More of Sarai...

Sarai is sooooooo adorable in hats! Unfortunately she doesnt let them stay on long enough, just enough for me to grab a quick pic!

I have recently (sort of) got over my fear of germs. So last week is when i first begin letting sarai touch and play with the animals. She has been trying to get to them for months. She is at the point where she is curious about them but she still has a little bit of fear. Well today we let her play with ace and he of course was miserable because sarai spent the entire time pulling on his fur and kicking him in the head. Poor ace...this is only the beginning!

Before i left for the cruise sarai started to try and scoot around but she really had not made any progress. Now she is definitely on the move all over the floor, we have been waiting for the day she would crawl....however, sarai is not what you would call crawling. Maybe its a form of crawling, keith calls it the army low crawl. Basically she does not use her knees at all. Instead she uses her arms to pull her body around and she use her feet (specifically her toes) to give her that extra push to propel herself forward. Either way we are sooooooooo happy about her progress and we thought we would share it with the family. Enjoy!!

Random pics of sarai and keith...

We recently got the news that keith will be deploying with the next few weeks OR at the end of October. It is another curve thrown at us by the army about his deployment. First he was going, then he wasnt then he wasnt going, it has been an emotional roller coaster. So we are preparing for the worst case scenario which would be him leaving in two weeks. So i have of course been taking pics like crazy, i want to document everything with keith and sarai. So i will be posting lots of random pics of the two of them together. I want to have an endless supply of photos for sarai to look at so she will not forget keith while he is away for a year. Eventually i want to put together a scrapbook (with the help of keith) that i can read and show her before bed at night as a bedtime ritual. That way the image of him will always be fresh in her mind until he returns home. Here a few pics and videos i took of the two of them together today.

Keith was able to teach sarai where her nose is. It was the cutest thing it was there little game they like to play. Whenever i tried to play and ask her where my nose was she would not do a thing. Now she definitely knows where her nose is so we are moving on to teaching her where her mouth is.

Nassau/St thomas/St Maarten

Sarai was not a big fan of the waves. The sound of it drove her crazy and sent her into tears. But i had to document putting her feet in the sand and ocean for the first time.

For the second part of our trip we went on the Carnival Glory for 7 days. I was very excited to go on the cruise and get pampered. In the beginning of the cruise we had to deal with hurricane fay, as a result of the storm we skipped our port in nassau and had to go out of our path to avoid the storm. We were able to make it to St. thomas where i rained at the start of the day but eventually it cleared up so we could get off of the cruise. I am so happy we did it was beautiful, sarai got to go to the beach for the very first time. We also got some great photos. Sarai and i were not able to get off and tour st.maarten because the winds and rains were to strong. So unfortunately we were stranded on the boat again. The storms played a big part in wreaking havoc on our trip we continually at disney and on the cruise had to deal with the pouring rain. As a result of the storm our cruise was called by the coast guard to rescue a vessel that had overturned at sea. The coast guard plane scouted the accident but was not able to rescue the victims you of course need a helicopter to do so. So according to maritime law the nearest boat/ship by law has to respond to the accident. So our captain took us two hours out of our route to go rescue the people (which was exciting). However, the coast guard was able to an helicopter out before we could rescue the victims. I was in the cabin with sarai taking a nap so i missed the whole thing. But my family was able to view the rescue. On our way back we ran into some more bad weather so we had to change our route to avoid the storm so we docked a little later than expected. It was a very exciting and turbulent trip, but i am happy i got to spend time with my family.

I was very excited about putting sarai in the water for the first time. At first she hated the water and hated the sand, she would cry everytime i put her in. Then i figured out it wasnt the water and sand she hated, rather the noise the water made as it came crashing ashore. So i went out further where she couldnt hear and she absolutely loved it! She was like a little mermaid. I have no doubt she is gonna be a surfer just like her daddy she is a natural.

Hanging out with mema and papa in St.maarten during a tour.
Sarai and i spent alot of time in the cruise cabin, she was fascinated by the window and the water. I thought it was the cutest pic.
This picture i loved, you can see her joy and excitement in her face. She absolutely loved being in the window and touching the glass. The pic quality is not that great. Originally the pic came out really dark and you could not see her face. I doctored the photo a little bit where you could see her expression. I thought the pic was worth saving so the color is off a little bit but there is no hiding that smile!
Second formal nite in the dining room. It seemed like dinner time was the withing hour! Everytime it was time to eat dinner sarai would be completely fussy. I never really got to enjoy the fine dining experience because she wanted me to hold her so i couldnt eat. By the time i got my dinner and was finished with appetizers she was ready to go. Like clockwork every nite that is how our evening went. However, there was one night where i got her to take a nap beforehand (which was a miracle) that enabled me to enjoy my dinner AND desert. We were also able to get pictures afterwards. As you can see in the photo sarai was in the middle of whining for me to pick her up. But i had to capture a photo of her in her cute dress!

Sarai really does not take to well to men outside of her daddy. It took her almost 6 months to get comfortable with her godfather. However, our waitor was the exception. Whenever he came around (even if she was in a mood and crying) she would break out into a smile and play with him. She would even reach for him, i dont know what it was about him but she absolutely loved him. So of course i had to get a pic of him to document it.

Nassau/St thomas/St Maarten Pt 3

Second formal nite on the cruise.
With a little help from my mom sarai was able to pull up and stay up for a few seconds. It was such a cute pic, however sarai was not sure if she liked this position. You can see from her expression she was on the verge of tears. But it is definitely progress. We have already lowered her crib in the event that she one day decides to pull up on her own.
In the pool on our last day of vacation. I bought her this blow up pool toy that was supposed to play music, but i forgot the batteries. Sarai had alot of fun but she had alot more fun when i took her out of the float and let her kick around in the water by herself. Its like she thinks she can swim already. (she has naturally started doing the movements for swimming with her arms and legs. She definitely has keith's genes!)

