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!

Tipat Chalav

On Sunday morning we had to take the baby to his first doctors appointment. In Israel all "well baby" visits are not done with a pediatrician but rather through a government organization called Tipat Chalav. They handle vaccines, height and weight tracking and any developmental issues with children through the age of 5(I think...maybe 6?). When we left the hospital we were told to take him on Sunday for a weight check and to check for jaundice. We spent a while there as we had never been there before(we should have taken Jordy but I didn't really get how it worked so we never took him and now have an appointment scheduled for him too). After they took all our personal information they weighed and looked over the baby. They also scheduled a million more appointments for the next 3 months for a doctors visit, vaccines, etc. We have to return on Wednesday for them to check his weight again. We came home and spent the afternoon sleeping/feeding/eating/changing diapers etc.
Monday was pretty much the same....sleeping/feeding/eating/changing diapers. My Mom had Danya and Jordy at Lisa's in the afternoon and for dinner so I got a nice nap. Also the mohel came over to check the baby and give us all the bris info.
The only thing to report from today was the baby's umbilical cord came off which means he will be getting his first bath before his bris. Danya and Jordy both started a new English chug and they really like it a lot. They each asked if they can go every day. We will see how long that lasts since last year Danya HATED going to English last year.

It's A Boy!!!

He was born on Wednesday October 22nd at 10:35pm weighing 8 pounds 2 ounces(or 3 kilo 700 grams). Here is the basic story. On Wednesday morning Josh and I headed to the hospital to be induced as my doctors office said I should just go in since I was 41 weeks and 6 days and they wont let you go past 42 weeks. So when we got to the hospital I was asked why I was there since I wasn't at 42 weeks yet. I was like are you kidding me??? Should we come back in 12 hours??? Anyhow they did a monitor and ultrasound and said all was well and that I could walk around for a few hours and the doctor would review my case later in the day. When I went back I had made enough progress on my own for them to decide to admit me to a delivery room and break my water....hooray! They admitted me around 5:30pm and I got my epidural(which didn't work properly-that is the second time I had that problem) and then they broke my water. And then nothing happened. The contractions stopped. So around 8:30 they started me on a low dose of pitocin and that also did nothing. At around 9:15 or 9:30 they upped the dose of pitocin and then the contractions came every minute. An hour later I was ready to push and after 10 minutes our little guy was born. We couldn't believe that after all that has happened this pregnancy that it was finally over! Baby boy was brought to the nursery(1 of the 2 in Shaare Tzedek) and spent his first night with 45 roommates! We had an uneventful hospital stay. Josh brought Danya and Jordy to the hospital to meet their new brother on Thursday evening and they were pretty excited to see him and hold him.
On Friday afternoon we came home and watched as a steady stream of people dropped off baked goods for the Shalom Zocher. We ate dinner with my Mom and at 7:30 people started to arrive for the Shalom Zocher. The baby and I went upstairs about halfway through and came back down as the last few people were leaving. There were a ton of people and a lot of drinking.
I am too tired to catch up the rest now, so stay tuned....

The end of the Chaggim

Friday morning I went to the doctors pretty early in the morning. I was in and out pretty quickly and then stopped at the butcher to pick up the chicken for Shabbat. My mom made the chicken and I made a noodle kugel for Simchat Torah. Then we all went to Modiin to get falafel and to stop at the toy store so Danya could look for something special to spend her birthday money on. Danya spent an hour looking around and decided that there was nothing there she really wanted. Jordy, on the other hand, walked in the store and in a minute found 2 toys he wanted to buy. He picked one and bought it. We spent the rest of the afternoon at home getting ready for Shabbat. On Friday night, after dinner, Jordy decided he was going to have a sleepover in Savta's room and once we got him settled my mom and I took Danya over to the Gersons where she was having a sleepover with Tamar. After we got back Josh and I went on a walk around the Yishuv, running into a bunch of people along the way.
Shabbat morning my Mom and I walked Jordy to Yehoshua's house where Jordy was invited for lunch. Then we came home and ate lunch a little later. Since it was nice and quiet we all decided to go to sleep except the kids returned about 10 minutes later with friends. We still slept a bit(by we I mean me). After Shabbat Daniella, who had come home with Danya, stayed for a while to play. At Danya's bedtime we dropped Daniella at home and Josh and I headed to Yerushaliam to see the Ripstein's who were in town for chag. We ended up staying there quite late and it was after 1 when we got home.
Sunday morning my mom and I went to the grocery store and then the toy store to pick up a birthday present for a party Danya was invited to on Friday afternoon. When we returned we dropped Danya at the party and then I went to my doctors appointment. When I got back Danya was already back from the party. We decided to head to Neot Kedumim for the afternoon. They have an exhibit of Sukkot from the mishna which we had heard was really good.

