Shuky is getting his own little get-away. After his classes today, I am taking him to the airport and he is going to New York until Sunday. A very close friend of his is getting married and, as much as we would have liked to go as a family, it was not in the cards. So he is off on his own. And I will be here, partying with Benny. My brother will be coming to me for some of it. Definitely going to be happy to open the door for him! Benny has already made it very clear what Moishy's duties will be when he gets here: "Mommy, Uncle Moishy has to play with me! We need to play with all my toys!" Moish, you've got your work cut out for you! There are a lot of toys to play with!!
Anyway, my new pillow, George Jr., does great things for me! Benny crawls into bed in the morning and makes me move over so he can have some pillow time as well!
I have mounds of dishes to do and no desire to do them. I guess I should at least start. Get one dishrack done, with no space left I'll have to take a break! :)
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Snoogle Up!
I did it. I caved and bought a Snoogle
, one of those expensive pregnancy pillows. In my defense, I've been selling things on Amazon, although I was planning on using that money to buy a nice, new diaper bag, but I decided I still have time to rebuild the fund and right now sleep is so much more important to me!! Thursday it comes. Thursday night I plan on making it to bed at an early hour to get the most of my first night of real sleep! :)
The weather has been kind of funny here lately. Yesterday we had rain. Turned the whole city into one big pile of slush. Which obviously froze overnight. Score.
Because yesterday was MLK Day, Shuky had the day off. He spent the morning studying and we went out for the afternoon together, after Benny's nap. I had a few errands to run so we did those quickly and then spent the rest of the afternoon at the library. Benny absolutely loves that place! He knows where everything is and just goes and does his thing. It's adorable! He usually starts out at the Lego table, building a 'giant water tower space shuttle' to knock down with Tatty. Then he makes his way over to the toys to play with all the cars and trains and magnetic letters on the wall. Then he usually requests time on the computer. He knows he has to go sign up at the desk. His way of asking is, "Hi, I'm Benny! Thank you very much for letting me use the computer!" I love him!! By the time he's done there, it's usually time to go home. The only way to get him out without a huge scene is to have a plan. Yesterday, I reminded him about a project we had done the previous day and we should get home quickly to see if it was dry. It takes creativity! :)
Anyway, today is laundry day so off I go to keep my family clothed. Stay warm everyone!
, one of those expensive pregnancy pillows. In my defense, I've been selling things on Amazon, although I was planning on using that money to buy a nice, new diaper bag, but I decided I still have time to rebuild the fund and right now sleep is so much more important to me!! Thursday it comes. Thursday night I plan on making it to bed at an early hour to get the most of my first night of real sleep! :)The weather has been kind of funny here lately. Yesterday we had rain. Turned the whole city into one big pile of slush. Which obviously froze overnight. Score.
Because yesterday was MLK Day, Shuky had the day off. He spent the morning studying and we went out for the afternoon together, after Benny's nap. I had a few errands to run so we did those quickly and then spent the rest of the afternoon at the library. Benny absolutely loves that place! He knows where everything is and just goes and does his thing. It's adorable! He usually starts out at the Lego table, building a 'giant water tower space shuttle' to knock down with Tatty. Then he makes his way over to the toys to play with all the cars and trains and magnetic letters on the wall. Then he usually requests time on the computer. He knows he has to go sign up at the desk. His way of asking is, "Hi, I'm Benny! Thank you very much for letting me use the computer!" I love him!! By the time he's done there, it's usually time to go home. The only way to get him out without a huge scene is to have a plan. Yesterday, I reminded him about a project we had done the previous day and we should get home quickly to see if it was dry. It takes creativity! :)
Anyway, today is laundry day so off I go to keep my family clothed. Stay warm everyone!
Sunday, January 16, 2011
OK Little Elves, My List is Ready!
As time slowly passes by, I feel the need to know that everything will be taken care of. On the budget of a full time student and stay at home mom, I am thankful that we got so many beautiful things for Benny when he was born. With this new addition, there is really not going to be a whole lot that we need. Except for big things of course. And, if it's a girl, an entire new wardrobe. I have my wish list. I add to it. Things will fall into place. Whether I get everything right away or slowly over time, it won't be a big deal! Just because I love baby products, and maybe some of you do too, I thought I'd share some of the big things I'm looking at. If any of you happen to notice amazing deals on any of these, definitely feel free to drop a line or two!
