ESHIALO SHILALA

Status

2009-12-04T08:31:00.002-05:00

Hi Friends, We are not ready to quit our blog altogether, because we have enjoyed sharing our lives in this way, but since we also have a Facebook page and many more friends are connected to us in that way, it is hard to maintain both. You can look for us on Facebook under Mato Heaphy. If you are not on FB we would be happy to share photos with you just by emailing them to you, just let us know on email...love, C, J, F & T

Another day, more learning, more memories

2009-11-06T17:58:00.002-05:00

Playing with their horses in their pajamas

Fazal and Tes

2009-10-31T13:43:00.004-04:00

Which book do you want to read?

Tes is wearing her brother's shoes :-) They never sit still...seriously, it is go go go go go. It is great that they are keeping each other company these days. They follow each other around constantly...sometimes Fazal reverts to crawling so he can be on Tes's level.

This photo was supposed to show Tesina's two little teeth - but instead it is evidence that she was trying to eat a blue sticker...

Dancing to his own singing :-)
Need me to fix something?

Go go go go go go go go

And for those winter days ahead of us when going outside is not an option, we bought this bounce house so the kids can get out all their energy. Fazal loves it and uses it everyday. Tesina wishes she could get in it, but for now stands along the edge screaming with delight.

Fazal's school photos (taken right at his second birthday.) We were so happy that they came out so well, we ran right out and framed them!
Our postings have not been as regular or as varied, but we forge ahead thanks to the encouragement we get from those of you who complain when we haven't put up anything new in a while. Life continues to be a challenge as we expect it to be, but our family is doing great, we get great joy from the addition of the children to our family, and we count our blessings each and every day. As busy as we are, we don't want to take a single moment for granted. And let us know how you are doing! We love hearing from you...

Museums

2009-10-13T17:33:00.002-04:00

We have to thank Christina's mom for forwarding us these photos as the process of putting new batteries in our camera has seemed an arduous task.

We wanted to go the new Museum of Springfield History primarily because they had a showing of antique cars and motorcycles. Fazal is pretty into vehicles these days, and I have to admit, I really enjoy antique cars myself (some were more than 100 years old!) Afterward, we wandered over to the older section of the musuem which houses dinosaurs (a little scary for a 2 year old), an African section (Fazal loved the stuffed animals and the short films where he danced to the music the whole time), and some real turtles climbing on rocks and swimming....

Fazal wanted to stay watching the turtles much longer...

Admiring the motorcycles

There is also a Dr Seuss scultpure garden (Fazal didn't know what to make of this)
Two recent photos of Tesina. Yes, we are getting ready for winter. At least we'll have her cuteness to divert us from complaining about the weather :-)

Driving Lesson

2009-10-06T15:36:00.000-04:00

The driving instructor gives his little sister some tips....

Welcome to Cafe Mato

2009-10-03T20:37:00.002-04:00

Not really, and nobody goes to cafes to eat vegetables anyway:-) Like our most recent crop? Our first carrots, first onion (I am learning the green stalks are better than the bulb), our greens which continue to do well. They aren't as cute as the kids, but no people photos until I replace the batteries in the camera. Soon.

Kids Chowing Down on the Garden's Goods

2009-09-19T15:36:00.000-04:00

2009-09-19T15:32:00.001-04:00

Fazal and his Corn - this first one is one of my all-time favorite photos of him. It shows total satisfaction...

2009-09-19T15:28:00.001-04:00

Tesina and her tomato

(This is Fazal's bike - b'day present from kuka and nana)

A Beautiful Sweater

2009-09-13T14:21:00.002-04:00

A big thank you to Christina's cousin Caryl, who knit this Beautiful sweater for Tesina. I promised to show you photos of her in it (since she was asleep when you saw her!) and here they are. There are already some evenings that are cool enough for her to wear it. Also, the letter you sent explaining the meaning of the name you both share is invaluable, and she will cherish it, I'm sure, when she gets older.

2009-09-11T12:24:00.002-04:00

Next stop: The North End, aka. Little Italy, where I lived for one year after graduating from high school and doing City Year. It is a fun little neighborhood with a LOT of personality. It is even better now because they've torn down the highway and replaced it with green space and places to sit and water fountains. Big improvement. Anyway, it was the day before Fazal's 2nd birthday, so we let him pick out a dessert at an Italian bakery, one with berries on top (which could fool you into thinking it was a healthy choice) but which turned out to be in a chocolate bowl filled with creamy filling. After a long day being dragged from one end of the city to another, Fazal was on cloud 9. Can you tell?

The restaurant I worked at that year. I lived across the street from it. The street has changed a little bit, but not this place. If I've never told you stories from that time, come and sit sometime...

We were all happy to sit for a while.

2009-09-11T12:17:00.003-04:00

Next Stop: the so-called Frog Pond on the Boston Common. Boston is just the best city in the world in the summertime. I can't speak so positively about it in the wintertime, but June through September, it can't be beat. The park (which is huge if you've never been there) has a pool area in the middle - it is an ice skating rink in the winter and a wading pool in the summer. It was perfect for us and we'd brought Fazal's swim shorts along, so on that hot, sunny day, it was perfect place to rest for a while and cool down.

Can you see Jafred and Fazal in the middle by the fountain?

Our Weekend Adventures

2009-09-11T12:02:00.004-04:00

First stop: the Boston Duck Tours. I had been wanting to go on this tourist attraction for 10 (!) years and finally had my opportunity. It is a humorous tour to important sites around Boston, riding in a WWII amphibious supply vehicle, so the excitement is that the tour is given in the water as well as on land. Our "con-duck-tor" drove the vehicle around the streets of the city first, telling us all kinds of history, and then drove right into the Charles River and it becomes a boat for about 30 minutes, and then drives out of the river and back on the streets. Very cool. Fazal agreed it was pretty neat and now says "Big! Boat!" wherever we go.

