Thursday Thirteen: Useful pregnancy stuff

In no particular order, here are 13 items I found useful while I was pregnant:

1. Blush topless undershirts. I first heard about these from a friend, but heard even more about them from a few of the mom bloggers. After I lost a few contests for them, I bought two for myself for chanukah with money my MIL sent. I LOVE them. They worked great to cover the annoying belly panel in my maternity pants at the end when I got so big my shirts no longer did it. Plus, on one occasion, I was able to wear a regular pair of dress pants and use the Blush to cover the fact that the top wasn't zipped (or anywhere near that) plus it held them up. I wear these all the time now to keep me covered when nursing. Honestly, I'm far more freaked out by the idea of someone seeing my postpartum stomach than my breast. Plus, these work great for helping to hide the belly bulge. They don't suck you in at all, but having the extra layer over it helps to cover the extra rolls.

2. Yoga pants. I believe it was Ima on the Bima who made the suggestion via twitter (see #10). After trying and failing to find decent maternity pants at reasonable prices, I sent out a tweet asking for tips or specific stores. At first, I wasn't sure about buying regular yoga pants (not maternity), but then I realized the new pair of maternity pants I had just spent a fortune on (with elastic waist rather than the panel) were really just glorified yoga pants, only not nearly as comfy as my much cheaper yoga pants had been. So I hit Wal-Mart and was shocked to find that even while hugely pregnant, the regular yoga pants (I went with Danskin) had enough give for me to wear a small. I saved a ton of money and I can still wear them now.

3. Earth Mama Angel Baby's Happy Mama Spray. I won a small bottle of this in a blog giveaway (along with some other Earth Mama Angel Baby products) and I LOVE it. The smell is wonderful and it really does help with nausea. Dh had to deal with something that had an awful smell and made him feel nauseated. I sprayed some of this on fabric and had him hold it over his face. It helped. My only complaint is that it fades quickly. Don't bother putting it on your skin. Instead, put it on clothing. The fabric holds the scent much better. I wish I had had this earlier in my pregnancy (when the morning sickness was kicking my butt). It's great.

4. Pepermint oil. I LOVE taking baths with pepermint oil. The scent helps wake you up which is much needed during the third trimester. Plus, pepermint has a warming sensation which helped with my sore muscles. Be VERY careful, though. You only need a few drops in the bath. I also used a few drops mixed with olive oil and applied directly to the areas where I was sore. Smells much better than the comercial alternatives. Again, be very very careful and only use a tiny bit.

5. SinuCleanse Squeeze. I had a netti pot, but was not a big fan. I could never hold it comfortably and it hurt. My midwife admitted she had the same problem and suggested I try this. I LOVE it. It helps so much with stuffy noses. During pregnancy, you're limited in what drugs you can take plus you tend to get bloody noses and everything irritates your nose. This helped with the congestion, it helped prevent bloody noses and it didn't bother my nose at all. The pack I got came with premeasured packs of salt which helped as well. This is SO much easier than the netti pot and it works great.

6. Funny videos. We always need a laugh, but we particularly need one (or many) while pregnant. I LOVED getting (and sharing) funny videos while I was pregnant. It didn't matter if my back hurt, if I was feeling hormonal, or if I was exhausted; I still laughed and felt a bit better.

7. Platform shoes. In the last month of my pregnancy, I could no longer comfortably reach the pedals in the car. Wearing platform shoes was the only way to do that. No, I'm not kidding. My chiropractor (see #8) said that as long as they were flat, I was fine.

8. Chiropractors. This was my third pregnancy, but the first time I saw a chiropractor and I wish I had been able to see one with my other pregnancies. I got relief for my back, pelvis and shoulders. It was wonderful. I found myself trying to will time to move a bit faster so that I could get to my next appointment.

9. Wii Fit. We didn't do individual gifts to each other for chanukah. Instead, we got a Wii and dh found the Fit (not an easy task before Xmas). I was able to do most of the yoga moves and a good deal of the strength moves all through pregnancy. It's the first time I've exercised during pregnancy and I liked it. Dh has lost 20 lbs since we got the Fit. I didn't lose any, but it did help keep me in shape. Plus, there is NOTHING as hysterical as a woman 9 months pregnant hula hooping on the Wii Fit. FTR, even while pregnant, I still made it to Professional Penguin.

10. twitter. Twitter was fabulous for getting reviews, finding giveaways, and just keeping me distracted. I was able to win some free things for the baby through giveaways I found there. I was able to try (and avoid) products after reading reviews. I found other pregnant women with whom to compare notes and share stories plus I found other great parenting-related blogs through twitter.

11. Comfortable slip-on shoes. Luckily, my platforms (see #7) were comfortable, but one pair required tying (very difficult while pregnant) and the other pair are sandals (not always useful in the winter). So I typically wore low simple slip on shoes. I had one pair that got worn to death. They were flat and had velcro, but could be slipped on easily. I also found a pair on clearance at Wal-Mart for $3.50. Yes, they were those horrid croc knock-offs (I am generally not a fan of crocs), but they're comfy and they have removable fur lining which made them warm and they could easily be slipped on and off. I took the lining out of them the other day and wore them in the yard. Anything that's cheap, comfortable and can be used postpartum is fabulous even if it is ugly.

12. Music. During labor, my playlist came in particularly handy. I found singing helped me get through contractions.

13. Birth necklace (will post picture in the morning). At my shower/blessingway, my friends made me a birth necklace. This is something we have done at every shower for the past few years. I started it when I came across the idea online and we did it through everyone else's shower even when I didn't know if I would ever get pregnant again. It truly was a blessing not only to be among friends, but to actually be pregnant and surrounded by friends. Everyone picked a bead for each of their children and added it to the necklace. I was wearing the necklace when my daughter was born. It was so neat to have something that represented my friends and their prayers and good thoughts for me.

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Money-saving tip

Here's my money-saving tip of the day: When in need of a replacement for baby gear, double check the old item before buying a replacement.

Remember, while I was pregnant, I asked about replacements for a destroyed stroller and a bouncy seat that didn't vibrate (a feature I like to call, "Rumble Bum"). A bouncy works well enough as a place to deposit a child, but without that rumble bum feature, no child of mine would ever fall asleep in there. When it vibrates, though, that's another story entirely.

We've been using the old bouncy just as a plain old seat since the vibrate feature didn't work. Just for the hell of it, dh added new batteries (we emptied the old ones out before we stored it) and tried it. It works.

I'm not sure what happened in those 2 and a half years or so it was in the attic. Maybe the rumble bum fairy came to visit. I don't know. All I know is that it stopped working shortly after TheBoy was born even after trying new batteries and now, it works.

I don't need an explanation. I just need a bouncy seat with a rumble bum feature that actually works. Bouncy seat WIN.

It's a baby, not a disease.

Dh and I had a date night tonight. It was our first in a very long time. We won a gift certificate to a nice restaurant, so we left the big kids in capable hands, grabbed the baby and went. We freaked the hostesses out in the process.

Now this is a nice restaurant, but it welcomes families. They have high chairs and car seat slings available. This is not a ritzy, ridiculously expensive, no high chairs for miles kind of place.

I usually prefer to put the baby in the sling, but when we go out to eat, we usually bring her in her car seat because she tends to fall asleep and she can nap there which leaves me free to get close enough to the table to actually eat.

So we walked in, dressed nicely, carrying the oh so cute baby in the car seat. The two hostesses' eyes went wide. They looked horrified. One couldn't turn fast enough to grab the phone and pretend she was talking on it. The other ignored us. Someone else had to come up from the side to seat us.

I thought I may have misinterpreted their reactions, but when I mentioned it to dh later, he said he saw the same thing.

WTF? She's a baby, not a disease. She's a cute baby too. The few patrons there (it was far from busy) commented on how cute she was. So why the hell did the staff have such an issue with her? I understand the childless movement. I'm obviously not a member of it, but I completely understand why some folks don't want children. I also understand that there are places not at all suitable for children. This was not one of those places. This was the same restaurant where my entire family went when the twins were just 2 months old. This is the same restaurant where dh and I celebrated an anniversary with the twins when they were a year old. We've never had a problem. The whole thing was so bizarre.

The cute little baby won't bite your head off, I swear. I, however, just might if you don't cut that out.

Because apparently, your good vibes and prayers are pretty potent.

