Army Party

Clearly I need to work on updating the blog more often in the new year.
Last week Lanie, Ari, Maayan and Eliora arrived. While we just saw them in Chicago we were really excited to see them here(and no, not just because they brought us all sorts of goodies).
Last Thursday night we were invited to a party hosted by the army to thank the families who participate in the coffee to soldiers program. The battalion(is that the right term???) that hosted the party have been in our neighborhood for a year and a half and they are leaving so they wanted to thank us for providing them with coffee and baked goods every night. Originally just Lori and I were going to go(as we are the ones who do it) but when we saw that it was at their base and it was this huge gathering I called Josh and told him to bring the kids because it was something to be a part of. There was a ceremony where the commander(term?) spoke thanking us and then the head of the program spoke. Then each family who participates got a certificate. Then we ate. Danya and Jordy were sitting across from a few soldiers and they started chatting with them. It was cute!
Shabbat we had dinner at Lisa and Nafi's with Lanie and Ari(who are staying there for now). We had lunch at our house after going to a kiddush at the Block's house up the street. Saturday night Ari came over to babysit while we went to a Simchat Bat for Sharon and Akiva's baby.
Saturday night/Sunday morning the clocks changed. Sunday Jordy spent most the day playing Wii. Danya wanted to play with a friend but she had to clean up. A little while into her cleaning she commented that she didn't feel good. I knew she was sick when she said she wanted to take a nap. She slept through our seudah and then she woke up right as Yom Kippur was about to start. I convinced Jordy to go to shul with Josh and the rest of us stayed home. Jordy returned soon after saying that some kids were being mean to him. After Josh got home we got the kids to bed and went to sleep.
Yom Kippur morning Danya was feeling better. We all got dressed and I convinced Danya and Jordy to go to shul even for just a short while. I took Nadav and of course each time I tried walking in he started screeching. I would walk out and he would calm down. Then I would attempt going in again and he would start screeching again. So I davened outside and headed home. I got Nadav into bed so I took a nap while Danya and Jordy ate their snacks and played Uno. The rest of the day pretty much went the same way. I davened Neila outside again as Nadav did the same thing with the screeching. We came home after the fast and had our festive break the fast meal of everything in the refrigerator. We were going to build the sukkah but Josh pointed out that our outside light was out so we had to postpone a day.
Yesterday morning Ari came over eventually to help build the sukkah. Since I had the great idea last year to keep the boards attached when we stored it it took a quarter of the time to build it.
After the sukkah went up we went to shilat to run a few errands.
Otherwise things have been status quo here. Shopping, cooking, cleaning etc. Nadav has taken his first steps. He has been standing and taking a wobbly step here and there but this past week he has been really walking. Of course each time I pick up the camera to video it he falls. I will keep trying. Nadav also likes to bite. He thinks it is hysterical when he bites me and I yell. Of course I am sure I am not helping since he is laughing I start laughing. So far he has only been biting me. I should probably deter him though.

Happy New Year

Well since my last post life has pretty much gone on as usual. Shopping, cooking, carpools, doctors appointments, a Bat Mitzvah party, a kiddush and a housewarming. A lot of time the past 2 weeks was dedicated to shopping and cooking.
Rosh Hashanah was really nice. We had Eva's brother Robert staying with us for Yom Tov. Friday night it was just us and him. He filled us in on his army plans and his football team. Saturday morning the kids did not want to get dressed or go to shul. I finally convinced them to go but then by the time we got there Nadav started going a little nutty, so we headed home. Our guests, the Furmansky's and the Lustman's arrived a full hour before Josh and Robert returned home. Luckily it was nice and cool in the house and the kids all played nicely. We ended up having a really nice time and everyone sat around until after 5pm. A few hours later it was time for dinner. The Brodsky's came over for dinner. Even though nobody was hungry we sat around eating, and lets be honest, drinking until 11:30. Sunday morning I convinced the kids to get dressed and go to shul a little better than the day before. I made it to Rimon for my time to supervise the kids groups and I got to daven during that time. I also made it to Shaare Yedidyah for Musaf. We had the Gerson's and the Halpert's for lunch. We had a great time and got some good tiyul advice as well. We all left to go to tashlich and then headed home. A few hours later Rosh Hashana was over and the clean up began.

