In the morning, while I was prepping the girl to school.. she threw tantrum and decided not to wear her uniform, tie her hair nor wear her shoes.. We were running late but she was still crying and wailing nonstop.. I had to drag her to the car and throughout the drive, she still didn’t stop.. Her teacher was nice enough to help me encourage her to start the day in school..

Then in the afternoon, when I fetched her from school, she lost the sticker her teacher gave her and this led to more cries. ARGH. Luckily, this time, she stopped as soon as we reached home.

After lunch, the boy wanted to do #2. He has a favorite car that he always bring wherever he goes – to bed, out and about, even when he does #1 and #2. So while doing #2, his car might have slipped into the toilet bowl. He kept saying “oh .. oh!” and I didn’t realize that the car had gone down the toilet bowl because there was a tissue covering it. I flushed the toilet and there goes the car.. The boy was shocked and couldn’t stop crying. He refused to nap without his car and more cries and wails. He finally stopped when I promised him that we would get him the same exact car if he went for his nap.

We did rush to Wallie after nap to find the car. The car was actually given by our friend as his Christmas gift and it came in a set with other cars but I had seen it sold separately at Wallie. God must be feeling sorry for me because seriously, there was only ONE left of that car in the whole Wallie. I can’t thank God enough for that..

I was glad that things were uneventful after that..

After dinner, I was sitting down on the table with the kids and had a chat with the girl..

Me: Annika, I’m so sad.. I feel so tired..
Annika: Really mommy? (Her current favorite word – Really?)
Me: Yes Annika.. I am so tired..
Annika: Are you tired of Daddy?
Me: No lah.. I am just so tired because there are so many things to do.. I had to send you to school..do the laundry.. prepare meals for you and didi.. clean the home ..
Annika: Really mommy? I am tired too..
Me: You are tired? Why are you tired?
Annika: Yah, I have to go to school.. and then nap.. I am so tired..
Me: *Speechless*

Haiz.. that’s my girl!

Life has been great.. a lot of thing has happened since my last entry..

• We moved back to California after my Summer stint in Indo.. DH got a job offer before the Summer .. so, I was busy packing up the house to get things moved back to Calif and while I was in Indo, we managed to sold our house in Texas.. God is good!
• Did I mention that I was in Indo through the Summer? I single-handedly brought the kids back .. Austin -> Houston -> Moscow -> Singapore -> Jakarta.. I think the whole trip took more than 30 hours and the worst was when we were in Moscow. The airport was messy and we had to rush down the stairs to go through the immigration.. Imagine me carrying a HUGE backpack while ergo-ing Carston (who was at that time 28 lbs) at the front AND carrying Annika as well.. And since I had to fly back to Calif, my last route went like this: Jakarta -> Singapore -> Moscow -> Houston -> San Jose.. I think I practically trek half the globe.. but God is good and I actually winged the trip..
• We enrolled Annika to a Christian school near the apartment and she loves it! She’s flourishing in school and the teachers love her for bringing so much laughter to the class.. Even the teacher next door stopped me to tell me how she loves to hear Annika’s laughter..
• Carston is currently staying at home with me.. we are enjoying our time together.. which is something that I’ve never got to do with him.. loves how we can just lay down on bed and talk and play and laugh.. oh such joy!
• Carston is fully potty trained during the days and YAY for that because it saves us so much money now that we don’t have to buy diapers and wash all the cloth diapers.. He’s also off his pacifier for the past week (Another YAY!).. which is something that I didn’t think he could do but last week, as I was wrapping some gifts to be sent to my niece in Indo, Carston decided to wrap his pacifiers as well.. He did ask for them every now and then but I reminded him that he had wrapped them up..

I can’t believe that the two kids are now 2 and 3 years old.. they’ve grown so much.. simply adore them!

Currently they are of the same height and Carston is a little heavier.. Some people noticed that he’s a little taller than his sister but I’m not too sure.. He’s considered quite tall for his age and I sure hope it stays that way..

