Have a slice!

Hawaii 2009 Photo Book

2011-06-14T23:20:00.001-07:00

Click here to view this photo book larger

Aloha! We just returned from a fantastic vacation in Maui. Before I post any pics, I promised myself I would put together pics of our last vacation two years ago. Sooo..just a wee bit late!

St Patty's Day!

2011-03-17T19:17:00.001-07:00

Lauren brought her teacher a shamrock plant for St. Patrick's Day. I dunno, you think she's excited?

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Bedtime stories

2011-03-16T22:57:00.001-07:00

Our night time routine:

Bubble Bath
Brush Teeth
Dress in her Kerjamas (yes, KERjamas)
Comb Hair (thank goodness for de-tangling spray)

Then it's off to bed!

Oh, but wait! There's more.

First I have to read THREE BOOKS ("Cause I'm Three Years Old!" she says). Her current rotation is Blue Puts on a Play, Olivia, and the Great Cake.

After the books, but before the songs I have to tell her a story about "Baby Lauren" or "Princess Lauren" or "Puppy Lauren." It's basically a roundup of her day that always begins "Once upon a time, Baby/Princess/Puppy Lauren woke up in her room/castle/bed" ...and ends with "...then she took a bath, brushed her teeth, read three books, and now it's time to go to sleep...The end."

Then comes the songs. Unlike the books which change rotation every few days, our bedtime songlist is NOT FLEXIBLE. Believe me, I've tried.

First it's "Happy Heart" from the Veggie Tales Madame Blueberry episode.

The next song is Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. This is how it goes down every night:

Me: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star....
Lauren, interrupting: Mommy...why does Madame Blueberry buy too much stuff?

Me: Because she thinks buying stuff will make her happy...but that's not true.You don't need to buy stuff to be happy.

Lauren: Yeah. And then her house broke.

That happens word.for.word. Every. Single. Night.

After Twinkle Twinkle Little Star it's Somewhere Over the Rainbow. I sing the Judy Garland version but every now and then (upon request) I'll play the Iz Kamakawiwo'ole version on the Ipad. If the rainbow song hasn't done it's trick I break out my no-fail-lullabye, the one Lauren calls the "Angel song." It's Billy Joel's "Lullabye," a sentimental favorite.

If she's not asleep by the end of that one I'm in trouble.

Good night, Sweet Dreams my baby boo.

Sunday Afternoon Tea Party

2011-01-31T21:51:00.000-08:00

What better way to spend a Sunday afternoon...

Than with a hot cuppa tea on a brisk Sunday afternoon

Delicious treats
(they're made of plastic but they taste divine..)

Good friends...
(Stitch is the honorary member of the Roundup Gang)

And this face.

Treasure Hunting and other adventures

2011-01-09T00:04:00.000-08:00

Ahh, the life of a preschooler is filled with so much adventure that I can barely find the time to update my Facebook status, much less write a blog post...

Example: Tonight, we played hide and seek, hunted for treasure (in the dark scary forest of my craft room), made brownie covered Oreos, had a singing and dancing contest, ate some chicken and corn while watching parts of the Indianapolis/New York Jets football game...all within 3 hours. I'm tired just typing it out.

It used to be I'd put Lauren to bed and then have plenty of time afterwards to go online for some social networking, blogging, and shopping. These days I either fall asleep right alongside her or have just enough energy to drag myself back to my own bed, exhausted and fulfilled..resting up for tomorrow's new adventures.

Funny Girl

2010-11-17T01:05:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, Lauren was walking around with this big ol' hole in her pants and her white underwear showing through..right there on her backside, down the middle of her butt. When Uncle Chris asked her over the phone how she split her pants she replied:

I UTOT!!!

(translated: I FARTED!)

Only 3 years old and already a comedian!

Halloween 2010

2010-10-31T01:10:00.000-07:00

Lauren's choice for costume this year was LADYBUG (second choice: Grasshopper. Thank goodness she didn't push for that one!)

.
The Trick or Treat Crew and our little ladybug

My friends and their kids came over and the moms went off with the kids while the dads stayed home to distribute candy and watch the World Series (Yay, Giants!). It was hard for me to leave the game but we got updates as we went along and asked for the score every now and then. It seemed everyone had the game on TV.

Trick or Treat!

By the end of the night, Lauren's basket of candy was so heavy it was dragging on the ground. We took her stash and let her have a couple of pieces that night and one piece a day for the week after Halloween. Once the lollipops ran out she wasn't interested. Planning to make christmas candy leis with all that leftover candy.

I made yummy Giants cookies and spooky ghosts.

It's Pumpkin Time Again!

2010-10-07T23:33:00.000-07:00

Lauren's class had their first field trip today to a pumpkin patch. We arrived at 9 am and I foolishly thought that there would be light traffic at the farm since it was a weekday. I don't know what I was thinking. I think EVERY single preschool, kindergarten, and elementary class in Placer County had a field trip to that same farm that day. It was pretty hectic and busy but enjoyable nonetheless.

We enjoyed the hayride to the field where we got to roam around and pick the perfect pumpkin. Lauren picked a two tone (i.e. unripe) little pumpkin and was so excited that it was both green AND orange. There was also a petting zoo, a train ride and this patch of HUGE pumpkins for display only.

One of the best parts of the field trip? The freshly baked apple spice muffins, apple cake, and apple turnovers

Cuzzy

2010-10-05T23:19:00.000-07:00

We're back home from So-Cal..dead tired but so happy. While we were down there we attended a Mexi-Cambodian wedding in Pasadena and got to spend a few special days with our cousins. Best of all, Lauren got to hang out with her cousin, B-Nut.

B-Nut is a bit older than Lauren and this is the first time that they actually got to PLAY together. We spent a few days at his super-cool new house and they became fast friends. They bonded over the iPad, colored, painted Halloween ceramics, went to a park, played hide and seek, got on each other's nerves, chased the cat, read bedtime stories, and we practically had to separate the two at bedtime. The fist thing out of Lauren's mouth in the mornings was "Where's Kuya B-Nut?"

I wish they lived closer to us, and can't wait to see them again. We're already planning our next trip down there.

An apple a day...

2010-09-26T00:03:00.001-07:00

Lauren and Daddy share a freshly picked apple in out backyard

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Poop Art

2010-09-26T00:01:00.001-07:00

No wonder she was sooo quiet in there. I should be mad that i
have to wash crayon off the wall but the expression on her face was so naughty-- it was cute!

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Tiny Tots Ballet

2010-09-11T23:25:00.000-07:00

Lauren started "Magical Ballet" class today. It's a 6 week class for 3-5 year olds offered by the city parks and recreation. Is there anything cuter than a little girl in a tutu? Try 12 little girls in tutus all in one room. Argh, the cuteness was almost unbearable.

As she did in last years ballet class, Lauren spent a lot of time running off on her own and staring at herself in the mirror. This time, mommies were not allowed on the dance floor and could only watch from the other side of the glass doors.

Too. Much. Cute!!!

Afterwards, we headed out to my brother's place where Lauren showed her Uncle Kintin the fancy new moves she learned in class.

And...bow.

We got to feed some goats too.

They liked asparagus, broccoli, and ivy. And they smelled like cheese. Goat cheese, that is.

Oh, and birthday cake. Yum.

Happy Birthday Uncle Deeby!!

First Day of School!!

2010-09-07T23:54:00.000-07:00

Rise and shine! It's time for SCHOOL!

Getting Dressed

Packing up her lunch box.

Looking adorable in her back-to-school ensemble.

SOOOO excited!!!

I had tried to prepare her and let her know ahead of time that I wasn't going to be staying in the classroom but that didn't help. During orientation, her teacher told us the best thing for both of us was to sign her in, kiss and hug goodbye and then WALK AWAY AND DON'T LOOK BACK.

Picking out a special spot to hang her lunch box.

