Dei Sub Numine Viget

it's been a while

2010-05-12T07:02:00.001-04:00

It's been forever since I posted, but with good reason. My sister's wedding is approaching on Memorial Day weekend. So I have been busy busy busy with her shower, her bachelorette party, and planning the details of her wedding day! I'm so ecstatic that she is getting married, especially on the beach in Corolla, NC. It's been an exhausting few months and I'm hoping all of this planning is well worth the effort! To say we are on a budget, is a bit of an understatement, but I really think it has been fun coming up with all of the DIY projects. I'll reveal more details and the projects after the wedding (hoping it all goes well) but until then, here are some pictures that have inspired us throughout the planning process:

so much to do...so little time

2010-03-04T06:45:00.002-05:00

There are so many little things that have been added to my to-do lists. Consolidating my to-do lists should be on my to-do list. The picture shows a few of my lists I have lying around at work. Sometimes I trick myself into thinking I'm actually accomplishing something by making a to-do list. See all of those empty check boxes? I need to check them! Well first, I need to accomplish the task, then check them. Of course that involves having free time...you know like the time it has taken me to write this blog post? I guess what I really need is some MOTIVATION! I need some motivation to complete the little things that have gotten past me. I always wonder where people find the time and motivation to reorganize their closets, create scrapbooks, blog daily, clean, do laundry, go out with friends, and cook. I seriously want to know because I need help! I wish I could say our home is always spotless and dinner is always prepared and my clothes are always hung up, folded, or put in hampers. I feel like my nights are spent cleaning up the mess made in the mornings and my weekends spent cleaning the messes made at night. Did that confuse you? Because I'm confused. Just to give you an idea, my mornings go something like this: Wake up by 7am, shower, find something to wear from the piles of clean and sometimes dirty clothes on the floor, kiss Brian goodbye as he leaves for work, frantically pack Lily's breakfast and lunch, pack my own breakfast (instant oatmeal and a banana) and lunch if I'm lucky to see a Lean Cuisine in the freezer, warm up Lily's bottle, give to Lily as she wakes up and watches cartoons, finish my make-up and hair, make coffee, pour into thermos, pack up my purse and Lily's bag, change her diaper, get her dressed and somehow try to make it out the door by 8:15am. Truthfully, I'm lucky if I make it out that early and if along the way I haven't spilled my coffee all over the place or can actually find something to wear! Then after work and after I pick up Lily, I'm at home around 6 trying to figure out something to cook for dinner. And if it's anything like last night's dinner which took FOREVER...we eat around 8:30pm. Who knew brown rice took about an hour and a half to cook in the rice cooker? So, the last thing I want to do after dinner is anything productive. Unless it's making brownies. Which I did last night...and after I finished my brownie sundae, I found myself going back to the brownie pan with a spoon then to the freezer for a spoonful of ice cream, then back for a spoonful of brownie and so on. Which is not the point of my story at all...I just wanted to highlight how my mind tries to trick me into thinking I'm eating less than I really am.

See what I mean? Even my thoughts are cluttered! So, the point I'm trying to make is that I need to make a change in my life before I go crazy! I need to prioritize and organize my life. I need a schedule. I need, I need, I need...I sound so greedy!

Maybe, I should just make a new to-do list:

Prioritize
Organize
Schedulize

Now I feel better. I have a to-do list. I've accomplished that much at least.

things i'm loving right now...

2010-02-24T16:04:00.006-05:00

category: quick toddler food

Normally I like to cook for Lily, but sometimes there's not enough time in the day to do everything. So here are a few things that I rely on for quick meals and on-the-go snacks:

Breakfast:

1) YoBaby Plus Fruit & Cereal Yogurt and YoBaby 3-in-1 meals

2) Earth's Best Cereal Bars

3) Earth's Best Organic Mini-Waffles

Lunch/Dinner:

1) Coleman Organic® Chicken Breast Nuggets

[so so good...i have to constantly remind myself that I bought them for Lily and not me]

2) Earth's Best Frozen Meals

[oddly enough, her favorite part of these meals are the veggies!]

3) Frozen veggies

Snacks:

1) Toddler Mum-Mum's

2) Garden Cheddar Goldfish

[now with veggies added!]

Other things that are quick and easy to prepare: cut up bananas, sliced cantaloupe, & cheese cubes. Hope this gives you some quick ideas for your toddler!

the little gym

2010-02-23T06:12:00.000-05:00

Lately I've been thinking of enrolling Lily in The Little Gym that's near us in Ashburn. I think it would be really good for her to interact with other kids her age. While we are so blessed that her grandma watches her during the day while we are at work, she doesn't really get the same interaction with other kids like she would at a daycare. I don't want her to end up being socially awkward and greedy when it comes to her toys. This morning I went to drop her off and her cousin, who's a year older, was also at her grandmas for a bit. Her cousin had a calculator that Lily NEEDED right away, so Lily went up and hit her in the back of the head and started making a mean pouty face. I'm sure that's normal...maybe. Either way, it got me thinking that Lily needs to learn how to share before she assumes she can get whatever she wants.

So, next week we will be trying out a free introductory class. She'll be part of the "Birds" class for infants/toddlers 10-19 months. It's also a parent/child class, which means active participation on our part. Ohhh just one more thing I thought I'd never do as a parent. It's amazing what you'll do for your kid!

this picture warms my heart...

life with a one year old...

2010-02-04T06:26:00.001-05:00

...is so much different than life with an 11 month old! It's been less than a month since Lily has turned 1 and I've already noticed such a change in her personality. She wants to be held all the time and of course we can't resist her when she puts her arms up and makes the squeezing notion with her hands. She throws her food on the ground. She doesn't sleep in her crib. Even when she's in the deepest sleep, as soon as we put her down in her crib, she senses she's in her room and wakes up immediately. When we try to let her cry it out, she cries so much that she'll throw up. So, it's been a lose lose situation for us and we end up letting her sleep in our bed...which means no sleep for Brian or I! So, needless to say, we need to get her on a tighter schedule and need to start cracking down on her bad habits. Now if only we knew how to do that!

Lilyan's 1st Birthday

2010-01-27T12:47:00.007-05:00

Lily is 1 year old! I can't believe it. Does that mean she is no longer a baby? Do I say I have a toddler now?! Well she is definitely acting more like one these days. She screams when she doesn't get her way and throws a fit if she can't play with your phone, keys, wallet...anything important. On the flip side, she is more cuddly and just the sweetest girl ever. I love my ~~baby~~ toddler!

Here are a few pictures from her birthday festivities. If you couldn't tell, she's obsessed with Minnie Mouse. I'm hoping we didn't overdo it because I can see her developing a phobia over Disney characters thanks to her parents.

This was her on her actual birthday. I stayed home from work and made her mickey mouse pancakes for breakfast! These were the only two that resembled mickey mouse; the others looked more like blobs.

Her cute birthday dress:

Her birthday cake (Ultimate White Cake from Wegmans - SO GOOD)

We put the entire cake in front of her and she refused to touch it until we cut her a slice! So much for the typical baby face in cake pictures.

These pictures were from her Birthday Party over the weekend. I bought a smaller version of the Ultimate White cake above from Wegmans, smoothed down the frosting and decorated this cake with fondant. I must say, I'm very impressed with how it turned out...not so impressed with the stains left on my palms from the red and black fondant dyes. (more on this cake later)

Dessert table and favor boxes. (The cupcakes were hot fudge sundae cupcakes - recipe from Joy the Baker...guests could decorate them with whipped cream, sprinkles, and cherries!)

Time to eat your birthday cake!

(or just stare at it until we cut you a slice)

yummy BBQ, pesto pasta salad, lumpia (spring rolls) & baked corn

She pretty much sat in this chair the whole night (gift from her Aunt) ...what a lazy kid!

Happy Birthday Lilyan!

Help Haiti!

2010-01-13T17:14:00.003-05:00

Click on the image to donate online at Global Giving:

Please donate! I did and it only took 3 minutes of my time!

birthday planning

2010-01-13T05:30:00.003-05:00

Someone very special is having her first birthday party! I'm so excited and at the same time in shock that her 1st birthday has so quickly approached. I can't believe that a year ago I was eagerly prepping for the unknown experience of childbirth. I read everything there was to know about childbirth and watched every episode of 'A Baby Story' on TLC. I did so much research that I freaked myself out about the worst case scenarios. What a stressful time! Thankfully, I expected the worst and it wasn't that bad! Maybe there's a lesson in that. Always expect the worst. Actually, that would lead to a very depressing life...so, maybe that's not the best lesson. Anyways, one year later, here I am, prepping for her birthday party! What are you supposed to do anyway at a 1 year old's party? The only things I have right now on the list are eat, drink, and sing Happy Birthday. I need ideas!

While you're thinking of ideas for me, I'll give you a little preview of what I have planned.

Theme - Minnie Mouse (not over the top, mainly just red, black, and white polka-dots)

Location - local Community Center

Invitations - Alyssa and I made these on Photoshop...I think they turned out quite cute!

Birthday cake - 2 tier cake inspired by the images below:

(I wish I would have chosen this pink instead of red as the theme color...I love it!)

http://www.kellechu.com/gallery/6

http://tast-e-cakes.com/birthday_girl_cakes

Birthday outfit - did I say not over the top? because this might be a bit overboard:

I bought this tee with short sleeves and Lilyan's name on it at http://www.etsy.com/shop/makmaydesigns and the tutu at http://www.etsy.com/shop/jujustutus. I also bought a matching bow from http://www.etsy.com/shop/BetsyonEtsyBows. I can't wait to show pictures of her completed outfit!

Food - catered by Beltway BBQ second place winner Matty. He's making pulled pork and barbecue chicken, so so good. I've taken on the task of making the sides. We only have to feed about 60 people...that shouldn't be so hard, right?

Drinks - keg of beer. It is a Matheny party after all. For the (handful of) non-drinkers, sodas and water in these red cooler tubs I bought. Oh and Lily can have juice in her cute Minnie cup that I just now thought of buying.

Decorations - Mickey and Minnie ears for everyone (well for everyone that doesn't have a big head like me and can fit into a kid sized headband). Red, white, & black balloons. Cute red napkins with white polka-dots that I found at Paper Source.

Music - I'll go through my iTunes and see what Lily dances to and add it to my iPod. Maybe I'll even throw in the Mickey Mouse clubhouse theme song.

