Bon voyage, Ima!

Tonight, we all dropped off Ima (aka "Big Zoe") at the airport for her to return to the Philippines.  How long will she be there?  Not too sure.  I think at the moment, it's "indefinite" ... depending on how she feels ... It's been so nice having her here with us.  After not being able to be with her for all these years, we were all so excited to have her come to LA to live with us last November.  I know her presence has made such a difference to all of us ... it's not everyday that a child can be around her great-grandmother.  I know that, in itself, is a blessing.  But I also know that at this point in her life, it's all about just making her as happy as possible.  And if going back to the Philippines forever is what will bring her the most happiness, then so be it.  However, we're all secretly hoping that Zoe will be the one that will ultimately bring her back to us (she will miss Zoe tremendously for sure!).  I just hope and pray that the Lord will continue to keep her healthy and safe there so that we can all be together again one day.

Since we didn't have time to do a despidida during the day, we decided to bring the party to LAX.  Jay and Mao picked up some potato balls and cheese rolls from Porto's and Mike and I grabbed some In-N-Out burgers and fries (all of which are Big Zoe's faves!).  Once her boxes and bags were checked in, we grabbed a couple of tables in the food court area and layed out all our food and had our own despidida party for Ima =).  It was kind of bittersweet but we still all cherished the extra time we got to spend with Ima before she boarded the plane.

After the airport, Jay offered to give us all a tour of his office since we were so close to Marina Del Rey.  Mike, Zoe and I have been there before but no one else had, so it was perfect.  While at his office, Mike and Zoe even got to play some hoops =)

Happy Baptism Day Ella!

Today Mike, Zoe and I attended Ella's baptism!  Ella is the daughter of one of our CCC couple friends, Kat and Wyatt. She's absolutely adorable and did such a great job on her big day (not too much crying after she got dunked!).   Ella's baptism was beautiful -- Monsignor Kevin did a great job highlighting both the parents and Ella.  I know how proud and happy Kat and Wyatt must be to have Ella be an "official" princess in God's kingdom (I know for Mike and I, Zoe's baptism was one of the best days ever) ...

All of us new mommies have really gotten close throughout the past months and it's been wonderful having this network of people who have the same values and beliefs as we do.  It's also great that Zoe gets to grow up with wonderful kids who will no doubt have God in their lives ...

It was so fun seeing Zoe interact with all the kids.  They've all taken turns getting baptized and I'm sure we'll go through the same thing when they go through their first communion, confirmation, etc. etc. I can't wait!  What a wonderful blessing to be part of this special group!

Here's a great picture of our growing CCC family:

Here's a video recapping Ella's big day:

Zoe, the prankster

It's amazing how kids sometimes mirror the exact same qualities as their parents.  As if "habits" or parts of personalities were already ingrained in them from day one.  One such quality that seems to run pretty strongly in Zoe is being a prankster like her daddy.  Seriously -- this girl LOVES a good prank.  And, since I'm the one with her most of the time, I am the lucky recipient of said pranks.  What kind of pranks you say?  Well ... sometimes when I'm trying very hard to get her to sleep at night and I'm diligently rocking her until she gets groggy enough to put down in the crib and fall asleep she pretends to fall asleep by closing her eyes ... and just as I let a sigh of relief out , she pulls out her pacifier and drops it on the floor.  The minute I squat down to pick it up, she opens her eyes and starts cracking up.  This proceeds for about 10 minutes or so (yes, I'm the sucker that falls for it all the time and ends up doing God knows how many squats). As frustrating as it can be sometimes (especially after a long day of taking care of her), I can't help but to laugh when she laughs.  She looks so cute with her mischievous grin (striking image of daddy in more ways than one) and her teasing giggle is just too cute not to melt.  Sometimes I try to be all stern and not laugh with her to let her know I'm really serious about her going to sleep, but most times, I just laugh with her and let her be her little prankster self.

Another favorite prank of hers is to get all her diapers out of the diaper holder and scatter them all over the place.  The minute I start telling her to put them all back, she starts running away from me laughing.  She also LOVES to hide things in the most random places (lately, her favorite hiding place is the hamper) ... it's so funny to her her little mind working ... she's so proud of herself whenever she knows she's been able to playfully push my buttons.

