I love my job

I am so lucky to have a job that I love. Sure, I've had lots of JOBS- starting at age 15 when I worked at the McDonald's drive-thru (laugh if you want- I got all the Happy Meal cookies I could eat!), and even had a few pretty "impressive" jobs- Army Captain, Enron, Hines....NOTHING compares to being a MOM. It's the BEST.

Here's a quick update on the kids:

Catherine is loving her life. She absolutely LOVES her school, and actually wakes up excited about it every single day. She's been riding in with a new friend every morning- she and Holly have hit it off, and her mom Simone is an angel from above to take her every morning (and spares me having to get all 3 of us out the door by 7:15!) I do the afternoon pickup, and it brightens my day to see Cate with such a smile on her face after such great school days. She loves to play with Ryan, and loves to color, play on the computer, practice her letters/numbers and dress up. She's still a hoot, with quite a sense of humor!

Ryan is still growing! He had more shots last Friday and weighed in at 11 lbs, 5 ounces. He is officially out of newborn-sized clothing and I'm so excited to start pulling out some of the super-cute outfits we've gotten as gifts- the child has a bigger wardrobe than me! He is working very hard on holding his own head up, and has been making it through the night with only 1 feeding. He loves to play on his activity mat, and already has some favorite toys to swing his wild arms at! He is also really recognizing me, Mike and Catherine, and flashes us all a huge grin when he's in the mood. My heart melts each and every time!

Here are some pics for your viewing pleasure :)

Cooking again!

Cooking has been a little...well, FRUSTRATING for me here in India. Due to the lack of ingredients (or the difficulty in finding them even if they DO exist here in Mumbai) was my biggest challenge.

But- NO MORE! I kept a list while here in the spring, and hit the grocery stores this summer like a mad-woman! I can only imagine what the check-out people thought as I'd buy 25 boxes of cereal, 12 cans of olives, 15 boxes of Rice-A-Roni and every spice/herb you can imagine. I'll admit, I'm a creature of habit, and I like my own stuff. Plus, it makes home taste a little more more like HOME.

So far, we've enjoyed homemade pasta sauce, chicken divan, sloppy joes, chili, ranch-seasoned hamburgers, poppy seed chicken, beef stroganoff and soft tacos. Mostly pretty easy stuff, but oh so good when you are so far from home!

Tonight: pork tenderloin marinated in our all-time favorite: Mr. Yoshida's from Costco! The only question that remains: am I brave enough to actually use a box of Rice-A-Roni? :)

Buon Appetito!

Ganesh

This week marked the 10-day Ganesh Festival here in Mumbai (and throughout most of India as well, too). It's a big to-do, beginning with fireworks at midnight on the first day and ending with giant Ganesh statues being lowered into the water on the last. The festival celebrates "his coming down on the earth to bless the humanity".
Ganesha is the god of wisdom and prosperity and is invoked before the beginning of any auspicious work by the Hindus. It is believed that for the fulfillment of one's desires, his blessing is absolutely necessary.
According to the mythology, he is the son of Shiva and Parvati. One day, before bathing, Parvati created a boy out of the sandalwood dough that she used for her bath and breathed life into him. She assigned him the task of guarding the entrance to her bathroom.
When her husband Shiva returned, he was surprised to find a stranger denying him access, and struck off the boy's head in rage. Parvati broke down in utter grief and to soothe her, Shiva sent out his squad (gana) to fetch the head of any sleeping being who was facing the north. The company found a sleeping elephant and brought back its severed head, which was then attached to the body of the boy.
Shiva restored its life and made him the leader (pati) of his troops. Hence his name 'Ganapati'.
Shiva also bestowed a boon that people would worship him and invoke his name before undertaking any venture. Thus, Ganesh is considered to be the remover of obstacles- and explains why every vehicle on the road has a small Ganesh statuette on it's dashboard.
Due to our hectic school-week schedule, I've been unable to capture any pictures of my own. However, I've found a few on the internet that may interest you. I'd like to note the crowds. UNREAL. Everyday life here is not THAT extreme, but close! :)

School Girl

Catherine started at the American School of Bombay last week- and so far, it's a hit!

All dressed up on the first day!


She is in the 3's, and she attends 5 days a week, 8-12. This makes for a VERY busy week, but so far, she seems to like it! They run on a 6-day cycle, and each day includes a different activity: P.E., Music, Cooking, Library, Show-and-Tell, Swim lessons, etc.

Showing off homework on the drive to school


Playing with Ms. A and a new friend!


It's a VERY cool school and I love just walking around and hearing all the languages being spoken. Surprisingly, only 1/3 of the students are American.

