9 months of serious work and all I got was a "D" ... I couldn't be happier

9 looooooooong months and my result? 

"D" yeah, DAVID

I had him 6weeks ago. I found out that I was pregnant on my birthday, and from then it's been a roller coaster of emotions. Shock, sadness, guilt, anger, exhaustion, pain and now joy, as I hold him in my arms and thank God for such an amazing blessing.

Having a support system made up of family and friends, many of whom I met here, made the journey so much easier and I must say that my greatest blessings are people. God used many people to reach me when it seemed like I couldn't hear Him and I am grateful.

As we dedicated him to God today, my heart was filled with so much joy, it's hard to believe that I was sad when I found out I was pregnant. 

I consider myself privileged to have received such a precious precious gift from God and I call him my lil' miracle.

One of friends went: "Miracle?! Was he conceived of The Holy Spirit?"

Perhaps when I share how it all happened, you'll see why I call him that.

Between feedings, diaper changes, school runs and all the stuff that a girl with 3 children under 4 has to deal with, I can't be here that much, but I'll share, however long it takes. Perhaps my story would encourage someone. I have learnt a lot this year. Lessons I wouldn't have learnt if I didn't walk this road. 
This sorta kinda sums up my story:

Thanks for dropping by.
May your dreams come true
xoxo


And
errrm, 
May your plans be interrupted by pleasant surprises like me... Did I hear you say amen? ;o)

Under construction

Hello beautiful people :o)
I know, I know, It's been really long since I've been here and I apologize.
Being MIA was not the plan at all, but then considering the turn my life has taken, things going the exact opposite of how I anticipated shouldn't come as a surprise...

No I don't mean this blog, I mean my life.

In the past few months, a lot about my life has changed.

Before now, I was sure I had it all figured out. I knew what I was doing and where I was going.

Things were simple. Loving God, walking with Him, letting Him down a lot of the time (especially with my big mouth), and enjoying His grace. Being married to D (who is really and truly a great guy) has been great, challenges and all. I am blessed to share my life with him and would choose him again if I had to. I consider my role as mum to my son and daughter a privilege. It's exasperating at times, but all they have to do is smile and my heart just melts. My siblings are great, always supportive. I've been blessed with great friends, some of who have become sisters, and of course the many women I have been privileged to serve in my career as a tailor, many of whom have become friends. There's also my blog family, from whom I have learned a lot and among whom I have found friends and sisters who have been a blessing to me. 

I've had enough challenges to keep me humble, and I have seen God give me so many testimonies, that I have come to believe that my life is proof that there is a God that rules in the affairs of men. He has brought me through so much, I sometimes feel that just saying thank you does not suffice. Perhaps that's why I talk about Him and the things He's done for me and how grateful I am a lot of the time.

These past few months though, a lot has changed. The things that used to excite me do not do so any more. Some of my friendships have suffered, cos I haven't been the friend I used to be. I am reluctant to share my real thoughts, perhaps cos I'm not sure if I should even be thinking them. My emotional energy tank is on "E" and I find myself questioning a lot of the things I thought I believed. I have found a few answers, but I still have many questions. I wish I could claim to be "deep and spiritual" and in possession of a "supernatural" key that unlocks life's mysteries, but that is not the case. I am tired.

One thing that I am sure of, in spite all my confusion, is that the word of God is true. I have chosen God's word to be the final authority in my life, so I am holding on to Ephesians 2:10 

For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Soon this season will be over, and His work in me would be complete. My testimony would be ready to be shared and share I will.

My plan was to write a few lines in response to the kind comments and emails I have received from you, checking to make sure I'm fine, but I have served up an epistle.... you see, things just don't seem to be going the way I planned... 

Thanks for stopping by (even though I haven't been to your blog in months)

May your dreams come true.

xoxo

Zina's dress and some apple juice ;o)

Hello *waves and smiles*

By popular demand, I'll be sharing pics of some of the stuff I've made since I moved to Houston.
This was my first custom order. Zina found me here and after a couple of emails back and forth, she came over and we ended up gisting for hours :o)

She's a wedding planner and she had a wedding coming up she wanted to make a dress for.
She brought this blue satin fabric, showed me a couple of pictures, we discussed her options and decided on this dress, breaking up the blue with a touch of black.

