Kariselle

tuesday

2012-02-07T13:09:00.000-05:00

couldn't think of a good title for this post. haha!

last week (or the beginning of last week) was not so good. it was just a big ball of negative vibes, stomachaches, & headaches. t'was...very...ehh.

BUT with the Giants winning the superbowl, i've been so happy it's crazy.

i've been so superstitious, wearing the same outfit every game day since my birthday (with the win against the jets). hey, it's been working! call me crazy, that's fine. i scared belle when i screamed at the top of the lungs when the game ended. was even planning on going to the parade today, bringing belle along. but i don't think God will let the Giants win again if i tortured her like that...waking up super early, go on the train, waiting, the crowds. but we're currently watching the parade on tv, and belle made my day by saying, "Where's Eli???" that's my girl! haha

ok i'll stop my giant rant. i'm just super happy!

these are some random pics that have nothing to do with the giants. haha.

so belle needed help putting her pants on & i saw aris helping her.....

& a big sorry to leila.....

this is leila's toy stroller that belle borrowed. belle uses her dolls, stuffed animals on this stroller, but last week, she just sat on it & used it like a wheelchair. the back wheels just broke off within 2 days of her using it like that.

now we owe leila a new stroller!

how fun is belle's macbook?! :)

she actually started it. she was imitating me, took her doodle book opened it in half, and started "typing" on a blank page. it was so funny!
so a lightbulb went on in my head, with a joke of drawing a laptop in. i surprised her & her first reaction was, "(gasp) its just like yours!!" then she went off playing with it. so funny!

this was when she was mesmerized with a new teapot/cup set aris got her.

waiting for superbowl to start, we were working on a new puzzle. it's a huge one of USA.

it was actually fun! even i was learning a few things on geography..haha.

she was rewarded with a lollipop.

after the puzzle, we were still waiting for superbowl. she was watching a show, World's Deadliest: Predator Weapons. of course the great white was featured. and zoomed in on its teeth...

this pic is more saturated. i just faded it a bit for your sake.
when i saw it, i was holding the camera, clicked then turned away. i looked at belle for her reaction (of course thinking she would cover her eyes). but her eyes kept looking, jaw dropped, & she tells me, "wowww! look at that!"
then ran in the room, brought out her shark (christmas gift from stef!) and joined in on the action.

i don't know what to say. haha!

& lastly, thought it'd be fun to play with self timer.

how sweet do we look?? very.
:)

photobooks

2012-01-24T12:03:00.000-05:00

"remember disney?? and the princess???"

"ooo remember i give cookie to cookie monster???"

during new year's, i was excited for 2011 to be over. for some reason, i felt like nothing was accomplished. it just didn't feel like a fulfilling year for me.
but when i started to work on our 2011 book, i was kind of overwhelmed with all the pictures i had to put! i even told aris, "wow 2011 was pretty good after all!"
lots of blessings and plenty of memories to be proud about.
just a few of my faves....

like our first vacation to orlando...with extended family! i miss them.

the glorious moment when belle was officially potty trained!!!

that perfect day at fire island! can't wait to go back this summer.

and of course watching all those hot air balloons being launched all at once at 6am.

which was definitely worth waking up at 4am.

she's been looking through the books everyday since we received the 2011 book.

when she finished & closed the book...i heard her say, "thats a greatest story ever!"

haha. love that she sees it as a story. which was what i was going for anyway. hehe

so true.
feeling blessed!

ps-i used mypublisher for these. I LOVE IT. love the quality, how it's so crisp & neat. they're always emailing me about special offers. and i always use the buy 1 get 1 free cause i get 2. and it saves me plenty of moolah!

Saturday

2012-01-22T13:43:00.001-05:00

just when i said i couldn't wait for spring, i woke up to this.

but it wasn't a storm....just a couple of inches. enough for belle to get excited about.
she woke up HAPPY.

my dad received this as a christmas gift. but i'm the one that uses it. currently my favorite mug.

breakfast. i love omelettes. but belle doesn't like eggs. this was her only option that day.
she didn't wanna eat. she just wanted to go outside.
and that....was then followed by a major tantrum...NOT fun.
& in the end, she ate it anyway :)

then i received this in the mail!!!
our 2011 photobook. happiness has arrived!

then aris went out to go shovel. belle followed.
i was happy inside, but belle insisted i came out...
i just took pics. it was SO COLD!!

that is one happy girl. she loves it!! she ran, rolled around, crawled and no complaints.

when aris was done i literally ran back in but went back out cause i had to carry belle inside. and she was bummed.....

"can i play in the snow pwweeeeeeaaaase???"
it was getting dark, rainy, and COLDER. so she really couldn't play anymore. she was sad till i brought out the kettle corn. our favorite!! yummm

random stuff this week

2012-01-19T00:29:00.000-05:00

always fun to play with self timer! especially since we need more pics of the 3 of us, cause one of us is always behind the camera. this was better off in black & white too.

belle & her "strawberry" birthmark on her forehead. it's rarely noticed. but when i do, i think of her as an infant.

before she ate her cornbread she looked at me & said, "say cheese!!"

me: why?

b: this a camera!

she was supposedly on a pirate ship traveling across the ocean....

"AHOY!!!"

(funny how she's wearing her "Ahoy Matey!" pirate shirt in the cornbread pic!? haha)

i came home from bjs, using those boxes to carry in the stuff. & when i was about to throw it away, belle saw them and got excited. she's been preventing me to throw it out.

ever since, those boxes have turned into a pirate ship, a house, ice cream shop, etc,

she is one of those kids....that you give a box to, and she is thrilled!

almost tripped on this....her bunny & its lunch (belle really has quite the imagination).

it was right in the middle of the kitchen floor!

we ended up buying ice cream cake for my dad's birthday.

how cute are the candles?! it's so my dad. since he spends 90% of his time watching espn.

knowing everything about anything with every sport!

happy birthday again to the loudest funniest man alive!

having a good week so far.

& i finally ordered the 2011 photo album! (this was the post about 2010)

it took me the whole weekend to finish, rushing to get the buy 1 get 1 free deal, which expired monday. & i'm glad the whole process is over! crossing my fingers that all turns out well.

have a good rest of the week!

can't wait for spring

2012-01-17T11:05:00.007-05:00

it's getting really cold. & our house is an igloo. i even wear a scarf inside.

