Easter 2014

Well geez!  I must say, I feel like such a dead beat after seeing everyone's Easter loot for their little ones!  My bad, Sebastian, I'm sorry for shafting you this year!  I doubt that you even care so I guess it's okay.  To be fair, your daddy has put me on a spending freeze so let's just blame him!  ;)  I promise next year I'll step up my Easter basket game!  

For Easter Sunday, we started the day off by going to church!  We were very proud of the fact that we actually made it to a service after talking about it for months!  We are happy to report that the little man was a perfect angel throughout the entire service and even fell asleep while in the Ergo towards the end. 

A little later, we headed to my parents house for linner (lunch/dinner due to the strange timing) and we were also joined by my aunt and uncle.  My mom was so sweet and set up a little Easter egg "hunt" for Sebastian in the living room.  Although he participated, he was much more interested in banging his little hand on the TV stand and DVR (our apologies for the scratches).  ;) 

It's hard to believe that come this time next year, Sebastian will be running around on his own gathering eggs!  Wow!

Highchair = Food = Happy kid

Hurry, I'm HANGRY!

This was the best I could do in terms of bunny ears this year... (Thank you, Old Navy!)

Easter candy and eggs from Granny

Passed out after his one-man Easter egg hunt

Still tired...

Take 2... still not the best, but it'll have to do!  At least Pookie is looking!  :)

David's 32nd Birthday

This weekend we celebrated David's 32nd birthday!  For someone who truly hates celebrating his birthday, we've done a lot to commemorate the 32nd anniversary of the day he joined the world!  On Friday (his actual birthday), he had lunch with Henry and Becker while I was at work.  My goal was to get off early that afternoon but that didn't work out as planned (per usual).  By the time we got home, Sebastian was really tired and passed out around the time we were planning on heading out to dinner.  We ended up just ordering Chinese take-out from this yummy place in Mukilteo and celebrated at home. I know, we sure know how to party!  ;)  

On Saturday, we met up with David's parents at the Alderwood Mall for some lunch at Anthony's.  Later that day, we headed north to visit our dear friends, the Nikonovs for a St. Patty's themed dinner (SO yummy)!  We just love hanging out with Vitaliy, Maureen, and their adorable minis - we don't do it nearly enough!  Maureen even made a special meal for the boys - pureed spinach and pear (delish, btw) and some puffs.  Most of it ended up all over their faces, clothes, and the ground but I'm certain they enjoyed it.  :)  It was SO cute to see Sebastian and Max seated next to one another in their high chairs.  They kept on staring at each other and I swear they were communicating using their own baby language of grunts, shrieks, and random babbling.  A true sign they will be best buddies in the future.  ;)  The only bummer is that we didn't take any pics of them together! Boo!  Oh well, next time!  

This morning we "slept in" aka the baby didn't wake us up until 6:00 AM and David blew out the candles on his yummy cornbread cake.  Yes, I said cornbread!  A couple weeks ago on a whim, we bought some cornbread from Fred Meyer.  This cornbread is seriously so delicious and addicting!  It  is on the sweeter side so I would consider it more of a dessert than a side dish.  We can probably eat a whole pan of it in one sitting and we came really close this morning!  ;)  After playing around and a short morning nap, we headed to my parent's house for lunch and a Skype session with my brother in London.  

All in all, it was a great birthday weekend full of yummy food, family, and friends!  Happy birthday, hubby!  Cheers to many, many, many more birthdays to come!  We love you!  :) 

A birthday sign for daddy!  A couple side notes… 1) Getting a baby to sit still for a hand print is no easy task! Also, make sure that the ink you are using isn't permanent!  Took a lot of scrubbing and a couple days for the ink to completely go away!  Oops!  2) Getting Sebastian and Pookie to sit still together is very rare these days and mommy definitely failed on that one this time around! I tried!

 Ugh… clearly these three weren't in the mood for a picture (story of my life)...

Big boy in the Anthony's high chair

Yummy cake made by Maureen and Maeve to celebrate David and Vitaliy's birthdays!

Cornbread Cake! ;)

Sebastian helping daddy blow out the candles

A Visit from Uncle & Auntie

During the first weekend in March, Kelly and Adrianna flew up from California to visit Sebastian and the rest of the Ko fam.  Although it was a short visit, it was fun catching up with them in person!  Here are some photos from Auntie Adrianna - the newest member of the KJ Photo Team!  :)   Thanks for coming, guys!  Can't wait to see you again in June!  :) 

Farewell, 2013!

Per usual, thank you for allowing me to go backwards... man, I can't believe it's already mid-February!  But, I did want to take the time to bid a proper farewell to 2013.  

2013... wow, what a year!  This year brought us SO many ups and downs physically and emotionally that I don't even know where to begin.  I think I've spent enough time complaining about my pregnancy and post-pregnancy woes and being sick for a good chunk of the year.  And I also don't want to go back and dwell on work stuff.  So, that just leaves me with the good stuff.