1. UppaBaby Vista with RumbleSeat
I figure with the almost three year age difference, it will be good to have a stroller that can be both single and double. And can hold the car seat. Thereby eliminating two of my strollers! :) My full size single is already up for sale, my car seat carrier is not worth selling, but will remain in storage instead of rearing its head! (If anyone is looking for a full-size stroller, the one I am selling is a Peg Perego Centro Completo in toffee, including all accessories. The wheels, rain cover, and hood were all replaced right before I put it into storage.)
2. Chicco KeyFit 30
I was extremely unhappy with my car seat that I bought for Benny. We went with a Mia Moda Viva. I liked it because it was so different than what everyone else was shlepping around. I found out very quickly, there was a reason no one else was carrying it around! It was a total piece of crap! Although, I did get many compliments on how cute it was! In all honesty, I doubt you can even get that seat anymore! I have it as back-up, in case I don't get the new seat before coming home from the hospital. After that, I plan on donating or even just trashing it. Not sure I'd feel comfortable recommending it for someone else to put their infant in! After a LOT of research, I am confident in the decision of going with the Chicco. Only time will tell if I am making a good choice!
3. Beabe BabyCook
This comes back to the budget thing. I don't want you all to think I'm one of those moms that took the time to make all of Benny's food on my own. We were big fans of jarred food. No prep, no cleanup, no time lost that could have been spent kissing and hugging my child. Not that you actually lose that time but there are things you need to tell yourself when you take the road marked Lazy Lane. With our super tight budget and me being home all day, I figure the least I could do is buy this. It's foolproof. Takes a matter of minutes and the cleanup is minimal. I can still turn to my good friends, Jarred Food, when I'm in a pinch, but why not try to do it right this time!
4. A Crib
You'll notice there is no link there. That would be because of my extreme indecision in this matter. Benny used his pack-n-play until he transferred to his bed. Which happened way too early in the timeline. Because he was able to climb right out of that lovely pack-n-play! I don't necessarily have space for a monstrosity of a crib that could be passed down to my kids great-grandchildren, but I'm really hoping to be able to convince myself that the lack of room left over after sleeping arrangements is so worth the extra sleep I will get. But, then again, what if this baby is no different and just finds the way out of the crib as if it were a pack-n-play? Then I dropped the little money we don't have on something unnecessary!! Hence the lack of linkage to the crib I have chosen.
5. Skip Hop Versa
Skip Hop has been good to me from the start! This is one of their newer bags and I'm ready to fill it!! :)
These are mostly big ticket items and, should push come to shove, I can probably find something more affordable that would work for us as well. But why would I want to do that? This is MY wish list, after all! A girl can dream!
And, because right now, a post wouldn't be a post without it, GO VOTE FOR YITZY before the contest closes tonight!!!
1. UppaBaby Vista with RumbleSeat
I figure with the almost three year age difference, it will be good to have a stroller that can be both single and double. And can hold the car seat. Thereby eliminating two of my strollers! :) My full size single is already up for sale, my car seat carrier is not worth selling, but will remain in storage instead of rearing its head! (If anyone is looking for a full-size stroller, the one I am selling is a Peg Perego Centro Completo in toffee, including all accessories. The wheels, rain cover, and hood were all replaced right before I put it into storage.)
2. Chicco KeyFit 30
I was extremely unhappy with my car seat that I bought for Benny. We went with a Mia Moda Viva. I liked it because it was so different than what everyone else was shlepping around. I found out very quickly, there was a reason no one else was carrying it around! It was a total piece of crap! Although, I did get many compliments on how cute it was! In all honesty, I doubt you can even get that seat anymore! I have it as back-up, in case I don't get the new seat before coming home from the hospital. After that, I plan on donating or even just trashing it. Not sure I'd feel comfortable recommending it for someone else to put their infant in! After a LOT of research, I am confident in the decision of going with the Chicco. Only time will tell if I am making a good choice!
