Finally...

So Christmas is over, the decorations are down, and I'm almost done finding storage for the million new toys Miss Cora got for Christmas. Finally I can (kind of) relax. I had been jonesing for Christmas since September and then when it finally got here I was totally not jivin' with the whole Christmas Spirit thing. I procrastinated it all until the last day and then cursed my way through wrapping presents and making preparations. I was just in a weird mental state this year (maybe because we hosted our first Christmas Dinner which had me totally stressed out!)
The food though, was (like whoa) good! I was proud of myself for finding a fool-proof recipe for turkey and (not to brag) I think Mel and I made the best turkey I've ever had!  

Christmas morning Cora was a little uneasy and confused. Both Mel and I came to get her out of her crib in the morning (which never happens) and she didn't know what to think about that. She kept looking at us like, "what's going on here??" Opening presents was even more weird for her, probably because we'd been telling her not to play with them for a month (she's thinking, "geez people, make up your minds!") She opened four or five presents and then she was done. She just wanted to play with her new toys and couldn't care less about all those silly boxes under the tree. It took all day to get her to open them (and I ended up opening five or six that night after she went to bed just so I could throw all the paper away!) Don't worry though, I only opened the ones we got her, clothes and stuff. She got to open the fun stuff!

Anyway, at the end of it all we had a wonderful holiday, great food with great friends and lotsa cool loot (new iPhones, The Sims for the Wii, a mother's ring (from Cora), clothes, toys, toys, toys, electronic gadgets for the iPod, lotsa $$$, good books, etc.) What a blessing to have such wonderful and generous friends and family who give so much. I love you all!! Thank you!! And here's to a blessed and wonderful upcoming 2009!

Is that smile incredible or what?!

Merry Christmas!

ABCDEFG

Cora knows her whole alphabet!! We are so incredibly proud of her (and look how proud she is of herself!) She has letter puzzles, letters on the fridge, and letters in her bathtub and you can ask her where any letter is and she will point it out to you, she can pronounce almost all of them too (and although the N, Q, Y, and C are hard for her to say she still knows what they are.)  It's amazing to me how smart she is (and I know all parents say that, but really... in her case it's true!)

CHOO CHOO!

We went to the mall the other day to do some Christmas shopping and Cora was entranced by the "choo choo" so we decided to give it a shot and let her ride it (knowing she would scream as soon as it started to move.) We were so wrong. She loved it!! She cried and cried when the ride was over and asked for the "choo choo" the whole way home (and cried when we said no more choo choo for the day.) So we had to bring her back (of course) camera in tow. She rode twice in a row, she would spend all day on that thing!! I see many more choo choo rides in her near future and have no idea what we are going to do when Christmas is over and the "choo choo" goes bye-bye for the year!

Christening the New Home

We are still a long way from finished on the whole "moving" front, but it is starting to feel like home.  Here are a few shots from the past few days... christening our new home with Christmas.  It's a great time of year to start anew.

Mini-update

Well, November has been Crazy! We have been so busy that I haven't had time to eat or sleep, much less have time to keep all my loyal readers (yeah, right) in the loop. I'll touch on the highlights of the month quickly before I'm off to work again. I'll fill in with more details (aka photos) when I have more time. 

We MOVED!! That's the big ticket news... so we've been packing, unpacking, cleaning, organizing, preparing (for yet another garage sale) all month long. As of yesterday we are DONE with Tomich Court, and I could NOT be happier to be out of there. 

Our new place is so nice. Mel has been a painting fool (finally I have some color on my walls!) and yeah, life is good. My mom came out to help with Cora while we've been moving so that has been a huge help and Cora has been lovin' havin' her "'ma" here (she only pronounces the last sound of words, so when you see her yelling "pss" she's asking for her favorite fruit, grapes!) 

Anyway, that's it for now... moving, grandma, school, life, yeah.

Trick-or-Treat!

So. Cora had her first trick-or-treating experience, and let me tell you... SHE LOVED IT! She did sooo good! She was scared of NOTHING. She carried her little flashlight and big pumpkin pail the whole time and we did three or four cult-de-sacs. We were all amazed!

And she was fearless too... there was a little boy who was dressed as a werewolf, he had this horrible mask on that I didn't even like looking at, but Cora staaaared at him and waaaatched him, and then when he went to leave she followed him! smiling and waving goodbye to him!  She's such a gentle soul, she sees the good in everyone :) (even werewolves, ghosts, and goblins, apparently.)

Her costume was a big hit around the 'hood! Everyone was stopping and telling us how great her outfit was and how cute she looked! It was her daddy's undershirt (some scissors and a sharpie!)  Who says you have to spend money for a great costume! 

There were some tween-age girls walking behind us that were ooohing and awwing over Cora and I heard one of them say "I want her.  No really, I want her. She is so cute!" It made me laugh.