We had a great time there looking around and doing some activities they had for the kids(like basket weaving). We ran into the Turk family and the Steve Kirschner Family while there. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to take a picture of Josh, Moshe and Jordy doing basket weaving:


After we got home we got the kids showered and gave them dinner. Then my mom babysat and Josh and I headed to his cousin Jerry for the annual Sukkot BBQ. As usual, the food was fantastic! We had a great time but I felt a little bad because I was so tired I think I wasn't the best company. We got home after midnight, so another late night for us.
On Monday Josh headed back to Beit Shemesh for a seudah at Benjy Merzels while my mom and I stayed home with the kids. We finished up any Yom Tov prep and then the Balsam's, who just returned from the states, came over. The kids all hung out at our house while they went shopping and unpacked. Then they went home and it was Yom Tov yet again! We all went to shul at both the across the street shul and Rimon. The kids were tired but they lasted until the Simchat Torah dinner across the street. As usual, the food was great(pot luck) and we had a nice evening. The kids were overtired when we came home and after more crying and yelling went to sleep.
This morning we pretty much hung out at home. The kids went across the street for a little bit. The Balsams joined us for lunch and then Danya and Meira went to their house with Lisa while the boys, Michali and Nafi stayed here until Yom Tov was over. The kids ate dinner and showered and headed to bed. Then Josh, my mom and I took the Sukkah down. The holidays are officially over!

Muddy Waters

Thursday morning we all slept a little late. My mom and I went to the makolet to pick up more flour for the next 2 batches of cookies I needed to make for a pot luck dinner on Simchat Torah. Then I came home and the baking began. Towards the end Danya called that she is ready to come home from her sleepover so I went to pick her up and drop off a Bar Mitzvah gift and a baby gift. After we returned we decided to head out to Holy Bagel for lunch before heading to Yad Binyamin for a Golf cart/off road ride. We hadn't been to Yad Binyamin yet and were a little sad that when we finally made it there Michelle and Nathan were not there. Of course the scheduled tour was running late so we had a little while to go look around and check out the parks there. I should mention that Danya, at her sleepover, didn't do much sleeping and apparently went to bed at 1:30am and was a bit on the tired and crabby side. When we approached the parks Danya was very insistent that it was boring and she wouldn't like them. Then we got to the park and of course everyone loved it. They had a exercise park so Danya and Jordy enjoyed playing in the park with Josh.


