Just Us

Look Who's 5!

2012-02-07T20:20:00.002-05:00

i finally took her 5 year old pics with good ol' nelson. i remembered about the pics on her birthday but failed to do anything about it before bedtime. then every day since then it has been one thing or another, so tonight was the night. luckily, she's a pro at hamming it up.

Baby Butts

2012-02-07T20:12:00.002-05:00

i can hardly resist kissing her. squeezing her. snuggling her. i love this baby. so when i was getting her ready for her bath and i noticed her little tush in the mirror, i had to take a picture of it. goodness, doesn't it scream, "SQUEEZE ME!!"

Birthday Girl

2012-02-05T21:47:00.004-05:00

i tried multiple times to upload several videos, but these were the only two that successfully loaded. so, here they are. enjoy them, but know there were more. :(

this first video is of us singing to her at breakfast.

then at dinner.

Continuing the Birthday Celebrations

2012-02-04T22:06:00.002-05:00

i took natalya and abby to paint pottery for her birthday today. i decided to continue the bday celebration by taking them for a little girls' day out. they loved it.

My Baby is 5!

2012-02-04T21:24:00.005-05:00

5 short years ago we welcomed our little natalya into this world. she was the most wonderful gift we could have received that cold, wintry day. we had a scheduled c/s because she decided she preferred sitting upright and not head down like she was supposed to be. we were scheduled to deliver at 9 am, but because the weather was so snowy and icy, we left the house at 5am to get there by 7am like we were supposed to. the hospital is literally maybe 10 miles down the road, but 10 miles in ice was a scary thought. it was also scary to think we were becoming parents that morning, so josh and i left the house at 5am to get to the hospital by 5:30a. we sat around and enjoyed the last few mins we had as a couple with no kids.

9 am quickly arrived and we were taken back to the O.R. and i was literally shaking with fear and excitement and i was crying and snotty and was overwhelmed with the enormity of that moment. we were about to welcome this child in the world. this child who was unknown to us, who was a surprise because we hadn't found out her sex. i was terrified. josh recalls my fears of becoming a mother sounding something like this: what if i don't like the baby? what if the baby doesn't like me? what if i don't know what to do? what if? what if? what if?

i was terrified. i remember staring up at the ceiling as they were operating and i was hysterical. i was sobbing and covered with snot. josh remembers looking at me and i could barely get oxygen because of the amount of snot around my nose. tmi, i know, but i was balling. i was about to become a mother.

then at 9:40 am, the dr pulls her out and josh says, "It's a girl." and i start to sob even more. then josh says, "oh, mindy, she is soooo beautiful." (as i type this, i am tearing up.) she was beautiful and perfect. she still is. she is our little natalya who dances to the beat of her own drum. who couldn't be any more different from me, but has made me embrace individualities much more now. i love her so much. she may not wear dresses or like the color pink, but that's what makes my natalya natalya. she is my darling first born and she has taught me as much as i have taught her.

fast forward 5 years and here we are. celebrating her on her fifth birthday. it literally feels like just yesterday that we met and each and every day i find another reason for loving her. she is amazing.

on her special day, we started with presents. from us, she received new sneakers (she had been asking for some). and from baba and boompa, she got a science kit and telescope. (she has already done an experiment and uses her telescope regularly. from my parents she got lots of hiking tools. what's funny is that all of her presents are so her. what are her interests? she loves to go hiking. she loves science. she loves to dress up in her usual boy attire (i got her two pairs of boy shoes.) she's such a quirky but awesome kid.

soraya tried to celebrate with us.

then she asked for panera for breakfast. we happily obliged.

and even though it was her bday, she shared a cookie with alex.

then she asked if we could go hiking. so we packed a lunch and headed out to great falls. she loved it there!!!

she used her telescope to see just what was there.

then when we were looking at the falls, i told her about how josh has kayaked down these waterfalls and she is now interested in becoming a kayaker, too.

soraya enjoyed the walk around the falls quite a bit.

alex looked at his maps to make sure we were going the right way. (the map is from her hiking toys and not actually a map to the falls.)

then she climbed a rock wall. it is only about 5 feet tall, but she did really well nonetheless.

they were amazed by the water.

then for dinner, she requested that we cook out over a bonfire. it was extremely windy that night so we opted to cook the hotdogs and hamburgers on the grill, but she was allowed to cook her hot dogs over the fire. (she lasted maybe a min before giving up. she said it was too cold.)

mike and diane (pap and tutu) joined us.

natalya loved her hotdog.

then it was cake time.

alex enjoyed himself. :)

she got a new swimsuit from tutu and pap. she loved it!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NATALYA. we love you more and more every single day.

As Good As It Gets

2012-01-30T21:20:00.002-05:00

alex refuses to look at the camera; that difficult little boy! so these are the pics that i got. oh well.

oh, and i don't have his stats yet because i forgot his dr's appt. yes, i forgot. i remembered the hour after i was supposed to be there. oops. i have not been myself lately, so i forgot. whatever. i just hope to feel more like me soon. (i've been on the verge of tears on several occasions and have been feeling down. i don't know why, but i just feel weird. hoping it gets better soon.)

Yummy Girl

2012-01-30T21:17:00.002-05:00

because i love her, here's a picture of the little girl who keeps me up at night.

josh and i have said on several occasions that her cheeks are so chunky and she is so yummy that we could literally eat her up. we could just eat her cheeks. i swear, when i kiss her, i suck in some of her cheeks every time. i love them!

Party Time!

2012-01-30T20:47:00.007-05:00

aren't these cupcakes adorable? to buy some for yourself, click HERE.

little olivia wanted to play and crawl the whole time. my cousin, cheryl, had to chase her around the whole time!

soraya was the perfect baby. she happily watched all the big kids play and stayed up past her bedtime without any tears!

natalya was happy to have her abby.

jack had a blast!

the kids all loved the airmat!

how awesome is this shot of kyle?!

jr and i seem to take pics of each other taking pics every chance we get.

oh, we have missed miss gracie like crazy!

gracie, my oldest child, was so happy and toothless. :)

natalya was reunited with jane, her swimming buddy.

parachute time!

then once we let the kids into the party room, it was quiet. they were all eating and drinking and no one was running around. i love it when that happens.

cake time!

we now have a 3 year old and an almost 5 year old. my, how time flies when you're having fun.

Board Breaking

2012-01-30T20:44:00.001-05:00

Jump Kick

2012-01-30T20:39:00.003-05:00

Yellow Belt Test!

2012-01-30T20:29:00.006-05:00

we love natalya's karate studio. master marco is fantastic, to say the least. she loves it and we really enjoy watching her learn and master the karate skills.

she got to break a new board...she's awesome!

Way to go, Natalya! We are so proud of you!!!

Alex is 3 Years Old!

2012-01-28T21:29:00.000-05:00

for a little guy who seems much older than he is, i was happy to finally celebrate his 3rd birthday, if just for the simple reason that he now acts his age. he talks and talks now and is always on the go. he is all boy. motion, going, jumping, running with a bit of sweetness and compassion mixed in. he is a perfect little man and i am so glad he is all ours.

on his birthday, because he could do whatever he wanted, we started with presents. we did not go overboard at all. seeing that we just celebrated christmas and wants brought everything the kids wanted, we limited the presents and it was great. alex got new shoes: 2 pairs of vans so he can look like the cool little skater dude that he is.

he got a lapser so he can "read" to himself now. :)

then it was donkey donuts time!!!

fast forward to dinner. between donkey donuts and dinner, we ate lunch while watching trains (he LOVED this. it was a nice switch up from our usual lunch with airplanes) and watched polar express. we would have done more BUT soraya is in the process of getting naps down to a science so we stayed home. he was happy.

now back to dinner. dinner was at red, hot and blue and he actually asked for it. he loves it there. he loved that he had all of his grandparents (that live in MD. we missed you, baba and boompa!) there. he loves his tutu and pap. as well as his baby sister.

natalya enjoyed tutu's presence too.

alex was one happy boy.

he had a green lantern cake for his birthday. i ordered these cake toppers and they looked fantastic. he absolutely loved it!

CUTE!!!