Here's the pic I took before her first fitting.

It's not a halter neck dress, I just put the straps up for the pic.

Here's the pic she sent me. I wish everyone would be nice enough to send me pics, so I can share them with you. You see, I don't think the body form does the clothes justice and you get a much better   view when they take the pic all dressed up.

Thanks Zina. You make my work look good 

Would you like some Apple juice or La Casera?
On our way back from church today, we stopped at the store and since Alexis was asleep, I decided to go in and let D stay in the car with the munchkins. This transpired when I was gone.

Nathan had just finished drinking water from a bottle when he told his dad he needed to "pee-pee". You see, he always waits till the very last minute to tell you when he needs to go, so we are used to dropping everything to rush him to the restroom whenever he yells "I'mma pee-pee"

D was on the phone when he heard him yelling, so he told his friend he would have to call him back cos the lil' man needed to go and he had no idea how he was going to make it into the store and then to the restroom in time, seeing as he also had to carry sleeping Alexis, get out the stroller and all that.

"Don't you have a plastic bottle in the car?" his friend asked. "Just let him pee in it". Great idea!
So Nathan peed in the bottled and everything was fine. Right?

Yeah, up until the point where Nathan looked at his pee in the plastic bottle and decided it looked like apple juice!! He began to fuss and whine... I want my juice, my juice, my juiiiiiiccccceeee!!!
D was like, "Juice ko, la casera ni!"

I laughed and laughed when he told me, and then I remembered Adura Ojo's "I want to give you water" post on Naijalines. I'm still laughing. Have a great week and happy fourth of July celebrations!

Thanks for coming by again and again.

May your dreams come true.

xoxo

Arrghhh!! Bad Request : ERROR 400

Aaaaargh!!!
I'm soooooo vexed and it's all bloggers fault!!!

So I was up till 2am writing. There was just a lot on my mind and since writing helps me clarify my thoughts, I took my time and broke my own personal record for longest post ever... Well not longest post I ever wrote, but longest time I ever spent trying to put a post together and as I attempted to publish, I saw

Bad Request : ERROR 400

"What's all this now, ehn Blogger? I muttered angrily, "Quit messing with me joor!!"
Well, I was having a hard time staying awake, so I copied and pasted the post in a notepad as back up and went to bed, hoping to try again this morning.

Fast forward a few hours, I tried again, same thing! The blogger bar didn't even appear at all  this time!
Thinking it could be a problem with my laptop, I turned on D's own and signed in, no error message. Relieved, I found the draft and guess what?
No post!! All I found were the first few lines I scribbled!!!


WHARRAPENED???!

"Breathe Gbemi, Shebi you saved saved back up? Ehn ehn, just email it to yourself, open it here and publish" I told myself.... Back to my lappy, Nothing there! No saved notepad document, NOTHING!!!  And the error page now doesn't take me back to my post.

Arrghhhhhhhhh!!!What Rubbish!!!

My lil man's fav cartoon character... errmm, he's sorta kinda mine now too :oP

I can't even picture myself attempting to write that post again cos my mind was in a totally different zone last night. All I can think of this morning is :

1. Food (I'm an emotional eater. Eating makes me feel better)
2. My client that's driving three hours from Austin for a fitting. (I'm hoping that goes well cos the styles she and her daughter brought ehn?!) I'll show you the pictures and my interpretation soon.  
3. How I must get to the store so I can use those coupons that expire today
4. How the first half of the year ends today and I'm scared to do a goal review 
5. Bills Bills Bills

That, my friends is how blogger swallowed a post that took me hours to write. Time I could have spent sewing, or sleeping, or cuddling  or on other extra-curricular activities ;o)
Next time when I want to clarify my thoughts, I'll just grab my journal and keep it old school!

"Why are you ranting Gbemi, kini big deal? It's happened to others before. Quit being so dramatic!!"
You just thought that didn't you? Why are you looking behind you?? You! Yes you!! I read your mind and I'm coming to get you. 

*Cue action movie soundtrack* hahahahaha!
Scared you? Maybe not. But I'm laughing and I feel better
:oD

Have a great day!
xxx

Just cos it's hubby's birthday day :o)

Hi beautiful people!

