Bringing up Ben & Becca

Caroline - 6 weeks old

2012-01-26T20:50:00.002-05:00

I wish daddy would wipe my chin after feeding me....

More Kitchen Pictures

2012-01-25T22:23:00.003-05:00

A little messy still. But you can see some of our new lighting fixtures. A "before" picture, also.

Before...

After...

Somewhat After

2012-01-25T16:30:00.002-05:00

Here is a shot in which you can see most of our new appliances, new paint color (previous was dark red which was not I repeat NOT a color we chose), and new cabinet hardware. The granite guy was just here measuring, and while I picked out a sink and a faucet and made a tentative granite choice, I could not commit without seeing a larger slab, so I think we will be taking a trip to the granite warehouse in the near future... You can not see our nifty new lighting fixtures in this shot, unfortunately. I'll try to get a separate shot of those after the sun goes down and I can get a good picture without too much glare through the kitchen windows...

Still working on the smiling thing

2012-01-25T13:36:00.001-05:00

Total Chaos Day 2

2012-01-25T11:19:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was beyond exhausting - I had gotten a poor night's sleep thanks to SOMEONE, and then found myself making 2 trips to Home Depot, a trip to Lowes and a trip to Wal-Mart in search of various things needed by the contractors... I had to return the ceiling fan/light I'd gotten for the great room because it wasn't the right type, had to find extra chain and wiring for the diningroom chandelier because there wasn't enough of it (this required trips to both Home Depot and Lowes because Home Depot did not have the right color), had to buy recessed lighting and then return recessed lighting in favor of alternate kitchen light fixtures after the contractor determined that it would be excessively expensive/ annoying to run new wiring in the kitchen to install the recessed lighting.... Caroline fortunately was an obliging errand partner and slept happily for much of the trips.

By the time the day was over yesterday I was exhausted and aching all over. Caroline fortunately had her longest stretch of sleep yet, from midnight to 5 am, which also has been my longest stretch of sleep since she was born :) I am still aching this morning, I guess I am kind of deconditioned from the whole c-section/lengthy recovery, and I have already had to return to Home Depot once this morning in search of screws for the drawer pulls we're putting in the kitchen, because the ones that came with them are too short. Hoping I will not have to make any other trips today.

Right now the kitchen lighting is getting finished up, the exterior of the house is being pressure washed, and there are still a few items left to do including staining our deck. We have our regular Wednesday house-cleaning crew coming this afternoon (I tried to reschedule them but they were booked for the rest of this week) as well as a guy to measure and give an estimate for granite counter tops in the kitchen, as well as our contractor neighbor who is coming over to (probably) finally put to bed the question of whether or not we can add a second story addition to this house (more than likely it would not be cost effective). So, another busy day continues...

Total Chaos

2012-01-24T12:41:00.002-05:00

We've started the work on the house to get it ready to go on the market. The kitchen, laundry room and 2 bathrooms are being painted, new light fixtures hung in the kitchen, breakfast area, dining area, and foyer, a new ceiling fan/light in the great room, hardware is being put on all the kitchen cabinets, and new stainless steel appliances (refrigerator, stove, dishwasher and microwave) are being installed. And that's just what's happening TODAY.

Caroline @5 weeks

2012-01-20T16:50:00.001-05:00

As If We Weren't Busy Enough

2012-01-19T11:17:00.002-05:00

As if there's not enough going on in this household, it looks like we'll be putting our house on the market. We LOVE our house, the location above all, we just need MORE SPACE!! We met with a realtor over the weekend and a contractor earlier this week, and have a professional stager coming over tonight. So far what we're hearing is good -- we got a very low estimate for doing a bunch of necessary repairs/ painting/ pressure washing / deck staining/ recessed lighting installation / etc, etc. Besides those repairs we're looking at installing granite countertops in the kitchen and getting stainless steel appliances and replacing a few light fixtures. The granite installation also is cheaper than we expected, and hopefully we can find a deal on the appliances as well. After doing all of this and staging properly (the main challenges there I think are going to be pretending we have no baby or dog, and turning my office back into the dining room its supposed to be) the realtor thinks we can actually sell the house for more than we bought it for back in '07... that would be pretty awesome. We're aiming to go on the market March 1... we'll see how this all unfolds!

This is Sucky

2012-01-19T09:45:00.003-05:00

I don't often post stuff about current events, but this one is awfully close to home.This murder occurred last Friday night at a restaurant that I have eaten at twice in the last couple of weeks, in a shopping center that I am at all the time (in fact I've been there twice since this happened). I have so many questions about how this could have happened - how could the restaurant have hired a guy who'd just gotten out of prison for armed robbery? How could the police not have known what address to go to? It is a very well known restaurant in a very well known shopping center, in this area. On a Friday night it would have been packed with people eating at restaurants, going to the movie theater there, etc - how does one murder someone and then drag her body out of the restaurant and dump it behind Chik-Fil-A with no one noticing? Such a tragedy.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/01/19/2938226/charge-coming-in-fetus-death.html

An MLK Day Lesson From a 4 Year Old

2012-01-18T11:28:00.002-05:00

Yesterday Rebecca came home from preschool and told me about the King ("Not God, just a King") who had a dream that black people and white people could play together. "And then he got shot," she added. I redirected her slightly, reminding her that because of Martin Luther King, the dream eventually came true and now black people and white people can play together. She then began listing the names and skin colors of all of her friends -- unfortunately all white, so doing nothing to prove me correct.

Dentists & Doctors

2012-01-17T14:21:00.002-05:00

Today was my first day back on Rebecca preschool drop-off duty. Joel is continuing for now to get up with Ben at 6:15 and get him to the bus stop at 7, but I'm now getting Rebecca up and off to preschool, and doing the afternoon pickup again.

I made this first morning particularly difficult for myself by having a dentist appointment scheduled for Rebecca at 8, and Caroline's 1 month checkup scheduled at 9. Caroline made this even more difficult for me by waking up for her 3:30 am feeding and deciding that instead of going back to sleep afterwards, she would fuss for two hours instead.

So in a haze of exhaustion I managed to get Rebecca and the baby out the door a couple minutes before 8 (fortunately the dentist and doctor are both 2 minutes away), though admittedly the only breakfast we had time for was goldfish crackers.

Rebecca does not like the dentist even a little, though she made a show of enthusiastically going back for her cleaning, and returning to the waiting room beaming and exuberant, though in between I could hear her screaming and crying. On very little sleep, listening to your daughter being tortured in the next room is hardly tolerable. Fortunately they managed to get the cleaning finished and she does not have any cavities, so I suppose it was relatively successful.

After the dentist we walked a couple of doors down to the pediatrician, where Rebecca was very very happy that it was Caroline's turn to get tortured and not hers. Caroline seems to be following closely in her brother's footsteps in terms of the growth curve, weighing in at 11 pounds 9 oz, and 23 inches long. This puts her above the 97th percentile for height, and right at about the 95th percentile for weight.

The one concern the pediatrician has is that she is favoring one side of her head, and is starting to get a flat spot. So our job for the next month is to get her to keep her head turned the other way as much as possible so she doesn't end up needing a helmet! So I am now making her turn her head to the left when she eats, and trying to turn her head to the side when she is sleeping, etc. Fun. She got one shot today, her second hepatitis B vaccine, which she did not enjoy.

I finally got Rebecca dropped off at preschool around 10, stopped at the grocery store, then went home and fell asleep for 2 hours, which Caroline obligingly allowed. (It was Clara who finally woke me up).

Caroline, please start sleeping better at night so we can make the morning routine a little easier for Mommy!!

Princess Shoes

2012-01-15T13:20:00.002-05:00

Rebecca has been asking for "princess shoes" for weeks now so finally yesterday I took her to the Disney store and let her pick out a pair. She has been wearing them everywhere since - even on the basketball court....

Is This a Smile?

2012-01-15T11:45:00.002-05:00

One Month Old Today

2012-01-15T11:36:00.002-05:00

Football Obsessed

2012-01-13T20:03:00.001-05:00

Not sure how it happened but Ben has become totally obsessed with football! He is turning into a walking encyclopedia of football stats.

