He doesn't stand a chance

With three part time princesses as big sisters, the poor kid as doomed
to a life time humiliation in the form of dress-up.

JoJo and Goliath

Today when Sydney came home from school she drew this picture of JoJo the clown (see the big clown nose in the center) and her lion Goliath ( upper left corner, lots of hair ). It is a beautiful picture. I love this picture. I love this picture so much I asked her if she could draw a picture of our family. Do you know what she said?
"I drawed it already"
"Sydney could you draw me another one? please!"
"I already did, I am not gonna do another one... I'm not going to tell you five times already!" She threw her hands up in disgust, turned on her stubborn little heals, and stomped away! The sad part is that I never did get my family portrait!

Rx

How can you look at that face and not feel better instantly?

Akiva

When my brother Eric was here at the end of December we went to one of our favorite spots to look for animals. These are the most recent "good" pictures I have of him. I almost had a panic attack, I must have taken other pictures of him. Am I falling down on the job? I must get back to my old ways!

He is very talkative, always trying to get our attention. Today he actually said "Hi" and I have witnesses to prove it! He repeats it after I say it to him. The girls were very excited to show Matt Akiva's new "trick" during dinner.
It is the eyes they melt my heart every time!

Look at those teeth! He has four really sharp teeth! I think I might have liked him to remain toothless until I was done nursing him! He might be done sooner than we originally planned. Matt tells me that I am not allowed to file his teeth down.

I found it!

I found my camera today. You will never guess where it was. In the medicine chest! Who could have put it there? Matt? One of the kids? I doubt it was me, who knows!
Look what I found on it.
It was taken on our one day excursion to Orlando. The woman who took it told us it could be our Christmas card next year, what do you think? Card worthy? The next day I took the kids to the park by myself. I had intended to take a ton of pictures but only took a handful.
We stopped to take a picture with JoJo and the lion "Goliath", the only proof I have that the five of us where there solo.
Akiva was mesmerized by the parade.
So was Jordan.
And then she passed out.
I actually fit all four of them in the jogging stroller. We were a sight to be seen!

Every day

It happens everyday at nap time. Jordan cries and tells me she wants her daddy. For some reason she thinks he will swoop in and save her from the evil nap monster. Look at that face.

Now imagine it saying "I want my Daddy!!"


"WAAAAAHHHH, I don't wanna take a nap!!"


"Jordan I know you do not want to take a nap but Daddy will be home soon, remember the faster you go to sleep the better because Daddy will be home after nap time... OK?"

What an actress!

It's Minnie!

Sydney drew a picture of Minnie with sidewalk chalk. Can you see her?
She is quite the artist!

Decisions

Decisions, decisions, decisions. I actually made a few. We decided not to send the girls back to their school next year. There were several factors which impacted this decision, the first being the cost of the tuition for three children is just more than we can afford. The second and perhaps equally important is time. One of the requirements for the pre-school program is that it runs until three every day. That is six hours of school five days a week for four year old children. I think that is way too much time for little kids, who are not in a daycare situation, to be in school. I also know that this is the last time in their lives where we will not be tied to school, it is our last year of "freedom" and I plan on taking full advantage of it. They will still be attending a school, I'm just not sure which one. I plan on enrolling everyone in a bunch of different programs through the city like dance, tumbling and they even have classroom experiences for the kids at a tenth of the price. While the situation is not ideal we will make it work and if our financial situation changes dramatically, I will revisit this decision yet again.
Another decision that we made as a result of this change in school is the kosher decision. We have been trying to keep kosher since Danny moved here so his kids could eat whatever they wanted whenever they wanted. We have not been doing a great job but today we made a decision and we are sticking to it. We are going to switch the kitchen over and keep it kosher, especially because the kids will not be attending a Jewish school next year. Now more than ever it is important that they identify more with their religion.
We have many more decisions to make, I'll keep you posted.

Looking for pictures?

