I completed a few goals I had set for January today. I finished and upload two recent vacation albums to Blurb.com. I cooked everyday last week with just one nasty meal (threw it out!!!). I followed the lemon chicken recipe to the T and it was just too tart for us. My true test was on Thursday when I came home and had to cook a meal with no prep work. I made quick spaghetti sauce with ground turkey and served it over pasta. I've made it through three weeks of cooking. I already went shopping this morning for next week's dinners. I bought a 9 pound pork loin which I will be able to use for 5 meals. I'm even thinking like a domesticated cooking woman here. Surprised?!!!? I am. I went to BJ's with Rose today for groceries and supplies. We want to go every three weeks so we can save some money. I haven't calculated if we have saved money with me cooking but I know we have. We either ate out daily or picked up meals, so it stands to reason with me cooking it has saved us $$. Saving money is a good thing!
I was finally able to announce that 1/30 is my last day at work. FREEDOM. I know change can be scary (financially mentally, etc) and a bit stressful but it had to be done. They asked me to stay an extra two weeks but I wasn't able to help them out. On Friday, 2/6 we leave on a 4 day cruise. It was one of Bryan's Christmas gifts to me. I hinted very strongly even telling him which cruise I would take. I wanted a short one so we won't be away from girls too long. I wanted a cruise that didn't dock often and I wanted it to be simple/casual. I want to get on board, order room service for every meal and do NOTHING. Do you think I can stay in my PJ's and room all cruise long???
I added to my facebook an album of pictures from the Las Vegas trip. http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=12292&l=42942&id=1457491209
Change is here!!! I have been an Obama follower since I read a speech he gave in early October 2002 opposing an American invasion of Iraq. I saw a small quote from it and googled to read the rest. I was hooked. I knew this was a man I wanted to follow. I would google him from time to time to stay up with his career. Then came the 2004 Democratic convention and the nation knew the name. Finally he announced he would join the race for the White House. Voting for Barack Obama was one of the easiest decisions of my life. President Barack Obama, wow, does that wonderful to my ears. Good luck, Mr. President.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Alex will scream forever if you don't give her something she wants, or let her keep something, etc. Today at the grocery store, I bought a bottle of water. I gave Almari a sip and then Alex. When I went to take it back, she started to scream with tears running down her face. If I gave it to her, she stopped. I said "no" and she proceeded to scream until I finished paying, got the groceries in the car and stopped when we got home and put her in her high chair. I think by giving in each time this happens, she is learning she gets rewarded for her behavior. I truly have had it at times with her.
As I type she is screaming in her crib. She was fine after I left 15 minutes ago. She heard Z on the stairs and the screaming started. Alex screaming = my life.....
As I type she is screaming in her crib. She was fine after I left 15 minutes ago. She heard Z on the stairs and the screaming started. Alex screaming = my life.....
Last week's update
Almari has picked up more words such as good girl, mami (hasn't called me that but uses it in reference to me), me, you and uses it to refer to herself like "me good girl", hey you, bye you and a few more. Okay I'm a bad mother who doesn't remember every milestone. On Friday, Philippe texted me that when they drove by Claire's she said "mami". How AWWWW is that!!! She is putting more words and thoughts together. Why do I want to cry like a fool when she says "good girl" when she picks up???? She is also taking more of an interest in "reading" books then holding and playing with them. She was a it more emotional this week when upset. If she gets hurt, LOOK OUT WORLD because she plays it for a long time.
Alex seems so much quicker to pick up things than Almari. Not sure of she is smarter or that she sees Almari do things. Alex knows she has to pick up but it is a struggle to get her to pick up. One word that best describes Alex is STRONG WILLED. She can now drink her milk from a sippy cup but only when she wants. Meals are an adventure with her. She loves to eat but on her terms, so it takes awhile. If we give her a spoon, she only will take food she can feed herself and that isn't a lot. Her eating right now is a combination of hands, spoon, fork and being spoon fed. Slow and messy but gets the job done.
