The Start of Summer 2009...Bird Park Concert #1

Summer finally feels like it's here when we have the first Bird Park concert. The kids are pretty excited too:


Here's Jessica sportin' two:




Apparently it's A LOT of fun having two!


Koko swinging Izzy around (I think she was trying to distract her from the promise she made to her to take her to the moon):

Dumpling Party for the dumpling on the way

Mama's coworker, Olivia, was kind enough to throw together a last minute shower/dumpling party for us. Together we made some delicious savory (pork/shrimp and edamame/shiitake) dumplings and also had a make-your-own-dessert-dumpling station with lots of fun ingredients.


We received lots of wonderful gifts for the baby






(and even some for the Babe too!)

and we had a lot of fun with people's name suggestions.


The winners were:
Girl:
New York Villanueva
Dulce de Leche Okanilla (bonus points for the creative combo-last name)

Boy:
Thelonious Okano Villanueva
Flava Villanueva

Chris even provided some entertainment as Princess Leia:


Help me, Obi-one-izzy, you're my only hope!


Jeff, Robin, and Hostess with the Mostess Olivia:


Robbo & Ryan:


Chris & D:


Little Benjamin:


When we got home, the Babe wasted no time "testing" out the baby's new toys--Quality Assurance is top priority to Iz! Only the best for her "boy." (We really hope it's a boy for her sake!)


Mama, these slippers are a little small but I guess they'll do for the baby:

(and it didn't keep Izzy from wearing them around for a few hours.)



Thanks again to Olivia and all for making this such a fun and special event for us! We can't wait for our little dumpling to meet all of you in a few weeks!

Our First Earth Boxes

After our Father's Day festivities, we finally went and got the Earth Boxes that Momo & Jiji so generously funded. We're starting out w/two, one that has tomatoes ("pomatoes" in Izzy speak) and one that has herbs, cucumbers, and eggplant.

The Babe and Daddy did all the hard work prepping the boxes:










After all that hard work, the Babe was pooped and decided to lounge for a bit on the deck:

Happy Father's Day...

...to the best Daddy in the whole wide world!

On Father's Day we enjoyed a wonderful morning with our friends Eve, John, & Ecco. First we went to the Cottage and had a delicious breakfast, then we headed to La Jolla Shores to play in the sand, run from the waves, and search for seashells.

Big Bellies all around-
Eve:


and Mama:


The Daddies hanging out:


Making sand angels:





Izzy & Ecco being very cute:




The Daddies and their girls:


And as the Babe often says (as she's having a hard time getting her shirt pulled on or off her head), "I have a big head, like Daddy." Just one more thing to love about him!

Bunny Burrito

The Babe likes to be wrapped up like a burrito in her bunny towel after she takes a bath or shower:

Just one of the boys

This weekend the Babe got to spend some quality time with her cousins Jackson and Christian and her Tita Lisa and Uncle Dave. They were visiting from Arizona and stayed at the Hotel del Coronado, so we had a lot of fun being beach bums with them, going to the pool, back to the beach again, and enjoying meals together.

The Babe likes to wear her sunglasses on her head, just like mama:


Gotta do some stretches before I start running around w/Jackson and Christian:


One challenge when dealing with three kids: it is nearly IMPOSSIBLE to get a photo of all three kids smiling at the same time. I took about 25 shots of them in this position and this is the closest we got (and I'm just showing the one w/Izzy smiling cuz she's my kid :)).


After the beach everyday, the cousins took a bath together and had lots of fun splashing and being silly:




Jackson and Izzy being goofballs and carrying their 'babies' around in their homemade baby bjorns:


Izzy kept her baby like that for quite a while and even did a bunch of laps around the fountain:


Hanging out on the balcony w/Uncle Dave:


This is probably the best picture of the cousins from the weekend (thank you, Daddy, for offering to be their perch):


The water baby LOVED her pool time:





Jackson's wiggly tooth finally came out and he learned that the tooth fairy even comes when you're traveling!




Family photo:


What we imagine Izzy will look like in 40 years when her hair starts to gray: