Bingo

Oh the things we do for our kiddos...

We live across the street from the clubhouse at our apt complex, where they hold Bingo games several times a month. So this afternoon, Yoni saw all the people congregating outside the door waiting for the event to begin and he wanted to check it out. So we went over there and stood just inside the door as they were signing in (rent coupons are sometimes prizes).
Of course they made a huge fuss over him and I said that maybe we would come play sometime. Of course it would help if Yoni knew his numbers better in order to actually play Bingo.Then we went home to take a nap - yeah, right!

Also, later in the evening I was singing the BINGO song to Yael and hit upon this simple variation:

There was a mommy who had a girl
And Yaeli was her name-o
Y-A-E-L-I
Y-A-E-L-I
Y-A-E-L-I
And Yaeli was her name-o

You get the picture, I'm an idiot

Elmo Makes Music

Thanks Uncle Sam and Aunt Carlye for helping Yoni have a very special birthday. We went to see Elmo and his Sesame Street friends (click here) and spared no expense on the chachkies.

He got a spinning Sesame Street lightup wand with Elmo on top - his new favorite toy, which he nearly ran the batteries down on already, an Elmo T-shirt, an Elmo doll and the show CD. Then at intermission he got a $10 mylar Elmo face balloon-see above pic.


It was a cute show, but we were exhausted after the first half and since I am fighting the ghastly chest congestion and cough (which I haven't dealt with until now since I had my adenoids taken out), it seemed that the 2nd half after intermission was a little too much, but of course they saved the Sesame Street classics like "Sing" for the 2nd half and as a finale. It just seemed a little anti-climactic since it was nap time for most of the kiddos and the meltdown factor could be seen everywhere.

Kudos to the Yonster though - he actually made it to the potty at intermission (disgusting public men's' room I can only imagine, Eran got this one - the women's line was around the corner) and actually did his business rather than needing a new pull-up mid show. We're so proud!

He was so excited he called Sam at least 10 times this afternoon instead of napping. He was also about seven different shades of grey and blue in his face and lips today as lately he has been coughing also. Next week he goes back to the respiratory doctor (pulmonologist) who is monitoring him after the surgery and his asthma. We'll see what she has to allow and how badly we've done and whether we have to alter his care at this point. My guess is we'll probably end up on oxygen or something of that nature since he is barking like a seal when he coughs and then coughing something up that he doesn't actually spit out (or vomit - thank goodness)

However, another tidbit of work-related news, I got a phone call on my cell phone on the weekend at 8:30 AM (which is relatively late for a field man) from the oil-field in Louisiana. I forgot that I have my cell number on my card and in the office directory and didn't answer the first call...Anyway, I got the relief field supervisor set up with the necessary username and password and mapped to the right forms in the database in about fifteen minutes, right as we were getting ready to walk out the door. If he had called twenty minutes later, I would have been dropping Yaeli off at the grandparents. Ah the wonders of technology, and extra responsibilities since "Ms Thing" is gone. Good thing he caught me or he would have been calling someone else (my boss) to get it done. Yippee for me and for feeling extra special important enough to merit a phone call on the weekend, good thing it wasn't 4:30 in the morning, although I probably would have been up.

Reap what you sow

So after doing my job and the one who left’s job and fixing the one who is about to leave’s mistakes, I am officially “under the weather” - cough, cough, sniffle, sniffle. I had a serious sinus attack earlier this week after throwing my back out somehow over the weekend.

Yoni has a barking cough where he sounds like a baby seal, but he hasn't thrown up from it so far and he doesn't seem to be particularly lethargic or running a fever. Now Yael is a little congested as well and therefore never completely finishes a feeding - she kept me up nursing for hours last night!!!

Also, I am completely convinced that the whole attitude of the former employee should be construed as “Tom Sawyer Syndrome”.
After finally receiving all the materials she had been getting all along, it turns out that the whole thing is just finding the correct information and plugging in the right info in the right spot – pure data entry.
And she compiled books for distribution around to the different higher-ups and drilling folks out on the rigs. Well in that case it is purely a case of Administrative duties – any monkey can print out documents and make a bunch of copies and punch holes and print dividers. The real work in compiling all the information contained in those books and set-up materials is done by a more highly paid engineer.
So now, fielding the phone calls and emails from the field and our partners, and directly dealing with the software folks is the main challenge of that part of “her” former job.