Alex is a brat. She cries when she doesn't get something and she cries when she wants something. Right now, she is screaming because she wants the chair Almari is sitting in. She pushes her to get off and if Almari doesn't move she cries. Now having called Alex a brat, let me say Almari is a brat. She may not cry when she wants something but she gets her point across. They take turns bullying each other. Sisters!
Ana is becoming a cooking queen. I cooked all week days as scheduled. I have my shopping list ready for this week's meals. I had a meal that PAC didn't like so I need to modify it or scrap it from my list. I need to find a way to introduce whole vegetables to the girls. Alex puts them in her mouth and spits them out. She doesn't like some textures, so I think I will need to cut vegetables in small pieces to get her to try them. Mentally I know I have to work at keeping this cooking habit going. My obsessive behavior should keep the laziness at bay. I HOPE.
Alex seems so much quicker to pick up things than Almari. Not sure of she is smarter or that she sees Almari do things. Alex knows she has to pick up but it is a struggle to get her to pick up. One word that best describes Alex is STRONG WILLED. She can now drink her milk from a sippy cup but only when she wants. Meals are an adventure with her. She loves to eat but on her terms, so it takes awhile. If we give her a spoon, she only will take food she can feed herself and that isn't a lot. Her eating right now is a combination of hands, spoon, fork and being spoon fed. Slow and messy but gets the job done.
Alex is a brat. She cries when she doesn't get something and she cries when she wants something. Right now, she is screaming because she wants the chair Almari is sitting in. She pushes her to get off and if Almari doesn't move she cries. Now having called Alex a brat, let me say Almari is a brat. She may not cry when she wants something but she gets her point across. They take turns bullying each other. Sisters!
Ana is becoming a cooking queen. I cooked all week days as scheduled. I have my shopping list ready for this week's meals. I had a meal that PAC didn't like so I need to modify it or scrap it from my list. I need to find a way to introduce whole vegetables to the girls. Alex puts them in her mouth and spits them out. She doesn't like some textures, so I think I will need to cut vegetables in small pieces to get her to try them. Mentally I know I have to work at keeping this cooking habit going. My obsessive behavior should keep the laziness at bay. I HOPE.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Last week went by as a blur
A good blur but a blur. On Saturday Alex had her 15 month checkup at the doctor and she weighs 18 lbs and 4 oz!!! My little one gained over a pound in the last month. I have no clue how she doesn't gain more because she eats like an animal. She begs. You'll hear both of them "PAPA, PAPA, PAPA". Alex has about 4-5 words she uses. Almari is learning new words weekly. This week she added bear and me.
Sunday we went to a dear friend's house for a get-together and they had a blast. Well Alex did after her meltdown and drive around the neighorhood for 25 minute nap in the car. Almari went on a drive with her future husband in his "car". It was too cute. It was so precious when she wanted to go with me he would say no Almari stay with me. TOO CUTE!
Okay I need to say I COOKED 5 DAYS LAST WEEK!!! Yes, I did! I enjoyed it. On Friday, I created this week's menu along with the shopping list. Last night, I ot home fed the girls and made the sauce for tonight's meal. So today, I got home reheated it and boiled the linguine. BAM dinner was done. I washed up and got tomorrow's pot roast ready in the crockpot. I'm scaring myself :-)
Sunday we went to a dear friend's house for a get-together and they had a blast. Well Alex did after her meltdown and drive around the neighorhood for 25 minute nap in the car. Almari went on a drive with her future husband in his "car". It was too cute. It was so precious when she wanted to go with me he would say no Almari stay with me. TOO CUTE!
