Happy Holidays!

Look who I caught under the sheets together! :) Better not find them like this later. hahah!

Being a momma made me sensitive!

Before I had Jacen, I barely cried. Especially at a movie!

Tonight, both my boys went to bed early so I had me a little 'alone time'! Whoohoo! I decided to watch a movie (and eat chips). It's been a while since I've watched a movie all by myself without any interruptions.

I watched The Help, starring Emma Stone and Viola Davis. This isn't necessarily a sad movie. But for some reason, I found myself teary-eyed or crying during parts of the movie, which I'm sure I wouldn't have cried at regularly!

Once the movie ended (and I got myself together), I realized what it was! I now cry at all the parts involving mothers or babies or children. Geez! What the?!?!?

All in all, this was a wonderful movie. I really liked it despite all the tears. I even want to read the book! Anyone have a copy I can borrow?? :)

Meeting Tessa!

My brother and I headed to Markville mall today for some Christmas shopping and bumped into my good old friend Freddie! He was there to meet his wife Yolanda and baby Tessa, who I had yet to meet! Freddie and family also got to meet Jacen, which was great! The last time I saw Freddie and Yolanda, we were both preggo so it was nice to exchange stories with one another.

Tessa is only two months younger than Jacen and she was the same size as him! What a cutie! It was nice meeting you baby girl. Hopefully we'll have more play dates together in the new year.

Meeting up with the GCM crew!

Tonight I met up with the GCM crew: Di, Ev, Ken and Huddy for dinner and drinks at Joey. The girls all shared a bunch of appetizers for dinner, which were sooooo yummy!! We caught up with one another and had laughs all around. It's hard to believe I've known this group for 17 years (except you Di - almost 30 years with you girl-geez)! With all the merriment (Hud's drink from a dude and Di's bathroom incident), I forgot to take a group photo! It was just like ol' times... except at a nicer location and atmosphere. No more cafeteria food for this crew (not tonight anyway). Thanks for a fun night GCMers!

Meeting Miss Samara!

We finally got to meet little Miss Samara today! Di had us all over for a bake day (a tradition of baking holiday cookies) which we haven't done in a long time, and we all brought our kids! It was definitely harder to bake with all the kids there - Di actually did all the baking while the rest of us played with the kids and munched on cookies... my kind of baking! :)

Miss Samara is a sweetheart! She didn't cry once (I wanted to hear the cry of a tiny baby), but no such luck. She's so precious and we're so happy to have you here with us! Thanks for a fun day ladies!

Holiday partay!

Tonight was Ron's Holiday party, and with my sister Sarah babysitting .... we were off to a night out of good food and fun! This year, the company had a Casino theme which was different from the past years we'd gone. It was great!

After dinner we received play money and while Ron headed off to the Poker table, I played the slot machines and the Blackjack table! We played for tickets for a raffle prize draw throughout the night (prizes included a TV, iPods, e-readers and an iPad- we didn't win though) and when I finished all my $$, I headed off to the Crepe station, the Cookie bar, and the Chocolate fountain for some yummy treats!

It was a fun night, but I may have overdone it on the drinking. They also had a photo booth, so we took some photos (shown below). The woman on the right is my favourite wife of one of Ron's coworkers that I hang out with every year (Saads: doesn't she look a bit like Camilla?). Happy Holidays!

Dim sum and Antiquing!

We met up with Sebby, Lesley and Nolan this morning for some yummy dim sum. The two boys were dressed in their Star Wars shirts (too funny!)... and Nolan gave Jacen his birthday present! The moms and babies then headed to the Antique market (a place I'd never been to) for a lovely afternoon. I ended up buying two more tea cups to add to my collection! Thanks Les for teaching me the ways of the tea cup world. hehe.

My 1st Online Shopping Experience!

I've never bought anything online. I've always been quite hesitant due to security issues. I was reading one of my magazines the other day and there was a pair of gloves from the Gap that I saw that I wanted! I looked it up online, and sure enough there they were. I went into the Gap the next day to look for them, but the store was packed and the salesperson had no idea what I was talking about when I described them. Arrrrrgh!

The next day, Ron told me that the Gap was having a 30% off sale, but only on online purchases. I decided to take the plunge and buy my gloves online! Shipping is free for purchases over $50, so I added a pair of pants too! The problem was the sizes. Without trying them on, I wasn't sure what to get!

