100 things that made my year (2022)

2022 is the year baby M was born and my youngest sister moved to Canada, taking my nephew and niece with her – my children bff’s. Other than those two biggies, it was a year filled with little spots of amazingness. I’ve listed 100 of them below.

1. The birth of my third child
2. Her being a girl and having that be the best surprise ever! 
3. Having another unassisted birth and this time a wild pregnancy too
4. Kahuna massage while pregnant – highly recommend 
5. Getting spoilt by work clients when on maternity leave – frozen meals and a noonoopie wrap plus other goodies.
6. Being spoilt by my sisters, both now overseas, with baby goodies & yummy healthy treats. Louise’s box arriving when I was in labour.
7. Having a baby shower – my first one – being spoilt by my mom and Drew family
8. All the parcels sent by friends of baby goodies which were so appreciated – Debbie, Simone, Theoni. Tanja & Melissa visiting and bringing goodies too. 
9. My 40 day lay in postpartum where my mother literally did everything 
10. Reaching out to and working with a lactation consultant when baby M was having a terrifying breastfeeding aversion.  Expressing & bottle feeding her for a week and then getting her back on the breast through sheer willingness work ala Marion Rose.
11. E asking if baby M could see now after the very first optometrist appointment 
12. Both of baby M’s cataract removal surgeries going better than we could’ve hoped for. The back of her eyes getting the all clear as healthy. 
13. The ophthalmologist, Dr du Bruyn, being as amazing as possible making special arrangements for us even though we weren’t private clients.
14. Overcoming my intense fear of hospitals & realizing that we live in a country with excellent medical care. And the nurses being really really nice. 
15. My husband being an absolute rock when I needed it. Coming to the hospital at 6am when I just couldn’t take another minute of being there on my own. 
16. The intention & prayer groups we formed, and hearing of the other groups of people praying for baby M too. Each and every one’s thoughts & prayers. 
17. My son making the nurses biscuits when baby M was in for her second op and them gushing over them
18. which directly got her out of a 4am vitals check while she was asleep
19. Baby M getting her glasses and seeing clearly for the first time. 
20. How much her development has gone on in the month since she got her glasses – grabbing for things, hand eye coordination, following us around the room, looking at her toes. 
21. And the optometrist assistant referring to her as Maggie-Moo in all correspondence 
22. My hubby spoiling me with custom cookies & a magnolia essential oil for Mother’s Day
23. Kids starting hockey and our fun day buying their kit at Gateway and visiting the jump park
24. Both of their first hockey tournaments where E did the bare minimum and J played his heart out
25. The zinnias flowering in my garden  
26. All of J’s cooking, especially his epic pizzas! All the meals he made while I was stuck under a sleeping baby or in a work meeting. 
27. Our walk to find the lost pools of Umdoni when I was 8 months pregnant. 
28. Our last weekend with the Landman’s visiting before they left for Canada
29. E finally getting her two front teeth 
30. Assisting at a doula clients VBAC freebirth. Baby M sleeping through the whole thing in the car with hubby. Hubby being so proud of me. 
31. J starting tap dancing, and loving it. E sticking ballet out, even if it was for the socialising only, and ending up doing so well. Both of them getting gold for their dancing assessments 
32. Both of them enjoying their dance year end show so much, the whole family watching and how proud their uncles were of them. 
33. J’s bio dad coming down especially to watch him in his show.
34. That both J & E got to do horse riding lessons and how much they loved it. 
35. Attending Ruth Erhardts Birth First Aid Course live (online) and being a part of her True Midwifery Study Group.
36. Being a (very absent) part of Gauri Lowe’s Sacred Midwifery course. I nevertheless soaked up a lot from the tiny bit I did complete and I am looking forward to catching up next year. 
37. My son cutting his hair short for the first time since he was 4 – he’s now 12. How much he loves it.
38. Being a part of Marion Rose & Joss Gouldens Natural Learning and Aware Parenting support group 
39. Starting a listening partnership and pushing through my own awkwardness with it. A work in progress.
