As we go into the new year, I’ve been thinking about how quickly this year has flown by and how grateful I am for so many things;
1. First and foremost and above all else, HANDS DOWN would obviously be my daughter, Olive Chemeli Karanja-Mutiso born march 6th 2017 (2017!!!! who’s born in the 2000’s??!! goodness I only know the 90’s). I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Olive has been the best gift I could have ever imagine receiving in my ENTIRE life, i’ve never felt such a love than the one of loving your child. She has brought so much happiness in my life, so much joy, she has just filled my life up in so many ways, I honestly can’t describe it. I don’t think I have to say just how much I love this child and how she is my entire life 
2. Wayne- My first & forever love, my best friend & the father of my child- Even though we got pregnant very early on after only 5 months of dating, we decided in that moment to grow up very quickly and you stood by my side through everything. You stood by me during my pregnancy and through the labour and everything, you even cut Olives umbilical cord as soon as she was out which really touched me.
You constantly make me feel good about myself even when its hard. You tell me I’m beautiful Evey single day, you tell me you love me several times of the day, you support my dreams and my goals, You give me advice and your someone I can count on and talk to. you never make me feel stupid or stress me about my wrong decisions, just talk me through how to get better- do better. You stick with me through my crazy days, my very frequent crazy days (I don’t know you do it)!! Oh an most importantly, if your not cooking for me, your feeding me lol and the world knows how much that means to me!
Your smart, funny and kind, doesn’t hurt that your super good lookin’ too 
Finally, the way you are as a dad and family man makes me love you even more- you wake up several times in the middle of the night to make sure Olive is ok. You pop by home for lunch or 5 mins to check in on us and include us in your day and to make sure that even with your demanding job that you always spend time with the fam. You keep sunday’s for the family and never make any plans with friends on that day which means the world to O and I You make sure we’re happy and taken care of. You make us so happy!
Thank you for being you, thank you for making me believe in love again, thank you for making me feel better about myself everyday, thank you for being the best human on this earth, I got very lucky with you!
3. Katarina- My sister, my best friend & Olives God mother. Firstly, Katarina you are the sweetest, most caring and kind human being in this world. You are so selfless and you do the most for everyone around you including myself. I could go on about how much of a wonderful sister you are although the reason I was MOST grateful for you last year is for the aunty you has been to Olive- words can’t describe how much I appreciate the love and dedication you have shown to my daughter and it’s so evident because Olive loves you so so so much, you are one of the very few people she would gladly spend nights without her mummy and be ok with it- if your a parent like myself I think you’ll understand how deep that love is. Katarina you have been a rock when I needed it, a friend always, an amazing sister always, my partner in crime, my partner in happiness and sadness, a second mum to my baby girl and the best friend a girl could ask for
4. My parents- mum & dad, my rocks, my support system, my bank for many years haha- I love you so much!
mum- you held my hand through the entire hospital / birth process, you made sure I was comfortable and taken care of, you made sure that I had the best possible care, you slept on hospital chairs and floors and never left my side. You moved into the room next to me in my first home with Olive to help me with her when she was just a day old.
Dad- you came over ALL the time when I was pregnant and even after I gave birth to check on me and make sure I was ok, to make sure Olive was ok, you got me the food I was craving in abundance during pregnancy and got me porridge to help with milk supply when I thought it was going down, you sat with me through my labour pains and tried to tell me that everything would be ok and even though that made me want to punch you in the face at the time, I look back and am so grateful that you were there holding my hand.
You both believe in me and my dreams, you stick with me through all my crazy ideas, you make me feel like I can do anything in the world and you will always be there for me no matter what!!
5. My family, my crazies- I’m so grateful and I thank you so much to all of you for sticking my by side and being the wonderful crazy bunch of people you always are. You make me laugh and cry and everything in between. Thank you for supporting me and being there for me always. I love you guys so much
6.The In Laws, Uncle Tim & Aunty Linda, Mum & Dad #2- From the beginning you have both welcomed me to the family with open arms and always made me feel so welcome. You always hear these horror stories (well actuallyquite real for a lot of people) about the in laws being terrible, especially the mum with the daughter in law but my experience has had no resemblance to those stories whatsoever. I have the funnest, most caring and selfless in laws. I’m so grateful to you both for always being there for us, always being there for me in particular and just generally being so amazing, always. I love you guys so much
7. Vialet, my nanny/househelp (who is now unfortunately not with us anymore although I still feel this way)- My nanny said something to me that made me feel some type of way. She said “you are my my provider and I really thank you”. What I then started to think about was how much more she does for me and my family than I could ever do for her or hers. It’s amazing that she was so grateful and I don’t really take the time to stop and tell her how grateful I am for her. She looks after Olive with such happiness and Love, Olive loves her with the bottom of her heart. She takes care of our house. She stays late sometimes on her own will to clean some extra things that she feels she cannot leave dirty for us. She teaches Olive. She teaches me. About life and motherhood. She made my year a lot easier and made it possible for me to spend the best times with O
8. My friends. I appreciate you all that have stuck by me even when I haven’t been the best of friends. I know I was bad before Olive but even more so now in terms of making plans and just even having a chat on the phone. Replying practically just does not happen these days. I rarely come out to do plans because honestly guys I’m just too damn tired after working and raising a child- I’ve always been a super lazy person but now it’s just pure exhaustion. Thanks for being patient with me and really just continuing to be my friends and being there for me. I promise I will get better with this this year- or at least I will really try. Just know I love and cherish you all.
9. Olives godparents- Katarina, Rebecca, Soni & Zinzi. Thank you all so much for agreeing on being Olives God parents, you will never understand (until you have your own kids haha), how grateful I am that your all willing to be there for Olive whenever she needs you and especially God Forbid if Wayne and I are not around anymore. Not only am I grateful for to you all for being Olives God Parents, I am also grateful for the friends you are to Wayne and myself! I love you guys more than you know!
10. God – I am so forever grateful that you have given me all of the above and just so much more! You are the real MVP!!
Mama Olive 