Miscarriage :'-(

I'm devastated.

I started bleeding yesterday afternoon.

Went to a GP at Intercare who has an ultrasound machine. She did scan, but couldn't find embryo at all, but said maybe it's too early on to detect - did blood test to check hcg levels.
They're way too low. :-( :-( :-(
And bleeding so much.

Had to do more blood tests for my gynea to look at and then she'll phone me for an appointment.  Hope I can see her soon.

I'm heartbroken, but i'll be OK. I know these things happen for a reason, and a March sibling just wasn't meant to be. We can try again.

xx

Potty Training

I've been taking a very relaxed approach to potty training with Mia.  Put her on the toilet before bath time, sometimes she makes a wee, sometimes not.  She doesn't ever tell me before she needs the loo, not even for a number two.  I think that's one disadvantage that toddlers have who stay at home - kids who go to school do potty train a lot faster because of structured potty training amongst all the peers.

But mostly I think winter has put me off actively potty training her - who wants to spend lots of time sitting on a cold toilet seat, walking around bare bum, or with wet broeks! 

However, she's been showing more and more interest in wanting to go nappy-free.  So I've decided mid-winter or not, let's tackle this thing a bit more pro-actively!

I made her a potty training chart, to stick lil star stickers on every time she does her business in the toilet, and after a couple of stars, she can get a present. 

I bought three gifts so long to get started - a set of glitter bangles, a Pez sweetie holder with Pez sweets, and a little Hello Kitty digital watch.  I wrapped them up, showed the prezzies to her and explained to her that she needs a couple of stars first. 

Yesterday went very well with two wee's in the loo! Yay!

I'm hoping to be nappy-free for at least a few months before the nappy-drill starts all over again with a newborn!
xx

Xmas in July Pajama Party!

Two weekends ago, a few friends got together and had a Christmas in July Pajama Party.

It was SO much fun.  It's necessary to switch off from mommy-mode sometimes, I think.  And what better way to do so, than with good friends, good wine, yummy snacks, dressed in pajamas, and getting Xmas presents in July! ;-)

It was actually a sleep-over party too - but I didn't stay the night, came home around midnight. I like my own bed best. ;-)

Special times.
xx

My dietician appointment

I made an appointment with a dietician a few weeks ago, before I knew I was pregnant.  I wanted to go to her, as I know a few people that have been to her and gotten great results with weight loss - but also, she does various blood tests to check all your levels, and adjusts your eating plan according to that, and I quite liked the idea that she would tell me what will work best for ME and my body and my needs.

I decided to still go, as I really want a healthy pregnancy, and the guidelines could still be applicable.

It was really interesting and insightful!

She says my cholesterol is fine, glucose is fine, iron is fine.  Insulin is fine - but she can see that I am "sensitive" to carbs.  Vitamin D levels are a bit low.  She said my thyroid is fine, vitamin B12 is fine too.

The secret, she says, is when to have carbs, and which carbs.  She's advised that I only have carbs at lunch time, or as a snack (a low GI rusk) before 4pm.  She's also quite strict with regards to not cheating, if she says no cheese, she means, no cheese.  No cheats. Eeeeeeee!

The guideline she has given me looks something like this:

• Breakfast: 2 eggs with veg, like tomato, mushrooms, green pepper, onion.  OR 1 cup baked beans.  OR 1 cup cooked oats with cinnamon and honey (only have oats on days that I exercise.)

• Snacks: Biltong, droe wors, cup-a-soup lite. 1 rusk

• Lunch:  Soup, without meat, can have veggies, beans, lentils. 1 slice of low GI bread with fat free cottage cheese and/or tomato.  OR 1 slice low GI bread or 3 Ryvitas with tuna (lite mayo) or cold meat or avo or fat free cottage cheese.  Salad with tomatoes, lettuce, cucumber, green peppers etc.

• No cheese.

• Supper:  Grilled fish (no batter), calamari, tuna, sole, hake, salmon, steak, stirfry, chicken, ostrich. No batter or skin. 
• NO boerewors, ribs, schnitzel, prawns.
• Focus on veggies: asparagus, brinjals, mushrooms, cauliflower, broccoli, green beans, gem squash, tomato, lettuce, baby marrows, patty pans, spinach, spring onions, celery, peppers, carrots, peas, etc.
• Choose one of following carbs for suppertime (optional):  butternut, sweet potato, beetroot, rice, baby potatoes, corn.

• Sweets:  Jelly babies, wine gums, marshmallows, liquorice, 75% dark chocolate (2 blocks)

• Cook-in sauces - look for low-fat options, must have less than 3g fat per 100g.

• Avoid white breads, pasta, potatoes, biscuits, chips, cakes, pastries, creamy sauces, butter and margarine.

• Drinks:  water, rooibos, herbal tea.  Sweeto in water for a sweet treat.