I'm asking for some more good thoughts/prayers/vibes. Dh did well on his phone interview. He has an in-person interview on the 27th. If all goes well, he'll have another one the following day.

We absolutely need this.

Think good thoughts

Dh has been applying for jobs left and right, but hasn't heard anything from anyone. A few weeks ago, he read about an opening that would be perfect, but the ad said qualified applicants would hear back in 3 business days. We never heard back.

Well, we did today. Dh has a phone interview scheduled for tomorrow. The higher paying position is too far away, but even the lower paying one is more than he makes now (which lately, isn't difficult to do).

Please please PLEASE send good vibes, good thoughts and/or prayers his way. We need this.

Think alcohol causes strange dreams?Try the matzah-induced dreams

I had a dream that my family was at Ian Ziering's house. He made dinner for us. It was some sort of soup with pasta in it. At one point, I looked over and my daughter hadn't finished hers. I asked her, "Aren't you going to finish your pasta?"

Suddenly, I was horrified to realize that it was Passover and we had just violated the dietary rules...at Ian Ziering's house...by eating some sort of pasta soup...prepared and served by Ian Zeiring.

I was absolutely panicked. It was one of those dreams where it takes you a few moments to realize it was a dream and then when you do, you are SO thankful to know it didn't really happen.

Some people dream about falling. Some people go home and dream of spiders. Some people dream of losing their teeth. Me? I dream of violating halacha with Steve Sanders. What the heck is the deeper meaning hidden in that?

To that, all I have to say is, "Dude, WTF?"

Puberty, girls and the not-too-distant future

Lately, my sister is complaining about the age of her children. She loved having a 7-year-old step-son when she had a baby (she also has a little girl sandwiched between the oldest and youngest), but she has just come to realize that means she'll have a 9-year-old boy when the baby hits the terrible twos (which is only a month away). You see, the oldest boy has been demonstrating some tween attitudes lately ("I don't wanna wear the hood. I'll look like a dork." So he slams the door and refuses to wear the hood in the rain only to come home complaining that his hair curled when it got wet and looked, "Stupid," for the rest of the day).

That made me think about how old our oldest girls will be when this youngest one is 2. It just occurred to me that they will probably be in the early stages of puberty. They will be the same age I was when I started wearing a bra. Please give me a moment while I pick my jaw up off the floor.

The thought of my teeny tiny baby girls--my first borns, in bras scares the hell out of me. It makes me want to hug them close, smooth their hair and insist they can't grow up.

For the first year of their lives, my premie twins were so tiny and so developmentally delayed. I wanted nothing more than for them to grow and do new things. As our children approached their first birthday, other moms got nostalgic and weepy insisting their babies were growing up too fast. Not me. I glared at them urging them to gain a few more pounds; catch up developmentally and just grow, damn it. At a year, my preemies were 14 and 15 lbs, couldn't stand unassisted and didn't crawl (although they did low crawl).

Now, we're standing at the edge of puberty and I find myself in a very different (which I just accidentially typed as "difficult," hmmm...maybe not so much of an accident) situation. It suddenly occured to me that my little girls will one day be women.

When we found out the twins were girls, my husband was so excited. He loved the idea of two little girls. He comes from a family of boys. I told him then, just you wait until they hit puberty. Just wait until you have two moody pre-teen girls getting their periods. He laughed at me and shook his head.

We have no idea what we're in for. I want to be one of those cool moms who respects her daughters' privacy (no big red balloons or party hats that say, "Yay, you got your period."), but at the same time, celebrates with them when they hit that milestone. I just don't see how I can when I'm a blubbering mess at the thought of it.

Clean up. Clean up. Everybody everywhere...

I have 4 kids including twins, a pre-schooler and a newborn. I need to win this.

Clorox Wipes Decor Canister

UPDATE: I won TWO. Yippeee.

Baby pants

I want to make these so badly. I absolutely love the idea and the final product.

100 money-saving tips

I think this article is fascinating: Little Steps: 100 Great Tips For Saving Money For Those Just Getting Started.

I've seen quite a few of these, "Save money," articles and overall, haven't been too impressed. That one, though, is another story.

And because I believe in giving credit where it's due, I want to let you know that I found that link through this week's Top 5 Friday at The Giveaway.

Another side effect of the bad economy

You all know my mom lost her job. It's only now that we're realizing one of the negative side effects.

Every year, one of the companies she dealt with would send her a package of kosher for Passover candy. She would send that on to us.

This year, no job means no K for P chocolate.

Pardon me while I pout like a 3-year-old.

Ooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh mannnnnnnnnnnnnnn!

Screw Folgers...

The best part of waking up has nothing to do with coffee (pick your jaws up off the floor. I know you must find it shocking that I, of all people, made such a statement). The best part, is in fact, waking up to a smiling baby beside you.

She's only 4 weeks old, but the baby (who I guess should be TheBaby since her big brother is TheBoy) has started smiling. I didn't believe it could be intentional, but she's doing it quite a bit and has started smiling more just this week. They range from cute little grins to those funky-looking, but oh so adorable huge open-mouth smiles.

She's my last baby, so this is the last time I will witness first smiles. I LOVE baby smiles. There's nothing quite like them.

Although, this doesn't mean I've given up on coffee. I'll still take a cup if you're offering. :-)

When the cleaning gets tough,the tough eat snacky foods

Dear internets,
Thus far, my Pesach cleaning has consisted of repeatedly telling dh we need to start cleaning for Passover and eating all the snacks under the guise of ridding the house of chametz.

For this, I'm very very sorry (about not doing enough cleaning, not about the junk food).

Sincerely,
one bad (but not hungry) Jew

April is cesarean awareness month

ICAN is a great resource.

I just learned discounted memberships are being offered this month in honor of cesarean awareness.

I am a VBAC mom and I cannot say enough for the differences between a c-section and vaginal birth. It's a whole different world. The c-section rates are far too high and are putting way too many moms and babies at risk.

Home is where the school is.

We had a great few days thanks to unschooling. Now, ours isn't really an unschooling family. We use some more traditional things (work books, print outs, spelling tests, etc), but we have an unschooling flair. I like to take a natural learning approach to school.

On Sunday, I went shopping. Many items were half off. We've dealt some with fractions and multiplication, but we haven't done division at all. Still, both girls were able to accurately and easily tell me what the items would be at half price. They did it over and over again as they brought me item after item of (what they deemed) cute clothing and asked me to buy them because, "It's half price, so it's only...."

We have a map of the U.S hanging on the wall. They like to look at it to see how to spell the states and then they put them into a song and end with the Postal Service's abbreviation (don't ask. I have no idea why they do it, but they like the song). Today, Girl2 noticed the scale on the map and asked what it was. So we busted out rulers and measured how wide certain states are. Then we measured the distance between different states and translated that into miles. We looked at the map and talked about the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Girl2 studied Mississippi which she adores even though she's never been there. When I asked her why she likes it, she said, "Because it's pink on the map and because it has lots of s's and i's. I like those letters."

Very neat and took almost no effort on my part. That's a good thing with a new baby in the house.

Oh and Girl1 was moved into a different class in Hebrew school a few weeks ago. She's in the group doing lessons 2 years above where they currently are. This is the child who doesn't read English as well as her sister, so I'm floored to hear her read Hebrew. Some of her homework simply involves reading the word to an audience and she has read every single word correctly ever since she was put in that class. I've mentioned before how I feel about them learning to read Hebrew, so my daughter has made me very proud.

The few. The proud. The Jewish. The chocolate.

My kids don't eat chocolate. For the longest time, they never even tasted chocolate. The girls are wonderful about it. The staff at Sunday school likes to give out chocolate for snacks or rewards, but the big kids always tell their teachers they can't have chocolate and they help find a healthier alternative. I've been so proud of how they handle it.

As the kids have got older, we relented and agreed they could have chocolate for two occasions, Chanukah (because the gelt was overwhelming. There was no way to avoid it) and then we added Purim (because, well, I really like Purim).

Well, now we're about to add one more holiday to the mix. Next week, there's a chocolate seder at shul. Last year, we just skipped Sunday school that day. This year, though, the whole family is invited to stay. Family events are near and dear to my heart. So we'll all be going and yes, the children will get to consume chocolate.

And so, our children are thrilled to be Jewish because if not, they'd never get chocolate. :-)

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways (and eat the cookies).

