All about the Woollams

Our 9 month Photo Shoot - LOVE

2010-08-30T07:12:00.000-07:00

xXx

Team Woollam

4 months later ....

2010-08-19T08:23:00.000-07:00

I'm back! So much to say, so much to show, so much to be excited about and sooooo much to be happy about!

Lots of our friends and family begged me to start up with my blog again, it wasn't that I stopped, I just took a step back to see where we are, getting settled in Joburg, getting use to our new life and watching our beautiful boy develop so cute. Life has seriously flown by, Troy is turning 1 in less than a month and life at the moment is all about planning his first party! YEAY!!! I think every mom looks forward to their baby's first birthday party, it's more for the mommy and daddy anyway! :)

In the last 4 months:

John ... working really had, been completely stressed out and using every single moment at home to spend time with our very active Troy! Work is going well and apart from bringing home coughs and sneezes from the office, he is well, healthy and active!

Me ... meeting up with friends, having coffees and lemon meringue and making sure Troy is always happy and healthy and LOVING life!

Troy ... In summary ... precious, soooo super loving, giving soentjies all the time, sleeping soooo much better, loving his toys and .... wait for it .... WALKING!!!! Troy started walking on the 8the of July 2010! We were at my dad's house in Hermanus, 2 days before my brother's wedding, we were all sitting around the dining room table when Troy stood up against the couch and took 4 steps towards his pram! Absolutely amazing and so special to share it with his Oupa, Oom Boetsie, Dada and Mamma! 7 teeth, with 1 more coming out, talking in his Troy-language all the time, everything is Dada, and Dah, except the Kitty that also gets a mention, but still no Mamma! :( I’m going to load some photos this weekend, you’ll see how beautifully big he has gotten!

But till then ... lots of love and sooooo many amazing memories!

Team Woollam

Birthdays, Braai's & Parletones

2010-04-02T04:13:00.000-07:00

TROY CAN CRAWL!

Our little frog is growing up so quickly ... on the 19th of April, Tanja's birthday, he started crawling! Since then he's just picking up speed and can now get wherever he wants to be in a matter of seconds! He absolutely loves being mobile now and with the help of his new walker, he can now also see things from a little higher up!

On the 20th of April it was Debbie's birthday. We went over there for dinner and some apple strudel birthday cake!

The frog and his grandpa!

Sharon

The birthday girl with Ken, Nick and Karina

Happy Birthday Debs!!! We hope you had the most amazing birthday!

Troy's been teething up a storm and is now sporting 2 new pearly whites at the bottom. Due to the teething he had such a blocked/runny nose, we had to nebulize him before bed.

Troy smiling even when attached to the nebulizer

Last weekend we went to Gary and Stacey's for a braai. What a lovely day and Troy and Jemima play so cute together!

Loving the bally bath

Taking a bath together and sharing some water!

Same cups ... tooo cute!

Troy in Jemima's swing ... he absolutely LOVED it!

Every Easter its the Saints Rugby Festival and this year we can actually go, last night the Parletones played and John and I got Granny to babysit and off we went to dance and sing along in the rain! Hello Winter!

John LOVING the Parletones!

John and Simon dancing in the rain!

Didn't even get wet!

OK, maybe a little!

The Parletones ... see Simon ... you can see the make-up!

This morning Troy was so cute, he crawled to his gym bag on the floor, hooked his little arm in and started crawling with the bag ... just like mommy and her handbag! He was so chuffed with himself!

MAY EVERYONE HAVE A BLESSED, HAPPY AND FULL OF LOVE EASTER!

We're Connected Again!

2010-03-19T21:23:00.000-07:00

Another looooong month without blogging, but this time, I'm going to stay updated ... we once again have internet at home, so no excuses!

A lot happened in this past month, our boy has changed more in the last few weeks than in the 5 months before, we moved cities, we said goodbye to some amazing friends, was welcomed in Joburg with tea and cake and Troy met his Grandpa for the first time!

Starting STRAIGHT away ....

Troy John Woollam can SIT!

The cutest little frog sat for the first time on the 1st of Feb 2010, just before his 5 month birthday! He still fell over as soon as he reached out for something, but that soon changed, now he sits all the time and has perfect balance!

The most beautiful frog!

Mid-Feb Elloits came to pack up our house and move our lives to Joburg. They were SUPER professional and I would recommend them to anyone. They pack your precious stuff with more love and care than you would EVER pack your own stuff!

They were also a lot of fun, playing around and enjoying themselves while packing, which made the move and seeing your entire life go into boxes way more enjoyable.

Troy and I just sitting watching our stuff get packed up and shipped off!

Packing in progress ...

My dad came to spend the day while we had the packers in, just playing with Troy and keeping us company ... Dankie Pa!!!

John came down to Cape Town for moving day and the weekend to say goodbye to all our friends. John trying to do some work on a stack of boxes!

Martin and Kelly were kind enough to take the homeless Woollams in for the weekend.

Luca sitting in Troy's chair

The Saturday before we left we had a VERY busy day, we decided to organise a baby shower for Kelly, seeing as she never had one for Luca. It was at her house, luckily we were staying there, so they went out for the morning and we got everything ready. Martin was in on it, but Kels got the biggest surprise when she walked into her house, only to find 25 people all screaming SURPRISE!!!

Kelly opening her presents!

I organised baby-grow painting, which ended up being baby painting ...

Anna completely covered in paint

That afternoon we had our Woollam-Farewell at Kirstenbosh Gardens. It was a BEAUTIFUL day and so amazing to see some of our friends.

Rykie and Annabelle sitting with me and Troy

Candz and Frannie enjoying the sun

John and the girls! Most definitely the PERFECT venue to say goodbye to Cape Town from!

Marili, Rykie and Annabelle

Kelly, Luca, Bianca and Deb in the far with her baby Kayla

Candz and Frannie

The boys ... Phil, Martin, Matt, John and Garth

Troy loving the girls!

The Malherbe's

Rykie and the sleepy Annabelle

Phil and his baby girl

John's aunt, cousin and her family came to say goodbye as well

Anne, Troy, Hayley, Merick and their boys, Thomas and Adam

Our dear friends, Garth, Bianca, Kelly, Martin, John and I

The family

Frannie and Matt all free!

The normal Candz pose ... gonna miss it!

