October 15, 2008

Another big event I missed mentioning in my previous post was that one of my sisters moved back here with her son! It's been great having her around, I can hardly believe that all of my biological sisters are living in the same place! Our poor mother is stretched to the limits with spending time with us all and helping with babysitting etc and there are sometimes words spoken on the stress she is under to be 'fair' to us all. She however, taught us the meaning of the word (if she bought something for one of us, for instance, she always got it for everyone and made sure we understood how 'fair' she was!), so it's possibly to be expected that we pull her up sometimes. Expected? Maybe. 'Fair'? Probably not! Sometimes I wonder if she'd be happy if we all left her alone though. Even when I just invite her over for a cup of coffee she spends a great portion of the time just interacting with Jasper and Gabriel and ignoring me. ha ha.

This particular day, October 15, she was babysitting my two babies while the recently local sister, her son, and I drove to the nearest city for some shopping and my nail appointment. She took these photos of my boys (yes, let it be known that I, Chenoa Goedhart, did not dress my baby boy in that outfit! The outfit may not be the problem so much as the rise of the pants! ha ha) so thought I would share. Cute sequence despite the grubby face on Jasper and the wardrobe on Gabriel!

When we got home these pics of Gabriel and his cousins were taken, along with the one of him and I. I had to crop out my oily looking hair a little bit...I guess I can't get away with that many days between washes!

xxx

Life happens

It's been over 2 months since I've been on here and so much has happened! I don't want to dwell on the negatives (of which there were a few!) when there are so many positives.

The biggest event during this time was definitely my big boy turning 2 on September 22. We had a little party for him with family and his two best friends and it was really fun. I'd read somewhere (probably on essential baby) that parties are easy to manage if your child invites just as many friends as the age they're turning and this was so much better than his first birthday party where he kind of blended in with the walls!

Since his birthday he has grown up so much! He's communicating so well now and getting along much better with his little brother. He's still so rough at times but that will surely pass with time. After much thought I did what I thought I'd never do and enrolled him in childcare for two days a week! The social and mental benefits for him (and the one-on-one time this gives me with Gabriel) are hard to overlook but the downside is that, for the first time, he's having experiences that I'll only know about if he chooses to share. It was unnerving when he came home from his first day and played peek-a-boo with me because we haven't played that for ages...it was very obvious he'd been doing it that day and I could only wonder...what else? I miss him when he's not here. Thankfully there is so much I try and cram into those days (perhaps so I can justify sending him!) that they pass very quickly.

So what's Gabriel been up to? The biggest advancement with my baby boy is that he's started eating solids! I really enjoy this stage as I love making all the purees and carefully choosing which food to introduce next. So far he's had plain farex, flavoured farex, bananas through a sieve, steamed pureed apples (which didn't agree with him at all!), mashed potato (which he just hated), steamed pureed butternut pumpkin, and farex mixed with the fruit and veg.

He is now rolling and kind of crawling even! He can move great distances but it's with a sliding action that looks so tiring! He's doing well for a baby who isn't left on the floor for too long at a time lest his big brother jump on him!

As for me...I've surely had ups and downs but I'm getting through it all and my boys still put a smile on my face everytime I see them so I can't complain too much. I was going to post a picture of my haircut wasn't I? Well are two taken the day after it was cut.

Next time I'll get it shorter I think, so I don't have such a difference in the length of the layers...a 'choppy' bob would suit my personality better than such an 'in-between' length does. I love the femininity that longer hair gives but I have an awful shaped head and my thick locks are dragged down emphasising that. ha ha. I am feeling pretty depressed about my body lately too. I really really need and want to start a new fitness program for myself but where do I find that elusive energy that's required?? Perhaps I'll go to the doctor and see if I'm low in some essential vitamin or mineral before I beat myself up. Just yesterday I was thinking about all this extra weight I'm carrying and why it bothers me and not the next person. I came to the conclusion that I must just be more self-conscious than others, and I thrive on feeling confident. Yes, this weight has to go! Watch this space!

Another new goal for me is to host an introduction Stampin' Up! party in my home sometime in November. I just adore all the products and I think I will love doing demonstrations (based on how much I loved selling when I was a retail manager). It's too big a shame to get nowhere with this little business venture just because I have difficulty carving out some regular time. I'm sure that time exists in my days or weeks somewhere...for the sake of balance in my life I will find it.

xxx