Lisbon Mama

It's over, almost!

2008-04-28T11:56:00.001+01:00

I must admit I knew the private practice would be faster, but I never thought it would be this fast. We went to the appointment with the surgeon last Wednesday, as planned. He examined the lump, took my word for it when I described what we saw in the ultrasound (I lost the ultrasound report, shame on me), talked for about 10 minutes about all the different things he thought could’ve caused the lump and finally told us he agreed with the ER doctor and she should have it removed. I asked when, he said tomorrow at 10 am.

So R had her surgery last Thursday. We got to the hospital at 9 am and an hour later I was with her in the OR as they put her to sleep (that was the worst part of this whole thing, she struggled like crazy, it took an eternity for the drug to work, she started to roll her eyes and I had to use all my strength to restrain her. It was a nightmare). An hour later it was all over and I was by her side again when she woke up. By 3.00 pm we were home having pizza.

The lump itself… well, it was dying (necrosis) and it had blood and pus (disgusting, I know). It didn’t look threatening but we’ll know for sure tomorrow or the day after that. Can you tell how relieved I am?

Update

2008-04-18T15:52:00.000+01:00

I’m sorry for the lack of updates. It has been a complicated couple of weeks.

After we went to the ER and they decided she would have to have surgery to remove the lump, we scheduled an appointment for the 17th (yesterday) and they told us the surgery would be scheduled for shortly after that. I called my ped and asked her if she thought we should have the surgery in a private hospital, which would probably be much sooner than through the public hospital, and she said no. She said she trusts the public hospital and the doctors working there much more than those “hotels” (her words obviously).

Well, we patiently waited for the appointment and I went there with her yesterday. After waiting for 4 hours in what closely resembled a refugee camp, the doctor finally saw us, only to ask me to sign a consent form and tell me that they will call me with a surgery date in the next 2 to 3 weeks. I almost died. The minute I left that place I called the “hotel” and scheduled an appointment with a pediatric surgeon for next Wednesday. We have decided that whichever hospital can schedule the surgery sooner gets the job. My money is on the private.

Worrying

2008-04-08T11:28:00.000+01:00

Wow, it’s been a month already! We went on our ski trip a few days after I wrote that last post and when I came back things had kinda accumulated at work and it has taken me a while to get everything back on track.
Anyway, the ski trip was amazing, R absolutely loved it and she is a pro at skiing. We had a great time and really rested and I really took my mind off work. The only down side was how much we missed M, and we decided this was the last trip we took without him. And he really missed R too, poor guy.

Last Saturday, we found a lump in R’s neck and yesterday we decided to take her to the ped to have a look at it. It is about the size of a nut and seems the have fluid inside. The ped sent us to the hospital where she had an ultrasound and did some blood work and they finally decided they have no idea what it is. So they want to have it removed and analysed. And so we’re in for surgery in a few days. I’ll keep you updated and if you can, say a small prayer for us.

One decision down, one to go

2008-03-04T09:40:00.001Z

I didn’t mean to keep you waiting this long for an answer. We eventually decided on the Smaller School and ZM called the Big School and told them we wouldn’t be filling her position.
It wasn’t an easy decision, especially because the Big School had been in our plans for such a long time, but in the end I think we are both more comfortable with the Smaller School. I just never imagined we would be in the situation where we could actually choose. It’s hard enough to be accepted in either of these schools, let alone in both.

Now we have another decision to make, which is about transportation. As you remember, Big School was at walking distance from our house, so we never really gave this issue much thought. Now we have to.
In the morning either ZM or I will drop the kids off at school, so no problem there. But in the afternoon none of us will be able to pick them up. We basically have two alternatives: either our nanny picks them up or we can hire a child-transportation service, which is really expensive. So we have decided to explore the idea of the nanny picking them up. But this leaves us with another problem: How?

Our nanny doesn’t drive, so there are two ways she can pick up the kids. She will take the bus to the school (practically door to door bus, and about 15 minute ride) and then they will either take the bus back or take a cab. ZM is all in favour of them taking the bus home, and maybe taking a cab if it’s raining (which happens about twice a year) but I’m not so sure about it. What do you think?