The neighborhood was crackin'!! I couldn't believe how many people were out! We saw werewolves and ghouls, we saw hula girls and Pippy Longstocking, Cinderella and Rainbow Bright (that one was cute!) We saw an iPod costume, a dog dressed up as a hotdog (complete with condiments on top) (...cute!) We saw Snow White and Spiderman, Indiana Jones, and beautiful butterflies.... we saw it all.

Endless costumes and boundless creativity, but I have to say (although I could be biased) Cora was the best in show!

Anyway, it's getting late, but I just had to post and tell everyone that it was an adventure and I wish you all could have been here to see our little ghost-girl out on the town!

We hope everyone had a great Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

We carved our pumpkins last night!  It was so much fun.  It brought me back to my own childhood memories of pumpkin carving.  I have such fond daddy memories from that time in my life.  My brother and I got to help Dad pull all the ucky pumpkin guts out of the pumpkin and watch while he carved.  It was always so much fun.... and I have come full circle.  It is an incredible feeling to know that Mel and I are making memories with Cora that she will hold dear and carry forever in her heart.  I know I know, she's still young and probably won't remember her first pumpkin carving, but she had a blast, and the foundation is laid for a new generation of traditions old.

The finished product!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!  

Pumpkin Picking

We went to the Pumpkin Patch to pick pumpkins!! It was really fun and a great day to go; not too hot, not yet raining... perfect. We ate delish, fresh watermelons and grilled corn-on-the-cob, we WILL be shopping Farmer's Market from now on! It was soooo good. Anyway, that's about it for now...

And anyone who would like the web address and password to Cora's photo shoot, just let me know! The pictures are back and they are FAB!

Ghoul hugs and goblin kisses,

Mary

Photo Shoot

What a fun day! :) Cora had her "12 month" photo shoot (yeah, yeah, she's 15 months old, but since when do I get anything done on time?) We hired Jacquie and Ryan Best to shoot Cora. They were wonderful... a young married military couple who moonlight as photographers... here is our sneak peek photo!

When all the photos are ready they will put them online and I'll get the password to you all. I think that you can purchase photos directly from them (which is a much better arrangement than we had with our last photographer)... so stay tuned for more pics. If their website is any indication these shots are going to be amazing and we are soooo excited to get them back!

She's famous!

Aww, we received an email today from Island Style Images telling us that they had chosen some of Cora's photos for their website gallery.  There are three of her!  Check out the "miracles" gallery at Island Style Images

Remember this face!  She's goin' places!! 

Bohemian Cora...

Clubbin'

Baby Loves Disco Party at The O Lounge!!

Wow! We had such a great day yesterday. We took Cora clubbin' at The O Lounge! We were unsure of what to expect, ya know, a dance party at a dance club, for babies??? But it was so cool. They had the club totally rearranged to make it kid friendly and fun, but it was still The O Lounge and a good vibe for us parents. Valet parking service, disco balls, colored lights, DJ playing GOOD music that adults and kids can both enjoy (real music, no Barney or Wheels On the Bus stuff) a full bar for non-driving parents, pupus, fruits, juices, and other healthy snacks for kids, pimped out changing stations (one for boys, one for girls), cute stuffed animals on the lounge sofas and chairs, play mats and toys, bubble blowers on the dance floor, bean bags and mini tables and chairs, kid friendly coffee table books, I could go on. So fun, so chic, so hip, and so cool (so fresh and so clean clean.) Who says you can't still go clubbin' after becoming parents!?!  Who says you have to hang up your dancing shoes just because you have a baby at home?!

Shakin' her tail feather...

 

Surveying the scene...

Gabbin' with the girls...

Crowd surfing...

Cora had a blast. She is a dancing queen!! She shook her little booty all "night" long! That's all she wanted to do was dance, dance, dance, dance, dance. She couldn't care less about the toys or the food, she wanted to dance! In fact, her and her daddy won the Daddy and Keiki Dancing Contest. Aren't you so proud of them?? :) They brought home some great prizes! 

Baby LOVES Disco!!

Love Is...

This is our first family portrait owned by Island Style Images (Cora was almost seven months old.) She has changed so much in the short few months since this was taken and I am amazed every day at her growth and development.

 Babies are true and blessed miracles.

I treasure this picture.  It is priceless and beautiful, and epitomizes the love and joy we were all meant to have in this life.  I hope you like it.

Happy Birthday Grandma!!

Hello everyone!  It's my Grandma's birthday today!!  I am soooo happy...

My Mommy & Daddy took me to the park to celebrate (because I know if Grandma was here that is what she would want to do!)...  I slid down slides and swinged on swings. It was fun...

But I decided later that the neighborhood park wasn't enough; I needed to head to the beach to 'really' celebrate Grandma's birthday in style.  I grabbed my backpack with my bucket and shovels (Daddy grabbed my whale toy) and we were off!...

I swam in the waves, played in the sand, and made sand strawberries and acorns with my toys, just for Grandma!...

It was a really fun day, the only thing that would have made it better is if Grandma could have been here to celebrate with me!  I love you Grandma!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!