& belle is always asking for soup or hot noodles.

i'm not a winter person, so this is typical me complaining at this time of the year.

i was cleaning out my laptop & found some old pics at the park, swinging.

after seeing them, i really can't wait for spring!!!

i miss the days at the park...

i have no idea why my brother decided to hang out with us at the park. haha

just a couple of more months.

& on a different note, today is my dad's birthday!!! 17 is a lucky number around here....3 people in this house were born on the 17th. & my mom will cook up a storm for dinner...so i'm excited!!!

should i bake a cake? or call binh?? haha

when i only have my phone

2012-01-12T12:25:00.008-05:00

some old & recent pics...

1. measuring herself while waiting at the doctor's

2. being too independent at the outlet

3. when belle & ponyo woke up!

4. after a whole day with belle....mia went to bed early. hahaha

5. grocery shopping...she said she wanted watermelon. i said, only if she holds it.

6. family pic

7. matching leopard pants

8. getting ready for our night out

9. in the car on a pretty day

loving the instagram app. if only my slr had instagram...that would be amazing!

green food

2012-01-09T00:05:00.012-05:00

1. mine & belle's favorite noodles, korean green tea noodles.

2. aris's omelette. he makes good omelettes!

3. breakfast smoothie: green monster. recipe here

4. making juice. took out almost all the veggies (& an apple) in the fridge & cut em' up !

5. proof that the juice is good. haha! (with her lovely morning hair & everything!)

don't think i'm weird. i was just looking through iphoto & noticed i had a good number of green food. i could even start a collection! t'was a coincidence & this post wasn't planned. just thought i'd share.

& just cause you probably think i'm soooo healthy at this point, i'll share my currently favorite cookies...

red velvet chocolate chip cookies!!!! recipe here

of course i found it on pinterest & had binh bake them.

(cause i have really bad luck when it comes to baking)

& because we are the health freaks that we are...we changed a couple of stuff...

like butter - used vegan butter

sugar - brown sugar

flour - whole wheat flour

egg- used flaxseed & water

semi sweet chocolate chips - dark chocolate chips

substituting makes all the difference (for us). & the best part, we don't feel guilty eating them!! whaaaaaat!?

busy weekend

2012-01-05T23:21:00.006-05:00

friday: night out
a fun way to end 2011 with awesome company. we celebrated my birthday in the city & it was FUN!! can't wait for the next birthday coming up!....binh :)

saturday: new years eve aka leila's birthday!

can't believe leila is already 2! she wasn't even born when i started this blog. we celebrated till the ball dropped.

sunday: new years day

new years day was a much needed lazy day at the hernandez's. girls' tea parties, netflix movie marathon, & ordered pizza. quality time & good times.

almost a week into 2012 & i still don't have any new years resolutions. can't think of any good ones! don't think i'll be coming up with one. just wishing for a hopeful, positive year. ::crossing fingers::

ciao 2011!

2012-01-02T23:57:00.004-05:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

lots of memories from 2011.

but i'm excited for the new year. 2012 sounds just about right.

cheers to 2012!!

SuperShark to the rescue!!

2011-12-30T00:21:00.010-05:00

I really don't know what I was thinking trying to make a bunch of gifts the week before christmas. including belle's kitchen. & also christmas shopping! it felt like finals week while i was in school or something. i made everything planned, except...binh's gift. (sorry nins!)

so anywhoo...another one of belle's gift was a superhero cape.

i found an easy tutorial here.

it was kinda funny trying to make this without her noticing so i could wrap it & have her open it for christmas.

i laid out this hot pink satin on the floor ready to cut, then she walks in & sees the fabric.

her eyes got so big & she asked, "what are you making???"

me: ummm a tablecloth.

belle: tablecloth? oh.

then she went off played & did her thing.

she never asked about it again.

this is the only shot i can get of her still.

when she wears this, she gets so into character, with all the jumping, whipping the cape around, runs, tries to fly, etc.

the camera really can't keep up with her when she's SuperShark!

i know you're wondering, why a cape? & why a shark?

cause sometimes she pretends to be a superhero (especially when she watches superwhy)...& when she does play, she takes my shirt & asks me to tie it around her. that's her "cape."

so i asked, "do you want me to make you a superhero cape?"

belle: yes!

me: what color?

belle: pink!!

then when i realized she needed a "logo" or letter...i was just gonna put a B. but her first name is Isabella. i couldn't decide. such a dilemma!

me: what do you want? an I or a B?

belle: B

me: Belle or Isabella?

belle: Isabella

me: so I or B??

belle: B

we were stuck!! i put the project off cause i couldn't make up my mind.

then one night, while she was playing, using my shirt as a cape, she screamed, "SUPER SHARK TO THE RESCUE!!!!"

ding ding ding! lightbulb moment.... SuperShark!

our diy play kitchen

2011-12-28T01:50:00.013-05:00

so here's how the whole kitchen thing started.

belle's been asking for the longest time...for a kitchen.

she fell in love with a wooden play kitchen from ikea. but it was $140.

my parents were really set on getting it for her. but i was really hesitant.....$140!!? for a toy??

the ones i researched online are basically the same price.

the ones in toys r us weren't "talking" to me.

but binh gave me the idea of making one after seeing one on pinterest. but hello? i am no handy girl. hesitation again.

then one day my dad gives me $100 for belle's christmas gift, "here, get belle a kitchen"

but i still didn't wanna spend that much. haha. so i researched on pinterest & googled.

and i was inspired by the other diy kitchens i found!! (lightbulb moment)

i asked binh if she was up for it. & of course she was.

we went to a thrift store to see if we could find a night stand, or something to work with & we found this....for $14.99!! whaaaaat? and i already planned on having the kitchen be white.

didn't even need to paint. it was a sign.

we bought this in the beginning of december but we only started working on it last thursday. cause we are just crazy procrastinators like that....

the faucet is a plastic one from home depot. it was $11.

the handles were originally those plastic clear ones. it really turned me off so i had to spray paint that part!

then binh screwed a hook, i sewed a curtain. and just used velcro to stick it on cause we were running out of time. & it works just fine!

looking at the pictures, it looks so easy.

