Work, Work Work

Concierge:
So, being back in the concierge grind has been extremely fun. Im so glad to be back in a position where I don't have to worry so much about bringing all the baggage home with me. I get to work with the nicest people, and the perks are amazing. I still have this horrible, aching feeling that I miss the little girls so much when I am gone. We've got it down so our schedules cross, which is great for the girls, but we aren't always on a great eating schedule. I keep trying to get myself to do all of this stuff... like a cleaning schedule, a feeding/eating schedule and other things. By the end of the day, I just want to do the sleep thing- once the girls are down. I guess that's just normal for busy two income families. After a lot of simplifying of our lifestyle during our move (counted 22 trash bags of giveaways to AMVETS.) We still have a garage full of crap. We want to spend our time hanging out together, and enjoying each other's company more than spending money on useless, materialistic objects. This was hard for our family because on both sides, our families love our "stuff." But after moving, you learn to discard quickly. Anyway, I digress again.

Myla started ballet the other day and my heart melted to see her through the glass. She did so well for her first day, and we realized that she isn't a soccer girl. Myles is growing so quickly into her own thing, Memmy too. Myla is more reserved, a little more shy than Memmy and is the sweetest most intuitive person I have ever met. She just has really good instincts, and I find is quite graceful when it comes to most things. She is enjoying ballet immensely and just thinking about her right now makes me want to go into her room and bite her leg. Memmy on the other hand is an adorable little firecracker. She is pretty intense. her newest thing is a fist bump and calling "Mee-Mee" (her sister Myla) in her deep voice. Emmy has been a bit tougher than Myles as far as the discipline goes, and her weapon is the fact that she has super deep dimples, and big brown eyes. No one can stay mad at Memmy long. Hold on, let me go to her room and bite her too.

Upcoming Trips? We are always dreaming of stuff to do. We have a Huntington Library trip coming up. With 29 dollar Hampton Inn or 39 dollar Embassy Suites, you can't go wrong. I think the best thing about working at a hotel is the hotel perks. We have some overnights here and there, and I have a small road trip planned for August. You will probably end up hearing about it later.

Hi!

I have been, the world's worst blogger EVER. To be honest with you, I think only a few people read this thing, and the other people I used to have a blog community with (besides a few) pretty much fell off the face of the earth. The whole family has been sick for the last week or so. I don't know if we have the rage virus or what, but we are knocked out most of the time. I picture another week of this, and then we should be over this yucky bug. It is NO fun having everyone sicky.

Summer has come and we are somewhat ready. What happens in summer? Haircuts, less clothes, more sunscreen, less structure. More outside stuff. The girls are so HUGE now, and truly, really coming into their own. For awhile, Papa and I lumped them up to one mass of kids, but now their so distinct in personalities that it's impossible. Myla is the more sensitive, and emotionally astute one. Emmy, is the gung-ho- confident one. Both of them, I am glad to say, are NOT idiots. Haha!!

I started back in the concierge business, and am really glad to be back doing something I am fairly competent in. The perks aren't bad, and working a 9-5 (ish) job where I don't take the work home with me is absolutely the best thing I could do for my head.

I am working on doing stuff for myself too, as it is hard with a full time job and a family. But, one planner page at a time. We are trying to simplify our life by looking at the less important stuff (cars, expensive clothes etc) and sticking close to family fun stuff. It's been great, and to have to go through such a traumatizing family endeavor the last few years, it's nice to simplify. We want to spend more time with good friends and family... so if you are reading this, make room on your calendar for us!

I need to upload pictures in the next few days! See you soon!

No Regrets and Being Positive

The girls have been adapting nicely to our new fancy Euro-Style-common-area digs. The transition have been so much for poor Myles, but she is taking everything like a trooper and we are succeeding in raising two wonderful young women. Emmy, will be happy wherever she can knock things down and use her mind powers to control everyone around her, so she's been great as well.

We have decided that from now on, moving forward, we are going to try our hardest to be more positive people. I am not going to go into details... but overall, being good, well... feels good. Also learning from past wrongs, and being able to understand that people's actions I can't really control, has lifted so much weight from my shoulders. Realizing that some of good friends, weren't really the kind that would have stuck with you, was hard, -but over. I'm glad I found out now, rather than later down the road when they would have needed some kind of guidance or comfort from me. Needless to say, I have been working on it and so has Papa. Not just with being positive, but with our jobs, and with the move and other household duties. Like I said in a previous post, we are starting new, and hope we can really help and take care of what is important to us. So no more taking friends and family for granted... and no more dwelling on unimportant people and things!

