Melanie is 7 months old!
Some big changes this month. The biggest and most exciting news is that Melanie can now sit up all by herself! Hurray! At her 6 month photo shoot she was still falling over mostly. But a week or two after that, she was sitting up like a pro. Such a big girl.
We took her to the doctor a couple weeks after her 6 month birthday (along with Vincent’s 3 year check up). Her measurements were 16 lbs, 14oz (75%), 26.75″ (75%), and 42.9cm head cir. (50-75%). We asked the doctor about the mole near her nose, and she didn’t seem concerned about it, but referred us to a dermatologist to get their opinion. The dermatologist said she thinks it is a cyst, and we would have to surgically remove it and get stitches. She then referred us to a pediatric dermatologist at Stanford. We haven’t made that appointment yet. We would like to get it removed, but not if it means putting her under at such a young age. We still need to weigh our options.
She is way into sticking her tongue out still! She can stick it way far out, and up to her nose, down to her chin, and i’ve even seen her twirl it. Sometimes she keeps it in her mouth, but you can see it poking through her lips. I don’t notice it too much except when i take her picture, like every picture has her tongue out! Ha!
She loves playing with her toys. In fact her hands are always grabbing and reaching for anything that is within her distance! Sometimes that means mommy’s hair or glasses or her dinner plate! She can’t seem to keep still anymore. If she’s on your lap, or on the floor, she NEEDS a toy or she will go in search of it for sure.
Playing with newspaper is really fascinating!
Though she can rollover from tummy to back, and back to tummy, we hardly ever see her do it. We mostly sit her up to play now that she can. So maybe we just need to give her more opportunity? Though she still sleeps on her back, and i would think she would flip over on her own at that point if she wanted to. I remember Vinny starting to sleep on his tummy right around this age (and consequently not using a pacifer anymore). Melanie still likes her pacifier for sleep time.
*Update* of course right after i write this, i noticed during a nap that she was sleeping on her side!
She is STILL waking up 2-3x a night. Gahhhh. Don’t get me started. She pretty much just eats then goes right to bed so it’s not too terrible but she is old enough to not need that anymore. Guess she just needs mommy cuddle time. Since I work all day she misses me!! Awwww.
We have done sleep training with her during bedtime however. Right after she turned 6 months she started getting major separation anxiety. If you left the room she would.cry cry cry. Which she never used to do. So imagine leaving her in her crib at night! We just left her crying. First night 1 hour, second night 35 min. Third night was 25 minutes and that stayed the same for the next week or so! Crying lots. Then after that she figured it out I guess because she can now put herself to sleep with very minimal crying. She does pretty good at nap time too. Now I need to commit to middle of the night sleep training. I have started a few nights ago — trying to leave her in her crib all night and not getting her if she wakes up. So far, going okay. First two nights i just ignored her cries, but last night, i went to get her. She ate, went right back to sleep.
She is eating solids okay so far. Also drinking water from a sippy cup.While my parents were visiting in August, my mom made a bunch of fruit and veggie purees for her so now my freezer has a good little stock pile. I tried giving her some Gerber puffs (like Cherrios) but I think it’s too early because she was very put off by them when I put them in her mouth and preferred to play with it instead.
It’s been pretty hot this summer, so she loves sitting in front of the fan, feeling the cool air, gasping at the wind being blown in her face. I take her outside and let her watch Vinny run around, which she gets a kick out of. We have been to quite a few birthday party recently and she always enjoys the hustle and bustle of the children playing. I bet she can’t wait to get in the action.
She LOVES to squeal her little voice when she is excited or in a playful mood. When she sees the cat come by her, she makes a “fake coughing” sound, because she likes the cat, and tries to reach for him.
Speaking of reaching, she loves reaching for her birdies in the baby swing!
I took her to the grocery store and sat her in the shopping cart for the first time. I brought her lots of toys but the only thing she was interested in playing with was my grocery list!
She rode in the swings for the first time and loved that. We also did a picnic at the park.
Vincent thought it was funny watching her sister on the swing beside her.
Well, i know i write a novel about these monthly updates, but better more than not at all? 🙂 You would think at this point i would be referring to Vincent’s monthly updates to compare, but nope. Haven’t even looked once! I have looked at his baby book though — which i am trying to keep up with Melanie’s. I’m okay in writing in it, but printing photos is another story.
