Category Archive: Sarah

My graduation

In 2010 I started on a very part-time basis my Masters degree program through the university I work for, taking one class per term.  When I started the program I thought that perhaps one day when I finished and attended my commencement ceremony I might have a child to share the celebration with and lo and behold the day arrived and Sirena was able to be there with me along with the rest of my family. She was a huge inspiration to me in the last year of the program to finish the degree and it meant the world to me that she was there to see her Mama walk across the stage and get handed her diploma.

Photos from the commencement ceremony…

10397291_10202390777516032_6538166547919731259_o

10397258_10202390778596059_2884262335832225965_o

10380029_10202390778156048_8769492506993237562_o

10338668_10202390779796089_1834752893106439547_o

10298444_10202390780876116_3089545477432982344_o

10298291_10202390781316127_904652516024351733_o

10256114_10202390785316227_4409608006920979693_o

10333239_10202390786836265_2482789288971032073_o

10380683_10202390787476281_2070160388625596846_o

10293701_10202390790956368_7042148099054575858_o

Words cannot describe how much my mom’s support means to me, especially when it comes to earning this degree. <3

10379851_10202390782996169_6393133256538747109_o

10298548_10202390791836390_6561068340281450770_o

My favorite photo of the day

1980323_10202390789796339_7525497233777915000_o

Proud of my Masters’ hood! (Because when else am I ever going to get a chance to wear it?!)

 

Photos from the grad party my mom hosted for me…

10365321_10202439959825559_2780812133850354438_o

10448638_10202439961465600_4454884288812754985_o

My Aunt Kathy came up with a fun “What Would Lisa Do?” questionnaire that all of the guests tried to answer.

10338402_10202439962065615_3115578557678395694_o

10294968_10202439964865685_7051570864902779028_o

The winners (tied) for who knows me the best! 🙂

10382318_10202439960785583_1749404013368744750_o

10272566_10202439965585703_9166267170259428310_o

Part of the gang

10463737_10202439967105741_6363597909371839481_o

The look on their faces says it all!

10431354_10202439976425974_7037139632659895601_o

Love my siblings

1973270_10202439977506001_6989344087646056133_o

My family <3

10294253_10152461408747170_7110582251970872120_n

Proud of her Mama 🙂

Sirena’s 2nd birthday party!

We hosted Sirena’s second birthday party at our new home and invited her family and friends to celebrate her big day with us. Sirena’s a BIG fan of airplanes and so we thought it would be so much fun to have an airplane-themed birthday party. The party started off with a bang…literally…and Sirena had a major accident that landed us in Urgent Care just an hour into the party. Luckily she didn’t require stitches (but did get sent home with a giant bandage on her forehead!) and we’re so happy that her party guests stuck around so that the party girl could finish celebrating with everyone.

IMG_3075

IMG_3076

IMG_3077

IMG_3074

Paper airplanes galore!

IMG_3079

Daddy made the cake and decorated it

IMG_3080

Mommy made the cupcakes and Daddy, Bri and Brian decorated them. They turned out exactly like I had hoped!!

We did a fun photo booth for the kids at the party. Daddy, Mama, and Brian made this super cool cardboard airplane and Bri helped decorate the backdrop.

IMG_3084

IMG_3088

IMG_3091

IMG_3098

IMG_3103

And the biggest kid of them all? Uncle Derek 😉

We played a round of “Pin the Propeller on the Airplane”…

IMG_3078

IMG_3106

IMG_3108

IMG_3110

And the adults got in on the party action as well with a paper airplane flying contest!

IMG_3150

IMG_3152

IMG_3160

Singing her favorite song (“Happy Birthday”)!

IMG_3174

IMG_3179

I think she’s a fan!

Present time!

IMG_3193

She LOVED her Mr. Potato Head doll

IMG_3198

And can you tell she was ecstatic about her airplane book??

IMG_3205

Sooo happy about her Richard Scarry book too!

