Not a lot to say...

It seems that I am not the only blogger who's been neglecting my blogging. To say that life has been crazy, would be an understatement! But nothing I've done has seemed worth blogging about. Work has been SO busy and I just have not been able to even think about blogging. Socially, thank goodness, this week is a bit quieter then the last 2 and I'm realising just how exhausted I actually am. The past weekend was another rushed one - Friday night was movies at a friends house, Saturday morning we went through to the waterfront to catch up with an old school friend (Jacki Little) and her family. They were out here on holiday from the UK and it was lovely to see her again. Her little girl, Emma who's 20 months old, is just too cute for words. We spent time walking around the V & A and the weather was gorgeous. Had a quick bite to eat at Ferrymans, before rushing home to attend a yoga class. I haven't done yoga since the end of last year and I can't believe how much I missed it. My body felt incredible afterwards and I really need to find a new class to join. Had an engagement party on Saturday night; Sunday School with Jake on Sunday morning, followed by San Marco's ice-creams on the beachfront in Sea Point. And, yes, I did have honey hazelnut and yes, it was more than delicious! Had a kids party in the afternoon. Last night I hardly slept a wink and I had to be at the Vineyard Hotel in Newlands for breakfast by 7:30 this morning, which meant leaving home at 6:30 to try avoid the traffic, which was horrendous anyway. I was disgustingly late for work though, which was a real bonus.

Besides all of that, life's pretty boring. I don't have a thing planned for this weekend and my folks are away next weekend, so I'll have Jake all to myself. I'm planning on taking Jake out for a day of spoiling next Saturday and I can't wait. I was thinking of going to the aquarium and a movie, with a meal in between. I love having one-on-one time with him and he loves getting out and about with me too. He's really just so sweet at the moment. Yes, in true mommy style, I do think my kid's the cutest thing alive (even though he's really a naughty little so-and-so). He's just so funny at the moment, comes out with the cutest things, I spend my life laughing with him. He's also loves singing and keeps teaching me new songs he's learnt at school.

Anyway, enough whaffling from me for now! Hope everyone's well!

Lots of love xxx

It's raining, it's pouring

Hello from a miserable, gloomy Cape Town!

It was party weekend for me this weekend. And after much begging and pleading for sunshine on Saturday, for my picnic lunch at Buitenverwachting, I ended up getting weather that bordered on torrential floods and we were forced to have our picnic indoors. Seriously, the weather was bad! It actually hasn't stopped raining much since Saturday morning. My luck. But, despite the weather, I had a wonderful day and it was so special having so many good friends there with me to celebrate it. And the stormy weather outside actually made it quite cosy indoors. Instead of doing a picnic, we opted for soup starters followed by a buffet of all the picnic food, then fresh fruit, koeksisters and yummy pecan nut chocolate fudge cake from Melissas - need I say more? It was delicious. Along with all the good food we shared, there was plenty of wine and champagne flowing all afternoon and I eventually got home around 6pm. On Saturday night, we partied it up at Hemisphere and I have been suffering with a sore throat ever since. And, despite the first snow falls on the surrounding mountains, I actually spent quite a bit of time lying on the bathroom floor during the night last night, battling to get a fever down - my poor old body is already taking storm. And yes, I am at work today.

Thanks to everyone who has made turning 30 a really special occassion for me. I am really looking forward to this decade of my life and all that it holds for me. I've completely embraced the fact that I'm no longer in my 20s and I even quite like the idea of being 30!

Below are some photos of Saturday's party: -

The Beautiful Weather...

Paul, Jo, me, Sam & Steven...

Me with Wesley & Lizelle - my special friends from Augrabies...

Me with Sandi - another special friend, who flew out from the UK for my birthday...

Tammy, Jake, Gareth, Rose & Jo...

Party, party, more party...

The gift...

Singing 'Happy Birthday' to himself with his cousins, Abi and Becky...

The look that says it all...

Lights out...

It's been a week full of parties and festivities at home. It just doesn't seem to end! I was hoping to finish work a bit early yesterday, but seems like everyone else at work forgot and I was left here on my own till 4pm - I was not amused. I always find the build up to Jake's birthday quite an emotional time. Anyway, as you can see from the photos, I forgot to buy wrapping paper for his present (not that he noticed) and he loved his car! The family all came for dinner at about 6 and by 7:30, Jake was completely overwhelmed and overtired from all the attention and spoiling (possibly sugar over-load too?) all he could do was cry. I put him to bed and he was lights out in 5 minutes flat. He wasn't that keen on singing happy birthday to me this morning - guess he just wishes it was still his special day! A huge thank you to everyone for all the phone calls, e-mails and sms's - we've both been so spoilt!

Lots of love, Susie xxx

Where are the eyes in the back of your head, MA?

Especially for his birthday, Jake got hold of a pair of scissors and hacked 3 holes in his hair on Monday evening. My mom had just finished cutting his hair and we were relaxing in the lounge with a glass of wine. He honestly disppeared for 2 minutes and when I went to look for him, he was standing infront of the mirror, scissors in hand, smiling at me. Needless to say, he got his hair shaved down to a number 3, to try hide the bald patches, but they're still visible. This photo was taken before his second hair cut...

Happy 3rd Birthday, JAKE!

Today's a beautiful day in Cape Town and we're celebrating Jake's 3rd Birthday. I can't believe how much time has passed since the day he was born. And I always find that I can't help myself remembering and re-living every second of the day he arrived. I guess it's hard not to reflect on all that's happened since his arrival into this world.

