Laughs to birth and all things that follow

Much has changed...

2012-08-07T17:21:00.001+02:00

So after a loooong leave of absence, I am back in full force.

This absence was from a few things that happened to the Bevan family- first of which was finding out we were about to expand...(well i would expand first then the rest would follow suit) Yes, we found out we were pregnant.
Much to our surprise though as we had a complication in theatre when I had Aidan, and were told that having a second baby was very very slim indeed, - so much for the slim chances, when we got to the doc for our first check up she was gob smacked, although extremely happy with this news we went into this pregnancy with much more caution, as we would have to keep a very close eye on my placenta to make sure it didn't do what it did when we had Aidan, my diagnosis with him was Placenta percreta (the more dangerous form of accreta.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Placenta_accreta

I had to have scans with the specialist (aside from my regular check up scans) on a monthly basis, however this pregnancy went pretty smoothly, I even put on only half of what I had with Aidan (maybe it because of having to run around after him so much??!!)

We also decided we wanted to find out what baby's sex was, I think mainly due to my dislike of surprises and also we (whole family unit) were too excited to wait... BUUUT baby Bevan was having none of this and made us wait long into the pregnancy, and even then when we managed to 'trick' baby with a serious under bum shot, we were only give a 60/40% of what baby was going to be, even having to double check at our 30 week 4D scan.

Anyway Aidan was awesome with this whole new baby coming story that we didn't even have to worry about the 'new baby jealousy routine' he was convinced that he too had a baby in his tummy and that that was why his belly button was sticking out...(oh the innocence of a 3yr old!)

Well the due date arrived and mom went into hospital, all cool calm and collected- which shocked some of the nurses (dont think they have seen many calm Caesar moms.)
Cera Lei was born at 8.48am at 48cm tall and 3.230kg and already had daddy wrapped around that teeny weeny pinky finger when she did the full on 'sulky dropped lip cry' she had perfected in the tum...
She looked JUST like her big brother...

Check what's coming soon guys...

2 days before the big arrival

Happy 3 (soon to be happy 4)

8.48am

check my heartsore cry everyone

Proud big brother

Happy family

Happy to have his sister home

Hmm I love this nude feeling...

Fat chats with daddy

Me thinks Im hungry again

Sleeping fairy Princess

A month old

Sitting with my big brother

We also had to deal with the death of 2 pets, this year which has been heartbreaking to say the least...

In April we had to put Tigger down because he had developed septicemia following an attack from another cat in the complex, the fact that I was 8months pregnant and having to have the 'death talk with Aidan just got me, but what I had overheard Aidan saying to Tigger before I could talk with him both broke my heart (even more) and warmed it all at the same time. He told Tigger that he mustn't worry because he will be going to live by Jesus, and that Jesus will make him better and he will have fun there.

But then this last weekend that was so icy cold, his Guinea Pig, Winnie (which was a present from Cera) died from cold. The thing is we don't know exactly how to break the news of this death to him as Winnie was in perfect health and was played with right up until she passed, for the time being we have told him that she has gone to live by her friends house until it gets warm here again.

Aidan and Winnie.

Aidan has Also been going to BIG school (Kloof Pre Primary) and has been loving EVERY minute of it, he is always excited to tell us what he has done. We can definitely see the change in him, he has grown into such a special caring little boy.

My handsome little guy.

We truly are blessed to have such wonderful, gorgeous children .

I am hoping to get into the swing of blogging again as life in the Bevan household becomes a laugh a minute with the thing Aidan says...

The next blog will focus on all the funny things that come from him.

Until next time

So much fun so little time

2011-07-07T13:19:00.002+02:00

So once again my blogging duties took a back seat to all the crazy fun we have been having... its been such a long time since our last blog on cutting hair that lo and behold the hair has grown back thick and fast...
Not only did our hair grow during this time but so did our vocabulary we are now babbling the hind legs off of donkeys, horses, dogs, cats...(well just about every animal that has four legs really)

And with all the new words/ sentences comes the laughs and the cheek... and wow the imagination is running wild in that little head.

So since the haircut, we have welcomed a new friend/ "Godsister" to the mix, and Aidan Just LOVES little Becca.

We had some animal fun at Mitchell Park with Kyla-Lee, Candice and Ryan:

We have also had a bit of fun over Easter here at home and away down the coast

Easter at home


Easter Monday In Umzumbe

Tuesday at Tweni beach


At Tweni beach

We did the ECR Big Walk in May:

Then off to the Royal Show in June:


So those are Miniature horses you say??

I want a horsie...

Kisses for the horse

Hold on Kyla, i dont know how stable this cow is...

Gotta copy the cow, he licks his leg i lick mine.

We also had a bit of a tile incident(apparently insurance doesnt pay if the damage is due to a cats fart):

As Aidan would say: "Tigger Poep"

Wow Tiggs...


He sure can raise a place cant he?

We then Durban July'ed it up at the Greyville racecourse:

About to leave

The Pretorius's

The Bevan's

The 2 Dudes

Nearing the finish

BEEEG crowd

The Winner and Placers

EEEEKKKK We WON!!!

Victory Lap

And then we had a bit of funny face fun:

Look at how big im getting.

All in all a great few months was had and we are looking forward to a few more!

Bye for now

I really need to pull up my socks!

2011-04-19T12:21:00.002+02:00

So as you can see the 'slacking bug' has bitten again and it you can't imagine how much this irritates me, it's crazy- essentially I would like to write (even a little) blog at least once a week.

But alas my role as mom can't always accommodate my role as crazy blog woman- and although I love writing my blog I prefer being a mom.

Anyway enough of that already!
So once again much has happened in the Bevan household, Aidan has turned 2 and had his party at the animal farm with an awesome family braai in the evening, and is talking the hind leg off a donkey...

Oh and he is doing really well with his potty training, we are now only on cloth nappies at night, we are even nappy-less when we go out- so yes we are very proud- especially at how quickly he has picked it up.

At 25months old Aidan also had his final injections until he turns 6- which is awesome!

We are also going into our first official Easter with Aidan and it's set to be a great time with lots of church, easter eggs and family.

Andrew and I managed to find Gellibaff for Aidan which is gonna be really cool for Aidan, we have decided to keep to for when we have a play date with Kyla and the two of them can have some jelly fun with each other.

