Welcome Aaron!

With tremendous gratitude and joy, we announce the birth of our son, Aaron Yeshaya, born on 12/16/09 at 1:29 PM at 5 lbs 15 oz, 19 inches.

We found out on December 15th (Amira's 8th Birthday!) that the C-section would be the following day. For the last 3 months of the pregnancy, we had known that I would be delivered early, due to some pregnancy complications, but we did not know until last minute exactly when that would be! Thankfully, my mother had come in that Sunday to take care of Amira and Yaakov and the results of the lung maturity amnio that I had on 12/14/09 (large needle in stomach, not a pleasant experience to say the least) came back as mature.

The C-section itself went very smoothly, thank G-d. My OB is just so wonderful, and the anesthesiologist was great, which made a huge difference. I decided not to have any duramorph (pain medicine) in my spinal, since it made me itch horribly when I had Yaakov, and I thought that would be a good decision, but it turns out that the resulting pain really is much worse than any itch that I would have had....so my recovery wasn't that great or fast this time around. On the positive side, thanks to one of the many complications this pregnancy, I did not actually gain any weight at all, and walked out of the hospital weighing less then I started the pregnancy, and was in my regular clothes by his Bris! With both other kids, I was still in maternity when they were 3 months old!

NJ Hospitals have a new policy as of two months ago that children under 18 are not allowed to visit at all, which was really hard. I am so glad that we were able to schedule the section for the day after Amira's birthday, first because that way, they each have their own day, and second, because I really would have felt awful not seeing her at all on her birthday. As it was, Yaakov cried on the phone to me every day that I was gone, wanting me to come back. When I was finally able to tell him that I would be coming home the next day, and that we would be able to cuddle and hug, he started crying again and I asked him, well, what do you want? And he said "I just want to hold my baby!"

The homecoming itself was perfect. That Sunday there was a huge blizzard, which dumped up to 24 inches of snow in the Tri-State area, but somehow, we only got about 6 inches! My ever awesome and incredibly helpful mother came to the hospital with Yehuda to get us, and my kids played at our neighbors in the snow! The big kids were in love with him right away. Yaakov ran up to us, put his hands over his eyes, and then threw them off and yelled "Peek a Boo!" We all cracked up!

The Bris was beautiful and we were so grateful and thrilled at how many family members and friends were able to come.

Now, we are adjusting to life as a family of five, thank G-d! The big kids are super helpful and wonderful with Aaron! Yaakov talks to him in this very high pitched voice all the time, which is hilarious, and always wants to give him toys to hold and doesn't quite get that Aaron doesn't yet have any control over his body! Last night, Yaakov asked me how old he would be when Aaron turned 4, and I said 8, and he grinned and threw his hands up in the air and said gleefully "And then we will be the SAME age and we will be BROTHERS!!" Just precious. I was panicking one evening because he was crying and I had to go to the bathroom and didn't want to leave him in his bassinet screaming, and remembered that Amira could hold him, and she did, very happily!

And one last note, thanks to Saba, Yaakov is very interested in the Mars and Lunar Rovers and last night was doing "this little piggy" on Aaron's tiny toes and changed the last line to "And this little piggy went to Mars on the Lunar Rover!" Ha!

Eight!

My little newborn daughter is eight years old today! That just boggles my mind completely. The past eight years have flown by, way too quickly, really. But I look at her, and I am so very proud of my big girl. She really is, Ka"H, a pleasure and a joy and I am beyond grateful every single day that she is ours. Instead of a big birthday party this year, she chose instead to invite her three best friends for a small party (and considering my 9 months pregnant state, that was a very, very appreciated decision). So on Sunday morning I took the four girls to a jewelry beading place nearby and it was just wonderful. They all had a great time, they were beautifully behaved and a lot of fun! They each made a bracelet or a necklace and I made a necklace for Amira, which she was also thrilled with!

She had her eight year well visit last week and has grown 3 inches in the past year and is now exactly 48 inches tall! Which means that she has grown 29 inches since she was born. That's just amazing. She wanted to know how many more inches she has to grow to be my height (16, for the record!). Savta is here visiting us (read: helping me) and came along yesterday to pick out glasses for Amira, who failed her vision test in school and can't see the board anymore... Not a big surprise considering her parents and her love of reading! She was very specific in what she liked and didn't like and chose a pair that she was thrilled with, and I was happy with. She looks so grown up in them, though, which just feels weird for me. But then again, the whole concept of having a child who is eight years old and in second grade is completely weird for me as well. I wonder if it ever doesn't feel weird to watch your children grow up. I just wish it wasn't flying by so quickly. I am really, really enjoying this stage of life very completely.

