Thursday, April 26, 2007
Hello from the trenches...
Nope… I did not drop off the face of the earth… It’s just… you know… two little kids…
And I’ve been sooo busy. These nine months of feeling like *insert a nasty word of your choice* meant that nothing really was done. The house was in a state of non-maintenance and chaos. And so, I’ve spent the past two weeks cleaning, sorting and planning renovations.
The older kiddo’s room is now finally painted a nice blue. I plan on painting some clouds and then putting up stickers of planes and cars all over. That ought to move him out of our bedroom :-)
I’ve also spent eternity sorting through photos and putting up frames. Trying to have an equal ratio of pics of both kids. But given that one is only a month old, that’s been tough.
I’m getting new curtains.
I’ve polished my fridge. As in finally cleaned it. Just the outside so far. But I’m working on it.
I’ve scrubbed my stove. With limited success. But at least I tried… (Any idea on how to clean ceramic cook tops?)
I even picked up the junk in the front yard.
Oh… and you know… there is a newborn baby and a toddler than need taking care of.
So yah, I’ve been busy.
But you know the weird thing is – other than being time-consuming, it really not as hard as I was expecting. Maybe it’s my new scheduling/organizational obsession that’s paying of.
Or maybe having a second kid has finally made me realize that I’m an adult. And I have responsibilities. And if I don’t clean up the mess around here, it won’t magically disappear.
I’m finally a grown up.
Now if I could just wave a magic wand and loose those nasty thirty pounds, I’ll be in heaven…
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Cooking again!
Hmm…
This might actually become a food blog again. Cause I’m a’cookin’!
Really!!!
Look:
This is a salmon dish, inspired by Asha’s Chole…
Basically, I fried an onion with ginger, and blended it with a tomato and a tablespoon of tomato sauce.
I then separately fried the fish with green and red peppers, and two sticks of celery. (And I blended some of the veggies, just so kiddo junior eats some of it, at least in the sauce form…)
I added a teaspoon of garam masala and a sprinkle of curry powder (while frying the fish)…
Salt/pepper to taste.
Asha, you are my greatest cooking inspiration! And now you see what I mean by taking ideas from you and twisting them around :-)
And the fish was great. Even the kiddo ate it.
I think life is beginning to show signs of normalcy again…
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
I seriously need your advice...
The one thing I’ve understood about having two kids is that you can’t be disorganized. At least you can’t be as disorganized as I am. And I am the most disorganized person I’ve met in my entire life. I never know what I’m doing, what I’m eating or where I’m going. I don’t know when I’ll go to sleep, or when I’ll wake up. Everything is usually done last minute.
But that just doesn’t work with kids in the house. Believe me. It doesn’t work at all. Lack of schedule means no dinner, no sleep, no play and no life.
So, I’m seriously trying to get our life into a more structured pattern.
I wrote out a schedule.
I’m planning out a menu.
I have a “to do” list.
And no, I’m not sticking to it religiously or anything. That’s way beyond me. The schedule includes a hoped for wake-up/go-to-bed time. We aren’t anywhere close to it yet. But it’s a goal. And they say that setting goals is the first step to success…
And I’m trying to plan out a menu. Cause we can’t go out with two little kids. And we can’t afford any more take-out.
So…
The plan is to invent seven easy dinners, lunches and breakfasts.
And everything has to be really fast. Cause I have very little time or energy. Mostly time, as I’m sure you can imagine…
And I have a very-very picky toddler. Who barely eats anything. (That’s really is a whole separate sobby story I’d rather not get into cause I get way too depressed and stressed out and my hormones are not wholly balanced yet to think about it now…)
So, the question of the day is:
I have dinner ideas, but no quick breakfasts or lunches for the toddler. Please, is there anything other than cereal (he doesn’t like it…)?
What could I offer him? He doesn’t like omelets… Occasionally favors a pancake. Occasionally… What else is there? I really don’t have any ideas.
