Mwagala Monday

Mwagala’s personality is developing everyday. She makes herself laugh and throws her head back as she does so. She complains when something does not go her way. She dances at the sound of a rhythm. She crawls up to me and says ‘Mama’ then once I’ve given her my full attention she holds her face up to mine and lingers as if to say “I love you’ (this is my favouriteJ).

Today it rained. Hard. Mwagala does not really like the rain. She was nursing when it started but she stopped nursing and held on to me. Then the hail started coming down. And my laptop happened to be in a dangerous place where the rain could get to it. So I put her down so that I could grab it and place it somewhere else. She was mad! And scared. I actually hadn’t realized how scared she was until she cried. My heart broke. That something as small as a rain storm could scare her reminded me that she needs me to reassure her sometimes. She doesn’t know what this world is all about and she needs me to help her realize that a rain storm is not so bad.

So I held her. I held her and rocked her to sleep. And she kept holding onto me until she was fast asleep. I will keep that moment in my heart. The moment when nothing else made her feel safe but me holding her in my arms. I’ll remember the way she looked at me while I assured her that everything was alright.

And I’ll always remember that she is a person. A little person with emotions that she may not fully understand but that need to be dealt with and that I need to be the one to help her figure them out.

Well, until she thinks she knows better J  

Mwagala Monday

Mwagala is becoming more and more her own person. She recently discovered that she has a belly button so each time she gets excited she pulls up her dress to show it to you. Sometimes she’s wearing a onesie and she can’t see her belly button but she still tries to find it. It’s the cutest thing.

So at church one Sunday we sat next to a lady who had a big button on her blouse. Mwagala pointed at it and the lady told her it’s a button. To which Mwagala quickly raised her dress, pointed to her belly button and said ‘Butto’. I chuckled and quickly pulled down her dress but she kept trying to pull it up to expose her belly button and show it off to her new friend. It was cute. But I didn’t like the idea of her showing off her body parts to strangers. Am I weird? Oh well, this week I’m teaching her where her eyes and nose are. At least that way there will be no lifting of dresses and such. So far, each time I say ‘Eyes’ she pokes my eye. It’s a work in progress J

Spouse or children - which comes first?

For some time now I have heard this question being asked. Who is a priority - your spouse or your children? Most times this question is followed by comments on how one cannot begin to fathom how a woman can place her husband over her children. And most times I do not join in the debate. But today I will let you know what I think.

My husband is my priority. He always has and always will be. I started this with him – just us two. My daughter is part of our family but she has no stake in my marriage. That is between my husband and I. Now, I love my daughter very much and I really cannot compare the love a mother feels toward her child to the love I feel for my husband. They are different and are both very intense. But when it comes prioritizing I know that my daughter needs to grow up seeing her parents in a loving, selfless relationship. She must see that love gives unselfishly and that her parents think of each other as important. She must see that we are a team. A team in teaching her what life is all about. A team in loving her. A team in disciplining her. A strong united team. And I cannot do that if I think less of my husband. I must actively show her that I think her father is worth respecting and loving. That he is worth her admiration. Otherwise, if I place her above him we become a team against her father.

I know that many women will be amazed when they read this. Some may even label me a bad mother. I’ve heard people say that one can always find another spouse but your kids will always be yours. In my opinion, if you treat your spouse like he or she is replaceable then you will, most likely, be replaced. And isn’t that what is killing our marriages? The fact that we go in with an exit clause? We don’t expect it to last so we always look out for what will make if fail. It’s no longer a matter of if, it’s a matter of when. And so we turn our attention to our children. We do all we can to make sure they turn out right without giving much thought to our spouse. But we forget that when God made the family he intended the parents to be a strong united team. He had a plan. Don’t mess with it or it will mess with you.

I know that my parents love me. I know that I’m very important to them. But I also know – beyond the shadow of a doubt – that they value their relationship way above mine. And I’m glad I got to see that. I got to see that a man cherishes and loves his wife – just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for it. My parents’ relationship made me feel secure. And I want that for my kids.

My marriage must be strong for my family to be strong. 

11 months old

Mwagala is 11 months old today! I can't believe how fast time flies! Just one more month till she's one year old.

I've not been very good at monthly updates - I'm sorry :( But I hope this sort of makes up for it.

Weight: 10kgs
Clothing size: 12-18 months
Milestones:

• Standing on her own for about ten seconds.
• Saying 'Mama' - when she REALLY wants my attention, Taata, Jajja, Bird, Ti -to (meaning tick tock for the clock), Bye bye, butto (meaning button), Da (meaning dance), 
• Dancing. For real! She puts her hands up and moves to the beat! Hahaha!
• Eating solids without a fight. This one took a lot of prayers. She would eat just a little before but now she eats three full meals and snacks in-between. *fist pump*
• She has four teeth now! And many times she'll do a test run on Mama *smh*
• Potty training. We're doing pretty well on this one. She is not very comfortable going in her diaper anymore.