I put the order through on Monday, and I received an email on Tuesday that they had shipped it. And today, I got my order! Pretty fast considering free shipping is 7-9 days! I just tried both items on and they fit!! Whooohooo! It was definitely a great shopping experience (all done while Jacen was sleeping), and I'm now debating on whether to do my Christmas shopping online! :)

Food and Wine show!

I was lucky enough to have a day out with my girl Quel today! I managed to get a babysitter at the last minute (thanks Sarah!), so Quel and I decided to head down to the Metro Convention Centre to check out the Food and Wine Show! I've never been and now that I'm officially no longer breastfeeding, I wanted to take advantage of all that alcohol! It was fun!

I'm glad we got there early because by the time we were done with all of our sample tickets, it had gotten so packed that I felt like we were at a huge bar. It was dark and there was music playing, and it was so hard to get through the crowds! People were dressed up too, in hopes of picking up and socializing with others, I'm sure. We were both a bit tipsy at one point (shown in those photo booth photos we took), but that's what happens when you're mixing drinks. The best thing I had was the Beef Short Rib from Brassaii. It was the first thing we ate, and we went back before leaving to have it again. Mmmmm....soooooooo goooood I could have eaten the whole tray! Thanks for a fun time Quel!

A Nursery Rhyme?

I was reading a few of the books from the library that I just got to Jacen this morning, and there was one that stood out which made me laugh, and I thought I'd share!

The book is called Hey, Diddle, Diddle and it's a compilation of nursery rhymes. This was the nursery rhyme I read that made me laugh after I read it: 

I like little pussy,
Her coat is so warm,
And if I don't hurt her,
She'll do me no harm.
So I won't pull her tail
Or drive her away,
But pussy and I
Very gently will play.

(dirty mind, dirty mind).

Congratulations to Saads & Raju!

The couple welcomed their baby girl: Samara Autumn Kaur this morning at 4:43am, weighing in at 6lbs. 1oz. Congratulations!! Jacen can't wait to meet his new playmate! (photo taken off of Facebook)

I'm a little tea pot...

I've had an obsession with tea cups since the day I came over to Lesley & Sebby's house. Lesley has a tea cup collection (a dozen or so of a variety of tea cups and saucers that are all different and unique) that I've always admired and ever since I saw her collection, I've kinda wanted to start my own!

There's just something about sitting around with your friends, and drinking from such a cute tea cup at high tea that I've always enjoyed. I went to the William Ashley sale today, and came home with these three tea cups and saucers! I couldn't resist... looks like my daily afternoon tea will now be a lot more fancier! :)

Visiting St. Jacob's...

We headed out to visit St. Jacob's today. It was a very quaint place and I always enjoy looking around such small towns. We even saw Mennonites on our way home!

Family portraits with the inlaws!

For my mother-in-law's birthday, we decided to have our family photo taken. They haven't had one done in a long time, and with the addition of their 'golden seed', it was the perfect time to do it! 

Below are some of the shots that were taken:

A busy Saturday!

Jacen and I headed out to Di's house first thing in the morning for a breakfast play date with Ken, Lilli and Camilla. The kids all got along while the adults had an interesting conversation about child habits!

Next stop was picking up Saads and then heading over to Wah Sing to meet up with Ev, Mel and Mae for a lovely and yummy lunch! Mae brought a Caramel Crunch cake to celebrate Mel's birthday for after our meal - perfect dessert! It's always nice to meet up with the gals, and over such a good meal!

We then headed to my uncle's house for a bon voyage party! All the aunts, uncles and cousins were there to see off my aunt and uncle who will be living in the Philippines for the rest of the winter season... so jealous! Have a good trip Tita and Tito! All of my relatives got such a kick out of Jacen doing 'pretty eyes', they were asking him to do it all night!

It was such a busy day... both Jacen and I were pooped and ready for bed by the time we got home!

Our Thanksgiving weekend...

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! There are lots to be thankful for and I hope you all had a great long weekend, especially with the awesome weather we had. Saturday, we met up with Ron's friends for some dim sum and then we walked around Pacific Mall for a bit to walk off all the food we ate! Sunday, we met up with my family to pick some apples. It was Jacen's first time, and I love seeing him reacting and seeing new things. We then headed to my sister's house to eat, which is where we stayed until Jacen's bedtime. Monday, it was off to have Thanksgiving lunch with the in-laws. There was so much food, that I was fighting taking a nap on the couch after our meal. Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Birthday Lolo!

