Our daughter now has a name. We named her for three of our grandfathers, her great-grandfathers. Here name is אילת נעמי, Ayelet Nomi. The name אילת is after Carrie's grandfather, Papa Frank Levy, whose Hebrew name was אפרים, and the נעמי is named after my mother's father Nathan Steingold, whose Hebrew name was נפתלי, and Carrie's father's father Nathan Apsel, whose Hebrew name was נתן. She is simply precious and God did not hold back any amount of beauty in creating her.
Thank you all for all of your well wishes.
Abba
Monday, November 24, 2008
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Wow! The moment we have been waiting for, for so long
Friends,
Our daughter (name in accordance with Jewish tradition has yet to be given) came into this world on Shabbat VaYera, November 14, 2008 at 8:11 pm. She weighed 7.5 pounds and was 20.5 inches long. She is the most beautiful girl in all of the world. We are so delighted to welcome her to our family and look forward to a lifetime with her. She is a little cranky when not fed promptly and she has yet to get the whole "manners" thing down pat, but we are working with her on all of this. Carrie was a truly amazing woman that night. She began to have contractions on Wednesday night and ultimately birthed our daughter two nights later... WOW!
I am now a man with two women in his life. I have my incredible wife who I owe so much to, and now I have my daughter to whom I will always look to for happiness and joy.
Each time I am holding her in my arms and feeding her or just cuddling with her, I remark: "wow, this is living, this is the greatest feeling in the world." I would never trade it for anything else. Children truly are our collective attempt of bettering creation each time. Children truly are the reason why God trusts us as people.
We will continue to update this blog as it will become her blog now.
All the best,
The Abba
Monday, November 10, 2008
The time is nearing, and so we begin...
Lego,
Soon your name will change from a description that your Eema called you, to your true name. While your Eema and Abba are busy working on finalizing the names we are not yet ready to settle on one. One of the problems is that we do not know if you are a boy or girl, and so we cannot complete this task until we have more knowledge.
Onto the reason for this letter:
We live in a strange world. We live in a strange society. We live in a strange period. And yet, we are so lucky to live in the world in which we live, in the society in which we experience life each day, and in the period in which we continue to move forward every moment. We are blessed to have so many opportunities. We are blessed to have so many capabilities. We are simply blessed. I hope that you will never take any of these things for granted. I hope that your Eema and I will succeed in raising you with a sense of thankfulness. I hope that you will live a life where you will see the positive and not the negative. I hope that we will not jade your vision of humanity.
We will always support you and defend you. We will provide the best that we are capable of providing. This is our solemn oath. We will try to cushion you each time you find yourself being let down. We will be there as a seat belt when life is speeding on the freeway. We will love you, and do everything you need us to do. You are being born into a family that places Judaism at its core. Your Eema and I have created a world that we believe is the best way for us to live. We aim to instill in you a value of this as well. We will spend Shabbats together with you, and begin them by blessing you as you bless us all week. We will struggle with life's big questions as you struggle with them. We will embrace all areas of Judaism and hope that you will find as much meaning as we do from it.
We do not know if you are a boy or a girl. But we will never tolerate a world where anybody thinks one of those two genders is superior to the other. We will not allow sexism in our house. So if you are a girl you have the whole world before you. If you are a boy we will never allow any sort of sexist concepts to be part of your education. We will be intolerant of one thing and one thing only: intolerance. Nobody is born a bigot, and we will help you to be diverse and embrace the beautiful gift that diversity is.
In summary, when things are tough... keep your head up יהיה טוב it will be okay. And always know that we are here for you and love and support you.
love,
Abba
Soon your name will change from a description that your Eema called you, to your true name. While your Eema and Abba are busy working on finalizing the names we are not yet ready to settle on one. One of the problems is that we do not know if you are a boy or girl, and so we cannot complete this task until we have more knowledge.
