Card

One more quick post...I took my mom's Christmas card picture this year at my house because it was easier than hauling my kids to her. They always want their card to have the grandkids in it...so sweet. So...here it is! Not professional, but at least everyone is looking at the camera...this is very hard to do.

Christmas Parties

We attended a few parties this year. The first one was the Lutes family party at Lenny's house. There was lots of good food, a piñata for the kids, gifts for the kiddos, and of course dessert...I brought cupcakes! It was very nice to see all of the extended side of Bob's family. I didn't get the greatest pictures, once again, but at least I got a few. I need to work on picture taking...maybe that will be my new year's resolution...make my daddy proud!

We also went to a little trauma party, which was for Good Sam getting their Level I trauma designation, but I thought it was a Christmas party so it will go here. I got to see a bunch of my nurse friends that I haven't seen in a while so that was nice. Nais had fun running around with all the other little kiddos. Here is baby K with Shelli Glenn, RN!

Our next stop was a Christmas party at Kumash and Deloris's house. Once again I got to see a bunch of my hospital friends...and I was kid free! Thanks to my sister for baysitting for us so we could have an adult night out.

The day before Christmas Eve my mom had us all over for tamales that she made herself! I was very impressed. The whole family got together...Beba, my dad, Shelley, Court and her family, us and the kiddos, and the grandmas all came. Poor Jakey was sick, he stayed home. Thanks for the yummy food mama, can't wait to have your tamales again next year!

Well, I am almost caught up...just have to Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and Beba's visit from Arkansas...but I am waiting on pictures from my dad because I am sure his are better than mine. Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

Christmas Playdate

We had a Christmas playdate at Peter Piper Pizza this year. We decorated cream cone trees with frosting and candies, ate pizza, played games, rode the carousel, and ate cupcakes and cookies. We had so much fun and didn't mess anyone's house up. Thanks to all the mamas that came and played!

We even managed to get a picture of all the new babies...Kian, Carson, and JK Wade. A big thanks to uncle Jake for coming and helping us out!

5 months already

Well, now Kian is almost 6 months, but I'm blogging about 5 months. Wow...still behind. So, there is no official doctor appointment for 5 months but I do have some pictures. I did weigh him around 5 months and he was over 20 lbs. So, he is a big boy and very cuddley.

So, my mom brought to my attention that Kian looks a lot like me when I was 5 months old, so I had to compare.

Here is my big boy!

Here I am at 5 months and Kian at 5 months.

Kian is doing a lot more things these days...he sits up a lot, with support like pillows around him, he laughs a lot, and eats lots of different foods. He still doesn't roll over but likes tummy time more than he used to. Naison is much more aware of Kian. He will take his toys sometimes and get things for me to use on Kian, like burp cloths and diapers. We are working on sharing with Nais...a lot. I love my two babies and they really are growing up super fast. I am going to start taking more time to cherish what I have. Love to all!

Visitors from TX

Vafa's younger sister, Valeh, and her family came for a visit in November. Her husband Leo came for the first part of the trip and cousin Alex, who is 1, got to meet and play with all of his cousins. We did lots of fun stuff while they were here. We got to hang out with our AZ cousin a bunch too! It was great to have all the kids together. We even had a photo shoot with my dad so we could get some shots of all the cousins for the first time together.

We went to Kierland for some Christmas festivities. The kids got to dance and hear stories. We went to Stroller Strides for a couple of classes and played at the park a lot.

We also took a trip to the Children's Museum and hung out at Desert Ridge by the fire!

Thanks for coming to visit auntie Valeh, uncle Leo, and cousin Alex. We miss you and will see you soon in TX!

Thanksgiving

So, I thought I was behind on blogging last time...oh man am I behind now. It's already past Christmas and I haven't even written about Thanksgiving. So, I will make these next few short and sweet. It was Kian's first Thanksgiving...ask me if I have a picture...I am a bad mom...no picture. It is tough trying to take pictures of everything these days. I'm sure my mom has one on her camera so I'll have to get some from her.

We went to my moms on Thanksgiving and had some yummy turkey and sides. My mom has a great backyard and all of the kids love it so they played outside most of the time. I did manage to get like 2 pics of Naison, eating cake pops, of all things. Happy Turkey Day!

Check Ups-2 years and 4 months

I took the boys to get their well checks last week and since they both needed them right around the same time I took them to the appointment together. I also took my lil bro Jake and I am glad I did. He helped out a lot during shot time.

Here are the stats:

Naison 2 years: 30.3 lbs-75%, 34.5 in-50%

Kian 4 months: 18.4 lbs-95%, 26.25 in-90%...let's compare to Nais at 4 months: 16.3 lbs, 25.5 in...so, Kian is bigger than Nais was and I thought Nais was big. Oh well, I guess I just have big kids...at least they are healthy!

