Time to stop slacking and start stacking..

I’m looking at these pictures of my youngest sister.Only 15 years old but already starting to make a name for herself on the Swedish fashion scene.

She did ACNE’s spring collection, and it popped up on my Facebook page, since I’ve liked their page…oh…is that..? That’s my sister!

I’m so happy for her that she’s doing well and she’s got amazing years ahead of her.

But this also makes me feel incredibly old. I remember when I first started modeling, it was before “Hotmail” existed..

Just then I realized, time is going by….I’m aging…

I had to throw a pitty party for a minute, then threw myself on my husband who was on the sofa, for a sympathy hug, then rolled off on to the floor for a 15 minute intense panic session of various ab-workouts and push ups.

My husband looking at me, throwing gasoline on the fire with the comment “Baby, you’ll never be 15 again”…

Well I know that! If anything, this makes me pumped and motivated…

I’ve decided that this summer I’m going to get as fit as I’ve ever been. Thanks to the BTD, I’ve gotten a great head start because those last most difficult pregnancy kg that I thought I’d be stuck with for ever, melted away in a couple of weeks after getting on it. So I’m gonna work on building muscle.

I’m gonna build so much muscle that you’re gonna wonder if I’m really a man in a two piece, I wanna look like a piece of oiled up beef jerky.

No, I’m just kidding…not my cup of tea.

See you on the fit side!

Diapers, talk and molars

I might have had a shitty week but my son has had an amazing one, I’d say. Well, apart from getting two molars, (not so pleasant I can imagine) he stopped using diapers! He’ll be two in June so this is early for us. Our daughter fought the potty for months, and I mean fought, she was terrified of it, and was finally diaper free around 2,5.

And little man here, he just loved ditching the diaper as soon as he realized he could. It’s been over a week now and he’s doing great! Even wakes me up at night to tell me he needs to go. It’s one of those milestones that make you realize how much they’ve grown. When you first have kids I don’t think you can imagine how fast that first year will go by, but it’s like an illusion. They sit, then crawl, then walk and after that it’s over, that’s the last time you get to sit down and have a cup of hot coffee in peace…

Potty and molars isn’t all though. His vocabulary has taken off as well. It’s pretty incredible, he seems to get everything we tell him and we get him, it’s so awesome!

Much of this is thanks to him having his sister to look up to, he want’s to do everything she does and she’s so cute with him. I just love this stage.

 

Stunning!

I know I know, I’m bios, she’s my baby sister. But remember this face because I have a feeling we’ll see a lot of her in the future.

And then there was school

I’ve been home with both our kids, which I love, that I have that possibility. But me and my husband have been talking about putting Hanna in pre-school when we get home for the summer and definitely next season here in Japan if we come back for another one.

But they’ve recently opened “Kids Duo” pre-schools around Tokyo. We have one in our area that opened in October and I’ve passed it many times thinking I should go in and see what they’re all about. My friend and fellow “b-ball wifey” beat me to it (love people that actually get things done!) She made an appointment to check it out for her kids and I tagged along. Our girls are both 4 and get along like sisters so we figured they’d love it if they’d both go.

“Kids Duo” turned out to be really great and with flexible days. “Japanese” pre-school in English. They took our girls right in, so now they’re going 2 days a week.

My daughter always talks about going to school and now all of a sudden she is! Crazy! It was emotional for me! Omg, with a 4 day notice I had to get her lunchbox and water bottle and school shoes and think about pre-school lunches. And think about how to keep myself together when sending her off on her first day.

Her and her friend had decided they wanted their papa’s to drop them off their first day, which was great because I think it would have been harder if I’d went. We’d both been crying….

My husband said he just stayed for a while and then she had said bye and blown him a kiss! And that was it.

I picked her up in the afternoon and I wanted to squeeze her to bits, I’m so proud!

34

And so I carve another tally mark on my wall. Had such a nice non eventful day today, flowers from hubby and just chillin’ with the kids while my husband was at work. Me and Hanna baked apple pie and she’s been singing and dancing for me. I’m pretty boring, I couldn’t think of anything I wanted for my birthday, nothing that I needed. I don’t want my hubby to buy me something just to buy me something.

We got our heaters professionally cleaned last week and I was so excite, because that’s something I’ve wanted to do for the longest time, being the mold/dust paranoid that I am,  so my husband said jokingly “happy birthday!” 

Hey, I’ll take that! Thank you! Seriously, the air is so much better now! I practical gifts!

And of course, the sweetest note on Facebook from my husband…

“Happy Birthday to my Lovely Anna Takahashi-Dorsey!! I feel truly blessed that it’s me who gets to truly experience and appreciate everything that is you!! You are the most BEAUTIFUL!! I’m so in LOVE with you!!!!!!!!”

oh how I love that man…

I’m also thinking of starting off my new year with a new hairdo..

Think I’m going short again, like this…

From you to me..

If you’re about to be a parent, this is my advice to you…don’t co-sleep, because then you might end up where we are now. We’re trying to teach our 18 month old to fall asleep in his own bed. Not easy.

And yes, it’s probably my fault because I’ve snuggled him to sleep since he was born, but he’s slept in his crib. Then the last time he had a cold and a bad cough, we let him sleep with us in our bed, it was just easier that way. But he got way to comfortable and now he doesn’t want to leave. My big headed 12kg baby wants to lay on top of me preferably with his arms around my neck all night. It’s not working, especially since our bed is about 120cm wide and my husband already takes up about 100 of them, I’m hanging on for dear life some nights.

