Million Dollar Party

So one year on...what have I up my sleeve for Little Miss O's birthday. Not a 'party' in the sense of spending lots of money like last year. I just want her to have a lovely day. I know that the key to her having a lovely day will be her spending time with her most favourite friends, doing what she loves and having everyone sing 'Happy Birthday' to her. I just know that a fun day out with Mr O and I will not cut it (as fun as we are!)...but I'm determined to be able to give my child a great birthday memory...

Love these colours!

I've been thinking up thrifty but still fabulous kid's party ideas. Little Miss O recently went to a party where the kids just played for 2 hours with the birthday boy's toys. They LOVED it. The parents just stood around and chilled..everyone was happy. Sometimes simple things can work really well..and it's lovely to nurture children's imaginations and creativity. I love that Little Miss O believes in magic - I want to embrace this stage because like every other so far, as soon as I realise how special it is, its gone...sniff sniff! Now, my experience of party planning is that even the simplest idea can become expensive once you increase the size of the guest list. So far, I've listed key people to invite (i.e. her local friends) and we already have 12 on the list. Add the parents and ourselves and you're talking a mini soiree for 25...plus! I've not even begun thinking about 'family etiquette' yet...yikes! 

Little Miss has been soooooo good lately and I want to make an extra special effort for her to have a fun day...she really does deserve it this year more than any before. I want her to have a million dollar party that doesn't cost a small fortune...

The weather here has been lush lately and I'm feeling inspired to throw a garden party , that would be loads of fun, right?! Not sure our home can cope with 12 kids and their parents! If the sun doesn't have his [why is the sun male btw?] hat on, then it'll have to be an open house affair!


I might just go for this!

Ooooh, I'm excited...I'm thinking music (they LOVE JLS!), bubbles, a big picnic blanket, food, drink and perhaps a bit of face paint for parents and kids alike. Why should the kids have all the fun!  

Any back-up ideas in case the weather man takes a dislike to my plans?

It's official, I'm 'the nicest'!

Every night, I encourage Little Miss O to pray, to give thanks and we're generally trying to nurture her faith. She does still insist that she needs to see God's 'face', but hey one step at a time, right?! A few years ago, I made up a prayer for her to say. We've been saying pretty much every night since...at first I just said the prayer and then later she joined in. Now she knows the words and says it by herself. All I have to do these days is ask her 'what are you going to give thanks for today?' and then she's off....


Thank you Jesus for today, 
I had fun and I did play,
I did French and I got a sticker,
And my Mummy is the nicest.
Thank Jesus,
Amen.

Tonight, I was touched...Love it, love her!

I'm sure that in 10 years time, I wont give two hoots whether or not she thinks I'm 'the nicest', but for now, I'm very happy with that...!

I just wonder if my buying her a mini-magnum after nursery has anything to do with it?!

Little Miss O says the funniest things...I love your nose!

Me: I love your nose

Little Miss O: Is it soft?

Me: Yes!

Little Miss O: Has it goooooht bogeys?

Me: No!

Little Miss O: Has it gooooooht SNOT!?

Me: No!

Little Miss O: (completely bemused!): Oh...

She's such a character! Why she thinks I would love her nose because of (rather than in spite of) bogeys and snot is beyond me?!

Hair Inspiration: For Mothers and Daughters

I'm not sure where I stumbled across this photo but I loved it enough to save it... It makes me think of Little Miss O and I in 2 years perhaps... Now that would be some impressive hair growth on my part... better get working on it!

'If you don't shower, mushrooms will grow on your body!' and other stories...

Ok ok- that's not entirely true (at all), but that's what Little Miss O thinks. You see, sometimes I make up stories to explain why she should or shouldn't do certain things...and since the girl doesn't like mushrooms, this little tale of mine has proven quite enough to put a stop to the 'but I don't wanna have a shower now Mummy' tantrums that I hear all kids pull at some point or other!

On the topic of stories, I have a confession...and this is probably an awful thing to admit from someone who loves to write, BUT I was never much into reading as a child. The thought of sitting down, quietly with a 'novel' pretty much filled me with dread - bleugh! I just didn't 'get' the meaning behind the stories - the stories that seemed to take forever to get to the point, the stories that seemed to bear no resemblance to my own life, thoughts or ambitions. In fact, the only book that I really engaged me as a child was 'Are You There God, It's Me Margaret' by Judy Blume'! I was also enjoyed 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory', but that was because of the chocolate (!)... and if anyone asks, Roald Dahl himself is to blame for my undeniable chocoholic-ism!


