A Colorado Christmas

I didn't get as many family photos as I would have liked on Christmas Day.  I mean, of Malu, Sina and I together.  But I got tons of us with various friends and family members and that is good enough for me.  We did get A LOT of stuff on video, including clips of Sina opening up her first gift (cool stuff), but I'm way too lazy to post those.  However, I'll give you guys snippets of our wonderful Christmas.

It was pretty low-key, which, by our family's standards, means that we only had one party to go to as opposed to three or four.  Every Christmas Eve, we attend a candlelight service at our church.  As usual, the service was beautiful.  I'd wanted Sina to see the whole thing, but she was sound asleep through the entire service.  And what a shame, because no one got to see what a cutie she was in the outfit that Grandma Lema got her. 

Yes, this "stink eye" look is normal, but she's still so adorable!

Every Christmas Eve, my Auntie Edith and her family invite us to her house for noche buena.  The literal translation of the term is "good night".  This is what we Filipinos refer to as the "night before" or Christmas Eve. We have a great dinner, have the kids open gifts late into the evening, and just have fun and great fellowship with our friends and family.  I was just thrilled that we actually had a child to throw in the mix.  She had so much fun hanging out with all of the other kids.

Mom & Auntie Edith with all the kiddos

We slept in a little bit on Christmas morning since we stayed up so late that evening.  We also decided that we would wait until my brother and his fiance and my Uncle Raymond and his family could join us to open gifts.  After all, our family does a Secret Santa every year and that's half the excitement of the entire day.  While waiting for them, we took some pictures in our jammies.



Well, most of us were in our jammies.  Here are Malu and his brothers.  We were so happy to have them here with us!

Sina with Rozzie, Mom & Grandma



Mom & Dad with their favorite little girl

  But before we were to open gifts, we made plans to have lunch on post at the dining facility.  Most military folks know that the major holidays, like Thanksgiving and Christmas, are the best days to go to the dining facility on Fort Carson.  They usually serve lobster and steak or turkey and ham and just have a fantastic spread.  It has become somewhat of a tradition in our family to go on Christmas and we usually join a couple of our other family friends, who are also military families that know that the dining hall is the place to be on Christmas Day.  Here's a picture of the entire group, which was pretty big.

After lunch we did our gift exchange and then opened more gifts.  Malu and I made it quite clear that we didn't want gifts this Christmas.  The last thing we wanted to do was lug more stuff to Germany.  But with Sina, well, we gave them free reign.  And it was made quite clear to us that she would be spoiled on her very first Christmas.  And spoiled she was.  Let's just say that we're either going to get another suitcase (or two) or going to mail boxes to Germany for all the clothes and toys she's been getting.  And it's not stuff from immediate family either.  Every day (it seems), more of my mom's friends bring her more gifts to open.  How lucky is she?   And how lucky am I?  Malu got me the Nook Color that I'd been asking for.  Love you honey! 

Later that night, we had dinner at the house with our extended family.  By this time, we'd picked up Malu's sister, Lulu and she was able to spend a few days with us. 

We ate and laughed the night away and played games like Just Dance 2 on the Wii and Catch Phrase. Fun times.

Sina probably didn't understand much of the hubbub of that day and the entire month leading up to it.  However, the bright little girl that she is, I'm sure she clued into the fact that our Christmas is all about the family and friends that we cherish and love.  It's about giving thanks for everything that we have, because we certainly have more than we need...and then some.  And that these blessings come only from God who gave us the most precious gift that we can ever receive in life...His Son, Jesus Christ.

And if she didn't clue into all of this, well, Malu and I are definitely going to teach her these things every day.  We will be making a promise to do so when we do her baby dedication this Sunday.

I hope all of you had a beautiful Christmas.  From our family to yours, we wish you all the best that this New Year can bring!

Fil-Am Christmas Party 2010

We weren't as lucky on the flight from Utah to Colorado.  All went well on take-off and during the flight.  But because Sina was so fast asleep upon landing, we weren't able to give her a bottle or her pacifier to help with the change in pressure.  She was okay a few minutes after we landed, but after that, she was a complete mess.  We suspect that it had a lot to do with the flight, because for the entire day and night she was cranky, tired, and just not in the mood to be around anyone.  And that's was not the kind of mood to be in when your whole family had to go to an annual community Christmas party that same evening (this was over a week ago).

