Enjoying "school"!

Hi All,

Well, last week started of with me having food poisening/ a stomach bug or something. I woke up on Sunday night being so ill that Wes had to feed Caden and look after him for the rest of the day. I went to the doctor and luckily got a drip which made me feel a whole lot better! Finally on Wednesday I went back to work, which was okay I guess. I'm definitely not use to sitting in one place in front of a desk anymore! Luckily time flew and I could go and get Caden. He really seems to enjoy staying with tannie Annetjie, he's always so peaceful when I go to get him. Yesterday his friend Anè was also there by them and the two of them slept the whole morning! When we got home I put him in his bumbo chair (compliments of ouma Rina) and had his mobile in front of him. He's starting to grab at things now, it's so cute. Hopefully he'll start holding on to them soon! Saturday night we went to Kevin and Darryl's 30th birthday party which was a 70's theme. We had so much fun and everybody really made an effort in dressing up! Will post some pics soon. Caden stayed at home with ouma Rina and was wide awake, chatting away when we got home. Thanx ouma for looking after him so well!
We had so many birthdays this month! Congratualtions to aunt Nettie for Sunday, hope you had a great day and got spoilt rotten! And happy birthday to aunt Lettie for today and to ouma grootjie for Thursday. May God bless this year for you and all the years to come! Well, I'm trying to find out what Wesley wants for his birthday which is coming up soon as well, but he just won't budge! Does anybody have any ideas???

Anyway, hope everyone's well and healthy and looking forward to summer!
Oh, just also have to say that Caden is in number 2 nappies now! We're so proud!

Have a great week!

Elriza

Happy Birthday Ohpaw!

Happy birthday ohpaw! We hope you had a fantastic day and that all your dreams come true this year! We love you very very much!

We had an action packed day yesterday! It started off with Ame's stork tea which went really well and she got so many great gifts! Caden was very well behaved and loving all the attention from the ladies! Then we went to Conrad and Megan's house and Caden got to meet little Deqlan, Samm and Mark for the first time. It was so much fun having Caden, Keaton and little Deqlan in the playroom, watching the bubbles that Samm was blowing and listening to the baby Einstein dvd's. Thanx guys for an awesome afternoon. Then we went to Crawdaddy's to celebrate ohpaw's birthday with unlce Martin, aunt Barbara, Michelle and Peter. It was so much fun! Thanx so much uncle Martin and aunt Barbara for inviting us!

Well, tomorrow is d-day! I'm going back to work and Caden's going to tannie Annetjie. I hope I'll manage the day without him!

Anyway, hope everybody had a great weekend and good luck with the rest of the week!

Lots of Love
Elriza

Hi All,

Wow, I can't believe how big our little warrior is getting. He officially grew out of all his prem clothes! And he's getting so interested in his rattles and toys!

His cold seems to have completely dissapeared and his nose is finally open! One of the doctors told me to put a couple of drops of breastmilk in his nose, which I thought was a bit disgusting at first, but she said it had anti-bacterial properties so I gave it a try. It worked within the first day! So now he can finally breathe again!

I also just wanna say bye to uncle Koevoet who left for Madagascar on Tuesday. Hope everything goes well and that you enjoy the new job! Wesley's friend Carl from the UK arrives here today, and we can't wait for him to meet little one. I'm sure Wes is gonna enjoy having him around! I had a wonderful two days now with my mom, aunt Elriza, aunt Lettie and Jolene. We were going to the shops buying things for Ame's twins (who have now been named Lerees and Amia) and coloured our hair and just pretended we were on holiday! It was so nice! Ame is still doing well and in her 29th week now, and the twins are just over kg each!

Other than that, we don't have a lot of news. We're really looking forward to the weekend. It's ohpaw's birthday and we're gonna go eat at Crawdaddy's with uncle Martin and aunt Barbara, who will also meet little Caden for the first time! Can't wait! Oh, and I decided to take today and tomorrow off, so now I'm only back at work on Monday!

Anyway, hope everybody has a great weekend!