My husband rocks. He has been on super daddy duty ever since I had the baby. I lost a lot of blood and was put on bedrest. He's home for 2 weeks to help. I'm not supposed to leave the bed/couch for much of anything. On the few occasions I've tried, I've gotten very tired and sore very quickly.

He's done all the laundry even though it has taken forever (again, please vote for us so we can get a new washer and dryer), he's taken the baby when she wakes up in the morning so I can get some more rest, he's handled the late night diaper changes, he's had to make all the meals, he's kept the kids corralled in the playroom so that I could rest, he's done all the running around, he's done all the food shopping, he's done all the cleaning. He's doing it all.

On Sunday, he went food shopping and came back with my favorite candy bar (remember, I was on the GD diet during pregnancy, so I wasn't able to have sweets). Later that day, I woke up to him handing me a cookie--a freshly baked cookie he made from my favorite cookie dough he secretly bought and not only did he bake the cookies for me, he even saved me some dough too (my favorite). Oh and he did all this while holding the baby so that I could get a nap.

I'm typing now with free hands because he's cuddling the baby.

We've been through some really rough times together, especially when he came home from deployments. So I'm particularly grateful to see this side of the man I love. I realize how truly blessed I am--how blessed we all are.

Dance of the 7 Veils

Vote for #7. Please please PLEASE. We desperately need this. Our washing machine completely conked out today and the dryer isn't much better. It takes putting things on high 3 times to get them dry. Today, dh had to take out half the small load because it wouldn't start. We have fallen SO far behind in laundry since the baby was born because these bloody machines don't work and we can't afford to replace them.

So PLEASE, go to MomCentral and vote for #7.

Please ask your friends to do the same.

I've been very frank with everyone about our financial situation. We cannot afford to replace these machines, but at the same time, we now have 4 kids, including one in cloth diapers. We need to be able to do the wash.

Please vote for us, pretty pretty please.

March 18th update: THE WASHING MACHINE IS COMPLETELY BROKEN. I have a load in there now. It filled with water and then just stopped. It did that yesterday and we were able to get it to work eventually, but not today. It's filled with towels, diapers, kids' clothes and baby clothes. ARGH!

PLEASE vote for us and ask others to do the same. I'm getting my butt kicked.

You've Got the Cutest Little...

I don't like posting pictures of my kids. It's just something I don't do. However, I am going to make an exception in the case of the newbie. I can't keep all that cuteness to myself.

Yeah, what she said.

This post in response to the Case Against Breast-Feeding is wonderful. It's a bit long because it has much to address and it's worth the read. I'm too tired and other-wise occupied to write a response, but I don't think it's even necessary given that Emily has already done a phenomenal job of it.

The wee one took pity on me and decided enough was enough. No more torture for the mama. Instead, WE HAVE A BABY.

She (yes SHE) was born last week. It's a girl--a gorgeous chubby little girl with wisps of hair and bright blue eyes.

She was born at home. No cutting me open this time. My body did it on its own. I pushed her out myself (with the midwife's help) and then reached down and grabbed her to pull her up to my chest. That was something I desperately wanted--to have my baby on my chest. Every other time, my babies were whisked away from me either in a rush to the NICU or just to another room so I could be put back together. I have never even held my children in their first hours. In that time, I was always lying flat on a table while doctors sewed or stapled me back together. This time, I wanted to know what it was like to have the baby immediately come from inside me and rest on my chest from the outside. I got just that and it was amazing.

Dh cut the cord. That's something he has never done before and something I always hoped he would. This time, he did.

There were many recitations of the Shehecheyanu. I said it over and over again. I can't tell you how many times I said, "Oh thank G-d." As has been the case with all my children, the first words I spoke to my daughter were the first few verses of the Sh'ma.

When it was over, dh and I went to bed--OUR bed together, the same bed where our youngest was born. I was on my side, he on his, the baby sleeping between us and we held hands and stared at her completely fixated and in love (with her, with each other, with life).

Our baby is here. She is healthy. She had the best possible entrance into the world. She helped fullfill so many dreams and hopes.

In all my life, I have never felt so powerful. I have never felt so in awe. I have never felt so thankful. I have never felt so close to G-d.

Baby update: Torture me baby one more time

With my son, I lost my mucous plug, my water broke and my labor began all within a few hours. While I had some Braxton Hicks contractions, it was very obvious when real labor began and once it did, it didn't stop until my son was born. There were no questions, no false starts, no doubts.

Two weeks ago, the baby dropped. I recognized the pains and sensations in my hips as the same ones I experienced last time around 2 weeks before my son was born. Last week, the contractions/surges started--real contractions, unmistakable sensations. That was around 6pm. They were 10 minutes apart. We went to bed and they continued. They ranged from 5-20 minutes apart all day and night, from 6pm one evening to about 11 pm the following evening. Dh took time off work. We worked to get the house ready for the midwives. Then the contractions stopped.

Then we did a lot of cursing. As we've been doing ever since. The contractions/surges will pick up only to stop.

I've never experienced anything like this before. I'm doing pretty well working with the surges now (wasn't initially), but it's breaking my heart and frustrating me to no end to have these starts and stops.

It's one thing to work with your body when you know a baby is on the way. It's quite another thing to feel like your body is playing some sort of sadistic trick on you. My life is NOT one of the Saw movies. Please cut that out. I am 9 months pregnant. Now is NOT the time to torture me just to watch the reaction. I can assure you the reaction will involve expletives, whimpering and probably fair amounts of projectiles.

Commenters say...

Capri left an absolutely brilliant comment on my last post about my sister and her animated Jesus forwards.

"Well, that's further proof that chain letters really do act as a drug to people afflicted with forwarditis. They kill common sense and numb the part of the brain responsible for rational thought."

YES. That is certainly an accurate assessment of the situation.

And FTR, yesterday, I received another forward from the same sister. This time, it was the one that brags about Oliver North and his warning about Osama Bin Laden. I knew it was false because I checked it on Snopes a while ago. I replied with a link and a note about it being false with a reminder that Snopes exists for a reason. My sister's response was to tell me that I'm, "Always the one to ruin it."

If, I'm the one known to stop stupidity in its tracks, well, then that's a title I will gladly wear. :-) Quick, someone make me a little sash with that written across the front. I will gladly be crowned the "Common Sense Queen."

It's official, my sister is on crack.

I have 4 sisters (plus 1 OBM). One of them is apparently on crack. I refer to the middle of my sisters as, "Sister Sunshine" or "PITA." Most of my friends don't even know her real name, but they instantly recognize who I'm speaking about when I use the nicknames.

She is one of the many black sheep of the family--always creating trouble. Mind you, she's in her 50s, so she should be WAY past this teenage angst stuff.

She just sent me what is quite possibly the most WTF-able e-mail ever.

Now let's remember three things: #1. I am Jewish. #2. My sister has given up on all religion and has been an Atheist for at least the past 30 years. #3. I HATE forwards with a passion.

So gather round and catch your jaws as they hit the floor over this gem of an e-mail forward from Sister Sunshine (e-mail addresses have been changed/removed, but that's it):

From: SisterSunshine@WTF.com
Date: Wednesday, March 4, 2009, 8:14 PM
To: Whole bunches of people who really don't want another stupid forward
Subject: (no subject)

It can't hurt - I'd rather be on the side of angels than not.
Let me know what happens to you the morning after you open this e-mail.
This is an unusual one. It actually gives you a time tomorrow.. Let's see if it works.

GUARDIAN ANGEL

Forward this message the same day you received it. It may sound ridiculous, but it is right on time. We believe that something is about to happen.. Angels exist, only sometimes they haven't got wings and we call them friends; you are one of them.. Something wonderful is about to happen to you and your friends. Tomorrow at 11:09AM somebody will address you and tell you some thing you have been waiting to hear.

Please do not break this. Send it to at least 7 of your friends!


And to that, all I have to say is, "Dude, WTF?" And yes, I realize Jesus has lost his animation. You'll have to trust me that he was making the sign of the cross. Blogger doesn't like animated gifs.

A turn for the lucky

I appear to have a stroke of good luck which is good because I really need that right now.

I won this giveaway at Jamie's Precious Peas for a great diaper that I've wanted to try, but money was an issue. It's a one-size which is ideal. We have medium and a few large diapers, but only 1 one-size diaper and very few smalls. I already got the message that the lovely folks at Banana Peels Diapers have already sent it. Sweet!

