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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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Annual Christmas Tree Photo!

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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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Life is Sooooo much fun when you can play with Omi!

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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!

From Memorial Day 2009

From Memorial Day 2009

From Memorial Day 2009

From Memorial Day 2009

From Memorial Day 2009

From Memorial Day 2009

From Memorial Day 2009

From Memorial Day 2009

From Memorial Day 2009

From Memorial Day 2009

From Memorial Day 2009

From Memorial Day 2009

From Memorial Day 2009

From Memorial Day 2009

From Memorial Day 2009

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Allergy season is upon us! I am suffering from what I am trying to pass off as allergies anyway and not the swine flu. Just kidding. But believe ME, I’ve spent a few hours researching swine flue symptoms – high fever, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, sore throat, etc.

I honestly think I have a head cold from my exercising. I started doing it routinely 1 week ago and for some reason, EVERY TIME i start a new exercise program, I get some ridiculous cold, runny nose, sore throat. Ugh! Anyway, I just hope Kara doesn’t catch it as it is a nuisance.

We had a great time for Mother’s Day. Marion, Onnik, Kara, Ken and I had a little picnic, took a walk and ate like swine .

Next year at this time, we will have another member of the family joining us for Mother’s Day! I can’t wait! Maybe we’ll make our little picnic a tradition!

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Would it be possible that my daughter would not love shoes, glasses and Louie Vuitton bags? Not a chance in the world!

Kara loves to put on my shoes and parade around the bedroom clacking around with the enormous heels. Her feet look so tiny and small in my shoes and pose such a tripping hazard but I don’t have the heart to make her stop! The ecstatic look on her face is I’m sure the same one I had at the Prada store when I bought them myself.

She is my little diva girl!

If you ever have a hard time entertaining your little girl, just hand over your most expensive pair of glasses, your precious calfskin leather purse and your most prized pair of shoes and watch her go! She’ll forget about being cranky and start storming around pretending to be you.

Oh, whom am I kidding! I am her slave and she is my master. I’ll do anything to see that smiley face happy! Even if that means handing over my LV!

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Today’s Bouzsi adventure took Daddy and Kara to Alyssa’s 3rd birthday Party.  Kara thinks that playing with older kids is really fun even if they are REALLY OLD.  ( I mean Alyssa is twice her age!)  But that’s getting a little ahead in the story.  The trip started by getting off to our usual late start.  The party was to start at 12:30 and we had just gotten done cleaning up and dressed at 1:00 as Daddy had to work in the morning.  But determined not to give up on the party our hero Bouzsi demanded to “GO” which means,.. OUTSIDE, RIGHT NOW!  so we left.  The first thing we needed to do was to figure out where to get a present and a card.  So Bouzsi remembered the cute store in Clinton with the baby clothes and toys.  She also remembered that there was  a Hallmark store on the street and thought what a great two for one stop, and it was right on the way too!  So with Daddy behind the wheel and Bouzsi co-piloting from the back seat, they ventured off in search of a great birthday present.  What they didn’t know was what was what great surprises were awaiting them when they got to Clinton.

As they rolled into the downtown area Daddy was already starting to think that parking might be a tough find on a sunny Saturday afternoon, but Bouzsi assured him that everything would be OK.  And sure enough as they got within a half block of the start of town a perfect parking spot was just sitting there waiting for them.  So the two adventurers were off to a good start.  By foot they traveled to Main Street and started marching towards the childrens store when all of a sudden a costumed women stopped them and started telling them about what a special day it was in Clinton today.  Pansie day is a celebrated day here and the town has hired her to spread cheer and joy to all she sees.  When she was done telling us about pansie day she started making a balloon character for Bouzsi,  it was a Pansie flower with a kitty cat face.  Bouzsi was delighted to receive such a beautiful gift from the scary but kind woman.  After the appropriate thank yous and goodbyes, Daddy and Bouzsi continued on their journey to find the perfect gift for Alyssa.

They walked for what seemed like minutes passing by all kinds of interesting stores and seeing all kinds of interesting people and animals.  When they finally arrived at their destination, Daddy and Bouzsi both felt sure that they would find the perfect gift here.  Bouzsi let out a “Oohhh” as she passed the toddler section of stuffed animals and toys.  But Daddy was determined to keep things on track and marched straight the childrens clothing section of the store.  Through Bouzsi’s style advice and great decision making skills, they quickly chose a white summer tank top with green and yellow trim to go with a pair of funky green pants also with yellow and white trim. “PERFECT!” thought Bouzsi, “Just what I thought we would find here.”

