Magical Christmas 2012!

We had a special Christmas with the inlaws in Bethlehem.  Mia loved the Christmas tree, the lights, the presents - it was such a magical atmosphere!

She wasn't very keen on Father Christmas - who sounded like Oupi, but didn't quite look like him!  She loved ripping the wrapping paper off her presents, and she was super spoilt with lots of wonderful prezzies.

xx

Pietersburg Weekend

We had such a special weekend with my folks in Pietersburg.  Mia is so blessed with so much love! 

We went to the garden centre - Mia LOVED the plants, water features and concrete animals!  Went to the petshop - I nearly left with a puppy.  Mia loved the lil bunnies.  We jumped on a trampoline, and ate ice cream, and looked at donkeys and tortoises.

We swam, braai'ed lots, and really just enjoyed each other's company.

Mia got to open her big Xmas prezzie - a little miniature kitchen!  She adored it, and spent the rest of the weekend "cooking in oven".  It was too big for us to bring home - my folks will bring it when they come here again.

Special times, special memories - I just love this time of year!
xx

I will kiss you forever!

My darling Mia,

You're going through a stage (well, I hope it's just a phase!!!) where you don't want us to kiss you.  You get quite agitated when we do!  If I kiss your face, you claw and scratch at your own face, and shout, "Noooo, not face! Only leg!" And then you offer your leg for me to kiss.

Or else we have to bribe you for a kiss - "Want a choccie? Kiss mommy first!" "Want blommetjie shoes on? Kissy first!" "Want to watch Barney? Kissy first!" Just so that we can get a few precious, special, priceless smooches every now and then!

The latest, if your family try and kiss you, or touch you, or rub your back - you say, "Just look!"  I love this - please always tell this to anybody that tries to kiss you or touch you - except, that is, when it's your mommy!  :-D

I have to let you know this:  I will kiss you forever.  Whether you like it or not...  I will kiss you forever!

You are so, so beautiful, special, amazing, precious, and kissable!
I will kiss you forever and ever.

xx

Yum yum, iced marie biscuits!

Mia had so much fun today, icing marie biscuits and decorating them!

I mixed three bowls of icing sugar, so that she could have different colours.  And then gave her mini marshmallows, smarties and vermicilli to decorate them with.

It's messy...  But so much fun!
Now we have something to take with on our weekend to visit Granny and Oupa!

Mia's Advent Calendar House

Mia got given this beautiful wooden house, as her first Christmas prezzie from my sister-in-law.  It has 24 little drawers, to put sweeties in, and then track the countdown to Christmas.

I'm having lots of fun this year, making a big deal out of all the festivities with Mia.  She loves it!  She loves all the decorations in the shops, she loves our "Father Christmas Tree", and if I ask her what does Father Xmas say, she says, "Ho ho! Meeeeerry Christmas!"

I wasn't sure if this little countdown would work - she'd want to open all the drawers in one go! Or she might throw a bit of a wobbly when we tell her to only have ONE each day...  But she's taken to the concept so well!!  It's our little ritual after supper time.  Wyn takes the house off the shelf, puts it infront of her, shows her which drawer to open, and then puts the house away again. 

She happily enjoys her one sweetie, and then accepts that she must wait until the next supper time!
 :-)
I love the concentration on her little face as she opens her sweetie - she insists on doing it all herself.

 

Fun times!

xx

Mia grew some grass!

Mia got a gift from my mom, from the garden centre.  It's a whole little kit with everything you need to grow some grass - the soil, the seeds, the lil pot.  Mia had lots of fun putting it all together.  She lost interest during the two weeks that the grass took to grow.  Then stared in amazement when the lil pot had "long hair"!  So we trimmed his hair - she held the scissor with two hands and I helped her control it.  So cute! :-)

Pine Lake Holiday 2012

We had a blissful week in White River.  It was so special to spend so much quality time with my hubby and lil girl!

The 3.5hour car trip went really well - thanks to the portable dvd player!  Altho the next thing we need to get Mia, is a pair of earphones - not fun for us to have to listen to Barney, Noddy and Lollos the whole way! 

We had nice weather on the Saturday, and we swam a bit - Mia just loved it.  The rest of the week was really overcast, rainy, and sometimes quite chilly - until our last day, Thursday - and we were able to swim again and enjoy the sunshine.

I packed enough "mobile-entertainment" for Mia so that we could eat out a couple of times.  Had a divine sushi lunch one day, and Mia coloured in, played with playdough, and ate her chicken strips.  Another day we went to Mugg&Bean for brekkie, and Mia was super good there too.  Yay!

Wednesday night was date night - we bathed Mia and put her to bed, and then one of the housekeepers stayed at our chalet while Wyn and I went for a special dinner, it was great to just sit and chat, relax, share a bottle of wine and enjoy delicious food.

