Year in Review

I saw this on Emily's blog who saw it on another blog and decided to do it too. The instructions are to take the first sentence of the first post of each month from 2008, so here goes:

January- Monday morning I met my Mom, Lisa and Michali for an early lunch if Kfar Rut.

February- Well, last Thursday morning Danya woke up with a fever.

March- ******Before you read be prepared.....it is long******
I have gotten a few complaints about the lack of updates so I would like to explain(read:make excuses).

April- After getting the kids to school I ran some errands including picking up 2 more goldfish.

May- OK, I am going to try and remember what has happened in the past few weeks but I am sure I am going to miss some stuff.

June- On Wednesday we spent most the day at home.

July- Tuesday morning Danya and Jordy started camp.

August- OK, I am going to backtrack a bit here. Going back to last Shabbat….
My parents came over on Friday night (read: brought dinner).

September- On Thursday Josh took the kids to Nocky and Ruanne's for a fun filled day of swimming, fruit picking, playing in the park and a BBQ.

October- Monday night we went to our friends Nicky and Alan Haplert for dinner.

November- It seems that I have forgotten how little "free time" you have when you have a new baby in the house.

December- As I mentioned in my last post, my Dad came for a few days to meet Nadav and see all the grandchildren.

So there you have it. I will finish off Chanukah and catch up on the past few days next post. I hope you have a Happy, Healthy New Year!

We Interrupt This Chanukah Posting

To bring you "Nadav Laughs". The first video of Nadav that I have uploaded to the blog. Enjoy!!!!

On The Seventh Night of Chanukah

Shabbat day was really nice. We had the Pinchuk family along with the Turks for lunch. The theme of the meal was gluten free. Josh and I are VERY educated now. We sat around chatting until a couple hours before Shabbat ended. As soon as Shabbat was over the Turks headed out and we lit candles. The kids got games tonight and opened
and played Jordy's after lighting candles. Josh and I got ready for one of the 2 Chanukah parties we were hosting. The Gersons, Balsams and Toody came over and we had a nice falafel dinner until it was time for the kids to go to bed.
Here is a picture of Nafi playing my Game Boy that I have had since I was around 12. He thinks this picture is a reflection of how lame my party was by I hold that it is a reflection of how lame he is...your thoughts?
Here are the kids showing off their cool watches from the 5th night:

On The Sixth Night of Chanukah

Nadav woke up at 2:30am and was awake until 4 and then went back to bed until 9 which is when Danya and Jordy woke up! Hooray! Danya went to Tamar's for a play date while Jordy hung out at home. Josh and I spent most the day getting ready for Shabbat. Chanie and Moshe Turk and family showed up a little bit before Shabbat and we all lit candles. The kids all got along for the most part. We had a nice dinner and a good time catching up. After we finally got the kids to bed out came the Scrabble board. We tried playing but Moshe kept falling asleep and I had to leave to feed Nadav, but Josh still won. We all headed to bed.

On The Fifth Night of Chanukah

We didn't get much sleep...again. Nadav was finally nodding off at 5am as I heard voices coming from Danya's room. I told the girls to go back to bed. They slept until 6:30. Once we got our acts together we decided to go to Bubs and Pops favorite place...IKEA. Since it was cold and raining outside IKEA was packed. First we got lunch. Then we brought Danya and Jordy to the babysitting room where they spent an hour coloring and playing in the ball pit while I fed Nadav and then Josh and I walked around. We bought a couple little things and headed out. Traffic was really bad and it took a while to get home. When we got back we lit candles and Danya and Jordy got their gifts. They were so excited to get watches from Bubs and Pops. Every 3 minutes Jordy asks me if I want to know what time it is. (Pictures to come soon). Then we headed over to the Nathan family for a Chanukat HaBayit. We got home after 9 and gave Danya and Jordy strict instructions not to get out of bed before 8am. Nadav actually went to bed at 11pm!!!

