Our wonderful, ordinary life

September was pretty uneventful. Life goes on as usual.

Anja still loves school (and between you and me, I think she's the teacher's pet). I'm told that Anja "has a wonderful disposition. She easily moves from one thing to the next and always has a big smile on her face. She has adjusted perfectly!" Anja is a very caring child. There was a new girl in her class two weeks ago and Anja took her under her wing and told her not to cry. She was her friend and helped her through the day. She always says kind things to other children and babies. She is very sensitive (which is sometimes a bad thing for me, but I'll take it).

Emma is the sweetest little baby. She is sooo smart. She loves cars, bikes, helmets ... she's a bit of a tom-boy. She knows how everything works and I'm constantly amazed by her. She loves to put toys or other objects into categories. If Anja dumps out a container, Emma puts everything back. She's very mechanical and organized. Maybe she will be an engineer. Every morning when she greets me she offers me a gift from her bed (her blanket, a stuffed animal, etc.) So sweet :-) She's more quiet than Anja, except when she lets out an ear piercing scream!

Both girls were sick this month (see pics in Mommy's bed with ice pops and in Papa's chair with drinks). They cuddled with me for about 36 hours and then they got better. It was actually a nice day to have with my girls (despite being puked on in the grocery store as we waited for our prescriptions). I have to admit that I cried a little out of stress, but it turned out OK. Mom and Dad were on the east coast with Aunt Gladys who sadly passed away, and of course, Sascha was in GA. This week he's off to Texas, next week California. He should be in CA through June 2009. Yuck, yuck, yuck.

We had a nice little trip to NJ for cousin Scott's wedding. It was a really nice party, but it was definitely a tiring process. On the plane ride and car ride home I reminded myself not to travel with the girls again anytime soon. The lack of sleep and the amount of effort that it takes to take 2 kids on vacation makes it too stressful. It was great for the girls to spend some time with their second cousin Kendal. I took pics which I'll eventually put on the site. For now I'm just posting our September pics.

Love you guys! It was great to see (most) of you this weekend.

3 years and 15 months

This morning I took the girls to the doctor for their well-checks. Unfortunately, none of us are really well. We all have a cold. YUCK! Needless to say there are lots of dirty tissues and cranky moods around our house. Despite the colds, the girls are very healthy and doing everything they are supposed to (and then some). Emma is in the 80th percentile for height and weight. Anja is in the 50th for height (38 in) and 25th for weight. Perfect in every way!
On a different note, Anja has been doing really well in school. She looks forward to going on Tuesday and Thursday and begs to go whenever we drive past. She is learning all about the ocean, the alphabet, and loving thy neighbor. It is a christian school, so they have prayer and chapel time. They also have music enrichment and spanish lessons! Each week the children are assigned a job. So far her duties have been 1) door holder and 2) snack helper. She takes her jobs very seriously and tells me all about how well she did when she gets home :-) She talks about her friends, what she learned, the stories they read...it's surprising how much information I get from her!
Emma is getting so big. She tries really hard to keep up with her big sister and to do everything Anja does. Sometimes this can get her into trouble! She's a sweet little baby and loves to laugh. She's going through a phase at the moment in which she is extremely attached to me and would love to be glued permanently to my hip. If I'm not holding her, she can be found at my feet with her arms up, begging to be picked up. This is very annoying when you're trying to get any housework done. But, it will all be over before I know it. Soon she'll be 3 and off at preschool. I can't believe it!
That's the news from here. Sascha and I head to Chicago this weekend for a wedding (and we'll be celebrating our 6th anniversary). Looking forward to a night without kids (and sleeping past 6:30 am).

Happy Birthday 3-year old!

What a big week it we had! Anja got her cast off on Monday (and while I write this it feels like ages and ages ago). She was a real trooper, even after getting car sick on the drive up to St. Pete. She insists on wearing a band-aid on her finger even though it's all better. I guess she got used to the cast, and the attention it got her, so she still wants a little something.

Her first day of school was great. As soon as she woke up in the morning she went to the fridge and started pulling out carrots, blueberries and "wiggle cheese" (string cheese). I asked what she was doing and she said "packing my lunch". School is from 9am to 12 pm, so she didn't need lunch, but Strawberry Shortcake packs a lunch in her First Day of School book, so Anja thought she had to. Then she picked out her own outfit and proudly put on her backpack and sunglasses. She had a great first day - no crying! She was able to tell me what she had for snack, the names of kids she played with and what they did. It's amazing that she's so grown up! Luckily her best friend Peyton is in her class, so I think that helped a little. FYI - she'll be going Tuesday and Thursday mornings.

