09.02 & 09.03.11

The past couple of days have been a whirlwind of home improvements and a bit of a blur.  I had such a headache tonight that my head was pounding and, depending on my position, got worse.  It was probably nowhere near what a migraine would feel like, but for me it was pretty bad. 

We have moved the TV we had in our room down into the playroom, along with some shelves that used to be in Abigail's old room (now the office).  I think they look nice in the playroom.  We did a few other little things.

We painted three of the walls in our main living area.  It is something I've been talking about and wanting to do for quite some time now because I think I went a little overboard with the brown when we originally painted.  It was just too dark.  So I wanted to lighten the place up a little with an earthy green or greyish blue.  I went with the earthy green, and in one of our numerous visits to SACO this past week - I think Paul has gone there every day for the past 4 or 5 days - I persuaded Paul to pick up some paint and paint rollers, etc. 

The husband was not "go" for this activity.  He wanted to hire someone else to do the job - a very common and cost effective choice for home improvement activities here in the Dhahran, Aramco camp.  But this meant I would need to continue waiting and it would be weeks, possibly months, down the road.  I have never been good at waiting for anything.  The anticipation of anything I am looking forward to is almost unbearable at times.  I guess this is a bad thing, and sometimes things that may have been pleasant experiences become explosive nightmares. 

I had this vision in my mind of all of us laughing and playing together as we joyfully thrust paint over our walls.  I would easily and neatly get all the corners and edges - without a single drip.  Madeline would adorably paint the alphabet on the wall and maybe even a little picture of a flower for her Mommy before the walls are covered completely... even Abigail would gleefully roll - around any possibly drippings - while chewing on a disinfected paintbrush.  Paul, with his masculine and debonair style would cover the wall surface swiftly and smoothly with the mighty roller brush, frequently glancing over at me with a wink and a "Gosh I love the bajeezuz outta you, you sexy woman you!" comment here and there... sentimental music would be playing in the background timed to just the right moments as if we were in a movie... and oops! Silly me... I got some paint on my nose... and we would all laugh at the joy of this familial activity as our living area took on a more eclectic, warm  and inviting shape. 

Well, it was the complete opposite.

As I said before, P?  Not excited for this activity.  Complained almost the entire time about how we should have hired someone.  So irritated in fact that he took over production and did most of the painting - very messily - himself.  It reminded me of when Paul cooks.  He is an excellent cook and his dishes are scrumdiddleeuptious, but he makes a monstrous mess most of the time and I don't know that he does this on purpose - but he knows someone else will eventually clean it up.  So splatters of sauce are commonly found all over the stove and the dishes and the wall and the ceiling.  This is what happened with the paint too.  And it's not that I didn't add to the splatters.  Painting is HARD.  You really have to know how to hold the brush; what brush to use where; how to tape edges; being tall is a nice feature because with tall ceilings a ladder can only get a 5' 5" girl so high. And sometimes the brushes fall apart or won't roll properly.

So, I started while Paul sat in the playroom with the girls - a good idea really because neglect is not in our normal routine and seriously, the girls? Around paint? Not a good idea.  We started with an argument about us doing it ourselves - so I was in a GREAT mood after that.  I quite ficticiously and literally painted myself into a corner with that one.  By the end of it I was promised no help and was destined to paint the whole thing myself.  I was ready for some help after completing the first corner.  And after an embarassing and childish breakdown, he offered to help.  Then, in typical psycho fashion, I began complaining about having to do the un-fun part - taping and edges, and cleaning up - and how he wanted to do the fun part - the roller - and how that was unfair because this whole thing was my project and my idea (not something I would claim in a court of law now) and blah blah blah blah blaaahhhhheegghh!!! 

So eventually - he pretty much did the entire job.  He, reflecting on my past "bright idea" projects, felt he had to or it wouldn't get done and we would be surrounded by paint and clutter for months to come.  Besides, he is better with the paint brushes; taller; faster; it just worked. 

I can't help but feel like a failure a lot of the time.  It's depressing really.  I have these ideas in my head and they seem so perfect and grand in the fantasy and they just don't ever work out the way I imagine. I don't get the supportive, encouraging smiles and utter acceptance of whatever nutty idea I've come up with.  Is every idea I have really that awful? Presentation and planning are a big part of my routine downfall.  So how does one learn timing and patience when the only routine part of this life right now is the lack of a routine?

The finished product turned out nice.  Final touches will be applied tomorrow and then, hopefully, excluding a few minor changes, we will be done with home improvements for a while.  I feel bad that P's entire Eid vacation was spent doing home improvements.  It was good that we got all this stuff done, but I guess I should have worked in a little " r and r" for the guy. 

Wife of the year award for that one, eh?

