Happy Birthday Naison

Naison turned 3 this year and his friends Jack and Noah turned 4 the day before him so we did a combined birthday party since we have a lot of the same friends. We had the party at Pump It Up and it was the best idea ever. I made cupcakes and we ordered pizza and they took care of the rest.
Here is a pic of the whole party. It was tough getting that picture.

The boys got to wear and take home blow up crowns, which is still a hit around our house.

All the kids jumped in rooms filled with bounce houses, slides, obstacle courses, and ball pits for the first part of the party. They had the best time!

After the kids jumped for a while they went into the party room and ate pizza and had cake. This was my favorite birthday party so far because it was easy and the kids LOVED it! It was an extra special birthday this year because our cousin Kambiz and Mama Shahnaz were in town for the party. Thanks to Kambiz for the pictures!

Halloween

We had a few Halloween events this year. We went to the Aviano (my neighborhood) Halloween party, a kids block party in our neighborhood, and went trick-or-treating at my friend Stephanie's house.
The Aviano "Boo Bash" was the weekend before Halloween and the Boys and Girls club also sponsors it so my brother Jake was there because he works/volunteers there. Courtney and Anthony, Kirsten and Kaylynn, and Shelli Glenn all came to play/help with the kiddos. There were bounce houses, sno cones, games, music, and of course candy. The kids had a blast!

On Halloween night the neighbors behind us put together a block party for the kids. We all brought a dish to share and the kids got to show off their Halloween costumes. Our cousin Kambiz happened to be visiting and got a great family picture.

After the block party we headed to our friend Stephanie and Jason's house to trick-or-treat. I thought our neighborhood was busy last year...we went through at least 12 bags of candy this year. Her neighborhood was very popular!

Just for comparing purposes....here is Nais in the turtle costume 1 and 2 years ago and then Kian in it this year. (2010-Nais, 2011-Nais, 2012-Kian)

Check up time

Kian had his 15 month check up and Nais had his 3 year check up right around the same time so I will combine them....Here are there stats:

Kian was 29.2lbs-94th%, 34.5 in-100%....just to compare Nais at 15months was 26lbs-73%, 32in-75%.
So, both of the boys were growing nicely, just Kian is a little bigger at this stage. He is so super cute these days. He runs really fast and his whole face shakes when he does. He is starting to say a few words. His favorite words are apple, bubble, papa, please, no, and mama. I feel like he is growing up faster than Naison did. Every day he is doing something new.
Here is Kian at 15 months.

Here is Naison at 15 months and Kian at 15 months:

Naison at 3 years was 34lbs- 60th%, 37in-50th%. So Naison has slowed his growing down a touch but he is very healthy and happy. I do see why they say the 3's are worse than the 2's though. He can throw some temper tantrums for sure. He is very sweet most of the time though. He loves to read, play outside, and eat popsicles. He is totally potty trained, which is so nice not to be changing all those diapers.
Here is Nais at 3 years.

I love, love, love my boys so much!

San Francisco 1/2 Marathon

My friend Shelli and I went to San Francisco in October for the Nike women's 1/2 marathon. There were 25,000 people there running either the full or half marathon. It was such a great experience. We met a few of our other friends there that were running the full.
We got a little sick after running because I think we were dehydrated but other than that we had an amazing trip. The course was very different form anything we have in AZ, so it was really nice to run. This was the first trip away from my kiddos since they have been born! A huge thanks goes out to my amazing husband who watched the kids the whole time I was gone. I love you Vafa!!!!
Here are a few pics of Shelli and I before the race.

Here is the whole crew that went from our group of friends from AZ.

Here I am with my Tiffany's finisher necklace and one with me and Shelli after the race...we were freezing cold!

Here we are celebrating the night after the race at dinner! We had such a great time and we all finished our race!

Bieber Fever

Let's face it...I love Justin Bieber...and so does my brother. I took Jake to see him in concert for his 16th birthday! Kirst and Shells bells came along too (like I had to force them :-)) We had so much fun until he started barfing on stage..then it got awkward. All the girls were freaking out and crying....at least they weren't screaming at that point. I guess 18 year olds make bad decisions like drinking milk and eating nachos before going on stage in front of thousands of people. Despite the vomiting, we still had a great time and he put on a pretty darn good show. I still kinda feel bad for him but I'm sure he's over it. Until next time Biebs.