Wishing all my readers, both the confessed readers and the lurkers, a Shanah Tovah(happy new year)!

3 Terem Visits and a Trip to the ER

Well it's been a busy week.
On Wednesday the kids returned to school. That day was a little longer, ending at 12:30. Jordy went to Moshe's to play until karate time and Danya went to Tamar's until dance class. I just had Nadav home. He still didn't seem himself but he still had no fever. I gave him a little bit of an omelet for breakfast and then the fun began. In the afternoon his face became covered in red splotches and dots. Problem was I wasn't sure if it was a result of the virus he had just finished or as an allergic reaction to the eggs. He didn't seem to be bothered by it so I gave him some benadryl and let it be. He took a nap in the evening and when he woke up at 8pm his face was completely covered and it was all red. I kind of panicked and took him to terem(emergent care center). The doctor hardly looked at him and said it was the virus and had me out the door 15 minutes after I walked in.
Thursday morning, after Danya and Jordy headed to school, I took Nadav to his tipat chalav(well baby care) appointment. As soon as I walked in the nurse yelled at me to leave, that I shouldn't have brought a sick baby to the healthy baby place. I tried telling her that he wasn't contagious and that the terem doctor said all was well. Then she told me it was probably an allergic reaction and I need to take him to our regular doctor. So I made an appointment for later that night. In the meantime, the rash had spread all over his body. Thursday evening I saw the family doctor since our pediatrician didn't have hours on Thursday. She couldn't decide if it was virus or allergy so she....wait for it....googled it! I told her I had already done the same at home. She did give me a referral to take him to the allergist which was all I really needed anyhow. Later that night Jordy was complaining of a tummy ache and he was in tears so Josh took him to Terem. They couldn't find anything wrong and he was all better so they sent him home. So that was trip #2 to terem.
Friday morning Danya and Jordy went to school and I spent most the morning cooking. After everyone was home we went to the pool. For some reason when we went into the pool the rash mostly disappeared, but don't worry, it came back later. We saw Akiva at the pool and he asked how Nadav was doing(I include this point because I wouldn't have asked him for his medical opinion outside his office if he hadn't brought it up). I told him the whole story about how we aren't sure if he has an egg allergy or a rash from the virus so he took a look(for those of you keeping score at home that is 4 doctors who have looked at him). He said it looked like allergy to him. Friday night Zev Brodsky joined us for dinner. He regaled us with tales from the army.
Shabbat morning Zev returned along with the Rotters and the Wallins. Dvora brought a platter of our favorite cookies and Suzanne brought an amazing cake...needless to say, my brownies from a mix never made it to the table. We had a fun lunch with too many leftovers. A little later I put Nadav in the stroller and walked Jordy and the friends that had showed up to the park. We spent a lot of time there and returned at dinner time.
Sunday morning after the kids got to school I took Nadav to the allergist who didn't even look at the rash(which has faded substantially but is still there). She decided to go right to the source and do blood work. She told me to get some blood tests done and return after the results. Finally some action. We were able to get one of the tests done right then but will have to wait until Tuesday for the next one. Sunday evening I went to an Amit sponsored shiur in memory of the mother of a friend on the yishuv.
Monday-I am trying to remember what I did Monday and nothing is coming to me. I guess we hung out at home most the morning and then in the afternoon took Danya and Jordy from chug to chug. A note about the chuggim, after school activities-the first week the kids can try them out and decide which ones they want to take. Danya has settled on art, softball, dance and English. Jordy will be taking swimming, ceramics, karate and English. I predict a lot of driving in my future. Monday night I went to a parents meeting for Danya's class. I am not sure why but I volunteered to be on the parents committee(OK, I know why-it is because all the other parents on the committee are American so I wasn't worried about the Hebrew). Another mother pointed out that at the first grade meeting I had no clue what was going on and she had to translate most the meeting for me. Look how far I've come, I understood everything.
Tuesday morning I took Nadav to the doctors office to get his blood test. He hardly noticed when they did it. We were in and out pretty quickly. I also stopped at Rami Levy. They have a new store that opened that morning but I was still able to shop in the old one and there were only about 4 other people in the store which was so nice. Tuesday evening I went with Lisa, Nafi and baby Merav(Josh had to stay home and work) to Yaffa Geldman's wedding. The wedding was beautiful and so much fun. I love Israeli weddings! The only part that wasn't much fun was when we returned to their car at around 11pm the car was dead. Nafi went to find someone to jump the car and returned with Ardie. He said he was happy to do it rather than talk to the caterer but I felt bad. Unfortunately it didn't do the trick. So we waited quite some time for the auto service to show. At 12:30pm Lisa and I decided to take Merav and go in a cab back while Nafi waited since Lisa had a babysitter at her house who had to go home. Of course as we were getting into the cab the service arrived. 10 minutes later Nafi called to say they gave him a new battery and he was right behind us. So I got home a little after 1 and made lunches and fed Nadav and finally went to bed.
This morning I was not happy to be woken up by Danya and Jordy fighting. I was happy once they left for school. When Josh returned from shul he let me go back to sleep while he hung out with Nadav. After Danya and Jordy finished school they both went to play at the Balsam's house. Since Nadav was napping I was using the time to clean the kitchen and start thinking about food for Rosh Hashanah(yes, it's that time of year). It was so nice and peaceful. Lets call it the calm before the storm. Lisa called to say that while Jordy and Moshe were making things with the perler beads Jordy put one up his nose and it is stuck. Since Nadav was sleeping I left him with Josh and took Jordy to terem. The doctor tried to get it out but with Jordy moving he pushed it further up. I think he was afraid to try again and he sent us to the hospital. First I stopped at home to pick up Nadav who needed to eat. While there Josh asked Jordy why he put it up his nose. Jordy responded that he thought Moshe would think it was funny. Josh then asked how he was planning on getting it out, if he planned on picking it out. Jordy responded that "I tried to pick it". Then we decided to try and bribe Jordy to not freak out we gave him the option of the hospital with the shopping mall in it so he can get something if he lets the doctor take the bead out or the hospital with the kosher McDonald's so we can get a happy meal if he lets the doctor take it out. He choose McDonald's so we were off to Schneider's Hospital in Petach Tikvah at 5pm. There was a large accident on the highway so the ride that should have taken about a half hour took about an hour and a half. Once we were seen in the ER we were sent to the ENT which was of course in a different building. When we arrived to the ENT's ER we were told the doctor just left on dinner break and will be back momentarily. Of course that meant 45 minutes. Poor Jordy was starving but I wouldn't let him eat anything on the off chance that they would need him to have had an empty stomach. We were finally seen by the ENT who had to call another doctor to help us hold Jordy down. There was a substantial amount of screaming which I think scared Nadav, but at 8:45, with 3 of us holding him the bead was removed! Before returning to the ER for our discharge papers we went to McDonald's where Jordy inhaled his dinner. We finally got out of the hospital at 9:15 and made it home close to 10. I packed all the lunches and am now going to enjoy a nice glass of wine.

