Category: Everyday Life

Back from Hibernation

Published on by Grace5 Comments

After a very long absence, I am now back from hibernation. Not a lot of exciting adventures lately, as we have been confined at home. I’ve had my own share of motherhood challenges, but everything is ok now. Things are slowly getting back to normal. My new “normal,” that is.

Winter is relatively mild on this side of the globe compared to what the people in the US East Coast is now experiencing. Temperatures are sub zero during night time but has been consistently positive during the day. We’ve had a little snow but it is now slowly melting.

So what’s new? Well, for one. My daughter is now 3 months old and at a stage where her schedule is more predictable. She is getting more and more curious about the world around her and somehow seems to communicate through babbling.

Here is a quick photo I snapped of both my kids.

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I am also starting to standardize our daily routine.  It is very difficult to manage a household with two very young children.  Although I am very happy that my eldest is at a stage where he is completely independent and even helps me out.  He is the  one opening doors for me when all three of us are out and about for our daily walk in our neighborhood.  I haven’t been in contact with the general public since winter set in.  It is pretty tough.

I couldn’t just go to a Starbucks shop and get a good cup of coffee these days.  Well, there is no Starbucks in this town.

Anyhow, we managed to bring Starbucks home — coffee beans straight from the Starbucks shop in Prague.

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It is the perfect pair for these shortbread cookies which we got as a gift from a friend.

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We also managed to get a taste of California through this bottle of Chardonnay from Tesco.

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There is nothing special about this wine, but it is the perfect pair for fish or pasta on these cold winter nights.  Reminiscing our life in California gives me a warm feeling inside.

If the forecast is right, it should get warmer towards the end of this month.  Once it does, we will be on travelling mode again.  I am anxiously awaiting the new adventures that lie ahead.

Happy New Year to all of you!

Our Very Own Czech Christmas

Published on by Grace9 Comments

Our Christmas this year was spent at home.  Jakub is already old enough to understand and remember, so we decided to make it a semi-traditional one.

On Christmas morning, Jakub and my husband helped me set up the table. They made this traditional Christmas decor to adorn the table.

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One of the traditions here in Czech during Christmas is the consumption of dried fruit preserves.  And guess what? It can also be used as a decoration.  I am not really sure about the meaning of this, but it’s supposed to symbolize the world.  (Although it looks like a spaceship to me.)

In the Philippines, Christmas involves heavy meals with an abundance of food all throughout the day.  Needless to say, it is one of those times when it’s ok to pig out.  But here in Czech, people fast prior to dinner with the belief that one is eventually rewarded with the sighting of a golden pig.  You can read more about it here.

This is the part of the Christmas tradition that I don’t like.  To keep up with tradition, we only had fruits for lunch.  By 3pm,  Jakub got so hungry he would eat anything.  It was quite funny that he kept asking me:  “what’s that, Mom? Can I have it?”  He would eat onion if I let him.    Thus, to end our misery, we ended up having dinner around 4pm , just after sunset.

Another tradition is to eat fish, usually carp, at dinnertime.  In our case, we had carp soup  which my husband made.  I’m not a very big fan of fish soups, but it was pretty tasty.

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But our main course was salmon.  I don’t like carp that much, so Salmon was a compromise.  At least it’s still fish.

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A very significant difference in tradition is that Czechs believe that Little Jesus brings the gifts, not Santa. But since we are a multi-cultural household, Santa is still a part of our Christmas story.

It was quite difficult to make the Santa story work since we didn’t have a fireplace.  So, I made up a story that Santa got sick and told Little Jesus to bring Jakub’s gifts for him.    Jakub bought it.  After all, he is only 3.  Still very young and impressionable.  He had a grand time opening his gifts from Little Jesus and Santa.

Even my little daughter was very cooperative.  She allowed all of us to have a decent family dinner and was just watching us from her rocker.  She just recently started to smile which really charms me and made me forget all the hardships we’ve been through.

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and here’s another priceless moment…

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Everything went very well and it left all of us happy and satisfied.

I hope yours was great as well.  Best wishes for the coming year!

The First 6 Weeks

Published on by Grace8 Comments

My daughter is now 7 weeks.  Although I can’t completely say that things are completely ok, it is definitely better than the first 6 weeks.   I had experienced several motherhood challenges – from recovering from a caesarean operation, to breastfeeding,  to taking care of an infant and a three year old.  Suffice it to say that I have been through difficult times.  It is difficult to be a parent to say the least.

Anyhow, I am glad that my daughter is growing and developing.  Although I love her very much, she is not a very easy child to take care of….or probably I’m too old for this.  She is truly draining all my energy and it seems like all of my time is spent on her.

This is her at two weeks.  It is one of those rare pictures (at this stage) where she actually had her eyes wide open.  She still loves to sleep.

