Everybody Loves Nila

Nila's 4

2011-09-11T22:59:00.001-04:00

Wow. Nila's 4 already.

Where did the time go?

The Old Pool Still Works

2011-07-03T14:09:00.001-04:00

Here's a video of Nila playing in the pool Biwi bought her last year.

It still works and she's having a great time in it at Grandma Tammy's Independence Day Cook Out.

YouTube Video

Puddles

2011-06-16T21:00:00.001-04:00

Nila wanted play in this puddle. At first, I thought it was a bad idea, but I decided it wasn't such a terrible idea.

Nila thought it was a GREAT idea.

YouTube Video

The Makeup

2011-06-09T22:36:00.001-04:00

Nila got into Angie's makeup. Here's the aftermath:

YouTube Video

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Summer 2011 Begins Now

2011-05-29T21:53:00.001-04:00

This weekend a new park opened in town, Columbus Commons. We visited yesterday and there were lots of activities for kids. Here are some pictures of Nila enjoying herself.

YouTube Video

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Concord Ave,Columbus,United States

Two Sides of Nila

2011-04-10T11:03:00.001-04:00

Nila is showing us sassy and calm in the above pictures. Can you tell which is which?

Her First School Picture

2011-04-07T22:23:00.001-04:00

I may be biased, but this might just be the cutest picture I have ever seen. Just look at that hair! And that smile!

Angie and I have the most beautiful daughter in all the world. That's just a fact. How can you argue now that you've seen this picture?

More to come

2011-04-05T22:59:00.001-04:00

I can post from my phone now, so you can expect more Nila updates.

Since we last spoke Nila has started preschool! She loves it. It's a small class- about 9 kids total. And it's diverse which Angie loves.

Nila posing at Villa Nova

A very different pose at Johnny Rocket's

Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Kings Ct,Columbus,United States

The Bee on the Carousel (and A Special Message for Grandma Mo)

2010-10-24T22:47:00.001-04:00

Boo at the Zoo 2010

2010-10-24T20:39:00.003-04:00

Nila's official Halloween costume this year is Alvin the Chipmunk, but for Boo at the Zoo we went with the bee costume Biwi gave us. Nila said this was "the best Halloween ever."

Butterfly

2010-10-22T19:13:00.001-04:00

Nila got her face painted at Kroger this evening. This is photographic evidence of the event before I washed it off.

Disco Nila

2010-09-26T19:09:00.002-04:00

So, we've decided to enter Nila in pageants...

Just kidding. Angie was looking for a new hair style. We found a program at taaz.com.

Obviously, we had to do Nila, too. This picture is pretty funny, but also a little creepy...

Pigeon Roost

2010-09-25T00:05:00.004-04:00

All of my life I've only gone to Circle S for pumpkins, but today we went to Pigeon Roost Farm in Hebron and had a great time.

Nila and the Chipmunks

2010-09-25T00:00:00.001-04:00

These pictures are too cute not to post.

More Pictures From Nila's 3rd Birthday

2010-09-08T18:37:00.003-04:00

Nila is 3!!!

2010-09-06T06:50:00.005-04:00

Nila has been 3 years old for about 5 days now. Time goes so fast.

On her birthday, she went to dinner and had grilled cheese, then went to Grandma Tammy and Grandma Kay's for cake - a cake she and Mommy made during the day. On Saturday, we had a party at Pierce Field in Grandview. She had a lot of fun playing at the playground and, of course, eating cake and ice cream!

The cake might look a little crazy in the picture, but it was PERFECT and Nila loved it. It was strawberry, so it was pink inside and covered in sprinkles, which are Nila's favorite food!

As I get more pictures, I will post them. These two are courtesy of Aunt Kate.

Nila and the Asian Festival

2010-05-30T20:29:00.002-04:00

Nila went to the Asian Festival this evening, or as she calls it "Asian Festibal."

