The Ultimate Excuse

I have a confession to make. All those times I was fishing for excuses about why my posts were so far apart, blah blah blah, I actually had a reason that I wasn't sharing.

Yesterday began my 16th week of pregnancy. As a 'writer', it's hard to write when I can't truly explain the real reasons behind the happenings! The first few months were a huge wave of nausea and, well, other fun things you probably don't want to hear about. This is one of the reasons we didn't see everyone we wanted to in New York, it was hard to commit to things without knowing how I was going to be feeling! It's slowly getting better and I'm slowly starting to feel this little baby moving around inside me! It never ceases to amaze me!

I am due right before Pesach, in April. And I mean right before! For anyone who doesn't celebrate this holiday or is not familiar with the customs involved, let me give you a quick breakdown:

Preparations for this holiday are like spring cleaning on crack.
There are a million and a half food restrictons, namely wheat products, that can not even be in sight.
It usually envolves a lot of family members. For some people, that's a blessing. For others, well, it's just not.
This is not a cheap holiday.

That's my bare bones description. Trust me, there's a whole lot more to it!

Now, last year we were in Aruba for this holiday. At an amazing hotel, right on the beach. Everything was done for us, we just said how we'd like our steaks done. We both had positions with the company running the show to cover our expenses. The first year after we got married we were in Puerto Rico. Same deal as Aruba. For the two years in between, we went to family. One year Shuky's and the next year mine. As I'm not about to have a Dutch baby, Aruba is out of the question for this year. And, because of insurance issues (and a few other things), it looks like we will be in Postville for Pesach of 2011. Either with a new baby in tow or ready to go at any second!

Anyway, now that the cat's out of the bag, expect more regular postings on my side. And if I miss the mark still, I will expect the same undying devotion on your side. ;)

Excited to share this news with you all!

**Knock, knock** Anyone In There??

I know. It happens every time. I start out with the sincere apologies, promise to be better. It never happens. I guess at this point in my life, my blog is not fated to be updated daily. I will, though, try for more often than once a month!! No guarantees.

So, New York was hard but amazing. Benny was completely pulled out of his element and decided to have a ball with that. And by that I mean torture me. I'm talking no bedtime. Endless amounts of tantrums. Demanding he have what he wants. And, of course, still getting up early, asking for "dinner" (still trying to explain to him that the morning meal is breakfast and dinner is at night!). He was the king of the nest, and treated as such by family and friends. Therefor, he expected the same treatment from me! Guess what kid, it ain't happening! We didn't see everyone we wanted to see but it happens. Next time, hopefully, Shuky will be with me and it will be easier. I can make solid plans instead of a lot of tentatives!

We've been back for almost a week now. Still not back on schedule. He was sick when we came back, just a cold and cough. He got better over the weekend. Came back with a vengeance on Sunday afternoon. We are still dealing with it. At this point, because of all the coughing, he sounds like a squeaky little girl. Make that a whiny, squeaky little girl. And he doesn't let go of me. And, unless he is in the bath, he is in mega kvetch mode!

Today, to distract him, we did some sticker projects. He LOVED it! So tonight, at WalMart, I restocked our art supply, have a few fun projects in mind for the next few weeks. Hopefully we get to them!

And the best news of the week, we are going to Miami for Thanksgiving week! Shuky has the whole week off from school so we are going out Sunday afternoon for wedding vow renewals by his cousins (can't wait!!) and coming home Friday morning. It will be very nice to have the entire family on vacation! The last time we were in Florida was for my mother-in-law's wedding. Benny was about six months old, I believe. It will be nice for him to see the family, nice for everyone to be able to see the character he has become! Here's to hoping this trip is more successful with him!

My Bags Are Packed...

Ok, I lied. They are half packed. And I'm ignoring them for the time being. In case you're wondering what I'm packing for, my mother and stepfather are bringing Benny and me out to visit for two weeks. Starting tomorrow. And we are UBER excited!!! It's been a very long time since we've been to Brooklyn, the last time was our disaster of a road trip!

I know I've been quiet for a while here. I apologize, as usual. It's been a long month!

I don't really have much time now to write either, unfortunately, but I wanted to share something funny that happened this afternoon with Benny. We were on our way home from TJ Maxx (emergency suitcase shopping trip!) and he was having a full blown tantrum in the car. I'm talking screams that make you want to just jump out of the moving vehicle to avoid the horrible sound! Not stopping for breaths. Mid-scream, he noticed a boat on the back of a pickup truck next to us. Mid-scream, he calmly says, "Mommy, you see that boat? Wow!" Gives me the chance to respond with a quick, "Yeah, I see it!!" Picks up right where he left off and finishes that scream he was in middle of. Persistence is the key?

He has been singing airplane songs all day so I'm taking the liberty of assuming he's excited about tomorrow's trip as well. :)

An Easy and Meaningful One

Still having a dry spell as far as my writing is concerned. It's been hard to motivate myself to take the time to sit here and share my thoughts for the moment. It kind of gets like this every holiday season. So many things to do around me, so many arrangements to be made, packing and unpacking (barf), traveling (barf again). And, in all of that, my house still needs to look semi-decent, laundry needs to be washed and folded (don't look at the bed full of clothing to fold please!), Benny needs to be fed - I mean, c'mon kid, how many times a day can you eat already!?! ;)

Anyway, I felt like today was an important day to come on. Whether or not I have exciting things going on worth writing about. Today is Erev Yom Kippur, the eve of the Day of Atonement, the day where our fate for the year is sealed. Not to be repetitive, but, I wanted to wish everyone out there an easy, yet meaningful, fast. May you all be inscribed for a year of good health, wealth, happiness, and joy that comes from family around you! May we all have only good news to share with one another, and not know of any sadness or sorrow. May all your previous goals be met and your new ones be attainable! In short, have a good one!