Summer update coming soon – as well as some photos of our bathroom remodel (which was done a few months ago by now!)
Summer 2014 Update
We’ve been enjoying the summer weather and playing with water whenever we can!
We got to visit with my friend Torie and her baby Victor, as well as Evan and Patti. Evan and Vinny had such a great time together while they were here.
They played hide and seek, and were running around the house being pretty silly.
Melanie enjoys Vincent’s company so much. She squeals with laughter at the funny things he does.
Vincent keeps talking more and more. It’s still hard to understand sometimes but he is trying. Since a lot of times after he says something we repeat it back to him to clarify we get caught with accidentally offering something such as a juice box or what have you. It’s funny yet puts you in a spot!!! In the video above you’ll kinda see what I mean when I repeat what he says and then he says “okay”.
We have been to so many birthday parties this summer! Starting with Vincent then Declan, Alyse, Emily and Kai! Just today I heard Vincent trying to sing happy birthday. He loves birthday parties!!! (Which means cake!!!)
Grandpa Don an Grandma Jerrie came to watch the kids for a week.
They went to the aquarium one day.
Jeff and “the guys” went to a Giants game! (Part of our Father’s Day gift)
Vinny playing catch with his Pop-pop!
We went to the park and did a picnic for the first time! (We usually just do picnics in our backyard) Vinny likes his PB&J and to say “cheese” for the camera (sometimes).
Hanging out on the bean bag chair!
Played with Dinosaurs one weekend. Expensive, but fun.
Tummy time for the both of them! Vinny likes copying Melanie. Shouldn’t it be the opposite way around?
Say cheese! Hanging out one morning with all the kids. Not sure were Jeff went… probably got up to get away from Vinny jumping on him! Hop on pop!
Vinny has been getting quality time with Pop-pop! He has taken him out to the beach, and out on a bicycle ride at Toro Park this summer.
Oh look, a free dino ride! LOL. Albeit, not as authentic.
Uncle Pat visited! Vincent also loves running and jumping off Pop-pop and Oma’s deck. Look at all the birds!
Enjoying pizza! A Saturday lunch staple. Thumbs up!
Took Vinny to get a hair cut. Soon as we step into the barber shop, he asks “a P-pop after???” (I.e, he gets a lollipop afterwards) “Yes Vinny, i say relunctantly. The stylist always have dum dums, but i was hoping to offer him my own stickers as reward instead. Changed my mind as soon as he reminded me that he better get a lollipop!
Darn, he really has good memory. I have to tell a story of this one time, after the gym, i picked him up from the gym daycare and walked next door to La Plaza Bakery where they also sell mexican food. We sat and ate fruit and lunch, and then i picked up some pastries to go. Well now, ever since that time, he always asks (by pointing and crying of course) to go to the bakery. The first time he “asked” to go, i took him, because i wanted to make sure that was what he was fussing about. I bought him a cupcake with a basketball on it because he saw it and had to have it. BAD IDEA. Now 99% of the time we go to the gym (every Saturday) he will fuss and want to go to the bakery after for a “b-ball”!!!
We said goodbye to our neighbors! So sad. They were really nice to us!
I wanted to post some photos of what our house looks like on a daily basis. Mind you, this is only 3 days after we had our house cleaned by the cleaners! Its in constant disarray.
The living room: toys, mail, tv remotes, bibs… a cat.
The dining room: daycare bags, food, cleaning supplies, jackets — hey actually its not that messy as it normally is!
The kitchen: okay, this one is messier than normal. I just finished cooking dinner and was in a rush to feed, eat, and put the kids to bed since we were behind schedule. But its so hard to keep up with the dishes, it’s always a full dirty sink!
The sunroom (aka, toy room): Not much you can do here. Activity mats probably can go now that Melanie doesn’t lie on her back all day.
I also should have taken a photo of Vincent’s room, the Nursery, and our room. Maybe next time, i’ll let you peek into that mess.
In non kid news – my Grandma passed away this summer. She always used to watch us when we were sick, and we spent every Saturday with her when we were kids. She as the best cook too! Gonna miss her so much!
Melanie is 6 months old!