The first time she stood on her own.

Potty training

Likes:

• Yoghurt
• Chicken
• Rice
• Bananas
• Her books
• Her toothpaste
• Music
• Car rides
• Playing with water

Dislikes:

• Saying bye to Mama or Taata
• Having a song end in the middle of her dance
• Washing her hair

Food: She doesn't like pureed food anymore so I just roughly mash her food. She likes to hold a whole banana and bite into it herself. She's still breast feeding but mostly in the morning and at night. Her favorite foods are chicken & plain yoghurt. 

Starting solids

My princess has been breast feeding exclusively for six months and it's been interesting. But boy was I ready to start solids! I made sure everything was ready - bibs, high chair, spoons, plate and lots of enthusiasm. Sadly, she was not as enthusiastic.

'Mama, what is this?'

Food: Banana (mixed with breast milk to make a runny mash)
Time of day: Evening - I wanted to make sure Taata (Daddy) was home for her first meal.
Response: She took 4 spoonfuls and then sealed her mouth shut!
Mama's reaction: Despair :(

Honestly, I was disappointed. I guess I thought that because she feeds so well, the transition to solids would be a piece of cake. Wrong! Oh well. I licked my wounds and tried again the next day - this time at lunch time. She ate a little more but not much. The third time was a charm. I made half a banana and she ate it all! Yay! I was so excited. And she clearly looked happy.

Happy face :)

Then I let my excitement get the better of me. The next day I thought I'd try a potato. She did not like it at all. I was disappointed - again. But a friend encouraged me and I licked my wounds- again. I decided to stick to banana for a while. And yesterday she ate a whole banana! *Fist pump* I love watching her face when she's eating and yesterday she tried to hold the spoon for herself and push it into her mouth. I'm looking forward to feeding her more solids but for now I'll pace myself.

Recap

It’s been about a year since I last blogged so a lot has happened. I got pregnant and was very very excited about it. I was even more excited when I found out it was a girl! I had my baby in March. It was a wonderful, scary, exciting and life-changing experience. I will do it again. Not soon, but again. You can read the birth story here.

At 4 months pregnant

At 6 months

At 7 months

At 8 months

Just about ready to pop!

So it’s been almost 6 months since the handsome farmer and I became parents and so far it’s amazing. Our princess is everything we could have asked for and she keeps teaching us so much. 

You'll be hearing a lot about her :)

I also left my job and so now I'm a stay-at-home mum. I'm loving it. It has it's challenges but it is so worth it. 

The farmer hubby is still as handsome as ever :) 

I'm glad to be back to the blogging world. 

26 happy years....

 HAPPY 26TH ANNIVERSARY TO THE MOST WONDERFUL PARENTS IN THE WORLD!

 I love you! Thank you for teaching me so much and for loving me unconditionally. I wish you 75 more years together :-) Mwah!

Happy birthday Mama!

It's my Mummy's birthday today. She is the most amazing woman I know. She is strong and sensitive and sooooooo caring! I want to be exactly like her when I grow up. She disciplined me when I was a child and I'm thankful for it. Just one look was enough to let you know that you were in big big trouble! Thanks Mummy - I'm better person because of it :-)

These are a few of the things that make me mum amazing:

• She is beautiful. Inside and out. I always say that my mum is hot!!! Some people think I'm her little sister :-) 
• She is the most selfless person I know. She always wants people to be happy and comfortable even if it means compromising her needs. If you needed a ride back home and she was in town she would wait for you even if it meant she had to wait for over an hour or that she had to come pick you from the other side of town. So sweet isn't she? Love you Mummy! For all the times you did that I'm thankful - it may have seemed small but it meant a lot!
• She loves the Lord. My mum has a deep relationship with the Lord. You don't need to know her too well to see it. Her kindness and sensitivity is evidence of that. I know that she spends a lot of time praying for her family and the Lord has indeed blessed her because of it. I don't know where we'd be - especially her children - if she had not prayed for us the way only a mother can. She and my father prayed for my husband even before I met him. And when he showed up I knew it was definitely their prayers that had helped make sure I married a wonderful man.
• She gets excited with me. When I need someone to scream with me I can count on her. (I have evidence of this....) See the photo below :-)

My mum could not contain her joy on my graduation - she ran out to meet me. FYI, that's not allowed but who could stop this crazy woman? Love you mum!