I just got a message that I won a Jack and Lily giveaway at Lizzy Dear's Life Reviews. That's perfect! We need footwear for the baby. I had some soft-soled shoes that I've picked up over the years (mainly at consignment stores and as hand-me-downs), but I've loaned them out to people and most of them have not found their way back. I've been searching for footwear for this baby that won't break the bank, so this is WONDERFUL.

I have yet to receive them (and I'm dying to because these things look far too cute), but I won a pair of Polliwalks through a giveaway at Gruntlings. I originally planned to get a pair for the big kids because I figured that would get the most use between the two of them (plus I think the Pink and Fuchsia fireflies are cute), but I realized the big kids still have some sandals packed away that will fit. TheBoy has nothing that he'll fit into this summer. So we opted for the orange and blue fireflies in his size.

I've been entering contests like crazy in hopes of winning some things for the kids so that we can save some money. I am VERY very thankful to the sites for offering giveaways and I'm a huge fan of randomness for letting my numbers get picked. :-)

We'll Still Be Freakin' Friends

Title is from that song. Yeah, it leaves much to be desired, but I loved Daria.

I must pause to say a huge, "Thank you," to my friends (and those family members I actually like enough to consider friends). My weekend was made when I opened a card that contained a Target gift card from a friend. One friend who has a hell of a lot going on in her life right now made time to not only come to my shower, but to even make a gift. Another friend, who also has a ton going on, stepped in last minute to help plan that shower. Who thought I would get excited over diapers? When I lamented that I wanted to buy a pack of newborn disposable diapers (to get us through the merconium stage), my niece insisted I resist that urge and she sent me a pack and a half that she had left over. A friend of a friend sent me wool diaper covers. I've gotten a lot of emotional support from a select group of friends and I really appreciate that.

So a huge thank you to my real friends out there. I appreciate it more than you know.

Is this anything like the song about the rollerskates and key?

This evening, my husband was trying to sip hot coffee while the children tried desperately to make that not only impossible, but dangerous.

I heard dh say this to Girl2,
"I have a cup of coffee and you have a wand. Do I really want your wand waved over my coffee? NO."

I'm going to be humming, "I've got a hot cup of coffee. You have a wand," to the tune of "Brand New Key."


I apologize, but now I have this stuck in my head and therefore, I must share it with you:

Random bits of Jewish poetry for a Sunday evening.

I finished reading Marge Piercy's _The Art of Blessing the Day_ a while ago, but never got around to mentioning it on here. Sorry about that. I liked the early poems in the book well enough, but they didn't quite speak to me. Towards the end, though, her poems turn towards observance in general. I found much more that really spoke to me in those poems.

Here are some of the portions that struck me,


From Zeroah: Lamb Shank
"...And we fled, under the sign
of the slaughtered lamb to live
and die for each other. We are
meat that thinks and sings."

From At the New Moon: Rosh Hodesh,
"....from this bone we fashion a bird, extinct
and never yet born, evolving feathers
from our hair, blood from our salt, strength
from our backs, vision from our brains.

Fly out over the city, dove of the light,
owl of the moon, for we are weaving your wings
from our longings, diaphanous and bony...."

I particularly like that one with my recent bird obsession.

This is my very favorite. I think it sums up not only my beliefs, but Judaism quite well.

From Nishmat,
"...We stand in the midst of the burning world
primed to burn with compassionate love and justice,
to turn inward and find holy fire at the core,
to turn outward and see the world that is all
of one flesh with us, see under the trash, through
the smog, the furry be in the apple blossom,
the trout leaping, the candles our ancestors lit for us..."

My son always keeps me laughing.

Today, the big kids and I had a discussion about something or other. Girl1 asked if something was possible. I said, "I guess it is in theory." The kids then asked me to define, "In theory," and I did.

TheBoy, however, piped up with, "We live in this state (insert name of state which is particularly funny when said by a 3-year-old). We don't live in theory. We live here in this state."

Later in the day, he came to me with a broken finger nail along with the nail clippers and he asked me to take care of it. When asked, "How did you break it," he replied, "In half."

Oh, I do so love my kids.

I get by with a little help from my friends.

Purim is quickly approaching. This year, it has really taken me by surprise. I have no idea what the kids can dress up as for Purim and I'm desperately in need of costume ideas. I love making costumes, but with the baby on the way, I don't know if I can do much right now.

So I'm particularly thrilled to see this post from A Mother In Israel.

If you have any costume ideas at all (even if you don't, but you need some), head over there and either share the love or be inspired by the comments. And look around whlie you're there because she has some fabulous information on her blog on a wide range of things.

What's funnier that a mute monk choir as provided by a Jew?

Answer: not much.

This cracked me up. I hope it does the same for you. We can all use some laughter right about now.

And the mess gets messier

This has been at the head of a very bad mood of mine recently. After carefully planning and being responsible all these years, we're in trouble.

Dh just found out that his company has lost the client who supplies 90% of his work. He's ALREADY down to 1/3 his usual pay.

Just figuring our mortgage and basic grocery bills, his current pay doesn't cut it.

Add to the fact that dh's knees are really bothering him lately (military injury, but they won't cover the cost of any care), but he won't see a doctor in large part because of the cost. And add to that the fact that we have three children, soon to be 4. We have a baby on the way very very soon. What happens if this birth doesn't work out and I wind up in the hospital with another c-section? We have insurance, but we won't be able to cover our portion.

Dh has already been looking for a new job, but with no luck. I've been searching around the house trying to find any newer items we can return and instead use the refund for groceries or more necessary items. I'm planning on selling my kids' toys out from under them because we need the money. But that won't be enough.

Does he go back to Active duty and this time, I stand there with FOUR crying children as the military sends him off for yet another deployment? Do we raise yet another baby who thinks "Daddy," is a telephone? Will they even take him back with the injuries they caused, but refused to acknowledge at the time (they "lost" his medical paperwork documenting the cause of the injuries)? Can he stand to go back to that way of life? Is Active duty even an option?


What do we do? What can we do? Now what?

When choosing your porn name...

please, for the love of all that is holy, do NOT go with a last name from a Sesame Street character.

Apparently, there is a playmate with the last name Grover. You learn something new every day. Unfortunately, sometimes you learn these new things via Google images when your children are in the room with you.

Odd coincidence or blood relative?

Have you ever met someone who reminded you so much of someone else? In high school, I met a guidance counselor who my mother swore bore an incredible resemblance to my grandfather. My mother once worked with a woman who looked so very much like my aunt (OBM) that my mother was speechless. I once met a girl my age who also reminded me very much of that aunt and even had the same rather unusual name. I had a dear friend who was often mistaken for a girl named Jade. We never did meet Jade, but on several occasions, we had strangers strike up a conversation assuming she was that girl.

I had one such experience this weekend. I met an artist who is very similar to one of my sisters. She looks similar. Her tone of voice was often very similar. Even her attitude was very much like this sister. She's even the same age.

The thing that makes this so striking for me is that my sister is adopted. We know her birth family (she was raised by her mother and my father adopted her when she was very small), but her birth father died years ago. We know he was an "interesting" man. He was wild and a convict (not even an EX-con. He was on the run from legal authorities when he dated my sister's mother). My sister met him later in life and had a hint of a relationship with him, but I never met him. I have no idea if this woman could be related to her.

It's such an odd position to be in. The resemblance could be purely coincidental. Then again, since my sister was adopted, this woman could be a relative. It's so bizarre to look at someone you've just met and think, "You could be related to my sister."

Monsters peeing on cheese

Tonight, before bed, my son confessed to my husband that he had a nightmare about a monster peeing on cheese.

I have no clue how to interpret that other than the fact that it's pretty damn funny!

The modesty of painted bellies

Maybe if I wore long skirts and wigs, this wouldn't be a problem. Maybe then my views on modesty would be a bit more obvious.

I am a Jew. I am a traditional Jew. I do not follow Orthodox customs of dress (long skirts and sleeves) nor do I, a married woman, cover my hair. I do, however, believe in Tzniut--modesty. My daughters do not wear bikinis. They will not wear anything that leaves their belly button beared. Generally, the most skin I show are the elbows down to hands. Some O's would have a problem with that, but I don't. It's how I feel comfortable, yet honor the concept of Tzniut.

