Seashells and Cheese

Yesterday was a long and hard day. I needed a quick and easy dinner idea so I ended up with noodles and cheese. I used shells to be a little different. That backfired. Big time. Benny saw the shells and immediately looked at me, super confused.
"Mommy, these are seashells. We have to make a sand castle!"
"No Benny, they are noodles and they have a yummy sauce with cheese on them! Take a bite, try one!"
"No Mommy, we can't eat seashells!!"
And on it went for a while!

Shuky managed to force one into his mouth about fifteen minutes later. That was it. Ended up giving him a bowl of cereal and milk for dinner after much arguing. Note to self: stick with what works.

Seriously???

It snowed this morning. This is really starting to get ridiculous! I WANT THE SPRING TO REALLY BEGIN!

Welcome Back

It seems my old nemesis, sciatica, has decided to rejoin the picture. I honestly thought I got away with only having nausea to deal with this time, but alas, with just over two weeks left to go, sciatica rears its ugly head. For those of you who remember the details of my pregnancy with Benny, that was my biggest challenge. Actually had me in physical therapy at one point, learning ways to cope with the pain.

Thankfully, this time was a mild pain. All it did was add a slight momentary limp to my waddle. That gimp you were staring at was probably me. :)

Here's a belly shot - will be 38 weeks on Tuesday, g-d willing!

Over the past few months, we've had quite a few problems with my phone. I got it replaced about 5 times total, each time the replacement was a refurbished phone and within a week or less, new issues would come up. Friday afternoon, I was completely unreachable for almost three hours without even realizing it. After Thursday night's contractions, this was the straw that broke the camel's back. Shuky got on the phone with customer service and they not only promised me a new phone, they allowed me to switch to a different phone if I so preferred. And they gave us a credit on our account. They told us which store they arranged everything with and this morning, we went to West Des Moines in search of a Tony.

I switched to the Evo. It's not that I didn't love my Epic. I absolutely did! I'm probably the only person who willingly switched away from the Epic, too! But it was just a relationship that wasn't working out. So now, I am starting fresh with my Evo. Hopefully, this time things will be better. I just can't have a phone that I can't rely on when I could (hopefully) go in to labor at any point in time!

We're Really Getting There!!

Last night I had some real contractions, about 9 minutes apart. Thought I might have to go in! But they stopped and I actually had the best night of sleep since probably the beginning of my second trimester. Go figure! Made me realize I need to get a bag packed sometime soon! And Rochel, my amazing sister that is coming out to help, better get here soon!!! I figure, worse comes to worse, Moishy (being the awesome-sauce that he is) will have to drive down from Postville if the time comes before Rochel does. Not a huge deal.

I still have a bit of organizing to do but thankfully, we have made our way through most everything. We've rearranged our closet one more time (did it last week) and this seems to be the best configuration, the way the storage space is being utilized is so much smarter! We can see everything and are able to pull out what we need without a domino affect destroying everything else. That, my friends, is the key. And it's not an eye sore anymore, looking into the closet from the bathroom. Yet another thing that makes me smile!

Benny's room is still a work in progress, trying to figure out how this will become a room for two, considering that we keep all the toys in there as well. Ultimately, I need to find an awesome dresser that can hold clothing for two kids and maybe host a changing pad on top. And I need to go through everything being stored in his closet, see what can be put back in our Postville storage and what can be consolidated, maybe with the help of our trusty vacuum bags (I wrote about them when we were packing to move).

I went to link to the old post and got caught up reading about our moving month. Lol. Easily distracted is an understatement about my current state of being. And with that note, I am off to be distracted by something, who knows what, that will keep me busy as I desperately avoid looking out my windows. There is snow out there. Why???

Belly Update

Not much to say around here, Shuky is back in school so Benny and I are hibernating. I did take him out yesterday but he had the worst tantrum he's had in quite a while so we have officially become pajama people. No more going out unless it's absolutely gorgeous outside.  Or absolutely necessary. I can't deal with him on my own when I can barely move or breathe!

Speaking of which, here's a picture from Saturday night:

 Interestingly enough, for cheap laughs, I decided to try on some new non-maternity tops I got myself for after baby-day and they actually fit quite nicely! So now I'm somewhat bummed because I have to still get myself a few new tops for Pesach and such. But I have a few new shirts to enjoy the last few weeks :)

Spring Break Ahoy!

