Come on Vamonos!...Everybody Let's Go...

...if you starting humming this in your head then you know EXACTLY what I'm about to write about. HA HA inside parent joke. Anyhow yes, the girls were on a real adventure recently. We visited the jungles of New York City and found some interesting places to hang with the peanuts.

These days any trip into the city with the peanuts is a real adventure for me and I don't have a handy backpack with everything & the kitchen sink or a map to lead me to the best parking lot, or a fox who's willing to swipe a few things from me that weigh a ton of bricks. But I do have grandma & she was just as great. The girls had no idea but I had a day of fun filled activities for them. First stop, the Children's Museum of Manhattan. This gold mine was packed full of fun that could have kept the girls busy for hours & hours on end. It would be really great if they had some kind of child care program so I can leave them there & paint the town red :) but enough of my fantasizing. This excursion was about bringing my girls' animated friend to life.



These intelligent wonderful people have a fantastic Dora The Explorer & Diego exhibit. The girls enjoyed both! They're not huge Diego fans but given the shy smile Cati has on her face everytime she catches a glimpse of him on TV, I have a feeling she was more then happy to see Diego come to life at the exhibit.















I have to tell you how great it was to just release the hounds & let them roam freely in this colorful baby-proofed world. I wish more places were like this. All I had to do was follow around one child while grandma followed around the other child (she didn't realize what an aerobic workout this would turn out to be). The museum had an entire floor dedicated to this exhibit filled with child-height exhibits & interactive stations.

We also took them to other floors which also had great activities...like the classic slide. You just can't lose with a slide. I bet that guy must be rolling in dough with that invention. But my kids enjoyed this too.









Getting them out was a whole other adventure. I finally did convince them to leave with some bribing & consoling. Next stop lunch & then a nice long local car ride downtown so that maybe two peanuts could take a power nap before our next adventure!

Lunch worked out well. No one got into a food fight, no abrupt exit from nearby patrons & the girls actually ate. So in my book we got an A++. The nap situation worked out well for one & not so well for the other but hey 50% success rate here is not bad. Then the climax of our day, Radio City Music Hall. I wish I knew what they were thinking when we got in there. The place was mobbed with people, screaming children & stroller bumper cars. It was a tad stressful for moms & caretakers like grandma praying & hoping that when you got home you had the right child.  But I have to say that the venue did a nice job of getting people in and out as quick & painless as possible. And I was happy that I didn't have to quiet down my kids every 5 minutes. I actually enjoyed the chaos a little because I didn't have worry about being "that family." We got to our seats & that's where we stayed until it was over. I finally got a moment to rest my legs & the girls were busy admiring the enormity of the theater, staring at the ceiling & stage.

It was exciting for ME to see some one-of-kind moments when their faces light up in amazement. Their favorite friends live & in front of them causes such a reaction that it's absolutely priceless.











Some of us wanted to jump out on stage...to literally go & hang out with Dora.





But all good things have to come to end a hard fact for the peanuts to accept but the it was worth the trip!

After the storm...

The sun always shines. We were pretty happy the sun & warm weather decided to come out & gives a break from the wet stuff. J thought this was an opportune time to bust out some nice weather fun toys for the girls. And after being cooped up for what seemed like FOREVER the girls were ecstatic about being “ow-sigh”…aka outside. That’s their new word now. Now they have their own house & they set their own rules in THEIR house.

I have to remind J that they can do what they want in their house because it’s technically not under our roof! LOL He’s having a bit of a hard time with this but he’s adjusting. I also realized that we need to take better care of our yard now that they’ve discovered this new play area. And I’m having a hard time explaining why we can go "ow-sigh" when it’s raining. Yeah, they still don’t get the whole rain thing yet. Sigh.

With new experiences come new challenges.

Worse storm in PSEG history...

...the voice mail said. We want to thank you, our valued customer for your patience & understanding while we recovered service for over 25% of our customers.  Clearly, they have me confused for some other PSEG customer because I, dear friends, was not patient OR understanding. I was cold & aggravated & wondering where the heck I could go with 2 kids, 2 dogs, & a husband.  This is no way to live.

 

Flashlights (even Dora was there to help..hey, we were desperate!)

 

Outdoor fridge…alla Little House on the Prairie

Every candle I could find in the house (Thank you! To anyone who's ever given me a candle) I can see why the Ingalls used oil lanterns...they were definitely on to something back then.

