New Beginnings: A House and a Baby (Any day now)

It’s my second day of my long-awaited maternity leave and I’ve shipped Milli and Nanny off to a playdate up the road which leaves me 2 hours to quickly give you an update of what’s been happening in our lives since my last blog. We’ve been all consumed with the renovations of our new house. We shed much blood, sweat and tears over it, that I would go as far to say that we actually built a new house! It was 3 intense months of getting building permission, project managing labourers on site, drawing up plans of ceilings and various aspects of the house, choosing finishes, deciding colours and above all getting Jaco and myself to agree on what we both wanted for our dream house. I must admit that I’m surprised we still love each other as much as we did before we started this process as it has been very taxing on our relationship – and throw in the fact that I was quite far pregnant and you can imaging the boiling pot of emotions! But through it all I’ve realised that I have the most amazing hubby who is so very talented at everything that he does and admire the fact that he loves getting his hands dirty and doing it himself – whether he knows how to or not, google is a wonderful teacher! I’ve been to Builders Warehouse so many times that the staff know me as the pregnant lady and Jaco asks me which isle to find stuff in! All our efforts culminated in a stunning housewarming party last Saturday where we had 45 of our closest friends to come and enjoy our wonderful piece of land we can now call home. Even though I miss living in the centre of Cape Town, we have plenty of space, a beautiful garden and a lovely entertaining area which we can now share with others. We have been so blessed with this house and I’m sure we’ll enjoy many years of happiness living here.

Stages of renovation of our patio area

I am now 37 weeks pregnant and looking like I’m about to pop out a watermelon. Doc has not been impressed that I’ve been on my feet so much but couldn’t have really changed that with all the moving of house and settling into a new one. Hence the baby has dropped very low very early and is literally knocking on the door to be let out. She doesn’t reckon I’ll even make my scheduled Caesarian date of the 12th December. I’m a bit upset that my boy won’t then have the coolest ID number in history 121212.....but who knows, maybe if I cross my legs and squeeze long enough, he’ll make his big appearance as planned. Jaco is stressing a bit nonetheless and has packed my hospital bags at the front door and made contingency plans for Milea in case I suddenly go into labour before then. We’re still ‘discussing’ names and finding it very hard to come up with one that confuses people when it comes to spelling and pronunciation like that of his sibling. But we’re doing our best to agree on another nightmare of a name that he’ll probably hate us for one day!

Milea is growing up fast and no longer a baby. She is sleeping in a single bed, almost has a full set of teeth, a head of beautiful blonde curls, a cute slim little body with big calves like her dad and a naughty sense of humour. She’s started expressing herself a lot more and understands when we speak in Afrikaans or English. She can now say ‘dada’, ‘yaya’ (for mama), ‘more’, ‘no’, ‘ja’ and ‘hiiiiiiiii’. So she definitely knows what she wants – when it comes to food or play, it’s always ‘more’, and when it comes to mom asking her to do something, it’s always ‘no’! She has started making friends with other kiddies in the neighbourhood after we sent her to a weekly activity workshop down the road where they sing, dance, bake, do creative arts and generally make the kids very tired! It’s been great to also meet other young families and connect with moms as we’re finding that Pinelands is home to many old people in retirement villages. However, I think that is slowly changing, but most annoying when you’re trying to rush through shopping centres or late for work and you’re stuck behind a granny driver!

Milli's model pose!

Not keen on using her own toothbrush, but rather dad's one.

A proud Milli showing me a photo of herself on the Huggies nappy packaging!

I’ve been very busy at work, with 2 big events in August and November so I’ve been working full time and finding it quite exhausting. Jaco has been doing his fair bit of travelling with trips to Germany, the UK, Nigeria, Seychelles and the States. He’s on his 96th flight this year and I’m on my 96th nag of please come home, I need help! Work has been very pressurised with him trying to fit house renovation work as well as normal work into his 24 hour day! He is definitely in need of a rest and we’re looking forward to a Christmas holiday in Cape Town with family. The Schonfeldt family arrives this weekend for a month of Cape Town and the Cronje family are around too so we’ll have plenty of time with them as well as babysitters. Luckily they won’t be staying with us so there will be some peace and quiet. It has been one crazy and exciting year with many lessons learnt and few never again moments (like more kids and renovating!).

We wish you all a very special Christmas period with lots of memorable moments and restful times! The next time I blog, we’ll no longer be a crowd of 3 but a family of 4! We will post photos of our little man when he arrives.

Renovations inside - we totally gutted the place and just left the exterior walls standing.

We wanted an open plan house: lounge on the left, dining room on the right and photo taken from the kitchen

Our new lounge!