Transition to materialism: we threw out a bunch of stuff and are planning for a big garage sale, which is another post altogether altogether. Our space has been reduced, so a lot of our stuff had to be given away. At first, I thought it would be hard (some of it was) but, it felt GREAT to give away our stuff. Am-Vets was happy to get, 25 Trash Bags full of clothing and household items from our house. And we also gave a lot of our baby stuff to a young couple starting out- and they were very grateful for it. Papa and I were just glad to give our girls' things to a family who would really use it, and love it as much as we did. I know it's just stuff, but when you give away your baby carrier where you took both your babies home in from the hospital... it hits ya, square in the chest. And then you see it's going to another loving couple, who will use it and love their baby in it, well, it takes out ALL the sting. As part of our reformation, we felt like we were being owned by stuff, and it was smothering us. But no more of that, really, the stuff was never really being used.

Myla's Birthday is coming up and we have 2 cute little days planned with with family and friends. She has recently discovered CHUNKIN CHEESE (haha), much to Emmy's dismay- because she HATES the person dressed like the big rat- and screams in horror and climbs my face. And we have Sea World passes. Mim also has discovered the limelight, which she holds high on her head like a crown. She likes princess stuff, but I told her they had no power. So, she's looking into Pharoah's and Empresses. Myla is starting soccer with Coach Bethy again. We are also looking into ballet, gymnastics and karate. In light of the recent SD news about Chelsea King, I want both my girls to be able to defend themselves in case (which it WON'T) anyone should be unfortunate enough to try to attack one of them. Also, learning to fight with swords is good training for a zombie invasion. That's another post again.

So have a good week folks... will blog at you next week when I tell you about Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.

The girls!

Accck! We are moving and have two days left!! Can't wait to start our new life... well, with a clean slate. Schedules to be maintained, work to accomplish and fun to be had with friends and family- because truly, can't think of anything else more important. I'll update you more when we have settled in to our 'new digs." haha! So far, we have 2 days of no TV and kinda no toys. Ooops! We already packed everything! So, we are baking today (oatmeal raisin cookies) with scooby doo on. I hope it rains, that would be great! =) Anyway folks, I'm sending change of address stuff to people soon.

Two Years.

I'm editing a little as of today... February 25, 2010...
I forgot to tell you a few things... the RTW trip will only happen via a sponsorship. And more on it later, as I know what I can and can't handle. Also, I forgot to reitorate my school goal: it's to enter a vocational school for the dead. yep. I am starting, on track to be a licensed mortician. There are a few courses I didn't cover in school, one was an anatomy class and another was a biology and human dissection class. I plan to attend one of these a semester starting in the summer or fall in local Community colleges 'round town. The FUSER degree can be attained in 3 semesters, with internships about 2 years. I will have more, on my now, even more appropriately named (Peaves Blog of Death). I'd link it, but I forgot all the details.


Our family life, has been, needless to say, interesting lately. We have made some big changes in the family- and one of them is the decision to move- thanks to some really good friends. I am no longer posting any more information on this blog, (since it's still public) pertaining to our family life as it has received much criticism. It's not that I care so much about the criticism, it's just that I don't care very much for opinions of people who just love being an emotional burden on people. If you don't like it, then really, go somewhere else. I still moderate the comments.

But, this past few months has forced us to look at some things, that were lost in the grind of life. Andy and I's relationship with each other, our family happiness and the importance of true friends and family you can count on. So, our family is getting a reboot, and so far- I can only see good things in the future. We have been blessed so far, with good health (for everyone) so really, we shouldn't be distressed about anything.

Which brings me to my next point... we have a two year plan. Two years because Myles will be going to school, and two years and a larger portion of our debts should be stabilized. Two years, and we will go on our RTW. Two years, and I will have surrogate mothered for our lovely Barcelona couple, and hopefully have had a third baby in our family.

Two years, and we will know where we want to settle.

Two years and our wonderful friends and family will still be there supporting and loving us.

So, let me tell you, it's going to be a wonderful ride from now on. We would love if you could ride with us.

Not invite only.

Because people get mad.

Casual Shoot with Anthony and a Real Post

My attempts to blog every week has failed. But this is okay, because I am told I work pretty hard for one person and blogging ends up being on the last of the list. This is unfortunate because it's the only way I really keep up with most of you guys. We have gone private- for most of ya'll that know that. =) To update everyone on being busy, here's the haps: End of February we move to a bigger place. We are getting a pretty good deal from an old friend, who has decided that his place is too big for a swinging bachelor like himself, and the area is way too 'burbs to catch any kind of female, unless you count the cougars down the street. So we sign the lease this week and move to Rancho Bernardo. This is a bit further away than we live now, and is about a ten minute longer commute for old Pedro, but we hope to eventually get another set of wheels soon if it is in the plans according to hard work and much prayer.

