I am Tamiya…

…so let me get started.

I started work again on Monday. Honestly, it went much better than anticipated, when it came to being separated form A2. Yes, I did miss that little body tremendously, but I think it helped that I didn’t have to “leave” him anywhere – I got TF to drop him off at the Outlaws instead. It sounds like initially he had some trouble settling, but it’s getting better everyday. I’m glad though, because I don’t want my nunupie to be upset.

A1 is starting school tomorrow – again – but this time it’s at a school of my choice AND his BFF is starting there tomorrow as well. I hope that will help. I’m still expecting it to be somewhat of an adjustment for him, but we’ll push through this time. Also, there will be no outlaw/outside influences this time either, so I’m hoping that will make a difference too. We went and bought all kinds of lunch box goodies today. He helped me choose what he’d like to have. A1 seems really excited at the idea. We’ll see how tomorrow goes though.

A2 is not a happy camper today. I don’t know what’s wrong. It may be teeth, but I’m not sure – he’s not even 5 months yet. I did give him a double dose of infant panado when we got home, because by then he’d been crying and niggly for a good long while. He’d sleep 20 minutes, cry for 10, sleep another 20, then cry for 10 more. The panado seemed to help, but now I’m not sure whether it’s because the pain went away or because he was high… He’s sleeping again now, so we’ll see how it goes. I did get instructions off Twitter that it might be teeth that to invest in some Prodol would be a good idea, so TF needs to pick some up on the way home from golf. Rather have it around than not…

I had my hair done yesterday - some highlights with a chocolate brown base. I think it looks nice, and it was about time too. Haven’t done much with my hair for a good long time now. I was still pregnant the last time I had a cut!

New Hair

It looks much shorter in the picture, but my hair is still shoulder length. I still needed it to be tie-able. I can’t cope with hair that’s constantly in my face. So why I stupidly asked for a fringe – I will never know. Not one of my brightest ideas

I had a quick sewing project I wanted to do on Friday, and I think it is a huge success. I made Fabric Teething rings for A2. Seeing as he loves chewing his blanky, his fists, his toys and everything he can manage to squeeze into his mouth, I thought this would be ideal. It’s soft, so wont hurt his gums, sucks up all his excessive spit, fits around his arm so he doesn’t lose it, and is light enough so his hands don’t get tired. And it’s easily washable.I can just add it to a load of his washing and boom bam it’s clean!

Fabric Teething Rings

Loving them

The nice thing is that they’re quick and easy to make, and I can always add more rings if necessary :)

This then led me to the idea of turning it into a tactile sensory experience for a baby. I can make the rings out of a variety of fabrics, so that each ring feels different. Much like a Taggy blanky, except this is a plaything. The fabric possibilities are endless. As soon as I have time, I’m definitely going to make A2 more of these. I haven’t decided whether I want to put these in the Felt So Good Store yet, but if you want one, just let me know

I am constantly amazed at how much my two boys love each other. It’s so wonderful to see. After all this time, the novelty still hasn’t worn off for A1, and A2 can’t take his eyes off his brother when they’re in the same room together. A1 does the funniest things to make A2 laugh, and laugh he does. I hope this love continues between them for all their lives, that they have the best kind of brotherly bond imaginable!

Brothers

Finally, FINALLY after almost 3 years, I’m getting my front tooth. It started as an implant, which Medical Aid happily agreed to pay for, until it came to the last stages, where they refused because now it is a cosmetic procedure… Financially, we weren’t able to pay the thousands it was gonna cost, but TF finally said I could go ahead and finish it up. It’s still a shit load of money, but from neeext Monday, I will be able to smile again – a proper smile! Not a pursed lip smile, because I look like a pirate. And I won’t have to feel self-conscious when I meet new people anymore.

It seems as though A2 is almost ready to start sitting upright. He’s damn sure trying to pull himself up, although that results in more ab-crunches than sit-ups. With a little help it goes real smooth though. And if I just help him slightly slightly, he almost gets the sitting by himself thing right. This boy loves being upright.

Sitting by myself - almost!

We went to the Baby Boom Factory Store in Spartan yesterday. Really? Honestly? Don’t bother. They have nothing you can’t find in your regular Baby Boom store, and their prices are EXACTLY the same! I compared the prices of a few things I bought recently, and they were all the same And to be honest, our Baby Boom at Greenstone Mall has a much better variety of nappies than the factory store has! I was really disappointed, but at least now we know, right.

However, right next door to the Baby Boom Factory store, is the Fifers Bakery Factory Store – and they bake for Woolies! Here you can buy stuff you’d normally only find at a Woolies store, before they slap that W on it, at a MUCH lesser price! We walked out there with more cakes and sweet things than we would normally buy in a 3 month period – but that’s because everything was just so damn cheap! I’ve stuck a lot of stuff in the freezer though, because there’s no way we’ll be able to finish all of that before it goes off! So much for my diet/healthier lifestyle plans…

*Insert bit where I complain about my weight here* No one cares about that, so I won’t bore you with such news.

Oh, I finished that baby bag I started making this week. I love how it came out, and it works like a charm. It’s not too big, but not too small either. I suppose I could’ve made the straps longer, but will keep that in mind for next time.

Finished Nappy Bag

I’m now thinking I want to make a bag for my laptop as well. I don’t have a standard sized laptop – instead I have one with a large screen, and a full keyboard – NUM pad bit en alles. Now it doesn’t fit into any of my other sleeves or anything. I’m still pondering whether I want to make a separate sleeve bit just for the laptop, or if I want to make something all inclusive in which I can add the charger and all the other extra bits and so. Will look for a pattern to see what I can find. And if I can’t find anything, I suppose I’ll just have to make one up, ne?

