London micro trip
I have been feeling a little under the weather recently. Partly due to the bronchitis I had to take a weeks worth of antibiotics to clear and my little son who is teething and ill at the same time. But a lot of my lack of energy is resulting frankly for overwork and a lack of energy. I have the 9 to five work and the five to nine phase, where I am mommy in chief.
So when I had to go on a business trip to London recently, I was sort of looking forward to getting away for the day. London is one of my absolute favorite cities in the world. It has an energy and a vibrancy which always instantly lifts my spirits. If I had not met and married DH, I honestly believe I would have ended up living in London. I did live there as a child. And another piece of trivia, DH and I first met up in London.
I was able to meet up with a childhood friend after work and I walked from Liverpool street station, through the bank and insurance district, saw the Gherkin and Lloyd's building up close. We also walked through Bishops square and old Spitafields market.
It was just a couple of hours, but it felt like a micro break to me and I definitely came back refreshed. I am glad the whole family is heading off for an extended weekend soon.
P.s. Congratulations to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridgeon the arrival of their son.
So when I had to go on a business trip to London recently, I was sort of looking forward to getting away for the day. London is one of my absolute favorite cities in the world. It has an energy and a vibrancy which always instantly lifts my spirits. If I had not met and married DH, I honestly believe I would have ended up living in London. I did live there as a child. And another piece of trivia, DH and I first met up in London.
It was just a couple of hours, but it felt like a micro break to me and I definitely came back refreshed. I am glad the whole family is heading off for an extended weekend soon.
P.s. Congratulations to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridgeon the arrival of their son.
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RIP Ewar
A few weeks back, I stumbled on to the " how to tie your gele" video by Ewar makeovers via another blog. I was impressed by the quality of the video and also the gentle beauty of the lady. I promptly subscribed and anytime I have been on YouTube since then, I have checked to see whether or not she had uploaded another video. I was waiting for something great, something more from her. I was very saddened to read that she had died after childbirth last Wednesday. May her soul rest in perfect peace. All the outpouring of kind words and of grief over her death is testimony to the fact that she was a special lady.
Maternal mortality can happen anywhere, as there are sometimes unforeseen complications that arise and after all doctors are only human. That being said the maternal mortality rate in Nigeria is atrocious. I read somewhere that every 1 in every 13 women die during childbirth. In. 2013. 1 in every 13. May God help us.
But it is not enough for God to help us, we have to help ourselves too, and fight for better conditions in our health care system, to push away the same mediocrity that has eaten away at the very fabric of our society in all aspects. It could have been you, or me.
And it can still be. No one knows tomorrow.
Let us fight for reforms in maternal care in Nigeria. May God grant the loved ones of Adenike Ogungbe ( nee Kareem) the fortitude to bear the great loss.
The four loves
I recently prepared a bible study on love and the types of love. I had previously known about three types of/ words for love in Greek - Eros, Philio and Agape. During my research, I found a fourth type of love, Storge love.
So a quick definition of these four types of love:
Storge - Storge is an affectionate love, the type of love one might have for family or a spouse. It is a naturally occurring, unforced type of love. Some examples of storge love in the bible can be found in the stories of Noah, Jacob, and siblings Mary, Martha, and Lazarus.
Eros- As its name indicates, eros is passionate or romantic love (eros is the source of the English word erotic). While eros is important within a marriage relationship and is created by God (see Song of Solomon), it can also be abused or mistaken for storge love. The Bible is clear that sexual immorality (out-of-control eros) is a sin (1 Corinthians 6:18; 1 Thessalonians 4:3).
Philia - Philia refers to brotherly love and is most often exhibited in a close friendship. Best friends will display this generous and affectionate love for each other as each seeks to make the other happy. The Scriptural account of David and Jonathan is an excellent illustration of phileo love: “After David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself. . . . And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself” (1 Samuel 18:1-3).
Since phileo love involves feelings of warmth and affection toward another person, we do not have phileo love toward our enemies. However, God commands us to have agape love toward everyone. This includes those whose personalities clash with ours, those who hurt us and treat us badly, and even those who are hostile toward our faith (Luke 6:28; Matthew 5:44). In time, as we follow God’s example of agape:16 love for our enemies, we may even begin to experience phileo love for some of them as we start to see them through God’s eyes.
John 21:16
John 21:16, “He [Jesus] saith to him [Peter] again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest [agapao] thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love [phileo] thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.”
Agape - Finally, we have agape love. Agape speaks of the most powerful, noblest type of love: sacrificial love. Agape love is more than a feeling—it is an act of the will. This is the love that God has for His people and that prompted the sacrifice of His only Son, Jesus, for our sins. Jesus was agape love personified. Christians are to love one another with agape love, as seen in Jesus’ Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37).
The most important foundation for a marriage is Philieo love, because when all the sparks fade away and life starts happening, it's the Philieo that binds together.
Here's an interesting bit of trivia to end. Sanskrit has 96 words for love, ancient Persian 80, Greek at least 4 and English and German only 1 word each.
[image: http:/asbojesus.wordpress.com]
So you have a pooch now - a guide to post partum elegance
First things first......l.
