Nana and Ali hit the town

Last week Aliyas Nana, Robs mom, took her to the zoo. Its strange for me to see the pictures and see Aliyas life and experiences when I am not there. It is not natural for me, yet, to see her as a separate entity from me. For the first year of her life she was attached to me every minute of everyday and even though this past year she has moved away from that constant nurturing I still feel that closeness and bond with her. I am so happy though that she has created such wonderful bonds with others. She really does love her Nana and she always comes home so happy from her outings with her Nana. Nana took her to Disney for her birthday, when they walked in the park there was a birthday parade. Aliya felt like it was just for her and she brightened up. They had a great time. She loved 'its a small world', the merry-go-round, and the tea cups but really didn't like the snow white ride, it was scary! Aliya came home so excited with her Minnie Mouse hat, Minnie Mouse doll and the Mikey mouse and gang tub toys.

Zoo Pics

Disney Pics

Kaden

Such a beautiful, precious baby. I love every ounce of him, the way he smells, the way his hair sticks up and tickles my cheek, and the way he loves to be held every second.

Chuck-E-Cheese

For Aliyas birthday we took her to Chuck-E-Cheese. I never expected her to have so much fun. She played and danced and ate pizza. The real birthday surprise was that Tony Dungy was there, obviously this was a bigger surprise for Rob than for Aliya but since it was her birthday she got to get a picture with him!

Easy Breezy Weekend

We had the best unplanned weekend. The greatest part of an impromptu day is the surprise of where you end up. We woke early on Saturday morning and took the kids to the farmers market where we ate banana ice cream, sampled the greatest flan I have ever eaten, listened to live music and watched Ali dance in the grass and Rob took Aliya on a train ride while I sat in the shade and rocked Kaden in a wonderful wooden rocking chair. With no schedule or plan we stopped by Barnes and Noble, Aliya rode up and down the escalator and we gathered about 15 books from the kids section found some big comfy chairs. Not really expecting Aliya to sit and read very long she took me by surprise when two hours later we were still in the same poufy chairs reading book after book. Rob cuddled with Kaden and we just relaxed and sat peacefully. After putting the kids to bed Rob and I settled into watching a DVD we picked up from redbox. Granted we fell asleep before it was finished it was still a perfect end to a great day.

Rob has wanted to go eat at a restaurant called Buddy Freddie’s for a while, its pretty far North from us so we hadn’t gone yet but Sunday morning seemed like a perfect time to have breakfast there. He has fond memories of this place and remembers sitting outside in their rocking chairs waiting for a table and being served warm apple cider on a chilly night. Unfortunately after a half hour drive our experience was not so nice. The kids were both asleep but we managed to transfer Aliya from the car to the stroller without waking her up. Once we were inside our service was terrible. The waitress was exceptionally rude so we just left. Amazingly rob got Aliya buckled back into the car seat without waking her. We then drove almost an hour to South Tampa while the kids slept and went to Waffle House for breakfast. I love Waffle House, great cheap food with fast service. The menu, the atmosphere nor the waitresses have changed in 30 years. It is always exactly the same which is so wonderful because you can always count on it. After breakfast we met up with Becca and Alastair at international Plazas play place. Aliya was thrilled and just kept saying Alastair, Alastair over and over again and when she was playing with him she kept holding his hand and walking him around showing him off to everyone. Poor Alastair was very accommodating to her when all he really wanted to do was play. On the way home Rob surprised us with a trip to River park. Its brand new gorgeous park right on the water in downtown Tampa. I slept in the grass and saw a shark, Ali ran through the water and ate a hot dog, Rob bought a sea shell from a little boy and Kaden just slept. We put Ali to bed and watched another movie that night. Rob made it though the whole thing but I fell asleep and it was another perfect night to a fantastic weekend.
 

Happy 2nd Birthday Aliya!

Of all the little two year olds in all the world you are by far my favorite. You woke up yesterday in a grumpy mood and said “dirty mouse” referring to the mickey mouse diaper you were wearing and wanted an “elmo diaper”. When I tried to take off your pj’s you kept saying “I want jammas” because you knew in that smart head of yours that once the pj’s come off that you will get school clothes and be working your way through the morning with the goal of getting to school. All you wanted to do was stay home with your mom and brother. I asked you if you wanted to see Ms. Rachel, you said no. I asked if you wanted to see Rhianna, or Yarra, or Braden and the answer was no, as soon as I asked if you wanted to see Kaden you got a huge smile and said “Kaden! Yeah!” Dad took you to dinner and after he asked you if you’d like to go out for ice cream or if you’d like to go home and see Kaden. You wanted to come home and see your baby brother. What other 2 year old would love a new sibling so much? None other, that’s who. That’s one of the many things that makes you so unbelievably special.