So, that's it. That's all I have so far! I still need to find a birthday banner, goodie bag gifts and more decorations. I have a lot of planning left to do!

can't our players just get along?

2010-01-06T18:31:00.002-05:00

Ughh. Portis needs to stop talking. Every time he opens his mouth he says something stupid. He pretty much came out and called Campbell a pushover who sucks as a team captain. Stuff like this really annoys me as a loyal Redskins fan. Then again, if we had a winning record this season, maybe I wouldn't be so easily annoyed. Oh well, I'm just glad Campbell came back and defended himself. I can't say that Portis is 100% wrong in what he said, but why does he always have to be so disrespectful? I wonder which one of them will be gone by next season...my money's on Portis.

Then there's Arenas. Good ol' Gilbert. I wonder at what point he thought it would be a good idea to bring not one, but three guns into the locker room. So, now he's suspended indefinitely for taking his guns out and playing a not so funny joke on Javaris Crittenton after they had an argument a few nights before. In his defense, they were supposedly unloaded and the argument between him and Javaris Crittenton stemmed from a card game. I know what its like to be a sore loser...just ask my husband after he came back to beat me in Mario Kart.

Oh, and Welcome to D.C., Shanahan!!
Can't wait to see what the off-season brings. HAIL!

project 365

2010-01-06T07:37:00.001-05:00

Check out my Project 365 blog! Each day this year I'm going to post a picture that I've taken. By the end of this project, I hope to look back and reflect on all the blessings in my life, no matter how small. Wish me luck in this long assignment!

2010 Resolutions

2010-01-05T11:29:00.005-05:00

(http://www.wordle.net/)

Happy 2010!

Lily's 1st Christmas (in photos)

2010-01-04T12:26:00.002-05:00

Christmas Eve at the In-Laws

[first gift of the night - matching P.J's with her cousin!]

[she also got a sleeping bag to match her cousin's from last year!]

[I love this picture...they are so cute together]

Christmas Eve at our home

Christmas Morning!

[coming out to see all of her gifts]

[reading her card from her mommy and daddy]

[inside her Dora playhut!]

[she loves the tunnel!]

[opening her stocking]

Christmas at Grandpa's house

[opening one of 100 gifts she received]

["Excuse me...this is MY gift!"]

[remember when I said, "I wish my sisters and I could take pictures in front of the tree in ridiculous outfits like the old days"? Well my wish came true, when my sister bought us matching p.j's! haha]

[back at home - Lily wanted to play on her new cute lamb rocker from Pottery Barn]

[p.s. - ignore my husbands outfit...he's wearing Transformers p.j's he got from my sister as a joke...

...except, he secretly loves them]

Hope everyone enjoyed the Holidays!

traditions

2009-12-22T11:36:00.004-05:00

It seems that everyone has their own set of family traditions over the holidays. One of my friend's family reads The Polar Express to each other on Christmas Eve, no matter how much time has passed since they were kids believing in Santa Claus. Brian's family watches It's a Wonderful Life together every year.

This got me thinking about my own family's traditions when I was younger. I remember my sisters and I would take pictures in front of the Christmas tree each year with our dog Misty. Year to year, you can see how we passed down our Christmas outfits to the next younger sister..and oh what lovely outfits they were. For the sake of not further embarrassing myself and sisters I will only post one picture. I remember my older sister would always wear her "Acme" t-shirt on Christmas morning, without reason. One person in my family would be appointed Santa that year and would be in charge of distributing the gifts. These yearly rituals, no matter how small, would become our traditions.

Even though I hated getting dressed up for pictures or going to midnight service on Christmas Eve, I now appreciate all of those things we did together as a family because as each year passes it is getting harder to get together. It has become increasingly challenging to schedule gatherings now that we all have our own families and spouse's families schedules to consider. Sometimes I wish it were simple again and weren't such a chore to get the whole family together. I wish my dog Misty was still around and I wish my sisters and I could take a picture each year in front of the Christmas tree (minus the overload of plaid and lace dresses). So while I remain envious of the lucky families who still carry out their yearly traditions and get together with ease, I am moving my focus to building new traditions. Traditions that may embarrass Lily as she gets older (she'll appreciate it later), but nonethelesss, traditions that we have built together and will always carry out as a family.

So what will our new yearly traditions be?

Collecting meaningful ornaments?

Making a gingerbread house?

Or getting Lily to pose in matching pajamas with her cousin?

Only time will tell!

feelin crafty

2009-12-21T13:48:00.003-05:00

This year, in an attempt to be crafty while saving a few dollars, I decided to make a few gifts for my sisters. We're not supposed to be exchanging gifts, since we are doing a secret santa gift exchange, so technically I'll say these are from "Lilyan." Hopefully they won't read this until after Christmas, otherwise the surprise is ruined! Oh well, I just had to share the great ideas I came across for my gifts:

Bandana Aprons - found from the DIY section of Ashley Ann's blog. (Not only is she creative, but she shares the same first and middle name as me...one of many reasons why I love her site)

These were so simple, it makes me wonder why I haven't thought of this before? Oh, that's right, because I am not creative in the slightest....although I do aspire to be! Anyways, all you need is some Heat n' Hold tape, Fray Check, ribbon, and a bandana. Follow the instructions from the link above and voila! An instant apron that is basic, chic, and costs about $5 to make.

Recipe in a Jar - found from the Dec 2009 issue of Food Network magazine.

Now this idea, although simple in thought, is not so simple when trying to find specific ingredients. Did you know yellow lentils are NOT the same as yellow split peas? Or that blue cornmeal is IMPOSSIBLE to find anywhere? After numerous trips to numerous grocery stores (Whole Foods, Wegmans, Giant, Safeway & Bloom) I finally found yellow lentils (Toor Dal) at Grand Mart. I have yet to find blue cornmeal, so I finally settled with yellow cornmeal. Once I got all, or most, of the ingredients I needed, I assembled 3 Recipes in a Jar by layering the main ingredients and attaching a recipe card to each.

Blue Cornbread with Pineapple

4 chopped dried pineapple rings (found at Whole Foods)
1 c. dried blueberries (found at Wegmans)
1/2 c. fine yellow cornmeal
1 c. blue cornmeal (I substituted with additional yellow cornmeal)
1/2 c. all-purpose flour + 2 tsp. baking powder + 1/2 tsp. baking soda + 1 tsp. salt

Recipe card:

Butter an 8- or 9-inch sq baking dish and line with parchment paper. Stir the Blue Cornbread with Pineapple mix, 1 c. buttermilk, 2 eggs and 4 Tbs melted butter in a large bowl until just combined. Pour into prepared dish and bake at 425 until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, about 25 mins. Cool, then slice into squares.

Curried Lentil Soup

2 bay leaves
1 dried chile pepper
2 tsp. tumeric + 1 1/2 tsp. curry powder sealed in a plastic bag
5 sun-dried tomatoes (not oil-packed)
1 c. red lentils
1 c. yellow lentils

Recipe card:

Heat 3 Tbs. butter in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add 4 smashed garlic cloves and 1 diced red onion; saute 6 mins. Add the contents of the spice bag, the bay leaves and chile pepper from the Curried Lentil Soup mix and cook about 3 mins. Add the rest of the soup mix and 8 cups of water or chicken broth; simmer until the lentils are soft, about 1 hour. Season with salt.

Super-Chunky Christmas Cookies

1 c. toasted shredded coconut (I used shredded coconut and toasted it in a pan on low heat)
1 c. semisweet chocolate chunks
1/2 c. chopped cashews (I left these out)
1 c. white chocolate chips
3/4 c. red and green M&M's
1/2 c. Dutch-process cocoa powder (found at Wegmans)
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour + 3/4 tsp. salt

Recipe card:

Beat 1 1/4 c. sugar and 1 stick butter with a mixer until fluffy. Beat in 1 egg and 1 tsp. vanilla extract. Add the Super-Chunky Christmas Cookie mix and stir with a wooden spoon until combined. Scoop heaping tablespoonfuls onto a baking sheet and back at 350 degrees until set, about 12 mins. Cool on a rack.

This is such a great gift because you can use any recipe that you love. Of course it helps if the recipe is appealing in a jar. Now it's time to test out these recipes on my own. I'd hate to give a gift that disappoints!

Christmas Countdown

2009-12-11T13:29:00.004-05:00

Yikes! I just realized that Christmas is 2 weeks away. I haven't even begun my Christmas shopping! Luckily this year, we are doing a secret santa gift exchange within my family (sisters, parents, brothers in law). That means I only have to buy one gift for the person's name that I drew and also means that I will have tons of money (ok, maybe not tons) left over to shop for Brian and Lily! Now if only I had time to shop...

What do you get a 11 month old for Christmas? She's at that age where she'd be happier with the box or wrapping paper than the actual gift, but of course I can't just wrap up empty boxes....or can I? No that wouldn't be nice of me, especially on her first Christmas! So here are a few ideas that I have so far:

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Playhut

(her favorite show & she'd love being able to crawl in and out of this thing)

Cuddly Cow Plush Musical Rocker

Books, books, and more books!

(I know... boring... but she'll thank me later when she's smart!)

Baby Dolls

(she's a big fan of giving her dolls kisses...and chewing on their feet)

Sports toys

(soccer ball from me, golf clubs from Brian I'm sure)

So it looks like Brian and I have to get started on our shopping! I plan on being crafty this holiday season by making a lot of small homemade gifts for stocking stuffers, but with only 2 weeks left, we'll see what I can do!

first snow!

2009-12-07T18:50:00.001-05:00

I can't believe fall has already passed, but I am so excited for the snowy days this winter. I hope there are tons of snow days like we had this past weekend. Lily absolutely LOVED the snow! She was trying to eat it and loved crawling around in it. Finally we had to carry her, against her will, back inside after she kicked off a shoe and shook off a glove.

there's a first time for everything!

2009-11-30T17:15:00.002-05:00

My first time cooking the turkey:

Lily's First Thanksgiving:

Lily's first teeth! Finally at 10 months old:

(oh, that's right, she refuses to show them)

Lily's first Christmas tree outing:

Lily's first Christmas photos:

(here's one for now!)

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving break! It was such a blessing to be able to spend the past 5 days with our family. This year I am so thankful for the many firsts that I have been able to see Lily enjoy!

when did i become so domesticated?

