Mazel Toy!
Y ear Of inichas
Growing family:
Dr. Robert Felsenfeld
with Flyer, Josh, Elyssa,
Matthew, Zachary and
Dr. Brenda Weingarten.
Birthdays, a bar mitzvah and a birth closed out the 20th century.
JILL DAVIDSON SKLAR
Special to the Jewish News
r
or Drs. Robert Felsenfeld
and Brenda Weingarten of
West Bloomfield, 1999 was
a very good year.
Dr. Weingarten celebrated her 40th
birthday with a surprise party and
then received a bigger surprise when
she became pregnant. The last year of
the century continued with the pair's
oldest son's bar mitzvah and their
youngest son's birth.
"It was a good way to end the mil-
lennium," Dr. Weingarten said of son
Zachary's Dec.. 23 birth and Dec. 30
brit mila. "The whole year was spe-
cial."
Dr. Felsenfeld celebrated his 40th
birthday in 1998 with a blow-out
square dance surprise party at the Lazy
J Ranch for 75 guests. Dr. Weingarten,
who detests surprises, awaited her own
March 6, 1999 birthday with trepida-
tion. Told they would celebrate it sim-
ply with a quiet dinner at Capital
Grill, she was elated to find 18 friends
waiting to help her celebrate.
"I was shocked," she said.
But if that was unexpected, imagine
her reaction when she found out she
was pregnant. The couple had always
wanted four children and were well on
their way years earlier. First came
Joshua, now 13, who was followed by
Elyssa, 11, and Matthew, 7.
They decided to try for a fourth
but were unsure if they would be suc-
cessful. Dr. Weingarten had gone so
far as to give away all of the children's
clothing and baby equipment, except
for the crib. In fact, the family adopt-
ed a female yellow Labrador retriever
named Flyer the week after the birth-
day party, a pseudo stand-in for a
fourth child.
In mid-spring, the pregnancy was
confirmed. The couple waited until
the children returned from summer
camp to tell them about their
impending sibling. The kids were
excited, nearly from the time they
heard the news.
"It was a great pregnancy, probably
the easiest I had of the four," Dr.
Weingarten said. "And the kids have
been great." The family, however, did-
n't have too much time to celebrate, as
Josh was preparing to become bar
mitzvah. That event, at Adat Shalom
Synagogue Sept. 25 and followed by a
party at Tam O'Shanter Country Club,
had only one hitch. Dr. Weingarten,
then six months into her pregnancy,
was forced to hire a dressmaker to craft
a special garment when trips to area
maternity stores proved futile.
"I never, ever thought I would have
to look for the dress I would wear to
my son's bar mitzvah at Pea in the
Pod. I thought I would be done with
that by then," she laughed. "I can
honestly say that I will not be wearing
that dress again."
And she didn't. Less than three
months later, Zachary Felsenfeld made
his debut at William Beaumont
Hospital in Royal Oak. His brit was
held at home, with decorations by the
same decorator who had worked
magic at Josh's bar mitzvah party.
Several close friends and relatives
joined the family for yet another cele-
bration.
"The bar mitzvah we knew about
going into the year," said Dr.
Felsenfeld. "But the bris? We were try-
ing, but you never know what is going
to happen."
This year, he promises, will not
be nearly as exciting. The biggest
change will be adding two bedrooms
and a bathroom to their West
Bloomfield home to accommodate
the sudden growth of the family.
Next year, the family will celebrate
Elyssa's bat mitzvah.
"It is only going to get better," Dr.
Felsenfeld said. "I can't believe it, but
-
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