Back when we were on vacation, Mike said I had a good idea. You had to be there, but he was surprised that I came up with what I did and I think he was really impressed. yay for me!
so here is my good idea:
when we initially bought the house, I had thought about making the formal dining room a sitting/reading room instead. But since our current dining table is a tad big for other parts of the great room, we just stuck it in the dining room when we moved in. After hosting several parties and just hanging out in general, we realized that no one really sat at the dining table. We seemed to congregate primarily in the great room, sitting on the couches and the floor or around the island.
Last night we decided to move some furniture around. The dining table came out of the dining room, and our second couch went in. The dining table found a new home in the great room, where we eventually want to replace it with one of those bench style dining sets. I hope this would encourage us to sit down around a table for meals rather than scatter around the room like leaves in the wind.
my plan for the new sitting area is still a work in progress, but I'll probably move the area rug in there and have some sort of coffee table as well. I really like the idea of using a trunk like she did, but I'm still thinking about that. I've been wanting to hang photos on the walls for a long time now, but haven't gotten around to picking my favorite ones. There's a big blank wall in the sitting room, and that's where I want to create a "gallery".
I like how plants bring a breath of fresh air to a room (see the one we have on the table? We've managed to keep that one alive!), so I'd like have some in there as well. I'm feeling the itch to go knick-knack shopping, but I'm sure Mike will be telling me I need to clean up all the knick-knacks in the craft room first. I know all the knick-knacks thrown around here and there are driving him a bit nutty, and he has already designated the clean-up-your-crap-in-the-craft-room extravaganza to be this weekend.
This is the outfit Keira wore yesterday. I've been wanting to teach her about making her own choices, so I asked her to pick out what she wanted to wear. The black leggings and socks were Mommy's doing, but everything else was hers.
She went out in public like this too. I felt a little awkward about it, but I'm sure at her age, an outfit like this is considered cute. Put something like this on me and it would be totally absurd. But it made her feel like a ballerina, so I was more than happy to oblige.
Mike pointed out how she was watching tv this afternoon. Right before I took the picture, she had both feet in the air. Max & Ruby are quickly becoming a new favorite of hers, coming in a close second to Kai Lan.
I always chuckle at these two Cabbage Patch Kids. Keira's is on the left, and mine on the right. What a difference 30+ years makes. Maybe Keira's came from the mini patch.
If you ask Keira what the name of her baby is, she'll tell you...Keira. If you ask her the name of my baby, she'll tell you...Big. Pretty darn observant huh?
Keira's poor baby has two different sized legs. The threading came off on the left one, so the thigh, knee, calf and ankle are all one. She still loves it all the same.
We made mexican mac and cheese for dinner tonight, and I wanted to blog about it but I didn't take any pictures of the before and after. I'll have to do that the next time we make it, but it's pretty good.
off to bed for me, another glorious day of work awaits me tomorrow.
Be still my heart, I LOVE Dancing with the Stars. And I am beyond excited that it started this week! With the season finals of both Jersey Shore and Top Chef All Stars showing this week, I was afraid I was not going to have anything left to watch!
I have to say, Kirstie Alley can move!! Holy cow!! I absolutely loved her dance last night and was so surprised to see her move like that. I was sitting in bed, with Mike sleeping next to me, clapping as if I was in the audience.
Next up...Ralph Macchio. You know, the Karate Kid? Wax on, wax off? Oh, he had me at hello. While he still looked the same, you could tell he has aged. But my goodness, how smooth was he? Yes, I know its only the first dance and the edges are still rough, but with that tuxedo and his height, I felt like he was floating in air. Again, I clapped like a happy person.
Hines Ward is another one I really enjoyed. And that bootie on him? Um, yes please. I liked his smile and learned he is half Korean.
I had a hard time watching Wendy Williams, almost too painful. I was squirming in my own skin. I felt bad for her partner Tony Dovolani, it was almost like dancing with Kate Gosselin again.
Other than that, no one else made a real impression with me as having that wow factor, that potential to be standing tall at the end. But its only week one, so there is still a lot of time. Yay for DWTS!!!
Keira had her 2-year check up yesterday, and it was only a month overdue :)
here she is, sporting her pretty blue "dress".
