Beach Day in St.Kitts 2010

Meeting for the first time

Meeting my neice for the first time was so amazing. London is such a loving and happy baby, she has a light in her eyes and a laughter that is contiagous. I'm so proud!

Uncle Leonard and Auntie Felicity meeting London for the first time.

Cousin(s) Janelle & Chantel and Auntie Joycie meeting London for the first time.

London and Marley meeting for the first time. Love!

Thomas the Train

Marley's 2nd Christmas

Marley's 2nd Christmas was spent in St.Kitts with my parents. Marley is loving every minute of it. Happy Holidays Everyone.

22 Months

My little Marley is not so little anymore. I marvel in his growth. I am amazed daily with his vocabulary. He is starting to string words together, make up simple sentences. He has thoughts, and ideas that he can actually express. For example: we started Christmas Shopping today and we were driving around in circles looking for a parking spot. "I said to myself "Oh No Marley , I cannot find a spot. What are we going to do?" and he said "I know....I got a idea?!" I broke my neck to look back really quick and briefly and could not believe my ears. And we both just started laughing. It's pretty amzing, eventhough he is the very same person who has restricted my sleep and energy for 22 months thus far, he is still my favorite person. He wakes up everyday with a loud "Good Morning Mama, Good Morning Papa". When we open our front door ......look out because Marley will run you over with excitement to get out and conquer the world! Lessons of fearlessness he teaches me everyday. ~he has already given me one my new years resolution.

Skywalker Ranch

This weekend we took a mini vacation to Skywalker Ranch for Ahmed's 2nd season premier of "Robot Chicken". We had the amazing experience of staying on the Ranch in one of the suites. The Ranch was the most beautiful retreat, tuck in the middle of hundreds of acres of protected forest and farmland in Marin, Northern California. We stayed in the John Steinbeck inspired suite filled with his books. The most popular being "Of Mice and Men". It was a beautiful 2 bedroom with a fireplace. It was so peacefull and quiet we didn't want to leave the bedroom! All I wanted to do was drink hot chocolate and get cozy in front of the fire. From our window all we could see was reddish/orange leaves and rain gently misting over the green. A day that would seem gloomy to most, but I found it to be comforting and inspiring.

Marley had an amazing day, he met George Lucas and all of Skywalker Land. After the premier, The Skywalker Ranch fire department pulled out the trucks and allowed Marley to sit in the drivers seat. He screamed "Truck Mama, Truuuuuuuuck!"Ahmed lifted him inside and the rest was history..........until we removed him from the seat, he then had a melt down. ......Understood my son. ;)

WES Coast

My dear friend Wes Veldink, visited Marley and Nainoa last weekend from NY. I was introduce to him more than ten years ago through one of my besties Coralissa, and I haven't let go since. I cannot tell you what a talent and amazing spirit this man is. He filled our home with love, tenderness and laughter and the boys had us laughing all afternoon. Marley entertained all of us with pop locking moves and Nainoa showed off his unique styling! Wes was a natural and as you can see.........And they were very excited to view the playbacks of there highlighted moments. ;) I think we have some entertainers in the making. Ooops. ;)

Yo Gabba Gabba Concert

The day after Thanksgiving, Marley attended his first concert at the Nokia Live Theater. The Yo Gabba Gabba Live Concert was awesome. Marley didn't know what to do with himself. He was so overwhelmed with the lights, music and his favorite characters dancing on stage. He kept on looking up at the jumbo tron, then at the stage. It was as if he was questioning whether his whole experience was real or not. He stood behind me in our seat, with his little hands wrapped around my neck, the hoopla had him bursting with so much excitement, I thought he was going to fall out! All the children were going crazy. It was the equivalent to a fan of the Beatles or Micheal Jackson. Gabba Fans were not coveted by children alone, Parents were just as enthusiastic and Gabba Crazy. Parents, Grandparents, Friends, Celebrities.......everybody was in that audience. The only thing that mattered for 2 hours was DJ Lance Rock, Phlex, Brobee,Muno,Toodee,Foofa and Biz!!! What a great weekend.

ThanksGiving Rockband

Marley's 2nd ThanksGiving was spent in the Los Feliz hills at our freind, Tracies house. We had an intamate dinner with about 10 people sitting down for dinner and more people trickling in during the evening. The night was fun, warm and full of laughter. Although the evening was attended mostly by adults, Marley always manages to entertain himself. As long as there are drums..........he is happy!

PottyTraining Part Two

Marley is making this potty training really easy for me. He is definitely telling me when he is ready to go, sometimes its in the nick of time sometimes its not. "Pee Pee" means pee pee, but "Oh no, Pee Pee" in his agonizing voice means poo poo! It is so funny. I try not to laugh but he is just so cute, I can't help it. Going #2 is like the worst thing in his world right now.

I bought a training seat that we put on top of the toilet. When he is ready, he takes my hand and I excitedly say "lets go to the bathroom". He is so proud, especially when he gets to flush the toilet and wash his hands. I guess I did a good job of making "pee pee" or "oh no pee pee" an adventure.

Halloween!!! Goes Crazy for Yo Gabba Gabba

This was Marley's second Halloween. All week there were Halloween children events all costume oriented. Yo Gabba Gabba Characters were very popular and I knew that we were bound to find another.

On the day of Halloween, and accompanied by the neighborhood 3yr olds, we cruised Los Feliz and every house that had a pumpkin on its doorsteps....... we approached, rang that doorbell and in his little 21 month old voice he said "Twick a Tweet" and took all the candy his little hand could carry. Escorted by myself and Ahmed, we all dressed up as MC's. Ahmed was Run of Run DMC, I was Spinderella of Salt and Pepper and Marley was our own D.J Lance Rock

20 Months Old...Pottytrainning?

This month has been one of the most entertaining months by far! I think my son is a comedian. He has such a humor about him, that he will even get you laughing hysterically.....even when you are not sure what it is your laughing about!