Sleep Deprived

2012-01-13T16:28:00.002-05:00

Caroline does this thing where she stays awake for way too long and then can't fall asleep. Wednesday was particularly bad, she was awake from about 7pm until after 1 am. By that time, let me tell you, Mommy was very cranky! I was considering driving her around in the car for a while, but I was so tired, I thought I might crash ;) The next day I went to BuyBuy Baby (like this store better than Babies R Us) and got the Boppy pillow pictured below as well as an infant carrier so I can carry her around against my chest, which she enoys/helps her to fall asleep. I also bought some extra pacifiers since whenever our cat sees one, he steals it and bites the nipple off. Weird cat.

Anyway, the last day or so has been a lot better, especially with the Boppy pillow which she enjoys sleeping on since I guess it feels to her like someone is holding her. In fact she's been sleeping on it for about the last 3 hours now. My theory is that if she naps better during the day, she'll sleep better at night also. I hope.

Caroline @ 4 weeks

2012-01-12T13:48:00.001-05:00

Forms, Forms, Forms

2012-01-11T14:07:00.002-05:00

It's that time of year again - tons of paperwork to fill out and registration deposits to make for summer camp for both kids, preschool next year for Rebecca, and now day care arrangements to think about for Caroline for when I go back to work in March, and even doggy day care for Clara!

Rebecca's situation is slightly aggravating because she misses the cut-off for starting Kindergarten in the fall by 25 days. So we assumed that she'd be able to register for Pre-K for next year, only to find out when the forms were sent home that the policy for Pre-K is that children must have completed a four-year-old preschool program. Although Rebecca turned 4 in September, due to the same cut-off issues, she's in a 3 year old preschool program this year. Joel spoke to our preschool's director and I filled out the application form for pre-K, but we're not optimistic that they will bend the rules to let her into that class. Joel and I would both strongly prefer that she be in the pre-K class next year and not the four year old class, since she'll be turning 5 in September and we wanted the extra year of preschool to have a more academic focus. We're paying 12 grand for it, we have that right don't we? It seems silly that she missed the cut-off to start Kindergarten by 25 days, and yet the preschool director says she is also too young to do pre-K? Grrrr.... anyway, we left it that the director will let her in if there's space available and if her current teachers agree she is ready for it. However she may have just said that so Joel would leave her alone :P We'll find out...

I have also visited a couple of day cares in the immediate vicinity, trying to decide where to put Caroline when I go back to work, since she won't be able to start at CJP until she is a year and a half old. The day care I sent Rebecca to as an infant has openings, but I was sort of lukewarm about them - nothing wrong with the place that I can put my finger on precisely, but a lot of staff turnover and some staff whose English is far less than fluent, etc.... Several people have recommended another day care, Lambs of Grace, to me, which I visited yesterday. It's run by Grace Lutheran Church across the street. It has the advantage of being cheaper than the other place, everyone I met spoke English :) and everyone I met had been there for at least a couple of years. I'm not sure what exactly is involved with the Lutheran connection, though I imagine when she switches to CJP at one and a half she won't have become too Jesus-loving yet by then ;) I have to put her on the wait-list for their infant room, and have not reviewed the application materials with Joel yet, but I think that is the direction we are leaning in.

Not to be left out of the action, Clara has an interview at a doggy day care on Saturday morning. It's a service that comes to the house and picks up your dog and takes them to a farm about an hour from here, then brings them back at the end of the day. Joel is driving her out there Saturday morning for this "interview". We are thinking of sending her maybe once a week, or once every other week. Before accepting her, they need to observe how she interacts with other dogs to make sure she is well-behaved.

In other non-day care related news, we have a realtor coming over tonight who specializes in selling homes in our development. I imagine her news will be that we cannot hope to sell our house for enough money to break even, but we'll see... will update later about that!

And now.... baby's crying.

Weekend Update

2012-01-08T10:22:00.002-05:00

I spent the day Friday doing errands and probably overdid it a little because I was really tired and sore by the end of the day. I went to Target for some groceries (diapers, wipes, formula, etc) and also got a new GPS charger/ USB connector while I was there. Then I came home and finally updated the maps on my GPS (bit the bullet and bought the lifetime updates for $90). The whole process of downloading the map updates was not difficult, but time consuming, so I did some laundry while that was going on, and finally 2 hours later everything was finished updating.

Then I headed out to find the one boutique in Charlotte that sells the high-end dog food we've somehow ended up feeding our dog, though I understand there's a home-delivery service that is a little cheaper (and more convenient) so we will switch to using that after the 30 pound / $65 bag of dog food I bought runs out.... She really loves this dog food - duck and sweet potato flavor. I mean heck, I would almost eat that... Unfortunately I am not allowed to lift anything approaching a 30 pound bag of dog food yet, so I had to ask the only person working in the shop to carry it out to the car for me, and unfortunately this turned out to be a 60 year old woman who probably had to file a workman's comp claim after I made her get out a step ladder to haul the bag down from the top shelf and then carry it to the car for me.... but it's not my fault she apparently doesn't have a stock boy....

Yesterday (Saturday) we had super awesome weather, probably approaching 70 degrees though I did not actually check the temperature to confirm that. I took all 3 kids to Manhattan Bagel for breakfast so that Joel could get some work done on a research paper, and then we spent a long time out in the back yard - the baby and I sitting on the deck and Joel and the kids and the dog all had a good time playing catch / fetch. Clara has been so much better with the kids in the last week or two. Much calmer.

Anyway after playing outside for quite a while it was time for Ben's basketball practice, which we all went to together (his first game is today at 2). Like last year, he's a head taller than all his teammates except for one kid who is about his same height or a little shorter. After the basketball practice we came back home to change and then went over to our friends' house where the kids played outside for another hour or so before we all went out for pizza and then Pinkberry together. Like us they have 3 kids now (3 boys age 8, 5 and almost 4 months) so it was our first time with all 10 of us going out to dinner together, and I must say it was not any more chaotic than when we used to go out with them when there were just 8 of us... of course, the babies just sleep right now :)

When we got home Ben and Joel watched some of the Saints/Lions game and Rebecca fell asleep on our bed in her pjs and a bandana tied around her head like a pirate. It was super cute. She was out cold. I had the baby asleep in my lap, or else I would have tried to get a picture!

A good weekend so far.

Caroline @ 3 weeks

2012-01-05T15:54:00.001-05:00

Caroline is 3 Weeks Old Today & Other Random Updates

2012-01-05T09:44:00.003-05:00

This has been a really long 3 weeks. But I think finally I am starting to feel a little better. I started driving again yesterday -- just went out for about an hour to get some lunch/do an errand, but it was nice to get out. Today I have a lunch date with a friend, and am contemplating attempting an errand as well (taking my phone to the Verizon store, because it has not been receiving text messages in almost a week).

Joel has been doing all the kid-schlepping and dinner cooking, and I am slowly starting to be able to do some chores like dishes, laundry and errands, and helping with bedtimes again. It's just been a much slower recovery from the c-section than I expected, combined with major breastfeeding issues so that I've reluctantly decided to give up breastfeeding, because I cannot deal with sharp stabbing pains 24 hours a day (yes it hurts even when she is not nursing). So I am just pumping a couple times a day now to gradually decrease the milk supply.

Clara (yes we still have a dog, though she has not gotten very much attention lately at least not from me) turns 4 months old today - happy 4 month birthday Clara! Clara went to the vet yesterday for her final round of puppy shots, and as you may recall at her last vet appointment she got out of her seat belt harness and chewed through my GPS charger. Well yesterday Joel took her to the vet himself, and on the way home she got out of her seatbelt harness (definitely we are not doing something correctly with that) and tried to crawl underneath the driver's seat. Joel called me in a panic half way home to report that she was completely stuck underneath his seat and he could not get her out. After confirming that she was still breathing, I told him to drive the rest of the way home. Once he got here, I observed poor Clara with her nose sticking out from under the front of the driver's seat and her butt sticking out the rear, very firmly stuck. I instructed Joel to pull on her hindquarters while I pushed her head back gently through where it had gotten stuck, and we managed to get her out in just a minute. Definitely a two-person job though. She was not any worse for wear, fortunately.

