ROAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't help but think of Katy Perry's song "ROAR" when I look at this picture of our ALMOST five month old:

Allow me to explain.  (Go listen to the song now if you've never heard it before). 

Juliet is the SWEETEST, QUIETEST, MOST CONTENT little thing ever.  I mean, I get that we're comparing her to our eldest (who we'd describe using a totally different choice of words), but even in the absence of Nory, Jet stands out as a calm wee darling.  She's happy on her own, listening to music and looking at her colourful toys.  You can put her in our big bed and she'll "visit" with her friends on the children's quilt, smiling up at them for (half) hours.  You can set up "camp" in the living room, lay a blanket on the floor and be promised an entire hot coffee (or two!) just sitting beside her.  She'll happily be Phil's checking-sports companion or get up-to-date on celebrity gossip with myself.  You can put her in her crib, have a shower, clean up the bedroom, and eat your breakfast while she smiles and coos at the Fisher Price light show at her bedside.  She enjoys being held by her Mama, touring the house and admiring the "children's museum" it contains - never commenting but always absorbing the chaotic sights there are to see.  And if she's being smothered by her sister (which happens several times daily), you'll rarely hear a peep.  But you'll know it's happening when you look over and see nothing but BIG, BLUE EYES, peaking out from behind a mop of blonde hair and muscle.  And when someone goes and removes Nory from "cuddling" her sister, you'll see BIG, BLUE EYES without blonde hair and muscle.  Same girl, simply revealed. 

Not much seems to phase this one.

Although, perhaps it's the drastic comparison to a sister who's on the opposite side of "quiet and calm" that makes us feel this way. 

Nonetheless, here we are thinking that Juliet is going to be the girl who just goes with the flow.  The girl who lets Nory take charge and call the shots. 

But then there's this picture.

THIS PICTURE where I feel like she's belting out the lyrics to Katy Perry's hit song.

And I think it's a sign that, one day, she's going to surprise us all and show us what she's REALLY made of.

We love you so much, Juliet Tyko!  You fought your way out of me, you fought your way out of the NICU and, before we know it, you'll be fighting that sister of yours for PERSONAL SPACE.  We've seen you ROAR before, but we CANNOT WAIT to hear it too!  YOU GO GIRL! 

XOXO

It was going so well until it wasn't!

I'm talking about baking on Friday morning.  The two of us were in matching aprons.  Following directions to a tee.  Keeping all ingredients in the bowl.  Smiling and laughing and taking selfies together.

But then I looked away for ONE SECOND.  Just one.  And it was long enough for Nory to put a spoonful of the dry ingredients in her mouth........

And so.  My peanut butter cookie squasher went on strike following the incident.  Although she DID return once the cookies came out of the oven, which means there are no hard feelings between her and the recipe ;)

NARRATING THE CAMERA ROLL.....

I love that cereal parties are a thing now.  MY siblings will be thrilled to welcome our newest member :)

This girl loves being outside!  It makes us extra excited for Canada!

Nory's big into jumping now.  She recently introduced this move where she kicks her feet up behind her.  We call it her snowboarder move :)

One of them IS hiding.  The other one WANTS TO BE hiding.

Talking on the phone to her Daddy.

Last night she discovered that she sounds REALLY FUNNY when she plugs her ears!

Pardon the blur.  But you're looking at the winners of last night's trivia extravaganza!  Our team name was O CANADA :)

Lego Queen.  Don't you dare try to transition into something else until she's finished building her tower.

She has more scrapes and bruises than we can count.  That's what happens when you move 100 mph, 24/7.  Yesterday she was attacked by a cat AND a wall.  And didn't cry in either instance!  GO GIRLIE!

I miss her morning smiles SO MUCH during the work week.  You can bet I claimed her as MINE ALL MINE both Friday and Saturday morning :)

This little dolly was a gift from Paris (thanks Tim and Rox!).  She came grocery shopping with us the other day and, like everyone else in the car, she had to be BUCKLED UP!