Are You There God? It's Me Margaret.

It is fair to say that pre-1995, I just wasn't interested in the written word. That is until I accompanied a friend and her parents to watch an open air performance of a Shakespeare play. Now, I can't remember whether it was Othello or The Taming of the Shrew, but I can remember that there was a character called 'Bianca' in it! I was only 10 years old, and it only cost £3.50 (which seemed like a lot of money  then), but I was fascinated. It was my first play, my first open-air play, and my first experience of 'live' art. I relished just being in the atmosphere and although I didn't understand the language of the performance, I finally 'got it'...I 'got' literature...the words came alive and I understood.

From there, most of literary experiences formed part of my studies, but on the sly, I fell in love with Shakespeare. Over the years, I've also found a few authors of fiction that I can really enjoy - Paulo Coelho and Alice Seabold are up there and of course there are my favourite poets Alice Walker and Maya Angelou. I love reading about love, life and what I call 'real stuff'. I have dozens of little books of quotes that I enjoy dipping in and out of. Actually, that's probably why I enjoy reading other people's blogs so much. I like things that I can relate to, things that I can 'get'...

But what about Little Miss O...well, despite only being 3 feet tall, she is quite the opposite of me in terms of her early years love of books! She absolutely adores being read to and would read 100 books in a row if I let her. She needs no encouragement whatsoever, in fact more often than not, it's me who is begging to go to bed! Baby girl knows the words from many of her favourite stories off by heart and corrects me if I mis-read something. I usually do different voices for the different characters and if I mix up the voices, she's the first to snigger and tell me:

'no, that's not his voice Mummy!'

[sometimes I deliberately mix up the voices, just to hear her cute post-toddler giggle]

Through Little Miss O, I have found a new love for reading and actually, I'm not so bad at making up alternative endings myself. I also love it when she holds up one finger and asks me for:

'just one more story Mummy, a really magical one, just from you - you don't even need to read it from a book!!'

No pressure then! I'm J.K Rowling you know! Still, I always try and baby girl seems to think I can 'make' magic which is kind of sweet really...

Anyway, today on the radio 4, I learnt that it is World Book Day on 1st March and I'm really excited (I still surprise myself by choosing this station sometimes!). I'm even thinking about entering the Storytelling Superstars Competition... you just have to upload a video of yourself (or whoever) reading a kid's story... simple, right?

Now, all I have to do is decide which story to read and how I'll make it 'magical'. I am sure Little Miss O will be full of ideas..!

What is/was your favourite book?

Helloooo silver lining!

The last time I blogged (bar yesterday), seems like sooooo far away! Here are few things that I'm walking into 2012 (Happy New Year btw - can I still say that?) with:

- a new home - yipee!

- In relation to moving, I have now completed my first month of pure,  fun SAHM-ness and I've absolutely LOVED it. The novelty is yet to wear off and I am LOVING baking, painting, home-making, chilling, painting my nails and reading magazines with my gorgeous little girl. It's as though I am falling in love with her all over again (not that I ever fell out of love with her!), but having time for and with her has just been amazing.

- As much as I love this SAHM phase, I know at some point, I will want to go back to work, at least part-time, but this time career/PhD-ing will not take over my life. It's all about balance, right?

- Similarly, I have also now done a whole month of house-wifey-ness. I'm actually quite good at it. Big respect to my girlfriends who are making the choice to SAH. If and when I do return to full-time work, I plan to do it differently...and if I can't do it the 'O' way, then I'm just not going to do it at all - simples.

- I've realised that when things work out in a way that you might not have hoped or prayed for, sometimes its part of a bigger plan and sooner or later, the silver lining reveals itself. Hello silver lining - nice to meet you!

- I love sharing my life with my extended family... it all seems to revolve around rites of passage - birthdays, births, marriages etc ... it's all quite traditional and I love it! I managed to get all my brothers and sisters in one room at the same time for no reason - the first time since our wedding - and I loved just being in their company... In particular, my little sis and I have had some really fun times lately and I'm looking forward to having more of that time with her.

- I've finally found a range of hair products that my curly locs are thriving on. Let's hear it for 'Davines - Natural Tech, whose shampoo, nourishing pak and conditioner are fab and the perfect compliment to my homemade shea and coconut concoctions that I use for styling my hair.

