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It was soo cold today, I felt like my brain was about to freeze! But Kara and Ken bundled up and made a gigantic snowman!
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I gotta say, she’s got it made! All she’s missing is a mani-pedi every week and some make up and we can officially call her a DIVA!!
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Our little warrior survived Pre-School today for the first time from 9AM – 3PM! When I came to pick her up, she was sprawled out on a sleeping mat, with a blanket and a huge teddy bear next to her, sleeping like a champ! I was shocked since SHE NEVER EVER EVER EVER sleeps anywhere except her own bed.
Ahem ahem…… notice the new color of the walls!! Yes finally, after a year and a half of living in this house, we painted our living room. It’s actually amazing what a coat of paint will do to a room! I can’t believe I am not in someone else’s house. This actually looks like a home and less like a warehouse!
Here’s us playing with colors! 
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So we discovered this Mexican restaurant around here and to our delight, Kara LOVES LOVES LOVES to dance to the music they play there. I have to record this sometimes. Here we are on our way there. Like the grungy look? Our international super star looks like she is going to Puff Daddy concert not some hillbilly Mexican restuarant in Boonieville, NJ!
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Ahhh….a mother dream – another professional in the family.
Kara has been my boss from the day she was born. And let me tell you..I’ve worked for many demanding bosses. This includes myself. I am VERY demanding.
However, my little offspring takes the cake.
She wants everything yesterday, the time lines are completely unrealistic and when I don’t meet the deadlines, there is hell to pay.
But anyway, I love my little maniac! She makes me happy!
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We had a rough year! No Doubt! Between trying to run a business out of the house, take care of Kara and other miscellaneous issues, I have to say, I HOPE 2010 is going to be better. Christmas shopping was tough this year. Even Christmas Tree shopping was done at the last minute.
Between trying to get all work done for everyone shopping with us and doing our own christmas shopping, I am READY for the “season” to be OVER! I can’t tell you!
But here are some shots of Kara before we took our tree down.
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Boy, Daddy likes to have fun with the camera! Cold winter days bring lots of play inside the house and Daddy and Kara are all about play! Working from home for Mommy and Daddy means a lot of play time for Kara. Playdoh is our favorite activity now along with crayons, cutting with scissors, and writing on the walls! But we are getting though it! Yey for us!!! Now where do I go for my magic pills???
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Every year, I like to set aside some time to reflect upon the year’s events and map out a plan for the year to come. After all, if we don’t have a plan, we end up no where.
Here are some of mine. I got these questions from one of my favorite blogs – in{courage}me. What are yours?
1. What was the single best thing that happened this past year?
The celebration of new life. My nephew Owen was born and both he and Kara have been healthy all year long. That’s all anyone could ask for really!
2. What was the single most challenging thing that happened?
The downturn of the economy and the recession definitely played a huge role in our lives. Business was slow, people were not spending, money was tight. Our relationship strained and we were almost on the brink of destruction.
3. What was an unexpected joy this past year?
Owen. The birth of my nephew Owen was unexpected and amazing! He is turning out to be an adorable little boy!
4. What was an unexpected obstacle?
Fighting off stress and managing our finances. This year has been the toughest one yet.
5. Pick three words to describe 2009.
Kara, Survival, Growth
6. Pick three words your spouse would use to describe your 2009 (don’t ask them; guess based on how you think your spouse sees you).
Frustration, Distance, Motivation
7. Pick three words your spouse would use to describe their 2009 (again, without asking).
Nightmare, Hell, Stress
8. What were the best books you read this year?
Embarrassingly- Twilight Saga Series, plus countless other business blogs.
9. With whom were your most valuable relationships?
Ken, Kara, Marion, Onnik, Owen.
10. What was your biggest personal change from January to December of this past year?
The realization that dreams CAN come true, although they may not be wrapped in the imagined gift box. I also came to the realization that I DON’T HAVE TO GET A JOB, I can stay home with my baby and make a ton of money, I REALLY CAN DO IT! IT IS HAPPENING NOW and it’s not some pipe dream. Unfortunately for me, I don’t know anyone personally who has achieved the level of success I have in the past 3 years in a start-up e-commerce business, and basically have to rely on myself for support, courage and inspiration to wake up each morning and keep pushing. Sometimes, I lose track of the the level of achievement and progress made because i am just sooooo busy running. So today, in celebration of 2010, I want to stop for a moment, take a deep breath, and give myself a BIG pat on the back!!! YOU DID IT GIRL!
11. What was your single biggest time waster in your life this past year?
Sleep
12. What was the best way you used your time this past year?
Kara
13. What was the biggest thing you learned this past year?
To trust myself as a mother and business owner.
14. Create a phrase or statement that describes 2009 for you.
SURREAL!
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We are finally through the holidays and into the New Year and I feel like a train wreck! We are all sick as dogs, including Kara, Owen and the rest of us. Both kids are on antibiotics and Owen is on a nebulizer.
