DIY baby leg warmers

This has to be the easiest DIY project I've ever tried. It took me less than 10 minutes to complete and the end product is sooo cute! I'll make tons more so little Miss Olivia will be rocking some stylish leg warmers to keep those legs nice and cosy this coming winter.

This is not my own original design. I found the tutorial on this blog.

Moments like these

Early evening spent at the beach with my two favourite people. Feet buried in sand, sipping on homemade smoothies, enjoying the view of the ocean and sky...life is beautiful.

8/52

"A portrait of my child, once a week, every week, in 2013"

Dear Oliva,

Your eyes are radiantly beautiful even when they are filled with tears after a serious screaming episode this morning.

Love,

Mama

Click here to read about the 52 project

Old school jersey into stylish baby dress

What an awesome Sunday afternoon we've had. We spent some time with our beautiful church family for a social get together. Then I did one of my favourite things...creating! I pulled out an old grey jersey from a pile of clothes that we are going to give away and I turned it into a beautiful dress for my sweet Caramel. It's nowhere near perfect, but I'm really happy with how it turned out. And it was all done in two hours, by hand, no sewing machine!

This is the finished product

This is the original jersey

This is part of the transformation process

And this is Miss Olivia rocking her new dress

7/52

"A portrait of my child, once a week, every week, in 2013"

Dear Olivia,

Your Daddy bought this pretty outfit for you when you were still in Mama's tummy. You always look so cute in it. It's a bit small now so today was probably the last time you wore it. We'll pack it away for another special little girl.

Love,

Mama

Click here to read about the 52 project

A stand against woman and child abuse

Two days ago I received this message from a friend: " There's a call for women in South Africa to dress in black on Friday as a stand against the abuse of women and children. Please pass the message to others." I almost ignored and deleted it as I usually do with such messages, but something about this moved me within. Thousands of women dressed in black may not necessarily be the answer to the terrible acts of violence and abuse against women and children that have flooded South African news in the past weeks, but it is a cry.... a cry of exasperation, desperation and anger.

I decided to respond to the call and dressed Olivia in black too. I am dreaming and contending for an abuse-free country - a safe South Africa for my daughter, for her children and her grandchildren. So the cries of the thousands of women who wore black today have not fallen on deaf ears.  One day my dream will become a reality, as our beautiful South Africa will be a safe place for women and children that furthermore encourages and empowers them to live in the fulness of their potential!

Dear Olivia (9 months old)

While playing today, you made a game to entertain yourself. You would "fly" your water bottle, making a "weeweewee" sound, then crash it into your toy drum, and then act surprised at the crashing sound. You did this over and over again! It struck me that you, my tiny baby, are growing into a big baby, and we are indeed seeing toddlerhood fast approaching.

You've been crawling for a little over a month. You started off  like a reptile, dragging yourself from room to room. I was so glad when you started crawling on your knees and hands, but it seems that when you can't get to your destination fast enough, you revert back to your gecko style crawl! Well, at least you've been keeping our floors nice and clean, the proof being in your dirty, dusty, stained clothes.

You are also quite an explorer. You love playing, especially with anything that you are not supposed to touch or go near. Cables and wires seem to be your favourite thing since you started crawling. I wish you could tell me what is more interesting about a white telephone cable than your multicoloured, multifunctional and even multilingual piano! According to the manufacturer of this magnificent toy you are supposed to love the colours, sounds and textures, and it even promises hours of interactive fun. If anything were to even come close (meaning seconds or minutes of fun) to fulfilling this promise, it would rather be the TV remote or bucket filled with plastic kitchenware!

And while your exploring ways are fun to watch, they are a bit scary as well. It's as if you crawl around with a magnifying glass and a mouth wide open, ready for any "treasures" you inevitably find on the floor. These are some of the interesting objects we've had to pull out of your mouth thus far: a plastic straw, earrings, chunks of toilet paper, rubber bands... and I have no doubt that other things have made it to your stomach and hopefully out the other end! You find it so funny and hilarious when we anxiously try to pull stuff out of your mouth, with no idea how anxious it actually is for mama and daddy. We try to be so careful, yet it seems like everyday, without fail, you always manage to get some foreign object into that pretty little mouth of yours!

