What Kids?

I kid. I kid. Marcus and I took a getaway to Hawaii in January. THANK YOU to our awesome in-laws/parents/grandparents for taking care of the girls in Yakima while we were gone. We had an amazing time together relaxing. We stayed in Princeville on the island of Kauai and highly recommend it.

As you can see we enjoyed paradise - swimming, hiking, eating and exploring. So much fun!

18 Months

Eighteen months is one and a half. Yikes. I cannot believe we are on the downhill towards two already. November and December have been hectic and full of sickness. Boo. As I type this, the girls are just finishing their third round of antibiotics in the last month. They have persistent ear infections that I really hope are on the way out! All I want for Christmas is healthy girls. Here is a little snippet of life at 18 months.

Lexi is a talker and a mimic. She says too many words to even count and often makes short two or three word phrases like "more strawberry please" or "Zara shoes". We are constantly surprised at the words she says: elevator, medicine, elephant, barrette and so on. The cutest thing is that she says "too" a lot. She is trying to say "me too." Today Marcus was flipping Zara upside down and Lexi said "too, too, too" until he gave her a turn. It must be something she picked up on us saying, but I really don't remember.

Zara is also learning new words and talking a lot. She is probably up to about 20 -25 words now. She loves to say "bye-bye". If it looks like anyone might be leaving (even mommy or daddy) she proclaims "bye-bye" and waves. She is a skilled block stacker and really enjoys focused stacking and sorting activities. Whenever her boisterous sister is out of the room, Zara will sit and spend a long time concentrating on a quiet game like sorting coffee coasters into piles and putting them all back in the case. Often she runs into their room and shuts the door. When I open the door, she is usually quietly reading books or playing with a toy. I guess she wants a little private time.

The girls love to talk on the phone - whether its actually a phone or a remote or anything around the same size, they fight over it and hold it up to their ear and say "hi" over and over and usually say "hi papa" (Grandpa).

When Lindsay (our nanny) comes to our house in the morning, they slide down the stairs at lightning speed and Lexi shouts "Nincy!" So cute and we all love Nincy a lot!

4 Years

On October 6, 2007 we were married and celebrated with all of our friends and family. I am the luckiest girl ever. We've had lots of adventures these first four years and I am so excited for whats in store for the next forty!

Love ya babe - Happy Anniversary!

Sister Love

Lexi gives Zara a ride! from Natalie Shirzad on Vimeo.

Daddy is the Best

A&Z are the luckiest little girls ever because they have the best daddy!

He is so loving and giving and just loves his girls so much. I hear so many stories of dads (especially those of twins) who have a hard time taking care of babies, but M loves all the time he gets to spend with them and always tells me "they are a piece of cake" and "stay out longer if you want." I couldn't ask for anyone better to take this crazy parenthood roller coaster with!

Happy Father's Day to the best daddy and husband these lucky three girls could ever imagine!

Its Been a One-derful Year

We had a great weekend celebrating the first birthday of Alexandra and Zara. We spent Saturday at the zoo and the park with Lydia, Michael and Benjamin and Sunday we had a small-ish party with some family and a few close friends. The icing on the cake was the best Portland weather we have had all year - so much fun in the sun. I will re-cap the party in another post with lots of pictures very soon.

We showed this video at the party to capture the best memories from the last year. Marcus did a great job! It has been an amazing year for all of us.


The First Year from Natalie Shirzad on Vimeo.

Adults Only

Well it took almost 11 months, but we did it! We spent two nights in Kirkland (eastside of Seattle) by ourselves, while the girls spent the weekend with their grandparents in Yakima. We had a fabulous time exploring Kirkland, eating at "adult" restaurants, going to the movies, hiking, shopping and relaxing. Our hotel (The Heathman) gave us free tickets for a boat cruise of Lake Washington. It ended up being a lifestyles of the rich and famous tour because apparently all the billionaires (Bill Gates, Howard Schultz, etc) live on the lake. Lexi and Zara also seemed to have a great time in Yakima so we are looking forward to doing it again soon!

Valentine

To My Valentine on our 12th Valentines Day:

You are the best thing in my life!

Love you babe!

Thankful

Last Thanksgiving we were delighted to be expecting, but we had no idea that we were having twin girls. We have much to be thankful for this year, indeed. So thankful for all of our family and friends and our two happy, healthy little girls. They have started to show lots of personality.

Lexi is a sweetheart. She loves to smile and it is the sweetest smile. Lexi cuddles into your arms at any opportunity. Her favorite thing to do is jump like a maniac in the Jumperoo. Lexi is our little Rooster who wakes the whole house up with her singing at 6:30 am. Love her!

Zara is full of spunk. We call Zara "ZZ". Marcus started it and it has stuck so far. She loves to watch her sister and will bend her neck backwards just to watch Lexi. Her favorite activity is taking baths. She is known to splash so much that she gets the walls of the bathroom wet! Zara usually tries to sleep in as long as possible in the mornings, preferring to do her choir practice in the evenings.

We love our girls bunches and are so thankful that we get to be their parents!