My Little Man

Today is a really really special day... Brayden is turning four years old!  It seems not too long ago I was posting about him turning three.  Where did the time go?!  As I look at him today, I can see such big changes.  He is no longer a baby, not even a toddler, he is my little man.  He's so tall and strong.  He's talking non-stop, mostly about jets and monster trucks.  He likes to tell me who's song it is on the radio "Mommy, it's 'I Will Wait' by Mumford & Sons."  He likes to be silly and can be quite dramatic.  He loves to dance to anything with a beat.  He attends preschool and has started to write.  He loves to make cards for all his loved ones.  His cards for me usually involves smiley faces, the word "MOM" and a few Lightning McQueen stickers.  He's much more independent now but still prefers to be by my side.  

I guess I'm still his bff. ;)

We had a little photo shoot to mark his fourth birthday.  Doesn't he look so grown up? *teary eyes*

 

 

Four years ago you made us a family.  A family I love with all my heart.  My favorite things in life are your smiles, hugs, and kisses.  You are my happiness, my motivation, my love, my life.  Thank you for being my sweet and loving son.  Mommy and Daddy love you! ♥

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 ♥ Miggy

Robot and Space Big Boy Bedroom

It seems as if Brayden has grown into this "big boy" over night.  He's not a toddler anymore, he's a preschooler.  Well, it's about time this not-so-little preschooler gets a big boy room.  We picked a robot/space theme.  Not so much because he was into it at the time but because mommy liked it.  Luckily for everyone, Brayden's latest obsession are jets and planes.  So I guess he's growing into his room quite nicely. 

 

I had a vision of how I wanted this room to look like: modern, bright, gray/blue tones.  My dear husband did all the labor with "help" from Brayden (thanks honey!).  Here's the finished product.  What do you think?

 

 

I wanted the walls to be gray with a hint of blue.  After a few tries, we were able to perfect the colors.  I like the modern feel the stripe adds to the room.  The light color furniture keeps the room clean, simple, and bright.  Pops of robots and spaceships tie the room together.

 

Robots decals.  It reminds me of being inside a spaceship and these robots are peeking in through the windows.

 

 Initially the theme was just robots.  After lots of searching and unable to find the robots bedding to my liking, I came across these spaceship bedding.  It actually worked out even better.  It tied in nicely with my robot theme and gave the room another dimension so it wasn't too "roboty".

 

 A place to read, draw, and play. 

 

 Bookshelf full of bedtime stories.  Canvas storage bins.  And a place to display his artwork.

 

 OK, I just LOVE this table set.  What I love more is that Brayden spends a lot of time here reading and playing. 

 

 This dresser was the first piece of furniture I bought for this room.  I love the two tone and clean lines.  It helped guide the selection of the rest of the pieces in the room. 

 

You can always find a hint of Disney in this house. =)

 

A few more robots to complete Brayden's robot and space big boy room.

I have to say, this room has become my favorite room in the house!  What do you think? Would love to hear your comments. =)

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♥ Miggy

Happy Valentine's Day!

Some of the most fun things about Brayden being in preschool are the school performances and parties.  Every major holiday, the students perform songs and poems in front of an auditorium full of their parents, teachers, and friends.  They had their Valentine's Day performance today.  Let me just tell you there's nothing more adorable than a group of three and four year olds singing songs and blowing kisses at you from the stage! Super cute!! 

 

And then there's the party...  The teachers and parents all do an amazing job decorating the room and preparing fun festive treats for the children.  A group of us even made cake pops for the kiddos.  I gotta say they came out pretty good and I'm so proud of us! 

 

We are like Martha Stewart! ;)

 

 

 

Enjoying his heart shaped pasta and cake pop at the party.

 

Gift from my little Valentine!  ♥

 

 

Of course it wouldn't be a Valentine's Day party without passing out Valentine's. This year I made this really cute Valentine for Brayden's class and it was a hit!  One teacher even told me in her twenty years of teaching, this is her favorite Valentine!! =)

 

Want to learn how to make them?  See my post at Miggy Photography

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! ♥

 



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♥ Miggy

Gong Hei Fat Choi!

