My expanding family

I found out today I am have a 3rd boy. I am happy believe it or not but what I can’t help but think is why do people as soon as I tell them sound like they are feeling sorry for me? What is wrong with having 3 boys? I love my kids, I always wanted 3 so what’s the difference boys or girls they are still mine and I love them regardless.

A child is the most special gift that I could ever ask for and I always wanted 3 so it really does not matter to me if they are all boys or girls. I am doing so many boy activities right now with my other two kids that having another boy makes it a lot easier knowing that I will not have to change a lot. That eventually they will be playing sports together, going to school together, standing up for each other and being there for each other the rest of their lives.

I also kind of feel good knowing I am the only girl in the house surrounded by all these handsome men. If I need help with something I can always rely on one of them, well depending on what they can handle at this age but eventually they will grow up and my only hope for them is that they become good, honest, smart, educated people are able to live their lives to the fullest. I do feel afraid sometimes when I hear people say that when boys leave the house they forget their parents. I guess my husband and I will just have to work and hope that our kids will always remember us. My husband calls his parents everyday and is always there for them if they need. I don’t expect anything different from my sons.

Wolfs Pond Park

I love summer. I can spend so much time with my family doing things outdoors. When the weather is good there is always plenty to do and it only requires minimal planning. I remember as a child when my parents would get together with friends or even just us and a few other family members and we would drive out to some picnic area and barbecue there all day long. It was one of the best parts of summer. I loved to eat and stay outside all day long and not having a worry in the world.

I have two little boys of my own now and I want them to enjoy summer as much as I did when I was a child. I want them to play at the play grounds till their hearts content. I want them to enjoy barbecue,hot dogs , ice cream and what ever else they want and keep memories of us spending time together as a family or with our closest friends. Today we did just that. Living on Staten Island has its privileges. We have huge park with great picnic areas and play grounds. Today we got to together with our friends at one of the picnic areas knows as Wolfs Pond Park.

The kids were running around, playing , riding their bikes and just seeing how happy they were made it worth spending the day at the park. My only regret is that I didn’t that my youngest son with us. I was not sure how he would handle being out all day since he is still a small boy. I worry that he will not nap and become cranky and then I will have to take him and go home. I think I will try it next time when go just to see if he can handle it. I think its a wonderful experience for all of us and on a nice day very healthy thing to do with kids. They get to spend the day outside breathing fresh air.

 http://maps.google.com/maps?rls=com.microsoft:en-us&oe=UTF-8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=wolfs+pond+park&near=Carteret,+NJ&fb=1&split=1&gl=us&view=text&latlng=7914257122603284849

How to keep kids safe

This is a constant question on my mind. How do I keep my children safe and also give them the freedom to grow and enjoy the world that is surrounding them? Everyday there is something on the news or online that I read about a certain situation happening to a child and it scares me to the point that I can just give up and say that's it I am keeping them at home until they become fully grown adults. I know this is not a realistic thought but as a mom I want to do everything in my power to protect from harm.

Today I read about what happened to Mike Tyson’s four year old daughter and my jaw dropped. A child dying such a senseless death at such a young age. The scary part is that it can happen to anyone in a blink of an eye. I really walk around my house almost daily looking for things I can move out of the way, I know when my boys are running around the house they don’t stop to think whether or not something is safe to touch. I can just go on and on all day long don’t touch that , don’t do this , that is hot get away from it and so on. I also know that I am not perfect and can sometimes miss something very important.

That is why today I decided to post a few tips on my blog regarding child safety. I know we as parents do everything in our power to help our children be safe. I hope that I can raise awareness just a little more so that our children can grow up  happy and healthy and accomplish all their goals in life.

http://pediatrics.about.com/od/safety/Child_Safety.htm

http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/PageServlet?LanguageCountry=en_US&PageId=2814

http://pollyklaasaction.org/campaign/Keep_Safe_New?gclid=COGJwK-g25oCFQSPFQodfmei2w

http://www.childsafetytips.net/

Great Israeli Restaurant

I have to tell you about the Restaurant my husband and I went to last Saturday night. Finally we were able to live the kids with grandparents and and venture out into the city for some quiet time and a nice dinner. When we get a chance to go out we usually go for dinner to a nice sushi place or an Italian restaurant. We are so used to this type of food that we don't ever think of trying something new. It is also very hard to find a good place unless someone recommends it and even then that's not a guarantee that I or my better half will enjoy it.

