Tackling Boy

Daddy & Koa's new game is to play "football"- where Daddy calls a play and then tackles Koa to the ground... like the typical little boy he is, he loves it. And the fact that he can now walk, makes it even better. :)

Bella, Vivi & Kekoa

This morning we had Kekoa in our bed... and as usual, he woke us up bright and early. Usually, we try and encourage him to lay back down and allow Mommy and Daddy to get a few more minutes of shut eye, but this morning, he wasn't having it... he was telling us, "HEY MOM & DAD!!! ITS MY BIRTHDAY TODAY!!! WAKE UP!!!"

And just in the nick of time, in comes cousins Bella & Vivi who slept over the night before, to say good morning to Kekoa. He was sooooo happy to see them, he started doing his dance when they walked through the door.

Koa, the big boy that he is, sidled over to the edge of the bed, slid down and joined his cousins. Half asleep I looked over and saw Bella, take his hand and say, "Come on Koa, you wanna walk? Let's go!" And then Vivi took his other hand and Kekoa looked up at both of them, BEAMING- and walked off with his cousins.

As I watched the three of them, Koa in the middle, walk down the hallway, hand in hand, I started to have a few (Happy) tears start to roll down my face... to see my boy WALK OFF with his cousins and join them... I knew right then and there that I no longer had a baby, but I now had a toddler who was joining the ranks of this big girl cousins.

Though I wish I had a camera to capture that picture of the three of their backs walking off hand in hand, and Koa looking up at his big 'Ates', I knew that I didn't need one- its a picture that I'll cherish and keep in my mind forever.

Kekoa's 1-Year-Old Photo Shoot!!

Thank you Uncle Tien for once again enhancing our kids' lives with your awesome photography skills!!!

For Koa's first birthday, we had his portraits taken by Martin's cousin, Martin Nguyen (www.martomography.com)... and it was in due time. Last time Koa had his portraits taken, he was 3 months old!!

In honor of our blended heritage that Martin and I bring to our kids, we decided to pay homage to them by putting Koa in an outfit (Vietnamese Ao Dai, Filipino Barong Tagalog & Hawaiian Ti Leaf & Maile Leis with an Ipu) for each one!! Enjoy!!!

We had a challenging time, now that Kekoa is walking (the lil devil kept hightailing it out of the frame shot!!) but it was a fun time!


Our little VC baby... hahahaha :)




Our little Filipino Politician :)

Doin' the "Cabbage Patch" Dance- hahahaha!

Eating crackers during the photoshoot!! (We have to put our photoshop skills to this one!)


Our little Ipu Drummer Boy

Boy mom, this Ipu is HEAVY!

So closeup