ok, the concept was easy....but we are 2 girls who spent over an hour in home depot, getting lost. cutting that circle for the "sink"...HA! don't even know how long it took. & when binh was able to cut it out, her brother comes home & tells us the "knife" we used is for cutting sheetrock. HAHA! we have no fancy tools, our only fancy tool was to drill screws in....& we still had a hard time with it!

so yeah, building it was really an adventure & so funny! cause we didn't know what we were doing half the time. it's more fun thinking about it now. but this handy manny stuff is definitely not our territory!!

all the utensils & stuff ...we bought separately. my mom found tiny utensils at an asian store....i found a couple at the thrift store....& the microwave, belle already had.

so all in all...the nightstand & all the materials (spray paint, faucet, plywood, screws, L shaped things, hooks, etc)....came out to $50-$60.

everybody do a happy dance!!! whoo hoo!

still can't believe we were able to do it. even aris was impressed!

success!!

that's insane.

birthday-christmas eve & morning

2011-12-26T01:21:00.004-05:00

thanks so much to those who gave birthday greetings!

24, my number ;)

my birthday was spent last minute christmas shopping, gift preparing, watched football, christmas movies, ate tons & stayed home with my family...

binh surprised me with an organic blueberry blue velvet cake!!! so so good.

my mom's cooking. my favorite!

after dinner, we got ready for midnight mass.

& we open our presents after.

so when belle came home, she was greeted and surprised with a kitchen waiting by the tree!

SOOO HAPPY she loves it cause binh & i have been slaving away 2 days before, rushing, making this for belle! it was quite the adventure.....& it deserves it's own post!

but i kinda made a mistake putting it there first cause right when belle saw the kitchen, she forgot about her other gifts. she started cooking asap!

we had to interrupt her cooking to open other gifts...

i made her a superhero cape but aris wanted to try it on! haha

we went to bed at 4am. we were so tired, so drained...but happy!

we all woke up late. & i made my favorite breakfast, that i rarely ever eat, pancakes!

christmas day... every year we usually stay home in our pjs & bum out at home, watch movies, in this case, we watched a ton of basketball.

& belle played with her new toys! the cast of toy story 3 escaping from sunny side daycare.

i didn't know hello kitty was part of the cast??

when i was cleaning the table, i found the octopus character "hiding" with the ornaments.

i love christmas. really is the best time of the year! for so many reasons. belle gets so into the christmas spirit...even knowing a bit about it, telling me that it's Jesus' birthday. her favorite holiday song is coincidentally, "jingle bells!" ....& this is the only time i ever buy her toys. so she is one happy little lady. i hope every one had a blessed & happy christmas!!

"i don't want santa anymore, i want art"

2011-12-21T00:23:00.016-05:00

when belle starts to act up i threaten her with: "stop it or santa's not coming for christmas"

it works! (i imagine it would with most kids).

the other day i told her in the morning she could do a craft. she got all giddy & got her stuff ready. but before she started...she was getting cranky & whiny.

& she knew exactly what i was gonna say,"stop it or...."

before i finished, she said, "i don't want santa anymore!"

"then what do you want?"

"i want art"

that's like the sweetest thing i've ever heard!! that this girl would prefer art over santa...

she made this with binh.

i went to the gym, while binh babysat. & they crafted the whole time.

binh said she only asked about me once.

they made that tree handprint & a few more paintings. i forgot to take pics of the others since they weren't hung.

on monday we spent the whole afternoon making christmas cards. & she says we're not finished. every time aris called, she'd yell, "DAD!! i make you a christmas card!!"

it was suppose to be a surprise!

and if she picks up a pen, marker, or whatever....i know exactly what she's gonna draw first, smiley faces.

smiley faces of all kinds!!....just a few from her notebook.

she never says why she draws smilies. she just does!

i need to take more pics of her little creations. it makes me so happy.

so bribing her with santa doesn't work anymore. only lollipops & art!

she's so mini me. except, you can't bribe me with a lollipop.

long eventful day

2011-12-18T17:15:00.015-05:00

saturday morning was binh's graduation!!
congrats nins!!

her parents are so happy! more happier than binh. haha! i was glad to have been there. since i know binh's been itchin' to finish. cheers to the beginning of binh's new life! whoot!! ;)

after her graduation, we went and got ready for a christmas party with family & friends...

i love this! haha

belle got a cash register play set! she always pretends to be a cashier at home, so she was real excited when she got the "real thing."

(when she showed it off to binh & krystal, krystal thought it was a telephone. she thought the "credit card" was a calling card. haha!)

this was the insane part....when kit (it's kate, but i like to call her kit) won the 2nd prize of the raffle!....$3k!!

she said she would share if she won, so every time they would call out a number, binh, belle, & i held hands & say stuff like, "please jesus please!!" & she did!!! so insane & happy for her! congrats kit!!! can't wait for friday. wink wink!

we're all excited for friday cause kit's taking the girls out to dinner. hahaha!

more random

2011-12-16T12:09:00.005-05:00

"what is going on here???"

belle: my bears are having a picnic

"we eating shrimp n broccoli"

funny thing is, those aren't her bears. haha. the one on the left is leila's. don't know how we ended up wih it! and the one on the right is Mia's. yeah, the dog. it's her chew bear.

daily dose of hot chocolate. she likes hers with marshmallows.

walked into the living room & found belle laying on my exercise mat...attempting sit ups while watching frosty the snowman. HAHA!

i figure if i post a few pics at a time, i'll be able to post more. & so i don't forget about the pics. cause i always forget!! anyway, have a good weekend...

i'm only starting christmas shopping today. yikes!!

3 things

2011-12-14T20:40:00.006-05:00

1. i FINALLY made a tree skirt.the past few Christmases my mom's been complaining about not having a tree skirt. i always say i'd make one...but i guess i was never interested cause i was never inspired to make one. i'd always say, "the bottom of the tree will get covered with presents anyway"

but then i saw a pic of a ruffled tree skirt on pinterest. & i was inspired!

didn't need to buy anything, just used an old tablecloth to make a circle and used left over muslin to make tons of ruffles & sewed it on. but let me tell you, it's not neat at all. it looks pretty from afar. but upclose, there are no hems or anything! the beauty of ruffles though, it's easy to cover anything ugly! AND, my mom's happy!

