It starts in the morning when Keira tries to dress herself.
The look of triumph before the end of the day
Friday, March 19, 2010
I Can Dress Myself
Well, actually, no, she can't. But, Keira sure is going to try!
It starts in the morning when Keira tries to dress herself.
The look of triumph before the end of the day
It starts in the morning when Keira tries to dress herself.
The look of triumph before the end of the day
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
One Year Today Since We Got Keira
Wow. I can't believe that time has passed so quickly. This time last year, we were in China, touring Beijing for 2 days and then on a plane to Changsha to pick up our little one. Every time I think of that day, it brings tears to my eyes. It brings tears to my eyes today to think that one year has passed since we picked up our little one.
We are so lucky. I thank God every day for this beautiful gift that he has given us...even though she can be a butthead from time to time. :) Keira has brought not only such joy into our lives,but pushed me to become a person that I never thought I was capable of becoming.
I've had to learn patience and to be patient. There have been times that she has stretched me to my limits, but I still perservere because I love her so much and she is our child. In the beginning of our relationship, I gave unrequitable love, not knowing if it would ever be reciprocated. I used to live a life that was very much focused on ME and now I've switched the focus to Keira -- I don't do it with regret. I happily do it in order to ensure that she feels happy, safe and loved.
What a grown up little girl Keira has become since we picked her up in China. She is multi-cultural and she is multi-lingual..although she is starting to say only a few words now, she understands English, Chinese and Norwegian. She has traveled from China, to Norway, to the U.S., to Spain and to Germany. She has lived in two countries. She loves to be outside and play in the snow and look for the birds. She enjoys "reading" books -- at least she likes to look at the pictures. She is able to point to different objects when asked where they are in the book. She is potty trained. Keira assimilated into the daycare system quickly and loves every single moment that she spends there. I think she must be "the boss" of her little posse of 5 at the daycare. She can eat with a fork and with a spoon..although now I think she's picking up the bad habit of eating with her hands from her little friends at daycare. She loves fruit of all kinds...cantaloupe, grapes, honeydew, mango, and bananas. She enjoys watching Backyardigans, Little Einsteins, Dora the Explorer, Sesame Street and Barney. Wow. This little girl of ours has changed so much.
It will be so exciting to see how the next years pan out. She will take the world by storm.
We are so lucky. I thank God every day for this beautiful gift that he has given us...even though she can be a butthead from time to time. :) Keira has brought not only such joy into our lives,but pushed me to become a person that I never thought I was capable of becoming.
I've had to learn patience and to be patient. There have been times that she has stretched me to my limits, but I still perservere because I love her so much and she is our child. In the beginning of our relationship, I gave unrequitable love, not knowing if it would ever be reciprocated. I used to live a life that was very much focused on ME and now I've switched the focus to Keira -- I don't do it with regret. I happily do it in order to ensure that she feels happy, safe and loved.
What a grown up little girl Keira has become since we picked her up in China. She is multi-cultural and she is multi-lingual..although she is starting to say only a few words now, she understands English, Chinese and Norwegian. She has traveled from China, to Norway, to the U.S., to Spain and to Germany. She has lived in two countries. She loves to be outside and play in the snow and look for the birds. She enjoys "reading" books -- at least she likes to look at the pictures. She is able to point to different objects when asked where they are in the book. She is potty trained. Keira assimilated into the daycare system quickly and loves every single moment that she spends there. I think she must be "the boss" of her little posse of 5 at the daycare. She can eat with a fork and with a spoon..although now I think she's picking up the bad habit of eating with her hands from her little friends at daycare. She loves fruit of all kinds...cantaloupe, grapes, honeydew, mango, and bananas. She enjoys watching Backyardigans, Little Einsteins, Dora the Explorer, Sesame Street and Barney. Wow. This little girl of ours has changed so much.
It will be so exciting to see how the next years pan out. She will take the world by storm.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Friday, March 12, 2010
Where did the week go?
My GOD, I cannot believe that a week has gone by already. I've been so busy now that I'm back at work, the days blur into each other. I feel like a staff sergeant in the Army. Everything must run like clockwork. Everything must be according to schedule. No veering from the schedule or disaster will strike.
