Weekend at Bear Lake

Wakeboard - What?!

Check it out. Darren decided that he wanted to wakeboard, but didn't want to launch the boat. So no problem to my dear brother and Mack, they just take the 4 wheeler down to the beach, attach a rope to it and get a bit of wakeboarding in that way. If not why not I say.

Non-conformist

My child is definitely a product of her parents. At six weeks old she already doesn't like being told how to do things. She likes to be in her sling, but doesn't like to be in it the way the brochure says, oh no, Taz likes to be in it backwards. Heavens.

Baby on Back

Back home black women use a towel or other fabric to tie their babies on their backs, so they can do the work they need to do. I read somewhere that due to the closeness the babies have with their mothers while young, they develop better than children who are more separated from their mothers. I always said that when I had kids, I would follow suit - mainly to have my hands free. (The Black women back home also carry stuff on their heads, which is something I have tried on numerous occasions but to no avail - it makes me really jealous.)
Anyway, I was just waiting for Tamsine to develop neck muscles, and then I was going to start tying her on my back to do my house work etc. But, the other day I saw a woman with her baby just chillin in a sling kind of like a kangaroo. I stopped her and asked her about the sling - she said it was fabulous and would recommend it to anyone. So, I went online and used some giftcards that I had to order one. It arrived yesterday, and this morning Tamsine hung out in her new sling while I did my housework, it was so much better than tying my baby on my back cause I could see her and talk to her, but it still allowed my hands to be free. And, best of all - its totally stylish. Yay to my new Peanut Shell!

Ahead of Our Time

As children, my friend Jenni and I used to put our feet into the mountain streams where our families used to camp, just so that the fish would suck on our toes. It really tickled, but we loved it. The one day we were having a grand old time with the fishies, and were just chatting away, when I said to Jenni, "Man this fish is sucking hard!". I looked down and it was a tiny crab having a go at my toe. Jenni just bust up laughing.

Anyway, who would have thought we were so ahead of our time with our fishy pedicures. Watch this video. Thanks for the link Jen.

Hair Raising

Its official, my Country Music Awards hair is gone. It feels so light.

Sweet Memory

I can't remember what I was doing this morning, but I suddenly remembered something that Jeremy did for me when we were kids.

Jeremy was in The Tygerberg Children's Choir when he was a kid, so he must have been about 9 or 10 at the time. His first trip with the choir was to Durban, South Africa, and he was so excited to go. My parents gave him a very small spending allowance while he was gone for "just in cases". Well my dearest little brother came back from his trip, and handed me a small pair of beaded earings. I was touched at the time, but sitting this morning and thinking back, I realized that he had used his meager allowance thinking of me. Even from a really young age, he always thought of me.

And suddenly I'm all misty eyed. I love you too little brother!

Isn't She Cute?

She's a month old already. I can't believe it.

Family Picture

A Little Mixture

Mack as a baby...

Leith as a baby...


Combine the two and you get - a little Tazling.

Knackered!!!

How can something so small, take up so much time? That is my question. I feel like I get nothing constructive done on any given day. And when I say nothing, I mean a big, fat, NOTHING!!

Tamsine is still on a 3hr feeding routine. Let me break those 3hrs down for you:
1st hr - sitting on the couch feeding and burping her.
2nd hr - sitting on the couch trying to rock her to sleep, giving up, letting her kick while lying on the floor, then eventually getting her to sleep.
3rd hr - Taz and I both completely conked out trying to get any sleep we can.
And then it starts all over again - woohoo.

Here are a few things about myself right now: -
* My new daily wardrobe consists of me wearing my underwear the whole day, and then throwing on a t-shirt and stretchy pants just before Mack comes home from work.
* My brain is completely fried, so if you call and leave a message expecting me to call back, its most probably never going to happen.
* I still feel like I should be a contributing member of society - more fool me.
* I have about 20lbs of baby weight to lose, and am very depressed that I don't fit into my normal pants yet - fat pants, its just you and me again today.
* My newest hobby is sitting for hours staring at the cuteness that is my child.
* I have found out that I'm not really good at typing with one hand, and that I get bored and invariably give up, hence the lack of posts.

And that's all for now.

My Cousin

Smiles, Happiness and Contentment. What more can a mother ask for? Maeve, Ethan and Taz, the cousins first picture together.

And then...reality hits!

Tarr Family

Darren and his little family. Aren't they just adorable? Mack and I need to get an updated family photo.

Two Weeks Old

I can't believe my munchkin is two weeks old already. She is growing so fast. See for yourself.


