The happiest place on the planet…

…and no, it's not Disney World. It's Ikea!

Ikea just knows how to do things right. They are so accommodating to families- they have affordable house goods, affordable food, their washrooms are built with little ones in mind (did you see the kid sinks??), and their kid's showroom section is every kid's fantasy playroom. 

I didn't really have anything to buy there, but today was a day where I was just bored and wanted to get out of the house. Auntie Jess and I have been really bonding over this Summer because you and Emma are at an age now where you play really well with each another. We've been meeting pretty frequently during the weekends and today was a day where we decided Ikea would be a great place to meet. You and Emma had a blast playing the kid's showroom. I think you were there for almost 2 hours!

Pretending to sleep. 

Usually we have you in the shopping cart when we come to Ikea, but today, we let you roam free with
Emma and you were going everywhere, touching everything and you guys really enjoyed your time there.

This ceiling lamp caught my eye. I think it will be really cute in your bedroom. I really don't like the ceiling
lamps on our 2nd floor so I'm always on the lookout for nice lamps.

And the price is good too! I'll have to keep a mental log of this.

What I did end up buying were these fake flowers. Yes, fake flowers don't have the best rep, but these
looked pretty darn real. 

I cut the stems a bit shorter and put them in these soda bottles that I have been collecting. I think flowers
look so good in cool soda bottles. What do you think?

I put these bottle vases on the ledge going down to the basement. I think it makes this area a bit prettier because
of the hit of colour.

I actually took this photo of you while we were at Burger's Priest. They opened one not too far from
where we live so I took you there for lunch. You absolutely loved their french fries. You were playing
with your iPad while I was waiting for our food. Look at those lashes! Women would kill for those lashes.

They can make a whole Disney franchise with this girl

I instagrammed this photo of you and my friend Lisa commented that Disney can make a whole franchise with you. And I have to say, I agree! Look at that face. Look at the hair! I die!!!

Since I spent all day with Aidan yesterday, I wanted to have a mommy and Kendall day today. We went to Target in the morning to check out the Poppytalk for Target Collection as well as to buy a welcome mat for our house. Let me just say that you are a handful nowadays! You don't want to sit still and when I let you loose, you are everywhere. 

As you can see, you are already trying to get out of the buggy. You actually stood up several times. Sigh…

What a cutie pie you are though…

I eventually put you in cart and you were touching everything that was in it.

A quick video of you touching everything at Target.

And this is the welcome mat that I bought for our house. Isn't it pretty?

And here's how it looks from afar.

My Poppytalk for Target haul.

Garden season is here

We had an unusually long winter this year so gardening had to wait until the weather got warm enough. I always look forward to Spring/Summer because I love having beautiful flowers in our backyard. It's so nice having a view of our colourful garden from the kitchen. The photo above is our new planter flowers. Isn't it pretty?

So many flowers ready to be planted.

And these are our picks this year.

Our planter arrangements.

My princess.

My prince.

Problem solver

We have a tradition of borrowing library books every 2 weeks. It's a good tradition, but we tend to borrow at least 10 books at a time when we go to the library. Having all those books stacked on top of your dresser was becoming quite an eye sore. It also didn't help that you are a little bit of a hoarder and you tend to bring scraps of paper from school/daycare and you have it strewn about. Then you sometimes bring your toys from from the basement- whatever is the flavour du jour. What I'm saying, is that the top of your dresser was just too cluttered with crap. I've been thinking about it for a while now and I decided that a basket would be a good solution. It would keep all the books together, while keeping them hidden. And the basket would be a nice decor accent in your room. I told daddy about and he said if I saw something I liked, then I should just get it.

I happened to go to the mall today to buy Auntie Sara her birthday present and I stopped by one of my favourite decor places while I was there- Chapters Indigo. I had seen their woven baskets a few months back and I had it in the back of my head. Now that I knew we needed a basket, I wanted to check them out more closely. They had several different styles of baskets, but I settled in the one below. It was bigger and had a bit of weight to it. There was a smaller basket that I initially thought I was going to buy, but once I put some books in it, it started tipping over from the weight of the books. I'm happy with the one I got. Plus, I used some of my points so I got it for just over $20. Score!

For now, I have the basket beside your dresser. It's a beautifully woven basket. I would like
to get more for other spaces in our house. 

I only have 3 books in here, but it can fit a whole lot more.

Beautiful find

I'm always on the lookout for stuff for the house. I don't always want to rush to buy something just because I have to. I have to really love it.

