Stir it up

Paddy Dash 5K

2011-03-19T14:08:00.001-05:00

Today was the Paddy Dash 5K in Frisco sponsored by the Sunrise Rotary! Team Baby Boot Camp was ready to go in our shirts that said "Training kicks in when luck runs out." We had a great turnout with more than 20 participants and the most fun part of the race was that this was the first 5K for many of our members! It's so fun to set a goal and then reach it! Congratulations to all of you!

On a personal note, Leila and Holden both did the 50 yard dash and the 1 mile fun run. Zoe and I couldn't keep up with them during the first part of their run. Even with kids, it's all about pace and not going out too fast at the beginning. They walk/jogged the 2nd half with a strong running finish. It's so much fun to watch them.

My parents came out to the run and watched the kids play while I ran the 5K solo. I've been nursing an injury on both legs and was waivering between a goal to be under 30 minutes or an all out goal for me to come in under 28 minutes. I definitely lacked focus at this race. Race results show 29:01, although I thought that was when I crossed the finish line, not chip time...oh well. (with the walking segments I had planned). Just like the kids, I went out too fast.
My splits were:
9:13
9:17
9:28
As usual, I didn't turn my watch off at the end. This race was definitely a personal record for me as the only other 5K I've "raced" since I began running 6 months ago was a time of: 31:40

All in all it was a great day!

Our 5K training program will begin the week of March 28th! The day is TBD! If you are interested in this training program, please let me know...

Happy 1st Birthday Zoe!

2010-09-01T23:45:00.001-05:00

10 months

2010-07-21T21:48:00.002-05:00

It was a fun 9th month with Zoe. Zoe took her 2nd road trip, this time to Disney World. She did a great job in the car and was a trooper as usual. She spent most of her days at Disney in her infant carrier in the stroller! The big kids loved to fan and squirt her with water. Her favorite ride at Disney was It's a Small World. (clapping and smiling) She really enjoyed most of the rides she went on. Zoe did not love the characters or "furs" as Disney calls them. As soon as they would get too close, she would begin SCREAMING. Once they stepped away, she would be fine again. She definitely looked at them with caution.

Right after we arrived at Disney

Mickey towel friend

Zoe's first swim

Mickey got too close.

Eeyore playing peek a boo with Zoe. It's not working...

Zoe has dropped her napping at StrollerFit for the most part. She might catch a quick snooze on the way to StrollerFit, but once she gets in the stroller, she is wide awake. She takes her "real" nap around 12:30 and sleeps around 3-4 hours. Her usual bedtime is 7:00 pm and she wakes up most mornings around 6:45 am.

Zoe is still eating her jars of baby food. She loves fruits, does well with sweet potatoes and carrots. She tolerates mixed vegetables and peas and REALLY dislikes green beans. She does better with lumpy baby food now, but is not much interested in anything with too much texture. She is not a fan of puffs or mum mums. She takes 4 liquid feeds a day with her 4th a bottle around 6:30 or 7:00.

Snow day at Holden's school. The kids brougth a snow ball to Zoe.

Zoe can move around quite well from a sitting postion and can roll where she needs to go. She became an official crawler on July 29th, 2 days before she was 10 months old. She is getting the hang of crawling. The big kids are going to need to guard their stuff.

crawling day

look at those hands. Basketball star

Zoe is verbal. She says mamama and dadadada and other consonant sounds. She likes to clap and bop around to music. She watches intently when you sing to her.

Teeth-Zoe has her top tooth coming in!
Clothes-Zoe is wearing 9 - 12 month
Favorite time of day: Walking down the stairs with Zoe. She likes to wave like a beauty queen! It makes me laugh everytime.

Zoe likes:

Leila

Holden

pacifer
clapping

stacking blocks

car seat

vacuum cleaner

sleep sack

baths

swimming

dogs

making a humming noise when she likes her food

palming the mommymuscle ball

anything that doesn't belong to her

small pieces on the floor

being tickled

exploring
singing
bath time

Zoe does not like

green beans

textured food

Mickey Mouse

Holden's Graduation

2010-06-20T22:28:00.000-05:00

All dressed up for Holden's big graduation day!
May 27th, 2010

Here he is as one of the narrators in the play.

He was told by his teacher to speak clearly and loud! He did just that!

Getting ready to graduate

Holden for President!

Singing a song.

Family with Holden and Leila's teacher Ms. Farah

Holden and his buddies. Ready for Kinder!

7 months

2010-04-21T22:04:00.000-05:00

Zoe is now 7 months old. Her 6th month was full of many firsts. The first was the move to her crib. I dreaded this move for many reasons, one of which was that I knew the transition would cause 3 bad nights of sleep. I was pleasantly surprised...the first night I was up once to give her a pacifer and that was it. The 2nd and 3rd night up a couple of times. (I let her cry for 10 minutes on the 3rd night and she now sleeps in her crib from 8 till I get her at 7:30.) This move was good for all of us. As we all sleep better now...and to think that I thought she needed us.

I gave up on rice cereal and started introducing vegetables this month. She didn't take to them immediately, but I've had better luck. She's tried, peas, green beans, carrots, sweet potatoes and bananas.

Zoe takes 5 feedings per day, with the last "dream feed" at 10:00 pm. We wake her up for it, and plan to drop it in her 7th month. :)

She is falling into a more predictable nap schedule with a short one around Strollerfit time and then her long nap around 12:30. Unfortuntely this nap gets interruped when it's time to pick the kids up from school. She takes her last nap of the day around 4:30.

Zoe has become a consistent sitter. I still put pillows or her boppy behind her in case she falls, but she is doing great. She transfers toys from one hand to another and loves to bang them together. She still likes to babble and squeal. She has a tickle spot under her arms.

Zoe took her first vacation this month. She was the best behaved during the car ride and a real trooper.

Zoe got sick for the first time as well this month. Runny nose and terrible cough. Doctor thinks it's allergies! (probably from her first vacation)

Zoe is a happy and content baby!

