Marhaba, bambinas

Unexpected adoption update

2012-01-24T15:00:00.000-08:00

Not what you would expect. Our adoption agency shut down due to financial difficulties. We do not know where to go from here and what will happen with our file and how much more unexpected expenses we will be asked to come up with. And will there be a baby in the end?

We're very dissapointed and upset.

New Design !

2012-01-08T22:56:00.000-08:00

I have created some new mittens designs. Please check them out in my Etsy store, at www.morava.etsy.com

All sales are helping us with our baby adoption.

Tlickle tlee !

2011-11-01T22:29:00.000-07:00

Little Moesha was the cutest kitten ever. First, we went to the mall, that's where she first saw me in my costume (haha, I just colored my face) She was in disbelief and kept asking Mama, mimi? (Mimi is the name of our cat aka the word for every cat out there)

I explained her what she needs to do: Say trick or treat, hand our your bag and get a candy. She was not too sure, but when she got the first prize, oh my! She did not want to move on and wanted to get more and more. After all, why bother, if this auntie has a full bowl, no?

She eventually grasped the concept. We beat the rush by starting kinda few stores ahead. There were no line ups except those two main ones. We went last year and it was crazy because we were waiting in the line. Moesha was just over a year old, busy as ever and she was really hard to contain, and it was two of us last year. Someone also kicked her and another kid stood on her foot in the rush and I did not want to subject her to that again. This year was really sweet and calm and she had lots of fun.

After we got home, we walked around our complex. Some units in our complex do wicked job with decorating. We also walked around our neighbourhood, joining random groups. Moesha learnt to climb up the stairs, knock on the door, look up when they opened (she looked really small), say Tlickle tlee very quietly, and when they handed her candy, she grabbed it with half of their hand and ran back to me without thanking them. It was soooooo funny! I carried her basket. She got some awesome goodies, like playdough, dolls, Life ice cream chocolate (who buys those, even if they are on sale!) She was scared to go to some houses and kept asking Mama, help? We were out for close to 2 hours and she walked the whole time.

But the funniest things happened today. When she woke up, she stood at her crib and screamed Tlickle tlee! Everytime she would see the bag, she wanted to go again. She woke up at 10 and didn't have nap and in the afternoon she went to go Go Bananas for some added exhaustion. Mission Impossible. This little baby woke up at 9, one hour into her sleeping and wanted to go Trick or Treating. Again.

Every night is going to be Halloween in the Marhaba household.

I hate my mother

2011-10-28T21:00:00.000-07:00

I could not NOT share this. I got this through Facebook.

I Hate My Mother, By: Ryan Mart Suico

My mom only had one eye. I hated her… She was such an embarrassment. She cooked for students and teachers to support the family. There was this one day during elementary school where my mom came to say hello to me. I was so embarrassed. How could she do this to me? I ignored her, threw her a hateful look and ran out. The next day at school one of my classmates said, ‘EEEE, your mom only has one eye!’ I wanted to bury myself. I also wanted my mom to just disappear. I confronted her that day and said, ‘ If you’re only gonna make me a laughing stock, why don’t you just die?’ My mom did not respond… I didn’t even stop to think for a second about what I had said, because I was full of anger. I was oblivious to her feelings. I wanted out of that house, and have nothing to do with her. So I studied real hard, got a chance to go abroad to study.

Then, I got married. I bought a house of my own. I had kids of my own. I was happy with my life, my kids and the comforts. Then one day, my Mother came to visit me. She hadn’t seen me in years and she didn’t even meet her grandchildren. When she stood by the door, my children laughed at her, and I yelled at her for coming over uninvited. I screamed at her, ‘How dare you come to my house and scare my children!’ GET OUT OF HERE! NOW!!!’ And to this, my mother quietly answered, ‘Oh, I’m so sorry. I may have gotten the wrong address,’ and she disappeared out of sight. One day, a letter regarding a school reunion came to my house. So I lied to my wife that I was going on a business trip. After the reunion, I went to the old shack just out of curiosity. My neighbors said that she died. I did not shed a single tear.

They handed me a letter that she had wanted me to have. ‘My dearest son, I think of you all the time. I’m sorry that I came to your house and scared your children. I was so glad when I heard you were coming for the reunion. But I may not be able to even get out of bed to see you. I’m sorry that I was a constant embarrassment to you when you were growing up. You see……..when you were very little, you got into an accident, and lost your eye. As a mother, I couldn’t stand watching you having to grow up with one eye. So I gave you mine. I was so proud of my son who was seeing a whole new world for me, in my place, with that eye. With all my love to you, Your mother.’ Friends Just Dont Read it ....Please share it too By clicking Share Button below...Share it If you learned Something and Love your Parents. Lets See How Many Peoples Share this pic With Others.

You obviously cannot transplant the eye, so the story is questionable, but it has an amazing moral. For Facebook discussion about this, click here.

Trip to the ER

2011-09-21T12:25:00.000-07:00

Baby Moesha has an urinary tracht infection. She peed at 6.30 and I thought it's kinda redish as if there is a blood in it, but there was no blood on the paper. We got home at 7 and she had blood stains in her underwear and screamed she needs to go pee but wouldn't go. We went to the ER at around 10. At 10.30 I was able to collect her urine sample, as I knew they would have to test it and it would take couple of hours. But instead of taking it, they said to hold on to it. By midnight I started freaking out -they took every one inside already including those that came after us, WTF and why does it always happen to us! - the nurse said they had many emergencies and children in trauma (but they would still let them wait for an hour or so if it was such an emergency) Only then they would take the urine sample from me and send it to the lab. So no matter how hard I tried to avoid the waiting for the results AFTER we got to see the doctor, it just still happened. According to my plan, they would take it at 10.30 and when the doctor was ready to see us, he would have the results in hand by the time he came. Which also saves him tons of time and phone calls and re-reading the chart everytime he changes a patient. Like this, we still had to wait until 2.30 am (because an hour it takes to test it, is actually 2.5 hours after midnight when they have fewer stuff in the lab) I knew we will wait a long time in the ER, but I also reasonably tried to make it shorter but they are I guess not that bright to click.

Fortunately my husband left work early and came to help, and eventually took her home which was a great idea. She didn't have to be there after all. I got the prescription, stopped in the pharmacy on the way home, gave her two doses already and she's instantly feeling better.

On a positive note, this was the doctor, who Im sure was on duty when baby Moesha was hospitalized at 7 days old because of the severe jaundice. He is hot ! Too bad I only realized its him when I left cause Id totally ask him out. Haha (j/k) Too bad he wasn't on duty a day later when we were released because we'd end up in in his pediatrician care as patients (we are with another dr now)

And on a second positive note, baby Moesha started saying "baby kaahyee" (crying) in the hospital and she wanted me to tickle the Nemos painting on the wall the whole time. She was an angel throughout the whole experience, which actually caused me to bring up a concern of her being lethargic (as she's unusually wild and lively child)

But don't worry, she's already bouncing off the walls again.

2 years and 2 months

2011-09-07T20:43:00.000-07:00

Baby Moesha turned 2 in June and she seriously cracks me up. Here is some cute stuff she does these days:

- if you put a vacuum in the middle of the room, she will run around in circles for at least ten minutes and laugh

- on the weekend, when walking on the beach, she walked past a girl with long blond hair, and said to her: "Hi Barbie"

- if she plays with a stroller, you MUST put a cat in

- she calles Elephant "nose" After all, she got that right !

- because she always gets buckled up in the shopping cart, if you put her in one, and forget, she will buckle herself up

- during a pantry reno we allowed her to eat on the sofa, but put a cloth over her so she doesn't get everything messy. Now when she sits there with any yummies she will run to get a cloth and spread it on her

- sleeps through the nite for almost 2 months now (thats because we finally stopped giving her milk bottle)

- is out of diapers completely, including naps (she has them for the night but often wakes up dry). She was potty trained at 17 months, but when I went back to work, my husband just found it easier to go back to diapers. We retrained her in Prague at 22 months. I still wish we did it earlier cause the Czech average is about 17-18 months and 2 years for the night. She very rarely has accidents cause she tells everyone when she needs to go. She never has had #2 accident and was pooping in the toilett since maybe a year old.

- is good at sharing. She does have moments when she wants something someone else has, but generally, she doesn't really go around wanting things only becuase someone else has it.

- is not picky. That's the one I'm really working hard on. She does eat pretty much everything but only teeny tiny so she must not snack in between meals and must get hungry

- Doesnt seem to have a favorite toy although she loves her cat Mimi and dolls.

- speaks mostly English but understands Czech completely (except for tantrums)

- looooooves water, but does not get tired in the pools

- does not sleep wherever and whenever. She must sleep in her crib and on schedule. Ive heard in recent weeks more than enough about how im pampering her and such and how im being restricted by her napping but I dont see it that way. She needs that and I choose to make her comfortable. I dont mind planning around her naps and if that means we miss this and that, so be it. Unless you have a child like she is, you won't understand.

- she is into absolutely everything.

- tonight I taught her to unload the dishwasher. She started with her utensils but understood really quickly what she's supposed to do. She takes her jobs really seriously ! The other chores she is responsible for is windows washing, loading the laundry and loading the dish detergant action pack ( would load the whole box if i let her) She washes the window daily. She also knows that if she makes mess she should take out a broom and make more mess.

- everytime she drops something she yelles Oh boy, or Oh Boze (oh god in czech)

- she calls me by my real name. Too funny although we correct her on occasions

- just few days ago she learnt to get hugs (she doesnt give them but she requests them)

- knows how to turn tv on and how to put Treehouse in. I am not sure who taught her those numbers. Was not me !

- still very social. She will go to strangers and babble about her day or explain them what they just walked by. Then she will pause and look at them while waiting and expecting they understood.

- doesn't walk.

- just runs. All frikkin day long.

- calls many men Tata. Oops..

And perhaps some more. I am so lazy and busy to blog anymore but im not making any plans to stop or continue, when i feel like it, I'll post. But Im looking forward to the comments !

Oh no, Upsy Daisy drowned in our pool !

2011-07-24T14:42:00.001-07:00

7 weeks vacation

2011-06-02T04:25:00.000-07:00

We're on 7 weeks vacation and having great time ! We're travelling a lot (everything is close to Europe), we have been to Moravia, Slovakia, Poland, some castles, going to Croatia on Tuesday and back home in two weeks. My country is so beautiful, full of castles, lakes, rivers, mountains, great people and most of all, great friends !

Little missy and the bubbles

2011-02-07T22:05:00.000-08:00

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwh !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fisher Price commercial

2011-01-28T20:32:00.000-08:00

I realized that I haven't posted anything for over 3 months, and that I haven't posted the link to the commercial itself. Enjoy ...

It's OUT !!!

2010-10-10T13:42:00.000-07:00

What, you ask? Baby Moesha's Fisher Price commercial ! She is the baby walking behind the green Go Baby Go: Stride to Ride Dino, and her name is Lily (it starts with "Meet Lily ...) So cute, we are so proud. Watch for her and if you see her, let me know in a comment what channel and when you saw her.

Don't forget to mention how cute you think she is, this proud mama wants to hear it over and over again !

Moesha teaching goats new tricks

2010-10-06T00:01:00.001-07:00

First, she showed him how to crawl through the pipe.

He watched carefully.

And once he saw, he was able to do it by himself !

Moesha's parenting style

2010-09-25T16:01:00.001-07:00

First she tends to her baby

Then she gives her baby the milk

Then she crushes her baby

And then she runs away with her baby's milk

The mittens, stores and causes

2010-09-21T22:16:00.000-07:00

My mittens are as busy as I am !!! This is what they are up to these days

Online, for my baby adoption:
Morava on Etsy

Where else you can buy them:
Vancouver, BC: Dream, Gastown
Hamilton, ON: White Elephant Vintage

Christmas Bazars in Vancouver:
October 3, Craft christmas fair in Heritage Hall
November, Czech christmas craft fair in Slovenian Hall

Causes I am supporting:
Walk for Cancer (pink mittens will be donated for sale)
DebRA, organization that provides support to the patients with Epidermolysis Bullosa (I will be donating a pair for their auctions, and looking to connect with DebRA in Czech to help as well)

So you can see we're busy !! Good for us and those I can help.

Put your child on the December issue of Today's Parent

2010-09-08T17:27:00.000-07:00

Here's how :
When you start up your own subscription (or give a gift of) Today's Parent magazine, — the authority on raising children from birth to age 14 — you'll be able to create your own custom cover for this December's issue! (Click here to do so.)

(I am going to do that and then brag how it's actually a real thing and few years down the road, how baby Moesha was all over the newstands around Canada, haha !!)

Eco.Logical.Mom: Best Recipe Ever, Really.

2010-09-03T11:26:00.000-07:00

Eco.Logical.Mom: Best Recipe Ever, Really.: "We love this recipe. Incredibly versatile (for breakfast or dessert), easy-to-make, delicious and very healthy. Have we mentioned the beautiful presentation?
Cranberry Muesli...awesome!!"

•1/2 cup low-fat plain yogurt
•1/2 cup unsweetened or fruit-juice-sweetened cranberry juice
•6 tablespoons old-fashioned rolled oats, (not quick-cooking or steel-cut)
•2 tablespoons dried cranberries
•1 tablespoon unsalted sunflower seeds
•1 tablespoon wheat germ
•2 teaspoons honey
•1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
•1/8 teaspoon salt
Combine yogurt, juice, oats, cranberries, sunflower seeds, wheat germ, honey, vanilla and salt in a medium bowl; cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours and up to 1 day.

Per serving: 209 calories; 4 g fat (1 g sat, 1 g mono); 4 mg cholesterol; 37 g carbohydrates; 8 g protein; 3 g fiber; 190 mg sodium; 266 mg potassium; calcium (15% daily value)

Monkey Helpers for Disabled

2010-07-12T13:00:00.000-07:00

Check this cool non-profit organization out, they are training monkeys to help disabled people (an article was recently featured in People magazine)

Helping Hands

FCC Picnic

2010-07-04T22:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to the FCC picnic (Families with Children from China) I think we were the only ones that haven't adopted yet, and everyone was asking me what's my LID. Turns out no one there had a LID (for the next child(ren) younger than we do. They suggested that I put it on my shirt next to my name ! Baby Moesha was of course stealing the attention. She was one of the smallest babies there, she tried to walk around, falling frequently (she can now though walk quite some distance and pretty fast but she gets tired quickly) Then, of course, when she saw the puppies she shrieked in a high frequence, attracting even more attention. Notice all the people standing around her watching how she was "giving kissies" to one of them (she didn't but she goes coockoo when she sees animals) It was held in an awesome Ryall park in New Westminster, we fell in love with that place ! So much stuff for kids to do. I think that must be one of the best parks around. And look at all those gorgeous kids that were already adopted. They were all so beautiful. I made few new friends, and it was really exciting.

Oh sweetest baby ...

