Christmas 2009

It's been too long since we posted anything on the blog. Here are some pictures from the Christmas season.

Halloween

For Halloween we went to the annual (our 3rd) Halloween party at the Pickren's cul-de-sac. It is always a fun time as there is over 20 kids and their folks there. This year was very cold and wet because it has been raining the whole day. Inspite of the weather kids had a great time. You could not even see their costumes from the winter jackets they had to put on in order not to freeze, but they had fun. Emma did really well with walking the hills of the Georgetown neighborhood and trick or treat-ing. She was amazed at everyone giving her candy. She did not even eat that much of it but she crashed as soon as we came home. It was just so much fun for us to observe Emma as she learns and is amazed at all this new stuff she is experiencing. Nora was out at the party but when trick or treat started she and baka duka went inside the warm Pickren home.

Burt's Farm Pumpkin Patch

Last weekend we went to a pumpkin patch with our friends Josh, Laura, Elliot, and Charlotte. It was a blast. Here are some pics:

Emma and Payne

This past weekend our friends Patty and Oliver took their twin boys for a surprise trip to Disneyworld and they left Payne their 3 and a half year old here in atlanta. We had the pleasure to hang out with Payne for almost 2 days. He stayed with us Friday and Saturday. You may wonder where he slept so let me answer at the beginning-we have an air matress and he slept on it with Chris and I in our bedroom. He and Emma had a blast jumping on the matress and also just playing together. Emma has a new hero and keeps talking about payne still. She wanted to do everything he did and also wanted to show him everything. Saturday we went to a Atlanta Parent magazine Block Party at Mercer University. That was tons of fun for the kids. They were exhausted and almost both fell asleep in the car ride back home. Nora also did awesome, walking around with baka duka. Baka enjoyed seeing different people and promotional boots. We got to play Mommy wheel of fortune (kolo srece) and even got some prizes:) All in all we had a great time having Payne stay with our family and thanks Patty and Oliver for trusting us to leave your precious little boy with us!

Emma and Nora hanging out

Emma likes showing Nora how the toys work.


Emma telling Nora what's up.

Nora's Baptism

September 20th we baptised Nora at our church-Church of the Redeemer. We do this to acknowledge Nora's need for Christ in her life. We hope and pray that one day she will come to know Jesus as her Savior. By baptising her we were dedicating her to God. he sure did create her very cute and beautiful (if you do not believe me just look at the pics).
After the baptism we had lunch at our house with grandparents and Godparents. Our dear friends Rich & Eleanor are Nora's Godparents (krsni kumovi). They have 3 kids and they youngest one David is Emma's age and her best buddy (as Emma would say).


Baptised by pastor Ewan and granpa is assisting

With Mama & Daddy

Smiley Face

With Eleanor-Nora's Kuma (Godmother)

Emma teaching Luke some moves!

Our friends Jimmy & Julie came for a short visit from South Carolina. Their little boy Luke is almost exactly one year younger then Emma (1yr 3days). Emma was so excited to see Luke that she was dancing and running around the house. And Luke picked up a few dance moves!

Emma showing Nora how it's done!

More UGA Fun!!

As you can see, we all had a lot of fun being in our gameday gear.

Nora was cracking up in this one.



Emma loves her little sister


Here Emma is teaching Nora to say "Goooooooo dogs, sick um, woof woof woof....."

Go Dawgs!!!!

This weekend Nora was introduced to Georgia Bulldog football. Although it was a horrible game, Nora looked so cute in her little UGA outfit. GO DAWGS!!!

August Collage

Here are some pictures we took through the month of August. Aunt Ruth came to visit so that was fun. We still had our good friends Domi & Bibi and Lara & Hana with us so Emma enjoyed having fun with good friends. Nora has grown a lot and i can't believe she will be 2 months tomorrow. she is smiling and talking to us now every day. Emma just has fun and every day is a new adventure for her. Enjoy!

Emma's First Hair Cut

A few weeks ago Andreja took Emma for her first haircut. IT was getting a little out of control. Here's the result:

BEFORE


AFTER




Now Andreja and Emma look like twins:)

Emma's Belated Birthday Party!

