it's a...

"No mama, it's not a trash can...it's a bag!"
Apparently, the wastebasket I bought for the girls' room has multiple uses. It has been transporting her blocks from room to room all afternoon. I'm just glad it makes her so happy.

This girl has an active imagination. She was so excited to show me this "castle" she made in the carpet with my bobby pins. And speaking of the carpet, I can't wait to get rid of it this summer. We will be reflooring the entire house. Yay!

And since I haven't been updating lately, here's what's new with us:

* Todd just finished his first semester of nursing school -- one down, four to go. This month is a little bittersweet because this is the month he would have graduated with his Bachelor's in biology. It would have been nice to have that chapter over with, but I'm really so glad that he switched. He's been a happier student since switching, and this is going to be great for our family in the long run. What a couple years more, right? The last few have gone by sooo quickly!

* I am so so lucky to have my Todd. The past few months have been a big adjustment for our family. We've moved in with my parents, I've increased my hours at work, I started teaching piano, I've been doing A LOT more math tutoring than before, and Todd has been the busiest at school that he's ever been. And despite all of the stress that I've been feeling (and expressing), I've also felt incredibly blessed because Todd is probably the most forgiving, least critical person on the planet. He never complains about the things that I don't get done. He always compliments me on my efforts. He is consistently patient with our girls. He plays with them on a daily basis. He keeps me sane. He is the best. Ever.

* I have less than 2 weeks to go until I am done with work for this school year! I love it that this jobs allows me to have summers off. I really enjoy spending my days with my kids. I also love my job, but the break is much needed. However...I'll really miss tutoring during the summer. Does that make me crazy? I think the craziness of it is that I never knew how much I loved math until this past year or so. I don't want to teach it full-time (teaching comes with a lot more baggage than I want to carry right now) but tutoring fits me perfectly.

* Alina's neuro appointment went great, by the way. Her doctors are really impressed with her recovery. They say it is pretty rare to make such a complete recovery, even as young as she is. They found a few more diseases or blood disorders they want to test her for in November, when she goes back in for her next MRI. I feel torn between wanting an answer (as to why she had her stroke) sooo badly, and also hoping that it was just a fluke...and therefore no answers. I feel a little bit like I live in constant fear of the same thing happening to Mila, or to Alina again. But in the meantime, I really have no reason to complain. Alina is a super-smart little girl!

* Mila is walking and learning to talk. She is SUCH a little clown. Her moods can be extreme, so we're lucky that she's happy almost all of the time. She's feisty and sweet and oh-so-dramatic. She loves to laugh and to make us laugh. She absolutely adores Alina. She eats anything and everything...such a welcome change from our extremely picky eater Alina. She is a really great sleeper -- at least 12 hours every night, plus 2 or 3 naps a day. And she is busy enough during the day to make up for every bit of extra sleep she gets!

And just for fun, here's an extra big dose of Mimi-cuteness:

(This is the amazingly cute smile I'm greeted with each morning with Mila wakes up).

Ahoy, Mateys!

Today I took Alina to Houston to see her neurologist. She goes about every six months so that the doctors can monitor her progress and consider whether any further testing needs to happen. She absolutely loves going to the doctor, but is understandably impatient with the two-hour drive that it takes to get there, so I tried to make it as fun as possible. I brought books, toys, snacks, her favorite music, and my cell phone (which made for some entertaining phone calls to Aunt Rachael and Aunt Kathryn). But on the way back, these just weren't enough anymore and she started to cry. And cry. And cry. Finally, she stopped and was silent for a few minutes and then I heard....

"Ahoy, matey!"

and then, pointing at my GPS:

"A treasure map! To Chuck E Cheese!"

And how could I say no to that? So off to Chuck E Cheese we went. I love the chance to have a fun date with my little sweetie.

And by the way, what kind of kid says "Ahoy, matey!" like it's no big deal? Todd's child. That's right. My kids are silly, just like their daddy...and I kind of love it.

today is...

