Presents!

Snow Adventure!

Watch as Zahra takes a plunge into the snow covered yard.

Snowed In

It was a holly jolly Christmas here at the Seijezzalis. Santa dropped off a ton of stuff, mostly for little Z. She really enjoyed herself this time around. Z tore open presents and played all day with her choo choo, dolls and assorted other little toys.

The big gift was from above. We got hit by a major storm that brought in several inches of snow (this morning we were hit with more so we are at about 7-8 inches). Z got to play in the snow and throw snow balls! Uncle Ted and I had a chance to do something we only dreamed of growing up in Florida. We engaged in our own snow ball fight and laughed like two idiots.

Unfortunately, Grammy Lanie and Grandpa Larry got caught driving in that snowstorm so their trip was less than desirable. Still, they made it and we all enjoyed a lovely feast conjured up by Mom. It was a medley of different flavors ranging from turkey to sushi to lasagna. After eating the last piece of pie, we all fell into the living room and spoke to Grandpa Miami via Skype.

Z had a great day! Shannon and I have thought hard about what we want Christmas to mean to Z. We definitely appreciate that she had so many gifts to receive and that she is healthy and happy. But we also don't want her to get into the "Christmas" spirit of wanting toys and crap. Whatever we do, we always want to make it a time to spend time as a family.

Let the Holidays Begin!

Ahh, it's vacation time for the Seijezzalis. Shannon is done with classes and I'm done with school. Nothing to do now until January except chill out and enjoy the company. We have a few family members coming to Asheville. Uncle ted will be here today and Shan's parents will be here for Christmas. Teddy will be here for an entire week so Z will get lots of time connecting with him.

Zahra continues to grow and change. She is speaking better, though still mostly in one word sentences. She has learned a few two and three word sentences, notably "I want cake". She seems to be getting taller and weighs in at a hefty 29 pounds. She has major clothes issues as she wants to be naked all the time. This is a problem as it's been freezing up here. The tantrums can get catastrophic at times, mainly they happen in the car seat (yes, still in the less than 1% of kids who hates car seats) and when she doesn't have control. No big surprise there!

Recently she performed in her first play! The daycare program she attends put on a Christmas show. It was mainly performed by the three year old classes. When it was Zahra's turn, she was wheeled out with the other kids in these large wagons. They came on for the last two minutes of the performance and joined in on a song. Zahra was absolutely professional as she clapped, rang her bells and even sang some. I went into a little parent inner rage though. My daughter, the best performer in her group was relegated to the back of the performance! There were about 4-5 boys in front of her and they didn't know what was even going on. They picked their noses and even cried while Z performed mightily. Of course I know Z did not care but I can see how some people do lose their cool (shamefully I might add) and make a big deal about those kinds of things.

Enjoy the naked little girl at her birthday table courtesy of Granny Lanie and Grandpa Larry and her other latest pursuit; bird watching.

Birthdays, Snow and Grandmas

It has been a wild past five days!

It started Friday. I picked up my mom from the airport. Yes, my mother who had not seen Z in over 8 months. Abuelita Tere has been embroiled in a chaotic care program that has her watching over the health of her old parents. This little trip was a surprise for her as we managed to coax her into flying up her for Z's birthday weekend. That Friday was spent preparing for the big Saturday party. My mom and Z were together the whole day while Shan and I ran some errands. It was great to see my mom with Z.

Saturday started with a bang! Z was up early and ready to party. The house was prepped and in fine order as the relatives started pouring in. Aunt Julie, Uncle Harold and cousins Morgan and Emma made it in first. They were followed by Grammy Lanie and Grandpa Larry. Unfortunately, the latter group did not stay long. Larry hurt his arm pretty badly helping me cut down some trees in the backyard. He had to be rushed to the emergency room. Everyone was pretty shocked. The show went on though and soon the house was brimming with folks who wanted to visit with Z. Her friends Braden, Orien, Eddie, Liam, Juliana and Gabe showed up with their parents in tow. We ate and drank and had a merry time. Z was exhausted afterwards and crashed pretty hard. It ended up being a fabulous event in spite of the injury to grandpa.

Sunday was when the cold rolled in. We awakened to find about an inch of snow fallen outside. My mom got to experience the reality of freezing temperatures. We spent the morning trying to go places but Z was a bit hungover and had a rough start. That didn't stop us from getting lots of Christmas gifts for her and a few others. The rest of the day was spent indoors. I had to take my mom to the airport later that evening so it was a bittersweet end to a wild weekend.

Of course no one expected that Old Man Winter was going to continue to blow snow on us. We all knew it was going to be frigid but the white stuff came and for the past two days, I have enjoyed days off from work. Snow days have begun piling on us here in Asheville. While the short term fun can be relaxing, the long term effects will be stiff. I really don't want to go to Saturday school again! In the mean time, we have been stuck inside as the temps have barely risen above 26 degrees F!

For now, we hope to finish the week and get ready for the arrival of Uncle Ted in the not too distant future. Z's actual birth date is tomorrow so it should cap what has been an action packed stretch for days here at the Seijezzali residence. To think I started writing this blog almost two years ago! Our little girl is growing up and the terrible twos have already begun!