The other girl is doing the job I was doing before I left, well she can’t seem to get any part of it perfectly down.
I am constantly checking her and finding all kinds of mistakes – leaving things out, putting things in the wrong place, etc. I really think I can do a great job in this as far as you have to keep track of lots of different details and that is the biggest challenge. The most difficult part is more time consuming – it is the printing and filing things away.

So really, all along being responsible for the daily report seems to be the challenging part of this position and it is one I was handling quite well all along (except for the filing papers part – the electronic filing was no biggie as it kept me straight as to what I was doing and where I was.

Just when you thought it was safe...

Some of the initial shell shock has passed (finally) and we are all moving on.

Today, the lady they hired to do my job while I was out submitted her resignation.
I'm thinking she has to be aware that she was not doing a great job, and was causing problems for others. Plus she just never really ever got it to work smoothly.

Apparently, she found some other job that is doing more along the lines of what she was doing before and much more in her comfort zone as well as getting the chance to go to the deep water rigs (which I could never or would never do because of the time constraints and my small children)

My boss had asked me to step into a meeting to make sure I am trained on our ever changing software database. A few minutes later he busted in with her letter in hand which he flashed and then quipped "You're not planning on going anywhere are you? cause you're the drilling reports girl now."

And earlier in the day my favorite one of the management eschelon, the one I finally went to with all this mess originally, casually asked how I was hanging in there and then cautioned, "you gotta be careful what you wish for"

Again, I have to wonder about the mysterious turn of events and the way things pan out. When I was working at Kenes in Tel Aviv, right before I moved to Jerusalem and left the position, they were working on building a new database software. I really enojyed that troubleshooting and input and that I was able to help make it a better system. I even considered that as a possible career route, but didn't know how to get into that area. And now, I am basically doing the same sort of end-user bug fixing and trouble shooting.

And I have also picked up the AFEs that I have been complaining about not receiving all along in order to get the big picture about the projects. When I came in this morning, there were a few on my chair waiting for me. Luckily, I already have some experience with the tools used in tracking these things otherwise I would totally be lost. And the few AFEs I have seen DO have all the information I would have needed to be totally independent of this crazy woman all along.

So now is my chance to shine - I just hope I can step up to the challenge of learning all these new aspects of my "new" job and hold it all together with my family life.

The next few months should be an interesting roller-coaster ride. We have the all-important 3rd birthday where Yoni will get his first haircut and since we have been to all these other parties lately, I want to throw a bash for my kid and reap all the fun (and presents) to be had. But that takes planning and finding the time to make it all happen. Plus, my brother is hitting a milestone birthday in March so I need to do something special for him too. And of course Eran's birthday and Valentines Day (its still fun to give presents even if we don't really celebrate the holiday - I already got mine, a beautiful heart shaped white gold and diamond pendant necklace from Eran)

And the biggest of excitement of all ... we are finally moving to a larger apartment with a second bathroom and a wet bar which basically affords us another two sinks and vanity mirrors. Again, in my life I never manage to do anything half-assed. Whenerver there are major changes, the changes are usually to all aspects.

Stay tuned for more on the continuing saga of "As Brenda's World Turns"

No turning back

I got this woman fired!!!
She invaded my privacy and terrorized me and many others for the last time.
I can't believe I did it - and with such coolness and calmness and no emotional outbreaks - at least not yet.
The HR department got involved this morning and I had to write up my case in an email to the HR director. Then right after lunch they called me downstairs to keep me out of way and off the same floor to avoid more of a scene - and I chatted with another new mother in the HR department about our babies and the possibilities that could be happening upstairs. I was a chatterbox as I tend to be when I am nervous.

Supposedly [I was downstairs at the time] they confronted her and she admitted to doing it. They confiscated her access cards, reclaimed her computer and she packed up her personal things and left right there and then - in the middle of the day.

Of course the rumor mills were flying!!! And she called one of her friends claiming that I was gunning for her job since the beginning and that I had her framed or something along those lines in order to save face. But mostly the story was correct. A personal file was sent to her computer and I was somehow involved.

My boss was shocked on Friday when I finally got around to telling him, and also that I had been sitting on this for 2 weeks already. I told him I had to think long and hard before I did anything about it, and that's true. This whole situation consumed me for the past few days. And then once I got the ball rolling, it was so fast it left me thrown for a loop. And she has been being so nice to everyone lately, I guess she was expecting it.

