the one and only way my toddler will eat broccoli

Also, the only way I actually enjoy eating broccoli myself. Also, one of the ways I'm channeling my Martha Stewart in the kitchen. Doesn't happen often, but when it does, might as well document it, right?

It's pretty simple, actually.
You will need a couple of eggs, some broccoli, salt and pepper. The amounts will be based on the number of mouths at your dining table.
First wash this yucky stuff, then cut off the florets.

Do you steam your veggies, btw? I used to always just boil them, but word on the street says steaming is the thing now. It's healthier or something.
After you steam (or boil) the veggies, sauté them with some eggs.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper and voila. By the way, I'm a faithful believer in this seasoned salt. I think it makes everything taste delish. Maybe not chocolate though...

You can be crazy and put some grated parmesan cheese before serving. I'm not crazy, because it means that my toddler will focus her whole attention on those tiny pieces of cheese and that will just negate the sole purpose of this proud my-child-eats-broccoli post. Nuh-uh!

And then, enjoy... Your meal and watching your toddler eat something that doesn't involve sugar.

I also got to enjoy my view;)

Annika says...

Here is another, smaller, installment of Annikaisms. There are so many these days that I can’t keep track any more:)

Talks to self:

Where is Annika? There me is!

-Annika, if you have a baby brother, what should his name be?

-Sister.

-What are you doing, huh, mama?

-I’m drinking coffee. What are you doing?

-Not drinking coffee.

Starts (fake)crying and I don’t respond. Comes up to me and in the most pitiful way whines:

-      -Ask what’s my matter.

Greg gets out of the shower and Annika walks in right after.  All I heard was:

-Daddy’s tail!

… and then everyone died. Laughing!

a two-week-old, a two-year-old, and two exhausted parents in love

In case anybody missed the news - a brand new Winn joined our family (almost)2 weeks ago. Meet Leo Thomas Winn. A sweet, sleepy, cuddly bundle of cuteness who is an exact replica of his big sister, which makes him an exact replica of his dad. I've been robbed of any sort of resemblance with my child yet again. I guess it's all right, all I did was carry these offsprings in me for 40 long, not-so-pleasant weeks and have undergone 2 major abdominal surgeries to get them into this world. No biggie, children, thankyouverymuch!

So far, Leo has been very easy. Sleeps, poops, eats, sleeps, repeats... 3-4 hours stretches of sleep at night. Very happy and content when awake. Unlike his sister, who was very "vocal", especially in the rare moments someone dared to not hold her. She was a good sleeper, gotta give her that!

Speaking of the big sister... This has a been a bit of a challenging time with her. On top of her terrible twos (which alone would have been enough!), the parentals made her move houses and brought someone else to love on into the family. I mean, the guts! My little girlie has been nothing short of traumatized. Once a happy-happy sleeper, she now cries and cries and wants to hold my hand until she falls asleep. Once a sweet little baby girl, she now acts out like a teenager. The ''NO, MOMMY!" is oh-so-prevalent in our house these days. 

Just in the last 3 days things have gotten better with her sleeping. She is getting used to her new room and is once again happy to talk to her toys and animals before falling asleep. (We had switched her to a toddler bed, but quickly realized she wasn't ready, so back to the crib she went!). But the behavior is still a bit off and this is something she'll have to outgrow. 

Annika does love her brother though. First thing I hear in the morning is "I want to go see my baby Leo!". She wants to hold and kiss him all the time. If only she would understand that she doesn't necessarily have to hit him first, before kissing him.

And us... Well, we are adjusting. There've been tears, tiredness, but overall we are managing. Even though we both can't wait when the littles start playing with each other, we are trying to enjoy this stage of life. We know it's all going to go really fast, so we want to cherish these moments.

*** Gee, I really need to break out my real camera again... If only I could find it in this mess...***

moving, having a baby... you know, the little things...

So, I guess we've officially moved. It's been a hard few days, physically exhausting and emotionally draining, but it's over.
Aside from a few boxes in the attic of the old house, all of our junk is currently in the new house. A lot of it is in the garage, but I'm just trying to avoid that area as I unpack and clean up what's inside the house. We moved on Saturday, but today (Tuesday) was the first day that I've felt like we were home. While Annika was in daycare, I cleaned, and cleaned, and organized, and decorated, and cleaned some more. I cooked our first meal here, too. Kind of a big deal, seeing that I don't usually cook at all:) There are still lots of things to do in the house and it's pretty much still a blank canvas, but it's livable. I have so many different decorating ideas, ya hear that, Pinterest? Can't wait to get my hands dirty, in a creative sort of way, in the next few months or so.

Oh, and we have exactly one more day as a family of three. Thursday morning, bright and early, Lord willing, a forth member of our family will be joining us. And then... well... just pray for us.

I'm planning to spend all day with Annika tomorrow... We are going to go to the park, then have lunch in our village (with ice-cream... shh, don't tell daddy! or my gestational diabetes!), then after nap we will do our pedicures and maybe bake something.  Our last day just the two of us, awe... I think I'm going to cry at some point or another too...

