Our first family outing

Today, we had our first 3 person family outing, and it was very exciting. We got the stroller downstairs and Adira all bundled up (it is still a little chilly in Israel) and headed out for a walk to the Tipat Chalav office (the socialized medical centers for children's immunizations in Israel). In order for her to get any shots she needs for the next 4+ months we are here we need to register there. The hospital also wanted her weight checked today to make sure everything is going ok (she's doing a great job, slowly gaining weight). She has her 1st month check-up set, at which point she'll get officially registered. The nurse at the center was extremely nice - speaking hebrew slowly to make sure we understood everything and didn't even yell at us, when in new parent style, we did not bring a diaper to change her into after she was weighed (we weren't even processing that newborns are weighed in their birthday suits, and since it is only 7 minutes from our house we figured we'd change her, if need be when we got home). She did amazing - not fusing at all about getting undressed or weighed and practically slept through the whole thing. We headed home and got back just in time before a light rain shower hit. We don't have any more outings planned, but we do know now for any future outings, no matter how short, to always have a diaper and diaper cloth with us.

Adira Bracha is home

Adira came home on Friday and we've made it through the first 36 hours plus. Aaron and I are learning her routine and how to change diapers in record breaking speeds.
Adira was greeted into her first Shabbos with her Shalom Bat on Friday night - some great dvar torah's (especially by her Abba), accompanied with some singing and dancing.
A lot of people have asked us about the name and we'll try to explain a little bit.
Adira started out as a name we both just liked - it literally means mighty and we wish for her a life filled with strength of character and the power to be a mighty, influential woman in this world. Bracha was originally thought of, for as many of you know, the opportunity to have a child did not come so easily to us. We recognize and thank Hashem for this amazing blessing he has bestowed upon us. Those were are initial thoughts, as we looked into the name more and after sharing it with people on Thursday we realized how much more fitting it was and really is the right name for her. I am being called for feeding duty, so I will let Aaron fill you in on those other ideas.

The Moment You've All Been Waiting For...

It is with the greatest pride and joy that I am writing this post. Ilana and I are thrilled to have welcomed are first child to the world. Ilana gave birth on Tuesday evening (Adar I, 14th) to a beautiful baby girl. She surprised us all a bit because she wasn’t due for another few weeks. No matter though; we’ll keep her anyway! She was 3.1 kilograms (6 pounds, 13 ounces). The “613” phenomenon did not go unnoticed. We also have it in our anniversary (6/13). Mom and Baby are both doing well and the name will be given tomorrow.

Mid-Winter Break

This weekend the yeshiva had its annual mid-winter break. That means that the students have a long five-day weekend to relax and get ready for the next half of the zman. We started the break early though. On Wednesday evening we had the pleasure of attending the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra. This was a special concert in regards to the selection of music that they played. The program for the evening was comprised of soundtracks from famous movies. The highlights included the following: Lord of the Rings, Mission Impossible, James Bond, Pink Panther, West Side Story, The Godfather, Harry Potter, Fiddler on the Roof, Indiana Jones, Star Wars and many more. The only curious addition to the program was "Yugoslavian overture for accordion." In the middle of the program, the director walks off stage and comes back with an accordion. He turns around to face the audience and then goes through a 10-minute piece. It seemed completely out of place but it was actually rather amusing. I don't think too many people expected that they would see an accordion performance.

On Thursday, we went out for Ilana's birthday dinner. Down Emek Refaim there is a Latin American restaurant called La Boca and we had read excellent reviews. It didn't disappoint. The food was fantastic and the ambiance was good as well. I enjoyed the dessert more than anything else: Hot churros with a side of ice cream.

If the first few days of the break were relaxing, Friday was a day of contrast. We had company for both meals. Ilana had agreed to have guests on the condition that I do all of the cooking. I enjoy cooking but I discovered that it is a lot harder than it looks. Fortunately though, I had a good menu and everything actually turned out pretty well in the end. It was also reassuring to know that we had Sunday to recover. Shavua Tov!

Tennis or Soccer

This past weekend we went up to Ramat HaSharon to see Israel play in the Davis Cup Tennis tournament. It is different than regular tournaments, for you are playing for your country, not as an individual. This is the first time Israel has ranked high enough to play in the world group, so it was a pretty exciting time. We were looking forward to seeing some great tennis in a relaxing, pleasant fashion. However, we were in for a surprise. Though the players were playing tennis, the audience felt they were at a soccer match. People had drums, flags waving (though Aaron was also one of the people waving a flag), noisemakers and techno chants. You don't think it could happen - check out the videos (make sure your volume is up loud).

On this first video you can hear the people chanting Israel Oleh - meaning Israel will rise and after singing that for a little bit they would scream out the players name - in this case Dudi Sela. Also, feel free to note the head referee asking people to remain quiet during play - part of the problem is they kept on announcing this in English and I'm not sure that most of the people there had a clue what he was saying.

This next video is a techno version of a religious hebrew song - an interesting selection for the mostly secular crowd at the stadium - the words mean that we are believers, children of believers and we have no one in which to place trust, except for our father who is in heaven.

On Friday we also had a slight rain delay - it actually only rained for about 5-10 minutes, but who thinks it rains in Israel. Even though this is technically the rainy season, the past number of years, including this one, has seen Israel in more of drought condition than rain. Drying the courts is what took the time - almost an hour for that.

Sunday, was great - from the parking lot to the actual stadium was taking me almost 30 minutes to walk - but on Sunday, some nice lady stopped her car only 3 minutes into the walk and asked if we were going to the tennis center, when we said yes, she replied that it is too far for me to walk with a stomach like this and gave us a ride the rest of the way - only in Israel does someone stop to do that, and do we get in the car. Sunday was also gorgeous weather to be outside - at least 70 degrees and nice and sunny.

Since we rented a car (which Aaron was very excited about that I still fit behind the wheel and could reach the pedals - I had about 1 inch to spare) to get around for the weekend we also got to do a drive through of Herziliya on Saturday night - the houses and marina there are beautiful. We also got to do some grocery shopping and stocked up on all those heavy, cumbersome stuff that is a pain to carry back from the grocery store. It was a great mini vacation.