't have to grow up and loose that carefree attitude we had in childhood. What a happy place to be!

Day 12 - Unusual...

These flowers remind me of the ones outside the dinning hall of the boarding school I attended as a child. So beautiful and unusual...

Day13 - Colour...

Red! Now that's something different, anyone who knows me and my girls know that pink is usually the order of the day, but today while visiting her cousin Olivia took to the Lightning McQueen Quad bike and we couldnt get her off - so proud of herself too, such a big girl - I guess she's got some red in her yet!

Day 14 - What you did today...

Today I baked cookies! They are for party packs for a friend...I had such fun, after spying the idea on pinterest, I decided to try using my scrapbooking rubber stamps to stamp an image into the cookies before baking! They worked out quite well. Such a clever idea....

That's all for now... I will continue to post my images when time allows. I'm glad I've taken on this challenge it is showing me just how much good stuff I have in my life to be thankful for...

Till next time,

Someone that makes me happy!

Today this little mite inspired me!

Although all three of my beautiful girls make me happy - today Livie has been so full of fun and I've found myself chuckling at her frequently....

Day 3: #3 Someone that makes me happy



How can this little face not brighten your day...

Well we are away for the weekend so I'll post again when we back - looking forward to some R&R with my beautiful family. It's been a long time since we got away, so I'm counting down and will hopefully come back with some lovely pics too!

Happy Friday everyone!

And the Challenge is on...

Right...after more investigation into the photo a day challenge I have put together the following:

My own Photo a day challenge for August!

So the idea is that you use the inspration on the list above and by the end of the month you have taken a photo to interpret each theme. Pretty cool if you ask me, but like my inability to order a straight meal off the menu at a restaurant without changing it to suit myself {my husband HATES this}, I have decided that I'm not neccasarily going to take pictures in the order of this list, but rather use which ever "inspiration" talks to me that day!

So today number 22 talks to me...

Day 2: Something I can't live without.

These are my electric hot water bottles - and no I can't live without them at the moment. They are FANTASTIC...unfortunately not because its cold {although that's a bonus} but rather because they are the only thing besides drugs that eases my abdominal pain left over from all my surgeries last year.

My ever thoughtful Mom spotted these as they hit the shelves and reasoned that they must be better than my microwave bean bag that only stays warm for a little while. All you have to do is charge them up - the charger plugs into the little heart shaped electrical point {I know that in itself is right up my alley} and voila - hot for around 5 hours!!! Bliss. Clearly after falling in love with the first one my mom gave me, I naturally had to get a backup one for just in case so that's why I have two!

To fill you all in, I am trying to stay painkiller and anti-inflammatory clear as it has just been so long and I've had enough! So today has been a week and so far so good, nothing my hot water bottle and a bit of mind over matter can't deal with {of course I have also changed my diet over the last two months and am supplementing with natural alternatives too} I assume it's only a matter of time before I will have to revert to the drugs again, but for today I'm feeling pretty good about myself and Loving my electric hot water bottles and would definitely recommend them!

See you all tomorrow...

Photo a day...August Challenge

So, I've been seeing these photo a day challenges all over the place and I have been so tempted to take the challenge...but with three children and a busy husband, let alone all the animals that frequent our home, I dont have much time for myself... so to commit to a photo a day for a year - Not likely!

A month though, I think I can do...I am thinking that it will help with my photography and to get me back into the groove of photographing everyday stuff - the little things!

So wish me luck and here is my first pic...a bit of a cheat since I was already scheduled to photograph this gorgeous little man today anyway, but herewith for your viewing pleasure...

DAY 1... Introducing Ayden.

Thanks for stopping by.

Chocolate Brownies anyone?

This is a day in my life...

So upon asking my husband which biscuits he’d like me to bake for him and to put in the kids lunchboxes – he quickly responded with “Chocolate Brownies”…{Duh! Like how come I didn't think of that?!}

Now Chocolate brownies are not quite biscuits in my estimation, and certainly not lunchbox friendly…clearly there is a reason I’m the mom in this house!

