I love my girls

Five things I love about Marina:

1.) Her super soft little hands

2.) How her whole face erupts in smiles all the time

3.) How she sticks her tongue out all day, every day

4.) Hearing her coo and talk to herself, and to me!

5.) The sound of her shrieking little laugh

Five things I love about Megan:

1.) How she copies everything I do--cleaning, cooking, reading, you name it!

2.) How imaginative she is becoming

3.) The tiny little mischievous smile she gets when she's being cute and she knows it

4.) How she gets so excited when she sees her Daddy

5.) Her little voice asking, "What's that Mama?"

Busy busy!

Megan sticking her tongue out in her exersaucer--one of my favorite pictures of her (in April 07).
And this is Marina today! Same exersaucer, different baby. How sweet.
First solid foods!
Megan decided to wear my shirt. It looks more like a dress, but it is cute.

Anything Marina does, Megan has to do too, including sitting in her chair, playing with her toys, etc. Although she is just doodling here, she looks like she's about to write a novel.
Megan's scarf that Aunt Kathryn made her. She wouldn't wear any clothes that day. Just the scarf.

Marina being super duper cute.

So, how is everyone?

It's been crazy up here these last few days. My kids have been incredibly cute, which is why I have lots of new pictures and videos to upload. Dn. John has been working like mad on the St. Stephen's course (and is SOOOOO close to being done). I have been making casseroles all day (and am taking a well deserved break before I jump into the rest of them--Stasia, I miss you!), and my little sister Jessica got engaged last night! That's right--ENGAGED. I called her this morning (at 10:30, and woke her up, I might add) to tell her that she should have fire-engine red bridesmaid dresses, since she is a firefighter. She was unimpressed with my idea, which I actually thought was pretty smokin' (pun intended). Oh well. They're getting married next summer (2010) so I have lots of time to innundate her with my wedding ideas.

So Matthew called Megan the other day and left her a message on our answering machine. She pretty much thought that was the coolest thing ever. So we called him back, and she said hi. But for the last two days (since this happened), on every toy phone she can find, she is "talking" to Uncle Matthew and Aunt Stasia. Now, I also have to add that they are not always phones like you would expect. At the bakery, she was talking into a roll of credit card machine tape. At home, it can be anything from a banana to a can of soup. Daddy's Wii remote is also popular. But anyway, she's been talking to her Godparents. This morning, she had Marina's toy phone, and for almost three minutes straight (no joke), all I heard was, "I love you Uncle Mashew! I love you Aunt Stasie! I love you Uncle Mashew! I love you Aunt Stasie! Bye bye! Hi Luke! I love you!" It was the sweetest thing EVER.

I took Marina to the doctor yesterday for her check up. She is HUGE. Weighing in at 16 lbs, 8 oz, and is now 25 1/2 inches. The child is only five months old!! Even Dr. Brand commented on how gigantic she is. Megan was waaaay older than five months by the time she hit 16 pounds. We have also started Marina on rice cereal. Now, I say started, when in actuality I've only given it to her once. But I intend to again, whenever I find time. It's hard to get into the routine of solid food when nursing is just so convenient! But there are some cute (and messy) photos of her first food. And I had to break out the 9-12 month clothes for my tank of a baby yesterday. The only problem is that Megan fit into those clothes in the middle of the summer, so they're all t-shirts and light jammies. So I have to go shopping. BUMMER. (haha). My husband is rolling his eyes as he reads this, I can guarantee it.

25 Random Things

So I filled out this thing on Facebook that asks for 25 Random facts. I thought it would be fun to post on my blog. Sorry to all my facebook friends who have already read this...but now you know me REALLY well. :)

1. I was born and have lived my whole life in Alaska. My oldest daughter and I were even born at the same hospital. The longest I have been away from Alaska is 3 weeks.

