"Mixed Kids Are the Cutest"

I saw this article and it got me thinking. I often get comments like this about my daughter. While I do believe my daughter IS THE CUTEST, it bothers me sometimes when people make that comment after they find out my daughter is of mixed race.

My family is the "color of the rainbow" and I LOVE each and everyone of them unconditionally regardless of their skin color.

I don't entirely agree with the article where it says that statements like these are "racist". I think that's a bit of an extreme. I do think people make these comments thinking they are being complimentary when in actuality, they are not. I mean, telling me my daughter is cute because she is of mixed race implies that J & I (who are not of mixed race) are just mediocre. I beg to differ. I happen to think my husband is the hottest guy out there and I am sure he will tell you the same thing about me :-).
I like to think 2 beautiful people made an even more beautiful baby :-).

What do you think? Do you agree or disagree with this article and why?

In the meantime, here's a picture of my princess with my handsome hubby all ready for Church.

Hope you're having a fabulous week!

Sitting & standing

Its been quite a busy week and I am glad the weekend is upon us. J is almost done with school. He graduates in 2 weeks. Yay!

On Friday evening, JOE started sitting on her own for a few seconds. However, as of Wednesday morning, she is officially sitting on her own. I am so proud of my little princess. 

Here she is, trying to figure out what's in front of her. I was using my iPAD this picture as opposed to my android phone 

She is also trying to stand on her own. She still needs to be held but if I hold her close to me, she will stand for a couple of seconds. Does that mean she'll be crawling or waking soon? Scary!!!

Last night, she decided she wanted to be sprawled out on our bed. She apparently, likes it very much.

And here is my darling handsome husband being silly. I can see this happening in a lot of her future pics. The stuff she can look forward to :-).

Hope you had an awesome week!

Weekend festivities...baby dedication & more DIY

It was a fun but VERY busy weekend. My family came to town to celebrate JOE's dedication at church. It was awesome to be surrounded by friends and family from bother sides. JOE truly is a lucky gal. In true fashion she did great all day yesterday and proceeded to be a crying mess after we got home. Its all good. She slept from 8pm until 7:15am this morning. SCORE!

Here she is with her aunt/godmother.

I made good on my promise and had a dress made for her from my wedding gown. It looked great on her and I am glad I did it. We are also having a romper made for a boy incase our next one or the one after is a boy :-). I am keeping the top of the dress and will have a different colored skirt added to it later. Perhaps it I can wear it for our 10-year anniversary. That dress will certainly be put to good use! It cost a pretty penny afterall and I refuse to only get 6-hours of wear out of it :-).

JOE with her grandparents (my parents).

More pics on JOE's dedication later. The photog (my brother) had to leave early to catch a train back to NYC so he couldn't download the pics before leaving.

More DIY Projects

I saw this picture on Pintrest and wanted to recreate something similar.

J & I inherited this buffet from J's grandmother.

I got the frame from eBAY. I already had the mirror. The glassware was from our unity candles and also a couple of flower vases I have received in the past from J. My dad used painter's tape to cover the areas we wanted to protect and I went to work on this. It took a total of about 1 hour to paint and a full day to dry. 

Here's the finished work.

Buffet: Free

Glassware: Free

Stones in vases: Already had these at home

Frame: $35

Flowers: $24 (from Michaels. They were on sale @ $3.97 a piece)

Paint for frame: $6 (2-small bottles of glossy black paint)

Brushes: $1 (got 2 @ $0.49 per brush)

Another flower vase I received from J in the past. He buys me flowers often. I love that man...

Candle holders: Free (we already had these at home. They were a gift to J from way back when)
Vase: Free
Flowers: $12 (they were on sale for $3.95 from Michael's)

Hope you had a fabulous weekend!

Making our house a home...dining chairs DIY project

I managed to get another DIY project completed. Rather, I was forced to. 

It all began with a dining room set. We inherited the dining set from J's grandmother. The chair fabric was pretty worn but the main furniture pieces was pretty solid so I decided to keep and use them in our dining room. Any way to save a buck!

So last Friday, I started to remove the old fabric. 

