Nomad and Babies

Life has been quite hectic these past weeks 

and after my Mum left last Wednesday I feel like I'm having to finally 

establish some kind of routine. Blah

I honestly did not expect the transition of going from 1 to 2 children to be this difficult. 

I am as much in love with my girls as ever, but it's amazing how quickly you forget how reliant a newborn is. And how much harder it is to give that baby everything it needs when you have a 17 month old also needing so much from you. 

Well, there are times when all three of us have cried (and I'm sure many more to follow) and then I put on a happy song and dance around with my girls to get all the negativity out of the house. 

I am missing my Mum sorely, but am so grateful for the awesome time we had! I couldn't ask for a better Mum/best friend. Love her so much!

Johan's Oma passed away last monday, which took us all by surprise. Although we are happy she is with the Lord and rejoice that she did not have to suffer and passed seemingly peacefully...she will be missed greatly and was loved by all. She was definitely a special woman. 

Although she had come to visit us two weeks ago and had met Kaliya before she passed on (which I am so thankful for) we unfortunately didn't get a picture. So I will post one that we had taken when Shakinah was born.

dear sweet oma!

With the funeral being yesterday we have been blessed to have Johan's sister Mirjam and her husband Urs and their daughter Hannah stay with us. They currently are living in Switzerland and had a daughter a month ago. 

Two cousins a week apart

and now some picture of my girls

Watching cartoons together

cuddling time

Ki was so happy to be holding Kay (finally)!

This picture cracks me up. They both look fed up!

Ki trying to kill Grammy

Guess She had enough of Grammy disciplining

breakfast time

Forgot to mention: Kaliya has had a rat tail from day 1.

Ki loves holding Papa's hand when going for a walk

Seriously how cute is this?? 

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The next set of pictures are from November which I never posted but I had to share because I love them:

Ki's first lolli

Papa decided he wanted in on it

She had enough with sharing

Papa loving

What a ham!

look at those teeth

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And just to give you nightmares I'll leave you with this

These are the things that horror movies are made from

xx

Bethany

We have been so blessed to have my Mum come stay with us for 5 weeks. 

I think I probably say it every five minutes but I don't know what I would do without her here! 

Not only did she deliver my daughter, but to not have to cook and not to have to worry that Shakinah is getting the care and attention she needs as a 16 month old; plus the million other things my Mum is helping out with means more than I can say! My gratitude is endless! 

I love my Mum for being such a great example of putting her children as a priority and willing to sacrifice her schedule, her comfort, and her energy for us! 

Thanks Mum!

I love this!! Shakinah and Grammy matching! 

I will now update some pictures of Shakinah since I've been a bit behind!

Gangsta Baby

Bedtime Baby

Phone Talking Baby

Enjoying the Sunshine Baby

Since I have not updated in awhile in a previous post I mentioned we bought a house! 

We have been living here now for nearly two months (wow hard to believe)! We are still completely in love with the house and so thankful for the huge blessing and provision of it! Johan has been AMAZING with painting, plastering, flooring, lighting and making the house really into a home! He's amazing with how handy he is...and how he tackles every new challenge with the house! 

So finally here are a few pictures...there will be more to come eventually

The living room is an open floor plan so this is looking towards our garden from the front of the house house

this is the kitchen area looking at our garden 

and this is the front of the house, where the first picture was taken from

(we are in love with our fireplace!)

this is the view from the front window (the front garden still needs work)

this is the front of the house...which we hope to eventually paint white

it's definitely a project house: a fixer upper, but we couldn't be happier with our home! 

We're project people!

The sun was out yesterday so we enjoyed it a bit and took a nice walk to the center of the city! 

Mommy and her girls (getting good use of the Moby again)

Grammy's girl

My Mum wanted a picture of the house

and ....

I'll leave you with a little Kaliya smile

(if that doesn't brighten your day I don't know what will)

xx

Bethany

After a 2 hour labour, she entered the world a little sooner than we all expected 

and after being told for what seemed like forever not to push because the midwife had not yet arrived I finally rolled onto my back and said (okay okay: yelled) to my Mother and Johan..."I'M PUSHING". And so my Mother became my midwife and was the first one to welcome our little girl into the world. Which now seems very special but at the time I think it is safe to say we were all scared to death.  

The midwife came shortly after and pronounced her very healthy!

First picture with my girls! 

(Because of the sheer happiness you feel you love to think you look a little more beautiful after you give birth, but pictures give a harsh reality check :) )

Scary blue baby with scary blue hands!

First Shakinah kiss and many many many to follow

Getting a little more colour

a few hours later

i can't say enough positive things about home birth

After my second home birth I am convinced once more that I would prefer it to being in a hospital.

I loved having Shakinah right there after the delivery 

And i LOVE taking a shower in my own shower afterwards! 

and i love love love cuddling in my own bed with freshly cleaned sheets and my baby!

ki has been enjoying the traditional dutch treat (beschuit met muisjes) that you serve to visitors after you have a child 

It's a sad thing when your new born is more tan than you 

Shakinah was showing of her spooning skills (I know I know: weak)

Kusje (Kiss) for Grammy

or was she just trying to eat Grammy's face?

My little sweety who has her papa's furrowed brow!

We are so blessed by our little Kaliya 

xx

Bethany

**Kaliya is pronounced Kah-lee-yah which is from the arabic name Khalila which means sweetheart or beloved**