Okay I need to say I COOKED 5 DAYS LAST WEEK!!! Yes, I did! I enjoyed it. On Friday, I created this week's menu along with the shopping list. Last night, I ot home fed the girls and made the sauce for tonight's meal. So today, I got home reheated it and boiled the linguine. BAM dinner was done. I washed up and got tomorrow's pot roast ready in the crockpot. I'm scaring myself :-)
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Digging this cooking thing :-)
I've cooked three days straight. I know it isn't a lot but it is for me. I think I haven't cooked in 2-3 years and even then it was twice a week. I have meals planned for the next three days. Tomorrow I'm using leftover chicken to make chicken wraps. Monday I used leftover chicken to top salads. Yes, I count this as cooking :-)
I have all the pictures ready to do our Oct. Yellowstone vacation book. I'm just trying to gather facts about the states we visited. I want to do this with all the travel books I produce. Like a mini history lesson for the girls as they get older. We bought them National Park Passports to record which parks, monuments and states they visit. So far since they arrived this year they have visited 8 states with 7 of them being out west. Some time this year, we'll hit the states near us. That's the bad part of living in South Florida it takes a day to get anywhere. This weekend I'll create the book and upload to blurb.com.
Off to shower...c u manana!
I have all the pictures ready to do our Oct. Yellowstone vacation book. I'm just trying to gather facts about the states we visited. I want to do this with all the travel books I produce. Like a mini history lesson for the girls as they get older. We bought them National Park Passports to record which parks, monuments and states they visit. So far since they arrived this year they have visited 8 states with 7 of them being out west. Some time this year, we'll hit the states near us. That's the bad part of living in South Florida it takes a day to get anywhere. This weekend I'll create the book and upload to blurb.com.
Off to shower...c u manana!
Monday, January 5, 2009
Home day
After our rough night with Alex, we were a bit tired this morning. Alex woke up at 11pm and nothing we did could get her back to sleep. Finally a bit after 2pm, she went down. Usually once she is down, she is down for the night. Poor thing was so tired yet she couldn't fall asleep.
Today Bryan finished most of the home improvements. The master closet was a challenge but he got it fixed. The downstairs toilet is finally fixed and next week he is fixing his bathroom's toilet. This better fix the $378 water bill issue. Bryan took Almari to run part of the errands and I took Alex. It is easier to split up since we can get more done (faster too!). It is so much easier to do things with just one of them. I played SAHM since it was my job to entertain them as he got the projects done. I COOKED!! I tried a chicken, vegetables & rice casserole recipe and it was fine. Don't fall off your chair as you read this but I started a Word Documents of recipes I am going to make. I want to cook 3-4 days a week, plus I'll make salads with chicken/meat/whatever on 2 other days.
I also finished a photo book of the 2008 holidays using Blurb.com. My goal is to do our October Yellowstone vacation next week followed by the Las Vegas trip before month end. I have to tackle the girl's Lifebooks. I had Almari's finished and ready to publish to Blurb.com but lost it ALL when the hard drive crashed and burned in August. It's a mental thing now since I feel I won't be able to make it as nice as the first one. After Almari's, I need to start Alex's. I haven't even created the JPEG pages or gathered the pictures and information. I did do the book for the baptism. I used Snapfish to create spiral photobooks for us, the grandparents and godmothers. Goal 1- finish vacation books in January. Goal 2 - finish lifebooks by April. Go Ana go!
Today Bryan finished most of the home improvements. The master closet was a challenge but he got it fixed. The downstairs toilet is finally fixed and next week he is fixing his bathroom's toilet. This better fix the $378 water bill issue. Bryan took Almari to run part of the errands and I took Alex. It is easier to split up since we can get more done (faster too!). It is so much easier to do things with just one of them. I played SAHM since it was my job to entertain them as he got the projects done. I COOKED!! I tried a chicken, vegetables & rice casserole recipe and it was fine. Don't fall off your chair as you read this but I started a Word Documents of recipes I am going to make. I want to cook 3-4 days a week, plus I'll make salads with chicken/meat/whatever on 2 other days.
I also finished a photo book of the 2008 holidays using Blurb.com. My goal is to do our October Yellowstone vacation next week followed by the Las Vegas trip before month end. I have to tackle the girl's Lifebooks. I had Almari's finished and ready to publish to Blurb.com but lost it ALL when the hard drive crashed and burned in August. It's a mental thing now since I feel I won't be able to make it as nice as the first one. After Almari's, I need to start Alex's. I haven't even created the JPEG pages or gathered the pictures and information. I did do the book for the baptism. I used Snapfish to create spiral photobooks for us, the grandparents and godmothers. Goal 1- finish vacation books in January. Goal 2 - finish lifebooks by April. Go Ana go!