HAPY BIRTHDAY, ALEXANDER! we all love you so very much, little monkey boy.

Birthday Breakfast at Donkey Donuts

2012-01-28T20:58:00.002-05:00

in honor of the special day, alex got to choose where he got to eat for breakfast. most mornings, we eat a muffin (i make them weekly or my mom buys them), some fresh fruit and milk. on his birthday, alex chose to eat Donkey Donuts aka Dunkin' Donuts. the kids love donuts and as marilyn knows, we only get donkey donuts on vacation or if it is a special occasion or if i am feeling nice. so, because it was his day, we got up and dressed and headed over for some yummy donuts. he was in heaven. i even brought candles because hey, it was his birthday!

Eggless and Oil-less cakes

2012-01-25T21:47:00.002-05:00

i am addicted to pinterest.com. i have been on there, getting so many craft ideas and it is fantastic. the newest idea i found and have had the time and energy to to try it out is: cakes with ZERO OIL AND ZERO EGGS. i have heard of cakes made with apple sauce but cakes made with greek yogurt? c'mon, would it be good? well, i made one (alex's bday cake) and it is yummy! it almost looks better than a regular cake. and i made it with one super moist box cake (devil's food), 1 cup of non-fat greek yogurt and 1 cup of water. it is perfect. i think i have found a new way to bake cakes. :)

check out the various ways to make a box cake with alternate ingredients here:

http://www.hungry-girl.com/newsletters/raw/1543

Toy Store Jaunt

2012-01-21T22:25:00.000-05:00

Dangerous Climbers

2012-01-21T22:23:00.002-05:00

i have found the kids sitting on the counter alongside soraya quite a few times now. they can both climb the counters. now i am waiting for them to jump off of them. oh, brother.

2/3 of My Babes

2012-01-21T22:22:00.000-05:00

aren't they sweet?

Alex Loves His Little Sister

2012-01-19T09:37:00.002-05:00

all of my kids are snuggly. natalya loves to snuggle any time of day and alex is very snuggly as soon as he wakes up. this morning, he requested that he snuggle soraya and i happily obliged. then as they laid together, he started saying "this little piggy" to her. it melted my heart so naturally, i recorded it. my sweet kids.

then after saying his version of "this little piggy" he sang:

I love you.

From your head down to your shoe.

The incredible, edible YOU!

this song is from the egg commercials but the kids love it when i sing it to them and i do think it is a great song, even if it originally was for eggs. but hey, eggs are delicious too but not nearly as delicious as my kids!

Alex and His Gym Class

2012-01-17T21:39:00.003-05:00

i was skeptical that alex was able to follow directions during class. let's be honest, he doesn't alway follow directions at home. he usually keeps running and says he never hears me. so when i went back to the gym with him, i was pleasantly surprised. he listens when he is told to wait his turn. he does not run over other kids. he quickly apologizes if he does collide with someone else. he is doing his thing while still doing what he is supposed to. he's awesome and i'm not just saying that because he's mine. he really is and i am constantly amazed by him.

look at the pics and let me know what the common theme is...

did you see it? the theme is...alex being calm. NO!!! he is always in motion. he is jumping off of furniture around the house. he is running laps while eating all meals. he is hanging off of the hand rails in the car like a monkey. he tries to climb every piece of furniture like our book shelves and his dresser. he climbs up onto our kitchen counters and takes a seat like he belongs there. these pics were no surprise to me, but just a glimpse of my active little guy who happens to be turning 3 next week. wow! he's almost 3!

he loved his ribbon so much! in the car, he said, "i love my ribbon. i want to marry it." he is so cute. just to add to that, he also has told me several times that i'm his best friend. how sweet is that?! ya know what, alex? you're my best friend too. :)

Someone Likes to Laugh

2012-01-15T20:22:00.002-05:00

we tried to get a video of soraya laughing. too bad whenever we pull out a camera or phone to record her, she stares at the camera and refuses to laugh or smile. here's our attempt.

Time is Flying

2012-01-15T20:10:00.002-05:00

who is 4 months old already? SORAYA is!!! and boy is she a happy baby! gotta love the smiley pics...finally! she loves to laugh and is starting to become ticklish. she smiles up a storm and clearly knows who her momma is! when i take her to nomad rehearsal, she stares at ME as i acne and is so happy when i stop to smile at her back. i love her.

4 Months Old and Counting

2012-01-13T20:39:00.002-05:00

my littlest woman is almost 4 months old now. it is hard to believe but she will be 4 months old on sunday. because of that, she had her 4 month old check up today and it went well. our dr said she should be rolling over any day now. she certainly has the strength for it and is almost tipping over, so i should be on the look out for it. (just something else for me to worry about.)

she is having trouble with sleeping through the night since she was sick last week. after a week's worth of sleepless nights, josh left this week to travel to minnesota so i was on my own with a child who does not want to sleep the 12+ hrs a night she was sleeping before the bump on the road.

even with that little bit of trouble we're having, she's doing well and i'm thrilled. she's a healthy girl who is growing like a weed. her stats are:

length: 24 1/2 inches (between the 25th and 50th percentiles)

weight: 13 lbs 6 oz (between the 25th and 50th percentiles)

in comparison, at this age natalya weighed only 11 lbs 14 oz and was 23 1/2 inches long.

alex was a whopping 16 lbs 1/2 oz and was 26 1/4 inches long.

soraya is unlike both of the other kids. she is soraya and perfect.

Can You Spot the Baby?

2012-01-12T23:40:00.002-05:00

soraya is officially taking naps now (2-2 hr naps a day) in her bed and i couldn't be happier. the thing is, she likes to sleep with her two babies on top of her face. this scares me to death. is she going to suffocate? the answer is, "no." i have checked on her many times and have even moved them off of her face, only to find them back on her little face. i pulled them back tonight to check and her face is to the side, with her head cocked to the left. it's not covered at all, it just looks like it. phew.

My Girl (Big)

2012-01-11T21:52:00.002-05:00

natalya is and always has been unique. she has never liked dresses or dolls. she likes things that are typically "boy." keep that in mind when looking at her in these pics...can you figure out what she's dressed up as???

she has taken close look at her models a few times and has added pieces to make the look correct...do you know?

it's not pippy longstocking!!! although, it was hilarious when i did her hair like this! she is dressed up as a boy scout in the pics above. she wants to be a boy scout so badly. she has been spelunking every day in the back yard. she wants to go camping. she does not want to be a girl scout. she wants to be a boy scout. she's my natalya. and i love her.

I assure you she IS happy

2012-01-11T21:44:00.002-05:00

in every pic, soraya looks angry. she always has this "i'm mad at you" face but she does smile. a lot. she giggles all the time. i look at her and she breaks out in a giggle. i love it. so pretend she's smiling here because she looks miserable but she was smiling.

she is officially using her high chair (my cousin borrowed it for a while) and i LOVE the freedom it has given me. i no longer have to watch her so closely as she sits on the counter in the bumbo. now, she sits next to me as i cook and i'm delighted.

alex offered her some cars to keep her happy. they didn't do the trick.

neither did natalya posing with her.

she does smile. i promise!

Who Is that BIG Baby?

2012-01-11T21:40:00.002-05:00

goodness gracious! soraya is growing like a weed! she is getting so big and giggly. i love it. she now feels like an infant and can sit on my hip while i walk around without falling backwards. i'm so impressed that babies literally go from little sacks of nothing to big bundles of something in such a short amount of time. do we need to start thinking about another baby already?

jk!!! we are not having another baby....just yet. ;)

SNOW!

2012-01-11T21:38:00.002-05:00

it snowed! it actually snowed! it accumulated too! well, we had about a 1/100 of an inch but that was enough for natalya. she got to play outside while alex and soraya napped. she was in heaven and i got to snap her pic. :)

Little Chemist

2012-01-11T21:24:00.002-05:00

for christmas, natalya asked for (1) a microscope. check. (2) science kits. check. she is only 4, almost 5 years old. she is so interested in anything science related. i think it's totally cool. so, when her tutu bought her a couple of science kits, we got to work.

we started by cleaning our hands really well and got our eye protection out. we wore gloves to keep everything clean. (she was totally into that.) and we got to it.

this particular experiment was to learn about liquids and solids. what is a liquid? what is a solid? what does it mean to dissolve?

she loved it.

