Happy Halloween!

What a great Halloween!  I played Betty CreamCheese Homemaker this year and did some at-home decorating this year.  I had planned for some mommy daughter craft time and that lasted about 5 minutes, so most of what you see (up at the top there) was done my Andrew and me after midnight ;)

With the show starting previews TOMORROW (what?!?!), I was surprised when the cast invited all us mamas and kiddos to come trick or treat at the theatre on their dinner break.  I expected to go around to each dressing room and take a piece of candy, but they had gone ALL OUT!  Everyone was wearing some type of costume,  each dressing room was decked out in Halloween goodness and there was loads and loads of candy and toys (Lua nabbed playdough and a Mickey Mouse doll!).

Lua was given her awesome Sully costume by her uncle Buster and everyone thought she was cuter than cute.  She has been watching some of the Aladdin promo videos and is still a bit overwhelmed and starstruck when she meets everyone in person, so all of the ROAR-ing and TRICKORTREAT-ing we had practiced kind of took a back seat to fingers in mouth, but she warmed up after a little bit.  I'm sure by the end of our time here, she'll be ordering everyone around!

As for our everyday, we've been trucking right along!  It's hard to believe we've been here for two weeks and are going to be here until January.  I feel like I'm missing so much of my 'normal' life back home and yet, I'm glad for the change of scenery, the new friends and the three month 'vacation' I feel like I'm getting.

Lua continues to be a chatty Cathy (when she's not meeting Jasmine and Aladdin;) and is entering the phase of "no mama, i do it".  Everything from cracking eggs, to putting on socks and shoes, to playing at the playground, to swimming - she wants to do it all herself.  She misses her daddy a lot when he has to leave for work and insists on saying goodbye with hugs and kisses multiple times before she lets him out the door.  Some cute phrases lately:

"No, mama.  I'm good." (when I tell her we need to get her coat on)
"Come'on, Soph! Come'on Soph!"(asking to nurse in the middle of the night)
"Hold on.  I'll be riiiight back"
"Thank you/I love you SOOOOO Much!"
"Yer funny Dadda(Mamma)."
"Whater ya doin dehr?"
"Whole mouf? Whole mouf?"(EVERY SINGLE bite of food she picks up, she asks if she can put the whole thing in her mouth)

I guess that's all for now!  Happy Friday!

Hope everyone is having a fun and safe Halloween!!!

Oh, Canada!

It is so so so fun to pack all your stuff into boxes to put into storage, while remembering to keep your winter stuff out, while trying to think about what you can travel with for three months, while remembering that you need to continue to live and eat and work for the next month.  Add to that a two year old and a husband who is in the thick of rehearsals and has 1 day off a week that just so happens to fall on football Sunday (obviously no working on THAT sacred day).  Oh, did I say fun? I meant

ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY WRETCHED.

So, that's where I've been the past month.  

My family came out last week to help me move everything (except 5 suitcases, the stroller and the carseat) into storage.  I don't know what we would have done without them.  They continue to be such a selfless presence in our lives (as have all our family) and I often wonder how Andrew and I got so lucky.  I'm betting it has something to do with the 23 pound wonder that is currently napping.  She has managed to take all of the moving in stride and is so excited to visit "Canada's house".  Ha :)

All of our hard work paid off, however, and we are in the nicest apartment, in the busiest neighborhood with some of the kindest folks.  I'm so happy to be spending the Holidays with my loves - hopefully some more loves will come visit! - and so grateful that we can afford (financially, emotionally, physically) to all be together.  Let the Canadian adventure begin!!

I haven't uploaded many pictures yet - we've only been here one and a half days - but here are a few pics so far!

last meal with some astoria friends and family 

such a cheesy lady

thank God for moms :)

all packed up! 

myles and dad goofing off after all the hard work was done

selfie at the airport :) 

ALADDIN! 

our building gets some pretty great light 

totally off topic, but i just picked up this candle for sale at Bed, Bath and Beyond (8.99, i think?).  i'm used to seeing really expensive candles, so when i happened upon this yummy thing on the clearance shelf, well, fugghettaboutid :)

You are two today.

One of my dad's (many) pet peeves is the inappropriate overuse of the word AWESOME.

I have to be honest and say that when you really think about the definition, then think about how many times today you've used the word to describe a sandwich - well - I have to sort of agree with him;)

However, tonight I'm going to go ahead and say that being Lua's mama is AWESOME.  It's hard not to be filled with awe when thinking about the past two years and the enormous, terrifying and beautiful responsibility that Andrew and I have been given.  

