Happy Birthday to You - My Lovely Sister

Love you so!

The Raw End of the Deal

ok. i know i was supposed to be better about blogging, but life with three kids is a bit harder than i thought. i was hoping that #3 would spend most of her days sleeping peacefully, but that lasted about a week. her 2 naps throughout the day last a mere 30 min and the rest of the time, she demands to be held, entertained, kissed, snuggled, fed, burped, and walked around. needless to say, my back is killing me.

i've started going to the gym religiously. never have i been so diligent and disciplined. make no mistake - i haven't turned over a new leaf and become one of these people who are obsessed with working out. i'm just trying to get my 2 hours of "me" time while the gym daycare watches my baby. i take nice, long, leisurely showers. i spend 10 min in the sauna getting my face to turn the beet red shade that i covet. i put on make-up every day as if i have a hot date planned for the evening. i will do anything to fill up those two hours. i should probably be spending even more time on the treadmill, stairs, or elliptical, but i don't. like i said, it's still 'me' we're talking about here.

the weight is coming off ever so slowly. a few days ago i had an epiphany in the middle of the night, and woke up the next day determined to lay off the sweets. i barely survived that day. i was craving sweets so bad and really felt sympathy for smokers and drug addicts. quitting is no joke. it's so hard. i miss those days when i looked like a toothpick and ate whatever i wanted. i miss those days when i didn't care about real food and just ate chocolate and twinkies. that all changed when i met alex and he introduced me to avocados and mushrooms. anyway, i came to the realization that i cannot deprive myself of sweets and have attempted this thing called "moderation." although i must confess, today i ate dippin dots (what am i? 5?) and a chocolate croissant. and while i'm on the subject of confessions...forgive me father, for i have sinned.

yesterday, #1 was home sick with the stomach flu and #3 was napping in her crib. the hubs was home. it was close to 11:00am and i had an infant appointment at the gym. i was all set to go and wake #3 up and leave the hubs home with #1 - when he said, "just let #3 stay home, why risk her getting sick from one of the other kids at the gym?" it made perfect, logical sense. so i cancelled the appt and started driving towards the gym solo. i checked my email at the stop light and there it was: 25% off dresses at loehmanns. all of a sudden, i remembered an upcoming wedding and vacation and visualized my pre-pregnancy wardrobe (that no longer fits) and my ghastly post-pregnancy wardrobe (that consists of black leggings and hideous, milk-stained maternity shirts)...and made a u-turn and headed towards loehmanns. i was gone for an hour and 45 minutes and stuffed my trader joes grocery bag with 2 dresses and 2 skirts. i came home and when asked, "how was your workout?" i replied, "it was great!" and thought that was the end of that. but then he kept going, "you were gone for a while..."

me: "was I? huh - i guess so." i promptly marched upstairs and quickly hung up any trace of the fruits of my crime.

since we're on the topic of leaving my kids and husband - i'm taking a vacation from motherhood in april with one of my favorite people in the world - my sister. the hubs and i typically take a vacation together sans kids, but given the age of #3, we felt 3 kids would be a bit of a burden on our parents...so we came up with the brilliant plan of vacationing separately while the other spouse stays at home with all three kids. i'm going to antigua for 5 nights and the hubs is planning a trip to what my friend calls, "the most beautiful and romantic city in the world" - prague for 7 nights with his cousin. i can't help but feel like i got the raw end of the deal. originally, my husband was considering a trip to iceland and i thought phew! iceland is not really up there on my places to visit - so i was pleased. but prague is a different story!! i've been wanting to go and i just want to stomp my feet and throw a tantrum. to top it off, i haven't seen my husband plan a trip like this - EVER. he is researching like crazy, checking out 5 star hotels, and spending all his free time planning this vacation.

i'm kind of excited for alex to experience a week in the life of taraneh. i am hoping i will return to a lot more appreciation and respect for what it is i do on a daily basis. i am also hoping i will not return to mounds of unfolded laundry, which has happened in the past. i think it's important that we both get away for a little R&R and return recharged and rejuvenated. i also think it's important to buy your spouse a very nice souvenir from prague. :)

Our new arrivals: baby and lice

ok. so a lot has happened since my last post. first and foremost, i had a baby. our third (and final) girl who will likely give us hell during her teenage years, but will be cute and cuddly until at least age 4. :) she came out fast and furious. in fact, she scowls a lot - just like her dad. :) she has hair on her ears, alex's feet and my nose (hallelujah!). despite my enormous belly and all the 'are you having twins' comments from strangers and family alike, she was my smallest child, weighing in at 7 pounds, 2 ounces.

