Naomi's 1st Christmas

An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”(Luke 2: 9-12)



Christmas time is always special because we get to celebrate the birth of baby Jesus. We share this time with our dearest family and friends and enjoy the spirit of giving and glad tidings. This Yuletide 2009 was extra special because Richie and I had our babygirl Naomi to spend it with. If just for one moment, we tried to relive Christmas through the eyes of a child. Our child. =)

On Christmas Eve, we went to the Cornerstone Candlelight Service at 8pm with Grandma Lily, Tita Eva and Tita Angeline. Naomi spent her time at the nursery. Since there weren't any parties for us to attend that evening, we started our own family tradition and opened gifts with just the three of us. That night, Naomi slept as peaceful as an angel.



We took our time getting ready during Christmas morning and started off the festivities in San Jose. After stopping by to visit Mimi's godsister Cathleya, we made our way to the Blasing's home. Tita Berna, Uncle Andrew and cousin Andy have the house covered in Holiday decorations! The perfect place for the little ones to explore and experience the joy of Christmas - up close and personal with lots of fun moving musical toys!

From Mimi's 1st Christmas

The real fun began when Mimi's cousins Andrea and Meleia showed up =) Ninang Jasmine bought them reindeer headbands... These girls are too cute!





After all the adults exchanged Secret Santa gifts and all the kids opened their presents, we left San Jose and headed back to the East Bay. Our first stop was Pinole to enjoy the presence of Richie's immediate family. Everyone had been waiting for little Mimi to show up so we could open all of the gifts together. Even at only 7 months old, Naomi sure knew how to rip the giftwrap off her presents!



Next, we drove to Hercules to Naomi's Auntie Genina and Melissa's house to sing Christmas carols. All of the kids wore their reindeer antlers and we all sang merrily to the strum of Uncle Lin's guitar.



Check out Mimster =) .... looking like she's singing along and feeling the music in her heart and soul!



The following day, I took a picture of Mimi in front of our wall of cards:



Then, I gathered all of Naomi's loot and spread it out on the bed. WOW! Thank you soooo much to everyone that showered our little princess with all the toys, clothes, books, gadgets and gizmos... a plenty! She's got whozits and whatsits galore! Look who's smiling now =)

From Mimi's 1st Christmas

Over the next couple of days after Christmas, we went to Pinole to spend time with baby Arabella and the Joaquins before they headed back to Southern California. Mimi and Bella had a lot of time to bond. Bella is crawling all over the place and Naomi thinks that everything has to go in her mouth!





Bella can be a little aggressive at times and Naomi was a little taken aback by her cousins forward demeanor. A couple time Bella tried to reach out and touch Mimi... which would end up with Naomi crying out for "Help!" I think Bella just wanted to squeeze Mimster's cute chubby cheeks... just like everyone else =) To keep a little bit of space between them, we let Bella roam around on the carpet and Mimi played in the activity center that Grandma and Grandpa bought especially for the girls.



Mimi used to be a little camera shy, but with all the Christmas spirit in the air, she was really hamming it up!



I know Naomi won't remember much about her first Christmas when she grows up, but Richie and I surely will. I'm glad that she'll be able to look back on the pictures and see what a wonderful time she had with all!

From Mimi's 1st Christmas

Santa is in town!

I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. (John 15:15)



On the morning of Christmas Eve, Richie's company Astro Business Technologies hosts a breakfast to kick off the holidays. This year, the celebration took place at the Doubletree in Livermore. This just so happens to be the first time that any of Richie's associates have met little Mimi. She must have known it was Richie's party, because she was Daddy's Girl, giving him plenty of hugs and kisses for all to see:



The funnest part of the morning is when Santa comes by and gives a gift to each of the good boys and girls =) She was a little scared of him at first, but definitely warmed up after he gave her a brand new toy!

From Astro Company Breakfast

Naomi received a spinning toy from Santa Claus (Thanks Auntie April!) and she couldn't wait to open it up and play with it =) It was a great way to start of Naomi's first Christmas!

Party Time!

You will have great joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth (Luke 1:14)

Naomi has been a little party animal lately! It started off with cousin Meleia's first birthday on the 17th. We went to Grandma's house and had a small get together and played with our toys. Then we went shopping at Serramonte Mall.... the Disney store was our favorite!



Then on Saturday 12/19/09, Meleia had her party in South City. Mimi got to see her cousins Andrew (6), Adam (almost 4) and Alexis (17 mos) (below with Auntie Aileen)... the letter of the day must have been "A"!





There were a lot of faces that should have been familiar, but since it had been quite a while and there were sooo many of them, Naomi wanted to cling onto someone she knew very well. It was a perfect opportunity for Richie to soak up Daddy's Girl time. She was so tired of partying (and picture taking!) that she fell asleep on his shoulder. This look on her face is all Richie!