When we got there, we saw an Indian dance troupe and she danced along for a little bit, but the music was too loud. We ate some food and she ran around a little, then we went for Frosties at Wendy's.

This is what she looked like on the way home. From the sound of things upstairs, she's already sound asleep.

The Easter Bunny

2010-03-31T14:33:00.005-04:00

We took Nila to see the Easter bunny on Tuesday at Easton.

She was very sweet with him. He offered her a whole basket of candy to choose a piece. She dropped the first one on the ground and he let her pick another. I had her pick up the dropped piece and she tried to give it back to him. He tried to give it back to her, but she just said thanks for the piece she had and shook his hand. He finally got her to take both pieces. She hugged him and said "Goodbye, Easter Bunny."

See all the pictures here.

Nila's a Duck

2010-03-31T13:22:00.001-04:00

A few days ago I tried to throw away Nila's old collapsing duck hamper. This is what happened instead.

Nila Visits Young's Dairy

2010-02-20T19:55:00.003-05:00

Today I didn't have to work until 7 pm, so we decided to spend the day at Young's Dairy in Yellow Springs, OH.

We ate lunch, saw the farm animals and had milk shakes, so it was a good trip.

Like most everything else, it would be a better day trip in better weather, but Nila enjoyed herself. She liked the ducks and the chickens the best. The goats were a little scary. Inside the bard, there was a goat that seemed to know that his food came from people and he tried to climb over the gate to get at us. "No, I don't like it," Nila said.

Once we left the barn, though, she did pet a goat on the nose through the fence.

Nila Paints

2010-02-05T08:14:00.000-05:00

Nila's Smoothie

2010-01-30T20:53:00.000-05:00

Nila is Crafty

2009-12-13T10:49:00.002-05:00

Nila really likes to pretend she's putting on make-up like mommy. Here I'd say she gets it almost just right!

These cookies are to be ornaments on our tree when they're complete. The only problem is that, now that they're finished, Nila really likes to throw them. We've already lost one to her pitching arm.

Short Video in a Headband

2009-11-04T16:33:00.000-05:00

Halloween 2009 (Grandview)

2009-11-03T12:36:00.001-05:00

Nila and a New Camera

2009-10-17T14:34:00.003-04:00

We have a new video camera, so expect lots of new Nila videos.

This video is of Nila just doing Nila things outside of our apartment.

Nila Learns to Drive

2009-10-12T20:47:00.002-04:00

One of Nila's new favorite things is putting the key in the ignition. She says "Nila turn it. Nila turn it."

A couple of times last week she actually did turn it!

Then she frantically tried to put it in drive. Maybe I should stop letting her have the keys...

Nila is 2

2009-09-01T22:52:00.002-04:00

From Nila's Second Birthday

Angie and I took Nila to the zoo today for her second birthday. Grandma Kay - the original Nila - met us there and we had a great day. The weather was beautiful and we beat the crowds by heading out early. Plus, Grandma Kay is a zoo insider, so we got to ride things for free!

After the zoo, we got ready for the Tuesday night birthday party. We knew a Tuesday night party would limit the guest list, but we all had a good time and it didn't push Nila past her limits (still in bed by 8!).

See more pictures below.

Boom Boom Pow

2009-08-15T15:51:00.001-04:00

Video of Nila

2009-07-24T20:57:00.001-04:00

Good to Go. Park.

2009-07-24T13:01:00.006-04:00

I got the following message from Angie while I am at work today:

So Nila just got her shoes on, gathered her Dora bag, and was standing at the kitchen gate. I asked what was up and she said "good to go park"

So, Angie's going to take her to the park.

Update: I got the following set of messages when they returned. It seems Nila didn't stay at the park too long.

She didn't even stay at the park for long... just long enough to touch everything and swing on the swing once.

Yeah. When we got back, she went to the table, ate some more of her lunch, then brought it to the coffee table, ate some more...then sat with me for half a minute to read that parenting magazine... I said something about her being sleepy, and she got up, got her purple blanket and laid down on the floor.