John and Luca chasing birds

Luca chasing birds

Garth, John and Matt

Bianca, me, Candz and Frannie

These birds were either sooo hungry or just tame, 'cause they would eat out of your hands and then actually ate bread out of John's mouth!

Kirst and I

Kirst and Paul

For Valentine's Day and our last day in Cape Town, we decided to go to Gordan's Bay for the BEST fish and chips and a splash in the warm ocean with the Nevelings.

The Woollams and the Nevelings at the beach

Neveling x 4

So here we are, moved and unpacked and loving the Jozie life. Troy started his new life in Joburg with his first solid food ever! We started him on rice cereal, he absolutely LOVED it!

Preparing his food

Still clean and YUMMY!

Still clean ...

Getting a little messy!

John, my dad and myself all fed him that day, he absolutely loved it and it was totally impossible to get everything in, it was the biggest mess EVER!

Our first dinner party at our new house ...

John and Oom Lampie at the braai

Paul, my dad and Rose chatting around the table waiting for our dinner

Table shots

Cheers to a new house, new life in Joburg and having family around a table!

John and Troy at Saints

We went for a walk with the pram

We bought Troy a Jolly Jumper and he LOVES it. Jumpy jumpy jumpy all the time!

Troy with his new truck

Daddy and Troy playing with the truck

Look at my big feet already!!!!

Daddy and Troy having fun in the jacuzzi at our house!

Kirst came to visit and also had to feed the frog!

Fun with my toys in my doughnut!

Lauren organised a welcome to Jozie tea for Troy and I, what a wonderful idea, thank you soooo much Lauren, we loved seeing all the girls!

Jemima Keizan

The cooooolest dude on the block!

Jemima and Troy playing with Lauren

Elmien holding the frog

Granny came over to also feed the Boeps!

Watching CBeebies in my doughnut with my Voilet and Blankie

John and I help organising some events for the new new little Heritage baba and seeing as I absolutely LOVED the events at my baby shower, I decided to do the same for them.

Such a hit ... painting an outfit

Changing a dirty nappy race!

Elmien obviously won and poor Pete had to eat the pooh!

The Woollams outfit for Baby Heritage

Troy and I met some new friends, we went for tea at Rose's friend Shelley's daughter, Laura's house. This is Troy and her son Matthew who is 2 week older than Troy.

Eating apple for the first time EVER ...

SUN CITY

Peter and Sharon took us to Sun City for the weekend and we had the BEST time EVER, Troy absolutely LOVED the water.

Troy and Daddy on their way to the swimming-pool

Swimming on his own!

LOVE the water!

Loving my yoghurt and carrot ... still messy though!

Team Woollam at the Cascades

Going up the Escalator on our way to the Valley of the Waves

The boys on the shaky bridge

Troy and I at the monkey fountain

Family Shot!

My Boys!

Loving the water and has no problem with water splashing on his face.

With Peter and Sharon in the Valley of the Waves Swimming pool

3 Generations

LOVE my family!

The COOOOOLEST frog in the world!

Chilling with Aunty Debs

Ken totally exhausted after a FULL day in the sun.

The family ...

Troy, John, me, Ken, Karina, Nick, Debs, Peter and Sharon

The next morning Troy decided to wake up REALLY early, we were so scared he wakes the entire house, so we decided to go for a walk with him. Watching the sun come up over the Lost City golf course.

3 Really tired peeps!

Games Centre!

And the frog just watches his daddy and Grandpa!

Grandpa Peter, Sharon and Troy watching John's polo match at Saints.

"You should be asleep froggie!"

I hope you enjoyed the quick run through the last couple of weeks.

Lots of love as always ...

Team Woollam

Welcome to our world beautiful Olivia Lily Heritage

2010-03-18T23:14:00.000-07:00

On the 18th of March, at 09:02, the beautiful Olivia Lily Heritage was born. She decided to join us a few weeks early, but still weighed a healthy 3.42kg.

Olivia Lily Heritage only a few hours old

The VERY proud daddy!

Elmien and Pete, congratulations, we are soooo happy for you guys and we're so excited that you're joining us in this amazing world of parenthood! You will LOVE every second and every minute and get excited when she wakes you up in the middle of the night, 'cause it gives you one more chance to see her beautiful face!

Love you guys so much,

Team Woollam

Hello 2010!!!

2010-02-06T09:34:00.000-08:00

The first few weeks of 2010 ... what a whirlwind! It's already the first week of February and I can't believe how much our little boy has grown! Here are the Woollam diary of the first few weeks of 2010 ...

So the first of January was a pretty overcast day, which we spent with the Nevelings in Hermanus, just walking through the shops, playing on the kiddies gym and later going to the beach.

Troy with his cool dude sunglasses

The boys TOTALLY tired ... note the sign below ...

Our big boy swinging

Swinging with his BFF ... Luca

The Woollams taking on 2010

The Nevelings about to become 4 in 2010

Tannie Tinka and Telanie came to visit the monkey!

The scuba dudes, Martin, Mike and John at Mike's house in Hawston

Martin & John's crayfish

Mike's crayfish

Ahhhh, my family!

The little frog sleeping in his Oupa's bed

The 3rd of January was Kirsty's 30th, she decided to have her big day in Hawston at Mike's beautiful farm. She got a private chef to cook the most amazing food ... what a day ... what a day!!!

Arriving ...

The private chef busy with his masterpiece

The birthday girl

The beautiful table with the amazing crayfish, caught by Mike & John

Ally & Reese

Speech time ...

Look at that view!!!

Champagne time ...

Chop that cork off ...

More difficult than it looks

Yeay ... sweet victory!

Kirsty and her brother!

Kirst and Ally

Kirst, Troy and I

Troy with the girls!

Kirst with her man, Paul!

What a beautiful boy!

The delicious desert

Cheeseboard

The boys ... John, Troy and Mike

Loving my boy!

One of my very special friends, Franny got married on the 9th of January. I had the great honour of being one of Fran's bridesmaids. What a beautiful wedding!

Vanessa and Fran getting ready

Fran getting her make-up done

Matt at the reception

What beautiful dresses!

The Bridesmaids

Emily, Vanessa, Candz, me, Hayley and Kirsten

Candz and I

The amazing venue

Candz, Kirst, Ally and I

Love!