On Saturday, I picked up the fabric and chair cushions from Walmart.

Fabric: $13.44

Cushion: $13.66

On Sunday, we picked up a heavy duty staple gun and staples from Home Depot. 

Staple gun: $18.99

Staples: $4.25

Well, things got quite busy since we were celebrating our anniversary so this project was put on hold.

However, because J had already unscrewed the chair bases and I had already started removing the cushion and fabric, J and I had to immediately finish the chair since we're having guests this weekend.

So while I put on the fabric and stapled it to the chair base, J screwed them back and helped with stapling when my hands got tired. 

Here's the finished product.

It was a 2-hour effort but that kept us up until late on Wednesday night but it was worth it.

On Saturday, while I was out shopping, J put together this coat rack/sitting piece for our front door. This was a wedding gift. We can FINALLY use the items we received after 2-years of marriage :-). 

We figured guests can sit there while they take off their shoes.

Furniture piece/mirror: Free

2-Baskets: $12.98 (I used a 40% off coupon I had for Michael's)

I purchased the baskets from Michael's on sale. On holds clean socks and the other will be used to put dirty socks.

While out shopping on Saturday, I found a nice set of towels at Wal-mart that I figured would look nice in the half bathroom downstairs. So I purchased them and put ribbons I already had at home (I keep ribbons from gift wrappings).

2-Towels: $9.96 total

Ribbons: Free

On another note, here's a picture of our happy baby. Right before she proceeded to keep mommy and daddy up most of the night :-). I love love love that smile!

Hope you had a great week. Have an awesome weekend! I am looking forward to spending time with my family this weekend.

Cotton Anniversary!

Hubby and I marked our cotton (2-year) anniversary yesterday. We went out to dinner on Sunday to have an early celebration.
It was so much fun. We were giggling like silly teenagers. Because of the car my hubby drives, I haven't been able to sit in the passenger seat whenever we have JOE in the car. Well on Sunday, we dropped her off at the babysitter's house and I got in front! It was nice to be driving "shot-gun". We even held hands for a bit and then hubby needed his hand back to properly navigate :-).

We went to Fogo De Chao for an early dinner.

Here is hubby EAGERLY anticipating the arrival of the next meat. My hubby LOVES to eat and is ALWAYS hungry. I don't know where he puts it but his healthy appetite is admirable. Plus he always looks good...granted, he does exercise so that helps a bit but no way his exercising burns off all the calories he consumes!

Apparently, the "Parmesan chicken" guy didn't get there quickly enough. It is important to note that JOE has that same scowl when she is upset :-).

Hmmm...it tastes quite good. I guess it was somewhat worth the wait.

Oh I LOVED these cheese puffs. We have been here many times before and I never tried them. Not sure why but this time, I decided to try it and they tasted divine! I had like 3...maybe 4 or 5...I lost count :-).

J has ALWAYS raved about the mozzarella and cherry tomatoes here. I had never tried it and just thought he was going overboard when he said it was the best he's ever had. Even when we were in Italy, he said these were better. Well, I HAD to try it. Ummm...he was RIGHT (I don't say that too often so hopefully, he sees this and saves it for his records :-))! This was my second plate. And I finished EVERY SINGLE LAST BIT of it!

For dessert, I had the custard flan and J had the NY Style Cheesecake with strawberries. His dessert was complimentary. They even wrote "Happy Anniversary" with some of the strawberry sauce. Fret not...ALL of the dessert was gone before we left. Including the sauce...yup...that's how we roll :-).

Had to take a picture of the menu. Not sure why. I guess I am a photog in training? Nah...this was just for fun.

In front of the restaurant. We had such a blast. I laughed so much I was in tears most of the evening. I LOVE my hubby sooooo much and he truly is a blessing to me. I LOVE him even more for giving me our little blessing JOE.

On to gifts. Again, J, LOVES TO EAT! So when I went to Wal-mart to do some household shopping and saw this, I couldn't resist getting it for him. He loves them so much, he posted on Facebook!

I also got him a couple of cotton dress shirts and tie hangers. J has lots of ties and they always fall whenever he goes in the closet to get one. I figured he'd be able to put these to good use.

