Laid Back Sunday

We made it to church on time this morning and even managed to make it through most of the Mass before having to take refuge in the baby room at the back of the church. I debated going to church since Grace was sick yesterday, but the sun was shining, the weather was warm, and I couldn't bear to stay inside another minute. She seems to be in a much better mood and other than not yet having her appetite back, she seems better.

I tried my best to get her to eat today, but after a few tentative bites, she wouldn't take any more. So instead of bigger meals spread out over a longer time, I've had to feed her a few bites at a time every hour or so. This afternoon, I made a quick grocery run to get ingredients for nilaga, a Filipino soup that she loves. I'm hoping by dinner time she'll be hungry enough to eat some. It makes me so nervous when she won't eat. Luckily she has a well baby check up tomorrow with her pediatrician and I can bring up my concerns.

Other than that we had a very laid back Sunday. We watched a little bit of Parent Trap, the Lindsay Lohan version, and then after baths and bedtime stories, she went to bed without any fuss.

This cherry blossom dress is one of my all-time favorites! She looks so sweet in it. When she outgrows it, I might just hang it up in her room because it fits in so well with her theme.

Under the Weather

We were hoping for some good weather today so that we could venture out somewhere, but rain in the morning kept us in again.

It was just as well since my sweet baby wasn't feeling her best. She didn't have much of an appetite and wasn't happy unless I was holding her. We went through several outfit changes when she got sick all over the both of us.

I don't have much experience taking care of a sick child because, thankfully, Grace has been blessed with good health. So I started to get a bit nervous when I realized Grace was feeling a bit under the weather. My first thought as a nervous first time mama was to take her in to the doctor, but after doing some research in my baby book and online, I decided to relax a little. Keep her hydrated and keep her happy.

So we spent most of our day cuddling on the couch watching way too much television. And she got all the diluted apple juice she desired. After her afternoon nap, I could tell she was feeling better because she no longer wanted cuddle with me. It was back to making a mess all over the house. At one point I caught myself actually smiling at all the mess because it meant my sweet girl was feeling better again.

No Pain, No Gain

I am sore, sore, sore. This is what happens when you decide to do a full on workout and you haven't done anything in quite a while. I was sore this morning from yesterday's workout, but I still managed to do a mini workout today. No pain, no gain! I didn't want to lose momentum. That 'I just had a baby' excuse got old a long time ago since my baby is now 13 months old.

Grace and I had a great time today doing a whole lot of nothing. We chased each other around the house and played with every single toy she had. Her favorite right now is the lion walker which we converted to a ride on toy. She still hasn't gotten the hang of pushing herself on it so I have to get down on my hands and knees and help her. It's painful on the knees, but the giggles and laughter are worth it. I'll do anything to hear her sweet laugh.

No Fix For Cozy

I decided to start one of my DVD workouts this morning, but I found it quite challenging. I couldn't do many of the moves without bumping into a piece of furniture. I had to take apart the sectional sofa in order to give myself more room. It was very frustrating. Grace had a blast though. Every time I was on the floor doing crunches, she'd climb on top of me and try to look for my belly button. And whenever I did push ups, she thought it was time to play horsey-horsey.

During her naptime, I tried to see if I could rearrange the furniture to give us more room. After an hour of reconfiguring without any success, I had to admit defeat and put it all back to where it was in the first place. There's no easy fix for cozy.

It'll be nice once the weather warms up and we can head outdoors more. Today was a little chilly so after a short little walk around the neighborhood, we stayed in for the rest of the day. The house is a wreck because of it. I'm now starting to feel the effects of my workout- my arms and thighs are sore. Thank goodness Grace went to bed with minimal fuss tonight. As soon as I hit the publish button, I'm going to bed too.



This cable proved to be too much of a temptation for Grace. No matter how many times she got in trouble for trying to yank it out of the wall, she would still sneak her way over there to try again.

Productive Day

I woke up this morning to sunny skies. Not a rain cloud in sight. But because I procrastinated on chores yesterday, I forced myself to stay in and tackled my to-do's. I got most of them done. The floors are done, the carpets are vacuumed, the furniture dusted, the bedsheets and duvet cover changed, the kitchen sanitized, the fridge cleaned out, and I'm on my last load of laundry. The bathrooms are the only thing I didn't get to today. I hate cleaning the bathrooms.

All that cleaning and organizing in the morning made me realize I was running low on some household essentials- we're on the last roll of toilet paper in each bathroom- so I had no choice but to make a quick run to the store. Just my luck, it started to pour five minutes before we left the house, but Grace got a brand new raincoat from Lola and I didn't bother doing my hair today so getting wet wasn't going to hurt us any.

