family time is sooo precious*

We went away this past weekend, stayed on a farm close to Stanford.  It was lazy days of breakfast and giggles in bed, talking and playing until we felt like getting up and out.  We love mountains and sunshine, blue skies and green green grass... and I love how much Kellen and Bella already love each other... when ever she sees him she starts laughing. 

We are a bit tired over here as Bella is keeping us awake at night...not with crying... or anything like that...no...she talks and coo and giggles....for 2 hours at a time... we listen...and giggle quietly...not to 'wake her'..heehee..... loving every moment of being a family of four. 

God's promise

5 years ago, in the midst of our infertility journey,  i went to church.  after about 10 minutes i decided to leave as i didn't feel that the message was for me.  i decided as soon as everyone stands up, i'll just disappear, without anyone noticing. as the people stood up, the pastor turned towards the side of the church where i was standing and said: 'you, you who are angry with God, sit'.  so i sat. 

Philippians 1 vers 6 says:  'being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ' 

this was the promise i held onto these past years.  God promised that He will finish the beauty in our lives that He started.... 

on 7th july 2008 we got a call the monday afternoon at 17h00, asking us if we want to adopt kellen. the same friend who phoned me, phoned me on the 3rd of february 2007, saying the following: 'lynne, i'm standing with your son in my arms. your son was born today.  i had a dream and your and marcel's name is engraved on his forehead'.  (you can read kellen's adoption story here)

on the 22nd of august 2008 we went to pick our little boy up... he was 18 months old. 

returning to the present. 

kellen is 4 and a half years old. he has been our son... forever. 

on the evening of the 19th of august @ 19h00 we got an email to contact our social worker (most amazing 2 women in the world!) in cape town, south africa.  (we were living in malaysia at this stage).  her first words to us were: 'we need to know what your situation is as we have a little baby girl who needs to be placed next week. i'm flying on monday to pick her up'.  

we asked if we could phone her back in a few minutes... 

we stared into each other's eyes... tears running down my cheeks.... (thinking in the back of my mind...this cannot be happening! it's amazing! there is a little girl up for adoption! what are we going to do). marcel and i gave each other one look and he phoned his company to change our air tickets to get back to south africa as soon as possible. we phoned our social worker and said we are on our way.  she giggled and gave us some information... i asked her name... she said her name is 'Bella'. it's all i needed to know... Bella... it means 'Beautiful' 

marcel and i looked at each other, i said her name is Bella and we said: 'our baby girl's name is 'bella'. 

with kellen we decided to keep his birthname, (which means 'mighty warrior') -  not for one second did we think of changing his name. we only added marcel's dad's name, daniel, and our surname, malan = kellen daniel malan

we decided to give bella my mom's name, elizabeth. on the sunday after the call i researched the spiritual meaning of elizabeth... 

Elizabeth \e-lizabe-th, el(i)-za-beth\ as a girl's name is pronounced ee-LIZ-a-beth. It is of Hebreworigin, and the meaning of Elizabeth is "God's promise; God is my oath".

breathing out... 

God's promise. full circle. a boy and a girl. love. 

on the 25th of august 2011 we picked our little girl up at the airport....3 years and 3 days after we got our amazing son! 

becoming parents of a little baby is something different... 

we would walk past the stroller and pram, look at each other... 

i said: 'we are getting a baby'... and he would start laughing :-) 

in 3 days we packed and cleaned our flat.... and did baby shopping..heehee.. 

here we are on our way down to the lobby to get the taxi for the airport. 

getting one's sister make you sooo tired! 

self portrait of the two of us, 

the new mommy and daddy to a baby girl... 

one word: nervous

2 words: nervously ecstatic! 

