Night At The Museum x3

Costco had a really great deal on the Night at the Museum trilogy - $13 for all three in a DVD set. I could not pass that up, considering I've really wanted to see them and figured the kids would enjoy. So we may have binge watched them a bit.

The kids ADORED the movies. They've been deciding which of them is which character. So far Gavriella is Sacajawea, Tzipora is Jedediah, Chana is Octavius, and Dovid is King Akhmenrah. Which, of course, leaves me to be Teddy Roosevelt. I could have done much worse. haha

Each movie has is really great points, but I have to tell you the little Jewish pieces in the third one made me smile. There's a reference to Nicky's Bar Mitzvah and an entire (little) conversation between Larry and King Merenkahre (played by the amazing Ben Kingsley) that made me crack up. Speaking of Ben Kingsley, I just about freaked out when I saw him in the Egyptian pharaoh get up. Anyone who knew me well as a child would know I had a small (huge) obsession with the biblical Joseph. It started with Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and wafted over to a made-for-TV movie called Joseph, where Ben Kingsley plays Potiphar. As I've watched him as Potiphar probably a hundred times, seeing him play the pharaoh was pretty awesome and made my teenage heart flutter.

But Ben Kingsley wasn't even the best part of the third movie. That was Dan Stevens, of course, who played Sir Lancelot. They made just enough "Dan Stevens is hot" jokes to suit me. He did a fabulous job making Lancelot believable even when I can't not picture him as Matthew Crawley.

If you haven't watched the trilogy, definitely do it. Rent them or see if your local Costco has them. You're in for a good laugh (and a good cry).

Answers

Since at least one person expressed interest, at some point I will tell you about my interesting genealogical findings. As for now, I'll give the answers to the questions I got in comments:

First off, Dovid. He has ADHD and is a challenge all around. He still has accidents because he gets so engrossed in things that he does so he doesn't make it to the bathroom on time. He also talks a lot and has difficulty with social interaction. So he doesn't realize that the other person wants him to be quiet or just isn't interested in what he's talking about. He doesn't talk about the other kids at school much (except for one boy who I don't think is a mutual friend), so I don't know if he really has any friends. I hate thinking about how lonely he must be. But B"H he is very smart, so academically he does quite well. I'm always impressed with the things that he knows.

Right now not TTC and not planning on any more kids in the near future. I am quite content (and overwhelmed) with 4. Maybe once these guys get older and less of a handful I might have a change of heart, but I am too busy to think otherwise at this point.

As for work, I cannot get into a midwifery practice because no one wants a new graduate midwife (especially one without many years of labor & delivery experience). So I'm a bit stuck unless I want to go into a home birth practice or private practice, neither of which is a viable option for me.

I'm getting my doctor of nursing practice degree in midwifery, though at this point I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it. My end goal was to be a midwife, and now I just feel so worn out by it that I think retirement is my end point. haha

Finger Surgery

I had a small cyst removed from my finger last Tuesday, and it HURTS. I was expecting to go in, have it removed, and be sent home with a bandaid, but no... It has stitches and a HUGE dressing. Doctor also said I can't lift heavy things with that hand. So now I'm out of work for at least a week and a half. I'm not happy. My boss is not happy. And my finger hurts because this dressing is cumbersome and tight. I am seriously contemplating having one of my coworkers take out the stitches before the family reunion next week if I can't get in to see the doctor before then. It's a good thing I'm a righty.

New Stethoscope

I probably shouldn't be typing so much since I had my finger operated on the other day, but I seriously have to tell you about my new stethoscope.

Thanks to a VERY good friend of mine, I was able to purchase a new Eko Core Digital Stethoscope. I tried it out the other day, and the magnification of the sound is unbelievable. I have a really hard time hearing breath sounds and heart sounds, and this could pick up my breath sounds through a thick sweater. Not only that, but when I used it at work, I had a nice little shock. I was trying to listen to a patient's heartbeat, but another sound kept intruding. I knew it wasn't a murmur or breath sounds or even bowel sounds. It was much too regular for any of those. It hit me that I was listening to her baby. I could hear fetal heart tones through the mom's chest. THAT IS UNREAL! Why can we not use this technology instead of cumbersome dopplers on belts that constantly need adjusting?

