Beach Vacation

This past week we spent in Seagrove/Seaside Florida for our beach vacation. We enjoyed the sand, the ocean, the pool. Girls had a great time. Chris' family joined us as well. Faith and Ruth came from Washington. Unfortunatelly I do not have any pictures of Erfon but there are some pictures of Jonathan-Faith's now fiancee:)
There is tons of pictures here so be ready:)

Happy Birthday Emma & Nora!!!!

This Saturday we celebrated Emma's 4th and Nora's 2nd b-day. Emma's actual birthday wa on 27th and Nora's on 26th o why not combine.They love to do everything together (most of the time) anyway. They have been watching Dora the Explorer a lot in the last year and therefore wanted a Dora cake for their b-day. Chris and I were working hard the night before to make it happen. We think it turned out great and everybody enjoyed it. Party was lots of fun. Both girls invited a few friends from school plus our family friends. Nora was very happy that her friends Rachel and Becca will come to her house. It was cute! Rachel and Becca have been in Nora's group since they all started when Nora was about 6 months old. Emma was a bit shy at the beginning and overwhelmed with all the people but she got over it. She is a wild one but she has her introverted side and it comes out when there is lots of people.

I can't believe my girls are so big. They have changed o much recently. Emma is a big girl and i can't believe the conversation we have. She is a great observer and nothing misses her eye. She loves adventure and is not afraid to try anything. She desperately wants to do gymnastics but we are doing swim class during the summer months. I am planning to put her in gymnastics when fall comes. She still loves to read and now that is bigger loves to read a few books before she goes to bed alone. We love hearing her tell stories out loud as she does that. She loves Jesus and prays for those that do not believe in him so they can go to heaven with us one day.

Nora is our sweet little bean. She has always been petite so we still call her bean.Nora loves people. She loves to give hugs and is our cuddly child. She loves to be tickled and laughs so hard and loud when we do that. She is very neat and loves to be clean and things to be clean. If she gets anything on her clothes she wants me to change her immediately because she is dirty. We joke that God better start making that perfect man for her now and get him ready:) She love her babies and playing with them. She feeds them, carries them, soothes them, take them on a walk in the stroller. That is her every day routine. She loves to read books also and there is never enough of them read to her before she goes to sleep. She loves her pacis for sleeping and would love to have a bed covered in pacis if possible. She sleeps with one in her mouth and 4 in her two little hands. As many a possible she can hold at the same time. It is cute (hopefully when time comes to get rid of them she will be ok:))

We thanks God each day for the beautiful blessing these 2 little beings are in our lives and all we can learn for them. We are humbled a we parent them and pray for God's grace to cover over all our mistakes and still make them into great women who will love and serve Him. Thanks to all of you friends out there for the role you play in that as well.

Enjoy some pics from the b-day. I hope to have Chris post a video of everyone singing to the girls too so you can see how they were so excited and nora wa just beaming with joy and enjoyed attention.

p.s. Leann thanks for the beautiful dresses they wore on their party day:)

Sisters!

Halloween

Each year for Halloween we go to our friends cul-de-sac and have dinner and trick or treating through the neighborhood. Each year it is bigger and bigger because there is more and more kids. Nora was a lady bug and Emma was a modern princess (she wanted to wear leggins and tennis shoes under her dress) this year. They were cute and excited. Nora quickly picked up on what is going on once she realized there is chocolate involved. She did not want to ride in the stroller but was walking the whole time. Up and down the hilly neighborhood.
Here are some photos.

Pumpkin Patch 2010

This past weekend we did our 2nd annual PUmpkin Patch with our friends Boys and Clarks. IT is just fun to get together and enjoy seeing kids play and take in all that is new. Last year we had an interesting experience at Burt's Farm because the day we went was frigid cold with aweful wind. My mom was here visiting and helping take care of Nora and she spent most of the day in the car with Nora. Nora was sleeping most of the time. Luckily we had winter coat for Emma. She and Elliott did not seem to notice the chill at all but were running and enjoying the pumpkins and other stuff out there. This year was a total opposite. It started with the little cold in the morning so we all had our sweaters on but then it warmed up and it was beautiful the rest of the day. It was just a perfect day to be out in God's creation. We went to Kinsley Family Farm-just up GA 400 (for those of you from Atlanta-right before the outlets:)) and it was great. Not as crowded as Burt's Farm but plenty to do. One of the biggest things was feeding the fish in this pond/lake thing they had. These fish were huge (catfish) and there was tons of them. Kids just loved those. Nora tried eating some of the fish food of course. We also had a picnic for lunch and it was awesome. Kids just enjoyed running around and having fun. When we came home that afternoon we carved our pumkin (Emma could not wait for the next day to do it:)) and i will post some of those pics later. Can't wait for next year!!!

