When life is good

Life changes all the time and it's finally changed in a good way, a great way. With picnics, and bird parks and playing soccer outside after school. With work flying in and a future being built. Less tears and more smiles. Life is good. It's the little things that make it so wonderful.

I have something for you

I love shopping, I especially love shopping for Aiden. Only recently have I found the joy in online shopping and I can say it can quickly turn to a nasty habit but it's so easy and you can find exactly what you looking for with a click of a button.

Baby Group is a online portal that offers exclusive products that aren’t available anywhere else in our country as well as insightful advice and support from the BabyGroup panel of experts. You can also find them on Facebook so give them a like if you have a chance.

This is a sponsered post but I received nothing for it but I did get five R50 vouchers for my readers. I honestly love this site, it's clean and easy to use and the products they have in their shop are wonderful.

Leave a comment and the five lucky readers will be announced on Wednesday 6 June.

Here are some things I would love to get my hands on:

Freddie the Frog Silicone Bib

Sparky the Schnauzer Night Light

Blossom Bashful Bunny

This camper cot is only R795, wish I had seen this before I bought Aiden's one

Amber Teething Necklace

Love this clip on feeding chair

Stack & Spray fountain

Why I am so tired

I constantly get bombarded with "why you so tired" "why are you so grumpy" "why don't you ever go out" why why why why why...

Here's why:

5:30/6:00am Aiden wakes up, put him in bed with the TV on hoping to get an extra 30 minutes sleep
6:10am Aiden wants tea, I get out of my warm bed to make tea
6:20am Aiden is now bored and wants my full attention
- Change nappy
- Put him in today's outfit (This is a war and a game of catch the child)
- Pack school bag
- Get my self dressed and looking vaguely decent
(Doing all this with a whinny, naggy child holding onto my leg)
7:30am Take Aiden to school (This includes getting him out the house and again playing catch the child while he runs around the car laughing his ass off)
8:00am Home from drop off
8:01am Coffee
8:30am - 4:30pm work, work, work and do all necessary chores
4.30pm Go to the shop to buy food for supper
4:45pm Fetch Aiden from school
5pm - 6pm Play with Aiden outside and cook, this is a juggling act between everyone in the house and a game of tag on who gets Aiden.
By 6pm Aiden is in suicide hour mood and I am ready to jump off closest cliff
6pm Feed Aiden supper and myself (This ends in food all over the kitchen, all over me and all over Aiden as well as a game of begging Aiden to at least eat one spoon of food and resulting in me eating cold food or very little food.
6:30pm Bath time, yay, no not yay, Aiden loves to bath, my back does not love bathing Aiden.
6:45pm Dress Aiden (Another round of catch the child but this time a screaming child)
7pm Tea time
7-730pm nicest time as he cuddles and watches TV with us
7:30pm Bed Time (Favourite time of the day)
But no it's not over for me, I get to have a bath and wind down and get into my warm bed for some sleep as I close my eyes, Aiden's eyes open, and they repeatedly open all night resulting in me never having a good night sleep like all you people you want to ask me why I am so tired and then after not sleeping at 5:30am Aiden wakes up again.

And this here is a good day, because it's a work day, on weekends its 48 hours of a child who is currently in the worst phase I have encountered yet  and then you have to include breakfast, lunch, snacks, nap times (he doesnt like those), all day play time and all day temper tantrums..

So now you know, so now you can keep you silly questions to yourself.

Between the madness

Sometimes you just have to come to accept that life is just crazy, things are going to continuously go wrong, life is manic, it has it's downs but then it has it's ups and in between the madness is where you find the sweet joys of life and it's where happiness can be found.

Aiden is in a terrible phase right now, he is pushing boundaries to the fullest and he is quite literally driving me insane. He smacks and throws tantrums, he says "NO" to almost every request, he throws food and climbs on the most dangerous devices. He grabs things out your hand and throws things at your head. He is deviant. He has a temper. He is stubborn. He is exactly like me.

Along with this phase, he is talking so well, words are just flying out his mouth and he is trying to build sentences and it warms my heart. He is starting to really love you back, he gives the biggest hugs especially if he sees me crying. His eyes light up when someone wants to play ball with him and he races around on his little black bike for hours. Every morning when I walk into his room he is smiling at me and looks at me with so much joy. He is the light in my life.

My custody issues are far from over. It causes me a great deal of stress and heart ache. It's like running in the same dark, scary circle over and over again and all you do is keep ending up at the beginning again and it never ends. And with all that we have heard yet another handful of promises of visits and financial help just for it to fall away again, not that I ever believed it to be true just find it fascinating how one would waste their breath on so many lies.

I have a great man in my life, in our lives, he loves us both, and he is helpful and encouraging and supportive. He makes me laugh and he makes Aiden laugh and he always talks about our future. He makes me feel like the most beautiful woman in the world and he's taken to Aiden like you can't believe. He's always there lifting me up when I'm ready to give up and always ready to help with small mundane tasks when he sees I'm exhausted. I am really one lucky girl.