Also cool about it is that it connects via bluetooth to a phone app (one that I can't get because my phone is too old, but whatever). On the app you can listen to sounds in realtime or record and play back later. Quite useful for teaching or passing along sounds to other doctors who may not be available to see the patient immediately. Wish the app was compatible with my phone, but it's not 100% necessary for my job right now, so I'll just enjoy being able to hear down to someone's toenails for now.

Day Trip to New Hampshire

My very dear friend, Alexis, sent me a text last Friday, telling me she was in my area (read: within a 100 mile radius) and asked if I would like to see her and spend some time up at the lake. Well, considering how often I get to see Alexis, there was no way I was going to pass up the chance. So, I got in the car and drove two hours north to the middle of nowhere in New Hampshire to spend two hours at the lake.

Being there was like being back at camp. It felt so right, and I wish I could have stayed longer. Just being out in nature is incredible enough, but getting to spend time among people I love at the same time made it extraordinary. The water there is so clear you can see right down to the bottom, and it's so shallow by the shore that I could have easily caught a fish with my bare hands. Hopefully I'll be able to take the kids up with me next time so they can go swimming, ride in a boat, and of course they'll get to see Alexis and her family!

Enjoy the pictures of the hidden beauty that can be found just hours from the bustle of Boston.

Huge Update (Part 2)

In November 2014, Ron, Gavriella, and I attended Rhode Island Comic Con in Providence, RI. Once again, we had a fabulous time meeting interesting people. I dressed up like Tauriel from The Hobbit.

Here I am with Colin Baker, most noted for being the 6th Doctor in Doctor Who.

We all then got to meet John Rhys-Davies, who played Gimli in Lord of the Rings and Sallah in Indiana Jones.

Gavriella got along really well with George Takei, who played Sulu in Star Trek. He was so sweet to her and kept shaking her hand.

From that point, school and work basically took over my life. When I wasn't doing one, I was doing the other, except during my two week breaks between semesters. In the spring of 2015 I started to get back into acting, something I did quite a bit of as a teen and that I miss doing. I auditioned for many student and other films, and I was lucky enough to be cast in a few of them.

The first one I did was called "The Edible Phase." It's an incredibly creepy 2 minute film with no dialogue and a whole lot of symbolism. See if you can get through the whole thing. haha You only get to see my face at the beginning, but if you stay until the end you get to see Gavriella make her film debut.



I was also cast in many roles in a horror film that is hopefully coming out in November called "Once Upon a Deadtime Story." I don't have any clips from that, but when it comes out I will be sure to share with you how you can see it. On the same day that I filmed my first scene for the horror movie, I also filmed a short called "The Catcher," where I play a hypnotist. You can watch that one, and it is much less creepy than the first film though still somewhat creepy.



I haven't been cast in anything since then, though I have sent in quite a few auditions for things. Hopefully I'll have the opportunity to participate in more things as time goes on.

In May, I took a two-day trip to New York to meet my grandpa for the first time. I know I wrote about finding my mother's birth family way back in 2013, but this was the first opportunity I've had to meet her birth father. Grandpa Joel is a hoot! We had a great time together, and I wish he lived closer so I could see him more often and introduce him to the kids. We didn't exactly get the greatest picture of the two of us, but it's something.

We attended another comic con within the last few weeks called MASSive Comic Con in Worcester, MA. Our entire purpose was to go see Sean Astin again, and we actually ran into him completely by accident on the way out of the parking lot into the convention. He is a real gentleman and talked to us for over 10 minutes as a line formed at his booth. We took a video, but it's not very good. Either you can see us well and not hear us or hear us well and not see anything. haha But feel free to enjoy it anyway!


That brings us almost entirely up to date. I will do my best to post more regularly, but no promises. School and work have me running like a nutcase, though I am grateful for both! I will be starting clinicals for school in November, but I'll be doing them about an hour and a half from Boston. Sounds like a lovely commute, doesn't it? But it's all I have, and I will take it gladly!