I know the photos are a little soft, but thats what happens when your subject won't stop squirming.

Sainted

I believe my parents in law should be sainted for all the help they gave me yesterday.

I'll start at the beginning, shall I?

A few weeks ago I got a letter from Homeland Security requesting evidence of mine and Mack's marriage over the last two years. They needed this information for my greencard renewal. Well I was expecting to get the packet done last week before my due date. Needless to say, our little bundle of joy's early arrival completely wiped the need for me to put my packet together from my mind until yesterday. Not a problem some might think. Well, the packet was due by today - no exceptions. I went into full fledged panic mode. Full fledged! Thankfully I had gotten most of it together, but still needed a few notarized affidavits from friends and family. Mack called a friend and his parents, and I called a friend. Mack's parents then picked up the notarized affidavits, brought them all the way to our house for me to get them into the packet, and then waited around while I finished off my statement. We were planning on having the packet to Fedex with time to spare, but Mack's dad realized that all I had was a P.O. box number and that Fedex then wouldn't work. So they rushed to the post office to priority overnight it, only to be told that the deadline for overnighting had passed a mere 10 min before. When Linda called to let me know I just wanted to cry. Anyway, Mack's dad looked online, found a street address for overnight shipping to UCIS, and then rushed to Fedex to ship it so that it reached its destination by today, just in time for me not to be deported.

Add a colicky baby to the mix and my not having gotten any sleep the night before, and you can see why Saint Jon and Saint Linda has a nice ring to it.

Phoebe's Grand Day Out

We took Phoebe to Mack's parents house to give her a little bit of a change from our tiny little apartment. She LOVED the yard and spent the whole time we were there exploring.

At one point I couldn't see Phoebe anywhere, but noticed that this large cherry tree in their yard looked like it was having convulsions of the upper leaves.



On closer inspection guess what we found?




What a crazy cat!

Back in the Land of the Living

Well I'm back, and feel surprisingly good considering I have stitches in my most tenderist of bits. I am thoroughly enjoying my little girl and have taken to just sitting and staring at her. I can't believe that barely a week ago she was inside me, and now shes a living breathing little person with preferences to certain things already.

Mack and I still can't figure out who she looks like. She has my cleft chin though. I got it from my mom who got it from her dad, and now my little girl has it - strong genes that cleft. Sometimes when I look at her, she looks like my cousin Jason, and other times she looks like my brother Jeremy. I asked Mack's mom if she looked like anyone in their family and she said that she looked a little like one of Mack's cousin's kids. Anyway, maybe she's just the perfect combination of the two of us. I like that idea.

She's a curious little soul who loves to look around (even though she can't focus very far and still goes cross eyed at times), and listens intently when we make a new sound. She also never stops moving her little legs. No wonder I was so uncomfortable those last few weeks of pregnancy, every part inside of me was most probably bruised in the wake of her legs and feet.

Mack and I are slowly getting used to not having too much sleep. Well at least I'm slowly getting used to it. Mack on the other hand really needs his sleep, but is trying really hard. Tamsine loves her daddy and responds to his voice, and just stares at him. It melts my heart to see the two of them together.

Despite all we need to learn and all our inadequacies, Mack and I are ecstatic to have our little girl. We're one happy family.

Welcoming the wee one!

This is Mack posting on behalf of Leith. Our little Tamsine was born on Sunday morning at 4:32. She weighed 7 pounds one ounce and was 19 and 1/2 inches long. Both Leith and Taz are healthy and will be coming home tomorrow. I came home to feed the cat and wanted to post some photos for Leith's friends. Once she's home she'll organize the post and add captions and stuff.

Latest Preggie Pic

Update

I know I haven't written in what feels like forever, but I've had very good reasons not to. Reasons like, "I've just been way too tired to sit down and think of something to write," and "I don't really fit in front of the computer anymore," and "there really hasn't been anything that exciting to write about," and "I've been too busy nesting."

Its really true about that last one. I've had this uncontrollable urge to put my house in order before Taz arrives. So Mack and I spent countless hours at Home Depot and Ikea getting closet organizers and cupboards etc. Then I sat back and made Mack assemble and mount the stuff we got. I've been thrilled with the results, but still have a bit of work ahead of me, because now I have to organize those assembled cupboards and closets.

I was also finishing up with work and trying to get things done there. My last day was supposed to be Friday, but there was just too much I wasn't able to do, and so now I have to go back in for a couple of days. I don't mind really, I was very sad to leave.

And thats about it. I'll post pictures of my nesting, I just need to take the pictures. promise.