Orlando day 1

aris belle & i are currently on our first vaca!

my family drove down here during the weekend & we flew in monday night.

we spent our first day at animal kingdom!

i called them "peach & pear" that day.

lola emily & my grandma.

see the blonde behind belle?

she turned around then said to me, "IT'S LADY GAGA!!!"

had to tell her to shhhhh!

while posing for a picture, belle ran away!

we watched the Lion King show & it was soooo nice!

much better than i thought it could be.

we all really loved it.

it's a must go if you're in animal kingdom!

family pic! whooot! haha

four generations

this may be the greatest day of belle's little life.

& maybe aris too ;)

really don't know which was her favorite part.

she really enjoyed the lion king, the parade, safari ride, dinosaur ride, & seeing the characters she watches everyday on tv.

i reaaaallly enjoyed seeing her reaction to everything.

she is a brave little soul.

the only down side is that it's really hot!

i'm used to the 50 degree new york weather & it's already 90 degrees here in orlando!

crazy.

because it's spring break, there's lots of people.

but other than that....everything is great!!

more family is coming throughout the week :)

funny!

just a few things that belle said or did that cracked me up...

she was watching the natgeo channel.

b: mommy look a scissors!!

me: huh?

b: a scissors! look in the ocean. scissors!!

me: scissors in the ocean?

b: yeah loook!

when i look at the tv. it's a SEAHORSE!

me: that's a seahorse. seaaaahorse.

b: yeah, scissors.

ayayaiiii!!

i forgot what belle did but my grandma was scolding her. telling her in all seriousness what she did was wrong.

grandma: don't do that ok. ok belle??

b: ok.

then she giggles & said..

b: hehe. nanay's funny!

(nanay means mom in tagalog. that's what we call my grandma)

poor nanay. her serious mode was only funny to belle.

i was watching tv. when i glanced over at belle..she made the funniest face.

her tongue was sticking out, nose scrunched, eyes closed, and her tongue was stuck out for awhile.

me: what's wrong with you?

b: the memon (lemon)

& on the table was a half sliced lemon with a bite mark on it.

haaaaa!!!

we were in the bathroom brushing our teeth. she likes brushing her teeth. when i was done, she told me to go pee so she can brush her teeth longer while i get busy.

& i had to pee anyway. so i did.

b: good girl mommy!! good girl!!

she smiled at me like she was so proud.

we were in the bathroom (another time) & belle peed on the floor.

aris walks in & saw it.

a: what is that???

b: i poo water.

aris & i laughed so hard, that belle got scared.

"i poo water" haaaahaaaa!! good one!

i heard my parents laughing soooo loud. they told me to look through my mom's camera.

in the camera, were pictures that belle took.

she had pics of drawers, picture frames, the ceiling, jewelry, then... my mom getting dressed. in her bra & underwear!!

OMG! & my mom didn't even know it was there.

that...was sooooo weird. but hilarious. haha!!

haha.

crazy kid.

last week

we were practicing shapes.

simply by cutting construction paper & gluing.

making a picture out of it.

we started to make flowers but instead, belle said she wanted to make binh's house.

she enjoys going there. if i need to quickly run errands, belle goes to binh's & doesn't wanna go home afterwards. pretty sure cause binh has a dog. haha

i cut out a sun. then she said..."noo..moon & stars!!"

if i had known she wanted moon & stars i would've used black construction paper. haha

after i glued the door...she said, "stairs! stairs!!" sheesh.

then i cut out belle & binh. and she drew happy faces on them.

she saw my "lady gaga wig" & wanted to try it on.
haaa! so funny!

new shoes. (binh, belle, & i)

please don't mind my chicken ankles.

my first pair of sneakers since high school.

i finally started to work out.

when i first started, i had everything i needed...

dvds, yoga mat, water, weights.

then i realized....i don't have sneakers!! so i used my mom's old work sneakers until i got a new pair. i love them.

dancing while binh bakes vegan oatmeal cookies. yummy!

& belle wanted sliced fresh plain cucumbers.

this is a tragedy for belle. but a happy moment for me.

because belle's nipple from her bottle is "bwoken"

she uses the bottle only to drink milk.

she won't accept milk from anything but her bottle.

but since it's broken...
yipeeeeeee!!!!!

she has no problem drinking water or juice from the sippy cup.

i put soy milk in there & told her it was juice.

(had to lie so she can drink it. she likes juice cause she drinks it occasionally)

she liked it then i told her it was soy milk after.

she still liked it ;)

last week was pretty weird.

belle was off. she was being weird for the most part.

she wouldn't listen, doing the opposite of what i wanted her to do.

she wasn't horrible or out of control. just stubborn & restless. she's not like that.

it tested my patience.

on sunday, when i was getting frustrated, belle did the unthinkable....

she pooped in the toilet.