We learned that Boston is a city of firsts in the whole USA: the first public school, the first public library, the first American chocolate company (you see what stands out in my mind), the street where Benjamin Franklin was born, the longest continually operating hotel, the oldest churches, and much more, plus more modern sites like the sites where many movies and tv shows have been filmed, etc. The con-duck-tor especially had fun telling us about the Puritans, and as someone born in Massachusetts, it was really interesting. Fazal would have thought it was even more fun if we'd let him jump overboard into the river, but that didn't happen.

Thanks, Lydia

2009-09-09T07:33:00.003-04:00

You knew exactly what this 2 Year old boy would want for his birthday! He walked around with them like this, arms outsrteched for an hour or two. (Then they went back on the paper to be used again).

More photos from our long weekend that took us to Boston, Providence, and Goose Rocks Beach, later!

Yesterday's Harvest

2009-08-31T15:34:00.002-04:00

This is the harvest from our garden yesterday. Enormous zucchini, tomatoes that have been spared by the blight, and some peppers - happily, one odd purple one. As you can see, Tesina is open to trying new foods and she munched/gummed several cherry tomatoes. Later, seeing that Tes would eat them, Fazal was willing to try one tiny bite (it got a wrinkled nose as a review). The corn is almost ready, and the cabbage and carrots are a week or two away. So despite some strange and difficult weather, and a state-wide fungus alert, we are pretty happy with how much we are able to eat from home. Jafred enjoys the preparing and planting part, and I like the weeding and harvesting part, so it's added a fun dimension to our summer.

HOT

2009-08-16T09:44:00.002-04:00

Yesterday was 90+ degrees and we were lucky to have koko take us first to a pool and then to a spray park. Can you tell who enjoyed it?

Our Brave Girl

2009-08-16T09:26:00.002-04:00

Thanks to everyone's prayers and good wishes, Tesina came through her surgrey on Thursday very well! She had a benign lesion on her head removed. She was born with it, and although it poses no immediate risk, this type of immature skin can have a higher risk of cancer later in life - so it was worth the drama of going through it now to avoid that danger later. We shaved her head just before and the doctors did say it made it easier for them. Everyone at the hospital, from the cheerful receptionist, to the nurses, to the doctors in the PACU were all wonderful, and we thank them for their compassion as well as their skill.

Her bandage after the operation

After having her head shaved! Since she was born with lots of hair, we hadn't seen her bald before...

The lesion that was removed

Garden Time

2009-08-08T12:45:00.002-04:00

Our girl with a mint leaf in her mouth

Jafred doing some major weeding...and thinning out the tomato plants affected by blight. Standing in front of the watermelons, between the the carrots and tomatoes.

swiss chard and spinachtomatoes and cabbage

Tesina doing her part to support nature

Our Garden is Starting to Bear Fruit

2009-07-31T17:19:00.002-04:00

A photo of our first harvest! A tomato and a giant pile of swiss chard.

(Our dinner last night!) It sure is wonderful to eat what we've grown ourselves.

Fazal after helping in the garden. You can see all the mud on him! He works sooo hard all the time and takes it very seriously.

Somehow these two managed to help and not get dirty - an art form.

July 2009

2009-07-29T22:08:00.003-04:00

Yum, toes...

On koko's lap

With her wonderful cousin Bella who visited from Rhode Island!

Fazal's favorite things this summer: lawnmowers (called "ma-moe") and swimming pools. He is very active from sun up to sun down. He loves swimming now and is very comfortable in the water. But if no pool is available, he's also happy with a hose, a faucet, or even just some rain! But when he wakes up in the morning, his first request is a ride on the "ma-moe"!

Jafred, Tesina, Christina, and cousin Alyssa visiting from Texas

Uncle Jonatan visited from Chicago - he was a bridge for Fazal to go under...

And Uncle Steve from Texas was the other end of the bridge!! It was really wonderful to get to spend time with these relatives again, who we see on average about once a year. It was also good for Faz and Tes to get to know them.

There will be more photos to share, especially from the welcome party we had for Tesina on July 25th. It was a wonderful day celebrating her and all children, and it was a chance to spend time with a really greta group relatives and friends. So, stay posted....

A few more of Rhode Island

2009-07-20T18:59:00.003-04:00

At the house where we stayed, there was this cool spiral staircase going up to the roof. From up top, we could see the water on a few sides and even fireworks on July 4th. (I admit I was so tired by the time they started I watched them from the couch inside the house :-) but others went up.) Fazal didn't really get that it was so different, and I worried a lot while going up and down.

A hug for koko

It's a plane, it's a bird....!

Most likely biting me

Enjoying the view

Senjay Emily showing Fazal some yoga moves! He was a little scared. He kept pointing at her saying "No! No!" hahaha :-)

PS. Tesina was inside napping!

RI: Walking back from the beach

2009-07-11T14:30:00.000-04:00

A weekend on the Rhode Island Shore

2009-07-08T21:29:00.000-04:00

Photos especially for Patty and Jonathan

2009-07-08T21:22:00.002-04:00

Thank you Patty and Jonathan for sending Fazal, some time ago, a box of pretty cool-cat clothes. When I showed him the chickens and eggs on the red shirt (which maybe you made Patty?) he would not take it off. Everytime he heard the chickens cluck next door, he'd proudly point to his shirt :-) Can you take it? CAN YOU TAKE IT?!

As for Brooks Brothers suit jackets and Guess jeans, well, there are no words ...he just looks way too cool. Luckily they are still a little too big for him. I need more time to get used to the idea of my baby being fashionable and looking like a big boy.