But anyway, I obliged - like a good wife should {*insert sniggering here} and the kids and I had fun baking again...and cleaning out the bowl and bits after.

I thought I’d share the recipe with you all ‘cause it is just too darn good not too!

So here it is The Chocolate Brownie Tutorial:

You will need:
250ml Butter
150g Bar One Chocolate bars
2 Cups Sugar
4 Eggs
5ml Vanilla Essence
1 Cup Flour
200ml Cocoa Powder
½ tsp Baking Powder
A pinch of Salt
100g Pecan nuts OR white chocolate pieces or both (I always use both!)

First off you can start by pre-heating the oven to 180°C.
Then, beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla essence till creamy.
Then melt the butter and bar ones in a heavy based pot (I cut it all up into squares first as it melts more evenly this way)

Once nice and gooey, add to the egg and sugar mixture.
Add the sifted flour, cocoa, Baking Powder and salt and beat till well mixed.
Once well mixed, stir in the chopped nuts and chopped white chocolate.

Pour the mixture into a large oven dish lined with foil (shiny side down). The mixture rises so make sure the dish is about 5cm deep so that the mixture doesn’t overflow while cooking.

Pop it in your pre-heated oven and bake for approximately 20 to 30 minutes.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool in oven dish,  and once cool tip out and peel off the foil.

Cut into squares and dust with icing sugar.
Yummy…. needless to say I am apparently part of Shane's weight gain "problem" and definiately not part of the "solution"!

This recipe was shared with me by a very talented friend who offers cooking courses, check out her website: http://www.domesticgogos.co.za/ she often features yummy bits for you to try.

Have a lovely weekend and let me know how yours turn out!

Olivia Faith's Baptism...

I mentioned that in amongst the last three crazy weeks of school holidays we finally got around to baptising Livie.

This was a big day for me, as I felt that it was so important to promise her back to our maker just as he had given her to us…

So with almost all her special people gathered and a few* pretty treats prepared, we made our way to North Durban Presbyterian church.

The minister had asked me to say a few words to bring those of the congregation that did not know our story up to speed so I sumarised as much as I could...it was only an hour service;) and I took the opportunity to thank those that did know and had supported us along the way and I thought I’d share it here.

Sunday 7th July 2012

Today is a very special day for our family and especially for our little Olivia Faith.

I want to start off by thanking everyone for coming and supporting our beautiful daughter today and for supporting our family since her birth and before. The love and kindness that we have received from all of you has been overwhelming. The phone calls, the messages, the visits, gifts and especially the prayers have helped our family enormously. Just knowing that all of you were standing by us and holding us up has touched our hearts in a way that words can’t possibly describe. We have been so very humbled.

We found out that I was expecting late in 2010, a complete surprise to both Shane and I, but as with all gifts of this type I was thrilled. The pregnancy didn’t start off well though, and early on by 8 weeks, I was diagnosed with Placenta Previa (a low lying placenta), and shortly after, hospitalised due to bleeding. At that stage I wasn’t aware that I was carrying triplets and sadly by the beginning of January I had suffered an inevitable miscarriage. It was shortly thereafter that my gynae advised me that I had in fact miscarried, but that there was evidence of two further embryos. Twins!

And so our journey together started… I remember asking Dr K at that point, what I could do to help keep my babies safe and avoid another miscarriage and his answer was simple … Pray.

And pray I did, sadly within the next few weeks one of the heartbeats no longer showed up on the ultra sound, but one very strong little heartbeat hung on – Olivia.

Even from that point we were seeing Dr K every 2 weeks and each visit Olivia grew and grew. But by 16 weeks I was aware that something was very wrong. At that early point I was feeling heavy and uncomfortable like I did nearing the end of my two previous pregnancies, and was also breathless and battling to sleep at night because of the severe pain.

After some investigation, Placenta Percreta was confirmed. This being a very rare condition where the Placenta grows through the uterine wall and into neighbouring organs. There were six known cases worldwide and the prognosis was not good.

