Kaniz & Abbas +2

As most of you probably know, I've done my share of work-related traveling over the last few years. Fortunately, as soon as Samarah was born, my work travel stopped (for a couple of reasons which I won't go into).  So the past 9 months have been great because I've been able to stay home and spend lots of time with Samarah. On the other hand, I'm running out of travel miles (no 'free' plane tickets) and losing my airline & hotel status (no airport lounge access, no room upgrades).. it's a small price to pay for what I get in return, but I think Kaniz secretly wants me to travel some more to keep the perks! Anyway, that is a long, roundabout way of telling you that I had to spend a whole week in California earlier this month without Samarah (& Kaniz). It was really tough being away from home, especially because Samarah decided to get the stomach flu midweek (soon followed by her mommy). Thank goodness for cellphones, e-mail, Skype & Blackberry Mess...

Samarah's been busy as ever.. and she keeps getting cuter and cuter (as you'll see in the pictures)! A few highlights from this set: Attending her first birthday party - her friend Justin turned 1. Samarah and Justin are going to be daycare buddies! Meeting Baby Emily - congrats Hiro & Inthida! She's gorgeous. Eating, eating and more eating.  Enjoy the pictures! And make sure to leave comments, so we know you want more pictures! ;)

Hello again faithful readers. Sorry to have kept you waiting for almost two weeks for new pictures! Samarah has had a busy few weeks with teething, crawling and standing seasons in full swing, not to mention a full social calendar. Unfortunately, I haven't been as diligent lately about bringing the camera along on our outings or taking pictures at home, so this latest set of pictures is fairly light. On another note, it turns out that between the California trip and Samarah's teething, the poor girl's schedule has become a complete mess. Before the trip, she was sleeping consistently for 10-12 hour stretches at night, which really spoiled Kaniz and I. Then, for the entire month of November, Samarah was up every 2-4 hours at night! To top things off, Samarah also got her first cold and even a bit of laryngitis. But before you start worrying, don't fret! Our little princess has recovered fully - she's over her cold, her voice sounds as sweet as ever and even her sleep...