My mom is the president of the Filipino-American community in Southern Colorado.  And the community is huge and made of up friends that my parents have had for almost two decades.  Not surprisingly, the arrival of my mom's only granddaughter was very highly anticipated.  The last time anyone had seen her was when she was a week old.  So there Sina was, as cranky as can be, in the loudest of places (there were about two hundred or so people).  She was being passed around like a hot potato, from one auntie to another.  And she didn't hide her frustration....at all.

She started out in this really cute dress that my mom had purchased for her months before.

She tried to fall asleep numerous times amidst the chaos and to no avail.  She eventually got annoyed from the itching of the tulle in her dress, and actually worked up a sweat in it, so we changed her into her "Santa's Little Helper" outfit. 

She eventually became more comfortable.  So comfortable, in fact, that when it became time for Santa to come out, she could barely keep her eyes open.  She was the first to sit on his lap and pretty much just zonked out as he handed her a cute little teddy bear.



But before she did, Malu and I were able to get one family picture with Santa and his sleepy little helper.

She slept for the rest of the evening and into the next morning, waking only once to be changed and fed.  She was definitely one tired baby.  The next day, she woke up with a big smile and has been in the best of moods in Colorado Springs ever since.

Unfortunately, my brother and his fiance weren't at this party, but I was able to get a picture with my parents and my sweet sister, Rosalynn.

Since our arrival, we've been to many a party and our good friends and family have been showering all of us, especially Sina, with so much love.

I just realized that I didn't get too many family pictures on Christmas, which I'm so upset about.  Much of what was captured is on video.  But I'll post what I have here shortly.

Good night everyone!

Utah! (Part Two)

Finally getting around to making this second and final post about our visit to Utah.  So remember how I said I was going to tell you about going to two of the sweetest places I've ever been to in my life?  Well, I actually meant three.  Before I tell you about them, let me tell you about our trip to Temple Square in Salt Lake City.

In previous visits to Utah, I'd never actually been sightseeing.  So this time around, and after much cajoling, Malu actually took me to Salt Lake City to play tourist for a little bit (this was our last full day in Utah).  I'd always wanted to see the Mormon Temple at Temple Square.  As soon as you walk through the gates, not only do you see the temple in all its splendor, you hear the angelic singing of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

We toured the visitor center.

And visited a Joseph Smith memorial.

And took more pictures of the beautiful temple.

There were 30 weddings scheduled the day that we went (according to a tour guide).  We actually saw about five different wedding parties gathering in the front of the temple (pictured right) in complete chaos.  But there were beautiful gowns that I wish I'd taken pictures of.  I'm so glad that we went, although it would also have been nice to go at night when the entire temple is lit.

Knowing my love of all things confectionary, Malu (with some help from his Uncle Mike) found two bakeries to take me to.  OMG...what a treat it was.  The first place he took me to was called La Bonne Vie, which is located inside the Grand America Hotel.  You would have thought that I was a 5 year-old seeing Disneyland for the first time.  I was so excited.  The place was so beautifully clad in pastels, little trinkets and the most delectable of treats.

hmmm....what to buy?

yummy gelato!

decisions, decisions!

It was my first time trying macarons (or French Macaroons).  For these, I'd fly back to Utah in an instant.  The customer favorite are the beige ones to the far left.  They are a salted caramel flavor.  Sooooo delicious.  I also tried the passionfruit, raspberry, and chocolate ones.

Chocolate covered strawberries.

I walked out of there with a bag full of goodies.  Even the packaging was amazing.  I had to take a few pics.

I think Malu got a kick out of how crazy I went at this place.  And then we went to another place called Gourmandise...Salt Lake City's most award-winning bakery and cafe.

Malu in front of the Gourmandise.  Thanks for taking me baby!

There cases stockpiled with pastries, cookies, and cakes.  So many too choose from.

Too many, in fact, that I got so overwhelmed and just settled for a whole cake--a white chocolate strawberry chantilly cake that cost over $40, but was well worth it.  We even had it for breakfast the next day.

We spent the rest of our last day in Utah with our little cousins and with Uncle Mike while Grandma and Grandpa watched Sina.  After eating dinner at Mimi's Cafe, Uncle Mike took us to Nielsen's for some frozen custard. 

