Baby Shower

I hosted my first baby shower for my cousin. I really enjoyed making my first diaper cake. It was a jungle theme and after the construction of the cake was complete decoration and expressing my creative side was a lot of fun. Good company and good wine didn't hurt either.

I decided for decorations that I wanted to use items that could be useful to the mommy to be. I found carters white onsies and burp cloths on sale 50% off and appliqued monkey's on them. I hung then all over the room to make it look like clothes lines. It looked really cute and it was nice to know that the items could be taken home and used.

For party favors I ordered little vases and put a rose in each one. This also helped decorate the room. The roses were from a friends garden and it added a sweet sent as well as beauty to the room. People were really excited to take them home at the end of the shower.

With my mom's help, (a lot of help) the shower was a great success.

A Little History Lesson

When my husband took the day off and my mom was in town we found ourselves with some free time. We decided to take Stinky to one of the 21 missions unique to California. We went to Mission San Jose which is right in our back yard. While not one of the most impressive missions it was Stinky's first Mission experience. I hope to take her to every Mission by the time she graduates from high school. It is an important part of our history and there are so many interesting items to see and stories to hear. She was able to experience the vibrant colors in the church, really old tombstones and the images of important people who helped develop the area in which we live. Just the beginning of what I hope will be a love for history.

Garage Sale Fun

We had a garage sale to sell all our old treasure that we couldn't use anymore. We were a little anxious because we had never had a yard sale. Our friends offered their yard so 3 families set up and awaited business. The girls had a great time climbing through the mounds of clothes, eating and playing in Chu's pool. And while all this fun was being had we made $100 not bad when we rendered all these items useless to us. We have already began collecting for our next yard sale. This is a great way for us to declutter, make some money and have some fun in the sun hanging out with friends.

Every Opprotunity If Taken Is A Lesson Taught and An Experience Experienced

I had bought some material for sewing and when I got it home there was a ladybug on it. I thought this would be a great opportunity for Stinky to get a lesson in biology and experience other forms of life through her senses. I put the ladybug on her hand and it slowly crawled up her arm. At first she wasn't sure about it. She watched it intensely as it made it's way up and at the same time she felt it's little legs as they scurried on her skin. She was so intrigued and as soon as she felt more comfortable she wanted to hold it. I showed her how to hold it carefully and I told her to be gently. Holding only last a few seconds. As she became excited her grip began to tightened. I removed the ladybug and told her that we didn't want to squish it. She spent about 20 minutes examining this new creature. When she began to lose interest I told her it was time to let the ladybug go home and we let her go outside on the plant. It's moments like these that I really enjoy being a mom and giving Stinky the opportunities to experience new things.

Daddy's New Camera Lense

My husband is so excited. He bought a new lense for his DSLR camera. This camera has documented Stinky's life since the day she was born. We walked out of the hospital with 1,000 pictures. While taking pictures of her my husband has regained an enjoyment for photography. He loves taking pictures and he is truly excited about his new lense. The 50mmF/1.8 shows Stinky's darling face with even more clarity. As if she wasn't the cutest thing ever pre new lense.

In Memory of My Husbands Dearly Beloved Discus

One of my husbands favorite hobbies is fish and the habitats they live in. We currently have 3 fish tanks in our house. A few years ago my husband happened upon discus. They tend to be really expensive and at the time we had a little money to play with so we invested in four of these fish. My husband has spent many hours cleaning their tank, arranging and rearranging their habitat, learning and researching what is best for these fish and staring at them. He has even taught my daughter how to say fish and often she will point at them and ask to look at them. We have grown a custom to having these beautiful creatures in our living room. On Monday our fish passed away. We believe that something went wrong in the changing of the tank the day before because when we woke up they were all floating. I am sorry honey that your fish died, I know you have enjoyed having them around.

Family Playdates: Ah so nice to feel warm weather and Get Outside

We took advantage of the 80 degree weather and attended a family playdate with Stinky's playdate friends. Warm days means so much more now that we have a child. Before it was, "Yeah it's warm maybe we will take the dogs to park and pick up a Starbucks cold drink." Now it is "Warm weather? Let's go to the park, play in the water, take a walk and most importantly just enjoy watching our little Stinky have so much fun in the great outdoors. Well as great as you can get living in urban San Jose. We packed a picnic, bathed in sunscreen and off to the park we went. We enjoyed eating snacks with all our friends, playing in the water, and the nap afterwards. Stinky was sure wiped out.

Easter Party with my Playdate Friends

Stinky is in a playdate with children her age and live in the same area as us. We had an Easter party for the little ones. We made Easter cards with the children's hands and the children went on an Easter egg hunt. Each parent brought a few eggs with healthy snacks in them. The children were really interested in the eggs until one broke open then their interest changed. The eggs were filled with puffs, cheddar bunnies and Cheerios. They were so excited to eat what was inside the egg that all children migrated to the one opened egg and began eating all the pieces that had fallen on the floor. The Easter egg hunt ceased to exist. But it was cute watching our children celebrate Easter together. For most of them it was their first Easter.

Happy Easter

This was Stinky's second Easter but definitely more fun than the last. Last year she was only 3 months old and she was just there. Although she was the cutest little 3 month old ever. This year in her fancy little dress that Grandpa bought her she was able to pick up eggs all by herself. She was so excited to carry around the basket and each time she picked up an egg and put it in her basket we all cheered. This last about 3 eggs then she was done and ready to open them. Daddy was lucky enough to pick up the rest.

Spring Break Vacation with Grandpa and Anutie B.B.

So I am a little behind in my postings. Now that Stinky can walk we are walking and walking and walking. Which leaves me little time to sit down and catch up on my blog.

Every year my dad has taken my sister and I on a spring break vacation. It started when my mom was in school and had a different spring break then we had. So my dad would take us down to my Grammie's in Oceanside, California and we would spend the week playing at the pool, going to the beach and shopping for a new bathing suit and summer clothes. My Grammie has long ago moved. We have kept this tradition up even after we went to college got married and had children and now Stinky gets to join in the fun. Grandpa and Auntie B. B. loved the new addition to our tradition. Stinky loved the sand (this was the first time in previous trips to the beach she has hated the sand). But most of all I think she enjoyed all the attention she was given from her family. Every time she did something there was somebody right there to praise her, give her cuddles and feed her treats. Feed her treat? Yes, Stinky got her fill of candy and yummy snacks while on our trip.

Once home it was hard to adjust back into life. She missed all the love, hugs and playing time she had with her Grandpa and Aunt. It was a few days of straight whining before she got back into routine. There is always next year!

She's Walking!

On March 15th Stinky's Momo was holding something that she wanted so she pushed off of me and just walked to her. We were able to get her to do it again for the camera. So while this isn't her exact first steps they are steps that came soon after. She is still learning and every day the ratio of crawling to walking changes more and more in favor of walking. This past week she realized that when she walks she can carry items in her hand. She has enjoyed this new found freedom with her toys.

Walking for me has been the most scary of all developmental changes. It looks like she is going to face plant at any time. With her hands in the air she slowly teeters from one side to the other. On cement it is the worst. I am however looking forward to less dirt stains on the knees.