First Day of School

This morning Danya and Jordy jumped out of bed when their alarm clocks went off at 7am. Josh and I weren't so quick as we were up with Nadav from 4-5:30am. Good thing Danya and Jordy were so excited for the first day of school that they did everything without fighting. They were insistent that they walk to school without a parent escorting them. So they were off for a short first day of 3rd and 1st grade. I then returned to sleep. Not much later Nadav was up and I fed him and he promptly fell right back asleep-and so did I. Before I knew it Jordy was home from school. Danya went to her new art chug which very conveniently is 2 houses away. Then she went the Balsam's where she did her homework and played with Meira. Jordy hung out at home and then I brought him to his swimming chug. Then Nadav and I went to Modiin to pick up the Israeli version of pedalyte. After picking up Jordy we then went to the doctor. While in the waiting room Jordy was trying to entertain Nadav and he started singing "one little two little three little Indians" except for some reason he thought the word was idiots rather than Indians. It was kind of funny but I corrected him. The doctor said Nadav has a virus and we should just keep him hydrated. We then returned home and I tried to get dinner made by 6 but the chicken wasn't fully defrosted, so the chicken took a little longer. We sat and listened to the kids tell about their days. Then the kids played Wii and went to bed. I joined Lori and Dvora for a walk around the yishuv and now I have to finish covering Danya's school books.