And that's that!  Sounds strict, but does sound do-able.  I'm starting right now.

She wants to see me again when I'm 14 weeks preggies to reassess.  She says there's no reason that I should pick up more than 8kg during pregnancy.  Sounds good!

She also wants to put me on two supplements, a vitamin D supplement, and a chromium supplement, which she says will help lots with my choccie cravings.  I told her I'll first find out from the gynea whether it's fine or not.

And then she sells a whole lot of ready made healthy frozen meals, rusks, biltong etc - I bought a few goodies to get me started.

Yay, I feel good, here's to a healthy pregnancy!
xx

A few pregnancy-related thoughts...

I can't get over the miracle of a baby growing week by week in my womb - it boggles my mind, it overwhelms me, it fills me with wonder and awe.

I really hope Mia is going to adjust well to a baby in the house.

I'm so tired already!  And my sense of smell is so heightened, it's so interesting!

I have forgotten so many pregnancy do's and don'ts.  Licked some raw cupcake batter - oops, can't do that coz can't have raw egg.  Ordered a cappuccino, oops, shouldn't do that, too much caffeine.  Used my nose spray, oops, not sure if I can use it!

We won't have a spare room in our house for visitors any more...

It was terrible to not be able to drink wine when I was on the Reboot Challenge - but now that I'm avoiding it for another reason, another lil being, it's much easier to do!

I really want a healthy pregnancy.  Tomorrow I am going to a dietician for some guidelines on how and what to eat.  And I will continue going to the gym, I want to aim for 3 times a week.

I'm petrified of picking up too much weight - it's been so nice to start wearing size 12 clothes, and they're already too tight for me to wear! Sob sob.

Wyn seemed a bit shell-shocked on Friday.  He was very quiet and not as outspoken or showing his excitement as much as I was. I was disappointed, even though I know this is how he is, he doesn't display excitement verbally. But then he sleeps at night holding my tummy... Aw bless.

I want to savour this pregnancy, as we only want two children.

Oh yay @ no AF for 9 months!

Even though I have been through labour and birth, I remain terrified.

Mia is not potty-trained yet.  Hopefully she will be by March next year - but then we will be starting a fresh again...  that will mean that we will go through 6 years of nappies. Eeeeek!

Oh gosh, I'm tired... Have I said that already?

I can't wait for a preggy bump! ♥

I am worried about my business... I can't scale down as much as I did when Mia was born - I literally had to start afresh as I lost quite a lot of clients. Can't do that again...

Let me go catch some zzz's while Mia naps!
xx

I'm pregnant! ♥

Mia is going to be a big sister! ♥

I found out yesterday.  AF was due on Tuesday, but I got a negative result on a home pregnancy test until Friday morning, when it gave a very fine second line, so feint I thought I could be imagining.  Took Mia with me to Intercare and got a blood test done, waited a couple of hours - had lunch at Isabella's with Mia and Wyn, and all went together to get the result - positive! 

I'm 4 weeks pregnant!

What fun to phone all the family members and share the good news.  Giggles and joy and excitement all around!

Mia's sibling is due on the 18th of March 2014.  Wow! Yay! Eeeek!

This was the preggy announcement pic that we sent to people and shared on Facebook:

And this is Mia's reaction to the news:

I think she was reacting to my excited tone of voice more than really understanding the full meaning - but she was amazed, did a happy dance, kissed me, and looked curiously at my tummy.

Two weeks ago I asked her what she would like for her birthday coming up in September.  She answered, "a kitty cat and a sister!"  ♥

xx

Books I have read lately

The last 5 books I read, have all been really good! 
I don't want to give too much away of what the books are about, so will just do a short review on each one.

The Light Between Oceans, by ML Stedman really had a profound effect on me. It's one of those books that just stays with you for days and days after finishing it.  A moral dilemma, so wrong that it feels right.  Told so, so beautifully, I felt as though I was there.  Descriptions of people and places are so vivid and engaging.  Really a highly recommended book!

The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult won't disappoint! This book started off a bit slow and I wasn't sure whether I wanted to carry on - but then it grabbed me and I couldn't stop reading!  Featuring a bread maker, a 90-something year old Nazi, and some twists, with enough descriptions of baking bread to have my mouth water constantly!

Nora Roberts is one of my favourite authors.  I took a bit of a break from her books a while ago, as they often follow a similar storyline - heroine's running from their past, falling in love with rugged village men...  and The Witness also does pretty much that as well.  But - it's written really well, with enough suspense to have me on the edge of my seat, enough twists and descriptions to keep me reading way into the night.  Another one that drew me in so much, I felt as though I was there.