Some recent sweetness

2009-06-30T21:30:00.002-04:00

The times we have together, relaxed and happy, we just eat up like ice cream. Especially as the parents, we try to cherish every second of these moments, knowing they won't last long at all...

Sometimes big brother Fazal gets all in Tes's face...

... But she gives it rigth back to him! HAHA We are discovering she is no push-over...
Baba and his precious daughter!

Can't get enough of it...they don't sit still for long.

My little munchkin

What we're up to

2009-06-27T19:50:00.002-04:00

Well, clearly we haven't taken many photos lately. We've been spending time outside, especially in the garden! Tesina is starting to taste foods, other than mama's, and seems prone to liking them even though she is not sure quite how to swallow. She laughs when she sees herself in the mirror. And you can see from the photos that she can really hold up that cute head. Her big bro got his first taste of batter in these photos. We try not to keep sweets in the house so this was quite enjoyable for him.

Another congrats to new 'rents out there!

2009-06-20T07:58:00.002-04:00

Best wishes and Good luck to Amelia and Alex who just welcomed baby Eleanor into their cute family!

Following their first few days with their baby on their website brought up so many memories of our first few days with Faz and Tes.

That disbelief that this has happened and the little person is finally, finally and yet, already here.

That knawing exhaustion that challenges you to face another day with a smile on your face. Yes, indeed, the sun rises everyday, without fail, whether you are ready or not.

That joy that tries to break through the exhaustion when the little person looks up at you and you want to just admire their eyes and point out all their cute features, but knowing you have to get down to the serious business of feeding them.

That invisible tattoo on your forehead that reads "I am now responsible for another human beings survival".

That sense that you now know why you should never get between a mother bear and her cub, because she will attack.

The complete surprise that the little person actually does grow, change, and become more independent, even when you were paying close attention.

That heart-pounding, choked up feeling you get when you hear someone else's kid crying in the store, and you think of everything they and you are going through.

The absolute sense of pride and accomplishment when you see your two babies smiling at each other, pulling at each other's feet, and laughing as they realize they have a permanent, in-home buddy.

The cuteness that never stops...

Congrats!

2009-06-04T13:29:00.003-04:00

A big congrats to our good friends Dana and Jeff on the recent birth of their baby boy, Sawyer!

They were in our original birthing class at the hospital before our sons Fazal and Chase were born... :-)

Best Buddies

2009-06-03T08:10:00.003-04:00

Faz and Tes are developing a very sweet relationship. When he wakes up in the morning, he isn't happy until he sees her. When she isn't being held by one of us, her big brother can keep her entertained with songs, talking/shouting, and his circus moves...he tries to pick her up, but that can't happen yet for a number of reasons :-)

She likes standing with help!

Love the long legs and big feet....headed for a tall future.

Fazal thought this was great!

Fazal says more clear words now in what seems like a mix of English and Luhyia: like mama, daddy, baba, kuka, koko, bubble, google, hot, up, pork, juice...plus understanding what we say in both languages. It is very exciting! Plus Tesina is a big talker naturally so we think she'll be trying to keep up with her brother quickly.

A recent photo with koko

2009-05-24T07:37:00.000-04:00

Dinner with Kenyan friends

2009-05-24T07:32:00.002-04:00

Last week, after final exams were finally over, Jafred had a few kenyan friends from UMass over for dinner: Omar, Marc and Elly. It was a treat to have them over.

2009-05-19T20:38:00.002-04:00

I don't really know what to write, except that this little girl is bringing her brother and mom and dad a lot of joy.

Mom's Day Photos

2009-05-13T14:53:00.002-04:00

Last weekend, the western massers got together with the rhode islanders for some mother's day fun. We had a really nice time! Here are some photos:

2009-05-13T14:42:00.001-04:00

Driving, of course...

Tes taking a snooze on her auntie's belly
Fun on the slide!

A balancing game

2009-05-13T14:36:00.002-04:00

Fazal hanging out withhis uncle Cedric. Cedric and Emily gave him this very cool steel drum, it even says Trinidad and Tobago on the side! We limit his access to it since it is LOUD, but it's really a lot of fun, and Faz is into drumming these days. We were all sitting on the ground of the playground, which was made out of this neat stuff, something like a recycled rubber - it was very soft.

Flower Bud

2009-05-09T16:01:00.000-04:00

2009-05-09T15:56:00.001-04:00

"Zoom, zoom" on the tractor through the livingroom...

Dance fever hits the Mato household!

Congrats!

2009-05-04T13:39:00.002-04:00

Congratulations to Balito and Helen on the birth of their baby girl, Ridvan!

We can't wait for Fazal and Tesina to meet their cousins.

C&J

The Best 20-month-old Gardener Ever!

2009-05-01T21:14:00.000-04:00

Awards ceremony

2009-05-01T21:08:00.005-04:00

We attended a banquet last night where business school students were awarded various scholarships. Tesina and koko came along, and we were all very proud of Jafred's accomplishments. All you other student-parents out there know it isn't easy. Survival tips welcome!

Summer's Here!!!

2009-04-26T21:50:00.002-04:00

Tesina finally gets to wear all the cute sundresses people have given her! Hooray!

We rode on the mini-train at the park...
Our dear friends Vivian and Rosalee sat behind us on the ride. And doesn't the train conductor look exactly how a kid would imagine he should (albeit a little more grumpy)? Fazal with his Nana Lois taking a ride on the John Deere. He can't get enough of it.

This weekend we also had to say goodbye to some friends. Sandra, Carmino and their daughter Adrianna (the happiest child I have ever known) are moving to Maryland :-( So Fazal and Adrianna tossed a ball to each other for a while - after originally thinking the only point was to take the ball from each other - and we all chatted before they left. Good luck guys!