here she is just a fews old:

i know it has been months since my last post. i really do want to be better about blogging more frequently. i have several topics in mind. some of you have even approached me and asked what da dilly yo? why aren't you blogging? and it truly warms my heart that you care about what goes on in my not-so-glamorous life. speaking of not so glamorous - i have been through hell and back again. let me explain. in late september, i took the girls to get their flu shots at our pediatrician's office. A is sitting on my lap getting the shot and in between her screams and cries, i notice these little white dandruffy-like things around her ears and casually point them out to her doctor. the dr. takes a look and informs me that my kid has lice. she explains what needs to happen: buy NIX lice shampoo, wash all the linens, bag up the stuffed animals, and vacuum. i waddle home and ask my husband to go to cvs and buy NIX, while i wash, vacuum, and clean like mad. of course alex returns with the generic cvs lice brand shampoo (why can't men follow simple instructions and why must they try to save a buck when it comes to the health of their child and their wife's sanity?!). i'm 9 months pregnant, so alex treats A's hair and we throw D's hair in the mix as a precaution.

i do my best to comb the nits out, but i'm not going to lie - it's difficult with her nappy, curly hair. alex suggests we shave her head the way his mom shaved his when he was 5 with lice. i proceed to ignore him. he repeats it again a little louder (in case i didn't hear the first time) and adds, "the only way we are truly going to get rid of this is if we shave her head" (why do men not understand that girls care about their hair - that if you go and shave your 4 year old's locks - who you have repeatedly told, your hair will grow faster and prettier if you drink milk - will undoubtedly need years of therapy after a traumatic butchering.) we are not shaving my child's hair i tell him, icily - especially after you purchased the cheap lice shampoo.

being the honest person that i am, i promptly tell her school about the lice and that A has been properly treated, and ask that they please clean their cots because there is no other logical explanation about where the lice originated. 7 days pass and we get the dreaded, embarrassing phone call from school. come pick up your child, she has lice. we look through her hair and sure enough there are more nits and the whole lot of us are scratching our heads like maniacs. we are paranoid. we are delirious. i check alex's head. he checks my head. is that dry scalp or lice, dammit?? my mom calls complaining about her itchy head. we do another lice treatment and wash everything again. the grandparents do the same. i throw away her bag of stuffed animals and pray that she doesn't notice or ask for them ever again.

for a few days, everything seems ok. things starts to return to normal until A pulls out this gross, leggy, ant-like thing from her hair and says, "mom, look at this bug that i pulled out of my hair." *gulp* i want to scream. i am frantic and am trying to play it cool to not upset her. i ask her to sit on my lap so i can see if there are any more insects and sure enough - i see about 10 live lice crawling around my child's head. i had never seen these vermin before. here is a pic:

so there you have it. we repeat the entire process AGAIN and AGAIN. i am frustrated, annoyed, and even more paranoid. think: an awful version of the movie ground hog day. my life was in a frenzy for 2 months: lice treatments, vacuuming, washing, pulling out nits. (try to get a kid to sit still for 3 hours while you go through her hair, pulling out nits - one by one - shoot me now.)

i take her to the hair cuttery and we cut off 5 inches of her beautiful hair - which in curly hair translates to 10 inches. i worry about her reaction. you cannot chop off a child's hair without some kind of incentive. i bribe her with a candy bar (or two) and hope she doesn't cry because i will surely cry if i see tears. i wait with bated breath. she takes the cut like a champ and her new short do looks, dare i say, cuter than before. phew.

we repeat the treatment process so many more times that i get fed up. i am doing everything right, why does this keep coming back?! i went into angry-protective-mommy mode. i wrote a terse-i'm-paying-$1400/mo in tution-ya'll better-do-something-letter-to the school and ask that she no longer "rest" on their mats. i typed up the letter as if alex had written it and add comma, MD after his name for effect. the printer was having issues, so i asked him to print the letter, while i get the kids in the car to drive them to school. he gives me the letter and has made a significant change. he signs the letter with my name saying he doesn't want to be the bad guy. (why do men care so much about their image when it comes to their child's health?!) i explain if they think he wrote it, the MD adds more legitimacy and they are more likely to respect our request. in the letter, i had asked them to have her read quietly in the corner or engage in some other quiet activity while the other parasite-infested kids nap, bc i will not have my child endure this time-consuming, gut-wrenching process on a weekly basis. i myself cannot keep doing this. finally, the school takes me seriously and gets their shit together. they conduct head checks, thoroughly clean their mats, bag up the coats and backpacks, and send stern letters to the other families.

i cringe when i see A scratching her head and quickly get her off my bed when she climbs in to snuggle (i can't tell you how awful i feel about this). story time has moved from her bed to the leather couch...it sucks, but i will not be at ease until the creatures are 100% gone...

p.s. i have yet to receive a push present. 9 weeks and counting. santa better be very good to me this year.

A's before/after pics:

how ya like me now?