Not so excited anymore. Whaddaya mean you're leaving me here, Mommy?!

Lauren seemed fine at first, she even picked out a special hook on the wall to hang her lunchbox. She was looking around the classroom , pointing at things she was going to play with. I was hopeful that the drop-off would go smoothly. But then it happened...another classmate started to cry. Lauren followed suit and started crying too. HARD! She reached her arms out to me and begged me not to leave. Her teacher swooped right in, picked her up in her arms and carried her over to the art table with the other kids. I did what her teacher said and walked away. I had tears in my eyes by the time I got to the car..luckily my sister was there and she helped by making fun of me and I ended up laughing at myself rather than bawling in the car.

At pickup time, Lauren was sitting in a circle with the other kids, looking happy and relaxed. As soon as she saw me she jumped up, gave her teacher a high five, and ran to me. She was so happy to see me she started crying again and was quiet all the way home.

Telling Daddy all about her first day of school.

First day art project

3 years old?! NO WAY!!!

2010-08-29T01:44:00.000-07:00

Lauren's three. Oh..my...goodness! When did that happen?

What's she like? She's a hoot! She loves loves loves to perform and is an attention hog. She sometimes will ask if it's time for a "show." Showtime for her is dancing in front of whoever will watch..mostly dances she's learned from her favorite show, Little Einsteins. She does ballet steps while screaming out their names ("Arabesque! Arabesque! Port de Bras!j) and then she twirls, claps, sings "La la laaaa!" and of course..a bow at the end.

Favorite shows: Little Einsteins, Backyardigans, Blues Clues

Favorite Food: Chicken Nuggets, Popsicles, chicken noodle soup, adobo and rice

Favorite Movie: Toy Story (1, 2, and 3). We've seen TS3 in the theaters 3 times!! 3!!!!

Favorite Toy: Woody and Buzz dolls. They go with her EVERYWHERE! Ipad/ITouch/Iphone

Favorite Activities: Dancing, Singing, Running, Digging around in the garden, painting.

One of my favorite things about her is that she is so social. She's always chatting up whoever we meet on the street, in the store, at the park. She strikes up conversations with everyone and says HI to everyone she sees. She especially loves talking to waitresses/waiters and cashiers.

She's sleeping well on her own and is on her way to being fully potty-trained. She still wears pull-ups at night and sometimes when we go out. Just in time for starting pre-school in two weeks! Preschool?! Whatwhatwhat?! Yup, more on that later.

Three years gone in the blink of an eye. Sigh....

Mid-year resolution...

2010-08-29T01:37:00.000-07:00

Ok...I have just spent the last 2 hours reading this blog. Yup, I read EVERY post from the very beginning. It was wonderful to read the old posts and relive Lauren's early days from her first steps to her first tooth. I'm so grateful to have this blog so that I can look back and remember.

Sadly, my posting has become so infrequent (1 post in July?!) It's kinda sad. I guess I do most of my updating, silly stories, photo posting on Facebook now. Until today I felt like that was sufficient for keeping family and friends abreast of what's going on in our quiet but blessed lives. After reading the blog, however, I realized that this blog is far more satisfying for ME! It was so fun to relive the holidays, birthdays, and regular days of the last 3 years.

My mid-year resolution is this: I will post more often. At least once a week, even if it's just posting a picture. I promise!

Mission Celebration!

2010-08-14T23:41:00.000-07:00

Lauren's 3rd birthday party was a success! We incorporated her favorite tv show, the Little Einsteins, into the decorations and activities. If you're not familiar with them, the Little Einsteins teach kids about art, music, dance, and traveling the world. It's a cute cartoon and Lauren just loves..I mean LOVES it!

I went a little nuts with the streamers...like this curtain near the entry way and in the dining room...

I love this dress..so pretty, and it went well with the pretty party hats that we made. The dress was a gift from a friend (Thanks, Megan!) and the hats are just regular ol' party hats that I dressed up with crepe paper (I got a lot of use out of those streamers!)

My nieces and nephew helped me put up these construction paper balloons which ended up being a favorite photo spot of kids and adults alike. (Inspiration from Color Me Katie)

We had lots of food as usual. The usual suspects: pancit, lumpia, Hawaiian bbq chicken from L &L, spam musubi. Most people are closet spam lovers...they are always best sellers at our parties. Come on, admit it, YOU LOVE SPAM!

The kids painted in the outdoor art studio that we set up. Some of them stayed indoors and worked on the 'masterpiece' coloring books that I put together (famous works of art that the kids could color). For party favors, the kids took home the coloring books, crayons, colored pencils and a Little Einstein's classical music CD.

Cake! According to Lauren the "3" candle was upside down and we HAD to turn it over before she even considered blowing it out.

Pre and post meltdown. It was all good in the end. Not so much in the middle.

Pinata! We had the ribbon-pull kind. Not as exciting as the swing-and-beat-up kind...but much safer..especially the little ones who aren't so coordinated yet.

Yay Presents! Her favorite: Toy Story toys.

Best part of the party: hanging out with family and friends.

FLASHBACK!!!

Flashback! Here's our boo at her 1st birthday party. Sigh...where'd the time go?!

Happy 3rd Birthday!

2010-08-13T23:46:00.000-07:00

Birthday Pancakes

Birthday Friends

Birthday Show (and collected some birthday money from grandma and grandpa's friends!)

Birthday cupcake with Mommy, Daddy, and Uncle Chris

How about a Chocolate Birthday Kiss?

I'm three!!!!

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

10 years!

2010-07-19T00:01:00.000-07:00

Better late than never!

Peter and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary in May by taking a long weekend vacation in Monterey. It was wonderful. The weather was great (it could have been a little sunnier, but at least the rain that threatened to fall held off until we were on our way home).

WE stayed at a surprisingly nice Best Western a few miles away from Cannery row. The location was perfect for me, with a Beverly's fabric store within walking distance where I got some Amy Butler fabric. But I digress...

We traveled to Monterey on our anniversary day. Once we arrived we had dinner at the nice restaurant adjacent to our hotel. The dinner was a sweet gift from our best friends, they gave us a gift visa card to use for our dinner. Fire grilled pizza, fish and chips, corn and shrimp chowder, and grilled oysters. YUM!

The next day we headed out to Point Lobos nature preserve where we spent hours roaming and hiking, watching the harbor seals frolicking on the rocky shore and sunning themselves on a small strip of beach. We had a small picnic at Whaler's Cove and climbed the rocky stairs to the top of the cove to take in the breathtaking view.

Lauren finds some whale bones at Whaler's Cove and watching the seals.

We continued on down the road to search for Pfeiffer Beach, a hidden jewel close to Big Sur. It definitely was hidden, we drove down a two mile narrow, bumpy, twisty road to finally get down to the beach. Unfortunately, the whipping wind made for a miserable beach...the sand stung our skin and eyes. We huddled under a rocky cave to find shelter from the cold wind. It's too bad because the views were gorgeous and there were some unusual and cool rock formations. Maybe next time.

We headed back to downtown Monterey where we played at the Dennis the Menace park and rented a paddleboat. We paddled around the park for an hour until the sun set. Perfect.

The highlight of our trip was definitely the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Sigh...I could hang out there for hours and hours. I loved the huge outer reef, giant kelp, seahorse, and ocean deep exhibits. Lauren loved the turtles and penguins. Peter's favorite was the giant kelp and the sardines! We spent the next two days at the aquarium and then headed back home just as the rain started to pour. It was a wonderful weekend, and a perfect way to celebrate our anniversary and our family. Ten years has gone by in a flash, I wonder what the next 10 years holds for us? I can't wait to find out!

Lauren Gets Her Hair-Did!

2010-05-02T00:18:00.000-07:00

This wasn't her first haircut, just her first visit to a salon. She did really well--she sat still and played quietly with some toys while she got a little trim. I'm sad to see the wispy ends of her baby hair go, but it was starting to look a little ratty so we decided to go get it cleaned up. I hope she didn't notice the back section with the little girl spa and mani/pedis.

