Owner: Cameron and Ava, Eleven Months Apart URL:www.elevenmonthsapart.blogspot.com Join Date: Wed, 31 Jan 2007 10:27:23 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: I am a mom of two beautiful babies, Cameron and Ava, who are eleven and a half months apart. This blog is about our lives, surviving and loving motherhood, and everything in between. Site statistics:Click here
Thank You!!! 2007-06-16 01:01:00 I just want to thank everyone who left such great advice and wonderful comments on my last post! I realize how lucky I am to meet all of you in the blogging world. I originally started this blog to keep my family and friends up to date with Cameron and Ava's adventures. But I am so glad it has turned out to be much more than that. Not only is this a place to share my pictures (most of which are "so so") but it is also a place to share my thoughts (sometimes boring, other times crazy), and learn from other people who have been in the same situation. So here's to you, my blogging buds!!! Thank
you!!!
Litte Bean Photography 2007-06-21 16:13:00 I found a wonderful blogging mom, Shelley, who also happens to be an awesome photographer. She recently just launched her new website and had a little contest to see who can guess the name of her new site. Well, wouldn't you know it, but I won! She is sending over a cute little scrapbook paper kit from Archivers - I am so excited! I thought it would be nice to post her new website here. Please click HERE. That's her "Little Bean", Joshua on the picture - isn't he just adorable? So make sure you check her out!! If you're in Colorado, I would suggest you hire her to take photos of your little cutie-patooties!
Susie, This One's For You! 2007-06-20 07:50:00 Susie
has been asking about what exactly Bubble Tea is. So I thought I'd try to explain more about this awesome drink and dedicate this post to her . First off, it does not have to be a "Tea" drink. The term Bubble Tea came from the fact that there are big gummy balls made of tapioca (may also be called "Pearl Tea" inside the drink itself. The original flavor consisted of black tea, tapioca balls, condensed milk, and honey. But its popularity grew as more flavors were introduced (e.g. peach, strawberry milk, green tea, coffee, and lots more). The flavors do not have to contain any tea ingredients. Bubble Tea originated in Taiwan in the 1980's and gained popularity in North American cities with big Asian populations. Believe it or not, it can also be found in London (Horlicks flavored), Paris, Sydney and Melbourne(Milo Bubble Tea).The tapioca balls also come in different colors (you might be asked if you want the darker version - which is softer, sweet and has a little brown sugar),
Busy 2007-06-18 13:00:00 This past weekend was probably the busiest we've had in a while. I had to go to a bridal shower and the Ward Family reunion on saturday. John had a double header softball game on sunday and we were also invited to a graduation party. We were supposed to go to Candis's house for their summer party as well but thank goodness the date was moved (so thanks, Candis!). Trying to do all these things and give the kids their naps was a little tricky to say the least and ended up not going to the graduation party. I was a little bummed because I really wanted to go to it, but I just couldn't manage to get it together in the end.Anyway, I had to take a picture of one of the party favors my former coworker, Darlene made. It was very Martha Stewartesque and not to mention yummy as well! All the guests also got gift certificates to either Panera Bread or Barnes and Noble! It was a lot of fun and I had a great time reconnecting with friends.Here's the happy couple. They each got a hat to wear fo
St.Charles Festival 2007-06-24 21:01:00 Every year our church holds a festival filled with all kinds of rides, giveaways, and of course my favorite, fair food! But we also can't forget the bingo, poker, black jack and other sorts of gambling. It still boggles my mind how the Catholic church is the only religion that can hold some kind of gambilng venue. Anyway, we had a lot of fun this year. When we took Cameron and Ava last year (who was about 3 weeks old at the time), she cried for about an hour while strolling her, so this year was a big improvement.Here's the view from the parking lot. The church is the building in the middle.Here's little Miss Glamour Girl Cameron wanted to ride these trucks so badly but John and I were too chicken to let him in there. Maybe next year. He did however enjoy the carousel ride (no pics of him in it though). When it was time for him to get back in his stroller, he wanted get out and was saying, "Want to go outside! Want to go outside!". We kept teasing him and saying, "But you ARE outsid Read more:Charles