IMG_3206

IMG_3207

Reading from her new Minnie Mouse coloring book

IMG_3209

The party favors for the kids were these aviator caps. Uncle Derek is modeling one for us.

IMG_3211

IMG_3217

IMG_3275

IMG_3232

You know Lola had to get in on the action!

IMG_3284

Captain Sirena at your service

IMG_3243

Love my little family

IMG_3258

Kisses for the birthday girl!

Sarah + Rob’s wedding

We were so happy to share in Kevin’s sister Sarah and our new brother-in-law Rob’s big day! They had an incredible wedding at an ultra-cool, hip spot in LA and we all had an absolute blast.

We hosted their rehearsal dinner at our home a couple of nights before. The theme was Southern-inspired because of their time living in New Orleans and it was so fun coming up with decor for the party.

IMG_2518

I made four table runners with different love-inspired Southern quotes. This one reads: Love and marriage go together like grits and gravy.

IMG_2522

IMG_2524

I made those cotton branches! I could not find them anywhere so had to make ’em myself with fake flower stems from Michael’s and hot gluing cotton balls on the branches. I think they turned out great if I do say so myself! 🙂

IMG_2545

IMG_2560

Sirena with her new Aunt Ashley

IMG_2547

Pinching Daddy’s cheeks

IMG_2557

IMG_2571

The lovely couple giving a toast

 

Photos from the wedding!

IMG_2601

IMG_2603

IMG_2613

IMG_2618

IMG_2626

IMG_2623

The flower girls

IMG_2652

Katelyn was the flower girls’ escort

IMG_2677

“We did it!”

IMG_2683

IMG_2620

Father and daughter

IMG_2633

IMG_2701

IMG_2713

IMG_2715

And then the Converse go on…

IMG_2711

IMG_2685

IMG_2735

…and then the fluffy dress goes off and is replaced by a light cotton dress and pants…for dancing!

IMG_2733

Get down with your bad self, Sirena!

IMG_2798

Oh the DONUTS!

IMG_2799

I think this photo speaks for how amazing those donuts were!

Sirena’s first visit to Disneyland!

We had an amazing opportunity to be signed in by a Disney cast member friend of ours for a free visit to Disneyland…not only us, but Kevin’s entire family!  Sirena hadn’t watched a ton of tv leading up to this point and only really knew a few of the characters just by seeing them in stories but it was so apparent to her being there within those gates that Disneyland was a special place.  It was really amazing to see!

IMG_2293

Checking out the sights just outside of the park with Grandpa

IMG_2310

Kisses for cousin Katelyn

IMG_2312

IMG_2316

Sirena and Sadie checking out each other’s Disney-themed outfits

IMG_2322

IMG_2382

Okay now we’re in the…Sirena, lead the way!

IMG_2340

IMG_2363

IMG_2359

IMG_2371

IMG_2350

IMG_2398

IMG_2404

IMG_2405

IMG_2384

IMG_2386

By mid-afternoon (way past her normal nap time) she was WIPED and slept on my shoulder the entire queue of Pirates

IMG_2754

Desperate for some peace and quiet!

IMG_2433 - Copy

Family photo with the Mouses 🙂

Thomas + Ashley’s wedding

We set aboard the majestic Queen Mary for the royal wedding of Kevin’s brother Thomas and our new sister-in-law Ashley and we had a blast!

The night before, Ashley invited her bridesmaids + me and Katelyn to spend the evening on board the ship and go on a ghost tour…it was AWESOME.

IMG_2090

Katelyn and me getting ready for our haunted tour!

IMG_2089

Amazing details in every corner of the room we stayed in.

IMG_2100

An impromptu dance session between Katelyn and Aunt Sarah

IMG_2113

The creepiest place on the whole tour…the swimming pool!

IMG_2145

Thomas and Katelyn were chosen to hold the dowsing rods which we were told we could use to communicate with the dead. Thomas got a little bit of action but Katelyn got a TON of action. The ghost communicating with Katelyn was a little kid who said she liked Katelyn’s shoes of choice: big, fluffy Minnie Mouse house slippers! It was really neat.

