L.A Birthday!

Yes, Alex celebrated his 1st birthday a 2nd time August 25th. What a spoiled baby :) My Auntie Abet was kind enough to host a party in her Glendale home on Saturday. Alex seemed more at ease partly because he was now used to having numerous relatives and friends handle him. He even gladly dove into his cake (hands and feet!)

So, I actually wrote a whole other blog a week or so ago but the darn computer lost my draft :( So, I got really lazy and delayed writing another one until I was settled back in Denver. Alex and I spent a week and a half in Cali and it was a blast! The day after his party, we celebrated my Uncle Bob's 60th birthday by throwing him a surprise birthday party. We Filipinos love our parties. My Auntie Abet pulled it off perfectly. Alex was even on his best behavior despite staying up till 10:30 p.m! That's late for a baby whose bed time is at 7 pm. The weather in Cali was a bit warm (high 90's and even a few 100 degree days) that it made going out quite a daunting task. However, we did enjoy a day at the beach and even cruised around to check out those famous Malibu beach houses.

Another highlight of the trip was my run-in with television host Kat Sadler. Kat Sadler who you say? Kat Sadler is cohost of the Daily 10 on the E! Entertainment network. It basically sums up the top 10 entertainment stories of the day. Yes, I am a celebrity gossip junkie. Anyway, I was sitting at a Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf in a Ralphs grocery store in Glendale. I was happily sipping my ice-blended when I randomly thought how cool it would be to spot a celebrity. Maybe a Nicole Ritchie perhaps? She was pulled over right down the road, going the wrong way on the freeway. I was people watching and noticed this petite brunette and her two young boys picking out cakes in the bakery department. I nudged Mike and muttered under my breath that the lady looked so familiar. Mike of course started to look around saying, "What? Who? Who is she? What is she on? Daily 10? What the heck is that?" I quietly explained my presumption and he urged me just to ask her. So, I quietly approached her and asked her if she was indeed Kat Sadler. She was and she was very polite and appreciative that I watched her show. She was a cool lady. Not a Nicole Ritchie or Paris Hilton, but I doubt they would have been as nice :)

Alex's Birthday Party Pictures

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIKE!

Okay, this is one day late (so sorry Mikey) but HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIKE! It was Mike's 27th birthday yesterday! Hooray for Mike! We celebrated by going out to our fave Chinese restaurant John Holly's. After dinner, we enjoyed a Coldstone Ice Cream cake at home and called it a day :) A little low-key but hopefully we can celebrate a bit more when Mike's family comes out next week for Alex's birthday. Yes, that's right...Alex is almost 1! But, that's a whole different subject. This is about Mike, how great he is, how handsome he is, and how we love having him in our life! You all know what a wonderful person Mike is...as a husband, father, son, brother, and friend. He truly is the best :) Here's a few pics from last night!

Alex eyeing the cake

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Don't let the looks fool you, it was delicious!

Hmmm...I might just try this out.

Alex is a little distracted.

Alex Dancing

Alex seems to be following in the footsteps of the McLean siblings. You may not know that Mike created a trend that is still going strong within his family. Mike was a percussionist in our high school marching band and his legacy has remained strong. His sister's Marianna, Melissa, Monica, and now Melinda have all participated as percussionist as well. Last weekend, on our local channel, they were featuring the high school bands around the state. Not only was Alex mesmerized by the music but started to dance to the music too! Here's the video with Alex and his handsome Daddy!

A big kiss for Daddy!

Future model

Shout out to my people!

Funny video of some Filipino prisoners reenacting Michael Jackson's "Thriller" video!

Eleven Months

Alex is eleven months old today! He is however wearing an 18 month old outfit in this pic. A little too big but eh...who cares? He's a cute little bugger!

More Summertime fun!

Our Little Garden

As I mentioned in my previous posts, Mike and I have been planting away this summer. Check out our little trees!

