Sewing skills put to the test

Pressure garments are something OTs are supposed to make to prevent scarring after a burn. They are made out of a special fabric (dont ask me what its called) and have to be extremely tight and perfectly fitted. Fortunately the fabric is stretchy which makes it easier to get a tight fit, but an intracite pattern still needs to be designed specifically for each patient. This is my first ever pressure garment which would not exist if it wasn't for Kate rescuing me when i was freaking out because i didn't have all the measurements and didn't know what the pattern is supposed to look like. A huge step-up for my newly-aquired sewing skills!

But it turned out pretty well. The pants actually look almost like r

egular clothes: leggings :)

Ironically, after not making any pressure garments for 2 years, I ended up making 3 in one week!

Number 2 is this vest which gave me a lot of trouble with the shoulders and armpits. By this stage in the week (also trying to finger out PG 3: a glove!) i enlisted some help in the form of Julia and Elizabet (2 Sweedish Jabulani volunteers). So they helped with many adjustments needed to get the vest tight enough. Again, a happy result:

Can hardly see he's wearing it under his T-shirt :)

(by the way: the children's heads are cut off for confidentiality purposes, not because i cannot take a proper picture)

Gracie's birthday

Grace is turning 5 next week! (seemed like the other day it was 3!). Daddy Ben has a tradition of making his children's birthday cakes (well actually Taryn bakes them and Ben decorates them and gets all the credit). This year Grace chose a sweet shop.

The children were entertained with balloon hats...

but it seems like the adults were having more fun!

The birthday girl and Emma in their pretty dresses

My Young Auntie

Kate found this amusing DVD at Savoy Spar (where we usually do our grocery shopping). It gave us a good chuckle (particularly the phrases at the bottom) :)

Watching the rain

I came across this cute scene this morning and managed to catch it on camera: little boys in paeds ward watching the rain ... so sweet

The little Le Rouxs come for tea

I am fortunate to have tea time at home most days. Sometimes Emma or Johan or both of them come visit. Today I was eating one of my mom's home-baked muffins (from my New Year's trip to Cape Town), so of course they also wanted one (or two in Johan's case!). Good times :)

Goodbye JT :'(

The end of 2010 meant saying goodbye to the awesome Jess and Jess physio and OT comserve team. Wish we could have kept them. Jess Trollip aka JT left this message on a white board at our house. We miss u Super Jess!