Self image

Posted on April 22, 2013 by Mlle B

I’ve been trying to get a post done for several days and am stuck. So when I came across this video today I though: Forget the other post. I’ll put it up when I can. This is really a great video… eye opening so to speak!

I know that I see myself in a very different way than others do. I have no idea who they see though, and have always wondered. I would have so loved to be in this project! It’s also amazing to see how most of us women have the same issues with our self image…. and I have to wonder why? Why do we still believe the stupid magazines?? Even when we know it’s all photoshop??

I hope everyone who watches this will start to look at themselves a little differently!!

Name trouble

Posted on April 18, 2013 by Mlle B

Baby #2 is practically 1/2 done… In other words I’m 20 weeks along… and much to my dispair we still haven’t picked a name out. The thing is the names I like are either not easily pronounceable here in Brazil and the poor little guy will probably be made fun of for it at school, or they’re too popular and there are a billion kids in his generation with that name already… We haven’t found any name that either of us have absolutely fallen in love with yet. I know a lot of people wait till they meet baby for the first time and then apparently it suddenly becomes clear… but what if it doesn’t? Poor little guy will be here and no name??

Here in Brazil there’s this custom of hanging some kind of “art” with the baby’s name on the door of the maternity room. Maybe we’ll just hang a sign saying something like: “welcome baby …? ” Or we hang a little chalk board so people could write down their suggestions! Seriously… we got to come up with something soon!

Also baby related: still unsure about our birth plan… the more I ask around and talk to people and doctors, the less I know. Each person tells me something different… and it’s scary. I did make an appointment with a new doctor, so lets see what she tells me and how I feel about it all after that… I’m hoping some little light bulb will go on in my brain making everything clear and me absolutely sure about the doctor and the plan. But for now it’s still a bit blurry. There are so many options now a days: water birth, normal birth, c-section, with painkillers without painkillers, at home, in the hospital… How should I know?? Back in the day there was birth full stop. No planning or making appointments for C-sections… Women just struggled and suffered and pushed their babies out. Have we women lost our inner strength?? I mean, it’s normal to avoid pain isn’t it? Thing is there are so many things out there that do just that that we have become afraid of pain. We see it as something bad, to be avoided at all costs… except of course if it means we will be more beautiful or thin after it…. Then it’s O.K. (and please don’t think I’m excluding myself. I am the first to admit: I am scared of labour and how much pain I can take). Especially after a C-section…. I never went through labour, didn’t feel the pain…. I don’t know what to expect… In a sense, although it’s my second pregnancy it will be my first giving birth experience. ( I hope!!).

PS: I hate a post with no photos… but I really didn’t have anything relavent to put up so… sorry about that!

back from the sea

Posted on April 15, 2013 by Mlle B

We went to the beach to spend a few days by the sea. Mlle. absolutely LOVES all that’s related to water (and sand). The first few days it was my parents, Mlle. N and I there. Then on Sunday my father had to leave and it was just my mother and I to look after N. It’s crazy just how tired we were! She gets so excited to be out in the open, running around in a big house that we were going nuts running after her!! It was great fun, but now we’re really tired and need a break!

Then Mr. D finally came back!! I was sooo happy. Being a single mom sucks. I admire anyone who is brave enough to do it! Even though I am the one dealing with most things in the home and child department around here for now it still makes a huge difference when the husband comes home and I can take a shower without leaving the door half open in case Miss N wakes up… Or even things like when she does wake up at night one of us stays with her while the other prepares a bottle.

So now we are a all back together and the little guy in my belly is also moving around quite a bit to make sure nobody forgets about him!!

Here are a mish mash of photos of the beach days. Some are from my DSRL and some from my phone:

Whoever follows me on Instagram have probably aready seen a lot of these. (ballain77)

day out

Posted on April 4, 2013 by Mlle B

On Sunday we went to the lake where my dad has a hoby cat. Nobody actually sailed since we arrived a bit late but we hung out by the water and Mlle. had lots of fun!

She learnt how to climb on chairs all by herself and got to play in a caiaque that was not in the water, contrary to how it looks… It’s always such a relief to have her run around outdoors… Any little escape from the city is worth it!

Plumbing adventures/DIY gone wrong!