In between all the blurpity derp and excriment our girls were adorable and as accomodating as a now 8 month old (yay!) and almost 3 year old can be under house arrest and boredom.  They need some serious play time and attention. 

Abigail is teetering on crawling.  She does the rock thing where she is up on all fours and only goes as far as she has to, to get whatever it is she wants to reach.  Madeline is amazing.  Potty training is going wonderfully.  She is also SO TALKATIVE.  Non-stop questions and ideas, and LOTS of quotes from Mom and Dad, which is a wake up call for me again as I tend to sound like a garbage mouth a lot - another place where there is major mondo room for improvement. 

So! Patience. Humility. Sacrifice. Clean up the potty mouth. Take better care of myself - because, apparently, I am filet mignon, but regularly served on the lid of a trash can. And take better care of my family. Some good goals - dontcha think?

In other news I tried out my crockpot for the first time.  I made a beef stew.  I think it turned out yummy.  I think P liked it.  When I finally convinced Mads to try it she looked at me, and with an enouraging nod said, " Mmm! Not so bad Mom." So that was nice. 

I took a few pictures during the past couple days but haven't loaded them yet so words will just have to do for now.

The nice thing about life is, tomorrow is another day. A day to make better.  A clean slate - once I get all the paint off of it. 

Announcing...

Abhishek

Born August 30th, 2011

7 lbs. 12 oz.

20 inches long

He looks so much like my sweet, funny, amazing and awesome sister! 

MAN I wish I could hug on him. 

We love you guys Amber!!

09.01.11

I took absolutely no pictures today.  I usually take at least one, but we were so busy getting things done I didn't even look at the camera.  Actually, this morning Madeline and I took fake pictures of Abigail with our hands and a clever clicking sound made with our mouths. 

Today we finished the Harry Potter closet.  I love my new craft drawers and that all my stuff is neatly organized in the closet.  We also worked on the office - it's pretty much done except for the new computer being set up. I'm sure that will be working soon.  In an attempt to use all the neat little plastic containers I sort of fell into organizing all my bathroom drawers and cupboards.  They look awesome!

We went to SACO again today to return the shelves and brackets we got for the bathrooms.  Well, at first it was just the brackets, but then Paul went back with the shelves because we found something better the second time at SACO.  I also snagged some paint color swatches from the paint department and we bought Madeline a pink scooter for her birthday.  So it was a productive trip. 

Since we were out and we hadn't eaten (and I forgot to thaw any meat) we decided to eat out tonight. We tried a new place called 'something' grill.  It's not actually called 'something grill' I just can't remember what it's called.  It's right next to the macaroni whatchamacallit place in the Dhahran Mall.  Anyway, it was fun and the food was pretty good.  I ordered some chili enchiladas, thinking they were beef or chicken with green chiles or something, but it was actual chili - like you would cook in a crockpot - wrapped in a tortilla. It was odd, but okay.  Paul got beef ribs because eating meat that comes from that animal that oinks is against the law here.  Abigail sat in a high chair for the first time and I had brought some of her cereal, a bottle of my milk, and some apple sauce for her.  Thankfully, while in the States I invested in some disposable placemats from Target that you can stick to the table as a barrier from germs... Abigail was gnawing on that table over the placemat a lot.  She had fun though and I could tell she enjoyed being a big girl like her sister.  To my suprise she ate very well and... drumroll..... she drank from a bottle! She drank all her milk out of a bottle!!  We sort of gave up on giving her a bottle because she would never take one from Paul or myself.  Also, from past experience with Mads who never took one easily, we had just decided our girls were stubborn and loved the boob too much to settle for some plastic.  I attribute our success for the accidental attraction to the binky (Abigail didn't take one before our repat vacation home to the States).  Anyway, this means so much. This means I can actually go somewhere and she will still be able to eat.  This means Paul and I can actually look into possibly going out on a date together when we find the right babysitter!! I am so excited!

After indulging in some lava cake and ice cream (we all shared one and it was just right) we let Madeline run around a little to get some energy out.  She found a ramp and was running up and down it and into Paul's arms and then he would throw her in the air.  This attracted two other kids, a boy and a girl, and soon they were all running up and down this ramp.  Paul only threw our child though.
After a while, the two kids who were running with Mads had to go. After they left Madeline had this huge frown on her face so we asked her what was wrong... she said (pointing to the little boy),

"He hit mine butt! Don't do that kid!!"

And she yelled it. It was hilarious.