From Party Time

Then the following day on Sunday, 12/13/09, Uncle Marc had his birthday party at QZar in Concord. Daddy played laser tag with Uncle Marc, Auntie My and all their friends. Ninong Craig, and cousins Dean and Joshua played too while we hung out with Owen in the arcade. Here's a pic of Mimi chillin' on top of a table wearing her Santa hat =)



That was only the beginning of Uncle Marc's birthday get-together. On his actual birthday, Dec. 23rd, we had dinner with all the fam after praying for Uncle Ed's 1-yr death anniversary. Not only was there a huge Chinese food feast, there were two cakes with lots of glowing candles to stare at with cousin Weslee:





By the end of the night, Naomi was so exhausted. She was getting kinda cranky and probably wanted to go home after a week or non-stop parties. Of course, we had to take one last pic with the birthday celebrante:



HAPPY BIRTHDAY, COUSIN MELEIA AND UNCLE MARC!

All the babies... and their mamas!

So they went into the ark to Noah, by twos of all flesh in which was the breath of life. (Genesis 7:15)

Naomi has a new buddy! My sorority sister Somer and her husband Ryuta had a babyboy on September 26, 2009: Noah Kai Sanui. Somer invited me and Mimi to her place so our two little ones could meet for the first time.


Little did I know that it was going to be a full-on baby party! Besides Mimi and Kai, there were FIVE other babies... and their mamas! =) Somer had invited some friends from high school and church as well. At 7 months old, Naomi was actually the oldest baby there. Here's a pic of all of us.
TOP ROW: Sonali & Ayala (7 wks), Katie & Keila (11 wks), Manal & Zavin (10 wks), Emily & River (4 mos); BOTTOM ROW: Kat & Naomi (7 mos), Sharon & Dylan (6 mos), Somer & Kai (11 weeks).

We tried to line them up and take a picture, but there were so many babies, that we couldn't get them all in one shot. Here's a cute video =)


So we ended up putting all their heads in a circle to capture the moment:


Naomi was having so much fun! She really was the "big girl" of the group and I think she kinda wanted to show off her sitting and bouncing skills =) She even ate some solid food (along with Dylan) instead of breastfeeding like many of the other babies there.


Somer is hapa and her husband is full Japanese... they met in Hawaii =) Kai has awesome hair (reminds me of Bella's!) and already looks like a little surfer dude. Their lovely home had a gorgeous Christmas tree, a beautiful fireplace... and this awesome quilt! So as they say on the island:

"MELE KALIKIMAKA!"

From Mele Kalikimaka

Puppie Love

Nevertheless, I will bring health and healing to it; I will heal my people and will let them enjoy abundant peace and security. (Jeremiah 33:6)

Naomi has a security blanket... well, it's actually a combination of a blankie and a stuffed animal. And she has two of them. The first one that she received as a present is a purple teddy bear that has the texture of sheep skin. My dear friend Melissa gave it to Mimi because her daughter Cathleya has one just like it, but pink. For a while, the bear was the only "lovey" that I would slip into Mimi's arms while riding in the car, or tuck into the blanket while she sleeps at night.


I read an article in a magazine that another mother wrote about how traumatized her daughter was when she lost her security doll. So much that even after the original was found, the mom bought another identical doll... just in case, heaven forbid, the doll would get lost again.

That's when I decided to bring another blankie into the mix. Someone also gave Naomi a lovey at her Welcome Home party. It is a light brown dog and the fur is super soft. I've named it Puppie... at least until she decides to name it something else =)


In the beginning, she didn't really seem to even notice that they were there. Now, she really hugs them and kisses them, too! As of lately, Lovey-Bear has been hanging out in the car seat and Puppie chills out in her crib. When she starts to fuss while taking a nap, I simply nuzzle her with one of the blankies and she usually takes a whiff, holds it tight and falls back asleep. So sweet =)



Last week, Naomi got her H1N1 flu shot. She hardly cried and even smiled at the nurse once I picked her up from the examination table. It's probably because it was only one shot as opposed to three or four, but she's quite brave nevertheless. The next daywe went on a mini-vacation to Carmel. Richie had a few job sites to visit so Mimi and I came along to celebrate her 7 month bday. The last time I went with Richie to Carmel, I was pregnant. Now Naomi gets to enjoy the Carmel Mission Inn with us as a family. She's always the princess of the bed, of course!

From Carmel

It was super cold and it rained, but while it was dry, Mimi and I strolled around the quaint boutiques in the area. We also enjoyed the fireplaces at the lounge in our hotel. We were there for 3 nights and I could tell she really enjoyed being out and about. Naomi was bundled up in her turtlenecks and winter coat. She was just as bummed to leave Carmel as I was... even with her Puppie in hand to keep her company on the ride home.