The Capital

2010-04-18T07:44:00.001-05:00

Our last stop was the state capital.

More PIctures

2010-04-18T07:32:00.000-05:00

The Amusement Park

2010-04-14T22:27:00.003-05:00

After Zilker park, the kids wanted to know what other fabulous things we had planned. hmmm...

We checked into the hotel and the kids loved the room. We searched for something fun to do! Luckily the kids just thought we were going to dinner because the little amusement park had closed down. We then headed to play putt putt, but when we got there it had closed down as well. Nice! Our luck was about to turn. As we headed to dinner we spotted an amusement park...I rode some of the scariest rides of my life. The kids were so excited!!

My rule with rides has always been, don't ride them if it's not a permanent park. I really must have been out of my mind.

Texas Tornado

This one was TERRIBLE. The scariest ride I've ever been on. I'm afraid of heights and don't like roller coasters that I feel like I'm going to fall out of. Yes, I have a smile on my face, but not sure why. Leila kept saying ohhhhh....I thought she was going to be sick...I thought I was going to be sick.

On to San Antonio

2010-04-14T22:25:00.001-05:00

After Waco we had originally planned to stay in Austin, but decided to head on to San Antonio to stay with our friends. We set out to hike enchanted rock, but by the time we got there, they had closed the park because it was filled to capacity. So, we headed back to Fredricksburg for some German food, stopped in some shops and walked around the National Museum of the Pacific War (just where every kid wants to go) :)

We had a great time in San Antonio and were so glad we changed our plans!

Once we left San Antonio we headed to Austin. We made our first stop at Zilker park. The kids had a great time at the Nature and Science Center looking at animals, digging for dino bones and running around.

Digging for Dino bones

Zoe hanging out!

Baylor

2010-04-05T10:00:00.000-05:00

Our next stop was at Baylor. The kids had a great time running around the campus and checking everything out.

Great Swing!

Acting silly

Not so sure he should be hanging on this.

Easter

2010-04-04T22:47:00.000-05:00

Here are the pictures from Easter Morning. The Easter Bunny left some nice baskets.

Checking out their goodies!

Getting Ready for Church

Spring Break Stop in Waco

2010-04-04T21:52:00.000-05:00

We headed out early the first Saturday of Spring Break for our first trip in the mini-van. The kids were so excited. We were headed to Waco, Austin and San Antonio.

We arrived in Waco ready for a picnic in Cameron Park. It was a beautiful day!

Leila and Holden looking out from Cameron Park.

Subway picnic

We hiked around. This picture mad me nervous with a drop off not far from where Leila is sitting.

Having fun climbing!

50's day

2010-04-01T13:55:00.002-05:00

Leila joined her other classmates in celebrating the namesake of her Elementary school. The kids dressed up in their best 50's attire.

New Artwork...

2010-04-01T13:52:00.001-05:00

Some of Holden's new artwork from his class.

Holden's singing

2010-03-30T18:51:00.003-05:00

First haircut

2010-03-29T19:44:00.000-05:00

Zoe was born with some CRAZY hair. All different lengths! It was time for a haircut.

Before

During

After

Her hair looks much better from the front. I must have cut 2 inches from the sides. The back is a little uneven, but she was turning her head so much, it was the best I could do.

Un-birthday present

2010-03-25T10:00:00.001-05:00

This is such a sorry picture.
Holden upgraded to his new booster seat for Leila's birthday. He has been trying Leila's out at every opportunity...like when we are waiting in the car line. He likes to move her booster up by Zoe, sit in it and keep her company.

Well, he finally got one of his own!
Congratulations Holden!

6 months

2010-03-24T10:00:00.004-05:00

Luckily, I started this post at the beginning of the month and had documented most everything. Thanks goodness I'm writing this stuff down because stuff changes so quickly. Now, 3 weeks into the month she has already reached some new milestones...till next month.

It's been a great month with Zoe. She is a sweet baby giving lots of smiles, giggles and squeals. I'm getting more and more used to being mom to 3. Zoe likes to cry when she is sleepy, bored or hungry.

Zoe tried rice cereal on Feb. 14th at 5 1/2 months. It didn't go so well. The usual ick face with the tongue pushing out everything that went in. She still has pretty bad reflux, so we will see how this goes.

reflux in action

Zoe is sleeping about the same. She is still sleeping in our room in the pack n' play. Her fussing usually begins around 4:30 in the morning and off and on till about 6:30 then she goes back to sleep.

Zoe had her pictures made at Portrait Innovations at 5 months. She was a super baby there as the entire process took us 2 1/2 hours. She was so interested in her hands at one point they had to stop taking pictures...there is a possibilty that she has never seen such big hands. Her hands are HUGE!

She has been rolling over more, but still prefers her back.

Zoe likes:

Kicking around on the floor

Her bouncy seat

her swing...for pleaure not to sleep

Her ultrasaucer

The bumbo seat is getting better

looking and admiring her hands

grabing her feet

being swaddled

Pulling on her hair

her high chair

her car seat

StrollerFit

her picture book

crinkle book

sophie the giraffe

smiling

anything that squeaks

giggling

kicking and thrashing around her arms and legs
Leila and Holden
car rides
touching, grabbing everything in front of her

Zoe does not like:
Rice cereal

StrollerFit update: Zoe is still an excellent workout partner. She gets restless during abs, but has been content throughout classes this month. :) Thanks Zoe!

Zoe's 6 month stats:

Height 27 inches (90%)

Weight 17.6 (60%)

Head 17.25 (75%)

More Birthday...

2010-03-23T10:00:00.000-05:00

Zoe doing her Peace out hands

Sweet kids

Leila opening her cards and reading them

She got so many great books. Magic treehouse books. She and Holden are loving these books, we are almost done with book #4.

Leila got her first "just like you doll." Her muffy got her the gymnastics outfit.

Leila named her Hannah and then changed her name to Sophia!

Sisters

2010-03-22T10:00:00.000-05:00

Leila and Zoe getting ready before Leila's birthday party. I thought this picture was funny because they were both holding their arms up the same way.

