Down for Maintenance

Due to extreme circumstances the Zaiko Family will be down for maintenance for an indeterminate amount of time. We don't really apologize for the inconvenience as we are busy hugging and kissing, playing with the kids, and just generally being happy. We will try to periodically check in and post pictures during this maintenance period. But please be patient and bare with us. We will be back up and running just as quickly as possible.
Thank you.

:)

Hurry up and Wait!

In January I would have given life and limb...ok, just limb, to be such a short time away from reuniting with Mike. Now that we're here our house is filled with anticipation, gearing up, getting excited and it is almost painful! MJ is preparing everything from games he'll play with Mike to books they will read, food they'll eat and their special day, just the boys. The marble jar is practically empty except for the lingering smell from excited kids plunging their hands in it covered in lotion, water, food etc. Each marble touched representing a celebration and missed moment. So while I look at the full bag of spent marbles I can't help but feel sad for the days gone by. The first sentences uttered by the baby girl he left behind turned little girl in his absence. The completion of preschool, loss of a first tooth, and sprouting body of a young man in MJ. And perhaps the biggest growth is in my realization that Mike was right when he left, that the completion of this challenge has granted me such a feeling of accomplishment. Surprisingly I'm slightly (perhaps only very slightly) sad that I have to share the daily blessings of having these two to myself. I'm coming to see that with all of my complaints, frustrations, challenges, and trials I would have been painfully lonely without MJ and Annabelle. We've become quite a team, looking out for each other, encouraging each other, passing out hugs and kisses when the sadness creeps in. It's so cool to see Annabelle picking up on this, patting her brother on the arm when he cries and saying, "good boy," then leaning in to give him a kiss. So much has changed even though to me the world stopped spinning when we left Mike on the pier. I have to say that I am sincerely proud of our family for embracing this challenge and managing to thrive in it. Mike was able to to serve our nation, stand out amongst his peers and make Department Head, obtain 2 challenging qualifications, and from the opposite side of the Earth remain involved daily in our lives. I managed to feed, bathe, and clothe our children to care for them through the nastiest stomach flu, take them to swimming, dance, music, soccer, P.E., and school, to check out parks, the zoo, and playgrounds. And after I stopped feeling sorry for myself, got some great encouragement from Mike and the kids, and got out of my own way, I managed to hit the gym or workout from home on average of 5 days a week since the first week of April and I feel great. So as we enter into the final phase of our separation I have a bit of mixed emotion. I'm thrilled that my kids will have their Daddy back and I will have my husband and best friend home with me. And slightly sad because I know that I'll have to share my hugs, kisses, and snuggles. I've kind of enjoyed that little perk. However I know that any sadness I may feel now will be immediately replaced with joy as I watch smiles wash over the faces of our children when they see that Daddy has come home.

A perfect date

MJ had been acting up a bit a while back. I had made him a promise that if he could go a full week without me getting word from a teacher (school, YMCA, etc.), parent, caregiver that he was misbehaving I'd take him out to Starbucks and he could get whatever he wanted. His behavior has gotten much better and he's been waiting and waiting for me to make good on my promise. This weekend when my mom visited we took the chance to go. On Monday morning we left Annabelle with Gammyana and headed to Starbucks. MJ ordered a Venti, caramel, vanilla latte with whipped cream and a caramel drizzle. He also picked out a bacon, egg, and Gouda sandwich from the bakery case (I thought for sure we'd be getting a donut or something).

I love this picture of him. He was so proud to have the big cup! Next time though, I'm paying for a tall and having them put it in a Venti, I threw half of it out!

MJ wanted a second sandwich, so I gave him my credit card and sent him to the line. See the little blond girl in the bottom left of this picture? She was making such huge eyes at MJ and his coffee. I'm guessing her parents have told her that kids don't get coffee...unless they are MINE!

He felt like such a grown up and I enjoyed a slow easy morning alone with MJ. He can be so charming. I think I'll take care of all the rewards that include Starbucks (and Odge of course!)!

Oh, Mom, I forgot to tell you...the guy in the picture behind us outside, that's the financial planner guy that knocked on our door that one day. The one that freaked me out. Just thought it was funny.

I'm back so it's going to be a long one!