So we headed home for Back to The Future III 

I have to mention - Madeline lately is asking a lot of questions.  When I say a lot, I mean  A LOT  And they are the same questions over and over and over.  I think it is a riot that this is a normal thing for kids to do.  Every ten seconds its, "Hi Mom, How ya doin'?" and I say, "I'm fine, how are you?" and she says, "I'm jus sittin' here."  (Ten seconds later) "Whatcha doin' Mom?" Then after tell her the same answer over and over and over, I start asking her questions... silly, obvious questions to see if I can make it obvious that I am mocking her... and she joyfully answers them. 
I LOVE that my baby wants to talk to me.  I hope that never changes and that no matter what we talk about she feels comfortable about talking with me.  This is the time to plant that seed of trust and love, and no matter how tired I am from working all day at organizing stuff or staying up too late to watch TV, I have to remember that.  I don't ever want my girls to feel like I am not interested in their lives or their ideas or feelings. 

08.31.11



My little Cherub crawling and rolling around on the tile

 Today we spent most of our day getting the house organized.  We've decided to use this time off to get a bunch of things around the house done.  We've been wanting to organize the new office, and three of our closets, along with the kitchen drawers, the playroom, and the bathrrom drawers and cupboards.  It is so easy to get unorganized and messy - especially with kids! Not that they do much of the disorganizing, but they take a lot of our time and cause us to be tired, which leads to fatigue then laziness, causing things not being put where they belong leading to mess and disorganization... you get it.

I started with the kitchen drawers... I started with two junk drawers and messy utensil drawers and ended with clean, orderly perfection. It is SO nice to know which drawer everything is in.  Then we got all my craft stuff out of the various closet and drawers all over the house and put it all on the table.  I threw stuff away and grouped stuff together.  I actually have quite a bit of stuff. 


Babe and Mads being butterflies

 In between it all we had some fun with the girls, snacked on food, and did some dancing.  Because all of my craft stuff was on the table, we ate all our meals at the girls tiny, plastic IKEA table today.  Paul and I comfortably sat in those tiny plastic chairs. It was kinda hilarious. 

For dinner we had breaded chicken, salad, and roasted red potatoes... a favorite meal of ours.  And for dessert we tried a new treat - sorbet.  Did you know sorbet is different from sherbet?  Sherbet is actually made with milk. Sorbet is just the fruit pureed, frozen and sweetened with fruit juice. Up until this point we had no idea there was a difference. We always thought it was one of those potato-potato, tomato-tomato things. This makes a huge difference for us because it's in our genes to have issues with milk and milk products.

After dinner we made a trip to SACO world outside the compound.  We were on the look out for shelves for ours and the girls bathrooms and a few other random things we need for the house.  Mainly for organizing.  Man I love little plastic containers that fit nicely in drawers. SACO took a while.

When we got home we got ready for bed and ended the night with Back to the Future II. We've sort of rolled into a Back to the Future marathon, and it's fun.  Then I stayed up way too late watching 30 Rock, which is actually quite a hilarious show.  I got into it because I recently read Tina Fey's book Bossy Pants, which is also quite hilarious.  I've been reading more than I ever have in my life because of my new iPad - I LOVE being able to buy and read books on it!

08.30.11

Abigail Lily is an amazing little child.  She isn't quite crawling yet, but she rolls like a bull dozer, and can roll into the sitting position.  She does this position where she is balancing on her hands, and her feet are flat on the ground - almost like she about to stand up.  And lately, every time she is on the floor and is excited, angry, sad, or just bored she does this full body thrust where her hands and feet and head all go in the air at the same time, then her back goes up and her hands, head, and feet go down and she does this over and over and over really fast so she looks like a flopping fish out of water.  It is so hilarious! I must get it on video. 

Abs now has 4 teeth.  Her top two are barely showing but they are there and they are precious.  She is still quite happy in the mornings and during the day - when she gets what she wants.  She has realized that if she cries she will get what she wants faster, so now she is quick to fuss.  But she is still really cute.  She loves to cuddle and kiss, but she is also very abusive - haha She bites, pinches, pulls, scratches, slaps, kicks... and I know it's all just a learning curve, but man!

Today, although it was Tuesday, felt like a weekend for us.  Paul is home with us because today is the first day of Eid - a celebration of the end of Ramadan for our Muslim friends.   Our goal today was to get something done.  There is a lot around the house we want to do - mainly organization stuff - so we are planning on getting it all done during this break.

Today I tackled the girls kitchen cupboard and the silverware drawers.  I also cleaned out and organized the TWO junk drawers we had going on the kitchen.  Now they are nice and organized.  We are cleaning out the downstairs, Harry Potter, closet we have and moving all our games and arts and crafts things in there.  Eventually will have the new office (Abigail's old room) organized and then everything will be great!  We need to invest in some containers for storage though before we will reach our goal of total domination in the organization department.  I would also like to get some shelving.

Anyhoo - so I got some things done, but my dining room table is now cluttered with all my sewing and craft stuff. 

Inbetween it all, we napped and ate and played.  Here are the girls playing in Madeline's tent that she got for her second birthday.  I can't believe her THIRD birthday is coming up so soon!

Abigail loved playing in the tent! It was a really fun time and the girls were just giggling like crazy. 