Lots of Love

Elriza

First day at "school"

Hi All,

Well I'm glad to report that Caden's rash is gone and his cold seems to be going away. Unfortunetly Weasel now has a cold so he has to sleep in the spare bedroom which as you can think is not very nice!
On Saturday we had a very nice braai and Melanie and Ludwig came to see little one for the first time. We had so much food left over, so we ate all Sunday long! Loren also came to visit and Caden gave her a very nice smile (little flirt!). Sunday I had coffee with Megs, Keaton and Loren and it was so awesome seeing little Keaton and how he's grown! On Tuesday Ivan came around to see little one as well and I was spoiled with lunch and a whole bunch of pastries for dessert! Mmmm, thanx Ive! Yesterday I took him to Vista to see the people again and he gave one of his best smiles to the Unit Managers! We were so proud, (again, little flirt!). To add to all the chaos that hit us these past weeks (like the geyser breaking), our washing machine and our oven door broke! What is up with the planets? I really wish this bad spell will go away now cause it might end up being cheaper just buying a new home, hie-hie. Anyway, so last night I quickly went to ouma Rina to do our washing and little man was talking up a storm! Even had his ouma in tears! (Well done little man!). I then quickly went to Megs for coffee and to weigh the little man and can you believe it, he is a full 3.71kg! Fattiboomstix! Keaton and Caden also finally had a good look at eachother and just stared at this little stranger opposite them. It was very cute! I also just want to congratulate Dylan, one of weasel's friends in America who got married last weekend! Hope you guys have many great years to come! Today was definitely one of the most difficult days for me so far because I dropped Caden off at tannie Annetjie (anja's mom) who is going to be looking after him when I go back to work in two weeks. Wow, who knew it would be so difficult! I was in tears all the way back! But on the other hand I am so incredibly grateful that God sent her to us. There is no better place for Caden and I know he's just gonna love staying by her. I can't believe my maternity leave ends in two weeks! Time really has flown by! Caden is becoming such a little character. He even laughed out loud for the first time on Sunday. It was in his sleep, but I'm sure that counts!

Anyway, that's enough from us for now. Hope everyone has a great weekend and get lots of rest!

Love
Elriza

Not feeling so well

Hi All,

Caden went for his injections yesterday and oh my goodness does he like to give us frights! He had to have two injections and the nurse gave the first one, he cried, then she gave him the second one, and he cried again, and then he just stopped. Stopped moving, stopped crying, didn't do a thing! It looked like his heart stopped! The nurse grabbed him and was ready to run up to casualty with him when he gave her this foul look and moaned a bit again. She was flabberghasted! We couldn't believe that he was so quiet. She even said after that that she prefers it if they scream! Wow, so another heart-stopping event for us! Then last night he vomited in dad's hand (yummy) and at around 3h00 this morning he got a slight fever. I then proceeded to wipe him down with wet-wipes...THE BIGGEST MISTAKE EVER! This morning his entire little body was covered in a very red rash! All because of me! To add insult to injury I clipped his little nails and just as I reached the last one, the thumb, he moved and I accidentaly clipped him. Oh my goodness, it's just the worst feeling in the world! I felt sooooo horrible, but luckily it doesn't look too bad. I bathed him in some rooibos tea to soothe the rash, and it looks like that's working. So a hectic couple of days, but hopefully it's over now!

Oh, I also forget to mention last time that our geyser broke on Saturday so we didn't have hot water until yesterday when our friend Justin came to fix it. Thanx Justin! You don't know how for granted we take the little things until it's gone!

Anyway, I hope you all had a better week than we did! Luckily we're halfway through it!

Lots of Love
Elriza

Strong medicine

Hi All,

This week absolutely flew by and you can see how much little one has grown just in the last couple of days! He's talking so much and is really getting such a cute personality now! He even throws little tantrums when he wants his dummy. His nose is still very blocked and he still has a cough. On Thursday we gave him the coryx that the doc said we should use if his symptoms don't clear up and my oh my what a mistake that was! Our little one started shaking like mad, it was his epilepsy twitches times ten! When we looked at the side-effects it said tremors, convulsions etc. etc., so we phoned the doctor and he said we should just check his breathing and wait it out. If his breathing gets affected at all we must take him to the ER! Well, Wes and I didn't take our eyes off of caden until 24h00 when the tremors finally stopped. Shame, Wes had to go to work the next day with bloodshot eyes, but he managed to get through it! We had such a fright, but luckily it's all fine now. The only problem is that we can't give him anything other than saline and panado for his cold now. Hopefully eventually it'll do the trick, but I feel so sorry for him, he really struggles to breathe through that nose!

Yesterday he was so awake and we got to play for a long time! He also met Dale and Lisa for the first time and got a beautiful teddy, thanx Lees! At about 14h00 I quickly went to Unitas to go and get his epilepsy medicine, but they didn't have stock. Then I went to two other pharmacies, and they didn't have any stock either. I even phoned Carstenhoff but their pharmacy was closed to the public over weekends! I started panicking, because I realised too late that the bottle was finished, and he had to have the medicine that same day! After a couple of phone calls and two hours of searching we finally found some at Dis-chem, phew! When I eventually got home I bathed our little angel and then we had a very chilled braai with Yolandi, Gerrie, Ettiene, Adriana and Anel. It was so nice and the food was incredible!!! This morning we had a king's breakfast and after that aunt Lettie came to meet Caden. Now we are doing our usual Sunday nothing, how nice!

