Video du jour

Jam Packed Social Calendar

Yesterday was such a busy day. We started out by having a family pancake breakfast. This is getting to be a Saturday ritual. Pancakes with berries, bacon and scrambled eggs. Yummy! After breakfast we all went to the Golf Club of Texas for Roger's golf lesson. Maggie napped during the lesson and Zofia and I played on the rocking chairs and the rocks. After Roger's lesson, he and Zofia did a little putting on the green with Zofia's new golf club.
After Golf, we drove to New Braunfels to meet Julia Soccerball at Wurstfest (which is pretty much like Oktoberfest) After eating plenty of sausages, potato pancakes and no beer, we danced to some oompah music and went on the merry-go-round. Soon it was time to go home, and we were hoping both girls would nap in the car on the one hour drive home. No such luck. I guess the day had been way too exciting. Once we arrived home it was time for the girls to get dressed up for Lala's "pretty in pink" girls only 25th birthday bash. We got in the car and Maggie fell asleep almost instantly, but Zofia waited until we were about 2 blocks away from the restaurant. I tried to transfer her, still sleeping, into the stroller, but of course she woke up the instant I laid her down. Both girls had a good time at the restaurant, although Maggie ate more than Zofia, who couldn't quite wrap her brain around the concept of fondue. Maggie sucked the cheese off of about 6 or 8 pieces of bread and ate a couple of pieces of chicken to boot. I had never been to a fondue restaurant before and I will definitely go again. What with the dipping and the long fondue forks, it was a hoot. And then they brought out the chocolate!! Next time I have to remember to eat less dinner and save more room for the chocolate. Actually, I think that is about all Zofia ate: 6 or 7 strawberries and a bite of chocolate sauce with pecans. Needless to say, both girls feel asleep the instant we pulled out of the parking lot at about 8:30pm, and Zofia barely stirred as I changed her into jammies and put her to bed.

This morning on the way to church Roger was asking Zofia all about the party. Here is part of the conversation:
Roger: Did Daddy go to the party?
Zofia: No, only the girls went to the party, you couldn't go, cuz you're a boy!
R: Oh, next time can I go the the birthday party?
Z: Yes Daddy, maybe next time you will be a girl.

And of course now Zofia has a fever and is feeling so pitiful. Many more photos on the yahoo page.

I got to Boogie

Daddy: Zofia do you have boogies in your nose?
Zofia: No Daddy, I don't have boogies in my nose. I have nostrils in my nose.

My Maggie the Car

Full Schedule

In the car today...
Me: How many toes do you have on that foot?
Zofia: I'm not availabus (available) to count them now. I'm busy.

Maggie Moo

This is, I think, the first time I ever took, edited, and uploaded a vid all in one day!

video of the girls

it's been a while... Here is a new vid. I made this video "private" on YouTube, since the girls are "naked-nudie" in part of it, and there are some whackos out there. If you aren't on the list to view it (you might have to log in) let me know and I will add you.

Maggie stars

...in her own video. All Maggie, all the time!

Parental Concern

Today in the car:
"Mommy, I got some strawberry on my knee. But you don't have to worry. I will wipe it up."
"So I don't have to worry?"
"No. If you worry I will have to tickle you."

Miss Manners

Tonight at dinner Zofia said to me, "Finish chewing and then we can talk about that, Mommy."
!!!!!!!

Video from a while back

Toothful

Maggie got her first tooth yesterday, and this we know because she bit Lala. Actually, I thought I had felt something on Saturday when she nursed, but it was on the wrong side, so I didn't think to check. I thought that babies always got their first teeth on the bottom, but Maggie has thrown convention to the wind and grown her first tooth on the top left. Yay, Maggie!

