first in a long time.

So as most of you know I am single and have been single for a long while. Well, not that long but it's long to me haha.

I'm glad to say that I went on my first date a couple nights ago. It was a good experience for me. My first date in who knows how long and it was fun. He was a gentlemen, opened doors and everything! Something I am not used to... then again he is someone I am not used to dating. As in someone being a member.

We went ice skating. There is a lake close by his place where they have ice skating for the Winter and so we went. I haven't skated in a loooong time but he made sure I knew that he wasn't the greatest skater either. After all, he IS into basketball. Told me some funny stories about his mission... you know, the usual offering a homeless guy some rice krispies and the homeless dude freaking out throwing "eff bombs" about how he hates them and such... I laughed so hard! Then when he started speaking spanish, I all of a sudden fell face forward (later discovering my bruised knees). His spanish wasn't at all bad though, very good.

So at this community center, they have two places you can skate on. Up the hill (I guess you can call it), they have an actual rink where it's nice and smooth. Then down the hill, you can skate on the huge lake where they've made a path where you can skate on. It's kinda like at the Forks skating on the Red River. Anyways, we skated on the ice rink for a good while and then decided to skate on the lake. It started good the first half of the lake... I mean, the ice was frozen, nothing was cracking... then all of a sudden, half way into the lake, it starts cracking a bit. Nothing happened, he said it was just a layer or so and it was no big deal. But let me tell you, once I heard the cracking, my heart started pounding like crazy! So a little closer to the end of the path, he falls and I see water where he fell. At that point, I was definitely ready to freak out haha, but he got up and we decided to just skate really fast to the end. LOL The rest of the way, I tried to avoid every crack I saw coming. We took off our skates, put on our shoes and were ready to leave. As we were leaving, we saw a sign saying something along the lines to "ice not suitable to skate on... sorry for the inconvenience". I guess that explains why we were the ONLY ones on the lake.

Later we went to Timmy's, grabbed a couple of hot chocolates and talked all night... literally. We didn't realize how late it got. So we said our good-byes.

It was really good to go out, do something and meet new people. Good start for the new year, I think. :)

Merry Christmas to all our Family & Friends!!

I <3 Lazy Saturdays !!!!

Sleeping Beauty <3

One of Sadie's birthday presents was a little princess bed from her dadda's family. I put it together a few days after we got back. Never will I ever put a bed together ever again! It was def some hard work. On the box it said "new easy to assemble design" -- let me tell you, it was not THAT easy. It was more so strength than anything. Guess I need to start hitting the gym or start doing some tae-bo. I felt soooo weak after putting the bed together. It took me 2 hours to get it to look like that. And I am going to admit, my mom did help a little (okay, a lot!). Guess my "mommy" muscles were only built for mommy things like carrying Sadie, a diaper bag, my own bag and her car seat (before she got into her forward facing car seat).

Anyways, i'm happy how it looks like now. I did promise Grandma I'd set it up right away!! She still doesn't like being in it. I'd have to have her fall asleep on my bed with me first, then carry her into her bed. But today, I didn't have to do that. For her nap, I put her in her bed with her bottle and blanket. She cried a little but then fell right to sleep. Wish me luck for tonight!!

I know it's been a while since my last entry. So here is a quick update.

We are back from Winnipeg. It was a very short, very busy visit but I'm glad we saw the people who we WANTED to see. It was really important to see family especially and just a few close friends. Thanks for understanding our busy schedule.












Sadie's birthday went well. Although we had a late start (i've learned my lesson!) ... it still turned out pretty good.



I WANT TO THANK EVERYONE WHO HELPED OUT WITH HER BIRTHDAY PARTY -- FROM THE FOOD TO THE DECORATIONS. HELPING ME DECORATE THE GYM AND THE DAY OF! I SERIOUSLY WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN ABLE TO DO IT ALL MYSELF. SO THANK YOU -- MAMA, KUYA, ERLY, SARAH CARDONA, ANDREW CARDONA, JOY CARDONA, MELANIE CARDONA, SOPHIA CARDONA, SARAH MCLEAN, NORMAN MCLEAN, ANGELA CABALLERO, MELLISA CABALLERO, TITA MERCY, TITO SERGE, TITO JUN, NANAY, ATE DEL, TITA SUSIE, TRACY SAYCO, MICHAEL SHUMSKY, STEF SHUMSKY, GRANDMA BEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And thank you all who came and for the presents. She loveslovesloves her toys :) !

