Hello

19 July 2011

I have been perusing my blog archives (both online and unpublished) today to see how much I have grown the past years. Turns out, I haven't really. I did, however, discover a well of inspiration that made me think, did I really write this and was that what my living room looked like once upon a time? I felt nostalgic reading through entries that were awfully cheesy, quite depressing and most especially inspiring. I have had some good laughs going through them. At least I amuse myself sometimes.

I miss blogging. I miss the joy of hopping to someone's blog, writing a comment and leaving feeling inspired by their words and pictures. I miss the connection with people who have become my friends, albeit in the blog world, but friends nonetheless. I miss the thrill of getting the words down so I can press that enter button and publish my thoughts online. I miss being inspired by and being an inspiration to people. I miss, I miss, I miss a lot of things. So I am taking on a challenge to get back out there and experience all of it again.

xoxo,
Gracey

P.S. If you want to have a laugh, read this. It may be just what you need.

Expanding my horizons

20 October 2010 I have been living here in Rotterdam for six years now, but I never really went somewhere by myself that I haven't been before yet. I guess you can attribute it to my fear of getting lost, as I am directionally-challenged, in a country where English isn't the first language. Gone were the days where I lived a spontaneous and daring I-can-conquer-the-world lifestyle; when I trusted people easily and saw the world with different eyes. I rarely venture out by myself when I am not familiar with the place but, now that I am a mother, I am beginning to learn to be more independent for Maya's sake.

So, yesterday, was a day of many firsts for me and Maya. Firstly, we went to the Mom & Tots group we have recently joined. We made quite a few friends and are looking forward to seeing them again next week. I think it was just the right time to expose Maya in the company of other children as she is now more aware of her surroundings and can somehow communicate clearly what she wants, while I got to hone my rusty social skills to my new acquaintances. It helps that everyone there speaks English. I feel more at ease than if it was in Dutch.

Secondly, I have never been out alone with Maya outside our home for more than two hours, much less to a place that's 45 minutes away. To say that I'm proud of myself is an understatement. It was an accomplishment! It is much easier for me to take Maya out now that she is used to her buggy again and I can distract her without picking her up when she cries. But she didn't cry at all yesterday! She was all smiles and giggles, and slept without any fuss when she was tired. She was a doll!

I, on the other hand, was socially awkward when I interacted with the other moms there. They were a welcoming and friendly bunch, no doubt about that. It's just that I haven't really met new people lately without Mike as a buffer. It threw me for a loop... having to be social to people I don't know. Most of the women there already knew each other and were a bit older than me so I mostly observed when I wasn't watching Maya play or when no one was talking to me. It made me realize how my life is severely lacking, socially-speaking. I suddenly felt the overwhelming need to make new friends and get out more; to venture outside of my comfort zone and see the world out there, because I feel like I didn't grow at all. You could say that I've practically lived under a rock the past few years. It's time for me to spread my wings, so to speak. And having Maya is giving me the courage to do just that, because I want to be a better person for myself and for her.

Getting back in the groove

14 October 2010 I am itching to write, I really am. I simply don't have the time. And, when I do, the mood is long gone and getting some rest is more favorable than sitting behind my desk.

So, this is my new layout. I think it looks neat. It still needs some polishing but I'll get to that later. As for now, I am happy with this new look. It's clean and not too flashy.

I have a lot of good stuff planned for this blog. I will be sharing recipes of fast and easy home cooked meals, home improvement tips and photos, and my life as a first time mom.

Soon. Very soon. I will be back to regular blogging. :)

Coming right up!

06 September 2010 So my new blog design is in the works and will be done as soon as my free time doesn't consist of finishing chores and catching up on sleep. I'm so excited to have the new layout out and the many possibilities of good things! I'm really looking forward to this.