We celebrated my daddy's birthday today at Matsu Sushi, an all-you-can-eat Japanese and Thai restaurant. As always, my fam jams are quite 'loud', and this celebration wasn't any different. The food was alright, but I've had better.

I just realized this weekend was definitely a food eating kinda weekend! I think I need bigger pants. :P

Food truckin'...

My sister Sarah and my niece Aleenah came with me to check out the food truck festival at the Distillery tonight. It's the third time they've had one of these food truck festivals this year, so I thought I'd check out the hype. It was COLD out tonight, but that didn't stop us from heading out to eat (a night out is rare for me these days!). It was packed! We split up and lined up at separate trucks to try and maximize the food eats we could try... yummy! I was, however, disappointed with the Cupcake Diner truck. The cupcakes weren't anything to brag about...so disappointing. Mel- your cupcakes were totally better - let's start a food truck! I'll drive... hehe.

A workshop with Nanny Robina...

I attended a 2-hour Toddler Shenanigans workshop today organized by a mommy group I joined a while ago. The speaker was Nanny Robina (TV personality and Parenting expert), and the topics we covered are: tantrums, fussy foodies, telling lies, learning to listen, transitioning babies to new things (bottle to cup, etc.).

I arrived a bit late, so I missed the first 15 minutes, but managed to get some good tips. Here's what she said (I'll put it on the blog so I can refer to it later):

Tantrums:

• can happen between 12-15 months
• timeouts should be 1 minute/age (can start this at 15 months)
• keep words simple when you're telling them something: "No hitting", "No pushing", "Gentle" (and take their hand and show them what gentle is).
• if your kid hurts another kid (cough, cough... Di): go to the kid that is hurt first (so your child sees your attention is to the other kid), then deal with your kid and discipline them
• always remain firm and be consistent with your punishment or your method of discipline

Fussy Foodie:

• it takes 74 times of feeding your child the same one thing before they recognize what it is, so keep trying to give them
• don't cater meals to your child
• age 4 is when kids normally get pickier with their food
• ignore "I don't like that" unless they actually try to get your attention and tell you they really don't like it. And when that happens, just casually tell them "don't eat it, put it aside on your plate" - don't take the food away

Transitions:

• it takes approx. 48 hours for your child to overcome a habit, so keep trying!!
• there are certain age milestones when you should try to do the transitions (ie. 12 months, 18 months). 

Learning to Listen:

• when telling them to do something, have them repeat it: "What did mommy say?"
• for a girl - eye contact is important when telling them to do something
• for a boy - NO eye contact (apparently, you want to empower your son, not overpower them)

That's all I remember. A lot of the items we discussed were specific to ages of the child, so it all depends on the situation and the age... but overall, very informative!!

WORD up!

I took all my nieces and Jacen to Word on the Street today. It's a book fair festival that I have always wanted to check out, but never got around to it. It's funny how I automatically go to the kids section now, and I didn't even really get to check out any books for me! The weather was fantastic for this event, and I think the kids enjoyed themselves.

Saads' Surprise Shower!

Di and Suzy threw Saads a surprise baby shower today! It was a Disney-themed tea party, and they did a great job with organizing it. Miss Saads was completely surprised! Yay! Great job ladies, and we can't wait to meet your little one Saads... another playmate for Jacen!! :)

Marley turns ONE!

It's hard to believe little miss Marley is one year old! We headed over to D+G's place for the celebration. Jacen was excited to go to his BFF's birthday party... he was so excited he had to try on all of Marley's gifts as well. Love that jean jacket... looks just like mine! haha.

I wasn't allowed to post this until now because we had to tell Saads that her surprise baby shower (post to follow) was this party!! Surprise, surprise Saads!! :)

Checking out the Express store...

While at Fairview Mall today, we noticed it was the grand opening of the first Express store here in Canada. There was a huge line outside the store and when I asked what the line was for... it was because HBO’s Entourage star Emmanuelle Chriqui and Toronto Maple Leafs’ Luke Schenn were inside the store giving out autographs.