Finally Caught Up With

2012-01-06T10:54:00.002-05:00

what finally caught up with us, you might be asking? well, after running around town literally every day/night for the past 6 weeks has finally taken its toll and rendered its results...a house full of sick people. i started feeling sick new year's eve but i pushed through it and partied well into the night. well, by monday morning, josh was feeling sick. that's not a huge deal since he is an adult and can pretty much handle it.

by tuesday morning, poor little soraya baby was sick. she had a congested cough and a runny little nose. so off to the dr's we went. she was given a clean bill of health, except for the runny nose. our dr said she was ok but had the cough due to nasal drip. she told me she should be ok within a week.

than came tuesday night. it was a LONG night. she was up all night, crying and fussing. josh nor i got much sleep, but we survived.

then it was wednesday night. again, fussing. crying. an overall unhappy baby. no sleep. again.

thursday morning she sleeps all morning in the carrier. i figure she needs the rest and i still have plenty of time to keep her up for her bedtime.

bedtime: crying. fussing. overall crabbiness and unhappiness. josh sleeps upstairs with the other two kids (they all slept separately. we're not that crazy!) and i sleep downstairs with soraya, where we have a rocking chair and a couch to enable me to sleep upright with her. she finally falls asleep around 1 am. wakes at 5 am to eat. sleeps until we are awoken by my oh so considerate father at 7:30 am.

i gave her a bath this morning, i feel like i need to disinfect all of us, fed her and she's down for the count in her bed right now. the older kids have been playing in the bathtub for the past hour. you read that correctly. i am tired and they're dirty, so i've let them play in the water for the past hour. it has seriously saved me this morning. our own make-shift pool. i am sitting in the hallway, on the floor, as i type this. i have a headache, but not keeping them busy has been fantastic this morning.

so, i am hoping soraya sleeps better tonight just in time for me to feel sick. i have a super sore throat that feels like it is on fire. but i know i can handle it. i'll be fine. just cross your fingers that we can all sleep tonight.

as i was trying to get her to sleep last night she grabbed my finger and wouldn't let go. precious.

and how could i be angry with little person???

even while being sick, she's sweet and cuddly and i love her. we'll all make it through this tough patch. i promise.

Budding Scientist

2012-01-03T21:43:00.002-05:00

she asked many times for a microscope. so naturally, santa brought her one. she loves it. then tutu gave her a science kit. she loves it. we combined the two and it was awesome. notice the rubber gloves she has on. we were trying to be real scientists who keep everything clean and sanitized by washing our hands and wearing gloves. she thought it was so cool.

we looked at hair (hers and mine), cat fur, grass, a booger (i know, gross but she loved it), and so much more. she is truly a budding scientist and i think it's totally cool.

Birthday Party #3

2012-01-03T21:40:00.002-05:00

miss haylee celebrated her 3rd birthday (her bday is the same as ava's) and again, we all had a blast. and again, i never saw the kids again once we arrived. i love how the kids just play together now. all we need to do is just listen out and check on them every once in a while. it is fantastic!

Birthday Party #2

2012-01-03T21:32:00.002-05:00

ava celebrated her 3rd birthday last week. (she is my cousin's daughter). we, of course, had to go and had a grand time. we walked in and i literally never saw natalya and alex again until we left. they had a blast.

Birthday Party #1

2012-01-03T21:25:00.002-05:00

this is the only good picture i got of the birthday boy, ethan...

i lied. here he is with natalya and alex. the kids were super cute. they kept playing in this little room.

My Kids

2012-01-03T21:19:00.002-05:00

sweet, sweet soraya (with scary eyes here)...

gracie...who is super proud that i include her in my number of kids.

natalya and alex...the crazy kids who make me want to pull my hair out, cover my ears, and lock myself in the bathroom.

Sleepy Boy

2012-01-03T21:10:00.003-05:00

we had our good friends, team v, over for dinner the other night (along with gracie, yani and HER NEW FIANCE, JOE!) and the kids were so worn out by the end of the night, this is what we found...

geez! what a little drunk! he needs to learn how to control his liquor better! ;)

btw, all week last week i had the kids in at the little gym for camp. they were in there for 3 hours a day and on this particular day the kids had camp in the afternoon which eliminated alex's nap. then after camp, they played with gracie for the remainder of the evening until we had dinner. then they literally played until 11ish and that's when we found alex passed out on the couch. just to be clear, we rarely ever keep up the kids up past 8pm, so to stay up this late without a nap took it's toll. and i found it hilarious.

also, alex has only fallen asleep not in his bed or carseat twice in his whole life. once he fell asleep in his high chair. the second time was here. this boy is nonstop motion. until he can't seem to keep going.

Late Christmas with Tutu and Pap

2012-01-02T21:57:00.002-05:00

we spent tonight with tutu and pap for a late christmas evening together. the kids got to spend time with another set of grandparents who dote on them and love them to pieces, and run amuck in their house.

while running amuck, alex ran into the guest bedroom which also serves as the library, and grabbed a book. he then sat down to read it. why to of his hundreds of choices did he have to choose this one?

then pap gave them a pair of swimming goggles to wear and boy did they love them...

alex actually wore them the entire time he ate his dessert. hilarious.

Spy Girl

2012-01-02T21:54:00.002-05:00

natalya has taken to wearing in all black with black gloves and a black hat to fully embody the spirit of a spy. she puts on her black clothing and all of her spy gear and tries to spy on us. how fun is this girl???

Gift from Team V

2011-12-27T21:11:00.002-05:00

our good friends, jen & jr, gave alex this marble toy and the kids loved it tonight. alex has been begging, and i mean BEGGING, to open it up. he has been carrying the box around and asking every adult he encounters to open it up and assemble it. we finally caved (he got so many toys we were sure he could hold off for a few more days) and we were pleasantly surprised by how much the kids loved it. i mean, LOVED it. they played with it and were trying out the various entry ways for the marbles and i bet tomorrow they'll have me redo it so they can try it out again. this is a great toy, team v! thanks so much for it!!!

btw, i told gracie we had 4 kids in our family tonight and she informed me that i was wrong. she said, "you only have 3 kids, madrina ('godmother' in spanish." i then told her that she is my goddaughter and therefore counts as one of my kids. she was so happy to hear that. my gracie has to know that even though i didn't give birth to her, i love her like my own and always will.

Odds and Ends

2011-12-27T21:06:00.002-05:00

despite the lack of pics of soraya on christmas, she was there and experienced it as much as she could as a 3 month old. i decided that since she has a crazy strong neck (always has. she was born almost holding her head straight up. it must be those strong R-genes.) i would change her position in the carrier. it was like a whole new world for her. she loves the bumbo since she can now see more than just the ceiling and up people's noses. now she can look out and see the world as we walk. amazing! and i love walking by the mirrors and seeing her cute little face.

we took one of natalya's many remote control vehicles for a test run last night. she was tickled pink (ahem, blue) by it. alex liked it too, as well as our neighbors across the street. it was a huge hit for her and every other kid on our block!

Biggest Hit

2011-12-27T21:01:00.002-05:00

who knew hot wheels would be such a big hit this year? i knew alex liked anything transportation related, but i expected him to love his batman toys the most. he does love them, but he has informed me that as much as he loves the batman toys, he loves the hot wheels even more. and as much as alex likes them, multiply it by 100 to get how much josh likes them. they were all so cute; the three of them huddled around the track, enthralled by the cars going around the track. too cute.

Stockings and Cookies

2011-12-26T20:55:00.001-05:00

One More Pic of My Darling Soraya

2011-12-25T23:13:00.001-05:00

just another pic of soraya in her outfit sans crying and puffy, red eyes. i could eat her. literally eat her up.

Christmas Stockings

2011-12-25T22:29:00.002-05:00

i have so many more videos to post, but this is to whet your appetite for now.