If I wear a top that's too low cut, I hold it up with safety pins. Yes, I do carry a selection of pins in my bag just for that cause. Now that I'm at that hugely pregnant stage, I often lift my shirt up at home so that I can watch a foot poke out here to the left or see a bum roll when he/she launches off from my ribs. There, with only my immediate family, you will see my stomach in its stretch-mark glory. Well, YOU won't see it because of the rules of Tznuit. My husband and children will, but no one outside our immediate home. When my brother came to visit, I never once bared my belly. When my parents were here, I had no urge to show them. When it comes to friends, I am the same way. My belly is reserved for me, my husband and my immediately family. I am not comfortable with having it on display in any way shape or form nor do I think it's appropriate.

I have a (goy) friend who had henna tatoo done on her stomach during her last pregnancy. It was lovely--just gorgeous and it fit her personality wonderfully. It was not, however, me. It's my understanding that she plans on having that artist do my pregnant belly. I desperately want to avoid that. I very much do not want that to happen. If I say that, though, I risk hurting her feelings (I hear she's been planning this thing for a while). If I go along with it, I will be annoyed with myself. How can I ask Hashem for protection in labor when I just so blatantly ignored not only His laws of Tznuit, but also my own conscience which He gave me?

I'm at a loss and I only have a few hours to figure it out.

EDIT: I called my friend and explained my feelings to her. She suggested we do the art on my hands which is what we did. I was MUCH more comfortable with that and she was thrilled that she got to do it for me.

I started to accept the mess I'm in. I know that mess spelled backwards is 'ssem' and I felt much better armed with that information." Tori Amos

I'm recycling that post title from one 3 years ago. It's fitting.

I've been reluctant to blog about this. I've been reluctant to speak about this. I've only told two friends and just within the past week. The economy is kicking our butt in ways I never imagined and it's scary.

We have always been very responsible when it comes to money. We have a money market account into which we file away a percentage of our income every month. While we do give ourselves some leeway, we don't spend money frivolously. We discuss all big purchases and anything over $30 is a big purchase. I ALWAYS look for a deal on kids' items and we buy consignment when at all possible. We have health insurance because not having any is not an option. If there's a medical emergency, we will not be solely responsible for insane bills. Remember, my daughters' birth and NICU stay was over $200,000 which was completely covered by Tricare. Each time, before we started trying to conceive, I insisted we have a certain amount of money saved--enough to tide us over should we need it.

Well, thanks to the state of the economy and a bit of a catastrophe we dealt with a while ago (about which I didn't feel compelled to blog), we're hurting financially and it kills me. Dh's income has suddenly dropped to 1/3 of what it was. I realized the other day that we now qualify for food stamps. How in the hell does that happen? How does that happen to us?

Our money market account is almost gone. Every month, I've had to transfer money to our checking to pay our bills. And our bills are NOT extravagant. We no longer have cable. We get our books and DVDs from the library. The only things I've bought for this baby have been from the clearance racks and even then, not much at all. I haven't bought anything for the bigger kids at all with the exception of shoes they needed all of which were on clearance. We're not eating out at all.

We have a baby due in a matter of weeks. I'm more than a little scared now. We were financially safe when we started TTC and even through most of this pregnancy. Now, though, not so much and that worries me. I asked for stroller/bouncy seat recomendations, but when I saw a bouncy at a rummage sale for $8 the other day, I thought, "We can get by without it." Dh and I were considering looking at strollers at a consignment sale in 2 weeks, but now I don't think we'll get one at all. We can't afford it.

This is killing me. We've always been responsible with our money. The only designer clothing our kids have ever worn came from garage sales or were hand-me-downs. We are not the types who take trips to exotic locations. Hell, our only family vacations, with one exception for which my parents' paid, have been to visit family (and even that aforementioned parent-funded Disney trip while dh was deployed was actually to visit cousins we hadn't seen in years). Yes we have what I consider luxuries, but we have the bare minimum (cell phones, but no internet access, fancy phones, or text plan).

Anything that costs money has to wait. We've had to put off major and minor repairs because we don't want to spend the money. When the kids were sick a few weeks ago, I didn't take them to the doctor because I knew they'd all be charged the $150 fee each for first-time visits in addition to any prescriptions we'd need. Yes, our insurance helps, but not enough. And yes, if the illness had gotten worse, I would have taken them in, but just the thought of having to balance my kids' well-being with what we can/can't afford killed me.

This lack of money is breaking my heart. My mother had some serious health issues lately. All I wanted to do was jump on a plane to help her, but we can't afford it. My FIL's cancer is back and he's nearly halfway through with his radition. I know a visit from the kids would lift his spirits, but we can't do it. Bubbe is getting worse. When she passes away, we cannot afford to go to her funeral.

Our whole lives are now on hold because we don't know what to do. We don't know what we can afford to do. We were supposed to move closer to family after the baby is born (remember, the military left us in a state where we have no family), but we don't know if the house will sell given the current market and the downpayment we had saved for another house is gone. We had to use it to pay for gas and food.

Luckily, we're getting some money back from taxes. Dh's work load has picked up quite a bit in the past week. We know we have more money headed our way. That has me sighing with relief (at the rate we're going, our money market account would have only lasted us another 3 months before it's gone). Still, I'm terrified. I don't know what to expect. We're trying to be proactive, but this all came on so suddenly. What do we do? What can we afford to do?

Sharing a link: The Day After He Left for Iraq

I had to share this link. The Day After He Left for Iraq

I particularly like this line:
"There is no graceful, easy, painless, romantic way to send your husband off to war. The emptiness left behind the fading sound of his boots is deafening."

The very last portion reminds me quite a bit of the portion of Hello Jupiter that I quoted here.

I really like this as well:
"With my belly swollen, again, I stood in a parking lot, holding our second newborn and searching for a way to say goodbye. Again. This time, Iraq beckoned. I had no way of knowing what would become of us. Of him. Of our marriage. I only knew one simplified version of our life, our struggle: I loved him."

Great read. I want to add the book to my wishlist.

Kids say the darnest things: Questioning Existence

After my shower, TheBoy came over to kiss the baby (aka my stomach). It was very cute. Then he noticed I was topless and asked, "Is da baby in your nipple?" I assured him that the baby was not, but I pointed out that the baby would nurse from my nipple. He added, "When da baby is born."

This conversation followed:

Me: Yes. You nursed when you were a baby and your sisters did when they were babies. This baby will too.
TheBoy: I not born anymore.
Me: Yes you are. Once you're born, you can't go back.
TheBoy: I not a baby anymore.
Me: No, you're a big kid.
TheBoy(proudly): I'm a big kid.
Me: Yep.
TheBoy: I don't exist?

At this point, I asked him three times to repeat himself to make sure I heard him correctly. I had. I assured him that he does, in fact, exist.

Again, this child is 3. What in the hell am I going to do with him in 10 years?

Kids Say: Light vs. White

This weekend, we took advantage of some gorgeous weather by taking the children to a park. It's near the water where there is a light house. The big kids remembered being there in the past when we walked to the light house and asked to do so again. TheBoy got very excited by this, but we couldn't figure why. Then he became his usual verbose self and it all made sense.

TheBoy (very excited): Light house? Yeah, go to white house. I want to go see white house. We can all go. Is Obama there? We can see Obama at the white house. I want to talk to him.

The child is 3.

Fear and Screaming in Parenting

A few days ago, my daughter got hurt.

A few days ago, my daughter got hurt and she screamed.

A few days ago, my daughter got hurt and she screamed IMMEDIATELY after I had just gone to the bathroom.

Never freaking fails!

Although, I have to tell you, that is one of the most sickening thing that can happen to you as a parent. You know a child is hurt, but you can't help. You can't do anything about it. You can't comfort them. You can't even get to them.

I flew out of the bathroom as fast as I could and found her right outside the door crying like crazy. She's the child we joke is built like a truck (she doesn't seem to feel pain as much as other kids), but she was screaming. I feared gushing blood, but luckily, didn't find that. She was bleeding and she had quite an injury, but we got through it (thanks to Bumps and Bruises tablets--these things are WONDERFUL, pain reliever, and a bucket of ice water for her to keep her hand in) and lots of hugs and kisses from her sister.

