Halloween 2012

November 5, 2012

Halloween is always fun, but seeing Bean excited about trick-or-treating made it even more so! Last year we carried him to a couple of houses in his penguin costume. This year he was Mickey Mouse (which he affectionately calls Pipi Mouse).

About a month before Halloween, one of the neighborhood kids saw us out for a walk. She ran up and gave me a little pack of Skittles for Bean. He had never had candy before, but I let him have some Skittles. He loved them, especially the yellow ones. I asked him if he wanted to be Mickey for Halloween. He said he did. I explained on Halloween he could wear a Mickey costume, knock on people's doors and say "trick-or-treat" and they would give him candy. For the next four weeks he would tell me "haween, pipi mouse, eat yellow canny, knock doors."

I was a little worried when his costume arrived and he refused to try it on. The day before Halloween we went trick-or-treating at Tata's work. I thought it was really cool that Intel did this for the kids. Bean saw some other kids in costume. We told him he had to wear his in order to get candy. He put it on, rubbed it and said "very nice." He went around collecting candy. He didn't say anything for about an hour. He was so interested in checking out everyone's cubes and picking out candy. He kept picking sweet tarts, which he had never had before, but are now a favorite.

On Halloween, we went to our good friend's Dave and Mitzie's home, along with several other couples. We had a potluck dinner, followed by trick-or-treating. Bean was super cute in his costume as were all the other littles. He was very interested in checking out the decorations and pumpkins around the neighborhood. He lagged behind the group a little so he could check everything out. He is a very curious little fellow. We had a great evening with good friends, good food and lots of candy.

the three of us make a complete costume

Bean and his girlfriends, Chloe and Noemi

New Year Holiday 2011/12

January 2012

We have a tradition that started several years ago. We spend the New Year holiday with two other couples. One couple includes Amel's high school friend, Nela and her husband, Brian. The other couple is Nela's sister, Merima and her husband, John.

Before any of us were married, Amel and I went to LA for a New Years party at Nela's place, I believe this was 2005/06. This was the first time I met Nela, Merima, and John. None of us knew Brian existed yet. Merima and John got married in 2006. Amel and I were married a few months later. That year, the five of us got together for Thanksgiving. We had an incredible time hanging out, playing games, and going out. I think we decided we needed to have at least an annual gathering.

I believe the next year, Brian joined the group and we spent New Years in LA and determined we should start a tradition of spending the New Year holiday together. 2008/09, we met up at John and Merima's in San Francisco. This year we went to the Sea of Dreams party in downtown San Francisco and created some life long memories! This year requires a post of its own hehe..

2009/10 was our turn to host in Phoenix. By this time, Nela and Brian were married and expecting an edition to their family. A few months later, Amel and I were expecting our own addition! Our 2010/11 celebration looked a lot different with Liam and Maika, but a great time none the less.

This year, it was time to go to San Fransisco again where we had the pleasure of meeting John and Merima's baby Keegan. New Year's Eve day we went to The Little Farm, then had a little dance party with babies while making dinner and celebrated at home. Our celebrations have gone from wine tastings to petting zoos, but nothing beats sharing special times with good friends. Happy 2012!

dinner in Berkeley before heading to the Sea of Dreams party

2008/09

2008/09

Hiking around ASU 2009/10

Ringing in 2010

Santa Monica 2010/11 Babies' first New Year's

at The Little Farm near San Francisco 2011/12

2011/12

2011/12

2011/12

Christmas 2011

 It is Christmas Day night and I'm feeling those Christmas day night blues.  Right now I am missing my family and close friends who are far away. Even though the closing of Christmas day is a little sad, I am also feeling blessed and very happy. We had a great 2nd Christmas with the Bean.

Last night we attended Mass. Mass with a 14 month old is challenging, but it was a lovely service with beautiful music, followed by dinner and relaxing a little with Amel and some eggnog. I actually managed to get the downstairs cleaned to almost pre-Bean status. What a great feeling to relax in a clean, uncluttered home! Amel and I stayed up until one am putting Bean's toys together. We simply and loosely wrapped his gifts so he would be able to open them easily. He didn't really get into opening his gifts,but seems to like them all. However, the pots, pans, spoons and cups are still the preferred play objects. Thanks to technology my family in Ohio and Amel's family in Croatia were able to be with us while we opened gifts. I am loving my birthday gift (my iPad).

We had brunch with our dear friends, Nadar, Diane, and Nasar. We got to spend the day together, eating, drinking, playing with Bean and his toys, and playing some wii. It really was a great day!
We truly are blessed to be able to give and receive such nice gifts, but much more importantly we are blessed with good health, a home filled with love and family and true friends who care about us. There could be no better way to celebrate the birth of our Savior.

