The Week My Favoritest Left- Part One

About a month ago (I have been a little sporatic in my postings) My Favoritest had to go out of town for an entire week. Normally, I am okay with staying alone. don't get me wrong, I don't like it. I will admit that I am scared of the dark, things that go bump in the night, and I am pretty sure that anything I have ever seen on Criminal Minds will happen when I am alone in my house. All that being said, I usually can handle it. But, this go round I started to panic. I was terrified of being alone. It had very little to do with single parenting for a week, I mean I do that most days anyway. It had more to do with the irrational fear that something bad would happen and I would have no one to help me or take care of the girls.

In an effort to not have to be alone, I sent a sad and pathetic text to my friend Beverly. She loves to travel and is always up for an adventure. We texted back and forth swapping scheduling details and she said she would talk with her husband and get back to me. A couple of days later she called me and said she was coming for a few days! My heart soared from the relief and then I started planning all the fun we could have!

And fun is exactly what we had. SJ wasn't a total hot mess and we explored the city like we were both tourists!

We started the week off by enjoying a dinner without the girls. My Favoritest hadn't left yet so after I picked Beverly up from the airport we headed out to window shop and eat a nice dinner. It was heavenly! The next morning we dropped Doodle off at school, where we left her until 4:00. Have I mentioned that I love the existance of extended day! After leaving school we headed into the city to take river boat cruise. The weather was gorgeous and the boat ride was great. I took a ton of pictures and I am now going to bore you with a handful of my favorites!

Beverly, SJ, and I getting ready to sail away on the Monongahela River, or maybe the Allegany River, or the Ohio River. At some point we sailed on all three of them, but I don't know what it was when we started our trip!

Given the 3 rivers I just mentioned, there are a ton of bridged in Pitty. The river cruise was a great way to see them up close. They are all different colors and shapes. They are really pretty and when you go under them in a boat have a nice echo acoustic!

This sunburst is on one of my favorite pictures from the day. I love the sun, clouds, and metal all in the same shot!

The other intersting thing Beverly and I noticed was a church steeple on the top of Mt. Washington. It was visible from so many angles and I had fun taking shots of the same thing from different perspectives.

The next day we packed both girls up and headed to the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Not anywhere near as cool as the Field Museum but lots to see and look at and even a few things for Doodle to "do".

Doodle "listening" to the information about digging for dinosaur bones.

My furture archeologist digging for dinosaur bones, before the museum docents told her that she had to wear the protective goggles if she wanted to dig.

And my Doodle after she put her goggles back on. I am in LOVE with this picture. It is truly my favorite in a long time!

We took this picture just for Zayde. When he was in college Zayde had a bob cat (creatively named Cat) as a pet.

After we left the museum we had a lovely lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe and then headed to the Duquene Incline. The inclines were used back in the day to get people from the city to Mt. Washington.

I took the picture of the Incline the day before from the river.

View of the city from the top of Mt. Washington

And while this isn't anything super interesting, I love this picture. It's a shot of a fence along the sidewalk at the top of Mt. Washington. I like it so much I am toying with the idea of having it printed on a canvas and hanging it in my living room. Whatcha think?

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Four!

Dear Doodle,

Today you turn 4! All week I have been teasing you that you can't get any older. That is because if I could freeze you right now I would. You have grown up so much in the last year it is hard to imagine who you were this time a year ago. And what a year it has been! You have accomplished so much this year.

You kicked the diapers to to curb (thanks to Bubbie). That was a long time coming and you are so proud of it! You became more confident and independent. This has been one of my wishes for you for a long time. Today when you enter a new place, you look at it with and inquisitive gleam in your eye instead of the downward gaze of a year ago. You have learned to write your letters. You are still obsessed with letter sounds and numbers. You have a vivid imagination and spend hours playing with your friends. It makes my heart smile to know that Me-Me and Tuck (your best friends since you were 18month old) are still hanging out on your bookshelf each night. You learned to ride your balance bike like a pro and decided that soccer is kind of fun.

