A Weeks Worth

With success in the toilet training department, an ENT appointment, the arrival of the girls cousin, Kristen, a Royal Wedding to celebrate, a trip to the London Zoo, and the death of the most wanted man in the world, it has been quite a week!

With all the toilet training we have been doing with Antalya, Victoria has surprised us by deciding that she is also ready to be done with diapers. But although she might be ready, I'm not ready to cope with the unavoidable "accidents" and emergency runs to the toilet for two little ones at the same time. So, she's stuck wearing diapers whenever we are not at home until I feel more confident about Antalya's ability to not have accidents when we are away from home.

Antalya's sleeping and what seem like continuous sinus infections have had me worried for some time. But ironically, once the appointment with the ENT was within view, her congestion cleared up, and she has started sleeping through the night for the first time in her life. I don't know why the sudden change after all these years, but I'm not complaining. I hope it continues for both of our sakes!

Kristen arrived last Thursday. I love having people visit, and the girls are loving it as well. Victoria thinks she is her new best friend!

(Victoria looks very concerned because Antalya has just run off, with Jason chasing after her)

I absolutely loved watching the Royal Wedding of Will and Kate. In fact, I was really surprised at just how much I enjoyed it, and even more surprised that the girls sat through most of it. We went to a party at a local school with a friend and watched it on a big screen while enjoying one of my favorite treats - english scones with jam and clotted cream.

(Antalya still talks about the "Princess" and wants to watch it again).

Two of my favorite quotes from the ceremony were:

Every wedding is a royal wedding with the bride and groom as king and queen of creation, making a new life together so that life can flow through them into the future (Rt. Rev. Richard Chartres).

Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire (St Catherine of Sienna).

And the day was complete when a DJ showed up in the afternoon and all the kids could dance their hearts out.

The next day was our first trip to the London Zoo. I was grateful to have Kristen to help out with the girls. Victoria is completely obsessed with animals lately and didn't want to move once she found one. Antalya on the other hand is completely bored with looking at animals and prefers to run wild, stopping only briefly to catch her breathe when needed.

Here is Victoria strutting her stuff through the zoo. She picked out her entire outfit that morning and was very proud of it (although I must add, that she originally was wearing her wellies, but I made her change them for shoes since it was so hot out).

And don't let this angelic face fool you, she is quite the handful sometimes! She gave me the scare of my life when, while I was in the midst of cleaning poop off Victoria's bum on the changing table, she snuck out of the bathroom, through the cafe, and back outside without me knowing it. As soon as I got a clean diaper on Victoria and realized she was gone, we took off at mach speed running through the cafe with Victoria barely clinging onto my side. Luckily Kristen and another friend that were on their way into the cafe caught her before she escapes too far.

(Notice her name and my phone number written on her hand, after this experience I'm considering having it tattooed to her forehead just in case).

And now we have the news that Osama-bin-Laden is no longer wanted! I feel proud to be an American, and grateful for the brave men and woman who brought justice to the man responsible for creating so much terror throughout the world for so many years.

And here's to another week!