I had to literally pick her up to take her upstairs.

She is asleep.

Grandma Mo is Visiting

2009-07-12T09:32:00.002-04:00

Summer Is Here

2009-05-21T23:30:00.009-04:00

Nila had a big day today.

This morning, after we dropped Angie off at work, Nila and I went to the playground at the Park of Roses. There's a huge sand pit there and she had a great time. There's also a pond with ducks, geese and fish. I think she enjoyed yelling "duck" at the ducks and geese most of all.

For lunch, we pickes Angie up and went to North Bank park and ate outside. The weather was gorgeous today. She played in the fountains a bit which gave me an idea.

Before dinner, we went to Target and picked up a bathing suit for her. We had dinner at the park and let nila play in the fountains. The pictures below are from the post-dinner fun.

Easter 2009

2009-04-14T03:11:00.003-04:00

Nila in pigtails on Easter Eve

Nila in her Easter dress using a remote control as a phone.

Nila looking sassy in her new Easter glasses on Sunday evening.

Walk #1 2009

2009-03-23T15:56:00.002-04:00

Snacking at the library.

Today, Nila and I took the first of many walks for 2009. We walked to the closest Columbus library to return some books. It was fun and I think Nila enjoyed it too.

We stopped at the library for snacks before returning home. That's where the picture comes from.

Nila Celebrates New Roz

2009-03-19T19:16:00.003-04:00

Last year, Nila got all dolled up in her jilli kurdi for the holiday.

Today, she just put on a scarf and posed for pictures.

Jejni le new roz piroz beyt!

18 Month Check Up

2009-03-18T11:16:00.002-04:00

Nila went to the doctor this morning for a regular check up.

She weighs 22 pounds and is 33.5 inches long. She's perfectly normal and healthy.

And still beautiful.

This picture is about a week old, now, but she still looks like this. ;-)

Nila Eating Crayons

2009-02-20T12:41:00.006-05:00

Angie made this video and posted it on Facebook.

I love it.

The song is one we heard while watching satellite tv in Iraq. It's crazy, but it really fits the video.

EDIT: I'm putting the video on YouTube so I can post it here. It should be up by tomorrow.

Who Wants To See Nila Eat Lasagna?

2009-02-10T22:32:00.008-05:00

Nila 4 Change

2009-01-22T16:01:00.003-05:00

Nila's blog has also been a victim of the power cord drama, but she's back up and running.

You can expect more posts now that we're back up.

If you'd like your own Obama-style propaganda poster of yourself go to Obamicon.me.

Christmas Day 2008

2008-12-28T15:38:00.006-05:00

Here they are; the Christmas morning pictures.

There's no commentary because they are all of Nila and pretty self-explanatory.

Isn't she the cutest baby ever? Seriously.

Christmas Eve 2008

2008-12-28T14:58:00.007-05:00

I should acknowledge that the only pictures posted here are the ones that feature Nila.

There are a number of other spectacular Christmas Eve pictures that I will have to post somewhere else.

This year the Christmas Eve celebration was held at Aunt Vanessa's house. It was Nila's first American Christmas party. I think she enjoyed it.

This is Nila opening presents. She did not sit still for any of it. In fact, this is the only pictorial evidence.

Nila's favorite things: touching the computer and touching the cheesecake.

Nila with Aunt Brandi

Nila with Aunt Erin

Nila with Aunt Vanessa and a cookie.

Nila on the table. Dad in the background.

Nila with her cousins; Sam, Matt and Hannah

Nila wears down. (This is my favorite picture)

Nila changes to PJs. This is also the only picture of Nila with Aunt Kate.

Nila with Grandma Tammy.