Putting our son to bed at night has now gone from snuggle to sleep, to doing the “Ferber” method. Crying and screaming for up to an hour before exhausted falling a sleep..sigh..oh how we should have done this a year ago. It’s been about a week now, slowly getting better. If I keep it up, he should be sleeping on his own by the time he starts first grade…

~

 

Are we done or what?!

So, what’s your thought on the whole Dec 12th 2012 thing, is our time up or what?

My naturally anxious personality of course wants to start worrying that the earth is going to implode or the sun will fall down on just our street.

My rational side is not too worried, more intrigued maybe. I think the Dec 21st of 2012 as “the end” is fiction from more resent times. And there’s always money to be made on peoples fears….

If anything were to go down on this specific date, I’d like to have a more “New Age” approach to it and hope for “spiritual enlightenment”. That maybe we all can find the path for standing united, working together to take care of our beautiful generous but quickly wilting planet. Make greed illegal, cuz seriously, we can’t afford it. Religious acceptance. Reboot the ignorant. Let Matt marry Steve and Ann and Heather have their baby. Seriously, wake up people. If anything were to change on this date, make it a positive change. That’s my five cents on the subject…

.....

 

 

Good morning 2012!

How was your new year? Fun? Are paying for it today?

Last night I feel asleep in my daughter’s bed, watching Team Umizoomi with her. Woke up at 11.50pm only to relocate to my own bed, where i found my two guys snoring in synch. And then up at 7am. A new day and a new year, that I started off like I do any day, with a cup of coffee and some soy milk.

My husband who was off from work today, likes to “be funny” and made a comment,  hinting that I should get on with the cleaning…he thinks this is hilarious, as he himself is planted on the sofa with the computer on his chest. Stuff like that tics me off, cuz I do nothing but pick up everybody elses shit. Yeah you know, how many times have I said this before…

Anyway, I started angry cleaning, pretty effective actually. And I was almost about to get unpleasant, but as my couch potato put it. “Happy new year!”…I snapped out of it, and my daughter took over. Holy hell, she was in such a horrible mood all day! It made me look like a daisy in comparison..

And we had a 7.0 earthquake close to Tokyo. I didn’t feel a thing, I think I was vacuuming at the time. My friend and neighbor said her whole apartment was shaking and me and my husband was just looking at each other wondering how we could have missed it. I’m not complaining though…

What I’m wondering is, is this just a taste of what is to come? Please no…

We took the kids to the park for a bit and it just turned in to a cry and scream fest! If you have kids, you know when they start crying over everything, they don’t make any sense and it doesn’t matter what you say. That kind of mood. And it kept going till they went to bed. I’m sitting at the kitchen table over looking the living room…the house was clean for a minute, my better half is back in horizontal position on the sofa, snoring. Gosh I love that big lazy man of mine…

and yeah, I’m sitting here wondering how concerned I should be about the Mayan calendar only goes to 2012….

Thanks and good bye

Good bye 2011 and Happy new 2012! I gotta say it now cuz I know neither me or the hubby will last till midnight…haven’t for the past 4 years. Yes, we’re an exciting couple me and my husband.

My husband asked me if I had any new year resolutions, absolutely not. I’ve only made one new year promise ever in my life, when I was 11 or 12 and promised to not eat any candy for a whole year, and my mom would give me $200. A moth in to the new year I cheated and had 2 salty licorice candies, I felt horrible for the reminder of the year and by the next new year when my mom told me how proud she was of me, for keeping my resolution, I broke down and confessed. I couldn’t take the money, cuz I indeed had eaten 2 candies 11 months earlier. My mom said it made her even more proud that I was so honest and I she gave me the money anyway.

This past year has even an emotional one. I lost my grandma, and the 3/11 earthquake was a lot to handle, that alone was emotionally draining.

But also a lot of love and laughter, watching my children develop and grow in to such crazy little buggers.

I just want to stay healthy and happy, for my family and friends to stay healthy and happy. And everyone else too of course… And please, less natural disasters…I can’t handle it…

So what ever you’re doing tonight, ringing in the new year, I wish you the best!

….21.50…watching my husband walk towards the bedroom….over and out…

 

Quinoa burgers

I’m slowly adapting to my new life as a “sometimeterian” we could call it. No red meat, but I still eat chicken and fish when I feel like it.

I ordered some quinoa (amongst other gluten/wheat-free things) from iHerb.com and found a fantastic recipe for quinoa patties.

they might not be the prettiest patties but they won't stay on your plate long enough to look at...

Quinoa Patties:

2 1/2 cups cooked quinoa
4 large eggs, beaten
1/2 tsp sea salt
2/3 cup fresh chives, chopped
1 yellow onion, chopped fine
1/3 cup fresh Parmesan, grated
6 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 cup gluten-free breadcrumbs
1 T extra virgin olive oil

1. In a medium bowl combine quinoa, eggs, and salt. Stir in garlic, chives, onion, cheese and cayenne pepper. Add breadcrumbs and allow to sit for a couple of minutes.
2. Form into 1 inch patties. The mixture should be very moist. You may need to add water or extra breadcrumbs to moisten or make the mixture dryer.
3. Place a large skillet over medium low heat. Heat olive oil. Add as many patties as your skillet can handle, being careful not to overload it so that you have trouble flipping the quinoa patties.
4. Cover and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until they brown. Flip and cook for 7 more minutes on the other side.
5. Allow to cool on a wire rack.

Beyond yummy!

I stuffed my patties in a leaf of lettuce, topped it with a tomato slice and some avocado and onion slices and crumbled feta cheese. GET OUT! It was so good, I ate three without breathing in between. And I’m trying really hard to get my husband onboard my sometimeterian train but he’s not ready to give up the beefy just yet, or more like, ever.

no cow was hurt during the making of this burger...