Loving- my girls

Warning: this is all about my children and the mushy squishy feelings I'm enjoying at the moment!  And I will add right now, that yes, they have had their moments and there have certainly been a day or two where they've woken up seemingly with the sole purpose of making sure I pull my hair out...

But mostly it's been a really awesome week...  Watching new movies, shopping, working on birthday plans...  Filled with lots of iceblocks on sweltering days...

Lying on blankets, eating popcorn, watching clouds and planes in the sky.  We've just had such a lovely time playing and having fun.  Playing 'house', mummy's and babies...

Anya loves picking Liezel up and carrying her around.  Of course Liezel loves her doing this.  It is hilarious.
Heidi tries but she's not much bigger than Liezel - which also makes for great entertainment.
The two older girls dote on their little sister... always holding her hand, leading her around, looking after her, giving her hugs, cleaning her scraped knees and so on.
And Liezel loves her big sisters.  More and more I find her watching and looking at them for guidance.  On how to do something or how to react... whatever her big sisters are doing she will do too.

Little things they've been saying:  Anya calls the other two sweetheart, darling, etc all the time.  and the other day my hubby was showing her different types of speakers.. tweeters, subwoofer, etc... when he moved on to a different grouping she proudly showed him which one the "birdie" speaker was... :) too cute!

Liezel's talking more and more and starting to string proper sentences together.  "Mine" has become "I've got it" in just the last couple of days.  This kid... she is one heck of a character... and has a face that can get her out of anything... it takes alot of suppressing smiles and laughter to keep a straight face sometimes : )

Warm and fuzzies : )
Have a great weekend everyone!
L xx

For more loving head over to Meghan's : )

A baby no more

My youngest, Liezel, will be 18 months soon.... Waaaaaaaa!!!

In the last couple of weeks she has graduated from a highchair to the big table with the rest of us and you can tell that, even though she was sitting with us, this little change makes her really feel part of things now.

She has also moved into a "big bed".  (We started the other two on a mattress on the floor and slowly moved the base in once they got the hang of staying on the mattress - so we are using the same approach this time round too.)

Last morning wake up in the cot.

She is absolutely thrilled with the freedom and loves that her sisters come to her room to play now, rather than her being too little to get up on their beds to join in...

Sound asleep curled up in the corner.

In retrospect she's probably been ready for ages... Funny how subsequent children after the first seem younger and younger than their older siblings at the same ages... or is that just me holding on to the last of the littleness? ☺

She has a new lease on life.  My baby is a baby no more.... I will miss it but I will enjoy moving on too.
Now to figure out how long I can justifiably hold on to the baby stuff... ☺
L xx

Coffee.... Mmmmm....

I have a cup of Vanilla Latte sitting beside me and it smells heavenly... Mmmm....

I cant believe it's Tuesday! We've had such an adventure and activity filled weekend the last few days have been a complete blur... a happy blur :)

Highlights:
Friday:  Liezel discovering that saying please can get her just about anything :)
Saturday:  Watching the start of the Olympics with my girls... Their first Games and they are mesmerized by the gymnastics especially.
Sunday:  The excitement of going on an adventure with special friends - one that involved many changes of plans and fluffies and rain - and no one cared because we were together and it was fun!
Monday:  At the doctor for Liezel's immunisations, Heidi requesting from the doctor for herself and Bebe (her stuffed Zebra) to be examined too and telling him just what he needed to do - absolutely priceless, even to the doc : )

5 Fluffies Please

Now I'm off to have some more delicious coffee....
Have a happy week everyone!
L x

Birthday Girls

In the last couple of months we've had two birthday girls - yay for Birthdays!
Growing up our birthday cakes were always special and my mum made some amazing creations.  Having such special memories of those I have tried to create special cakes for my girls birthdays to date...

Heidi turned 3 a couple of weeks ago.  After taking a fondant cake decorating class I was able to create the cake she had requested :)  She loves Zebra's and her favourite colour is orange... and she was a happy little girl!  Two months of waking each morning, running to the calender and counting down sleeps to her birthday resulted in a wonderful day for a very excited little girl : )

Liezel had her first birthday at the end of April and at one she is a wiz with lego (duplo) ... so a lego cake it was... Didn't quite go to plan... the rounds for the tops disintegrated so a snap decision was made the night before to just use duplo instead.  Cant wait to see what "likes" she develops this year!

Dont you just love kids birthdays?!
Happy Humpday Everyone!
L x

Lovin...

Even in the darkest night there is a star that shines : )

Lately I've been drinking truckloads of this:

Sooooo goooood......

We are absolutely loving A Game of Thrones.  It is freeking brilliant.  Seriously didn't think we'd get into it as I'm really not much of a medieval/fantasy type person but alas, we now hang out for it.  And on the same note... Mighty Ape had a wee book sale on Wednesday... and look what my fingers bought...

Have no idea, No Idea, when I am going to read them but I WILL!

And my girls - where would I be without them and Hubby? This is Liezel who turned 1 in April, and a couple of weeks later got her first teeth - this kid is my little firecracker :)

Have a happy weekend everyone!
L x

Joining in here.

Sunshine ♥

Trouble Anyone?
3 Rays of Sunshine on a dreary day.
♥

How much do I love thee...

I cannot count the ways...

Sleep tight

xx

Week...end...

Finally the weekend arrived...

