The Im Family

today, i was sitting at my computer and printed out a document. i didnt hurry to go into rob's office, where the printer is kept, to go get the print out. kaya had been sitting by my feet as i sat on worked on the computer. a few moments later she got up and a few seconds later, returned holding my print out page in her mouth and puts it in my lap. how did she know to go get that?!? very weird. yesterday marked kaya's 6th birthday. it was a very quiet affair. i gave her a greenie. poor girl. we used to do special things for her on her birthday before mimi was born.

i never really stopped to think about how weird it is when mimi waves and says hi to random strangers we see on elevators, driving down the street with windows open, or sitting at a restaurant. it didnt occur to me that is was anything but sweet that she was so open and friendly, until one day as we were driving with the windows rolled down, we stopped at a light, and there were a bunch of day laborers standing by the side of the road next to our car. mimi turns to me and says, "mama, wave and say hi to every body!"

i remember the first time mimi was diagnosed with a severe peanut allergy nearly two years ago. the doctor sat with me and told me it was very serious and i had to check everything that mimi ate for even the slightest amount of peanut protein and that i must carry an epinephrine shot for mimi whereever we went. it was a stressful time, and since that day i could never let my guard down and lived in constant fear that one day some kid somewhere would hand mimi a peanut butter cracker and that would be the end of it. for two years, mimi never ingested any peanuts. i continued my somewhat fanatic vigilance, always asking restaurants "what oil do you cook with?" and "are you certain there are no peanuts in this dish?"; reading labels on everything i buy at the grocery store and very often sadly putting products back on the shelf that i used to enjoy b/c it's been 'processed in a plant that also processes peanuts." ; i kept her meds up to date at her pr...

OH MY GOD! i was watching mimi as she was playing a game on the computer, when suddenly, she springs up from her seat, puts a cupped hand over her butthole and lets out a fart, then comes over to me and shoves her hand in my face and says 'smell' in the EXACT same way rob does it! oh, my! daddy is definitely going to have to stop doing these things!!! i HOPE to God that mimi is NOT doing this at school! ------------------------------------------------- CAKE CONTEST... Wilton Industries is having a castle cake decorating contest where contestants use at least 5 pieces of their Castle Cake Kit and winners are chosen monthly. I used about 5 pieces from their kit to make mimi's 4th bday castle cake, so i entered her cake in the contest. unfortunately, i didnt win. the winning cake was an bunny themed cake, which i'm not surprised won. i dont think it's an especially exciting cake, but i think the theme was right for the month of march (easter). i figured that w...

our seventh anniversary dinner was lovely. rob made reservations at Shula's steakhouse. the steaks were melt in your mouth delicious and the waiters were very attentive. rob and i haven't been out to a nice dinner in such a long time! i was so glad that it turned out to be a good dinner, since these nights are so rare. i even wore a dress and heels for the occasion. not an easy thing to do when you're very pregnant, wearing heels, that is. i had to go through 4 pairs of black heels before i found a pair i could get my feet into. my normally size 6.5 feet have swollen and spread to a size 7. of course it will get much worse by the time the baby is born! when i left the hospital after delivering mimi, i couldnt get my feet into a size 7 and had to leave wearing just a pair of hospital issue socks! luckily, this time around, it will be july, so i'll be able to wear flip flops out the door! any way, i teetered my hefty belly around on some spiked heels, nearly ...

this week has just been one of those weeks when life is good and there's not much to complain about! :) even my swollen ankles, aching lower back, distended belly, and pressing need to pee every hour, while i can't ignore it, i am able go on with my day. i dont know why i'm in such good spirits... could be the amazing weather we'd had lately. could be pregnancy contentment (baby is getting big and squirming around a LOT and maternity clothes are more fun to shop for than Fat Girl clothes). could be the fact that rob let me buy all this new furniture for mimi's room AND a new buffet for the dining room...from Arhaus, no less! (i personally think it may be the latter...shopping endorphin rush). and to really end this already great week? rob and i are celebrating our SEVENTH anniversary with a dinner out (i'm gonna get me a big, fat, honking steak!). mimi gets to stay with grandma this weekend, so i'll also be free of the burden of a child for a little...

here's mimi reciting the Tae Kwon Do Student Creed . It's a little hard to understand her b/c she is yelling so much, so here's the translation!: "To build true confidence, through strength in my body, honesty in my heart, and knowledge in my mind. To keep friendships with one another and to build a strong and happy community. Never fight to achieve selfish ends, but to develop might for right!"

some days i'm impressed anew by mimi's ever growing skills. she continues to do much of what she has been doing for quite some time now, but there's clearly some growth in the fine tuning. while mimi has always been helpful in the kitchen and looooves to help me bake, i've been really impressed with her skill with two spoons. here she's scooping out cookie dough for baking. some mornings she will use the two spoons to fill a mini-muffin tin with muffin batter and usually does a very good job filling the tin evenly and without dropping too much batter all over the place. i had worried about her making a mess, but i see she has fine tuned her skill enough for me to leave her alone with the batter...be it muffin batter or cookie dough and she will do a great job. she is also drawing her pictures much faster and with greater ease and also expanding the subject matter to include more than the usual mimi, mommy and house. today she decided to fill a page with all di...

today i felt a pang of regret as i heard my child tell me for the umpteenth time this day that "nobody listens to anything i say!" this statement finally sank in with all the force of her sadness and powerlessness as we were leaving the pottery barn kids store, where she was playing happily alongside another little girl in the play kitchen. i told her we had to leave, and as the big person who can call all the shots, i told her to say goodbye to her friend, and confident she would follow me out, strode out of the store. mimi trudged along pouting next to me and announced truculently , i dont want to go! i want to stay and play longer! i told you we have to stay! i said, "mimi we parked all the way on the other end of the mall and i still have one more errand to run before we go home. we are running out of time. if we had more time, of course you could stay longer and play. i'll tell you what, i'll hurry at the next store, and if you move quickly w/me, we ...