2. I am Antiochian Orthodox--the Faith of our Fathers!

3. I have lived most of my life in Eagle River--with the exception of 5 years in Wasilla from 8th-12th grade. I did not like Wasilla. Too much wind.

4. My husband and I have been married for almost seven years. It seems crazy, but it really has been that long! We are incredibly happy. At least I am...haha. He is too. I promise.

5. My whole life, all I wanted to do was get married and have kids...so I really am living the dream!

6. I love food--I love to cook it, eat it, read about it, watch TV shows about it, show it off, you name it. I love food. I'm also a pretty good cook, and a slight snob about my own cooking.

7. Things I don't love--when people use incorrect grammar on purpose (drives me nuts), misspelled signs in public (it's why kids can't spell these days!), green beans, and spiders.

8. I have two incredible little girls--Megan, who is two, and Marina, who is almost 5 months. They are the light of my life. Even at bedtime (which is now) when they're super fussy. Thankfully, my husband rocks and is getting them into their pjs so I can type this.

9. My secret dream is to be a published author--I've always enjoyed writing, and think I'm pretty decent at it. The hard part is having the discipline to actually sit down and write a book. I've actually have done it once, and no, you can't read it.

10. I can read incredibly fast. It drives my husband up a wall.

11. I taught a 5th/6th combo class for three years, and also taught a year of Kindergarten before my kids were born. Someday, I'd like to teach again. For now, being a stay at home Mom rocks.

12. I can recite Good Night Moon from memory.

13. I suffer from secret nightmares that something terrible will happen to my kids and I won't be able to stop it. (Doesn't every Mom?) It's awful, and I hate it.

14. I am not good at gardening, although I'd like to be better. I have an almost super-human power to kill plants. I don't know why.

15. I have a killer sweet tooth. It is almost the death of me sometimes.

16. My favorite color is purple. I have a purple winter coat, two purple hats (I don't wear them both at the same time, don't worry), and purple gloves. I look like a giant grape when I go outside. My girls also have lots of purple!

17. Meeting and marrying my husband is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me.

18. I have a lot of other little kids in my life--four nephews, and five Godchildren, as well as lots of friends' kids who I love.

19. My best friend (outside of my husband) is my sister Kali. She can pretty much read my mind. It's awesome.

20. I love being a wife and mother. Staying at home with my daughters is the most rewarding and most challenging job I have ever had. It's harder than I thought, raising kids.

21. I do not care that much about fashion, make-up, jewelry, etc. I usually wear jeans and a t-shirt, and throw my hair back in a pony-tail. It is the easiest, and then Marina can't puke in it. It's much better that way. No make-up, unless I'm feeling really special (or bored). And jewelry...I have little kids! Not happening.

22. I want to be more involved in our church...I do a couple of jobs for our priest already, but I'm considering applying to be on the parish council. Haven't decided yet.

23.The hardest thing about being in Alaska is that so many of my friends are far away, and I don't get to see them. It's a bummer, and I miss them a lot.

24. I enjoy quilting too. I just bought myself a new sewing machine a couple weeks ago, and it's super fun.

25. I am pretty much a grammar Nazi.

p.s.

We realized the other day that our eighth anniversary was a couple weeks ago! (Our wedding anniversary is in June). I was catching up on Naomi's blog, and she posted that it was their anniversary...and we started dating a couple days before their wedding. How time flies!

Into the twilight, endlessly screaming

In hopes that Marina will learn to self-soothe, I am letting her cry herself to sleep without a pacifier tonight. It's agonizing listening to her cry. Ergh. I seem to remember going through this with Megan...and it was no fun then, either.

So Megan went to my Mom's for the day yesterday, and came home with a fish named Gil. Yep, my Mom bought her a pet. Without asking us. I suppose, it is just a fish. It's not a dog, or a ferret, or something equally annoying. And Megan really likes it. But still. She bought her a pet. Oh well. There's nothing to be done about it now. Megan had a good time and Grandma's, and didn't want to come home. Let's just hope that every sojourn to my parents' house does not end in us having an animal in the house.