Here are a few bits and pieces (from my phone!) of the new house... remember it's a work in progress!

4th of July in Winona Lake

Well, it's Monday after 4th of July weekend and it may as well be January 2nd. You know, the festivities are over and the reality of everyday life hits you in the head like a boomerang and knocks you down on your knees where you sit and wonder, what in the world just happened.
I guess things weren't that dramatic, but who doesn't like to exaggerate?:)

4th of July here was very fun though. The weather couldn't have been more beautiful and our lake was SWARMING with boats full of vacationers. The main street of our town was lined up with lawn chairs from early morning. People were that eager to call a spot for the parade and the fireworks in the evening.

We spent most of our day hanging out on the lawn with our friends and some semi-naked people.

In the evening we went over to our friends J and Kirby's house for a traditional celebratory dinner. Kirby is a great cook and she is also from Texas, which explains her obsession with wrapping everything and their aunt in bacon. Delish!

Annika's sleeping schedule is completely off this summer, so by the time we got her home, in bath and her PJs, the fireworks started and we just let her stay up and watch those from our pier. She was in awe and things got even better for this girl when someone showed up with a huge bag of cotton candy. This iPhone picture is the only picture we took from the fireworks show.

Hope you had a great day celebrating America's birthday. Cheers.

on my year of being a sahm

So, I'm nervous. It's been a big year for our little family. What, between Greg becoming a business owner, and us buying a house and getting ourselves a new baby...

Plus, I'm about to embark on a whole new adventure. I just finished my school year before becoming a stay-at-home mom for 12 months. I only had about 3 months at home with Annika, and every morning I was jealous that Greg got to get up, get ready and go to work. I truly hope this time will be different, because I'm wanting to embrace my babies and the every-day ups and downs at home with them. Many people, including my own husband, might think that I chose to take a year off because I needed a break from work, because I wanted an "easy" year... Ha! I KNOW it will be a much more difficult and challenging year than the year I would have spent working. But it will also be more rewarding to me. And that is WHY I made that decision. Time flies... I don't want to look back and say "oh, I wish I had spent more time at home with my kids."  

Maybe I'm naive, but I'm hoping that this year will be a busy one and that I won't actually be "staying" at home all the time. Annika will be starting preschool at the end of summer. I'm planning on library visits, walks to farmer's markets, play dates, outdoors adventures... And tell me if I'm being completely crazy here, but I'm also hoping to spend some me time... like working out, doing DIY projects, decorating our new house, reading, photographing, blogging. Too much? K, we'll just play it by ear then:)

One of my resolutions (and this one is really worrisome to me... in the sense that I think I'm going to fail!) is to speak more Russian with the kids. I started pretty well when Annika was a baby, but little by little Russian almost disappeared from our home... Apart from Greg occasionally pointing out my body parts in Russian to Annika. Wish me luck! I want to raise my babies bilingual, because this is one of the best things I can give them. Aside from chocolate, of course... 

Alrighty, now that I've set super ambitious goals and plans for the year, I'm going to go pray to the Almighty. Seriously...

First pregnancy update... at 36 weeks

36-week belly

The first time, when this whole pregnancy thing seemed new and fascinating, I did a much better job keeping track and documenting the whole experience. Didn't work out this time. I wonder if having an active toddler has something to do with that:)

This has been a completely different pregnancy. Well, apart from the suspected gestational diabetes. That stinker is there again, we think. It's suspected, because it's not officially diagnosed. Once again, I failed the first glucose screening and refused the second (the 3-hour one), because I know how hellish it was the first time (I puked it all out, if you were curious about the details:)). Knowing that I had a high risk of having elevated sugars, I started controlling my diet right away. Actually, even before, because I was doing Weight Watchers (in which, btw, I'm a total complete believer! Amen!)

This pregnancy has been easier, faster, less... noticeable, for lack of a better word. To begin with, I started off about 15 lbs lighter than the 1st time. My nausea lasted for about 2 weeks, on and off, and mild. That's in contrast to a whole 1st trimester of 24/7 queasiness the first time around. Yuck! So I Praise Jesus! 2nd trimester was a breezy breeze! There were days, when I would forget I was pregnant, and would wear heels and accidentally order a triple latte. 

I also didn't start showing until much later and have been smaller at every stage. Just in the last couple of weeks that belly's popped out of control and it. is. uncomfortable. I'm predicting these last 3 weeks will be difficult, if not downright unbearable. But that's a small price to pay for having had such an easy going so far. Right? Right?!?

Just like the first time, we don't know the gender of the baby, but I'm feeling a boy. Possibly because I have a boy name picked out and still wrecking my brain over a girl option:) Maybe just like the first time, Greg and I will be fighting over a name on our way to the hospital. Fun times:)

I have no quality pictures of this pregnancy, but I will show you some that I have posted on my Instagram. Please, excuse the iPhone quality, please!

Oh yes, and get ready for the selfie overload of the century!