2009-11-22T23:09:00.002-05:00

....oh right. when i got married and had a baby. I'm actually loving this new lifestyle of mine. Not that I didn't expect to, but I thought at the very least that I would miss all of the partying and spontaneity. I really don't though. If anything, I value my time spent with my friends more. Since its not an everyday or every weekend occurrence, anytime I am able to get together with my close friends, I really take advantage of those moments. As for the late night drinking...we'll have our nights here and there, but I'd much rather spend a full day hiking, shopping, cleaning, cooking...anything but dealing with a hangover. A few weeks ago I woke up at 7am and met a couple friends at Great Falls for a 6 mile hike.

I was back home by 10:30am and still made it to church. By noon I felt so accomplished! Back in the day I would have still been sleeping and coping with all of the shots I took the night before. So last week, I went hiking again and this time Brian and Lily came along with some of my fam. Even though this hike was intense and had me questioning why we brought Lily to such a steep hike, I felt so refreshed and happy to spend that time with my family.

I know Lily has changed me. I just hope it's been for the better! Sometimes I'm scared that I'm losing myself and becoming this different person. One who actually enjoys making and freezing big batches of soup. One who has been watching Martha Stewart make the perfect turkey so I can learn for this year's Thanksgiving. One who sings Mickey Mouse Clubhouse tunes because it's Lily's favorite show. One who's idea of a night out includes going to Target then picking up Pei Wei to go. So, yes, maybe I am slightly different than before, but I don't care. I love learning to cook and I love watching Lily dance when I sing her favorite songs. I love nights out with our little family even if its just to Target. I truly love everything that has come out of being married and having a child. Maybe I have lost a part of my old self, but from what I've lost, I've gained so much more and I'd never trade that for anything.

a great reminder

2009-11-09T22:28:00.000-05:00

Today I came across this post from a blog I follow. This was a great reminder for me today that I need to stop worrying about life's uncertainties. I need to live life to its fullest as God intended me to!

what's new??

2009-11-02T23:13:00.006-05:00

I feel like lately I have nothing to blog about. Well, nothing interesting. Do I write about my 12 hour work days? Or about the Skins and how they aren't even mediocre this year? I'm tired of long work days and sick of the Skins losing. That about sums it up. Although, not everything has been quite so bad. There have been a lot of great things that have happened lately:

Lily turned 9 months old! At her check-up, Lily was 28.75 inches, 18 lbs 5 oz. Still no teeth, but she's loving real food that she can mash with her gums, like pieces of cooked carrots & chicken. She's also standing on her own for brief moments and when she drops something on the ground she is starting to say uh-oh...and when you ask her how big she is she raises her hands up high over her head. It's amazing watching her learn new things every day!

My best friend Sarah got married! I am so thankful to have been a part of her wedding. Despite the rain, it was a beautiful fall day and Sarah made a gorgeous bride of course!

My friends Tiffany and Kris got married. It was so nice to see friends that I haven't seen in ages and the keg stands that took place at the reception definitely felt like old times again!

New cars!! Brian and I are officially the proud owners of 2 new cars! It was definitely time for me to trade in my clunker for a car that could actually fit Lily and 3 additional passengers. As for Brian's car...well it was OK...but we wanted an SUV to take to our snowboarding trips this winter. So, last Friday, we went up to Nissan and stayed from 6:30pm to 12:45am...and happily left with a 2010 Xterra and 2009 Altima.

HALLOWEEN! Lily's first Halloween was great. She was the cutest cow and it was fun being able to take her trick-or-treating with her cousins. Surprisingly she didn't mind being in her costume for hours!

Autumn

2009-10-13T12:42:00.012-04:00

I ♥ ♥ ♥ Fall.

Fall is absolutely my favorite season. I'm loving the cool weather and the bright colors of the changing leaves. Whenever I think about how much I'd love to move out of Virginia, I always think about how I'd miss the change of seasons. This weekend we went to Cox's Farm. I forgot how much I loved that place! Sometimes I wish I lived out in the country or on a farm. There's something so peaceful about it. Granted there were a million people there on Sunday, but still, the scenery itself was enough to make me want to invest in a farm house.

cutie pie

2009-10-01T07:15:00.003-04:00

8 months, 1 week, and 5 days old!

Yikes! I'm so behind... with a lot of things, but mainly with posting baby updates. Lilyan is all over the place these days. She can crawl all the way across the room in what feels like 5 seconds and loves to stand up and bang on everything in sight. There's no stopping her and the pseudo baby gate we made out of couch cushions just doesn't do it's job anymore. She barges through the cushions like she's on a mission!

To help distract her from the t.v., anything plugged in, the kitchen trashcan, basically everything, I went out and bought her this cheap sit-to-stand activity walker at Babies R Us. She loves it! Sure, it occasionally tips over and the music can be annoying, but if it can keep her attention long enough for us to finish dinner or get ready for work then I'm all for it!

I'm also loving the baby babbles she makes now. She's saying dadadada and mamamama and pop pop pop. Of course, I like to think she knows what she's saying. Then there's the possessed growling noise she makes. Which can be cute at times, but when we're at church and she's looking over my shoulder at the people behind me and growling....not so cute. It's actually kind of creepy..especially when she's making this face:

She's also trying a lot of new foods lately. She reallyyy loves her Yo-Baby yogurt, puffs, and yogurt melts. The best part is watching her concentrate on picking up a puff or yogurt melt with two fingers. Then when she finally gets one, she slowly brings it up to her mouth only to completely miss and stick it to her cheek. The worst part is watching her apply that same concentration to bite-size pieces of trash or coins that she finds on our floor. Ughh..it stresses me out! Now I'm constantly on the look out for anything that didn't make it to the trash or piggy bank.

My little baby is getting so big. She seems so tall to me now! Although as fast as she's growing, she has yet to sprout any teeth. I swear the past few months she has had all the signs of teething, except for the teeth. Oh well, they will come when they are ready! I'm loving this fall weather and can't wait to get her out to the pumpkin patch and in cute hoodies and fall outfits. Hopefully our busy schedules will actually allow us to get out and enjoy the fall before winter comes!

thankful

2009-09-21T23:00:00.001-04:00

I wish I were brave enough to post pictures of how messy our apartment is right now, but I don't want to embarrass myself. Things have really slipped through the cracks lately. Dishes are spilling over the sink, laundry is stacked in piles, and trash bags are crowding the kitchen. Then there are the thank you cards that I still haven't written from Lilyan's Baptism and her 6, 7, now 8 month pages that remain blank in her baby book. Time is passing by so fast and Lilyan is growing so quickly. I feel as if I will wake up tomorrow and she will already be 1 year old. Plus, it doesn't help that for the rest of the year, the project I am on will keep me at work from 8am-8pm and during "shut-down" where every other employee gets the week off over the holidays, my team will be working hard to meet our go-live date. What's the point of making a living if you can't fully live?

...and just like that, as quickly as that thought enters my mind, it leaves. Because while I'm complaining that my apartment is messy, I know that my relatives in the Philippines are all crammed into one living space where the dirt ground is their floor. My laundry is piled by the washing machine, theirs hung out on clotheslines. Our trash bags crowding the kitchen, their neighborhood crowded with trash. Baby books, thank you cards, the many things that I have on my to-do list, they will never own or see. And my job, a stable job that could support all of them. Meanwhile, here I am complaining of long hours! My sister Tracy was fortunate enough to make the trip out there with my Mom, Llew, my grandparents, and my Aunt a few weeks ago. Although I couldn't experience it firsthand, the pictures and stories made me appreciate my life so much more. Our cousins both male & female used to wear our clothes we had passed off to them and still use our baby blanket that we had when we were little...and I used to complain about getting hand me downs from my older sister!

[tracy found our baby blanket!]

[my sister, mom, and relatives]

[my mom and relatives]

[laundry, hanging out to dry!]

[my grandma passing out gifts]

I am so thankful for everything I had as a child growing up. I only wish I could appreciate it while I was younger. I remember my mom would always say, "You don't know how good you have it!"...and all I could think was how I wanted that thing...whatever insignificant thing it was...because all of my friends had it.

So, while its hard not to get wrapped up in the everyday stresses of life, I've learned that it helps to take a step back and appreciate every little thing I have. Not just the great material things (like my new Nikon D5000!) but also the job that drives me crazy, the small apartment we live in, and the old car that I drive.

2009-09-16T13:19:00.002-04:00

Sometimes I shouldn't read other people's blogs during the day at work...because a post like this makes it seriously hard for me not to laugh out loud...!

http://www.dooce.com/daily-chuck/2009/09/15/canine-coup

Dooce might be my all time favorite blog. It's funny how someone you have never met can inspire/humor/influence you.

Another blog worth noting is Cooley's blog...and after reading this post, I'd swear it was written by Brian!

http://chriscooley47.blogspot.com/2009/09/fp-coping-with-redskin-loss.html

Fútbol Americano

2009-09-08T09:36:00.003-04:00

I can't believe the weekend is already over! We spent Saturday watching college football with some friends at our place, then headed up to the Steakhouse across the street to watch the Tech game. I really wish I had a team to root for. I blame the fact that GMU didn't have a team. Who knows if this is true, but it was rumored that the Skins were going to help build a stadium for them so they could practice there, meanwhile giving GMU the chance to build up a team. Supposedly the Dean didn't want GMU to become that kind of school. Well, I wanted to go to that kind of school!! Anyways, without a team to root for, I am left with certain teams to pull for - WVU, Notre Dame, & Navy. Naturally I have to pull for the hubby's team, WVU, since he went there for his freshman year. The other two teams, I have always liked, plus my Dad was in the Navy. Having said that, Saturday was a good day for all of those teams. Well, except Navy of course, who almost pulled off a win against the Buckeyes...I still think they should have ran the 2 pt conversion in. Why is it that college games are so much more exciting than the NFL? It seems like once players reach the NFL they no longer have to play their hearts out since they are guaranteed $$$. I wish they would just play each game as if they needed to get signed. Then maybe the majority of the Skins games wouldn't be decided by an OT field goal! Wishful thinking of course...

finally the weekend

2009-09-05T09:02:00.008-04:00

Time flies by so quickly these days. It's already Labor Day! Last weekend we went down to DC to partially celebrate our 1 year anniversary. Of course we had to choose the day of Ted Kennedy's funeral, which baffled us as to why it was sooo crowded, until we finally realized what was going on. So while everyone else was waiting for the funeral procession, we took pictures by the Capitol.

