My Life

This morning our 19month old baby gal, decided to pick her aunt's hair lotion and ran away with it to our bedroom. I requested her to return it and she declined and instead threw it on the floor.Samara has that habit of throwing things down when she is annoyed and its something we have been working on. So I told her what she did was wrong and spanked her. She was not moved and was kicking the lotion with her foot. I told her to pick the lotion but she declined. After afew sapnkings she did pick it up and I told her to take it to her aunt's and when we got to where Shiru was she refused to give it back and threw it down again. By the way, we were all running late and she was just stubborn. Alex joined in and after a few more spankings she picked the lotion and gave it to her aunt but would not say sorry.  She only said sorry after her aunt had left and we were alone. I guess its the shame she felt to say she was sorry but I need guidance on that.Can somebody please advice on h...

In yesterday's newspaper there was a story about a woman who was abandoned by an 'aunt' when she was 1 year  in a children's home. The home only knew her first name and gave her a second name because she looked like a certain tribe. 50years down the line, she is trying to trace her family. The challenge is no body knows where to start because they do not know her real names nor her family name. They do not have any details on her family background. As I read that story I was sad for the lady, despite having her own family now she still would love to know her people. I thought to myself how we take things for granted. The fact that you are born into a certain family and you can trace your roots is so important. Place yourself in that ladies shoes, when you say your name,you almost second guess yourself. You aren't even sure about your age,relatives are they dead or alive. But thank God that despite all these challenges,  she has moved on in life. Today is a sad ...

This morning a friend client walked through our doors and today she wasn't all upbeat as she normally is. I remember the first time she walked through the doors of SAS, she had just received the news that she was pregnant and didn't even know how to express her excitement.  She saw our kids shop walked in, fell in love with the baby things and shared her good news.  At the time she didn't even know where to start, she was just purely excited to be pregnant. For the past two months, everytime she is within the building she would pop in and her last visit she brought a friend who was also pregnant. So today  when she came and I asked how she was doing and she shared her story. She woke up with a headache and tried to ignore it last week. Later it got worse and she went to one of our local hospitals. She told them she was pregnant and they put her on a drip. They later sent her home. The pain persisted and she returned to same hospital with serious stomach pains. She was g...

Baby center( http://www.babycenter.com ) sends weekly updates on developments of my 19month old daughter. I thank God for this free resource because it helps us parents understand what's going on with our baby girl.  However, there is always this part that keeps hinting at getting baby number 2. I totally ignore it. This week, we were to gauge how many words Samara is saying and I took a pen and paper and jotted them down to the best of my ability. It was an interesting exercise because I tried as hard as I could to remember all the words she says so as to reach the average 50 words. I think I made it to 40 something words and was very proud of my memory. Of course when I got home in the evening, she talked some more and I had not listed some words down . She gives stories and has many expressions on her face but at times we do not understand her language.All in all am so grateful for the milestones. I have been telling my beloved I think she is already 2years. This is because ...

The weather in Nairobi has just been so unpredictable. I have missed the sun and wearing dresses.Today, the sun was out and I decided to wear a dress. It was good to hear from my beloved when he dropped me off that I look good. It's amazing how a lovely complement from him lights up my day. I walk around confident knowing somebody somewhere likes the way I look. Anyways, in my lovely dress, I went to run an errand and had to walk back to work. I don't know where the cold wind came from but believe me, it was freezing. I tried to cover my nose with my scarf but that didn't work. Lucky for me the walk wasn't too far and I got to work and immediately bought myself a cup of coffee. So I can see the sun is out again and am hoping it will get warmer in here. Have a great day

Hard working, loyal , perfectionist, smart, articulate, bold, confident and excellence in what he does are some of the ways I can describe my beloved . Among friends and family , he is known to be clean and orderly   and many   genuinely were concerned on what would happen to him upon becoming a father. Many thought he would purchase an apron and wear it while holding the baby so as not to soil his clean shirts.   Well, am so happy he didn’t buy the apron and he embraced parenthood with such an open heart. Amazingly though Samara hasn’t washed him much, think she too has his traits of cleanliness. When she pours something on the table or floor , she quickly runs to pick a rug to wipe. Did you know that my beloved was the cleanest and smartest boy in his primary school? Yesterday evening we were celebrating our younger sister’s birthday and we   managed to surprise her. As we indulged in the cake, pizza and tea (a lovely combina...

Isn't this a lovely bunk bed? Its very cute. It has 2 beds and staircase with drawers. Lovely features but so far this bed has caused me the most stress in the last 7months. When we first placed an order for the bunk bed, we assumed it comes as a complete unit with the staircase. Shock on us! The supplier sells them as separate units i.e the beds and staircase. So of course when it arrived, we looked for the staircase(02B) and when we didn't find it inquired from supplier who said it was not packed. That was just great:-( A lovely client of mine came , liked the bed and I explained that the staircase was missing but we would request for it to be shipped with our next consignment. The client was willing to wait and we moved on. The second consignment arrived and our agent informed me that the goods were many and couldn't all fit into the container. He said that they left out some stuff and I prayed that the whole bunk bed would be complete and that the flight of stairs wo...

