A couple snapshots from Thursday, when Mio and I got to spend the day with Megumi, Daniel, and Jenn. Mio especially loved visiting Tony La Russa’s Animal Rescue Foundation — she loved seeing all the kitties and dogs!
Megumi
Nakayoshi BBQ
On Sunday, we went to Crissy Fields in San Francisco to attend Nakayoshi‘s Annual Welcome BBQ. We haven’t been able to go the past couple years because we’ve always happened to be out of town, but we were glad that we could make it this year, especially since it’s been a lot harder to go to Nakayoshi’s events since Mio was born. The BBQ picnic was a really family-friendly event, and it was a good chance for Mio to meet all her aunties and uncles in Nakayoshi! 🙂
Despite the foggy weather, it was a great turnout!
Unfortunately, we couldn’t stay for the games because it was Mio’s naptime and she was getting cranky, but we heard it was fun! 😀 We’re glad that we could at least be there for the first half and see everyone again, as well as meet some of the newer Nakayoshi members!
Playdate with Izumi-chan
Mio had a playdate with her friend Izumi on Thursday! Little baby Izumi was born on Christmas Eve to our friends Megumi and John (whom we threw a baby shower for back in November). We’d been over to see Izumi a couple times since her birth, but this was the first time baby Izumi came to visit us at our place!
Mio and Izumi are almost nine months apart, and the difference feels huge at this baby stage, but they’ll level out in age in no time! They’re both 2011 babies, and I’m sure that in a few years, they would become sweet friends. 🙂
One of the biggest perks of having a little girl is how much fun it is to dress them up! I know Mio will not let me be her stylist forever, but until she starts wanting to define her own fashion statements, I’m going to take full advantage of the opportunity for as long as I can! 😛
A Baby Shower for Megumi & John
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!
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.
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!
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!
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!
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 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.
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!
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!
Finally, it was time to open presents! There were such cute goodies for their baby girl…
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.
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!
A Very Special Visit.
Mio had some very special visitors this past weekend — her Auntie Megumi, Auntie Sam, and Uncle Matt came to meet her for the very first time on Sunday! The last time we were all together was at the gorgeous baby shower that they threw for us before Mio was born. Megumi lives in Southern California now, but we’re so glad that she was in the area so that we could all come together again!
(For the recipe, visit Ryan’s Baking Blog.)
Megumi, Sam, and Matt have been so loving, sweet, and generous to Mio even before her arrival! I’m looking forward to all the future memories we’ll have together, and feel so lucky that Mio has such wonderful aunties and uncle that will be there to watch her grow. Thank you so much for visiting us this weekend! Hope to see you again soon. 🙂