Life as Chani

No More Than Ten

2012-01-20T10:51:00.000-06:00

This morning, Benny was helping me carry in some grocery bags. He asked me to take them from him after a minute, saying it was too heavy. "My hands are too small Mommy, I need you to hold this!" No problem, I took the bag and we continued walking.

He said he wanted to count how many days there were left until Aunty Rochel gets to come visit. He started counting and stopped at ten (he can usually count to a pretty high number). He looked at me and said, "Mommy, I can only count to ten because I have small hands so I only have ten fingers right now."

I love that he thinks more fingers will be coming along sometime soon! I obviously explained to him that it doesn't really work that way but he had no interest in hearing that.

Ignorance is bliss.

Little Words

2012-01-16T09:37:00.000-06:00

Over the weekend we noticed some new things Bella is doing. She says, 'YEAH' (with enthusiasm, hence the caps), she claps and dances to music, she mimics everything, she plays games with us, she is literally running everywhere with her walking toy.

My favorite new thing is her word, 'AH-DEN' for again. Like it's a camp cheer. When we are feeding her and she wants more, 'AH-DEN'. When Shuky is playing with her and he stops for a second, 'AH-DEN'.

When I am asking Benny to not touch Bella again, 'AH-DEN!!' Thanks for the back up, little one!

Yesterday, Shuky and I got a babysitter and went to see a movie in the afternoon. Originally, we planned to do it after the kids were in bed but I got nervous and moved it to a time when Bella would be up and go down for a nap during the time, versus her being sleeping and waking up to a new face. She did great, up until she woke up from her nap. The good news is, we walked in a couple minutes later! So all went well, Shuky and I got to go out for probably the first real time since she was born, Benny had some fun teaching the babysitter how to play games on the Wii. A great time was had by all!

And today, we are all home, in honor of MLK. Out come the reserve toys!

The Circle of Life

2012-01-15T09:37:00.000-06:00

I realized something over the weekend. Everything in life has a way of coming full circle. Sometimes, you just have to think in the now, forget about how things might affect the later in life.

Benny is a challenging little boy. Not specifically more than the average three year old but just saying his age is usually enough to get sympathetic glances.

I like to think he's a smart boy. Along with that comes the knowledge that everything I say and do is being scrutinized and will most likely be repeated. Often times, I find myself wondering if what we do now is going to make him hate us later or need years of therapy.

And then I realized it. That's the cycle of life. Whether we talk in even tones all his childhood or yell, as he gets older, he will rebel. Putting him in time out now or taking away a toy as a punishment, those are just blips on the radar. He will question the way we raised him. He will challenge everything we've taught him.

But then he will realize that it was all for the best.

I am 26 years old and I talk to my mother almost daily.

It took a lot in life to get to that stage but that's just the way things go! We've had our good times and we've had our bad times, just like every other child/parent relationship out there! You learn, you grow, you move on.

Yes, I'd love to never have to deal with the troubles I dealt my parents, but if and when I do, remind me to come back to this blog post so I can savor every moment!

Let It Snow!

2012-01-11T20:28:00.000-06:00

So Sunday night, Shuky threw up. Unfortunately for him, his new semester began the following morning. Monday night, Benny threw up. We stayed home and vegged all day long. Then last night, I threw up. Unfortunately for both of us, I didn't have the strength to take Benny to school and the apartment looks like a train drove through it. With me falling asleep while the kids played, and falling asleep every time I nursed Bella, let's just say Benny had a lot of free reign and a lot of energy. He made himself food. He poured himself drinks. He took toys all over the apartment, regardless of our toys-stay-in-the-playroom policy.

Hoping to wake up feeling nice and refreshed in the morning. I don't think the apartment can handle another sick day!!

When he was going to bed, I told him he gets to go back to school in the morning and he gave me a huge hug. Trust me kids, my sentiments exactly!!!

Oh, and it started snowing tonight, nothing heavy but it's very windy. Definitely feels like winter now!

Stay tuned for pictures soon, I have been slowly putting things up on the walls and organizing areas!!

Dinner Revisited

2012-01-10T09:21:00.000-06:00

Benny threw up all over last night. I won't go into details. The name of this post should leave your imagination with plenty. The memory alone is enough to keep me awake at night! Three loads of laundry, a shower, and a bath. After all that, he slept through the rest of the night peacefully. I still have more to wash this morning. I'm getting to it.