My new hairstyle

2011-02-21T08:45:00.001+02:00

On the way to hairdresser

Haircut? Say Whaaaat?

OOOOhhhh

Fun!!

Ummm not so sure anymore...

Hit you with my rhythm stick


Noooo Please no cutting...

Powder....

Nearly time...

Wow this feels weird

Distraction time


Mirror man

Bye Curls see you next time...

Take the powder dad...

Tickle the ears


Mine, Mine, Mine!!!

Powder on the brush

Dusting daddy off

You cant see me!

Wow i seem to make a habit of this...

2011-02-18T14:55:00.003+02:00

Jeepers creepers it certainly seem like it has been forever since i did a blog post, and indeed it has, i mean really?? Last post was done December 19th 2010... it is now two months (a whole new year) later and this would be my first post...

To say that a few things have happened would be a gross understatement!
First off we had a few celebrations since our last posting, these include family and friends who have had birthdays, Christmas, new years(which we had a lovely holiday to Albert Falls Dam)

Aidan then had some exciting times when he started going to school(only on a Friday though to meet new friends- also mommy couldn't handle more than one day a week without him) On his first day at school it was a bit over whelming for him and needed to be collected half day and on that same day we found ourselves sitting with what we thought would be our little rebel, as when Carol(his teacher) would get the kids to sit ready for school time, our little guy wanted to do his own thing - even walking right out the classroom , but since then he has settled nicely and is now climbing out the car and running off without a second glance, in just a few short weeks he has made such a change (even goes to sit up against the wall when you give him something to eat) and we are really proud!

We have also adopted a super cool cat, who goes by the name Tigger( his previous owners called him Shaun/Shauni) as in Shaun Pollock(he is ginger) but we decided we had to rename him as our neighbour is Shaun and well of course you all know about Sean - Aidan's Godfather... it would have been just too creepy!!

Aidan has also had his first party of the year- courtesy of the Akeroyd family ( an awesome little family that we met through Mommalicious Mommas) Kyla was also at the party, and to say that our kids had a blast would be an understatement of note- they even stripped down to just their nappies at one point... oh to be a toddler again!

WOW!!! so much happened and we are not even near finished!

Aidan is also busy with potty training, and although there are people out there that cannot understand how i could be so excited, there are also a few people who could relate...
since starting his training he is only in a nappy at nap time and at bedtime, the rest of the day we are without nappies... And YES we are making improvements, Aidan has done both wee and poo's on the toilet and has only had 3 accidents!!!! YAY YAY YAY boogie!!

Aidan's party is coming up and i have been soo busy with sorting the planning out its been crazy, i have also decided to make(a pretty complicated cake- will post pics when the time comes)
And depending on how these cakes turn out will determine if im ready to start a little bit of baking for a bit of money on the side...

Anyway back to the happenings in our household...

Yesterday (17/02/2011) was andrew and my 4th anniversary, and i was really spoiled, i woke up to boogie shoving a gift bag in my face followed by a loud and sloppy kiss, in the bag was a selection of some of my favourite chocolates, but wait mom, there is more, another bag is shoved at me, this one with 3 scented pillar candles, with a card inside- in the card(besides how wonderful i am...) was what the days itinerary was to be...

1: Aidan to go to granny and grampa Bevan for the day

2: Mom and dad to enjoy a day at The Spa in Virginia for a day of treats

So we arrive at The Spa and are greeted by the friendly staff at the reception, where we are given a form to fill out as they go through our schedule...
9.30am refreshments and use of Facilities
10.30am Full Body massage and Indian Head Massage(2 hours)
12.30pm Lunch
13:00pm Facial(hour and a half)
(after treatments use of facilities)

So off we go to get dressed into our robes and costumes, and head off to one of their two Jacuzzi's which overlooks the ocean, it is sunny and very relaxing.
We are then lead to a dimmed room and told to lie down on the bed, the therapists come in and are very professional and friendly and explain to you what they will do and ask you the pressure you would like, of course we chose hard, and that's what we got... It was pure bliss, i think at one point i may have lost control of my facial muscles as i could have sworn i drooled a little...

Lunch was divine and filling and very fresh...

Our Dermalogica Facial starts and once again the therapists were thorough and had vast knowledge of what they were doing, once again a very calming effect and it felt wonderful, (while our having our facial we also had another head and foot massage)
After our facial we were shown products that could help us...

Only problem with that was that these products were very expensive, i know Dermalogica is very good but to be honest i cant justify R750 bottle of moisturiser! i know many women can, do and love to buy those but im a really down to earth girl who washes her face with soap, doesn't cleanse,use toner or facial moisturiser (i just use the excess body cream i have left on my hands) and for me that works(clearly it does, the therapist told me i have lovely skin, and that i dont even have fine lines developing yet!!)

A lovely Spa with friendly professional staff...

http://www.healthspa.co.za/
http://www.safindit.co.za/specials/spa-for-two/

We then finished our day off with dinner at Olive and Oil, which was awesome, food was great and we had a really pleasant waiter too!!
Whilst at dinner we discussed a major question many (mainly family) pose to us... and yes i will tell you the answer here(so you have it in black and white...) WE WILL ONLY BE LOOKING AT TRYING FOR ANOTHER CHILD FROM THE END OF THIS YEAR ONWARDS!!!

(there we go straight from the spokeswoman herself... NO more asking, k? it wont change...)

We were however pleased to get into bed and just crash... all that relaxing can make you tired hey??

Anyway tomorrow Aidan will be going to the hairdresser to have his hair cut for the very first time ever- and as you can very well imagine im a little sad about it, but trust me i will be keeping every curly little lock!! Pictures of my little "grown up" to be posted at a later stage...

Christmas Morning

Spiderman, Spiderman...

Tigger

Are you sure you packed my toys??( going to Albert Falls)

Cheeese!!

Fruti Flow Orange...

Hello??

Mmmmm Cake (Harrison's 1st party)

Water Babies (Harrison's 1st party)

Cake Man (Harrison's 1st party)

Are You Gonna Go My Way??

My review i got to do for Halos n Horns

2010-12-19T20:44:00.001+02:00

So being asked to do a review on the Halos n Horns product was news that sparked much excitement in the Bevan household (mostly for me- dont think 21 month old Aidan really cares at this stage...)

