Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Some More Pics of My babies!


















Hi All,


Just a quick update..

My whole family is recovering form the flu and I am not recovering, just getting worse.. But I am sure with the meds I should start feeling better real soon..

Ethan is eating like a pro, he is on purity no. 2 as no.1 just ain't enough for my big boy and he is doing so well on his Anti Reflux milk.. Hannah is starting to make real sense now when she talks and we have a conversation everyday when I fetch her from play school..

Find pictures attached of a photo shoot I had done in November 2008 and have finally got the pics, you will be amazed how my children have grown and changed...

Enjoy.. And have a blessed week..
Love Us

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Count Your Blessings.....








Hi All,


What a lovely day it is, maybe a bit windy, maybe 1 or 2 clouds and maybe a bit of rain later but you know what, we are alive today and we have been given the privellage of having 1 more day, 1 more sunshine.... That is what I am grateful for today....

I have been blessed along my life path in so many ways, it is so easy to loose sight of these blessings and to take each day for granted.. Everyone is guilty of that and I think its time I reflect on my blessings and be thankful for what I have.. Yeah, I know, people are probably thinking, would this woman just get over herself but if we don't share the simple things, like our blessings with someone, it is very difficult for that person to see their blessings... So here I go, a nice long post of my blessings in my life of 27 yrs!! Not quite, maybe a few years into my life but I am going to start back in my childhood dayss.. Here goes.. deep breath...


Yes, my parents got divorced when I was 2yrs old but along the way, this came with many blessings.. 1st blessing - I got given 1 x extra mommy and a little later 1x extra daddy.. I am one of the few privelaged that can say, I have 2 sets of parents - what a blessing..

2nd blessing - Along with the marraige of my Dad & Stepmother, came two little brothers for me & Sean(my older brother) - How cool - siblings to play with...


3rd blessing - Along with the marriage of my Mom & Stepfather came 2x extra older brothers & 1 x older sister - how blessed a I to have such a big family..


I was blessed with many friends in my school days, some that stuck around for a long time and others that was in my life for just a moment - 4th blessing - My many friends at school..


At the end of my matric year, 2000, I met an unbelievably amazing man, I was only 18 going on 19, but knew that he is the man for me.. We got off to a rocky start, but look at where we are today.. I married this amazing man.. 5th blessing - Stephan, my rock, my best friend , my partner and husband - what a huge blessing to be able to say that we will be marred for 4 yrs this year October and we have been together for 9 years..


And then, +/- 10 March 2006, I found out that I was about to be blessed in such a big way.. I found out that I am pregnant with my first little miracle from God, Hannah.. Wow, absolutely wonderful.. The Lord has called me to be a mommy.. What amazing news this was - 6th Blessing - Hannah, my beautiful, busy, special, amazing little light of my life.. Just before I conceived Hannah I was told that I did not ovulate and I would need treatment to help me fall pregnant - man I cried for days because I so wanted a baby.. But God had other plans and saw my hearts desires.. Funny enough, Stephan always used to say, he would love a little girl with curly red hair and guess what, God saw his hearts desires too and gave him just that..


Little did we know, that we would once again be blessed and found out on 28th January 2008 that I am expecting my second bundle of joy - May all be warned, I was on contraception and Ethan was still conceived.. Ethan Sean Ferreira was bone on the 1st September 2008 ... Our smiley baby boy, precious gift intended to be on this earth.. 7th Blessing - my beautiful red haired little boy...


I have my pigoen pair and things got a little tough but we are managing, there are many more blessings I received along the way like:


- Meeting Samm and getting to know Brave Deqlan

- Being able to share in Deqlan's journey and be part of his prayer army

- Meeting Samms amazing family

- Meeting my wonderful friend Vanessa - my shoulder to cry on and just someone to talk to when I am down

- Meeting Loren through Samm and now having the privellage of watching her amazing little boy Malakai grow & learn through their blog site

- Meeting Elriza and her little fighter Caden that was born at 28 weeks, once again, through Samm

- Meeting many warriors of cancer and sharing in their touching stories, once again, through Samm

- Having the absolute privellage of meeting Baby Declan Du Toits parents

- To have a roof over our heads and food to eat

I am truly thankful today, for all I have, all I have gained and for all I have lost.. I have learn't through mistakes and taken challenges head on.. I am grateful for time with my family and time with my friends.. I am thankful & grateful for my amazing mother, who is always there to lend a helping hand.. I am thankful for the full health of my children.. I am grateful & thankful that the Lord gave me the oppotunity to become a mommy and its a job I love..


