My Messy Lil' Miracle :o)

Been a while....

I've come here time and again, attempting to put up a post, but the words have eluded me.

This is me making another attempt.

Lots of things have happened since my last post. Many good things, some not so good ones, a few scary ones and one very horrible one...  Someday, I'll be able to talk of the lessons I have learned, but until then, I'm learning to focus on the things I have going for me and to stay thankful. All things are working together for my good. This work in progress is... well, in progress, I guess *chuckles*

I had a birthday, Nathan turned four, The Hubs has been around for a while*big cheesy grin*, Alexis turns 2 in a few weeks, David turns six months in a few days... God has been kind to me.

Ever had a moment when the most random event teaches you a remarkable life lesson? I had one recently and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it.

David (my Lil' Miracle) is teething. I know I still haven't shared that "Lil' Miracle" story I promised *covers face* I'll get to it soon enough, I promise :o)

So, Lil' Miracle has itchy gums and tries to put everything in his mouth. I got him some Farley's Rusks and he loves them. I should be happy right? He's chewing on something that's good for him, buying a whole box wasn't a waste.... Well, I wasn't. This is why

He "over loved" the rusks. Stuff was in his hair, on his socks, the car seat was messed up. aaaarrrghhh!! Who has time to clean up after all this? As if I don't have enough on my plate already!! I had to give him a bath afterwards and as I put the box of rusks on the shelf, I made up my mind NEVER to give him any more.... then I heard the still small voice...

 "What would happen if I refused to let you enjoy things just because of the mess I would have to clean up after?"

*Sigh*. I just became humble... What was I feeling like? Miss too-busy-to-give-her-baby-a-bath. I'm learning to stay grateful for the many blessings in my life that money cannot buy.
Love. Life. Laughter. Family. Friends. Good health. Salvation.

I'm off to my Zumba class and as I dance and work my body to the red hot dance steps, I'll remember to be thankful that even though I've got a "chinese-flat" bum, i can still shake it ;o)

What are you grateful for? Please share and let's remind ourselves of how blessed we are.

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

Three fitness trainers for this one girl!!!

Hello  beautiful people!!!

Abandoning my place in space was not the plan at all... You know how much I love the positive energy you all bring to my life. Every time I read your kind comments, I'm reminded that I am not alone, and that feeling warms my heart :o) Thank you.

I've had a lot of new visitors here since I had the pleasure of kicking off the Love Chronicles series over at The Soul Sistas blog. I share the hubby and I's "how-we-met" story there. You might want to check it out if you haven't read it yet. Sharing with everyone who contacted me with questions after they read the interview has shown me that behind our facades, we are all the same. We yearn to love and be loved. It is such a joy to know that God wants to help us find it. Love is indeed a beautiful thing.

So much has been happening... My life is all kinds of crazy... Crazy good though, not crazy bad *chuckles*... A beautiful mix of highs and lows... I can't complain. I am grateful. I feel blessed and lucky.

So many different things come up in this movie that is my life, I constantly feel a need to let off steam. One reason I haven't been blogging though, is that I have a hard time figuring out where to draw the line between venting and complaining.

The other day, I got downstairs to see that Nathan and Alexis had emptied a pack of oats all over the living room floor. I sent them to their room, worrying about the side effects of eating raw oats as I cleaned up the mess they had made. Imagine my frustration on getting upstairs to see that they had emptied a whole tube of hand lotion all over my toothbrush and theirs as they attempted to brush their teeth! Besides the extra work they kept giving me, how was I to know how much lotion (and only God knows what else) they had ingested?!  AAARRRGHH!!!  As I was getting worked up, thinking "what kind of children are these"?! I started to think about how grateful I should be. I know people who would gladly trade places with me just for the chance to be called mummy... *sigh* That right there is the dilemma I face on the regular these days. Yes I am grateful, but I feel guilty when I vent/complain/rant. I tell myself to suck it up and quit being so dramatic.  Perhaps you're reading this and have it all figured out. I would love to learn if you would be kind enough to share.

Another angle is the "awww" "eeeyah" and "sorry" feedback I get. Especially when I talk about my parents and sister that have gone to be with the Lord. You see, I bring them up a lot cos I'm afraid not talking about them would make me forget them, and the memories we made. Slowly but surely, it is happening... memories fade...I don't want to forget. I want to keep their memories alive. When I talk about them though, I get the "eeyah, poor Gbemi" vibe, which I don't like... The whole point of venting is not to be pitied. I don't want pity. I hate playing the victim. Everybody is going through stuff of their own. I don't want to be the girl that carries her issues around like an albatross. We all know that one person that always has a sob story... nah, I so do not want to be her.

One really great thing about keeping up with the munchkins is all that exercise. I have convinced myself that wearing my workout clothes as I work the vacuum cleaner with one hand and balance David on my hip with the other burns more calories than the treadmill. Meet my fitness trainers Nathan Ademide, Alexis Ademidun and David Ademidara. Don't let their smiles fool you. Jillian Michaels has got nothing on them :o)

Thanks for dropping by yet again.
May your dreams come true
xxx

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