So at 16 weeks I was put on full bed rest. Family and friends rallied around and those months seemed to drag from one doctor’s visit to another and I held my breath each time until I saw my teeny, tiny little girl’s heartbeat on the monitor. The challenges of being bed ridden with two other children and a very hardworking husband were not easy, but with God’s grace and amazing support, we managed.

Finally we reached the point when the risk of my mortality was higher than the benefits to Olivia to keep her in my belly. The doctors were well prepared for my expected complications and blood loss and thankfully all went well.

Olivia was born at 32 weeks at 7.47am on the 21st June 2011, at just 1.31kilograms, she took her first breath, cried and then stopped breathing…I thankfully was asleep for this as with the risks being so high Olivia was delivered under General anaesthetic. Thankfully Olivia was stabilized and spent the next almost two months in NICU growing and fighting and stealing all the nurses’ hearts.

The next few months consisted of chemo therapy for me and various surgeries’ and finally a full hysterectomy to deal with my placental issues. Then finally after quite an ordeal, we were both sent home to heal.

Olivia turned one a couple of weeks ago… a whole year has passed since that early morning in that cold sterile theatre as the slow, steady rhythm of the beeping machines in the background lulled me to sleep.

As I think back I can still smell the disinfectant in the room and feel the Goosebumps prickle my skin under the warm blanket on that hard cold operating table. I gulped back my fear, held on tight to Shane’s hand, said a final pleading prayer and then, there was nothing … nothing but him keeping me going, keeping me strong.

That was the first of my surgeries; there were three further and each time the same pleading prayer…don’t leave me, please give me the strength to get through this…just a little further.

I am often asked how I kept so positive and strong and all I can say is that it was not me, it was him. He never let me believe for a minute that either of us wouldn’t make it and this verse often rang true;

Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance of what we do not see Hebrews 11.1


Today those early days of anxiety mixed with excitement, and pure relief and joy every time we got a positive update on Olivia’s progress seem light years away – did it really even happen to us?

I watch Olivia play on the mat in the early morning sunshine, and I marvel at the miracle in front of me… to think, had I not the faith and the stubborn belief that we could make it, had I listened to the Doctors early warnings of deformity, mortality and more, had I made the choice to terminate this little mite, I would not be able to watch this dinky, strong, feisty, loving little girl busily moving around the floor, playing with this and that, jabbering quietly and coming over every now and then to give her mum a cuddle, flash that heart melting smile of hers and show me the toy she just discovered…

And then I am thankful, so very thankful that I was brought up in a Christian home, that I have the mother I do and the family that jumped to our support. Without my faith and special people this miracle girl would not be here, and we would not have completed our family and we would have missed out on so, so much joy!

And also were it not for all our doctors and nurses and all the amazing neonatal staff at Umhlanga Hospital our life as we know it would not be. He put them in our path and led us to this place and for that we feel so very blessed.

Shane and I feel like the luckiest parents in the world to have been blessed with not one, not two, but three amazing strong, confident and loving little girls. When something like this happens you tend to re-evaluate your life and I am aware of just how much this has taught us.

It has taught us strength, a strength I never thought I had. It has taught me to appreciate life and all of the little things. It has taught me trust, to put that trust in God as never at any point have I felt alone, it has taught me acceptance, the strength to accept the hand I have been dealt, it has taught me human kindness and it teaches me still.

About four months after my last op, I was again struck with severe pain and it was found that due to all the surgeries and intervention, adhesions had formed between my intestines, colon and other internal organs literally gluing my insides together with a chewing gum like substance. So as my body works my organs pull against each other causing severe pain.

My doctors and I are still working on that, and I have good days and bad, but I’m doing okay and mostly manage to supress the pain and instead concentrate on my three beautiful girls and long suffering husband.

Olivia is doing so well, on the whole healthy and happy, a little on the small side, but we all know that dynamite comes in small packages. People often comment that when Olivia is a difficult teenager I can remind her of what I went through to give her life, but each time it is said I have the same violent emotional reaction… my body let her down, she did nothing to me, nothing but be the bravest little mite I know and the feistiest little fighter around. I am so proud of her and couldn’t in a million years blame her for anything but bringing me closer to God and making me a better person.