True, this woman terrorized me personally for at least the past year and most people would agree she was difficult to work with. But she was also a work-a-holic. She came in early and left late and worked weekends. She was not married, had no children and when her last cat attacked her, she had it put down. Apart from being a psycho, she has lots of physical ailments as well. She is asthmatic and recently spent time in the hospital for pneumonia and had a cyst removed from her lung. She also has knee problems and is severly overweight and generally not a healthy person, so I am sorry to have taken away her medical bemefits more than anything. She can go to the temp agencies to find work and collect some sort of unemployment, so I am less worried about her actual financial position.

But as my support system has been telling me, she made her own bed and now she has to lie in it. She is the one who crossed the line and for some reason thought she was untouchable and that she wouldn't get caught - and isn't it funny how G-d works in mysterious ways. Why oh why didn't she just read the damn thing on my computer since she was already there, if it was so important to her, and no one would have been the wiser? But she not only compressed the file (which I don't even know how to do) and left it there out on the drive, she also sent it to her computer. And there was nothing she could do with the information anyway as it was a SELF appraisal and confidential at that. Then she didn't really completely delete it off my computer, which also blows my mind, and that basically sealed her coffin.

We'll see what the next few days reveal. I am petrified! Eran even had me ask for an escort to my car this afternoon. The HR director took me personally in her car and it gave us a chance to debrief a little bit as well.

And there you have it - as the world turns, and there is the first real "pigua" (terrorist bombing) in Eilat - also previously untouchable in all the Middle East mess, my own little world keeps on turning and unfolding new and dramatic turns.

Meanwhile, Yael is super excited about finding her hands with her mouth and actually grasping things but not on purpose yet. She is gurgling and cooing and generally making all kinds of happy sounds which counteracts any sort of negativity in the whole wide world. And Jonathan has gained a little weight towards his third birthday and grown a little taller and become a little more headstrong. But he constantly reminds me of the wonders of the world in seeing them through his eyes and that "it's a beautiful day", right mommy? So we sing first thing in the morning in the car on the way to daycare: "Oh what a beautiful morning, oh what a beautiful day, I've got a wonderful feeling, everything's going my way"

Have a beautiful day everyone. And some of the pictures are being processed, I promise!

The Deed is Done!

I am officially a corporate whistle blower.
I set the ball rolling with all the incriminating evidence and even GAVE her enough rope to hang herself. [See this previously posted text to an email]
Now its a wait and see kinda thing as far as what happens next, but the higher-ups were definitely not happy about the whole situation.
I will keep you posted as the drama unfolds on the soap opera that is my life.

Black Socks

This is a quick tribute to Mrs King who taught us many funny songs throughout the years.
I have taught it to Yoni (right after she passed away) and he occasionally requests it [by name]on the way to school or before bed. It reminds me fondly of my younger years and I thought I would share it with you here:

Black socks
They never grow dirty
The longer you wear them
The blacker they get
Whenever I think about washing them
Something inside me says...
Don't wash them yet

Yoni pauses dramatically before the last line and wags that finger back and forth like a stern school marm but with his charming smile to balance it out.

Thanks for the memories Mrs. King and for other favorites like Cukaburra and Father Abraham and his seven dancing sons .

Oh and here is your daily picture my loyal blog readers

Dress for Success

This is one of my new year’s resolutions. I posted about it here originally.
As I get a clean slate at the beginning of the year, I also get to return to work after a couple of months off for maternity leave. I decided to turn over a new leaf and dress up for work on a daily basis.
I got the opportunity to do alot of wardrobe (clothing) shopping while I was off, I just need a little income to finish accessorizing with new shoes (my father calls me Imelda, but I haven’t bought any lately) and contemporary jewelry.
Once you’ve done something for three weeks it supposedly becomes a habit and that is certainly my intention here. To dress up and wear makeup to work daily – at least for now – as this should counteract any lingering “pregnancy brain” phenomenon and instances of sleeplessness to be encountered with an infant and an almost three year old at home.
Its all about the appearances we put forth to the world and I intend to look professional.

Yum

Some things you just have to be a kid to understand.

Yoni loves Challah (any bread is referred to as challah)
and chicken nuggets (any form of chicken can be chicken nuggets)
and pasta (any and all shapes and sizes, but he can be picky about sauces - sometimes macaroni and cheese is a winner, and sometimes a tomato based sauce works ok, and sometimes butter, and lately no sauce at all).