Today, the button she playfully pressed was that of teeth grinding.  Since she's teething, her upper teeth are just slightly cutting through the gum line but are exposed enough that when she grinds them against her bottom teeth, it produces the most annoying and cringing sound.  It has the same effect on me as when someone scratches a chalkboard.  Once Zoe saw my reaction to her teeth grinding, she immediately started cracking up and doing it over and over again.  I kept begging for her to stop (I was forreals begging and even had tears in my eyes) but the girl is relentless.  She ended up chasing me all over the house grinding her teeth ... I was running away with my hands covering my ears and she was blissfully running after me cracking up like a mad woman.  Prankster.  After today I know with certainty that there will come a day when both her and Mike will pants me.  I'm pretty sure those two will make a dynamic duo and will use their mischievous ways to make my days a mixture of both torture and fun =) ...

Zoe's one year doctor's appointment

Zoe had her one year doctor's appointment today.  The doctor said she was super healthy and she was pleased with how smart Zoe is =) .  Zoe is now 29 inches tall and weighs 20 lbs (I swear she's heavier than that).  The only thing that sucked about the doctor's visit was they had to draw blood in addition to giving her shots.  I think she would've been ok with shots, but it was the way that they drew blood that pissed her off.  The nurse pricked her finger and squeezed it for a long time until she had enough blood to test =( . Zoe was furious that I was holding her down while the nurse squeezed her finger =( ... luckily, she seemed to get over it after a few minutes of wailing.  Even though I dislike the whole immunization process, I know it's completely necessary.  Thank God she's a healthy baby (haven't had a fever or anything close the whole year ... hopefully she continues on that streak).  The doctor also assured us that we weren't over-feeding Zoe (it really feels like it with the amount of food this little girl can handle)... she said as long as her height was higher than her weight, we were in good shape.  Now that Zoe's drinking cow's milk (which she loves, by the way) and eating all kinds of table food, I hope we can maintain that ratio =) .

Here's Zoe playing with the doctor's office's toys prior to her check-up.  She looks so grown up, doesn't she?

And check out this hilarious picture daddy took of Zoe reading up on some thangs ...

Mike called this his "worst nightmare" =)

Happy First Birthday Zoe!!!!

It's hard to imagine that Zoe has been in our lives now for 365 days ... That's 525,600 minutes ... a couple of days before Zoe's birthday I started to get really nostalgic about how I felt in the days before January 14, 2011 ... I can still remember all the anxiety, the worry and the fears I had going into the c-section ... I still remembered how fervently I prayed before the blessed sacrament the night before the big day.  I wanted so much for everything to work out perfectly -- for me to be ok from the dangerous c-section Dr. Leung had to perform and of course, for Zoe to be ok.  Now, 365 days later, I have a beautiful, happy, healthy and amazing little girl to show for it.  How good has God been to me and my family this year!  It's so easy sometimes to take each day with Zoe for granted ... all it takes is to take a few steps back and to remember every single thing we've had to go through as a family in the months prior and after the birth for me to realize just how much God truly loves me. I still have to pinch myself how blessed Michael and I are to have her.  Yes, I know it kind of sounds cheesy.  But really, I don't care.  All I know is that I really do feel extremely blessed and lucky and loved and special to be able to say I have a daughter like Zoe.  She's such an amazing person already.  I've learned so much this past year about myself ... about love ... about sacrifice ... about family.  This little girl has been such a powerful teacher and I can't wait to see what the years ahead of us hold.  This past year has definitely been the happiest and most fulfilling year of my life.  I've felt more "wife-like" and "mom-like" and "woman-like".  I've gained a tremendous amount of strength and stamina and joy and bliss.  Yes there were times that tested my patience but those moments are so incredibly miniscule compared to the amount of fun and laughter and happiness I've felt every single day.  One thing I did do every single day of these past 365 days is to thank the Lord for the day He's allowed me to have with my daughter.  No matter how tired I am at the end of the day, I haven't failed to say, "Thank you Lord for giving me the opportunity to spend today with Zoe and for keeping her safe and healthy."  Sometimes, I don't get any further than that one sentence because I'm lulled into sleep, but I do make it a point to at least give thanks for the day =).  That's the one thing I know I haven't taken for granted this year -- the fact that I've been blessed with the opportunity to spend the first year with my baby (and more God willing).  I am so grateful that I didn't have to go back to work after 3 months and had to take Zoe to a daycare.  Again, just another reason why I feel so extremely blessed.  