Christmas 2011

2011-12-25T22:00:00.005-05:00

i apologize for any of you who don't like posts with a million pics. this is for marilyn's enjoyment. enjoy if you choose to.

the stockings were a huge hit this year as they dug their little arms deep into them.

alex was very pleased with his m & m's.

natalya loved her "spy kids" dvd's.

soraya was excited about everything!

josh was very tired. we were up late and natalya woke us up at 5:45 am. it has been a long but very fun day.

presents!

natalya got a microscope. she loves it!

can a little boy get any MORE hot wheels?!

natalya's tower o' presents.

soraya likes her presents from natalya and alex.

natalya is officially my little spy kid.

alex thoroughly looked at and inspected and spent ample time with every single one of his presents. he loved his books equally as much as he loved his bat cave, batman figurines, and hot wheels.

soraya was dressed up in her little christmas dress and she looks adorable. too bad she happened to by crying here.

but then right before bed i got her to laugh for me and it made me forget she was crying just a second before. have i said lately how much i love this little girl? 'cause i really do.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Santa Landed!

2011-12-25T21:50:00.004-05:00

santa safely arrived at our house last night and filled our stockings with care.

ate most of our cookies and fed all of our celery and carrots to the reindeer.

and even had time to reply to our letters! (i don't know if you can read the response. santa has some awful handwriting. LOL)

our christmas tree post-santa. you can't fully see the craziness under the tree, so keep looking...

NUTS! santa went berserk this year, as he always does in our house. i always try to remind him that we don't need that much, but santa always seems to spoil our kids. i might have to have a private conversation with him about this. :)

Merry Christmas Eve!

2011-12-24T20:57:00.003-05:00

we are ready for santa! we have milk and cookies out for him, and celery and carrots for the reindeer. we have our letters written to him. our christmas jammies are on. we're ready for bed. we are eagerly awaiting his arrival. MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU!

Christmas Celebration, Part 1

2011-12-24T20:47:00.002-05:00

today's christmas celebration was devoted to spending it with the immediate family. the kids had such a great time, as always. even soraya got in on the action! ok, not really. she slept most of the time everyone was over. the little woman had decided to stay up last night until 2 am, so she slept pretty well today. thank goodness.

the kids were pretending that "super baby" was reading about superman. they're so funny.

my grandmother was in awe of little soraya. she said she was a beautiful baby. for some reason, i do agree. ;)

andrew opened his gift from the kids. they got him axe body products. he loves to smell "like a man." it's hard to believe that he's 13 already.

then all 4 little kids were fighting to take andrew down. it was funny to watch and luckily no one got hurt. andrew's a good sport to play with the little guys.

Santa Spotting!

2011-12-24T20:36:00.004-05:00

every year our fire station drives around all of the neighborhoods in our town the week of chistmas. up until this year, the kids had fun but never enjoyed it as much as they did last night. we were anticipating his arrival all night and had the window shutters open so we could keep a look out. we were in the middle of baking cookies when all of a sudden we heard the sirens. so what did we do? naturally, we bolted out of the door. we ran out with no shoes. none of us had coats. i left cookies in the oven baking. we stood outside like crazy people until i realized we had a few mins to spare.

so we ran back in and got our shoes and coats on. then we continued to act like santa fanatics.

oh, the joys of childhood. i love watching my kids believe and have fun. that's what childhood is all about. the innocence is awesome. i hope they stay that way forever.

Even MORE Cookies

2011-12-24T20:29:00.002-05:00

to add another fun baking session, we had gracie over last night. my parents had natalya and alex over at my brother's house but i decided that wouldn't stop me from having gracie over for the evening. so she came over for dinner and then we baked. she had a blast! we made sugar cookies and got to decorate them, as well as make a new kind of cookie: toffee cookies. they were both delicious. :)

gracie is officially a big girl now. look at that toothless grin! i love it when kids start to lose their baby teeth. it's a sign she's growing up.

the kids got back in time to do some decorating too. natalya lasted about 15 mins before she started eating the sprinkles. then i made her go play in the other room. she's such a sneaky kid!

and the cookies! we had such a great time making them and i want to start baking with my girls (all 3) more often so they love it as much i do when they get older.

SHHHH! Don't Tell!

2011-12-21T20:47:00.002-05:00

DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU ARE:

-my mom

-diane

-mike

-my dad

since marilyn regularly looks at the blog and i know she has since opened her christmas gifts, i think i'm free to post these pics. i don't think the others regularly look at the blog, so if you are one of the people i have listed, DO NOT READ THE BLOG UNTIL CHRISTMAS!

anyways, a very good friend of mine and awesome artist, tracy keating, offered to help me make christmas gifts this year with the kids. i have been reactant to try painting pottery with them until now since i didn't think either of them would be old enough to (1) paint for longer than 5 mins. (2) not break every piece of pottery they touch.

i was pleasantly surprised. we stayed for 2 hours and natalya painted the entire time. alex lasted about 30 mins, which is phenomenal for my little guy. natalya loved it and we are planning on going back soon.

so i should have taken a picture of the final products but i never did and now that one has safely arrived in ohio, i won't be. each piece has natalya's and alex's handprints and soraya's footprints. they are all so precious.

The Kids Felt "Stella & Dot-ty"

2011-12-20T22:17:00.002-05:00

hilarious. i was pulling out my jewelry tonight when the kids felt compelled to try the jewels on. and tried on the jewels, they did! it was so funny. they fought over the pieces and posed with smiles. i could not have laughed harder. thanks, kiddos. you made my night.

this is currently natalya's favorite pose.

alex LOVED putting the jewelry on. he put as much as he could on, then giggled at himself in the mirror. oh, how i love this boy.

Holiday Outing #152

2011-12-20T21:26:00.002-05:00

hahaha! it seems like we've done that many outings! becky and i decided to try the mormon temple last night, without any hubbies. josh is in miami for work and jeff had to do homework last night. so, becky and i tried the outing alone and it was a good one, MOSTLY. i was delighted that it was small, almost too small, but i was horrified that everyone was dressed up and i was walking around in my adidas track pants and sneakers. not to mention that my kids were acting like they had zero manners and self control. natalya seemed to think it was the perfect opportunity to run around like a chicken without a head. i had to scream at her on church grounds. horrified, i was. alex was following suit and running around too. i was completely mortified and i forced them to hold onto the stroller. i felt like the worst mom ever!

after finally getting them to act respectfully and responsibly, we did enjoy what seemed to be a 15 minute walk around to see the lights. it was beautiful. and short. and it was probably the perfect length for us last night. thank goodness.

the kids were very interested in the nativity scene.

can you spot what does't belong?

natalya requested a picture with the camel. maybe she was channeling me in her since i LOVE riding camels.

the temple is quite beautiful.

i found garrett next to the water fountain and i thought he was looking at the water. little did know he was not looking at the water. instead, he was popping. hahaha.

my crazy kids.

abby complained the entire time of being tired. we didn't believe her until at one point we found her laying on the sidewalk. becky said she actually fell asleep in the car, which she never does. i guess she really was tired.

Fire Truck Musem

2011-12-20T21:12:00.003-05:00

becky and i have upped the ante this year by adding yet another outing to our calendar this month. we went to the fire truck museum this past weekend and i'll be honest, it was ok. the fire trucks they had were beautiful, but the kids really didn't care about them. alex and garrett loved the model train set. big surprise, i know. then they loved the trains they could play with. another big surprise. the girls were happy with the dress up area and that kept them entertained while letting the boys play with the trains. yes, we spent our time playing with TRAINS at a fire truck museum. rest assure, we will not be going back to this museum again.

it started off well. alex was excited by the old fire trucks.

natalya was slightly interested in the fireman's uniform.

then they found the model trains. they were done. the boys chatted away about what they were looking at. it was adorable.

dress up clothes saved us. they kept the girls happy and busy for a long while.

what did i tell you? TRAINS!

then alex decided to don some fireman's clothes on. he is the cutest little fireman i've ever seen.

there was this robot the kids could take turns being the voice of and natalya thought it was totally cool.

then the kids could pretend to ride in a helicopter. i wish i would've sat in there!

becky and josh were amazed with the armored truck.

becky tried to move it. to no avail. sorry, becky. you're weak. ;)

Seriously?

