Happy New Year

Yeeaah, I am back;0) The new year has started and we all have had to already fill out some forms with the new year number 2012...I hope you guys remembered;0) For us here in our new home things are VERY SLOWLY getting settled. Two rooms still have many boxes with a couple of them still even unopened. Some new furniture is needed here and there, which I believe will be the case for a while. Money obviously is not as easy to come by when you just bought a house.

Hubby's and my tastes also could not be more different from each other, so can you imagine us all 4 heading to the store, J Junior taking of as soon as his feet hit the ground and us trying to maneuver through huge halls filled with all kind of furniture, decor, customers and very eager shopping assistants.  Now try to discuss styles, possibilities and preferences...Ha! Well, we need to do a lot more prep work ahead of time...We do have a lot of that and over the next years we will make it nice here, I am sure.Maybe I will even be able to show of some decorating project throughout the process. So far I haven't touched a thing...it's been boxes, laundry, dinners, playgroups and doctor visits.

The holidays went very well, we were actually in Colorado this year. It was beautiful and we DID have a white Christmas. Which we wouldn't have had here on the East Coast. It was so wonderful to be with family and our hosts, my sister- and brother-in-law really put such a great effort into trying to make us feel well. I am very grateful for such a special time. We had a blast and I hope to repeat that soon again.

Everything else though has been very slow for me, the move, Thanksgiving, princess L's birthday and our trip were all such a great adventure and exiting to go through, but it also took a toll on us. We are exhausted and in great need of a break. On top of things I seem to be having a greater difficulty then I ever had with a move. I had mentioned it in an earlier post, but at the time, I believed those issues were merely related to the fact that I was packing and taking care of the kids and the household at the same time. Now that we are here, I am realizing that there is actually more to it. What it is, I am still not hundred percent sure of, probably a combination of issues.

On one hand I am missing the things we got used to over the past years, stores, parks, people, walks, although I never liked them as much, since it wasn't very pretty where we lived. I also started to wonder, if this is what I want my children to grow up in...It is a very different life from what I lived back in Germany. We walked everywhere, we took buses, trains, we biked. Here we don't leave the house without a car. There is just nothing else to walk to. So you may wonder, didn't I know that before we bought the house...of course I did. But throughout my life I seem to think through possible problems very differently until I actually live through them. As my friend has reminded me, I just have to give it some time. There are worse things then feeling homesick. I make an effort at night, when I go to bed, to say thank you for the good things in my life. We are lucky, we have a beautiful family, lovely healthy children and that's all that counts.

I am sure you guys will hear more of my whining, so I will relieve you for today;0) Have a wonderful weekend. Much love and sleep to all of you. Namaste, Romy

Packing

Two more weeks. We have officially started packing our lives into boxes. It's is amazing how things can get us, make us, how they can move us and hold us.

We are all quite emotional here at the moment, to the point that hubby and I decided to just honker down and get it done. Just move and keep going. No looking to the left or right, we just have to get it done. 

Memories and feelings are dug up, unwrapped, packed back into different boxes or hopefully thrown out and let go.

It's an emotional process and it's not an easy one I must admit. I counted and I realized that in my 35 years I have moved 26 times. This will be move number 27. I moved between cities, countries, continents and different political systems. But for some reason this one seems to be the hardest. It's only 35 minutes away within the same state...

Namaste,
Romy

little things and pleasures

Just wanted to share some fun things we sometimes come up with here;0) Princess L loves her dolls, there is lots of pretend play and I adore the things she just makes up herself. Currently she celebrates one baby doll or teddy birthday after another and I secretly watch her set it all up by herself, talking to herself and the dolls, discussing arrangements and preparing the event...big smiles.
Check out that bibs on every party guest;0)

 And of course they need to be fed...The birthday bear gets a cupcake with candle...

 And isn't that the most delicately decorated Panda Lady? My hearts just melts when I see something like that.

The other day Princes L asked me for a wrap-baby-doll- carrier, just like the Moby. I am sure most of you are familiar with what I am talking about. If not, have a look here: Moby Wrap

I used it for Baby J  last year and liked it for the most part. It's a little much fabric to deal with at times, when you are out and about, but I do like how comfortable and snugly it is and that the babies weight was evenly distributed all over my back.

Back to my request. Now I would love to tell you, that I went into my craft and sewing room/corner/area and just made a carrier for her...Well it would have taken too long and an almost 5-year old doesn't have the patience to wait for mommy to figure out how to turn on the sewing machine, let alone coming up with a pattern, a fabric and a final product. So I did this:

I used a scarf and wrapped it around moby style and it worked. I was actually impressed myself about how simple it was and how it just did it. We put it to the test and everything was snugly tight and little Princess L was able to go about her chores with baby in tow...until she started running and jumping around on the couch. She was a little surprised that baby became so lose and complaint. Well, what do you say?;0)

The toilet paper on the floor came from J Junior taking about a roll... I will tell you more about that a little later;0) Have a wonderful day.

