So Cheesy

Mozzarella Cheese that is.

Cakes From Before the Blog

Here are some cakes I've done before I started blogging about them.

Father's Day cake

Baby Shower

Bridal Shower

Baby Shower

Baby Shower

Gender Reveal

Baby Shower

Playing with my camera - Cute baby shots

I'm starting to get interested in learning how to take better pictures. After all, Richard has a Canon DSLR, which can take great shots if I learn how to use it. So I looked up some YouTube videos and started learning about ISO, aperture and shutter speed. I don't really know what I'm doing. I just started playing around. Here are some shots I took.

Yes, I gave Gabriel a mohawk. :)

This is a new hat I just got him. SUPER cute!

Notice there are two baby toys on the floor, and he goes for the cardboard box. Typical.

Gabriel's First Tooth!

I am SO excited that my baby just got his first tooth! Now I understand why he was so fussy yesterday. He kept waking up from his naps. I was able to get a couple shots of the little guy poking through his gums.

8 Month Picture

Snapped this today, just to document what my baby looks like at 8 months. Chubby and cute. What's that? A book? Oh, he's a smart one too!

Gabriel is 8 Months Old Today

Dear Gabriel,

Today you turn 8 months old. Wow how time flies! I honestly can't remember what it was like when you were a newborn. The more you grow, the more your personality comes out. I love it when you see me and get a big smile on your face. You do the same thing when daddy comes home from work.

Things to note:
- You still have a bald spot on the back of your head, but it's smaller and hair is starting to grow in
- You've been "crawling" for a month, but it's the army crawl, where you pull forward on your elbows and slide on your tummy. You can get on your hands and knees, but when you want to go somewhere, it's always the army crawl.
- You're able to help us put your clothes on. You push your arms through the sleeves and your head through the neck hole.
- You've been introduced to a variety of new foods. You have even had chicken and top sirloin! Pureed, of course. You love the chicken, and I can't get it into your mouth fast enough.
- You're talking more these days. You always say "ma ma ma", "ba ba ba" and "da da da". Or you just slur a bunch of vowels together.
- You still sleep 12 hours each night (amen!) and take 2 naps during the day.
- You focus a lot more during story time. You'll sit there quietly on my lap and look at each page while I read. You especially like the stories that rhyme, so we mostly stick to those. We just started going to the library regularly, so you can have a variety of books.
- We just got back from a little vacation in Palm Springs, where you LOVED the pool. Daddy held you in the water and moved around just like you were swimming. Boy, you giggled and got a kick out of it! Once in a while you tried to put your face in the water, and started to cough. After a couple of those, you decided that wasn't so much fun.
- At the doctors office last week, you weighed 18.2 pounds! Daddy says mommy's got some guns from toting you around.

Everywhere we go, people give us compliments on how handsome you are, and we definitely agree. You like to flirt with strangers by smiling and kicking your feet. Sometimes, you'll show off some dance moves by swaying back and forth. People love this.

Happy 8 month birthday Gabriel! We love you!

Santa Monica Day Trip

Last weekend, Smithsonian Magazine was celebrating Museum Day by providing FREE tickets to any participating museum. I picked out an art museum in Santa Monica that we'd never been to. It turned into a wonderful little day trip for the family.

Before heading to the museum, we went to the 3rd Street Promenade for a little shopping while Gabriel took his nap in the stroller. They've added a fancy new outdoor mall section to the promenade. Here's a picture of the three stories of shops. I love the look with the palm trees, but I don't know what that black and white thing is. I hope it's not some sort of art piece, because I don't really like it.

After some shopping, we went to the Santa Monica Museum of Art. Upon entrance, we realized this museum is actually free every day! That's cool, but sad at the same time, because I thought I was getting something for free that normally costs money. Oh well.

There were multiple exhibits. Some we spent a considerable amount of time in and others we skipped all together. We mostly stayed away from the modern art. I think both Richard and I have a hard time understanding why two circles on a piece of paper is "art". We also noticed an alarming number of the artists seemed to gravitate toward pieces that, let's just say, were not appropriate for all any audiences. We shielded Gabriel's and our eyes and left those exhibits. Slightly disappointing, yet I wasn't surprised. Maybe it was the fact that we were in Santa Monica which made it not surprising.

One of the exhibits was a random collection of "practical art". They had several really cool chairs made of all recycled materials. They had chairs made from glass bottles, cardboard, and even quarters. This one I'm sitting in is made of corks. It was really comfy!

Another item we found was a little dog made of recycled newspaper. Isn't he cute?

I felt like I had to buy something to top off the trip. It's like a family trip to a museum wouldn't be complete without some cheep little thing from the gift shop, right? So I ended up purchasing this head massager. Oh, this thing is WONDERFUL! You move it around your head and all those little wiry things rub your scalp. It makes me want to relax and fall asleep. I love my new little gadget.