2011-12-20T21:06:00.002-05:00

soraya is 3 months old already. how is that possible? my littlest woman is a sweety pie who is a great eater; fantastic, rockstar sleeper; ticklish baby girl; smily, happy girl; and all around perfect baby. she is learning how to take her naps on her own without being carried around all day. as much as i love to have that extra weight on my chest and stomach, i would love it for her to be on her own a little more each day. we'll get there.

she's been eating her hands a lot lately and drooling like a saint bernard. i wonder if she'll start teething soon.

well, whatever she has in store for us is fine with me. i'm happy she's mine.

Christmas Jammy-Jams

2011-12-13T20:38:00.002-05:00

we love christmas. period. we have been watching "polar express" every day for the past month. we now all have christmas jammies. we are now ready for santa's arrival. :)

tonight, josh introduced the kids to "Where's Waldo" books. the kids loved them. they were racing to find waldo. i am impressed that they were finding him site quickly and with great ease. they were better than me!

soraya wasn't excited about waldo, but i was excited to see all the kids in christmas clothes.

2 peas in a pod.

my sweet, sweet kiddos.

Decorating Madness

2011-12-13T20:17:00.002-05:00

why do i choose to do activities like decorating cookies alone with 4 small kids? (yes, i know soraya is not taking part in the activity, but that doesn't mean she is not present. she is in the carrier while i try to attempt to help 3 kids all at once!) i'm sorry. that makes it sound like it was awful. the activity was actually quite a bit of fun. luckily, natalya and abby are old enough to be able to do most of it themselves and alex only lasted about 15 mins.

we had a great time. abby LOVED decorating the cookies. she lasted the longest this morning. i think she could've done it for hours if we had more cookies.

natalya thought it was fun for about 15 mins.

abby's beautiful creation. becky told me abby had her eyes on it as her dessert after dinner tonight.

natalya's cookie...

alex's cookie...all he wanted to use were the gumballs.

my silly boy.

abby had icing everywhere. i eventually talked her into tying her hair back. as i combed her hair after we were done, she had icing literally all over her hair. too bad i didn't make her tie her hair back sooner!

natalya liked eating the candy more than the decorating.

all of the beautiful cookies. :)

Getting' Ready

2011-12-12T21:25:00.002-05:00

abby is spending the night tonight, so tomorrow we will be decorating some gingerbread cookies. natalya and i spent alex's nap time making the gingerbread cookies and it was a success! i didn't burn a single cookie. phew.

natalya LOVED cutting her cookies out.

good thing messes don't scare me.

tada! cookies for the kids! i can't wait to decorate!

Boys Will Be Men

2011-12-12T21:19:00.002-05:00

so now that alex has officially been potty trained, he is using the potty all day long without me worrying about accidents. today, as i was walking by the family room, i spotted him grabbing some reading material with his pants down while heading for the potty. i waited to see just what he was doing and sure enough, this is what i saw:

HILARIOUS! he is such a little man. he was reading while doing his business. i love it!

Christmas Babes

2011-12-12T21:13:00.002-05:00

2 out of my 3 kids now have christmas jammies. i ordered each a set but the jammies i bought for alex fit natalya (and consequently were too big for alex) and since the ones natalya picked out were "too girly" for her, she is now wearing alex's and i am waiting for a new set for alex. for now, enjoy the girls and pretend alex is wearing holiday batman jammies.

Another Round of House Making

2011-12-11T21:52:00.002-05:00

we had a FULL house last night. anderson and ethan spent the night and spotted our gingerbread houses. they were dying to make some themselves and since marilyn sent us another house and a train, we took advantage and made them. i also made a couple of extra houses out of graham crackers and good thing i did, because andrew then joined us and jumped right in!

alex ate more than he decorated.

B & O Railroad Museum

2011-12-11T21:29:00.004-05:00

yesterday we visited the b & o railroad museum (we went there this past summer) and loved it yet again. this time, we went with abby and her family. this trip was mostly for the boys since they are the ones who LOVE trains, but surprisingly enough, i do like trains now too. i am constantly amazed at how i am getting interested in things i never thought i would: trains, superheroes, hiking, sports, etc. having kids whose interests differ from mine have been eye-opening and extremely enlightening. i am glad that they like different things because i know i have grown a lot since having them. they teach ME new things every day.

anyways, back to the museum. we went to see santa (which we never did) and had a great time. we liked it so much, we bought a family pass which means we will be going again soon. :)

the boys naturally gravitated towards the train tables...

whereas natalya quickly tried on some clothes...

then the girls went straight to the coloring tables. it is so interesting to see the stark differences between the girls and boys.

TRAIN RIDE!!! it started off exciting...

even soraya was excited...

but it quickly turned a bit boring...

but not for alex! he was excited and eagerly waiting for the train to take off! here he is listening for the train whistle to start the train.

then frosty arrived and woke the kids up a bit...

than and his candy canes! i swear, that was the highlight of the train ride for the girls.

alex was thrilled. he loves trains.

then we discovered a caboose which had a little "room" that the kids could run through. i ended up locking them in and they thought it was funny.

mrs. clause was so unhappy as she sat there. she put on a happy face for the girls, but she was less than pleased.

who is that CRAZY woman behind the cute girls?

Dear Santa...

2011-12-09T20:31:00.002-05:00

"Dear Santa,

I have been good. Can I have some more toys

Love,

Natalya"

"-remote control car

-remote control helicopter

-remote control plane

-hiking tools

-camping supplies

-spy toys

-microscope

-'boy' toys

PS...Alex and Soraya have been good, too. Can Alex have some Batman toys and new trains? Can Soraya have some new baby toys, like a pacifier and dollies? Can Alex have a hot wheels toy and a roundhouse?"

Cutest Lil Bear

2011-12-09T20:24:00.002-05:00

"s" is for sweet.

"o" is for one-of-a-kind.

"r" is for radiant.

"a" is for amazing.

"y" is for yummy.

"a" is for adorable.

that's it. period.

"Twas the Night Before Christmas

2011-12-09T20:10:00.002-05:00

i am trying to get natalya prepared for school next year by warning her that there are times when you have to dress up or dress a certain way. we have been talking a lot about this topic since she loves to wear her superhero clothing and anything that has been passed down to her from an older, male family member. i take that back. it doesn't need to be a family member. she loves getting clothes from eamon. she loves clothes from any boy she knows. she'd much rather wear boy clothing than girl clothing. and i don't know why. is it the cut? is it the fit? is it the colors? i don't think it's really any of that. i truly think in her mind that if it's a "boy" piece of clothing, it must feel better and fit better and just overall look better. well, not necessarily look better. she picks out some UGLY clothes to wear. so, with that all in mind, i have been prepping her to wear school-appropriate clothing next year. she doesn't have to wear dresses, but she must wear clothing that fits and is clean and makes her look like she has a family that takes care of her. i swear, there are many days she looks straight up homeless.

i was so impressed when we were chatting about our visit to see the play "twas the night before christmas" and how it is a special occasion so we need to dress up, and she asked to wear her christmas dress. she wore this dress again on her own! and alex, i told him to get dressed but to choose something not superhero related and he chose his red sweater again. i loved it! naturally, i put soraya in her red dress and they were the best dressed kids there!

these were the only pics i took. pictures are strictly prohibited and i have been caught before, so these were taken before we entered the play. they are pretty cute, aren't they?!

My Kiddos

2011-12-07T21:14:00.001-05:00

in a glance...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

2011-12-07T20:41:00.004-05:00

we have been so lucky! we took the kids to see santa tonight and i had it all planned out: alex's nap (2-4p), alex's haircut (4:00-4:10p), bath time for the kids (4:10-4:30), dinner (4:30-5:00), get the kids dressed (5-5:15p), out the door by 5:15p, arrive at the mall by 5:50p and take pictures around 6:00p when wants returns from feeding his reindeer. and boy, we succeeded! i had everything planned out so well we were done with pics by 6:15! yay!!! then we shopped for a little while and were out of the mall within an hour. it was perfect. and the pic turned out so well. the kids all played along and were thrilled to see santa. and natalya actually wore a dress. (ask me when we bought her shoes...like a minute before we took pics! i realized this morning we didn't have shoes for her to wear so i was about to have her wear her sneakers, which i thought would scream "natalya" but we opted to look really quickly and snagged these cute shoes.) so, all in all, we had such a great day.

