I make you pretty.

The year is brand spanking new and I am starting of with a bang. I have 3 New Years resolutions - being more creative, making instead of buying and getting even more involved with charity work and of course raising Bibi.

Yesterday I started of with one of our couches. The couch sits like a dream but shame man, its had its days and I gave it a new frock. 

It is so easy. I used an old sheet to make the slipcover and nice shwe shwe material for the cushions both which can be removed to wash. If you need something like this, I used this tutorial:http://www.remodelaholic.com/2011/03/slipcover-instructions/

You look gorgeous my friend!

Jeeeeez, it has been wonderful.

Ok, so I see that my last blog entry was uuuuuhhhhm... sometime last year. Instead of saying sorry, I'm ashamed or blah blah blah, I am going to share my incredible journey with you instead.  

I fell pregnant exactly this time a year ago.  Some of you know and some of you might gasp for fresh air at this moment. I did not like being pregnant at all. Some mothers glow like a unicorn in rainbow land but me, no way! Being pregnant has its challenges. Like for instance - when tying shoelaces it can sound anything between a hippo in mating season or an old man huffing and puffing on an old nasty tobacco pipe. Yes, everything you do comes with a rather awkward sound. Then if that isn't enough you cannot move or breathe the way you used to. Your lungs sit more or less where your kidneys were,  your stomach sits somewhere near your throat making eating and eating too much the most uncomfortable thing. And pregnant woman are hungry man! Hungry like beast! It does. Or make things easy at all. 

Ok but enough of the bad uncomfortable pregnant belly blues, I gave birth to a special little lady. Lady of the house. Bibi. She is literally the most awesome little person since well...humans were made! Yes, I have said it - I really like my child a lot! This coming from someone who thought kids were little gremlins .  I never saw myself as the mothering type and yes to be honest I also did not have the easiest first 2 months after childbirth. It is damn hard. No book, no website and no human being can prepare you for having a child.  You dive in deep into the ocean and swim through rough seas and then all of a sudden it gets better. Those of you with a little bambino will exactly know what I am talking about. Stop lying to people saying it is the best damn thing since sliced bread and tell them the cold hard truth. Tell yourself the truth dammit! Do it do it do it!

Anywoo, now only after 3 monts I must admit I am really starting to enjoy it. They get personality baby! They discover their hands and feet, they laugh, they make cute noises and they are a part of you and a part of your best friend. It is really the best thing since sliced bread! When you become a parent your life changes completely and the change is gooood! I'm not saying get pregnant this instant, I am saying if you are thinking about it then go for it. It is such a fantastic experience. The best you will ever have because it is real. You can't buy it and it doesn't last for a night. You never get tired of it or wish it away.  It just gets better.

I would like to share this blog article with you I saw on a friends Facebook page. It is very beautiful. http://weseekjoy.blogspot.com/2013/12/babies-ruin-bodies.html

Cheers!

Aaaaaaaw!

I have been so inspired by a piece I read this morning that I would like to share it with you.  The piece is about being true to yourself and that it is probably the biggest gift you can give yourself.

Why do we want to be like other people? What is cool? What is not?

I have fell into that trap many times - trying to be like someone else, following a certain style, talking like someone else, etc.  As you get older and hopefully a bit wiser you actually get really comfortable in your own skin.  My point is to stick to what makes you happy because I would much rather be your friend if you are you and not some secondhand version of someone else.

If someone judges you, it is probably because they aren't happy themselves.  Ignore them and move on - like my husband said, if you feel sad every single time something bad that happens to you, you will feel sad most of the time. 

I have also learnt that you are going to lose some friends along the way BUT then again you will gain some new great ones in the future.  Better ones!

Society is an absolute bitch.  She decides what is cool and what not.  I have decided along time ago that I do not like that woman - not at all!

This is a very valuable lesson to me since I will be bringing a child into this world - I will raise her to be true to herself.  I refuse to push her to do what she doesn't want to(except for veggies) and I will encourage her to be honest with herself.

Be your own unique self.

Here is some Dr Suess inspiration for you!

Zzzz....

Daniel and I(and the whole family) went to the doctor on Monday to find out whether Baba Barnard is a boy or a girl and just like I predicted it was a girl! It makes such a difference when you know the sex of the baby, it gives this little thing in your stomach a personality. I am really starting to love it now maybe because in your second trimester you start feeling like a normal human being again?

Last night we went to see The Great Gatsby movie. It was really beautiful - the costumes, the set, the actors, everything! And I really love the modern twist on the movie, I am not a Jay Z fan whatsoever but his music really suited the whole theme. If you watch it you will know what I mean. It was a bit long but I only say that because I struggle to keep my eyes open after 7 at night.

When I was about 10 years old my mom, dad, brother and me went to see the movie, Phenomenon. It was in Pretoria and it was a late show - I think the 10 o'clock show. When I woke up the whole cinema was empty, the movie finished and my family was fast asleep. True story!

I have been a very bad blogger. Very bad.

I really have been such a lazy ass the last few months. Just with blogging and washing though. The thing is, I actually love blogging but since my very surprising pregnancy I have been in this twilight zone until I met up with two travel bloggers the other day who inspired me to put those thoughts onto paper again.

The thing is to just do it if you are stuck in a rut. Just do it! Get of your bum and start by just doing one little thing at a time and before you know it you are back in the game again!

Pregnancy has really made me think long and hard thoughts, it is such a crazy fantastic emotional roller coaster ride that you go through. I am scared, nervous but extremely excited.

Here is a glimpse of my life the last few weeks.

Baba Barnard

I know I haven't posted anything in a while and I can actually give you a few reasons for my bad behaviour.
1.  I don't know. 2. I had writers/a creative block 3. I had an operation 4.  I found out that Baba Barnard is on its way! Ha!

Anywoo, Daniel and I went for our 2nd check-up yesterday.  It is literally the weirdest thing seeing a little baby in your stomach.  Hearing the heart beat is also another wow-moment and knowing that you are responsible for this life is the biggest wake-up call of your life.

At the beginning I was quite shocked and not excited as I was suppose to be.  Not that I didn't want the baby but I had no idea how to handle all my emotions.  You think you have your life in order and then BAM! something changes it.  Yesterday, after seeing a little body literally jumping up and down(everytime I laughed Baba Barnard jumped up and down) and seeing the excitement on Daniel's face everything changed.  I am finally very excited.  Screw you fatique, screw you nausea, screw you weird appetite!

baba barnard

the size of baba barnard

DIY? Because I like it!

I probably first discovered that I like making things and making old things new at the age of six when I used an old shoe box to make a double bed for my Barbie.  I still like doing the same thing except now I have a real house and a real Ken that doesn't wear silly light blue silky suits.

We recently moved into a brand spanking new/old place and it gave me the opportunity to rearrange, redecorate, refurbish and renovate.  I got these old chairs that used to be my grandfather's and I gave them a new life. Aaaaaah!

I think most of us can thank dear old Pinterest for amazing ideas and feeding our brains some delicious creative stuff.(I really struggled with that sentence now!)

Some other projects...

Screens my friend Michelle and I made for my windows - I hate curtains.

I decided to paint one of my old cupboards. I think it looks awesome!!!

Cheers and don't forget to make those creative juices flow!