Gift Wrap Alternative - Yarn & Washi Tape

I don't have a lot of kiddie birthday wrapping paper on hand, so I made do without it. Using leftover yarn from the MonSTAR birthday party, washi tape, scrap cardstock, and random boxes, I think my gifts are pretty darn cute!

My nephew's gift wasn't from Gap, but the washi tape nicely covered the Baby Gap logo along the side.

Same for this Children's Place box (gift from elsewhere).

Cute alternative to wrapping paper, yeah?

After Ryu and Kira's birthdays comes Mia's. Are you excited to see what I've dreamed up for her 2nd birthday party?!

linked up with live.laugh.rowe and here:

P52 {4} - Self Portrait

This week's Project 52 prompt was self portrait. Mine's not very creative, but actually looking decent for a picture, using my tripod and getting an in focus picture counts as effort, right?!

Since I don't have a remote, I went back and forth using the good ol' timer. To finally get a shot that was in focus, I had to have Doug stand in while I focused, set the timer, then pushed him out of the way to pose.

Mia also wanted in on the fun. She's going to be so excited when she gets a camera for her birthday! Stay tuned for birthday party details over the next few weeks.

linked up here:

P52 {3} - I Dreamed a Dream

Despite the snow storm last weekend, my entire extended family from Seattle to Florida made it safely into Chicago. In between getting each family's picture with Grandma, I made this photograph.

The beautiful picture she's holding is her nursing graduation photo when she was 21.

Without this strong woman, we (5 kids, 8 grandkids and 6 great-grandkids) wouldn't have this. very. house. to make three generations of cherished memories.

I'm not sure that 44 years ago when she immigrated here, she could've dreamed of the life she was building for all of us.

Next week's prompt is self portrait. Easier said than done!

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{Jenelle} – 6 months

Now that you’ve seen Noah and Erin, we have Jenelle at 6 months to round out my week of babies who are Getting SO Big!

Jenelle came over on a Sunday morning while Mia and Doug went to church. Mom and I enjoyed the stillness of quiet morning air with just one non talking/moving baby in the house *sigh* You know, the stillness like when your baby finally goes to sleep and you plop down on the couch, take a deep breath to relax and ignore all the things you need to be doing before baby wakes up? 

With no distractions, Jenelle’s eyes and smiles were on me the whole time.

Great job Dad, getting her to sit up all by herself while you were on break!

I think she's getting ready to crawl!

Just like her big sister Maya had, Jenelle’s got some silly patches of curly hair growing in!

Or “Kramer” hair as Mom would call it!

6 months is such a happy smiley baby age, I think she had a good time J

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Fall Family Portraits in Chicago

Remember back in the fall when I posted about coordinating family portrait outfits? I never showed you how my Thanksgiving cards turned out! I ordered the cards from Snapfish. Couldn't beat a buy one set get one free deal - $40 for 40 cards on heavy cardstock! (Disregard the quality below, this was scanned in.)

I asked my fellow aspiring photographer friend, Elaine (who after being online photography forum friends for over a year, finally met at Sprout), to capture our family out and about in our neighborhood. To prep Mia for the shoot, I kept saying that my friend Elaine would come to take our pictures. During the shoot I kept telling Mia to say hi to Elaine. After that, I think Mia thought Elaine’s name was “Hi Elaine!!” J

This peek-a-boo picture is one of my favorites from the session and had to include it on the back of our card.

The picture on the left is from our engagement session. I love how Elaine captured a similar image (on the right), now that we're a family of three. © Maybe I should get them both in canvases...

It was nice to actually be in pictures for once.

Walking around with my photographer eyes open got me so excited to shoot more portraits in the neighborhood! There were so many textured and colored walls that I want to take advantage of.

Check out more photos from our family session in the city at Elaine’s newly launched blog.  Also, since Elaine wants to focus on shooting sports, she has killer Bulls images...that she got signed!!!

P52 - {2} Made With Love

After seeing this week's Project 52 prompt, I knew that I wanted to photograph the baby blankies knitted/crocheted by my Grandma. I think every one of my Grandma's great grandkids, all six of them, has one or two blankies. Before I knew when I'd have kids, I was afraid that my Grandma wouldn't be around to make my babies their blankies, considering she'd be nearing 90 years old by then. But lucky for me, I had Mia shortly after I got married and Grandma was still healthy enough (at 87!) to whip up some beloved blankies.

She even gave me a blue one for my future boy. Not that I'm pregnant! Just that she knew she wouldn't be able to make one when the time does come (a few years from now!). I get most of my crafty genes from my Grandma and hope that my kids will treasure these blankies as much I we do!

Kap kuhn ka ya-tuat! My smart little Thai baby.

I'm so glad we're having an impromptu family reunion this week where all of Grandma's kids (5), grandkids (6) and great grandkids (6) can spend time together - for the first time! The baby cousins weren't born/conceived yet when we got together for Grandma's 85th birthday. I'm ready for lots of good food, late night card games where the adults try to take our money {Rummy!}, and mini cousins running around!

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{Erin} – 9 months

On Christmas Day, my niece turned 9 months old.

I can’t wait to see how these two will play together when they’re older. I think they're wondering the same thing...

Unlike chubster Noah who hasn’t changed much in the past 9 months, I think Erin has. What do you think?

Next time, she won't fit in this basket!

Ah, the wonders of the outside world...

Crawling is Erin’s big milestone this time around and instead of an army crawl, she moves more like a slug.

{Arms, butt, legs. Arms, butt, legs...} But a dainty one with hands intertwined and legs crossed!

Before my photo sessions, I tell parents to think about what makes their child naturally laugh in their day to day interactions. Erin wasn’t too amused by our tricks until the very end when Dad let loose with some tickles and I was getting ready to go!

Now there’s the big smile I’m used to!

Hard to believe that the next session will be for her dol {Korean 1^st birthday}!

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