I was very impressed with Girl2. She was so motherly. She hugged her sister and whispered to her comfortingly. When Girl1 asked for her stuffed toy, Girl2 jumped up to go get it. When she couldn't find it, she brought back her own lovey and another favorite toy. Girl1 played gofer bringing toilet paper to Girl2 when she needed to blow her nose, running dirty tissues to the garbage and then repeating when asked (I eventually had her bring the bathroom garbage and a roll of toilet paper out with us to save the poor child from utter exhaustion).

All seems okay now, but those moments (and those screams) are absolutely horrifying and haunting.

Tu b'Shevat is here.

It's Tu b'Shevat again--the New Year of Trees. I, however, am lazy. Therefore, in honor of the day, I'll just direct you to my thoughts on the topic from last year.

Distract me, baby, one more time.

I need a distraction. I have got to get my mind off all the awful things that have happened lately.

I want to make something. Crafting keeps my hands and mind busy plus I have something to show for it in the end. So it's an all around pick-me-up.

Anyone have any ideas for crafts? I can't knit or crochet and my sewing must be done by hand, but if you've got ideas, I'm up for trying.

My current idea is to make t-shirts for the kids each with the number of their birth (1 for Girl1, 2 for Girl2 and 3 for TheBoy) then make a onesie with the number 4 for the newbie. I have the plain t-shirts (and a few onesies I've bought at consignment stores/garage sales) and a big box of different color permanent markers thanks to mom's recent office closing (since she was one of the last few employees, she was allowed to take what she wanted and she sent us a ton of office supplies. Anyone need star stickers? I don't know why they had 12 packs of them, but now we do). I also have drawers FULL of fabric paint. Painting clothing is favorite craft of mine.

I'll share the results.

Can't wrap my head about this and can't stop praying for them

I recently became acquainted with Cynthiaa over at Confessions of a Yummy Mummy. She was due on Valentine's Day. Just last night, we were chatting. She laughed when I was super excited about being due NEXT MONTH and she shared how excited she was to be due in just 2 weeks.

Today, I got news that her son has passed away.

Barukh ata Adonai Eloheinu melekh ha'olam, dayan ha-emet.

All I can do is pray for them at this time. They're in my thoughts, prayers and in my heart.

All You Need Is Love (and a new stroller)

This will be baby #4 for us. So one would assume we have everything we need. For the most part, we do. I'm a big advocate of the concept, "All you need are boobs and a bed." Got those covered. Now, however, we need recommendations for a stroller and a bouncy seat.

When I had the twins, we researched double strollers like crazy and settled on a Graco DuoGlider. It was reasonably priced, held two car seats, worked well and survived through their toddlerhood. Although, I will never stop cursing the fact that the models in the early 2000's had no cup holders for the parents. If I have to deal with twins, then I sure as hell need a drink of somesort. There was no storage at all on the top for parents. Today, you'll find holders for Ipods, sunglasses, and drinks galore. Not so in my time. (in my best creaky bubbe voice, "Back in my day, we had to walk to school uphill both ways 10 miles in the snow while pushing a double stroller with one hand and clutching deseperately to our drinks with the other hand.")

We bought a single Graco travel system for TheBoy ( just found out that stroller has been recalled and I had no idea). Oh holy day! It had TWO cupholders for me AND a box inbetween the holders with a lid that latched and everything. Of course, the latch broke relatively quickly, but damn it, I had cupholders. All was right with the world. Once TheBoy learned to walk (at 18 months after freaking everyone else out thereby making them insist there must be something wrong with him, when I knew full-well there wasn't), the stroller was folded up and "temporarily" left alongside the shed. My son is 3 now. The stroller rests in the exact same place and has held that location through two ice storms. Yeah, that's not gonna work for the new kid.

So now we need a new stroller, or at least new to us. I looked at some of the ones with the option for a bigger kid to sit/stand, but they just seem cumbersome. I would prefer something light and easy to open/close, but I need more than an umbrella stroller. We bought a used Maclaren from a friend last time, but I just wasn't impressed and we sold it. I'm not a slave to fancy names. I also refuse to pay a fortune for a stroller, particularly since this is our last baby.

Here's what I want from a stroller:

• light weight
• easy open/close
• small enough when folded (doesn't have to fit in my pocket, but must not be so big it has to be strapped down to the top of the van).
• easy enough to manuver
• cup holders
• good size storage basket underneath that you can access even with the seat down (that was a problem with the Duo Glider)
• extra storage is a huge plus (side of the basket, behind the seat, etc)
• If it fits a Graco snugride infant carseat, even better, but not a requirement
• Visor cover for baby
• seat that reclines completely

We haven't been big fans of jogging strollers. We've tried a few, but they seem so cumbersome and they can be a pest to manuver.

We'd love suggestions for a new stroller. And hey, if you run a review blog, feel free to talk to any companies you may work with and suggest they send us one to review. :-)

We're also in the market for a bouncy seat. Ours is broken. The vibrate feature stopped working when TheBoy was tiny. The seat doesn't work nearly as well when it doesn't shake the kid. When we bought ours, we had two tiny colicky twins. We sat a crying Girl2 in each of the bouncy seats on display at Babies R Us. She continued crying in every one until we got to the one we eventually bought. To make sure it wasn't a fluke, we ran her through them all again and yet again, she screamed in them all until she got to that same one. We threw it in the cart and thanked G-d. It was then that we heard a father-to-be turn to his very pregnant wife and say, "Now THAT'S the one we're getting." Our twins still hated sleep, but at least we got some relief with that seat.

So I'd love to have that option for this baby, but which one? There are far more advanced features now. Do we really need them? Are they any good? Is there anywhere where we can find a simple bouncy seat that just bounces and vibrates without all the bells and whistles?

Honestly, I'd prefer to borrow one, but many of my friends have either already given theirs away, have pre-teens so their bouncy seats are long out of comission, or are firm believers in baby wearing and therefore never had swings, bouncy seats, or bumper jumpers (I believe in baby wearing, but my first kids came as a matched set which created a need for something in addition to slings).

Once again, if any of you out there in Review Land would like to offer us a stroller and/or bouncy, please feel free. I've been entering all the contests I can to try to win them, but so far, no luck. If you're having a contest for either of these, feel free to post a link in my comments.

To all you parents, I ask, what stroller/bouncy would you recomend? Are there any you think we shoud avoid? What has your experience been?

Wordless Wednesday: Trapped Under Ice

My submissions for Wordless Wednesday for January 28:

Dear Robeez, You're Mean.

Oh, this is simply unfair. I adore shoes. I admit that I'm a bit of an addict. I like Robeez, but I've never actually bought a pair new. I've always gotten them second-hand either as hand-me-downs or at consignment shops (RIP my favorite shop which has closed its doors thereby eliminating any chance of finding great bargains). I've bought other (much cheaper) brands of soft-soled shoes online (through co-ops and eBay), but never Robeez.

Today, I get an e-mail from Robeez featuring their new shoes. Many of the soft-soled shoes I had for my other children were loaned to friends and have since been lost. So this baby will need new shoes. Our bank account, however, does NOT need us spending insane amounts of money on baby shoes. If this was our first baby, I'd be more willing to spend the money since it would be an investment that we could use in the future. This, however, is our LAST baby and so I'm reluctant to spend the money. Man oh, man, these new shoes are adorable, though. Check these out. They are, quite possibly, the cutest shoes ever. The new Mini Shoez are my very favorites.

I'm very nearly drooling over these. Unfair--it's simply unfair. Robeez, you make adorable shoes, but you're such a meanie!

Currently reading

I have about 4 books currently checked out from the library. I'm reading two of them right now (which is strange for me because I usually only read one book at a time). I started with Joseph Telushkin's Words That Hurt, Words That Heal. I'm probably a bit more than half done with that one. It's an interesting read. I think his stance may be a bit too extreme, but it has made me think twice and it has affected what I say. I think a mark of a good book is whether or not it causes you to evaluate and change behavior.

I'm also reading The Art of Blessing the Day which is Marge Piercy's collection of poems. This is an easier read for me and is going much faster. I'm probably 3/4 of the way done. Overall, I'm enjoying it. I find that difficult to say because many of her poems touch on difficult subjects. Still, they're very compelling. Thus far, my favorite line is from a poem titled, "House built of breath",
"When we are alone, the walls sing
and even the cats talk but only in Yiddish."

I can't quite explain it, but I love that line.