2010-06-28T16:37:00.000-07:00

you are one year old now ! At one year, you can:

- WALK !!!
- say mama, dada, gaga, aia, hi, hey, yay and some more
- sleep through the night (or wake up once around 11 pm for your milk bottle)
- melt everyone's heart
- recognize your best friend
- love love love puppies !
- open every single drawer in the chicken even though (we think) they are baby proofed
- not sit still for ten seconds
- sign milk and all done, although you use your own sign language
- have daddy babysit you for a long time
- pull cat's ears and tails but you do it gently cuase you know they have claws
- push your lil car, chair, daddy's cooler and use it as a walker
- shoot commercials
- travel to Europe and back
- collect benefits from Czech government
- read books upside down
- swim, splash, laugh
- swing like a pro
- go to the zoo
- wave using the "all done" sign
- party like a one year old
- beg for food that we think is not appropriate for you
- and many many many more !!

!!!HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SWEET BABY MOESHA !!!

Mr and Mrs Einstein ...

2010-06-24T20:43:00.000-07:00

... confirm Darwin's Theory of Evolution ...

What happens in Boston ....

2010-06-12T22:20:00.000-07:00

One day, during the time I lived in Boston, I had this most delicious treat. It was a sandwich with something inside, that involved tomato sauce, and cheese and something else. I could not for the longest time figure out what it is. People tried to explain me, but I was not getting it. Only few months later, I finally understood it's called Eggplant parmesan.

I have tried to make eggplant several times. The first time it worked, but then never again. I actually hated it. I hated the structure, and taste (now I know that I haven't baked it enough so it never got soft) I never tried the Eggplant parmesan, until this week.

First piece, I fried. Oh boy, that thing absorbs quite a lot of oil ! So then I found this non fry recipe, and I made it tonight and it's absolutely delicious. I'm of course, eating it with bread as a sandwich. If you're interested, try it.

Little pains

2010-06-09T21:10:00.000-07:00

We have some little pains around the house. First, baby Moesha was really sick last week. It was very intense, but short. She had an upper respiratory tract infection and screamed in pain and hunger. I took her to ER but they sent us home without nothing, just to do Tylenol, fluids and cuddling. She finally took the bottle towards the morning, but she slept with me and we held hands while we slept (well, slept, depends on what you do consider slept cause she was up all night, sitting and arching in pain) Two days later we did the follow up and she had an ear infection so she got the antibiotics. She loves them so much that when she sees the bottle, she drops everything and goes kamikadze for them (unfortunately she was on the stairs once, hence more little pains) She is now all healthy and the illness is gone.

I am, though, battling another kind of pain. I don't know what's wrong, but my hip, or muscle or a nerve are just giving away. I walk and the pain that is not a real pain, but something really intense, I dont know how to describe it, shoots all over my right leg. Like if you hit a funny bone on the pelvis or something. I tried to excercise it out (elliptical worked for maybe half an hour after, then the pain was back), I tried some zumba (no go at all), and I tried Tylenol. That worked so I decided to go see a dr and perhaps an xray. I can't walk at times !!!

But that's not all what's happening here. I have started my Librarian school. It's going so well (or so I thought till I saw my first test's grade - need to read instructions more carefully!!) I really enjoy it and I am now sure it's a really good fit for me. My friend Petra moved here from Prague, she stayed with us for two and half weeks and I helped her find a job and an appartment. We had such a great time that we almost cried when she was moving out. It felt like she's been with us forever.

Baby Moesha is walking. She need her toy though but it's so much fun to watch her ! She climbs the stairs like mad, waves and claps (finally!) and she walkes around with holding one hand only. We usually go search for the puppees. Today, I've seen a neighbour out that I've never seen before. I actually really haven't. What a weird complex we live in. They've been here for 4 years and we've been here for 4.5 and I haven't even known how she looks. She has a baby that is 20 months old. I asked her what's her name. She said baby Moesha's real name. Wow !! She said she has never met a girl with the same name yet, baby Moesha was first ! (we have met lots of girls with baby Moesha's real name, though) Then I asked what's her girl's middle name. It's the same ! We have two girls with identical first and middle name living next door and we didn't know (although we spell the middle name with first letter different) I was afraid to ask the neighbour what's her name (lol, it's different) But hopefully the girls will become really good friend and grow up together.

Baby Moesha also sleeps really well. We are back to two naps a day (we tried one but it didnt work at night for her to fall asleep) She now puts up a bit of a fight, and likes to be cuddled to sleep but then she sleeps till anywhere between 11 - 2 am, takes a bottle and goes back to sleep in no time and then sleeps till anywhere between 7.30 - 8.30. Not too shabby !!!

New designs

2010-05-16T15:56:00.000-07:00

I have some new cute mittens in my store ! All sales are helping us with the baby adoption costs. Arent' these cute? The first pair was inspired by the folklore design of Eastern Europe and the second pair is just a cozy pair for the Father's Day. I also have a blue pair. If you click on either picture, it will take you straight to my Etsy store.

The end.

2010-04-27T20:20:00.000-07:00

And just like that, the end has came today. The end of my school. After long two years, I had my second final test today (I was taking two last courses) and I am officially done. I do have to wait for the results but I feel pretty confident that I acually passed both classes. Even the today's class, which was really really hard, I have a good feeling as the test was not the hardest (the midterm had the 29% class average)

I started this degree 2 years ago, when my company paid. They don't anymore as I'm being laid off next week when my maternity leave is over. But I finished it regardless. It was not easy, during that time I worked full time, ended up on a sick leave (thanks to my then supervisor who felt it's a great idea to share my private medical problems with everyone else), got pregnant, had a baby, travelled to Prague for Christmas and lots of other things. It was not easy and I actually made the decision to swich for the librarian program and I got in three weeks ago. I had a post about it a while back, but I haven't told you that I managed to get accepted. I am also glad I dont need to face the certain teacher at my old school in any future classes.

I am going to start a new school in two weeks and I'm really excited. I am going to do everything online, which is great when you have a baby and don't have to worry about babysitting (although I have great friends who helped me when I needed, it was still hard at times) I like to do everything from home, both school and work. I know I can't be a librarian and work at home, lol, but at least I can work part time and close to home which is really important to me.

Now with my degree (if I, hopefully, passed both classes) I can actually have an advantage. The librarians work with computers a lot and one of the concentrations is computers. So that's like I'm done right there. I may not need all the (non)knowledge I have aquired but still, I may possibly know more than my future co-students. Which will be good !

Bye bye old school, I will not miss you !!

Fly Girls

2010-04-09T23:56:00.000-07:00

This is a title of a new reality series about the Flight Attendants. I was very excited when I found out about this, but now, 3 episodes later, I'm not really sure. I thought that we will be seeing more about the job, flying, interacting with customers, cities they are going to etc. But they just seem to party, nothing else !

The show shows these girls as very shallow. They don't read, they don't really talk about interesting stuff, they don't care about anything else but good looking guys they meet on the planes and the yachts they are going to. That just doesn't seem right. My friend is a flight attendant and she reads classic books, studies, explores the cuisine of the places she is visiting and I'm sure she could care less about the parties.

On the last episode, one girl, Nicole, was having problems with her boyfriend cause she lived in L.A. and he in SFO. She was afraid he is breaking up with her cause she moved to another city. So later, he flew in to surprise her but she was having none of it. She was ready to go to the party on a yacht with her friends with whom she fought two first episodes and acted really unpleased that her boyfriend is there. In the end she actually got mad at him that he didn't meet other people (did she mean girls ?) and told him to leave cause she wanted to be only with her girlfriends (did I say she fought with them two previous episodes !!) and party away. Who does that, seriously !!!

I think I will still watch it but I am pretty dissapointed.

Sale: Green leaf handknit merino fingerless mittens

2010-04-04T11:25:00.000-07:00

These are now $26 plus shipping (normally $35). Handknit, pure merino wool with buttons (the listing on Etsy will show you how they look). Will make a great gift either now or for Christmas. Click on the picture to go to my Etsy store where you can purchase them or let me know directly if you're interested. All sales from my Etsy store help us with our baby adoption costs.

Cry it out, day 3: took 7 minutes

2010-04-04T09:44:00.001-07:00

But I spoke too soon. See, I am not a huge fan of Cry it out. I don't like the idea of a baby having to cry herself to sleep, of a tiny baby in a dark room calling mommy and she never comes. I've heard of a baby that threw up each time his parents tried for months. I've heard of a baby that developed serious nightmares that she carried with her long into a childhood. I am sure that eventually it benefits the baby but isn't there a better method?

On top of that, Cry it out never worked for us. We could have a baby screaming for 2-3 hours without any result, even if we tried over and over again. She just wouldn't sleep. If it would be few days, then ok, but weeks and weeks.... I dont' think that shows it worked for us.

I was getting really frustrated becuase everyone was telling me that I have to do that, and what else and such and that their babies slept right away through the night ever since they were born, and similar nonsense (I am not mad at those whose babies slept since 2 months, I had like 5 friends telling me this week, so I'm courious, is that a milestone or so, we did have a change in a sleeping pattern around that time as well, to be honest) I'm just angry when someone presents me with the nonsense that is not true at first sight and is just frustrating me further.

In last three days, we noticed that baby Moesha actually started to fall asleep fairly quickly. We tried hybrid Ferber method (hybrid because I don't really know in details how it works, so I did the bits and pieces from what that little bit I knew slashs some tips from Supernanny) Yesterday it took only 7 minutes !

I was so happy. Until 1 am . Bebe woke up and sang/cried/sand/cried/sang in her crib for 3.5 hours during which she threw up twice. Obviously I had to feed her because she wouldn't not go back to sleep again (she was hungry and gulped down 6 oz which she never doez, 3 is about the record)

Nights like this make me really angry at my husband. He is a very nice guy, but also a tv junkie and I suggested once that perhaps we can have one day a week sans no tv. He wasn't pleased and suggested that to work this out I must wake up at 7.30 am in return. So that would give me full about 2 hours of sleep and then I can get the no tv day and his full attention. Good deal !

At this point, I don't know what to do. Continue with cio or not, naps or no naps... If you leave me a comment, please don't tell me that your kids slept through the night ever since wherever. Today is not a good day for me to read that.

2010-04-03T20:29:00.001-07:00

Sale: Old gold handknit mittens

2010-04-03T20:25:00.000-07:00

Recipe: Avocado sandwiches

2010-04-03T20:17:00.000-07:00

Baby Moesha gets avocado everyday (and likes it!) but she can't eat the whole thing so I have to finish the rest (I hate wasting, especially with all that hunger in the world, it doesn't seem right) I tried few things and I like it on sandwiches the best.

Sandwich 1:
Put avocado on one half, cream cheese on the other, cooked turkey (or any other salami you like), and a bit of onion

Sandwich 2: (I was just told about this one at the recent playdate)
Spread avocado on the bread, cut tomatoes on top of it, add havarti cheese and grill. Yummy !!

If you have any other uses for avocado, than these sandwiches or quacamole, please share !

Cry it out

2010-04-02T22:38:00.000-07:00

This refers to the oh so popular falling-asleep method which I am not a fan of at all. However, it actually works for us.

Baby Moesha gave us a very hard time when she was born. She had serious jaundice (just few units from having to have IV, actually!) She slept a lot, but mostly during the day. I got so many advices cause everyone seemed to know what I didn't and of course nothing worked. With each advice I got more and more frustrated as it came.

At seven weeks, a light bulb went on in her head and she suddenly realized that nites are for sleepy times. She demanded to be put into her beddie at around 7, so she can get nice and cozy and sleepy and whiney. She did sleep chunks of hours, sometimes she whined for a long time, sometimes she fell asleep right away. Somewhere between 1 - 3 hours (rather closer to 1) she woke up hungry. She nursed (most of the times, few times she got a bottle) and slept another 2 or so hours (sometimes up to 3 or 4 hours). Then she woke up hungry again.

Then we started solids. She still woke up fairly quickly for the first feeding but slept a bit longer after. But never through the night. Everytime I mentioned she's not sleeping, there was always someone who felt so empathetic to kindly add to my frustration by telling me his/her kid(s) do or did. Everyone was telling me do this do that dont do this dont do that, even though I never asked. Most of the advices were not to pick her up, not to feed her at night, or let her cry it out.

And that never worked for us. We let her cry for hours and hours and she cried more and more and chocked and even had problems with breathing. I also don't like the idea of a tiny baby in the dark room, alone, crying for mommy and she's not coming.

But lately I noticed without actively trying that if I actually leave her she does calm down on her own and eventually falls asleep ! So is it possible that she is one of those babies that respond to this method but was just not ready until now? I do now what seems to be hybrid Ferber method (hybrid because I haven't got familiar with it but I know a bit how it works), and she does fall asleep. Today it took about 1/2 hour but she has been sleeping for about 2 hours so far. The best she has done since birth, was to wake up once.

My friend is trying the sleep training but we can't afford it. But I bought her a sound machine so it's now constantly raining in our bedroom. She seems to be sleeping better. The other problem is that she is really tired during the day, she wakes up and within 45 minutes she's ready for her nap. Then in the pm she is really tired and just rubs her eyes, and doesn't want to eat, or play, and whines a lot. So the sleeping through the night would totally benefit both me and her.

I am also frustrated that all the advisers seem to think that I"m doing everything wrong. But I"m not ! Mind you, I know a lot about kids and all kind of stuff. I think I'm doing pretty well and she's just taking her time to cooperate.

Oh well, I still love her to pieces and one day we will both sleep. At least she doesn't wake up before 7.30 !!

On the go !!!

2010-03-29T22:07:00.000-07:00

Baby Moesha is now crawling !! It's the cutest thing ever. She is one of the last babies in her baby friends group to get off the bellies and go places but the wait was really worth it. She can now go chase the ball or the remote (on this note, should I be worried that she will only crawl after the remote, but nothing else? Even if there are three toys closer to her, she will bypass them and won't stop till she gets that damn thing) She only started on Saturday, though.

I would post a video but we lost the cable (I did, actually) so you will get the Easter bunny picture instead.

The admissions

2010-03-25T14:32:00.000-07:00

This post will refer to my experience with my school. I need to tell someone. I am having a very hard time, not only with the classes themselves, but also with the school itself. When I enrolled into the program, it was part time. Half way into they changed it for the full time only. I was pregnant, working full time and obviously I couldn't just drop everything including the to-be-benefits, and adjust to their requirements. I kept getting calls from various advisors that I have to do this and that and switch. That I must take 2 more classes then I was already taking to meet the requirements (if anyone out there was pregnant, and working full time and studying full time, let me know so I can get inspired) I was not felling well and this just added to my stress. I kept calling back and clarifying everything just to get another phone call few days later as noone really knew anything and they kept giving me incorrect information. To top it up, the last advisor called me to tell me that the first two classes I took when I started and which were the part of the program will no longer count towards my degree and that I will have to take two more. Perhaps it was an attempt of a struggling U to get more tuition $ from the students that are already broke, I don't know. This resulted in few sleepless night and yet another appointment with yet another student advisor (time, $ for parking and time to get there) who clarified that I do not need another courses.

