Happy Birthday to Me!

Peter went to SF today and came home with this:

A pink box from Miette! We usually don't get to partake of their goodies unless we go to the ferry building in SF (they're macaroons are so good...swoon), but I guess they opened one near Chris' place. Yay!

Inside were these:

Birthday Cupcakes! Chocolate with Old fashioned vanilla frosting, chocolate buttercream, and one gingerbread.

We decided to celebrate Eastern Time, so we only had to wait until 9.



A great way to start my birthday!

More furniture makeovers

I got a sewing machine from Peter for an early birthday present! Yahoo! It arrived early so Peter let me open it yesterday. I've never used a machine before but it wasn't too hard to figure out. I couldn't wait to get started on my first project. You'd think I would pick an easy project for my first. You would think.

I decided to make a go at reupholstering some cushions. Talk about jumping into the deep end of the pool! I got these two chairs with mismatched cushions from a yard sale---5 bucks apiece! The chairs were in great condition, nice and solid wood...but those ugly cushions had to go. One was an old fashioned floral and the other a tacky gold brocade...both were made of a shiny polyester material.

I took the cushions apart to use as pattern and this is what I came up with. I didn't go as fancy as the originals and do piping, but I did tackle some zippers. I think it turned out pretty well. I really like this geometric patterned fabric too.

You like?

Cats!

That's Lauren's new favorite word since we had dinner with friends Saturday night. There were 4 cats there! Lauren showed no signs of cat allergies and had fun playing with them. Luckily, they are very easygoing and didn't mind a little pig-tailed girl running after them and pulling their tails.

Word Games

Lauren and I play this fun game in the car when we drive back home after picking her up from Grandma's. I ask her what she did all day and she just repeats the last word of every question, no matter how silly. It's funny how she understands that it's a game and will repeat my words even if she doesn't understand them. It kinda goes like this:

Lauren, what'd you do today?
-day
Did you go outside?
-achide
Did you smell flowers?
-awer
Did you see a doggy?
-daggy
did you eat chicken?
-cheek
Did you play on the sidewalk?
-wok
Did you have adobo?
-abo
Did you peel an orange
-owane
Did you go to the grocery?
-ree
Did you watch grandma's soap operas?
-sopa


It goes on and on and on...it makes the 10 minute drive home go by so fast and it's amazing how her language skills improve day to day. Sometimes I'll throw in a hard one like "Did you watch the television?" and she just looks at me with her mouth and eyes open wide. Funny girl.

Everyone Has Fun in the Music Class

That's the title of the opening song in Lauren's new music class. It's a fun and interactive music class for kids 4 and under held at our new favorite place: the local library. The kids get to play with different percussion instruments, dance, jump and sing. It's way cheaper than Gymboree and only a mile away from our house. Even though we don't think Lauren needs a music class for exposure (she get enough of that between our house and her grandmas...we're a pretty musical bunch), it's great because she gets to interact with other kids. I'm sure she could use other company besides us and her grandparents!

Shaking her bonbon

She was a little shy at first, but by the time the maracas and tambourines came out she was laughing, playing, and dancing with the other kids.

Making new friends

Grandma R. went to class with us and took part in the fun.


After class, Grandma and Lauren had fun in the kids play area of the library


Isn't our library cool?

Makeover madness

Like I mentioned in a previous post, I've been thinking a lot about making over old/used/ugly furniture..my first project was to do something with this thrift store find, a fugly but functional TV tray:

A little sanding, some spray primer, black spray paint, and a can of chalkboard spray paint later, I got this:

Fun! Lauren enjoys drawing on it and I love how the sides fold down

We needed a new entertainment center/TV stand but didn't have the bucks to buy a new one so I thought I'd repurpose this apothecary table. In its previous life it lived at my boss' house and was painted a distressed/antiqued white. He gave me the table, originally from Pottery Barn, for FREE! The shabby chic look didn't quite fit in with our living room so I primed and spray-painted it black with a satin finish. You like?

Lauren likes it!

Project!

Spring is here and my head is swimming with spring and summer craft/home/garden projects that I can't wait to jump on. I've been in a furniture re-do kick for the last couple of weeks and it will probably continue on through summer...I need to furnish our home but have a limited budget. I was browsing Ohdeedoh last night and came up with some great ideas.

I so want to spruce up the glider rocker that was handed down to us with some new fabric.

This example of someone else's makeover (from Ohdeedoh) uses fabric from IKEA. I was thinking of choosing an Amy Butler design (I am kinda obsessed with her fabric) like these (click through if you want to see the selection..so many to choose from!)

I also want to make this miniature garden...Ain't it cute?!! (example also from Ohdeedoh)

I love these great reproduction WPA posters. A few of them would look great in Lauren's children's-book-themed room.