, Festival
Mean Mommy 2007-06-22 15:28:00 We went to an ice cream shop with the grandparents after swimming lessons last wednesday. I thought I'd pst this short video teasing Ava. Mean, mean, Mommy
!!! For those of you who wanted to know about Cameron's swim class, I guess you could say it was much better than the first. He got in the pool ok and swam around holding on to me. When it was time to sing "The Wheels On the Bus" he and I went to one corner of the pool and I distracted him about cars and tractors (his favorite subject to talk about). He didn't like doing any of the things the instructor wanted them to do, though (like jumping in the pool, or going on their backs, etc.). All in all, it's a great improvement - no shrieking this time around. Although he was a little scared of the older members swimming off to one side of the pool. One older man was squirting the kids with water and Cameron was trying to climb over me to get away from him. I don't know - maybe he just doesn't want to get old ;-P.Another thing,
First Pictures 2007-06-28 09:45:00 I thought I'd post the first couple of pictures I took of the kids on my new camera yesterday. I have so much to learn!!! So these pictures are not that great. This is proof that it's not the camera that will make good photos but the person taking it! Although I have to say, this camera is awesome! I have nothing to compare it to except my point and shoot but it's defitnitely an improvement from that. This was in my family room - almost completely dark (it was raining pretty bad yesterday), no flash. A little grainy because the ISO was pretty high (like I said, gotta figure the settings out).Ava, as per usual, is stuffing her face with some kind of toy. Hhmm, never knew girraffe tasted good.Still cannot get rid of Cameron's paci. He asks for that darn thing almost every hour now! The kids' pediatrician warned me about this too! Anyone have any tips on getting rid of it? Read more:First
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On The Farm 2007-06-26 07:56:00 Warning: Picture Overload.We were over at John's parents' house last sunday. The kids really enjoy hanging out at the farm. Especially on beautiful sunny days. It's so quiet and peaceful. Of course, Cameron's favorite thing is to sit on Nana's lap while riding their "mule" truck. It really scares the heck out of me because I really don't want the kids riding in anything without their car seats! They only drive it a few feet around the house when Cameron's in there, but I still worry. I think I need to get him some kind of helmet or something. Ava was quite fascinated by the owl my mother in law had near her flower bed. I think she got a little nervous when she got to it and started walking away.It must be the eyes. My mother in law put the owl on her flower bed to keep the chickens from walking all over it. I finally got close enough to take a couple of pictures of the chickens. Not exactly sure what kind of chicken this is but for some reason, all the animals on my in law's fa
8 Random Facts Meme 2007-07-01 13:59:00 Ok, this time around I have been tagged by Liza to do the 8 Random
Facts Meme. Here are the rules:- I have to post these rules before I give you the facts (check)- Each participant posts eight random facts about themselves.- Tagees should write a blogpost of eight random facts about themselves.- At the end of the post, eight more bloggers are tagged (named and shamed).- Go to their blog, leave a comment telling them they're tagged (cut and run).I am going to try to make this quick and painless for you guys, so here we go:1. My nails are hard as rocks. Every time I clip them it sounds like a lasso is being whipped inside my house and it really bugs the heck out of John. So I try to do it as often as I could just to annoy him :-P.2. I was born in The Philippines but moved to Saudi Arabia when I was 7 because my dad worked as an architect there. We lived there for 8 years before moving to North America.3. I used to work at a deli at Kent State University back in college and my coworkers