More on the school dilemma

2008-02-26T10:08:00.001Z

So we had the interview at the Bigger School 2 weeks ago. We were there for about 3.5 minutes. I must admit I was expecting more, both in terms of time and in terms of substance. I thought we were going to hear about the school’s project, the facilities, the programme. But I guess they don’t need to “sell” the school, since they have way more candidates than openings. But still, its was rather… disappointing.

Yesterday we got a call saying that R was accepted. We had pretty much decided that she would go to the Smaller School, regardless of whether she got accepted at the Big School or not, but I confess I was/am shaken. I mean, this school has been our plan since the beginning. We have always said that she would attend this school (mainly because it’s close to our house, which was the #1 criterion). If we had known she would get accepted for sure we wouldn’t even have enrolled her in the Smaller School.

But, we did go to the Smaller School, and we loved it. I remembered the good times I had there and ZM felt right at home, if you know what I mean. At first we enrolled her just to secure an alternative should she not get accepted at the
Bigger School, but then we started warming up to the idea of having her in a smaller, cosier school. And now we find out she got accepted at what had been our first choice…

We have until tomorrow to enrol her in the Bigger School or someone else takes her place.

Withdrawal

2008-02-22T19:54:00.002Z

Things are kinda slow at work. This should be good news, taking into consideration how swamped I have been for the past year or so. And sometimes, during those busiest days, I actually longed for a day when I had nothing to do.

But it was just because I didn’t remember what it was like anymore. I absolutely hate not having anything to do. I would trade a day like this for one of those when I don’t even have time to eat, anytime!

Anyway, it’s that time of year again (Lent, I mean), and I have been chocolate-less for 17 days. I swear I am going through some kind of withdrawal here. I’ve had a headache for 4 days straight now, the kind I usually get when I don’t drink coffee before 9 am. I’m seriously convinced it’s the lack of chocolate. Which means it will last for another 30 days. If I don’t get busy soon, this is going to be a bad month. And I hate it that I won’t get to drink a nice cup of hot chocolate at the end of an exhausting day spent skiing.

Oh well I shouldn’t complain right? It kinda loses it’s meaning if I complain. So I’m done complaining.

LIfe is good

2008-02-20T14:18:00.001Z

So I did start covering Victor’s cage with a dark cloth and it works great. He doesn’t make any noise until we take the cloth out. Thank you!
Now I only have to convince the kids not to uncover the bird until mom gets up. They have learned how to get up from bed, put on their robes and slippers, make their own breakfast (actually, R makes both their breakfasts) and turn on the TV. Now they only have to understand that the bird needs to remain covered until I wake up.

Although my desire to have another baby is clearly increasing (particularly after my sister asking me to babysit my 2 month old niece), this phase we are currently going through is also a great one and I intend to make the best of it while I can.
Both kids are pretty independent now (though M is still in diapers, which is distressing since R was potty trained by 20 months), they eat whatever we eat and at fairly flexible hours, they entertain themselves, they sleep well and they even let me sleep in on weekends. I am starting to take these things for granted, and that’s also why I know it’s time to have another baby, which will most likely be the last. I want to get used to these small luxuries when I know that they will last. If I get too used to them now it will make it that much harder to go back to the small baby routine. But meanwhile, I’ll enjoy it as much as I can.

And to fully enjoy this phase, we are going on a sky trip again this year, in March, and once again we are taking R with us. This time we’re going with two couples friends of ours who are also taking their kids so it should be even more fun than last year. I can’t wait.

Pictures

2008-02-13T16:25:00.002Z

ZM didn't take as many pictures as I thought he did and they didn't come out as good as I expected so we'll have to wait for the pictures taken by the photographer. Meanwhile, here is one of the kids during Carnaval, which is when children here get to wear costumes (we don't do Haloween... yet)

The Wedding - Season 3, Episode II

2008-02-11T14:39:00.000Z

I realize now how small this “wedding season” was, with only two episodes. This is due as much to the lack of drama this third season brought as it is to the lack of time I’ve had to write about it.