The whole gang. And, no, I don't know why Erin and Vanessa look like that.
(back: Aunt Brandi, Hannah, Grandma Christy, Sam, Aunt Vanessa, Grandma Kay, Aunt Vanessa, Nila, Mom, Dad.
Front: April, Uncle Butch, Grandma Tammy, Matt hiding behind, and Aunt Kate)

Merry Christmas

2008-12-25T12:53:00.002-05:00

To tide you over.

Mom's Birthday

2008-12-23T08:30:00.003-05:00

Devan sent us a couple of pictures of Nila from Angie's Birthday last week.

We think Nila looks just like Aunt Brandi in this picture.

We think Nila acts just like Aunt Brandi in this picture.

Merry Christmas!

Nila and the Vacuum

2008-12-07T00:09:00.000-05:00

Nila Gets Down

2008-11-25T22:28:00.002-05:00

This is how Nila spends most of her evenings; dancing in the dining room.

She seems to really enjoy dancing but she enjoys the video camera even more. We can only tape her in secret. That's why the clip is short and she gives up dancing to run towards the camera.

I hope you enjy watching her dance as much as Angie and I do.

As Requested

2008-11-22T10:00:00.002-05:00

This is for anyone who woud like to ave the ful picture from the header.

Mostly Grandma Tammy.

Enjoy!

We're Behind Already

2008-11-20T19:37:00.001-05:00

34 days and counting, but we're already a day off!

It doesn't really matter, though, since she's so stinking cute.

A Gentle Reminder From Nila*

2008-11-17T10:28:00.003-05:00

Nila and I think the count is actually 37, but we couldn't make that number with our Santa.

Pictures From Aunt Vanessa

2008-11-05T22:44:00.002-05:00

Vanessa sent these pictures tonight and they're so cute, I had to post them!

Nila and Hannah have fun in the pool. I think this is from Hannah's birthday party in June.

Nila and Hannah have more fun in the pool. This is from Hannah's birthday party.

Nila with Dad, Grandma Kay and Grandma Tammy at Hannah's birthday party.

Sam, Hannah and Matt as Theodore, Simon and Alvin for Halloween.

Nila at the Park

2008-10-24T15:03:00.001-04:00

I'm cutting out the middleman and just posting the pictures.

Pictures From Nila's Birthday

2008-10-20T20:11:00.004-04:00

I can't figure out how to set my folder to public on photobucket, so here's a slideshow instead.

I could set every other folder to public except this one. Go figure.

Enjoy!

More From Nila's 1st Birthday

2008-10-19T14:14:00.001-04:00

Photobucket Album

Nila Laughing

2008-10-06T17:40:00.005-04:00

The three videos are of Nila laughing.

Turn the volume up and listen. The video quality is bad for two reasons; the lighting was low and we were trying to keep Nila distracted from the camera. When she sees the camera, she usually stops laughing.

Angie was playing with Nila's blocks. Angie'd stack them up and knock them down. Each time she or Nila knocked the tower down, Angie would say "Kaboom!"

Nila thought it was hilarious.

Nila and the Mirror

2008-09-23T20:17:00.002-04:00

Bath Time with Nila

2008-09-23T16:41:00.002-04:00

Breakfast With Nila

2008-09-23T13:36:00.001-04:00

Check back for bath time with Nila!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY!!

2008-08-31T22:57:00.002-04:00

Here are two quick videos from Nila's first birthday! We have some more coming, but still have to download the raw footage, blah, blah, blah... The quality is not GREAT (we'll figure out the settings on the camera this week, I'm sure!)...but you can definitely see from these videos that she IS the cutest girl in the world!

1st Birthday Party

2008-08-31T19:28:00.000-04:00

Details and .... VIDEO!

Coming soon!

Nila Walks

2008-08-28T14:30:00.002-04:00

Two days ago, Nila was sitting on the stair and Angie was sitting about 2 feet in front of her with her back turned. Nila walked from the stair to Angie and grabbed her back. Angie and I were very surprised, so we put her back on the stair and tried to recreate the event.