To say we are so blessed in life is an understatement!  As I think back to everything we went through in 2013, at the end of the day, it was all worth it - down to all the not-so-fun parts.  2013 tested the heck out of us in more ways than one and our "prize"... we're the strongest we've ever been as a family and we now have the best, sweetest little boy we ever could've hoped for!  :)  It took us a while to get to this point but now I can't imagine life without being the FOUR of us!  

~

To ring in the New Year, after our visit to Garden D'Lights, we stopped by our favorite Italian restaurant in Kirkland (Cafe Veloce) for some take-out lasagna and pesto pasta.  Sebastian decided it was important to stay up until midnight so he took it upon himself to ensure that David, Pookie, and I didn't fall asleep until the ball dropped.  Here is a family pic of us at midnight - and yes, we did fall asleep immediately after that - the Ko household is full of a bunch of party animals!  ;)

Thank you for a great year, 2013.  Hey 2014... cheers to you and here's to hoping we have another great year!

Garden D'Lights 2013

For years now I've been wanting to see the Garden D'Lights in Bellevue - those commercials on TV and Facebook posts from everyone make it so enticing!  ;)  Anyway, before the roads got too crazy on New Year's Eve, we picked up Sebastian from daycare and headed off to finally see the lights!  

Admittedly, it was a little underwhelming in my opinion as I expected the display to be much bigger but it was still a fun experience.  Like most babies, Sebastian just loves staring at any kind of light so he was as happy as can be!  :) 

So pretty!

Can you see us?  ;) 

Sadly, the only photo of the 3 of us... he was too mesmerized by the lights to bother to pose. ;) 

Sweet lil' baby bear!

Christmas 2013

I can't believe Christmastime is over already!  It seriously was such a blur!  This year was especially awesome for obvious reasons - Sebastian's first Christmas!  :)  Needless to say, being the first and only grandchild has its perks.  He was surely spoiled this year and he didn't even realize it!  ;)  

We were so lucky in that my brother was able to come home for the holidays again this year - he usually only comes home every other year - and he got to hang out for almost two full weeks!  As always, Christmas Eve was dedicated to my family.  We had to take Pookie to the vet in the morning (sadly, she has a little skin infection but its now on the mend) and then we basically hung out at my parent's house the rest of the day. We had a yummy dinner prepared by my mom and then waited until it was time to go to church.  This year, we went to an actual midnight mass at St. Pius (prior to this year, it was more of a 9:30 PM mass).  On our way out to the car, one of the priests even took a moment to bless Sebastian - it looked like he palmed is head real quick, did the sign of the cross, then sent us on our merry way.  ;)  After church, we went back to my parent's house and opened all of our presents (hey, it was technically Christmas by then)!  Sebastian had a whole section dedicated just to him but he had been sleeping since about 9:00 PM and slept through church, family pictures, and present opening!  We didn't get home until around 2:00 AM so we slept in a little (well, as much as the baby would allow) the following morning.  

David's parents always host a Christmas lunch and this year, my brother came along to enjoy some homemade Korean cuisine.  This surprise house guest was a HUGE hit at the Ko household; David's mom and aunt love my brother - almost to the point where even Sebastian was an afterthought.  ;)  David's dad was inspired to take photos of us this year so we were invited to his home "photography studio" aka garage for some pictures.  It was fun to see the CEO of KJ Photo at work. ;) After lunch we went home to rest a little and then went back to visit my family.  

While admittedly, the holidays can be a bit stressful with all the going back and forth between families - it was a great first Christmas for Sebastian!  Oh, I forgot to mention that both sets of grandparents LOVED the Christmas plates they received from their first grandchild!  So glad they were a hit!  :)  We can't wait to see how things will be next Christmas when he'll probably be able to appreciate and participate in all the festivities a bit more!  :) 

We LOVE getting Christmas cards! Thanks, everyone!  :)

Sebastian loved staring up at the glass ball garland everyday...

And these hanging balls too  :)

Sebastian's Christmas art project from school!

Matching stockings and a cozy, "crackling fire"  ;) 

O Tannenbaum...

Best buds hanging out on Christmas Eve morning

On the way to midnight mass

Looks like such a big boy!

Love his lil' outfit :)

Me & mi madre

So sweet...

I love my hubby

The FabKos 

First Christmas photo as a family of 4!

Who is that random model posing next to us?!

Christmas morning

Christmas lunch at the Ko home

Enjoying one of his many Christmas presents! Spoiled kid!

Favorite Guncle

Proud of his work badge

Ooh... not a flattering photo, but the last one with Uncle Les before flying back to London :(  In my defense, I was just recovering from a bout of food poisoning - not a fun experience, let me tell you...