After a half hour we returned just in time for the golf cart ride. We all piled in the first one and began our ride.
It was scheduled for an hour and while it was nice, after 20 minutes, we thought it was going to get boring....we were wrong. They took us around some back roads of yad binyamin. It was VERY bumpy and there were some steep hills. Then we got to a point where we were going to have to drive through a sizable puddle. The guy leading the way on an ATV set us up, told Josh to put the peddle to the metal and no matter what, keep driving. So we went through the puddle and the resulting splash was more like the commercials you see from Splash Mountain where you have a sheet of water coming at you. Josh, Jordy and I were sitting in front and we got soaked(I should add that it was muddy water). Savta and Danya were on back so they didn't get so wet. We realized a few minutes later, after watching the 3 cars behind us that we were the only golf cart without a window in front to protect us from the water. Danya and Jordy switched seats and we continued along, going up and down hills until the leader stopped again and we realized that we had circled around and would have to go back through the same puddle again. Not sure if it was because of the incline of the little hill but on the way back we got substantially more water and we got stuck at the bottom of the puddle. The ATV guy had to go behind us and push us out. The funnier part was(and Danya wouldn't not appreciate this) is that the second the wall of water hit us Danya started crying hysterically. She was tired, cold, soaked in muddy water and not happy. She finally calmed down and admitted that she had fun....eventually. After the ride we stopped off at a bathroom to dry off a little and Danya changed clothes(good thing there was a pair of her sweatpants in the car). We were going to head home but Josh realized we weren't far from Beit Shemesh and every Chol Hamoiad they have a big, free, concert there. So we called Sandy and Dore and headed to Beit Shemesh. We stopped by their apartment which is beautiful. Then they took us to Jason and Mera's to say hello and then we said goodbye to them and headed for dinner and the concert. We found Shwarma and pizza next to each other at a shopping center so the kids ate pizza while the grownups ate shwarma. While we were waiting for our food the kids found one of those vending machines that have toys in it and the crane hand. Savta gave them each a shekel to try. Jordy's turn picked up a big bear stuffed animal but it fell before it got to the end. Jordy then started crying hysterically. Danya of course got a tiny stuffed bear and it made it out of the machine. Savta took pity on crying Jordy and gave him 2 more shekel and he tried again and again, each attempt resulting in tears. Danya then handed him the bear that she won and told him he could have it. What a mitzvah girl! I was so proud of her considering how tired and crabby she was! After dinner we went to the concert. We got there just in time for the shlock rock part and listened while roaming around.
Jordy found a light up toy he wanted and we let him get it using his money that Saba sent. Danya looked at all the toys and she couldn't decide if she wanted to spend her money so she didn't get anything. Josh then bought the kids cotton candy and we headed home.
Everyone was exhausted upon our return and pretty much went right to sleep.

For those of you who requested it, here is a picture of our Sukkah:

A Full Time Job

This morning I couldn't sleep so at 5am I went downstairs and watched some TV(thanks Lanie and Ari!) and ate some leftover chocolate mousse pie. I was finally getting tired around 7 so I headed back up but was waiting to call the doctors office that usually opens at 7:30. When I left the office on Monday they told me I needed to come back today to be monitored and see the doctor but they had already shut down their computers so I couldn't make an appointment. So I called at 7:30 but got a message that since it was chag they didn't open until 8 and were closing at 1. So at 8 I called back and was told that they didn't have any openings so I needed to go to the hospital to do this. At this time I insisted they give me an appointment for Friday since I didn't want the same thing to happen to me again. When Josh returned from shul we were preparing to head to the hospital but then realized that why should Josh go with me since it was likely that it would take hours and what was the point. So I brought Josh back home and then headed to Yerushaliam myself. When I got there the labor/clinic was hopping since yesterday was yom tov. I was monitored pretty quickly but they wanted me to hae an ultrasound and be seen by the doctor. I sat waiting for the ultrasound for an hour and then a woman came and anounced that ultrasound was closing. I was redirected to the labor room where I would be seen eventually. There were a lot of women waiting and I thought I was never going to be seen. I originally registered at 11am and was seen at 4:15pm! They said all looked good and there is no reason to induce me since "you are probably going to go into labor any day now". I told them that I have been getting that line since I was 17 weeks pregnant and I didn't believe it. I told them I would see them next week when they induce me! So I got back in my car and returned home at 5:45pm. I had been gone ALL DAY! How do pregnant women in Israel possibly work full time??? I have spent so much time these past 9 months waiting at hospitals and doctors offices. I almost read a whole book waiting today. I was kind of hoping that they would just induce me while I was there but I knew they wouldn't since they were so busy and there was no medical reason to do so. Oh well. When I got home Ardie and Ivonne Geldman had just arrived so I ordered the pizzas and we had a very nice dinner in the sukkah. At the end of dinner a friend of Danya's called to invite her to sleepover. Danya was excited to go but Jordy was really mad that she got to have a sleepover and he didn't. On that crying note, the Geldman's headed out. Josh and I convinced Jordy that he would have his own sleepover in the attic with a movie. He, Savta and I watched Madagascar and now he is laying on a mattress on my bedroom floor. Nighty night!