Eating is still your favourite activity. I have never seen anyone who enjoys food quite like you do. It is an absolute joy watching you enjoy a meal, snack or drink, and the look of immeasurable pleasure and enjoyment in your eyes is just priceless! The other day we were sitting in line at the clinic and a baby next to us was having a banana. You screamed for her snack, even almost grabbed it out of her hand. Lucky for you her mother gave you one for yourself, and you gobbled it down within a few minutes. Oh my dear, everyone around us must have thought you were starving! And with almost eight teeth now, you are a pro at biting and chewing. Now and again, you still like to practise your biting skills on me when I'm feeding you. Ouch!

One of our biggest breakthroughs in the past three months is that we finally found the right nanny for you, after a physically draining and  emotionally stressful search. She's been with us now for just over a month and she is such a blessing to our family. I am not worried about you when I'm work, as I can be confident that you are happy and in good care. When I come home from work in the early afternoon, I usually find the two of you playing outside on the grass. You drop whatever toy you have in your hand and give me the biggest, most adorable grin. It's funny though, as sometimes you'll just burst into tears when I walk in, as if you are suddenly coming to the realisation that I've been gone. I can't help but laugh!

I can tell you are more aware now of who you know and who you don't. You will not easily go to a stranger anymore. You still surprise me sometimes however - Like the other day when I was wheeling you in your pram at the grocery store and a random man came and started chatting to you, pulling your cheeks. He even proceeded to take you out of your pram and carried you (he asked for mama's permission first). You looked him straight in the face and started pulling his sunglasses, with no fear whatsoever! He was pretty chuffed with himself, boasting to everyone nearby, "You see, babies just love me!". Well done sweetheart, maybe he needed that self esteem boost, and you helped him feel special!

Everyday with you is filled with sweet adventures. I love doing life with you and learning from you. You continually teach me to be patient, to be vulnerable, to be strong and persevere, to see the best in people, to love unconditionally, and to enjoy the simple things in life. Being a mama is not without challenges - health, time, relationships and social life challenges all come with the package of parenthood - but none of these can ever outweigh the sweet joy. 

I love you my sweet Caramel. You make my life so rich and beautiful!

Mama

6/52

"A portrait of my child, once a week, every week, in 2013"

Dear Olivia,

You are getting along so well with your nanny. I couldn't even get you to look at the camera, your eyes were so fixed on her.

Love,

Mama

Click here to read about the 52 project

Baby girl crochet sandals

I've always wanted to try make a pair of cute crochet sandals for Olivia. I was so stoked when I stumbled across a very easy to follow, free pattern by Naomi from Lovely Little Life. I am pretty happy with how cute and adorable these sandals turned out. Olivia is not so happy though as she almost cannot stand any kind of shoes on her feet! She pulls them out within minutes if not seconds of having them on. Oh well, they'll make a pretty addition to her "made by mama with love" collection.

5/52

"A portrait of my child, once a week, every week, in 2013"

Dear Olivia,

You look so pretty in your head-wrap African princess.

Love,

Mama

Click here to read about the 52 project

Just when I thought I had you all figured out...

...You tapped me, the "parent of a perfect sleeper", on the shoulder and said; "I'm no crochet pattern mama, you can't figure me out just like that!" After sleeping perfectly for 8 out of the 10 nights Mr. Man was away, I thought we surely must have entered a new season...the season parents of (some) toddlers talk about, the "Don't worry, they'll start sleeping through the night at some point'' season. Let me confess, I had even started drafting a blog post on how we conquered our sleep issues!  I won't delete it, for I I'll surely be able to publish it some day (somebody please tell me that will be before she goes to university!)

I lay next to her in the early morning today, trying desperately to put her back to sleep. I caught myself before getting terribly frustrated. As I gently brushed her curls with my hand it dawned on me once again that my sweet Caramel will not be a baby forever. Right now, she's really just a baby being a baby, actually just a human being being human - some nights are good and some are not so good.

Do keep the good nights coming Miss Olivia because
Good nights = Very Very Very Happy Mama
Bad nights = Happy Mama