She did it twice more.

Yesterday, she did it some more. She walked from the table to the couch and from the stairs to one of us many times.

A couple of times, she tried to stand up from a crawling position. That didn't really work as well.

Today she continues to try and walk.

Yay Nila!

We'll try to get pictures or video soon.

Tooth #2 and Baby Steps

2008-08-17T09:38:00.002-04:00

I forgot to write about this, but Nila has her second tooth now. She is a cute little snaggletooth.
And, she has started taking small steps if she's getting down from her little chair or the steps. I can't truthfully say that she is walking, but she's definitely on her way. I will definitely let you know when she become an honest walker!

From the July Archive

2008-07-28T09:51:00.000-04:00

It's Been Awhile

2008-07-12T23:18:00.003-04:00

There isn't much new going on except that Angie and I are beginning to think about Nila's first birthday. It's just around the corner.

Here are a few pics.

My First Cold

2008-06-24T14:29:00.002-04:00

It's official. Nila has her first cold. With the sneezing, runny nose, coughing and loss of appetite, she's up more often at night and crankier than she would otherwise be.

In spite of all this, she still manages to be smiley and cute most of the day.

This picture was taken at about 2 am this morning. I took it because she looked too cute with her hair sticking up and her tongue stuck out.

Nila Goes Swimming

2008-06-23T01:02:00.003-04:00

These videos were taken on Saturday as Nila tried out her new bathing suit. On Sunday, she went to her first pool party for Hannah and Matthew's birthday party. We have pictures of that which are very cute.

Hannah sat in the pool with her and was a very good lifeguard. It was all very cute.

Get Down, Get Up

2008-06-21T14:26:00.002-04:00

Congratulations, It's a ... Tooth!

2008-06-10T23:20:00.003-04:00

Nila's first tooth poked through her little gums this afternoon. She's been working on this one for a while, so we're all happy it's finally here.

We'll have pictures as soon as it's actually out enough for such things. It's feelable, but barely visible.

For now, here are some pool pictures.

Nila seems to enjoy the pool

I think this is a cute picture

Post-Swim Mohawk

Nila Outside

2008-06-06T15:23:00.003-04:00

The weather was so nice yesterday that Nila spent some time outside on the patio.

Enjoy the pictures!

5 Things

2008-05-28T14:34:00.002-04:00

Nila looking serious

Here are five new thing's Nila's done this week:

Met her grandfather for the first time.
Waded in salt water
Visited West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia.
IKEA
Went to sleep in her crib in less than 10 minutes

Nila's a pretty busy girl.

Back to Work

2008-05-21T23:58:00.002-04:00

The Internet is back up and running here in Columbus, so Nila is hard at work planning blog updates.

you can expect something from her soon.

Nila! Say Cheese!

2008-05-04T03:53:00.000-04:00

Nila Standing

2008-05-04T03:28:00.000-04:00

She went bananas!

2008-04-23T10:24:00.004-04:00

Tuesday morning. 10AM. First time ever. Bananas.
For more pictures of the first time we fed Nila food, click here and look about halfway down the album.

A Round of Applause

2008-04-09T15:45:00.005-04:00

Today, Nila stood up.

If we hold her hands, she stand up all the time. She even dances around, but today she pulled herself to standing for the first time.

I was laying on the floor and she used my arm to pull herself up. For some time she just crawled up, raised her body off the ground and balanced on her toes at an angle.

Does that make any sense?

Here's a diagram. Nila is in pink. I am in black.

She did that a little bit. It wasn't standing, it was balancing on hands and toes. The above diagram is a little bit misleading as it would have you believe she was almost upright. She was not. The anlge was above 45 degrees, but not close to 90.

Eventually, though, she got up on her feet. That's right! Both feet solidly on the floor and an angle really close to 90 degrees!!

It was very exciting!

