And we have a baby.....

Boy :)

Born almost 5 weeks ago weighing 6lbs. Lopes is absolutely enamoured and if he had a penny for every kiss from her, he would give Bill Gates a run for his money!

He will be known as Thomas which is the name Lopes gave him when I was pregnant. I found out it means Twin and never has a name being so true. He looks so much like her when she was his age and they even have the same mannerisms. So far, 2-nil as none of my children look like me. As we are not having any more, I guess I have to be happy that my children have my complexion! With each pregnancy, we prayed that God should take the best from each parent and add whatever we are lacking in to give us the best package. Needless to say, none of my children have my temper! Thank God for that, as I am the trouble maker in our household!

So apart from sleep deprivation an Thomas creating his own hole in the ozone layer due to his wind from both ends, we are getting ready for Christmas.

In the meantime. Lopes turned 6 and had a lovely party when Thomas was 2 weeks. Not bad after a complicated section with forceps!

So 4 weeks later, I am at least 4kgs less than I was just after I had him. Off for last minute Christmas shopping. Tree not up yet and it's Christmas eve!

Enjoy. Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow the merriment continues!

Steve Harvey introduction to Jesus

I love this clip :)

Bank Holiday at the Lopes

Lopes:

“I don’t know what I want to be, A doctor, a dentist, a hairdresser, a p.e teacher, a teacher or just a mummy. But a mummy is boring. That’s what you are, just a mummy”

Ouch, says mummy who has 2 jobs as an analyst, runs an online business and is also “Just a mummy”

Later as she was about to make herself some toast, she asked where the bread was. I said it was in a carrier bag in the kitchen as I had brought it out of the bread bin earlier. After looking for about 10 minutes, (I need to tell you how she looks for things; just like I did as a child) she came back annoyed that it was not in a carrier bag but out of the bag. I apologised and she said, “Don’t worry, you were just confused”

Oh dear. I must be doing something wrong.

Then again, I must be doing something right as she wrote me this note.

"I love you mummy, you are the best mummy in the whole world. Tolu, Daddy and baby." This is verbatim but she kept asking me how to spell world. Her writing is getting better and it is something I definitely want to improve as my handwriting is absolutely illegible!

Back to her searching abilities.

When I was younger, my mum would send me to her room to get something. After searching for 2 minutes, I would go back downstairs and say I did not find it. I will get sent back up to look again, then go back down to say I did not find it. Depending on how much patience my mum had at the time, I would get sent back a few times but it always ended with a threat that if she came upstairs and found it, I was in deep trouble. I usually found it after that! Now history is repeating itself. My mum says it’s payback time. Also added to payback time is Lope’s inability to eat “wet” cereal which means she has a bowl of dry cereal and a glass of milk on the side!

One thing I refuse to add to payback is Lopes' ability to give a running commentary on absolutely everything. Men, can she talk and sometimes it gets a bit too wearing and I find myself going to hide in the Loo which gives me a minute before she demands what I am doing there.

She has just come back with 2 slices of toast and 2 plates. Each slice of toast has it’s own plate! I started getting her to do things as my mum came back from staying with my sister and was so upset that her 17 year old grandson could not make a cup of tea. She was around to tak my sister on holiday for her 50^th and was even more annoyed that no one else in the house could work the washing machine.

Here in the Lopes abode, it’s everyman for himself. BabaLopes does his own laundry as he does not trust me to do it as he likes. He is fussy about temperatures and detergents and fabric conditioner while I am happy that a wash is complete if it has clothes, detergent and conditioner. He, on the other hand, has different detergents for different fabrics and I have too many loads to wash so everything gets washed at 40 degrees with non-bio detergent and sensitive fabric conditioner.

I am digressing every which way. Anyway, GrandmaLopes asked Lopes to make some toast and I was so sure that she won’t have a clue. Boy was I wrong! As well as Lopes talking 19 to the dozen she follows everything going on around her with eagle eyes. She is getting quite resourceful and loves washing the doors and floors (of her own free will, before I get reported to child services) and is beginning to ask if she can load the dishwasher :)

Any errors on this posting are due to two things. My brain is going too fast and I just poured a full cup of water on my laptop keyboard.

PS. Just had to add this from Lopes. "Mummy do you want millions, gazillions or amenity"??? Apparently amenity is not a number but a kind of number. The largest one. I think she means infinity!

Deep thoughts

And I thought I had escaped deep introspections for a while as I had the baby to think about.

Went out to a friend's for a dinner party with a subset of my sista friends. Deep questions that made me think about certain things for the first time and this song sums up my thoughts..




I hope some good answers come through and that they do not lead to more questions.

Off to bed. It's 12.42am and I am teaching in Sunday School tomorrow :) That will definitely cheer me up. Children have a way about making things easier.

Metamorphosis

Lopes found a caterpillar a couple of weeks ago and decided to study the life cycle of a butterfly/moth.

So we put it in a container with a leaf and the next day, it had wrapped itself up in a corner of the leaf and sealed itself in. Must have been an old caterpillar!

