Preparation is my middle name

Who knew that preparing a baby room would be SUCH HARD WORK? Dang! For such a tiny tot, we sure need a whole bunch of stuff! Goodness - we have a pram, a feeding chair, two carseats (one big, one small), a cot(t) which needs assembling (that’s a whole other story – one which totally requires a post of it’s own, and a healthy dose of a good sense of humour on my hubby’s part. And my own. Which means that I’ll have to save it for a day in the far future, when we’ve gotten over our sense-of-humour failure. Which is about all I want to say about that. For now. Hehe! Oh boy, I am so DYING to tell you guys about that. But alas, I just love my hubby too much. Where was I? Oh yes…), a campcot(t), storage baskets, toyboxes, a rocking chair, side table for lamp and goodies, breast pump, walky-talky-thingy, countless blankets, cot(t) bumpers, changing mats, quilts, pillows, a baby-backpack for carrying her around in when we go walking on the farm, another baby-backpack sling-thingy for when I’m carrying her around at home, woolly hats, mittens, socks, slippers, boots, thermometers, bottle sterilizers, bunches of fleecy blankets, sheets, “receiving blankets” (and can somebody please explain to me what a “receiving blanket” is and why it’s not just a blanket? Is there something special I will be doing with it, other than wrapping it around little Jesse-Lee?) mosquito nets, gauze-bath-thingy, spit cloths, mobiles, machine-washable teddy bears, diapers and three quizzy cats patrolling in-between everything while we’re trying to sort things out.

And this morning Robin and I realized that we need to pack a hospital bag for little Jesse-Lee, and one for each of us, just in case they phone us to let us know that Lindsay’s gone into labour… OK, so there is still time, but it doesn’t hurt to be prepared, right?

Just call me McGuyver. Or Hannibal. Not of Hannibal The Cannibal origins. You know, the old guy in the A-Team? Gawsh, see? Now I’ve just given away my age!

I wonder if Jesse-Lee will call me Granny?

Oh my word! We’re getting a baby! How awesome is that? I forget every now and again. And then I just need to take one look into the spare bedroom and see all the piles of stuff standing in a corner while my very sexy and gorgeous and clever hubby is building cupboards for the room, and I remember. Yay! I’m going to be a mommy! Please excuse me while I go and do some booty shaking.

Home at the Hillbilly Dump

We are home again. Home sweet home. I never thought I'd miss the Hillbilly Dump so much! But, there's just something about coming home after a week or so away, isn't there? Maybe it's having all the pooches try to kiss you at once when they see you again. Or competing with the cats for the blankets at night. Maybe it's waking up to the sounds of birds chirping, and not the rumble of traffic. Maybe it's being able to use the bathroom and leave the door open if I want to walk around the house in my underwear if I want to. Then again, maybe it's just the knowledge that this little piece of Africa is ours to enjoy. And nobody is going to chase us off of it in the near future. At least, not unless Mugabi gets bunted out of Zimbabwe and decides to makes South Africa his home... Tsk! I'm too bad.

Where was I? Oh yes - the sweet sounds of home. Yes, we're home again. And happy to be at the Hillbilly Dump again.

Happy Birthday to Meeeeee....

Hello everyone. It's my birthday today. I am being SPOILED ROTTEN! We have received SO MANY birthday pressies for Jesse-Lee and I am sooooo excited! Yay! Sorry, this is just going to be a quickie - I'm sure you'll understand... There's a whole bunch of cake to be eaten. Need I say more? I'll blog once I'm back in hillbilly-land (tomorrow we travel back to the bush). Until then, go on and have a slice of cake for me too, would you? Toodle-doo.

Doc visit today

So, this morning Robin and I went with Lindsay and Victor to the hospital where little Jesse-Lee will be born, for a check-up. Wow! This is SO EXCITING! Somehow, going to a hospital, where there are all very professional-looking people walking around in their spiffy nurse outfits, et cetera, just made this seem a bit scarier more real. And like it's actually going to happen. For us! I mean - this time, we might actually get our happy ending! Well, not might - ARE. ARE getting our happy ending!

SO EXCITING!

OK, somebody needs to invent a better word than "exciting". Because "exciting" just can't quite capture the intense anxiety, overwhelming happiness, total exhiliration and everything else we're feeling along the way... Me thinks Wooty Tooty would be a good replacement for ''exciting''. Wait, make that Wooty Tooty Shaky Booty

Anyhoo... Where was I? Oh yes - today we went with Lindsay and Victor to the hospital for a check-up. Turns out the baby's head is already engaged. HELLO! What??? So early??? Is that normal? Is baby about to pop out? Will the baby be ok? Is it supposed to be pointing it's nose down there already? Is baby ok? What happens if it's born so early?... and a kazillion other questions. Oh my word. I am so NOT ready if this baby arrives like, tomorrow. I still have things to do. You know - like, um, decide on where I'm going to put our cott. You know, all those really important things! (You guys do know I'm kidding right? Just checking, because my intonation doesn't quite make it accross the thinking/typing barrier.) But mostly, I'm just (bloody) scared that something is going to happen to this baby. Before I even get to love on her.

