Happy New Year's!

Vegas was a blast! Lila did wonderful on the car rides and slept like a baby the first night. Second night was a different story! She decided to wake up at 2am and play. We didn't go back to sleep till 4am. I've been catching up on my sleep the past two days cause of that night. The hubs won some money on sports betting but then lost it all on roulette. Typical! Vegas always makes you think you can win it all.



SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO happy to be bouncing around on the fluffy bed. She learned about jumping on beds from her cousins. Not sure where my other Vegas pics went...can't seem to locate them after I cleaned up my folders. I hope I didn't delete them.

Anyhow, we just celebrated NYE with family five hours before midnight. We toasted with actual champagne after a pizza dinner. So funny how life has changed. Just a few years ago, I was partying it up at one of those LA parties where tickets cost $80. WOW.



::NYE 2006::
My mole days! Btw, that's Daniel Dae Kim from Lost for those of you who don't know! I am such a celebrity freak. I will hunt them down for a pic or an autograph. I have no shame. I once tracked down a D list foreign celebrity at the mall and asked him for an autograph. Oh, the embarrassment!

Happy New Year's everyone! Wishing ya'll a blessed 2010.

La La Las Vegas!

Countdown begins! We will be taking our first family vacay to Vegas. I'm excited to getaway. Excited to eat good food. Excited to see how Lila will react to being outside of her "cage"! Excited to play Scrabble with the hubs while Lila sleeps PEACEFULLY in the hotel crib. :)

I started making a checklist of what I need to pack, and it's ridiculous. I cannot believe how much stuff I need to bring for a 1 year old. We're only staying for two days, but I swear I feel like I'm bringing a week's worth of stuff. I guess that's how life is now. Long gone are the days of packing my belongings in a duffle bag!

My fam celebrated Christmas yesterday, and we stuffed ourselves with some awesome potluck food. The kids all got a ton of presents, and Lila was more interested in the ribbons and bows than the gifts. I'm sure next year will be a different story. The adults played White Elephant, and I got some lotion/body stuff while the hubs stole a Starbucks gift card.



the youngins minus Caleb and Matthew



fun for me, not so much for her

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

xoxo

Knotts!

Hubs and I really, really wanted to go to Disneyland with Lila to see the Christmas decorations, but we decided to wait till next year when she's a lil older. Sigh...I was totally looking forward to seeing Dland all done up!

Instead, my sis took me to Knotts. We were able to get in free cause she pulled some strings. :P We had about 2 hours to go wild, and that is what we did! Wild enough for a baby to handle. Knotts was great for us because parking was free for the first 3 hours, and we got to get their famous chicken dinner to go. You can't beat that!

I was nervous about Lila's reaction to the rides, but she was LOVIN it! I have NEVER seen her sooooo giddy when she went inside the Snoopy bouncer. We were so amazed by how much fun she was having. My night camera skills suck big time...she looks like a ghost in these pics.





She did not move once! She bounced up and down and just laughed at all the kids jumping up and down.

Sadly we didn't get to ride the hot air balloon ride because Lila wasn't wearing shoes. (Rule Ride!) I had some in her stroller too, but it wasn't worth lugging my bag, camera, and Lila down a flight of stairs to get her shoes. I mean really..did that rule have to apply to a 1 year old?

Can't wait for my family Christmas party and Viva Las Vegas!!!

A Visit From Santa

I've been dreading going to the mall BIG TIME! When I heard Santa was coming to my community, I was soooooooo ECSTATIC! Forget the mall or Fashion Island. Actually, I still want to take a trip to Fashion to have pics taken in front of their ginormous Christmas tree. :)

We arrived at the Christmas event like 5 minutes before it started because we wanted to be first in line to take pics with Santa. WRONG! There were already about 8 kids before us. I'm impatient when it comes to waiting! It actually turned out to be a good thing because we had a really great time meeting some new neighbors.

Do you think Lila got scared with Santa? It was inevitable that she would start crying especially with that long beard of his brushing up against her face. It was the most hilarious scene. This Santa did not know what to do!



The neighbors started chanting her name with me and the hubs, and she kind of stopped.



Two more weeks left till Christmas!!!! woohoo!

SHE'S ONE!

