Ya'Kira Leyla

Today Kira officially received her Hebrew name at a naming ceremony at our new synagogue. It was a very special day and a busy service, as it was also a Dor L'Dor (generation to generation) service honoring grandparents, another baby naming and also the installation of the new Board (of which Mommy is a member). All three kids were champs sitting through over two hours of services...Alex got a little stir crazy at times but managed to get a second wind just in time for- you guessed it- lunch and cake following the ceremony. We were honored to have close family and friends present, and were especially happy that Mommy's Great Aunt Bess and Cousin Jake could come from Baltimore to share in our special occasion.

Daddy is actually the one who came up with Kira's English name, and we thought it was especially fitting as it incorporated the names of Mommy's great-grandparents, Kate and Arthur Lowenthal. Nana's friend from work, Rabbi Jim, helped us choose a Hebrew name that was close to Kira's English name, Ya'Kira, which means "dear." Once she was born and we saw that, unlike her brother and sister, Kira had her unique dark hair, we thought a fitting middle name (to correspond to her English middle name of Levin, Mommy's maiden name) was Leyla, or "dark beauty." Kira is indeed our dear, dark beauty and we hope that she always appreciates her unique traits and individuality.

We didn't get many pictures today but we did get a few of the honoree herself as well as her proud siblings: