What I Love About My Kids - July

I’ve started a new workshop at Clickin' Moms called Finding The Light and although I have only completed one assignment(there are four) I have already learned so much! The class is about how to use natural light to take good pictures. (It covers angling, back lighting, etc). I wanted to share some pictures from my first assignment with my readers to show how much I have been learning in terms of my photography.

I am also going to include a list of the things I love about my children(this blog is a gift from me to them which they can one day look back on and know how much their mother loves them).

These are all shot using natural light(no flash), on Manual (no auto), and they have only been cropped and sharpened for the web.

(Except for this one below)

Check out those catch lights in his eyes! (yay! that is all natural).

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Deen is 3 1/2 years old.
What I love about Deen right now:
- I love that he comes up with his own cute poses for the camera.
- If he is ever bored or in a room alone(within six feet from me) i hear him singing, “I’m so lonely… I’m so lonely… I have nobody…” and my heart immediately melts!
-The way he holds me tight and touches my face with his warm hands when I lay down with him at night to put him to bed.
- That he is such a book lover! “Mama, just one more!”
- He learned this song that he sings before he eats at school and he sang it for me…. “Blessings on the blossoms, blessings on the roots. Blessings on the leaves and trees and blessings on the fruits”….. then he closes his eyes tight and sings some mush that I don't even think he knows what he is saying… and then ends it with “blessings on our meal.”
- He stands on our coffee table and throws us a Barney Show…. “Ladies and gentlemen… this show of Barney is brought to you by….. YOUR imagination!”
- When he says “Mama… I’m so Proud of you!” for whatever reason he might be proud of me… just hearing him say it to me makes me proud!
- That I can actually have a real conversation with him and he has some very interesting thoughts.
- I don’t think I can ever get over how gorgeous Deen’s dimples are… seeing him smile makes my heart melt.
- Because of his Montessori school, he now calls his puzzles work. “Mama, can you help me with my work.”
- He is always so eager to do activities with me and I can see how much joy he gets out of each and every activity.
- Deen loves to just hang out with me and will sometimes just sit around with me doing nothing.
- He doesn’t mind that I give him a million and one kisses a day… I know these days wont last for long.
- That he can somehow make you feel so incredibly loved!
- Deen’s favorite song is Mama Mia and and Di Dee.


He made me laugh so much when I heard that while he and his cousins were watching TV they saw some product on TV that they wanted and he immediately announced to them, “No! You don’t get that here in South Africa… only in America!” because he has obviously heard me whining to my hubby that its so hard to find things here in South Africa and that you get EVERYTHING in America.

Aaliya is 14 months old right now:
What I Love About Aaliya:

- Aaliya is my little diva! She loves dressing up and wearing pretty shoes (even if they aren’t the most comfortable!).
- She currently says: mama, daaaaa (for dad), Deee (for deen), Shoes (I kid you not!), this (for anything she wants and points to), nadia!, iloveu(yes bunched together like that).
- I love how confident she is. If she is in a group of kids she doesn’t stand by me the entire time, she looks out to the world and walks around while interacting with others.
- I love how cheeky she is and how when she gets mad she backs away and lays onto the floor to throw a tiny tantrum… as if its the end of the world as she knows it.
- I love the sweet kisses she gives me whenever I say “ouch!” or ask for a kiss.
- How active she is and how she loves to climb on to everything. Her favorite thing to climb on currently is a chair… I think she is going to love Gymnastics when she gets older.
- Her beautiful hair locks (even though her hair is sometimes so messy! Apparently it is like how mine used to be when I was young)
- I love how she smiles with her teeth showing (although I do not have a picture of that particular smile).
- She currently has 6 teeth… 4 on top and two at the bottom.
 
- I love how she sings Barney’s “I love you” song all day… Even if she is mad or if her stomach hurts if I sing I Love You to her she stops crying and looks up at me with her beautiful eyes and smiles at me.
- I love how her world is all about me and how special she can make me feel knowing that she needs me and always wants to be by my side.

 
(oh and this was one of the examples of how NOT to take a picture (because the back lighting isn’t good… But I love how you can sort of see her dimple here and she just looks so huggable that I had to include it!)

- She loves to talk on the phone.
- She is so proud of the baby signs she currently knows and uses. She knows the sign for milk, drink, and eat.
- Although she can’t speak like an older child can, Aaliya understands things very clearly. If you tell her to sit or to give this item to Deen or anyone else, she listens.
- If you give her a tissue she pretends to blow her nose. It is adorable!
- She likes to choose her own shoes every day and if she doesn’t like the one you chose she will find the shoes she wants and will make sure you change them.
- Every night she brings her “ daaa” his slippers so his feet wont get cold.
- I love how she copies me(her mama). If I kiss someone, she kisses them too. If I give someone a high five, she does too!
- She is full of facial expressions and if she doesn’t know or like someone she gives them a very interesting look.

Before Aaliya was born I always wondered how I could possibly love another child as much as I love Deen since Deen filled up my whole heart but I learned that as a mother we apparently seem to get another heart hidden inside somewhere dedicated to each child….
I love you my little angels… to infinity….. and beyond!

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As you can see, my lighting seems to be pretty good on my pictures and I am so proud that I did not need to use my flash even though these pictures were taken indoors. Clickin Moms has proved to be such an amazing community where information is shared so freely amongst members… I hope to become a lifetime member there soon!
Are you interested in learning photography? Do you want to take better pictures of your kids? All you need is a dSLR camera. If you want to join a group of moms who love photography check out Clickin' Moms.

Seussical Jr.

Today Deen and I went to watch a play called Seussical Jr.

WoW!!!

It was amazing! The play is about Dr. Seuss books but mainly focuses on Horton Hears a Who. I personally have not read Horton Hears A Who so I am not completely sure how true to the book the play is but nonetheless it was beyond how nice I think the book could be.

I mean... who knew that I could travel the world and reach far far away to another land where animals could speak and birds could whine about their feathers being ugly....

Deen loved it , of course! All the parents were also going on about how amazing the show is and how they think they are enjoying it even more than their kids are.

What I love about plays(theater shows) is that it uses so much more of your imagination. It takes you beyond where the television can and honestly brings to life a book in such a spectacular way.

We were all in the land of make believe....

Unfortunately we did have a small mishap due to the seating arrangement... here is what happened:
The children sat on the floor in front on a cushion near the stage while the parents sat at the back.... that was fine... until ...

...the moment the show ended...

As all the parents stood up I could not see Deen anywhere. I could not move to get closer to him...

My heart started racing... where is my son? What is he wearing? "ummm....I'm the one that put his jacket on before the show but I cannot for the life of me remember what he was wearing..." (can you tell I started panicking?)

As I frantically searched around me it seems that he was allowed to exit the theater before me. Eventually I just had to start pushing and shoving my way through people in order to find him. 

The theater is in a closed environment so realistically nothing could have happened to him, but that didn't change the fact that he and I were freaking out for those 2-3 minutes where we both couldn't see each other.

Although we had a small mishap at the end, that definitely doesn't take away from the show. Anybody that lives in the Johannesburg area book your tickets to the show at the National Children's Theater. You wont regret it, I promise! :)

Snuggle Up In Your Blanket Of Love

Her eyes open... but she can't see anything... the room is dark... She wonders why she can't see.
The room is quiet. She listens carefully for the soothing sounds of her mothers heartbeat but she can't find it. Is mama here?
She can't smell her mothers calming scent. Is anyone else here? Am I alone?
She turns to her left and searches with her tiny hands for the warmth of her mothers body... Nothing. She turns to her right and searches again... but nothing.
She begins to cry...

Mama's comforting hands quickly rest gently on top of her. She feels secure again knowing that her mother is always near. Mama begins to pat her down softly... and within a few seconds she dozes back to sleep... safe and sound.

A few hours later she begins to feel thirsty...
She doesn't know how to satiate (sā'shē-āt') that thirst... She turns to her left... then to her right... but she is still thirsty. She cries out for help!

Her mother comes quickly and tries to pat her down but she begins to cry again.
Mama scoops her up, holds her tight and takes her into her warm bed where Mama then nurses her...

She places her tiny hand on her mothers heart... soothed by the calming sound of her mothers heartbeat that surrounded her for the 9 months she lived in her mothers womb.

Her mothers soft lips press lightly on to her forehead as she hears her mother whisper, "I love you my precious child" and although she can't speak yet, she has heard those words at least ten times a day every single day since she was born. She knows that it is something good and special. Her heart gets a tickle of warmth and happiness as she dozes off into blissful sleep held in the support of her mothers blanket of love.

