With the holiday season comes so much joy and laughter, and this month was definitely full of funny and sweet moments brought to us by our little girls! Here are some moments that brought smiles (and at times, uncontainable laughter) to our faces!
Mio making “alphabet soup” with her fridge magnets
Mirei creeping up from behind… Mirei LOVES playing with the mixing bowls and strainers.
Mio making funny voices, trying to imitate Minnie Mouse:
Look at Mirei’s ecstatic smile! They are so happy that Daddy’s home from work.
Group hug! So sweet… TGIF for the Daddy’s girls.
The girls listening to the talking Mother Goose doll sent to them from their grandparents in California:
Mio’s preschool had a pajama day, for when Santa came to visit them.Â
Mirei climbed into a cardboard box, we turned it into a makeshift bed… and it did not end well.
Mirei leaning against and hugging her Ojiichan. ♥ So sweet!
Mio on her last day of school of 2014. She came back with lots of Christmas-themed crafts, along with little treats and gifts from her teachers and classmates!
Mio randomly said this repeatedly one night…
Who is “John”?! We actually don’t know any Johns…?
Mio is excited to try Snocream! (Taiwanese shaved ice served out of a bus! Love the ice cube seats.)
A multitasking Daddy!
Mio discovered her purple velour tracksuit twinsie at the grocery store!
…before she fell asleep in the cart. Narcolepsy strikes again!
Mio reading the library book we had borrowed for Mirei. She still loves baby books, and she’s still my baby. ♥
We hope these silly and heartwarming moments bring you some holiday cheer! Can’t believe it’s already Christmas tomorrow!
Last Sunday, we hosted a baby shower for our dear friends Megumi and John, who are expecting a baby girl around Christmas next month! It was my first time planning and preparing a shower, but it was a lot of fun to put together! (I did realize how much work goes into them, though, and awakened within me a deeper appreciation for all the effort friends have put into the brial shower and baby showers they threw for me in the past.) I’m glad that we had this opportunity to gather together as friends to celebrate this new life and welcome Megumi and John’s beautiful baby girl into our lives!
Setting up for the baby shower!
Megumi is a big fan of Studio Ghibli films, especially Totoro, so I created a Totoro-themed calendar for the guests to guess when the baby would arrive.
Guess when the baby will arrive!
Little umbrella favors for the guests to take home.
...complete with personalized tags.
And what is a shower without some delicious food? As baking is more of my forte than cooking, I made the desserts — cupcakes and sugar cookies!
Chrysanthemum cupcakes. The cream cheese frosting was a little runny, so it looks a little like the mum petals are melting.
This was my first time making sugar cookies with royal icing, but they turned out decent, thanks to some awesome tips from my dear friend and sugar cookie guru, Miss Megumi Kaminaga (different Megumi from the one we hosted this shower for). Thank you Mamagumi, and hope I’ve made you proud!
My first time making sugar cookies with royal icing.
Totoro, onesie, and baby carriage cookies
For the main course, we had a Korean platter, with bulgogi, japchae, and dumplings. Thank you for cooking everything, Kayo!
And a special thanks goes to Ann Helen for the delicious salad (not pictured) and the veggies, hummus, and homemade guacamole!
Mio took everything in as her Mama ran around preparing and setting up.
We also planned some fun games to play during the baby shower. The first was the Dirty Diaper game, in which we melted chocolates within these “diapers” and the guests had to guess what type of chocolate each diaper contained. (i.e. Butterfinger, Crunch, Mr. Goodbar, etc…)
The guests of honor, John and Megumi
Ann Helen and Aika take their guesses
A curious Mio watched as everyone played the game.
Aika and her adorable 5-month old son, Easton.
John got all of them right and was the winner!
The next game was the baby food guessing game. I soaked the labels off of baby food jars and the guests had to pass them around and guess what type of food each jar contained, from smell and (if they were brave enough) taste.
The last game we played was the classic “Guess the Mommy’s Belly Size” game, where we measured out tape to however length it was around Megumi’s baby bump.
John with the daunting task of taking the first guess.
Megumi still looks so petite for 8 months! She looks great!
Kayo measuring out Megumi's belly to get the actual measurement.
A few people came pretty close, but Kaz was the winner!
After the games, we went onto an activity of decorating onesies for Megumi and John’s baby! I’d seen variations of this where people used fabric paint, but I thought it would be a lot less messy and perhaps look nicer if we cut out fabric and attached them to the onesies with iron-on adhesive and peel-n-stick adhesive. Even the guys got into it and created some great custom clothing for baby!
Dan exercising his creativity.
Daddy-to-be John worked on making one, too!
Everyone hard at work.
Ironing on the letters.
The results were spectacular! Look at how cute everyone’s onesies turned out! I was so impressed! 😀
We had John and Megumi each pick their favorite designs out of all the great onesies everyone created. It was not an easy decision!
Having a hard time choosing...
John chose Kai and Koreana's collaborative onesie creation.
Megumi picked Ann Helen's lovely design!
Finally, it was time to open presents! There were such cute goodies for their baby girl…
Aika crocheted this adorable hat and mitten set for the baby!
Special thanks go Kayo, who cooked for the shower and MC-ed the games! I couldn’t have done it all without all the help from her, Kaz, and Ann Helen.
John and Megumi getting some practice entertaining a baby... and Mio just enjoying all the attention.
Thank you to everyone who was able to make it to the baby shower — I think it was a great success! 🙂 Congratulations to Megumi and John — we can’t wait to meet your sweet baby girl!
My friend Miyoung and her husband Mike were visiting San Francisco this weekend — they came all the way from New Jersey! I’ve known Miyoung since she moved to Virginia when we were in middle school, and we have been friends for over fifteen years! It feels like yesterday that we were both still in junior high, chatting for hours over the phone and having sleepovers watching The Joy Luck Club. We have both have grown up so much since, and are now both married! (I couldn’t make it to her wedding this May because I had just had Mio, but from the photos, she was the most gorgeous bride ever!) I always have fun when I’m with Miyoung, and it was nice to see her again and catch up — I’ve missed her so! Here are some photos from when a bunch of us friends went to lunch together on Sunday.
Mio and Jinwoo decided they wanted some playtime on the table after we were done eating.
Jinwoo is almost 11 months old. What a cutie!
My little chubster wondering what's going on.
Mio meets Miyoung for the first time!
Missed you, Miyoung!
John getting some Daddy practice with baby Jinwoo before his own baby arrives in December!
Miyoung's husband Mike with Jinwoo.
Jinwoo was quite the hit with the guys.
Jinwoo looks so tiny!
Jinwoo with his Mommy Kayo! Oh the cuteness...
Jinwoo reaching out to Mio. He is the first fellow baby friend she ever met!
After lunch, Miyoung and Mike came over to our place, and Miyoung and I caught up for a few hours while our hubbies bonded playing video games together, and concluded the day with dinner. We so appreciated Miyoung and Mike spending the day with us, especially since we live on opposite sides of the country now. I miss you already, Miyoung! ♥