I would do it all again in a heartbeat just to be able to see her silly smile and tickle those tiny feet.

Today we as a family bring you Olivia for the sacrament of Baptism, so that you may be brought up in the faith of Christ and as a member of his church… just as I was. True faith is very personal and my wish for you is that you always know what a miracle you are and how special you are because you were spared.

The world is a better place with you in it Olivia, and I thank heaven above for my daughter and my life.

Where I am week, he is strong.

This was tough to stand up in front of the congregation and say, and I did get a bit choked up here and there but I think it was good for me to do it and definitely part of our healing process, as upon writing these words a flood of things long supressed came out and at least now I am stronger and better able able to deal and move forward...

Thanks for reading.

Candy Baby!

Today is a sad day for Olivia…her sisters went back to school! This it seems, is highly inconvenient for my little mite and she has been trawling the house calling for her sisters {insert broken heart here*} all morning!

The benefits for a third child is that there are always playmates close at hand – this school thing really does put a spanner in the works though, but I’m sure come pick up time and when her sisters burst through the front door, Livie is going to be the happiest little camper again to have her rowdy sisters back to entertain/ annoy / cuddle and control her!

Anyway – I thought I’d share one of our holiday activities with you today…we made Rock candy!

Kayla has been rather obsessed with a crystal making set she got for her birthday, but it is all very complicated and seldom the outcome she was hoping for results! So to restore her confidence in science (whatever) I decided to teach her and Iz how to make rock candy and it was surprisingly easy and yummy!

We googled it of course , took all the advice given and this is what worked best for us!

You will need:
Sugar (loads of sugar, we had to go and buy another bag!)
Water
Food Colouring gel (I used the Woolworth’s natural ones)
Wooden Skewers
Jars or Glass Cups (tall and thin)
Clothespegs

Step one:
Trim down your skewers to a reasonable size to fit in whatever glass that you will be using also remove the pointed tips. Dip them in water, and then roll in sugar. Set them aside to dry completely and continue with the sugar mixture. This gives the sugar a base, something to adhere to when it starts to crystallize.

Step two:

Mix equal parts of water and sugar in a pot on med-high heat on the stove until dissolved. Then continue to add sugar until you have a 3:1 ratio. It will get to a point where it won't dissolve anymore. To check that your sugar is dissolving, coat the back of a metal spoon with the syrup and make sure that it is smooth with no grains.. We used 6cups of water and 18 cups of sugar and it made 6 glasses of syrup, but you can definitely half the recipe if you like. We wanted a lot of colours though so stuck with these quantities.  The idea is to make nice, sticky, syrup. Mix until mixture starts to simmer. Easy peasy!




Step three:
Remove the mixture from the stove and allow your syrup to cool for 10 -15 minutes or so and ladle into your glasses. It is still pretty hot at this point so take care. Using the the tips that we trimmed off of our skewers we dipped them into concentrated food colouring gel, then swirled the skewer into our hot syrup mixture. You can use liquid food colouring, but I like the gel better.

Step four:
Attach two clothes pegs to each skewer (the ones you dipped in sugar and let dry) and balance in the middle of the glass. Make sure the skewer isn't touching the bottom or sides of glass. They need room to grow. Since our glasses were narrow, we only used one skewer but I’m sure in a wider glass you could add more!?

Step Five:
Place your glasses in a warm location with lots of natural light. Here they are on day one (above pic)...you can see that there is a bit of sugar build up from when we dipped them in water and then let them dry in sugar as well as a bit on the bottom of the glass. Another tip is to pop something over the top so nothing falls into the mixture to taint it. (I used coffee filters). The pictures below were taken on day 5...the girls were tempted to call it a day here, but we persisted...or rather I insisted we persisted;)

Step six:
Wait and watch them grow for about 7 days and Voila! How pretty are these??? Remember that the actual crystals will be much lighter in colour than the syrup which suits me fine...pretty pastel crystals result!

 We had a great time watching them grow and sampling the finished product. I think to the kids it seemed like a month not just 7 days but they managed and trying them out was worth the wait!