 

The wedding was beautiful, on one of the decks overlooking the Long Beach coastline. The reception was a ton of fun–great food, good company, and Sirena was a dancing/entertaining machine all night. It was the latest she had stayed up ever (I don’t think we got in our car until 11pm!) and she was a real trooper.

IMG_2158

Me, Katelyn and Sirena ready for the party!

IMG_2161

Checking out the ship

IMG_2164

IMG_2181

Sirena and Sadie happened to match in hot pink dresses. Cutie pies!

IMG_2185

Girls will be girls–no matter how dressed up they are, they’ll be wrestling around on the floor, lol!

IMG_2213

First dance!

IMG_2187

The tower of a cake…delicious!

IMG_2216

Smiles during co-Best Man Kevin’s speech

IMG_2238

George giving a toast

IMG_2186

Sirena and Nani

IMG_2214

Me and my party animal

Christmas 2013

Sirena’s second Christmas was a total blast–it was so amazing to see how much she had grown from last Christmas (see photos at this link) and how much she started really understanding what was going on!  The funniest thing was that every time she saw a picture, a toy, a lawn ornament, whatever of Santa she’d call him, “Ho, ho, ho.”  🙂

However, she was not the Jolly Man’s biggest fan in the slightest. Case in point…photos from out front of my mom’s house where a Santa on holiday was hanging out for the month…

IMG_1589

IMG_1585

Trimming the tree with Aunt TT…

IMG_1595

We decorated reindeer sugar cookies before getting started on the ornaments.

IMG_1600

Just like Mama, she couldn’t resist!

IMG_1621

I’ll give you two guesses to choose which ones Sirena made…

IMG_1620

Admiring her work

IMG_1612

Making silly faces in the ornaments with Mama

IMG_1603

IMG_1633

Showing TT some ornaments

IMG_1651

Hanging out with Dee too!

IMG_1635

Breakfast with Santa at Rancho Los Alamitos…

The weather turned downright nasty the morning the Breakfast with Santa event at Rancho Los Alamitos was scheduled but we didn’t let it get us down and made a fun (albeit muddy) morning out of it.

IMG_1483

You know you’re at a rancho when they decorate with farm animals, lol!

IMG_1440

Sirena’s not looking too impressed…

IMG_1450

But what did impress her?…

IMG_1443

A horse, of course.

IMG_1462

IMG_1433

Isela, baby Luna, and Christian trying to keep dry

IMG_1437

IMG_1417

Mom and Steve dancing the rain away

IMG_1413

IMG_1476

IMG_1481

Christmas Eve with the Delmar family…

IMG_1672

She wasn’t quite sure what to do with all of these things wrapped in paper, but eventually she got the hang of it!

IMG_1694

IMG_1713

IMG_1723

IMG_1730

IMG_1740

IMG_1738

Tina’s looking less-than-excited that I got a pocket knife from my Mom, lol!

IMG_1771

Christmas morning with Mom, Dad, and Auntie Jessie…

IMG_1782

IMG_1802

“Oooh!”

IMG_1820

Christmas Day with the Edmonds family…

IMG_1942

IMG_1952

Loving her Hello Kitty piano book from Grandma and Grandpa

IMG_1970

One of many new airplanes she inherited

IMG_1982

Cuddling with Grandpa

IMG_1920

Needless to say, all of the holiday festivities wiped this girl out!

Our 2013 Christmas card:

Xmas card 2013

Sirena’s 1st birthday party!

Here is a collection of photos from Sirena’s first birthday bash! The days leading up to the party the weather was glorious…and then that morning we woke up to the gloomiest June day you could imagine! Super chilly winds, no sun to speak of. We kept the plans to host it at the park in the afternoon but it sure made for a different vibe than we had been expecting! But we all made the most of it, including the birthday girl (who had to cover up her special birthday dress which we bought when we were in Mexico over New Year’s…oh well!)

