Birthday Party at Pappa's house!

Leila had her birthday party at school yesterday and then we were off to Pappa's to celebrate her birthday there. Pappa (Adnan's mom) had a kidney transplant a month ago and while she is doing really great, she is supposed to stay at home as much as possible. Leila and Holden were more than happy to have another reason to eat cake and spend time with their grandparents!

Dora from Malake-aunty

Leila and Holden enjoying chocolate cake and ice cream

Malake-Aunty, Pappa, Leila, Anita, Holden, Moto and Pasha

Wordless Wednesday!

Happy Birthday Leila!

Lightning Strikes!!

Holden had his first soccer game on Saturday! Oh my was it fun! Leila and I met Holden and Adnan at the soccer game after StrollerFit. Team Lightning was warming up. A bunch of 3 year olds, one coach and no ref, you can only imagine!! Holden seemed good to go! The supporters of #23 were there....why #23 you ask?? Adnan thought it was only appropriate that Holden have David Beckhams's number! Why not!! My parents, sister, sister-in-law and brother -in-law were all there! Oh the pressure of it all.
Holden played at the beginning got knocked down and started to cry. He wanted mommy...It was downhill from there. He wanted me on the field with him. When we practiced kicking the ball on the sideline, he wouldn't kick it unless he was holding my hand. LOL!! I enjoyed every minute of it, knowing that #23 wouldn't always need me to hold his hand.

Looking forward to more fun soccer games!

Trip to the Dentist...

Trip to the Dentist

Leila is finally calm

We went to the dentist Today! Yes, I'm embarrassed to say that Leila is almost 5 and has not set foot in a dentists office. :( We did make it before her 5th birthday.

Busy watching Flushed Away

Holden lovin getting his teeth cleaned

We arrived at the dentist to be told that Leila and Holden's appointment was actually next week. Not TRUE! I did schedule them separately. Anyway, after the kids ran around the waiting area, we were told that Leila would still be able to be seen. I thought she was excited to be there, but she cried and cried and sobbed and cried some more. Holden climbing up the chair


We all headed back to get Leila's teeth cleaned. She was having no part of this UNTIL the dental hygienist told her that mommy might have to leave if she couldn't calm down. Leila was up in the chair in no time getting her teeth cleaned. They played Flushed away on the flat screen tv hanging above the chair. SUPER COOL! After heading off to x-rays, they came back and asked if Holden would like to get his teeth cleaned. Of course Holden was raring to go! He kept asking the DH (Dental Hygienist), Dr. what is this? Dr what is that? Dr. how do you turn this on/off? It was 20 questions and super funny that he kept calling her Doctor!


The Doctor arrived and told us that their teeth looked good NO Cavities!! This was the good news, the bad news was that Leila had minor issues, b/c she still likes her thumb at night. The Permanent teeth come in at 6 so she has to kick the habit in the next 6 months. Holden on the other hand doesn't like a thumb or pacifier, he has always shoved about 6 inches of his blanket in his mouth. Well, this is very bad on your teeth, jaw and well, ALL BAD. No more blanket unless we want to see the ortho at 5. :)

Holden loved the spit sucker...the dr. taught him how to use it himself. While the dr. talked to him, he continued to pick it up, turn it on and suck the spit from his mouth.

Vacation in Houston

We had a great "vacation" in Houston as Leila calls every trip that we take out of town. Adnan had a work conference in Houston so the kids and I decided to join him. It was the perfect opportunity to hang out with one of my dearest friends Jennifer and her family.

There is really nothing better than friends that have known you forever. As I was standing in Jenn's kitchen, I was trying to explain to Leila that Jenn and I had been friends since we were she and Caiden's age (that is Jenn's 5 year old son). Crazy that we have know each other over 25 years and are still FRIENDS! Jenn and I met in Kindergarten, went to jr high and high school together then were roommates all through college. That's a long time! How can I be old enough for this to be possible?? Let's face the facts...I am.

The kids played at parks, did art, chalked, jumped in puddles, paraded around the block and all in all really got along great. Did I tell you that there were 4 children 5 and under? It was a wild fun weekend!!

Valentines Day and More....

I love Valentines day! It is one of my most favorite holidays. Last night I sat with the kids to help them get their Valentines ready for school. Leila was very deligent coloring, folding and sealing her Valentines. She stayed "on task" the entire time. I was really impressed. Holden on the other hand was a different story. He wanted to color his signature every place but on the Valentines. I swear if we would have sat there all night while he colored on the cardboard under his Valentines. It was so FRUSTRATING. Then all the sudden he decided to whip them out and color on all of them. Sigh of Relief.

The Valentines Party
Leila went to school as usual. Since today is not Holden's normal school day, I "tried" to drop him off for his party. We got to school and he cried and cried and cried. I had to go in the room and sit with him. This has never happened before. Seperation anxiety can happen at 3! Yikes! He has been more attached lately and has to say, "check on me, see you in the morning" regardless if he is going to bed or being dropped off at school. Pretty funny! Once I picked him up, he was glad he went. I told him how wonderful I though his teachers were and asked him if he loved them. He said, "I love mommy." Those words melt my heart!!

Thursday Thirteen

I'm stealing this topic from Lindsay the blogging diva to do my first Thursday Thirteen In honor of my husband on Valentines day!

1. He is more thoughtful than anyone I know.
2. He'd give the shirt off his own back for you
3. And look good with it off. :)
4. He is patient
5. Loves his children
6. Loves his GIANT family and my small family
7. He loves his mom-you should always marry someone who loves their mom!
8. He puts up with the chaos of me
9. My computer whiz and technical support
10. Pushes me to be the best I can
11. Loves me anyways
12. Great cook
13. The love of my life!!!!

Kris' Shower...

We had a baby shower for one of my friend's Kris who is expecting baby #2 in March. It was fun! My friend Nicole was in from Colorado and my friend Jennifer was in from Houston. Here we are...

Later that night we all went out to dinner with the kids. Luckily we were able to get our own room so that the kids could run around! They sat at their own table...SCARY!

Coming home

Pappa came home from the hospital today. It is unbelievable that you can have a transplant on Sunday evening/Monday morning and then come home on Friday of the same week. AMAZING! We took the kids to see her tonight. She seems to be doing really well. We have to be super careful that we are not the least bit sick when we see her, as her immune system is suppressed.

Adnan and I talked to the kids today about what happened to Pappa. They understood (at least somewhat) that she used to have treatments to clean her blood. Leila had lots of questions about how she got a kidney, where it came from and what organs are? I can't imagine as a child trying to make sense of this! Pappa is very brave and the kids love her!

More Funnies...

The kids make me laugh every day with the new things they say.

I told Holden I needed to make him a dentist appointment to get his teeth polished. He wanted to know if it would hurt. He figured he might get a "bandaid for his teeth." I told him he wouldn't need a bandaid for them because it wouldn't hurt. He couldn't help telling everyone today about his appointment. He even told Pappa (his grandma) that she would need an appointment to see him. :)