The First Day of Sukkot

Monday morning I picked Danya up and brought her home so she could help Savta and Jordy decorate the sukkah. Then I headed to Modiin to run a couple quick errands and then to the doctors. I then spend the remainder of the morning at the doctors office. Since I am past due I will be spending a lot of time there(as opposed to before when I was only spending a lot of time there). When I got back to the Yishuv I stopped at the shul to pick up the items I won in the food auction(each year the Yeshiva here does a fund raiser where they auction off food dishes for sukkot). Then I came home and we got ready for Yom Tov. Josh picked up Danny from Modiin and we began the holiday. Monday night we had a very yummy dinner(I made none of it) and then Danya had to leave to go sukkah hopping aka. trick or treating. The rest of us then took Jordy sukkah hopping on our way to the Keren's house for dessert. Jordy was so excited to be going sukkah hopping. He saw some friends along the way before we had gotten any candy and he excitedly showed them his empty bag saying "I have none!". Once the bag started getting filled he got a lot more excited. When we got to the Keren's house Jordy was worn out. He laid down and fell asleep while the rest of us talked and had dessert. This was my first time meeting them(we pretty much got invited because Danny works with him for the Israel Association for Baseball) but it was really lovely. My mom hit it off with Mrs. Keren as they are both teachers. We finally loaded up Jordy, who was out cold, and left around 10pm to pick up Danya. She was so excited to show us a MASSIVE bag of candy! She had been with Tamar and Rachel and cousin Max had escorted them. Max then took Jordy and carried him the rest of the way home and stayed for some dessert in the sukkah. We lined the sukkah with air mattresses and Josh, Danya and Jordy had a nice little sleepover in the sukkah. Jordy and Danya were out cold in a matter of minutes and not long after Josh joined them.
On Tuesday morning I was surprised that Josh and the kids slept past 7am. Josh and Jordy came into the house around 7:30 but Danya slept another hour. Savta won the latest sleeper award, sleeping until 9:30ish. We all hung out reading and napping until lunch time. After lunch we were waiting for the Gerson's for dessert and a mini birthday party for Danya and Elisha. It was getting late, so I fell asleep. Danya woke me around 4 to say they were here. Lori arrived with Max, Tamar, Rachel and Yakir. The girls happily played and then came requesting the cake. We had a mini party outside and everyone enjoyed their cake. After yom tov the kids had showers and went to sleep. Savta babysat for a short while while Josh and I dropped Danny at the bus stop and headed to the mall in Modiin for a little bit. We bought a couple gifts we owed and headed home.

MORE COOKIES?!?!?!?