I had to call it that to lessen the anxiety of being at the doctor's. it seemed to work nicely.
she found herself some "magic sticks", and when I taught her the real word for them, she agreed to demonstrate how a tongue depressor is used. I did all this in preparation for what came later.
at her 18-month appointment, Keira wasn't too fond of the eye shining, ear checking, mouth opening, heart listening, tummy feeling, immunization giving and blood drawing that the doctor had to do. I was hoping this time would be different.
boy, what a difference 7 months make. She didn't make a sound. This pediatrician had an easy going demeanor and didn't seem threatening at all. She shined the lights on her hand and wall before shining them in Keira's eyes, and when she needed to check Keira's mouth and teeth, Keira opened up nice and wide. I told her the doctor was checking for ear buggies...good to go. The doctor let her tap on her stethoscope a few times, before listening to her heart and lungs. I told her to show the doctor her "button", and listening to her tummy went good.
Keira even talked a bit when everything was all done. She hardly ever speaks when someone unfamiliar is in the room. I sort of chuckled when the doctor asked if Keira could say a few words or string a few words together. oh boy, can she :)
Physically, Keira is standing tall at 34.6 inches (about 60th percentile), and weighing in at 28 pounds. Developmentally she is on track, able to follow commands and run and walk with the rest of them. The doctor did say that we need to watch her milk consumption, aiming for no more than 16 ounces a day.
She needed a blood draw to test for lead exposure, and I was dreading this part of the appointment. At one year, Keira had two tubes of blood taken to test for lead and anemia and it was no easy task. And she wasn't too happy about it either. Luckily, Mike was with me at that time, so he could hold her while they got the blood.
This time, she took it like a champ. Nothing more than a whimper came out of her and she even watched as they put the needle in. I'm wondering if all the stickers they gave her helped at all. and the girl LOVES stickers.
Later on that night, after our shower, Mike and I decided it was time to give Keira a little trim. I've heard a few times here and there, that Keira's hair is too long, it's in her face, and if we wanted someone to cut it for her. Mike gently said, that that was something her mother should do. Thanks Mike :)
the before:
the prep and cut:
the reaction:
the after:
yes, I realize it is a tad on the too short side, and a bit uneven too. I had tied off a tiny piggytail of her bangs to save and cut right above the rubberband. I guess I should've made the piggytail a little bit shorter, so that the end result was a little bit nicer. But I'm learning to live with it. Heck, it only took two years for her hair to even grow, so maybe it'll be another two years for her bangs to grow out :) we opted not to cut her hair in the back because it's right where we like it...long.
Bought a roll of Mentos at 2pm and they were totally consumed by 5pm.
Worked a 12 hour shift on my own. Not by choice, of course.
Am feeling the toll of working said shift starting to kick in. Right. Now.
Am looking forward to a day off tomorrow. A doctor's appointment for Keira and visit to a cupcake food truck are in order.
Had salad and Thai curry for lunch.
Yawned a million times. I'll probably sleep good tonight.
Can't wait to watch Jersey Shore.
March 16, 2011
$61 for gas?! I guess I'll be a little lighter on the gas pedal to make this tank last.
Miss Diva with Mommy's sunglasses.
I forgot to mention that Keira turned 25 months last Monday. The girl still loves her milk and will chew the daylights out of soft spouted cups. She's quite the talker and we are starting to have chats at bedtime about what she did during the day. She's getting much better at brushing her teeth (it's no longer a battle of wills) and tells us when she wants to change her diaper. She's still wearing size 5 diapers, size 6/7 shoe and 24 months or 2T clothing.
I was going to take Keira to the playground this morning, but the weather just took a turn for the cruddy. There are days where So Cal can't decide if it wants to be warm and sunny or cold and gloomy. That bites.
You'd think that since I've sworn off Facebook for Lent that it would lead me to blog more. I thought it would, but the reality of it is that it hasn't. Oh well.
Mike gave up red meat and pork for Lent...which means I will too, to a certain extent. Making two separate meals is not going to happen, so if he isn't eating it, then I won't be either. Done.
I'm working on another sewing project right now. A friend of ours is having a baby in June, so I'm working on a set of baby things for her. A playmat/quilt, a changing pad, 2 receiving blankets, a nursing cover (aka hooter hider), 2 pouches to hold stuff and a simple diaper bag. Gosh that sounds like a lot now that its all typed out. The quilt is more or less finished, and everything else seems simple enough to make.
Mike's heart is doing good so far. No unexpected blips since his hospital stint.
Had a playdate with Linda and Oli last week. Took Keira almost an hour and a half to get out of my lap. She just didn't want to play. By the time she warmed up, it was time to go.
Both sets of grandparents are back from Vietnam. I believe they had a good time.
Keira has taking a big liking to playgrounds. My brother took her a few times while we were up north and she loves the slides. The high ones don't bother her at all.