We ended our evening with a nice dinner, some video games and movies, and the girls went down early to bed.  Nice.  Just how it should be. 

I have been waiting all afternoon to hear from my mom - my little sister is supposed to have her C-section this morning! We are SO excited to welcome her new little boy to the family!!

08.29.11

Homemade peanut butter cookies

This morning the girls and I went to a playdate at Sharon's house.  Sharon is another Aramco wife and mother and has two little kids, a boy and a girl, and they have the cutest accents! They are from Australia I believe. On top of the accents, the kids are really polite.  At one point the little boy, Alex, was wanting to show me a toy of his and he said,
"Excuse me, Miss Edith, pardon me, I want to show you this toy... thank you."

I don't know what it is about people with accents, or what it is about me I guess, but whenever I am around them I start to talk like them.  Maybe it is some evolutionary genetic trait to assimilate my environment... a type of protective mechanism, I don't know.  Growing up we always made fun of my mom because when she is at work or taking a phone call or doing anything professional (she still does this), she gets an English accent. Anyway, there were two other ladies at Sharon's - a nice gal, Laura, who we have met several times before and whose little boy went to playschool with Madeline, and a new gal, Karla, and her two little girls.  It was nice.  I really like the smaller playgroups.  It's so much more relaxed and fun, and if there is actually a problem of any kind with the kids, you don't feel like your head may explode in the process of trying to solve it.

Case in point, the beautiful Madeline got bit again by an ant. This time it was on the front of her ankle.  So the little bugger actually crawled up her leg before taking a bite.  She was just mindin' her own business, playing with a little plastic castle and some dolls and all the sudden I heard screaming.  This kid is going to be terrified of ants.  I don't know what it is going on this year but because of all this ant crap, I get great pleasure out of demolishing every single one I see. 

Despite the ant bite, we had a nice time.  After we came home we had some lunch and then decided to finish Madeline's sunshine project. All the sticks and hand prints were dry and were ready to be assembled.  Mads helped me glue the handprints to the sticks or "rays of sunshine" and staple the arms on and she drew a lovely face on the paper plate and voila!

Madeline's handprint sunshine

After our craft project was complete, we decided to make some homemade peanut butter cookies (see picture above) and then the girls and I retired upstairs with some cookies and milk to watch a movie while our house helper cleaned up our mess - HEAVEN.

Here are the girls hangin' out in my room during our movie:

We got a call from Paul around 3 pm... he was the only person left at work.  Tomorrow is Eid, the end of Ramadan for Muslims, so everyone is gone for the holiday.  So the girls and I went and picked Paul up early from work - a nice treat.  Then we came home and Paul and Mads actually took a nap while I fixed dinner and fed Abigail. 

After dinner we watched Back To The Future and had homemade popscicles.  We actually stayed up pretty late tonight, but since Paul doesn't have to go to work for 5 days (yay!) due to the holiday, we felt like it was okay. 

08.28.11



Madeline doing her sunshine hand prints.

Madeline painting her sunshine

Madeline painting sun rays

The girls watching First Signs - a baby sign language movie.

Abigail mid roll.

Today was a good day. It was really laid back.  The girls and I stayed off the computer and away from the TV - for the most part.  It's nice to have a day like that once in a while. 
Madeline and I had fun doing a craft and painting.  We decided to make a sun out of paper plates, sticks, hand prints, and yellow paint.  We didn't finish so I will post pictures of our creation tomorrow.  Madeline also enjoyed painting on a mini canvas I had.  She loves art and making humongous messes.  They are both a favorite past time so she was ecstatic when I presented the idea. 

Paul came home for lunch today, which is always nice.  We love seeing him in the middle of the day.  I whipped up a noodley chicken fetuccini-type meal with some fruit and we all watched Toy Story 3 while chompin. 

Abigail is a what we like to call a little bull dozer.  She may not crawl. She seems perfectly content on rolling all over the place.  It is really quite hilarious to watch her.  She is really good at rolling. She even rolls herself into a sitting position.  She can sit up all by herself!  Also, she now has two teeth on top.  You can see one better than the other.  They are absolutely adorable.

The girls and I went to pick Paul up from work today so we could all go grocery shopping together.  I haven't been to the Tamimi (Safeway) here in Khobar for a very long time.  Probably since right after Abigail's birth, and they have totally redone the place and Paul wanted me to see it.  It looks awesome!  It is huge; completely rearranged; they even demolished the pharmacy that was next to it.  It looks like a completely different place!  Speaking of the Tamimi.... or the name of the store specifically. 

A long time ago when Madeline was just starting to talk, she confused pee pee with mee mee.  Ever since, she calls her lady parts "mee mee."  So today we are on the way to TA-mimi (ta-mee-mee) and I say, "Madeline, we are going shopping at the Tamimi." and she says, "We are going to a mee mee store?" and she starts laughing her head off and then Paul and I start laughing - it was hilarious.  You had to be there maybe... I dunno.

