Natalie's 1st Birthday Party

We had a BLAST at Natalie P's 1st birthday party! Here are some of the pictures:

April pics

Yes, I've fallen behind with blogging. I'm only human. I'm a human who works 40 hours/7 days a week, who has errands to run, dinners to cook, a toddler to chase around, and who tries to squeeze family time in wherever I can. Blogging isn't my #1 priority...sorry...that's just life. :)

Regardless, please enjoy some pictures from the month of April.

The cuteness is too much sometimes.

Watching morning cartoon in the big chair with her Backyardigan babies!

Sleeping with her Elmo


How Amelia brushes her teeth

Swinging at the park

At Red Robin with Grandma

I'm kind of cheesy

Sharing a bao-bao (hug in Chinese - thanks, Kai Lan!) with Amelia

Amelia cracking up watching Tom & Jerry

Riding in Grandma & Grandpa's new Routan

It's Mother's Day EVERY Day!

When I was younger, I would ask my mom why there wasn't a Kid's Day. It's a logical question - there's a Mother's Day, a Father's Day, a Grandparent's Day - why wasn't there a Kid's Day??? My mom would always tell me the same thing. "EVERY day is Kid's Day!" I'm sure I would respond with a "yeah, right" and an eyeroll, or something along those lines.

Maybe I'm naive and will change my mind the longer I'm a parent, but I truly feel like EVERY day is Mother's Day. The kisses, the smiles, the giggles, the cuddles - all of these daily gifts from Amelia make being a Mother the best! Sure, there are tantrums and struggles. There are late nights and early mornings. But hearing Amelia say, "I uwv ooooo" to me AND ONLY ME...there's nothing in the whole world that's better!

This was my 2nd Mother's Day with an "outside" baby - I celebrated one Mother's Day while I was pregnant with Amelia. While every Mother's Day I celebrate will be special, I will always cherish my "Pregnant Mother's Day". The following day was our big ultrasound, and we found out we were having a little girl. You can re-live it here.

I love my baby girl, I love my family, and I love being a Mom.

Last Florida Post

Here are the last pics from our Florida trip. They're from our DSLR. Towards the end of the slideshow are pics of the condo.

ENJOY! :)

Florida - Part 5

More pictures! These are from Saturday morning and this afternoon at the beach.

Amelia continues her reign over Siesta Key beach. She has made so many friends - she loves playing with the girls she meets. And she flirts with all the boys. Today she KISSED a boy and then tackled him into the ocean!!! Shortly thereafter, she was "chatting up" 2 teen-aged boys and then moved onto the lifeguard. We're going to have our hands full with this one!

Playing with some girl friends

What's with the crowd???

It must be the huge (live) jellyfish that came ashore.

Catching a little nap in Babcia's arms.

Chasing after bubbles

Plotting her next move

It was a calm day at the ocean

...so she made her own waves!

With Babcia & Dziadek

I don't know about you, but I think she's the cutest little beach bum!

Playing with more friends

Friends

Florida - Part 4

Tired of these Florida posts yet??? :)

Today we had a pretty chill day - did a little shopping, but mostly hung around the condo while I worked.

These are pictures from yesterday. We went to the pool in the morning and the beach in the late afternoon. As usual, Amelia had a blast at the beach. She has so much fun playing in the waves and running all over the beach. She approaches almost all the kids she sees, especially boys. There were a group of girls (a little older, ~5-7 year olds) playing in a water hole. She jumped right in and started playing with them. It was hilarious! Alex's parents took some video of it, but it's not in the right format to add here. Trust me, it was awesome.

Playing in the laundry hamper

Having fun

Playing in the ocean

Waves - yay!

Checking out a boy

Beach conditions at the lifeguard stand

Alex thinks the beach is A-OK!

Playing with her new friends (she's in the orange & pink)

Playing in the sand