Today we had all three for lunch - pasta by special kid request. We also had rice and beans flavored with steak bits, which was AMAZINGLY yummy - thanks Eran!

But Yoni just had a spaghetti sandwich for dinner.
I never heard of such a thing, but when your tiny undernourished kid (it's a Jewish mother thing) is finally eating with a vengence, he can get away with these things.

Here's how it goes -
a large slice of challah (the best in town, fresh from Wish Bakery - and it is so yummy it tastes like cake)
folded in half
and stuffed with plain Jane spaghetti - with no sauce this time (my purist boy)

Would you like some carbs to go with your carbs? Of course this means he could have either the beans dish or a yogurt as a side dish - both of which he turned down.

He did however have banana Laffy Taffy candy and some other sugary treats (but not chocolate - where did this kid come from) earlier in the day and some not-too-sweet cinnamon rugalach at the neighbors' to go with his "special coffee"- which was Nestle Quick Shoko which he also didn't drink, but he turned his nose up at my French Vanilla flavored milk drink too. Go Figure.

Meanwhile, Yael was adorably sweet as usual and despite her cradle crap and eczema, she is a beauty. She is smiling and cooing and generally making sweet faces and noises to all whom she graces with her precence.

Little Mt. Vesuvius

So we're at a birthday party - the fourth one this month - for one of Jonathan's classmates at a fun place called Pump it Up! with inflatables for the kiddos to climb and slide and jump on.

We make it through all of the jumping and climbing and general mayhem with no injuries or upsets to all these 2-1/2 and 3-yr olds and their siblings.

Then we get to the pizza and cake stage. All the kids sat down and had pizza (a classic kid favorite) put in front of them. My child won't touch it. Then he doesn't want the juice boxes either - he wants Abba's water. So then he complains (my kid SO doesn't usually complain) that his tummy hurts - twice to his Abba and then he wants Mommy. Meanwhile, thankfully, Yael has recently fallen back asleep - so she is peacefully resting in her stroller/car carrier.

Then it was like a scene from The Exorcist. Yoni threw up everywhere.

I caught the first bit in my hands thinking that it would be a small episode that and we would be done - boy was I wrong! Thankfully the other mothers were quite calm about it. Someone found a paper plate for him to throw up on and a huge roll of paper towels and Sani-Wipes. And most of it got the floor and on his clothes.

Of course, the child that was sitting next to him and got the brunt of the show was the son of the most neurotic mother there - and also she happened to be some sort of adolescent doctor. She was pretty calm about Yoni - otherwise I would have totally lost it. As it was, I was pretty mortified. I had Eran take him out of that room as fast as I could to contain the screaming Yoni and make much less of a scene as I could. It was awful! But obviously not the first time the staff has had to go through this as they had a mop in there pretty quick.

Needless to say, we skipped the singing and cake part of the party. We took our 2 books as a party favor and got the hell out of dodge. Meanwhile all Yoni wanted was new pants - despite the fact that his shirt was entirely covered.

We obviously made a bad choice to go this party in the first place.
Yoni had not been feeling well that morning and he got overheated and threw up early that morning. Then he choked on some Frosted Flakes and spit up a little then too. But I knew how much he loved jumping on that inflatable at the carnival last week that I thought he would enjoy it with kids his own age and his friends. To top it off, it was a dreary day and he didn't get to go do anything fun outside after the party.
Also, earlier in the weekend, he took a rather harsh tumble and I was worried about a possible concussion. I guess if you can survive childhood, life is good.
My poor little boy :(

The saga continues...

Is there a reason you felt the necessity to forward my confidential self-appraisal to your computer on the day my daughter was born?

Yaeli stats

She is vaccinated.

And she has grown.
Now she weighs in at 10 lbs 14 oz and is 22 inches long.

And its official - she has dry, sensitive skin with eczema, hence the constant pimply "heat rash" as I referred to it on her shaina punim (beautiful face).

And I was SO glad to have left the office just then to take her a it gave me a chance to cool off and think a little more rationally after my big discovery.

GOTCHA!