I baked cupcakes allll day, here are the cupcakes that made it... Grandma B made the cake :)

One of her favorites (courtesy of Krissy) ... she plays with it alllll day!




Lastly, we finally met the newest addition to the Lacap family -- Gabby!!! She is sooo cute!!

bigger & better

YAY! Sadie is movin on up to bigger and better things -- in this case, a forward facing car seat! Can you say FINALLY?!?!? We bought one before leaving for Winnipeg and I am sooo happy with the outcome!

She absoultely hated the baby car seat. She didn't mind it so much when she was smaller (obviously!) but as she got older... as in 20 lbs and 11 months older, i'm sure she was ready for somethin better than having to face the sky and back window.

This car seat is "cry-free" when putting her in it. She has wayyy more fun seeing other cars go by and what's in front of her. The whole trip to Winnipeg was so easy cause she was easy. She cried once or twice, but that was it! And barely fussed about getting out of the car seat.

I'm sure she enjoyed this car seat just as much as I enjoyed it ;)

On to other things, we are finally in Winnipeg and it's really too bad that we are only staying a week -- more so 5 days!!! This is brutal because i've up at 5:30 A.M and NOT tired!!

Why is this brutal??

Well first, the time speaks for itself! Second, we got in at around 1:30 A.M, arrived at my brothers house 2 A.M, fell asleep 4 A.M, woke up 7 A.M, back to sleep 10 A.M, woke up 12:30 P.M and since then have been running around the city non-stop!!! How am I even up this early?? I can't fall back asleep and soon enough Sadie will be up. And when Sadie gets up, the running around part 2 begins. I haven't even been able to text/call back friends who have been trying to get a hold of me since I got here (SORRY EVERYONE!).

After today, I expect a good crash into the bed... why do I do this to myself??

Sadie is now a 1 year old ... is this for real?

I'm sure all of you know my little Sadie turned 1 this past weekend, November 29th. I seriously can't believe she is one already. Where does the time go??

So this past weekend was my 22nd birthday then her 1st birthday. Moving to Calgary and not knowing a lot of people here, we (my mom and I) spent weeks debating whether we should throw her a birthday party or not. The week of our birthdays, we both finally decided, why not! It is her very first birthday, whether she remembers it or not, she deserves to have a birthday party. So we called the few people we know here in Calgary and decided to have her party the Saturday coming up.

Thankfully, the building we are living in has a huge foyer, especially made for little functions for the people who live in the building. So we had a venue picked out for the party. Being philippino, and having a philippino mother living with me who knows how to cook and is good at it, we had the food picked out on what we would be having. THANK GOODNESS FOR MOTHERS! She spent the whole day Saturday preparing the food while I ran around Mackenzie town buying Sadie's cake, picking up other last minute items, putting up a little decoration, cleaning our place, and preparing Sadie for her party. It was definitely a busy day.

The party turned out pretty good. I'm really grateful for the people who showed up on such short notice and even had the time to go and grab Sadie a gift. It really meant a lot to me having them be there and sharing this special moment with us. When it was time to sing happy birthday to her, we had cake, candles but no lighter haha. We sang happy birthday to her anyways and pretended to blow out a fake candle for her.

I'm sure she enjoyed everyone being there. Although she was busy walking around doing her own thing, she was still able to at least hug, poke or play with everyone that came. And i'm sure if she could speak, she would be saying thank you to everyone who came ... maybe?

The next day was her actual birthday, we woke up and she had her fever again. I'm not sure if I mentioned this earlier but she had a fever the beginning of the weekend (friday), it went away Saturday for her party... thank goodness and then came back. She was burning up, but we still decided to get ready for church because she was still running around and playing. We didn't end up going to church because my friend who offered to drive us to church was sick too. Her and her son got sick the night before and have been up all night. So cutting church out, we still dressed up because I wanted to take pictures.

