I am Tamiya…

I WON a blogger award! Can you scream YAY with me?! It’s the first one I’ve ever received. Thank you, Gina, for making me a winner!

So, there are rules that go along with this award. The rules are that I have to tell you 7 interesting things about myself and then pass it along to 7 other beautiful bloggers.

Here’s 7 things you might not know about me:

1. I have a TV crush. He is the only man other than The Dad who I may or may not fantasize about. He was in a couple of movies, non of which I can recall now, and more recently played the vampire, Eric Northman, in True Blood. I watched seasons 1 and 2 back to back, in bed, on my Mac. I was in love… This is also the reason I can NOT wait for season 3 to begin in June/July!
   

   Alexander Skarsgard

2. No, this is NOT the reason I’m naming PlusOne Alexander. It’s just a coincidence…
3. I don’t always believe in coincidences
4. Some of you may have noticed this though: I am a procrastinator of note. I would much rather be doing *anything* else than work. Although, I am really good at what I do, so more often than not, I get to quickly do my required reports and spend the rest of the day hanging out on line.
5. I like ‘em young The Dad is 3 years younger than I am. He looks older than I am by 5 years though! One day, when we’re old and grey it probably wont matter, but right now a lot of people think it’s a big deal. They didn’t have much hope for our relationship in the beginning, but 4 years later and another baby on the way, we’re STILL together and in love and happy. He’s my rock and my best friend. He allows me to lead my very extravagant lifestyle and goes beyond the necessary to keep me happy. Yes, sometimes I act like a spoiled brat when I don’t get what I want, when I want it, but he always brings me back down to earth and calms me down and makes me feel better.
6. I hate peas! With a passion! I had a super bad experience with them in std. 4 and I’ve avoided eating them whenever possible since.
7. When I was little, I wanted to be a pirate! A real pirate like in the movies. With a sword, and a parrot on my shoulder and a patch on my eye. I wanted to hoist my own Jolly Roger on my very own ship. Now I’m grown up, I still want to be a pirate sometimes. I can’t wait for my boys to be big enough so I can re-live these fantasies through them. I’ll be the coolest pirate mommy that ever lived!

Now it’s my turn to hand out the award, so without any further ado:

1. I can’t not give one to my Belly-Buddy, BBM BFF, twitter friend and super awesome woman: Bananaramagirl. She pretty much summed up our friendship yesterday in a post she did on her blog. She described it perfectly, and any way I try and say the same, will just pale in comparison. So I’m not going to try.
2. The award also has to go out to ExMi. Way back when, when I first started blogging and was actually totally clueless about the whole blogosphere, she helped me. She showed me the ropes, involved me in a Mommy-Community-Blog-Project and pretty much introduced me to some of the most amazing people I have ever met. She was also the first person I met in real life from the blogging world.
3. Louisa also has to get one. She has the cutest baby girl on the Local Social Media Circuit and also future wife to either one of my two boys. Doesn’t matter which one, it will all depend on whether she likes her men slightly older, or prefers them young, like me.
4. I know Gina gave me this reward, but I’d like to give it back to her. For everything she’s been through lately, all the sleepy-time troubles her boy likes to give her (even though we know he is the love of her life) and for being cooler than I ever thought any Jewish person could be! (No offense intended whatsoever)
5. I know Angel gets tons of awards, because she SO totally deserves them all, and I’d like to be able to give her one too. Thank you for sticking around, even when I did not. Thank you for keeping me in your reader, even though my writing/posting moments were SOOOOOO few and far in between. You always have something nice to say to me, or about me, in the comments, and you are one of the reasons that really makes me want to keep my blog updated. Oh, and your cupcakes also look super awesome ALL the TIME!!
6. MeeA, because OMG, you DELIVERED A BABY!!!!!!! And you’re a mother of FOUR kids! You’re like superwoman!
7. And lastly, I give this award to Cath. Because we have good taste. And because even after everything that she’s going through lately, I know she can still smile and see the positive side of life. It takes a very strong person, to be able to do that!

Much love x 2.5

…and this might jog some of your memories too…

Way back when, when Boobah was still just a teeny tiny young baby, I used to belong to The Bad Mommy Blog. A whole bunch of us were on there, and most of those fabulous women still blog today. For some, life took over though. Even I took a sabbatical when I switched jobs and lost all internet access. Eventually, TBMB stopped getting updates from the contributors and it now just kind of hangs there in the interwebs. I’m glad it’s still there though, I’m having so much fun reading our old posts today. Maybe you should stop over there too, when you have some time.