Oh and  a couple of my friends played a prank on my house the night before the concert. LOL!

Cabin time

We went up to Pine and stayed at the Zimmerman's cabin, which is amazing! Thanks for letting us stay there Carolyn! We had such a great time. The Sylvia family came with us and the weather was so much nicer than Phoenix.

We did lots of fun kids stuff during the day! We went on hikes, played on playgrounds and walked by the water. We even had a nature session from Vafa. 

The cabin was so nice and we can't wait to go back to get out of this heat...yes it is still 85-90 degrees in Phoenix...in November. Some photo credit needs to go to Kirsten Sylvia...thanks GURL!

My favorite photo of all:

Love to all!

The Garza Family visits

Vafa's dad and sister and family visited at the end of August and we had a blast! We went to stroller strides, swam in the pool, went out for dinner, went for special ice cream trips, and played at the mall on the toys!

I'm so glad all the boys got to play together and have lots of family time. We love our G family!!! I wish they all lived closer so the boys could hang more often. Love you Valeh, Leo, Alex, and Baba Iraj. Thanks for coming to visit. We can't wait to see you guys again soon!

Flagstaff trip

At the end of July we headed up to Flagstaff with the Melashenkos to get out of this heat. It was a little rainy which was amazing and the weather was nice and cool. Steph and I even attempted a run...at high elevation and hills. (We are currently training for the 1/2 marathon in San Fran in October.) I will just say it wasn't our best run ever. Once again I have failed at my job of picture taking. I have no pictures with the M clan. Booooo.

The guys headed up to Cardinal spring training during naps on Saturday and we stayed and relaxed at the cabin. The kids did a lot of playing at the amazing park downtown that they have there.

The kids passed out on the drive home. It was great. I think we wore them out!

Summer is over

My sister came and babysat for me pretty much all summer while she was on break. We had so much fun swimming and playing with Court and Anthony. Tatum came sometimes too. She helped me out a lot. I'm very sad to not have her anymore.

We went to pv mall sometimes and played at desert ridge in the splash pad.

We even went to the water park one day with Vanessa and Cade. It was so much fun. There was a lot of stuff that the little kids could do.

We miss you sissy...so much. We can't wait for next summer to do it again!

Kian's birthday party and Vic and Neda visit AZ

Victor and Neda came to visit AZ and to celebrate Ki's 1st birthday with us. They came out for Naison's 1st birthday party too so it was cool that they could be here with Kian as well. Despite my quantity of pictures, I swear they were here! This is the only picture I can find. Boooo to me.

The party was a bunch of Kian's friends and family. Threre was swimming, playing, pizza, a snow cone truck, and ice cream cupcakes that I made. The party was a big hit. Thanks to Neda for all the help setting up. I couldn't have done it without her.

I love this one of all the kids lined up. Only food would get them to stand that still.

Happy birthday sweet baby Kian! We love you so much!

12 Months

We all know Kian is going to be bigger than Nais and he will soon catch up to him but I just wanted to give a little comparison at 1 year. Here are the stats:

Kian 1 yr:
26.1 lbs 92%
31.75 in 95%

Nais 1 yr:
23.3 lbs 55%
31.25 in 90%

So Kian is bigger than Nais was at a year. I am guessing he will catch up to him in the next 6 months. It's easy for clothes though cause I just take Naison's clothes that he outgrows and put them right in Kian's closet. If I remember correctly Naison was a better communicator than Kian is at 1 year. Kian just kind of groans and points at things when he wants something and Nais would sign or say easy words at this point. Kian says some things but you can't really understand him. They sure know how to wrestle and fight though. Kian has picked that up pretty quick. I am pretty much a referee these days. They are so much fun most of the time. They have their bad moments but for the most part we can't complain. We are luck to have them in our lives.

Here are their pics:
(Nais is on the left and Kian is on the right)

We have been so lucky that both boys are so happy and healthy. They have both had their little snot noses and coughs but thank the lord they are pretty good little healthy guys.