I had a caramel sundae and I'd never seen so much caramel in so small a serving--not that I complained!

Enjoying time with Uncle Mike and the kids.

After that, we took the kids to see the movie, Tangled, which I've seen another time with my sister since then because it was just so darn good. 

Unfortunately, we departed the very next day.  I couldn't help feeling like we should have stayed in Utah a little bit longer.  A huge thanks goes out to Grandpa Jim, Grandma Lema, Uncle Mike, Auntie Jewel, Uncle Bill and the kids for welcoming us and making another stay so memorable.  We miss you all so much!

  Since then, we've been enjoying our time here in Colorado Springs with more family.  Malu's brothers are here and his sister stopped by for a little visit as well.  It's been great, and I do promise to post about our Christmas very soon.

If you ever find yourself in Utah anytime soon or in the near future, you now know where to go!

Utah! (Part One)

 I feel bad because it's almost been a week since we left Utah and only now am I making this post (my apologies to Grandma and Grandpa Doyle in Utah!). 

First of all, I had completely stressed out before leaving El Paso, what, with it being Baby V's first time on an airplane and all; not to mention I wasn't sure how easy it would be to get her and all of her stuff through security.  To our delight, the process was so simple.  As soon as the TSA guys spotted us and our stroller, they flagged us down and pulled us forward--all the way past the long lines and helped us break everything down into those plastic bins and quickly inspected Baby V's bottles, her car seat and stroller.  We made it all the way through security and all the way to Salt Lake City intact and with one happy baby.  As a matter of fact, she slept all the way there.

We also got our first glimpse of snow from above.  These are actually the Rocky Mountains on our way to the Denver International Airport where we had our layover.  In the time that we waited in Denver, we could have made it all the way to the Springs to visit!  But coming from El Paso where it was still in the mid-60's, it was so nice to actually feel like Christmas was approaching!

Anyway, we had a marvelous time visiting with our family (from Malu's side) in Utah.  It was the first time that Baby V got to meet her great-grandparents, Grandma Lema and Grandpa Jim.  She was also able to meet Uncle Mike and Auntie Jewel (Malu's dad's siblings) as well as her cousins, Sala and Daniel (Auntie Jewel's kids).

 

Weeks before our trip, I'd been nervous about how Baby V would react to meeting new family members as she'd become increasingly picky about who she kept company with.  Well, she was in love with Grandma and Grandpa at first sight, giving them big smiles and all throughout our stay.  Not only that, Baby V was spoiled from the start.  Within minutes of our arrival, Grandma Lema brought out a box full of new clothes for her.  It was unbelievable.  Throughout our stay, she'd bring in more and more stuff and I'd secretly wonder how we were going to fit all of that stuff into our luggage.  I mean, we already had five big pieces of luggage and let's not even go into how many carry-ons we have.  Grandma Lema hardly let Baby V out of her sight.  She held and carried her everywhere, bathed and fed her, and even had her sleep in her room.  I enjoyed seeing them interact that way.  Malu and I hardly saw her while we were there and although we missed her, it gave us time to spend with other members of the family.

One day, Grandpa took Malu and I to Park City.  I'd always wanted to go there and they had an outlet mall that I wanted to visit just to get some Christmas shopping done.  Park City is your typical ski resort/town and reminiscent of those that I'd visited in Colorado.  We took a stroll down Main Street,

hit up some cool shops (where we saw and took pictures of some funny stuff),

  

and ate at the Main Street Pizza & Noodle. 

And when we went to the outlet mall not too long after that, I scored big time on a Columbia jacket (not this one, I was wearing Malu's jacket at the time), some clothes for Baby V (as if she needed some more) and some gifts for family.

Since it's almost 1:00 a.m. and because it's taking forever to download some of these pictures AND because I'm exhausted, I'm going to tell you guys more about Utah in another post...hopefully tomorrow!  I'll tell you about our trip to Temple Square and about our stops at two of the sweetest places I've ever been to in my life!

I can't believe it's Christmas Eve!  Santa's coming soon!  Enjoy everybody!

On Leave...

...and enjoying every bit of our time with family and friends.  I'm posting this picture of our happy little family just to buy me some time.  I know I haven't been posting regularly as of late and I really want to tell you guys about the week we spent in Utah with Malu's family, I'm just too lazy to do it right at this moment. 