However, the purpose of this second post today, is to just rehash something I posted on TBMB as part of one of our homework assignments. I clean forgot that we did something like that and it really made me smile to re-read it just now…

TUESDAY, MARCH 18, 2008

…but so little focus, I don’t know how I’m going to get around to saying it all…

1. Some exciting news – We went for another 4D scan yesterday It turns out PlusOne is DEFINITELY going to be a boy! Again, so much for my thinking that he’s gonna be a she. Holi still says that she feels a very strong female presence in the energy surrounding me though. Anyhoodle, here’s some pictures of our boy from yesterday:

Can you see the boy bit?

That there is the 4D version. Just in case you cant see it, here’s a 2D version:

How can you miss it?

And lookit this teeny, tiny little tootsie:

This little footsie is all of 2.83cms long.

2. As mentioned earlier on Twitter, I am feeling slightly flustered today. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that I took half day yesterday to go for the above mentioned scans and the fact that the whole world chose yesterday afternoon to email me work stuff. I never hear from anyone for days on end, and then all of a sudden, they decide to all email me at once. The work is not difficult, just so much to do and everyone reckons their request is super important and more urgent than the next. But I’ve worked through all the mails and my inbox is empty again. Even empty of all those cute and funny ones…

3. I eventually got the recipe for Jungle Juice and bought all the ingredients and stirred me up a big enough batch to last two days, and then I forgot todays’ at home. I think that is adding to my irksomeness. I did buy a bottle of water though, and had the Rescue Remedy drops in my bag, so I’m having some like that. The scanlady from yesterday told me my amniotic fluid is slightly low, so I need to drink more water and stuff. And half-n-half my juice with water. And drink less tea. And drink even more water. I don’t like water, except maybe when it’s boiled and used to make my coffee or tea or whatever the tea lady at work decides I feel like. I am trying though.

4. I want to get back into my knitting. Since we found out I was expecting, the only thing I’ve made so far is a pair of booties:

Yeah, I know the box of smokes and the cute booties don’t really go together well, but I had to use something as a size gauge, and who *doesn’t* know how big a box of smokes are…? Now the other thing is, I’m having a Spring/Summer baby, so I can’t really go all out and knit serious baby-grows and jerseys and the like. I know I could probably do with a couple more booty sets, and maybe I should make a cool boy-blankie. I have about 4 and a half more months left, so if I’m really going to make anything else for this baby, I should probably get my ass into gear.

**Sproutsmom re-inspired me on this whole knitting thing again.

5. We got a Wii Fit Plus this weekend. I am super stoked about that! Although, it took me ages of convincing and making promises of all sorts in order to get The Dad to actually buy me one. In the end he did and we’ve been having almost non-stop fun since. I’ve decided that I should really focus on doing the yoga exercises. At least the ones that don’t make me lie on my stomach or bend over in awkward positions. The standing and stretching ones are really fun though. I’ve got about 4 months in which to stretch my muscles and perhaps become slightly more fit, which may help the whole giving-birth and losing weight after giving birth thing. It’s also cool because Boobah can actually play some of the games with us. He just needs to stand on the board and lean from side to side or wiggle his bum during the Hula Hoops game. It’s really funny seeing him wiggle that little bum. He’s not great at any of the games, but that’s okay, he’s having fun and we can do it together as a family. (Although I really think he should stick to playing computer games, he’s much better at that)

6. I have a BBQ Chicken Mayo Panini for lunch today. It looks really delicious, but I’m not entirely sure I actually feel up to eating it though. I will eat it, because it’s there and I should probably eat, but right now it’s more of a have-to than a want-to.

7. I miss my mum. After having them here for 10 weeks, they’ve gone back to their island. My dad is here for 2 nights (he flies back tomorrow), but once he’s back, we’re not sure when he’ll be able to come back and visit. My mum will be back in time for Boobah’s birthday, but that’s still about three weeks away, which feels like a very long time today. I’m hoping my dad will be able to come again when it’s time for PlusOne’s birth, and fortunately, that’s AFTER the stupid world cup, so the chances then are pretty good, but we’ll have to wait and see.

8. My dad is very very happy that PlusOne is going to be a boy. He crazy-adores Boobah, so another boychild will equal double the fun they can have. Also, I’m giving PlusOne the maternal family name as a second name. His initials will be AWS, which my dad reckons stands for AWESOME. I love my old man!

