Best friends forever??

We BOTH woke up and decided to be nice to each other. Mom is VERY thankful! 

We're also incredibly good looking! 

Post office transcendence.

Mom ventured quickly to the post office after dropping me off at nursery, in order to avoid the crowd. She was fairly successful, but the line piled up at lightning speed as soon as Pompom let go of her first morning gas. 

After the gentleman in front of mom was finished (after sending 150 envelopes that had to be individually stickered and stamped), the craziness ensued. 

Mom politely started filing out her forms and a crazy woman in the middle of the line started yelling. Like, yelling, yelling.

The best and worst part about being an expat is not understanding your new language. All mom could do was smile and giggle and she sent off her packages to the good ole US of A! 

All mom could think was...

"Is this lunatic yelling at me? Or about me? Or about the post office only having one worker to handle 20 people?" 

WHO CARES!!!!! Seriously, the lady had already ruined her own day, she wasn't going to ruin mom's, too! 

There's something about ignorance that truly is bliss. So next time mom hears something not so nice in English, she's going to apply the same logic and "shake it off," as my idol Taylor Swift would say! 

Funny how when you don't understand negativity, you can't interpret it in a way that hurts you. Where as if you do understand, you often make it mean something it doesn't. Not anymore!!  A smile and giggle is MUCH more appealing anyway. 

See?! 

School clothes.

Nagypapa and Nagymama felt really guilty for not being around lately, so they made it up by taking me on a shopping spree for new clothes! I cleaned up pretty good. Also, I basically vetoed everything mom wanted me to try on, instead insisting on pinks/purples, flowers and cats. 

I opted for the giraffe rain boots. 

And I have been doing a fashion show for mom all morning. 

Dad even got in on it too!

When I wear a dress I automatically start dancing. 

Mom has adjusted for sure! 

Sister Giggles

Expat picnic.

Mom took us to an expat picnic yesterday (across the tram tracks). The 4/6 line was her traveling limit with two children in tow, but she made an exception. I usually don't become possessed until after 2pm when I'm overly tired...so it was a calculated risk.

I played in the water and talked to a dying bee (poor guy). 

Hung out with my sister and ate donuts...very American, I know. 

Took a selfie with mom (and Pompom). 

And played with nagypapa who showed up to make sure us kids were still alive! Yes, folks, mom has kept us alive with NO help for three whole weeks!! TA-DA!! 

5am somewhere.

Mostly in Budapest. I'm basically paying mom back for making me go to bed at 8!! BUT, it does mean we can talk to apu before he goes to bed in Dallas! 

We seriously crack each other up! 

And then dad gets all sappy because he misses me! Suck it up dad, only three more weeks (hopefully)! 

Finger painting fun/terror!

Finger painting and baby wearing is all fun and games until you drop red paint on your baba's head, and then proceed to freak out because you think your baba is bleeding.

Pre head trauma. 

What lines? 

I'd say that's a masterpiece. I'm going to try and sell it on eBay so we can buy tickets to CA because it's starting to get cold! Eeek! (Also because mom dreads walking the 15 blocks to nursery in the rain with two babies.)

Sucking mom in...

My sister has the same charm...

She's pretty cute!

Like adorable. Which is how she came into existence...alllll thanks to how adorable I was at her age! 

And happy!!

And she STOLE MY SHIRT. We had our first fight about clothes, after she showed up at nursery in MY Hello Kitty shirt!!! I tried to rip it off of her and mom had to step in. I have a feeling this wasn't our last spat over clothes! 

The lunch sweats.

Mom went to the mall after dropping me off because my big butt has grown out of all my winter pants. She had some Starbucks with Pompom and managed to eat a salad for lunch without any crying (from either of them)! 

Come on Pompom! Step up your game, girl! 

Mom ate about 1/3 of the salad before Pompom woke up (high five, sissy)! Mom packed it up and ran home, breaking a sweat while trying to hold down her salad, which she ate in about 20 seconds. 

First family photo!!

Albeit on FaceTime. That's dad, mom's framed nose, Pompom's right temple and my right shoulder and big foot there in the lower right hand corner!! 

Really, this is our first picture together...

...maybe we should hire a professional. 