Week 2 - beach and then back in Sisak

Week two we went to beach in zadar-or should i say diklo for those who know better:) We had a good time. Beach with 2 kids has a totally new meaning for chris and I. It's fun and all but there is no more laying on the beach reading our books or things or that sort. It is go go go all the time. And ocassional screaming and fighting of the 3 year old cousins-in spite of their big love for each other. It's that time of their life where everything is MIne Mine and Mine only. But they sure had fun too. They could not do anything apart. Zadar is one of my favorite towns on Croatian Coast. My best friend from college lives there and i often would spend my summers in the area. we got a chance to visit with him and see his 6 months old daughter Lori. And also see his awesome apartment. We went back to Sisak a day early because our last day on the beach was bad weather and rain. That was great because it gave us extra time to spend in sisak with the nighbor kids-Dora, Tamara, Maja, Matija...Emma had a blast just being outside all the time and there was always a bunch of other kids there to play with. Nora loved it also.
We will miss being there even though it is nice to be home again.

In Sisak - week one of our trip to Croatia

Finally i am posting some pics from our trip to Croatia. we have been home for almost 2 weeks but i just did not have much tie to do this. as you can see i am posting pictures from our first week while in Sisak and there is 150 pictures in this slideshow. I picked and picked but these are all the one to capture all the important moments. I have pit captions under the pics so you can more easily follow.
First week we were in Sisak and spent with mom and dad and mateja's fam. my uncle from berlin came to visit also because we celebrated my dad's 60th b-day. It was fun to see everyone and especially Stric Blaz from germany. I learned some of his story from growing up in an orphanage and also learned some stuff about dad. It was crazy with the kids but looking back at photos we had a good time and kids had a blast! My parents did too:
I will post week 2 tomorrow hopefully:)

Summer Pool Fun at Ed & Ginny's

As soon as the hot days start we are headed to the pool. We are blessed that our good friends Ed & Ginny let us use their pool any time we want. Our neighborhood doesn't have a pool so this is great! Girls both love the water and swimming and all the pool fun. Emma always wants to be very independent and do all that big kids are doing.Nora just love splashing and jumping. I am the one always taking photos so i am not in any of the pictures:(

Girls Birthday!

June 26 (Nora's actual birthday) we celebrated Nora's 1st and Emma's 3rd b-day (June 27th). Our "theme" this year was Hello Kitty per Emma's request. She wanted a Hello Kitty cake so i made a big one for her and a little one for Nora. Nora did not have a preference-she was just going along to whatever we did. We invited our closest friends (Clarks & Davis' we are sad you could not be there with us this year) and had a good time. Emma was so excited that all of the "big" kids came-because she tells me Mom,they are my friends:)This was the first year Emma understood things and what will happen and was so excited a week in advance about the b-day. She was also excited about all the gifts and opening everything. Nora had a good time even thought by 7pm she was ready to have her "alone" time. I think she had enough of people and just wanted me to put her in her room and leave her by herself. I thought she would crash and go to sleep but i heard her just talking to herself and giggling-happy to finally have some peace of her own. Funny! We don't have tons of pictures but here are some to give you an idea of what was going on. Thank you browns, Pickrens, Gumbrills, Remigailos, Herreros, Boys, Sue & MeMe for coming and spoiling the girls with fun gifts.

Swim season has began and pool is open!

We opened our home pool this sunday. It was hot and humid and Chris gave Emma a great idea she gladly accepted about opening the pool. The water was cold but we added some warm and she was good to go. Nora was not sharing in the enthusiasm of swimming in cold water. She did warm up to the idea after watching Emma for a bit but only to soak her feet.

First Snow-January 8th 2010

This is all very overdue but better ever then never.Right?

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.

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!

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.

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!