One thing that I have been looking for a long time was a display of some sort for your jewelry. You got a few gold rings and a gold bracelet as gifts for your 1 year birthday so I wanted to put them in a nice display case. Initially, I was looking for a clear acrylic box like how I had displayed Aidan's gold rings, but I found something even better. I happened to check out Anthropologie during my lunch break because I knew that lots of stores were having their end-of-season sales. I had been eyeing their jewelry boxes for a long time, but they were so pricey. I was hoping that I could get one on sale. That is, if they even had any left. I found exactly the one that I had been eyeing and it was on sale! It's a beautiful cream-coloured jewelry box with sequins and beading. 

And here it is opened with your 2 rings and bracelet inside. I'm hoping to add to that collection.

Mom sal (translated from Korean, meaning body ache)

What a day I had! I experienced the little monsters to the extreme today :-S

I took a day off today because Kendall had her 15-month checkup today at 9:45am. I decided to just take a day off and spend time with Kendall (since I hardly see her during the work week). 

I dropped you off at daycare in the morning with Kendall and it was all fine. Kendall was surprisingly pretty good when I first got to the doctor's office. It's always very stressful when it's the checkup appointment because the doctor measures everything and the appointment usually involves getting shots. As soon as I took off Kendall's shoes, she started crying uncontrollably. I couldn't even get her to calm down even when I gave her veggie chips. Every single thing that the doctor told me to do- take of Kendall's clothes (to weigh her), hold her down (to measure her length), open her mouth (to check the back of her mouth), hold her head (to see inside her ears), etc. involved a fight. At one point, Kendall was kicking the doctors upper body while the doctor was trying to see inside her mouth. Kendall was crying to much that it took a good 15 minutes for the doctor to see her pupils- her eyes were closed shut crying. By the time it was all over I was in a ball of sweat and Kendall got the hiccups from crying so much. 

Here's where she is at right now:

Weight: 8.32kg or 18.34lbs (down from 8.37kg last time)

Head circumference: 44 cm (same as last time)

Height: 74cm (up from 70cm last time) 

And the bad news? Kendall lost weight and because she was experiencing diarrhea, the doctor couldn't administer the vaccination shots. The doctor told me I would have to come back in 2 weeks to give Kendall her shots. AND, she will most likely be weighing her again since the doctor was concerned about Kendall's weight. ACK! I'm definitely not looking forward to the follow-up appointment. 

When I got out of the appointment, daddy had texted me saying that he was leaving work early and meeting us at the doctor's office. We ended up having a nice lunch and doing errands- grocery shopping and picking up prescription medication (Kendall had an ear infection). I can't wait for the day when I can just do… nothing. No running errands, not making dinner, not picking up kids, not grocery shopping, the list goes on and on. I didn't realize being a parent was SO HARD.

Here's Kendall walking with daddy after the doctor's appointment. You wouldn't know it from this video that just a few minutes before she was a crying mess.

I guess all the crying made Kendall pass out in the car. She almost never sleeps in the car. She actually fell asleep holding onto her veggie chips. Aigoo, aigoo.

We stopped by a ramen place to have a quick bite to eat. Look how cute you are!

Drinking water, all by herself.

Such a good eater… That's why it puzzles me that you lost weight. I was sure you gained weight.

Waiting for more food.

Pretty Kendall.

So by the time everything was done and we got home, it was close to 3pm and time to pick up the original monster- monster 1. Tonight was your daycare's Halloween party so I wanted to make sure you got a bath, ate dinner and had time to change into your costume before heading out. You were looking forward to this party for a whole week now so I thought you would be loving it. Or so I thought…

The Halloween party was at a high school and the teachers converted the whole main floor into a
Halloween-themed room. It was AMAZING!

They had stations set up for activities. 

I present you Iron Man!
I don't know if the new environment made you anxious, but you were quiet, clingy and just not
looking like you were enjoying yourself. When teachers walked by and said hi to you, you just
turned away and said nothing. I hate that!

More of the Halloween decor.

There were close to 500 people at the party. 

All the teachers dressed up in costumes. It was pretty cool.