Daddy was so impressed with Bouzsi’s efficient present selection that he bought her a present of her own, a cool doggie figurine that Bouzsi had her eye on while the gift was being wrapped.  “Oooohh !~!” said Bouzsi as they walked out of the store realizing that the little doggie was coming with them.  Then it was across the street the Hallmark store for a card and off they went back to the car.  They only stopped for  a moment by the historic Clinton Waterfalls across the river from the old Red Clinton Mill to admire the beauty and serenity of the moment.  But then with screeching tires they were off again determined to make it to the party before it was over.

Perhaps it was the excitement of the moment when she realized they were going to make it on time or her new found love for getting car sick, but in either case our poor little her0 fell victim to the upchuck with only a mile or so to go.  Fortunately only a minor cleanup was needed to get our hero moving again and when they arrived there was only one obstacle left to overcome.  The “Fun Bus of DooM!!!  Yes the Fun Bus of Doom indeed,  large, green and sending children screaming by the second.  Bouzsi thought this bus was way scarier than the balloon animal lady but would have bravely climbed aboard had Daddy not remembered Mommys warning..  “Do not under any circumstances let our Daughter go on the Fun Bus of Doom!  Do you hear me?? Ken????  Are you listening???/ Uggghh !! Just say yes@!!@@  God.. You are soo annoying!”  Having remembered the savage tonguelashing he received and the certainty of much worse if he dared disobey, Daddy held Bouzsi back from the bus and watched as the other children tempted fate.  And sure enough, not a minute into watching, it was the birthday girl herself Alyssa who fell flat on her face as she tripped on the street curbing while trying to run from the slide on the back of the bus around to reenter the front again.  “Dang Super Bouzsi” said Daddy,  “your mother really is always right.”

With that the two left the injured birthday girl bloodied and crying at the curb and proceeded into the safety of the house to find some food.  After all Super Bouzsi’s don’t run on love you know.  Bouzsi was in awe of the life-like 3-D Cookie Monster Birthday Cake and then a little disturbed quite frankly as it was hacked into pieces and served to the guests.  But it did taste pretty good so all was forgiven rather quickly.  The party seemed to be a success for the pair as they mingled and played.  No one seemed to notice at all that they were 2 hours late.  As the party winded down and it seemed as though the end of our story was near Bouzsi found the cherry on top for her great adventure,  the Jumperoo was empty!!  The last few minutes of the party were spent bouncing, laughing and having a ball. These pictures were taken a reminder of how much fun you can really have when you dont give up on a day.  There is always time to show up for life and have fun,  even if you are a little late sometimes….

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You should see what the yogurt looked like!

We all know that super Bouzsi is quick thinking, fast acting action hero, but did everyone know that Daddy is a superhero as well! As soon as super Bouzi was finished battling the delicious vanilla yogurt mixed with fresh raspberries Mommy prepared for her snack,  Daddy swept her away and into the bath!

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Hi Daddy! Happy Birthday! We love you.

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So today we found out Marion is having a boy and I am having a little nephew! This is such exciting news! I cant wait! So the hunt for a good baby boy name officially begins. I remember when Ken and I were choosing names, the boy version was really hard. It’s not easy coming up with a good baby boy name! I am very bummed out though! Marion told me if she was having a girl her name would have been Olivia Teresa!

Here are some ideas for baby boy name ideas that start with “M”:

Mason – Old French A stone mason.
Matthew – Hebrew – A gift of God. One of the twelve apostles and the author of the first book of the New Testament. Also see Macey and Madison.
Mitchell – Old English – Like the Lord.
Morgan – Welsh – The bright sea. A boy or girl’s name.

Here is Marion’s 20 weeks ultrasound:

Isn’t this amazing?

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I love playing dress up like a grown up. Check out my fancy jeans and adorable Gap sweater. I just need mommy’s shoes and I am all set.

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So I got this dog from friends of mine back in college 12 years ago. She was 3 months old, had green eyes and a chocolate coat. Absolutely adorable, loving and playful. She still is. My father had her for the last 7 – 8 years since my family  moved to Florida, but now he re-located to India, so she is back with me and Marion. Although I didn’t want her at first, I guess she is here to stay. Marion’s apartment is too small for the dog, the 2 cats and the 2 turtles. Um yeah!