I have done nothing really useful this weekend, and it has been just glorious. I suppose the joy will be over tomorrow when I go to clean up 48 hours worth of filth, but I'm okay with that. It's been an NCIS, cookie dough, lying around kind of weekend. And I need those every now and then! This week will be busier than our recent ones...working on Tuesday, and then I have casseroles to make for my business on Thursday and Friday. But I enjoy that, so it will be fun. I do miss doing it with Stasia though...cooking two dozen casseroles was way MORE fun with her.

Okay, so I just caved and gave Marina her pacifier. Ah well. I suppose as long as she doesn't take it to Kindergarten with her, I'm doing okay.

Megan was picking her nose today in church, and announced (loudly, I might add), "Look Mommy! A booger! It's on my finger!" So that was fun. She also decided to be a hair of a pill this morning, but we survived. It was another day of being in church in body, but definately not in spirit. I sincerely hope God honors my effort. At least we're there, right???? Our God-daughters Heidi and Olivia wandered over to take Communion with me today, so I was herding the three little girls up the Eucharist line (Marina was with her Godmother, who was also herding her own children). I think I need a sheepdog for my Godchildren. I still have a hard time believing there's five of them! I attempted to take all five of them up for Eucharist on Christmas Day by myself. It was interesting, but I did pull it off!

Well, Marina is asleep and I have an episode of NCIS on pause downstairs, so I am going to wander my little self back to the couch and the king-size bag of peanut butter M&Ms that I left sitting there. Ciao!

Cute kids

In response to Naomi's blog--why is it that our younger siblings are so much cooler than us?? Jess is the same way. She listens to all the cool music, she's a firefighter, and totally living the life. Sometimes I feel so blah comparatively, but oh well. My kids are worth the sacrifice of coolness. They'll never think I'm cool anyway, so why should I?

So Megan has done tons of random hilarious stuff lately. I will try and recap some of the highlights here.

1.) We went to church with the St. Innocent Academy the other day. When venerating the cross, Fr. Paisious (spelling??) gave Megan a huge piece of holy bread, then realized that she's a little girl, and took it away to give her a smaller one. She totally gave him the evil eye. It was hysterical.

2.) I made my bed yesterday, which is a rarity around here. Of course, this is like an open invitation to Megan to jump into bed and totally wreck it. So she was huddled under the covers of the newly made bed, and I laid Marina down next to her so I could run downstairs. When I came back up, Megan had tucked Marina into the covers and was cuddled next to her. When she heard me coming, she yelled (YELLED), "Marina! Be quiet and go to sleep!"

3.) She asked me if she could 'go play with the mooses' that were in our yard yesterday. I had to explain that moose are big and ugly and don't like to play. She was quite sad.

Unfortunately, that's all I can remember right now. But on the Marina front...

1.) I laid her down in an empty laundry basket for 'safe keeping' last night, and when I looked, she was chewing on the side of it. How, you ask? She had her tongue through one of the holes on the side and was just going to town.

2.) She has one of those little toys that she can lay under and bat at stuff that hangs from the bar. When she gets tired of batting at the toys, she'll squirm around and chew on the side of it. Also hilarious.

The end result is that my kids are adorable.

Singing

Megan sings the ABCs. Very cute.

Can't blog any more today...having the house blessed tonight and it's a MESS.

Unknown illness strikes

Two seasons of NCIS, half a season of Alias, countless bowls of soup and two doctor visits...and I'm still sick. It's been a bummer. I'm feeling a little better now, but the doc said I won't be really back on my feet for a couple more days, which really stinks because I've been sick for four days so far. I'm on an all liquid diet, since my throat is so raw I can't really handle food. It's been fun, let me tell you. I no longer like Gatorade.

Anyway, please keep me in your prayers for a speedy recovery. Or at least a recovery, since speedy would've been like three days ago.