I wake up at 5:30am, I'm at work by 7:20am, I eat lunch at my desk, I leave to pick up Keira at 3:20pm, we get home at 4:30pm, I make dinner, we eat at 5:30pm, bath at 6:40pm, milk at 7:00pm, Keira must be in bed and alseep by 7:30am. I fall asleep putting her to asleep. I wake up by 8:15pm. Workout. Shower. Do a load of wash. Bed by 10:30 to 11:00pm. The day starts again.
No, I jest. Yes. Everything has a schedule, but the schedule works for our family. Per is great at helping in the mornings. He gives Keira her milk in the morning, changes her clothes, gives her breakfast, cleans up after breakfast, she gets changed and dropped off by 7:45am.
Without scheduling and sticking to it, I think that we'd get quite stressed with getting things done. We would be tired. Keira would be tired. It just wouldn't be any fun.
But, here we are, it's Friday! Finally, I get a little breather to post on the blog, think about the week and get ready for the weekend.
This weekend we're going to drive up to the cabin and fix a few things before Easter vacation starts. I have to admit that I am quite looking forward to going. I wasn't so keen on it last weekend, but I'm ready this weekend. (I have to warm up to it). Yes, there's still loads of wash to do and lots of other cleaning around the house, but it will be nice to get away...have a few hours of quiet time with my wonderful hubby in the car on the way up (four hours, to be exact), enjoy a nice glass of red wine when we get there, have some time to make a nice dinner on Saturday and just hang out together without the hassles of cleaning house.
Did I just say that? I can't believe I just said that. That sounds so damn Norwegian. What's happening to me?!?!?!? :)
So, sorry for not having posted in a week. I haven't turned on the computer in the evenings and so the posting hasn't happened. I endeavor to be much better next week.
I wake up at 5:30am, I'm at work by 7:20am, I eat lunch at my desk, I leave to pick up Keira at 3:20pm, we get home at 4:30pm, I make dinner, we eat at 5:30pm, bath at 6:40pm, milk at 7:00pm, Keira must be in bed and alseep by 7:30am. I fall asleep putting her to asleep. I wake up by 8:15pm. Workout. Shower. Do a load of wash. Bed by 10:30 to 11:00pm. The day starts again.
No, I jest. Yes. Everything has a schedule, but the schedule works for our family. Per is great at helping in the mornings. He gives Keira her milk in the morning, changes her clothes, gives her breakfast, cleans up after breakfast, she gets changed and dropped off by 7:45am.
Without scheduling and sticking to it, I think that we'd get quite stressed with getting things done. We would be tired. Keira would be tired. It just wouldn't be any fun.
But, here we are, it's Friday! Finally, I get a little breather to post on the blog, think about the week and get ready for the weekend.
This weekend we're going to drive up to the cabin and fix a few things before Easter vacation starts. I have to admit that I am quite looking forward to going. I wasn't so keen on it last weekend, but I'm ready this weekend. (I have to warm up to it). Yes, there's still loads of wash to do and lots of other cleaning around the house, but it will be nice to get away...have a few hours of quiet time with my wonderful hubby in the car on the way up (four hours, to be exact), enjoy a nice glass of red wine when we get there, have some time to make a nice dinner on Saturday and just hang out together without the hassles of cleaning house.
Did I just say that? I can't believe I just said that. That sounds so damn Norwegian. What's happening to me?!?!?!? :)
So, sorry for not having posted in a week. I haven't turned on the computer in the evenings and so the posting hasn't happened. I endeavor to be much better next week.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
I'm in love...
with my car...or, ok, the trunk of the car.
I love how I can just push the button which symbolizes "trunk open" on my key and the trunk magically opens. The stroller fits in nicely. I don't have to hunch over or twist my back as I lift it in or take it out. I love how I can just set the groceries in the trunk side by side with the stroller and it all fits.
The best feature so far? The button on the trunk door. All I have to do is to push that button and the door closes by itself. No more getting my hands dirty on the trunk. No more shoving it down and wondering if it's really closed or not.
The trunk of my car is great. What can I say?
