E - Vida

It's the final countdown. I have approximately 7 hours of unemployed sleep left. A new season awaits.  I start my 8th? 9th? 10th? contract and in a new job description. My baby will not be with me all day. For the first time ever, I'll be a mom to 3 kids, wife and office worker all at the same time. Eek! I'm both nervous and excited.  After all these years, it can still feel like the first day of school. Just pottering and packing.  Do I overhaul the kitchen or just do the dishes? Library bag, swimming togs, baby supplies, expressing kit, office tools, school lunches...oh and don't forget dirt day! A whole chapter been and gone.  I have been home with Adrienne for 20 weeks. I can't believe how quickly the months have slipped by. The whole idea of 'maternity leave', pajama days, slow cooking dinner and laundry at leisure is ...over. It's a graduation of sort. My youngest child is growing up and going to daycare. I sho

I still clearly remember the bus trip on my first youth camp up in Gauteng. We travelled in almost complete silence for the entire day and night journey. Ridiculous, in hindsight. On the return trip just 7 days later, with the excitement of camp and friends and more, we couldn't believe how we'd wasted the 20+ hours in the week before by not engaging! It came to mind today when I realised that nursing in the wingback for at least 30 minutes a go, many times a day, was the perfect time and place to get stuck into a book! I mean, what a great opportunity for a mom to escape for a bit? And to think that I almost wasted my entire bus trip of maternity leave before discovering it. [So when I walked over to the chair for the next feed, I caught myself breaking out a smug smile, just to reiterate!] And that's really how I'm starting to feel about a few more things... For instance, this blog posting, and forgetting that the reason I started it in the first place was to

It was brrrrrrrr cold today - at one point, I stopped talking altogether because it seemed to use up too much body heat! Here are a few pros and cons of being              at home , with a baby , during Winter : PROS Late morning tea and cuddles in a warm bed when everyone else heads to school CONS Night time nursing and nappy changing in single digit temperature when everyone else is sleeping Creating sweet smelling pint sized clean laundry bundles at leisure Desperately trying to wash and dry several loads of laundry in the rain  Playing peek-a-boo in pajamas Playing peek-a-boo and watching in horror at the icy air escaping from your lips  No real pressure to primp and polish  It's your coveted shower time - all 5 minutes - and the water won't get hot Leftover dinner for lunch Not able to pass the kitchen without grabbing a snack .

It just felt like a Ethan-day. Those are few and far between these days and need to be 'opportuned' in our party of five. Morning cuddles. Hugs. High fives. Word searches. Plaster projects. Joking. Dancing. Singing. Afternoon cuddles. Helping hands. Nappy duty. Quiet conversations. Evening cuddles. Hand holding. Back rubbing. Blanket buddying. Soft smiles. My boy child with the beastly appetite - tears and tantrums to match - has a unique way of warming my heart. And it is warm!

Baby lays in my arms, cocooned in coral fleece with a peep hole only to let the food in. This is winter. Back in the day, the Geduld girls (aka the von Trapps of Fairways) sang a cheerful song called "Our House Runs on Sunshine, Peace and Love." It was a hit... ...Well, I'm writing from that very plot this morning and we can only hope for Peace and Love to show up because the Sunshine sure won't today! Our lazy, hazy, crazy days of Summer seem long gone. Leathered caramel skin, slip slops and salads are a distant memory and I have a headache from clenching my jaw to fight off that frosty feeling. But what is weather like this good for? A mass stay awake with brothers, sisters and cousins, Baked puddings, hearty soups and mallowed- hot chocolate And a getaway up the Garden Route to a cabin with a awesome fireplace! I.can't.wait.

Out of sheer curiosity (Google, the schedule and) I did a tally today. I counted just over fifteen weeks that I've been based at home. That's about two thousand five hundred and twenty hours. Or one hundred and five days. See where I'm going with this? And in all this time I haven't blogged. Not once. I find this very frustrating! I've spent a lot of time thinking, spent time waiting for the washing cycle to finish, watching movies, the rain fall and the news reports, there's been time spent boiling the kettle for copious cups of tea, writing and re-writing to do lists, filling the calendar with celebrations, errands and countdowns ...and also getting (some) sleep. It would be rude of me to not mention - on a new line - that we *have* been getting *some* sleep, giving credit to the days when things run brady-bunch smoothly. And in all this time I have tried to be productive, tried to be progressive, tried to get organised, tried to be and look orderly bu

Just over one week ago, our daughter Adrienne Naomi entered this world and promised to change our lives forever. I have composed many pieces based on when we first learnt that we were expecting another baby, the suprise pregnancy experience, the ways we started preparing for our newest family member, the growing anticipation as my belly grew and the weeks counted down and then her arrival on 14 April 2016. But instead of posting them, I have just put some of the writings down in her journal. It took us three kids to realise that some things - even some of our proudest, 'brag-able' moments - can and should be protected fiercely and privately. Of course, this is the complete opposite to the way we announced our previous pregnancies, blogging regularly about everything from prenatal vitamins to post natal swelling, uploading the birth story within days of our homecoming and sharing more family photos than an advert for discounted deals for group holidays to Mauritius.

Well here we are again - at the back end of another phenomenal Cycle Tour silly season and wondering how it all passed by so quickly AND with us relatively unscathed! Full days, long hours and sacrificing most of everything else for the sake of your peak period at the office is a decision I have made once a year for eight years...and every year I 'move back' home and count my blessings! Arriving home yesterday afternoon, the kids wasted no time in getting me reaquainted with their favourite post-school hobbies - swimming, running amok while Dad braai's dinner, early evening showers, puzzle making, colouring and reading. Yes...we did them all between home time and bedtime! And I was so glad to be home to share in this with them. I am grateful...for the opportunity to have been apart of this event for another year. For the people that I work with, for the chance to be a team player in a worthwhile cause and for the enjoyment that I get out of this work.