just passing today

Today was one of those days I wish I could have taken a mental health day. Call in sick, flop myself back in bed and pull the comforter back up over my head. We all know the kind of benefits motherhood offers so getting a back in bed was the last thing I could do.

Instead, I: begged for 5 more minutes, made oatmeal, got milk, made more oatmeal and got more milk, changed diapers, made a lunch, gave kisses and hugs, threw on some clothes, walked to the park, played in the mud, took a mini bath to wash off the park, got snacks, went to the gym, got my butt kicked, showered, sat in the car, gave kisses and hugs, sat in the car, gave more kisses to a littler girl when we got home, played, gave a time out, danced, listened to a tantrum, ate snacks, painted, played, ate dinner, played, read books, gave baths, gave kisses, read, gave more kisses, and sat for the allotted 2 minutes while the big one fell asleep.

Phew. In between all that I said "No" a lot, "Yes" sometimes, snuggled, held, tickled, rolled my eyes, raised my voice, gave in a few times, put my foot down a few times, and even once laid my head down on the floor to rest. I give myself a C+. I went through the motions today but fifty percent of the time my heart wasn't completely in it.

Even still, there were moments when I looked at my daughters and was blown away by their tenacity and beauty. These little creatures are amazing and I'm their Mom; the most influential and critical person in their lives right now. I've got to be making the grade.
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Bella wearing the only pair of tennis shoes I've ever bought for the girls. On our way to the muddy park. It's her first time wearing them and they've only been worn once before by her big sister. (Dad wanted photos)Painting! Bella for the first time. There was a lot of paint going in her mouth.Bella bean with her belly getting some air. This girl can throw a tantrum.Addie with her messy pig tails, undies, and knee socks (cause there is NO way she can walk with a Band Aid on her foot, socks must contain THAT craziness)

the Greek got it right

I'm probably the last person to jump on board the Greek yogurt train, but I'm totally hooked. Fruit yogurt is totally out and plain yogurt with honey and toasted almonds is so IN in our house.

Addie eats bowls full of this stuff (minus the nuts). Bella likes hers mixed with applesauce. We usually are stuck with Nestle brand plain yogurt which is so runny you can pour it into your bowl. It does the job but it's just OK. Yesterday, I picked up a little cup of Greek yogurt imported from Greece at S&R for 159 PhPesos ($3.25 or so). It's the first time I've seen it in Manila and since it was so expensive I bought just one. Last night I popped it open for a snack and immediately wished I had never purchased it because it was THAT delicious. I finished it off this morning for breakfast and I'm seriously wishing I had purchased a few more. I'm always afraid to get attached to a product here in Manila because it's highly likely that the next time I go to S&R it won't be there. The not-so-helpful staff would then tell me that they are not expecting any new shipments of the yogurt, EVER!

So this is what happens. I know that the expiration date on the stock of the Greek yogurt at S&R was August 29 so I could go back and buy all I can eat in a week and a half. Then most likely it would be the last time S&R would carry it and we'd just have to go through withdrawal. No one at home in the States right now has ever had to think like this about a food item. I love writing down all the details of finding, eating and plotting how to get more Greek yogurt. It's something we do in a developing country. Something I never realized I would do.

I guess there is always Nestle.

princess in training

Adelaide gets some serious kudos for letting her little sister wear her beloved Cinderella gown this morning. The moment Arabella had the dress on she lit up and started twirling and dancing like her sister. I think she understood the significance of getting to dress up in one of the "fancy dresses". She's a little princess in training now and I'm sure her big sister will have her all ship shape before we know it.

for the love of cupcakes

The girls were promised cupcakes upon our return to Manila and it just hadn't happened yet. It had been a long time since Addie and I had some Mommy-daughter time alone and Tuesday is one of her off days from school so it was a perfect day to get some cupcakes. We ate our treats and then ran to the book store to avoid getting rained on. We sat and read all the Angelina Ballerina books they had. It was a spectacular date with my best three year old girl.

ode the girlfriends who have moved on

Some things can't be taught about life as a diplomat's wife until you are two years and two months into your first overseas tour. One of them being how essential good friends are to the expat experience and the second being how very difficult it is to say goodbye to the good friends you make.

