Cheers to Me!

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!!!

Happy Two Years!

Today is Benny's second birthday. Which means my blog is over two years old. To those of you who've been here from the start, thanks for sticking around! To those of you who are a bit newer, welcome to the family!

Five years ago, if anyone would have told me I would be sitting in Nowheresville, Iowa, married with a two year old, at the age of 24, I would have had a laughing fit like never before.

Life has a funny little way of making beautiful things happen. Take every turn you are pushed down and make the most of it!

PS Shout out to the Feeley family in Des Moines for sharing some cool birthdays with us!

Have a good Shabbos! Hugs and kisses to all of you!

HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY BENNY!!!!

For Benny's second birthday, we planned a great afternoon of outdoor fun! We had a coloring station, a sidewalk chalk station, bubbles, plenty of toys, and the bounce house of course! I went with refreshments instead of a BBQ, figuring families would be doing their own things for dinner time! My cake was a huge slice of watermelon and was greatly loved by everyone!! I scattered toys and candies around the table instead of making goody bags, wanting each kid to be excited about the prizes they got to pick instead of possibly not liking what we would hand out!

Of course, about an hour before the party, it started raining outside -- everything had to come inside! We brought the little jumper in the house, cleared out the big dining room table and created a backyard inside. We used his little picnic table and one of his plastic sorting bins to create an indoor bubble station (time to mop my floors now!), put toy bugs all over the big table, and pulled out his train set as well! The kids had a blast, the moms got to sit inside and chat, no one wanted to go home! I would call it a successful indoor backyard party!!

Also, last week Friday, we took Benny for his two year old portraits, just wanted to share that link with everyone! In my unbiased opinion, they came out amazing ;)

As Time Goes By

It's been one year since I gave birth to my son. It's been over two years since I got married. It's been over three years since I decided to change my life around by dropping EVERYTHING and going to Israel.

Looking back on all that has happened these past few years, it makes you really think. Imagine if I hadn't decided I was sick of my life. I wouldn't have gone to Israel. I wouldn't have met Shuky. I wouldn't have Benny. We wouldn't have a beautiful family. I thank G-d every day that I realized enough was enough!

Benny is hilarious. I am going to tell you a few of the things he is doing now, to give you an idea of the character he's become. First of all, he is walking all over the place and I love the waddle that comes with it! He is a constant chatter-box; some understandable, most not. We have a distinctive 'Mommy', 'Tatty', 'a-da!' (which started out as dog and became all animals), 'ma-more' (I want more), and a few others. He points at everything he is playing with or passing boy and says 'dis' (this). He eats EVERYTHING and when I say everything, I mean our plates as well! He finally started sitting down to read books. And he plays so nicely on his own. He has also discovered what is inside his diaper, which makes me so happy (read this sentence with sarcasm please). As soon as we open his diaper to change it, his hands FLY down there to check it all out. Poop changes are extra special. It usually takes both me and Shuky...one of us holding his hands while the other changes him! He is obsessed with bath-time, has been since he was little actually. He will hear the bathtub start from another room and come running! He grunts and tries to climb in, he likes to check the temperature while it's filling the tub, just like he sees us do. Oh, and the cutest thing he does is brush his teeth with me every morning and night. He sits on the counter with his feet in the sink, holding his Snoopy toothbrush with his yummy toothpase and copies every move I make. I never thought I would enjoy brushing my teeth so much!!!

We took him for his one year old pictures on his birthday and they came out beautiful. I came home and pulled out his 4 week and 4 month shots to compare to now. He still has the same face but a bit chubbier and he just looks older. Obviously. But, still, it's interesting! I will try to put up some of the pictures soon. Our photographer, Brenda, was amazing; we usually get about 9 poses per sitting and this time, she was just like, "Oh, you can do as many as you'd like." Now, most of you may be thinking, 'Wow, she's so lucky!' Think back to your last photo session. Try to remember what it was like trying to decide which pictures to print without buying EVERYTHING. Nine pictures was always hard to choose from. Now, try to choose from THIRTY poses!!!!!!! I walked out with only two poses, could not decide which ones to do. And now, every day since the shoot, I've been looking over the online gallery, trying hard to decide!!! They stay up for 12 weeks so eventually, I should figure it out!

I would like to apologize for my lack of posts. We don't really have internet in the house and recently pulled the internet off my phone to cut back on expenses for a bit. I try to get on as often as possible, but obviously, not as often as I would like!

Have a good one!