Barbie Pink Nails

While our hubs were gone CQing my friend Julie, Hannah, and I went to lunch and pedicures.

Before going to lunch I had fed Hannah her lunch. While at the restaurant, The Leaping Frog, I noticed they had carrot cake. It looked so good I ordered a big slice for Hannah. People in the restaurant were commenting on how cute she was with her cake. I wish I had a photo. Of course what she could not finish Mommy was more than happy to finish.

If you live in Hampton Roads and have not been to The Leaping Frog you must go. It's a salad, soup, and sandwich kind of place, but OH SO GOOD. Their food is also made from local produce and such.

After lunch we went to the nail salon. Julie and I got pedicures. Hannah got her first manicure. A very special treat, as this is something she will not get to do often; heck I don't even treat myself that often, lol. No further a do, pictures to commenorate the occasion.

If she looks like this is not her first time, it's because my mom pretends to paint Hannah's nails with clear lip gloss. She loves looking at Grandma's nails. She could not stop smiling and looking at her nails after. She was so estatic.

CQ's

This weekend Sergio was away doing his CQs. CQ stands for Carrier Qualified, and what that means is he is able to safely land his plane on the aircraft carrier. Like this:

Photo taken by Sergio.

He flies a C-2 also called a COD, pictured above. This was not his first time landing on an aircraft carrier, but his first time in the COD. While we lived in Mississippi, he CQ'd in the T-45 as part of his flight school program. Each tailhook you fly, (planes that land on aircraft carriers; not all military planes do) you have to CQ in. This was one of the final things he had to do to complete his training for the fleet. We're very proud of him.

Thursday night his class is having a CQ party to celebrate their accomplishment before everyone farewells to their next assignment. At the party we will find out if our next duty station will be here or San Diego. We are rooting for San Diego, if you didn't already guess as we are both from California and our families live there as well. I'm dreaming of living less than 10 minutes from my parents. I have even found a couple places within walking distance. How crazy to go from living across the country to walking down the street. In the meantime we are preparing ourselves to not be heartbroken if we stay here. Be on the look out for a post Thursday or Friday night!

To see more CQ photos visit our photography webiste, bythesea.zenfolio.com

During CQs Daddy surprised us when he came home to play with Hannah before bedtime.

She was so excited to show him her new trucks we bought at Michael's. I think they are cooking in this photo.

Decorating for Easter

You may have noticed some Easter stuff in my Michael's/Target picture I posted. While looking online for Easter decoration ideas I came across these on marthastewart.com.

While at Michael's I had these branch arrangements on my list. After picking out ornaments I was searching around the store for branches. Then I realized, why would I buy branches when I have a whole yard full. When I came home I looked around the yard at branches that had already fallen, and didn't see any that would work. I went inside and grabbed our hand saw. Back outside I searched around for the perfect branch, and sawed away. And now here is our Easter tree, or Easter Charlie Brown tree as Sergio calls it.

I didn't mean for it to be so large. I just wanted an Easter arrangement to center on our kitchen peninsula that divides the kitchen and living room. When it turned out so big, I thought about putting it on the fireplace where I normally have a white orchid in the same pot. However the branches blended with the red brick, and it was just too large for the fireplace. So it's home for the month of April is next to the fire place, where the branches pop against the white walls.

Hannah loves to look at the ornaments. Here's a little story I emailed to my parents and sister-in-law the other day:

A few of the egg ornaments have flowers on them. Hannah started saying flower a few days before making the tree. While she was looking at the ornaments she was pointing at the flower egg saying, "flower". I said, "yes, those are flowers...very good...". Then she was saying it again later, but this time pointing to a plain egg. I told her, "no that's an egg...this egg has flowers on it, and this one is just a pink egg". When Sergio came home, I told him, "I think I taught our daughter an egg is a flower," lol. Today she was doing the same thing except after pointing to the flower egg saying flower, then pointing to the plain egg saying flower, she pointed to the butterflies and called them flowers. So apparently, I taught Hannah that all bright colored things on branches are flowers, lol. Maybe by Easter she will have it figured out.