Leila's 7th Birthday!

2010-03-21T16:50:00.000-05:00

Leila had been wanting a Paul Frank birthday party, so she got just that. We celebrated her birthday at Strikz. She invited the girls from her class, some of her other friends and family.

Here she is with her party favor bags.

Leila and her CoCo

Friends

Pierced Ears

2010-03-16T22:12:00.001-05:00

I decided it was time to have Leila's ears pierced now that she was turning 7 and she was on board. Her main concern was how much it would hurt. I took her to sweet and sassy with her fan club, Holden, Zoe, dad and CoCo. She chose her earrings, little diamond flowers. We had the option to have both her ears pierced at the same time, or one a time. The more nervous Leila got, the more the Sweet and Sassy girl urged me to do them both at once.

Leila is getting her ears prepped. Starting to look nervous...

Dots on her ears, now re-thinking this big girl decision

The 2 girls are on either side of her getting ready to pierce her ears. Telling her that they would do it 1.2.3 and then it would be over. Big Crocodile tears...

Done! Giving Leila some love after the big ordeal.

She is still so sad.

She got some yummy smelling sparkle spray for her hair and they painted a star on her face!

There is the smile! She said it wasn't so bad, but it did hurt! She left with a certificate and cleaning stuff for her ears! She does remind me 3X per day to clean her ears.

Teach the Parent night

2010-03-12T17:29:00.000-06:00

It was teach the parent night at Holden's Montessori. He spent an hour showing me all the interesting things he does at school and everything he is learning.
He showed me math, reading and for fun practical life. (Practical life is something you learn early on at the Montessori, so he thought it was funny to show me something "baby.")

1st grade Valentines Party

2010-03-12T17:25:00.000-06:00

Leila enjoyed her 1st grade Valentine's Party!
They exchanged Valentines, ate Valentine cupcakes and played Bingo!

5 months and Valentines with Zoe

2010-02-26T10:00:00.003-06:00

Weekend with the Stewarts

2010-02-25T10:00:00.000-06:00

We had a great weekend with our friends from San Antonio. We were so looking forward to their trip, but got a little worried that they wouldn't be able to make it up with the snow. Luckily they were adventurous and arrived late Friday night.

Because of the snow, we babysat more birds from Holden's school. (2 birds and their egg)

So, we had a full house...

4 adults

5 kids

2 birds

1 dog

I think the majority of the pictures are from us eating something...somewhere.

Burger Island

Resting from a day of fun!

Kids waiting to get their Valentines goodies!

Checking out their goodies

This picture is priceless...Maia was being so sweet to Zoe even though Zoe had a death grip on her piggie!

Leila was reading a Valentines story. This is the same book she read to one of the Kindergarten classes.

Checking out those hearts!

Happy Chinese New Year and Valentines day!

We celebrated at Joy Luck. It was yummy!

And afterwards at Spoonful for some frozen yogurt!

Frog and Toad Performance

2010-02-24T20:34:00.000-06:00

Leila had a school performance Valentine's week called Frog and Toad. It was really cute and Leila did well singing and doing the movements.

It's a hard knock life...

2010-02-19T10:00:00.000-06:00

Ever since I bought Holden the boy version of "LittleMissMatched" socks, he loves to pick out random socks and wear them.

This is his most recent combination.

A girl and her strollers

2010-02-18T10:00:00.001-06:00

The Baby Joggers finally arrived. Strollerfit now has a partnership with Baby Jogger and as franchise owners we are so lucky to get to enjoy the new Summit 360. I own 2 franchises, so I opted for one double and one single. I figure I might need the extra room the double provides.

My Phil n' teds stroller was great to me and I will miss pushing it.

Zoe with her boxes

Zoe with her boxes and bow

Zoe looking on as I put my single together

This is a big time jogging stroller.

The wheels are huge...bigger than Zoe.

Very nice. There is nothing like a new stroller. It pushes like a dream!

This is what I found once Leila arrived home from school.

Here she is with her 5 babies!

The owner of the stroller!

The rest of the Day Friday...

2010-02-17T21:03:00.000-06:00

We continued out trips outside to play in the snow. Holden loved to eat the snow and they loved to throw snow balls at me. We had so much fun!

Zoe Staying warm

2010-02-16T10:00:00.000-06:00

While the kids were having fun in the snow...Zoe was staying warm and looking on while I made dinner. (dinner didn't turn out so well...I guess I should have been concentrating on cooking not taking pictures)

Friday Morning...

2010-02-15T10:00:00.000-06:00

School was delayed and then later cancelled. Leila must be the only child on earth that was so sad and disappointed that she couldn't go to school. She kept on and on until I finally told her that school wouldn't be much fun because everyone would be at home. I told her that her teacher was probably at home snuggled up by the fire. (I think that made her feel better)

We made 3 trips out in the snow on Friday! I don't like wet mess, (but who does) so I had my system down. Take off all junk by the door on a towel, transfer to the dryer, kids upstairs to change. It seemed to work pretty well!

More snow Friday morning!

Poor tree/bush broke in half.

We took cookie cutters outside in the snow. My mom saved these cookie cutters from when I was a child. :)

Kermit the Frog

Lots of snoopy

Playing in the snow can be hard and sad

They are coming after me!

Hot pursuit

Happy Valentines Day!

2010-02-14T10:00:00.002-06:00

Hope your Valentines is filled with lots of love and chocolate!!

After School Snow...

2010-02-13T14:00:00.000-06:00

The snow kept coming all day long. Giant fluffy snow!!

The kids had a great time getting to play in the snow at school and at home!

StrollerFit Warriors

2010-02-13T10:00:00.000-06:00

Since school was in session, I decided not to call off StrollerFit classes. I packed Zoe up and we headed out! I didn't anticipate the large amount of slush and wet in the parking lot!

Here is my little StrollerFit warrior outside of Stonebriar snoozing away! I had to get a picture.

Here are the other ladies and their kids that got out and walked 5 miles in the snow to StrollerFit! :) These are my kind of women!! Thanks!

