My Girls

 01/03/2015

These last two months have passed in a whirlwind for me. We have been adjusting and loving life with our two precious little girls. Life has taken on a new meaning. We are so busy all the time; feeding, eating, diaper changing, playing, napping, bathing, doing loads of laundry etc. There have been moments of craziness where I felt I couldn't make it another moment. Isabelle has finally become a calm happy little baby. We have finally been able to enjoy life with our girls instead of simply surviving. 
The first two months were quite the struggle. Not only was I busy with my toddler who wants to explore and be played with, I had my hands full with Isabelle. If it wasn't one thing it was another. Poor girl had the worst reflux, spitting up constantly. So I spent day and night feeding her then changing her and trying to keep her clean from all the spit up. After the reflux started passing she came down with a stomach bug and had diarrhea for two weeks. Before this passed, poor girl became colicky. Really bad. We tried everything, even Colic Calm didn't help. And that stuff is magical I tell you! I finally figured out that she is very sensitive to certain foods or drinks I have; unlike her sister. With Eliana, I was able to eat or drink anything and she was happy and calm as a clam.  Lets just say I couldn't WAIT till hubby came home from work and gave me a slight reprieve. 
Don't get me wrong, I am absolutely LOVING being a mommy to my angels. But life isn't always perfect. Sometimes there are struggles. But amidst it all we have to find and focus on those moments of pure joy and sweetness where ever we can find it. When my girls smile at me or look at me with love filled eyes, I just melt. Isabelle's delicious scent. Her strong tiny arms and legs, always on the move. Her smiles and baby agoos. Her curiosity and joy when she sees people, especially mommy and daddy. Her little voice, so much deeper then her older sisters. Her little genius-ness...I'm preparing to have my hands full with this one and so excited to see her learn things quickly. At 3 days old she understood that she preferred being held and for nearly 2 months I was barely able to set her down. This only meant I got loads and loads of cuddles from Isabelle. Eliana's laughter, slobbery kisses and bright excited eyes. Her helpful nature. Her love for music. Her love for her cousin Nate, which may as well be her brother. I love everything about my girls. They are worth every second of discomfort I may experience. 
Somehow a month after Isabelle was born, amidst all the craziness, we found time to snap these sweet photos with my girls. These photos capture us in the raw. Playing with Eliana while carrying for Isabelle. Just life with a newborn and toddler. Eliana had just woken from her nap and was so happy. She quickly became serious though. When she hears someone crying she gets hurt too. She tries to calm her sister with kisses and rough pats of love and comfort. I could tell she wants to help her feel better. She takes all the diapers to the trash, already mamas helper. She is truly the sweetest most sensitive little girl. Rarely demanding anything. Always patiently waiting while I feed her sister and always lighting up the moment she sees her awake. Eliana is already a book worm like her mama. She reads her books every day. This was a beautiful book my sister Julez bought my girls for Christmas. Its the "big girl" book of stories. So we rarely pull this one out yet. Even though Eliana is very careful, we only read this one together. She has hard page books for now that she can read on her own or read with me on a daily basis :).  I love my girls and would not trade them and my life with them for the world!  

