Fast Times

Tomorrow is Yom Kippur. The day to repent for your sins.

To do so you must not eat, shower or make yourself up - its all about realizing what you've done in the past year and how it might have affected others.

I haven't fasted in two years. Last year I was pregnant and the year before I was breastfeeding. Fasting is never easy but with a two year hiatus it is looking a bit daunting.

Especially because I am not quite sure how I will spend the day chasing after Hannah with nothing in my stomach. By 4pm on fast days you are typically worn out so I can only imagine what it feels like after you have emulated a 5K run running after an 18 month old.

Moms how do you handle fasting? Any tips for a novice?

Everyone Loves a Deal

Newsflash: Pampers diapers are on sale at Walmart for $17.97 a box. Wow!

With a limit of 4 per customer, it's time to stock up.

If you can get your hands on any that is...

Winner Announcement!

I am pleased to announce the winner of the necklace and jewelry by the New Maison Eros Greatti and M.

Drum roll please...

The winner is dayna_erin!

Congratulations!

Please contact me by email and I will arrange to get your prize to you.

Smarty Pants

Since starting school less than 3 weeks ago, Hannah has become a genius.

Ok, so maybe she was a smart girl to begin with or maybe hitting the 18 month mark has made her mature, but the differences we have seen in her since the end of August are amazing.

She has added tons of new words to her vocabulary. She can identify almost every part of her body. She can name the sounds various animals make. So cute!

But for me, the most exciting part of watching her become a braniac has been seeing the associations she makes. A few examples:

• When she hears Winston's collar clinging in the morning she immediately goes to the front door and says "walk"
• Today, she got into her semi squatting bathroom pose and proceeded to say "peepee", "potty". Now I know she knows the difference between a number one and two but potty is definitely not a subject that has been covered in our curriculum at home (yet).
• And finally my favourite. The other day her dad showed her this video of a dog doing the merengue. Today I asked her if she wanted to watch a video thinking she would opt for a vacation recap on the ipad. But she immediately went into the office and said "doggie". I said "doggie dancing?" and she started wiggling in her usual dance moves.

So cute...and so smart! I can't wait to see (and hear) what she comes up with next!

All Dressed Up

Thursday and Friday marked the Jewish New Year. And with plenty of parties and days at synagogue, Hannah's closet was brimming with dresses.

As most of you know, I love a good deal. So here's a look at her fashion steals that had the crowds ooh-ing and aww-ing.

This toile number was a birthday gift from one of my friends. The perfect little girl party dress, paired with her patent leather loafers from Target (a steal at $2.99!)

Posing with Winston in polka dots. This dress was bought last winter at Carter's. It was part of the Christmas collection, so I snapped it up after the season for $7.99. Sparkly party shoes from Marshalls were also a great buy at $12.99.
And finally, the dress I have been waiting to put her in for months. I bought this at H&M in NYC (along with the floral tights) hoping she would wear it for her first birthday. But it was too big so we broke it out for the holidays.

Mama was a Rolling Stone

I promised a giveaway in my last post so here goes...

Up for grabs, thanks to The New Maison Eros Greatti & M is a beautiful double strand necklace and drop earrings.

The necklace is a one-of-a-kind piece made with serpentine, salmon quartz, pearls, sterling silver and moonstone. It retails for $400 cdn.

The earrings are made of salmon quartz.

So, how can you be the winner of this rockin' jewelry?

All current followers will be entered to win but if you are one of those lurkers who hasn't made the commitment to me yet, now is your chance. Follow my blog and you will be automatically entered to win.

Enter by Tuesday September 14th!

Shame on Me

One week.

That's how long its been since my last blog post (I have the Google Analytics to prove it).

And what a week it was.

My last post was about Hannah's first day at daycare. Well, we got through the week and enjoyed an extra long (5th anniversary) weekend to recover. By Friday, Hannah was eating, napping and having almost cry-free days. And I had scouted out my new route to work and was making it in record time. All this to say we started getting into a routine, as easy as that can possibly be.

But a three day weekend and major sleep ins can change that oh so quickly. After a weekend of a runny nose (and lots of chicken soup through a straw), I figured it best to let Hannah sleep in this morning so she'd be in tip top form for her first day back. And sleep in she did. Until 8:30.

I dropped her off at 9:15, and as expected, upon pickup was told that she didn't nap. In fact, she woke all of the other kids up by talking to herself. So much for sleep-ins being a good idea.

So, it felt like day one again with a cranky little girl come super time and an insatiable appetite. Today was our one and only day of daycare this week with the Jewish holidays looming. So it will be back to square one again next Monday. With all of the pending holidays, its a bit of a roller coaster for these kids. They won't have a structured week until October.

But we will persevere, and make it through.

So to all my readers, I apologize for the lapse in posts. I will try my hardest not to do it again. And just to show you how badly I feel, my next post will have a super (expensive) giveaway!

And to all my Jewish readers, Happy New Year!