It should be noted that the photographs above are not of the event. They were taken two weeks ago. I posted them because they look like they could be of the event and because they're funny.

Nila Rides in the Car

2008-03-22T15:40:00.002-04:00

A Progression

Give Her A Hand

2008-02-20T02:53:00.005-05:00

You might be wondering what Nila is up to these days? Growing a gigantor left hand, apparently!

Seriously, she's all over the place! We have a rug we bought for her to safely roll around on (seperate from the carpet which is a little harder)...which worked for about a month. Now she rolls off of it, er, I should say magically appears off of it! because she is starting to crawl a little. Her crib is on the rug, and I don't think she has figured out that she can't manuever her way under it - so, when we're playing there, she scoots next to it and then whines when she can't get all the way under it. Weirdo.

And she has two boyfriends already. One American (canuvworms.blogspot.com) and one Kurdish - our translator. She does that thing where when they smile at her or look at her, she smiles back for a little while so huge...and then it's as if she is overcome with giddiness and can't take it anymore! and she hides herself in my chest! then she'll start the whole thing over again. It's cute. She does it with her dad too in the morning when she first wakes up if she can get him out of bed!

We continue to think she's teething, as we have since she was three weeks old. haha! But for real this time... If she ever really pops a tooth, I'm sure that all of our city will know about it! All the time when we go out, she chews her fingers or our fingers and I have to tell the Kurdish women in Kurdish, "her teeth" or I just point to them... or I tell them that "In America, babies eat their fingers and it's ok." Otherwise, they will grab her fingers out of her mouth, and if I'm not careful, shove their own boob in! HAHA! (First part happens all the time. Luckily, the second part hasn't happened to me, but did to a friend! I have had two grandmothers offer their breast to me in an effort to show me the "right" way to feed Nila or to try to just get me to feed her! So you can see why it's important to know how to tell them she's teething.)

Ah... good times. She's doing well, and all the time people tell us what a happy baby she is. Bob and I can't get over how cute she is. I know everyone must say that about their children, but we all know it's not true. Some kids are just ugly to start... She's not one of those! She's really cute - and has the personality to match.

Oh! and for those who are wondering - about two and a half weeks ago we had her weighed...at the grocery store on the veggie scale! It was great...people were taking pictures with their cell phones even. She tipped the scales at a hefty 12.5 pounds. That might not seem like much going into five months (at the time)... but considering she left the hospital at 4 lbs 10 oz - and she's supposed to triple her weight by six months - she's right on target it seems! We joked about a 15lb six month old, but...as long as she is healthy, I'll take her!

Oh, and Bob said in that last post that she is wearing 6-9 month clothes. She is wearing one piece of 6-9 month clothing. Other than that, she's wearing still her newborn stuff, or mostly she's wearing the 3-6 mos clothing that we brought with us. It's very difficult to find clothes here small enough. We haven't bought anything for her here that she can actully wear. I will place an order with Old Navy and Gap for some spring clothes this week. Have you seen any other cute clothes or sensible toys out there we should get? What do you do with a baby who is starting to crawl and get themselves around?

What's She Up To

2008-01-24T21:11:00.001-05:00

She's not up to much other than looking cute all the time. She rolled over tonight. I think Angie actually pulled her over, but Angie denies it.

She also seems to be getting big. At this point, we have no idea what she weighs, but she is wearing pajamas tonight that are sized for 6-9 months.

She's been standing up a lot, too. Of course, she has our assistance, but she can hold her weight and if I hold her hands, she can push up from sitting to standing on her own. She's a super baby.

2008

2008-01-02T16:09:00.000-05:00

Nila celebrated her first New Year's Eve by sending up some of those Chinese hot air balloons. She made it until midnight and then promptly went to bed.

On New Year's Day, she partied with her favorite scarecrow.

Nila's First Christmas

2007-12-27T03:17:00.000-05:00

Luckily for Nila, she won't remember this Christmas.

