A wish for my girls...

I am a BIG sister. We are 6.5 years apart. In the looks department we are complete opposite; myself brunette with brown eyes favoring my father, and her blonde hair with blue eyes favoring my mother. Ironically though, hear us talk or hear us laugh and we are just alike. When we were younger, we did not have much in common; when I was in middle school she was just starting Kindergarten. When I went to college, she was in middle school. And then one day it happened. She became my best friend. Not only did she become the person that knew me best, but we shared all of our secrets. She was the made of honor in my wedding, my child's godmother, and the person we both go to when we need a real honest reality check. Sure we have had our fights, but that is just because we are too much alike. 

This is my wish for my girls. I can only hope they love each other, and grow to be best friends. 

Having a sister is one of the best gifts a girl can get!

Finding the Room

Before I became a Mom of two, one of my worst fears was will I be able to love Julia as much as Ela. I love Ela SO much, so how could I possibly love another with the same passion?Along came Julia and instantly, my heart expanded how I never thought it would. Problem Solved. Its funny how all through I pregnancy, my type A went into overdrive and I planned it all out(or thought). The only problem is that I never realized how much would happen that I could not prepare for. How was I going to be able to share my love evenly? Did it even need to be 50/50 all time time?

At the beginning I tried my best to divide my time, not my love, for my two girls. It was very hard as Julia was a newborn and naturally needed more of Mommy. While Tomasz was around alot, and helped a ton, there are just some things that only a Mom can do. I heard/saw some of Ela's cries for attention, some much more entertaining than other. Let's just say she is REAL creative. Finally, once Julia started sleeping through the night and was not fussing all the time, I was able to devote time for Ela. I made her feel important, took her to get our nails done and have our breakfast. All was starting to get back to our normal life, ....that was until recently. Ela really started changing and I had no clue why. I could chalk most of it up to age. Who were we kidding? Being a "Threenager" gives the Terrible Two's a run for their money. Throw a new baby to the mix, and its a cocktail for a disaster(which requires Mom to have one too).. I  tried everything in the meantime; Positive Reinforcement, Punishment, Time out, revoking privileges. Nothing would work. I then got creative.

When we got engaged, Tomasz and I were gifted "The 5 Love Languages" by my Dad and Stepmom.  In all honesty,(sorry dad) I did not read it until we got back from our honeymoon. I was between jobs and finally had some time on my hands. This book had a huge impact on my life. Of course it better helped me understand my marriage, but it also applied to every relationship in my life.   If I had to guess, I would have thought Ela's love language would have been Words of Affirmation. I knew there was a Children's Edition and there could not have been a better time to read it. I started reading the book and really surprised myself.

I will not say that this book solved all of our challenges, nor will it in the future, but it gave me the ammunition I needed. Everything I thought I was doing right, was almost counterproductive for my little Ela whose love language is Quality Time. It started hitting home;the quantity of time did not mean anything to her if she was not getting the one on one attention she craved. The book disclaims, that it is hard to tell a young child's love language, however Ela was really good at giving me a clue. After having the Ipad privileges revoked for 3 days, when returning home I asked her if she wanted to play with the Ipad or have a picnic on the floor with me. She picked me, even over the Ipad! Duh Mom!

Lesson learned. The obvious isn't always the solution. 

New York City Bucket List

Living in NYC is something that I never imagined I would do. I grew up on Long Island and my family moved to Georgia in 1994, ironically the same year that Tomasz's family moved from New York to Georgia as well. To  make a long story short, we met on a plane, realized we did not live far from each other and started dating in 2008. In 2010 we got married, and decided to move back to New York. This was mostly for Tomasz's career as there are three airports within 30 miles of each other. Moving also really launched my career, as there were many new opportunities. Flash forward to June of 2010 and we were moving to Manhattan. When planning to move to New York we figured we would live on Long Island. I was unemployed and got a job within the first week I was seeking, in NYC. Yes a real high rise building! So off we packed our little truck and Ozzy and we moved. We lived in Manhattan for about 7 months before I could not take it anymore... We did have an AMAZING apartment, however it was not very kid friendly.