Everything went pretty much according to plan. On Saturday I woke up at 7.30 am and called the bride to wake her up and tell her I would pick her up in half an hour to take her to the salon. Of all the people who could’ve taken this task apparently I, the mother of two young children who also needed to be woken up, dressed and fed before the event, was the most appropriate one.

At 8.30 we were at the salon getting our hair, nails and makeup done. By 11.30 we were at my in-laws, where my husband had already arrived with the kids and our outfits. The whole family was there to take pictures and accompany the bride in her last hours as a single girl.
This included Oldest BIL’s girlfriend, which was awkward, as expected. But all things considered, I think everyone behaved exceptionally well towards her and I think she felt as welcome as she would possibly feel under the circumstances.

The ceremony was at 2 pm. R was a flower girl and M was the ring bearer. They looked cute and very concentrated in their respective roles. (Will post pictures as soon as I have time to download them). The groom was nervous, the bride was radiant, there were tears and everyone was happy.

I'm about to kill my pet

2008-02-06T11:30:00.000Z

R, has any other 5 year old child, I imagine, has been insistently asking for a puppy for the past… I don’t know, 3 years or so. Although I love dogs and have nearly brought home a 1 month old golden retriever a friend of mine offered last week, I do not think we can have a dog in a city apartment which is empty all day. It just wouldn’t work.

My parents, always the best grandparents in the world, have decided that the kids need a pet and if we won’t give them a puppy then they will take the matter into their own hands. So the kids got a canary for Christmas. A bright orange canary. And R named him Victor (no idea why, it’s such an uncommon name here). I actually like the bird, it’s beautiful and I like all animals, really.

But (you knew there would be a but right?), I think I may be starting to regret having accepted the gift. It started with M telling every one of our friends and family members he has a new “caraio” (you non-portuguese speaking people will not understand the seriousness of this, but it sounds just like a swear word for penis, which is really, really embarrassing). When he said that to my MIL I nearly died.
Then I realized I would be the one cleaning the cage (which I absolutely have to do every couple of days because I just can’t let the poor bird live in a dirty cage), but it’s really not that much trouble, to be honest.
The worse part is when the damn bird decides to start “singing” with the first light of dawn. This morning it was at 7.30 am. And I still had half an hour to sleep. It doesn’t seem to bother anyone else but it just kills me because I'm a light sleeper and no matter hown many doors I close I just can't stop hearing it. Especially on weekends. And what will happen when the days start getting longer and the sun rises at 6 am? This morning I could’ve have killed him, seriously.
What do I do? How do I shut the damn thing up? Help!

The Wedding - Season 3, Episode I

2008-02-04T12:40:00.000Z

First of all, about the school dilemma, I think we have decided on the smaller school. We still have the interview with the bigger school scheduled for next Friday but we’re pretty much set on the other one. It is a bit further from home and more expensive but it makes me feel more… reassured, if you know what I mean.

Next Saturday is my younger SIL’s wedding. This time there has been no major drama around the wedding, except for the fact that she got engaged only 3 months ago so everything had to be arranged in a bit of a hurry. But it is the third wedding in 2 years so we’ve become quite the pros at it. I paid for yet another wedding dress which is also becoming a tradition. Thankfully there is only one single SIL left (excluding the nun, for obvious reasons).

But surely you noticed I said no “major” drama. There always has to be some drama in this family. This time it involves my older BIL.
I’m not sure if I ever told you about it, but my older BIL (the one who got the kidney transplant 2 years ago. yes, it’s been 2 years already!) has a girlfriend. This should be good news, since it’s his first girlfriend and he seems to be serious about it. But it’s not. To make a long story short, she is an illegal immigrant who used to be my MIL’s housekeeper and the family is just not happy about it. Not. Happy. At. All.
And why, I hear you asking, is the family not happy about this true Cinderella fairy tale? I know it sounds terribly prejudiced, but she just has absolutely nothing to do with him, in any and every way you can possibly look at it. And one really couldn’t expect my in-laws to be thrilled about their son dating the housekeeper, the non-catholic housekeeper to make things even better.

