|| on being a mother ||

Motherhood has surprised me.  I was grossly unprepared for the middle of the night feedings, not knowing what to do with a crying, sometimes screaming, baby, and the hormonal ROLLER COASTER.  Wow oh wow.  

My brothers and I are within three years of each other so I have literally one memory of anything baby-related in our house.  Also, I am not a "baby" person.  Yes, I love to hold and cuddle babies but once they begin fussing, I quickly detract from all responsibility in their regards.

I never really entertained thoughts of motherhood especially before marriage.  Once Leon and I met, I knew we would want children (duh!) but I was too focused on marriage to think about the soft, fuzzy feelings of motherhood.  

Now I am a mother.  It sounds strange to type that even today, three months into this journey.  Now someone looks to me with the same importance that I have always reserved for one person, my mother.

The joy that this child has brought to our little home is beyond compare.  She is one loved child, let me tell you.  She is kissed, adored, cuddled, spoiled (eek! trying to reign that in), sung to, and entertained. She is one lump of kissable sugar....chubby cheeks and all.  

I am so thankful for the blessing of being a MOTHER.  :)

|| progress ||

Several years ago, Leon's herd became infected with TB.  At the height of the infection, he had to ship off over 80 cows in one load to be slaughtered.  His herd was cut in half as a result of the disease.

By the time I came to the farm in 2012, the TB was getting under control.  He had all of his calves caged separately over the entire garden to prevent the disease from spreading.  He was doing regular TB testing at six month intervals.  And, he was slaughtering any cow that showed signs of the disease.  Since the end of 2012, each veterinarian visit would produce better test results than the previous visit.

In November 2012, he bought a second dairy farm which is just a few kilometers away.  While such a purchase was an added bonus, there were many problems as the previous (missionary/NGO) owners had let things deteriorate.  One of the problems is the lack of water which makes it difficult to run a farm.

Once our herd had been declared TB free, one of Leon's goals was to move all of the dairy cows to one farm.  Well, we just received our TB free certificate from the vet a few months ago.  The main farm has had the irrigation upgraded to provide more grazing for the cows.  Now, we are just waiting for the rains to come (any day now!).  

My Mom captured these photos one morning while she was here.  It is beautiful to see our farm through another person's eyes.  

|| three months ||

I remember reading Nicole's blog (sorry, I can't figure out how to link to her blog on my ipad!!) about her little guy, Keegan, at three months and how he was sleeping 8-10 hours at night. I remember thinking, there is nooooo way that will happen with Liesl. Nicole is such a lucky mother.

Well, when you're in the throes of the newborn days and sleep deprivation, it seems like your baby will never sleep longer than a few hours. But it really does begin to happen at one point! 

Last night, we put Liesl down at 7pm and she woke up at 6:30 this morning! 

She is our little munchkin and we are just in love with her.

It is very hot here. So sometimes, Liesl gets two baths a day. With no air-conditioning in our house and temps in the high 90's, it gets a little toasty. I love the hot weather and rarely complain about the heat.....just wish we had a pool. :) Our main pool has leaks which need to be fixed. My nieces have a big blow-up pool but it's in the shade. If I swim, I want to be in the sunshine!!

Enough rambling for now. We are all well here.

Hugs and kisses to our friends and family in the States. 

|| polishing my diamond ||

last night out to eat....we had REAL BURGERS (I finished mine faster than Leon!!)

So last week, Leon and I escaped away to Johannasburg for a few nights.  It was lovely.  I think all new parents should quickly get away for a few nights after their first baby is born.  

One of the things we had to do while there was get my ring polished and make sure the diamond was still secure (it was, thank goodness!).  Slipping on my ring set again was kinda like how the getaway was for our marriage.  Polished, clean, fresh, and sparkling.

My goodness, my husband treats me like a QUEEN.  He gave me way more spending money than I had anticipated and said, This is for YOU.

the avenue leading to the shopping centre

Let me explain one little thing about living here.  Friends, you get OUT of the country to do your shopping.  I know, I know, I know it sounds extravagant to jet away for a few nights and jet back just for shopping but it's NOT.  It's necessary and normal.  While we have a few diamonds in the rough here so to speak on the shopping front, it is nothing like a first world country.  Yes, we buy a few things occasionally.  I can buy Clinique, Estée Lauder, a few outfits, etc...and necessities for Liesl (onesies, a few outfits) all in the capital city.  But it is expensive and limited.

But I wouldn't trade living here for all the good shopping in the world.  I love living on the farm.  And living in a third-world country makes going on holiday that much more special and exciting.

Anyways, my diamond is sparkling, literally and figuratively.  Leon gets home tomorrow from visiting his uncle in SA.  My mission today is to get the rest of the house put back together and organized after our recent remodel.  My work is cut out for me.  :)