It's nice when you can say that you are happy. Really nice. I was looking around on the internet to find some nice quotes and images to match the happiness we feel in this home.
We love Christ in this home and we love all the good He gave us. So I would like to share some scriptures here with you. All God wants is for you to be truly happy. And true happiness is so much and abundant. Life is too short to feel mediocre or just to go through life OK. You deserve the best in every way.
These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. –Jesus Christ (John 15:11-12)
I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. (Ecclesiastes 3:12)
Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work—this is a gift of God. (Ecclesiastes 5:19)
The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes. (Psalm 19:8)
Since the last 3 weeks life for us Joneses has changed a bit. We have wonderful outies with Blissie to the swimmingpool. She is 6 months now so time to start the floating training. Some wonderful people came up with this for babies. Want to find out more, here is the link: http://www.babyswimming.com/DiaperDolphins.htm Our Blissie loves it and she is a true Diaper Dolphin. We mostly play in the water with her of course, we have to make it fun for her. She loves to walk in the baby pool, she dives in deeper water, she does a cute doggieswim to the surface, she loves her watertoys, she goes in the whirlpool with us and is learning to float on her back. We are guessing she will be able to float on her own by the age of 1. If it takes her longer or less long, whatever, it's her thing.
She started eating fruit and veggies. Mostly fruit, she loves warm fruit the most. Warm plum, apple, pear, ... She also likes melon, mango and bananas. We never mix up fruits together because she has to develop her tastepalate, and that is so important. All her food is made from scratch. If she has veggies or potatoes, we steam them. Eating is a joy to her. She of course still breastfeeds. Nothing better or healthier in the world. She still asks for it about 10 to 15 times a day. And, that is not a lot. That is a normal number. Breastfeeding is best done at request from your baby. Bottle feeding is totally different. You cannot compare the two. But it's amazing that the body is so perfectly designed so a mother can give her baby the best of the best. I love it, Bliss loves it and she will benefit from it for the rest of her live. The list of pro's is as long as my arm. It even goes so far, that when you breastfeed your kid for 2 years, she will be better at her homework and studying later in school. Her brain will do better with the breastmilk. Isn't that amazing. I have control over that now already and I can help her already so that she can be a great student later in life. I love it.
Blissie only knows how to eat with her mouth (no hands) so it's a learning process. At first I just let her play with her food. Let her explore what it is. Eating with a spoon is still very new. But it's going very good. She also loves to chew on a breadcrust.
Blissie has two teeth already so time to start brushing. Without toothpaste that is. We did some research and it is not neccecary until the baby is 1. Just brushing is enough for the new teeth. As long as you don't give processed food, tooth decay will not happen either. Tooth decay comes from eating processed food.
Carl & I had a wonderful date on Mothersday. We went swimming, just the two of us. It was weird to be there without Blissie. Then we had a nice dinner, and then home. The alone time was great.
Next month Carl has his vacation. That is gonna be great. Blissie will be 7 months and it's great to go out with her now. We'll probably go on a nice trip somewhere cool. It'll be fun.
A few weeks ago we enjoyed a great day at the beach in Oostende. Bliss had an ok day. She experienced lots of new sights. She was really tired the next day and needed lots of rest and sleep.
Carl had a really fun time too. Look at the pictures. It was definitely the highlight of our day.
Our Blissie is the coolest baby. She moves around all the time now since she can turn herself over. Belly to back, and from her back to her belly again. Moving forward is also no problem anymore. It won't be long untill she can crawl. So now putting her down for a nap is a bit challenging. We always put her down on her belly, She won't sleep any other way. And we here don't believe it's good to always put a baby on her back to sleep. Bliss hates that position too. And baby knows best, it's her body and she knows what she wants and what feels good. Nobody feels what she feels.
So this morning I put her down for her nap, and she didn't really agree. She was still making some cute noises. And I make a habit of it to check on her all the time untill she is asleep. And that is a good thing. Because I walked in on one of her stunts. It was so funny. She thought so too. It's high time we lower her mattress.
To her everything is an adventure. It's so wonderfull to go with her on her journey. And we're so greatful she is with us. It just gets better and better. As she is getting older week by week, the fun grows too. All her firsts are a joy to witness.
