Big boy stuff

The other day Yo's pre-school had a "View the Crafts" day, and we trooped in to see quite a cool display of all the kids' work.

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Another big-boy milestone is figuring out how to put his own socks and shoes on.

Things that help you grow:

And we're keeping our fingers crossed on the potty-training front. As long as he isn't wearing any diapers, the right things happen. The question now is how to get him to proactively visit the loo when he does have diapers on - right after waking up, going out, etc.

"Projects"

Susan has her work cut out for her in keeping the kiddos occupied, especially since going out to parks and playgrounds is a tad inconvenient with the constant precipitation. From baking to indoor smores to egg-carton-caterpillars, many innovative projects are cycled through the Narjala household.

  

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Easter weekend

When you add up both Easter and a sunny Saturday, it works out to be quite a busy weekend :)

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Happy Easter!

 The munchkins turned out extra spiffy today, thanks to mama keeping an eye out for their Easter finest.

  

  

  

After lunch - thanks to an obliging waiter :)

And of course, the classic out-take:

Aah, the joys of Parenthood...

A beautiful, sunny weekday morning at the Tulip Festival. One of the many, many awesome moments of being a mom. Thank goodness for two sweet kiddos that we want to perpetually photograph. Just a gorgeous morning with the playgroup moms and kids and God's vibrant pallette.

But let's not get unreal here. Last evening was, well let's just say, less than pleasant. Just when I thought I'd seen it all in the P3 (puke, poop and pee-pee)department, my eyes were opened to a whole new level of yuck. Think a bubble bath for the two sweet kiddos. Think "foreign objects" floating around. Think a frantic mom yanking kids out, scrubbing them down (in a different bathroom) and then inhaling noxious fumes for 45 minutes while disinfecting the tub and trying to shake off the experience. Like I said, the joys of parenting!

Anyways, here are some pretty flowers and cute-as-a-button faces to wipe off that image!

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Zoo trip

Over the past few years, I've morphed into an American mom. I drive a mini van. I push grocery carts with whiny kids every week. Even occasionally do the big-box Costco trip with the kids in tow. Things that moms here do daily. A few days ago we experienced the crowning glory of American mommyhood: visiting the zoo with the munchkins without adult backup services.
Things went great. The kids had a good time and especially loved the elephants and the zoo train. I had a good time as there was no whining, no poopy diapers and, as a bonus, I got a solid workout pulling a wagon for three hours.

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Spring flowers

Thank goodness for spring flowers. They're making the wet Oregon weather bearable and giving me ample opportunity to try out our "make the background blurry" lens (I'll leave the technical aspects of posts to Ranjit). A few days ago, we caught a quick break of rain-lessness and went to a duck pond. I'm a self-confessed cherry blossom fanatic and have been scoping the area for photo ops.  
And some pics are actually from our front yard where despite a lack of a green thumb somehow some beautiful daffodils and pink and purple hyacinth have made an appearance.

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Cars - the Mika edition

Couldn't have expected any less, being under the tutelage of her big bro.

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Mika's Big Girl Saturday!

It's been an eventful day for Malaika. Like an innocent sheep before shearers, this morning she was led to Claire's (store for knick-knacks) to get her ears pierced.

Dada and mama have stood outside Claire's on at least two prior occasions weighing the pros and cons of ear piercing. We gave into squeamishness and mild panic attacks the last two times. This time around, without any planning, we breezed into the store on an impluse and in a matter of minutes our baby seemed to take a giant leap into girlhood.

We were pleasantly surprised by our brave princess - her wailing was way less dramatic and her pain far more short-lived than we'd pictured. Thank God! And she's looking adorable with her little earrings.

Then after nap time, the kids were whisked off to Pigtails and Crewcuts for Mika's first haircut - the same venue where her big bro had his first shearing. Yohan and she sat on adjacent vehicles and looked extremely serious through the whole proceeding. Things looked almost too good to be true. And they were. Malaika realized that we were trying to dupe her into thinking this was fun. It was time for the day's second outburst. Anyways, all's well that ends well!

Warning: Videos involve many tears. You may need to lower the volume on your speakers :)

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