Today, I went to apply for the course substition (one of the classes was replaced but I haven't taken it yet so that was fine) I went to pick up the form once already, but after 40 minutes of waiting they told me they ran out of forms so I have to come another day. So today, since I was in a little smaller rush (still rush cuase baby was crying and tired, but I had B with me) I wanted to get that form. I was told I must line up. Ok, not happy, but whatever. I need this done. Waiting and waiting. Holding the baby, she's crying. I finally get to talk to the lady, who just finished talking to previous student for 20 or so minutes and who gives me the form. She says Bring it back when you fill it out. I reply that I am going to fill it out right away. She says No, you have to read it first. I don't want to leave cause I don't want to wait in a line again and all I need to fill is the address and the course numbers. But she says that I can just come to talk to her.

So I leave. I fill my address but I don't have the course number. She has an access to my records though so I return about 2 minutes later. I wait in front of the whole line until she finishes her current student. She says You have to fill the course numbers. But I dont have them. So you have to go use the computer behind to look them up. I don't know how (I actually did try to look up the old numbers but since the program has changed, it's no longer posted) So she tells me to go to the archives. Again, I say I don't know how. So she starts showing me and she stops at the last link, that hides the needed number. SHe will though not click on that link and again sends me to the computer in the corner.

So I go. I move the mouse, but nothing is happening. Computer is plugged, but not working. So I return to the clerk. Again, i have to wait as she is with another student. I tell her neither computer is working. I know, she says. To my question, why did she send me there, she replies that I must now to go the library to use the computer there. The library is on the other side of the campus. She still has the Archive link that hides the damn needed number on her screen. I said I am not leaving and to click on that link. She says that wouldn't be fair to the students that are waiting in the line. I said I am just not leaving again and she finally clicks on that link and provides me with the precious course number. To not make it too easy, she pretends she cannot read the numbers i'm writting down.

I then ask that I need to change my last name too (as I still use the maiden name) To which she answers that I must go to the line as she cannot help me with that, because there have been other people waiting in the line that she needs to help first.

So in other words, I go line up, then I get to her, and I must go back to the end of the line cuase there are people who came after me whom she needs to help first? At that point, I just asked for her name to which she said that I dont need it, so I left and I'm going to have to write a letter with a complaint. I'll just describe her as the blonde lady on the left.

To make things even more interesting, today was the career's day. There were probably lots of new potential students that came for that fair and if she dealt with each and every one of them this way, I don't see how they would be attracted to this University upfront. I also don't see how she can spend 20+ minutes on the previous student but will go out of her way to keep sending me away with an issue that would probably take less then one minute. Am I not eligible to get help when I don't know what to do or what? Before I got to her, I overheard her conversation with the previous student, bits and pieces, and she didn't seem to rush at all, quite otherwise, she let the student talk about totally unrelated topis for a bit.

Today, I am not impressed with my school at all.

Sweet Girlies (Warning: Extremely sad)

2010-03-24T22:10:00.000-07:00

You may or may not know that I read lots of blogs. Two days ago, I came across a very sad story of beautiful twin girls, Sydney and Carynne. These little girls were born about a year and half ago, and at the age of 5.5 months they were both diagnosed with a fatal, Werdnig-Hoffman Disease and passed away one month later, a day apart from each other. I read just few first articles and I couldn't go on cause I was crying so hard. I really like how Brook, the mom (that was one of my favorite names to be considered for baby Moesha, btw, with 'e', though, as Brooke) writes about them, and the life after, and I am totally inspired with her fight against this disease. I dont know how to explain what I like about it, and I don't want her to misunderstand should she come across this post, but there is something really heavenly and angelic and so private yet she found a gentle way to share it with her family and friends and blog readers. She is so strong and really inspirational. She also posted lots of beautiful pictures of her gorgeous babies, that just melt one's heart. This mom is one of those rare people that are able to make a difference.

I have never ever heard about this disease. But becuase I like to know things, I looked it up. So if you'd like to learn something new, please go ahead and look it up too. The more we know, the more chances there are that we will make difference, donation, spread the word, and help those who need it.

If you want to read their story, visit www.sweetgirlies.blogspot.com

Blaine, WA

2010-03-20T21:56:00.001-07:00

I love going to the States. I actually do love States and I feel blessed that I live so close that I can go anytime I want. Not that I have time to go, but I have a Nexus card to save me a bit of that.

Yesterday was such a pretty day, and me, baby Moesha and our friend Sue went to Blaine. We've been few times before and it's just a breeze. We live exactly 19 km from the Costcutters (I measured the distance from the gas station) Now, with the Nexus card, you just fly through.

Not yesterday.

There was a line up. Scratch that. There were two line ups. I coudln't figure out what's going on. Sue seemed to know more, but still, I was not convinced. Until I realized: the other people are just trying to cut in !!!

That is something I hate the most. Cutting the lanes (and such, like abusing HOV lanes, running through the orange light etc) So not in this life time I am letting a single car in front of me. Seriously, why would someone think that they just arrive, and oops, look at that wait, why bother, I'm gonna go to the front and just cut in. I'm too good to wait like others.

And cars keep coming and coming and those dumbasses-forgetmylanguageyouknowineverswear- DID LET THEM MERGE (forget the big letters, you know I never use those neither cause it's dumb and childish) But I am really madmadmad. It was actually a field of frustration, and a driver in front of us went out to ask the guards if they can do something (kudos to him for doing that and bucket of rotten tomatoes for doing that cause while he was out, a space created in front of his driverless car and more dumb$%& merged)

I sticked to my plan and did not let anyone in. I waited and waited and I on top of that had a screaming baby in the back. I did not let even the "nice lady" which she is now known as, who threatened to hit me if I don't let her go and who refused to go to the end cause "I have been waiting here for a long time" Well when she arrived she went straight to the front. So in my books, that doesn't count.

We kept bumping into her in the stores in Blaine. I wanted to go and tell her something but Sue just thought it would be best to let it go. I know the nice lady didn't know I have a baby (I have dark windows in the back so you can't see inside) This is what I could tell her:

Me: Hi, don't you just love this store
nice lady: yeah it's great
Me: Do you come here often?
nice lady: i do, all the time
Me: So how come you don't know how to use the Nexus lane?

Or, perhaps something like this:

(new lane opens at the cashiers while my baby starts crying)
Nice lady (who was ahead of me): Go ahead...
Me: no, thanks, I do not cut lanes

Or something like that. I really regret not saying anything. I could spoil her day as much as she spoiled mine and other drivers' days too. If you ever see me on the road, or in the store with a crying baby, DO NOT TRY TO CUT IN FRONT OF ME. Chances are I will not like it.

Just for you...

2010-03-16T18:42:00.001-07:00

Because I know you will be checking my blog today ...

Sydney

2010-03-09T23:43:00.001-08:00

The baby on top is baby Sydney DiMera from Days of our lifes. The baby on the bottom is baby Moesha. Don't they look the same ! I just found out today, cause I don't watch the Days of our lifes and I can't believe how similar they are. There is one more picture if you scroll down to an older post. And there is another thing they have in common that I am not giving out !!

Switching

2010-03-08T22:43:00.000-08:00

I found myself at the crossroads, and I am switching. For...???

A librarian program at the University of Fraser Valley, I am still trying to get in. And here is why. I am currently enrolled in CISY at Kwantlen polytechnic U. But I am not doing well. I just basically cannot compete with the 18 year olds who have been programming videogames for 10+ years. I am having a hard time and Im barely passing (with good grades though I might add) But I am not enjoying it. Few years ago, when I was deciding, the librarian was on the map and so were the computers. But my work paid for the latter and I thought with the computers I can work in the library, but not other way. I have wanted to take that program for very long time, even inquired several times when I was already in CISY. And now I have made the desicion. I am not quitting, I am still finishing CISY, so I will have that degree. But I will not continue at the KPU.

The courses I am doing are hard. Thankfully I have great friends (well, most of them) who are very supportive and try to help me when I ask. I wouldn't be able to do it without them, sometimes I even miss the simplest things and it doesn't make sense until I ask. My friends don't judge and don't laugh (well again, most of them) Even people who don't know me, but I am referred to, are helping beyond what I could hope for. Also, mind you, I just had a baby and she's taking lots of my time and I am suffering from what's known as "mommy's brain". So hence the struggle.

Now for the librarian. I must write a letter of motivation to meet the eligibility (among few other things) And I suck with those. So I am going to practice a bit and write down my reasons. First and most important, I love to read. If I could, I would cancel TV (or at least the cable) and just read and read. Books just allow me to imagine stories and people in my own way and I love that (in TV, you see what someone else imagined for you, but there is no room for your own ideas) I dream about books I read, and I cry over lots of them. I even blogged about several books that touched me lately.

I would love for baby Moesha to read a lot, both in Czech and English. She has lots of books and we are going to start going to the library a lot when she is a bit older (she right now shows no interest in books except for eating them and no interest for TV except eating the remote control) Books will give her something TV cannot. Books gave me things TV didn't. I read books cause my dad lead me to it. I read about the adventures and I read lots of books boys do, but girls dont. Im proud of it.

Another big reason is that library is a community place. I want to be involved in our community. I want to be in the middle of the events, know everything first hand, perhaps influence some of them and make sure others know. I have good abilities to make new friends quickly, using my Czech (exotic) accent so I know how to get people talking and asking and I enjoy that.

Then there is information. As a librarian you are working with lots of information, researching, sorting, investigating. At this point I am not sure about the extent but I suspect there is lots of it. I am very good at information research, if you know me, you know that I can look up and find pretty much everything. Basically, in certain ways, that was always part of my job. Plus I learn that way too. Sometimes, out of boredome, I just look up the most unusual things, for example, on Wikipedia, I was recently researching Fubu (not sure if that's the right spelling, the poisonous fish), the language of Nunavut, Moroccan cuisine, and things like that, that you would not think of looking it up. Fun, huh !!!

And of course, there are other benefits. The pay is good, as its a government job, although that's not what Im going to use as a reason. I also like that the libraries are all over the place (as opposed to the hitech companies, that are mostly in downtown, or Richmond 60k away and I just dont want to commute) The library system is pretty much similar everywhere so if I end up moving, I can just apply in a local library. I like the opening hours that are long so I can spend lots of time with the bebe and work around my husbands schedule (of course, if the need for me allows) I like that you can study completely online. Thats a huge benefit cause I dont have to go to the campus. I though plan to take some in class courses, to finish faster. I also like that you can work partime which in computers is quite rare.

And last, but not least, my idea of the best spent November afternoon is in the library with a blizzard outside and a old sweet librarian lady reading books to the kids and giving out a hot chocolate. Or perhaps it is December, and just before Christmas...?

So I am very excited to finally get on track to what I really want to do. Now, I just have to write that motivation letter and be accepted.

First cold

2010-02-26T16:48:00.000-08:00

Baby Moesha has her first cold. Bummer ! But on second thought, I shouldn't complain. Except the jaundice when she was born, she has been extremely healthly and this is her first cold. And she's now 8 months and one week ! Not too shabby for the first cold. I blame nursing.

I had a bad cold over Christmas when we flew to Prague. I slept with her in one bed and she has rarely been out of my sight. But she didn't sneeze once. I was impressed. This time she got sick first, and I caught it from her. It's not as bad as the previous one but I'm still not a happy camper. But we're dealing with it and slowly getting better.

Shoe sizes

2010-02-22T10:27:00.000-08:00

This is more for me then you although you can use it too... I can never remember, what shoes sized and what age I need:

US UK EURO
0-6 months 01-02 0-1 16-17
6-12 months 03-04 2-3 18-20
12-24 months 5-6 4-6 21-23
2T-3T (2-3 years) 7-9 7-8 24-26
4T-5T (4-5 years) 10-11 9-10 28-29
3-4 (3-4 years) 9-10 8-9 26-28
5-7 (5-7 years) 11-13 10-13 29-32
8 & Up (8-12 years) 1 and up 3 and up 33 and up

Stolen cart

2010-02-19T21:14:00.000-08:00

The other day I was in Superstore here in Langley. You know, that one that you have to pay one dollar for the cart (and you get it back if you return it to its designaged spot) That is it, "if". I did all I could and I played by the rules. I did my shopping, drove it to my car, and I was ready to return it and get my dollar back, after I strapped the baby in the car seat. Have you noticed I've done anything wrong, so far?

Well, even though I did everything right, I didn't get my dollar back. While I was strapping the baby in her car seat, someone who was passing by just took my cart with my own dollar in it and walked away with it. I didn't notice cause a) I was busy with the baby, b) there is lots of noise made by lots of people pushing lots of carts, c) it didn't occur to me someone would steal a dollar (resp. a cart) from a mother busy with her baby.

I didn't call police to investigate this theft. It was after all, not an emergency, even though it spoiled my day. And to all the stores out there, I hate your pay for your cart policy. If you can pay a greeter at the door, or a person whose job is to stand out there and tell you to scan your save on more card so you can see what the specials are, perhaps you can also employ another person whose job would be to collect the carts from few of those that are too lazy and leave it all over. It sure would save me my dollar.

Cloth Diapers: First full night

2010-02-06T21:00:00.000-08:00

Baby Moesha was cloth diapered for the whole night last night ! That's a first. Well, kinda. Cause she was cd'd when she was born. But it didnt work. She was waking up, I had to change her, which woke her up even further. I was absolutely determined only use CD but unfortunately, it didnt work for us.

I still use CD a lot, always when we're at home and half half when we're outside. I use the sposies for trips (cloth diapers didn't go with us to Prague or Edmonton), outings (if she's at babysitters) andfor the night. I don't think it's complicated or a hassle, I really like it. As you may remember, I posted a while back that we never had any diaper rash, and I believe it's mostly because of CD (and I used eco sposies .. not so much anymore)

Last night I left the CD on her. And she slept a very long time. So when she woke up, I quickly changed her for another CD. And she slept some more. She tends to wake up towards the morning more often which is because of hunger we suspect so it didn't really matter. I didn't see any difference in the sleeping (non)pattern. So we're trying again tonight ! Wish my little eco baby luck ...

Review: Shipping labels

2010-02-01T11:47:00.000-08:00

Do you sell online? And do you use PayPal and such as, the shipping labels? I do. I have tried quite a few brands and I ran into issues with hard peeling (I get really frustrated when I sit here for 5+ minutes trying to peel each and every corner and neither is working) or having to cut the edges. I use the half labels (meaning I do not print the bottom part, the confirmation), so I had to cut them all, and perhaps make a mark on the wrong side so I don't accidentaly print on it (I did, many times, though)

So imagine my relief when I found the labels that I don't have cut and they are easy to peel. They are called labeldogs labels and you can buy them on eBay right here. They come with a precut line so you don't need scissors to cut them in half (I can never find scissors when I need them, I see them now on my table though !!) They have a print on the wrong side so you cannot make a mistake while printing, they are supereasy to peel (yay) and they have a precut line so you can just peel them out without the yucky edges. The seller offers Free shipping within United states and you can get them for $11.39 for 200 labels, which works out for about $0.056 per label (one other thing I did is to compare lots of listings by converting the price to the price per label) Turns out these were one of the cheapest (if not even cheapest) and the best. I am really happy with them.