This morning we were up early as something fell in the hallway setting off the alarm at 6ish. Jordy got up not long after that. After Josh returned from shul he took the kids to school and I got started on baking more cookies(yes, for some reason, since the week before Rosh Hashanah I have made about 6 batches of cookies-not sure where they are all going but for some reason we needed more). Do you know what happens when you try to bake at 7:30am? You forget to add the eggs. I added them at the end but I think batch #5 of cookies won't be as good as batch #6 turned out. Oh well. After the cookies were done my Mom and I went to Kiryat Sefer to stop at the hardware store to pick up some rope we needed for the sukkah and to stop at the dry cleaners to pick up the clothes that Josh dropped off before Rosh Hashanah. Big mistake to go to a hardware store in a frum neighborhood the day before sukkot. The place was jam packed. I had my Mom get in line almost immediately. I played the pushy Israeli and got someone to cut the length of rope I needed and we were actually in and out of there pretty quickly, but man was that place a zoo. I was also happy to see that while my clothes had been at the dry cleaners for a while they hadn't sold them yet. We then stopped in Shilat which was also crazy(I think everywhere the day before a holiday is). We bought a couple things and headed home. A short while later we picked Jordy up from gan and came home. My Mom played with Jordy most the afternoon while I took a nap for a bit. Danya, in the meantime, called that she was at a friends and she wanted to sleep over there. At around 5 I broke the news to Jordy that Danya was sleeping at a friends but since she was doing something special that he also got to do something special. He was petty upset that she was having a sleepover and he wasn't but was quickly appeased by the fact that he got to go to Burger King and Danya didn't. Josh had eaten lunch not long before and still had work to do so he stayed home while my Mom and I went with Jordy to BK. He sat so nicely and ate his whole meal. He also took the money Saba sent him and used some of it to buy himself an ice cream that he really ate so nicely until I commented that he was eating so nicely. That is when he bit his tongue and started crying. Poor kid! After dinner we went to the grocery store for a few items and then headed back towards home. We stopped by the Yeshiva here to pick up Josh's lulav and etrog and then came home. Jordy went right to sleep and I, with the help of my sous chef(my mom) made another potato kugel to freeze for Shabbat. Of course after I had gone to the grocery store I got a phone call from a woman who was organizing the Simchat Torah pot luck dinner at the shul and you will never guess what I was asked to make? Yup...that is right....cookies! Apparently I made them last year and they enjoyed them so I have to go buy more chocolate chips and bake batches #7 & 8 hopefully tomorrow(and I hope I will remember the eggs this time).
I also wanted to share a story from the other day that I thought was funny. A while back I had explained to Danya that babies have due dates but they are just guesses and that some babies come early and some come late. I also told her that both she and Jordy had been born late. Well on Friday Danya asked if the baby was late yet. So I told her that yes, the baby was now officially late. She said "well the baby fits in our family". I thought she meant because we are generally late for things....school, shul, appointments, etc. Turns out she meant because both she and Jordy were born late. Just thought that was a cute one to share!

Best Friends In The Whole World

Friday morning after the kids went to school my mom and I dropped Josh off at his weekly football game and we headed over to my doctors appointment. My mom was curious to see the office so she brought a book and planned on sitting and reading. Surprisingly I got in pretty quickly but then was sent to be monitored but would have to wait an hour to do so. So my mom and I headed out to run a few errands in Modiin and then return. My mom then got a chance to do her reading and I was monitored and met with the doctor. All is well and for those of you who are still curious, I am still pregnant and at this rate it looks like this kid is nice and comfy and staying in until college. We returned home and my mom went to her house and cleaned out the refrigerator. Friday night we had a nice dinner and the kids were pretty well behaved. The kids went to bed and the grown ups read for a while and we all went to sleep.
Shabbat morning I slept a little late and Savta played with the kids. Eventually we had lunch and then Danya's friend Natalie came to play. Savta and Jordy were playing and Josh and I were reading for a while. Then Ozer and Jenny Katz came by with their kids. Jordy and their son hit it off right away and they played the rest of Shabbat and Jordy announced that he is his "best friend in the whole world". They stayed until after Shabbat. After Shabbat Savta babysat and Josh and I headed over to Ely and Ilana Katz's house for their son's Bar Mitzvah party. We were there until what felt like really late but was only like 10:30.