Long time blogging friends! I've been holed up in my office sewing like a madwoman. I knew this was going to happen to me. After the dohl, I knew I wouldn't be able to rest for another three weeks cause of the fair. Although this fair wasn't as good as Renegade, it was a good learning experience. We got some great tips from fellow vendors, and hopefully my sis learned a few things since she'll be doing the next one ALONE! I need a summer break!

I can't believe Lila is ONE! I just saw the ticker on my blog...kinda weird seeing that. I can't believe I didn't update since pre-dohl! I was going to do a birthday picture update, but I'm seriously bday'd out.

She did great at her 1st birthday party! There were about three "almost" meltdowns, but the bubble show, her crackers, and the cupcake saved the day! And of course, the last nap which was a long one helped her from going delirious towards the end of the night. Gosh, now thinking back, she was a trooper as all babies are for their dohls. Meeting and greeting people, changing clothes and wearing a super uncomfortable han-bok, having strangers come up to your face non-stop, schedule getting thrown off...it's an ordeal for them! If only she could remember the day...

I'm sad to say she warmed up to the in-laws only the last few days of their stay here at our house. Wow...tell me about delayed stranger anxiety. I feel so bad for my in-laws. They were giving her soooo much love too. If she only knew! My MIL made her fancy jook which is stored in my freezer. ahhhhh LOVE IT! I don't have to worry about making another batch for awhile! Hopefully Lila will give them a warm hello when we go to Chitown in 6 months. Can't wait!

Seriously in a month, soooo many things have changed! She's drinking cow's milk, which was a big hurdle. It took almost two weeks for her to transition. Ughhh headache. I can already tell, she's not big on change! I'm still nursing once before bedtime, but I'm thinking of dropping it because she doesn't seem like she needs to or wants to. Am I forcing it upon her? haha I don't want to give the last feeding up :( Can't she stay a baby forever?

Lila started taking her first steps a couple weeks ago, but she is now walking from one end of the room to the couch all by herself! I'm sad I missed her doing this the first time. She decided to walk like a big girl just for her daddy while I was at the fair! Her waddle is hilarious! One thing she has mastered is the kimchi squat!!! She's a freakin pro at doing that!

No pics to share except this blurry one I took a few days ago. I don't think I can forget that night because it was the first time I saw her comforting Samantha. She's completely "aware" when someone is feeling sad. Lila kept putting her head on Samantha's head as if she was giving her a kiss. My sis and I couldn't believe it! Where did she learn this? It was amazing to see such sisterly love between them. It worked too! After that, they all had fun jumping and playing together!

One week left....AHHHHHH

I was feeling overwhelmed with everything last week. I can't believe she's going to have her FIRST BIRTHDAY PARTY! This is such a momentous occasion! I'm going to actually be singing Happy Birthday to my child! Crazy...it's still so surreal to me as I experience each milestone.

As it gets closer, I'm actually getting really excited. It was stressful in the beginning, which led to excitement in the end. Funny cause that's the exact way I was feeling for my wedding! I haven't seen so many of my friends all gathered together. I'm hoping I'll have some time to actually chit chat with each one.

The treat bags are finally done! Cupcake toppers are halfway done. My sign in table is finally together. Smash cake has been ordered. Entertainment has been booked...today. Last minute decision. Everything has to be last minute for me. Finally got around to altering Lila's hanbok so it will not be too long for her. Baby hanboks are so freakin adorable! I'm crossing my fingers she'll keep her matching hat on and not tear if off her head like she does with all her other hats and headbands.

Last thing on the list is to buy some Spanx! I was hoping that once the dohl came around I would be at my pre-preg weight, but sadly I didn't accomplish that. Darn the breastfeeding! If you didn't know this about me, I'm so good at crash dieting. I know it's not healthy, but a girl's got to do what a girl's got to do to fit into a dress!

Persimmon picking

I've been waiting soooooo patiently for my persimmons to ripen. They finally turned orange last month, but they were rock hard. I decided to wait a month before picking at them. The time has come, and I took two off the tree. It's been 3 days, and it's still rock hard. I'll cut into it tomorrow and see if it has that weird taste that makes your tongue feel fuzzy. I'm not a fan of hard persimmon...I only remember the super soft ones my grandma would give me.



Such a curious lil thing.

Peek a boo!

Her favorite game to play...