Anyway after phoning my husband to tell him the exciting news, I then played the waiting game as to when we would have time to go and collect the product (we only managed to go a week later)

We get to Knowles Superspar only to find there was only one item left on the shelf... this was promising, it seems many mommies and daddies have cottoned on to what a great brand this is, so with "Halos n Horns Kids Bathtime (mango-melon mayhem) shampoo and conditioner" in hand we trot off to the tills, only to breeze thought the teller( my absolute worst is when you arrive with any kind of voucher the teller either sits there looking at you with saucer eyes and the words "Hawu" come out, or they couldn't care how long they take to put through the item)

Now on the bottle it states that the shampoo is kind to eyes - but honestly now how many times do those "kind to eyes" shampoos leave your child rubbing at them furiously?

But for the first time last night we had a no fuss hair washing experience, in fact Aidan even helped rub the shampoo in... and it smells amazing too (i cant stop sniffing at his hair!!) not only does it smell fantastic his hair is super soft and his hair is more manageable even his curled ends are more bouncy.

I can definitely see a difference and Aidan now cant put the bottle down, it keeps getting shoved in my face with a grin and "MORE" shouted at me...

My sister has even noticed a difference in how his hair is sitting now, and cant stop running her fingers through it.

Not only does Mango- Melon mayhem shampoo and conditioner gets attention on how it is for my sons hair, i have to admit i tried it on mine too (I love it)

I also love the fact that Halos n Horns don't test their products on animals, and as a family that adore all furry little creatures its an untold must that our toiletries are not hurting the little fuzzies of the world

Truth be told, it seems we may switch to Halos n Horns from now on... WE LOVE IT!!

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to try them out!

Nappy Cream Nightmare

2010-11-18T11:32:00.001+02:00

Well apparently my child is going through the certain "rites of passage" willy nilly, first off was the paint the parquet floors with powder, and then the gel your hair with vicks, ooh and the smear yourself, your bedding and Sheepy silly with your nappy cream effort...

Now for all of you who don't know, powder and wooden flooring do not mix very well, after hoovering, sweeping and mopping three times over the evidence is still clear as daylight! to say that it's difficult to remove is a HUGE understatement, it is virtually impossible...

Evidence sample A...

Look what I did mom...


Sneezy with all the powder everywhere!!

A few days later we decided that nap time was for sissy's and that we would rummage through our nappy bag, pull out our vicks and gel our hair with it... (by the way Aidan, THATS SOOOO NOT COOL!!) after five 'shampoo, rinse repeats' his hair could still stand at attention...And so begins the tedious task again(however this time I shall use dish liquid- as per eHOw.com...)

Hair style Exclusive to Vicks....

Then the "Nappy Cream Nightmare" happened, see now we had Sean and Larine over with Tom and Ben, and after dinner we did our usual bedtime story, the whole say goodnight with the hugs and kisses, milk cup and climb into bed stuff all happened without any fuss(as usual) however, what was to follow was NOT in our usual routine! About half an hour into what we thought was "Dreamland" we hear Aidan crying, so in I go ready to tell him firmly to "SLEEP!" and well... all that managed to come out my lips was an "OH NO" and a roar of laughter, you see because it wasn't the normal sight of him sitting up fighting his sleep, no,no it was like I saw a ghost... he was COVERED from head to toe in nappy cream, and he also managed to do a number on the bedding and his toys too,needless to say I was up soaking and scrubbing the bedding till after 10.30 pm then diligently woke up at 6.30am to continue, with more scrubbing, I have fixed it though and all that remains now are the giggles and memories...( I tried and managed to restrain myself from taking pics of the fateful episode.)

It's just me

2010-11-11T12:36:00.001+02:00

Now for those of you who know me, know that im not one of those girls that are into florals, French love stories, or tea and scones type of thing, ok granted I do drink tea but only when i really dont have much else to drink and yes i'll eat a scone but i wont go out of my way for either of these!
I am NOT prim and proper!

I laugh loud, I talk loud and I live loud, and to boot, I'm stubborn as hell!
I tell rude jokes(my family can vouch for that) and find the most daft things hilarious.My mouth should be in the Guinness book of world records because it achieves amazing things, things like working at a much faster rate than what my brain does(it has usually spat out some sort of comment long before my brain has registered what has happened) and for it's greatest feat, it manages to hold my entire foot(this is what follows after the mouth speed surpasses that of my brain)
I'm crazy and kooky and I just don't care!!
But hey it's just me!

I have never been someone to sit at home worrying what someone thinks of me, if you don't like it tough, there is noway I'm going to change the way I live my life to suit you (besides who said your way was the RIGHT way?)

If you want to live in a wallpapered shoe box and behave the way others feel you should behave then be my guest but life is short, way i see it why not Live loud, live proud and don't ever apologise for who you are!

It's the way I live , I just don't care, because its just me!

OOOOPPPPPSSS!

2010-11-05T09:15:00.000+02:00

Oooopppsss I have been caught out again with this neglecting of the bloggy poo, goodness gracious, cheese and biscuits!! oh well lets get to it then.

Since I haven't blogged in a while it seems there will be some extra news in this one.

First off, we had entered Aidan into a spring tots competition at the beginning of September(voting lasted till the 15th October)anyway the prizes were: 1st- a micro scooter(a slightly overpriced scooter for children(R1500)-my opinion)
2nd- a glow bear(a bedtime bear whose fur glows in the dark-sonder batterye)
3rd- a box frame.

Well Aidan came 2nd(YAY) and got the glow bear, they even had his name embroidered onto the bears little shirt, it is just too cute( mind you that is the prize i wanted him to get)
Now during the voting time period i was feeling kinda like a bad mommy for wanting the Boogs to come second just cause we wanted to win the bear, but then I thought- "No I'm not a bad mommy I'll use this as a learning experience that "Winning isn't everything" , yip that coming first isn't the be all and end all and that sometimes someone else will come first"- Damn I'm pretty smart to turn my guilt of wishing him only 2nd into such a good lesson... (pity he's not old enough to understand it yet)
http://www.oodlesofdoodles.co.za/glowbears.htm

Next thing was we won a 3in1 nappy bag from 4aKid on facebook, you see they run these weekly giveaways where they ask you a question and then pick a few winners out of the emails that they receive, and well this time it was us!! yay how cool is that! here's what it looks like: http://www.4akid.co.za/products/454-nap-sac-3-in-1-baby-bag-backpack-in-camo-or-black

We also had Kyla-Lee's 1st birthday party and the two of them had such fun, Little Harrison(such a cutie with his chubby cheeks) and his mommy(Andrea) and daddy(Phillip) were there (the Aussie imports) that we have befriended through Mommalicious Mommas, a day of sweeties and feasting ensued for all the kids(especially Kyla and Boogie as that evening they went trick or treating in our complex, Kyla was a little pink fairy and Aidan was Spiderman... I think Aidan really loved it, every time someone opened their door he would just invite himself in(my golly I was only a little embarrassed seeing him making himself comfortable in other peoples homes) mind you everyone seemed to find it kind of funny so there was much laughter...