We are truly missing our loved ones in Utah right now and are so grateful to them for showing us such a wonderful time there.  We are currently in Colorado, enjoying time with my family and waiting for the rest of Malu's siblings to arrive for Christmas (his younger brother, Vaea, is already here with us).  We can't wait.

I guess I should also add that our little girl has been getting spoiled left and right and I know she is loving every minute of it!

In any case, this picture was taken at our friend, Jennifer's, Ugly Christmas Sweater party just a few days before we left El Paso.  Since all of our stuff had been packed and we really didn't feel like buying sweaters (and ugly Christmas ones at that) we found these really funny shirts at Target.  They were about $7 and a big hit at the party.  While we were at Target, we also found an "Elf in Training" outfit for our baby girl and she was also a big hit at the shindig, although the outfit was slightly too big for her. 

While I'm mentioning El Paso and friends, I just want to thank all of our wonderful El Paso friends (you all know who you are) who made our experience there so memorable.  On one of the evenings before we left, about 25 of our closest friends and their kids threw a farewell party for us at one of our favorite restaurants in town.  We were presented with beautiful parting gifts and shared a few laughs and lots of hugs.  Later in the week, Jennifer held her party and we were able to spend some time with her and her family (she grew up in El Paso) who I'd become extremely close to while living in El Paso. So everyone truly just made us feel so special and we can't thank you guys enough for your love and support.  We miss you guys so much already!

Well, it's late and I must get to bed.  I promise to post about our Utah trip soon!

~4 Months~

Our little bug turned four months on Monday.  I'm just posting this late.  After all, it's been a crazy week with the movers here.  And everything is out of the house and the car has been dropped off at and shipped from Dallas.  We're almost out of El Paso.  Anyway, I digress. 

Malu took Sina to her four-month doctor's appointment on Monday.  Much like her two-month appointment, she was a trooper as far as her shots were concerned.  She cried for about three seconds immediately upon impact and then stopped when daddy picked her up.  Everything is always better when daddy is around.  She is still as healthy as a horse and has not gotten sick (knock on wood) in the midst of the cold weather and flu season. 

Malu forgot to take write down her stats for this month, but he did recall that she now weighs 13 pounds--a three pound gain from two months ago and in the 20th percentile.  To my parents who seem to think she's a huge mega-baby, don't let that cute double chin fool you because this means she's heavier than only 20 percent of babies her age, and lighter than the remaining 80 percent.  Malu couldn't remember how long she's gotten or how big her head is, but he does recall that she is in the 75th percentile for her head circumference.  She's got a big noggin!

Some significant events for this past month...she had her first Thanksgiving and met her Aunt and Uncles (on her dad's side) for the very first time.  She can roll over completely right now and is able to sit upright on her own, with very little assistance.  Now, she almost hates to be lying down and almost always wants to be in on all the action, sitting straight up, or having us hold her in a standing position.  She loves to watch what Malu and I do, wherever we go. 

She is a definite grabber/grasper now.  Anything she is given, she accepts and almost always puts whatever it is in her mouth.  She fiddles around with her pacifier all the time and puts it in and out of her mouth at any given time.  At the beginning of this past month, she grabbed at bottle and held it, only at the time, she needed help holding it up. Well, not too much anymore.  As soon as she sees the bottle approaching her mouth, she grabs at it and sucks away.  But, by far, the cutest thing she does with those chubby little hands of hers (that are exactly my hands) is taking hold of our faces with them whenever we look at her up close.  It's cutest when she does it to her daddy.

Sina is also at the point where she's become discriminatory towards certain people.  You can tell there are people that she prefers to be near, be looked at by, or to be held by.  And, well, those two main people are her daddy and I, which much emphasis on her daddy.  Although we know she adores our friends, there are some that she remains completely calm around and those that she just completely throws fits with.  It's just funny how finnicky they can be at this age.  I just hope she's not that discriminatory when she meets her great-grandparents in Utah in a few days, or her grandparents in Colorado in a week!