Caroline (as mentioned 3 weeks old today) weighed in at 9 1/2 pounds on Monday, having gained a pound and a half since her discharge from the hospital, so I can only imagine that by her 1 month checkup on the 17th she'll be well over 10 pounds. She also seems to be very long, so I have a feeling we'll be saying goodbye to the 0-3 month clothes pretty soon already!!! She seems to be taking after her brother. She is a very content baby, as long as she is well-fed, well-fed meaning as long as she eats 4 ounces every 2 1/2 - 3 hours. Last night I tried giving her 5 ounces, which she happily ate, no spitting up mind you, and she slept for 4 hours after that. That's been her longest stretch of sleep in quite a while. So we may be going to 5 ounce feeds soon. That sounds like way too much, but oh well....

Those are all my updates. Ben and Becca are doing well and surprisingly seem rather unaffected by all the changes in the house lately. Ben starts basketball practices and games this weekend, so looking forward to that and just getting back into a decent routine now that we are a family of 5!

Thanks for the Fruit

2012-01-04T19:16:00.001-05:00

That's a heck of a lot of fruit and nutella. Thanks Dad! (Definitely see a bath in the kids' future tonight).

Caroline Gets a Bath

2012-01-03T22:08:00.001-05:00

Caroline Rose - 2 weeks old

2011-12-30T14:50:00.001-05:00

Doctor Appointments

2011-12-28T10:44:00.002-05:00

Yesterday Mom drove Caroline and I to her weight check appointment, where the doctor verified that she is still gaining weight nicely -- up to 8 lbs 11 oz, from 8 lbs 3 oz a week ago. She also has grown 3/4 of an inch already! I wonder if she is going to be a tall one like Ben?? Her next appointment is her one month checkup, not until January 17. (That seems really far away right now, but I'm sure it will be here before I know it).

After that appointment, we went to an appointment with a lactation consultant, who was so horrified at my chewed-up nipples that she wouldn't even attempt to let Caroline nurse, instead saying I need to continue pumping/ supplementing with formula until Friday or Monday, at which point once I am all healed I can come back in and we will work on the whole latch thing, which apparently Caroline has been doing horribly wrong.

So, I am fine with that. Especially considering that she is starting to take 4 ounces per feeding, and last night she ate a total of 12 ounces between 7pm and 11pm, and there is no way on Earth I could have supplied that much milk, sore boobs or not! (After that binge, she slept for 5 hours straight, but of course I could not take advantage of the rest myself since I am on a 3 hour around the clock pumping schedule ... boo...)

Today I am feeling a bit better and planning to venture out with Mom for a couple errands/ lunch -- my first time going out for something other than a doctor appointment since I came home from the hospital!! Yay me!!

What's New

2011-12-26T18:54:00.003-05:00

Sorry for the lack of blogging the last few days. Joel returned to work on Saturday to cover the inpatient service over the Christmas holiday. We called in some favors from friends and family to help with Ben and Rebecca, since I am still feeling less than stellar. The kids spent Saturday morning at the home of some friends, Sunday out with nanny and papa to see a movie and go to lunch, and today Ben had camp and Rebecca was babysat by her favorite teacher Lindsay, and arrived home moments before my Mom arrived. Mom is staying until Friday, and I had BETTER BE FEELING BETTER BY THEN!

The c-section recovery is still going slowly, but has taken a back-seat to breast-feeding issues, among them a burning pain that the doctor now thinks may be a yeast infection of the milk ducts, so I am now on medicine for that, as well as instructions to pump and bottle feed instead of direct breast feeding for the time being, to ease the pain. Since I am only about to get about 2 ounces out at a time with the pump, I've been mixing an ounce of formula to bring the total amount to 3 ounces every 3 hours. This seems to make Caroline a lot happier, she spends a lot more time sleeping and is a lot less fussy than she has been the last couple of days.

Having not left the house since coming home from the hospital, my goal is to be up and about by the end of the week!!

Chanukah Night 3

2011-12-22T20:45:00.001-05:00

Night 3 of Chanukah was largely courtesy of Uncle Mike and Aunt Kathleen, who sent each of the kids a pile of presents. Ben received some Eagles merchandise including the jersey pictured above, and Rebecca received several Princess-themed items, as well as a bunch of lip balms, which she was very happy to see. Caroline even got in on the action, getting some adorable baby clothes. Thanks guys!!

The kids opened their presents early and then Joel dropped them off at a friend's house where they'd been invited for a strategically-timed dinner / playdate. Meanwhile, our neighbors brought over a delicious dinner of lasagna, salad, bread and cinnamon rolls. So Joel and I had a yummy PEACEFUL dinner which Caroline thoughtfully slept through. The kids are on their way home from their play date now, and hopefully going straight to bed... so a relaxing evening for Mom and Dad!

Chanukah Night 2

2011-12-21T19:08:00.001-05:00

The kids got their "big" presents from us tonight, iPods. Becca took hers and started playing a Dora game right away, dispelling any concern that she might be too young for it. We loaded them with games and music we thought they'd each like before we gave it to them.

Peaceful

2011-12-21T17:50:00.001-05:00

Our newest family member sleeping peacefully :)

Push Present

2011-12-21T17:44:00.001-05:00

Props to Joel for picking out this pretty blue topaz ring for my "push present" (scalpel present?) It is Caroline's birth stone, and I think it is really, really pretty!

Chanukah Video

2011-12-21T17:04:00.000-05:00

Chanukah 2011

2011-12-21T12:02:00.002-05:00

Nanny and Papa brought over an awesome Chanukah spread last night... suffice it to say that under the current circumstances our first night of Chanukah would have consisted of chicken nuggets and tater tots, otherwise ;) The kids were delighted and spoiled by multiple gifts from Nanny and Papa! Thanks so much guys, you are awesome!! Below are some pictures, I have a video also if I can manage to get it uploaded...

Caroline in Pictures

2011-12-20T21:16:00.003-05:00

Home with Caroline

2011-12-20T20:14:00.002-05:00

Thanks for being patient with me in the blogging department ;) Caroline and I came home from the hospital on Sunday, and the last couple of days have been a blur of narcotics and sleep-deprivation ;) The c-section recovery is slow, and I am trying to breast-feed through massively engorged boobs which really at this point is bothering me more than the c-section pain. Joel has been great, taking care of the kids, dog, laundry, food shopping etc etc while i do things like try to poop for the first time in six days, breastfeed with boobs the size of watermelons, and watch endless hours of Investgation Discovery Channel with a newborn on my lap while wearing nothing but a large undershirt of Joel's because not a single piece of my own clothing will fit over my watermelon boobs.

Caroline is awesome, totally adorable and often blissfully peaceful, with a face that reminds me SO MUCH of Ben when he was a baby except I think if anything Caroline's complexion may even be darker than his.

Ben and Rebecca have been keeping busy with winter break camp/preschool, some well-timed dinner invitations / birthday parties, and Chanukah, which starts tonight. As a result I haven't gotten to see them much, but they seem to be adjusting pretty well so far and getting lots of attention (just not from me :)

Pictures of Caroline, and of the first night of Chanukah, coming up soon...

Meeting Caroline

2011-12-17T18:22:00.001-05:00

Introducing Caroline Rose

2011-12-15T14:35:00.001-05:00

Again defying mommy's expectations by being a) a girl and b) over a pound heavier than either of my other two kids at birth.... 8 pounds 14 ounces!!!! Welcome, Caroline, we are so happy to meet you!

