Santa Anita Raceway

The first day of our spring break was spent with our friends, Troy and Mikelle, at Santa Anita Park to enjoy the beautiful horses and to place a couple 2 dollar bets.  Lillie loved the horses and so did we.  Eric and I were both terrible at choosing the winners, so at least we know we won't be come addicted, but I definitely want to go back!

Our friends, Troy and Mikelle, knew a lot about the jockeys from a reality show called "Jockeys", that's about horse racing and riders at Santa Anita raceways or something like that.  I'm gonna need to watch a few episodes before we go again.

Can't have a post about horse racing without at least a couple horse pics.



The next three photos show what I did the most: follow Lillie around.

The next five action shots show the struggle between mom and 1 year old.  Sigh.  I don't know if I'll ever get another decent picture of her again.

Lillie wishes she could grow up to be a jockey...but she's pretty much already too tall for that job.
I don't know how Eric missed out on being in any of the pictures.  He won't be so lucky next time.

We had spring break the past 2 weeks. It was great to have a little vacation time. The last few days we spent in Las Vegas. Lillie did surprisingly well and we had a great time hiking, seeing shows and other random free stuff. Can't wait till our next break!

no cell phones

Just an FYI to anyone trying to get a hold of us....we're unreachable until monday or tuesday....cell phone troubles waiting for new ones.  Shoot us an email if you need to ....  ericwin99@gmail.com.

One unlucky/lucky day

So we had been trying to sell an old laptop on ebay this past week. A lady emailed us saying she wanted to buy the laptop for her daughter for school and that she wanted it to happen ASAP. Because we didn't have a "buy it now" set up for that auction, the person just sent us the money through paypal and asked that we end the auction early. Also, she gave us a different address to ship the item to, her daughter's address.
So we got it all packaged up and Eric took it down to the post office right before they closed. When he got back, he received an email that said that our laptop was bought with stolen paypal info.
So after a phone call, we found out that because we had shipped it to a different address than what was on the paypal account, they wouldn't reimburse us. So Eric ran down to the post office and was able to get the package back right as they were loading it onto the truck. The post office people said that this happens ALL THE TIME.
So, even though this makes us look bad because we were dumb and trusting about the whole thing, I am sharing it to make sure that it doesn't happen to you. Ship only to addresses that are listed in their info and make sure you always get a tracking number.

My Little Green-Eyed Monster

So Lillie has been really funny lately about sharing her parents with others. Every time that we give any attention to Hallie or any other kid, she immediately comes over and must also be held or given attention. But she is also all about making sure that she is the center of other parents' attention too. It's nice to finally be wanted, since it's always seemed like she didn't care one way or another about us, but it's getting a little frustrating.
Yesterday, Eric was letting me get a much needed nap and he was showing videos of Lillie as a baby to her and she flipped out! Crying and throwing a fit because the video showed her parents giving attention to another baby, not understanding that it was her. Ha ha! I thought that was hilarious.
In a completely unrelated note, Lillie has learned how to bring us a diaper. Saturday, I just thought I'd try it out, never having done it before, and Lillie brought me out a diaper from her room and has been doing it ever since. So cool! Too bad she still usually throws a fit with being changed.

Easter Outfit and Sewing Projects

I know that none of these pictures show off the skirt that well, but this is the skirt that I spent WAY too many hours making. Even though it was a lot of work, I am happy with it and Lillie is too. She loves how soft it is and how perfect it is for twirling.

Here are my two other recent projects:


A new diaper bag, complete with one exterior pocket and four interior pockets. This turned out the best of all the projects. I guess it's probably because it was the only one that I had a pattern for. Patterns are great.
This little dress is made out of a man's dress shirt. It is really cute (when ironed) or would be, if it fit Lillie. It's too small, she cried when I tried it on her. I am debating whether I should try and fix it or just give it away and make another. It was less than 5 dollars to make with everything, so I should probably just try again.So that's what I've been up to while Eric has been really busy with school, either in the lab or studying for tests. It's been nice to have something to keep me occupied. Stay tuned for more projects, although, this is finals week, so after this week things shouldn't be as crazy for him.

For Sale

One toddler for sale!
One toddler for sale!
One crying and whining young daughter for sale!

This is an adaptation from one of my favorite Shel Silverstein poems, but it is kinda how I've felt lately about one difficult little one year old. Lillie has been putting me through the ringer lately with her fit throwing. She cries all day long to go outside but when we go out to the car to go anywhere she throws a huge fit about being put into her carseat and cries until we reach our destination. It's nearly impossible to get her in a shopping cart or stroller too. She tests me all day long with touching the tv, ending up in minute long time outs multiple times throughout the day. I've been telling myself it's just a phase, but it's been a couple months!