Snow

2010-02-12T14:47:00.002-06:00

We woke up Thursday morning to a yard full of snow and more coming down. What a fun surprise as the news guys were saying that it would not be puffy snow! The kids were thrilled and I was thrilled that they would still be able to go to school AND that there would be plenty of snow for us to play in when they got home.

Beautiful!

Thursday snow

Ready for school!

Zoe, ready to head out to StrollerFit in the snow!

Hats

2010-02-12T12:17:00.000-06:00

Leila and I hanging out at Holden's soccer game!

5 months old

2010-02-09T16:20:00.001-06:00

As I say each month, Zoe an I are having lots of fun. She is getting more an more animated. She gets so excited, makes fun noises and gives huge smiles. My favorite grin is when she starts smiling and then her forehead moves up with recognition and excitement!

After Zoe's 4 month check, I told the doctor that she was not close to rolling over. Well, she showed me the day after her doctors appointment by rolling from her tummy to her back 3 times. She showed off one more time last month and now no more rolling. She is pretty content on her back. :) Adnan did tell me she rolled from back to tummy a few days ago, but I have yet to see it.

Zoe is still eating every 3 hours or so. She is still following the eat, play, sleep schedule during the day. Her naps are not very long and I have a feeling she is moving toward more of a 3 nap schedule. Adnan is still doing her bottle feeding between 10 and 11. We are starting to work on pulling that time back so her bedtime matches the big kids.

She is still sleeping in our room and has become quite a little night owl, crying during the night. I don't get up to feed her, but she does want her pacifier.

Zoe still likes her bouncy seat and her play gym. We put her in the ultrasaucer and she likes it all of 5 minutes. She still naps some in her swing, but we are trying to get her to nap in her pack n play. She likes to grab and play with her toys. Her favorite toy is her crumply book.

first time in the ultra saucer
Zoe has found her feet and her hands this month. It is hysterical to see her examining her hands!

showing off her bottle holding skills - she only gets 1 per day, so this is pretty good!
Zoe likes:
laying on her back
being on her tummy
her changing table
her bouncy seat
grabbing her toes
looking at her hands
her playgym
her pacifier
talking to herself
going places
grabbing her toys
smiling
grinning
sitting in her swing
being swaddled
having conversations
knawing on her pacifer
squealing
Leila and Holden
any toy that squeaks

Leila and Holden are still enjoying their little sister. They love to play with her first thing in the morning, kiss her (while I'm feeding her) and make her smile. The love to ohhh and awhh at her when she is sleeping, which always makes me say, "don't wake her up." Glad they love her!

StrollerFit update:

Zoe is doing great at StrollerFit. She usually falls asleep as soon as class starts and then wakes up during abs. She is really content and let's me do my thing. She does keep me in check though once she is hungry. :)

International Night

2010-02-08T10:00:00.002-06:00

We celebrated International night at Holden's Montessori a couple of weeks ago.
All the classrooms focus on different countries and we got to sample food from those countries. It is always a fun and educational night.

The kids with our neighbors.

GAP

2010-02-03T10:00:00.000-06:00

Now that is one big gap!
She lost her other front tooth last week. I'm still trying to get used to her new smile! She lost this one when she bit into a Ritz cracker at school. :)
The next day a friend accidently hit her water bottle on her tooth. (don't ask me how it happened) She was still complaining about it a few days later, so we headed to the dentist. Her teeth are all fine and the doctor said that the bigger the gap the better for those permanent teeth. I guess she is good to go!

Check me out!

2010-02-01T10:00:00.000-06:00

In Holden's art class, they were told to draw their mom! Here I am blue hair and all!!

Front tooth

2010-01-29T10:00:00.002-06:00

Leila lost one of her front teeth today (1-13-10). Well, I say lost, actually one of the teachers at school helped pull it out. YIKES! This tooth had been pretty loose for sometime, and had actually moved over leaving a gap in her mouth. I was met in the carpool line by her teacher that said, Leila lost her tooth. Apparently she bled a lot, all over her face and clothing. Nice...She was dressed in different clothes when I picked her up, had an, "I lost a tooth" sticker, a happy face and a HUGE gap in her mouth.

Definitely a snaggle tooth now!!

Indoor Soccer

2010-01-28T10:00:00.001-06:00

Holden has been playing indoor soccer since Thanksgiving. He's enjoying playing the games each weekend and has been especially fun because the Strikers have stayed together.

I've tried to take pictures, but the lighting is terrible. Holden is still doing a good job getting the ball to the goal, but is also enjoying defense and guarding the goal.

He recently started a skills practice and scrimmage on Friday evenings. They practice new skills for 20 minutes and then scrimmage. He is having fun. During his first scrimmage, he played against a girl that was super good. I asked him how he played and he told me, "this GIRL was really good." He then told me he wanted to make a hole for her to fall in so that he could get the ball. nice, right? We asked him what would happen if she made a hole for him. He said, "I'd go around it."

The moral of the story: It's good to play with kids that are better than you because you learn and get better! I love that this girl gave him a hard time on the field.

Week #2

He didn't play against the girl this time. He played with some kids born in 03 and 04. He was born at the end of 04 so you can imagine that these kids were bigger and better.

I wasn't there, but apparently they were great at passing and getting the ball to the goal. Holden said, "I'm going to tell his friends on his soccer team that we need to pass so we can win the game."

I'm liking this...

Heelys

2010-01-27T10:00:00.003-06:00

One of the main things Leila wanted for Christmas were Heelys. Santa brought her some this year. I have to say she had a really tough time with them at first. She had trouble holding onto a piece of furniture and balancing on the wheels. After some frustration on her end and mine, she got it. I have to say she worked and worked and practiced and practiced. By the 3rd day she was skating all over the house. I am so proud of her for not giving up and teaching herself how to do it! It's a good life lesson. :)
Way to go Leila!!!! Now I want a pair!

Thank you!