We diligently checked it and then BabaLopes told us it was probably dead as the leaf was so dry and we should have watered it. So we forgot about it.

Last night, Lopes brought me the container and it had the loveliest moth in it. The moth was dead. That brought a tear to my eye. Gone before it had a chance to really spread it's wings and lived most of it's life in a container, being poked and prodded and called upon to entertain.

Reminds me of Michael Jackson. The Great MJ. Thank you for the music. Now you can rest.

My Precious First Born

It's 3.19am and I am awake. 2 reasons. First, the night wake up calls to wee and Lopes woke up. Bad dream about the police!

Over the last couple of months, once I found out that we were having a baby, I have looked at Lopes in a different light. I am lucky because she really wanted a sibling and used to pray about it every night, I am just sad that our days of Mum and Lopes only will soon be over. So, I have let her get away with many things, especially as I do not want her to feel left out. She must stop coming to our bed at night though. Not sure there will be space for 4 of us, but I am sure she will find a way. I find myself watching her with a wry smile as she sleeps and wondering where the last 5 and a half years have gone. While trying to get her to go back to sleep after her police nightmare, she opened her sleepy eyes and said "Your face is so beautiful Mummy and I like the sound of your voice". I must find a way to reserve some Mum and Lopes days after MiniLopes is born.

Last night, tv was awash with programmes about Michael Jackson and Tolu had 101 questions. I said he died because he had a poorly heart and it was his time to go. Luckily she did not connect that she was born with a poorly heart as I don't think we ever actively mentioned it. She did mention that she was poorly sometimes and did not die. I ended up searching for the We are the world song on youtube and she then told me to write out the chorus and the fact that Michael Jackson had died. She wondered whey we never got to see him when he was alive and demanded that we go to North America just in case.

Now there's a thought. Find out sex of baby, Shopping in North America over the summer holidays. Hmmm...

It's not 3.41am. Time for snack.

And the news from our end...

It is official. KML is with child (How twee is that??)

I have not really being away from Blogsville. I was just updating a hidden blog which I will unhide today. KML TTC

Funny how life seems to stop when you are not feeling well but it is off now with renewed vigour. Still not enough energy and strange eating patterns but we are fine.

BabaLopes is bemused and has become the chief cook and bottlewasher. More of the bottlewasher really and Lopes is as pleased as punch. Her prayers are to blame for all this. Thank God for the mercy he had on me as he did no grant Lopes her wish as she wanted TWINS. You wan kill me!

I have noticed that a few of my beloved blogs have gone awol or simply vanished. Will be off to search for some more.

I do need refresher courses as I have forgotten everything that I learnt with Lopes. Will happily accept offers of food and love and attention. Come on, you know you want to. I love fish and chicken and since MamaKemi arrived on Monday, fried stewed goat meat.

Off to digest my Amala and ewedu.

It's been a while

Yikes!! It has been that long???

So sorry for the break in transmission. I promise to blog at least once a month and vist all frequent haunts and leave comments. Most of my blog roll blogs have gone and left me. So not fair!

So what have the Lopes Appreciation society up to??

Lopes is enjoying school and doing us proud.
BabaLopes is just the bees knees and I am fine and dandy. I guess there is no great angst that requires unburdening at this time so the blog has not longingly called me to it's bosom.

I got a job! Well okay, another job so now I work 3 days at one and have combined my previous hours with my original employer to 1 day. So I work, 4 days a week. 2 days in the office and 2 days at home and I still run my business. More fool me. I have to stop and praise full time working mums. Being a mum is a full time job but to add external work, is nothing short of madness. I am enjoying it and loved it even more when the first paycheque hit my account. I must admit that it seems like money for nothing really as I am enjoying the job and the work, while being a stretch, is right up my excel/access/database street. It was always my motto to work like a rat and eat like an elephant.

Talking about elephants, nice link, I am sure I look like a small one. Fell off the wagon very slowly but determined not to take as much time to get back on. Will be dusting off the wii fit in the next day or so.

So due to the fact that I now work hard, I have a lady who comes in one day a week so she is home when Lopes gets homes from school. Coming home the last time she was here was a blast. Left work early so I could miss the dreaded traffic on the North Circular and got home to a nice gleaming house, Tolu out of her school clothes and fed and the general air that meant I could just come in and lounge. Finally getting to the life I was born to live.

Driving is going well and I can now confirm that I am road rager. I do get angry when people come up beside me in traffic and cut in. My question to them is "Do you thing I came to sell peanuts here?" followed by a race to the finish. I win most times but will not encourage myself. Not good for the blood pressure. No more crashes and no points, though I am sure I was in a bus lane a month ago. Hopefully their cameras were awash with rain.

Hope anyone who experienced the great snowstorm of London at the beginning of February had a great time. We stayed at home, built snowmen and basically took time out. Was great to recharge our batteries. I leave you with the second thing Lopes said to us this morning after she crept into our bed. Happy New Month. (The first was Happy New Year!)

(Ignore any errors. Hands moving faster than brain and no time to edit. Off for bedtime routine. New week ahead and still loads to do)