View from the Roof

Our living room

One day when we were out exploring, we walked the Brooklyn Bridge and Tomasz said he wanted to move to Brooklyn. Yeah Right I said. When I thought about Brooklyn, I thought of a not nice area and a JayZ music video. Boy was I wrong. I fell in love with Brooklyn Heights. If you watch Sex and the City and you hear Miranda refer to Brooklyn, this is where. So when Ela was 4 months old we made the move. It is the best of the suburbs in the city. There are strollers everywhere! In case you thought the same as I, here are some pictures. (Or you can follow me on Instagram where we are always on the GO)

Our Building

Ela in a NYC sunset

The promenade, a series of parks on the water.

One of the many streets of  beautiful Brownstones

Our favorite park on the water with a famous carousel

So now we are getting the itch to move again.Besides being in a small apartment, the girls are getting bigger and we want to get them settled into the school district we are going to end up in Long Island or Westchester. So with the horizons of moving in the future, I started thinking about things I want to do before we leave.

Tour the Brooklyn Brewery

Take a Riverboat Dinner Cruise around Manhattan

 Run a 5K- Now that I have committed to being  runner, I need to put it to the test.

 Ill start with a 5K. One with views of the city of course.

5/10/2014 Mother's Day Run

Visit the NYC Public Library- Weird Right?

See a Broadway show- In the 4 years since we have been here I have not seen a show!

 I was so close to seeing The Sound of Music on Broadway(from the reviews glad I missed it)

When we save for $250 a ticket Ill check this one off the list.

Continue to avoid Street Meat! Just Kidding, But really!

I heard its the best, but NO WAY!

I never dreamed that I would live in NYC and have had so much fun. Brooklyn Heights has been one of the best areas to have young children. Lots of children friendly things to do, parks every other block, stroller friendly neighborhood. Not to mention all of the great restaurants, shopping and things to do.  I look forward to moving and settling down in a house with a backyard, but I sure will miss city living!

3 Months- Julia

For the only time in my children's lives they are three and three. Three years and Three Months that is!
This month was filled with firsts for Julia! Boy was it a busy month!

Here are some of the official three month pictures!

I love the thigh chub!

Umm..and the arm chub.

Weight: Around 13-14 pounds

Julia is beginning to sit by herself, smiles ALL day, (I mean ALL day) rolled over once, and is able to recognize our voices. (especially Ela's). She has been sleeping through the night since about 3 weeks, and soon enough will be moving into Big Sister's room.

I went back to work, and after a few rough days we got in our routine and things are going good.  Monday's are always hard for me. I got to have a visitor on Valentines day!

 Julia  had her first plane ride and trip to Georgia  for her baptism. We were joking that if Julia didn't like to fly, then she wasn't our child! With Tomasz being a pilot, and Big Sister and Mommy loving to travel, we should not have been surprised that she did great. Ela and Julia both had great flights and we got compliment  about how well behaved they both were. 

Big Sister comforting Julia. SO SO sweet.

Waiting to board...Dont the both look bored? ;)

She did not even sleep much the way there.

Julia's baptism was beautiful. We had a great time with our family. 

I still can believe how fast she is growing and how much Ela is growing to love her. My heart is so full with love for my little family!

Wubby is her BFF

Always smiling

The girls with their babies.

Such a cuddler

A day in my life...

I am a working Mom. Some days I don't know what is harder; staying at home with two kids or managing a million dollar property. I am a Property Manager. If you are not sure what that entails, if you have ever seen Tower Heist with Ben Stiller that's what I do. ( My company actually manages the building in the movie)

 Years from now, I will probably laugh thinking about my day...Hell, I even laugh now thinking about my day sometimes.So here goes...