I love how I can just push the button which symbolizes "trunk open" on my key and the trunk magically opens. The stroller fits in nicely. I don't have to hunch over or twist my back as I lift it in or take it out. I love how I can just set the groceries in the trunk side by side with the stroller and it all fits.
The best feature so far? The button on the trunk door. All I have to do is to push that button and the door closes by itself. No more getting my hands dirty on the trunk. No more shoving it down and wondering if it's really closed or not.
The trunk of my car is great. What can I say?
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
5:30am
I'm a single mother for the rest of this week and in order to make sure that I get to work at a relatively decent time, I woke up at 5:30am. Yes, that's right folks, 5:30am. Do you really know how early that is? There's still frost on the windows. The sky is still black. My towel is still damp from the shower last night.
Why do I have to wake up so early? Well, it takes me approxmiately 45 minutes to an hour to get myself ready without rushing..and I HATE to rush. Then, I have to make Keira's lunch, get her milk ready and then starts the looong process of waking her up, and giving her breakfast and out the door. And because I hate to be rushed, I dont' like to rush her..not that it would do any good other than to make her cry.
Keira's been crying a lot and pitching a fit these past couple of days. It's probably because she's so darn tired and she wants a some lovin' from her Mommy. This Mommy forgot her rules and got so busy with trying to get everything done that I forgot to sit down with her and give her cuddles.
So now I'm going to pick up my child and totally focus on her for the rest of the evening until she goes to sleep. Then, I'll try my very best to workout for 30 minutes before I konk out.
I tell you, this mom stuff is hard work. :)
Why do I have to wake up so early? Well, it takes me approxmiately 45 minutes to an hour to get myself ready without rushing..and I HATE to rush. Then, I have to make Keira's lunch, get her milk ready and then starts the looong process of waking her up, and giving her breakfast and out the door. And because I hate to be rushed, I dont' like to rush her..not that it would do any good other than to make her cry.
Keira's been crying a lot and pitching a fit these past couple of days. It's probably because she's so darn tired and she wants a some lovin' from her Mommy. This Mommy forgot her rules and got so busy with trying to get everything done that I forgot to sit down with her and give her cuddles.
So now I'm going to pick up my child and totally focus on her for the rest of the evening until she goes to sleep. Then, I'll try my very best to workout for 30 minutes before I konk out.
I tell you, this mom stuff is hard work. :)
Monday, March 1, 2010
The 5 P's
Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance
I think that this whole work thing would go off without a hitch with proper scheduling/ planning and everything went the way I imagine that it would go. But, no, of course not, that would be too easy.
Today was my second day going to work. I woke up at 5:50am. That's damn early. And to top it off, I couldn't sleep all night because I was worried that I was going to miss waking up at 5:50am.
When the alarm goes off, I tip toe to the bathroom and groggily start the day's preparations...shower, makeup, hair etc. Now that I am on a very tight time schedule with the little one, the clothes that I want to wear that day have to be chosen and ironed and put in the bathroom the night before so that I don't waste time trying to figure out what I'm going to wear in the morning.
Keira's milk is already poured in the sippy cup the night before. Most of her lunch is made the night before. I just like to make her sandwich in the morning so that it doesn't get too mushy before her lunchtime. Her clothes for the next day are also chosen the night before so that I dont' have to figure out what she's going to wear in the morning.
Once I'm ready, then there's the task of waking up Keira. I feel so bad that she needs to wake up so early. Poor little thing. She now needs to wake up at 6:45am rather than 7:30am. 45 minutes is a lot for a little thing like her. 6:45am only works when Per is in town. When he's out of town and I have to do it by myself, then she needs to wake up at 6:30am. Gee, that's early.
She wants to sit on the toilet FOREVER. She likes to read books and point at objects and have me tell her what they are. This is all great when I didnt have to work or on weekends, but this is not so great when we have a tight time schedule to keep. I keep looking at my watch, worried that I'm going to be late for work.
I run downstairs to turn on the milk warmer while she sitting on the toilet. Run back upstairs to be with her. Run back downstairs five minutes later to put in the milk. Run back upstairs to change her. Brush her teeth. Wash her face. Comb her hair. Run back downstairs to get the milk. Run back upstairs to give it to her. Whew! And I haven't even gotten to breakfast yet.