Work is drowning us at the moment, but that is only a good sign, our business is blossoming and I couldn't be more proud of how far we have come in the last year. We have been truly blessed with enough work to make sure we are comfortable and besides from a week here and there where the occasionally "having a child" is extra expensive we are doing really well.

We are super busy at the moment and don't have a minute to spare and for a while our lives have just consisted of work and cuddles in bed. And I am loving every minute of it.

Photoshoot by Butterfly Fantasies

I am a happy snapper, I always take tons and tons of photo's. I am the friend people ask to snap away at their kids birthday parties and I even take photo's at all my own events, being the one behind the camera means I never get nice photo's of myself and especially with my beautiful boy. So much so people have commented how they don't think I raise Aiden as much as my sister does (oh the anger with that one). That's why when Tanya Holmes from Butterfly Fantasies offered Aiden and I a shoot I jumped at the opportunity. I love how they all so natural and not so posy and she even made me a slide show with all the best shots to my choice of song "Your Song- Elton John" that I dedicated to Aiden when he was born. Here are a few of my favourites.

 

Special moments Aiden

Help me Help my mom

I got this email yesterday and that was the subject, "Help me Help my mom"

Here is a son trying to save his single mom. It broke my heart and also gave me hope that there are some amazing men left in this world and I truly hope to raise my son with the same love and compassion as clear as in this truly strong and loving family.

I have always found it so sad and so confusing how we live in a country where medical needs are based on how much money you have and how a doctor will sooner let you die if you don't have a medical aid or able to pay fees upfront.

Here is their story, I understand times are tough and if you can't donate, help spread the story or keep Heidi in your prayers tonight.

The aim of HOPE FOR HEIDI is to do exactly that - Give hope to a woman that has been put through hell through the negligence of certain medical professionals and various Hospitals/Clinics.

Heidi has one kidney.

What makes this story different from all the others?

Heidi lost a kidney in her early childhood,but it was never detected.After a medical professional detected kidney stones later in 2006,Heidi being a strong woman,took it as something to overcome as a part of her daily life,but then they saw the severity of the kidney issue,yet nothing was done.Nobody informed her of what needed to be done.

At this stage she had 98% functionality left on the remaining kidney.

It was clear the dead kidney needed to be removed or it will cause issues and damage the remaining kidney.Still nothing was done due to negligence and lack of communication.As the years progressed this caused inexplicable pain and health issues.

The dead kidney was only removed in 2010 with certain Dr.'s still questioning the validity of the case and the existence of the issues. 

After all of this the Dr.'s made no attempts to save the remaining kidney.

(Dr.'s refused to remove it even after numerous professionals advised to get it removed.Before it was removed experimental treatment was done to see if it could be revived)

Later on in 2012 a scan was done....10% functionality in the remaining kidney with a bleak outlook.

A creatine count over 700.

Very coldly and bluntly she was told that she is "too old to save" and they refused to do further tests or take blood for tests - the reason the Dr. gave? - "I know the outcome and know the case,no need to do anymore tests"

At this point she was told to "make friends" with someone in the Government or if she had a friend in Government employment to get her on their Medical Aid as it is the only hope she has (that would be FRAUD!)

She was broken..

Medical Professionals are telling her to give up or commit fraud at 49.

This is who Heidi is :

A loving single mother of 3..

A loving grandmother..

A person with unbreakable faith..

Through her constant pain Heidi refuses to sit at home - She is a full time nursery school teacher and works hard for her money. Unfortunately it is not enough for private dialysis or a qualifying and proper medical aid.

And even then she gives to others and shares what she has without hesitation.

This prompted her son to contact the Minister of Health and pushed for a resolution.

After Dr.'s threatening him with legal action if he goes public and calling the allegations hearsay,he went to the local news papers.

After media coverage of the story,only one of the Hospitals involved in this story,offered to help and the Dr.'s that made unprofessional and cold remarks were rebuked for their indiscretions.The other Hospitals refuse to reply to any communication.

FINALLY,Heidi has since received help from the main hospital in question.They are going to be doing tests and WILL put her on the Dialysis list if she needs treatment,AND if she can improve the functionality of her kidney,she might be eligible for a transplant!

So far new tests have shown a drop in her creatine levels and other hopeful signs - and these tests and remarks have been done/made by the same Dr.'s that told her to "get your affairs in order" and "you're too old too save".

She is busy trying to get fit again,as they long periods of rest and healing and hospital stays have left her unfit and in need of exercise

So today Heidi is working hard to prove the Dr.'s wrong.

This campaign is aimed to help her get what she needs to make the process easier and perhaps a little faster.

She is a wonderful human being and if you had to meet her,even with everything she is going through and has gone through,you NEVER see her without a smile on her face.

Son's email to his friends in the music industry:

Hi Everyone.

