God Bless America!

With everything that has been going during the last month, I haven't even had time to blog about Firoze's citizenship...

Let's just say "It ain't like the movies."

In the movies, the guy is getting deported in 24 hours, so he falls madly in love with an American girl and they run to the courthouse to get married and he gets to stay one more day and the next day he becomes an American and waves the flag and they live happily ever after...

In real life, we fell madly in love and got married and then started filling out paperwork... Stacks of paperwork... Waiting and waiting... Interviews and fingerprinting... Letters of recommendation and medical tests... Did I mention paperwork??? It's no joke and it's full of endless frustration and delays. But... we made it!

Six and a half years after we started this journey, it's official! Firoze is a US Citizen and he has the papers to prove it!



Here's a little bit about the ceremony day (which we had to wait another 9 months after he had already been granted citizenship... sigh):


It was a sold out show! Not an empty seat in the building...


It wasn't official until George Washington himself came to officiate!


Everyone had to stand up and proudly announce their new name. Lucky for me, Firoze decided NOT to change his name to Billy Bob Thornton.


Taking the oath. Our patriotism was overflowing that day!


Got my papers! Whoo-hoo! Yee-haw! Hollaaaa!


Just like always, Firoze told old George W. to meet him for a drink later on.

I can't NOT post this. It was truly our 2nd favorite day of 2010 (I have to give our top favorite day to the day Dean was born)... It was our AMAZING party to celebrate his citizenship and I am so glad we partied in a MAJOR way! Even though our day in court came 9 months later instead of the 1 week that we expected, these days go together like peanut butter and jelly. Passing the interview and getting approved, party with friends and family, and FINALLY taking the oath. It's all American!

These were my favorite pictures from that night. If only it wasn't 1am as I am typing this post, I would love to tell you all about it, but I'll let the pictures do the talking. :)
















Everyone had to dress in an international costume, except Firoze... who had to be all American! (And yes, in case you are wondering, that Egyptian queen is ME!)







































Every great party has an after party! Ours had people wearing half costume/half monster truck rally gear. And people learning German. And people dancing inappropriately... And a pregnant lady... And one person that passed out...





Oh, what a night!



God Bless America and ALL it's citizens!!

Glass Half Full

Mother's Day makes me realize how thankful I am to have my family. Firoze gave me the best present of all... letting me sleep in while he took the boys to Starbucks to pick up some coffee and breakfast for me. Now THAT is a luxury! Then I went to work and it was just one of those days... when it was hard to put on the rose colored glasses. My glass was half empty...

And then I had today. It was my day off to spend with the boys and it was just one of those perfect days. The kind of day where the sun is shining and everyone is happy and babies take their naps! It was exactly what I needed. We didn't go anywhere and we didn't do anything, but we spent the morning and afternoon together and my boys were so sweet and loving today. And now my glass is half full again. It just took a little bit of this...


Love these striped baby pants!


Happiness is an organized playroom!


Dean was my little sweetie today.


This boy is happy anywhere you plop him down. Even in the driveway!


Look at the gorgeous lashes on this baby!!


Love those baby feet and cute little baby toes!


We're organic... we eat fresh leaves for lunch!


My two cuties!


Time flies too fast and my darling Devon is growing so tall.

At least twenty times a day, Dean does a random downward-facing-dog yoga pose. It completely makes me grin every time he does it. It never gets old. It's his comic relief...



Combine downward-facing-Dean with baby giggles and this is what you get...



My glass is full today. And I am so blessed to have two little beams of light in my life that bring in the joy and drive away all the doldrums. Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful and amazing mothers I know. And especially to my Mom, who made my childhood magical and full of love! I love you Mom!

We Made It! Dean's 1st Birthday!

I think every parent should have a great first birthday bash for their baby. But, let's be clear... the party is NOT for the baby. Babies don't like getting dressed up and having their picture taken all day. Babies don't care about the fancy food or the balloons. The party is for the parents - to say "we made it!"

We made it through the hundreds of sleepless nights. We changed the diapers. We cleaned up the spit-up and the poop. We snuggled and sang. We clapped for his first crawl and first words. We smiled and laughed when he was cute. We worried when he was naughty. We watched his first moments of life and saw him grow from a tiny little bundle to a bouncing baby boy, full of energy and exuberance. We made it through 365 days with a baby and we survived!



So, we HAD to throw a fun bash to celebrate Dean's 1st Birthday with all our dearest friends. When I was thinking of a theme for the party, all I could think of was my little Dean... so curious... so mischievous... so cute! And of course, that is EXACTLY like Curious George.






A sweet bunting for our baby boy's first year!


Oh how he's grown, from his Northside Hospital t-shirt, to his size 18 romper!





We were so lucky to celebrate with our closest friends. It's such a gift to have friends that love your kids just like they are family.







Dean was a ladies man. He made the rounds that night and got kissed and squeezed by just about everyone. BUT, he definitely had a favorite...



He laid his head on Noune's chest and sighed the sigh of pure happiness. He stayed like that for about 10 minutes and didn't move a muscle. He didn't blink and didn't move his head. He was calm and sweet and knew he had it GOOD! Let's just say he is truly a ladies man!


Devon was so handsome that night!


And Debbie made sure Dean was looking handsome for his party with this adorable outfit!

We ate very well, with a fiesta inspired menu of tomato and avocado salad, Mexican rice, grilled flank steak with chimichurri, and sauteed corn with lime.





And of course, we had to have some lemon zest cupcakes from CamiCakes! Let me just say I have eaten a lot of cupcakes in Atlanta and these are the best, by far.



The highlight of any first birthday party is the cake! You can tell a lot about a baby by how he handles the cake at his first birthday party. Devon was very neat and very cautious and he cried when we put some frosting on his face. Dean on the other hand...



He dove right in!




Mmmmm.... cake is good!



We told Devon, go ahead... share Deanie's cake... and so he gingerly put one finger in the icing and licked it off, then ran to wash his hands. There ya go. That is exactly what makes these brothers the yin and yang!



Dean said... that's ok...



More for ME!!!



We were so blessed to have Aaron and Bethany come to visit us. And they brought the best present... baby Grayson!





We've been waiting to snuggle him and to kiss his chubby cheeks!







The most fun was when Curious George actually showed up to the party!!!








That cheeky monkey!


Aaron got a little too cozy with Curious George.

We had the best time celebrating our little monkey, Dean. He is the sweetest, most mischievous little boy and we just love him SO much!

The only thing left after the party was over was to clean up...



Who needs a Swiffer Sweeper?!!