don't let go

there was a physician who was a pain patient of mine - not a good combo. we weren't adding anything to his pain regimen, but ended up seeing him every single day while he was in the hospital to "hold his hand." that's all he wanted us to do.  

my mom, kaila, and i walked about 1/2 a mile to the park today.  although it took almost an hour with baby K taking her tiny steps (3 baby steps to 1 adult step - we counted), it was worth it.  this is how we walked most of the way - hand in hand in hand.

i know one day she will think it's icky to hold mommy's hand, but i honestly never want her to let go. mommies, please don't tell me this will happen soon!

image from smith medicals

on a side note, i am very nervous about starting

pediatric anesthesia on friday. teeny tiny neonates 

having surgery and me putting in miniscule 

breathing tubes in their throats is not something 

i look forward to.  on top of that, i will have to 

stand there and watch BIG surgeries on precious 

little people.  sigh... wish me luck.

puffy coat, where are you?

sadly, the season of fall in chicago is overshadowed by the bitter chill of winter sneaking its way in sooner than desired.  now that baby K is a mini toddler, i would like to buy her a warm winter puffy coat - but which one??

j.crew convertible powder puffer

Gap black down parka

Appaman puffy down coat

Circo puffer jacket

The North Face "Perrito" reversible puffer

Zara quilted coat with hood

Ralph Lauren "Davyn" down jacket

Juicy Couture nylon puff jacket with bows

too many to choose from! will Gap persuade me with their 25% off promo? (promo code: GAPSAVE until 9/29)

argyle and goatees

a super talented friend of mine threw a great 30th surprise party for her hubby this past weekend.  sorah is always bursting with creative juices and it would be a shame if i didn't share her work!

she's a busy attorney by day, and an amazing designer by...day, too! 

here's what came in the mail...

she drew art on all the invites! how cute is this?

time to put on argyle!

     

         baby K is ready to get to the BBQ!

hubby's idea of wearing argyle

time to celebrate!

sorah made these hilarious goatees for everyone! how cute is she?!

her works of art

john drew argyle on his t-shirt - what a great friend!

goatees waiting for the birthday boy

baby K sporting a fashionable goatee

birthday boy banner

the cute couple in matching argyle! goody even brought a vege tray for an "attorney" picnic!
(both are attorneys) 

our goody bag - fujifilm snapshots of us with a cb2 magnetic frame
brilliant idea!

happy birthday goody! we had a GREAT time - can you tell? :)

the females in my life

today was my daughter's baptism and my mom's 61st birthday.
what a hectic day...
but what a blessed day!
i was reminded how grateful i am to have such a beautiful and loving family.
i know how silly this can sound, but my mom is undoubtedly my hero.
she has fought so many battles in her lifetime including cancer, and she stands even stronger today.
everyone is drawn to her warmth, her selflessness, and her joyful spirit.
i am so thankful kaila has such an amazing woman as her grandmother.
and my precious kaila - baptized into our Christian church.
i pray every day she continues to grow as a child of God.
any time i look at her, i can't help but smile - she is always smiling right back at me!

i love these two ladies in my life with every ounce of my flesh.
now why did i forget to take a picture of these 2 together today?
maybe because my 15-month-old kaila is always on the loose!
i guess this old pic will have to do.

what would mommies do?

here's the dilemma:

a few days ago, i took my daughter to our neighborhood park.

we own a bulky stroller, so we like to give her a ride in her favorite mini pink car (step 2 whisper ride buggy).

we arrive at the park, and put the car on the grass near all the other strollers/bikes.

as kaila goes off to play, i notice out of the corner of my eye 2 kids running to her ride.

i think to myself, aww kids are bound to be attracted to mini cars and the last time this happened, it wasn't a big deal.

the mom of one of the kids notices me staring in that direction, gives me a smile, and proceeds to have her kid enjoy himself in the pink car - opening the hood, honking the horn, and doing who knows what else, but seemingly having a good ol' time.

i hesitate to say anything, because why stop a kid from having harmless fun, right?

i have to admit though - i am a little bothered that i have to keep an eye on our car and on kaila...

soon enough, the kids eventually get bored and off they go.

and now it's time for kaila to go home.

as we walk to her ride, something is not right.

questionable creamy guck is smeared all over the steering wheel and seat!

this made me SO angry!

and to make matters worse, my hubby tells me bigger kids were trying to roll over mini hills with the car today (and yes, he politely asked them to stop playing with it to prevent it from being broken).

is it wrong of me to not have said anything at first?
or am i overreacting?
shouldn't moms/nannies know better?
i don't know anymore.

here's my baby k enjoying her main ride this summer:

she's got the driving pose down with the wind blowing in her hair!

and here's what infuriates me these days:

kaila withdrawal

for 4 days, i will only get to see my baby girl for 4 whole hours. 

i have shed a lot of tears watching my baby girl grow up from a distance, but i am trying to fight through this! but it still hurts - like tonight, when she refused to come into my arms because she wanted her stay-at-home-daddy to put her to sleep. i know i should understand a baby becomes attached to people they see the most, but my heart still breaks every time. i love this girl too much. don't worry though, there are times when all she wants is her mommy - moments i treasure.

to prevent a bad kaila withdrawal, here's a fun time we had at the beach this summer.



the BEST sahd (stay at home daddy)



my baby love



DIY like a laxative

as i was talking with one of my pain patients, i hear a mix of liquid and gas bubbles exploding into his colostomy bag. i guess i reacted, and he says, "they just gave me something to move my bowels and i think my pain is all gone now."  oh boy. 

getting the courage to start a DIY project is like a laxative.

you make the decision to just go for it, pop in the pill, and let it take its course.

and once you let loose and finish your project, you are so relieved -

regardless if the end product is pretty or ugly. 

that's how i felt with my very 1st DIY task:

fabric poms & fabric banners for my daughter's 1st birthday party.

although i spent way too many hours late at night cutting and gluing with an alarm clock of 4:30am approaching, i was surprised to feel so content with the way everything turned out. 

being an amateur with design, i learned a lot along the way, and i hope i can give you some tips to save some time and money!



i ended up making 15 banners - sorry i don't have more pics!



Fabric Poms - detailed pic to come!

there's a great tutorial on once wed that i followed, but a few tips that may help:

• try to get the smallest chinese lantern you can find - otherwise it will take too much fabric and time to glue together
• i ended up using about 3 yards for each fabric pom with an 8" chinese lantern - considerably more fabric than i had anticipated
• there's a time commitment of about 2-3 hours for each fabric pom if you complete it in one sitting

Fabric Banner

after looking at a few different banners online, i decided to go the easier route and avoid sewing.  i went with baker's twine, heatbond iron-on adhesives, fabric in blue/pink theme, and iron-on black letters from a craft store.

• to create about 10 10ft banners, you only need 1 yard of 5 different fabrics - my mistake was overestimation
• choose your fabric wisely since you want both sides of the fabric to be identical (not a faded pattern on the back of a print fabric) and avoid thin fabrics if you are using adhesives
• for a clean, crisp look, measure out 2 inches with a pencil between your fabric pendants instead of arbitrarily placing the pendants on the twine

happy DIY!