I think Michael and I have grown as a married couple this year as well. Sure we've had arguments here and there about Zoe or the usual small silly things but having Zoe as part of our family has made us both want to be better.  Better to ourselves, better to each other, better to her.  She's showed us just how awesome family life can truly be and she's made us so excited for the new traditions we can create as our family grows and grows.  I know Mike and I still have a long long long way to go with raising children but I find solace in the fact that we have a great foundation and Christ at our core to keep us on the right path. 

Thank you Lord for the blessing of Zoe ... we are so humbled by Your love for us and for her.  Thank you for the guardian angels You've assigned to her that have done such an amazing job at keeping her safe and healthy this past year.  I know it's not an easy task -- with her being so active and thinking she can do anything -- so we do appreciate the extra attention that's been given to her to ensure she stays her bubbly happy self =) .  Please continue to be with me this upcoming year -- help me to stay patient and to be able to adjust and learn and grow accordingly so that I can be the best mommy to Zoe and the best wife to Michael.  

And now ... here's a recap of Zoe's big day!!!

For her first birthday, we decided to go with a safari theme.  We wanted to make sure there was something for both kids and adults so we ended up having two mini parties -- we called it a "choose your own safari adventure party".  That way, those with or without kids could decide which mini-party they wanted to attend.  I had the help of Tita Bot, Tito Charlie, Tito Ton, Jeric, Tasha, Jay and Mao for all the decorations and mom and Michael's parents provided the food. 

Safari adventure #1 was at an indoor playground called Naya's Garden.  It took place from 10 am - 12 pm and it was Zoe's first experience at an indoor playground.  There was a great turnout at Safari Adventure #1 -- we had about 15 kids + parents.  Zoe had a blast playing with all the kids, the toys and everything else the playground had to offer.  Too bad we only had the place for 2 hours because I think none of the kids wanted to go home yet with all the fun they were having =). Since we were saving the big birthday cake for Safari Adventure #2, we had Zoe blow out a candle from a cupcake.  And, since it was her birthday, we decided to let her have a taste of her first cupcake.  Needless to say, she LOVED the cupcake and almost didn't want to stop eating it!  She even kissed Mike on the cheek with frosting all over her face =). Too cute!

After an hour and a half nap, it was time for the next party!  Safari adventure #2 was at Sunbeam Hotel (Jimenez Residence) and took place from 1 pm - 7pm-ish.  There was actually a huge turnout at this party and I was thankful that my mom and parent-in-laws prepared enough food to feed an army.  Zoe also had a blast -- she really loves big parties with lots of people =).  She enjoyed playing with the kids and had no problem handling all the attention everyone was giving her (it was her big day, after all!).  As a special surprise, Michael and I played a slideshow that featured pictures and videos of Zoe from the past year.  It was a great way to remind people how much she had grown up and how quickly this first year went. 

Once everything was cleaned up, Mike and I took Zoe to the blessed sacrament chapel at Holy Family church.  My parents always made it a point to either go to mass or to visit a church on my birthday and I wanted to continue that tradition with Zoe.  Praying before the blessed sacrament at the end of Zoe's birthday was truly a perfect way to end a perfect day.  Happy First Birthday Zoe Grace!!!  I love you so very much! Thank you for being such a precious blessing in my life!

Snacks for the kids = goldfish and fruities-to-go

Veggie and banana mum mums =)

Mac'n'cheese ... we also had dinosaur chicken nuggets and pizza

Safari Snacks made by Ninang Tasha

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Thanks to the decorating crew, Sunbeam was transformed into an amazing safari!