Our main reason for going downtown was to try out Granville Moore's , which claims to have the best Mussels according to Bobby Flay's Throwdown. The food was aaaamazing. We went with our friends Matty and Jodie and decided that we would start a new tradition and try a new restaurant twice a month. Every time I'm in DC I always tell myself we need to go more often. There's so much to do and we take for granted that we live so close!

Last week was a super busy week with workdays lasting from 7:30am to 8pm. I couldn't be happier that it is finally the weekend! That means football & BBQs! After this long weekend there is so much more to look forward to. On Tuesday, Brian and I are going to the Kings of Leon concert! Then, Friday afternoon I leave with the girls for a weekend at Ocean City to celebrate Sarah's bachelorette party. Can't wait!

Happy Anniversary to my amazing husband!

ta ta for now FedExField!

2009-08-26T16:12:00.004-04:00

Who would have thought that having a baby would be so expensive? I feel like all of my paychecks these days go to doctors bills, co-pays, formula, diapers, baby food, baby clothes, baby toys, baby everything! Last night I took Lily with me to Target and had to really refrain from buying her more toys. As we strolled through the toy aisle she stared at all the colors and blinking lights and looked so happy to be getting something new to play with. Yet, with determination I kept going and didn't stop once. Then I swear she sadly looked at her slobbery old singing bumblebee in her lap and rolled her eyes. I really felt bad that I didn't get her a new toy! What is wrong with me? What does she need more teething toys and rattles for anyway when two seconds later she's only interested in chewing on the receipt?

I have started to realize that all of the mental notes I used to take when I was around other kids are quickly disappearing (do not pick up baby every time she/he cries, do not fill house with pointless toys, do not become one of those organic mommies that uses the terms play date and bpa free). So for all those new mommies to be, or one day to be, forget the mental notes, because it all changes when you have a kid!

Anyways, back to the subject. So, all of these expenses means we have to cut back somewhere. Unfortunately that somewhere leads us to our Redskins Season Tickets. This is enough to bring a grown man to tears, like my husband. So, yes, we will be selling all of our club level season tickets this year and probably next year. On a brighter note, this means no more beltway traffic, drunken fights with 10 year olds, getting kicked out for throwing snowballs at Bears fans below us, suffering embarrassing losses (ahem, Rams), or overpriced food and beer. I'm sure this will be the year that we win every game at home and make it to the playoffs. Which, if that is the case, you can be sure we will NOT be selling those seats. Either way, as much as I'll miss all of the tailgating fun and being in the stadium after a win, I'm just excited that it's football season again!! As long as we have a TV to watch the games (even if its a 12 inch screen in the corner of a bar) I'll be happy.

LETS GO SKINS!!

tuesdays with ashley

2009-08-25T09:41:00.007-04:00

I'm tired of my blog design.

Why must Lily insist on trying to get out of her crib the moment I set her down?

I can't believe it will be our one year anniversary on Monday! Crap - what do I get him? Something to do with paper?

My shoulder hurts. really bad.

Is it nice outside? Sunny? I can't tell since I live in the darkness of the blinds.

I need to make coffee.

I need to do laundry.

I need to clean.

I should start exercising more.

We need to start eating healthier.

Speaking of, I need to get groceries... and diapers.

I should get back to work.

I love working from home. I love being home. I wish I was a stay at home mom.

what should I make for dinner? i'll look up a recipe from food network. i want their magazine.

ughh i need coffee.

i hate the new coffee i bought. i'll add that to my grocery list. new coffee. better coffee.

Is it really only Tuesday?!?

crap. Lily is crying.

Light the Night - Help our team raise money!

2009-08-20T12:08:00.016-04:00

It's almost time for the annual Light the Night Walk for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS). On this night we pay tribute and bring hope to people battling cancer. Teams of friends and families or co-workers raise funds for cancer research and to provide services in their communities. Walkers carry illuminated balloons - white for survivors, red for supporters, and gold for those who have lost a loved one to blood cancer. The money you raise through Light The Night helps real families in need. Even though I do not have any personal stories to share, I can guarantee there are far too many people suffering from cancer who need our help. Often times we only help when there is someone near and dear to our hearts who is suffering. Why not help out a stranger?

Your help will make a difference. Please consider making a donation to my team! Any amount will contribute towards our team goal. $1, $5, $20, $100! Anything will help!

For more information or to donate online, visit

http://pages.lightthenight.org/nca/NorthVA09/ValonSalon

Here are some facts about the upcoming Walk:

When: Saturday, October 3rd 2009

Where: Reston Town Center, Reston, VA

Thank you for your support!

7 months already?!!

2009-08-18T22:56:00.011-04:00

Don't let this innocent face fool you.

Lately, Lilyan has been testing our patience. She no longer sits still to let you change her clothes or diaper. She insists on flipping over and screams when you turn her back around.

The second you set her down in her crib when she falls asleep, she pops right up and tries to get out. No matter how tired she is, she knows instantaneously when she's there. Sometimes though, she'll spare us a couple of minutes and will "sleep" and minutes later when it's way too quiet, I'll check on her and find her like this:

It looks like its time to drop the crib lower!

Then, whenever you tell her "no" she acts as if you are playing a game with her. She gives you this look, laughs, and is right back to what she was doing:

It's really amazing how fast she is growing. All in a matter of weeks she has sat up on her own, started crawling, and now pulling herself up to stand! Slow down!!

Happy 7 Months Lilyan!!

lily's baptism....

2009-08-17T21:39:00.005-04:00

...was beautiful! Even though it was a million degrees outside and the A/C had been turned off in the church an hour before the ceremony, Lily was a happy camper and didn't cry once. I was so proud of her. The long silk gown she wore was enough for me to be miserable just by holding her, but she was all smiles in front of the crowd of 50+. She even kept her cool while the pastor poured water over her head. The pastor said it was a first that a baby has never cried during a baptism! He also said he's never seen such a large crowd for a private ceremony. Needless to say, 90% of the gathering was related to Brian. My side was definitely not as represented.

The reception afterwards was just as I planned (well kinda). The food was amazing, the decorations were beautiful, and the cupcakes were adorable!

[with the godparents Chris & Tracy]

reason to celebrate

2009-08-12T11:04:00.009-04:00

There's no better reason to throw a party then a baptism! We bought the prettiest christening gown for Lily. Plus, it was on saaale, so we just had to buy it!! (that part was for you tracy) We're expecting about 50 people or so to show up, which is good considering I thought the number would be around 75. I have ordered the cupcakes, bought my dress, Brian bought a suit, I picked up the decorations last night, and tonight we get the beer, wine, and food. Hopefully everything will turn out as planned!

(Tissue flowers I purchased courtesy of Martha Stewart)

(inspiration for cupcake design)

(Pink lemonade...plus cocktails)

Happy Christening Lily!

august august august

2009-08-05T22:32:00.012-04:00

My sister Tracy and her fiance Matt came over tonight for dinner and they came with gifts in hand as always. ~~I'm~~ Lily is starting to get spoiled with all of the pajamas, dresses, and toys!

My sister painted her portrait based on one of her photos:

and then she put this together for her:

I LOVE Love LOVE the gifts! and of course Lily does too.

It seems like these days if anyone wants to see us, they have to come to our place! We've both been so busy with work and now throw in a sick baby and all of our time is consumed. I feel like the sun is rising before it even begins to set. Plus there's a lot coming up within the next few weeks.

Tracy's birthday - Aug 7th
LLS Light the Night Campaign kick-off party - Nationals Park - Aug. 7th
Matt's birthday - Aug 12th
Lilyan's Baptism - Aug 15th
Poconos trip - Aug 20-24th

I can't believe Tracy is going to be 2-3! Every time a birthday comes up for Tracy, I try to remember what I was doing at that age. Let's see at 23, I was pretty much living in LA for work. Traveling back and forth every week up until Christmas where I flew home Christmas Eve and returned to LA the day after Christmas. Those days were some of the best days of my life. I met Brian and had the best time with all of my co-workers. I stayed at the Portofino Inn at Redondo Beach, had the master suite with an ocean sound view and woke up to barking seals and breakfast on the marina. We worked hard and partied hard back then! ohh memoriesss....if it weren't for our family all being in the area, I really think I would want to live out in Cali...maybe one day!

[this was the view from my balcony i mentioned...horrible i know]

I'm excited for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society kick-off. I started volunteering for the LLS and this will be a great event for a great cause. Plus it doesn't hurt that my friends and I get tickets to the game afterwards! The Light the Night walk is coming to Reston in October and I'm heading up a team to walk. We walked as a team at Valon Salon when I worked there for a million years, so I asked them to walk again. I'm really hoping that enough people sign up so we can raise a significant amount of money! So, don't be surprised if you see something on facebook asking for your donations!

[yes, that is me up in front with the hair up to my ears]

After my soon-to-be-brother-in-law Matt's 2-?th bday is Lilyan's baptism! Usually this consists of being baptized at church during service and going to brunch afterwards as a family to celebrate. Welllll thanks to Brian's HUGE family (did I mention that they all live within 30 miles of us?) this will be another big party. Let's just say I invited about 75 people. I feel like I'm prepping for another wedding! Lily's Christening outfit that I'm purchasing this weekend (supposedly the same one Jessica Alba's daughter wore) is beautiful.....! My friend Sera Cho of Project Cupcakes is making the cupcakes for the reception (a mix of red velvet and carrot cake) and decorating them to match the theme of the invitations:

[cherry blossoms!]

...and our friend Matty is catering the reception with his award winning barbeque. I can't wait to see everyone! It will be such a special day and I'm so thankful that we are making a big celebration out of it.

Last, but not least, we head to the Poconos for a long weekend Aug 20-24th to celebrate my sister-in-law Jessica's birthday. This will be my first time up to her in-law's mountain house, but hopefully not the last! I'm already looking forward to the winters we will get to spend there. I have to make up for all the snowboarding I missed out on last year!

ughhh...it just hit me that I might be catching what Lily and Brian have so I am off to bed [with some nyquil]! Besides, this post is long enough as it is!

six (crazy, fast, memorable) months

2009-07-22T23:21:00.015-04:00

It's been six whole months since Lilyan was born (well, six months and three days). I still can not believe how much she has grown and how quickly time has passed. One year ago we were getting ready for our wedding, sending out our invitations, and vacationing at the Outer Banks. Six months ago, we were driving home from the hospital on a freezing cold day, scared and nervous about being by ourselves, but so incredibly happy to be home with Lily. We slept on the couch for the first few weeks with Lily between us in her travel bed. Everything was so new to us and this felt the most comfortable and safest for us.