Not to say it was bad; it wasn't, but she didn't get to experience the traditions she would have been a part of at home.

Sure, we had a tree (we even put it up the second week of December just like Grandma Tammy would have), but our tree was artificial and a little on the Charlie Brown side. You can see a little bit of the tree in the picture above.

That's the office cook, by the way. Her name is Draxshan and she wanted a picture with Nila by whit is, I'm sure, the only Christmas tree she's seen up close. (Well, except for the foot-tall tree we keep in our office year round...)

We had a great Christmas Eve dinner (I made a turkey, but burned the cookies) like we would have back home, but without our wonderful family and we had a nice Christmas breakfast at a local hotel.

It was nice, but it wasn't home.

Lucky for us, Christmas comes every year!

TaDa indeed

2007-12-22T12:14:00.000-05:00

Early this week I put Nila down for a few minutes of tummy time, something she normally hates. This time though, she looked over at me and grinned... I should have known we were in for a crazy week.

The next day during some tummy time she lifted her head up on her arms and had a good ook around. The next morning she rolled from her back to her side. Later in the week, while on her tummy again, she pushed up on her arms again... then surprised us all and rolled over to her back!! I think (judging by the look on her face) that she was as surprised as we were!) Then this evening she proved that it wasn't a fluke and did it again! Good for her!

I told you she was getting bored...

Ladies and Gentleman!

2007-12-19T01:20:00.000-05:00

And, no sooner was I writing that last post, than Nila began waking slowing, passing gas (both normal occurances) and...

rolled over!

TaDa!!

You asked for it.

2007-12-19T01:07:00.001-05:00

Here are some pictures we took of Nila this week. The first is from an office Christmas party. I know it's small, but...at least it's something. She had a good time, but I think it was a little much. There were a lot of people there and by the end of the evening I think she was really tired.

The second picture, well...I think it's one of her best. I snapped it the other day to show you how she's been grubbing on her fingers lately! Even now as I type this, she's fallen half asleep with them in her mouth. Who needs a pacifier when you have fingers? No, we're not worried she's going to have a malformed palette or anything like that. It's normal. And, see the ceiling fan - she LOVES ceiling fans! She just stares at them and laughs! I think it's like a mobile to her.

Which brings up a point. The toys here are kind of not "approved by the American Pediatric Academy..." if you know what I mean. If any of you "Nila" readers out there are going to send packages in January, would you pop in some 4 month/5 month old appropriate toys for Nila? I think she might be bored. I mean, she DOES look pretty thrilled in that picture, playing with the fan and all, doesn't she?! But... some variety now and then would be good! hahaha...

ps. we have a really good picture of Nila with our cook that we'll post soon, I promise...Peace!

Not Nila, but...

2007-12-13T17:03:00.000-05:00

...hilarious

From a Kurdish Photographer

2007-12-06T14:39:00.000-05:00

From the IQ with Love

2007-12-04T14:38:00.001-05:00

From Nicole to Nicole

2007-11-30T13:37:00.000-05:00

Hi Aunt Brandi...

Just wanted to let you know I was thinking about you and that I miss you. I hope you're having a good time with all of your friends at home without me there to hang out with. One of our friends here got me this cool butt shaking seat toy thing - I kind of love it - it has a blue elephant that hangs down from this bar at the top and I can even touch the elephant now and grab it sometimes! You would be so impressed, I'm sure. Mom and I were chilling out under the covers the other morning (literally) and she told me that she kind of misses you. She showed our friends here the picture of you two "moons" and they said it was a very good picture. I think that you would like it here (for a few days). Let me know if you're going to come visit and I'll find a blankie for you!

Love,

Nila

Nila in Dubai

2007-11-24T05:19:00.000-05:00

Here are some pics we took in Dubai. I know it's a few weeks ago, but they're pretty cute, nonetheless.

