HELLO WORLD!!

Hello to all my lovely blog readers out there. For those that are reading from over the pond - I have not dropped off the face of the earth.

I am still a mother to three beautiful children and Trent is now just over a week away from turning a whole year old.

I am not a bad blogger as I have a valid reason for my sudden silence. You see the thing is that this blog started off more as an online journal for myself and my own personal thoughts but as time went on I realised I was writing less and less about things that were close to my heart and more about what I thought my readers wanted to hear. I have in the not-to-distant past been dealing with a lot of shit on a very personal level and when I no longer felt it safe to come to my blog and let it all out I asked myself why I was actually keeping a blog in the first place? I need to write down my emotions in order to achieve a sense of peace so I have decided to rather go back to the old fashioned way of using a dusty old book with a handy little lock.

This is not all bad though since what I have done in the meantime is started up a picture blog which I'm loving every minute of. Please feel free to pop on over to www.irenebroome.blogspot.com
The blog above is for full public viewing but I will soon be going private to avoid any kind of abuse of pictures of my children so please please send me your email addresses so I can add you as readers if you would like to continue following me and my little family in photo's.

Lots of love always


xxxxxxxx

Video of Trent Walking

So earlier this evening we were down in the garage and my little man Trent decided to take his very first steps for all of us .... his best walk was after I put the camera away where he walked across the whole room - I am so surprised as yesterday I thought he took a step but didn't tell a soul as I was worried I had imagined it. Age right now is 9months, 2 weeks and 6 days :))) We love you soooo much my gorgeous boy.

Finally - an update!!

Yes I am alive I'm sure of it. I have left this update so long I just don't know where to start so I'll keep it short and sweet and update on Mr. T's milestones.

We had NO teeth at the end of January and by the first week in March we had 8 so yes it was fun and games for a month with very swolen gums and a miserable little boy who refused to sleep. Once again the whole of March my happy little boy came back but now over the last week he seems incredibly fussy again. Let me not talk about the tempter tantrums that started about a week ago. It seems he has learnt to scream, stiff body, shaking his arms and hands in fists when he is a. tired b. pissed off in general or c. has something off limits taken away from him..! In the Spar the other day we had our first public tantrum as I took an item away that I had put in the basket and he screamed so loud and cried so hard the tears made puddles on either side of the trolley (get it? picture animated tears here) .... the owner (who I chat to all the time) came running as she obviously thought he had fallen from the basket. Embarrassing? Just a little.

He is standing now and often gets annoyed if you try hold on to him - he just wants to do it alone and it scares me as the bumps and bruises are starting now. Oh well its bound to happen - I'll just be there and ready with the hugs and kisses after the fact. Trent turned 9 months yesterday and I'm actually a little sad that his time as a baby is fast approaching its end but then I remind myself how many giggles and joy Morgan brought us in her toddler years as she was learning and saying the funniest things.

We are now due for our Measels vaccs but I'm going to wait it out for a few days as his moods are telling me there may be another tooth lurking in the shadows... We have just started grinding our teeth as well and its the most awful sound on earth .... Hoping the tantrums and the grinding are all a passing phase as I'm starting to think I have another little tiger on my hands :)

A day in the life ....

I really haven't been in the mood to blog so instead will update with pictures I took yesterday. I am by no means professional but certainly got some sort of warped pleasure lying in ant infested grass and itching all night just to get the perfect shot ..... so here they are..

You may be wondering why the orange? It was the closest thing I could find and I was testing focus points... (that and the fact that Morgan loves modelling)


Look at this determined little monkey???





Once again I was just trying out different effects with the camera.


Speak to the hand ma ....

mY LiTtLe CiRcUs

My maid is still out of action after her hysterectomy and managed to get a post-surgical incision hematoma so there is a part of her incision site that is continually bleeding. After doing some reading on this it seems the sister did the right thing in putting her on antibiotics and sending her to bed with strict instructions to only move when going to the toilet. It seems that for the most part these things get reabsorbed by the body eventually so here's hoping - I have so much on my plate right now and can't be driving back and forward to the hospital every 5 minutes.
On top of worrying about her, helping her daughter clean the house (due to her also having to look after her baby who still cries a lot), and having my own sick little baby this week so getting very little sleep - i am honestly drained. Oli hasn't been around much at all lately as he has been on business travels so I'm pretty much doing it all.
My daughters DO NOT STOP FIGHTING - they are constantly at eachothers throats and every 5 minutes one or the other comes running to me complaining.