About Me

1. I am a Christian, Christ is my Savior and everything to me. I honestly would not have survived so many times without His help and protection. I was in a car accident with my sister and friends, a full car of tired girls after horseback riding.... We all fell asleep, going about 60-70 MPH, we drove off the road and were flying into a telephone pole, but a miracle happened and right in front of the pole the car turned 90 degrees and smashed into a ditch. We all climbed out of there with scratches and bruises. The car was so totaled the frame was bent and the front end completely smashed in. 
2. I am 27 years old.
3. I married the most incredible human on this earth on 06/10/2011.  He makes me inexplicably happy and makes me laugh every day. He is my rock! I love him.
4. I am 6 ft tall and the 5th child of 7 girls and 1 boy.
5. I am Ukrainian as you all know, but I grew up in America since age 5, so  consider myself more American then Ukrainian. I only just became a U.S. Citizen and have the ceremony in two weeks
6. Black is my favorite color.
7. I love having my nails painted. It makes me happy to look down and see nice, clean and painted nails. Biggest fan of OPI polish. Even with two babies, I always find time to paint my nails.
8. I have been blessed with naturally strong thick hair and do not wear extensions; its all mine. Growing up rubber bands would always snap on my hair because of the thickness. Even after having children I've been blessed to not lose it.
9. I've always hated my round cheeks, long nose and small mouth. 
10. Even though I'm so tall I've always worn heels (up to 6 inch), no shame. I feel comfortable with my height. As I grew taller, I embraced it. Because really, there is NOTHING I could do to change it. I normally tower over every one, everywhere I go. And when my husband met me he thought he didn't have a chance with me because I'm so tall (we are the same height). He calls me his super model.
11. My sister is married to my husband's brother. I knew my husband's brother for 7 years before I met my husband and before he met my sister. When the time was right, we met each other's siblings and fell in love :) We dated together and got married 1 year apart. My sister and I were pregnant together for the first time, at the same time with our due dates just 2 weeks apart. We all even lived near each other growing up but never knew each other. Such a small world.
12. I've always wanted to travel the entire world, and still plan to once my kiddos get older.
13. I LOVE being a mommy. It comes so naturally to me. My girls are my pride and my joy!
14. I actually didn't want to get married or have kids as I got older, and then I met my husband and everything changed. Now I am absolutely thrilled and in love with my life and adore having kids and want to have twins still, even though I already have two girls under 2. Twins run in my family and my husband's as well (I have twin sisters). 
15.  I had wanted to become a nurse and live and volunteer in a 3rd world country.
16. The top countries I want to visit are Australia and Switzerland, sometimes my husband and I even talk about moving to Australia one day.
17. I have never gone back to my homeland, Ukraine, and don't really have any interest of ever going back. 
18. I don't care what people think about me and don't get offended easily. Although some things people say or do may hurt for a bit, I don't let things bother me. I know my truth and am not affected by others' opinions. I just do me. 
19. I have had several nicknames growing up: stork, giraffe, twin towers. Because of my height of course lol Its all in good fun. 
20. I love shooting guns although I've only done it several times. When my husband proposed to me, we spent the day being active which included a hike and a shooting range. Along with romantic breakfast, lunch and dinners too of course. It was a perfect full day I will never forget! 
21. I grew up as a tomboy. My best friends were boys and I rode bikes, played sports and was always active.
22. I learned to drive an automatic car when I was 12 and learned to drive manual when I was 14.
23. I always wanted to be a ballerina especially while growing up. I could stand on my toes for a second or two. When I was little would walk around on my toes all the time. I love ballerinas. They are so disciplined, elegant and fluid.
24. I have always wanted to learn to surf (and I will one day) even though I'm terrified of open water. 
25. I almost drowned both times I went white water rafting. Also, the one time I went floating the river, we passed the drop off point, our rafts deflated and we barely stayed afloat, we floated into the evening and ended up calling a taxi to get us. Now rivers give me a full blown panic attack, I'm even scared to drive near them.
26. I absolutely am obsessed with rain and thunderstorms, they make me so happy and give me such peace inside. I grew up in Washington as a kid and played in pouring rain all the time, probably that's where my love for rain and bad weather came from.
27. I prefer cold weather over hot.
28. I absolutely am obsessed with coffee in the form of lattes; Vanilla lattes are my favorite thing! 
