Day 78: They Huffed and They Puffed and....

They Blew (Ate) the House Down! All that's left of our Gingerbread House!!!

Day 75: Christmas Day

Kayla and Anya with the new doll house Santa brought them :)

Day 74: Christmas Eve

All the cousins getting ready to open preasents Chrismas Eve at Babcia Halinka's House. From front to back : Haliey, Kayla, Andrew, Allison, Ashley, Matthew and Anya.

Day 72: Baby's First Pictures

Ok, so this is a few weeks late...but better late than never :) On December 11th we had our first ultrasound. The newest Martinek is healthy and growing nicely. I was 13 weeks prego and the baby was the size of a lime.

Day 71: Bye Babcia!

Babcia Ewa left today back to cold windy Hilliard Ohio. I just checked the weather and it currently feels like -21 degrees in Hilliard!!! OMG...I would just die!!! We had fun while Babcia was here and we will miss her. Hopefully she stays warm up there and comes back to visit us soon :)

Day 70: Santa Came Early

We had an early visit from Santa today. Since Babcia Ewa is not going to be with us for Christmas we decided to celebrate a few days early. We had a nice dinner and then the girls got to open presents...and they didn't even fight over who got what :)

Day 69: Dentist

Kayla had her first Dentist visit today for a cleaning. She was a superstar and did a wonderful job. Your looking at the newest member of the NO Cavity Club!!!

In other news... our Gingerbread House has been completed this afternoon. In my opinion its our best one yet. I'm sure Daddy will be very excited to have something yummy and sweet to munch on!

Day 68: Gingerbread House

We started work on the 3rd Annual Martinek Gingerbread House today. We decorated the side walls and put the house together. Tomorrow we will finish the roof and landscaping. To Be Continued...

Day 67: Grandma Comes To Visit!

Ok I'm back and its only been 11 days since my last post :) Oh who am I kidding I'm such a slacker!!!!! But once I get behind its seems the days just fly by and before I know it almost two weeks have passed. Well, I'm back now and I will do my best not to fall behind on my posts.

Today Grandma (Babcia) Ewa flew in from Ohio to visit us for 5 days. The girls were super happy to see her. Kayla and Babcia played Super Mario Karts, we all went to the playground and then the girls painted pictures with Babcia...it was a fun day.

Dat 55: Tree Is Up!

We got our Christmas tree today! This is the first real tree I've had since I moved to the U.S. 23 years ago (wow, I can't believe its been that long). When I was little and lived in Poland we always had real trees for Christmas...I didn't even know fake ones existed. Once we came here my parents always put up a fake tree...but I missed the real thing. The smell is amazing and it fills up the whole house! It brings me back to when I was little...that same smell from my childhood...the true smell of Christmas time. I love this tree. Its perfect and we're never going back to the fake one's again! I can't wait to finish decorating it tomorrow.

Day 54: Lesson Learned

Picture of Anya painting a masterpiece taken after the mishap with the camera.

I found out today that while I was out Christmas shopping last night my lovely daughter Anya decided to pull my camera case off the dresser...sending my camera smashing to the floor. Wonderful!!!! My Canon Digital SLR camera might I add. My nightmare come true. It was totally my fault for leaving it there... with the case unzipped... so I really only have myself to blame. I didn't even look at it for the first half of the day because I was afraid of what I would find. But when I finally did inspect it, I was relieved that it seems to be in good shape... from what I can tell at least. I'm still going to have to take it in to have a professional take a look but for now the pictures are turning out like I would expect.

Day 53: Ultrasound Next Thrusday

I had my second Dr. Visit today and everything looks great. All my tests came back normal and I finally got to hear the baby's heart beat (although very very faintly). The other great news is that I'm going to have my first ultrasound next Thursday and I am so excited about that. I know if will be too early to tell the sex (only 12 weeks) but you better believe we are going to look anyway! Then around 18 weeks I'm having another ultrasound...and at that time we should know the sex for sure :) Either way the weeks are going by quickly and I'm just happy to finally see the baby on that black and white screen and get the first pictures.