Anyway, I liked it - being at the store, doing my own shopping instead of having to write a detailed list for Paul.  Paul on the other hand, who was in charge of watching the girls while I shopped, was overheard many a times saying, "Never again.  Never again."  Madeline was a bit of a handful.  But hey - I got to see it right?  Now I have a better idea of what to tell Paul to get during future shopping trips and so on and so forth.

After the store we came home and I made Hamburgers for dinner.  Then I talked with my Mom on the phone for a while and then headed over to our friends house to check on their cats. Then back home to put the girls to bed. 

It was a good day. I love my family and I have a really good life. I'm greatful for what I have.

08.27.11

 Today in a word - HOT!  In every sense of the word, today was a hot day for me and my little family.  We started the morning with a fever.  Abigail, who is teething like a maniac, had a low-grade fever most of the day today. It finally broke late afternoon after she took a 3-hour nap.  It was a bummer because I hate for her to feel gross and we were supposed to catch the bus to the mall this morning with a friend and had to cancel.  poop.

I burned my finger today AND got a sliver in the same finger.

The temperature today got up to 117 degrees F, but thankfully the humidity was low.  Of course, we didn't leave the house but to take the garbage out so I guess it didn't really matter. 

Mads had a poor day of potty training with three accidents.  It always seems like if she starts the day with an accident she wants to stay in suit and just continue the fun throughout the day.  I can't get the odor of urine out of my nose.  I feel bad when she has an accident because she is just devastated that it happened. So I try to help her understand that she is learning and doing such a good job.  I think the stamp thing as a reward has run its course.  I need to come up with something else - other than candy.  She likes candy too much and I am trying to teach my children that food is not a reward, it's a source of nutrients, vitamins, and minerals our bodies need to survive - that is all. 

Not that food isn't fun and delicious - cause it totally is.  If food were men, I would practice polyandry (word of the day) and marry spaghetti with meatballs, mashed potatoes, and chocolate cake.  I would have an affair with ice cream sundaes.  Of course, The Man would still be my #1.  My emotional attachment to food is the reason I am such a tub of fun.  I don't want that for my girls.  So yeah... stickers? a day at the spa? A new car?

Madeline, I think, has awesome taste in clothing.  Every morning she asks me to take pictures of her.  She models for me.  I have no idea where she got these poses but she is a natural.  I guess that's what happens when your mom takes thousands of pictures of you - you get kinda good at smiling and posing. 

 Our day was pretty laid back.  I spent my free time, in betweem being with the girls, getting our curtains up over the new roller shades.  I think they turned out nice.  I'm just happy to have nice window coverings that give us privacy and block out light really well, finally.

Poor Abigail was like a vicious little monster today, biting at and growling at everything she could possibly get her hands on.  Her gums were a hurtin'... bad.  I gave her frozen wash cloths, teething rings, binkies, teether toys, my finger, my arm, my teet (not by choice)... anything I could think of for her to gnaw on to relieve the pain of growing teeth.  I tried orajel - she enjoyed how that made her mouth feel and did some really funny noises then, but it wore off quickly.

I tell ya, I can't WAIT to see those pearly whites.  They are going to add a cuteness factor of a bazillion to this little lady. 

After Paul got home we had some chicken and watched a movie together.  Then, because it was still 106 degrees out at 7:30 pm, we stayed in and did some running around the house to release some pent up energy.  The girls love to run and dance and it's even more fun when we all do it together. 

A final note to today... I love my husband so very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very much. VERY much.

08.26.11



Madeline likes to choose her own outfits nowadays and today was... Dance day! This is a little pink number we bought at Target while in the States this Summer.  She wore it most of the morning until after breakfast.  Mads has developed a nasty new habit of wiping everything on her clothes.  We had a talk about it today and she said, "I unstand Mom." Then she wiped her hands on her napkin and then on her shirt - it's a start.

Today was Abigail's first day of peaches.  For the first time she didn't pull a funny face at her first bite.  She loves peaches.  She ate the entire bowl.

Madeline's cars in a cherry container.



After breakfast Paul got started on installing the roller shades we bought yesterday at IKEA.  He started with the upstairs, but once downstairs we realized two of the shades were the wrong size and one was a completely different design.  Frustrating! Because of Ramandan, the store isn't open when Paul gets home from work during the week until 9 pm, when he is usually in bed. So he took a trip tonight to do a quick exchange.

Tonight we skyped with my little sister Amber for the last time before she has her second baby boy on Tuesday.  She is so ready and I think it's nice that she has a scheduled date to look forward to. We are SO excited!  I just love talking to her and Toshie on skype.  It is so nice to be able to see my family every week. 

