Christmas 2012

Christmas is a fun time with the girls and this year was no different. But the one big change was that we didn't get a real big tree because Jiana is at the age where she would pull everything down and it would have been more trouble! So Avikar got a small fake tree (I am a little embarrassed to admit this) and it sits on our coffee table. It actually is really cute and the girls helped decorate it. I can't wait for next year when we can get the BIG one!
Christmas Eve was at Mum and Dad's house and we had dinner together and opened presents before the girls went to bed. It was mellow but it was fun and spending time with family is always special.

All done!

Our beautiful little tree.

Family picture! Hey we are all looking!



With Chachu

Getting her medical kit.

Joy Preschool Winter Wonderland Festival

One of the things I love about Suhana’s preschool is that they put on seasonal shows for the parents followed by a potluck dinner. It allows all the kids to get on stage and sing and showcase their beautiful voices and it gives the parents of those kids a chance to see each other and talk rather than the normal “Hi, how are you? Good, thanks bye” routine. And I can’t say enough about the teachers at this school. They really do give their all and make it so special for us to watch our babies on stage.

Suhana is in Joy 3 now (ages 3-4) and her class got up on stage and sang songs and one of their songs was Barneys’ “I love you, you love me”. This is Suhana’s very favorite song and it was really cute to see all her friends holding hands and swinging them really high as they sang. As loud as she is at home, she is much more timid on stage. She looks around for her family and doesn’t sing as loud. I think staring into the audience where there are a lot of adults beaming at you can be unnerving! And probably the funniest thing was that Jiana kept running to the steps of the stage and sitting down by the kids and then climbing the stage to explore. I had to run up there and grab her and bring her back! It’s hard to keep a 14 month old in one spot!  

Posing with the other star!

Suhana sitting with all her friends.

Don't mind me!



Suhana's class singing songs.

The star of the night!

Her teacher, Miss. Ariel.

 

Suhana-isms

Lately Suhana says some pretty funny things. Lately we have started going back and forth with “how much do you love me?” statements. And out of the blue she said this to me one day “Mommy, I love you more than all the animals in the zoo”  I was left open mouthed! How did my kid get so smart? She had to think that there are a lot of animals in the zoo, a lot is same as loving mommy so much. I was really amazed. So now, we play this game and she comes up with a lot on her own. The latest one was “I love you more than all the sand in the world” Well, I will take that over any present every day.

Glimpses of the last few months.

As I said in the earlier post, I have seriously been lagging in blogging duties due to a couple hectic months. So here are a few highlights.

Thanksgiving 2012

Thanksgiving weekend was eventful! We had a lovely Thanksgiving dinner at Molly’s house where there was plenty of good food, a perfect table setting filled with friends and family. Suhana and Lily had a blast playing together and Suhana was pretty love stricken by all the dogs there! She was following Kajos (Molly’s German Shepard guard dog) and Chuck around and saying “Mommy look how big he is!”  Its always so great to see Molls and the family.

That Saturday, Ayushka’s friend had a wedding at a local restaurant. It was really fun to get the girls dressed up and have them experience an Indian wedding. Not saying they understood much but exposure is best when it comes to seeing our culture. And, Suhana being 3 now likes to makes requests for her outfits and she had told me she wanted to wear an outfit like Radha. Radha is character in an Indian movie, Student of the Year. She dances wearing this pretty yellow and pink lengha and that’s what Suhana wanted. Luckily we live close to Little India where I was able to go shopping for an outfit. I went to Raas and found her a beautiful green and blue Punjabi (they didn't have the Radha outfit). She looked SO BEAUTIFUL!!! I can’t get over how grown up she is! And Jiana wore a beautiful lengha outfit that I had from when Suhana was small that she never wore. As you can see in the pictures, my babies are too cute!