2. belle gets her own ornament every year. either she receives it as a gift, makes it, or picks it at the store. this year, we bought it. our last trip to wal mart, i told her to choose. she picked this....

it came in a pack.

when it comes to christmas, i'm more on the traditional side. i would much rather have her pick out a traditional ornament....but she chose that "diva" pack. haha.

i couldn't refuse because it's so her. it describes her at this stage.

the dress, the bag, all the pink! & i call her a diva all the time.

that's her 2011 ornament. diva!

3. last weekend belle & i went to my friend, Stephanie's son's 1st birthday....

birthday boy, Sean was grabbing the mic to sing along to Happy Birthday!

he's just like his mom, a singer :)

Steph made sesame street character cake pops! all the kids went crazy and it was gone in seconds. belle loooved it. she loves everyone on sesame street, even oscar the grouch! i don't normally eat cake pops, but after belle licked off all the icing, i got a few bites and it was GOOD!! thanks again son! (i call steph, son. because when we went to school together, we thought it was funny how people talk in slang, call each other 'son').

it's a good feeling to see great friends after so long! but i'll be seeing you more son, since we each have a kid now....play dates!! hehehe

first time

2011-12-06T10:03:00.003-05:00

this post makes me real happy. kinda makes up for belle's major tantrum she threw last night. because i wouldn't let her have a granola bar late at night....then she forced herself to cry really loud. that's not normal of her. she picked up other kids' bad habits. i don't like it. seriously, those tantrums will never win. i just kept picturing the doctor telling me when she was still an infant, "kids will never die from crying." so she cried till she fell asleep.

ugh, ANYWAY!....happy stuff....

she ROCKED her first time at the dentist. i didn't even sit near her. i was at the back holding her jacket & backpack. i felt retarded for being worried. i had no clue what they were going to even do. but they checked, cleaned, did x-rays. for the x-rays, no one could be in the same room when they'd take the picture, so i got worried again. but, she sat there with no problem. & the best part.....no cavities. YEAH!!

they gave her tokens to get rewards from their toy machine. she got a spongebob & patrick tattoo. she said she wanted it on her cheek...

well guess what, her appointment was last thursday. it's tuesday now. and that tat is still there. its fading, but it's still there. she loves it though!

(i used my phone to take these pics. i would've loved to use my camera but it's too heavy for the dentist's office)

i still can't believe that dentist trip was so easy. wow.

december??

2011-12-01T09:15:00.003-05:00

wow december! i didn't even blog at all for november!

believe me, you didn't miss a thing. i seriously haven't picked up my camera since the week of halloween. november just flew.

for thanksgiving, we spent it at aris'. and i didn't even shop for black friday or cyber monday. shocking! i feel somewhat incomplete. haha!

but i am excited for december...for the holidays. i know there's lots to look forward to.

belle is same ol' same ol'

her nose is currently stuffy cause she just got the flu shot.

& i'm taking her to the dentist today FOR THE FIRST TIME.

yikes. i'm nervous & a little excited.

& here are a couple of pics that i found.....

krystal & christian came over for dinner. belle was very fond of christian....didn't leave him alone the whole night! poor guy.

she was laughing so hard while her & christian were playing that she knocked out right after they left. visit again soon guys. so belle can knock out easily again! hehe

& a cute treat ~~belle~~ & i made inspired from pinterest!
i love it! has belle's faves...apple, marshmallows, & peanut butter! (& healthy too!)

it looks gross when you start eating it though. cause the "teeth" looks rotten cause of the peanut butter.
but it's so cute before we ate it!

she loved it of course. i had a couple myself & it tastes better than i thought.

this is so appropriate for today since i'm bringing her to the dentist. Ha!

Halloween '11!

2011-11-01T10:54:00.002-04:00

I think this is the first time Belle was super excited about Halloween. She asked to be Tinkerbell. If it were up to me, I would've dressed her up as another animal but she asked for Tink. I said yes when I realized I could make a super easy costume. I just made a green tutu, & used ribbon to tie around her neck & waist. Easy peasy!

Ready to go trick or treating!!

We happened to be dog-sitting Ponyo that day...which is totally fine!!

If I would've known Ponyo was coming, I would've forced Belle to dress as Dorothy.

Me & Binh were imagining her trick or treating with Ponyo as Dorothy...hehe...maybe next year?!

Halloween morning we couldn't find her plastic pumpkin trick or treat bag. The other tote bags I have are too big for her....so we quickly made a trick or treat tote. A real easy one. She requested the ghost, pumpkin, & green (like Tinkerbell) sign. She's just picky like that!

(guess what?? My mom found the plastic pumpkin bag while she was cleaning out the basement.. after we went trick or treating. Ha!)

We were walking up to a porch & I didn't notice the cat at first. It scared me!

When her bag was getting too heavy, she said she was "hungry for candy" so she literally ran home.

This was our pumpkin that we picked when we went pumpkin picking. I was never into carving so we painted ours. Belle painted her little pumpkin pink....but it fell & cracked. Oh well!

That was our longest trick or treat walk. We were all pooped! Belle & Ponyo took a looong nap soon after. Halloween is really becoming a favorite holiday!

more pumpkins & a pony ride

2011-10-26T22:58:00.009-04:00

after we picked up our pumpkin, we passed by a market nearby & drank some apple cider. t'was delicious! on our way home, we found another farm with more pumpkins & a huge sign for hayrides. we wanted to try the hayride so we stopped by. but when we saw the ridiculous long line we got turned off. but belle saw the pony rides & wanted to try. i was surprised she wasn't scared...she was pretty much in awe & quiet the whole time. in awe cause she was actually riding horse!! she did good. i think the pony ride was way cooler than a hayride :)

this day was like fall wonderland. yay!