Day 52: Monkey See Monkey Does

I took this picture of the girls after I had told them several times not to sit on the back of the couch like this. Like always, whatever Anya sees Kayla doing she immediately has to do the exact same thing. Luckily so far we haven't had any major falls but this is definitely an accident waiting to happen. I just hope they don't decide to start using the back of the couch as a balance beam to walk across.

Day 47: Happy Thanksgiving!!!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year…probably the best one in 4 years! There were two main reasons for that…#1 the kids were finally old enough to sit at the table without fussing and making too big of a mess and #2 they all played nicely and kept themselves busy while the adults relaxed and talked. Dan’s aunt Wanda made a delicious turkey dinner for all of us and it was so nice to sit in peace and enjoy everyone’s company. Hopefully the kids can keep up this good behavior for Christmas dinner a well.

Caught Red Handed! Anya sneaking soup noodles when she thinks no one is looking.

Kayla got lots of lovies from her cousin Allison all day!!!

Group Photo: Kayla, Allison, Dan, Anya and Andrew

Day 46: Fantasy Golf

We took the girls to play putt putt for the first time. Since it was a little chilly out there weren't a lot of people playing tonight...which is great because we didn't have to rush or wait for a turn. Kayla and Anya had a blast! The best part was that I beat Dan...hahahahaha...by one point...but its still a WIN for me :)

Day 45: Trophy at Last

Kayla finally got the trophy she had worked so hard to win on Mario Kart. In this round she got the highest possible score...60 out of 60...that means she came in first on each of the 4 races. Way to go Kayla!!!!!

Weekend Wedding

We went to a wedding this weekend. Dan's good friends David and Michelle Peck tied the knot. It was fun to get dressed up for a change. We don't get to do that very often.

Day 44: Home Made Pizza

I decided to make a home-made pizza today. I got the pizza dough recipe from http://www.recipezaar.com/. I love this website because you just type in the ingredient you want to use (like chicken or steak) and it give you hundreds of recipes. It turned out pretty good but since there is room for improvement I have to give it a B+.

Day 41: Instant Tan

I love airbrush tanning! Its so great to walk in paper white and walk out 20 minutes later with a golden brown tan...looking like I just got back from a week at the beach (minus the sunburn). Since we have a wedding to go to tomorrow I need to look somewhat presentable... and there is nothing like a nice tan to do the job :)

Day 40: Practice Makes Perfect

Kayla has been playing Super Mario Kart all afternoon. She is doing so great. Last night when I played with her she kept coming in last place and she got so upset. She's very competitive and always feels like she has to win. I kept trying to explain to her that all that matters is that she does her best. I told her to relax and just try to finish the race. So today I set it up with just one player so that she could practice on her own without trying to race me. She's taking her time and staying calm and best of all she's coming in 1st and 2nd place in most of the races. She's trying hard to get a trophy (1st, 2nd or 3rd place overall out of 4 races). She keeps coming in 4th or 5th overall but she's determine to get that trophy so she keeps playing. I told her practice makes perfect and I think now she sees that I was right.

Day 34,35,36 and 37: Sick Family!

We found out on Friday that everyone of us has Strep Throat. In addition Kayla has a double ear infection and Dan has Bronchitis. So we pretty much spent the entire weekend couped up in the house on antibiotics. Luckily we all found out at the same time and didn't drag this on for weeks and weeks passing it from one person to another. Also we have a busy weekend coming up... a Wedding on Saturday and Ashley's 7th Birthday Party on Sunday... so we got over all this sickness just in time!

The picture I took is from yesterday (Sunday). Dan sat on our bed to put his socks and shoes on and the bed collapsed!!! I was laughing my ass off while he just laid there in disbelief. The next two hours were spent fixing the bed... but now it squeaks because of all the screws so its a little annoying. Oh well, it will do for now until we get a new more sturdy bed.