Your greatest accomplishment this year is that you have become the best big sister ever! I often tell people that you are obsessed with you sister. From the minute you met her in the hospital, you have loved her. You are never cross or jealous that she needs so much attention. You welcome her into routines like bed time that used to be just for you. You love to make her smile and talk to you. SJ is so lucky to grow up with you as her sister!

The last few months of your 3s have been hectic, unpredictable, and full of change. You have moved to a new city and new house, gotten a sister, started at a new school and you have dealt with all of it without missing a beat. I am constantly reminded that if you can do all that without totally loosing your cool, I can keep myself together too! You and I have spent a lot of time together this summer. I will freely admit that my patience has sometimes worn thing with your constant chatting! But I will also freely admit that if you weren't hanging around chatting my ear off I would be bored and lonely!

As you turn four, I wish for more of the same for you. I can't wait to see what you learn, discover, and accomplish. Each night, when we say shema and talk to God, I always thank Him for keeping our family safe, healthy and happy. That is really all I wish for you for the rest of your life. As long as you have those three things, everything else will fall into place!

Happy Birthday Doodle!



My last glimpse at Doodle as a 3 year old

And my first glimpse at Doodle as a 4 year old!

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Happy New Year!

No, I am not a few months early! I am right on time on the Jewish calendar. Today is Rosh Hashanah. Today I am home sick. I can't deny that the only place I want to be right now is sitting on the couch in my mom's sunroom wondering if my kids are sleeping upstairs. Instead, I am in the Pitty and I know both kids are sleeping. The reason I am in the Pitty is of my own choosing. The girls and I were supposed to go home, but since SJ is such a hot mess (which may become her new nickname for this blog), I decided traveling right now was not the greatest idea. Which left us here and homesick.

Because of this homesickness, the holiday kind of snuck up on me, and I kind of fell down on the job last night. For Rosh Hashanah Eve, I was at the grocery story instead of services. My Favoritest was on call, and I was afraid that he would get called in if I went to shul. So, I stayed home. My lack of prior planning resulted in a fantastic meal of chicken nuggets for Doodle an pot stickers and rice for My Favoritest and I. Like I said, I fell down on the job.

This morning I woke up with every intention of making sure Doodle knew that it was a holiday in our house. It is tradition to have apples and honey to ensure a sweet new year. So, we put a new spin on that tradition this year. We had our apples and honey for breakfast before services. Doodle was syked about the apples for breakfast and while she tried the honey, she wasn't a fan.

We finished breakfast with a call to Bubbie and Zayde. It only made my homesickness worse! I then got all of us into pretty dresses and even managed to have time to take a few pictures before we headed to the tot service at our new synagogue.

My big girl so excited about her dress, her shoes (with little heels from Jenny's wedding), and about heading to services. I hope she never looses that excitement for going to synagogue.

Here is my first attempt at getting a picture of both girls. It didn't work out so well. SJ was not in the mood for a bink free photo shoot.

Like any good mom, I plugged that scream fest and tried again. Success. This is really the first picture of both kids that you can see both of their faces. It's going in a frame!

After pictures we headed to the tot service. Doodle had a wonderful time. She sang and danced and learned a little. I looked like a fool and cried thinking how much Bubbie would love to see her. I also thought about my grandmother and how much she would love to see us celebrating the holiday. As I watched Doodle dance, I even though about Zayde Irving (not my grandfather by birth, but part of my extended family) who encouraged my dancing in the front row of services when I was about the same age as Doodle. We finished the tot service and I dropped Doodle off with the rest of the kids and the babysitters. SJ and I made our way upstairs for adult services. My little hot mess lasted for a little over an hour. I got to kiss the Torah and then she declared she had had enough, so we packed it up and headed home.

The service was warm and enjoyable. It made me miss home, but at the same time made me feel closer to home knowing that the same prayers were being sung 700 miles away. For me, Judisim has always been as much about family as it is about faith. I am realizing that it is my turn to step up to the plate and help Doodle and SJ feel the same way. To all our family and friends I wish you a happy new year. May it be filled with as much love, joy, and happiness as your hearts can hold!

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Oh Brother!

