Kaniz & Abbas +2

Ok, so I feel like I'm cheating a little bit here by posting six months worth of pictures at once, but this is the only way I have a remote chance of catching up. As you can see from the pictures, the Rizvi family definitely had a busy few months.. between birthdays, engagement parties, anniversaries, and family outings, we kept a full social calendar. Also, as you can tell from the picture above, Samarah and Syra are really starting to play well together. Ok, maybe 'well' isn't the right word, but they do have their moments. Syra definitely has a more forceful personality, which effectively neutralizes the size advantage Samarah has. I'm sure the fighting will only escalate as they get older. Stay tuned. In the meantime, enjoy the pictures from Jan-June, 2011!

It's been a fun 326 days, so I figure it's time to get back on the blogging wagon. Man, if I had a dollar for every time I got grief about not updating the blog, I'd have enough to buy Samarah her own iPad (ok ok, maybe an iPod Touch)! Obviously, I've got some pretty serious catching up to do. Over the next couple of weeks, I'll try to post some of our photos from the last 10 months.. so without further ado, here is the first installment: September - December 2010 . Enjoy!

It's been a busy couple of months in the Rizvi household. Don't believe me? Well, here are a few highlights from August and the first week of September: Plenty of post-move issues (dealing with the builder, trying to get a Rogers tech to actually show up on time, unpacking the remaining boxes, etc.). All in all, fairly typical for moving into a new home, but having both girls home full-time added a bit of extra challenge. Two weekends with out-of-town visitors . We had a ton of fun with our guests - especially with Baby Tess meeting Samarah and Syra (just check the pictures). Having to deal with our refrigerator breaking down after 6 weeks. Let me tell you, that is one appliance you cannot do without. It was an interesting week to say the least, but we did get to live like Europeans and buy fresh groceries every day. An out-of-town wedding (congrats Julia and Shane!) Kicking the afternoon nap.. and I know what some of you are thinking, but no, it wasn't me trying to for...

So just as I caught up on the blog, I fell way behind again.. but this time, I think I have a pretty good excuse. Kaniz, Samarah, Syra and I finally moved into our brand new home last month.. which meant a lot of packing up before hand, and what felt like a lot more unpacking afterwards. A little over three weeks after the move, we're pretty much out of boxes (there are a couple of stragglers), but the place still has a 'just moved in' look. All the work has been worth it though - the place is fantastic, and Samarah & Syra are loving all the extra space. We finally have a place for Samarah to set up her little tent and tunnel.. and I'm sure once Syra starts to crawl, she'll be tiring herself out going from one end of the house to the other. I'll have to post some pictures soon (which means I'll need to take them first). To be completely honest, I haven't actually taken a lot of photos over the past 2 months, but now that things are slowing down (a li...

Well, the weeks seem to be flying by and most days are a blur. Good thing we've got some documentation of everything we've been doing. Needless to say, it's been another eventful couple of weeks (and we've got the pictures to prove it). A few highlights: My youngest brother, Zain, got married last month - yes, that officially makes me feel old. Here's a big Rizvi welcome to Samarah and Syra's newest aunt, Aliza. Congrats you guys! My cousin Amber from California came to visit. It was great to see her, even though the visit was quite brief. It's baby shower season! Pratiksha and Rahul had not one, but TWO baby showers. Talk about loot! Baby Mehra is due in July. Baby Shower #3 was for our good friends Janet and Clement. Let me tell you, they had quite the collection of cupcakes! Baby Ma is also due in July. July will be a busy month for babies, apparently. So aside from attending wedding ceremonies and baby showers, we've been spending a lot more time out...

Do you have 20 extra minutes in your day that you don't know what to do with? Yes? Well, you're in luck! That's probably how long it'll take you to flip through this week's photos! Ok, so the photos aren't exactly from this week, but we're getting pretty close to being caught up (we're up to late May!). I hate to jinx it, but I feel like we're starting to get things under control (I know Kaniz would say the exact opposite). Anyway, as you'd expect, Syra and Samarah continue to amaze us. Syra's learned a bunch of new tricks over the past month, including rolling over, sitting comfortably in the Bumbo, drooling like a champ, doing mini pushups, and even crawling a bit. Ok, so maybe not exactly crawling, but if you put your hands against her feet, she can definitely push herself forward. Even though our little baby is growing up so fast, she still has some very delicious baby features, including more rolls than a bakery! Samarah is no slacker ei...