In case anyone is out there who has not heard our most recent news, I am copying a message I recently wrote into this post. This message is from Tuesday, May 25.

About this time of the evening 7 days ago, the LORD took the baby he placed in me for 6 weeks back to Himself. It has been a season we will never forget, but I am thankful for His presence, providence and perfect plan. We are trusting in 1 Pet. 5:10"But may the G-D of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Messiah Yeshua, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you."

I have learned that His love is above and beyond any that we could give this child. He loves us so deeply that He desires us to dwell with Him. Today I was reminded:
Precious in the sight of the LORD Is the death of His saints." Ps. 116:15

I can proudly say, I am the mother of 3 children. Even though we had such a short time together, so short I don't even know their name, but I already loved and will always love and miss my faceless baby leite. As I sit here and cry what I hope are tears of closure, I can find no proper way to "bury" what has gone. Our family will never be the same. But I am filled with wonder at how He loves us and how much better of a parent He is than I could ever be. My heart lies forever in His hands and my hope is to be united with my baby when we see each other in glory, to look into their eyes and see the peace that truly passed all my understanding...and for us all, our family of 5 (and any more blessings He chooses to send our way) plus the myriads of believers bow together to sing (from Psalm 139:1-18):

O LORD, You have searched me and known [me].
You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off.
You comprehend my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways.
For [there is] not a word on my tongue, [But] behold, O LORD, You know it altogether.
You have hedged me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me.
[Such] knowledge [is] too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot [attain] it.
Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?
If I ascend into heaven, You [are] there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You [are there].
[If] I take the wings of the morning, [And] dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
Even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me.
If I say, "Surely the darkness shall fall [fn] on me," Even the night shall be light about me;
Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, But the night shines as the day; The darkness and the light [are] both alike [to You].
For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb.
I will praise You, for I am fearfully [and] wonderfully made; [fn] Marvelous are Your works, And [that] my soul knows very well.
My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, [And] skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When [as yet there were] none of them.
How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them!
[If] I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; When I awake, I am still with You.

Our precious baby now rests eternally in His hands, and in memory of Baby Leite #3, we pray: "Magnified and sanctified be His great Name in the world which He created according to His will. May He establish His kingdom during your life and during your days, and during the life of all the house of Israel, speedily and in the near future, and say Amen. May His great Name be blessed forever and ever. Blessed, praised and glorified, exalted, extolled and honored, adored and lauded be the Name of the Holy One, Blessed be He; Who is beyond all blessings and hymns, praises and songs that are uttered in the world; and say Amen. May there be abundant peace from heaven, and life for us and for all Israel; and say Amen. May He who maketh peace in the heavens, make peace for us and for all Israel; and say Amen."

When you don't hear from us in a while, it's either because something's up or nothing's up. We're glad to report....nothing. :O) We are all doing well and just as busy as can be. Al and Rachel are still both working - each one trades off with the other to be with the kids while the other works. Al is still very busy at seminary, but has had an issue with his health this semester. An upper respiratory infection followed by bronchitis has had his less than 100% for over 2 months now. He is feeling much better, has been on lots of meds, but is still trying to shake the spontaneous coughing fits that make him lose his voice. Rachel has a lot of very busy students and has a studio party coming up next week.

The kids are GREAT! Both have excellent health and are learning and growing so fast. They are our daily blessings and we know that full well! Hava is speaking and counting and learning her colors in both Portuguese and English. She is much more fluent in both now. She has a very sweet demeanor (95% of the time - the other 5% we count as her being a 3-year-old), loves to help, play instruments, play outside and watch movies AND is fully potty trained! Levi is the smiliest, happiest baby either of us has ever known. He is very independent - into EVERYTHING, crawling and pulling himself up to standing. He is our ball of laughter and peace. He is still a bit small for his age, but growing properly. The latest news we have on his kidneys is that the left is still a bit underfunctional, but nothing to worry about and his urachal sinus seems to not be a problem anymore, so for now, no surgeries needed.

Lately, we've had friends come to visit from NY, had a wonderful passover season and are now counting down the days till Shavuot. Al also celebrated another birthday. With the great weather that finally found its way to north Texas, we love to go to the park and play outside.

I tried to upload some pictures here, but to no avail. I will try again later.

Has it been long enough??? :o)

We are here....plus 1!