First let me confess... I'm blushing on Alexis' behalf, yeah and Nathan's too. After all the nice comments on my last post, I am officially jealous... hahaha.. Just kidding.
I'll be sure to let her know you all think she's gorgeous as soon as she's old enough to get it. Why do I think that day isn't far?! She's growing up so fast!! She now says NO!
I receive grace to raise God fearing, respectful and well grounded children in spite of the negative influences in this country. So help me GOD!!!

So it was the hubby's birthday on Wednesday!! Yay!!
You probably already know how I am about my D and all... yeah I know, I'm a "Ruth" like that *shines teeth*... I'm pretty sure that you don't toss your prized possessions or expensive jewelry around carelessly, so when you've got yourself a boo like mine who loves you and once grew his hair for you, letting you braid it just because, celebrating him should be a regular occurence....

Back in the days when it was just the two of  us :o)

*sigh*...it's the little things that make this girl happy...

Ours has been an interesting journey... Up days, down days, laughter, tears... It has been God. Only God.

His birthday was also the perfect opportunity to revive my dying dead social life. So we went to see a movie at 1:40pm...I hadn't seen the insides of a cinema for at least 6months before that day and the only other people in the theater that afternoon were an elderly couple... says a lot about my life, doesn't it :oP
Chinese buffet afterwards, which  ideally should have been a romantic dinner, but with no one to babysit the munchkins, we had to be done by 6.00 pm in time to pick up them up from daycare.

We had a great time and I'm grateful for God's blessings, especially the ones that money cannot buy... I'm committed to being thankful for the things that are working. Everything else? I'm not losing sleep over what my Father, who neither sleeps nor slumbers, says He's already worked out.

In other gist, I promised Naijamum In London that I would put up pictures of my work.
I have been sewing, but I haven't been putting up pictures cos since I moved, sewing has been on the back burner. It still is, but the thing about making clothes is that for me, it's more than a job. It's something I love to do. Sometimes I'm up till 3am sewing and even though it takes me a lot of time to finish, seeing the smile on my client's face makes it worth it.

I'll post pics of stuff I've made really soon.
I should do the sunshine award thing, as well as update my website and finish 3 dresses that have to be delivered on Thursday... So much to do, so little time *sigh*
I miss Naija, when I had an assistant and tailors and a nanny and... *slapping myself on the head* Wake up and smell the coffee Gbemi, this is your life now!!

Thanks for coming by again and again
I appreciate your taking time out to leave comments.
May your dreams come true.
xoxo

The dead girl?! That could easily have been me!

Hello beautiful people *waving*
It's been a while since I've been here and there's been so much going on. Lots of interesting stuff. I'll let you in on all the juicy gist in good time.*smile smile wink wink*

I read an article in Punch newspapers today that had me in tears. It's about Nigeria's high maternal mortality rate and highlights the story of a 29 year old lady who died on Wednesday, a day after having her baby on Tuesday. What makes this story personal for me is that it could have been me the only difference being that she had a C-Section and I didn't.

Having Alexis last year is one experience I can NEVER forget.
I came here from Naija pregnant and I hadn't decided if I wanted to live here or not, so I was in holiday mode cos I knew I was going back home. I enjoyed being a JJC, went to Vegas and had a lot of fun, but I was always tired. My bloodwork showed I was anemic, which explained the tiredness and so my gynecologist put me on some meds and watched me closely.

Things went really well. So well, I had time to take these pictures just before I left for the hospital on Sunday evening. I was feeling like a babe ;o) Of course I was wearing gbemisoke.

This was me on Monday morning after a restful night that I thoroughly enjoyed (cos of all the attention from the nurses) I felt like I was in a 5star hotel :o)

Fast forward a few hours... pushing, bearing down, Alexis was born.. no pics cos hubby had enough on his plate, watching me push and all that. He was a trooper :o) The doctor said I did good, everything was ok and he left. I held my baby, everyone was smiling.... All is well that ends well right?

errrm, not without some drama that played out like a scene from Grey's anatomy...