Before....

During....

Blow dry and style (putting a purple flower clip in her hair).

After!

Roomba = Instant Playmate

2010-05-01T02:16:00.001-07:00

How does an only child make new friends? By pushing a button on the robot vacuum.

Tag, you're IT!!!

Run mommy run! Here comes 'Boomba!'
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Build it, stuff it, dress it, PAY FOR IT!

2010-05-01T02:07:00.000-07:00

We took Lauren and my niece to Build A Bear workshop over the weekend. The girls had so much fun picking out their animals. Lauren picked a frog-- the last one on the store-- probably because we watched Princess and the Frog last week (which she loved!) In case you've never been to Build A Bear, it goes like this:

Pick an animal shell ( unstuffed)

Stuff it at the stuffing machine. Lauren's stepping on the pedal to make it go while the attendant guides the stuffing into the animal.

Pick an outfit from the (literally) walls of outfits and accessories. I wasn't sure of the frogs gender until Lauren picked out a pink
blouse with floral appliques and a ruffly skirt with matching shoes. "Froggy" is a girl!

Pay an arm and a leg for a new best friend and take her home (buckled in, of course).

Lauren loves Froggy

The frog itself cost only $16. It's the accessories that added up
To a total of $42. Yikes! The clothes, although adorable, are expensive so I'm gonna try to find some bear or doll clothes patterns online and sew some myself. They look really easy to make and I can even make (gasp!) MATCHING outfits for Lauren and Froggy. Somebody stop me!!!

Our weekend, 4/23-26

2010-05-01T01:35:00.001-07:00

A long weekend for us. My nephew participated in the Reno jazz festival so we went up there to watch him perform
And compete.

Climbing ropes at the park

Dairy Queen princess. I wish I had a picture of the chocolate mess that ensued.

Making oatmeal raisin cookies.

... And I helped!

Enjoying her first concert at the Reno Jazz Festival

Bravo!!!

At Build-a-Bear with her cousin.

The long weekend ends the same way it began: having fun at the park! Wheeee!

Art?

2010-05-01T01:20:00.000-07:00

Sticker art (artful stickering?)

The artist (the stickerer?)

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Our weekend 4/17-18

2010-05-01T01:17:00.001-07:00

Heading out to Picnic Day at UCDavis

Cotton candy, where have you been all my life?!

Monkey Bread is tasty (a new expression for her...she sounds so grown up when she says it)

Digging around in the garden. Our vegetable planter has tomatoes, carrots, onions, squash, eggplant, and cucumbers. So far everything's coming up nicely.

Project from her first day in Sunday School. Her first time didn't go very well. Lots of tears even though shr could see that
Daddy was standing outside the classroom door the whole time.

First of the season sweet corn is
always best enjoyed while wearing a pretty dress and cute boots.

Jammies from Honolulu Chinatown, a gift from Auntie Lali... She loves them!

Sweetness

2010-04-13T21:47:00.000-07:00

Lauren had a conversation with a random grocery shopper the other day:

Lauren: Hiiiii!!!! (waving)
Shopper: Hi There! (waving back)
Lauren: This my Mommy! (pointing at me)
Shopper: Hi Mommy! (waving at me)
Lauren: My Mommy SO beautiful.

Awwwwwwwww.....I love Lauren.

What's more fun than baking cupcakes?

2010-04-12T18:12:00.000-07:00

Using fun tools like these Mickey measuring cups....

....and having a cute little helper

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I miss my Daddy

2010-04-12T00:57:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my Dad's birthday, he would have been 75 years old. I can just imagine what the day would've been like if he were still alive. We would've had a HUGE party...probably something goofy like a luau. There would've been karaoke, lots of food, lots of family. He would've blown out his cake with his grandkids surrounding him, Lauren sitting on his lap. He would've fed her lots of cake and ice cream and she would've not wanted to go home and begged to sleep at Grandma and Grandpa's house. It's a lot of "Would Haves" and I need to stop thinking about that kind of stuff. It's not gonna make me feel better, just sad.

This year seems to be a much more emotional remembrance for me, probably because it's a milestone year. I really miss him...and I'm so sad that Lauren never got to know him. We went to the cemetery and brought him some birthday flowers. We sang Happy Birthday and just as I was going to get teary Lauren said, "Oh no! Where's the birthday cake?" Silly girl knows how to make me smile.

A salute for Grandpa

In his honor, I sang her our Lullabye. I was getting all emotional again, but right on cue, Lauren turned towards me and put her hand on my mouth. It was her not so subtle way to tell me "shhhh..I'm trying to sleep." Like I said, silly girl knows how to make me smile.

Shopping

2010-04-12T00:43:00.000-07:00

Lauren has this little shopping cart, I think it is a hand-me-down (as most of her toys are, lucky girl!). She zips around the house pushing it. Picking up random items around the house to throw into it (a block, a magazine, a sock). She pays for her items with an old gift card that has her picture on it (her "Babycard" as she calls it). She keeps this card in a small old leather wallet that she carries around in her "purse" (My Little Pony easter basket). She'll occasionally stop to make a quick call to Grandma on her (toy) cellphone.

Power shopper whizzing by

If you ask where she's going, she will always, ALWAYS reply "going to Walmart." Now, Lauren has only been to Walmart ONCE (ok, maybe two times) in her life....I don't know why she insists on going to Walmart every time to go shopping. I try to tell her to shop at Target instead, "They're stuff is cuter," I say. "Have you seen the new "Liberty of London" stuff they've got? SO much better than Walmart. Wanna go to Tar-Zhay?" I asked, trying to trick her into thinking it's European.

Nope didn't work. She loaded Stitch into her cart and off they went...to Walmart. I bet it's because there's a McDonald's in every store.

Off to Walmart with Stitch

What's up Doc!

2010-04-03T01:47:00.000-07:00

Lauren went to the Docs (plural because it's a father/son practice) on Wednesday without me. I think it's the first time I've missed out on an appointment. Daddy and Grandma went and the Doc reassured Grandma that Lauren was healthy and right on track. She also got part two of her H1N1 vaccination (never too late, says the doc!).

A pleasant surprise in the local paper was this nice article about her doctors. The story printed on the day before her appt, so Peter brought it in for Doc's autograph. Heh.

I'm glad we're in as patients because after this article, I'm sure they'll be bombarded with new ones. I really like her doctors and even though it would save us a lot of money to switch health plans, we decided to stick with what we've got so that Lauren could keep the doctor that's taken such good care of her since day 1. I like the idea of her growing up with the same doctor who checked her out on the morning she was born.

2.75 Years

2010-04-03T00:50:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted an update in a while. We've just been so busy and lazy (at the same time..).

Lauren is now 2 years and 9 months old. Wow. Even though I still call her "baby" she is at the tail end of toddler-dom and almost a preschooler. I now believe everyone that has ever told me that "time flies" and "it goes by so fast" and "before you know it, she'll be in ____ " (preschool, highschool, buying her prom dress. ack!)

I watched Lauren as she slept tonight and tried to remember what she looked like when she used to fall asleep in my arms as an infant. It almost brought me to tears that I couldn't remember. I had to look back on old photos to reacquaint myself with her baby face: the big cheeks, her teeny little nose, those hairy ears. I can still see a trace of that chubby cheeked baby but now I can also imagine the beauty that she will become. Daddy better get ready, she's gonna be a heartbreaker!

More than just a beauty, this baby's got brains and personality to boot! I'm not just saying that 'cause she's MY baby...well, maybe I'm a little biased. Just a little.

Here are her favorites at 2 years and 9 months

Food: corndogs, chicken nuggets, french fries. I hang my head just thinking about it. How did we let this happen? We're working on getting her to eat healthier. She also loves chicken adobo, rice, and fruit. That's a little better. Oh, and she loves oreos. So much so, that she has named a dance after it.