Anyway, this relationship has been going on for quite awhile now and BIL asked that she be invited to the wedding. He says its time for her to meet the family (of course, she has met the family, when she was the housekeeper) and to start coming to family events. And my MIL did invite her, even though you can see it makes her miserable. ZM doesn’t even like to talk about it and my FIL doesn’t acknowledge the fact that she even exists. This should be fun!

Dilemma

2008-01-22T15:51:00.001Z

Oh well, I guess I can’t keep my promises after all. About once a week I think to myself it’s been too long since I last posted something and I should really post an update, at least to let people know I’m still here, alive and well. But then life gets in the way and I never really do get around to post. I often start the posts but… I’m not even sure if this one will get posted.

Things are pretty much the same since the last time I posted. Except I haven’t just arrived from Italy so I am much more tired than I was then. Work is the usual stress and I’ve given up on telling ZM things will get better after this week’s deadline. They just don’t. Ever.
I asked my housekeeper/nanny to work an extra hour in the evening (she used to leave at 7 pm) and she agreed to give me half an hour and get started on the kid’s dinner. That makes it a little easier for me but it also makes me feel that much guiltier about the time I don’t spend with the kids. It’s a vicious circle.

Anyway...
We are now in the process of choosing which school R will attend when she starts first grade, which is next year (I can’t believe she will actually start first grade in September so I keep repeating it to myself over and over). This is not an easy decision, but we have managed to bring the options down to two schools.

There is the one we had always wanted, because it is really close to our house (walking distance) and would allow our nanny to pick her up from school on the way to M’s preschool, which obviously means M would get to stay in the same preschool he’s in this year. It is a catholic school (mandatory for us) but not as demanding about it as the other one. It’s also a very.big.school. I mean over 2000 students. It kinda scares me. This one would cost us about 3000 Euros per year and it’s really really hard to get an opening. We have an interview with the headmaster February 1st. If we screw it up, there’s no chance she’ll get in. If we don’t, the chances are slim.

Then there is the school I went to when I was a kid. This is a very small school (400 students), very catholic, very conservative, very cosy. It is far from our house (10 minute drive but still, it means using the car every day, which we don’t do now) and would mean that M would have to go there to. This is good because they would be together, bad because of the price (5000 Euros per year, per kid). I was there today and I still knew everyone, and it felt like home and they treated me like family. They said they were full but they would exceptionally open a spot for R (for M there was no problem) because she’s my daughter. And so I enrolled them (paid 560 Euros) just to be safe in case R doesn’t get in the other one.

So, to make a long story short, we can either pay 3000 Euros for a school close to home, but which is bigger and not as demanding (particularly religion wise, which is important to us), or pay 5000 Euros (x 2 starting now instead of in 3 years) for a school whose programme and philosophy we completely identify with, but which is far from home.

Do you have an opinion?

Oops, it's been a month!

2007-11-28T08:39:00.000Z

Wow, I can't believe it's been almost a month since my last post. It's amazing how time flies isn't it?

We were in Italy in the beginning of the month, just me and ZM for 9 whole days. We flew to Milan and spent 2 days there, and basicaly shopped.
Then we went to Florence by train (the train ride was beautiful, it even snowed, there are no words to describe it) and stayed there for 3 days. We rented a car and went to the nearby village of Lucca and to Pisa (the one with the tower).
Then we took another train to Venice and stayed there for 3 more days.
We had a great time, we really needed to spend some time just the two of us, which hadn't happened since our trip to Barcelona almost a year and a half ago. We rested alot, we got to see some of the most beautiful sights we have ever seen and we came back as good as new.