What an awesome time we live in.  To be able to live in Saudi Arabia, but still talk with, see, email, and check up on my family and friends all over the world on a regular, real time basis.  I often wonder what it's going to be like 100 years from now.  You know, when we will be able to beam all over the place and read each other's thoughts.



Our Star Wars fairy





Watchin the TV





08.25.11

This morning (our weekend) we wre up early... way too early, but I guess that can be a good thing.  Paul went grocery shopping after going to the gym and the girls and I got ready and did some dancing. 

This is Madeline showing Abigail how to jump really high  We had a good time laughing and running in circles.  Madeline does this move where she points her bum at you and shakes it back and forth really fast.  It is hilarious and I have NO idea where she got that.  This is just the beginning of things she will pick up from friends and strangers. 

Abigail loves when Madeline dances. After Paul got home from grocery shopping, we had lunch together and Abigail took a nap.  Then we heade for IKEA because we wanted to get some roller shades for our windows.  This "house decorating" thing has really been a challenge for me. I wouldn't say that I have an eye for interior design, but I am trying to make our home warm, comfortable, clean looking and friendly.  I may still try to do some painting on a couple of the walls because I think I went a little overboard when we did the brown walls.


Madeline acting sad.


For some reason, when all the dancing and jumping and silliness stopped, Madeline decided it was time to be sad.  She has been doing this a lot lately.  A future career in acting? Possibly. She is very good at making herself cry for no reason at all - a talent I often shared with my friends when I was little.  Yes, this dramtacism is from me.  I often have emotions to large to be contained in my body and it looks like it's in the genes.  Shs started out just playing and then minutes later I was holding her in my arms telling her she is a beautiful, fun, smart and WONDERFUL person and that being happy makes things so much better - as she cried and cried.  I continued, happiness brightens our home, helps people relax, and makes people want to be with you more. I told her it's okay to be sad when it is appropriate and when you have a reason to be sad, and that when those times happen, I will be there for her.  Yeah - I'm an awesome Mom. 

Abigail, on the other hand, is so happy it explodes all over the room and happy rays beam throughout the house.  I true characteer and a true joy!

The big surprise of the day was a surprise guest in the house.  She will be here for 3 weeks.  Our neighbors, who we unfortunately have only spoken with (briefly) 4 or 5 times sprung Sandy the Fish (that's what we are calling her) on us at the last minute right as they were departing for their vacation.  Paul was leaving to the grocery store and they happened to run into him in the drive way.  Apparently, and I didn't know the whole story until later in the day, their original fish sitter was out of town this weekend.  So, they trusted us with their fishy and hurriedly left us with these instructions: Feed once a day, clean bowl once a week.  Hmph. Thanks!  No contact info., no name, no "the bowl was just cleaned and we just fed her."  So we fed her and I cleaned out the container to start the week off fresh.  I don't believe fishy will suffer with a little extra food in her dish today.  I just hope she is still with us in 3 weeks when our trusted friends and neighbors, of whom I do not even know their name, return.  EEEK!

08.24.11

Today we had another playdate at our friend F's house.  I tell you, F is a playgroup hosting queen!This time it was me and my girls, F and her boy, another mom we know and her three kids, and it was supposed to be a new mom on camp and her two kids, but she didn't show.  We had a good time talking and playing and reading to the kids.   

Mads and B both have favorite buddies.

After our playdate we came home and I made a delicious beefy italian noodley concoction for lunch.  We watched a couple episodes of Go Diego Go!, Madeline's new favorite show, and then we turned off the tube to play blocks. 

Abigail is teething pretty hard and was viciously chewing on everything in site today. She would grab anything she could with such vigor and vim she almost reminded me of a beast in the wild.  I tried to put some baby orajel on her gums but she hates that stuff. She she sucked on teething rings and ice cubes in her mesh nets all day.  Poor thing. I gave her gums some massages several times too.  Abs is also getting really good at spitting her food.  Her sweet potatoes went EVERYWHERE tonight at dinner.  I think she somehow even got some up underNEATH the table.

Abs in her jumperoo at F's house

I decided to rearrange my living room today.  I like it much better how I have it now.  I decided to move the entertainment area to a different wall, which in turn opened up the room significantly.  It gave us another wall to put a couch against.

Before dinner I checked on our friends K and T's cats.  They watched Kitty-roo while we were away on repat vacation and in return we are watching their kitties. It's the least we can do.  K and T always help us. They're good peeps.

I got in an argument with Paul tonight over something stupid. I wouldn't bring it up at all, because those things are our business and not important when it comes down to moments in life that really matter, but it was funny because while I was standing there talking to Paul, Madeline comes up and stands right in front of me and says,

"Listen to her, Daaad. Listen her while she tawkin' to you!"

