Showcase of My Kids' Rooms

Many months ago I went on and on and on about decorating Sophie's new room and the new baby (whom we all now know as Lilah)'s room. I never ended up posting the final results! So here they are, my kids' room:


Sophie's room:

I painted the chair and recovered it to match her room. Now I'm wishing I had taken a closeup of it.
Her own art work, framed:


Lilah's room:

Not a whole lot to say. It is essentially Sophie's old room, with a few changes here and there. I had the tablecloths custom made to match the bedding, as best I could.

It IS Easy Being Green (well, most of the time)

Over the past year or so I have caught the green bug along with everyone else (thank you, Al Gore). I have always tried to be energy efficient. I have been recycling as long as I can remember. Even when it meant bringing my make shift recycling bin in the trunk of my car on my 45 minute commute to school and then sorting it according to specific material at the University of Maryland Recycling Center. It was over the past year, though, that I really got serious. Some changes have been easy ones, while others force me to remind myself a daily basis why I have made them. Here's a quick run down of those changes and how I feel about them:

Reusable grocery bags- I love that I did this. I love it so much that even when all of my bags got ruined by spilled oil in the back of the car, I bought new ones. They hold more than regular grocery bags, they cannot break, I can carry more at a time by wearing the straps on my shoulders, PLUS my grocery store deducts 5 cents from the bill for every bag used.

Rechargeable batteries- I HATE them. They are expensive, they do not hold a charge for very long AT ALL, and half the time they don't charge when I try to charge them. When it's for something important (like my camera) I have resorted back to the regular batteries.

Fluorescent light bulbs- They are ugly and cost a little more, but they do seem to last a lot longer, and supposedly use less energy.

No more paper/plastic dishes and cutlery- Glad I did this, but hate the fact that I am constantly washing dishes. One day, when I have a second dishwasher, this won't be an issue.

These are all relatively small changes that hopefully make some sort of difference. I'm not willing to give up my SUV or switch to disposable diapers, but I can handle the small stuff.

Conversations With a Two-Year-Old

Shimmy (to me): What time is it?
Sophie: 17

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Sophie: Where is Shimmy?
Me: I don't know. Where is Shimmy?
Sophie: He's at my house.

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Sophie: I need juice, please!
Me: I can't help you right now. I'm on the treadmill.
Sophie: I'm going to go ask my DAD for some juice! OKAY?!

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Sophie: Robert! Robert! Robert! ROOOBEERRRTTT!!!!!
My dad: Yes?
Sophie: Whatcha doin, Robert?

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Me: Sophie, whose Mommy is that?
Sophie: That's Maddy's Mommy. (long pause, then points and says:) That's my Mommy! That's my Daddy! That's my baby! That's my Mommy's car!

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To be continued...

Three Months!

Here Comes Trouble- at least that's what we thought when we were waiting for the arrival of baby #2. Thank God, Lilah has been anything but trouble. From the moment she entered this world she has been nothing but a sweet, precious, adorable delight. Just thinking about her warms my heart and makes me smile. Although I had been excited to have another child, part of me was really scared. It's different with subsequent babies than it is with the first. When I was pregnant with Sophie I feared nothing. I thought only of the snuggling, nursing, and gazing into each other's eyes that would constitute our days together. Obviously I was in for a rude awakening, but there is truly no way to mentally prepare for your first child. So having been to hell and back with a newborn once before, I was not looking forward to experiencing the hard parts again. Whenever I would think about how difficult it was going to be to have a newborn (plus a two year old!) I would just tell myself that the first three months would be hell, but that was as hard as it would be, and after the first three months everything would start to get a lot easier. If these past three months were the hardest, then I consider myself lucky indeed. Early on, Lilah seemed to fall into the rhythm of our family as if to prove to us that there was nothing to worry about- that she could keep up with us just fine.
In addition to keeping up with us and being a very cute addition to our family, Lilah has grown and learned a lot over the past three months! She smiles and "talks" all the time! She is an awesome nurser and probably weighs about 15 lbs. She has been in size six months clothes since she was two months old. She has rolled from tummy to back (though not for a while), and looks as if she will roll from back to tummy any day now. She is now sleeping nine hours straight most nights, and then goes back to sleep for another three hours. She takes two long naps during the day and sometimes a couple of cat naps too. She reaches for, and grabs a hold of whatever she wants which includes both toys and my hair. She loves her big sister, even when she screams in her ear and crowds her on her play mat. Speaking of her big sister, here is a picture of Sophie wearing the same shirt on the same mat (she is fivemonths old here, but the same size as Lilah is now):