He is obviously home from school today, and I am really hoping it doesn't move on to other members of the household!

Right now I am waiting for it to warm up a bit outside. We need some windows and doors open, get some fresh air flowing.

The good thing is we have PLENTY to keep him busy at home. With the aftermath of Chanukah presents still keeping things exciting and a small wave of packages that came recently, he should at least be entertained! And there is always the Wii and Netflix to fill in the gaps.

Continuing my path of organization will have to wait, Mommy Duties are calling for today!

On another note, I haven't been doing my menus since we moved here but I'm moving back into that direction. My kitchen is much more organized and my pantry is restocked. I have been enjoying my crock pot, to my surprise! I got liners for it and I have been making simple, do nothing meals that taste AMAZING! Why it took me this long to get on the slow cooker bandwagon, I can't tell you. But, rest assured, I'm here to stay!

Settling Dust

2012-01-05T14:56:00.000-06:00

Benny's back in school, Shuky goes back on Monday. The vacation dust is starting to settle. I am finding it a bit easier to breathe. :)

I took Bella to get her ears pierced this week. I went once, thought about the crying (mostly hers, maybe some of mine) and asked Shuky to go back with me. I may have spun my request to the tune of 'It will be better for you to see how it's done so you don't worry about everything being sanitized and hygienic' while my heart was yelling 'COME HOLD MY HAND!'

She cried for a minute, I nursed her for a few more, she was sitting up giggling within five minutes. The piercer (is that a word?) loved that she was back to normal so quickly. But not more than me!!

I didn't get through as much of the organizing as I wanted but, in all honesty, I expected that. I did get the laundry room put together, with some organizing hooks and things hung up. I started on our closet. We moved some furniture around in the living room. We got a dining room table, goodbye folding table!

Bella really enjoys walking around underneath it, hoping to find lost cheerios!

We unpacked maybe three boxes. (We only have about five left after that, if even!) We restocked the pantry, best accomplishment of the vacation for sure! I even got a cool chalk board decal for the doors, for a menu of the day and shopping list...mostly for decoration but I love it!

One thing I didn't manage to get to was hanging decoration. Our last apartment was barely decorated. It just never really felt like home. We were content with the place but I was always on the lookout for something better. This new apartment really hit the spot. We are good here. I am going to actually hang things on the walls!!

Surprisingly, we made it through Chanukah.

Between present insanity and traveling messes, I was on the fence about our survival rate!

Getting creative with new bath toys :)

Benny insisted the old kitchen stick around for a little while, until Bella gets bigger!

Bella's new karaoke center

Benny's awesome starlight turtle!

We went to a beautiful Bar Mitzvah this past Sunday. I didn't even know where in my closet to start looking for dressy things for myself. Then I realized I don't really have much. I had a lot when we first got married but after getting to know my new Mom body, I never really got too many fancy pieces. So my newest mission is to find some nice key pieces without breaking the bank! And that includes shoes too, I'm embarrassed to say how long I've had the pair I chose!

But, against all odds, we all looked lovely, so I took advantage and had someone snap a family picture. The boys are a bit blurry but you get the idea of who we are!

Bella is climbing all over me, I should probably end this post before she rips keys off the keyboard.

It's happened before.

Hope everyone enjoyed their holidays and is ready for an awesome new year! Here's to hopes of many vacations and good times to be had by all!!

Hurricane Meyer

2011-12-14T10:59:00.001-06:00

I'm going to pretend we are totally current with each other. Too many things to catch up on. All thats truly important is we are in our new apartment and loving it! (Yes, I know I already told you that. Be quiet.)

Most of the unpacking is done, we have very few boxes left.

This week is finals week for Shuky and then we go into vacation time. Cue fireworks and awesome theme song. Maybe 'Eye of the Tiger'.

We don't have huge plans for our glorious three weeks. We will enjoy Chanukah and the events being offered. We are going to Kansas City for a long weekend, just a nice getaway to uncharted territory. Short-ish driving distance. We will also be doing a shabbos in Des Moines and enjoy a bar mitzvah.

Otherwise, we will just hang out, finish up the last few boxes, do some organizing, maybe even get some decorating started!

