Hey Little One

You soon will big enough inside me to survive if i was to give birth earlier. It is incredible feeling to know now that you will soon not be completely dependent on me and unable to live outside of my body.  soon you will be ready to get out into the world and survive.  you are a fully formed person, connected to me, living in me but a person, living being.

We went on the waka yesterday and got stuck on the coral.  I had to jump off the boat and realised afterwards that it’s not that easy for me to pull myself back in, heavy as i am with you inside me, and make sure i won’t rest on my tummy not to hurt you.  I told our instructor who was sitting right behind me. marcus is alway in the front in so called power house, this is where the most of the speed and power comes from and those two or three first guys have to push a lot to make the canoe move.  I have started only recently my waka adventure and am still learning. Being next to the instructors is great as she gives me some tips as we go along.  now i asked Pam, a big Maori girl, how is the best to get back onto the boat without putting any pressure on my tummy because I am pregnant.  She was quite surprised and decided to tell me to throw my legs onto the canoe first and she would then pull me in sideways.  it worked.

I have just made a short vid for the quad bikes trying to get a few good shots from the material that a guy from the local TV filmed for us.  really bad filming and i had to keep really fast pace to be able to chose a few good seconds here and there but your dad thought i did a good job and said he hopes they will appreciate it at work but it doesn’t really matter if they will once your dad is proud of it.  i value his opinion far more not just because he knows something about filming and photography but because it gives me so much satisfaction to know he likes something I did.

We had that really simple dinner yesterday, leftovers from Bolonaise but i did not mix the whole lot with tomatoes so yesterday I was able to add different ingredients to the already prepared mince beef and make it something different.  it was honey soy beef with black rice and lentils with some tomatoes, cucumber which goes really well with cumin lentils and green peas on the side.  there was no time to cook anything fancy after paddling but the meal was quite special for two reasons. marcus loved the tastes combination and really enjoyed his feed and i likled saving time on cooking and enjoyed eating in the little magical mood he created swiftly before i finished preparing our plates – a small glassof red wine, candles, fairy lights, table beautifully set.  nice that he likes making every simple occassion special.

Remember my Little one, you can always make every day special, doesn’t matter where you are and how much money you have.  appreciation is what matters the most, creativity and care and a will to make it special.  It helps the most though if you have a special person with you for whom you can create this special feeling or with whome you can share it.

Let’s make a deal my baby, let’s try always to make each other’s day special.  you are a special gift for us and I would like you to learn from us enjoyment of life just as much as respect and values and other things the parents are expected to impart on their offsprings.

Looking forward to seeing you and holding you in my arms soon

Your mama

Ani O’Neil’s 40th Birthday Party October 2011, Rarotonga