I had a fun time with the photoshoot for this month — these beautiful shots were taken at Pop-pop and Oma’s backyard. Too bad she had giant scratch on her face!
Here is Oma’s lovely chair! She had a hard time sitting up in it though. She still needs support but we are practicing really hard!
Melanie can official roll from tummy to back, and from back to tummy! She seems to like to do this most when she is falling asleep — which isn’t the best idea, since she still prefers to sleep on her back.
This month, she’s been waking Mama up for a feeding 2x a night! We put her down at 8pm, she’s up by 10:30pm, then again around 1:30a, and AGAIN around 4:30a. I am so groggy that i dont hardly remember the next morning, and sometimes i even wake up with her in my arms, in bed, and wonder, how long she has been there with me!
Other exciting news is that she is eating solid foods. We started with regular ol’ rice cereal and breastmilk. She seemed to like it, eating like a pro. Cute video alert! Vinny melted me heart. At the end he repeats what dad says “Good job, Melanie!”
So far we have fed her apples, pears, bananas, peas, sweet potatoes, peaches, and oatmeal cereal. She pretty much likes it all! I don’t think she likes sweet potatoes that much though … she still eats it. I’ve been really lazy mom and pretty much only buying pre-pureed stuff from the store. With Vinny we always made everything! I guess i had more time back then…. Hopefully one weekend ill puree and freeze a bunch of stuff.
She really loves toys! Glad we have a bunch to give her. I try to put her on tummy time a lot, and she will try to go for objects. She can’t crawl or anything, but she will shimmy in a 360 degree circle.
She likes using her hands. Its cute to watch. She was playing with the newspaper here. She also loves it when you wave the blanket in front of her face when she is lying down. So much, that she will cry if you stop!
Sometimes she gets really talkative and wants to make music with her mouth. I caught this funny video during bedtime routine one night. She was so loud!
I bought Melanie a bunch of 9 month clothes since the 6 month ones seem to be a little snug on her now. I also forgot about the Vincent clothes bins hanging out in the garage — i was able to get a bunch of PJs and quite a few long sleeve T-shirts which im sure we will put to use ! Super exciting – its like christmas!
We fit Melanie into the umbrella stroller and took her on a short walk to the pool. (She didn’t swim, just watched). She loved the stroller! She seemed to be happy to be able to see the world.
Pretty soon we will be moving her to Vincent’s current Britax Marathon convertible carseat, and getting Vincent into a bigger one that converts to a booster later.
Melanie just laughs at her older brother whenever she sees him. She already adores him so much! And Vincent isa great older brother. If i ask him to “give melanie” her pacifier, or a toy, or a blanket, he will do it with no fuss.
She can put the weight of her body on her legs and “stand up” if we hold her arms. She can balance pretty good, and for a long while too.
Melanie does pretty good at bedtime. We give her a bath every few days, and if its not a bath night, we wipe her down, then i nurse her, give her her paci, then lay her in her crib. I will put on the mobile most days. Sometimes she will not fall asleep on her own and ill need to put on a lullaby youtube video, but mostly, she can fall asleep on her own. She sleeps in her crib until 11p, then i take her into or room with the pack n play for the rest of the night.
We bought a bath seat for her so that we could give the kids a bath at the same time. So much more convenient to able to fill the bath once, and be done. She loved it! Vinny also likes having his sister there too (for now anyway!)
Vincent is 3 years old!
Vincent is 3 years old! He is talking a lot more now. His favorite word at the moment are “oh-KAY.” when you ask him something. He says it in the funniest tone. Before the OKAY phase, he said “SURE!” (for like two days). We didnt realize how much we say “sure” until after he started saying it. He still can’t say “Yes” correctly – he says “Yett!” But he can repeat a lot of things now — even long sentences. I asked him today — “Do you like presents?” and he said “Yes, i like presents!” 🙂 One morning, he found a balloon he had left on the floor (not blown up) and he picked it up and said “Balloon! I forgot about you!!” Sometimes i crack up at the things he says.
His favorite songs of the moment are “Everything is Awesome” from the Lego Movie, and “Bob the Builder” theme song. He also really enjoys this Korean kid’s series called “Robocar Poli” he can watch on YouTube. He enjoys Ninjago, Chuck and Friends on Netflix, and we watch Monsters and The Gruffalo/ The Gruffalo’s Child a lot on the iPad. We should set limits on iPad time, but so far we haven’t. Parenting at its best.