To-Do List Revisted

2011-12-13T12:30:00.002-05:00

~~1. put together / organize baby stuff / move furniture around~~

~~2. get oil changed / tire pressure checked (WAY over due)~~

~~3. do all the Hanukkah shopping~~ (partially completed - will finish tomorrow)

~~4. get my hair done~~

5. buy new car charger for GPS (have not managed to do this yet)

6~~. schedule~~/attend conference with Ben’s teacher (scheduled for tomorrow)

7. pick my sister up from the airport (tomorrow)

~~8. write out instructions for babysitter/ dog sitter~~

~~9. take Ben to the dentist~~ (will be done as of later this afternoon)

~~10. Pack hospital bag~~

11. HAVE A BABY

Baby Prep

2011-12-12T07:33:00.002-05:00

The weekend activities included a large amount of baby prep that was assisted by Joel (putting together bassinet, baby swing, bringing Rebecca's old baby dresser/changing station down from an upstairs closet, etc) and my mother in law (who took me shopping for remaining baby items - diapers, wipes, diaper genie, diaper bag etc - THANK YOU!). Somewhere in there I also got my hair done, went out to dinner with friends, bought Ben a winter coat, picked up a few things at the grocery store, and did some laundry. Joel and his dad took Ben to his first NFL game yesterday - Panthers v. Falcons - which Ben thoroughly enjoyed.

On the to-do list for today (my first official day of maternity leave) is to get my car's oil changed and pick up a couple of the kids' smaller Hannukah gifts. I'm trying to take it easy, though Joel I think would prefer I spontaneously go into labor instead of waiting till Thursday, so he can skip his last couple days of work before his scheduled time off ;)

Clara - 3 months

2011-12-10T15:48:00.001-05:00

Wait a Minute.....

2011-12-10T14:22:00.001-05:00

Is someone having a baby or something?!

38 Week OB Appointment / Last Day of Work

2011-12-09T09:27:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I had my 38 week OB appointment. The only significant part of the visit was that I had to bring Ben with me, because I wasn't able to schedule this visit for while he was at school. Without thinking too much about it I bought him a brownie and a hot chocolate at the Starbucks inside the medical center building on our way up to my appointment, and then realized I had a very goofy, sugared-up 7 year old to deal with in a gynecologist's office. He was far too observant of his surroundings in the exam room ("What's this light for? This is a funny place to have a light... Hey is this to look at your privates with?!") and just generally extremely hyper. Fortunately the doctor opted not to check my cervix, much to Ben's dismay (even though I told him he might have to wait outside in the hall for part of the visit he still thought this was hysterically funny even though I did not tell him exactly why he might have to wait outside - he had enough of an idea I guess to dissolve into hysterical fits of laughter). Aside from Ben's company, the visit (my last before D-Day or should I say B-Day I guess) was uneventful.

Today is my last day of work until March 19, though I am trying not too be too excited about it, considering that I know from past experience that most of it will go by in a sleep-deprived blur ;)

To Do List

2011-12-08T12:11:00.004-05:00

So far the to-do list for the next week includes:

1. put together / organize baby stuff / move furniture around

2. get oil changed / tire pressure checked (WAY over due)

3. do all the Hanukkah shopping

4. get my hair done

5. buy new car charger for GPS

6. schedule/attend conference with Ben's teacher

7. pick my sister up from the airport

8. write out instructions for babysitter/ dog sitter

9. take Ben to the dentist

10. Pack hospital bag

11. HAVE A BABY

Am I forgetting anything? I feel like I might be forgetting something. In addition to the "to do list" above, the next few days include a lunch date, a dinner date/play date, Joel and Ben are going to the Panthers game on Sunday, Hebrew school for Ben, etc.... AAAHHHHH!!!!!

Updates

2011-12-07T09:03:00.002-05:00

Clara's vet appointment - this went fine - Clara weighs 21 pounds now and got her 3rd (and next to last) installment of puppy shots - the only problem was the harness I had bought to transport her in the car... I guess I put it a little too loose because as I was driving home from the vet she somehow slipped out of it. There wasn't much I could do about it, since I was driving, and I *thought* she was not getting into any trouble, but when I got home I realized that she had been quietly chewing through the charger for my GPS during the car ride : ( So add something to next week's to-do list- buy new GPS car charger.

Refinance - we managed to close on our refinance yesterday afternoon. There was a slight scramble because no one told us that we weren't supposed to pay December's mortgage, so we needed to scramble yesterday morning to make sure the lawyer could get the updated payoff amount /redo the settlement statement in time for the closing. The other slight issue was that the lawyer had scheduled us to close at 4pm yesterday but until I called yesterday morning about the payoff amount, no one had bothered to tell us that closing was actually scheduled, much less for that afternoon. Fortunately Joel and I were both able to get there, though we had to bring Ben with us since he doesn't go to J Team on Tuesday afternoons. Ben was very impressed with the lawyer's office, primarily because the lobby contained a coffee vending machine that also dispensed hot chocolate. So Ben treated himself to two cups of hot chocolate and played his DS while remarking that he wished Daddy were a lawyer so he could have a coffee machine at his office too.

Joel and I closed on a 7/1 ARM at 3.25 percent, the beauty of which is that a) it lowers our monthly mortgage payment by over $700 a month and b) even after the rate is allowed to adjust 7 years from now, by the time it would be able to hit its cap of 8.25% the payment then would STILL BE LESS than what we were paying before (because we paid down the mortgage a little bit with this refinance and also since we'll be paying more principal with the lower interest rate, 7 years from now the payment on 8.25% of the remaining principal would still be less than what we were paying on 6.5% previously). It will only take us 5 months to break even on the closing costs, so the only question we have been asking ourselves is why didn't we do this sooner??? Also, the timing allows us to skip January's mortgage payment, which is cool because I'll be on maternity leave, so the decreased expenses that month will be appreciated.

However, Ben did not find any of this exciting, only the coffee machine.

Last Week of Work

2011-12-06T06:43:00.002-05:00

For a while, anyway (until March 19). Among the things I am attempting to juggle this week (in addition to finishing up work stuff while going on 38 weeks pregnant) are a vet appointment for Clara, and OB appointment for me (which looks like I'll have to bring Ben to because of the scheduling), Bagels & Blocks at Rebecca's school, and trying to get everything finished/scheduled to close on our home refinance sometime this week. Wish me luck :)

Pretty Haircut

2011-12-04T12:17:00.002-05:00

Usurped

2011-12-02T08:47:00.001-05:00

This is what I found when I came to bed last night...

37 Weeks - Let the Countdown Begin!

2011-11-30T11:33:00.002-05:00

I had my 37 week OB visit this morning, which was entirely uneventful. My chief complaint at this point is my right ankle, which has always been rather weak and the added stress on it of pregnancy/swollen feet has made my ankle swollen and sore so that even if I stay off it as much as possible (meaning not very much considering the obligations of taking care of the kids & dog, laundry, dishes, cooking dinner, etc) it still ends up swollen and painful by the end of each day. Otherwise I am experiencing less back pain, less hand/wrist issues, and less sleep problems (knock on wood) than in either of my previous pregnancies. Hopefully it will also help that this pregnancy will be almost a week shorter than with Rebecca, and 2 weeks shorter than with Ben. Having a scheduled C-section at exactly 39 weeks does have its advantages in that respect.

Countdown to Dec. 15 and the arrival of Ben and Becca's little brother or sister begins... NOW! ;)

Puppy Training

2011-11-28T10:14:00.004-05:00

We had a marathon four hour session yesterday morning with a dog trainer who came here to the house to work with us and Clara. Although we thought we only needed help with a few things (chasing/nipping the kids, barking etc) apparently we needed to take the entire puppy training experience back to the drawing board.

The dog trainer, Christy, told us we are not using her crate nearly enough (only using it at night and when we go out) and that when she's not in her crate a puppy her age needs to be restricted either to a leash or confined in a small area like the kitchen. We baby gated off the kitchen while she was here, and received much instruction on dog/human body language, tools for correcting bad behavior, a whole new schedule of eating/pottying that now involves us taking her out to potty on a leash and giving her 5 minutes in one spot to do her business before coming back inside. Also she only has 10 minutes (timed on the microwave timer) to eat her food now.

Apparently in addition to just letting her roam around way too freely and roam the back yard to go to the bathroom (or not as the case may be) without supervision, we have been teaching her to bark whenever she wants something, and have no idea if she's gone to the bathroom recently or not so can't tell if her whining/barking is potty related or just attention-seeking.