I don't know if I should speak on this so soon, but I am so excited! For the past two days Marley has been saying "pee pee"(which also mean poo poo too) , before he has gone!!!!!! What?! So, I get all excited and say excitedly "Let's go to the potty" , he says "Hooray" and we run! Ok, so we hurridly take his pampers off and sit him on the toliet. Marley grunts. Me and Ahmed laugh. He appears to have finished, but NOTHING. Puts the diaper back on...........Pee's!!! Ughhh...so close.

Yesterday ,the same thing. We run to the toilet, sit him done, he grunts and pushes.....NOTHING. I stand him on the floor to put a diaper on............pee's on the floor. Then he says with a smile "Flush?"

Now that's funny.

The Pumkin Festival at KidSpace Museum

The pumpkin festival at KidSpace was held October 10, 2010. Marley had a great time at the different tents and vedors. From food to gymnastics, to Music and Bouncers. We completley avoided the pumpkin patch......it was way too crazy. So we just opted for walking around. Oh well.....so much for the "Pumpkin Festival". :)

It was still a great Sunday.

Bye BYe September!

I cannot believe I missed the whole month of September! It has been a very busy month and I just got caught up in the mist of life. Marley, is growing and learning in the speed of lightening. He is making up songs and beats, he is expressing his feelings more clearly and he is reading picture books which the funniest thing I've ever heard.

This Month we were fortunate to have Mahmondylla and Babu visit us for a week. We love having our family spend time with us, and we especially love to see Marley and his grandparents connect. It is such an amazing feeling to watch 3 generations under one roof. I count my blessing and feel so gratefull that Marley has so much love in his life. No matter how far away or long time has passed, Grandchildren know their grandparents, they know that they are loved and they have deep sense of FAmily.

Thank you Mahmondyla and Babu! ;)

Labor Day Weekend

Marely turned 19months on September 7th, 2010. I cannot believe how fast time has passed. The leaps and bounds he has made, even from a month ago is astounding. He is such a little man, he is independent and knows what he likes and wants. He is adventurous and really just so much fun. Last Sunday, I decided to go on a spontaneous outing to Valencia, CA. Marley along with two of my best friends in the world Quincy & Deondray accompanied us to Six Flags Great Adventure. This past june Ahmed and I created a show that they premiered this summer. Half of the cast are really good friends of ours so I went to support them, before the show closed on Monday. They did an amazing job and I was really proud of their performance. Marley enjoyed it immensly, I'm so proud of the fact that he loves the theater and studies the movement and music of the production. The whole experience moves him.........and what's even more amazing he finds the same joy in the simplest that's not loud and battery operated! ;)

Marley's Baby Blessing

Saturday, August 28, 2010. We had a very intamate Blessing for Marley. I am not a super religous, but I do believe. And with all of the craziness going on in the world and before we as a family got on another plane! I just wanted to take the time and acknowledge what a blessing Marley is, to us and others. It was very important for me and my peice of mind to officially on record name his God Parents, individuals whom we deeply trust with our "life" our first born son. And are so lucky to have in our lives and know they have the same capicity of love for your child. That is the true Blessing.

Below is an email I wrote to recap the day:

Dear Friends and Family,

Yesterday, Saturday August 28, 2010. We had an intimate Blessing for Marley at our home. We didn't want to make a big production about it, I just wanted it to be really low key and just enjoy the personal moment. So, please do not feel offended if we didn't mention it. We know how much our family and friend care for us.

Just to fill you in, it was a really pleasant and calm day. The weather was beautiful, we stood in front of the house along side Marley's God Parents Darrell and Francine Lane (and their daughters Sydney and Kendall), who have become part of our family here in Los Angeles and via Skype my brother and sister in-law Delvin & Tiffany Horsford(and London). Pastor Garth gave a beautiful ceremony. It was his first interactive Blessing, and it was quite funny! He kept on making sure we were connected to the internet. When everyone accepted the vow to officially become Marley's God Parents, Pastor Garth said "And all the way from New Jersey! Do you Delvin and Tiffany........" We all laughed.

Coralissa Delaforce (one of my dearest friends) made a perfect Surprise visit (with her son Nainoa)! And we were so happy to have her be a part of it. Afterwards, we all enjoyed a delicious home made brunch and just enjoyed a special day we'll never forget it . Thank you all for loving Marley.

Happy Birthday Daddy!!!

We celebrated Ahmed's birthday jointly with our friend Tracie Thoms. They both designed a dinner menu with the amazing Chef Nathan Lyon for the evening. We had an intimate dinner with our friends at Tracie's house, a 6 coarse meal (made from farmer market produce), cases of wine from northern California and just a nite of love and laughter!

This year Ahmed and I have been really having an in depth interest in food. So much so, My gift to him this year was a two day seminar at the Sushi Academy in Venice, CA. He will learn how to prepare sushi rice, fish, sushi rolls, etc. etc. He is so happy and I am so excited for him. Happy Birthday Honey. :)

We have always had a love for food. We travelled all over the world and tasted some amazing cuisine and I can say we are "Foodies". But even more importantly, as we get older, I think its so important to really start taking good care of your body and soul and what better way to do it through food.....good, fresh, clean organic Food!!!! Healing yourself through food, what a concept. Hopefully before the year ends we will get our garden going and become self sufficient.