Hair Update

6/26/2009
Occasion: Summer!
Where: At home

It's getting hotter and my poor girls' faces are disappearing under thick tufts of hair. Mom and Dad have been kindly reminding me to cut their hair and so finally, after cleaning the kitchen I sat the girls down one by one and chopped it all off. Elena was used to a cut so she sat perfectly still while I clumsily butchered her poor strands. Marianna, on the other hand, was traumatized. The little plastic I wrapped around her shoulders was drenched with her tears. Oh poor thing. At the very least she will feel better with shorter hair. That's less hair I have to comb. I don't know if you've noticed but Yayaa's hair is longer than Elena's so she suffers through more brushing time. Not anymore!

Hey, you know what, the way I cut her hair kinda reminds me of that picture of Mom when she was 6 or so. Striking resemblance! We're only missing the mole on the chin.

Old School Imaging

I took some images from the party and doctored them up to look more 1960's. There's something about the stylized old photography that just makes it more personal and worn in than all those fancy high-tech 10 megapixel details.

Gian's Birthday Party

5/09/2009
Occasion: Gian's Birthday Pool Party
Where: Uncle Harry's House

Happy Birthday Gian! I absolutely love hanging out with the cousins and the aunties because it reminds me of how crazy the family can get wherever they meet. The craziness always starts out with a funny story and then everyone gets louder...and louder until you can't understand anything they're saying. Is it english or is it cebuano? Such a sight warms my heart because I know these relatives have gone through so much in life but nothing reminds you of that when they get together. All they care to bring up are the funny stories and they love to laugh at how filipino they are.

Playing with leaves

January 10, 2009
Occasion: Hanging out
Where: Lulu and Lula's house

These pics are older but I had to include them. The wind had blown off all the leaves on the trees and the gardeners hadn't come by to clean it up so this was the perfect opportunity to do the obligatory play-in-the-leaves photo opp. You can tell it was quite a sensory experience for both the girls. The leaves give such a satisfying crunch when you walk over them.

The young artist

Realizing that she had drawn her mastepiece on an erasable Magnadoodle, I grabbed my camera and snapped a photo. She described each face as "Mama, Daddy, Elena, Sissy (Marianna), and Grandma". Genius!

"Umm... where's Yaya?"

In this picture, she's taking Uncle John's keys and....... making a break for it!!!


At first we heard a lot of shuffling in the sunroom and then there was this silence. When we looked into the room, this is what we saw.... I'm not kidding, she propped that pillow in there herself and she's "reading"!


Here's Marianna stuffing her chubby butt into the tupperware bin. I didn't catch the picture but she managed to happily shut the cupboard behind her.

When Marianna was a baby who didn't have full control of her limbs she was a very frustrated baby. When she flipped over on her stomach and learned to crawl she was soo much happier because from then on she was able to get around on her own. And yes, she will take off! I mean, there is no fear in that baby, she won't even look back to check if Mama's there for security. That baby was meant to travel. Here are some pictures that show off her adventures.

Ready to go

My girls have an affinity for traveling. Elena likes trains and Marianna just likes going anywhere. Elena is shown here with Daddy, getting ready for a train ride. Please notice that she picked the "blue train car" for "Thomas the Tank Engine".

Happy 3rd Birthday Elena!

4/04/2009
Occasion: Elena's birthday
Where: Lulu and Lula's house

This happened a couple months back I know, but you ought to see the pictures. Elena had a wonderful birthday. Lulu and Lula brought all of us (Eva, Chris, Marianna, and Elena) to see "Disney On Ice". It was exciting to watch Mari and Elena's faces light up when the characters skated out on the ice. We weren't so excited about the $5 stale pretzels and $25 dollar toys at the stands, but it was all quite an experience! Absolutely priceless! Afterwards, we had chinese food (long noodles means "long life" and Elena looves noodles!). Then we came back to the house to blow out candles. As you can see, she loves "Thomas the Tank Engine". She couldn't wait to cut into the cake and eat it-- earlier she helped me make it and was dying to finally get into it.

Water babies

March 27, 2009
Where: Home
Occasion: It was a hot day and they were bored

They just love water. Unfortunately, they don't mind drinking it either..

Random Pretties

circa January - March 2009

Can you tell these girls either love playing with water or eating? Maybe its because they're filipino. They have a natural love for them (especially eating, hoy!)

A Fine Mess

April 4, 2009
Occasion: Elena's birthday cake preparation
Where: Home

I know they say that babies are always messy and I must say, Marianna must be the messiest baby there is. If it's sticky, she's got a hold of it so she can eat it. If it's a tabletop, a chair, a beautifully upholstered couch or your newly dry cleaned shirt, she'll smear it on that too (ok I know, why would anyone with a newly dry cleaned shirt get near a baby like this?!). If you're wondering what that stuff is, it's blue frosting for Elena's "Thomas the Tank Engine" birthday cake. I had the frostings dyed and fully wrapped but heck, that didn't stop this force of nature. This was how I found her.

April 12, 2009
Occasion: Easter
Where:Grandma Katie's House

The girls get so excited to go to Great Grandma Katie's house. There's so much room to run around and the family has a chance to watch the girls play. Pam was so nice to get Elena a beautiful pop up playhouse. Thank you Pam! Both the girls were enamored with it. We also watched the girls find easter eggs that were hidden all over the lawn.

Random Pretties

Here are some older pics of the babies circa January and February 2009