  San Nin Faai Lok (Happy New Year)!

Every Chinese New Year, I dress Brayden in his traditional Chinese outfit and take him out for a mini photo shoot.  This year, he's gotten quite interested in learning more about the traditions of this holiday.  So I read him a story about this little girl celebrating Chinese New Year.  This little girl celebrated traditions such as decorating her home with poems on red paper, lighting firecrackers, receiving "lucky money" in red envelopes, and much more.  Brayden was pretty excited and wanted to do everything he saw in the book.  Well, I wasn't quite prepared to do all the traditions but I was able to pull off a few elements and incorporated them into our photo shoot.  I'm so excited Brayden is learning about his culture and creating memories just as I did as a child.  

 My handsome Brayden in his traditional Chinese outfit.

 

Firecrackers!

 

Poem on red paper and lantern to welcome the new year. 

*Trying* to do kung fu.  

 

Gong Hei Fat Choi!

Happy Year of the Snake!

Wishing you good health, peace, and happiness. =)

If you've enjoyed reading this or any of my other posts. Please feel free to follow me! (see right side bar) ♥ Miggy

Cheesecake Cookie Cups

Happy New Year everyone! 

Ever since we became parents, we've been celebrating NYE east coast style.  That is, we turn on the east coast feed of the countdown and ring in the new year at 9pm PST.  It works out great!  The kids get to play with other kids and stay up late.  Parents get to have a few drinks and go to sleep early.  This year we had a great NYE gathering at our neighbor's.  Our gracious hosts prepared a smorgasbord of yumminess from bacon wrapped figs to pasta with homemade meatballs and my absolute favorite homemade gravy.  I decided to add to that yumminess and bring a simple dessert.  I searched around and found this little recipe.  Super simple and pretty yummy.  I wanted these to be bite-sized, so I used a mini cupcake pan instead and I cut the recipe by half.  Also substituted cherries with a few drizzle of caramel.

You will need :

1 pkg of chocolate chip cookie bar dough

 8oz cream cheese (room temperature)

7oz sweetened condensed milk

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

caramel dip

Preheat oven to 325F.  Paper-line 24 mini muffin cups.  

Slice cookie dough into 1-inch thick pieces.  Cut each piece into four equal pieces.  

Place a piece of cookie dough in each muffin cup.

Bake for 10mins or until cookie has spread to edge of cup.

Beat cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk, eggs and vanilla extract in medium bowl until smooth. 

Pour over each cookie cup until nearly full.

Bake for an additional 15mins or until set.  

 Heat caramel dip and drizzle over cheesecake cups.

Enjoy! =)

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♥ Miggy

First Snow Day

I know, I know.  It's been a long while since I've lasted posted on Miggyhood.  Really? Last post was from the pumpkin patch?  We've been busy doing a lot of celebrating and traveling over the past few months.  Most recently we took a trip up to Washington State to visit family.  It was really nice to experience a chilly Winter and give Brayden his first white Christmas. 

 

This was Brayden's first time playing in real snow.  Sure, he's played with man made snow brought into the local school's "Snow Day" event but that's icy and yucky.  He's seen the "snow" on Disneyland Main Street.  Though I love Disneyland and adore their Christmas festivities, their "snowflakes" are really just bubbles so it doesn't count.  Brayden has learned to stick his tongue out and catch snowflakes just like Charlie Brown in his Christmas special.  It was very cute watching him catch "snowflakes" at Disneyland. 

 

The snow in Washington was so light and fluffy.  Brayden had a really great time throwing snowballs at his cousins,  making his first now angel, and sledding with daddy.  All while he sported his borrowed PINK snow pants.  It was a perfect snow day! =)

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Holidays!!!

 

 

 

If you've enjoyed reading this or any of my other posts. Please feel free to follow me! (see right side bar)

♥ Miggy