Loves,

Cora

Reversical Mullet :)

I cut all my hair off. It's kinda like a reverse mullet... party in front, business in the back. I'll take a picture when it's a finished product. I still need to get it colored for the full effect.  Other than that small detail though, there's not much going on. Just the usual packing to move, flooding our house, and getting our new car gashed up by some idiot who has no respect for other peoples' property. So yeah, same ol' same ol'.  :)  

We are good, Cora is good (talking A LOT) and Pumpkin is good.  Thanks for stopping in.... stay tuned!

Birthday(s)

Ohhh, what to say? What to say...

I turned 31. Really? Is that possible? Let's see... 

I was born 1977. Current year, 2008. 

2008 - 1977 = ???... let me bust out my handy-dandy calculator.... 

Crap, yeah, 31. 

It's ok though, it was a really good day. I got to sleep in. 

Mel got up with Cora. 

When I got up I had a beautiful baby girl running to me, breakfast made, and a birthday cake in the oven. Who can really complain about that? 

We went to lunch and ate one of my favorite desserts, Chili's White Chocolate Raspberry Lava Cake, yummmm. 

Mel bought me a BEAUTIFUL one-of-a-kind necklace from a local artisan that I just LOVE. Its so unique and so very cool. 

The rest of the day we just hanged out :) 

It was quiet and pleasant and just what I wanted.

Here's a few pictures of my day.... enjoy!

My Birthday Cake

Cora, stealing the first bite!

Enjoying her spoils...

  

Oh! And I got a wonderful surprise on my birthday as well... my cousin, Patricia, gave birth to her beautiful little girl on my birthday!! Pyper LeAnn (named after me and my mom) ...Happy BIRTH-day to YOU!! Happy birthday to us!

Pyper and my Grandpa, getting acquainted.

August 27th, a day worth celebrating!

Five Years!

Happy Anniversary to us!!  We celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary last night! We gave the little one a bath and put her to bed, then our first babysitter (ever!) came over to sit with her while we went out (thanks Kollette!) We went to Michel's.  A PHENOMENAL restaurant on Waikiki Beach (french cuisine.)  It was so beautiful...

It was the prefect evening, perfect temperature, perfect winds (open air restaurant), perfect wait staff, PERFECT FOOD. 

Oh my, let me tell you about the food!  Lobster Bisque (flamed in Cognac at the table) and Arthichoke soup for appetizers.  Kurobuto Pork marinated in homemade guava BBQ sauce, seafood risotto, lobster, steamed asparagus & broccoli blend in a pineapple salsa, fresh Mahi Mahi with sundried tomatoes and prawns for entrees.  And for dessert? Wine and fresh Bing cherries marinated in Cognac and Amaretto flambeed at your table over vanilla ice cream with white and dark chocolate shavings!! TO DIE FOR. For those of you on island, I HIGHLY recommend going to Michel's at least once while you are here. Fair warning, they are $$$$$ but it is worth it.  I didn't even flinch at the bill, it was money well spent. Indulging once in awhile is good for the soul. Happy, Happy 5th Year to US!!!

Marshmallow Mateys

Daddy tends to spoil his daughter (shocker) and he snuck her "two" dehydrated marshmallows (pink ones) from his bowl of Marshmallow Mateys (generic Lucky Charms) when Mommy wasn't looking. Yeah, she was flying HIGHHH. She wouldn't take her nap, she ran around like a freak of nature, snapping her fingers, walking on tip toes, rockin' out to the music in her head (apparently) and although it was funny once I figured out what her deal was, it was ugly trying to put her down for a nap that she just WAS NOT going to take.... just thought I'd share. THIS is why we don't feed her sugar!! 

Cora Meets Cohen

We managed to get to Arizona finally!! And I have to say, Cohen and Cora are the cutest little things ever!! Are they not?? We had such an amazing time with Jenn and Matt and I couldn't have needed it more. It has been almost six years since Jenn and I have got to spend more than a couple hours together and I realize now how I've missed her and how much I need her in my life!! 

Seeing our children play together (and fight with each other) was such an incredible blessing... we WILL NOT wait another six years to get together again!

Our vacation time there was wonderful I tell ya... 115 degree weather and all.  We laughed, we ate, we drank cosmo bitches! We swam at night in their private pool (with beautiful sunsets and amazing lightening in the distance) while watching Sideways on our own private drive-in theatre screen (aka a projector and a white sheet duct taped to the side of the house.) We drank wine and played cards. We met great people and played Bocce. Mel and Matt went to the Harrah's and blew some hard earned money. Jenn and I shopped our hearts out at Ikea. Cora and Cohen fought over who was going to ride which tricycle and shared wonderful hugs and slobbery kisses... really, it was fun had by all.  I am so so glad that we decided to go! I only wish we could have stayed longer *sigh*

(This was my attempt to get the AMAZING sunset and the pool, but my camera sucks and didn't cooperate and everything is muted and weird.)

(The guys, Bocce, and beer... they are in heaven)