Thanksgiving weekend!

We went to Thanksgiving this year at Marianne's house, which is my step Aunt. We all brought something so it was very nice not to have to cook much. I made mac and cheese. Nais had a lot of fun playing with all the other kids. I didn't get many pictures because my camera has been acting up. Guess I will be needing a new camera for Christmas. The food was amazing as always!

Then on Saturday we went to the Children's museum of Phoenix for a playdate. Court came along and brought Tatum and Anthony...which is a whole different story! Tatum decided to tell Anthony to stick his fist in his mouth while we were driving there, in my car, so he did...and puked all over her, him, and the car. Needless to say...had to pull over!

So, we met a few friends and had a blast at the museum. We will be going back for sure since we bought a year pass, and so did the others. Yay for playdates...Nais slept over 3 hours for his nap that day!

Cabin trip!

We went to the cabin in Pine last weekend with the Sylvias again. This was our second trip with 2 kids, 3 dogs, and 4 adults. We did some hiking this time with the kiddos in backpacks. We also ate at out favorite breakfast place...HB's. Then we made a chili and cornbread dinner Saturday night. The kids had a blast playing together. Oh, and of course we got lots of family pics...thanks Kirsten and Ty for bringing your awesome camera.

Here we are hiking at the Tonto Natural Bridge

We love our cabin trips cause we don't have to think about anything except having fun!

We can't wait for the next trip!

Birthday Books!

This past Monday Naison and I went to Phoenix Children's Hosptial to donate all the books from his birthday party. My friend Susan, from high school, works at the PCH Foundation and she took us to the Emily Center to donate the books to the book cart. Of course my Dad came along to capture the event on film, or memory card these days. He does a lot of photography work for PCH so he has worked with Susan for years!

Naison was showing off his walking skills! We had so much fun while we were there, we will have to do this more often. It was also very nice to see Susan!

1 year pictures

Here are some 1 year and family pictures my friend Malia took this past week. I went to high school with her. I think they turned out fabulous. If anyone is interested in having pictures by her she has a facebookpage called Malia B Photography. Check it out.

Here are some of my favorites. I didn't put many of the family pics because I want to send one out for the holidays and didn't want to spoil it. So, check your mailbox for our best family photo. Love to all!

Naison's Birthday Party

Yes, my little boy is 1! I can hardly believe it. This past weekend we had a birthday party for him and it seriously lasted all weekend. We were beat, but it was soooo worth it! I would like to give a big shout out to Neda, Kathy, my mom, Court, and Veenur for helping out. Thank you so much! And a huge shout out to Farshid for taking pictures since my dad couldn't make it.

The theme was "Dr Seuss" and I had everyone bring books to donate to Phoenix Children's Hospital instead of gifts for Nais. Vafa's brother and girlfriend came into town for the party and the rest of our AZ families were able to attend as well. I can only speak for myself....I had a blast! Thanks to all who attended and brought books to donate.

Here are some party pics:

Of course I had to make my little man's 1st birthday cake...Dr Seuss style:

We also had a pinata, but not the kind you hit, the kind that you pull the strings. I know, kinda lame but maybe next year we will have the one you hit. I just didn't want anyone to get injured.

Thanks to all who came out to celebrate our big boy's 1st birthday!

The next day we had a chili lunch for some out of town guests from Florida. Kathy and her husband Rod just happened to be in town so it was just another excuse to extend the party to all weekend. Thanks to all of our family and friends that made this such a special weekend.

1 already?!?

Our little baby, now little man, turned 1 on Nov. 2nd. Our 1 year well check up was the next day. Here are the stats: 23lbs 3oz (50%) and 32.5in (90%). I don't know where my son is getting his height but the doctor said he is going to be taller that both of us! Guess it's from the Arnold side, I have tall grandparents. He also has another tooth just about ready to pop through. That will make 2 teeth so far. Everything else was totally normal. He is doing just fine and is a healthy, happy, little......toddler! There I said it! He is not a baby anymore. Oh...one more thing...pacifier needs to be only at night now and gone by our next visit at 15 months. Wish us luck! Next up birthday party!!!!!!

Halloween Fun!

Our first Halloween outing, the day before Halloween, was a party with the mom's club we are in. Naison wore his turtle costume this time. He actually won the costume contest in the baby division...I didn't even know there was a contest. I was so proud!

On Halloween night we started at Glendale Naz church with my mom, sis, and cousin Lenny for "trunk or treat". Then we headed to The Field's for the annual Halloween party they have. It was a very fun night. Naison even got to stay up until 9pm!

Houston

We went to Houston last week for 2 reasons...business and pleasure. Vafa had a 2 day conference and of course we visited his family. 1 very special reason we made a trip to TX is to meet our new nephew baby Alex! Congrats to Valeh and Leo! He is precious and we love him so much!

We did a lot of visiting, going to the park, eating, and relaxing. Vafa and I even got to go to 2 movies while we were there and I went to the spa for a much needed massage and pedicure at the Houstonian! Thanks Mama Shahnaz for all the babysitting.

While we were at Valeh's house we found out that Naison loves stairs. Then at Vafa's folks house we found our he really likes going down the stairs...a lot! He did it over and over and over again.

Here is a video of him coming down the stairs...his laugh is so sweet...I never get tired of this!

I tried to go running every day at the park...and I actually did most of the days. It was nice weather in the mornings so we went usually after a fabulous breakfast prepared by Mr. Jim.

We had lots of fun playing and visiting with all of the family. We missed seeing Neda and wished Victor could have stayed longer.

Naison also loved watching Mama Shahnaz's "tu tu's"...Farsi word for birds.

Oh...almost forgot...Naison started walking...he loves going from furniture to furniture. It is so stinkin cute. You can tell how proud of himself he is.

....and here he is the day before Halloween in his little "My 1st Halloween" outfit.

As always, we had a blast and can't wait for the next trip! Maybe our next TX trip will be to Austin...and hopefully the flight home will be better than this one!

Trick or Treat

About a week before Halloween we went trick or treating, with my mom's club, at Westminster Nursing Home. All the residents had a great time seeing all the kids dressed up. Naison wore his Zebra costume for this adventure.

Here is my friend Brandi and her kiddos and one of their cousins.

New tricks!

Here are the latest and greatest tricks that Naison can do: He has been walking with his toy scooter a lot recently. He can go longer distances every day.

He has also been saying "da da" non-stop and says it for every other word he is attempting to say. So, I say "ma ma" and he responds with "da da. It's sooooo cute!

He has been learning to wave hi and bye and has been doing that for a couple of weeks as well! Enjoy the videos.