Thank you : Silvana & Mylo, the Lybbert Family, the Cruz Family, the Infante Family & McDaniel Family for the gifts you got her :)

Afternoon hit and she was not having it. Her mood was like a roller coaster. She would be happy one minute then cranky the next. This went on the whole day. She took her nap (a looong one I might add), we called Grandma B in Winnipeg and did some skyping with her. Sadie wasn't in the best mood, even after waking up from her nap. But we managed to open her presents with Grandma B watching and playing patty cake and saying "I love you's". After our video/phone conversation, we sang happy birthday to Sadie. She didn't really like that. And I was so hoping she would dive into her little birthday cupcake and eat everything but she just wasn't in the mood. Oh well. Next year I guess haha

After some pictures with Grandma and myself, we decided to call it a night for her. Poor girl sick on her birthday. She was a trooper tho and put up with me taking pictures and dressing her up in dresses and other clothes.

I love my little girl and I'm so very thankful to have her in my life.

Happy first Birthday Sadie lady, xoxo

it's been a while... NEW MOON!

OK! So it has definitely been a while since my last post and I apologize for those of you who have been checking if I've written something or not. Especially those who have messaged me asking me if I still use my blog and why I haven't written something in a while haha. It means a lot to me that you do read my stuff :)

Anyways ... where do I start... ?

NEW MOON! Have you seen it? If not, I definitely think you should see it. I mean, it's not amazing or anything, but it is soooooo sooooo sooooo soooo much better than Twilight. I was really impressed with the director trying to stick to the book and their acting. Especially Bella (Kristin Stewart). I felt that in Twilight she was so ... "blah". She was boring so to say acting as Bella and I felt as if she didn't know how to exactly portray her character. She did mention that she has never read the books, so that could be the reason why. Edward still makes me feel awkward haha. I don't know why, but he does. He is still a looker tho, but I think New Moon has pushed me over to Team Jacob. After seeing Jacob's hair cut, I see him in a different light. Anyways, with a bigger budget and a new director, I had my fingers crossed hoping that I wouldn't be disappointed -- and I wasn't. VERY happy about that!

I went and saw New Moon with a few ladies in my new ward. We watched the movie and went out and ate afterwards. I was able to get to know a few girls and enjoyed the conversations I had with them. Of course most of what we talked about was New Moon, but still very enjoyable.

What else?? I guess the day after that night was my 22nd birthday and Sadie's 1st birthday party. A very busy day but well worth the running around. But I think talking about Sadie turning 1 deserves a separate entry to this.

Oh man, I guess there isn't really alot to update you guys on... I just felt like so much happened but it was only this weekend that we were super busy. Good new tho ... only a week until we head to Winnipeg. Can't wait, but unfortunately we will not be spending Christmas there :(. It makes me more upset knowing that the Moore's will be visiting Winnipeg from Montreal and we won't be able to see them! Especially their new addition, Milan! Ah! But we are excited to see everyone else, and will try to make time for everyone in the short amount of time we are there for.

Soooo... did I mention that I HATE how dry Calgary is and also not a fan of how random Calgary's weather can be -- then again, Winnipeg's weather can be random as well, so I should be used to it. But ever since we moved to Calgary, lotion is a MUST in our place. We have it in the washroom, kitchen/living room, the bedrooms, every purse I use and a few more stocked up. I love Calgary, dry weather is just not on my "why I love Calgary" list.

So with the dry weather comes a purchase of a humidifier. Oh how I love humidifiers. It especially helps Sadie alot when she sleeps. If I don't have the humidifier on, she'll cry every hour or so. She won't wake up as much, but she'll just toss and turn and keep crying until someone comes over to rub her back or something. When it's on, it's a whole different story. She actually sleeps through the night. What would I do without a humidifier. Oh boy! haha One of the things I am thankful for. May not seem like a big deal to some of you, but it's a big part in our lives now. All thanks to Calgary.

And now that Sadie's cold is on-again, i'm sure the humidifier will be on EVERY night for a good week or so.

T.V time means TREEHOUSE time

Now that Sadie is older, her attention is easily caught with alot of things... her stuffies (stuffed animals), cars going over the bridge outside of our window, lights on ANYTHING!, cupboards -- she's figured out how to open them, toilet paper and T.V -- more so TreeHouse.