Since Nora decided to join us a day before her sister's 2nd birthday, we had to postpone Emma's party for a couple of weeks. When it finally came Emma was very excited. She was singing happy Birthday song to herself days before and after the party. Chris and I joint our efforts and made her Curious George cake. That is her favorite TV show:) She had fun with her friends and enjoyed all the gifts that she has received before, on and after the party. Thanks to all our friends for awesome gifts that Emma received. She has truly been enjoying all of them and will probably for a long time. It is fun to see her excited and using her imagination.
Here are some pics from the party and with some of her gifts.

Are they related?!

NORA


EMMA

Nora's First Month

Here are some pictures from Nora's first month of life. Enjoy!!!

Here I am at last!

Many of you are probably wondering how am I (Andreja) doing and are waiting for the blog update. So here i am going to try to be "short" and fast. Both girls are sleeping and I am not sure how much time i really do have. And laying on the couch sounds much more attractive at this point then writing an update-sorrry:(

I can't believe that it has been 4 weeks since i had Nora. She will eb 4 weeks old tomorrow and one month old this coming sunday. She has been through so much already in her short life. This week feels like the first normal week since she has been born. Having to go back to the hospital threw us all back a bit. It was like we have finally started figuring things out and then the fever came and we were back at square one. The third week was the most challenging for me. Nora had screaming episodes in the afternoons and evenings for a few days and we were not even sure what is going on. Right when we were going to diagnose her as a colic that stopped. Then she did not want to sleep too much during the day as much as she should. But life is getting more normal. We believe all this has been caused by her body still reacting to the medicines and treatment she had while in the hospital. She finally seems to be cleared of all that from her body. I am so glad to have my 83 year old neighbor who has rescued me on a few ocassions last week when i thought i will go crazy trying to soothe a crying baby and also tend to Emma's needs.

In the last month i have said many times that i wish i am in Croatia, or that my mom is here. The overwhelming task that was ahead of me seemed to be too much for my exhausted body to handle. I simply felt like i can't do it. I only have 2 hands- most of the time they are not free. Eventhough my community has come through big time through meals and visits, it still felt lonely at times. I would spend good bit of my time on the phone with mom, trying to keep sane and ahve a good perspective.

I am getting used to the task of being a mom of a toddler and a baby. some days are better then others but i learned that not only do i need God to sustain me each day but each hour. I never know what will happen. I started enjoying spending time with my baby. She is so precious; And has already grew so much. I know time will go by so fast. I mean she is already almost a month. I go back to work in 2-3 weeks. Crazy. So it is good. Life is in a surviving mode but it is good. Chris and i are figuring these things out. And i love that i have Chris. He has been such a help in so many ways to me. he knows me, he knows what pushes my buttons and he knows how to help.

Anyway, i hope to keep this updated more often. I am excited to see this new baby grow and what she will be like. I LOVE watching emma and how proud and excited she is about her sister.

Giving us a scare

Last Saturday night, Nora gave us a scare when she came down with a high fever. We rushed her to the Emergency Room, where they did a number of tests to try to determine if she had some type of bacterial infection. Because Nora was only eight days old when we brought her in, the doctors wanted to keep her in the hospital for 48 hours, until certain test results came back. Nora's fever was gone by Sunday afternoon. As a result of the antibiotics that she was given, she had a lot of stomach pain and did not sleep or eat well on Monday or on Tuesday, when we returned home. It ended up that Nora had some type of virus.

We are thankful for all the people who were praying for us. We saw and felt God's influence on this situation, as He gave us strength and energy throughout an exhausting few days. We were also blessed with wonderful nurses throughout our stay at Scottish Rite. Thanks also to my parents, who were a great help with Emma as I was going back and forth from the home to the hospital.

Coming Home

Emma was sooooo excited when we took Nora home from the hospital. When I put Nora and her car seat down in the living room, Emma and I had a short dialog that went something like this:

Emma: "Nora, get up walk around!"

Chris: "Nora can't walk yet."

Emma: "Nora, play with Emma's toys!"

Chris: "Nora cannot play with your toys yet."

Emma (in a sad, crying voice, with tears running down her face): "Nora, walk around, play with Emma's toys."