View of ASB from the outside


Our challenge comes in getting out the door by 7:15 for the 30-40 minute drive. Then, once I drop her off, I turn around and get back home by 9:00. Back in the car at 11:15 for noon pickup, and home for lunch by 1:00. That's about 4 hours a day in the car for me and Ryan, so we are going to start carpooling with some other families that live in our building. Hope it works out!

Tired girl after a long first day!

Big Boy Ryan

Ryan had his first doctor's appointment here in India- his 2-month check up.

It's a different experience over here...the hospital we go to is a private hospital, and it's considered to be top-rate. And I was pretty impressed with the pre-natal care I received while here in the spring. BUT- there are some definite differences. For example, they do not put fresh paper down on the tables for each new person- they use the same cloth sheet over and over again- GROSS. So needless to say, I put my own blanket down on the table whenever we go.

Back to the point: Ryan is HUGE. He weighed in at 10 lbs, 8 oz today! He has gained almost 5 lbs since leaving the NICU- that's incredible! I must have MAGIC MILK! Haha!

The poor boy received his first round of shots today too- I was a little nervous about the cleanliness of that whole deal, but I watched the doctor unwrap new syringes, so I felt better. He actually did pretty well, and only cried for a few minutes. He is sleeping it off now, thanks to some infant tylenol.

So all in all, Ryan is THE MAN. He is growing so fast and is doing much better since his reflux meds have been increased (the doctor increased him even more), and we are all so so happy that he is a healthy (and now happy) little boy.

Oh, happy day!

Here are a few pictures that just plain make me smile! :)

My newest favorite!


Do you think they look alike?


Ryan's losing control of the 'ole eyeball here...hahah!


Catherine enjoying her lunch.
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In "The Big Chair"- they are both getting so big!

Intervention!

Ryan has been having some trouble with sleep. As a result, so were Mommy and Daddy. And when Mommy and Daddy are not happy, Catherine is not happy. Our whole family was miserable! Granted, we are all still suffering from jetlag, but it was to the point of ridiculousness.

So the other day, I decided to take control and have an INTERVENTION! :)

My friend Monica mentioned that he might be screaming his head off because he was not getting enough medicine. DUH! I am still mad at myself that I did not think of that! I've taken it upon myself to increase his reflux meds until I can get in to see the doctor here in India. What a relief! He has not shrieked once since I upped him a few days ago.

And yesterday, I decided that he's going to have to cry it out and get himself to sleep from now on. I'm not sure how many of you have read the book Babywise, but the concept is to get them to sleep through the night as quickly as possible. Parents are responsible for determining the schedule, and it's based on a sleep-eat-play-sleep-eat-play cycle. This cycle helps regulate baby's metabolism, and the baby learns to go to bed awake, and soothe himself to sleep, so parents are not up rocking, nursing, driving around all night.

We followed this schedule with Catherine, and she slept through the night within 3 nights of crying-it-out- at 8 weeks no less! It was a miracle! One huge factor though was her gigantic size....Ryan is much smaller at 8 weeks, so I am OK with getting up once a night to feed him. But only for a few days- haha, just kidding!

Today is our first full day of following a VERY strict schedule, and so far, so good! Ryan has taken 2 2-hour naps, has woken up smiling both times, gets sleepy about 45 minutes after waking, so I've layed him down and he drifts off to sleep on his own.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not fooling myself into thinking we won't have bad days. But I sure am having a GREAT day today! :) I think I might try to capture a few of those smiles on camera today- look for a new post soon!

Remembering

2 years ago, on August 16, 2007, our son JohnThomas was born still. Today, we are remembering him...and honoring him.

Happy 2nd Birthday to our Angel in Heaven. We know you are looking down on us, and have blessed us in so many ways. We miss you and we love you, baby boy.

Obsession

What is it about Facebook that makes me unable to get up from my chair for hours on end, unable to be productive, unable to pay attention to my own children sometimes???

Am I really soooo interested in what Miss Thang from high school is up to? Am I still checking out "that boy" that I had a crush on in 7th grade? Seriously. It's ridiculous.

Facebook is like a drug for someone like me. It feeds an addictive personality and forces one to think that one cannot live without the results of someone's most recent quiz, or hourly status update. It's pathetic, really.

Sigh....I guess I'll admit it:

I *HEART* Facebook.

Finally!

After a ridiculously long trip, we are back in Mumbai. We left our house at 7 am on Monday morning, and opened the door of our flat at 1:30 am Wednesday. Whew! Miraculously, all of our luggage made it, as did the 6 bottles of wine and vodka that we smuggled in, so I'm happy! :) In fact, I'm about to crack a bottle open right now! Hahah!