Mia watched her first-ever movie:  Madagascar!  With a few minor interuptions here and there where she decided to play a little bit, but for the most part, she lay on the couch and snuggled with me - heavenly!  She laughed out loud at Alex the lion when he rolled out onto the beach and tried to get the sand off his tongue - so cute!

I borrowed a rain jacket for Mia from a friend, and just as well I did - we went for strolls in the rain twice!

There's a nice lil kiddies playground at the resort, so we often went there for Mia to play.

We stopped off at a farmyard, but it was really rundown and not in a great condition - but we let Mia quickly feed the bunnies, look at the horses and goats, and then we got out of there.

A highlight of our yearly holiday for me, is our visit to the chocolatier at Casterbridge in White River, Shautamy.  Oh gosh, I love that chocolate.  They have a chocolate fountain of melted chocolate - I am in heaven when I eat that!

Overall Mia was really good - she still woke up early in the mornings, around 6am, once or twice she spoilt us and slept until closer to 7 - but then we put the portable dvd player on the bedside table so that she could watch Noddy and we could have a lil lie-in!
She was a bit attached to me tho, often when Wyn wanted to help out, Mia wouldn't let him and said "mamma sal!"  But other than that, I can't complain.

The holiday went by way too fast - a week really does just pass in a flash.
xx

Christmas Tree 2012

Oh I love the festive season!

We got into the Christmas spirit today by putting up our Christmas tree.

Our Christmas Tree Traditions are:
 - Wear festive colours - red is a good choice!
 - Wear a festive hat
 - Listen to Christmas music - my favourite is Celine Dion's album, These Are Special Times
 - Nala must take part too!

Wyn is not so keen on my "funny ideas" - so he just takes piccies for us.  :-)

xx

Mia is 26 months old today!

26 MONTHS TODDLER UPDATE

1.) How old today?

Mia Mooi is 26 months old today

 

2.) New milestones/ talents/ achievements?

She can sing now - she sings her little heart out, it's the most beautiful thing I've ever heard.  She askes questions - "waar gaan ons" "wie's dit" "who's here" "what's this" - luckily no "why" yet, hehe! 

 

3.) Favourite toys & favourite things to do?

She loves water.  To splash in it, to sit in it, to pour it from containers, to put toys in it. 

She loves painting - even if it's just with water!

We snuggle on the couch in the afternoons and watch some Cbeebies together

Jumping on her trampoline

Spending time with family

She really likes her Barney toy!

 

4.) Current words?

Too many to mention.  She's putting sentences together beautifully, and can really communicate exactly what she's trying to say most of the time.  Loving it!!

 

5.) Favourite food and snacks?

Viennas, chicken, marmite toast, fish fingers, chocolate

 

6.) How is toddler sleeping at night?

Good!  She sleeps through.  Bed time is at around 7h20.  She wakes up between 5am and 6am.  Wish she would sleep a bit later... But can't complain too much though, at least I don't have to get up in the night for her anymore!

 

7.) Day naps?

Usually she naps from about 11h30 - 13h30, and then has a lie-down at around 4pm, drinks her tea and chills in her cot for a while.  Although these days she often has her tea on the couch and chills infront of the tv for a bit.

 

8.) How many teeth - and how are teething issues going?

18!!!  Just two more to go!  The last molars have been really difficult for her.  These next two must just come now so we can be done with toofies!

 

9.) Weight and length?

About 13.5kg, not sure about length

 

10.) Clothing size and shoe size?

2-3 years mostly, but still fits into lots of her 1-2 things. Shoe size 6.

 

11.) Recent toddler 'highs'?

The kisses she loves the give. How friendly she is to people in town. How much she loves her family. Cuddles and snuggles in bed in the morning.  Her singing.

 

12.) Recent toddler 'lows'?

Been going through a bit of a clingy stage lately.  Other than that - no lows!

 

13.) What are you looking forward to in the coming months?

Our family holiday coming up on Friday!

Christmas time, yay!

 

14.) How are mommy and daddy doing?

Really good, no complaints! Do wish we could spend more alone-time together sometimes, but guess we need to just manage our time better and make date-night a more common occurance!  We both really love this toddler stage, the interaction is so special.

xx

My word for 2013

Every year, a group of friends share their “word” for the coming year.  A word that inspires us, that we can strive to, and lets us do some soul-searching of what we want.

In 2010 my word was BLESSED:
This has really been a year of counting my blessings.

I am blessed with my loving, awesome husband
I am blessed with my amazing family
I am blessed with a baby girl growing inside me
I am blessed to live where I live
I am blessed with my friendly, wacky crazy doggy
I am blessed to feel so safe and content
I am blessed to be having such an easy, joyful pregnancy
I am blessed with special friends

For 2011, my word was HOPE.

