Fall in Florida

Fall in Florida. Well I have to say that it is not like Fall. The leaves don't change, the weather doesn't get colder, there are no jackets or change in dress. But ... it's glorious. It's going to be Thanksgiving this week and we're still wearing shorts. Halloween passed and we wore a sweater at night but no jackets/boots/scarves. I don't like to be cold and so we're in the optimal spot. I do get nostalgic for the cider mills of Michigan and the bite in the air on fall evenings.

Thanks for the pep-talk

GG/Grandma thanks for the pep-talk! Love you!

Why oh why

I don't mean to be negative, but I don't understand why every time I sit down to write the blog posting so that I don't get a nasty message from some long-time followers, it doesn't work. I'll try again soon.

Our trip West 2011

We are just getting back from a wonderful trip back home. We flew out to Los Angeles first to see family including my grandmother (GG LA) and cousins/aunts/uncles ... we had a terrific time and iit is always too short. We stayed with my grandmother and I don't think that any of us were hungry the entire time because it is was more like an eat-fest when we are back home. All had a great time and the weather was terrific. We flew to Las Vegas to see my parents and my other grandmother (GG). We had a terrifc time. It was Sukkot so we enjoyed a Sukkah Hop and more parks and walking. We loved the time together before we came home to be shoved right back into the grind of things. Some pictures...

More summer

The summer is flying by. The kids are getting bigger and more entertaining. We've been busy with enjoying life and the finer things. It's been nice and warm so most of the time we've been without camera and in the pool or the beach.

Manic mommy of the week

It has been a crazy week. I can't even figure out where the time goes. One day it is Friday and the week is ending and the next thing I know it is another Friday. Where does all that time go, right??? I'm doing a pretty lame job keeping up with the blog but things are crazy. I'm not going to bore everybody with the workings of my life but there is never enough time for everything that one has to do in a day. Just for a taste of things that are happening. Work is going great. I started exactly 6 months ago in the practice I'm in. I went from having one or two patients a day to now sometimes a dozen. More than half of the patients each day are NEW. This is fantastic but time consuming. I spend usually 1-1 hour 15 minutes with each patient and each of those notes is taking me at least 1 hour to complete. Part of it is that I am very wordy in my letters to other doctors and the other part is that I'm still trying to work with the EHR we're using in the offic.e Kids are doing well. Ginger is getting used to a walk around the block now 3 x a day (before it was once) and 1-3 of those times are with me... and of course, the kids want to come so it takes 10x as long. Sammy picks flowers and squishes bugs along the way and Ari wants to walk and then be carried and then walk and then carried... well, it repeats even more times than that. At the end of these walks I don't know who is walking who. I feel like a life chain link walking down the sidewalk. We're researching a lot of schools for Samantha to start in the fall. The school system leaves a lot to be desired and 90% of the people we know down here send their kids to private schools. I'm finding out why slowly. It is sure a learning experience. Ari started walking and really throwing himself into it. He has already sliced his lip open during one of his falls (no stitches fortunately) and bruised the corner of his eye on antoher fall. They are in school for about 9 hours a day and I miss them terribly. The weekends are packed. Never a dull moment. Justin is well but exhausted. He's been up late most days watching playoff games and being on call. Such is the life. Enjoy the videos. The quality is not great... they're taken from the Blackberry since I can't find the powercord to the video camera to charge it up.

Love the new dress!

Thank you GG for sending me and Ari some new clothes. We love them and are wearing them. I didn't take a picture of Ari in his "monkey business" shift today but it was SOOOOOO cute. He looked like a little muscle man. The kids and I give big hugs and kisses (yeah, Justin does too). We love that GG likes to look at the blog but can't see the pictures we send from our phone. We're just happy that it gives us more reasons to update the blog.

It's summer time, right?

We're having a blast. The weather is warm, we're done unpacking and the kids are ready for the beach. We had a great visit from a friend of mine and her little boy two weekends ago. We went to the beach for some fun in the sun. Our friends our a little more fair than we and it didn't take much to make their skin toasty, so we covered up pretty well. Ari is quite the little beach bum already at age one. Samantha just likes to look cool with her shades, cool sun hat and shades on. We had a great time.