- I've accepted on a whole new level the fact that I always have a choice - even when I think I don't. When I do nothing, I'm making a choice to do 'nothing'. Sure, it's not the most profound realisation, but it led to me choosing to leave a situation that was just not good for my soul. Period. I allowed the situation to sap some of my energy, some of my zen and that is one area that I have actively chosen to change, and let me tell you, it feels A.M.A.Z.I.N.G! My energy is going in one direction now and I like it.

- A few years ago, I discovered Bobbi Brown's long wear eye-shadow and raved about it, here. Now I've tried MACs version. I am now a MAC-Bobbi and back to MAC convert! The MAC stuff remained perfect, uncreased and flawless from 10.30am till 4am the next morning! And let me tell you, I put the stuff through its paces! That is a £££-saving find, so had to share it! That said, Bobbi will still be my first stop for nude lipsticks - bare pink and twilight all the way!

So, all in all, I'm flying into 2012 feeling: full of love, light and ummm curves (I definitely over-indulged last year!).... so will be starting up my fitness regime again soon...

That's all for now!
x

If you show me how, then I can do it too!

When did Little Miss O get so smart?!

Seriously, we were playing with her toys and then she caught a glimpse of our Scrabble board game (this was my fave game growing up and it was mine and my Dad's 'thing').

Me: That one's for grown ups darling.
Little Miss O: But if you show me how, then I can do it too!
Me: [puzzled! How could she play scrabble if she can't read?!...or am I restricting her growth here...shouldn't I be nurturing her interests, why was I setting a barrier?!]
Me: Ok then, first of all you put all the letters in the bag, shake them and then take 7 tiles and put them on your rack.

In saying this to her I realised, I have already taught her the words 'tile' and 'rack'. I've never heard her say these before. She then mistakenly counted out 8 tiles.

Me: Ok sweetie, count them again, that's 8 tiles you have there. If you put one tile back in the bag then you'll have 7 which is the right number"
[Ummm is this her first lesson in subtraction; I hated maths at school, but she was loving 'playing scrabble' this way!]

We then turned all the tiles up the right way - you know with the point number in the bottom corner.
[Ummm, is this not an easy way to get her to recognise letters the correct way up?!]

Then we started looking for the letters of her name (which she knows) and spelling all of her names out on the scrabble board.

Little Miss O was actually loving it! She felt like she was 'playing' the game as she was putting pieces on the board. I asked her what some of the letters were...and not only did she know them but she told me some names that begin with that letter!

"that's 'T' that sounds like 'Tuh' for Thomas...that's 'curly 'C' that sound like 'Cuh' for Catherine..!"

Ummmm... seriously! When did my child get so smart?! She's 3 and a half and every day I ask what she did at nursery and she tells me 'I played'. She gives me this look as if to say 'what do you think I was doing Mummy, working?!'.. I know she like a sponge at the moment and she's taking it all in. It's just that, at the moment, it seems so very blatant lately that she is learning something in everything she does

...how dare I refuse to nurture her interest in words and reading (well 'playing' to her) by saying 'scrabble is for grown ups'! eish! I'm the first to encourage her to do things that I think she is physically capable of - it was my idea to take her ice-skating (at age tiny!), help her collect 'nature' from a lake, but when it comes to mental capabilities, I think I underestimate just how far she can go. My bad?!

Once again, Little Miss O has taught me something! There is an opportunity for her to learn in everything she does and without her even realising. Score! I suppose this is my job. I actually can't wait for the rest of the things she'll end up teaching me in the future!

If you have little one's how far do you let them do 'grown up' things?

Mrs O
x

Little Miss O does the funniest things...

Little Miss O snaps a crayon, on purpose whilst drawing.

Source: can you believe there is actually a band called broken yellow crayon!

Me: Don't break your things, you wont be able to use them in you break them like that.

I turn around, and Little Miss O has found a stick of glue (I won't disclose which brand as they have not paid me for advertising!) and she is trying to glue the two pieces of crayon back together...

I wanted to burst out laughing, but she was concentrating so hard and seemed really determined. I had the mind to lay the crayon down and replace it whilst she sleeps with a fresh, unbroken yellow crayon... I thought, all that effort...for nothing! I did think this with a sneaky smile though and decided not to reward her breaking of crayons with new crayons - probably not the best lesson for a 3 year old! Instead, I explained sensitively:

'I don't think its going to work darling, you'll just have to use a different colour'

The response I got was what can only be described as a 'death stare'. This is a stare that I recently being made aware of it. It's one of those, 'if looks could kill, then this one would, except that I would never actually kill you with anything other than my cold hard stare'... Apparently, I have been doing this stare for years and its only at work(!) that someone thought to tell me about this. Thanks family!!!! : ) Anyway, Little Miss O gave me the death stare! Its the first time that I've been on the receiving end and ouch - its a wonderful yet sometimes dangerous thing to have such an expressive face - you can always tell what I am/she is thinking...

I just had to note this down somewhere so that when she is all grown up and possibly and artist or a joiner or maybe even famous for pulling funny faces like Jim Carey, then I can remind her of this!

Thanks for giving me such funny moments Little Miss O

Mrs O
x

Little Miss O says the Funniest Things

I'm in the study, surfing the web and reading other people's blogs --- generally enjoying a spot of me time... Mr O and Little Miss O are enjoying bath time... there is a lot of splashing going on over in there...


Little Miss O (alarmed) - 'Mummy! Daddy is trying to put soap in my mouth!' 


Mr O (seemingly shocked by the accusation)  - 'WHAT! No, I didn't!!!'


Little Miss O - 'Yes you DID, I can TAAAAASTE it!!!!'


Seriously, somebody needs to call Channel 4 and get them to spend just 24 hours in our house! Life is never dull with a 3 year old around!


Mrs O
x

Little Miss O says the funniest things...about poo and willies! : \

So, yesterday was Mother's Day here in the UK and Little Miss O and her Daddy took me to the farm - an ice-cream farm! It really was such a lovely way to spend the day...really!


This was Little Miss O's first trip to a real 'working' farm, where she got to see the cows being milked and even have a go with a 'pretend' cow. She loved seeing the pigs sleeping in their own doo doo (I think I am giving up pork as a result of this guys!).. she also loved seeing the miniature horses and stroking the fluffy sheep! I even plucked up the courage to touch the animals - errrrr the things you do to teach your kids eh!



Pigs at Cheshire ice-cream farm

Anyhoo, onto the funny part - when one of the cows had finished being milked, she (the cow) started walking away with her (cow) pals. Then suddenly, milk started to leak from her mahoosive udder. Cue Little Miss O, shrieking with excitement:


"ooooh, THAT's a big willy! Look, he's wee'd himself!"


Again guys, can you spell mortified! The whole crowd (and there were LOTS of kids, parents, Grandparents to witness the scene) burst out laughing! I shrunk, and then once I had recovered from the initial horror (!), I decided to educate my child. I explained that 1) its a female (Mummy cow), because only 'Mummy cows' have milk; 2) as she is a 'Mummy cow', she doesn't have a 'willy' but has 'udders' which are just like (and I used this loosely!) Mummy's breasts; 3) the cow wasn't 'weeing herself', but her milk has just leaked...


She seemed to understand the female/male issue but still looked concerned that the cow did not use the toilet for her 'wee'... I mean, even Little Miss O understands that you should not 'wee' on the floor...


This incident, coupled with Little Miss O complaining every 5 minutes that 'it STINKS here', 'it smells of poo poo Mummy, yuck!' made me SO happy that we took her. Let me tell you, we are NOT 'farm people', we are very much urbanites - and happy with this BUT we want Little Miss O to have experiences - we want her to know that the 'poo' smell is manure and cow pats! We want her to be knowledgeable - even if that means spending the day at the farm! For us, a farm that makes ice-cream (that was near orgasmic, I have to add) was the perfect day out for us...and an easy way to ease us into the outdoors. We're looking forward to doing more things like this with Little Miss O...not just on obligatory holidays, but regularly...


Happy Belated Mother's Day


Mrs O
x

Little Miss O says the funniest things...

So, Mr O has recently ditched his iphone in favour of a blackberry. Now, until recently, I have never been too keen on blackberries (the fruit I love, the phone - not so much). I just didn't 'get' the blackberry hype. Besides, I have big fingers, so even sending a quick text on a blackberry is a bit of mission, never mind an email! Mr O has the blackberry torch though, so it has a touch screen and a keypad option.

It's pretty nice actually  and I really enjoyed playing on it.

Me: "Awww, I want a blackberry!"

Little Miss O: "I want a blueberry!"

So cute, so innocent, so funny!

Mrs O

x

Interesting quote...

I stumbled across this quote today by Robert Fulghum:


Don't worry that children never listen to you; worry that they are always watching you.


This says so much and makes me feel a little better when Little Miss O ignores me outright! : ) Now, to pay more attention to what she sees me do and the way that I behave...