Loving life!

Loop that a few times.. and it’s not like Carston actually understand her.. it’s just that no is his current favorite word..

Annika: (singing) Old MacDonald have a farm…
Carston: No no no…!
Annika: (singing) e..i..e..i..o..
Caston: No no no..!
Annika: (crying) Mommy, Didi gak kasih Annika nyanyi!! Didi is not letting me sing!!!

Carston is starting to have preference on songs.. so when he doesn’t like the song that his sister is singing, he will keep shouting no to her..

Annika: (eating cookies) *chomp chomp chomp*
Carston: pweeesee… pweeeeseee…..
Annika: No Didi, Didi gak suka cookies!! Didi doesn’t like cookies!!

As the two kids are getting older, there’s more interaction between them.. a lot of them are really funny .. but usually causes a lot of chaos .. especially when they are in the car..

Carston is getting very naughty.. he knows that his sister is a crybaby and sometimes, he purposely does things to make her cry.. which adds to the craziness in my home..

Annika, on the other hand, is getting so grown up. Sometimes, she closes her door and says that she doesn’t want the boy to go into her room because he makes a mess of her room..I thought I would only see this when she’s a teenager.. haiz…

My two little kiddoes..

Now that she’s back in Indo, we are back to reality. Things are a little more hectic but during my sister’s stay, something miraculous happened that allows me to have more energy to take care of the kids. MY BOY ACTUALLY SLEEPS THROUGH THE NIGHT! WOOOOT! Finally!

I just need to survive this reality for another month before I have another dream! Hihihi. Another woot because I will be going back to Indo for the summer. WOOOOT! Sorry, can’t help it. I’m just too excited every time I think of this.

I hope I don’t jinx this!

I seriously don’t know what happen but we were doing our regular night routine.. I was halfway reading for the kids when suddenly Annika screamed and said that her left arm is in pain.. She stopped crying after a while but refused to move her arm at all.. I decided to call the doctor and she advised me to go to the ER..

Annika and I headed to the hospital while my sister tries to lullaby Carston to sleep. Thank goodness she handled it like a pro!

We waited for an hour and a half before we were sent to a room and another hour before we were seen by the doctor.. another hour for x-ray and another hour before the doctor came back and and another half an hour before we were told to go home..

Apparently, for whatever reason, Annika dislocated her elbow .. The doctor said he has fixed her elbow and she’s fine to go.. It was 1 AM when we reached home..

This morning, when I woke her up, she still refused to use her left hand and was crying in pain.. I gave her some ibuprofen and made another appointment with the doctor.. It seems that the doctor at the ER didn’t do a good job of fixing her and her elbow was still dislocated! GRR! Wasted our time in ER!

Anyway, Annika was so happy that she couldn’t stop dancing and twirling.. telling me that she’s not in pain anymore..:)

Haiz.. what a day..

Correction – She’s 28 months old..

This year, my girl will be 3 .. and my boy 2.. wow wow! They’ve grown indeed. Now that they are a little older.. things have been quite in control.. granted that there are days when Ms. Annika has her melt down or when Mr. Carston experiences the SUPER CLINGY time or when the kids take turn getting sick.. but all is well.. I’m not complaining.. I really enjoy spending time with the two.. My heart melts every time I see the interaction between them.. they fight, they love, they hug and they kiss..

Looking back, I don’t recommend people to have their kids 12 months apart but I don’t regret having them that close together..

I think my days as a stay at home mom are numbered.. now that they are older, I will have to go back to work to pay for their college.. (geez, with the two in college.. it’s going to cost us a BOMB!).. I don’t know if and when I will get a job.. but I sure am going to miss the days I spend with the kids.. doing art work.. teaching them new things.. or just being silly together..

I love you two little energizer bunnies!

P.S. I’ve rejuvenated this blog for DH.. he was complaining to me about not posting and putting the blog in private.. so DH, this one is especially for you! Take it as a belated V-day gift!