It Is October Already

Does time fly or what? The days just pass me by, turn into weeks, and then months.

Miss A will be three next month. I can't wrap my head around this. She is such a big girl and fun to be around with. We can hold real conversation with her. She gets our jokes and comes up with her own too. She'll say "Naaahhh" when she knows I am joking with her.

Miss A was I would say about 90% potty trained as of a few days ago. A few weeks ago she refused to put on a diaper before going to sleep. The husband still wanted her to wear one but I kind of wanted her to be in control of this whole potty training thing and figure things out for herself, instead of pushing her. Well, as of a few days ago, she refused to pee in the morning  all day long and I had to change her underwear quite a few times. I don't get it! Honestly, it was all going fine except with #2 (she still holds it for a few days, wears a diaper to poo, and then all smiles after it) and now she is back to wearing diapers throughout the day.

Miss A still goes to bed pretty late, or maybe I just think that it is late. I mean 9:30-10pm is pretty late for a toddler, especially since mommy has to do some work around the house after she goes to bed. The night routine is still the same. I sit next to her until she falls asleep. We'll talk a little bit but then I say that we need to close our eyes and most of the times it works. There are other times where she just doesn't want to sleep. A few weeks ago, she stayed till 12:30am telling us stories and making up stuff. It is cute and stuff but what about SLEEP?!?!? The last time it happened, I just went to take a shower and then went to bed where she started asking me all kind of funny questions. How can I keep a straight face even though I was cranky? "Mommy, why do you take a shower ever day?", "Why do you get dirty so often?", "I don't get dirty and don't need a shower. Daddy doesn't need a shower"? and on and on she would go :)

We bought a Toy Story themed domino's and the kid knows how to play. It is the funniest thing to see her play and think. She'll tell us if we missed something and she'll point us in the right direction.
She'll say whose turn it is to go. She loves to win and hates to lose. She makes a happy dance and claps her hands if she wins :)

This whole life thing is just happening too fast. I keep telling myself to stop and smell the roses.
I want to enjoy my time with my little lady. There are still times  I feel like I constantly struggle with finding balance with house work, work, being a mother, daughter, wife, and so on.

New Job, turning 30, and Life

Am I like the world's worst blogger? I keep disappearing for months at a time and then kick myself in the butt for not documenting our life.

I've been at the new job for a month and a half now. I accepted an offer and said no to MBA for now. The whole interviewing for this job was a very long and tedious process. At one point I was pissed that they took so much of my time and kept calling/scheduling for more one on one and group talks.
4 interviews, 1 phone interview, 1 test, and background check later I was offered a position. I felt like I was getting a position at the CIA office. Anyways, I thought long and hard and at the end accepted the offer. It is been interesting and at times awkward. I am not a very social person and don't really like to meet/chat around the office and to make small talk. But with the new job you can't really escape out of it. I've felt out of place many times already since a lot of employees have known each other for years already and I am the new girl. Just like high school all over again :)

I've turned 30 last week. 30 years old. Man, it sounds old. When I was in my twenties 30 seemed like so far away. People in their thirties looked so mature and seemed like most of them got their shit together. I've heard a lot of people say how they loved turning 30 and experience their best years (apparently the best years are the 30s now). But I honestly think they are lying. I was a bumped the night before my bday. Thirty means I am getting older. I've entered the 4th decade of my life. My baby girl is growing up. My husband who is 7 years older then me is nearing his 40s. My parents are getting older too. See, all those things make me sad. But this is life, right?

Anyways, I've decided just to host a dinner at the nice restaurant with all of my close friends. And that is exactly what we did. It was awesome. The food and ambiance were great. I've enjoyed talking to each and every one of my guest. I've known most of the people for over 10 years. We've made some great memories together. I loved how random old stories popped up into the conversation.

The husband is again heading downhills right now. He had his good moments a few months back where he felt almost like himself. But now, his hands are hurting again and we are starting the accupuncture all over again. I hope his bad days will be over soon and he'll be feeling better.

Our baby girl is still in daycare. We enrolled her in a new gymnastics class. She needs to get used to it but she tells us she only wants to go there now. We also enrolled her in a Russian school a few weeks ago. She'll be attending a 45 minute class on Sunday morning where she'll learn rhymes, alphabet, logic, and other great things.

This is what life is all about lately. As I always say, I'll try to update my blog more frequently.

Student For Ever

I am here. I am really here. I can't even justify the non-blogging phase because I haven't been that busy, but days seem to pass me by like crazy.

