Wednesday, January 30, 2013

So how are those resolutions going...

I thought that I would attempt to do a monthly update on the progress/or lack of on those brilliant New Year's Resolutions that I made about a month ago....so here is the honest truth.

1. Lose 10 kg: Well, I lost like 1kg. I still have 11 months to go, so not a complete failure....but let me tell you...I didn't do a whole lot to try to accomplish this one. I think I may have gone to the gym maybe 4 times .... so... work in progress. 

2. Read 3 books: I easily got this done this past month. I knocked off Sutton, A Game of Thrones, and The Year of Living Biblically. They were all pretty good books, but I especially liked A Game of Thrones. Now, I'm usually not into fantasy novels (like at all), and the part where the girl was breastfeeding a dragon kind of (well totally) grossed me out....but I'm hooked...and can't wait to start the next one. 

3. Family Outing: Well we went to the Children's Museum of Manhattan, so we did actually go do something new....but otherwise to cold to go out and do much. 

4. Vacation: The wheels are turning...where to go where to go....So, here is what we are thinking...We may go to DC or Boston for a short trip relatively soon. Also, we are thinking of visiting Tokyo and Singapore (well I'm hoping both) later in the year....this will be amazing....but I haven't really gotten the go ahead from Ten....but fingers crossed.

5. Spending active time with Mia: I'd say we are doing really well with this one. Every day I do activities with her through a company called Mother Goose Time. Also, we still go to story time, play groups, classes, and all of that great stuff....plus all the unstructured sillies we get into.

6. Find our new home: I do not even want to think about this daunting task...so I'm going to give myself a big fat F. Tis all for now on that one.

7. Make Ten's lunch: They've gotten a lot better...and should upload a picture to prove it...next time my friends.

8. Charity Walk: Ten is on board for this one....but I haven't quite found what I'm looking for just yet...so still in progress.

9. Blogging: Well if you are reading...you may have noticed that this is only the 4th post this month...so epic fail here....but I did go through the blogs I read and deleted those that haven't been updated in months....baby steps people.

10. Grown up appearance: You be the judge....



11. Money: I've got my usual couple of hours a month deal working for a professor....but I wish I could continue more with this online thing I'm doing... more to come on that later.

 12. Loose ends: I've made a giant list....and currently I'm working on Mia's baby book...so getting there.

Anyway, this post was way too long...so will need to change the format a bit I think....but overall making slow progress.  How are you doing on your resolutions??



Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Mia at 9 Months

Dear Mia,

You are now 9 months old, and we just had too many cute pictures to choose from this time.


This past month, you have learned so many new things. You are now saying *bob*mom*mama*dada* and all kinds of other sounds. You also love to raise your voice. This is especially true at bath time. You hear the bathwater running and you take off crawling towards the bathroom at full speed saying *ahh* as loud as you possibly can. You love your baths.


Not only did you start crawling this month, but you are also pulling yourself up on anything and everything. You have even tried to cruise along holding onto the couch...but you don't get too far before you find something that you would like to chew on instead.


At your last doctor's appointment, you weighed in at just over 20 pounds and are almost 28 inches long...moving up those percentiles quickly. 


You've even started to sign and respond to some sign language. You sign milk yourself, but you get very excited when we do *eat* or *water.* Yes, you love drinking water from a cup with a straw in it...very exciting I imagine.




Oh Miss Mia, your little, or I should say big, personality is coming out more and more....you are mischievous that is for sure....but you are also so obedient at the same time. When mommy says *no* you stop doing whatever it is you shouldn't be....like playing with the cans for recycling or heading for the computer cords...daddy on the other hand has yet to tell you no with any real meaning...hahaha....but we will see how long all of this lasts.


You make waking up each day such a joy. Daddy says that you make him a stronger person...so I hope you can feel all of the love we give you...but I'm sure you do....because you give us so much more in return.


Love,

Your mommy and daddy.

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Weekend Roundup

I really wanted to post this yesterday...but it feels like my weekends kind of spill over into Monday. I think that weekends could potentially be the busiest time for housewives. Everyone is home all at once so there is more to take care of...so Tuesdays during Mia's first nap are my first moments of peace...anyway I digress from the main purpose of this post...to share our fabulously average weekend.