I WANT this Damien Hirsch piece....it was the inspiration for the design and colors in Lauren's room..but a print is $750. Until someone recently posted it on Ohdeedoh, I didn't know the artist behind it...I guess she had the same idea I had! I'm sure I can find a super cheap poster or reproduction somewhere. Target had a great line of decor from Dwell Studios that seemed to be inspired by this print and that's what I used for her room. I still have some of the wall decals so maybe I can put them together and make my own artwork.

Happy Bday Jamin/Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy Birthday to Kuya Jamin and Happy St. Patrick's Day too!!!

Fun with crayons

It was inevitable:

See the culprit trying to sneak away? I came out of the shower and found black crayon scribbles on both sides of all the upstairs doors.

She helped with the cleanup so all was forgiven.

Feeding time.

One spoon for you...


...and one for me....

...make that TWO for me!!!

Home Improvement

We have a backyard! We were busy last month with the planning of our backyard. Within a span of 2 weeks our yard went from weedy red clay dirt to THIS!:

I'ts still a work in progress, but we love it. There's plenty of space to BBQ this summer and y'all are invited! Come on over!

My favorite thing is our new planter box...can't wait to get my hands dirty.

I can't wait for the fruit trees to start, well..fruiting! We've got Asian Pear, a four-variety apple tree (ahh, the magic of grafting), and Meyer Lemon. Also about 6 rose bushes, azaleas, a camelia bush, an October Glory Maple, a Sango Kaku Japanese Maple, and a crepe myrtle bush. I'm going to plant my herb garden next week...Yay!

A perfect spot for early morning bowling in jammies.

Spaghetti Face

Sweet Tooth

Daddy's go best with chocolate

19 Months!

Can it really be 19 months (577 days!) since the first time I laid my eyes on my cheekaboo? Every day is a blessing so I'm thankful for the (at least) 577 blessings that the Lord has given us. We are having the most fun we've had since becoming parents...this is really a fun age. New skills, new words, and new insights into the personality of this crazy, funny, lovable and sweetly silly little girl.

Non-stop action
Hopping, spinning, running, exercising (doing push-ups alongside and sometimes on top of her daddy), dancing, climbing up stairs, climbing down stairs, this girl can't sit still. It makes for whirlwind afternoons and pooped parents, grandparents, and aunties. Most evenings, we spend about 10 minutes dancing around the living room before heading up for her bath. It's a good way to tire her out before bedtime!

OCD?
I wonder if it's a phase common to most kids...Lauren likes to arrange things. No, make that NEEDS to arrange things. She lines up her blocks in a straight line with almost military precision. Same thing with her mega bloks and legos. She doesn't like to stack them up high, she likes to line them up along window sills, coffee tables, and baseboards. If I dump a box of crayons on the floor she will arrange them side-by-side before coloring. Be ready for the stink-eye if you move one of her blocks/crayons/toys out of place. OCD? I hope not!



I love you. You love me. Lauren loves Barney.
Lauren LOVES Barney...stangely, I'm not annoyed at all by the big purple dinosaur. Watching the show from a child's perspective, Barney is sweet and lovable and has good lessons to teach about values, sharing and friendship. We try not to let her watch too much TV, but it's hard to avoid because WE LOVE TV so it's on a lot in our house. We just try to balance it with quiet playtime and outside time. Her other favorite shows: Curious George and anything with animals.

Busy litte bee
Thankfully for her grandparents who take care of her a couple of days a week, Lauren can entertain herself. She plays with her blocks, scribbles in her notebook and puts together simple puzzles with little supervision. She's learned to climb up and down the stairs safely and unassisted. Good for them, but sad for us...it's just reminds us that she's getting to be a big girl now.


Big Girl!
She's feeding herself, picking out her own clothes, entertaining herself..and growing so fast! She's growing about an inch a month! She's still a little small for her age (25th percentile) but in other ways she's growing leaps and bounds. And of course, like most moms, I think my kid is in the upper quadrant percentile for smarts!

Peter marking her height on the door.

Field Trip!

"I'm going to take you somewhere cool today!" Peter said.
"Do we have to dress up?" I asked.
"No."
"Do we have to dress warm?"
"No."
"Are we going to the Mall?"
"No."
"The Park?"
"No."
"Out to eat?"
"No."
"Wheeeeerreee?!?!"
"It's a Surprise."

The surprise was the Public Library. It is merely 1.5 miles away, next to the tennis courts that we frequented last spring and summer. It was hidden amongst the buildings of the community sports center...I thought there were only pools and parks beyond the tennis courts. Who knew there was a library there? I think I actually said "Whheee!" when we pulled into the parking lot and I saw the sign. I know, I know...Geek!

I love libraries..and I'm so thrilled there's one nearby. It's not just a regular ol' library, it's got 2 stories and a huge selection of books. It's clean and modern, but comfortable and cozy at the same time. It has a play area with cool, colorful kid furniture and shelves filled with books and bins of toys. Eating and drinking is allowed and noise and laughter is encouraged. I foresee many afternoons spent here with the cheekaboo. I can't wait to break in my shiny bright green library card.