And what do kids get for lunch? Snacks? Any ideas other than apples and yogurt?
Any input is greatly appreciated, cause I’m way over my disorganized head here…
Thanks in advance.
PS: See, I really am trying… 
We had a dinner at home tonight. With fish and salad. Go, me, go!
Friday, April 06, 2007
Happy Birthday!
My big kiddo is two years old today… Two years… I can’t believe it’s been two years since that longest day of my life. Since all that back labor, pushing, screaming and suddenly holding the most amazing tiny human being in my arms that has changed my life forever. Two years since I went from an I’m-not-sure-who-I-am-and-what-am-I-doing-with-my-life to a Mom.
And the time flew by way too quick. It seams like yesterday I was making sure his head doesn’t wobble, and today I’m trying to chase him as he speeds up the stairs yet again… Where did my baby go? When did it happen? When did he go from not being able to reach for anything to doodling over all my stationary? How did that first “ah” sound turn into a loud “gimmy car!” one?
My dear kiddo. I want you to know that these two years have been the best years of my life. I have never been this happy before. I never even knew that I could be this happy. Watching a human being grow from a “lets start a family” to a running laughing individual is the greatest adventure in life. You make me happy and proud every day. Even when you through tantrums, cause I know you are just defending your own “you”, and finding your boundaries. Though it can be frustrating, we all must do that at some point.
You are two years old now. You love cars, planes and trains. You love fire-trucks. You point out every school-bus we see on the road. I’ve never seen so many busses before. You’ve definitely expanded my view of the world :-)
You love your apple juice beyond anything that is reasonable and go through at least 10 bottles a day. (Don’t worry bout the sugar, honey, I dilute the juice with very healthy water for you.)
You’ve learned the names of all your uncles and aunts and everyone melts when you say it. And that’s a lot of names… But the best word you say is “mama”. You say it over and over when we are riding in the car, and mama always responds. You wouldn’t have it otherwise… And neither would I…
You love watching your “penguin” cartoon (which you call “panan”, and you get very upset when the credits roll. So we have to skip the credits to save everyone from going deaf…
You are very shy around other kids. But you are also very friendly and generous. Whenever you see kids playing with toys, you bring them more toys. And if someone is reading a book, you bring more books. And you never let mama forget her notebook…
You make sure everyone wears shoes around the house, you make sure that we take off our glasses and watches before we go to sleep, and that mama always remembers to do the laundry -- and you always help.
You turned out to be an amazing big brother. You pass me hats, you pass me diapers… You alert me when the baby is crying… You kiss and hug the baby… You even tried to share your favorite car with him.
And yesterday, when mama fell asleep on the couch, you brought me a blanket… Because that’s just the way you are.
And I’m very grateful that you chose me to be your mama.
I love you, honey.
Happy Birthday…
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Taking some time off...
My apologies to everybody for not visiting your blogs and not posting anything either… We are still working out the details of running a house with two little kids. And me not being the most organized person out there makes it a kinda chaotic experience.
So, I probably won’t be posting with any regularity for a while…
Though I do intend to get back to it at some point…
And I’ll be definitely posting more about food – cause I’m cooking again! Yeah! No more morning sickness!
So for now, all the best to all of you. Enjoy spring and your families :-) And good food! And good mood!
Cheers,
Vasilisa…
PS: Here are my kiddos in the same chair!
The older brother (when he was a baby... a two months old one...)
And the little one now... Two weeks...
That chair has certainly served us well :-)
Sunday, April 01, 2007
A very lazy post...
The thing about two little kids is that you don’t get much time to blog. Or do anything else, for that matter. Even having dinner requires elaborate maneuvering.
So, instead of a long-winded entry about the adventures of parenting allow me to just post a couple of pics and attempt to get some snooze time…
ahh... brothers...
the first lesson in sharing...
And now: Zzzzzzzzz…