John and Matt

Look at those chandeliers

Mr & Mrs Whitburn

Matt & Candz went to Thailand and brought Troy his first Muay Thai Boxing Shorts

How CUTE!!!!

Going for a walk around the block

His first shower with daddy

Aaahh, my dear friend Ang, came to visit from the UK, it was so nice to see her after 3 LONG years! I miss you already my friend!

While we were having breakfast, Troy was having his little snooze!

On the 16th of Jan, Troy and I had to say our sad sad sad goodbyes to John, who had to be up in Joburg for work on the 18th already. We're staying in Cape Town till the 15th of Feb, so a full month without my Tucky and Troy without his Daddy.

So Troy and I decided to go visit my dad for a few days in Hermanus. Troy is most definitely

my dad's little blue eyed boy. So much love!

Troy playing on the duvet with his toys

How cute is he?

So many people have asked who Troy looks like, well, we think he looks like a good combo of the both of us. So you can see, I've decided to take 2 baby photos of me and 2 of John and then you can see ...

Toni

John

John again

And me again

Posing just like his mommy ...

= Troy!

Pulling Mommy's hair

Troy is now in the grabbing everything, putting everything in his mouth and has developed a real little attitude when he wants something

Playing in his play-gym

Visiting Oupa again

Holding the Pien's paw

Troy and I Skype John every single night so Troy can see his daddy and John can see how Troy changes and develops

Talking to Oupa

Going for another walk

The house my dad and brother is building in Hermanus

Loving life!

Giving the camera the shy look!

Totally fascinated with Oupa's leg

Chilling with Oupa

Going for another walk with, but this time we leave the pram at home!

Bath time ... look at my mohawk!

At Canal Walk, having breakfast with Rykie and Annabelle

Just chilling watching telly with mommy!

So last week we went to visit John in Joburg. The frog and I took the 6am flight and had such a good time with the Daddy!

The frog in the airplane!

We went to Nicholas and Karina's swimming gala at school the day we arrived.

With his Daddy

Karina in 1st Place!

Mommy & the Frog!

Missed his daddy sooo much!

Nick's 1st Place!

The beautiful Joburg thunder clouds rolling in!

Cousins!

Beana and the Monkey!

Sitting on the daddy

Having a cappa with Granny

Flying with the Daddy

Bathing with my dad!

Granny giving me my after bath massage

Girls-and a little boy-Day!!!

Kirsty, Candz and Franny came to visit us for the day, we had our monthly girly breakfast and spent the rest of the day, chatting, getting Kirst ready for a wedding and playing with the beautiful monkey.

Candz playing with the frog

Candz, Franny and Troy

My toes are DEEEELISH

Candy and the monkey

Painting Kirst's toes for the wedding

After the little monkey's bath, I dressed him in his cute little Tigger outfit, how cute is my little blue eyed boy???

Such a little friendly boy!

Lots of love,

Team Woollam!!!

xXx

Saying goodbye to 2009!

2009-12-31T23:43:00.000-08:00

What an amazing year!

A year filled with so much love, laughter, fun, excitement, tears, fear, anticipation and then the welcoming of the most amazing little being on planet earth!

Calling the last little bit of the year the "silly season" is spot on! I didn't even get a change to blog all that often, 'cause we've been entertaining, been entertained, been holidaying and been enjoying the company of some amazing "long lost" friends!

The last couple of weeks before saying our goodbyes to 2009 ...

We went to Kirstenbosch Gardens for Carols by Candlelight with the Nevelings, unfortunately Luca couldn't join us, so our little Frog truly missed his friend, but had an absolute blast with us oldies!

Martin, Kels and baby Neveling :)

John and I with our little wrapped up Troy!

The hundreds of people with their candles, singing carols and enjoying the beauty of a Cape Town summers night!

Love my little family!

So another Big Woollam Braai! We decided to host a Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Holidays, Goodbye Cape Town and Saints Reunion Braai all in one! We had some blasts from the past and some amazing friends we have not seen in ages join us at our home and as always, had a fabulous day in the sun!

John getting ready before our friends arrived

All ready ... now relax and wait ...

Our house all Christmassed out!

Pool ready!

Yeay ... our first guests arrived!

BFF's ... Beth (bride to be) and I

Mike and John

The Hoopers and Troy!

Little Luca crawling ALL over the place!

Loving Christmas!

A pool filled with happy people!

The cutest little foot!!!!

Our BEAUTIFUL little boy!

Mommy absolutely LOVES her boy!

Eskimo kisses!

John & Lloyd relaxing in the pool!

Beth finding characters in the clouds.

Ross & Neil's friend from the UK

Neil Solomon & his wife with Ivan

Bethy giving the cutest boy kisses!

Blowing bubbles!

Rory, Beth and Troy!

Rory and the Frog!

All the boys loving Troy!

Ivan, Neil, Matt, Rory, Lloyd, John (the proud daddy), Neil and Ross

The day before Christmas mommy and daddy had to do some last minute Christmas shopping and I decided to just chill with my bunny!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Christmas day John, my Dad, Troy and I went to visit my Aunt, Tannie Letta, my cousins, Suzette and Danie and Suzette's little girl, Tara in Wellington, we ate the most amazing food (as always) and had so much fun seeing our family again!

Tara and Troy, the first Grandchildren in the family!

Ouma and Oupa with their grandchildren!

Rudi, die foto is vir jou!!! Tannie Letta het alweer haar spesiale chocolate rol gemaak, toe MOES ons vir jou 'n fototjie stuur!

Tara with her I love Kentucky shirt that Danie bought during his last trip to Lexington!

Oupa and his little reindeer!

Loving his Christmas outfit!

Our family photo, but we missed my brother and Katinka so much!

Tannie Letta, Danie, Suzette and Tara!

Tara and her Uncle Danie!

Loving my dad!

Our Christmas Sunset while driving home! How beautiful!

Troy visiting the Hoopers!

Beth, Troy and I

Our boy for his first Christmas!

On the 27th of December my dad flew to France to go visit my brother, at the airport my dad was very careful holding Troy, he didn't want to get any spit-up on the clothes he was going to sit in for the next 18 hours, having checked all his other clothes. I just saw my dads big blue eyes go even bigger when he showed me his hand covered in poo ... hole in the nappy! So off we run to the mothers room to change Troy and to clean my dads pants before they called him for boarding. As I took Troy's nappy off, I realised I didn't have another one with me ... I know, I know!!! So made my own old-aged version to keep him going till we got home again. My poor dad had to wash his pants in the basin and dry it with those hand air-dryers.

