holiday rush

haven't had the chance to blog since the holiday rush started. rush to do the shopping, rush to take the kids' pictures for christmas cards that were never made, rush to bring micah to the doctor for an asthma exacerbation, rush to wrap the gifts, rush to go to church, rush to relatives' houses, etc. too bad i was never rushing to get into bed for a good night's sleep. but as always, everything just seems to fall into place, we had a wonderful christmas. micah could have cared less about opening presents while lia always seemed to be looking for more. santa gave malia a sharpay doll and a dress up game this year and micah got a leap frog guitar. we gave the kids a train table set, but haven't gotten around to setting it up yet. i give it a few months. so i think i can relax for a bit, until it's time to put away all the decor. surprisingly, all of the ornaments are still on the tree. micah pulled a couple off because he thought they were balls, but wanted to put them back. i really don't want him to grow up!

highlights from our christmas rush time:

jumpitz xmas concert @ horton plaza
jonah giving a high 5

cursillo xmas party, malia played an angel with

her friend ella in the kids nativity scene

OVC xmas concert @ st. rose
brown eyed girl...

christmas eve @ the sousa residence

christmas morning! love the cheeks!
malia showing her outfit from micah

micah trying to taste some candy

christmas lunch @ the bringas residence
christmas dinner @ jonah & joelle's house

cousins pic take 1
cousins pic take 2cousins pic take 3
finally, a decent picture. there's always next year!
happy 1st christmas cousin joelle!

last lunch

while packing malia's lunch this morning, i realized that it was the last lunch i'd be packing for her in 2008. where has the time gone?! she'll have her school christmas party tomorrow and then she's on vacation until 1/5/2009. i could have sworn i was just dancing to prince's song 1999, but here we are 10 years later! anyways, malia will be happy today because i made her a nutella sandwich. it's her favorite sandwich i pack. i only give it to her once in a while. believe it or not it does have iron, calcium, protein, and fiber. (of course i check!) her sandwich is shaped like a christmas tree today. i also put in a banana and some graham crackers to even out the sweet. after i pick her up today, the 3 of us are off to daddy's work to watch his performance with the "think positive" teacher band and with OVC. hopefully micah is doing better with his cold, he would love to dance to all the music. malia will be able to burn off the sugar from the nutella sandwich. oh let's face it, that girl is never out of energy!

she's 31

pounds! at last, malia has reached the 30 pound mark. her annual exam was today. she is 0.2% for her weight and i think 0.4% for her height, which was 39.5 inches. such a petite filipino girl. "little" brother micah has only 8 pounds to gain and 8.5 inches to grow to catch up. i've always said i would have a party when malia reached 30 pounds. so how are we going to party? disneyland, of course!

tantrum tuesday

had another tough tuesday today. it started in the car on the way home when the kids were "sharing" a book in the back seat and one of the pages tore. malia had a raging fit that started as we were halfway home and didn't stop until we were in the house and i taped up the page. i don't know what it is about tuesdays but the kids seem crankier than usual, even when daddy stays home from class. and micah is quite the toddler and not my baby boy anymore, screaming when i take something away he's not supposed to play with. it's not fun when both kids are having tantrums at the same time. hats off to those who run daycares, i really don't know how they do it. sometimes their tantrums make me laugh, but by the 5th one (mostly malia), it's a real challenge on my patience. that's when i force them to go to bed early so i can have some peace and quiet before bed. that's when they look like angels, and i can once again count my blessings.