Fast forward to today and it's hard to believe that we were once in that state of mind. We've had to learn fast like all first time parents and even though we've had our scares and moments of doubt, parenting became second nature to us. Worries about Lily eating her bottle too fast or getting gassy were quickly replaced with Lily scooting (she's at that stage where she scoots backwards, but not quite crawling) and rolling over to chew on the power cords and t.v. stand. As soon as we become comfortable with one stage, she outgrows it and gives us a whole new set of worries. There's never even enough time to worry about all these worries! I guess we will just have to accept the fact that she will continually throw challenges our way as we try to keep up and adapt to them.

Happy 6 Months Lilyan!

6 month checkup

weight: 16 lbs 5 oz

height: 25.75 inches

P.S. - I just realized that Lily is wearing a hat in every picture that I loaded into this post. So maybe I am obsessed with baby hats!

Don't worry, once she grows hair I won't have to put a hat on her all the time....but I will get to use hair clips!

friday nights

2009-07-18T01:46:00.006-04:00

friends, cards, and beer

too cute.

2009-07-13T19:31:00.004-04:00

busy bee

2009-07-08T12:18:00.011-04:00

My lack of blog posts have not only been a result of pure laziness, but also because I've been way too busy with vacation, work, work, and work. So I am taking advantage of a canceled meeting and quickly typing away.

June 28th - July 4th:

We drove to Seneca, SC to visit my relatives at their house on Lake Keowee. This is how we spent the majority of the week:

Aunt & Uncle's House

Baby Pool

Swimming

Playing in WaterfallsBoatingRelaxing on Islands

We returned home on July 4th where we watched the fireworks in Ashburn. Surprisingly, Lily enjoyed the fireworks and barely even flinched while they were going off.

And now I am back at work. The vacation flew by and it's only a matter of weeks before I'm back in Dallas. These next few days, weeks & months will be extremely busy at work with our upcoming realignment, but I'm up for the challenge. I'd much rather be busy at work than the other way around. One thing I have noticed is how hard it is to keep up with things at home when I'm busy at work. There are not enough hours in the day to get everything accomplished.

On my to-do list:

Send out invitations to Lily's upcoming Baptism in August
Plan reception afterward, order cupcakes
Get car inspected
Change my last name to my legal name on all things (so I'm a year behind...)
Update Lily's baby books and send out recent pictures to family
Organize nursery and clothes
Help Tracy with wedding planning
Help plan Sarah's bachelorette party, get bridesmaid dress
Look for bigger place to live
Plan a getaway for our 1 year anniversary (8.31.09)

I'm sure there's a bunch more I have to do, but 10 is enough for now! I'll try to blog more later, but for now it's back to work. Also, I'm frustrated with how Blogger sucks at formatting posts and pictures and don't have the patience in me today.

Happy Father's Day!

2009-06-20T14:04:00.001-04:00

back from dallas y'all

2009-06-20T13:30:00.005-04:00

I survived my first trip to Dallas! I'm not a fan of the small planes we took to get there, but that's all United offers on a one way trip. Oh well, I'll save the worrying for my next trip in about a month.

Surprisingly, Dallas is really nice! Not that I expected it to be some crap-hole, but I didn't realize how up and coming the area is. I stayed in Irving and was impressed with all of the restaurant options, shopping centers, and new buildings. Everything really is bigger in Texas! My favorite place there was the Southlake Town Square. Another place that we were supposed to go to was the Dallas Arboretum. Every Thursday they have outdoor concerts where you can bring your own picnic and listen to live music. It was sold out this time, but next time we're there some of my co-workers and I plan on going.

Overall, this week was physically and mentally draining. Work was intense and I missed home like crazy. I found myself scrolling through my phone during meetings to look at pictures of Lily over and over again. I'm so glad to be home. I used to love traveling for work, but now I'd do anything to have all of the project work based out of VA. At least while Lily is still a baby. I swear I came back yesterday and she seemed so much bigger! When she first saw me, she stared at me for about 10 mins. like she was trying to figure out who I was. Although, I'm sure some of it had to do with the fact that I woke her up from her nap. Anyways, enough wasting time on the computer, I have to make the most out of this weekend!

Happy 5 months Lilyan Grace!

separation anxiety

2009-06-11T11:38:00.003-04:00

I googled the term "separation anxiety" and among the returned search results: "...help your child overcome this common phase," "...many kids develop separation anxiety," "...a fairly common anxiety disorder that affects children."

Apparently, I'm too old to be suffering from this disorder. This Sunday I'm flying to Dallas for a business trip for a week...a whole week...without Lily. Ever since I booked the trip, I've been having anxiety over the whole thing. Mainly over the fear of flying itself. Which is silly, since at one point I was racking up so many frequent flier miles with United Airlines that I reached Premier status and earned free first class upgrades and enough miles to pay for round trip tickets to Mexico & Utah. Now all of a sudden, I'm afraid of flying. Then to further attribute to my fears, I had a dream about a plane crash, followed by the crash of Air France, followed by *2 birds repeatedly flying into our apartment windows. In the past week I've done everything I can to justify my anxiety, which has led nowhere. Maybe my dream about the plane crash was foreshadowing the Air France incident...does this mean I have psychic abilities? Great, so each time I have a bad dream, is it going to come true? I even called the office at the apartment complex to reassure myself that its common for birds to fly into windows on our side of the building. That didn't help..."Oh, no we never receive ANY complaints about birds...there must be something about YOUR apartment! How funny!" ...Funny? Not quite the word I was thinking.

So, just as I was thinking I'm doomed...the maintenance guy came by to repair the toilet and I asked him about the bird issue. Thankfully, he said he sees it all the time on our side of the building since it faces the woods, especially this time of year. Another thing I found out online (I swear the internet is a double-edged sword) is that it's common to develop anxieties after having a baby since now you are responsible for the safety and upbringing of another person. I even found a couple other people who blogged about the same fears. So, I'm not alone, which is always comforting. After all of this I've finally concluded that it's normal to be scared about leaving Lily for a week and also to just trust in God's plan for me. Nobody can promise that I'll be okay on my trip, but knowing that what is meant to be is meant to be offers some relief. I'm just wishing this trip was over already...the verge of a full blown panic attack is really stressing me out.

By the way, I should start a list of all the things that have happened to me postpartum, so I'm better prepared next time.

hair loss
stretch marks
anxiety
anxiety
anxiety

I'm starting to think these symptoms are a result of weaning Lily off breastfeeding. I should ask ~~the internet~~ a therapist.

Anyways, I thought I'd feel better after posting this, but it has basically re-opened the can of anxieties I was having. So, to end on a good note, I am going to re-read this post I came across from Danielle Steel's blog (yes, the author). Like I said, knowing that other people are going through what I am, gives me comfort in the fact that I'm not completely crazy!

*If you haven't heard the superstition, please don't bother, it will only freak you out if a bird ever flies into one of your windows or into your house.

4 months old and 2 weeks late!

2009-06-05T23:06:00.012-04:00

I can't believe my Lil G is already 4 and 1/2 months old. It didn't hit me until this morning how big she has gotten. As I held her in one arm and made a bottle in my other, she kept grabbing for the bottle. Then as I'm washing one of the 20 parts to the Dr. Brown bottles, she grabs the middle piece right out of the bottle and puts it in her mouth. She clearly understands what a bottle is these days, assembled or not. Even more impressive, she can hold her own bottle now! Of course when I'm not helping her hold it I stuff a blanket under for some support, but still, how did she get so big so fast? Another thing she's fond of is rolling over and over until she's about 6 feet from her playmat. As always, it's the little things she does that never cease to amaze me. So, in addition to grabbing and rolling, she's eating baby food now! I started her out on oatmeal and rice cereal and have moved on to butternut squash, sweet potatoes, bananas, and avocado. I have yet to get the Beaba Babycook, but nonetheless am still attempting to make her food myself. So far it's been pretty easy and the butternut squash, which I roasted for 40 mins., made about 10 servings! Cheap, easy, and yummy (I ate some myself).

oh and just an FYI, b/c I'm weeks late in posting this...
@ Lily's 4 month check-up she weighed 13lb 6 oz. and was 24.5 inches long

So, in other news....

Last weekend was Brian's birthday! I'm so glad it's over...but only because I had planned a surprise outing and it was stressing me out having to keep it a secret from him.

So in a nutshell here's how it went:

Friday - Brian goes out with friends, I stay home worried that his friends are ruining the surprise for the following night.

Saturday - 9am: Brian almost ruins my plan for the night when he claims he is "too hungover to go out tonight." 6pm: Cookout at Brian's parents...I'm still stressing out about everything. I can't enjoy myself because the limo bus is picking up all of his friends while we're there and I'm getting antsy. 8pm: Limo bus is on it's way to Brian's parents to surprise Brian. 8:15pm: Bus has arrived and Brian still has no idea. We get ready to go out to a bar in "Ashburn", head out the door, then I wrap a blindfold around his eyes. He gets on the bus and 25 of his close friends are on the bus..SURPRISE! We take him to Arlington and go on a mini bar crawl, meanwhile he is wearing a list of tasks he has to complete throughout the night. Some of my favorites..."Kiss a Cougar", "Back that thang up to a dirty girl", "Take a blowjob shot". hahaha what a great night.

Sunday - Charles Town...Races and Slots! Surprisingly, I've never been there. Also surprising was the fact that we actually went considering the massive hangovers we all had. Nothing a little bloody mary couldn't fix! So, we went there and I won 3 of the 5 races I bet on....beginner's luck? I ended on a good note thanks to betting on horse 9 Shining Charlotte to win straight up in the last race!

