Friday, December 27, 2013
Thursday, December 26, 2013
Christmas Day
Our Christmas Day tradition means we wake up Christmas morning and do our small family Christmas with the girls, then mid-day head to Omar's folk's house to celebrate with the extended family.
This year was no different and we had a wonderful time!
(side note: my big Christmas present from Omar was a new lens for my camera that I have been coveting for a few years now, which translated to some really great pictures later in the day!)
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| EJ loved opening all her presents Christmas morning! |
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| Nora was exhausted from the festivities and zonked out snuggling her new pig stuffed animal. (thanks, Bum-Bum!) |
Even Miss Beyla gets into the Christmas spirit!
Fun family festivities with the Nadi family!
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| The Nadi ladies on Christmas day! |
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| Sisters & Cousins! |
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Nora models the adorable hat Aunt Naj knit for her! |
Nana gets in some good Ingrid snuggles.
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| The boys (and Nora) |
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| Bum-Bum and Ingrid model the latest Christmas fashion. |
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| Daddies and their girls |
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| Papa and Nora |
Nana and Papa had a truly beautiful tree straight out of a magazine which made the perfect backdrop for holiday pictures with my new camera lens. They turned out so great!
(extra easy with such beautiful subjects!)
It was a wonderful, special day all around! Everyone had such a great time and it always makes us so happy to see how much fun our girls have with their cousins, aunts/uncles, and grandparents. It really drives home what this time of year is all about: family.
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| Merry Christmas, Brighteyes! |
Christmas Eve
Every year we celebrate Christmas Eve with my mom & sister and this year was no different. My mom came up in the early afternoon and we put my new kitchen to good use, making a true holiday feast! It was so nice to be able to spend this very special time with them, we had such a great day together full of laughter, great food, and lots of fun. The girls of course loved having their Gran there to celebrate with, and EJ in particular enjoyed exchanging presents (and putting on her adorable new Christmas PJs!)
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| Gran with the girls in their adorable xmas PJs |
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| Bum-Bum and the Nugget |
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| Nora & EJ love their aunt! |
So special to celebrate this sweet baby girl's first Christmas!
This is the first year that Everett has really understood Christmas, and how very fun, exciting, and special it made it for us. She very carefully set out the plate with Santa's cookies and 9 baby carrots for his 9 reindeer.
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| Cookies for Santa |
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| Omar explains the finer point of A Christmas Story to Nora. It's a Christmas tradition! |
The girls made the "Nice" list this year and that means Santa came for a visit!
(I think their cuteness helped)
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| Stockings hung by the chimney with care |
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| Both girls got enormous Sock Monkeys and plush snuggle blankets, plus a few "extras" specific to them!  |
Merry Christmas to all and to all a GOOD NIGHT!
Friday, December 20, 2013
Nadi Family Inaugural Cabin Fever Weekend
The Nadi family decided to do a Cabin Fever of their own this fall. We rented a beautiful cabin on the side of a mountain and we all crammed in - it was perfect! We spent 4 days hanging out, eating good food, playing fun games, laughing, and having a wonderful time together! EJ absolutely LOVES her cousins and had such a blast playing with them, sleeping in the same room with them (there was a bunk room for the kids), and generally running amok with them.
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| EJ and Mimi get bundled up for their big hike. |
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| The hikers make it to the top of the mountain. |
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| We all had fun making s'mores! |
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| Nora and Cousin Ingrid had words over whose turn it was in the swing. |
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Mimi is the best babysitter! |
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| Nana (and Papa!) were a huge help with the babies! |
We had so much fun! I really hope we make this an annual event, especially my domination of Tarnib. ;)
Mommy Struggles
I struggle so often with this question, that perhaps some of you can answer: how do I be the parent to my children that both sets boundaries & standards (e.g. you need to follow this moral code and be a good citizen) while also instilling in them, without a shadow of a doubt, that no matter what they do, I will love them completely and entirely. In the most basic sense, and perhaps the most extreme example, I want and NEED them to know that, unequivocally, killing someone is bad, but if - god forbid - that happened, I would still love them. Is it possible to teach that? Is it wrong? Is it right? If it's wrong, I don't care. I will always love them, completely and entirely.
I remember in my teenage years, my mom trying to impress upon me that if I ever got into trouble (drinking, drugs, pregnancy, whatever) that she would be there for me. And I remember thinking to myself, "yeah, right." Not that I ever took the time to really think about if she would be there - in the end, if I had, I know she would be - but more that I was so incredibly anti-disappointing her that I never considered actually being honest with her. Luckily I was never put to the test with those situations, but if I had been, I fear I would have lied and hidden it from my parents. The last thing I wanted to do was disappoint them, and while I always knew they would love me and support me, I didn't want to let them down. And thus, I would have lied to them. And that is absolutely the last thing I want my girls to do with me. But how do I teach that? Is it even possible? Are there any kids out there that actually would feel comfortable telling their parents the complete truth? Calling them to drive them home from a party in highshool when they shouldn't have been driving themselves? I remember being in those situations and always choosing the shorter-term option, even if it wasn't the smarter option. And my parents were amazing, they said and did all the right things.