And thanks to BJs Wholesale Club...we had plenty of battery power!

And wearing coats INSIDE.

But at least we had an inside that we could all jam into. Others had it a lot worse. Imagine a friggin giant tree landing on your house & setting your roof on fire. 

And here was the other half of that tree..

That’s pretty scary stuff. And as we took an adventure to the nearest diner we realized that there was a lot more damage out there then just our block.  

This storm brought a lot of awful things too close for comfort. I didn’t sleep a wink that night for fear that the burning wires near our house would land on our house & set the place on fire. We were prepared though. We had a bag packed, the girls & I slept in our clothes, the dogs in their collars & leashes nearby while J watched our bedroom window if anything should happen.  Several times that night our window lit up bright orange from the wires burning right outside our window. Eventually they broke off & landed in our driveway & the car survived, thank goodness.

 

But like any horrifying experience it makes me reflect a bit. What would we do if we had to suddenly leave our home? What would we take with us? I packed the pictures of my babies & our toothbrushes, some underwear, socks, clothes & some toys for the girls, and food for the dogs. And there you have it, my most prized possessions all jammed into a duffle bag near the door.  That is all I treasure, our lives & the basic needs to keep the people I love alive & well.  I’m not sure why I torture myself thinking would if this? Or what if that? In my head I planned several escape routes & thought about places we would go or could go.  In the end we were fine & survived that night. The next few days were another story. We lost power the night before right after dinner so we tried to figure out what were the next steps. Thankfully it was the weekend so we didn’t have to worry about work & all that business. Three days later we got power back & internet (with some lingering issues) and are all alive & accounted for.

It was nice to have family that we could rely on who were in much better conditions then we were. And I’m also thankful for modern day inventions like…portable generators. Hopefully we will be better prepared next time mother nature decided to drop a nifty little storm like this one again.

Communication

We are fully in the phase with trying to communicate with the girls. When I think about it I realize we've been trying to communicate on some level since birth. When they were first born they cried & we responded with either food, a clean diaper, a blanket, a little rocking and USUALLY something worked. Now I feel like I'm trying to learn a foreign language only there's no handy translating dictionary.

At first when they were starting to babble a few words it was exciting that they could point & speak things like dada, book, backpack, nana, & eventually mimi (=mommy). Now, it's a whole different ball game we're dealing with. They are intentionally trying to express their needs, wants & emotions. And unfortunately it's not as much fun anymore as I stand with a look of confusion, I'm sure, emptying out the refrigerator & kitchen cabinets hoping that SOMETHING will appease them. There are days when I have to figure out what "deeez" means today? Yesterday it meant cheese. The day before it meant juice. Today it could mean cookies. Who the heck really knows?! Its frustrating for me as a mother trying to fulfill the needs of my children. I've been doing that since they were born & hoping to God that I'm doing a decent job. I'm sure I've failed a few times. But this time around the task is sometimes darn near impossible. The only thing I know for sure without a doubt is when they need a diaper change. Thank goodness for small accomplishments.

After giving this some thought I realized this communication thing is probably something they'll struggle with all their lives. I am certainly still dealing with communicating with those around me. The only thing that gives me some comfort is that I don't expect much from my almost-two-year-old -babies and many days it's easier to communicate with them then it is for me to communicate with many adults. Yup. There it is. I've said it & I strongly believe it's true. For instance communicating with a 36-year-old-man.....I say let's start cleaning up the house & he hears let's clean sometime next month or 60-year-old-grandmother....I say I'll call you when I'm on my way & she hears call me every 10 minutes until I get there. You see what I mean?

So I think my goal here is to teach my girls to be patient with me. Because heaven knows these girls are going to have a lifetime of communication challenges & they might as well start now at dealing with people who just don't LISTEN to you.

Dearest Cati & Val

I know this is a tough time girls. I know you are trying so hard to let mommy know what you want. I may not get it right all the time but I sure am trying my darnest to get you what you need. And sometimes, my sweet little peanuts, the answer is "no." I know, I know, this is not an easy word for you to accept but that's life. I know you would love to throw cheerios around in church & into some lady's pocketbook but mommy has to show you some limits and some common courtesies. Trust me, these lessons will go a long way in life for you both. And you should also know that you don't always know what's good for you & mommy does, most of the time. Sometimes you don't even know what you want because I'm pretty sure that you can't possibly want to see Dora The Explorer at 3:30AM. What you actually want is "sleep." I know this because that's what I want!