I'll be back when I finish them to give you my final thoughts, but thus far, I like both books. I read David Wolpe's Making Loss Matter, but was not impressed. Genius me brought it back to the library before I posted here about it. Sorry about that. I'll get it back out again and do a propper review on a future date.

Let My People Go (out to eat).

On Monday, the kids and I reviewed some things on Martin Luther King Jr. They did print outs, a word search and some coloring sheets plus we talked quite a bit about the marches and the significance of our newest president.

Later that day, I caught all three of the kids marching around the house chanting, "Let my people go.". When I asked them what they were doing, Girl2 said, "I'm marching like people did with Martin Luther King Jr." TheBoy then chimed in, "I'm marching for grapes." Girl1 added, "We're Obama's kids." (they are absolutely fascinated by the fact that Sasha Obama is their age). To which her brother added, "I'm Obama's kid with a banana."

During the inauguration, chants of, "Yes we did," could be heard (yes, I admit, they were coming from my mouth). To which, my son added, "Yes we did--get ice cream."

Some of us are struck by the historical significance of the day and the eloquent words and actions of MLK. Apparently, some of us just want a snack.

Always an Olivia--Not Your Typical Jewish Children's Book

I'm taking part in the Jewish Literature Challenge. So it was perfect when my daughters came home from Sefer Safari (the library portion of Sunday school) with Carolivia Herron's Always an Olivia.

This was such a neat story and so very unexpected. It's reportedly based on the author's own family.

It was a great way to begin broaching the subject of our ancestors being expelled from various regions. The grandmother in the story tells of how her family was forced out of Spain during the Spanish Inquisition and relocated only to be forced out again. There's even a pirate kidnapping too. I've been reluctant to try to explain forced migration to the kids because I just don't know how much they'll understand and honestly, I don't know how much of it I want them to understand. Who wants their children to carry the notion that we're different and no one wants us. This book gave us a chance to discuss history in a non-threatening way.

One family member eventually makes it to the States and, in time, their family intermarries with the descendants of West African slaves. The story does make it appear that from there, true Judaism is lost, but the family continues to light candles on shabbat. As a traditional Jew, that bothered me. My kids didn't seem to pick up on it, though. Through the generations, the family clings to two things--shabbas candles and family names including those which mean "Peace," (Shulamit becomes Olivia).

On Amazon.com (where the book has 5 stars), one reviewer referred to the story as "A Great, Great Story of Jews, African Americans, and Civil Rights!" I have to agree. I thought it was particularly fitting that the kids brought this one home just before not only Martin Luther King Jr. day, but also just before President Obama's inauguration. It was even more fitting given the diversity within the Obama family (did you now Michelle Obama has a cousin who's a rabbi?). I thought the story was a great way to show how we're all connected at a simple level that children can understand.

The kids and I all liked the book. It opened up all sorts of discussions from trying to pick a name for this baby, to the meanings behind our Hebrew names, to friends who come from mixed families, to our family history. I can't explain how grateful I am that they didn't come home with yet another book on Chanukah (as the vast majority of Jewish books are). This was definitely an unexpected, but very appreciated book.

I promised photographic evidence

and who am I to let you down?

If you give two kids some potholder loops, the ability to finger knit and a small dog, you will wind up with this:*



When they first lavished the dog with their crafty goodness, I couldn't help but think that they're giving this guy a run for his money:




In one day, the twins have finger knitted various goodies for the pets, toys, and various others (including a pink and yellow wig for a giraffe, a multi-color leash for a camel and countless bracelets for friends and family). By the end of this coming week, I'm sure we'll have an entire wardrobe to rival that chihuahua clown's.

*No pets were injured in the making of this entry. I can't guarantee there was no humiliation, but I can assure you the dog wasn't permanently scarred.

Insert witty title here. I'm out of ideas.

Oh, the thrill ride that is my life!

Friday was my mom's last day of work. They're going to have her come in once or twice a week to run checks, but that's it. My mother is not the type who can go all that time without working. When she had a hysterectomy, she was back at work 2 weeks later. She says she's going to put her energy into getting the house ready to sell. It's in fabulous shape, but my family has lived there for four generations, so there's lots to wade through. I'm trying not to think too much about the house. There are so very many family memories there. Must. Not. Dwell.

I've already told you all we know about my FIL and his cancer. Nothing new there.

Pregnancy is going well. Baby is active. Mom is exhausted. No film at 11.

I'm still searching for birds. I've found some gorgeous art work and some sewing patterns for crafts I want to try.

My daughters have learned to finger knit and our poor animals are now suffering as a result. They had a difficult time with yarn, so I grabbed a big bag of those nylon loops used for making pot holders. Those they can use for finger knitting and oh boy have they ever! They decided to make collars for all the animals. The pets are THRILLED. I'll post photographic evidence soon (assuming I can chase one of them down and wrangle the collar back on 'em).

As far as resolutions go, we're doing pretty good with that not eating out thing. I did break down once and dh ran and got me food, but only once. It wasn't even very good, so I decided not to do that again. Have not played the lottery and therefore have not won the lottery which is keeping with the resolution I make every year. :-)

My son is still having a baby. Actually, now he's having three babies. Oh and he says his breasts hurt too.

The excitement, it's unending. :-)

Flight Tracker FAIL

Through This is True, I found this horrifying gem:
@AcmePhoto: FlightAware flight tracker FAIL on US Airways #flight1549

Oh my stars and garters! Arrived? Where? WTF? That's awful.

Doing the baby dance to a military beat

This realization just occurred to me: I'm having a baby. My husband is here. There are no plans for him to go anywhere.

With my first pregnancy, we got pregnant on the day we were reunited (Oh boy were we reunited!). We had been trying to conceive before that with no luck, so it was a very welcome turn of events. My pregnancy was a high risk one, so he wasn't deployed and I didn't have to worry about it too much.

Then the US went into Afghanistan and Iraq. The twins were just babies when we took them for pictures with dh in uniform. There were rumors of impending deployments for him and I wanted pictures of them with their daddy before that happened. He was gone for a few weeks for training, but that was the worst of it during infancy. We were very blessed and he stayed home until just before they turned 18 months old. He didn't make it home in time for their second birthday.

We actually started TTC earlier than originally planned with our second pregnancy because we knew he was going to be deployed yet again. We had to evaluate pregnancy, birth, early infancy, and toddlerhood to decide what point he would be least willing to miss. How awful is that? You have to decide what part of your child's life from which you're willing to be absent. Either we would have to wait to TTC until after his deployment or we needed to start ASAP so that he could be here for the birth (birth and early infancy was what we decided were most important. It was important to him to be here in toddlerhood too when the child could remember him. The girls had a rough time when they were toddlers and daddy left).

Luckily, they kept post-poning his deployment because we had a difficult time getting pregnant. Eventually, we got pregnant and he was able to stay around until TheBoy was 4 months old. Dh made it home in time for TheBoy's first birthday. Before he left, though, dh donned his uniform and took pictures with the baby. I never said it out loud, but it was, "Just in case."

This time, we were able to start trying for our 3rd (and final) pregnancy on our own schedule. Dh is still military, but he's currently innactive. For the first time ever, we didn't have to take deployments and military schedules into account when deciding when to have another baby. I've been very comfortable during this pregnancy with my husband by my side for the entire thing. Hell, he's only missed one midwife appointment (the first pregnancy, his crazy work schedule made it impossible for him to make some of my appointments and the second time around, he was often gone for training). We can plan a birth knowing that he'll be right there with me. We can look forward to infancy knowing dh be a part of it. When this child says, "Dada," for the first time, we know that he/she will NOT be refering to a telephone.

The reality of this is just now hitting me. This is such a surreal feeling. Woah!

Thursday Thirteen: Labor Playlist

I'm trying to come up with a collection of songs to put on a labor playlist--songs I can listen to while I'm in labor. Here are my choices thus far in no particular order. Jump in in the comments if you want to throw out some more ideas. I'm still on the hunt.

1. & 2. Maya Raviv's version of Avinu Malkeinu and Shalom Aleykhem (one of my very favorite songs of all time). She has such a wonderfully full voice that keeps me calm, but energizes me as well. Watch Maya in this great clip.

3. 10,000 Maniac's Verdi Cries. That's one of my very favorites. I worry that it's too slow and that maybe I'll need more drums.