Another little Jaco for us

So God has a sense of humour! He so desperately knew that I wanted another little girl (cos they are just the best) and now He's testing me with another little Jaco.  Problem is, Milea is just like her dad so I'll be blessed with 3 Jaco's in the house! On the other hand, it's great to now have a pigeon pair and I can close up shop for good and not have to go through another pregnancy again. The little one is healthy and well with an above average abdomen size which could be due to all the FutureLife I'm currently scoffing. Due date seems to be the 16th December 2012.

Ching, Chong, Cha: Stories from China

Well I’m not sure what I was expecting of China. I don’t think I had really put my mind to it before the trip, although the word ‘different’ came to mind. That’s the thing, we had chosen the cities of Beijing and Shanghai because they were different. We wanted to go somewhere in the world with a different language, culture and people. And we certainly chose correctly. However I didn’t expect there to be so many people (the population is estimated at 1.4 billion people!!) and that it would be so expensive! I mean, everything is made in China right? So surely it would be cheaper there – how wrong we were. In fact, our plan of taking one backpack between the 2 of us with the expectation that we would buy more suitcases to be filled with all our shopping, was very misguided!

So our adventure started off with a midnight flight of 16 hours to Beijing a mere 5 hours after Jaco arrived back from Nigeria! Yours truly had to do all the packing ;) We were certainly the minority on the airplane which we quickly had to get used to as only about 2% of all tourists in China happen to be foreigners. The majority are all Chinese nationals! We had no real itinerary besides finding our first night’s accommodation which we had pre-booked. Luckily the underground system was easy to follow and the street names were in Chinese and English. We managed to find our Motel 268 located in the heart of the city a few blocks from the “Oxford Street” of Beijing as well as Tian'an Men Square and the Forbidden City. It was the perfect location, despite the HARD mattress being less than perfect (especially for a tired pregnant lady after a long day of sightseeing!). We spent the next 3 days walking anything from 10 – 12kms (Jaco refused to take a single taxi) around the city visiting the 3 lakes in the north of the city, the Drum and Bell Towers, the 2008 Olympic Stadium (known as 'the bird's nest'), the Temple of Heaven, the Forbidden City and Tian'an Men Square. Jaco was brave enough to try some street food and managed to gulp down some fried squid and a sloppy looking eel twirled on a stick. He was much braver than I, who opted for McDonalds and KFC burgers on occasion (PS I would NEVER eat these back home but they were a decent option at the time!).

We found the Chinese breakfast of stodgy rice, tasteless dumplings, wet cabbage, funny speckled eggs and a meat of sorts to be quite unsavoury and opted for Oatso-easy which we’d bought over from SA – thank goodness for that! Generally we enjoyed the rice and noodle dishes but after 2 days of carbo-loading meals, we were dying for a simple sarmie which was no-where to be found.

We joined a tour-group for a day visit to the Great Wall, which included visits to a Jade (stone, and also a hot favourite for #2...) and silk factory where they try and get you to buy all their goods. Our tour took us to a less touristy section of the wall and we had to take a ski-lift up to the top of the wall. Disappointingly, because of all the smog and pollution, we couldn’t see the wall snaking into the distance on the mountaintops (which is what you imagine after seeing all the pictures of the wall). It was a great experience to ‘climb’ the wall – literally you are climbing up steps which lead very steeply upwards and then very steeply downwards again – I think I had the impression that the wall was flat – but definitely not the case!

Next big city was Shanghai – China’s financial capital and home to the country’s tallest building. We took the liberty of taking the 5 hour bullet train to Shanghai to get a feel of the 300km per hour train and see a bit of the countryside. It was like being on the Eurostar or on an airplane: a food compartment and hostesses coming down the aisles selling food (larva-egg noodles) and drink. We treated ourselves to 2 nights at the 5 star Sofitel and it was great – soft mattresses, slippers, gowns and English TV! And of course a gym for Jaco! We had decided to save all our shopping for Shanghai. After realising we weren’t able to afford the stuff from the high street stores, we headed for the back street markets where you would end up bargaining for anything up to an hour on a pair of shoes (which would probably have cost less in South Africa). The city is divided by a large river with the financial district on one side and the colonial-styled buildings and mainland on the other. We took a ferry between the two and visited their tallest building at 470m. The cars far down below looked like tiny ants – it was quite impressive to see. The next couple of days were quite rainy and overcast and between shopping and hunting for our next market, there wasn’t too much to see. In fact, I think we overstayed our holiday by about a day and in the end I was dying to come home and see my Milli Moo!

The journey home was LONG – a 2hour wait at Shanghai airport, a 2 hour flight from Shanghai to Beijing, a 6 hour wait at Beijing airport. Then a 16 hour flight from Beijing to JHB, a 3 hour wait and lastly a 2 hour flight to Cape Town. I have never been happier to land on solid ground and of course to see my little bundle of joy. Unfortunately she was less than impressed with me for leaving her for a week and it took a few hours for her to warm up to being with mom again! Ouma loved her time with Milli and they became the best of friends – just shows how easily and quickly a replacement can step into mom’s shoes!

