E - Vida

...And it's only Sunday! The floor is wearing one of each pair of Jorja's shoes, the crockery on the kitchen counter towers high and pays tribute to PJ's dinner function from Saturday... Quite honestly, each room rolls into the next one and with a little luck I hope we'll find our beds tonight! A friend just said it simply, "Long weekends make me lazy!" South Africans enjoy a 5 day weekend this week(end) - Well, the GP-ers are still on school holiday anyway - and it's showing right from the kitchen sink to the laundry basket. But really, in this weather, what are we supposed to do?! * Photographs have been removed from this post due to its highly sensitive content. Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

On the eve of Ethan's 6 week old mark, we enjoyed a late afternoon nap while P-J went to fetch Jorja at school. It was a rare, quiet, precious occasion. Yes! We've reached the 6 week milestone and my 'grace period' is officially over. I am once again 'legal' to drive (the car, but not my husband around the bend), exercise (much more than walking), stretch (to hang the many loads of laundry), lift (heavy bags and my productivity levels) etc. Drat. No more 'ag shame' coming my way! The week ahead is filled with check ups and vaccinations for Ethan, a school outing and swimming for Jorja, a function for P-J and a visit to the office for me - and it's already a short week in South Africa! We're only so calm about it all because we've just returned from a relaxing stay at Club Mykons Resort on the West Coast. What a treat! The four of us fit into the king size bed there much better than in our smaller size at home ;)

Many people blog for many different reasons - Take for instance the movie Julie and Julia  about the famous Chef and writer that inspired other foodies to blog about their culinary journey! Some people blog about political interests, while others blog about study topics or travel attractions. (An unknown person's blog about Buenos Aires helped us find our way a good few times while we were there!) Just this week I heard someone say "...Blogging is just graffiti with punctuation." Granted, this was part of the script of the movie Contagion and I've come to realise that the world of film is more misleading than we care to admit - until you're the one sitting there waiting for the emphatic water breaking, light brow sweat and all cleaned up in 2 minutes wonder of movie-made child birth! Blogging can mean so much more, if you want it to. The reason why I blog may be different from anothers - and that's fine. I'm not out to compete for the Blog Awards...

I composed this post on the back of the CT Jazz Festival weekend. This post is so delayed, it's hard to see the correlation now! (James Ingram was in Town to perform, and I've used one of his well-known songs as the blog title...) I guess that just helps confirm what PJ has been saying all along - we aren't due for an outing (to the jazz festival or anything like it) for another, say, 20 years! This week I find myself more 'in love' with Ethan than the week before. Could it be? I love the way he smells of new and baby. I love the way he curls himself up tightly into a ball. Old habits die hard, I see! I love the way his eye contact with me makes my heart skip a beat I love the way he can sleep for 4 hours at a time, sometimes... Yes, I'm finding the adjustment from 1 to 2 quite something. And no one should say that you're an 'old mom' if you're heading for number 2 (or 3 or more!) because being a Mom to a boisterous 2-year old and a 2-wee...

We know it's not a real smile, yet, but we like it all the same!  Hard to believe that it’s been two weeks since Ethan was born – the sun was out, the kids were at school and payday was far away! Nowadays, the rain is here with a little chill, the kids are running riot on their two-week Easter holiday break and payday has arrived (for some). Yes, we’ve established that the adjustment in the du Plessis home should be called ‘a new kind of normal’. We say this in the hope that soon we will be settled and operating as ‘normal’. PJ is back at work and in all fairness, I’m sure he’s enjoying it! Jorja did not take a break from Bonny Babies during this exciting time, but she did score a public holiday in Week 1 of Ethan’s arrival and so we were faced with the reality of a young family-of-four very early in the experience. Ethan and I spend most of our time at home…Challenging some days and blissfully peaceful on other days. He sleeps pretty well during the day. It’s the night-t...