Maple tree and honeysuckle vines

Emerald Green Arborvitae

Greenspire Linden Tree

My vegetable garden

Clematis Vine and Austrian Pine

Zoo Story

We had a fabulous 4th of July weekend! No, we didn't see any fireworks because little Alex was in bed by 7 pm but we enjoyed a productive yet relaxing weekend. Since Mike had five days off, he was finally able to plant the rest of the trees we had purchased. They are cute little evergreens called green Arborvitae that we planted on one side of our fence. Our once barren backyard is now looking quite nice. I have my vegetable garden, a Greenspire Linden tree, an Austrian Pine, a couple of vines, and now the Arborvitaes. It's going to be our little forest :)
We also had a busy weekend with Alex. We took him to the Denver Zoo on Friday. It was a scorching day but Alex seemed to enjoy every bit of it. He loved looking at all the animals and people watch.
Last but not least, Mike and I had a date night! It was the first time we ever had anyone babysit outside of the family. Our neighbor Mary was kind enough to offer her babysitting services and we were able to go out for dinner and a movie. We saw Transformers which was a visually stunning movie. Great special effects and had its comedic moments. It was a typical Michael Bay film, explosions, sweeping camera angles encircling the main characters, booming orchestral soundtrack...think Armageddon and Pearl Harbor. It was a great movie to see in a movie theatre.
It was definitely a nice treat to have spent the last few days with Mike. Not only was he there to help out with Alex but Alex really enjoyed having his Daddy around. There doesn't seem to be moment without Alex's giggles echoing throughout the house because Daddy was being silly. But alas, all good things must come to an end. Is Labor Day hear yet?

At the Denver Zoo

Watch out there's a pachyderm behind you!

Look Alex it's a GIRAFFE!

A Polar Bear Daddy and his cub

Our little picnic in the back of the car :)

Summer Time Fun!

Summer has hit Denver. It has been a blazing 100 degrees the past few days and what better way to cool off than being in a baby pool? Alex and his neighbor buddy Henry have been doing just that! It's adorable watching these two little boys become friends. It evolved from uncertainty (staring at each other) to a bit of hair pulling and now taking toys away from each other! Ha! Best friends for life :) We are looking forward to this 4th of July weekend, Mike has a record of five days off! Yes! We are planning to visit the zoo, have a little barbeque, splash around the pool, and just general lazying around. Not too bad eh? Happy 4th everyone!

Playing in the pool with Henry
Barbeque with friends
I love my sunglasses!
Hmmm...I want that toy
You want some spaghetti Mommy?

Happy Father's Day!

Happy First Father's Day Mike! Thanks for being such an awesome husband and daddy and rock star!! We love you!

Saturday Night Live

It's Saturday night, browsing the internet while Mike rocks out on Guitar Hero II. Who says kids change your life?

Butterfly kisses

Crawling, pulling up, teething, etc...these are all milestones that do not even compare to the new talent Alex has recently acquired---kissing. Yes, our little boy has learned to open his toothy mouth, lean over, and plant a big one on us!! It is so adorable that Mike and I almost ran up and down the streets shouting to neighbors about this new feat! Yes, we're dorks. It just makes us feel like all the hard work of feeding, changing diapers, clothing, and entertaining him has finally paid of. He shows his appreciation through one special little kiss. Awww...what a sweetheart. Okay, I'll stop my gushing. We just got back from Arizona on Monday after a week packed full of events. Meghan and Trent got married (congrats again!), and they are now probably lounging on the sunny beaches of Jamaica. Lucky! Mike got sick (24 hour flu) that left him incapacitated and passed out on my mom's couch. My relatives from Cali came for a quick visit, really just to see Alex, who cares about the parents. We celebrated my Uncle Robert, Aunt Pauline, and my Mom's birthdays all at once. All that plus a few dinners out with the family, the wedding, rehearsal dinner, and baking (I went a little crazy), and then the week was done. It was fun but it is good to get back to the normalcy that is Colorado. We're adjusting to the quiet again.

Congrats Trent!

Congratulations Trent for graduating from the Air Force Academy. The family is damn proud of you and we cannot wait to see you and Meghan walk down the aisle next week :)

Please ignore the cowboy hat...it was a Britney Spears moment!

First REAL Haircut

Mike and I took Mr. Alex to get his first true professional haircut last weekend. As you may remember, I pretty much butchered his hair last February. People were very polite to ask if he had his hair cut and I knew they were holding in their laughter! Oh well, he is still the cutest little baby ever and no awful haircut can take that away from him :) So here are some pics...

Before Pic

Here's a toy to distract you!

Umm...what the heck is going on?

After Pic with Daddy

After pic with Mommy