5th Wedding Anniversary

2009-04-23T12:44:00.002-04:00

Five years ago today, we gathered with 20 dear friends in a beautiful apartment in Haifa, Israel and in a simple ceremony, said our wedding vows "We will all, verily, abide by the will of God", and were married! Much has happened...every year has been so different from the one before. We wouldn't trade a day of it, and hope for many many more!! Thanks to everyone who has encouraged us along the way. C&J

Festival of Ridvan

2009-04-22T22:59:00.002-04:00

Right now, all around the world, members of the Baha'i Faith are celebrating the Festival of Ridvan. It is a period of 12 days that commemorates the time when Baha'u'llah, the Founder of the Baha'i Faith, proclaimed to be the Promised One of all ages, the Messenger of God that all previous Prophets had predicted. It happened in a garden in Baghdad in 1863. He wrote, "The time foreordained unto the peoples and kindreds of the earth is now come. The promises of God, as recorded in the holy Scriptures, have all been fulfilled."

***

Baha'u'llah claimed to speak with the same divine authority as Moses, Jesus and Muhammad. He taught that the time was now ripe for the coming of age of the human race and the beginning of its conscious unity. To achieve this, He urged the abolition of racial, religious, political, and economic prejudices, the adoption of an international auxiliary language, equal opportunities and privileges for men and women, a universal system of education, the independent investigation of truth (clergy was abolished), the adoption of a world code of human rights, and responsibilities, and the creation of a world federal government.

***

This is what Baha'u'llah wrote about this age we live in: "This is the Day in which God's most excellent favors have been poured out upon men, the Day in which His most mighty grace hath been infused into all created things. It is incumbent upon all the peoples of the world to reconcile their differences, and, with perfect unity and peace, abide beneath the shadow of the Tree of His care and loving-kindness...Soon will the present-day order be rolled up, and a new one spread out in its stead."

***

See the Baha'i links on the side of our blog for more...

Forest Park Zoo

2009-04-22T19:45:00.001-04:00

Fazal wouldn't go any closer to this cow-like animal, but they mooed back and forth for a while :-)

Is this a rope to keep us out....or to invite us to go under?

SLEEPYHEAD

Two Guys Gardening

2009-04-22T19:41:00.000-04:00

Can you see Fazal helping his dad in the garden? He was working hard!

At the playground

2009-04-22T19:37:00.000-04:00

2009-04-22T19:31:00.000-04:00

Hanging out with baba

2009-04-22T19:29:00.000-04:00

Waiting patiently for her mama to take a shower.

2009-04-22T19:24:00.001-04:00

When there isn't a pile of leaves to run through, a pile of receipts will do.

Multi-tasking

Now which one of us is going to clean this up?

Green

2009-04-19T21:42:00.002-04:00

I am so tired right now, but I feel badly that I haven't updated this in a while. Having two little kids is like...running a marathon every day. I think it has all the elements of being totally exciting and fulfilling, and exhausting at the same time. Having only one seems so easy now, but I definately didn't think it was when we only had Fazal! Anyway, I don't think I can write much tonight (and you know how I enjoy writing) so I can get sufficient sleep tonight, but here are a couple photos from several weeks ago - we went to the flower show at the greenhouses at Smith College. It is held annually right at the end of winter when we are all going crazy from the cold and gray and lack of anything fresh and alive, and you walk into these warm rooms filled with tulips of all colors and orchids and exotic trees and everything smells like flowers and you feel like you're in a forest after a rain, and leave feeling refreshed. Tesina slept in the carrier the whole time (under the blue blanket) but Fazal enjoyed it, particularly a fountain where the water came out of a frogs mouth. I hope you all can get a good infusion of green in your life. It helps. Good night.

Yes, occasionally they both need to be carried at the same time. Thank your parents the next time you see them :-)

Mother Daughter Smiles

2009-04-09T22:54:00.001-04:00

Miss Little Expressive

2009-04-05T16:42:00.003-04:00

Tesina is about 8 weeks old now - 2 whole months! - all other parents out there know that it sometimes feels like 2 years, sometimes 2 minutes. She is becoming quite expressive, and gives the most wonderful joy-inspiring smiles when she is smiled at. We haven't been able to capture the biggest smiles on camera yet, but these are versions of her smiles that build up the the big finale. She is showing her personality to be expressive, happy, and not too shy. She eats a lot, sleeps a lot, and when awake is THERE for all to experience. Our children are not to be ignored, if they have their way. :-)

Fazal wants to go outside...now...so get ready...

2009-04-05T16:33:00.002-04:00

Fazal can now open the closet door and start picking out a hat, gloves and jacket to wear (not always his) to impress upon his parents the urgency of going outside. Opening doors has its pros and cons...you can just imagine how nice it is to be able to say "Fazal go and throw this away in the garbage can" and he opens the closet door and throws it away; and how unsettling it can be for him to open the front door and wave to us "bye-bye" when we live on a street where the cars drive way too fast! It is exciting to watch him grow - he is already so tall at only 19 months old - and every day brings something new....

You can also see we cut his hair this weekend. Everyone loves his curls, but we are not raising a fashion model, and we need life to be simple right now, so short hair does the trick for all involved.

Can you believe I'm 7 weeks old already?

2009-03-30T15:52:00.000-04:00

John Deere Jr.

2009-03-28T21:10:00.001-04:00

The Fam

2009-03-19T09:59:00.001-04:00

Tesina is 5 1/2 weeks old

2009-03-17T20:19:00.002-04:00

Sleeping beauty

With baba

Awake and not crying for the camera (but blurry, oops)

With koko.

Dude, I'm tired, I think it's time to go to bed.

A Restful Weekend

2009-03-01T19:54:00.002-05:00

Emily and Cedric visited us on Sunday and we had a great time...relaxing, eating, watching Fazal play with Attie (the poodle), and taking turns holding Tesina. The quality of these photos isn't good - our camera is about wearing out - but we wanted to share them anyway. Tesina slept for 5 hours straight in her favorite position - right on somebody's warm and cozy belly.