Next weekend I leave for Dallas for a week for work. I am not pumped at all. For starters I hate hate HATE flying, (but love traveling...how does that work?) and second, this will be the first time I'm away from Lily for more than a day. Ughh....oh well...que sera sera! One thing I am looking forward to? Our one week vacation in Seneca, South Carolina at my uncle's lake house! We leave on June 28th...I can't wait!

memorial day weekend

2009-05-26T07:44:00.000-04:00

...was filled with a lot of this:
...and this:

Lilyan hates the sun and heat! So of course I thought maybe she'd love the pool...nope! She hates that too. Of course, the water was freezing, so I couldn't blame her. So, I spent Saturday afternoon under the umbrella trying to calm her down. I was definitely the mom that everyone looked at with a "shut that kid up" face or a "thank god that's not me" face. Hopefully next time we'll have better luck!

Saturday night - a true testament to how old my friends and I have become. All dressed up for a night in Georgetown, my girl friends and I went to dinner to celebrate Leena's birthday (and partially mine) at Neyla's restaurant. The food was awesome and the sangria was meh. Overall though it was a great time. So of course after dinner, we had the option of going out to one of the bars in the neighborhood. We spent about 10 mins debating where to go, if we should go, how long to go, etc, etc. Then after a couple of the girls decided to take off, the rest of us finally ventured all the way to Paolo's.. across the street. for a drink. one drink. then bounced. This is coming from a group of 4 friends who used to go out to D.C. when we were 16 and sneak into clubs using our older sister's IDs (or if your sister wasn't nice enough to ever give you her ID, you'd scratch out the date of your own ID and pen it in.....). So, I have come to the realization that our nights out of hours of heavy drinking and puking on the side of 66 have been replaced by nice dinners and reminiscing about the old days. I'm completely OK with that. I'm just thankful that we're all still as close as we are after all these years. Plus...it is sooo worth it not waking up the next morning with a hangover.

Sunday - my birthday! - I'm officially in my late 20's. After dinner at the in-laws, we dropped off Lily at my mom's house and headed to Bungalow Billiards in Chantilly. My options were limited, since not many places are open late on a Sunday night. Even so, it was a great night out, there was a live reggae band and a bunch of my friends came out to celebrate. I couldn't have asked for a better night!

Monday - birthday bbq - We all got together at my mom's for some bbq & crab legs. Yum! The family that eats together, stays together! Plus, I got a ton of gift cards to Best Buy so that I could buy the Nikon that I've wanted. I should have it in just a few weeks, can't wait!

P.S. - I'm thinking about buying the Nikon D5000 instead of the Nikon D90. After extensive research, the image quality is about the same, the video capability slightly better, and I'm no professional, so I think it'll do just fine. Oh...major selling point - it costs 1/3 less than the D90.

such a big girl!

2009-05-19T20:02:00.009-04:00

My Lil G is eating rice & oatmeal cereal now! She's been eating it once a day for a little over a week now, so we get to switch her to veggies and fruits soon. I plan on making her own baby food to save some cash and also because it's a healthy option and seems fun. Now I can finally get the Beaba Babycook! It's funny how these things excite me now. Just like when I'm at the mall and see a sale at Gap Kids or Old Navy. No wonder I never have anything to wear, I blow all my money on her clothes!

Also, she's beginning to roll over from side to side to tummy. Each time one of us checks on her in her crib she has done a 180. And finally she's laughing out loud. Or as my friend Leena says, "She can LOL now"! I love it when she laughs because she hasn't quite figured it out yet, so every time she laughs she surprises herself. Happy 4 months Lilyan Grace!

(How is it that my baby is so pale and has blue eyes?!)

Must be those Irish genes.

embracing these moments

2009-05-12T22:09:00.026-04:00

My first Mother's Day was amazing! It started off by Brian surprising me with Lily's new outfit that he got her. Of course you can't see her cute pink shorts that she's wearing. (It melts my heart picturing him going to the store with her and picking her out a new outfit). Then he made me a wonderful breakfast with mimosas and gave me my presents, which included a Starbucks gift basket, roses, and a picture frame with a bunch of pictures of Lily and I. Not to mention the cards that he made from Lily and him. I have the greatest husband (and daughter)! Then we made a visit to my mom and headed to Brian's mom's house for a little cookout. It was such a beautiful day!

I'm so thankful to have these moments as a new family. It's amazing how life changes after having a child. You feel like you're in a completely different world than you were in before. You learn to be grateful for every breath, smile, and laugh from your baby. You learn to never take any moment for granted for each is a blessing. Your life is consumed by dirty diapers, spit-up, washing bottles and baby laundry, but you wouldn't trade it for a thing. It's your life now and you can't imagine what life was like before your baby. It's cliche, I know, but if you're a parent, you get it. I didn't get it until now. A year ago I would have never imagined that this would be my life today. Never in a million years would I have thought that I would be married and have a baby at the age of 25! It wasn't part of my plan. I imagined getting engaged, spending a year or so on wedding plans, getting married, taking a honeymoon, traveling, buying a house, then planning for a baby.

Yet instead I fell in love, became pregnant, moved in with the in-laws, got engaged, planned a wedding in 3 months, got married*, rented an apartment, then had Lily. No honeymoon, no traveling, no house. Needless to say, life isn't what I planned it to be. Of course we still hope to buy a house in the future and take the well deserved honeymoon that we missed out on, but I honestly believe that God blessed us with this plan for a reason. I may never know the reason, but I can take each day as it comes and be thankful for every moment that I have to spend with our own little family. I don't know where this new road will take us but I would hate to look back at life with regret and wish that I didn't take things for granted. So for now, I embrace the moments of rocking Lily to sleep while she grips my thumb and twirls her hair because before I know it, she'll be a big girl and I'll wonder where the time passed us by.

*It was only fitting that our first dance at our wedding was to "Danny's Song":

People smile and tell me I'm the lucky one, and we've just begun,

Think I'm gonna have a ~~son~~ daughter.

He She will be like she and me, as free as a dove, conceived in love,

Sun is gonna shine above.

And even though we ain't got money, I'm so in love with ya honey,

And everything will bring a chain of love.

And in the morning when I rise, you bring a tear of joy to my eyes,

And tell me everything is gonna be alright.

....

Pisces, Virgo rising is a very good sign, strong and kind,

And the little ~~boy~~ girl is mine.

Now I see a family where there once was none, now we've just begun,

Yeah we're gonna fly to the sun.

things i'm excited about...

2009-05-06T11:56:00.008-04:00

Caps are leading the series 2-0! A win tonight in Pittsburgh would be huge! I'm so jealous of my Mom and Llew's seats. They have season tickets 4 rows behind the glass...this picture was from ESPN.com. And look, there's Llew!!
My first Mother's Day is coming up! I'm looking forward to spending the day with Brian and Lily and celebrating this blessing.
Nikon D90 on sale!! This week I've found it online including the additional zoom lens for a great price. I reallyyy want this camera, even though I should be saving for more important things. Although, my birthday is around the corner! Happy early birthday to me?
~~May 24th, my birthday.~~ After 25 it's not really exciting.
June 1st, Brian's 25th birthday! I'm technically going to be 2 years older than him for one week. You can call me Cougar!! yippee.
June 28th-July 4th. Vacation...finally! Heading down to Seneca, SC for the week at Lake Keowee.

C-A-P-S! CAPS CAPS CAPS!

2009-04-29T13:43:00.004-04:00

I've always been a big fan of Sergei Fedorov and was so excited when he came to Washington. So, it's no surprise that I love him even more after last night! Wooo hooo!

Go CAPS!!

Bring on the Pens!!

Skins' Draft Picks, Caps Game 7

2009-04-28T11:38:00.005-04:00

I'm so glad the Skins didn't blow anymore of their money or future draft picks for Mark Sanchez. Granted, with our luck, he'll end up taking the Jets to the Superbowl, but for once, we need consistency with our offense and with Campbell still adjusting to a new system under Zorn, it would just take us back to square one with another new QB. Besides, I'm sure Snyder only wanted Sanchez for his marketability and good looks. What better way to earn him even more money, than a franchise player who could become the next face of the NFL? So, I may eat my words later this year when the Skins finish another mediocre season, but for now I am happy with the first couple draft picks we made:

Round 1 - Brian Orakpo DE - I don't follow college football too closely, but from what I hear, this man is a beast, a monster, a freak...and I love it! I mean look at him, he's huge! I'm surprised we were able to get him at No. 13 and although we could have used an OT, you can't pass him up and hopefully he will help the Skins pass rush. We sure as hell need it.

Round 3 - Kevin Barnes CB - Again, we could have used our picks to build up our offensive line, but I guess they were all taken during Round 2. (Good thing we traded our Round 2 pick for Taylor last year, that sure helped.) It looks like Barnes shows promise with his speed and agility...and with a hit like this, he kind of reminds me of Sean Taylor.

Our defense is stacking up nicely! Hopefully the Skins will develop some of their offensive linemen during the off-season and with the signing of two talented undrafted linemen (Burley & Williams) from UMD, we'll see what happens.

No, no I'm not. I'm so nervous/excited/anxious that I don't even want to watch. All I want is for them to pull this win off...then to win the next series, then the finals and go on to win the Stanley Cup, is that too much to ask?? I'm really hoping we win, but we don't have Brashear (thanks to a 6 game suspension) and we're playing at home so all the pressure is on us to win. Come on Ovie! I want to see more goals like this. We need to redeem ourselves from last year's loss in overtime in this exact same scenario. Can we pull it off tonight? I'm getting nauseous thinking about it. Maybe it's better if we lose tonight, I physically can't handle a Washington team being good for once.

Go CAPS!!

going green...slowly.

2009-04-27T21:27:00.005-04:00

I happened to catch a recent Oprah show on Earth Day and realized that I need to start being more environmentally friendly. Shamefully, I'm the one who uses a paper towel each time to dry my hands, does not recycle (out of laziness), and leaves the lights & TV on at night. To make myself feel a bit better, at least I don't litter and I do recycle at work. Anyways, it'll be a slow transition, but at least I am now consciously aware of what I'm doing.

Step 1: Recycle.

I now recycle everything at home..(cardboard, glass, plastic, paper). I had to call up the apartment complex office to find out where their recycle bins are, because apparently they are misused and people dump their trash in them...tsk tsk. See? That's why I never recycled, they don't even have a clear designated place for my recyclables.

