E - Vida

You were not nearly what I expected. After what seemed like a lifetime of being 20-something, along you came and changed the game. I had another baby and even after a long time my tummy didn't go away. I also wear sleeved tops almost all of the time. My head sprouted grey hairs and I now take a really long uhmmmm do I have to  before I epilate my legs. I completed my first 5km run - and in Shoops! red socks no less. Although I can't deny having worn my shoes, I didn't take a single ballet class and instead started doing the Mommy shuffle, much to my family's dismay. I parted ways with my beautiful road bike. I cut my hair. Short. And once I'd overcome the shock I realised that it brought me such relief. Who knew that so much happiness could be tied up into a pony tail? I joined a virtual book club and learnt to read for pleasure again. I consciously slowed down my social media footprint. I battled loneliness. I worked a different job and sold the first car t...

I kept wondering if he would realise that other kids his age ask for a fancy, stand alone, hire-worthy, themed party. I thought for sure that he would regret missing his opportunity... Turns out, he had a plan all along!  A family birthday dinner kicked off the festivities with no less than F-I-V-E birthday cakes, Mommy. Followed by a Saturday of specific treats - Airplanes, Bicycles, Milkshakes, Fish 'n Chips and Family. I maintain that Middle Child is only too happy to be so...as long as he stayed the only little man in the house. Our gentle giant has grown up a lot in the last year and we still marvel at the way he can bring out the best chaos in Eldest One and best giggles in Baby.  We love you so much and pray that you will enjoy being 5!

I moved my 'nursing' chair out of our bedroom this weekend. Quite unplanned (but not un-thought of) might I add. A friend stopped by with her thirsty 3 month old and it seemed easier to move the chair than to clean up my room! So no, I haven't stopped nursing my almost 10-month-old Baby, but this shift does make it seem like those baby days are numbered! I suppose it could also mean that I'm so over nursing etiquette 101 (where the Mom sits upright cradling baby across her waistline) and that these days I simply sleep walk over to the cot, retrieve only slightly awake but moany Baby and lay her in the bed between Dear Husband and I (and sometimes other kids too!) and leave her to nurse buffet style. It's not my proudest accomplishment but it gets the job done while affording me some more R n R. No complaints there.You don't know how many nights I spent sleeping in that wing back chair. I'm surprised I haven't got a winged back by now! I'd c...

Only as a Mom, can you take a little nap at 20h30 on a Tuesday, wake up at 22h30 and go about the rest of your duties for the day! But that's not all. What was most unusual about this evening? Waking up to the smell of Dear Husband preparing measured meals (his side gig) after a seriously long day job. Perspective! At least I got a time out. I could harp on about Baby's sore mouth that gives her max 2 hours of sleep at a time. Or the heat. The bring-a-plate-of-eats request from Middle Child's school that will nag me until I prepare it in a panic on the night before or the fact that I seriously sent our Eldest One to her ballet class on the wrong day, last week! These things have been happening for no extra special reason. Just life. True, I am a little underwhelmed with the state of affairs right now - not withstanding the SONA traffic management plan and my pending eye test. Some of us long for that indulgent milkshake or camping by the river ...I'm just wish...

Ha ha! Where do I even begin? By explaining the new name? That would be electronic life (super direct translation for a slightly more punchy poise). And the significance? Well, simply some homegrown colloquialism. The Spanish twist - that's for our stint in Argentina that helped get this whole blog idea going in the first place. What about my attempt at a play on words for this post's title? Sadly, no prizes for guessing. It's either: a. As in an electronic vent and/or b. An occurence - worth noting since it's only been 5 months since the last one! These little settings updates have been egging me on to get back in the blog game and despite everything else waiting to be done, I decided to at least make a 2017 mark on the page... Since returning to an office job after baby number three, I've been burning rubber (copious bottles of midnight oil and the dinner on occasion) in an effort to keep going! Just today I clean forgot about a pot of rice I w...

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 ...