It's Someone's Birthday

Happy Birthday Matt /Daddy / Hubby!!!

We slept in a bit...if you consider 8:00 am sleeping in before we spent the rest of the day enjoying the outdoors.  Kalista loves her sleep too and will usually just lay in bed if we're not quite up yet.  Occasionally, you will hear her talking to herself or her stuff animals.

We decided to skip our usual farmer's market in Hillcrest and head over to the one in Point Loma.  It was a little disappointing due to the small amount of vendors, but the produce was fresh and the beignets were pretty good.  We elected to get torta sandwiches at a local spot and found a nice grassy patch to picnic on Shelter Island.   The weather was beautiful and folks were out sailing their boats.  Kalista chased seagulls and pointed at all the dogs that passed by.

As you can see, Kalista got a new jacket from Grandpa Greg (Gung Gung) in the mail the other day and she wanted to model it around the house.  It was a Chinese New Year gift!

Matt ate chicken and noodles as part of his birthday meal....a Chinese tradition not to be messed with.  It promotes a year of longevity and good joo-joo.  We enjoyed an awesome strawberry "birthday" cheesecake this year.  Yum...cheesecake.

 Kalista gave Daddy birthday kisses

 We had some teamwork candle blowing too

The Birthday Boy

A Recap From Last Weekend's Vegas Trip

Good morning Vegas!!

Matt woke up early Sunday morning to enjoy the sunrise

We were yet on another Las Vegas mini weekend trip. It feels like a home away from home since we seem to be there quarterly or more. This past weekend, we were invited to Jen's BFF's baby shower and wedding extravaganza. It was a short weekend packed with so many precious memories!

Ellen (Jen's BFF) and the girls enjoying a good read

Everyone tries to feed Baby Kali...even Baby Beya

Kali and Beya spending quality girl time together

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here comes the bride.....

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Gillihan!!!

Who knew??....Kali became an honorary flower girl.

Jen got the honor of being the "official witness" and signed the marriage certificate.

Woohoo!!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Our final day in Las Vegas happened to be Chinese New Year day

Red lanterns were strewn from ceilings in the Cosmopolitan

We went to Bellagio to see the well decorated atrium

and have an awesome family breakfast

These dragons were animated. They breathed smoke and moved their tails.

Impressive!!!

These dragons were pretty cool too.

Every 10-15 minutes, smoke would come out of their mouths and

the surrounding hanging firecrackers would crackle and spark.

Jen and Kali checking out the dragon decor

Kali and Matt enjoying the bridge, koi pond and garden

Kali enjoyed the elaborate flower children figurines

What a way to bring in the Chinese New Year!

Wishing you good health and prosperity in the new year.

Happy Chinese New Year!

GUNG HAY FAT CHOY

WELCOME YEAR OF THE DRAGON

Surgery or No Surgery...That is the Question

We had our appointment today with the reconstructive/plastic surgeon, Dr. Gosman. The final verdict is.........(drum roll).........NO SURGERY! We really weren't anticipating that she was going to say "Yes".

This plan was determined by two good reasons:

#1: Kali is still so petite and tiny

#2: The G-tube site poses a monster infection risk.

SO....our ultimate goal, before any surgeon will possibly do anything, is to get Kali on a full eating course and be able to be G-tube free. It is so easy to say...but such a hard battle to go through.

Good news though...Kalista has now added cheeses (provolone, cheddar and mozzarella) and taro bread to her "OK" list of foods. She's like a chipmunk-mouse when she eats. Nibble..nibble ....nibble....store....maybe swallow....store some more...nibble..nibble...

Welcome 2012!

We forgot to tell all of you about the elaborate Gingerbread house we saw when we were in San Francisco for the holidays. If any of you get a chance to visit the Westin Saint Francis in Union Square during the holidays, they display a Gingerbread House in their lobby. It was more like a Sugar Castle to be honest. There was also a train that circled along the bottom and it was made of sugar too.

---------------------------------------------------------------

We kept our tradition and continued with Wednesday Zoo Day. We were amazed how packed the zoo was today. Families must still be on vacation. Well, it was giraffe and orangutan day. The orangutans were lively and hanging all over the place. Kalista is a monkey magnet since the orangutans always find a way to sit next to her through the window. The giraffes were gorgeous as usual. Don't be jealous..but the temperature for today was 85 degrees. Gotta love San Diego winters!!! Kalista traded in her thick parka for a bonnet and sunglasses.

(Sorry this last picture isn't that great =( )

Last Day of 2011

As we say goodbye to 2011....we look forward to what 2012 will bring us.

When we reflect upon the year we are happy to say that it was a fairly mellow year. 2011 was deemed the year of healing.

1. We were happy to have a surgery-free year.

2. Kalista celebrated many milestones -walking, crawling (almost at the same time), her 1st birthday, first set of teeth (now she has molars-top and bottom), talking a little and most impressive is her willingness to try various textures and types of food flavors. We even got her to use kiddie toothpaste (fruit flavor) with her toothbrush and she didn't flinch. =)

3. The dogs, Bella and Joey, are still healthy and active as ever. Kalista would agree that they keep her on her toes too.

4. Matt and Jen still have jobs...whew!

5. Kalista got to finally meet the infamous Karsie (our NICU nurses and doctors use to mention her in passing as they compared our similar medical marvels). The girls got to compare belly scars and stories last month during our first playdate. We hope 2012 will bring more playdates.

6. We got to venture up to the Bay Area for the Christmas holidays this year. Our last time up there for the holidays was almost four years ago. It was great being able to see everyone in our extended family and having all of them meet Kalista for the first time.

We hope that you and your family had a great 2011 and an even better 2012 to come.

Here is to a fabulous year to come.....HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Cheers.

Merry Belated Christmas

We made it back to the Bay Area for the holidays. Here are some pictures of our trip (sorry they're not in chronological order):

Hanging out with Matt's high school friends and their babies

Matt with all the babies

Jen's BFF and her little girl

On Christmas Day, we made three stops to see various relatives throughout the entire Bay Area: (1) Great-Grandma Tam for lunch then (2) The Lee (Tam) family's early dinner and lastly (3) The Lam family later evening dinner. It was exhausting and it felt like we barely got a chance to chat with everyone.

The "kids" hanging out

Kali opening gifts with Grandma Evelyn.

The Lam, Low and Martinez Crew

Kalista barely made it through this last group photo. She signed to us that she wanted to go to bed and poor thing was in tears by the time we were done because she was so tired. Although, she must gotten a second wind since she opened one or two gifts after this and then finally passed out in Grandma's arms.

Grandpa Greg, Grandma Susan with Kali

Our traditional family photo

On Christmas Day, Kali spent some time with Great-Grandma

Kali loved bouncing on Great-Grandma's lap

Auntie Steph and Uncle Preston with Kali

Auntie Steph couldn't wait to give Kali big hugs

Grandparents and the grandkids (with the exception of Auntie J)

The big Christmas Tree at Union Square was a delight to see

We got to spend some time in San Francisco to enjoy the big city feel

Kalista took BART for the first time

Kalista found all the musical ornaments on our tree

Kalista's new coat from Santa (which came in handy since it was super cold in SF)