Thanksgiving in Greenville

We spent this Thanksgiving in Greenville, SC with Aunt Julie, Uncle Harold and Morgan and Emma. We also had Grandpa Capezzali and Uncle Chris in town for a major holiday extravaganza!

Greenville is a happening place! We had no idea it was such a cool city. The downtown area was absolutely impressive. They had this incredible design incorporating the river that runs through the town with the surrounding landscape. If you haven't been, it's worth the trip.

But of course the fun was with the family. We spent time at the Greenville Zoo, an awesome little park located near the zoo, and several spots downtown. We ate like royalty courtesy of Grandpa and enjoyed ourselves.

Thanksgiving Day was your typical sit and enjoy food and football. Julie cooked an incredible meal and the girls played with Zahra and Chris. Shannon and Julie were overjoyed to have their brother and father around. Harold enjoyed relaxing with a day off from work. I was happy to see Shannon and Z enjoying themselves and spending much needed time with their family.

We were all truly thankful for such a great time. Thanks for the great time!

The Tree Has Arrrived!

We went out to "look" at some Christmas trees this past Sunday just to get out of the house. Shannon was bumming and I was in need of spending money. Zahra had been cooped up the entire day so we all needed a break.

We made our way to the Farmer's Market right down the street. It was fairly empty for a Sunday. Of course, with the cold temperatures we'd had lately, they were getting ready to hunker down for the season. There were several vendors selling trees. Upon reaching the first one, we were greeted by a smiling portly fellow whose main goal seemed to be getting us into a tree.

He immediately won us over by fawning all over Zahra and even presenting her with a gold dollar coin for her to save in a piggy bank. Z took the coin and like her mother, stuffed in into her little pocket for later spending. Then he really made us fall in love by saying, "Any couple that can make a child that pretty can have this tree for $25". Even though we told him we were going to shop around, we knew we were coming back for that tree.

And what a tree it was! It looked reasonably big and was just $25. We jumped on it and took it home. After much reorganizing and cleaning and moving around, we set up our tree, the immense nearly 8 foot tall tree in our home!

While Shannon and I have gone back and forth over why we did this, in the end, we are really happy with our purchase. Z loves walking up to the tree and pulling on the ornaments and lights. It lights up beautifully and makes our home seem so festive! The holidays have officially begun!

So the last few weeks of November need to be documented. Let's go!

The weeks following Halloween were filled with lots of fun and not so fun moments. Highlights include Daddy dropping off Z at school Veteran's Day and taking Mommy out on a morning date, some fun outdoor projects involving lots of leaves begin raked with Zahra helping out and enjoying gorgeous weather.

The not so fun stuff included a bout with diarrhea (due to excessive amounts of almond milk, which we have curtailed with great success) and some terrible two behavior that includes lots of fussing about baths and tantrums when not getting what she wants (all normal behavior for a little one).

Video Make Up Time

In an effort to make amends with the thousands of followers of our site (maybe just the six), I will now upload a lot of videos that have been taken in the month of November. Zahra continues to grow and develop. She loves cookies, counting the numbers and letters on car license plates and telling us she needs to poo so she can get out of things like taking a bath or getting out of her room before her nap time is up.

Halloween 2010

We had a fantastic time yesterday for Halloween! Zahra was a real trooper and learned about the wonderful day where kids can get as much free candy as they want, as long as they are willing to work for it!

We started off by heading to the Petriani household for a little Halloween fiesta. We ate and enjoyed good company. Then we made our move. This year's weather was already on our side as the day was clear and cool and free from any precipitation. What a difference a year makes. Zahra was not even walking last time around. This time, she was heading into people's yards without a fuss on her own. She was good for about twenty minutes, then the candy started getting heavy and time worked against her. She still toughed it out after a few breaks. We made out like bandits! And we even ran into some of her peers on the way home. As always, Vermont Ave in our neighborhood was incredible. The houses were done up nicely and the costumes were wild and fun.

So now we are in November and heading towards the final stretch of the year. We have so many awesome things coming up!

Fall is in Full Effect

It's been a busy several weeks since we were in Atlanta hanging with family. I was out of town for a week in New Orleans for a conference. Shannon and Z were visited by Aunt Julie and Grammy Lanie during my absence. It was a great time for the girls to hang out and spend more quality time together.

As for us, we are all working hard. I am engrossed with work, Shannon is immersed in her studies and Zahra is just simply having a good time. Her language continues to blossom. She is obsessed with the moon lately and we've never even mentioned it to her. Yep, it's the first thing she's really picked up from school that we've noticed. I'm sure there are things we've missed but this seems to be the obvious "we didn't teach her that" moment for us.

For those of you missing her and her wonderful vocabulary, enjoy the videos!

Visiting Aunt Julie in Atlanta

Now that Zahra has more family in the vicinity, we will increase our time spent with them. Julie and Harold and their two kids, Morgan and Emma have moved to nearby South Carolina. Shannon is so excited that her sister has moved close by. We all got together at Grammy Lanie's and Grandpa Larry's place in Atlanta and had a nice weekend just being a family. We ate lots of delicious food and spent time chatting and enjoying the nice weather. Zahra was enjoying the company of Emma and was loving her Aunt Julie and Grammy Lanie time. She even had a conversation with Larry. I'm really glad to see my girls so happy to be with their family. Now we just need to get some of the Cuban side up here for some quality time.