A few real heart-melters :-)

2009-02-28T10:53:00.004-05:00

The Kidz

2009-02-23T08:43:00.002-05:00

These days, one of the first things Fazal does in the morning is search for Tesina. When he sees her he smiles and giggles. This morning she was in her swing as we were getting breakfast together and he sat down in front of the swing and "chatted" with her, showed her a few toys, and let me know when she needed my attention. He marvels at her tiny fingers and toes. He offers her some of his food. It is pretty cute. We pray this affection not only lasts, but grows!

Now almost two weeks old

2009-02-21T14:16:00.002-05:00

Saturday with Dad...

We have a photo of Fazal just like this - they have some very similar characteristics and some differences too :-)

I'm a Week Old Now

2009-02-17T10:08:00.000-05:00

Scenes from Home

2009-02-17T10:01:00.002-05:00

Thanks Lydia & Emmet for the great car book!

A few more from the hospital...

2009-02-17T09:53:00.002-05:00

Lots of security tags on these babies so they can only go home with their parents!

Ginna visited...
Angel

Scenes from the Hospital - Tesina's Birthday

2009-02-17T09:44:00.001-05:00

Rewind...This was two weeks before...

2009-02-17T09:31:00.002-05:00

Fazal taking a nap next to Attie, Em and Cedric's dog.

Getting as much R&R as possible

Big Bro & Little Sis

2009-02-14T03:13:00.001-05:00

Could we ask for any other Valentine than these two?

Aunt Allie's Visit

2009-02-14T03:11:00.000-05:00

Breakfast

2009-02-12T16:43:00.003-05:00

At breakfast this morning, as Fazal sat in his high chair and Tesina sat in her mama's lap squirming and making chirping noises, Fazal reached out and offered his baby sister a raisin. It was SO CUTE. Then he tickled her toes and compared the size of their hands. Oh my...

Day 5

2009-02-12T16:15:00.001-05:00

Our little star :-)

Miss Tesina

2009-02-11T00:31:00.002-05:00

We brought Tesina home today, Tuesday February 10th. She is two days old. She's a real sweetheart...and Fazal is a very nice, proud older brother. More photos, slowly but surely.

Meeting grandpa

New Member to Our Nascent Family

2009-02-08T19:01:00.005-05:00

Christina, Jafred, and Fazal are happy to announce the arrival of Tesina Caryl Mato, a new member to our family.

Tesina was born on February 8, 2009 at 10:34 am. She weighed 8 pounds 3 ounces, and measured 20 inches long. Her arrival was a hasty one, about 5.5 hours of labour, compared to her brother 17 months ago.

Tesina has been named after her grandmother from her father's side, and after her great grandmother from her mother's side (Caryl).

Both the mother and the new born are in good health and Fazal can't wait to meet his little sister after they come back home (soon).

More photos will be coming soon...

Story time with Grandpa

2009-02-06T18:41:00.002-05:00

I wear my sunglasses at night...

2009-02-06T18:19:00.001-05:00

I don't know why it never gets old seeing young children try on sunglasses....it is just an eternally cute picture!

I was taking the photos - give it baaaaack!!

Any day now...

Favorites

2009-02-03T15:14:00.002-05:00

Hello everyone. We are still here. Still awaiting our next arrival. (Who, according to a recent ultrasound, may arrive with a lot of hair, but we'll see). We are nursing winter colds, ear infections - who ISN'T longing for the end to this winter. Jafred is travelling up to the university twice a week this semester. Not so fun in the snow, but going well. We haven't taken photos in the last week or two, so I thought I'd just list a few of our favorite things:

Fazal's current favorite books: Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel; Katy and the Big Snow; Blueberries for Sal; and Global Babies

I must stop and mention here the author of the first two books I just listed, Virginia Lee Burton. A female author, obviously. But she wrote these books, and others, in the 1940's. She wrote them about big industrial machinery, like a snow plow that is also a bulldozer and a steam shovel and construction sites...AND she gave these machines in her books women's names, like Mary Anne (the steam shovel) and Katy (the snow plow). Can you believe it? We are talking about the 1940's!? Am I crazy or should we all applaud her? She not only wrote the stories, she did the illustrations, too. And they are detailed, and technical, and instructional, with little pictures labeled "truck gas shovel" and "portable compressor" and what a 5 ton truck looks like in comparison to a 7 ton truck. Anyway, she's my new hero and I wanted to share that.

Favorite anti-itch/stretch belly lotion (for the preggos out there): Body Shop Vitaman E lotion

Favorite place to buy maternity clothes: Old Navy

Favorite recent study: I just read in the newspaper about a study that demonstrates that the countries in the world that pose the highest physical threat to its female citizens also pose the greatest threat to other countries on the international level. Hmmmmmmm. Makes sense, doesn't it. Where women have voices, aggression and hostility tend to go down and other forms of non-violent problem solving emerge. So, big wigs in power (and all of us), you might want to work a little harder in the female empowerment deparment if we ever hope to live in a more peaceful world.

Will share more news on the family front when we have it.... :-)

Congrats to New Parents, Maxwell and Niaz!

2009-01-26T20:40:00.001-05:00

We sending our warmest congratulations to dear Maxwell and Niaz

on the birth of their handsome son, Shoghi.

Much love to you all!

