Vacation in FL

We're having a great time.  Here are a few good pics.  Morgan has been staying with us at Grandma and Pappap's house and the boys are having a fabulous time with their cousin.  Pappap took us to the zoo yesterday and shoe shopping at the mall today.  We've played several games with the boys, Grandma, and Brendan.  Other than rainy weather, our trip has been perfect.  Tomorrow, we'll head over to have a BBQ with Casey's family and bring Morgan home.  

We have to leave on New Year's Eve but we promise to get off the road and into a hotel safely before midnight.

-Shirin

Opening presents the morning we got here.

They boys got costumes, invisibility cloaks (from Harry Potter), and an adventurer kit.  They have played with all of them a lot.

Cute bubsies in front of Publix waiting for Pappap to drive through the pouring rain to pick us up.

Ice cream at the zoo.

We got to see manatees and sea turtles at the zoo too.

 Displaying their fancy new shoes at the mall.

Coloring with Morgan.

Cyrus drew Harry and Ron's wands with their names above them.  Books are such good fodder for creativity.

On the Merry Go Round at the zoo.

All the boys fed the giraffe some lettuce leaves.  It was a highlight of their zoo trip.

In the wind tunnel, experiencing tornado-force winds.

Feeding the Lorikeets some sort of liquid food they licked out of a cup.

So cute.

Posing on the only Komodo dragon we saw that day.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

I haven't blogged a lot lately, but we've been working and playing hard.  We were actually in Rock Hill for Christmas this year, due to my work schedule, and had a lovely time with Tita, Daniel, Lisa, Dan, Gabriel, my parents, and all the kids.  We will be in Athens for a full 24 hours (and I'll be gone for 10 of it working) before heading south for six days in FL with Gabriel's family. That might seem like a brutal schedule to some of you, but I wouldn't change it for a minute.  We love all the family time that Christmas affords us.  I still need to post our pics from Thanksgiving in FL and will also try to get the pics of x-mas in RH posted at some point as well.
Merry Christmas!
-Shirin

My ancestry results

Well, what do you know?  I'm European and Middle Eastern!  What a shock.  

Countries of Ancestry

This is traced only through the maternal line.  My haplotype is T1, typical of Europeans.

I am more Neanderthal than average!  Maybe that's why I'm so tough! :)

Macular degeneration research

Remember my blog post about my genetic test done by 23andme.com?  I found out that I have an almost 50% chance of getting Macular Degeneration when I get older.  It's a disease where the central part of the retina deteriorates (for a number of different reasons), and causes loss of vision in the center of the eye.  This takes away the ability to read or see faces.  While I'm not losing sleep over this, I'd like to be proactive about preventing it or detecting it early.  So, I'm researching it and have scheduled an appointment with my ophthalmologist for an annual eye exam. 
While reading about Macular Degeneration on Wikipedia, I noticed a few interesting things.  One is that it says that anyone with a relative with AMD (age-related Macular Degeneration) has a 50% chance of getting it.  Amazingly, 23andme didn't know that I indeed do have a relative with AMD, they just saw the writing on the walls in my genetic make-up.  Also, I saw this map (above), which shows the genetic predisposition for AMD worldwide.  The darker red or orange, the more prevalent the disease.  Well, I guess it's no secret where my genes have come from.
So, for all my paternal family out there: go get eye exams!  If we're under 60, we're not likely to show any signs, but it's important to catch it early because there are medications that can help it reverse or slow progression.   (Also, extra beta carotene was correlated with an increase in AMD, so don't just start taking eye vitamins because of common sense...read the science!)
I'm sure my Ophthlamologist will think I'm a little bonkers for talking about AMD at age 33, but I'm nothing if not a person who likes to be prepared for the future. 
-Shirin

The last few months

I finally got lots of my photos off my phone and onto the computer. There are too many for this blog, but I think I'll just put up a few. We also went to FL for Thanksgiving, which was a wonderful time, full of good food, lovely people, and lots of games. We also had our first night sleeping in a tent with the boys. It went super!  I plan to write up Thanksgiving in its own post a little later.  Here are just some random photos from our life. Enjoy!