(thanks nins for letting me steal your leopard scarf for the weekend!!)

pumpkins

2011-10-25T21:20:00.009-04:00

fall isn't complete without a trip to see pumpkins. we wanted to pick some apples like last year, but they were all gone. pretty sure that hurricane irene had something to do with it. but it was still a good trip despite the absence of apples. belle went a little organized & neat with the pumpkins. had to stack them up a certain way...making sure they're all straight. she gets like that sometimes...with anything. she was also playing hide & seek with aris. it was funny watching them...belle's first hiding spot was a pumpkin. haha! bingle & i were non stop with our cameras & even put them on a pumpkin to get a group shot of us. i came home with a long narrow pumpkin. the long narrow pumpkins were "talking" to me. they're so cute!

i have a lot more pics. this day isn't complete!

kids village

2011-10-20T11:52:00.005-04:00

we went to kidz village for belle's birthday...

yep, that's lenee & i. had to follow the girls.

sometimes belle gets nervous with slides....so i went on this one with her. it was too fast. that scared her away & she moved on...

forgot what i bribed aris with to get a pic of him playing with a doll's hair. haha

after kids village, we had lunch at aris' parents.

then cake!

leila cried right after we sang Happy Birthday. it was so funny. she got scared with all the cheering and all the "YAYY!!"

after cake the 3 stooges watched Lion King on the dvd player.

belle is self proclaimed Rafiki, leila is Timon, caleb is Simba.

she got the lion king for her birthday. perfect!

3!!!

2011-10-17T08:33:00.007-04:00

can't believe it. 3 years later & we're still here...alive & well.

just kidding :)

wow.

happy birthday belle!...my Rafiki.

(she loooves being called Rafiki, her favorite character from Lion King)

the craziest, most adventurous 3 years ever.

thank the lord for the energy, strength & blessings!

library

2011-10-15T01:01:00.012-04:00

guess what! belle has her very own library card!

i went to the library to return a book i had for 3 years (i was soooo embarrassed).

belle came too. then ended up with her own library card. with her name on the back & everything!

i know, i can use my card to borrow books for her, but with her own card....she's able to attend their many children's programs....which happens to be a big deal over there.

these are the first books she brought home....

"i'm the biggest thing in the ocean" seems to be her favorite.

when i read it, she sounds like she's reading along....but she's not.

cause she can't read. she just memorizes the story already.

she's so happy!

so funny

2011-10-12T22:53:00.004-04:00

belle feel asleep early. which gave me time to upload these hilarious pics of her laughing so hard, that her eyes were getting smaller & watery.

i know you're wondering why she's laughing?

it was cause she was watching a cartoon on youtube...& memorized it.

i had no idea she memorized it until i heard her saying every word right on.

i looked at her with a shocked/surprised look....she saw my face & laughed her little heart out. yeah, she was laughing at my face...my reaction. not the video.

i guess my facial expressions are just soooo funny!?

good weekend

2011-10-10T18:40:00.008-04:00

the past few days could possibly be the warmest days left this year.

it was spent with these 2 girls.

belle loves these rain boots her Lola gave her. she obviously wears it without the rain too.

we passed by the playground where we took advantage of the great lighting.

i've been craving milkshakes all week. when sunday hit 80 degrees, i had to go make my milkshake....with chocolate ice cream, pour in soy milk. mish & mashed in our mugs.

it's so good. i love it. that i get greedy with my ice cream & soy milk :)

today belle & i woke up late & had a lazy day. play doh-ed, watched my soaps, ate, stayed in our pjs all day. then we got bored, & belle was talking about princesses. i asked if she wanted princess hair, she agreed & i decided to curl her hair. haha...

how cute is shirley temple with black hair!? haha

i swear i'll post more

2011-10-06T13:00:00.005-04:00

hahaha really i will. im at the slackest i've ever been.

it's not like there are crazy fun things/events happening around here.

but every day with belle is crazy. and that's all there is to blog about....

before her dance class.

her favorite pair of shoes. most likely because of it's color. her personality matches that shade of pink.

love that stool. i don't need to hold her up while her stomach gets squished to wash her hands. little things like that make me happy ;)

while we were having oatmeal, my mom's friend came over with a box of dunkin donuts. belle squealed, picked out her fave....but she couldn't have her donut until she ate more oatmeal.

"just one lick"

rushing her oatmeal to get to her donut.

and when she finally ate her donut...she only ate half. as in, the parts with frosting & sprinkles.

can't believe it's october already. wasn't it just august? crazzzzzy.

hello!

2011-09-16T18:43:00.009-04:00

i know. i disappeared for awhile. i usually blog late at night after belle sleeps....but starting in august, i've been sleeping early & waking up early...so the blog has been accidentally put to a halt. tsk tsk.

if you're curious, you haven't really missed out anything. our days consists of oatmeal, exercise, play, watching movies, youtube videos, pinterest browsing, reading books on the iPad, random trips to new jersey, & we are starting dance school (of course for belle) tomorrow.

it's already september & it's already getting chilly!!

summer came & left. im actually fine with that...because that means those mosquitoes won't be attacking belle anymore. poor girl has bite marks all over her legs.

& here are just random photos that have been trapped in the camera....

& remember that name that recently became famous? irene??

yeah hurricane irene that made us nervous. made us run around town, panicking & preparing at the same time. well thank God it was not as big as it was expected & our town was ok. there were lots of trees that fell & broke off around the neighborhood. but for our block, we had a lot of branches, limbs, & leaves that made a mess....

considering that a lot of areas lost electricity, or flooded, or trees falling....we can't complain about that mess. thank goodness!

that's all for now :)

hot balloons!!!

2011-08-15T12:05:00.001-04:00

2 weeks ago we woke up at 4am to attend a balloon festival and be there at 6:30 for the launching of the balloons!

it was somewhere in NJ and it was worth waking up at 4am!!

i've never been to one before, & it was pretty overwhelming.

professional sky divers.

don't they look like the toy soldiers from Toy Story?

this was the first balloon to go....
after the Hershey balloon went up, ALL the balloons were blowing up...& i didn't know there were this many balloons! i think it was about 125 balloons. quite a sight!

they are BIG!

doesn't this balloon look like aris!? it's so goofy like him.

we were all calling out balloons that was "us". mine was the strawberry, lenee the hershey....and when aris' balloon came up, we all said...."ARIS!"

& then....Belle & Leila's balloons!! (leila loves penguins)

spider pig! ha ha!

looks so funny in the sky!

belle's balloon. that woke her up. she was still so sleepy but the shark woke her up.