On The Fourth Night of Chanukah

So last night the little owl kept me up again until 4:45am. I am pretty sure I am going to fall asleep standing soon. We got up around 8 and then discussed what to do. The weather was gross(but we are glad it is raining here) and Danya wasn't feeling great. So I took Lisa to the grocery store(since she doesn't blog you wouldn't know that Nafi took the car and Meira and Moshe to work with him) in the morning while everyone else hung out at home. Everyone seemed pretty content that we figured why rock the boat. So we stayed home all day. Danny came in the afternoon to hang out. We lit candles and the kids were excited that Uncle Danny brought them gifts. They each got a plastic cup(Dora for her and Spiderman for him) and gelt. Danya wasn't so impressed but Jordy was really excited. After dinner Danya FINALLY had her birthday party. We had decided to wait until after Nadav was born for her party and then had been procrastinating on having it. Initially we were going to let her choose 5 friends and have a sleepover but then the list kept growing so we told her she could have a pajama party with cake and a movie and then the kids go home. We told her she could have Meira and 2 friends sleep over. So she choose Tamar and another friend to stay. The girls had a good time eating their cake
and watching Wall-E. After the party the remaining girls went to bed after about an hour of talking. Not to bad!

On The Third Night of Chanukah

Last night Nadav decided to make us suffer again and was up until 5am. Since today was the first day of vacation and Danya slept at a friends house, we only had Jordy in the morning. Josh turned on a movie for him and we slept until 9:30(how sad that those 4 and a half hours felt luxurious!). Then we took a while to figure out what we were doing and by the time we decided it was already late.
We picked up Danya and headed to the mall to eat lunch and see if there was anything happening there. Turns out all the activities at the mall are tomorrow. We ate lunch at the food court and then started strolling around. Danya and Jordy wanted to buy stuff so we told them that their Chanukah gift for tonight is money from Bubby Gladys and they can each spend their money however they'd like. Well then we went from store to store with Danya hemming and hawing(never spelled that out before) over everything while Jordy wanted to buy everything he saw. Eventually Danya bought a light up dreidel, a little puppy toy, a Jibbet for her Crocs and gum. Jordy ended up with a froggy shapped bank, a light up toy and a GIANT lollipop(no, he didn't finish it yet, I think it will last for 8 days, the miracle of Chanukah). We bought the kids soufganiyot and then stopped at the grocery store to get potatoes and oil for latkes. After we got home we lit the candles and the kids ate dinner. I then spent forever(and by forever I mean 2 and 1/2 hours) making latkes. I remember why I never fry anything on my stove-because it is the worst stove ever and it hardly heats the pan. I did make a potato kugel while I was frying the latkes, so a tiny dent has been made in the Shabbat cooking. Even though I used Bubs recipe for the latkes they didn't come out anywhere near as good as Bubs do. Oh well. I tried. I just gave Nadav a bath and am hoping tonight goes better than last night-but I have low expectations.

On The Second Night of Chanukah

Last night Nadav decided to change his sleeping pattern. He usually FINALLY goes to sleep at 3:30 or 4am but last night(this morning) he decided to stay up until 5am...oh joy. After Josh got the kids off to school I got Nadav and we went to Modiin. First we stopped at the post office where I had to pay the bill for Tipat Chalav. Then I stopped at a bakery in the same shopping center because I was told that they had parave caramel donuts. Caramel are my favorite and I am sad I can't have any this year since Nadav has a milk allergy. So I was excited that someone had parave ones. When I went there they told me that they aren't parave so I bought 4 jelly instead. Then Nadav and I headed to tipat chalav where they measured and weighed him and gave him a vaccine. He is now 4 kilo 880 grams(or 10.8 pounds) and 57 centimeters(or 22.4 inches). After we left there we stopped at the toy store to pick up the last couple Chanukah gifts. I took a 45 minute nap and then in the afternoon I headed to Tel Aviv for a job interview. I am pretty sure I was half asleep the whole time and I have no idea what I said. I am happy to report that at least I didn't fall asleep while driving there! After I got home we lit the candles and the kids opened their gifts. Danya and Jordy were excited about their art projects and Nadav got a little ball toy that Danya and Jordy opened and showed him:

After dinner Danya went to her friends house for a sleepover.

On The First Night of Chanukah

The kids went to school this morning while Josh, Nadav and I napped after yet another sleepless night. After they got home, Danya and Jordy spent most of the afternoon asking when we were lighting candles. We FINALLY lit candles in the evening. Danya made her Chanukiah in ceramics class:

Jordy made his in Gan:
Tonight Danya got a High School Musical 3 dance game for playstation:

Jordy got a Power Rangers sleeping bag:

And Nadav got some books:

Danya and Jordy played Danya's game for a while and then both took their sleeping bags and went to sleep on Danya's floor.
Happy Chanukah to all and to all a good night!

