When your head feels like it's going to explode!

Well, life is green at the moment but not in the way I normally use green!! Kids noses running... need I say more?

Adriaan started the ball rolling getting sick at the end of last week, next in line Caelan, then me, and dear little Elisha is getting it now I suspect. Not fun. This has to be the worst... being sick and having to look after sick kids. It's one thing to be up in the night numerous times with your nearly 7month old when you are well, but it is a complete other when your head feels like someone stuck an axe into it, your ears are aching and your nose is unceasingly itchy.

Not much more to say really. And anyway kids are grizzly and want some attention.

Elisha gets wet

On Sunday, Elisha was baptised. It was a wonderful day full of much blessing. We had it at a home where we often gather for church. It is a beautiful home, as are its inhabitants. We thank them for their willingness to host the day and the way they welcome strangers into their home. It was a chilli day, so the fireplace was raging, we had morning tea with family and friends and then one of Elisha's adopted grandparents along with the help of his maternal grandfather baptised him.

I thoroughly enjoyed the relaxed nature of the day. People seemed to have time just to hang together in a very inviting environment. It was also wonderful to give our families an opportuity to meet some of the people in our church. People who have become very dear to us in a very short space of time.

Here are some photos of the day:

Smiley Elisha

Opa, Cousin Luke and Caelan

In the garden

Those momentous moments...

Well, we have reached 6 months! Yay! Elisha is growing really well. He is a very smiley and content little boy. You only have to look at him and he gives you this wide mouthed smile. I am pretty excited at this milestone - more for me than anything else. I would not describe myself as a 'baby person.' As cute as they are, I enjoy life more when they are a bit older. So I am very excited to have reached 6months with this little man.

We also started solids this week. He has taken to them real quick, much faster than Caelan did. He can't seem to get enough of them. So this also makes me happy, cause the sooner he takes to solids the sooner we can reduce breastfeeds (again something I don't particularly enjoy that much.) Elisha is almost sitting up. With a few props he can sit fairly well for a short time. He is really straining to sit up.

Tomorrow is also going to be a momentous occasion. Elisha is being baptised into God's family. So we are really looking forward to this precious moment with family and friends. (More about that next post).

Definately a boy!

Warning: the following content contains toilet humour.

Our two and a bit year old has just proved to us that he definately has the boy sense of humour! That's right... toilet humour. Of course, if your girl is like this, then please inform me otherwise!

Last night, Adriaan and I were tucking Caelan in bed. We normally say prayers and sing "Jesus loves you". As soon Caelan lay his head on his pillow he eagerly asked for prayers. This is a bit unusual. We closed our eyes and Adriaan said, 'Dear Jesus,'. In perfect timing, Caelan let one rip. All three of us burst out into laughter. Caelan thought it was the best joke ever and couldn't contain himself. Three times Adriaan tried to pray, and each time only got as far as Dear Jesus before Caelan would push out another 'blurt' (it's always hard to know what to call them).

Finally, Caelan ran out of puff and Adriaan only said a quick prayer before Caelan succeeded in having us all in fits of laughter again. I know G0d would have appreciated the joke.

The scary thing is, I am sure that Caelan had this all planned. He was a little too eager to say prayers, close his eyes and be quiet. He normally isn't that co-operative. Here's hoping this doesn't become part of the bedtime routine.

He's got the whole world in his hands

Our good friend Jackie gave Caelan a musical book. Each page has song words, the musical score and a picture. There is a corresponding button which plays the tune for each page. Caelan's favourite page is He's got the whole world in his hands. The picture is of different animals and plants from around the world.

A week or so ago we started inserting something from the picture into the song. So Caelan would say what he would like to sing about... i.e.
He's got the tall giraffe in his hands or
He's got the mountains in his hands or
He's got the tweet tweet bird in his hands... you get the idea.

It's nice to know that God has every tiny detail in his hands.
Today we sang
He's got Caelan in his hands....
He's got Sha (Elisha) in his hands....
and then for the grand finale...

He's got Caelan's socks in his hands,
He's got Caelan's socks in his hands,
He's got Caelan's socks in his hands,
He's got the whole world in his hands!

here today...

My grandfather is in the process of getting his home ready to be put on the market within the next week or two. It has been his home for the last 20years, 12 of which he shared with my grandmother. Over the last couple of weeks we have been helping him weed, prune and clear out an overgrown garden and clean/sort his house. It was a huge job (and still not finished) which would not have happened without my mum's many hours of hard labour.

It has been a bit strange going through this process. It has happened rather rapidly. Granpa decided to look at retirement villages one day and put a deposit on a place that same day! It has been an emotional journey for my mum, aunt and uncle as they say goodbye to the last place their mother lived, as they sort and throw much of her beloved nick nacks and say goodbye to the place that still has so much of her presence in the pink and bold decor. In some ways, it is like saying goodbye to her all over again.

It has been strange watching the stress and anxiety levels rise in my granpa as he feels overwhelmed at the tasks ahead and the muddle in his head in trying to make sense of it all. And again, the emotional ties with the home that he shared with his wife for many years.

It has been strange as a grandchild to walk around the backyard remembering the swimming races we had in the pool, the 'red wine' we used to make out of pink bouganvillea flowers, the fairy bread that Granma would sneak us cause Granpa didn't like it getting in his carpet, the sleepovers we had with friends at Granmas, and the sausages and toast for breakfast.

Objects, smells, places play such an important role in who we are. Our memories are tied to these. How often we forget something until we see a certain place, smell that certain fragrance or hold that certain object. No wonder it is so hard to say goodbye. It is inevitable that the goodbye is not just to that 'house' but to the memories attached. Some will carry on with us. But some will fade with the passing of time.

Experiences like this produce a funny tension. At one level, you see the ludicrous nature of 'stuff'. The endless accummulation of things which only get piled up to send to vinnies. It gives you a clearer picture of the fruitless endeavour of buying, collecting and more buying. Yet, at the end of it all, not all of it is worthless. Not all of it can be sent to vinnies. Some stuff might be cheap and tacky to one person, yet be of much value to another. It represents something of much more worth than what the object itself is.

How do you know if you are holding on too tight? What would happen if all these things gave way? Could your heart cope? Or would it fail?

Teach us to number our days,

That we might gain a heart of wisdom.

Grass withers, flowers will fade,

But the word of the Lord stands forever.

(Psalm 90:12; Isaiah 40:8)