Stocking and Ornaments for 2011
This year’s ornaments i bought from Target. The little penguin is Vincent’s and the wreath in the background is for Jeff and I. I used my extensive skills in “glittergluemanship” to write our names on it.
I wrote it a lot bigger than I had planned to initially….
For Vincent’s stocking — i was on a search for the right kind of stocking that you could personalized with glitterglue (made of felt, not the furry stuff) but couldn’t find one at Target or at Michaels or at Beverly’s and ended up buying some at the dreaded Walmart. But then, as i was leaving the store after checking out, i forgot to TAKE the bag, so then i had to go AGAIN, but went to a different Walmart and they didn’t have the kind we wanted left, so i bought another kind. Make a long story short, we ended up buying stockings 3 different times to get the one we wanted!!
I was sick with a cold on Christmas eve but had to create his stocking! Talk about wait till the last minute. The snowman was modeled after Vincent’s Frosty the Snowman book.
Four Years of Butterness
Butters celebrated his 4 year adoptiversary with us today! I bought him a seasonal santa-like outfit to wear, and glitterglued him a little “4″ sign to mark the occasion.
It is so funny how he lets us dress him up without much resistance. He looks really grumpy in the photo but it’s only because we woke him up from his nap.
No presents this year. He barely has any Christmas presents! Haha… poor kitty, such a second class citizen now.
Shimmying All About
Vincent likes to bring his legs up and then shimmy his way in a clockwise direction while he is laying down on the floor. Jeff laid him down on his kick n play piano, then came back and he had moved 90 degrees, with his leg straddling the arch that hangs the toys. Becky said he does the same thing at daycare. Silly boy.
Mommy Loves her Boys
Just an impromtu photo sesh with my lil munchkin, looking so cute!
He looks so adorable when he is looking up.
Here he is, turning all around on his mat again! I had him facing the “right way” and then he pulls his legs up to turn all the way around.
Can’t forget Mr. Butters when he wants to cuddle with mama!
Nightime Hysteria!
For some reason, Vincent has been crying hysterically at night time. When i go to feed him he doesn’t want to eat, just cry. So i have to calm him down with the pacifier. On bad days, he doesn’t even calm down with that! He is still waking up 2-3 times a night, and seems to be getting worse not getting better! Oh well. I think it is his cradle cap that keeps him up at night because he wakes up and has an itchy head and can’t go back to sleep.
Daycare Routine
Vincent normally gets up at around 8:30am at the latest. Somedays he has waken up as early as 6:30 but that is pretty rare. I try to get everything ready the night before – like my lunch and his milk, pick out my clothes etc, so i can sleep to the very last minute.
Side note** Vince has been having to wear hats because he has cradle cap and will scratch it bloody if not.
I feed him before we go, then i drop him off at Miss Becky’s by 9am. I get to work by 9:30, then work until lunch break about 1230 and pump at my boss’ house which is a short drive away. I pick up Vince around 5pm, or sometimes Jeff picks him up.
Everyday we get a report from her about when he ate and slept and how much he pooped, and any special notes. As soon as i get home, i pump some more. Each time i pump get about 6 oz or more. We have been having to supplement sometimes with formula because i dont have enough milk. I have some frozen but none of it is good — i heard some mom’s breastmilk has too much lipase in it that makes it go bad? Anyway, its unfortunate that that is the case but at least he takes formula OK when we mix it with 1/2 breastmilk.
Daycare is going really well. Here is a photo of Logan and Vinny hanging out at Miss Becky’s. I guess Logan is quite the handful compared to Vinny. Logan will cry at the drop of a dime, and takes forever to put down for a nap, etc. But Vinny is smiley all the time, never cries, goes down for his nap fine, and doesn’t mind strangers (at least at Becky’s, not from our experience!)
Here is one more photo with Vinny in his santa hat!
Grandma Jerrie Flys Home
Well after a long but nice stay my mom is heading back home to the islands! Jeff woke up early to drive her to the San Jose airport.
I watched Vincent and boy was he happy! Smiling away and making all kinds of babbles.
Jeff had to hurry home so I could team teach RIPPED class Monterey. I barely made it in time! Last week Saturday i taught my first Turbo kick class since having Vincent. It felt so good to be back!
Anyway, we sure are going to miss grandma jerrie cooking us dinner and watching Vincent all the time. And also giving our indoor and outdoor plants some love. But she will be back in February when my sitter has a week long vacation. And grandma will get to see Vincent when we go to Hawaii in January for my sister Jill’s wedding.
3rd Annual Cookie Exchange
Held our yearly cookie party a week earlier than normal so my momma could partake in the festivities. I sent my invites out a little late and was expecting a small turnout but we ended up with a good amount of cookies.
I made Chinese Almond cookies. I would buy them all the time from the Chinese restaurants when I was growing up in Hawaii so I wanted to try and make it on my own. My mom have me the recipe which she got from her mom. The secret? Good ole lard! Lol. Or I guess they sell it as Crisco nowadays. Here is the recipe:
Chinese Almond Cookies
Cream together:
1 1/2 c Crisco (do not substitute butter)
1 1/4 c sugar
Add:
3 c flour
1 t baking soda
1 t salt
Add:
1 beaten egg
Add:
1 t almond extract
Roll into balls (i used my cookies scoop), flatten with the bottom of a flat cup. Place a red dot using red food dye and the back of a chopstick in the center of the cookie. Bake 375 degree oven for 12 minutes. Yield 36.
Here are some of the other cookies!
Gingerbread Men baked by Torie. My favorite bikini wearing men, lol!
Crispy Chocolate Chip cookies from Sandy
Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies from Chi
Lemony Sugar Stars from the Hustons.
Peanut butter Oatmeal from Carrie
White and Milk Chocolate Chip from Jerrie
Chi brought her 2 little ones Paige (8 months) and Peyton (2 years). Pictured above is Paige and Lilia (1o months), Roger and Carrie’s little girl.
Grandma Jerrie took care of Vinny while i played hostess.
He had on the cutest Christmas outfit thanks to Patti, complete with Santa hat.
And some of our guests:
Renee, Wayne and Hunter (8 years old)
Kyle and Bonnie (she is expecting a little one in April)
Torie and Orlando with their gingerbread man and woman 
Vincent’s First Day at Daycare
Vincent is being eased into daycare by going half days this week. The lady who watches him (Miss Becky) also watches another boy, Logan, who is a couple months older than Vincent. When we dropped him off, he did start to let out some hesitant cries, but nothing like his full blown hysteria when he saw Angie. Becky sent us the photo below a few hours into his stay on his first day:
In the few hours that he was there he drank a few ounces from his bottle and slept 40 minutes. Pretty darn good! I was worried he wouldn’t take the bottle at all, but seems like he is doing just fine with it. He looks like he has tears in his eyes in the photo above, but is smiling now. So cute. When my mom and I went to pick Vincent up he looked SO TIRED because he was used to napping every 2 hrs but was getting much less sleep than that – probably from all the commotion. He barely even noticed me come in the room h was that tired! But i am sure happy to see me.
Bumbo Seat
Since Vince is getting bigger he is ready to start practicing sitting up. I had this bumbo seat on my baby registry but didn’t end up receiving it. So i took Vinny to Babies R Us and had him try it out at the store to see if he’d like it and it seemed like he did so i went ahead and bought it. He was all smiles when we put him in it at home. Daddy had to help him sit up right though.
You-know-who wanted to play with the box!