I also made a wreath from some garland I bought 1/2 off at Michaels. Love sales!

The colorful tea light holders and little chick I bought from Target's $1/2.50 section.

It may be cold outside but we are enjoying the spring cheer on the inside.

Here's a message from Hannah:

desccbcbbbbcccbcbhbchbhb vvvvnvbnvvhnbvncvbvbbbvbvbvbvbvbbvvbgvcvc bcvc cv cv cc cv v c vb bgbbbbv b bbbb nnnj t yut uujtuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh b bbb b vvk vc m m c v b m b m mb nnnnn mnmmnmnmnnnn

Hannah and Mommy Do...

Michael's and Target

*Not pictured: a giant, pink, stuffed chick from Target Hannah was carrying around. I put it away in the closet before she could play with it since it's for Easter.

Memory of the Day

Trying something new. When I can't get around to a longer post, I'm going to try and post an image or few words from the day. Could just be laundry, or Disneyland. Who knows.

Here's a little bit of our sweetness from yesterday. Can you guess whose fro-yo is whose?

*iPhone photo

Hall of Frame

I'm addicted to following the blog Young House Love. It's about a couple who are DIYing their home. The blog began with their first home, which they have since sold. They are now working on their second home. They post every project, whether big or small. Recently they posted about hanging frames in one of their hallways.

I like to call it the hall of frame, and I've fallen in LOVE with it.

They posted awhile back that they might do something like this. They shared pictures of it done in other people's homes. Truth be told I wasn't too smitten about it. I thought it was interesting, but really didn't care for it. I don't know if it's the way they did it in particular. Maybe the white frames against the grey walls, the console table, or maybe the extra wide hallway (who doesn't love that wide hallway), but I'm loving it.

I'm gushing and dreaming of doing this when we move. I don't think I'll go as far as doing it on all the walls (see the template frame cutouts taped on the walls). I love the combination of photographs, artwork, documents, and objects. What I especially love is that I have a lot of photos, art pieces, and even sentimental objects that I never know where to put. They usually don't fit in in any one particular room. We've begun to collect quite the collection of photos with our camera, and this allows us to display them without feeling like it has to fit in with the room decor. Best of all, even Sergio likes it! Who else wants a Hall of Frame to showcase things that make your heart smile? Photos from http://www.younghouselove.com/2011/03/the-hallway-full-monty/ Sent from my iPad

Test, test

I'm testing out how to write and post from my iPad. If you can read this well success!

Sent from my iPad

Bad, Good, Ugly

Warning: Super long post, but it covers 5 days. And with several side stories within those 5 days, well a blog post can get long.

It's almost April, and it just doesn't feel like Spring. It keeps making an appearance, and than gone. Maybe this is normal for the area. Not sure. We moved here in the midst of Spring last year, so this was our first winter/spring turnover.

Friday was one of those days that Spring decided to make an appearance. Luckily we were able to take advantage of it, before the stomach flu plagued our house for the weekend. As much as I wanted to be enjoying the weekend outside, when I did step out it was a bit chilly, so I suppose we didn't miss too much as far as weather goes. However the final spring cleaning, gathering the last of and dropping off donation items, we were looking forward to did not happen. Instead our house looks like a tornado came through. Actually tornado Hannah did, but her parentals were in survival mode.

Technically the stomach flu made it's appearance Thursday afternoon. Sergio wasn't working till the evening so he was still home. Hannah and I were sitting at the office desk skyping with Grandma. We'll just say Grandma got a little more of a show than she bargained for. Daddy immediately went to the store and bought a few sick supplies so not to leave me stranded, then shortly left to work. She was cranky for a couple hours. I kept her hydrated. A couple hours later she had some toast. About 4 hours later, she even wanted dinner. I made something easy for her stomach. Then I tucked her into bed and called it a night.