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Luckily, my supportive in-laws were with us through it all.  They helped take care and maintain our household and my hyperactive toddler.

So what has been happening lately?

Last week, we had an unusual visitor. Mikuláš (St. Nicholas) visited us in our home.

Here in Czech Republic, Mikuláš day celebration is a tradition.  It signals the start of the Christmas season.

This year, a friend from the neighborhood organized a dramatization of Mikuláš’ visit for the neighborhood kids.

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We were lucky that grandma and grandpa were still with us, so they celebrated the occasion with us.  My son was so happy because he received gifts from Mikuláš .

As Christmas is fast approaching, we have a lot of preparations to make.  This year, we will not be able to celebrate it with the rest of my husband’s family since my daughter is still too young to travel and be around too many people.  However, I am happy and excited to celebrate it with my family — just us.  The team is now complete.  My daughter is the best gift this Christmas.

Halloween

Published on by Grace9 Comments

Celebrating halloween is not customary here in Czech. This year we decided to carve out a pumpkin in keeping up with the celebration.

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The weather was wonderful on halloween day.  Since times like these are quite rare this season, my family and I decided to take Michaela  out for a walk in our neighborhood.

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Afterwhich, my husband and son decided to carve a pumpkin they got from friends in our neighborhood.

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Jakub was goofing around while I was trying to capture his dad in action.

The pumpkin that they carved turned out well.  It was my husband’s first carved pumpkin.  I thought he did a good job.

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Jakub had to take a posterity pose beside the finished product.

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There was no trick or treat, but we still displayed the pumpkin outside.  We then capped off the day with a nice dinner and some quiet time with the family.

 

Our Star is Born

Published on by Grace16 Comments

After all the waiting and anticipation, our little star is finally born. This explains my absence during the past two weeks, as I am still adjusting to my new role as a mother of two.
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Unlike my first birthing experience, this one was a little bit stress-free.  I knew what was going to happen and was prepared for the worst.

My little Michaela was born via scheduled c-section.  I checked in at the hospital a day before the actual surgery.  All the monitoring and preparations were done a day before.     I am also very lucky to have good friends who worked at the hospital and were very helpful with the preparations.  The moral support and reassurances made a lot of difference in the whole experience.

I couldn’t help but shed off tears when I heard her first cry.  This was an experience that I never had with Jakub.  Back when I had him, I had general anesthesia and was completely knocked out.  This time, the surgery took a little more than 45mins.  The anesthesiologist and my husband talked to me through the whole process and that alone helped a lot.

Afterwhich, I was transferred to the ICU for a day to aid in recovery.

The actual surgery was completely painless except for some sensations of pressure here and there.  However, the recovery was painful.  I had to ask the nurse for pain reliever shots and just slept it off.

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I am not sure if it is common practice here in Czech, but it seemed like breastfeeding is almost a given.    While in the ICU, my daughter was brought to me twice and I was encouraged to breastfeed.  I was too weak to do anything fruitful, so all those attempts were unsuccessful.   The nurses were understanding and they continued to encourage me to always give it a try.

The next day, I was asked to stand and take a shower.  I was then transferred to a regular room where I had my daughter room in with me.  As with the previous attempts, there was again the push to breastfeed.  The nurses never even broached the topic of feeding formula to my newborn.  It was as if every mother is expected to breastfeed.  And so I did.  And guess what?  It all paid off.  I am proud to say that my daughter was completely breastfed from the day she was born.   Again, another experience that I never had with Jakub.

There were only 2 things that I didn’t like about this experience:  1) the hospital parking arrangements and; 2) the cleanliness of the bathrooms.    The Kolin hospital probably has one of the worst parking arrangements that I’ve seen here in CZ.  There is no designated parking for patients (people park on the streets) and only 3 parking spaces for newborn pick-ups.

Another con is the cleanliness of the bathrooms in the hospital.  The building is quite old and has seen better days.  Although some parts have already undergone some extensive renovation, others have remained old and untouched.  Perhaps one aspect that I really didn’t like was the way the bathrooms were kept.  There were a few traces of mold on the tiles and shower curtains.  I may be overacting, but I thought it should have been better.  Bathroom cleanliness is one of my pet peeves.

However, despite these 2 technical negatives, I was quite satisfied with the service that I was accorded.  I’ve heard horror stories about impolite nurses at this hospital, but I didn’t meet a single nurse who was rude to me.  The doctors themselves were also very competent and professional.    These made a whole lot of difference in the whole experience and somehow made those technical negatives better.

Right now, we are already back home and I am slowly trying to get to know my daughter.  Jakub is very excited in his new role as a big brother and I am lucky to have my husband and mother-in-law stay with me for 3 weeks until I regain my strength back.  I’ve had a series of sleepless nights but otherwise happy to be home and spend time with my new daughter and loved ones.