• She is my friend. I can talk to her about anything. And now that I'm married her counsel is very important. I'm glad that I have such an exemplary woman in my life. It's tough but worth it.
• She is a very good listener. She listens to everything you say- both your words and your body language. This special gift has helped keep us as her children in line because we can't lie to Mummy. Unless, of course, we're trying to surprise her or something :-D It has also made her the best mum anyone could ask for. When I was in high school so many girls wanted her to be their mum. Aren't I lucky?
• She is a brilliant woman. She is doing her PhD and she keeps topping her class. (Yes, Mummy you do - even if you want to deny it!) teeheehee!

To be honest, there are so many things I want to say about my mum. She is my buddy and I admire her. I want to be exactly like her. If I become even half the woman she is I'll be so proud of myself.
Mummy, I love you very very very much. Thank you for being a wonderful mother and friend. You've taught me so much and I'm glad and proud to call you my mum. May the Lord continue to use you to touch the lives of others.

A lil' bit of this and a lil' bit of that....

It's cold!!!!!! I know that the fact that I live in Uganda you'd think that I cannot be serious but I am. It's soooooo cold! And being at work does not help one bit. You see, it's been so hot here. So hot that some people were suggesting that we should step out of our houses in nothing. We even got text messages from the Ofice of the Prime Minister warning us of a drought and telling us to store up food. And then it happened. It rained! It started slowly at first and we thought it would be the usual drizzle that would not even quench the earth's thirst. But that was not the plan. It has been raining for the last 5 days. Hence the cold.

Quite frankly, I prefer the cold to the heat. But I wish I was not at work so that I could curl up in the couch with a nice cup of tea and watch a good movie.. I'm extrememly thankful for the rain because, as my blog title will tell you, we needed it! Our crops were not doing too bad but they sure did need some relief.I was fed up of the dust too. Well, now it's muddy but that is a lot better than dust because it does not get stuck to everything in the house.

Another thing that this week has brought was a CLIENT!!!!! In this post I wrote that I want to start up a wedding planning business. Well, the Lord provided my first clients. Isn't He good? I'll keep you posted. I'm really excited because they are a really sweet couple and they want a really sweet, intimate and fun wedding. Yay!!!

This week, my TDH hubby and I made 10 months in marriage. All I can say is that I love that man more than I ever have and I am beyond thankful that the Lord brought him into my life. It's been, still is and will forever be blissful to be his wife.

I hope you are all having a lovely week :-)

Happy Birthday Daddy!!!

Today is my Dad's birthday. He is the best father any girl could ask for!!!!! No kidding.

Here are a few things that make my dad extra special to me and my family:

• He loves the Lord - with all his heart. I've always known that my dad is led by God in all he does. He never makes a move - especially a big one without hearing from the Lord. I respect him for that. 
• He loves my mum! (I say this a lot!) I don't take it for granted that I've always seen my dad shower my mum with love. The bible says "Husbands love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her." Ephesians 5:25 and my dad has done just that. 
• He loves his children. My dad is a family man. Many times he would cancel speaking engagements if they happened to coincide with our visitation days in boarding school. That always made me feel very important to him. He always tells us he loves us at the end of every phone call - just in case we forgot :-D
• He is a very intelligent man. Yes he is!!!! I remember when I was about 8 years old I believed he knew all the answers (sometimes I still do :-)) But the truth is that he is very intelligent and is not afraid to keep learning knew things in this world of ever changing technology. Oh, did I mention that he has a PhD in Mathematical Statistics???? Yup!!! He is intelligent!
• He is fun!!! He loves to have a good laugh. We are constantly making fun of each other and I love the fact that I can joke around with my dad.

The list could go on and on!!! Bottom line is my dad is FANTASTIC!!! I thank God that he gave me a father who is so loving so that it was easy for me to accept the love of my Father in heaven and know what real love looked like when I met my handsome farmer man :-)

I love you Daddy. I'm proud of you and super proud to be your favourite daughter :-) You are the best Daddy in the whole wide world!!! Love, your Missy :-)

Stay-home mum misconceptions

 
I want to be a stay home mum once the kids start coming. In my opinion being a mother and wife is the most important thing that the Lord has given me to do. I can have a job and still give my family enough attention but I don't want to do it that way. My decision to stay at home has not been met with kind words from quite a number of people. There are a lot of misconceptions about stay home mums and I'm sure some of you have heard them before.