3. Beabe BabyCook
This comes back to the budget thing. I don't want you all to think I'm one of those moms that took the time to make all of Benny's food on my own. We were big fans of jarred food. No prep, no cleanup, no time lost that could have been spent kissing and hugging my child. Not that you actually lose that time but there are things you need to tell yourself when you take the road marked Lazy Lane. With our super tight budget and me being home all day, I figure the least I could do is buy this. It's foolproof. Takes a matter of minutes and the cleanup is minimal. I can still turn to my good friends, Jarred Food, when I'm in a pinch, but why not try to do it right this time!
4. A Crib
You'll notice there is no link there. That would be because of my extreme indecision in this matter. Benny used his pack-n-play until he transferred to his bed. Which happened way too early in the timeline. Because he was able to climb right out of that lovely pack-n-play! I don't necessarily have space for a monstrosity of a crib that could be passed down to my kids great-grandchildren, but I'm really hoping to be able to convince myself that the lack of room left over after sleeping arrangements is so worth the extra sleep I will get. But, then again, what if this baby is no different and just finds the way out of the crib as if it were a pack-n-play? Then I dropped the little money we don't have on something unnecessary!! Hence the lack of linkage to the crib I have chosen.
5. Skip Hop Versa
Skip Hop has been good to me from the start! This is one of their newer bags and I'm ready to fill it!! :)
These are mostly big ticket items and, should push come to shove, I can probably find something more affordable that would work for us as well. But why would I want to do that? This is MY wish list, after all! A girl can dream!
And, because right now, a post wouldn't be a post without it, GO VOTE FOR YITZY before the contest closes tonight!!!
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Just Some Thoughts
With this pregnancy, I honestly couldn't tell you what week I'm up to. With Benny's I probably could have told you the day and how many were left. I find that interesting. I constantly find myself counting back from my due date to figure out how far along I am when people ask me. At this point, I just say, "Oh I'm due in April."
And now for my standard updates.
Potty training has taken a new turn. The only door left open at home is Benny's bathroom, and he makes use of it on his own! I still remind him when it seems like it's been forever, but more or less, he goes and pees on his own. I'm not ready to talk about his poop yet. All I can say is when it gets too quiet, he's probably pooping somewhere. And I can basically guarantee that somewhere does not happen to be the toilet. And he's not wearing underwear. And our apartment is all carpeting (except for the kitchen and bathrooms). Makes for fun times!
Bedtime has been going pretty smoothly too! I had to restock our prize box today! Thank goodness for holiday clearances! Picked up some great little toys for about fifty cents each, he was super excited to see the new things in there!
We also finally got him a real pair of snow gloves. Tomorrow, Shuky only has one class and it is in the afternoon. Benny requested his prize for bedtime be playing in the snow with Shuky in the morning. He's so excited!! I hope the weather allows it!
Don't forget to get those last minute votes in for my brother, good people!! The contest closes on January 16th and I want to book my tickets for his concert already! :)
And now I will be calling it an early night. Beyond exhausted. Good night to all of you!
And now for my standard updates.
Potty training has taken a new turn. The only door left open at home is Benny's bathroom, and he makes use of it on his own! I still remind him when it seems like it's been forever, but more or less, he goes and pees on his own. I'm not ready to talk about his poop yet. All I can say is when it gets too quiet, he's probably pooping somewhere. And I can basically guarantee that somewhere does not happen to be the toilet. And he's not wearing underwear. And our apartment is all carpeting (except for the kitchen and bathrooms). Makes for fun times!
Bedtime has been going pretty smoothly too! I had to restock our prize box today! Thank goodness for holiday clearances! Picked up some great little toys for about fifty cents each, he was super excited to see the new things in there!
We also finally got him a real pair of snow gloves. Tomorrow, Shuky only has one class and it is in the afternoon. Benny requested his prize for bedtime be playing in the snow with Shuky in the morning. He's so excited!! I hope the weather allows it!