One Emma realized that Nora could not walk around or play with her toys, she was okay with it and was satisfied to touch Nora, give her hugs and kisses, and show her all of Emma's toys.

Here are some pics of Nora at home when she was two days old.




Emma loves talking to Nora and here she is telling Nora what different animals say.


Emma loves to "carry" Nora.

Nora's Birth Story

Andreja had a doctor's appointment scheduled for Friday (June 26, 2009) and during her appointment she was told that she was already 5 cm dilated and had to go straight to the hospital. If she had gone home and her water had broken, then she probably would not have made it too the hospital. I (Chris) was all for having the baby in the hospital, not at our house:) As Andreja headed to the hospital she called me and I left work immediately. I didn't want to miss Nora's arrival into the world. I got to the hospital around 10am and Andreja was already in the delivery room. Because he water had not broken, Dr. Angus (the doctor who was on call) decided to wait to break her water until he could deliver a couple more babies. He ended up delivering six babies on Friday. No wonder Northside Hospital is known as a baby factory:) Dr. Angus was actually on call when Andreja went into labor with Emma, but since the epidural slowed down Emma's arrival, he headed home before Emma was born. Andreja and I enjoyed some Wimbledon while we waited for her water to be broken. Dr. Angus told us that Nora would be born before dinner. Andreja was wondering when was dinner time for Dr Angus. Was it 5pm, was it 9pm??? As time progressed, she began having more and more contractions. The next time Dr. Angus came to check on Andreja, she asked him when was dinner was for him. Although he normally told people that they would have their baby before dinner time, Andreja was the first expectant mother to pin him down on when exactly that was. The nurse and I were cracking up. At 1:30pm the nurse started the pitocin, which induces labor. At about 2:30 pm, Dr. Angus came and broke Andreja's water (at this point, he had delivered two babies in the last two hours). Andreja was increasingly more and more uncomfortable. A little before 3:30pm Andreja started pushing. After only about 30 minutes, Nora was born at 3:58pm. We were joking that if she was born after 6pm then she and Emma would have the same birthday in Croatia.

God was watching out for us with this entire event. We didn't have the baby at home. It was a pretty quick process. Although Andreja felt more pain than with Emma, it only took 30 minutes to push Nora out. We are so excited that Nora is part of our lives and can't wait to see what she is like, as she begins to develop a personality, as well as likes and dislikes.

During this entire process, Emma was with her Grandma Sue (Chris's Mom), and he Aunt Pam. When grandma, grandpa and Pam brought Emma to the hospital, Emma was so excited to see her little sister. She wanted to touch her, hold her, and point out all of he facial features. Emma kept telling Nora, "Open the eyes, Nora." When Nora's eyes didn't open, Emma thought she would assist. We had to put a quick stop to that. It was fun to see how excited that Emma was to see and touch her sister. Around 7pm, I took Emma home and put her to bed. Then my parents came to stay with Emma so that I could be with Andreja for a while before heading home to be with Emma.

We are home now. We got discharges around 11am sunday morning. We were greeted with some of our friends almost as we were exiting the hospital. They are lucky that we were not already gone. It was good to see them. We are so glad to be home all together. It was different this time with having a kid at home already. We know we are on our own during the night but excited to figure out our new family dynamics.

Happy Birthday Emma!!!! Can't believe that she's TWO!!!

Today was Emma's second birthday. We had planned a party, but Nora's arrival postponed that for at least a week. Emma did get a couple gifts from her Aunt Ruth and Aunt Faith. Ruth gave her some play food, which Emma was very excited about. From Faith, she got some Duplo Lego animals and a girl. She wanted to show it all to Nora and she let Nora hold all of her animals.

Some exciting fruit!


What's inside?


Here you go Nora.


Nora enjoyed being covered in animals:)

Sweet Sisters

This morning Emma came to see Nora in the hospital. She was very excited to see Nora. She wanted to give Nora a little gift. So we brought her a little rabbit.

Emma loves to touch Nora's face.


After seeing Nora's feet, Emma wanted to show her her toe nails.


What a beautiful picture!!


How happy!

