...And then life happened!

Some years ago I started this blog as a means to keep in touch with a few of my friends, friends that went through some of the things we went through, friends with kids around the same age as my daughter, friends with mutual interests.  Of course life intervened, and the blog died down.  Sadly, so did some of those friendships, but that's an entire post all on its own, should I feel so inclined one day, haha.

Reading the previous posts, I stand in awe at how fast time goes by.  When I wrote the last post, Girly was about a year and a half old, still in the baby house and an only child.  Now, she is 7 (going on 17...), in grade 2 of 'big school' and big sister to an almost 5 year old little monster (who, I might add, is the personification of 'too wise for his size'!).

This blog will most probably not be read by anyone but me, and that is just fine.  This will be my space to rant and rave and just let it all out.  In a previous post I mentioned that I suffer from verbal diarrhea, so to give my friends' and family's ears a break, I will come here from time to time.  If someone ends up reading this: I am truly sorry, hahahaha!

xx

T minus 2 weeks

Two weeks from now, I will be sitting on the beach, wiggling my toezies in the sand, drinking an ice cold...well, colddrink!! I honestly can not wait. We are only going away for a few days, but we intend to make the most of this precious time. I can't remember the last time hubby and I went on holiday alone...but it was a long time ago. We always ended up either going with family or visiting friends. This will be our first 'official' holiday as a family and girly's first visit to the coast. We've already said that we want to have the video camera handy for the first time she sees the huuuuuuuuuge swimming pool and sand pit. I predict it is going to be a face to remember!!

In other news, this is going to be a relatively busy week. Tomorrow evening we are doing a quick visit with the Cowleys, R will be taking a few pictures of our little family, with mom all dressed up in her graduation gear (as girly can't go to the ceremony with us). On Thursday it is the long awaited graduation ceremony, hooray! I'm a little in two minds about the whole thing, a little excited on the one hand, but also quite nervous about what chaos awaits us (we're dealing with Unisa, remember)...and VERY nervous that girly, not to mention her babysitters, will be okay.

Now usually, it would've been smooth sailing. 1) Phone grandma. 2) Give her the date and time of whatever function we might have. 3) Leave girly in ouma and oupa's capable care. But ouma and oupa are away on a photography course in Put-sonder-water or Gat-sonder-end or some other obscure small town. And the in-laws aren't able to come up from the lowveld to babysit. So I've asked one of my collegue's and her husband (that also work with us) if they'd be able to babysit. To which they said yes before I'd even completed the question, because they love girly as if she was family. Now, I know that she'll be in good hands (they are two amazing people!), but I'm still nervous. Normal, no? I predict though that she'll manipulate a chocolate or two out of them before dinner and that she'll probably still be awake and playing her little heart out by the time we get home.

On Saturday we are going to little N's first birthday party! I am very excited about this, the invites were gorgeous and I think it is going to be a blast.

And that, my dear friends, are the forthcoming events in a nutshell!

This and that

My girly said her first 'sentence' this morning (Afrikaans sentence, that is, she's been speaking in full Chinese sentences for weeks...might even be Arabic, DH is certain she phones Osama once in a while...)!!! Daddy was in the kitchen and next minute she asks him "Pappa, maak jy?". Now, I know exactly where she gets this from, whenever I can't see her and I'm certain she's up to some serious mischief, I always ask "Wat maak jy?".

Also this morning, we had our first true 'vloermoer' (not full fledged yet, but we had the crying and throwing ourselves on the floor bit). I just stepped over her and ignored her and it was over very quickly, but I'm sure this was the first of many to come. Oh the joys :-)!

Last night, I had to put in a hell of a lot of effort to keep a straight face. After her bath, madam went to stand at the coffee table and immediately made for the remote, which she knows is off limits. So I give her a quick, stern talking to and she leaves the remote, stands staring at the TV and I just see the little finger inching closer and closer to the remote again... When I cleared my throat, she bolted down the corridor, laughing! It was so funny, wish I could've caught it on camera!!

My gorgeous girl is 18 months old today, a year and a half...... I honestly don't know where time has gone. She is getting cuter and cuter by the day, a real little clown, and I love her more every second! We are enjoying her soooooo much and can never thank God enough for blessing us with an angel like her!!

My brag for the day

My girly has decided it's a good idea to start counting. Apparently 'een' is not very important, but 'twee' en 'drie' are tops!

It's official!!

