Pumpkin Patch Time!!

It's October; that means time to start visiting the pumpkin patches!  Sabrina loves the pumpkin patches and when I asked her if she wanted to go to one she said yes right away.  She's almost all better from her stomach bug but still pretty lethargic and not her usually peppy self.  Still, I wanted her to get outside and get some fresh air.  I am kind of conflicted about taking Maddie; on one hand I really want photos of her at the pumpkin patch and on the other hand I really don't want her eating hay and dirt and rocks.  So I left Maddie with Grandma and took Sabrina myself.  So off we went to Usegii Farms, a popular pumpkin patch in Morgan Hill with lots to do than just pick pumpkins.  We went on a train ride, a hay ride, around a corn maze (more like a path since there's no way to turn except in the direction they want you go to in) and ended with a pony ride.  Sabrina met up with some of her friends and had a great time.  The trip wore her out and she fell asleep in the car.  But I'm glad we went and can't wait to go again. 

Sabrina's favorite part of our day

Sabrina the country music sensation

Going through the corn maze with friends Dillon, Lucie and Marina

Maddie Tries Out MyGym

Sabrina was under the weather for a few days.  She's almost all better, but she had a bit of a stomach bug and a low grade fever.  I didn't want Maddie to catch whatever Sabrina had, so I took her out and about.  One of the days I trialed a MyGym class.  We loved it.  This place is perfect for Maddie right now:  Indoors where she can crawl around and not stick tan bark and rocks in her mouth.  :)  Until Maddie starts walking and stops putting every little thing in her mouth going to outdoor places with her is a pain.  At MyGym they started with circle time which Maddie was not interested in at all, and then the babies could crawl around and play or do swings or the teachers would do some kind of exercise with them.  We both had fun.  Unfortunately the only slots they have for Maddie's age group is not a good time for our schedule.  But hopefully we can find something like this that is a good time for us. 

Maddie crawling up the baby obstacle course

PJ Library Rosh HaShanah Event

Yesterday I took the girls to a PJ library event about Rosh Hashanah.  They sang songs, read some stories, learned what a beekeeper does, made a candle and dipped apples in honey.  The event was held at Yavneh Day School, the Jewish day school in the south bay.  I need to win the lotto so I can send my children there.  Sabrina was on the younger side but she did great, she listened and paid attention.  Maddie had her bottle and then crawled around in the hallways outside.

Making a candle

Pizza and bouncy houses

LOL parties is a bouncy house place inside of the Silvercreek Sports Center.  We hadn't been in forever so when Elaine suggested going this morning I thought to give it a try.  Wasn't sure how it would go with two kids but it was great.  Maddie wasn't a big fan of the actual bounce houses but she really enjoyed crawling around on the mats.  Sabrina had fun playing with her friends CJ, Eliza and Neal.  The kid worked up an appetite so we headed over to the restaurant inside the sports complex and got the kids a cheese pizza.  Our only mistake was waiting until we got there to order the pizza.  We should have got over there while the kids were still playing and order the pizza, so it would have been ready and cooled down (because G-d forbid any of our kids eat anything that is hotter than lukewarm) as soon as the kids got there.  It took a solid 15-20 min for the pizza to arrive.  That doesn't sound like a long time but it sure feels that way with a bunch of tired and hungry kids.  But then the pizza came and all was well :)

Everyone say "cheese pizza!"

Back to the San Jose Children's Discovery Museum

We hadn't been the the Children's Discovery Museum in a long long time.  But with Maddie crawling I wanted to be able to go where both girls can have fun but Maddie's not trying to put every rock and twig she spies in her mouth.  So we recently had our membership renewed.  It was so much fun!  Sabrina told me she wants to live there.  Maddie's friend Oliven came to play with us too (Vander was in preschool - Shhhh!  Don't tell Vander we went without him).  First we went to the Wonder Cabinent, an area specially designed for the 4 and under crowd.  At noon I needed to give Maddie her lunch.  Sabrina didn't want to stop and eat, so she went downstairs to the bubble area while I fed Maddie.  We were there for two hours and there's still so much to see.  Next time!