The doctor from the Trumpeters' House

2010-01-26T22:26:00.000-08:00

When I was in Prague, I found a book from Ilona Borska, a famous Czech author, called the Adventurers with a half-pension. I really enjoyed reading it, I read some child books from her when I was little, but I didn't know she wrote some way more interesting books. One of them is called "The doctor from the Trumpeters House" - Doktorka z domu Trubacu, and tonight, I would like to introduce this extraordinary woman to you. I picked up that book because it starts in Baghdad (awh, Orient, my love) and because the book is "about a woman that lived far ahead of her time".

Vlasta Kalalova was extraordinary even when she was young. At 17, she spoke 7 languages, including Turkish. She left for Baghdad when she was 28 years old, in 1924, being able to secure a loan of 244.000 czk (that is huuuuuuuuuuuuge amount for today, yet alone for back then!) from the Czech president Tomas Garyk Masaryk to establish a Czechoslovak hospital there. While waiting for the necessary permits, she worked in Instanbul for 6 months, living very simply in one room with three narrow windows in a very old house in the old part of town. When she finally was able to move to Baghdad, she established her own small hospital with only one other nurse, driver and a cook, and worked tirelessly at providing the health care and surgeries to especially women, who didn't have a chance to see a physician as most were male. Vlasta was battling lots of problems, including the hot Baghdad summers, prejudices, and the beliefs of the Baghdad people, that believed they can be cured by spells and faith and often sought the doctor when it was too late. She also battled very pure hygienic conditions and high infant mortility.

She enjoyed her stay to the maximum. In her free time she sat on her house's roof and starred at the sky while smelling the scents of the Orient, met local people, made trips to the desert, collected samples of insect for the National museum in Prague, and samples of various diseases that could only be found in Baghdad area, which she sent to Prague for further studies.

In Baghdad she met and married Giorgio di Lotti, whose wife passed earlier from the tuberculosis. Because of her he learnt Czech and they had two children, Radbor and Drahushka. Later, when Vlasta became sick with Dengue fever, the family decided to close the hospital (or pass it to someone else, I dont remember anymore), and move back to Czechoslovakia.

There they lived for a while in Prague and then in her native Bernartice. Radbor seemed to have a mental disability he most likely suffered during the birth, so he couldn't attend school, but Drahushka was very bright and the book shows notes from her diary. Vlasta worked tirelessly in curing people, even through the second World War.

On May 8th, 1945, one day before the WWII ended, the retreating German soldiers shot dead her beloved husband Giorgio and both children (16 and 14 at that time), in the garden of their home. Vlasta survived only because the murderers thought she is dead as well, but she was shot several times. She healed and travelled to the United states and Norway, learnt even more languages (eventually she was fluent in about 14 of them!) She took care of everyone who needed her, even if for a while, and spent lots of her time writing postcards and letters to friends all over the world and missing her family. She never remarried again. Towards the end of her life she was becoming more and more sick and died in 1971, very lonely, after living a very incredible life story.

If you have any questions about her, please ask me, I will try to do some research. If you want to read some more, please visit this link: http://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vlasta_K%C3%A1lalov%C3%A1

Its in czech, but you can use the language tool on google, its pretty good.

As I sit here and cry over this book, I am mad at myself that I worry about such silly things like having a snow for olympics, or that my baby doesnt want to go sleep at of yet and I want her to. I worry that my dishes are not washed and perhaps I need to fill the tank of my car. Isn't it silly? I wish that I live a life this doctor most of us have never heard of (I certainly haven't till I read that other book and I thought I know the Czech literature quite well). I wish that I made such an impact on other people's life like she did. I will never be able to, but I can certainly take an inspiration in her. So this post is a salut to her, and even though she's been dead for almost 30 years, I think it's about time that you get to finally know her.

Prague. Romantic.

2009-12-26T11:46:00.000-08:00

These pictures were taken at the Prague castle, the largest castle in the whole world.

Prague Castle windows

2009-12-26T01:13:00.000-08:00

I think they were cool ...

First bus ride

2009-12-26T01:06:00.000-08:00

Not really really first one, but first one she was out of the stroller (she took one before but she was sleeping) She did good ! She wanted to see everything inside and outside. I mastered the bus riding with the stroller already, you must wave the driver as a sign you want to board and then ring the bell twice when leaving. And although most buses are accessible, there is always someone who wants to help you.

Here, we are going to the Prague Castle see the Nativity scene in Loretanske square.

Christmas in Prague

2009-12-25T04:44:00.000-08:00

I took some nice pictures, I just played with my camera and they are very pretty.

Christmas Eve

2009-12-25T04:42:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve morning I met with one of my best friends who had a baby on my Birthday, yay ! We went for a walk with a group of other friends. It was lovely. A wheel from my stroller took off at one point but there are three more... wait, we actually fixed that, well, not me, but my friend, as you do need all four. I would never be able to go with my canadian stroller for a walk like this, but my czech one did a great job. Oh and yes, that second picture is babies having lunch. All ready in like no time (you can't do that with a bottle lol) and little munchkins munching on milk in the middle of the snowy cold forrest like if they don't care (they didn't) And I took my first bus ride on my own ever and managed. Things changed, the small bus we were on took 4 strollers. I don't remember they did it before, and they definitely don't do it in Canada (the most I've seen was 2)

Walks

2009-12-22T10:21:00.000-08:00

Here in Prague, everyone goes for a walk all the time and most people use transit. Such as, the strollers here are amazing ! They don't seem to have the travel systems (as most don't need such a thing) but they have a very comfy strollers to sit with an option to add basket-like soft bed. It looks so cozy ! I wish I had one of those. I'm looking for an umbrella-like stroller (just little better) to bring home with me. My mom wants to buy us one.

We went for a walk twice already. First to the store (it's a new place, like a mall setting with Tesco, well not new, it was here last time when I visited) It was the very second day and it was still real cold. I felt like we are in Siberia (twighlight, cold, the russian style highrises they used to build in the burbs, totally looked like Russia) I liked it.

The next day we went for another walk, past my elementary school to check the strollers. It was still cold but sunny. Baby Moesha likes riding in her new stroller (this one is not coming with us but it's awesome, it has the air tires and rocks naturally so baby rides in style and its so cozy cause there are no straps in those beds) The one on the pictures came from Poland and it's a typical stroller people here used to have. The most typical stroller I see now is a jogger-like one. I will post a picture if I find one later.

The cat and I

2009-12-22T08:09:00.001-08:00

Wait !! You forgot your CAT in here !!!

WT*, a baby?

NO WAY !!

I'm outta here !!!

Waiting in London

2009-12-22T00:16:00.001-08:00

So we had few hours in London. Less then expected as the flight was late and I was the last one off the flight. I didn't get to borrow the stroller or a buggie, so I had to carry everything (I had the sling though) I spent about an hour in the nursing station repacking my bag and when I got out, baby fell asleep in my arms swaddled. I walked around looking for a spot to put her down and some nice people gave me their foot rest:

Needles to say, she seemed to be the cutest thing around cause everyone was smiling and wanted to see. She slept for about an hour and when she woke up, she was ready for her next adventure:

Rolling over ! At 6 months sharp, baby Moesha started rolling over every single time when on tummy time. Everyone was turning around (especially after I pulled out the Santa hat) Two girls who I thought they may be from Boston (turns out they were cause I asked and funny, they were on the way from Prague!!) were taking pictures. Normally I would freak out but I didn't mind. They were really nice.

Even Santa flew all the way from the North Pole on British Airways to wish her Merry Christmas and take pictures with her in front of the bathrooms.

The flight to Prague wasn't that long. It was just a bit boring. When we were landing, they told us it's 14 below zero and snowing. Nice ! I didn't check so I had no idea. Two couples were helping me off the plane and only then I realized there was no way I could manage all by myself with all that luggage (I had three huge ones, two small carry ons, baby and a car seat) I had to take two carts.

Turns out my mom knew all the time I am coming. Apparently I forwarded her an email back in September I was sending to my friend Petra regarding bringing some stuff over when she was visiting. Somewhere in there I wrote her not to worry too much as I am coming over for Christmas and take the stuff myself. Few emails later I sent everything to my mom. Silly me, so much for the surprises !! And I planned everything so carefully and then I make such a silly mistake, lol !

Our trip to Prague: Flight to London

2009-12-21T12:42:00.001-08:00

Note to my new readers: Just so you know, we are known as Molly and baby Moesha on this blog (our internet nicknames)

We made it to Prague ! I got a nasty cold just a day before departure. Nice. I have to tell you, it's awesome to fly with a stuffed nose, especially the landing is particularly delicious. Baby Moesha did great ! The flight was about an hour late, but it was ok since we had 5 hours in London. I got the baby basinet for her and sat next to a nice man from Saudi Arabia travelling to Jeddah. HIs trip was also a surprise (hopefully better kept then mine as it turned out later) and he is flying back the same time. I grew to trust him so much that when I went to the bathroom the second time (good job, btw for me, only twice), he kept an eye on her. Baby was fussy the first hour, but then she fell asleep (unswaddled, upon popular advice, thanks, btw)

20 minutes later she was up and screaming. Two minutes later she was swaddled and sleeping soundly (she is tied both in the harness and her swaddling blanket):

She woke up once more about 4 hours into flight and screamed. The flight attendant thought she had a nightmare. She wouldn't calm down but I nursed her and she fell asleep again (swaddled)

The plane was big but they wouldn't complimentary upgrade us to a business class. J***s !!

At the airport, one of our pilots took both of my bags and helped me all the way from our plane to the main terminal. We had to take a train ! I don't think I would manage, I had so much stuff and no stroller. And I couldn't rent one there even though I was told I can and they had no buggies for the luggage. And I had to drink from her bottle in front of the security !

Recycled mittens

2009-12-17T21:17:00.000-08:00

Today I want to show you recycled mittens from my Etsy store. They are still available for sale, but unless you purchase them by Friday 10 AM PST, they will be shipped in middle of January. All Etsy sales are helping us with the baby adoption

Who's coming from Kolin?

2009-12-15T22:50:00.001-08:00

I see that I have visitors from Kolin. Who are you, can you leave me a comment? I am courious ...

Sure, run everyone over ...

2009-12-15T22:45:00.000-08:00

That's what I heard on Monday in Babies R Us. This is what happened:

I was walking with my jogger in the store. There was a guy waiting for the price check. He was standing in the middle of the aisle in between the boxes. His daughter was running around between the toys and when she saw me and my stroller approaching, she walked towards her father to get out of my way. I didn't even have to say "excuse me" (you know, Im very polite in general)

I walked by and everything seemed fine. Until the guy called at me: "Sure, run everyone over with your stroller ! Merry Christmas !!"

He was not even in my way and I was not in his! I don't know, is it just me, attracting these kind of weirdos and situations? He sure made my day.

Going to Bethlehem

2009-11-29T23:42:00.000-08:00

Saturday, we went to Bethlehem. See, this is how it all happened: Me and baby Moesha went to sell chocolate at Jingleblades for my skating team fundraising. Then, we were invited to my inlaws for dinner. We had three hours in between so we went to White Rock. Originally I wanted to go to the Mall there, but we ended up walking around White Rock in the rain. Much better, trust me, and much cheaper, trust me on that one too.

Then, on the way back to the Mall (that was a second try to direct us there) I stumbled upon a crowd of people. I wanted to see what was happening, so I was just walking around and trying to find out. Then, Joseph came to me and asked me if we want to walk with him and Mary to Bethlehem. He gaves us a candle and off we followed them around the city block of highrises. The donkey freaked out once, but I think it was just to show me the way as I couldn't walk down the stairs with the stroller.

I posted this on my facebook:

Me: Me and baby Moesha went to Bethlehem today with Joseph, Mary and two donkeys
My Friend: Did all of you ride the bus?
Me: Of course not. We wanted to be authentic and Mary and Joseph didn't ride the bus neither. We drove in my car.

And then, at my inlaws, we learnt that my FIL's father, Moesha's great grandfather passed away at the age of 91.

Do you believe ?

2009-11-26T17:15:00.000-08:00

I live in an Olympic city. In three short months, the whole world will come here and ask me if I believe. Im not really sure what they are asking but I hear it on the news every single day. It's quite catchy (except one new spot that is really annoying)

I will not be the part of the games, except watching it on TV and we will most likely go to the city for our annual trip, to see the action (and most likely the mayhem) I would like to be, but I don't want to volunteer. I am not that enthusiastic and I also don't want to lose money working for someone for free (I would like to know where all the profits the games make for the city go, though) so they can make money and hefty bonuses. I am sure the games cost a lot but will bring a lot too. I would have to pay for the daycare, and I was told I would have to interrupt my EI if I want to volunteer (as in, if you're fine to volunteer, you're fine to work as well) And that's just not right.

But what really annoys me are the campains at the stores asking me to contribute for the Canadien athletes. I do have the citizenship now, but in heart and soul, I am still 100% (or more) Czech. I don't want to support the Canadien athletes. I don't want them to beat the Czech ones, that's it ! I also think they still have more $$ and facilities to train then athletes from other countries. Do you know how much $ Czechs get? You would have to sit down. And they still win or do well ! I don't like the pressure for donations Im exposed to daily. And what about the tourists, who have no interest to donate neither. I had friends over for a visit from Europe and they couldn't believe the pressure and demands for money. They felt like wherever they went someone tried to milk them (their exact words)

I am excited we will have the games here, but the regular people like me can't afford to go. The tickets are so expensive and everyone is trying to get advantage. But that's how it works, no one can wonder. I am excited to see Czechs win (we have one figure skater, one speed skater, and the hockey team, that have a promise of some good results) but Im not really sure about the money aspect and politics behind.

Overall, I do believe.

Very shocking news !

2009-11-22T00:44:00.000-08:00

This is something I would never expect. See, I have this friend. I think we met online (I don't remember anymore), we talked for a very long time and then, when I lived in Boston, i went to visit him in Toronto. I have a huge interested in arabic and persian countries and he's iranian. He introduced me to some yummiest foods I've ever had, showed me around the city, showed me the Niagara falls (and thanks to me, he got a speeding ticket, sorry !!) and we had a really good week.

Later that year he got married. And although we were just friends, he didn't wish to stay in touch anymore for the respect of his new wife. Totally understandable. Few years ago, though, we found each other on Facebook. We sent updates maybe like once in half a year or so and then he shared with me their struggles. They were same as ours. I don't want to be too specific as I'm not sure if he shared with his friends, but let's just say we worked it out and he was still working on it.

So I went to his Facebook, to send him a message to ask how things are going. And I found out he passed away last Saturday at the age of 39 years ! You don't expect to get such news doing something as ordinary as sending a message through a Facebook.

He was very funny. He told me some funniest things I've ever heard and some of those I still remember today. He was very kind and nice, really really good person. I sometimes read his FB page and some things cracked me up. He was someone you'd love to be the best friends with or have a lunch every day.

He is also the very second friend of mine who ever died (sure I know some people who have died, but they were like grandparents, neighbours etc) Not a friend, yet alone such young one.

Abbas, I am glad I knew you and I am sure that you know that all your friends and family miss you and I hope you are now watching over us all and that maybe some of the things you were looking for will happen...??? That would be cool.