She definitely has her endearing and sweet moments, but man, there are frustrating times too...for me and her.

Anyone have any advice?

A Few of Her Favorite Things at 14 Mos

These are some of the latest photos that I've taken of Lil.  They are of her first pigtails.  

It's been quite a while since I've made an entry listing Lil's new tricks, etc.  So here it goes.

Favorite color: purple *the color of her "my little pony" tshirt

Favorite food: french fries.  I wish it was broccoli, but french fries isn't so bad when your grandpa is a potato farmer.

Favorite word: No, no, no (accentuated by a finger wag)  Other new words: backpack, ball, shoe, all done, dog  *She is very good at trying to repeat things that you say.

Favorite action: Blowing kisses with both hands and saying muah

Favorite toy: Baby Bear (Fur Real newborn)  It is a mechanical bear that makes little noises and sleeps.  Lillie puts him in her stroller or carries him on her shoulder patting him on the back or feeds him a bottle.

Favorite book: Used to be "Brown Bear, Brown Bear", now is "Z is for Zoo", which shows pictures of animals, she's crazy about animals.

Favorite thing to do at park: Go down slide *She'll do it all by herself and tries to climb the steps alone too.

Favorite accessory: toss up.  She wears this little pink backpack every day.  She brings it to me and whines until I put it on her.  She also loves to wear our shoes around, tripping and stumbling all over the house.

She's learning new things every day.  It's amazing to see that she already has some pretty definite preferences.  We have a lot of fun together.  Love you, Lillie!

Too Good To Pass Up

Today I made a return to Old Navy but decided that I should make a quick walk through to see if there was anything cute. Lillie has really been needing some pjs, we've still been putting her in some 6-9 mo ones (she's 14 mos), and I noticed that their pajama sets were dirt cheap. There were tons of pjs that were $3.49-4.99! Some of them were from Christmas (get some in larger sizes for next winter), but others were not holiday specific. There were ones with long sleeve tops and long pants, short sleeve tops and long pants and short sleeves and shorts. I think the sizes start at 12 mos, but because they're so tight, you could go up a size or two and then just roll up the sleeves. I got four and I wish I had got more. You should really go to your local ON and stock up on cheap pajamas. Just thought I should share my hot deal!

Week of Milagros

So we've had a great week, which was much needed because the week before, Eric's midterms, was the worst ever.  On Wednesday, Lillie and I made our first trip to Disneyland alone.  We've been countless times, but it's always been with Eric.  We hadn't visited the "happiest place on earth" in a while and needed the pick me up, so off we went.  It was a lot of fun, Lillie gets so excited about all the goings on.  There weren't any meltdowns (I'm still scared from that incident a year ago) and it made for a quickly passing day.

Later that day when Lillie was napping, I was blog hopping and happened upon a blog that explained how to make these darling little chiffon skirts.  Being the idiot that I am, I ordered the fabric that I would need to make one for Lil.  So I have spent many hours this week shirring chiffon and satin charmeuse.  Honestly it turned out surprisingly well for my lack of sewing skills.  It's going to be Lillie's Easter skirt.

If you have kept up on my blog entries you would know that last week was horrible, with Eric being gone long hours preparing for his tests.  Then, after taking his test, he came home feeling terrible about how it turned out, saying he ran out of time and that it was the worst thing that he had ever turned in.  It was hard for me to hear because I knew how many hours he had worked preparing for it.  Well, he got the results back from his test this week, and while the part he thought he did bad on, he really did bad on (so did pretty much everyone else in the class), the other section of the test he passed.  So with both grades averaged, he did pretty well.

And then the last miracle was last night.  Eric and I went down to the Staples center to watch USC play UCLA in the semifinal game of the PAC-10 tournament.  We were definitely the underdogs and there were a lot more Bruin fans there than Trojan fans, but we won!  It was such a close, intense game.  Tons of fun!  Loved it!  I don't care if they don't go any further, there's something extra special about beating your rival school.  Go Trojans!

I am so grateful for the awesome week we've had.  Oh and today we are getting a new stove, YAY!!!

1 Year Photos

Our good friend Shanell's sister, Amanda, came to visit and to take pictures of Hallie and Lillie. I am so glad that she came, she did a great job. Lillie wasn't behaving very well, she didn't want to hold still and definitely didn't want to smile. But the photos turned out fabulously! I am so happy with them. Thanks again, Amanda!