Maddie holding a ball and standing up like such a big girl

friends

Maddie and Oliven throwing balls into the funnel thing

Sabrina showed Maddie the sea shell exhibit

Sabrina spent a lot of time in the sand area, making "cakes"

Sleep over party!

Well, sorta.  We recently had the Walter's come over for dinner.  Casey wanted to stay and play games, so we put on The Little Mermaid, popped some popcorn and the kids had fun (and made a mess) while we played Taboo.  We played boys vs girls.  Somehow the boys won.  I'm pretty sure they cheated, there's no other way to explain why we lost :P

Watching The Little Mermaid with Jake and Addison

Eating Graham Crackers

While at a playdate at Arwen and Hazel's, Hazel wanted a graham cracker.  Well, Maddie had to get in on that action.  Yum yum. 

Look mommy, a graham cracker.  Buy these for me!

Las Madres South Valley 2010 Pool Party

The Friday of Labor Day we went to a South Valley 2010 pool party.  I love the pool.  Sabrina loves the pool, and now that Maddie is a little older she loves the water too.   We swam and played outside and swam some more.  A great way to start a three day weekend. 

How do we get over to the other side?

No more diapers for Sabrina

While Sabrina has been potty trained during the day since Febuary, she decided a few nights ago that she did not want to wear diapers at night anymore.  No pullups, no diapers, just big girl underwear (and jammies, obviously).  So okay!  I've been prepared for this; a while ago I bought two water-proof fitted sheet protectors.  So on her bed is a sheet protector, fitted sheet, sheet protector, fitted sheet.  The idea being that if she woke up in the middle of the night because she wet the bed, we could just strip off the first fitted sheet and sheet protector and she could go back to sleep.  We put her potty in her room and said if you need to use the potty here it is and that's that.  The first two nights her pants were wet but the sheets were dry. We think that she tried to use the potty when she got up but maybe had trouble with her pajamas.  However last night her sheets were wet.  Did she just wet the bed?  Did she wet the bed while she was sleeping and is such a heavy sleeper she never noticed?  I have no idea.  If this continues I think we will have to wake her up before we go to sleep and make her go to the bathroom.  But I'm really proud that she decided on her own that she wasn't going to wear diapers at night any longer.  you go,  (big) girl!

Maddie's 9 months wellness visit

So Maddie had her 9 month checkup this morning and here are the stats:
Height:  27 1/4 inches
Weight:  17lbs 9oz
Head circumference 43cm
Overall for weight and height:  25%
Super happy and healthy!  

tearing apart reading books helps to pass the time while we wait for the doctor

Now I can blog on my phone!

Jerry helped me out so now I can blog on my phone.   Fancy!  I've included a photo of "mommy's babies ".   Sabrina named these babies that but she takes care of them for me.   I have have too much to do so she is a big help.   :-)

Mommy's babies taking a nap.  Two bears, two puppies and a bison.

Maddie's schedule at nine months

Whew.  Been way too long.  Anyhoo, I wanted to write down Maddie's schedule at (almost) nine months.  We are in a good groove and I want to have it on record before things change and a year from now I'll have no idea.  So...

7am:  Wake up, takes a 4oz bottle
plays with her toys and/or Sabrina
8am:  4oz of baby food (some kind of fruit) with 1/2 oz of rice cereal and puffs
plays some more with her toys and/or Sabrina OR we head over to drop off Sabrina at preschool
9am:  Nap
Maddie will nap from 1-2 hours in the morning.  If she wakes up at 10, she takes a nap at 12:30,  if she wakes up at 11, she goes down at 1:30, and so on.  Let's say she woke up at 10:30
11am:  takes another 4oz bottle
Runs errands with me, goes to a baby playdate, goes to one of Sabrina's playdates if Sabrina doesn't have preschool that day
noon:  Lunch.  Usually consists of 4oz of baby food (either fruit or veggie) 1/2 oz of rice cereal and some puffs or dehydrated fruit
1pm:  Afternoon nap.  Maddie will sleep until at least 3pm, sometimes later but usually 3pm
3pm or whenever she wakes up after 3:  4oz bottle
After the bottle we head to a park or playdate or whatever it is we are doing in the afternoon