Iowa City was a nice, successful trip. We found a nice little hotel with a pool. When we were checking in, Shuky mentioned that it was our anniversary and we got a free upgrade to a suite! On Sunday, after getting settled in to our room, we headed over to the mall. Walked around a bit, put Benny on the carousel. Headed back to the hotel for some pool time. It was really nice, we had the pool to ourselves. Had a nice dinner and put Benny to sleep at his regular time. He was out in seconds. Monday morning, we sadly learned that, for some unknown reason, most attractions in the area chose Monday as their day to be closed! So we just hung out until it was time to take Shuky for his appointment. We dropped him off and Benny and I went to have a play date with the Blesofsky kids! Benny obviously had a blast, as he always does there, while I enjoyed getting to chat with the missus. We headed back to the hotel after a bit and just relaxed until Shuky's procedure was done. After we got back from picking him up, Benny and I went to the pool before doing dinner and a timely bedtime again. Out within seconds again. We all called it an early night! Tuesday morning, we thought about going out to some of the now opened local attractions. Decided to visit the pool one last time before hitting the road! On the way home, we stopped at the outlets, got a few small goodies, and were once again homeward bound.

He really was happy, I promise!

As we were heading toward Des Moines, we decided that the gorgeous weather called for a visit to the zoo. Great decision! We went for a bit and had a blast!

On the way home, our 'Service Engine Soon' light popped on. Cue the horrific memories of our road trip from New York. Pulled straight into a service station and made an appointment for the morning. Dreading what I was going to find out, I took the car in this morning. Of course it's never good. Transmission issues. Another big job. With all we've gone through with this Blazer, if we had more money, I would have gone and picked out a new car. With the reality being what it is, my brother Moishy is coming to get the car tomorrow to have it serviced back home, with a mechanic we know and trust, who quoted us 1/3 of the price! And, in the meantime, I have a fun little rental car. So today was pretty much used up on dealing with the car!

And today was a horrible day to lose, it was 66 degrees outside! So much potential to go out and have a great day! When I finally left the rental agency, I quickly went home to get Shuky and Benny and we ran to the park while there was still some beautiful sunlight left! And, to make up for the lack of fun, Benny's bath involved a bathing suit tonight. :)

We rented some movies so off I go to pop some popcorn that I will ultimately regret eating! Have a good night one and all!

Addition to My Wishlist

One of the stores we went to yesterday is called Simply For Giggles. More or less my dream store. Had all the beautiful baby products you want to find in a store but don't see in big box stores like Babies R Us and the likes. Everything was set up for you to see it in action. There was a portion of the store that was sectioned off for community events, they host sing-alongs and other similar events. The owner was super sweet, her two kids were there and Benny instantly ran off to play with her little boy. If you're a local reader, go check the place out! All the beautiful murals on the wall were painted by the owner!! Basically, when I finally get to start my own place, I want it to be like that one. :)

Anyway, while we were there, I found the crib I should have linked to in my baby wishlist - it's called the Argington Organic Bam Crib/Bassinet Set . The bassinet expands into a crib after the first few months. Beautiful piece with great functionality. Price tag out of my range but definitely getting filed away in the back of my head for if extra money appears in our baby budget!

Let The Party Begin!

So, we spoke about what we were thinking of doing for spring break in my last post. Chances are, a possible emergency root canal was not very high on Shuky's to-do list but it does look like that will be the case! We'll find out for sure tomorrow but it seems like we will be spending a few days in Iowa City. I guess a quasi vacation is better than no vacation. Not that it is promising to be a very relaxing one at this point. I found a decent hotel with a nice water slide, right next to the Coral Ridge Mall, which I happen to love! A great indoor ice skating rink, a beautiful carousel, the Childrens Museum - all in the mall! How amazing is that! So, we shall see how enjoyable the trip turns out to be!

On a totally seperate note, I am making a change to my baby wish list. I am switching my desire for the UppaBaby Vista to the Britax B-Ready. I dragged Benny and Shuky to some baby boutiques this afternoon, in Des Moines, and played around with both strollers, had Benny sit in both seats, see what it felt like for him and me! Aside from the huge price difference, especially with the great promotion Britax has going on right now, it's a big plus that the stroller can be folded with both seats attached! And the second seat reclines. And Benny seemed more comfortable in both seats. There were quite a few things that drew me to it but, in all honestly, the price and fold won me over!

PS - Amazon is $100 less than in stores! Score!

Sleep Again

Spring break approaches and yet today we are getting snow mixed in with our rain. Oh the horror!