Slow pics,

2007-11-23T12:19:00.000-05:00

I tried to post these pics here but blogger was too slow because the pictures too big. SO click here and scroll to the bottom for a five recent pics of the star of this show. These were taken on the way into Iraq. She's still so cute, right!? More coming very soon of her on Thanksgiving Day in her cute Thanksgiving dress (the brown courdoroy one!)...

Alive and Well

2007-11-20T04:35:00.000-05:00

I know we haven't updated this blog for awhile, but Nila is doing very well. She seems to be very happy.

She's started cooing and chatting which is very funny.

We bought her a kangaroo -style baby carrier thing at the Chicco store in the bazaar and I carried her all around town. Everyone stared at us. Hard.

i wonder if they would be surprised to learn that we bought the contraption in their very own bazaar?

Sorry

2007-11-14T02:25:00.001-05:00

I am sorry for the dearth of posts here, but I promise more news as we settle in!

Nila is doing well. She's healthy and happy. She's been pretty smiley over the last few days - and it isn't gas.

Halloween

2007-11-01T02:13:00.000-04:00

The Many Faces of Nila

2007-10-30T01:58:00.000-04:00

See more here.

I wanted to post more here, but I had technical difficulties...

Circa 1965

2007-10-26T11:11:00.000-04:00

These are the pictures that were taken when we applied for Nila's passport. The one above was clearly unusable, but we like it for its artistic value.

The pics below make it look like our baby is an immigrant. They look like we all snuck over the border and got arrested, but, before they deported us, they took our pictures. They took our pictures in 1965.

So, those were the rejects. This one was the one we put on the passport. Doesn't she look great?

California Girl

2007-10-23T16:06:00.000-04:00

The Fans Demanded It

2007-10-14T23:27:00.000-04:00

(this first photo was taken in celebration of the fact that Nila had outgrown this outfit. She's not too chubby for it, of course, but too long). Now that I look at it, she doesn't seem to be celebrating it, but we were.

Popular in California

2007-10-10T15:46:00.000-04:00

Nila is having a pretty great time in California. Here are just two reasons why:

1) Angie and I have discovered that Nila loves to sleep on our chests, but that's hard to accommodate when we're trying to, you know, do pretty much anything, so Angie started wrapping her in a sling-like thing and I have started just zipping her up in my jacket. She's there right now like a little kangaroo.

2) She makes friends everywhere. See Angie's blog for more detail, but old ladies just adore Nila!

We promise pictures at some point. Stay strong.

I'm Ready For My Close Up!

2007-09-27T16:26:00.000-04:00

The starlets in Hollywood ain't got nothin' on this girl! (or the comedians on the strip for that matter!) This afternoon, she stuck out her tongue and said, "PHLHBBBB!!!!" to Bob, I kid you not! Nila doens't really "play" on this mat yet, but I thought I'd let her lay on it and just look around at the shapes and animals on it. She did for a few minutes and seemed to like it...and then seemed freaked out by the entire experience. In the first picture, I think she has Bob's nose, don't you? And, I had to fix the red eye in that picture, so if you think she looks a little possessed, she's not! It's just some poor photoshopping on my part! Enjoy!

Best Pictures Ever!

2007-09-26T16:02:00.000-04:00

Nila is Sleepy

2007-09-25T19:47:00.000-04:00

Angie has been taking phone videos again, but I have to be honest that this is the only "good" one.

We took one earlier of Nila doing some crunches, but, when Angie came over with the phone cam, I assumed it was for a picture instead of a video. So that was just a video of Nila silently sleeping without motion or action.

At least she's yawning in this one.

We Have a Winner

2007-09-23T18:31:00.000-04:00

In the most recent everybodylovesnila poll, Aunt Brandi was selected as the person on whom you'd most like Nila to poop. 60% of all voters chose her. No one else was even close.

We've passed those results on to Nila, so we all hope she'll take your suggestion and "runs" with it.

There's no poll this week, but I'll let you know when a new one pops up.