I've got accepted to a university. I logged in online a few weeks ago and saw the word "Accepted" under my student file. I wasn't too excited, maybe because it is a private university and they probably accept everyone who will pay the big $. There are some positives about it though. I don't have to take GMAT and they offer all/majority classes online. Again, just drop your $ and we'll get your a diploma. They are currently evaluating my transcripts and I should know soon how many classes I will have to take to get the MBA. I think it'll be around 11-12 classes, which doesn't sound like many considering I used to take 4-5/semester for B.S. degree. But my life is so different now. I have a family and a very active toddler. I have a job and responsibilities that kick in after 5:45pm when I pick up my daughter from daycare. There is no way I can take a full load of classes. I'll just set myself for the failure. Plus, I haven't been in school in 5 years. I need to learn/remember how to be a student yet again.

I am scared.....
- scared of failing the classes
- scared of "wasting" so much money on MBA
- scared of not having enough time for family
- scared of getting the MBA and then not finding a better job
- scared of committing so much time into education again
- scared of being a wife, mother, daughter, sister, aunt, and now a student

But I guess I have to make a decision soon. Some of my friends finished in 2 years but they didn't have kids at that time. I guess I can start with 1 class first and then take 2 classes at a time, but even that will still be 2 years if not more.

To be completely honest with myself, I am scared because it means we would need to wait even longer now to have a second child. I think it is the biggest point I would have to come to terms with. I wonder if there are women who can do it all. I really wish I wound know the answer.

Miss A's Updates - 31 Months

Today I am in a better mood. The sun finally showed up after a few days of a very depressing weather. I mean, hello, we are in June. My spirits are up because it is Friday and I get to spend a few days with my family.

Any who...Miss A had a 2.5 years (crazy, huh?) appointment a month late and here are her stats:
Weight - 30lbs (my 30 lbs of happiness :)) 50%
Height - 3 feet tall exacly 60% I think

It gets a little bit tricky not that she knows she is at the doctor's office. She really dislikes all of the nurses but she can handle the doc OK. She let the doc check her but only after following mommy's example. The doc checked my ears and only then she was OK with turning her head. She didn't get any shots and boy am I thankful because when miss A gets mad and upset now days, it lasts a while.

She is still talking a lot and her vocabulary constantly increases. She talks in sentences now and can carry real conversations. She lets me know about her day in daycare, what she ate, who was there, who dropped her off and so on.

I am not sure if it is only my child that does it but it is seriously crazy.... Whenever she says something she wants me to repeat what she said. I think it is her way of making sure I understood her. So, I've read articles where they say that women talk about 20,000 words a day. Well, I can honestly say that I probably speak about 2,000 words before 6pm and then rest after I pick her up from daycare. :)

She sort of understand jokes now. It is pretty cool to see her brain work. I'll (daddy) make a joke, she'll process it for a few seconds, then have the biggest grin on her face and says "neeeett (no). A few days ago, she didn't get a joke though. When miss A asked her daddy where mommy was, he said she went on vacation. She started crying and saying that we were supposed to go together. Yesterday, she asked the same question and got the same reply but this time she smiled and said "neet, she is at work".

We are still having poop problem. She'll only go twice per week. I can see she is being uncomfortable at times but she'll still hold it in. The doc suggested Myralax and we'll probably try it.

She loves to cuddle up with daddy before bedtime (and I am assuming in the morning when I am at work). She is so gentle with him, so carrying, and so lady like. She'll say "idi suda" (come here), hugs him, and they just lay there until I ruin it all and ask the husband to leave because she wouldn't get dressed otherwise.

She has learned new songs at daycare:
Twinkle, twinkle,
Mama, pervoe slovo
Krilatie kacheli - bits of it only

We listen to a lot of kid's songs in the car and she tries to sing along. Love it!

She is growing out of her 2T clothes. Some of her tops are still 2T but the pants are now all too short. Thankfully, this mama has a whole new wardrobe for her next size :)

Your favorite phrase now days is "ya tebya lublu" (i love you). You can say it randomly throughout the day and/or right after a huge tantrum including crocodile tears you misbehaved. I am not really sure you know what they mean but I pretend that you do.

Ariela is still enjoying gymnastics class. She is doing all of the tricks mostly by herself. I call her a princess of the trampoline. Seriously, this kid can jump and can jump very, very high bringing her knees up, doing open/close, and sit drops. I believe jumping on mama's bed everyday has been a good practice.

She has a few girlfriends from daycare and one from playground that she loves (sometimes there is a small step from love to hate, but it happens to the best of us). She is not really friendly with other kids and thinks the whole playground, gym, zoo, library, world belongs to her and her friends only.

She is still a charming, carrying, sympatheric lady but this time just throw a many few toddler tantrums in there. She loves to play together, color, sing, dance, and jump. She loves puzzles, letters, flash cards, balls, and playing with water.