The Best Pictures From The Worst Morning.

Before we begin, there are four things you need to know:

1)  We watched the most recent episode of Grey's Anatomy last night.  I don't feel like I need to give you a SPOILER ALERT because the storyline has been all over the internet and we already knew what was going to happen before we watched it ourselves.  So, I'm guessing you know what happens too.  (Derek dies.  In a car accident.  After saving four other people. So much for karma.)

2)  Our drive to and from work can be a scary one.  No matter the hour, the highway is occupied by yahoo's of all sorts and you really, really have to be watching.  For those who go too fast.  Those who don't signal.  Those who are texting.  Those who make a last minute decision to take an exit.  Yada. Yada. 

3)  I'm a worrier.  Understatement.

4)  In our relationship, we only call each other during "work" if there's an emergency or something important going on.  Otherwise, we message and reply to the messages once we get a spare second.  That being said, we ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS answer phone calls from each other during the work day.  Even if we're in a meeting.  Or teaching a lesson.  Or talking to a parent.  Because PHONE CALLS = IMPORTANT.  It's our code.

Now let's start.  The worst morning. 

Phil's been acting as a site manager for the tournament happening on campus this weekend.  When he left the house at 8:30 this morning, he said that he would call or text me when he arrived (just like he always does when he drives these Kuwait roads without me). 

Well, 9 o'clock came and went and I had yet to hear from him.   

Then 9:30 came and went and I had yet to hear from him.

Then 10:00 came and went and I had yet to hear from him.

Then 10:20 came and went and.........I FLIPPED THE HECK OUT.  

Because by this point, I had called at least five times without any answer. 

AND HE ALWAYS ANSWERS.  

After one ring, even. 

Because phone calls are our code.  And he knows to answer them. 

But he didn't.

SO I FREAKED.

The FREAKING OUT looked like this:  recruiting Kumari to take the girls, followed by automatic crying, followed by continual redial without success, followed by wondering how Meredith managed to stay so strong throughout this week's episode, followed by automatic BALLING, followed by messages to other people who might be on campus, followed by messages to the wives of other people who might be on campus, followed by asking Emily to WALK to school and see if his car was in the parking lot.............................

At 10:46, I finally got confirmation that he was, in fact, ALIVE.

Then I started crying even harder (so much so that no sound was coming out) because I was SO RELIEVED that he was safe. 

Sigh. 

Turns out his phone ran out of credit, so his Whatsapp messages didn't come through to me.  And he had left his phone on silent and forgot to turn it back on this morning. 

OY.  

You'll be happy to know that I've only re-lived the experience a few more times today, evoking similarly dramatic outpourings of emotion.  #superfun

Let's conclude with the best pictures from the worst morning:

The Day That Daddy Was Picked On.

There was one day during spring break that Phil just couldn't catch a break with Nory.  Three particular incidences have stuck in my mind...

INCIDENT #1:  Bite Control Gal

Nory has the habit of "chip-munking" her food and we are constantly reminding her to take smaller bites and to finish each one before helping herself to more.  Well, as much as we think she doesn't hear what we're saying....SHE DOES!  Here she is lecturing Phil while he's eating spaghetti.

INCIDENT #2:  PHIL!!!!!!!!!!

Later that day, Nory heard me hollering at Phil from the kitchen and spent the following two hours calling him just that:  PHIL. 

"PHIL!!!!!  PHIL!!!!!!!" 

His friends were happy to encourage the habit by reinforcing his name around Nory too. #houseofnorules

INCIDENT #3:  Two Chins

In the evening, Nory went to give Phil a hug.  He was laying on the couch at the time and as she ran up to him, she had to stop and do a double take.  After a short pause she exclaimed, "TWO CHINS, DADDY!  TWO CHINS!!!"  Turns out his posture resulted in a double chin :$

So that is that.  I've said it before and I'll say it again:  #terribletwos are winning.

