Bored at Work

Yay, it's the week before July 4th weekend and things seem to have slowed down for a bit.  I hope it stays like this because I have had work-itis for a very long time.  I just came back from a weekend trip to Montreal with my family and my parents for my sister in law's wedding.  Overall, I had a great time.  Things could have been better (dealing with the Naggon) but I won't touch that subject here.

Let's see, what's been happening.  Carey isn't walking yet but I think he's super close to.  He's very steady on his feet (with the assistance of another person) and he likes to wrench out one hand so that he can walk with only hand holding to another person's hand.  He still hasn't gained all the confidence to walk by himself yet but I think that day will be very soon.  I'll be very busy once he does!

And he's made the switch over to whole milk.  I get him organic whole milk from Costco.  And he eats 3 meals a day. He's got a hearty appetite and eats tons! He's learned how to crunch down his Cheerios with his front teeth (there are 8 now, the 8th just popped up a few days ago - 4 on top; 4 on the bottom) and gum down the rest so he eats efficiently and quickly.  My baby's a little boy now! He's not that tiny and helpless baby from one year ago.  I'm ecstatic that he's grown up so well but in a way, I miss that newborn baby in my arms.  We met my newest 1-month old nephew over the weekend and it was nice to hold a little baby again.  I guess it's time to try for the 2nd baby but we won't till after November.  We are going to Cancun in November and I would like to enjoy my trip before a 2nd pregnancy!  All inclusive!!

For his 1 year birthday, his family on his dad's side bought Carey a gift certificate to get some professional pictures taken from here:  Magenta Studios in Montreal.  We had some pictures taken of him in a baseball outfit, a chef outfit, a boxer outfit and a bowl of apples.  We ended the session in his own outfit but by that time, he had enuf of the photo shoot so he wasn't too happy.  But we got really great prints since he was so cooperative.  The pictures won't arrive in Montreal till about 3 weeks and I'm sure it will be sometime before we actually get our hands on it.  I can't wait!

I definitely recommend the studio since they do such a great job. The bad thing is that it costs an arm and a leg. 

I mentioned the last post that I ordered an Ipad.  I love it!  I know it's pretty much like an oversized Itouch but I love it. It's a life saver for road trips for Carey.  We installed some Baby Einstein onto it so I can just bust that out whenever and Carey will be quiet and calm. I pretty much replaced my netbook with the Ipad.  I had trouble with the netbook because the screen was so tiny and it was just really unpleasant to surf the net with it.  It's so much easier with the Ipad and its touch screen. My only regret is that I didn't get a larger size.  I only got the 16G. I should have gotten the 64G! It's also much less bulkier than a laptop or a netbook so it's easier to transport.  I only got the regular Apple case for it and I am ok with it.  I don't love it nor do I hate it. 

I got an A-frame for it from Griffin and I'm really happy with it.

My Ipad was resting on the box before on my night table but it looks so much better on this frame.  It also lies flat, too, if you don't want it to stand up and it easily charges in it.  I also had an invisible shield put on it to protect the screen cuz the screen tends to get really dirty very easily.

Carey was on terrific behavior at the wedding.  He put up with everyone wanting to hold him and he was like a star of the party.  At one point in time, this cute little girl of 14 months toddled up to him and gave him a hug and my son was so traumatized that he started bawling in her face, crumped to the ground and I had to heave him up and calm him down.  *sigh* Uber cute, but hilarious.

We're heading down to Maryland this upcoming weekend for a last minute family shindig. It should be fun! :)

June, Already?

Seems like I post once a month. It's seriously tough to blog every day.  How in the world did I do this before? 
Around this time last year, I was in labor.  I guess this year Memorial Day weekend happened later this year but the Tuesday after Memorial Day in 2009, I was in labor.  Can you believe it's been a year?  I cannot believe time has flown so quickly.  My baby boy is finally 1!  I remember the first few months were really rough and time went by so slowly. I couldn't even fathom his first birthday happening because it seemed such a long time.  Things started to get a little easier when Carey was around 5-6 months old and I guess the remainder of the year just flew by.  It is so fun to see my little boy's personality shine through.  I truly do have a happy baby boy (for most of the time) and it's been a tremendous joy to be a mother to him.  I'm looking forward to our many years to come (through fun times and bad times)!

[Thank you, Macey, for the pictures!  I wouldn't have any time to take any pictures and everything would have gone unrecorded.  :) ]

Carey had his first birthday party over the weekend.  Meanie cooked for most of the party - a traditional Vietnamese celebration meal.  We had brought over some Vietnamese pastries when we went up last at his mother's insistence just for Carey's birthday party.  These pastries are a must-have at big Vietnamese celebrations, like weddings and such.

Steamed buns with pork and egg inside; pork in a flaky crust; spring rolls; cold peanut butter noodles

Meanie also cooked a Viet sticky rice, spring rolls (what NYers know as "summer rolls"), green papaya salad (not so good, lol), my mom made her cold peanut butter noodles, there were grilled chicken wings and steak. 

Here is Carey's first birthday cake:

It was a chocolate cake/chocolate mousse on the inside covered with fondant. I had asked them to make a Baby Einstein cake for Carey and they did a great job on it.  I got this cake at Shop-Rite - it was perfect!!  Now I know I can just get my cakes at the local grocery store and not at an over-expensive custom bakery.  It tasted great, too!

I bought this little hat for Carey but he hated putting it on, so here it rests on the table.  :(

I made Bakerella's Cake Pops on a whim after discovering the supplies at Party City.  They came out really well and I look forward to making more of these so I can perfect the skill.  It's a great job if you have little bakers helping you out, too.

They look easy to make but in reality, a little time-consuming, but its outcome is really rewarding.  Not only did they look good, they tasted good, too!  I want to make more of these now. I don't think I can decorate as nicely as Bakerella does it but at least I can do the basics.  Mine are Devil's Food cake with chocolate frosting with blue Candy Melts, dipped in sprinkles or sand sugar.  It gives a satisfying crunch to the cake balls.  :)

Thanks to everyone coming to help us celebrate Carey's 1st!  It was definitely fun! Too bad he won't remember any of it.  =*(