You would think that these two little sausages had had enough sweets for their entire lifetime(so did us mommies and daddies) however they found space for more the very next day when we all went to Ushaka for their Halloween show, Candice, Kyla and i went as the three fairy god mothers from Sleeping Beauty, Kyla was pink, Candice- white and i was blue, Boogie was Spiderman, Andrew was Frankenstein, and Ryan-well we called him gollum because he got this funny(and I mean FUNNY) mask that made him look exactly like gollum! it had us all in stitches! And when Aidan is old enough to understand we will explain the meaning Halloween has for us as Catholics/ Christians!

Aidan playing with daddy's bolts

Tipping out the sweets

Spiderman at Ushaka

Our little fairy princess

When a spiderman shares his sweets

Checking Nemo out

My what big teeth you have!

BOOOOOO!

My Precious.... (Gollum)

Shew and now it's Guy Fawkes (really? the 5th of November already?) and Christmas is just around the corner! and our coming month looks like this: 26th Nov- Derivco Christmas party at Suncoast, 4th Dec- Derivco children's party with father Christmas, then 23rd Dec- is Goompa's birthday, 24th Dec- is Christmas eve with the Hunt/ Quinn Family, 25th Dec- church to visit Jesus and then spend the day together(just mommy, daddy and Boogie) 26th Dec- Boxing day with the Bevan Family, then New years with Candice, Ryan and Kyla at Albert Falls Dam For camping... then its January and only 2 months till Aidan is 2!!! it seems like just yesterday we were planning Aidan's party now with only four months left gotta start thinking what the following one will be!! cant believe how the time has just flown by!

Oh and we will also be starting Aidan at day care one day a week as of January so that he can play with other kids and socialise a little more, he will be going on a Friday and I am sure he is just going to love it!

Well by the way my blogging seems to be going lately see you next month!!

Over and Out

Get a grip and start typing!!

2010-09-30T10:35:00.000+02:00

Gee talk about slacking on the blogging front... shew!! but i am now back on the (word) horse... i have been kept very busy with Aidan and other things life has been throwing my way, like aidan getting sick with a non bacterial virus which we had to just wait for it to leave his system as antibiotics would have been pointless...

We Have also made Aidan a sand pit (or at least half of it ..) we still need to build the lid for it, so the the complex cats don't think it's a gigantic litter box... and goodness me, Aidan really does love it, it's the first place he makes his way to when mom opens the gate for outside time...

anyway Kyla and Aidan also had their first sleep over, cos the mommies and daddies had a late evening of poker and joooce....(juice) they thought it was the greatest thing ever, they went to sleep(with much moaning because they were worried the other was allowed to stay up and play, and then woke up to realise their play mate was still there, oh and the fact that instead of porridge they were treated to a chocolate muffin and bacon and egg...

The Durban Mommalicious Mamma's get together is also coming up fast(this Saturday to be exact) and i have been like a kid at Christmas, i have been soooooo excited- now for those of you who know me, know that when i get excited i bounce...yes that's right i bounce, and sometimes let out a little squeal ... so you must know!! anyway there has been some organising and squeals and bouncing all along the road to the get together...

well October is coming up and that means Halloween, now normally we would not do anything for Halloween as we are not Americans, however all the kids in the complex go from house to house, so we thought we couldn't let Aidan miss out on that excitement so we went out and bought him a Spiderman outfit.... and he looks tooo darn cute in it

We have also had Aunty Robyn spending some holiday time with us and has been quiet fun... we have been playing outside by the sandpit, and challenging each other to Wii Fit Plus( Aidan uses the scale as his balance board.) and to Zumba too, wow it has been some hectic challenging but we laughed and wiggled through it... we can safely say that we definitely feel that there are muscles under all this cuddle wrap....

anyway until next time...

Crazy Dog!!

2010-09-09T11:22:00.000+02:00

This is the nutty Dachshund x Jack Russell x Cat(??) sitting in Aidan's toy box???

Now why would you do that Aimee?


Please excuse Aidan's sticky fingerprints on sliding door...

Perched on her throne...

The strange animal in our family!

A rush of blood to the head

2010-09-09T11:18:00.000+02:00

Man this dog of Aidan's is driving me nuts, she has now figured out that she can jump over the mesh on the two xpanda gates and goes gallivanting around the complex this sends a rush of blood to the head and makes me almost turn into the Hulk, she is such an escape artist that this morning she jumped over the gate sooo quietly that I thought she had managed to get out the back door and out the garden gate( which goes out onto the road(this gate was open for the gardener)so here i am running up and down the road wondering if this animal has gotten herself run over and after about half and hour up and down in the rain i go inside feeling defeated, but something told me to look out the front, there she was sitting at the gardener/ caretakers door waiting for him to open up for her, what she didn't know was that he was already in our garden... well that made me dilly with anger, here i was soaking wet and tired after running after nothing and she was sitting patiently inside the complex!

It seems I was getting loads of head rushes as we went to the baby expo over the weekend however this was the good kind, as it made me sooo happy to see how Aidan loved the Barney show, and Bob the Builder, the awe and wonder in those little eyes gave me proud mommy emotional rushes of blood to the head, however little Kyla-Lee wasnt as impressed with the purple dinosaur as aidan was and fell fast asleep! and wow the absolute enjoyment of seeing other babies, I mean its not like we keep him cooped up away from people however he is always ecstatic when he sees another "little" person, and how he was interacting with the adults around him he was sweet talking all the people at the stalls we stopped at... They all thought he was super cute,, until he threw the mother of all tantrums, screaming and throwing himself all over the show and creating a huge noise...

Aidan Watching Barney

Kyla-Lee's 1st impression of Barney!