                               

Maika's First Easter

Mr. Bean and I spent the past week visiting family in Ohio.  We celebrated Easter and my Granny's 91st birthday. We also took a trip to the Newport Aquarium. I am so happy Bean got to meet his great grandma (Granny), his grandpa, aunts, uncles, and cousins! The week seemed to fly by.

While in Ohio, Mr. Bean started becoming even more vocal.  He has started babbling - bababba bebebe hiii... I also think he is purposely waving! He is starting to sit for several seconds on his own.  Amel was surprised to hear all the new sounds coming from Bean and said it looked like he grew while he was gone.

Happy 91st Birthday, Granny!

Bean and Grandpa Baker

Uncle Dave, Bean, and Aunt Doe

Jacob and Isaac getting ready for the egg hunt at church

Grandma Baker, Bean, and Jacob

Bean and Aunt Leah in the Easter outfit she got him

Bean and his cousin Olivia

Olivia grew hair???

Uncle Kevin being silly

My brother Seth with his sons, Isaac and Jacob

Bean's new do

Granny and Bean

The Miley's - Kevin, Leah (sis), Jackson, Benny, and Olivia

Uncle Jimmy, Granny, and Bean

Bean's First Christmas

Better late than never!  It is two months after Mr. Bean's first Christmas, but I want to blog about it, before I forget!  Maika was just over two months, so we decided not to travel.  Two years earlier we went to Ohio for Christmas and spent 36 hours at O'Hare airport.  My Dad ended up driving from Cincinnati to Chicago to pick us up.  We decided not to take our chances with a newborn.

Even though Maika had no idea what the season was all about, Christmas was more exciting than usual with a little one.  Before baby, we said we would only by our children a couple of gifts.  We had to eat our words, as we had to restrain ourselves from going out of control!  Mr. Bean got a "Sophie the Giraffe" teething toy, a children's world map (which I still need to get a frame for) car seat toys, clothes from Tata, um, actually, I don't remember everything...

Amel's sister came to visit.  She arrived on the 18th, if I remember correctly, and stayed for about 10 days.  It was nice to have some family around for Christmas.  Aida helped us finish decorating and clean up the house.  Mr. Bean had a fantastic time with his aunt.  Aida and Bean spent an evening together while Amel and I went on a date!  Our first and only since his birth.

On Christmas Eve, My friend Alicia (who I thought was terrific at the time, but have gotten to know and love her even more since), her husband Matt, and Maika's girlfriend - Linnea, came over to have an early dinner with us.  We made cevapi for them.  I think it was a success!  We really enjoyed the company.  Later that night, Aida and I made cookies and we exchanged one gift.  Amel and I have started a tradition of opening one gift on Christmas Eve.

Christmas morning, or more like Christmas early afternoon, we opened the rest of our gifts, then headed over to our good friends' Nadar and Diane's for dinner.  We had a great time, as usual!  It was a quiet Christmas at  home, but it was perfect!  Of course the best gift was the new addition to our family!

Bean's First Thanksgiving

So, I am still catching up, since I am starting this blog three months after the birth of our amazing son. I have it on my calendar to blog at least twice a month. Maybe I will be able to do more eventually!

Amel, Mr. Bean, and I spent Thanksgiving at home this year. Maika was only about six weeks old at Thanksgiving. We thought it would be nice to have an intimate Thanksgiving dinner. I searched for a "tiny turkey." The smallest I could find was just under ten pounds. Amel took care of Mr. Bean, while I prepared our feast. I tried a recipe for a turkey in a bag using rosemary and various other herbs and spices, along with onions and apples. We also had green bean casserole, homemade cranberry salad (I love the recipe I have for this) and mashed potatoes. Everything turned out well. The turkey was fairly moist and tasty, although not the best turkey I have ever tasted. Maybe next year I will try putting the turkey in brine (or does one say brining the turkey?) Currently, I am looking into "Restaurant Recipes at Home". They look interesting and yummy!

Our neighbors across the street invited us over for dessert. We really enjoyed our family dinner, but it was also nice to get out and socialize a little. My mom bought a Thanksgiving outfit for Maika, but it was short lived. He had a blow out and didn't get to wear it to the neighbors. Actually, they wouldn't have seen it anyway, as he was alseep in the Moby Wrap the whole time :)

We really had a lot to be thankful for this year; each other, our new healthy and happy baby, a good job, our peaceful home, I could go on and on... I am glad I am writing these memories down!