Birthday Picnic!

Dear Stella,

On the day of your birthday, we threw a small picnic in the garden where you and your friends meet up everyday.  Your friends, Alvaro, Theau, Sabine, Amalie, Jin, Jeremy, Arjun, Bella, Roman, Anya, Aito all came to celebrate the day with you!  Your Lola, Lolas, Titos, Titas and a few cousins came too!

We had a small pool with balls, a bubble machine (which you didn’t really like), spaghetti, cupcakes, yogurt and snacks for the babies.  Oh, and your birthday cake, too!  And we had bubbles as your giveaways!

What a special day!

Love,

Mom

It’s Your Birthday!

My Dear Stella,

I can’t express how happy I am to celebrate your first birthday!!!  Right now, you’re taking your morning nap.  Before we start all the celebrating, I wanted to share with you a compilation of short videos we took over the past few months.  The video’s a bit long — but I’m pretty sure you’ll enjoy watching this when you’re bigger.

Happy Birthday, love bug.

Love,

Mom

The Easter Bunny

Dear Stella,

Here you are in your first Easter Egg Hunt in Eskaya Resort, Bohol where we all celebrated Lolo Benny’s 91st birthday.  Daddy and I helped you (and because you were so little, you got extra 5 minutes ahead of all your cousins!).  You got a total of 5 eggs.  Yey!

Love,

Mom

Boracay!

Dear Stella,

Earlier this month, you went on your first beach trip!  It was also your first time to ride the airplane, and a boat too!

We went with Lolo Jun, Lola Menchu, Lolo Howard and Lola Lynn.  Boy did they enjoy your company!  You were like our little doll.

You really loved the water (just like Mom!) but you didn’t like the sand at all.  You’d cry every time we would put your feet down.

I can’t wait for the next time you see Lolo Howard and Lola Lynn again… Lolo Howard was our godfather when we (Mom and Dad) got married.

Of course I also can’t wait for our next beach trip — we’ll be going to Bohol for Lolo Benny’s birthday very soon!

I really enjoyed our vacation, li’l Stelly.  We stayed in this very beautiful pool villa, and you were such a doll!  What a blissful vacation!

Love,

Mom

I like your hair!

Dear Stella,

You’re almost 9 months old and your hair has grown enough to manage mini pigtails.  I loved the new look and it seems like you do too!

Hugs,

Mom

Silent Silly Stella

Dear Stella,

Here’s a precious moment I caught while in Baguio:  You were quietly playing beside Daddy who was half asleep… and once in a while, you and I would exchange some giggles!

Love you,

Mom

Baguio

Dear Stella,

Right after Christmas, we took you on your first out-of-town trip — to one of our favorite destinations, Baguio!

You were such a good passenger in the car — you slept in your car seat most of the way going up and down.

Dressing you up was so much fun — you looked like a doll!  What a (literal) bundle of joy!  You were so cute that I couldn’t resist taking so many photos.

This will be the first of our many out-of-town trips together

Love,

Mom