Last week I enjoyed a day that wouldn't have been possible a few years ago. It was a simple day spent with my brother, but until recently, it wouldn't have happened. When we were kids we got along as well as any brother and sister. As we got older, we grew apart. There were times we went months without even speaking to each other. My brother went through a phase where he was very unhappy with his life and as a result he was not a nice person to be around. About 3 years ago he moved to Orlando to go to golf pro school. He took a gamble at following his passion. He finally found something that made him happy, confident, and motivated. With the change in outlook, his whole personality changed. He took an interest in his family. He would randomly call me. He took time to skype with Doodle. If I came home to GA he would find a way to come up for a night or two to see us. I finally got to know my brother as an adult. Turns out he is a pretty cool person!

So, when he got offered the opportunity to work at a golf course in PA for a couple of months, I was thrilled to have him a little closer to us for a little while. For him it was a big leap of faith. He decided that since he had no obligations to anyone, and his boss was offering him a free place to stay, he would head north. So last week he hopped in the car and headed to the Pitty. He got here just in time to go with me to pick Doodle up from school.

Doodle was thrilled to see her Uncle Hank. The two of them have a special bond. Even though they see each other very rarely and for short visits at a time, Doodle loves him. I think they have a lot of personality traits in common and they just get each other. After school we headed for a quick lunch at Wendy's

and then made our way into the Pitty to go the Carnegie (pronounced by locals as car-nay-ge) Science Museum. We spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the museum. Mostly I watched my brother and my daughter make memories together. It was fantastic.



Doodle loved playing with the balls in the fountain. Lucky for her Uncle Hank was tall enough and strong enough to help her out!

They spent a good hour playing with the ball factory stuff. There are all kinds of ways to move the balls around and get them to the top of the display.

Leave it to Unlce Hank to find the quiet spot in the back to check out the body puzzles. Leave it to Doodle to mix the pieces to the "blood flow body" with the "skeleton body".

Doodle had a lot of fun with this exhibit in the robot room. The robot is able to identify the color of the ball as it rolls down the chute. The computer displays the color word in the window by Doodle's hand. Doodle had lots of fun checking to make sure it was right by making sure the first letter of the word in the window matched the first sound in the color word when she said it.

Hank got to take a picture with C-3PO

Playing a little xylophone

Doodle playing the worlds largest guitar.

SJ even behaved herself and slept most of the day away! And even better, she was happy when she was awake!

By the time we got home there was time for a quick and hectic dinner and tubby. Doodle wanted her uncle to read her bedtime story and he was happy to do it for her. I snapped this picture after they were done reading.

And this is my favorite picture of the two of them! I love it!

I am so grateful for the relationship we are rebuilding. I am more grateful that my daughters get to know their uncle. Grateful that he has made great efforts to be a part of our lives. We love you!

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Hip Hip Horray for School!

Last Wednesday was a big day at our house. Doodle started at her new school. She was so excited and ready to go!

She practically ran down the stairs as she headed to the car!

 

I think that she was just as excited that SJ got to take her to school as she was about actually going! She had to give her little sister a hug before we loaded up in the car.

She had a great first day, and a few more great days since. I am so lucky that she has handled all the changes in her little world so easily! We can't wait to see what this year has in store!

 

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Gym Time

Just before SJ was born, my neice Jenny wrote a letter to Doodle about how important it is to be a big sister. I haven't shared the letter with her yet, because I think she is too young to understand it. I am holding on to it until the first time SJ starts to make her crazy wanting to be just like her! The letter was beautiful and made me sob. I think it even made My Favoritest tear up a little. When I wiped the tears from my eyes, I swear in my mind's eye I pictured my girls grown up lying on the bed swapping secrets. What I imagined was a grown up version of this

The story behind this picture is that Doodle and I had picked out a baby gym for SJ at the store. Doodle was super excited about the purchase and wanted me to put it together immediately. I put her off until after she was napping. When she woke up, SJ was laying on the gym and Doodle wanted to get in it with her.

The ariel view is super cute, but this one was even more cute and even more fortelling of what I hope their relationship is like in the future.

The look on both of their faces speaks of secrets, middle school drama, and pre-teen angst! I look forward to them swapping secrets and sharing advice.

What I hope for them most is that they always sleep this peacefully

And that they always kiss each other goodnight and never go to bed angry with each other!

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