40. Joining Rebecca Shiekh’s Aware Parenting Instructor mentoring and chatting to other South Africans in the group
41. Joining the Attachment Parenting International course
42. Having a summer with a swimming pool
43. Not moving house this year – our third Christmas in this house! 
44. J taking part in the crocworld summer camp, spending all week outdoors and making lifelong memories.
45. Hubby getting a salaried job. The consistent income that brought. 
46. Working with WAHM Workspace for another year 
47. mostly winning our monthly income goals.
48. having a team supporting me on maternity leave
49. landing a large retainer client and the consistent income that brought 
50. Hubby getting his own reliable bakkie 
51. Finding https://annas-archive.org when z-library got taken down – if you know, you know
52. Fun but chilled birthday days for both J & E with just us plus my mom
53. kids getting their ears pierced because they wanted to. J wearing his earrings so proudly 
54. Launching my planning ebook 2023 By Design
55. Gifts sent to the kids on their birthdays by my sisters 
56. Baby M getting her first and second teeth. Hubby buying her a toothbrush for Christmas.
57. Buying J his tablet for his birthday 
58. Our chill and almost affordable Christmas
59. Croissants and coffee at Calladhi bakery in Howick with mom 
60. Sushi takeaway eaten at Scottburgh beachfront 
61. An endless supply of raw milk & fresh farm eggs organized by my mother 
62. Getting the book Healing Your Traumatized Child by Aletha Solter from my sister when baby M was having her surgeries
63. Hubby getting M’s birth certificate 
64. Celebrating Easter in Howick with the Landman’s 
65. J moving into his own room and hubby bed sharing with E so M and I have the queen bed to ourselves 
66. J being a part of his bio dads wedding 
67. My mom moving just down the road from us 
68. Each and every one of our beach walks 
69. Countless meals made by my mom, with that extra magic touch which makes them amazing – she even uses garnishing 
70. My long social media breaks
71. My husband making me eggs for breakfast almost every day 
72. Late summer night swims with hubby
73. Doing Marion Rose’s Get Free From Guilt course
74. Parenting my baby in the Aware Parenting method, which means she feels her feelings
75. Proudly having a third baby in cloth nappies
76. Breastfeeding for the third time round 
77. Reading Anne of the Green Gables to the kids 
78. All the zillion cups of tea my son made me 
79. Mez lending me the camping mattress for the hospital and hubby walking in with our bags, looking like we were moving in so security actually laughed at him
80. Hubby buying me nail polish for Xmas and then painting my toenails 
81. Getting a UPS for the wifi router so loadshedding stopped impacting my work 
82. Starting my newsletter on Substack
83. Another year of having all my children at home everyday, not in school, even though it’s so very not easy and is very noisy
84. Moving the house around so we only have 1 TV, J has his own room, and we’re all on the same side of the house. 
85. Selling all our excess furniture – more to go still. 
86. J turning 12. 12! And finally admitting to himself that he can read. 
87. Lucy Aitkenreads masterclass on seasons in life
88. My sister sending me a amber teething necklace for M
89. Not making any decisions after 7pm at night 
90. Not picking any fights with hubby after 7pm at night 
91. Sending hubby to do lists and getting them back with little ticks next to them 3 months later 
92. M bombing every single one of my daily client meetings, and the team being very accepting of that even though they have strict ‘do not disturb meetings’ policy in their own homes 
93. Replacing the toilet seat in the middle bathroom and ending up with a whole new toilet because the bowl cracked when hubby tried to screw off the old seat 
94. The way M tries to fix her own glasses when they’re skew. And gets excited when I say ‘where’s your glasses’
95. Long baths with M and how excited she gets when I say it’s bath-time 
96. How much M loves my singing & how much the other two kids hate it
97. How much music E listened to this year and how my mom loves E’s playlist, not mine.
98. J making his first YouTube video and publishing it. How excited he was when he hit 10 subscribers. 
99. My kids playing Minecraft with their cousins in Canada 
100. J playing online with his mates.

I now have three children; J who turned 12 this year, E who turned 7 and baby M who was born half way through 2022 and is now 6 months old.