Friday we woke to a beautiful spring morning. We made it through the night with no problems. She even ate a huge breakfast in the morning. Phew, Sergio and I thought to ourselves. While he was at work, Hannah and I played in the backyard. Which leads me to a side story, 2 bunblebees started buzzing around the back door, holding us captize out back. Oski did try to rescue us by biting crazily at the bees, but a dog can only jump so high in the air. I was wishing I had my keys so I could go through the front door as lunch was drawing near. Plus I wanted to get us ready since Sergio would be done early. After exhausting Hannah, and no Daddy coming home anytime soon, it was time to make a break for it. I told Hannah to hold onto her sippy cup tight. I put her in one arm, with the windex in another I had used to clean something earlier. I figured the least I could do would be to spray anything that flew at us. I also had the advantage, that if both came, they seemed to be fighting over the territory, so they could possibly distract each other. Not sure if that's how bee's minds work, but you have to be optimistic in the line of fire. We darted across the lawn, hoping my clumsy self would not trip while looking side to side to make sure neither bumble bee were coming. We made it up the 3 steps into the house, and right as I was closing the door, I saw one coming from the left, about 2 feet away from the window, then a foot, as the latch clicked. I squeezed Hannah, and shouted something along the lines of, " We made it, we made it!" with a happy dance. Yes the happy dance was necessary as Hannah loves to dance, and she knew I was excited about running from something. She may not be 2 yet, but she knew we were running from something.

After Sergio came home, and Hannah woke from a nap we packed the car and went to Mt. Trashmore. I blogged about it last fall the first time we went. We just upgraded our camera, so we thought it'd be nice to enjoy the sun, test out the camera, and just escape the house.

You'll have to excuse Hannah's pirate attire, stripe capris and socks; at least she's pretty in pink. After I dressed her, she insisted on wearing her new Winnie the Pooh socks and patent hot pink shoes from Grandma. Grandma and Grandpa just replenished Hannah's shoe bin in perfect timing as she's outgrown all her winter shoes in the last couple weeks. She is very smitten with her new spring/summer footwear.

The only picture from the day with all 3 of us, albeit it's Sergio's shadow.

2 favorite things about our new camera: 1) The lens allows for a wider angle, giving even ordinary shots something extra. 2) The Nikon captures light much better than our Canon did.

Hannah waving goodbye to a Seagull.

I told Sergio to snap a picture of the playground, because no one would believe us if we told you how crowded it was. Both times we've come to this park, the playground is like this. For us it's one of the drawbacks. For little ones it's scary and parents nerve racking. We did let Hannah play. All she wanted to play was I spy Daddy. Not even slide. I followed her around as she went from one end of the structure to the other spotting Daddy. After each time she found him off she went again looking for him at every opening and slide.

I had to post both these, because I love her piggytail profile. Makes me want to go upstairs and hug her if she weren't asleep.

Quite a few stairs you could say. She went down every single one on her own.

After our lovely afternoon, we went to dinner with our first groupon. If you don't know Groupon is, it's a site that posts a different coupon everyday for your local area. It helps promote small businesses, and introduces you to restaurants, stores, or businesses you may otherwise not have been aware of. So far I've purchased 2. The one we used was $12 for $25 worth of sushi. We're still on the hunt for a great sushi restaurant. The other groupon I rencently bought is carpet cleaning of 5 rooms for $65. Deal compared to the usual $100-150 we pay. Perfect for our upcoming move.

As for the restaurant, turned out to be 2 thumbs down. Upon arriving there was quite a wait. When we put our names in she said, 15 minutes. Those 15 minutes turned into an hour. Its a very tiny restarant with maybe 10-15 tables and the sushi bar depending on how large the parties were through out the night. The inside is nicely decorated with a contemporary bistro feel to it. It wasn't your typical Japanese modern decor with bamboo and fountains or ponds. It was very cozy and intimate, whether you went as a couple, family, or larger party of friends We were really excited till the food came out. The portions are large. The taste however was nothing special. Sergio judges a sushi restaurant first on how fresh the fish is since he orders it raw, very important, and secondly the flavor. I always order the baked or tempera rolls, so I judge only on flavor. When Sergio gives it a thumbs down, I'm never surprised, because it is hard to find fresh, fresh sushi. But I've never given a thumbs down on a cooked roll. So for me to leave not only unsatisified, but quite frankly disgusted, it's No Bueno.