I didn't wanna line up, but I did want to check out the store. So when I asked if I could go in to just look around the store, they just let me in! The store looked pretty cool, and it was great that they had a live DJ in there mixing my kind of music. We passed right by the two celebs, and they loved Jacen! All the staff we passed by loved his hat, and he was even taped on camera (but not sure what it was for).

We then met my sister for a bit after work, and then we met up with Quel and ate at St. Louis Wings to hear her awesome travel stories (she just got back from Paris and Spain).

Reading...

I've started reading Creep, by Jennifer Hillier. The author is someone I used to know, actually. We were in a wedding together years ago (she's also my old ex-boyfriend's cousin). We kept in touch every now and then throughout the years, and now she's a published author! I'm only in the beginning chapters, but so far so good!

Mommy's Little Helper!

I'm posting this on my personal blog (and not on the baby blog) just in case my in-laws don't find this as amusing as I did!

I don't know if I've mentioned, but Jacen doesn't do the regular crawling yet (on hands and knees). He does the soldier/snake crawl where he just slithers across the floor to get to his destination. At the end of a day full of crawling, his T-shirt gets quite dirty! Sooooo, I thought since he's picking up the dirt with his t-shirt anyway, why not attach a Swiffer sheet to him so that all the dirt can stay on the Swiffer sheet (and not on his shirt), plus it helps me with cleaning the floors!! And look how happy he looks. That can't possibly be child cruelty, can it?!!??  :P

Star-gazing...

 

Jacen and I met Di and Marley in Yorkville today. We thought that since TIFF has just begun, we would grab a bite to eat and see if we could spot any celebrities. We ate on the patio at Hemingway's, and Di saw the dude in the show Kenny vs. Spenny sitting at the bar, but I'd never even heard of that show so I didn't know who she was talking about.

After our yummy meal, we walked around and ended up in front of The Hazelton Hotel (where U2 and Madonna were staying apparently). There was a crowd of people standing outside and Di said she saw Geoffrey Rush.... I just missed him, apparently. We walked over and CBC Live was taking photos of people on the red carpet, so we joined them. The kids were a big hit, and for a second... we were celebrities ourselves! hehe

Eric's 2nd Birthday!

We headed over to Ev & Stu's place today to celebrate little Eric's 2nd birthday! It was a Mickey Mouse theme (as you can see from all the photos), and Ev outdid herself as always. We enjoyed the Minnie Burgers, the Mickey Mousse dessert and the cute Mickey fruit tarts.... and all the kids had so much fun in the Mickey Mouse bouncy castle! (I totally wanted to go in there, but I didn't wanna knock out any kids). Happy Birthday Eric! Thanks for sharing your special day with us!

Deep fried goodness!

We went to the CNE today with my sister and 2 of her kids. This time, I had the fish and chips, deep fried Mars bar, deep fried Oreo cookies, waffle with ice cream and Tiny Tom Donuts. YUM!

Butter tarts!

This week's baking inspiration came from an outing with the regular mommy & baby crew (Di & Sue) when we went for a walk and stopped off at a bakery last week. Di ordered a butter tart and it was so good! I decided to try and attempt it. Although it doesn't look that great, they were pretty good. I only made a dozen of them, and by the end of the day.... Ron and I had eaten eight of them! And it tasted even better with vanilla ice cream on top... mmmm!

Lightning strikes!

We had quite a lightning storm tonight... but I loved it! It gave me the perfect opportunity to take the photos below:

Happy Birthday Ronald!

We just got back from a mini-getaway in honour of Ron's birthday! We stayed in the Buffalo side for two days so we could do some shopping. We also visited the American side of the Falls, which we had never been to.... definitely a nicer view on the Canadian side!! And, it wouldn't be a blog post without mentioning all the yummy food we ate: our hotel restaurant right by the water - an Italian feast we both enjoyed... IHOP breakfast, where we ended our meals with funnel cakes... Cheesecake Factory where we celebrated Ron's birthday dinner... YUM! Happy Birthday Ronald!!

Our Saturday in the West End!

Saturday for us was busy! We first headed out to Jack Darling park for Katrina's 1st Birthday party. Katrina is the daughter of one of Ron's old co-workers. She is half Filipino and half Swedish, and very cute! They were shocked to see Jacen (they never met him) and how BIG he was...

