More Christmas Pics!

We had a wonderful holiday! On Christmas Eve we went over to Becky and Jeff's house for some yummy prime rib. We exchanged gifts with the Martin side and had a great time visiting with family.

On Christmas morning we hosted the Lee (my mom's) side of the family for brunch. Everyone brought great food, especially the dim sum from my grandma. Maybe it will become a holiday tradition!

Finally, in the evening we went to the Martin house. Greg's mom outdid herself this year with 5 different type of homemade pizzas, sausages, salad, and millions of desserts.

Here are some pictures taken during Christmas Eve and Christmas. Kayla had a great time this year and though she doesn't really understand Christmas itself, she definitely gets the fact that the holiday is filled with good food and presents!

Here's Kayla and mommy riding the carousel at South Coast Plaza after taking our pictures with Santa. We tried her on the horses itself but Kayla was having none of it - she was scared!


Opening her Hello Kitty stuffed animal from cousins Ryan and Jacob


Greg, his brother Jeff, and nephew Stuart hanging out by the kitchen


Here are her cousins in special costumes they got for Christmas ~ now it can be Halloween every day in the Martin family!




Kayla really loves one of the first presents she ever received - a plush dog from Auntie Susie when she was born!


I tried my hand at baking this year and am happy to report that I didn't poison anyone with my black russian mini bundt cakes! (thanks for the recipe Auntie Karen!) It was actually a lot of fun and with the help of my assistant sous chef, Greg, Operation Bundt Cake went rather smoothly. We baked, glazed, and packaged 8 of those suckers for neighbors and family.


Kayla is anxiously awaiting present-opening time!


Playing with one of her gifts......although it's worth noting that she only got 1 single present from Mom, Dad, and Santa this year. Santa thought she was too young to really enjoy multiple presents this year and of course the Grandmas spoil her with gifts year-round! My favorite Christmas conversation this year was with my 5 year old nephew, Ryan (the Doctor in the above picture). He asked me how many gifts Santa brought Kayla and I told him just one. He said "boy, Santa must not like her very much, Santa brought be 20 presents!" too cute!


Opening her gift from Santa.....


Her very own kitchen!


Four generations of Lee women - this is what the holidays are all about!


Here's Kayla the day after Christmas snuggling up to the present Auntie Yogi gave her - a handmade blanket in her (mommy's) favorite colors!

Merry Christmas!

Hope you had as much fun on Christmas as Kayla did during her visit with Santa! Ha ha ha, or should I say, Ho ho ho!

Time to pee.....weeeee!

I know one day Kayla will be so mad at me for posting this but it was too cute to resist! I know it's kind of early but she is showing signs of readiness to be potty trained so we thought we'd try it out during the holidays and see how she does.

This past week we started by giving her the feel of the potty by just sitting her on it and asking her to go. We also let her to play with the toilet paper and asked her to fold it. She thought the whole process was funny!

But magically, about the 3rd time we sat her on it, she peed! I never thought I'd go absolutely wild cheering and clapping for such a thing. Just another surprising facet of parenthood.

Here she is earnestly working on folding the TP


"I wonder if anything came out?!"

Happy Birthday Greg!

Greg's birthday was last week and we went to a yummy Japanese BBQ place called Gyu Kaku to celebrate. It's one of those places where you cook your own meats and veggies at the grill at your table. It was one of our favorite restaurants when we used to live on the Westside and we finally tried the one they opened last year in Huntington Beach. I'm happy to report it's every bit as good!

I got him a Krups Beertender for his birthday present. He is in love with it! It pours ice cold bar-style pints of Heineken, you just have to buy those mini beer kegs at the market. They are actually just as expensive (if not more) than bottled beers but much more fun to pour and drink. Though we don't have much kitchen counter space or a bar area in our home, fortunately it fit perfectly in his liquor cabinet. Here is the happy bartender pouring his first beer.

Happy 1.5 years Kayla!

Today Kayla is officially 18 months old.

Sometimes late at night I sneak into her room as she is soundly sleeping, just to watch her peaceful face and steady breathing. I could stand there and stare at her for hours, to this day still awestruck at how miraculous she is and how I still can't quite believe how lucky I am to be her mom.

And then during the days we get to spend with Kayla on the weekends, Greg and I are both surprised by how fast she is growing and learning and coming into her own more and more each day. Kayla is such a happy little girl and such a joy to be near, and I am trying to savor each day spent with her while looking forward to the things yet to come.