Camping at Big Basin

5pm:  Dinner.  4oz baby food (veggies) 1/2 oz rice creal, 1/2 oz of hummus and something else, like 1oz of shredded cheese, bits of chicken, other baby finger food.  This kid likes to eat!
6:15:  bathtime!!
6:30 the last 4oz bottle, a book, then bedtime.  Night night!!

Our Austin Trip

I am hoping to expand on this post, but for now at least I've got photos.  We had a family vacation to Austin and it was fantastic.  Jerry wanted to check out the city AND we got to go to Kochavim, an Israeli folk dance camp. A fabulous time.  Great weather, great food, great people.

I'm having fun at the museum too!

Our little tinkerer

Shabbat Dinner at Kochavim

Sabrina must have gone down this slide at least a dozen times

QT Pants!!

We reused the Purim costumes for Kochavim

Our princess

I wish I was big enough to eat the beef ribs at The Salt Lick

My sweet girl

Seriously, this girl is adorable!!! She makes my heart melt. This picture was taken at the California Sports Center in San Jose. It is a children gymnastics studio and we head over there every couple of weeks or so for their open play. Sabrina's not really interested in organization but loves to go there and play on all the equipment. It's a great place to get the wiggles out, all for $5.

Chag Purim, Chag Purim, Chag Gadol Hu La'Yehudim

I have really fond memories of Purim at preschool. One year I was Queen Vashti. Basically, the story goes that the Jews were in Persia and King Ahasuerus commanded Queen Vashti to dance for him and his buddies and Queen Vashti refuses. Consequently, the King said he was going to look for another bride. Then there's the whole part about Esther but I always liked Queen Vashti better.  I thought it was great that Queen Vashti stood up for herself and didn't just do what the King wanted. Anyways, I was excited to experience Sabrina's first Purim at her preschool. I found costumes for both girls, Sabrina was Cinderella and Maddie was a butterfly. Although I tried to tell Sabrina she was Queen Vashti and she told me "no. I'm Cinderella". Oh well, but it was true, she WAS Cinderella...on a side note, every single girl at her school was wearing...a princess dress. No joke. For Purim the school marched around the campus doing their own Purim parade and showed off their costumes to the religious school, the office, etc. At the end of the parade the kids went into the sanctuary and the rabbi held a little mini megillah reading. It was really cute. On Sunday our shul had a Purim Carnival and Sabrina had a great time. She really got into the games and spirit of things. 

Happy Hollow

Since Maddie was born it has been difficult for Sabrina and I to have quality alone time together. Sure, we are together at home just the two of us when Maddie is napping, but it's not the same as being able to go out and have some fun somewhere together. So on this morning in Mid-March we got a call from my friend Michelle, who is the mommy to Sabrina's friend Ella to join them at Happy Hollow. Happy Hollow is this really cute kiddie zoo and amusement park right here in San Jose. It is a five minute drive from our house and we go there all the time. They have a small zoo section but lately we have bypassed the animals to go straight to the back of the park where they have kiddie rides, a great play area and a puppet show. So I put Maddie down for her nap, packed us a lunch and Jerry said he would take care of the baby until we got back. What a great time the girls had together! I love watching Sabrina interact with her friends. And Sabrina loves all her friends. We got to the park just in time for the puppet show. Sabrina LOVES the puppet shows at Happy Hollow. They are about 20 minutes long and Sabrina really pays attention and enjoys the show. Afterwards we rode the rollercoaster (by far Sabrina's favorite ride at the park) then hit up the play area. By then it was time for lunch and afterwards some more rides. I think over 2 1/2 hours had flown by! By now I needed to get back to feed Maddie but it was a great time!