2010-01-26T10:00:00.003-06:00

As I start posting blogs for 2010 I want to look back on the end of 2009 and thank both Kristi and Becky for encouraging me to start blogging again. I know I'm thankful I documented events and Leila, Holden and Zoe will enjoy looking back and reading about themselves. I've never really thought I had that much to blog about, but I'm so glad I started. It's not only made me stop and think about the fun things that we do, but that blessings abound. I usually lead my life running from one thing to another without taking time out to savor the fun moments...I let life pass me by. I definitely think blogging has made me slow down and enjoy time in the moment or at least enjoy writing about it.

I'm no expert blogger, but I thank the few of you that read for taking some time in your day to check in with us!

Looking forward to a fun 2010!

Hot Chocolate

2010-01-25T10:00:00.002-06:00

Meet Hot Chocolate, the bird from Holden's school. We were his babysitters over the Christmas holiday. Adnan told the teacher we would be happy to take hot chocolate home wih us! Just what we needed, something else to take are of. This one bird made a LOT of noise...it was like having 4 birds at one time. I'd ask Adnan, "how many birds are in there anyway?"

Holden was so proud to be in charge of the bird.

New Years Eve

2010-01-22T10:00:00.001-06:00

We celebrated New Year's eve at Katie and Steve's house. The adults enjoyed some time together while the kids ran around and had fun playing! We had an early countdown with horns, grape juice, and poppers...YIKES!

We stopped by Party #2 to see what the family was doing.

The long road to Christmas card pictures...

2010-01-19T10:00:00.001-06:00

It's always hard to get a good Christmas card! It seems so simple. Get the kids dressed, take pictures and send out cards, right? Last year's card was easy, I happend to find Leila and Holden in a big box. I had them peek out and voila, a good Christmas card.

This year, it wasn't so simple. Here are some funny pictures that we took along the way...
The Good the Bad and the Ugly!

The Christmas Card!

Christmas outfits

2010-01-18T10:00:00.002-06:00

Leila decided that Zoe should hold her microphone.

Good things come in small packages

Crafts

2010-01-15T20:54:00.002-06:00

We took advantage of the cold weather and did some crafts. Even Holden got into it.

These mosiacs are so fun to do! I wanted to buy some for myself. :)

Chili night

2010-01-14T10:00:00.001-06:00

The kids were in heaven with so much fun over Christmas break. They loved hanging out with their cousins who are in college or just graduated. Holden decided he needed to wear a chain like his cousin Faraz and wear his hair the same way.

Holden and Leila had a blast playing outdoor adventure on the wii. These pictures make me laugh. Imran and Holden playing a game on the mat. Holden would grab his leg for balance.

CoCo's birthday

2010-01-12T14:00:00.000-06:00

We celebrated Coco's birthday by going to Royal China, one of our favorites and then to muffy and dusty's for cake and gifts.

Leila and Holden love to whip the food around on the lazy susan.

Leila's gift to CoCo...a matching bracelet.

Family Dinner and family pictures

2010-01-11T20:03:00.000-06:00

We had a huge family dinner at Uncle Julios right after Christmas. 18+ Patels!!!!!!

After dinner we took family pictures at 10:30 pm. The pictures actually went pretty well.

The kids table

Adnan directing family pictures

4 Generations

Cousins

4 months old

2010-01-08T10:00:00.001-06:00

This month has been filled with fun firsts. I love so much hanging out with Zoe and continue to enjoy all the fun things she is doing. She is a really sweet baby. Lot of smiles...love the smiles that make you think you are the most important person on earth. Leila and Holden got some belly laughs out of her toward the end of the month. Holden was mad about something and he exhaled really loudly right next to Zoe's bouncer. She gave him a big old giggle! It was so funny to see Holden get laughed out my his little baby sister. He and Leila thought it was great and continued to exhale to get her to laugh...she loved it.

Zoe slept through the night for the first time December 1st. Adnan and I both thought it would be another couple of months based on Holden and Leila, but she proved us wrong. After the 1st week of sleeping through the night, she had a couple of 4:45 wake-ups, but she got back on track. She still wakes up early in the morning for her pacifier, but does not eat. Her last feeding is between 10 and 11 and then she will get up for the day around 7:30 or so. She is still eating every 3 hours during the day, some days every 2 1/2. She still sleeps in the pack n'play in our bedroom. Her schedule consists of eating and staying awake/playing for about 1 1/2 hours, then nap and it begins again. She does this pretty consistently with some naps being longer than others.

She has really become a talker and when she gets going it's loud and for long periods of time. She can swat her toys and has just begun to grab on to hanging toys and not let go. She will then start to scream at the toy. We are not sure if she is frustrated because she can't let go or if she wants to pull the toy towards her. She loves to play under her baby gym (this also protects her a bit from the big kids) and sit in her bouncer. She is not in love with the bumbo seat yet. She is getting to be happier on her tummy!

Leila and Holden are still taking really good care of her. They always look for her in the morning and kiss her good night. They both have her nicknamed as "The Zoster or Zoekster."

Zoe likes to:

sit in her swing

be swaddled-with arms down

have conversations

her pacifier

to stick her thumb in her pacifier and hold it

stick 4 fingers in her mouth at the same time

drool

baby talk, baby talk, baby talk

talk to her toys - 15 minute record

grab and hold toys

bring toys up to mouth (end of month)

sleep thorough the night- this is a big one

the vacuum cleaner

the sleepy wrap

Leila and Holden

having a blanket touch her face when she is napping in her swing

hanging out in just her diaper

Zoe still does not like

the car pool line

StrollerFit update:

She was a great workout partner this past month. She arrives awake at StrollerFit. Sleeps through class and wakes up for Abs. Hopefully she keeps this up!

Her doctor's visit went well...she loved laying on the table and the noise the paper makes.

Height: 25.75 which puts her in the 90%

Weight: 14.9 which puts her in the 75%

Head: 16.25 which puts her in the 50%

Christmas evening

2010-01-07T10:00:00.001-06:00

We headed to the Patel's in the evening to celebrate Christmas again. We were also able to see some of Adnan's family that just arrived from Canada.