I LOVE THE PICTURE, TOO. MY KIDS ROCK!

Santa Photographs

2011-12-06T20:32:00.002-05:00

these are the actual photos the photographer took last night. i could use these as our pics with santa this year, but anyone who knows me knows i will not! the kids weren't dressed up for the event and they must be all nice and clean with special santa clothes on. yes, i'm psycho. luckily for me, a santa-helper is in every mall and we will be seeing him tomorrow night. :)

National Tree 2011

2011-12-05T22:33:00.005-05:00

we went to see the national tree tonight-one of our many annual traditions. this year, erika and becky went with us and it was a blast, as always.

the only gripe i have is: why does the national tree look so short and squatty? does it look like this every year? if it does, it is one ugly tree.

the trains were a huge hit this year. when alex was not running around, his eyes were glued to the trains.

natalya and abby were so happy to be together again.

erika and jackson liked the bonfire as much i usually do.

little miss fiona had such a great time running around. she kept up with the big kids pretty well.

soraya was the perfect baby. she slept throughout our outing. looks like it might be easier than i thought to keep up with all of our christmas outings. yay!

santa's workshop was great!

our first time visiting santa!

all the kids together, in one pic! too bad you can't see fiona or soraya, but they're there.

becky had to keep garrett from jumping off the bleachers.

becky and crew AKA the kool krew.

our family portrait. :)

MERRY almost CHRISTMAS!

Little Bear

2011-12-04T21:07:00.002-05:00

each one of my kids has worn this little bear outfit. only one of my kids actually was able to fit it for longer than 2 months. that would not be soraya. she is probably our biggest child. she was the biggest at birth. she is growing exponentially, i swear. she is just so big and sweet and i adore her.

she is smiling and "talking" a lot these days. chats with us before bed every night now. love it!

this is one of the sweetest little bears i have ever seen.

Gingerbread Houses 2011

2011-12-04T20:29:00.004-05:00

decorating gingerbread houses has now become an annual tradition for us. gracie and yani come over and we decorate houses to see who can make a better one. we have a ball all morning as we decorate and get icing everywhere and enjoy chatting while the kids literally eat the candy while yani and i actually do all the work. even though natalya put maybe one piece of candy on our house, we still had a blast and look forward to doing it again next year!

gracie was READY! she was pumped to start her house!

natalya may have been eating her first of many candy canes, but she still refused to smile for me.

alex fell off the patio yesterday while riding on his little motorcycle. he busted his forehead open. poor baby. he cried for about 30 seconds and the moved on.

because we didn't want alex to feel too left out, yani brought a gingerbread man to decorate. since yani was helping gracie and i was working with natalya, josh had to work with alex. i didn't anticipate josh to make the gingerbread man quite so...what's the word?...

yani is also flabbergasted...

crazy ugly! josh and alex made a gingerbread man with claws, smoking a cigar with turds! what were they thinking? alex kept calling him his "mummy man." LOL

yani and gracie. :)

the kids all left and yani and i were the only ones decorating. i think it is a competition between the two of us. you be the judge...

yani's house...

OR my house...

it doesn't matter. we had fun and that's all that matters. happy christmas!

Crazy Boy

2011-12-04T20:21:00.002-05:00

this is what happens when i leave alex to dress himself: his undies and pants are on backwards and his coat is on upside down. dress that up with a dirty face and you have alex.

gotta love him.

Are We Related?

2011-12-02T21:36:00.002-05:00

that is the question as i compare our faces. i love her little face but as i stare at it i wonder, "where are MY features in this perfect little face?" she's got josh's lips and nose. her eyes are blue (for now). her hair is lighter than both natalya's and alex's. her eyes might slightly be almond shape. that's it. but guess what? i think she is absolutely perfect just the way she is, even if she looks more like josh than me. in all reality, it doesn't surprise me. it pleases me because she is beautiful and she's all mine regardless. and i married josh because i thought he was the most handsome guy i have ever seen and i still think that (well, he is now tied for first place along with alex) and if i had 20 babies and they all looked like him, i'd be happy.

i never thought i'd like hair accessories. but guess what?

i do and she looks so cute in them! i am secretly trying to get her to be "girlie." i never tried them on natalya, but i will be using them with soraya. i deserve at least one girlie girl!

btw, i LOVE this onesie. too bad i bought a 6 month old one and it's tight on her. this is one big girl!

Someone's Crabby but Cute

2011-12-02T21:33:00.002-05:00

she's not really crabby, but i told her she was while wearing her crab outfit! my friend, adriane, gave this to me and i had fun putting it on her. she looks darn cute in just about everything i out her in but i kept giggling as i looked at all those crabs! :)

my girls. pure love.

What Is That?

2011-12-02T20:33:00.002-05:00

tonight as i entered my bedroom from our bathroom, i was met by these two blue lights. what were they? i didn't know. i was intrigued and slightly blinded by them...until...

i turned on the lights and found what it was! my little spy, spying on me!

Who is Superman-Ironman?

2011-11-30T21:10:00.004-05:00

who is this little superhero boy holding the nerf gun? is it a mini-superman? he is wearing a superman shirt but he is also wearing an ironman mask. who is this masked hero?

i don't know who he is, but he has given me his word that he will always protect me and will take care of me forever.

and somehow, i believe him and know he'll make a great man some day. :)

FREEDOM!!!

2011-11-30T20:51:00.002-05:00

i told myself that i would be strong and raise soraya just as we have with alex; we'd be tough and make her sleep on her own and let her cry it out. well, i have not been strong. in many ways, i have been weak. super weak. but, i do have 2 other kids now and i don't get time every day when i have 2 hrs to sleep when the others take naps. natalya never takes naps now and alex fights tooth and nail every afternoon when i put him down. so, in all honesty, i am doing just what i tell other moms: DO WHAT IS NECESSARY TO SURVIVE. soraya was sleeping so well at night until the last 2 nights. she was up all night long 2 nights in a row. i am exhausted. so, what did i do last night? i let her sleep in my bed. yes, i did. and i got to sleep. so was it worth it? yes. will i do it again? probably so.

with that said, today i decided to try to break her from her favorite spot: the baby carrier. we took a walk and i put her in the carseat. yes, she cried. she cried about half of the walk. oh well. she survived. then i put her in her baby gym and she played. she actually played! ok, not really. she doesn't know how to play but she looked at the toys and it allowed me to leave her alone for 30 minutes without her crying! that is HUGE!!! she "played" for 30 minutes!

THEN SHE TOOK 2 NAPS ON THE COUCH!!! yes, you read that correctly. she slept without me or the carrier not once, but twice! yes, it was on the couch but she wasn't attached to me at all and that is a big step. i feel like a new momma! i could actually get things done without toting a 12 lb baby on my front. i can't remember just what i accomplished, but whatever i did, i got to do without her attached so i felt free.

let's hope this is the start of a new independence for both of us!

Chatting Soraya

2011-11-30T19:58:00.002-05:00

so she can't really talk yet, but she is starting to coo and i think it's terribly sweet. whenever i try to record her, she often starts to cry. she did cry this evening but stopped for a short session of chatting before heading off to bed. you can hardly tell the sounds are coming from her, but believe me when i say it's her. i don't normally speak in long one-syllabic sentences.

she was chatting with me when all of a sudden she decided she was done and started to cry. you don't get to hear that part and you really don't want to. this girl has a set of lungs on her!

Dancing Girl

2011-11-28T19:53:00.002-05:00

natalya decided to wear her 3D glasses and rock out to some Christmas carols. like she told me the other day, "[she] is the cat's meow."

Chunky Monkey

2011-11-27T22:03:00.003-05:00

this little girl is getting huge. she now wears 6 month old clothes as a 2 month old. CRAZY. (natalya finally wore 6 month clothes when she was 9 months old.) she is filling out her bathtub now. she has roll upon roll upon roll. her arms are chunky. there's a line where her wrists meet her hands from her fat rolls. goodness. i LOVE this baby. period. thank you very much.

