The Lil Loxton Bump ~ Week 24

Dear Baby Loxton,

This week marked two firsts for you!

You attended your first Fitness Competition with us. We went to support your Aunt Monique, she competed in her first bikini fitness competition and she did so well - we are so proud of her!

The other first for you (and us) was attending a same sex marriage. We had so much fun and seeing Uncle Ruds and Uncle Luds getting hitched was just truly amazing - they are two beautiful souls who love each other so much ~ just like your mommy and daddy!

On an entirely different topic, YOUR room! Your changing table arrived this week, your dad picked up the floating shelves and your Pram ( that Oupa and Ouma bought you) at the shop and I ordered your mobile for your cot! I must just say that your room is coming along nicely...I am a little envious I won't lie, it is going to be pretty fabulous! I hope you are going to like it as much as we do.

Like clockwork you wake me up at 4am every morning, kicking and doing summersaults or something to that effect in my belly. So many people have told me that you will probably keep this schedule when you are born. I just wish I could go back to sleep for two more hours before I need to get up for work but once I am awake, I am awake.Mother nature is definately preparing me for your arrival.

We really can't wait to meet you little guy....not for 16 more weeks of course, but every kick and wriggle your daddy and I feel just makes us so excited!!!

I booked our 4D scan for this month...oohhhh we can't wait to see your handsome little face!

We can't wait to hold you either.

Love

Your Mom

24 Weeks

How far along: 24 weeks

Baby fun facts: The size of a cantaloupe! I won't lie I had to Google this, turns out here in South Africa we call this fruit a sweet melon, go figure! He weighs roughly 680grams at the moment, so they say but I am sure he weighs more than this considering he is slightly above average. Baby's see-through skin is becoming more opague thanks to small capillaries that have recently formed.

Pregnancy weight gain: In one week I have gained 1.5kg! I actually cannot wait to see the Doc as that doesn't seem healthy to me especially if all the websites are telling me I am currently way over my pregnancy weight gain mark and that I should be gaining roughly 500g per week only.... something seems horribly wrong here?!

Sleep: Crazy ass pregnancy dreams is all I am going to say.

Food cravings: Nothing to write home about

Food aversions: Still can't stomach a salad...so strange. Give me warm veg mmmhhhh but salad...no thanks, YUK!

Gender: B is for Boy!

Highlight of the week: Seeing your gorgeous Aunt Monique strutting her stuff on the stage. I know just how hard she worked to get into such great shape and seeing her gave me goosebumps. I even teared up, I am such a woos!

Movement: All day err day! Monday and Tuesday he gave mommy a little bit of a break with the shake, rattle and roll but that was short lived. Wednesday he kicked me so hard my vision distorted and I felt ill for a little while afterwards.

What am I looking forward to: As much as I am afraid of my dad going in for his operation, I am looking forward to it being a success and him being back to his normal self.

What I miss the most: Sushi and Wine...that is all. Okay I lied...fitting into my skinny jeans.

Worried about: I have a lot of worries but nothing worth mentioning. I am in a good space right now so mentioning these will just upset me.

Most excited about: Right now I am counting down the days until we get to see you at the 4D scan. I am dieing to see who you look more like! So exciting!

Making use of: Happy Event, Palmers Butter,Vitamin C, Preg O mega Plus Vitamins.

Grateful for: My man! I give him such a hard time but he has so much love for me and would move heaven and earth for me and his little boy.

 

Shopping up a storm for Baby Loxton

Considering the fact that everyone had already been shopping their hearts out for our Little Guy, Wayne and I started to feel slightly "left out".

We had decided not to shop until we were 100% sure he was in actual fact a HE. The minute we found out for sure there was no holding us back - we went shopping!

Keep in mind I already have an entire cupboard full of clothing for him from friends and family members, so much so that I am not sure where I am going to put all of the stuff -nightmare.....but do not get me wrong, we are SO grateful and we will never complain about him being spoilt - EVER!

Below are just some of the items that Wayne and I have already bought, note  - I say some because if I had to put all the items on here, I may bore you to death and we could be here forever and a day.