I was due on 9 May, so he was a full week late. I'd had the easiest and least complicated pregnancy ever and I'd enjoyed every moment of it. Jacques and I went out for pizzas the night before Jake was born and I had a glass of wine with my meal - actually, I got shouted at by another customer for being an irresponsible parent... Anyway, we came home and snuggled into bed and I'd just managed to get comfortable and fall asleep, when my waters broke. We rushed off to hospital (00:30) and I was told that my labour hadn't even started yet. By 08:00, when my doctor came in to see me, I was only 1cm dialated. I realised at that point that not taking advantage of medical technology was going to be silly, so I told her then that I'd like an epidural. Not realising then that, because it was a Sunday, it would take the anesthetist until 11:00 to get there. By that stage, I was 4cm dialated. The anesthetic worked for a little while and I managed to snooze for a bit. Jacques ran home and had a shower and bought the newspaper. Before he'd managed to get back to the hospital, the anesthetic had worn off and the anesthetist had to come back to top me up. The second round of drugs also only worked for a short time and by about 17:00, I could feel EVERYTHING. The midwife had a quick check and called my doctor immediately. Jake was born 40 minutes later, at 17:40. We were thrilled to finally have our little boy in in our ams and I was just too chuffed that I'd actually managed to get him into this world, virtually on my own! Jacques was fantastic and the doctor said she'd never seen a dad push as hard as he did - he really did help a lot and he was completely overwhelmed by the whole experience, as I'm sure most men are. I think it must be quite hectic to watch someone you love go through such an ordeal and literally have to stand next to them, without being able to do anything to help. At one point, when I was well into pushing, Jacques burst into tears and I had to take a breather to try consol him and to let him know that I really was OK...

And here we are today. In some ways I can't imagine life without Jake, he's just such a special little boy. In other ways though, our time as a family was so short, that my time without Jake was really my time with Jacques. I don't think that Jake will ever realise exactly how much he's given me in 3 short years.

Having a child in the house (a very active one at that), life is never boring. He's always up to some kind of mischief, but he's such a sweetie, life would be so dull if he wasn't around. This morning he was up at 6:30 and we climbed into bed with my mom for a few minutes, before getting up to start preparing food for tonight. He's a real help in the kitchen and loves baking. I can't wait to get home from work to be able to give him his presents. Fingers crossed that I do manage to pull it off and go home at lunch time. I don't think he quite understands the difference between a birthday and a party yet - he keeps asking me where all his Spider-man stuff his is. When I told him that he had his party on Saturday, he said "I have poo-bear party today"?

Lastly, on the birthday front, thanks to everyone for all their gifts and messages. I'm sure Jake will have a very special day today!

Party Pictures...

Where did the weekend go?

Well, I've spent the last hour reading through everyone's blogs and catching up on all your news. Life definitely seems to be pretty busy for most of us at the moment. Unfortunately...

As most of you know, I had Jake's 3rd birthday party on Saturday morning. The weather was stunning and I don't think we could've asked for better. The jumping castle arrived the night before (much to Jake's delight) and we spent hours (well, he did - I only lasted a minute or two. Don't know how the kids manage to do it for so long!!) hopping around like lunatics before eventually heading off to bed. We were up at 7am on Saturday morning, to finish off the last of the baking, cleaning and setting up. Jake was really so excited about his birthday party this year and it was so much fun watching him enjoy it all with his friends. Because I don't normally fetch and carry him to and from school, I don't know any of the other moms or kids and it was really great seeing how Jake interacts with them. When his friends started arriving, he didn't know who to play with and he just ran from one to the other! There's definitely no doubt in my mind that he's a real little boy now, either. I must be honest, I always imagined that because he doesn't have a dad, he'd grow up a bit gentler then most boys, but he's proving me wrong and he's very much a little toughie. Actually, at the moment (much to my disgust), he seems like a bit of a bully. At one point the kids were all jumping around and a fist fight broke out. Jake and another little boy had to be separated. There were no tears and once it was all over, they were best pals again - it was hysterical! Testosterone!

After the party, we did a quick clean up and then headed off to the in-laws for a braai and to watch the rugby (yes, I was exhausted, but still managed!). Got home with my over-tired son just after 9. Rosanne very kindly looked after Jake for me on Sunday morning, letting me lie in for an extra hour (a luxury that just never happens for me anymore!). Jake & her woke me up with an egg & tomato sandwich and a cup of coffee in bed. We all piled into bed with my folks and lazed together over breakfast - it was great. Had a bit of shopping to do and then went to visit my mother-in-law. Jo came around for lunch, so managed to get home relatively early. By about 3pm, I was so exhausted and all I wanted to do was lie on the couch with Jake and watch TV. So, we hired Free Willy and that's exactly what we did. I got a beautiful candle holder that Jake made for me at school and two gorgeous cards. The one says "WHY GOD GAVE ME YOU: You sing me to sleep, you give me hugs, you keep me safe from crawly bugs; you take me places - exciting and new - what in the world would I be without you? HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY". Very cute. I hope that all mommies and grannies were showered with love yesterday!

The rest of this week isn't going to be any quieter and I'm already exhausted - how will I cope?? Jake's actual birthday is on Wednesday and mine's Thursday, so we've got the whole family coming around on Wednesday for supper. Thursday night, I'm hoping to get some friends together to go out for drinks (anyone keen to join - let me know). And then Saturday's my party. I'm going to be finished by Sunday. I've got a very good friend flying out from England especially for my birthday - she gets here on Friday and leaves again on Tuesday, so I'm going to spend quite a bit of time with her too. It's going to be busy...

Besides that, Jake's started going to school an extra day each week now, so he's there Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. He actually asked if he could go more! Just wait until they start giving him homework!!

Anyway, I must go. I'm sorry if this sounds very disjointed - I'm too exhausted to re-read it all to see if it makes any sense...

lots of love xxx