So, tomorrow we're taking Lindsay somewhere else, where they will give her a scan if we pay for it. Without us having to justify why we actually want another scan. Just to satisfy this paranoid parent's anxieties. To reassure all of us that little Jesse-Lee is still ok. And because, well, I haven't yet been able to see little Jesse-Lee actually moving around, and I've already memorized every last detail of the scan pics they gave us the other day. So, couple all of those factors with the fact that I'm wooty tooty shaky bootying on everyone all the time, they figure I could use some actual evidence that there's a happy, healthy baby in that gorgeous bulging tummy that I will actually be able to take home with me one day. (Um, the baby, not the tummy)

So, guys, pray with us that this baby stays where it's supposed to, for as long as it's supposed to... ok? Thanks! And, hopefully, tomorrow I can post some new pics of Jesse-Lee... maybe even a video clip!

Woot woot!

Oh, and my sister gave us a whole bakkie-load* of things for Jesse-Lee. Literally. We now have everything we need for Jesse-Lee, as far as ''things'' are concerned, e.g. carseat, pram, campcot(t), walky talkies, bath thermometre, bedding, gawsh almost everything. What an awesome sister I have! I am spoiled rotten. And very very wooty tooty shaky booty. And if my sister has anything to say about it, she'd probably add fruity loopy too. I love you, Aurette.

Now, all that's missing from this blog are butterflies and puppies, then it would be one enormous wonderful dream that I would be afraid to wake up from. Ahhhh... how did I ever get this blessed?

*Bakkie-load: South African for one pickup truck full of stuff.

Of gifts and horses

Me thinks you guys have BRILLIANT IDEAS! An online gift registry! What a nifty idea! OK, so I did a google search for any local companies that do gift registries for babies... I found one called e-dreams. If any of you know of any other companies that deliver within South Africa, give a shout. I don't know this company at all, so who knows? In the meantime, here's a gift registry for those of you who really want to buy me something. Who am I to stop you guys? Really! Don't look a gift horse in the mouth and all of that. Not that I'm calling you guys horses! Nope! Not me... 'specially not when y'all are buying me pressies!!! Yay! Oh, by the way, if they ask you for a recipient address, use this one:-

PO Box 347

Dundee

3000

South Africa

Yay! Fun fun fun! Oh, and if you're wondering about the exchange rate, you could click here and the currency converter will tell you what value of your currency you're spending. Type the cost of the item in the block on the left, then select "South Africa Rand" from the drop-down menu in the "From This Currency" block, and then choose your currency in the right hand side and it will tell you the value in your money. Very clever little website that.

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As you can see, our money's not worth much on the rest of the planet... But yay! Pressies! It's no wonder I love you guys. You have such clever ideas! (And now that I've shamelessly sucked right up to you guys, let me go and do something more useful with my time. Like, for example, refolding all the nifty little things we bought for baby today. And ooh and ahh some more. How happy am I right now?)

6 weeks!

Six weeks, guys. S-I-X W-E-E-K-S !!! That's all we have to prepare for baby Jesse-Lee's arrival. I am totally spinning out of control right now. Yikes! There is so much to get done, that I just wanna sit down in a heap and just bawl my eyes out. Sta-ress. I am totally scared witless! Most people have nine months to sort out all their stuff. That's six or seven times as long as what we have. But, I would so much rather only have six weeks to prepare than never be able to walk in the malls and choose things for my little baby girl...

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That being said - SIX FREAKING WEEKS! Oh my word!

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So far we have bought:

1. 1 x crib
2. 2 x oil heaters (one for the bathroom, one for the nursery)
3. a bunch of 0-6 months clothing
4. a fluffy wuffy little hat and matching booties
5. a pair of little boots (seeing as we live in the bush and all...)
6. a mesh bath baby-holder-thingy-ma-jiggy
7. a nifty soft toy that looks like a sheep with big floppy ears

And we've been given:

1. 1 x Car seat
2. 1 x Pram
3. 1 x Camp Cot (does that have one "t" or two?)
4. Poop catchers Nappies (I think you non-South Africans call that Diapers)
5. A beautiful blanket
6. Some slightly used baby clothes

And in the meantime we're also trying to find out about the meds I could take to induce milk for breastfeeding and what that would all entail... and whether or not my newly refurbished boozies would be able to handle that... Mmmm... The type of boozies I chose were ones that would allow me to be able to breastfeed if ever the chance arose. So, must just check with my doctor dude to see what he says.