Below ... my dad with his still slightly wet pants and Troy with his fancy nappy showing!

(I now carry at least 5 extra nappies wherever I go!)

Off to Hermanus for a quick beach holiday over new years ...

Martin, Kelly and Luca came to visit us at my dads house. Luca can only walk with his little trolley, so we decided to put Troy on his trolley in his bumbo and they absolutely LOVED it. I don't actually know who loved it more, us or them, 'cause we made them do it over and over again. It was the cutest thing we've ever seen!

Look at their faces, the excitement!

How cute is that????

Then off to the pool at the Hemel and Aarde Estate for a swim and some lunch!

Luca with his pasta sauce all over his face!

Troy having a swim with his daddy.

Sitting with the kidos.

Then a little bored of the pool, so off to Onrus beach we went so John could get a quick surf in.

Martin building sand castles and Luca breaking them down ... what a game!

The first time Troy put his feet in the sand!

Sandy Toets!

The next day we met up with a couple of friends at Grotto Beach. What a beautiful day!

Martin & Luca playing in the sea.

The little frog and I.

John and the frog.

Lots of love,

The Woollams ....

Team Woollams said goodbye to 2009 at 11:00 o'clock.

We can't wait to have a million more memories to share with you all in 2010!

Our first family photo shoot!

2009-12-30T11:24:00.000-08:00

We had our first family photo shoot on the 5th of December and received our photos a little while ago, what an amazing experience.

Our friend, George Golding the owner of Fuji Image Studios http://www.fujistudios.co.za/gave us an amazing gift as a baby shower present, a package called "Watch me grow", which is 4 photo shoots, 1 every 3 months of our new little family. So here we are ...

Thank you so much for this amazing gift George, we can't wait to see all our photos in a years time.

Lots of love,

The Woollams!

Merry Christmas ...

2009-12-25T12:44:00.001-08:00

Ho Ho Ho ...

What a beautiful day! The Woollams would like to wish all our friends and family the most amazing day, filled with soooo much love, light and awesome memories!

Just a little something:

http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/JuQXUZW6ziye2E0zrvci

Christmas Hugs!

Time flies when you're having fun ...

2009-12-22T01:14:00.000-08:00

Who ever said that the first time ... well, they knew what they were talking about! I'm sorry I haven't written or posted any photos on my blog in such a long time. I was surprised to find how many people follow my blog when I got a crazy amount of messages telling me to "PLEASE UPDATE YOUR BLOG, WE ALREADY KNOW YOU'RE MOVING TO JOBURG"!

So without waiting any longer!

This is going to be a pretty long post, 'cause as you all know, I haven't "blogged" in over a month!

Seeing as we have a "bucket list" of last minute thing we need to do before we leave for Jo'burg, we try do something fun every single week and every single weekend.

A few Sundays ago, we decided to visit the craft markets in our area, first stop ... Hout Bay Craft Market.

John and a fast asleep Troy in his pram

Awake after his snooze

We drove back over the newly opened Chapmans Peak to get home, still one of the most beautiful roads I have EVER been on, with the most amazing views.

Woollam Craziness!

The beautiful Hout Bay in the background!

The Woollam's first little road trip, although just around the peninsula!

Next stop ... Muizenburg Market!

Yip, that is the little frog in there .... luckily sleeping, 'cause Muizenburg Market is not a pretty market, definitely not the kind of market you want strangers touching your little baba!!

On our way back .... THE REASON I LOVE OUR BEAUTIFUL CITY!

So without the cliche of saying "my child is the smartest or cutest or prettiest", I have to say, Troy is the smartest, cutest and prettiest little boy alive!!!

Here at 2 months, little Troy is actually holding his own bottle!!!

The cutest little monkey EVER!

This next photo was taken about a month ago, now Troy will NEVER fit on John's arm and if he did, his arm might just break off! Our boy has grown sooooo much!

With Neil

Our other little boy sleeping in the pram! How cute is little Tiger!

This little monkey absolutely LOVES bath time, how cute!

Washing the hair!

Such a happy boy!

After bath time, with daddy just before his night time massage!

Matt's birthday at The Harbour House in Kalk Bay.

Every morning the little frog sleeps with his daddy for an hour or so ... how cute!

Neil's visit in Cape Town ...

Neil, John and Rowan

Summer time and the frog LOVES swimming, so daddy bought him a new boat!

Oupa with the bubs in his new boat in his new swimming pool!

Tannie Katinka, Daddy, Oupa and the Frog!

How adorable ... loving his boat!

Not loving the big pool!!!

After swim, chilling on the couch with his Oupa and Katinka!

Totally Oupa se kind!

The most BEAUTIFUL boy in the World!!!

Happy Boy!

Mommy has such big feet!!!

Sitting with Tannie Tinka!

Going for a walk around the neighbourhood ...

Family self-portrait!

Kleinwassenaar Road ... our hood!

Self-Portrait #2

Before knowing the Woollams are moving to Jo'burg, Rose and Debs planned a trip down to Cape Town to come visit us and meet troy.

At the Harbour House ...

John and his mom, Rose

John's sister Debbie and Rose

Rose

We decided to give Troy his Christmas pressie almost a full month before Christmas ... we just couldn't wait any longer and thank goodness for that, cause he absolutely LOVES it!

The little frog in his Bumbo

Hugs for mommy

Sitting with daddy ... boys watching telly!

I've been asked to be one of Fran's bridesmaids ... sooo thrilled and special!

FRAN'S HENS NIGHT!

Love the straw!

Candz & I

Fran's lucky packet from the bridesmaids!

Kirst, Candz & I

Candz & Kirst with the delicious food

Franny in her outfit!!!

Kirst and Franny

Candz & I

Candz, Vanessa & I

We had a little surprise for Franny. One of the activities were to draw a live male nude. Luckily he kept his Woollies undies on, although really old with a few holes!

Check out how RED Franny is ... poor thing!

Fran sketching away

The group of girls drawing the not-so-nude dude!

Kirsty's creation ...

Emily's (Fran's twin sister) work of art!

Then we were off to Jo'burg. John had to go to work for 2 days and I went to go look for houses.