Zoe and her great grand parents...pretty cool!

We all had fun opening presents. Leila's Hannah Montana set was a hit and she loved her high school musical blanket that played music. Holden got an awesome racetrack and a spiderman blanket!

Christmas Day!

2010-01-06T15:40:00.000-06:00

The kids didn't get up as early as expected. In fact, I was a little concerned when it was 7:15 and the house was quiet. I was also concerned that the icy roads were going to prevent Muffy and Dusty from getting to our house (before noon). I'm not sure the kids could have waited that long to open up their presents.

Zoe with her presents from Santa. She loved looking at the monkeys on CoCo's pajamas.

Leila and Holden opening their stockings from Santa

(gum, cars for Holden and hair bobs for Leila)

We had so much fun playing in the snow while we waited for my parents to get to our house. I had hurt my back earlier in the week, but couldn't help myself and needed to play in the snow.

Holden joined us after we had taken some pictures. We headed to the back yard, where we had a snowball fight. The kids got snow all over my face...brrrr...

My sister got the kids the Zhu Zhu hamsters. Leila went around and told everyone, "she got the hottest gift out there." My sister kept telling her that. Holdens favorite gifts were his wii and ds games and sketcher shoes. Leila loved her Heely's and twinkle toes shoes.

Zoe hung out in her bouncy chair with her gloves on...her hands were FREEZING. She fell asleep during most of the unwrapping.

Adnan made a yummy beef tenderloin, onion puff pastrys, creamed spinach and salad.

On a side note: Each gift had a reindeer name on it. Leila and Holden were so nosey, I didn't want them to shake, open or figure out whose present was whose. When Leila first read the names, she thought all the presents under the tree were for the reindeer. :( Some of our friends had left her one present and she said, "those presents are for the reindeer I have one with MY name on it." She was happy with her one.

After I told her that a reindeer represented a person in the family, she quickly figured out she was dasher!!

Getting Ready for Santa

2010-01-05T13:45:00.005-06:00

It took a while to get home from my parents house because the roads were icing over. I asked my parents it they wanted to spend the night with us, but they said they would head out in the morning.

Once we got back to the house, we gave CoCo her present. Leila could hardly stand it. We picked out some Paul Frank pj's for CoCo. Leila has a hard time keeping secrets and pretty much in one way or another tells everyone what they are getting. She doesn't mean to, she just gets so excited. We changed into our pajamas, got the milk and cookies out, fed the reindeer and then Holden says, "We always do a puzzle on Christmas eve." Really? He remembered we had done a puzzle last year, so we did another one. Luckily some of his cousins had come over and helped him with it.

We let him in the picture even though he didn't have pjs on...and no he doesn't have matching pajamas.

Heading outside to leave the reindeer food. Holden rolled his pants all the way up so he woudn't get snow on them. He forgot how cold it was outside. It didn't take long for him to remember. I'm not sure he left any food for the reindeers.

I love this picture of Leila jumping way up in the air to throw her reindeer food.

So much fun and so cold!

Christmas Eve

2010-01-04T10:00:00.001-06:00

Each Christmas eve we head to church with my parents for the Children's Christmas service. Because the snow was coming in and we live a long way from church, we almost didn't attend. I'm so glad we did.

Before we left for church Adnan asked the kids if they wanted to donate some of their own money to the church. Leila said yes $1. Adnan asked if she was sure and she said, "ok, $2." I thought this was really generous. Adnan then asked Holden how much money he would like to give. He said $.25. Adnan asked, are you sure and he said. "ok, $.50."

Not so happy, Zoe needed a break

Holden, Leila and "hot chocolate" the bird we are babysitting for Holden's school.

Zoe and Leila had similar outfits. Leila's sweater was a light gold and Zoe's outfit matched.

The snow was really coming down when we left for church! The kids loved watching it from the car!

Once we got to church Leila and Holden got dressed for the service. Leila was an angel and Holden a shepard this year (he is usually a king, but the shepards get to stay at the front longer)

They did great going to the front. Holden had some moments. He took his head piece off and said his head itched. As soon as the song was over he says, "I have head lice." (he doesn't, but knows what it is). He also took the opportunity to announce he needed to use the bathroom. For some reason, it's always dead quiet when he makes these announcments!

Money story continued...Holden continued to drop his quarters throughout the service. Once the offering came around he told me that Leila was "wasting" her money. This kid makes me laugh. We'll keep working with him!

Adnan and Zoe at my parents house waiting to have dinner.

We had dinner and then the kids opened up a gift from muffy and dusty. They each got pajamas. By the time we were finished with dinner, the roads were getting bad. We headed back home to get ready for Santa.

Birthdays and new friend

2010-01-01T21:40:00.000-06:00

The kids celebrated Liam's birthday at Pump it up. Adnan took them to the party and they had a great time.

The birthday boy and his dad!

Holly's birthday

We met Holly's family at Island burger for a fun birthday party! It was a treat to see her family from Lubbock and catch up. We also were able to meet Dane, the newest addition to the family.

Leila, Holden and Bran had a blast together-playing, talking and generally acting silly.

Bran was in the middle of telling us a big joke, it was hysterical

Zoe and Dane- they were so cute

Winter break fun

2009-12-31T15:17:00.002-06:00

The kids have had so much fun over winter break. It is hard to believe that it is almost over. Birthdays, hanging out with relatives, late nights, parties, babysitting a bird, Christmas, even a slumber party with aunt CoCo.

Slumber party with Aunt CoCo.

I wish I had taken a picture of the luggage Leila packed for both she and Holden. I didn't help with a thing, just asked her if she had the essentials. Yep! She packed it all and then some. She takes really good care of her brother.

I asked Leila if she packed Zoe's bag and she said, "Zoe isn't spending the night. She's not old enough."

Coco got Uncle Julios for dinner and peppermint ice cream for the kids. They played Wii, did crafts, tried to play with the cats, and watched a "ton" of Phineas and Ferb. Ha!