It's our number 1 show we watch... all day everyday (except when she takes her nap -- TLC is where it's at!). But most of the time, we will watch TreeHouse and not gonna lie, it's alright. Some shows are watchable, while some shows are just "what the? who in their right mind would make a show like this?". Hey, I guess if it gets your kids attention, then they've done their job.

Sadie ACTUALLY will sit (or stand) and watch the shows. Some of her faves are...




She also LOVES Four Square and Yo Gabba Gabba. These are the two shows that makes me a little awkward haha. If you watch it, you'll see why. But some of the other shows I don't actually mind watching.

easy and yummy dinner

So i've been getting into cooking and baking. If you know me, i'm not much of a chef or a baker ... I just don't like to cook or bake. If I do end up doing either of those things, it either turns out burnt, over-cooked or under-cooked.

BUT lately i've been trying my best to be patient with myself and to give this whole cooking and baking thing time... cause that's all it needs, is time. I usually turn up the temp. just to cook/bake everything fast -- I definitely need to practice some patience haha.

Anyways, I really like collecting recipes and trying them out. For dinner yesterday, I tried this really easy and simple recipe. It's called Chicken and Cheese Tostadas.

here's the recipe:

Prep Time:

20 min

Total Time:

20 min

Makes:

6 serving

What You Need!

6 Flour Tortillas

1 pkg. (1-1/4 oz.) TACO BELL® HOME ORIGINALS® Taco Seasoning Mix, divided

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

1/2 cup water

2 large tomatoes, chopped, divided

2 cups KRAFT FREE Shredded Non-Fat Cheddar Cheese, divided (I used marble cheese)

6 Tbsp. BREAKSTONE'S Reduced Fat or KNUDSEN Light Sour Cream

1/4 cup chopped cilantro (I didn't have cilantro at home, so I didn't use it.)

Make It!

HEAT oven to 400°F. Place tortillas in single layer on large baking sheet; spray with cooking spray. Sprinkle with 1 tsp. seasoning mix. Bake 7 to 8 min. or until tortillas are crisp and golden brown. (I didn't have cooking spray for my tortillas, so what I used instead was a brush and oil ... and I just brushed a bit of oil onto the tortillas, it worked!)

MEANWHILE, combine chicken, remaining seasoning mix and water in large skillet. Bring to boil on medium-high heat; simmer on medium-low 5 min. or until chicken is done, stirring occasionally. Add 1-1/2 cups tomatoes; cook until heated through, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; stir in 1-1/2 cups cheese.

SPOON chicken mixture onto tortillas; top with remaining ingredients.

THAT EASY!!!! AND IT WAS GOOD!!! :)

sharing time

Sadie is picking up on a few things now ...

counting on her hands, 1 2 3
she does her usual peek-a-boo, covering her head
and she is a screamer. And i've caught myself saying "shhhh" to her lately alot
and she's picked up on that as well ... she says "shhhh" back and gives her cute little smile.
how can i not smile and laugh.

Yay for our very own.

So we've finally moved into our very own place. To be precise, we moved in on the 30th of October. I just realized I hadn't mentioned anything about the move or our progress.

We moved into an area just 5 minutes from where we used to live called MacKenzie town -- and if you've watched the movie "Smallville", it gives off that sort of feel and look to it. It's a little freaky actually, i'd say. But I love it at the same time. Not gonna lie, I miss Cranston and i'm going to miss the walks to the ravine during the summer times but i'm sure this area will be just as nice. Also the fact that there's a park just across the street for Sadie. Nothing has changed :)

Living on the top floor, the view is amazing. I can't complain about that.
And on a good day, with the skies being clear, the mountains just look absolutely gorgeous!

Usually after Sadie's afternoon naps, we'll take Sadie for a walk because ever since she's figured out this whole walking bit, she hasn't stopped. She's all over it actually haha. And the good thing about living in this apartment is that we don't have to go outside to go for walks, this building is big enough itself. She loves the elevators too, she'll stare up at me and giggle when she feels the elevator starting to move. It's way too cute!