Ava's Well-Baby Visit 2007-06-29 14:04:00 Ava went to her one year Well Baby visit at the doctor's today. I totally missed her appointment a couple of weeks ago right after she turned one so I couldn't get another appointment until today - and she's almost 13 months! I have such a bad memory. If I forget an appointment again the next time, they are going to charge me. So anyway, Ava now weighs: 18.9lbs (she sure is HUGE! :-P) and 29 inches long. Unfortunately I still can't turn her car seat forward facing so maybe I'll have to fatten her up. She pretty much eats whatever we're eating but I still occasionally have to feed her the Stage 3 foods whenever we're out somewhere. All in all she is doing well. No matter how many times I've brought my kids in for their shots it NEVER gets any easier. But I think it's a lot harder on me than my children. Ava cried for a minute and quickly got over it. Here she is sporting one of her yellow "badges of honor" (on her left arm). On a side note, my parents are coming tonight from T
Broken 2007-07-05 07:40:00 John, his dad, and his brother, Jim love playing softball. They play in a church league every summer and enjoy every minute of it. So I usually take the kids to watch him play. They are doing really well this summer and are in the playoffs. I caught this picture when he was practising his swing outside our house. I'm surprised he let me take a picture of him because he normally swings his bat at night so no one can see him. He loves this bat. I almost choked on a piece of chicken nugget one time when I found out how much it cost. But then I guess that's how he felt when he first found out the price of my camera a few months back. So last monday I took the kids to a softball game. Shana, Kyle, and Aubree came along to watch and even let me use some of their camera lenses (thanks, by the way!). Aubree and Cameron had fun playing in the sand and were totally covered with dust after about five minutes playing. I think Aubree can sign up to be in the Cirque De Soleil looking at these pic Read more:Broken
Party! 2007-07-03 09:55:00 John and I went to Sean and Candis's new home last saturday (sans kids!!!). We couldn't ask for a better day because it was gorgeous! We had such a great time. It was really nice to get out and not have to worry about the kids. We got to meet some new friends and the neighbors were really cool too. I wish we had neighbors closer our age. Most are retired and just want to mow their lawn all day every other day. The best part of the night was splitting the pot with the neighbor playing Texas Hold 'Em poker.Anyway, here's Sean and Candis's new house. They live on a cul-de-sac so we didn't have to worry about cars driving by when playing corn hole on the road. The view from the top of the stairs. Tom came in just in time - notice the beers? Tom's dad used to be a Budweiser beer distributor so we used to get all kinds of drinks for free. We're not big fans of Bud but we didn't care back in college since we didn't have to pay for it. :-P John was so happy to get out of the house wi Read more:Party
Thanks Papa and Mom! 2007-07-02 20:55:00 John and I just wanted to say THANK YOU to my wonderful parents who drove all the way from Canada to babysit the kids just so we can party all night at Candis's house!!! We really appreciate everything that you do for us! We love you!!!!P.S. More details on the party later. Read more:Thanks
I Am Such a Whiner 2007-07-08 12:38:00 I mowed our grass today. I guess you could say it wasn't so bad. But if you're like me, then you would whine the whole time while pushing that darn mower. I have been putting it off for the last few days thinking maybe if I don't say anything, then John would just forget that there's even grass on our yard. Unfortunately, my father in law called to see if we needed him to come over and mow it himself since he had block of time this weekend. So that reminded John that the grass needed cut. But I tell you what, my in laws are the best a girl could ever have! I felt guilty so I decline his offer. After all, I needed to figure out that darn thing myself. But since I procrastinated on doing it, I ended up cutting the grass today - one of the hottest days we've had all summer. John said, "Look at it this way, at least you'll get a tan." A tan?!? Has he forgotten I am Filipino and that I was born with more melanin than the average Caucasian???So with a lot of mumbling and grumbling, I w