If toddler Keira is any indication of what teenager Keira will be like, we are in trouble. Once she figures out the art of manipulation...oh boy. On some mornings, if she wakes up and sees either Mike or I, she'll come over, gently rub our face and say, "BaBa or MaMa, I'm so glad to see you." That girl.
I'm a big fan of the Jersey Shore (fist pump!!), and Mike makes fun of me because of that. But of all the people that could tell me about season 4 currently being filmed in Italy, its Mike. How does he know that and I don't?!
Dancing with the Stars is starting up soon...as is Top Chef Masters. Can't wait!
I've rediscovered Cheese Its again. I had to stop myself from buying 3 boxes for $7 at Target today just in case the addiction was short-lived.
Keira is learning the difference between a green light (go!) and red light (stop!). She is sure to tell us when she sees one too.
Tuesday morning we planned on heading to the Bay Area, but not before giving Keira a chance to play in the snow. We took the gondola up to Canyon Lodge and let Keira play for a bit. We bought her a pair of snow gloves, but she insisted on wearing her cotton ones.
after checking out of the hotel, we headed to a little area we were told about for sledding. To say Keira liked it is saying it lightly. Little homie couldn't get enough! She went with both Mike and I a few times and I decided I wanted to see how she would do on her own.
She would scream and giggle the whole way down, and ask "can we go again?" as soon as the ride was over. She only spilled once and would tell us "I'm okay!" as if it didn't phase her.
We were soon on our way to the Bay Area, going through Carson City, NV and then crossing back into California via South Lake Tahoe. Our original route was snowed in, so while it might have been a tad longer than we had planned, it worked out in the end. The highways weren't as windy or desolate as our trip from Las Vegas to Mammoth Lakes, nor were they simply a 2-lane road.
We made it to the Bay Area before 9pm, and we were pretty much done with long car rides.
We chose to keep it lowkey on Wednesday and went shopping in Berkeley. The weather was rainy, so that sent us home after just a few hours. We had dinner with our friends Fiona and Eric later that night and finally got to meet their newest little girl, Naya.
Thursday we headed up to Fairfield, CA to visit the Jelly Belly Factory. I've wanted to go there since I was a kid, especially since my 6th grade class didn't get to go (it was something my teacher always did with her students).
on our way back from the Jelly Belly Factory, we picked up my brother from school and headed to Santa Rosa to have lunch at Johnny Garlic's.
the food was good and tasty, but I'm not sure if its worth the hour drive to get there. The restaurant is owned by Guy Fieri, the blonde spikey haired dude from Food Network. Yea, that's what I call him.
We stayed home on Friday, partly to wait for my brother to come home from his internship and partly because we wanted to just vegetate. I sewed another bag, Mike watched tv, we did laundry and Keira played. nice and easy.
Later that night, my brother took us to a yummy Thai restaurant right down the street from my parents' house (we walked there in a few minutes!) for dinner. If any of you know Hercules, there really isn't much as far as quality food goes. But there's a small area that they are breathing new life into it, and this restaurant is part of it.
dinner was awesome. We had a whole fried fish, panang curry, pineapple fried rice and both a chocolate mamba AND a passionfruit mamba. it was SO good.
Saturday, we headed to BakeSale Betty's in Oakland for their famous fried chicken sandwich. um HELL YES.
there is no sign on the building, so it is easily missed, but just look for the line of people outside. And they use old wooden ironing boards as tables, lined up along the sidewalk outside.
after that, we headed to San Francisco to try cupcakes at That Take The Cake. oh HELL YES.
I ordered 6 cuppies: Sassy Sistah, Cherry Blossom, What Competition, Cookies n Cream, Hella Nutella and Prom Queen. The owner was helping us that day and I mentioned that not only was he highly recommended, but we had come all the way from LA to try his cupcakes. Well, he threw in a Gentlemen prefers Red cuppie on top of it. Nice guy, really.
the eating didn't stop there. We went to Fisherman's Wharf after, where we got a crab salad sandwich.
the thought of crab spurred us to pick some up on the way home, along with some other things for dinner that night. Mike did a great job making dinner for us, it was sure yummy!
We headed for home Sunday morning, leaving at 8am and getting back to Irvine by 3pm. we made 2 stops, and let Keira watch DVDs a majority of the way. thankfully, she did nap for a few hours on the road, but she definitely didn't enjoy sitting in her carseat the whole time.
While we were happy to be home, we were sad that our vacation was over. The first part of the week was a bit rush, rush, rush, but the latter part of just relaxing and going with the flow was nice. now it's back to the grind...