After baby twoI am back to my size pre motherhood dress size 38/10. My body has changed though: feet seemed to have grown at least a half size, and my belly, which was flat as could be and one of my favourite parts of my body is one of the most changed parts of my body. I now have some stretch marks around my belly button. And I have a pooch.
A pooch, my dear readers is what you see below
That's because I had two babies, but mostly because I am too tired ( and lazy, yes I will admit to it) to work out. I used to be mostly effortlessly slim and could eat whatever and still look good, *sings* those days are gone....
Anyway, I thought I'd do a series on how to dress elegantly with your new pooch and how to get rid of your new pooch with the least effort. If anyone is reading who has tips to share, please do!
First things first, I am proceeding armed with
1) My copy of Elegance
After baby twoI am back to my size pre motherhood dress size 38/10. My body has changed though: feet seemed to have grown at least a half size, and my belly, which was flat as could be and one of my favourite parts of my body is one of the most changed parts of my body. I now have some stretch marks around my belly button. And I have a pooch.
A pooch, my dear readers is what you see below
That's because I had two babies, but mostly because I am too tired ( and lazy, yes I will admit to it) to work out. I used to be mostly effortlessly slim and could eat whatever and still look good, *sings* those days are gone....
Anyway, I thought I'd do a series on how to dress elegantly with your new pooch and how to get rid of your new pooch with the least effort. If anyone is reading who has tips to share, please do!
First things first, I am proceeding armed with
1) My copy of Elegance
2) The wardrobe rehab series on A pair and a spare
3) A glass of virgin caipiriniha
I will edit this post from time to time with any new useful resources I find.
We made it!
January was hectic, but we made it! Thank God. I was away from home for a total of 6 nights and 9 days. My DH was great, and I don't know how I'd manage without his support. The last trip was the worst though, because my son was I'll and I stil had to go, baptism by fire. It really made me question my decision to go back to work.
On one hand, my kids were with their dad, and it was high time for him to pull his fair share of the load around here. On the other hand, mum is mum. We are all on the mend now, thank God.
DS can clap his hands now. I showed him how to a few weeks ago and didn't check again, and yesterday, I was trying to distract him while changing I'm in the morning and he clapped! My baby is growing up, tears up.
Looking forward to summer, I hope I will be able to juggle playground runs with working from home. Time will tell.
Stay safe you all and remember, ' nothing comes from nothing'.
See you later 'gators.
On one hand, my kids were with their dad, and it was high time for him to pull his fair share of the load around here. On the other hand, mum is mum. We are all on the mend now, thank God.
DS can clap his hands now. I showed him how to a few weeks ago and didn't check again, and yesterday, I was trying to distract him while changing I'm in the morning and he clapped! My baby is growing up, tears up.
Looking forward to summer, I hope I will be able to juggle playground runs with working from home. Time will tell.
Stay safe you all and remember, ' nothing comes from nothing'.
See you later 'gators.
Separation anxiety
When thinking about work makes you have panic attacks, you have separation anxiety.
When you talk about separation anxiety, it is usually children that are being referred to, and I have seen that happen with my son. Ever since I had to travel overnight, for two full days, he has been clingy as heck. He doesn't want to let me out of his sight at all. I think my daughter has been sleeping badly, but it could just be projection on my part. She also just recently stopped taking naps, although if I had a choices she would still nap daily, so it could be the reason why she's sleeping badly.
I just had a dream in which I was stuck in a meeting and couldn't leave early enough, and by the time I got out, my daughter had been moved from the nanny's to some sort of ministry. I dreamt that my brothers were there with her, but neither DH and I were, and a special designated entrance had been left for us.
I really love my job, and it gives me a lot of flexibility on a daily basis. I have to travel sometimes and that is the part of the job that I hate. I can take my baby and nanny with me if I really want - I have done it before, but in many cases, you weigh whats better, letting him be in the environment he is used to, or having him near you in a hotel near mummy.
Also, the environment in which I live is not very conducive to working mothers, and you are made to feel guilty by a lot of the women who have chosen to stay home for 6, 7, 8 years, or even longer, to " be there for their children", like you are not there for your children if you are a working mother. I don't hear anybody piling guilt on working fathers. Just one more way in which we women pull each other down.
The reason for my panic is that I have a training course in a few weeks, for four days. And my nanny can't go with me. We think even if she were able to go with me, its probably best if she didn't as she/they probably would be cooped in all day because its winter, and hotel rooms and service apartments are only so large.
DS senses my panic, and so he is mostly refusing every meal and only wants to be breastfed. My midwife says that there is the danger that by the time I return after 3 nights away, he would have self weaned. Just thinking about it makes me sick to my stomach. I have had friends who've left their baby for longer than that to travel or go for a spa weekend, but I'm not typically that kind of mother.
I know on a cerebral level that separation anxiety is a normal step in a child's development, and I have included links to articles on how to deal with and cope with it below. Even if I were not travelling, my DS would still have separation anxiety at this stage, I remember my DD was much worse at his age. My midwife also think he can sense my panic.