So as I sit here trying to accept the fact that it’s Monday tomorrow and shake off my sleepiness and inability to think of work, I am reminded of my New Year’s resolutions:
#1. Celebrate the holidays while on Vacation! I’ve been saying I want to do this for years, and it just never happens! So Here we go: For 2011, I want to go to St. Maarten! There, it’s official!
#2. Fight less. Be Happy more! If I can’t manage this within the next month or so, I am going on medication!
#3. Lose weight, get fit, exercise more! Starting Monday, I am on the starvation/anorexia diet. If that doesn’t work, I am going for surgery!
#4. Spend more time reading books with Kara! She loves stories and reading her books and her imagination is incredible. I really want to encourage and participate in her growth more.
#5. Get another 4 websites running, ranking and monetizing! This should be the easiest part of this list.
#6. Get our wholesale company into larger stores and expand the line into favors.
#7. Buy myself more stuff! I’ve been on the scrooge plan lately when it comes to dressing myself, accessorizing and whatever else. Our bills and mortgage have taken priority this past year as first-time homeowners, but I want to get back into being a fashion-conscious woman who is as vain and superficial as possible! Truly! I used to love that part of myself.
Here are Ken’s Resolutions in his own words:
#1. Have more sex (with me I hope)
#2. Be more attentive to my family.
#3. Lose 25 lbs
#4. Get business on growth track
#5. Correct my ADD problem – (put in by me as one of his resolutions).
#6. Complete resolution 1 – 5, any more and #5 will kick in.
So there, we’ve made our list, we’ve checked them twice and lets hope we can achieve them in 2010.
Here’s to an amazing year for everyone filled with surprises, achievements and love! Here’s to new babies being born, less stress and more happy people all around!
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The annual tradition continues with Kara’s Third Pierogie day in 2009. Check out Omi’s super secret Pierogie recipe in 2008 here. I’ll have to dig up 2007’s pierogi day festivities and post them here.
Dare I say, 2009 pierogies were SUPER delicious! Nice job with the dough Ken.
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Santa came to visit us at school! Awww, so exciting! I remember the fun and excitement this time of year when i was little. I can only hope our baby will remember this the same way!
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From our house to Brooklyn ends up looking like this when you dont take a nap all day!!
We finally made it to Marion’s house after a big search party all over Brooklyn for the keyss Marion left in her coat hanging in our garage. Opps! Where are our heads?
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We went giant pumpkin shipping today and came home with a 90 pound pumpkin! WOW!
Kara’s school is having a Halloween costume party so we have to go outfit shopping next.
So sleepy after all that work!
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Can’t believe our father talked us into this! Can you see my unplucked eyebrows?
I love Owen in this photo! Isn’t he adorable!?!?
I see the iron grip! Marion, we have to dig up that photo with all 5 of us and the iron grip on Onnik. Where is that?
My sweetie pie!
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We finally got our swing set! yey! Of course it came in 10 boxes and about 5 million pieces. What the War and Peace sized manual does not tell you is that you might want to enlist the services of a licensed civil engineer to help with the assembly process. Well two days off of work and many many curse words later, and you have a great playground at home. Fortunately all of the head scratching and throwing of tools quickly becomes worth it the minute she goes down the slide by herself for the first time yelling WEEEEEE!
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ENK was fun again. We got a lot of new stuff for the summer season! Designers like Mish Mish, Me Too, Tea Collection and Zutano had some adorable baby and children’s clothes! Wait till you guys see. Kara had an awesome time running all over the isles like a little maniac.
Thanks to Baby Legs Socks for giving her some ADORABLE baby socks, so she didn’t cut up her little feet from the blisters the shoes gave her. Her “Mother of The Year” forgot one of her socks in the car. 
Amazingly, Baby Legs was the only vendor at the trade show to offer our 2 year old relief. We actually asked a few designers before Baby Legs approached us, if we could buy a pair of socks or slippers for her and they all said NO!!! Talk about bad PR for them. Needless to say, we will be ordering BabyLegs socks for our baby store this season!
Love these socks and this company! Thanks BabyLegs!
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Are you looking for SpongeBob Birthday Party Invitation Ideas? Check out ours below. My sister Marion and I made these invites for Kara’s 2nd BD. She did the graphics and I did the text layout and fonts. Came out pretty good. Let me know if you need help and maybe we can draw some up for you too!
Another thing we decided to do this year unlike last year is SpongeBob Party Favors! It was fun and hopefully the kids like them! We put in a SpongeBob Sticky Doll (sticks to any glass area such as a car or window), coloring book, markers, crayons, chalk, play doh, and lots and lots of candy all wrapped up in a melamine happy face planter or bucket!