I love being a stay at home mommy. You know what, it's really simple. We have less income then we would have if I go out to work full time. But this is also very simple: It's not worth the money to give up all that Bliss and I share with each other. She and I are building up the greatest foundation of trust and love and peace, all because I stay home with her. To me that is priceless. I can breastfeed her throughout to day and that is so much more then putting food in her belly. It gives her the greates feeling of being secure and safe and she feels loved, love that no one else can give her but her parents. No bottle can ever give that. And I won't even mention all the healthbenifits and all the rest of the benefits it will give her for the rest of her life.
Yep, sometimes things do get too much for me. Sometimes I feel like I'm going nuts, or I'm tired of being stuck at home, or the crying baby just gets too much for me. And I'm always happy to have Carl home so he can hold her and take care of her. I love my breaks, a lot a lot a lot. My mom is a great babysitter and I love my short outies to the store or so. The first two to three months I basicly had no breaks. And it was so hard, BUT SO WORTH IT. Believe me, having a baby and taking care of her "full full time" is the hardest thing/job in the world. It is also the most important one in the world. And it pays of so big you have no idea. The happiness and joy she gives me all day long, no job or boss or colleage or paycheque has ever given me that.
Don't let me shock you now by saying this: I am in the process of setting up my own business, weddingphotographer. Don't worry, it's a job I can basicly do from home and that will only take me away from home one or two days a month. Plus I'll make sure those days, Carl will be able to stay home. He's her father and is just as important to Bliss as her mother. She loves him just the same. Yep I'm waiting with things untill Bliss is 6 months old. That's when we start with veggies and fruit. It's breastmilk full time the first 6 months and then we start with other foods. That is the healthiest way for her little body. We did some research and that's what it said. And she is happy and healthy.
I love being a photographer and I am so looking forward to giving people my work and giving them beautiful memories.
I love it when she naps, like right now. So I have some time to myself. I can get some me-time. Now I can write this without her distracting me and I can only sit here and feel so proud and happy that I have her in my life.
My goodness, our girl is 4 months old today. It actually feels like she has been around forever.
We adore her. She is a great sleeper. And she gives these adorable noises of contentment. She chooses wisely when to give her smileys out and when to just stare at you.
Who's the cutest: Blissie of course
She loves to sit up straight now and is discovering things with her mouth. We are so blessed to have this perfect little angel in our lives.
She loves her daddy so much. He always calls me at lunch and it sometimes happens that she is crying. But then when she hears his voice, she turns quiet and listens to him talk. When he's home he is always ready to take her over from me. He is the best husband and father.
Guess what: I have something else to post about then baby. But as you can see, I still have to mention: baby. Ha, yep I'm a baby-addict. Good thing, cause she's also addicted to me.
Anyways, on Sunday we ate the most delicious meal. It was my first time to eat Cornbread. Cornbread is a common bread in United States cuisine, particularly associated with the South and Southwest. Carl has been talking about how he misses Cornbread for a while now. So I finally made it. It was so good. We ate it with chicken sate's and the best dip ever: Tzatziki.
We love Alan Jackson in this home. Our openingdance at our wedding 'Remember When' was also by him. This is the song though that got us all craving for cornbread and chicken.
Tzatziki is a Greek dish. It's a dip but you can also eat it as a salad. It all tasted so great together. This here below is the original recipe. But I made quite a few changes and used just what I had laying around in the fridge.
I used 2 normal big cucumbers, Soy yoghurt (delicious), garlicpowder, an onion, lemon zest and lemon juice, chilipowder and olive oil. It was so amazing with just these ingredients.
Step 3: For the tzatziki, coarsely grate the cucumbers onto a tray covered with a clean cloth so the liquid from the cucumber can drain into the tray. Spread cucumber out evenly, season lightly with salt, cover with a clean cloth and leave for 5 minutes then roll up to extract the juice. Set drained cucumber aside. (I just used 1 kitchen cloth which worked well enough)
Step 4: Place ½ cup of the thickened yoghurt (I used 500ml) in a small bowl with the garlic, eschalot, dill, lemon zest and cayenne pepper.
Step 5: Add drained cucumber to the yoghurt mixture and stir to combine. Add olive oil and stir well. (It's also nice to not stir in the oil completely)
This food is perfect for a dinner party or to make with your kids. Fun and delicious.
