just us.

the kid hooked us up!

since we won't be here at home to open gifts on Christmas Eve, Mike and I decided to open up our gifts tonight.  wanna see what Keira got us?

I got a netbook (one of those tiny laptops) and Mike got an Xbox 360.  if I didn't know any better, Keira's got some side job going on.  How did she pay for these things?!

I feel bad now that we didn't go all out with gifts for her first Christmas.  I did buy her one gift, but figured she'll have plenty of others to open on Christmas Day.  besides, we spoil her with things all the time, so why do we need a holiday to go overboard?

 

headed up to the Bay Area in the morning to spend Christmas with the family.  Mike's family will be up there as well, so we'll be able to spend Christmas with them too.  can't wait to see Keira's reaction to her first Christmas, hopefully I'll remember to take lots of pictures!  but there's always grandpa for that....

my mom would be so proud :)

so this year, it seems that Mike and I have chosen to give each other books for Christmas.  and in true Jamie fashion, we've given them to each other before the holiday.  go figure right?

lately, and I'm not even sure why, I've been having this urge to sew.  and I don't mean something simple like 3 straight lines to make a pillowcase, but something like a quilt.  I realized that's reaching a bit for the stars, but I just want to make something.

so I did.

 

this is one of the books Mike me and its filled with all kinds of cute, simple projects to sew.  The first time I went through it, I was ready to head home and just sew the night away.  Ultimately, I want to make the quilt that's shown inside, but I think I need to fine tune my skills before I tackle such a big project.

so what do you think I chose as my maiden voyage into the fabric world?

did you guess this?

 

she doesn't have a name yet, but Mike said she looks like a devil because she's red.  I didn't want to spend money on fabric just in case I screwed up big time, so I used whatever I had at home.  the pattern calls for flannel for the body, but somehow I read flannel to be felt.  it might not be as soft, but it still worked!  and since I made this to be a girl,  I omitted the buttons for the "shirt" and added a flower to make it a "dress".

the lucky recipient wasn't too interested in her new toy, she wanted to eat her clementine instead.

she managed to bite through and SWALLOW some of the rind, but mommy was nice enough to peel some of it away so she could get at the good stuff.

Mike's boss is hosting his annual Hanukkah party later on today and then we'll be heading up to Mike's sister's for a holiday party.  I still need to go to Costco to pick up some photo enlargements and get them framed and wrapped too.  sigh, so much to do yet so little time.  have a good one!

nightlife attire

keira rockin' the stripes and bunny slippers.

good night!

yea, I know I'm a little late...

but a day late is better than never at all!

 

the little tykette is 10 months old...as of yesterday :)

 

show them your chompers!!  she's got a bit of an underbite, but that's nothing that a few 1000 dollars and some braces can't fix.

to celebrate this tiny birthday, we took Keira to her first Kings hockey game!!

we definitely bundled her up nice and warm.  the funny thing is that it was colder outside than it was in Staples Center!!

with Daddy at the ESPN Zone for dinner.

             showing off the Kings gear with Mommy.  couldn't forget to put a little bit of pink on her, or else she would totally look like a boy!

watching. observing.

the view from our seats.  gotta be close to the glass.  at one point during the game, a puck hit it so hard, the glass actually cracked!!

   family photo.  this was shortly before she....

...fell asleep.  she didn't make it past the first period.

I love fights at games.  love them.  the real potty mouth in me comes out when I see gloves drop and fists fly.  well, apparently Keira doesn't like it when Mommy yells as a fight ensues.  I guess I'll have to watch myself from now on.

Lucky for Mike, the Kings won 2-1 over the Calgary Flames.  I missed the last few minutes since I had to go #1 and ended up waiting for Mike outside.

and for Keira's 10 month birthday gift, she got...

her own Kings goalie stick!  it's made out of wood, although I wish it was foam for safety reasons.  now all she needs is a puck and the training can begin...right Dad?

happy 10 months Keira...we love you!

giving thanks

I was just looking through the pictures I took from Thanksgiving Day.  and sadly, there weren't very many.  My dad took a bunch of pictures, and even though I was hoping for one that was Christmas card worthy, it didn't happen.  I've really got to start taming the sprouts growing on my head.

we were on the fence about whether or not we wanted to head out into the Black Friday madness, and decided to test the waters by going to Toys R Us at midnight.  seeing that the line stretched the entire length of the shopping center, we went home to sleep instead.  We did go shopping in the morning, and were surprised to find the stores not as crowded as we expected.  did some damage at Costco, and Keira scored her Christmas gift from Po Po and Gung Gung too.

my parents got her the activity center that's next to her.  it's pretty similar to those that you see in doctors' offices, with the beads and interactive side panels.  our living room is becoming more and more like a day care center nowadays.

Keira is about 50/50 as far as her time spent walking versus crawling.  she definitely gets from point A to point B faster if she crawls, but she is quite determined to conquer the walking thing.  she holds her arms up and in front of her to keep her balance and can go from sitting to standing to walking pretty well.  Mike and I still can't believe how fast she progressed from just a few steps to walking from room to room.  it was pretty much just a few days!

she's sleeping through the night more consistently too, which is a relief for Mike and I.  she'll usually go to bed somewhere between 7 and 9pm, and will usually wake between 430 and 6 the next morning.  as much as I wish she would wake up later, I'm just thankful she's sleeping 8 to 9 hours a night.  it's about darn time!!