I asked Amira last night what she wanted for her birthday dinner and she said either Sushi or Pizza. So we are having a birthday dinner of Sushi with Savta! What a wonderful treat.

One small Yaakov note: I had to take him to the Pediatrician yesterday since he was up all night the night before crying that his ear hurt. He does in fact have an ear infection, so I am glad we caught that! While we were waiting for the doctor, he was telling me that Savta took him and Amira to the playground and that he had fallen in some water and had to change his pants when he got home. I asked him which pants he was wearing before and he scrunched up his face and said: "Um, they are the ones that are, I think, champagne colored?" I knew right away which ones he was talking about but am so curious where he learned that color! Too funny!

Anyhow, back to my sweet, delicious, and beyond precious birthday girl. It is my hope and prayer that she continue to be the good, sweet, loving, kind, smart, beautiful, fun, independent, warm, helpful, responsible, fun loving, book loving, friend and family loving and all around wonderful person that she is now. Yehuda and I are truly blessed that she is ours, and please G-d we look forward to watching her grow and learn and develop and continue of the beautiful path she is on in good health and happiness, Ad Meah V'Esrim.

Hatching

One night last week as I was putting Yaakov to bed, he leaned over and gently poked my belly and asked "When is this going to crack open already so the baby can hatch out of there?"

Ha! The baby was lucky that I didn't crack open right there from laughing so hard!



Anyhow, as Carpool Grandpa has pointed out, conferences came and went with nary a note from yours truly. But before we get to that, I would like to wish a huge Mazal Tov to our precious, handsome, sweet, brilliant and all around super wonderful nephew Jesse on the occasion of his Bar Mitzvah this coming Shabbos! I can't believe that a) he really is that old already and b) we are missing it, but we will be celebrating this momentous occasion along with him and his family from over here! And my super awesome sister in law already sent us the slide show/dvd of all the family pictures that they will play at the Bar Mitzvah, so we will get to enjoy that on Sunday along with them!



So, conferences. Pretty much what I was expecting, actually! Amira's teachers generally all have the same comments in November, that she is so reserved and quiet and they wish she would participate more, but that she is starting to open up more in class. And this year is the same! Her English teacher is a little worried that she is too much of a perfectionist (I wonder where she gets that from?) and was actually surprised to find me outgoing. I told her that I may be outgoing, but I am definitely a perfectionist! Besides for the quietness, though, they both are thrilled with how she is doing, the quality of her work, and how bright she is, thank G-d. Her English teacher loves her writing and her creativity and was surprised when I told her that Amira says her favorite subject is math! When I asked Amira before the conference if there was anything she wanted me to talk to her teachers about, the only thing she mentioned was that she was having trouble seeing the board, particularly in Hebrew, which means that glasses are coming now, rather than later. I don't know why that makes me sad, but it does. We are picking up her prescription today and going to pick out frames on Friday, hopefully. Between that and the missing teeth, she really is starting to look like a big kid! We had her 8 year well visit this week, and she is now exactly 48 inches tall! She is following the exact growth curve that she has been on since she is born- 25% for height and 3rd for weight, so at least she is consistent!
More on the Birthday Girl next week, G-d willing!

As for Yaakov's conferences, they were great! His teacher is really lovely and really enjoys him. She mentioned many times how impressive she finds his "sophisticated vocabulary" and how much he has grown and developed already in the past couple months! She did say that his cutting/scissor skills need work, as does his letter writing skills, but he is young, and young for his class, and for a kid who didn't even recognize any of his letters in the summer to now easily know them all, and be able to write them, is pretty wonderful. I have no doubts that he will catch up! She also said that he is definitely a fidgety little guy, but that he always, always knows exactly what is going on and can answer every single question. This past Friday night at the Shabbos table, we asked him all his Parsha questions, and he answered them all easily and happily. Then we asked Amira her questions, and any time she even hesitated for a second to think about the answer, he quickly chimed in with the (correct!) answer! Yehuda and I were both happily surprised and amused, and Amira was...not so amused or thrilled really. Heh. Thankfully, she was able to go on and answer all the questions from the 3rd and 4th grade list and then even the 5th and 6th grade list, and that made her feel better!