Don't forget to get those last minute votes in for my brother, good people!! The contest closes on January 16th and I want to book my tickets for his concert already! :)
And now I will be calling it an early night. Beyond exhausted. Good night to all of you!
Monday, January 10, 2011
Every Shabbos
My brother, Yitzy, is an extremely talented musician. He plays guitar and piano (when he was younger he took violin lessons but I have no idea how long it's been since he picked one of those up). His voice is amazing. He writes poetry (always love getting birthday cards from him!) and of course that flows into his music, creating beautiful lyrics to the songs he writes. For years, we've all been begging him to take his music to a studio. Mimi, his wife, gets a special gift of a song written for her from time to time. Happens to be she has a beautiful voice as well so I'm expecting great things out of my niece and nephews!
Anyway, not that I don't love bragging about my talented family members for no reason, but today there is a purpose. Recently, Yitzy entered a competition called A Jewish Star, something of an American Idol for Jewish talent. The song he entered with was one of his own, obviously. This specific song was something he wrote in honor of Mimi's grandfather, Rabbi Moshe Baruch Kotlarsky, of blessed memory, who passed away a few years ago. It's a beautiful, heartfelt song, and makes us all so proud!
If you could please take a moment and vote for his entry, it would mean so much to me and my family! If he is chosen as a 'top 10 finalist', he will be singing in a concert, in Brooklyn, on February 20th. There would be nothing more amazing than to be sitting in that crowd, cheering for him! Should he win the contest, he will receive a two year lease on a car, $1,000, and time in a recording studio with coaching from a professional to produce a song!
Just to give you a quick background about my brother - he is an R.N. in Monsey, NY. He is an extremely devoted husband to Mimi and father to their three beautiful kids, and in the midst of getting into med school. In my completely unbiased opinion, he is a truly amazing person, capable of accomplishing things like no other. If anyone deserves this chance, it is him! PLEASE, take five minutes and register on the site so you can vote and help him win!!!
Anyway, not that I don't love bragging about my talented family members for no reason, but today there is a purpose. Recently, Yitzy entered a competition called A Jewish Star, something of an American Idol for Jewish talent. The song he entered with was one of his own, obviously. This specific song was something he wrote in honor of Mimi's grandfather, Rabbi Moshe Baruch Kotlarsky, of blessed memory, who passed away a few years ago. It's a beautiful, heartfelt song, and makes us all so proud!
If you could please take a moment and vote for his entry, it would mean so much to me and my family! If he is chosen as a 'top 10 finalist', he will be singing in a concert, in Brooklyn, on February 20th. There would be nothing more amazing than to be sitting in that crowd, cheering for him! Should he win the contest, he will receive a two year lease on a car, $1,000, and time in a recording studio with coaching from a professional to produce a song!
Just to give you a quick background about my brother - he is an R.N. in Monsey, NY. He is an extremely devoted husband to Mimi and father to their three beautiful kids, and in the midst of getting into med school. In my completely unbiased opinion, he is a truly amazing person, capable of accomplishing things like no other. If anyone deserves this chance, it is him! PLEASE, take five minutes and register on the site so you can vote and help him win!!!
No RSVP
There's a party going on in my belly and I wasn't invited!!! This little baby is SUPER active!! All day and night, there's loud music, dancing, and fun stuff going on in there!! :)
In other news, Benny is doing great with the toilet (I feel like that should be whispered).
Shuky went back to school today. Benny was very sad when he realized what was going on. He saw Shuky getting ready to leave and asked him where he was going. When Shuky told him he was going to school, Benny responded with, "Oh my chinny chin chin! You can't go to school Tatty!" This kid really comes up with the funniest things! Needless to say, I jumped out of bed (yes, I was trying to pretend morning had not yet come still) and started something fun so the kid wouldn't be devastated.
Back to toilet news, we've been having him running around naked, a lot less accidents happening that way. We'll have to deal with the underwear transition when he seems ready. I guess the training pants were just too close to diapers! This morning, he was sitting on the toilet and he hand-called me. This was the message he left for me, "Hi Mommy! It's just Benny! I on the toilet but I don't need to make pishies! Ok. Bye."
