Saturday, October 30, 2010

Field Trip!!

Part of my Slovene language course consists of a Friday field trip every other week. Recently we had the chance to get out of the classroom and on to the streets... of a little town called Ribnica. Which by the way is known for its wood peddlers. It is the region of Slovenia where there are some people who make wooden ware such as buckets and spoons.

So we headed off to Ribnica where we got to walk around this cute little town and then to a guys house where we watched him put the finishing touches on a bucket.

Though exciting in its own way the best part of the day was that Sharon, Eliana, and Maia joined me out this outing. It was so fun for my class to meet my girls. One of the funny comments came from my teacher who was surprised that a guy who longboards to class everyday had a family, and such a cute one at that. Another girl in my class thought I was too young to have 2 kids. Lets just say she ain't gonna make a career out of being one of those people who guesses your age at the county fair.

We had fun and it was great for Sharon and the girls to get out and explore.

Here are a few shots of Eliana as she played around the old castle ruins of this quaint town.



new name


As you may recall, Maia's birth certificate said her middle name is TOI instead of JOI. We got a kick out of it and more than a few jokes, but when we submitted all Maia's paperwork to the US Embassy the joke was much less funny. In order to get Maia's US birth certificate, passport, and social security number we had to get the correct name on her Slovene birth certificate.

It took 3 weeks to get her original certificate so I figured it would take at least a few more weeks. Sharon tried calling the Upravna Enota (administrative management of SLO) office and as soon as the operator heard her speaking in English they transferred her to someone else, who then transferred her to someone else, and so on, and so on until she reached the office of tourism where the lady who answered the phone spoke great english but had no idea how we could get a corrected birth certificate. So I decided to just go to the office and try to figure it out. When I stopped by the people were amazing and everyone was very helpful. The ladies working the department I needed were glad to help. When I stopped by the next day to pick it up they had a corrected version waiting for me.

We had our appointment at the US Embassy on Tuesday and after some paperwork, signatures, and a couple hundred or so dollars Maia is on her way to becoming a US citizen with a somewhat normal middle name.


Friday, October 15, 2010

One Day at a Time


Maia was born 5 1/2 weeks ago . . . I can't believe it's been that long already.

I'm finally starting to feel "normal" again. And by "normal," I mean I'm not hobbling around the house waiting for the abdominal pain to ease up and I'm starting to get into a little bit of a rhythm for each day. (Though that will have to change again once I start language lessons.)

I love being a mama to Eliana and Maia, though I find that I have very high expectations of myself (I "should" be able to do more than just get them fed, clothed, bathed, get the laundry and dishes done each day.) I'm learning to give myself grace in this whole process of being a mama to two. It will all come in time I know and I just need to enjoy each day with them. Sigh. . .easier said than done. So, for now, I'm taking it one day at a time.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

date night to remember

Last Friday Sharon and I got to go for a simple date night. We packed up the kiddos and made the 10 minute walk to old town Ljubljana.

We had a great time just strolling through beautiful old town for hours. We stopped to get some chest nuts, which by the way were roasting on and open fire. They smelled amazing. I thought they tasted alright, Sharon wasn't a huge fan, but Eliana loved them.


I showed Sharon some of the sights that I learned about on the tour of town that I took with my Slovene language class earlier that day. We ended up at the open market and decided to use the MlekoMat machine for the first time. For those of you not up on the trends here in SLO, there is a tendency towards natural methods and wholesome foods. SO this machine dispenses raw milk. You can even buy a bottle if you forgot yours at home, like we did. So we got a liter of raw milk for a euro and threw back a cold one there in the square. White mustaches and all.

I'm sure some would think this post to be utterly disgusting but I am gonna milk it for all its worth.


oops

We got Maia's birth certificate from Slovenia 2 days ago. We were excited to get it so that we can start working on her american citizenship, social security, and passport.
When we opened it up I noticed that instead of saying Maia Joi Mormance, it read Maia Toi.
Ha.
I laughed, Sharon didn't think it was near as funny as I did since she made Maia's middle name very clear to the nurse in the hospital.

Oh and speaking of her name. Maja (j is a y here) is a common Slovene name. We chose a more international spelling for our girl. But her middle name isn't slovene at all. The nurse who came to check up on Maia tried to pronounce her middle name and said "oh, Maia (Yo-wee)" as she tried to say Joi (joy).

So we already have a few nicknames rollin around for our little girl.