Sorry, my voice is super spastic and loud...runs in my family! It's really 47 seconds of the same thing, me repeating the same words. She's like an actual person! :P

Busy busy week again

I tried this post a couple days ago. I edited it and then switched computers and somehow it wasn't there.

2.5 weeks left before the big dohl. Woohoo! I'm excited for the big day. Excited for the in laws to finally see Lila after how long??? Excited for her to taste her first cupcake. Excited to see her in her first han-bok.

I've been sleeping late these days to finish everything up. The banner is done! Treat bags, toppers, favors are left to go. Big sis brought back the famous Hawaiian Shortbread cookies from her trip to Hawaii. I swear you can't just eat one. Have you had one...the ones shaped like a pineapple? Anyhow, they make shortbread cookies in the shape of a 1! How cute is that? Too bad they don't make them during Oct - Dec.

Lila is now in her big girl carseat. Here she is in her lazy boy. Roomy and comfy!



I'm always curious to see what she looks like when the hubs dresses her. She is in an outfit he chose all by himself, and he was so proud of putting that beanie on her. A little too pink for my taste.

Yay, Halloween is right around the corner! We'll be going to a Barnyard Bash put on by my church followed with some trick or treating around my neighborhood. Anyone wanna join us?

Her many faces

She's...



She's...



She's...



She's definitely...



Yup, that's her in a nutshell. I got a set of these rubber coasters for free at Artscow.com. You just pay for shipping. So head on over there while supplies last. I actually get all my prints there, and I love the quality. I decided to make another set for the grandparents. Then I wanted to get a mouse pad, a #1 Grandpa coffee mug, an umbrella covered with her pictures, and then I decided I'm not going there. Coasters is enough. They look a bit muted in my pictures, but they look much better in person. Now when I drink my Diet Green Iced Tea everyday, I'll see her happy, pretty, innocent, silly face :) ahhh my love!

On a cold Columbus Day

We went for a stroll this morning, and it was super cold so I went back home after walking a block. I put her in a thick hoodie, and took her to the post office to take care of some errands. Right as I was about to turn into the post office, I realized it was closed because of Columbus Day. I drove the opposite direction of my house to go to Goodwill in hopes that they were having a nice Columbus Sale, and then I made a u-turn after realizing her stroller wasn't packed in my trunk after the short walk we had in the a.m., nor was her shopping cart cover because it was being washed. I wasn't about to carry her in my arms, and I definitely wasn't going to put her in their shopping cart. I love Goodwill, but it's not the cleanest place in the world and I didn't have enough wipes to clean it down.

Sigh...a bad start to a cold day.

On a lighter note, the weekend was great! We went to South Coast, and I found nothing yet again. I did discover Oilily though. How could I forget about Oilily? I used to work next door to that store during my college days at Benetton, and I would always wonder who the heck shopped there? Ahhh...now I know why people shop there. Their clothes are so unique and so colorful and so happy! I went inside so anxiously to see if I could score something for Lila, but I couldn't bare spend that kind of money on something she'll wear for only a couple times. $68 for a skirt. $158 for a jacket...the cutest jacket I've ever seen though! I was VERY close, but the smart side of my brain kicked in and said to walk out.

I introduced toast sticks with cream cheese and kidney beans this week.

The curious little thing had a couple slices of this and devoured it. Kidney beans...that's another story. I tried mixing it up with sweet potato, but she wasn't too fond of that either. I'll have to revisit the beans again later.

Hubs was getting so antsy about his scores (fantasy fball), so I told him he needed to take Lila to the park to get his mind off such nonsense. She's looking more and more like the hubs everyday. The mini won!

The ultimate toy

I have several of these around my house and in my car and in my purse. I just discovered this a few weeks ago, but this is the ONE item that calms Lila down if she's fussing. It's the go to item and always, ALWAYS works like a charm. I never leave home without one.

The water bottle!

It doesn't matter if it's full or half empty (or half full for the optimistic ones). If it's empty, I noticed she doesn't play with it as long. With the whole plastic scare, I'm cautious about her playing with it too long. If she held it and shook it, it's one thing. But she has to constantly bite on the bottom of the bottle or the cap as if it's food. Wouldn't it be great for someone to invent a water bottle that's actually a toy? I've given the straw cup to her but it's not the same. It's def saved me several times from having the ultimate melt down in the car. Usually I'm fine if she's crying, but the wailing scares me and I get all riled up and tend to speed to my next location. I write this because of my experience yesterday afternoon.