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Last night, before I went to bed I thought of how my daughter may be feeling through the night which would explain her night wakings. The above thoughts are what I came up with.

Don't get me wrong though... I do believe that a baby is lucky to know how to self soothe and I know that in due time it will happen. I don't need to force that with crying it out as I do not want to become desensitized to my daughters cry. Cry it out doesn't specifically work for me and my family but I do not judge others who have chosen that route. We all need to do what is best for our own family.

I tried patting Aaliya down so she doesn't rely on nursing to sleep which seems to be working well. When I see that she is nursing only to fall asleep I lay her down in her cot(which is a few feet away from my bed) and lay one hand lightly but firmly on her shoulder (as if I was holding her... or as if she was swaddled) and I pat her down with my other hand. She usually falls asleep within thirty seconds.

As she wakes up through the night I check on how many hours it was since she last fed. If it was recently then I try patting her down first for a minute. If she carries on fussing then I pick her up and feed her. She will then either co-sleep with me for the rest of the night if I am very tired or I will put her back in her cot until her next wake up.

I am hoping that with the patting down first she will learn to self soothe on her own when she is ready.

The best part about all of this is there is no crying involved. I feel that we are meeting both her needs and mine.

I read this article on cry it out a few months ago and it deeply touched my heart and soul. I would like to share it with my readers: Just Let Her Cry

Wish me luck, that this works for us long term.
:)
Thanks everyone for your kind thoughts and e-mails... I loved reading every single e-mail with your thoughts and experiences.

I wanted to leave you guys with a song that I sing to my daughter and son.
It is a song I heard on Barney when I was pregnant with Aaliya and it really stuck with me. I love every single thing about this song and it makes my heart tingle with warmth:

Oh, sweet little girl
Oh, sweet little boy
Rest your head on a cloud
Made of feathers.

Oh, sweet little lamb
Oh, sweet little child.
Snuggle up in your blanket of love.

A hug and a kiss
A nighty-nite story.
There's nothing you'll miss
till you wake in the morning.

Oh, sweet little girl
Oh, sweet little boy
Rest your head on a cloud
Made of feathers.

Oh, sweet little dear
I'll always be near.
Loving you now and forever (my love...)

Fifa World Cup 2010 Opening Game

Yesterday, we went to the FIFA World Cup 2010 Opening Game....
Can I say... WOW!!! We had such a great time and created such amazing memories! We have waited so many years for this that it feels sort of bittersweet now that it has finally arrived.

Check us out in our Diadora soccer shirts supporting our home team South Africa!


Unfortunately, we got there a bit late so we missed the whole opening ceremony...
We couldn't leave too early since I didn't want to leave Aaliya for so many hours.
Its ok though since I heard the opening ceremony wasn't anything special!


Deen had a blast blowing his vuvuzela!


We had some great seats thanks to my amazing hubby!


The crowd was so lively! The game was so much fun to watch! (And this is coming from a person who hates to watch sports on TV... the only sports I like to watch on TV are Ice skating or Gymnastics)

It was FREEZING cold though! I can't imagine how I am going to survive during the night time games!

The game was South Africa Vs Mexico... but I have to say wow the players on the Mexican team were extremely fast runners!
The game ended up in a tie... South Africa with 1 goal and Mexico with 1 goal.

Come on South Africa!!

Mama Zombie - Sleep Deprived

I thought it was just a phase that she was going through but it seems that Aaliya has honestly become a bad sleeper. She is 13 months old and wakes up sometimes about 4-5 times a night. The good thing is that she is only awake for maybe 3-4 minutes at a time... all she wants is milk and then she is back down quickly.
Anyone have thoughts on how to help me?

Here is what we have been doing recently...
At about 7.30 I give her some baby chamomile and rooibos tea(not always)
Around 7.45-8ish We go to the room where the lights are off(except for a side light) and I give her a short quick massage.. (usually only her legs since thats where she enjoys the massage the most).
I put her pj's on and then breastfeed her to sleep. She generally goes to sleep around 8.30.
I lay her in her bed and she usually sleeps till around 11-12 before her first wake up. After her first wake up(or second wake up depending on when I go sleep) I keep her in my bed... since I am way too tired to get up and put her back in her crib.. we co sleep the rest of the night.
She is then up every 2 hours for a quick 3 minute feed.