We are still in the market for surrogacy-- we have been matched with a lovely couple from Spain named Jose & Irene, Jose is a former professional footballer, and Irene looks like a supermodel of some kind. They are, quite literally, one of the nicest, most gracious set of people I have ever had the pleasure of semi-meeting. (Only emails, facebook and telephone). They live outside of Barcelona. I have to lose 8 more pounds in order for the transfer process to begin, so this has been another hang up. Our plans, ideally is have Irene and Jose's baby, and then hopefully, go for our own number 3! Like I said before, I feel like there is a still a tiny hole in my heart that has to be filled... like someone is still missing from our family. So this will all happen in the next few years.

In the meantime, the girls agent asked for some casual pics of them to be submitted into their portfolio and here are some of my faves (photo by anthony =))






Most of you probably want to know how my job at the mortuary is going. Well, as of now, it is no longer, and I am working at Barnes and Noble in the evenings, January & February are notoriously slow, so I have had a little more time for the mortuary training as well as figure out what I want to be when I grow up. Well, folks, as of today, I want to be a mortician. Have you on the edge of your seat? Well, this mortician post is going in my other blog, "Peaves Blog of Death." That title is so much more appropriate now. Have a good week ya'll.

The Haps

Hey everyone! Minipeaves went invite only. I have the more public one, for everyone to be able to view, but there really are certain people I don't want reading this blog- by way of MYOB (mind your own business). Anyway, the girls are doing predominantly well. We are making plans to move... and hopefully this will be a more permanent place for us. I hate moving very year. I'll post more when we know more. The house we have our eye on right now, and most likely the place, is our dear friend Patrick's property in Rancho Bernardo. It's about 10-15 minutes North from where we are now. It's twice the size of our place now, and we are very excited at the prospect. Patrick is giving us a deal, so we are excited. More pics soon.

The Force Is Strong in Our family...

Haven't posted anything in a while, and I am really bad at uploading pictures. Here are some from Halloween. Yes, that is Myla in the Darth Vader costume. She was great in it, and totally requested it. Emmy is in our old Yoda costume, and was the cutest Yoda the world has ever seen. =) Those of you who know us, know of Myla's love affair with Darth Vader and how she loves him and says he's just grouchy? My funny little Mim.

Thankful for...

After losing Lolo Ben last week, our week has been a little upside down. It's Thanksgiving week and I am thankful for a few things: 1. My WONDERFUL family. I love that my girls and husband are gifted, healthy, and just all around great people. I love them more than anything. 2. Roof over our heads 3. The rest of our family... and for having me get this far in life. I will have pics soon, and there will be pictures. Many, many pictures. In the meantime, enjoy yourselves and let's take care of each other.

Love You, Lolo Ben.

Info about Lolo Ben

more info on him...

Today I feel like a scared little girl. Now that Lolo is gone from where I can see him, I have to grow up. This fear will pass, I know. Loben (as Myla called him) and Lola have blessed me with the gift of strength and practicality, knowing that life is always made of change. We can't avoid this stuff, so we might as well meet with it -head on, guns a-blazing.

On my yearly visit, when it came time to say goodbye, Lolo always ended our trips the same way. One of the last things Lolo always said to me, was, "You know I hate long, emotional goodbyes. Just kiss me on the cheek and know you will see me again." And I didn't dare look back at him, until I knew I was out of his sight. I always felt a little bit stronger every time I did it. One time, I looked, and he was looking too, with wet eyes, and I pretended not to see. Even though, in the back of my mind, I knew one day, this would come.

(deleted letters to family members)

I wanted to write something profound and exquisite about a great soldier, journalist, a great mentor, editor-in-chief, boss, and writer. I wanted to write an epic story with special effects and CGI, and fireworks and a 21 gun salute, and a procession and parade and LARGE headlines, and a day of mourning and a holiday, but this isn't how I feel.

Instead, my heart is heavier than it ever has been my whole life. I have cried some quiet tears, while I think about him. I think about our talks about life, and love, and work, school, politics, and the mornings when he got ready for work and we listened to Botticelli and Pavarotti. I think about soft bread and butter and coffee and piles of pineapple that made our lips itch. And anything he saved in a napkin from a luncheon he had the previous day. Im thinking of fried eggs for breakfast and how I ate the yokes and he ate the whites, and our egg system: if he got there first he'd leave the yolks for me, if I got there first, I would do the oppsosite- eat the yolks and save the whites. I think of his uncanny ability to make me laugh in the face of adversity, and to never be afraid of people. Also he taught me to depend on other people for something either.