I think CoCo was worn out when they left the next day!

Birthday Parties

2009-12-30T15:50:00.000-06:00

Pump it up for Melody's birthday.

Our next door neighbors have a big family, and we are so lucky that they invite us to their family celebrations!

Adnan's birthday

We took Adnan to eat Pho at one of our favorite Vietnamese restaurants. Then the kids went to target to choose a few gifts for dad...better late than never. It is hysterical to see what the kids choose. I tried to steer them in the right direction, but still wanted to give them the opportunity to choose.

#1 Dad likes chocolates (dark chocolate)

They each got chocolate candy! Good choice, dad has to share!

#2 Clothes - they had a hard time deciding. Holden wanted to get his dad a t-shirt. I finally steered them toward some pajama bottoms. They argued a bit, but finally decided on some soft ones! Holden found some character briefs for men! We laughed hysterically because they were so big and funny! If only they had had the right size. Only small and XL available...darn!

#3 We tried to get some playstation boxers, but settled for some XBOX in the XBOX tin of course!

#4 Christmas Tree ornamament - bad idea...I couldn't keep them away from the display that played every kind of CD. Once I finally got their attention, Leila chose a "love cooking" ornament. It was pretty cute!

Dad liked them all!

Opening gifts!

We had family over in the evening for a small party.

Ashlyn's Rock Star Diva Party

This was a really fun birthday party for Leila. The girls got to choose a dress, get their hair, nails and make-up done. They picked a rock star name and then walked down the runway and posed at the end. Leila seemed to enjoy walking down the runway and posing. Previously she would have been much to shy to do this. They made bracelets, did the limbo and some girls sang karoke.

Leila with the birthday girl

Fun with Anita and Pasha

2009-12-29T10:00:00.003-06:00

Anita and Pasha brought over goodies earlier this month to make smores with Leila and Holden. It doesn't get much better than making smores on the stove.... :) You gotta work with what you have. The kids loved it.

Yum! Chocolate and marshmellows on the skewer!

Breakfast at Anita and Pasha's house.

Cute breakfast plates!

Pajamas

2009-12-28T14:00:00.000-06:00

This picture was from Darby and Baryn's visit earlier this month.

Dad's Birthday

2009-12-28T10:00:00.001-06:00

We celebrated my dad's birthday a couple of days late. My dad made a yummy pot roast and we had dinner and opened presents.

We also took some holiday pictures of my parents and the kids for their Christmas card!

My dad opening up one of his gifts!

Getting tackled by the kids!

Muffy and Dusty with the grandchildren

I thought it turned out pretty well, all things considered.

Holden's Holiday Party

2009-12-26T14:00:00.000-06:00

Holden also had a holiday party before his break. Zoe, Adnan and I headed up for his party. The kids sang winter songs that they had been practicing. It was really fun. The kids forgot some of the words which make it even better. :)I forgot my camera, but did video some of their singing on my phone. Thanks Anita for sending me pictures that you took.

After the short program, the kids had a book exchange. We had lunch with the kids that the parents provided and some friendship soup that the teachers had made for us!

Getting ready to sing for us!

Holden likes to sing loud. He had complained a few days before his performance that is voice was sore and that when they practiced he couldn't sing to the best of his ability. :)

Holden and his bud Pravith

Waiting

Getting ready for the gift exchange. The teacher told them to just pick a book...don't pay attention to the size, wrapping etc..HA! Holden still chose the biggest book. We asked him why he chose this particular book and he said because he wanted to.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-25T16:21:00.000-06:00

Leila's Holiday Party

2009-12-24T10:00:00.003-06:00

Leila had a holiday party at her school before winter break. Zoe, Adnan and I headed up to participate. It was fun getting to see Leila's room, the people she sits with as well as her teacher and friends.

They did a book exchange and read a cute story to go along with it. The room moms had made sweet and salty goodie bags for the kids!

It's amazing how much more outgoing and comfortable Leila seems at school this year!

Leila with her friend Donota

Leila with her sweet teacher Mrs. Del Hierro

Getting ready for the book exchange

Opening their books

The Ben Bridge Bear

2009-12-23T10:00:00.001-06:00

The Ben Bridge Bear was hanging out in his store after StrollerFit!
I tried to get some cute pictuers with Zoe and the bear. (The bear just swallowed her up)

Rockettes

2009-12-22T10:00:00.003-06:00

We have had our tickets to the Rockettes since July! Thanks so much Jennifer for the idea and Darby for planning and making it happen! I'm not sure I've EVER scheduled something so far in advance. Darby travelled from Midland with her daughter Baryn and Jennifer and Ashley joined us for the fun day!

Here we are ready to go:

We were supposed to get an early start so we could have a nice lunch before the show, but I found out getting myself and Leila ready and Zoe fed at the same time is nearly impossible. :) Jennifer, if you are reading this...yes, we did take pictures before we left, which made us even later...I'm sorry.

We stopped for a quick lunch at McDonald's in our fancy clothes!

Ashley and Leila did not say one word to each other on the entire car ride to Nokia. Jennifer thought it would be a good idea to let them play in the playarea in McDonalds. I thought she was crazy letting them play in their panty hose...they could have pulled a run (yes, that is what I was thinking)

She was right. Once they got to playing, they really had a GREAT time together.

Great friends now eating together. They were total giggle boxes on the ride back.

Baryn and Darby-Baryn loved hanging out with the big girls!

Outside Nokia

Terrible picture, trying to get the Nokia sign

After the show! The girls did great!

Lunch afterwards!

Go MAVS!

2009-12-21T10:00:00.000-06:00

Adnan took Holden to his first Mav's game! It was so nice of Paul and Bran to invite them to go. Holden had a great time hanging out with Dad, Paul and Bran! Adnan said Holden was most amazed at the huge signs that said "Coca-Cola"...and of course all the yummy food!

Holden and Bran getting their food on!

Yum!! I like these games!

Paul and Bran

Almost tall enought to play pro

Enjoying the game

Having fun

Bran,Holden and Paul

Ice cream...