When she gets to the door way, I guess there's just a bump at every one of them which makes her lose her balance going over them, so her solution is to just crawl over them haha

Us in the foyer.

Also, moving in the new place, Sadie has finally been on a good sleep pattern. FINALLY! No more falling asleep at midnight or later and waking up at 10 am or 11 am. She now sleeps 8 - 8:30 pm the latest and wakes up at around 8 - 8:30 am. I absolutely love it!!!!!!

We still have a few boxes to unpack and a lot of junk that needs to be let go... more so my mom's junk that she needs to let go *lol* but we are all happy here and we love it. We can finally call this place our own :)<3

Sadie's New Favorites and some updates

Favorite Foods:

Mini Wheats
Oranges
Tomatoes
Apples
Bread

Favorite Toys:

Toy Cellphone
Christmas book
Balls

Favorite Movies:

Hercules
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
17 Again



We just started watching Treehouse and when she watches, she definately watches. She can't keep her eyes off the t.v. She loves "The Wiggles" and "4 Square" -- two shows I think are pretty weird ... haha but it keeps her watching.

When she's not watching t.v. she's running around, anywhere and everywhere she can go.

She's also realized that you can open and close the door... so she's been hanging around doors lately. She'll close the door (not all the way but to the point where it's just about shut) and then she'll grab the door and open it. She can do this all day.

She hates toques, hats, scarves and jacket. But what kid doesn't?

When someone new comes over, she gets very excited. Not shy at all! She will walk or crawl straight towards you and welcome you with a big smile.

She absolutely LOVES giving kisses.


*There's your Sadie update for now... She's learning more and more everyday. Who knows what she'll do next.

halloween

Little Red Riding Hood all ready to go trick or treating at Chinook Center

Everyone loved little red riding hood...

but she was more interested in walking around than collecting candy.

Sadie's first "scary" - go - round ride.
She was definately scared, rode on the horse for a good 10 seconds
and jumped into my arms for the rest of the ride.

trick or treat :)

H A P P Y * H A L L O W E E N !!!!

I know we haven't had any updates in a long while, our internet wasn't working at the time.

But now we are all moved into our new place, we have our internet back up and running.

Lots of updates will be posted and plenty of pictures.

But for now, hope everyone has a safe and fun halloween. I will be taking my little red riding hood to chinook centre to go 'trick or treating'. Sadie's first halloween :)

Good Weekend!

Zander, Adera & Sadie

Every other weekend, we have one of my moms co-workers kids over.

Sadie loves them!

It was a nice day Saturday,

so we spent the day shopping at Shawnessy and Chinook Mall.

It was also Sadie's 2nd ride on the c-train.

Her toque from Gymboree.

One of my fave stores to shop at... for her anyways.

Sadie and her mirror

Sadie LOVES mirrors...
Just hangin out in Tito Julius' room.

another Sadie update

Ladies and Gents, Sadie's learned TWO new noises she can make --

1. She now knows how to grunt
2. She also knows how to snort

So i'm in the kitchen, preparing lunch for Sadie and she's playing with Preston (the two year old boy who's family lives with us also), and I hear a strange weird noise. Someone grunting, I look to see who it is and it's Sadie.

A couple hours later or so, the kids are playing in the living room while we (Ashley, Kira and I) are talking and attempting to watch Twilight. So while all this is going on, we hear a snort, we look and it's Sadie.

I don't know who she learned these new noises from or how she discovered them, but ever since she's realized that she can make these noises, she's been doing it non-stop. Grandma B, you would love it!!

She grunts when she's mad and doesn't get her way, or just when she wants your attention. Cause she knows that anything she does, will get our attention hah. And she snorts just whenever she feels like it -- which is all the time.

She's also developed a small temper haha. It needs to be her way or else she will throw a fit and just start squeling and screaming at the very top of her lungs. She makes fists with her hands and her face tenses up and gets all red. I hope this is just a phase haha.

Sadie's learned how to count to 5 with her hand. Well... not really count but when we say "Sadie, let's count", she'll hold her one hand open and have her other hand pointing, ready to count.

I can't believe how fast she is growing and how many new things she is learning and discovering. I love it!

Sadie's First Thanksgiving

mashed potatoes, turkey and carrots ...