3's a Crowd, 4's a Family!

So the cat is out of the bag and I might as well make it official! I'm 13 weeks pregnant! It came as a big surprise I must admit and you're probably questioning why I say that since making babies is not accidental most of the time. Jaco has been out of the country lately more so than in the country so we didn't think it possible ourselves. But obviously we are just really good at it and so voila - Milea will have a brother or sister come Christmas time. I just love celebrating special occasions, so this year I will have a little baba for a Christmas pressie as the tiny tot is due on the 23rd December. I hope it arrives on my doorstep with a pretty bow and beautiful packaging. Mmmm trying not to think about another operation again....

Since I did the home pregnancy test (on my own since J was away!) and it turned out positive, my mind suddenly started telling my body I was pregnant. I have been feeling really nauseous ever since. Definitely different to when I was carrying Milea - they say all pregnancy's are different. I've been craving foods that I don't normally eat or drink such as oranges, niknaks and glasses of milk! And boy have I been packing the food in, so I have a sneaky suspicion that a little boy is brewing in there.

Other momentous news is that Milea celebrated her first year on this earth recently (25th May 2012). As you know I love celebrations and so decided to throw her a big party! Now, having a winter baby is not great in Cape Town because parties at the park or beach or garden just don't work with the uncertainty of rain. So what was meant to be a relaxed affair of planning became a stressed and crazed time of trying to find an indoor venue to cater for 1 year olds and younger, as well as the old fogies who wanted tea and cake. So at the last minute, we decided on the Cape Milner Hotel in Tamboerskloof and served a high tea which was fantastic. Unfortunately Milea was a little out of sorts, with too much attention and photo-posing, so she was miserable and grumpy most of the time. Thank goodness Granny and Grandpa were down for the weekend and Ouma too, so there were all hands on deck to try and keep her happy and smilling. The lyric "Its my party and I'll cry if I want to" definitely rang true this time! She was thoroughly spoilt and we're slowly handing out 1 toy per every couple of days to try and keep the interest up. Thank goodness for new toys - even I was getting sick of her other ones!

Exciting times ahead as we plan to leave for China this Friday. We have no idea what we're in for as we travel to Beijing and Shanghai to experience a bit of the East. With no signs in English, few people even speaking English and every living thing walking off our plates, I'm a little nervous but trying to keep positive for our 'babymoon" (as opposed to a honeymoon). Jaco's mom has kindly agreed to stay at our place and look after Milea so she will hopefully not realise we're missing for 9 days. It will probably be the last holiday that the 2 of us go on alone for the next 20 years so we're going to make the most of it. We're so looking forward to the hot weather of over 30 degrees everyday after this cold snap we're having.

Otherwise, life is good. Jaco is working hard as usual and gyming alot. He's hardly touched his bike since the Argus but intends to get back into it when the summer swings around. I'm trying to find motivation to go to gym in the afternoons after work, but yawning every 5 minutes and feeling ill are not great motivators so any other excuse normally wins the battle. We've started taking Milea swimming at the heated pool at the gym and she loves it. She squeals with delight and watches all the other kids swimming. After just 2 times, she has learnt to hold onto the side of the pool by herself. Bu she sometimes forgets what she is doing and starts sinking under the water and gulping in all the water and  has a mini freak out. Its so lovely watching her growing up and discovering nw things and experiences.

Pitter Patter of Little Feet

I think Milea is an overachiever even at this young age! At 10 and a half months she discovered that she can stand and has even started toddering along and walking! So cute to see her do the little shuffle - short, small footsteps with her shoulders and arms lifted up and ready to save herself if she plops down. She is SO pleased with herself as she squeals each time she starts walking. I suppose it doesn't help that we scream with encouragement every time she does. Hope she doesn't expect that sort of response all the time..... soon I may be less than impressed that she is walking around so much - no more chill time for mom anymore;-)

So my folks were here for Easter and the whole CPT side of the family moved into their Camps Bay house! It was wonderful having them spoil us with home-cooked meals, babysitting and some quality time. They are the doting grandparents of note! Wish they lived down here so granny and grandpa could be more apart of her life (she keeps forgetting them when they leave). We also took advantage of the beautiful weather and did a Table Mountain Hike with Milli. She loved sitting on Jaco's back like a little mountain goat - and Jaco loved the extra exercise in having to carry her! Everyone climbing commented on the fact that she was climbing and we (actually Jaco) were so brave to carry her up there. Mom and babs took the cable car down while dad tried his best to beat us to the bottom. Guess who won??? (answer at the bottom...)