Mrs O
x

Goodbye PhD, Hello Life

... It's funny but now that i've received my doctorate, I feel like I, we even, can carry on with the rest of our lives. There are SO many things that I'd like to do or atleast try that I've wanted to do or at least try for a while...but I just haven't had the time or energy...until now. Woo hoo, I feel so ALIVE its a bit frightening! : )

I know some people write a 'bucket list' of things they want to do before they're 30 or before they have a baby etc....but my list has no time limits... I initially wrote a little wishlist for this year, but I've added to it now... From time to time, as I achieve certain goals, I'll update my list; I may even remove things from my list if I change my mind...

So, in no particular order, here are some things that I think I would like to do...at some point...

Get closer to God and make being Christ-like part of my to-do list every day without exception!

Overcome my fear of dogs

Spend more quality time with Little Miss O

Buy a brand new car (yet to be specified) and be the first to drive it away from the showroom (yes I know it'll depreciate as soon as I leave, but I don't care - its just one of the things that I'd really like to do)

Learn how to cook more African dishes

Generally expand my repertoire of cooking and become a comfortable and able hostess

Learn more about holistic therapies and/or mixology

Relearn the guitar (I didn't get very far, but I still remember the basics)

Be the best Mummy I know how to be

Be the best Wife I know how to be

Learn to play the piano

Adopt an family of orphans

Keep more in touch with the 'aunties'! Love you!!!

Accompany someone during childbirth (I know its an odd one, but its just something I'd like to do - maybe I could be a doula)

Found a 'from domestic premises' nursery (or something similar)

Spend more girly days with just my Mum and sisters

Go on holiday/mini-moon with (just) Mr O at least once a year

Visit Ghana again

Live in Ghana and/Sierra Leone for a while

Get back into my anthropology

Have at least tri-annual 'Jazz days' with my favourite most girlies

Learn how to use all the functions on my camera - then upgrade it to one with multiple lenses!

Write a book - exact topic tbc

Sleep more (laughable when you see the size of my list, eh!)

Open a charity shop abroad

Visit Sierra Leone again

Build a house in Sierra Leone and Ghana

Be invited onto Oprah(!)

Visit other African countries

Learn to speak French

Understand Ga and Twi enough to fully follow conversations without relying on the situation to guide me

Be invited to speak at a conference in a far-away land.

Travel to Asia - India, Thailand and Japan to be specific

Teach Little Miss O how to understand Krio, Ga and Twi (poor girl!)

.... and the list goes on!

What's the one thing that you always wanted to do?

Mrs O
x

Little Miss O says the Funniest Things

In the car:

Little Miss O: Mummy, what did you say when you were a baby?
Me: I said 'waaa waaa waaa!'

Little Miss O: Daddy, what did you say when you were a baby?
Mr O [following my response]: I said 'gaaa gaaa gaaa!'

Little Miss O: When I was a baby I said.... 'OOOH NAAA NAAA, WHAT'S MY NAME, OOOH NAAA NAAA, WHAT'S MY NAME!'

I think it's time to tune out of the radio and into nursery rhymes again!

Mrs O
x

Things I love about being a Mummy

- I am learning about love on a whole new level... love changes e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g


- I am actually far less highly strung than I was before being a Mummy... I mean once you spend 30 minutes getting ready to leave the house, only to be covered in a posit after an hour, you learn not to take yourself too seriously.


- I am less judgemental of other Mums. Back in the day, I would recite the mantra of the childless --- 'I would never let my child eat McDonalds  [pah, what harm did one happy meal ever do?]..I would never let my child sit and watch TV for so long..[my, isn't cbeebies educational]...basically, I love that I've realised there's always a reason for people's behaviour...you just don't know it, and you don't have to like it, but there's always a reason.


- I feel much more resourceful now, for example, I know what a 'babyccino' is and I know to ask for a sprinkle of cocoa powder on the top, AND I know that Little Miss O thinks this is hot chocolate. : ) 


-I've learnt the true meaning of 'everything in moderation'


- I am much more creative now. Kitchen staples like pasta, rice and flour used be for cooking...not anymore, they are for gluing, painting, mixing with food colouring and water and making playdough from!


- On a similar note, I LOVE that I get to buy glue, paint, glitter, glitter pens, collect leaves from the park and make collages with Little Miss O. 


- I realise just how much I LOVE to do colouring. I mean seriously, it's usually me that suggests we do colouring and when I got Little Miss O a bumper Christmas colouring book, I just COULD NOT RESIST... in fact this book had all the family involved...it became a competition.. I LOVE THIS! 

