28 hour trip

less than 20 hours after i returned home from an all week work trip in boston we packed up the car and headed out for a really quick road trip to see friends we had not visited in over a year...and attend a birthday...soon to become birthday's...read on.

our first plan was to visit one of my college girlfriends but her poor older son came down with the stomach flu so we had to skip that plan. next up was an afternoon with cassidy and her sweet fam. the girls were so excited to see asher. he really had no clue what he was about to get into, but he never turned back once we arrived. he was all theirs the minute he arrived. they dragged him around the house and he followed like a little wagging tail. it was adorable. we caught them at one moment throughout the day teaching him how to sit in a circle indian style...getting him to repeat things after him. love love love it.

we arrived at their house just in time for a quick lunch and a big asher monster nap 2 1/2 hours and I had to wake him up.... because....

on our way into town i texted my girlfriend lindsey. i had never met her daughter baylor. it turned out that very same day was baylors birthday party, so she asked that we stop by later that day to see them as well as all my other college girlfriends and their kids who were going to be at the party. crazy that they had never met asher and i had never met their kids. these kids are well over 2!?!?!? ugh i hate that i am 3 hours away and somewhat disconnected. but such a treat.

asher was really confused. he didnt know anyone there. he kept asking for his friends. he thought one girl was this girl in his class. poor little guy. he still had fun making new friends and was digging the goody bags and cupcake.

we headed back to cassidy's after spending a quick hour visiting with my friends just in time for the kids to do more playing before dinner. after dinner philip and drew picked us up a really tasty dessert at goodberry's. chocolate oreo concrete. yes please. oh mi. it was heaven.

Cassidy's sweet girls...

i fell asleep while we watched hangover 2. what else is new.

the next morning we all enjoyed breakfast together, the kids did a lot of puzzles, posed for cute photos and then we got ready to head to our next destination...jacobs' birthday party.

we found out asher loves jelly toast...

jacobs party was spider man themed. EVERYTHING was spider man.

asher and jacob decided it was time to eat pizza before the guests arrived...so they enjoyed a private party, just the two of them. the toasted "l'chayim" with their forks.

even uncle israel (jacobs uncle) dressed up as spider man.

asher and jacob got in some pre party quality time as did courtney josh, philip and i. the boys were hysterical over this toy...i love that they finally play together instead of next to each other

then we ventured outside for more play time. 65 in Februrary. love it.

courtney is pregnant with #2 and we aredue only a few weeks apart. its a dream come true for us to be pregnant at the same time. we feel so blessed. again caught up with many more friends we rarely get to see. just a fun time with everyone. i miss these people's.

before we left they did cake and presents. asher stood right next to the cake with another friend caden watching every move. they wanted the spider man that was on top of the cake!

one of jacobs prsents was a super hero dress up set.. superman, batman and robin. the boys put on the costumes. PRECIOUS

we hit the road to head back to town by 1:30... and asher was asleep in less than 10 minutes. he rarely if ever sleeps in the car so we were thrilled he was exhausted by the weekend activities.

we finally made it back home by 4:30, just in time to get my coupons together and hit the grocery for the week...

and back to the grind we go.

im so thankful for my heating pad and my own bed.

zzzzzzzzzz....

Rabbi in the making...

this photo was in their weekly class collage. that is moira becca in the photo. she teaches judaica at school.

i fell in love with this photo and requested his teacher to email it to me.

the happiness in his face could make me cry. this boy loves school and loves judiasm!

my heart is so warmed by this love.

17 weeks

as i type this i am really 19 weeks
but im so behind on life and i am totally fine with that

so i look completely different than this photo below at a little over 17 weeks.

and we didnt even take an 18 week shot because ...well i dont know and i am fine with that too

we did a side by side comparison of photos and you can clearly tell i am popping out earlier this pregnancy. pretty typical fine by me. strangely i weight less. at my almost 18 week appointment i had gained 3 lbs. not bad for 18 weeks. i looked back to my post here: http://theschreibmansshare.blogspot.com/2008/12/soccer-player-or-dancer.html

and i had gained 4 lbs so i think i am doing great so far for not working out 5 day a week like i did pre-asher. le sigh. i still go to the gym about 3 days a week. im lucky if i get 30 minutes on the elliptical on my lunch hour. ill take what i can get. it makes me feel so much better in general.

look at that cute little pooch. clearly you cant really tell im pregnant.

now i just look like i gained too much weight in my midsection.

these first few weeks always look so silly and akward.

im sure next week i will be looking like a full fledged pregnant woman.

bring it on. pictures forth coming for sure. i embrace the belly

im loving this. i felt kicks as early as 16 1/2 weeks on our cruise. with one big karate chop. yikes

now i consistently feel them as if its little pops of air or gas in bubbling in my tummy.

love love love it.