I am grateful for my life, for who I am today and for what the future may hold.. All the above blessings and happenings in my life have shaped me to the person I am today and I am grateful for all the people that have crossed my path, be it short or long, you have made a difference in my life and for that I am forever thankful..


So, I have counted my blessing and I can truly say, I am blessed....

Please continue to pray for great results for brave Deqlan tomorrow and keep the Du Toit family in your prayers.. Please also do not forget to pray for others suffering and battling with terminal illness..

Please also pray for Vanessa's granny who is also terminally ill with cancer and they are not sure how much longer she will be with them. Pray for strength for her family and for peace and understanding.


Till later.. God Bless...


Love
Claire

PS: I will put some photos of my babies and take a good look and see how Ethan is sitting... Hooray!! He is also enjoying his solids and loves purity...

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Some Pictures - Enjoy!

My Serious Little man!
I am going to catch you!

Hannah having Fun!


Day dreamer!



My Serious Baby!




Groom Dancing with his mom - Boys & their Moms!





Melissa in her stunning wedding dress!

Mr & Mrs Dreyer - 1st Dance!

Look how I have grown!


Chewing!


Ethan Sleeping under the trees!!






Hannah @ A Bob The Builder Party!

Monday, February 16, 2009

An Eventful Weekend!

Hi All,

What a weekend!! Busy but good!

On Friday night my dear husband arrived home and was down with flu, he felt awful and ofcourse Hannah just wanted to play and couldn't understand why daddy was feeling so terrible.

On Saturday we were up bright & breezy, since my children came along, its the absolute norm to be awake at the crack of dawn. I have made peace with the fact that I can survive on very little sleep and leftovers. We then attended Declan Du Toits memorial service at 11:00am and what a beautiful memorial it was. So full of love, peace, hope, sadness, faith and absolute calmness. I met Declan's parents briefly, and they are absolutely shattered, but are trying very hard to remain strong. I think with the prayer army that followed Declan's story, they will continue to grow stronger each day. They showed a few video clips of Declan, and what a happy little boy he was. You could see the absolute love that Declan had for his parents and the absolute love and adoration Gillian & Daryl have for Declan. Needless to say I cried throughout the service, not just because the loss of Declan is so painful but because his life was short and amazing. The earth was blessed to have such a beautiful little angel on it for a short while. At the end of the memorial, we all released balloons into the sky as a symbol of releasing Declan to the Lord. Those balloons flew high.... Just like Declan is doing right now.

After the memorial, we rushed to my mom's and dropped both my babies off as we had to be in Vereeniging for a wedding. We finally left my moms at 13:45pm and surprise surprise, the N1 south was standing still, so we were stuck in the most horrible traffic, we finally got out of that traffic at 14:30pm and had to rush to get to Vereeniging, needless to say and very embarrassing to say, we missed the entire ceremony, but made it for the reception.

Hannah & Ethan thoroughly enjoyed being with granny and granny & grandpa enjoyed them but were exhausted as they are not used to small little ones anymore.

On Sunday, we arrived home late afternoon, exhausted and Stephan feeling even worse than before. I just hope & pray the kiddies don't catch it and they remain healthy.

Please pray with us for absolutely clear results for Warrior Deqlan Higgins as they await test results. Deqlan is doing so well, please pay his blog a visit to see whatt a beautiful little boy he is: www.deglanhiggings.blogspot.com

Please go to Angel Declan Du Toits blog to see the amazing little boy that fought so hard to try beat cancer, but is now angel in heaven. Please also sign up for the bone marrow drive for the 14 March, to help save more children suffering and battling cancer.. www.all-hands-on-dec.co.za

Please also pray very hard for anyone that is battling cancer, I feel that the more aware people are of this the more prayers will go to heaven and the more people will start thinking about trying to save a life by donating blood, platelets or bone marrow.