- Speaking of Family, Little Miss O has brought an entirely new level of love to mine and Mr O's relationship and every moment alone with Mr O counts for double what it did before...


- I laugh multiple times E.V.E.R.Y S.I.N.G.L.E D.A.Y. I've always been a bit of giggler, but being a Mummy has brought a new laughter to my life.. the kind of BURST OUT LOUD, ROLLING ON THE FLOOR, BEING TICKLED BY MINIATURE HANDS type of laughter, randomly burst into a fit of laughter in the middle of the street type of laughter. Basically, our house is full of noise - and we like it!


- I can be silly in public and no-one really cares and best of all, neither do I. Once, we were at the airport with Little Miss O and she was getting restless in her buggy (we had been waiting for HOURS!), so I decided to dance for her. My aunt who was with us, said 'you know when you're ready to be a Mum, when you can act like that a crazy person in public and not care!'


So, maybe that's the answer to my friend's question about being ready.... 


Mrs O
x

Christmas is so nearly here....

...The last few weeks have been 'go go go...rocked it out to Janelle Monae....got stuck in bed with flu and then fun fun fun'....but yes, I managed to finish off thestocking garland for Baby Girl in time for December 1st - hooray and Little Miss O successfully handed over her 'dum dums' to Father Christmas and we've not looked back since. It actually worked! Unfortunately, I've not had time to update my blog until now... Ooops! 

But, since we've been snowed indoors all day, it seemed the perfect time for a quick pre-Christmas update...

So, Little Miss O loves her advent garland - check it out...(needless to say, I'm no photographer and yes, you can see me (and the flash) in the mirror), but I'm proud nonetheless!)

Each day Little Miss O excitedly searches in the stocking to find some chocolate christmassy character or other... I have to admit, I was really disappointed that I couldn't find any 'religious' chocolates anywhere. I mean, let's all remember the reason for the season - Jesus' birth! I mean, it's not as though I am desperate for little children to eat chocolate Jesus' the world over, but if they can make chocolates in the shape of Santa, then surely they can make it in the shape of an angel or a star at least?!' Perhaps, I should have just bought Milky Way magic stars and told her they are the stars that guided the wise men!

Anyway, when preparing her advent garland, I Sat with about 30 chocolates in front of me and I felt that it was all a bit much and so I put a mini box of raisins into the 'day 7' stocking. What a mistake that was,  Baby Girl burst into tears and ran away from the raisins screaming 'that's not a treat'....OOOPS!!! I have never seen her so upset! I felt like such a Scrooge to have thought it would be a good idea to give her a 'healthy' treat in her advent calendar. So we're back to chocolate...she's happy...I'm happy! I am so pleased, however,  that I spent those evenings making the stockings and I'm really looking forward to Baby Girl and hopefully her future siblings enjoying the garland year after year...

To make sure our household does know the reason for the season, we've got lots of nativity story books, a nativity garland and we even acted out the First Christmas story with my lovely nativity figurines .... all I need is a bit if straw and it'll look like the real thing! : )

In other news, Mary had her stage debut. It was her first time speaking in front of people and she delivered her one line to perfect - 'welcome to our Christmas Concert'...I couldn't help but cheer and I think all the other parents felt they should follow suit --- each child got a big cheer following their 'bit'! ahahaha She said the words so loudly and clearly and we were SO proud. Go Little Miss O!

Here's Mary in the middle with her pals Joseph and Santa 'smiling' for their Mummies!

The concert was totally funny, with a one year old 'Rudolph', who stood on one spot wiggling her nappy! And a younger sibling of a cast-member going up to the front to help himself to a mince pie - a prop in the play!! Classic and so so  funny. Who knew being a parent would bring such experiences so early on. We loved it...and then treated Baby Girl to a babyccinno to celebrate her success! : )

The Christmas Concert totally marked the real child-like excitement for Mr O and I, and topped off by Christmas Parties in the evening, we are well and truly feeling the festive feeling! 

The only thing I have to work on and plan is how I'm gonna funk up our Christmas Dinner. Last night, my meal was, let's just say 'uninspiring' - thank goodness the company was good!

I hope everyone else's preparations are going well...

Mrs O

x

Father Christmas likes mince pies, milk AND pacifiers...

...I don't remember the exact first day that we started it, but I do know that Baby Girl has been using her 'dum dum' (aka binky/pacifier/dummy) for as long as I can remember.  It started because, whilst nursing, she was sucking a lot instead of suckling, and this was painful! Instead of encouraging her to find her thumbs, we chose pacifiers, thinking that 'at least we can take it away when she is older'... if only it were that easy, eh!?!