We both got the preservative free flu shots (big sis told me about the thimerosal free ones) yesterday. I'm so glad my ped allowed me to get it as well. I'm such a lagger when it comes to getting shots because of the FEAR! I'm so friggin sensitive when it comes to needles. I got my shot first and had to hold Lila's leg cause I was scared. Really, I cannot stand needles for the life of me. The nurse told me my muscles kept twitching and to calm down. Next up was Lila, and she held up well. Aside from the initial cry, she seemed fine UNTIL we got in the car.

All heck broke loose. Suddenly she just started wailing uncontrollably. I didn't know what to do because I was still a good 10 minutes away. I was thinking about stopping to check on her, but I wasn't catching any lights so I figured I could make it home in like 5 minutes instead. I saw the water bottle in my purse, grabbed it, reached behind the car seat to hand it to her, and instantly she stopped. It was like magic!!!

We arrived home in piece. She was still playing with it even while I was taking off her seatbelt. Kids!

Cruising and babbling all at 6:30am

Hmmm...when was the last time my wake up time was at 6am pre-Lila days? I think it was when I had to commute to Santa Monica from Cerritos. Ahhh...the good ol American Golf days. My body is slowly adjusting to this early wake up time. Hubs is now following in my footsteps and just waking up when I do so he can play with Lila for an hour before he makes his grueling commute to the valley. I didn't realize Burbank was considered the valley! Makes it sound even more sad for him...OC to the valley.

How can one person be so happy waking up so early? She's a handful of energy...guess it's the 11 or so hours of sleep huh?

It's so crazy to think that just a few weeks ago, there was enough sunshine in the morning to walk into our living room and not turn on the lights. Not anymore! I hate the gloom. :(

Hubs caught her a few days ago on camera doing her normal routine. Cruising timidly and babbling (her first word was appa!), and I could tell she's trying to make out some other words. Maybe someday soon it will be umma? She def has the "pa pa" or "ba ba" down and of course, the shrieking!

**I need to do something about the mess. Must invest in some good toy bins or something asap. Is this what happens when you have a kid?

I should be sleeping

My bedtime is being pushed later and later. Why? So much going on in my world. I think I secretly like being bombarded with stuff because it makes me stressed which in turn makes me feel like I'm doing something worthwhile. Does that make sense?

1.) Gearing up for the holidays (lil sprinkles). Thus, making the office/craft room a complete mess. Felt, cotton, thread, INVITES everywhere!

2.) Preparing for the dohl which is almost 1 month away. I'm SOOOOOO behind. Someone kick me in the booty to get going! Banner, cupcake toppers, treat bags, doljabi table...hmmm...what else??? I'm about 80% done with the invites. Yay for completing that!! I'm proud of the invites because I saved some money by doing them myself. Every penny counts. BTW, why the heck are stamps so expensive now?? I spent triple the amount on the stamps than on the invites.

3.) In-laws coming to stay with us for 2 weeks next month. Can't wait because they'll get to see their granddaughter after how long???? They'll trip out FOR SURE! Hmmm...maybe hubs and I can finally make a trip to LB to eat Crab Pot or whatever he's been mumbling about for the past week.

4.) Trying to search for a vacay spot for Spring of next year. We were deciding on March. Supposedly good month for the hubs. Where to go? He hates vacationing at the same place twice, so that kicks Hawaii to the curb. Any suggestions?

5.) Cleaning out the garage and the closets. This is a must as Christmas is right around the corner! I can't wait to finally be able to put my own VERY OWN xmas lights up on my house! Hubs and the FIL will have to help. Is putting them up before Thanksgiving too early? What's the protocol on that?


The end. Need to get in my five hours of sleep before the coyote hollas for me.

Musical Coyote

The hubs was able to work from home today, so he got to experience Lila enjoying herself during music class. I decided to sign up for another session because I really see the musical side of her coming out more and more everyday. She's constantly dancing, singing aka yelling, and flapping her arms. She has such a fun spirit about her.

Here she is saying hi to her friend.


Give yourself a "hug" time. Notice the other parents have stopped hugging their children by now and look at that death grip he has on her!


