Mommy's little helper

Look who decided that mommy needs some help! Every morning Catalina takes the trash out. She wants to carry it out, she wants to throw it in the dumpster. She is a big girl.

(the tears here are caused by the dress mommy made her wear for picture day ... )

She is also carrying her own lunch box, mommy's car keys and once in a while mommy's ID. This means we move slower in the morning, but the victory you can read on her face when she finally sits in her car seat is worth everything! She usually congratulates herself with a "good job Caca'ina".

Oh, what a party!

This past Saturday we had Catalina's 2nd birthday party. Like last year, a lot of kids were invited, like last year a lot of chaos in our house. What was not like last year, was Catalina's mood. This year she was happy, ready to party and to entertain the people who came to wish her the happiest of birthdays.

Elmo was the guest of honor. Everything had something to do with Sesame Street, and Catalina enjoyed seeing all the characters on the walls.

Our sweet little girl decided that she should be late for her party and took quite a long nap. People were happy and ready to party, so we started without the guest of honor.

When our little princess decided to make an entrance, it was quite an uneventful one. No big shiny dress (we expected that), but boy, did she get into the spirit of the party! She gets some help here to open her first presents. Yes, books, what else can be more fit for my little nerdy girl?

We started playing fun games soon after. Who can pin the number on Elmo's hat? Mika was the only one who agreed to be blindfolded. Also, the only one who succeeded in pinning it on the hat, and not on the belly, hand or outside the poster... :)

We were not quite sure when to bring the cake. We learned that there is no such thing as to early, when it comes to cake and kids. Oh, they were happy to see the sugar.

And boy, was I happy to see my gorgeous girl staring with amazement at her candle. Ok, fine, at the frosting :).
No sweetheart, I cannot imagine when the time flew. My baby girl is 2!!!

The good part about having the cake early, is that you have a bunch of happy kids all ready for more fun. There was eating, there was drinking, there was running around, dancing, singing and making a mess. A beautiful sweet mess.

The Elmo pinata was a hit. And so was opening the presents. Everyone wanted to help, but, being Catalina's Big Day she did most of the paper ripping.

The party ended late, with a lot of happy kids and parents. My Catalina is 2! Her party was nice and a lot of fun. She was happy and cute and sweet (she was also covered in chocolate, and this helped with the sweetness part). Exactly how I want her!

Happy Birthday big girl! Mommy is so proud of you!

Happy Birthday!!!

Happy Birthday to the most precious and loved little girl! Today our much loved Catalina turns 2.
A whole two years since this:

She was perfect that day, she is perfect today. Beautiful and gentle, warm and cuddly. The best of my dreams came true that day. I know that no matter how much I try I, nor any mother, will ever be able to really say how we feel, how our lives have changed since we got our miracles. I am just happy.

Catalina has grown into an amazing girl. She is extremely bright and tricky. She turns everything into a game. She talks well and tells us little stories that make us laugh. She decided that if you play the guitar it goes "vana vana vana vana" and the piano goes "la la la la". Every time she does something funny and we laugh she goes "Catalina face..."(Catalina does).

This is Catalina at almost 2 years old.

And this is Catalina at exactly 2 years. Opening presents from her nana Petronela. Not to worry, she got a bunch load of toys in that box, aside from the stick she accidentally found :).

We are preparing for a party tomorrow. We hope she'll be happy and ready for play, as lately she needed a lot of her mommy and daddy. We got her a very nice outfit for her birthday, but we are not yet sure she'll wear it. This is what happened at her first "fitting".

The dress never made it on for more than 2 minutes. And all that heart breaking cry ended suddenly, the second the dress touched the floor. So we might use the Halloween costume instead, as she is particularly found of it these days.

     Happy birthday to my sweetest one! Ducky, princess, astronaut, or spiderman, I would not trade for the world. Have an amazing year, full of those sweet smiles, of those naughty tricks and of all the love you deserve!

Mami

     Today is March 1st. Nobody really cares here in America, except that maybe it's a new month, so a new paycheck. In Romania today everybody celebrates the beginning of spring. We give each other cute little pendants hanged by white and red thread that we call "martisoare". It's a beautiful holiday, girls and women receive spring flowers and every single person on the street will have a "martisor" attached to his/her coat. It is a celebration of love, of spring, of green and new hopes.
    I missed my mom a lot today. I wished she was here with me today, not an ocean away. Two years back my mom was here with me and we were both waiting for Catalina. At that time I was so preoccupied with preparing my mind for the happiness I was about to experience, that I could not appreciate the time I had with my mom. She was her usual sweet, patient mom. We took long walks together, during which I kept on talking about my miracle that was about to come.
This picture here was taken the Sunday before Catalina was born. It was a beautiful day, after a long snowy winter.

My mom walked slowly next to me and stopped every 10-15 minutes so I can rest. She was telling me stories from her youth, nice little gossips about people from my childhood. It was a lovely day and I can only hope I was not too mean to her (I am blaming pregnancy hormones for all the bad I was doing at that time).  :)

Next day it was March 8th. March 8th is yet another beautiful holiday in Romania and many other European countries. It's woman's day. But mostly mother's day. We exchanged little gifts. I cannot remember what I gave my mom, but I remember so well what I received. It was a little glass mirror with a mother and child and few verses engraved:
"Mothers and daughters never truly part,
Bound by the force of a single beating heart."

At that time I kind of felt it was cheesy and too sweet. But now, that little mirror is one of the most precious things in my house. One of those things you cannot imagine breaking, because it holds so many dear memories and love and significance. It was a gift from my mother to a silly, knowing of nothing mother to be. I cannot imagine a more appropriate and a nicer gift. Thank you so much, mami. So, so much. I hope I will have that mirror to give to Catalina when she will have her own daughter.

That night Catalina decided she's cooked enough. Second morning we got our miracle. My mom was there to witness it, she was capable of the most selfless love, that only a mother can be. She watch me and Marius being happy without limits, she cried of happiness with us, but never pushed herself into our lives. I do have the most amazing mother.

Can you imagine how much love is pouring out of me when I look at this picture?