We're Off!

So.. It's 5:45AM and I am up finishing our packing. Blech! I'm really excited for our trip to Israel but this is the stage where I start feeling like I am definitely going to forget something. There are so many little things that we can't live without because we have our 2 1/2 year old with us. Packing just for the two of us used to be so easy... Throw some clothes in a suitcase and if we forget something either "who cares" or we'll just get a replacement whatever it is when we get somewhere. Somehow children don't really do well with replacements and oh boy do they care if something they need to help them sleep is missing. Oh well... back to it then before the dictator, erm my angel wakes up. :) I'll do my best to get on here in the next 10 days, but it really all depends on the hotel internet connection. Otherwise, see you in ten days! :)

Why would you get out of bed today?

So.. Ari has either been sick or teething and I have been teeter-tottering back and forth on thinking it is one or the other. I am back to thinking that it is teething because she has been grinding her teeth all day long!

That said.. it really doesn't matter in the middle of the night why she is waking up, just that she is. Last night she and I were up for two hours between 2:50 - 5 AM. It was awesome, and by awesome what I means is... it totally sucked. Hehe... I don't usually like to hold pow wows in the middle of the night, but for the last couple of weeks, I am becoming rather good at them. So.. my day actually started last night.

To continue my day, while getting out of my car to go into Babies R Us I stepped full on into gum. YUCK! So I limp my way into BRU asking for some paper towels or tissue to clean it up as Ari is running around like crazy with my mom trying to reign her in. As I finish with my shoe, I turn and find Ari being adorable. (A saving grace for my day.) When you walk into BRU they have these colored tiles on the floor with these symbolic pictures of a heart, moon, sun, and something else. On the side of where I was standing is a post and on it, they have the same symbols in a column. I see Ari run from the column to one of the squares and yell, "I did it!" Then she ran back and says, "Hmm... What's next on my list? Heart!" She runs to the heart on the ground and yells again, "I did it!" It was so cute. She had created a game for herself like a scavenger hunt for the right tile in the right order from her "list." Guess I'll have to forgive her my lack of sleep. *sigh*

We are both tired and I think I have gotten her down for her nap at 12:15, but not so. Instead she was just quiet for a bit and then pooped and didn't get back to taking her nap until 1:15. So much for our early afternoon plans. Hehe... After we woke up, we left for the mall again with my mom. (I promise I am not always shopping, but we have a lot to get before leaving the country.)

Now... I thought after discussing my miscarriage so freely, I wouldn't be embarrassed to discuss almost anything with you all, but to understand my day, I'll just deal. I have gotten, a day ago, my first period since the miscarriage. (This is actually a good thing, because to try again we had to wait until after the first period and here it is. :) ) The bad thing, is that I had no idea, to add to all the other things I didn't know about miscarriage, just how strong your first period might be. So... we are at the mall and I didn't think to bring anything with me because I should be fine for a couple of hours. Well... Thank god that my mom and dad were there, dad showed up after us, because I left Ari with them and went to find a restroom. When I get there I realize I am in trouble. I left my money with my mom and am a complete disaster and need some feminine product from the machine. Luckily, I had my phone and called from the bathroom. My dad is watching Ari while my mom is coming to the rescue. That was a fun moment.

All the time we were walking around the mall, after the parents left, Ari keeps wanting up, so I've got my backpack diaper bag on my back, my 28 lb. girl on my hip, and a bunch of other bags dangling from various fingers as I am trying to get back to the car. I was a might bit physically tired by the end of the excursion.

So... we get home and I realize. DANGIT! I forgot about my personal training session I had scheduled today. Another session I have paid for down the drain. I need all of my responsibilities to start understanding text message reminders so that I can be less flaky. :(

Here is my bad mommy moment... We get home and I'm like... "Hey honey.. Why don't you play on your computer so mommy can veg out on the couch and pray for tomorrow to come." Now understand, Ari loves her computer and I feel like I am constantly having to drag her away from it while we are at home so for me to purposefully propose it, is definitely saying something. Regardless, I ended up playing with her a bit and I got this awesome picture of her:
This is Ari playing her first online multiplayer game by herself, Toon Town. She needs help with some of the mini games, but you can see her little fingers walking her mouse around using the arrows. :) Oh.. and one of the things we had to have at the mall was the really cute butterfly wings you see in this picture. She refused to take them off until we got ready for bed!