Last Week.

Is over.

It was long.  And exhausting.  And emotional.  But I'm here to write you about it!  So.........three cheers for SURVIVAL MODE!  HIP, HIP!

The night before BACK TO WORK day.  I didn't sleep so much as a WINK!  And, coincidentally, Jet has stopped sleeping 10 hours in a row.  Like her arrival, she planned that perfectly :)

It all started on Sunday.  My first day back at work.  The students gave me a warm welcome...

"MISS!  You cut your hair!!!!  It looks like.....WAYYYYYYY better!!!!"

"MISS!  You've lost........A LOT....A LOTTTTTTTTT of weight."

So that was good.

I came home that evening to this:

Initially too busy to hug me but I forced her into some snuggles ;)

Always interested in Mama Time.  This girl is MY GIRL!!!

Monday and Tuesday were more of the same.  Work and then....

....squeezing in AS MUCH TIME with my darlings as possible.  In this picture we are doing some Fisher Price baking.

Kumari sent me pictures like this during the work day...

Proof that everything was A-OKAY!  And that Jet has started to drool.  We may be entering the perma-bib phase....

On Wednesday night, Steve came over to make pizza and Nory had a blast helping out.  I was too tired by this point to even care she desired Uncle Steve over ME ;)

Our pizza chefs :)

Thursday came and it was finally the weekend.  Jet was so excited to have me home that she pulled (basically) an all-nighter and I decided to give up on sleep and start my Friday at 3 a.m.  Phil decided to end his Thursday at this time so we made for a super-energized parenting team that day ;)

Friday included breakfast at the Avenues with the Hussain Family (why didn't I take a picture with them?!), followed by an afternoon at home with Em and Barb.  We spent lots of time laying on the floor, too!  Encouraging Jet as she worked tirelessly to roll over :)

Her first time wearing shoes!  (Although she doesn't look so impressed).

Come on, Sister!  You can do it!!!!!

Saturday came around and the consensus votes the day was a total BUST (we're talking lost phones, exploding eggs, and typhoid fever).  But in terms of our family, it went like this:

I woke up at 4 a.m., unable to move my neck.  I remember this happening after returning to work the previous mat leave and I'm sure it's all stress related.  Then I discovered that I was unable to access some 18,000 photos on my computer and I turned hysterical thinking they were gone for good.  Then we had no hot water.  Then we had no water at all.  Then Jet rolled over and Kumari was the only one that saw it.  Then we tried to play outside but it was simply too dusty and gross.  Then the Raptors lost....(HA!  I'm not actually upset about this part.  However, I DID find myself up til almost 11 p.m. cheering them on with some legit fans).

When garbage starts whipping around....it's OVER.

In good news, we were able to turn some things around.  Phil spent two hours speaking with someone from the Apple Support Team and my 18,000 photos have been FOUND!  Wearing Icy Hot patches for two days seems to be working and my neck is slowly loosening up (at least I no longer have to turn my whole body to see in other directions)!  Our water has returned and it is HOT (thank goodness).  I'm confident I will see Jet roll over some day (sigh).  ANDDDD, the Raptors have 6 more tries to make it happen.  

So now we're back at Sunday and I'm into week two of the working-mom-of-two thing.  Thank you so much to everyone who sent me warm thoughts last week!  I was overwhelmed by all of your kind words and support.

Here's to hoping we can graduate from SURVIVAL MODE and get into a confident rhythm once again.

XOXO

p.s.  I'm obsessed with these peanut butter cookies.  And newly obsessed with these chocolate oatmeal bars.

Tonight's Bath Time.

Let's start with Nory.  The girl who begs for two or three tubbies a day.  The girl who takes great joy in bubble baths and colour baths and only ever LONG, LONG baths.  The girl who always comes out all wrinkled and prune-y and not even close to being finished.

Well, if tonight was any indication, these things are of the past, people!

Tonight. 