We then headed to Eswin & Shareen's place to pick up some items Ron had left behind at their house the last time he was there. We ended up hanging out with them and their kids for a bit, and it was fun! They have tons of toys for Jacen to play with, and we can just leave the kids in their living room (which is like a daycare) and then chat with each other in the dining room.

Next stop was dinner at the in-laws! They had spread out a nice feast in honour of Ron's birthday and a cake. They were amused at Jacen and his crawling abilities. It was a long day out in the west end of town, but it was nice to see everyone and catch up. Jacen was pooped by the time we got home!

Alone time!

Ahhh... alone time. It's been rare since Jacen was born but I've learned to cherish it every minute I can get it. I thought I'd blog about my perfect alone time today... I put Jacen down for his nap this morning, made myself a cup of tea, warmed up my chocolate chip scone and sat in front of the TV to watch the Cosby show! I've totally been enjoying watching the Cosby show again. I loved watching it as kid, and again as an adult! Still makes me laugh out loud and for a whole hour, I enjoyed it all by myself eating my scone and drinking my tea.

Jacen's still sleeping (almost 2 hours now... wow!), but I've washed the dishes, made the bed, and now just checking emails and facebook. Love it!

Scones!

I really enjoyed the scones from high tea, so I decided to try and make them! I looked for some recipes online and turns out - they're pretty easy to make. I ended up having all the ingredients already so I made them in half an hour total time (only takes 15 minutes in the oven). They smelled so good, but it didn't taste the same as the ones I had during high tea (of course). Ah well - that's what recipes are for right? It's just a base for what you need to make but then you tweak them and make them your own eventually.

gleeks!

After our high tea adventure, my sisters and I swapped kids for the rest of the afternoon - they took Jacen shopping, and I took their daughters to watch glee - the 3D concert movie! I don't know if I've mentioned this, but I'm a total gleek! I've watched all their episodes, and I have all their albums. I was sorry to have missed their actual concert, but when I heard that there was a movie.... I totally wanted to watch it!

The fact that the girls wanted to see it gave me the perfect excuse to go and watch it with them. It was also a nice change to watch a movie without any screaming babies in the theatre! hehe. The movie was like going to the concert - except it only cost me $12! And 3D has definitely come a long way... it was great! The girls and I enjoyed it very much - and it was cute to hear my niece Melia singing during the movie. (heck, I was singing too). :P

High tea!

We headed out to Brooklin, ON (a small town in Whitby) to meet up with my sisters and their daughters for high tea today. It was a very quaint area and the place we went to was called Remember When Tea House. All my nieces got dressed up in cute dresses, and I just realized that Jacen was the only boy there - what a ladies man! The scones were my favourite, but the mini sandwiches weren't enough to fill me up for lunch - I had to order a soup and sandwich as well (I skipped breakfast). My nieces didn't drink the tea (they don't like tea), so they ordered OJ and put it into their teacups so they could all drink from them. Aside from that, we all had a great time together!

Hanging with the girls...

I met Di, Marley, Sue & Sully today for lunch at Harbourfront! We ate on the patio at Il Fornello, and it was a beautiful day out to be by the water. My fellow moms will be heading back to work soon, so we have to take advantage of enjoying these types of days! Nothing beats sitting on a patio on a beautiful sunny day by the water! (well, maybe adding a beer in my hand)

After our lunch, we headed back to Di's place for a bit before taking a walk around her neighbourhood. We ended up near Saad's house so we called her up to meet us and I finally got a chance to see her beautiful baby bump! She looked great as always and Jacen was able to say hello to baby belly too. Can't wait to meet your little one Saads!

Cottage living...

The life of a cottager: eat, sleep, eat, play games, eat... and if the weather was warmer, there may have been some water activities included in that list! We celebrated two of my nieces birthdays at a rented cottage today. Happy Birthday to Aleenah (10 years old) and Melia (8 years old)!!

Chocolate cupcakes!

I attempted to bake cupcakes from scratch for the first time. The recipe wasn't very hard, but I didn't have unsweetened chocolate for the icing so I just used the chocolate that I had lying around. As a result, the icing is a bit too sweet! Oh well - next time I'll know to get the unsweetened stuff.

My first RIB FEST!