I trust all will be well with the children, and I'm leaving everything in Gods hands. I once read that we act sometimes as if we are the ones really taking care of and protecting our children, when it all rests in the hand of God almighty. This is true.I should have more faith than I do, oh Lord, help my unbelief!
On that melancholic note, wishing you all happy new year celebrations and a more upbeat 2013 in advance!
Useful articles:
Separation anxiety
Practical Parenting - how to overcome separation anxiety
baby-separation-anxiety
When you talk about separation anxiety, it is usually children that are being referred to, and I have seen that happen with my son. Ever since I had to travel overnight, for two full days, he has been clingy as heck. He doesn't want to let me out of his sight at all. I think my daughter has been sleeping badly, but it could just be projection on my part. She also just recently stopped taking naps, although if I had a choices she would still nap daily, so it could be the reason why she's sleeping badly.
I just had a dream in which I was stuck in a meeting and couldn't leave early enough, and by the time I got out, my daughter had been moved from the nanny's to some sort of ministry. I dreamt that my brothers were there with her, but neither DH and I were, and a special designated entrance had been left for us.
I really love my job, and it gives me a lot of flexibility on a daily basis. I have to travel sometimes and that is the part of the job that I hate. I can take my baby and nanny with me if I really want - I have done it before, but in many cases, you weigh whats better, letting him be in the environment he is used to, or having him near you in a hotel near mummy.
Also, the environment in which I live is not very conducive to working mothers, and you are made to feel guilty by a lot of the women who have chosen to stay home for 6, 7, 8 years, or even longer, to " be there for their children", like you are not there for your children if you are a working mother. I don't hear anybody piling guilt on working fathers. Just one more way in which we women pull each other down.
The reason for my panic is that I have a training course in a few weeks, for four days. And my nanny can't go with me. We think even if she were able to go with me, its probably best if she didn't as she/they probably would be cooped in all day because its winter, and hotel rooms and service apartments are only so large.
DS senses my panic, and so he is mostly refusing every meal and only wants to be breastfed. My midwife says that there is the danger that by the time I return after 3 nights away, he would have self weaned. Just thinking about it makes me sick to my stomach. I have had friends who've left their baby for longer than that to travel or go for a spa weekend, but I'm not typically that kind of mother.
I know on a cerebral level that separation anxiety is a normal step in a child's development, and I have included links to articles on how to deal with and cope with it below. Even if I were not travelling, my DS would still have separation anxiety at this stage, I remember my DD was much worse at his age. My midwife also think he can sense my panic.
I have a fantastic nanny who will stay over when I travel, and my DH, poor DH is home every night with the kids. I have kept this post 100% real, because I know that there might be others going through the same things. I'll be back to update on how it went.
On that melancholic note, wishing you all happy new year celebrations and a more upbeat 2013 in advance!
Useful articles:
Separation anxiety
Practical Parenting - how to overcome separation anxiety
baby-separation-anxiety
Useful advice
Here is a link to apartment therapys 10 things that will make you happier at home. I have to say, its a useful list if you are a managing home and career like many people do.
Aupair or Granny Aupair
I work mainly from home office, and I had planned to resume work next March, but God has something else in store for me. You see, I have just found the perfect home office position, but I have to start this September already. My boy will be 5 months old. I had planned for him to go to a child minder starting next year, so i'm frankly in a bit of a dilemma right now.
Aupairs have pros and cons. I'm not sure many 24 year olds can cope with a baby(I will be working from home most of the time, which is good)
I also think it might be interesting to get to know someone else, but I'm not sure if I can stand to have an extra person in my home for an extended period.
A definite positive is the fact that we could try to get an English speaking person, which would help our efforts to teach the children English.
I wonder if there are granny aupairs fom England? That might be the perfect solution to our problem.
Aupairs have pros and cons. I'm not sure many 24 year olds can cope with a baby(I will be working from home most of the time, which is good)
I also think it might be interesting to get to know someone else, but I'm not sure if I can stand to have an extra person in my home for an extended period.
A definite positive is the fact that we could try to get an English speaking person, which would help our efforts to teach the children English.
I wonder if there are granny aupairs fom England? That might be the perfect solution to our problem.
Krabbelgruppe/ Mother child group
I attended a Chinese baby massage course with E. It lasted 5 Tuesday's in May and June, and it was very informative, although hectic, because I also have my post-natal fitness class on Wednesday's. Now the massage class has ended, we decided to continue on as a mother baby group, and meet every monday.
Last Monday was the first date, but I could not attend because my key broke in the lock on my way there. So, today was my first time. It was nice and relaxing, because we already know each other. And also practical because some of our kids will attend Kindergarten together.
It was nice to chatty chat, I'm sure I'll miss that when I go back to work :( hopefully ill still be able to make time for that.
Last Monday was the first date, but I could not attend because my key broke in the lock on my way there. So, today was my first time. It was nice and relaxing, because we already know each other. And also practical because some of our kids will attend Kindergarten together.
It was nice to chatty chat, I'm sure I'll miss that when I go back to work :( hopefully ill still be able to make time for that.
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