3 words: trusting the process

Thursday afternoon, 25.8.11 

cape town international airport

we sat there holding hands... each with our own feelings, 

no expectations, waiting... 

nearly exactly 3 years before we went to pick 

up this little cutie pie... it's.so.magical

big brother waiting patiently for 'his baby'

and there she was... 

the most beautiful little girl.. 

looking at everyone... 

kellen could not wait to hold his sister... 

she fell asleep in my arms in the car... 

when we got home we laid her in the cot on which 

she opened her eyes...marcel went to her and when she 

saw him, she started smiling and talking... 

she adores her daddy.

kellen cannot stop kissing her cheeks....yesterday she got in bed

with the 3 of us, he crawled closer to her and said: 'good morning my little angel'. 

bathtime... she loves water. 

and her daddy. 

look at that cute little leg... adorable. ! 

and there she is... 

bella (elizabeth malan) 

magical miracles, 3 years*

dear Kellen, 

Tomorrow, 3 years ago, I drove to Hermanus to pick you up. You were a sweet, energetic little boy who wanted to run around all the time... always time for a giggle. 

Having you in my life and heart has changed everything... you turned me over and made me realise how much i've always loved you.  I've loved you from the moment that i knew you were born... Cathy phoned me and said she is holding our baby and that our name was engraved on your forehead.  You came to us when you were 18 months old.... and today you are a brave and wild 4-year old who says he is 7.....or 48..heehee. 

Mommy loved you even before you knew me.  This photo was taken on the Monday when we met you for the first time. When you saw your daddy, you put your arms out for him to pick you up and you have stolen his heart. 

This past 3 years has been everything we always dreamed of and more. The amount of love and laughter you have brought into our hearts....they are filled to the brim... the amazing things you have taught us...

It amazes me the little things you are aware of, as if you have been on this earth for much longer than your 3 years. You notice the tiniest details and are always aware of people being sad or happy....wanting to reach out and make it better for them. Your soft and open heart connect you instantly with other people and especially animals... you love them...

thinking back on the past 3 years words that come up for me about your little personality is:
* brave *energetic * strong willed *curious *adventurer *soft-hearted *happy-go-lucky *thoughtfulness * helpful *loving *touchy-feely *wise *typical 4 year old *knows exactly what you want * brilliant memory * big heart *

things you love doing:
*swimming *painting *reading * animals * cucumber * jumping on mommy & daddy *playing with cars *bathing *have an instant love for junglebook and cars * building *singing * dancing *making jokes

*you eat almost anything and this past month your favorite snack is a jam sandwhich, no butter :0) and pieces of cucumber and apples

things/words you use:
*awesomeness * yes darling * cool *ma my *hoekom? (why)

things you dislike:
*tomatoes *mushrooms

you know Jesus and what He likes and dislikes.  You talk about him constantly when you are learning a moral lesson...usually teaching me how He would feel...

your friends are:
Bree, Lauren, Henre, Morgan & Mia

the most amazing thing you do is when we put you to bed, we read a story and afterwards you read or tell the story to us. the highlight of my day is when you ask 'mommy, what did you not enjoy today?' where you make your eyes big and round.  and then definitely the 'what did you enjoy most doing today'. daddy and i sing to you... you are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are grey, you never know dear, how much i love you, please don't take my sunshine away. '

when we start singing, you turn around, cuddle and you fall asleep...

thank you for choosing us as your parents, all glory to God for making our dreams come true.

Kellen,

mommy loves you,

to the moon and back xx

In a moment of searching for a misplaced passport, a little card fell off my chair and the message was 'expect wonderful things to happen.'.  i picked a bag up and there, right under it, the misplaced, now found-and-very-happy-people's-passport was screaming at us to scream and jump from joy!

this wonderful happiness is the continuation of our dreams... on friday evening, 19/8/11 @ 19h00pm (Malaysian time) our social worker contacted us to hear what our plans are and and and....

* we are going to be parents to a little 3 month old baby girl...

* we are returning to cape town on tuesday evening...

* we are going to be daddy and mommy to a baby girl....

for us, this exceptional happy things happening is truly magical miracles*
 

playing in the water....better known as swimming*

on our way down in the lift...cannot wait! 

