Pasta Night

This picture is very deceiving because Grace actually had a fabulous time today. I was trying to get a picture of her outfit, but she was a bit cranky having just woken up from her nap.

She spent the day playing with Grandma and Grandpa and then enjoyed an all-you-can-eat pasta dinner at an awesome restaurant. I couldn't shovel the pasta in her mouth fast enough! If there was any doubt whether there was some Italian blood in her, the way she ate tonight definitely proved it.

Happy Birthday, Uncle Ninong!

We celebrated Uncle Carl's birthday today. My little brother is officially in his late 20's. I can hardly believe it. It seems like only yesterday we were fighting over which cartoon to watch or who crossed over the imaginary line on the sofa dividing our territories. How funny life is that the little boy I sometimes found annoying (and I'm sure he could say the same about me) is now one of my best friends.

We had dinner at his favorite sushi place, Yama's, and were joined by the Isaac sisters, Jessica and Josyl, who are like sisters to us. We've been friends for over twenty years!

In honor of her Uncle Ninong's birthday, I ordered Grace her very own sushi, an avocado roll. It was her first time eating sushi and she'd enthusiastically bite into it, but would spit it right back out. She loved the cucumber salad though.




The Copon siblings unintentionally all wore green tonight. Great minds think alike, I guess!

With my BFF, Josyl, with whom I'm not afraid to practice the supermodel pose for pictures. With anyone else, I'd feel silly, but with Josyl, it's all fun!

Payback Time

To be quite honest, I used to think that people who complained about allergies were just exaggerating and being dramatic. I didn't understand what the big deal was.

It's payback time for my ignorance and unsympathetic ways. This spring is the first time I've been affected by all the pollen. Maybe it's because this is the first spring I'm spending back in the States in a while, but whatever the reason is, I'm miserable. Allergies are no joke!

I'm hoping the Claritin I took this evening will do it's magic soon. I'm still loving the fact that it's spring though. Even these darn allergies can't take away my joy at having this gorgeous weather and knowing that my husband's homecoming is just one more season away.

My resourceful girl found a way to get to those juice boxes she wanted.

Matching Monday

I ordered this green shirt online and when it came in, it was a lot brighter than I expected. I kept it anyway because it perfectly matched Grace's lime green polka dot outfit. One day I'm sure she'll be mortified to be all matchy-matchy with her mama, so I'm taking advantage of this small window of opportunity when it might still be considered cute.

Today I witnessed another first for Grace, although it's not one that I was really too excited about. Grace has been fascinated with the potted plant in the corner of my mom's dining room. She's been told several times to stay away after numerous attempts to dig into the soil. As I was fixing her lunch, I heard Uncle Josh telling me to come quick because Grace was eating dirt. I ran over and saw that my child did indeed have a mouthful of potting soil. And then she got mad at me when I tried to swipe the nastiness out of her mouth!

There are some days when it's a challenge to get her to eat her meals, but she'll readily eat dirt? I have so much to learn as a parent.

She loved being pushed around in her doll's pack'n'play.

Awesome Easter

We made it through Easter Mass this morning without once having to step outside. This was the first time in I don't even know how long. After that victory, I knew we were going to have a pretty awesome Easter. And so we did. What a blessing to be able to spend it with family.


Lola and Lolo had an Easter Egg Hunt at their house. Just like last time, Grace wasn't as interested in the eggs as she was in watching all the other kids.


Trying to get a group picture of the kids proved near impossible.

Exhausted at the end of the day, I found her passed out on the floor.

Easter Bunny

Pictures with the Easter Bunny went slightly better than the ones with Santa a few months ago. At least she didn't scream. But she was using the death grip on me and so I had no choice but to get in the picture too. If I had known I was taking pictures with the Easter Bunny today, I would've fixed my hair, ditched the glasses, and worn something that didn't scream "I'm a mommy of an active toddler!"

She was in a much better mood when Uncle Carl took her to the play area while I did a little shopping in my favorite store that was having a 50% off sale.


Pictures courtesy of Uncle Carl.

Shaky Beginning, Great Ending

Grace woke up this morning in a bit of a bad mood. She was clingy, she was whiny, and she threw her breakfast all over the floor. I carried her around all morning to pacify her. I was starting to worry that maybe she wasn't feeling well.

Turns out all the fuss was because she was tired. When I couldn't think of anything else to do for her, I brought her upstairs where she immediately fell asleep and slept for three hours. When she woke up, she was her normal happy self again.

I wanted to take advantage of her good mood, in case it was fleeting, so we went to visit my BFF, Josyl, who is still recuperating from her back injury. Josyl and I had a great time catching up while Grace played with her new buddy, Josyl's mom Auntie Sylvia.

When we finally got home, we hung out with Uncle Josh and watched some of America's Best Dance Crew. He and I got a kick out of watching Grace try to imitate the dancers. She is such a riot when she dances! She gets all into it. I definitely have to look into putting her in some type of dance class when she's a little older. Maybe she can fulfill my childhood dreams of being a ballerina!

It was a shaky beginning, but we ended the day with some great moments. Here's hoping tomorrow will be the start of a fun filled Easter weekend!

Busted! Caught trying to write on Lola's coffee table...


"Ooooh! A bowl of M&M's..."