Huge Update (Part 1)

Whoops... I can't believe it's been almost a year and a half since my last post. That's unreal!! So much has happened since then that I don't really know where to begin with it all...

Back in August 2013, even before Gavriella was born, I started a bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) program at Western Governors University. I continued the program after Gavriella was born, really pushing through as hard and fast as I could. I was able to complete the entire thing in 5 months and earned my degree at the very beginning of January 2014.

I made my sort of annual trip to Missouri just around then (Jan 2014) and was able to meet my student mentor from WGU, since she lives in the area that I was visiting. It was perfect timing, and my trip was awesome as a whole. I brought Gavriella along with me so she could see all of the people who were so excited when I first got pregnant the year before. I also got to meet some new people, which included my friend Heavyn's other best friend, Victoria. Less than a month later, the day before Heavyn's birthday, Victoria was tragically killed in a car accident. I feel so privileged to have met her and had the chance to spend the afternoon together before she died. I'm only sorry I didn't take a picture with her to remember our time.

I had another fun travel experience in March 2014, when I went to Louisville, KY for Louisville Comic Con. Gavriella came with me, of course, and we got to meet some fantastic people.

For example, Matt Smith (The 11th Doctor from Dr Who)

Karen Gillan (Amy Pond from Dr Who)

Jon Heder (Napoleon Dynamite)

And Sean Astin! (He's in too many films to name them all, but most importantly he was Samwise Gamgee in Lord of the Rings)

Sean loved getting to hold Gavriella. We had spoken via Skype about 6 weeks prior to the convention, so he was looking forward to this for weeks. It was funny, because the first time I walked up and saw him he didn't recognize me for a minute, but when he finally did his face lit up and he came around the table to give me a big hug. If you call my phone, you can hear his personalized outgoing voicemail message.

The day after I got back from Louisville I started my first hospital nursing job as a med/surg float pool RN at Carney Hospital. I worked per diem for there for a little over a year.

We had a bit of some turnover with childcare over the course of the past year, but our one rock is our 'manny' Ron. His first trip from his old home in New York to his new home here in Boston was in March 2014. Starting in May he was commuting from NY to Boston (and back) every week to help us out. He finally made the official move to Boston a few months ago.

Right after finishing my BSN I applied to an MSN+DNP program in midwifery at Frontier Nursing University. Ever since I decided I wanted to be a midwife, that is where I wanted to study. I didn't really have any other option in my head, and I made the deadline to apply in order to do my orientation in May and start classes in July...I only had to be accepted. I got that acceptance letter at the beginning of March, attended the orientation in Hyden, KY in May, and began my first classes in July.

The kids had a decent school year in 2013-2014. Chana and Dovid were at Torah Academy in the pre-k, and Tzipora was at a family play group. Even though there were struggles, the kids got through. During the summer they all went to Camp Shemesh, and during one of the weeks in between camp and school they traveled down to DC to visit with Aunt Shira and Uncle Ben. They had a wonderful trip and got to experience a week of camp down in Virginia.

In early August 2014, I got to attend Boston Comic Con with the whole family. I had the opportunity to introduce all of them to Sean Astin, and I got to meet John Barrowman (Captain Jack from Dr Who).

John had a particularly good time making Gavriella laugh. At first she was a bit leery, but then she cheered up, as you can see.

I think that is plenty for you to read for now, but more updates will follow. I promise!

Thought of the Day

For someone with misophonia, the sound of someone eating can be like nails on a chalkboard. Poor Shmuel gets "the look" if he tries to eat carrots in my presence, and there are times I need to just wear ear plugs during a meal. Yet the sound of Gavriella gulping down mommy milk during a feed is nothing short of the most delightful sound on this planet. It brings me no end of joy. Go figure...

Seriously she's gotten bigger in the last few days, and it's not surprising. She's been eating CONSTANTLY. Growth spurt!

Oat Groats

Yes, I know I haven't posted in like 2 months. I've been busy! And exhausted. I was without child care for weeks and still having to work. I'm extremely lucky to now have family coming in to help out or I would really be up a creek. There's a lot to catch up on - like a visit from my mom, sister and brother-in-law in July with lots of kid pictures and the fact that I'm now 38 weeks pregnant. (YIPE) I haven't taken a belly pic in ages, mainly because the shirt I usually wear has been in the "laundry to do" pile for months. And when it comes out it gets dirty again before picture day. lol Anyway, to get back in some kind of writing groove before having this baby, I will tell you about my amazing discovery.

I'm not one of these organic, raw, healthy foods only people. Yes, I get some organic fruits and veggies, but I almost never shop at places like Whole Foods. Anyways, I saw an herbalist/shiatsu lady on Sunday and of course the first thing she wants me to do is switch things I'm eating. Like buying local goat milk instead of the stuff I get at Stop & Shop. HAHAHA Yeah right. And she suggests I buy seaweed to eat. Except it's like $30/lb. Heck no. Not unless I win the lottery. I have no problem eating seaweed, but I can't afford that kind of a pricetag. Then she suggests I buy oat groats to eat for breakfast instead of cereal. Ok, oats I can deal with. I like oatmeal, and she assured me it was very similar and that I would love it. Hmmmm.

So I ventured into Whole Foods, which is the only place on earth I could find oat groats. And lo and behold they have them in the bulk containers for like $1 something/lb. WOOOO SCORE! CHEAP OATS! Much cheaper than the quickie oat stuff you get in packets and with no added crud (like sugar or worse). But of course it needs to slow cook. Luckily I actually randomly have a quart-size crock pot that has never been used, so I figured I would put it to good use and have some oat groats. I set it up to cook overnight last night and served myself this morning. At first taste it wasn't bad but definitely needed a little sweetening, so I put in a little Splenda. That was a good move. Then I added raisins. That was an even better move. Then I devoured the whole bowl. OMG OAT GROATS!

My mission in life is now to get everyone to eat this for breakfast. lol If you want a healthy & cheap alternative to cereal and quickie oats, THIS IS SO IT! Yeah, you need a mini crockpot (unless you're planning to make a ton of it, which actually wouldn't be such a bad idea if you're feeding the whole family oats for breakfast) and it needs to be set up before bed, but that took all of 2 minutes. Here is my recipe for the awesomest breakfast ever:

1/2 cup oat groats
2 cups water

Put oat groats and water into crock pot. Set on low. Cook approx 8 hours. Add sugar/Splenda/Stevia/honey to taste and chuck in some raisins if you want. Makes just about 2 servings.

I think the difficult part of this is going to be cleaning the crock pot. lol Excuse me...my oat groats are calling...

Stuff and Whatnot

Do you remember my friend who got pregnant last April? Remember that she was pregnant with twins? Well she had her babies a few weeks ago!!! Her little girl just came home from the hospital today and her little boy will hopefully be coming home over the weekend. We are super excited for her!!!!!!!

Do you remember back last summer when we were supposed to be getting a new live-in? Well she finally recovered, and it turns out that she didn't actually bail on me without saying goodbye, but one of her friends was messing with me since she didn't want her to move to Boston. She's actually here now (along with a second au pair - I'm spoiled), and we are SO EXCITED!!! Both live-ins are fantastic, and the kids adore them.

And now for my awesomeness. I spilled water on my laptop the other day and thought I was completely done-for. So I ordered a new computer using my credit card reward points. But then I called Toshiba with a problem - a few of my letter keys weren't working since the water accident and I needed at least one of them cuz it's in my computer password. He showed me how to do that. Then I realized that maybe I could solve my letter problems by getting a new keyboard. So I ordered one. It arrived today, and I installed the keyboard all by myself!!!! I saved $100 doing that, and it wasn't too difficult, either. And it works! My computer is just as good as it was before the water thingy...and I'm still getting a new one cuz I can't cancel that order. Ahh well, there are worse things than a brand new computer!