 -Shirin

In October, both of my parents-in-law came up to Athens at different times to help me care for the kids while Gabriel was out of town for two different work meetings.  I'm a lucky woman.  Tita got to see them both, which was nice since it had been years since she'd seen them (maybe since my wedding?).

One of their favorite activities is listening to Pappap's made-up stories.  They are hilarious, long, convoluted, and perfect for a three and five year old.

Kai is absolutely not a baby anymore.  Still, Gabriel and I love almost nothing more than when he falls asleep and we get to snuggle him in our arms.

We went hiking as a family together at Sandy Creek Park on one Sunday.  We even picked up vegan sammies from the Daily Co-op.  It was a lovely afternoon.

This is always how hiking ends with the boys.  Sigh...at least they have a super dad.

At the end of the hike, the day was warm enough for the boys to strip down and swim in the lake.

Us checking out the lake before playing in the water.  We all got in, except for Gabriel.

 

So excited.

 Wading in their undies.

Oh my god, he's so cute. 

I think this was a morning when I was trying to let people sleep in.  I got the boys out of the house in their PJs and took them shopping.  We probably got a treat at McDonald's for breakfast too (egg bagels).

Don't confuse this sweet picture with brotherly kisses.  This was Cyrus blowing raspberries on Kai's cheek all day long.

I liked this picture, because they boys were so serious and concentrating on their picture search in the Highlights magazine, all in their spiffy Spiderman costumes. 

In October, the boys got their teeth cleaned at their children's dentist office.  I love the little glasses they put on Kai. 

They boys do SO well, especially with the TVs on the ceiling to distract them.  Cyrus has unfortunately inherited the crowing that both Gabriel and I have with our teeth, so braces are an inevitable part of his future.  Luckily, though, he doesn't have any cavities.  

Kai, luckily, has perfect teeth with good spacing.

I finally caved in and let the dentist do some small molar dental x-rays, since he has a lot of crowding.  Luckily, it all looked good under the surface.

Such clean teeth!  Gabriel and I brush their teeth every night, so it's paying off.

Cyrus' healthy teeth.

The same day as the dentist visit, we got our flu vaccines.  Kai is finally old enough to get the nasal spray, like me and Cyrus, so there were no pokes.  (And, so far, no flu...knock on wood).

Worn out from such a good life.  Love them!

New floors!

Finally finally, we have started replacing our floors.  I'm so very happy.  Here is the progress so far.

-Shirin

We've been to Lowe's multiple times a day.  David got a stowaway on one of the trips.

After removing the carpet, we had to do all sorts of prep work before laying the laminate.  Bren and I also painted the living room a new coat of the same off-white color.

I figured we ought to paint before the new floors went in, so I painted like the wind.

Laying the padding down.  It's really roof padding, but David says it'll work.

What the boys are doing while we are working (some of the time).  

Starting the laborious process of laying and measuring the floor pieces.  Gabriel and I could never do this without David.

Brendan, also, has been an invaluable assistant.

This is where all our stuff from the living room went.  It was pretty much chaos this weekend.

Plugging along.

Gabriel using the nail gun on the quarter round (molding).

Success!  One room done...lots more to go!

The finished product.  Aaah, so beautiful!

The boys finally able to enjoy the room again.

Until we moved all the kitchen stuff into the living room to get the kitchen prepped.

This morning, I had to go to work, but I set the bubsies up with breakfast first.

The living room doesn't look as nice with all that crap in it.

When I got home from work, the dining area was almost finished!

Gabriel and I played shuffleboard with Kai as our puck.

Poor David sure does pay dearly by being our friend.  He gets put to work all the time!  Hopefully, tomorrow we will be able to finish the hallway and kitchen floor.  We leave early on Wednesday morning for FL to celebrate Thanksgiving, so we'll have to work on the bedroom floors another weekend.

We celebrated our hard work at Olive Garden on Sunday night and Thai Spoon on Monday night.  Good times with some of my favorite people.