In the meantime, both kids have been sick for a couple days now, although Benny is back in school already. But our home is definitely showing the side effects. Laundry to be done, forget about the clean baskets waiting to be folded. Dishes are finally under control. I've been ignoring the mess in the playroom, much to the dismay of the OCD person in me.

To make up for the mess inside, I've been taking an extra step to look put together when I drop off Benny. The sad thing is, the smallest amount of effort seems like a huge change worth mentioning to the people around me. I need to reconsider my morning routine if this is all it takes!!! :)

My computer is still not set up so my posting is limited to my phone and ipad so bare with me here!!

GOOD LUCK ON YOUR FINALS SHUKY!!!!!

I Miss You!

2011-12-04T21:26:00.000-06:00

I don't have time to write something real. I'm on the phone, helping my sister with a project. I'm in middle of catching up on House with Shuky. Benny is still awake. Bella was screeching until a minute ago.

I just wanted to say hi!

We love our new apartment, and all that comes with it. Our neighbors in the building are all really nice. The manager is super sweet. The heated, indoor parking rocks my world!

I'm almost totally unpacked, which is why I've been so silent.

As soon as we are boxless, I will take you all on a tour.

I've even found a nook to call my own, where I am currently hiding to sneak on my bloggity blog.

I truly miss what was becoming my daily blogging. Looking forward to being done with boxes for a long while! Until then, I bid you good night!

Thankful

2011-11-24T18:54:00.001-06:00

On this, the day of thanks, I would like to show my appreciation for that which I have:

My amazing husband, who's love and devotion knows no bounds.

My rambunctious three and a half year, who's sense of adventure gives me both pride and nightmares.

My beautiful seven and a half month old, who's smile is constant as she lights up the lives of everyone around us.

Thank you G-d, for sending these souls into my life!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone, may we only have things to be thankful about!!!

Dented Nails

2011-11-22T15:25:00.001-06:00

Last week I had an appointment with a dermatologist, found out I have psoriasis. Didn't come as a huge shock, I have eczema, notoriously dry skin, I always have to wear gloves in the winter and when I'm doing dishes. Just a few extra creams to add to my barely-there daily routine. Nothing serious.

When I got home from my appointment, I went straight to the computer to see what to expect from the news.

When I was pregnant, I started getting dents on some of my nails. The midwife had no idea what it was but after some research, she decided it must have been caused by some stress to my fingers our something like that.

Now I know that was actually a symptom of psoriasis. And now, eight out of my ten fingernails are completely covered in dents.

I feel very shallow right now but it looks gross. I'm actually taking the time to be embarrassed about it!

My home is covered in boxes and I'm sitting and thinking about how ugly my nails look right now.

Time for a manicure!!!!

PS Tomorrow is moving day!!!!

Out With The Old!

2011-11-16T13:08:00.000-06:00

I am pleased to announce the arrival of our newest family member. At the same time, I would like to thank the amazing people in our lives that helped make this possible! It will be nice to have one less thing to worry about!

Say hello to my little friend!!

We will need some time together before I can appropriately name him. We went with a male car this time, hopefully less temperamental!

Nice buttons without faded words!

Read the mileage and smile with me. **GRINS**

Happy kid enjoying his ride home from school today :)

We opted for the extended warranty on our new (used) car. Full bumper to bumper for 5 years or 100,000 miles. If you read my blog at all, you will understand why!

Yesterday, we headed out to Postville at around 5 to pick him up. Got home around 2 in the morning. Had to be out of the house before 8 this morning. Small prices to pay in exchange for a gorgeous, reliable, more efficient car! We are now getting between 22-32 miles per gallon, versus the 13-15 we were getting before. This car has a flexfuel option, allowing us to use E85 gasoline, when available, which I saw for $2.99/gal on the drive home last night!

*****

In other news, Benny has been learning about the human body in school lately. I love the things he says and understands!

He knows we have bones and muscles under our skin, and that we need an x-ray machine to see the bones.

He knows we have a brain in our head that helps us understand things and that it sends messages to our body when to get things working. He told his teacher that his brain was telling his stomach that it was time to eat snack. And again at potty time, his brain let him know that he needed to go make! One thing he's not quite getting is that we don't 'crack our head open to see our brain'. He'll get it eventually, though!

