Dinner Revisited

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

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

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!

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

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

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!

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!