9. Bananaramagirl and TheJacksonFiles were having a twitter conversation yesterday about competitive mums and expecting women. I wanted to give my two cents then, but life took over and I never actually said what I wanted to say about that. I can’t for the life of me think why any mother-to-be feels she needs to compete against any other mother-to-be. Specially if there are 10 WEEKS between the two due dates. That, and the fact that every pregnancy is different (I can totally vouch for that, seeing as I’ve had/am having two of my own), so comparing is pointless anyway. But then, when you start muddling your facts and just border on ridiculousness, you end up looking stupid. And everyone laughs at you behind your back. I mean, come ON! Who the fuck has ever had a baby start kicking them in the ribs at 15 weeks?? You can hardly even see the gender properly then. But okay look, perhaps she *IS* telling the truth and *IS* really experiencing all of what she says she does, doesn’t matter. As long as at the end of the day she can face herself in the mirror and be proud of herself.

Me on the other hand, I am not like that. I don’t think I’ve ever been like that. Yes, I like to share Boobah’s accomplishments with the world, but what proud mommy wouldn’t? Bananaramagirl is about 4 or 5 weeks more pregnant than I am, but instead of saying Oh, I can feel this or I’m experiencing that better than you, I’d rather ask her questions like When was LB able to feel #babynana move or abc or xyz, because we haven’t reached that stage yet or so forth and such…  Then at least I know what to look forward to and when we might expect said abc or xyz to happen. But that’s just me and everybody is different and that’s what makes the world an interesting place, I guess…

10. I’ve started eating my Panini whilst typing this. It’s not bad, but it’s not wow either. Perhaps I shouldn’t have put that Woolies Beef Lasagne back on the shelf this morning for this instead. It’s giving me heartburn…

Much love x 2.5

…with a little help from SmileBox.

This is the invitation I’m going to send out to the family for Boobah’s 3rd birthday party. It’s a very extended family. My MIL was one of 13 children. All of them now have children and most of those children have children of their own. All these kids are more or less the same age. Also, because Boobah doesn’t go to any type of school or crèche or daycare center, he doesn’t have very many non-family friends. That, and the fact that just the cousins and nieces and nephews already tally to about 20 kids. 20 little kids are surprisingly expensive to cater for. Specially with my grand ideas, remember ?

Anyhoodle, on to the invitation:

Ja, mammas, dis reg. Ons gaan VERF! Trek asseblief maar vir die kindertjie/s relatiewe ou klere aan daai dag. Ek gaan vir elke kind ‘n voorksoot gee, maar ons weet mos maar hoe kinders kan mors…

Die partytjie is ‘n Drop-Off-and-Go partytjie – dit gaan al julle mammas ‘n effense blaaskansie gee, om die een of ander inkopies te gaan doen of miskien ‘n fliek te gaan kyk waarby daar nooit uitgekom word nie. Gelukkig is Greenstone Mall mos net so om die draai. My drie wonderlike skoonsusters, Kari, Cindels en Bella, my skoonma en my ma het almal ingestem om daai dag met die kleintjies te help en om hulle onder oge te hou. Dus vra ek al die mammas met kindertjies onder 1 of die wat nog effe sukkel met alleen regkom, dat julle die dag saam met ons sal geniet. Daar sal ligte versnapperinge voorsien word vir die mammas wat moet bly, maar op die ou einde is dit ‘n kinderpartytjie (1 tot 5 jaar) en sal daar meer op die kleintjies gefokus word.

Ek hoop van harte julle sal die kleintjies bring om die dag saam met ons te geniet. Hulle gaan soveel pret he en ek belowe om hulle te voer ook met REGTE kos.

Laat weet asseblief so gou moontlik, OF teen die 23ste April 2010, sodat ek die nodige voorsiening kan doen.

Liefde en groete,

Boobah’s Mom & Boobah

Rough translation of the text above:

The idea behind this years’ party is that it’s a Drop-Off-And-Go party. I added a little text bit at the bottom of the mail addressing all the moms asking them to please note this. I want them to drop off their kids and then perhaps take a two hour break from being a parent and go do some shopping or something they can’t normally do. I want this party to focus on the kids, and not the parents who will inevitably turn it into another social event, where they all get plastered and take over all the fun. I’m not being harsh, but I know these people and their ways. I’ve enlisted the help of my 3 FAB SILs and my MIL and my Mum who are all going to be there to help me look after the kids. I’ve only asked the moms of the smaller kids and babies who ARE coming, to stay. I will provide some light snacks and juice for them, but my focus will ultimately be on the kids. Also, as it is with these parties, the hostess (in this case me) constantly runs around like a headless chicken checking this and making sure that is fine, so I won’t have much time for socializing anyway.

I really had fun this morning making those invites, although I didn’t actually do very much. All I needed to do was select my template, choose my pics and think of some clever words and the program did the rest. That bit was quick, although sending it from the app to me did take some time.