Mommy and daddy are pretty fond of you. You make us laugh and giggle like little kids. You let us see the world from your pespective leaving all the problems and worrying behind. You taught us how to put someone else first. You taught us a whole new way of loving someone. Baby girl, we love you and don't you ever, ever forget it!


Love,
Mom

Blah Post

I was going to write about miss A and what she has been up  to lately but I am just not in that mood.

I've been looking for a  new job. I am grateful that I have a job right now but I feel like I am stuck in this position with no career and intellectual growth opportunity. Anyways, I've been to a few interviews in the last month. Both companies invited me for a second interview and it all sounded promising. I don't usually keep my hopes up but there is always a tiny, teeny feeling inside of me hoping to hear the good news. I liked the second company, the people, office, environment but not the location. After two weeks of waiting I just got a rejection email. Even if it wasn't the perfect job, I still feel bumped. I feel like my education and experience is not enough for a senior position and my salary requirements are too high for a mid-level position. Why hire me when the company can hire a person with Master's and/or CPA.

On this note, I've called one of the universities today. I want to see how many classes I'll need to take in order to get a Master's degree and how much it'll cost. I am pretty sure the cost will be huge and it'll need to be a commitment on my side. But it doesn't hurt to ask and think about it.

Lately, a lot of questions have been up in the air. I hate being in this unknown stage.
Refinance or not, stay in the city or move to the suburbs, where to look for a job (if we decide to move eventually), public or private school for miss A, and lastly, the big one mr. V has asked one child or two.... Really?!?! It was never a question for me. I always wanted two kids. I want miss A to have a brother or a sister. I want to see her be an older sister, to see them grow up, play, fight, hug, and kiss each other. That question totally blew me off and I almost started crying yesterday. I am sure we'll figure out the answers and solutions to all of those questions but sometimes, in the moments like this, I wish mr. V wouldn't be such a planner in everything he does.

Family Vacation

We came back a few weeks ago from our third vacation to Mexico. 5 hours on the plane and about 30 minutes shuttle ride and we reached our destination in Riviera Maya.

This was the longest plane ride for miss A. We woke her up bright and early. For the first few hours she seemed a bit lost and sleepy, but as soon as we got on the plane, she was back to being adorable, smiling, can't sit-in-one-place-for-two-minutes toddler. I was hoping she would at least nap for an hour   two hours on the plane but universe was against it. The girl didn't nap at all. I was sort of prepared to entertain her for 2-3 hours on the plane but not for the whole flight. Come on, enormous amount of stickers, drawings, and books can only last maximum two hours. The rest of the time she was entertained by coming up with the ways of drinking milk/water - from a cup (like a normal person), straw (also normal), spoon (semi-normal), dipping her fingers (so not normal), and of course that whole fun ended with milk being on her outfit.

When we finally got to the hotel, I was able to relax a little bit. We checked in, went straight to our room, changed into swimming gear and off we went to the pool. We traveled with two more families this time and their kids, but miss A was the oldest one. The whole week was just relaxing. We woke up, had breakfast, swam in the pool, played in the kid's area and water slides, ate lunch, napped, swam in the pool, had dinner, watched a show, and put baby down to bed. We kept pretty much the same routine for a week. We also spent a day on the beach, where we jumped on waves, watched enormous amount of fish passing us by, and miss A and her daddy attempted to make a castle. Let's just say attempt is a good word for it and they both need more experience in that area.

We traveled with two more families and their kids and this was out first trip with the crowd. Miss A was the oldest one and I think she was a bit bored with the younger kids. But, nonetheless, she had so much fun! I think her mission this trip was to see how deep into the water she can go all by herself. She wasn't into swimming. She got in the water, went until the water was at her shoulders, yelled to get our attention "ya bol'shaya devochka" (I am a big girl), then got out of the water and that followed by about 125421 more times of doing the exact-same-thing. Honestly, I thought she would get bored after 10 minutes but no, the girl kept on going. She would take breaks for a smoothie, ice cream, and photos with a monkey and birds. Even though she was mastering her skills of getting into the water, someone (aka moi) had to be right there next to her. I was pretty much her shadow in the pool. Three steps into the water, three steps back, step up, step down, three steps into the water, and so on. You get the point. This whole shadow thing got much better once I was supplied with a drink. Dirty Monkey and Sangria were my two beverages of choice.

A little more on traveling with other families. We've known these people for a long time, even before marriages and kids. One couple was very laid back and just went with the flow. We are sort of like that too. The other couple, however, was constantly complaining. They are doing pretty well financially right now and think they can buy the whole world, resort.The room wasn't cleaned on time. The server didn't come to the pool area (we told to try next time get spot 0.25 miles closer to the pool, just a thought). The food selection at breakfast was horrible (mind you, the girl said it and she doesn't even eat breakfast). Blah.... I got sick of hearing all this after a few days and just ignored.