Movin' on Up...

i know it's been a while...forgive me for i have moved. well not yet, but will be doing so on sunday. where to? back to my old stomping grounds: good ole montgomery county, maryland: a mere 5 minutes away from my in-laws. bring on the unexpected, surprise bike visits at random times throughout the day. i don't mind - especially with soon-to-be three kids! due to job location change and school zoning changes, it no longer makessense to live here. it has been a wild, bumpy 4 years, but there are certainly things i am going to miss about this area. so i will do what i do best: make a list of what i will miss most about this house and clifton, va. while i am at it, i will make a list of what i won't miss and look forward to having in the new abode.

i will miss:

• wegmanns: best.grocery.store.ever.
• lifetime fitness: best.gym.ever. (though i have been a very bad girl and not taken full advantage of this glorious gym for the past 7 months)
• peterson's ice-cream depot: best.mayor-owned.ice-cream.ever (my kids are utterly devastated by this loss)
• my beautiful wide plank tiger wood floors that cost us an arm and a leg
• our 5 skylights cause skylights are cool
• my view from my deck onto the backyard: what sold me on agreeing to buy this house. trees and forestry as far as the eye can see
• costco - yes, i know they're everywhere, but not this close and accessible. i hear the one in gaithersburg is a nightmare.
• the girls' preschool: best.preschool.ever. where else can they learn japanese, spanish, and how to share nicely?
• the countless korean restaurants that surround us and bring such joy to my husband and D.

i won't miss:

• hearing my husband eat his cereal in the kitchen at 4:30am: a drawback of bedrooms on the main level
• deer eating all of our flowers in the front yard
• shoveling snow off our abnormally long driveway
• taking the enormous trash and recycling containers up and down said driveway
• not being able to take walks around the neighborhood since we live off a busy street without sidewalks
• having to keep a spotless house 24-7 in case someone stops by for a showing (this is hard with 2 kids who have conveniently forgotten the barneycleanup song)
• spending 50% of my life in a car driving back and forth to maryland for language schools and visiting family.
• having to check traffic every single time i plan to make the trek to maryland to see what traffic jam is in store on 66 or 495.

i can't wait...

• to use the gigantic outdoor community pool behind my house
• to live closer to all the familial support that i am certain to receive with the arrival of #3: (grandparents, aunts, uncles)
• living in a house with updated bathrooms. i'm so over the 1970s. :)
• getting rid of stuff we've acquired throughout the years: it's therapeutic and one thing alex and i have in common - we are not pack rats.
• to live 5 minutes away from farsi school and latvian school.
• to decorate a baby room the proper way
• to live within our means
• to possibly return to my old job

moving day is sunday. it won't be easy. i move a lot slower these days and tire easily. but, we should be settled by october when we will accept this permanent guest into our new home:

The Highs and Woes of Pregnancy

the highs:

- requests for hair playing by all family members are fulfilled

- requests for watermelon juice are fulfilled and even ready upon arrival without requests

- my new J Lo butt

- daily belly kisses from the soon to be middle child

- smiles from random strangers

- ultrasounds

- buying cute baby clothes

- eating for two

the woes:

- eating for two and weight gain

- waking up every night at 2:00am and not being able to fall back asleep until 5:00am

- waking up hungry at 2:00am and feeling incredibly guilty for satiating my hunger

- incessant peeing

- maternity clothes

- the possibility that by the end of this pregnancy, i will wear a size 10 shoe

- the inevitable waddle

- the inevitable burn while peeing that is sure to rear its ugly head post-delivery

- unsolicited opinions on potential baby names

- feet and face swelling

i have about 4 months to go. it's going to a be a loooong summer. thankfully, my aunt and grandma are coming from iran in a few weeks and i plan to play the pregnancy card and get very spoiled.

on a side note: yesterday, my husband hit my brother-in-law's car while backing out of the driveway. this morning, i side-swiped my husband's car while backing out of the garage (why was it parked outside anyway?!?) and ran over A's tricycle in the process. i think we just need to S L O W down a bit. can you imagine the telephone call to geico? "hello, yes, i'd like to report that my husband, a mohseni hit another mohseni yesterday in our driveway and today i hit my husband's car in our driveway." something is rotten in the city of clifton....

Happy 9 Year Anniversary Babes!

so he doesn't play with my hair 15 min a day or accompany me to the movies; he doesn't share my desire to decompress and watch reality shows, he makes we watch martial arts movies at home and TED talks (which i have actually grown to love and appreciate), and he doesn't write me daily love poems anymore, BUT...

he is the most amazing father, the most supportive and patient husband, has a mind that never sleeps and even comes up with business ideas in his dreams, introduced me to avocados and mushrooms and turned me into a lover of food when all i ever cared about was chocolate and ice-cream, he is an incredible doctor who is loved by his colleagues and patients, and the sight of him still manages to give me butterflies after a few days absence...

THE RESULT OF 9 YEARS OF MARRIAGE:

+

another baby girl due 10.10.11

we done good babes. we done good.