Fotka

2009-11-12T17:31:00.000-08:00

I'll do something I rarely do on my public blog: I will share a picture with you !! Let me know how you like it.

Love, Molly...

Bellingham. Again.

2009-11-12T16:48:00.000-08:00

I went to Bellingham on Tuesday again. I know, I am Belli-crazy. But you can't compare the stuff and prices and pretty much nothing ! I like how it's not overpopulated. I like that we can afford to travel, even if only 50 kms. I like the layout of that town. I like just about everything. And I like Blaine. And did I mention the prices? My friends' husband says he likes being Canadien but he can't afford being one. Haha !! True true.

We went to JoAnn's fabric and bought lots of Christmas books for $1 each. I like for baby Moesha to know all the classical stories. We then went downtown to buy some Czech books, but the store was closed. Again ! That's like the third time we went there and it was closed. Then we went to Bellisfair. My friend was impressed how well i know my way around Belligham. Duh !! (lol)

We love Target. The baby clothes and baby stuff is just awesome. And well priced. I bought her more bows (like if she needs it), I bought formula (we're trying one for the night, called Restfull to add to the breast milk and get her sleep longer) I didn't buy any clothes (unbelievable) but I bought milk for $2 (it's $4.50 here in Canada) We also had a lunch in Old Country buffet where Moesha fed herself mashed potatoes and wiped her mouth all on her own (well she was 4.5 mos after all so we can't expect anything less then independence)

And then we went home. We were so tired. I was impressed with myself that for the very first time I chose the quickest line. Till we were sent inside to pay the duties, that is.

I couldn't believe it. I only had $70 worth of shopping and my friend about $250. Later we figured out he thought I'm saying we have $700. Simple missunderstanding. But led to an hour at the customs which got the baby so excited she had a meltdown all the way home. The guy wanted to check on my car and when he came back, he was holding a stack of receipts. My heart stopped. Did we forget to declare something? (I dont' clean up my car every year, just ask my husband) But fortunately they were those that we already gave him and we were let go.

I still love going there for shopping (not sure why they asked me if I'm going to buy a yacht or an airplane) I don't think the baby stuff in Canada is great and well priced. We live so close to the border and Belli reminds me of Andover, Lowell and Lawrence combined. So I really like it there.
Baby Moesha is turning 5 months next week. Yay !! She is a very petit and cute baby, very courious (she will not sleep if there is anything going around her, she will fight it even if she can't even blink her eyes anymore) She is very alert and active. She wants to stand, sit, talk, grab things etc. Last week she was 13lb5oz. So tiny and co sute !

Love, Molly...

We got it !

2009-11-04T19:31:00.000-08:00

What, you ask? The shot. The H1N1 shot. Yes. After such a long debate and research and swaying back and forth, we are now immunized. In the end, we decided that we will rather listen to people who know what they are talking about, like the doctors (my Dr highly recommended it and is getting it herself), Health Canada, public health nurse and the news. I am one of those that listen to what they hear on the news, they have doctors, investigate, show you both sides etc. Others think that this virus is a conspiracy of a government, or pharmaceutical companies, or both combined. I don't have a single reason to believe they are out there to get me, to hurt me, to make me vulnerable, to deceive me. If they are, well, I still don't have any proof about that.

Also, we have realized something most don't. We are healthy. We don't have any underlying condition. The one we know of, that is. Apparently up to 40 % of people who died (that's huge!) weren't aware they have any underlying condition neither ! So how do you know whether you have it or no ? And other thing, even if we get the swine flu and it's mild as most cases are (although where is the guarantee mine will be mild too?), we would probably pass it onto another person or people. This thing spreads. It's not like when I get it, it stops with me. There is a 5 days incubation period and within those five days I may get in touch with lots of people. I go to school. I go skating. I go to the store. I have a baby. All these people can get it from me if I am to get sick, and may have serious consequences. I do not want to be responsible. I don't believe I will die from the shot, and I don't believe it will make me more vulnerable. I also believe that the more people get sick the more chances it will mutate.

Of course there are doctors that will tell you it's bad for you. But those are very few of them. And of course, it depends on what kind of doctor you ask. A surgeon doesn't necessarily have the same updated information as the family doctor may have simply because they do not deal with it so they don't really understand. I hear it all the time, that this one and that one asked "the doctor", and when they say what kind of doctor, you can clearly see that they do not deal with the vaccinations. It's not that this doctor would lie to you, no, i don't think so, but they may not really know or they may be opposed to vaccination in general. And who will be the one hurt in the end? You. So that's another thing you need to be aware of and do your own homework.

Also, people say it hasn't been tested long enough. Apparently 33 years is not long enough. Or are they even aware that the first swine flu appeared in 1976 and that's when they started tested the vaccine? There hasn't been a single death from the vaccine and no side effects were ever recorded (this was on BBC few nights ago) And I trust BBC.

And I also would like to let you know that a 2 months old baby passed away from the H1N1 in Ontario. The parents weren't immunized and the baby got it from them. So again, how do I know that if I get sick, and pass it onto my baby that it will be mild? Because yours was, doesn't mean that someone else's, or mine, or my baby will be as well. I rather not take that risk.

A pregnant lady got sick and lost her baby. She was not vaccinated. She later said, that her uncle is a doctor who strongly advised her against the shot. She was asked what doctor, and she said a heart surgeon. Who doens't give vaccinations daily, so he didn't know neither. But becuase he held that "Dr." title, she just thought he knows it all.

Anyway, this post actually is not really about my beliefs (and I'm also not looking for opinions anymore since we're done with that - thanks to those who shared theirs before, really appreciated) but I want to share the actual process. I need to vent somewhere.

So I went to Mother Goose, the program we signed up for. We were not able to do few times before, as baby Moesha, wouldn't cooperate (naps etc) But this time she was ready. I stopped at the Health Unit to weight her. They told me I am now eligible for the shot (caregiver of an infant under 6 months) So I went to the walk in clinic. They told me the wait is 15-20 minutes. So I called my husband to come asap. He was not happy, he said he will get it in few weeks at his work. But I made him to come, in few weeks he may get sick. So we are waiting, waiting, with an infant in a room full of coughing people. Husband is mad that he will get sick. I go for a walk. We come back, now it's one hour from time we got there. They ask What doctor are we seeing? We don't know, or care, the first one available please. So they said it will take 20 minutes. I wonder, it was 20 minutes an hour ago. They said We have only one doctor here. Really? So then why do you ask me what doctor am I seeing, does it actually matter?

We never made it to Mother Goose. The 20 minutes turned out to be 2.5 hours. I was freaking out. I actually gave the nurse crap (and we went in shortly after just to wait another 20 minutes in the room itself) I don't care whether your wait is 20 minutes or 3 hours, but tell me, so I can go for a walk (or to Mother Goose in our case) and come back. There is really no point to wait for 5x 20 minutes. And also, when I asked to be let in a room to nurse my baby, I was told all are filled. So that poor alone doctor was in 11 rooms at the same time. Magnificent !

Finally we got our shots. It hurts. Did you know that? The doctor told us "It will take 10 days before your bodies will develop immunity so until then, wash your hands" Of course, we are going to. After that, we apparently don't need to wash our hands as we are immune. Never heard that before, but ok. This is Canada, after all, and we all know the quality of the health care (this post is written by someone who can compare the health care in the so called Eastern Europe, Czech specifically and Canada) But that would be a post for another day.

Bottom line, we got our shots and we are happy about that. I won't judge those that get this shot or those that don't, I think immunizing is important, but after all it's everyone's personal choice. I also hope that someone who choses not to immunize will not pass the virus to my child that cannot be immunized or one of my friends or relatives. As we know, people who are sick, regardless whether they know it or no, don't care and still go out. Today, we were in the store. A lady in a line up behind me, was on her cell phone, behaving very importantly telling someone I must have the swine flu, Im going to see the doctor. She hangs up, turns to Moesha and says: Oh what a cutie pie ! ... and grabs her hand. Great. Since we living with such morons, I think it's really better to get protected. Not only from the swine flu, but also from some people's stupidity.

Halloween updates

2009-11-03T17:05:00.000-08:00

Long time no talk... well, we're quite busy. I had a midterm at school, for which I learnt a night before and I scored 93%. Given this class is so boring, it's a really good result.

We had a great Halloween. Baby Moesha was dressed up as ladybug, although daddy thought she was a caterpillar. Well, these too are so close, it's so easy to make a mistake when one is dressed in bright red sleeper with big black dots and antens. I wouldn't know neither. My friend came over with her family and it was the bestest Halloween ever. We put her up and front so she was the first and only thing they saw when they opened the door, and it was so cute, everyone was commenting on it. She was so tired that she didn't even make a peep and couldn't even work her paci, just held it in her mouth and looked, well not around, but straight ahead. That's all she had energy for.

She is so cute. Today, I took her to the stroller fitness class in the Mall, she was dressed in her super-awesome pink boots, dress and a hat. She of course scored lots of oooh and aaawwhs... She is really petite, but suprisingly, I have a feeling (the visual one) that she is outgrowing her car seat.

We are still really busy. I am running several times a week, but I need to join the running clinic and find a lazy running buddy. I'll do that when we get back from our Secret trip. The rest is filled with playdates, school, skating, errands etc.

Breastfeeding is going great. I only pump to have a bottle when I go to school, or for one bottle we give her at night (at that point, she demands to be bottle fed while sleeping) Silly pickle !

Oh and lots of goings to the States. We love it there. Last week we went to Bellingham and then to Blaine (two trips) We love our Nexus cards !!! Best thing ever, when one is on maternity leave.

Happy Halloween (belated), everyone !

I've been reviewed !

2009-10-21T14:38:00.000-07:00

I got my first review. It is so lovely ! I contacted Courtney from Giftfully Simple and she liked our story and my fingerless gloves and wrote a review on her blog. Please visit it to read it, it's a really sweet post. You can click on the pretty button at the bottom of this post to view the review.

Thanks again !

What about blue?

2009-10-17T15:11:00.000-07:00

I thought that I will share with you few pictures of my funky blue mittens from my adoption fundraising store (if you click on the picture, it will take you straight to my Etsy store) Aren't they adorable ! It's getting cold, that's for sure

Another good one about H1N1

2009-10-13T18:41:00.001-07:00

Well I heard another good one from Team anti-vaccine: The virus was released from the secret u.s. labs on purpose to scare people to get vaccine that contains the secret ingredience that is going to make them more sustainable for the bio weapons being secretly developed in North Korea.

People, you are not helping your cause ! Everytime I hear something so ridiculous, it makes me question the rest what you are saying and sway towards the Team for-vaccines (at least they don't say ridiculous things like that and that makes them more credible). Why would U.S. government want to make their own people vulnerable for something like that, seriously !!!

H1N1 vaccine - How I see it

2009-10-12T20:03:00.000-07:00

You have probably heard, the vaccines kill people. Where have you heard it from though, from internet? Most likely. So let me tell you how I see it. And let me borrow few online articles from other blogs to help me achieve that. I am not going to try to convince you to get the vaccines (I am most likely not, but still thinking) but I would like you to raise few questions and think about it again.

First, visit this link I got from my friend:
http://4littlemen.blogspot.com/2009/10/oh-yes-i-am.html

When I read it first, I really liked what she wrote. But then I read it (and the discussions below) again. This blog contains quite a few incorrect information and misinformation. First, everyone says "it hasn't been tested long enough". One thing: what is long enough? Today's medicine is quite elsewhere then it was years ago and we no longer need decades for testing. People who say this, will not tell you what is "long enough". They do not know. They heard it from someone else, who doesn't know neither. Plus it's not like they started from scratch, they took the base of existing flu vaccine and worked with it.

This blog says "its totally unsafe". Not true again. There hasn't been a death from vaccine yet. There were rumours that a marine and a small girl died, but those were just that, rumours. No death has been confirmed and these rumours are spread by the anti vaccine freaks who don't understand basic chemistry (that I borrowed from yahoo's link I am posting below). Also, my inlaws are sick with cancer and they have weakened immunity, my baby was a preemie with compromised imunity as well, so for them to get this could actually have catastrophic results. The blogger does not go ahead and explain what exactly is totally unsafe, in what regard.

Here she says: - The vaccine production was "rushed" and the vaccine has never been tested on humans. and in next paragraph Swine flu vaccines contain dangerous adjuvants that cause an inflammatory response in the body. This is why they are suspected of causing autism and other neurological disorders. If it hasn't been tested enough and never on humans, so how can it be already known the swine flu vaccine caused autism? How can something that hasn't been given to humans already cause autism? Quite a contradiction, if you ask me and that itself makes me question the rest of her information.

She says Plants will help you. But plants can also kill you. Not everything can be treated with plants and homeopatics and unlike vaccines, the homeopatics treatments actually did lead to deaths of small children. I have a friend who uses nothing but homeopatics and she constantly suffers from migraines and other issues. Many times I wanted to tell her just to go to the doctor and finally get to the bottom of that.

People say "its better to get the H1N1 flue then the vaccine". Again, if you're lucky, your flu will be mild. But if you have underlying condition (like for example my inlaws), it is not better to get the flu then the vaccine.

A friend of mine also tried to convince me that this virus was released accidentaly from the lab in Australia. That proved to be wrong information as well, it was investigated by WHO and the conclusion was that he made it up. Yet many many people still believe it (it plays into their cards)

And now, one thing you don't realize... we only hear the anti-vacciners talking on internet. You won't hear it from news and most likely from your doctor (although there are some who are against it, of course) You may say that doctors won't go against, because they get paid and benefits for vaccinating you. While it may be true, other healthcare providers (like massagists, midwifes, dentist, health care unit nurse, etc) are people who have no benefits of providing you with wrong information and will tell you the same thing. Now, if it's so dangerous and people are dying, why don't we hear about it on the news? You may say: it's because the goverments are trying to hide the truth. So you're telling me that journalits (who are btw like pitbulls when it comes to investigating, they wont leave one stone unturned) didn't find out but you did? Interesting.

The lady in the blog says that her doctor routinely suggests the flu vaccines to the pregnant women, yet in another place she says that he doesn't.

And if you really don't trust your doctor and think he may be not honest with you regarding the vaccines (or anything else), perhaps its time to find a new one.

Bottom line for me is that I'm still undecided. I am not swaying towards either way at this point, we have the benefit of time, as it's not available in Canada as of yet, so we can see what happenes in the U.S. I just don't want to blindly follow the rumours on internet, but I'd like to ask further and analyze why they say this and they say that. What's really better, and where do these rumours come from. Here is another good link I mentioned above with lots of good information I tend to believe rather then the above mentioned blog:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090930183825AAyPmkb

I think that if someone really dies or gets sick from the vaccine, it will be because of allergy or another underlying condition and that the benefits of vaccines far outweight the risks of flus. But again, I'm still undecided what to do. And if for every person who dies after vaccine (and again, I haven't heard about a single person from a reputable source who died) are 10.000 people who die from the flu, then it shows me whats safer.

Please feel free to comment either way.

Marhaba, bambinas ....