I have to say, I have no regrets about giving her the pacifier in the first instance. It certainly helped to settle her into a routine by 6 months of age. I wasn't bothered about a routine before that, but with us both being working parents, having a child who understands when it is time to sleep, is just priceless...

Granted we could have taken dum dum away once she was settled into her 'milk-bath-story-prayer-bed' routine, but by the time she reached 2 (the age that we thought we would get rid of 'dum dum') we weren't ready to give it up...and so we didn't.

So, fast forward a bit, and we find ourselves just one day away from giving up 'dum dum' - forever! Eeek! It's clear that Mr O and I are more nervous than Little Miss O is right now! I'm not sure why we're so nervous...I mean, she has been sleeping without 'dum dum' at daycare for over a year now!!!

Being keen for our first attempt to be our last, we searched online for different methods of weaning toddlers off pacifiers. I imagine that weaning a baby off a pacifier is a totally different ball game (hence we chickened out before she turned 2!)! There are so many tricks that I wouldn't have thought of, from telling the child that the pacifier is 'broken' to dipping the pacifier in coffee(!) Another method is to give the pacifiers to a baby that we know - this wouldn't work for us, unfortunately, as Little Miss O (and I'm almost ashamed to admit it!) has been known to snatch 'dum dums' right out of other kids' mouths and into her own!!! (err!)...

So, what we have decided to do is enlist the help of Baby Girl's daycare providers to wean her off 'dum dum' at home... We did think about giving up the 'dum dums' on Christmas eve, but we want Christmas to be stress-free for the whole family and so want to start the process now....

Source: medrounds

Here's our plan: 

- For the past 3 weeks, we have been telling Baby Girl that we will be visiting Father Christmas and that he will be taking her 'dum dums' away... Her keyworker at nursery has been telling her stories of other children who have given away their pacifiers in exchange for Christmas presents! : )P


- On Thursday we secretly took a super cuddly rag doll to her nursery. She is really observant, so we couldn't take it with us on the day we visit Father Christmas...just too obvious! : )


- Tomorrow, we will be going to nursery to see Father Christmas. Now, Father Christmas will be primed by the Baby Girl's keyworker and will ask Little Miss O for her 'dum dums' : ) On receipt of these 'dum dums', Father Christmas will tell Baby Girl how grown up she is and how she deserves a special reward...and then he will give her the rag doll....


- Hey presto, the 'dum dums' will have disappeared with Father Christmas...and our family will be dum dum-less! Baby girl will have a new cuddly rag doll pal to share her bed with and all will be right with the world again! : )

I am hoping...praying even, that Little Miss O is as on board with our plan as she seems to be. She did go through a phase of thinking that Father Christmas would be replacing her ordinary dums dums with a 'special dum dum'...(!) but, I think hope we managed to put her straight on that one...

So, tonight is the last night of dum dum and we have mixed emotions. We will probably miss out on a few nights/weeks sleep...but we're prepared for that. We may sometimes wish that dum dum was here...but mostly we're excited that Little Miss O is making this transition....to being a 'big girl'... and we're proud of ourselves already for taking the next step on the ladder to parental growth!

Fingers crossed....we will have some sleep tomorrow night......

Mrs O
x

Mr and Mrs O's First Christmas

Around this time last year, we were preparing for our wedding...family members were landing left right and centre at Heathrow and Gatwick...and this country experienced the worst snow in a long while. Eeek! We live hundreds of miles away from our immediate family, so we planned to travel down on 24th December. Little did we know that Mother Nature had different plans. We were snowed under and could not leave the area, so around 12pm on 24th December, Mr O made an executive decision 'we were staying put!'. So, immediately Little Miss O and I went on a hunt for a turkey (!)....

'Excuse me, where are your turkeys?'
'hahahahaha, you want to buy a turkey on Christmas eve?! hahahaha'
'This is not a joke, I am getting married in a week, I am stranded away from my family who have all flown into the country for the occasion. All I need is a turkey!'
'awwww [looking embarrassed], well you can get a frozen turkey in the freezer section'
'I don't want a FROZEN turkey, they take 2 days to defrost! Tomorrow is Christmas Day!'
'Sorry love, I can't help you!'

: (

I was SO disappointed...obviously, there are no turkeys on Christmas eve BUT I wished that the shop would have reserved one especially for me, just in case...