Anyhoodle, the party is in just over three weeks and I really have to start getting my head around the food and snacks and stuff. I’m thinking mini-hotdogs for the kids as proper food, because they can’t just have sweets. But more about that later.

Much love x 2.5 (<- yeah, that’s no typo, we’re halfway there)

…that this is the same child?

Then:

A few days old...

And now:

A few days before his 3rd birthday

I can’t believe so much time has passed, and yet he is still so little.

Much love x 2.25

Oh PS. Here’s one where he’s not being a funny bunny and pulling faces:

…are we now?

So I figured an update is required. Of my life in general and also that of the little persons this blog is about.

Me:

I’m doing pretty well.

We had a busy weekend cleaning house, doing washing and ironing, washing dishes, changing bedding and all sorts of other domesticated stuff

The Dad and I spent most evenings this weekend playing Rummy and Casino and Poker card games. It was fun – even though I lost most of the time (which is not so bad, because that means TD will play cards with me again)

We had super-nutritious breakfasts this weekend: Saturday – Pies from De Backery in Edenvale and Sunday: Pizzas from Pizza Perfect

My blood-test results all came back normal for the pregnancy – HUGE relief! (With Boobah they made me come back for more because the first set indicated that he may have Spina Bifida. Fortunately for us, it was a false positive, but it was one week of hell waiting for the new results)

PlusOne:

PlusOne is 19 weeks and 2 days old now

We had another scan on Friday, but the little bugger didn’t want to confirm gender either way. He (if we were to go by medical experts’ guesses) was lying in a kneeling position, face down, almost like he was curled up into a little ball. He had his legs pulled in and tucked underneath him. We could however see the spine very nicely, which the doctor said looks perfect. It’s closed up nicely and straight as it should be. That relieves a lot of worries.

PlusOne did give us a nice wave though

I’ve booked us another 4D scan for next week Tuesday. They have a scan facility at the hospital where I’m going, which is an added bonus.

PlusOne is still moving about nicely. I do feel him now and then during the day, but nothing yet like Bananaramagirl or TheCaz or AngelinAfrica have mentioned before. Shame, poor Bananaramagirl complained this weekend that #babynana was constantly kicking her in the ribs and it was becoming really rather uncomfortable. I’m fortunate that I never had that with Boobah. Let’s hope PlusOne behaves himself in that sense also.

Boobah:

My first boy-child is really becoming quite adept at working a computer. I’ve downloaded a couple of programs for him lately that allows him to work on my Mac, without accidentally stuffing it up. One is AlphaBaby, which is a typing program of sorts. It locks the app in place and when Boobah types keys on the keyboard, the corresponding letter appears on the screen. If he types a space or any other non-alphabetical or numerical key, it creates a shape. It’s all very colorful and pretty. I have a similar app for my BlackBerry – called BabyGO!

Another app I got for Boobah is Tux Paint. Again, it locks the app to the screen, so he can’t break anything. I am astounded at the amount of mouse skills Boobah has displayed since getting him both these apps. Tux Paint works almost exclusively with the mouse and my kid already knows how to select different paint brush styles and different colored paints. And he can also select the Stamp tool and then merrily stamp the minutes away. Another thing that really makes me proud, is that when Boobah gets tired of the current picture, he knows where to click and the sequence in which to go to select a new canvas, and saving or not saving his old painting. I think that’s pretty amazing for a kid that’s not even three yet!

Along with his amazing computer abilities, Boobah has also recently learned how to write his name. Okay, granted, he can only write the ‘A’ but it’s HIS name nevertheless and he is quite proud of it. Whenever he gets a pen in hand, he will draw and draw and write his own name over and over. Sometimes he writes it upside down or bietjie skew, but you can still clearly see what he means. He can also draw his name in Tux Paint – look:

The one in red was one of his very first attempts. Look at the massive improvement (purple A) in just a couple of nights! Amazing as this is for me as a mother, it also has some slight disadvantages… Now that Boobah knows what his name looks like, you can’t let him sit on your lap whilst playing card games anymore… Without realizing the consequences, he will merrily shout out “LOOK, there’s my name!” and point to your cards. Now in any card game, specially poker or Casino, an Ace is a high-value card and should best be kept secret from your opponents until money time! But nevertheless, it still makes my mommy heart proud that my boy can write his own name!

So, how have you been and what did you get up to this weekend?

Much love x 2.25

*I apologise for the bad picture quality. It was taken with my BB, which, although I love it very much, takes crappy photos

**Both applications mentioned above are free and Mac applications. (Although, Tux Paint can be downloaded to windows computers as well)