Spending time with my Cousin
Gioia just adores her cousin Big-G...they are so kind to each other and play superbly.
Mud Monkey
...needless to say, I did not even attempt to soak her clothes in Omo. Instead I tossed them in the bin. The experience was certainly worth it because watching her dip and dive and roll around in the mud like a hippo was uproarious.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Morning tea with Daddy
The Daddy is HOME!
Posted in Wheelie
After a delayed flight and a whole day of waiting I finally picked Johan up from the airport one minute before middnight.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Baby no. 2 will be named Isla ("EYE"-luh) Ayva (A-va) Benade
Posted in Isla ("EYE"-luh) Ayva (A-va) Benade
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| Isla ("EYE"-luh) Ayva (A-va) Benade |
Creative week
As the week draws to an end I want to reflect on all Gioia's creative achievements. She went to school Monday to Wednesday and came home every day with a painting for her wall of fame. She built a seven piece puzzle alone and successfully navigated her little penguin scissors across the length of an A4 sheet of paper. I like to check-in with an online educational site to confirm what milestones she must have reached and so far she gets a green light. I must add, though, that she did get a TIME-OUT yesterday at school for clobbering a class mate. Public displays of aggression are not an achievement, but at least she has no problem expressing herself and setting boundaries. I just want to add that I don't tolerate nastiness and neither does her teacher, so she had to sit on the sad chair...which made me chuckle in secret.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Puzzle building
This is our current passion. Gioia loves it if I sit by her side as she tackles the boxes of jumbled pictures. She puts them together so carefully, fitting them in piece by piece. She is now able to build four to seven piece puzzles and she is especially fond of the mommy and baby combinations.
Love these prints
I have been searching the great www for prints for the baby room...and finally I found these, I just love them. Convincing Johan to order them for me from abroad will be the next challenge. The artist has a huge selection.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/trafalgarssquare?page=2#
http://www.etsy.com/shop/trafalgarssquare?page=2#
Gioia's Gallery
...and so begins the wall of fame. I just adore the arts and craft projects that Bean brings home from school. She is so excited to tell me what and how she created her stylish images.
Leather Bean
Posted in White leather jacket
I can shop for clothing again in the 0-3month departments. I adore baby clothes, not that I need any new items whatsoever. This weekend, between extended naps, we went to have a look at the new wintery items in all our favourite baby boutiques. Pumpkin Patch is one such shop. The clothing is amazingly beautiful, but oh so pricey. Occassionally they have a 50% off sale, then I purchase the must-haves. On saturday Gioia tried on a beautiful white leather jacket. It cost a fortune, as toddler clothing would go, but since I cannot allow myself to blow the budget I took a photo instead. I was happy/relieved to see that the zip would have just scratched her neck and chin, so back to the shelf it went. Also, who at two needs a bikers leather jacket anyway? Its not like she will EVER be allowed on the back of a Harley.
Friday, April 8, 2011
A room fit for two princesses
Now that we know the gender of number two my mind can't stop racing. I am so looking forward to doing up ''the girls'' room! I discovered a super duper exciting american vinyl website and thus I have so far settled on the colour scheme for the vinyl design and this picture below is the inspiration. Bright, happy and bold, every colour will do!
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| popandlolli.com |
How to please a pregnant palette
This little bottle of salad dressing has delighted my senses in every way. I am corianders biggest fan, so it was a natural choice when I spotted it on the shelf. Tonight I dribbled it over mince meat - yummy! For lunch yesterday I got heavy handed over our grilled hake - wowie! This time next week I'll be having it with oats? Craving? Probably! Just give me more and keep it coming, happy wife happy life. Thank you Ina!
School project
This is a school marketing project as done by me...! Should I ever want to open a swimming school I think I would use this cute design. The little fish comes from Gioia's party stationery. In memory of Bubbles? The fish I accidently ''gased''!
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Doppler delight
My brilliant friend Rusty has leant me her doppler. My oh my what an experience. It took me twenty minutesto get the hang of the gadget, but once I found the babies hearty beat, under half a bottle of lubrication, I fell in love with my budding boep. I now take time out every afternoon to just lie down and listen to her very fast heart beat with my eyes closed. I think this is the best way to bond with her so long, between design work and Bean. I feel close to her already, my new little Jingle!
Chilly Day
Posted in Cold morning
I'm not ready for this cool weather. My warm clothes and spencers are hidden in our storage facility. Gioia does have her vacu-bag under her bed with all the wintery warm outfits. Some are from last season and some are new. I adore dressing her up with hats, jackets and scarves. I think we were meant to reside in Europe as I tend to over do it. We were up before the sun and birds this morning and were thus ready for the 9am swimming class by 7am. To kill time I thought a spot of grocery shopping would do the trick, so off we pickled to complete our TO DO list, Gioia with her woolly hat on. Here she is huddled in the little shopping cart, keeping warm by lying under the groceries. Twenty minutes later it was warm enough to remove most of her clothing, much to my dismay. A jersey is certainly something you wear when your mom gets cold...I can't believe I am THAT mom now!
Bean & I
I love my "I won't smile for the camera" kiddo! She makes me laugh. Just after this photo was taken, two very aggressive black swans swam up to our little gathering and hissed at us. I am officially terrified of swans now...cygnophobia?
Who needs a toilet bowl drinking dog...
...when you have a toddler that chooses to brush her teeth in the flushing water. This morning, while rushing to make the 8am training session I heard Gioia flushing the en suite toilet over and over. While hopping around the room trying to put on my trainers I peeped into the bathroom and found her brushing her teeth, then flushing the toilet over her tooth brush and then putting it back into her mouth and then wanting to rinse again. I did stop her at this point, and gave the bathroom lover a stern talking to in my deep disciplinarian toned voice! Oh how YUCK!
Saturday, April 2, 2011
The ONLY project for the weekend
The only project I have given myself for the weekend is to bake this recipe that I found in a mag in the hair salon. I have all the ingredients so I just have to put half an hour aside to make chocolate pudding...oh gosh, how will I find the time?
Hawaii 5-0
Posted in Board Shorts for Cool Chicks
We will be holidaying at the sea in a months time with Johan. I found the perfect pair of board shorts for the little lady. Now all we still need is a matching bikini and boogie board, SURFS UP!
Drinking tea like a lady
I am trying to teach Gioia to lift her pinkie finger when she drinks tea. This is a rather complicated exercise as her fingers seem to be attached together by some invisible webbing and when she lifts one they all move up and this just annoys her. As a result of her irritation she no longers pours me a cup of play tea, she pours only for herself and then sips politely, holding her tea cup like one would a warm mug of coco in the middle of winter, a sure act of defiance.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Happiness
The weekend is upon us! After dropping way to much money at Dischem buying all the possible necessities to facilitate a good nights rest, I am happy to announce that the kid is doing well! The room smelt like a hot box with all the vapours and vapourisers but Gioia could breath so I am a happy Mommy this morning. A sunny happy full weekend planned to celebrate the end of our quarantine! It is alto the second last Saturday without Johan...Happy dance to the left...Happy dance to the right and a cheeky jig to punctuate the start of FUN FUN FUN!