I'm ready to play baseball!!

So the other day I took Sabrina and Maddie to River Glen park, near our home in Willow Glen.  It was a great afternoon; tons of friends were there and we had a ball.  At this park are also baseball fields filled with kids playing and doing drills.  At one field, the kids were lining up in a horizontal line to learn to properly run to the base and back.  Sabrina spied this going on and decided to get in on the action!!  Before I knew it, she was RUNNING to the field, got in line with the kids  - who were all boys, ages around 6 and 7 and was ready to roll!!!  I wish I had a video of it, or a picture of her in line with these boys.  We quickly got there and explained to her that she wasn't part of this class.  I apologized to the coaches but they were really nice about it, they thought it was great she wanted to play!  That's my baby, no fear!!

My sweet baby

Since I updated about Sabrina it's only fair to talk about Maddie too.  She is such a sweet, good natured baby!  She is happiest to just be held and look out at the world.  When I wear her in the sling, or I'm just holding her if she's not tired she wants to be looking out.  I think Maddie is more serious than Sabrina was at the same age, but she does like to smile and be talked to and I love to find something that will make her laugh!  She has the sweetest, sweetest laugh.  She is just a sweet little thing!

Maddie is also spoiling me in the sleep department.  More of than not nowadays she will nurse at 7:30 and go to sleep right away and not wake up until 5:30 or later!  And then she goes right back to sleep until oftentimes after 8am.  Love it!!  This also gives me a chance to get Sabrina up and dressed and help her with breakfast.  So considerate!  Sometimes Maddie will take a small snooze as we are out and about but I need to be home a bit before 12:30 at the latest so I can nurse her and put her down to sleep.  She will reliably take a 2-3 hour nap.  After than we can go about our day until it's bedtime once again.  A schedule I can work with!  Of course babies change so often in the beginning who knows how long this schedule will last but so far I like it.

It's Potty Time!

So on Jan17th, 2011 Sabrina officially started potty training.  I really didn't think we would begin potty training until age 3.  A couple of months ago I bought a potty, we have a few potty books and Sabrina has watched Potty Time with Elmo but she just never seemed into it.  But then all of a sudden she started noticing more and more of her friends were using the potty and she wanted to use it too.  One day I asked her "do you want to start wearing big girl panties instead of diapers?" and Sabrina said YES!.  So I went to the store, bought a pack of princess panties and a package of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse panties, a little portable potty and made a go bag and we were on our way!  Basically, it was three weeks of hell.  Sabrina was getting the pee in the potty thing, but she was VERY resistant to pooping in the potty.  In three weeks, she pooped in the potty once.  Any other time I was lucky enough to catch it in her rest time diaper (no more naps for this girl - but that will be another post) or her night time diaper.  Otherwise, she'd just poop in her pants.  So, so disgusting.  So gross!

After three weeks, I admit I was ready to throw in the towel.  I just felt like there wasn't any progress made and maybe we needed to take a break.  But after a really bad day where I swore this was it, I was D.O.N.E. I woke up and thought, well, dawn of a new day, let's give it one more chance and something clicked in her head and she got it!  She's even pooping in the potty AND going to the potty without telling anyone, she will just take herself and go!  It's amazing.  I never thought we would get to this point.  Now that we are past the worst of it, I have to say I am very happy to be done with diapers, at least during the day.  Staying dry during the night is a whole different animal.  We're not perfect, but we can go for days without an accident, and usually the accidents are my fault.  There are times where she is super busy and occupied and I need to steer her to the potty, otherwise we're going to have an accident.  But it's soooo much better than it was.  And there are times where Sabrina is occupied and she takes herself!  Today for example, Sabrina was watching Word World (one of her favorite shows) and she realized she needed to pee, so she took herself to the bathroom and did her business.  Amazing!!!  I don't mind the occasional accident, as long as I'm seeing progress.  My baby is growing up!!