I hope my marriage always stays as awesome as it is
I hope I will be a good mommy to my baby girl
I hope my baby girl will become a good sleeper
I hope I will see my family lots
I hope things will go well with my business and Wyn's work
I hope I will make more time for myself
I hope I will spend more time with friends
I hope my baby girl will grow beautifully and happily
I hope my family will always be happy

For 2012, I chose the word BELIEVE.

I believe in God, and I need to pray more.
I believe in my marriage, and I need to invest more time into it
I believe in motherhood, and I need to be more patient
I believe in special family quality time
I believe in personal space, me-time and indulging in small luxuries
I believe I will reach my goal weight early in 2012
I believe my business will take off properly
I believe I will be able to save more money in 2012
I believe... 

2013…

“Tattoo”

To me, this word symbolises that I must remember what my tattoo says.
“Live, love, laugh”
That's what life comes down to, at the end of it!

I want to just live life to the full, and make the most of it, and make the conscious decision to enjoy it. I must love, love, love with all my heart, and show it! And I want to laugh lots! ♥ I want to laugh at myself, I want to laugh with my child and husband and family and friends, I want to enjoy funny movies, books and stories, and share jokes. I want to seize the moment! ♥

xx

Salt Dough Xmas Decorations!

I found this craft idea and recipe on Pinterest and just had to make it for Mia.  I think we'll do this every year!
 
You can see the full recipe here - I modified it a lil bit, I did it this way:
 - half a cup of salt
 - one cup flour
 - half a cup warm water (once all mixed, I needed another bit of water, not lots, maybe another two tablespoons or so.)

I was in a bit of a hurry and just mixed it with my hands til it was mixed into a nice doughy texture, I didn't spend 5 minutes on it.  Rolled it out, used cookie cutters, used a toothpick to make the holes for the string, and popped them in the oven (I put them on wax paper - don't do this, struggled to peel it off, next time will use Spray&Cook) and baked them on 160 for about an hour, maybe a bit more than an hour.
 
I painted modge podge over both sides of the clay, just to seal it.

Once dry, I painted them gold all around.  And then I gave Mia free reign!  We did this over a couple of days, as she enjoys these crafts for about ten minutes and then loses interest.  So I first gave her the purple paint, then the pink paint on another day.  And a few days later she had fun with glue and glitter.

Once that was done, I just modge-podged them again to seal them. 

Used ribbon and rafia through the holes to turn them into tree-hanging decorations, and wrote "Mia 2012" on the back.  :-)

Lots of fun was had by all, and they came out so festive and special!
xx

What we've been up to!

Been quiet lately - but just been busy.  Busy with Mia, busy with family, busy with memories, busy with friends, busy with life!

 

Here are some latest piccies of Mia, us, etc!

xx

Teething, Painting and Singing

A bit of an update in Mia's world is due!  :-)

She's busy cutting her last molars.  Number 17 and 18 are through, two more to go. She got both molars on the left side first, top and bottom - all along I've been waiting for the bottom right one to come through, and meanwhile the left top one came through, amidst fevers and niggles and bad sleeping patterns that I just couldn't understand.  Now for the last two.  Eish!!

Mia loves painting.  It's a bit messy, so I'm reluctant to bring out the paints at every opportunity - but that doesn't bother her, she just paints with water, and if I don't give her water, she makes a plan: spits her juice out into her painting cup, and proceeds to paint with her juice!  And not just paper... Her toys get painted too! Sticky, sticky, sticky...  If Mia wants me to also "paint" with her, she tells me, "mommy, have some paintbrush!"

At bedtime, while I rub some cream on her, I sing a special song.  "You are so beautiful" by Joe Cocker.  I've done this for quite a while - long ago Mia already started singing the "meeeee" part along.  Recently, however, she can sing the whole verse of "you are so beautiful to meeeeeee, oh can't you seeeeeeee!" And she goes so high and off tone and it's just the most special precious beautiful thing I've ever heard in my whole life.

xx

Family Photoshoot

First wee in a potty!

Oh gosh, what a bittersweet, exciting moment!

Mia is two years and one month old tomorrow.  So far, she really hasn't shown any interest in potty training, and so far my approach has been very relaxed, I'll let her guide me when she's ready.

We do let her sit on the potty before bath time.  For a long time, she refused to even sit.  The last couple of days, she does sit for a while, but doesn't actually make a lil wee.

Tonight she made her very first wee in the potty!  I wasn't even in the bathroom with her, just Wyn was.  I did a lil victory dance for her and smooched and praised her, she looked so chuffed.

The next journey ahead of us - lots and lots of loo trips!
xx