Having a juice break...

Another thing happened this week! WE FINALLY GOT OUR CAR!!! we are just loving our Tucson it ROCKS!! What an awesome car,with the arrival of the car we decided that we needed to celebrate and went to dinner at Olive & Oil, what a lovely spot, and delish food and the service? Brilliant!! definitely a recommendation is in order!!

All in all an alright week, just hope this week coming also holds out as nicely.

Golly gosh

2010-09-09T11:10:00.001+02:00

Oh my golly gosh this past month or so has been an interesting time for us, first off Andrew was in an accident on the way to work (we wont go into the nitty gritty details as to what happened but all that needs to be known was that it was no fault of his and car was a write off)anyway he also got out and helped the injured individual and found that he had a little nick in his skin on his hand and had said persons blood on the same hand, off to the doc he went and got some meds to prevent aids and had his blood pressure tested which came out pretty high, a few weeks later we go back to the doc to have another BP test done and the results were slightly lower but basically we were told that its not high enough to have him on BP meds but he needs to watch what he eats and exercise more, so we have been eating better(-NOT A DIET, just better eating-I'm doing this aswell out of support) to begin Andrew was at 6'4" and 118kgs and after two weeks of this eating change we have both noticed that we have more energy, are more regular and Andrew has lost 2kgs already- I have yet to weigh myself...
We have to go at in the beginning of October to have his blood test results given to us to see whether he is still negative.

After the car was written off we had to start long tedious process of finding finance for a new car and also to decide which vehicle we were going to get as we needed to think about our ever growing child and any future children ( and all the stuff that having a child entails(prams, nappy bags, car seats, etc.)
Thanks to my mom and dad who have two cars we were able to use my moms car over weekends and luckily we have friends that live very near by that actually work with Andrew in Umhlanga (70km's round trip from where we live)with whom they've had a lift club with prior to accident, for during the week.

We have since got finance and found a lovely Tucson that we are purchasing from someone I knew from tech days... so we are pretty excited as we will be getting it in 5 days time!

Now on my side I've been a pretty busy mommy, what with dealing with a sick and grumpy toddler who is cutting all 4 of his last molars all at once, and to say that he isn't taking it too well is a small understatement, in the past two nights I don't think I've managed a full hour sleep at any given time, but I although I have been tired I don't feel drained and its all after the change in eating.

my sister has treated my mother, and myself to permanent eye liner(which rocks because I hardly ever have time to do make up and at least this way I'd at least have the basic staple on already, however my appointment was changed to next Friday and there was talk between the salon ladies that I MIGHT just get a free manicure for changing my appointment time, which too is great because as a mom with a busy little toddler I don't have the time to sit and have my nails done, there is just no time plain and simple, I had also roped in most of the Hunt household to do a straight perm on my hair yesterday, (it was a joint operation, although dad was at work and Shea was sleeping, I managed to get Robyn mom and Garreth (Shea's boyfriend)all fussing over my hair... hee hee hee it's called delegation people!

Anyway we continue to pray and keep our faith and just remain positive for the rest of this crazy year, (not all bad crazy but some good crazy too, CRAZY nonetheless!)

My heart bleeds...

2010-08-12T08:11:00.000+02:00

My heart bleeds at the thought of how my teeny tiny boogie has turned into a real little boy, alright he is only seventeen months old and yes he still sounds young but he has really transformed from the little pot plant i sat holding while in hospital.

He is now running and jumping and screaming and throwing tempers, however he isn't crying when hurt anymore, now i know that sounds horrible for a mother to want her child to cry but hey don't you feel like you are needed to come to the rescue when the have their first roastie? i know i did, however when he took that hard tumble he looked at his knee then at the floor then back at his knee, he then proceeded to pat the floor "better" once he had made sure the floor was ok we went off to the bathroom and i wiped his first bloody sore clean for him, he looked at me, took the cotton wool away and then went on to wipe it himself... such a big boy(by the way even with the blood there was not a tear) once he had decided that the "ouch" was sufficiently clean he kissed it better, motioned to get down off the counter and ran off again.
Its not only when he gets hurt and reacts like a big boy and forgets to come to mom for cuddles, but i have also found that shopping for him saddens me too, it's not like i find his clothes in the "baby" section any more its in the young boys department and his shoes... well the difference between my shoe and his shoe... (lets leave the picture to speak for itself)

Yes we have to shop in the boys department for those too, Gone are the days when his feet were smaller and when he was wearing newborn clothes...
Oh and for the record, i am NOT i repeat NOT broody, my hands are way to full with this big boy oh yes and the whole pregnancy thing is still fresh in my mind!

Oh well to big boys and little girls, and little boys and big girls!
So long as he keeps bringing so much joy too my life i am happy... Continue to grow so nicely my angel, BUT just know i will stalk you if i have to and i will call you my baby till the day i die!

Mommy loves you with everything she has.

Food Revolution!

2010-07-16T08:58:00.003+02:00

Now we're in for it...

So as most of you know Aidan went through a "I don't need food " stage which freaked both Andrew and I out completely, so much so that we were resorting to sneak food into his mouth, however we had underestimated how smart our child was(not sure how that could happen because he is OUR child and we are kinda smart too) and he would just spit it out again, well we sat panicking about the amount of food that was making it into him that when face to face with his baby clinic nurse I nearly bite her head off because she is telling me not to worry as children are clever and know when they need food and that they would not starve themselves, I mean how can I relax and not worry, my child didn't want to eat...

Anyway Aidan did as he chose and I tried listening to Sister Maureen and not give him sooooo many choices when it came to meal time and tried sticking to one thing, not so easy I tell you! Sister Maureen also told me that all children go through this as they are at the age where their imaginations take over and their need to explore out weighs their need to sit in one spot and gobble the food that you so lovingly prepared for them.

This continued for approximately three months and just all of a sudden did a complete 360, I suppose the fact that Aidan is walking(or running) helps spur the appetite on, I now have a food revolution happening in my house, as Aidan is not only eating more but he is also starting to warm up to eating bits of meat(before he would just chew the flavour out of it then give it to Aimee) I don't think there is enough food in the house anymore...