IMG_5894

Nothing like last-minute cupcake decorating to get a party started on the right foot! We even had to defrost the frosting (which had just about frozen in our ice chest) on the car’s engine. Talk about a memorable experience, lol!

IMG_5912

Me and Bri frantically rearranging the cupcakes as guests arrive.

IMG_6079

The decorations for the day were mostly colorful streamers and ribbons.

IMG_6081

The birthday girl’s special crown (made my Bri!) and her highchair all done up and ready for the cake smashing.

IMG_5899

We made a fun display of some photos of Sirena over the course of her first year with little party hats. We also asked guests to guess what career path Sirena would choose during her doljanchi ceremony (a really neat Korean tradition for first birthdays that we borrowed for the special occasion!)

IMG_5904

IMG_5900

IMG_5920

IMG_5932

IMG_5973

IMG_5976

IMG_5991

IMG_6003

We had plenty of park games for the kids and big kids…water balloon toss, three-legged race, and some other fun games.

IMG_6090

Of the 5 career paths Sirena could choose and crawl to she chose…education (just like her mama!) Her second choice was actually mechanical (just like her Daddy!)

IMG_6083

Oh the presents!

IMG_6114

CAKE SMASHING TIME!

IMG_6141

Her royal highness ready to entertain her subjects.

IMG_6154

She’s not so sure about it…

IMG_6168

“Here, Daddy, YOU try it.”

IMG_6202

Family photo

IMG_6205

IMG_6222

Delmar family

IMG_6231

Edmonds family

The party invitation I created:

Party invite

The thank you cards we sent out:

Party thank you card

Sirena’s 1st Christmas

We spent a week in Long Beach for the Christmas holiday, staying with my mom and Aunt Tina at their home. Lots of fun outings throughout the week and a wonderful Christmas Eve with the Delmar side of the family and a fun-filled Christmas Day with the Edmonds side of the family.

IMG_7879

IMG_7915

IMG_7911

My fave: crinkle nose!

IMG_7897

Enjoying a “meal” in the sunshine

IMG_7973

IMG_8006

IMG_8007

IMG_20130105_134745

IMG_7982

IMG_7934

IMG_7996

IMG_8016

IMG_7998

Skyping with Aunt Sarah and Uncle Rob (who were in Detroit for Xmas), messing around with the silly faces app. Hilarious!

Sirena’s first trip to Long Beach

Since before Sirena was born we were planning on making a trip down south when she was one month old so that she could meet family and close friends and so that we could have a nice little vacation while we were both off of work.  We were playing it by ear up until the week before we left just in case it didn’t work out (either because I hadn’t recovered fully or if she wasn’t able to travel) and we were so happy that it worked out just as we had hoped!

Traveling with an infant was…different.  Our car was packed to the brim with mostly stuff for Sirena and Lola barely fit in the backseat with her!  Usually when we drive down to LB we can make it down in 6 hours but with having to stop to feed her or change her diaper it took us 8 hours total, which actually isn’t terrible but it was definitely a lot longer than we’re used to.  Breastfeeding her in the backseat in parking lots was a different experience but luckily we made it work and the little girl didn’t starve.  🙂

We got to see the majority of our family in Southern California and some close friends but weren’t able to see everyone we had hoped to see but hopefully within the next couple of visits she’ll be able to meet everyone!  Here are the highlights of our trip…

Meeting family

One person I was extremely excited to meet Sirena was my Aunt Tina and she just fell in love with her.  🙂

Meeting for the first time!

Second time seeing each other

Meeting her grand uncle Joey (and rockin’ the no-pants look)

Seeing her Uncle Derek again

With her Nani

Hanging out with Nani and Auntie Tina

Three generations

The whole gang (minus Steve who was taking the photo!)

She also got to meet the rest of the Edmonds family…

With her big cousin Katelyn!

Auntie Judith was head over heels in love with the little lady

Aunt Sarah was so in love too!

Sirena got a double whammy when she met Uncle Thomas and her cousin Sophie

Kisses from Sophie

And Sirena experienced her first play date while in Long Beach with Kim’s daughter Amelia and Shani’s daughter Sadie…

Kevin and the Mommy group!