4. Tori Amos' Etienne. LOVE that song. It's gorgeous.

5. Liz Phair's Rocket Girl

6. Tori Amos' Raspberry Swirl

7. Dave Matthew's Band Lover Lay Down

8. Carebears on Fire Everybody Else

9. Tori Amos Space Dog (I'm still undecided about that one, but Tori will definitely be prominently displayed on my playlist)

10. Mattisyahu, although I can't decide which one. I'm leaning towards Jerusalem, but I'm sure I'll add more from him.

11. Vienna Teng's Soon, Love, Soon (wishful thinking)

12. Vienna Teng's Eric's Song

13. Sublime's 5446 That's My Number/Ball and Chain (yes, I'm an odd duck) Be forewarned, that's Sublime, so you must assume lyrics are NSFW

I'm hoping for some more suggestions. Don't worry if your musical tastes vary from what you see here. I'm open to all suggestions.

11:57 am EDIT: I just got this all typed out--ready to jump back in the TT game, only to find the TT link no longer works. I'll try to find out information and until then, I'll post this as is.

ANOTHER EDIT: Thursday Thirteen has moved. Get the TT code here.

I'm Taking the Jewish Literature Challenge

As if I ever needed an excuse to read. :-)

This is perfect for me. I plan on giving brief reviews of the books I read for the challenge. I'll probably read more children's books than adult, but at someone's great suggestion, I have the titles of a few books on Judaism and birth/pregnancy that I'm particularly interested in reading.

Wordless Wednesday: Me in Hello Kitty form

Wordless Wednesday

Watch out, kids. Moms say the darnest things these days.

Dh just got off the phone with his father. The cancer is definitely back. He starts radiation soon. 5 days a week for 35-37 sessions.

I shook my head over the fact that he and my MIL had to weigh the side effects for surgery and radiation before his made his decision (surgery). They picked what they believed was the lesser of two evils, but now they're gonna be stuck with both.

I asked dh if his father had said anything about side effects from the surgery and he hadn't, but dh told me a bit more about his conversation with his mother yesterday. She rambled on about the percentages and risks. Then she said, "Well, they say they can always give him Viagra." At this point in the retelling of the conversation, dh stopped and said, Then he added, "Noooooo.""But I don't know if what she said next was worse." Apparently, she said, "But after 40 years of marriage, I guess it doesn't matter anyway." After he told me what she had said, he turned, left the room and yelled, "STOP. Don't tell me this stuff."

My MIL is the queen of InappropriateWorldLand, but damn it, we needed that laugh. :-)

Take these broken wings and learn to fly.

I have become a bit obsessed with birds. Ever since I quoted my dearly beloved Ms. Dickinson regarding hope and feathers, I've been on a bird quest. Actually, I suppose I started following the feathered path long before that. When my cousin was dying, I listened to the Beatles' Black Bird quite a bit because it reminded me of him. After he passed, I started seriously considering a tattoo. Yes, I am a Jew. Yes, tattoos are against my religion. Still, my cousin had star tattoos on his back and so I started wondering about getting a star tattoo myself. The more I thought about it, the more I decided I wanted a simple star with a bird sitting inside it. No, I have not gotten that tattoo, but yes, that image has stayed with me.

Now, at a difficult time, I find myself searching the web for pictures of birds to put up around the house. I want them to remind me of Ms. Dickinson's hope and my cousin's spirit.

The Bad News Bears

We got a call from my MIL today. They got some test results and it looks like my FIL's cancer is back. He meets with his oncologist tomorrow, but they already know they're going to start radiation. I don't know when or any other details. She had to sneak us a call today while he was out because he's upset and doesn't want anyone to know. Hopefully, we'll learn more tomorrow.

This week is my mother's last at work. She's been very blessed that she was able to stay this long. She's one of only five people in the entire building. Since she was still there in January, she IS entitled to 4 weeks vacation pay which will help. She'll have to apply for her remaining vacation pay from 2008 in the courts (her company filed bankruptcy), but she is guaranteed her vacation pay from this year. She has applied for Social Security and given her age and the fact that she's been working since she was 8 years old, she qualifies for an amount not too far off from her salary. That should help as well.

As always, positive vibes, good thoughts and prayers are appreciated.

Resolutions

I swore I wasn't going to make a resolution. I hate them. I think you're setting yourself up to fail.

That being said, I recently came across the Modern Mom Challenge. I kind of tagged along to a chat and then decided to sign up. Through that chat, I got some great suggestions from some fine folks about exercise ideas. You may remember that I was quite the gym rat not too long ago. Since then, my membership lapsed and then I finally got pregnant again. The sheer exhaustion from the first trimester completely ruled out signing a contract at a new gym. Now, we want to focus our finances on preparing for the future, so my 2 hour sessions at the gym are a distant memory.

Still, nutrition is particularly important during this pregnancy. I've never exercised in my pregnancies and I've always regretted that. So this time, I've been making a point of exercising. It's only 1/2 an hour of light exercise (a far cry from my hour of cardio and hour of weights every day), but it's something and it's helping.

For a while, I fell out of the habit of exercising and my diet has not been the best since the holidays. So I want to use the challenge as my inspiration to change that.

I've been feeling so very positive lately about this birth and I need to do everything I can to make sure it's a healthy one. So I'm resolving to be better about my nutrition and certainly my exercise.

Although, I'm not abandoning my standard resolution: I resolve NOT to win the lottery. Thus far, it's been one resolution I've been able to keep year after year. :-)

It may be late, but it's still funny.

see more pwn and owned pictures

Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul, And sings the tune without the words, And never stops at all...

I am now two months away from my due date. Gasp. Cheer. Hooray! I'm feeling more and more hopeful about a homebirth. When the new year came, it brought with it a sense of electricity and optimism.

On a whim, I checked out my year over-view horoscope and found this:
Year 2009 Overview

In 2009, Pisces will enjoy swimming in new dimensions, as the highly charged Aquarius energy allows you to dream big and manifest your ideas. Your imagination soars, awakening a deep desire to seek spiritual truth and meaning in your life -- and in the world.

Your awareness and new perception helps to serve others. You are able to live freely in the world of transformation, and this encourages others to do the same. They feel supported by your wisdom and understanding. Your inspirational qualities are a large part of your purpose in the world -- your ability to heal and inspire.

Ohhhh, I like that. Let's hope my healing and inspiration extends to myself as well as others.

Tomorrow, I have an appointment with the chiropractor. I've never seen one before, but my midwives are hopeful that adjustments will help repair the damage to my back (a skiing injury 20 years ago may have contributed to my pelvis issues and my back has never been in correct alignment since then). I'm hopeful as well. I'm really looking forward to this appointment.

Tuesday, I have a midwife appointment. I always look forward to those. I adore my midwives.

I'm not as apprehensive as I was. I'm still trying to hold firm to realism (which is difficult for me. I'm a Pisces. As my horoscope continued to say, "At times, it may be difficult for you to live in this world of concrete realities, and conversely, sometimes it's hard for others to understand that all you want to do is live in a world of endless possibilities."), but I believe in hope. We wouldn't have even tried to get pregnant again if hope had abandoned us. Hell, we would have never even tried for a second pregnancy without hope. My first pregnancy was so dangerous, yet none of those problems appeared in my second pregnancy nor have they manifested now.

Hope is real. Hope is strong. Hope, I haz it. :-)

No Saving Money or Recycling for Parents

You'll notice a new little image on my side bar.

I've been promoting the "Save Handmade" campaign, but I never realized the CPSIA was this far-reaching: Gov't Says, Sorry, No More Reselling Your Kids' Stuff

I've sold and donated used kids' things. I buy consignment all the time. I prefer to buy kids' and maternity clothes from consignment shops. It's one of the tips I give for those trying to "Go Green," (if you reuse items instead of buying new, there will be less to fill the landfills). I've Freecycled lots of my kids' old things. I'm a big fan of garage sales. We wouldn't have been able to clothe twins all these years (and now their little brother and soon the new one) without consignment shops, garage sales and the kindness of friends with hand-me-downs.

This could be an even bigger disaster than I ever imagined.

I love my kids and the things they say.

Dh just sent the kids to brush teeth. When he turned around, Girl2 was still sitting on the couch. He asked why she was sitting there in the same room and her response had me absolutely rolling.

"Because the couch exists and so does the playroom."

These are SO my children.