The good news is that she seems to be inherently a very submissive dog, and her bad behavior is easy to correct. We just need to be consistent and stick with the new routine and the new rules, which include new rules for the kids as well - no sitting on the floor with the dog, no unsupervised play with the dog, only Joel and I are allowed to let her in/out of the crate and take her outside to potty, etc.

We have a couple more sessions with Christy, finishing off with leash training in early January, and after that we have a lifetime guarantee so that if we ever have a behavior problem with Clara, Christy will come back for free to help us correct it.

A Few (Very Few) Pics from Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-28T10:06:00.004-05:00

We had a great Thanksgiving with family and friends, though I neglected to take many pictures and completely forgot to take a picture of the turkey before it was carved. Oops. A special thanks to Kathleen for coordinating most of the cooking!! I definitely could not have done it in my current state ;) Happy to report that I still have plenty of leftovers :) Though I did finish off the pies this morning.

Birthday Celebration

2011-11-28T09:48:00.001-05:00

Our Thanksgiving week visit from Uncle Mike and Aunt Kathleen included a birthday celebration for Uncle Mike at Cow Fish restaurant. Happy birthday Mike!

My Adorable Indian & Her Thanksgiving Turkey

2011-11-23T15:09:00.002-05:00

Official Potato Taster

2011-11-23T12:28:00.002-05:00

Stirring the Turkey Brine

2011-11-23T12:17:00.002-05:00

Nacho Cheese

2011-11-21T10:14:00.002-05:00

Ben and Joel had an outing with J Tribes to a minor league hockey game yesterday afternoon, where Ben thoroughly enjoyed himself and completely ruined his appetite for dinner.

Date Night

2011-11-20T10:13:00.003-05:00

Joel and I went out last night for what very well might be our last "date night" before the impending arrival of baby #3... we had dinner at Blue Taj followed by a movie (Tower Heist). A big thanks to Julie and John for babysitting not only our two legged kids, but our four legged one as well ;)

Need Coffee

2011-11-18T08:44:00.003-05:00

I'd like to thank whoever's idea it was to have the chess club meet at 7am on Friday mornings (and my son for insisting on going), necessitating an even earlier start to my already early day :P And now I'm going to go get some coffee.

Smart puppy!

2011-11-17T19:36:00.000-05:00

Loophole Baby

2011-11-17T18:16:00.003-05:00

It seems as though baby #3 is our "loophole baby" - benefits-wise, that is. Since the birth of a baby is a qualifying event to be able to add funds to a medical flexible spending account, but it can't be done before the baby is born, and the baby is being born (presumably) after Joel gets his last 2011 pay check on December 1 but before 2012, and the funds are not allowed to be taken out of 2012 pay, we get a free baby. What? Yes that's confusing. But apparently, the $2,000 or so that we were expecting to pay out of pocket for the C section/ hospital stay is going to be fully covered because of this odd loophole wherein Joel is entitled to elect the extra funds for the flexible spending account but his employer has no legal way to be able to accomodate. So.... FREE BABY!

35 Weeks, and Rebecca's Parent-Teacher Conference

2011-11-16T19:23:00.004-05:00

This morning I had my 35 week OB appointment, everything sailing along quite smoothly so far... I start going once a week starting next week, and I am officially beginning the countdown to the arrival of Kaplan #3 ... 4 weeks from tomorrow!

After the OB appointment I had Rebecca's parent-teacher conference at her school, the highlights of which are that she's "at the top of her class", loves to be the leader/ be in front of the class, gets along well with the other kids who all seem to look up to her, does great in gym class where she's often called on to demonstrate skills in front of the group, is learning to recognize and to write her letters/numbers/ starting to learn what letters make what sounds, is notably left handed, and generally is thriving. We discussed her "forceful personality" (little bit of a euphemism there I think) but really her teacher did not have any concerns, and thinks she will excel in pre-K next year. Apparently Rebecca does a much better job listening/behaving at school than she does at home :P Way to go Becca!

Ben School Picture, Fall 2011

2011-11-16T19:14:00.003-05:00

I have learned by now not to order prints without seeing the proofs first. Though, this one is pretty cute. Relatively speaking.

Another Monday of Random Updates

2011-11-14T10:29:00.003-05:00

I guess I have been a little remiss in the blogging department lately, so here are a few updates:

It's been a busy weekend, Ben had off Friday for Veteran's Day and he spent the afternoon/night at his friend Jared's birthday party/sleepover. They played laser tag at Sports Connection, went out to dinner, played video games and (apparently) stayed up until midnight and were up by 7am the next morning. He seemed to have had a good time though and did not seem particularly worse for wear.

Saturday afternoon was my baby shower, which my friend Joanna organized for me, with lunch at a Chinese restaurant, cake and presents. It was a lot of fun - a big thank you to Joanna and to everyone who was able to make it!! You guys are great!

Yesterday was another hectic day, with Joel working, Ben having Hebrew school, a lunch date with one of Becca's friends, another play date for Ben with Jared at our house this time (so his parents could go car shopping in relative peace), Eagles football with Papa, and a late dinner of Chinese takeout after Joel finally managed to get the grocery shopping finished and bring Chinese food home @ almost 7. Also in there somewhere I did laundry, dishes, and made cinnamon rolls. I was POOPED by the end of the day. I think I was asleep by 9.

Clara went for her second round of shots this morning, and I am sorry to admit that since I have not bought her a seatbelt harness or otherwise figured out how to transport a dog to the vet by myself, I ended up doing some major improvising and shoving her into Ulysses' cat carrier. Which she did NOT appreciate at all (and I am sure that's the last time she'll remotely fit into there). I am going to go today at lunch time and get a seatbelt harness for her or something! She is up to 14 pounds now - she was 9 or 10 pounds at her first vet appointment 3 weeks ago, and the vet said she'll probably be up to 20 pounds by her next appointment 3 weeks from now! Holy crap, puppies grow fast! She slept through the night last night, and is down to the rate of about 1 accident in the house a week at this point... which hopefully is an ever decreasing frequency!

Gearing up for Thanksgiving next week! Uncle Mike and Aunt Kathleen are flying in Monday night and happily, Monday is the only day I am working next week. YEAH! Besides Joel's parents and Uncle Mike and Aunt Kathleen, we are also hosting our friends Melanie and Jeff and their daughter (Becca's BFF Amelia) for the second year in a row. I'll be 36 weeks pregnant as of Thanksgiving day, so hopefully all the fun and excitement won't send me into early labor :)

Which of these do you like best?

2011-11-08T09:43:00.005-05:00

These are a few of Rebecca's fall portrait proofs. As usual, I think the photographer they use does a terrific job. I am leaning towards the bottom one as my favorite. Help me decide! Email me if you want the link to view the rest of the proofs.

Daylight Savings

2011-11-07T09:52:00.002-05:00

I did not bother to turn the clocks back an hour until after we woke up yesterday morning - less psychologically painful that way, when the dog starts whining to be let out of her crate at 6:30 (5:30).

So yesterday morning Ben ambles downstairs in his pajamas at what he thinks is a few minutes after 8 and announces, "Looks like I overslept... I guess I am going to have to skip Hebrew school!" The confused/sheepish look on his face was priceless when I patted him on the cheek and told him it was actually only 7 o'clock, and he had plenty of time to make it to Hebrew school on time.

This morning he was confused again, wondering why it was light out already at 7 am as we were walking to the bus stop. So again I explained the time change to him, to which he stopped dead in his tracks and said, "Wait - it's really 8 o'clock? Did I miss the bus?"

Ironically, he seemed to have a much better understanding of the plot of Back to the Future, which we watched together the other night, than he does of the simple time change :)

CureSearch walk at Freedom Park

2011-11-05T10:02:00.001-04:00

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Random Updates

2011-11-04T08:41:00.002-04:00

Clara - Barked at the back door this morning when she needed to go out to poop. Seems to be responding to "NO!" as in when she picked up my flip flop and I told her NO, she dropped it and picked up one of her toys instead. Pretty consistent with listening to NO from me and Joel. Smart girl!