When we got home, Grace 'helped' me make a whole wheat pizza and we spent the rest of the night reading books, playing peek-a-boo behind the sofa, and 'I'm gonna get you!' down the hallway. Apparently that sufficiently wore her out because after she changed into her pajamas, she didn't need any convincing from me that it was bedtime. She was out!

Now that the house is quiet at such an early time in the evening, I hardly know what to do with myself. I might pop in one of my workout DVD's that I've been meaning to start again. Or I might just go to bed early tonight too (Probably the more realistic scenario). Being productive can be exhausting.

Procrastination

I had tons to do around the house today- laundry that needed to be done, Grace's outgrown clothes that needed to be put away in order to make room for her new outfits, toys strewn all over the house that needed to be picked up and organized, and general cleaning like dusting, sweeping, and vacuuming. Not to mention the bathrooms. I hate cleaning the bathrooms.

Instead of tackling all those chores like a good stay-at-home mama and wife should have done, I chose to ignore them and headed to the mall. I couldn't bring myself to stay inside today. Tomorrow calls for rain so there will be plenty of time to check off some of those things when we're all cooped up inside.

Grace was pretty good during our shopping excursion so I let her run around the play area before we headed home. Really, I wanted to wear her out good so that she'd sleep well tonight. But I think my plan backfired because she was out the moment I put her in the carseat and has been sleeping away since we got home an hour ago. By the time she wakes up, I'll be ready for bed, but she'll be well rested and wide awake.

Today was a good day for procrastination, but tomorrow there will be no room for excuses. Until Grace is old enough to earn her keep around here, these pesky little chores all fall on me.

My impulse buy from our trip to the mall- Grace's first pair of Keds. I couldn't help myself. They were on clearance!

Love Letter

Our trip down to Jacksonville was, thankfully, uneventful. We made great time even though we took two long and leisurely stops. Grace stayed in her pajamas for almost the entire trip. Poor Uncle Carl had to get on a plane back to Virginia Beach bright and early the next morning. Hopefully one day he'll be able to stay in Jacksonville for more than a night! Grace and I are both grateful that he's such a great uncle who is willing to travel all that way and back just to keep us company on the drive.

On Sunday, Grace and I spent the day recuperating from our travels. A long morning nap after dropping off Uncle at the airport, a super long afternoon nap, and then in bed by 9:30. Thank goodness Grace was just as exhausted as me. There's nothing worse than a mama who is dying for some sleep and a baby who is ready to play all day.



Today, the most productive thing we did was picked up our mail that had been on hold at the post office. It's unbelievable how much junk mail accumulates. Out of the huge pile of mail, there were only 7 things that weren't advertisements.

But the most important and exciting thing I got was a sweet love letter from my dear husband, written by hand and on real stationery. We try to exchange little love notes through email, but there's nothing like an old fashioned, hand written love letter.

Headed Home

Our bags are packed and loaded in the car, and the baby is finally sleeping peacefully. I'm not too far behind her. We spent the day hanging out with family. Saying goodbye won't be too hard because we'll be back here very soon. I love being back stateside and on the east coast close to family!

I'm praying for a safe and uneventful trip tomorrow. And just as a heads up to my loyal followers (Hi Kim!), I may not blog for the rest of the weekend due to exhaustion.

I love this outfit on Grace, but this may be the last time she'll wear it. It is starting to get a little small. And she received so many adorable clothes for her birthday that I need to start rotating her outfits or else she'll outgrow those before she's even had a chance to wear them.

This girl adores stuffed animals. She will squeal at the top of her lungs whenever she sees one.



Training her early!



Her new thing is the shoulder shrug.

Almost Florida Bound

I've been in Virginia Beach for four weeks, but no matter how long I am here, my last week is always a hectic time trying to cram in things that I probably should've done sooner. Yesterday and today it was all about Ruby the Volvo. I got her all nice and clean yesterday so she is a beautiful lady once again. For the past 3 weeks she had been covered in grime and dirt from all the snow days. Today she had an appointment to check that pesky little tire monitoring system that always seems to pop up on long drives. Thankfully the system is fine. Changes in temperature, like going from Florida to Virginia, can cause the light to come on. However, they did recommend that the back tires be replaced. Yet another thing to add to the list of to-do's tomorrow.