A Few From The 4th 2007-07-07 06:59:00 Our 4th of July was spent at John's cousin, Lisa's house. She always throws the best parties and get togethers and this one was no exception. They had all kinds of barbeques, low country boil, lots of desserts, even homemade ice cream. Unfortunately we didn't last for the fireworks because both kids really wore us out! They kept running around Lisa and Matt's HUGE deck, complete with fountains and something like an 11 or 12 piece patio furniture set. I wish I had taken a picture of it. Anyway, we were pooped and John couldn't really help much with his broken right hand. I think Cameron really enjoyed sticking his hand in the two fountains Lisa and Matt had. So by the time we got home his shirt was soaked. Here's John and his dad trying to distract Cameron from the fountain. Unfortunately it didn't work too well. Here's my brother in law, Joe and his cousin Lisa (who was trying to suck in her tiny little tummy!). Sorry this shot cut you off, Joe! He always teases me about my ca
Hot Fun In the Summer Time 2007-07-13 11:12:00 I thought I'd give everybody an update on Cameron's swimming lessons. He has one more class to go and so far it's not exactly going as well as I'd hope. The last two classes we've gone to, he would not even step foot in the water. As soon as we would walk in the smaller pool area (which is actually the therapy pool, therefore one lane is closed off to accommodate the other members), he would start shrieking and run over the glass door banging it to get out. I think everybody in the class pretty much knows us as the "Oh-there's-the-Asian-with-the-screaming-boy". You can't miss us. The screams can be heard about a mile away. OK, I'm exaggerating, but I try to be inconspicuous, but it ain't happenin' with a frightened two year old.So Shana thought maybe if we came over and went swimming in her pool then that might eliminate some of his fears. We went over a couple of days before the swim class. He actually did much better than I thought. He was not as afraid getting in the pool Read more:Summer
Rockin' Girl 2007-07-12 07:25:00 How cool is this??? I went over to Wendy's blog and found out that she had given me this award along with four other amazing bloggers. If you haven't been to her blog, you are definitely missing out since she is one of the sweetest and funniest people I would love to meet someday. Plus her kids are just adorable! Wendy, thank you so much for reading my blog and for this awesome award although I don't think I really deserve it.I am only supposed to pass this along to five other bloggers - if it was up to me I'd name EVERYBODY on my blog roll - check them out because everybody on it definitely ROCKS!!1. 3 Carrs - Kim has one of the funniest blogs, and amazing photos of all her escapades with Sophie B!!! I think if I met her back in college we would have had a blast partying together! Her daughter Sophie is one gorgeous little girl with beautiful lips even Angelina Jolie would die for! 2. Desperate Housemommy - Heather's kids, Hailey and Max are 19 months apart - need I say more? 3.
Hub Cap Love 2007-07-10 10:39:00 Right after my lawn mowing fiasco (see previous post), I had to get ready to bring Ava to a my friend, Courtney's twins' birthday party. It was a girls day out since Cameron and John decided to head to Best Buy and the Mall at the same time. I felt a little guilty not taking Cameron since the birthday party was held at a fire station but when I heard that siren go off when we were getting ready to leave at the end, I was so glad he wasn't there because he would have been so scared of the noise. I think he is going through some kind of phase where he is extremely afraid of everything lately.Anywho, here are Austin and Hunter, trying out cake for the first time. Poor Austin had icing all over his left eye later on and kept rubbing it in. But as you can see from they really enjoyed their cake.Don't you just love Aubree? She's so cute especially when she has her "fountain" pig tails, as Shana likes to call it. She loves ice and really had a good time playing with ice cubes. Probably b
Photography 101 2007-07-16 07:51:00 If you look really close, a lot of my pictures are pretty much out of focus. For some reason I can't get the camera to focus on the right spot so Shana's husband, Kyle was so cool to give me some photography lessons last night. We decided to go to our local park and he showed me what some of the other thingy-ma-jiggy buttons are on my camera as well as how aperture is related to shutter speeds, etc. You really just can't point, shoot, and hope for the best which is what I've been doing for so long (I was so used to my point and shoot). This time, you have to think about shutter speed, aperture, etc. and you have to figure it out fast otherwise you loose that moment you want to capture. And with both Cameron and Ava moving so fast I only have a second or two to see what settings my camera should be on. So I left the kids with John last night so I wouldn't get distracted, and met Kyle, Shana, and Aubree at the park to take some photos. As you will see, I still have a lot of work to