Ben - Lost his second baby tooth last night. Unfortunately, the adult tooth is already almost all the way in, having come in behind the baby tooth before the baby tooth was ready to come out. Braces in our future? Also, he bombed the assessment test that is one of the methods used for placing students in the Talent Development program, but scored well on another screening process, the Gifted Rating Scale, so his case goes to portfolio review which means the talent development coordinator chooses samples of his best classroom work to present to a panel to determine if he gets the official gifted label. For the record, I do not have high hopes for my son's portfolio! His handwriting is just too bad!

Rebecca - Clara seems to be listening to "no" better than Rebecca does at this point. Especially when it comes to the dog - she tries to pick her up constantly and doesn't listen when told to leave her alone. On the one hand, at least Clara will be too big for her to haul around like a baby soon. On the other hand, there will be an ACTUAL BABY soon for her to try to haul around instead. Uh oh.

Premature

2011-11-01T06:33:00.001-04:00

My positive assessment of Clara's potty training progress. Since I bragged about her two accident-free days, she has had two pee accidents and a poop accident, yesterday. Sigh.

Halloween Pictures

2011-11-01T06:16:00.002-04:00

Okay I lied. There are no Halloween pictures. Joel took the kids out trick-or-treating last night, and I was in such a rush to get them fed/costumed/out the door that I totally forgot to take any pictures or give Joel the camera. I stayed behind to pass out candy, and after what I can only assume was well over 100 kids, I ran out of candy. Fortunately Joel and the kids turned up just as I was running out, and Ben elected to pass out some of his own candy, but eventually I made him cease and desist and we shut the porch light off. Maybe some day I will figure out what's the appropriate amount of candy to buy. I believe I had about 300 pieces of candy, which I was giving out 2 per kid for the most part, until the rationing began ;) Joel says if he had bought the candy we would not have run out, but I seem to recall we've run out in previous years when he was in charge of the candy, too :P

Halloween Party

2011-10-30T17:30:00.002-04:00

This afternoon was our neighborhood's annual Halloween party. You'll notice a distinct lack of Ben pictures, because he was a bit peeved that the friend he was expecting did not show up. Becca hooked up with her friends Mira and Nomi, who live in our neighborhood and also are in Becca's class at preschool. So she was happy and quite willing to pose for pictures with her friends

Puppy Progress Report, Week 1

2011-10-30T09:33:00.002-04:00

Kind of hard to believe we have had Clara for a week now! And still she will only be 8 weeks old tomorrow. In the last couple of days she has made huge progress with potty training and sleeping. We've been accident-free for two days, and she is starting to let us know when she has to go out by pawing at the back door. She slept through the night last night, and I think she would be doing that more consistently if it weren't for Ulysses who usually sleeps with Ben for part of the night and then meows to go outside around 3am, which wakes Clara up. Last night Ulysses stayed in on Ben's bed all night, so Clara slept through the night. Even when she does wake up and want to go out at 3am, she does her "business" really fast and goes right back in her crate with no whining lately.

Our biggest issue seems to be teaching the kids to play with her appropriately. Ben tends to use himself as a toy, which encourages Clara to roughhouse with him, and Rebecca tries to maul her whenever she's sleeping and carry her around like a baby but when the dog is playful Rebecca gets overexcited/ the dog gets overexcited and then Rebecca squeals and runs away and the dog thinks she's playing and chases her. So those seem to be our main issues at the moment but we're trying to supervise the kids' play time with Clara and to teach Rebecca especially how to play with her properly.

Besides that, and the fact that I think I need to call a plumber because our sink is totally stopped up (Putting uneaten dog food down the garbage disposal not a good idea?) Clara (and the rest of us) seem to be adjusting and settling into a good routine. Joel especially (surprisingly?) seems to particularly enjoy having a dog. He does think I am crazy though, since I already suggested that when we get our bigger house some day I think we should get a second dog! (We will see if that sentiment lasts or not!)

Burgushi

2011-10-30T09:22:00.003-04:00

Joel and I left the kids (and the dog!) with nanny and papa last night and went to Cowfish for dinner, where I had crab rangoon dip, the filet roll (filet mignon, crab, cream cheese, and avacodo in a sushi roll) and apple pie wontons for dessert. It was delicious! We decided we will try to take the kids there for dinner next weekend because they have a good kids menu and the prices are very reasonable. It was very crowded, and you cannot make reservations between 6 and 8 on Saturday nights, but Joel and I managed to find two open seats at the bar. Next weekend with the kids we'll try going early before it gets too crowded, hopefully. After dinner we saw a movie (The Ides of March). It was a great date night (and probably one of the last we'll have in a while!!) Thanks for babysitting, Nanny and Papa!

Parent Teacher Conference

2011-10-28T09:28:00.002-04:00

Wednesday was Ben's parent-teacher conference. His report was good over-all; his spelling, math and literacy test scores are all averaging in the 88%-90% range and he's reading 153 words per minute, when the average expected for the beginning of second grade is something like 45 words per minute. The areas he needs improvement on are handwriting, neatness/organization, and working independently (all his teachers have said this, so no big surprise). His teacher did acknowledge that she had not realized until recently how young he is (one of the youngest in the class) so said she will cut him some slack on the working independently part, as she thinks its probably a function of his maturity level as compared with a lot of kids who are already 8 or about to turn 8.

Math seems to be his favorite/best subject (pleasantly surprised, considering Mom's genetics!) He had almost a 100% average in math until he recently bombed a test because, his teacher thinks, he was not writing neatly enough so his own poor handwriting confused him.

So overall the same report we usually get - bright, sloppy, disorganized kid :) Though his teacher really seems to be on top of things, and really trying to encourage better neatness and organization.

I Knew This Would Come Back to Haunt Me...

2011-10-27T07:28:00.002-04:00

http://bringingupbenandbecca.blogspot.com/2009/10/seven-years.html

We have added another big screen TV, two cars, a dog, and a (almost) baby to the tally last reported two years ago. We're also seriously considering the bigger house idea.

Happy anniversary Joel!!!!

Puppy Update

2011-10-26T10:00:00.001-04:00

We're starting to adjust to life with our newest family member (and vice versa). Things seem to be heading in the right direction as far as crate training/ house training, after a few missteps... we now know to scoop her up out of her crate and carry her straight outside to potty, because if her feet hit the floor in front of her crate for even a second, she'll try to pee. We also moved her crate into the kitchen.We had been told to put it in our bedroom until she is sleeping through the night, but that was not working out too well, besides which the kitchen is right down the hall from our bedroom anyway, so I can still hear her when she wakes up to pee at night. Last night was a good night, she woke up once to pee at 2:30 am, and only whined for about 5 minutes or so after I put her back in the crate. She had her first vet appointment yesterday evening, and was given a clean bill of health. I am trying to work out a decent schedule for her in terms of crate time (so I can get my work done) and play time, but have not quite got it all worked out yet. My main goal is to get her potty trained and to get us all on a good schedule before the baby arrives (so it can get all screwed up again of course!) My other main goal is to get her to stop nipping at the kids. She has learned pretty quickly not to nip at Joel and I/chew on our pant legs etc, but she seems to think the kids are her litter mates and treats them like puppies she can climb all over and wrestle with/nip. I am going to have to make sure to supervise their play time together and be the "disciplinarian" when it comes to that, so puppy learns who's boss!

Boy & His Dog

2011-10-24T11:24:00.001-04:00

Welcome Home Clara!

2011-10-23T13:41:00.001-04:00

We brought Clara home this morning. After a few minutes of whimpering on my lap in the car, we wised up and put her on the seat between Ben and I, and she fell right asleep and slept all the way home. We took her into the backyard when we got home, where she peed a few times, and played with the kids (though Rebecca hasn't realized that running = chase game in puppy's mind, and she was not particularly appreciative of getting chased). She entirely ignored Ulysses thus far, who has been watching her warily but has not shown any outward sign of hostility yet.

After playing with her outside for a while, we brought her in and fed her lunch, then took her back outside where she pooped under the porch (I didn't even feel it necessary to clean it up in that location) and then brought her in and put her in her crate, where she's been snoring soundly ever since. The kids of course are impatiently waiting for her to wake up so they can play again, but are under strict orders not to disturb her while she is in her crate.

