Controlled Crying Sucks!

Yes, I have said it, Controlled Crying Sucks! We have stopped it. After 5 nights of terrible crying, both James and I getting physically ill from it, we have decided that it does not work for us. Maybe for other people, but not for this Rose Family. So now I am trying Good Night Milk and Aromatherapy....... I have started giving James special, thicker formula milk in hope of keeping his belly fuller for longer. I am still breastfeeding him, it just means that he now gets a bottle before going to bed. I have put a teddy in his cot as a comforter and on this teddy bear I put some lavender and chamomile oils. Now I just need to see if this is going to take effect. Since doing the controlled crying James has become scared of his cot, so we have to try and make it his happy place again. I will accept any suggestions on getting him happy in his cot and/or making him sleep longer.... please help!

His weaning is going really well, he had toast and scrambled egg with cheese today..... yay!!! Food is becoming so much easier for him......

Baby Pop Star

This is what James does to entertain his friends on weekend.....

The Naked Baby

I went to dance class today, it was just a taster class that lasted one hour, we did some Zumba and Street Dancing. It was a lot of fun and energetic, but the best part was it had a free Creche. Yes, I sent James to creche for the first time today..... ok, it was only for an hour and he was in the same building as me, but its progress. When I dropped him off I had to fill in a form and told them that if James does become 'difficult' that he likes to be naked. Well, I got back to the creche after the class and there was James in his pram, sleeping like a bear in winter, except that he was just in his nappy.... and he slept for almost a full hour after that. Apparently one of the other little boys starting crying, so James joined in and the only way to calm him was to strip him of his clothes. But, he was the cutest thing lying there in just his nappy.

We making progress on the food front too, tonight James had Salmon with mashed potato and butternut, and a yoghurt and a apple and pear fruit pot. He then also gummed on a mini corn. Its great that he is starting to eat finger foods and food with lumps....

My little naked baby is getting so big.........

Why Oh Why?

We have started Controlled Crying with James. For those of you that don't know what that is, it is a 'sleep programme' to train your baby to sleep through the night. You have to put your baby in the cot awake and when he cries you go to cot and comfort him, but don't take him out. You delay the intervals inbetween going back to the cot. You first go after 5 minutes, then 10 minutes, then 15 minutes, etc. You do the same thing through out the night, and I have been warned that babies can cry for up to 2 hours. And you should only do this with a baby 6 months or older. Well, tonight is night 3 for us, and I need to ask why oh why have we decided to do this. Yes, James refuses to sleep in his cot and yes, he is waking up at least 3 times a night for food, but is all the crying worth it? I think that at the moment I feel like the most awful mom in the world, almost like I am making him cry on purpose, but in the end it will be worth it hopefully. I know that if I stop this sleep programme now then the last few nights tears are just going to be a wasted and I will have been an awful mom. I know that having James sleep from 8pm to 7am again will be worth it. I know that James sleeping in his cot again and not in our bed will be worth it.

This morning James woke up at 8am instead of 9:30am, and this made all the differance to our day. That 1 hour 30 minutes allowed me to do more housework than I have been able to do in months, so him sleeping in his cot is worth it. I would have done more, but I seem to have caught some sort of tummy bug and that delayed things.

Oh well, heres to another night of crying.........

(although it should only last a week and the first 2/3 nights are suppose to be the worst)

Good News!

Tigger has been spotted. Thanks to GG and Grandma. He should be with us shortly. And Spiderman will be coming with him to make sure he arrives safely. Apparently he had gone to visit Spiderman in Cape Town.

REWARD OFFERED!!!

TIGGER IS MISSING!!!

REWARD OFFERED!

LAST SEEN IN JAMES' PRAM ON THE HIGH STREET IN BOSCOMBE, BOURNEMOUTH AT +-5PM ON 19 JUNE 2008!

Please we need Tigger back ASAP before James notices that he has gone MIA!

If anyone in South Africa is reading this, please send another......

Tigger was born at Toys R Us hospital (in Century City) in June 2007.

Whats in a year?