Since Pop-pop and Oma live down the street, he has been seeing them a few times a week — on Wednesday and Friday Pop-pop picks the kids up from daycare, and Saturday morning he usually spends at their house, hanging out, helping with chores, and playing at the park.
Vincent is finally being POTTY TRAINED! We started a few weeks ago when Jeff was at home watching the kids. He is doing very well — hardly any accidents and just working on #2, which is a little bit harder for him. He will get it very soon though! He stands up on a stool to go pee pee, and he calls it “making bubbles” — “I ah make ah bubbles!”
At daycare, he is now sleeping on a mat, instead of a pack’n play. He will start “preschool” at his daycare twice a week starting in September! Learning about the days of the week, weather, the alphabet, holidays, etc.
Vincent’s finally wearing 3t clothes. I’m slowly building up a closet of 3t’s and phasing out the 2ts, though some of his 2t shirts he really loves so it’s been hard. We also just bought him new shoes because he WORE THE TOES off his old shoes. Literally holes on each side of his shoe in the toe area. Shoulda took a picture. We bought him new Puma’s (the light up to a skelton!) and the next day, they were already torn up! So we bought another pair that is Keen brand with re-enforeced toes — like hiking boots. That should do the trick!
Vincent weighs about 30 lbs and is a little over 3 feet tall. He has his next yearly check up later in August when we take Mel for her 6 month check up. He is super cute with his sister. He was eating breakfast during Daddy daycare and i always have Melanie in the high chair next to him, but Dad didn’t know that, so he asked “Men-na-nee?” and patted the table, so that she would sit next to him.
We’ve noticed that Vincent is very particular about putting things in a certain spot, or lining things up, or things being done in a certain order. He will line cars up all in a row when he is playing. If we do some kind of “routine” in regards to getting ready, prepping food, or something similar, he will freak out if you don’t do the same thing, or if it’s done with something “different”. For instance, i told my father-in-law that Vincent liked breakfast sausage. But I forgot to tell him, that he usually eats this with waffles and syrup. So apparently, Vincent must eat sausages with syrup! I guess that’s right, but i never thought of it.
He is also super observant. We have been potty training him, and using the small potty for poop. Well, after he goes we put it in the big toilet, flush it, rinse the potty, and put it back. Well he surprised me one day when he did all of that by himself! Stood up, took the potty, lifted the toilet lit, dumped it, moved the stool over so he could reach the sink, turned the sink on, rinsed the potty, and put it back. Good job Vinny! I didnt even say anything to him!
He also loved to give us things that he finds if he knows its ours. Like Daddy’s cup. He wanted to give it to him, even though Dad was sleeping.
Bedtime has been quite the struggle some days. We do the normal bath, PJs, bedtime stories, songs, then tuck in for bed. But some nights he keeps knocking the door, bringing his blankets to get tucked in. The other night he didnt go to bed until 10pm. Crying, yelling, doors opening closing, going the bathroom multiple times, needing “cold water” to drink… you know, stalling! Hopefully its just a phase… Then after he finally sleeps, he will wake up in the middle of the night yelling, crying… AND now he’s actually been brave enough to OPEN the door, so he will knock, we wont answer, he’ll open the door, and either wait by his door till we yell at him or, come out. I guess we might just need to put a hook / latch on the outside to keep him in!
Aunty Sue bought him a fancy Audi driveable car! Kind of scary. Check out the video…
Vincent’s 3rd Birthday Party – Firetruck Theme!
We celebrated Vincent’s 3rd birthday on his actual birthday – July 26th! It was a wonderful sunny summer day. I was running around like a chicken without a head on the night before and the day of the party. It went very smoothly and i think everyone (Vincent, the kids, and the parents) had a great time. Everyone came up to me and said it was a fun party, so i’m very pleased.
I had Pop-pop and Oma take care of Vincent early in the morning so we could finish up getting things ready. When he came over for the party he went straight for the dessert table and tried to eat a Twizzler! I said “hey – you can’t eat that!” and then he spit it out! LOL, But i think he spit it out because it didnt taste good to him. He was super excited about the balloons and decorations. According to Jeff, all he wanted to do at the party was stand up on the chairs to reach the balloons to “pop” them.