Fun on Slide

I LOVE the face that Lil is making at the end of the slide. She is just really not sure whether that was fun or not. Which is crazy because she has been all about going down the slide for the past month but then today was scared of it. Oh well. It was fun having Eric there with us because he's been SO BUSY. Lillie only saw him for one hour between Monday through Wednesday, so it was good for her to spend a little more time with him today. It's midterms for him, which is hectic and very stressful for Eric and very lonely and stressful for me.

Oh and did you notice the bongo drums as the background music? There was a homeless guy just banging away at his drum the whole time we were there. Crazy California. There are always homeless people hanging out in the parks. I guess they have every right to be there that I do, so whatever.

One down...Many Others to Go

 

Eric has had these crazy bumps since high school. They are the weirdest thing ever, just random deposits of encapsulated fat, all over his body. Anyway, they're called lipomas.
Today Eric got a very large one on his forearm removed. After being stabbed with a needle full of lidocaine about 8 times, the doctor cut a small ring of skin away about the size of a pencil eraser. She then proceeded to separate the lipoma from the surrounding tissue and pulled it all out of the small hole in chunks while squeezing it like a large pimple. Too graphic? Sorry. He only had to get two stitches and has a little bruising, but is fine.
I am so excited. I wish he could go back tomorrow and get another one done. But then, I am not the one having it done to me. I know he wants them gone too, though. I wanted to be there, that's the kind of thing that I ate up (not literally) while doing my practicum in the OR. Sigh. Sometimes I really wish I was working as a nurse. Now I just need to convince Eric that he can't do this at home. DDS is not an MD.

Another First

Well, this week we had another "first" with Lillie. I made my first call to poison control this week when Lillie managed to get the lid off of the desitin. It was one of those moments when you realize that it is way too quiet and I found her with white paste all over her hands, clothes, face and mouth. I was so embarassed to call, but knew that it needed to be done. It's not that dangerous, vomiting or diarrhea would have been the worst side effect, and Lillie was fine. I just hope that this isn't something that becomes a recurring thing.

Lillie vs dog

Here's some new video we took at the park.  

My Family Comes to Visit

This last weekend my family came down to visit for a couple days. Unfortunately, it was some of the wettest weather we have had since moving here. So that kind of put a damper on our plans, but we made the most of it by going to the beach (it was super windy), the Natural History Museum, to Disneyland (on the only day it didn't rain) and to the local mall. It was fun to have them here, I have been hungry for company with Eric spending long hours at school lately and Lillie loves the extra attention. So it was nice for us and hopefully it was nice for them too, considering the weather and the fact that it was their fourth trip in a month. I'm sure they're loving sleeping in their own beds again. Here are a couple pictures from the weekend, our camera's battery is dead, so I didn't take too many, these are from my mom.

Lillie Loves to Push My Buttons :)

So tonight was a little interesting. Lillie and I were having a low key evening, we were waiting for Eric to get done at school. Lillie had been walking around all over the house, making her usual round through the living room, kitchen, and the dining room, etc, etc. I was busy in the living room when all of the sudden, the two fire alarms go off, screaming their assault while I try to figure out what the heck's going on. The apartment is full of smoke and I round the corner into the kitchen where I see flames reaching a foot off of our stove. I find a lid and smother the flames. Lillie is freaked out and crying so I take her to my neighbor's apt, and because I opened our apt door, it set off the fire alarm in the hall of the apt complex. It took a little time to get out enough smoke to quiet the alarms. There was little harm done, my hot pad was the only casualty.
Lillie LOVES PUSHING BUTTONS. Unfortunately, some idiot back in the 70's, thought it would be a great idea to put the controls to the stove and oven on the front, within the reach of a 1 year old. Seriously, a stupid design, Mr. Engineer Man. We've tried covering up the buttons with cardboard and tape, but she either pushes underneath it or pushes on top of it, successfully turning on the stove. SHE HAS DONE IT PROBABLY 20 TIMES, it's getting old. I'm usually really good about not putting stuff on the stove top, but I forgot today and it's not exactly easy when you don't have any counter top space. Of course, the stove won't be replaced til it dies...or UNTIL THE APT BURNS DOWN WITH US INSIDE IT!!!!

Mirror, Mirror....

This was a gift that Lillie received from our friends, the Smiths, for her birthday.  She loves baths and the only thing better is a bath with a crown, wand, and a mirror with which to admire herself.