Playdate

We had fun at my friend Tiffany's place for a playdate with three other mommies and their little ones.  Audrey and Caris are about a month apart and it was so cute to see them together!  Audrey's mom, Taylor, is also Vietnamese and her Daddy is caucasian as well.  Sounds familiar!

Caris & Audrey

Couldn't they pass as siblings?

Caris & Jonathan eyeing each other again...

Tiffany overseeing the girls playing

Nga & Avery, Taylor & Audrey, Caris & I.  Jonathan was napping and Tiff was taking the pic :(

Birthday

May was obviously a busy month for us between Mother's Day and my birthday.  Husband did a great job in not combining the two events.  I always feel bad for people whose birthday is around Christmas time or any other holidays.  I love all celebrations but one should not be overshadowed by the other.  So my birthday was low key celebrating with family, just the way I like it!

At La Hacienda with the fam...Margaritaville!

Pecan Pie and Italian Cream Cake...Double Yum!

Pink roses and while stargazer lilies from hubby, just beautiful...they lasted for a whole week too!

Hubby put together is album of his fave pics of Caris and I for my present.

No smile for Mommy :(

All smiles for Daddy:)

With Grandma

With Grandpa

With Wilma

First Mother's Day

Just for fun I thought I would post a pic of my Mom and myself.  I'm not sure of my age then but I do see a lot of resemblance in Caris.  Thank you Mom for all the sacrifices you've made for me over the years.  You are loved!

This was officially my first Mother's Day and my sweet husband made sure that it was a special one!  Just to brag on the hubby, the man got me roses and a spa gift card, baked-yes baked me a cake, made me an omelet for breakfast, took me out for lunch and went to see a chick flick all for Mother's Day weekend!  On top of it all, my birthday happens to be next weekend.  Could I have not planned this any better?!? I told him he is good for the rest of the year!!!

I say "officially" this was my first M-Day since I was pregnant with Caris for 6 months this time last year.  Oh how time has indeed flown by...I was about to break out the tissue box when I was going through her newborn pics from the hospital.  Most of my favorite ones have been already been blogged but I saw this one below and it just brought black a flood of memories of seeing her for the first time.  I know every mom thinks so but I really did thought she had a face of an angel...I have never shared this with anyone, not even with hubby, but I thought for a second they were going to come and tell me they gave us the wrong baby!  Was she really ours???  At each stage of pregnancy, I would always tried to imagined what she would look like and couldn't come up with anything.  She is just a perfect mix of her daddy and I.  I know that she is His and He has entrusted her to us for a short while but what a privilege and an honor to raise her in the admonition of the Lord!  So on Mother's Day, my greatest gift was when Caris made me a Mom...I will always be grateful to God for this perfect blessing from above!  I love you Caris! I've attached a poem that I got from a couple of Mommy friends in an email that says it all for me:

Before I was a Mom,  
I never tripped over toys 
or forgot words to a lullaby. 
I didn't worry whether or not 
my plants were poisonous. 
I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom, 
I had never been puked on. 
Pooped on. 
Chewed on. 
Peed on. 
I had complete control of my mind 
and my thoughts.  
I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom, 
I never held down a screaming child 
so doctors could do tests. 
Or give shots. 
I never looked into teary eyes and cried. 
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.  
I never sat up late hours at night 
watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom, 
I never held a sleeping baby just because 
I didn't want to put her down.  
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces 
when I couldn't stop the hurt. 
I never knew that something so small 
could affect my life so much.  
I never knew that I could love someone so much. 
I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom, 
I didn't know the feeling of 
having my heart outside my body..  
I didn't know how special it could feel 
to feed a hungry baby. 
I didn't know that bond 
between a mother and her child. 
I didn't know that something so small 
could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom, 
I had never gotten up in the middle of the night 
every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay. 
I had never known the warmth, 
the joy, 
the love, 
the heartache,  
the wonderment 
or the satisfaction of being a Mom. 
I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much, 
before I was a Mom ...

 

Caris at 2 days...she looked just like her 3D Ultrasound

Hubby got me these lovely roses and baked me the most chocolaty cake.

Baby Girl was exactly 9 months on M-Day!

Care Bear is still gummy with her smile;)

With the two grandmas

Caris and Ba Ngoai (grandma in Vietnamese)

With Patrick's Grandmother Jessie 

With our two Moms, Patrick's Grandmother, and his Aunt Sharon at Olive Garden

What's in a name?