This appetite has just come from nowhere, I have a little gobble monster on my hands, for example, last nights dinner consisted of 2x medium/large potatoes mashed, 1x purity bottle of roast lamb and veg, a few blocks of cheese, 2x bananas(I was making pizza for Andrew and I and Aidan took the peeled banana off the counter) 2x fish fingers and then when I thought nothing else could fit in his belly he then helped himself to the edges of my pizza! oh and we wont mention the fact that he had 2x cups of milk and a few sips of water...

Hmmm what tells me he has his dads kind of appetite? He will definitely be worth the money spent when taken to and all you can eat buffet!

That's it for now, I think I'm going to go replenish my grocery cupboard now...

Wow why did no one tell me?

2010-07-09T10:46:00.003+02:00

Well as you all know by now, I have stopped breast feeding and am now waiting (not so patiently) for my milk to dry up.

Now while I have been "weaning" I did a little research as to what would help it go quicker, and all the baby and breast feeding website suggests crushed, cooled cabbage leaves stuffed into your bra,so I try it, walking around smelling really gross as the cabbage warms and lets off it's wonderful smelly vapours, it seems to soothe the engorgement I admit, but about three or so days of cabbage bra I am feeling very tired and drained(not the kind of drained I was hoping for) also my breast were getting all splotchy and red as if a rash were developing, so I hope onto Google and state my issue, you would never believe it but it states that if you are allergic to sulphurs you should NOT do the cabbage thing...

Wow why did no one tell me this? all this tiredness and slight bouts of nausea were because my system was slowly being poisoned and I didn't even know, thing is you actually have do a search for sulphur allergy and cabbage otherwise you wont find the information very easily...

Just as some are told to drink coca cola and coffee to help increase breastmilk when in actual fact it is really decreasing it, gee talk about misinformation in the information age....

Well needless to say I have stopped with the cabbage and have tried Sudafed decongestants, and although it may take a wee bit longer for the milk to go it certainly isn't making me tired or nauseous and on top of it all its helping my morning blocked nose issues too talk about win win...

A few web pages that help:

Cabbage and sulphur allergy: http://www.earthclinic.com/Remedies/cabbage.html

Coca cola and breast milk: http://www.birthworks.co.za/articles/breastmilk-peak-production-plan

Hello to a new day...

2010-07-06T09:34:00.001+02:00

Well we say "Hello to a new day and a new challenge" as we (or at least I) have decided to go cold turkey on the whole breast feeding matter, mind you, it wasn't even for the nutritional purposes anymore but more for the comfort Aidan got of knowing mom was there...

However as it may have been comforting Aidan I can say without a shadow of doubt that it was NOT comforting to me! OK OK it was up until a little while ago but now that Aidan has managed to grind his caps/ fillings (or whatever you would want to call them) off as a result of his molars attempting to cut, he now has two of the sharpest little monsters in his mouth, and they are intent on doing grievous bodily harm to me and my bits...

Anyway Monday was my first official day of cold turkeyness as it had been over a full 24 hours since his last feeding, and most of the day seemed to go pretty easy, however by the time 2/3pm came around I was swollen and nicely engorged but it wasn't sore or tender or anything so I pushed ahead... But that soon changed,and I was quickly looking like I had had a breast job done as my boobs were sitting right under my chin(well not really but you get the idea)hot water bottle came and went as did a bag of frozen peas all I could think of doing was going and having a warm bath and just trying to relax- easier said than done, so bath starts running and I begin to worry about waking Aidan as the last time I did something like this my house turned a deeper shade of Barney, I mean purple,oh well anyway I get in and sit there trying to relieve the pressure(they say you should try hand express) well hand expressing was... to say the least interesting, my bath turned white... I just had to tell myself I was soaking in "food" and at least it wasn't pee or a certain monkeys log... needless to say that although it was enough milk to almost have a milk and honey bath it still wasn't enough to ease the SWELL!

I was starting to look and feel like Alice The Camel, so next thing you ask, well because of Seacom's incompetence the only way I was able to ask Andrew( without phoning as that would wake Aidan) was to post it onto his buzz... well if that doesn't make this swollen camel cringe then nothing will!

Another hour till Andrew gets home... DRUM ROLL PLEASE... duh duh duh duh... a nice BIG cabbage, yes that's right a cabbage, another "home remedy" if you will, now this one is supposed to work with you placing cold cabbage leaves into your bra and basically waiting till they have warmed and wilted then do it again and it's meant to draw the milk and help with the stopping of milk production, what they seem to have left out is the fact that you are left smelling like an over ripe cabbage once the leaves have started to wilt, not attractive... not even the dog wanted to sit next to me last night(now that IS BAD!) oh and don't forget to watch out for slugs...

It is now day 2 and I press on in search of milk(and cabbage) free breasts, when they decide to show up is another story, I shall do this I shall persevere!

And so I leave you with a plea, everyone out there PLEASE wear green in support of cabbage saving swollen boobies week... cos I know I will!! HAPPY CABBAGE DAY!

Alice The Camel...
...Over and Out

For You I Will

2010-07-02T10:28:00.001+02:00

When you feel your world just ain't right
Call on me, I will be waiting
Count on me, I will be there
Anytime the times get too tough,
Anytime your best ain't enough
I'll be the one to make it better,
I'll be there to protect you,
See you through,
I'll be there and there is nothing
I won't do.

I will cross the ocean for you
I will go and bring you the moon
I will be your hero your strength
Anything you need
I will be the sun in your sky
I will light your way for all time
Promise you,
For you I will.

I will shield your heart from the rain
I will let no harm come your way
Oh these arms will be your shelter
No these arms won't let you down,
If there is a mountain to move
I will move that mountain for you
I'm here for you, I'm here forever
I will be your fortress, tall and strong
I'll keep you safe,
I'll stand beside you, right or wrong

I will cross the ocean for you
I will go and bring you the moon
I will be your hero your strength
anything you need
I will be the sun in your sky
I will light your way for all time
Promise you
For you I will

For you I will, lay my life on the line
For you I will fight,
For you I will die
With every breathe, with all my soul
I'll give my world
I'll give it all
Put your faith in me
And I'll have to leave it be

I will cross the ocean for you
I will go and bring you the moon
Promise you
For you I will, I will, I will, I will,

I will cross the ocean for you
I will go and bring you the moon
I will be your hero your strength
Anything you need,
I will be the sun in your sky
I will let you wait for all times
Promise you
For you I will
I promise you
For you I will

Oh Boy!!