Note: It was my side of the bed that collapsed so Dan says that I'm the one who actually broke it :)~

Day 33: Mommy's Little Helper

Kayla surprised me today. She saw the basket of her clean laundry sitting on the table and happily asked me if she could please fold the clothes. She has offered to help me before with the laundry but only after seeing me folding it. Today she asked on her own. I told her she could and she proceeded to fold every single item in the basket. She did a wonderful job too. Dan saw what she was doing and slipped her 5 bucks for her hard work... which she put away in her money box. She truly amazes me more and more each day! I just adore my girls!!!

Day 32: Walking with Dinosaurs

Dan took Kayla to the Walking with Dinosaurs show tonight. Here are the Video Clips from that. It was an amazing show!!!!

Day 31: 8 Down, 32 To Go!

I'm 8 weeks pregnant today! This is what a two month old embryo looks like and its about the size of a kidney bean. Can't wait to have my ultrasound photos to look at... but that's still weeks and weeks away. Until then the photos in my "As you baby Grows" magazine will have to do. Also, you know that jar of home made pickles from 4 days ago... well they were ready to eat today... and boy did I eat them! I devoured every last one and drank all the pickle water left over... all in less than 30 minutes! All that was left was the jar and the lid. Talk about weird pregnancy cravings :)~

Day 30: Still Sick

I'm still sick and hating it! I spent the whole day sleeping on the couch. Anya was taking her nap and Kayla played nicely and let me rest. I did manage to get up finally and make dinner. When Dan got home he helped me with the girls and bath time and the dirty dishes... which I really appreciated. Hopefully I will feel better SOON!

Day 29: Bungee Kayla

The girls wanted to get out of the house today so decided to go to Sea World. We had lunch, watched the Dolphin show and fed the Sea Lions. We have a 2 year pass so we never stay all day... just a few hours each time we go. Kayla got to do the trampoline bungee jumping today and here is the video of that :)

Day 28: Under the Weather

Not feeling well today. The girls and I are sick. Later.

Day 27: Krych Pickles

This is my first ever attempt at making home made pickles. I didn't want all the cucumbers I had picked from my garden to go to waste. So I called my Babcia Wiesia... my wonderful Polish Grandmother and she gladly gave me her recipe. When ever I go to Poland she always has her pickles ready for me and they are unlike anything you can buy here in America. So hopefully these will turn out just like the way Babcia makes them.... mmmmmmm my mouth is already watering :)

Day 26: Mall Fun

After two days of nothing but gray cloudy skies the sun finally came out today... and it was wonderful. I really think that I run on solar energy because when the sun is not shinning my body and brain totally shut down and I become a different person. The smallest things annoy me and I feel like crying all day... so luckily for everyone around me today that was not the case. I was actually able to function and get things done which is always good. Kayla talked me into going to the mall to play on the indoor playground. The girls got to run around and have fun while I munched on my yummy veggie sub from Subway... something that I only crave when I'm pregnant. Daddy met up with us after work and after a ride on the merry go round we headed home to get the girls ready for bedtime.

Day 25: Gloomy Day

Today was such a depressing dreary day that it doesn't even deserve a picture.

Day 24: Goody Bag

Today was my first prenatal visit. The best part was the goody bag full of magazines, pamphlets, and all kinds of prenatal vitamin samples. The worse part was having my blood drawn... I HATE needles!

Also, check out the mother of all cucumbers! This is honestly the biggest cucumber I've ever seen and it came from my garden :)

Day 23: Crossing Fingers and Hoping for the Best

Due to the lack of anything better to write about today. Tomorrow we elect our next President... and hopefully that will be McCain!!! So get out and Vote... but only if its for McCain... everyone else can stay home.

Day 22: Pretty Kitties

Today was pretty uneventful. We went out to eat for Breakfast... which is very unusual because of Anya's inability to sit still for longer than 30 seconds. But Dan promised to take care of her the entire time... and to our surprise she was fairly well behaved. Other than our morning outing that's about it for this rainy Sunday.

