September 29, 2011

Having thrown the house out the window, an expression in Spanish meaning to throw a big party, to celebrate Valentina's 1st birthday, we wanted to make her real day of birth fun for her on her terms. We started the day off with a trip around the neighborhood to visit all the dogs, cats and birds, followed by lots of reading and her fav snacks throughout the morning.

Her favorite cousins came over a bit later with balloons and lots and lots of hugs and kisses. Then we did what any girl would do on her birthday, we went shopping and she got a pair of new kicks, her first pair of big kid shoes she loved them so much that she wore them out.

Kevin and I agreed the previous night that if Vale could say so, she'd want to hang out at the beach on her day. So we went.. and I really don't think we misread her, she loved it (as usual)! After the beach we paid her grandparents a visit to wish them luck on their trip as well as get b-day kisses. Vale's b-day concluded with an apple sauce cake and since we topped it with her favorite: strawberries and yogurt she dug into it big time making it a super sweet moment and one we had really hoped to see!










p.s. I can almost be sure that this is most likely probably the last b-day related post, we'll be back to regularly scheduled fun times posts real soon here :)

Viva Mexico!

The family just returned from a little getaway to Rosarito located in beautiful Mexico. My cousin Cindy married her dream man, Kaneo, in a lovely ceremony right on the beach! Those pics are on my facebook if you care to check them out, I might share a few cause I did have a few favs..

the next morning we wondered onto the beach for fresh coconuts and a little family fun. My sister got her hair braided while the rest of us ate mangos, cocos and corn in a cup! My brother in law even had a beer, right on the beach! it was a beautiful relaxing time. Vale was so happy she couldn't sit still...enjoy...













I love Mexico! I know it's not the safest, but we've never encountered any problems. We always travel in a group, dress down and stay in busy areas. You also need a passport now! but if you have a free weekend, and a little extra cash, I totally recommend a trip to Rosarito and Ensenada, its so cheap and theres lots to see, eat, do and buy! I bought a reboso to help me carry Vale on my hip, I can't wait to hand wash it and start using it!

all in one

hi dear readers, my apologies for the unannounced hiatus..my computer is acting up and refusing to charge but I tried again this afternoon and like magic it started charging! So I quickly did a backup to my external hard drive, down loaded photos from my camera, and now I'm blogging in a hurry in case it decides to die again! The big announcement over here is that VALE IS WALKING!!!! she started really going for it about two weeks ago, and just this week she started walking across her abuelitas and grandparents living rooms. She prefers to crawl to get from place to place in a hurry but once she gets up she really doesn't hold back! For Kevin and I its been really exciting and anytime she gets into walking position we call for each other, sometimes they are false alarms but others we have just enough time to grab the camera to record a little video. We cheer for her and clap (oh she's clapping too, it's the freakin best)

Here are some pictures of our recent family outtings...
We couldn't believe it, but she was charging into the water, didn't care that the waves were getting her in the face, it was the strangest/cutest/funniest!







Vale likes to stand at the door and bang on it, she yells at people as they come home from work, laughs with kids, and calls dogs over with baby chirping, we never really let her play outside, except for this one time. She was so happy playing with the kids and her Eli the elephant, I think she might have earned permission to play outside again. P.s. the chalk washed right of her new clothes, phewf!



Kevin and I sat on this same exact hill in Balboa park days after finding out we were expecting Vale, so every time we go there we sit in that same spot. It feels so surreal. Lovin' those Valentina Ballerina pants!



We took her hiking, a whopping mile uphill! The best workout ever since she was carried the whole way! And yes she wore that ugly hat the whole way up and down! She needs a new one ASAP

Vale celebrates the 4th of July

I uploaded these pictures on July 6th but didn't publish the post because I hadn't written anything, I thought to myself--when Vale goes to sleep I'll do it--. Then Vale went to sleep and to be honest I can't remember what I did, I either made her food for the week, took a long shower, did my nails, vacuumed, read, made quesadillas, or a handful of other useless but oh so fun and baby free shenanigans. The point is, I didn't complete the blog post. Then the next day went by, than the next week and I kept on thinking--well, I already did the hardest part, upload all the pictures, so I'll just do it soon--. wrong again. Ya see, I feel like I owe it to you guys to have something clever to say or at least something entertaining, and most days I don't, so I keep my virtual mouth shut, but I know all ya'll really want are Vale pics, so I have nothing funny or witty or clever to write but since all you really want is the cuteness, here it is--sorry to keep you waiting!



This is my favorite picture of the three of us ever! there's a story to it too- it's long but I'll make it short. My dad ran the coronado 4th of JUly 15K, we dropped him off at the start line at 6:30, found a spot on the beach an hour or so later. At this point it was still just the three of us. While walking back from one of many trips to the water I said to Kevin, "I wish we had a private photographer if only to catch a picture of us right now." And then Vale's angel jabbed our beach neighbor in the ribs and forced her to yell out.." Do you guys have a camera so I can take a picture of you, cause that is just too dang cute?" and we did, so she took our picture. I want it printed on a canvas, wait, I want wallpaper made, no no, a mural on our ceiling, ugh, I loooooove it!


She couldn't wait, COULDN'T wait to get in!






And then she did, and must have wondered what her big rush was..that water was COLD






I like to shoot in the no flash mode, it's easy, pictures turn out great, and I rarely miss the shot, but sometimes I venture into the manual mode and I always regret it, the pictures are overexposed, blurry, too dark, or I miss the shot entirely cause I'm trying to figure out my ISO...bah, rarely do I overexpose and still love the results. The beach may be completely missing but my two favorite girls are still there :)



It was a perfect 4th of July on the beach! The only bummer was that we woke up so early and spent so much time in the sun that by 8pm we were asleep and missed the fireworks. Oh well, next year!