Unfortunately I found 2 houses I LOVED, but didn't even have time to show John before someone else snapped them up. So back to square one!

John with Nick, Karina and Troy in Jo'burg at the Ruest's house.

Our Jo'burg Christmas!

Cousins!

Paul & Troy

Rose, Karina, Debs, Nicholas & Troy

The Ruests with Troy

Family photo for Christmas Time ...

Back: Rose, Ken, John & I

Front: Nicholas, Troy, Debs & Paul

And Karina!

Nicholas & Troy

Troy's first Christmas pressie, from Debs, Ken and the kids!

Who's more excited, mom and dad or Troy?

Our Christmas table.

At the Bryanston Moonlight Market

Troy holding his own glass of .... NOTHING?

"The 09 delivers the best of both: freshness & green fig styling plus satisfying smooth roundness."

Like father ... like son?

The happiest, healthiest, friendliest boy in the world!

Daddy reading Troy a story!

Granny in Fourways Mall with Troy

Mommy and Daddy with Troy in Fourways Mall

Oupa and his monkey!

Troy with his friendy, Jemima Keizan

Every single year, The Woollams, Nevelings and Ennions get together for a Christmas party. This year was the 4th year we all got together and once again ... a fabulous evening with GREAT friends!!!

The Theme this year ... A Thai Christmas!

The newest addition to the Christmas party!

Our little Christmas Elf!

The crowd ...

Garth, John, Martin, Kels, Bianca and I

Striking a pose!

Blue Steel?

Kelly, Martin and Luca with a little Baby Neveling on the way!

Such a handsome little Luca!

Bianca and Kelly

The Girls

All of us!

The hosts with the AMAZING food!

The Ennions BEAUTIFUL Christmas Tree

Crayfish Curry ... to DIE for!

The Boys!

Always happy when it's anything THAI!

Kelly and I were responsible for the Thai Desert, so Pancakes it was!

Banana, Chocolate and Condensmilk Pancakes ... YUM!!!

Rykie, Jacques and Annabelle at her Christening!

Last Sunday Troy slept in his big cot for the first time ... I could hardly believe my little monkey has outgrown his crib!

So peaceful ... loving his new bed!

Troy loving bath time with his new book!

After bath time in his new play corner in his room!

Tummy time!

Daddy reading the frog a bedtime story!

Tummy time with is skillie!

Every single day we look into our beautiful boy's blue eyes, we realise how blessed we are and how grateful we are to be parents. He is the light of our lives and we can't imagine a day without him!

Lots of love ...

THE WOOLLAMS ARE RELOCATING TO JOBURG!

2009-11-11T02:37:00.000-08:00

No, it was not just to get your attention, we are REALLY moving to Johannesburg! The most asked questions when I tell anyone this really shocking sudden news ...

WHY? My amazing husband got the most incredible offer from a company in Johannesburg to be the new CEO of a company called On Demand. They're based in Bryanston, which is most probably were we will end up living. It was an offer we could not turn down. One thing I have learnt out of this whole experience ... NEVER say NEVER ... I "never" thought I would EVER move back to Joburg and probably told that to a million and one people, but here we go ...

and the second most asked question:

WHEN? Well, John is starting his new position mid-January, and if we have sold our beautiful house in Cape Town and bought an even more spectacular house :) in Joburg by that time, we will be there mid-January, otherwise we will probably be between Joburg and Cape Town, sorting out the sale of our house and getting all our stuff moved to our new adventure!

Adventure it is ... our new adventure with our beautiful baby boy!

So, seeing as our time as Capetonians are running low, we decided to make a list of everything we still need to see and places we would like to visit. If you have any ideas, please let us know, we don't want to miss anything! :) Now our weekends are packed and we're spending as much time as a little family before John commits himself to his new company!

The past few weeks, we've been ...

Troy went for his injections, it was HORRIBLE, I think I cried more than him. It's a totally different cry, when they are in pain.

Our little baba's legs after his ouch! His legs were pretty swollen, but a little bit of arnica oil quickly sorted it out!

To keep with tradition, Oupa came to visit for Halloween. That same day we received a little pressie from his Uncle Boets in France ... the cutest little Addidas takkies! How styling! They're still way to big, but we still made him wear them for a few min to take a few photies!

How adorable ...

Happy with his Oupa.

Playing under his jungle gym thingie!

Oupa giving him his bottle.

Who's the cutest little homeboy in his Baby Gap outfit?

He pulls himself up when you hold his hands and he's sooooo proud of himself afterwards with HUGE smiles.

I went to visit my mom's sister Cornelia and introduced my little bundle to his Great-Grandmother and Great-Grandfather.

With Cornelia

John plays waterpolo every Tuesday and matches every Thursday, so last Thursday Troy and I went to support his daddy in the cold.

Dressed for the cold poolside.

(This little outfit was also the first outfit I bought when I found out I was pregnant ... must have had a feeling deep down inside that I was going to have a little boy!)

With daddy after the match.

So proud of his little froggie!

Who's the cool dude with the shades? Posing with daddy and some of his teammates.

On Friday, the 6th, it was Noons' (Marc's sister) surprise sweet 16th birthday party.

Happy Birthday Noons, we hope you had the best surprise EVA!

Lauren and the sleeping beauty!

Penny (Marc's mom) and our cutie!

Noons, Marc & Lauren with the froggie!

Striking a pose with Marc ... MOLLLLLEEEE ... :)))

Marc with the beautiful frog

Team Woollam!

Saturday night we went to Garth's 30th, another cold and rainy night away from home, so the little frog had to be dressed up in his little bear outfit!

Our beautiful little bear!

We had the Cape Town Two Oceans Aquarium on our Cape Town "bucket list" ... so on Monday we ticked it off with Marc, Lauren, Tam (Marc's sister) and her little Georgia. But before the Aquarium, we had to stop off at Charlies Bakery ... another Cape Town MUST! What a fun day out!

Marc & Lauren at Charlies.

Mommy's cuppa and Troy's bikkie ... mommy and daddy helped him finish it!

Marc, Lauren, John and Troy in front of the Aquarium.

Marc, John, Troy and I

The lovely couple!

We saw these seals at the Waterfront and they had these red rings around their necks. At first it looked like collars, but after a good stare, we realised it was blood, perfect red flesh wounds. Then we saw this board explaining the wounded seals ... how tragic!

