Words that inspire me ♥

Quick bit of an update!

Ah my poor lil blog, I'm so sorry you've been so neglected.

My life just takes up so much time, that I don't get any time to actually document any of it, which is a pity, as that was the main aim of keeping a blog...

I do hope to get into a bit of a better time management routine though, and blogging is high on that list of priorities.  But for now...  here's a teeny tiny update in pics:

These two sweethearts.  They drive me crazy, I kiss them a million times a day, they make me want to run away, I love holding them close to me, they make me freak out and yell and stomp about, I love smelling their hair...

We're doing okay.  ;-)
xx

Settling into our new home!

Oh my goodness, moving house is not for sissies!!  What a huge mission.  We moved two weekends ago, with the help of a huge moving van, and 3 family members with bakkies.  The next weekend we continued moving with the help of another family member with a minivan!

Can't believe how much stuff we have.  And how much junk we have, haha!  We hired a mini-skip and filled it to the brim with things to chuck away.  I donated boxes and bags of things to charity.  It was good to do a bit of a clean-up!

We're settling into our new home - but there's still lots to do.  Lots to unpack, and I can't wait to hang all my paintings, ornaments and decor - those are the things that will make this space feel more like mine.

The kids and the dogs have adjusted well!  Mia loves the fact that the bedrooms are not so far away from the kitchen anymore - so she plays happily in her room.

Not finished unpacking yet - and I hate that there are still boxes standing around...  hopefully will finish everything this weekend.

Ella's Bunny Party

My baby girl is two!

The party was wonderful.  Everything looked so nice, I enjoyed all the diy goodies, and most of all - the birthday girl had an absolute blast!

Having a real-life bunny there was the main attraction and a great hit, so glad we could do that.  Ella adored the bunny, and all the little friends that came to the party loved being able to sit in the playpen with the bunny.

I made the cake, and with skoonma's help we got it looking like a bunny...  However, I'll keep my day job - making a bunny cake was way harder than I thought it would be!!

All in all, a lot of fun was had - but I'm relieved that it's done and dusted.

Now I just can't get over the fact that I have a two-year-old in the house!

It's a zoo at our house!

Two weeks ago we got a Weimaraner puppy.  We've named her Lily, and she is absolutely adorable, beautiful, and naughty as hell!!  Mia's been quite scared of her, because of the way she nips and jumps and has sharp nails, but she's getting used to her more and more each day.  Ella just yells "no!" and bumps her out of the way, haha!

Then this week we got a baby bunny!  She's fluffy and super cute.  We're not going to keep her though - she's staying with us for this week, and then she's going to live with a friend of mine.  The girlies have been fascinated.

All these animals are keeping me super busy, but oh how i'm enjoying the cuddles and snuggles!!

Party planning tips and ideas

Ella's 2nd birthday is next month, and I've been busy getting my party planning list ready - so I thought to share some of my tips and ideas here on the blog.

I'm definitely no party planning pro - but I do enjoy it, and love the DIY part of birthday party planning.

♥ Plan the theme:  First of all, about two months in advance, I start thinking about the theme, or in Mia's case, I chose her first two birthday themes, and then the rest she chose - with some guidance from me: I would research some theme ideas myself, and then find a few images of parties in these themes, and then show them to Mia.  This works quite well!

♥ Set the date:  I normally choose the Saturday closest to their birthdays - but also often need to check with the grandparents that this date suits them.

♥ Choose the venue: I alternate between using venues and doing parties at home.  Sometimes it's convenient having the venue do all the decor, party packs, and tidying up afterwards, but sometimes it's also nice to do it all myself - except for the cleaning up part!

♥ Plan a budget:  It's so easy to overspend, especially when finding lots of cute decor goodies, seeing big fancy cakes, or hiring equipment or entertainment for the party.  I set an amount beforehand, discuss it with hubby, and I usually stay within the budget - but only thanks to the way grandparents help out with party food!

♥ Write the guest list: Between the ages of 1 and 4, I pretty much decide who to invite - it's my own friends with kiddies in the same age range, and close family.  At Mia's 4th birthday party, out of the 20 kids who attended the party, she only played with the 3 friends from her school! For her 5th birthday party, it was such a relief to slash the guest list almost in half, having her choose who she wants to invite.

♥ Send out the invitation: I like to send the invite out about a month in advance, and then with the rsvp date at least a week before the party to give me enough time to prepare for the amount of guests.

♥ Shop with the colour scheme in mind:  Something that helps my party planning flow smoothly, is that I don't leave all the shopping to the last minute.  Weeks in advance I start collecting bits and pieces like serviettes, balloons, party pack goodies.

♥ Party food: Some of our parties have been at midday, then we make hotdogs for lunch.  If it's a morning or mid-afternoon party, then we plan a savoury dish and a sweet dish for the adults, and the kids have a variety of cake, chips, sweets and fruit to choose from.