I was a bit hesitant to take her because she is a Pit Bull Terrier and I wasn’t sure what she would be like with a small toddler. In addition, I hadn’t seen her in years, plus I could barely take care of the baby, Ken, myself, the house, the cat and the business. I could definitely not take care of a dog. Constant attention, walking, eating,- I mean come on. It’s like having another kid.

But….. now that my sister suckered me into letting her stay for the holidays, I guess we are keeping her. I hate you Marion.

Thank god she got over her health issues. The vet thought she had pyometra which is an infection in a female dogs uterus.  Thank god, her bleeding has stopped and she seems to be doing great. She still bites her paws and seems to have some kind of itchy skin condition, but I guess we can handle that.

The biggest problem with her is that most vets and groomers will not take her as soon as they hear she is a “Pit Bull”.  I’m not sure I understand the logic there as they can put a muzzle on her, but hey, I guess I don’t know any better. In the past 12 years we’ve had her, she has never bitten or attacked anyone, as far as I know. (knock on wood)

We did take our time introducing her to Kara and we are very careful about how they interact. I think that no matter what breed we have, we would be very careful with how respectful our children are of our pets. Children just dont know any better and some pets may be more intolerant to tail pulling, ear pulling, and who knows what else.

Here she is in Florida in 2002

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Happy Birthday Mommy! Of course for MY birthday I get 8 inches of snow and a storm that knocks out power! Yey! But Kara Looks so cute in her Uggs and knitted dress.!

From Christmas 2008

From Christmas 2008

From Christmas 2008

View from our side window. Isnt this mesmerizing?

For once Ken took a shot that is not OUT OF FOCUS! Nice!

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Pierogi Day is a Family tradition for the “K” Family. Ken, his sister, mom and dad have been making pierogi’s a few days before Christmas since Ken can remember.

So it only seemed fair to let Kara roll the dough this year!

Pierogis are made of traditional potato and sauerkraut fillings stuffed inside a sour cream, flour and egg dough to make these delicious soul filling Polish dumplings!

Pierogis are traditionally made for Christmas, but Ken and I actually enjoy them all year round or for any special event. There’s a ton of work involved in making them, but the reward is definitely worth it!

You can fry the pierogi with some butter and onions and serve them with sour cream on the side  after they have boiled.

Here is a great recipe that is almost identical to Omi’s that I found on AllRecipies.com.

INGREDIENTS

• Sauerkraut Filling:
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/3 cup chopped onion
• 1 1/2 cups sauerkraut, drained and minced
• salt and pepper to taste
• Potato Filling:
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 2 cups cold mashed potatoes
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon white pepper
• Dough:
• 3 egg
• 1 (8 ounce) container sour cream
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon baking powder

DIRECTIONS

1. To prepare the sauerkraut filling, melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in the onion, and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the drained sauerkraut and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper, then remove to a plate to cool.
2. For the mashed potato filling, melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in the onion, and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir into the mashed potatoes, and season with salt and white pepper.
3. To make the dough, beat together the eggs and sour cream until smooth. Sift together the flour, salt, and baking powder; stir into the sour cream mixture until dough comes together. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface until firm and smooth. Divide the dough in half, then roll out one half to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut into 3 inch rounds using a biscuit cutter.
4. Place a small spoonful of the mashed potato filling into the center of each round. Moisten the edges with water, fold over, and press together with a fork to seal. Repeat procedure with the remaining dough and the sauerkraut filling.
5. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add perogies and cook for 3 to 5 minutes or until pierogi float to the top. Remove with a slotted spoon.

FOOTNOTES

• Tip
• To save time, I make my filling the night before and remove it from fridge an hour before making the dough.

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So here we are picking out our very first christmas tree for our very first christmas in our new house! What a surreal experience. Ken and I have gotten real christmas trees before at the apartment but never an 8 foot gigantic tree that would take up half of our living room. Kara loved the tree. “Tree” is actually one of her very first words so as you can imagine, it was fun to run around and touch trees for a day. This place was very inexpensive too. $84 bucks for a huge tree.  It was a good deal, I must admit. Here is their address for those who live in NJ:

Valleybrook Farm
221015 US Highway 22
Lebanon, New Jersey 08833 (United States)
Phone: (908) 236-2959

Here is the tree we finally got – almost decorated.