She did this last week, she did it again today. She'll crawl in the middle of the circle and just stare at Teacher Gary. Attention seeker?


Racing to be first to the congo drums.

10 months

I love the weekends, and I love my Lila. How is it that one small tiny person could bring such joy to me? I'm feeling so warm and fuzzy these days...must be because it's that time of the month. And by the way, who said breastfeeding delays your period!???? I guess I was the unlucky one because my first visit from aunt flo was only three months after giving birth. Shucks!

Weekends are wonderful because of family time. We ate at our fave place, Souplantation. We shopped and shopped and bought some outfits for her. Lila has been fortunate to wear Samantha unni's clothes, so I've been lucky not to buy much for her. However this weekend we splurged and got some cute clothes for her to wear for our family photo session next month. Gosh...already. Must kick butt in overdrive to lose the final pounds before the dohl. My friend said the first birthday is the unveiling of the new mama's body and then second comes the celebration. haha isn't that the truth!!!!

Lila is officially 10 months now, and I'm constantly reminded that she's not a little baby anymore. She loves to stand every chance she gets. She'll let go for a few seconds and fall on her butt. It's amazing to see her trying to do it by herself. I love this stage!

She has made a great friend at church who so happens to be named Hanna :), and they play together and eat snacks together. I'm such a people watcher, so it's fun to see her interact with other children. I realized she's a sharing person when it comes to toys but not with her snacks. She will fight you to the last cracker!

Her top side teeth have already broke skin, and they're quite crooked. It makes me smile because it's so ugly. Ugly cute? Either way, they make me smile. We've added another routine to bedtime which is brushing her teeth. She totally enjoys this and even opens her mouth when she sees me putting that rubber thimble on my finger.

Lila's fave foods as previously posted is the porridge, yogurt, anything with carbs and my booby! I'm not sure when I'll wean. I thought if I could do it for a year, I'll be completely satisfied but now I keep thinking why give it an end date? We'll see how it goes~

Have a great week everyone!

Favorite meal

It's hard enough to figure out what I should eat (trying to be good about NOT EATING OUT), and now it's beginning to be a challenge to figure out what to feed Lila. I want to give her a variety of food...hopefully that might help in not having her become a picky eater like her daddy. She's already not a fan of meat. Yikes and I'm such a carnivore!

I finally found a meal that's quite easy to make that I can actually eat too. I can always count on her to finish this meal: Brown rice jook (porridge) + broccoli + egg yolk.

I usually make 2-3 cups of brown rice and freeze whatever I don't feed her or eat myself. I was skeptical about freezing the porridge because it seems so sticky compared to white rice porridge, but it really microwaves well. All I need to do is add in a serving of broccoli or carrots and mash in an egg yolk. The egg white will be my snack for the day with peanut butter + ____. I can eat peanut butter with anything...w/ celery, toast, or just eating it right out of the jar. Ughhh...I know it's so fattening but isn't it healthy at the same time? I hate those kinds of foods!!!! Nuts, avocados, bananas - all these things can be found in my home.

Thank you for porridge. I can't wait till I can just feed her this without sticking it in the magic bullet!

WOW that's all I got to say!

As long as it was a C-Section...



19 pounder born in Indonesia! Say what? I can only imagine.

Look at the colorful clothes and blankets and random things inside the hospital bassinets. Kinda funny. awwww so sad, the boy is too big to be swaddled :(

Gift from God

After her baptism, we came back home and had a quick photo session by yours truly. It was great to see my family come out to support this beautiful occasion. Hubs and I have made a promise to raise Lila in a God-loving home.

Thank you Lord for my wondapul gift!...as quoted by the in-laws.

a little bit of this and that

ahhhh finally some time to relax and unwind. Hubs did dishes, I watched my fix of Jon and Kate, and opened up my Halloween candy early so I could eat some Peanut M&Ms for dessert. I hate J&K now, but I just had to watch to see what they were up to. I really need to delete them from my recorded shows.

The Dohl is coming along. Catering and the photographer are booked. Cupcakes have been ordered from a very talented gal I met at one of the craft fairs ~ Just Jenn. All that is left to do is the DIY stuff which I've been posting on the lil sprinkles blog. Sigh...I realize I work better under pressure.