He knows our lungs help us breathe and that our heart pumps blood 'fast and slow' in our body.

I am loving this and am really hoping to find time to do a project with him this week, expounding on this topic! His little brain really amazes me on such a regular basis! He soaks in everything, but not without questioning and understanding what he hears and sees. My heart bursts with pride!!!

*****

Bella is so on the go! There is nothing safe from Demolition Bella anymore. Her favorite is paper. She loves to find things that slip under the radar during clean up time, she laughs when I find her and have to fish out the chewed up paper from her little mouth.

She also tends to laugh when Benny has a tantrum. Super special.

She is trying to stand. She is crazy strong so I have faith in her. It will happen soon!

Today, the cashier at Walmart (whom I totally did not remember as a regular) told me she loves when we come through her lane because Bella is always so smiley. Sigh. The Walmart employees know my family too well. I might be a redneck.

*****

Ok, I keep pretending moving day is two weeks away. It's actually a week from today. I REALLY need to get my packing finished!!!

And for no reason other than pure appreciation for everyone taking the time to read my thoughts, I'd like to wish you all an amazing holiday season, full of smiling friends, loving family, good health, and only good news to share with one another!

Life as Chani

2011-11-14T14:25:00.000-06:00

Shuky reminded me that my blog started while I was pregnant with Benny, as a way to talk about my pregnancy and beyond. It has turned into my own personal blog, with a vibrant mix of baby, toddler, mommy rants and more!

Thus the name change.

Life as Chani.

It is, after all, my blog! I don't make money with this blog (aside from the occasional pennies that come in from Amazon Associates). I don't receive free gifts to write about (although I wouldn't turn them down if they came!). Ultimately, I write about whatever I want. Whenever there's a feather in my bonnet.

And now, I must return to my packing!

Cheers to Me!

2011-11-13T13:14:00.000-06:00

Being on this side of a quarter century doesn't feel much different physically. It's the knowledge that I am now 26 years old that is making my bones creak!

I'm old!!

But there's always the knowledge that I have two brothers that are older than me (even if my sister-in-law is only 23!! [That, my friends, is what we call true love. Mimi will always be 23.])

And, because my mother's birthday is so close to mine, here's a fun picture of us together!

And one of me, sometime when we still lived in Long Beach:

I know I have a bunch from our younger days somewhere, I need to find them!!

And so, in honor of my birthday, raise a glass of something heavenly! Cheers to many more enjoyable and beautiful years shared with all the amazing people in my life!!!

Base Model

2011-11-11T10:56:00.000-06:00

The following is what should just be for life in the midwest:

Remote Car Starters - Why is this not standard on EVERY car??? I absolutely hate the few minutes where the car is warming up and there's no point in turning on the heater. Unless that's just my car.

Actual Weather Reports - I would love to have a day where I start out appropriately dressed and don't have to add or remove certain pieces.

Instant Ice/Snow Melters - For both the cars and sidewalk/streets, or they should change normal business hours to start sometime around midday in the winter.

The Perfect Gloves - I need quick access to my fingers, they need to be cute, not bulky, they need to never disappear.

Unchapped Hands and Lips - Pipe dream. I know. But the bloody, painful chapped areas are nasty.

Car Attendant - By this I mean someone constantly in the car with me so I can run errands quickly without having to take the kids out or let the car warm up all over again. Although the remote starter would cover the latter half of this request.

Trash Chute - Dumpsters on the other side of the property suck.

That's all for now I guess! :)

Have a good shabbos everyone!!!

Of Tutus and Wings

2011-11-10T16:02:00.000-06:00

I am proud to announce that I FINALLY went for pictures with the kids!

Benny did not cooperate. When it was his turn for pictures, he was only interested in being grumpy. When it was Bella's turn, he insisted to try again with his pictures. When it was time for pictures of them together, he behaved nicely when there were toys in the shot, but not when it was supposed to be a nicer picture. Oh well.

In all honesty, I wasn't all that impressed with the photographer. We waited over twenty minutes for our appointment, she said we weren't even in the system. She didn't have the backdrops I wanted. Bella is a super smiley baby, she was not able to get much out of her! I guess the good part was I wasn't tempted to spend a million dollars! I walked out of there after paying $26, and it took me quite some time to commit to even those pictures!