2010-07-01T10:01:00.001+02:00

Barney came to play yesterday....
and turned my house a bright shade of purple!!

no actually Aidan managed to reach the gentian violet and proceeded to empty the whole lot all over the house, all this happened while silly mom thought she could find some peace while she goes to the loo and closed the door behind her! (for those of you who don't have kids that would be a normal thing to do however once you have a child there is absolutely no way in hell that any door is allowed to be closed UNLESS of course the mini you has done it themselves...

well anyway I finish pretty quickly and find a purple house... (but in the 5 seconds you take to pee a child only needs 2 seconds to repaint your whole house!)

Here are some pics of Barney (boogie)

Excitement at the Bevan's

2010-06-29T15:45:00.001+02:00

Howdy Doo all,

As of late there has been much excitement in the Bevan household, as most of you have already gathered Aidan can now officially be classified as a toddler as he started walking not so long ago! I'm pleased and slightly nervous to announce that he has mastered that in virtually no time at all, well that and walking BACKWARDS??

How is it that you have only been walking a month(walking properly for approx. 2 weeks) and you can walk BACKWARDS with ease?!? what did i miss here?

Anyways that isn't the only thing that has been keeping us busy and entertained, Aidan now plays round and round the garden with you, he circles your hand with his finger and does the one step, two step but waits for you to tickle him… sometimes he doesn't even wait to circle round your hand he just hops to the one step, two step, so he can be tickled… Funny little guy!

We are also getting into the whole soccer spirit with Aidan blowing his vuvuzela loud and proud, he really loves ANYTHING that makes a noise! typical boy! he is so cute because he cant make the proper sound like when we blow it so he purses the mouthpiece to his lips and goes wooooooo woooooooo, and well there you have it a 16 month old playing a vuvuzela( gotta tell you i prefer when he plays it then when adults play it!)

Talking about soccer, Candice, Ryan, Andrew and i all went to the Durbs Fan Park on Saturday the 26th June for the Uruguay VS South Korea match, it was a total ball! we made a whole afternoon/evening of it, and the atmosphere was electrifying… not overly crowded, no drunken idiots running around and wait for it, no excessive vuvuzela noise (people reserved that for goals) which was such fun! Heck i even won a vuvuzela from the coke tent for doing a crazy corner goal dance, it was such an experience (well right up until i dropped my whole cup of cappuccino all over myself, with Candice and Ryan getting sprayed in the process…) i mean yeah it was HOT but i didn't really notice my leg burning because i was too busy laughing at how stupid it all was, i don't even know how it happened, one minute the coffee was making its way to my mouth, and the next it was all over me… ha ha reminds me of the MiWay advert… ‘It just jumped in front of me!’ all this without our little angels- although we did miss them terribly, only to fetch the two kids and find that they were perfectly happy without us… must be the grandparent touch!

Anyway after such a good time we are so going to the Fan Park for the Finals!!!

i was also in a state of fantasmagorical excitedment as Aidan’s huggalugs were finally going to be arriving, for those of you who dont know me , lets just say i have excitement issues… i bounce, now when i say that i bounce, i REALLY BOUNCE when i get excited, strange- i know but what can i do? so with the huggalugs in the mail what else is there left for me to do , but get myself a free spoon for aidan from Vital Baby( they are the same people that his sippy cup and straw cup are from, and they are fabulous, its a bendy one!

Huggalugs( basically Leg/arm warmers for babies and kids up to 6)

Vital Baby Spoon

And it bends…

Well time to sign off….

Damn It's Been Hectic

2010-06-10T08:47:00.001+02:00

Wow so these last two weeks have been soooo crazy! It all started with a braai on Friday 28th, OK I must admit it wasn't too rowdy but still went on a little late(ish)

Then at 9am on Saturday Andrew Ramsden(had to give surname as there are 2 Andrews) and Mel came over and we all met up with Candice, Ryan and little Kyla- Lee in Hillcrest and made the trek up to Pietermaritzburg to hit the Royal Show, which was pretty cool because (my) Andrew had never been before and the rest of us hadn't been there in ages, of course all the guys got caught at the remote controlled gadgets stand and we had to practically drag them away, Never fear as they got their revenge when the 3 of us girls got to the scrapbooking and crafts section- some REALLY cool things!
later that day the kids were entertained on the merry- go- round however I don't think Aidan was so impressed( maybe the fact that these pony's weren't responding to his excited kicks and jerking on them, he even resorted to stroking its fibreglass mane) but this naughty pony didn't do what Aidan was hoping for...

As for Sunday we were up at bout 4ish to get ready to go to Kloof to watch the Comrades Marathon, don't think Aidan was too impressed by waking up so early and then going to sit in the dark in nippy cold Kloof, but that too turned into a fun day...

However I didn't think the word fun would crop up on Monday, as Aidan had his MMR vaccine at around midday, Andrew even took half day to be with us!
Well anyway vaccine time came and went with a little niggle and tiny temp but nothing too serious, and Aidan seemed his usual self, well that was until about half past seven that evening... when he just got up and walked... I think seeing all the runners the previous day inspired him to get up and go! go! go!
He has been none stop ever since even throwing a tantrum in the middle of Pavilion to get out of his stroller to walk!

He is also cut is 14th tooth(top canine) with only 6 to go!! Thank heavens!
Talking about teeth uncle Sean came over on Wednesday and fixed his 2 chipped front teeth and they have been perfect and beautiful ever since! Thank you uncle Sean!

Now to wait on more FUN!!
Chow for Now...

Aidan's First Steps

2010-06-01T08:39:00.002+02:00

I know this is not Aidan's experience BUT...

2010-05-26T13:40:00.001+02:00

Alright so I know that this is not something Aidan would talk about, but sometimes mommies do have something to say too!

There is something out there that just gets my goat, is the whole new LOL! craze, what the hell is this all about, I just don't get it... I know that it stands for Laugh Out Loud, but what ever happened to actually physically laughing, i Love to laugh and just doing this LOL thing doesn't give the same feel good feeling as a good old hearty laugh does!

I also know that some people use it when they are texting or writing but if i wanted to Laugh Out Loud or "LOL" then I would do as i have done my whole life... i would go: HA HA HA and if i wanted to Laugh Out Soft id just say ha ha ha! Caps for loud and lower case for soft! come on man laugh get those muscles working and LAUGH for REAL!!!