We've been trying something new with bedtime as well. We get him ready for bed and give him kisses and hugs and ask him to go to bed on his own. Completely. Like, leave the couch and go to bed. If he manages to go to sleep on his own without one of us getting into bed with him, he gets a prize in the morning. So far, out of two nights, he got one prize. I won't mention that it took him over two hours to actually fall asleep. We'll just focus on the fact that he did it on his own. Last night, however, was a mess. Screaming, no make that shrieking, for two hours straight. I finally crawled into bed with him and he was asleep within five minutes tops! I felt bad that I caved but I couldn't handle the screaming anymore. And I knew the morning brought the first day of the semester so I felt bad for all the students in the building that needed to be hearing his insanity. Let's hope for better strength tonight!
Going to go enjoy the sight of the snow from the warmth of my couch!
In other news, Benny is doing great with the toilet (I feel like that should be whispered).
Shuky went back to school today. Benny was very sad when he realized what was going on. He saw Shuky getting ready to leave and asked him where he was going. When Shuky told him he was going to school, Benny responded with, "Oh my chinny chin chin! You can't go to school Tatty!" This kid really comes up with the funniest things! Needless to say, I jumped out of bed (yes, I was trying to pretend morning had not yet come still) and started something fun so the kid wouldn't be devastated.
Back to toilet news, we've been having him running around naked, a lot less accidents happening that way. We'll have to deal with the underwear transition when he seems ready. I guess the training pants were just too close to diapers! This morning, he was sitting on the toilet and he hand-called me. This was the message he left for me, "Hi Mommy! It's just Benny! I on the toilet but I don't need to make pishies! Ok. Bye."
We've been trying something new with bedtime as well. We get him ready for bed and give him kisses and hugs and ask him to go to bed on his own. Completely. Like, leave the couch and go to bed. If he manages to go to sleep on his own without one of us getting into bed with him, he gets a prize in the morning. So far, out of two nights, he got one prize. I won't mention that it took him over two hours to actually fall asleep. We'll just focus on the fact that he did it on his own. Last night, however, was a mess. Screaming, no make that shrieking, for two hours straight. I finally crawled into bed with him and he was asleep within five minutes tops! I felt bad that I caved but I couldn't handle the screaming anymore. And I knew the morning brought the first day of the semester so I felt bad for all the students in the building that needed to be hearing his insanity. Let's hope for better strength tonight!
Going to go enjoy the sight of the snow from the warmth of my couch!
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Silence Is Golden
Sorry for the long hiatus. I knew it was coming but forgot to warn you!
I'll bring you up to speed here. I have the most amazing husband I could have ever asked for. Shuky gave me a week to myself. He stayed home with Benny and I journeyed away for a week of peace and quiet, and most importantly, sleep! I was in bed by ten every night that I was away. The most exciting thing I did was a movie and dinner. I didn't even need that. The traveling itself was amazing! I didn't check any luggage, just rolled a small carry-on around with me. I actually slept on my flights! I was through security in about thirty seconds. Mothers everywhere, if you are ever given this opportunity, run! Don't walk, lest you change your mind. You get out that door faster than ever before!
That's not to say that I didn't miss Shuky and Benny terribly! We spoke quite often, did video chats through out the day. Most nights we said Shema together on the phone. It was a very difficult thing for me to do, but oh so worth it!! I stayed off of Facebook (for the most part) the entire week, no one needed to know where I was. I was running on my own schedule, at my own pace. It was absolute perfection. Bring on Baby #2!
A few hours after I got home, we left to Postville for a long weekend, a nice visit to my father and brother, take some of the excess boxes back to our 'storage'. Was a nice visit! We came back yesterday, ready to tackle the rest of the week!
Potty training is going pretty well. We are really pacing ourselves with it. No rush. As long as it's done in time for April and I have only one diapered butt to wipe, I'm happy! We're not really doing the charts for reward sake anymore. They are still on the wall and from time to time he likes to add stickers to them. But, truthfully, we are just rewarding him at random for a job well done! If he's having a hard day making it to the toilet on time, we show more rewards. If he's done great for a while, we toss something his way. No rhyme. No reason.