Experimental Farm 2007-07-18 07:11:00 I have been living in my town for seven years now and I never knew there was an Experimental
farm only several minutes away from my house. It's even next to the bike trail John and I would visit and didn't think anything of the white building whenever we would park our car near it. Shana used to take her students there when she and I were still working and she invited me to go with her and see all the animals. Plus, there was a field of red sunflowers that we thought was beautiful and great for a photo-op. But sadly, some of my pictures were so overexposed, and what do you know, it's the ones with the sunflower field, so I can't post those up.Don't mind Ava. She tends to point with her middle finger a lot. Look at that smile! This goat was so happy to get its picture taken. This one wasn't as happy to oblige me with a picture. I guess I wouldn't be either if I had a mop like that on my head. They had so many scarecrows. They were all creatively dressed, too. This one was my fav
Bye Bye Paci!!! 2007-07-20 10:28:00 As some of you may know I have been dreading taking the pacifier away from Cameron for quite some time now. I got a lot of awesome advice from many of you bloggers out there and finally settled on one - I cut the nipple part off the paci and handed it to Cameron. And you know what, it worked! He didn't cry or fuss at all! He just said, "Uh-oh, it's broken!". I let him carry it around for a couple of days and then he eventually lost interest in it. The only problem is, he hasn't been sleeping as long during his naps and would sometimes wake up at 6:30 in the morning! But at least he's not asking for it like I thought he would. I was afraid he would have that thing in his mouth until he was in kindergarten! I want to thank Jamie, Wendy and Lara for the great idea!!!!!!!Before: After: Woohoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Read more:Bye Bye
The Many Bubbles of Ava 2007-07-23 09:03:00 Ava's got a new obsession. She can do this all day and it keeps her pretty occupied. I once left her in her crib for twenty minutes after she woke up from her nap because I thought she was just singing - it sounded like "mooaaah, mooaah". She sounded content, and I was giving Cameron a bath. When I came in her room, I saw that her entire front shirt was soaked! So now she has to wear a bib most of the day otherwise I have to keep changing her.I call this one, "Rabid", just for kicks.Now, if she can only figure out how to let go of those bubbles in the air...then she can join the circus! Read more:Bubbles
My ABC's Tag 2007-07-26 08:16:00 A - Attached or Single: AttachedB - Best Friend(s): John, Shana, Naila (childhood friend)C - Cake or Pie: CakeD - Drink of Choice: Toss up between Bubble Tea and Peppermint MochaE - Essential Item: My Canon & Crumpler (I'm copying Brianne and Sandra!)F - Favorite Color: Pink (ok, so I'm a girly girl)G - Gummi Bears or Worms: Gummi BearsH - Hometown: OhioI – Indulgence(s): Godiva Cappucino TrufflesJ - January or July: July!!! I love Summer!!!K - Kids: Cameron and AvaL - Life is incomplete without: John and my kidsM - Marriage Date: 5/20/2000N - Number of Siblings: NoneO - Oranges or Apples: OrangesP - Phobias/Fears: Roller Coasters - just thinking about it is making me sick.Q - Favorite Quote: (of the moment):"The next time you're having a bad day, imagine this:You're a Siamese TwinYou're brother, attached to your shoulder is gay.You're not.He has a date coming over tonight.You only have one a**." (Hope I am not offending anyone - I just thought this was funny).R - Reason to smi
Sign Up for a GIVEAWAY!!!! 2007-07-30 08:37:00 There is this wonderful blog with the most adorable little girl named, Avery. Her mom, Jamie takes beautiful pictures and is one of the most creative people I have ever met in the blogging world. I just went to her blog today and found out that she just launched her new website, Wee Little Designs, and has a TON of really cool invites. She is also doing a giveaway that ends this thursday so make sure you go over to her blog and leave a comment and a linky on your own blog! Click on the picture above to go to her new website!