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It figures – during the busiest time of year – right before Christmas season starts and the stores get crazy, we get this amazing sunset! But who has time to enjoy this??? I am working like a maniac?? ugh!

From Kara – 14 Months

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Daddy loves to take pictures of me all day. But sometimes, play makes my hair super messy. Check me out upside down on daddy’s lap. woohoo.

From Kara – 14 Months

From Kara – 14 Months

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Yes, yes. She is dressed in boy’s clothes. Fact is I bought these for a friend of mine and never ended up getting them to her on time. By the time I finally saw her, they were too small for her 3 year old. So Kara inherited them. Opps. Sorry baby! I will try to find you some more frilly girly clothes for your next glamor shot.

From Kara – 14 Months

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Trick or Treat! Trick or Treat! Gimme something good to eat! Our first Halloween was great! Thanks Nick, Peggy, Lucas, Abbie, Ari, Max, JP and Evangeline! We had a great time!

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We were on our way to our neighbor’s house for a traditional Indian home blessing. So we dressed up and Kara looks sooo adorable. Poor baby!

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When I was a little girl, my parents and grandparents always bought an enormous birthday cake for each of my birthdays. We then had it delivered to the photo studio where my uncle Garo photographed me. This was a dreadful ordeal for me at the time because I hated having my picture taken. But now when I look back at the photos, I truly appreciate the effort and time it all took.

Check out this cake from 1978!

From Waaay Back – When We Were Young and Skinny

And 1979

From Waaay Back – When We Were Young and Skinny

This is my uncle Garo on the right with the cigarette:

From Waaay Back – When We Were Young and Skinny

So I wanted to make Kara’s first birthday truly special. I looked for almost 2 weeks before I finally found the right place Pink Cake Box in New Jersey to make this ridiculous huge cupcake birthday cake for her! I was so excited, I was besides myself. I was beginning to think I wouldn’t be able to pull it off. But the owner at Pink Cake Box got it made exactly as planned and delivered ON TIME for the party! Thanks guys! I truly enjoyed it.

Pink Cake Box was officially founded in 2005 by Anne “Khoobiar” Heap who was working out of a restaurant kitchen at the time. Less than two years later, Anne’s success led to the opening of her very own specialty cake boutique in Denville, NJ. Anne’s cakes have been featured in Modern Bride, Brides NJ, NJ Bride, InStyle Weddings, Bride & Bloom Magazine, Brides Magazine, People Magazine, Elegant Bride, The Knot Magazine, and several other local magazines.

So from a truly entrepreneurial perspective, as you can imagine, I was both impressed and amazed at her talent and success.

Here is a photo of Kara’s cake with the cupcake topper and birthday wishes.

From Kara’s First Birthday Party

Here is the original photo of the cake from their gallery:

They have some amazing creation for other occasions as well. Check out this weeding cake. Fabulous!

Here is another idea I was contemplating: Cupcake Cake. It was more affordable and quicker to make, but fortunately, they were able to make the cake on time.

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Kara’s First Birthday Party – October 11, 2008

To see all photos from the party, click here:

This was so much fun to plan and execute! I wish I was a party planner. The only thing I wasnt able to do in time was the birthday party favors but we compensated by having a pumpkin decorating contest and each child took home their pumpkin.

Ken was so creative with coming up with children’s activities, it definitely saved the party!

Between the enormous blow up castle, the art gallery on the driveway, the pumpkin decorating and the baseball games, the kids had so much fun. I hope the adults had a break as well.

Thank you everyone for coming. Hope you enjoyed yourselves.

I will post more on all the party details – from where we got the tent, the cake, the amazing food from the LA Diner (Thanks Nik!), the alcohol.

From Kara’s First Birthday Party

From Kara’s First Birthday Party

From Kara’s First Birthday Party

From Kara’s First Birthday Party

From Kara’s First Birthday Party

From Kara’s First Birthday Party

From Kara’s First Birthday Party

From Kara’s First Birthday Party

From Kara’s First Birthday Party

From Kara’s First Birthday Party

From Kara’s First Birthday Party

From Kara’s First Birthday Party

From Kara’s First Birthday Party

From Kara’s First Birthday Party

From Kara’s First Birthday Party

From Kara’s First Birthday Party

From Kara’s First Birthday Party

The Day After Hangover!