Lesley Pearse, definitely one of my favourite authors!  Forgive Me is her latest book, and I must say, I have read better from her...  It's as though she took this main character, made a list of everything that could possibly go wrong in her life, and then worked it into the story.  Just a bit too much sadness for one person to bear.  Yes, it has a happy ending, of course.  Some of Lesley Pearse's other books that really stand out to me are Belle, The Promise (which follows on Belle and is really, really good!), Hope, and Gypsy.  These are some of my favourite books ever.

Spud - Exit, Pursued by a Bear is the fourth and last book in the Spud series by John van de Ruit.  I really enjoyed the whole series, it's written in diary style of a high school boy, and just full of all types of embarrassing moments of growing up, struggling with adolescent issues, family issues, school, friends, etc.  I enjoyed all four books lots, and when I finished this one, I wished with all my heart there was a 5th, would love to know what happened to Spud after high school! 

I love reading.  If you've read any great books recently, please share!
xx

An Update on Mia Mooi

I think it's time I do an update on Mia and her world!

I'm loving her character that is developing more and more each day.  She is gentle with animals, she is friendly to people in town, she likes to share her sweets, and she is very tactile - touches people, gives hugs and cuddles.  She has good manners mostly, saying please and thank you and sorry and hello and goodbye.  She is super sensitive, quick to get very emotional if we say 'no'.

Her communication is just amazing - she speaks fluently in English, and mostly fluently in Afrikaans.  She understands just about everything I tell her.  She loves telling family members "I love you so much!"

Learning:
 - She can count to 15 in English and to 10 in Afrikaans
 - She identifies nearly all colours in English, and all the major colours in Afrikaans
 - She identifies shapes in English, she loves to point out circles, squares, triangles, octagons, rectangles, diamonds, hearts and stars.

Favourite things on tv:
 - Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
 - The Gruffalo
 - The Gruffalo's Child
 - Room on the Broom
 - The Lorax
 - The Little Mermaid
 - Monsters, Inc
 - Tinkerbell
 - Doc McStuffins
 - Mr Maker
 - I can Cook

Favourite books:
 - The Gruffalo
 - The Gruffalo's Child
 - Charlie Cook's Favourite Book
 
Favourite activities:
 - Dancing to music on the tv
 - Playing with a ball
 - Helping me in the kitchen, pouring and mixing
 - Arts & crafts: painting, sticking, cutting (very recently got her a plastic scissor, so the cutting is still very new, she gets a bit frustrated when she doesn't manage, but still learning)
 - Going for walks and finding leaves, flowers, cones, grasses, stones, etc
 - Making a "pillow house" with blankets and pillows
 - Having picnics and tea parties

Potty training is going very slow - but hey, it's winter, the toilet is cold!  I thought I'll wait til August and then focus on that a bit more.

I want to start looking at playschools in the area, and put her name down for next year January.

She truly is the light of our lives, our sunshine child, our beautiful Mia Mooi.
xx

Disney on Ice

On Saturday I took Mia and my sister to see Disney on Ice - Passport to Adventure, at the Coca-Cola Dome in Randburg.

Mia loved it!  Especially the characters that she knew - Minnie Mouse, Mickey Mouse, Daisy and Donald Duck, The Little Mermaid, Tinkerbell - these were all huge hits!

During the part where it was Lilo and Stitch, who Mia doesn't know at all, she hung her bucket of popcorn over her arm, picked up my scarf, and told me, "let's go home" - I think then it started getting a little bit long for her.  But then Tinkerbell came on and had her staring in amazement again!

Lots and lots of kiddies in the audience, of course - but it was nice that the adults could at least appreciate the brilliant ice-skating done by all the characters!

"Liefling" show at the State Theatre

The inlaws have been visiting for a few days, and they got us tickets to go see Liefling at the State Theatre.  I'm really a huge fan of Bobby van Jaarsveld's music, and although I haven't seen the Liefling movie yet, I knew I would enjoy this show.

But wow, I didn't know just how much I would enjoy it!  I laughed out loud, and I cried at how beautiful it was, it really moved me!

Before the show we enjoyed a glass of vino, and took some piccies.

 

 

After the show, we waited for a while to see if we could get Bobby's autograph.  A few of the other actors came out and signed our programme, and they said that Bobby slipped out the back - we wouldn't get to see him.  Aaaaaw!

 

Walking through the parking lot back to our car - we were talking about being disappointed in not seeing Bobby, and the woman walking behind us suddenly said, "Sorry you couldn't see Bobby, but here's his mom!"  What a friendly lady!  Next thing she takes her phone out and phones him for us - he didn't answer, so we chatted to her for a while.  After a few minutes, her phone rang, Bobby was phoning her back!  She said hi to him and said she met some fans that were really keen to chat to him - then gave the phone to skoonma to say hi, and then she passed it to me!  YAY!!!

 

I told him that I really enjoyed the show, and bought the CD.

I then told him that I recently saw him at the gym, and was looking at him so much that I exercised my calves until they cramped!  Hahahaha, I wouldn't have been able to say that to him face to face!