6:00am Alarm goes off
Snooze (Maybe once, Maybe twice)
6:20 Ela comes in my bed asking to eat. Food usually wins for an extra 15 minutes of sleep.
6:35 Wake Up-Feed Julia while watching Good Morning New York
6:45am Shower
7:00am Out of shower and set Ela's clothes out
7:10am Make up/Dry Hair/Get Dressed while Ela dresses herself
7:20am We all head to the kitchen; lunch is made for Mommy and Ela. Tomasz feeds Ela breakfast
7:30 Ask Ela at least 4 times to get her jacket on and brush her teeth while feeding Julia again
7:45 (On a good day) Out the door to drop off Ela for school after sitter arrives for Julia or Tomasz is home for the day with Julia( He works 3 days out of the week)
7:50 Stop at Garden of Eden for my COFFEE
8:00 Kisses for Ela; drop off at Daycare
8:15 Catch Subway to work
8:40 Arrive at work;
9:00 Conduct Staff Meeting
9:30 Pump
10:00 Emails/ Pay Invoices/ Variance Reporting
12:00 I am Starving!
12:30 Pump
1:00 Sales Analysis
2:00 Meetings
3:30 Pump
4:00 Property Inspections
4:45p Crap time to go, and I did not get all my work done
4:49p Run out door catch subway
5:40p Hop off subway
6:00pm Go home to see my girls
6:15p Tomasz gives Ela a bath while I cook( daycare germs be gone) while I feed Jules
6:45p Eat dinner
7:00p Play with Legos, puzzles
7:15p Julia's turn for bath
8:00p Ela bed time
8:30pm Wash bottles, Clean up, and possibly have a glass of wine(who am I kidding HAVE a glass of wine)
9:00pm Feed Julia while watching Reality TV; Julia goes to bed
9:45pm Hit the sack!

Most days do not even go as smooth as I made it seem above, but I will tell you whether it was a smooth day or not....We are all exhausted by the end of the day.

Conversations with my Toddler- Chapter 4

Some more words of wisdom from my sweet, but sassy Ela:

After coming out of her bed for what seemed like a million times at bedtime:
Ela: Julia woke me up and now I cant sleep.
Julia was not even up...good try.

Ela:Do you mind feeding Elmo?
Me: What does he want to eat?
Ela: Your mommy's milk. I ran out of milk and I can not go to the store by myself.

Me: How was school?
Ela: Good but I was sad because I forgot to kiss you before school

Returning late from vacation:
Me: Sorry Ela we dont have milk. I will go to the grocery store tomorrow.
Ela: I am very disappointed you don't have milk. Please get some tomorrow.

Returning from Spanish Class:
Ela: Mommy did you see how naughty my friends were?
Me: Sometimes everyone has a bad day.
Ela: Their Mommy should put them in the quiet corner.

Ela: Mommy my clothes are too big. That means I am small and I am always your baby.

In the car on the way to a play date.
Ela: I am going to be shy today Mommy because I am the only girl.
Yeah Right on this one! Ela shy???

Ela running into our bedroom after playing unsupervised on an early Saturday morning.
Ela: I made a mess and it wasn't an accident

Me: Did you eat your lunch today at school?
Ela: Yes, but not the raisins.
Me: Why you love raisins?
Ela: Raisins are just not delicious anymore.

After a family trip to Sam's club.
Ela: Mommy that grocery store is better than the one by our house. They have snacks everywhere. (samples)

Me: Ela, time for your bath.
Ela: Mom can you hold your minute?
Me: Hold on a minute?
Ela: Yes that's what I asked you to do.

Grandma Lisa: Ela what is your favorite thing to eat?
Ela: Can you ask me in a minute I am busy right now?

As I am scolding Ela for standing on the couch.(Trying to eat Breakfast)
Ela: Don't talk with your mouth full Mommy, its not nice
Convenient how you follow the rules when you are getting in trouble.

Ela: I am sick my voice went away. You cant even hear me.

On our way home from Georgia
Tomasz: Ela are you sleepy?
Ela:Are you talking to me or Julia? I am not sleepy but I bet Julia is?