Posted on April 3, 2013 by Mlle B

It’s funny how when I’m visiting apartments to rent/buy if I go into one I immediately don’t like all I can see are the defaults. Suddenly I find all sorts of problems. When the opposite happens though and I like the place I seem to overlook all the issues.

Even when I do see stuff I tend to dismiss it lightly as something we can either fix later or easily live with. It takes moving in, to really see what you’ve gotten yourself into! Since we moved in the new apartment we’ve been slowly finding out about everything that isn’t working. It started out with a leak in the bathroom sink that caused the whole cabinet underneath it to rot so it had to be removed and we are now waiting on a new one. Then all the cupboards in the kitchen and laundry room proved to also be in bad shape.

We then went on to find out there was a sink that was clogged up…. Now all this isn’t that bad since it is slowly (very slowly considering the plumber comes an average of 2 -3 hours late each day) being fixed. The owner, who lived here previously is old, very old and didn’t seam to notice a lot of things that needed taking care of or replacing.

Yesterday my father who is a major handy man (and usually solves all minor and sometimes major household repairs) went to drill some holes in a wall where we wanted to install a work table for an office. He’s always really careful when drilling and looks to make sure there are no cables or pipes running through the wall. Unfortunately though, there was one and we missed it since it was placed diagonally in a wall that made no sense to have water running through it…. End result: my dad drilled through the pipe and we got some water spurting out… Then, much to our despair as we tried to close all the general faucets to make it stop we noticed they were all jammed and hadn’t been closed for years. Not long after that the downstairs neighbour knocked on our door saying there was a waterfall coming out of his closet! So much for being the discreet new neighbours… I’m sure everyone in the building knows who we are now since it took the plumber a good half our to figure out the general switch in the building and get it to stop! The whole building had to have the water cut off for about an hour so we could fix the pipe… and the poor couple downstairs got all their clothes soaked!! How embarrassing! Now we have a new hole in the wall and everything is chaos again! Mr. D was so lucky to be travelling and not have to deal with this!! So unfair!!

Moved, Easter and single mommyhood….

Posted on April 2, 2013 by Mlle B

So we made it! Finally!!! New home… Things are still a little up in the air, some stuff needs fixing, but all in all we are settled in. I’m very happy to be here with all the things made easier for me… but I do miss two things dearly: Our old kitchen and bathroom!! Our “new” kitchen is from the 70′s and so is the bathroom, but not in a cool funky way. More like in a brown dingy way if you know what I mean…. Still, I’m not complaining… The elevator is lovely! And i’m also in love with the fact that I can throw out the trash any time of day or night in my pjs since it’s just outside our door…. Also, love that the building recycles so I don’t have to keep lugging bags and bags of used packages to the supermarket each time where they have the big bins.

This is still in the old place, hence the green wall… Now it’s all white for the time being.

Miss N came home from school with bunny ears on Thursday… : )

We celebrated Easter here… I cooked some salmon with risotto for my parents and aunt….

This little girl never let me put anything in her hair, and then suddenly wanted ALL the clippy things in at once!

Yesterday Mr. D. left for the US to visit his brother and sister. Mlle. N and I stayed. It’s too expensive for us all to go and this way with the money we save he can bring back some things for baby #2. I have to admit I was/am a little (lot) envious of him going away all by himself… :(

Speaking of baby #2… My birth plan has been turned upside down. I went to a talk/gathering for mothers to be about the differences between natural births and what they are calling humanized births here…. Much to my dispair, I realized at the end of the night that I am most likely going to have to change doctors and pay for the birth ourselves. It is almost impossible to have a normal birth in the hospitals paid by health insurance that is not a C section in Brazil now a days! It’s absurd, but the truth. I really don’t want to have another one!! I think it was unnecessary for N to be born that way. Now looking back, it’s so clear to me. At the time I was confused and scared and would have agreed to almost anything my doctor said. This time around I think I know a little better and also trust my body more. So I have started looking up alternative ways to give birth… actually, more natural ways… It’s a little scary but I’m so sure it’s how it’s supposed to be. Women were made to give birth from down there, so why are we all being induced and cut and made to go through such major surgery??

Anyway, more on that later… For now I have to get the house in order, pack our bags… (we are going to the beach for a few days while D’s away).

A must read for all parents!!