 Samara enjoying herself at mum's work place  Samara the scholar  Samara taking a pose for mummy  Samara at home  Just lovely  A beautiful smile you have girl  A 7kg chicken brought home by my beloved  My beloved working on the 7kg chicken.  Thanks babe!You compliment me.  Kendi and Tana doing what they know best as daddy takes pictures  Our lovely nephew, watching and entertaining himself  Ems cheering them on  Samara learned a new move from her cousin  Shiru taking it all in.

Yesterday was my 31st birthday. I can't believe where days and years have rushed too. I can clearly remember the first birthday I celebrated at 6 years. It was the greatest day of my life then. I have so many blessings and the birthdays get better by the years. If I were to write a composition on my best day like we used to in school, today would be my best. Am thankful for life, am thankful for good health and peace of mind. Am grateful to God for the lovely husband he has gifted me with. This man was trully tailor made for me and it gets better every year we spend together. Am also grateful for our daughter Samara, who has taught me that there is more towards life than myself. She has helped us understand God and creation. I have never fully comprehended how God knits each and every part of our bodies together and breathes life into us, but through this girl I have understood that God is awesome and above all else sovereign. I am also thankful for family and friends. Yester...

Children are not casual guests in our home. They have been loaned to us temporarily for the purpose of loving them and instilling a foundation of values on which their future lives will be built. James C. Dobson That is a powerful statement and sobering reminder to parents and parents to be. Isn't it amazing how years rush and soon our new born babies are ready to leave the nest?My aunt keeps reminding me how I was brought home just the other day, and today I have a family of my own. What values will we have imparted in them that will enable them to sail through life's seasons?  I would love to give valuable values to my kids which they  in turn  can teach their children. We may have wanted the child or it maybe have been an oops baby. Who knows, they are not a mistake? God had them in mind before you did.  So may we be good and faithful stewards. May we parent  consciously.

Before we  got our baby girl, we used to be quite spontaneous. We would decide over the weekend that we want a getaway to Naivasha and we would grab our bag pack and leave. However things changed when baby girl arrived. We still went out but our luggage was more. Our first long distant trip was in April last year when Samara was 3months. I remember the luggage we had. 1 bag for Samara's clothes and another with our clothes.We had separately packed a heater, a basin, play pen with the mattress, ten thousand changing clothes, diapers, her own soap, lotion etc. We went there a year later and there was no heater, no basin, these were replaced with the hot water shower. My beloved held her as I soaped her and she survived the hot shower. The diapers and clothes were definitely less. Last weekend we had travelled to Eldoret and this time round, there was still no heater, no basin, we shared the soap and  her lotion. Again, we thanked God for the instant shower. We let it run for...

There are times you walk into a new place and you do not know what kind of reception you will get. That happened to us this morning. We went to this place and were not sure what to expect. But when our turn to be served reached, the gentleman at the counter was so helpful and that caught us by surprise. He went out of his way to actually give us contacts of other people whom we could talk too. He said he helps others out of the goodness of his heart and not for any money. I think we are so used to being treated badly that when someone does the right thing, we ask what;s the catch? This happened to me last week. A client came to the shop and declared that he is a naturally impatient person. He said he has been let down many times and he doesn't believe in promises,especially by vendors. He had purchased an item and I stated that we would deliver on a certain day by 10a.m. He was not so happy that I could not deliver the next day but we strive to keep our word and on the delivery d...

My heart has  burst out with this song. Great is thy faithfulness. How awesome you are Lord. Thank you for going ahead of us, thank you for opening doors for us even before we knock or ask. Indeed we are humbled and say thank you so much lord. Great is thy faithfulness, O God my father There is no shadow of turning with Thee Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not As Thou hast been, Thou for ever will be Great is thy faithfulness Great is thy faithfulness Morning by morning new mercies I see All I have needed thy hand hath provided Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest Sun, moon and stars in their courses above Join with all nature in manifold witness To thy great faithfulness, mercy and love Great is thy faithfulness Great is thy faithfulness Morning by morning new mercies I see All I have needed thy hand hath provided Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me Great is thy faithfulness Pardon for s...

It has been a while since I got jabbed and I must have mentioned how scared  I am of needles. Well last week, we took Samara for her jab and were scheduled for a yellow fever jab this week. You see all this time its been about taking Samara for the vaccinations but today was different. This morning we took her to the wellness clinic at Anderson building, Nairobi Hospital for the jab. As usual, Alex was the one to hold her as the nurse jabbed her(I always thank God for Alex being there). She cried a little but stopped. I knew we were next as we also require the yellow fever vaccination card. So I started freaking out. We dropped Samara home and headed for City council where they also do the same vaccination. I was literally shaking out of fear. When our turn came, Alex asked that I go first. The nurse convinced me that its just like a mosquito bite, so I closed my eyes and in a second it was over. Alex our macho man was all ready and syked when his turn came he didn't even flinch....