I'm currently waiting for the last load of laundry to finish before I head to bed. Fortunately, it's been a rather quiet night for Maya so I'm taking this time to update. It's been a couple of weeks of almost sleepless nights and full days of looking after Maya alone while also doing my job as a housewife. It's tough but I'm getting the hang of it. We have established a routine that works for us and it's getting easier everyday. It's new for me to have a structured routine since I've been used to living without one for years, and being consistent is a challenge. I find myself liking the predictability of the day, though. And, surprisingly enough, I am more motivated to do things that I always tend to put aside for "tomorrow". I don't leave things unfinished when I can have it done before I retreat in the comforts of my bedroom unlike before. No more dirty dishes in the sink or laundry in the washing machine. I tidy up the living area so not to be greeted by chaos in the morning. I like my mornings clear of clutter.

I've been talking about sleep or the lack thereof in my Facebook status as of late. Maya is teething and has reached many milestones in her 6 months of life. Her erratic sleeping pattern is driving us crazy for the past two weeks and there's nothing much we can do about it. She wakes up every half an hour, sometimes fifteen minutes after we put her down for her bedtime, leaving us no room for rest. This goes on until morning and the cycle continues again when the day ends. I dread the evenings/nights since then. I have now officially become a morning person.



Her sleeping issues aside, she is a very happy baby. She can sit up straight by herself for a minute. She mimics sounds. She can crawl backwards, roll over and back, pick up and hold things in her tiny hands. She loves sucking her big toe. Sometimes she stuffs her foot in her mouth. She sucks her thumb rarely. She laughs a lot, too, even at times when I'm not trying to make her. She eats solids now and loves fruits and carrots. She gags and make a face when we feed her beans so we alternate it with fruit just so she finishes it. She's still breastfeeding and won't take the bottle. We're teaching her to drink from a sippy cup now. She only chews on it but it's only been a week. She mumbles when she cries like she's telling you something. A series of "M" sounds like mommy, mama, mmmm and a whole lot of other nonsensical syllables only she understands. She's a talker, I'm pretty sure of it.

Anyway, the laundry is done, finally! So this is it for now.

New Home

27 August 2010 I'm thinking of refurbishing this site. As you can see, most of the photos are gone in my previous entries because Mike accidentally deleted the photo folder in the webserver and I don't have them saved somewhere, so I was thinking, maybe, it'd be nice to have a clean break and start anew. I don't have the time to dig through my photo library and update it. I barely have time to blog nowadays. So, hopefully, I get this blog restarted very soon.

xoxo

It's been a while

14 June 2010 My Macbook's hard drive recently died along with all of Maya's photos. To say that I'm devastated is an understatement. It wasn't backed up except for the first 15 days I was able to save. I've learned to tune the thought of it out lest I burst into tears and I'm still in denial. I didn't mourn the death of my first Macbook, which I loved dearly, as much as I did Maya's photographs.

Maya is growing really well. She weighs 6.2 kgs and is 60 cms long at three months! Carrying her is a workout on its own - not to mention the rocking, dancing and bending we do to get her to sleep. Yes, I meant bending like you're doing an air squat with her in your arms. It's the only action that gets her to stay still and quiet immediately when she fusses. It's our fault, I know, and there's nothing much we can do about it now unless we do the pick-up/put-down method I read in baby books, which is a real pain to do and can't be done alone. I just hope she'll outgrow this pretty soon.

She can lift her head and shoulders now and is starting to attempt crawling. She does this swimming pose when lying on her belly. She has really strong legs and can stand on her own supported by the arm of a sofa or when held under her arms.

~*~

This blog entry was 2 months delayed. Didn't want to delete it so I'm just posting it as it is. I want to write again as I miss blogging so much! I simply just don't have the time.

Waiting, patiently, for spring

07 April 2009 It's back to dreary and freezing cold days.

Sigh.

Only had a day or two of sunshine the past week.

I'm so more than ready to ditch the coats and jackets.

Spring, please come soon.

I promise I will go out more.

Play more.

Take more pictures.

Be more social.

Just... give me a sign you're on your way.

Please.