The guests arrived promptly to the party. I made all the kids a name tag “badge” to wear, as well as a fireman hat.Most everyone went outside to play with bubbles, the tricycle, and the tent. after they arrived.
Out in the yard, we also had made a cool “brick building” to “put the fire out” with a bean bag toss game. Though, didn’t turn out too functional because the kids had a hard time retrieving the bags after tossing, and then the cardboard was falling apart. It looked cute though!
We also had a fire hydrant as the “marker” in front of our house for the party, along with this sign.
Inside the house, we did the yellow, orange and red streamers and balloons, and i bought a custom made birthday pennant and some table-top decorations on Etsy. It was lot more than i wanted to spend on it, but at the same time, my other option was to spend hours using my Silhouette to do the same thing (which was totally NOT happening) so i succumbed to spending my birthday gift cards on it. I guess it was worth it.
The birthday banner caused some issues (kept breaking), but Jeff fixed it with Kra-gle! He was also a good help with the party – painting our decorations/games, going grocery shopping and prepping food since he had two weeks off from work, prior to the party.
For the food menu, i decided to do make-your-own sandwiches again, because it is just really easy and convenient. This time, i tried to be sure to have kid-friendly food as well like PB&J, chicken nuggets, and lots of fruit. Even still, Vincent didn’t really eat any lunch, i dont think. BUT HE DID HAVE CAKE!
I found a video tutorial from Betty Crocker on how to make a firetruck cake. It looked easy, so Jeff and i went for it. It was super fun to make!! The only part we kind of messed up on was the food coloring — we tried to make too much frosting, so we used ALL our food dye and only came out with a very light red color. Vincent really got a kick out of it!
We sang happy birthday and he had the biggest smile on his face. Since it was windy, we couldn’t light the candles, but he pretend “blew” them out anyway. Good enough!
Safe to say, he likes cake. He had such a big piece but he finished it all! And also got red frosting all over himself…
We played on game at the party called Rescue the Animals. Sort of like a relay race — we had the kids line up and go one at a time to “rescue” a stuffed animal from the fire. They had to “jump” over some streamer obstacle first!Jeff demo’ed the game first, and Vinny followed along!
Vincent wanted his boogie monster!
Jace grabbed two instead of one! LOL!
It was fun, but most all the boys at they party were running out of turn, while all the girls stood in line patiently waiting their turn like they were told to!
Birthday presents were awesome this year! Vincent got a lot of boy toys! Cars, firetrucks, planes, a cool Rescue City streetscape (kind of like a boy’s dollhouse, is what i think of it), a foam rocket, and lots of board games/puzzles. He’s such a lucky dude!!
We were supposed to play a “pin the ladder on the firetruck” game but we totally forgot about it! I had everything ready too!
Party favors included a firefighter figurine, a firetruck coloring book, and a reflective safety bracelet all in a red bucket (with yellow shovel.)
I also found the cutest sippy cups in the shape of a firehydrant!
I am so glad all of his daycare buddies and some of my work friends could come to the party!!
Melanie had a great time too, she LOVES watching other kids, and she even had her own friend, Baby Jace (my coworker’s baby who is a week older than her).
Every year Vincent is getting more mature and able to really enjoy himself and know that this day is all about him! We can’t imagine our lives without this little dude! He makes us laugh and keeps us young at heart.
Melanie is 5 months
My blogging schedule is all messed up because i keep lagging on posts! I meant to post her 4 month update, but it was so quickly after her 3 month, that i waited, and then what do you know, she turned 5 months! Ooops…. oh well.
For this month — she weighs 16 lbs, is still working on sitting up by herself, and can’t yet rollover… but she loves her exersaucer that we pulled out. She hits the toys and moves her legs. Just have to pad it up with a bunch of blankets so she fits snuggly.
She likes grasping for her toys. She really concentrates whenever she is playing with something, its pretty cute to watch.
She can suddenly yell out a screech when she gets excited, which could be about anything. She also went through a phase of making raspberries with her mouth. She did this a month or so ago too, but she seems to phase in and out of doing it.
She never stops smiling! Still loves her pacifier. I caught her sucking her thumb a few times.
