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.

18 Months Old

I cannot get over how fast time is flying. My Marley is 18 months old already! I'm just flabbergasted! Has it really been 1 year and a half? He is getting taller, stronger, faster every day. He sings his abc's, counts 1-10, identifies shapes, colors, counts down from 5 to blast off! He even gets fancy with his expressions (ie. Woweee or Yummy Yummy.) Surprises me with a couple of Spanish's and Chinese words thanks to Dora the Explorer and Ni-Ho Kaolin and is always up for playing the drums and playing freeze dance. We are having so much fun at this stage. Everyday is such an adventure and learning experience for all of us. He makes me want to Live to the fullest, because he shows me how beautiful life is. And honestly there is really no time for anything else.

In addition to the learning process, he definitely has a strong personality. He is a very outgoing little boy. He is friendly, affectionate, musical, athletic. Marley is very determined and knows what he wants. He will fight for it, cry, scream, but then he will get distracted and find interest in something else. Needless to say, he is the perfect mix of his parents!

Below are photo's from last Sunday at the Farmer's Market at the Americana@Brand in Glendale. They had a really cute petting zoo, in which Marls partook in some petting for 5 minutes, then we left and went to the Leggo store. He had a great time.

Toddlers & Learning

For the past two weeks I have been obsessing on toddler programs, pre-schools, indoor playgrounds, community events and any program that will make learning fun and allow Marley to discover new ways to express himself. I want to find an enviorment other than "home" to play and interact with other toddlers his age. I want him to feel confident in his abilities, but at the same time learn how to have an organized playing time. I know that he is on the young side to learn how to share toys and space, but we have to start teaching these things sooner or later. Last week I took Marley to his first childrens learning gym called MY GYM. It was wonderful, because they had a curiculem that consisted mostly of Free play but in between the hour, we would break every 15minutes or so to do a group circle, sing a longs, exercises, tumbling, etc. It was so much fun to watch his face light up over the new toys, and obstacles he could climb up and down, in and out. During circle time he really did not want to sit down, I don't thin he even understood the concept. Instead Marley ran inside the circle and went aroud high fiving people. Literally, he was going to every parent in the circle saying "Hi Five" , "Hi, Five"........ The instructor was trying to conduct the activity and Marls did not care! Everybody was laughing .......and I thought at least he is being interactive and friendly. All the other parents were giving me the look like " my son did the same thing when he first started", so I didn't feel like I was looked upon as not being in control of my child. But, then again I don't want him to feel controlled, I want him to feel guided and if he feels he needs me know that I am always there.

Another cool activity I discovered were these great free activities at the Outdoor Malls in Los Angeles. These high end outdoor shopping centers are catering to families and have great Children programing on the grassy property refered to "on the green". For instance the have Mommy and Me movies, Yoga for kids, Story telling for kids, Music, etc. My favorite mall is called the Americana at brand. Last week they had a band called The Hollow Trees. The band sings folk music geared to children. It was interactive for the kids, they sang along, danced and got to make lots of animal noises. Marley loved it. I just have to figure out how to tell him that he is NOT in the band. Every song I had to wrangle him from climbing up onto the stage. We loved the band so much we followed them later that week to their other gig at the Los Feliz Public Library (which also has great free children programs). Marley even got a chance to play on the drums. It was so awesome. Not so awesome when he had to come off , but awesome nonetheless.

There's nothing like hear children laughing and dancing like no one is watching!!!

The Letter "N" and "U"

Yesterday, Marley started taking apart his letter play mat. He grabbed a Letter and showed it to me. Just as I was about to tell him it was up side down. He was yelling "N". And I looked again and thought to myself......well, Yes. I see N too. Although it was a curvy "N", he was right. So, I ran to set up my computer. Luckily, he is in the stage of repeating forever. To my surprise he turned it upside down and identified another letter........"U", "U", "U"...........

I Love my London

This is a new picture of my niece London Olivia Horsford.

Thoughts of the Day:

1.It still boggles my mind that my little brother is a Daddy!!!!

2.I think I am going to cry when I meet her.............

3.If I am not blessed with a girl in my life. Meet the lucky girl to inherit my designer bags and shoes. :) Now.....who's the best Auntie. LOL

Love you.

SKenders 1st Love Regime

Last weekend we had the pleasure to celebrate Skender Laybourne's 1st Birthday! We had an amazing day at the Annenberg Community Beach Club in Santa Monica. It was such a great day....great friends, food and baby business! I cannot believe almost all of the babies born last year have made a year already. Where does the time go? Just when we reminisce about their birth, marvel at there growth, and talk about their "first", they are already onto their

next milestone! They just get it. They are all so smart, I don't think I am ready ...............

It's so amazing to share life with my friends & the Love Regime Crew (missing Tony & waiting for K&N) ;). Sharing our most precious beings with each other. Not too long ago, we were aimlessly living life and doing all of these "things". Now we stop a smell the roses. Feed our babies organic foods, take them to yoga, children music concerts, story reading events, etc. It's funny how a new life puts everything into perspective. Personally speaking, becoming a Mother has made me a better person. I have connected with my spirit in such a way that I have to "BE" that person Marley brings out in me. It just feels so good. I love my son with all my heart and I still have more love to give to all my favorite little ones. :)

I truly believe that these babies are going to make this a better place. There is hope for the future.

Happy Birthday Skender (On Bass)