What an honor it is to be in your world, my sweet little Lu.  

You are hilarious, kind, smart and strong.  You love to dance and sing and RUN!  You are so interested in cars and motorcycles and dinosaurs and blocks and BUZZ LIGHTYEAR right now that I can't believe I ever wished for a boy.  You'd rather eat fruit than French fries.  You love your dada so so so much and he is so in love with you:) You two are loud and funny and I am so lucky to laugh every day at your antics!

Most of all, Lua D, you make being a mama so easy.  I love spending my days with you.  You are awesome.  Awesome!  You are so loved:)

                       

lua, what are you up to these days?

at 21 months  Lua is...

counting to ten!

singing her abc's

starting to use two and three word sentences

loving Monsters (dragons, Monsters inc., Where the Wild Things Are)

hiding

climbing on EVERYTHING, including dada and mama

drawing (can draw a very good circle and 3/4 of the letter A)

pushing, pulling and dragging her shopping cart up stairs

scared to death of cars in the street and strangers (what is up with that?!)

the laugh at the end is what I live for...

high fashion and sand castles.

 blue steel.

 diggin'.

 "does this yellow measuring tape go with my ensemble?"

 hi!

 showin' mama the sand.

pretty, happy baby.

The great purge - day two - is under way.  Cleaning out shoes, belts, bags and books today (pictures to come)!  Took a short break to post these pics of Beetle from the weekend.  It was my birthday on Saturday (!!!!) and we had some unusually nice weather, so we spent the morning reading books with the windows open and the afternoon in Inwood Hill Park, playing in the sand.  It was a pretty low-key and lovely birthday, if I do say so myself.  Thanks to everyone who called and sent messages and posted on the Facebook :)  I love you all so!

Happy Monday.

home visit.

 

 

As you can see, our trip home was filled with love and family.  And snow!  Lua and I had a relaxing time in Aurora, hanging out with Nanna and Popop.  We ate nanna-cooked food and got to sleep in a huuuuuge bed (lua still insisted on snuggling right in, though).   I always laugh so much when I'm home too.  There's something about my brother, Evan, that can always make me laugh so hard, I cry!

The second half of our trip was not originally planned, but happened because Andrew's grampa, Burl, passed away while Lu and I were in Nebraska.  There was a silver-lining, though, as it was the first time (that I can remember) that the whole Cao clan was gathered together under one roof :)  One night, we spent a good hour laughing on the kitchen floor while the girls (Eloise and Lua, that is) entertained us.  They are starting to get to the age where they actually care what the other one is doing, so they are much more interactive (see: the tight squeeze above)!  I can't help but imagine their future tea parties, jam sessions and the plays they'll put on!  Here's to hoping we can "schedule" all of the cousints to be born together!

picking up

I can't believe it's been almost 6 whole months since I last posted something on here!  In the blogger universe, I bet that's like, YEARS.  It really warmed my heart to hear from those of you who missed reading what the Cao family was up to! 

Lua turned one.  We traveled home to see our families, which we were able to do as a whole family because Andrew was done with his show (for a bit).  Lu was a pony for Halloween.  I figured out what a PCP is (don't ask) and learned ALL the ins and outs of health insurance (basically that it sucks).  I found out I have Hashimoto's disease (hypothyroid).  Andrew started work in the show NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT.  Christmas happened.  We watched, "It's a Wonderful Life".  The New Year happened.  We watched, "It's a Wonderful Life" again.   Andrew's grampa died.  We visited family again.

does everyone feel all caught up now?

It feels great to have this time at my computer again.  I forget far too easily to take the time to just sit.  Or journal.  Or draw.  Or...be creative in some aspect of the word.  Not that these ramblings are at all what I would consider "creative," but time alone with one's thoughts has to count for something, right?

Anyway.

 

It's great to be back.

snapshots. it's been awhile!

life has been busier than busy lately.  it's been filled with doctor's appointments (trying to get everything checked out before my insurance expires), family trips (pictures soon!), auditions (even Lua's getting in on it) and, just yesterday, andrew started rehearsals for a show called NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT on broadway :)  that's b-way show number 2! yay!

as you can see, Lua has been a trooper through it all.  she turned 10 months old (i know, i have to do a 10 month post) and has been teething through much of this month.  she also discovered that she is funny.  watch out, world.