Big News!!

Although I'm pretty sure that everyone who reads this already knows, I still feel its a blog-worthy announcement. After a much anticipated journey, Paul and I are expected our first child in late July! We couldn't be more excited to welcome the little sweet pea into the Kleinstein family.

Predictions of the baby's gender are in full force. The overwhelming majority (Aaron, Jenny, Laura, Molly, Ella and Jackie, Sr) feels the sweet pea is a girl, however Paul and I are leaning towards boy. We honestly don't have a preference either way, and are just thrilled to welcome the little one this Summer... ever if it means no Jersey Shore for us this year. We are hoping to find out the sex at our 15 week appointment on Wednesday, but it may be too early to tell, still.

Below are the pictures of the little one from our 11 week appointment. I'll have some better - less alienlike - ones on Wednesday.

Profile picture... it looks like we got the baby's good side :)

The classic "alien" shot from the front. You can see the face pretty well.

Lazy Day with Family

Paul is back in New Jersey visiting his family for the weekend, and I had all these grandiose plans to clean and organize the house. That didn't end up happening. I ended up feeling under the weather, and laying in bed/on the couch all day. For the most part, It was fabulous. But around 4 or 5 I ended up getting pretty bored and lonely. Thankfully, Jenny seemed to be in the same boat as me, and she brought some dinner over. My mom came over too - I lured her with cookies. We watched the football game and had a good old time... doing nothing. At least we were all doing nothing together :)

Seahawks

Yesterday Jenny and I went to the last Seahawks game of the year. Jenny's friend Mike gave her the tickets, at around 10:00 on Saturday night, the text came through from Jenny saying that she didn't have anyone to go to the game with - which I took as an invitation. I was thrilled to have even made it on her list, as my entire family thinks I don't like sports*. So, Sunday morning, I dug throug the closet to find my Seahawks shirt and sweatshirt, grabber my raincoat and headed to Jenny's. We left her house around 11:30 for the 1:00 game, and made it there in time to see Ken Griffey Jr. raise the 12th man flag! That was an awesome start to the game, and the place went nuts when they saw him.

Jenny and I went into the game with a very honest inventory of our beloved Hawks - they kinda stink. We didn't expect too much from them, but we were determined to have a good time. This was only further ensured by the free hot dog and bottle of water they gave away for fan appreciation. The game wasn't terrible, but we, of course, lost. We got a couple cute pictures at the game. We definitely looked like we had never been to a sporting event - but it was my first Seahawks game (there is a slight chance my dad took me to a game a really long time ago when they played in the Kingdome, but I don't remember it at all).

The view from our seats

We met the Seahawks mascot - Blitz

All in all, it stayed mostly dry, and we had some hilarious neighbors. Thanks for inviting me Jenny. It was tons of fun!

*I don't much care for golf - live or TV, and baseball on TV. I am a huge fan of all other live sports. I go to all the Husky football games, love hockey and think basketball is a hoot.

Chinese Food?

Everyone knows the classic Jewish (not-so untrue) stereotype of Chinese food on Christmas. The reality is, its a tradition in many families and while its certainly not a religious observation, I'm all in favor of family traditions. Well, the Rosenthals have never really upheld this tradition, but lets be honest - when is Chinese food not delicious? I've been sitting on my couch literally all day. And at about 1:00 pm I started craving Chinese food. Its like my Jewish roots are beckoning me to a nearby wok. In any case, I've spent the last 20 minutes trying to motivate to get dressed and head to Jenny's to pick up some take-out. I think I'm almost there - but I just think its funny that I can't fight the Chinese food on Christmas :)

UPDATE: Mission accomplished and Chinese food has been purchased. Hot and Sour soup consumed and was delish! Totally worth getting up off the couch!

Family Fun

Over the last few months, we've had a spattering of Rosenthal family gatherings at my mom's house. We had Thanksgiving, and impromptu Chanukah dinner, and birthday celebration for me, and last night we had a birthday party for my Uncle Les. I must say, these family gatherings have been a total and complete blast. Granted, the house is LOUD - (my cousin and I are the two loudest people on the planet) but there was lots of laughter, love and a TON of food. My aunt made enough pasta last night to feed a small nation... it was hilarious. My mom has pictures of it, which I'll add in later - but it was amazing to see my tiny little mom carrying a bowl of pasta about the same size as her entire body.

Its been really nice to spend time with the Rosenthal's... and one Siegel :) Cousin Naomi recently moved from Grand Rapids (by way of Ashville, India, Thailand.... and various other locations) to Bellingham. It awesome to have her close enough to join in on family festivities. Cousin Katie has been out of Gig Harbor for a while, but its nice to finally find time to hang out together. Cousin Kerri currently lives in Pullman (not Poland, Uncle Sam) though I'm sure she'll get the heck out of there when she graduates - and hopefully she'll move closer to Seattle as well.

We were pretty close growing up, and then life happens, and people get busy, go to school and find careers. It's really obvious why we all spent so much time together as kids, because we have a total blast together now. My mom has become quite the little hostess and has been really willing to be our home base for these gatherings.

I tend to get a little sappy around this time of year, but this year, for the first time in a while, I am full of happiness and joy. I'm pretty sure I can credit my family for most of it... Especially my amazing husband who averted my cell phone crisis yesterday by promptly taking me to the AT&T store and buying me a new IPhone. I felt so loved and appreciated.... New technology will do that to a girl :)

Happy Holidays everyone!

Toffee

So on Friday night, I was at my friend Briana's house and she had this amazing toffee. She made it herself and I literally couldn't get enough of it. I had to be cutoff from the stuff because the ingredients are slightly less than healthy. Nevertheless, it was one of the most incredible things I have ever tasted. She was good enough to share the recipe with me and this morning I made a batch. I didn't have enough almonds for a whole batch, so I made half almond and half pecan. Evidentally, toffee is extremely temperamental, but it appeared to be ok. We'll see how it turned out when its a reasonable hour in the day to eat toffee. I can't bring myself to eat it at 9:30 am :)

I realize it doesn't look that amazing in that picture, but it looks - and smells - amazing! Thanks B!

Reality Check

Yesterday afternoon my former neighbor, Kristen, stopped by my house. I was in the shower, so I didn't hear her knocking, but she left a note saying that we needed to call her as soon as possible. I didn't think too much of it, because Paul and I were very good friends with Kristen and her husband Scott, and I knew that Kristen was frequently in the area. They were the best neighbors, and wonderful friends and we really miss having them right next door. In any case, I read the note, and called her back when I got out of the shower. She told me she was down the street at one of our other neighbors and asked if she could come over for a bit. After I told her she was always welcome, I asked if she was okay. She told me she had some bad news, but that she needed to tell me in person.

When she got to the house, she came in, sat down on the couch and told me that her husband, Scott, had passed away on Friday. My jaw dropped and I started crying. It seemed so out of the blue, and I was in total shock. Kristen is an amazing woman, and I can't even imagine what she is going through. She has an amazing support, and her friend even setup a website to help out. Scott was only 36, and I am still in shock.

No matter how often we say that life is a precious gift, it doesn't seem to be frequent enough. Life doesn't always make sense, and the only way to really survive the insanity seems to be to appreciate every day and every one you have. I know that I tend do get annoyed and frustrated (see post below) over little things in life. While I make no promises to end this all together (it seems to be in my nature) I know that I will work much harder before I get angry over something small.

Scott, you were and always will be an amazing guy. Paul and I are so lucky to have had you in our lives. Your smile and sense of humor were cherished gifts that will be missed by all who knew you.