Hooray for Asian Culture!

Ben found this brand new show on Nick Jr called "Ni Hao, Kai-lan" (translation, "Hello, Kai-lan"). It's about a little Chinese girl named Kai-lan and all her little friends. It's an interactive show that's aimed towards 2-5 year olds and is similar to Dora but Kai-lan teaches Chinese! I was very happily suprised to see that Asian culture has hit the mainstream, especially on a children's network. I am really excited that this is availabe and I hope it doesn't get canceled. I am not a Dora fan and thanks to my nephew who made me watch hours of Dora, I really like how Kai-lan teaches certain topics to young children. I'm a huge fan of anything that helps cultivate Chinese culture and I'm so happy this show exists. The DVD isn't available yet but I'm hoping it will come out some time soon! Izzy watches this and she seems to like it. Anytime I speak Mandarin to her she cracks up. Well, this is a good show for both her and Ben to watch, they can learn together!

Goofing Around

This weekend was supposed to be full of errands to run and things to do. I was planning on taking Izzy to her first Gymboree class today at Oakridge Mall but the little one got sick on Friday evening and unfortunately continues to be sick. It started off with 100.00 and then fluctuated between 100 and 105.00. Ben and I normally don't panic and we've read enough books and website articles to feel confident enough to have her stay home and tough it out. I think that if her fever had gone even higher than 105.00 we would have gone straight to the emergency room. It sounds so scary when she gets a fever that high but for some reason, doctors don't panic and there really isn't anything to do about it except take some Tylenol or Motrin.

The sick little girl just finished lunch and is smushing her daddy's face under a pillow. She loves to grab your face and squeeze. It was also hot today too which was perfect to bring out her cute tank dresses and summer clothes. It's actually the first hot day that we've had all year (I think).

Here is Izzy totally passed out on the couch with her ducky. Uncle Tony got her this yellow duck from Pottery Barn Kids that quacks three songs. She LOVES this stuffed animal. She has lots but this one makes her laugh like crazy. It's a totally ingenious toy from Pottery Barn. My poor girl! She's still sick!

Happy Bunny Day!

Happy Easter! We celebrated at California Cafe in Los Gatos with Ben's family, Cindy, and Chris. Isabel's first Easter and she was such a cutie! She wore a new outfit we just got from Baby Gap and her diva shades. It was a gorgeous day.

Whatcha lookin' at? Here are the girls looking fabulous. Paparazzi everywhere! Aunt Cindy has become been fostering some major diva-ish behavior.

Like father, like daughter.

Little Miss Princess

Last weekend Cindy and I took Isabel to the Gilroy outlets. I hadn't been there in ages! While we were in Gymboree, Cindy thought it would be fun to try out sunglasses on Isabel. She loved them and ended up wearing them the whole time in the store. I don't think she can see really well with them but I think it's because the world looks totally different that it keeps her occupied.

Several milestones happened in the last few weeks. At 5.5 weeks, Izzy learned how to roll around and got really good at it. She always ended up in a different position when she naps or sleeps. She started stage 2 baby food recently. I did notice that she likes certain foods (if that's even possible). She loves turkey, chicken, and carrots. For some reason, she could care less for fruit or lentils.... I think my baby girl is a carnivore! Her motor skills are amazing! Toys that I got her a few weeks ago she wasn't interested in but now she totally grabs them and tries to stick them in her mouth. Buying toys for her at this age is really tough. We always look for something that will grab her attention for at least 20 minutes but than can be hard to find.

Heading Towards 6 Months

Isabel is almost 6 months old! It seems like only yesterday she was a little bundle with a hospital cap on. She is so much more interactive now and can see everything that's going on around her. She's got pretty good mobility and she's getting really good at grasping. She can hold her little 4oz bottle pretty well when she's concentrating.

The weekends are the best because the whole family can have breakfast together. Here she is hanging out with us while we make breakfast. Then we all sit down and have breakfast together. Izzy's new favorite food is rice cereal mixed with formula and fruit of some kind.

So here is our update on the house situation: We saw more homes this past weekend, with our primary focus being in Pleasanton. I saw one that I absolutely loved, perfect house, perfect location, and perfect schools = BIG price tag. Then we went back to Dublin and San Ramon and was really really convinced that those two areas is where we want to be. Prices are falling everyday and that's a double edged sword. I am so excited that we can finally move one more time and hopefully not move for a VERY long time. We're planning a double garage sale with my sister and just get rid of a ton of crap. Starting fresh is soooo relieving!

Neighborhood Search

Today Ben, Isabel, and I went up to Dublin to check out neighborhoods in search for our potential home. It was a really nice day and even though we did get a late start we managed to check out some really great properties. We even met up with Catherine which was really nice. She finally got to meet Isabel. We checked out an open house on her street and the house was really pretty. It would be fun to be neighbors! We also checked out Dublin Ranch, Tassajara Meadows, and a bunch of other neighborhoods in Dublin. We really really liked the neighborhoods between the border of San Ramon and Dublin off of Dougherty. I think we are really considering that area but the only issue is that it's pretty far from the highway. As far as family friendly, it was a really nice area. We saw a beautiful house in San Ramon and I was really in love with it. It had 5 bedrooms! So yea, it would be a house to definitely start a family in. The tough part about house hunting is that you start to really like certain houses and you just keep thinking about what your life would be like if you lived there. The bad part is that if we do move, I am really really going to miss not being close Valley Fair. Stoneridge is ok but it's no Valley Fair. I'm also going to miss all the restaurants too. Anyhow, we're certainly in no rush but I'm hoping to move by the end of summer.

The Nanny Diaries

I have been very fortunate to have my sister move in with me and have her be my live in nanny. Cindy has been such an asset and also such a good care giver for Isabel. She's spoiling me and it's going to be incredibly hard when she finds a job and moves to the city. I'm in the middle of bribing her to stay as long as she can by buying her food and paying her.

One of the many perks of having Aunt Cindy as a nanny is all the wonderful pictures that she takes everyday. Isabel's motor skills have been improving day to day. Now when's she's in her jumper, she's beginning to play with her toys. Here she is in an outfit from her great grandmother who lives in Taiwan.

Isabel just started fruits this week and she seems to like her vegetables more. Her first fruit was bananas and it seemed to be too tart for her. Anyhow, it's hilarious to see her reaction to a new food.

My beautiful girl!

Ben and I have this incredibly huge dilemma: We want to buy a house right now because the market is great for buyers... the bad part is that my job is in south San Jose, I can't afford the homes I want in south San Jose so we have to look in Pleasanton and Dublin. But moving there would eliminate daycare for Isabel which was provided by my family. So what to do? I want to be a stay at home mom if we move to Pleasanton or Dublin BUT I don't want to push the envelope as far as finances goes... If I switch jobs then I need one that either has daycare and if not, I have to pay for outside daycare... So what to do??? I have no idea. It's a never ending circle. I wish I knew what to do!