The Lil Loxton Bump ~ Week 23

Dear Baby Loxton

Well where do I begin?!

This week has been a rather stressful one for mommy and daddy. On Monday your daddy's grandfather passed away. We are very sad you will not get to meet him but we know he will be watching over you from above. Wednesday mommy's uncle had a heart attack and had to have an emergency triple bypass and then on Thursday mommy's father(your grandfather) was rushed to the ER. Your daddy has also been sick with man flu....you will one day understand what I mean by man flu.

Things have just been really crazy but we are believing that God is in control and if we cast our worries on to him, all will be okay little one.

Besides all of that, this week has me realizing that we will have a newborn(YOU) in the house in just over 4 months and I am reeling about that just a little. We have a long list of things we still need to do and even though I am in the "easiest trimester" I am finding myself rather stressed out but excited.

So excited to meet you little guy.

Love

Your Mom

How far along: 23 weeks

Baby fun facts: The size of a grapefruit! Baby's ability to see, hear, smell and taste and feel are developing stronger every day. He is definitely recognizing daddy and mommy's voice.

Pregnancy weight gain: I am so up and down in this department, more up than down it seems lately. At 23 weeks I am now a whopping 10.5kg up and growing. Belly is starting to really resemble a pregnant gut and not just an "has she gained weight" bump lol.

Sleep: Some nights are good, others not so good.

Food cravings: Still nothing

Food aversions: Nothing to report on.

Gender: Our "little Wayne"

Highlight of the week: We had a rather sad and stressful week this week but we still managed to smile and remember all the good times with the people we love. Seeing your room "come to life" has been a big highlight for me!

Movement: Our little man is SO active lately and the way he is laying currently he is managing to kick right on my bladder.

What am I looking forward to: My baby shower, the nursery furniture arriving, baby arriving...I could carry on for days!

What I miss the most: Honestly? Being thin and being able to actually pull in my stomach.

Worried about: As I have mentioned, it has been a rather stressful week. I am just praying that all will be okay with my Uncle and Dad...believing in God and having FAITH.

Most excited about: Attending my friend Rud's wedding in a week and a bits time. It will be my first "same sex" marriage and I have honestly never met a couple more in love than these two beautiful souls.

Making use of: Happy Event, Palmers Butter,Vitamin C, Preg O mega Plus Vitamins.

Grateful for: SO much. I may struggle to show it but I am ever so grateful for the amazing people in my life.

Project Nursery Phase #1

SO exciting! We have started with our little guy's nursery.

We had to fill the holes and cracks with polyfilla and then wait for this to dry. Once dry we could start sanding and then get our paint on.

Messy job.

Heavy concentration happening over here.

Mommy to be hard at work - sanding.

Don't be fooled by this Smile.

I may be smiling in the picture above, but do not be fooled once we started painting and Wayne thought it would be funny to paint me instead of the wall, I wasn't in the happiest of moods, lol forgive me but I hate getting messy - such a girl!

Daddy getting his paint on.

Please note: How tall is Wayne? No ladder required - hilarious! And we wonder why our little guy is slightly taller than average already :-/

Being funny, as always.

First coat complete :)

It took us two days to complete this but we are so excited that it is now done. Now we just can't wait to do Phase #2 or just hurry up and finish the entire lot! I need to learn this thing they call patience!

Phase #1, three coats later = Complete.

Surprise Visit and a gift for our Little man.

Over the weekend we had a surprise visit from a very old friend of mine! Danielle! It was so lovely to see her, it has been ages!

Her family used to live up the road from me but when she matriculated 14 years ago, they immigrated to the UK. It was really sad to see her leave and to lose yet another friend "from up the road", we used to do everything together.

We have kept in touch over the years (perhaps not as often as we would like but we understand that life is busy) which has been awesome as sometimes when people move you tend to lose contact.She is currently in CPT visiting her family and attending two family weddings so she decided to make a turn by us and witness "The Bump" with her own eyes and hand deliver a gift for our Little Boy.