It made me laugh and lightened the moment.  I say that to Madeline all the time because she gets distracted so easily and doesn't listen to me sometimes.  Apparently she does hear me.  haha

So then I got upset again, cause I am good at taking things too far, and while I stood at the top of the stairs in anger (while Paul walked downstairs away from my sillyness) Madeline stood there with me with her little hand on her hip.  She kept looking back at me and smiling so big. Then she offered to take my hand and help me down the stairs.  It almost made me cry.  My kids constantly teach me lessons!

I realized - THIS is what life is all about.  God gave me an amazing husband and these wonderful little girls to keep me humble, to teach me to be a better person, and to teach me patience, love, and what true happiness really is.  These people that surround me daily - my amazing little family, my friends, and even strangers in my path - are put there for a reason.  I am so unbelievably blessed.  I have no reason at all to complain or be moody. 

Paul spent some time building his computer tonight while the girls and I listened to music and played in the front room.  Then he came down and we made some popcorn and watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory together - the good one with Gene Wilder.  We really like that movie.

Then Paul started playing his video game, Assassin's Creed, and Madeline and I played a wicked game of Tic Tac Toe on my iPad.  She kept getting mad because she didn't understand that X gets a turn and then O gets a turn. She would tap the pad continuously hoping for O's to appear. 

It was a long, fun day. Both girls dropped when it was time for bed - how it should be.  We hope to get a lot done this weekend. 

08.23.11

 I love my family so much.  This morning we woke up to 92 degrees out, which isn't bad (I never imagined I would ever write such a thing) until you mix in the humidity - 85% this morning.  The windows were foggy and wet. I probably  could have just stepped out front for a shower. 

 Here's Abigail right after she woke up.  She always wakes up with the biggest smile.  She is so happy all the time! If nothing else happened in my day, just seeing my girls happy would always be enough.

 We started our morning with pancakes, and then instead of watching a movie, which we do a lot, I decided we should play.  Madeline built a tall tower with her blocks and was very proud of this accomplishment and told me to take a picture. Here she is standing next to the tower. 

 After we played some, we did some painting.  I have a project idea for the playroom that has to do with manners and rules.  This picture is of the beginning of my project. Hopefully it will turn out. 

Madeline did some major awesome painting herself.  She is quite creative and really enjoys art. 

 After our art project we decided to take advantage of our over ripened bananas and make some banana bread and muffins.  They turned out really good. Even Paul liked them.  I always feel like mini muffins are easier to eat... sort of like popcorn or potato chips.

Tuesday night is hobby night, so tonight we ordered steak from the hobby farm.  Paul and Madeline went and picked it up while Abs and I watched a show from National Geographic about babies.  I loves shows like that and there are a ton of them on Netflix. 

After dinner Madeline and Paul went outside to play.  They came back shortly after soaking wet! Madeline also had literally filled her shoes with sand and ran all up and down the hallway when she got home before I realized it. 

Homemade strawberry/raspberry popscicles and Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets ended our evening.  Paul and Madeline fell asleep on the couch and Abigail and I are still going strong!

Abigail's top left middle tooth has broken through the skin! This will be tooth number three and the beginning of some major cuteness in her photos. Not that she isn't already the most adorable baby on the planet. With that smile and a couple of teeth on top? Aye yay yay!

08.22.11

This morning the girls and I met a friend at the 3rd Street pool. I was surprised to find it empty when we arrived. Usually during the summer, and in this heat, swimming is one of the only activities you can tolerate that isn't in your air conditioned house.  It was kind of nice to have the entire pool to ourselves. Madeline and Abigail had a good time swimming in the kiddie pool, and then we eventually moved over to the big pool to play on the steps.  Madeline got brave enough, at one point, to jump off the side into my arms, but we still have a long way to go when it comes to swimming.  I think I will sign her up for swim lessons next time they are offered to get her more familiar with the water. 

I've never been a "water lover." I wouldn't choose a day at the beach over a day shopping or seeing a movie.  So we don't go swimming much.  I think I can count the number of times we have been swimming here in Saudi on one hand... well two hands, unless I had 6 fingers, cause I think it's about 6 times now.  I thought Mads might turn out to be a water lover, and who knows maybe she still will if we give her the opportunity, but I think she is more of a nature, dirt lover.  Which saddens me a bit cause there are not mountains here.  Not the kind of beautiful, green, high, rocky kind of mountains I grew up next to.  So I think places like that will be high on our list of future vacations.

I brought along the lily pad baby floaty tube thing (sort of like the one in this picture but dark green with a pink flower in the center) and it made a perfect swimming walker for Abigail.  She was walking all over the kiddie pool with it and was kicking and lounging... she had a great time. I didn't take the camera because it clearly states in the swimming rules that cameras are not aloud. I regret this decision because, like I said, there was NO ONE there and it was such an adorable moment!