Step 2: Reusable Lunch Bags & Water Bottle

I thought I was being environmentally friendly by reusing my plastic bags from Target and Wegmans for lunch bags...but I guess that doesn't count when I turn around and toss them. So, I plan on buying one of those dorky lunch bags (although these are cute). Also, I suppose I could cut back on the multiple plastic water bottles I consume by filling up a reusable water bottle with filtered water.

Step 3: Cut back on water and energy at home

This is pretty challenging. Especially, when it comes to washing Lily's bottles. So, the water consumption will take a bit to get used to, but turning off the lights and unplugging appliances when I'm not using them is easier. I guess I can get used to using the TV timer also, besides, the only thing on after 3am is Paid Programming.

Yes, I know, these 3 steps are simple and I'm sure everyone everywhere is already following these steps, but I like to set immediate goals so I can continue on to greater things, like buying eco-friendly products and using reusable grocery bags.

winery fun

2009-04-19T20:32:00.006-04:00

4.18.09 -The wine tour this year was amazing! 48 girls on one charter bus = drunken fun! We hit up Hillsborough then trekked over to Breaux and ended at Quattro Goomba. The weather was perfect and the live music made it that much better. I don't know why I don't go more often to wineries, they're the perfect way to spend a beautiful day out.

On another note..it's about time that I start to detox. I think I've almost caught up on my 9+ months of not drinking. I need to get my butt back into shape and when it's raining out, the last thing I want to do is go for a run (ok - walk). I guess it's time for me to stop putting off the inevitable work out routine. I've used this whole "having a baby thing" as an excuse for too long!

Baby update: Lilyan is 3 months old! Ahh where has the time gone! I can't believe how much of her personality is showing more and more these days. All day long she wants to chew on her hands and now you can tell she is recognizing the difference between other people and her parents. Even though she's growing way too fast, I love this stage! I also just bought her the Your Baby Can Read series. Who knows if it'll work, but it can't hurt. Besides, if she's going to be watching tv at home (which is inevitable since we live in a small apartment with a 60 inch tv) , she might as well be watching something educational!

easter weekend

2009-04-13T19:46:00.014-04:00

April 9-10th: Atlantic City was so much fun! It was great to get away with Brian for the night. We arrived at 10pm and gambled at the casinos of the Borgata and Tropicana until 4am. The next morning Brian and I went to the boardwalk and gambled away our winnings. Luckily, I have some self control and was able to convince Brian that it was time to go home. We broke even and walked away with a video poker addiction.

On the way home we stopped by Babies R Us and picked up a new playmat for Lily. I think she suffered from sensory overload because after 5 mins of playing with all the rattling, vibrating, crinkly, light flashing, mozart musical toys, she passed out. Oh and let's not forget the big mirror that's attached to it, so she can stare at her cute, yet, terrified reflection.

April 11th - Brian's Dad and my Dad's Bday. How cute that our dads share the same birthday. We went to breakfast to celebrate Brian's dad's bday and then went home to enjoy the rainy day indoors.....Then about after 10 mins of being stuck indoors, I dragged my nephew with me to Target, Wegman's & Best Buy to battle the herds of people getting ready for Easter Sunday. He didn't mind though because he made out with a Wii Fit (an early bday gift) and I decided it would also be the perfect gift for my Dad. So we headed home with 2 Wii Fit's, a trunkful of groceries and the usual random purchases from Target. As we start to unload my car (my bright red VW Golf) I accidentally swung my door open...and it slams into the bright flawless white car next to me. DAMMIT! Keep in mind that we live in an apartment complex. So my options are 1) pretend it didn't happen, move my car and go inside. 2) Sit there and try to buff out the red mark that was left on the side of their car. 3) Write a note like a responsible and courteous person. I went with option 3, realizing that the owner of the car could be watching me through his windows as I contemplate what to do and also because it's the right thing to do...I suppose. Anyways, it's not like it won't buff out and up until now they haven't called me...yet.

April 12th - Easter Sunday! Brian and I went to church and left Lily in the hands of my 14 year old nephew. All of his experience with his 2 younger brothers paid off and Lily was well taken care of. Then we headed to Brian's Aunt's for Easter lunch and an Easter egg-hunt. Lily made out well with 12 eggs....hmm I wonder how she managed that?

Afterwards, we went to my Dad's to celebrate his birthday and to have Easter dinner. Thanks to Cody & I's culinary skills, we made an awesome carrot cake for his birthday. It was probably the best carrot cake I've ever had. Don't worry, I'm not trying to brag about it, anyone can make this cake using this recipe! So after a long weekend of birthdays and Easter celebrations we headed home where we all passed out on the couch for the night.

"insert clever post title here"

2009-04-08T23:45:00.017-04:00

Brian and I are off to Atlantic City today! An overnight stay at the Tropicana. Like I said earlier, this should be interesting, as it's my first time in a casino. Let's hope I get beginner's luck and win big! Either way, I'm just excited to have a fun night out of town. We're leaving Lilyan in the hands of Tracy & Josh. Don't worry, I made sure to type up an instructions manual. I used to hate when I'd babysit and there would be a long list of directions and rules to follow...pshh like I didn't know what I was doing. Yet, that didn't stop me from detailing out Lily's daily schedule from sleeping to eating down to what to do if she gets the hiccups. I've become the stereotypical mother, but it's not until I became a mother that I realized there's no other type of mother. It just took me having a child of my own to finally understand it all. Although, I still refuse to get a mini-van and carry around a Winnie the Pooh diaper bag....and please please shoot me if I ever show up at your house wearing a pair of these:

-------------------------------------------

In other great sports news..

C-A-P-S CAPS CAPS CAPS!

It's a great time to be a CAPS fan!

One more point and they clinch

the No. 2 seed and home-ice advantage

in the second round of playoffs.

LET'S GO CAPS!

UNC beats MSU = Bracket Challenge Winner!

Finally, I won a pool at work! All the time that I put into running the various pools at work for football and March Madness and yet I have not won once...until now!

P.S. - Is anyone else going to Cooley's Rally for the Cure?

tuesday bluesday

2009-03-31T11:03:00.017-04:00

This week at work is going by so slowwww ....it's only Tuesday! On a brighter note, next Thurs, Brian and I are going to Atlantic City! We're staying the night with a couple of our friends at the Tropicana. It should be interesting considering the fact that I've never stepped foot in a casino. Let the gambling begin! Let's hope we come away with some winnings so I can start crossing items off of my wishlist.

I hope I'm not a nervous wreck since it will technically be my first night away-away from Lily. My sister Tracy is watching her. I'm betting that next Thurs will be the first night Lily decides to wake up crying at all hours. I hope she's a good baby for her! I'm not looking forward to the extra pumping I'm going to have to do to make bottles for her while I'm away. Sometimes I want to give up altogether on breastfeeding. Even though Lily sleeps thru the night, I still have to wake up every 3 hours to pump, just to make bottles for her while I'm at work. It's exhausting and a lot of work! Not to mention I have to lug a "discrete" pump to and from work each day and I have to watch my caffeine intake. There are pros to breastfeeding of course: the extra 30 mins. a day I get to sit in the Mother's lounge at work and catch up on my reading, the money I save (formula is expensive as hell!), and the nutritional benefits. So, I suppose I will stick with it for the time being...

One more thing...is it bad that I love pictures of Lily frowning?
I think it's the cutest thing!

Milk 2% alcohol?

2009-03-29T20:39:00.010-04:00

After much curiosity...I bought Milkscreen, a test kit that measures the amount of alcohol in your breastmilk. I'm still breastfeeding Lily and am pretty cautious when it comes to feeding her after a few drinks. So, just for kicks I decided to test some milk I had pumped after a long night of drinking. (The blue and white strip is the tester....the black square is the test pad).

Needless to say, I poured the bottle of milk out and fed her a bottle of non-alcoholic milk from the day before.

spring fever!

2009-03-26T23:29:00.007-04:00

Lily had her first Easter pictures taken today!

2 month check-up

2009-03-19T12:45:00.007-04:00

Lilyan is 2 months old! I can't believe it...she's so much more alert now and full of smiles. Yesterday was her 2 month check-up and she's weighing 10lbs 12 oz. and 23 inches long! Right along the 50th percentile.

We've been really blessed with a good baby. She hardly ever cries and sleeps through the night. I know that will all change, the older she gets, but for now I am counting our blessings! Prior to yesterday, I could probably count the number of times I've heard her cry (hysterically) on one hand. So, of course it was heartbreaking to hear her cry when she got her 2 vaccine shots yesterday. Not only that, but she caught my cold, so I had to use the saline drops and aspirator for her stuffy nose. She's not a big fan of that either. Then she developed a fever of 101.4, so needless to say she was a sad baby yesterday. Poor girl. Today she is much better though, she's back with Grandee and her temperature is back to normal.

I look forward to this month with her..each day gets better and better and it's so exciting to see her grow and accomplish each milestone:

By the end of month three a baby typically:

Raises head and chest when put on tummy
Lifts head up 45 degrees
Kicks and straightens legs when on back
Open and shuts hands
Pushes down with legs when placed on a hard surface
Reaches for dangling objects
Grasps and shakes hand toys
Tracks moving objects
Begins to imitate sounds
Recognizes familiar objects and people, even at a distance
Begins to develop a social smile
Begins to develop hand-eye coordination
Brings both hands together
Interested in circular and spiral patterns
Kicks legs energetically
Holds head up with control

-iVillage, by Lisa Schulman

30 - part 1

2009-03-13T10:22:00.007-04:00

So I know I have a few years before I turn 30, but recently I started thinking about how quickly the years are passing and how much there is in life that I still want to accomplish. Plus, given the fact that nobody is guaranteed tomorrow, who knows how long I'll have to accomplish my life goals (besides God)? All my life I have lived in Northern Virginia. Granted, I don't think I could ever move away from my family, but it really puts things in perspective if you compare Nova to the rest of the world. There's so much out there that I have yet to see and I'm not getting any younger! Even though I've traveled my fair share for the occasional vacation getaway, I have never been to Paris, Italy, Japan, or Ireland...all the places I dream of going. So until Lily gets a little older and my paycheck gets a lot bigger, I'm going to have to settle for achieving the smaller goals in life that are within reach. My first goal is to actually list out my personal goals, since I can't say I have one. To get me started on my own list I've browsed some books & websites on What to do before you're 30, What you should know before you're 30, Where to go before you're 30...etc etc. I'm horrible at making long term goals or even considering the fact that I'll live past 30 since I'm terribly superstitious and think the moment I plan for the future, something terrible will happen to me (I know, it's stupid). So, I'll start with 30. A reasonably safe age I hope to reach.