She's Gettin' So Big

2011-11-27T21:55:00.002-05:00

and looking more like natalya. as i walk by natalya's old baby pics, i can totally see soraya's little face. i see a lot of natalya but i also see a lot of josh. i can't quite put my finger on who she looks most like. well, let me correct that. soraya looks most like herself and i find her irresistible. she is one sweet baby.

Our New Tradition

2011-11-27T21:36:00.002-05:00

my good friends, becky and jen, raved last year about their elves on a shelf. (elf on a shelf) so this year, i bought one and we read the story to try to get the kids buying into the elf watching over them every day to report back to santa about their behavior. natalya was an extremely HARD sell. she saw the elf in the box was questioning me almost immediately. she said, "it's just a doll in a box, mommy. it's not alive." i had to reassure her that it was not just an elf. i was starting to get annoyed that she would question it, but that is natalya. she questions everything. i wonder where she gets that from.

so, we read the story and moved on. i figured i'd leave it alone and see what happens.

then when the kids arrived back home (from visiting my brother with my parents) "Nick, our elf" was out of the box and on our mantle. (he is not on our mantle in this pic. he is on our book shelf. that was his spot for the day.) that did it for natalya. i told her that josh and i went shopping and when we came home, he out of the box and on the mantle. (if you touch your elf, it loses it's magic.) she totally bought into that moment. it was spectacular. she has since been an angel and has been reminding alex that Nick is watching him and will be reporting back to Santa. that is awesome. :)

Black Friday Annual Tradition

2011-11-27T21:26:00.002-05:00

every year on black friday our family does not go shopping. we stay in bed until we decide to wake up (which if you know my kids, you know they always wake up no later than 7 am) and we spend the day getting ready to put up our christmas tree. so, that's what we did. we had rachel and mei shan with us to join us and that was fun. the kids all had fun putting up the ornaments an if you look closely at our tree, the best ornaments are all about 2 1/2 feet off the floor. the kids put them up and i want them to enjoy them, so i left them where they put them. so, the best ornaments are all down low but that's ok. the tree is beautiful and perfect for little people and that makes me happy.

can you guess why she loves this ornament so much?

alex LOVED the superhero ornaments.

so cute...

Turkey Day 2011

2011-11-27T20:54:00.003-05:00

let me start with the fact that i was sick on thanksgiving this year. i fell ill the night before and i was feeling absolutely awful when i woke up. i knew i had to still get up and cook since thanksgiving was being held at our house, but i had to go SLOW. i felt sick. my body ached. i had our family arriving for dinner in a few hours. so, as all mothers do, i sucked it up and cooked and welcomed the family in and it went well. i did feel better by the day's end and i was able to cook most of what i promised (i ended up not making baklava but i didn't think it'd be a big deal until everyone complained that i didn't! oh well. if they want it that bad, they can make it themselves. i was sick and it takes hours to make. get over it, people!)

i also must say that yes, soraya was present that day but you will not be seeing her picture. why? she was in the carrier for most of the day and i was the one who was taking the pics and because of that, she was not in one. but neither was i. and neither was josh. so, you won't see her but know that she was indeed there.

the kids were so excited to see each other. i love watching them all (there are 12 kids ranging from 2 months to 15 years) play together. even though brandon is 15 yrs old now, he will still stop to play with the kids and that's just one reason why i love him. this boy is mine and always will be. he's my brannie and i am so pleased that my own kids love him as much as i do.

the thanksgiving day turkey oreos were a HUGE hit! i think rachel ate about 4 of them without anyone noticing!

kyle and andrew were dying to play computer games. they tried on my mom's tiny computer, but it didn't work that well.

rachel's pose says it all. this is so rachel.

anderson and ethan seeked refuge from all the kids in natalya's room. they happily played in there for most of the night.

and do you see her sheets? oh yes, they are star wars sheets. this is my first son's, i mean, daughter's room.

alex grabbed a hold of a cookie and tried to eat it on my couch! the cookie had icing and was soft and as soon ask saw him rubbing it all over the cushions, i had to take his picture and then move him to the dining room table. as you can see, you now know where my priorities stand. pictures first. clean the mess later.

he then asked my brother to read to him. this boy LOVES to read. as i teach natalya how to read every day, he is quickly learning too and already knows many of his letters and sounds.

andrew eventually talked me into letting him play on my new computer. then all the kids migrated towards it.

anderson could not take his eyes off of it!

waverly and natalya.

Turkey Day Activities

2011-11-23T21:11:00.002-05:00

what do these ingredients...

and this little girl make?

oreo turkeys!

this was the first year i attempted them with natalya and i must admit, she followed my directions better than many of my former second grade students! ok, it's not a big surprise! she is brilliant. :)

Olimdjon's Future Apprentice

2011-11-18T19:51:00.002-05:00

i got to tote soraya around last week to a 4-day intensive workshop with the renowned choreographer and close personal friend of the nomads, olimdjon beknazarov. she was the perfect baby who was happy being held by anyone willing while i danced. i was exhausted but it felt good and i am thrilled to be back dancing. my body feels out of shape, but my mind is still sharp and can still remember all of the dances i left behind while pregnant. i am impressed with myself!

i am even more impressed with the fact that i got a pic of olimdjon holding soraya. he promises to teach her when she grows up. little does he know, i am holding him to it! :)

2 Month Stats

2011-11-18T19:39:00.002-05:00

i took soraya to see the doctor today and our doctor was thrilled! when she asked how often she eats, i answered, "every 3 hrs." that didn't provoke such a reaction. then she asked me if i am getting much sleep at night and i replied, "oh yes. she sleeps 11-12 hrs a night." she nearly fell off her chair! yes, folks, she sleeps 11-12 hrs a night without waking to eat. i am spoiled. in all honesty, i never had a really bad time with her at night except for the first few days in the hospital when she was awakened every hour by the nurses. since then, she has been sleeping like a champ and i cannot complain. plus, she is a really chill baby who is perfectly happy if you are willing to carry her all day, which i am. so, in a nut shell, she makes me willing to toy with the idea that a 4th baby would be ok to add to the mix. well, that is until i have to go grocery shopping to run errands with all3 kids. then i swear to myself and wonder why i had any kids! LOL

so anyways, the visit went well. the dr said she is surprised because when she placed her on her tummy, she was already scooting across the table and was able to get her legs underneath her. our dr said she has the strength and maturity of a 4 month old baby. and that's just at 2 months! i always tell josh, we make healthy, strong babies, because of our mixed genes. the kids have a broader gene pool, which makes them the best! (i am only slightly biased, of course.)

her stats were:

length: 22 3/4 inches, 75th percentile

weight: 11lbs 10.5 oz, 75th percentile

head circumference: ? the nurse never told me, but our dr said her head is at the 30th percentile. she then said not to worry. she still has a big brain in her head. :)

all in all, the visit went well and i'm pleased that soraya is such a heathy baby.

My, How Time Flies

2011-11-16T14:37:00.002-05:00

soraya is 2 months old already! 2 months old! hard to believe that she's been in our lives that long, but here she is and we all adore her. she has her 2 month check up on friday, so i will post about her stats then, but for now enjoy how big she's gotten.

The 3 Loves of My Life (Little Loves, that is)

2011-11-14T13:53:00.004-05:00

Walking With Angels

2011-11-09T21:23:00.002-05:00

my babies are wonderful. i love spending time with them outside where they have freedom to be kids. the other day we walked and stopped at the ponds and they "fished." i loved watching them play together and use their imaginations and have fun.

they had such a great time at the water's edge. i also love how whenever natalya went too close to the water, he would say, "careful, lala. don't go too close." he is such a sweet boy. most of the time.

then we stopped on the famous rock near the park before we went on to the playground. these two kids make me so happy.

More Pics...

2011-11-09T21:06:00.002-05:00

forgot to post these and it was easier to do it this way...

soraya and i liked seeing the pandas. kinda. i liked seeing them anyways.

then because the kids did such a great job the entire time at the zoo (4 hrs!) we stopped and got ice cream. we NEVER get ice cream. we never buy anything at the zoo. ever. so we got a treat and the kids loved it and i was happy to get it for them.