But I can tell that this is going to be the most fun age--now until a year or two old.  She's so playful and happy, isn't too needy, and still doesn't have an opinion on anything.  But the way she makes noise throughout the day, you would think that she does.  I was told by some people at the Welcome Center on post that she has some really good lungs for a baby her age.  Those said lungs are so not cool when she cries and her loud "talking" is soooo cute, but not in the early mornings when she does it the most.  We're exposing her to tons of music, so lets hope she can put those lungs to good use as a singer :)

Speaking of music, I know that she recognizes certain songs that we replay over and over for her. I know this because she goes crazy (hands and feet flail in excitement and she has a huge goofy smile on her face) whenever she hears them.  Malu is convinced that she does this because she likes all music and it generally makes her happy.  In any case, I've been watching the Gilmore Girls series for the past two months (borrowed the set from a friend).  Pretty much the entire time, Sina was watching with me and I swear, it got to the point where she would smile big and go crazy everytime she heard the theme song.  She does the same thing when you sing the song to her.  She could be in the middle of the bottle or getting her tummy time...as soon as she hears the song, she stops and looks at the TV and starts grinning.  The same goes for that song, "Just the Way You Are" by Bruno Mars, which Malu has played and sung to her repeatedly.  It's the cutest thing. 

 

Other miscellaneous things...she's still wearing her 3 month size clothes and is still in size 1 diapers.  Her hair is out of control, but thankfully none of it has fallen out since birth, like a lot of people told me it would.  And what's funny is that her hair is curly when it's wet, but straightens when it is dry.  She is still a very good sleeper, still waking up once in the middle of the night to feed.  She also gets two naps throughout the day.  We also started giving her some rice cereal about two days ago and today, she finally mastered the art of swallowing her food.  Now, if you take too long between spoonfuls, she tells you by making noise.  She definitely has her mommy's appetite.  She absolutely loves books and being read to, and watches her morning shows (i.e. The Cat in the Hat, Curious George, Sesame Street) intently every day.  We can tell she's going to be one smart little girl!

Anyway, that's pretty much all that I can sum up for now.  Happy four months to our precious little girl.

You are truly the light of our lives and we can't to show you off the next couple of weeks.  As I mentioned, we'll be leaving El Paso.  On Monday to be exact.  The last of our household goods left today and with some minor cleaning tomorrow, we'll be completely out of the house.

We'll be doing the whole "Tour de Baby" for the holidays, stopping first in Utah to visit Malu's grandparents, aunt, uncle and cousins.  The remaining time will be spent in Colorado with my family.  We're definitely looking forward to it, but I'm dreading the flights to both places.  Any pointers from you experienced moms to make the trip easier?

Have a safe and happy weekend!

Naturalized!

How appropriate was it for Malu to become a naturalized citizen on the day that we remember those who fell at Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941?

Don't ask me why people born in American Samoa aren't automatically American citizens--it's something to do with them being U.S. nationals and yada yada yada. I don't want to bore anyone with the legal jargon that even I can't understand.  I mean, to this day I still can't remember why I had to become naturalized years ago even though I was born in Germany, on a military installation. For years, my parents got a kick out of the fact that they had "resident aliens" (my sister and I) in their home.

The Army has a program that allows Soldiers to become naturalized quickly...and for free! I mean, my mom paid hundreds of dollars just to naturalize my sister and I.  One of the many benefits of being in the military.

Unfortunately, Sina and I were unable to participate in the ceremony because we were sitting at home waiting for the packers to come.  What sucks is that the moving company tells you to be home from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and very rarely do they show up at 9 a.m.  Malu got home about an hour ago, and they still aren't here.  I'm sad that we missed it.  Malu was so happy when he got home.  He said that he started to choke up when he took his oath, thinking about us and all the people that he has met since he's been in the States (he got here when he was 13).  He thought of the many people he has served with in the Army--some who have died in combat.  And he thought about how great this Country is and how lucky he felt to live here...and to live freely. 

As I sit here, Malu is excitedly reading through all the pamphlets, forms and letters that received after the ceremony this morning.  He got two mini flags that he has been sitting here playing with.  Talk about being really excited to become a citizen.  And since I've never actually seen Malu in his Class A's in person before (can you believe it?) I thought that he should take a picture with his baby girl, who was totally loving all that color on his jacket.

So congratulations baby.  I am so thankful for your service to our Nation.  I am so proud to stand beside you as your wife and as a fellow Servicemember and naturalized citizen!

P.S.  Malu just told me that he is the first in his family to become a citizen.  Too cool.