A special message for Mamay on her birthday =)

Since Zoe, Michael and I weren't going to be in LA for my mom's birthday, I decided to give her a special gift by having Zoe create a special video message for her Mamay. I was surprised at how talkative Zoe was today -- as if she really knew what was going on and she really tried her best to make a great video. While she was "talking" it looked like she was stressing out about what to get Mamay for her birthday. It turned out sooooo cute and mom couldn't have been happier! We called it "Best Birthday Gift Ever". .I swear sometimes I think Zoe is wayyyyy to smart and she already knows what's going on. She like a little lady trapped in a baby's body!!!

Here's the link to the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blVjIfOaGTk

Zoe's first Easter

Our Easter Celebration was so much fun this year! Michael's family and Mao's family joined in on the fun -- it's always PERFECT when we can have all our family in one place!!! There was tons of food as always (ukoy!!!) and Tita Bot did another great job in decorating (she even had funny flower hats for everyone to wear). Everyone enjoyed playing with Zoe of course =). It was her first Easter and she was wearing a dress given to her by Grandpa Ted. We also had an egg hunt this year -- Tita Bot hid all the eggs Mao prepared. Inside each egg was a bible verse and a number and whatever number you got was the order in which you could pick one of the "prizes" (Jay had a lot of stuff from this year's upfronts, so there were plenty of prizes!). It was fun to see which prizes people picked out.

Later in the day, we celebrated mom's birthday since it was just a few days after Easter. Mike and I made a "dirt dessert" for her instead of a cake. We got the idea from one of our friends at CCC. It's basically crushed oreos, whipped cream, Hershey's syrup and cocoa layered into a pot and served chilled. Even though it was our first time, I think it turned out ok and everyone seemed to like it =). We also surprised her with a Michael Kors bag (I got a great deal for it at the outlets!).

All in all, Zoe's first Easter was a success! I really LOVE celebrating all her firsts!!! It totally adds another beautiful layer to each occasion and I can't wait to keep celebrating with her! I look forward to her being able to run around looking for eggs and getting excited to see what's inside =). Life is so much FULLER now that she's around and I feel so blessed to have had my life enchanced in this special way!

Zoe survived Easter Vigil =)

Tonight we went to the Cathedral's Easter Vigil. It's a LONG mass - but it's a beautiful one complete with baptisms, confirmations and first communions. It's actually one of our favorite masses of the year. It also starts outside where we have a procession with candles. The cathedral is completely dark for a few of the readings and there's always something magical about it =). As much as we love this mass, we weren't sure if it was going to be baby friendly. Zoe is always good at mass, but she's never had to do a 3 hour one!!! Luckily, my little girl was a trooper!!! She ended up sleeping through almost the entire mass!!! Everyone was impressed by her "stamina" =). My mom joked that her guardian angels put her to sleep ...

Tomorrow's her first Easter and I'm glad she was able to participate (at least in her own way) in this very important mass. I hope as she gets older she'll always be this well behaved!

Artsy fartsy

Ninang Tasha got Zoe a really cool book today. It's called "Art for Babies" and is full of modern art created by famous artist. All the pieces were in black and white -- which is what babies Zoe's age are drawn to (since they can't quite see colors yet). A big benefit of the book is it helps babies "enjoy" tummy time ... and by "enjoy" I really mean they are distracted from them fact that they are on their tummies as they enjoy the cool pictures.

We tried it on Zoe tonight and it actually worked!!! Zoe was fascinated by the pictures and didn't even complain she was on her tummy!!! She kept staring at the picture of the girl -- the painting was appropriately named "Natasha". Goooooo Tash!!!

Palm Sunday

Zoe celebrated her first Palm Sunday mass today at the Cathedral. The weather was perfect so she even got to wear her shades and a skirt!!! I always love special masses at the Cathedral. I think they do such a great job in creating a special ambiance despite the big crowds. Zoe, as always, was a good girl at church. We haven't had any problems with her during mass -- either she goes to sleep or she quietly observes all the people, the lights, the architecture =). Ninang Tasha even made Zoe a small cross out of the palm leaf, which we put on her hair as a cool new Palm Sunday accessory.

Easter is only one week away and we can't wait!!!

D + D = 3!!!

Tonight we found out that one of my bestest friends Danrochelle and Dennis are expecting a baby!!! We have been praying soooo long for them to be able to conceive a child (they have been married the longest out of all our friends and have been trying for a while). When they broke the news to us I couldn't help but cry (tears of JOY of course!) ... I actually had a feeling that Dan was pregnant. I've been dreaming lately of that and I mentioned to Mike the other day that I had a feeling that Dan was pregnant; I even recently bought a prayer card to St. Gerard (patron saint of safe delivery) for her to use when she finally was with child. It was the best news I've gotten in a while and I was soooo genuinely happy for them. I could tell Dennis was over the moon with joy and I have no doubt those two will be great parents.

Actually, when Dan and I decided we would finally "try" to have a baby, I was secretly hoping they would get pregnant first. When it didn't happen that way, I figured it just wasn't in God's time yet for them. I wanted to be pregnant together and go through all the motions with her. Instead, by "pregnant buddy" ended up being Bing (which was still fun). I'm so happy that the Lord has prepared them to be parents and has blessed them with a baby to call their own. They are already such great godparents to Noah and Lia and I know how great they'll be as actual parents. God is soooo good!!!

I can't wait to see Dan's growing belly and to finally be able to meet mini-Dan or mini-Dennis in the future =).

Such a small miracle in such a little girl ...

I finally finished putting together Zoe's nursery today. I wanted to take my time and really make it a room she will love to be in. I decided to put up stickers as a border all across the walls that matched her crib motif (Jacana Baby Safari Animals). On top of her crib, I carefully put on a stencil that read "Such a BIG miracle in such a SMALL girl". I thought it was the perfect thing to put in her room because it reflected exactly how we felt about her. Luckily, after hours of measuring and re-doing, it came out pretty good!!! Hopefully Zoe digs it ...

We found a dress!!!

Tita Bot and I finally found the perfect baptism dress for Zoe today!!!! We were looking and looking but for some reason, all the dresses either looked like something Santo Nino would wear or it had a giant Our Lady of Guadalupe picture embroidered on the front of the dress!

Thank goodness we were persistent because after a couple of hours, we finally found the perfect dress for her at the perfect price. I can't wait to see her in it!!! Her big day is really coming together!!!