Hanging Out With The Other Ava 2007-07-29 00:58:00 Maria, Andrei and their gorgeous girl, Ava Rose finally came to our town to hang out with the kids this weekend. We were supposed to take tutu pictures at the park but the weather was not cooperating, so Shana invited us over to her house so the kids could hang out and play.This was the only way we could get the girls to sit together: feed them a couple of Apple Jacks cereal and have them watch Baby Einstein's "Discovering Shapes".What a sheer look of concentration!Darn it, this picture is so cute but grainy! Oh well. Ava Rose is such a doll baby anyway.I couldn't forget about my little guy. He was so excited to get out of our house and play with someone else's toys. He would not have anything to do with the girls though. I tried to sit him on the couch with them for some pictures but he was more interested in playing with Aubree's toys. Hhmmm, he's looking like he needs a new hair cut.Here's Kyle showing Maria how to use her camera. Maria and I have a tendency to be lazy when it Read more:Hanging
Happy 14 Months, Ava!!! (More Tutu Pics) 2007-07-31 17:19:00 She doesn't look too happy, does she? I think she's getting sick of wearing the tutus I made her :-P. I almost forgot that Ava turned fourteen months today! I already forgot to post her thirteen month pics. It felt like I was just planning the kids' birthday party, and here a couple of months had already gone by. So in order to celebrate, Shana and I headed off to the mall to go shopping with our girls. I have been very good and cannot even remember the last time I was at the mall - which is probably unbelievable for those of you that know me, but seriously, it's true! And we even brought coupons! Which, of course was not a good thing especially when you have a girl, because all the stuff they have for little girls are just too darn cute!!! For those of you that are pregnant with a baby girl, WATCH OUT!!! You would probably save more money with boys, I can definitely tell you that!Here she is trying to do some kind of Indian dance move with her hands. Very Bollywood.She loves to lo Read more:Happy
, Months
What About Cameron? 2007-08-03 09:00:00 I didn't want my little guy to feel left out on all the picture taking. But it's getting harder and harder to take pictures of him everyday. He really could care less whether I click that black box in front of his face or not, he just moves out of the way, unfortunately. So of course, I had to bribe him with a cookie. Here he is in all his chocolate chip cookie glory.By the way, for those of you wondering How To Make a TUTU, click HERE Read more:Cameron
Tractors and Alpacas, Oh My! 2007-08-07 14:42:00 What do you think of this guy? I was a little nervous taking his picture yesterday because he kept giving me that look. I thought he was going to spit on me. He also looks like he's smoking a cigarette. Anyway, I took Cameron to the Experimental Farm yesterday since he had not been there yet. I knew he was going to love all the tractors, unfortunately I didn't get any picutres of him looking at me. This is what I got:And a backside shot.I kept trying to get him to look at me but he was in awe of all the tractors inside the barn. My kid does not stop talking. I was trying to take a little cat nap over the weekend when John was able to watch him and I couldn't sleep because all I could here was Cameron's voice talking about trains, tractors and cars. I don't even think I heard John's voice at all since Cameron was probably not letting him get a word in.He also enjoyed playing with these:It's a good thing he didn't want to have anything to do with the real version. Look at that ma
TCP is the Place For Me! Along With a Few Other Stores... 2007-08-04 22:36:00 Chewing on a pair of tights at The Children's Place
I was introduced to the world of shopping by my mom at an early age. She loves a good sale - but then again, who doesn't?. We lived in the Middle East for a number of years and the city we lived in was a the "Mecca" (pardon the pun) for shopaholics. Other than going out to eat at restaurants, we would shop. I guess it's because we are Filipino (he-he). Did you know that the Philippines has the third largest shopping mall in the world? Anyway, my shopping addiction continued on as an adult and I would often go to the mall in between my lunch break and just see what the stores had on sale. I would walk in all the trendy stores, along with the usual department stores, but never once did I set foot inside the children's clothing section or places like Gymboree or The Children's Place. Obviously because I never had children then, but I really was not the type to oooh and aaah over little onsies or baby booties. Even when Cameron came a
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