Ab's wedding

When I met Roby I marveled at how many friends he had, and not just a bunch of acquaintances, but true, hardcore friends...most of them made of life-time stuff. Abbey is one such friend...I guess if we weren't 30 you could even say one of his best friends. (Can we use that term since we're old now? :) I've enjoyed getting to know Ab through the years and always wished for him to find the right girly who will treat him right and be a perfect fit...so how excited were we when he started talking about Soby. We finally met her when we visited philly last year, and I adored her...beautiful, intelligent, fun-loving, awesome personality...she got our stamp of approval for sure! This past May, Abbey and Soby tied the knot in NY. Roby was honored to be a groomsman, and it was wonderful to share in their special day (even if I did have to watch the ceremony from a sound-proof room because Owen started crying the minute he saw his daddy standing up front and he couldn't join him...at least my other mommy friends were right back there with me!) We had a blast during their wedding weekend, and it was awesome to reconnect with all of Roby's friends in the same location. Roby's parents, sister, cousins (even Tobi from Houston! Unfortunately Joyce couldn't make it because she was so far along in her pregnancy), & aunts and uncles were there too, so it was great to spend time with family as well. We stayed with Roby's brother Rony and were able to get some quality time with our nieces Isabel and Anngelina and nephew Alex. While Roby worked out of the NY office, I stayed in Chestnut Hill with my brother and my Mom came for a visit. Overall we had a *wonderful* trip overflowing with good times, friends and family-it can't get much better than that!

Congrats Ab and Soby!
We are so excited for you and can't wait to see where the adventure that is marriage leads you!

Wedding pictures

They make such a beautiful couple!

Black Rob & Pappu
(hey, I didn't give them their nicknames :)

*The cousins*

I love when Owie wears his little Indian outfits...so cute!

*My handsome guys*

I'm always happy to see my sister-in-law, Renu

Owen & his cousin Alex are partners in crime...and look how dapper they are!

Our cousin Bindu just moved from Atlanta to Long Island.
We already miss them sooooo much.

Cousin Binoy and his girly Ryn...our roomies for the weekend.

We always have so much fun with these crazy kids!

(And Ryn impressed me with her ability to rock a sari during her first Indian affair. I still stick to the easier to manage tops and skirts...some day!)

Julie and Charley recently had baby Jaelyn, thee cutest little girl! A few weeks ago they visited cousins in Atlanta ,and we drove down to spend the day with them. Roby and Charley discussed dowries, since we are arranging Owen and Jaelyn's betrothal in 20 years...we settled on 20 cows (or cats!) By the looks of it, the cutie pair are already into each other.

Apparently Jaelyn likes older guys!

Brenda is expecting her first baby, Corinne, in several months....so exciting!

That's Brenda's hubby, Shibu, on the right. They also were in ATL recently, and we were able to visit them as well! (What's with the face, Dooney?)

Gotta love Diamond Div!

(This is a perfect example of a classic "Roby trying to ruin the shot" pic. He sticks his face with his big mouth open in the background. Many of you know of his sneaky tactic :) Dooney is thee man. A talented dancer, he choregraphed the amazing dance that many of the girls took part in during the reception. I really wanted to take part, but lived too far away to learn it. And let me just say that if anyone has seen that Indian guy dance Bollywood-style on America's Got Talent, just know that he is awful and has got nothing on Dooney!

I wish I had a video to post...Indian dances are so lovely with all the girls gracefully twirling around the dance floor in those beautiful, vibrant outfits...makes me wish we had that at our wedding, but I didn't know about them then!

Sisters Milly and Lisa have been in Roby's life forever too! I guess you could say Lis is his girl best friend, if we were still 8th graders. In 30-year-old speak I guess they are "close" :)
I finally met Lisa's boyfriend Shoney at the wedding...he has smiley eyes!

Milly, her husband Jay, Shoney & Lisa

Let's play find the vellambi ("white girl" in Malayalam)

*Philly trip family pics*

My Mom was laughing hysterically as Owen relentlessly tried to plant one on her lips!

Owen and I spent a day with Nana at a park near Jason's house, where
O tormented the ducks by chasing them screaming, "Quack, Quack!"

Thankfully, we were able to hang out with Uncle Jason the same night and go out for dinner.

Renu with her husband, Alex, and baby Alex

Owen's cousins, Anngelina (above) and Isabel (below) seemed to enjoy hanging out with him!