2009-10-10T18:36:00.001-07:00

I was asked several times why I named my blog this. Well, for one, I love arabic. I love the countries, food, culture, language. One of my most favorite cities is Sfax in Tunisia, courtesy of a long gone crash. So why not name my blog something arabic. I tell Moesha "Marhaba" every morning when she wakes up. I like how that word sounds (my family came from west Ukraine, they were Jews, but but my country is 2nd least religious country in Europe so over the years, that was lost and they kinda moved onto Christianity. We are truly diverse religion-wise!)

I just had friends over. My friend P was a flight attendant with Emirates Airlines. So envious ! She's such a lovely person, very pretty, funny, kind and her husband whom I've never met is very nice as well. We're going to miss them !

We still haven't got a single diaper rash (yay for team Mama and doing great job !) and we sleep through the night (although we have to nurse lying down - best thing ever!) Baby eats better at night then during the day. And she now rolls over. What a big girl !

We still have quite a few sleeps to our Secret trip to a Magical place (funny cause everyone thinks we're going to Disneyland, haha) I still haven't told anyone except my stepdad and now I gave in and told my brother. Hopefully he'll keep it to himself, too. Moesha cannot wait for what is going to be a start of a busy travelling season.

Hello, nice to meet you!

2009-09-30T22:29:00.000-07:00

Hi there, I see that I have lots of visitors to my blog. Why won't you stop for a minute and leave me a short greeting in the comments, tell me where you're from and how do you like my blog and what brought you here ? I would love to hear from you !!!

Recession gloves

2009-09-25T16:52:00.000-07:00

I named these gloves "Recession gloves" because they are more afordable. I made them plain but very comfortable and snuggly fitted. They are black and have no cable or fingers. Will fit M/L womens hand or about M men's hand. Click on the picture, it will take you to my Etsy store where you can purchase them. All the sales help us with our adoption costs.

Love,
Molly

Diaper rash. What's that?

2009-09-25T16:16:00.001-07:00

Well we really haven't got a single one as of yet! These are the reasons I think (I think) contributed to good bummie's health:

Breastfeeding (doens't irritate the baby's bum as much)
Cloth diapers (contains no chemicals, and baby doesn't stay in them as long as in the sposies)
Baby powder (they say you can't use it, but you totally can, just put it on your hand away from the baby (i do it in the bathroom) or on your diaper directly. I use Avalon organic when the bum shows the first sign of redness)
Wet cloths wipes (the store bought ones do contain certain chemicals, even the natural or sensitive ones. We just use the plain baby cloths and wet them with regular water as much as we can/ remember)

So these are few things you can try with your baby. I have a friend with a baby in the same age as is Moesha, and her baby has a really bad diaper rash ! She is not doing any of those things above but is going to try)

Oh btw, if you read my previous posts I said I will not be sharing baby's name. And now I am blogging about Moesha. Well, that's not her real name but my very good friend Mark was and is referring to her as such and I actually really like it so I am using it as her nickname on her block.

Go Moesha !!

Three months old

2009-09-23T23:52:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

Moesha turned 3 monhts old last Friday ! She was such a good girl. We went to Blaine for our Nexus interview and she said Hi to the officer. It was the cutest thing ever.

We are back to the cloth diapers. We had to stop for a while because I wanted to outsmart everything and everyone and to save some job, I didnt put the inserts into pockets. Turns out, the baby feels the wetness right away. And I do mean *right away*. So we had extra unwanted screaming and it just didn't work. Once I realized my mistake, things improved constantly.

We are also breastfeeding like champs. We had a very rocky start with not much support from my husbands family. Add this to the stress with a jaundiced newborn (which was not result of BF but Gestational diabetes), hormones, no help, baby blues and you guessed right, that makes for one very frustrated and not happy mama. Thank goodness for my friends and Moesha's aunties, they held my head above the water.

Ive heard few some very weird comments. But whatever. I just wished, that people comment on things without sounding like thats the only option and if you do it differently, you better don't. I mean, if you grow up in let's say Jamaican culture, then you will obviously eat the Jamaican food. My baby grew up in me, im her culture so she will eat my food. My body made her and my body knows whats best for her. She is totally thriving and she loves to nurse. She has this funny look like *I know im the cutest* and she talks to the boobie a lot. Thats actually where we get most mumbling ! Sometims she gets BM in the bottle but she doesnt talk to it. Isnt that funny !! Everyone recognizes the benefits of breastfeeding, except like 2-3 people I know, so with all the respect, I am not going to go with them. Plus its not like I only listen to others, but its that I myself also recognize BF as the best of best. You know, those little voices inside your head that tell you whats right and whats not. I dont get easily influenced, I get the facts and then I choose. I definitely look up to doctores, midwifes, friends who recently had babies, scientistic researches, I want to be educated and know everything so I can make best choices. And the more others push, the less likely I am going to listen to what they say.

So thats our BF update. Moesha is now going through her 3 monhts grow spurth so she eats non stop. Poor thing, today we thought she was just tired (she only eats when she wakes up, never before her next nap so you better not miss the chance to feed her!) and she was just hungry ! She cried so much while we tried to make her sleep.

She has a very funny schedule and cues. Like I mentioned, she only eats when she wakes up. That saves me tons of frustration when I kept trying feeding her. She can now play by herself on her mat, then she cries for some cuddles and then out of the blue she starts shrieking. Drop everything and run to the baby ! During the day she sleeps in her sling. I can hold her close, rock her and stil do everything I need to do. She doesnt sleep in the malls and she wakes up if shes moved. During the day, shes a very light sleeper.

She goes sleep around 7. I always thought parents who put their kids to bed at 6 or 7 are not that smart. I planned to keep her up till 10 or 11 so she sleeps longer. Well, yeah, right. That doesnt happen. She demands to go sleep soon. She gets her bath (everyday, she loves it so its an activity itself) and then goes sleep. She used to sleep for 6 hrs for the first stretch but now its only 2-3. Told you, growth spurth. We are nursing lying down which is the best invention ever. She sleeps till 5-6 with few very short breaks (she used to be up 3-4 hours and I was going cookoo) and then she tries to start the day. But mommie wants to sleep more so we sleep together. She is snuggled in my arms and I sleep extremely lightly and feel her every move (eh, I mean tickle, she tickles me a lot) Then we wake up anywhere between 9-11. Not too shabby, right? So sleep is one thing Im getting enough of ! I couldnt be happier.

have a great day everyone, I have so many updates to post !!

Love, Molly and Moesha

Cloth diapers

2009-08-02T10:20:00.000-07:00

For us, the cloth diapering is going extremely well ! The washing is easy, they have really good absorbency, and it's fun to work with. We have already saved lots of money. The only thing that doesn't work for us is the night, we use a sposie as the CD make the baby feel the wetness and she was waking up more often. Since she usually needs the CD be changed several times, the night break could last up to 4 hours ! So we are back to sposies and she sleeps in one (or maybe one change) per night.

I bought mine on eBay, and I just today found an extremely good deal (even better then what I bought myself), 10 All in one for only $39.95 (including discount) and free shipping. Click on that picture, it will take you straight to the seller's listing. Usually CD are about $20 - $25 per piece so make sure to check it out !!

Cute tote bags on Etsy

2009-07-31T13:32:00.001-07:00

Today I visited Etsy again after a very long time and found this cute store "Waves of Creativity", check it out, the bags are awesome !!

Morons !!

2009-07-07T18:36:00.000-07:00

Ok, the place I live in is officially full of morons. You just can't go shopping with a stroller. People just walk against you next to each other, taking the whole side walk and even bump into the stroller. Then I go to try some stuff on and the family room is occupied. So i wait there for 15 minutes in front of it with hangers of clothes (no other room will fit the stroller in and I dont leave it outside) Finally the person inside was finished (one single person who didnt even need a big room, moron!!) I was in tears, so frustrated. Anyway, when that person walked out, another lady comes in and she goes straight into that family room !! Im like Excuse me !! And when she was like Opps, and walked to a regular room, I added: Do you also have a stroller that you need such a big room?

Plus I was obviously waiting for that particular room !! (another) Moron !!

I hate going places now and I love to stay home, rather.

The baby is here !!

2009-06-26T22:50:00.001-07:00

We have a baby ! She was born on June 18th without epidural and everything is great ! I won't be sharing her name or any other details except this one picture on this blog, but if you know me and have my email, just email me and I will let you know, i am sure there are lots of friends out there who we haven't had a chance to notify. She was 2.5 weeks early and is doing really well :)

18 days left

2009-06-16T22:33:00.000-07:00

Today, we had the hospital tour. It was so exciting !! We originally wanted to go to the Langley hospital but we decided to go to Surrey Memorial (they have OB 24/7 while the Langley one has him on call so sometimes he's not available right away) They also have private rooms where all the action is happening, which is great so you dont have to be moved from room to room to room... When I saw all the equipment they have for the babies, I was almost in tears, it was so touching and looked so real. The rooms there are great (better then those we've seen in Langley) The only thing is that the L. is closer to us, but I know now I'd have to switch anyway due to the need of Dr because of my diabetes, I wouldn't be able to go to Langley anymore (as I will need to have Dr at any possible time to evaluate me whenever necessary)

The only thing was that there was a couple with three kids already (why do you need the tour, even if you went to a different hospital, they all look similar!) Anyway the youngest child was bored and constantly crying. They spent majority of time distracting him, tickling him and making him laugh, so he won't cry and I found that quite disturbing, as I couldn't hear half of the stuff the nurses were saying, and I couldn't concentrate. The couple didn't really care about other people and that they can't hear neither, and kept doing their own thing.

We have also decided we don't want any visitors in the hospital at all. I am a very private and secretive person and I can't imagine just being distracted by visits. I don't know how things will go, how much pain there will be and we just want to be alone, private and cozy and just go through this experience without any outside influence. My husband will be calling his parents, we will then try to reach my parents in Prague and as soon as these 4 people are informed, we will start informing everyone else ! I think I mentioned it earlier, but it would break my heart if someone else except my husband's parents would find out before we are able to inform my own parents !!! I just can't imagine. I dont' know why it matters to me so much, but it does and it just has to be that way. It will probably be just a day or so, but it's so very important to us.

I have 18 days left (maximum, I hope!!) and I cannot believe it. It really went so fast. So fast !!! I wanted to have a baby today, 6-16 is such a cute birth date, but it's about 10.42 pm and unless the miracle happens, this baby is not coming tonight. So next cute date is ... hmm... i dont know ! I guess we will now be shooting for Fridays since B has three days off (and that would work great cuase he wouldn't have to take any days off that way)

The baby can now come any day and I still have absolutely no traces of fear, panic or anxiety. In fact, I am really looking forward the labour, pains, my baby and sleepless nights.

And we have already chosen a name but will not be sharing until she is born. It will be a surprise !!

So baby, if you can hear me or read my mind, which I know you can, please take in consideration, that your mommy would like to meet you really, really soon. Like ... now !!

Prayers request (SIDS ment)

2009-06-14T11:27:00.001-07:00

I would like to ask you if you can, send a prayer to my online friend Sarah and her family. When I woke up today I found out that her sweet baby Olivia passed away on Thursday, just 5 days shy of her 6 monhts birthday. The investigation is still ongoing about the baby's death but all signs do point to SIDS. They were putting the baby to sleep on her tummy for several months now and thought she's used to it, so she would be fine. I am heart broken, this was an IVF baby and I know how long they were waiting and how much she meant for them. SIDS scares me to death too.... that will be my biggest worry because it's so unpredictable and even though there are lots of common sense things the parents can do, there is still that little percentage of babies who still die. I am really scared (I know that most babies are fine but still !!) and I am upset over Olivia's death and still cannot believe it. I am not going to have a good day today :( Who would think that 6 monhts old can still suddenly die from SIDS when sleeping on her tummy like she was used to for monhts !!

Please send them some prayers ...

37 weeks today

2009-06-13T22:11:00.000-07:00

Today, I am 37 weeks pregnant. That is full term. The baby shows no signs of coming though ! I know I can have a baby as early as tomorrow and as late as 5 weeks. Hoping for the early one though lol !! Im feeling great, not miserable at all (although my back sometimes hurts, i can hop on my elliptical trainer for two minutes and the pain goes away in no time, how weird !!) So far I'm not wanting the baby to come out only because I'd be miserable, cause Im not. Im just loving being pregnant so much ... I just cant wait to meet her.

And there are so many things to do ... so many that I just dont know where to start. But im not stressing over it, i know I can do what needs to be done once the baby is here. Im though cooking yummy czech dishes and freezing them for later. If they make it that far, cause they are so yummy. Like today, I made something and before I could freeze it I ate half of the pot !!! Really great for my GD.

The baby is now moving. I thought she will pretty much stop once she gets too big and run out of space. That hasn't happened yet (i have lots of amnio fluid) and she still kicks here and there. Too cute ! Im going to miss it so very much. I can feel her feet sticking out constantly through my tummy. She is so adorable ! Im in love .already ..

So (not) productive !!

2009-06-12T01:08:00.001-07:00

Omg my days now are filled with nothing. I wake up, in an hour I go to take a nap, then I wake up some more, another hour later another nap. Then the cats come to me and start poking me - I got out Mimi's massage blanket to cover myself and she got all excited and just had to come and give it a real good massage. And since we can't find anything, especially the claws scissors, I couldnt' really continue napping. They are both so snuggly and hugable these days, they just want to be cuddled and attentioned, I wonder if they know what's about to happen !!!

The baby is doing fine. I need to go P all the time, and I mean all the time. I go, then I come downstairs and I seriously can go again. My feet are quite swollen so I'm advised to keep them up and drink water but there is so much stuff to do ! I can't just lie down the whole day. My back would hurt plus we have that P situation and it's quite hard for me getting up and down now. So i rather run around the house and see what else needs to be done. I'm also freezing some food (I put stickers on it now !!) so I have something to eat cause I dont have anyone who could cook for me often. I've heard that comes handy.

I should start thinking about the birth plan. Well it's still simple: Dim lights, and let me do my thing. I just don't want any arguing cause I know the best. I also don't want anyone in the hospital, to distract me, except my husband and midwife. I can't imainge having like 20 people in the waiting room like on A baby story, that's crazy !! I just want to be alone. We have also decided to tell only my MIL and FIL, but noone else, until we reach my family in Prague. Then we will tell others. It's very important for me that my mom is not the last person to find out we had a baby, that would totally upset me. It's funny, there are some things I don't really care (like the traffic on Wednesday) but some things I'm absolutely specific about. So first we will tell my parents in law, and my parents, and then we will do the big announcement !! That's not unreasonable, is it !!! Dh doesnt' really agree, he thinks he should tell his sisters too, but I'm very strict. I want my mom to know before anyone else does. Then, he can tell everyone else. This is extremely important to me.

We are also getting closer to choose the name. We have three options and at this point, we are just going to use them all (if we end up having three girls) so we just need to choose the order !! I think though we will go with option 1. But we will not be telling neither, until the baby is born ... DH says we don't know yet, I say we do but we're not sharing lol ... He thinks it's easier to say we don't know and I think we do have the right to keep it secret for now. I also don't want to deal with the unecessary critisizing that comes with stuff like this.

