Our beautiful baby girl

I was so excited when we got the call to go fetch baby "Linda" from the hospital. When we'd been to fetch "Zaccheus" a few weeks ago she was in the cot 2 down from him. The social worker told me that they were also looking for a placement for her as her mom had signed her over, and I jumped at the chance. As my Thursday morning prayer group can tell you, I've been asking for a baby girl for well over a year now! So, I was very disappointed when first one, then two weeks went past without a word from our social workers about my baby girl! Eventually I assumed the message hadn't been passed along and she'd gone to someone else. When they finally did phone I started dancing around the kitchen!

She doesn't seem to have grown much since I saw her the first time, but she has put on 1.5kgs since birth, so she is doing ok - just very, very tiny! She looked so funny coming home from the hospital since I'd taken along a 0-3 month dress that was FAR too big for her. She also suffered from some neglect in the hospital. The nurses don't seem to have ever trimmed her fingernails, so all the scratches you can see on her face were self-inflicted. We sat down for some nail-clipping before we even went into the house!

 She is such a cuddly little thing, and the only one of the babies who is still small enough not to squirm, so she is being very spoilt!

 All the Girls - Princess and Chipmunk were SO excited about their new baby sister!

With Auntie Kate after her first proper bath. She loved the water, but HATED having to dry off!

Making her very first cake. Linda was feeling very grumpy, and the staff were bathing the rest of the kids, so she got to come help me bake Chipmunk's birthday cake. It turned out pretty good too! I had to ask Victoria to take a picture though - I thought this was me looking pretty darn domesticated!

Yaaaargh!!!

Last Saturday I was invited to a very special birthday party - my "firstborn" turned 6! He had a Pirates party and his family had gone to such an effort to make everything special for him. He had a whole pirate outfit, and his dad also dressed up as the "Pirate Captain" and ordered all of his little pirates around during the games.

 

The Princess got to come with and it was so special for me to see the two of them interacting. We were the first to arrive (due to my inability to get anywhere on time recently - I'm either very early or very late!) and they got to play together for a while. "Ammi" was such a cool, caring kid as he pushed her around the yard in his car. Amusingly, they are both the same height, which I'm guessing is that of an average 5 year old!

 Ammi showing off his best pirate face jumping on the trampoline

 

The Pirate Captain and his Crew. My Princess did such a great job of interacting with the other kids, even though most of them were much older than she is. She especially enjoyed the games where she could copy them, like Simon Says and relay races. The concentration on her face as she ran across the yard with a cup of water (bailing out the ship) was priceless!

 

Me and my special boy. Happy Birthday Kiddo!!

My Birthday (no, I'm STILL not 30!)

For my birthday this year I decided to celebrate with a proper Mexican dinner at a very hip restaurant in one of the more "interesting" parts of Johannesburg. 4 of my friends joined me, and, despite being nearly taken out by a number of taxis on the way there, we had a lovely evening. I'm so glad to have found another "proper Mexican" place after the disappointment that Tiffany and I had a few months ago. Also, Vange gave me the quirkiest birthday gift that I've received - a collection of women's obituaries! It's actually very cool :-) And a good conversation starter!

Jannie and Cathy

Darren and Vange

 Me and Cath

 Not knowing what re-fried beans were, Jannie decided to be brave and order them... to mixed reviews!

 My most exciting birthday gift - a new Kindle - being modeled by the beautiful Anna in it's new handmade case. I'm considering trying to market them next year to supplement my income.

We also celebrated my birthday at the baby home - Sharon and Tharien made me cakes, and the Aunties went together and bought me new running shoes and a set of glasses for my new house next year. Sue got out all our party hats, so we all looked pretty fantastic!

 

"Patches" rocking his mask

 We have a little too much fun sometimes!!

Despite all the people who keep being surprised that I'm not in my 30's yet (thanks!) I'm looking forward to this year. It will be full of lots of changes and stress, but hopefully will mark a new beginning for me and my Princess!

Our new babies...

 Between lots of visitors, social worker drama and trying to organise my life next year, I haven't had a lot of time to update you on all our cute children! Chipmunk (above right) celebrated her 3rd birthday this weekend. These photos were all taken during her party. She asked for a "Princess Jasmine" cake. We had to use our imaginations a little, but it totally worked out!

Last Friday we received our first girl in nearly 3 years (Chipmunk was the last one we took in, at 10 days old!). Baby "Linda" is so tiny, but such a little cutie and very strong. She turned a month old on Sunday. 

 

All the Boys

 

 Our boys are at such a fun age as they are all learning to smile. "Patches" (above) was the first to arrive and, as such, is the most spoiled (or at least I think so, Sue would probably argue with that)

"Zaccheus" is my special one - check out that cheeky grin!

Jester and Auntie Victoria are especially fond of this quizzical little guy, "K-Lo". He is actually smiling too - but he's a lot harder to amuse!

As you can imagine, with 4 babies under 3 months, days (and nights!) have gotten a lot busier around the baby home. We are looking forward to the arrival of an extra set of hands in the form of our new house-mother Dineo who will be arriving on Friday.