Raising boys

Christmas time in London town

So we have been back three weeks and I feel like the Tasmanian devil when he just keeps on spinning (you remember him right? Or am I showing my age...) It has been nonstop with making sure everyone sees us, actually Laith, they are polite about wanting to see us but it is all about the kid. Even my parents on Skype don’t want the camera on me! He has adapted well to new surroundings, freezing weather (although grumpy about it at first) and wearing shoes for the first time (after Sam and I broke a sweat putting them on...yes really)

It has been wonderful seeing him with his cousins and loved ones, growing slowly accustomed to new faces and places. Winter wonderland, done, Natural History and Science Museum, done. Big Christmas tree done, overload of presents, done, overload of sugar and treats more than done, snotty cold, done and a shedload of attention , done. (I sound like Gordon Ramsey). Trust me when you have so much to do and so many to see you literally have a list in your head you check off. For Sam and I it was GBK, Mangal kebabs, Starbucks, customary nightout wiht the boys and a hangover from hell, many girls dinners and wine for me in return... spa treatments (yes him too), Hyde and Holland park, pub grub, mulled wine, a bit of snow, seeinold schoolmates, staying up all night watching nothing on TV (literally as our Sky stopped working) and going for walks on the high street (which we don’t have in Sa and we do miss it!)

It has been great but exhausting and I am sitting here on Boxing Day looking back on the year with a little bit of amazement at how my mind-set has changed 360 degrees. I left to Durban in tears and continued to do so for a few months. Now I feel it is home. A dear friend of mind moved to NYC last year and when I said to her I too was leaving London but was going with the attitude that it is a long vacation she laughed at me and told me I was fooling myself and that it was a life change. Trish you aren’t just a pretty face! We are very lucky as it has been the most worthwhile life change, and being in London makes it all the more apparent.

We miss our friends and family desperately but we have adapted to an outdoor lifestyle on a small beach village more than we realised.  I love London for the museums and parks, proper pubgrub, Heinz baked beans and salad cream (yes I have put a few in the suitcase) and most of all I love it for you folks.

But I miss Durban.THe ladies I have befriended, the little man's friends, the everyday people you encounter going about your daily chores.You will never in your life encounter such friendly, kind, helpful and child loving people than you do in SA.coupled with the weather and outdoor healthier lifestyle we hopefully can't go wrong.

Love you all

Until next year....

This one is for you x

Our son turns 1 next week and more than ever I find myself remembering the drive to the hospital with Sam on a cold November morning thinking this was our last drive as a twosome together. Nothing could have prepared us for how our lives were about to change, the challenges and overwhelming love we were about to experience. Our journey to get to Laith was long and difficult but it's all somehow blurred into a distant memory and we look at the cheeky little critter we have been blessed with in absolute wonder.

Each day he does something to make himself and us laugh out loud, he stumbles and falls and cries, he grasps things with a little more power and determination, he pushes our boundaries and tests us a little more and he brings so much joy and love into his grandparents lives. This little man in the making has turned our lives upside-down and for the better.

So on a day where my heart and thoughts are with my loved ones going through a difficult time (you know who you are and I love you girls) I find myself hoping that Laith will grow-up to be like you. Loving and devoted children, strong,brave, powerful and with such faith that you even stay smiling and positive through the adversity life throws in your way. I look at you both and it makes me want to have a sibling for Laith, so he is not alone not just through the hard times but seeing you share all your great and happy times together, filled with such love! You have built a life full of incredible memories and share a gift for loving life and seeing the good in everything. My friend and sister you inspire me as a mother, wife and human being. You both are admirable but most of all you are survivors. Your parents must look at you and be so incredibly proud of their success at raising such wonderful children and I pray that one day I can look back when I am old and grey (not far away!) at Laith with the same sentiment. 

God Bless you and give you strength now and always

x

Guilty pleasure.....

After weeks of dieting and working out, and finally fitting into some clothes which I was convinced would never see daylight again, I had promised myself a Eid blow-out...and boy did we totally blow out. I convinced myself that I would just have a veggie-pitta burger but then Sam said he felt like takeaway and that is how, by some magical power, my plate runeth over with BBQ ribs, fries, breaded shrooms and pizza. To think a year ago I would eat that as a starter and scream ' the baby wants it ! Its for the baby!'

Now I had no excuse, nor do I need one. I have to be honest, every single sinful bite was a heavenly mouthgasm. I am still staring at the burger half and few shroomies left wondering if I can actually go on (reminds me of Man vs Food) and out of principle I will because I know for the next month I am back on the wagon. So happy Eid to you my friends, loved ones and most of to my happy not-so-little belly.