Activities: Running around our house (we have a path around the living room and kitchen that we routinely run during commercial breaks), painting (with brush..not finger paints. She hates those), coloring, and drawing. She also loves to cook in her play kitchen and the real kitchen. I often let her measure things out when I bake and she likes to stir things. Is positioning refrigerated biscuit dough on a cookie sheet considered "cooking?" If so, she does a lot of that.

TV: She's not so into Barney anymore. She loves Little Einsteins now and I don't mind it so much because there's a lot of music and art in it. Every now and then she likes Blues Clues or Veggie Tales and of course her favorite Pixar movies: Finding Nemo, Cars, and Bugs Life. Admittedly, she watches a lot of TV...but it's pretty much the same shows over and over and over.

Books: We read to her every night and for naps. She especially likes Richard Scarrey books and I've been lucky to find lots of them at used bookstores.

Puzzles: She loves puzzles. LOVES. Whether it's the wooden puzzles or the puzzle apps on my phone, she's a wiz and sometimes puts the pieces together faster than I can.

Dancing machine. Lauren has been a dancer from the time she could stand. She does this adorable butt shaking thing and it's cute now, but it won't be cute when she's 16 and doing it in front of boys. Most nights, she and Peter have a little dancing session in the office. He blasts the Stevie Wonder Pandora channel and they dance around for about 15 minutes before bath time. I just smile when I hear them stomping around upstairs. It's the sweetest thing. Here's a sample of her happy feet, taken during a wedding reception in Orlando:

Sleeping: Gone are those days when we struggled to get her to sleep. We've got a pretty well-established routine so bedtime is a snap: Bath (lately, she's been into bubble baths), brush teeth, pajamas, read books, dim the lights, say prayers, and then she says "Good night, go sleep mommy!" She pulls up the covers and rolls over on her side and is out within 10 minutes. This all goes smoothly every night as long as the following are present: Big blue blanket, pillow---the one with butterflies pillowcase, her stuffed animals "Teddy" and "Puppy." (Can you guess what kinds of animals they are?) She needs someone in the room with her to fall asleep, but once she's out, we slip out of her room quietly and she's on her own till morning.

Potty Training: We're not there yet, but hopefully by the next update, there will be something to write about.

Potty Training Chart. I've invested in lots of stickers. Lots.

There really is nothing to complain about this kid. She's happy, silly, creative, funny, loving, and oh so entertaining. She does have her moments, and there are some things she does that could drive me nuts if I dwell on them. I won't though, so I can focus on the good things....how she told said today that "Mommy and Daddy are my best friends!" Awww...

How to celebrate Cesar chavez day

2010-03-27T03:43:00.001-07:00

Organize a protest? Write a letter to a politician? Read about the history about farm labor in America? Sadly, no. I did none of those...

Ummm. I went to the mall. Lauren and I had a rare (these days) mommy and me day so we headed out to the mall for a day of:

Did a bit of window shopping

Rode the carousel

Took pictures in front of the Easter bunny's house

Danced in the food court

We ended with a sushi dinner with friends to celebrate a couple of belated birthdays and my early birthday.

Cake x 3!!!!

Baby cakes!!

2010-03-18T23:53:00.001-07:00

Two of my dear cousins are having babies! We attended a joint shower for them last week. I attempted my first Diaper Cake. I used about 65 diapers for each cake and four receiving blankets. I think they turned out quite nice!

One for G & B who are Expecting their first boy

And one for R&R who are expecting yup, you guessed it, a girl!

Best of all, Lauren got to play with her cousin Lilly!! They were hugging each other like this all day.

Silly rabbit

2010-03-18T23:46:00.001-07:00

Sticks are for kids! (her new favorite snack are Pringles
Sticks)

Having fun at the Target dollar spot.

Little artist

2010-03-18T23:28:00.002-07:00

Working on another masterpiece.

We set up a little art nook in the kitchen. There's not much room but it's the only non-carpeted area in the house (besides the bathrooms). We didn't want to worry about cleaning up paint and water spills.

She never got into fingerpainting cause she HATES getting dirty so she went straght to painting with a brush. She can spend an hour happily painting away in her little kitchen corner. Here's her latest creation. She usually paints on butcher paper or scratch paper that I bring home from work but I found this old canvas in my art supply closet and let her have at it:

She calls it: Beautiful Flowers Colors

Happy St Patricks Day!

2010-03-18T23:28:00.001-07:00

Shamrock sprinkles make me happy!

Sometimes only mommy gets it.

2010-03-15T20:02:00.000-07:00

Lauren: Mommy, Mommy! Time for Beeyekpeeyast! Auren want CanCakes! Chochaj!
Me: You want pancakes and sausage for breakfast?
Lauren: Yes! Cancakes and chochaj for beeyekpeeyast! YAY!

2010-03-10T15:23:00.001-08:00

Snapshots

2010-02-28T21:11:00.000-08:00

Sunday morning pancakes

Monster!!!

2010-02-28T16:32:00.001-08:00

There's a pink and brown polka dot monster running around our house...

It likes to hide...

...burrow into dark and soft places

...and flash anyone that gets in its way.

It turned our living room into a disaster area....

...and ate all of our crackers.

Orlando bound

2010-02-10T08:20:00.001-08:00

We are headed to Orlando for a wedding...yahoo!

Not too excited about 8 hours of flight time but we learned some lessons from our last airplane ride and were hoping for smooth sailing (flying) this time. So far so good, security was sirprisbgly quick and easy. We just spent some time at a kids gift shop here at the terminal where Lauren met a tall, handsome stranger.

"Wanna read my book with me?
" Lauren strikes up a conversation with the gift shop giraffe.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

All that jazz

2010-01-30T18:19:00.001-08:00

I'm at a jazz festival /
Competition where my nephew is competing in two events. I'm so proud if him.

Playing it cool before performance. Go Jamin!

Cookies for Santa

2010-01-21T00:02:00.001-08:00

I'm way behind on my holiday posts. I resolve in 2010 to keep up the blog, I've gotten a couple of complaints that my posts are few and far between.

Christmas Eve evening is typically spent at my moms house And we don't usually return until the wee hours of Xmas morning.

Before we left for candlight sevi e at church Lauren and I made and decorated sugar cookies for Santa. We had green and red sparkly sugar and some Xmas tree sprinkles, most of which ended up in Lauren's mouth.

We set a few cookies and a cup
of milk on our chalkboard tv tray. I totally forgot a out leaving food out for the reindeer. Sorry guys, I'll remember next year!

Finding Nemodory

2010-01-20T23:46:00.001-08:00

Say hello to the newest member of our family! Lauren loves her new pet! She says "goo-night" to her(him?) every night. We put a stepstool in front of the counter where the tanks sits so Lauren can reach up and gaze lovingly at her new best friend.

Bedtime stories

2010-01-20T23:37:00.000-08:00

Reading with uncle Chris

Marsha Marsha Marsha

2009-12-22T23:58:00.001-08:00

I just made some marshmallows. They're so good I wanna wake Peter and Lauren up right now am say " OMG you have to taste this!!!

They are sound asleep and I'm enjoying a cup of hot cocoa topped with homemeade marshmallow goodness. You snooze you lose!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Wrapping Presents

2009-12-18T16:19:00.001-08:00

I love prettily wrapped gifts! Lauren and I wanted to personalize some gifts for her friends. If the presents are going under the tree, I don't usually use a lot of bows or embellishments, they just get crushed. Instead, we stamped each kid's name all over the front of their package. I like.

Lauren loved the stamping part..we use acrylic stamps and you just apply the letters to it. An easy way to personalize a generic gift box.

Chuck E's House

2009-12-18T16:18:00.001-08:00

Lauren attended her first Chuck E. Cheese Birthday party. I normally avoid that place, but couldn't miss out on celebrating miss Mia's birthday.