Nap

2009-01-26T20:28:00.003-05:00

Fazal taking a nap at home:

Then we should explain why this is newsworthy. As long as I can remember now, Fazal has acted totally uninterested in taking naps. After getting up in the morning, he just goes and goes and goes, until at night he is finally tired and boom, is tired enough and sleeps pretty well through the night. Which was all fine and good for a while, but recently it has been a bit hard for all of us - we all need a little rest. Then we learned that at school, he DOES nap, which made us wonder....to make a long story short, this past weekend, while visiting at koko's house, around 1pm Fazal seemed to walk over to the couch and tug on a blanket. Koko said, hey, maybe we wants to lie down. So we threw the blanket on the rug, and sure enough, Fazal lay down on it. We put another blanket over him and voila! He slept like that for two hours! The next day, Sunday, we were at home and his grandpa came for a visit. They were active for a while, reading, then tossing a ball, then doing this and that, and Fazal was all wound up, laughing and shouting loudly. So remembering the previous day, I threw a blanket on the floor and said to Fazal, okay whenever you are ready for your nap, here's a blanket. Without even hesitating, he ran over to the blanket, lay down, and slept for TWO AND A HALF HOURS. I actually sat down and read a real live newspaper...ahhhhhhhh So this is big news in our household. As Jafred said, we just have to really get to know our kids and try to understand them as individuals, espicially before they can tell us clearly what they want and need.

The Painting

2009-01-18T10:37:00.003-05:00

Our thanks goes to Bob Koonz who thoughtfully sent us the painting you see in the photo below. Fazal thinks it is GREAT, all with a bulldozer, car and truck on it! He gets to enjoy it every time we're in the kitchen. So thank you!!!

This is Fazal's Ferrari...seriously, he loves this little bike and it was a very well spent 50 cents.

Coming Soon...

2009-01-18T10:35:00.001-05:00

Just a few more weeks...so please keep baby, mama, daddy and big brother in your prayers.

News On The Language Front

2009-01-17T10:17:00.003-05:00

Just over the last two days, we discovered that Fazal can now identify his head, nose, ears, mouth, eyes, hands, belly and feet, in both English and Luyhia!! We are so excited. We just asked him - Fazal, where is your nose? etc etc and time and again, in either language, he pointed to them correctly. Obviously, this is very exciting for his parents!!!

A Busy Meal

2009-01-17T09:30:00.002-05:00

Sometimes Fazal is a real multi-tasker

One of his new favorite foods is yogurt. So after eating lots of it and getting it everywhere, we wanted to show him what he looked like! By the way, one of his teachers at "school" told us he is very good at using a spoon. Where there's a will, there's a way!

Okay, I am finished, get me down!

Visit with Mia

2009-01-17T09:25:00.002-05:00

We were so excited that our good friends Perrin and Shane, and their daughter Mia, who is 2 years old, were able to stop by for a short visit recently on their way home to Maine. Thanks for coming, and remember, we agreed on quarterly visits!!!!

Good Morning!

2009-01-11T10:32:00.003-05:00

Just having woken up, Fazal put on his daddy's hat. Here are some of our morning expressions. He is quite animated/expressive/moody these days, with many opinions and feelings he wants to get across to us. We do our best to understand!

Christmas Eve and Morning - The Allure of Gifts

2009-01-11T10:23:00.003-05:00

This was Fazal's second Christmas, but the first where he was aware of the the GIFTS. The gift wrap, the shiny paper, the noise of tearing open boxes...his relatives are always plenty generous with him, so there were seemingly endless things for him to work on. Here are some much delayed photos of Christmas Eve and morning spent with koko.

A truck!
Sitting back and admiring all the things we were given.

"Whoa!"

Koko helping Fazal detach a toy from it's packaging.

It was a very nice time, very relaxed, and great to spend time with family outside the usual confines of a few hours on the weekends.

Winter

2009-01-11T10:15:00.002-05:00

We try as much as possible to be positive about the winter here in New England, but we admit, it's hard. Israel's weather suited us just fine, even those days when you sweat in the shower. Alas, this part of the world also has it's charms. One of them is the beauty of the snow - once it is on the ground and has stopped AND you don't have to go anywhere. I took these photos of our first big snow on the back deck. You can see how much there was. It has snowed several times since then. But hey, it's already the middle of January, and before we know it, it will be April and the flowers will grow............

Big Snow Day

2008-12-27T20:14:00.002-05:00

Last week our area got our first big snow of the year, more than a foot. Fazal got his first chance to wear his snow suit (thanks Anne!) His mom re-lived some memories of childhood by putting his feet into plastic bags before going into his shoes! Remember those days?!

Being the determined non-stop worker that he is, he immediately set out to move snow - just like his dad was - and got really mad at the high snow piles for slowing him down (when he tried to walk through them)...he let us pull him around on the sled for about two minutes, but then he wanted to get back to work.

15 1/2 months old

2008-12-20T19:34:00.002-05:00

Doesn't Fazal look like he's growing up?!?! Right now he is 15 1/2 months old, pretty hard to believe.

We are ready to declare his first real word, where he really understands the meaning, the concept, and when to use it correctly, as "hot". That's our boy!! :-) He points to steaming water on the stove and says "hot". He touches his food before he eats it and says "hot". He touches the radiator when the heat is on and says "hot". And what's extra sweet about it is that he waves his hand at the same time, we think because when we were trying to teach him to eat slowly when his food was still hot, we'd wave our hand over it, like you do when you're trying to cool things off. Now he thinks that's a mandatory thing to do when you say the word!

This is what I do when I am not getting my way!!!

He also LOVES trucks, tractors, and cars. The way people say that little boys do, but I never really believed it. It's true. He points to cars going by on the road. He'll find tiny little pictures of cars on something else that has nothing to do with vehicles, and he spins his hands around (like he's behind a steering wheel) and makes a low, groaning, aka. motor, noises!! He reads books about steam shovels and dump trucks. It's all about vehicles these days.

2008-12-20T19:32:00.001-05:00

I can't believe we still have so many weeks to go....