Still No Baby

Monday morning Josh took the car to be repaired since last time he was there he forgot to tell them that the back window keeps falling open. Rather than fixing it(for a jillion shekel) he had them lock the window so if can't open. Winter is coming so why not save a few shekel? After he came back he and I went to Modiin to try out a new shwarma place...yummy! After school Danya went to a friends house and then to her cereamics chug and Jordy came home and then to karate. After the kids went to sleep I went on a nice long walk with Lori in attempt to encourage the baby out...no such luck.
On Tuesday morning Josh and I began the sukkah building process. I am sure the neighbors thought it was quite a sight to see me, 9 months pregnant, schlepping walls of the sukkah through the yard! After I went to pick up Jordy, who ended up going to Ariella's for a play date, I went to Modiin to pick up a few things at the store and then stop to pick up the bagels that are required eating after Yom Kippur. On my way back into the yishuv I picked Danya up and she came home and did her homework. A while later Jordy came home and the kids ate dinner. During dinner Alan came over to give us a price on painting our dining room/living room(which needs to get done before the wall unit arrives). The kids went to sleep and I went walking on part of operation "evict the baby"...attempt 2 failed.
On Wednesday the kids woke up early, as they often do when there is no school. They spent a while quietly making a welcome sign for Savta who was arriving later that day. Saba was also supposed to come but he had to cancel due to health issues with Bubby. We were sorry he couldn't come but understood that he needed to be in Chicago(we miss you Saba!). After having a family breakfast we all headed upstairs to finish off cleaning the attic now that the closet has been there for a while. It took a few hours but it is all done and nice and clean! Not long after we finished Savta arrived. She and Josh headed over to her house to pick up some stuff she needed and they were met with a power outage and a stinky fridge. Yuck! After she returned everyone got ready for Yom Kippur and we ate a nice big dinner(lunch....it was 3:30). Candle lighting was around 4:40(gotta love that they change the clocks here before Yom Kippur!). Josh and the kids headed to Rimon while my mom and I went to "the across the street shul". It was nice and quiet until about 30 minutes into davning the kids showed up. The groups weren't exciting at Rimon and they were bored. I told them to play outside with their friends and they did so. We got home from shul around 6:30ish. We read with the kids and Savta tucked them into bed. Then Josh, Savta and I played Rummy-Q a few times until we were exhausted and we went to sleep.
This morning the kids played most the morning between our house and the shul across the street and all the grown ups went to shul. It started at 7:30(I was NOT there that early) and was over at 1. We went to the Silton's house during the break and visited with Ami and Aviva Robinson while we were there. At 3:15 was mincha and 4:20 was Neelah. When shul was over we came home for a nice break the fast dinner of lox and bagels and ....GOOBER! Hooray! (Thanks to all those involved in project "get Arica some Goober"). Side note here...I was not going to be fasting but was told by many people that if you fast you will go into labor so Josh and I decided it was worth a shot. Well....I fasted and guess what....still no baby! Yes, today is officially my due date, so unless this baby magically decides to be born tonight, I will have gone past my due date which I find ironic after the 13 weeks on bed rest. I am going to have a few choice words for my doctor tomorrow! Anyhow, the kids are in bed and now we are going to attempt to finish building the sukkah. Wish us luck!

Happy Birthday to Danya

Friday morning Danya came into our room all dressed and ready to go-excited because it was her birthday. For those of you keeping score, this was her 8th birthday(when did I get so old???). Jordy was already awake as well and was getting dressed so Josh gave them breakfast and got them out of the house pretty quickly. I got dressed and when Josh returned he dropped me off at my doctors appointment. All was well so Josh picked me up after his football game. After returning home Danya arrived and decided to go with Josh to watch Jordy at his baseball chug. This was just in time ofr me to take a nap. When they returned Jordy invited a friend and Danya brought a friend. So everyone was playing happily while we got ready for Shabbat. Danya missed a bunch of phone calls but was happy to return the calls and leave everyone messages(we particularly enjoyed Maayan singing Happy Birthday). The kids went to shul with Josh(Danya only wanted to go so she could wear her new Shabbat shoes). On Friday night we ate dinner and before the meal was over Jordy was asking to go to sleep. I had him help me bring a birthday cake for Danya to the table before he went to sleep. Danya was really excited about her cake since she hadn't realized I made her a cake. Then Jordy went to bed followed by Danya.
Shabbat morning Danya had been invited to a friends house for lunch and we had told Jordy he could invite a friend over so at around 7:30am Danya and Jordy were all dressed and ready to go. I had to tell them that it was too early to go to shul to find their friends. They were a little disappointed. Danya went to shul when Josh left(different shul) to meet her friend. Jordy left about a half hour later to invite his friend over. Jordy and his friend returned and played nicely most the morning while I slept(I am so lazy!). We ate lunch and the kids continued to play while Josh and I read/napped. Josh spent a bit of time outside with the boys playing baseball. Danya returned about a half hour before Shabbat was over. The kids had dinner and showers and headed to bed.
This morning we changed our clocks and got our extra hour of sleep. I was surprised that Jordy didn't wake up at 5:30, but at 6:30 which was par for the course. Danya also slept until about 7am. Hooray! Josh took the kids to school and then after he returned we headed out to the grocery store. We bought out all the food in the store and then returned home. I did some pre-Yom Kippur cooking the rest of the morning and most the afternoon. I took a break to pick Jordy up from gan. For some reason Jordy was super hungry and ate a ton of food. Danya called to say she was at a friends house. I picked her up on my way out of the yishuv for yet another doctors appointment. Of course the nurse forgot to write my appointment, but at least she remembered scheduling it. I had to wait a while but I finally got in....guess what he told me? I am not in labor...duh. I am getting sick of going there so often! After I came home Danya helped me unload and reload the dishwasher and she was rewarded with a brownie before bed.