From Kara’s First Birthday Party

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So my obsession with The Picture People has grown into a full blown addiction! I love taking Kara to the photo studio. She plays to the camera so well and we get some great shots each time!  The only issue with The Picture People is they can be such pains. They dont let you get a digital version of your photos so you can post on your blog or email to family or in my case use on your website. (She is my little model for all photo frames in the baskets!).  Too bad, if they gave me digitals, I would probably take her more often as I always need baby photos but end up buying them from iStockphoto.  I guess they think you won’t come back for  more shots? beats me! I guess they dont realize a digital scanner is a very handy tool to have around.

Anyway, Kara, my baby love, you had so much fun at the photo studio yesterday and then a whole bunch more at the zoo! Then your Omi, Tante Tina, Uncle Paul, Kiki, Erik, Mommy and Daddy had a party for you with lots of CAKE!

Hope you had fun! We love you!

From Kara – 1 Year Old

From Kara – 1 Year Old

From Kara – 1 Year Old

From Kara – 1 Year Old

From Kara – 1 Year Old

From Kara – 1 Year Old

From Kara – 1 Year Old

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So, we are on the market for kitchen appliances since the house doesn’t come with a fridge, washer or dryer. We go into Sears for the first time, and boy can I tell you – they spun their well crafted web in every direction. We made the mistake of conversing with the saleswoman and that was the end of it. We were ready to give up our first born as collateral of these damn things.

Final day sale, 10% off, additional 10% on top of that, full price match on any item, 1 year no APR fees, no delivery charge, cash back rebate, etc, etc. IF and ONLY IF you buy today. Oh, you dont have the final measurements, DONT WORRY, you can change before we deliver. Oh, you dont know when you will close on the house, dont worry, you can tell us 1 day before you want them and we will deliver. Oh, what if there is a better sale next week, we offer price protection so we will retro actively refund you the difference.

WOW!

And all this will cost only $5,000 for 3 Kenmore appliances.

Apparently they manufacture them.

Um yeah! I guess we had a big S embossed on our foreheads. Thankfully Ken didnt fall for it.

So we went into Home Depot spoke to the non-commissioned sales person, went home and did our homework online diligently.

I must have read over 100 reviews for different washers, dryers and fridges. There are so many different options out there on the market, it can make your had spin. Top loader, front loader, dry clean options, side door, french door, top freezer, low freezer, side-by-side, and MORE! Some of these options are plain gimmicks – designed to sucker you into buying the product. A lot of the reviews I read said those were irrelevant and most of the time the appliance suffered because of it. Anyway, here are the options we considered when purchasing ours:

Washer & Dryer:

Front Loader Machines: There was an advantage to the energy savings and water savings. They consumed much less for each load.  However, these were more expensive than the top loaders.

Top Loader Machines: Consumed more energy & water, was less environmentally friendly. I also didn’t like the fact that the clothes spun around the agitator which oftentimes ripped the clothing and scrambled more delicate pieces beyond recognition. I have to admit, the top loaders were less expensive.

Refrigerator:

French Door: We liked this option the best as it would allow for larger longer plates to be stored easily. For example, if we had a party or large gathering, wider longer plates would easily fit in. Also, the ice dispenser and water filtration system would safe us a ton of money on bottled water. The reviews I read mentioned that the ice dispension system was not as good as the side-by-side fridges, and I have to admin, that is true. Also, the large fridge on the bottom allowed for easy access to frozen items and had a good organizational system going on with movable/adjustable racks.

Side By Side: This type of fridge had excellent reviews for the water/ice feature and seemed to appeal to a lot of people. It just didnt allow for flexible storage of larger plates as you were limited to only half the width of the fridge.

So after taking all these models and options into consideration, we finally settled on these from Rogers Appliances in Flemington, NJ. They had knowledgable salespeople, not too pushy who actually listened to us and had the appliances delivered on time and in perfect condition:

Washer:

Maytag Epic z™ 3.7 Cu. Ft. IEC Capacity Front Load Washer – Model MHWZ600TW

$717.30 Each

With a CEE Tier III Energy Rating, this washer is one of the most efficient washer models in the industry and may also qualify for Energy Rating rebates in select markets.

Dryer:

Maytag Performance Series 7.0 Cu. Ft. Super Capacity Electric Dryer- Model MEDE300VW

$899.00 Each

I think there was some deal when purchased together, the washer and dryer qualified for 10% off discount.