We go downstairs and she takes about 20 minutes to eat a little tiny bowl of Cheerios. She is a super slow eater sometimes, that one. When she's done, we have to sit on the potty again so that she can pee. Then, I have to chase her around the house to put on her clothes and shoes.
By the time I get to work, I'm much more calm and can quietly enjoy a cup of coffee before I begin the day. It's somewhat weird to be back at work. I can't remember how to book a meeting in our CRM, and my brain doesn't seem to be working at full capacity either. I think I must have left it at home in between the Cheerios and the vacuum cleaner. It's nice to see other grown ups and talk about grown up things, but at the same time, I miss my little one and wonder how she's doing. I need to leave the office by 3:15pm in order to get home in time to pick her up. I can't believe that I even have to leave that early when I used to leave around 8pm! I feel guilty as I go out the door, but hey, WTF, I have more important things to get to!
The whole dinner thing when we get home is kind of stressful too because I need to prepare dinner, eat, clean up, shower Keira and she needs to be in bed by 7:30pm. And then, of course, it starts all over again...where does the day go?
I think that this whole work thing would go off without a hitch with proper scheduling/ planning and everything went the way I imagine that it would go. But, no, of course not, that would be too easy.
Today was my second day going to work. I woke up at 5:50am. That's damn early. And to top it off, I couldn't sleep all night because I was worried that I was going to miss waking up at 5:50am.
When the alarm goes off, I tip toe to the bathroom and groggily start the day's preparations...shower, makeup, hair etc. Now that I am on a very tight time schedule with the little one, the clothes that I want to wear that day have to be chosen and ironed and put in the bathroom the night before so that I don't waste time trying to figure out what I'm going to wear in the morning.
Keira's milk is already poured in the sippy cup the night before. Most of her lunch is made the night before. I just like to make her sandwich in the morning so that it doesn't get too mushy before her lunchtime. Her clothes for the next day are also chosen the night before so that I dont' have to figure out what she's going to wear in the morning.
Once I'm ready, then there's the task of waking up Keira. I feel so bad that she needs to wake up so early. Poor little thing. She now needs to wake up at 6:45am rather than 7:30am. 45 minutes is a lot for a little thing like her. 6:45am only works when Per is in town. When he's out of town and I have to do it by myself, then she needs to wake up at 6:30am. Gee, that's early.
She wants to sit on the toilet FOREVER. She likes to read books and point at objects and have me tell her what they are. This is all great when I didnt have to work or on weekends, but this is not so great when we have a tight time schedule to keep. I keep looking at my watch, worried that I'm going to be late for work.
I run downstairs to turn on the milk warmer while she sitting on the toilet. Run back upstairs to be with her. Run back downstairs five minutes later to put in the milk. Run back upstairs to change her. Brush her teeth. Wash her face. Comb her hair. Run back downstairs to get the milk. Run back upstairs to give it to her. Whew! And I haven't even gotten to breakfast yet.
We go downstairs and she takes about 20 minutes to eat a little tiny bowl of Cheerios. She is a super slow eater sometimes, that one. When she's done, we have to sit on the potty again so that she can pee. Then, I have to chase her around the house to put on her clothes and shoes.
By the time I get to work, I'm much more calm and can quietly enjoy a cup of coffee before I begin the day. It's somewhat weird to be back at work. I can't remember how to book a meeting in our CRM, and my brain doesn't seem to be working at full capacity either. I think I must have left it at home in between the Cheerios and the vacuum cleaner. It's nice to see other grown ups and talk about grown up things, but at the same time, I miss my little one and wonder how she's doing. I need to leave the office by 3:15pm in order to get home in time to pick her up. I can't believe that I even have to leave that early when I used to leave around 8pm! I feel guilty as I go out the door, but hey, WTF, I have more important things to get to!
The whole dinner thing when we get home is kind of stressful too because I need to prepare dinner, eat, clean up, shower Keira and she needs to be in bed by 7:30pm. And then, of course, it starts all over again...where does the day go?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)