I was in a picture-taking mood today; too bad Kareena wasn’t in much of a smiling mood. Despite that, I got a really pretty shot of Kareena just hanging out on a chair in the lanai. I edited it a bit – added some vignetting – and voila!
My favorite pic of KSK so far
Not even a bloody nose can get him down
Alisha & Jacob were playing in the backyard with some of the neighborhood kids when Alisha runs inside the house – “Jacob has a bloody nose!” This picture describes what I saw – not exactly BLOODY, but yes there was blood. Apparently he was on the ground and some other kids piled on top of him and his nose banged into something. No biggie, but I still had to document it 
Baby Matthew, Kareena baby & Jacob - Christmas Eve 2011
It was a busy weekend. Although my parents were celebrating their first Christmas here in Florida, it was a Christmas-in-Tampa year so we drove up there to spend the weekend with the in-laws. It was a quick visit, though – got there on Christmas Eve and left after dinner on Christmas day because Alisha had soccer camp on Monday.
On our way to Tampa, we stopped by Horse Creek to pick up Alisha & Jacob and allow the kids to open up their presents. Jim & Tami were already there spending Matthew’s 1st Christmas with my parents. Then we trekked over to the in-laws, did some last-minute grocery shopping for a turkey Christmas dinner and then I wrapped presents for a couple of hours.
Christmas Day began with the kids wide-eyed at (what seemed like) the crack of dawn. Of course they wanted to open presents before church – so we let them – and they were thrilled with all their goodies. Okay, Kareena didn’t know what was going on but she enjoyed the gift wrap So, after present-opening we went to church, then lunch at church – which has yet to live up to my expectations – and then a delicious turkey dinner. Even though Sanjay made the turkey it wasn’t quite as good as Thanksgiving at our house. I guess it needed some Fort Myers flavor
Jacob loves rough-housing with his Daddy
Every year I wonder if it will be the last year Alisha continues to believe in Ol’ Saint Nick. I really feel like this year may be IT, but who knows. She’s already mentioned that most of her classmates no longer believe in Santa Claus. I’ve told her that as long as kids believe, he’ll keep bringing them presents, but once they stop believing then the parents take over. I think that’s a decent explanation but seriously, the older she gets the more work it is to keep her belief alive. I sometimes wonder, why bother trying to keep up the charade, but then again, she’ll figure it out soon enough. What can I say, I just don’t want my little girl to grow up!
Kareena's 1st Christmas photo shoot!
I really thought I’d be able to put out a Christmas photo greeting card this year, but it’s just not happening. Trying to take decent pictures of 3 kids is really stressful so I decided to take the year off.
Merry Christmas! Love, AMK
With that said, I actually took some cute pics of the kids – not as a group, just individual shots – which I’d actually consider photo-card worthy. Too late to mail cards, but I might as well post
Merry Christmas! Love, JTK
Kareena's 1st pic with Santa
Today the Kurian family headed over to Bass Pro for our annual visit to Santa! This year we learned our lesson and decided NOT to wait until the week before Christmas to visit St. Nick. And it worked out great. We waited in line for maybe 15 minutes and then it was our turn. No rush! Afterwards, we got a “kids eat free” coupon to use at Islamorada (the restaurant at Bass Pro) so we even knocked out dinner before we headed back home.
Looking back, I probably should have had Kareena take a solo pic with Santa instead of just a group pic, but it’s too late now! You get what you get and you don’t have a fit
Guess who has her 1st ear infection?? Kareena went to the doctor today for her 6 month physical and that’s when we got the diagnosis. Interestingly enough, when we went to their office last week for Kareena’s sick visit, the doctor we met with – not our usual doc – said her ears looked fine. Believe me when I say I will never be making an appointment with that guy again! Fortunately – just to cover all the bases, I guess – last week’s doctor gave us a prescription for Amoxicillin.
So, here are her measurements and percentile ranks:
Height: 27 inches = 85%
Weight 15.4 lbs = 28%
Head circumference: 17 inches = 66%
Anyway the doctor said not to worry about Kareena not sleeping through the night yet. She said we should wait ’til Kareena gets past this ear infection, then we should try giving her some real, PEOPLE food for dinner to help her sleep through the night. I dunno…guess we can try it and see if it works.
Guess who slaved away all morning in the kitchen?
Happy Thanksgiving! Although this year was one of our smaller holiday gatherings, we still had a good time. My MIL had to work so our turkey day guests consisted of Jim & Tami along with Tami’s sister and BIL. It goes without saying that Sanjay’s turkey was delicious As usual he cooked everything from the turkey to the trimmings, including an apple pie!! I just wish we’d had more people to enjoy it all.
Sanjay made his special punch too!
It’s amazing how much energy people muster up for shopping in the middle of the night. I think we were out and about for 2 hours, but I was yawning for at least the last hour. Back in my college days, staying up until the wee hours would have been a piece of cake. At the age of 33 with 3 kids at home, that is no longer the case!
A sleeping Matthew on his baptism day
This weekend we all flew to New York to attend baby Matthew’s baptism. He surprised us all by 1 – sleeping through the first half of the service and 2 – NOT shriek-crying like he tends to do when he gets really upset. Way to go, MTO.
Kareena behaved relatively well on the plane. An ideal flight would be if she’d slept the entire time but quiet is good too During our visit she got to meet an assortment of aunties, uncles, cousins and friends. I could tell she was out of sorts because she wasn’t eating as much as she should have. At 6 months, most infants average 6 oz per feeding. Kareena’s not a big eater to begin with but she wasn’t even averaging 4 oz feedings, poor kid. If this continues, we may be paying a visit to the pediatrician very soon.
My parents with all 4 of their grandchildren
Trick or Treat!
It was a warm and BUGGY night – but that’s what Halloweens are usually like in SW Florida. You gotta carry bug spray to ward off the mosquitos. Very different from Halloween in New York, where it’s usually chilly this time of year.
Yesterday, Kareena celebrated her first Halloween. Of course, all she had to do was sit in her stroller and behave, but she did that well Kareena didn’t wear a costume but big sis Alisha was a friendly witch (again) and Jacob was a skeleton. Jacob finally understands what Halloween is all about – CANDY – and enjoyed going from house to house collecting treats. The only problem was, once his bag started getting heavy, he would drag it on the ground which meant I had to secretly move handfuls into another bag. He’s not at an age where he’s willing to negotiate, s0 we just have to go with the flow.
Anyway, the kids got a ton of candy, but Alisha will probably give most of it away since she never eats all of her Halloween goodies. The only candy I usually pick out of her bag are Reese’s Cups. Yum…
Jacob the not-so-scary skeleton!
I just love Kareena's expression in this pic!
I wanted Kareena’s ears pierced before Christmas so I made that happen – today! With Alisha we waited until 11 months, but felt it was a little on the late side since she was old enough to be anxious (and squirmy) during the process. I told myself if I were ever to have another girl, I’d get her ears pierced by 9 months. This time we had her ears pierced at the pediatrician’s office. It cost 39 bucks but that’s what you pay to have an MD do the job!