29. I love oatmeal and have eaten it for breakfast for the last 10 years and I am still not sick of it.
30. I LOVE surprises! I never like spoilers even if the surprise isn't for me.
31. I hate to run and get runners asthma, where I cannot catch my breath and breath normally. But I always wanted to become a long distance runner and have many times built up endurance and fought through and successfully been able to build up my distance. Furthest I've ever ran was 5 miles. 
32. I love exercising at home and hate going to the gym. My preferred workouts include body weight training. The hardest workout I've ever done was 400 burpees none stop for time: 10 different kinds -10 x each kind, repeat 4 times. It's extremely difficult and we call it the Mt. Everest of Burpees.
33. I love being physically active and doing things outside in nature. I love hiking, going for walks, recently fell in love with camping and simply love snowboarding! Unfortunately I haven't gone boarding in years, so I have no idea how I would do anymore. I doubt I would try the kickers anymore. 
34. I have always been in love with big black trucks. The newest models, not the classics. With big tires, studs over the wheel wells. Tinted windows...you get the idea.
35. I love photography and taking pictures. I feel that a life without pictures is sad. I am one of those people who love documenting everything and then looking back and remembering everything. Photos are memories. Our brains may forget, but photos live on forever.
36. I love dressing comfortably and dressy-casual is my thing.
37. I am low maintenance and don't wear much makeup. In fact I have no idea how to wear eye shadow even. Something I always wanted to learn and will one day. I love how you can bring out the eyes with shadows.
38. Dark hair is my favorite. I always wished I had luscious dark dark hair like my mom. I've dyed my hair dark several times, but I always go back to blonde because my hair grows quickly and I had to dye my hair every other week to keep the lighter roots from showing.
39. I am terrified of caterpillars because growing up my best friend threw a fat juicy one down the back of my shirt and back then in the 90's I used to tuck my shirt into my pants. I was screaming bloody murder and jumping around. 
40. I am a book worm. I first fell in love with reading and jazz music in 1st grade during our quiet time. I can still remember the story I read about a little Native American girl called Full Moon.
41. I love volleyball and enjoy playing it in the summer sunshine. I get intimidated when I play with people that are really good so I don't play very well. Even though I'm not bad at it and will even dive for the ball when playing on sand.
42. I absolutely LOVE football and watch it all season with my hubby. Seahawks are my team. I am counting down the hours until the super bowl! Go Hawks! 
43. I love visiting big cities and tropical places, but I prefer living in a small town and love that we have all 4 seasons here in Idaho. I love the simple life. 
44. I am a simplistic person. I love to keep my house organized, clean, tidy and everything put away. I HATE nicknacks and have a pretty empty house. You could say I am a clean freak.
45. I am a hard worker, instilled in me by my hardworking, loving mama. After I got married, my husband literally had to force me to learn to relax. To learn to enjoy doing absolutely nothing. I am still working on that. There is always something to do or to get done. I keep pretty busy every day.
46. I am a very honest person, but I try not to hurt people with my honesty. I really value honesty in people, but I value people being nice and courteous more.
47. I am a very outgoing and talkative person especially around people who are shy or feel uncomfortable. I try to make them comfortable and hate when people point out when someone is blushing. I try to distract the attention from them and make them feel comfortable. I used to blush when I was young, especially when talking in smaller crowds or groups of people. Although I'm outgoing I like to stay in the shadows and let others lead the conversation if I'm around other outgoing and talkative people.
48. I am absolutely terrified of the stage! Like if I ever have to go up on stage, I will literally have my legs shake so bad people can see it. Or if I have to talk in front of big crowds I could start crying from terror. One time I was on the stage singing with my sisters and after church, a guy told me he could see my legs shake from the audience....eek! 
49. I am very common sense. I could usually figure something out on my own and learn things easily for that reason. When it comes to technology or physical work or anything really. If all else fails, you can always Google the answer.
50. I make firm decisions and I stick to them. I know what I like or don't like. For me, decisions are black and white and I rarely change my mind, after I make a decision. Let your yes be yes and your no be no. Always.

Well that's about it for now. I hope you got to know me better and enjoyed reading about who I am. Thank you for nominating me to share facts about me on instagram @annapolovin .