Priceless!

He couldn't hang in the 4th quarter!

Christmas and Birthday Dinner

2009-12-18T10:00:00.000-06:00

This past weekend we celebrated our annual birthday/Christmas dinner with Sohail and Holly. Both Holly and Adnan have birthdays in late December. We had dinner at Fearings Restaurant. Dinner was outstanding. We sampled all kinds of dishes from their menu. The highpoints were the tortilla soup, crab cakes and "chicken fried" lobster. We wanted to stay for dessert, but Sohail had planned a special surprise for us afterwards. (my waistline thanks you!)

Headed out!

Holly and I outside of Fearings

Holly and Sohail at Dinner

Beautfiul people in front of the beautiful tree

Dinner

Sohail surprised us with a carriage ride through Highland Park to see Christmas lights! The night was perfect...cold, but not too cold!!

Annual Girls Christmas Dinner

2009-12-17T10:00:00.005-06:00

We do a monthly girls night out and each December we get together, draw names and have dinner with a gift exchange. It's always fun and great time to catch up! We ate at Urban Crust this year. I can't wait to go back when it's nice and we can eat on the roof.
There were some fun stories being passed around this year. Krissa, we missed you.

College friends and roomies!
December 6, 2009

StrollerFit Christmas Party

2009-12-16T10:00:00.001-06:00

The StrollerFit Christmas party was a lot of fun! It was so nice to see current and past members! Thanks so much for all of you who participated.

StrollerFit group picture

Waiting for the gift exchange

Regina and Kimmi

Becca, The StrollerFriends Coordinator

Danielle, Our weekend and evening StrollerFriends Coordinator

Instructor Rachel opening up her gift

Birthdays

2009-12-15T16:00:00.002-06:00

December is a crazy month of birthdays!

We kick off the birthday push with Holden's on November 29th and each day of December gets crazier and crazier.

Leila was invited to a birthday party at the Heard Museum. This party was something else. It was a joint party for 2 sisters and there must have been 200+ people there. Wow! The kids played inside in the small museum and then we did an outside tour to see all the dinosaurs. It was super cold. Zoe slept the entire time in her sleepy wrap. She was snuggly warm!

How may kids can fit on a dinosaur?

Headed to the party! It was cold!

Leila and her friends from school

Sweet girls holding hands

Roar

This was one of the 5 long tables in the huge party room.

Pappa's Birthday

We celebrated Pappas birthday on the 7th! Leila and Holden made Pappa a card. Adnan insists on telling the kids how old everyone is. When I looked in Leila's card she made, sure enough there was Pappa's age. Ha! We made a cake and the kids helped me ice and decorate it. We ordered dinner and headed over to Pappa's.

Getting ready for cake

Sneaking some icing

Cutting the cake

Leila and Zoe

Pappa and Zoe

Decorating for Christmas

2009-12-14T14:20:00.000-06:00

Christmas is my favorite time of year. I love the season. The kids were super helpful this year in putting up the tree and decorating the house. The Christmas tree we have is the same tree I had growing up...it's OLD! We do it the old fashioned way..each branch has to be inserted into the "trunk" of the tree. The kids did a great job sorting them by color so that the tree could be put together.

Holden and Leila sorting the branches as Zoe looks on.

Working together

Zoe giving orders

Here

Hanging ornaments

Leila hanging ornaments-She loved getting all the special ornaments. She decided she didn't like Dora and that she didn't want to put those ornaments up. I tried to explain to her that she used to love Dora and the ornament needed to go on the tree.

CoCo working on the mantel

Holden was a big helper getting all the hooks ready. He also really liked touching all the glass ornaments. They only broke one!

Ring my bell

2009-12-12T10:00:00.000-06:00

Adnan is a member of the Sunrise Rotary in Frisco! Here he is at Stonebriar Centre ringing the bell for the Salvation Army!

A couple of friends from the rotary!

Ice Skating

2009-12-11T10:00:00.000-06:00

I finally got to go ice skating. Our friends little boy was turning one and with the middle name "puck" you don't have a choice but to have your birthday party at the ice rink. (His dad is a hockey player).

This was the kids first experience ice skating. They loved it. I only wish I had taken them sooner. When we first got out on the ice, they had a lot of trouble keeping their balance and wanted to hold onto the side the entire time. Once they got their trainers to push on the ice, they were free of the wall and skating around the ice rink like they owned it. Leila took off immediately. Holden was more timid, getting the feel for it before he was off and running on the ice.

The birthday boy

On the ice getting ready to skate!

Holding on for dear life!

Making our way onto the ice. They look scared.

Adnan standing on the ice. :)

Holden practicing with the trainer and uncle soso

Holden and uncle soso getting the hang of it!

Leila having a great time!

Cool

After I left the ice to feed Zoe, Leila fell down and hit her head. She had a bump, but was fine. On the way home I asked her if she would like to take ice skating lessons and she said, "No, I'll fall down and crack my head open." :)

Holden's Birthday Party

2009-12-10T10:00:00.004-06:00

Holden decided this year he wanted his birthday party at Strikz!

The kids had a blast. They got to bowl in the "dark" where everything glows, have pizza and cake, then play in the game area!!

Bowling with uncle Pasha

His soccer bud Ryan

Friends

Enjoyng pizza

Dancing!

Getting ready to put their shoes away

Dino cake

Leila and Ashlyn

Air hockey competition

Opening gifts

Candy Cane

2009-12-09T10:00:00.000-06:00

Waving hello! This picture makes me laugh!

Holden's Birthday at School

2009-12-08T10:00:00.001-06:00

We celebrated Holden's birthday at school. Holden and I made his poster with some of his favorite pictures through the years.

Baby-5 years old

The display on the floor are the months of the year with the sun in the middle. Holden holds the earth and walks from November around the circle for each year he has celebrated. After each revolution we talk about things Holden accomplisehd during that year.

Holden with his teach Ms. Farah

Holden showing his friends his poster.

Holden passing out his star sugar cookies!