Apart from this, we all had a great time and I can't wait until our next vacation. The best part is I got to spend time with my family. A week with my little girl without every day stress, cell phones, computers, TV, and other things that distract me from being there just for her. A week of seeing how happy, silly, grateful, she is for us taking her there. A week of seeing her eyes light up and shine. A week of watching her play and playing right there with her. To me, this was a week of paradise and I couldn't have asked for more.

Two and a Half

The title says it all. Baby girl, today you turned two and a half years old. It is just unreal and unexplainable. It seems like you've been part of our lives for the whole two and a half years but at the same time we've only been blessed with your presence for a short two and a half years. I recently asked you dad what was our life, evening, and weekends before you were born because I simply don't remember. You basically took over my life and there is nothing wrong with that.

Let's see what you are up to now:

1. We came back from our family vacation a few weeks ago. It was your third time vacationing with us in Mexico and forth time flying with us.

The flight was about 5 hours and it was the longest one for you. You didn't sleep on the plain at all, even though I was hoping you would give you mama a break. We woke you up early too (around 6am) but that still didn't do the trick. I think you were just excited about the adventure ahead of you. Let me just say, girl, you had a blast! I'll do a separate post on the vacation later.

2. You are becoming way too independent. I kind of like it and kind of don't. I love to see how you are being all grown up. You can easily dress yourself, put on shoes, zip up the jacket, eat/drink without help, sit on a big chair, get into car seat, and other things you can already do by yourself. But I really dislike that you don't need my help as much as you used to. Now I notice that I try to help you and you put on your big girl panties and tell me you can do it by yourself.

3. Now that is finally starting to get warmer outside, you and I can finally head to a playground after I pick you up from daycare. You go crazy and wild there especially if you see Sophia (playground/gymnastics buddy) and/or girls from daycare. You run around after each other, jump, slide side by side, play with sand and ball. I love watching you interact with other kids. But please just stay away from mean, older kids. Last week, you tried to pick up some sand next to a girl who was also playing with sand and she just pushed you away, blocked the sand, and tried to yell something. It melts my heart to see you so helpless and clueless. And quite honestly I wanted to smack that girl. So, for every one's benefit, let's just play with nice kids.

4.  I call you our little monkey nowadays because that is exactly what you are. You repeat everything we say.

5.You've become quite talkative and can have a real conversation. Whenever you don't understand a word, you put a hand to your ear and ask "chto?" (what?). Whenever you hear a sound outside or inside the house that is not familiar to you you always ask "mama, chto eto bilo?" (mom, what was that?). Whenever it works to your advantage you always say "ya bol'shaya" ( I am big) and whenever it doesn't you go "no ya malen'kaya" (but I am little). You are one smart cookie.

6. You are a big fan of candy and ice cream. You had quite a lot of ice cream on vacation and now we are slowly cutting back :)

7. You still like Luntik and he is been your favorite cartoon character for quite some time now. I wonder when you'll want to switch. Anytime, baby girl, anytime. That music and voices are getting old and are pretty annoying. I've tried introducing new cartoons but you watch one episode and then request Luntik.

8. You love to color and enjoy when someone is drawing with you. For example, you dad will draw you a letter or a shape and you'll color the it inside. Then you'll ask for a new shape and that will go on for about 15 minutes.  

9. You play with your older cousin and your baby cousin. You look up to the older one and try to take care of the younger. You'll kiss Alyssa especially if other people watch you do it and go "ahhh" and "oohh, how cute". I've noticed that you'll stop with the kisses if no one is watching you or you'll get their attention and will kiss her again. You just love attention.

10. Speaking of attention, I feel like you constantly need it. You still don't like to play by yourself. You always want other people to watch you do gymnastic tricks or just to see how cute and silly you are. You crave it and you know how to get it.

11. I also call you a drama queen occasionally. I am quite sure we'll sign you up for a theater program and you'll be good at it. I think it is in your genes. No, no, you definitely didn't get it from me or your father. Most likely from older generations. Who knows, maybe you'll grow up to be famous and all :)

12. You are really affectionate, especially with your daddy. You'll hug and kiss him. You'll lay on his chest whenever he is not feeling good. You'll stroke his hair and tell him it'll be OK (skoro proidet). Your daddy is quite fond of you too. I've known him for many years and only you, baby girl, can make him smile so often.

What more can I say that I haven't said before. My love for you grows everyday. I don't think there are words to explain what you mean to me, to us. Just now that we love you to infinity and beyond.

With all my love,

Mama