Video For Your Enjoyment

I can't believe it's been over 2 weeks since my last post. I've just been so busy doing nothing interesting that my blogs have been totally neglected. In any case, my mom is here for a visit with Ron and she brought with her a video she found stashed away in the house. It's a VHS that begins with a chorus concert from 1995. The conductor was my favorite teacher of all time, and I was super excited to get to see this. I burned it onto a DVD, converted it to mpeg and have uploaded it to YouTube for your viewing pleasure. I'm sure you'll be able to find me since I'm the shortest kid...and I'm standing in the back row!

Déjà vu

Here are all of the random things that have been going on lately:

First off, I'm really sorry I've been so bad about posting lately, but things got entirely messed up when the person who was supposed to be coming to live with us bailed. What a disaster! So we're still looking for someone to come and live with us...preferably someone who is honest and won't run away without saying goodbye.

As for the déjà vu, I have mastitis. :-( At the moment it doesn't seem to be as bad as when I had it with the twins, but it stinks nonetheless. I'm on antibiotics and will be taking tylenol round-the-clock to keep the chills and aches at bay. My mother-in-law is here this week, so she's a bit help and is teaching the twins to whisper because I'm not feeling well. It's super cute.

I finished my microbiology class on Tuesday evening, so I'm officially done for the summer. I'm almost 100% positive that I've pulled off another A, so I'm one class closer to valedictorian. :-) If I become valedictorian in two years, I will make sure that someone video tapes it so I can show you my speech.

I took my doula training class last week, so now all I need to do is attend births and I can get certified!! So if you live in the Boston area and are pregnant, get in touch with me so we can work together. :-) I have a whole doula bag full of labor supplies, and I'm also in the process of becoming Hypno-Doula certified with Hypnobabies. That means that I will be certified to work with women who are doing childbirth hypnosis of any type.

Tzipora had a visit at the Harvard Developmental Research Lab yesterday where they put on this cool electrode hat to measure the electrical impulses on her scalp while she watched a video screen. The study has to do with numbers and how infants process them. Isn't she a cutie?

So, now that you're all updated on my world, what's going on in yours?

Happy Blogoversary to Me!

I almost forgot my own Blogoversary!! Yipe! I can't believe I've been blogging for 3 years...it's just unreal. My whole life has changed so drastically since that first post. I began posting as an infertile woman who didn't know if she'd ever get pregnant period, and now here I am a mother of three - one of whom was actually conceived naturally!! I've seen so many miracles since I began blogging, and I feel so fortunate to have the amazing family I've been blessed with.

Speaking of family...how about a few updates?

Tzipora has started baby-led weaning and is doing great! She's getting the hang of it much quicker than the twins did. She's had carrot and sweet potato...even some asparagus, although I don't know if she's actually swallowed any of that. She can now pick up carrots, bite off a little piece and swallow it. She doesn't do it all the time, but I've seen it happen.

I've been trying to have Tzipora practice sitting more, but she's not so good at it. She more just flops over. She'll sit fine in the Bumbo or if I prop her against the couch, but with no support she just goes "wheeeee!"

Chana and Dovid are cute as ever. They talk in full sentences, sing songs, love having us read books, and can't get enough bubbles. They also enjoy playing with water - provided it's nowhere near a bathtub.

We were supposed to have a new live-in helper come last week, but unfortunately she's sick in the hospital and we aren't sure when (if?) she'll be joining us. I'm super sad about it because she's such a sweetheart, and it pains me that she's been hospitalized for so long. We're all praying that she gets better really soon so she can get out of the hospital and, of course, come live with us.

I have just one more week of summer school and then I get a month break until nursing school starts. I'm really, really excited about it!!

How are things with all of you out there in bloggy-land? I've had a few of my fellow bloggers post BFPs and such relatively recently, so I know there are some of you out there with good news... I'd love to hear more good news in comments!

