We are the Stow Family and this is our story. Our lives are blessed by Love, Joy and Hope. Follow our sometimes interesting stories on loving our two boys, exploring parenthood, and celebrating a little extra - two parents, two boys and an extra chromosome!

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Solids, Budgets & Scratchy Dogs

Well! What a week and half! My life has certainly become like a train station where the only stop is 'mommyville'. LOL!

Kai started solids this week - a little rice cereal in the morning between feeds. At first he kind of 'pooped' most of it out with his tongue, but there were no tears, no funny faces and no throwing up! 100 points for Mommy, Daddy and Malakai! I took pictures and will post them soon!

Then... it's that time of year when the budget looks just so sad! Because my husband is in sales (and December is NEVER a good month), our January budget always knocks me sideways and I inevitably end up teary and wondering how we will ever make it and still have money left for savings and our future... And with Kai's arrival, we have had decided to go on a better Medical Aid option so that all his therapies and specialist visits are covered, but this is eating up any extra income we may have had. So! After tears and feeling very sorry for myself *sniff sniff*, my dear husband managed to calm me down and we looked at our plan for 2009 and with some creative manoeuvring we will be able to continue saving for our future and eat! Yay! But my husband did end the conversation with '...and you want another baby???' Ok Ok! So growing our family will have to wait a little while longer...

And then! Life as I knew it is officially over! I used to get home from work, eat, wash dishes, play with the dogs and then park on the couch and relax (as was my due... I believed!). Since Kai's arrival, life has a whole new meaning! I get home from a full day's work and an hour in the traffic to feeding, bathing, bonding and putting Kai to sleep. Now don't get me wrong - my little man sleeps from 7 through to 5:30, so we are Blessed (with a capital B!). So I don't mind if the first time I can sit down with a cuppa is 7:30 - that's cool! But that's if everything else is running smoothly...
Last night I was stuck in bad traffic and got home 30 minutes late. While I was feeding Kai I had to make a list of groceries that my Dear Husband had to go and buy. My husband ran off to the shops and when I was finished feeding and bathing Kai I had to feed our poor (neglected) dogs. Only to see that my oldest (a fat little creamy-coloured dog that's 13 years old) had fresh blood all over her neck and chest! WTF??? I thought one of other dogs had bitten her. So, my sister-in-law graciously offered to take Kai while I got my dog to the Vet, where he diagnosed a severe case of 'hot skin' (your guess is as good as mine!!) which basically meant that she is scratching herself until she bleeds... So R580 later I'm home with some doggy cream and antibiotics, tying socks on her little feet to stop her scratching. Dear Husband arrives with the groceries and runs off to play squash, while I have to unpack everything, feed the dogs and feed myself! At least Kai was fast asleep, thanks to my sister-in-law. Whew!
So! If everything goes well, life is pretty good... But how often does the weather wreak havoc with the traffic, dogs get sick, groceries need to be bought... Life Happens and my little Kai needs me too - so things get hectic sometimes!

I'm at work as I write this (shhh), relishing in the only 'me time' available at the moment - mentally picturing everything that needs to get done tonight... follow up appointment at the vet, my tax return is pending, Kai's therapy visit and the list goes on!!

Welcome to 'mommyville' and please mind the gap!

4 comments:

Life As I Know It... said...

Hi Loren,

Found these words - thought they were nice:

Peace is not the absence of trouble, it is the presence of God
>
> You are strong... when you take your grief and teach it to smile.
>
> You are brave... when you overcome your fear and help others to do the same.
>
> You are happy... when you see a flower and are thankful for the blessing.
>
> You love... when your own pain does not blind you to the pain of others.
>
> You are wise... when you know the limits of your wisdom.
>
> You are true... when you admit there are times you fool yourself.
>
> You are alive... when tomorrows hope means more to you than yesterday's mistake.
>
> You are growing... when you know that you are but not what you are becoming.
>
> You are free... when you are in control of yourself but do not wish to
> control others.
>
> You are honourable... when you find your honour is to honour others.
>
> You are generous... when you can give as sweetly as you take.
>
> You are humble... when you do not know how humble you are.
>
> You are beautiful... when you don't need a mirror to tell you.
>
> You are rich... when you never need more than you have.
>
> You are you... when you are at peace with who you are not.


Claire

Elriza Paul said...

Hear Hear!!! Think me and you should sneak away again soon and make the guys babysit!!!

Bethany said...

LOL! And that is exactly why I quit my job!

Anonymous said...

Wow, I think you should be commended!!! Huge pat on the back, woman!