SpongeBob Centerpieces for our tables included a large Spongebob Doll wrapped in a cellophane bag with some red crinkle paper. We were supposed to use these as prizes for our games, but we never actually got to play any competitive games with the kids. It was sooooo busy that it just didnt happen. Last year, the winners got these huge pumpinks as prizes but this year, we started the party at 3:30 and not much daylight was left by the time everyone got here.
Our SpongeBob cake from ShopRite (recommended by Jen) got RAVE reviews from everyone!! We did a full sheet capable of feeding 90 people, 1/2 vanilla and 1/2 chocolate with a cherry/raspberry filling. It was pretty good!!
So, there you have it!
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So here we are! First day at pre-school! It was traumatic! The tears! The drama! The tantrums! Separation anxiety kicked in and the teachers were forced to kick me out of the school. I was extremely disturbed the whole way back.
Fortunately, Kara was fine. She waved me off, said her good-byes and went off to play.
UPDATE: The next few weeks were not as easy! We had some serious tears and Kara was afraid to be left behind. The teachers at the school were great! They patiently drew her out of her shell and after a few days, Kara was looking forward to hanging out with Ms. Penny and everyone at pre-school.
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Just dawned on me that these are the first 2 questions someone asks when they meet you! HA!!! What an epiphany!
Our daughter apparently doesn’t know the answer to either one! Go figure! But she can count to 10 and recite the alphabet which should be very useful in those social interactions @ school of course when she meets a new kid for the first time! Way to go mom and dad for making her a social freak already!
So we are obviously working on THAT! Since we’ll be doing our 3 hour pre-school thing 3 times per week, I figured it would help if she knew her name – TARA! 
Still working on the “K” sound! But at least we got the math right!
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So here we are! July 31, 2009 @ 11:17PM Owen was born weighing in at 9 lbs 9 oz and 20 1/2 inches!
Despite the false labor the week before, it appears today was the day he chose to come out for real! I must admit, I had my doubts, but @ 6:30pm, the doctors confirmed Marion was in fact in labor and we were ready to rock and roll.
I rushed around to get things ready at home and waited for Ken to come back from work. He then needed to get some food for the next day for Omi and Kristina and finally @ 8:30pm, I was on my way.
Marion was nice enough to wait for me!!! Even the doctors agreed to wait for me!!! THANK YOU MARION! It was an honor to be the first to hold little Owen! I felt so helpless just sitting there in the OR and now I can understand how men feel!
Marion was so calm and collected and genuinely looking forward to having the baby. I was stressing out and pooping my pants! But I made it!! HAHAHAHA! Just joking, Marion! Get it??? i MADE it?
Thank you to Omi, Kris, Kiki and Eric for babysitting Kara! I couldn’t have gone anywhere all weekend if it wasn’t for you guys!
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Here is a sneak peak into baby Owen!
Check out Marion’s 3d ultrasound pregnancy pictures! Isn’t it amazing? Owen is 33 weeks old and possibly weighs 6 1/2 lbs.
So Onnik gave me this idea and I figured why not have some fun with it!!
I think we should have an official contest page where everyone posts their guess and the winner gets something??? What do you think??
See below for contest rules!!!!
Ok, So here is the deal!!!!
BabyGiftStation.com is sponsoring this contest and I am taking bets on the baby’s weight right here! The winner will get a $25 gift certificate of their choice to whatever store they want!
To enter the contest, please post in the comments below the following:
1. Baby’s weight - for example: 8lbs 12 oz
2. Your Name
3. Where you want your gift certificate to be from
The person who gets the CLOSEST to the actual birth weight of the baby without going over will be the winner!
Good luck everyone.
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Happy Birthday Christian!!!! We love you and had a great time @ your first BD party!!
Yummy Yummy!!!
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The babyrazzi were all over our Dancing Queen Superstar Bouzsi The Incredible. She was dancing up a storm and putting on a show at the danceclub/lounge the entire time we were there. It was quite an entertainment!
Here she is with her white chocolate lollipops.
Sorry Marion, I think she stole the show. )))))
Here she is dancing to the beat of Po Po Poka Peese – Kara’s favorite song. Apparently the general media caters to the vocabulary of my 21 month old.
And her other favorite song — Boom Boom Boom by Black Eyed Peas…. this one is a classic! )))
Marion cutting her beautiful cake lovingly made my Hilda herself ! Awesome job on the baby shower girls!
Awwww…. here we are the 5 Tateossians! Note to self….need to do my hair or get a haircut or something!
The babyrazzi following Marion’s every move! I have to admit, I liked being on the red carpet!
Awwww…… How did I miss this?
Do you see in the corner Marion’s new design for the coffee favors on KaraNessian?
So although we got car sick 4 times, it poured cats and dogs, we got lost going to Sunnyside and almost killed a few Chinese drivers in Elmhurst, we had an awesome time! Thanks Marion! We can’t wait to show Owen these pics and tell him all about his baby shower!
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Our First Memorial Day in the new house! Our father was here from India and we had ourselves a serious barbecue picnic – ghetto style!
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Euli on 
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