We went on vacation!

in no particular order....our amazing Cruise Vacation to St. Thomas, Antigua, Tortola and the Bahamas....in celebration of my mom's upcoming 55th birthday in March.

qe left Friday to head to Ft. Lauderdale where we planned to stay overnight. qe arrived right on time and Asher was a gem on the plane. we took a nice walk down the street from the hotel to a little diner that was recommended to us. asher got to see a train going down the tracks just several fee in front of us. It was quite impressive!

we enjoyed an early bed time and hotel morning breakfast before we headed off in a cab to the ship. it wasn an overcast day, but it was warm! on the ship we went and Asher's big eyes got even bigger. he was in awe. asher even snagged a nice nap in his new bed on the ship before we got the party started. we participated in the routine muster station drills and he got his bracelet for the week. thankfully he tolerated it all week!

once the drill was complete we pulled away from the port and sailed out into the sea...

we also snagged a little chess action on the lido desk waiting for camp carnival orientation

Nana and Asher patiently waiting for dinner on the first night. we participated in the anytime dining program which was quite an experience. we thought it would be quick, easy and flexible, but so did almost everyone else on the ship.

the first two days on the ship we spent at sea. we had never been on a cruise that included the dirst two days at sea so we got a little stir crazy even though the water was beautiful.

the photos began... the ladies of the family

and the boys...

on the 2nd night the waitstaff put on a performance and asher really got into it

asher became known on the ship after his debut at comedy night.

as the days went on he also was recognized by many as captain asher.

enjoying his morning milk in our cabin and some room service

the first port day was in st. thomas. we ventured off the boat around 10 am and headed to the beach. Magen's Bay. It was a nice short beach with lots of cruisers. We spent a few hours soaking up the sun and getting asher reaquiatined with the sand and the water. we also purchased new rubber watch bands for our philip stein watches in st. thomas. this was our hanukkah presents to each other. we were so glad we waited to buy them because we got quite a deal.

the view on the drive to magen's bay.

the 4th day we visited anitgua which was by far our favorite place of the entire trip.

we took a lovely cab ride to dickinson bay which was the same location of the sandal's resort in antigua. the beach was gorgeous, deep, long and the water was a beautiful blue green water. we spent hours on the beach building castles, relaxing and getting our vitamin D

our sweet family on the beach

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asher eating his peanut butter sandwich on the beach

much easier to eat in the stroller than on the sand.

aunt E and her nephew.

asher relaxing on his sand pillow

army crawling in the sand.

we all got some sun by this point of the cruise.

my favorite photo of eliza and rich during the trip

my favorite photo of my sweet boys and i with baby #2 in the belly

ash enjoying my virgin strawberry pina colada

the parentals

boys love their momma's and this is definitely the case

boys are also so silly

this is what happens when you ask them to smile

they cut up and then laugh

we decided to start striking a pose with our towel people...

asher's biggest debut for comedy night. he was the hit of the show and it circulated on the tvs in the cabins the entire cruise. he kept shouting cantaloupe which caught the family comedians attention. he invited asher up and he even got to tell a knock knock joke

the gorgeous view while relaxing on the beach in st. thomas

soaking up the rays in st. thomas. asher was obsessed with helping us blow up the rafts. my parents brought us all rafts so that we could have something cushioned to lay on the beach as well as float in the ocean. it was semi successful...if only they held air!

asher and his homey

captain asher is alive... nana bought asher this fun hat at one of the ports and it became the infamous cruise hate.

one night at dinner the waiter took a napkin and made it into a little mouse and kept teasing asher with it. he was hysterical. the noises that were coming out of him couldve brought you to tears... his life is contagious.

more buddies on the bed

someone knows they are so cute.

we just love him dearly

and so do his nana and poppy

and our favorite waiter SUKI... he would cut asher's food up for him, bring him all of his favorites. he was a gem.

later that night asher participated in the thriller dance lessons. watching him try to take dance instructions was hysterical.

this is an excellent shot of his bed set up. it made me nervous the first few nights, but he loved his 'special bed'. we had no choice and he slept like a brick. 12 hours at night (mostly) and 2-3 hour naps. whatever work rights? he loved trying to climb up on daddy to get into the bed, even though we really had to lift him.

asher cheesin with freddy funship at the captains cocktail

and our crew. this is chubby the ass. matre di' who took to asher. he had three boys of his own back home. and asher's "ladies" the hostesses. they would dote on him, kiss him, hug him.

it had to be the sweetest thing i have seen in a long time.

and our family sweetness had to be captured

the bass ladies

and the big birthday bass... 55 woot woot!

our clan on the ship. we captured a family photo that night

more birthday celebrating for mommy

one of our last towel creatures hiding...

and of course another one on the bed...

this vacation was awesome. long... but so needed.

thank you mom and dad for treating us to such a wonderful vacation.

it was just what the doctor had ordered after 2 months of straight sickness in the schreibman house...

cheers to warm weather.... if only it would stay in charlotte for more than a few days!