I never told you about the one time, at the airport, I DID look back, Lola was crying, and Lolo had tears in his eyes, (although he told me later that it was allergies.) And one of the very last things he told me (besides jokes about everything) on our last visit, (he was sick and I looked worried)

"Never mind, it's all part of life. Can't change that, I just don't want to be ugly and drooling on a rocking chair like some of those old people you see. Just shoot me instead." And we shared a laugh over it. I'm glad, my dearest Lolo, you are the handsomest, non-drooling Lolo in the face of the earth, and I will never forget you. Thank you so much.


Love to you all,

Melissa, Andy, Myla & Emily


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http://www.balitapinoy.net/journal/599238/EXEDITOR_OF_MANILA_BULLETIN_DIES

When Girls are A Napping, It's Time for A Blogging...

Here are the girls when we roll Pedro's windows down... it's hilarious.

Growing, growing, growing... as they should be. The thing that astounds me about Myles is the things she says to show how cognitive and intuitive she is to her surroundings. Which, proves my point that you shouldn't ever underestimate the intelligence of any child, and dismiss them as "just kids." We watched Harry Potter (1st One) and she seemed to understand everything that was going on, (including the fact that Harry's parents died and that sucks for a kid.) Also, we just watched Kitt Kittridge and she cried when her Dad left for Chicago. So, me n myles can watch a good movie together and have a cry. She's only 2! =) Also, for those of you who haven't been to our apartment, the master bedroom window looks down on any passers by coming and or going to our house. So, if you leave our house and head towards your car, you can see through our window heading towards the parking lot. Myles LOVES this. Like a cat. So, the other day, after my dad and sister left, she screamed, "Bye! Bye! You be careful down there! Love you!" Like an old lady. It was HILARIOUS.

And Memmy... oh where do I begin with Memmy? We like to call her, Destructo, or our little Raccoon. Because more than likely, you'll see her little butt sticking out as she rummages through something she is not supposed to. Since, both my girls walked at such an early age, I really feel like I missed out on some 3-4 good months of baby time. Where they snuzzle with you, and sit on your lap, and you can put them on a blanket on the floor while reading or doing somehing peaceful.

But, no at 9 & 10 months, I was and have been a nervous wreck. Mems, seems to be the naughtier of the two... today for instance, I opened our "I Love Lucy" washing machine (it's a front loader, and low to the ground) and ran into our room to grab the dirty clothes. Then I hear, "Mama! Mama! Em-UH-LEEE went IN there!!" and I run out, sure enough, Emms had placed herself in the washer, with the cylinder sort of moving as she did... door open of course, and she was pretty pissed at the fact that she had gotten herself in the predicament. She was stuck. I wanted so badly to get a picture, but she is very sensitive about being embarrassed. So I pulled her out and scolded her, and she smiled her Damian smile. She ALWAYS does this when she knows she did something she wasn't supposed to. She doesn't fuss or scream when you pull her out of something... she just sits very still and looks at you... with the smile.
(Ring in dramatic Omen Music...)
Sanguis bibimus
Corpus edibus
Rolle corpus
Satani, Satani, Satani
Ave, ave Satani

After the washer incident, I pulled her hands out of both out toilets (no more if it's yellow it's mellow! Sorry water shortage!) and pulled her out of the fireplace at least three times, wrestled her off the stairs and also kept her from spraying some 409 in her face. YIPES! Baby proofing the house... she will always find a way...

Halloween was cool.

Myles is truly understanding the whole trick or treating thing, and truly understanding the candy thing. She was Darth Vader and all the storm troopers and Clone troopers on the block were bowing to her. (Haaa!) She enjoyed that. Darth Vader and Myla is a whole other post, as we know the ongoing saga with those two. We went to the pumpkin drop, Myles has been going to them her WHOLE life, as Emmy has as well. This year, two pumpkins were dropped. Please ask Myla to tell you about it next time you see her.

Emmy was an ADORABLE Yoda, and she was hot a lot, but she loved just being a part of it all.

For Papa, it's still the same ol' grind at Elsevier... which as much as he complains, I know he loves. He got a window seat where he can see Coronado and is moving from floor 20 to 17... kinda excited about the move... =) We will visit and post on that.

I have been taking writing classes at UCSD Extension on Saturday mornings. It gets my head together and helps with the creative juices that make me grouchy if I don't release them.
Also, I have started part-time seasonal employment at Build A Bear... working from my friend LG! It's fun, it's retail, it pays shit, but now we can have a Christmas!! =) I'm sure I won't see anything I haven't seen before working with all the moronic customers out there.