Today is National Pediatric Stroke Awareness Day (I know, there's a day for everything now, right?)! Remember that kids, toddlers, and babies (even in utero) can all have strokes. Alina was only 12 months old when she became a stroke survivor. Unfortunately, strokes are often missed or diagnosis is delayed in children because it is uncommon enough to warrant relatively little research compared with other childhood conditions; therefore it is often the last thing considered. Be aware - know the signs of stroke!

feels good

I have to say, I have been pleasantly surprised at how nice it is to NOT have facebook anymore! I'll probably temporarily reactivate every now and then (who doesn't enjoy a little extra birthday love?). But for now, I'm not missing it. Not even a little bit. Happy Tuesday!

the piano incident (and hello facebook)

Yesterday, I taught piano lessons for 1 & 1/2 hours. This was torture for Alina, who couldn't understand why she wasn't allowed to be under, on top of, all over the piano for such a long time. So when my students left, Alina got to have a turn, and I left the room to put Mila down for a nap.

*CRASH*

*MAAAAAMAAAAA*

My sweet Alina, in the midst of composing an original piece, was overcome by her passion for music and toppled headfirst onto the keyboard where she bit her lip (pretty badly) in 2 different places. There was A LOT of blood, and her poor lower lip is swollen to twice its size. It started bleeding again while Todd was feeding her dinner (yes, you read that right: my two year-old still wants to be spoon-fed...and we oblige). She asked for a bandaid, so I put one on her chin. That didn't last long. She absolutely insisted that it be placed directly on her lip. She also "needed" a bandaid on her hand, which had a lot of blood on it from her mouth.

I tried to figure out how to text the picture directly to my blog, but to no avail. I ended up reactivating my facebook so that I could text the picture to my profile, save it to my computer, and post it on here. Hence, hello facebook. Don't worry, it's coming down again in a few. Am I technologically impaired? Umm, I think so.

Success!

I know I mentioned the whole January vegan thing and never brought it up again, but we DID have success with it! Okay, so it was maybe like 95% success, but still. There might have been one Sunday in nursery when I went crazy and ate half a box of Cheez-its. And one day at Jason's Deli when I ordered a spinach veggie wrap and they brought me a turkey wrap...which I didn't notice until the last bite (that is 100% true, but seriously, how did I not notice?!). And okay, yes, I cheated at my sister-in-law's bridal shower with some really yummy chips and dip. I was practically starving. But for the most part I stuck to it (Todd was way better than me though), and I was really surprised at how well I enjoyed it.

Some vegan foods I learned to love:
- Vegenaise, a really awesome vegan (no eggs) form of mayo. Tastes really good, but is unfortunately really expensive too.
- Tofurkey. Yes, Tofurkey. As in tofu "turkey" lunch meat. I thoroughly enjoyed a few tofurkey sandwiches (with lettuce, tomato, and avocado) during January.
- Fake ground meat. I can't remember the brand, but we got it at HEB. We made some meatless-cheeseless quesadillas for an Ochoa family party around the middle of January and they were a big hit. We didn't let anyone know that they were meatless until they were mostly gone. We seasoned our fake meat with cumin and other taco spices and combined it with sauteed onions and bell peppers and some vegenaise. Sooo good. I would definitely eat this almost every day.
- Vegan Pretend Cinnamon Rolls. Okay, so I made this up on the spot one night, but it was sooo delicious. I was making some delicious rolls one night and had some left over dough. I was feeling a little experimental, so I put the leftover rolls in a 9x9 cake pan and spread cream of coconut all over it (thick, like frosting) and then baked it like normal. It was sooo good, but the next morning I improved on it even more by heating it in the microwave and adding cinnamon. Voila! Instant "cinnamon roll." It was seriously delicious.

I'm definitely glad that it's over, but I don't think I'll be totally reverting back to my prior carnivorous ways any time soon. I think I could (somewhat) easily go meatless for a year. I actually felt really guilty for my first non-vegan meal on February 1st. Meat was surprisingly easy for me to cut out, but ohhh how I missed cheese. And MAJOR bonus: I lost 6 pounds in January. I'm still losing baby weight from Mila, but usually it's more like 1-2 pounds a month, so this felt pretty awesome. Will we do it again? Um...maybe, eventually. But right now, I'm thoroughly enjoying nachos again.

facebook, we're over!

Deactivated my facebook today...it's been a long time coming. I'm not closing the door forever, but now that we have internet (yay!), I am finding that facebook is wasting a lot of my time. And pointlessly. So, we're done -- maybe for a few months, maybe more, or maybe I'll cave next week. I think that right now, I'd rather focus on documenting our lives (via my blog) than waste time with bits and pieces on facebook. As of this moment I'm ambivalent, so we'll see how it goes.