Wednesday, August 18, 2010

My Baby Wrap (my favourite thing)

The kids and I attend a Fun With Mum playgroup and when we were there last week I saw two moms with 7 week old babies in this gorgeous Baby Wrap.  I instantly fell in love with the comfortable look and the beautiful, deep hug your baby gets when you wear her.  So I just HAD TO have one.  I got the info from one of the moms and contacted Emma, who makes them (one of the sweetest Mommies I've ever met).  Here is her website.

She lives close to us so I picked my wrap up the other day and have worn it ever since.  I put it on in the morning when we wake up and take it off in the evening when we go to bed.  When Jane is awake I carry her facing forwards so she can see everything that's going on (and the mischief her brother gets up to) and when it's nap time I 'hug' her facing towards me but my hands are free to see to Andy and the housework.  She is so content and only starts getting niggly when it's time to feed.

Before this I used a great sling that I used when Andy was little as well but I found after more than 2 hours of wearing it the straps and buckles started working on my back.  With this material wrap all I feel is soft fabric and my baby's little arms hugging me.


Tuesday, August 17, 2010

My treasures

Oh how I love my two precious blessings. My heart overflows!

Rosebud's first dress!

95% of Jane's clothes are all from Andy when he was a baby so you can imagine the amount of blues and greens.  She has one pink baby grow that I like to dress her in when we go out cause it limits the comments on 'is it a boy'. :)  So when I was having some 'me time' (which means shopping alone without the kids - more often grocery shopping) I just HAD TO celebrate having a beautiful daughter and bought her a frilly dress and 2 pairs of pink tights to go with it.  I just love how gorgeous she looks in it.  She just melts my heart (even when she is wearing blue). :)


The dress...

The tights...


Brother kissing his princess...

My little Rosebud

9 weeks old...


My little Rosebud

8 weeks old...



Monday, August 2, 2010

My little Rosebud

7 weeks old...



Comments

Some of my blog readers have told me they can't post comments so I went through the settings and changed it from 'registered users only' to 'anyone' so there should be no problems with posting comments now.

When Jane is older she will look back on this blog and treasure each comment.

Thank you!

My little Rosebud

6 weeks old...

A day in the life of...

My eldest sister and I had a good laugh over the life of a mother. A typical scenario would be my 30 minutes appointment at the Gynea yesterday.

I needed to go to the Gynecologist for my six weeks checkup so here's how it went...
I got up almost at the crack of dawn and started with the housework and washing for the day in between keeping two kids happy by changing nappies, feeding, bathing and exclaiming with shouts of joy and admiration over a proudly built lego tower. After a few hours of this we're finally ready to go so before setting a foot out the door I do the whole nappy changing, feeding thing again and as we step out the door I wipe the sour milk vomit off our clothes that can't be changed now cause then we'll be late so I thank my lucky stars that Jane's breastfed and her vomit doesn't smell.

Buckle two kids into the car and off we go to pick my sister and her two girls up. Drive 45 minutes to my Mom's house (realizing on the way that I forgot the dummy at home). Drop everyone off at said house, feed Jane and head off for a peaceful 5 minute drive to the hospital for my appointment.

After lunch and some visiting I do the whole nappy changing, feeding, dropping sister off, unloading kids out of car, feeding, nappy changing, rest of housework and washing and there you have an half an hour appointment at the Gynea all done.

Random Family Pics

Spending time with cousins Kezia and Hope...



On Saturday we visited Aunty Rachel and Uncle Andrea...


Storytime

I was vacuuming Andy's room yesterday and when I popped out the room to fetch something I came back to this... Andy 'reading' to Jane.


What an exciting story...

Honeymoon Wipes

I LOVE my re-usable wet wipes! I bought some beautifully soft flannel on our honeymoon in Oudtshoorn almost 7 years ago so that I could sew something for when we have children and at last it has found the perfect use. Andy and I cut it up into squares (about the size of a disposable wet wipe when unfolded) and overlocked (surged) the edges.


I made a wipes solution by mixing 1 Tbsp. olive oil, 1 Tbsp. aloe vera gel, 1 Tbsp. baby wash and 1 drop lavender essential oils. Mix it in a bottle with a spray top with about 2 cups of water (I just fill my bottle up to the top).


To use: keep wipes in a wipes container and when you need one shake the wipes solution and spray it onto the wipe thus creating a 'wet' wipe. Simple, easy, kind to the environment and you never have to spend money on disposable wet wipes that will end up in the garbage.

I make a smaller version of the wipes solution for our nappy bag and it comes in handy for big brother too. Just this morning I wiped muddy knees after having a fall at the library park. :)

Fun with Big Brother

Andy adores his little sister and spends the greater part of his day kissing her, talking to her and staring at her adoringly...


One of the hundreds of kisses Jane receives daily...



At Home

Settling in at home is definitely easier the second time round. No insecure feelings of 'why is my baby crying' and 'am I doing the right thing'. And the added bonus of having a very willing and joyful little helper on hand. Big brother Andy is having a marvelous time with his new little sister (and doll). He helps with bath time, nappy changes, dressing and even winding her after a feed...


Helping with the daily nappy folding...


Jane's first bath at home...

Jane's Birth

We were once again blessed with a beautiful natural birth. Jane's due date was 12 June 2010 and on exactly that date at 1:30am in the morning I went into labour. Andy and I stayed at my parents' house for the last week of my pregnancy because our home is a 45 minutes drive to the hospital whereas they stay 5 minutes drive away. My dad took my mom and me through to the hospital about half an hour after my labour started because I could feel the contractions were very strong and coming on faster. Andy stayed with my Granny at my parents house. Luke came through from our home and arrived at the hospital at 2:30am. When I got to the hospital and had my first check to see how far I was dilated I felt quite relieved as it was already 9cm. The contractions were so strong, nothing at all to the first few hours of Andy's labour.

My gynecologist got contacted as soon as I arrived and she arrived at the hospital at 3:03am (after having attended the first soccer world cup game a few hours earlier). She ruptured the membranes (broke my water) and within 7 minutes and a few hectic contractions Jane was born. My mom and Luke were there all the time and it was such a special experience to share with the wonderful lady who gave birth to me and my husband (my king and best friend).

Jane was put on my chest immediately after birth and latched on for the first time as I adoringly cuddled my little girl. Luke cut the cord again like he did at Andy's birth.

All in all it was a beautiful experience and a relieving 2 hours from the first contraction till when she was born (with Andy I was in labour for 13 hours).

After cuddling with Mommy, Daddy got a chance to cuddle too...


In my hospital room after the birth...


At 10am Andy came to visit with the grandparents. The first photo of me with my two darling children...


Time to cuddle with... Granny and Oupa...


Gran...


Great Grandmother...


Our first family photo...


We thank the Lord for a safe and speedy delivery and a wonderful family.