Everyone is in my thoughts and prayers. Enjoy dinner tomorrow night!! I know I will!

A Week of To-Dos

Not much to say today. Just a quick hello. Hi! Rosh Hashana was very nice, we were in Iowa City. The drive home was horrible. There was a huge accident and we were literally stopped on the 80 for about an hour. Thankfully, it was night and Benny was asleep. :)

Anyway, this week is 'clean the house, catch up on laundry, get everything ready to go away for the weekend, make sure we have what we need for succos, get ready for the New York trip' week. Also, when we got back to the apartment, the AC was not working. Waiting for Mr. Repairman to come, all the fans are on, night time is intense.

I hope everyone has an easy and meaningful fast this weekend. I hope the weather cools down a bit to make it easier. I hope everyone is blessed with health, wealth, and happiness for this year (and every year following, for that matter).

Thinking of everyone. Missing everyone.

Grease Overload

We are home from our two day vacation. We had an amazing time and it was worth the 'way too much' that we spent! We went out to eat, had fun at the hotel, went to IKEA (!!!), and the aquarium. Short as it may have been, it was exactly what was needed and I am glad we got to do it. With cool people too! We still like you Feeleys! Can't scare us that easily!! ;)

*Side note, Benny is rocking the potty training world. Requests left and right to go to the toilet. Even in the car! And he's actually waiting until we get to the toilet to do his thing! Time for a big prize shopping trip!!*

I am happy. My body, on the other hand, has not stopped yelling since our early dinner yesterday. Before you start judging, keep in mind that the last real restaurant meal we had was in, I don't even know. I honestly have to rack my brain trying to remember. Was it when we went to New York last December? Has it really been that long??? So, needless to say, we ordered a lot. And pretty much ate it all. Down to the very last french fry. Literally puked in the hotel room last night. Then, today for lunch, I more or less ate our pie of pizza, single handedly. Ok, I may be exaggerating, but unfortunately, not by much.

My new vacation goal. I will order salads. (Who am I kidding???)

Speaking of new vacations, finally booked the New York trip for me and Benny. You're probably wondering what I'm talking about. Sometimes things float around in my head and when I sit down to write, they disappear. This vacation is one of those things. We haven't seen my mother since the above mentioned New York trip. We were overdue. Talked about doing Succos there, but with classes to make it to, was not a viable option. So Benny and I are going the week after, for two weeks of pure Brooklyn fun! This mom is mucho excited to be going to see her mom! :)

And now, I will let you all in on a cool project my cousin is working on.
"TutoringHut.com is an interactive education website where tutors can connect with students of all ages, teach, and get paid online. The site is in its initial launch phase, and needs tutors!"
In my own words, this site is really cool and has so much potential! For anyone in the education business, this is a great tool to teach and tutor and make some money without having to go out of the house! For anyone on the receiving end of education, this is an amazing place to get help on those homework assignments that just won't do themselves! Check it out, sign up for a free account. Explore the world in front of you and learn new things! Anyone who wants to repost this or link to it, feel free! Let's help my cousin get this site to what it can really be!!! Thank you all in advance!

And now, I bid you adieu.

The Brain Really Works!!

An amazing thing happened last night. I saw the way Benny's mind really and truly works. And let me tell you, that thing is working! We sing alot, have special songs for many things, random songs for other times. In general, music is a constant in our life. Benny picks up very quickly on new songs and enjoys singing along and even by himself!

There is an old hebrew song about trains that even I used to sing it as a kid..."Hinei rakevet, he mistovevet, al galgalim al galgalim al galgalim, choo choo!" Free translation: "Here is a train, it is going around, on its wheels on its wheels on its wheels, choo choo!" I never said it was an award winner! Anyway, back to my story, last night Benny asked me for a fire truck song. I was stumped, don't know any fire truck songs off the top of my head. So I told him that, asked him if he knew any. He thought about it for a minute. He started singing the train song, but replaced 'rakevet' (hebrew for train) with fire truck, and replaced 'choo choo' with 'wee-oooo-wee-oooo'. In my eyes, that is big. That means he is completely comprehending how the song is working and how to adapt it to something else! Could just be my biased mother opinion but wow!

We have been having fun here. We hang out in PJs until it's time to go out. We haven't really been out too much, just picking up and dropping off Shuky occasionally, grocery shopping, a zoo trip, nothing too serious.
Still working on finding things to do but taking my time because I can.

And now for the most important news yet, we are finally going on a vacation!!! Yes, it's mini. Yes, it's kind of local. I DON'T CARE! We are going to a hotel in Minneapolis for a night with the Feeleys, going to the aquarium, going to get real restaurant food!! I'm even willing to deal with the rude Israeli 'tude that comes with the pizza in town!!

And now, I have plenty to do before we go to the Feeleys for Shabbos so over and out!