Our other big sporting moment these last couple of weeks was swimming the 2 Oceans Half Marathon. We were both winging it really with Jaco having done 1 run this year and me trying to convince myself that I had plenty of muscle memory from the Half Ironman in January! Although the weather was far from perfect, it was such a fantastic run and so great to do it together. Jaco was a mini Bruce Fordyce and kept running off cos he had so much energy and I was obviously too slow for him. But we stuck it out together and thank goodness for that cos he (literally) pushed me along the last 3 kms to the finish. We slushed across the muddy finish line in 2hrs 20mins and then froze our butts off in the cold weather. No time to revel in the glory as we sprinted back to the car to hotbox it big time in order to warm up.

So life has been a bit sucky the last couple of weeks as Jaco has been travelling so much for work - Seychelles, Germany, UK and Nigeria all in 4 weeks! Mom and Milli have gone into auto-mode and adapted to a single mommy routine which is full on! I am so glad that its nearly over and we can be a real family again - which means dad is back to cooking duty ;-) In the meantime mom is very busy with Milea who loves unpacking the grocery / Tupperware cupboard, climbing into the shower, licking the pages of the touchy-feely books and discovering that the toilet has a lid that lifts up and down. Maybe only having one parent around is starting to effect her after all....??!?

After a day at Moyo's

I love licking my books

(Answer: Cablecar of course! He can't run THAT fast!)


Oops! You caught me in the act!



Exciting News

Besides my daughter having popped her second tooth and learning to open drawers and delve into the tupperware cupboard, the Cronje's have exciting news. We are the proud new owners of a beautiful home in Pinelands!


We are so excited to eventually have our own place after 4 years of living in a flat in Vredehoek. We are definitely going to miss the convenience of living in the city, but are finding that the walls are closing in on us and we're running out of space (yes, open the cupboards and everything comes tumbling out because they're so crammed full!). We started looking in January for a property and liked the area of Pinelands because it offers good value for money and large properties. I had the misfortune of looking at many old houses in the area which needed lots of work before finding this gem. For example, this one house I saw desperately needed renovation and hadn't been changed in the last 70 years. The old lady living there was 4 years old when her father built the place! When I stumbled upon what was to become our house, I only had 15 minutes to quickly whizz through it before a Chiropractor appointment for Milli. But you can tell within 2 minutes if its up your alley or not. This place had such potential, and with a few changes here and there, I could definitely see us living there. Jaco saw it the very next day and we decided to put in an offer. In the first 4 days of the property coming on the market, the owners had already received 3 offers!

The 3 bedroomed, 1 bathroomed house is in good condition with wooden flooring. It also has a cute cottage in the garden. The kitchen desperately needs some work and we will need to put in another bathroom. However we have time on our sides as there is no rush to move in - the sellers are renovating another property down the road. We only have to leave our flat in Aug / Sept this year. Milli will definitely be walking by then - she is already standing against furniture and then letting go to balance for a few seconds before plopping down. Apparently this is called 'cruising'. She loves showing off her new trick. It will be great to have a garden and space for her to run around.


So the missy is 9 months old already and weighing 8.25kgs. She has such a little personality and the cheekiest grin. Her new skill is to wave goodbye to people - and has perfected the queen's wave I might add. I am finding it more tough as she gets older because she wants my attention all the time and needs stimulating every waking hour. So between work, which is very busy and spending time with Milli in the afternoons, I'm not finding time to exercise as much. Argus this weekend and the 2oceans marathon in April are going to be interesting. I'm discovering how difficult it is to be a career-minded, fit, healthy-looking mom! You definitely cannot have it all!

Jaco has been racing the summer league in Cape Town with his new BF (Berge Farrell) team. He has enjoyed being back on the racing scene. With his regular travelling to Nigeria, it sure makes the racing quite challenging! He is trying to find an Epic entry/partner, so if you know of one floating around, give us a shout! I've warned him that this could possibly be the last year he's on a bike when Number 2 comes along so he had better take advantage of it. Mom putting her foot down....



Milli just loves cuddles! Her favourite time of day is when dad comes home and plays rough and tumble with her on the bed. She squeals with delight!

We've had to put up a security gate so she doesn't venture out into the big wide world. She just loves standing at the gate and making noises for me to let her out. She cannot wait to get out there! In the meantime she spends her time cruising (standing and moving from one piece of furniture to the next) the apartment.

Like her folks, Milli loves her food. She always wants to taste what mom and dad are eating even if she only has 1,5 teeth to eat it with. I mean how do you eat a piece of toast with those tools - her solution is sucking it so it falls apart.

Having fun with her best friend, Rebecca on a hot day!