Oh, and I need to double check with our medical aid that all is in order for Jesse-Lee's birth, et cetera.

Oh my word.

Anybody know of some good anti-panic pills? I could use some.

And I thought I was in love with Robin!

Everybody, meet Jesse-Lee.

This is the most recent scan taken of her, on the 27th of March. She is lying on her right side. Isn't she just beautiful? I am so in love. Don't tell him I said so, but Robin has some serious competition right now! hehe!

How do I say this?

Robin and I are reeling right now. I don't even know where to begin telling you. And so I'm just going to plunge right in and say it:

Lindsey and Victor chose us!
We are going to be parents on the 9th of June!

We are naming her

Jesse-Lee

because Jesse means "Gift from God" or "God's Gift" and Lee because every firstborn on Robin's side of the family for the last four generations have had Lee as their second name. We are double-barrelling it so that it is more feminine.

Oh, praise God with us for His mercy and kindness and love! He has been so merciful to us. He is blessing us with a baby girl for His glory. Oh my word!!! We are going to be parents!!! Oh my word!!!

Yawn...

I am just plain exhausted today. No energy whatsoever. And to add petrol onto the fire, I have a migraine hovering somewhere, just waiting for an opportunity to pounce on me. Me thinks I should just go home and have a fat nap. But, today is Thursday, which means that my maid is cleaning my house today (she comes twice a week) and I hate to be lazy when she's so busy around me. So, that's out. Maybe I'll kip for a minute or two during lunchtime.

Yawn...

I'm going to go ahead and blame the way I'm feeling on all the waiting stress. Waiting waiting waiting. It can wear you out, I tell ya.

Woot woot! Look it's lunch time! I'm going home for a kip. Adios amigos!

Our Poor Lass, Cassidy

My poor little kitty, Cassidy, was attacked by dogs on Monday. I didn't mention it yesterday, because I was waiting to hear from the vet how she was... When Robin and I arrived home from a day or two in Durbs the animals were all acting a little weird. Well, a little weirder than usual. Being hillbilly pets and all. They didn't come running up to us and jump all over our luggage, nor even wag their tails or send a few purrs and legrubs our way. Robin and I were both like "what's up with the fandamily that they aren't happy to see us?" and then I found little Cassidy curled up on the bed in our 2nd bedroom, all ripped up and bloody. Poor little kitty. Fortunately none of her internal organs were hurt, but I feel soooo sorry for her. She spent Monday night in hospital, and had bunches of stitches. She's very battered and bruised and moving around takes great effort and lots of limping - but I am SO GRATEFUL that it happened shortly before we got home, and not the previous day when we were still in Durbs. Poor little girly. She's still a bit forlorn, but she will survive. Which is more than can be said for my walrus nerves!

I would post a pic of her in all of her shaved and stitched glory, but this blinking blogger is still just giving me error messages. One good thing though, is it's forcing me to learn some html in trying to figure out where the error lies. Apparently old dogs can learn new tricks. Erm. Ahem.

And we're still waiting and waiting to hear anything about the adoption... What was it I was saying about my walrus nerves?

Popular Schmopular

Me thinks this adoption thingy is a bit like a popularity contest. Only, you don’t really get to show how Exceptionally Gorgeous And Cool you are until the family actually meets you – and to all intents and purposes that only happens after they’ve already chosen you. And all that from a piece of paper on which you’ve written (or typed in a very nifty-looking font so as to make it look as if you’ve handwritten it all neatly…) a few choice bits of well edited information about yourself. And placed a few very good photos of yourself, making sure you’re also always smiling in the photos of course, into the letter as well. And don’t forget that you also need to choose photos that hide all your wobbly bits too. Which considerably decreases the amount of usable pics, if you know what I’m saying. Especially when you’re a big girl. Now, I’m not saying that I’m fat exactly. Just big-boned, you know. The kind of body where you always had to stand in the back row for school class photos. With the boys. Because you actually dwarfed a few of them. I’ve been described as “quite strong” before. Which always translated as “built like a walrus” in my head. So, I dare you – just try finding a few pics of yourself looking happy, smiling, semi-skinny and like the type of mommy that you think some anonymous person might like, for a letter in which you attempt to charm them into giving you their baby. It’s easier to find Brad Pitt in real life, let me tell you.

Especially when most of the photos you have of yourself were taken on one of your fat days. Or bad hair days. By someone who isn’t really a good photographer, and so captures you either with your eyes half closed or with your hand still patting down your frizzy hair. Or digging out a stray nostril noogie. I'm just saying.

But maybe, just maybe, they’ll overlook all that and choose me based on my remarkably breathtaking taste in shoes.

Then again, maybe they just see a walrus in flowery shoes. You just can't win.

Ignore this - part IV

Grrrrrr....