So, we've decided it's not a good time for a vacation next week. It's going to be too much work and discomfort for the amount we'd be spending, I'm not really the biggest load of fun these days! We'll just do some fun things locally, maybe finally check out the pottery place I've been dying to visit! Pump It Up will definitely make it onto our to-do list as well! Benny loves the place!! Maybe finish up some last minute organizing and projects around the house while we can.

On to another topic, I wanted to talk about Benny's sleep schedule a bit. I mentioned previously how we've changed his schedule, no more naps and bedtime starts much earlier. Well, at first he wasn't really being affected by it in the mornings, but now that his body is getting used to the different hours, he is started to get up earlier and earlier. It's usually right after 6 when he comes to my bed in the morning, fully awake. I'm not a morning person. Especially when I'm in pregnant! He has learned to find the remote and bring it to my face for me to put something on for him once he gets in my bed. That usually gets us a bit closer to 7. I'm not crazy about how much screen time he ends up with in the mornings but right now, I don't have the strength to change that! Once he's had enough, he makes his way to the living room, turns the light on, and starts yelling for me to come play with him or feed him.

Now, yesterday we drove to Waterloo (about an hour and 45 minutes away) to meet my father and brother. They brought me some things I needed from Postville and I brought them some things I needed to put back in storage and some more Pesach things I bought. It's about the halfway point for both of us so this is usually our spot to rendezvous and do our 'exchanges'. We probably spent a total of an hour in Waterloo and came right back to Ames, we weren't going anything in Waterloo, we were going to do our switcheroo! So, with all that car time, Benny obviously got a nap in. Unfortunately for me. Shuky went to school to meet with one of the groups he's working with and I had to do night-time on my own with Benny. I figured, with the nap, it's not worth it for me to start at the regular time, so I pushed everything off by about a half an hour. I'm pretty sure the clock read 10:12 when he finally fell asleep. We won't discuss how much screaming (his and mine) and book reading occurred in the time between. Let's just say, I wasn't in the best of moods when Shuky got home at 12ish(!!!). But then, this morning, it was 7:15 when he climbed into my bed. Again, totally not worth the battle at night but yay for a later morning!

On a side note, on Shabbos afternoon, we all took naps. We've decided that if there's a day we can try to enforce naps to sort of catch up on the lack of it during the week, Shabbos is perfect. If he goes to sleep later on a Saturday night, it won't kill a school day for Shuky and it's just all-around easier to deal with! Anyway, he took a nap with Shuky for about an hour and a half. In underwear. Woke up dry. Very happy mother and father over here!!

Decisions Decisions

We just realized that Shuky has next week off for Spring Break. He's been so busy with school these past few weeks that he didn't even think to mention it! So, now I'm sitting here, trying to find a nice place within a three hour distance that we could possibly escape to for two or three days. We thought about Kansas City but decided to switch our search to Minneapolis for now. Maybe with friends. Working on plans! We'll have to see if I'll be up for the drive and if it will be a vacation or just a more difficult situation, dealing with Benny in a new place with little to no energy. Vacation or horror film? So many things to factor in! We shall see.

We've Popped!

Just a quickie today. Over the past week or so, my stomach really popped out! I had a checkup today and apparently I had a little growth spurt in my belly area :) Weightwise I actually lost half a pound but my stomach measurement that they take each time was a nice jump from last time!

I am a few days past 34 weeks but this picture was taken a few days ago. Enjoy!

An Ode To My Firstborn

As I'm nearing my due date I got to thinking. Not usually a good thing, but bare with me here! The last time I found myself in this situation (about two and a half years ago) my life was extremely different. I was working full time, as was Shuky. We had a nice spacious house. We had no kids yet. Now, I have been home with our two and a half year old, in our tiny little apartment, while Shuky spends his entire day (and sometimes evenings) in school and most of his nights are spent studying and doing homework.

Obviously, those dynamics have changed the way this pregnancy has gone for me. Some days are good, some are bad. Nothing I can't handle, but it most definitely affects the way I am to the people around me!

And yet, I watch Benny playing and realize this is how it should be. The amount of joy this little boy has brought to my life is indescribable. The things he says and does constantly keep me on my toes. He remembers more than I do, and tends to use it to his benefit! He is a spitball of energy and I may not have enough to keep up with him sometimes, but I try! He is friendlier than the average adult, saying hi to every person and animal he sees! And I mean every. He loves music and has a talent that I would love to expound on when he is a little older and can appreciate it! He is extremely helpful, when he wants to be! There is a sense of adventure about him, we never have a dull moment!

So, though this all may have provided extra challenges, I would not change my life in any way, shape or form. Just wanted to let everyone know that!