California Girls

Well, we got back from California at one in the morning on Wednesday, and we're almost back to our normal Texas routine. The girls and I had so much fun with Babcia and Dziadzio. It was a regular love fest. Zofia got giddy with happiness every time one of them entered the room, even if they were just returning from the bathroom! We packed alot into our one week visit. A rundown:
Tuesday: left Texas on an 8pm flight. genius on my part. put the girls in jammies when we got to the terminal (thankfully they let Roger go all the way to the gate with us to help me wrangle all the paraphenalia) and after the initial excitement of airplane, takeoff, people sitting around us, etc. wore off both girls fell asleep for the duration of the flight. got in to California around 11pm
Wednesday: much hanging around house relaxing with Babcia & Dziadzio.
First experience with "crunchy meat" (pork cutlet) at Babcia's restaurant.

Thursday: went shopping with Dziadzio, went to see Great Grandma in Oakland and more crunchy meat.
Friday: Shabbatt dinner at Aunt Denise's. Lots of family was there...Cousins Isaac, Shoshi and Sarah with boyfriend Trevor. Uncle Lenny and Aunt Linda. Great Grandma. Babcia & Dziadzio. While Denise and cousins were lighting candles for the blessing, I explained to Zofia that this is how Aunt Denise and her family say blessing, to which she replied, "yeah, so they can sing happy birthday!". She was a bit shy at first with so many new (as far as she remembers) people, but by the end of the evening, she remembered most people's names and even gave everyone kisses goodbye.
Saturday: went to San Rafael to see Kayleen & Chris's new house. Had brunch and took a walk to get ice cream. Both girls got little Star Wars keychains from Kayleen. Zofia got Dziadzio to put a key on hers and now runs around "locking" doors all over the place, including restaurants! In the evening I left both girls with Dziadzio, brave man, and went to dinner with Kristin in Oakland. Ethiopian food!! I've missed it so! Got home after midnight. Babcia and Dziadzio did an awesome job.

Sunday: went to church with Dziadio, who got lots of compliments on his gorgeous grandbabies and soaked it all up happily. After nap-time we went to see my friend Dudy and Peter's new house that they are renovating and then dinner at Babcia's restaurant. More crunchy meat...and bread for Maggie.
Monday: went to brunch with Great Grandma and then the zoo with Babcia. much exhausting fun. That evening Wujek (uncle) Andrzej and Gina and Peter came over to have chinese food for our last night in town. Crispy honey shrimp!
Tuesday: Packing, lunch, more packing, sadness, drive to airport. Thankfully again, they let Babcia & Dziadzio all the way to the gate with me. Flew to Las Vegas where a crew guy helped me get all the paraphenalia to the next gate for the flight to S.A. Got Zofia in jammies and she slept the whole way home.
More photos at yahoo.

Storytime

This video is a couple of weeks old, and I have some other video backlogged which I'll hopefully have time to work on soon. BTW, this seven or so minutes of video is a tiny fraction of the hour and a half I had on tape!


Also, we went to Dallas for a couple of days on Sunday, and there are a few pictures from our trip here. We had a great time. Zofia didn't sleep for the entire four plus hour drive there or back, plus she got to sleep after 10:30pm both Sunday and Monday nights, so her sleep schedule is totally wonky. Roger had some work to do during the days, so the girls and I walked all over downtown Dallas. I got the vibe that Dallas wants to be New York; it had a very "big city" feel. On Monday we walked to the Dallas World Aquarium, about a mile away from our hotel. It was fantastic. Not just fish, but a whole lot of random, different animals, birds, reptiles, etc. After that we went to lunch at the Spaghetti Warehouse a couple of blocks away. By the time we finished lunch it was about 103 degrees outside. When we got to the hotel, we took a nice cool shower and then all the girls got a nap. When Roger got back we all went to dinner at an amazing steakhouse called Trulucks.
On Tuesday the girls and I went for another walk in the morning, and then Roger picked us up around noon and we drove back to S.A. We stopped off in Austin to see Julia at work. We got to see the new Hillel building where she works, which is a really cool space.
We are all a little worn out, and of course Zofia didn't nap again today, so hopefully she will go to bed a little early tonight.
Enjoy the video!

