My Baby grows up, 24 June

This time 4 years ago I was calling the hospital telling them I wanted to come back up to the Midwife Unit while pacing around our Garden in Kingston with Mike and Anthony keeping Celina in the house out of my way and my mum following me with a glass of water trying to hydrate me. I was fairly cranky as I recall having been in labour ( slow labour ) for 3 days Prior and was not amused that the MW on the phone said she thought it could still be awhile till the baby arrived from the way I sounded, What did she know I was the one in Labour surely I would know best! lol She was right i had another 15 hrs to wait for him to arrive another night with no sleep as I would be pacing the hospital room then in the birthing pool.
I dont know how I would have made it through those long hours without Mum by my side and then in turn Michael there holding my hand.

But my baby arrived safely even if not the way we wanted and we certainly didnt plan on the complications which led to him being in the Special Care Baby Unit for 4 days and in hospital for a total of 7 days. but we got him in the end and Yesterday we celebrated his 4th Birthday with a Pirate Party which we held down at our church and was a big sucess even if we are all still tired the next day after even having an afternoon nap to try to recover.

So with nearly 4 years of being Mummy as an accomplishment then I'm still not quite sure how I managed I sure didn't get here without messing up a few times thankfully none so serious that they have had lasting effects on Nathaniel. We have had a few middle of the night trips to A&E for high tempetures and viral infections but Thanks to God not any for broken bones or deep cuts /wounds. which is a miracle in my eyes with the amount of Times I have had to rescue Nathaniel from being on top of bookcases, windowsills, standing on tables getting stuck places we didn't know he could get to.

But I've really enjoyed the last 4 years and would do it all over again in an instant for the chance to have Nathaniel as my son. He is such a caring loving child, very intelligent and bright, with a thirst for learning which I am hoping will be encouraged with School and having the learning resources will benefit him .

So here is my 4 year old boy, Nathaniel J Odendaal. I'm so Proud that he calls me Mummy

British Summertime, Drought.. Hosepipe ban... Say whaaaat?

Does this look like Drought weather to you...?

Its nearly mid JUNE and I just had to get everyone but the baby ( Thank God for raincovers ) completely changed head to toe after the walk home from picking up Nathaniel, 

Poor Elliott was drenched before we were half way there and out in the rain for 1 hr 20 min to do the round trip because every puddle on the way home had to be jumped in apparently lol.

It would seem that the Weather has mistaken half term holiday for Wimbledon and rained us out throughout the last week and looks like we are in for more of the same this week.

Typical British Summertime weather, we still actually have a hosepipe ban after a good 10 days of rain in a row though they are telling us it should be lifted this week, Its a con they are trying to conserve water for the Olympics because up north there is no Hosepipe ban its just in the South of the UK.

I really hope it isnt raining on Saturday we have the school fair to go to and really want to make it because Nathaniel will be at the school come September so its a great chance to meet the teachers and staff as well as the other kids who will be in his year group. 

And I am also out on Street Pastors duty on Saturday night which will not be very much fun if it is raining like it has been today. 

Queens Diamond Jubilee

Wow 60 years on the throne, quite some achievement ,
I learnt some interesting facts about our Royal family this last week, from the fact that HRH Prince Edward the Earl of Wessex 's children arent known as Prince and Princess but as Lady and Viscount because after the Queen saw the effect of the pressure of the HRH title on her other grandchildren she wanted a more relaxed up bringing for her youngest grandchildren.  In fact i dont recall seeing Edward and Sophies son and daughter during the Jubilee festivities probably on purpose, they themselves were at the Concert outside Buckingham Palace and Edward was on the Barge with the rest of the family for the River Procession but only the Imediate line of Sucession down to Harry were part of the Carriage procession and the Appearance on the balcony of the Palace at the end of Tuesdays Festivities.

As a Family we attended a Jubilee BBQ at Hampton Wick Baptist church on Sunday and the boys had both had Jubilee parties on the Friday before half term then otherwise we watched the celebrations on TV and opted not to brave the weather for street parties etc.... We had to spend a bit of time recovering from Celina's birthday party on Saturday evening and such a busy Sunday

7 years ago

7 years ago I was getting used to being in the UK after only being here a few days

I think this was taken June 6th 2005.

It really does honestly seem like yesterday, I dont feel so different to the person in this photo although many changes have taken place. 

I have finally found a way to do a 3-4 way video call with my family without it costing heaps or being too complex to set up thanks to Google+ which you can do a "hangout" which I tried last night with Tanya ( big sister ) in Australia. I miss my family heaps its hard to be so far away from my sisters /brother and my adorable little nephews

Im not the only one who has had a big anniversary in the last few days, The Queen herself has celebrated her own Anniversary, Her Diamond Jubilee 60 years as queen and when she ascended the throne she was only 26 which is how old I am now.

I believe there are big things in the next 60 years for me too and hope I will still be around in 60 years time, Not sure I will achieve as much as the Queen but I aim to have a fair go at having her annual income by then.

I think I am going to give up coffee for good. Everytime that I have had a cup of coffee in as long as I can remember then I have suffered from a bad headache and irritability afterwards. It doesnt happen with Coca Cola or Tea just Coffee, I dont know why but Its ruined today for me having a Mocha Frap at Starbucks earlier on today.