I wake in the morning, get everyone up, give T a bottle, snuggle, nappy change, make sure Morgan has lunch and try to remember that on certain days she has ballet, swimming or sport, remember cookie day on Thursdays and tuck money on Fridays, do the pony tail just so - no lumps and it has to be a high pony - all this while T is on the bed with me barricaded with pillows but due to his newfound mobility - my one hand is always on the ready. Put T in his cot with lots of toys so I can have a quick bath, do make-up, hair, get dressed. Kaylah helps where she can with the morning routine but spends a large part of it on her hair.
I get home from work at 2:30pm after fetching Kaylah from school, kick off my shoes, put on shorts, wash my hands and take Trent for the afternoon, play with him etc etc., do homework with Morgan, sort out fights, cook T's dinner (he's having a lot of purity these days for obvious reasons), sort out more fights, bath T and then have to ask Kaylah to give him his last bottle while I quickly try throw something together for dinner which needs to be ready by 7pm so Morgan can bath, wash her hair and be in bed by 8pm (we read a bedtime story but only 4 pages a night (only after yet another fight between the girls)). T has by this time been sleeping for about an hour - I shower, climb into bed, turn on the TV and T wakes up. We spend another hour or two up and down until he finally settles.

Somewhere in my day I have to find time to make sure the cupboards are always full of groceries, that there is always bread for school and milk for breakfast. Last week Kaylah went to the dentist and I was told she needs to go 1.5 hours away to get her wisdom teeth cut out. This week she is going back to said dentist for two fillings. Today I have to leave work early to take T to the paed and tomorrow I have an appointment with the chiro. SOMEBODY PLEASE GIVE ME MORE HOURS IN A DAY!!!!

How is it that women manage to do so much and still cope (I didn't say cope well - I said cope) yet men get up, have a shit, eat breakfast, go to work, come home, have a shit, read the Autotrader, sit down for dinner, have a shit, go to bed and with a big sigh, a fart and a moan about how busy they were - then roll over and fall asleep with thunderous snores?

Yesterday I was running on less than empty ... I only managed to go to sleep the night before at around 12 midnight due to all sorts of disturbances and at 1am Trent woke up and the crying began, he was inconsolable until eventually at 2:30am I gave him medicine, teething powder and rocked him until he fell asleep. Not good for my back of course so after climbing into bed myself I had sharp pains shooting down my leg and took some miprodol. Yet although I wanted to crawl up and die at work yesterday - when i got home, I briefly stood on the front patio, took a deep breath, pushed my overwhelming need to sleep to the back of my mind and walked in, washed hands and took Trent whose temperature once again was right up. The cycle continued.... Thank goodness last night he was asleep by 7pm and didn't wake again until 5:30am so I'm back on track..... for now (I need to mention that his second tooth popped out on Saturday)

Now for those who are dying to remind me of how blessed I am to have a house full of kids I have to stress that rather than complaining I am giving my self a much-deserved pat on the back. I type this with a smile on my face and can honestly see the humour in it now that I have caught up on much needed sleep. You see there are times when I just want to be alone with no kids, husbands or demands but the minute the house is quiet I feel the most overwhelming sense of loneliness and my mind begins wondering to places it really shouldn't ... the what if's....... ? What if I didn't have all this? What if it was all taken away from me? I end up doing nothing but pacing until they return and once again my house is filled with the sounds of laughter, fighting, crying .... life. I wouldn't want it any other way and God has blessed me abundantly with a house full of chaos because he believes in me and therefore I believe in myself.

This and That

An update on Trent is that on Sunday 30th January he woke up to a brand new tooth. One that silently popped out during the night without so much as a peep out of him. The second one is right there - I can see the white through the gum so its a matter of days before that one comes out. I must mention that this coincides with Morgan's teeth starting to loosen which is kinda cute. The more he gets the less she gets lol.