For me, I am always cold so he got me my very own blanket and had my name monogrammed on there. It is in Tiffany blue which was one of our wedding colors.

He also got me slippers cause the in-door slippers I have has survived MANY MANY MANY years. I stole them (he knows I took them) from my dad senior year of high school. Let's just say high school was almost 19-years ago :-). So yes...they have made it that long. J also had my initials monogrammed on my new slippers.

I also got a beautiful bouquet of flowers. I LOVE yellow roses.

AND dinner from Chipotle. He even got my order right. I typically like to add and take out different things and he didn't even call me to get the order right. He must have been paying attention all these years.

We had a great anniversary. Looking forward to the next 65-years with him. I told him after 65-years, I'd want a divorce not because I don't love him but because after 67-years, I'd want to go back to the dating pool. I could get me a younging...perhaps an 85-year old since we'd both be 100 at that point :-).

Hope you're having an awesome week. I am looking forward to my family coming to visit this weekend.

Children & Regrets?

I came across this article about a woman who regrets having kids last week. I urge you to read through it carefully because while I do not regret having my daughter and never will, I can honestly say I understand what she is saying. Which is not to be confused with agreeing with her.

She clearly loves her kids and did everything she could to ensure their well-being. However, I wonder if she would have been better off not having kids. The last paragraph is what gets me. She says she'd gladly do anything for her kids. That is a clear sign of love. Society may not agree and I may be in the minority but I give her kudos for being honest with herself while at the same time, doing the best she could. Many claim to love their kids only to abuse them. That does not appear to be the case here.

Being a mother has been the most rewarding thing I have done to date. I love waking up and seeing the smile on my daughter's face and I would never regret having her.

What are your thoughts on this article? I think she is just expressing something others out there feel but don't talk about because it is frowned upon.

Happy Tuesday readers!

#Project Milf - week 10 favorite motivating song

A little late but here it goes.

This week's Project Milf challenge is my favorite motivating song that gets be moving.

My favorite song is Run the world (Girls) by Beyonce. Yup. I like to feel like it takes a good strong woman to run the world :-). A man might be the face but I truly believe that behind every well-rounded and successful man is an awesome woman!

Also, here's a recap of how I am doing with the challenge.

#1 - Work on my relationship with J. We will be celebrating our 2nd anniversary this weekend. I am very much looking forward to it. We will be going to Fogo de chao. A Brazillian restaurant with all you can eat meats and buffet. We love going there and this will be our first "nice" date night without JOE. We still go out on weekly date nights but its more a family date night so this'll be different.

#2 - Work on my body so I can get healthier. I got to put in good workout sessions this week. I worked out on Saturday, Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. I met and exceeded my goal 3-days of workout. Yay!!! Still working on healthier eating habits though.

#3 - Work on my spiritual life. This is still a work in progress but I continue to trudge along.

Have a fabulous weekend every!

Sanity at 5-months...

JOE turned 5-months on Sunday.  She now sleeps through the night most nights. She is one active baby and VERY inquisitive.
She now rolls over from front to back and from back to front. She army crawls to get to something if she really wants it. I guess real crawling is next. I can't believe how fast the time is FLYING by! I can still remember the day I had her...clear as day!

I don't really have any stats for her because her next appointment isn't until early May at 6-months.

We love her to bits and like I always tell her when I get home from work each day, I love her from the earth to the moon and back!

Sole food...

For the last week/week and half, JOE has been steadily eating more and more and more.
At her 4-month appointment, her pediatrician said to start her on solids sometime between 4 and 6-months. I didn't want to start her on solids because I wanted her exclusively on breastmilk until 6-months. However, JOE's system has a mind of its own.
JOE started getting hungrier and hungrier. I finally called the nurse's line yesterday just to see if perhaps something was up and was told that she likely needs more calories. I have really enjoyed being her exclusive source of food and now I have to introduce solids. It was a bitter/sweet day for me. Bitter as in I am losing my place as her sole food provider and sweet as in my baby is growing!