This weekend I went to a baby shower for a friend, Angyla, from our former church.  Thanks to Wendi, who introduced me to Mod Podge, I decided to make some wall name plagues for Baby Sara.  I was so relieved when I found out the baby's name was four letter Sara and not E-l-i-z-a-b-e-t-h(although a good name) or something! So I've been thinking about names...I've always had a fascination for names and their origin.  When it comes to naming your child, you have to know that this is what he or she will be called for the rest of their entire life!  When we were looking for names for Caris, oh my word, it took me forever to decide on a name!  Then there's always the back and forth between the hubby whether he liked or not.  Even though he said it was up to me and I originally chose Grace, he said it had been overused, and I had to agree with that.  So when Angyla's mom, Paula, told me that Charis meant "grace"in biblical Greek then well I knew that was it!  But I digress, my fascination for names is due to the fact that I really don't think people know the meanings of names and just pick names because they think it sounds good.  C'mon, would you think of naming your child a name that meant "helmet head"? Well, a popular name right now means just that! Just a thought for future parents...Because I chose a different name for our daughter, I can say this, that kids nowadays have such unique names as opposed to, say my generation.  If you have friends your age with your same name, you know it was probably a popular name that year.  So I thought I would look up the top five popular names for 2009:

  

Boys:

 1. Aiden/Aidan/Aden/Adan

2. Ethan

3. Noah

4. Kaden/Caden/Cayden/Kayden

5. Caleb/Kaleb

 

Girls:

1. Ava

2. Isabella

3. Madeline/Madelyn

4. Emma

5. Abigail 

And yes, I must know all the little boys with all the "Kaden" spelling combinations!  But I think Sara(princess) Jolie(pretty) is a good and solid name.  It means pretty princess, how wonderful is that!  Proverbs 22:1 "A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches."

           

First Easter Dress

So it stormed miserably on Easter Sunday this year so we thought it best to wait to take a pic of the "Official First Easter Dress".  Our sweet neighbor was so nice to let us borrow the garden in their front yard.   Good thing for us they didn't charge us for the sitting fee:)  I told her it's so well kept that it doesn't even look real...Since it was a reshoot I am not dressed in my Easter garb.  It's enough to get Missy ready nowadays.  Daddy is missing in these photos because he is the photographer and by the time he spends his energy making Caris smile, he is not in the mood to pose himself.  We understand...we also appreciate and love him for putting up with Obsessed Momma and our favorite Egg.  

Just in case one can't tell that our emphasis on Easter is The Lamb, here is a reminder!

Easter '09

So this was Caris' first Easter.  Hubby and I had to talk about what all we wanted to instill in Caris regarding the meaning of Easter.  We wanted her to know that Easter was about The Lamb and the sacrifice Jesus made for us and not about the Easter Bunny.  To be honest, I've always hated, yes, I hated all things that has to do with bunnies.  It all goes back to when I was a child and watched this scary movie about these ugly, beady eyes, furry animals that grew so big, I'm talking about "ginormous" size bunnies that took over an entire city!  I know most people think they are cute and cuddly but not me.  So the Easter Bunny and I never got on very well.  To this day, every bunny I see, real or fake, I think of that awful movie!  To make it worse, it has invaded into one of the most holy of holidays for me which is Easter.  So to say the least, I associated Easter with new beginnings, and the new life we have in Christ due to his resurrection during this time of the year.  Thank you Lord, for dying on the cross for us!  He is Risen, indeed!

So as you will see from the pictures below, the Easter Bunny is nowhere to be found because it's all about The Lamb.  Also, I've been skimming some blogs regarding cupcakes since I'm already looking for some ideas for Caris' first b-day party.  I know, her birthday is in Aug. but these dates have a way of creeping up on you.  So I got inspired from looking at some blogs and created some Easter treats using the whole Spring theme. Keep the inspiration coming!

Nest Bundt Cake

These were edible "grass"

Gotta have the M&M's eggs.

Individual Peep cupcakes

Caris drooling over these cupcakes

Next year Baby, you can actually eat one.

Check out her smirk.

Excited about egg coloring

Of course we have to taste everything

Lamb Easter basket.

Since she is curious about the cell phone I thought I would get one of her own.

License to drool with the car keys.

Egg coloring, hummmm...

Work it Girl!

We normally don't wear our bathing suit in the tub but Daddy says "noooo naked pics of Baby!"

Reading The Easter Story Book from Granny.

Lammy is bigger than her!