As per his last clinic visit

Weight: 9.7kg
H/C: 45cm
Height: 70cm

I remember early days when his size was actually off the chart and he was above the 98th percentile - now he has come down to around the 95th. He has not grown taller in the last 3 visits even though his other measurements have increased. Sister says I'll probably see a big difference in height in the next month.

On the diet front things are still going very well - I hit a plateau for a good 2.5 weeks and the scale became my enemy but I pushed through in the hope that I would get over it and this week I was rewarded with another 1.2kg loss - a total of 6.4kg's down since beginning of January. I am feeling good about it and even though I know I still have a long way to go I'm trying to set mini-goals for myself and not look at the bigger picture.
I have been having a lot of back troubles on and off since I had T and like all mom's I put myself last so only now 7 months later decided to visit the chiropracter - won't go into detail but there is a lot of locking up going on in my spine thats cause pain in my right hip, kidney, ovary and upper leg. Saturday I'm back again and although I love how he clicks my back out I'm not really looking forward to the pain after the treatment. Kaylah was an absolute STAR last night as she could see I was in pain and not only bathed, changed, and fed Trent but rocked him to sleep as well. But that's not all - she wouldn't let me make supper (okay granted we just had a potato with cheese on as none of us were really hungry) but she made it for me and brought it to the room. I gave her a bit of money this morning to go buy a nice outfit for a dance she's going to on Friday - she really deserves it.

I'm still enjoying my camera and drinking in every possible article I can get my hands on. I have just ordered Photoshop CS4 and today ordered the How to book that goes with it so looking forward to spending a lot of time in front of the computer.
I want to post a picture or two that I took but please please seasoned photographers and others - be gentle! I know my focus points were not spot on amongst other things but I will get there eventually :o))

The minute the rain stopped I grabbed up my camera for close-ups of the still-wet flowers in the garden which I thought were absolutely beautiful - since I have not yet received my software they haven't been enhanced at all..

Just a leaf but imagine the possibilites if I had a macro lens on those raindrops. Next on my list to buy but oh so expensive.... :(


Hydrangia flowers





From our Frangipani Tree


Now if I had edited this one on the computer I would have definately removed or disguised the dying flower in the background.

Public Property?

Just wanted to mention that since I loaded that "MapLoco" onto my blog I have discovered that I get readers from all over the world. Belgium, Poland, USA, Ireland and the other day even had someone comment in Japanese or Chinese (forgive me but I don't know the difference)....

Now my point is this ..... I am somewhat freaked out. I know its a public blog for all to see and I sit now questioning my wisdom in putting my beloved children on display. So please ... to all those readers from far and wide drop a comment every now and again so I am safe in the knowledge that your intentions are pure - or I may be forced to go private for the safety of my family.

Weekend Fun

Once again we had a nice family weekend starting with Friday night. We went out with some friends for dinner but left T at home with the maid as I don't often like messing with his routine. We were home by 10:30pm so not a late night at all.

Saturday morning I suggested to Oli we go to the Pavilion for a change and do some shopping. Its a good 1.5 hours drive but was well worth it. The kids got spoilt as Christmas was pretty tight not to mention that since we spent it in Jhb and had no space in the car we couldn't get all the presents we wanted to so on Saturday T finally got his Ride-on-Walker which he loves - its the one that converts into a little bike for when they get older.



I also bought him a long-overdue radio/cd player for his room and a couple of CD's including the Sleep Sense Lala cd as the radio we would have used has taken up permanent residence in Oli's workshop. Morgan got a whole set of "My Little Ponies" and a nice big lilo and Kaylah of course got money as she desperately wanted the "New Moon" DVD which sadly was not out in any of the shops we went to. If she's anything like me when she wants something she HATES waiting.
Oli bought himself some nice clothes which was long overdue so I'm glad he finally spoilt himself for a change.
We also got a nice pair of running shoes for me as I had none and constantly used this as an excuse to not go for the 5pm run with Oli and the kids. Another problem was the pram we have for T which got terrible speed wobbles on the one time Oli took him with. Sooo we decided to get a not-too-expensive jogger pram for him and now no more excuses for me [watch this space]....
We feasted on a wonderful lunch of beef carpacio starter with capers, parmesan and rocket drenched in lemon juice, olive oil and balsamic and ordered one really delicious pizza to share between us for our main course. The reason I make reference to the wonderful lunch is due to the really crappy restaurants we have at home so when we do find a good restaurant with good service we are like kids in a candy store.
Saturday afternoon / night we were absolutely exhausted so all dropped into bed very early and woke up to a sweltering hot day on Sunday. Honestly the kind of heat that takes your breath away. I waited until at least 3:30pm before taking T to swim due to the scorching sun - so T, Morgan and myself swam in a pool that was 31 degrees and felt like tepid bath water. The minute you get out you're hot again - I started feeling like I was on Lake Kareba in December (take it from me you DO NOT want to be that close to the equator in December).