I wish I knew the answer. I wish there was a way to let my girls know that even if they call me drunk from a party in highschool and need a ride home, I will do it and will love them just as much that day as I did the day before. That if they get into a situation where they need my help but are mortified or afraid of the consequences, that there may be consequences, but those consequences will never involve my love, my support, my unfailing adoration of them. I know I can tell them that a million times over, but how do I say it in such a way that they hear me, they believe me, they trust me?
If you have the answer, I would love to hear it. It terrifies me. I desperately need them to know that their first line of defense, their first call for help, their first plea for salvation should always be me. I will always always always be there for them, be their #1 defender and greatest support system. I will love them no matter what. Of course I want nothing more than them to be good people, responsible members of society, nice and selfless and kind. But in their darkest moments, which we all have, I hope they always know that their dad and I will love them to the moon and back, no matter what.
I remember in my teenage years, my mom trying to impress upon me that if I ever got into trouble (drinking, drugs, pregnancy, whatever) that she would be there for me. And I remember thinking to myself, "yeah, right." Not that I ever took the time to really think about if she would be there - in the end, if I had, I know she would be - but more that I was so incredibly anti-disappointing her that I never considered actually being honest with her. Luckily I was never put to the test with those situations, but if I had been, I fear I would have lied and hidden it from my parents. The last thing I wanted to do was disappoint them, and while I always knew they would love me and support me, I didn't want to let them down. And thus, I would have lied to them. And that is absolutely the last thing I want my girls to do with me. But how do I teach that? Is it even possible? Are there any kids out there that actually would feel comfortable telling their parents the complete truth? Calling them to drive them home from a party in highshool when they shouldn't have been driving themselves? I remember being in those situations and always choosing the shorter-term option, even if it wasn't the smarter option. And my parents were amazing, they said and did all the right things.
I wish I knew the answer. I wish there was a way to let my girls know that even if they call me drunk from a party in highschool and need a ride home, I will do it and will love them just as much that day as I did the day before. That if they get into a situation where they need my help but are mortified or afraid of the consequences, that there may be consequences, but those consequences will never involve my love, my support, my unfailing adoration of them. I know I can tell them that a million times over, but how do I say it in such a way that they hear me, they believe me, they trust me?
If you have the answer, I would love to hear it. It terrifies me. I desperately need them to know that their first line of defense, their first call for help, their first plea for salvation should always be me. I will always always always be there for them, be their #1 defender and greatest support system. I will love them no matter what. Of course I want nothing more than them to be good people, responsible members of society, nice and selfless and kind. But in their darkest moments, which we all have, I hope they always know that their dad and I will love them to the moon and back, no matter what.
Monday, December 2, 2013
Exploration
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| EJ and Matteson having hands-on fun together! |
Mondays are the only day EJ is not in school, so I always try to have something fun planned to do with her. Today it was the Children's Museum. We took her here for the first time on her 1st birthday - she wasn't quite old enough to fully enjoy it at that age. But every time we go back and she is a bit older, she enjoys it more and can participate in more of the activities. I think this will only continue to be more fun for her in the years to come as she will be able to explore each exhibit fully.
Right now she is really into the fishing pond, moon sand, and painting. She is also starting to get into the mechanical section, which is full of pulleys systems to move balls around (Helluva Engineer!).
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| My little Picasso |
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| This sand is so much cooler than normal sand. |
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| Learning to fish. Can't wait until her Pop-E can teach her the real thing! |
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!
I'm embarrassed to admit this. But here it goes: we bought our Christmas tree before Thanksgiving this year. Don't tell anyone. I am morally opposed to decorating for one holiday before the holiday prior to it has happened. But this year it couldn't be helped, I swear. Our schedule is nuts for the next month, so our only option was the weekend before Thanksgiving. I promise I won't let it happen again!
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| We always go to the state Farmer's Market to get our tree. It's a Team Nadi tradition! |
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| This year we took some of the Khalaf Krew with us! |
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| Mimi & Alina had fun teaching EJ how to decorate the tree |
We have been getting our Christmas tree from the state Farmer's Market for as long as I can remember. I grew up going there with my dad and have a lot of great memories doing so, so it was important to me to incorporate it into our family tradition. Plus the trees are just better. For comparison sake, here is proof that both and EJ and Nora have participated in this tradition from birth. =)
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| With EJ and Beyla in 2010 (Everett is one month old) |
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| With Nora in 2013 (Nora is 3 months old) |
As much as I am against decorating so early, I have to admit that I am secretly thrilled to get an extra week of Christmas decor/music/smells/lights/JOY in my house this year! Shhhhhh..... ;)
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