So, I decided her first meal would be peas. I broke out the new Cuisinart processor we got as a wedding gift that was still in its box (yes, we were married almost 2-years ago and still have unopened wedding presents:-)).
J washed all the parts while I steamed up the peas. I put it in the food processor and added some breastmilk to thin it out a bit. Then we got JOE ready for her first solid meal.

She was more interested in the spoon.

Here we go!

Hmmm...I am not sure what that was but it wasn't half bad.

Again? Ummm...how about I take the spoon and do it myself?

I like the spoon...its quite yummy...Not sure about this green stuff so I am going to force it out with my tongue.

Oh well...she made it through relatively OK. I was expecting the worse but she did GREAT! Barely had a half a teaspoon though. Attempt #2 tonight.

On another unrelated and completely silly note, my car hit 150k miles on Sunday on our way to Church. She's been a reliable friend for the last 10-years and I hope she keeps up the good work!

Hope your week is going well!

Beautiful weekend and nursery pics

It was a pretty good weekend. J, JOE managed to get a lot done. 

On Saturday after J left for class, JOE and I hung out at home for a bit before bundling up and heading out for a walk. JOE really enjoyed the walk. She smiled at everyone and was a little chatterbox. Thankfully, the weather warmed up while we were walking so we were able to stay out for a bit longer. 

After we got home, we got cleaned up and headed to Michaels to get some items to complete JOE's nursery and also to frame the mirror I have. 

I thought it'd be OK to take JOE out of her carseat and just wear her in the baby bjorn while shopping. Hmmm...not the best idea. She got really fussy after about 20-minutes of browsing. I had to quickly pay and leave the store. No fun! Lesson learned though. She's not ready for that yet. I think she still needs her stroller and/or her carseat. Oh well!

Sunday, we made it to Church somewhat on-time (as in before the sermon :-)) and then we headed to the in-laws. J's aunt and godmother will be making JOE's baby blessing (similar to a baptism) gown using my wedding gown. I figured I won't be wearing it again and this was a good way to make use of the very AMPLE material from the dress. I will share pics after it is made. 

After Church, we came home and relaxed for a bit. We were planning on getting our patio done but after getting some estimates, we are going to wait until next year to get it done. Plus one of the guys who came out CREEPED ME OUT!!! He said "your daughter is very cute. Can I hold her?" Ummm...I don't know you from jack! Needless to say, even though every fiber in my body was screaming to run, I just said "ummm...no..." Hubby added "first time protective mom and all." Hubby said I handled it well :-).

So here are some pics of JOE's nursery. We are almost done! The window valence go up tonight and then it'll be done! I like the way everything turned out. I think JOE does too :-).

The room BEFORE transformation.

The room AFTER transformation.

I got the letters, stars and base board from Michaels. I sprayed them and used tacky glue to attach the letters to the board. Then put a ribbon on the back and hung it up on her door.

Total cost for all materials including taxes was $18. 

Total time spent was about 30-minutes.

I got vinyl wall decals from amazon.com.
Total cost for decals: $24
Total time spent putting it up: 1-hour (J had to help me put up the higher ones and JOE was quite fussy during the process)

I got these letters from amazon as well. I thought it was a good way for her to learn her ABCs. It is on the wall across from JOE's crib.
Total cost: $12.99
Total time spent putting them up: 20-minutes

I got 3-frames from Michaels. My goal was to make framed 3-D art to put on JOE's wall.

This frame is of her foot print card and bracelet from when she was born. Written on it are her stats...Date of Birth, Weight, Time of birth and length.
Cost for frame: $4.99 each
Time spent putting it together: Less than 10-minutes.

The toy chest was a gift from J's co-worker. The colors go so well with her nursery.

I framed 2-cards I received from my baby shower. I thought the cards were perfect to use so I kept them after my shower.
Cost for frame: $4.99 each
Time spent putting it together: 20-minutes total

Clearly, my 3-D framing skills is a work in progress but so far so good.

The last item are her window valence. They go up tonight.

J also scored a couple of pairs of sunglasses while we were out. Here she is feeling really cool :-).

Hope you had a nice weekend!