Christmas Tree

2008-12-17T16:14:00.002-05:00

It's that time of year when Christians celebrate Christmas and in our area, as snow falls and the earth turns white, things look very pretty decorated with lights and wreaths and other symbols of the holiday spirit.

In this photo, Fazal is "helping" decorate his koko's Christmas tree. He loved the lights and all the ornaments being hung on the branches. The unanswered question is whether or not he will leave the lights and ornaments on the tree the next time we go over for a visit!!!

Nursery School

2008-12-16T20:13:00.002-05:00

We have started a new adventure in our lives. Fazal is going to nursery school two days a week, where he's learning to make friends, sing songs, paint and draw, share toys, sit at a table and eat neatly, and all kinds of other great things. For his parents it is a test in detachment. After being by our sides 24/7 for 15 months, it is hard not to have him there all the time. But he was ready to learn more, be more active, and meet some little buddies. The first two days were a little hard, but now it is starting to go really well. The teachers couldn't be nicer and really love the kids. Here are two photos taken by his koko on his second day.

How cute are they!!!!

Play Time

2008-11-26T21:30:00.000-05:00

Daddy is a great mountain to climb on!

Young camera man

The Belly

2008-11-26T21:26:00.001-05:00

There's no hiding it now. That belly is a'growin' big time. Fazal is always pointing to it inquisitively. He knows something is going on.

Buddy's Birthday Party

2008-11-26T21:18:00.002-05:00

Fazal's little buddy, Rosalee, had her one-year birthday and we got to attend the party!! It was Fazal's first birthday party. Rosalee's mom, Vivian, is a dear friend of mine and we have a great time getting our cuties together as often as we can and talking mom-talk. Here is mom and birthday girl below:

The birthday girl eating her cake! "Double Wisdom" - we met Sage at this party and discovered that her and Fazal's names both mean wisdom!! Isn't that cool!

Fazal with his party hat on.

Opening her gifts.

Ruhi Book 3 celebration

2008-11-16T21:18:00.003-05:00

For a few months now, we've been getting together almost once a week with a lovely group of people who wanted to learn how to facilitate neighborhood children's classes whose purpose is to virtues and general spiritual education. The curriculum is based on Baha'i principles but neither the teachers nor the students need to be Baha'is to participate - they are for everyone concerned with the spiritual education of children. The book we studied is called "Teaching Children's Classes Grade 1" developed by the Ruhi Institute. We are excited to have completed the study of the book - although we will miss getting together very much - and now the real work begins of actually starting our children's classes! Three people from the group have already started one in their neighborhood! At the end of class tonight, we had a dinner to celebrate, and were joined by my mom as well as a neighbor of the hosts who is interested in learning more about the Bahai Faith.

This (photo below) is our wonderful study circle. One thing we loved about this group is that we had people of all ages, from Fazal to young people in elementary, middle and high schools and several adults. It was really nice to get input in all our discussions from such a wide range of participants.

All the children helped keep Fazal busy during the classes, and Cecelia, pictured here, was especially wonderful!!

The photo above was our group at the dinner tonight...
Fazal took NO naps today (I can't remember the last time, if ever, he has done this) so by the end of the evening he was really winding up and winding down, and koko was helping a lot! At one point, he just started shrieking at the top of his lungs, just for the fun of it, sending the kids into fits of laughter. He did this for several minutes, I think just out of sheer tiredness, until we took him outdoors, where he continued to scream and run around in the cold for quite a while until he finally got it out of his system ;-)

Fazal's First Trip to Boston

2008-11-12T21:46:00.005-05:00

See that orange and red triangle sign in the photo below? That Citgo sign symbolizes Kenmore Square in Boston, Mass., where Fenway Park is (hello! where the Red Sox play?!?!!) :-) We had Tuesday off from work for Veteran's Day, so Fazal, koko and I met Emily in Boston for the afternoon. (Jafred was studying, Cedric working.) Fazal loved it...oh the stories, if only I still had energy to type at this hour....maybe later...the one about Fazal dancing for the ladies working in the clothing store.....

Dr. Emily's office at the Boston University Business School - very nice.

Emily also took us to a fabulous French Bistro for lunch. The hostess and waitresses were actually French and greeted us at the door with "Bonjour!" The food was excellent, and Fazal, who has already proven to us that he has a strange palate by liking things like pickles and lemon wedges, thoroughly enjoyed fresh French bread, leek and potato soup, and a Frenchy version of sheperd's pie. This boy knows how to eat when he wants to. The nice waitresses also paid him lots of attention.

This is bell-ringer man. Fazal liked him because he was ringing the bell for Salvation Army right next to where we found a miracle parking spot (yes, right in the middle of Newbury Street). He was a very friendly guy, and it seemed, happy to have people to talk to on a cold day.
When we felt a little worn out, we stopped at a tea shop, which is cute and has a lot of character, but no space for children. Fazal sat on our laps and everything was within his reach - thus, the funny photo of me below trying to get a sip of my tea without having Fazal grab it out of my hand....Finally, as it was getting dark, we made it to the Boston Common, a huge park in the middle of the city. I wanted Fazal to be able to run around on the grass and wear himself out before we got back into the car for our 1.5 hour drive home AND I wanted him to see the Make Way for Ducklings sculptures. Do you know the famous children's book of that title? Here are some photos with the bronze duckies.

Outdoors with Koko Candy and Senjay Emily

2008-11-02T21:04:00.007-05:00

Fazal's senjay Emily (aunt) and koko Candy (grandmother) spent some time with Fazal on Saturday...we hadn't seen Em in two months!! They went for a walk and you can see in the photos that some of the leaves on the trees are still beautiful. They also cleaned up koko's garden, raking leaves and clipping down dead plants.

Fazal wants to be outdoors ALL the time...