What a shame though. Bella made an adorable little tutu'd, wing'd baby!

Anyway, I feel like a better mother now. :)

And on the way home from the studio, I got an email from the photographer that came to the hospital when Bella was born. They reopened my album in honor of the holidays. Maybe I will actually print some of those!

Enjoy checking out the pictures here!

Funny tidbit, on the way to the appointment, I was singing along with the radio and Benny yells out, "Mommy she can sing by herself!!" Yes. Katy Perry can definitely belt those tunes on her own but I want to be her backup little man!

The Sun Will Come Out!

2011-11-09T16:16:00.000-06:00

The weather in Iowa is definitely chosen out of a hat every morning. It is so different, from one day to the next. Heck, from one hour to the next! This past Sunday, it was gorgeous! We went to the park with the kids, enjoyed the beautiful outdoors. I know I rarely post pictures. I always want to but I never remember. You are in for a special treat today!!

**sweaters for my toes**

Yesterday it rained all day and this morning there was snow on the ground. Go figure!

A beautiful old house, across the street from the library

It's all melted already and in the 50's. I had a teacher that used to say, "If you don't like the weather in Iowa, just wait an hour!"

Speaking of the library, Benny has been intrigued by paper airplanes lately so I checked out a book with different folding techniques. We had a great time making and flying some very agile planes this afternoon!! (Unfortunately, little boy Benny refused to take pictures with his planes.)

Being that we are moving the week of Thanksgiving, I decided to start the Thanksgiving projects already. Benny and I had some fun making this turkey, using his hands and feet for 'stencils'! It came out very cute :)

And then we had a great snack. No lies, Tostitos Scoops are the answer to my nacho dreams! We love making personal nacho bites out of them, a scoop of salsa, sprinkle on some cheese, maybe a little sour cream or guacamole to dip them in. True cheesy goodness!

And now that I've shared some random pictures, it's time to read some of our new library books!

Rollin' On

2011-11-07T14:08:00.000-06:00

Seems like life is really rolling on!

The situation with Benny and his horrible pick-up issues has not been solved, but we've done a good enough patch job that we are going to be sending him back next semester. Shuky has been meeting me there, or bringing him home on the bus, four out of five days. I just have to be ready for Mondays. Starbucks is a good answer!

We finally have someone to sublease our apartment, already signed things at the management office. Done deal!

Packing is under way. Albeit slower than I'd like. But we have three weeks or so.

Craigslist is doing a good job of helping me fill my 'new couch fund'!

Exciting prospects are brewing in the land of summer internships. More to come on that when things are official!

Shuky signed up for next semester's classes already so our February trip to Florida for the famous Uncle Levi's wedding is being planned. It's nice to know there is a warm light at the end of the cold tunnel over here!!

While I wish it were all sunny news, our car is officially on it's last leg. I may or may not have talked about it over the past couple weeks but right before Rosh Hashana, there was an issue with the brakes so it went into the shop. We got a rental car to go to Iowa City. The mechanic said he would need the car for about six days. Six days turned into four weeks. That's about $900 for just the rental car! The repair job itself was another hefty sum. And by the way, four weeks was just for the rental car. I told him I couldn't afford to keep the rental. He said the car was finally drivable but he was still waiting for parts. He said he'd have the parts in about three or four days. Almost two weeks later, he finished the job. So we're talking almost six weeks for one stinking job.

On a side note, during the time I was driving the car while he was waiting for the part, I was being super cautious, not leaving town, not going out of my way to be driving around. This past Friday, he said he was getting the part and he would give me a call as soon as it came through the door. I got the call to come over so I loaded the kids into the car and was ready to head his way. I pulled out of my parking space and my brakes decided they were not needed. I had no brakes. THANK GOD, I was in my parking lot, not parked on the street. I was going slow enough to throw the car into park without worrying about my engine falling out. I called the mechanic and told him to come to me instead.

It didn't really hit me until an hour or two later. My. Brakes. Failed. I was in the car with both my kids and I had no brakes. A not so small miracle. I am so thankful that it happened in my parking lot instead of on my way home from picking up Benny.