This time around it was different. I felt a little adventurous in terms of going out and wanted to try a new cuisine. After searching the net and going through places that are Zagat rated I came across a place on upper east side Manhattan. The name of the place is Rectangles. It is an Israeli Yemenite restaurant. Let me tell you amazing is not the word for it. We were totally in love with the place. The decor is middle eastern, very relaxing, music playing in the back ground sometimes in Arabic and other times in Hebrew. The staff is very attentive and helpful. The food was spectacular. My husband had a lamb shank that he said was the softest meat he ever had it was melting in his mouth. I had chicken liver with rice and salad and loved every bite it. There are other dishes to try there for starters we had Kibbeh it was like a fried ball stuffed with minced meat. After we were done with dinner we took a stroll around Manhattan and then came back to the same place for some coffee and cake. The variety of choices is pretty good and will for sure satisfy anyone in the mood to try something good.

I would for sure recommend this place to all my friends and to all my readers. If you ever have a chance to be in the city and want to try something different and amazing do go to Rectangles. I am sure those of you who appreciate good food know what I mean.

http://www.rectanglesrestaurant.com/

maternity clothes

Lately I am going through my closet and getting extremely frustrated. Nothing fits me and it really drives me crazy. I hate the look of maternity clothes. I went to a few maternity shops even the very expensive ones like Mimi or Pea in the Pod and still when I try something on it just makes want to go puke. It just feels like who ever designs that stuff has no idea what they are doing and they for sure are not aiming to please anyone. It just makes me want to scream.

I guess you can see today I am ranting. Maybe its the pregnancy hormones playing a role but I really see that I get irritated with certain issues and now it just happens to be maternity clothes.  Just today I went shopping cause i could not stand looking at my self anymore. I tried on numerous tops at Motherhood maternity shop and one was more hideous then the other. The colors were all solid and the style looked like it made me three hundred times bigger then I actually am. Maybe I am crazy but it literary drove me to tears.

Then I got an idea to go to Macys and maybe get some things that are not maternity but just regular clothes in bigger sizes. I was on a mission and it was not very successful. I am not even going to go into prices cause we all know if you want something good it cost more. I just refuse to pay so much now for something I will wear maybe 3 months before I grow even bigger and will need something else. Even better I wont wear it again after I give birth so there is no need to spend hundreds of dollars on it but I do expect to spend some money to better my look. Anyways to make this story short I came out of Macys with a cute summer dress in  bigger size to fit my growing belly and that was it. I tried on a few tops but they were not meant to get stretched out ,so when they went over my belly it just did not look right. I will continue searching for some more stuff in the coming days and hopefully I can get through the next six months with minimal stress.

Gifted and Talented Exam NYC

So the first part of this process is over. My son passed the gifted and talented exam given to all New York City students in order to get into the gifted program at the city public schools. I can honestly say I am a very proud mom. It was really hard work to try and prepare him for this exam. I purchased a seven folder system online that was seven different categories that the test covers. I made copies of all these folders and had him study every single day by repeating these folders over and over again. It is not really possible to actually study for this exam as you don't know what type of questions will dominate but it is possible to practice similar type of questions so that the child gets used to the process of actually sitting down and getting the work done. That the child gets used to seeing questions and answers as they appear on the test and its not total shock for them when they are taking the test and they have no idea what is going on.

My son practiced these folders over and over again until about a week prior to the test. At that time I let him take it easy, it is not good to make a 5 year old child stress out over something like this. He took the test in January and we just received the results last week. He received 94 %. We had to wait four months for the results of the test and now after we picked out the schools we have to wait another month for them to actually tell us which school he will go to. I really hope they will have a spot for him.

Sambucus

This winter I tried a new product on my kids. I am not big on experimenting but this was suggested by our pediatrician and its a natural product so I thought to give it a chance. In the years prior to this my kids would get sick a lot during the winter and the only way I would treat them was with antibiotics. We all know well when we take a lot of antibiotics eventually they will stop working and we have to move on to some other stronger antibiotic. I always wanted to try some homeopathic stuff but as I entered the whole foods store and saw so many products on the shelf it scared me cause I was not sure what I should take, especially when it came to my kids.

When my son got sick this past winter the doctor recommended I try a product called sambucus. It is a natural liquid product made up from Echinacea, Propolis and Elderberry. It is sweet to the taste. It is an immune system booster that you take a certain dose for six weeks and then have the kids stop for about a month or two and go back to it after that. It can be started as early in the fall as September. I had both of kids on it 5 and 2 at that time. I can honestly tell you I saw major differences in they way they felt. They seemed to me a lot stronger and willing to do things instead of just moping around and feeling weak. They ate better. The most important thing that I got from it is that they didn't get sick. If they had a little runny nose it seemed to go away a lot easier and not turn into something a lot worse.

I can swear by this product and would recommend it to all my friends. It really helped my kids get through the fall/winter months. I will for sure have them back on it come September. I am tired of all the antibiotics and would only give them from now on as a last resort. This Sambucus really seemed like miracle stuff and they also have it for adults. I am really happy with the doctor for recommending this to me and I will let you know how we do on it this coming winter. I really hope the miracle can continue.