Colic

Most of this past week is a blur. I will share the highlights. On Monday I went back to the ENT who said my ear had completely healed. I was happy when he didn't have to clean it again since I think I was still dizzy from the last time. On Monday night Nadav was awake from 8:30pm until 4am. He did take a 20 minute nap at one point but otherwise he was just screaming and eating. Fun fun! On Tuesday I took Nadav to the doctor to see if there was anything wrong with his that was making him so crabby. Thankfully all is well with him, just plain old colic. On Tuesday night there was a Chanukah sale/activity event that we took the kids to. Jordy had his face painted like a cheetah...see:



On Wednesday I went to the grocery store and invited guests for dinner on Shabbat. On Thursday I spent a lot of time cooking. Friday was Jordy's gan party. We were told no babies allowed, so Josh went by himself and took pictures:


Friday night we had the Novicks over. We had a nice time with them when the kids weren't going nuts. Shabbat day was pretty quiet. Lisa came over with her kids in the afternoon.
Here are a few more pictures:

Michali holding Nadav

Danya and Nadav looking at one of his toys

Rent A Car

This past week was a busy one. Tuesday evening were parent teacher conferences at Danya's school and being the parents of the year that we are Josh and I missed it! It was supposed to be at 6:50 and I was feeding Nadav and looked to see what time it was and then realized that we were supposed to be at Danya's school. Josh was on a conference call for work(does it count that he was at a conference, just not the one at her school?).
On Tuesday night I gathered all the documents we needed as we had an appointment on Wednesday at the US Consulate. We(and by WE I mean ME) had to fill out a bunch of papers to apply for Nadav's US birth certificate, Social Security card and passport. We also had to bring a bunch of original documents along with photo copies of them all. It was a good thing I got them all together since Nadav ended up going to sleep around 3:30 and we were so tired Wednesday morning. We were rushing to get there for our appointment since you need to be there before the scheduled time or you miss your appointment. The problem was that we couldn't figure out where the Consulate was. We had an address but the street wasn't on the map anywhere. While we were on the way I called and called and there was nobody who could give me directions. Luckily Nafi remembered being there and kind of knew where it was....in East Jerusalem. I guess that is why most people choose to go to the Tel Aviv offices. It was a tiny little hole in the wall. Things went pretty smoothly there and we got it all done and Nadav slept the whole time.
We decided that we should begin having guests on Shabbat again as it has been about 9 months since we have had guests and owe about 30 invitations! I spent most the evening Thursday and a large part of the day Friday cooking. Danya and Jordy each "helped" with a few things.
On Friday night we had the Arnold family. The kids played together nicely for the most part. I had made cranberry orange muffins as a side dish and Jordy took a tiny bite out of one and decided he didn't like it. I asked him why and he said "because they have red berries in them".
Shabbat day the kids played in the morning and Danya had a friend come for lunch. She and Danya played nicely with Jordy. Then Tamar came over and joined the fun. The kids played and Nadav napped. Josh took a nap and I dozed on and off while Nadav woke up every 20 minutes when the swing needed to be wound.
Last night Nadav thought it would be fun to be awake until 4am which wasn't fun for the rest of us. The kids went to school and later Danya went to play at Meira's while Jordy went to his English class. I picked them up at 5 and Danya wanted to stay until 6. I told her she couldn't since Josh was taking the car to play baseball in a little while. When we got home Danya asked Josh why he needed to take our car at 6. He asked her what else he should do and she said "you should rent a car"!
I recently figured out how to use a new feature on the camera-ok, the feature isn't new, just my ability to use it. So I have been taking pictures of Nadav while he is wide awake, at midnight. Enjoy!

Random Stuff From My Tired Mind

As I mentioned in my last post, my Dad came for a few days to meet Nadav and see all the grandchildren.
It was very low key. The highlight for the kids was the day he was leaving they had a movie theater in my attic and all watched the new Madagascar movie(courtesy of Bubs and Pops-thanks!). On Thanksgiving we attended the annual anniversary/Thanksgiving pot luck dinner as we have been since we made Aliyah. As in years past, we had a great time and ate too much.
Last week I took Nadav to the pediatrician because his crabbiness was not improving(nor was his sleeping) and his rash had gotten much worse. The doctor determined that it was probably a milk allergy. Since I am nursing that means that I can not eat ANY dairy so as not to pass it on to him. Not fun for me but the rash seems to be getting better. He was actually happier the past few days too so we will see.
Danya and Jordy are up to their usual. Jordy was happy that Moshe slept over here last Shabbat. Jordy was thrilled last week that he was Abba shel Shabbat in gan. He couldn't wait to go buy a treat for the 36(!) kids in gan. He dressed in his Shabbat clothes and headed to gan. Since then all he can talk about is how this coming week he is going to be the Kochav HaShuvah(Star of the Week) and we need to bring in his favorite song, movie, toy etc.
Danya is taking a ceramics chug this year and each week comes home with a new little figurine that we have to find a place for in the house....which leads me to the fact that we finally got our wall unit. Here is a picture:


Since the picture was taken we have had the lights installed in the corner units. We still have to go to a place to order the granite/stone to go in the middle unit. Soon.
Danny was here for Shabbat this week and the kids were excited to go with him to shul to hear Josh lain.
Last Sunday I woke up with an excruciating ear infection. It was not healing so I was sent to see an ENT. I went today and they had to clean out my ear. Have you ever had this done??? If not imagine that the suction thing from the dentist is in your ear...it is very LOUD! I thought it was funny that the doctor was talking to me while he was doing it, it reminded me of when the dentist asks you questions and you can answer because his hands are in your mouth. The really bad part was that it really messes with your equilibrium. He told me to sit up slowly and I couldn't do it. The whole room was spinning. It took about 5-10 minutes for the spinning to stop.
I also took Nadav to get his passport pictures taken since we have an appointment at the American Embassy to register his birth and you can also get a passport at the same appointment. It was really funny trying to get him to keep him hands down, eyes open and hold him up at the same time. Plus while they were taking his photos he was pooping.
In rereading what I just wrote I know it is a little random and scattered but I am too tired to care right now. I know I am missing stuff but Nadav is starting to wake up so this is what you get.

The Mouths Of Babes

My Dad arrived this morning and I will tell more about that next post but I wanted to share a conversation Danya and I had. Danya was upset that he is staying with Meira and not us. Her big concern was that Meira will spend more time with him that she will. I commented that if she wanted to spend more time with she should have invited Saba to play with her and Meira in the attic. Danya responded "But Saba doesn't play in the attic, he only plays on his Blackberry". Nothing gets past this kid!

A Thing Called Facebook If You Know What That Is

No more apologizing. Now that there is a baby in the house I will probably not be updating the blog everyday. Get used to it.
In Nadav news he had a check up today. He weighs 4250 grams(9.3 pounds) and is 55 centimeters long(21 3/4 inches). This is the first time he was ever measured so we have no clue how much he grew in that area, but he is looking big to me lately. He also had a vaccine today which he didn't seem to bothered by. In other Nadav news he has begun smiling and gurgling.
He particularly likes one of the toys on his bouncy seat and often smiles and "talks" to it. When he is not all smiles he is usually crying or eating. He isn't so big on the sleeping still and I think he has got to be exhausted, but if he falls asleep while being held he doesn't stay asleep when you put him down. Oh well.
Jordy is still head over heels for his little brother and is so happy when I bring Nadav to pick him up at gan. Jordy continues to be "Mr. Stubborn". I took him to buy Shabbat shoes yesterday and he insisted on buying black shoes even though I kept telling him brown would be better. He was really excited to be Chazzan at gan today since it is Monday and he got to carry the Torah(not sure exactly what kind of Torah they have there).
Danya is also head over heels in love with her *new* brother(not so thrilled with her *old* brother). She always wants to hold him or entertain him. We also found out on Friday night that Danya has a little crush. We were discussing he parsha and how Eliezer knocked on Rivka's door and told her parents that he wanted to take her to marry Yitzchak and her parents said ok. We were joking around and asked Danya if it would be ok if someone knocked on our door and said they wanted to take her to marry their bosses son. Danya said that if it was Ami then it would be ok(that would be Ami Strick who was here visiting in April). Josh and I asked her if she liked Ami and she responded "I'm not in a crush with him but I wouldn't mind if I married him". Josh and I were quite surprised to learn that Danya has a non-crush on someone. The funnier part was that in her defense she then told us about a friend of hers who "is in a crush with....". Another discussion Danya and I just had was "Daniella just showed me this thing on the computer called Facebook if you know what that is". I told her that yes, I know what Facebook is and that no, she can't use facebook just yet, webkinz is enough for now! So don't go looking to "friend" her on Facebook, she won't be there for a couple more years.
In renovation news we are still waiting for our wall unit. The guy said early this week, so I am guessing sometime in the next couple weeks.
That's about all for now at casa da Saltzman.