Sisterly Love

Maggie almost never cries. The exception is when she is really tired and can't fall asleep. I have spoiled her to the point where she can't easily fall asleep except when nursing, so sometimes in the car she really gets upset because she's tired and can't figure out how to get to sleep. This was the case tonight on the way home from dinner. During the 20 minute drive, Maggie cried or screamed for about 18 minutes. Even more heartbreaking than hearing Maggie cry, was hearing Zofia try to console her. Here is a list of things Zofia said the whole way home.

Don't cry Maggie.
It's ok Maggie.
I think Maggie is hungry Mommy.
Mommy will feed you when we get home Maggie.
Maggie is hungry in the car Mommy.
It's gonna be ok Maggie.
Maggie is just screaming Mommy.
What are you screaming about Maggie?
Stop Maggie.
You have to feed Maggie when we get home Mommy.

Some of these things she said more than once in rotation. While reading the list, keep in mind that Zofia can't really say her R's, so cry sounds like cwy; and she can't really pronounce TH, so think sounds like sink.

Then after we got home Lala took Maggie while I got Zofia ready for bed. She found Maggie's teething ring and ran to give it to her, but Lala and Maggie were not on the couch where I told her they'd be. She ran back to the bedroom and said, "I can't find them Mommy! Help me find them!"

Also in this category, the other day Zofia was playing with a Pocahontas doll that she got from our friend Lemira. Pocahontas is somewhat anatomically correct, at least on top, and Zofia had stripped her "naked-nudie". After a few minutes she said, "Can I have my sister? I want to feed my sister."
I brought Maggie over, not really getting where she was going with this. I put Maggie down in Zofia's lap (Lala was sitting right next to Zof) and Zofia put Pocahontas' boobie in Maggie's mouth!!! Then she said, "Is that good Maggie? Yeah, that's good!" Meanwhile, Maggie giggled as if she got the joke.

The last two weeks

Here is some video from the last couple of weeks...just random bits of daily life.

Reading

Here is a new video. Actually, it's not so new, but I haven't had much time lately to do videos. There should be more coming soon...

The Shape of this Mother

I recently found this awesome website and am jumping right on the bandwagon. I was a little shocked at first and then so relieved and heartened to see all of these women, looking like real women and not centerfolds or covergirls. Here is my story...

Before I got pregnant with Zofia I weighed about 130lbs. This was not quite two months after my wedding, so I was still more or less at "dress weight". I gained just under 40lbs by the time she was born (7/3/04, 7lbs 14oz, 20in)
This was about a month before she was born. I didn't get any stretch marks at all with this pregnancy, though I had a few on my thighs from puberty.

I had gotten down to about 140ish before I got pregnant with Maggie 11 months after Zofia was born. With Maggie I got back up to about 170 before she was born at 41 weeks (3/4/06, 8lbs 7oz, 21in)

This photo was taken about 10 hours before Maggie was born, just before we left for the hospital. I'm so glad I took this picture, even though when I took it I was sure nobody else would ever see it. It is amazing to me that Maggie is in there, already pushing to come out into the world, just hours away. I couldn't believe how big I had gotten. I got three stretch marks with this belly, one on the right side (which you can see in the photo) one on the left side and one just above my belly button.

Maggie is now four and a half months old and I weigh about 155, so I have a ways to go with my weight, but I'm in no hurry. I'm nursing, and will be for at least eight more months, so I'm not really monitoring my food intake too much. Roger teases me that I will need to come up with a new excuse once I stop nursing. I was still nursing Zofia when I found out that I was pregnant with Maggie, so I've been pregnant or nursing for almost three years now. I must say I'm a little freaked out that I will gain weight when I stop nursing because it will be difficult to shift gears down to a normal amount of calories.
Anyhow, enough stalling. Here are the photos of my belly now:

I barely remember what my body looked like before my girls, but I'm awed and amazed at what my body has done, and continues to do to nurture my children.

Check out the cute new photos

To see them all click on the Yahoo! link on the right...

Maggie's Baptism

Here is a short video from Maggie's baptism...