I was unbelievably lucky to have two wonderful girlfriends the past two years in Manila. They are two of the reasons I love the Philippines! These are the kind of women one could rely on to help you get through a typhoon in a foreign country or more likely; Greenhills pearl shopping. In my case it was my second pregnancy and life as a new stay-at-home-mom.

These ladies will always be in my life after spending our time together in Manila but, they have both since moved on from post and left me feeling a little lonely. There are just too many random girlfriend-only tid-bits rolling around in my head. Stuff that my husband would not find compelling to listen too on a daily basis. Stuff that my sister or mother back in the States just wouldn't get. All those kiddo notes that we'd compare on sleeping, eating and potty habits. All the second opinions about a swollen bug bite or how to tactfully confront our help with this or that request. All those laughs about the ridiculousness of being an American Mom in the Philippines because if we didn't laugh about it we most certainly would have cried.

These women were my lifelines, my connection to home, my voices of reason when I got a tad looney and two of the sweetest and most inspiring women I've ever met. We spent an inordinate amount of time together sitting on the floor, with our kids and toys strewn around us, chatting through the laughter, tears, snack time, potty breaks and timeouts. Broken conversations were the norm and we thrived on the rejuvenating property they had on us. The kids always came first. Their happiness was our goal. We made lots of Mommy lunch dates that inevitably would be canceled from this or that car trouble, this or that fever, this or that interruption. We had lots of plans that always took a back burner to our life as Moms and wives. How I wish we would have made more time to be together alone.

No one ever told me how essential these type of friendships would be. Not for surviving life overseas, but for truly thriving in it. No one told me how much these women would end up feeling like family and not just friends. No one told me how much I would end up loving their children just as much as I love them. And no one ever could have related to me just how much I would miss these friendships when we had to say goodbye or in the case of the foreign service-see you next time.

I miss you lovely ladies and your beautiful babies too.

A tribute to Alexander McQueen

August marks the month when I pull together all my ideas, photos, and sketches and pay my first visit to my ballgown designer, Frankie de Leon, to start the exciting process of having my custom gown made for this year's Marine Ball. Yipiee! This will be the last year I get to do this, so I've been thinking about this since last year's Marine Ball ended.

I've scanned fashion magazines and celebrity red carpet events looking for colors, fabrics, and styles of gowns that I like (getting a custom gown made is a perk while living in Manila-and definitely something THIS Mama could get used to). When I see something I like I make a mental note to get online and look it up or make a little sketch in my notebook for later.

Last winter, I was gifted a huge stack of old US Weekly magazines from a friend. While paging through them, I first came across a photo of Cameron Diaz wearing an amazing red Alexander McQueen gown to the Golden Globe Awards.

I'm not a huge Diaz or McQueen fan, in general, (although without knowing much about them, you can't deny their talents in their lines of work). I tend to be more of a Gwyneth Paltrow or Nina Ricci kind of gal. I filed away the red dress in my head and plugged onward, searching for the ONE. Last year, I designed a gown with a specific style and look in mind. The year before that, I had a very specific dress in mind that I'd always loved. This year I didn't have a specific style in mind or a beloved gown that I'd always wanted to own so I just kept looking. All the while, that red Alexander McQueen kept popping up in my brain. It became the dress I compared all other dresses to. That's when I knew that I had, in fact, found the ONE already. (this is all sounding a tad ridiculous and dramatic, I do realize I am talking about a dress here-just indulge me a little)

To pay homage to the man behind the design of the gown I fell in love with; I did a little research.

During his lifetime, Alexander McQueen shocked the fashion industry with his unconventional designs and his early death in February of this year. The 41 year old British fashion designer had started his career at Givenchy before opening his own couture line of clothing. He is best known for dressing celebrities. Some being David Bowie, Lady Gaga, and Rhianna; all fashion trend setters. He is widely adored for his eccentric styles and even earned British Designer of the year four times between 1996 and 2003.

I first looked at some of his work as one might go to a museum to see Matisse. In an era where the art of couture is moving aside to make way for the demand of ready-to-wear fashions; it is my opinion that McQueen's collections and runway shows stood out by creating controversy and conversation as all great artwork should. Alexander McQueen was a visionary artist.

Looking at his work from a "would I wear that?" perspective; I find much of his work to be, well, extravagant and shocking. I can see the artistry and vision behind the work but it's generally not something that I'd wear.