Back to the main topic... Daddy got home and continued playing with her so I could make us dinner. I go to pull out my cookie sheet and it swings back and just whacks me in the knee. I KNOW that is going to bruise! I put the aluminum foil down, pull open the oven to put the sheet in and realize that it is easier to make dinner if you put the food you are making on the cookie sheet AND turn on the oven. So I get the hot dogs and lay them out and give the oven a chance to heat up... That would have been a good idea if I had AGAIN remembered to turn on the oven. *sigh* Oven is on, food is on the cookie sheet, and dinner gets made (though overcooked because I lost track of time).

I was ready for bed hours ago and yet here I am writing to you all about my constantly mis-stepped day. I'm off to bed though so I can have a tea party with my daughter tonight at 3 AM. I guess if we are both going to be up every night I might as well make it fun. Hehe...

Here is another random picture of us for those enjoying the Ari updates. We went to Sea World yesterday (a much better day that was so totally unblogable :) ) and rode the Elmo's flying fish ride. We did other things, but I don't have pictures of anything else. So, here we are in the fish she had to have, the pig-fish. I practically got into a fist fight with another mom over said fish, so I'm glad she enjoyed it so much!
Tomorrow's another day. :) Hopefully, that one will have me injuring less, needing rescuing less, and remembering just a little bit better. Ari has a dermatologist appointment to deal with her sunscreen issues (i.e. she has broken out from every sunscreen I have ever tried on her). Wish us luck!

Going to the Holy Land

Just preparing everyone for a potential absence again.

We will be leaving on Sunday to go to Israel. We are going to see my family and friends there, but also to celebrate my Grandma's 80th birthday with her. I can't wait for everyone to see Ari because the last time she was there was when she was 15 months old (last year) and she has totally changed since then. Everyone is going to love how independent and sassy she is not to mention how adorable!

We plan on touring some of the time that we are there and hopefully, if I remember to pull out my camera, I will have some great touring as well as family shots. I'm not sure about the access I will have to my computer, so posting after Saturday will be hit and miss at best. I do get back a week later and will post then.

For now, my days are filled with last minute things I need to get done. I've even made a list a mile long of everything we need to pack so I don't forget anything. When I say a mile long, I'm not joking! Traveling with a little one for 14 hours to a foreign country for a week is just asking to have back pain through an airport. Oh well... that's what vacations are for... Right? Recuperation! We'll see if it turns out to work that way.

My brother and his wife flew over yesterday. They had a layover in Brussels and lo and behold, the people of Brussels who work in the airline industry decided to have a strike. The airline that they were on had to put them on a bus to Amsterdam and they caught a flight out of there. The bus ride was hours long and delayed them quite a bit. They finally did fly into Israel, but as it turns out, the airport there is a complete zoo. Apparently, there are planes coming in from Georgia (the country not the state) as people try to escape the war breaking out. It's just nice to know that they finally made it to the hotel and all was well with them.

Now I can only pray we don't have any adventures like them. We have a direct flight, so hopefully no surprises. I don't DO surprises. Hehe...

I'm off to bed to dream about lists and all the things I have forgotten.

Where's my money?

Just a funny little story I had to share.

So.. I'm getting ready to take my daughter and my mom somewhere but afterwards I know I am going to be running to exercise so I throw on exercise clothes. I look in my jeans pockets to see if there is anything there that I should be taking with me and I spot a dollar bill and think, what the hell. Of course, my exercise outfit doesn't have any pockets so I put the dollar between the waist band of the exercise pants and my belly thinking, I just need to remember to move it to my wallet when I get downstairs.

