Tis the Season to be....STRESSED!

Ugh. Where to begin? Where to begin?

Last Monday Howie was in a car accident on his way to work. He was not at all hurt, just severely shaken up. Found out today that the car is officially "totalled". Last December when the lease on our BELOVED Honda Odyssey was up, we sadly "down-graded" to a Subaru Outback in effort to save money in gas. I have been quite miserable ever since. It looks like we are going to be getting another Odyssey this weekend, and Howie will likely take the Subaru, but that leaves us with two car payments for the next four years. :(

Yesterday, my sister had an emergency hysterectomy. She has been suffering from severe abdominal pain for the past few months, and it was recently discovered that she had a mass on her ovary. She had exploratory surgery scheduled for later this month. Her pain was so severe that she was back in the ER Saturday evening. The mass had grown from 6 inches to 11 inches in ONE WEEK!!! They decided to go in and do surgery yesterday afternoon. Unfortunately, they had to do a complete hysterectomy. We won't know for about a week if she has ovarian cancer. We are of course praying that she's fine.

My Aunt died from this horrific cancer six years ago. She was only 44. My sister is only 36. The good news is that the Dr. is "optimistic" (75%) that it's NOT cancer. She doesn't have any kids, and has always said that she didn't want any.

I find myself grieving more than her for the loss of her uterus. I'm sad that my Mom never gets to see either of her two daughters pregnant. She of course, doesn't care about that, as long as we are healthy.

Here's a THROWBACK pic!!!!

Teri and Gidget circa 1994

Santa as Explained by a Jewish Man

Oy Vey! Howie was just telling me about his conversation with Gabi.

Howie: Want to go Christmas shopping with me this weekend?

Gabi: No

Howie: Why not?

Gabi: I can't be with you when you buy me my Christmas presents.

Howie: We already bought you your presents.

Gabi: No you didn't those are all for Ellie. (She knows where our stash is- not what it is)

Howie: No they are for you. Santa dropped them off. He's coming back this week with the rest.

WHAT?? What the heck!?!?!?! So now Santa is like the UPS man, making frequent pre-Christmas deliveries?? Oy Vey!!!!! How am I going to explain this one??

Welcome 2008

Happy New Year to One and All! I am so hopeful for the many things to come this year.

If all goes as planned (God willing) this will be a full year for us.

- PRAYING for the arrival of our daughter in March.
-Howie celebrates a milestone bday in March as well.
-Nicki graduates from high school in June.
-Nicki leaves for college in Aug.
-Gabi starts Kindergarten in Sept.

I am so full of hope for our family, as well as for our loved ones.

May this be known as "The Year of the Baby" for all of us waiting!!!

Twins?

Gabi was having trouble falling asleep tonight, so Daddy went into bed with her. This is how I found them 2 hours later............

Husbands......Ya Gotta Love Em

OY! Guess what? The grill WORKS! My dearest husband wasn't used to this new fangled invention that they call a "safety feature". OY! He had just turned the grill on in the wrong order and thats why the flame wouldn't get any higher than it was. Did I say OY? OY OY OY

...at the Easter Parade...

We celebrated Easter one day early so that we could enjoy it with Nicki. Daddy and Gabi put on a wonderful Easter parade for our enjoyment! Like Gabi's pj's? If you look closely you will see that they are completely mis-matched- at her insistence. She definitely marches to the beat of a different drum and I wouldn't want it any other way!! :)