We survived

The first full week back in the swing of things -

• Yoni back at the BAC from dawn till dusk
• Mommy back to the downtown Houston office - albeit on the 57th floor rather than the 52nd or 44th -[We're moving on up!] With a new wardrobe, a new handbag and a new attitude.
• Yaeli with her first bottle feedings (ok 2nd, bubbe gave her one bottle once upon a time - BTW we're still on a strict diet of boob juice and no formula - so far anyway)
  And introducing Yael to the whole newness of the pacifier episodes (for me she choked on them, for the not-mommy persons, she did just fine!)
• Abba having to rely on rides with people other than the Mom-taxi, and getting excited about his upcoming English classes, while desperately needing a vacation from his life right now - he didn't get maternity leave like me and his head is so full he really needs a break! About the only thing that truly makes him laugh and smile these days is playing with our special little Yonster!
• Our first round of birthday parties. We had a joint party on Sunday that was for 2 boys in Yoni's class. And directly following that, we went downstairs to the Family Fun Day at the JCC where Yoni spent literally hours jumping in the Disney Princess moonwalk.
  What a difference a few months make.
  At the Fall Festival he was not quite coordinated enough to enjoy jumping on the Tiger moonwalk, but 2 months later he couldn't get enough - even with all the bigger kids rumble and tumbling about in there too. And this was after a sports-themed party filled with active activities for active 3 year olds.
  Needless to say he was exhausted!

The whole breat-milk pumping thing causes some interesting questions in the ladies room from my co-workers, since that is the only place I have found on my floor that doesn't have a window in the door frame or that isn't out in the open. It's not ideal - to put it lightly. I pulled an office chair (at least its a pretty comfy one) into the ladies room and stuck a sticky note on it asking to please not remove the chair from the ladies room. Then when I need to pump at the office (twice a day at the moment, but I should probably up it to once more at work and once more at home) I just roll the chair into the handicapped stall and face away from the toilet (next to the the little trash can in the wall - YUK!) with my handy little lunch kit on the floor in front of me. In addition to the less than sanitary space, I also have to contend with the oh-so-pleasant sounds of others using the toilet.

But the important thing is that it is still enough for Ms. Yael to survive on during the hours I have to be away from her. And like it or not, this phase will pass sooner rather than later :(

So one of the reasons I was so grateful for having made the transition back to work when I did was that it was a short work week. I was able to contend with all the trials and still know that the weekend was only a few days away. And everyone at the office has been extremely nice and excited about me coming back.

Also, my witchy co-worker was absent and still on vacation on the west coast giving me a few blissful days of getting back into the swing of things without having to contend with her breathing down my neck. Today was her first day back and that is exactly what she did.

She immediately pointed out all the things she could that were wrong with the work I sent out on Friday (which I was just supposed to be proofreading). Then she changed the access I had to one of our essential programs, but when I brought it to his attention, my supervisor got her to change it back.

Also today, the woman who has been doing my job while I was out was absent with the stomach flu, so I had to deal with fixing mistakes she had made previously in my abscence, plus 3X as many reports (Mondays are always hectic) and having my nemesis back on the premises. In addition, I have another department breathing down my neck, waiting for me to update a report that I didn't pass on to anyone while I was out - job security - so that they can use it for end of the year accounting and accrual purposes.

All in all, it is nice to be needed, but I hope I can cope with the added stresses of running a one-car family and keeping up the professional standards I expect for myself.

And again

So I have already made RED updates to the Looking Back post but I keep remembering things I meant to put in there and I know that they'll get lost or worse yet, not get read, if I continue to edit on that post, So...

In September Eran and I "celebrated" our 5th wedding anniversary together. This was the whole reasonI posted about the September 11 th anniversary specials on TV - we got married just days before and were therfore able to cheaply get to Vegas for our honeymoon trip. We had planned to host a kiddush at Meyerland Minyan in honor of that milestone, but instead we had Jonathan admitted to Texas Childrens and forgot to cancel or postpone the kiddush, so it went on without us as the guests of honor - oh well. We were still able to spend it together. And of course, there is the fact that we were discharged from the hospital on the eve of Rosh HaShana. We were able to spend the High Holidays at home with Yoni, but I stayed away from shul with him so as not to get him sick after his surgery.


Mom pouted that no one mentioned their 37th (or was it 38th) anniversary of wedded bliss - going strong since June 9th 1968.

First Day Jitters

Happy 2007!
And welcome to the first day of the rest of your life - with 2 little kids at day care and back to work full-time in downtown H-town, where appearance is everything.

It was Yael's first day at Bertha Alyce Center at the JCC where Jonathan is already ensconced, and my first day back to work. We all survived.

I took pictures at home before we left, but forgot the cameras there too, so I will have to get more pics tomorrow. She was dressed as cute as a monkey - hint, hint - she was wearing the stuff Aunt Carlye and Senor Sam got her when they were here in Houston.