Here are some pics:

Kian at 4 months, Nais at 4 months

Kian 1-4 months

Nais at 2 years:

Here is an update of what has been going on...Kian got the ok to start solid food. He has been waking up in the middle night and during naps recently but going back to sleep with his paci. I asked the doctor why and he said maybe some rice cereal might help. So, I started him on rice cereal just for dinner. The next day he started sleeping through the night again and taking 2 hour naps with out waking up during them. So, I guess it could be the rice cereal but could be a coincidence too. Who knows?!?! I will add in veggies and fruit when he has mastered eating from a spoon.

So, Just when I get him sleeping through the night again, he gets sick with a cold. It is so sad to see a baby with a cold. He has a cough, his voice is a little hoarse, and I have to suck the snot out of his nose and he hates it! He is waking up like 3 times a night but going back to sleep with his paci. I think he coughs it out and then cries for it. So, it's not that bad but I was just getting used to sleeping uninterrupted. Oh well...hope this doesn't last long.

Oh, and Kian has a flat spot on the back right side of his head. We are doing lots of tummy time and exersaucer work to try and get that to go away. He only lays down when he is sleeping. If it's not gone by the next visit, which is at 6 months, he has to get a helmet.

Here is Kian eating his rice cereal:

Naison is doing great...trending down some percentages in the weight category, which is what the doctor wanted to see. He still doesn't have all of his teeth but they are coming in slowly. His 2 top K9 teeth just popped through.

We decided to start taking away his paci. We cut a slit in it the first night and he said "how it work" when he sucked on it and went to bed with no issues. The next night we cut the tip off and he said "paci broken" and cried for like 5 minutes and fell asleep. So, I thought it would be a bigger deal than it has been but we still have to take it totally away. We will see how that goes. Our plan is to cut it down a little more each night until it is basically gone.

Nais is saying so many words. It is so amazing to see him growing into a little person. He is saying sentences now and he makes us smile so much with what come out of his mouth. He also throws fits when he doesn't get his way but I think he is a pretty good little guy. Sometimes he tries to hide from us so he doesn't have to go to bed, which is so funny cause he thinks he is hidden so well and we totally know where he is. I love that boy!

Here is Nais hiding:

What can I say?!?...we are so blessed to have such amazing little boys in our lives. We love them so much!

Oh, and I have my daddy back...They found a new director for the residency program so Vafa is no longer the interim director! I love that he has more time to spend with the family and less stress in his life. He did a great job and I am so very proud of him for stepping up and helping out the residents. I love you Vafa!

Soccer Star

Naison started a soccer class last week with a bunch of his friends. The class is for 2-3 year olds and I think the 3 year olds are catching on quicker. Nais does not have a very long attention span and he doesn't exactly follow directions all that well. So, he kicks the ball and runs a little bit, and then wants to stop and eat snacks, play with the equipment, and play in the rocks behind the field. It is still cute to watch though. We will see how he does this week. So, soccer star....not yet!

My little boy is 2!

I can't believe Naison is 2 years old! Time is moving too fast. We had a combined birthday party this year for him and his twin friends Jack and Noah. They turned 3 the day before Nais. We had a simple playdate at the park across the street with a bunch of friends...so easy. We had pizza, drinks, cake, and cupcakes. Instead of gifts we had everyone bring books to donate to Phoenix Children's Hospital again. The weather was so nice out and it was just a relaxing day with almost no clean up. I love parties in the park.

Thanks to everyone who came and donated books to PCH. I will be taking them to the hospital next week.

Halloween part 3 of 3

I am so glad to be getting all of this blogging done. I guess I have been busy lately and it is just piling up.

On actual Halloween night the cousins came over to go trick or treating in our neighborhood with Nais. They brought a friend with them too. Before trick or treating we had a yummy dinner of chick-fil-a! Vafa and Venous took the kids out and Kian and I stayed home and passed out candy. Nais is such a bog boy...he held his basket the whole time and said trick or treat and thank you to everyone.

Halloween part 2 of 3

We had a little Halloween party in our culdesac for some of our friends and kids...it was mostly for the kids. We had food...walking tacos, aka frito pies, everyone brought an appetizer, drinks, we had a play-do station, a doughnut game, and each family brought treats for trick or treating stations. It was a busy but fun night. All the kids dressed up and some of the adults did too. Nais wore his turtle costume from last year to this party.

I think all the kids enjoyed themselves...hopefully we can do it again next year!

Here are all the kids...minus Kian of course..he fell asleep....

and here is Nais in his turtle costume.