She takes pretty good long afternoon naps — from about 2-5. Drinks about 10-15 oz at daycare. Nightime sleeping is from about 8p-7a, but she still gets up before i go to bed at around 11:30p, then again around 3p, but sometimes later. So she’s still in the pack n play for overnight. But she does sleep her first stretch in her crib. She sometimes puts her self to sleep, but other times we put her in the swing or i still hold her sometimes (guilty! hey, they’re only this little for so long!)
She has had a pimple on the side of her nose for several months now. I meant to ask the doctor at her 4 month check up if it was okay, but i forgot, and she didnt mention anything. Its pretty big and a little red, so i hope its not permanent.
Melanie thinks her big brother is a hoot. Sometimes she will just laugh and laugh at whatever he does.
I havent fed her any real food yet, but i plan to probably sometime this month. I bought new spoons (since Vinny’s ones are all wrecked) and some girly bibs! Oh speaking of bibs, she drools lots! But nothing i ain’t used to… Vinny drooled for 2 years so i hope Melanie’s not a repeat of that!
I almost forgot – one big milestone this month was that she found her feet!
I love putting her in headbands when i take pictures! And i love that i can buy her clothes that have cats on them!
Hope you like the new blog layout, i spend a whole day Sunday trying to fix my photos, update the layout, fonts, and make it look half-decent on a iPhone. Lemme know what you think.
Happy Independence Day!
Today the whole family really got into the spirit of things and dresses up in red, white, and blue!
We started the day with chocolate chip pancakes topped with strawberries and blueberries. Vinny saw me taking pictures and wanted to take his own with my phone. His plate ended up looking nicer than mine!
Miss Melanie joins us for almost every meal, but she is not eating “real” food yet.
We put up the American flag in front of our house.
While i was trying to snap a pic of the two boys, Vincent noticed something:
A leaf was stuck in the ground! He had to go get it.
Then he noticed all kinds of leaves all over the yard.
Simple pleasures!
We heard the town of Spreckels has a parade on the 4th so we headed out at around 10 since we thought it started in the morning but it didn’t start till 12!
Vinny still had the leaf in his hand when we left in the car. (he is saying hi because i told him to say hi to the camera)
When we got to Spreckels, Vincent played at the little park with Dad. There was this boy that took a liking to Vincent and wanted to carry him everywhere even if Vincent has been walking for about 2 years now. LOL – it was funny and cute to watch them interact.
Meanwhile, Melanie took a nap and I strolled around looking at the vendor booths.
Then we went over to the band area to listen to the Monterey Pops band playing some festive music. The boys ate lunch (hot dog and burger) and we hung out on the grass and near the steps as we waited for the parade.
Can’t get this boy to smile for photos!
Melanie was chillaxin and smiling for the camera though!
Vincent was having fun with this lightpole – kept him entertained for a while.
Maybe if i try a shot with the pole…. nope didnt work.
Oh well, back to Melanie!
and… Vincent’s still standing on the pole….
One more try at a cute photo together since i caught Vincent sitting on lap for 2 seconds. Turn the camera back on, and by that time he’s climbing over me.
As soon as the parade started Vincent was acting too crazy (dive bombing into the grass, etc) so we decided to leave. After all that! But we still had a lot of fun.
It was so windy on our walk back! Could see the fog in Monterey. Glad we chose the Spreckels parade instead of the Monterey one!
We saw a firetruck, so i had to get a pic! Maybe i can use it for his Firetruck birthday party coming up.
When we got home, we put the kids to nap. I did some chores and started to do more planning for Vincent’s birthday party.
We went over to my inlaws for dinner. Inaugural BBQ with dogs and burgers, potato salad, fruit salad, beans and pickles!
Pop pop bought a wooden airplane for Vincent to play with.
We met their backyard neighbors who have 6 kids (and a nice play structure!)
We took some more family pics in the backyard.
Melanie is always so smiley!! Just look at her.
Dessert was cake dresses up as a flag. Yummy cool whip frosting.
Vincent and Dad walked over to the free illegal fireworks show a couple blocks away from our house. Vincent was lucky to stay up way past his bedtime. He kept calling the fireworks “firetrucks” and was saying “wow” a few times (as reported by Dad). Glad he got to see them.
