Kids do the darndest things

I have to admit that I'm not the world's greatest mom. I don't sit every night with my girls and go over the alphabet and how to write letters or draw landscapes. If I think about it, I'll do it. But, those nights are few and far between at the Mehrdad household. Well, last night, as I was working, Carmen sat next to me with this alphabet book that has a magnet tablet on top of it to help teach your kids writing their letters. I think we've tried to use it a couple times in the past. Anyway, Carmen starts drawing "A" which actually looked more like an "H". Then we tried other letters. And to my amazement, Carmen could pretty much write all of her letters. Some may have been a little coached. But all the letters you see are written by Carmen all by herself. She' so smart.



And...I don't want to leave Petra out of this post...She can now give high fives and is completely proud of herself every time she gives one. That's my girl.

This is Halloween! This is Halloween!

Well, it's halloween time. I've never really been that into Halloween. But, Carmen has been really excited about it this year. Which has gotten me excited about it. So I got some decorations and we decorated the yard and inside too. Carmen keeps asking to dress up and get jack-o-lanterns and to see Jack and Sally at the Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland. Hopefully Carmen can wait for a few more weeks to experience it all!

365 days of sunshine

I love living in southern california. It's nice to have everyday right around 70 degrees. It's nice to only be 10 minutes away from the coast and to never really have to deal with "weather."

...but sometimes I long for the changing of seasons. I'm finding myself really wanting to see some danged leaves change. Maybe I'll have to take a road trip.

Sisters

As I was going through pictures of baby Petra over the last year, I came across several moments of little miss Carmen being a great big sis. From day one, there was just this sweet connection that we were able to capture and have caught many more of them over the year. It's just such an awesome thing to really see the seeds of sister relationship blossom. I know that's cheesy, but it's so wonderful.

Here are a few gems:

There are many more, but these are a few of my favs.

My Baby Turns 1!!!!

For realz, they were not joking around when they said time flies. I can not believe it has been a whole YEAR since my baby Petra was born. Time like flew by full speed ahead. Time, please stop that! But we have had a blast with Petra. She is such a good baby. She is a little giggle bug who is also very emotional. I wonder who she gets that from. If you guessed Shay, you are right! (Just kidding...it's probably from me. Ha!)

Then:

Now:

We had a blast celebrating with our friends and family. Shay's parents hosted and threw a fabulous party filled with great food

and magic!

It was so much fun. We loved every second. And I think that Petra had a good time too. But time, please stop so we can enjoy Baby Petra more.

Here are just a few things we love about Petra at this age:

Her giggle. It's from the gut and I just love hearing it, so I often tickle her so I can hear that belly laugh.

She loves babies. From the time she was 7 months, she stole Carmen's baby doll and gave her hugs and kisses, holding her in her arms, over her shoulder and patting the doll on her back. She's such a sweetie.

She interested in everything. She inspects each and everything she sees and will most likely put it in her mouth.

She loves music and rocks her head back and forth like a true head banger whenever she hears a beat. The rock is in her blood.

She loves to be around people. Whenever we go into public she waves her hand in the air and starts talking to random people. It's like she's saying "What's up everyone?" I think that may be why she was born second. She will always have a constant companion.

Happy Birthday Petra! Stop Growing!!!!!

Wow

I'm inspired and blown away by these candy or treat tables.

I seriously had no idea this was a growing trend. Amazing.

Check out more awesome setups here:

http://www.amyatlas.com/index.php/main/portfolio/

mila's daydreams

i just found this awesome blog and i'm loving all the photos. makes me jealous and wishing i had thought of it. what a great idea.

http://milasdaydreams.blogspot.com/