That's why this impeccably draped red gown with the perfect sleeves and raised shoulders is such a surprise to me. The color, the shape, the dramatic style without showing much skin is perfection.
I have no intentions of disrespecting Mr. McQueen's design by creating a knock-off Alexander McQueen gown. Instead, I'd like to bring the design a new life via Frankie, the Filipino designer, and myself, the stay-at-home Mom and wife of a diplomat who moonlights as a wanna be fashionista once in awhile when I'm allowed out of the house to be with other adults; one night being the annual Marine Ball in Manila! Inevitably, the gown that Frankie and I create will be different from the original because, well, no one is Alexander McQueen. But, I sure hope we can get the essence of this dress. It's pretty fabulous.

Frankie loved the gown and the challenge of it. We chose the fabric and color and he sketched out his initial vision. There are lots of changes and adjustments made to the design that occur over many fittings in the next few months. That's part of the fun! I hope we can do this dress justice. I also hope I can find the perfect red lipstick to wear with it.

many minor accomplishments

Getting through Sunday with my sanity while the girls still have smiles on their faces is the result of many minor accomplishments. Some being:

French pressing, for the first time, the Vietnamese coffee that Justin said I could finish off while he was gone and then making ca phe (love the clever spelling-thanks for correcting me Meredith) with sweetened condensed milk. Life changing, is all I can say.Feeding both girls breakfast at 7AM and then realizing that the meltdown at 10AM was hunger induced. Feeding them a "snack" (more like early lunch) solved the problem.

Bella and her driving gloves
Taking Lucy for a walk complete with tutu, princess gown, bare feet, leftover chocolate chip pancakes, oh, and the dog. We then begged Lucy to do her business since she has a serious propensity to wandering aimlessly looking for the G.D. perfect three square inches on the sidewalk to poop ( I swear she does this on purpose, punishing us for moving her to a city when she was perfectly happy crapping in the grass in Arlington-fair enough). It's extremely maddening while trying to maneuver my Hummer double stroller in the hot streets of Salcedo.Ant chalking around the tiny hole the itty bitty ants were crawling through and then again around the hole they were marching to. No, I didn't squish the ants that started freaking out, just confused them. Suckers.

Making up three new random games with a bunch of colorful plastic cups. 1)catch the bubbles 2)stack the cups 3)sort the coins. Desperate measures are being taken to avoid boredom today. Taking a shower AND brushing my teeth before noon.

Giving absolutely no time outs for Addie today!

Making homemade mac-n-cheese for lunch (would have made the boxed kind but we didn't have any) with a little chimp in my arms. I learned from Ronnie that I am significantly stronger on my right side from holding Bella. I'm trying to switch arms with her. I've mastered doing things one handed. All Moms must be.

Catching Addie giving food to Lucy. When I reprimanded her she corrected me by saying "Mom, I'm just letting Lucy clean the peanut butter off my hands." Well, in that case.Halting a mutiny when I promised we'd go and get cupcakes this afternoon then as we were packed and standing at the elevator realized that I didn't have any way to drive us to the cupcake store because Justin had taken the car key with him.

Being extremely efficient by immediately texting my driver and asking him to go make a spare car key this week at the hardware store.

Brushing away Addie's tears and changing gears quickly for a walk to get ice cream and eat it at the playground. Everyone was happy and the girls burned off some steam running around. Making a friend at the park. This little boy was a pure gentleman. He insisted Addie go first on everything with a polite "after you" every time. He put on some serious charm when he asked her for her name and then showed her how to twirl up the chains on the swing so you spin. Addie ate it up. They were running around together the entire time.Addie said her favorite part of her day was getting ice cream and playing with the little boy at the park when I asked her at bed time.

Having a minor victory at dinner when I got both girls excited about dipping cucumber sticks and crunching them. Addie said "these are awesome". Score!Addie learning how to use our touch pad mouse on our laptop today and playing her first computer game! She's totally hooked.

An evening thunder storm scared Addie but we solved the problem by letting her come into Bella's room and sit with us while I went through Bella's bedtime routine. Addie ended up singing the songs with me, rubbing Bella's forehead, and kissing her goodnight. The storm could have derailed bed time but instead the girls had a really sweet moment together. Bella fell right asleep with no crying when I put her down. Miracle!

Getting both girls asleep by 7PM all by myself.

Lots of minor accomplishments add up to a pretty darn successful day.