Trying to take a picture of your son with his 3 cousins aged 6, 4 & 3 is quite the challenge! You end up getting a lot of silly, but endearing ones, and some that are actually pretty decent!

I love this shot of Alex and Isabel. How sweet are they?!?

Anitha & Jaya

I finally met Roby's friend Anitha, who I've been e-mailing for awhile now, and her daughter Jaya (who is only 2 days younger than O!) We got together at Julie's house for a playdate, and Jaya and O had fun being mischievous together. At one point Jaya tackled Owen, and from the looks of the picture, he didn't mind at all. They also kissed on the lips...looks like Jaelyn might have some competition :)

Talking up a storm

Owen continues to be very verbal, learning new words every day...which he has begun stringing together to form sentences! He surprises us by pointing at objects we didn't know he knew the words for and blurting them out. I can't believe how something so simple can be such music to my ears!

When Roby's parents visited, Owen went from referring to them by using a silly sound he associates with their language (Malayalam) to calling them "Uppa" and "Umma", to saying the actual words "Appachan" (grandfather) and "Ammachy" (grandmother). They were thrilled by this! He also learned another Malayalam word from them. I don't know how to spell it-Poi (rhymes with toy), which means something like "it went away." So O will point at butterflies and airplanes, and after they leave his line of vision say, "Poi Mama!" He also calls up the stairs, Rooooobbbbbyyyyy, which is the way I call him I guess. I love watching the way his mind works and seeing what the little guy comes up with. So cute!

He was particularly wound up while I was taking this video, hence why he is screaming out the words. For some reason, he will only let me film him when he is hyper-boy. Oh! At the end, when he makes a sound like "OH," that is his way of saying "Love You." (He has moved on from "Dove Doo," which we thought was super cute too ;)

Welcome to the world Jasper!

Our California friends Vicky and Casey recently welcomed the arrival of their second son, Jasper Joseph Hanrahan, on July 8th. Little Asher is going to be a wonderful big brother. Congrats guys! We can't wait to meet the little guy! (My heart was warmed to see Jasper wrapped in the baby blanket I knit for him. As a knitter, there's nothing more satisfying than seeing a little one safely tucked in one of your creations. I hope it brings him much comfort!)

Happy Birthday Luke!

Our cousins Joyce and Tobi welcomed their first baby, Luke Christian Thomas, into the world on June 25th. We can't wait to meet the little guy, and we are thrilled for Owen to have a new cousin. We hope they grow to be close like their parents are!

(And you know they just HAVE to be best pals with celebrity names like Luke & Owen :)

*congrats on your beautiful little boy*

A Baby Boy is Blooming

Owen and I traveled to Houston for our cousin Joyce's (and Tobi's!) baby shower in April. We seem to visit them every few months, but this time called for celebration. Since this is a long overdue post, congrats are in order for them as Joyce gave birth to Luke Christian Thomas on June 25th! (I will post newborn pics soon.) As always, we enjoyed our time chilling in H-town with Tobe and Joy-cee and their good friends Kate and Erik. We finally met Jenny, Joyce's sister, who also visited for a week and had a great time getting to know her! Thanks to Joyce's friends and sis, the shower turned out to be a smashing success. The theme "A Baby Boy is Blooming" played out in everything from the cake and cupcakes, to the potted flower favors. It seemed like Tobi and Joyce had a wonderful time opening all of their baby gifts and chatting with the guests. I'm so thankful we were there to celebrate with them.

Nana and Debby Auntie Visit

In April, my Mom and cousin Deb drove down from PA to visit Owie and me while Roby worked out-of-state. Debby had not seem Owen since she traveled to Chattanooga with Mom right after O's birth. We had a wonderful time catching up, celebrating Mom's birthday, dining at a local Greek place, and taking Owen to the aquarium and Coolidge park. Owen enjoyed being majorly spoiled by his Nana and Debby Auntie!

It is certainly getting harder to take pictures with Owen since he is running around 24-7, but we managed to capture him a few times!

Happy birthday Nana!

Come home Dada Daddy!

(Owen's newest term for his father.)

My Mom transferred a lot of my childhood toys and boxes o' stuff accumulated through the years from her storage to my garage this trip. I discovered a dress I wore when Owen's age with my collection of dolls, and couldn't resist promptly slipping it over my son's head. Let's just say we laughed for a verrrrrrry long time as he ran wild around the house in my hot pink/lime/orange number from the '70s. Roby walked in, did a double-take, mentioned something about that being "just wrong" and asked me to remove it quickly.
Ha! I guess I really DO need to have a girl next.