fashion...hair!

It's about time we post about hair here for fashion friday!  Here's my first attempt at a single french braid on Lyla.  I am really looking forward to doing all the crazy braid styles that are popular right now...the waterfall, fishtail, crown, cascade, maiden, etc.  lyla's hair is finally long enough to do it.  She will learn to love it; i.e. she will just have to accept the fact that she has to sit still for me to do her hair every morning.

check out this tutorial I found at a beautiful mess blog.  It is a fantastically adorable blog about fashion, decor, recipes, beauty, crafts, etc.  there are tons of other hair tutorials there too!

 

verbal growth spurt

We've noticed that recently Cody has been using a lot more words.  Though he's pretty quiet compared to his chatter-box sister, he can hold a pretty good conversation!  When Lyla was 17 months old, I made a list of all the English and Japanese words she used.  You can find her impressive list here. 

At last week's visit, Cody's doctor asked me how many words he uses.  Off the top of my head I said that he probably uses about 20 words.  She was surprised that he knew that many.  I think she would be quite shocked if she knew that it's actually more like 48 words.  Travis and I made a list last night of all of Cody's words.  Here they are (and I'm sure I forgot some):

lyla
mommy
daddy
grandpa
baaba (grandma)
ball
uh-oh
no
cookie
cracker
okay
where
my
mine
hug
fuzzy (his blanket)
bye-bye
up
down
hair
car
juice
airplane
diaper
poop
please
more
i do!
kuku (shoes)
yucky
hat
eye
body
baby
hi
nose
bible
doggie
dude
kaki (draw)
flower
turn
sock
you
done
outside
money

garage inspiration

Oh, I am getting so excited about organizing our garage!  The first thing I do when I get inspired is I do a google image search online for more ideas.  I just found these brilliant photos of stunning garages.

1. I love these garages because they are so bright and clean.  Beautiful.

2. I like the bike hanging from the ceiling on this one.  I also like all the small tools up on the pegboard.  You often see large tools hanging on pegboards, but not small tools.

3. I love the idea of a painted pegboard.  It looks so much happier and fresher.  The standard white ones show so much dirt and look very boring. 

4. The outlined tools are really nice for keeping track of where things are supposed to be returned.  A place for everything, and everything in it's place.

5. Finally, I think I am going to get a kitchen knife-holder to use as a paint-brush rack.  What a great way to keep paint brushes organized.

garage sale!

Our three family garage sale was a great success!  We woke up at 6am, had our stuff out on the driveway by 7am, and we were super busy from 7am-8am.  Man, those garage sale shoppers are serious.  They roll up in their pick-up trucks, their fanny packs on, and they are ready to wheel and deal!  We made over $300 between all of us.  What didn't sell at the end of the day was taken over to Goodwill. 

These pictures were taken during the lull between the early morning crowd and the late morning crowd.  A lot of the big stuff was already gone by this point.

The morning did not lack for entertainment from the children.  Emilia begged me to turn on some music so they could dance.  The girls twirled and spun to some of frank sinatra's greatest hits. 

Another benefit of hosting a garage sale is meeting neighbors.  We got to meet our new neighbors across the street who just moved in a couple weeks ago.  They bought our coffee table.  I have been meaning to bake something and take it over to introduce ourselves!  Gosh, I really need to do that.  We also got to pet some neighbor-doggies. 

I am really looking forward to our next garage sale.  I've already been looking around the house to see what we can do without.  I love to purge.  No one will ever accuse me of being a hoarder or pack-rat.  If I don't use it or wear it on a regular basis, it's gone.  However, I have other plans for now.  Our next major project is cleaning our garage!  Now that we have cleared it out a bit, it's time to get organized.  I will be posting about this project too, so stay tuned!

these kids...

Nobody wanted to cooperate this morning for pictures.  Least of all, my phone.  I dropped my phone on saturday night and shattered the screen.  I am currently using an old nokia until I can get over to t-mobile to buy a new one.  These photos were taken on the nokia, so not the best quality ever. 

Here are the kids in their friday outfits.  I love these kids even if they hate when I take their pictures.

Lyla is wearing a white tank top from old navy and striped skirt from janie and jack.  Today is her first day wearing "real" jewelry and she is covering it up with her hand in the picture!  I let her wear my swarovski hello kitty necklace.  She felt pretty special to be wearing jewelry.

 Cody is wearing his grey gap skinny jeans (featured way too many times on the blog, but I love how he looks in them) and red sweatshirt from Op.  Black vans shoes.  This little dude is going in for his 18 month well-visit today...which means he will get the dreaded immunizations.  I hate when my kids get shots!  I think it must be harder for me than it is for them.  I will have to shower him with extra tlc today.