Beautiful Autumn Colors

Published on by Grace7 Comments

Last weekend, we took a short walk in the woods close to our neigborhood. I couldn’t help but admire all the beautiful colors from the trees.  Here I am sharing these photos with you.

Right outside, this is what you will see as you enter the forest.
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I let my boys lead the way.  I’m very camera shy at the moment.

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As you can see, we were not the only ones in the path.  Several others were also there.  Did I mention that a walk in the woods is a favorite Czech past time?

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We found a mushroom.  But unluckily, I was told that it is one of  the poisonous kinds.

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We also found a feet less lizard.  This is something new to me. I thought it was a small snake.

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And finally, here’s a closeup photo of the leaves.

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Don’t you just love the colors of fall?

Baby M’s Nursery

Published on by Grace5 Comments

This past weekend, I finally finished decorating my daughter’s nursery.

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I didn’t really do anything monumental, just made use of the little bedroom that is hers.

Most of the stuff here are old ones from Jakub.  I just played with the colors a little bit to add a feminine touch.

We initially had a blue sofa bed in this room and back then I thought of keeping it.  But realistically, it doesn’t really serve the purpose because I have decided to room with her in her first few months of life.  With the feeding and diaper changes, being in the same room is just very convenient.

So off went the sofa bed, and we replaced it with Jakub’s old bed.

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I accessorized the wall with decorative stickers, after deciding not to re-paint it.

On the other side of the room, I placed a small, simple changing table and decorated the bare walls with some of her dresses.

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I’m glad I was able to find a border sticker that was pink with neon green accents.  It somehow connected with the color of the closet which was my initial worry.

Anyway, I’m quite happy with the room now and I hope she will be too.

The Art of Waiting

Published on by Grace17 Comments

I only have one week left before I get to meet my daughter. Somehow, it seems like such a long wait. I am quite excited and nervous at the same time. To keep me occupied, I have busied myself arranging and re-arranging both of my children’s rooms. My nursery is still unfinished at this point since I am still missing one more detail.

Anyway, here are pictures of my son’s bedroom now.

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I didn’t want to do any painting so I decorated the bare walls with decorative stickers instead.

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The windows currently have automatic electronic blinds, but somehow I feel like it may need some curtains.  But the thing is, this house is passive and we need to absorb the light from the sun as much as possible, so I am still re-thinking it.

Anyhow, I’ve also been trying to eat healthily these days since I am really HUGE now.  I’ve already gained 15kg (33lbs), and for someone who’s short, that is not good.

Anyway, I found this all-natural juice from my neighborhood store and I’m loving it now.

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With one more week to go, I hope I don’t gain any more weight. Otherwise,  I may be running like crazy after my daughter is born just to shed off all the weight I’ve gained.

 

 

 

Slivovice: The Unofficial National Currency

Published on by Grace13 Comments

The Czech Korun is the Czech Republic’s national currency. But do you know that they also have an unofficial currency? Yes, folks. It is the Slivovice (plum liquor).

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Slivovice is a distilled wine spirit made from plums. It is widely produced everywhere in Czech, but primarily in the region of Moravia, where my husband is from. To produce slivovice, the plums and their ground kernels are initially crushed and pressed. Yeast, starch, and sugar may be added to the juice, and the mixture is then allowed to ferment. After some time, it is brought to a government-certified distillery for the final step in the process. In the olden times, the whole processing of slivovice used to be done at home. However, to prevent errors in the distillation process (production of methanol), home distillation is now banned. Besides, it is also a good opportunity for the government to collect taxes on the product.

On our first year here in Czech, my father-in-law brought us to a private distillery where he brought his own fermented products ready for distillation. It was interesting for me to witness the distillation process, but equally interesting to witness the eager faces of the men waiting for their final product. They take pride in the percentage of alcohol from their mixture. The usual strength of privately-produced slivovice is 50%. Most commercially-produced products have lower strength. On that particular event, ours had 55%. My father-in-law was beaming with pride.

Since my father-in-law is a slivovice hobbyist, we need not make our own as we regularly have a constant supply of this product.  He makes gallons of it for his own private consumption and for distribution to his 2 sons.

This past weekend, my husband and his father were working on our driveway. We don’t own a cement mixer and had to borrow one form our neighbor. It was such a big help and we were very lucky to have such kind neighbors who are ready to lend a helping hand when needed. As a sign of gratitude for the favor, I asked them if I should bake a cake that they may bring with the mixer when they return the equipment borrowed. They were both laughing, as they said: “What do you mean cake? Slivovice. That’s what we’re bringing. It is the Unofficial national currency.”

That day, I had another lesson in Czech culture.