Summary of March

Wow, so time just flies by. So many things going on. I think we left off with graduation weekend... SO BUSY!!! I took over 300 pictures in the month of March, so I'm way too lazy to post them all. Sorry
So Thursday before graduation was our graduation banquet at Drury Lane.

Friday was graduation, where we dressed Bella in a graduation gown from Build a Bear.

After the ceremony, dad threw me a graduation party at Rumba. The food was really really good and at 9:30 a dance instructor taught us how to salsa dance. Max and Ash partied it up!!! At one point in the evening, I saw people getting carded before coming in, and I chuckled a little thinking that my 7 week year old baby was in the club.


On Saturday we checked into the Hilton Towers, walked to Millenium Park, and attended the Monarch Ball. It was nice getting dressed up and going out. Haven't done that in a LONG time since being pregnant. Cardinal George was there and Jay Leno was the entertainment!
Isabella's first St. Patrick's Day.



Relaxing at the hotel with Ate Max...

Then on Sunday, the family headed out for lunch at Chinatown, then they left for home. I went on to my friend Klodi's baby shower.
The next weekend was Ate Ash's bday party! We made and played with chocolate. YUMMY!!!
This is my cousin Chase, who is 4 days oler than me. Look at all his hair!!!


Before Ash's party, Bella had her doctor checkup and got her shots... mommy and daddy forgot that she would be irritable and we went out with grandpa for lunch where Bella screamed throughout the meal. Oops!!!
The next day we went to daddy's usual Sunday basketball game and then went bowling with Ate Ash and her new spongebob bowling ball... cool!!!
That week, Ate Ash had her first reconciliation.
I wonder what she confessed?

The following weekend (last weekend in March!!!) we went to a housewarming party far far away from home, and then to Grandpa Tom's friends house for dinner. Then that Sunday was Daddy's bball game as usual.
During the week Bella met her great grandmother who arrived from the Philippines.
So as you can tell, we had a busy March. Grandpa Marvin took care of Bella the first week, Mark took off 2 weeks, and Grandma Lu finished off the last week of March.
Here's a picture of Bella wearing a hat knitted by Auntie K.K.

Graduation Day

So, it finally arrived... my graduation day. After four long years in pharmacy school (that after four long years earning my Bachelors of Microbiology), I was really looking forward to this day. The best part of the ceremony was walking across that stage... they put the hood on, shake hands with Dean Lee, and then take a picture with Dr. G.
So here it is... the picture of me getting my diploma throught the eyes of Mark's mom...

Unfortunately, all the pictures she took with our camera turned out that way, so if anyone has any to share, please share :)

Day One

Today begins the 1st day of a two and a half week vacation watching my daughter. It starts off when I have to go to the dentist to get my fillings on a couple of cavities. Here's what Bella did while she was in the room with me:



After that, we picked up a birthday cake for her uncle Tom. Then we head home where we did this:



Boy, this is easy.

Daddy's Little Girl

Well, it's official. Bella will be attending her first swim lesson next month. I will be joining Bella in the class. Now, as some of you know, I am not the best swimmer since I never passed the Minnow stage at the YMCA. To give you an idea where my swimming skills are at, I only know the freestyle stroke, the back stroke is a stretch, the breast stroke is an afterthought, and the sidestroke just makes me laugh. I can't tread water longer than 10 seconds. Here's a quick story: Sophomore gym class at Loyola. We're in the first day of swimming class, and Coach Breitzman goes, "Alright, gentlemen, we'll go one lap (there and back) in pairs." So I go with Tony Mirro. I start with the freestyle and after two or three strokes, I get tired. I'm gasping for air, and by this time, my eyes are closed because I'm afraid the water will get in my eyes. So, as I touch the end line, I look up thinking that I did a good job. Mirro's already out and the next duo is already in the water. So needless to say, here's what I'll be bringing to our first day of class.

Penguin Pat

So today was a VERY busy day. I skipped out on my Sunday NAPLEX review session (I'm just not mentally all there yet to be worried about that, although I should be. I swear, after having Bella I feel like I'm getting dumber and dumber. But also, I really miss spending time with Bella and Mark. Last week was my first week apart from her since she was born. I'm on my last rotation and will be walking in my graduation ceremony this Friday... can you believe that? Anyways, Max's penguin project is due this Tuesday, so of course procrastinator-me had to run ALL over the city of Chicago taking pictures of this penguin. So after Mark's basketball game, we head over to Michigan Avenue. Mark and I hate shopping downtown. We are just not city people... the crowds, the traffic, walking in and out of buildings... just not for us. So we park at Water Tower, go up the elevator to the ground floor, and Isabella starts to cry. Let's just say that we were very fortunate that she started to cry because Mark and I stopped to see what was the matter with her when this guy with a Marshall Fields bag filled with stuff runs right in front of us, smacking into a security guard, dropping his bags, slamming into the glass door, managing to exit the building as a female (which we later find out is an undercover cop) chases after him yelling "STOP THIEF!". That was scary, but the weird thing is that all the other people around us didn't even flinch (as if this happened all the time). Anyways, if we were even just a few feet ahead, he could've smacked into Bella's stroller. That wouldn't be good.
Anyways, so off we go to the first photo location with the penguin (the historical Water Tower building that survived the Great Chicago Fire... which apparently was new information to Mark. I wonder what he thought that building was all this time?), when we notice snow softly falling from the sky. We never go to the city, but when we do... it has to snow. So we chug along, gotta take these pictures (I really don't want to disappoint Max).
So we make it to American Girl Place. It's not a far walk from Water Tower, but in that small amount of time it went from softly falling snow to blizzard. So we took a picture outside the building and went in. When we went in, Mark and I had our bugaboo bassinet stroller, our backpack diaper bag, and Isabella. When we left the building, we had the stroller, our backpack diaper bag, Isabella, and not one but 2 HUGE American Girl shopping bags plus it was STILL BLIZZARDY outside. What were we thinking? But not to worry, we did leave something behind... we were like a ba-zillion dollars lighter in the pocket. But it was worth it, we finally got Max's long-awaited pajamas and Bella got her first Bitty Baby and we got other stuff that's a secret, cuz they're for some readers out there... hmmm... I wonder who...

So after stopping by Neiman Marcus, the Tourist Center (so Penguin Pat could get some souvenirs), and lunch at Water Tower, we stopped by Chinatown, then decided to go home.
So, now we're home. I was hoping to give Bella a bath cuz she really needs one, but since we were out all day, I'll do it tomorrow. I'll try and post more pictures of our day with the Penguin.

Ash Wednesday

So today is Bella's first Ash Wednesday. Went to Ma Mon Luk (a Filipino restaurant) for dinner where we ate Bangus and Shrimp Sinigang (yummy). Then went to Church where she got ashes. However, she almost didn't receive her ashes cuz after Father Mair put the ashes on Mark, Mark walked away. Luckily, Father Mair grabbed Mark's arm and placed some on Bella's head... that's why the ashes are on the side of her head...

I also included a picture of her smiling, just because I thought this was a cute picture. Isn't she growing SOOOOOOOOO fast? She's beginning to smile alot, laugh alot, she's really trying to hold her head up, and she can follow people with her eyes now!!!