My camera battery died, hence only the one picture so far. Need to charge the battery so I can get more pictures after she wakes up!

One Final Puppy Pic...

2011-10-20T19:16:00.004-04:00

...before she's our very own! The latest update from the breeder says that they are beginning to take the puppies on short car trips, spend one-on-one time with them away from their brothers and sisters, and introduce them to a crate, all in preparation for the Big Day (Sunday).

It's Only Wednesday?

2011-10-19T10:23:00.002-04:00

Is it really only Wednesday? I spent Sunday and Monday in Harrisburg, PA, the only bright spot of which was getting to see Mom and Dad for a delicious dinner Sunday night. Sunday afternoon upon arriving in Harrisburg I met with the prosecutor for two hours to review my testimony. Monday I testified at the trial itself, I would estimate I was on the stand for about an hour and a half. The cross examination part was the only bit which was rather annoying and additionally I was testifying against one of my former colleagues, a lady who was always perfectly nice to me. She was in the court room and came over and patted my arm during the break before the cross examination started. I felt kinda bad. I wouldn't mind serving on a jury someday (I never have) but I certainly do hope this was my one and only experience on the witness stand! This jury, by the way, was putting on a rather brave face and really trying not to appear bored out of their minds, as the trial is full of very technical material and has been going on for 3 weeks now, with probably another 2 weeks to go. All but two of the 12 original defendants have plead guilty by this point, so it seems like an awful lot of bother to go through at this point... fortunately, my part is done.

I got home around 11:30 Monday night, and have been spending the last day doing catch-up at work and at home (laundry, etc). Joel and the kids had a hectic Sunday in my absence, considering that Joel had to work, but managed with the help of Joel's Dad as well as some friends, who I gather took Ben for a while in the afternoon for a playdate and also fed everyone dinner. (Joel did not manage to get the grocery shopping done until last night, understandably with having to work and me being away, so we had no food).

Saturday my parents are flying in (though for a funeral so while not the best circumstance still happy to get to see them again), and Sunday we are picking up our puppy.... something tells me the chaos is going to continue for a while.

Busy Week

2011-10-15T20:34:00.002-04:00

It's been a busy week - plenty of work to catch up on after the holiday Monday, Sukkot dinner/services at Temple on Wednesday evening with the kids, and Rebecca's Sukkot holiday schedule to juggle Thursday and Friday (she spent Thursday at a friend's house, and Friday at our house sharing babysitting with several classmates).

Friday after work we met with a mortgage guy to start the process for a refinance (with kids in tow), then had dinner, and then bought puppy supplies - crate, food, toys etc. Today Joel was working and I spent the morning gathering together the necessary documentation for the refinancing, then took Ben for a hair cut, then took the kids to a dog safety seminar. Joel and Ben had a J Tribes outing later in the afternoon (to a corn maze) and Rebecca and I went to the park and then out to dinner.

Now I am packing and doing laundry and trying to get the kids' backpacks in order for Monday, because I have to fly to Harrisburg bright and early tomorrow morning to meet with the district attorney's office and then testify at the so-called Computergate trial on Monday. The travel arrangements the DA's office made don't have me arriving home until after midnight Monday night. The only bright spot is Mom and Dad are driving out to have dinner with me tomorrow night :)

It's been a tiring week for this pregnant momma! And next weekend, we pick up our puppy!

A Little Mix-Up

2011-10-11T19:10:00.003-04:00

Yesterday was Columbus Day, and my work gave us the day off I think because we are losing a holiday at some point with Christmas and New Years being on weekends this year. Joel took the day off so we could enjoy a relaxing day together without the kids, who were both at school.

We had a great breakfast at Terrace Cafe, took a walk around the mall, had lunch at PF Chang's, and settled down at the movie theater to see Moneyball. It was certainly shaping up to be an awesome, relaxing day! Until my cell phone rang halfway through the movie. I had the sound off, and just happened to glance at my phone a couple minutes later. The voice mail was from J Team, where Ben was supposed to have gone after school. Unfortunately Ben chose this day to accidentally get on the school bus to our house, instead of on the J Team bus. (Very ironic timing on his part, since I am almost always home at 3pm because I am working. He picked the one day when I was not).

The call from J Team was quickly followed by a panicked call from Ben's teacher telling me she had put Ben on the wrong bus. By this time it was 5 minutes before the bus was due to arrive at our street corner. Joel and I raced home, since though we knew there were neighbors home and that Ben would be fine, we didn't have any of our neighbors' phone numbers with us so couldn't call anyone.

We got home about 10 minutes after Ben, who was with neighbors and not concerned in the least. The neighbors however were quite concerned, having noticed that my car was in the garage and knowing I am usually home. They were worried that I was dead inside or something, and were not sure if Ben was supposed to have come home on the bus or not. The one neighbor who knew Ben's J Team schedule and who also happened to know that Joel and I had taken the day off and were out together, was at work.

Fortunately the confusion did not last long since Joel and I arrived home quickly. I have since exchanged cell phone numbers with all the neighbors, in case of a repeat performance :) Something tells me I need to teach Ben my cell phone number also, because he only knows the home number.

But that was the end of our relaxing day out together, and I never did find out how Moneyball ends....

Cute, and Scary

2011-10-11T14:38:00.003-04:00

Last night after dinner I took the kids to Halloween Express to get their costumes. Normally I wouldn't take them out on such an errand on a school night but Ben was threatening mutiny on the grounds that I had delayed the trip too long already. The Halloween Express is right across the street. When we got back two hours later (!) Joel said, "I can't believe you let Ben get that costume!"

To which my reply is that after standing around on my swollen pregnant feet for two hours while Ben couldn't make up his mind and/or tried on costumes that didn't fit, I was begging him to PICK SOMETHING, ANYTHING! The machete is actually filled with red liquid that sloshes around when you move it. Cool huh.

Meeting Clara

2011-10-09T17:13:00.001-04:00

Today was visiting today at Creekside Retrievers. We got to meet Clara (positively identified as the dog we're getting in these photos). She seemed very sweet and laid back, but possibly only because she was sleepy? Ben fell in love instantly!

4 Year Checkup

2011-10-04T13:26:00.002-04:00

Rebecca had her four year old checkup this morning. She is 36.8 pounds (50-75th percentile) and 41 inches tall (75th percentile). I felt a little bad for her because she's had her fair share of doctor visits in the last couple of weeks - once to the pediatrician for a sick visit, an unnecessary trip to Joel's clinic for blood tests, a follow-up (happily her last) with pediatric endocrinology last week, and now her well-exam, where she did not escape entirely unscathed because she got the FluMist vaccine administered. Of course I thought that a squirt up the nose would be more tolerable than a shot in the arm, but now I am not so sure. She put up quite a struggle! She was rewarded with a pink popsicle afterwards but this did not entirely seem to appease her. She's overdue for a dental checkup, but I think I'm going to try to give her a break for a couple weeks from the doctor visits!

Another Puppy Picture

2011-10-04T08:07:00.003-04:00

The breeder emailed this picture last night of Clara (or possibly one of her sisters). When Ben saw it this morning, he got the biggest smile on his face, took my cell phone from my hand, and curled up on my bed with it and just stared at the picture until it was time to go to school. I am going to remember his look of absolute delight as I am picking up poop and rescuing chewed up items in the coming weeks :) (While heavily pregnant).

Coming Soon....

2011-10-01T19:53:00.004-04:00

A human baby on the way is not enough apparently... Ben has named her Clara. (Clara Barton Kaplan, appropriately fitting in to our Civil War themed pet names). She is a yellow lab puppy and will be ready to come home on October 23rd. Visiting day is next Sunday. The kids are super excited, and Joel and I are reading up on puppy raising/training.

Happy New Year!

2011-09-30T13:04:00.002-04:00

Wishing everyone a happy and healthy 5772!

Ben blows the Shofar - not as easy as it looks!

Making Me Nervous

2011-09-30T10:54:00.002-04:00

I am half-tempted to make her get back in the baby swing, or wear a helmet. It seems my baby girl is growing up... does not need me to push her on the swing any more.