19 June 2007 seems like a lifetime ago, but at the same time it feels like the last year has flown, and we are now just differant people. A year ago today, Gareth and I landed in the UK. We knew what we wanted, but didn't know what to expect. We were moving here without actually ever being here before. We had no idea what Bournemouth or the UK were about except from what people had told us. We had no idea where we were going to live or work. We were still childless and had no idea how much our lives were about to change. On our first day we went and stayed with Gareth's sister in her studio flat. We stayed there for exactly a month and then found our great flat, and have stayed here since. We both found jobs at the same Insurance company. Gareth in the finance department and me in the household claims department. We knew that we we were pregnant when we arrived, so we found our doctor and midwife. We got our NI numbers and our NHS numbers, and started life here.
19 June 2008 - We are now parents and love living in the UK. I am not working at the insurance company as I am still looking after my baby, Gareth is still working there. I have a whole new group of wonderful friends with their babies. Gareth's sister is living with us temporarily.

We have not been home in the last year, although my Aunt and Uncle, my mom, stepdad and sisters, my best friend Bicara and Gareth's parents have all been to stay with us. We really do miss home sometimes, especially on Tuesday that past, Gareth and I had plane tickets booked and paid for that we lost as we don't have a passport for James yet.

Sorry I know that this post is all over the place, but that is how my brain is working today.......

My other child....

Tonight is a nice quiet night, after a nice quiet weekend. We had some excitement on Friday night when we received some unexpected money, so what do 2 people who are debt free do with extra money? We start a savings account. I am so happy to be in a place in our lives where we are able to do so..... I feel so grown up. Yesterday we just wondered around the shops and bought, well, hardly anything. We did buy James a Winnie The Pooh DVD. We had not planned on it, but while we were in the DVD shop I showed him the cover and he looked at it for about 10 seconds and then saw Tigger and his whole face lit up and he had the brighest smile. He loves Tigger. We have a Tigger toy and I have to take it with me everywhere. Its like having a second child (that doesn't need to be fed, or have nappy changes and sleeps through the night).

James and Tigger in March

James and Tigger in April (on a Ferry in Liverpool)

James and Tigger In May

Opposite of homesick?

I get homesick quite often and I wonder to myself, have we made a mistake moving away from South Africa? Away from home? Are we being fair? To us? To James? What makes us want to leave our family, friends and beautiful country? Is this really a better life for us?

I keep hearing from people at home how bad life has become. Its really starting to get depressing. Everybody seems to struggling to make ends meet. Prices of things are increasing all the time, the interest rate is going up another 2%, making it 17%!. Most people are putting their houses on the market as they can't afford the mortgage. Most people are looking for other jobs that are paying more. Gone are the days of just giving up luxuaries to help make ends meet, people are starting to give up their standard of living to help make ends meet. Young married couples are moving back in with their parents, as they can't afford to live by themselves. Businesses are closing down as they can't afford to stay open. There are no buyers for the houses, there are no jobs for the people. There are constantly power cuts as the only electric supply company in the country keeps crashing. They are living in fear with the crime rate increasing all the time. People have gone mad and South Africa is going through a Xenophobia crisis.

When I hear all of this, I almost feel guilty. Gareth and I made the decision in 2005 to leave SA. We first went to America and then we moved to the UK. We now rent a nice 2 bedroom flat in a nice town, are debt free and basically have a decent life. I am a stay at home mom and Gareth works for an insurance company. We have a gorgeous little boy, and a happy home life. I am not saying that we don't have troubles and we certainly are not rich, or even comfortable. But, we are not giving up our standard of living in order to survive. We do still live month to month, but we are not having sleepless nights wondering how to pay our bills. We not living our lives in fear of crime.

So, that makes me wonder, what is the opposite of homesick? Its when we realise that we are being fair to us and to James. We are making a better life for us and for James, and even though its hard being so far away from family and friends, in the long run we are doing whats best. So, what do you call that?

(Here are photos from South Africa - all taken by Gareth or myself)

I know that I should...

I know that today I should:
1. Get dressed - and get James dressed
2. Vacuum my house
3. Clean the bathroom
4. Dust the stairs
5. Pack away last nights dishes
6. Eat lunch
7. Go get the meat for supper
8. Look up the recipe idea for tonight

I know I should..... I know I will..... I know...... I.......will..... in 5 minutes.... in 10 minutes maybe..... in 20 minutes hopefully......

Ok, hopefully before Gareth gets home.......

I really want all of these.....

I went to a fair and they were doing professional photo shoots for free with no obligation to buy, so I had a few photos of James taken and this is what I have received back..... I now want to order all of them..... but we will need to save up first....