"I Wanna Hold Your Hand"

Now that the twins are getting older and more social, its really cute to see them interact.  They love to lay on their bellies, looking at each other, and I often find them holding hands when I leave them laying near each other.  On more than one occasion, I've even found one of them sucking the other ones' thumb!  Its so cute!

Becoming a Big Brother

Lots of people were worried how Nissim was going to react to his little brothers, as he had gotten used to being pampered and treated like a prince.  B"H he's taken to them quite nicely- and he's actually grown up a bit because of them!  One night during bedtime, Hillel was kvetchy (a rare occurrence) so I put him in Nissim's bed while I brushed the other children's teeth.  I kept peaking in to make sure they were okay, and it was really cute to watch Nissim making nice to Hillel, kissing him, and even trying to give him his bottle!  It was a real nachas moment!

Little Boy(s) Blue

I caught this cute shot of my two blue-eyed boys while we were eating lunch on Lag B'Omer in Meron.  Aren't those eyes just gorgeous?

A Handsome Little Boy

I've been getting some request for some nicer pictures of Nissim since his upsherin, since I wasn't able to get any nice shots in Meron. Here you go!

Thanks, Menucha, for the adorable Shabbos outfit- 

do you remember when you bought it for me?  

KA"H Nissim is my 4th boy to wear it...and its still in good condition!

Sleeping cuties

Naftali had a hard time falling asleep one night, so I let him cuddle on the couch with Yehuda Leib, who was also having a hard time settling down.  B"H my trick worked and they both fell asleep.  Aren't they yummy?

 Do you see the resemblance?  I do!

Happy Birthday, Azriel Shraga!

While the rest of us were counting Sefirah, Azriel Shraga was busy counting down the days to his birthday- and yesterday was finally the day he'd been eagerly looking forward to!  He wore Shabbos clothes to school and gave out candies to his classmates.  Then when he came home we made a mini birthday party for him, inviting all the neighbor's children.

We had a nice time- first playing some games of Musical Chairs and Freeze Dance (the neighbor's kids all played nicely but a few of ours were being sore losers...can't imagine where they got that from?!) and then we had a short "Seudas Amenim" where we had birthday cake, peanuts, apples, grape juice, and roasted marshmallows.  It was a lot of fun and a nice way to do something meaningful at the same time.

We were so busy enjoying ourselves that I didn't have time to take pictures...I only managed to take a picture of the cake once it was almost completely gone...

May we see much Nachas from Azriel Shraga as he continues to grow!

Nissim's Upsherin

(Sorry for the delay in posting...)

When Nissim was still sick in the hospital, I remember Bentzi saying to me, "BE"H this little boy is going to get better, and IY"H when he's three years old, we're going to take him to Rabi Shimon to cut his hair".  It gave us chizzuk at the time, to hold onto a hope that the difficult time we were going through would pass.  Its amazing to realize that almost three years have gone by since then, and B"H we were zoche to see that dream become a reality this past Lag B'Omer.

Since Lag B'Omer this year fell out on Motzai Shabbos, we decided to take the entire family to Tzfas for Shabbos, so that we'd be closer to Meron once the Lag B'Omer festivites began.  We kept our plans a secret from the kids until we woke them up that morning and told them "Quick- get dressed nicely- we're going to Meron!"  Aunt Dinah, who had just arrived from the US earlier in the week, met up with us in Beitar to join us for the trip- we figured it would be nice to have another adult with us to help out with the kids (little did we know how crucial her help would be!)  We had a nice (LONG) drive up, with some stops along the way, finally arriving at the apartment we'd rented in Tzfas early Friday afternoon.  After eating a quick lunch, we got ready for Shabbos, while the kids explored the apartment and its surroundings.

Shabbos was beautiful- we really enjoyed the change of scenery and the beautiful view of the surrounding mountains.  Nissim fell off a chair at one point and cut his chin (never a dull moment, even in Tzfas!) but B"H the bleeding wasn't too terrible and it stopped right away, and B"H we saw that he was okay.  Late Shabbos afternoon, once it had cooled off, we went for a huge walk up to the old city of Tzfas, where we got to do a bit of sight-seeing, and were able to enjoy the magnificent views from one of the most highest points in Tzfas.

Motzai Shabbos saw Bentzi and I heading out to Meron much later than expected (I ended up taking Nissim to the ER to get his chin stitched up) and by the time we headed out (thanks to Aunt Dinah for offering to babysit!) the road leading to Meron was completely backed up.  We finally parked the car on the side of the road and walked the rest of the way.  What should have taken us 10 minutes to get there, took over two hours- but it was well worth it, as I was able to get all the way into the "Ma'ara" (building over Rabi Shimon's kever) to daven.

The next morning, after packing up our stuff, we headed out to Meron with the entire family, to cut Nissim's hair.  We got out much later than expected, which worked to our benefit- little did we know that the roads were completely backed up all morning- but by the time we headed out at 1 PM, traffic had settled down and we made it to Meron in a matter of minutes.  With each adult holding onto two children and one pushing the stroller, we battled the crowds in Meron until we found a nice shady spot overlooking Rabi Shimon's kever, where we cut Nissim's hair.

Poor Nissim wasn't very excited about his haircut- I'm not sure if he was tired because of the previous day's events, or if he was sad to see his "kookoo" go- but he cried as we cut his hair.  It was very emotional, watching my baby transform into a little boy, thinking of everything we've been through with him.  To be in such a holy place, on such an auspicious day- it was really beautiful.

As we were leaving Meron, we spotted a cousin of ours- Bentzi's cousin Priva from Bnei Brak, who had hosted me after Nissim was born, while he was in Tel HaShomer after surgery.  It was so special that out of the hundreds of thousands of people who came to Meron, we saw her- it felt that we had come full circle- she had been with us in the very begining of Nissim's illness, and now she was able to join in our Simcha of his Upsherin.

We headed back to the cars, ate a quick lunch, and began our long drive home.  We made a stop along the way to daven Mincha at the kever of Rabi Meir Ba'al HaNes- a meaningful way to end a beautifully uplifting weekend.

Just as we were zoche to bring Nissim to Meron for his Upsherin, so too, Hashem should help us see the realization of all our hopes and dreams for this precious little boy!