Big Girls

We found the camera! These are from this morning - preparing for day 3 of school. (Orli didn't want to wear her backpack - she preferred her purse today).

First Day of School

We've lost our camera in the abyss that is our home. So sadly I wasn't able to take a picture of our first day of school.

The girls started 3 days a week at the JCC by our house. The last time I tried to send them was last year, it was a different J, and it was a nightmare. After 3 disastrous weeks, I pulled them out and begged my neighbor to watch them.

This time has been different. We bought DORA backpacks that the girls carry in every day. They still cry when I leave but they calm down pretty quickly (I duck in the hallway until I hear that they have stopped.) They are also eating and sleeping and playing - which they didn't do last year.

Yesterday was their second day and when I came to pick them up Ilana said, "Look mommy, this is Eden" and she pointed to a girl in the class. Then Orli said "Mommy! Potty now!"

I'm really proud of my big girls.

more stupid shit people say part II (verbatim)

Teacher/Co-worker: Look at YOU!
Me: (silent)
Teacher/Co-worker: You're like...ready to go!
Me: (silent)
Teacher/Co-worker: And you're sure its not twins, huh?
Me: (fake half smile)
Teacher/Co-worker: You're like me. I gained over 50 pounds each time with mine. I was just huge.
Me: (silent)

Twins Again?

It's pretty accurate to say that I am not quite feeling attractive these days as every part of me continues to swell, by what seems like,the hour.

I'm over it, in the sense of not taking it personally and feeling bad about myself. Actually, I think I am just too tired all the time to really give it too much thought.

However, in the last week --and I'm really not exaggerating at all (I know I can say that, but really this is accurate) -- 3-5 times a DAY people approach me with some variation of the following:

"Twins again?"

"NO?? NOT twins again? REEAALLY?"

"Due any day now?"

"OCTOBER?? It looks to me like you could go any day now."

Like I said, I don't really think I take it personally. I guess I'm just shocked at what people feel free to blurt out.

This week is back-to-school teacher orientation and that may account for some of the upsurge in stupid comments, but truthfully, many of them have also come from total strangers at places like the mall (yesterday, 2) or the JCC (today, 3).

Really no place is sacred for a large pregnant lady to catch her breath in peace.

Pee Pee or Poopie

Orli: (while peeing on the potty) Poopie!
Ilana: (on the other potty) No Orli, Pee Pee
Orli: Poopie!
Ilana: No Orli, Pee Pee
Orli: Poopie!
Ilana: Orli! Say Pee Pee!
Orli: Pee Pee
Ilana: (while clapping) YAY ORLI!!!
Orli: (claps)

Natural Remedies

Today we went to my parent's house for dinner. It was such a nice night that my mom suggested we all eat outside. Unfortunately the bees found us. I remembered that we had bug spray in the diaper bag. Both Darin and my mom were horrified at the thought of bug spray near food. That's when my mom brought out an almost full bottle of Scope mouthwash.

Overall, my family always prefers going the natural route when it comes to remedies and treatments. I don't know how 'natural' Scope is - but I would agree that it is less intense than bug spray. Anyway, this wasn't the first time I had heard my mom's theory that mouthwash keeps bugs away. In preparation for playing with the girls in our buggy backyard, she had brought the bottle of Scope over to our house a few weeks ago. Unfortunately we left the spray bottle- her only spray bottle- back there.

Its just hard to express into words that moment as we were all sitting around my parent's patio table on the deck, eating kopetka (like potato-y dumplingies), Polish-style prepared beef (nicknamed Ola's beef), and carrot, raisin, mango, orange salad while my mom literally was dumping Scope in the palm of her hand and then sprinkling it about the perimeter of the table and on our chairs. A couple more handfuls were dispersed onto the center of the table.

All in all, the bees did stay away, for periods of 10-15 minutes at a time, and then my mom would have to re-sprinkle.

Mom: I need to spray some more.
Me: Would you really call that spraying?

I really regret not having my camera with me, because the visual was just so rich. Though we all got a good laugh out of the whole thing, I'm sure one of these days someone will come on Oprah or The Today Show and announce that mouthwash is the new hottest, green, bug spray.

Ilana's baby

This morning, Ilana rubbed her belly and said, "My baby hurts."

Sometimes I just don't know how we're going to add one more.

Boobie or Baby?

The girls recently invented a game where one will point to (or grab) a buldge on my body and the other will exclaim whether it is a boobie or a baby. Then they switch. Sometimes they try to trip each other up and say boobie when they mean baby. Sometimes I play too.