& after all the balloons left, the canon lady came out...

after the canon lady, belle played on the bouncrs, while the others went on a balloon.

we walked around the vendors/sponsors, had breakfast, walked around some more & got some free goodies!! we all left with bags of goods; lotions, sunblock, chips, drinks, snacks, etc!

that was realllyyy unexpectadly fun. (except for the part belle threw a huge crying session cause she didn't want a bite of her sandwich before her juice) other than that, it was good morning! we finished right before 11am.

must go back again next year!

5k

2011-08-10T10:03:00.002-04:00

i joined stef's family last sunday on the Runyon 5k at Yankee Stadium!

it's a run/walk for cancer research.

stef with her parents & cousin before the run.

spectators can watch on the seats. belle was with aris watching & waiting for us.

it poured early that morning. & our team's run was scheduled for 11 am.

by the time we arrived it was nice and sunny. thank goodness!!

loved that it was in Yankee stadium.

i was hoping to see derek jeter. but he wasn't there. but we were still in Yankee stadium!!

i ran with stef & kathleen the whole time. can you find us?

stef's in white...me in black & pink...kathleen in navy.

us on the jumbo tron! im the small person between the 2 huge dudes. haha!

after the run with our fancy medals!

it was seriously fun!! sweaty, hot, exhausting, but so fun!

it took us about 40 minutes to complete the 5k...about 3.2 miles.

thanks for the invite stef! we'll do another one again :)

water!!

2011-07-21T15:12:00.002-04:00

these pictures are so appropriate for this heat wave.

it's making me "drool."

this was when we were last in NJ.

she likes to drink water! even in the shower she does this. i have to yell to stop!

leila gets nervous & hates the cold water being splashed on her.

she'd rather stay side & eat! hehe

of course, that's my kid!

& the next day the dads blew up the kiddie inflatable pool for the girls.

bingle was trying to catch a tan! haha

it took awhile for leila to join. but she eventually went in.

she preferred this than the sprinklers.

these were belle's works of art while waiting for the pool to inflate.

pheww it's so hot. i've been sitting by the air conditioner or fan all day.

now i'm tempted to turn on the lawn sprinklers so belle & i can run wild.

hmmm......

perfect day

2011-07-19T08:09:00.003-04:00

at fire island!

first timers

she saw everyone at the beach tanning.

she had no idea what they were doing. but she did it any way.

& of course she didn't last more than 1 minute laying there.

waves were getting big & it knocked her over. she was fine.

she wanted to go back in. bingle actually had to keep running after cause she kept running towards the waves. we had to carry her out of there.

then there was a little sand battle.

making fun things out of sand.

binh & king. vs bing & jason

jason & bingle won. the other team gave up cause my brother was over ambitious.

it was a village turtle.

bingle says that wood is a bridge to that doorway.

after braiding her hair....she fell asleep.

while the sun was setting.

thumbs up for a successful day!

Seriously was one of the best days. it was perfect. haven't been to fire island in about....i think more than 5 years. so nice to go back! its a getaway only 20 minutes away! the beach is clean. they are strict, but clean! the weather was not too hot. & the ferry ride was peaceful. that whole place is peaceful. going back there really soon!! loved it.

picnic

2011-07-18T09:54:00.008-04:00

binh, bingle, belle, & i had a lil picnic by the park.

it was so so nice.

it's an official picnic since bingle brought her pretty picnic basket.

binh makes our own chipotle style vegetable bowls.

we always crave chipotle. & it's a lil expensive to keep buying it.

so she makes her own. belle & i can eat it everyday!!

had to attempt a picture of all of us.

you should see me run to get into the picture before the timer goes off. it's pretty funny.

it was perfect how there was a playground.

so when belle got bored of us, she found kiddos to play with...

belle brought this girl over & had a few snacks. cute!

they ran & ran. with all that open space, they still bumped into each other.

we stayed till the sun went down.

when we got home, we watched 'Tangled'. we love that movie.

we watched it 3 times over the weekend!

last week was so productive & eventful. i have so much pictures to share it's a little overwhelming. haha. i have A LOT! but it was a really really really good week!

it's hot!

2011-07-07T00:04:00.001-04:00

it really is summer....

hogging the fan.

frequently making popsicles.

chocolate soy milk is the favorite so far!

my dad testing out a new camera & making belle his model. haha

aris (with his broken hand) putting seeds on the lawn like he knows how to do it!

this picture is funny!

i have a bunch of random photos.

so i'll be posting a lil more :)

last day of gymnastics

2011-07-05T13:21:00.001-04:00

the spring semester has ended for gymnastics.

belle was late to attend...she only went for 2 months.

but belle's last day of gymnastics was so fun.

family & friends can come & watch on the last day.

& for fun, her instructor, Miss Danielle gave them little medals at the end.

she was only there for 2 months but it's so clear to everyone she enjoys it.

she got along with everyone...especially the kids just as equally crazy as her.

everyone there is so freakishly nice.

& she also loved miss danielle.

belle has TONS of energy (too much?!) so this was good for her.

we're thinking of putting her in dance class in the fall. & she agreed...loves the idea. i feel like she's gonna be one of those kids that wants to try everything. so far she told me she wants to try....gymnastics, ballet, kung fu (after watching kung fu panda), or karate, & even asked to play the piano?! So I don't really know. Most likely dance class. Cause she's ALWAYS dancing. We'll see. Good luck to me! haha

belated fathers day

2011-06-23T20:14:00.006-04:00

i know fathers day was last sunday. & it is the end of the week already. but that's fine!

it was aris' day & he talked me into going to the city for his friend's kids' birthday party.

we took the train there & it was belle's first time on the LIRR.

she was scared at first. funny cause her reaction on the train was scared...but riding on a plane was nothing (to orlando). hehe

perfect father's day photo that was captured by aris' friend, peter.

t'was a good day.

i always get nervous being around people i don't know.

but it was fine.

belle had a blast with the other kiddos.

she was the youngest & knocked out when it was bedtime.

(bedtime for me is the worst part of the day cause belle hates to sleep. she wants to play & talk & play & talk & play & talk. she literally rambles and talks herself to sleep)

hope all the super dads out there had a great deserving fathers day!

i just have random pictures

2011-06-13T13:10:00.013-04:00

my sister got confirmed last week. & binh was her sponsor.

the bishop behind her was funny. his homily got me listening & everybody laughing.
then we had dinner at cheesecake factory.

we had to wait for our table. belle kept us entertained until she got impatient.

we only go out to dinner when there's an occasion.

so every time we eat dinner outside we always enjoy it.