Lauren loved the games

Loved getting the tickets (didn't you used to LOOVE that when you were a kid?)

LOVED the cupcakes...

But didn't love Chuck E.

Artsy Party

2009-12-18T16:17:00.003-08:00

We attended a great birthday party at a local kids' art studio. We had a great time. Especially Lauren.

She enjoyed making a crown,

painting,
and cupcakes!!!

Eat Pie!

2009-12-18T16:17:00.001-08:00

When life hands you leftover sweet potatoes, whaddaya do?

Make sweet potato pie!!!
(yum)

Cookies!!!!

2009-12-18T01:30:00.001-08:00

It's 1 am and I'm still up baking cookie for a cookie exchange. I made peanut butter cookie kisses. I made the dough from scratch and used up a bag of Hershey kisses that I got on sale after Halloween. I made them two ways. The classic style on a cookie sheet and in a mini muffin pan. I think cooking them in the muffin pan is cuter.

This is nice

But I think this is better:

I'm waiting for them to finish cooling and then I'm off to bed!

Look at me I'm dancing!

2009-12-04T12:00:00.000-08:00

Umm.. Kinda sorta. She spends an awful lot of time staring at herself in the huge mirror of the studio. And she's not hanging on to my leg! Much better. Or as Lauren would say "Much butter!!!"

Storytime

Being sick is a good thing because....

2009-12-04T11:28:00.001-08:00

I'm able to catch up on blog posts!!! I'm gonna be posting a lot in the next coupla hours.. Some posts are more than a month overdue!
I'm doing this all from the comfort of my bed.
I love my phone!!!

Lauren says HI!

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care...

2009-12-04T11:01:00.000-08:00

I've been home sick all week. Lauren was sick too and now Peter's caught it and has been home for the last two days. I had hoped to have the house decked out for Christmas by now but the only thing I was able to do was hang up the stockings.

Lauren has a very special handmade advent/countdown stocking ( not made by me, I bought it on Etsy a couple of years ago). It's a patchwork stocking that has little pockets to fit a daily treat or gift leading up to Christmas.

This is the first year that she kinda understands how the stocking works. I was a day late putting it up but I don't think she noticed. It'll be a great way to dole out her leftover Halloween candy.

Tomorrow's pocket is going to have snowman tattoos in it. I've been saving up happy meal toys, stickers, and treats. FUN!!!

Sweet

2009-12-04T10:58:00.000-08:00

Learning to share...

...and take turns.

Our little Artist

2009-12-04T00:54:00.000-08:00

Our little artist hard at work.

Itchy nose + Paint covered fingers = Avant Garde Makeup or Warpaint?

Discussing her work with Daddy

Tiny Tots Dance Class

2009-11-07T23:33:00.000-08:00

So far so good, excited about going to dance class!

Pre-Class Jitters

Lauren's first day of dance class was filled with lots of cute, lots of pink, but, unfortunatley, not a lot of dance. Her poor teacher, Miss Courtney, had a smile pasted on her face while she tried to coax 8 little girls to let go of their mommies' legs. In the end, 3 of them (including Lauren) had to be carried while their mommies skipped, swayed, and danced goofy animal dances, hopelessly urging the "tiny tots" to participate.

I don't know what the kids were so scared of, the sea of pink sparkly tulle or Miss Courtney's high pitched voice.

The only time Lauren let me put her down was at the end, when she ran off to get a sticker. I suggested to her teacher that maybe the stickers should come first to break the ice. She said that they should be ok by next week and that by week 3 the mommies won't even be in the room. I highly doubt it, but we'll see. I'll have my dancing shoes ready just in case.

"Get me OUTTA HERE!"

Apple Hill

2009-11-07T16:48:00.000-08:00

Apple Hill is only a 1 hour drive away so we threw on some jackets and headed out there with my mom. It was a bit windy and cold but thankfully the sun peeked out every now and then to warm our noses and fingers. I had never been to Apple Hill and didn't know what to expect. We picked the biggest farm, High Hill, hoping that there would be more to do than just buy apples. We lucked out, they had some fun activities like trout fishin in a stocked pond and pony rides. The craft booths were plentiful but bleh (mostly "old-people crafts" so I wasn't interested in any of them).

The smell of freshly baked apple pie and apple doughnuts filled the air. Aaaahhhh..we stocked up on 3 varieties of apples: Pink Lady, Winesap, and Empire. We bought 2 pies, including a Sour Cream Apple pie. I love me some pie!

The highlight of the day for Lauren was the pony ride. She fell in love with a pony named Valentine and couldn't stop talking about it all the way home. ("Tantine Horsey!")

With her Valentine

Sad face because she wanted the ride the pony again.

Trick or Treat!

2009-10-31T22:48:00.000-07:00

My litte Ballerina!!!

Trick or Treat

Smell My Feet!

Give Me Something Good To Eat!

Lauren had a great time on Halloween. We went Trick Or Treating around our neighborhood and the kids made out with lots of good stuff. Our neighborhood is the perfect place for Trick or Treating: well-lit, nicely decorated, and friendly neighbors who really get into it. The weather was nice so we were able to stay out longer and hit twice as many houses as we did last year.

We came back and had a yummy dinner of pizza, my famous corn chowder, pigs in a blanket, chocolate Jack Skellington cupcakes, chocolate cream pie, and lemon cream pie. I don't even want to think about the amount of calories I consumed in just one evening.

The kids played Rock Band downstairs for the rest of the night while the brave adults gathered upstairs to watch Drag Me to Hell. Lauren was tucked in by then and surprisingly slept through the drums, guitars, and the screams.

Punk In Patch

2009-10-24T22:30:00.000-07:00

We went to a small pumpkin patch today. Grandma R., my friend Angela and her son Angel came along. We chose to go to the smaller pumpkin patch that didn't charge admission. The other one we were considering cost 4$ per person just to get in, what a ripoff! The only difference I saw was that they had more cheesy inflatable decorations. They even charged extra for the corn maze! We were happy with the smaller one that we found, they had a mini hay maze for the kiddies and plenty of pumpkins to choose from. They also had a big corn maze and even though you had to pay extra for it, you got $2 off towards the price of any pumpkin with your ticket. Nice.

So many pumpkins to choose from, but she finally picked the perfect one.

Making her way through the maze

It was pretty windy and Lauren had fun running through the fields with her buddy Angel. We decorated the pumpkins with Mr and Mrs. Potatohead pieces. The less scooping out of guts, the better. Angel carved his into a traditional Jack-o-lantern. Scary.

My feet hurt cause I'm kicking so much a$$!

2009-10-18T11:34:00.001-07:00

You've Got Mail!

2009-10-16T16:02:00.001-07:00

Lauren got a letter The other day from her cousin Tobey. It had all kinds of stickers in
it and She was so excited she played with them til bedtime.

Thanks Ate Tobey!!!!

Blogging from my phone

2009-10-16T15:47:00.000-07:00

Woo! I can blog from ANYWHERE!!! I'm posting using my nifty little phone. Now I have no excuse.

I'm at work right now and itching to get outta here so I can go home and play with my cheekaboo. Instead I have look at this for 2 more hours:

Bleh.

Marathon Woes and Worries

2009-10-14T10:24:00.000-07:00

There are only 4 days until my marathon. I. Am. Freaking. Out!

I can hardly sleep, and when I do, I have dreams about everything that can go wrong: blisters, the pain in my hip returning, getting my period in the middle of the race, getting the runs, my toenails falling off...and on and on.

I've already stayed home twice from work this week because I feel a cold coming on..and I CAN NOT WILL NOT BETTER NOT get sick!!!