Handsome Boy

2011-09-28T20:29:00.003-04:00

A bit less cheerful after realizing that going to Erev Rosh Hashanah services with me meant having to sit still for an hour and a half. But still handsome.

Rainy Weekend

2011-09-26T11:35:00.003-04:00

The last few days (week, really) has been really rainy, with hardly a day going by without major downpours. On Saturday, with Joel working and the kids already having soaked themselves in the rain (note to self: asking to play outside in the rain with umbrellas DOES NOT mean not getting soaked), I decided the best course of action was to meet a friend at the movies to see the re-released Lion King. Ben grumped that he didn't want to see it/ had already seen it, but ended up enjoying himself anyway of course, Rebecca was scared by the final battle scene between Simba and Scar at the end, for which she sat on my lap with her head buried in my shoulder, but seemed to enjoy the rest of the movie, especially the music.

Birthday Outfit

2011-09-26T11:20:00.002-04:00

As usual, Rebecca was not very open to suggestions about what to wear to her birthday party. Eventually, a black tulle skirt joined the ensemble.

Happy 4th Birthday Becca!!

2011-09-26T10:17:00.004-04:00

So hard to believe that four years ago I had a baby girl!! Yesterday we celebrated her birthday with an hour of Jump N Play at Sports Connection with 20 of her friends, a Princess and the Frog cake, and dinner with Nanny and Papa, followed by opening lots of presents. It was a rather exhausting day, especially for Joel who had to work this weekend and also has a bad cold. Below are a couple of pictures and the happy birthday video.

Waiting for party time....

2011-09-25T13:09:00.001-04:00

This is the problem with a 3 pm party....

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Comfy Kitty

2011-09-21T16:36:00.003-04:00

It occurred to me that I never posted a picture of Rebecca's new "big girl bed." We had such issues with first the bed being delivered but no mattress, then the trundle/storage unit being back-ordered FOREVER, and then when it finally came the mattress we'd gotten for the trundle wouldn't fit so we ended up selling it on Craigslist because BJ's wouldn't take it back, and buying a 4 inch foam mattress instead for the trundle, which then of course we also had to wait for it to come into the store...the saga continued on and on ad nauseum. Anyway, finally it was all straightened out, but by then I was so exhausted from the whole ordeal I didn't think to take a picture. Until I happened to walk past her room today and saw a) the bed neatly made by the cleaning lady and b) the cat curled up on it, so I went for the camera.

School Update

2011-09-21T12:36:00.003-04:00

Ben got his mid-quarter progress report yesterday. His teacher cited minimal areas of academic achievement that need improvement, except for handwriting (big surprise there). She said she wants him to participate more in class discussions, and participate less discussions with his friends ;) We have a formal conference with his teacher scheduled for the end of October.

Rebecca started a dance class on Wednesdays that she gets taken to/from in the afternoons. She loves it and was so excited when she asked this morning if today was her dance class, and I said it was. She also started gym class with the famous coach Dan, and seemed rather miffed because, as she told me about 20 times, "he did not remember my name". Coach Dan has known Ben for years, but this is the first year he's had Rebecca in gym class. Apparently Rebecca felt he should have known her by osmosis.

I also signed her up for a second dance class, on Tuesdays, after hearing from no less than 3 different people that when Rebecca took the class during summer camp she a) loved it and b) the teacher apparently talked about Rebecca to so many people that it got back to me from at least the 3 people mentioned above. Finally the J actually called me to ask if I will enroll her in the class, which starts in October. So I couldn't really say no! When Rebecca found out she was going to have dance on Tuesdays AND Wednesdays, she was so excited!

Random Updates

2011-09-18T13:46:00.002-04:00

1. Our friends Joanna and Eric welcomed baby #3, Joshua Kyle, on Thursday. Yesterday afternoon after apple picking we picked up big brothers Jared and Evan for a playdate/dinner date to give mom/dad/grandma a little break from the older kids. We went to Lorenzo's pizza, which I might add is a fine establishment especially considering I've been craving all things carbs (pizza, pasta, biscuits,cereal etc) with this pregnancy. After that we found a Rita's italian ices close by, which is not a small feat in Charlotte considering there's only a couple of them around here. Joel's favorite dessert is Rita's fat free frozen custard. I could use some more pizza right now.

2. Ben started Hebrew school this morning; he very dramatically threw a bit of a fit at having to go (because the first time he has to do anything new he gets a bit nervous and upset). I snapped back at him that all his friends have been going to Hebrew school since Kindergarten and he would have been too if we'd gotten around to coughing up the $2500 yearly Temple/Religious school membership dues before now. That hushed him up and he sullenly departed with Joel, and returned two hours later proclaiming how much he likes Hebrew school and how 3 of his friends are in his class. MOMMY TOLD YOU SO.

Baking with Apples

2011-09-18T13:40:00.001-04:00

--And we still have way too many apples left.

Apple Picking

2011-09-17T16:03:00.003-04:00

By the time I usually think about picking apples, apple season in NC has passed (yes surprisingly there is such a thing as apple season in NC). The good place to go for apples is Hendersonville, but at 2 hours away, it's a bit of a hike for a day trip. Sometime I'd like to go there though, for a weekend maybe. Anyway, today what with the fall-like weather lingering on, we decided to take the kids up to Mooresville, about an hour north of Charlotte, to do some apple picking a little closer to home. The kids picked enough apples to make about a thousand pies (I see some pie baking in my future) and then checked out the resident farm animals, and the family dog. Our friends Melanie and Jeff met us there with their daughter Amelia (Rebecca's BFF) and we helped them pick some apples and then went out to lunch. It was a successful outing, and the rain held off for the most part.

A Taste of Fall

2011-09-16T09:23:00.003-04:00

Today was the first day since May or maybe even April sometime when it was cool enough for long pants... and light jackets! The high temp today is only supposed to be 63, and cloudy as well. I was excited to dress the kids in long pants and light jackets. Of course, I had to go *buy* long pants and light jackets for the occasion... as the kids have either grown so much and/or lost all their outerwear since the last time they had to dress for cool weather.

About two hours after he arrived at school, Ben came home again with stomach pain/nausea/diarrhea. But at least he got to wear his new clothes.... ;)

Football Party

2011-09-12T14:57:00.004-04:00

We had a little party yesterday to kick off Eagles football!! GO EAGLES!

Definitely Not the Sickest Kid in Clinic

2011-09-12T12:06:00.002-04:00

This morning Rebecca got to visit Daddy's work for a follow-up blood test. When I told her she had to go for another blood test she cried, but then cheered up when I promised (okay bribed) her with a Zhu Zhu pet for good behavior. She was very happy up until the actual moment of blood-drawing, telling me in the car on the way that she is proud to get to go to Daddy's work and see his friends there. After the blood draw, she was less thrilled and as we got back in the car to go home she announced in no uncertain terms, "I am NEVER going back to daddy's office again!" Her blood work, as predicted, showed normal or almost-normal all around. Hopefully she will not ever have to go back to daddy's work again, at least not as a patient! :) And now, I must go buy a Zhu Zhu pet...

Not a Positive Role Model

2011-09-10T09:33:00.004-04:00

Last Sunday Joel and Ben attended a pool party as part of a father/child program we signed up for with the JCC as an alternative to cub scouts this year. We were not thrilled with cub scouts last year. So this year we're trying J Tribes. They divide the fathers/kids into "Tribes" based on age, each tribe has a leader, and they meet once a month for planned activities and have a few camping trips and other all-tribe activities during the year.

So like I was saying, last Sunday Ben and Joel met with their group at the neighborhood pool of their assigned tribe leader. Joel's comment when they came home was that he hadn't asked this guy (the tribe leader) what he did for a living, but he sure looked like he had a lot of money - fancy neighborhood, had mentioned his boat, etc.

As it turns out, not even 24 hours after the pool party the police raided the guy's house and found $60,000 worth of marijuana,and equipment used for growing, distributing, etc. Both he and his wife were arrested on numerous charges of possession/intent to sell, etc.

I guess a) that answers the question of where the guy was getting all his money, and b) Ben's tribe is now leaderless.... Maybe we should go back to cub scouts :P