Have a blessed week and may God keep you all safe.

Love us!

Monday, February 9, 2009

Declan Du Toit - Free from pain

Hi All,

Just a quick not to please pray for Baby Declan Du Toits family as they go through this very difficult time.

Declan Du Toit went home at 11:10pm last night at the tender age of 7 months. He will be sorely missed by all.

Please pray for strength for his parents and that God wraps them up in is arms.

Thanks!
Love
Claire

An Update At Last!

Hi All,

Hope you are all well and hope you all enjoyed the sunshine this weekend? We certainly made the most of the beautiful weather..

I have been going through a rather tough time lately, trying to figure everything out and find a balance in my life.. Well, I have done neither but what I do know is that I have two beautiful children and a wonderful husband that I am sure will help me find that perfect balance between work, home, play and spending time with my man..

I was saying to Samm on Friday that I am missing so much of my children because I work a full day and when I get home I try squeeze everything in, in just a few hours, but to no avail! I am missing small things with my son, like him trying really hard to sit etc. I am missing so much with my daughter, she surprises me everyday with a new word or sentence which i never even knew she could say.. Do you know, Hannah is saying a whole lot more Afrikaans words. I heard her count in Afrikaans for the first time ever yesterday, she only counts to two, but I was so proud and sad, because these are the little things I am missing.

I don't know why this is but life is so rushed and moms (like myself) with healthy children take for granted that tomorrow will be another day spent with our children. Just another day! I have decided after reading so many blogs where children have cancer or special needs, that I am going to make more time to just switch off and play with my babies, although it will be little time, I will try make the most of it. You never know what lies ahead, so at the end of the day, living for today matters, forget what has passed and don't worry about the future because those are the days you cannot change.. Today is the perfect way to start and make a difference.

Anyway, besides all the feelings above, we have had a great weekend. On Friday night, I went to help a friend with snacks for her sisters "Hen Party" for saturday, so Daddy had some quality time with the babies. Its always good to have a friend to just chat to sometimes - soul therapy..

On Saturday, I attended Melissa's hen party and it was really a fantastic day. I had both my babies with me, and Hannah had such a great time playing with her friends, Dominique & Aneke. Ethan was a tad misreable, as he has a cold and wasn't feeling well... The poor little guy.. They must get so frustrated when they can't breathe so nicely. Anyway needless to say, I started to have a panic attack on Saturday night, but quickly calmed down, so I could take the kiddies home & rest. Hannah had such a great time, she was exhausted and fell sound asleep, shortly after 8pm.

On Sunday, we attended a kiddies party in Pretoria North which was a wonderful day out and about. There was a jumping castle which Hannah enjoyed, as well as a swimming pool which she also loved. She ran around all day with Daddy following to make sure our princess doesn't get hurt. Ethan and I sat under the trees just enjoying the wonderful weather and he attracted all the ladies with his charming smile. He then had 2 naps under the trees... It was a wonderful day spent together as a family.

The weekends are very short, and I dread to wake up on Monday morning, knowing I have to spend yet another day, without my babies.. Another day of not seeing the smaller things but I have one thing to look forward to and that is when I get home after 4, I have the 2 most beautiful faces waiting for my arrival... The smiles and excitement that my children show when we get home from work, makes our days worthwhile! There is nothing like the love of your children, when you walk through the door after a very stressful day at the office..

My pledge for this week: To switch off completely and spend as much time possible with my babies just playing and enjoying them... to swicth the TV off and play with Hannah in her room or outside.. To watch how my precious baby boy concentrates hard to sit and then to kiss my beautiful kids goodnight after a long day and be grateful to Our Loving Father above for my two very special gifts, Hannah & Ethan..

Till next time.. Have a fantastic week. God Bless and please please please keep praying for Baby Declan Du Toit and his family and for Deqlan Higgins as his family while they await the test results on the 20th Feb - Deqlan may you forever remain NED..

Lots of love
Claire