Lots of Ramblings

So many things going through my head at once! Here's everything that's going on in no particular order:

• Chana is starting to talk in full sentences, and it is SO cute!
• Tzipora is smiling a lot more often now, and it's adorable.
• She's also sucking on her fingers just the way I used to as a child. Here's picture proof:


• I just started taping the TV shows I watch using my DVD recorder rather than my VHS, and I LOOOVE it! I blip through commercials super fast and I don't need to rewind. I can even choose if I want to watch Days or Biggest Loser first without rewinding/fast forwarding.
• Dovid fell the other day and got a cut on his chin. Poor dude! We took him to the ER and they used glue on it, but the glue came off within 12 hours. Oh well! At least the cut is healing ok on its own.
• One of my best friends just found out that she's expecting after nearly a decade of unsuccessful trying. I've been dancing around with a grin on my face all day since I found out. Please say a little prayer for her that this is a sticky baby (or babies)!!!!!
• Passover is coming. YIKES! Thank G-d for my mother-in-law who is basically cleaning the house for it.
• I'm really looking forward to having my sister-in-law come to visit starting next week. I hope she decides to stay for a really long visit. :-)
• My Atkins dieting has been going ok, but I'm still not really losing weight particularly quickly. I'll lose a pound, then gain back half a pound...rinse and repeat. It's kind of frustrating that I'm giving up all of my yummy carbs and not seeing the scale encourage me to keep going. *sigh*
• As of tomorrow, I will have breastfed Tzipora for as long as I breastfed the twins...and we're still going strong!

That's all for now! :-)

Quilts

One of my mom's good friends from grade school (yep, they go back that far) lives in my area and has become one of our good friends as well. She designs and sews quilts, and even made one for me when I was born. (I have it here somewhere and must find it...Mom, if you know where it is, I want to put it up on my wall.) Anyhoo, she made quilts for the twins when they were born which hung over their cribs in the nursery...until they got tall enough that they could pull them down. Now that the twins are in their own room upstairs, we wanted to move the quilts to their new room and put them up where there's no fear of someone pulling them down. Our friend (let's call her M for simplicity sake, since I'm not sure if she minds her full name being on my blog) came over last week to put up the quilts and also deliver a brand new one for the baby. She came up with a fantastic idea of hanging the twins' quilts from the slanted ceiling and successfully accomplished the task! It was rough going, but she's quite creative. Here's a picture of the final product:

Here you can see how she hung it on the wall.

And here is a picture of Tzipora's gorgeous new quilt (and how it's hung on her wall)!

In other news, I got my blood test back and I'm not particularly anemic! My hematocrit was 35.4%, and my hemoglobin was 11 g/dl. (Normal hematocrit for women is 36.1 - 44.3% and normal hemoglobin for women is 12-16 g/dl) So I'm juuuust below normal values, so as long as I eat foods high in iron I should be good to go. Yay!

Checkups for Everyone

The baby had her 1 month checkup earlier this week, and I had my 6 week checkup today. The baby weighed 8lbs 15oz and measured 20.75" at her checkup. She gained a little over 2 lbs in just under 4 weeks! That's perfect!!! The pediatrician said that she looks great and is developing right on target.

As for me, my favorite midwife was working tonight (you know, the one who delivered the baby). I was SOOOOO happy, because she doesn't work every Thursday evening, so it's the luck of the draw to come in on her night. Anyways, she told me that everything was healed and looking great. I'm in tip-top condition...except for the fact that I might be anemic. She took a CBC, so we'll find out tomorrow if that's the reason I'm super tired and dizzy. I should also start taking my placenta pills, but especially if I'm anemic.

I have my first test of the semester next Monday, and I'm feeling pretty good that I'll do well on it. I got 100% on my first lab quiz last week, and hopefully I'll do that again on tomorrow's quiz. I just have to study really hard for it. It's on the heart, so I need to make sure I keep my atria and ventricles straight...and all of the little valves and such.

And now, for something funny. I was at Costco the other day, and in one of their main displays they were selling bathing suits. I was like "Bathing suits in this weather? What are they thinking?? We're going to have snow on the ground until September!" LOL Silly Costco.

No, No Baby Yet...

Sorry to say there's nothing going on baby-wise. Just a blizzard outside...that's the most exciting thing happening here. :-)

In other news (and this is TMI), I have the worst case of hemorrhoids in the entire history of the ailment. It's so bad that I'm seriously considering a tush transplant. I'm nervous that going through delivery is going to make it a gajillion times worse. *sigh* Anyone with ideas on how to make it go away is welcome to leave them in a comment.