Recently, I was involved in a discussion on stay home mums with two gentlemen and I was the only one supporting the idea. Let me list down some of the things that are said about stay home mums which I believe are far from the truth:

• Stay home mums don't do anything the whole day. Well, I'd like to see a stay home mum  have 8 hours of nothing to do while the little ones run about the house doing whatever they want. Stay home mums probably have a lot more work to do than working mums. They have to feed the kids, clean the house, change diapers, make sure the kids don't wreck the house and still have a meal on the table for the hungry hubby when he returns. Now, doesn't that seem harder than sitting at a desk all day typing on your computer or sitting through meetings? 
• Stay home mums have zero ambition. On the contrary, stay home mums have A LOT of ambition. They want to make sure that their husbands and children succeed at everything they get their hands on. Gone are the days of housewives who were semi house maids. These days the stay home mum can work from home while keeping an eye on her young ones. It allows her to have a flexible schedule and to be her own boss. Ambitious? I think so.
• Stay home mums don't take care of themselves. At some point all of us women get too comfortable and stop doing our hair and nails every week, we start to wear cotton pyjamas instead of the sexy lingerie we started out with and many times this happens even before the kids show up. Am I right ladies? Sure its hard to stay in touch with fashion when you have kids and have put on some weight but it does not make it impossible. Every woman needs to stay on top of their appearance and it takes a little work. Sometimes we may get a bit lazy but we need to give ourselves a good scolding when we do because our husbands and kids need to be able to say with pride "Look at my mum/ wife."  My point is you don't have to be a stay home mum to 'lose' it. You may have to work a little harder but it's NOT impossible.
• Being a stay home mum makes one dull and they never know what's happening out in the world. Seriously?????? Have you not heard of the internet???? There are good books to read too. In this day and age there really is no excuse for staying in the dark.

I remember telling a friend of mine who is a stay home mum that I would like to do the same. She looked me straight in the eye and asked me if I was ready for it. When I asked her what she meant she explained that there will be a lot of people who will look down on me for choosing to stay home. She said sometimes people don't want to involve you in intelligent discussions because they don't think you'll be able to contribute. I told her that I was up for the challenge and I believe I am.

People have asked me why I would go to school, get a good degree, work for a while and then give it up to look after my husband and kids. First of all, I did not go to school in order to get a job at the end of it. I believe my parents took me to school so that I would get educated and be able to exercise my intelligence. Therefore, school should have taught me how to seize the opportunities that come my way and should have improved my social skills.

Women have the gift to multitask and the special grace that God has given them to raise a family. I respect women who work and raise families - my mum is one of them and she did a wonderful job. It's hard to do both and one has to make sure they have enough time for the family but it is possible.

I wish I could say that I can do the same but I can't. I want to be with my kids whenever I want to and to watch them grow into the men and women that the Lord wants them to be. Yes, I went to school and I'm intelligent but I have decided to be a stay home mum because I will feel more accomplished in that role. Please note that I'm not criticizing working mothers. I'm just saying that single mums have jobs too - 24/7 jobs along with rather difficult bosses :) and its ok to be educated and decide to stay home. 

I'm looking forward to spending time with my babies, cooking for my family and watching my family grow.

What do you have to say about stay home mums?

Weekend recap

I'm well aware that the weekend is long gone but I've been having trouble with my internet and I just had to do a recap of the weekend! I had a lot of fun :-)

My hubby's co-worker got married on Saturday and it was a fantastic wedding! Made us want to get married all over again! The decor was stunning - a winter wonderland theme in Uganda!!!!! hahahahaha! Funny right? Well the bride and groom have both lived abroad for a while so I guess that sort of explains it. The bride looked stunning, the groom looked smitten, the cake was delicious, the speeches were lovely and the reception hall was breathtaking! Here are some photos...

The fabulous reception area

The entourage table - gorgeous!!!!!!

Details...

Entry way

Don't you just love how she makes that gown work? She looked so elegant!

The cake - chocolate and vanilla yum!!!

The first dance

I just had to take a photo in this dress :-)

My TDH farmer :-) Love ya honey!!

The next day we went to church and then I made fabulous chicken for lunch but forgot to take photos :-( So I will give you the recipe the next time I make it and take photos - deal?
After lunch we went to see my nephews and niece- I had missed them like crazy!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My little baby is all grown up and I was amazed at how much he has changed!!! Here are some photos of my babies...

Baby Jojo is so big now

This is Jojo looking at photos of himself on the computer heehee - the kids these days!

Nathan trying to befriend a little boy who had come to visit

L-R Emilio, Nathan and Jemimah - don't they look adorable?

Tomorrow, my brothers and parents are coming over to spend the day with us and I'm excited to have them here with us before my hubby and I run away to our lovely resort. Yay!!!!!!!!! Not yet sure what I'm going to cook though :-(