And, Papa and I have joined a Martial Arts school so now, I can kill someone with the "Killer Fist" really. Also, I learned how to chop a corroted artery, but I haven't learned how to spell it. So, when we get in shape and train how to kill zombies with weapons with out bear hands, we will be ready.

Til next time...
Peace!

GAP CASTING CALL

Here are the pics we are entering in the Gap Casting call, I don't know what they would win, but it's great exposure. This is like the mother of all photo shoots for kids under 3. VOTE FOR EMILY. VOTE FOR MYLA! There have been some folks that have been entered for awhile, but that doesn't mean much, you can still vote every day! Anyway, hope all is well with everyone...

The Salt Mines With You! Some updates and news...

It's official, the girls have an agent. Yep. They are gonna be baby models. We get our first tiny paying gig in the next few weeks for some random online catalog. Ill let you know where and what it's for, because I don't really know. haha! There are so many rules (as a few of you who read these understand about SAG dues and baby and child labor laws in the state.) For instance, the girls can only work 4 hours each, for each day of work. This is fine for baby modeling, since a lot of the stuff takes only a few hours anyway. We were turned on to this when a family we love recommended their agent to us. She is based in LA but has a handful of clients in San Diego, and also lives here and commutes there. Since, Papa and I are really trying hard to make ends meet, we decided that this would be the only way we could pay for the girls school in the future. And any kinds expenses they have now. For instance, we Myla's soccer and Kung Fu and Emily's Gymboree Classes...

So, also, next week, we are opening an account (this is also required by law in California) where at least 15% of any money they earned is put in this trust account, where only they can receive it when they are 18. I am really excited about it, but also a bit worried about working my kids too much. But, I know when to say enough is enough. Especially when it comes to my kids.

We don't really plan on putting the girls (mostly Myla) into pre-school as of yet, because we like the way things are going now. I will continue working part-time in the evenings, while Papa works full time in the day. I will have to be the one taking the girls to auditions to LA, which will probably be once a week or something, but thank goodness my parents live down the street. I haven't researched the difference between private and public school education- and how it will affect my kids. Also, we want to have the private school option in case Andy gets assigned somewhere that's not where we live now. This is always a possibility.

As far as socialization and structure goes for my kiddos with no preschool, neither I or my siblings went to preschool. And the girls will be so active and involved that I am not worried about them being socially deficient in any way.

In other news...
We are going to participate in this annual consignment thing to see if we get rid of a bunch of clothes that the girls have outgrown, or if the clothes just aren't what the girls are wearing. I have, about 12 trash bags full of shoes, clothes and accessories. I am hoping to make about 200 USD with it. If it's more, than I certainly will be pleased. This consignment fair works out of a mall here in San Diego three times a year. (You sell the clothes for the next season.) You register with the company, they give you access to their tagging system, and your tags and prices are put on your clothes. You have to separate everything by outfit and put on specific kinds of hangers etc. You also name your price (there are guidelines on this too). You get 50% of the price you put on the tag. There are of course, guidelines and suggestions on how to price something. For instance, Myla got this same fleece Carter's outfit, with tags still on it (pants and a top) the tags read 12.99. So you name a price, I put 8.00. I would get 4.00 of this sale. They recommend, unless you see a tag on there and it's cute, to make of course, a selling price. Everything of course has to be cleaned, and pressed and ready for a sale.
I would recommend if you are on a budget, and don't mind slightly used clothes, to go to one of these things, because I am pretty sure you could find some great deals on kids clothing. There is a HIGH demand for clothing for school age kids, as I can imagine they go through clothes quickly if they aren't lucky enough to wear uniforms.

Before you stop reading, there is one important thing I wanted to mention...we are seriously considering that I be a gestational carrier for someone in the near future. So, please, don't be shocked when and if you see me pregnant and I say, "Don't worry! It's NOT MINE!" Haha! But really, this is a possibility. We are 99.9% sold on the idea. But of course, this is a whole other post.

Overall, I think we are pretty much over the whole newborn, baby thing. But that doesn't mean I still don't have a place in my heart for third baby (our third) in the future.

Just stuff to think about. Happy week ya'll.

Nothing much

Hello ya'll!! So, we are abuzz-buzz about this month of October because we have so much going on again. We just dropped off my parents at LAX for their 2 week long trip to the Philippines, just in time for the Typhoon that has ravaged Manila. It looks like a BUNCH of our friends and family are going to be able to attend the 2010 Holy Land Cruise! So very excited about this... more on it later, when we know more about the who's who and what's what.