My New Year's Resolutions are still going strong, so I wanted to find something we could all do together to start the month off right... so we planned a trip to the Children's Museum of Manhattan. Here is a picture of Mia making foam pieces fly around with her hand. She had  great time, but the baby area had a bunch of kids who I believe were nearing junior high running around...so we had to play bodyguard most of the time...not fun for us.




...and peeps....this place charges $11 per adult...so that you can sit in an overcrowded room with half broken exhibits....so I'm glad we checked it out on the free night... would have been so not worth the money....but Mia had fun, so it was worth the 20 minute walk there and we will probably take advantage of it again next month.

Anywho, Saturday we headed to swim class...here is me...not showered... with our little swim champ...haha


I actually got to chatting with a very nice mom...and I'm hoping this could potentially be a mommy friend....still testing the waters...but looks promising...fingers crossed.

Sunday we had to go shopping to buy clothes for baby girl...like the outfit? .... clearance items.... :)


On Monday, we went to story time where Mia actually played with the other babies now that she can officially crawl...it was fun...but sometimes I wish the nannies wouldn't hover over all of the kids.... can't they just play? Do we always have to make every experience a gateway to Harvard kind of deal... I highly doubt it beneficial to announce to a 10 month old that they are playing with a dairy cow...where we get milk and who eats grass and lives on a farm... and is a subspecies of blah blah and whose normal gestation time is...okay I may be exaggerating but come on people.... let's just let them play.

I then rushed home and started a yummy beef stew. I absolutely love this recipe. I kind of always regret putting it on the menu but then remember that I'm feeding my family a healthy, home cooked meal...and that makes me smile.... this was followed by the beginning of the week cleanup... after the weekend...the home needs a bit of extra TLC on Monday.


Anyways folks, that's what we were up to. Busy in a good way.

P.S. let's hope if and when we have another baby, it is a girl... cute clothes like these don't come cheap :(


Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Happy 2013!


I hope all of you celebrated your New Year's holiday in ways that set the tone for 2013. Here in NYC we did a whole lot of just eating and playing....you know....things we excel at.

We started New Year's Eve with salads, twice baked potatoes, and hot wings. The wings were divine...and so spicy that they burnt Ten's cheeks...so pretty much perfect.




Lunch the next day was udon, sauteed cabbage, salads, karaage (Japanese fried chicken), and some left over bits of things. We decided not to do osechi because Mia is too little this year...same goes for soba...so udon it was....and it was so good.



The weather was so cold, and with the sickies going around (and we've each battled them over the past few weeks) we decided to stay indoors...and made our own version of confetti for our daytime countdown(s). Mia couldn't quite understand why she wasn't allowed to eat it.



So, I have been trying to come up with some resolutions for 2013...and I have nothing groundbreaking or unique...but here we go.

1. Lose 10 kg. Though I would also be happy with just 5kg...but 10 kg would be best.

2. Read 3 books per month. I think that by the end of the year...I should be able to average this.

3. Plan one family outing per month....this can be anything from a trip to the zoo to a weekend away.

4. Vacation! I would love to plan a weekend or two away and maybe one bigger vacation...but we shall see how this works out financially.

5. Continue to make sure we spend active and engaged time with Mia everyday....you know... no staying parked in front of the TV...not that we do this anyway.

6. Find our new home. Living in Manhattan is great...but not when it comes for Mia to start school... so the hunt will be on.

7. Make Ten's Bento (lunch box) everyday...and not only that...but I'd like to make them something he looks forward to.

8. Enter a walk for charity. I would really like to do this with Ten and Mia...but getting fit while supporting a good cause would be so much fun!

9. Blog more consistently and update the blog...I believe you may know how much I dislike the look of my blog...so this is the year I spend a few hours to fix it...I hope.

10. Try to make myself more presentable... you know pluck the old eyebrows....make sure my hair is all in the same color range...not go out in sweats....yes indeed it is time to dress like an adult....when needed.

11. Helping out financially. Each year I make a few small bits of income, and I'm hoping to continue this...somehow...while not taking away from my house duties of course.

12. Finally, I want to catch up on projects I have going on like photo books and baby books...I also need to get some things sorted out with hotel stays and frequent flier miles...you know...tying up loose ends.

So there are my goals for 2013. I think they are all realistic. What are yours?




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