And in other news...we are preparing for our very first garage sale tomorrow morning!  I am so excited to clean out our garage, get rid of some old stuff, and hopefully make some cash!  I will let you all know how it goes.  Happy Friday, everyone!  I hope you all have a lovely weekend.

a very bravo baby shower

Our good friends are expecting their second baby this Halloween.  They hosted a baby shower/camping trip in honor of their baby boy over the weekend.  While we would have loved to camp out with everyone, we just didn't have the guts to go through with it.  I had a long list of things that could go wrong with little kids while camping.  I could just picture a night with no sleep for our entire family!  So, just before we left, we scrapped the idea of camping and decided to just hang out until bedtime.  It was a beautiful evening spent with friends anyways.  Our friends have a 2 year old daughter named Tallulah and will be naming their son...Joaquin!  I love the name they chose.  You can't really go wrong with baby names when your last name is Bravo.  It's got to be one of the coolest last names ever.  We can't wait to meet little baby Joaquin in a few short months.  Here's a few pics of Lyla and Cody hanging with Tallulah at the shower in Anza, which is located about 1 hour drive east of temecula.

 How adorable is little Tallulah?  She has the most gorgeous hair! 

cody is 18 months old

My hat-wearing, shoe-fanatic, huggable, loveable, kissable, sweet boy is 18 months old today.  Cody wears shoes all the time and he protests every time I take them off.  He would wear them to bed if we would allow it.  He will even resort to finding mom and dad's shoes so he can clippety-clop around the house.  He also loves headwear...hats, beanies, hoods, tiaras, buckets...if he can somehow put it on his head, that's where it's going!  He recently started adding a few words to his vocabulary and is currently saying "okay" and "I do!" a lot.  It is so adorable.  He follows his big sister around everywhere and mimics every move she makes.  As a result, he is learning to be a bit more bold and outgoing.  Every once in a while he will say, "hey dude" to a random stranger.  But more often than not, he is a pretty shy guy.  He is definitely more timid than his big sis, but he does not hesitate to stick up for himself.  I often hear Cody and Lyla arguing and he will clearly shout, "NO, Lyla!".  I cringe at the thought of how many fights I will have to break up between these two strong-willed children.  But Cody has a very soft side.  He loves to cuddle with me and I just soak up all the attention I can get!  We have our nighttime routine together...after bathtime, tooth-brushing, and jammies, we grab a bottle of soy milk, his "fuzzy" (blanket) and rock in the rocking chair together.  He often lifts up his head to search for my face in the dark and gives me a kiss.  What could be better than a kiss that you aren't asking for or expecting from a baby?  I don't think there is anything sweeter in the world.  It's hard to believe that he will be turning two years old in six short months from now.  I still think of him as my baby boy.  Maybe that never goes away.  Happy 18 months, my son!  I love you bigger than the sky!

daddy/daughter date night

Lyla's first date with her daddy was a huge success!  They both had an amazing time and Trav did everything he could do to make it an extra special evening.  He wanted to make Lyla feel like a princess.  I was so excited about their date that I bought her a new fancy dress weeks ago.  She couldn't wait to dress up for her daddy and go out on her first date ever.

We prepared for the date by making Travis a little surprise.  We worked together to make a boutonniere using some lavender in our front yard.  It was super simple to do.  We just cut some lavender, tied the stems together with twist ties, and then wrapped some lace ribbon around it.  Voila!  Grab a pin and you have a homemade boutonniere. 

Travis arrived at the door to pick up Lyla with a bouquet of flowers.  She couldn't believe they were for her.  She kept bringing them to me and saying they were mine. 

Daddy tries on the boutonniere.

Trav let Lyla choose any place she wanted to go to dinner.  She didn't even take more than two seconds to think about it before she shouted out, "Sushi!"  He took her to our favorite sushi spot in town, Hana Sushi.  She ordered tamago (cooked chicken egg) and philadelphia roll.

When they arrived at Reliance Church for the ice cream and movie, the ladies of our church gave them the red carpet treatment.  Literally, they had a red carpet for them to walk in on!  There were bags of popcorn for the movie, strawberry water, ice cream and tons of toppings, etc.  All the daddies and daughters got to share in some ice cream and then cuddle up on the floor with blankets and pillows to enjoy the Muppets movie.

I think Lyla will cherish this memory of her very first date forever.  The photo below was given to Lyla in a little frame as a keepsake of the night and it is now on the shelf above her bed.  What a sweet memory to keep in her heart forever! 

"Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward." -Psalms 127:3

a perfect day at the fair

We had so much fun at the San Diego County Fair!  We took tons of pictures and it was really hard for me to narrow them down to just a handful to share here.  The best part was that both sets of grandparents joined us for our adventure.  It was the perfect opening day filled with photo booth fun, fair food, cotton candy, rides, and animals!

Here's Cody on hist very first pony ride!  Remember Lyla's first pony ride last year?

Cody really enjoyed the photo booth and the "footsie wootsie" foot massager.  The bummer is that every time we passed a "footise wootsie" later in the day, he cried because he wanted to get to it.  

My favorite part of the fair experience is the FOOD!  Lyla and I shared a giant BBQ turkey leg and it was so good. 

Lyla giving grandma some sweet sugar...and then later grandma gave Lyla some sweet sugar in the form of cotton candy.

Cody rides along in Grandpa Glen's backpack carrier.  He loves the view!

