Category Archives: Baby Love

A category just for my son

Weekend In Pictures: Mini-Golf Mayhem

These pictures were actually taken last weekend, but it’s a weekend nonetheless!  We took Dominic to play mini-golf for the first time at a place called Boomers, which has 2 little miniature golf courses, a go-kart raceway, and a kiddie amusement ride area.  Dominic is always talking about playing golf because of my husband.  Until we can take him to an actual course to watch daddy play, we will be taking him to places like this that will allow him to do whatever he wants to. 

Not only did Dominic play a little golf, he also went on his first official amusement park ride.  At first Deon said he was a bit scared.  But after a few go-arounds, he was asking for more.  Dominic is just at 36 inches, so some of the other rides will have to wait.  But now I know who my husband’s rollercoaster partner will be from now on!

My first hole in one...ever!

Cool Glasses Dude!

Every now and again, Dominic likes to wear daddy’s Polo sunglasses. Deon doesn’t wear them anymore because they are damaged beyond repair, so Dominic sort of took them over. They’re quite big on him and fall off, but he doesn’t care because he loves them.  When he puts them on, he yells “Cool glasses dude!” We finally decided to get him his very own pair from Old Navy that are just his size. He wore them everywhere that day, including all throughout lunch. My son is definitely ultra-cool.

Outfit: H&M striped shirt; Paul Frank for Target t-shirt; Old Navy jeans and sunglasses; One Star shoes; LIDS hat

I Gotta Dance!


When I put my iPod in his pocket and headphones on his head, Dominic had no choice but to groove. As I was trying to capture everything on camera, I realized that there would be nothing still about his moves. The blurred lines just enhance the frenzy of movement that was my son and his dancing.

Outfit: Roots t-shirt; Circo striped long-sleeved shirt; Wrangler shorts; Old Navy shoes; LIDS hat

Weekend In Pictures: Dominic’s Birthday Bash


I know last night was the Oscars (big congratulations to Colin Firth on receiving the Best Actor award). But for our household, the big celebration this weekend was our little boy’s 2nd birthday. The weekend began with running errands on Friday, including an adventure at Sports Authority and a putting green. Right before the party on Saturday, Grandma and Poppy from Las Vegas stole him away to our local mall while we completed the final preparations. Then slowly, friends from work and elsewhere as well as lots of family came to celebrate with our little man.


Despite a few minor mishaps (including a fall while playing with the other kids and a wardrobe change due to a fight with a water puddle), it was a great party. Since it rained the whole morning, we were afraid that he wasn’t going to be able to have his pinata. But the weather cleared up just enough for all the kids to gather outside. Rather than the blindfold and bat, we opted for the “pull string” pinata. Since no one pulled the right string, we opened it up so that the candy and prizes would fall. It was quite a blur!


Dominic had so much fun that he missed his nap. After blowing out his birthday candle, he ended up sleeping the end of his party away. When he woke up, he said “Mama, what happened party?” Hopefully he’ll be able to make it all the way through his next party. Thanks to everyone for all of the wonderful gifts of cars, trucks, and clothes.


The next day was spent opening up all the gifts and picking out which cars he would play with first. But I think the hit of Dominic’s gifts was what daddy bought him: an adjustable basketball hoop. We put it at the end of our short hallway to create a mini-half court. Hope you all had a great weekend!

Happy Birthday to Our Beautiful Little Boy!

6 month birthday

Sunday is Dominic’s birthday and he turns two.  Today, we are having a lovely race car/truck themed soiree with family and friends.  I know he’s excited because he thinks it’s someone else’s birthday but we had to remind him that it’s his celebration.  He said, “Oh mama, it MY birday?” (Don’t you love it when their pronunciation is just a bit off?)

1 year birthday

Mommy and Daddy love you so much Dominic!  Thank you for making our lives even more wonderful.

Skater Boy - Almost 2!

(Birthday pictures will be up next week)

Hello Little Girl

My niece’s Beatles themed 5th birthday was a success!  She looked absolutely adorable in her little outfit.  My son had a bit of a cold, but insisted on playing outside with all the kids (as long as it was daylight, it was ok for a little while).  The immediate family all had “tour shirts” made by my sister which had the dates and themes of Mei-Lin’s past birthdays.  The front was a drawing made by our friend Ted who took an old Beatles cartoon and added an image of Mei-Lin in the middle.

My sister and I must love the “rock and roll” themed birthdays because my son’s first birthday was also a music themed.  We ordered invites that looked like concert tickets and all of the immediate family had “backstage passes”.