(not as if he swims everyday!)

a few weeks back kellen and i was swimming when 

out of the blue he asked: :mommy, how can i walk on water? 

i want to walk on water"

i told him to believe with all his heart that he can do it...

and there you go..he is walking on water..heehee xx

a week in our life*

i've been passionately trying out new delicious recipes 

last weekend marcel hurt his back when he bend down to 

pick up his golfbag....could not move for 3 days... 

we had to go to the hospital and such a positive 

and professional experience.

kellen waking up with a 'i want to paint mama'. 

weeee...... all smiles 

kellen and i went for breakfast on thursday,

he chose a chocolate doughnut...yum! 

had things to do... 

i believe in positive reinforcement. 

i believe in loving yourself. 

this morning to himself in the mirror: 

'good morning your gorgeous thing!' 

brilliant 

life is colorful! 

you have to choose the colors you love 

girls night out...

pedicures & dinner 

gorgeousness

from left: me, brigitte, suenleugh & joan

rock, paper, scissors

things i love about malaysia*

i was listening to the thunder this afternoon and thought about the many things i absolutely love about living here: 

*  listening to the loud thunder.... 

thunder is one of my most cherishes childhood memories... it reminds me of my dad.  when we were little we lived in Kempton Park. when the thunder started, my dad will call the 3 of us and open the curtains in the tv room.  he will then lie down on the couch, with the 3 of us spread over him while we watch and talk about the thunder....

* watching the thunder strike... not swimming when a thunder storm is dancing in the air....

* i LOVE the heat! to know you can go out and know it will be hot without wondering how the weather is...mmmm

* i love wearing open shoes / sandals / bare feet... only thing here in malaysia is that the kids never goes bare feet... first week kellen used to go without shoes... everybody's first question to him was...where is your shoes... so we started wearing shoes.... 

*  air-conditioners... do i say more? (thank you Big dad!) :-) 

* time...

it's like a holiday.  we wake up, cuddle, talk, sleep, wake up, have breakfast.... kellen play cars or animals or watch a story and i get back into  bed with a book...  mmmmm... holiday.... t i m e .... magical t i m e ! 

* being a mommy

i love the time i have here with kellen... we play and talk and wrestling and cook and bake and swim. we swim often, daily.  we talk about things. about fish and crabs and sharks... he asked me today why did God make sharks? for what reason. he looks for solutions and answers to every thing. we cuddle. a lot. we giggle and he cries when he gets time out. he challenges me and fight with me when he does not get his way. we get to make up and talk about what happened now and the love of understanding filters through the anger and change into love. 

* all his questions... all the time about everything... he even asks questions on the answers i give him

* living in a different country... i love it! 

* i love that nobody here can understand afrikaans... that we can talk and there are hundreds of people around us, but nobody can understand us... 

* the friendliness and softness of the people... most people here are so open and soft.. they speak softly...they explain things with a smile... they open the door for you... when they give your change, they give it with both hands, a smile, bending their heads...

*  answering all kellen's questions... i just asked him why he is not sleeping yet. his answer: 'because i love you so... i missed you and i want to show you how much a love you'. 

sweet dreams xx

fun things to do*

i was wondering should i post daily, every other day, or weekly.  At the end i decided to do it when i feel like posting.  it seems as if it is going to be weekly :-) 

a few months back he was cutting at home with a scissors and 

cut a hole in his t-shirt. last week monday he wanted to learn how to 

mend his on t-shirt. he did brilliantly. 

cold storage is the supermarket we go to. the fish area is kellen's

favorite.  everytime we go, he will say 'i'm going to say hello to the fish mommy'. 

every time he wants to know all the names of the different sea animals. 

he now wants to look for a recipe so that we can make something with crab in

we try to have fresh produce as much as possible.  

marcel loves coconut juice. fresh. 

bath time has always been a highlight in kellen's life. 

even still today. 

here we ran a bath at 14h30 the afternoon because he wanted to play. 

i am trying out new camera applications on my iphone. 

i love my iphone! 

love love love! 

splash! 

we love to swim

we watch the sunset every evening

we meet up with friends at new places 

we read. 

everything. 

every day. 

reading is knowledge. 

i am in heaven n a bookshop. 

kellen with his friends at the play room

eating cupcakes with his friends. 

thank you brigitte :-) xx

i had some me-time. 

first time this month. 

was.in.heaven. 

LOVE books! 

everyone IS beautiful. 

you are beautiful! 

the thing we enjoy most to do is love on one another. 

every day. 

we climb over each other. 

when kellen wakes up in the mornings, he is a dog. woof-woof! 

before he goes to sleep, he is a cat. miaau! miaau! 

we do what we know best to do. 

we love. xx