I am a graduate!!! I received a letter from Unisa today confirming that I have, indeed, completed my degree. Now, it might sound odd that I wasn't sure about that, but let me tell you a quick story: At the end of 2008, my sister got her exam results, passing with flying colours and was convinced that she was finished with her degree, as per the requirements stated in the yearbook. However, upon further investigation, she found that Unisa did not agree with her on this. Eventually she was told that she still needed to do two specific subjects to complete her degree. When, disheartened but eager to finish, she tried to register for said subjects...she was told that they do not even exist anymore! After lots and lots (and lots and lots) of time on the phone and e-mail, Unisa finally decided that she ís, in fact, finished with her degree. See why I don't take anything at face value when it comes to them? But now I have proof, now I can relax!!

A celebration of life!

After a battle of 3 and a half years, my dear friend Ciska and her husband fell pregnant through IUI during May 2008. On 16 February 2009, Louie Auguste van Niekerk was born.


Unfortunately, his parents’ joy was short-lived, as the next day the paediatrician attending to him diagnosed a heart murmur and he was admitted to NICU. He was seen by a cardiologist who was confident that no intervention would be necessary and he was discharged from hospital on 20 February.

A tense few weeks followed in which the family undertook various trips to the paediatrician because of Louie throwing up, not drinking properly and overall just being a sick little boy. On 19 March, during yet another visit to the doctor, they were told that Louie had suffered heart failure. He was admitted to hospital immediately and later airlifted to Unitas Hospital where he would receive open heart surgery the next day. When the cardiologist informed Ciska and Frank about what the operation would entail, she told them that Louie is very weak and that there is a good chance their baby boy will not survive the surgery, words no parent should EVER have to hear! Family and friends started praying for this little guy immediately!

When I woke up on the 20th, I had an Afrikaans hymn in my head which, try as I might, I just couldn’t get out again: “Strome van seën”, which I suppose would directly translate to “Streams of blessings”. It was a cloudy day, ominous and scary, until a dear friend of ours sent through a prayer she had written for Louie, ending with “Let Your love, comfort and healing rain down today”. All of a sudden I started experiencing the rain as an incredibly tangible sign of God’s presence! (May I confess that I did absolutely NO work that day as I couldn’t concentrate at all and I spent the entire day silently praying for little Louie and his parents...)

Ciska smsed through updates as things went along: they’re waiting for the doctor, they’re preparing him for theatre etc. If memory serves, it was raining the whole time he was in theatre. At one stage, I had an incredibly foreboding feeling and all of a sudden it started really POURING down...which gave me an unbelievable sense of calm amidst the fear. Thinking back on this, I still get goosebumps. When I spoke to a mutual friend of me and Ciska later that day, I told her about my experience, also that I have a feeling that they came very close to loosing Louie at some point (hence the feeling of doom) but that God intervened in that operating theatre (hence the showering rain and the feeling of calm). She lives in Durban and went to her church during the time of the operation. It was raining in Durban... At some point during the operation she felt the same sense of foreboding, mixed with a feeling of total calm...

Words cannot describe the relief I felt when I received Ciska’s sms that Louie had made it through surgery, nor can I begin to imagine the feelings my friends experienced when they heard the doctor say those magical words! Of course the little man was by no means out of the woods, and the 48 hours following the operation was very critical. But in my heart I knew that this miracle boy was going to be just fine, that God still had BIG plans for his future.

On my way to work that morning I had been listening to a CD of Navi Redd and as I got into the car that afternoon, the last few words of a song was playing “Let it rain, rain on me”... The goosebumps where back! When I got to Shevaughn’s school, I told the headmistress how the operation went (I had the world and his wife praying for Louie!), I told her about the significance the rain held for me, the prayer Charné had written and she told me the following story: at some point, it had hailed a little bit, and after it stopped, some of the black assistants at the school took the kiddies outside to pick up some of the ice. They have a custom to eat the hail, they call it ‘healing rain’... I just cried!

On 29 November 2009, Ciska and Frank finally got to Christen their precious miracle boy. I have to admit that it was the most emotional Christening I had ever attended!


Next week Saturday, we will be having a very special party: we will be celebrating Louie’s first birthday!! I know that this past year has probably been the worst and hardest year Ciska and Frank has ever had to face, and hopefully ever will have to face. But God has blessed them with an amazing little boy, who in the first year of his life, has touched more lives that most of us will touch in an entire lifetime. Despite all the pain he has had to endure this past year, he is just the friendliest, happiest baby, forever smiling and laughing. Love you to bits, little guy!!
(Thanks to Ciska for allowing me to share their story and to show you what a gorgeous little boy she has!)

Just one last brag...

...with my beautiful girl! I love her to bits!!!