4th of July

Yes, I'm still catching up. This was Kian's first 4th of July so I thought I would add it in. Our community has a big fireworks display so we took all the kids to check it out. Mom and Bob, Jakey, and our friends Jason and Kennedy joined us too. (Steph was 9 months+ pregnant so she skipped this year.)

The kids ate sno cones and kettle corn of course. I thought Kian would be afraid of the loud noises but he actually loved the fireworks. Nais was the one that was scared at first. He ended up loving them once he got used to the noise.

Happy first 4th of July baby Ki!

Steph's baby shower

One of my best friends, Stephanie, was pregnant with her second baby girl...who has since had her baby...and we threw her a sprinkle one weekend a while back. We rented out this cute little room and had it catered. It was so much fun to have mommy/girl time and sit and watch her open presents. Oh, and Steph and I went to Drybar before and had our hair done. Such a relaxing day. 

She had Baby Eden on July 10th and she is beautiful!!! Congrats to the Melashenko Family!

Arkansas!

This is super late but that's how life is going these days...no time to get it together. So we went to Arkansas to see my beautiful niece get married on June 16th. The whole Arnold crew went, so my Dad, otherwise known as GDB (Grandaddy Ben), had all of his living kids and grandkids there! Finally!!!!

We stayed in Camden with my Aunt Betty (Beba) most of the time and played in her big nice yard! The kids had a blast!!! Thanks for letting us take over your house Beba!

Here are a few pics of Katie and Derek...they are such a cute couple. Oh, and my dad took all the pics of course!

Here are some family pics and the bridal party!

Here are some fun pics of the reception and afterwards. They drove away in a horse and carriage...how fun is that?!?! We found Nais under the table sneaking a second piece of cake...naughty boy.

And you can't go to Arkansas without going out for fried fish...that is my favorite thing to eat there. My grandpa, Pop, used to fry us up the best fish I have ever eaten and my nana would make hush puppies and fries. The fish we ate wasn't nearly as good but still reminded me of them. I sure miss them. We had a great time in Arkansas and congrats to Katie and Derek. Love to all!!!!

Kian is 11 months and Nais is potty trained!

My sweet baby Kian turned 11 months old (he is currently a year old, but I'm behind). This second baby thing goes by way too quick. I love that he is walking and starting to talk but I miss the baby stage (sometimes). I guess that's what my friend's kids are for, right? So I can have a baby in my life!

 He is getting very good at walking and getting in to the dog food bowls and water. He has 2 bottom teeth and they are so super cute. His top 2 teeth are just about to come in but he seems to be doing fine with teething so far. I weaned him off the booby milk too so he just drinks almond milk like his big brother. I  kind of feel like a new woman. I did get a little sad though when it didn't bother him for 1 second that he wasn't getting it anymore. I guess he was ready too. 

Update on Nais...he is pretty much potty trained. He has some issues with number 2 every once in a while but he will get it. It's not even the issue of him going in his pants...it's that he likes to go outside like the dogs. THAT IS NOT OK. (he is much better now...no outside pooping for a couple of weeks currently) He loves getting his special treats when he goes on the potty. His favorite is getting a rolo for number 2. Potty training was a little easier than I thought it was going to be. He even wakes up with a dry pull up from his nap and most of the time in the morning too. I guess he was ready. His favorite thing to do these days is get in trouble with his friend Kennedy. 

I am so very blessed to have such an amazing family...2 healthy boys and a wonderful husband. 

 I love them to pieces. 

Cabo!

We took a family trip to Cabo at the end of May with Vafa's brother, SIL, Vafa's sister, BIL and all the kids. It was so much fun. The company, pool time, and food were amazing!
Here are a few pics of pool time. We swam a couple times everyday and played in the Riu-land place for the kids.

The food was amazing and they had the best selection! There was a huge buffet that had everything you could imagine and there were other restaurants that had specific themes of different food. I think we all left pretty stuffed...well except poor Vic, he had a stomach bug the first couple of days. 

We had so much fun family time with the cousins playing. Hopefully the rest of the cousins will be able to make the next trip. We also had some girly massage time and lay out time by the pool. The best was every night around 8pm they would have a dance party for the kids on a stage and Naison loved to participate. 

I hope we make this a yearly trip because it was the perfect amount of time away and it was a blast. Next year I hope to not have broken foot.