I love my job and thank God for it everyday. I sincerely never thought I would come to a point where I could say that in the few years I have worked.  Working at SAS calls for a lot of creativity, thinking outside the box, time management, planning, flexibility etc. To make SAS look better, we transferred most of the stock to a 'warehouse' out of town and hence when there is a delivery to be made, I need to go ,identify the items and if they can fit in our car we celebrate because we cut of transport costs, if they do not fit we need to hire transport. I never used to try this raffles for 'win a pickup' but believe you me, I have 5 points this far because I so desperately would love to win one of the remaining 29 pickups on offer by Safaricom. I keep trying to convince God how genuine my need and how it would help us.My beloved was quick to remind me that most pickups are manual and not automatic and I said I would deal with that issue when we get there. For now, I wa...

The lord has a way of surprising me. When I reach my end that’s where he always begins. July was a very challenging month businesswise and I wondered where my rent and other payments would come from. I prepared myself and my beloved for lack of a salary at the end of the month. Surprisingly enough he was very calm and encouraged me to keep on and he said the lord would come through for us. End month came, and bills and  more bills kept coming, rent, service charge, advertising , electricity etc. I did my maths almost everyday and things were not adding up. One morning I decided to write cheques by faith. I didn’t date them just wrote the amounts and waited on God. Amazingly God has provided. Last week a client who had been coming frequently just to admire the furniture came and settled for some of our kids furniture and all I could say is thank you Lord. Today, I released one of the fat cheques and the bank balance was scary to look at and a...

I received this email and would love to share with you. The practical application is what captured my heart. STRINGS ATTACHED: 08th August 2011 One day a father decided to take his boy out in the field to fly a kite The boy was so overwhelmed as It was his first experience with kite flying. His father helped him, and after several attempts the kite was in the air. The boy ran and let out more string, and soon the kite was flying high. The little boy was so excited; the kite was beautiful. Eventually there was no more string left to allow the kite to go higher. The boy said to his father, "Daddy, let's cut the string and let the kite go; I want to see it go higher and higher." His father said, "Son, the kite won't go higher if we cut the string." "Yes, it will," responded the little boy. "The string is holding the kite down; I can feel it." The father handed a pocketknife to his son. The boy cut the string. In a matter ...

This morning we took Samara for her jab and I couldn't help but notice how she has changed. To weigh her , she stepped on the weighing machine unlike when she used to sit on the scale. However, she was to active to stand still but after sometime we managed to get her weight. At least today it was good news and we were happy. She walked around the clinic so confidently, even attempting to get water from the water dispenser and just the other day we would carry her to the same clinic She is growing pretty fast. Well time for the jab came and my beloved was there to hold her down as she was jabbed on the thigh. For me I don't have that grace and am forever grateful to Alex for always being there with us. She cried abit and moved on with life The nurse was just so amazed at her confidence and busyness. For real we always say she is like 2 babies in 1 but we ain't complaining. We were advised to keep giving her finger foods like bananas and ugali to keep up with her energy lev...

I can't believe that we are already in August. That half of the year has gone so fast but am not complaining. Today nothing much is happening but am grateful to be alive and well. Many times we take it for granted that we are healthy and can run around pursuing different things. I was down with a flu for the past 2weeks and am so glad that is behind me now. July was also quite stressful in terms of business but am looking forward to a better month and a better half of the year. I want to wish you all a lovely month and God's blessings.

Over the weekend, we were informed that a couple we know were involved in a fatal accident. They had 3 children with the last born aged 25years. It was quite sad to imagine that the kids had been orphaned instantly and we all worried about them. But when we went to comfort the family, we were encouraged by their  attitude.Once they received the news, they cried alot and declared it is well and they have accepted that their parents had rested together in peace. Everyone was worried about the funeral etc because the eldest boy is getting married in a few days and the dad's culture normally take 2 weeks for funeral arrangements. Some people in that culture, invade family property in the excuse of moaning the dead. But one thing am grateful for is for the parents. The dad had showed his eldest son all his property and where he kept the important documents. Having been born again, the parents had declared that they should never be buried customarily with the rituals that go with funer...

I like to share from my own and from other peoples experiences. Life is too short to repeat all the mistakes others have done  and so its wise to read,listen and learn . Marriage missions sent an article titled 'Marriage demands toughness'.  This is not just for the married but also for those who hope to get here someday. The article is quite long and am not going to post it here but the link is http://www.marriagemissions.com/marriage-demands-toughness-marriage-message-158/ . What captivated me was this “Marriage demands toughness, and toughness proceeds out of commitment. No marriage will ever be stronger than the commitment that serves as its infrastructure” (Neil Clark Warren). Not too many of us, when we get married, think that marriage will demand out of us what it does —a toughness to weather storms we never knew we’d have to battle. But that’s a big part of what happens in marriage. We’re often blind-sided by difficulties, which require a real infrastructure o...