Bye Bye Bubs and Pops

Let's see if I can remember the highlights of last week...On Monday we took Nadav to get weighed again at Tipat Chalav. I can't I think he was 3.8 kilo(aren't I a good mother???). Monday also began the living room/dining room work. We had Alan put in crown molding and paint the rooms. He also added some electrical lines so that when the wall unit is delivered we can install the lights that will be in the corner cabinets. When Jordy returned from school on Monday he said his head hurt. He had 101 fever. Poor kid. On Tuesday Alan continued the painting and Jordy stayed home from school. On Wednesday afternoon Bubs and Pops took Danya and Jordy back to IKEA and I took Nadav to see Dr. Silton for a check up. All is well. Alan also hit the end of his painting but when he went to do that last little part, which was a forest green colored paint in the little niche above the washing sink, it was the wrong color-a mint green. Ewww. On Thursday morning Josh and I ran a couple errands in Kiryat Sefer in the morning. In the afternoon I ran to the paint store to get the right color paint. On Friday Josh took the kids and his parents to get falafel while I stayed home with Nadav and packed up for Shabbat. After everyone returned we headed to Jerusalem for Shabbat. We stayed at a hotel near the central bus station. It was nice and the food was good and we didn't have to cook. After Shabbat we returned and Bubs and Pops said their goodbyes and headed out at 3am. Sunday morning was our first morning on our own and I was impressed with us! Nadav woke up at 6 to eat and then I got Danya and Jordy up and Nadav and I walked both of them to school. Not too much else happened on Sunday that I can remember. Today Nadav and I walked Jordy to school and Josh got Danya out and to school. Alan came back to fix the green which is MUCH better. Otherwise we hung out around the house.

Night Owl

Well the days and nights are all blurred together. Mostly the mornings are spent sleeping and the nights are spent awake with Nadav. The afternoons are a sleepy haze in between. Luckily my in-laws are in town and have taken over the morning routine of getting the kids up, dressed, breakfast, lunches made and out of the house. It's a good thing too since most mornings Josh and I have just gone to sleep not long before that. Nadav is a night owl. He is usually up until 3-4 and then wakes up again to eat around 6 or 7. Then we all go to sleep for about 5 hours.
I wanted to share a funny Danya story...she was in our room last night and we happened to be watching the news. Danya was asking about the President of the USA and what the White House is. I explained to her that the president lives and works in the White House. Then she asked how long a president can be president for. I told her all about the 2 term maximum and how a person can be president for 8 years and after that they go back to their home. She understood all this then looked up and asked "Will President Bush's wife be happy to see him?". I guess I forgot to mention that the Presidents family also goes with him to the White House. I did think it was a brilliant question though. What a logical kid she is! Not too much else happening here. Hopefully we will get more sleep and get out of the house a little more soon!

Sleep Deprivation

It seems that I have forgotten how little "free time" you have when you have a new baby in the house. I completely forgot how exhausted you become and how even when the baby is sleeping and you are not you have no energy to do anything that needs to be done. Yes, this is a long winded explanation of why I haven't updated the blog lately.
To quickly summarize, Thursday was the bris. A lot of our friends and family came to celebrate with us. We had a nice time and were happy to be done discussing what we are going to name HIM. Later that day Bubs and Pops arrived. They were happy to finally meet their new grandson. Danya and Jordy helped them unpack their luggage and found their presents quickly.
Danny came and joined us for Shabbat and my Mom, who had moved into her house/Lisa's on Thursday, joined us for lunch. We said Thank you and goodbye to her since she was leaving after Shabbat.
Other than that it has been life as usual. Monday was Josh's birthday so we had a joint party for Danya and Josh...it was very exciting. Bubs and Pops have taken over Savta's job of getting the kids ready and to school in the morning. They also took Danya and Jordy to their favorite outing today which was an exciting trip to IKEA.
Speaking of Danya and Jordy, they still love their new brother. They tend to run over to him and give him kisses at random intervals throughout the day. It is pretty cute. Also, Jordy announced that Nadav's stinky diaper smelled like Cheerios yesterday. Not sure what that was all about but thought it was cute. Alright-Nadav is waking up so that is all for now...I know all you really want is to see pictures anyhow, so here they are...

And His Name Is.....

Nadav Moshe Tzvi. We will be calling him Nadav which means generous. Moshe was Josh's grandfather and Tzvi was Josh's Rebbe. I would like to write more about the bris and the past couple days but Shabbat is starting soon so I will give you some more pictures and update more next week. Shabbat Shalom!