♥ Ask for help!  I'm not afraid of delegating tasks:  I always ask family members to help out with the food, it's a great big help.  Also with setting up for the party, and tidying up afterwards - many hands sure do make light work.

♥ Cake: Plan the cake well in advance: I've mostly had very talented friends and family make the beautiful cakes for our birthday parties.  I must say, the cake is quite an important factor - it's the "centrepiece" of the party, and it must make the kids, especially the birthday girl, go "wow!"

♥ Party packs: I always do a party pack, it works well as the kids can have something to eat out of it at the party, and choose what to take home for later.  I usually put about five items in, of which it could include the following: packet of chips, choccie, marshmallow sweet, sucker, fizzer, jelly sweet, Smarties, sherbet, raisins, dried fruit flakes, or biscuit.

♥ Birthday girl's outfit: I always want the birthday girl to feel super special in a special outfit.

♥ Plan games and activities: I always hire a jumping castle, the kids love it and it definitely gives off a huge "party vibe".
At Ella's first birthday party, we put her play pen on the grass and filled it with balls, the babies loved that.  We also did some messy play with jelly and spaghetti.
At Mia's third birthday party we did a little planting station, where each child could plant a seedling into a pot, and take it home afterwards.
I made a lil photobooth for Mia's 5th birthday party, with all sorts of props on a table for them to dress up in, they loved it and the photos came out so nicely, even the adults had fun playing there!
More party games and activity ideas:  cupcake decorating, treasure hunt, arts & crafts activities, jewellery making, pin-the-tail games, etc.

♥ Party favours:  I like giving a little gift to each guest, as a "thanks for coming to our party".  Often it's in the theme of the party - like with Mia's Minnie Mouse party, each guest got an alice band of Minnie Mouse ears.

♥ Expect the unexpected: It sometimes happens that more people arrive than you catered for! Not such a problem with adults, but for kiddies, it can be a hassle if they're expecting a party pack and there aren't enough...  This has happened to me, but then there are also often one or two last-minute cancellations when kiddies are sick, then there are extra party packs - except if the names have been written on! Also, have a back-up plan for in case it rains!

♥ Thank you notes after the party:  When we open gifts, I write a list of who gave what present, so that I could personalise the thank you message.  I find the "thank you" quite important, and feel the need to send the thank you email out within a week after the party.

♥Remember to take lots of photos!  I don't hire a photographer, but always ask my sister and sister-in-law to grab my camera and take photos, and then I also make sure I snap a few of my own. This is how the special moments get preserved!

Parties we've had:
Mia's 2nd Birthday: Lollos party
Mia's 3rd Birthday: Minnie Mouse party
Mia's 4th Birthday: Cinderella party
Ella's 1st Birthday: Pink and gold Number One party
Mia's 5th Birthday: Barbie party

Fun times indeed!  A second birthday bunny party coming up soon!
xx

Middle of March already, how can that be?!

How can a quarter of 2016 already have passed?!  Please, time, slow down...

A quick lil update on us:

We're moving at the end of April - each weekend we spend some time either sorting, packing, painting furniture, fixing a few things at this house, etc.  Still six weeks to go, and a whole lot of work to do, but really excited about this new phase of our lives.

Mia's really settled into Grade R beautifully, she's made friends, she's learning so much, she loves her extra-mural activities that she chose (Monkeynastix and Experi-maatjies), and if I fetch her too early she tells me she actually wanted to play more!

Ella is such a lil girl now, more words, better sleep, but oh-so-tantrummy! I'll do a separate post about this, but she sure challenges me with her daily meltdowns.  She's starting school in May, hopefully that'll help her feel less frustrated.

I love this pic of them, they look like two lil angels:

And then I love this pic too - just so much attitude and sass from both of them here!

xx

I'm on a decluttering mission!

Seeing as we're moving house sometime next month, I read a book about decluttering, for some inspiration.  The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, but Marie Kondo.

I made notes as I was reading the book, and definitely felt inspired.  There were a few strange concepts included as well, like the way she feels terribly sorry for socks folded up in a ball and rolling around in a drawer bumping into each other, haha.  Also, having to thank items before you get rid of them... errr, don't think so!

There were a few quotes in the book that I really did enjoy, such as these ones:

And then probably the most important quote in the book:

I really like the concept and idea of only surrounding yourself with things that you love.  To "grace your space with things that speak to your heart.  Your lifestyle must bring you joy."

Another paragraph in the book that really resonated with me, was where she says that "tidying ought to be the act of restoring balance among people, their possessions, and the house they live in".