Fridge:

GE 25.8 Cu. Ft. French Door Refrigerator- Model GFSS6KKXSS

$1,798.20 Each

Ice and water dispenser with actual temperature display – offers crushed ice and fresh water while making it easy to monitor all the functions of the refrigerator.

After using them for a while, here is my honest review of these 3 models:

The dryer is VERY loud. We have an inside joke around the house that the dryer is ready for take off. And when I say take off, it sounds like it’s lifting the entire house. It loud and bounces around the laundry room like crazy! But it does the job.

The washer is good. We did need to call Rogers to come and fix a small leak in the front. The repairman said this often happened with front loaders and seemed to be an easy fit.

The fridge does a good job with keeping food cold. But the ice dispension can use a lot help. It seems as though the ice JUMPS out of the fridge and usually ends up all over our kitchen floor.  We are NOT impressed. The filtered water doesnt really taste good although I am not sure if I can blame the fridge or the town water.

So there you have it. Play by play details of our adventures purchasing 3 brand new appliances as first time homeowners.

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Backpacking on Daddy’s back @ the NY Gift Show in August 2008. Did we find some good stuff baby? You were so good at Gund and everyone gave you free toys! That’s when we discovered JellyCat Truffles and you laughed so much at the little cow. Remember that? The salespeople at the next booth were all so busy watching you and didnt pay attention to their buyers! That was so much fun, baby!

Fortunately, this time we knew not to bring the stroller.

From Kara – Month 11

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Every summer, when I was little, my grandmother and I would spend the summers in our summer house by the beach in Varna, Bulgaria. This is the view we enjoyed every day from our terrace. Gosh, what I wouldnt give to have that today! Breathtaking Black sea panorama from your front yard.  Unfortunately, when Marion went there this summer, the villa, although still structurally standing, is in shambles. The neighbor next door has an unfinished construction zone going on which seems to have migrated into our property. It is painfully obvious that one of us has to go there and clean up our properties and ensure everything is ok, but with a 12 hour flight and a 7 hour time difference, it seems almost impossible.

This is definitely a heavy nostalgic topic for my poor little heart.

Our childhood villa – now in ruins, waiting to be fixed and loved again.

What it used to look like 20 years ago!

Another View of the beach in Varna.

The View from our villa.

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So everyone says Kara look just like Ken. I disagree! HA!

Ok, well, I guess I agree a little. She definitely looks a little like him. But I think the resemblance to me is quite obvious. Sorry Kara.

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Here is our house with WALLS! Wooohooo! This is actually surreal. We are going to move in here and it will be our first house! The house where Kara will first start walking, running, playing, talking. Maybe even have her first boyfriend over! Oh my goodness. I can’t think about this!

The first photo is where our future kitchen will be. I guess the contractors are drying the painted doors.

Here is the sunroom. We plan to turn this into Kara’s playroom for a while and then into a dining room. It’s large enough to hopefully fit our entire family into.

This is technically the dining room and living room. We plan on using it as our office for both businesses. Hopefully it won’t take over our entire house. (HOPEFULLY!.

This above is a view from the “office”, through the kitchen and into the family room. Can’t wait to own a fireplace for the first time.

This is a bird’s eye view from the second floor into the foyer. Gosh, they still have so much work to do in here.

And here are my babies smiling happily in the sunroom.

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So I started taking Kara to Gymboree in Metuchen since she is four months old. I gotta tell you, it’s good to get out of the house and change scenery but it’s a little scary too. As a new mom, taking the baby in the car, driving somewhere and making sure she is ok, can be quite stressful. I used to get knots in my stomach every time we left the house alone without Ken. I was always paranoid of dropping her going down the stairs with her and the diaper bags, my purse and everything else I had to carry. I was paranoid about interfering with her nap time. I was paranoid she would catch a cold from the other kids in the class. I was paranoid she would get car sick and I wouldn’t have spare clothes to change her in. I was paranoid she would have an atomic poop and I would have forgotten her diaper bag in the car.  I was paranoid she would get hurt or injured somehow. I was paranoid to go to a store afterward and end up with more shopping bags I had to carry back into the house.

My god — what was I not paranoid about!  In the end, I look at these photos, and all I remember is the fun we had, the people we met and how much she has grown since them.

So don’t be paranoid. Just enjoy the time you have together.