********************************************************************

this or oatmeal are our favorite & only breakfasts. so so yummy.

sometimes i eat oatmeal for dinner. cause it's the only thing i can make that taste good.

we go through a lot of milk around here.

belle drinks regular & we both drink a lot of soy milk.

her favorite is chocolate soy.

but i get a lot of vanilla cause it goes with everything.

*******************************************************************

belle got a new car that she's been wanting/asking for...for a year now.
she couldn't wait to use it.

she wanted to help her dad so bad. & she did.

but having her help sometimes means it will take longer to finish it. ha!

she uses it in the house too.

if she's driving & you ask her where she's going, she'll always say, "target!"

********************************************************************

afternoon at the track.

usually while we run, belle plays in that dirt.

she enjoys it. kids+dirt=happy.

we had the track to ourselves.

so we took a few pics.
we waited to cool down & for the wind to make our sweat go away then we took a picture.

we are gross when we run. haha!
she's always happy when she's outside.

she's an outdoors girl.

********************************************************************

before we went to the track, belle had gymnastics class.

fun!!

that's all the random i have for now.

have a good week everyone!

maybe my favorite post ever

2011-06-09T01:36:00.006-04:00

do you notice anything different about belle ???

???

do you see it yet???

NO MORE DIAPERS!!!

everybody do a happy dance please!

she is officially...

& finally...

potty trained!!!!

do you know how long i've been waiting to say that?

i've been wanting to say that since........awhile!!

we started last year...in the fall.

but i felt she wasn't ready.

tried again in winter. by this time she knew the toilet was for peeing.

every time i brought her there, she'd pee.

but then the problem was...she would never tell me she had to go.

she's been wearing pull ups since.

but last week, it's been hot and she's been wearing only a shirt & pull ups at home.

and i was running out of pull ups.

& i am so sick of buying those things.

so on friday, we started consistently potty training.

& success! phewwwww. thank the heavens!!

it's so much easier to potty train during the summer.

or when it's hot.

because she's only wearing panties.

there's no pants or extra layers of clothes in the way.

that's my tip for any first time potty training moms.

potty train when it's warm/hot.

she's always out with me...so she's peed in other toilets...

at the movie theater, chipotle, cheescake factory, walgreens.

so so happy.

(happy dance!!)

fridays=gymnastics

2011-06-02T01:03:00.002-04:00

yup. belle goes to a gymnastics class on fridays.

she started last month & she LOVES it.

she looks forward to it every week.

& she will randomly practice her rolls.
she goes with kids her age.

she's the loud kid & wants to try everything.

she likes holding onto the bars at the gym.

then having the instructor flip her upside down.

she likes being upside down.

even if she's just watching tv.

she's dangerous.

sometimes i end up screaming/yelling/panicking because she's doing these moves at the edge of the couch.

& i don't have carpet.

it's great to see her play with other kids, learning, & enjoying herself.

it's so amusing for me to watch!

weekend

2011-05-31T00:37:00.012-04:00

spent the memorial weekend with aris' family.

which means lots of pics of my favorite little ladies....

belle & aris were so into flying the kite. but it was really belle reallyyy excited about it.

then out of nowhere, the string slipped off of aris' hands and the kite flew away. it was long gone.

aris & bingle tried chasing it. belle was bummed.

love them & the fact that we are all close in height :)

& yes i got bangs.

i've contemplated it for months, but finally decided to get it because i had a giant pimple that needed to be covered. seriously.

big kudos to binh for cutting it & coming to my rescue!

wrong way little lady!

with their grandpa. so cute!

& belle loooves point & shoots.

she really enjoys taking pictures!

i gotta get that camera to show her photos.

they're kinda fun.

if anyone has a point & shoot that you're not using & willing to let go of it, belle will gladly take it!

fun weekend. as always!

& a funny story that lenee & i keeps repeating....

leila was attempting to go up the stairs.

lenee: belle, please tell leila she can't go up the stairs.

belle: leila, no don't!

leila: no!

then belle grabs aris' toy gun near her and points to leila..

belle: leila!! don't go upstairs!!!

hahaha. she's so bad!

random

2011-05-23T23:06:00.008-04:00

our weather last week was so depressing.

it rained everyday. & when we had a little break..binh, belle, & i walked to the park.

she met a bunch of kids & totally played with their toys.

she has no shame.

thank goodness the kids were nice.

that striped boy on the right is sooo cute.

he & belle would put sand on each other's bucket.

when we noticed dark clouds coming our way, we had to quick walk back home.

she always says she's building a castle.a castle on wheels???

interesting!

we took advantage of the $1 slippers from old navy.

i only got one pair.

binh got a few.

belle one.

my mom a few.

& karen went wild.

& has anyone seen that show, extreme couponing?!

binh & i are so into it. that we got interested on couponing.

but we are not extreme like the show.

the other day, belle was flipping through a catalogue.

my mom said, "what are you doing?"

belle: "looking coupons"

Haha..she's caught on too!

& to end the week, we were able to spend time with...

leila bear!

we met at minado buffet only for a few hours to celebrate their cousin, Baby Jakob's baptism.

our time was too short. but we plan on spending time again this weekend :)

& classic belle...

aris: belle, who do you like better? lady gaga or katy perry?

b: Charice!

belle's lip was bleeding...& she was staring at her lip in the mirror.

me: oh nooo your lip's bleeding.

b: it's lipstick.

on tv, there was someone wearing a crazy shirt with spikes on the shoulders.

b: hey, that's lady gaga's shirt!!

belle, binh, & i were watching disney's oceans.

then nemo came out & at the same time they both yelled...

binh: it's nemooo!!!

belle: clown fish!

me and binh laughed so hard.

now binh knows exactly how i felt when belle & i had the shamu/orca moment!

crazy crazy girl.

random orlando photos

2011-05-16T16:14:00.012-04:00

aaahhhh..the life!

we have the same facial expression here. eating.

look at my brother sleeping in the corner. while everyone else is up & running.

belle & her Ate Thea...my cousin.

she and her parents flew in from texas.