You are so smart beyond your 2 year old self. You are so kind and loving. You are naughty and wicked. You are rambunctious and tough as nails. You are a perfect 2 year old. An amazing mix of tantrums and hugs.
Your hair is long enough to put in a pony tail. You outgrow your clothes before you have a chance to wear them. You are growing faster than I had ever dreamed or imagined and I wish I could slow it down just enough to learn everything about you before you grow another day older and learn more, talk more, think more and grow into who you were meant to become.
You are officially a kid now and no longer a baby. You speak in full sentences and are totally sure of yourself. You know exactly what you want. Your dad and I watch you in amazement every day. You make us laugh and smile with your wit and charm. You are the best little girl and more than we could have asked for. We thank God for you daily. Happy Birthday sweet pumpkin.
Ali at 2

Favorite foods- mac n’ cheese, hot dogs, grapes, & oranges
Favorite drink- apple juice and milk
Favorite color- I think lavender/purple but when it comes to a hair bows you like orange
You call yourself Yaya and it is the best thing ever.
Favorite show- Barney right now but Sesame street overall
Favorite person- Kaden
Favorite animal- monkey
Favorite fun thing to do- train rides
You love music and cooking
You love to read books with me and your dad
You love to sit on your dads shoulders
You hate to hold my hand when crossing the street
You hate to leave your brother and me to go to school
You always have some type of boo boo recently and point to it and say “boo boo, itchy”
Bedtime at 7:30 Wake up at 7

Out and About

Mosi

Busch Gardens- We asked Ali what she wanted to do on Robs last day before heading back to work, her options were park, playground, see monkeys and a choo choo train. Without a moment to think about it she instantly said monkeys and choo choo train. So we headed to Busch Gardens for a couple of hours. The weather was perfect! Warm with a cool breeze. We went and saw the gorillas and went around the whole park on the choo choo train. She would say 'chuga chuga chuga choo choo!' We stopped by the tortous area. Check out how huge they are in the pics below! It was a great, fun day with our new family of 4.

Kadens Bay'ah

The tradition of bay'ah can be traced back to the era of Prophet Muhammad. From the beginning bay'ah was taken by Prophet Muhammad as an oath of allegiance. Anybody who wanted to enter Islam did so by reciting the basic statement of the faith expressing his faith in the oneness of God and the prophethood of Muhammad. In addition to this the prophet formally took bay'ah from the people and tribes. Through this formal act they entered the Islamic community and showed their willingness to follow and obey Prophet Muhammad. In Ismailism we take bay'ah to the Imam. Kaden had his Bay'ah on Thursday. It was a beautiful little ceremony in Khane. Mukhi Saheb did a wonderful job including Aliya in the ceremony. She was such a hoot during the whole thing. Before it started we were all sitting on the floor except for maa, everyone was quite and Aliya sees maa not sitting and says"Maa, sit down!" We all had to start laughing. During the ceremony she got up and ran around a few times before coming back to the front and sitting down next top Kaden. It was a great night.

Kadens first bath at home

Aliya

She has been such a trooper through all the change in her life. It hasn't been an easy adjustment to share your mom and dad. She doesn't mean to be jealous but she is only a little girl. When I am holding Kaden she wants me, as soon as I hand Kaden to Rob she wants him. We did this back and forth a few times yesterday when finally she said "Kaden sit in his chair" and wanted us to put him down. We did and she was fine. She just wanted her mom and dad all to herself. It really funny because she absolutely adores her brother, when we put him down she went over and put a blanket on him, tried to give him his chocho (pacifier) and kept giving him kisses. Yesterday we were in car and Kaden started to cry, she started to talk to him and tell him "it okay Kaden". I caught her singing and pushing Kaden in his ghoryo (hammock for a baby), she stood there and sang to him for almost 10 minutes! What a sweet little girl and wonderful big sister.

 Rob took Ali on a train ride at Wiregrass

She loves to sit on her dads shoulders and every time she does she calls me "Mommy! Mommy! Look Daddy's shoulders!"

We took Ali and Kaden to Rainforest Cafe. Its a bit pricey but fun. We thought Ali would love the animotronic gorillas and elephants but she was a little scared, she loved the fish though! Her face during the thunderstorm they have every half hour was priceless, she was hesitant and so curious as to what was happening around her. Adorable.