Twinkle Twinkle Little Star Themed Baby Shower

Congratulations to Minh & Anh on the arrival of baby Mia! I'm so excited to watch you both grow as parents and to spend time with Mia. To celebrate the arrival of Parker's newest little cousin, here are some pictures from the Twinkle Twinkle Little Star themed baby shower I hosted along with some of my in-laws in July. 

[Minh & Anh. They have no idea what they are getting themselves into.]

[Savory & sweet Popcorn Bar. Popcorn containers from Oriental Trading. Ready to pop sign handmade by Luynh.]

[Susie and Victrine writing down some Wishes for Baby. All paper goods designed by Stress Less Press.]

[My SIL and I went crazy in the ribbon aisle at JoAnn's. The result is a great mix of ribbons for the Measure the Belly game.]

[The Swaddle Stamping Station. Good idea in theory but our execution wasn't great. We had nowhere to display all the swaddles. Learn from my mistakes!]

[What's a party without food? We had a small buffet of all the traditional Vietnamese party food as well as che for dessert!]

[Landon sporting his rad new flash tattoo from the Tattoo Shop.]

[Baby Kiera and my co-host and SIL Loan.]

[Cheesecake from the Incredible Cheesecake Company with custom topper by Luynh. If you haven't had this cheesecake yet, you are missing out on a San Diego gem.]

[Thank you to all our friends and family who came out to celebrate! Welcome to parenthood, Minh & Anh!]

Mini Me Look Inspired by a Waistcoat

Some people, like the two men below, have swag that comes so naturally. Here's an easy outfit for baby that copies their dressy/casual look. Is the vest too much like Mr. Schu?

 

[Spotted on Pinterest via Street Etiquette]

Mini Me Look Inspired by a Waistcoat by marychu on Polyvore

Nordstrom 'Charlie' Herringbone Vest (Toddler Boys) 2T / Zara Leather Moccasin / Fashion Straight Rebel Wash / Zara Basic Shirt / C2 by Calibrate Woven Tie (Big Boys) Green One Size

What Baby Really Wants for Christmas

My friend S sent me this list today and all I could think was "OMG #7!" Yea, I'm turning 29 next month and I'm still saying ohmygod like I'm in middle school. Don't judge me. The list is great and everything on it is everything Parker is obsessed with minus the bobby pins and dog hair. I'm not sure if my glasses are going to last much longer.

Here is a picture of Parker playing with a hole in the baseboard in his room. Everytime he is close to it he is compelled to stick his finger in it.

Cat in the Hat Party Outfits

Happy Friday! Yesterday I received this message via Facebook from a friend.

"Mary, hope you are doing well! I wanted to ask you for a favor.... I love your blog and I adore the way you dress Parker! I can't seem to figure out how to dress Milin unless it comes in a set together... Haha. With his birthday coming up I was wondering if you had an ideas for an outfit."

My first thought was "Yay! Someone likes the mini looks I've been putting together!" Shilpa's adorable son Milin was born a couple of weeks after Parker. I've been Facebook stalking his development and he is the cutest baby! Anyhow, my second thought was "Holy crap, this baby's birthday is after Parker's and I haven't even thought of birthday outfits for little man yet. I better get my shit together."

Here are the little outfits I came up with for baby Milin. I tried to stick to the color scheme without making him 1. wear a cat in the hat costume (SO CUTE) 2. look like he's trying to hard sell cat in the hat gear. I hope this helps provides his mama with inspiration on how to keep Milin looking stylish and comfy at his first birthday party.

Need help putting an outfit together? Just leave a comment below!

 

Mini Looks - Cat in the Hat by marychu featuring h&m pants

H M body suit, $11 / H&m pants / Zara Trendy Plimsoll / Gap Knit Waist Colored Corduroy Pants - rain slicker yellow / Zara Basic Corduroy Trousers / Zara Striped T-Shirt With Pocket / The Cat in the Hat Shoes in White .. Can be by NicolesPoisonApple / Dr. Seuss Cat Thing Creeper Snap Suit - StylinOnline.com / Dr. Seuss baby booties cat in the hat infant by SewLovelybyShana / Christmas Bow Tie. Yellow Gray and Red by mommyslittlestinker

Some notes:
1. All these outfits would look cute with this red cardigan from Zara.
2. If it's your birthday, you are allowed to wear yellow pants that scream "Pay attention to me!"
3. I would add these suspenders to this outfit to dress it up even more.

