This and that

Hello world,

Long time no see :)

Truth is I've been both busy and too tired to blog much, but here's some new for you.

The boys are doing well with the exception of John who caught (another) virus is is sick... it's just the "usual", high fever, vomitting and the likes but as usual it came in a very bad moment because my best friend (no, make that my non-blood sister!) is christening her little boy and I am organizing the whole thing...NEXT WEEK. Gulp!

I've been wanting to sculpt something but I've got no clay!
I have been spoiled by a local store which brings my clay in for the past year or so but when I called to order some, they were all out! And they won't have more until the end of July!!!
So I had to order a few bars to get me by from the Netherlands... so hopefully I will sculpt someting in the new few days... maybe... if I find time. They take me forever to finish anyway these days. I might do a head in a week and then take me another two weeks for the limbs (and that's FAST these days lol). Gone are the days I could finish an OOAK in 3 days.

Another thing I am looking forward to is the elimination of my waiting list :) Yay!! Only 4 people to go people!!
No more waiting lists after that :)
Or pre-orders... or anything.
From now on, I will sell what is ready to ship only, so that should be an awesome change to customer service right? You pay one day you receive a few days later? Cool huh?

And to butter you over a little bit... here is an OOAK I finished recently.. and then Cody sat on her leg!! Ugh!!!

Oh! And also my friend had a baby and I headed over there a couple of weeks ago and sculpted... live! The actual baby!!! And it was so good to be reminded of scale and some detail (things you can't see in pictures) so this is my best newborn in a long time... wrinkly all over and chicken legged... One of these days, as soon as I find some time I will show you :)

Until then... peace lol :)

Exhausting but...

I had such a rewarding experience at the swim comps today!!

I took over 1000 pictures... my camera battery is drained, my back hurts, my arms are shaking (you try holding a camera with a 3lbs lens for an hour without support, ha!) but man I got some awesome pics!!!

A sneak peek... I am too exhausted for more... (click to enlarge)

The long awaited day...

I have always known I would be a "soccer" mom... what I didn't know was how important and filled with joy, bursting with pride, those "soccer" games would become...
True, my boys are not into soccer but they are completing their second year in the swim team!!
Today is the end of the year celebration complete with medals and certificates of excellence!!
Guess who is the photographer hired to cover this event? ME!!!!

I am bursting at the seams and have invited everyone I know to come... Last year my boys were SOOOO happy, beaming with joy... and this year... this year will be awesome!

"Ladies and gentlemen and now, a child who was not supposed to be born alive... who was not supposed to walk... who was thought had Angelman's Syndrome... presenting John Mario who not only walks, talks and is very intelligent but also SWIMS!!!" Yaaaaaay!!
(wild clapping and a few tears from mommy!)
"And his amazing twin, who is natural in swimming and will be drafted into the junior water polo team next year, Cody!!!!" Yaaaaaay!!

I am SOOOOO blessed... I am humbled... how can so much love fit into my heart? Suerely it will burst and the love will spill and fill the universe... I have no words.
Just wait for the pictures!!
Love,
Tina

No power!

Ok let's see if this works. I am trying to put an update through my phone's browser. It's been a couple of hrs since we got home and we are still without electrical power. If you have mailed, don't freak out if I can't reply, as soon as the power is back I will :)
I am not ignoring you lol.
BTW it's very common in my area during the summer because of the drain of all the air conditioners... still I hate it!

Moral Support

When you have a twin brother, you are soul mates. The Twin Condition is something I cannot understand... I cannot fathom how it is to never be alone from the start, to always from the very moment of conception, to be part of a team... magical!

John has amblyopia (lazy eye). We have known since last August but despite our best efforts, John won't wear his patch, we tried and tried, his therapists tried too but no go.

It's been a few days since we visited our eye doctor and got his glasses prescription changed...and she stressed once again how close we are to losing his eyesight because of the amblyopia... There is no surgery to fix this... it's a perfectly healthy, intact eye, that just can't see...

So we turned to patching again full force. John hates it :( But the Bakugan at the end of each day is a big motivator for him (thankfully we get the cheap Chinese type that costs $2 or so because I can't afford the 7 Euros the original costs lol).

This morning John was a little resistant to patching which is natural because he simply cannot see through his bad eye... but Cody came to the rescue.

Talk about moral support! Cody cried and cried until he got his eye patched too... for the sake of his brother... not only that but he clowned around with him too so John would forget the itching...

These two really make you want your very own twin, don't they??

(Almost) Back to your regular programme...

Hello Dolly World,

I've heard you went looking for me, asking if I was ok and all :)
Well let me see... I am still (mostly) alive... a little dead but mostly alive :)
I've had a very difficult month as you might have noticed from my lack of posting and the lack of new babies lol :)
Let me see...

First my dad got really sick, really quick... in the morning he was fine, we were rushing him to the ER a few hours later with a sky high fever and hematuria.
Turns out he had two nasty infections in the bladder (where the cancer is located) and the prostate... He was in the hospital for a week receiving IV antibiotics. Because of the severity of this, they have stopped his chemo for now. Slowly, he is feeling better, unfortunately not because the cancer situation is better, but because the chemo side effects are lessening. We will see what the next step is as soon as he feels a bit better.

That said, my dad also had to move this month. He rented the apartment one floor down from us but since he got sick in between the move, the weight fell on me and my brother... So I had my dad in the hospital, doing his move, helping my brother move (he is moving in with dad to keep an eye on him when I can't), me moving to a real studio, cleaning out and re-doing the boys room (don't ask but it was urgent this happened now) and of course my regular day to day schedule.

I won't lie, May REALLY got away from me. I didn't put in the kind of work I ought to have put in, I admit that. It's weird though because May was also very demanding otherwise so I feel exhausted nevertheless.
So I *did* work like mad just not on dolls...
The good news is that last week I shipped out half the dolls that I owed leaving only 4 people waiting on me which is good right?
I will get those dolls out this week and then... I will go have an ice cream.. or ten ;)

Seriously though, if you are waiting on me, I apologize, I had a really hard time this past month. I felt pulled in ten different directions and work kind of slipped.. I didn't mean for it to happen but it did. Each day I promised myself I would finish X doll in the evening and each night by 9pm I was dragging and my eyes were closing... and each morning at 6.50am my alarm would go off and I couldn't find the strength to get out of bed (which is why the boys were late for school half this past month - thank God they are in pre-K!!).

I also have some John news (tests results and such) but I am too exhausted to write lol :)
If you have mailed me and haven't heard back, please write to me again. I didn't mean to ignore you but I can't even remember which e-mails I've replied to lol :)
Sorry if I have worried you but thank you once again for your kind patience and continued understanding.
Dolly hugs,
Tina