Mama's Birthday

We celebrated Shannon's birthday this past Sunday the third as well. She really didn't turn 27 (oops, did I just type that?) until Monday the 4th but we went ahead an celebrated anyhow.

We invited some friends over and had a nice time. We made a fire out back and ate food and lots and lots of cake! It was a really chilly evening so we didn't hang outside too long. Zahra and I made sure Momma had a great birthday weekend. We made her some special food items like a whole chocolate cake and some chocolate chip pancakes. We bought her some gifts and sang her a song and spent lots of time telling her how much we love her. How's that for some birthday love?

The Pumpkin Patch

It was time to go to the Pumpkin Patch again! Hard to believe it's been a year since we were last at Hickory Nut Gap farms to go find a giant orange pumpkin. But there were on Saturday the 3rd walking around and exploring.

Zahra loves animals so much! She got a kick out of watching the farmer feed the calfs some fresh milk. She squealed with the piglets as they munched some of their favorite weeds and was beside herself with joy when she came upon a horse.

We did a little walking through the pumpkin patch and came away with a strangely tinted pumpkin of orange and green. We also bought some tasty treats fresh from the farm. It was a fun day to be in the mountains and at the farm!

Animal Fever!

Shannon and Z went to the WNC Nature Center this past week. We've been there before many times in the past and usually have a great time. But sometimes the animals are hiding and hard to see. This time, Shannon and Z found that feeding time is the right time to go to a zoo.

The animals were out and about and made for great specimens to photograph. Check out Zahra the Explorer and her animals friends.

It's Cold Again!

So much has happened since our last post.

Big News- Zahra is out of her crib and into her own big girl bed. On Wednesday, Shannon and I decided it was time for Z to try sleeping in a bed rather than a crib. She has been showing signs of wanting her own bed since she saw how fun it was to climb into her buddies' bed not so long ago. Z was also asking to get into her crib to play around so we thought it might be fun to give her the option to do so on her own. We converted the crib to a bed that evening (Ikea furniture rocks!) and it's been a grand success! Z loves getting into bed and sleeps just fine. Of course, Daddy has to lay down next to her on the floor but she is usually out in about 15 minutes or so and then I creep out. She did pick up a nice little shiner on her right eye as a result of a little tumble out of the bed while she was playing around Friday but that's life in the big bed world.

The temperatures have been dipping for a few days now and we are looking at 40's and even upper 30's in the days ahead. So we have already busted out the winter clothing stash. And of course with the Fall weather comes the pumpkin picking. We have a little one growing in the backyard but we may go hunting for bigger ones soon.

It's also Shannon's birthday on Monday so Z and I hatched a little plan to have some nice things for Momma. We baked her a cake today and bought her some pretty flowers and made dinner. We'll have a few more tricks up our sleeves as the weekend progresses.

Summer's Really Gone Now till Next Year

Fall is here on the calendar but not on the thermometer as it was a balmy 86 degrees today in Asheville. Still, clear skies and a nice little breeze made for a great day outside. We've been enjoying the outside a lot lately. We made a family trip to the WNC Fair with our friend Juliana. Good times were had by all, especially Z who made away with a huge vanilla cone of creamy, icy goodness. Actually, it was the only way to get the kid to stop screaming for about twenty minutes. We saw goats and chickens and turkeys and llamas and cows and lots of folks. We rode on the merry go round and saw exhibits. It was a fun day.

Momma and Z also continue to do fun stuff inside, too. The girls love to paint their nails although Z wanted purple like Momma. And how about Z with baby? She loves that doll! And now she can carry it like Shan used to carry her.

For now we wait the arrival of Grammy Lanie this weekend for more fun outdoor stuff.

Laughing with Mom

These two just love to giggle and goof around. Enjoy!

PreSchool and Potty

Two days in a row? I'm feeling it!

Zahra continues to grow right before our eyes. She has moved to the big potty i.e. the toilet with the contraption that let's her sit on it. It took a few times but she is now sitting on it and hasn't missed a beat.

But the real news is about school. Today she came home with some work, school work! Shannon informed me she almost melted when she saw it. Granted, it's not the Mona Lisa or anything, but it's nice to see her making things with other folks. Kind of makes you wish you were there to see her sit at a desk and accomplish something.

The first piece is half an apple she dipped in red paint. The imprint of the apple is on a sheet of paper labeled "A". The next piece is a little sticker assignment where she pasted fish and shells onto an ocean background. Just cute. This school experiment is working wonders for her. She is confident about heading there, is getting tons of socialization without Mom and Dad around and Shan is getting some free time. Apparently she is also pretty popular around there! The kid is something.

Oh and did I mention we have a new baby in the house?

Well, it's not our baby. Shannon began her nanny job today! She was watching little Maddie, the daughter of Jen and Kyle. It's a temporary thing but Shannon really enjoyed her first day with two little ones.