Emily is up to 9 steps! She is almost always standing, and just in time for her ten month birthday! What a character this Emily Mairin. I feel like she has been so neglected by me... not really. But in comparison as to how we were with Myles, she is. For instance, we used to fawn over every little thing Myles did. And with Emmy, we kinda expect her to already know more than she might. For instance, if the girls are going to play with blocks, with Myles, I would have sat down next to her and showed her the colors and how to stack them etc. With Emily. we just kind of dump the blocks there and watch her... she doesn't seem to mind us deeming her independent. This is where I think the Oldest, middle and youngest behaviors are born. Is Emmy a middle child or a baby? We will have to see, only time will tell.

Soccer & SAG

Myles is growing like a weed. We signed her up for Rascalz soccer, which is like, preschool for soccer kids. We wanted to get her out in the sunshine, with kids her own age group (2-4 years old), and have her attain a good set of social skills. Now, there aren't any organized games until they are about 4 years old, this is pretty much Myles and a bunch of other toddlers running around on the pitch, with a few soccer balls, having fun. We went today to get her some new shoes for rascalz soccer, (just flatter, softer, athletic shoes, no cleats). She has been walking around in size 6 toddler shoes, and it turns out after getting fit properly, she is actually a size 8! We bought these New Balance shoes, that she LOVES and seems to be super comfortable in. We will see how Myles likes or dislikes soccer for the next 8 weeks.
As far as her diet goes, she is absolutely in the picky toddler stage. It's rough. But I am pretty sure she will be fine. We found a chicken nugget in the stroller today, from when she was stuffing them in places.
Mentally, she is speaking in full sentences already, and today, she surprised me by using the word "either" in a sentence. She said, "Wanna go to Sea World, Mama. Myla sad now." (because we weren't getting ready fast enough.) then she added, "Emily is not happy either." Geesh. Tough crowd.
Another thing that surprised me about Myles is that a few months ago, she was looking at the pages of the book and she goes, "oh an R!" and she was able to identify all the letters she saw. She can also identify numbers and can count to 20. So she's on her way!

Now Emmy!!! Okay, Emmy took her first steps yesterday, she weighs about 20 pounds, and is just crawling everywhere she can possibly crawl. She eats anything she is allowed to eat, as well as things she isn't allowed to eat. She is 9 months old, and loves to figure stuff out on her own. I'm gonna take her to Gymboree classes individually. Emmy loves everything her sister does and gets angry when she is not included. We have to make sure we always ask her if she wants to do it too, otherwise, she gets pretty cranky. She eats table food, has four teeth and doesn't like baby food in jars. She sleeps through the night and has for awhile, and is an overall delight to be around. I can't be apart from her for very long, or I start to get the shakes.

One thing we love about having number 2 baby, is that we are basically pros at what used to be, the cariest parts of parenthood. You know when you have your first baby and you are suuuuper careful about everything? Like sterilizing everything, and you freaked out when he/she ate a day old cheerio from under the couch? Or when you time the formula feedings so precisely, that when it goes a minute past the hour and you haven't refrigerated it, it goes down the drain? Well, with a second baby, those days are gone my friends. I think we are pretty secure in our paternal pants. (Hey! That was a free plug for our friend Jack!) We now know the unknown, and no longer freak out about stuff that is totally unnecessary.

In other news, we decided that it was a good idea to enter the girls in some modeling gigs, on the suggestion of my friend, whose daughter had done it also. They were able to save a pretty substantial amount of money for their daughter's college, and she only did it when she was 2-3 years old. We took their agent's phone number and are hoping with enough jobs, college won't be a huge worry for our family. We will see how this all pans out. We got a permit to work, and a few meetings and I will update about that once we know. We also, will be opening a trust account where 15% of the gross paychecks from any gigs they get are put away also, which is great. This sounds good in theory, and we are aiming for adverts for clothing and baby and toddler products. I feel it best to start small in this business, and then if something more comes out of it, and it suits one or both of the girls, then fine. If not, no biggie. The only problem is me, being able to stand other stage moms who take this shit very seriously. Again, I will have to say, "we'll see."

So, we are a busy bunch of bees. I am really not so sure what to make of this busy-lifestyle, but I cant seem to slow it down any right now. Mostly wanna take everything one day at a time, and we will share our adventures with you as they go! I love the fact that our heat wave has dissipated and we are moving on to cooler weather.