This was so sweet of her and once again it was so awesome to see her after so many years!

Thank you Danni!

The gift Danni bought for Baby Loxton

Cake Pops!

I decided, well my mom and I decided to finally try out the gift I got for Christmas 2012! Terrible I know but you all know what they say - "Better late than pregnant never."

Gift I received for Christmas 2012

First things first, get yourself a cupcake recipe (use the one below) or simply buy a ready mix cupcake mixture if you are lazy, like we were this day...Sssshhhhh!

Ingredients:

2 Eggs
200ml Thickened Cream
1 tsp Vanilla Essence
3/4 cup Castor Sugar
1 cup Self-raising flour (Sifted)

Method:

• Preheat your oven to 180C
• Spray and cook your cake pop tray ( Top and bottom tray)
• Crack eggs into a 250ml measuring cup and then fill the cup to the top with the thickened cream.
• Pour that into a mixing bowl and beat with an electric beater for one minute
• Add vanilla essence and sugar, beating for three minutes
• Fold in the already sifted self-raising flour and stir until blended.
• Spoon your mixture into the cake pop tray

• Bake for 15-20 minutes

• Stand in Cake Pop tray for 5minutes before you remove them to cool

 

Decorating:

 

So while your cake pops are cooling slightly...

• Melt your chocolate
• Dip your cake pop stick into the melted chocolate and then insert that into your cake pop

• Once you have done this, allow them to cool in the fridge.
• Once they have cooled completely, melt more chocolate and dip each cake pop into the chocolate until each one is completely coated.
• You can decorate using sprinkles or simply dribble another colour chocolate over each cake pop.

• Ta-dah! There you have it, now enjoy!

Confession time - I ate three, they were delicious and I don't regret it one bit LOL! 

My friend Leigh-ann also makes cake pops but she simply uses sponge cake and breaks it up into cake crumbles, she then mixes it with butter icing, rolls them into balls and sticks the balls onto a stick and then decorates - those are rather yummy as well as they have icing sugar inside! Either way you want to make your pops, I can guarantee you, you won't be sorry.

The Lil Loxton Bump ~ Week 22

Dear Baby Loxton,

Oh sweet boy, you are SO loved! Not only by your mommy and daddy but by friends and family scattered all over the world! We are all so excited to meet you!

Aunty Jenna, Aunty Danielle, Aunty Monique, your Nana's(Grandmother's,Ouma's or whatever you will one day call them) and Great Nana have already spoilt you rotten with gifts - your cupboard is full!

You sure are growing at a rapid rate my "little"boy. I am getting bigger as the days go by and you are moving around non-stop now! With every thump I am reminded of what a miracle you truly are!

Your Uncle Jared has been gone for a week now already. It was sad to see him leave but boy am I so excited for his new adventures in Thigh-land (as Alan in "The Hangover" puts it).


We were out and about quite a bit over the weekend, I am exhausted today, I am not sure how you are feeling?!

You attended your first Hen/Stag party with us this Thursday past, it was so much fun! Friday we visited your Great Gramps and then on Saturday we went for a drive to Hout Bay with the family. Everyone couldn't resist and bought you something at the Naartjie Clothing Shop. We ate the famous Hout Bay fish and chips at Mariner's Warf and then we went to mommy's favourite Italian Ice-cream shop! Sunday we went to Church and then we carried on painting your room!

Exciting times ahead my angel! I almost want to say please hurry up so we can meet you now but don't listen to crazy old me as you have so much more growing to do and we have so much still to do before you arrive. We want to make your arrival as special as possible!

SO much love for you my baby boy!

Your Mom

22 Weeks

How far along: 22 weeks

Baby fun facts: Baby is roughly 30cm in length and weighs about 589grams. He is starting to have sleep cycles and will sleep about 12-14 hours a day, which means he is moving around the rest of the time - yip I sure know that is true! His lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are more distinct and tooth buds are developing beneath his gums. His eyes have formed, the the irises (the coloured part) still lack pigment - Oh I sure hope he has his daddy's blue eyes!