Keep our seas clean!!!

Troy on his first slide at the Aquarium.

Tam, Georgia and Lauren on a whale ride.

The group: Tam, Georgia, Lauren, Marc, John, Troy and I

Lauren and I surrounded my Nemos

Such a happy boy with his daddy!

Standing and just looking at EVERYTHING!

Team Woollam ... our Froggie!

Marc, Lauren, John and Troy at the Kelp Forest.

Marc, Lauren and Troy at the predators tank.

Troy, Jaws and I ... :)

The biggest sting-ray I've EVER seen!

We've been blessed with so much love, friendship and so many amazing memories. We wake up every morning excited about another beautiful day with the most perfect family!

Lots of love, light and sooooo much happiness,

The Woollams!

Our surprise birthday visit to Jo'burg!

2009-11-01T05:06:00.001-08:00

It was Rose's actual 60th birthday on Wednesday the 28th. So to add to a million surprises for her, we decided to fly up, not tell anyone but Debs and Ken. It was a pretty big thing ... IT WOULD BE TROY'S FIRST TIME ON A PLANE! We left for the airport at a very early hour, through a thunder storm that would even scare the Jo'burgers, but we got there in good time to get ALL our stuff on the plane and have some airport breakfast. Needless to say our little Angel was good as gold, he didn't even cry taking off or landing! After that flight, we renamed him ... Troy "frequent flyer" Woollam ... 'cause with such a good traveller, we are most definitely going to take him on a thousand holidays!

Our little Pie's first time on the airplane!

We went straight from the airport to Olivedale Clinic, knowing that Rose was at work, I went first with the little froggie in my arms. I knocked, Rose turned, she double took and boom ... tears all round. She was so shocked and so happy ... I had to warn her that although we're at a hospital and she would most probably be 100%, we don't want her to have a heart attack!

Granny Rose's face seeing the little Frog!

After meeting up with Rose, we were dying to show all the friends our beautiful boy, so off we went to Marc and Gary's office. All the wives and a few other friends all made their way there and it was so nice to introduce our little man to all our amazing friends!

From the right: Sim with her beautiful little Julie, Marc & Lauren, Gary with our baba Troy on his lap, John, Stacey with the cutest little Jemma and the proud little mommy .. me!

Stacey and Troy's little "girlfriend" Jemma!

Sim and the little Julie

Sim and Anton's second little baba is due in 4 weeks time ... good luck guys, we can't wait to meet the new little baba!

The Love-Birds, Marc and Lauren!

This was so cute! The 3 boys, with their little bundles ... well, accept Marc, he had to borrow Julie for this picture! Unfortunately Julie's daddy Anton already left by this time.

Marc with Anton & Sim's Julie, Gary with his Jemma and John and our little Troy!

Jemma going in for a kiss!

How cute, they're already best friends!

The boys with their little toys!

So special!

Gary and Jemma!

Sim and Julie!

The mommies with their babes!

Troy was dying to meet his new aunt, uncle and cousins, so off we went to Fourways Gardens to introduce little Troy.

The Ruest's with their new little family member!

Nick, Debs and little Troy!

Every morning Troy is all smiles, so beautiful and so happy, so as mommy's do ... I was just snapping away!

Ready for the day!

Rose's friends had a surprise birthday tea for her at Sue McKenzie's house. It was such a beautiful surprise. Granny called us ... she just HAD to show off her beautiful little grandson to all her girlfriends!

60 and never looked happier!

Rose and Sue with her special gift!

Granny and the Froggie!

Tuesday night we had a dinner at Debs and Ken.

Debs with Troy, Rose Ruest, John and Ken.

Troy with his Granny and Great-Aunt Ann.

Debs, Rose, Troy and John

Rose with her 3 Grandchildren

Karina, Troy and Nick

Wednesday Morning Smiles!

Saying goodbye to his cousins!

The two striking a pose!

Troy with his cousins!

On our way back home ...

My boys at Lanseria Airport on our way home!

My beautiful boy!

Customer Service worth a mention!

2009-11-01T03:01:00.000-08:00

Something truly amazing happened on Friday, I went to Pick 'n Pay in Steenberg , something I've done a million and one times before. Normally its a smile here and a hello there, but this time, the Manager of Pick 'n Pay came up to me and noticed that I was walking with a beautiful little boy, rather than a HUGE bump. He asked if this was the baby we've been waiting for, how old Troy was and told me how cute he is. Anyway, as I was making my way to the till, I was surprised with a BIG bunch of flowers and a beautiful card and congratulated us on the birth of our beautiful little boy ... I was so amazed!

Thank you Pick 'n Pay Steenberg Management and Staff for such a beautiful gesture!

The last couple of weeks ...

2009-10-25T08:00:00.000-07:00

So much has happened over the last couple of weeks, our little baba is growing and changing more and more each day and every day has been an adventure worth capturing ... hence a million and one pictures!

3 weekends ago we got invited to stay with our good friends Rob and Erica Armstrong on their wine farm Hout Espoir in Franschhoek. It was the same weekend of the Uncorked Wine Festival. What a beautiful day spent on the Lynx Wine Estate.

Matt, Candz, Troy, John and I

Troy's first wine festival!

Anyone who knows Mattie, knows about the fringe comb-over ... his hands were full, so thought I'd help out!

The Websters loving our little monkey!

Very tired after a long day of wine tasting in his little outfit from his Oom Rudi.

I still meet up with my fellow anti-natal moms every second Wednesday, it is still so great to see everyone, see how our little ones change and how normal they all are! The Wednesday before last we all went to Kirstenbosch Tea Room at the Gardens.

Aunty Kirst came to visit and felt instantly very comfortable with her ...

On the 17th of October, Troy was 6 weeks old and we decided to introduce his first bottle, so I expressed the entire day to make up the feed and that night John got to feed his beautiful son for the first time! What a wonderful experience ...

That next day we had a fish braai at the Garth and B's, was such a nice outing and we had the most delicious fish that Garth caught the day before.

Martin with Luca and his new best friend, Troy.

The beautiful little Luca!

Martin, Luca, Garth, Troy and John doing the baby talk!

Garth with our little monkey!

B cooking up a storm!

The very next day the 8 of us went to Royale for dinner, R30 Burgers, R10 Beers ... whoo hooo ... what a deal!