In case you don't see Kayla very often, and truthfully for myself as well because I know I won't remember in months to come - here's a few of the things Kayla is doing lately:
- favorite words are "more" - usually referring to food,"up" - pick me up,"backpack" - meaning she wants to watch dora the explorer, if you have kids you'll understand,"hot potato" - translation-I want to watch the Wiggles,"mama car"- everytime she sees a silver SUV,"no" - her default word, "night night" - when she is losing energy, "octopoo" - for octopus, she is fascinated by them for some reason
- favorite toys include her rocking tricycle, baby in a stroller which she loves to push around the house, and our fake guitar for our Guitar Hero game. I think she's trying to imitate daddy with the last toy.
- Kayla's other favorite activities are most definitely reading (like her mommy) and dancing.
- favorite foods are cheese, bread, yogurt, chicken, pretzels, raisins, and fruit.
- Kayla can point to most of her body parts and can point out and make the sounds of many animals she sees in books. At school she's working on colors this month. We really credit her on-site daycare at my work for teaching her a lot at a young age because they are great about teaching the kids lessons in a fun and casual yet structured way.
- In the past few months, we've noticed our introspective baby has become quite the outgoing little girl. She loves to entertain those around her by making funny faces, running around, and playing games like ring around the rosie and dressing up in costume.
- funny things Kayla has been doing lately are petting Stoli and saying "niiiice", taking a long sip of water or milk and then saying "ahhh" as she puts down her cup, spinning around in circles to get herself dizzy, then collapsing in a pile while laughing hysterically, and the good ol' running away from us when we try
to pick her up for 1) diaper changes, 2) bathtime, or 3) bedtime.

We cannot wait to see what new things Kayla will be doing over the next few months!
Thanks for keeping up with our blog!

Goofing off.....

Kayla's been showing her personality these days - she's just like daddy in the fun-spirited and happy-go-lucky department. Already a regular little comedian!

Having a blast on her new toy. She rocks back and forth and goes "wheee wheeee wheeeeeee!"


Going "night night" with mommy - in a nice yoga pose


She LOVES getting tickled! Greg and I get tired but Kayla keeps on with "more more!" for hours!


Mommy's little helper at it again. First learning how to sweep, now doing laundry!


Next week Kayla will be 18 months old. WOW!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Hope your holiday was as blessed as ours. On Thursday we went to Greg's Aunt Peggy's house for a big Turkey Day feast with the extended family. Then on Friday we went to my Auntie Karen's house just a few blocks away (lucky us we got to just walk over!) They catered yummy Hawaiian food, which was a nice change after stuffing ourselves with turkey the night before!

Whole weekend was amazing. My cousin Cindy and her husband Kelvin came in from London to stay with us for five days. It was a great time catching up with them - we watched lots of movies, stayed up late (12 midnight, VERY late for us these days!) and baked several batches of cookies. Oh, and of course went out with the crazy people to the Black Friday sales.

So much to be thankful for. Now, we are looking forward to Christmas which seems just around the corner!

Kayla in her holiday best



As is typical of my family, whenever Kayla is around they act like paparazzi around a movie star - flashbulbs galore!


Kayla having the rare bite of cake, followed by some crazy, sugar-induced behavior. She was bouncing off the walls! Notice grandma instigating this behavior by happily feeding her, and notice Kayla's clasped hands and hungry face - she could not get enough!


Here's me and my cousin Cyn


And all the girl cousins! I can't believe how grown up we all are!


Kayla's newest 'trick' is when we say "show your teeth!" to get her to smile. This is what she does (we were at Disneyland on Sunday where this picture was taken)



A rare family shot

Happy holidays everyone!

mommy's little helper

We are starting her early on the chores! We can't wait to get some help around the house, and we better take advantage while she is still young and fascinated with mundane chores like sweeping!

A few of my favorite things.....

(This post was written by Kayla, translated by Mommy)

Brushing my teeth by myself!




Eating my snacks while lounging on my chair, with my dog Stoli watching my every move


Wearing my UCLA gear


Having my first ever bite of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. YUMMY!


Reading with Grandma Quon and Uncle Mike! Especially my favorite Cinderella pop-up book that Auntie Susie gave me




Riding my Dora truck (thanks Uncle Adam and Auntie Sandra!)


Hanging out with my cousins, Grandpa and Grandma Martin (that's us at Halloween)


And most of all, just laughing with my family and being generally adorable!

Playing in the park

Kayla loves to play in the park on the jungle gym. She is fascinated by the sand, grass, slides, climbing, and swings! Here she is having a ball last weekend at our neighborhood park down the street.

Playing in the sand...must remember to keep wet wipes on hand at all times!


She loves to climb up and down the stairs

Sizing up another kid on the swings....

Having fun on the slide....WWHHHEEEE!



Time to go home!

No wonder everyone thinks Stoli is a girl

Look at the braids and bow the groomers put in his hair! He doesn't look too happy with it....