Thursday, February 24, 2011

Aquarium of the Pacific

Last weekend we went to the Aquarium of the Pacific after hours (5pm-9pm). It was Jacob's 1st time and he liked it. I think his favorite part was being able to recognize some of the Nemo characters. Especially Dory and Nemo. He did not want to touch a thing. They have a shark lagoon where you can touch stingrays and sharks, but he refused. He even refused to touch the sea stars (Remember back in the day they used to call them star fish?). But Jacob enjoyed himself nonetheless. Isabella was on her best behavior. She did not cry, whine, or fuss the whole time. Despite needing a nap. She was a trooper. We can't wait to go back during the day to see the sea lions, otters, and birds! They had a special low rate for after hour visitors. Half price admission. It worked perfectly for us since Jacob's attention span was like 2 seconds. Maybe next time both Jake and Bella will be able to enjoy it!















Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Isabella is 7 Months!


At 7 months, Isabella can now sit on her own with control, she's been doing it for about 3 weeks. She's doing great on her baby food, and had been keeping a steady diet for the last month, but I can tell she needs a little more food. Since she had been on a steady diet, she also leaned out a bit. She's not been gaining weight as steadily as she once was, but she's tall. No, no teeth, yet. I sense they'll come in soon. She's been teething and slobbering up a storm...literally. And she's been constantly gnawing on whatever she can get her hands on.

And I can see the handful that she is becoming. She's very different from Jacob. Jacob seemed to be more passive, while Bella is go out there and get what she wants. I've mentioned before that she rolls around everywhere. And she knows now, to get where she wants, she has to roll to the hard wood floors from the carpet. From the hard wood floors, she knows she can slide wherever she needs to go. Is this crawling? I hope not. Jacob was not mobile 'til he was like 8 or 9 months! Eek!

Bella has been babbling and screaming a lot. The other day I thought she had gotten hurt. Turns out she was just screaming to scream. She also loves touching and scratching everything. And man, she has a mean little grip. She'll grab a hold of your arm, and pinch and squeeze 'til you scream. It hurts. But I still love her to pieces :0)










Thursday, February 17, 2011

Happy Valentine's Day!


I hope everyone had a nice day with their significant other! And for those who're single, I hope you had a happy SAD (Single Awareness Day) day! Our V Day was quiet, as usual. Hubby and I didn't attempt a dinner out because we did not want to wait in a long ol' line. But Jess did come home bearing gifts. Flowers and chocolates! Yum! And, am I the only woman in the world who actually likes carnations? No, really. I don't know anyone who likes them. I think they look really pretty and sophisticated in a tight little bunch. Anywho, my gift to the hubs was homemade peanut butter cups. I tried to pick up a bag of Reese's cups, but when I saw the $6.99 price tag, my jaw was on the floor! So, I went home and found a recipe at a spot I frequent. Apparently, this recipe was all over the blog world. It's super easy, and I had everything on hand. Love when that's unplanned! And they are sooo good! They taste better than a Reese's PB cup. I also did a little variation by using half milk chocolate and half semi-sweet choco chips to make up the 1/2 cup called for in the recipe. Did that make sense? Anyway, you should deff try these! Oh, and I also got hubs the sweetest card ever. It was a perfect Valentine's day :0)



Here's the recipe from Stylish Cuisine:

Peanut Butter Cup Bars
Recipe from Michelle at One Ordinary Day

1/2 cup butter
1 3/4 cups confectioner’s sugar
1 cup peanut butter
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips


(Line a 8×8, 9×9, or 7×11 pan with foil for easy removal of bars later.)


Melt 1/2 c. butter of low heat. Remove from heat and stir in confectioner’s sugar. Add peanut butter and graham cracker crumbs, stirring until creamy. Spread mixture into pan, patting down evenly.


In same pot, on low heat, melt butter. Add chocolate chips and stir until chips are nearly melted and very soft. Remove from heat and continue stirring until chocolate is smooth and shiny. Spread over peanut butter layer. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Cut into bars.


Store peanut butter cup bars in refrigerator.


