Welcome to Spring

Hola amigos,
I hope you all enjoyed the photos from our Disney trip last month.  It was the perfect time to get away for lots of reasons: it was warmer than New Jersey; it was more fun than work; it was Zoe's birthday, but since she wasn't quite 3 yet she was still free; we were gone long enough for the mountatin of snow in front of our house to melt entirely away; and now that we're back, it's finally spring! Time to curse off our coats and hide 'em in the upstairs closet for the next six months.  Time to watch the random tulips bloom through the grass in our backyard.  Time to ride bikes to Dunkin Donuts for munchkins!  People in New York are pumped for '55 and Sunny' like it's the Bahamas.  Tomorrow it will be 68 -- so we're going to the beach!  No seriously, we're going to Point Pleasant Beach to check out the progress on our shorehouse. 


Speaking of shore house, did I mention Spring means it's almost Summer?  And you know what that means....Olaf from Frozen will finally melt (it's about time).  It also means daily baby name ideas from Situ.  'How about you name her Summer since she's born in the summer?  Summer Zarwi, that sounds nice.'  'How about Sari, like Alison's sister, that's a nice name.  Sari Zarwi.'  Here's my favorite quote from Mom today: 'Zoe is getting ready to dump you guys when Lexi Allie Ellie Ella Nora Sari comes.'  We love all the ideas, but when the time comes, there can be only one.  What will it be?  Please visit our suggestion box in person to submit your ideas, which is conveniently located behind Al Suwan petrol station in Ras Al Khamiah. 

Selfie with the Mad Hatter

Anyway, Disney was awesome.  We were there from Saturday-Wednesday, March 15-19, to celebrate Zoe's birthday.  5 days and 4 nights was more than enough time to enjoy all the fun of Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios.  But more than anything, we had a rockin' time with sooooo many Disney characters this year: Wazowski and Sulley from Monsters, Pooh and Co., the Incredibles, Mickey and Co., Lilo & Stitch and Woody and Buzz were everywhere.  Zoe even joined a dance party with Mr. Incredible and Frozone!  It was great. 

The 2nd half of the trip was spent in Holiday, FL, which is just north of Tampa in Greek Country.  Zoe got her very own pinata to smash that was loaded with candy and money.  She spent the cash on more candy, just in case she ran out.  We hit the beach every day we were there, which is calm and pleasant for toddlers.  Zoe made tons of one-day friends with whom she swam, made sand castles and harrassed hermit crabs.  Good times. When we got back from Florida we had another celebration with the Jersey Pan-Zarwi Clan.  Zoe started to get in the habit of weekly birthdays!

April has been cool and wet, but May is heading in the right direction.  The beach house is almost done (we hope to spend our first night on May 17th), the toys are out of the garage and birds are singing.  And of course Nikki is getting big!  We are due June 28th, so about 7 weeks to go.  These days her amniotic fluid is kinda maxed out, which means you can really feel Nuggie's punches and kicks (which happen overnight these days sometimes, too).  She's about the size of a head of lettuce and she's currently situated in the 'eject' position (head down).  At this point the baby can hear and perceive light, as well as suck her thumb and practice steady breathing.  She can clearly hear mommy saying 'you did this to me!' to daddy while daddy gently massages mommy's sore feet.

That's it for now, more to come soon.  Hopefully at least one more Nuggie update and maybe even some live blogging on Baby Day 2014! 
Love,
The Zarwis.