Sirena with her Auntie Kim

Dance party with Amelia!

Sirena meeting Sadie for the first time

Tummy time with Sadie (it’s amazing how much stronger Sadie is and only three months older than Sirena)

Meeting friends and exploring Mom & Dad’s hometown

Our close friends Brianne and Brian were so excited to meet Sirena…

Their first meeting!

Whatchu lookin’ at?

Playing tennis the morning of July 4th

Brianne, Brian and Brian’s sister Lisa just staring at the baby

Kevin and his floating baby (and Lola too!)

We had a little gathering in San Pedro so that some of my close family friends could come and meet our little munchkin…

Diane is like a second mom to me and it was so great having her meet Sirena!

Dave, Diane’s husband–he’s known my mom since she was 15 years old

Meeting Don and Rosemary

It was also a time to celebrate the birthdays of my mom, Don and Rosemary!

And lastly, it happened to be our six year wedding anniversary–it was hard to believe that six years prior we were in the same city getting married and we only dreamed of starting a family together.  Now six years later we were able to celebrate with our little lady!

Sirena and Mama, mirror images of each other

Random photos from our trip…

My mom’s boyfriend Steve recently purchased a ’51 Chevy and he said that we could take it out for a spin which Kevin was beyond happy to take him up on!

Lookin’ good!

Checking out his lovely backseat passenger 😉

The gang

The boys

It was SO hot and humid compared to the Bay Area and Sirena had a hard time adjusting (she even developed a small heat rash, poor thing) so she spent a lot of time lounging in nothing but a diaper!

Trying to adjust to all that darn sunshine!

With Mama at Brianne’s bridal shower

The four of us (with Lola) spent some time at a park in Pasadena on the way to dinner at Sarah’s house and here are some photos from our afternoon there…

Flying high with the help of Dad

Baby photo shoot

She’s such a little stinker

Kisses from Dad

Getting lots of love from Mama

Those feet love the feeling of grass

::Yawn:: Tired little baby

We also spent a lot of time just hanging out at Kevin’s parent’s house where we were staying while in town.  Their backyard garden was a lot of fun to hang out in and Sirena enjoyed looking at the flowers and the vegetable garden so much…

Taking in the sights of the garden with Mama

Nothing like a nap in the great outdoors!

Saying bye to our family and friends this trip was by far the hardest in the three years we’ve lived in the Bay Area…things sure do change when a baby enters your life.  We had a really great time even though it went by way too quickly and we didn’t get to see nearly enough people!  Until next time…

A baby story: Week 34

Week 34: Baby’s as heavy as a cantaloupe!

This week has been super busy and exhausting but exciting and rewarding all at once.  Most notably, we made the trip down to Long Beach for our long-awaited baby shower hosted by the women of our family!

We left at 11:30pm on Thursday night after Kevin got off of work and arrived in Long Beach at 6:45am on Friday.  After catching up a bit with Dorothy and Sarah we took a 2-hour nap and, after a total of around 5 hours of sleep the entire night, we got our weekend started mid-morning on Friday.  A few months ago I decided to get my belly henna tattooed for our maternity photo shoot and our baby shower so we made our way over to the Long Beach Town Center to Ziba Beauty to get ‘er done.  It only took 30 minutes and cost $35 (I was expecting a lot more money and a lot more time!) and I was super happy with what the henna artist did.  She had actually never done a pregnant belly before and when Sirena kicked her the first time she asked me, “Are you okay?”  It was pretty funny.  🙂  But Sirena sure liked getting tattooed (a sign of what’s to come perhaps??) because she was kicking around a ton the whole time.

Later on while I was waiting for the henna to dry I took a quick video of her crazy kicks…this is one of the better videos I’ve taken so far showing just how active this little girl is…here’s the link!

