Potato, Potatoe

About 3 weeks ago, we received a letter from Isabel's daycare...she's being evicted.

Reason? She's trampling over the other kids.

Of course, the daycare worded it differently. Potato, potatoe.

Today is her first official day in Infant II. My baby is growing up - I'm going to go bawl now.

2 days old - Dec 14, 2008

8 months and 4 days - August 16, 2009

Happy Saturday!

Trip Back Home (Part II)

Part 1 is over here....and if I can keep up with this pace, I just may be able to finish the whole series before we are back in Michigan again. But then again, I don't like to overexert myself, so don't take that as a promise ;)

So...where was the story left off? Driving back...yes. All 14 hours of it.

What fun.

Since we had to make the trek all the way over there, this time there was no way that I was going to have us travel so long and so far without seeing anything else besides hubby's hometown, nice as it is. We decided to stop by our alma mater, since that's where we met and all.

And my oh my...how it has changed.

I'm not sure if it's for better or worse.....like, what on earth is that gaudy monstrosity hanging off the side of our beloved Video Hitz??

But never mind that...

We took some mandatory shots with the emblem (actually, I don't believe that I have such pictues taken when I was actually still studying there....at that point in time, I think I was anti-Western)

And we made a pit stop by Goldberg Pond (wait...is that really the name of it or did I just made that up?) This is the prettiest spot on campus, I think, and I pass it everytime I had to walk to work - yes, I worked as a dishwasher. Don't remind me of those days (even though I was a heck of a good one --- if there were awards for Efficient Supply Chain Processes in Dishwashing, I'd win it)

It was really a quick trip - a hop out of the car here and there. Hubby's flip-flop strap broke, so he had to shuffle his way around. He was not the best person to go "oooo" and "aaaahh" with.

HOWEVER, he made sure to stop here though:

Sweetwaters Donut Mill - named one of the top 10 places for doughnuts in America.

And with our sugar drips firmly in place, we were off to our final destination!!

P/S: Isabel did FANTASTIC the whole way there. Matter of fact, we were this close to just having her drive us there.

However, she found it entirely too much fun when we got pulled over, so we decided that maybe that won't be such a good idea. Yes, I was driving.

**Part 3 will come in the not so distant future...maybe before year end. But again, no promises**

Such Subtleness

My darling's way of telling me that she wants more puffs for the times when we were "dense" enough to not notice it when she verbally requests for more (She says "AH")

Happy Father's Day....

Well...fine. Belated Father's Day. Yes, I'm very much behind.

Due to the fact that I was very sick during that time (I have the pictures to prove it, but I really don't think that you'd like to see that...just imagine a cauliflower farm growing on your tonsils. Yes. Gross) But as I was saying...because I was sick, we didn't really get to "celebrate". Poor hubby always seem to get the short end of the stick here...

However, he didn't get NOTHING. That would just be plain mean.

We ended up taking an impromptu trip up to a local market that has its own orchards. It was strawberry season and we could pick our own strawberries!

So we picked....- that's what the strawberry fields look like, to the city-rats out there...

Well, he picked, mostly...I was trying to hold on to Isabel while manuevering through the strawberry bushes and the hay covered "path" without falling flat on my face.

But look at how much "we" got!

There were some big ones too...- look at the strawberry, not me. I look like something the dog dragged in, chewed on, and spat out.

We ended up with 8 pounds of that darn fruit...

And somehow, he managed to sneak in a pie and some sticky cinnamon/pecan type rolls too (although why he'd choose to buy a STRAWBERRY pie is beyond me)

So bottom line was, even though it was not executed the way I was hoping it would, he still had a pretty sweet day....literally. So much so that I think I better have his blood sugar checked.

P/S: We are still sitting on 2 containers full of frozen berries since we left for MI a weekafter...Any one have any ideas of how to use them up???

P/P/S: Holy crap, this is my 100th post! How on earth did I manage to come up with 100 entries about nothing??!

Tasty...

Someone found her feet...

Well, from her point of view, a more accurate statement would be "I know where my feet are...Have known it for awhile. There just wasn't a point to chew on it. Until the time where Mommy didn't feed me until 2 hours PAST MY FEEDING TIME, so I had to resort to other forms of nutrition"

While Mommy gorged herself on these:

Oh, where's the love?

Tip of the Day

When purchasing a big item, say, an appliance or a piece of furniture, ensure that the item in question can fit through the door to get to the intended room.

Else you will have some annoyed delivery men in your hands...

Our new fridge.

A totally spontaneous purchase...We were minding our own business at Lowes, when we past a whole aisle of marked down appliances. This beauty was half off. Because there was a little ding on the side. We can live with that.

Now, it's proudly humming in our little kitchen. The amount of space that's available is crazy!! I put it to good use by filling an entire shelf with diet Coke.

Perfection.

Have a Seat...

A project that we worked on this past weekend...

I fell in love with this living room, especially with the fabric on the ottomans:

Images courtesy of Traditional Home

So I got my husband to build something similar for me...

Now, we have a place for guests to sit while they put on their shoes, and I have something fun and cheery to look at everytime I come into the house.

Meal-Time Entertainment

Apparently I'm a funny mommy ; )

Poor Baby...

We just started "Ferber-izing" Isabel (sleep training). And the poor thing hates it. This was how I found her last night when I went in to check on her. She fell asleep clutching the side of the crib, where she spent about a half hour crying and waiting for me to come back into the room to pick her up.

