Midwest Tour

Lara and her mother grabbed a flight at LGA on Christmas evening to meet up with Daddy in Indianapolis for her introduction to her grandparents and phuppo. Daddy met us at the gate and we walked towards the baggage claim where Grandpa Hamid welcomed his first and only grandchild with open arms. We awaited Basma Phuppo's arrival from DC and once she arrived we all jumped into the car and headed home to join Grandma.

We were welcomed with delicious cupcakes and a beautiful cake to celebrate the birth of Lara. The week in Indiana was chock-full of desserts, dinners, and football. We celebrated Grandma's birthday dinner at the Cheesecake Factory & Lara took a seat at the booth with the family. There was a lot of of football on TV and Lara was able to show off her Colt's onesie in support of her pop's favorite team and cheer along.

As the Indiana trip winded down, Lara had a monumental milestone: Lara was given a head shave by her Grandpa. Hair today, gone tomorrow! Good thing Lara is a hat person and NYE was celebrated in all it's glamour with a party hat, lei and noisemakers! Happy New Years everybody :)

East Coast Tour

Lara and her mom are all packed up for her East Coast Tour. The days of flying without checking bags are long gone.

It's amazing how many things Lara needed to make her trip comfortable. We packed her snuggle-nest for co-sleeping, her GroEgg to regulate temperature, baby monitor, sleep sacks, swaddle blankets, oodles of clothes, her orange house night light and of course diapers. We had a 50lb limit and with Lara and mom's clothes in one suitcase we nearly made it, clocking in at 45 lbs.Lara's first flight was direct on Virgin America where she slept most of the time and experienced her first diaper changing at 30,000 feet in the air. 5 hours later from takeoff, we arrived in NYC. Nano & Nana Jaan arrived, eagerly awaiting their first grandchild. We rushed Lara to the car as it was blistering cold & drove back to NJ to meet her khalas. Mona and Sommer Khala were anxious to meet their niece and kept calling us inquiring us when we would arrive home. Once home, Lara's grandfather even made a fire in the fireplace to make everyone feel extra toasty.

NJ was a great time, with family outings, parties, and dinners. A few days after Lara's arrival, she took her first road trip to MD to meet her new cousin, Aaliyah, who was born only a few days after. Lara is now able to add MD, DC, VA, NJ, and NY to her East Coast destinations, not too shabby for an 8 week old. Lara was able to meet more family from NY &NJ and share some Kodak moments. Time passed quickly and Lara prepared for her flight to Indiana, but not before attending her first holiday party in Long Island on Christmas Day.

MD/DC Friends & Family meet Lara

There is nothing more amazing than meeting up with friends and family. Much love to Uzma, Tina & Parwana for making the icy drive out to Maryland.

Bi-coastalism at its best! These amazing pics were taken by my dear friend and photographer Parwana.

Lara The Football Fan

Lara has become quite the avid football watcher. It's not uncommon to see her in her daddy's lap Saturday, Sunday and Monday night during Football Season cheering on the Colt's and her father's Fantasy Football Lineup. She loves the bonding and her daddy is making sure that she will grow up to be a big football fan.

1 month baby Lara

Lara enjoys spending time in her nursery, watching her mobile and some tummy time on her colorful playmat. Many a nights and days are spent rocking away in her chocolate rocker.

Friendsgiving

We have planned a few weeks of traveling in December and January for Lara's East and Midwest Family Tour so we decided to stay local for Thanksgiving. We were invited to some good friends for a great friendsgiving, complete with old family friends, all our kids, football and a ridiculous amount of delicious food.

As we all sat down at the dinner table to a wonderful spread of food, we went around the table and indulged our adorable 5 year old hostess and talked about our drawings, showing what we were all thankful for.

Lara wore her new dress and wasn't too happy about the inconvenience since she planned on just sleeping all through dinner & dessert. Some of us laughed and smiled, while others cried and slept.

Baby, Barney's, Beverly Hills, & Benji

Lara took a trip out to Beverly Hills today to accompany mommy to her dentist appointment. Pre-Thanksgiving traffic was pretty brutal and mommy and baby walked around Wilshire and Rodeo to kill some time.

Lara oohed and ahhed over some designer duds but quickly lost interest. The shopping excursion wasn't a complete bust- Lara ran into Benji Madden and his supermodel girlfriend, her first celebrity sighting.