Of course, things were hectic when I got back to work. My boss was going nuts and you could've sworn I had been away for a whole month if you heard him talking! It's been so bad I've been back for almost 2 weeks now and I haven't had time to download the pictures we took. But will try to do it this weekend and post them.

Last weekend we had my SIL's engagement party and my MIL's birthday party and a friend of mines 30th birthday party. That combined with the load of work I have come back to explains my absence from this blog (or so I hope). Oh, and the kids forced me to put up our Christmas tree on Sunday! I think I need a vacation!

Big changes

2007-10-29T16:57:00.000Z

As you might remember, I work in Mergers and Acquisitions in an investment bank. Our M&A department has 6 teams (one for each sector) and my team, Food & Beverages, is composed of 4 people – my boss (FS), a girl who’s a bit more senior than me (MJ), me and an analyst (IM).
Basically when a project comes in it is attributed either to me or to MJ and then we both work on it with FS and IM does the “dirty work” (powerpoint, etc). The difference between me and MJ (other than the pay check, of course) is that she is more independent than me, so when a project is attributed to her FS is less involved than when it’s attributed to me.
Well, today I am told that MJ is leaving and that a new, younger analyst will be recruited. So the idea is that I take MJ’s place, in that I have to become more independent and take my projects practically on my own, IM will slowly take my place, by having projects of her own she will take with FS, with more involvement from his part, and the new analyst will do the “dirty work”.
This is good news, of course. I got the promotion I was expecting last June and they seem to be happy with my performance. I thought their reaction to MJ leaving would be hiring a new senior to take her place but no one seemed to even hesitate that I could do it. And I can see a new promotion in the near future. That’s good.
The only down side is that I had planned on going of birth control next month, and now I will have to reconsider, and postpone that decision for awhile. I know there is never a good moment work wise but there are definitely terrible moments, and this is one. I’m just hoping a couple of months will be enough to get everything on track.

Summer Vacation

2007-10-24T12:37:00.000+01:00

Here are some pictures from this summer. I said yesterday I didn’t even remember having had a summer vacation, but I do have pictures that prove I did.
We spent a week in Algarve with my parents and my sister, her husband and her son (who, if you remember, is a week younger than Manel). We rented a great little house, with a pool and horses, close to the beach. I eventually had to drive to Lisbon for a work meeting right in the middle of the week, which stress me out a little and stress my dad out completely. You would’ve thought the whole vacation was absolutely ruined because I had to spend one morning away.
Anyway, it was a great week and the kids loved the house. And it was the first time in 3 years we had a vacation with the whole family, which was also great.
Then we spent a week at my in-laws beach house, which was the usual chaos, with 20 people in the same house, lining up to use the bathroom, cooking for a battalion, etc. I get more used to it with every year that passes and I’ve actually come to enjoy it quite a lot. I wouldn’t do it for more than a week at a time but it’s actually fun and the kids have a blast.
So that was my vacation. In November ZM and I will be going to Italy alone for 9 days and that’s when I’ll really get some rest.

I'm back!

2007-10-23T14:23:00.001+01:00

I can’t believe it’s been 7 months since I last posted! I can’t even believe it’s been 7 months since we went skiing! I sometimes feel my life is escaping me, seriously.

Work has been crazy these past few months, and I don’t even remember having had a decent vacation this summer. At work I never have time to write a coherent sentence to post here and lately I don’t even have time to put up a couple of pictures now and then. It seems to have calmed down a bit now, though, so I’ll give this blog another try. That is, if anyone still reads it.

I’ll start with a quick update, and we’ll see how things go from there.

Kids: Rosarinho is turning 5 in December and she’s become a young lady. She’s not a baby anymore and she really enjoys her role as a big sister. Manel turned 2 last week and he’s the most cheerful and easy going child you could ever imagine. They really are what keeps me going everyday!

ZM: I have the best husband in the world. We had our 6th anniversary earlier this month and we’ll be celebrating with an 8 day trip to Italy I November. I can’t wait!