What a Week!!

First of all, we still haven't figured out why Dovid is throwing up overnight almost every other night. He hasn't in a few, and we think we know which foods give him reflux, but it's anyone's guess. (And we still don't know 100% if it is reflux...we're just guessing at that.) Thankfully he has an appointment on Monday with the gastroenterologist who will hopefully figure this out.

Secondly, I had a very eventful Wednesday night/Thursday. Not pregnancy related at all, either. Coming back from grocery shopping on Wednesday night, I was driving on the highway when all of a sudden my check engine light went on and my car wouldn't accelerate. Yikes!! I was going 65mph...no wait 55mph...hang on, only doing 45...CRUD! Luckily I was right at an exit, so I got on the exit ramp. The only problem was my car was quickly decelerating (and of course I was hitting the brake because the exit ramp was curvy), and the poor guy behind me was probably annoyed as all heck that I was creeping down this ramp. Anyway, I FINALLY got to a place on the ramp where there was a lot of space and I could pull over. I tried turning off the car and turning it back on, but that did nothing. I was nervous about leaving the motor on, since I had no clue what was wrong, so there I was in the freezing cold unable to go anywhere. I called AAA, who put me on their "most important" list, but I still had to wait almost 45 minutes for a tow truck. Luckily, my coat is very warm so I really wasn't all that cold (except for my nose, which was freezing). They towed me home and that was it for the night.

The next morning my first mistake was calling AAA instead of Kia. I wanted AAA to tow me to the nearest service station and wasn't really thinking about the fact that maybe Kia wouldn't cover repairs anywhere but their own dealers. I waited a while for the AAA guy to come, and then of course when I got to the service station they suggested I call my insurance company to see if they would pay for a rental car (which they wouldn't since I wasn't in an accident) and also to call Kia to see if they would even pay for repairs at this station. I called Kia and they said "nope...gotta go to the nearest Kia dealer" and had me call their own free towing service to get me there. They also said that if I had bought the extended warranty when I bought the car that a rental would be covered. I had no clue whether or not I had the warranty, so I decided to walk home while waiting for the tow truck to come. I walked home...found that we did not buy the extended warranty...and walked back (that's 0.7 mi one way). Meanwhile, the tow truck is a no show. They said it would take an hour from when I called, and it took me just about that long to walk home, look for the warranty, reserve a rental car near the Kia dealer and walk back. Kia actually called to check and see if my tow truck had arrived, and when I said it hadn't they checked with the tow company to see when it would come. I was informed it would be about 20-30 minutes longer. Awesome... 30 mins later, still no tow truck. Kia called again to check in on me and I said "no truck". They called the tow company again and was told it would be another 15-20 mins. 20 mins later, still no truck... Of course they called to check in again, but this time they said that the truck should be pulling in momentarily, which it was. This is now 2 hours after I first called to get the tow truck and an hour after it was first scheduled to arrive. GRUMBLE!!

The tow truck towed me to Medford, which was about a 45 min drive. The Kia dealer there said that he had an idea of what the problem could be and that it might even be an easy fix (meaning I could wait and take my car home that day). Woo! Finally some good news! It took them about 2 hours from when I arrived to get the car fully fixed, but that was fine with me. (I canceled the rental car I had reserved, so that was no big deal.) All together, I started this whole process at 7:30am and left the Kia place just before 3pm. Really, really pathetic and I could've saved myself over 2 hours by just having the AAA guy take me to a Kia dealer or calling Kia first. What a pain in the butt, but luckily we have a car. My biggest fear was not having one and me going into labor...

As for the pregnancy, everything is going well. My appointment with the midwife last Thursday went very well, and she's going to strip my membranes this coming Thursday (provided I'm still pregnant then). We had a little chat with the baby on which days she's going to be working labor & delivery (Mon and Wed), so hopefully the baby will oblige us and come then. I'll also be doing my part (taking Evening Primose Oil, seeing my acupuncturist and maybe doing some acupressure at home). The full moon happens to be on Tuesday as well, so that's working for us. We'll see!!