"can i just enjoy my sandwich?!"

the bed was high & belle had a hard time getting down.

she would hold on like this cause she was hesitant to let go.

this was when my mom wanted all of us to go to the Holy Land on Good Friday.

really had no idea what the Holy Land was. but it was good.

all the kids were cranky at first cause it was hot. but they managed.

the person that plays Jesus on the play.

my mom & grandma got excited and ran for the pic. haha.

(& they don't run. ever)

to end the day they had a passion play.

it was powerful & crowded. that was the first time aris has seen anything like that.

he was shocked & amazed.

& for easter we went to mass.

there was crazy traffic so we were late.

when we got there we were 30 minutes early for the next mass.

we hung around..took pictures.

ced & ken's mom..my cousin, agnes.

she loves getting her picture taken. always ready for the camera.

but i would be too. if i was photogenic like her.

& my favorite pic of all....

ha ha! she wanted to go into the jacuzzi but we were all getting ready to go out.

she took off all her clothes & waited there.

the picture would be more perfect if those tables weren't there.

but it was one of those...'hurry & get the camera!!' moments.

its now my laptop wallpaper. cracks me up every time i open the laptop.

sorry i'm late!

2011-05-10T13:40:00.008-04:00

i had plenty of pics to share & planned my blog posts.

after orlando, we spent a week in NJ & i forgot my laptop there.

ughhh! i couldn't blog & i couldn't catch up on my shows.

that's what i mainly do on my "me time" (time to myself after belle sleeps at night)

but i did remember to pack aris's ipad.

& i discovered his netflix account on there.

i ended up watching the entire season of glee's first season. ha! crazy.

& aris finally brought my laptop over on mothers day.

here are some photos of belle & leila at the park last week.

since when was this girl able to climb up that thing herself???

we stayed till 8pm.

downtown manhattan across river.

sweet little leila!

& then belle the beast....

looking at these photos makes it seem like leila & belle dressed themselves.

but aris decided to go to the park last minute & belle just wore whatever.

we didn't expect it to be cold when we got to the park.

belle & i got sick after.

but all is well now & the girls really enjoyed.

i'm guessing you'll be seeing lots of photos of them in the park in the next couple of months!

"kuhh-yaa!!"

2011-04-29T00:03:00.001-04:00

that's how belle pronounces "kuya" (means older brother in tagalog)

she calls her cousins, ced & ken "kuh-ya!!"

they live in florida and we were able to meet while we were in orlando.

last time we saw each other was the summer of '09 when they visited us...

they were so nice to belle then & nothing's changed.

i called them the 3 stooges.

i always caught belle next to either one of them or both.

they wrestled every morning.

belle has their energy. she loved it.

& they even let her do pretend make up on them :)

belle's next to me as i'm writing this post & she is yelling "kuhhh yaa!"

i need to make my cousin (their mom) make a skype account already.

Magic Kingdom

2011-04-27T16:00:00.008-04:00

we are back from orlando & i have so much pictures that i'm overwhelmed!

i had so much that if i put them all on my blog it would take forever. so i put all the magic kingdom pictures on my facebook.

but i can't not blog about magic kingdom!

so here goes....my favorites...

(aris took most of these)

if you have a kid, it's really impossible not go to magic kingdom when you're in town.

we've been counting down the days for magic kingdom since christmas.

every time belle watches a disney movie, she freaks out when she sees the castle in the beginning.

so this was huuuuuge.

the crazy & unexpected thing was...it. was. so. hot!

when packing for orlando i was thinking spring & imagining the weather to be 70-80 degrees.

& when we got there, it was in the 90s!!!

& it was so crowded. cause its during spring break.

the heat & the crowds can really make you go crazy.

was only worried about belle. it seemed like her cheeks & arms were getting sunburn regardless of extra sunblock.

but we managed to complain less, forget about it, & enjoy.

& as the day goes on, the weather got cooler.

we all enjoyed the rides.

funny thing was we waited for the it's a small world ride. and right before we got on the boat, belle fell asleep! tried waking her up, but she wouldn't have it.

then she woke up & wanted to ride dumbo & the carousel.

she is a brave little soul always making dumbo go higher.

she went on winnie the pooh.

me, aris, karen, cousin althea, her mama, & my dad went on splash mountain.

& we waited about an hour. that is shocking!

cause i'm so impatient. but we kept each other entertained.

it was hilarious & i must scan the photo of us there. you will crack up!!

& we couldn't leave without trying the tea pot ride.

belle was confused with all the spinning. haha!

i couldn't tell if she was loving it or hating it. but after the ride she didn't wanna get off. so she loved it.

then finally the electric parade.

it's so amusing to me cause at belle's age....she really thinks those are the characters.

not employers dressed up in costumes.

she freaked when she saw tinkerbell. her reaction was hilarious.

she wanted to sit but when she recognized someone, she'd get up, scream & wave.

this was the most exhausting day. we stayed as long as we could.

we were sooo tired. we left at 11pm.

all the kids on strollers on the monorail were knocked out.

next time we go, we'll go on january or february.

no heat & crowds.

still don't know if this was the best day in orlando.

but it was a big big day.

belle is currently still in disney mode.

when i give her baths, i say, "hurry get ready!"

then she always responds, "going to disney? YEAH??"

me: "mm not today"

Orlando day 1

2011-04-20T19:37:00.016-04:00

aris belle & i are currently on our first vaca!

my family drove down here during the weekend & we flew in monday night.

we spent our first day at animal kingdom!

i called them "peach & pear" that day.

lola emily & my grandma.

see the blonde behind belle?

she turned around then said to me, "IT'S LADY GAGA!!!"

had to tell her to shhhhh!

while posing for a picture, belle ran away!

we watched the Lion King show & it was soooo nice!

much better than i thought it could be.

we all really loved it.

it's a must go if you're in animal kingdom!

family pic! whooot! haha

four generations

this may be the greatest day of belle's little life.

& maybe aris too ;)

really don't know which was her favorite part.

she really enjoyed the lion king, the parade, safari ride, dinosaur ride, & seeing the characters she watches everyday on tv.

i reaaaallly enjoyed seeing her reaction to everything.

she is a brave little soul.

the only down side is that it's really hot!

i'm used to the 50 degree new york weather & it's already 90 degrees here in orlando!

crazy.

because it's spring break, there's lots of people.

but other than that....everything is great!!

more family is coming throughout the week :)