I'm very excited to be going to visit my little nephew Avi this weekend. I will miss my little guys but want to have time to devote to the newest Olive! :)

Hope everybody had a terrific mother's day!

Passover in Detroit

We took our annual pilgrimage to Detroit for Passover. The weather report said that it was going to be in the 50s and a little breezy. Day one it hailed, day two it snowed and day three was just blustery cold. Boy was it good to get off the plane into Florida again and peel off the layers of clothes. We had a terrific time and a great Passover. We caught up with old friends at the hospital and in our neighborhood. We got to see our WV cousins and meet out newest cousin Ariella. Fun times! I can't get all the pictures up that I would like but a few are better than none.

Delinquent

Life is hectic. It always is. We're having a great time and really enjoying the kids, Florida, our new jobs and trying to get the most out of everything. I have a lot of blog posting to catch up with. I am in awe of our friends Rob and Catherine who seem to be doing extremely well keeping up with blog postings for all the milestones and most of the every-day happenings.

So since the last post, we've been pretty busy. We had a 2 week period of sick house and recovery but then made it so that were were able to enjoy Passover and out little trip away from Florida. In the meantime, we've been enjoying spending time with each other and going to the beach. A little bit about the kids: Samantha "Sammie" is my little angel. She's sweet and dear when she wants to be. She loves being a ham for the camera and taking care of her little brother. She tries my nerves sometimes and knows just what buttons to push and when. She has been testing a little too much, so I've instituted a lot of time out to show her that it is not okay. As for "good cop, bad cop" we have have our share. I think each of us is both at different times. Daddy is always good for the bad cop when it comes to getting dirty, but he lets the TV stay on a lot longer than Mommy and let's them do what they want so it gives him more time to do what he wants to do. Samantha loves art, music and being creative. She's very reserved and watches all that is going on in the world before she tries it herself. She is a little like me in that respect.

Ari is my little daredevil boy. He is spunky and a laugher. He LOVES HIS MOMMA! He hit the separation anxiety hard. It takes me 2-3x as long to drop him off at school as it does her these days. He wants me and only me. I feel bad for Justin at times but know that this will pass. He is a big kid. I love reading on her daily summary sheets that he got "xtra" of most things to eat during the day. He's watching the other kids and then going headfirst into everything. He cries for a minute and then is back to his ways. He loves watching his sister. He loves to "crack up" when she does something funny or tickles him. They have a terrific relationship--I hope that continues.

Ari turns ONE

So before I get ahead of myself promising the last 6 months worth of pictures to come out this week. Let's start with the very exciting milestone that Ari celebrated his first birthday on Saturday 2/26/2011. I can't believe it. He was just born and now my little boy is one. He has sure come a long way and already has lived in two states, two houses, been through three schools. Woah baby! He really is a trooper. I am in the process of making my albums and enjoying every minute of his learning and growing.
Things that make Ari, well Ari.
1. Ari loves it all. He's the happiest camper on the block. Whether he's the one getting attention or Samantha, Ari could not be happier. He loves watching his big sister, he loves watching his dog, he loves watching everything around him.
2. Ari has a mouth open approach to everything. Drool, drool and more drool.
3. Ari's favorite foods: everything! He is especially fond of popsicles, brocoli and (after his birthday) CAKE!
4. He has two teeth barely peeking out from his bottom jaw and one purple upper gum line on the right.
5. He is a crawling champ and so wants to get up and move. He started pulling himself up just this past week.
6. Words he says well: Mama, dada, dog. Words he knows but don't know how to say: fan, Samantha
7. Words he can sign: more, lights
8. Ari has an infectious laugh.
9. Ari loves his Mama! (that ones just for me...mom's take it hard when their baby turns one so give me a break).
10. Ari will have curley hair just like his sister. ;)

Better late than never

So most people that read this blog also know that we have had a lot going on since my last posts with me going back to work, the kids switching school a few times and family in town for birthdays. So I'm catching up on some videos that we've taken and putting some pictures up. Be patient, and I promise it will be worth it.