My poor baby.... =(

Trip Back Home (Part 1)

So, this past July 4th holiday, we made the trip back to Michigan (Hubby's hometown, where his mom and brother still resides). This would be Isabel's first debut to a lot of other family members, who have graciously made it a point to come visit. So needless to say, this vacation was highly anticipated in our household.

However, gone are the days where we can toss together two carry-on sized suitcases and be out the door. It would be so much easier if I can just pack Isabel up in a suitcase and be done with it.

However, she didn't think too highly of my idea....ah well...

But she did LOVE her big girl stroller though...she can now people-watch to her heart's content

As we reached the airport, we were all excited about Isabel's first flight (It's also her first trip away, now that I'm thinking about it), even stopping to take a cheesy picture to commemorate the occasion...

But as we went through the motions of getting checked in, we got the dreaded message...

"There has been a change in your flight details. Please see an associate"

Dum dum duummmm...Turns out that our flight was cancelled. Due to weather. And the earliest flight available won't be able to get us to our destination until 10pm the next night.

So....we did what any sane person would do. We drove. All 14 hours and 5 minutes of it (This is just one way, mind you) And guess what? The only "weather" we hit was an itty-bitty storm in eastern Pennslyvannia.

**To be continued**

Happy Birthday, Grandauntie Yee Chai!

One of our very few family pictures...We gather to wish (grand) Auntie Yee Chai a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! Hope that it was a day filled with lots of love, fun and contentment! Wish we could be there to celebrate with you, but we had a little celebration in your honor here...

Excuse my crazy hair...We just woke up...

A closer look at the cake...That's whipped frosting. Yum.

Made by dear husband...Don't you just love a guy who's handy with both power tools AND kitchen tools? I know I do...I can't pipe a cake to save my life.

It's a triple layer cake (chocolate-yellow-chocolate) with fresh strawberries in between the layers

He made cupcakes too

Don't you wish you were here? =D

And just because I love baby feet...

Happy birthday!

Our Mom-and-Pop-Photography-Shop Photo Session

Stats:

Weight: 17lbs 8.5 oz

Height: 26.5"

6 Months!!!

Where has time flown? I can't believe that Isabel is now 6 months. Before I know it, it'll be time for me to kiss her goodbye and she'll be off to catch the bus to school...=(

She's trying so hard to crawl, she's sitting up much longer without any support, and she's definitely an inquisitive little lady.

Happy half birthday, baby girl. Mommy loves you with all her heart.

To celebrate this, we had a little photo session this morning. Here's a little preview:

Project Update

For the past month and a half, we've been veeery sloooooowly chipping away on our house projects. Now that she is slowly starting to revert back to her "good" sleeping habits, it's left us time during the weeknights to tackle what needs to be done.

To those who are perceptive, I added a list to the right of this blog a few months ago, detailing what I'm focusing on...Some of the items on that list have been to add cabinets to the empty corner in our kitchen...Voila!

I swear that I had a skip in my step for days after it was all installed...now there's actually space...REAL dedicated space for our pots and pans.

Also on our list is to refinish our basement. We plan on dividing the space into four distinct functions. The storage room is done - we are now working on the family room portion.

We just finished tiling the floor Friday night. Woohoo!

All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up...

Isabel has been hard at work, practicing for this astounding performance. In fact, she was so into it, I had to steady her halfway through as she looked like she was about to crash headfirst into the piano...

And because I think it's so darn cute, and it makes my mother cringe at the mess, here's another feeding video...Notice the cereal all over her ear and hair....hehehehe...

Are Those...

TEETH???!!!

5 months 25 days

The Trials and Milestones from Month 5

Stats -

Weight = 16 lbs 12.5 oz

(How did we get to have a weigh in? Because she contracted another ear infection. Fun times)

Milestones:

She's now on rice cereal and she's feeding herself...well, kinda.

It does make for a VERY messy baby afterwards though...

With 5 months under her belt, she now has her own set of wheels. Watch out world, there's no stopping this little lady!

She's got the rolling round and around down pat. So gone are the days where you can leave her in Spot A and expect her to still be there. And the real trouble is going to start soon, as she's now scootching (is that a word?) her butt, trying to crawl.

Trials:

She's now very well aware of her surroundings. So much so that when I or my husband leaves the room with her alone, she starts wailing. And I mean wailing.

She's also decided that our bed is THE place to be at night and will proceed to scream until we pick her up and put her next to us, which she will then snuggle up to either one of us and close her eyes. It's cute, but in some other ways, not so much.

Last night was the first night in a veeery long time where she:

(a) fell asleep in her crib

(b) stayed asleep (this is key) for more than 10 seconds. She actually slept for 3 hours. So it was a surprise. (hahahhha - this is me laughing maniacally - to think that I'm ecstatic over 3 hours of sleep....she used to go for a full 8 hours at 2 months)


`

Take a Guess....

What is this?

Anyone?

That is my dog, trying to hide under the bed because there's a storm outside.

Score!

For those who have not heard of One Kings Lane, it's a site that sells some of the finest home furnishing brands at up to 70% off retail. I just bought 8 crystal wine glasses for a fraction of what it would have cost if I've bought them at retail...these might just be ticket to have me trade my OJ to a more...adult-friendly beverage.