Until next time x

Fishy in the water... My first attempt at swimming

La Familia

So we decided to brave the long haul journey to Beirut, via Dubai, with the little critter as his Grandpa and mama were in need of some Laith love. The kid managed a great deal better than us on the  night flight, 3 hour layover and further 3 hour flight. It really did feel like we were there and back in a blink of an eye, such a short visit but a very much needed one for my parents, especially my father. It is truly incredible the power of love a child brings to a home. Whereas before Dad needed a walker to aid him to maneuver from one room to the other, having Laith there gave him the strength to get up everyday and walk unaided, stay awake for much longer and interact a lot more. Priceless.
Laith got to see his great grandma once more only this time decided biting her on the hand on every visit was his way of saying hello. Her sweet childlike reaction each time was ' ouch! Your son, your son the bugger, he bit me!!'
Beirut is beautiful in so many ways, the shops, the places, the bar and cafes, the beach and nightlife, the shopping...and yet so frustrating in other ways. Nonetheless I both love and hate going there, the former to see my beloved ones, the latter in the heartache when we depart.
We stayed a few nights in Dubai on the return journey and truly had an amazing time with family and friends who had yet to meet our little creation. It is good to know you guys are a short 8 hour flight away.
And now the countdown begins for, dare I say it, Christmas and our visit to London...what little jet setters we are turning out to be!
Until next time...

Such a perfect day...I'm glad I spent it with you

This is the first birthday in a while that I have not been pregnant so bring on the wine! It is also the first one in a few years where the hormones have been slightly more balanced and find myself spending my birthday with a whole new perspective on life.

I have a very loving husband. Always so very keen to impress me and after nine years he still manages to outdo himself with an incredible bouquet of flowers. If all else fails I am sure he would make a fine florist.

The three of us spent the morning enjoying a rare lie-in. (thank you Laith) followed by a walk in our picturesque village with the sun beating down on us. Father-in-law joined us for lunch at our local French / Creole restaurant where we dined on fine wine, snails, crab, langoustine,cobb fish, crème brulee and crème caramel, followed by some family time at home with the footie and grand prix.


Just a perfect day.

Mad about the boy

A dear friend reminded me today that I had not written for a while ( I wont repeat the colourful language he used) but he is right and I have been lazy when it comes to the PC.
We have been experiencing the rainy winter season (unfortunately for Sam it is usually at the weekends after a sunny week) so the weekends have been limited to either home or shopping malls, which end up with the car boot filled with toys for Laith. Not the small cuddly type,but the big red car type...and so it begins.

I have spent the last month or so recovering from another c section to have some fibroids removed. Good thing I got to experience what hospitals are like here before having another critter. The private ward is like a good nhs hospital wing, only with a tv built into the ceiling above your head.God bless my father in law for being here and looking after Laith with Sam as the little fella and I were separated for a week....and as any Mum will know it frigging sucks! I didnt realise what a miserable git I was until a few weeks ago when we went for our follow up with the surgeon and when I smiled hello his response was 'oh so you do know how to smile after seeing your face so miserable all week!' He is a Spurs fans so the sarcasm is understandable when you support shite.

So with so much time spent at home and not being mobile for a few weeks I had a chance to fall more in love with our son.The kid is amazing. Everything a boy should be. Naughty, cheeky, stubborn, curious, brave and determined to get his way. He is also full of laughter from the moment he opens those huge brown eyes and now that he is standing and trying to walk we have had a few bumps on the head and tears to follow. He sleeps with his bum int he air, farts away all night most nights and crawls at lightening speed ( I have been known to lose him around the flat). The best part is that his hero is his Dad. Nothing beats the sound of your two men laughing and playing together, especially when Junior wakes up Senior. I wish he had come along earlier as he would have saved me years of grumpy mornings! Sam encourages Laith to pull my hair and not let go, I am trying to teach him to bite Dad's nose and not mine (he has more to bite)
Laith loves his play groups with Troy, Bevan, Milan and Quinn, I love them for the friends I am making, one of whom has moved into our building with her 10 month old girl called Abigal who Laith has decided is his gal.Go on son!

He loves watching sky news whilst eating his weetbix, adores the Malaysia airlines advert, is mesmerised by the birds on the balcony when we sunbathe in the morning, loves shouting at me if I ignore him for too long and can entertain himself with his balls for hours (the toy ones) He throws his toys around from one end of the flat to the other with little mercy and I wonder if he will keep doing that after he is old enough to watch Toy Story, especially part 3 (which has been known to make grown men cry).

So if I haven't bored you enough now with his antics I am off to see what delights Pat is conjuring for us today (she is our nanny who is with us for a month or so and has been turning me into an Indian cuisine expert. I have to say my rotis, samosas and chilli dip do kick a bit of ass)

We are heading home for a month at Christmas but until then I promise more eventful updates now that we are up and about and the sun is shining.
Love to you all

Until next time...