I've put a hold on birthday stuff to make some dolls for the coyote. She's becoming more and more of a coyote everyday. She's been climbing on me every chance she gets, crawling in her exersaucer and trying to make it topple over, shrieking from the top of her lungs, and her latest and greatest thing is to stand in her jail cell licking each panel as if she's making her mark!



Caught her red-handed!

Tomorrow is music class, and I'm hoping she'll like it. Hopefully she will since it's looking like she has a thing for music and dancing. Following daddy's footsteps. As long as she stays away from glam rock and metal, it's all good! :P

Jumped on the bandwagon

We bought one...an SLR camera. All I know is that it takes amazing photos, and I'm in love. Usually I'm not a manual reader, but I actually went through the camera manual twice. Gotta get the most of it esp if I'm going to be the photographer of the family. It will also come in handy to take photos of the goodies in the lil sprinkles shop!

Background blurry shot at grandma's house



Portrait w/ no light

20 minutes and still standing

Lila has turned our world upside down. I'm being dramatic here, but I don't know what to do! She learned how to pull herself up by using the crib railing, and she won't get back down. Of course, this is the cutest sight in the world to me but not so cute when she decides to do this instead of sleep. Perhaps she doesn't know how to plop herself down or perhaps she just wants to make mommy go crazy! Her naps and bedtime have been thrown off schedule, and I totally depend on that schedule. I've signed her up for classes this fall, and I'm nervous that things will not go back to normal by next week. I guess this should be expected with babies though, huh?

I put her down for her last nap of the day, and she usually peeks above the bumper as I leave. Instead, she got right on her knees and pulled herself up. As I was watching her through the monitor, I decided to wait it out for 10 minutes before laying her back down. She was just fine - babbling away, gnawing on the rubber crib guard, cruising back and forth. After 15 minutes passed, she started getting antsy and letting out a few cries. At about 20 minutes, I thought she had enough so I went in and laid her down. She smiled and I quickly left the room. I rushed to the monitor, and she was just playing with her blanket and stuffed animal. I thought I was in the clear. Next thing you know, she got on her knees with a whimper and stood up again! Why???????

This has been ongoing for the past three days. Any suggestions????

Baptism

Lila will be baptized this month. This is a special event for us. She is a constant reminder that God is good and has blessed us with such a perfect gift. She is our perfect little person, and I am always amazed at how much I can love her more and more everyday. Gosh I'm being so mushy after reading my (only) 8 completed pages of her scrapbook. To think she's almost a year and I'm not even done with 2008! I opened it up tonight wanting to finish up another page, but instead I just looked over what I completed, closed it, tucked it back under my desk, and now am blogging! Too many projects to complete, too little time in one day.

Anyhow, I'm going to have my fam take lots of pictures of her that day, and it occurred to me that she needs a baptism outfit. Not really "needs", but a onesie or her everyday dresses just will not do! This is an excuse to go shopping for an outfit. Shopping at Joann's that is! :)

I'm hoping I can make her something to wear. Will I have time? If not, I can always trust my local TJ Maxx to find a dress. I'm seriously done with mall shopping!

Sit Lila Sit!

Lila loves her eemo and her cousins. When I need to drop her off for urgent dental visits (I got my root canal..UGH!), she's always up to something. Her latest and greatest achievement is being able to go from the crawling position to a sitting position. She showed her eemo and cousins this move and decided not to show me until last night. It just makes me appreciate the time I have before having to go back to work next year. Can I just stay at home forever? Hubs made me buy a lotto ticket today. $333 Million. If I win, I'll buy all my readers something. lol...if only!

First haircut

Before:



Look at that mullet just screaming for someone to cut it all off!

We had to prep for the first haircut in our bathroom. Gave her a bath to calm her down, got the loudest toy we could find to distract her, sat her in the bumbo, wrapped her body with my hula skirt from the honeymoon, got my sharp eyebrow scissors, and then I snipped away.

After:



Lila did great considering it was her bedtime. Mommy and daddy have to adjust to the new do. Daddy more so...he was not thrilled that I cut 3 inches. Hello, he was sitting right next to me when I did the cutting. I didn't hear any complaints then. Men!

Lila, these soft locks are going into your scrapbook. I pray that you have daddy's hair!!!