Posted on March 21, 2013 by Mlle B

Since I’m a little swamped this week, here’s a wonderful post I think anyone who’s a parent or considering becoming one should read. It really helps take some of that pressure off, and it’s funny!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/una-lamarche/how-to-be-a-perfect-parent_b_2888253.html

I used to love moving…

Posted on March 20, 2013 by Mlle B

I was trying to add up how many times I’ve moved in my life so far… It looks something like this:

I’ve moved Countries 8 times, and homes about 21 times. I used to like moving. It was an opportunity to: get rid of old stuff, do some major spring cleaning, bring in the new… A great excuse to re-decorate… Change wall colors, the list goes on and on. This however, was before I became a mother.

In our previous moves as a couple we did the work together. Packing boxes, hauling them up and down stairs… (no, we never had an elevator!!) But since I’ve become a mother and Mr.D must be the one working the most to sponsor our growing family I am the only one packing boxes around here and it’s no fun by yourself! Also since I’m pregnant I can’t really carry the damn things once they’re packed so I find myself sort of in the midst of a sea of boxes having to jump around them or push them to the corners of the room.

We move on Saturday morning.. and there’s still so much to do! Usually between the two of us we tend to unpack and have everything in it’s place in about 3 days. That’s pretty quick. Our method was always unpacking EVERYTHING at once and slowly putting things in their places once again. I somehow doubt we’ll be able to use this method with a 15 month old little girl in the midst of all that though! We’ll have to come up with a new plan!!

I have this great photo of Mr.D and I surrounded by a complete total mess from one of our many moves together… It’s quite funny, but of course, the DVD’s with my old photos are in some box… So I will have to post that one later on when I find it.

Today my amazing dad came over to help me dismantle some furniture and fill up all the holes we made in the walls… As he did so he mentioned how very soon he will most likely be drilling new ones in our new apartment for me… Yep, we like to hang a LOT of stuff up and my poor dad is always left with the dirty work…. That’s what happens when you retire and have your daughter live close by!!

Teething, temper tantrums and Feist.

Posted on March 15, 2013 by Mlle B

I’ve never been very keen on the whole technology thing with babies or very young children. Always thought it’s best to wait till they’re older to introduce them to all that. In the world we live in today however, that’s virtually impossible. We sit around computers all day and our cell phones are always at hand. What child hasn’t played with their parents cell phone?

Last night, after doing a lot of thinking, I decided not to impose on N that she sleep in her room by herself. I realized we are in the middle of a move, there are boxes all over the house, things are a little strange and different. Also she’s going through some really tough teething right now that is clearly very uncomfortable for her. To add to that Mr. D will be going to the US for almost 2 weeks beginning of next month. By then we will also be in the new apartment so that’s even more change for Mlle. I think now is not the time to go to “war” with this little girl. A friend of mine suggested I let her sleep where she feels safe, and right now it’s in our room… I placed her mattress on the floor next to me and when she’s really bothered with her teet we put her in our bed a bit.

Last night was pretty gruesome still… She had 3 bouts of uncontrollable crying and it was clearly her teeth driving her mad. After trying almost everything I could to get her attention away from her teeth and crying the only thing that worked was putting her favorite song on Daddy’s phone for her to watch over and over and over again!

So for this once: I say thank you technology, and thank you Feist!!

Sunday in the city

Posted on March 14, 2013 by Mlle B

We took Miss N to Sesc Pompeia. There is a Sesc in practically every neighborhood here in SaoPaulo. I love them! I guess it’s the equivalent to a community center in the US.

The one in Pompeia is especially nice…. The building used to be a factory of some sort and is very interesting. They have exhibitions, presentations of all kinds, concerts, a swimming pool, cafeteria, library etc. This time we also discovered this great place for small kids! It’s a room full of things to do and climb for young children up to 6 years old. They ask only that you accompany your child and take your shoes off. Miss N went absolutely bonkers over the wall of balls! She was so excited, screaming for joy, it was a real treat to see! The only draw back is the space is only open on weekends and bank holidays from 12 to 17hs. I wish they’d open everyday it would be something great to do on a rainy afternoon!

I took some photos of her but also of the building. Unfortunately I had the wrong lense, only a 5omm when I needed a much wider angle so there’s not much to see… maybe next time we go I’ll take some more.