Then to top it all off, last night I think I pulled something in my leg while helping move heavy branches from the maple tree in my mom's front yard. A huge branch fell down during the big storm and was blocking part of the street. Thank God it didn't fall backwards onto the house! We had a little chainsaw fun last night, but had to cut and move it all in the pouring rain. Now I've got a little sniffle and a strange twinge in the back of my leg when I walk. Did I already say that I was freaking out?

If you're reading this before (or ON) Sunday, October 18th. Say a little prayer for me, please! I need it!

Mmmmm. Cookies

2009-10-03T00:26:00.000-07:00

Whipped up a batch of chocolate chip cookies. Having a good helper makes it easy.

I'm gonna eat that one right there

Choose Me

2009-10-01T20:06:00.000-07:00

Lauren's vocabulary is growing daily. She's starting to string together words into sentences like:

Mommy? Pease? Pone? Cars? (Mommy, may I please use your Iphone to watch my movie Cars?)

and

Ma, Yaffs sayad reeno zoo! (Grandma, the Giraffes and rhino were eating salad at the zoo)

My favorite is:

Choose me, Orin do it. (Excuse me, I can do it myself (Orin=Lauren))

(Belated...Waaay Belated) Happy Birthday Lauren!!

2009-10-01T10:03:00.000-07:00

In keeping with my original purpose of keeping this blog as a scrapbook of sorts, here are some pics from Lauren's 2nd Birthday.

It was a hot day in the 90's so we set up a few kiddie pools to keep cool. We also had water balloons, waterguns, sprinklers and the ultimate waterfight weapons: garden hoses. The kids (little ones and big ones) had fun splashing around.

Clockwise: Our kiddie pool set up (we had 3), Lauren and her cousin, with Mommy and Daddy, trying to figure out the watergun while grandma slathers on the sunscreen, Amelia (foreground) plans her next waterballoon attack.

Our menu started out simple but as usual, I complicated things when I tried to create a "theme." Why do I always end up making things difficult for myself? We originally were just gonna have hotdogs. Nice. Simple. Easy. But then I thought, "wouldn't it be cool if we had different kinds of hotdogs? Like Chicago Style...and New York Style and (who knew?) Korean style?!"

Whe ended up with about 7 styles of hotdogs and wrote out the instructions on little signs so guests could build their own. It was time consuming...but FUN! Who knew there was a Sonoran style hotdog? (with bacon, mayo, and tomatoes..sounds kinda gross, but it's yummy! really!)

Decorated the house with colorful banners.

My brother made the cutest cake, it had all of her favorite things: Lightnight McQueen, Puppies, Spongebob, flowers, and Curious George. She did a great job blowing out her candle (we'd been practicing for weeks!).

How did we spend her actual birthday? Why, what better place to celebrate a 2 year old's birthday than the buffet at an Indian Casino? Before you "tsk tsk" at me, they had all you can eat ribs! Yummy!

Goodbye Summer!

2009-09-29T23:59:00.000-07:00

Summer's Last Hurrah. The last of our dahlias and tomatoes

20 Miles. OMG.

2009-09-27T10:49:00.000-07:00

That's 10 miles plus 10 more. That's 80 times around the track. That's more than the distance between Sacramento and Davis. That's 6 hours worth of walking. I cant' believe I did it!

Woohoo! I was so worried about this workout because I hadn't done a distance more than 13 miles in almost 2 months because of my injury. I actually felt good afterwards. Well, my muscles and my hip felt good at least. The heat (99 degrees!) was almost unbearable but with the help of my teammates and a LOT of water and gatorade I got through it. I soaked my tired legs in an ice bath after the workout and after a couple of hours of rest, headed out to the State Capitol to volunteer for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Light the Night charity walk. By the end of the day last night I was exhausted, stiff, and sore. Luckily, our training is going to taper off in the next 3 weeks to help our bodies recover from this last workout and be ready to go for the marathon on the 18th.
San Francisco, here I come!

Training Update

2009-09-22T23:11:00.001-07:00

Unfortunately, my training has taken a bad turn. About a month ago I began experiencing pain in my hip that hasn't gone away, even with a few weeks of rest. The recommendation of my coaches is to stop running but to walk the entire marathon. I plan to see my doctor next week for some xrays to make sure I don't have a stress fracture. My coaches seem to think I have a strained hip flexor.

I'm still going for it though! It will just take me a loooong time to finish...about 6.5 to 7 hours. Wish me luck and pray that I don't injure my hip further before the big race on Oct. 18!!!

The summer that got away!

2009-09-22T23:04:00.000-07:00

It's the first day of Fall and I can't believe how quickly this summer has gone by. We were so busy with family activities, training, and a little trip to Hawaii that my blogging took a back seat. Not to worry, loyal readers (yeah, all 3 of you), I will catch up before the week is over. It's been an exciting summer and there's lots to tell!

One big event this summer: Lauren turned two! Here she is on her 2nd birthday. . I had to work on her actual birthday so Grandma and Grandpa P. kindly agreed to take her to the studio. It was no easy task but they did manage to get a couple of classic shots.

She's such a big girl now!

Big Girl Bed

2009-07-28T15:35:00.000-07:00

Well, this week Lauren graduated to her Big Girl Bed. Well....not quite...it's a bed, and it's a twin size. But it's only a mattress. We wanted to keep her a little low to the ground at first. The girl moves so much when she sleeps.

This is also a big deal because she's now sleeping in her own room. When we first moved to this house we kept her close to us in the master bedroom. First in her crib, then at the foot of our bed in her little toddler size mattress. I think she has been ready to sleep in her own room for a while now...it was just so much for comforting for US to have her close by.

Peter finally bit the bullet and last weekend without warning, put the mattress in her room along with her sleeping acoutrements: her sippy cup, her Barney stuffed animal, her blanky, the boombox with her lullabye CD.

So far, I have been sleeping with her in her room. I will gradually move out of there by the end of the week and we will finally, and sadly, have our room back.

(Half) Marathon!!!

2009-07-28T15:19:00.000-07:00

I arrived at Saturday's workout expecting a pretty long, run...our schedule said 12 to 13 miles so I prepared for just doing the 12. It was "bring the family" day so I rushed out of the house, husband and baby in tow. We arrived a little late so as soon as I got out of the car it was pretty much time to take off. Apparently, we were all doing 13.1 miles...a half marathon!!!

Our coaches tried to make it fun, they had bibs printed up for us for the "UR a Lifesaver" half marathon, they even had a starting line, and took video of us taking off as if in a real race. I barely had enough time to introduce Peter and Lauren to the coaches before I took off, he had to fend for himself.

The run was rough, the first part was all roller coaster hills and as I approached the last hill of that first portion, I was tempted to just walk...but then I saw this little jumping figure in pink at the top of the hill. It was Lauren! I pumped my legs just a little bit harder and she was jumping up and down yelling "Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!" I ran up that hill and snatched her up when I got to the top and gave her a big, sweaty, hug. Peter said that Lauren was quite the cheerleader up there, clapping and yelling as the runners came by and cheering them on as they went on their way.

I couldn't celebrate for long, I still had 8 more miles to go. We ran across the levy to Folsom lake, it was very pretty,even ran into a couple of horses. At about 10 miles I started questioning whether I could finish...I was getting really, really, tired and my muscles were tightening up. I had a shot of Gu (nutrition supplement) and kept on going. I'm still doing 2/1 intervals. I've found it's the best pace for me. I tried to go with longer running periods like 5/1, but my endurance suffered. With uneven terrain the 2/1 works best for me.

The view of Folsom lake

I finally finished, and my prize---a bagel strung up with green and purple ribbon. My very own bagel medal. I wore it all the way home.

Blog neglect

2009-07-23T16:19:00.000-07:00

Oh My! (one of Lauren's favorite phrases) I haven't updated the blog in, like, forever. I'll get to it this weekend as we'll (finally) have a day off. Super super super busy at home and work.

Here's a dose of cuteness to hold you over until I can get more stories and photos posted.

Cheesy!