Nora Hope has arrived

Nora Hope was born today, June 26, 2009, at 3:58 p.m. She weighed 7 lb 1 oz (3.195 kg) and was 20 inches (50.8 cm) long. Below are some pictures of Nora.

Early Birthday Presents

Emma received a couple early birthday presents, including a picnic table from her grandma and grandpa Conway and a pool from Teta Teja, Igor and Mia (aunt, uncle, and cousin from Croatia). She loves to swim in her pool and splash with her friends (the neighbors Alondra, Pedro, Maria, and Cookies). They have a great time together.

Enjoy the pics.

Emma & Potty

Emma relaxing reading Real Simple magazine while trying to do some business.

Zoo

About a month ago we got season passes to the Atlanta Zoo. The first time that we went, we headed straight for the African animals. Emma loved to see the animals that, up to that point, she had only seen in books. Her favorites were the elephant, the giraffes, and the birds. She also loved the playground at the zoo and watching the carousel, although she did not want to go for a ride . We're excited to have season passes. The Zoo is great for kids and has lots of different attractions.

A couple weeks later we went to the Zoo for Pam's (Emma's aunt) birthday. Andreja was at the beach, so Steve joined us in her place. Pam is a huge fan of Steve and seeing him was the highlight of the event for her. This time we arrived right after the zoo opened and headed straight for the pandas before the line got too long. It was still pretty empty and Emma enjoyed running to the panda exhibit, which was in at the back. The Panda's were beautiful, fascinating creatures, but we did not enjoy them for too long because, after about five minutes, Emma took off running towards some other exhibits. We then got to see the Gorillas eat and the little ones wrestle with each other. They also have a great naked mole rat exhibit that has its own playground filled with tunnels, which was the highlight for Emma. After the Zoo, we headed to the Varsity (one of Pam's favorites) for lunch. It was a fun day, even though we had to do it without Andreja:-)

Below is a slide show from our two trips to the Zoo.

Lemonade Days

Last weekend we went to the Lemonade Days in Dunwoody, which is a fair that they have here every year. We wanted to see what Emma thought about the fair and all the rides. She likes to look at the rides but was afraid to try anything. We tried out the Carousel and Emma would not sit on the horse, but wanted me to hold her and then while it was going around we talked about horses. She did, however, love the giant slide. After we tried it once she kept asking for more:).

The other highlights were homemade ice cream (we had some Friday night, and when we went on Saturday morning she kept running to the ice cream truck), and the petting zoo. Emma loved seeing and touching all the animals. We we're able to catch it in a picture, but at one point she gave a goat a huge hug. It was hilarious:)

Enjoy the slide show. Click on it if you want to see larger pictures.

Easter Egg Hunt

Today Emma went to her first Easter Egg hunt at Pastor Ewan's house. Emma was one of 29 kids on the hunt. Emma was so excited and loved looking for the eggs. She was a pro, and found a bunch of eggs. She was looking near another little boy, Patrick, and every time someone showed Patrick where an egg was, Emma would run in front of him to grab the egg. She was quick.

Here's a slide show with some picks.

Building a Bird House

On Saturday while Andreja was at work, Emma and I (Chris) went to Home Depot. Emma is excited everytime that we go because we see lawnmowers and tractors:) This time some kids were building birdhouses and the supervisors gave us a bird house and apron. When we came home Emma was so excited to build the bird house with me. It was lots of fun. As soon as it was finished Emma looked outside and started calling the birds to come to their new house. She is so cute!

Getting ready to start building in her new Home Depot apron.


You can't build a bird house without a hammer.


Emma trying to put in the perch.


Almost done.

Visiting baby Clarke Boy

Yesterday we went to visit our friends David and Fabienne Boy and their one month old son Clarke. Emma has been a huge fan of Clarke since he was born. Everyday she wants to look at his pictures on Facebook and upon viewing each picture she yells out "CLARKE!!!" So you can imagine that she would overwhelmed with excitement upon seeing Clarke in person.



Her expression says it all!


Andreja being reminded of what it's like to hold a little baby. Good practice for baby #2's arrival:)


Emma wasn't sure if she was allowed to touch Clarke, but she did it gently. She's going to be a great big sister!