Wes's job is going well, he seems to enjoy it, especially working office hours now and not in the evenings and over weekends! It's just a lot of new things to learn, but that's the case with any new job. Other than that we're all doing well and looking forward to another week of development. I can't believe he's 4 months old already!

Anyway, have a great week and don't work too hard

Lots of Love

Elriza

So much news!

Hi All,

So much has happened in the last two weeks! Two Saturdays ago we took Caden to go visit ohpaw Zak and we went to Magnolia gardens for breakfast. It was so nice!! The next day we took Caden for his first holiday! We went to Cape Town on the train. It was so relaxing and the train really seemed to soothe little one! Although he had so many dirty daipers I think the train-staff were not impressed, hie-hie. The next day we arrived and were greeted with open arms by granny at the train station. We were so relieved to have a shower and freshen up a bit and we relaxed the rest of the day. It was so great seeing grampy, Brendon, granny grey and the rest of the family again. The next day we dropped ouma Rina off at work in Sumerset West and went to drive around. I had terrible hayfever (again) and slept most of the way. Once again we had a relaxing evening. The next day after ouma finished work we went for a wine tasting at Oude Libertas and ate some cheeses at Fairview, how divine! During the week we also went to Blue Peter on Blouberg strand and had a very nice picnic in the Kirstenbosch gardens! It was truly a wonderful holiday. It was also awesome showing Caden to his godparents for the first time (Nicky and Morne) and also to Mrs & Mr Els, Nicky's parents and her sister, Marcelle. Caden had a great time talking to Mrs Els and staring at the black and white painted wall in their living room. Nicky's looking very well, at 31 weeks pregnant you are glowing! Thanks for a great evening! Thanks granny & grampy Paul for opening your home to us and for a very lekker holiday! We had to go home on Father's Day so unfortunately we couldn't do anything but spend time together, which was just as nice! Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful fathers in our lives! Ohpaw Zak, Grampy Charles, Wes and oom Koevoet, may you know how much you mean to the people around you and to all the lives you touch with your greatness! WE LOVE YOU LOTS!

Unfortunately our holiday had to end on a bit of a down note. During the week we noticed Caden developed a slight cough, but it was only once about every 3 days and could easily have been mistaken for a little choke. The first day back on the train however, it become a lot worse and Caden became very niggely and moany with his nose blocked and sneezing all the time. At first we thought it might be an allergy because his eyes were very red and watery but the doctor said allergies don't appear like that at such a young age, it would have rather been a rash. Today we took him to dr. Vermaak and he said that Caden definetly has a cold, but luckily only in the nose and not in the chest yet! So we got some medicine and now we're under house arrest again for a while. We're just praying that this cold goes away quickly and doesn't move to his chest, because then he could end up in ICU again!

Anyway, we're taking it easy, Wes is starting his new job tomorrow so we're having a relaxing evening in front of the t.v.

Hope everybody had a great long weekend and enjoy the short week ahead!

Lots of Love
Elriza

P.S. Caden now weighs 3.18kg!!!

Still growing!

Hi All,

Well, since Caden's been off the oxygen it feels like our schedules just got busier! Last Tuesday our poor little monkey had to go for his 6 week immunisations. He had to get a different injection to the one the state supplies because one of the side effects of the state's one can be epilepsy, and because Caden is on the Phenobarb, we obviously can't have that. The plus side is that he only has to get one injection instead of two, but the down side is that it's very expensive. But our warrior was so brave when the nurse injected him. He only gave one cry and that was it. However, the couple of days to follow were definitely not easy. He didn't get a fever, but he definitely had an overwhelming tone of general unhappiness. After a couple of sleepless nights he finally settled. On Saturday I went to Loren's baby shower while dad looked after baba, and later that day our monkey went to Ouma Rina for about 2 and a half hours. Wes and I met up with some friends and the first hour felt like it would never pass!!! I can't believe how difficult it is to leave him. When we went to pick him up though I saw all my worries were for nothing because he was so peaceful and sound asleep! On Sunday morning we went to uncle Pete on the farm, and what a new experience it was (for both of us). While Caden was loving the fresh air, I was fidgeting like a maniac, watching out for spiders, boerbulls and all sorts of other "wild" nature things! Eventually I settled and we got to enjoy a beautiful day outside, with such fresh air, something we're not use to anymore! It was also so great seeing Peter again! We got home and had a great rest after a big lunch, the way Sundays are supposed to be! Yesterday I went to go show our boy off to all the people at Vista. It's always so nice to see people oohing and aahing over your child. We had a lot of prayers from their side, so it was nice to show them the result! Later in the afternoon ouma Rina had to give him a Synagis injection to protect him from a certain kind of flu. And once again he gave about two big cries, but as soon as the needle was out he was quiet. Thanx so much ouma, I know it was very difficult for you to do, but we appreciate it lots and now baba is protected for the winter! Today I'm packing baba's newborn (yes, he's in newborn clothes now, even though he still drowns in them) out. I just realised again how blessed we are, because his cupboards are almost too small for everything!