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Titi Cutter came to visit
Today was a lazy day. Well not for Bryan since he was doing home repairs today. The weekends are special since we have morning time with the girls. During the week we leave the house before they are awake so no cuddle time.
Titi Cutter (Dee), Carlos, Sarena and Miriam dropped by after lunch. At first, Almari won't go to Carlos but by the end of the visit she was on his lap. Alex spent the whole visit sitting on Dee's lap. She was an angel. Carlos would ask her to go to him and she would shake her head no. She would look up with her eyes while her head was on Dee's shoulder. She was content to just veg on Dee. Thank you Titi Dee for the Christmas gifts.
Today at dinner, when Alex got cranky Almari had a solution. She would hand head Alex. It was adorable. Each day their bond deepens. It is so interesting to watch as it develops. Daily their personalities develop and how they react to things is becoming more apparent. Almari is becoming a big sister, and Alex is still the baby brat.
Titi Cutter (Dee), Carlos, Sarena and Miriam dropped by after lunch. At first, Almari won't go to Carlos but by the end of the visit she was on his lap. Alex spent the whole visit sitting on Dee's lap. She was an angel. Carlos would ask her to go to him and she would shake her head no. She would look up with her eyes while her head was on Dee's shoulder. She was content to just veg on Dee. Thank you Titi Dee for the Christmas gifts.
Today at dinner, when Alex got cranky Almari had a solution. She would hand head Alex. It was adorable. Each day their bond deepens. It is so interesting to watch as it develops. Daily their personalities develop and how they react to things is becoming more apparent. Almari is becoming a big sister, and Alex is still the baby brat.
January 2nd means Shamu
Bryan and I aren't into theme parks. The only one we like is Seaworld. We have been maybe 4 times in the 10-11 years we have been together. I know sooner or later we'll have to do Disney or Universal but for now we wanted to take the girls to Seaworld. Of course, they know PENGUINS. They have about 25 stuffed penguins. So today was our first visit to Seaworld with the girls.
As the Shamu show started, Almari was a bit apprehensive when the film as being played but as soon as Shamu swam through the gate she was hooked. She would giggle, point, hop around, wiggle, smile, you name it she did it. I was crying watching her reactions. I love animals and my biggest fear was that the girls wouldn't dig them as much as I do. Well so far, so good. Shamu was a hit. She learned to say "shamu". The shark experience was a big hit. She was in total awe in the penguin experience. She would point and smile. We stayed in there about 10 minutes watching the penguins. Alex was also captivated by the animals.
After the penguin experience, Alex was dead tired but couldn't fall asleep. This made for one miserable child, so we knew it was time to leave. It wasn't cute as we headed out of Seaworld with one child screaming at the top of her lungs yet the other was passed out with her had on the stroller tray. Mommy was losing her cool and getting frustrated. I know I have to get better but her screams can wake the dead. Everyone was staring at us as we walked to the exits. They would look at us like "do something". Well at this point, all we could do was exit FAST. We both tried to comfort her, carry her, sit with her and feed her but all she wanted was sleep but couldn't fall asleep. We left the park shortly before 4pm. Thankfully the screaming stopped when we got into the car but she just laid there looking like a zombie. We feed them around 5:30 and we figured she would then finally fall asleep. That didn't happen. She finally fell asleep around 6:45pm when we were getting to Boca Raton.
A good day with some Alex moments thrown in.
As the Shamu show started, Almari was a bit apprehensive when the film as being played but as soon as Shamu swam through the gate she was hooked. She would giggle, point, hop around, wiggle, smile, you name it she did it. I was crying watching her reactions. I love animals and my biggest fear was that the girls wouldn't dig them as much as I do. Well so far, so good. Shamu was a hit. She learned to say "shamu". The shark experience was a big hit. She was in total awe in the penguin experience. She would point and smile. We stayed in there about 10 minutes watching the penguins. Alex was also captivated by the animals.