Me: I had a Chron’s Disease crisis last April and lost 15 lbs. My weight has been stable in 101 lbs since then, but the doctor seems to think it’s not enough and that I should try to gain at least 4 lbs. The crazy work isn’t helping in that department and I forget to eat all the time. ZM thinks I look great, of course.

That’s about it for now. Tomorrow I’ll post pictures of the summer vacation (we did have a vacation, it was just so short and interrupted with work related issues I don’t even remember it anymore).

Pictures

2007-03-12T14:35:00.000Z

It was great. We had a great time, R had a great time and I just can't believe how fast it went.

Back to work now.

A much needed vacation

2007-03-01T16:15:00.000Z

Saturday we are going on vacation. We’re taking R and we’re going skiing for a whole week in Spain (Sierra Nevada).
This is the longest I have ever gone without taking a vacation and I’m truly exhausted. It’s been a year since I came back from maternity leave and this has been, without a question, the busiest year of my life, work wise.

This is also the first vacation we’re taking alone with R. We’re leaving M with my parents since he can’t ski yet. She is so excited about it she has been waking up an hour earlier than usual and the first things she asks is how many days until we go skiing. Yesterday she packed a few of her toys, put the bag by the door and told ZM he could start loading the car. I’m pretty sure she won’t even sleep on Friday.

So next week there’ll be no posting, but to make up for it I promise to post tons of pictures when we come back.

Oh and I have bad news. They’re moving my desk CLOSER to my boss’ desk, to make room for a new girl. So if that was a problem before it’ll be even worse now. Ugh!

R funny

2007-02-22T10:50:00.000Z

The other day we’re driving back from my in-laws and R is bragging about how grown-up she is now.

“I’m 4 now, and next I‘ll be 5, and then 6, then 7, then 8, then 9…I’m almost getting there!”

Getting where? We asked her.

“To the letters”

Apparently, she seems to have picked up the idea that after the numbers come the letters. Crazy hun?

Oh and good news. I closed a deal I’ve been working on for the past 9 months. No matter how chaotic it gets sometimes, I really love this job.

Back from Paris

2007-02-12T17:17:00.000Z

Paris was nice. Paris is always nice. And it snowed. The company was also nice, there were 5 of us from my office, and we got to know each other better and it turns out I’ve been working with some really nice people I had never even bothered to get to know.
The course ended at 5 pm each afternoon so there was plenty of time to go for a walk, have a hot chocolate and a croissant, and shop, of course. And we had dinner at some really nice and fancy restaurants. Like this one www.kong.fr and this one www.cabaret.fr
I came back home with the flu, to find my kids also with the flu. So we spent a nice calm weekend at home, watching tv and drinking tea, and everyone is on their way to a full recovery now.

Work, work, work ... and story telling

2007-01-31T14:04:00.000Z

I’m swamped again. I have barely seen Manel this week and it won’t get any better soon. ZM has been my life saver, as usual, and has been taking care of the kids and the house. No wonder my son’s first word was Pai (dad) and now that he says about 10 or 12 words, Mãe (mom), is still not one of them. He loves me to death though, so all is well.

I did go to R’s school yesterday, in the middle of the day, to read the kids a story. They have been inviting the parents to come read a story and R has been insisting that I go for a while, so I went. Her school is a 10 minute walk from my office, and with the 20 minutes it took me to read them the story I was back at the office less than an hour after I left. And it’s amazing how much something so small meant to her. She talked about it all evening and this morning.

I’m going to Paris on Sunday, to take a course, and I’ll be back on Wednesday. The course is from 9 am to 5 pm Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, which should give me some time to go shopping and to just veg out in my hotel room. I’ll write again when I’m back.

Babies and Ski trips

2007-01-23T09:37:00.000Z

I’m not sure if I had told you guys, but my sister in law, the one who got married last June, is pregnant. She’s due in July, and found out last week that she’s having a boy, who will be named José Maria, after my husband.
I love children, and I love it that my kids will have cousins around their age and I’m hoping that my own sister will get pregnant again soon, too. And having babies around will temporarily numb my own desire for another child, which I clearly and rationally can not indulge in right now.