This week our goal is to get the apartment more organized before the new semester begins. Today we tackled the kitchen, which was no small job! We emptied out the pantry and rearranged everything more efficiently. If you can't see it, you don't know you have, and you don't use it! Shopping is also killer when you're not exactly sure what you have! No longer an issue! We cleared out the end of the kitchen that somehow became our bulk storage area. Nothing on the floor anymore! Phew! We also spoke to someone about how to kasher our oven without a self-clean so we've begun that process. No more crappy convection oven that takes forever! Yay! Going to put a microwave in its place, instant food is awesome!
Tomorrow is bedroom day. Both. Should be fun! I've already done the closet in our room, one night I just got fed up and tackled it. Which works out well as that took me a good two hours or so, leaving me with that extra time to get the rooms done tomorrow! And I've been slowly working on Benny's room. Got all of the storage boxes out of there (as mentioned above) so his room shouldn't take as long. Scouring Craigslist for some dressers for his room. Mentally rearranging things to prepare for a baby, G-d willing.
Once the bedrooms are done, we can do our living room, which is not going to be too bad. We've been slowly working on that too over the past few weeks. Also looking for more furniture for that room!
So, to sum it all up, I love Shuky!
I'll bring you up to speed here. I have the most amazing husband I could have ever asked for. Shuky gave me a week to myself. He stayed home with Benny and I journeyed away for a week of peace and quiet, and most importantly, sleep! I was in bed by ten every night that I was away. The most exciting thing I did was a movie and dinner. I didn't even need that. The traveling itself was amazing! I didn't check any luggage, just rolled a small carry-on around with me. I actually slept on my flights! I was through security in about thirty seconds. Mothers everywhere, if you are ever given this opportunity, run! Don't walk, lest you change your mind. You get out that door faster than ever before!
That's not to say that I didn't miss Shuky and Benny terribly! We spoke quite often, did video chats through out the day. Most nights we said Shema together on the phone. It was a very difficult thing for me to do, but oh so worth it!! I stayed off of Facebook (for the most part) the entire week, no one needed to know where I was. I was running on my own schedule, at my own pace. It was absolute perfection. Bring on Baby #2!
A few hours after I got home, we left to Postville for a long weekend, a nice visit to my father and brother, take some of the excess boxes back to our 'storage'. Was a nice visit! We came back yesterday, ready to tackle the rest of the week!
Potty training is going pretty well. We are really pacing ourselves with it. No rush. As long as it's done in time for April and I have only one diapered butt to wipe, I'm happy! We're not really doing the charts for reward sake anymore. They are still on the wall and from time to time he likes to add stickers to them. But, truthfully, we are just rewarding him at random for a job well done! If he's having a hard day making it to the toilet on time, we show more rewards. If he's done great for a while, we toss something his way. No rhyme. No reason.
This week our goal is to get the apartment more organized before the new semester begins. Today we tackled the kitchen, which was no small job! We emptied out the pantry and rearranged everything more efficiently. If you can't see it, you don't know you have, and you don't use it! Shopping is also killer when you're not exactly sure what you have! No longer an issue! We cleared out the end of the kitchen that somehow became our bulk storage area. Nothing on the floor anymore! Phew! We also spoke to someone about how to kasher our oven without a self-clean so we've begun that process. No more crappy convection oven that takes forever! Yay! Going to put a microwave in its place, instant food is awesome!
Tomorrow is bedroom day. Both. Should be fun! I've already done the closet in our room, one night I just got fed up and tackled it. Which works out well as that took me a good two hours or so, leaving me with that extra time to get the rooms done tomorrow! And I've been slowly working on Benny's room. Got all of the storage boxes out of there (as mentioned above) so his room shouldn't take as long. Scouring Craigslist for some dressers for his room. Mentally rearranging things to prepare for a baby, G-d willing.
Once the bedrooms are done, we can do our living room, which is not going to be too bad. We've been slowly working on that too over the past few weeks. Also looking for more furniture for that room!
So, to sum it all up, I love Shuky!
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