After the penguin experience, Alex was dead tired but couldn't fall asleep. This made for one miserable child, so we knew it was time to leave. It wasn't cute as we headed out of Seaworld with one child screaming at the top of her lungs yet the other was passed out with her had on the stroller tray. Mommy was losing her cool and getting frustrated. I know I have to get better but her screams can wake the dead. Everyone was staring at us as we walked to the exits. They would look at us like "do something". Well at this point, all we could do was exit FAST. We both tried to comfort her, carry her, sit with her and feed her but all she wanted was sleep but couldn't fall asleep. We left the park shortly before 4pm. Thankfully the screaming stopped when we got into the car but she just laid there looking like a zombie. We feed them around 5:30 and we figured she would then finally fall asleep. That didn't happen. She finally fell asleep around 6:45pm when we were getting to Boca Raton.
A good day with some Alex moments thrown in.
Friday, January 2, 2009
A little late.
Our holiday cards went out two days before Christmas. I am working on Almari's birthday photo today almost a month after her birthday. I never shot her birthday picture in the outfit I bought. I finished the baptism cards two days before the ceremony. Gosh, I've been a slacker!! I'm attaching a copy of the holiday card here since I only mailed out to immediate family. I also attached two proofs of Almari's birthday picture. Not sure if I like the picture.
I welcomed in 2009 with the hope of actually keeping up with a blog. I haven't blogged in a long long time, so I'll do a capsule update. The link to my old blog is http://www.freewebs.com/anamh/
Almari
DOB 12/05/06
Arrived in USA 5/20/08
Re-adoption Complete 10/20/08
Baptized 12/13/08
Almari is daily learning more words, becoming more social outside of the immediate family and bossy, stubborn and vocal.
Alex
DOB 10/08/07
Arrived in USA 4/11/08
Re-adoption Complete 10/20/08
Baptized 12/13/08
Alex started to really walk right after her baptism. She is still very strong willed, stubborn and vocal.
As a family unit consisting of Ana (myself), Bryan (husband), Philippe (nephew), Almari, Alex, 6 (greyhound) and Z (saluki), we are all coming together. Some days it seems like we have been a family forever.
In the coming year, we are going to be going through some major changes right after January. We are preparing ourselves for the changes. For the new year, I said I would start COOKING. Yes, I said cooking. My goal is for us to have 5 home prepared dinners each week. I found a few crockpot recipes I am going to try this week. Maybe that will be my new project a easy for dummies cookbook.
We drove up to Orlando today to see Grandpa and Grandma. The girls also got to see Uncle Sean, Aunt Josie and their cousin Liam. Very cool. The hotel for the night was a disaster. No cribs so the girls had to sleep on a sofa sleeper. This was the first time for either in a bed. We made it...barely. Tomorrow we are headed to Seaworld.
Almari
DOB 12/05/06
Arrived in USA 5/20/08
Re-adoption Complete 10/20/08
Baptized 12/13/08
Almari is daily learning more words, becoming more social outside of the immediate family and bossy, stubborn and vocal.
Alex
DOB 10/08/07
Arrived in USA 4/11/08
Re-adoption Complete 10/20/08
Baptized 12/13/08
Alex started to really walk right after her baptism. She is still very strong willed, stubborn and vocal.
As a family unit consisting of Ana (myself), Bryan (husband), Philippe (nephew), Almari, Alex, 6 (greyhound) and Z (saluki), we are all coming together. Some days it seems like we have been a family forever.
In the coming year, we are going to be going through some major changes right after January. We are preparing ourselves for the changes. For the new year, I said I would start COOKING. Yes, I said cooking. My goal is for us to have 5 home prepared dinners each week. I found a few crockpot recipes I am going to try this week. Maybe that will be my new project a easy for dummies cookbook.
We drove up to Orlando today to see Grandpa and Grandma. The girls also got to see Uncle Sean, Aunt Josie and their cousin Liam. Very cool. The hotel for the night was a disaster. No cribs so the girls had to sleep on a sofa sleeper. This was the first time for either in a bed. We made it...barely. Tomorrow we are headed to Seaworld.
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