Anniversary Weekend, Kind of a Feel-Good, Long-Ass Post

Okay, before I forget everything about our Anniversary weekend... We are going to go private on this blog so that our closest friends and family will only have access to it and the handful of trusted and readers I am fond of. =) I am going to be on a few websites soon, and want to keep AMPAM for the exclusive few. More on that one day.
I am going to write about the weekend first (before I forget), and then, within the next few days post pictures. Really. I HAVE to because it's on the to-do list before we leave on the big road trip. First off, on the day of our anniversary itself- Friday, August 28- we went to a Luau at the Kona Kai Resort on Shelter Island. It was GREAT!! I tried on my Tommy Bahama dress and it zipped up, but man, I am waaaay to porky to be wearing it. So, me, Chelly and the girls set out on a mission to find me a new cheap dress... since our budget does NOT call for another Tommy Bahama dress. Plus, the last one was a gift.
We dropped off Andy, and set off on our errands. First errand? Stop at the Labor Department and apply for entertainment work permits for the girls to work in the state. (more on this in another post.) Then we went to the mall. Oh, and I forgot to tell you it was probably 100 degrees outside. Girls were cranky, and so was I. We found the PERFECT dress at Target of all places, it was Luau-ey, but a little too long. So, we cut the dress when we got home. I didn't bother sewing it up because, well, I can't sew and because it was that material that looks shredded in the bottom anyway. Emmy wore Myles' old Roxy Teeny Wahini dress, and Myles wore the Ralph Lauren Hawaii dress she got two years ago.. it was an 18 month size, but she squeezed in it quite cutely. Papa wore his quiksilver Hawaiian shirt (Magnum PI shirt lost the coin toss, thankfully, we would have been too loud.) We get down to the place, and turns out, we were at the Bali Hai. Whoops. Back in the car! To Memmy's dismay (she is seriously outgrowing her rear facing car seat and we are moving her to forward facing this week.) And we drive about a block down to the Kona Kai Resort. We are greeted with plastic lei's (kind of a disappointment to me, but Myles was stoked.) Papa gets a nice, shell necklace, and they seat us on tables that are laid out on the sand. I gotta tell you, the girls are stoked to be outside in the duskey sun, drinking mai-tais with us. A Kahlua Pig ceremony kicked off the festivities, conch shell and all. We sat next a couple who seemed to be kindred spirits right away, Crystal and Steve- from Dallas. They chartered a boat in San Diego and were sleeping in it for two weeks. The MC announced our anniversary on stage, and people clapped. =) We were table Oahu. And there was an older couple a few seats down celebrating an anniversary also, and they were drunk as skunks. Oahu, is called last. The food was great, but not served on paper plates like a real hawaiian party would be. =) And there was no spam. Sad about that. We took pictures, Myla danced, Emmy didn't cry because she wasn't bored. We left a little early. It was great.

Saturday: Girls went to Grammy's house, or we like to call it, "The Spa," They have a wading pool on the stone platform between some plummage in their backyard. Poppy puts a black tarp over it while it waits for them so it heats the water to a perfect temperature. When he removes the tarp the water on top, like a skin, is so hot, but then the water underneath is cold. So you swirl it around and then you have the perfect water. They always have cold, fresh fruit, juice, water, pretty much any food they want, and they don't have to do anything they don't want to. There are toys and books everywhere, and let's face it, they never want to leave. So, Andy and I feel great about leaving them for an overnight. Thanks to Grammy & Poppy for hosting the girls again and letting us go on our activity filled weekend.

Andy and I head towards the Huntington Library, By the time we get there, it's probably 110 degrees and just opening. We are afraid if we leave the car, it will melt. Not knowing what to expect we get there and buy our day tickets, 20 USD a person, and we enter.
Looking at it from the outside, and not knowing what to expect, we went in like a kid unwrapping a present. A hot present. Since this post isn't going to be about the Huntington Library, but a piece of it is about our experience in it. We met a nice guard who told us which direction to go and we ended up going counter clockwise... kinda. Anyway, the Huntington's house was amazing. Andy found stained glass by Morris & Co in their chapel that was interesting and their libraries was something to drool over. The furniture and the artwork- just really cool. We saw Pinkie & Blueboy, by 2 Thomases which are the stars of the Huntington exhibit. Anyway, we saw poured over art, then we saw the Gutenberg Bible. For those of you who need a refresher course in Art History, Gutenberg Bible was the first printed Bible that made it accessible to more people.
If you ever get a chance to see these exhibits, do so. It's wonderful and also, not as overwhelming as when you go to the Louvre or another big museum we have seen.
We didn't go to the famous Tea Room but we went to the Tea Room Cafe instead, (the cheaper, cafeteria version of the Tea Room) and in the Chinese Gardens we stopped for some fried wontons and egg rolls. The gardens were exquisite- if it hadn't been so darn hot, I would have enjoyed them more. We will go back in the fall when the weather has cooled down.