Hitchhiking in Moscow.

Jesus, mom used to be a rebel. Or just REALLY dumb. I'm guessing the latter.

(Side note for great-grandma, mom didn't really hitchhike per say...but it was practically just as scary...long story.) 

Since having Pompom and I, she's also very remorseful. Most people hear at some point during their child rearing years that payback is coming. Turns out, those people knew what the heck they were talking about! I'm mom's more sinister/better looking twinsie.

This banana just scratches the surface of what I'm capable of. 

Two seconds before I put Pompom in a headlock. You can tell by her face she knew what was coming. 

This is still moms favorite picture. It's just so...genuine. 

Apu's new job saved mom's life.

Literally. 

The great thing about being an expat is sometimes you get full on depressed. Your family is 8,000 miles away...

Your friends live the life you once knew, only now you're no longer there partaking in the Vegas all nighters (here's looking at you Giang), Taco Tuesday, or the all you can eat sushi Sunday Funday brunch for $19.99. You miss your friend's new babies and engagements...and sort of feel like you don't belong anywhere...

Mom spent most of the last two years feeling like a very oddly colored fish out of water, and with apu gone most of the time, she sort of lost her enthusiasm for life. After a full six seasons of Sex and the City, along with countless seasons of The Bachelor (marathons watched with a fellow expat), Teen Mom and other mind numbing television genius, she has had enough. 

Sure, she LOVES being a mom, but something was missing. 

Independence. 

Not from us kids, but from dad. 

With apu gone now with his new fancy job, it forces her to get out and go grocery shopping, meet friends (who keep her sane), go to baby yoga (which is now a weekly event), and buy me new shoes. 

It's a small step in the right direction, but one she seems to be pretty thankful for! Six weeks ain't nothin'! 

 

To choose...

So mom had a mini epiphany today after meeting her mom friends at the park.

Sitting under trees tend to lead to those. (Not quite the bodhi tree in Bodhgaya, but it will suffice.)

The other moms were all asking about apu's new job and where we may be moving. Mom didn't really have an answer as to where...maybe Amsterdam (it's really kid friendly) or Nice (for the sun and history), or potentially staying put, right here in good ole Budapest. 

Who knew?! After almost three years, mom may CHOOSE to stay in the one place she's hated for so long. But that's the thing...what if she had chosen to be here the whole time? Even if it were the only option? 

Funny how when you pick something over something else, you feel in control and "happy" because it's a choice. YOUR CHOICE. Mom realized that if she had "picked" Budapest from the beginning, maybe things wouldn't have seemed so difficult. 

Funny how it takes some good friends and a sunny day to help you reflect. 

Moving away would be yet another adventure, but having really cool friends and some good laughs while dodging the dead birds on the street...that's priceless.

One whole week.

It's been one whole week since dad left us for Hollywood and Taylor Swift's airplane, and guess what?! We are all still alive and mom is in good spirits. Turns out she CAN do this whole parenting thing without help, not to take away from dad's entertainment value! We miss him and we miss his pancakes. (Mom and I will probably both weigh less when he gets home.) 

I had to steal a nectarine because mom forgot to feed me.

She was busy cleaning, so try not to judge her. 

She's even broken a few rules since apu has been gone. 

Mom is blind.

Pompom decided she had had enough of mom's baby talk, so she pulled out her pterodactyl claws and scratched her eyeball. Mom proceeded to screech silently in pain for roughly 12 hours. Apparently a tiny little scratch hurts a LOT! Dr. Gabika came by and examined mom's eye with his optomology tools (the flashlight on his iPhone 6) and prescribed some antibacterial drops...Pompom is a dirty kid. 

Do not let her cuteness fool you, she's a scrapper. 

Life is too short.

To fight about how I dress for nursery.

I more fashionable than 99% of people I know. I'm mostly referring to mom. 

Mom left me at nursery finally and I was just fine!! 

Pompom likes nursery too and took a nap in one of the cribs.

Then we came home and juiced the heck out of the organic veggie box mom ordered. She needs the strength! 

And dad spent the day being cool in front of an airplane. 

It's also too short not to be happy...

When dad's away...

The mice will...

...stick pretzels up their noses. This made me laugh for like over an hour.