Grace and I also enjoyed some nice meals out- lunch was with Michelle at Red Robin, and dinner was with the uncles and Jess at Cheesecake Factory. Grace even got her own dinner plate of bread and bananas at Cheesecake, courtesy of our sweet server. And Grace showed her appreciation for the kind gesture by waving at her every time she went by and caressing her apron every time she came over. I was a bit embarrassed about the latter, but she assured me that Grace wasn't the first child to be fascinated with the apron. Nevertheless, I kept trying to teach Grace the 'hands to yourself' rule, but without much success.

But not even her own meal could keep her from getting antsy towards the end. Grace eventually became bored and tried to get anyone at the surrounding booths and tables to pay attention to her. It still amazes me that a shy girl like me could have such a social butterfly of a daughter.





We finished the night off with some gelato at Melt. Oh my goodness! It is my new favorite. I think I may like it even better than Coldstone Creamery.

Day with the Grandparents

An all-you-can-eat lunch to celebrate Great Grandma's 83rd birthday. A shopping trip to the mall. A super long afternoon nap. A Filipino dinner of nilaga devoured by Grace. Lots of playing with Grandma and Grandpa. And watching a little of the winter Olympics where Grace giggled at the Russian male figure skater.

That about sums up our day with the Augustines. Always a lot of fun. Always a lot of spoiling.

Big Girl

Mike wrote to me recently saying that seeing Grace's pictures makes him realize she's starting to look less like his baby and more like his daughter. At the time I couldn't agree because I was still in denial about my baby turning one. But looking at these pictures from today makes me see what he was talking about. I hate to admit it, but my baby is looking like such a big girl these days.



Congratulations to Uncle Ninong Carl who is the District Choral Teacher of the Year!

Birthday Party Finale

I certainly didn't plan it this way, but Grace has had three birthday parties. The first one was just a simple family dinner at Lolo and Lola's, the second was a snowstorm extravaganza, and the third was a cake and ice cream event on Valentine's Day.

Because many of Grace's little friends were snowed in during her birthday party, I decided to have a small get together just for them on Valentine's Day. Besides, I forgot to put up the pinata during the second party and I had a ton of party favors that needed to be given out. I didn't want all that going to waste.

The little munchkins had a great time grabbing the candy that fell from Hello Kitty, dancing the Hokie Pokie, playing musical chairs, and making Valentines for each other at the arts and crafts table.






At the end of the afternoon when all the guests had gone home and the restaurant was nice and clean again, the uncles, Michelle, and I went to load up the car with all of Grace's gifts. When I came back inside, this was the first thing I saw...


In the 45 seconds I was gone, my girl managed to find Michelle's take home box of lumpia, which was hidden behind her coat, pulled it down off the chair, and tore into them like she hadn't been fed in days. I felt so guilty because right then and there, I realized I hadn't fed my baby since before the cake cutting. And that had been a few hours before. I had been so busy, and the sweet thing never complained that I completely forgot about it.

If I wasn't out of the running for Mother of the Year already, this one definitely did me in. Thank goodness my baby is self-sufficient and managed to find her own food since apparently her mama lets her go hungry.


And last but not least, my sweet Valentine didn't forget about me this year. Even though we're apart, he managed to send me a little special something- a beautiful pendant necklace from Tiffany's. Grace doesn't look too excited in the picture, but she'll one day learn that presents that come in a small, robin's egg blue box wrapped in white satin ribbon are quite spectacular.



I love my baby so much that maybe I squish her a bit too much sometimes. I can't help myself though. She's just so darn sweet!

Did You Make a Stinky?

I'm not quite sure how this started, but Grace knows how to get her own clean diapers. I think I may have asked her for one once, just to see if she knew what I was talking about, and to my surprise she actually brought it to me. So now, every morning when it's time to change out of her overnight diaper, she's responsible for bringing me a clean one to change into. Sometimes she gets distracted along the way with a random toy or book, but for the most part, she does a great job.

She went above and beyond today. I was on the bed checking emails while she played around the bedroom when I caught a whiff of something stinky. I asked her, "Did you make a stinky?"

She scrunched up her face into the 'stinky face' expression and, without being asked, brought me a clean diaper. It turns out she did indeed make a stinky. I was so proud of her as only her mama could be.


My movie date with Uncle Josh meant an afternoon of fun for Grace spent with Lola and Lolo. She had a fabulous time running around the restaurant and helping Lola decorate with Valentine's Day balloons.

Her new expression for the camera when I try to get her to smile looks suspiciously like her 'stinky face'.

Aunt Megan stopped by to bring Valentine's Day gifts for Grace, and I was trying to hide them until tomorrow morning. But Grace is a stuffed animal detector because she totally found the teddy bear and immediately pulled it out of the gift bag.