The best part of the day was when Grandpa Ron got to finally live out his lifelong dream of riding an elephant.  Ever since he was a kid, he has wanted to touch an elephant.  For $7 at the fair, he got to ride on one with his granddaughter!  Can you tell how thrilled he is?

I had to add this picture because this spider swing ride was Lyla's favorite part of the day.  When she woke up from her nap in the car on the ride home, she said, "Daddy, do you know what was the most super-duper-awesome part of the day for me?  When you rode on the spider ride with me."  I never would have guessed this to be her favorite experience.  Ha!

Ah, the fair.  It never disappoints. We are already looking forward to next year...and it will probably take us that long to recover!  

cubbie graduation

Last night we celebrated Lyla's completion of one year of being an AWANA cubbie.  We walked into the room about two minutes late and the ceremony had already started.  Much to our surprise, Lyla ran straight down the aisle and right up on stage with no hesitation and gave mr. darius a big hug!  He was in mid-sentence and addressing the entire room when he was attacked by our daughter.  He immediately picked her up and held her in his arms while he completed his speech on stage.  Lyla has no stage fright whatsoever.  Yikes!

It was so cute to see all the little cubbies standing up at the front and getting their certificates.  Some of them got awards for completing their books and some got "good effort" awards.  My favorite part of the night is at the beginning when the kids do worship.  They sing songs like "Trust in the Lord with all your heart" and "Make a joyful noise (NOISE!) to the Lord" and "Jump up and down (hey!), I believe in Jesus".  The songs are really up-beat and the dance moves that mr. darius choreographed are fun too (even for me!).  Yeah, that's right...I know some of the moves.

Lyla received a certificate for completing her book!  We are such proud AWANA cubbie parents.  In Proverbs 22:6 the bible says, "Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it".  I think it's wonderful that this is a promise in the bible that our children WILL NOT depart from the ways that we train them.  It doesn't say that they probably will not or may not depart.  The bible promises that if you train them in the ways they should go, they WILL NOT depart from it.  Wow.  I love to rest in this verse and know that our hard work as parents will pay off in the long run.  The time and energy we invest in them now will help them into their adulthood.  Thank you, Lord, for your awesome covenant!

trisha has a dog walking business!

My sister, Trisha, has been living in San Francisco for the last several years.  She has been working as a Special Education Coordinator at an elementary school in the city.  But this Summer she embarks on a new adventure! 

Trisha recently decided to take a huge leap of faith and transition into starting her own dog-walking and pet-sitting business.  I am so proud of her for having the courage to start something totally new.  She seriously needed a change of pace and a fresh start.  It definitely takes guts to realize that you are unhappy in your current profession and just completely switch gears.  I have been happy to be a part of the start-up of this new business by helping to design her business cards, review her website, and just give general business and marketing advice.  This is a really fun enterprise and I am praying that K9 Recess is a huge success!  Please check out her K9 Recess website and "like" her facebook page.  If you have any friends in the Mission, Castro, Noe Valley, and Haight neighborhoods of SF, please pass on the K9 Recess contact information. 

Thanks for your help in promoting Trisha's new business!

what we're looking forward to this summer

There are so many fun events coming up that I wanted to share.  I am sure that this is just the tip of the iceberg as far as our summer plans, but here's our list so far:

wednesday, june 6 - AWANA graduation night

friday, june 8 - We're going to the San Diego County Fair!  Admission is only $4 on opening day, so we are going to take advantage.

saturday, june 9 - Father-Daughter date night at Reliance Church.  Description from the website: "Reliance is excited to host a special Father-Daughter Date Night, featuring an ice-cream social and movie viewing.  Men are encouraged to take their daughters out to dinner before this formal event to spend some quality time together. Girls are encouraged to wear fancy dresses for this elegant evening."

sunday, june 17 - Father's Day.

monday, july 9 - Trav's 32nd birthday. 

friday, august 9 - "Meet your teacher" night at Lyla's school.  Lyla will get to meet her preschool teacher and see her classroom.

monday, august 13 - Lyla's first day of preschool!

I will be blogging about everything, so stay tuned for a lot of posts!

zara lookbook

One of my favorite places to shop for kids clothes has got to be zara.  Check out their May lookbook for baby.  I am loving it all!

camo and stripes

Have I mentioned that my kids love to match eachother?  Something so simple as matching garments can bring squeals of joy!  They both have camouflage pants, so I thought I would delight them and dress both in camo today.

I am wearing a light pink sheer blouse with ruffles from forever 21.  Striped maxi skirt and gold sandals from target. 

Here's Lyla in a flowy top from Greece (a gift from a family friend who traveled there a couple years ago).  I love how it fit as an off-shoulder dress when we first got it and now it's a top.  I think it's the one thing that has fit her and has stayed in her closet for this long!  She is also wearing camo leggings from Children's Place and "strappy gladiator sandals" from Diamond Footwear.

Lyla shows Cody the baby boy's nose.  Cody wears a plum bunny by kate quinn shirt and camo shorts from target.