Thanks Daddy for the wonderful surprise!

Howdy Y'all!

A little souvenir from Texas for my little cowgirl

What's up Doc? 18 month Appointment

I swear Lauren remembers what happens to her when she visits her pediatrician. As soon as the nurse pokes her head out into the waiting room and calls out her name, she runs for the door. No joke!

This time, when her name was called, Lauren ran for the glass doors, banging on them for dear life to strangers walking by as if to say "Help me, please! Save me from what torture lies behind these doors!"

I took her hand and led her to the office, she started crying once we entered the hallway. Even getting to stand on cool 'big girl' scale didn't lift her spirits. She clung to me in the exam room when the younger Dr. Wang came in, the wailing began.

He tried his best to "examine" her. He checked her heart and lung sounds, her ears and eyes. From what he saw, he declared her in wonderful health! The only issues I had were her weight (still in 25th percentile but she looks perfectly healthy and active so not to worry) and her lack of teeth (she only has eight but they should all come in by age 2 so not to worry). When the elder Dr. Wang came into the room, Lauren's cries increased in volume. Dr. remarked how smart she was to remember him...not necessarily a good thing though, since she grabbed my neck and refused to let go. I had to put her down on the table and her two doctors had to work together to administer her shots. After a couple of quiet screams she was back in my arms again, poor thing.

The bad news is that she had 4 shots. The good news is that there will be NO MORE SHOTS until her next appointment in 6 months!

Her stats:
Weight: 22 lbs
Height: 32 inches

She didn't have any reaction to the shots but still points to the little round bandaids on her legs and says a sad face, "Hotch." (Hurts). Not surprisingly, it only hurts when she's not wearing pants and the bandaids are in plain sight. What a drama queen!

Word World

When I started writing this blog, I intended it as Lauren's "Baby Book;" A place to jot things down before they get faded and lost in my cluttered, partly cloudy brain. In keeping with that original intention here's a list of Lauren's words. Once she learns proper pronunciation it won't be as cute....



Family and Friends
Daddy: Dayee
Mommy: Mam
Grandma: Ama
Grandpa: MPa
Auntie Sarah: Acha
Uncle Chris: Chee
Uncle Ed: Tad
Auntie Christine: Chis
Uncle Davy: Deev
Uncle Clyde: Kai
Keilah: Yah
Jamin: Jim
Tobey: Bo
Barney: Bayee
Baby Bop: Bop
Curious George: Judge
Lightning McQueen: Queen

Food:
Cereal: Chee or Chex
Apple: Hapo
Banana: Ana
Cookie/Snack: Ookie
Soup: Chup
Juice: Jew
Milk: mow
Cheese: Chee
Rice: Rye
Toast: Toe

Animal Kingdom
Dog (barking): Dagg (ouf ouf ouf ouf)
Cat (Meow): Kah (meeeya)
Horse: Hoe
Pig: Pee
Duck (Quack): Duck (qua qua)
Squirrel: Squow
Fish:Pees
Bird: Boij


Misc:
Ball: Ball
Book: Boo
Jump: Jahm
Hop: Ap Ap Ap Ap
Shoes: Choose
Pee: Pee
Poopoo: Puppoh
It Hurts: Hotch (with sad face)
Go to Sleep: Peep
Blanket: Bank
Bath: Bath! (always with exclamation point)


Cheese: Chee!!!

To my faithful readers...

To the 3 regular readers of my blog (well..ok, maybe 4): I'm sorry I haven't been updating! When that happens it usually means on of the following:

a) been busy with working
b) baby's been sick
c) mommy and daddy have been sick
d) been busy with mothering


This time it's been all of the above.


a) I went away to San Antonio for almost a week for work. The preparation for that trip took up a lot of my time, including prepping for a presentation that caused many sleepless nights.

b) Lauren caught the intestinal flu that was making its round in the family. THANKS, cousin Jamin! Changing watery poopy diapers is so not fun.

c) Of course, after Lauren got sick, she passed it on to me...probably on one of those slobbery, sloppy kisses that she gave me when I got back from San Antonio. THANKS, nephew Jamin!

d) I try not to let blogging or Facebooking take away from precious time I spend with the cheekaboo so I try to limit them to while I'm at work or while baby's asleep. So...since both times have been pretty limited due to sickness and/or business, I haven't had much time to blog or Facebook. Oh, and when did "Facebook" become a verb?!

It's all good now. We're all better and I think I even lost 5 lbs because of all the..um...aherm...intestinal problems. Thanks nephew Jamin!!!!

I've got a lot to talk about and so much to catch up on...so all three (or four!) of you stay tuned!!!