Last night we had rolled pork, roast potatoes and veg but honestly I just couldn't eat because of the heat so we should have probably stuck to salad's a cold meat.

Trent is growing so well and has gone from a baby who hardly smiled to one that smiles all the time - his whole face lights up when he smiles and its just so contageous. He has been rocking on his hands and knees for a while now and has figured out that if he rocks to gain momentum then throws himself forward on his tummy and repeats he gets to where he wants to be so being on my bed is no longer an option unless under very close supervision. He has also got pretty bored being on his knees and now pushes up onto his feet so his bum is right up in the air.
As far as kisses and hugs go he is starting to not like them too much - possibly because he gets them from 5 different people in the house constantly so one can hardly blame him. Food wise his appetite is very good lately whereas a couple of weeks ago he never finished his food and more often than not spat it out.

Morgan has a little PeeWee motorbike and Oli taught her to ride yesterday - once she had the basics he took her to a field nearby and off she went. He phoned me and I jumped in the car armed with my NEW camera to watch this very proud moment. We will be buying all the safety gear before I allow her back on the bike however.

As for me I have been trying, throughout all the chaos at home, to read a book I bought on Saturday "Digital Photography Handbook" as an aide to help me better understand my new camera which I am absolutely over the moon about. A late Christmas present from DH.







I have a lot of saving to do for all the extra's I would like to get incl. photoshop, tripod, micro lenses, zoom lenses, external flash and so it goes on .... not a cheap hobby at all but hopefully sometime in the future it will start paying back.

On that note I'm off to read my book and gain more valuable tips in the peaceful surroundings of my office.

Pictures and Diets

Oli and I started off this year with a bang on the diet front and I must say that so far I am very proud of him. He seems very determined to follow a healthy diet and hasn't been to the local pub for the last two weekends - choosing rather to detox and take beach walks. It really makes it so much easier for me when I have someone doing it with me as our meals get simpler and he no longer brings unhealthy food like chocolates into the house.

So far he has lost 4kg's since we started on 4 Jan and I have lost 5.2kg's. I am feeling so strong and positive and I really hope to see this through to the end as I still have quite a journey ahead of me until I reach goal weight. Oli only needs to lose about 10kg's and I want to lose another 18 to get to where I am comfortable. I was very tempted yesterday to try my pre-pregnancy black work pants on but decided I would wait another week as I would probably just disappoint myself if they didn't yet fit - so for now its maternity pants but hopefully in the near future I will watch them burn to dust and never think of them again.

Other than that I have not loaded pics in quite a while so for now a few .....

Morgan and Grandpa New Years Eve


Surfer Dude


I want your drink daddy


This is the life


My very first day of school (Gr 1)

Letting Go...

So this weekend Kaylah's friend who moved to Durban came by bus to spend some time with her and so far they have had a wonderful time catching up with eachother.
Yesterday we were all lazing around the pool and the two girls were on their cell phones frantically trying to make plans with other friends in town who also wanted to see Felicia before she goes back to Durban. Kaylah then asked if they could go to movies last night if they got a lift from one of her friends parents and I said it was fine. A few minutes later she told me another friend Monique's father was on his way to collect them to take them to the beach, thereafter we must fetch them and they would probably be going out to movies last night with yet another friend. I suddenly realised after she had left for the beach that she had become independant of me. A little later we went to collect them and myself Oli, Morgan and Trent decided to indulge in a waffle where we were to meet them. They came to the table along with Monique but immediately decided to take a walk down to the beach and on their return sat at a seperate table clucking like little chickens about the goings on in all their teenage friends lives. After saying goodbye to Monique we all herded into the car and I heard my daughter saying to her friend "Shame that is sooo terrible" so I asked her what she was talking about. Her answer? "Sorry mom its a personal issue about another girl in the school". I smiled sadly to myself as in one breath I am so proud of her and the many friendships she has forged and yet in another breath I suddenly felt that she no longer needs me as she used to.