I think the baby can come now. Why not? We're almost ready (except the stroller, it should arrive today but noone called us) I'll be full term on Saturday, and due date in three weeks, so she is totally ready. I can't wait to meet her but I will miss her inside. I love her kicks and stuff, it's so cute ! But she doesn't show any signs of trying to come out. No testing, no braxton hicks, not a single contraction, nothing. I think I may stay pregnant forever, like I wanted, actually....

I am obsessed !!!! (with my belly shots)

2009-06-08T11:35:00.000-07:00

I can't stop taking my belly shots. Most of the pictures are horrible, and unshareable, but from time to time a jewel one appears. Yay !! We got these taken at the Babies and bellies fair a day I stopped working. I just got them last week and I cannot stop staring at them. It was only $25 for few (which is fine), but the normal session would cost us $200 - 300 !!! Totally worth it. I am gonna try to go to another baby shower (this one is commercial, for pregnant mommies) tonight and I am hoping they will have another photographer there.

35w3d - belly shot

2009-06-02T18:41:00.001-07:00

I finally got a good belly shot ! I took so many I hated, but im in love with this one. I went to Walmart in the afternoon for a photoshoot but I still like this one way better. Plus its so expensive ! They have a package for $7.99 but you get one single shot. I chose to buy 5 separately that was $10 each. And if they enhance it, it's $20 per pic. I can do that free in photoshop !

I'm also working on few miniscrapbooks for my parents and MIL from the parties we just had. I got some nice pictures, and the scrapbooks are so cute. I realized (it suddenly hit me !!) that I cannot do everything so I'm dropping my scrapbooking business all together (maybe I will do some christmas paper bags, those do sell) I'll only keep my knitting, and Im trying the clippings. So now when I dont scrapbook for sale, I'll be doing some little projects as gifts. I think that will be way better. I am relieved, too !!! I was so busy, jumping all over things and never got anything finished. The only thing that really works for me sales-wise are my fingerless gloves. So I'll concentrate on that.

32 days go to

2009-06-02T11:26:00.000-07:00

Last night I totally freaked out cause I haven't felt baby for few hours. I've heard that they move the most between 28 - 32 weeks, and then it kind of stops. My baby is having playdates with her new imaginary friend often, nothing stopped. Even now when I'm typing this, she is having hiccups so strong the sofa I'm lying on (elevating my swollen right ankle - left one is ok for some weird reason) feels like it's jumping up !!!

We have one of those baby dopplers I got on eBay with a Christmas discount. So I took it out and I couldn't find the heartbeat !! Then B came and of course he can find it in no time. Oh well, I'm one of those worriers. I'm definitely going to get one of those breathing monitors and take infant CPR and memorize all the reaons that may lead to SIDS. When people get new baby, they usually don't sleep and that will work with me, so I can stay up all the time and watch her being safe.

It's so hot here. I couldn't sleep last night so I was up till 4 am (something I dropped few monthsago) and organized some baby shower gifts. I wrote some cards, but i was still not tired. I want to move. Somewhere really really cold. The Arctic actually sounds seriously inviting.

Until today, I do not understand, how from all places on earth, I ended up living in Tunisia for few years. It's so hot there !!! The only explanation I have is that it's kind of expected that it's hot in Africa, so I probably didn't mind that much. I was always busy working so I didn't get to the beach often and I was not even interested. And of course I had a/c wherever I was staying. But still, imagine that I'd ended up there forever !! I would melt by now.

I've heard that the older people get, the more cold they get. Me, I'm the opposite. I think the older I get, the more I hate summer. I am really envious when I hear people love being hot. I think if I'd love being hot I would probably enjoy the summer, too. But that's not the case. I'm going to suffer through it, and I can't even eat ice-cream. It's 11 am and I'm already melting. I dont have desire to do anything. Hopefully it will get cold soon ! Some rain would be awesome, too.

The Thank you cards

2009-06-02T01:17:00.000-07:00

Like I said before, I couldn't use the $1 for 10 Thank you cards from the dollar store. So I made my own, scrapbook style ! Aren't they adorable ! The writting inside will be done in white with my gorgeous handwriting. I hope everyone who attended my baby showers will like them :) I also decided that I will make the birth announcement the same way. I will make similar cards and glue the picture of the baby inside. I do that with my Christmas cards and honestly, they are the nicest ones I see each year around.

Another baby shower !!!

2009-06-01T22:16:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, I had another baby shower !! This one was organized by my husband and his family, and lots of their friends, and my friends from work and one Czech one came. It was so cool ! I just wanted to talk to everyone and everytime I went to start opening the gifts, I got distracted by yet another person I really had to talk. The baby is totally spoiled. She got so many outfits, little things like blankets, sockies (did you know how tiny the baby socks are!!!), and I especially loved the Bear baby bible (we're not that religious but I really wanted to get a children bible (and children koran) so she knows the basic stories from these two books) and the swing, that I didn't have yet. I spent today's evening making my own scrapbooked Thank you cards, cause I decided those sets from dollar store (10 for $1) will just not be good enough. My cards I made are really pretty. I'll post a picture when I download it.

Today is very hot. It's not a secret I hate summers. I absolutely do and I always had. My favorite is autumn and winter. I really don't get, why people love being hot, sweaty, why they love not being able to sleep and being sunburnt. When someone says I love this heat, the hotter the better, I just roll my eyes. For me, the ideal weather is rain, wind, fogs, snow, cold, just those awesome miserable days when all you want to do is to stay home and snuggle in your bed with your cats and a basket of knitting. I always say, when you're cold, you can put a sweater on, or take another blanket. But what do you do when you're hot? Nothing!!!

Summers for me are totally miserable. I hate hate hate them. This one will be different as I will finally have my baby but I'm sure I'll resume with longing for autumn and winter pretty soon.

A Baby Shower !!!!

2009-05-29T19:00:00.001-07:00

My day started pretty miserable. I woke up just to find out that my cell phone is still not working (we changed the providers yesterday) There are tons of people who must have my valid number (and same one, preferably): midwife, new OB who hasn't called me yet, other people, etc. So I am calling in between both providers, new and old the whole morning, they keep transferring me, hanging up on me, losing connection, telling me different things each time. At one point I just broke down and started crying. I definitely do not mind outsourcing, in fact I am one of the few who are fans (well, we got our jobs cause it was outsourced to Canada in the first place) and I realize it's great to get money and bump up economy in those countries that need it really bad. But what happened to me this morning is totally ridicolous. I don't mind outsourcing, like I said, but I hate the quality of the customer support (if you can call it that) Fido and Telus is now providing. In the end they told me that it will take one week for my number to be activated. With my due date fast approaching and the GD complications, I don't think I can be without the phone for one whole week.

I was supposed to be at a Knitting party at my friend's at 11 but I had to call her that I will be late. When I was calling, I was still crying.

Then I left (she lives very close to me) and almost got into an accident, by a guy who just really had to be one car ahead (he had a baby in his car, too !!! I absolutely hate these aggressive drivers, yet alone when they have kids in the car. I got to my friends and there was no Knitting Party !!!

It was a baby shower, my synchro skating team was surprising me with. They apparently started planning while we were in Kelowna and they were just told I'm pregnant ( I was still skating until 4 months, and didn't tell anyone, but that was my last skating, I quit after that for the season) I can't believe I didn't find out, cause I normally do find out about things like this. I guess the clues and puzzle them together lol

I got so much stuff !! So much that now I feel embarassed for getting so much. There is so much clothes, books, diaper cake, hand crochetted blanket (wow!!!), even an amazing gift certificate (that one will go towards the swing and hand breast pump that I still don't have) I really couldn't believe it. Everyone came to celebrate my baby and oh, I loved those cards, so adorable. I'm definitely going to keep them all to show my baby one day. And I even got another $3.50 coupon off for my favorite eco diapers, so I went to Walmart get them right away before I lose it.

Then when I got home, another friend (from school) shows up with more gifts. OMG !! Baby can now come any day (actually wait till the 11th of June cause we still don't have the stroller with the car seat)

Here is one picture (hopefully I'll be getting better ones) And no, I didn't knit a single stitch, but I was told another Knitting party will be happening soon.

This is my skating team's first baby, can you believe it, over the years, no-one had a baby on team (they had babies before or after, but not during)

And my cell phone is still NOT working!

38 days left !!

2009-05-27T22:52:00.000-07:00

I am getting restless. I can't wait anymore !! Unfortunately I know my due date is the right one (no guessing) So I cannot just go and say ok, it's time for the baby now, probably, let's get things started lol .... I really have to wait.

I had the clinic today. I am doing good !! However, the units of insulin were increased. So now Im on the max what the needles can handle and if it is increased next week again, which most likely will, I will have to do two shots.

My right leg is getting restless too. I am advised to keep my feet up (swelling) by the clinic, but to lean forward as much as I can (puts the baby in the right position and prevents back labor) by my midwife. I had a massage today to help with the leg, it hurt ! The only thing that helps me is my elliptical trainer, actually.

The baby now not only kicks, but she also keeps her legs in where she just kicked for a while (she's stretching) It's so neat cause we can totally feel the little bumps here and there. She still gets hiccups and we can feel them with the hand. So cool !

I had a lazy day. I wanted to sleep, but couldn't, even if my cats were helping me. I also didn't want to do anything, although there is so much I could do... Some days are just like that. I dont even want to go sleep, since i cant sleep anyway and it is hurting my right leg. But its ok, Im not complaining, just stating :) Im still not miserable at all... Im totally loving this.

P.S. Just found out that my step-niece is studying to be a fashion designer so my mom immediately booked her to sew dresses for my baby !!!! Wow !!

39 days left !!!

2009-05-26T01:27:00.000-07:00

And I'm still feeling great, not miserable at all !! My baby belly is growing so big and I'm loving it. Yesterday, the baby both had hiccups and was kicking at the same time. Multitasking like mama !!!

We bought a stroller. Of course, as soon as we bought it, I'm already not happy with it. I now want a jogger. But they don't come with the car seat and those alone are at least $200. So unless I find someone I can borrow it from, I will keep the stroller we bought. We also bought a mattrace and I organized all my baby clothes (or at least I hope it's all, I fear there are more boxes in the garage) I also finished creating the wall art - the teddy bears pictures from the old calendar. They are so adorable !! I have a feeling the baby's room will be the most beautiful room in the whole house (right now, one of the bathroom is, I'm totally in love with it)

My MIL is going to help me saw some stuff, the windows curtains, the rocking chair I got from a friend, and few more things. We will go together buy a fabric, probably next week (she's busy this week) That will be fun !!! I would like to do it myself but I don't think the baby would like my sewing skills.

I don't like going to sleep now. I stay awake a long time and when I fall asleep, it's time to wake up and go P. I only get good sleep in the morning (I love sleeping in the mornings, Im a night person) but it's usually time to get up. I like the twighlight naps but don't want to take them cuase then I sleep even less at night.

I also washed all my diapers, snapped them for the smallest size and inserted the inserts. So that's ready too !!!

I am also being transferred to an OB due to my diabetes complications. Bummer !! Turns out when someone gets on insulin, midwife cannot stay the main health care provider. That's ok though. Im really happy that it was caught so early and that I'm being advised to watch my diet and stuff. One of my new online friends I just made gave birth to her baby and the baby was born blind, complication of GD, that hasn't been caught as early as mine, she said. If one more person tells me these tests are stupid or even not necessary as the possibility one has it is so small, I'm seriously going to freak out. I don't like to be frustrated by people who do not understand the danger of these things and think that everything can be treated with homeopatics and time (which when you're pregnant you don't really have)

So now, we have a stroller, crib, changing table (oh I found the plastic boxes that fit, in Ikea !! I wanted the wicker baskets but would you believe they do not have those in BC at all, at least those that would fit? ) I have two playpens and tons of clothes.

So now we only need to clean up, saw things I mentioned above, and get the little bathtub and make some washing stuff and wipes. Oh and a baby, we need to get the baby too. Then we're all set !!!

The doctors - why I dont want them

2009-05-20T21:44:00.001-07:00

A friend of mine recently told me (it's the one I mentioned previously few times) "oh but you love going to doctors" Well, not really. But I just don't hate them as much as she does. But it's not fun regardless. Today I went again for my diabetes checkup. There were so many people !!! I went in with a nurse, to check on the numbers and then went to see the Dr. I was the only one waiting. I went to the washroom and when I came back, there were 4 more ladies already waiting for him too. There was no seat to sit down and I had to go around the corner. I started freaking out, because I was already waiting for more then 30 minutes, and I was thinking that when he's done with previous patient, he will not see me and will take someone else. After almost an hour I was almost in tears, frustrated with the long wait and my wild visions of being ignored. So yes, I really love going to the doctors. I have nothing better then just sit in a waiting room full of germs I guess and wait till allelujah.

The numbers though are getting better, however I got my insulin numbers increased. Not happy !!! But as long as it's getting under control. Im also starting to getting some water retention, although I don't notice, he did. But given I have little over 5 weeks left, I'm still doing awesome !! There was a lady with a due date about a month after me (I overheard) and she was twice my size (not kidding) My belly is getting really big but otherwise I don't see any other gain (there may be some but I don't see it) I don't feel big, or elephanty or gross or anything like that !!!

Also a very close friend of mine from Prague just emailed me she's pregnant too, and her due date is few weeks after mine. Well hello, you tell me just now? All the time you knew that I'm having a baby but didn't say anything? Never mind, I forgive you anyway, congratulations, Gabi and let's hope for a soon playdate :) She's having a girl like we are yay !!

After that I went to Ikea, unfortunately, and I had this awesome salmon plate lunch. OMG that was so good, I was starving so much (I now can only eat every 4 hours only) I had it before but I don't remember it tasting so good. See how hard I'm trying to control my diet? Salmon, veggies, boiled potatoes and diet coke (plus a look at lingonberry desert) This kind of lunch does wonders with the blood sugar.

And I also got these awesome boxes for the shelves for the baby's clutter, like toys, craft... this baby will be very organized, eventhough B doesn't think so as of yet and hates those boxes lol !! but they look really good and will organize the small toys and stuff very nicely. Once my nursery is done I'll post pictures

P.S. Got the email from my midwife. The baby was curled and they couldn't peak at the gender to double check. So for now, the baby is still a girl (and hopefully stay that way) All other things that resulted in the need of my u's (low lying placenta and RVOT, whatever that means) are solved !!!! So all looks great and we're ready to go. I can have a baby anyday between now and about 6 weeks, if I go to labour, they will not stop it anymore. So I am officially on a baby watch already and just waiting. But didn't I mention it yesterday? So excited !!

Missed Desperate housewifes finale

2009-05-20T01:20:00.000-07:00

Our DVD broke down on Sunday but didn't return any error message. Weird that it broke down for my show, not for my husband's one. But it may be a coincidence. So if anyone watched it, can you please leave me a post what happened? I heard Lynnette is pregnant? But that's all I know. We had fun watching Survivor though not knowing DH is not taping.