Pregnancy weight gain: I managed to lose 1.6kg during the week but after the weekend...well let's just say I probably picked that back up and more lol - I confess I was too afraid to step on the scale this morning after the Fish and Chips, Ice-cream, Simba chips and the biscuits I ate, I doubt that even the Preggi Bellies home exercise DVD I am doing would help that PIG-OUT session!

Sleep: Not much.

Food cravings: Nope!

Food aversions: Nothing to report on.

Gender: It's a Baby BOY!

Highlight of the week: We had a pretty busy week and weekend. Everything was fun but the highlight was definitely seeing my tummy move when you kicked!

Movement: Yip, every day now and a few times a day!

What am I looking forward to: Seeing the final Nursery after we are done decorating!

What I miss the most: This week, I would have to say.....SUSHI!

Worried about: Having everything done before baby arrives but my mom has told me to stop stressing...We got this!

Most excited about: Decorating the nursery

Making use of: Bio-Oil, Happy Event,Palmers Butter,Vitamin C, USN Pure Protein, BCAA's

Grateful for: Experiencing yet another week with Baby Loxton growing inside of my tummy.

I am pregnant, I am not dying!

Finding out I was pregnant was a real shock to my system and I was a massive bag of mixed emotions and cried for most of two weeks. You see I have always wanted children but this wasn't planned and I felt like I wasn't ready  to give up my care-free life I had lived up until then.

Most people who have children will be the first to tell you ~ " A baby changes everything"

• No more staying out until 4am at a friends birthday party
• No more making spontaneous plans
• No more getting drunk on a Sunday at Caprice

But I am sorry I am determined not to lose all of the fun parts of my life thanks. I am well aware that I will have to take precautions and make some changes when it comes to certain things but I feel having a baby or being pregnant shouldn't be a death sentence...should it?!

The reason for this post it that it bothers me that when I want to do something simple like pick up a piece of paper off the floor I am faced with reactions that make it seem like I have some form of major disability. I am perfectly fine people, I am not dying, the only difference to a few months back is that I now have a baby growing in my belly. The way some people react you swear I was about to bungy jump as opposed to simply bending over.

I personally find it rather ridiculous and somewhat insulting.

I feel pregnancy doesn't mean your life has to stop and that you should wrap yourself in bubble wrap, sit on the couch watching your favourite TV series while eating a box of Lindt day in and day out or that you should be concerned with the crap that EVERYONE is going to try tell you or enforce on you.

Everyone's pregnancy is different but pregnancy in itself is a blessing, something that should be embraced with the love of life not only for the baby but the mother as well and pregnant woman shouldn't be treated as if it is the end of her life!

So pregnant ladies....if you want to:

• Travel - then travel
• Run a 5km - then run a 5km
• Gym - then gym
• Go hiking - then go hiking

As long as you are more cautious, then what is the problem?!

I AM PREGNANT, I AM NOT DYING!

Please don't treat me as if I am...

8 week to 21 week Bump Comparison

The Lil Loxton Bump ~ Week 21

Dear Baby Loxton,

We have known for quite sometime that you are in fact a boy but now that this has been confirmed this week, we can say it to the world - YOU'RE A BOY! We are over the moon! Our little man!

We are so excited that we have started shopping for little cute boys clothing! You must see the little Hoodie your dad bought for you at Baby GAP...Oh em gee it is SO adorable! 

We have already decided on your name and we can't wait until you are born so we can call you by it! We have decided to keep this a secret until you are born though :) 

Now that the family knows you are definitely a boy they can breathe and not stress about all the boy clothing they already bought after I told them not to buy clothes until we had confirmation! Let me just say that I apologise in advance little man, if for some reason you are born a girl you will be wearing loads of blue clothing because your grandparents and aunties couldn't help themselves, LOL!

This week I was a little bit sick with the flu and sent home from work but it only lasted two days, yay for me! 

Feeling you move everyday puts a MASSIVE smile on my face! We are SO blessed!