So, to sum up, life has basically been awesome these past three months, and I can't wait for it to get even better!

Gilad Shalit

I read a lot of disturbing, terrifying, and heart-wrenching news stories. For some reason, one never, ever leaves my mind. I cannot forget about Gilad Shalit. Apparently, Olmert can, but this isn't going to be a political rant. Gilad is always in my thoughts. I pray for his safe return daily. I especially pray for him every Friday evening as I welcome the shabbat. I have considered adding an extra candle for him. This morning he was especially on my mind. I couldn't shake it. I decided to google him and found that today is the third anniversary of his kidnapping. I had not remembered that at all. Kind of spooky that somehow my subconcious, or maybe my soul, did know. Three years. Three YEARS! How has it been that long?! How has his mother survived three years knowing her baby is in the hands of the enemy?! How did Israel not bring one of their own home when they were in Gaza a few months ago? Where IS Gilad? Is he alive? Is he okay? Will we ever see him again? I don't know why I am so moved by it all. But I am.

Ball Busters

I cannot STAND it when people have to bring you down. You know what I'm talking about- you are feeling good about something and share that and one jackass always has to ruin it for you. While it was always irritating, it seems that it started to occur more often once I became a mom. It actually started during pregnancy. Here are some actual exchanges that have taken place:

Me: I feel pretty good so far.
Ball Buster: Just wait until the morning sickness kicks in!

Me: I'm starting to get past the first trimester stuff and feel good again.
BB: Just wait until your third trimester when you are huge and uncomfortable!

Me: Recovery has been okay so far.
BB: Just wait until you are out of pain meds!

Me: I have the opposite of the Baby Blues- I'm so happy!
BB: Just wait until the sleep deprivation catches up with you!

Me: My kids are awesome- I love them so much!
BB: Just wait until they start killing each other!

Hey, BB, you keep it up and I'll start killing YOU. Well, maybe not. But I won't just smile and stay quiet anymore. Stop hatin' on me. As Coolio once said, "if you got beef then eat a pork chop." I'm not letting your bad attitude affect mine!

Desperately Wanting A Night Out

Last night I felt old. Shimmy and I, along with the brother-in-law and sister-in-law went to the Better Than Ezra show at 9:30 Club. See above picture. The reason my hand stamp is so faded is because I immediately used the bathroom and washed my hands after entering the club. Yesterday morning I loaded up the kids and met my mom in Rockville to run some errands. Then we went back to her house, where I left the kids and returned later to spend the night. BIL and SIL came over and I drove us downtown to meet Shimmy for dinner. Shimmy and I ate too much fried food and red meat, so our stomachs were a mess afterwards. Most of us ordered coffee with dessert so that we'd be able to stay up for the concert. Before driving away, SIL noticed a CVS and asked BIL to buy her ear plugs since she was afraid the volume of the music would make her cranky. Then we drove to the club. Since our SUV is full of car seats, Shimmy drove, BIL sat in the front, SIL sat in the back wedged between the car seats, and I sat in the "third row" with my knees pressed into the back of the seat in front of me. When we got there, I had to pump in the car first. We had a good time- the show was awesome. The best part was the fact that it ended at 11:30! Not too late- woohoo! So, yea, I'm old. But too old and set in my ways to care :)

PS: Here's a recent picture of Sophie riding her trike. Notice:
1. Her very fancy skirt, which she insisted she wear.
2. Her very cool sunglasses.
3. Her friend from 2 doors down, who is her age exactly, but who Sophie towers over.