I have been in the scene for yeeeeeeaaars,as have most of you.Odds are I have jammed with some of you either in my SubRosa days,or with Christian Heath Band,or currently Nova Rise

I have seen the "Please Help" email a million times as well.

This time I'm the poor schmuck sending it out!

But it concerns the most important person in my life,and the woman who put me on this questionable planet - My Mother.

She has been butchered by "Medical Professionals" for the last 7 or 8 years and treated like midtown Joburg sidewalk trash to make things worse.

She has one kidney and it's all due to Dr.'s stuffing up and trying to cover their own asses.

Her one kidney slowly died over a couple of years (she only found out when it was too late) ,and she went through what she calls mild discomfort - when it happened,tough lady - and what Dr.'s say must have been excruciating pain.

She went to a Dr.'s that mistreated her and refused to remove it and it caused issues upon issues.

Long story short, she ended up with one working kidney with less than 12% functionality.

They basically told her she is too old to save and that she needs to make peace and sort out her affairs!

I went to the Minister of health,as I know there are patients well into their 60's receiving help (she is 49!) and made a big stink about the treatment she received and all the life threatening mess ups

their Dr.'s made.

It took ages and I have been threatened with a lot if I take it public,but I did and thank to people like Tihan @ Caxton (Roodepoort Record etc.) I got the story out there and the Hospitals are 

taking a new approach and looking into her case from scratch.

But since then she made debt as she is a Nursery School Teacher who doesn't earn NEARLY enough to have a Proper Medical Aid or recover financially  after being in Hospital for Weeks.

She's a tough and stubborn old broad,but she still has her pride and will never give up.

So my mission is to get her life back,seeing that other morons basically took her of track and almost killed her!

I started an IndieGoGo campaign,and I am trying to raise enough to try and kill some of her debt and save toward possible future procedures and whatever she might need towards her health and well being 

(ps.95% of her ttiiiinnnny salary goes towards debt she made due to all the Hospital crap and procedures and debt  she made to survive day to day after taking leave etc.etc.).

I know every Joe Schmo has his hand out there,but I can only do so much on my own.

It would mean the world to me to give back to this strong tiny little woman that which has been taken away from her over the last couple of years - her livelihood and so much more.

All I ask is for WHOEVER would be so kind,to go post a link to her FB page and/or a link to the IndieGoGo Campaign on their FB Pages or even Tweet about it..

Here are the links to the FB Page and IndieGoGo Campaign:

FB - Hope for Heidi

IndieGoGo - www.indiegogo.com

I am using every resource I have to spread the words,and if it's one thing I know,it's that the musical community rally behind it's own.

I appreciate the time that the one's that actually read it,took to do so,and I thank those who share her story and the Campaign with their own followers,friends and family.

MUCH LOVE!

(I typed fast so please ignore all the typo's and other grammatical issues ;) )

Damian Meyer

Endless battles

I wish I could say I made my blog public again because my custody issues with Aiden's biological father are a bay but unfortunately we still slap bang in the middle of everything, I just decided I have nothing to hide and I will no longer live in fear or doubt. I am Aiden's mother, his primary care giver, his sole provider and his only active parent. I wake up every morning and all night to care for him, to love him, to provide for him. It's all me and I don't care what any one says, this is my child and no one will ever take that away from me.

That being said the last few months have taken it's toll on me, it has worn me out, physically, emotionally and mentally. I am tired. There have been moments where the battle has beaten me but the next day you wake up, brush the dirt off your shoulders and carry on fighting for what is right, you carry on living like there is no tomorrow and you constantly remind yourself of all the blessings you have in your life.

I wouldn't wish any of this on my worst enemy, the pain and confusion has sent me into a state of always being clouded as everything is always running through my head. It has effected the people around me and it has forced many to even more strength and encouragement for Aiden and I.

But every morning when I wake up to Aiden's smile, his innocent laugh and his warm hugs, I know I am doing the right thing, I know my decisions are fair and are what is best for my child and for me.

I would do anything for that little boy, we all would.

Amaze-fest smoothie

So I started the Well I am challenge a few weeks ago. Lets not go into the depths of how I am doing but I am eating a lot healthier than I was and have cut out nearly 90% of the junk I normally eat. So it's a start in the right direction. One thing I am loving are the smoothies, I'm not a breakfast person so having a fruit smoothie works and this one I can't get enough of. It's going to sound weird and gross but it's like drinking cake batter but 100% healthy cake batter.

We calling it the Amaze-fest

1/2 cup raw oats (you can soak it over night in fat free milk so it's soft)
1/2 cup vanilla yogurt (I use Woolworths Fat-free)
1 Grated apple
1 Banana
Cinnamon to taste

See simple, quick and tasty!!!

Cammy turns 2!

I'm not to sure if I will ever be giving you a sibling Aiden, right now I don't see it ever happening but that's okay because you have Cammy and seeing as he's my God son that makes him your God Brother. The other day we celebrated his second birthday, of course it was golf themed and you had a blast causing havoc left, right and center.