A week filled with lots of tears, frustrations, worries and sickness... And now that the new week beckons I will lock away those parts of it and remember the good stuff - which there was and I remember with a smile : )

Smile 1:  With no holiday programme at kindy for Anya and therefore nothing to bring home and show off everyday, we took to creating extra special pictures to show Daddy when he came home.  We had great fun making black spotted panda-bears, cotton-wool sheep, houses out of shapes, fish-tanks with sparkly air bubbles and cars with moving wheels!

Smile 2: And we've learned a new game to play together which the girls learned easily and quickly and we all enjoyed immensely!  We have a few more that we'll be learning in time to come that should be fun.

Smile 3: Potty training Heidi.  We've been delaying this although she's been ready for months due to Liezel's impending arrival initially and then her newborn presence... we figured we had enough to deal with.  She's more or less been going by herself on and off so we decided it was really time to get on with it.  So on Friday it was bye bye daytime nappy and hello big girl knickers!  So far so good and today she took herself to the toilet without needing to be reminded!  Yay for big little girls!

Friday's Highlight:
- A great start to Heidi's potty training!
- Learning and playing a new game with my big girls.

Saturday's Highlight:
- Anya's gorgeous butterfly face.

Today's Highlight:
- Liezel rolled over!

And we came very close to adopting a dog from the SPCA this weekend... We even had three dogs that we decided would be nice additions to our family... But the Hubby thinks we should wait a little while - apparently we have enough dependents!

Now I've got all this out - Wordless Sunday can Almost be Wordless!
x

Sisters

Today's Highlight:
 - Liezel's little face lighting up every time she sees her sisters.

I have two younger brothers.  No sisters.  I often wonder about the relationships between my 3 girls and how they will be.  The only thing I can relate to is that of the eldest daughter... and that's about where it stops.  Not the eldest SISTER, middle sister, little sister or one of three sisters.  Looking forward to all the ups and many downs of this relationship arrangement!

Sleep tight
x

Back in the saddle

After a few days hiatus I'm returning to my bloggy.

Down and out with sickness for a while now... as soon as we all thing we're almost at the end... Boom!  On comes the next round even worse than before... Argh!!! Am over it!! Bugs bugs go AWAY!

Am grateful for my lovely girls and how they survive these things though... they still burst with life and happiness but at a slightly slower and sensitive pace!

And I've missed a few days so catching up on Highlights:

Thursday:
- a wonderful birthday with many surprises, hubby home, dinner out and extra special presents.

Friday:
- Liezel finding her voice and chatting at high volumes for all to hear and take note!

Saturday:
- A lovely surprise birthday lunch with close friends and family.

Sunday:
- Anya telling me that she was going to come to do the grocery shopping with me: "Anya's coming with Mummy to go shopping...And I'm going to have a fluffie and a man (gingerbread man)...And I'm going to be a very very good girl for Mummy..."  Irresistibly cute.

Today:
- Making glittery cotton wool sheep pictures with the girls.

Off to do some work now that's happily been neglected too!

Sleep tight
x

The warm sun, our model dog and phantom cat.

Twenty something...

Today's Highlights:
- Nail painting with the girls - fun fun fun!
- Visit to the pediatrician was full of smiles from Liezel and a good report from the doc!

It's also that time of the year for me and today I was reminded I would soon no longer be twenty-something...  So in these final hours I shall reflect some of the numbers:

- 1st born
- 2 brothers
- 2 languages
- 11 dogs
- 1 cat
- 1 boyfriend
- 1 kindergarten
- 1 primary school
- 1 intermediate school
- 5 high schools
- 2 universities
- 4 towns/cities
- 2 countries
- 7 addresses in SA
- 12 years in NZ
- 9 addresses in NZ
- 5 overseas trips/holidays
- 1 home owned
- 4 cars
- 6 jobs
- 1 wedding
- 1 husband
- 3 daughters
- 2 nieces
- 2 nephews
- Many friends made
- Many friends & family lost
- Many tears and much sadness
- Countless smiles and laughter
- Countless happy memories...

...and many more to come!

The last decade has been the biggest blur... So much has happened, so much has changed, so many life lessons learned, so many defining moments that have shaped me and created the person I am today.

Onwards and upwards!

Sleep tight
x

Brave

Today's Highlight:
- My two big girls had their extra MMR vaccinations this morning - without a grimace, groan or cry!

The nurses could not believe it!  I think having a lollipop unwrapped and ready to go in their little hands, just waiting for Mummy to give the all clear once the nurse finished, helped a lot!  Liezel did have a big sob though with her 12 week vacs at the same time, and unfortunately no lollipop for her yet!  Poor little poppet : (

We finished watching Precious tonight.  Absolutely awful story.  How simple we are as people: we just want to be loved and be happy.  Amazing how hard it can be to feel that sometimes.  It made me reflect upon how extremely lucky I/we are and just how much I/we have to be thankful for.  It makes me want to hug my little family and never let go.  And make sure I let them know just how much I love them and how happy they make me : )

Sleep tight
x

Chuckles

Today's Highlight:
- Liezel's first real chuckle/laugh.  Absolutely adorable : )

There is nothing quite like it - your child's smiles and laughs.  When you think about your kids in general, do the daily little battles and tantrums ever come to mind?  I only really think of how gorgeous they are.  Sure, I know there were frustrations and battles, but I have to Think to remember those.  Funny what you remember...

Sleep tight
x

Happy Friday

Today's Highlights: 
- My lovely Liezel smiling at me every time she wakes up...but for the last two days.. every time she is put down to have a nap I get to leave with her gorgeous smiling little face behind me too... : )
- The gorgeous yellow bouquet of flowers received as thanks from a friend - just beautiful.

Sleep tight
x