Colorado 2005

Darin and I took a road trip to Colorado the summer just before I got pregnant with the girls. We camped out at Rocky Mountain National Park. At the time, we kind of thought it could be the last vacation before kids. Of course ,we really didn't know what that meant, in the practical sense.

I remember wanting so badly to be pregnant already. It was hard to imagine anything other than how fun it would be to take the trip with our children. We'd hike in the morning, head into town to get a little adventure golf in before settling back to the campsite to make dinner and roast marshmellows. Looking back it was an awesome trip. Maybe in another three years we'll do another one.

Family Picture

If I left any picture taking to my husband, we would literally have no pictures. Not a one. Since we went to a Bar Mitzvah on Saturday and were all dressed up, and more importantly all in the same place at the same time with a camera, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to get our first all family picture.

In my attempts to get it, I was nearly hung by every member of my family. These are the two best I could get.

Ice Cream for Breakfast

Sleep, or the lack of sleep, has probably been the most defining family issue over the last three years.

With anywhere from 3-6 wakenings a night, we recently started to get really desperate. One night, I blurted out to the girls that if they slept the whole night they would get ice cream for breakfast.

It worked.

It was the best night sleep any of us had had in years.

The guilty mom in my needs to explain that the ice cream is DOVE bar "bite" - like an inch of icecream covered in dark chocolate. Really, pretty small.

It has been about a month and the girls have had one of those bites nearly every morning. And every morning I am beyond thrilled to open up that little wrapper for them.

Day Care

For the first 2 1/2 years of the girls' life we were able to keep them at home. My mother of course contributed significantly, changing up her work schedule and giving up virtually every free moment she had for us.

The girls started preschool/day care this past August of 2008. It was a tough transition, to be sure, but overall it has been a great experience for us all.

When Shai was born, my mom continued to work weekends so she could take him 3 days a week. For the first few months, I was able to figure out/piece together the other two days a week. By April that had all fallen apart and I needed a more permanent 2 day a week solution. That was when we started him at the J with the girls.

The girls love having him there and insist on going with me each time to drop him off and pick him up. (That adds about 12 -18 minutes to our morning).

And while everyone there has been nice and caring to him, I gotta say, its just not the same as keeping the babe at home. The days he is there he doesn't eat and sleep nearly as well as he does at home. And the nights following those days are always more turbulent. And he has a runny nose all the time.

My mom insists we have got to get the baby out of there. There is a saying in Polish that roughly translates to "We're ruining the child." While none of us really believe he is being ruined, I do think its time to get creative once again. Hopefully it won't have to involve my mom switching to working nights so she can have him all week. Although she has offered to do it.

Shai's teacher took this picture during one of our drop offs.