We (Eran and I) met Hanna Karny who has been at BAC for 24 years now. She is my friend Efrat Karny's mother (Sam went to HSPVA with her and I used to play Mahj with her and some other girls) and supposedly she's the greatest teacher there. I have wanted to meet her for quite sometime. She actually wanted to meet Eran because she heard him speaking Hebrew to Tzvia (our favorite morning teacher who makes Yoni eat breakfast everyday) and wanted to meet the "new" Israeli. We were talking to her outside of Yael's class which is in the infant wing whereas Yoni is already a big boy (just ask him, he'll tell ya) and is on the other side of the building.

Happy 28th and/or 29th Birthday Carlye

Gevalia Cake 'N Cup Hot Chocolate Set


The Cake 'N Cup Kit supplies ingredients to bake two individual dark chocolate, marshmallow-topped cakes—even the cups! All you need is milk and butter. We’ve added the perfect accompaniments—rich, white chocolate almond cocoa and Black Forest cocoa. Made in USA; cups imported.

This is what I sent to Carlye for her big milestone birthday on January 5th. At least I remembered to send a gift this year. A touch of elegance and gourmet style for my favorite chic Brooklynite sister-in-law. Hope its not too "froo-froo" for you and that you and Senor Sam (guess that's my newest nickname for him) enjoy both making and eating the "birthday" cakes together. Wish we could be there to drink a toast to you too.

Team Baby

I just ran across this site for the college sports fans and parents among us. There is both an LSU and a UT one (and an Aggie one as well) just for grandpa to get and watch with the grandkids - hint hint.
Gotta get em while they're young.

My new pediatrician's partner in practice is on the advisory board of TBE (and lends her name to lots of other boards around town - Texas Children's, Emery Weiner, to name a few) - That's how I found it

Looking Back

I made some updates in red that I remembered and added another picture (Edited 1/1/07)
I have been blogging on and off for a year now - and what a year it's been. Let's do the usual wrap-up and review shall we:

December - the first posts on this blog are about having my adenoids out and the happy pills for New Years. This year I have left over happy pills from giving birth and then some... Mom had also just had her surgeries.

January - Eran went to Israel to visit and it was the first time I was home with Yoni alone - now I hardly ever am alone with just Yoni, I get to contend with Yael too. I wanted Eran to take Yoni to Israel and the family wanted to see him too, but Eran was too afraid that Yoni would miss me too much (or something). Yoni started at the JCC after being at La Rochelle Academy and Yael will start there in a few days.

February - Birthdays galore! Eran's 28th and then Yoni's 2nd birthday.
We kept it small and did it at school with the teacher they had fired in the middle of the year. Then we did Chuck-E-Cheese with Brian (for his birthday too) and the family when he came home from school.








And when Eran came back from Israel we got pregnant.

March - Sam's B-day and Purim - Yoni wore his devil coustume from last Halloween (we didn't go out Trick or treating cause 1. it was yucky out and 2. he cried the whole time we tried to put the costume on and 3. we (Israelis/Jews) don't do Halloween)
Here's Yoni "helping" with our shalch manot





April - Yoni's first surgery - tubes in his ears (He had them put in at Memorial Hermann Southwest Hospital). They are BLUE and every doctor who I forget to tell that he's had them put in (several at TCH - Texas Children's Hospital) checks him and comments about their surprise. At this point the anaesthesiologist and ENT suggested he might "have a touch of pneumonia" and gave me oral antibiotics for him in addition to the ear drops, leading me and the pediatrician to think all was under control.

May - How wrong we were! Yoni got REALLY dehydrated and sick with a pretty serious case of pneumonia (according to the pulomonologists we saw - not the worst case they had seen, but pretty high up there) and was in the hospital for 8 days :( Guess we should have listened to the other doctors and had an x-ray sooner rather than later.









THE SUMMER
June - My B-day came and went. And we had the wedding season. We spent $300 each on clothing that we wore to several different affairs over the summer - Eran got a tailored suit and tie and I got several nice evening tops that I'll never be able to wear again since I was pregnant and HUGE in the boob department (even more so than usual) We did get to see the Rosenblatts and Druyans for the first time in forever and we got to meet Sarah Rochel in person and not just read about her exploits

July - Did we see fireworks at Sugarland, or was that the year before?

