Valentine's Day After Kids

 

I can't remember the last time I celebrated Valentine's Day on Valentine's Day. So it only seems fitting that I write about it after the fact. Matt and I usually will have a nice dinner a few days before or after, and he always gets me a nice bouquet of flowers. While many think of Valentine's Day as just a Hallmark holiday, I think it's at least a good reminder to carve out some quality time for your loved ones. 

Working on her golf game.

Opening their confetti eggs.

Shouting red light, green light directions.

How we looked on the other side of it.

This year, Matt and I had dinner at Odys + Penelope a few days before the 14th. I highly recommend it! We also saw a good number of families there, so we'll definitely bring the girls next time! On the 14th, we had a small picnic in Griffith Park with close friends. The kids had a blast running around and playing games. We finished it off with a ride on the carousel. The girls took the longest naps once we got home! Horray! While it wasn't necessarily a day filled with romance, it was the perfect Valentine's Day for us getting a chance to hang with our favorite people. 

*all photos by Bob Cho

JiHoon's 3rd Birthday

The past few months we've been in birthday season. When we tell Leah we're going to a birthday party, the first thing she asks is "What present are we going to bring?" The second question is "Will there be cake??" 

JiHoon had an ice cream themed party, and all the kids couldn't have been happier! It's definitely more chaotic attending parties with two kids in tow. Matt is usually running around with Leah, and I'm holding Ava. We're exhausted when we get home! Only a couple more to go... 

Ruby's 3rd Birthday

Photo by Diane Valdez

We celebrated Ruby's 3rd birthday at Grand Park LA on the 12th. It was a Yellow themed party, and it was so fun to see everyone dressed in yellow! Since there were other parties taking place at the same time, the color theme totally helped us figure out who was part of our group! The party was gorgeous with all the Oh Joy! for Target goodies, and the food was delicious. You can see more details about the party here. 

*photos except top photo by Casey Brodley for Oh Joy

Happy New Year!!

Happy 2014!! We've been quiet on the blog lately since Matt's been off from work the past 2.5 weeks. We've been enjoying a lot of family time, date days, and just relaxing. It's definitely a little strange having him go back to work today. Here's a glimpse of what we were up to the last couple weeks:

First time riding ponies at Griffith Park

Christmas Eve 

Christmas morning with Grandma and Grandpa

Loving her Christmas gift

Kidspace Museum in Pasadena

Playing with snow at Kidspace Museum

New Years Eve party (Photo by Bob Cho)

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and is ready to get started with 2014! 

Cupcakes & Feasts

What a week! Besides celebrating Leah's birthday, Leah's school had their Thanksgiving feast, and we had 2 other birthday parties to attend this weekend. 

We're having a little party for Leah next week, so for her real birthday we kept it low key at home. I made her mini buttermilk-vanilla cupcakes, and we sang Happy Birthday to her while she wore the crown she made at school. She was all smiles when she saw her cupcakes, and that was pretty much the only time she would wear her crown for longer than 10 seconds. 

At school, the kids made little Pilgrim and Indian hats and sat around a big table together to eat a Thanksgiving lunch. I totally remember doing that as a kid too! Leah wasn't really feeling the food besides the corn, so I, of course, gladly finished her meal. :)

Photo by Bob Cho

Photo by Bob Cho

Leah finished off the week having too much fun at the birthday parties and eating a ton of cake. 

Hope everyone's having a great weekend!

Emi & Tae's Wedding

Last Saturday, I had the privilege of being a bridesmaid in my good friend Emi's wedding at the Annenberg Beach House in Santa Monica. We've known each other since our college days and have been on many adventures together since. It was a perfect day for the gorgeous couple, and I had so much fun being by Emi's side. I seriously love weddings. Every time I attend one, I wish I could relive mine all over again.

Leah spent the weekend with my parents, and she had a blast. I always worry how she'll be when Matt and I are away, and she's always been great! My parents said she was happy and well-behaved the whole weekend. Whew! I feel so blessed to have family nearby.

*top two photos by Tina Lee

Girlfriends

Leah: 5 Weeks; Ruby: 10 Weeks

Leah: 29 Weeks; Ruby: 34 Weeks

Joy did a post on "besties" recently featuring Ruby and Leah, and my heart bursts every time I think about those two little munchkins. They have known each other since they were in the womb, and when they were babies, our play dates usually consisted of them lying or sitting around while Joy and I ate and chatted. Nowadays, when they get together, they greet each other with huge smiles. I mean big, open mouth, grins and giggles. After that initial greeting, the rest of the time is often spent chasing each other, and I get a pretty good cardio work out for the day. When Leah goes a day or two without seeing Ruby, she'll look at me and say "Roo-by? Roo-by?" I often daydream about what Leah will be like as she gets older, and I hope that this friendship continues to grow and blossom. How cute would it be to see these pics in their wedding slideshows???

Photo by Bob Cho

Photo by Bob Cho

I must admit that very few of my childhood friendships have lasted. We mostly keep in touch through Facebook or Christmas cards, but I have very fond memories of those friendships. While I get a little sad thinking about how we've grown apart, I'm also very thankful for my girlfriends today. Some I've known since college and some within the past year or so, but they've all supported me through different chapters in my life. They hold a special place in my heart... and so to my girls... thank you for your friendship and I love you!

First Time Mommy Group Picnic

I've been part of this mommy Facebook group for over a year now, and it has grown into a group of over 1,800 women! We had one get together awhile back at the LA Zoo, and this time we had a picnic basically in our backyard at Griffith Park. There were over 100 mommies, daddies, and babies! It was wonderfully organized by Korinna Peterson with food catered from Zankou Chicken, a photographer, games for the whole family to participate in, toys and a baby play pen area, raffle prizes, gift bags, and more! 

Ready to make her move on Hudson

Getting fed puffs by Jace

Our whole family had tons of fun meeting new families, and also catching up with some old friends. It was a gorgeous day, and Leah was in her element getting to roam around and play with other kids/babies. This was the most babies she's ever seen at one time. Leah usually naps around noon, and she held up all the way until 1:30pm! She quickly passed out once we got home though!

Me & Leah, Crystal & Hudson, Masae & Reagan

Poor Leah is exhausted! Photo by SoCal Wedding Photography

I've really enjoyed being part of this group. It's been a great resource for me as a new mommy, the women are so supportive and hilarious, and I love seeing a constant flow of baby photos! Thank you Masae for starting this! 

By the way, they even started a blog right here!

Aggressive Little Lady

Crystal came over with baby Hudson, and Leah couldn't have been more in love. She immediately attacked him with hugs and kisses. Poor guy definitely felt a little smothered! It was fun to catch up and see these two interact. Play dates are going to be way more interesting once Hudson is running around too! 

And here's a little video of Leah playing the drums. Do we have a little rock star on our hands?

Happy Friday!

Leah has been looking a lot like this lately with her molars coming in.

The weather has been gorgeous this week so we've been out and about on play dates. Leah got to see her best friend Ruby 4 days in a row! Lucky girl! Wednesday, our Gymboree group of mommies had lunch at Din Tai Fung for my favorite pork dumplings, and then we headed to the Santa Anita mall to let the kids play around in the little play gym inside. I must admit, I never used to think about going to the mall if I had no intentions of shopping, but this place is great for kids! This one had the following services for families:

• Family Lounge: a space to relax and recharge, featuring private nursing areas, baby changing-stations, family restrooms, play areas, toys and plasma TV
• Family Parking: convenient and close to Center entrances
• Family PlaySpace: a fun area designed just for kids
• Smarte Carte® strollers: strollers shaped like little cars

I hope everyone has a great weekend!