Memory Lane

2009-06-24T01:18:00.000-07:00

I got a new cell phone! woohoo! It was a gift from the hubs, it allows me to track my running mileage and workouts. It was super sweet of him...but anyways, the real point of my post is that I have to retire my old phone and in the process I transferred all the photos that were stored there to my computer. I got a little teary browsing through the pics that went as far back as our pre-baby trip to Hawaii.

Baby Daddy on a black sand beach on the Big Island

Learning how to diaper a doll in parenting class

The view of my toes while lying down on the couch. Check out that belly! I must've been pretty close to due date

My cheekaboo. Just a couple of hours old...awwww....

There were also some fun pics like these:

Happy Father's Day!

2009-06-22T22:58:00.000-07:00

Pancakes for breakfast
Huge burgers for lunch
Nap in the afternoon with his cheekaboo
Driving range as the sun set
What else can a daddy ask for?

Happy Father's Day Daddy!

I LOVE YOU!

I love hills! NOT!!!

2009-06-10T21:28:00.000-07:00

Today's run was a doozy. The distance was ok...five miles...but hooooobooy, it was a ROUGH five miles. We ran a nature trail that was all dirt, rocks, sticks, and undulating hills. Oh. My. Golly, Miss Jolly. I was a-huffing and a-puffing, my thighs were on fire, I had some slight cramping in my side and I vaguely remember crying out "Help me mommy!" while running up one of the hills.

What made it worse was that I had to pee so badly after just 1 mile. I guess the jarring of my body while going up and down the hills really did a number on my bladder. I seriously was ready to just pull over and squat behind a bush except for we got a warning about poison oak in the vicinity. GREAT. I considered turning back and heading for the restroom or cutting my run short but I held it and kept going. I started thinking about the chaffing potential of Depends undergarments. Surprise, surprise, by the end of 5 miles I didn't have to 'go' at all..I guess I sweated it all out!

I think this was the hardest workout I've had so far. It was the first time that I called upon my inspiration...those people that I signed up to run for, my honored teammates. I pushed myself to keep going and reminded myself that this physical discomfort does not compare at all to what my Dad, my cousin Lilly, and the rest of my honored teammates experienced. They helped me get through my workout and I pumped my arms just a little bit harder to push me over those hills.

Please, let our next workout be somewhere flat!!!

Watermelon silliness

2009-06-04T22:40:00.000-07:00

MMMMMM....I love watermelon!!! Om nyom nyom nyom nyom....

Gulp! Uh Oh...I think I swallowed a seed....

Are you serious? A plant? In my stomach? A whole watermelon in my belly? EWWWWWW!!!!!

What? No? You're just kidding? Are you? Wait...So it's not true?

Bwah haha ha!! Good one! You had me for a minute...Ha!

Happy Birthday Keilah!

2009-06-03T23:18:00.000-07:00

Movie Night

2009-06-03T22:59:00.001-07:00

We popped in Finding Nemo and Lauren sat through the WHOLE THING! She loved it! Well, except for the sharks.

5 miles? Easy Peasy!

2009-06-01T23:30:00.000-07:00

I can't believe what I'm about to say: I ran/walked 5 miles...and I coulda kept going!!

I'm serious! Last Saturday I went 5 miles doing intervals of 1/1 (1 minute running and 1 minute walking) and I felt so good towards the end I felt like I could go another mile or two. I originally started training doing 3/1 intervals until our coach mentioned that Jeff Galloway used to run whole marathons doing 1/1 intervals with respectable times! I thought I'd give it a try and for now I think this is the way to go for me until I can build up a little more endurance. I'm going to try to reach an interval of 7/1 by marathon time in 4 months.

Last week I had a bad case of shin splints but have since learned how to prepare and avoid them. The trick is to warm up the shins well and to do strengthening exercises between runs. One trick our running coach gave was to spell the alphabet with your toes when you're just sitting around. I haven't had any problems on my last two 5 milers so the exercises are working!

We are having a 3 mile time assessment on Wednesday...I hope I've improved my pace in the last month. Wish me luck!

Baking with my Boo.

2009-05-29T23:12:00.000-07:00

I finally broke out the mixer my mom gave me for Christmas and made some cornbread. I had a little help from the cheekaboo.

Halo Halo ("mix mix")

Yummy Cornbread!

And I helped!!

Happy Birthday Grandma!

2009-05-29T22:43:00.000-07:00

Lauren helps Grandma blow out the candle on her strawberry shortcake

Yay!

Our Garden

2009-05-29T22:36:00.000-07:00

I'm obsessed with growing vegetables. This year is the first time I've ever attempted anything beyond some basic herbs. We had a small raised bed built in our backyard so we could plant some veggies. I love spending the afternoons and evenings out there tending to my little garden. Lauren loves going outside, she has her little plastic trowel and spade and happily transfers dirt and mulch from one pile to the other. Here's what our garden looks like so far.

Our raised vegetable bed. We are growing tomatoes, romaine lettuce, carrots, jalapeno and serrano peppers and bell peppers. We're also growing (not pictured) eggplant, crookneck (yellow) squash and corn. The corn was really just for fun...we wanna see how tall the corn stalks will grow and if they will be visible from the street. heh. We planted 6 seedlings...so far they're only about a foot tall.

My "Simon and Garfunkel" herb garden (Parsley, Sage, Rosemary Thyme) and Romaine Lettuce

My herb garden also has spearmint, chocolate mint (it really smells like chocolate!), marjoram, basil, Thai basil, lemon basil, and oregano.

Jose Jalapeno...On a steeek! (that's for you Jeff Dunham fans)

We are growing about 5 different varieties of tomatoes.

Our dwarf Kalamandon (Calamansi) Tree. We've also got dwarf Meyer Lemon, Asian Pear, and Apple trees

So far we've only eaten lettuce and strawberries. The berries are small but super sweet. Like Lauren! Aww.

The Cutest Thing EVER

2009-05-29T22:24:00.000-07:00

You know how Lauren turns into a hugging machine when Barney starts singing the "I Love You" song? How she runs to each and every person in the room when he gets to the part that goes: "...with a great big hug and a kiss from me to you..."

Yesterday I hid around the counter to see if she would come running to find me during that part of the show. Nope. Instead, she sat down on the floor next to the sofa where Michelle the cat was napping quietly, grabbed Michelle by the ears and planted a big wet one on her nose. She then rested her arm across Michelle's back and hugged her like that until the song was over.

IT WAS SO CUTE!!!

Did Do List

2009-05-21T22:47:00.000-07:00

I was laying in bed tonight worried and fidgety. What happened to this week? Is it almost Friday already?! I felt totally hopeless and panicked, like I had let another day run away from me. I was about to scold myself for wasting the evening and letting another day go by without crossing one thing off my endless to-do list when I literally slapped myself on the forehead. I said to myself, "Self... you're ridiculous, think of all the stuff you did today!!"

I got up out of bed and decided to sit down and write it out my "Did-Do" list. I don't know why I am so hard on myself sometimes. Peter is out of town for a couple of days on a business trip so it's just me and the cheekaboo until tomorrow night. Here's what went down today.

