Babyccino!

We've landed! Calling all babymamas of the greater Los Angeles area: join us on Mondays for a morning of baby-style rock 'n roll, super sensory explorations, and physical interactive activities and play. Meet and chat with other modern mamas, share a parenting tip or two over a steamy cappuccino, and relish in watching your little tykes explore and discover the world around them.

Come and check out what's about to go down at our free/trial session this Monday, November 21 at Shaarei Tefila - 7269 Beverly blvd! Come for the kids; stay for the fun!!

Feel free to contact me with questions or for more information: babyccino@shaareitefila.org

Making It Home

I'm plugging this out at 6:47 am. Manasseh agreed to take on Freida-duty this morning so I can finally get a much-needed sleep-in day... with the time change yesterday morning and all, we've really been burning the midnight oil all week long. Problem is, I can't even sleep! Being in a new space is so disconcerting for me, and while we've been setting up our home since we moved in on Tuesday, the novel feeling still lingers. We've been able to nest-in most of our furniture and belongings (and I do admit once our coffee machine was plugged in and time-set, I felt much, much better), but there's still the unconsciousness of "home" missing in the way I wake up feeling each day. I guess it will take some time... I hope to take more photos soon so you can get an idea of what I'm talking about - it's the coolness of a new space. This duplex is much larger than our previous home, and while we setup our living room, there is still a good half of it unedited and empty. Plus, the plastered art-deco style of this unit lends itself to a cave-ish feel due to the intensity of a curved high ceiling. Also, the fact that we decided not to rush on paint options to get the job done before move-in-day means that we are living in solid white confinement - cold beans, I tell you. I find myself hanging out in Frieda's room more than any other spot in the house - it seems to be the warmest. :)

Freida on the other hand, has adjusted to her new digs just beautifully! She's ecstatic to be living in "ellay" and tells everyone she meets about her new move (the checkout guy at our new Trader Joe's got an earful! Including how here they give "much more stickers than my old Trader Joe's!"). She's just loving all the new neighbors, the backyard, and mostly the close proximity to all her favorite spots. I knew the move was going to be a huge transition-mode for her, and I decided to throw in any other transitional steps that needed to be taken along the way: the removal of ALL diapers and pull-ups (including nighttime and poop time), a new round of "ferberization" after a hectic off-schedule holiday season, and the removal of bedtime bars! Freida is now crib free! At some point over the holidays, she started climbing out of her crib. It was just awful and impossible to keep her on a sleeping schedule with her being much too cheeky to stay inside her room once she knew she had options! Right when we moved into our new home and unpacked her room, I set her crib mattress on the floor and created a nice and cozy little sleep-space for her. We had one night of slight crying, but she's been sleeping in it all night long ever since, and she just loves it (obviously, we are now on the lookout for an awesome and modern toddler bed)!

Having a yard has been simply insane!! Letting Freida run free in the early morning, get some golden sunshine on her sweet little face and breathe in cool fresh morning air while I whip up breakfast or tidy up around the house has been heavenly! Naturally, I have heaps of plans for outdoor decor rushing through my mind at mach speed, but I know I gotta take things day by day... There is plenty to be done first around the house; including serious landlord issues (clogged drains, painted shut windows, broken glass sconces, etc.), picking and painting, getting some form of temporary window treatments (until we figure out what we want to do with all the natural light), going through the last of our bagged and boxed items (that have somehow made themselves at home in the closets!) etc. And so the outdoors will have to stay on the back-burner for now... at least it's downright enjoyable right off the bat!

What's got me the most excited throughout this little journey has been the insanely warm welcome we received from this community! Ever since we moved on in, I've been getting text messages and offers to help unpack, to take Freida out for the day, to pick things that I needed etc. It's been unreal! I had home-cooked dinners delivered right to my door (which is so unimaginably helpful when you've been unpacking all day and haven't even kashered your oven and countertops yet!), goodies like warm chocolate chip cookies, cold drinks, and other delicious confections dropped off all week long, and on Friday I was literally unable to get much work done because the door bell was ringing off the hook!! Fresh warm challahs, homemade hummus, cookies, pies, desserts etc. It was so overwhelmingly kind and it made me feel so grateful to be joining such a wonderful and giving community! The last drop off before I ushered in our first Shabbos here was a gift basket from the Shaarei Tefilah Congregation and it was unbelievable! They had put together a beautifully wrapped up package with all sorts of housewarming gifts, including a  a bound booklet of all the information a new community member would need: local kosher markets, mikvahs, shuls, emergency numbers, cleaners, late-night ice cream joints etc. etc. It was such a lovely gesture, and I think it was such a wonderful way to welcome new community members to the neighborhood - other communities should be taking notes!! :)

Thank you everyone for the warm, warm welcome! We can't wait to join in here and start making a difference!