I have always been incredibly protective of this child firstly because she is not Oli's daughter and secondly because she just never knew how to take any of life's knocks. I fought her battles for her fiercley and would literally turn anyone to dust who dared upset her. She was and still is a very sentisitve little soul and I remember as a baby and toddler she was a constant attachment to one of my legs when we were in the company of other people even when invited to kiddies parties she just would never partake in the festivities, rather choosing to hide by mommy.

As she grew and started school she was still a terribly uncertain little child and I spent many a day blaming myself because I believed it was due to her not having a father figure in her life. I constantly worried about her as she found it difficult to make friends and was often teased due to being overweight by little brats who had no idea that if the time was taken, they would discover in her a beautiful little gem that would be nothing but enriching to their lives.

Years later upon turning 13 things began to change. I NEVER EVER wanted to put any kind of pressure on her about her weight as I believe doing such can be dangerous so I would gently tell my husband to leave her be and let her find her own way. She did! She became a teenager and decided she wanted to look good - she exercised self-dicipline and restraint like that which I have never seen before. Suddenly before our eyes the transformation into a beautiful little swan. The compliments from everybody were and still are endless and after this everything else seemed to fall into place. She found her place in the school, she found her voice, she realised she had just as much right to be there as any of the other kids - one of the proudest moments of my life - a true cinderella story. Now at 16 years old she has so many friends that I just can't keep up. She is a good, pure person who could teach me so much about love and patience, she attends youth and is christian in every sense of the word (again something I could learn from). She is always there when I need a shoulder to cry on or to lend a hand with Trent who she loves dearly.

All my hopes and dreams for her came true, my heart broke a million times over when she was that chubby little girl that was teased but here I sit today feeling a little ..... sad. She is growing up and she is needing me and my support less and less. She will always be my little girl - my first born but now mommy has to take a back seat and let her spread her wings - choking back the lump in my throat as my heart fills with pride.

I love you so much Kaylah - you will always be my No. 1

xxxxx

Another Year rolls around

I just can't get my head around how quickly the years are going by lately I mean heck I can still remember playing in the yard as a child as if it were yesterday. In fact I remember being a child for a pretty darn long time yet my adult years have flown by so fast I have so many missing gaps. I can only assume it has to do with the fact that everything is so incredibly fast paced these days - there are cell phones, home PC's, internet, email, palm pilots, blackberry's, video conferencing etc etc.
What did they do all those years ago when someone left the office at 4:30 - 5pm to go home? No cell phones, no email no nothing so you went home, relaxed and spent good quality time with the family with absolutely no interruptions. The whole world turned slower because we had the time to stop and smell the roses and I honestly miss my childhood more than you'll know. If I could do this whole thing over I would have had my children 30 years ago so they too could play in the parks, ride bikes or rollerskate on the streets until dark, invent games outdoors as there would be no TV - but their childhood will flash by them at the blink of an eye as we all try desperately hard to stay on this fast spinning merry-go-round. *sigh* Can somebody please show me where the pause button is - if only for a day or even an hour?

Christmas too went by in a flash but fun was had by all. It was great spending it in Jhb with my family for a change and I must say we really had a good time. I seem to be still recovering from the whole Christmas and New Year thing because I am constantly tired and just can't seem to get enough sleep. I probably need a booster shot or something. As for New Years Resolutions I won't be making any even though I intend to start and stick to a diet - it will not be a resolution but a goal that I will try my absolute best to follow to on a day to day basis. I also intend to stop smoking - yes I hate it - I hate how it turns me into a needy addict whenever I think I have run out but again this is nobody's business but my own - I don't need the added pressure thank you very much. I also want to start appreciating and pampering the woman inside me as somewhere along the way she got left behind and mom and wife took charge - she is my essence and was a long long time before the other two roles came in to play.

On that note this mommy has another stressful week ahead organising back-to-school goodies for the kids - once again the woman inside must wait...