A Visit from Ninang Jen

Jen was able to pay us a visit on her way back to Virginia from Naples. It was so nice to see her again. She always makes an effort to come see us at least twice a year. I feel bad sometimes that I am not able to do the same. Her agenda this time was not to shop but to see her future goddaughter Isa. Isa took a liking to her.She didn't cry one bit. She even spoiled her with the cutest outfit from the Gap. Eventhough we are all grown up now it always seems like it was only yesterday whenever I am with her. Everytime she comes down we are always able to pick up from where we left off. It amazes me that she has been there since the 8th grade. She is really a true friend.

All about family

What a busy Memorial weekend we had! Whenever we go home there never seems to be enough time to do everything or see everybody. This weekend was definitely all about family.
Sister Reunion (check out Isa's fingertoes)
We didn't arrive till friday evening and had to skip out on Kathleen's rehearsal dinner. Darn, I would've love to have had some of the seafood newburg. Instead we had dinner with Erick's parents. As always they cooked up a feast. I couldn't even taste everything before I got full. Saturday was especially nice. Before going to Kathleen's wedding we took Erick's family out for lunch in downtown Charleston to celebrate his birthday. The day was gorgeous! We took a stroll through Waterfront Park and had a prelunch dessert of Italian ice.
Isa relaxed and finally let her grandparents hold her without crying.
We were able to take some wonderful shots of the family. It was nice to see everyone enjoying themselves. The day was so nice we were almost tempted to skip the ceremony so that we could walk around with the family and see some of the arts from the Spoleto Festival which happened to also be going on that weekend. We vowed to come back before going home Sunday. Kathleen's wedding was lovely except we had to watch it behind glass in the cry room.
Hangin' out with Isa and Lal in the cry room
Lovely Wedding Party
Mommy stopping the procession to pose
Lovely bridesmaid Emily
In due time Isa
My cousin looked beautiful and so young. I didn't recall Erick and I looking that young when we got married. The Happy Couple I can't believe she was getting married already. It seemed like only yesterday when they had arrived from the Philippines. Her reception was at Cypress Gardens which I had never been to before. The garden had a quaint and tranquil feel to it. The reception was filipino style with a whole lechon and the traditional filipino dance with the candles. The bride however wasn't the only one attracting attention. It seemed like everyone wanted to hold Isa and she wasn't going to have any of it. She cried throughout most of the reception whenever someone tried to hold her. Poor thing, I thought she was going to get dehydrated from all the tears that was spilling out of her.
Kristi and Isa
Sunday was spent with just our little family. For his birthday, Erick just wanted to walk around the Piccolo Spoleto Festival and take pictures of downtown. It was much warmer on Sunday but we were still able to have a nice family outing and take some decent shots. Marion Square The fountain at Marion SquareTwo Meeting Street InnShady lane of trees at the BatteryYellow House on the Battery
Isa seemed to enjoy walking around the Battery and feeling the cool sea breeze on her face. I even got a little taste of Charleston before going home with my favorite Low Country Saute from Vickery's. The icing on the cake was being able to see my family one more time before heading back to Florida. Lal, Joe, Ron, Emily, and my mom joined us at Erick's house for his "cake cutting" ceremony. It was nice to share some laughter with the family again. The best interaction I saw out of Isa yet was with my brother. In his cool way he was able to make Isa laugh and she totally wanted him to hold her after that.Step 1
Step 2
Step 3 What was so funny later was seeing my mom trying to copycat but it didn't work.
Nice Try Mom!

Another milestone accomplished!

Babies must have an internal timer that tells them when to accomplish another milestone. I can't believe Isa has done three in less than a month. Three weeks ago she could barely even creep. Today she is all over the place. I can't keep my eyes off of her for one second for fear of what she might get herself into. With her tiny little arms she hangs onto bins or crib rails and pulls the rest of her up into a standing position. Her little legs are still wobbly but she manages to keep herself upright. In less than a second she can crawl from one end of the room to the other.
How did she know that it was 6 months and it was time to get moving? One minute she was lying in her crib, I turned around and the next minute she had grabbed the rails and stood herself up beaming proudly at her accomplishment. It is remarkable how much upper body strength she has. Gone are the days of leaving her on the bed for a quick bathroom break. Time to do what I've been dreading to do: babyproofing the house. I don't mind though for one second if it means waking up to a greeting from Isa standing in her crib with a big grin on her face.

Happy Mother's Day!

I came home from work last night to find that Erick had cleaned the house inside and out so that I would not have to do anything today. In fact he had worked himself so hard that I had to give him a back cracking and a heel rubbing before going to bed. He didn't stop there. I should've known he was going to go all out. Gift giving is one of his forte. I woke up early this morning to check on Isa and found to my delight, two dozen beautiful red roses and a neatly wrapped present sitting in the nursery.
He had bought me a digital frame! It reads straight from a memory card and has the option to display the digital photos via slideshow or still photo.
I had spied this at Target before and I know this did not come cheap. Thank you Erick. (You know you don't have to keep buying all these things for me. A card and a day out with you two would have sufficed.) He then treated me out at Brio's and a nice walk inside Millenia Mall where we found 3 awesome pop up books for Isa (and Erick:o) ). I can't wait for the day when she will fully appreciate these. Right know she is all about grabbing and putting it in her mouth. Last week I tried to read to her Wizard of Oz from Erick's Sabuda collection and she almost ripped one of the pages. Whew! Luckily Erick intervened and saved the book. Unfortunately Erick had to work at 4 so our day as a family was cut short. Isa and I spent the rest of the evening at a baptism party my coworker had thrown at Baldwin Park. Everywhere I went, people would see me with Isa and greet me a "Happy Mother's Day." It was a very nice feeling to have finally joined the ranks of these special women.

Curb Appeal

Yeah! Erick finally gave in and let me hire a landscaper for the house. For years we had been trying to do it on our own but it never amounted to anything nice. The yard was starting to look shabby and my Type A OCD nature just could not stand looking at it anymore. You couldn't walk to the front door without getting hit in the face with the roebellini or stuck in the leg by the sabal palm which were wrongly placed by the previous owners. The hibiscus were so tall we had to keep trimming it just so we could see past the front door. We never got to see much blooms because it had to be trimmed a lot.

BEFORE (when the plants were not overgrown)

BEFORE (if you can see past the boat)

Now that it is done, I don't now why we never did it sooner. The house looks beautiful and complete now.

AFTER (Nightime Look- love the lighting)
AFTER (Daytime Look)
Love the Flagstone Border
We've got TOPIARIES!
Backyard
BEFORE (under the lemon tree)
AFTER
Out with the Oleander, In with the Crepe Myrtle
Thanks to Mr. Covey Wise and Oscar Cruz of Wise Landscaping. I had been disappointed with contractors here in Florida but this company was the best. The price was reasonable. They worked quickly. Oscar especially was very nice and accomodating. The landscaping was as my sister-in-law put it "awesome." It was funny to see a car drive by and pause at our house to look at the yard. Maybe this will motivate our neighbors to keep up with theirs and hopefully raise the property value. Thanks Erick and you don't have to get me ANYTHING for Christmas or my birthday this year (unless you really really want to). Now onto a new kitchen (just kidding!).