Onto the reason for this letter:
We live in a strange world. We live in a strange society. We live in a strange period. And yet, we are so lucky to live in the world in which we live, in the society in which we experience life each day, and in the period in which we continue to move forward every moment. We are blessed to have so many opportunities. We are blessed to have so many capabilities. We are simply blessed. I hope that you will never take any of these things for granted. I hope that your Eema and I will succeed in raising you with a sense of thankfulness. I hope that you will live a life where you will see the positive and not the negative. I hope that we will not jade your vision of humanity.
We will always support you and defend you. We will provide the best that we are capable of providing. This is our solemn oath. We will try to cushion you each time you find yourself being let down. We will be there as a seat belt when life is speeding on the freeway. We will love you, and do everything you need us to do. You are being born into a family that places Judaism at its core. Your Eema and I have created a world that we believe is the best way for us to live. We aim to instill in you a value of this as well. We will spend Shabbats together with you, and begin them by blessing you as you bless us all week. We will struggle with life's big questions as you struggle with them. We will embrace all areas of Judaism and hope that you will find as much meaning as we do from it.
We do not know if you are a boy or a girl. But we will never tolerate a world where anybody thinks one of those two genders is superior to the other. We will not allow sexism in our house. So if you are a girl you have the whole world before you. If you are a boy we will never allow any sort of sexist concepts to be part of your education. We will be intolerant of one thing and one thing only: intolerance. Nobody is born a bigot, and we will help you to be diverse and embrace the beautiful gift that diversity is.
In summary, when things are tough... keep your head up יהיה טוב it will be okay. And always know that we are here for you and love and support you.
love,
Abba
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Still Getting Ready
It is November 6, 2008 and Carrie and I are still in waiting mode. We went to the doctor yesterday and found out that Carrie's body is beginning to progress into the birthing process. This was welcomed news for Carrie as she is getting a little tired. We still do not know the date of birth. We still do not know what time... And it is tough for everybody to just sit and wait, but let us all remember it is most tough for Carrie as she is the one sharing her body with Lego.
Yesterday was her birthday and I hope she had a good one. We are both turning 30 this year and that is an enormous birthday, and yet I feel like we all forgot about the enormity of these birthdays in all of the excitement of Lego's upcoming debut.
I love my wife so much and want to wish her a happy birthday one more time. Carrie and I have spent 10 birthdays together, and I love her even more now than before.
The room now has a lovely dresser, glider, ottoman, bookcase (stocked with books) clothing, new blinds, painted walls, and so much more. The crib is in the garage waiting to be setup when the baby is born. Everything looks great and we are excited to show lego his/her room ASAP.
On November 4th our great country went to the polls and elected the first ever black president of the United States. It is incredible just how far we have come in this country and I am beaming with pride over what our country has accomplished. We truly are the land where great things can happen. We truly have arrived as a country where everybody can be included in the American Dream. I am so overjoyed by the new found ability of mine to tell my child that he or she can do anything that she or he would like. As long as he or she is willing to work hard for it. I never truly believed in that in the past... Now I do.
All the best,
Josh
Yesterday was her birthday and I hope she had a good one. We are both turning 30 this year and that is an enormous birthday, and yet I feel like we all forgot about the enormity of these birthdays in all of the excitement of Lego's upcoming debut.
I love my wife so much and want to wish her a happy birthday one more time. Carrie and I have spent 10 birthdays together, and I love her even more now than before.
The room now has a lovely dresser, glider, ottoman, bookcase (stocked with books) clothing, new blinds, painted walls, and so much more. The crib is in the garage waiting to be setup when the baby is born. Everything looks great and we are excited to show lego his/her room ASAP.
On November 4th our great country went to the polls and elected the first ever black president of the United States. It is incredible just how far we have come in this country and I am beaming with pride over what our country has accomplished. We truly are the land where great things can happen. We truly have arrived as a country where everybody can be included in the American Dream. I am so overjoyed by the new found ability of mine to tell my child that he or she can do anything that she or he would like. As long as he or she is willing to work hard for it. I never truly believed in that in the past... Now I do.
All the best,
Josh
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