I had heard about it, but I never actually experienced it .... RIB FEST! We went to the rib fest in Scarborough today, where we ended up meeting my parents, my sister and her kids. It was a day of EATING! My sister shares the same taste in food as I do, so we encouraged each other to buy all sorts of good things to try: BBQ Ribs, Chicken, corn on the cob, Tiny Tom donuts, blooming onion, funnel cake... I was completely stuffed! Definitely a good food day! :)

Yummy in my tummy!

This was our dessert after dinner: vanilla ice cream with a warm brownie (right out of the oven!). Mmmm mmmm good! Totally hit the spot.

Two year anniversary!

Ron and I celebrated our 2-year anniversary today. It's a week overdue, but that's what happens when you have to find a babysitter this year! We headed downtown and had lunch at the 360 restaurant located on top of the CN Tower.

The place was very nice - romantic ambiance, and the food was fantastic! The rotating restaurant got me a bit dizzy though (unless it was the wine?!?!)... but maybe because I was so hungry when I got there. Nevertheless, it was a beautiful day to enjoy the scenery. Toronto really isn't too shabby!!

After our meal, we headed down to the observation deck and glass floor - complimentary when you eat there! I felt like a tourist but I didn't care. It's been so long since I've been up there! I think the last time may actually have been back in university when Ron and I first dated! ha!!

Happy Anniversary Ronald!

Baking...

I've been on a baking craze lately... not sure why. It first started just trying to get rid of ingredients I had lying around the house, but now I look forward to the next thing I can attempt to bake. Ron has such a sweet tooth that now I prefer to make his baked goods rather than him buying outside. This way, I can control the amount of sugar that goes into the recipe!

Above photos are: Oatmeal-Chocolate Chip cookies, Chocolate Hazelnut Drop cookies, and Carrot Cake cupcakes.

Meeting up with old friends...

We met Ron for lunch today (which was such a nice treat!) at the mall near us, and shortly after he left... my good friend Derek (who lives in San Francisco) sent me a text message to let me know he was in town! Half an hour later, he was at the same mall and we spent the afternoon walking, talking and just catching up with each other.

After that we quickly had to get home and get ready to head over to John & Shal's place for dinner! They have a beautiful backyard, complete with an enclosed gazebo which is where we spent most of the evening. Sebby, Lesley and Nolan were already there, and shortly after we arrived Alfie, Sandra, and Quel arrived! Despite the heat, it was a great evening filled with laughter and great food! We even managed to stay past Jacen's bedtime, and he was still good. Thanks John, Shal, Cole, and Jessen!! You guys are the host-esses with the most-esses!

Canada's Wonderland!

I've had a craving for a funnel cake for a while now. When we went to Centre Island a few weeks back, I was hoping to get one there but the stand was closed! So today, in this very hot weather... I took the kids to Canada's Wonderland and got my funnel cake.... mmmmmm.

Swimming again!

We went swimming again today... Lesley, Nolan, and my nephew Matthew joined us and again, Jacen freaked out! He cried in the beginning but by the end, was just relaxing in his floater. Nolan had a great time... he kept splashing away, and was completely tuckered out by the end of the day. Thanks for joining us Lesley & Nolan!

Low Light Magic 101...

I met up with Quel and Mel today for our photography class: Low Light Magic. I always find that when taking photos in the dark... it's a bit of a challenge! So, we took this course and it taught us how to take photos in low light, as well as how to take photos of fireworks, night scapes, lightning, and much more. I decided to try my new knowledge out when I got home and had some fun! Below are 4 photos that I ended up with!! I even tried to spell my name out in the dark just by using the light from my cell phone!

Swimming!

Dex and family headed over to our place today for a swim! It was Jacen's first time in a pool, and although he was a bit hesitant and scared at first, he got used to it by the end (I think). We even tried dunking him in a couple of times! Max (Dex's youngest), was crawling up a storm in our little condo...it helped us figure out how to baby proof our place for when Jacen starts crawling... yikes!

Congrats to Quincy!

We headed over to the west end today to celebrate Ron's cousin's (Waldo) daughter's graduation from grade 8! Quincy won 2 awards from her big day and the whole family and some of her friends got together. As a gift from her photographer dad, Quincy and her friends were models for a day as Waldo did a photo shoot for all of them! The girls had a blast. And the sexy condo behind them was a pretty cool background! Oh to be 14 again! :)