Two of the food highlights were The Beatles cake (made by my sister’s friend Yolanda) and the mini-hamburger cookies.  I’ll leave the cake decorating to the professionals, but I can give you the recipe for the “no bake” mini-hamburger cookies.  My sister gave me the recipe verbally, so here is how I would follow it:

No Bake Mini-Hamburger Cookies

  • 1 box vanilla wafer cookies
  • 1 package chocolate covered mint cookies (or grasshopper cookies)
  • 1 package shredded coconut
  • 1 package sesame seeds
  • Green food coloring
  • 1 tube red gel icing
  • 1 tube yellow gel icing
  • Clear gel icing (optional)

Prepare the “lettuce” by adding 1/2 cup of shredded coconut to a plastic baggie.  Add food coloring to coconut and shake.  Set aside.

Prepare the “top buns” by spreading water (but I think clear gel icing would provide better adhesion) to the rounded side of the vanilla wafer and sprinkle with sesame seeds.  Set aside.

To assemble the “burgers”:  Add red and yellow gel icing to the mint chocolate cookie for the “ketchup” and “mustard” or “cheese”.  Sprinkle green coconut for the “lettuce”.  Adhere the “top bun”.  Add the “bottom bun” by spreading a little bit of icing to the bottom of the chocolate mint cookie.  Adhere the flat side of another vanilla wafer cookie.

Make as many as you can!

Outfits:  Tour shirts made by Rholnna Jiao (illustration by Ted Meneses)

On Mei-Lin – Apple Bottom girl’s faux leather vest; Old Navy girl’s skinny jeans; Auntie Cyrillynn’s hat (brand unknown); Payless girl’s boots; “My Melody” stuffed doll by Build-A-Bear

On Dominic – Old Navy loose fit toddler jeans and long-sleeved shirt; Converse sneakers; Target knit beanie

Images of Thanksgiving

I know my most recent post was about my adventures in boy band land, which I posted right in the middle of my Thanksgiving weekend.  It was a post from a few months ago that I kept meaning to put up but just never got around to it.  Since I didn’t have my regular computer and just my little Nokia Netbook (no photo editor), I thought it was a good time to post it.  Now that I have my regular computer, I am posting images from my Thanksgiving weekend in Las Vegas with my in-laws.

The reason I have a picture of an almost skeletal turkey was because it was the first time we ever had a deep-fried turkey.  My mother-in-law bought a Butterball Deep Fryer to see if it’s as good as we have heard.  My husband injected each side of the 10 pound turkey with creole butter (seasoning).  Then he cut a slit into the left and right breast and inserted two tablespoons of butter in each side.  Lastly, he seasoned the outside of the turkey with poultry seasoning and pepper.  Then he deep-fried it in just under two gallons of Canola oil for only 40 minutes.  The result was the most moist turkey I’ve ever had in my life.  It’s no wonder it disappeared so quickly!

The yeast rolls my mother-in-law got were also completely amazing.  They come frozen and rise in the oven.  Even the next day, they were fantastic with a little bit of melted butter.  I didn’t get a picture of them, but she also makes the best yams (made with brown sugar, butter and marshmallows).

The final image is of my son in his new little Thanksgiving outfit.  Technically, he should only be wearing the San Diego Chargers gear because my team had the better record last season without reaching the Superbowl.  The way my husband and I resolve which of our favorite team’s gear Dominic will wear each year is determined by which team has the better record or the team that goes to the Superbowl (this is until he can pick his own favorite team).  My mother-in-law didn’t know we have this little “wager”, so she bought him the little Pittsburgh Steelers track-suit.  But he looked too cute, so I’ll let this outfit slide this year.  Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!

Thankful

It’s a very busy time for friends and family to gather together and celebrate, so my post today will just be about how thankful I am for the many blessings in my life.  It’s been a wonderful and eventful year so far, and I need to say thank you to everyone in my life for the encouragement and support they have given me, especially my wonderful husband and beautiful son.  I am surrounded by their love every waking moment, which allows me to give it back in abundance.  

The only difficult part of this time of year is that I remember my dear father, who I wish was here physically with us to share the holidays.  It’s in times like this that my mom misses him dearly, although she knows he is with us in spirit.  Like me, I know she thinks about what his reactions to my son and my niece would be as they get older because she is here and able to watch them grow. 

So everyone, just take a moment to remember to thank your friends and family for all the love and support they provide.  But most of all, thank yourselves for who you are and your contribution to the world we live in.

