Surprise!

What I thought was going to be another run-of-the-mill office meeting, turned out to be a surprise belated baby shower/ welcome back party for me. 

Look at these amazing diaper/baby blanket creations my co-worker did for me.

It was such a sweet gesture.  I am lucky to be working with such a great group of people!

The Maternity Party is Over

Well, the party's over and back to work I go. For me, it marks an end of an era. You see, Julia is my last baby,which makes this my very last maternity leave. I know they won't remember this time in their lives, but I will always cherish these memories.

I recorded this little video of Julia the night before I went back to work. I just wanted to remember how she was right at this moment.

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Sunday Funday: Exploring Houston

From time to time, Will and I jump in the car and explore our large city. We try to find attractions that cost little to no money because... 1) It's a challenge. 2) It fits the budget.  3) You can really find strange and unusual places off the beaten path.  So after being cooped up for a few days, due to a cold, it was a good time to stretch our legs and explore. 

On this trip, we hit 3 spots.  Our first stop was The Beer Can House.  Admission is $2. $5 for a guided tour. Since we got there 10 minutes before closing, we just walked up and snapped a few pictures.

This house was 18 years in the making and is covered with approximately  50,000 beer cans and bottles.  The owner is a retired upholster from Southern Pacific Railroad and one day he just decided to cover his house with aluminum cans. 

Our second stop was The Art Car Museum.  Every year, Houston has an Art Car parade and since I miss it every year, I figured this was the next best thing. Admission is free.

Here are the cars we saw. We weren't able to stay long because Cora was a little scared of these strange and eclectic cars.

Our last (and my favorite) stop was at The Blue Trees.

Artist, Konstantin Dimopoulos, was commissioned to recreate his outdoor living project to generate awareness to the many trees Houston lost to the 2011 drought and the aftermath of Hurricane Ike.  The trees were painted with biologically-safe, water-based ultramarine mineral pigments. When I accidentally  brushed up against the trees, the blue paint came off very easily and the texture resembled chalk. There's no telling how long these trees will stay blue, but for now, they do make a very striking statement.

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

All About Julia

Last year I told my husband that I really wanted to do something BIG for my 40th birthday in 2013. Well low and behold, I sure did do something BIG! I had my beautiful baby girl one week shy of my 40th birthday. It was the best gift I could have received.

The pregnancy started out a lot like my previous one... Tired the first trimester. No morning sickness, just queasiness that would pass after 15 seconds or so and serious fruit cravings. Even though I didn't want to say anything to my husband, I had a feeling this baby was another girl. At 5 months along, I found out my hunch was right.



We immediately decide to name her after my mother-in-law. Cora is named after my mom, and it just seemed right that we honored both of our moms.

Julia Annaliese came into this world one month earlier than planned due to extreme hypertension. I wasn't expecting to deliver that day, in fact I told my boss I was coming in late after my morning doctor's appointment. Unfortunately my blood pressure shot up to dangerous levels and my doctor decided we had to have her that day. Despite the emotional and chaotic start, I was very blessed to have an easy labor and delivery. In fact, I didn't even push. My doctor was prepping for the delivery. He didn't want me to push just yet. He had me just take deep breaths and next thing you know, Julia was born.



I think for Cora, it was love at first sight. She has been a wonderful big sister. I think she will always look out for her baby sister.







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Where Do I Begin...

I can't believe it's been almost a year since I last blogged. I've often thought about writing a post, but being a mommy to a busy toddler and now a newborn (yes, i had another baby) takes up a lot of blogging time. Then there is Facebook. Why write a blog post when I can just update my status and attach a picture in mere seconds?

Well I've come to realize that I miss blogging. I love having a little space on the web that journals my life. I love looking back on previous posts and remembering all of my happy little moments. And even if no one is reading this, my daughters eventually will. I'm glad they will have stories of our lives that I wrote. They will read about how their mom and dad got married twice, details and pictures of our weddings, how I felt and looked during my pregnancy, how i carefully plan their birthday parties, how much I love life and want to teach them how to love theirs. Yes, I think I'll keep blogging...




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Organizing A Hairy Situation

Cora's hair accessories were out of control. When she first started getting hair clips and barretts I'd put them in a little bowl on her dresser and it was fine. A year later, there were just too many for the little bowl, so I decided to organize it.




For my supplies, I used a plain 16 x 20 artist canvas, ribbon, and staples. I chose brown and golden yellow to coordinate with Cora's room.


I cut 6 stands of ribbon, each at 25 inches long. I then measured and stapled the ribbons 2 inches apart to the back of the canvas.



Staple the top and bottom and cut off any excess ribbon (if any) and the back should look like this...



Flip over and you're ready to add your hair accessories.



Have a great day!


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Yum Yum Dim Sum!

Back in December, we took Cora to The Children's Museum and stumbled across this little Asian play area.


It was the first time I had seen Chinese play food. I really wanted to buy a set for Cora, but they didn't sell it in the gift shop and I couldn't find a dim sum set online. I guess if I wanted her to have one, I'm going to have to make it. Here's how it turned out...

Siu Mai



Dumplings, Mini Egg Rolls, and Bao



Banana Leaf Sticky Rice





I really love how these turned out. I may have to make sets for my nieces and nephews.

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Happy Mother's Day

This was my 2nd Mother's Day and my husband did a wonderful job of making it a special day. He had a delicious breakfast waiting for me and he planned a surprise lunch with my best mommy friends.

Wishing all the mothers out there a very Happy Mother's Day!

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Playing With Food

Since we built Cora a new kitchen, it was only right that she had some food to make and serve. I did a little research and found a great tutorial on making easy foods out of felt.

Here's how mine turned out...


For my egg, I sewed a topstitch around the yellow, but left a small opening so I could stuff it with batting. Then I sewed it closed.



For the pancakes. I sewed the butter to the syrup, then the syrup to just the top layer of the pancake. Then I top stitched the pancake to a plain pancake. I like having 2 layers because it makes it more durable.

Making the pasta.... I didn't have the fancy scissors like in the tutorial, so I just cut my jagged edges with my regular scissors. It made a mess, but gosh these turned out cute.



Doesn't it look like we're really cooking pasta?



Breakfast is served!


Mangia!


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Easy No Bake Thin Mints

Tis the season for cookie exchanges, office potlucks, and holiday parties. If you're like me, it can mean you are on a baking overload. So I thought I'd share an easy no bake cookie that's always a hit for the holidays (or if you're craving Girl Scout Thin Mints on the off season).

You only two ingredients:


•Ritz Crackers (I like using the "hint if salt" Ritz Crackers)
•2 pkgs of Andes Creme de Menthe baking chips (I have tried Nestle's mint and chocolate swirl morsels and they don't melt as easily)

Yields aprox 64 cookies (about 1/2 box of Ritz Crackers)

On med-low heat, place your baking baking chips in a double boiler for melting. If you don't have a double boiler (like me), add a couple of cups of water to a pot and place a heat resistant mixing bowl in the pot.



Slowly you chocolate will melt and stir until completely smooth.



Once your chocolate is smooth, dip your Ritz Cracker covering both sides in chocolate.



Place cookies on foil, parchment paper, or even freezer paper and let it cool for about 5-10 minutes.



Once cooled, peel each cookie off the foil and redip the top of the cookie in chocolate. I suggest that you peel all the cookies first, then redip.



These cookies cool really quickly and you can easily make and plate them in 30 minutes. They also freeze beautifully and taste great right out if the freezer.


Enjoy!

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