Levi Caldwell Leite came into the world at 10:44 am on August 17th via c-section. He weighed in at 7lbs. 6 oz. and 18.5 inches. Here's an excerpt from my facebook note the day he was born:

My part in this was a little harder than last time - the anesthesiologist said "looks like you're gonna be my hard case for the day." I'm gonna make this short and simple since I am still VERY dizzy and tired from it all. It took the anesthesiologist about 6-7 tries to get the meds to kick in. I suffered a lot of sharp pains and even a couple of screams (which most of you know for me, means a big deal). Poor Al was sitting right outside (since they don't let him in until the procedure) and could only hear me screaming and crying. They even thought I might have scoliosis since they couldn't get the spinal to take on one side, but they finally were able. I had some vomiting, difficulty breathing and LOTS of dizziness. My heartbeat got down dangerously low and I didn't really start feeling pain-free until they got that under control. I am still extremely dizzy and nodding off, but I promise to get some pics up as soon as I get my head on a little straighter. :o)

And yes, I'll post pictures here too. :o)

Levi's been growing like a weed the past couple of months, but I'll be the first to admit, taking care of a baby with a toddler in the house is a feat of epic proportions (yes, I used the word "epic." I know, I know.) I was so blessed that 2 days before he came, my mom (and Al) surprised me when my mom unexpectedly, at least to me, came back from Brazil to help me with bringing this new one into our family! She was a huge help, especially with Hava. We had Levi circumcised 7 days later with Rabbi Marty Cohen. Levi has not had the nursing problems Hava had, so he was at birth weight the week after he was born, and is now right around 12 lbs - Hava only reached 12 lbs. after 4 months! He had one little issue which are enlarged kidneys. We had several tests on him and will need to do follow ups about every 6 months, but as far as the urologist can tell, it doesn't seem to be a big issue and might just be how his kidneys are. Levi is a VERY easy going baby. He loves to be held and sung to. He has a super gentle spirit and even a gentle cry - unless, of course, he feels neglected. :o) He is still not sleeping through the night, but is getting better. Our biggest surprise with him? BLUE EYES! Not quite sure where he pulled that one out from, but he sure is a cutie!

Hava - she's a hoot! She is such a smart cookie, a people-lover, and an independent drama queen! She is using both languages now, but generally chooses English first. She LOVES her little brother and has not had one moment of jealousy towards him. She is also growing like a weed - she'll be 3 in January. We're still working on getting her FULLY potty-trained, but she's on her way. Her personality is probably what we're most proud of. She's very adaptable to different situations and schedules and loves to have fun no matter what. She will instigate the fun with a funny phrase, a little dance or even come up and tickle you!

Al is finishing up his first seminary course - Greek! You can only imagine, his first time graduate course, studying in English (his second language) and it's a third language - GREEK! The great news is that he was hired as a campus electrician. This past week, we had some sad news - one of Al's aunts in Brazil tragically died. It is hard to be so far away when things like that happen, but technology helps us to feel closer. We have been able to see and speak with the family quite a few times and everyone is hanging in there.

I have gone back to my private voice students as well as public school voice students and love my job! When I'm home with the kids, Al is either at work or school and when he's home with the kids, I'm at work. Our schedule has worked out so nicely.

Grandma is also doing well. She just arrived back from her second trip to Israel! She will be visiting with family over the next month or so and when she comes back, mom and dad will also be coming from Brazil for the holiday season.

We are truly blessed beyond measure!

Back to School!

Just a note to announce that Al has officially been accepted at to a seminary (yeshiva) in their Masters of Divinity in Counseling program!  We are very excited and ask for your prayers as we continue to search for the path G-D has for us.  Al is applying for an on-campus job since he has not been able to secure any other, so please pray with us about the finances as well.

Rachel is still giving private lessons and will take a short break to bring this new baby into the world in 2 weeks!  After that, she will be returning to her private students as well as her public school students in September.

Hava is doing well, talking lots and growing like a weed.  We are very proud of her development and are trying to prepare her to be a helpful big sister to her baby brother.

Baby Leite Kidneys

Today was another weekly trip to the Fetal/Maternal Medicine specialist for a sonogram.  This baby boy (at 35 weeks, 6lbs., 6 oz. now) is almost as big as Hava was when she was born (at 38 weeks, 6lbs., 11oz.).  Up until now, there has been no reason for any concern of his health, but just cautionary measures based on Rachel's blood disorder.

Today, the doctor informed us that there is a slight problem with baby's kidney function - both a little underactive.  Still, for now, not a huge issue, but something to watch.  Would you join us in prayer that this issue would resolve itself or rather, that G-D in His infinite mercy and wisdom, would heal it.

We're still here...

Hi friends!

Yes, we are still here.  It's been a while since we posted anything here since Rachel has been a bit tied down with work, a toddler, a grandmother and a huge pregnant belly.  Al is doing well and keeping everybody sane.  :o)  Our baby boy should be here in about 5 weeks!  Please pray that the rest of the pregnancy and delivery would go smoothly.

Leites Lately...

Well, we haven't been up to too much.  Rachel's about 10 weeks pregnant and still feeling ok.  Hava just had her second birthday on Sunday.  Al is still doing pretty much everything at home until Rachel can see the doctors.  So, here are some pictures and videos to catch you up.