Immediately after dinner, I started feeling ill. Like within walking from the restaurant to the car. On a Friday night I'd normally stay up till about 2am, heck I do that during the week too. This Friday I went straight from putting Hannah to bed, to my bed. I told Sergio either our food was so bad I'm mentally making myself feel sick, or I'm sick. Not to be graphic about how the rest of my night went, you all know how the flu goes. The only trick here was it was so bad, I started thinking maybe it was food poisoning, but I knew Hannah had been sick the day before. It was so painful awful I considered having Sergio take me to the hospital. Which in light of the fact that I had a home birth, you know I don't like hospitals, so you see how my night went. While I finally caught some snoozes on Saturday and recooperated, Sergio took care of Hannah. She was a bit fussy. I'm still not sure if it was because she had a bit of lingering flu or because she wanted Mommy, and didn't understand why Mommy was upstairs in bed. Probably both. In the late afternoon I made my way downstairs to cuddle with her on the couch. Right when I'm starting to feel well enough to eat a bowl of soup, guess who's sick now. Yep, Sergio. We quickly got Hannah to bed before he got worse. So you can guess our Sunday was another sick day, this time with Hannah and I downstairs and Daddy upstairs. By Sunday night we thought all three of us were in the clear, with Sergio just needing a good nights sleep. But we guessed wrong. Hannah's symptoms flared up again. However I do blame it on giving her milk too soon. It's recommended to not give dairy for 24-48 hours. I waited the 48 hours, but I think it was just too much. On Sunday she just kept wanting cups of milk. Normally not a bad thing, but I should have limited it. So this morning Sergio went back to work, and he's still there. Hannah had a fussy day with a few sick moments but we made it through. Hopefully tomorrow will be a fresh start for us all.

**Just finished editing and the hubs is home an hour early. 11 instead of midnight. With this thunderstorm rolling through I'm glad. Happy night.

A Little Bit of Sunday

This girl just loves shoes. And every kind too. I was upstairs getting ready for church and I could here a tap, tap, tap in the kitchen. I came downstairs to find Hannah walking around in my boots. Daddy said she'd put them on all by herself.

She actually walks pretty well in them.

Sunday afternoon at the park.

First time on the big kids swing.

Such sweet smiles and laughs are irresistible.

Looking forward to more days like this.

Goodbye Wallpaper, Hello Wall

The wallpaper is finally gone. The walls are painted. Here's a trip down memory lane and new memories to come.

Move in day.

As a playroom.

We tried to work with the wallpaper, so we didn't have to deal with removing it.

Today!

The owners left paint in the shed, so I chose to use it. Luckily I only had to paint where the wallpaper originally was. If we were staying here I'd have done a color either on top, bottom, or both. Since we are not, we'll leave future paint choices to the owners.

Remember I mentioned cleaning out this shelf. Here's a close up. Makes me smile to have order again. Can't forget to note how cute that sleeping angel is (about 4 weeks old).

Close up of the city skyline canvas I mentioned. Sergio and I have very different taste so when we find something we both like (and only $29.99) it's a definite purchase. On the right are sketches of the 3 airplanes Sergio flew in flight school. A gift I made for his winging. What's a home office without matching degrees framed on the left?

Our little reading (coughsnoozecough) nook. The blue pillows I originally bought for the living room, but when I made over the ottoman they no longer matched so reused here.

The makeover of this room cost only $29.99 and elbow grease. The rest we already owned somewhere in the house or storage bins. The canvas was not originally purchased with the intent of being hung in this room. We bought it because we liked it, but were not sure where we'd house it. So you can decide if the $29.99 for it is part of the makeover cost or not. After our upcoming move we do plan on buying a new desk as I've mentioned before in other posts. What will actually remain in the office, or if we even have a room designated as an office is undetermined at this time. Just fun to change it up in the meantime.