1st birthday party (of the year)

Happy Birthday, Baby Makaio!

Just one week into the new year and we have our first birthday party... and a fun party it was.

Baby M was such a great honoree and his Mommy and Daddy did such an awesome job.

The face painting and balloon making were a hit, as was the food (omg, the food!) and libations.

I know this little girl loved her first face painting!

All the kids enjoyed playing and being silly with one another, and it was nice catching up with everyone there.

Thanks for allowing us to be part of this very special day M & N.

And congrats on the 1st year with Baby M!

until next year...

After 4 weeks of having a tree grace our living room and also trying to stick it out as long as possible (because the thought of cleaning up was so daunting) we finally gave in and took it down.

I tried to give her water regularly, but the poor tree stopped taking water 2 weeks after we got it. The poor tree was dried out, so much that the slightest touch had dozens of needles fall out at once.

Taking down all the ornaments was more of hassle than I remembered from past years.

The culprit: SMALL ornaments...

And that is why I got ride of those useless things.

They became annoying to hang, annoying to look at, annoying to take down and annoying to store. They are now a thing of the past.

So is that dry tree.

Until next year...

the party is over

I'll admit, one of the best parts of working during the holidays is not working during the holidays. Why waste PTO days?

It is the holidays and there are parties galore, activities around the office, gift exchanges-

so essentially no one is 100% focused to put in a full day of work in the month of December.

On top of that, we've been spoiled with having 2 Fridays and 2 Mondays off in a row.

But sadly, it's coming to an end. Waaaaah!

Next week will be the first full week of work in three weeks, so let's try to enjoy this last week until...

the following week when we have another 4 day work week!

Yaaay!

mustache!

Are mustaches the new trend?

Here are a series of fun mustache pictures that I took a few months ago, while hanging out at the L's house.

Mama A brought these back from her Napa trip with hubs and gave it to Cruz as their consolation gift.

They are actually pretty fun and definitely entertaining.

I ended up getting a pack for Camille's stocking this past Christmas.

I love how she decided to let Baby Princess Jasmine join in on the fun.

Silly girl!

resolutions

In no particular order, here are my resolutions for the upcoming year.

It seems like a lot of resolutions, but half of them I've recycled year after year so it is more of an ongoing life obligation.

Who is up for holding me accountable? :)

1. Blog more

(to blog once a day is more of a challenge for me than a resolution, but I'll list it anyway.)

2. Stay active

(aka exercise, Insanity, run, walks with Cloie/CJ, hikes, videos, races)

3. Eat Better

(drink more water, eat more greens, eat organic, less sugar intake, cook at home, less fried foods)

4. Read more

(I have a Kindle with thousands of books- really I do! I have no excuse.)

5. Read more to CJ

(she loves books and is so attentive when I read to her, I can't deny her passion.)

6. Stay organized

(this means donating or purging junk, old papers, clothes, toys, etc...

I have a bad case of "pack-rat-ness")

7. Take more pictures and learn camera functions

(take a picture, it lasts longer... I'll be glad I did years from now. and shame on me, I've owned my camera for over a year and I have yet to learn all the cool functions it has to offer.)

8. Take more video

(we watch videos of CJ when she was a baby and it melts our hearts. that was only 1-2 years ago, imagine watching videos 10-15 years from now. they grow up too fast.)

9. Accessorize

(I am not a fashionista by any means, in fact I think I fall under the simple & easy style. scarves, earrings, necklaces, hats, bracelets, purses, etc...

would sure accentuate that simple & easy style of mine.)

10. Be positive

(let's all live in peace, peeps)

ring in 2012

Every year we always seem to find ourselves figuring out New Year's plans after Christmas and this year was no exception. But it was a great time nonetheless.

CJ & I stayed in all day until we headed out to hub's cousin's house at 6 o'clock for their annual NYE party. I commend my hubs for braving the craziness earlier in the afternoon at Royal Mandarin, to pick up some wings for the party.

He couldn't emphasize how nuts it was there, I can only imagine.

The party was fun with a house full of adults AND children, in fact I think we were outnumbered. Lots of food and people to chit chat with to keep us busy and content.

It is always nice to see the hub's cousins and their kids; they are so so welcoming and just good people. Furthermore, they adore CJ and love showering her with hugs & kisses.

As for CJ, she loves them just as much!

We mingled for a few hours and headed back to ring in the New Year in our own quiet and peaceful way. H&K and C&G came over, we indulged in a bit of chicken wings and tamales, as well as wine & beer.

It was a short wait for the countdown and before we knew it, 2012 was well underway.

I thought it was the perfect way to end 2011 and ring in the start of 2012.

Hello 2012, Happy New Year!

2012 - a new year!

Happy New Year!

As always, I start to blog and hope to maintain it like I did back in the day when life was a wee bit easier. And sadly, I have not been successful.

Weddings, baby showers, travels, exercise, work, home life cannot be much different from raising a child the past two and a half years, right? Well here I am again, at another attempt to blog about my life's adventures, but this time I hope to execute this on a daily basis.

(What?! I know!)

Though I may not lead the most exciting or glamorous life, I do have my loving hubs, my entertaining and rapidly-growing daughter and my loyal and sometimes rambunctious chocolate labrador retriever.

It is fulfilling enough for me and I hope you can stick around for the next 364 days.

With that, I'd like to wish a Happy New Year to everyone and hope that 2012 brings pure joy, extreme success, complete happiness and most of all a peaceful year ahead.