My mother-in-law was supposed to be coming to visit starting tomorrow, but unfortunately has come down with a bad case of bronchitis. Her first doctor was completely unhelpful and gave her two courses of the same antibiotic (when the first one didn't work, he gave her another of the same drug). That of course also didn't work! She went to see a different doctor who has put her on a new drug, but she's not allowed to travel for another week. *sigh* So the plan now is for her to come next Sunday (the 26th). If I go into labor this week (which is the plan between me and the midwife), then that's a biiiiig problem. It means no overnight coverage for the twins...which means we have to get a babysitter. Luckily our usual day care person is very willing to do this, but she's also deathly allergic to all types of nuts...and my house is anything but nut-free. So I'm absolutely terrified of her in my kitchen. Honestly, that's really not something I want to be worrying about while I'm in labor, but I don't have any other choice. My mom isn't coming to visit until right before New Year's, so I'll actually have double coverage for part of the week after this one. I wonder if my sister wants to take a week off of work...it is the holiday season after all. ;-)

Goings On

Not too much happening here. My mom and her boyfriend have been in Israel for the past week or so, but they're on the flight home now. All four of us (Shmuel, the twins and I) were all sick with a GI upset this past weekend. My mother-in-law is coming on Sunday. And....I'm almost full term!! Yay!! Every time I see the midwife everything seems to be normal, so that is a relief. No idea yet when Baby #3 will make her appearance, but you can be sure that I'll blog/Facebook/Twitter during the whole birth. :-) I got to take a tour of the birthing center in the hospital tonight, and that was fantastic. It was my first time up there, so I'm glad I got to see it before the "big day". Shmuel couldn't come with me since he was taking care of the twins, but it's ok because I'll be able to direct him to the right elevators even when I'm in labor.

School is almost over, too. This is the last week and then I'm done for the semester. Yay!! I have to take my last Anatomy & Physiology exam on Wednesday (which I'm supposed to be studying for now), but I shouldn't have to take the final exam since I have an A average.

We think Dovid may have a reflux disorder, and he's going to see the gastroenterologist on Monday. After getting sick a few weeks ago with a GI bug, he's still throwing up almost every night (overnight, so you don't see the puke until morning). We think he only throws up overnight when he has acidic foods for dinner, so we've been avoiding them (oranges, tomato sauce, etc.) Poor baby!! I really hope the doctors can figure out what's going on and fix it.

By the way, if you haven't guessed in my baby pool you'd better do it now. I'm going to close the pool on the 16th, when I turn 37 weeks, so you don't have much time!!

5 Years

Five years ago today I met my husband. It's not the exact date (that was yesterday), but we met on the Friday just after Thanksgiving, so that's when we celebrate. Our yearly tradition is to have a Shabbos meal at the friend's house where we met. For several years they were out of town for Thanksgiving weekend, so we had to push it off until the next week, but this year they are here! We met at the Friday night meal, and that's when we'll be going (ie tonight). Our first date was the Sunday after we met (November 27), but with Shmuel working every Sunday there isn't any way we can go out to celebrate then.

I can hardly believe that it's been five years. The years have literally flown by, and they've been some of the best years I've ever had (if not the best). We have so much to be thankful for, and it's very appropriate that the anniversary of our meeting (and first date) happens just after Thanksgiving. It's also just one week until the magical 35 weeks and 1 day. Wheeeee!

The twins are doing well, too. They are adding words to their vocabulary all the time, and I'm just too lazy to update their word pages here. :-) Dovid calls everything "that" and loves to say "no". Both of them use the word "mine" a lot, even though I thought that was a two-year-old thing. haha Dovid has also figured out how to clip himself into his booster seat and will do this even when it's not meal time. The problem is that he doesn't know how to undo the buckles, so he gets upset once he's clipped in and wants to keep playing with the buckles.

And now, for your enjoyment, here is a video clip from play time a few days ago. They are playing with Daddy's kippa, which they really enjoy (especially since Daddy has to then cover his head with another object).



Click HERE for more Hebrew & Yiddish word definitions