Home in the snow

Well, it may be cold here and snowing, but at least we don't have rats. That's all I have to say about that.

We made it safely home without losing any luggage or breaking anything in our suitcases! Coolness. The girls were great on the plane, although they are still adjusting to not being on the East Coast any more. Stupid time change. They've been up crazy early the last few days, although right now they are BOTH ASLEEP. IN THE MIDDLE OF THE AFTERNOON. AT THE SAME TIME!!! Score. I should be finishing the dishes, but I am blogging instead.

We really had a great trip. There were a couple stressful moments, but I think that always happens when so many people are out of their element. We did get some great family portraits done, which I am pretty pleased about. But the best part was watching our family with the girls, and just catching up and visiting. Megan and Marina met their great-grandmother (one of them), as well as bonded with grandparents, aunts and uncle. As a matter of fact, the first coherent sentence out of Megan this morning was asking about Uncle Phil. So we called him and said hello.

We also spent some time on the phone with Alaska Airlines, using our miles to buy tickets for April. We will be flying into Pittsburgh, spending a day or so with the Louries, then driving to Simpson to visit the Howells. After a couple days with Matthew and Stasia, we are road-trippin' down to South Carolina to visit the grandparents again. This is all happening in April, so will be pretty fun. The best part is that it was next to free! The second best part is that it will be warm enough in April to use the grandparents' pool. Yes, you read that right. They have a pool.

So all in all, a great trip. It's back to life as usual now, which is a-ok with me--I like our life as usual. Just wish there was less cleaning involved, but you can't have everything. I think Megan and I will make cookies when she wakes up, and after the dishes are done, I am watching NCIS. Sweet.

On our way home

After a great trip down here in the very warm South, we are on our way home at the crack of dawn tomorrow. Please add us to your prayers for a safe, uneventful, and undelayed trip home.

Down South

Well, we made it to South Carolina. What a trip. Marina was awesome. Angelic, even. She slept and slept, and was happy virtually the entire time. About 1/2 hour before we landed in Charlotte (our last stop), she finally had had enough and cried for awhile. But she went back to sleep, and even woke up to smile and coo at Grammy in the car for awhile time.

And then there was Megan. Let me preface with this: Luke slept from Anchorage to Orlando, and then for awhile in the car. Since Meg usually sleeps so much better than Luke, we figured we were golden. NOT IN THE SLIGHTEST. My word, that child. We put her to bed like normal, and then got her up at 11:30 to go catch the plane. Megan did not sleep again (not a wink) for 12 HOURS. The plane ride from Anchorage to Seattle--no sleeping. The Seattle layover--no sleeping. The plane ride from Seattle to Houston--she fell asleep FINALLY. No joke, it was less than 60 seconds later that we heard this: "Ladies and gentlemen, we are beginning our initial descent into Houston. We'll be on the ground in 20 minutes." So she got about half an hour, since we waited until everyone else deplaned before we got off. The five hour layover in Houston--no sleep. She did crash hard though, when we got on the plan for Charlotte. She slept for two hours, and then decided to wake up and cry with Marina for the last half an hour of the flight. We were That Family. The one everybody turns around and stares at because the kids are screaming. And they continued to cry as we deplaned, and for about ten minutes in the airport.

Thankfully, Grammy and Papa provided enough of a distraction (and some french fries!) to keep her happy until she fell asleep on the way home. We got into Aiken at 2 am Aiken time and finally all got to sleep.

The next day, the kids were much happier and the Grandparents got some better lovin' in. Then, Fr. Philp, Kathryn and Sarah showed up, and we have spent a happy afternoon with the whole family. Marina is happy as ever, and Megan--after being shy for a couple of hours--is warming up to her aunts and uncle (there have been repeated lollipops and fruit snacks involved, as well).

Phil and Kathryn have both been contemplating adding their own little notes to the blog without me knowing, so I will sign off before the write something bad (haha).