If you are looking for pictures, join the club because I can not find my camera. To add insult to injury my husband took ALL but thirty pictures off of my computer and refuses my daily requests for pictures. He is even keeping the pictures of our trip to Disney World from me. Either he has to help me find the camera or bring home pictures. HINT HINT

Nine months

I looked at pictures as I was sitting in the car today after Akiva and Jordan fell asleep on the way home from the playground. It dawned on me that Akiva is a little more than nine months old and he has changed so much, Jordan has changed, and Lior and Sydney have changed. They are all growing up so fast I can not believe it! I feel like every time I blink they are doing something new, saying something new or trying something new.
It is of course most evident with Akiva who has obviously changed the most in the past nine months. Right now he is pulling himself up to standing and starting to walk holding on to the couch. Matt has tried to get him to walk with the same toy he taught Sydney to walk with. He took a few steps which I actually caught on video! He wants to eat what ever we are eating and knows when he is getting something different and tells you about it. He enjoys feeding himself but in the last week he realized that it is far more efficient to be fed and demands spoonfuls of food while he picks up handfuls and shoves them in his mouth. Today he started saying "mmm" after I gave him guacamole, he loves to eat!
I think he might like his sisters as much as like eating. They really like helping him, not that he needs it. Sydney and Lior have been trying to pick him up, unfortunately this maneuver usually involves a hand or an arm around his neck. The other day Lior called into me and said;
"Mom, Akiva fell off the couch!" I panicked because I never ever leave him on the couch, am I that spacey that I left him on the couch?
"Lior how did he get on the couch?"
"Syd and I put him there!" and then Sydney pipes up and says;
"He liked it 'til Jordan kicked him off!"
"Jordan did you kick him off the couch??!!"
"Yeah"
"WHY?"
"Cause I wanted to." She said with a smirk. I of course reminded them to leave their brother on the ground and never ever put him on the couch but I also stopped leaving him on the floor where my helpers could help themselves to him.
Most of the time they are great with him. Jordan brings him toys and kisses him constantly. She sits nicely with him and shows him pictures in books and loves to feed him. Sydney is great with him most of the time as well. She sat next to him in the shopping cart today and fed him a snack. She knows what toys he likes and are safe for him and only lets him play with those. Lior plays with him the most right now. We have a table that he can stand at that plays music and has flashing lights and he loves to play with it. Lior knows he likes it and when he is upset she will carry the table over so he can play with it and then stands there next to him and plays with him. She also is the most physical with him, if he is not crawling fast enough to keep up with her or if he can not get around something she will attempt to pick him up. He is loved!
Akiva has a great disposition, for the most part he goes with the flow. We have had a hard time with naps lately but I think we rectified that problem by dropping his crib all the way down. He can no longer stand in his crib with is head on the rail and scream for two solid hours. It probably also helps that he has a bad cold. He does not have the energy to scream! In a perfect world I would be able to let him take two naps a day on a schedule but since we are always on the go I force him to take a nap when he can.
Even though he does not get enough sleep he has a great sense of humor and is always smiling. He is one happy baby. He is also a huge flirt, his bright blue eyes just suck the ladies in and when he starts clapping it's just over and they fall at his feet. In the last few weeks he has started to blow me kisses when I continuously pucker at him. I just can not keep my hands off that cute little kid, especially after he says "ma ma ma!" or "da da da!"

We need a bigger tub

He thinks actually sitting in the tub is a lot more fun than standing
outside, just as wet but more fun.

Let me at 'um

My new way of torturing Akiva, let him stand outside the tube while
the girls are in the tub. Funny he gets just as wet standing outside
the tub as he does in the tub. Maybe there is a problem with our
plumbing!

A boy and his dog

Nap time partners. So cute and cuddly!