The Segals visit The Kurtze's

Jerry's sister Franni, her husband Danny and their two 5 1/2 month old twins Charlie and Eliana came to visit us for 10 days. Jerry had met the babies before as he went to Charlie's bris but it was mine and the girls first time meeting their cousins and my niece and nephew. I think it is so neat that I am an aunt!! It was a super busy week. We did a professional photo shoot, took everyone to Muir Woods to see the redwoods trees, the Monterey Bay Aquirium and Santa Cruz. It was great to hang out and get to know Charlie and Eliana. They are so cute!!! Really good babies too. Sabrina loved playing with the babies and helping give them a bottle. Ira and Lorraine also came to spend them with all their grandchildren. A lot of people but it was a lot of fun.

Happy New Year!!

         We spent our last evening of 2010 with the Solnits; Dina, Matt & Rachel. The girls got to  wear party hats and they had a lot of fun with them.  Dina made a super yummy dinner and we celebrated New Year's at about 7:30 (hey, the kids have to go to bed) . After we came home I tried to stay up...I think I lasted until 9:30pm. Jerry bless his heart stayed up all by his lonesome until midnight. :(. I told him to come to bed so I wouldn't feel bad he was staying up by himself, haha. But he insisted. Happy New Year!!!

Maddie & Pooh Bear

I am a Q T

So I am trying to take a picture of Maddie with Pooh Bear every week, to document how big she is getting throughout her first year. Here she is at about 3 weeks. What a sweetie!

Bella's 3rd birthday party

One of Sabrina's bestest friends is her friend Bella. Bella turned 3 and her mom, who is super creative put on a fabulous cooking themed birthday party. The kids got to decorate their own pizzas and cake, help Peng (Bella's dad) make a smoothie and as a takeaway gift Carrie actually made aprons for all the kids! I wish I could do stuff like that. It was all I could do to sign my name to the credit card receipt for Sabrina's birthday party at Pump it Up. :P

Sabrina had a great time and just loves playing with her friends. It makes me so happy that she is a happy little girl! Where was Maddie you might ask? Slept the whole time in her carseat of course! This won't last forever but I'll enjoy it while it lasts.

Hannukah Time

Sabrina shows off the hat she made for her Hannukah performance

Sabrina has been in preschool at Congregation Sinai since September. It has been a great experience for her. Currently she goes twice a week, in the morning. I wanted her to start in September so she wouldn't associate it with Maddie being born and now I also get some quality alone time with the baby. Sabrina has loved preschool from the start! I thought she might have a little separation anxiety, seeing as I've been with her all day from day 1. So on the first day of school I said to Sabrina "okay baby, I'm going to go now and I will pick you up when school is over." "Ok, bye". What?!?! No love for Mommy. :) But I'm proud of her independence. I have nothing but fond memories of my own preschool and I'm happy it has so far been the same for Sabrina.

For Hannukah the school put on a Hannukah party. It was so much fun! We ate latkes, lit the Hannukah candles and each class put on a little performance. Sabrina's class is called Kalaneet, which I think is a little flower that grows in Israel. Their performance was so super adorable. All the kids held hands and walked in a circle while the music teacher played "Oh Hannukah Oh Hannukah" and they spun like a dreidel and pretended to be a candle burning low. If you asked Sabrina what she did in her performance she would tell you "A candle and a dreidel". Sabrina just loves Hannukah. Even now she asks to sing various Hannukah songs. Not to mention all the presents, that's not so bad either :)

Thanksgiving at our house

I cannot describe how delicious this turkey is. 

I love Thanksgiving, it is one of my most favorite holidays.  Normally we alternate going to either NY or LA for Thanksgiving. However, with Maddie just being born, there was no way we could travel anywhere. So my parents and Jerry's parents came to us for Thanksgiving! My mom made her fabulous turkey and we hosted Thanksgiving for the first time at our house. I even broke out our wedding china. Uber fancy. Our friends Lara & Mark and their daughter Lia joined us as well. Sabrina loved having her friend over and it was a great evening. Maddie was very accommodating; she slept through dinner.

Our Thanksgiving family photo