Fast forward to the bathroom of the LA Fitness and guess what falls on the floor as I pull down my pants. Hmm.. oh ya. Where am I gonna put this now... Okay... so it went in the bra just for the duration of the bathroom visit and once I'm finished I put it back at the waist thinking, well, it made it through exercise, it can make it to the car. As murphy's law would have it, as I am walking out the door of the LA Fitness, I feel something on my hip, INSIDE my pants. *gulp* Okay.. stay cool. Keep walking... Ack! Now it is at the juncture of my leg and hip. "I JUST HAVE TO MAKE IT TO THE CAR!" Keep walking... Um... Now it is stuck to my thigh. "PLEASE DON'T FALL OUT IN THE PARKING LOT!" and...... WHEW! I made it! I made it!

Moral of the story: Don't "waist" your money! Hehe...

Ari & Jasmine

Ari has made a new friend and her name is Jasmine. With Jasmine's mother's permission, here are some photos of these girls. They are quite a pair!

We went to the zoo one day and the girls found this caterpillar to climb all over and of course at first they wanted to take it all for themselves, but they learned the fun of sharing.

Unfortunately, I missed the main event, but we said, give kisses, and the girls actually gave each other a smooch. It was so adorable! This was right after.

Then we caught some music and hula hooping and the girls just had to jump right in. :)

On another day, we visited Jasmine, her mommy Jade, and her sister Pearl at their house. Once again, the girls showed they could share. They also showed they made good cats! How adorable is this?

The girls also take dance lessons together and are always looking forward to seeing each other in class. Recently, we went to the mall and while walking around they held hands with each other and walked around giggling! We love it!

Be Back Soon

Every day I think... I will be able to find the time to post something fabulous tonight or at the very least post an update about Ari and every night I find my self so busy/tired/distracted that I just can't pull it all together. I appreciate all of my loyal readers checking in with me and I do promise I will be back to my writing and updates per usual very soon.

For now, I will leave you with a quickie.

My miscarriage: I know I posted that most web sites say to contact your doctor if you are bleeding for more than 2 weeks, but after about 2 1/2 weeks (I gave myself leeway) it dropped down to very light almost spotty bleeding and I thought... today will be the last day.. I'll wait until tomorrow to call the doc. This has gone on for an extra 2 weeks of me putting off having a medical intervention since it was so light. I think that I have finally turned that corner and can start planning for our future again.

Ari: Still reading up a storm. She's gotten sick again with a cold and so we have had to keep it low key for a few days which with Ari means high energy but stuck at home. So yesterday, after being totally stir crazy, we took her for her first nature hike and we all had a blast except that it got way to hot way to fast so we were only out walking about 45 mintutes. Still... she had a great time and we all got some fresh air and exercise. Ari has also discovered dressing up and here is one example of that:How cute is she? Neigh!!! She has also started getting super affectionate by giving out hugs. :) It's really cute.

One of her favorite books right now is a sing along as you turn the page book by Raffi named Baby Beluga. It was introduced to her in her music class and she has fallen in love with it ever since. Now, she actually tried to sing along which brings tears to my eyes its so cute.

My Mom and Dad watched Ari this weekend so we could go see X-Files. I thought it was okay. Definitely not my favorite, but if you like the show, it passes for a long episode. Last weekend, for the second time, I saw Mama Mia (I saw it the weekend before as well). I LOVE this movie and totally recommend it to anyone who likes Abba music. Even if you don't like Abba music but love theater and movies that just make you feel good, this is the one you want to see. The weekend before, it came in direct contrast for me, it was a movie full weekend, with Dark Knight, which I also thought was great, but definitely extremely dark.

Anyway, Ari has a new friend and some amazing pictures with this new friend, but I still need to confirm with the mom that I can post them. Hopefully, that will be the next post. That and another opinion piece soon. :)

Again, thanks for sticking this through with me. This wouldn't be nearly as much fun without knowing you'all were out there (even my lurkers)! Hehe...

Quick Addendum to Such Language!

Today Daddy walks Ari up to Safta's house and points to the sky and says, "Look. There are clouds over there, but no clouds over there." Ari looks up at the sky and says straight faced, "That's weird." Hehe..

Some of her more memorable quotes lately...

"Don't trick me!"
"Don't chase me!"
When telling her to do something she doesn't want to do... "What did you say?" LOL

And best of all... Safta taught her to say... "Happy Birthday Mommy!" Awww.... So sweet!