It's been a while since I posted. I'm sorry for the delay. I think the last time I posted was around when Mike started to get access to Facebook so I've been posting more pictures on there. No help to those of you without facebook or not on my list so I apologize. Life has been hectic. We're busily doing nothing but frantic the entire time. Most of the time we spend outside, playing in the street or back yard. I took this first set of pictures yesterday and just played around with the edits for fun.

It is so tough to get a natural look from MJ when the camera is pointed at him. But this face is MJ through and through and I love it.


I'm not a fan of the conversion of this picture of Annabelle but I was too lazy to fix it. Kind of muddy looking. But her face is so cute I had to include it.
Annabelle can't leave MJ alone in time out so she joined him. I gave them some chive flowers and we made a photoshoot of it.
The kids really enjoy riding bikes, scooters, tricycles, etc. in the street. Our street is not busy and we are only a couple houses off the cul de sac so they have plenty of room to ride and very few cars to watch out for. Annabelle took this opportunity to try MJ's scooter while he ran inside. He freaked out when he got back outside and saw her with it. She just dropped it. Lesson learned I guess...freak less less gets dropped. I'll keep that in mind when she's holding breakables!
These two have generated quite a bond. Annabelle is always calling out to MJ when we're outside stuff like, "I love you, Aw Wae (MJ)" and "Come on Aw Wae, ride it!" In this picture Annabelle is actually kissing a boo boo MJ got from falling off his scooter.
I wish she would have looked at me but she's developing the same syndrome MJ has, camera avoidance. She had just called out to me to push her. What a princess!
I have no idea why I snapped this picture but I think it is one of my favorites of the day. She is so beautiful.
MJ's been working really hard to master his balance on the scooter. He's getting really good. He's also seemed to get over his tendency to give up. He'll fall over, scratch his leg, and get right back on. I'm so proud of him.

My baby boy had his last day of preschool on Monday. I can't believe this fall we'll be sending him to Kindergarten. As a sign of my baby fading into the man he will become, MJ lost his first tooth. It was fitting that it happened on his last day of preschool but it didn't make it easier for me to cope with. It had been loose for months and honestly I thought it would have been out before now but it held off. He was really excited about the tooth fairy visiting but too scared to pull the tooth himself so he waited.

At dinner I realized MJ's tooth was no longer in his mouth. He had swallowed it. That realization was immediately followed with a huge meltdown. As his mom I couldn't bare the sadness and promised to toilet dive and find the swallowed tooth. Thankfully I overcame my emotional response and suggested that if the tooth fairy was ok with a note instead we could skip the poop. He agreed, the tooth fairy came through for me and all was well in the land. MJ got a dollar and was so excited. He seems to think that his nice note is what got him the dollar instead of a quarter and plans to place all future teeth with a nice note to maximize her generosity.

Annabelle realized MJ was upset when he had swallowed his tooth so she provided some much needed comic relief by placing a metal bowl on her head and letting it crash to the floor.

Then she played the same game with MJ. She was trying really hard to cheer him up and even though the picture doesn't show it, she was successful.

When I first found our Annabelle was going to be Annabelle and not another boy I was so excited to buy girly things. This outfit had been calling to me from the racks and once the ultrasound confirmed my suspicions I went back out and bought it. It is the first outfit I bought for her so it was really neat to see her in it. She's just as beautiful as in my dreams so I had to take pictures.

We were just playing outside and her hair looked so funny. Poor kids and the Mamarazzi!
During a conversation with Kristi a few weeks ago, it was mentioned that Sunday was a good day for ice cream sundaes. As a surprise for the kids I bought them ice cream from Dairy Queen and let them eat outside before bed. MJ scarfed his caramel sundae down in no time while Annabelle struggled to eat more than she wore.


She was particularly bothered by the ice cream on her feet but I thought it was super cute.

Just a silly snapshot I took in my office while Annabelle wore my trashcan on her head.
Remember MJ's skateboard? Well he loves it. It scares the pants off me to watch him ride it especially since he thinks he can do all the tricks that the pro skateboarders do. Makes for fun pictures though and nothing is broken yet, knock on wood.

So now that we are all caught up stay tuned for more and more often.