Happy New Year (Goodbye 2009)

Daddy and I have never spent New Year's Eve with our kids. Nana and Papa have kept them every year and the girls always have fun. This year the girls went with Nana and Papa to a hotel with a pool to stay the night. Sofie had her tube suit and Sam got to show everyone her swimming skills before dinner. They had a ball and loved it! We'll see if it becomes a tradition or not. Who knows, maybe next year we'll actually spend it with our kids!

Family times

Sunday was a day with both sides of our family. We enjoyed lunch with my brother and his wife Leana, her parents and Grammy. The girls loved running around the party room and the halls of Grammy's building! Then we headed to Nana and Papa's for dinner with Irving, Todd and Shelly. It was not planned that way and it was busy, but we were blessed to see everyone on the same day!

Maybe Sofia is ready?

After a wonderful dinner made by Daddy, Sofia grabbed my hand and said, "C'mon Mom, let's go. I have to poop." Eventually I went and put her on the toilet again. This time, after farting 4 times (yes, I counted) Sofia pooped. She smiled as if to say, "See Mom, I told you!" I don't know that we're ready for potty training, but maybe Sofia is.

As I write this, it's well after 9pm and the monster is still not sleeping. I'm not complaining because she's in her crib though!

Sofia ready for a world without diapers?

I don't think we're there yet, but I like that Sofia is showing interest in using the potty, at least more serious than our experience at Emma Krumbees earlier this year. She told me she had to poop so I took her diaper off and put her on the toilet. What does she do? Sofia promptly farted and proudly said, "There's poop in there!". I told her there was no poop in the toilet and that she had just farted. She thought for a moment and said, "The poop is not coming out of my butt! It is still in there!". So far Sofia has not achieved anything but gas in the toilet. There is no rush, at least not a bad one!


This is one of the cutest picture to date of Miss Sofia.

Just one kid

I took the afternoon off today. Samantha and Daddy came to pick me up for some parenting time with just one kid. We went out to lunch at Friday's (Sam's choice) and then headed to Pump It Up for some jumping and sliding. It was fun and I think Sam enjoyed being the only kid. We are so proud of her and the young lady she is!

Good girls

My girls are incredibly fun to hang out with. Today we got out of the house to give Daddy some downtime. We were fortunate enough to meet some friends to play with at Edinborough and go out for lunch. Tonight the girls and I donned our snow gear for a sled ride and making snow angels before dinner.

The next day Sam was very excited when it worked out that Nicki, Naamah and Kian joined us. She screamed, "Yay!" when I told her they were able to meet us. At the playground she accidentally ran over another girl's toe so I told her that she had to apologize to the girl, who was now screaming in pain and crying in her dad's arms. Sam asked me to come with when I offered, so off we went. Sam said that she was sorry to the girl. The dad said thank you, the girl stopped crying and about 10 minutes later both girls were running around playing happily together.

Sofia loved playing with everyone and on her own for a time. Her climbing skills are advanced, but she is a little tentative about slides. I will cherish the memory of her grabbing my hand and saying, "C'mon Mom... C'mon", is hilarious. It's crazy how fast she's growing up and her vocabulary is increasing daily. Sofia definitely has her opinions and will express them with mixed results. As trying as "being 2" can be, it's also incredible to witness.

Pulling two kids in a sled is much harder than just one so I got a good workout! Sam created her own sled track, tried to pull Sofie and had fun just jumping in the snow. Sofie loved being on the sled tracks especially on her belly. She said, "Do that again!", to my faster turns which I took as a good sign.

I've missed my girls lately so today was a fantastic day for me! I love them and feel eternally grateful to be their mom.

Samantha's Winter Program

Samantha wowed us with another wonderful performance in her preschool winter program. She approached her teacher weeks ago and asked if she would have a solo since she is such a good singer. Sam had multiple solos. She spoke and sang beautifully. Our eldest was completely comfortable on stage and showed no signs of shyness. Sam even helped keep the program going by helping kids with their lines and places! It was an entertaining evening!

Before the show Samantha and Sofia were able to play with some of their friends, Ella and Johanna (a.k.a. JoJo). I managed to get all the girls to hold still for a millisecond and here is the result.

Sofie and Johanna enjoyed some time on stage as well. They both seemed very comfortable up there!

Just keep swimming...

My baby passed another level in swimming this week. Samantha loves taking her lessons and is getting her swim skills down. Papa came to nearly every lesson which made both himself and Samantha very happy!

Happy Hanukkah!

Tonight we filled the menorah and enjoyed a meal with our Gorrilla friends. Oh, how we've missed them! It has been too long since we've seen them. Mazel tov to them on their growing family!

Hanukkah this year has been filled with gifts (though we didn't go overboard this year), lots of love and gratitude for all that we have. Daddy got a job which he'll start soon so we're covered in that area. In these times, that alone is a source of relief. We are all healthy, we are loved and we are blessed.

Happy Holidays!

Congratulations to Bill and Leana!

Bill and Leana are married! Congratulations to them and we wish them the best! They have been together for years, but now they are legal! We weren't there to witness it, but we got a picture. Bill even took his hat off for the wedding and Leana looked beautiful in her dress! You deserve all the happiness in the world!

Why do the kids get sick when we have plans?

This past weekend we had plans with friends, plans to go to synagogue and basically planned to not be at home much at all. I was looking forward to it (as we all were). So Saturday morning when I noticed that Sam's eyes were a bit swollen and recalled an email from her preschool about pink eye, I was very disappointed (again, as we all were). We thankfully got to the doctor right away in the morning and got the drops, but ended up quarantined in the house all weekend. It seems a little early in the season to be this stir crazy!

Whatever is unexpected will usually happen and what do you do? You deal with it. The lesson is the only thing that you can control is how you deal with it. Make it fun or make it miserable for yourself. We dealt with it by rearranging the living room to make a gigantic fort, decorating Hanukkah cookies, lots of reading and games. It turned out to be a very silly weekend!

Hmmm... life is messy, but it sure is good!

Fridays

It seems like life is getting crazier, but I'm loving it.

The pictures below illustrate what has become a Friday afternoon tradition of sorts. Since Sofie naps, she is full of energy and is happy cleaning the shower after scaring Grammy. Samantha doesn't nap and rarely makes it home without falling asleep.

By Friday night everyone is ready for Shabbat. We say the blessings, light the candles, eat dinner and relax. The candles are a visual reminder that the week is over and it's time to recharge.