Anyways here is the first list I found after surfing the web all while being semi-productive at work:

30 Things Everyone Should Know How to Do Before Turning 30 (by Siobhan Adcock)

1. ~~wrap a present~~
2. start a successful fire in a ~~fireplace~~(does a gas fireplace count?), at a campsite, and in a barbecue
3. finish a piece of furniture
4. get a raise (something i'm horrible at...negotiating)
5. order wine at a restaurant without getting stiffed
6. parallel park in three breathtakingly beautiful movements (i can do it in 10 beautiful movements)
7. ~~dance a “slow dance” without looking like an idiot~~
8. ~~use a full place setting properly, including chopsticks and Asian soup spoons~~(duh, i live for the asian soup spoons)
9. ~~clean your place in under 45 minutes, when friends, relatives, or prospective lovers are coming by unexpectedly, and soon~~
10. ~~hold your liquor~~
11. cure a hangover
12. do the Heimlich Maneuver
13. ~~use a compass~~ ta da!
14. ~~change a flat~~
15. ~~jump start a car~~
16. ~~open a champagne bottle~~(even though it scares me)
17. ~~send a drink to someone’s table~~
18. ~~cook one “signature meal”~~
19. whistle with your fingers
20. ~~take good pictures~~(at least I think they're good)
21. ~~fold a fitted sheet~~(thanks to my mom!)
22. ~~remove common stains~~(Dreft baby stain remover spray works wonders)
23. ~~sew a button~~
24. carve turkey, ~~lasagna, and birthday cake~~
25. ~~hold a baby~~ (i better know how!)
26. ~~change a diaper~~
27. keep a plant alive for more than a year
28. make ~~dogs~~ and cats love you
29. ~~help someone out of a car~~
30. ~~write superior thank you notes~~(superior? maybe not, but good enough)

Well, not too bad, I seem to know most of these. Although, I'm not positive that "making a cat love me" will make it to my own list, there are a few things from this one that I'll definitely consider...Heimlich Maneuver, Get a Raise..

To be continued..

me lucky charm

2009-03-10T21:16:00.005-04:00

Saturday was the perfect day for a parade! We went to Old Town Alexandria for the Irish Day Parade. Lily loved the cobblestone paths because they put her right to sleep in her stroller. Isn't her outfit so cute? She thought so too...which is why she pooped all over it and we had to strip the poor girl of her clothes in front of everyone on a bench. Trust me, it was better than changing her in the bathroom of Pat Troy's.

On another note..this is my first full week at work and it is dragging on and on and on..At least I get to work from home tomorrow, which means I get to spend all day with Lil G!

Ok, I'm tired...............plus i can't think of anything to write worth reading....and my husband is making fun of me for blogging and not watching American Idol with him...dork.

ta ta for now!

back to reality.

2009-03-03T13:03:00.004-05:00

Work sucks. Today is officially my first day back at work. Luckily not too many people know I'm back yet, so I haven't been bombarded with phone calls or emails. I like this..I can just sit here inconspicuously and get paid. Although we are going through a re-org, so I may want to get some work done or else they might phase me out like Milton from Office Space.

Now for a little weekend update:

Lily smiles now! and I'm not talkin about the gassy smiles..
Friday night - I drank too much. We had a few friends...wait just one friend over..and played Scene It Seinfeld - love that game! I actually don't miss drinking that much and definitely don't miss the hangovers.
Saturday - got some news that one of my bff's is gettin married! Congrats Sarah & Sam!! I'm thinking they might have a Harry Potter themed wedding around Christmas time. haha jk Sarah!
Sunday - finished "New Moon". Only 2 away from getting VIP access at the Twilight Party later this month...haha don't ask. This is the one guilty pleasure that I'm letting myself get away with.
Monday - Snow day!

So come to think of it, my weekends have been pretty lame lately. Hopefully this weekend will be more promising. I need to start planning a ladies night...any ideas ladies? I think Brian owes me one or two considering the circumstances over the past 10 months :)

silly lily

2009-02-24T20:36:00.022-05:00

Lily is now 5 weeks old and I can't believe how much she has grown in such a short amount of time. It's amazing that I am able to pick up on the changes each day. Today I noticed that her eyelashes are now all black and no longer blonde. It's such a moot point, but just goes to show that each day something new comes up and that I get excited just the same.

Doctor's visits:

1 week visit = 7 lbs 1 oz, 20"

2 week visit = 8 lbs 2 oz, 21"

1 month visit = 9 lbs 4 oz, 21.75"

Our little peanut is getting big! Well, I should say heavier, because based on her length and head measurements she's only in the 50th percentile. Also, I'm not sure why, but since she was born she's been able to hold her head up for longer periods of time than normal. We try to keep her head down so she's not straining her neck, but then she just pushes our hands out of the way with her head! She's a strong girl! Oh and today, thanks to my friend Kennedy, I found this great site for baby clothes, hats, books, etc etc.

After reading her blog I wanted to contribute to the Cora Paige Project and bought a hat from the site where the proceeds go to the foundation. Then after a little more surfing, I came across another cute monkey hat. I can't wait to get them in the mail! 4-6 days away from another lily photo shoot :) I introduced her to the Bumbo today and she loved it! She didn't want me to take her out of it..something about her being independent and being able to see everything just makes her happy. Maybe that's why she doesn't like the Moby wrap because she's not old enough to face outwards yet. I thought the Moby was golden until I tried to put her in it when she was awake. She almost unraveled the whole thing by flailing her arms around! So until she's a bit stronger and old enough to be in the Lotus Hold, I will have to eliminate the Moby wrap, in addition to the bouncer...the two saviors I was counting on :(

military art

2009-02-23T13:08:00.004-05:00

Anyone interested in stencil art? I think this would make a sweet gift to your loved one in the military.

Using a picture of her fiance Matt in uniform, my sister Tracy created a stencil with an X-Acto knife and spray painted the stencil onto a board.

More pictures and custom designs coming soon!

iLife '09

2009-02-21T11:43:00.004-05:00

So we finally updated our iMac to the Leopard software...we were only a few years behind haha. Then we decided to upgrade to iLife '09. I love it! The new iPhoto updates are super sweet..it recognizes faces in all of your pictures and files them accordingly. At first it's only right about 50% of the time...of course it recognized my face as every filipino person in my pictures, but the more pictures your face is in, the better it gets.

So it may not be a completely useful feature, but it's awesome all the same. You can also file your pictures based on location and it pinpoints them on a map. Apparently I need to travel more!

less than two weeks to go.

2009-02-18T14:45:00.011-05:00

I can't believe that I only have less than two weeks before I have to go back to work. Where did the time go? Usually I'd be upset with myself for not accomplishing anything the past 4 weeks, but I'm lucky I got to spend everyday with Lily - even if that meant being spit up on daily and nonstop diaper changing, breastfeeding, and laundry. It's funny how much of your day is consumed by a newborn. Plus Lily is the only baby in the world that dislikes the bouncy vibrating seat, which means if she's not asleep, you better be holding her (a habit we'll soon need to break her of). This makes every normal thing involving yourself impossible...like eating, going to the bathroom, cleaning, showering...thankfully Brian gets home early most days giving me a few minutes to myself. Yet, all in all, I'm not looking forward to going back to work. I feel like she's going to grow up when I'm not around and I'm going to miss some big milestone :( We are very fortunate though that Brian's mom will be watching her while we're at work..so I won't feel bad checking up on her all the time. So, with the little time I have left at home with her by myself, I will spend it taking photos like these...and by updating her baby books before work consumes my life again. blahhh....why can't i just be rich and not have to work?

what a sad day...

2009-02-17T13:23:00.002-05:00

our coffee maker broke.

one more thing to add to my shopping list!

wall art for the apartment
bookshelf
coffee maker - keurig?
plants (that don't need watering)

Happy Belated Valentine's Day!

2009-02-17T13:01:00.007-05:00

This Valentine's Day I made breakfast for Brian and then we all went to Old Town Alexandria with his family. Lily slept through the whole outing. We ate at Pat Troy's then came home. For Lily's first V-Day, we each got her a card and Brian got her a bear and I got her an Angel of Heart figure from Willow Tree. She loved them of course ;)

Introducing...

2009-02-17T12:43:00.007-05:00

Lilyan Grace

January 19th, 2009

7 lbs 4.7 oz, 19 inches

7:30 am - arrived at Loudoun Birthing Inn for scheduled induction
8:00 am - broke my water, pitocin started
11:00 am - epidural
12:00 pm - pain free (well almost) and 5cm dilated
1:15 pm - 10 cm and ready to push
1:39 pm - Lilyan was born!

2008

2009-02-10T16:42:00.013-05:00

...was quite a year. with many trips and countless life changing events, here it all is
in a nutshell:

january 29th - february 1st, 2008 - salt lake city, utah: amazing condo on the slope + snow everyday = best snowboarding trip so far.

march 11-18th, 2008 - tulum, mexico: posada margherita resort (owned by italians), best italian food, amazing beach, endless margaritas, tortuga challenge, bike ride to the ruins = paradise!

april 2008 - dad's 60th surprise bday party, mackenzie's christening, wine tour

may 27th, 2008 - a late 25th bday present: guess who's pregnant?? after 10 positive pregnancy tests, i finally faced reality that i was pregnant...! surprise!

june 28th, 2008: brian proposed - even though i knew we were getting married, it came as a surprise when he showed up at the salon with flowers. i just thought he was apologizing for a little tiff we got into the night before...then when i tried to rush him out of my spa room, he got down on one knee and proposed!

july 21-25th, 2008: first beach trip with brian's family - 4 1/2 months pregnant, but still had an amazing time

august 2008: bridal shower, bachelorette party, WEDDING!

september 2008: my dad's wedding

november 21st, 2008: brian and i move into our own apartment - new to the Ashburn area, but loving it more everyday!

december 6th, 2008: baby shower!

officially a blogger!

2009-02-10T14:41:00.002-05:00

So i have officially created a blog and for the following reasons:

to document Lily's first year & childhood
to post pictures and videos
to have a place to jot down my random thoughts
to backtrack and remember what i can before i forget
...b/c i get bored. and spend 50% of my time online