 

 

What fun.  Really loved it.

xx

 

Chocolate Nutella Fudge with Sea Salt!

Oh my word.  Have you ever heard of anything more delicious in your life?  Chocolate. Nutella. Fudge. With Sea Salt!!

Have you ever seen anything more delicious-looking in your life?

(pic from Pinterest)

I made this on Thursday and took it with to my folks on the weekend - it didn't last very long, needless to say!  I loved it so much, and couldn't stop thinking about it, that I made it again yesterday.  Oops, a whole batch for myself!  It's really sweet, so actually can't eat a lot in one go... But I did manage to eat until I got a headache, LOL!

Highly, highly recommended.

Find the recipe here!

Enjoy! ;-)
xx

Fathersday Weekend

Wyn is in Kuwait for a week, and he had to leave on Friday - getting back this Friday night only.  So we celebrated our own lil Fathersday on Thursday night, with a special dinner and pudding, and gave Wyn his prezzies.

Then Mia and I were off to my folks in Pietersburg for the weekend.  My sis, bro, and my bro's girlfriend were there too, so it was nice to spend time with everyone.

Mia absolutely loved my sister's iPad, I was amazed at how she just knew how to work the touch screen!  She had some fun doing some puzzle and colouring apps that my sis downloaded for her.

We had a yummy sushi lunch at Cape Town Fish Market, mmm.

On Sunday morning we all gathered in my parents room and gave my Dad his prezzies.  Check Mia guzzling her tea bottle in bed!

Mia and I slept together both nights - the first night I didn't sleep very well - I was so aware of this lil person next to me, and she flopped her arm on my face a few times! Also, Wyn was still traveling and only arrived at his hotel after 2am, and I was waiting for his message the whole time to let me know he had arrived safely.  Saturday night I was so exhausted, we slept so well, until almost 8am! Heavenly.

 

We came back home on Sunday afternoon - I was too scared that the road would be too busy with today being a public holiday!

 

The house is super quiet without Wyn here in the evenings.  Last night I was already in bed with my book at 8pm! Can't wait for him to get back on Friday.

 

xx



Our beautiful table!

Wyn made us a table.  I am soooooo proud of him!  I absolutely love the table, it's just right, and sturdy, and gorgeous, and so well made!

I must admit that I was very sceptical - when we started looking around for tables, and saw how expensive the ones were that we liked, and Wyn said he will rather make us our own one.  I know time is an issue, and honestly, I didn't know if he COULD make a table - and even when he measured and designed the table on the computer, I was still unsure.  Until the wood was delivered and in our garage - then I realised, wow, this dude is serious! ;-)

The actual assembling of the table took him about 4 days.  But then the sanding down took ages, as he would just do some now and then.  Eventually it was smooth enough to his satisfaction, and this weekend I helped him stain it, to protect and weatherproof it.  Glad I can say that I helped too!

Next up are two long benches that will go on either side of the table.  I'll wait til spring before I start nagging him about them though - the garage is freezing cold in winter, will be so horrible to have to spend hours working in there!

Super proud of my hubby, I LOVE this table, and love to think that one day we'll pass it on to our kids, they can pass it on to their kids, etc. :-)

xx

"What would you like to do?"

At bedtime tonight, I said to Mia, that tomorrow is our day together the whole day - what would she like to do?

This is her list:

 - Painting
 - Have a tea party, with tea and milk
 - Eat some Rolo's
 - Jump on "jumpoline" (her word for her trampoline)
 - Go for some walks
 - Play with new pink play-dough we made

Demanding, much?  Too cute!!!
I can't wait.  What a fun day we're going to have.
xx

Of playdates, pirates, walks and moon-sand!

Mia's had a fun, eventful couple of days. ♥

Our weekend started off with a playdate on Friday afternoon, with two friends from Moms & Tots - neither Ruby or Zara go to Tots class anymore, but they're still the cutest three lil musketeers, and we haven't bonded with any other new Tots friends.  I think these three will be friends for life!



On Saturday we went to a special little girl's fourth birthday party, and the theme was Pink Pirates.  What an amazing party!  So much attention to detail.  Each little guest got a pirate outfit to wear, complete with swords, hats, eye patches and telescopes, and a loot bag.  They did treasure hunts and found jewellery!  They got temporary tattoo's!  They ate fish & chips out of adorable little paper boats with their names on, and they could dish up sweeties from a beautiful delicious sweetie buffet table.

 

Mia loved the pirate outfit so much, that she wore it yesterday and today already as well.  "I want to be a pirate!"

 

 

 

This morning we went for a little stroll out on the golf course, Mia on her plastic bike, Nala on the leash.  Fresh air and exercise for all of us! ;-)

 

 

 

Then, for some fun, we did messy play: We made moon-sand!  Check out this post for the recipe - we did the flour and oil one again, really a divine texture.