Pickles + Ice Cream

It is with huge excitement that I announce to my very dear cyber-world circle of fellow mamas that Manasseh and I are, God willing, expecting our second child! I'm a little over five months along, and it has been almost impossible to keep this quiet - especially at the beginning when I was feeling exhausted and nauseous and having a hard time keeping up (that also had a lot to do with why I had such a hard time when my husband was MIA this summer). Anyways, being this far in, I seem to be over the difficult start-up and immensely enjoying the great satisfaction that comes along with growing a human being - I'm completely over the moon! While my little kick-boxer is now only about the size of a cantaloupe, the jabs and upper-cuts keep me awake at night smiling myself silly. Plus, there is just nothing as special as waking up to a toddler kissing your growing belly and sharing loving wishes to their growing baby sibling...! We just can't wait to welcome our newest little family member into our home with heaps of hugs, kisses, and baby massages! :)

Thanks for putting up with my insane lack of posts this summer, and sticking with me through it! Since I'm obsessively experiencing serious baby-fever, you can all look forward to plenty of pregnancy posts and newborn baby goodies! Can't wait to share the love! xx

P.S. I have honestly been consuming pints of creamy vanilla ice cream and fresh, crunchy Clausen kosher dills. And that's just the start of foodie weirdness going on in this house....!

Reign in the Rain

For those of you back east slipping quickly into sweater season, here's some sweet finds to embrace the impending rain: One. Two. Three.

Daddy's Back

Well folks, he's back. And, in turn, so am I. :)

To all you dear faithful readers who are still hitting up my lonely, lonely blog - deepest apologies for the recent absence!! As you all (being avid readers) must know, my husband was far, far away on a business trip for a little over a month, and while I thought I'd miss him heaps, I hadn't realized just how much of a toll it would take on me. I don't mean to be melodramatic - it wasn't the work. I figured that having a husband who works as much as mine does, the workload wouldn't be that different than my usual days. Well, I was right about that. But the emotional toll was so surprisingly draining! I generally consider myself a relatively secure and self-confident person, but this whole trip brought on such a form of insecurity inside of me (even while being in my parent's home, surrounded by my siblings etc.)... it really threw me off. Towards the end of week 3 I started feeling a bit more like myself and a lot more independent, and now that I know I got to a better place, I can imagine the next time not being as daunting. Or as shocking. But, for now, I'm so happy to have my man back!!

And as you can see; Freida is thrilled!

While I dealt with my own form of separation anxiety, Freida was experiencing a variety of her own. She went through a brief (but awful!) stage of not letting me leave her alone. It was the first time in her little life that she slept in my bed without being sick. She would scream (and I mean scream!) if I left her alone in her crib or even alone in the room without settling her to sleep first. That was difficult as well. Hard to see your little one dealing with such young anxiety. But it was a learning experience for the both of us, and with some time, (thankfully!) things passed.

Also, some world events (some more horrifying than others) helped contribute to my anxiety as well. Unfortunately there was way too many awfully shocking and terrifying things to read about and hear about these past few weeks... too much evil on earth to feel stable and secure. I learned to use a lot of distraction; books (in middle of The Book Thief - pick up a copy, it's an insanely gorgeous and uniquely inspired novel!) and Netflix (I'm on a Mad Men marathon :) ) have really kept me sane. Especially when it came to falling asleep at night. My bed felt much too empty... So grateful to have a great love in my life!

The Mr. came to join us in the Village of Skokie for a little over a week, and is now in LA (meetings!) waiting for our Thursday evening arrival, at which point we will be graced with his presence for another 3 weeks before he jets back out to the United Arab Emirates. The week here was so tantalizingly enjoyable. I find it amazing how as humans we continuously learn lessons of appreciating the small things...!

And of course, to Freida's delight, he didn't fail to remind her that there is no one quite like her crazy-fun Daddy!

So glad to have you back love!! Looking forward to another 3 memorable summer weeks with you!!

P.S. With my return home will come my return to plenty of inspired-posting (including some last-call summer activities, gadgets, and best of back-to-school gear). Promise. :)

Thanks for holding out with me!! Can't wait to get back into sharing good ol' goodies!!!!