I have tried putting her back in her cot after her first(or second) wake up but she still wakes up after 2 hours....
I'm not really sure what to do but I am becoming so tired in the day that I am exhausted by 9 pm which is usually my time with my husband. We relax and watch all our tv shows together, talk about our day, etc.

Deen and Aaliya both currently sleep in my bedroom. Deen sleeps in his car bed which is next to our bed and Aaliya sleeps both in our bed and her cot.

About a month ago Aaliya slept through the whole night without even waking up once... 12 hours! I was so surprised and thought something was wrong with her... (but thanks to my angel care monitor I could see the light flashing that she was indeed breathing)

Deen was a horrible sleeper like this until I stopped breastfeeding at around 21 months(I was 11 weeks pregnant with Aaliya at the time). After 2 days he started sleeping right through the night and has become an amazing sleeper(once we get him down.. that is..)

I have been very patient with her sleep until now as I know how quickly they grow and I believe in night time parenting when the child needs it... I love the extra cuddles... and all of our special moments together.... but knowing that she CAN sleep through the night shows me that she is doing this more out of habit instead of necessity for those feeds. I don't mind one or two feeds at night if that is what she needs.... but four?

I'd love your thoughts? :)

Aaliya's Birthday

On the 6th of May 2010 we celebrated my princess Aaliya's first birthday.

A year ago we were blessed with our beautiful little girl Aaliya. She has grown so quickly and I can't believe that she is already one! Aaliya started taking steps at 10 months and went into full time walking at 11 months!

Aaliya has started to socialise better with others now(although she is still a mamas baby) and has become pretty feisty... She is so sweet and makes us smile with her girly ways. She loves hand bags and jewelry!(Real princess!!)

Aaliya, my baby girl, I love you more than words can ever show and more than you can ever know.... Happy Birthday my angel child..

Here are some pics from her party


My little drama queen... its my party and i'll cry if i want to...





Check out my Posh LiL' Diva!
And here i am ... 22kg's down(almost 50 pounds)... lost my pregnancy weight! yipee... now thats a celebration! hehe

This celebration is not only a celebration of Aaliya turning one.. it is also a celebration for us as a family... Deen's first year of having a sister and not being the only child... us as parents to a daughter.... its amazing! :)

Happy Birthday Aaliya!! I Love you !

Giraffe Handprint and Tunnel Fun!

Deen and I made hand print giraffes yesterday... this is fun, easy, and really cute!
This activity was found here at activity village.

Paint your hand


Place on a piece of paper. This will make the body, tail, and legs of the giraffe.

Paint the pinky side of your hand and place it on the opposite direction of the giraffe to make the neck.

Paint your thumb and place your thumb on top of the neck line to make a face.

When dry paint your fingertip with brown paint and dot on some spots.

Here is Deen's:


He tried to have fun with the face and neck afterwards as you can see... He enjoyed mixing the colors together.

Aaliya:


Today Aaliya played in her tunnel.. she really enjoyed this! She loved crawling from one side to the other. The poles at the bottom of the tunnel were very hard so I just put my yoga mat at the bottom to make it softer for her to crawl on.


Aaliya is standing on her own and today she took one step (yay). She is 10 months old. Deen took his first step at 11 months and was walking nicely at 12 months. I'm assuming since Aaliya took her first step today at 10 months that it will be another month (at least) before she starts to walk. Then I can finally make her wear dresses again! She hates to wear dresses because she finds it difficult to crawl.

Have a great day! :)

Weekend Fun and Thoughts on Motherhood

As a family we had so much fun this past weekend. Deen and Aaliya are growing so quickly. I wanted to experiment a bit with my camera so here are some of my shots along with some of my current thoughts. These were all taken on Manual Mode.

Deen, my charming gentlemen, has become so much more responsible, helpful, and even more loving (as if that were even possible). I can't figure out if that has to do with the fact that he LOVES his new school or because he is passed the terrible twos. He is such a little charmer and honestly he amazes me more than words can begin to describe. He also seems to be getting frustrated less and knows how to explain himself better.
Deen's favorite game right now is "School". It is so adorable to see him role play.



Deen's favorite time with me is reading time... he still loves his books which makes me so happy since I am a total book worm!

My hubby.... not so much.

His favorite song right now is A Teens 'Mama Mia' and The Chipmunks 'You Spin Me Right Round' which we both sing and dance to together.

