Playing Catchup ~ 22/09

Yesterday’s post shared the amazing journey my friend Laverne and I began last week with our South African Sisterhood group on Facebook. As you can likely tell from my absence of late, there has been more than just that project underway. I have so many things happening at the same time, that I thought I would do what I did last time and do a catchup post telling you all about what I am up to.

Work
Some of you may have seen that I am actually setting up a website for my business and that I created a Facebook page for it as well. I am particularly loving the brand consulting aspect of my business, as I am loving helping small businesses and blogs clarify what and how they are approaching things. I feel so inspired by the vision and talents of the amazing people I am working with and meeting. Feel free to pop over and check out what I am doing when I am not here or over at the Sisterhood (Be kind, I haven’t yet managed to finish setting things up and it needs a lot of work – suggestions welcome :D).

Charly
Charly seems to have had yet another language explosion and is such a little mimic, copying everything we say (oops, time to start watching our language a little closer)! She is beyond adorable, testing her language skills constantly in all her interactions, including “love you” (which you can see on Instagram) and today’s “(a)maaaaazing”. She has also started finishing sentences in the books we read most often and “reads” almost her whole Dogs book from The Book Owl – I can’t wait to see what Kirsten has in store for us next month.

On that note, I was recently introduced to another subscription book service through the lovely Laura at SA Mom Blogs. Do you know what this means?! I now get MORE books for Charly every month (and they throw in a few glossy magazines for mommy as well!). Kids Book Club is for kids up to 9 years old. Each month, each age group receives 2 books; from touch and feel for babies and toddlers through to activity and reading books for older children. You also get access to 20 free worksheets and colouring sheets, which I love. The books arrive in a monthly themed carry bag, Charly LOVES this bag and carries it around with her packing everything into it. And it is really affordable!

Charly has already started memorising the words from the Cloud Babies – Colour of the Sun; probably because she adores the colour purple (which was one of her first words) and she finds the idea of painting the sun purple hilarious. I had never heard of this series, but it is cute with bright colours and nice sturdy cardboard pages.

Another of her favourite things to do is “quack like duckies” and, even though she knows the difference between a duck and a goose, she still does her full toddler lung rendition of quacking ducks when she sees a goose. This means she particularly loves reading the “My Favourite Food” hardcover she received as well.

I keep staring longingly at the Cosmo and Marie Claire sitting on top of the pile of mags on my desk, even though reading them is considered research for some aspects of my writing job; I don’t see me getting to them with my work piling up constantly. One day I am going to take an entire day away from all work and just indulge in all the mags, with chocolate and JC Le Roux. (Please note, I haven’t had a drink since my wedding in May 2013, but the mommy-wine/drink connection is starting to become clearer in my head!)

Series
I have two new series coming up, now that Surrounded by Supermommies is finished for now. In the first, we will be revisiting some of the mommies from the Pregnant in (_) series, meeting the GORGEOUS babies and finding out how they are doing.

I am also hard at work on “All I Want For Christmas…”; with the amazing Andrea Barras working on a gorgeous banner for the series while I search the interwebs for the very best items and add them to my Christmas lists 🙂 I will cover decorations, gifts for kids, gifts for daddies and some beautiful handmade items to name just a few… I am soooo excited for this…. Yay!! It is almost Christmas!

South African Sisterhood
I can’t believe we are already over 8500 women!! I must say, I am loving waking up and just scrolling through the love and positivity being shared every morning while I drink my coffee. I have made it part of my routine to do this even before opening my mails in the morning now, it makes such a difference to how I approach the day! I am a little in love with this community and it is only just beginning! It is our one week anniversary tomorrow! You ladies are going to FREAK when you see what our next giveaway is going to be! Laverne has been working her magic and I squeeeeeee’d when I heard!

Winning
Speaking of winning, don’t miss Thursday’s review and Giveaway, some gorgeous cuteness for your littles just in time for Summer.

There are also a few more days for you to take advantage of the amazing discounts offered to you by this month’s special brands – a 10% discount on your first order from The Book Owl and an awesome 20% discount off anything over at Rainbow Magic (both expire on the 30 September).

Wrapping Up
Although I am swamped and exhausted, I am feeling exhilarated and excited about everything that is happening and everything coming up. I am loving being surrounded by inspiring people in all areas of my life and saying “yes” to more of the opportunities that keep coming up for me.

I am even meeting with a business advisor to make sure I have all my bases covered as things are growing faster than I seem ready for some days. Doesn’t that sound SUPER grown up? I keep waiting for everybody to look over and see that it is “just me” over here, not somebody that should be married and raising a child and running businesses.

Thanks to all the love and encouragement I have been receiving from my amazing support systems, I am feeling ready to kind of take on the world. Thank you all for being a part of that support system!

Sending all the love xx