And that was enough to make me say enough. This car has served it's purpose, it's time to move on. As much as we'd like to lease a car and not have to worry about things anymore, we are not really in the position to lock ourselves into monthly payments and higher insurance rates. We are working on scraping together some money to outright buy a car. So for the meantime, we are going to be staying close to home.

Sometimes, you may not even realize the small miracles happening around you. Bottom line is, always find the good in things and be thankful for the beautiful things you have in your life! There's no time to focus on the negative!!

A Real Sandwich!

2011-11-01T14:20:00.001-05:00

If I ever wondered whether or not Benny's imagination juices flowed, I just got reassurance. There is definitely something flowing!

The following is a conversation I just overheard him having with his sandwich. Yes, his sandwich. In two different voices.

Benny, in his normal voice: You are a real sandwich!
Benny, in a high-pitched, squeaky, sandwich voice (how did he come up with the sandwich voice?) : No I'm not!
Benny: Yes you are!!
Sandwich: I'm not real!
Benny: I'm going to tell my mommy what you said!
Sandwich: I'm not real!
Benny: Mommy!!! --he then proceeds to tell me what I've already heard--
Sandwich, interrupting him telling on it: Hey what are you doing!?!
Benny, to his sandwich: I'm telling my mommy what you said!

I love that his sandwich interrupted him while he was squealing.

Just Because.

2011-10-31T15:41:00.000-05:00

This one goes out to my husband. For no specific reason, I want to share my pride!

When I have a bad day, I don't clean, I don't do laundry, I serve cereal and milk for dinner.

When Shuky has a bad day, he still goes to school, does his homework/studying, works his two part-time jobs (!!), and helps with the kids when he gets home.

Sometimes, you just need to stop and appreciate the beautiful things in your life and say thank you!

Curves in my Rearview Mirror

2011-10-30T20:58:00.002-05:00

Bella is almost seven months old. I was doing really great with my weight loss and then somewhere, at some point, it all just stopped. I'm going to say it had something to do with all the holidays and traveling but I'll be honest with you, my loyal blog family. It started slowing down way before then! I'm also going to pretend there's just too much going on in our lives right now for me to be making an extreme effort. There isn't. Our life is always this hectic.

At least we are eating MUCH healthier these days!

Here's to hoping I can kick my butt far enough off this chair to look good at my brother in law's wedding in a few months!

Because dress shopping is going to be extremely depressing if not!

The stress of being a curvy mama.

Oh and why can't my dress be as easy to find as Bella's?? I already have like six potential dresses picked out for her!

Check out some of the options I've been eyeing for her:

Pick Him Up!

2011-10-26T13:17:00.001-05:00

I'd love for this to be a purely happy, sunshiney place. I'd also love for my kids to be purely happy and sunshiney. Neither of those are reality so let's move on.

I'm not even going to talk about this past month right now. Too crazy, hectic, tiring. We'll talk about that all some other time as there is definitely what to talk about!

Right now, I'm having an internal struggle. I could definitely use an outlet for my thoughts, no need to let them brew and stew in my noggin.

Picking up Benny from school every day makes me never want to take him back. It's not the school. It's not the staff. It's not even his classmates. All of those are fine, great actually! But maybe that's the problem. Benny NEVER wants to come home with me. They are usually playing in the yard when I come to get him. I usually spend 10-15 minutes trying to persuade (read: bribe) him to walk out willingly. Then I end up dragging/carrying him back into the classroom to gather his stuff. All while holding Bella, who sometimes starts out pickup-time sleeping but almost never remains asleep. {I try to put her in my Ergo to have both hands available, it's a real bummer when I forget it at home!} Once we're in the classroom, I have to gather all his things, he's still busy having his tantrum. My safety zone is usually getting him into the hallway and closing the classroom door. In case you're wondering, we've usually hit the 20 minute mark by this point. Sometimes the hallway calms him down, sometimes he just lays on the floor and goes into full-blown tantrum mode. Shrieking. Kicking. More shrieking. Teachers poking heads out of rooms to make sure everything is ok. Oodles of fun.

Once in a blue moon, he just walks out nicely with me. I can probably count on one hand how many times that has happened.

Shuky tries very hard to get him on the days he's available, or at least to come with me. While he does this quite often, and I am extremely grateful for those days, the bad days WAYYYY overpower those times.