The flight from Newark to Mumbai was the killer- we ended up sitting on the tarmack for 3 hours before we even took off, then circled Mumbai for an hour before landing- making it an 18.5 hour flight. The kids did shockingly well, and that was a huge relief. Catherine slept, listened to her iPod, colored and watched the on-demand movies- all of her favorite things! :) Ryan is apparently immune to Benedryl...it had no "sleepy" effect on him whatsoever...but at least he did not scream the entire trip.

New Student Orientation at the American School of Bombay (ASB) started at 7:45 am Wednesday morning, so we braced ourselves and rolled out of bed a mere 3 hours after we got in. Catherine got to see her classroom, meet her teachers and some new kids, and see some friends that she'd made over the spring. We are VERY excited about her attending this school- it is so cool! She'll have class Monday-Friday 8am-12pm, so she is sure to make quick and very close friends. School was SUPPOSED to have started today, but the Indian government has postponed all schools by a week due to the H1N1 scare....so her first day will be next Thursday. In the meantime, the ASB has set up some at-home studies via the internet- pretty modern!

So we are taking this time to get over our jet lag...Ryan is making that pretty hard to do, as he's up for long periods of the night screaming his head off. Not sure what is up with him, if it's his reflux or what, but I just feel so bad for him- I wish I could make it all better! Catherine has been getting up between 3 and 4 am, but plays so quietly we barely know she's awake. A few months ago, I would have forced her to go back to sleep...but ya gotta pick and choose your battles, ya know?!

We are expecting our air shipment this next week- more food and lots and lots of baby stuff. It will be nice to have the bouncy seat, the swing, etc. Hopefully it will help Ryan sleep a little better!

That's all for now- off to take a nap!

Family

Mike and I are so blessed. We have had opportunities in our lives that people only dream of. And we have amazing children. I try- every day- to remind myself of how blessed I am- even if it's a tough day. And here are some snapshots I've taken to prove it! :)

Mike got a special treat the other day- a nap with both the kids. I'm still jealous!


I tried to get profile close-ups of the kids, to see how much they look alike.



I LOVE LOVE LOVE this picture of Catherine and Ryan- Catherine's eyes look so beautiful, and Ryan is totally grinning! :)


We are headed back to India on Monday, so this weekend will be spent packing, prepping the house, and having some last-minutes drinks with friends! We've had an awesome summer, and we're excited to return in December!

Boy vs. BEAST

Ryan had a doctor's appointment yesterday for one last checkup before we leave for India, and WOW, did we get a surprise! The kid is a MONSTER!

Here are his current stats:
Weight: 8 lbs, 12 oz (up 3 lbs, 1 oz since leaving the NICU 4 weeks ago)
Length: 20.5 inches (up 2 full inches since birth)

I actually had to ask the nurse to weigh him again, because I could not believe it! The doctor said he's doing very, very well for a preemie, and we are so grateful for that.
Ryan is not the teeny tiny baby he once was- our little one is already 6 weeks old! Where does the time go?!?

The kids

I have not posted many pictures of the kids lately...it's sad how much less time one has once child #2 comes along...
I did force a "cuddle session" onto the kids the other night so I could snap some shots. Catherine loved it! Ryan did not.

So I tried another tactic- I laid Ryan down on the couch and got right up in his face- I'm such a meanie! I wanted to capture his "rolls"- he's gotten so much bigger already!

Look at the difference in our color! I sure do hope he gets a LITTLE darker!

Look at that chin!

His "who, me?" look...I'm sure we'll see this one again!

Proof is in the puddin': chunka munka legs!

They are sure to be the best of friends!

The power of a woman

I love my husband. I really do. He is an honest, hard-working, loving, funny man. But having him home (for less than 24 hours, mind you), has made me realize that I possess powers that he may only dream of. I am SUPER WOMAN!

I can:
1. Shower in under 5 minutes- this includes shaving legs and pits!

2. Walk around the kitchen with an infant attached to me (literally), making dinner one-handed!

3. Listen to 3 different people talking to me at once- Mike, Catherine and Ryan!

4. Refrain from making any bodily noises for at least 5 minutes after walking in the door!

5. Get from the back door and into the car- and be driving- in under 15 minutes!

6. Sleep for 5 hours (with 2 30-minute interruptions), and still be relatively pleasant the next day!

7. Wrangle an overtired, spastic 3 1/2 year old and a screaming infant at the Sunglasses Hut while he takes his time deciding whether he looks cooler in the Maui Jims or the Oakleys, during which I occasionally call out that he looks HOT in a particular pair- JUST GET THEM ALREADY!

8. Color, draw and play "school" for at least 1 hour each day!

9. Sit through the movie "Cars" so many times, I know the lines by heart!

10. Set the table with cutlery appropriate for the meal we're about to eat!

I am SUPER WOMAN! Hear me ROAR!

In all seriousness, I love my man- and he loves me. That's what counts, right? :)