Love you little guy

Your Mom

21 Weeks

How far along: 21 weeks

Baby fun facts: Baby is roughly 27cm from head to heel, well in Baby Loxton's case this might be slightly different considering his parents are both Giants. He already weights a whopping 500g, slightly above average but they say this is because of his long arms and legs.Baby is producing meconium - the tarry black substance I will find in his first nappy - YUMMY!

Pregnancy weight gain: Gained 1kg since last week - 8.5kg up now in total! FML, according to this pregnancy weight gain chart I found on the internet at 21 weeks I should have only gained a maximum of 6kg, hahaha so I am WAAAAYYY off! Gynae says I am fine, I think she is smoking her socks :-/

Sleep: If another word for sleep is Dream then yes I sleep.

Food cravings: Nope!

Food aversions: Nope!

Gender: It's a BOY!

Highlight of the week: The detailed scan at the specialist!!!

Movement: Mommy's little football player. He wakes me up every morning at around 3am - MOM, it's now time to play!

What am I looking forward to: Meeting our little man!

What I miss the most: My work skirt, I had to resort to wearing the new stretchy maternity one I bought. JOY!

Worried about: Nothing.

Most excited about: Decorating the nursery

Making use of: Bio-Oil, Happy Event, Palmers Butter, Vitamin C, USN Pure Protein, BCAA's

Grateful for:This little miracle growing inside my tummy

The moment you have all been waiting for...

We are SO proud to announce that we are having a.....

It's a BOY!

Baby Boy!!!! (No mistaking this at all after he flashed us his crown jewels)

A "Lil Wayne" as my friend Cat put it...LOL....I sure hope he looks nothing like the rap artist Lil Wayne hehehe! If he looks as handsome as his daddy then I will be smiling from ear to ear.

We are over the moon! SO. IN. LOVE, the list is endless!

Seeing our little baby boy today again on the scan was nothing short of a miracle. It really warmed our hearts to see him stretching, kicking his legs and even pouting - yes he has the whole Wayne pout going on already ~ HILARIOUS!!!

Doctor is happy with the way he is growing, he is all arms and legs, one tall baby! I wonder who he takes after (Sarcasm intended). All measurements are spot on according to his gestation age except his arms and legs, they are slightly above average.

Doctor says there is no doubting that this baby takes after his parents with the height! Hell I even think baby has my nose...poor child!

We are so excited, we cannot wait to meet OUR little man!

A reason, a season, or a lifetime...

One of the most valuable things I have learnt in my 30years of existence is that every person that comes into your life has come into it for a reason.

Whether it be to teach you a valuable lesson, help you become the best you that you can be or simply to test you.

Different people will teach you different things, but in every lesson you must always remember that life is too short to hold on to anger and spite. Take the lessons you learn in your past, and use them to help you better your future self.

Find it in your heart to give thanks to those people that perhaps caused you pain - they too taught you a lesson.

Dear John {name has been changed}


Thank you for showing me that I will not tolerate being talked down to,
Thank you for showing me that I am worth someones kindness and love,
Thank you for showing me that I deserve to be with someone who directs his affections to me and ONLY me,
Thank you for showing me that I deserve someone who cares about MY needs,
Thank you for showing me that I don't need to chase men to get them to see my worth and that I have value to offer someone,
Thank you for showing me that I don't have to try so hard all the time to deserve someones affection

and lastly thank you for teaching me how to set better boundaries in my future and to respect myself.

Children see, Children do...

I received an e-mail from a friend earlier today about a topic I have been thinking about a lot over the last few months, a rather powerful message if I may say so myself...it has hit home!

"This powerful advert will make you think twice about what you do in front of your children.

Take a look at your day-to-day behaviour – what are you teaching your children? They are not just passive observers of your life, they are an integral part of every interaction, and they learn how to deal with the world through your example.

We all have things we’re not proud of. We all 'lose it' sometimes, but there are many aspects of our behaviour and personality that we could change if we wanted to and chose to.

Can you picture your son or daughter behaving in the same way you do? Would you like them to make a positive or negative impact on the world? How are you going to be part of that?"

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXjE68-_jBs

 Actually quite frightening when you sit and think about it….

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