Cheesy Grin

Working Mom???

News to the Blogosphere: I am a working lady!

I am once again working as a journo for a few trade magazines. I'll write/ interview in the morning while James is at school and then will be at home for the kidlets in the afternoon. Very happy with the deal, especially with the fact that I'll be at home writing and don't have to go into the office much. Yippeee! Mags are for the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industry, food industry and packaging industry here in SA. Exciting stuff! ;)

It would really have been better if I could have delayed this opportunity until Kate was 2. But the working situation is so spectacular that I don't know if it could have been reproduced in a few years. Especially with me being out of the job market for 5 years and then attempting to waltz back into a part-time position, working from home! So, late nights will be the order of the day for a while, but I think it's worth it!

James is adjusting so well to school, it's actually crazy. Here sits his mother, all forlorn, imagining her poor son pining, sobbing, hysterical - and in fact James is having an absolute blast. He has asked to go to school every single morning and seems so comfortable to stay there, while mother again, slinks off, tears in her eyes and has to drown her sorrows in a latte (and not even Starbucks!). When I pick him up he gives me a quick hug and then dashes off to the circle of friends again or his activities. Such a relief!

Am dying to post a pic of my daughter's cheesy grin.... so adorable. She went for her shots yesterday and is a whopping 7,1kg at 11 weeks. That's big! As one of my friends exclaimed when I mentioned Kate's weight: 'oh, she's a pudding!' Tee hee. Quite right!

Lots of love to you all. Weather is all Seattle-y (well November Seattle, not August) and far too much good chocolate available. Oh my hat! I am going to try and discover my inner 'svelte' working lady persona in the next few weeks.

Kate continued...

So so sorry that I had to leave you all stranded with just a measly picture of Kate last time. Many people have been moaning... oh and if you've been wondering where your comments are, well.... I, um.... well I didn't know I had to moderate them before they were allowed to appear. So, Kirst and Cuz and everymoment, you should see your comments now.

Now let's get back to business. Kate. She is still the little angel in our lives. Rein would disagree with me though as she is frightfully fractious in his care. Hee hee...a real little Mommy's girl for now. She croons at me on the changing table and gets terribly excited with arms and legs flapping when we sing "Twinkle Twinkle" to her. She is positively gigantic and is fitting into her 3-6 month clothes beautifully - problem is, she's only 2,5 months!! :) Hillmann stock, I tell you.

She hates onions - oh boy - and is not too fond of Mommy drinking much milk either. So black rooibos has become a constant in my life.

James is so good with her. He does not seem to be jealous, I think probably because he's a Daddy's boy and Rein is still able to devote just as much time to him as before.

Many people have asked me how I cope with the 2. Answer is: I have someone helping me with the housework, so it has really not been too bad. I think I got myself in a total state with James, thinking about doing housework and being a Mom and really isolating myself in the beginning because of a dirty house. Things have been different this time. Today, for example, I baked 2 lots of fruit bars for James' school lunches and when Kate started moaning for a feed after her nap, Siza helped me with the cleanup and taking stuff out of the oven etc etc. I know I'm spoilt, but it has helped make things much easier. It does come at a price though; more about that in another post.

Here are some more pics of Kate:

Kids in their PJ's. Kate looking not too happy...

Kate (5 weeks) and Granny

Brother and sister

Kate contemplating the meaning of life

Kate

And now just as I begin to write about our 9 week old girly, she has woken up and needs some TLC. I will post a quick piccie for now and write more a bit later.

Slacker that I am..

Hope you all missed me. I know it's been far too long, what with Rein's computer crashing while he was away and then taking ages to fix, 30th birthday parties to plan, babies to feed, schools to find etc etc.

However here are some long awaited pics and a brief update of the lives of the Hillmann's.

James

Our little boy has grown in leaps and bounds. He has begun the "why" phase of his life and he asks it incessantly. I have tried to be patient because I know it is so important for their curiosity to be stimulated, but good grief, it is often exasperating after the millionth "why" of the last 10 minutes. Please tell me you all feel that way sometimes. :) "Where does fire come from?" has been a firm favourite that absolutes stumps me. I mean, how do you answer that in toddler language? - I'd better brush up on my science too before he's much older.

He has also begun settling down with other kids, for which I am so grateful. It still takes him a while to warm up, but he has realized that playing with others can be tremendously fun and not the anxiety-producing ordeal it once was. I suppose this can be attributed to his being exposed to other kids a great deal more in the last while. Shame, the poor little boy, for quite a few playdates he was constantly being reduced to tears when the kiddies shrieked in delight or spoke crossly to him.

Following on from this, I have probably found a little play group/ nursery school for him. I have seen so many, the paranoid mother that I am. Many are held in back rooms in people's houses, and others have so many children that I was worried James would be totally overwhelmed. Anyway, we are going to a school with 5 children (James and his friend will make 7). It is for 4 hours every day (8am-12) but we are going to start out with 3 times a week and slowly move to 5 days when James is ready. I have such mixed feelings about the whole thing, like every mother, I suppose. We start on Monday.

Here are some piccies of the master James:

James and his trusty watering can

James and one of his favourite friends, Leah

James practising his drop kick!

James with the HUGEST piece of his Mommy's birthday cake (hmmm, I wonder who gave that to him?) :)

James and Leah