2009 Marine Ball

Justin and I had an awesome time at this year's Marine Ball. We went all out and got a room at the Dusit Tani hotel where the ball was held. It was our first night away from the girls and I was pretty nervous at first. I got over it after a bit and really enjoyed the evening. The girls were in good hands with Cora and Lani all night. Addie was not pleased that we weren't there when she woke up in the morning and both girls were really excited to see us the next day. All in all they did really great for the first time. Plus we were only about 10 minutes away from home.

My dress turned out great and the look definitely took a turn back about 20 years when I got my hair done. It was very 80s: big and wild. I could have cried but instead decided to pull it off and be at the forefront of a new trend. Right?! Well I pulled it off because all night I got tons of comments on the hair style. Whether you loved or hated it-it was different than everyone else. I get so sick of seeing the same thing on women when they dress formally. Might as well have fun with it! That being said, I'm still trying to decide if I love or hate the new haircut. I have fringe!!!

Justin looked awesome in his tux as he always does and didn't mind one bit toting around and 80s rock diva all night. Cocktails, dinner, dessert, the ceremony, the Marines, were all wonderful. I love spending time with Justin's colleagues. Everyone in the Embassy community is really interesting and just plain good people. Lots of living abroad experience makes for great conversation and overall well rounded people. Not to mention that everyone loves a good party. We rocked the dance floor until about 1AM. In that time Justin got on the mic and sung along with Vanilla Ice when the DJ put it on. I handed him the mic and it was history in the making just like back in 2001 at Champs when he first sang karaoke to Ice Ice Baby and won my heart. It was captured on video so when I get a copy you WILL see it too! My man knows how to cut loose and he was the life of the party as usual. We hit an after party that produced a cheeseburger and fries that did wonders at 3AM! I had very little to drink because I was trekking back to the hotel room every 4 hours to pump (no rest for this Mom) but Justin enjoyed himself! It was a great party with great friends. We loved the long date night but woke up early thinking about our girls. We couldn't wait to get home.

I took some great pics of a few other dresses Frankie de Leon made! Addie wanted her ball gown on too and was extremely disappointed when we told her she couldn't come to the ball with us. One of my new friends SaraTeal was the IT color. We looked like a wedding party.My girlfriends Sunny and Jenny! Both beautiful Mamas.

Arabella at 6 months

Bella hit the six month mark right before Halloween. She weighed in at 19.6 pounds. She is growing like crazy. Right now she's sitting up all by herself and working on crawling. She's teething pretty fiercely right now. The drooling started at month 2 but she's just now experiencing some pain at night. It takes a lot to convince her to suck on the bottle. Tylenol has been helping but the poor thing is still uncomfortable. Hopefully they will pop through soon. Addie's first teeth came at 7 months. Arabella is pretty satisfied with the breast milk she is getting. Pumping every three hours and twice at night is AWESOME! (not really-especially since I can't eat dairy, curry, or any spice. Great for my figure though and I love being able to eat mounds of food). She's still taking two feedings at night so in a 24 hour period she's drinking about 30 ounces of milk-jeez no wonder she's growing. I rarely do the math! That's a ton. Anyway, everyone keeps asking if we've given her solids yet. I usually answer that she's getting plenty to eat (now that I've done the math-I KNOW she's getting plenty). Now that Bella is sitting up on her own she's ready to try some cereal and so she had her first taste yesterday. We stick with the whole grain baby cereal since serious constipation was a problem with Addie in the beginning. She spit most of it out with the tongue pushing reflex but she definitely liked the taste. Her favorite part was grabbing the spoon and chewing on it (teething!). I think we'll try cereal off and on this week and then maybe add in some veggies when she's ready. We will not have access to jarred baby food here in Manila so we will be making all our own at the house.

a French guy won me over

When I was about 14, I remember Mom and I were eating bagels and soup at the Nordstrom's cafe when an older couple came over to our table and commented on how lovely my cornsilk hair was and asked could they possibly touch it. My Finnish/German genes blessed me with blonde hair (extra blessing on the legs). Hair dressers comment on how people pay for my hair color and oh how they wished they could bottle my color and sell it...blah, blah, blah. Well the golden train has left the station for me. A sad byproduct of carrying, birthing, and nursing my two beautiful girls, is that the golden luster has left my hair ashy, my skin looks dull, and my belly is no longer worthy of seeing the sun. Lucky for me there are millions of miracle creams to moisturize my skin and I have a drawer full of one piece bathing suits. I had not touched my hair until today.

A horrific eyebrow tinting experience back in 2003 had left me terrified to dye my hair in the worry that I'd look even more like a Russian whore then I did after that spa treatment. I was also nervous (being one of like maybe 25 natural blondes in the Philippines) to ask a Filipino to give me highlights because it seemed like a disaster in the making. My girlfriend Sunny (also one of the blondes) recommended me to Philippe's so I called and made an appointment with Philippe himself. My nerves melted away as he flipped my hair around, took a look at an old photo of me at our engagement party and said "You're going to love it". This guy is super French, a.k.a super stylish, conceited, and sexy (he's not gay). What girl wouldn't feel confident in his salon chair? The end results: perfection. My hair looks like my hair did before the girls. Thank you Philippe!

Happy Halloween

We are having a super typhoon type of Halloween this year. Luckily the wind has blown through as well as some rain and now it's like any other gray rainy day in Manila. Sadly, the Halloween party for the Embassy was postponed until Monday in case the typhoon was nasty. Addie will have to wait to trick-or-treat until then. Slightly against her will, Addie conceded to a photo with Bella on her lap. They make a pretty cute duo.

2nd Annual Halloween Party

We hosted our 2nd annual kiddie Halloween party this past Thursday. This year we had a spooky pumpkin craft along with snacks and decorating sugar cookies. Addie's classmates were all invited as well as a few other neighborhood friends. The results were a bunch of cute toddlers in costumes and a really fun morning. Addie kept asking if it was her birthday as we baked muffins and tied balloons around the room in preparation for the party. She was excited to have her friends over but disheartened when she realized there would be no presents for her to open! Bella got in costume for the party as well. Thank you so much Kiki for the adorable mermaid costume. She was so cute. During the party, Addie gladly took on the role of hostess. She announced after making pumpkins, "everyone come on let's dance". Who was I to deny her a dance party with her friends? A little spooky kids Halloween music (compliments of Aunt Megan) and the kids were running in circles (literally).
Look at Bella's thighs! Stella is working so hard onher pumpkin.

seeing double

Check out this great photo of Justin at around 5 months of age. He's dressed in his Christening gown. Shocking how much Arabella looks like her Daddy!

plan B

God forbid the wrath that Yaya experienced today when she had to tell Addie she was cleaning her Cinderella costume! She's slightly attached to that dress. We quickly compromised with one of the other princessy costumes she's accumulated over the past few months. The princess hair tie made the situation even better while "big blue" was hanging to dry all day. Can you say "Drama Queen"...hmm I wonder who she gets it from?