So, now my thought process is telling me it is really not worth the money we are spending for the battle I face, for the small amount of time he gets at the school.

Not sure what will come of this but sometimes rants are needed!

Wandering Jews

2011-10-10T14:44:00.001-05:00

We knew, going into this, that holidays would be difficult. Without a community here, we would always have to go away. It was understood.

Until you experience the sense of displacement, it's not understood. We live 40 minutes from the nearest community so just going to our 'neighbors' is an ordeal. While we have our own traditions of places we've been going for the past few years, it doesn't get easier. The making arrangements, packing, unpacking, laundry, car cleaning, driving time and readjusting is extremely difficult with little kids. And this month, we have to do that four different times!

Forget about the cost of traveling.

I guess the silver lining here is that when we are done with school and have settled into our own little corner of the world, I will enjoy Tishrei so much more!

On another note, please accept this as my excuse for sparseness lately!

True Love

2011-09-18T23:03:00.000-05:00

I will forever be amazed by the love my children have for each other. In these five short months since Bella was born, they have formed an alliance, a bond so strong that it blows me away.

Truth be told, it was love at first sight. From the moment Benny laid eyes on his little sister, there was no way she could do any wrong in his eyes. And as soon as Bella realized who this little prince was, gazing at her endlessly, calling her his little princess, he could be nothing but amazing in her little heart.

He will smush her as she adoringly coos at him.

She will pull his hair as he whispers sweet nothings to her.

Mid-tantrum, Benny will stop to tell Bella how much he loves her. And then continue screaming at me and Shuky.

In the car, she instantly lifts her head up and around, looking for him. Smiles that go on forever when those eyes find him. He asks me to remove things between their car seats, should it block his line of sight. And if she starts whimpering during the drive, he is on the alert. "MOMMY, BELLA'S SO SAD!!!" And then he turns to her, "It's ok my sister, don't cry my Bella." Cue my heart melting.

He can make her laugh for endless amounts of time! It amazes me every time! Deep, belly laughs! Well, as deep and bellyish as a baby's laugh can be, anyway. But you get my point.

My kids are madly and deeply, head over heels, in a completely adorable way, in love with each other, and I can't get enough of it!

Food for Thought

2011-09-18T22:43:00.000-05:00

When Shuky and I were dating, I made it very clear that I could make a mean grilled cheese sandwich. That was about it. If he didn't want to go hungry, he would do well to take over the kitchen. I registered for nice things for him to cook with, let him have control of where things went (mostly). I stayed out of his way and I tried to help with clean up. It worked out well because at that point, he was working from home so he could be on the phone for work while making an amazing meal!

Over the past few years, much has changed in our lives. With Shuky being a full-time-student-plus-two-part-time-jobs, two kids who like to eat every so often, and me being home all day, I have pretty much taken over the kitchen.

And I have seriously surprised myself and I feel pretty confident saying Shuky is on the impressed train with me!

I HAVE BEEN KICKING FOOD BUTT!

We just finished the second week since I started meal planning and I am loving it! It is so great knowing what I'm making in advance, no hemming and hawing in front of the fridge. No running to the grocery store every day (if I do it right!). I try out new recipes, make note of the ones that are a big hit.

I've actually been posting my menus on Facebook. Letting my friends in on the fun! Having a digital copy when I forget what that night's meal is!

Big perk, numero dos: I seem to be losing weight as we seem to be eating healthier! I am only using myself in this equation because Shuky is losing weight from other factors as well, i.e. the 6 am running he's been doing! I, obviously, am not doing any running and can solely attribute my weight loss to this.

Here's to many nights of amazing food and pound sheddage!!!

PSA for Chani Goldsmith

2011-09-11T23:40:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I feel like going back to myself when I was single, just for the sake of giving myself a message. There are two things that I feel every single/non-parent person should take advantage of at whatever cost.

1. Sleep in on every possible occasion. Whenever you are given a chance. Don't get out of bed until it's almost time to get back in. And even then, push the snooze button for a little more sleep!

2. Take LOOOOOOONG showers. Like the kinds where you wonder if you're bathroom is going to fall down around you from the steam. Maybe even take a nap in the shower. Kill two birds with one stone. Leaves you more time for bed. Or another shower.

Sigh. To be clean and well-rested.