My 31st Birthday Weekend
My sister came up to visit me for my birthday! She came up last year too! She was here Fri-Sun. This year I don’t have and vacation days to spend with her so it was quite a short visit.
She brought with her a suitcase full of snacks, saimin and some toys and clothes for the kids!
Jeff calls my arare “stinky snacks” — so it’s funny to hear Vincent ask for it using that name instead!
On Friday she went shopping at her favorite store — Anthropologie. She bought me a few shirts for my birthday and she also bought outfits from Janie and Jack for both Melanie and Vincent.
She bought me a big birthday cake from Layers (the bakery that did the cake for our wedding) along with some cupcakes! We didn’t enjoy that until Sunday. It was a similar cake too, called “princess” cake – raspberry with bavarian cream. This one had marzipan instead of white chocolate for the outside. It was very yummy and full of amazing calories.
On my actual birthday, Jeff wanted to take me to the Apple Store to buy a new iPhone 5, but we found out that i could get $100 if i trade-in my iPhone 4, but i wanted to backup all my stuff first before i did that. So we left the Apple Store empty handed. But i did buy a few workout clothes from my favorite store Lucy, and a few casual “work” clothes from LOFT.
We had lunch at Islands. Vincent behaved nicely (hit or miss!) and Melanie just sat in her carseat and cruised. Susan left from the mall to attend a drum-corp event up in Santa Clara.
We were invited by my in-laws to have dinner and cake at their house. Yummy pork loin, broccoli, potatoes, and buttered bread.
I got a bread box as a present! Yeee! No more crumbs all over the place!
Marbled cake for dessert. Vinny was in heaven. He helped blow out the candles on both this cake and my Layers cake!
I think he thought it was his birthday.
My BFF Taylor, talented crafty woman she is, sent me the cutest gift! See the photos below!
I asked her if she was wearing hers! LOL We totally always had the friendship braclets/necklaces in grade school.
Vincent saw me wearing it and wanted one, so i let him wear one and let Dad wear one to take a cute photo. He is really into rings and bracelets right now.
I ended up giving two of them to my sister Susan so that she can give one to Jill and us 3 sisters could have one.
We celebrated my birthday at work a day early.
Cheryl made me an awesomely cute and delicious rice krispies cupcake, and we had a potluck salad for lunch.
I got 4 Etsy cards and an Anthro card (among other gifts)! Yeeee! Love spending money.
Peter & Merry Visit the New House
Peter and Merry were in California recently for Merry’s niece’s graduation from Berkley. They were able to drive down south to visit us and see my in-law’s new house. It was a very short visit and we only got to have dinner with them, but it was still very nice to see them! They even gave me a birthday card, along with some new baby cashola for Melanie. 😛
We also were able to take a family portrait of the McGirrs since their arrival in town. They are settling into their house very nicely.
Vinny has fun going over to Pop-pop’s house. He was very excited to see his little lawn chair that they had bought him at the Florida house. Ironically, he also has the same chair at his Grandparent’s house in Hawaii.
Happy Father’s Day 2014
This is the first year in a long time that Jeff got to spend Fathers Day with is Father in… a decade? Longer? Since my in-laws are now practically our neighbors, we’re looking forward to spending all our holidays with them. In the morning, Jeff and Pop-pop took Vincent to Tatum’s Garden park. I told Jeff to take a picture for my blog, and he “forgot”.
While they were out at the park, i cleaned up the house and hung out with Melanie. Jeff wanted me to bake an apple pie, so i got that started while the kids took a nap. Whew, a bit of work, but it was fun! We invited Jeff’s parents over for dinner. We grilled some steaks, had some green salad, and baked sweet potatoes with garlic bread on the side. Yummy meal!
Here are some pictures of our family! I’m kicking myself because now i “forgot” (LOL) to take a picture of Mike and Lisa and our wonderful dinner! But you can see the pie at the end!
What a great portrait of these two – didn’t think we have a good one yet!
I didn’t send my Dad a card, so we did it digital – same day text style! We had to bribe Vincent to smile, in exchange for a vitamin “gummy” (he sure loves those, i think they taste kind of gross)
Here is my apple pie following America’s Test Kitchen recipe — I haven’t tried to eat it yet, i plan to workout first! But i have my eye on it for post-workout snack!