June Survey/Selfie

I was going to post about something else and then noticed that it's the last of the month already!

Chose this one forgetting that I used an almost
 identical one last month! Sophia attacking my hair
while I wait for her to get sleepy. :)

What I've been...


Reading: "Wonder Weeks" by Hetty van de Rijt, Ph.D. "Daffodils" by Alex Martin.

Watching:  Drumroll....nothing! :) Today David and I watched some YouTube videos of people catching large snakes. Pretty wild. :)

Cooking/Eating: Cheesy Chicken Fritters from Natasha's Kitchen...also currently obsessed with Panzanella now that we finally have ripe tomatoes. Today I tried a chocolate-chip muffin recipe for the first time, not bad.

Listening to: Nothing here either, computer's on the blink...sometimes I put on some lively tunes for David to have a dance party.

Striving towards: Getting back to healing my core. Looking 6 months pregnant again. :/

Looking forward to: More family birthdays, and spending time in the U.S. once we get the plane ride over with.

What David is up to: Mixing concoctions in the kitchen, and planting things in some window boxes.

What Sophia is up to: Cruising around the house, often independently.


Your turn!

Birthdays as an adult

Not going to write about a party or growing older...just some rambling about everyday life mingled with birthday stuff.

So my birthday was a few days ago and I set expectations low...no offense to anyone who helped make it special, which I appreciated. ;)

I had the usual birthday insomnia. Does anyone else have that? Again not even really related to deep thoughts about growing older....just general wakefulness and trying to plan out the next day.

Finally was trying to fall asleep around 2:30 a.m., when Sophia joined me for the night. After several wake-ups, I started getting birthday texts around 8 am (on a Sunday morning). However, they were not texts from actual people. They were from stores wanting to "congratulate" me...and inviting me to buy something, of course.

Around 9 Sophia was up for the day, so I headed into another room to play, but Andrei sent me back to bed. After tossing and turning, I was just drifting back to sleep when a friend called. I lied and pretended I hadn't been sleeping. We talked for 5-10 minutes and I really tried to be conversational. But I couldn't help thinking my cup was empty...my people energy, that is.

Andrei made me breakfast, and Sophia was napping by that time since she'd been up for a few hours. Then he went to finish sermon prep and David and I started to make a cake...but Sophia woke up. Like I said, I had low expectations...I looked at the bowl with the butter sitting in it all alone since I hadn't mixed anything together yet. It wasn't too late to run and get dessert from the store. But Andrei took Sophia and encouraged me to go ahead with it.

Remembering

While gathering some notes about my late grandfather to help process his passing, I was surprised that I hadn't blogged about my trip to Budapest with my grandparents and older brother back in 2007. That was my first year of blogging when I was pretty regular. There's just a gap during those dates. But, it was a great vacation, so I'm glad I spent the time enjoying myself and their company.

Trying out some local goulash, perhaps?

Cow sculptures in  Budapest

Looking ahead

Just bought tickets for our trip to the States in a little over a month. I don't think it's hit me what I've gotten myself into. In fact, I don't think I can even imagine what it will be like with 2 kids!

We ended up having to switch airlines due to seat availability, but maybe that will be a good thing. Our last experience was actually pretty unpleasant. When we touched down in Frankfurt, we needed a few extra minutes to get off the plane. We let others go by us before getting all our bags down, Sophia (5 weeks old) in the carrier, etc. It was hard even getting our shoes on with the crowds around us and taking turns holding the baby. But apparently there was very little turnaround time or something, and the stewardess (polite up to this point) came up and started barking at us to get off RIGHT THIS MINUTE. And then she proceeded to stand over us, yelling, as we tried to gather our things now that our nerves were shot. No offers to hold the baby, help with bags, etc. I was unpleasantly surprised and I guess we will try to hustle next time.

Speaking of hustling, I chose really short layovers this time. Like, 90 minutes for switching terminals. With a newborn, we needed time for nursing/burping/diapering, but this time I decided that faster is better. So we'll put Sophia in the carrier, hope David is ready for some exercise, and BOOK IT to our next flight (aka miles-long security line). Part of the reason is that last time the few extra hours for catching a breather turned into a few hours of falling out of our seats from exhaustion as we waited for our next flight. Trying to use a bag as a pillow only to have it slide to the floor. Taking a turn with the baby only to find that I couldn't stay awake enough to hold onto her.

Next up is scheduling all the doctors' appointments, side trips, and hopefully lots of fun activities for this summer's trip. No visas this time-it'll be my turn for bureaucratic stuff when we get back to Russia in the fall. 

May survey/selfie

Just realized this didn't post! Back-dating...

Hair strategically flipped to the non-baby side...

What I've been...


Reading: "Light of my Heart" (Silver Hills trilogy by Ginny Aiken), continuing "Center Church" by Timothy Keller

Watching:  Started the new "Anne of Green Gables" on Netflix. Decided not to continue. Anyone want to discuss?

Cooking/Eating: Sour cream pound cake, chicken wings, zucchini bread, buckwheat, cinnamon rolls (not necessarily in that order).

Listening to: Andrei on the radio. :)

Striving towards: Taking care of trip planning and all the other adult responsibilities.

Looking forward to: Seeing family this summer.

What David is up to: Learning some letters, sculpting with Play-Dough, and handling snakes at a petting zoo!

What Sophia is up to: Getting into everything...including the food on our plates as opposed to her own. ;)


Your turn!