Koko got Fazal his own little rake so he can help! Thanks for coming Emmy!

I love the one below cause it looks like they are jumping in the trees :-)

Here's a shot where you can see my expanding belly. At this rate of growth, February seems kind of far away!

Have you seen the story...

2008-10-30T19:17:00.001-04:00

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/10/30/netherlands.baby.boom/index.html

This is the best story I've read in a while. Forget politics, conflicts, crime, and celebrities for 5 minutes and READ THIS! It's so fun....

A Day

2008-10-27T20:54:00.003-04:00

I wish I knew how to send photos taken with my cell phone to my email account so I can also post them on this blog. (anyone? anyone?) But I don't so you'll have to use your imagination. After work today, I took Fazal outside - well, he usually leads the way - onto the driveway. Fazal has been enjoying the piles of leaves that have been collecting around the edges of the stone walls and driveway as the trees are almost bare and the wind blows them into interesting patterns on the ground. I grabbed the rake and started raking the leaves into a pile. Fazal, attracted by the loud scraping noise and the leaves being swept up higher than his head, came running to see what is this?!?!? We were laughing and having a great time and then I realized that if I wanted to be constructive, I could just think of this as fun and continue long enough to actually clear the driveway and get all the leaves in one pile. I am not much of a follow-through person, but I did it anyway because the air was a bit warm and fresh. Fazal ran back and forth through the piles, sitting in the larger ones when he realized they were kind of soft, and played with them in his hands. He only ran for the roadway once and my heart raced as I realized how fast he moves on his short little legs toward el danger zone...

Later, we came inside and I realized that I felt like I had been punched in the stomach. Not that woman almost 6 months pregnant shouldn't rake leaves, but perhaps not quite so vigorously when one has not given ones belly any exercise in the memorable past. I lay very still moaning a bit on the couch while Fazal looked at me sort of sympathetically, and then picked up a 5 pound pumpkin that his grandfather had given him yesterday and proceeded to make me laugh (ouch) by lifting it up with Olympic weightlifter grunting noises, taking big stocky steps towards me, and dropping it off on the floor with a loud "thud" before picking it up and placing it under one of my knees...For a few minutes he entertained himself (and me) by doing something he started to do a few days ago - picking objects he often bangs his head on by mistake (table legs, the wall, etc), and gently bumping his head against them as if to reassure himself that it isn't so bad after all. Like someone practicing the "stop, drop, and roll" fire drill, only someone who is less than 3 feet tall and only 25 lbs. I only dragged myself off the couch 15 minutes later when I realized that the consequences of not feeding Fazal soon were much worse than the pain of getting vertical again. The kidney beans were in front of him for 10 minutes before he decided to pop one in his mouth, but once he did, the sprinkle became a rain storm - he must have eaten at least 50 red kidney beans, one after the next. (Luckily, we have not found this type of bean to cause much "pollution" unlike some other kinds) ooh-la-la enough about our day...

We have lost a few people recently and so have been reminded of our mortality. The incredible quote by Baha'u'llah, "I have made death a messenger of joy to thee. Wherefore dost thou grieve?" is some consolation, but we feel deeply that we will only know how this can be so after we too pass on to the next world.

Otherwise, we want to send special greetings to Vahid, Jafred's brother now serving at the BWC in Haifa. We are so proud of you and know that you will grow immeasurably while you are there.

To all our other friends, good night.

New one...

2008-10-26T16:14:00.001-04:00

Congrats to new parents Melissa and Balbir, on the birth of their very sweet son, Nevyn!!! We wish you many happy days ahead...

Dressed for Winter

2008-10-18T21:14:00.001-04:00

Finally a photo of father and son!!

It was cold today, so Fazal had to dress in his warmest to take a walk outside.

*ESHIALO SHILALA*

Status

Another day, more learning, more memories

Fazal and Tes

Museums

Driving Lesson

Welcome to Cafe Mato

Kids Chowing Down on the Garden's Goods

A Beautiful Sweater

Our Weekend Adventures

Thanks, Lydia

Yesterday's Harvest

HOT

Our Brave Girl

Garden Time

Our Garden is Starting to Bear Fruit

July 2009

A few more of Rhode Island

RI: Walking back from the beach

A weekend on the Rhode Island Shore

Photos especially for Patty and Jonathan

Some recent sweetness

What we're up to

Another congrats to new 'rents out there!

Congrats!

Best Buddies

A recent photo with koko

Dinner with Kenyan friends

Mom's Day Photos

Flower Bud

Congrats!

The Best 20-month-old Gardener Ever!

Awards ceremony

Summer's Here!!!

5th Wedding Anniversary

Festival of Ridvan

Forest Park Zoo

Two Guys Gardening

At the playground

Green

Mother Daughter Smiles

Miss Little Expressive

Fazal wants to go outside...now...so get ready...

Can you believe I'm 7 weeks old already?

John Deere Jr.

The Fam

Tesina is 5 1/2 weeks old

A Restful Weekend

A few real heart-melters :-)

The Kidz

Now almost two weeks old

I'm a Week Old Now

Scenes from Home

A few more from the hospital...

Scenes from the Hospital - Tesina's Birthday

Rewind...This was two weeks before...

Big Bro & Little Sis

Aunt Allie's Visit

Breakfast

Day 5

Miss Tesina

New Member to Our Nascent Family

Story time with Grandpa

I wear my sunglasses at night...

Favorites

Congrats to New Parents, Maxwell and Niaz!

Nap

The Painting

Coming Soon...

News On The Language Front

A Busy Meal

Visit with Mia

Good Morning!

Christmas Eve and Morning - The Allure of Gifts

Winter

Big Snow Day

15 1/2 months old

Christmas Tree

Nursery School

Play Time

ESHIALO SHILALA