We had her birthday party yesterday at the Sarasota Children's Garden. Despite the occasional rain squall from Tropical Storm Fay, it was a great success. All the kids had fun, especially Anja. We had the food set up in the little cottage, so we could run for cover when a band of rain came, and then head outside to play when the sun came out. It was a little crazy and most of us were soaking wet from rain and sweat (it was a bit humid)! Anja was a little shy when 35 adults and kids sang "Happy Birthday to you" (you can see her crying in the picture at cake time), but that's ok. She enjoyed her Dora cupcakes on her real birthday, along with all of your calls and emails. She is my sweet, little angel (most of the time). I'm so lucky to have my adorable little girls.

Enjoy the pictures! They're on Shutterfly because my friend Kristi took many of them and that's what she used to share with me. We love and miss all of you!

August, so far...

We're ba-ack!

A lot has happened since my last post. First and foremost, before we left on our trip, Anja had a little accident. While at a local coffee shop called Monkey Paws (I'm naming it because I'm so pissed off with them), Anja brushed against a table and the glass tabletop, which was not secured to the base, fell off. In an attempt to catch the tabletop, Anja put her hand under the glass, which crushed her finger. She broke her middle finger and got a very deep cut in her ring finger. Needless to say, I'm upset with the restaurant, but mostly because no one there bothered to help me or make eye contact with me, or even hold the door open as I'm carrying my screaming/crying/bleeding child out. We're not suing, but I'm tempted to just because I think the owners are complete nincompoops. We're lucky that none of the other children around us were hurt by flying glass or spilled hot coffee. At least this will heal and the cast comes off on Monday.

On a different note, I need a vacation from my vacation, but it was fun while it lasted!
While in Connecticut we enjoyed much, much, cooler temperatures (sometimes in the low 60s). The girls had a great time running around the yard with Cooper (when he came out of his hiding spot in the bathroom). We got to visit with Tom and Michael and Rich and Jess. We visited several small towns around Sharon; drove through a covered bridge; went berry and plum picking; visited the town of Hudson; and, visited Hyde Park (Vanderbilt mansion, FD Roosevelt Home/Library and the Culinary Institute of America).

When we told Anja we were going to Hyde Park she said, "Oh, that's a sneaky park. I'll say 'Peek-a-boo'". Get it? Hide Park? Ha ha. I thought it was pretty good for a 3 year old.

It was sad to leave, but to be honest, the three sets of stairs and lack of child proofing was definitely wearing on me. Tom and Michael still have a few final touches to add to the renovations (such as door locks, and knobs in some cases) - so Anja and Emma were ready, willing and able to escape at any moment to climb up or down some stairs. You had to keep your eye on them at all times. The girls also don't sleep quite as well when they're not in their own beds, so I was up several times a night (along with the rest of the house since they are not very quiet :-)

We were home for a couple of days and turned around to Disney World for Anja's birthday dinner at Cinderella's castle! We had a day filled with Princesses! It was absolutely wonderful. The girls were both so good and happy the whole day (except for the car ride - neither child likes to be in the car for very long). We saw almost every princess and all the shows - didn't bother with any rides except small world, tea cups and Dumbo. Anja had the time of her life and Ariel and Cinderella signed her cast!

My comments on the pictures tell you our story. I'll let you look at them...

Stay tuned for next week: First day of school and Anja's Pirate and Princess Birthday party!

We're officially potty-trained!

It's been a long road of starts and stops - ever since November - but it's official now. Anja is potty trained!

Here is a picture of our big girl, so proud to be wearing underpants! It was taken just before bath time tonight, so dinner is still lingering on her mouth :-)
This whole week she has told me when she needs to go (and sometimes after she's already been) to the potty. She has even gotten up at night to go! She's my big girl. No accidents whatsoever.
The one thing this has taught me is that your child will do it when they're ready. I was trying to push and push and she wouldn't do it. Then all of a sudden she went on the potty last Sunday and said, "No more diapers for me. I want to wear underpants!" That was it!

There are also new pictures to the right. I probably won't post until after we're back from Connecticut and Disney World - probably around August 16th. Enjoy the rest of your summer!

Portrait time

This morning I took our little angels to have their portraits done (I'm a terrible mother, this is only Anja's second portrait and Emma's first - not including family portrait time at Thanksgiving).

I just have to tell everyone how well they did! They were so happy and listened to instructions so well. I was such a proud Mommy. They look so adorable! I just have to share. They gave me a CD of the photos (without enhancements). I wanted to let you all see how cute they look!

Check out the album to the right and feel free to send me emails about how great they turned out :-)

Emma is walking!

It's been a few days now, but she practices more and more every day! Anja is taking her first nap in 2 days, so I finally had a minute alone with Emma to take a video. Enjoy!