Backyard Farrming

Against my own will, I am posting this. We have a garden/farm area in our backyard...yay? I guess I secretly like the idea of this garden but am so irked by the obsession that it has become for my husband.  He spends every waking moment worrying about it like its a third child..its the first place he goes after work and every other waking hour any other time he doesn't feel like he should be doing anything in the house. We have always wanted to do projects like this grow stuff with Arielle, I think it was secretly one of the activities we both looked forward to when she was born..a time when she could be proud to tend to/take care of something thats living and growing and be able to see the results over time. So here it is and its actually blooming..

Of course he had to turn it into a real project with two tiers and a sitting bench but it turned out pretty nice. We have undesirable soil so he also bought tons of soil and basically created a raised bed to plant all these vegetables. Arielle picked out all the things she wanted to plant and they basically lined them up and put them in the ground. We have had quite a few rainy weeks so far so I guess that accounts for the growth we've had but I assume when it gets really hot and dry this will require some watering.

Memorial Day Weekend// Howe Caverns

It rained for several days last week and into the weekend so once we realized our hopes of beach bumming were gone we decided to go underground...in Albany! After some good food and some rest..we headed to Howe Caverns to let off some steam..we had warm fudge, cinnamon coated almonds and some sugar straws for Arie. A boat ride and some walking and we were good..Staycation!

Sweet Little

Stop in and see us! Thanks for your support. You can read about where this began here.

10 Months Old

Evalie..I don't know how to even describe you in a words. You are the funniest little person I've ever had the pleasure to meet. You have developed such a great sense of humor and love to smile at all times. I look at you and smile and you return it so gracefully. You give your light like morning...You are happy, you are still working on your walking, you take about five or six steps before you revert to crawling, probably because it helps you move as fast as your sister does. To my amazement, the two of you play like there isn't three and a half years between you. You are two peas in a pod! You guys bathe together, eat breakfast together, your cuddle each other ( when you let her) and I'm sure a lot more when I'm at work. 

You've got so more teeth coming out, now maybe about 51/2 teeeth. You've been eating more solids than drinking milk..partially because we were forced to ween and transition to formula last week. Luckily, you have absolutely no problems with it. whew! You like quinoa, ground turkey, you recently tried turnips which went over very well. Your hair has grown a bit more but its still slightly to short for a real pony tail. Its getting a bit tougher to photograph you because you are always moving, laughing..etc. You do the funniest dance when a song you like comes on..it looks like you might take off because of how hard you fla your arms. I love you smile, your big eyes get squinty like half moons, and your cheeks    become even more pronounced..it the easiest way to lift my spirits.  

Although you had an ear infection last week, you are doing well. You are still in the 75th percentile for weight and 90th for height. You really don't like the doctors office ( you cried through the entire visit from the moment Dr. Dietzich walked in the door!) I look forward to your next month and I love you beyond words...but you already know that.

Nigeria Trip // Day 9-Lagos Easter

We spent a lovely day in Ikoyi with my cousin and his family starting with Easter brunch at the Wheatbaker hotel. The brunch spread was quite extensive with continental cuisine on one side of the dining room and a buffet of Nigeria food on the other side. I have never seen two kids so excited to see salad, olives, cured meats and such. I guess 8 days of Nigeria food was their limit! The hotel itself was beautifully decorated, nicely kept and the service was on par with the nicer places in New York. Certainly it had to be because it plays host to mostly Nigerian elite and foreign nationals. The funny thing is its owned partially by someone we referred to as uncle, growing up, he was a family friend or a friend of my father..funny how times have changed and how life has changed since moving to New York. I sometime still wonder if moving to New York was a good move for our family, I feel like things could have turned out differently if we had stayed in Nigeria but no use in dreaming about the past right.

I sat at the kids table while the others all sat at a table adjacent to us. I think I was getting to be a bit overwhelmed by the trip myself. I hadn't spent this much time in such close quarters with everyone in a while. Mom had left early that morning and was on her way back to New York so it was really just me, my three sisters and our husbands and kids...oh and my cousin, DT.

Sim invited us back to his house for some chit chatting and several bottles of champagne which consisted of catching up on life and my aunt telling us to keep having kids before it was too late. She the best, she tells it like it is and doesn't hold back her thoughts. The kids played, his kids had never met us in fact I hadn't seen him since he moved back to Lagos after grad school. It was nice to finally meet his wife and kids. Its never enough time but we take what we can get. We spent so much time together growing up that it never seems like we've been away for so long.

I was intrigued that its a normal occurrence to perpetually have several bottles of chilled champagne in your refrigerator in Nigeria. This is proof for why Nigerians are said to consume the most champagne in the world..well I can understand that. 

Nigeria Trip // Day 8-Lagos grandma's party

The main reason we all hauled ourselves over to Nigeria in the first place was for my grandmothers 90th birthday celebration. We had all agreed years ago that we would all go home to visit for it so when it arrived we got ready and went home. It was a surprise for my grandmother and really nice for us all to spend a concentrated 10 days together seeing as we live so far away from each other and only get together every so often fro weddings or graduations. 

Grandma's birthday party started out a bit slow for us because we had partied a little too hard the night before, not going to sleep until after 2:30am and having to be up and dressed by 8:30am. I realized when my alarm went off at 7:30am that I am no longer the spry youngster who could stay up late and get up looking and feeling great. I felt like I had been through a storm so I went back to sleep. I heard a sound and opened my eyes to my mother standing over me fully dressed telling me she was leaving without us! I jumped up and started trying to scramble myself and my daughters together but it just wasn't happening. Mom eventually left with my husband, cousin and nieces but myself and my three sisters were still trying to get ready. When the driver returned to get us, we rushed out knowing we were late but hoping everyone else was on Nigerian time (to be fairly tardy is customary and expected) as well. We arrived 45 minutes after scheduled time for the start of the service and walked in with our heads down but others came after us as well. 

There was prayer, blessings, singing, communion and rejoicing for grandma and this was only the beggining. When the service ended, we served lunch, the traditional party food of Nigeria, Jollof rice and chicken. I went into the back to change and feed Evalie and suddenly heard this loud music, we glanced out the window there were a troop of Abang dancers performing vigourously. The colorful outfits, drumming and cowbells filled the courtyard of my aunts house and soon enough everyone poured outside to join in. My grandmother was brought out in her wheelchair to see the traditional efik dancers and you couldn't capture the joy she had, you had to be there. Even though her eyesight is failing and she cannot walk very well, she was able to dance in place and she smiled for the first time in a while, she was very happy surrounded by her kids and their kids and the kids. Honestly it was over 100 degrees outside but we just couldn't go in. We stayed out and danced, the kids danced too. It was absolutely amazing. 

The crowd was filled with family and friends, many generations of the family all at once together celebrating the woman without which we wouldn't exist. 

When we finally tired out, we went in and took a break to cool off. My mom and aunt changed grandma and the little girls. Once everyone was changed, we headed to the Pattaya Restaurant for the dinner party. The place was nicely decorated and very quickly filled up with people from grandma's church, friends of the family, a lot of us and then grandma arrived and the party began.

The restaurant was located in Victoria Island so as usual we got all cool and refreshed but then sweaty in the car ride over because for some reason the cars can't handle the heat in Lagos. The Pattaya venue was air-conditioned so we got some relief as soon as we got in. Evalie was miserable by this time, she just didn't like the heat one bit.