At the shops today, I wore A2 in his sling that I made, and sjoe, does that work like a charm?! He didn’t cry once, and even fell asleep shortly after we started shopping. And then proceeded to stay asleep while A1 and I had breakfast too. I’m really glad that I’m not wasting my time and making foefie stuff, that seemed like a good idea at the time, but then just ends up at the back of the cupboard because in actual fact it doesn’t work… I have an idea for something else I want to make that we can hopefully use. And I need to make it now, before A2 becomes too big for it to be worth anything to us, and tis way I’ll also save some money on having to buy a baby carrier. It’s called a Mei Tai and apparently it’s all the rage in carrying your baby on your body lately. I think I read somewhere it was invented by the Scandinavians, but I stand to be corrected. Here’s a picture of what it looks like:

Mei Tai

You can wear your baby on your front or your back, and it has a hoodie too. I might just need to google instructions on how to best tie the Mei Tai and practice before I use it in public

I hope you all had a fabulous weekend, and may you have a wonderful, bad-news-free week ahead.

xxx

…to work.

I’m rather going to tell you about something else.

This weekend, I had a strong urge for a new baby bag, but decided instead of going out to find one and spend even more money, I’m going to make my own one. I have copious amounts of fabric, now I just need the perfect pattern. So I spent yesterday trawling the interwebs in search of the perfect pattern for me, and eventually I found one via some obscure search. I think I actually came across it after looking for something else. Anyhoodle, I started with the bag last night, and am just over halfway done. Tonight I only need to make the interior of the bag and then, Voila! 1 x New Baby Bag will be had

Here’s a picture of the bag so far…:

I like it. I may even make some more for other purposes. I know now which piece goes where and I may even shake the fabrics up some and give the bag a different look next time. Well, definitely a different look, I won’t use orange again, but I still have blue, yellow, green, purple, pink and black left to play with

xx

…yeah, I created one

Because I’m now a Fiancée, I can finally start planning our wedding. SO I decided to create my very own wedding blog, as you do, where I can post about my ideas and plans and try and keep track of what needs to be done, has been done and won’t be done at all. Pop on over to:

www.tamiyat.co.za/weddings

There’s a post on there you *may* not want to miss

xxx

…It has come so soon…

Tomorrow is the day that I go back to work. My maternity leave comes to and end, three days shy of 5 full months at home. The first two weeks were spent working from home, and then A2 decided that the time is nigh and made his way into the big, bad world. I’ve spent close on 4 and a half months at home with my boys; my baby and my eldest. I have watched A2 develop from a tiny little mush into a small little person. One with a feisty little personality, who let’s me know in no uncertain terms what he does and does not like. One who would much rather stay at home in his own environment with his things and his smells and his sounds, than outside at the shops or any social setting really. Don’t get me wrong, he’ll tolerate a bit of social gathering, but he loves it to come to an end way sooner than his mommy does. He’s a good boy, who has shown nothing but good behaviour – at home and at visits with friends. When he does cry, it’s because there really is something wrong, normally either hunger pangs, a dirty diaper or it’s sleepy time.

I’ve watched him grow and stretch and become a big boy. One who can eat real food, is starting to do crunches in the way of wanting to sit up, and can roll over. He doesn’t quite get it yet, but I have to be very careful where I put him down lately, because he wiggles his little body in all directions and ends up not even close to where I put him down. He started loving bath time and kicks the water with serious force, splashing water in my face every time. He babbles to his big brother, and his eyes follow us all across the room. He loves Teletubbies and 3rd & Bird. Everything he lays his hands on lately gets squished into his mouth. He laughs when you tickle his chin and loves it when you rub his belly.

I’ve been able to witness all these stages of growth and firsts and amazing feats… And now I’m going back to work… I’ve been looking forward to this day for a few weeks now, feeling I’m ready and it’s time, but tonight, I’m not so sure anymore. Tonight I feel sad and tearful and unhappy. I wish I could stay at home with my boys all the time. I’m actually really not cut out to be a Work From Home Mommy, and I don’t even know if I can be a Stay At Home Mommy, but tonight I damn sure wish I was! I’ve never been separated from A2 for longer than 3 or 4 hours at most, and now I have to face 10 hour stretches where I won’t be seeing him. I won’t witness anymore firsts, unless it happens over a weekend, or by luck the 2 hours at home before bed time. I’ll have to find out all his amazing accomplishments via-via and maybe even then I won’t be the second person to know. It’s really really making me feel sad.

I know I’ve done this before, and I survived that, and maybe it’s worse with your first born. Or maybe not. Then you don’t know what to expect, so you don’t *really* know what you’re missing out on. But having been there, and having been so attached to A2 for so very long, I think it’s actually going to be harder for me this time around…

Maybe if I go sleep now, I’ll feel better in the morning?

xxx

…which initially I wasn’t going to do, but have since changed my mind!

For my new years resolution I am going to follow Nigella Lawsons approach to life.
Always wondered about these so called experts.
Happy New Year everybody!

.

Are you familar with the first woman in the picture?  She’s Gillian McKeith  who has a show called “You are what you eat” or something.  And of course the second woman is Nigella Lawson, the chef.

Gillian McKeith

This woman is 51.

She is a TV “health guru” advocating a holistic approach to nutrition and ill health, promoting exercise, a pescetarian diet high in organic fruits and vegetables. She recommends detox diets, colonic irrigation and supplements, also making statements that yeast is harmful, that the   colour of food is nutritionally significant, and talks about the utility of lingual and faecal examination.

Nigella Lawson

This woman is 50.

She is a TV cook, who eats nothing but meat, butter and desserts, washed down with lots of wine.

So forget “join a gym and eat more celery”. This season, it’s food and booze all the way.