It is killing me

All the decisions I have to make are killing me. Not the little decisions like what's for dinner? or what to wear for the day but the other ones that are lurking everyday. The biggest one is really the school decision. What are we going to do? I know what we have to do, I know what we should do, I just do not want to do it. I would love for the kids to continue at their current school and the school has really been working with me trying to make it work. I just do not see how we can do it and it makes me sad. I think it is the lack of Jewish education that makes me sad. I know that when it comes time for kindergarten Sydney and Lior will be ready, of that I have no doubt. I do not worry about Jordan academically at this point either and well the jury is still out on Akiva but I think he is perfect in every way. My current plan for them (barring winning the power ball) does not include all the wonderful Jewish experiences they were exposed to this year. That is what I will miss. That is what has been burning a hole in my heart and in my stomach. That is what has made this decision so hard. That is what keeps me up at night. That is what keeps me from making that decision.
I have other decisions to make like how to save some of the money that goes flying out of the house. We try not to spend much money but every month it gets harder and harder. So Matt and I decided to cut the cleaning lady down to twice a month and we are probably going to have to get rid of the lawn service. It was good while it lasted but you can not get blood from a stone!
Now I have to get my rear in gear and get back to work, at least for a few hours a week. My plan is to do some work while Sydney and Lior are at school. Jordan is old enough to watch Akiva now so everything should just be fine, I'll just make sure to throw some food on the floor and fill up some sippy cups and make sure to turn off the stove. Cyrus and Kaya will make sure they are OK. Thank goodness I have a backup plan that will not cost me any money initially! Thanks to my mom and Matt who are going to cover me while I try to make a few bucks. Now only if the mortgage company would take princess dollars....

Cyrus

Cyrus got fixed today. He did not know he was broken but we fixed him. He is just miserable and will be miserable for at least fourteen days. I feel so bad for my boy. The kids keep reminding me to be gentle but I need no reminders. I just have to take one look at his loopy little face and I want to lay him down and cuddle him. Let's hope he enjoys his week of sedatives and pain killers, he deserves them.

Who is the meanest mother in all the land?

That would be me! The girls decided that only a "mean mommy" would take their little girls (and boy) to Disney World. I figure that since I brought four kids I must be REALLY REALLY mean. We had a great time today and the kids were better than good. I can not wait to do it again! Matt should have conventions more often.

What I'm worried about

For the most part I am not at all concerned about taking the girls to the park tomorrow because I know that they will listen. I worry about the little things, taking them all to the bathroom at the same time, every time they have to go. I worry about meal times, getting the food while controlling four little ones. I worry about having to take them all to the bathroom in the middle of a meal, what do I do with all the food on the table? Should I take it or leave it? Mostly I worry about nap time or my lack of nap time, I think I am going to need it tomorrow.

My little consumer

Too bad she could not find anything with Minnie Mouse on it.

What the...

It took us a while to warm up to these mirrors!

She's nuts

You decide. We are now in the car on our way to Orlando. Matt is going to a convention tomorrow and I am taking ALL the kids back to Disney by myself. Is she nuts or the nicest mother in the world? I like to think I am the perfect combination of both.

Driving

Another fun day at the park where the kids are more interested in
eating than playing.

Empathy

Tonight during dinner Jordan stood up and started dancing. She would
not sit down. "I dancin' now". So Matt started to count "Jordan sit
down or you will not have a brownie, one. Jordan, two. Jordan sit
down or there will be no brownie. OK Jordan? THREE, no brownie!". So
she sat down and we warned her there would be no brownie.
It was finally time for dessert and when we handed out the brownies
Jordan had a melt down. "I want a brownie!!!!". "Sorry Jordan we
warned you, maybe tomorrow". That's when it happened and the real
tears started. I look at Lior who is holding her brownie and quietly
crying. "Lior what is wrong?". "I want Jordan to have a brownie" and
she just bursts out crying and then Sydney looks at me and says "Can I
give Jordan my brownie?". That's when the real tears started. Poor
Jordan. Poor Lior. Poor Sydney. Poor Debbie who also had tears
streaming down her face. Not because Jordan did not get a brownie but
because her sisters wanted her to have one.
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