Our Family

Can you believe that this is our first ever family photo shoot? I know, I can’t believe it either. I mean, if it was for my hubby, we would never have a family photo shoot but I convinced him so here is a peak at our beautiful but chaotic family…

You guys, this is us. We are crazy, down to earth, not perfect but we are happy. We have our ups and downs, disagreements and bad days. Imperfection is beautiful, right? I think so.

For the longest time, 10+ years it was just the two of us. You can say that we are high school sweethearts. You can say that we were meant to be together.  I say, we are just never giving up on each other. We have been through it all – but – together, because together in support of each other we can do it all.

You may or may not know, but hubby and I are first generation in the States along with our parents, and our Home language is Serbian. Here is a map of our home town. We are faced with a situation that probably some of you have been too – Do we expose our children to the outside language (English) or do we not in a fear they will forget their Home language? And if do, when is a good age to do that?

Although, I went back and forth with this I’ve come to realize that because we are where we are and our children are growing up in a bilingual setting situation, that eventually they will be exposed to English, and that introducing it sooner than later may simply benefit their development abilities. My parents had me in an English learning class while I was in third grade elementary back home, because they felt that English was the language that moves the world. They were not wrong. We moved to the States, and it helped that I knew English. So today, our kids are being introduced English and Serbian, simultaneously. It’s inevitable that they hear the outside language as we frequent parks, libraries, grocery stores, malls just to name a few.

Here are my 5 tips to raising bilingual children:

1. It is OK to introduce outside language to your children as early as possible. Their little minds are capable of managing multiple languages and they can distinguish between the two. If mom and dad speak different languages, mom should speak her language to the kids and dad should speak his language.
2. Children need to hear both languages in a variety of circumstances.
3. Continue to speak your home language at Home. The chances are your children will begin their schooling, if they are not already and they will pick up the outside language really quickly. They may forget their Home language if you don’t continue speaking it. It’s a progress.
4. Relax – language mixing is normal. Instead of getting frustrated, talk to your children and for example, if they say something in English tell them what that means in their Home language. Continue to work with them.
5. Patience is the key to raising bilingual children.

So I want to share an interesting fact:

Our almost three year old did not know a word of English. We speak Serbian at all times, and that’s all he was exposed to. However, until last Fall ’16 when we started going to the library and his interaction with other children intrigued his English speaking skills that he began picking up words here and there. I was amazed! I really was! He started speaking English – and – we just went along with it. I never thought he would pick it up that quick. He is hillarious though, saying things in English and Serbian. We work with him on daily basis through play.

Yet, this remains a controversial subject in all bilingual speaking parents and settings. Yes, we continue speaking Serbian at home and only Serbian. Yes, we speak Serbian when we are out in public. No, we are not embarrassed about it. No, we don’t care what other people think of us. No, we don’t think our children are missing out.

I am wondering if any of you are currently in a situation like this? Do you speak one language and your spouse speaks another? What are your thoughts? I’d love to hear from you guys, drop us a comment below.

Hope you enjoy these photos from our family shoot. If you click on the image you can view them in a Slideshow format. All photos are by my friend Anna Dujakovic.

I am passionate and particular about my boys’ style. I wanted a simple yet effortless look for them. I normally don’t do white for my boys, because we all know boys are dirty but I did love the idea of their plain white shirts for the photo shoot with basic jeans and the cutest Birkenstock-look-alike sandals. Hubby’s jeans and shirt are both simple yet perfect for photos.

You guys this floral top is everything, I am so glad I picked it up while they still had it at 40% off, keep your eyes peeled for their upcoming sale so you can grab yours too.  I finally found my go-to white jeans! I have been looking for the longest time. Love that they are made of thicker material and not see through. The shoes, the shoes are my favorite. These wedges are simply the best. They are having 20% off coupon right now. Go get yours.

Thanks for all your support guys!

Much love,

Vesna

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