Halloween part 1 of 3

Our community where we live has a Halloween event every year. It was called the Boo Bash this year. They have food, bounce houses, face painting, games, and all kinds of stuff for the kids to do. We went to that the Friday before Halloween. Nais wore his china man costume for this event and Kian wore his zebra costume. Nais pretty much stayed in the barnyard bounce house the whole time. I guess he is over his bounce house fear :-)

Lake Havasu

We got invited by some friends of ours, that Vafa knows from residency, to come along on the annual trip they take with their families. They all went to residency together and now live in different parts of the US. So...let me introduce you to the families.

The Schanzers: Danny, Ben, Andy, and Andrea

The Goldfarbs: Jeremy, Misha, Ilona, and Jonah

and The Nanigians:Sarah, Dana, Maya, and Brad

All of them are super nice, sweet, and funny. So, needless to say we had a great vacation. Naison had so much fun playing with all the kids and we had fun every night hanging with adults!

We rented a house in Lake Havasu, AZ so we just had a few hours drive and we were there. The house had a swimming pool and hot tub. There was a lot of swimming, jumping off the diving board, and chilin in the hot tub going on.

We hit the beach a couple of times while we were there and rented a house boat for 2 days, which was so much fun. We would set out on the lake in the morning, find a nice beach spot to stop at and grill lunch, play for a while, and then head back to the house. It was the perfect amount of time on the boat. However, Nais would not nap on the boat so he was so tired by the end of the day.

There was a slide and the kids enjoyed playing in the sand and water, and jumping on the beds! Kian just got carried wherever we went. He is a go with the flow kind of kid!

Every night a different family made dinner. There was so much variety in our food...I was loving it. We had fish, burgers, tacos, salads, and we made Persian food. The guys all went fishing for a day but didn't catch that much. Other than that, the kids did lots of crafts, watched movies, ate snacks, hung out, and enjoyed each other.

Here are all the kids minus Kian...

and here is the best group shot! Thanks Andy!

We had such a good time with everyone. Thanks to all of the amazing families for inviting us and being so fun to hang out with. Hope to see you all soon. Love to all!

Pumpkins

I typically blog in chronological order but I am waiting on pictures from someone so I am skipping our Lake Havasu trip and will come back to it when I get the pictures.

We went to MacDonalds Ranch this year again to visit the pumpkin patch and take a hay ride with the boys. We went with a few other families and their kids. It was kind of hot so it didn't exactly feel like it was fall and we had on shorts and tank tops. That's Arizona for you.

When we got there we headed to the petting zoo and Jason stopped to teach Nais some golf. Then we went on a hayride that took us out to the pumpkin patch.

We played in the pumpkin patch for a while and we all got family shots...thanks Stephanie! The kids had fun picking up all the different sized pumpkins.

This was Naison's favorite pumpkin...kind of weird looking, but he loved it.

Here is a shot of the kids minus Kian. (From right to left...Kennedy, Nais Layla, Kaelynn)

3 Months already!

Well Kian turned 3 months old like 2 weeks ago, but here is the update. We didn't have a doctors appointment but I did weigh him myself and he was 15.6lbs...which I think is huge! He is sleeping from 8:30pm-6am..sometimes he wakes up at 5:30am. I think that is pretty darn good and I am happy with the amount of sleep that I get too. He is eating about every 3-4 hours and takes 3 naps usually. Here is his pic at 3 months...as you can see he is filling out nicely.

Here is a little update about Naison. He is loving helping out with his little brother. He likes to take the diapers to the trash and the dirty laundry to the hamper. He says baby Kian all the time. He also says "no crying" or "stop crying" when Kian is crying. It's kind of cute but sometimes he likes to scream it louder than Kian is crying. Nais is getting to be a little whiny..not sure if it is his age or the fact that he is getting 4 teeth right now. It is probably a little of both but I think most of it is his age. He does not like to be told no and I find myself saying it ALOT!

I take both of the boys to the doctor on November 8th so I will have another update then. Kian goes for his 4 month and Nais goes for his 2 yr. I can't believe I have an almost 2 year old!

Vic and Neda visit AZ

Holy cow am I behind on blogging. I have never been this behind! Hopefully there will be lots of posts and I will get caught up quick!

Victor and Neda came to visit the AZ family September 30th for a long weekend. We had so much fun while they were here. We got to see a lot of the cousins too. The first morning they were here we went to a farmer's market and shopped and played frisbee.

We also went out to dinner a few times and went swimming in the Aviano pool...which all the kids love!

We did some high quality hanging out with the family!

Thanks for coming to visit Victor and Neda...please come back soon. We miss you lots! We had a blast!