She doesn't make any mention of kids toys in her book though, she probably doesn't have any children, as that's definitely worth a whole chapter on its own!  I really feel that my girlies have way too many toys.  I'm going to do a vicious tidy up (when they're asleep!!) and donate anything that is not age-appropriate, not specially loved by them, duplicates, etc.  I also really want to sort the toys into categories so that all the barbies are together, all the plastic animals together, all the duplo blocks together, instead of the big mish-mash they all are at the moment.

Another idea is to have 3 or 4 crates of toys, which then get rotated on a weekly basis - they don't have to play with all the toys all the time.

Okay, I'm inspired, let's get tidying!!
xx

We've bought a house!

A house of our very own.  How exciting!!  Contracts have been signed, transfer fees have been paid, and now we wait.  The people we are buying from are busy building a house, and they asked to have until April before moving out - so I'm hoping that we're in by the end of April!

We've been super blessed to live in this house for 6 years, so lucky to have been able to make this arrangement with my grandfather, paying him rent, and I'm sure going to miss it.  Two babies and lots and lots of memories here!  But it's time for this next phase of our lives, and I can't wait.

When we started house-hunting, we made a "wishlist" of our requirements, including must-have's and nice-to-have's. We used Private Property, and spent many hours online looking at houses, noting ones that looked good.  Then we saw one, just five minutes from where we live now, that ticked nearly all our boxes!  We were so excited we phoned the estate agent immediately and set up an appointment to view the house.

We loved it, spent a night chatting about it, and put an offer in the very next day.  That weekend we went and looked at 3 more houses - but all of these just reinforced our love of the first home.  It yelled "hello" to us from the website and even more so when we saw it in person.  Both Wyn and I completely agreed. It's just meant to be!

I'm having lots of fun looking up ideas on Pinterest, for home decor, garden ideas, and revamping my skincare centre.  However, I know these things are going to take time, because paying this monthly mortgage is going to mean that we're going to have to budget very carefully.

Exciting times ahead.
Roll on April!
xx

Ella in a big-girl bed!

This milestone was more heartbreaking than I ever thought it would be!  Sleeping in a big bed makes my baby more like a "big girl" than a baby...  but the time was right to move her, she loves it, doesn't get up and off the bed like I thought she would.

Sweetheart. Hope you have sweetest dreams sleeping in your big-girl bed my darling!
xx

Mia's teeth were done in theatre

What a brave super-star Mia was yesterday!

A couple of months ago, her dentist recommended that we see an oral surgeon for an opinion regarding her "frenum" - which is the bit of skin/muscle/gum which causes the gap between her two front teeth.  A few weeks ago we went to see the oral surgeon, and I was hoping that surgery wouldn't be necessary, or if indeed, that we could postpone surgery - but he explained that something like this can affect the growth of her permanent teeth, causing space problems for her teeth and even affecting jaw growth.  He explained that it's such a small, quick procedure, that he would much rather recommend we do it now, than have a whole lot of issues once her permanent teeth come through.

So we decided to go ahead with it and booked the theatre date, which was yesterday.  Her dentist and the oral surgeon collaborated, so that her dentist could do a couple of fillings at the same time as the labial frenectomy procedure.

I didn't tell Mia about this, until Sunday evening.  I explained to her that the dentist needs to fix something in her mouth, so that her big teeth can grow properly.  I didn't call it an "operation".  I also explained to her she's not going to hospital, it's a "day clinic", she won't have to sleep there for a night.  This definitely gave her some reassurance, and she made sure to correct any family member that phoned to wish her luck in hospital, that she's going to a day clinic!  I also made sure she understood that I will be there all the time, waiting for her.

We had to be there at 6h30 in the morning, thankfully she was first on the theatre list.  I packed a little bag with her favourite dudu toy, Piglet, a.k.a Bubu, her tablet, a book for me to read to her, and a present from Ella that I wrapped up for her and presented to her when she was settled on her bed.  She just loved getting a prezzie and it definitely took her mind off the upcoming procedure.

They came to wheel her bed to theatre - I started saying goodbye to her, but her dentist said I can come along into theatre and stay with her until she's asleep.  Ah I was so relieved about that!

First time ever that I donned scrubs.  And covers over my hair and shoes.  I asked Mia do I look fancy like a doctor, she said no, I look like a gardener!  Hahaha.

The anaesthetist was ready and waiting for her.  She put the mask over her mouth and nose and told her to take ten deep breaths.  I held her hand and kept smiling at her.  She got to four breaths and she was fast asleep!  Felt quite a lump in my throat as I left her there, my darling person.

Just after that Wyn arrived to wait with me.  (He had waited at home with Ella until our nanny Sonja came in.)  Two coffees and an hour and a half later, Mia was wheeled back into the room, fast asleep.  Aw she looked so fragile and precious.  They said we can let her sleep a little bit longer.  When she woke and looked at me, first thing she asked for was her daddy.  Bless!