I love you my charming son... more than you can ever understand...
Or rather, as we both like to say:
I love you "BIG much!"

I love you to Infinity.... and beyond!



Aaliya... my little princess.

Aaliya started crawling a few weeks ago(at 8 months). She got her first two teeth two weeks ago and did remarkably well for a baby that was teething. I wouldn't have even known that she popped a tooth if it wasn't for looking in her mouth.
Aaliya has a very feisty personality right now but yet still amazingly sweet. She is a very determined little girl and if she wants something she WILL get it. Nobody can deter her.


She likes to climb on everything and is already standing on her own now at 10 months. She looks like she is getting very close to walking.... where did my little baby go?


Her nightly massage has become a bit challenging and not so 'nightly'. It is hard to get her to stay still for even a few minutes.... but those quiet moments during Aaliya's bedtime massage special memories are formed in my heart. Our massage time is such a bonding experience. A few nights ago while I was giving her a massage I had the candles lit... soft spa type of music playing in the background... my little angel fell asleep while I was massaging her. I felt so content in my heart to know that I had pampered my baby girl so much that she could drift off to sleep so peacefully.


I love you my sweet Aaliya forever and always...

And here is my hubby and I having some fun together :)

My pillar of strength :) I feel as if I found him again. Pregnancy hormones can make things in life(besides your kids) so mute... but once they are gone and you are back to your normal self life is full of color. My memory though is still not what it used to be...darn it for not taking the Omega tablets as often as I was supposed to... I wonder how long it takes to recover from pregnancy brain? :)

Here are some inspirational quotes on parenting that I would like to share with my readers:

Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body. ~Elizabeth Stone


Before I got married I had six theories about bringing up children; now I have six children, and no theories. ~John Wilmot

When I pick up one of my children and cuddle them, all the strain and stress of life temporarily disappears. There is nothing more wonderful than motherhood and no one will ever love you as much as a small child.-Nicola Horlick

Discovering that with every child, your heart grows bigger and stronger - that there is no limit to how much or how many people you can love, even though at times you feel as though you could burst - you don't - you just love even more.-Yasmin Le Bon

I'd also like to share this with you:

Motherhood: A Celebration of Life By Donna Gephart

It's LEARNING: You Learn from your children as much as they learn from you. As you struggle to help them toward adulthood, they escort you to their wonderful place of innocence, imagination, and delight.

It's HAVING FUN: Get on the floor and play with your kids every day. Create opportunities for fun. Dirty dishes wil always be there. Children grow too quickly.

It's LIMITS: Not only do you teach children limits, you learn your own limits for patience and your endurance for long, challenging days. You also learn there is one thing that is limitless: your feeling of love toward your children.

It's WATCHING THEM SLEEP: At the end of each day, you recall the greatest joys and challenges- how they make you so angry and then so happy a moment later. Asleep, though, they are nothing less than angels.

It's TIME FOR YOU: Every mother learns that time for herself is essential to renew and rechage. Two hours alone to yourself when someone else is responsible for your kids can mean days of better parenting. When you feel good about yourself and are happy, everyone's beter off.

It's LOVE: Snuggling together for bedtime stories or for popcorn and rented movies. Unsolicited "I love you's." sloppy kisses and clumsy hugs. Parenting brings more love than we could ever hope for- everlasting, unconditional love of the greatest lengths and depths.-- Donna Gephart.

I wish all you mamas a beautiful and blessed day today with your children :)

And don't forget if you would like to join the Clickin Moms private photography forum the coupon code is ending soon and as you can see in one month I have learned a lot...

To Join: Click the image or click here: Clickin' Moms
Use Discount code: "FRIEND" at checkout to receive 10% off your subscription.
Coupon code expires March 31, 2010.

Happy 3rd Birthday Deen!

On Sunday(the 24th of January) my baby turned 3...
I can't believe Deen is already 3.... Time is flying by...
Deen loves mickey mouse so we had a mickey mouse theme for his birthday party. We had a bbq for his birthday and kept the party very small, only my hubby and I's immediate family(and kids)

The cake above is the cake I chose for Deen and the cake below is the cake my hubby chose for Deen (an ice cream cake)



Mmmm... bbq food! :)



The kids had a lot of fun hitting the pinata (I couldn't find a mickey mouse pinata at the time)

and Deen loved blowing candles off two cakes (like he did last year)


Here are some pics of Aaliya who is already 8 months old