Yield: 16 or more bars (depending upon how big you cut them)


Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Brazilian Blowout @ 2 Months!

It's been two months, and while I still LOVE my hair, and get many compliments on it...I'm starting to get a little tired of it. Just a little. It's still easy to style, but I messed up. For the last month, I thought, wow, my BB only really lasted me a month. My hair started feeling less smooth, more frizzy, and just different. Not like it felt just the month before. Well, it was me. I accidentally bought VOLUMIZING shampoo/conditioner instead of the smoothing set. And let me tell you, the volumizing stuff really worked. I immediately bought smoothing shampoo/conditioner when I made this realization. BTW, for those of you wondering, I use Loreal's EverPure Smooth line for color treated hair. And what a difference it makes! After one wash, my hair felt soft and smooth as it did just a month before. So, after 2 months, my BB is still going strong. Will we make it to 3 months??





Sunday, February 13, 2011

Jacob is 2½!

He's half way to three! At 2.5, Jacob is talking up a storm. He knows exactly how to state his opinion, and talks in complete sentences. Jacob also says the darndest things. For example, back during Xmas, I had wrapped some presents and asked Jacob to put them under the tree, and when he did, he yelled, "Happy birthday, tree!" He always says something funny! More recently, he was playing with an airplane and the back of it had a little door. Well, one morning, Jacob was playing with the airplane and he said, "Momma, look! Airplane butt!" I laughed. He pointed at the back of the airplane. It was too cute. I look forward to hearing what he has to say, and what new things he has learned.

Jacob's favorite movie of the moment is Cars. And he's really into Hot Wheels again. Jacob's favorite food is french fries, but he really loves his Nana's home cooked food, especially rice. He loves fruit snacks and raisins, and can eat them all day. He's starting to get picky about his food saying, "I no like it, Momma." But once he starts eating, he'll eat.

As for getting along with his sister, I couldn't ask for anything better from toddler. He's just started telling her he loves her, and giving her hugs. If her binky falls, he'll pick it up and try to wash it. He'll go and grab toys for her, and he loves when she's on the floor. Jacob will roll right along with her. And if she rolls too far, he'll scream, "Oh no, baby!" He no longer tries to go in her crib, but then again the mobile is gone. Bella pretty much ripped it down. But he is such a good brother. I can only hope things stay this tranquil. Yeah, I doubt it!




 

 



Thursday, February 10, 2011

Baby Curls

It's no big secret that Isabella has curly hair, but you never really see how curly her hair is. Most of the pictures I've posted here, show Bella's hair semi curly with some partially straight sections. But when her hair hits water, it gets curlyyy! I don't mean a big bouncy loose curl. I'm talking tight little curls all over her little head. It looks so funny 'cause the curls are so so so tight. She looks like she has a little fro! But once she takes a nap, and sleeps on it, the curls loosen. However, now her hair is getting longer, and is starting to get into her eyes. And a funny palm tree has now appeared on the top of her head. Or as nana calls it, the umbrella. It's crazy 'cause when I was making bows for her (before she was born), I was hoping she would have a lot of hair. Unlike Jacob, who had a few strands of hair pasted to the side of his head for months. He looked like a little old man. Not Bella, she's got momma's hair. And she's got a full head of hair! Lucky girl ;0)










Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Jumpers & Paint brushes!

A few weeks ago, we introduced Isabella to Jacob's old jumper, and well, she did not love it as much as Jacob did! At least, in the beginning. After I attached some noisy keys to it, she liked it a bit more. She likes jumping and hearing the keys make noise. It can get a bit annoying after lots of jumping, but it's so funny seeing her get into the jumping. She also likes to rock back and forth in it. So, she's enjoying that, and rolling around everywhere! Sometimes she tries to get her knees up, but she'll either gut stuck on the carpet or will slide on the floor. But I'm okay with that. I don't want her to be crawling just yet.

Jacob has picked up one of many new hobbies. As he says, "Momma, I like paint!" He also likes to draw. We have these cool paint brushes by crayola where the paint is in the brush, and they're shaped for easy holding with little hands. And of coarse, washable. Almost everyday, Jacob paints. He also wears it too!