6:30 wake up take shower and dress while tiptoeing around so as not to wake the baby.
7:15 Baby wakes up anyway just in time for Grandpa to pick her up to whisk her away for the day
7:20 Make quick PB&J sandwich for brekky
7:25: Leave for work..Late again. Darn.
8:15: Arrive for work. Sneak in.
8:15 to 12:00 Work work work
12:00 Lunch with Miss Alabama and 58 Wings (my coworkers).
12:35 Take a brisk walk around campus with same as above.
1:15 to 5:30 Work work work
5:30 Drive from Davis to Lincoln to pick up cheekaboo. This is usually Peter's job but since he's not here, it's an extra 30 minutes of driving for me to get there.
6:45 Arrive Lincoln, load Lauren into car.
7:15 Arrive Back Home
7:30 Sit down with Lauren to eat dinner (reheated leftovers of mac and cheese and pancit)
7:45 Sister arrives to watch Lauren while I go out for my run
7:50 to 8:40 Run/walk 2.5 miles while my sister and Lauren head out to the park. (sun is setting pretty late these days)
8:40 to 9:15. Clean up kitchen while trying to watch 30 Rock. Lauren sitting contentedly on couch eating an apple
9:15 Bath Time!
9:35 Brush Teeth, clean ears, comb hair, and fresh jammies.
9:40 Night Night. Put Lauren to bed. Sweet Dreams baby girl.
10:00 start worrying about to-do list
10:05 slap myself on forehead
10:30 Write down my Did-Do list and feel so much better.

Not that I'm asking for a pat on the back...but go ahead and give me one if you want to! Seriously, though, this is the kinda stuff that is pretty routine for us moms and I don't think I deserve congratulations any more than every mom out there. We all just need a reminder sometimes to not get so down our ourselves. We all do so much and deserve a good pat on the back every now and then. So all you hard working mamas out there, "YOU GO, GIRL!!! YOU ROCK!!!"

2 Miles down, 23.7 to go!

2009-05-21T01:09:00.000-07:00

We had our first group training run last Wednesday where we learned to walk. Yes, apparently I've been walking incorrectly all my life. We learned how to warm up to prevent injuries and how to maximize our walking motion by propelling ourselves forward with smooth, rolling steps while pumping our arms.

Our walking coach showed us how to hold our arms bent at a 90 degree angle and pump them vertically, not across our bodies, for the most efficient motion. When our elbows started jutting out in the wrong position she came up behind us and tapped our upper arms and warned us "Arms! Arms! Up and Down!"

We ran around the track 4 times (1 mile) for our first timed assessment. I made it in a respectable 15 minutes and 15 seconds running intervals of 2/1 (running 2 minutes, walking 1 minute). Not bad for my first time...but there's plenty of room for improvement. I was a little worried at first because everybody seemed to have a running buddy... either coworkers or family that signed up together. I was fine running alone around the track, but I admit I was a little lonely during the warmup when everybody was buzzing around and chatting excitedly before our first run. On the way back I struck up a conversation with Tasha, a kindergarten teacher from Woodland. She was friendly and in about the same level of fitness so we were able to keep up with each other with no difficulties. We were so absorbed in conversation that the second mile seemed to go by in no time and made the stretching session afterwards less lonely.

We went a total of 2.5 miles and I felt really good afterwards. My arms were sore the next day from all that pumping but my legs felt good. It was a nice easy start to this long and exciting journey.

So...about this marathon thing...

2009-05-21T00:43:00.000-07:00

I've done it. I've gone and lost my mind. I don't know what possessed me to think I can do it.

I am training for a marathon.

There, I've said it and I can see those raise eyebrows and here you say, "Watchootalkinboutwillis?"

There is an organization called Team In Training (TNT) that raises money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The way they do it is to provide regular people like me the training, motivation, and support to run marathons (or triathlons, or half-marathons). In exchange, the participants raise money that goes to the LLS for research, patient support, and services. The research that LLS does benefits not just those with Leukemia or Lymphoma but all cancers or blood disorders. I have signed up for the Nike Womens Marathon in October and I'm still quaking in my boots, or should I say running shoes, just thinking about it.

Now, now...before you think I've completely lost my mind...I'm not going to run all the way. My plan is to run/walk the 26.2 miles in intervals, following the Galloway method of interval running. Some members of my team are going to walk the entire way, so I don't plan on being last.

Training is going to be hard and time intensive. We run as a team 2 times a week and do cross-training or light running on our own 3 times a week. I have 5 months to prepare for this thing and I'm getting my strength and inspiration for loved ones who have suffered from cancer, leukemia, or other blood disorders. Officially, I am running in memory of my father who died of pancreatic cancer, the tough women in my life who've battled or are currently fighting cancers (my mom (lung), my mother-in-law (breast), , my aunt (recently diagnosed with breast cancer) my cousins Grace, Yoly, and JoAnn (breast)), and also for my 2 year old cousin Lilly who has HLH, a rare blood disease.

Peter has been super supportive of my decision and couldn't be prouder. Not only will I be raising money for a good cause but I'll be getting in shape and losing weight at the same time. Yay! I'll be updating this blog with my progress as my training goes along. Feel free to shower me with gratuitous praise and inspiration...I'm gonna need it!!!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

2009-05-20T23:24:00.000-07:00

Peter chose the activities for his special day. It was nice to have a day off with him in the middle of the week. Here's how we spent his birthday:

A Happy Birthday kiss in the morning

Breakfast at the Pancake House

Burp!

A trip to the Zoo! On the way there, I said to Lauren, "We're going to the Zoo!" She replied, "Yyaaaayy! Jew!!!!"

With his pal joey

The new Conservation Carousel at the Zoo. We were there for the unveiling. All of the animals on the carousel are endangered species.

A special birthday card and treat!

Catch up time!

2009-05-19T00:25:00.000-07:00

Man, man, man..the last month has been so crazy-busy-fun for us. I've been posting to the blog in my head I just haven't had time to sit down and type it all up.

There haven't been any major happenings, just the day to day goings on of life, work, and family that make for a very busy and blessed life. Among these things: family birthdays, holidays and milestones, our growing garden, a couple of road trips, and training for a marathon.

"Whatwhatwhat?!?!?" I can hear you say...Marathon?! More about that in a future post. I'll try to post more before the end of the week. For now, here are a couple of pics Lauren's golf lesson:

On the putting green

Studying the greens for her next shotGreat shot! What do you mean I missed?

Cows and Horses and Goats, Oh my!

2009-04-18T22:00:00.000-07:00

UC Davis held its annual Picnic Day today. We headed out there early with the cheekaboo to watch the parade and get up close and personal with some farm animals. Afterwards, we attended a BBQ at Miss Alabama's house where Lauren got up close and personal with an adorable West Highland Terrier named Riley. We passed out when we got home and we ordered pizza for dinner after waking from our naps. I ended the day watching the sunset in our backyard with a slice of Campelli's chicken parmesan pizza in one hand and a tall frosty glass of iced tea in the other. Perfect Day.

Lauren comes face to face with a goat

Entranced by a pony and his mommy

Horse used for teaching with muscles and bones painted on

Holy cow!

Watching the parade

The coolest way to get around campus and a horse named Jack.

I don't have a pic of Lauren with Riley, but he's even cuter than this Westie from the Cesar dog food commercials.

Easter Goodness

2009-04-14T22:06:00.000-07:00

We had a whirlwind Easter weekend. We travelled to the Bay Area to bring Easter Lilies to my Dad's grave, drove to my bro's house, dyed about 2 dozen eggs, had an egg hunt, ate BBQ with my family, drove back home, ate more BBQ for dinner, dyed another dozen eggs, went to church, drove to P's mom's house, ate a delicious lunch of ham and lamb, had another egg hunt, drove home, and then...exhale...took a nap.

Super busy, super fun, and here's a video I wanted to share of my super sweet girl and her super cute Easter outfits having a super time searching for eggs (some where plastic and filled with animal crackers, so they were still super).

Birthday Cake

2009-04-07T14:51:00.001-07:00

My brother's awesome. He made me an "Office" cake. For fans of the TV show, you'll recognize this cake as Michael Scott's desk complete with dundie and "World's Best Boss" mug. Everything on it is edible and the cake was yummy!

Did I mention that my brother's awesome?

Happy Birthday to Me!

2009-03-29T22:22:00.001-07:00

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

2009-03-29T21:45:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-03-23T20:54:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-19T23:11:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-19T22:51:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-19T21:10:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-03-18T08:07:00.001-07:00

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!

2009-03-17T00:00:00.000-07:00

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