33w3d - appointments

2009-05-19T15:56:00.000-07:00

I had my midwife appt this morning. All goes well !! I asked lots of questions including if I can bring blender to the hospital which apparently is a very silly question. I also didn't gain weight in about seven weeks which is starting to get worrisome, but baby is healhtly, getting enough food, and growing, so that's all what counts. And if she takes my own weight, fine by me !!! If this continues, the day after labour I will be below my starting weight. Again, fine by me, I guess. BP is great too, 110/60 or something, whatever that means. Not high at all. The baby is now in the right position to be born, head down, and probably will not be moving anymore. My belly is now sticking out but you still can't tell from the behind Im 8 monhts pregnant. Anyway im at the point that if i go to labour now, they will not stop it but will go on with it !! So the baby can be born any day between now and next 6-7 weeks. Also turns out that due to my GD I have to go see an oB/gyn, too. So after all im getting the best of both worlds.

Then we went to EI, just to ask few questions. It's so impossible to call them and get through so I rather go there in person. Turns out I still have to call them, bummer !!

Next, was the u/s to double check on my placenta, RVOT and the gender. This time we went to the place close to where we live. They still wouldn't tell me (oh I hate this policy !!!) but at least he checked this time (and will tell my midwife) They wouldn't tell me if the baby is ok, or if placenta moved, or RVOT is ok, just nothing. He wouldn't even tell me if he was able to see the gender or not, yet alone if the baby is still a girl. I do have a feeling though that at one point the guy said "her legs" but I'm not totally sure. My next appt is next Friday so I will ask again.

And now I'm exhausted but I have to plant my 4 baby tomatoes plants. Then I will go clean the catnip off my cats and the floor. The monkeys have learnt how to open the catnip bottle !!!

33w1d - random updates

2009-05-18T00:00:00.000-07:00

Ok, i have now less then 7 weeks left, how fast it goes !! I thought i will never get here but it's here and yet it still feels so far away. Today I was having some pains but we went for a walk and it went away. It came back as soon as I sat down.

We set up the crib and the changing table. There is something recalled but I can't figure out what it is, so I ordered the recalled part replacement and we're really courious what will come. I'm going to Ikea tomorrow to buy frames so I can make the teddy bear pictures from the old calendar and buy some boxes to organize stuff. Once the recalled part arrives, we will buy the mattrace and set up the bedding. My MIL wants to come over one day and sew the curtains for the baby's room so it matches the bedding. It will be so cute !! I love sitting in the rocking chair and just stare into the blank. I dont know why... That room has some really cute atmosphere even if it's not set up properly.

Otherwise everything goes well. I still can bend, do a split, tie my shoes etc. I just can do pretty much anything !!! Except sitting long time and sleep (sleep is a challenge, I wake up so often and cannot get into that deep stage)

The sugar is getting under control as well. Today the number was so low that I actually had to have a lunch earlier then I supposed to. So I am now thinking i just have regular gestational diabetes, not the regular one. We will of course see once the baby is born. But its also very interesting to see how I react to different foods and what works for me and what doesn't. I had no idea about some foods and their reaction. For one, I am not a breakfast person. But actually the breakfast for me is what works the best - the sugar goes down really fast and before lunch it's totally under control. I like to eat at night and that's where I am struggling.

My husband commented on my belly. He thinks it grows really big in the past few days. He said he thought it looked still small for 8 monhts few days ago. Funny, huh? I thought when i will get pregnant I will gain so much weight and all over, but im only gaining in my tummy and my belly is sticking out and it's firm (not soft and melted all over) Pretty much anything in my pregnancy is a total surprise, nothing goes like I thought or books told me will happen lol (I had no nausea, no cravings, except sugar, no headaches, no discomfort, except some back pains, but who doens't have back pain these days, I have no fears or panic from the upcoming labor, etc) Fine with me !!

GD update - 32w4d

2009-05-13T23:16:00.000-07:00

Turns out there were no good news after all. I lost about 4 pounds since last week, yet my sugar numbers are so bad I am now on insulin shots. The baby is fine, they say it won't affect her or me, but I have to be really really careful so she doesn't get too much sugar and develop the diabetes herself. I am quite scared even though they say this is common. I am sure it is, but still, once you are in that situation, you don't really care about the commoness.

This makes me even more mad at one of my friend who thought I shouldn't go for the GD test in the first place, that the doctors are looking for things that are not there and have nothing better to do then label you with diseases. That the possibility of being diagnosed is so low it's not even worth it. Yet i did fall into that small possibility and even into insulin-needed cateogry !! While there are lots of test this could apply, the GD test is not one of them !!!! When caught this early (well kinda), and the adjustments are done, both baby and mama will be fine. If not, the baby will face serious health issues, and what kind of friends I have to advise me against these critical tests because she refused herself (fortunately she was the lucky one and didn't have any GD so she thinks no one should go for these tests I guess) Not everything can be treated with organic food and homeopatics. I did eat well, excercised, I had no symptoms, absolutely none, yet I was diagnosed and quite seriously. All my other friends are very supportive, and are glad it was caught on time and wish me luck, except that one.

My mom also did some research and turns out one of my cousins also had GD with her baby. I plan to find out some more information when I can. We may have it in the family genes after all.

When I went to the pharmacy they asked me if I want a pen or syringes. I wanted syringes. Pens are so difficult (i have to mix it) and I know how to use needless already. So they said ok, we'll give you syringes and then they gave me a pen. Why, don't know, but it frustrates me people don't listen. I asked them to replace it and now I got my 100 pieces of needles. I'm happy about it (well not really but the shot-wise I am) I took the first shot and I didn't feel a single thing. It's really really easy.

Ok so that's all for now, and I'm off to do some self-pitiness now.

The sugar update II

2009-05-12T23:09:00.000-07:00

Tomorow I have the meeting with the doctor. I hope that he will give me some good news !!! I have figured out quite a few things so far.

This is what works for me: Breakfast - cereals with half banana and milk. Chocolage fudgicles, 2g of sugar each. Midnight snack: fruit with plain yogurt (they say don't eat fruit before breakfast but it works for my ketons, not so much for the morning sugar but not that bad) Exercise (I have the elliptical trainer at home)

This is what I found out I hate: no sugar food, artificial sweeteners (I only like the Diet coke, hate everything else) I would rather eat plain yoghurt then the artifically sweetened one. I do have full fridge of those so I will finish it but I will not be buying anymore of that crap.

My MIL is a very good cook and she's so sweet. She made me tons of veggies on Saturday and I am eating it with every food. Especially her broccoli is so good !! Today I had some for my dinner, with piece of chicken and mashed potatoes/cauliflower and my sugar was 5.7 with a target of 7.8 or lower one hour after the meal !!! I did throw one short excercise in it, though, but still, isn't that great ?

I colded the baby twice already. Someone told me if you put ice pack on your tummy, she will start moving away. I hated that idea but now I tried it, just really really shortly (I don't want to cold my baby at all) and it really works !! I am sure she is still nice warm and snuggly inside, it's just a funny excercise. I don't think I will be doing it anymore, though. People say drink orange juice to make the baby move but juice is off limits for me now. But I have a baby doppler I got on eBay so if in doubt i can quickly check and assure myself the baby is ok.

7 more weeks to go yay !!! I am not having any discomfort, or at least not seeing any, I feel great, I can't sleep, crave sugar, P all the time, fun times !!! But I do consider it feeling great. Cause I don't know if I should feel any different, I think myself that most women at this point have way more discomfort, thats why I think I feel great. I could stay pregnant forever, I wouldn't mind (I think) Except I cannot wait to meet my little baby girl !!!

The sugar update

2009-05-11T21:44:00.000-07:00

Turns out one of my cousins had GD as well. So we may after all have it in the family. I also think we have had pre-eclampsia so I'm watching for that very very carefully but I think at this point I'm fine, my blood pressure is low low low even for a non pregnant woman, yet alone 8th month.

I am doing quite good with sugar, though (I think) What works for me is the one cup of Life cereals and half banana with milk for breakfast, my sugar before lunch is just awesome !! So awesome I had 14g-sugar ice popsicle. And guess what, before dinner I was only 0.1 point above the target (which is 5.3) I am usually about 6-7.5 range. I have the eliptical trainer at home that I got for free on Craiglist so I do it several times a day. I did it after my dinner today and my sugar was 0.8 under the target, which is huge !!! So Im going to have some spinach ice-cream for midnight snack (Don't worry, I love that thing, I've been making it now for years and Im totally addicted and i love grossing people out)

Today we washed (well not me, I was napping) the carpet in baby's room. Once it dries, we will set up the crib and then I will go to Ikea to buy the pictures frames so I can create the teddy bear collage from an old calendar. That will be so cute !!! I did the similar collage with bizzare paintings of old city of Prague for downstairs in the kitchen and it's just so beautiful. I love it, really. And it was so cheap... I just bought frames, stained them, I got papers in Michaels and I took the old calendar from grandma she got from my mom's work for free.

When we were moving out the stuff to wash the carpet (we have our own machine, courtesy of the cats throwing up every other day), my husband saw all the baby clothes. He said (ironically) Oh my god we don't have enough clothes!! To which I replied I know !!! We really have a lot lol ... but it's ok, they are all so cute and I'm sure we will indeed find out we really don't have enough eventually. I just have to sort it by sizes and once baby outgrows it I will save it for the next (two) one(s). For all that trouble with the sugar and stuff I'm going through, I would think I deserve to get some more baby clothes and equipment, no?

Happy Mother's day !

2009-05-09T23:50:00.000-07:00

This will be my real first Mother's day. So what the baby is not born yet, it doesn't matter ! I am already a mommy (although still in waiting) but it's ok. My baby is here (even if still in my tummy) and I deserve to have a very special day.

Last year I was heartbroken over the problems we were having and all the issues that happened to me. I was on a medical leave from work, and just about nothing went right. It was the worse year I ever had.

I know now that this was the plan written in my fate book. Without everything, I would not be able to apply for adoption. If I could just get pregnant just like that, I would probably have my three babies by now and there would be one day somewhere a little girl waiting for her mommy, but it wouldn't be me.

This year, I have two babies on the way. One will be born in about 8 weeks, one hasn't been even conceived yet. Tomorrow is going to be a very special day for me, first of many and I am going to enjoy it !!

We have a LID !!!

2009-05-09T12:30:00.001-07:00

I just found out that we have a LID: April 16th, 2009. Yay !!!! So that means, we may be matched with a baby in June 2012. Now the real waiting starts. Ive been told the current waiting times are approx 38 weeks, so I may be able to have one more baby before we go to China, or I will have to wait, I don't know at this point. The waiting time will most likely go up by the time we get closer. I would kind of like to have one more before, and kind of want to wait once we're back with our new daughter. We will see how things go. Either way it's so exciting !!!

31w3d - My last day of work (for good)

2009-05-05T16:38:00.000-07:00

So while the previous post was regarding the last day of work before my maternity leave, as of today it's clear it was my last day of work ever. I will not be able to go back to my work and will look for another one once my maternity leave is over.

I also went to the GD education class today. It didn't start well. Who's freaking coming to the 9am class at 9.45. Full of McDonalds breakfast (We all have GD, remember, moron !!!) So the class was delayed and at 31+ weeks it's just not fun to wait 45 minutes for some morons who don't think they need to be on time. So I am trying to switch for another hospital, who is little better organized (if you're not there, we are starting without you and you will have to book another day, your fault!!! Noone will be waiting for you 45+ minutes, even if you pay for their parking that got extended thanks to you) I am developing zero tolerance for unnecessarily waiting and i definitely remember and still regret that I didn't switch places in the past, specifically last summer when given the chance. Not switching is not paying off for me. You get one chance and if you screw up, I'm done. I learnt my lessons (finally)

Ok, off to poking my finger to check on the sugar. Yikes.

31w - I'ts my last day today !!

2009-05-02T12:19:00.000-07:00

I never ever thought this day will come, it seemed to be so far !! But it really really happened. Today is my last day at work. There will be no more commuting (at least for a year), no more traffic nightmares (although I go off rush hour, it's still sometimes frustrating), gas bills, late night driving home, sitting whole day, etc. I am really going to miss few things: my friends the mostly, I made so many in those 3.5 years I've been here. I'm going to miss the free pop we have at work, the gym we have just next to the office. But there are tons of things I will not miss at all.

So today I'm sitting here, and I dont have to work. But I'm bored so I'm still going to work little. I cannot just sit here for 8 hours and do nothing... I need to pack few of my things, return the parking pass and that's pretty much all.

Tomorrow I will officially start my new job: Mommy in waiting. As of today, I have 2 monhts and 2 days left to my official due date. However, I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes on Thursday so we may have the baby little earlier. I am also going to pack my hospital bag early and finally clean the house (I've been promissing this for years, I know!!) I have to organize my craft supplies and list whatever I have for sale. I will also do lots of walking and organize baby's nursery. We are pretty much all set, except we have to buy a stroller with a car seat and get the little bathtub. Otherwise I have everything I think.

I also found a photographer. She seems nice !! I really want some cool pregnancy pictures but everyone is so expensive. With the ongoing adoption on top of this baby we can't really afford the regular rates so everything we can get little cheaper just helps !!

I'm loving my pre-natal classes. They are so much fun and I'm learning so much !! I do not have any fears or panic from the upcoming labor. Not even one. I find it little weird, and I also find it weird that I'm looking forward the pain and stuff !! But again, for me everything is a part of adventure. Even vacation, the flight or travelling is not the necessary evil, but the adventure itself. So this kind of approach may be why I don't really have fears.

Tomorrow we're going to Vancouver to attend some kind of baby fair. I don't really know what to expect but nevertheless we're excited. I hope to get some goodies, maybe, and see all the cool accessories they will say my baby absolutely needs. So that will be awesome to see. We're not taking much $$ just in case so they cannot convince us to buy everything lol...

Ok, bye bye work !!!

4 more days of work left

2009-04-26T19:03:00.000-07:00

As of tomorrow, I only have 4 more days of work !! I decided back in January that I will work till the end of April. It seemed so far, it seemed like I will never get there, but now it's so close. So what am I going to do? Oh there is tons of things I want to do !!!

- Do some scrapbooking. I want to make a book for my trip to Boston and to Prague, and one for my mom for her visit here. Plus I have about 4 years of catching up and I want to do some more paper bag albums for sale. The pictures above are from the book I made for my mom when I went to Prague 2 years ago

- Knit knit and knit. I will watch tons of movies I didn't have time for and knit for my fall inventory and some baby hats. I want to complete her outfits with matching accessories !!

- Go see my friends. They all live in the North Shore and I didn't have time to see them for a very long time

- Go to the Beach with other friends and go swimming

- Clean the house and clean the garage

- List more stuff on eBay and Etsy

- Take a nap every day

- Cook healthy and bake bread

- Play with my cats nonstop (I love love love those little monkeys!!)

- Sit on my balcony and soak in the sun and grow some vegetable (on the balcony)

And tons of more stuff there is out there for me to do yay !! I can hardly wait, seriously. And of course, I will spend most of the time watching my baby kick !!!