From Kara – Gymboree

From Kara – Gymboree

From Kara – Gymboree

From Kara – Gymboree

From Kara – Gymboree

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Kara hard at work doing laundry.

Can someone explain to me how you keep up with your house chores, take care of more than one kid and have a J-O-B???

I can barely do it and I work from home with only one child. Granted, I don’t have any outside help (except for the house cleaner every 2 weeks) and Ken is very active with house chores.

It still seems so overwhelming. How do people do this with more than 1 kid and an job outside the house? You women are true super stars.

Here is to all women who do it all!

Mommy, my socks dont match!

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It occurred to me today that amidst all the chaos, all the rush and day-to-day struggles associated with staying home, taking care of our baby AND working FULL TIME on my own business and helping Ken with LandStar, I have somehow disassociated myself with what’s really going on here. I am so rushed and frazzled half the time I dont stop and realize – this is my DAUGHTER! My own flesh and blood. My little baby! (an obvious realization, i may add). She will never mean more to anyone else than she does to me. It’s the two of us every day, all alone – we cry, we laugh, we dance, we nap and we work – a lot – but still — she is MY baby! She will never be this age again, never rely on me as much as she does now. In fact she is becoming more and more independent every day. One day she will even be embarrassed to be seen with me. I dread those thoughts and yet, I cannot wait to see what her life will be like, what interests she will have, what profession she will choose, whom she will marry and how many children she will have. I guess this is obvious to most people – but sometimes when you are busy and run all day, you dont think of the most blatantly obvious things. Instead, you just try to get through today..and tomorrow…and the day after. And all of the sudden you are 80 years old, your children are grown and they have children of their own.

It’s the circle of life I supposed and it doesnt wait for anyone. So lets all stop once in a while and breathe in the moments that make up our lives and hold on to them as long as possible.

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So we snuck into our new house today, and taaadaaaa, we had sheet rock. It’s amazing how different the house looks now that it has walls and we cant see from one end of the house to the other.  I have to admt, having your house built from scratch in front of your eyes is a very unique experience. Each part of the process is a very exciting step to seeing your dream home finally completed. I can barely contain myself.

Above are  Ken and Kara in the Garage and the sunroom below:

Birdseye view from the office:

Kitchen:

Onnik:

Kara:

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This is one of our favorite photos of Kara right after a bath. She has this adorably peaceful happy look on her face. I love it!

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Jeff and Ken partying it up with Kara till 9:30PM. Tisk tisk!

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Ken and Kara and I went to  Kid Junction in Branchburg today. I have to say, the place is great for birthday parties and just plain old Saturday or Sunday kid fun on a rainy day! Kara loved it! They have a separate area just for toddlers that has a gate to keep the little ones in and the older kids out.

She got to play on the slide, climb up and down, bounce around and a ton of other activities.

They also have an amazing selection of pretend play – from a bakery to a post office and dress shop. They even have a little kiddie supermarket with shopping carts and all. Great place to go with your children.

Let me see if I can dig up some trouble, Daddy!!!

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Here we are still at 17 New Street where it all began! All three of us on the couch surrounded by inventory – hah aha — and our baby is learning to stand on her own. Any day now, we expect her to take off running. Can’t believe time goes by so slowly and yet so fast. It’s hard to explain.

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Thank you for taking care of me and playing with me and making me laugh every day! I love you very much!

Can you see my third tooth???

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Tomorrow is Father’s Day and we plan to have a good time hanging out with everyone. Happy Pre-Father’s Day Ken. I wish you many years of joy and happiness with your baby girl and I hope you love being a father.

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CLAP YOUR HANDS!!! Yeeyyyy……..Happy Birthday little Bouzsi! It was your eighth month birthday yesterday! And today you clapped for the first time! Just like that!!!!! And you were the star of the show all day! Aunt Marion, Uncle Onnik, Daddy and Mommy clapped for you each time as well! Hope you had fun at the park!

I must say – this period in our lives is truly amazing! Every day brings a new skill and a new achievement! I haven’t felt this happy in a long time!

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So, Uncle Onnik showed little Kara how to crawl yesterday and guess what she did today all on her own? Yes, she crawled to the cat dish and spilled all of Peanut’s food and I think she might have eaten some too! ooopss — nah, im just kidding. I guess we are off to the races with this one? Will I make it to the TV controls first or will she?  I have a feeling she will have me beat pretty soon.

