thanks to Amy for capturing this moment

and this...

the dad/husband

Per popular request, here's a pic of the dad/husband. J particularly dislikes having his picture put up on the internet. The only reason, he agreed to it, this time, was due to family noticing that he was conspicuously absent on the marianjamesandamira blog. haha! so there he is.. and hopefully, there will be many more pictures to come.

gorgeous sunday in the backyard and OOTW pics..

It was a beautiful day on sunday.. We came home from a trip to the coast visiting family members. It was fun but there's nothing like coming back home to make me wish we never left. Here are a few pics of my princess. enjoy!

Awww.. she is so beautiful. I can't believe she is my daughter sometimes! I know, I can't help but shamelessly brag about my kid.

OOTW. These pics were taken on friday.. We went to Out of this world pizza and play for and LOVED it! It's huge with tons of play structures for kids of all ages.

Gardening... It's not too late

So it's really not to late to start working on our garden. We are going to recycle some of the junk in our yard and donate the other stuff. In its place, by the grape vines and behind our huge tree, we'll have a garden. We plan on doing it by May by the latest. Some of the veggies like sugar snap pea, squash, tomatoes, bell pepper, corn, and an assortment of herbs. I love herbs. hopefully, the weather will be nicer. yay! I'm stoked.

crazy, busy, hectic weekend..with not much gardening done cuz of the weather! argh!

It's been a crazy weekend for sure. We tried to do some gardening on saturday morning but it hailed! can you believe it? It feels like January. We really got spoiled by the few sunny days of the beginning of spring. Anyway, so james just tended to the grapes we have growing and they look promising.

We had a get together yesterday and right before that we had James' s dad come over. It was a hectic day between cleaning up, getting us all dressed, running errands and getting ready for dinner. I made some fried rice with veggies and fried chicken. The chicken turned out fabulous but the rice was chewy. I guess I made so much of it that I was afraid it was going to get too soft with more water. so, not a total disaster but not quite a hit either. It was too spicy for a few people. I don't mind spiciness, neither does my family so I got carried away.

Anyway, It was nice. We had a wonderful, rich, delicious cake made by my friend's husband. It was divine. Amira was bouncing off the walls by the end of the night. I think she had a little too much cake. but she hadn't had one since Easter so I figured it would be a nice treat. but it wasn't such a great idea right before bed time. she definately had a hard time settling down to go to sleep.

James turned 30 the day before on April 18th, 2008. It was definately a mile stone birthday and he made the comment that he was now 3 decades old. I asked him how he felt about that. He said he definately felt older and that he knew himself and his goals in life. I figured that's a good thing cuz that's exactly how I feel.

I drank one too many margaritas last night though. I'm kicking myself cuz I wanted to pass out by 11. It had been a long day. I wish my guests weren't able to tell that. It was great having people over though. We need to do it more often. I certainly had a blast. Amira got her first Barbie. Amira tried getting her clothes off and yanked her hair with a brush. I thought she would be a little too young to know how to play with a Barbie. but no, it was her word of the day today too. "Bahbie" all day long.

alright, well good night for now. It's 2 in the morning and I have got to get some sleep.

A must-read

I just finished reading the Knitting Circle. As I read the book, all kinds of emotions overwhelmed me. I mean, I was in tears within the first chapter!

Here's a video of Ann Hood reading an excerpt from her book and just giving a background of her awesome novel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNM7y1uT0V4

some pics of Amira

some pictures I took today on our lazy, cloudy afternoon...in between laundry folding

I asked her to say cheese..so I got a smile.. kind of

I think her molars are coming in...

don't know what's up with the nose pickin'..

Poop, poop, everywhere

Such is the life of a mama with a toddler.

Yes, there was poop everywhere on the carpet this morning. see, that adorable baby on the right..
uh-huh, it was her. she did it. and she feels no guilt about it. she was just a little bothered that she stepped on it because mama freaked out. that's all.

This was the 2nd time in the past couple of days that Amira has taken off her diaper to poop. y'know, she just might

be ready to get on the potty.

Here she is, during her bath, after the incident..completely engrossed in play.

A few changes

So, I'm really not that new of a mom anymore. Amira is 19 months old. full of energy and growing like a weed. she is incredibly tall, talented, and absolutely loves to have fun. Here is a picture of her laying on the floor after a lil' game of wrestling with daddy.

I love that look on her face..




So, I started going to the play dates regularly, cuz I now drive. best.thing.to happen since Amira's birth. I don't feel so isolated anymore and Amira gets to play with other kids, get exhausted, and want to take a really good nap. Life is funner when we get out of the house and do something. every trip is an adventurous one around here.

so anyway...

I started school, too. Amira and Dad get to spend quality time, hanging out after dinner and getting ready for bed time. It's turned me into quite the night owl. It allows me time to come home at night to work on a blog, or just chill. I love my program. Medical billing and coding. I finally picked the right career for me. I enjoy coding and the benefits would just be awesome for us.

In other news, I cut my hair. It was getting really long. In hindsight, I prefer it that way, but oh well, hair grows. here's the before picture.

and here's the after:



See.. it just seems so much thicker..which in my case is not a good thing since I already have a lot of hair.



Well, we all need change right?
I guess it all starts with myself, and my perspective on life... I'm insanely in love with my princess and the love of my life, my partner, has actively been working with me on a lot of things. The more we work as a team, the more things change for the better...