OMG!

it was her first time & i was really excited.

she peed on the potty plenty of times before but never pooped.

she pooped in the potty & moved to the sippy cup.

i am really happy about that. i've waited for awhile.

& i forgot all the drama earlier.

thank all the heavens above!

happy birthday !!!!

to aris!!!!!

can't spend the day with him cause he has work but we'll celebrate another time.

with some buffalo wings. even though i don't eat that, but that's what he wants to do.

eat at a restaurant called buffalo wings.

we are both very different but i love it.

he likes to go to museums.

he likes nature.

he is full of random facts about animals, trees, history, people, etc etc.

did i ever tell you that when we started to hang out, he would always want to go to barnes & noble??

he'd get a bunch of magazines, get starbucks & just sit there for hours.

belle gets her smart brain from him.

& he is a very simple person. which is perfect because i tend to be...not simple.

he spoils belle & i (whooo!!)...i love it!

still my favorite family pic. hehe

halloween '09

i was suppose to post this picture awhile ago but i forgot!

doesn't it crack you up?

we were bored just watching tv. then i said, "let's take that family pic we did when belle was still little"

& after taking it..we compared the pics & laughed!!

i didn't realize i was wearing gray again...& aris was also wearing one of his infamous brown shirts (he has like 10 of them)

so funny!

so cheers & happy birthday again !!

belle & i are very happy you were born.

this week so far

hi all! sorry i've lacked blogging.

been doing & planning all sorts of things.

& aris has been repeatedly telling me, "when are you gonna blog?"

"hurry up & blog"

"here, take pics so you can blog!"

ok. for now on, i will make a lot more of an effort to document our lifestyle & family.

i will!!!

so here are a few pics of this week so far.

we've had a lot of cloudy mornings recently.

which messes up our sleeping schedule.

we usually wake up around 9. when belle & i wake up & see that its still dark, we think its still early then go back to sleep.

then when we woke up...looked at the clock, it was 11 already! ugh!!

this is funny to me.

i passed by & my brother & aris are watching the tinkerbell movie???

2 guys who talk about nothing but working out & getting into shape are watching tinkerbell.

& if you can't tell...they're laughing & smiling.

pretty sure they were enjoying it more than belle.

a quick trip to the outlet...

first, red mango! mmmm.

mine & belle's favorite.

because aris likes to do the opposite of what belle & i do.

he skipped red mango & settled for dunkin.

still patiently waiting for spring weather.

tired of all these layers & puffy jackets.
my favorite time to shop....on a weekday when no one is there.

we stopped by carter's. something caught belle's attention that she was begging me to take her off the stroller.

& she wandered off....

wings!!

i guess she still had tinkerbell in mind cause she needed wings.

when we're out....belle can be one of those kids that people think is so funny & cute OR make people not want to have kids.

im one of those moms that everyone stares at...the mom with the loud child.

so it can be a bit hard to shop sometimes.

she is extremely loud & likes to wander.

she doesn't want to hold my hand. & won't stay on the cart/stroller long.

she wandered around after she found those wings...& when i saw the store had a lego table, i was relieved.

she sat down with aris for a good 10-15 mins while i take a look around.

& of course, when she built something nice, she'd scream, "MOMMY!! LOOK!! A CASTLE!!" MOOOOMMMM LOOOOOOOK!!!"

i swear she has a built in microphone.

are you surprised she took those wings home??

she was jumping & i heard her say, "dad, i can't fly! can't fly daaaad!"

(thanks a lot tinkerbell!)

& this was the day she was SO hyper. the most hyper she's ever been...

she danced & did crazy moves forever & took a late nap.

i was so tired that day. my eyes were going down at 8pm already.

after her nap.

& this is from last week....honey shrimp & walnut!!
binh & i made this last week & it is so. freakin. good.

it all started when we went to a chinese restaurant after the museum of natural history.

bingle & i were craving shrimp & walnut the whole day so i was excited to eat it.

so after we ate & got the bill, & aris was wondering why it was higher than he expected.

he was staring at the receipt & was calculating, then...

"the shrimp & walnut was $24.95???"

me: yes...

a: what?! $24.95 for that???

bingle: but we all ate it! it's so good.

a: but $24.95!!

then he went on & on the rest of the day (& night) how he couldn't believe that the shrimp & walnut was $24.95.

few days later i was home & said, " i want shrimp & walnut again. i want to learn how to make it"

a: yeah you should learn because i'm not ordering that again.

ha...ha..

i found a recipe here.

it was surprisingly easy that someone who is incapable of cooking like me...was able to do it successfully. i'm still shocked.

i first made it with my grandma.

then made it again with binh the next week.

everyone at home loved it. except my dad cause he's allergic to shrimp.

yum yum!!