*There will be crystallized sugar in the bottom of your glasses. Just run them in hot water and chip it out with a butter knife. It comes out pretty easily.*

So that’s that - Rock Candy Tutorial = such fun and great to teach the kids a bit of science AND patience it seemed! ;)

Let me know how yours turns out?

A time to celebrate...

The past few weeks have been crazy hectic, I was under the wildly hopeful impression that since the kids were going on school holidays that I’d get plenty of time to catch up all the bits and bobs on my never-ending “to do” lists, but with today marking the last day of the school holidays I am even more behind!

Hence the lack of posts, and soooo much has been happening in our little family!

{Olivia celebrated her First birthday party, loads of fun and play dates occurred during the school holidays with my busy brood, and we also celebrated Olivia’s baptism… a truly special affair.}

I won’t cover all of that in this post but pop on over and I’ll cover it over the next week… complete with pretty pictures too!

I had a wonderful time preparing for and baking all sorts of yummy bits for the party, only for my husband to comment that he couldn’t understand what all the stress and bother {not in my eyes} was about as it was clearly for my own gain and not our daughters as she would be happy with a cardboard box at this stage!
And he is perfectly on the money too, BUT what he is not taking into account is that as much as I enjoyed taking care of all the finer details, those details were carefully thought out in honour of my baby girl and if per chance I am unable to do in in later years – she will be reminded by the pictures I have taken how much effort I put into her party too to make it pretty and perfect just like her! For me the little things are important – going the extra mile for those you love is what it’s all about whether they realise it or not.
Livie just loved her party and had a fantastic time. It certainly did bring out the social butterfly in her and I was amused to note how different my three girls are. Olivia was happiest in the thick of all the action and lapped up all the attention!

It was so much fun watching the three of them interacting during the day – Kayla so wild and loud – organising everyone, Izzy so quiet and quaint interacting so freely but always gently and Livie taking in everything with cheeky smiles and full of gusto! Have I mentioned lately just how much I love these little things… so very blessed!

Wishing you joy this week,

Happy Birthday Olivia Faith...

Phew…what a busy, happy, emotional day!

Olivia turned one today… a whole year has passed since that early morning in that cold sterile theatre as the slow steady rhythm of the beeping machines in the background lulled me to sleep.

Beep, beep, beep … as I think back I can still smell the disinfectant in the room  and feel the Goosebumps prickle my skin under the warm blanket on that hard operating table.  I gulped back my fear, said a final pleading prayer and held on tight to Shane’s hand and then there was nothing…

Today those early days of anxiety mixed with excitement, and pure relief every time we got an update on Olivia’s progress seem light years away – did it really happen to us?

I watch Olivia play on the mat in the early morning sunshine, and I marvel at the miracle in front of me… to think, had I not the faith and the stubborn belief that we could make it, had I listened to the Doctors early warnings of deformity, mortality and more, had I made the choice to terminate this little mite, I would not be sitting here today watching a dinky, strong, feisty, loving little girl busily moving around the floor, playing with this and that, jabbering quietly and coming over every now and then to give her mum a cuddle and show me the toy she just picked out…

And then I am thankful, so very thankful that I was brought up in a Christian home, that I have the mother I do and the family that jumped to my support. Without my faith and special people this miracle girl would not be here, and were it not for one very dedicated and supportive Dr Coetsee, we would not have completed our family and we would have missed out on so, so much joy!

The world is a better place with Olivia in it and I thank heaven above for my daughter and my life.

Happy Birthday special girl, you have so much ahead of you and I would do it all again in a heartbeat, just to be able to see your silly smile and tickle those tiny feet.

Happy Birthday Baby Girl, Mama loves you lots and lots more than jelly tots…

PS: To all our special people; family, friends, doctors, nurses and even strangers…thank you from the bottom of my heart for standing with me through this last year and while I waited. Your prayers and encouragement kept me going and made today possible. While Olivia and my journey is far from over, I have been overwhelmed by your kindness and compassion and feel truly blessed for knowing you xxx