Okay, so fast forward after we are done with the Library, we check in to the hotel- oh, I forgot, this whole time- there is a fire in the background in the mountains ravishing LA. Which incidently, is still going right now. I'm a little jaded by fires now since the big ones we had a few years back. The ticket guys at the HL were all, "yah... it's close...:" all cocky and stuff. I then came up with my David Letterman top ten...

Top Ten Reasons you know the fire is close:
10. You have all your belongings in the trunk of your smallest car.
9. Grandma all of a sudden won't leave her chair.
8. Your waiter is a guy from the National Guard.
7. Your dogs and kids are sleeping on the same sleeping bag.
6. You have an extra cat that wasn't yours and a mangy dog that was possibly no ones, because you suspect it's feral.
5. You just realized how dingy your local high school gym is.
4. While watching the news from a safe location, you see firemen busting down your door.
3. You and The red cross workers are on a first name basis.
2. You're constipated from the MRE's you had to eat.
And finally the number one reason you know the fire is close...
1. You live in Julian.

We wanted to go to a Hooters for dinner, and before you all go blaming Andy about taking me to a Hooters, Hooters is almost 98% my idea every time. I love the wings. When I was 8 months pregnant with Myla, it was my craving on Valentine's Day. We used google maps GPS app on my iphone, and it lead us to an old, closed down Hooters. The other was 13 miles away in Hollywood... and so, we made our way that way. Another option was to catch Inglorious Bastards at a theatre nearby... and we ended up looking for Hooters because the movie theatre was so ghetto and scary, we decided against it.

Ahhh, as parents to two small children, we value our time alone with each other so much. But before you go scrolling down because you think I'm gonna talk about something private... Andy and I went on this weekend getaway to do two things: To sit down and read, and to sleep. Yep.

We went about 6 hours of uninterupted sleep. Until our clocks woke us up, and I missed my babies. Go figure.


More on the next post... Anniversary Part Deux

What's going on? Kind of a depressing post.

Hi everyone, I have been so MIA lately, and with good reason... I am now getting licensed by the State Attorney's office to be an individual who sells travel, because before I guess... I wasn't an individual. Whhhhaaa? Anyway, I'll get it right in the end. the beauty of this is that I get some time to blog- because I have to shut down for ten days while the application is processing. So no more clients for ten glorious days! Anyway, I am going to talk about how much I hate working from home right now. People tend to think I am an overcomplainer, but hear me out before you judge.

The downsides of working from home as a travel concierge?
1. My attention is NEVER fully on my babies. I am talking to clients, airlines, hotels, GTI... from 9am-5pm.
2. If I have a stressful day, I can't call it a day and go home. I have to call it a day and, walk to the bathroom or something.
3. As an ITA, I am a ticketing agent, a reservations department, an accounting department, a refunds processing agent and a customer service rep, whereas storefront agents only have one task to do.
4. I am inevitably responsible for people's trips. Now think about that, that's a duh no brainer right? But, if something goes wrong with an airline or a refund- who gets to try and fix this? Me! I don't have an accounting department, I don't have a reservations agent... it's just me... calling all these airlines (and if you have ever done that without wanting to rip your own head off I salute you.)

I think the worst of these is 1 and 2. I mean honestly, with that going on 8 hours a day, and then when Papa gets home I go to Barnes and Noble or something to work a few more hours, while juggling a very tight budget, and trying to manage a household with two babies, I think I'm having a hard time. the worst part is, I think I'm missing my babies lives and really, I cant do anything about it right now. I also, don't really like the job to begin with.

I try so hard to separate work and home, but you can't really. My outlet used to be writing, and I don't have any time for it, although I yearn for the day when it will be possible again. I am not really happy with how I look because I am always tired and thrashed. Basically the saddest part is that I feel like I've lost myself somewhere... and I don't think I can really get myself back.

Wow this has been a downer if I have ever read one. Sorry guys, please keep reading. I'll post more cute pics of my kids. In the meantimt look at my facebook page for more pics.

CONGRATS TO CHRIS & CARRIE!

We have a new cousin! Francis Declan Ghormley! He was a WHOPPING 9 POUNDS! Born a couple days ago! WOW! We can't wait to meet our new cousin one day! Congrats guys! Take care!!

Emmy & Myles

Emmy just got a job teaching Physics at MIT, her first job ever! We are so proud. Myla, has mastered the violin and invented a cure for Parkinson's Disease... but in their spare time...Miss Emmy, at 7 months- crawling, pulling up on things, clapping. Myles is really into Yo Gabba Gabba and Jack's Big Music Show. And a select handful of movies. (Flushed Away, Scooby-Doo Series, Jungle Book, Ratatouille & Monsters Inc.)