But don't worry girls, that's what I'm here for to guide you through these tough times & to prepare you for the future. I hope that I can prepare you for adult life when you have to communicate to the dirt bag that just broke your heart that he's just not worth your tears or heartache & he should definitely get lost. I hope I can teach how to speak kindly to your mother, who wants to spend every moment by your side to protect you from the world & let her know that it's okay to let go of your hand. I hope that I can prepare you for speaking intelligently & respectfully exactly what's on your mind & in your heart. I hope that one day you're not afraid to stand up for yourself or stand for what is right. I hope that I can teach you to be strong women unafraid to tell the world that you are a valuable & great person with so much to offer.

Love

Mommy

Ringing in 2010

A little late! The New Year is always tough for me because I enjoy the holidays so much & its so sad to take down the decorations, ending family gatherings, no more nostalgic holiday music and marking an end of a whole year. This year it was a tad harder because we were nursing my littlest peanut back to health.

We've had a busy new year but before I get into the latest & greatest with the many happenings in our life, I want to set some goals & hopes for the new year. I'm not generally big on resolutions & such but this year I've been inspired to make some changes and much needed improvements in my life. So here it goes....

1-Be Grateful

Yes, I said it. We have a tendency to be ungrateful, always bitchin about something, never seeing the good in anything people. I'm keeping a journal by my bed to remind to write something I'm grateful for each & every day. Even if it's the same thing every day & even if I don't remember to do it every single day, I want to remind myself that things could always be worse. The recent disaster in Haiti has put so many things in perspective. I have a home, a family, & my life....what more can I ask for?

2-Be Happy

Simple yet so difficult to achieve. Sometimes when things are so crazed & stressed it's hard to find the energy to put into being happy & doing the things that make you happiest. It's so easy to get caught up in the daily "to-do's" that we forget to do the things that make us happy. I've decided to write a list of things I enjoy doing & DO them. As I put this list together I realized that it's not money or jewels or travel that would make me happiest but the things that you can't put a price tag on. Once a week I'm taking a nice hot bath, reading a good book, listening to some soothing tunes.

3-Take Care of Myself

I have to admit that I've resorted to eating some serious junk & I have a few thousand excuses that I've convinced myself it's ok. But it's not. So I'm jumping back on the wagon & need to take better care of me. If I don't, I can't possibly do a good job of taking care of those that need me. Aside from eating better I need to get up of my rear & on my feet. I got myself a new little gadget that will hopefully motivate me to stick to it (thank you Mr. Nike for your cool inventions). So my Nike + friends please feel free to keep me in check if you don't see me logging any miles.

So that's that.

The peanuts have been busy growing like little weeds & right before my eyes they're turning into little people who walk & talk & are more independent with each passing day.

We were quite social in January with lots of guests to entertain & parties to attend.

Here's Val trying to hide from the paparazzi but was nice enough to let me pose for a pic with her.

A fun visit with Val's godparents.

A very fun New Year's Day party at the Cervantes' household. The girls were thoroughly entertained.

And we had a fun visit with itty bitty Bianca...sporting her leopard print dress. You gotta have a certain style to rock leopard print. You go girl!

Bring on the L-O-V-E for Valentines Day

And then we have some not-so-loving moments....sigh...this is no different from any other day. One out of two children must be upset about SOMETHING.

We got some fine jewelry for Valentines day & there's nothing like the right accessories to help fix a situation. But picking the right jewelry is a tough decision & must be carefully thought out.

You see! Now we're in LOVE again.

And so is the dog in the background....showing himself a little love. Oh boy!

And then we got snowed in for the first BLIZZARD of 2010

The first snow fall of the year is always fun & pretty to watch. The girls were a little under the weather so we enjoyed the powder white stuff from the INSIDE.

Then you realize there's such a thing as too much of a good thing. It's pretty & all but where the HECK is a dog to do his "business" with cold snow freezing your cojones.

But we kept ourselves busy inside by having enough reading materials & arranging them just so.

Playing musical chairs...also known as annoying your sister while she sits in her chair. It's fun when you have a sibling to play with.

And we kept up with our parent responsibilities of feeding our babies.

Now they now how I feel.

These babies must be on a 4 hour feeding schedule. Cati looks beat!

But it's SO worth it!