Anyway, hope everybody has a great week! I'm off to feed the little monkey now!

Lots of Love

Elriza

Out and about

Hi All,

Well, we've had an action-packed weekend taking our little warrior to go and explore the outside world. On Friday me, Caden and ouma Rina went to the mall to go develop some photos and get a baby book, but before we went I gave Caden his Phenobarb, which makes him VERY sleepy. As we came out of Her Annies, a craft shop, I saw Caden's hands were freezing cold, and he was so fast asleep that you could lift his hands and they just dropped lifelessly. When I showed this to ouma Rina she got the fright of her life and jumped out of the car to start resuscitating Caden (She didn't know his baby monitor was on so she thought he stopped breathing). This was very understandable because he has a very pale skin (from the Danish side) and his hands almost looked blue. I was so proud of her quick response, but I'm sorry you got such a fright!!! Caden was fine, just sleeping very deeply, so we enjoyed the rest of the afternoon with peace of mind.

Saturday morning we had Caden's newborn photoshoot and got some stunning pictures. My friend Loren took the photos, go check them out on:
http://www.lorenstowphotography.blogspot.com/ and click on Caden Paul. Thank so much Loren, I think the photos are incredible!

Then we went to Conrad and Megan's for a braai Saturday afternoon and ate like kings, thanks guys! Caden was very well behaved, just sleeping and waking up only to eat. Thanks my angel! A very big congratulations to Grant and Coreen who got engaged! May you guys have many wonderful years and memories together! You make a fantastic couple and I'm sure you'll have a very full life together!

Then on Sunday morning it was time to show Caden to the Friis side of the family. I was so impressed with how many people showed up to see our little warrior, and once again he was very well behaved. Happy birthday to Marycia for Sunday as well, hope you got spoiled rotten and may you have many more happy years to come!

Well, that's all from us for now, hope everybody has a great week, and good luck with the cold for those of us here in Gauteng!

Lots of Love
Elriza

Off the Oxygen!!!

Hi All,

Sorry for the late update but we had an eventful couple of days! As you can probably see from the title our little warrior is finally off the oxygen and coping very well. We slept over (unexpectedly) at the hospital and they monitored him overnight. He kept his stats at 97 - 100 the whole time except when he was going into a deep sleep, which is normal according to dr. Vermaak. Maybe it was because he had a pink blanket? We are so extremely proud of him! Wes and I are still looking for the pipes everytime we move him, but I suppose that's only natural. He also went to the eye doctor and he's very happy, so atleast the oxygen didn't affect his eyesight. I noticed some rythmic twitching over the last couple of weeks and told dr. Vermaak about it. According to him it's not normal so he sent him for a brain sonar. Luckily nothing showed up, but he gave Caden some medicine that he has to take for the next 3 months incase it's an early stage epilepsy. If it's not then the medicine won't have any effect, but if it is it should clear up after this course. I was so incredibly proud of our warrior, he didn't cry once during the eye appointment or during the sonar. I heard the other babies screaming, and started to worry a bit, but he was so brave!
Thank you so much for all the prayers and thank you our Lord for this wonderful gift! Now Caden must just grow grow grow!

Thank you granny, grampy and granny grey for all the amazing things you did for us during your stay, we appreciate it more than you know! Thanx Megs for the very cute baby grow and the nappies, they will come in very handy! Thank you Melanie and Ludwig, or should I say Helmut and Charlotte for all Caden's toys, we can't wait to see him playing with the musical mobiles and gadgets! Thank you everyone for your continuous prayers and support. We are a very blessed family with so many people who care for our beautiful warrior!

Anyway, I hope everybody enjoys the rest of the week, don't work too hard!

Lots and lots of love
Elriza