Have a safe and wonderful holiday.  Happy Thanksgiving!

(Photos by Ashlee Espinoza)

Trainspotting

This weekend, Dominic went on his very first train ride at the Balboa Park Railroad Station, courtesy of one of his little buddy’s birthday party.  I remember going to the same little train when I was a kid (which is right next to the world-famous San Diego Zoo).  So many memories resurfaced, and it made me miss my father even more because I would have loved to have seen him take his grandson to do the same thing with him as he did with me and my sister. 

Dominic has a little train that he rides at home and he’s always saying “Choo-choo!”  I knew he would have a blast riding the train.  My son is definitely an observer, so he sat so quietly, taking everything around him in.  After we finally rode on the train, he ran back and wouldn’t leave the little station. 

Outfit:  H&M t-shirt; Gap for Kids pants; Converse sneakers; Target knit hat

Burberry for Babies? Try an Affordable Alternative

I get asked quite a bit where I do my shopping for my son.  I bought the cute little Burberry shirt at Bloomies over a year ago (on sale, not for the price pictured).  I nearly bought him Diesel jeans that same day (also on sale), then changed my mind.  At the time, I thought, “How CUTE!  I love Burberry and the prices are a slightly less expensive than clothing for me, so I can dress him in brand names all the time!”

Now that I’ve been a mother for over a year, I see how prices add up quickly for my little one.

So really, how practical is getting high-end brand names for kids?  Yes, the clothing is very well made and the styles emulate that of the adults, so the allure to dress your child in the higher end fashions is too tempting.  I’ve always said that if I had a daughter that I would have to take on another job just to supplement our wardrobes. 

With the way kids grow in these early years, it’s impossible for me to justify purchasing something that is so high cost because it is also something that comes at such a high turnover.  Believe me, with the awesome styles out there, I would love to dress my son the way Brad and Angelina dress their kids.  But Dominic has already gone through 3 pairs of Converse in his 21 months of existence, not to mention dress shoes and flip-flops or sandals.  If he’s going through five pairs of shoes every three months, the cost adds up.  And for any family of modest to medium means, it’s just not practical.

Parents should understand and know that there is plenty of great affordable fashion out there for our little ones.  The second picture is a recent one from my great aunt’s birthday party.  Both outfits for my son and my niece were from H&M and both outfits (including shoes, socks and tights) were a total of $65.  Both kids looked fantastic and stylish at a fraction of the cost.

Just as I’m creative with my wardrobe, I’m also as creative with my son’s clothing.  I even had to go so far to get him a custom-made Joy Division shirt (seen here, it was only $12 and so worth it).  For the clothes that he wears every day, I shop at places like Old Navy, Crazy 8, H&M, A Children’s Place, Gymboree and Pumpkin Patch, but I make sure to be smart about it. 

One of my favorite places to get kids clothing is at Target.  They have the coolest little t-shirts at prices from $5 to $10.  Dominic wears a Run DMC t-shirt from Target and I always get stopped by people asking where did I get that cute little shirt (which was only $5.99).  My son is growing at a seemingly exponential rate (he’s predicted to be 6’1″ as an adult because my husband is 6’4″), so the price range is completely pocket-book friendly. 

Just to give you an idea of how often Dominic goes through clothing, this is a list of how many times I had to make a sweep of his clothing (which I’m always donating): 

  • Newborn to 3 month clothing, purged after he was 2 months old
  • 3 to 6 month clothing, purged after he was 4 months old
  • 6-9 month clothing, purged after he was 6 months old
  • 9-12 month clothing, purged when he was 10 months old
  • 12-18 month clothing, purged when he was a year old
  • He is currently wearing 24 months to 3T clothing

I purged a total of a year’s worth of clothing because I was trying to keep up with his growth spurts.  Kids are also not the cleanest during those early months, so I tried to have as many onesies available to keep the washings down to one time per week, rather than several times weekly.  When you have to purge clothing so often, it really does feel better to give up $5 shirts than $40 ones every 2 to 3 months.

I want my son to have the best of everything that my husband and I have to offer.   I’m realizing and learning all the time as a new mother, that cute and stylish things can be found everywhere, that won’t break the bank.  I am a self-proclaimed fashionista and I love clothing.  As I make smart investments in the things I buy for myself, I will always make smart investments in my son, where it counts the most.  So I need to be practical and realize that I need to rely on my creativity when it comes to dressing him.  My true investment for him will be the time I spend with him and my unconditional love.