So since I didn't have anything else to take a picture of for the day I decided to take one of our kitties Sasha (dark face) and Lexie(light face). They are pure breed Tonkinese cats. We got them from the same litter... I picked out Lexie and Dan liked Sasha best... but the funny thing is that Lexie turned out to be Dan's cat and loves him the best and Sasha is attached to me and follows me around everywhere. They are very smart, outgoing, active and affectionate kitties. I would say that they are as close to a dog as you can get...except better because they don't need to go outside to "do their business". They can even play fetch :)~

Day 21: Unlucky Lizard

Here in Florida one of the most common and abundant creatures around are the little green or brown lizards. When you step outside you can see them just about anywhere you look. Personally I think they are cute and since they don't bite or cause any problems (besides pooping all over my patio) they don't bother me at all. Because they are always around, it is quite fun for little children...or me...to try to catch them. Most of the time the lizards are too quick and scurry off before being caught. However that's not always the case. And should one be unlucky enough to end up in the hands of a small child it almost always means certain death for the lizard.

This little guy was caught by Luis the 3 year old son of our good friends during a Birthday Party this afternoon. Dan took the opportunity to have his picture taken with the terrified lizard.

Luis had a wonderful time "playing" with his new friend for over an hour... although I can't imagine the lizard felt the same way.

When he was just too exhausted from trying to get away the lizard even tried playing dead several times, but little Luis wasn't fooled by the lizard's tricks and wasn't letting him go.

However, on a happy note, the unlucky lizard's luck did turn around and unlike in most cases he managed to escape with his life when Luis wasn't looking. To live happily ever after :)

Day 20: Happy Halloween!!!

The Little Devil, Frankenstein, Bell and Princess Bride getting ready to go out trick or treating around the neighborhood. Everyone had a great time and collected lots of goodies.

Day 19: Pumpkins

I carved pumpkins for Halloween today. Kayla and Anya helped a little with scooping out the seeds. Kayla hates to get dirty or sticky so every time she got the pumpkin goo on her hands she had to run and wash them off... so she wasn't much help. Anya on the other hand didn't find the task very interesting and decided to play with her doll and stroller instead. I was so excited about all the yummy pumpkin seeds I was going to have to snack on. I washed them and then placed the seeds in the oven to dry. Once they were done drying I turned the oven off... or so I thought, until I smelled something burning several minutes later. Instead of turning it off, I had accidentally turned the knob to broil instead... so much for my pumpkin seeds... they were scorched :( Oh well there is always next year.

Days 17 and 18: Keeping Warm

I missed my first day posting on my blog yesterday :( I was really busy all day and didn't get to sit down until 11pm... at which point all I wanted to do was watch some TV. We had a cold front come thru and we woke up Tuesday morning to a freezing house. So Dan turned on the heat to warm us up... the problem was the heater was blowing cold air. We had a guy come out to fix it but all he did was replace the thermostat... and its still blowing cold air. Luckily its suppose to warm up tomorrow so tonight should be the last cold night for a while. Mean while we kept warm by starting a fire in the fireplace :)

Day 16: First Cucumbers of the Season

The cucumber plants that I planted from seeds in my garden a few months ago are growing beautifully. I was so busy over the weekend that I didn't even have a chance to check on them. So when Kayla and I when into the garden this afternoon we were pleasantly surprised to see how big the cucumbers have gotten. We picked 3 to eat today...they were sweet and delicious. And there are plenty more where those came from!

Note: I pay $1.99 for one cucumber about this size at the grocery store. Total savings today $5.97 :)~

Day 15: Halloween Spooktacular at Sea World

Kayla and Anya with a Sea Princess at the Sea World Halloween Spooktacular. Kayla dressed up as Snow White...but decided she didn't want to wear her black wig because it was itchy. Anya was suppose to be a Little Devil but that didn't work out too well since she asked me to take it off about 3 minutes after I put her costume on. I'm sure I will have better luck with both their costumes for Trick or Treating on Friday.