T.O.N.I.G.H.T.

Nory scream-cried like no other, refused to get into the tub, and even pleaded "I HAVE TO POTTY" in order to keep herself out of it.  Washing her hair was a whole other obstacle that Phil volunteered to tackle (BLESS HIM!), while I whisked Jet away to our room where we blared nursery rhymes and pretended everything was normal.  It was one HELLA BIG game of pretend, you guys.

So that was a first.  

Next up was Jet.  She acted like a total gem in the tub - smiling up at us with big blue eyes, staying as quiet and still as ever, accelerating the get-clean process by 100% compliance!  Thankfully, Nory was calm by this time too and we were thrilled to be ALMOST finished with bath time routine.  With the end in sight, I got Juliet a towel, Phil picked her up and................VOMIT.  All over her face, all over her chest, all into the bath water.

Sigh.

To make us feel even more defeated, once both kids were clean, pajamas were ON, and everyone was sprawled out on the big bed, our Manipulating Eldest flashed us a grin and said "that was FUN!!!!!"

It was then that we decided the toddler years are FOR REAL kicking our @$$.

Spring Break (!)

Let's talk about this title.  More specifically, let's talk about that exclamation point that's caged up in brackets.  Because it's a blog first, people!  For the girl who OVER-uses the exclamation point to confine one of those happy line-with-a-dot's in the very title of her long overdue blog post, it's never before seen.  And the reasoning is this:  this is Spring Break (the End of Maternity Leave Edition) as opposed to Spring Break (the End of A VERY LONG Third Quarter Edition).  The difference is HUGE.

Normally, this week would be the best week ever (if you're a teacher, you know!), but I feel like I'm going through some serious mourning period and the whole pizazz of the holiday isn't quite there (if you're a mom, you might know!).  In fact, I've been so upset about returning to work that I haven't really wanted to come around here and talk about what we've been up to.  I felt like sharing our family adventures was akin to tossing a big fat lie into the virtual world, with the underlying theme being heartbreak.

Sigh.

I mean, WE HAVE HAD a glorious time thus far.  WE HAVE.  But, I've had some not-so-glorious moments on my own and it's been difficult trying to keep it together in front of the girls each day.  If only brackets worked on tears.  (TEARS).  Yep, definitely don't have the effect I was hoping for. 

There have been people that have been able to snap me out of it (briefly).  Like Nory and Jet, who have taken the playful approach.  Or Phil, who has taken the MOST SUPPORTIVE HUSBAND EVER approach.  Or Kumari, who has taken the CLEAR AS DAY approach by telling me "no work, no money, Madam".  Gotcha.  When the lady who left her child in ANOTHER country to earn a better living for him has to give advice to the lady who leaves her children for merely ten hours a day........the point is made rather effortlessly.

I start Sunday.

Moving on......

I am writing to you tonight because Courtney and Phil are watching some lame movie that had a typewriter in its opening scene and - according to my long list of movie-viewing rules - I don't view movies that feature typewriters.  So, rather than pretend to enjoy "The Imitation Game" (Oscar movie, ya, ya, whatever), I decided The Pearl Curriculum would be a better time investment ;)

Back to Spring Break (!).  Since I've been on unpaid leave for the last two months, we decided to save our money and have a Kuwaiti stay-cation.  We've taken it upon ourselves to do all things BEACH and discovered on Monday that we could get a week-long pass at the Hilton Resort for a great price!  It's only five minutes away from our house and we've been going to and from ever since.  Nory's especially in heaven and - because we get to come home for naps and sleep in our own bed at night - we've been in heaven too!

Time to end this post with the greatest exclamation points of all, Juliet and Eleanor!  (ELEANOR).  Hmmm.....can't cage that one in either.  But it was worth a try ;)

Her first swim!!!!!

A recently-discovered, jumping-picture PRO!

THIS, I must tell you.

(Apologies in advance for the random string of events that follows.)