Our poor child constantly have a camera in his face, he absolutely LOVES looking so cute, so mommy just keeps clicking! Here goes:

Chilling with his daddy!

Oupa visits every week and the monkey just loves cuddling with is Oupa!

It's getting so hot lately, sleeping in his carry-cot while mommy and daddy watches Sunday telly!

Last Saturday we had a really busy day, Troy went to his first birthday party. At 10:00 we had Ben Osborne's 1st birthday, which was lovely, then after that at 14:00 we went to Luca's 1st birthday party and then that evening, we went to Will Phillips 30th. The theme was Casablanca, what a great party! But what a tiring day!!!

Getting ready for our big day out!

Troy's first "swim" with his daddy! (can you call it swim if you're not even getting wet? :))

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEAUTIFUL LUCA!

Troy loving the party ... :)

The Woollams in 1940

Will's 30th!

The Websters!

Candz and I with the most beautiful monkey!

Last Sunday John, myself and Troy went to Kalk Bay's Olympia for the best breakie, afterwards taking our beautiful boy for a walk in and around the harbour. Just taking in the beauty of this place we call home, surrounded by mountains and ocean we realised that no matter what the future holds ... we'll always call this place home!

Such a proud Mommy!

Such an amazing Daddy!

The happiest parents EVER!

Lots of love ...

Team Woollam :)

Troy's little friend Annabelle Jonck was born ...

2009-10-25T07:46:00.000-07:00

Troy was sooo excited to meet his little friend Annabelle Jonck .. but unfortunately he was not aloud in the ward ... next week my boy!

Congratulations to our amazing friends Rykie and Jacques, on Friday afternoon, after keeping us all in real suspense, little Annabelle Jonck was born, weighing a healthy 3,065kg. She is absolutely beautiful and Rykie is already the amazing mom we all knew she would be!

We LOVE you guys!

Photos of Rykie & Jacques just before Annabelle was born:

http://estiethirionphotography.blogspot.com/2009/10/pregnancy-jacques-and-rykieand-boep.html

WE GOT OUR PHOTOS!!!

2009-10-15T06:55:00.000-07:00

I've already written about this event ... so without keeping you waiting:

Once again ... thank you Estie for taking such beautiful pictures and a BIG thank you to Rykie and Jacques for the most amazing present!

Rob and Erica Armstrong saw our pictures on our blog, went onto Estie's blog and also had some beautiful pictures taken. If you would like to check it out ... the link is:

http://estiethirionphotography.blogspot.com/2009/09/beautiful-side-of-franschhoek.html

4.5 Weeks, Surfing and a Reunion

2009-10-07T01:17:00.000-07:00

4 and a half weeks ... probably the best 4 and a half weeks of my life. Even while a little sleep deprived and totally controlled by feed-time, sleep-time and bath-time, I would like to reconfirm ...

THE BEST 4 AND A HALF WEEKS OF MY LIFE!

So here's what we've been up to:

So happy ... my little monkey even smiles when he's sleeping!

His first bath with his mommy! Absolutely LOVES the water!

Last Wednesday, I met up with all the other new mommies from our anti-natal class. All but one mommy had her baby. It was so nice to share stories, make sure we're all normal and our little additions are all normal and best of all ... be with a group of people who aren't shy to whip out a boobie when its time for a feed! We were a group of about 10 mommies and each of us had our little car-seat with our VERY precious cargo to show off!

Just a few of the little ones, all lined up in a row. Troy was such a good little baba ... he's the one at the end!

Dawn with her little one. The two boys meeting each other!

"this must be one of my favorite positions .. with my daddy!"

My boys in blue!

Tannie Letta and Oom Kobus came to visit ... was so happy with his Tannie Letta!

Little Troy fast asleep in his crib with his new duvet that Granny made him.

"Thank you Granny, I love my new duvet!"

Look at this precious little angel!!!

He has grown sooo much, but still just a little peanut!

Waking up from my sleep .... soooooo tired!

All stretched out ... already the size of his changing mat!

On our way to dinner at the Nevelings ... fast asleep and happy in the carry-cot mommy was brought home in from the hospital when she was born!

Just chilling with the mommy!

On Sunday we all went to Muizenberg beach, to go watch John partake in setting a new Guinness World Record for most amount of surfers on one wave, it's called Earthwave. The did set the world record at the end with 103 surfers on the same wave. Previous record was in Brazil with a 100 surfers! Here's a link and a You Tube video of what it looked like.

http://www.mizozo.com/sports/10/2009/05/video-one-wave-with103-surfers-did-they-break-the-....html

Unfortunately we were told to be there at 14:00 for this big event and when we got there, it already happened!!! Just to be clear, we weren't late ... they were early!

Even though John didn't get to surf in setting the world record, he still got in the water and enjoyed a few waves, with Troy and I sitting on the beach cheering him on.

John enjoying a few waves!

Such a good little supporter in his sling ... snug as a bug!

Troy's first bath with his daddy!

Still a little squint every so often!

Still the most beautiful boy in the WHOLE WORLD!!!!

As always, all our love ....

Team Woollam!

Troy ... a whole 3 weeks!

2009-09-27T10:54:00.000-07:00

So for the past 3 weeks we've just been getting to know our beautiful little boy. He is the sweetest little angel, as good as gold! Absolutely loves his mommy and daddy, sleeps so well and is growing fantastically.

Last Wednesday I took him to the clinic and he grew a whole 2.5cm since birth and now weighs a whopping 3.95kg!

We have such a little hungry boy on our hands, so he's going to grow even more and more! So without keeping you waiting, here he is ...

Happiest time ... sleeping on mommy and daddy's chest!

Totally exhausted after dinner time!

Oupa visits every week ... I just LOVE my Oupa!!!

ABSOLUTELY LOVES BATH TIME!

Our beautiful little angel just before bath time ... so sleepy!

Watching his first Tri-Nations with his daddy!

Other than that, we just go out shopping, for walks and every now and again a few dinners and lunches. But we will keep you updated with photos and news and the development of our little froggie!

Lots of love,

Team Woollam!

It's Wedding time again!!!

2009-09-27T10:09:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to our beautiful friends Beth and Rory.

On the 23rd of September, Rory went down on one knee and asked the very special Bethy to be his wife ... YEAH!!!