That night Kevin went to hang out with Brian and I joined Kevin’s family to see my niece Katelyn in her acting debut…Alice in Wonderland at her school!  It was a joint high school/middle school production and it was so fun seeing Katelyn up on stage doing her thing.  We were so proud of her for auditioning, landing two parts, and spending all these months at rehearsals…I hope she continues to follow in her Aunt Lisa’s footsteps!  I absolutely loved being a part of theater productions growing up and in high school.

Katelyn’s the duck in this scene

She’s the two of hearts on the far left in this scene

So proud of the little actress!

We stayed with my mom that night so that Kevin’s family could prepare for the party early the next morning and after catching up with her and Steve we ended up getting to bed around midnight…just to wake up 5.5 hours later to get ready for our maternity photo shoot!  My friend Beka from Redlands is just starting her photography business (here’s her website, check her out if you’re in Southern California!) and she and her boyfriend/assistant Omar met us at 6:45am for our photo shoot on Cabrillo Beach.  My mom tagged along and was able to capture some behind-the-scenes shots.  I can’t wait to see how Beka’s photos turn out!

Beka and Omar hard at work!

I lovelovelove this one…can’t wait to see how it’ll look with Beka’s shots

Happy and exhausted after the shoot!

Beka and Omar after the session

Getting some well-deserved chow after the shoot

After breakfast with the gang in San Pedro, Beka and Omar went out to explore and I took a much-needed nap in preparation for the main event…our baby shower!  Kevin’s sisters Sarah and Judith and his mom Dorothy did an amazing job with the decorations and food and Kevin’s parents had spent months getting the house and garden ready for the festivities…I cannot quite express how appreciative I am of all that they did for us!

There were so many people that came out to shower this little mermaid-in-the-making with adorable clothes, incredible books for her library, and wonderful baby things.  And I think she really felt the love!

The early birds…the Edmonds gang and Emily

Derek, Dorothy, Judith and Kevin getting ready for the hordes of people to show up!

Meeting Amelia (Kim’s baby girl) for the first time!!

Mom and Derek

Diane and my Aunt Kathy

Derek, Aunt Tina, and Guy

So many babies at the party! The Millikan gang–Lara with Audrey, Brianne & Brian, and Lindsay with Rylan

Shani with Sadie and Kim with Amelia (these two are only about a week apart and the mamas shared the same due date!)

Alison, Heather and Beka

Seth, Steven and Omar…I’m sure they were trying to figure out what they were doing at a baby shower! Hahah.

With Claudia and Susan, friends from my time working at the Girl Scouts in OC!

With Lindsay and Jenny

Kim and Amelia!

The Redlands gang!

My favorite onesie handmade by Monique–we were in a sistahood together at Redlands called WRW

Kevin trying out the Ergo baby carrier that Derek got us…looking good! 🙂

We packed the car to the brim with all of the baby goodies and got home on Sunday evening.  It was pretty surreal on the way home, I kept thinking that the next time we’re in Long Beach we’ll have another little lady in tow (not just Lola)!  🙂

We had such a great time in Long Beach with all of the baby festivities.  I keep telling her that there are so many people that can’t wait to meet her and that she is one lucky little girl.

Belly shots!

Me and the zoo we’re currently living with! Lola and her cousin Mars playing nice while I take my weekly photo.

Other pregnancy updates

  • Total weight gained so far: 12 pounds
  • Fun baby developments this week: 34 weeks is a pretty big milestone for baby’s development–she’s around 18 inches long and weighs around 5 pounds, she keeps her eyes open most of the time while she’s awake and only shuts them when she’s sleeping, and she can now determine the difference between sweet and sour tastes in the amniotic fluid surrounding her.
  • Days until our 36 week ultrasound: Seven! We have our final ultrasound next Thursday morning to see if Sirena’s in the heads-down position and not breech (fingers crossed!) We can’t wait to see her one last time before the big day!  I’ll be sure to update the blog that night to post her photo. 🙂
  • Days until our Bay Area baby shower: Three! Our friend Carleigh (who is expecting a couple of bebes in the fall!) is throwing us a shower on Sunday for our small group of friends up here…can’t wait!
Loading...
X