So I've had this foot problem.  For ONE MONTH NOW.  Where my left foot is in pain practically always.  Which means I haven't been exercising.  Which means I've been an extreme ball of anxiety.  And that I've been to a billion doctors appointments.

Well.

After several foot examinations, X-rays, an MRI, physiotherapy and lots of different medication.  After being dismissed from one appointment with "I LOVE YOU.  GOD BLESS AMERICA.  AND EVERYTHING ELSE!!!!"  After being dismissed from ANOTHER appointment with "Oh, PARKINSON!  Your grandfather, your sister!  They found the disease!  CONGRATULATIONS!"  After all of this nonsense.  The mysterious foot saga FINALLY concluded late tonight with a trip to THE. BEST. ORTHOPEDIC. DOCTOR. in the whole country.

So that's exciting!

(It turns out that all of the pain I've been having in my left foot is actually being caused by a mechanical issue in my right foot.  And this mechanical issue is likely the reason for my bad knee.  And possibly even my lower back pain.  AND surgery is merely a last resort!  YAHOO and THREE CHEERS for COMPETENCE!)

Anyways, the appointment was late and we didn't arrive back home until 9 o'clock this evening.  Both kids were still awake due to some.......or one.....wild girl incident.  Mmmm hmmm....as we walked in the door, Kumari felt obliged to report that Nory's milk and cookie party was a total bust because after eating her cookies, Nory CHUG-A-LUGGED her milk and then proceeded to vomit all over the place.  And laughed whilst doing so.  Yes.  She both vomited and laughed herself WIDE-EYED and BUSHY-TAILED.  We were thrilled to hear it.

FACT:  Jet fears for her life.

So the tag team went to the starting line.  I took Juliet, while Phil read some books to calm the Nornado who was all "MOMMY!!! DADDY!!!! BUNNY!!! HOP, HOP!!! CHOCOLATE!!!"  At the conclusion of one of their books, I asked Phil to do me a favour and bring me our white noise "Sleep Sheep".  Of course, Nory heard "SHEEP!" and ASSUMED I was asking her to sing BA BA BLACK SHEEP at the top of her lungs.  Which she proceeded to do.  Beside her sister.  Who WAS sleeping prior to Nory's entrance.  (For the record, never do I ever ask Nory to sing any song at the top of her lungs.  It's simply the only decibel level she really knows.)  It gets better though.  Because Nory then decided to shout "TICKLE, TICKLE!" and tickled our sleepy-eyed little one from head to toe with a big ole giggle to boot.  This sent Phil and I into nothing other than exhausted giggles as well.  Jet rolled her eyes, yawned, and went back to bed.  #angel

So........that was our night.  A diagnosis!  A(nother) tale of a vomiting Parkinson child!  And the ongoing experience of having a toddler like Nory.

THIS, I must tell you, is OUR EVER SO CHARMED LIFE :)  #keeptheprayerscoming

Conversations with Nory.

I know there are times I SHOULD keep a straight face around here.  But, it's hard you guys.  She is TOO DARN FUNNY.  And adorable.  And even when she's all screams and NO's......my heart is usually in a state of perma-melt. 

After having an "accident".....

Me:  OH NO!  Nory Girl, you had an accident?

Nory:  (sighs) It happens, Mom.

I remembered while reading to her the other day that she must have got that line from her potty book.  Plus she's right.  IT DOES HAPPEN!

___________________________________________________

While choosing what to bring outside to the courtyard....

Me:  What about this bike Nory?

Nory:  No.  This one's no good.  (Pause)  But it IS PINK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

___________________________________________________

As Phil approached us - carrying all of the bags - while we were playing on the beach this morning....

Nory:  DADDY!  DADDY!  It's GRRRRRRRRREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

___________________________________________________

During hide and seek the other day....

Nory:  (Stops the game and goes to lay on the treadmill)  I'm sad and blue, Mom.

I wonder where she gets her dramatic side from.