Must. Take. Advantage. Of. The. Perfect. Weather.

2011-11-09T20:35:00.004-05:00

seriously, i cannot complain at all. it has been perfect outside the last couple of days. because i could sense perfect weather, i packed our life away for a day at the zoo. we braved a crying baby in the backseat to enjoy the whole day at the zoo all by ourselves. well, all by ourselves since we were the only ones from our family there but we were certainly not alone. it seemed like every family was there (on a tuesday, no less!) but that didn't stop us. we had a blast. natalya and alex enjoyed seeing their favorite animals: pandas, elephants, and prairie dogs. shame on me for forgetting to take them to see the lions and tigers. we walked, talked, and ate. our three favorite activities. :)

we have never stopped to climb through the prairie dog tunnels. the kids loved them. i think it's a new hot spot for us.

i think the only reason we go anywhere is to eat. seriously. as soon as we arrive wherever our destination is, the first question is always, "is it time to eat? i'm hungry." so we stopped to eat apples and they were happy for about 5 minutes.

luckily, the cute little lady who accompanied us slept for the majority of the time while we were there. that is until she decided she was done sitting in the chair of torture. then i had to lug her around in the carrier. good times.

natalya was so happy she was finally tall enough to use the telescope.

then we were lucky enough to see an orangutan cross the lines...

alex was excited but was irked the sun was in his eyes...

natalya quickly grabbed her binoculars that she carried around specifically for this very reason: to be a safari girl with her jungle tools (binoculars, compass, and more.)

then she put the binoculars away so she could grab her notepad and paper to take notes of what she was seeing. my budding scientist. LOVE it!!!

we broke the rules and went into the small mammal house (we are supposed to leave our strollers outside, but c'mon, i am not going to wake a sleeping baby to follow such a dumb rule.) then the kids posed on the anteater outside. this picture is reminiscent of a picture i took as a 6 year old on a school field trip.

then it was lunch time!!! natalya gave me this face when i asked her to smile. i guess it was better than just looking away.

alex just kept eating. silly boy.

Sleep is GREAT!

2011-11-09T13:44:00.002-05:00

shhhh! a little woman i know slept from 8p-7:30a last night WITHOUT waking to eat! i know i am jinxing myself, but i am so pumped. i know she can do it now, so i am looking forward to even more nights with uninterrupted sleep. :) soraya is spoiling me.

Baby Love

2011-11-08T22:35:00.003-05:00

i was feeling a bit guilty that i haven't had a camera stuck in soraya's face like i had with the others. maybe it's because i now have 3 children and my mom always said, "life was too busy when i had you. i just didn't have time." life is busy but i refuse to let that stop me. i want to look back and see pics of all of my kids at all stages. so i will admit that no, i never made a photo book for alex. and yes, i do have a scrapbook for natalya but that quickly ended after a few months. the one thing i have been diligently keeping up with is this blog. so, even if i don't have hard copies for all the pics i have taken, i do have pics somewhere on my computer and this blog is testimony to the fact that i do take pics. and that i do a lot of activities with my kids.

anyways, because i was feeling guilty and i was sans older kids (they were bathing) i snapped away. i do think soraya is pretty cute and i'd like to say it's because she truly is. but in all honesty, who cares if i think she's cute just because she's mine. i think i have the most beautiful, intelligent kids and i would argue that every parent claims the same thing. so, i feel free to say that soraya is gorgeous and yummy and i could eat her up. because i would if i could. she is simply wonderful and makes my family feel complete. (no further notice on whether or not we'll go for #4. right now, i'm done.)

i mean, look at those lips. they are so sweet!

and this face! oh so yummy little baby face.

i love her yawns. i love her smiles. i love her baby breath. i love everything about her.

she's my darlin'.

Getting Back to My Roots

2011-11-04T20:19:00.002-04:00

i spent 4 years in undergrad and 2 1/2 more years in grad school for my former passion: teaching. well, it used to be my former passion. recently, it has crept back into my life (not really since i literally teach every day all day long, but the more thought out lesson plans have now come back) and it has made me happy. i used to stress out about natalya not knowing her letters at the young age of 2. i used to worry about how she would never read or count her numbers or god forbid, know her colors. my good friend, erika, and i have had many conversations about our oldest children not showing interest in learning. we've both had these experiences where we felt like our chidden knew nothing or were not showing us what they know. that is until now.

recently, natalya has had this drive to learn how to read. maybe it's because i've been telling her she'll enter kindergarten reading (which is not too far fetched) and she has totally bought into it. She knows her letters (all caps and is currently working on lower case) and their sounds. she has started putting letters together to stretch words when she writes. no, she's not really successful at it yet, but will be soon. she notices print everywhere and points out letters and words to me wherever we go. she has a list of words she can read and write without any help: natalya, alex, soraya, mom, dad, stop, exit, a. she makes up every other word she writes, but this is impressive. she knows letters and words represent our speech. she can rhyme words and knows opposites. we've talked about synonyms, but she isn't too interested with them yet.

as for math, she can count to 20 most days and today counted to 30. she was then too tired to keep going. i've started showing her blocks to represent numbers. she knows her shapes. we talk about addition and subtraction, without actually using the terminology. she understands the concept and i will move onto showing her the written representation of it soon. we learned about repeating patterns today.

she has asked me to get her a map of the world so she can learn about geography.

we are always doing science experiments.

i think it's safe to say she'll be ready for kindergarten. but in case you're doubtful, i bought some teaching materials AND i pulled out some teaching supplies from my boxes in the shed and am ready to teach. i am excited to get the chance to practice my craft and see natalya progress.

i am so a teacher for life.

New Decision

2011-11-02T21:49:00.002-04:00

every time someone calls for donations, we are going to say "YES!" and bag stuff up for the truck. why? because we have entirely too much stuff and we could use some decluttering. why else? because after talking with our neighbors who call around for donations, their paycheck relies on people making donations and since people are not donating as much as they have in the past, my neighbors have been penalized. they get paid less! so, i am keeping that in mind now and hopefully by donating at least one bag of items every time someone calls, we are cleaning out our house AND helping someone make their quota for the month. and of course helping the organization that's calling. all in all, we're helping more than just ourselves and that makes me feel good.

Last Apple Picking Extravaganza

2011-11-02T21:31:00.002-04:00

as winter is getting closer and the fields are quickly turning brown, i wanted to get out one last time and pick apples. i had wanted to with josh (for support more than anything) but he works and is so busy that i felt guilty trying to fit in yet one more activity. so, this morning i woke up (bright eyed and bushy tailed since yes, soraya is sleeping 9p-8a with one feeding around 4:30) and decided that i would be brave and take the kids to the apple orchards. luckily, school was in session because no one was there but us. ok, i'll be honest. there was one other family but c'mon, that left us pretty much alone.

we walked to the apples and it was gorgeous out. the sun was shining, the kids were getting along great, soraya was sleeping, and i was energetic. we quickly picked, ahem, i quickly picked 35 lbs or so of apples while they ate. then natalya and alex spotted the pumpkin patch and ran among the pumpkins for a good 20 mins. they picked them up, they sat on them, they loved them. they enjoyed them. period. and i was able to watch and catch my breath and rest up before the walk back to the car.

it was a perfect morning and having 30 lbs of apples in the house is wonderful. i already made some fresh home-made apple sauce for my alex who loves apple sauce. i am contemplating apple pie, but i don't want to actually eat it myself. (trying to get rid of this pesky baby weight. josh keeps reminding me i gave birth less than 2 months ago, but for how long can i use that excuse?!) i am thinking of apple muffins. is there such a thing? i don't know. what i do know is that i plan on keeping them for as long as i can in the fridge even if they do take up all the space in our brand new fridge because an apple filled fridge makes a happy mindy and a happy mindy makes everyone else happy. (they don't have to deal with a crabby, hungry mindy. LOL)

don't i look so happy and awake? i didn't feel like that tonight after making apple sauce and chicken noodle soup, all while carrying soraya. i was exhausted after that.

so it looks like we were just in the pumpkin patch, but i promise we did pick apples first.