L and C but no W

It's here! I got a C pendant from my cous as a bridesmaid gift, and I wanted a smaller version with an L. The pendants are from Majollie, and the owner is a sweet gal with great taste on jewelry. She's in her late 20's so she knows what styles the average 20/30 something gal would love to own, so all her pieces are drool worthy.

Wow, this pic makes my C look horribly scratched up and in dire need of a cleaning!!!



The hubs asks why I didn't get a W too. Gosh...how can I explain that it just wouldn't look good with three pendants hanging from one necklace. I told him to get me this gold ladybug charm bracelet from Tiffany's and add on three other charms - one being a heart with a W engraved on it (knowing full well he would never pay this much for a plain bracelet)...



No response from him!

Gymboree II

I almost got sucked into buying a membership. Almost! I decided to wait till she's in Level 3.

The class was cute. Learned some new songs. I was easily amused by the special gymbo bubble blower so I had to buy one for her. She had fun crawling down the slide but would not go up. She refused! She wouldn't even push her feet against the palm of my hands...maybe she was too scared? She also wasn't keen on crawling through tunnels. I even tried to entice her with a ball but got nothing.



The best part about the class was that she accomplished a major milestone - pulling herself up to a standing position without my help. The instructor put a fish toy on a bridge, and she hoisted herself up to get the fish...of course her prize to put in her mouth. I was such a proud mama freaking out! Lila's never done that by herself! We did that about 4x, and I think she had enough. It was a great afternoon...till next time.

btw, here is a pic of her completely amazed by all the bubbles. That's the look - mouth opened with hands held up like that and completely still like a statue! I'm so happy I upgraded to their bubble blower compared to my .99 store bought one that blows maybe 10 bubbles at a time! Edible and non toxic.

Gymboree

First class is this week! Will she love it or hate it? I wanted to wait on this till she was mobile, and now that she's crawling around every which way, I'm hoping she'll enjoy herself here.

We'll see. Hopefully the pics I post of her will be happy faces rather than sad frowny ones.

Dol (1st Birthday) Part I

Planning must start now! DIY Checklist has been created and I'm going to start asap because I don't want to be bombarded last minute while trying to build up inventory for a potential holiday fair.

DIY Projects

*Make banner for backdrop of dol table. I tried to penny pinch where I could and decided I would opt out of the rental banners and make my own. The balloon peeps gave me the measurements for the banner which will be centered inside a balloon display of ladybugs and flowers. Easiest thing will be her initial. Now what to make it out of is the big question.

*Make doljabi stuff for the guest table. I bought little glass containers at Goodwill last week (btw, it's totally my fave store at the moment) for $.40/ea, and I'll use those as the little ticket holders. I can go and on about Goodwill...lol. You can find such great gems at that place!

*Make party hats for Lila and her friends.

*Make goody bags for lil guests. Possibly use the sewing machine for this?

*Make a ladybug-ish theme garland for the front entrance.

*If I end up doing cupcakes which I'm leaning towards, I want to make cupcake toppers after seeing these online...







hmmm...this little cutie with a stamped party hat makes me think I can make one with Lila's face with drawn in antennas?

*INVITATIONS! Gosh most important thing. I have no clue...

That's it for now. Piece of cake, right? haha NOT! OMG I'm getting the sweats thinking about this stuff.

Picnics

I hate the cleaning days. I seriously go crazy "cleaning" my house before the day my house cleaner comes. Does that make sense? I start by putting all the dishes and pots away, Lila's mats and play gym tucked away in the closet, all the knick knacks in the office stashed in the drawers, etc...

Anyhow, we were stranded today. Usually the cleaners come during her nap, but I had to switch it up because of my dreaded dentist appointment. One of three this month. Ughhh why are my teeth so jacked? lol. Regular cleaning, two new cavities, one crown because my back molar split, and *cross my fingers* I don't need a root canal. I swear I thought root canals were for grandmas and grandpas. Sheesh, I got the bad teeth/eye genes from my parents.

Ok so back to my title topic. I decided to have a picnic at the park. I got the thick beach towel and lugged everything in the stroller. It was such a beautiful day, and the best part was she had a lot of fun. So it seems. She was flapping her arms, touching the grass (first time she felt grass), screaming her head off which was A-OK with me, and eating her food while watching the Arrowhead truck, cars, mailman, people walking their dogs go by.