August - Still pregnant, still hot in Houston. Yoni is still coughing some dry coughs and ocaisionally throws up from the coughing spells.

September - Yoni went for his check-up at Labor Day with the pulmonologist and had an x-ray that landed us in the hospital again. Three weeks this time! Almost daily X-rays with a pregnant mother (meaning I couldn't be inside the room when they did them).

Recap: Chest tube in - scary doctor freaks us out that this may not work. CT scan to see that it really didn't work. Maybe a larger size tube will do the trick? Since we're already sedated, I'll just put in a second tube to make sure we get the job done this time. Still no success with both tubes. Guess we'll have to get that pneuomatocele out of there. Lung surgery. Operation. Such a mess of that lung tissue - we'll just take the whole right upper lobe. Three days later, we're finally home!!! Good thing kids are so resilient - wish moms were too! How could we forget the year anniversary of Hurricanes Katrina (and Rita) and 5 years since September 11 - we watched all the TV specials in the hospital on all these events. It was surreal

October - For Mom's birthday we did not-so-yummy-as-real-birthday-cake sugar-free cherry pie since we found out that Aunt Carol is diabetic. We skipped Halloween this year (partly because last year he put up such a fuss about the devil costume, but) mainly because Eran feels like it is not a Jewish holiday thing (we're American now-he'll learn) and mommy was too tired too stress about it. He probably still could wear last year's devil costume [which he did wear for Purim]

November - Yael Netanella Namer
(insert more cute pics here-blogger won't cooperate) made her debut with her arrival on Nov 7th (Safta Yosefa's birthday too) and life as we knew it changed forever. We got to see lots of family - which was awesome! Yosefa and Avi made their first visit from Israel, and Sam and Carlye got to meet their new niece and to see their nephew. We also spent our second Thanksgiving in Lafayette with the Louisiana family. Now it's tradition!

December - Shopping, shopping and more shopping! I did a lot of shopping during November too when the in-laws were here, but this month I was a little more responsible and had to do it with all of the other holiday shoppers. I can't remember a time in my life where I went shopping almost everyday for something or other, I guess Grandma Eleanor, my favorite shopaholic, would be proud. My post-maternity wardrobe is nearly complete. I still favor skirts for work, but now I have a new pair of jeans too.

Well this is it, the end of my extended chofesh (vacation) for maternity leave and my being home with the girl all the time. I'm sad already, but really looking forward to going back to work too.

Note to my loyal readers: As you can see, I took some time a while back and made some changes to the look of the blog site. Sorry if you don't like it, but comments are always appreciated. And I've been working on this post for a week now, so please give me feedback!!!

A Yael Update

I've been focusing some of my last posts on Jonathan. I noticed and don't think I've gone and hidden Yaeli in the closet or forgotten her somewhere in the midst of all our shopping lately.

The truth is that Ms. Squeaky Nutella just hasn't been very noteworthy as of late. She's still sleeping a lot during the day, still eating (or rather drinking), still pooping and pretty fussy at night - especially when we're trying to get Yoni to go to bed or on long car trips.

But she has started cooing and gurgling and making all kinds of especially cute faces and noises. There are some definite recognition smiles in there - I don't care if they call it gas.

And tomorrow I hope to take her to "visit" the nest at the daycare at the JCC and hope to help make that transition as smooth as possible. I'm sure she'll be fine, eventually, but it's more for me to get used to the idea that she won't be with me all the time. Remember, she's been with me constantly during the pregnancy (since last February) and I have left her for only breif spells with the relatives - and even then I was generally nearby or at least within phone call and a 15 minute ride to get to her.

And I need to find out exactly what she needs to have at the school - how many changes of clothes, bibs (ridiculous) and passifiers (she still chokes on them whenever I try to get her to take them) How many bottles, how much food they expect and a backup plan when I can't get her enough boob juice.
These people do this for a living - I expect them them to know more about it than me since I was lucky enough to be with Jonathan for the entire first year of his life (and then some).

On a slightly different note,
I never thought then name Yael would be so hard for all these Texans to pronounce or comprehend. I remember there being at least one Yael in public school when I was growing up and it never seemed hard to pronounce. But the people at work mangle her name. I get strange looks and then Yale or Yell or some variation thereon. Netanella I can understand - I made it up and it's pretty random - although for some reason I seem to recall a Spanish language soap star who either is named that or it is her character's name or it is something really similar.3

So there you are - an entire post about Yael - her posting label count is growing