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So we had a blast on Mother’s Day!!

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And as her birthday present, we’ve discovered a SECOND tooth! That’s right! We tried to take a photo of it, but Kara didn’t want to cooperate! Who can blame her? Those early teething pics may one day come to haunt her!

Our chunky monkey can almost sit up by herself as well. Can’t wait till she starts crawling??!? (should I even be wishing that? what can i say, im a newbie!)

She is now a pro at eating sweet potatoes, bananas, pears and apples. We’ve also become excellent baby food chefs — even thinking of starting yet another business — daily fresh made-to-order baby food! hahahah! NOT!

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So, we did it!!!! We actually got one of the auction houses that were for sale!! I still cannot believe it! We were bidding on ALL the houses from the very beginning of the auction and got outbid on every single one of them! By the fourth house, I really believed there would be no way we would get ANY house! By some ridiculous miracle, and as a complete shock to us, we were the winning bidder and actually got the last house! All be it, it is the smallest house on the block but still over 3100 square feet and 4 times bigger than our current apartment! And very affordable still!

The other 4 homes were quite a bit larger than our and included a conservatory room and some other room in the first floor. In a way, we are glad we didnt get the larger houses as we in reality have NO IDEA what the bills would be like a big house like that! And also, the backyard in the potential house we liked was unusable area as the septic was right in the middle of the yard thus removing the option of ever adding a pool in the future.

I have to say that this experience was extremely stressful. I was sweating (literally) like crazy before the bidding even started! Don’t as me why! My body felt like it was a guitar string ready to break. I haven’t sweated this much in a long time – unless I was running a marathon.

Once the bidding got started, the auctioneer was talking so fast and in such a continuous melodious manner that it made almost impossible to think! I couldnt keep up with whatever he was saying he was talking so fast. I couldnt even THINK as quickly as he was talking and to top it all off — the auction was done in what I consider reverse — He started with a really high bid (900,000) and kept going down until someone bid. Then he started going up in increments of 10,000 but the whole thing was soooo confusing, if Ken didnt keep a straight head about it, I would have sold us down the river! We would’ve had to sell the shirts off our backs and no one would have wanted mine!!!

It was a truly unique experience to buy your house at auction! Not something we will soon forget.

But yes! Here it is! Bouzsi’s first house in the boonies!

From Our new House

From Our new House

From Our new House

From Our new House

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yeah! You got it! Our Kara has a tiny little protruding tooth in her lower jaw! I’ve been trying to get a peek at it for weeks now, but each time I tried to open her mouth, she refused. So finally today, Ken stuck his finger and tried to feel for it and he found A TOOTH!!! haahahah! Unbelievable!

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Here is Kara hanging out with her Daddy at home. Ken is so cute – he ran out and got a video-cam so he can send me videos when I am at work.

Here is a video of Kara and Ken hanging having fun at home while Mommy is at work.

I love it. Check out our home videos. hee hee.

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Our Diva sings on command!

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Check them out — how adorable! Ari has grown up so much in the past year and a half! He seems almost like a little man to me already! How time flies.

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So this is her favorite position to sleep in — we think it’s hysterical! hahaha

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So our Bouzsi rolled over for the first time today! She went from back to tummy and then from tummy to back! She did is 3 TIMES! can you believe it? She was so proud of herself and couldnt believe she could do it so many times! We are so proud of her! YEYYY!!!! She seems so frustrated half the time that she cant move around and be independent — and now here she goes — her very first un-assisted move! I guess it has begun – our baby is beginning to claim her independence. oioioi

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Daddy, Im not ready for my close up yet!

From Christmas + NYE 2008

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I look like I’m going to give birth to octuplets!!! And I still have 20 MORE DAYS TO GO!

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Life is truly the most amazing thing. Although we have no idea whether we are having a boy or a girl, it is kicking and alive inside me and I cannot describe how absolutely terrifying that can be.

We went for our regular checkup last Thursday and when the doctor was checking for the heartbeat, the baby kicked so hard that my entire belly shook and push the doctor’s hand away. I have never felt it kick like that before. It was truly the first confirmation that it is really inside me!

Apparently, babies can hear the heart monitor. Although, I have a feeling the kick was more of a shock or startled-like response. Whatever the case, I cannot wait to feel those little hands and feet mapping out my belly in the coming months!

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Isn’t it amazing?

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