I got a bonus last week. 15,000 euros. I guess the ski trip is paid for!

The start of a new cycle

2007-01-18T12:07:00.000Z

A couple of days ago I posted an update on myself on a message board some friends and I have. I thought I would post it here so, here it goes:

Work
Things at work changed quite a bit since I came back from maternity leave last February. My old boss went to Poland and I have a new one. This boss is so much better in almost every way, and I feel so much more motivated working with him. The only problem is he likes team work and he likes to delegate, so while on one hand I have much more responsibility and direct contact with the clients (and am loving it!!), on the other I am always swamped and am having a bit of a hard time juggling everything.This is the main reason why I haven’t been posting here nearly as often as I used to. The other reason is they moved my desk and my computer screen is now directly facing my boss. Also, my boss’ boss (the one who told me she wouldn’t promote me because it would be a dangerous precedent to promote a mom, blah, blah, blah) had a baby in November (ironic hun?) and she left most of her work (which is mostly administrative) to me. She says she was surprised with my good reaction to the non-promotion and wants to compensate for it, so in February I’m going to Paris to take a Leveraged Finance course, and she promised I’d get the promotion this year… we’ll see about it.

Family
Because of all the changes at work, things at home have been a bit complicated as well. As you guys probably know (or maybe not) I have a nanny/housekeeper from 8.30 am to 7 pm on weekdays. It used to be a nice arrangement but lately I have had to work later than 7 pm much more often. So I have to ask either DH or my Mom to be there at 7 pm and take care of the kids (dinner, etc). DH is the best husband ever and he’s been absolutely great. He says he’s never seen me so motivated and happy with my work and he is more than willing to help out as much as he can with the kids. And my Mom has also been great. But the fact is I can’t help but feel I’m being a negligent mother sometimes. I keep telling myself (and others) this is just a phase and I’m trying to achieve a certain position at work that will later allow me to work less. I just hope it’s true.

The Kids
The kids are doing great. R turned 4 and she thinks she’s all grown up now. We are taking her skiing in March and it makes her feel like a grown up. She tortures her brother because she always wants to pick him up, feed him, comb his hair, read him a story, help him do whatever it is he wants to do... you get the picture. Poor M is a saint and he loves his big sister, but he does get frustrated sometimes, poor kid. To defend himself he started walking before he turned one and has developed the gross motor skills of a 2 year old. He climbs and crawls and jumps, it’s actually funny to see such a small kid doing all these things. He’s the absolute opposite of my nephew (who’s one week younger), who just started walking.We do want one more child, but we will have to postpone that plan for a little longer than we first thought.

I promise I will post at least one new entry every week from now on. Cross my heart!

One year ago

2007-01-11T10:07:00.000Z

First of all, let me wish all of you a wonderful and happy new year. I hope your holidays were good, as mine were, and I hope this year is a great one.

As I was saying, a year ago today we were at the hospital, so that my dear husband could donate his kidney to his older brother. We were terrified, especially my MIL, who had two of her sons in surgery. It was an emotional day, but also a very good one.

Today we are going to my inlaws for a mini-celebration. The fact is we never thought this first year (the critical one, the doctors had told us) would go by so smoothly. BIL is doing great, he is 10 years younger and is doing things he hadn't done in 13 years, things as simple as traveling, drinking and playing soccer. We really couldn't have asked for more.

Happy Birthday

2006-12-19T09:08:00.000Z

I can't believe it's been almost a month since I last posted anything. Time is going by so fast it's actually scary.
Anyway, today is R's 4th birthday! That's even more scary, because I just don't see myself as having a grown daugther. This year we're taking her skiing with us! Scary.

Things at work should get better in January and hopefully I'll have more time to write. I'm not even sure what I have and haven't told you about. Like the fact that my boss had her baby and left most of her work for me to do.

If I don't write before Christmas (which I probably won't, to be honest) i just want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Great New Year!