She felt a bit dizzy for a while, but sat up and had a few sips of juice and a few bites to eat.  We were discharged at 10h30.

We got home and I settled her on the couch to relax and watch a movie.  She ate jelly and custard, and by the end of the movie she was getting up and starting to play with her toys and move around.  She ate bread and apple for lunch, and I put her on her bed, read a story, and told her to sleep.  20 minutes later she called me and said that was a nice sleep, she's finished now.  Hahaha!

The rest of the day she was completely herself, feeling fine, wanting to jump on the trampoline and run on the golfcourse, not understanding when I tell her no!

She's back at school today already.  What a champ!

What I know for sure...

I've been collecting a few thoughts over the last few months, that I wanted to document and share here...

Being a mom of two girls, what I know for sure is...

♥ My heart now lives and breathes as two separate hearts outside of my body.

♥ Sleep sure is precious.

♥ Time flies, like, seriously, time just goes by way too fast!

♥ As much as I try and savour the little moments, they pass in the blink of an eye.

♥ It's such a rollercoaster ride - emotions going from feeling so much love to so much agitation in the short space of a minute.

♥ Messy play is fun.  Don't think about the mess.  Just play.

♥ Just sitting on the couch, holding them close to me, breathing them in... it's a glimpse of heaven!

♥ Kids don't always want to eat the food you cook for them. Give them a banana.

♥ Supper prep is difficult with an almost-two-year-old on your hip.  Bribing with Cheese Curls works.

♥ A coffee by myself is pure bliss.

♥ Listening to them sleep.  It's a glimpse of heaven.

♥ A trip to the grocery store by myself - bliss.

♥ Colouring in with my girlies is the best thing ever.

♥ Tea parties also.  Don't mind the mess.

♥ Give them sand and water to play with - you'll have a couple of minutes to yourself - like, at least 5 minutes!

♥ They don't always sleep when and where you want them to sleep.

♥ They learn the bad words first. Trying to teach a 20-month old to change "oh shit" to "oh shucks" isn't easy...

♥ Oh but when they put their arms around your neck and press their little faces close to yours... a glimpse of heaven for sure...

♥ Chocolate is wonderful

♥ Wine also. For me, not for them!

♥ My heart skips a beat in moments when I see their long legs, their long fingers, the knowing look in their eyes, and I wonder, "when did you get this big?"

♥ They just love to play with your cellphone

♥ Hearing the words "Mama" makes everything right in the world

♥ Kids love unexpected surprises, like a surprise "yes" to a question that usually gets a "not today, sweetie" answer - I really like surprising them like this!  Off we go to the dairy farm, or for an icecream, or to bake cupcakes, or to play in the mud.

♥ Morning snuggles are wonderful

♥ Seeing them bond with their daddy, their grandparents, their aunts and uncles and cousins makes my heart so happy

♥ All the parenting books, websites and experts don't necessarily know what's best for you. Just do what feels right. Go with your heart.

♥ They love it when you stop what you're doing, put down what you're busy with, and give them your full attention

♥ Playdough is fun!

♥ Being silly and laughing together is fun!

♥ Celebrating special events and having family traditions is awesome

♥ It's not all moonshine and roses and people don't like to talk about those moments when it's thorny and dark

♥ It's all just phases and stages and just as you've mastered the stage they move into the next phase...

♥ Being a mom is wonderful, difficult, overwhelming, special, heartbreaking, challenging, pure bliss and frustrating all at the same time.

♥ I wouldn't have it any other way. This is me.  They're mine.

xx

A photo update

Ah I've really neglected my blog - there just isn't enough time in a day!

I thought to do a little photo update of our last couple of weeks, as a summary.

Smooches for littlest

Girlies with their cousin, baby Luca!

Tea parties are just the best thing ever!

Family piccie at Christmas time ♥

I got a new tattoo!  Totally love it.  Wyn got the same one, on his shoulder.

I took Mia on a special outing, we went to watch Swan Lake on Ice.  It was fabulous!

This sweet face

First day of Grade R went great! Yay!

I'll try to blog more regularly, but the best way to keep up to date with what I'm up to and what the girlies are doing, is to follow me on Instagram!  jessv_83

xx

First day of Grade R!

After weeks and weeks of talking about "big school", preparing her, being excited with her - the day finally arrived.  Mia Mooi has gone to Grade R.

She was so very very brave!  Oh that little face, she looked so lost and unsure, but put on a wobbly smile and hugged and kissed me goodbye.  I held my pose until I got into the car and then dissolved into tears!

Oh how I pray her heart is content.  I hope the teachers and children are nice to her.  I hope she feels peaceful and happy.  I hope she makes special friends. I hope she loves school!

Can't wait to go fetch her and hear all about it.
xx