So, we spent Christmas just Little Miss O, Mr O, Mr O's cousin and I. They all fell asleep whilst I cooked dinner and it was completely different from the Christmas that the rest of our families were having in London! I love hearing the story of how my cousins tried to convince older members of our family that Beyonce was in fact Beyonce - just with different hair and different clothes! ahahaha

So, this year, I am all set for Christmas...I am being a bit like Monica Gellar-Bing and will be trying to outdo/undo last year's Christmas!

We will be hosting 'Mr and Mrs O's First Christmas'. I am making a VERY big deal about it...about Jesus' birth, about the going to church (all of us together), about eating together and sharing gifts and having fun TOGETHER. I cannot wait!!!

Now I just have to finish off this advent calendar for baby girl, so that we can start counting down the days!

Bring on Christmas Day....

Mrs O
x

Christmas is coming...Mummy and Daddy are getting crafty...

Christmas for me is a time for love and a time for family; a time for giving and a time for sharing; a time for joy and a time for laughter and peace. 

I have always loved Christmas and just about everything that comes with it these days -  the special church service, the feast, the family, the gifts(!). Both Mr O and I have really fond childhood memories of Christmas time and we're keen to create warm memories for Baby Girl too. 

One thing that I always remember is the gorgeous advent calendar lovingly handmade by my elder sister during her textiles GSCE. It was over a metre long and had 24 Christmas themed pouches... there were Christmas tree pouches, present pouches, snowman pouches and the 24th of December was a Father Christmas pouch, if I remember correctly. Our parents filled each pouch with random confectionery and myself and my younger siblings took it in turns to retrieve the contents each morning and share them out. We loved our advent calendar!

Christmas is fast approaching and Little Miss O is constantly asking about her role as Mary in her nursery nativity play, talking about 'Baby Jesus' and questioning the whereabouts of 'Father Christmas'. So, Mr O and I feel that this year an extra special advent calendar is in order...

That's right, we have taken it upon ourselves to make (!) our gorgeous mini-we an advent calendar. Our brief is 'classic but cute, gender neutral, pouch style, advent calendar garland, with nativity not just 'Christmas' theme'.... 

Depending on the quality of the finished product and how it fares this year, we're hoping to use it year after year! Now, we're still in the making stage of our little creation but here are some of the advent calendars that have inspired us...

Source: philipsfab5

 Source: liltulip

Source: JennMatthews

 Source: pickles

Source: making the world cuter

Now, we can't promise that our 'version' will be as hot as these lovelies, BUT we still look forward to seeing Little Miss O's face when she sees her bespoke advent calendar garland next Wednesday morning...bring on the festive fun!

Do you remember having an advent calendar? Or is it just me?! ? : )

Mrs O

x

Little Miss O's stage debut!!!

Winter is 100% my favourite season. I can almost smell it coming in the crisp autumn air...

As though I wasn't already excited enough about Christmas being right around the corner... but I've just gotten even more excited!!!

Little Miss O has been chosen to be Mary in her first EVER Nativity Play. woooooo hoooooo! Now, don't get me wrong, I would have been excited if she were a shepherd, a star, even if she were cattle, I'd have been excited! But, Little Miss O is going to be Mary - MARY! I was so proud, I couldn't contain it and made up a song on the spot:

'go Mary, go Mary, go... go Mary, go Mary, go'.

Little Miss O joined in and it was an instant cause for celebration. I'm not sure the nursery has ever seen anything like it! You see, I was NEVER chosen to be Mary, and even though I never wanted to be the centre-stage, I always knew that was the role given to the best actress in the class. That Little Miss O has been given this role at such a young age, fills me with joy!

Being me, I asked the nursery why they had chosen Little Miss O...? I mean, let's face it, she doesn't look like the Mary in the Nativity Book we bought last Christmas. They said it was because she's the most confident - in the entire nursery - even more so than the 4 year olds! To top it all off, when Little Miss O and I were talking about her stage debut, she said that she wanted to wear her hair in 'afro-style'. I can;t help but think that purchasing Mary Hoffman's Amazing Grace was one of the best buys of the year so far!

We are so so blessed to have a daughter who oozes confidence (you should see her wiggle) and actually wants to wear her hair as it grows out of her head! I know plenty of grown folk that couldn't say the same and this makes us feel like we're doing something right - hooray...!

This is a joyous time in our household, we're looking forward to our first Christmas as Husband and Wife, our First Anniversary and now we've got Little Miss O's stage debut to look forward to as well.

Bring on December!

Mrs O
x