Keiracontinues to eat like a champ, and can feed herself if given the chance.  we gave her some rice at dinner tonight...and it ended up all over her clothes and face.  for now, Mommy and Daddy will do the feeding.

I've decided that it's time to starting weaning Keira.  pumping at work was becoming an annoyance, and my milk production is minimal.  I may produce enough for one feeding, but no where near enough to sustain her.  She takes formula with no problem, and she's just a few months away from being able to take cow's milk.  I usually nurse her once or twice a day, in the morning when she wakes and sometimes before bed.  as much as I am looking forward to having freedom from breastfeeding, I know I'm going to miss the closeness it offers me and Keira as well.

I'm off to bed now, I've got to work tomorrow and really should've been in bed an hour ago.  I still cherish my sleep and could use every little second I can get.

my dad took some awesome pictures of Keira while we were up north. when I was little, my dad was able to catch me looking at him via the mirror and he wanted to recreate that with Keira. I'll have to get a copy of that picture to do a side-by-side view. the similarities are just so unreal...

we're in trouble now

oh yes we are.

getting old...er

Keira had her 9 month appointment today.

she weighed in at 18lbs 1.2oz, 28.75 inches long and head circumference of 17.5 inches.  She got her second seasonal flu shot today too, so she should be good for the season.  She's taking more steps on her own lately, but not quite walking all the time.  She figured out how to go up and down stairs while we were at my parents' house too.

since Mike and I were both off, we headed to Disneyland after her doctor's appointment.

 
I had a thought today, and remembered when Mike and I were at Disneyland last Christmas.  I was pregnant with Keira back then, and now she's actually here to enjoy it with us.  It's a pretty cool feeling.  We listened to the Main Street Marching Band (brought me back to my days in the band), and then headed over to Space Mountain.  Mike and I did the rider switch with Keira, and she ended up falling asleep as I waited for Mike to come off the ride.  I had forgotten how fast the ride was and could hardly walk myself to the exit.  I honestly thought I was going to pass out.  I ended up with a pretty big headache that ruined me for the rest of the day.

asleep in her stroller, which she rarely does.  she napped for over an hour too!

Keira got to meet Santa for the first time too!  We didn't even know he was there, so we waited in line (and not for very long either) and got her picture taken with him.  Surprisingly she handled it pretty well, and didn't start to cry until we were done.  that's our big girl!!

 

Waiting for the Christmas parade with Daddy.  She managed to polish off half a banana while waiting too.  She seemed to like the parade once it started, and was pretty observant of everything going on.

family photo #1...trying to pick Mommy's nose.  family photo #2...Keira exhibiting the Ko family trait of funny faces.  you go girl!

and a big birthday shoutout to our friendly Old Mang...

 happy birthday Uncle Tommy...hope you had a great day!

a day at the park.

now that Keira's more mobile, we thought we'd take her to the park to burn off some energy and explore.  we'll have to do it more often now that we know she likes it!

we're headed back to So Cal today...vacation is over (insert sad face here).  we had a great time this week, spending time with my family and catching crab.  at dinner last night, Mike and I were already talking about when and where our next vacation will be...

a rare night for two.

Mike and I got to go out and play for a night.  wanted to watch a movie, but nothing in the theaters even remotely grabbed our attention. oh well.

but instead we shopped, had dinner, and walked off dinner at our favorite place with the big, red bullseye.

shopping at the Gap:

new pairs of jeans for the both of us...at 25% too!!  so I decided to splurge and buy two pairs, plus a cute ruffled henley sweater.  score!  we didn't dress appropriately for the cold weather, so we ended up wearing the jeans out of the store.

waiting for our table at the Cheesecake Factory.  not the best picture of us, but that's what a tired mommy and daddy look like.  hey, at least we're smiling.

dinner for two: an appetizer of crab wontons, bread (we love the brown one with the seeds), a strawberry and a raspberry lemonade, chicken and shrimp gumbo, and louisiana chicken pasta.

we took home 3 leftover bags.  yea, we were stuffed.  no cheesecake dessert for Mike and I, but we did bring home a piece of Kahlua Coffee Cocoa cheesecake for my mom and dad.

since nothing at the movie theater seemed to interest us, we decided to stop by Target on the way home to pick up Up and watch it when we got home.  We assumed the kid would be in bed by then, but...

this little one greeted us at the door when we pulled into the garage.  I guess that's what happens when she takes a 2.5 hour nap at 5 in the evening.

my mom watched Keira for us and said she ate a ton of rice porridge for dinner.  She gave Keira a bath too, and said it was like bathing a wrestler, since Keira just wouldn't sit still.  my mom ended up soaking wet in the end!

Mom, thanks for watching the little munchkin for us tonight so that we could go out on a date.  we can't wait to see you and dad again in 2 weeks!

we can never resist the dollar spot at Target.  we saw these kid mittens and bought a pair for Keira.  she seemed a little confused as to where her hands went when we put them on, but she didn't mind them.  the best $1 we've ever spent!  now her hands will be warm this winter :)