Rosh Hashanah and Tzom Gedalyah

Monday night we went to our friends Nicky and Alan Haplert for dinner. They, as do a lot of people in Israel, do a seder before the meal of all the foods with Simaniam(signs). I was asked to bring the fish head(which Danya and Jordy were a little freaked about). We had just had Challah and Jordy layed down and put his head on my lap and fell asleep. He slept through the whole meal. I was very impressed by Danya who sat the whole time trying all the new things and enjoying herself in spite of the fact that it was a very boy heavy meal and she could have complained the whole time!
On Tuesday morning I attempted to go to shul(attempted because the women section of the shul I went to was VERY crowded, hot and there were no assigned seats.) I got a little clausterphobic after about 10 minutes and had to leave. I returned at the end when they were doing all the shofar again. After shul we headed to the Gersons where we were joined by the Neuman's for a delicious lunch and entertaining ICJA/Skokie stories. After lunch we all went to do tashlich which Danya learned a lot about in school and was so excited to do. We went home for about an hour and then had to go light candles again and head out for the next meal(yes, people took pity on me and we were invited out for all 4 meals-thanks guys!). After lighting we headed over to the Neuman's house for dinner. Jordy again fell asleep after hamotzi, during the seder part of the meal. We had such a nice time sitting around and talking, we didn't leave until around 11. We had to wake Jordy up to walk home(the night before it was close, so Josh carried him). As soon as we got home the kids crashed.
Wednesday morning I decided that I wasn't even going to attempt shul and stayed home until it was time for the late shofar blowing. Then we all went to the Kaplansky's for lunch. The kids played nicely and we again, ate too much and had a nice time chatting. After lunch Danya went to a friends, Josh went home and Jordy and I went to the park. We only stayed for about an hour but Jordy showed off his skills going across the whole monkey bars successfully a few times. When we got home I gave Jordy dinner, Danya came home shortly after and then it was havdallah time. he kids finished dinner and then had showers before bed.
Today I had a meeting about Danya and Jordy's English chug. Then Josh took the car in to be fixed(yes, he made it home on Monday and it wasn't a huge thing to fix). Danya got home from school early because of the fast and she picked Jordy up from Gan. After Josh returned with the car Danya and I went to buy her new Shabbat shoes and then to buy decorations for her birthday cake. Then Danya tagged along with me to my doctors appointment. When we got home Jordy had a fit that Danya got new Shabbat shoes and he didn't. He is justified because he can use a new pair-I just didn't want to take both of them. We may be making another shoe trip tomorrow! I made dinner(I highly recommend the creme brulee(no idea how to spell that and it isn't coming up in spell check) french toast from Kosher Palette-thanks for the suggestion Lisa). Jordy went to bed and Danya spent the next hour discussing what she wants for her birthday. She thinks she is being neglected since she doesn't have a Game Boy DS or a hamster. I think she is more likely to get the DS, but it is more likely that she will get a new movie or a dress!