On our way out to the parking lot we had a rough time.  It was really humid today and it made for a hot afternoon.  The car was cooking and so were both the girls carseats.  To make matters worse, Madeline decided to walk into the car door just as I opened it and bash her forehead.  I was holding the baby and all our bags when this happened.  I was sure we would all suffer from heat stroke before we got home, but we made it. 



Mads playing with my iPad


After baths, we decided to watch a movie and eat lunch upstairs in my room.  Normally we would never do this, but we were all tired from swimming and it's fun to cuddle up in a comfy bed and watch a movie and eat.  Plus today was "change the sheets" day so crumbs didn't matter much.  We all ended up falling asleep.  I rarely take naps and when I do I feel a little wierd.  Sort of like I am breaking some kind of rule or like I am in the twilight zone. I'm not sure why because naps are so freakin' awesome.

A family down the street is moving and for some reason they are selling a huge amount of their belongings, so after we all woke up from our naps, I headed over to look at what they were selling.  Most of their large items had already sold, which is good for them.  I was just excited because no one had taken... The Crockpot. 


Abs gettin' her crawl on

 When Paul and I got married I bought a small crockpot.  It was really, really small.  It was enough for two people just starting out in life though, and it was cute.  We rarely used it though so when we moved, I gave it away.  Ever since then I have planned on getting my own real, big one.  Like my mom had when I was growing up.  There are SO MANY things you can make in a crockpot. Now that I am more intrested in cooking, and now that Paul will eat and try more things compared to when we were first married and he was so darn picky, I have had this yearning for crockpot cooking. 

So, I bought the crockpot and a wall mirror.  They were good purchases and I am happy.  I will divulge you on my first crockpot meal when I make it.



Paul reading stories to the girls

 After dinner Paul took Mads out to the swings for a while and then it was home to get ready for bed. 

P.S. Madeline is going potty just fine again.  I guess we just had a couple of bad days with #2. I'll leave you with that pot.... I mean thought.



08.21.11

Last night the A/C unit in our garage - to which there is a large vented opening in the hallway - started making a strange banging noise.  It sounded like a ticking time bomb and I was sure it would explode any minute. It progressively got worse as the night went on. By one or two in the morning it was so loud I couldn't get to sleep.  The kids and Paul had no trouble sleeping, but I just couldn't stop repeating the rhythmic sound along with it as it was made over and over and over and over.  Paul turned it off so I would stop complaining and I actually slept.  But by morning the house was pretty warm (about 77) so I had to turn it back on.  I called the service center.  That is one great thing about this place.  If you have any problems at all in your home all you have to do is call the service center and they will come out and fix it or replace whatever might need replacing.  It was good that I called them, because by the time they arrived and turned on the A/C to see what the matter was, it was no longer working.  They knew immediately it was a problem with the belt and in about 30 minutes it was replaced and the air was cool and quiet again. 
After breakfast, and after the service guys left, we headed over to our good friend F's house for a playgroup.  It ended up just being us, her and another woman and her two kids.  I like the smaller groups.  It's nice when the kids will play together and get along.  I think when there are too many kids running around control is lost and Mr. Chaos, who didn't get an invitation to the party, crashes.  I also love how "at home" we feel at F's house.  She is always very accomodating and kind to me and my babies... a true, good friend. 

We're having some poopie issues. Madeline has not pooped in the potty for two days in a row now. I'm not sure what it is that is the problem. I don't think it's a scared thing or regression thing... I think it may just be that when she gets the "urge" she may not be right next to a toilet? I'm hoping anyway. Potty training is so fun!

08.20.11

I am annoyed at my behavior today.  We literally did nothing.  The girls and I sat and watched a bunch of movies.  Because of my lack of interesting activities to offer, my toddler had several tantrums, and was extremely disobedient, which led to timeouts. She pooped her pants once and peed her pants twice - had absolutely no interest in going potty. 
So there you have it... we are regular people who - once in a while - have a down day.  I'm getting a little depressed about my weight.  I wish this wasn't one of my struggles in life.  I wish I was stronger when it comes to food and laziness. 

When Paul got home things got a little better.  I made a nice dinner and fed the baby and got her ready for bed.

Then, I actually went to the gym.  I wasn't there long, but it's a start right?  When I got home Abigail was passed out on Paul - at 6:30 pm... way too early, but her naps had been interrupted all day by little things like the phone ringing or Madeline screaming.  Paul took Madeline out to play on the swings down the street to get out some energy while I showered and then did some reading.  Abigail would not wake up... she was out.  She finally woke up when everyone else wanted to go to bed, so her and I had a good time playing until about 12 am. 

I probably shouldn't have even blogged about today, but I made a promise to myself and I am sick of not keeping my promises to myself.