 

6-year Anniversary

Avikar and I celebrated our 6^th wedding anniversary on December 2 and he surprised me with a 3-day cruise to Ensenada, Mexico! It was very fun, as we had never been on a cruise AND we weren’t taking the kids! Mum and Dad watched them for the weekend and we got a much-needed break. We got to relax, and just hang out without a schedule as you parents know that is unheard of! I read a whole book (gasp!), Avikar played in a mini golf tourney and won second place. We had nice dinners and saw comedy show and reveled in the fact that 6 years of marriage had already gone so fast. I am so thankful for him and recognize that I am very blessed for this partner that I have in life.  On Monday when we returned we were really happy to see the girls and I like to think they missed us a lot too.

 

Nutcracker Ballet

The Long Beach Ballet Company hosts the Nutcracker Ballet annually and I wanted to take Suhana this year. She is getting interested in dancing and ballet and thought what a great way for her to see girls her age up on stage. I really wasn’t sure how it would go, but off we went. We had amazing seats in the second row and for the entire first half she sat on my lap and watched with amazement. The ballet was done so professionally and the dancers all ranged from 4 years to professional ballerinas. And there was a full orchestra for the music. The backdrops and sets were incredible. It started at 2pm, which is right in the middle of her nap, and I was really hoping she would power through. She lasted through the intermission and fell asleep with 20 minutes left in the ballet. I was so happy she loved it and was able to expose her to some theater. We will definitely will going next year, a tradition has started.

My date for the ballet.

Jiana's 1st Birthday Party

This post is so overdue and I am a little embarrassed but better late than never!

Jiana’s First Birthday Party was celebrated in grand style at Heritage Park in Cerritos, on November 4, 2012. The theme was Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (Hot Diggity Dog!) with Baby Minnie as part of all the decorations. It was an obvious choice for a theme since Jiana loves (an understatement) Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and it was really fun to plan a Disney themed birthday.  We had a guest book in the front for guests to sign and write a note, there was a life-size Minnie Mouse doll at the gift table greeting all the guests (thanks Tash Chachu!) We had beautiful white tablecloths and baby yellow and pink overlays to cover the park benches, with Minnie Mouse centerpieces. Streamers were placed all over with balloons secured to the ground. The park we chose is really great because a large kids play area is next to the tables and there are a lot of waterways with ducks swimming around. There was a bounce house, an amazing face painter Carol and we had little packets of food for the kids to feed the ducks. Enough activities to keep them busy!

The morning of, Jiana woke up with a terrible cold (poor baby) but she was still a trooper and look so beautiful in her red, white and black party dress! (compliments of Dadi) My little 1 year old was a true sport. All of our family and friends came and we ate sandwiches, salads, cookies, cake and chips. Everyone had a good time and Jiana had a great time in the bounce house, where she would sit inside and we would all jump around her. Big sister Suhana had a blast because a lot of her friends were there too. Avikar and I had a lot of fun planning our little angels’ 1^st birthday and hope everyone enjoyed the party. Here are the photos. Love you, Jiji.

Decorations!

BIG MINNIE!

Minnie cupcakes

Birthday Girl!



Party area.

Carol painting Leah's face.

Only decent family pic! Believe me!

Amy and Quinn.

Suhana and Lily discussing the face painting. Serious business.

Make a wish!

Family picture!

My beautiful birthday girl!

Work peeps!

 

Presents yay!!

 

Holiday Photos

This year I decided since the girls were older that I would get some nice family photos done by my very talented friend David Young-Wolff, who is assisted by his ever cheerful, kind and “make a kid laugh” wife, Pam. David and Pam have been our friends for about 6 years now, when Molls introduced us to him, for a photo project he was doing. They both a really good with the kids and I love the energy they have.

We have never done a professional family photo session (shocking!) I know, so I was really bent on having the photos taken somewhere that looked like New England. I wanted fall leaves, the beautiful brown and golden colors in the background, BUT we live in Los Angeles and I didn’t know where I would be able to find that place. But find I did! Cerritos Sculpture Garden has this amazing walkway with these trees that have big, golden leaves! I was in heaven!! YAY! So David and Pam came out on a (of course this is my luck) very cloudy, good chance of rain day to take our photos. And they turned out pretty good, so I am including a lot! So enjoy :)