Ok, finally I can add pictures again so I'm going to hopefully contribute more to these posts. I missed tons of stuff and I hope to catch up some, but I have to include the girls birthdays that I missed. Alena's 3rd birthday was a blast!!! We had Kiwi the clown come out for face painting and balloons. WOW, we LOVE Kiwi - so incredibly talented and fun. Alena got 2 fish painted on her face with her lips becoming their lips. Her balloon was a mermaid! Samaya had butterfly wings painted on and an Elmo balloon. All our new friends from the neighborhood came and had so much fun. We went to the Children's Museum for her actual birthday. I have to mention, on Alena's actual birthday she didn't get any cake because we all went to Gattitown for dinner & games and we ALL got sick (except Samaya). Alena vomited all night and got a high temperature and then I got it and then Aman got it. So sad it happened on her birthday! The good news is she got over it pretty quickly, not like Aman and I. And she got a fabulous playscape for her birthday.

Samaya's 2nd birthday party was super fun too. I went back and forth for a long time trying to decide what to do. Finally, I gave up and did another princess party because Samaya LOVES pink & princesses - oh does the girl love princesses! It turned out to be so much fun. The girls decorated princess hats with stickers and the boys & some girls decorated swords. They played outside on the playscape and with her new water table and we had breakfast tacos & cake and ice cream and then we had a snow cone truck come and give all the kids & adults another treat. It was fun and everyone enjoyed it.

Alean's 4th birthday party

I actually got my act together and had Alena's birthday party on her actual day - Feb. 11th, a Saturday. Aman's family (brother, sister in law and kids) were coming, but couldn't at the last second due to illness. His sisters were able to come. Samina is pregnant with her first child! Alena wanted to have an animal theme party so we did a petting zoo and a face painter. We had pizza for lunch, then cake and all animal themed treats like animal crackers and such. Then the petting zoo came and we did that. She LOVED it! We had 18 kids so it was a crazy day, but lots of fun!

Yeah, it's been awhile...

Well, what can I say...I'm a working mom with 2 kids. I know everyone is busy so I have no excuse, but I do in my mind. I love my kiddo's too much to let this opportunity past. I have to keep a record of those life and experiences. So, I'm going to try to be better. Aman, the girls and I went to San Antonio for the weekend (we had a condo for the week, but could only stay for the weekend). It was early Dec. 2011 and we drove straight to Sea World for their Christmas special shows. It started raining when we got there and I thought it would quickly go away, but it only got worse...rained the entire day. We saw show after show, but we were super wet and cold from the rain and wind. The girls fed the dolphins and totally loved it!

We left early because of the rain and cold, but our condo got upgraded. It was so nice that I decided to stay a few more days. My parents came up on Sunday to help with the kids and to enjoy SA. Aman and I took the kids to the Safari Zoo. It was so great. The animals came right up to the window and ate. Alena got bitten by a Zebra, which was scary, but it didn't break the skin so she was fine. Zebras do bite! Otherwise they were so nice.

Aman left and my parents came that night. We took the girls to the SA Children's Museum, which they totally loved. We went to the Riverwalk to see the lights that evening and it was so beautiful. They got LED lights, which are not as charming as their old lights, but they are still beautiful. We ate on the Riverwalk and took a boat ride - so nice! The next day we went to the Witte Museum and the girls were literally running from on thing to the next and squealing. It was so cute. They loved it...the Dinosaur and the animals and the tree house kid section...so loved it.

Alena Saylor's birthday party

Alena had a lot of parties this year. She is still singing the "happy birthday" song. We did a birthday with the Quadri's in Houston and we ate at The Rainforest Cafe. She totally loved it. They got her a Dora cake that she turned over before we got to eat it, but she LOVED it. It was yummy too. We did her friends birthday party in Austin at the Children's Museum. It was a Dora theme. She got a room on the 2nd floor and her friends got to play around in the museum and then have cake & ice cream upstairs in her docorated room. They all got free passes to come back to the museum too. We did not have a good turn out though - a lot of people could not make it so I will have to remember to do something else next time probably at our house. She looked super cute though and she had a great time!

Leni & Maya's New Wagon

We got the girls a new wagon and Alena loves it. Samaya is not so sure, but she is brave and will totally love it soon. We take it around the court a lot, but Maya has only ridden in it once or twice so far. Alena likes to put her favorite doll in the seat across from her and belt her in. We ride around the court and she tells me the color of the houses and we look for the cats and sometimes we see her favorite dog Bailey who lives next store. She also likes the flowers and finding the big green boxes. We have fun! The girls finished their first music class and it was so much fun. Alena loved to sing and dance in class. Hopefully we will do swimming lessons next. My work came back to ask me to help out for 3 months so I started 6 weeks ago full time for 3 months. It has been going well so far - not too busy and no travel or going into the office so that is very nice. We joined a jumpy gym and Alena screams with excitement everytime we go in there. Maya is standing up all by herself sometimes and side walking all over the place. She got her first tooth on the bottom left 4/11/10 - it is sharp like a rasor. I LOVE my girls. They are so incredibly awesome. I am so honored that God put them into our family.