Ignore this - part III

I'm not even getting my little toolbar for font, bold, italics, alignment, etc... and when I want to add a label it's not prompting me with previous labels.
OK, my patience is wearing thin-ish here now.
How can a major organization like Blogger / Google NOT have a tech team online to help?

Ignore this too

OK, still getting errors.
Don't have a clue what I'm doing here, but can't get anything right.
Blogger Help! Anybody out there?
Where's the quick fix button?

Ignore this

Sorry guys - please just put some blinkers on. I am getting so many error messages that I just need to try something. Come back later and maybe I'll have posted something valid. There might be a few more of these messages while I tinker on the problem(s) here. It keeps telling me textbar undefined and object expected. Great. Where is Blogger Help when you need them???

Idols

OK, so I removed yesterday's post. Sorry guys. But I wasn't supposed to know what I know and I know that it might make matters murky, so I've removed it. (If any of you didn't see it, but are dying to know what it said, leave a comment with your EMAIL address and I'll gladly mail it to you...)
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In the meantime, I've been watching Idols. Oh my sweet nerves man! How amazing is David Archuleto? I think I might invite him over for a visit at the hillbilly dump. Hehe! So we are a bit behind the USA version... so the most recent show for us was the one where David sings John Lenon's Imagine. Oh my word!!! Need I say more? My pvr (South African version of a teevo) is working overtime! I wonder if it's possible to corrupt a file on the pvr from watching it too often? Mmmm... So, I've taken precautionary measures, ya'll. I have the Youtube version of it favourited! (But can I just go ahead and say it? Some of the people commenting on his Youtube flick are just plain doofus's. There, I said it. If you don't like the song, what are you doing sitting there listening to it and commenting on it? Mmmm? Don't tell anyone I didn't actually have the courage to leave a contradictory comment there, but anyway, that's what this blog's for.) You go, Davo. If I could vote from South Africa, I so would. I hope you win!
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And now... turn up the volume, folks and ready the hairs on your teeth and arms and back of your neck for some raising. Here it is. My new fave man on the planet:-

Oh blogger! Why oh why do ye give me error messages and stop me from loading pics?
I will blog again as soon as I can get past these error messages... have lots to share!
(Let's hope this loads!)

Oh so (yawn) tired...

I am feeling totally exhausted after this week. I don't even really feel like blogging. So, you must know then. I think all of the preparations and the nervousness about the meeting and trying to get everything together, etc. it's all been a bit much. Right now all I want is some peace and quiet and just a little bit of solitude. And maybe two or three stacks of pancakes with caramel and banana. Because being tired is just as good an excuse as any for some yummy comfort food.
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So it's weekend and I'm totally looking forward to having nothing to do. Nothing required of me. Just some peace and quiet. I hope you guys have a wonderful weekend. I'll see you in the new week then. Smooches.

Meeting over!

Hello everyone. The meeting went SOOOO well. I love Debbie, the social worker. She is kind, and calm and gracious. And everything that you would expect from a social worker. And I am so excited that our journey to building a family of our own has begun. Yay! I am reassured of God's intervention in finding us the RIGHT social worker. I know you all have been praying with us about that (it was on the list of prayer requests) and definitely, I am totally comfortable with the lady God has provided for us. Now the long part of the process begins. The waiting. Debbie still needs to do the Home Study with us. And we'll have to wait for her to give us the dates for that. And of course I'll tell you when that will be. You know me. I can't keep anything from you guys.

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But for now, we're packing our bags and heading back into the bush. It's been awesome being in Durban again. Woot woot! Shopping was LOADS of fun. I bought some really spiffy new shoes - couldn't resist - which I'll photograph once we're home and share with you.

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So, anyway, just wanted to let you know how it went. Can't wait to be home with my kitties again though. Seems I'm turning into a hillbilly more and more with every visit to the city!

Chat soon.

hugs xxx

Meeting postponed

Hi guys. I know you've all been sitting on the edges of your seats waiting to find out how the meeting with the social worker went this morning. Well, just to let you know - our meeting was postponed to tomorrow morning at nine o' clock. Definitely in God's plan, because we needed this extra time to get a few more ducks in a row. Very very exciting. I'm beginning to get nervous now.

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I've been writing our "Dear Birthmother" letter. Wow. What a mission. It's hard to think what to write in a letter to someone you've never met, that would convince her to sign over her baby to you.

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It's taking me forever to get done.

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Hence the no blogging for the past couple of days. I'm totally absorbed in this new quest.

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Thanks so much for all the emails I've received and comments on my recent blog posts. I've turned into such a terrible blogger! I'm surprised anyone's even coming back to say hello. As soon as we're back from our meeting I'll let you all know how it went ok? Thanks so much for spending some time on your knees for us too! I know it's your prayers to our awesome God that's keeping us going right now.

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Hectic! Lots of loves, hugs, kisses and bananas

from two knee-shaking hillbillies