Namaste,
Romy

Halloween 2011

I can't believe it is already over. One of my and my daughter's most favorite holiday. We had a blast, we decorated, we carved and dreamed of witches, ghosts, monsters and all the spooky things you can imagine. We visited Salem, had apple cider and doughnuts. We had some friends over on Halloween, we played games and went Trick-or Treating. We were very lucky, because some towns here on the East Costs were without power due to the snowstorm that brought down a lot of trees. Next year we will celebrate Halloween in our new house.

So this year my husband and I were a little teary-eyed because we have spent 6 years in our apartment. It's very small and definitely not big enough to invite all our friends at the same time. But we did have both our children here and we are quite attached to the neighborhood. Also being close to Boston is just one major plus we will miss very much. But you have to make compromises, we had looked for more then a year. And the prices here are just unbelievable. Crazy what people have to pay to be able to live a decent life.

Anyway, before I go any further (the moving boxes are waiting to be filled with our life), here are some pictures from our Halloween decorations.

I am most proud of my witch. I love her boots;0) And yes I drew everything by hand. Nothing copied.

Princess L also wanted to draw bats and ghosts;0) Aren't they beautiful? They even have fangs. She was sad that they weren't "as nice as mine" and I had to convince her that she did an amazing job. And she did!

And of course we had to face paint. 

 And the other side....

And I go painted too. Lovely;0)

 The Tunnel of Doom was Princes L's idea. She saw it in Fancy Nancy's Halloween book. It leads to the kitchen;0)



 

Our costumes were fairly easy this year. My daughter insisted that she wanted to be an angel and we bought a costume,which looked more like a fairy, because it lid up and that's what sold it to her. I made some wings for baby J and drew a picture of Cupit on a white T-shirt. I went as a cloud (which unfortunately i do not have a picture of) and my husband was lightning...

Isn't he striking?;0)

Namaste, Romy

this week...

I read an article yesterday. I cried, but I kept reading. I usually try to avoid anything involving ill children, because I start sobbing the minute they start sharing their story. The picture I saw, reminded me very strongly of my own little boy. But I had to read it. Somehow I just realized in that moment, that I cannot continue to close my eyes, just because we are "the lucky ones". How do we know, if we are anyways.

We have to watch, we have to listen and we have to remind ourselves every single day, that life is so precious, unpredictable, and at many times it seems so very unfair. We have to be grateful for every moment with our families. Try not to sweat the small stuff. It all sounds so cliche, but that's what it comes down to. Be thankful.

I try to talk about being thankful at the dinner table, I try to remember to count at least five little things I am grateful for in addition to having my family around, before I go to sleep.

And yesterday and for many days in the future I will also be thankful for this letter of the Dragon Mom. I was amazed by her strength, by her beautiful writing and her love, which she shares with us. I will keep her and her family in my heart for the rest of my life. I will send her love many times I look into my sons eyes. I will cry many more tears for her and every other parent losing their child. I will hug my kids a little longer, smell their skin, listen to their laughs, hold their little hands. I will breath in more consciously, knowing that all this is a privilege. A treat. Life is a treat.

Notes from a Dragon Mom

Namaste.

We are sleeping!

Just a quick update on earlier posts: We are finally sleeping. Baby J is now being put to bed, with reading a book, snuggling, nursing and singing. Then we put him down, very much against his will, but he resists only for seconds, and leave the room. As soon as I have left, he stops complaining and falls asleep....!!! Without any further action, just like that. Wow, I must say, I am amazed. All the hours of rocking, nursing, holding, back padding and now this. Just like that. I know his sister wasn't that easy, but he seems to be just fine. Can you believe it. I can get some sleep now and be a better person all around. So I am hitting the pillow now and will be all refreshed and full of energy and ideas tomorrow. Sleep well everyone. Talk soon.

Oh, yes, it looks like we are buying the house;0)

Good night.
Romy

Moves and more changes

Well, sometimes all that it takes is a good ol' girl's night out to change your focus and remember what your dreams are. After many many months of confinement I actually went out last night and had a blast. I caught up with a good friend who turns out to be one big famous blogger;0) Check it out, that girl is TALENTED! All this for them is one cute place for fun ideas and inspiration. Thank you Mary Jo, I hope one day I will be as productive as you! And of course thank you for a fun night out!

I have been absent again, because we have been exploring the real estate market more closely the last few weeks and it turns out we might have found a nice house. Let's cross our fingers, but I believe we may be moving. After almost 10 years city life we will explore a more remote life style, living about 35 minutes from the bigger city in the area. We were looking for something like that because we yearning for a more quiet and calming surrounding for our little ones and us of course. Now that said in the final days before signing the purchase and sale we getting a little nervous and are hoping to find one clear answer to our question: Are we doing the right thing? I doubt we will find the answer at this moment, but I have a feeling we should proceed after all. The commitment puts quite some pressure on us, but we have just hours to decide. So please bare with us and I will let you know in the next couple of days.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Namaste.