We wish you guys so much love, happiness and the most amazing engagement EVER!

Welcome to our beautiful Baby Troy!!!

2009-09-10T08:51:00.000-07:00

Toni and John, sitting in a tree

K.I.S.S.I.N.G

First comes love

Then comes marriage

Then come Troy in a baby carriage!

The time has come and now I can say with confidence, it is probably the only thing in the whole world well worth waiting for!

As I'm sitting here with my beautiful son cuddling on my chest, I realise that John and I were made to be parents! We're so in love with our little boy and we can't wait to introduce him to all our friends and family! So without any delay ...

The Beautiful Troy John Woollam

So the last few days has been the most amazing, craziest, loveliest and most memorable days of our lives. And this is how the story goes:

My stomach the morning of Troy's arrival!

Standing in front of the amazing Kingsbury Hospital ... only a few more hours till we meet our precious little boy!

In observation just before birth ...

John with his scrubs on ... on our way to theatre

Getting prepared for my spinal-block

In position ...

OK, I didn't want to post any of the gory photos, but this one is just way to classic not to share. Our first born son, giving a BIG "one-up" to the world!

So the predicted 4 kilo baby turned out to be a great 3.59kg! So healthy and happy. With a 10 out of 10 APGAR score!

The happy little family!

Tears and kisses all round!

Just warming up a little!

Oh so unhappy to be out of mommy's warm tummy!

SUCH A PROUD DADDY!

Oupa, Daddy and Baba Troy!

Granny, Daddy and Troy

Daddy, Granny, Paul and Troy

Unfortunately Oom Rudi could not be at the birth, but made sure the Daddy of the day got to drag on a REAL cuban cigar!

Oupa having a drag

Granny having her drag

And Paul taking a deep puff

Champers in the hospital to celebrate our little Troy!

Just chilling with his mommy!

Only 1 day old!

Look how small in comparison to daddy's hand!

The cutest tootsies in the world!

Daddy visiting us in the hospital

Oupa and Granny watching John do his first bath!

Troy absolutely LOVES the water ... daddy washing hair!

Beautiful clean and warm Troy!

After bath-time kisses!

Going Home!!! In my car seat for the first time!

Arriving home for the first time!

Loving my nursery!

Sleeping in my crib that Granny decorated so beautifully!

Our other little boy, just chilling on the carpet watching his new little brother!

5 days old and sooo beautiful!

Tannie Katinka visiting on her birthday!

Just a little cuddle with mom before bath time!

Thank you for all the beautiful messages and calls, we really appreciate it. We can't wait to show our little boy off to the world, but till then, you'll have to keep an eye on the blog, 'cause snappy-happy-me is in 7th heaven with my new little model ...

I just have one question ... "How can it be possible to love someone so much, after knowing them for only one week?"

Our photo shoot!!!

2009-08-28T06:49:00.000-07:00

As a pressie from Rykie & Jacques for our baby shower, we received a voucher to go for a big belly photo shoot.

What an amazing experience and an amazing record of this wonderful time in our lives!

Our photos were taken by Estie Thirion and I would highly recommend her, she's absolutely AMAZING. She made us feel so comfortable and we absolutely LOVE the photos.

I will update the blog with photos as soon as I receive them from her, but for now, you can go view our wall of fame on her blog on the following link:

http://estiethirionphotography.blogspot.com/2009/08/first-comes-love-then-comes-marrage.html

Thank you so much Rykie and Jacques, what a wonderful gift!

1 Week to go!!!

2009-08-28T06:36:00.000-07:00

We only have 1 week to go, so put in those votes!!! Do you think this little Woollam will be a little princess or prince?

We're soooo excited ... feels like Christmas in September!!!!

Rykie's Baby Shower at Kirstenbosch

2009-08-25T07:47:00.000-07:00

I had the pleasure to organise one of my best friends baby showers this weekend. Rykie and I have been friends since the age of 6 and about 23 years ago, our parents had a really hard time getting us to do anything but play with our dollies ... now 23 years later, here we are again, both happily married and VERY pregnant about to play with our "dollies" again!

The baby shower was a picnic at Kirstenbosch Gardens, which was the perfect setting on the most amazing day ever! With rainy weather all week last week, our nerves were shattered and with constant forecast checking and a whole lot of praying, we got the most amazing day!

The day started with setting up and then relaxing, eating a healthy apple!

Rykie & I

I had a few things planned. Firstly, everyone had to come either dressed in Pink ... if you thought it was a girl, or Blue ... if you leaning towards boy! Check out all the men in Blue!!! :) The second thing: Everyone had to put a baby photo of themselves on the gifts so Rykie & Jacques could guess who the gift was from.

Then Thirdly ... I printed 11 baby related questions, which Rykie & Jacques had to answer, the one with the least amount of correct answers got the punishment ... which was ...

Eating and drinking out of the potty!

Trying to figure out the answers to the questions. They both ended up with 2.5 correct answers, which meant ... they shared the punishment! I have that on video, but couldn't load it ... was just to big!

Rykie & Jacques opening their pressies, guessing the baby photies!

Jacques in hysterics laughing at someone's baby photo.

The beautiful setting with delicious picnic baskets and a lot of people very excited to meet the little Jonck baby!

Marili, Rykie & I, all 3 of us friends since baby days.

A little closer!

The happy parents ... only a few more weeks to go!

Guys, we're so excited for you and we're so blessed to be going through the exact same process with you guys ... we can't wait to meet your little baba and have a beautiful little friend for our baby Woollam.

Love you guys, and Rykie ... happy birthday for today my special friend!

All our love ...

The Woollams

xXx

Counting down ... 10 days to go!!!

2009-08-25T07:37:00.000-07:00

So we went for our last anti-natal visit today before the BIG day!

Baby Woollam was playing along and we got a few pretty pictures of the cutest face this mommy and daddy has EVER seen! With only 10 days to go, as you can probably imagine, there is not a lot of space to grow or move around, so in the last week, our little baba has picked up a whopping 100g, which is much less than the 500g in previous weeks. So at the moment, I'm carrying a 3.8kg baby and can most definately feel that it's getting bigger and more snug by the day!

Look at the bottom right hand corner and see the cutest little chubby cheek baby EVER!

Another photo of the little face bottom right hand corner ... with a little hand below!

Is it possible to love someone this much without ever meeting them?