I need to have picnics more often and invest in a picnic blanket. Here are some cute ones I found and all are waterproof!



Biggest one I can find that's affordable



Cute one from PicnicTime. Same one that Courtney Cox has :P



Best bang for the buck

tummy + toes + booty

She's on the move! Lila is crawling around with her tummy and her toes with her big ol booty sticking up. When will she realize that her knees can do all the work? It's the funniest sight I've ever seen. She's like a slithering worm.

Ring around the Rosies Toddler Dress

Before summer ends, I want to make this dress. Hubs had an obsession of finding glam rock onesies for Lila a couple months ago, so I'm hoping to surprise him by making the dress below from his old ACDC shirt.



The Ring around the Rosies dress can be found here!

Teeth

I guess they do come out in pairs?



Two chipmunk teeth are erupting!!! :P

Go Baylor Bears!

I was a cheerleader all four years of high school. Some of my best memories of high school came from my cheer days...the first one was me having a crush on the only Asian instructor at cheer camp. Anyhow, I even took a picture with him and stuck it in a frame. Little did I know, he was gay. What a surprise, right?

The hubs came back yesterday (yay!) with a gift from the Rasmituths.



Freakin cute. Not sure where she'll wear the cheerleading outfit...maybe to Chicago grandma's house? I think the hubs was even more into it than me because his alma mater is all over those outfits.

The katiedid dress needs to be put on hold. I made a smocked dress instead and came to the realization that loose straps, buttons, flowers, anything that can be put in one's mouth will be a major distraction. She could not focus on anything cause of those straps. What a mouther.

Saturday night

Alone and alone. I triple check that all the doors are locked before I go upstairs for the night. I FREAKED OUT when I realize I didn't close the side door in my garage. I took out the trash today and prob forgot to lock it. Imagine if I didn't double check. I need to stop!

I got to see Emily again this week :) Cute as a button with the fullest cheeks in town. Lila was screaming for joy when she saw her. Literally screamed the whole time she was there. Maybe it was cause she was happy to see Bebe the dog too? Who knows?



Bebe is such a great dog...my kind of dog. Doesn't bark, sits a foot away from you, and is like a bodyguard for the baby. When Emily cries, she runs on over to the owner to alert her.

Sorry Bebe, Lila didn't mean to yank on your floppy ears :(



Today was a good day. The lil one enjoyed swimming today, and we actually stayed out for a full hour in the pool! It was quite nice putting her down in the evening because she was completely knocked out, and I had some time to put the laundry away in her room without her waking up. I should be more careful about putting sunscreen on my feet because they are black. Not tan but black! It's gross because my body is sooooo 5 shades lighter. Not a pretty sight. Who ever thinks about putting sunscreen on feet though??? Is it just me?

Our play area is halfway completed. I'll get to finally check that off the list. She has a blank stare when I plop her in...at least it's not crying, right?

First idea won't work, let's go with the second

I had all these ideas written in my notepad for her first birthday theme, but when I added up the decorations and got some figures on how much things would cost...I sadly moved on. With me not working, I really have to be careful where I spend our money. 1st birthday party or mortgage? I had to pause for a second on what the right answer was. (jk)

So the theme has been set in stone. I booked a balloon place and am movin on to the diy stuff meaning invitations, guest table area, sweets section, and the "other" section. Hopefully I can blog about my findings and my diy stuff (but might move the diy section to the craft blog).

The theme...



ladybugs, the little lucky creatures! really, they bring blessings to farmers and to the hubs. He found a dead one in his caesar salad at Black Angus last week and we got comped. Lucky us!

Any and all ideas are soooooo welcome!

"Look pretty"

I've been trying to teach our coyote sign language for the past month with no results. She does this wrist twisting motion periodically, and I keep thinking to myself is she signing "all done"???? No, I think not. She does it at the most random times. Oh well, I'll keep at it with hopes that one day she'll sign "I love you" and make my heart melt.

What she has caught on to is to "Look Pretty" aka eepunjee!





These pics remind me why I love having a girl. To think, I only wanted two boys! I wouldn't have been able to tell them to look pretty or make them this dress:



My next venture from this site, katiedid. So cute! The models make it look even cuter. I shall do it this weekend since the hubs is going to be out of town. Hate lonely weekends!