I started to haemorrhage!! Just like the lady in that article, I was losing blood and my PCV was low.
Thank God for observant nurses!! As she was cleaning me up, she became worried that there was too much blood. She called the doctor, who had already left the premises, and voiced her concern. He came right back and alarmed at how much blood he saw, declared an emergency. In no time, I was in the ER getting a transfusion while the whole team was searching for the source of the bleeding and trying to stop it.

This experience is one of the reasons I decided to move here. I had my son in Nigeria, and even though my gynecologist and his hospital came highly recommended, I doubt that they would've been able to respond as quickly as the team here did. I think so cos even though the doctor on duty was around, only the midwife was there when I actually delivered the baby. He came around when I needed stitches.

Having experienced childbirth in both countries, I know there's a HUGE difference. While I can sit here and say "thank God I moved here", my heart is heavy cos lives are being wasted. I do not think that my life is more valuable than that of any other woman back home. It's just not fair. The statistics are alarming! According to the article,

"!n simpler terms, the risk of a woman dying from childbirth is one in 18 in Nigeria, compared to one in 29,800 for Sweden. Our women are dying; believe it when you are told that one woman dies every 10 minutes due to complications arising from childbirth. Our men are becoming widowers and our children motherless." 

 You can therefore understand how extra thankful I am to be alive and well to see Alexis turn one. My lil Princess has gone from being this adorable bundle that had me tearing up (for joy) for weeks after I had her

To this even more beautiful angel that has filled our lives with laughter

I am grateful to God for His many blessings, Especially the ones that money cannot buy.
While I celebrate, I remember those who've passed. I am not better than them. They didn't have to die. So while we go on with business as usual, lets remember that knowing what's right to do and not doing it is leading to deaths, most of them avoidable.

Have a great week and please remember to thank God for keeping you. He didn't have to.
xoxo

I wish I was anonymous!!

I wish I was anonymous!!

I really do. There's so much going on in my life right now that I would love to blog about and being anonymous would make me feel a lot "safer".

This blog is really about my journey to becoming a "World Class Couturier" and not all the stuff that goes on in my mind, but even though I've been really busy making clothes for my new clients, I haven't had the desire to put up pictures of stuff I've made or blog about the ups and downs of starting from scratch and all that. It all just doesn't seem as important to me as it normally would...

Hubby being away in Naija, making me sole caregiver for the munchkins while dealing with my internal conflicts and trying to meet the demands of my growing client base has been a HUGE learning experience.
Back home, I was always surrounded by people and always had someone to delegate tasks to. I was able to get a whole lot done without getting exhausted. My mother taught me that the secret of the Proverbs 31 woman was that she knew how to delegate and I must have become so used to living like that, doing everything myself is taking some getting used to, which, until I can afford to pay for help is the reality of my life.

I haven't even gotten round to ordering business cards yet and I've been so busy, I had to turn down two people this week. I wish I didn't have to, but there's only so much I can do by myself and I refuse to make promises I cannot keep. I cannot complain though, because I have enjoyed abundant grace. I find that scripture "He gives power to the faint and to them that have no might, He increases strength" to be my testimony.

Hubby came back last week *BBM dancing smiley*
I would've told you all I've been up to if I was anonymous, but I'll keep stuff PG and just say that life's good and I've got my groove back ;o)
I've been in "enjoyment mode"... lounging and enjoying cos he doesn't want me to stress myself.  Perhaps, a simple blood test when I was "blue" would have revealed I had low Oxytocin levels and a dose of "D" would've sorted me out... hahaha
Seriously though, I am convinced that God designed life to be enjoyed. While He doesn't promise us that there would be no challenges, His plan is for us not to walk alone. I am grateful for the privilege to walk this journey with D and I do not take it for granted. Perhaps this is because I know that having it so good is  not because I'm smarter or sharper than the next person. It's just God's grace

More important than this amazing relationship D and I share is this walk with God which I find to be beyond what my mind can comprehend. What if I didn't know Him?
Well, lets just say I'm glad I do and would love for you to come to know Him too (if you do not already)
He's made my life beautiful. He can do even more for you.

Thanks for coming by again and again
May your dreams come true
xoxo

PS
Thank you NaijaMum in London. God bless you.
Signed, Your self imposed sister ;o)