Sarai's first Vacation (Disney Part)

First meeting with big cousin Kira.
hanging out with mema at the beauty and the beast show

To celebrate my dad's 50th birthday my mom planned at two week trip. The first part of the trip was to disney world where we stayed on site. The second part we took a cruise to nassau, st thomas and st.maarten. It was lots of fun going to disney even though sarai couldnt enjoy it, but it was nice seeing the family. I had not seen most of them in two years! And only two out of the nine had seen sarai. Needless to say everyone was very excited to see us, it was a birthday trip and a family reunion rolled in one.

disney part 2

One of my favorite disney movies growing up as a little girl was beauty and the beast, so i was really happy to see the musical at disney. I want sarai to someday get into the whole disney movie craze seeing the classics like the little mermaid, beauty and the beast, cinderella and etc. Sarai however did not have any desire to watch the show so she played with my mom and i got to spend some quality time with my niece kira.
Sarai of course did not like the heat, but i think she adjusted pretty well. She spent most of the time reclined in her stroller with two fans pointed at her and with her feet propped up. She definitely had the princess treatment!

I was surprised that she actually touched Mickey. We went to a restaraunt where the whole place revolved around as you ate dinner. Which was cool to have different scenery as you ate. In addition to that the characters came around the tables to visit and take pics. Sarai once again did not smile but she actually touched mickey's nose so that was progress!

disney part 3

Sarai absolutely loved spending time with kira. It was a daily ritual for the two to wake up and play with each other on the cruise. When we were in FLorida i shared a bed with kira and when i would bring sarai in the bed in the morning she would grab on kira's nose and hair to wake her up. It was the cutest thing. Sarai reminds me alot of kira when she was a baby, i call her kira's mini-me. They definitely get along well and they look very similar.
Sarai greased up for a day in the sun. I made sure sarai had MORE than enough sunblock to protect her while we were out all day. From the looks of this pic she would slip and pop right out of my hands if i tried to pick her up! LOL I was so proud of her she looked beautiful in her BIG girl outfit. I think this trip was the first time i looked at her as a big girl. I brought outfits that were two pieces like a toddler. Usually she wears one pieces, she is growing up pretty fast.
photo op with pluto at the disney entrance.

Hanging out in front of minnie's fireplace.

disney part 4

We were able to stop at minnie's house along the way. Last time i saw the house was back when my oldest niece (who's 8) was barely two yrs old. It brought back alot of memories. It was nice to be able to bring sarai there even though she really could not enjoy it like the others. At least i have photos to document she was there!
Outside of mickey's house with mema!
Mickey's bedroom
Waiting in line with mema to get a pic with mickey. However, by the time we got through the line it was too late sarai had fallen asleep. Rule number one on vacation DO NOT wake up a sleeping 9 month old for a photo op.

The other children managed to stay awake and in a good mood to take a pic with mickey and minnie and get autographs.

disney part 5

My mom made reservations for the family to have dinner at the crystal place restaraunt ( i think that is what it was called). The restaraunt it a little pricey but the food was pretty good. The bonus was that all the characters made a stop to each table individually to play with the kids and take photos. That is a huge advantage because when they are out in the park you have to battle many many kids and there parents all vying for attention and photos. Sarai did not cry with the characters BUT she did not smile either. SO all in all it was a success.

The princess castle right before the fireworks.

The outside of our hotel was beautiful and colorful. I was amazed at how big the statues of baloo and mowgli were. As you can see my nieces kira and niyah look like ants standing next to his feet!

Disney part 6

Image of our pool at the Pop Century hotel located on Disney site. It was a very interesting hotel, each building had different theme:60's 70's 80's etc.


Sarai in one of her weird sleeping poses. She so sweet and cute when she is sleeping. Nothing like a peaceful moment!
For my dad's birthday my mom surprised him with a suite on the cruise. He was soooooooooo surprised he even did a little dance. (which is extremely rare). They cruise line had the room decorated (which sarai loved playing with the decorations). It was really nice to see the surprise in his face. He enjoyed having a bigger room, and he especially enjoyed having a balcony to relax and sleep on.

A birthday gift from carnival.

Disney part 7

Sarai's first formal night. I was soooooooo happy that formal nite finally came all because of this dress. I bought this dress back when sarai was a few months and this dress seemed soooooooo big. I thought the dress would be way to big because it is for a 12 month old, however with the rate sarai has been growing she will be in 18 mth dresses before we know it.











































A great pic of my sweeties. Kira and niyah were very excited about getting dressed for formal nite. Kira had her hair pressed and straightened so she felt like a pre-teen. Niyah twirled around all nite like a princess. I was lucky enough to get this shot when sarai and my nieces were all in a good mood (before dinner and the mood swings!)












sarai had to sleep in the crib provided by the cruise line and lets just say it was not her favorite thing to do. As a result of being on vacation her routine was thrown completely off. She had a hard time falling asleep in new crib with a new environment. She also had to deal with the openings between the cribs. Her foot would periodically get caught in between the rails which resulted in her of course crying. So i spent many nights checking on her and pulling her limbs from between the rails. I also had to put towels around the crib so she could not see us in the room. THe moment she sees someone there she threw a fit. Of course as crafty as she is she always managed to pull the towels down.