Baby with a Swollen Eye

Monday Parks woke up with a swollen left eye. I had no idea what the cause was so I kept him home from daycare and called Dr. Boies to see if she could see him. It didn't seem to be bothering him much and he was in good spirits. I thought maybe it was a stye so I waited until he fell asleep and applied a warm compress. Little man wasn't having any of that though and he flipped over to block me. When we got to the doctor's office, Dr. B checked him out, checked his bother for any signs of a rash or allergic reaction, checked his eye movement and then concluded that the red swelling was probably caused by an allergic reaction. She said he probably touched something while crawling around and then touched his eye. Awesome. So I got to spend the day at home with P and used up another 8 hours of PTO.  This morning, the swelling has gone down considerably and I think he will live another day. 

 

 

[P and his one asian eye]

 

 

 [It's never a dull day with Parker! Here he is yelling at our dogs.]

 

[He also learned a new fun trick on Monday. His eye is still swollen in this video.]

Mini Me Look - Inspired by J Crew Mens Fall 2013 Lookbook

There are some colors that only look good when you wear them in the Fall. Case in point: mustard yellow. I love this casual look from the 2013 J Crew Mens Lookbook.

 

 

And now the mini me look.

Mini Me Look - J Crew Fall 2013 by marychu on Polyvore

Joojos Toddler Girls Boys Soft Suede Desert Ankle Boots / Gap Knit Waist Cuffed Jeans Medium Wash - medium wash / Zara Sweater With Buttons And Elbow Patches / Cherokee® Boys' Suiting Tie - Black Basin : Target

Babies in Halloween Costumes + Parker as Run DMC

Last Friday we threw a Halloween party at our house. This year is the first Halloween for a lot of the babies and we wanted capture all the fun in photos. My SIL and I decorated the house with spooky decor and set up a photo backdrop. As always, there was too much food and plenty of alcohol. 

 

 

[I'm so happy with how his costume came together. Haha My little rapper baby]

 

[The only photo with no crying babies! I love the expression on Eden's face and that Kayson is in full Spiderman character]

Mini Me Look - Red Sweater & Jeans

A handsome man with a beard, in a canoe, on a lake, in the rain. Inspiration indeed.

 

 

Just as much style with not as much sex appeal. Enjoy!

 

Mini Me Look - Red Sweater & Jeans by marychu on Polyvore

Zara Leather Blucher / Gap Knit Waist Cuffed Jeans Medium Wash - medium wash / Amazon.com: Darice 9610-17 Painted Wood Canoe Cutout, 9-Inch: Arts,...

Big Boy Monster Shoes

I bought Parker these monster slipeprs from Gap because they were on sale and, well, who doesn't love monster slippers? Now he's obsessed with them and loves wearing them around. Good job, Mom! I think I need a pair too.

 

 

[Monster slippers. Gap. $14.99]

Giant is the New Mini - Sneak Peek - Parker's 1st Birthday Party

Giant is the new mini. That's going to be my motto for Parker's birthday party. I've been spending a ridiculous amount of time on Pinterest planning Parker's 1st birthday party and I think it's finally coming together. Tuan thinks I am crazy for planning this far in advance but I have to work on all my projects in stages since I have very little free time. Also, I want to give myself enough time to source everything I need to buy and time to get things on sale. Here's a sneak peek of what will be Parker's balloon/confetti/fringe extravaganza. The only thing that stands in the way of my plans is the helium shortage so I'm planning to do as much of my balloon decorations without helium as possible. It's better for the bottom line and won't be affected if I can't get my hands on enough helium tanks.

These are not new or original ideas. They are BIG ideas. Scratch that. They are GIANT ideas.

On another note, the blog is about to hit 10,000 views. WOO HOO! I'm doing a happy dance right now.

[Confetti balloon. Spotted on CakeEventsBlog]

[Giant wall confetti. Spotted on WeeBirdy]

[Giant fringe streamers. Spotted on Oh Happy Day]

Co Sleeping

Parker moved into our bed 3 months ago and I don't think he's ever going to move out. The situation was fine at first because it made it easier to nurse him at night and all he did was lay there. Then he learned how to roll. And crawl. And sit up. And stand up. Sleeping with Parker is like trying to sleep knowing an anvil is going to fall on you at anytime.