How ever should you choose to continue with this sad form of laughter,PLEASE OH PLEASE, use it in the correct context, Two cases of incorrect(what the hell were you thinking) context:
1: it was my birthday a few weeks ago and someone wished me with this line(no jokes!) "Happy Birthday LOL!" I mean come on what is so hysterically funny about saying happy birthday? or wait is it the fact that it was my birthday the funny part... I DON'T UNDERSTAND!! it not like I'm becoming old and decrepit or anything (I am only 25!)
2: one of my friends on Facebook had something not so great happen to her so she puts it in her status and some chops comment... "Oh no! that's terrible, LOL!"
WOW talk about wrong context... I'd be like, UNFRIEND! that's just mean!!!

I must add that I do not have the same issue with LMFAO because Laughing My Fat Ass Off is just slightly long to write...

So the next time someone LOL's out of context I think I will just have to LMFAO and tell them to shut up before they hurt themselves....

To Cut or NOT to Cut... That is the question!

2010-05-17T10:38:00.001+02:00

Well I have heard it all... He's growing a mullet, he has horns, his fringe is too long, come on Tracey you need to cut Aidan's hair...

I personally don't think that it needs to be cut, I mean this poor child's hair can be deceiving I know, what with the colour tone that it is and how it makes the hair look thicker than it really is, and yes I agree he does have a few strands that are slightly longer than the rest, but does that warrant a cut?

How can I go and maim Aidan's beautiful soft fuzzy baby hair just to please others? Shame man it has taken this poor little guy 14 and a half months to grow it like this and now people are getting funny about it, its not like he has a mop of hair that resembles an untidy afro or anything, in fact its the exact opposite, I fear that if I end up cutting this gorgeous set of locks it will make the fact that his hair is still very much thinned out stand out even more...

Oh and then there are the people who say, well shave his hair all off then it will grow back thicker, (now if you are not Indian and it doesn't fall into what your culture is doing why should I?) I have spoken to a friend who happens to be a hairdresser and he basically said that when you shave your baby's hair you are actually totally getting rid of it, because when you are thinking that here it is growing back thicker, you have actually pretty much gotten rid of the Baby hair and now encouraging the adult hair to grow, as adult hair is more coarse than that of a baby's hair(their hair is deciduous and will fall out later giving the space for the "thicker" adult hair) He compared it to the fact that once you baby's first tooth has cut and is taking a while to grow to it's designed length, would you go have it pulled just because it's taking longer than what YOU feel it should take? (Thanks Kev!)

What I keep telling myself is that God is the one who has designed this beautiful being , why should I go and want to change the way He made us? Yes I admit I sometimes feel slightly impatient and wish the hair would grow quicker and the teeth would cut sooner and that he should start walking now, but then I remind myself that we have a lifetime together, it will all happen in God's own time, and that no-one on this earth has the power to change the way Aidan develops, really, so what if he isn't talking the hind leg off a donkey yet or that he is taking his time to walk? I have a beautiful,happy, healthy and loving child and he will do these things when he is ready...

The way I see it ... NO CUTTING!!!!

How can I cut those cute side burn curls???

My word!!

2010-05-05T21:16:00.001+02:00

Oh my word has it been ages since I last blogged or what?
you would think that with all the "down time" I've had there would be plenty of news... well sorry to disappoint you we don't have much going on...

Just a few items that have happened in the Bevan household: I had my first Easter where I could actually EAT the chocolate and not just look at it!

I went to my 1st birthday party on the 24Th of April (by my 1st party I mean non family related one)
Anyway Thomas(aka Tom Tom) turned 2 and his party was held at Duck and Deck in Hillcrest, on a pretty nippy cold day if I do say so myself, it all started with daddy forgetting about the time and mommy and I waking up at 9.15am(party was at 10am)that meant that we only had 15min to get ready and go... but amazingly enough it was managed and with time to spare!
Then just as we are pulling into Duck and Deck's driveway what happens?? well I decided that now would be a good time to vomit... all over everything, luckily I missed Tom Tom's pressie! Time for outfit change, then off we go for some farmyard party FUN! Well the party was loads of fun and once again I didn't move from the eats table, just like at My own party(apparently the vomiting was just to make sure I had enough space for all the other treats...)

We went to Duck and deck again with the usual suspects(Aunty Candice, Uncle Ryan, Kyla-Lee, Aunty Gerry, Uncle Kevin and Tyrone) and I had a few pony rides... man do I looove them ponies....

We also took a trip to Suncoast Beach with Aunty Candice, Uncle Ryan, Kyla-Lee, Aunty Gerry, Uncle Kevin and Tyrone, wow we had such fun playing in the sand and the water.(The mommies took about a week to get ALL the sand out of our respective nappy bags)

Mom also entered me into a competition on image perfect and all my pictures placed, we came first as World face of the month, for Top Family, second for Top Mother and Child and Third for Top Father and Child- I'm so cool!

Ooooh and mommy has ordered me 2 pairs of Huggalugs, one pair is Rainbow stripes( I'm going to be wearing these to aunty Shea's hippy party, and the other pair is black with white stars- just to bring out my emo side, I really do like bruises!!

Oh talking about bruises, I managed to give mommy a real good one the other day, without even touching her, all I had to do was leave the Tupperware dish I was playing with just by the pantry step and BAZINGA! she went flying through the air like a firework on Guy Fawkes... it was HILARIOUS! oh and she landed on my dinner bowl and got a nice round bruise on her thigh... (tell the Americans... the aliens have landed, and left crop circles on mom's leg!!)

Oh and we have got a new lounge suite and rug and side table and lamp... and... ha ha and nothing more...
I really love our new rug in the lounge its so soft, so now I can jump and play and not have to worry mommy too much about chipping more teeth, I also loooove rolling around on it, I pretend I'm a doggy just like Aimee!

Ooh more news, I almost forgot, I took about four steps the other day, while daddy and uncle Ryan were busy sorting out network cables for daddy's new toy(the Mede8er- media centre box)I was busy walking between mommy and aunty Candice, Kyla-Lee was sitting near by giggling at us...although I took four steps over the weekend I cant say that the whole walking thing has grown on me just yet as I haven't even bothered trying again...

The other day I also tried my hand at some finger painting for the first time, what fun!

Oh wow so more happened to us this month than I thought!