And the best part of this party? Why, it was the entertainment, of course! They had hired Bounce Entertainment and they were soooooo good! All the kids were on the dance floor dancing like crazy. I was so impressed and I thought you would be all over it seeing that they were playing all the songs that you knew on the radio and I know how much you love to dance. However, you just stood there sulking and you didn't do anything. I think you were the only kid that didn't dance. I kept encouraging you to have a good time, but you were so clingy to me. Eventually you loosened up a bit and actually danced a little bit, but not much. You decided in the end that you wanted to go back to the activity tables and we did some of that, but when the party drew to a close you started throwing a huge tantrum because you didn't want to leave. You actually ran away and when I didn't follow you, you came back and hit me! I was so angry! I tried putting on your jacket and your tantrums got even bigger. I couldn't even get it on and by that time you were screaming and crying. All the parents were looking at me and I was so embarrassed. By the time we got to the car I was about to explode. I screamed at you all the way home. I'm so upset that you aren't like the other kids and it frustrates me that maybe it's something I'm doing wrong. Why is it that you don't say hi to people? Why are you such a snob?? Why do you go crazy when things aren't going your way? Every single thing has to be a challenge for me. I constantly have to think of ways to get you to move onto another thing because once you get into something, it's like you are in a trance. 

When we got home, I was so mad that I didn't even want to see you. I told daddy what had happened and he got so mad. He tried to put you in time out, but that obviously doesn't work with you. Daddy gave you so much memme. I took a quick video of when you are in your tantrum stage. 

Happy 1-year birthday Kendall

Today we celebrated your 1-year birthday party. We had a more intimate party than when we did Aidan's 1-year birthday party. We only invited our closest friends. It was more enjoyable that way.

Your outfit for the party. Your Vancouver grandpa took this photo of you at home before the party.
I was at the venue doing some last-minute decorations.

The head table set up.

The banner started to droop a bit so I wasn't too happy about that, but I'm happy how it turned out.

Here's the manzanita branch with your photos. I also arranged all the flowers myself. I initially
wanted to use peonies, but they were not in season by the time it was your birthday so I went with
my backup flower- hydrangeas.

I got Flour Studio to bake 2 dozen cupcakes. This is the vanilla cupcake with strawberry buttercream
swirl. I stuck my handmade cupcake toppers on top.

My friend, Jenn, made the Goim towers. I gave her directions on what to put on the towers as well
as the spray paint colours. I gave her the dragon reference photo as well. I think it turned out beautifully.
I'm planning on keeping these Goim towers and displaying it in your room.

Isn't the cake beautiful? Flour Studio also made the cake. I gave them the cake inspiration shot.

I love how classy it is. I know lots of people do animal themes, but I wanted to do something different.
I love the rainbow theme.

The other cupcake flavour was chocolate cupcake with mint buttercream swirl.

Another view.

For the tables I made a flower arrangement of white hydrangeas with craspedias.
I put votive candles all around decorated with washi tape. I also scattered my paper medallions
that I made.

Here's how I displayed the popcorn favours. I used them as table seating cards as well.

Aidan was being a little sore sport. He didn't want to take any family photos. This is the best
one we got of him.

Your Toronto grandma and grandpa.

I wanted to take lots of photos at the party, but I couldn't. Your Vancouver grandpa took this photo
and he shot us in such a low angle. I have a double chin!

You and your Vancouver grandma.

Look how cute you are eating.

Everyone was trying to get Aidan to cheer up.

You and daddy.

Aidan was watching videos while eating lunch.

Getting ready for the doljabi. Because I was holding you I couldn't get any good photos of you
in your hanbok grabbing the 2 items. You ended up choosing the ball and the microphone.

I think Auntie Sara took this photo of Emma and Uncle Wayne. Maybe Emma ate something sour?
She's such a cutie.

The 3 boys- Austin, Nate and Asher.

Cake cutting time. I was sad to cut into such a beautiful cake.

The cake was so delicious.

The party wrapped up at 4pm.I was ready to crash when we got home, but there was so much to do!

Here are all the cards you received from your birthday party. I'm planning on keeping these.
I also kept Aidan's 1-year birthday cards in a box.

Some of these cards are Aidan's 4-year birthday cards.

Aidan got a pretty rad sweater from Asher and Austin for his birthday.

He was much happier at home than at the party.

Aidan got tons of gifts, but I forgot to take pictures of everything he got :-(

He got a Spiderman bike from Auntie Jane, tons of clothes from his Vancouver grandma, helmut and protection gear for his bike from his Vancouver grandma, a garbage truck toy from his Vancouver grandpa (Aidan asked for that), gift certificate and money from his Toronto grandparents, a tent and Lightning McQueen book from Auntie Jess and Uncle Wayne, movie certificate from Nate, and a sweater from Asher & Austin. Lastly, Auntie Sara and Uncle Dan got Aidan colouring books and roller skates. He was so happy. I was able to take a video of him trying on his skates. I think we'll go out tomorrow to try out his skates. 

I can't believe it's finally over. It took a lot of work, but I'm happy I was able to do this for you for your 1-year birthday.