 

 

[How I feel at 2 AM when Parker head slams me]

 

I kid you not, this kid sits up and throws his body around in his sleep and hits us all the time. He also falls asleep wherever he lands. Most of the time it's fine but sometimes it is not fine. See example below.  

 

 

[Tuan is fake sleeping. Parker is really sleeping.]

Sometimes I really wish we would have stuck to our guns and followed through with sleep training but then I remember how much I like sleeping with Parker and how easy it is to nurse on demand when he's in bed with us. Ugh. He's never moving out.

Mini Me Look - Toggle Sweater

There's nothing like a great sweater to keep you warm in the winter. Today's mini me look is inspired by this toggle cardigan from the BOSS collection. We'll sub the coffee cup for a hot chocolate!

 



 

[Cardigan by BOSS Collection as spotted on Details.com]

Mini Me Outfit - Toggle Sweater by marychu on Polyvore

Zara Lined Leather Boot / Gap Knit Waist Cuffed Jeans Medium Wash - medium wash / Kids Baby Girl Size 4-24m / Joe Fresh™ Toggle Sweater - Boys 3m-24m - jcpenney

Holiday Photo Cards - To send or not to send

Holiday cards. Send or skip? Tuan and I have been debating whether or not to have some made this year. Now that we have Mr. Photogenic (Parker) I'm sure our families and friends are expecting to receive something in the mail with his mug on it. The problem with photo cards are 1. most of them are so cheesy 2. Tuan and I don't particularly like taking photos. I was really leaning towards skipping the photo cards this year until I found this card on Minted. So flippin cute right?? It's simple, modern and does not require us to be in the photo. Love it.

Mini Me - Striped Shirt Black Pants

 

The next best thing to hanging out with Joseph Gordon-Levitt? Dressing your baby up as JGL. Ok well not really but he does inspire a dapper baby outfit.

 



 

[Joseph Gordon-Levitt]

Mini Me Look - Striped Shirt Black Pants by marychu on Polyvore

Zara Basic Trousers / Zara Leather Blucher

Kaiku - A Little Modern Movement

While trolling the internet for a good push toy for Parker, I discovered Kaiku and fell in love. Check out their cool kids products.

 

[PUSHPULL $169]

 

[STROLLKART $149]

 

[super wagon ZEN $319]

 

More about the company

Kaiku

From the eclectic Northern California studio of Scot and Amy Herbst, KAIKU is a reflection of a love of modern design and dedication to keeping kids active, healthy and hip.
With the addition of two little ones, KAIKU has given the Herbst team an outlet for applying their visionary problem solving to meaningful, everday objects in their own lives. Focusing on quality made, hand built natural kids playthings, KAIKU inspires parents and families to live thoughtfully by surrounding themselves with products designed and built to last a lifetime.

Mini Me Look - Grey Coat

Did you know that there is a surprisingly small selection of green cardigans for babies? How unfortunate. Good thing this green cardigan/onesie is the right shade of green that is perfect for fall. Enjoy!

[Spotted on Let's Risk It]

Mini Me Look - Gray Coat with Green Cardigan by marychu on Polyvore

Zara Leather Blucher / Kids Baby Girl Size 4-24m

Mini Me Look - Green Army Pants

The Inspiration: sexy guy in green cargo pants, blue sweater and boots. I made it baby friendly by removing the cigar. Ha! Just kidding.

Mini Me Look - Green Pants by marychu featuring cotton pull on pants

H&M cotton pull on pants / egg by susan lazar Baby-Boys Infant Henley Sweater / Gap Intarsia Star Sweater - navy / Gap Chambray Pocket Shirt - denim / Ray-Ban RB9057S Sunglasses | Official Ray-Ban Store / Baby Boy's Ankle Boots, Shoes | Vertbaudet, $39 / Sweathose – von H&M

Mini Me Look - Chambray & Dark Denim

Let's start off by admiring this man's beautiful hair. Seriously, it looks so good right? Moving on... I'm loving the ease of this chambray and dark denim look. It's a classic outfit that screams of easy masculinity. I imagine that after he took this photo, he went on to build a table or something manly like that. Check out the TWO baby friendly options below. I'm especially digging the levi's 514s.

 

 

[Spotted on GtheGent]

 

 

 

Mini Me Look - Chambray & Denim by marychu featuring gap jeans

Gap jeans / Levi's Baby Boys' 514 Straight Fit Jeans / Zara Lined Leather Boot / Chambray convertible shirt