Henry shows off his custom shirt!

This "Henry" shirt was custom made with love by Grandma! Isn't it cute?! Henry looked adorable in it and got tons of compliments. Here he is mugging for the camera... My handsome little man!

Speaking of "Made by Grandma" items...

Alexa isn't the only one getting handmade stuff! Check out this pillow and elephant that my mom made for baby brother's nursery! I love them!

And, here is a sneak peek at Alexa's birthday outfit... Perfect for her train party!

Alexa is 23 months!

Alexa turned 23 months while we were on vacation in Ocean City, and we finally found time to mark the occasion with her monthly photo shoot! Alexa now knows the routine and will stand at the top of the stairs and say "cheese!" But you only have 1/2 a second to take the photo before she is off and running! In any case, here are the photos I got... Can you guess which shot is posed?!

Note that Alexa is wearing a gorgeous pillowcase dress handmade by Grandma Lil!

Made by Grandma

My mom makes the most amazing little dresses! She made Alexa's football Halloween costume. And she made these adorable dresses as well. I wanted a special Fourth of July dress, so I put in an order with Grandma's Store! To make sure the fit was right, Grandma "whipped up" a quick little sample dress and sent it off. Well. Check out how ADORABLE that little "sample" dress is!

Yes, the photo shoot of Alexa in Grandma's dress continues... We took a walk to Bethesda and had pizza at our favorite place. Alexa loved walking along the path with Daddy, and when she got tired, she rode on his shoulders! Of course, we also stopped at the park. What a fun day! And what a cute dress! We can't wait to see how the Fourth of July dress turns out. Stay tuned for another photo shoot!

Moanalua Gardens and dinner at Buzz's

Another great day in paradise! Today, we met up with my friend Renee and her son Ashton at Moanalua Gardens Park. I had actually never been to this park before, but when I looked up the directions it was described as an off-the-beaten-path spot in Hawaii with beautiful large canopy trees. It was stunning!

Alexa and Ashton had fun playing. And check this out... Alexa got her first kiss! They were so cute. Alexa took Ashton's hand. Then Ashton kissed her on the cheek. And then they hugged. So cute!

After the park, Alexa took a long nap. And then we headed to check out grandma and grandpa's condo. Alexa had fun watching the ducks in the pond right outside the balcony!

Finally, we ended the day with dinner at our favorite local spot: Buzz's Steakhouse. Yum!

Alexa visits the Honolulu Zoo!

This is the zoo I grew up going to! I have so many memories at this zoo. So naturally, I wanted to share my zoo with Alexa. Unfortunately, as usually happens, the zoo today is very different from the zoo of my memories. But we still had a great time! After looking at all the "ah-molls" we had a picnic lunch under a banyan tree in the middle of the zoo. Now that I'm getting the hang of slide shows, here's another!

Alexa's 1st Easter Egg Hunt!

Daddy helped Grandpa hide a TON of plastic eggs all around the yard for Alexa to hunt. Once we showed her what to do, she was off! She loved picking up the eggs and putting them in her basket. She also loved opening the eggs to discover the chocolate and goldfish inside! Yum! We enjoyed that part too! Anyway, I took way too many photos, but she was so cute! Note the adorable dress that she's wearing, handmade by Grandma. Here is a slideshow of my favorite photos:

Alexa models Aunt Sara's sweater!

Just look at this adorable outfit! It's Alexa's favorite color too. I kept asking her what color her dress is and she'd smile and proclaim: "Purple!" The dress and pants were a gift from Aunt Sara and Uncle Mike. They match this gorgeous sweater, which was handmade by Aunt Sara. Thank you for such a great gift! Alexa looks too cute for words. And everyone complimented her on the sweater!

Click photo to enlarge

What should Alexa be for Halloween?

If you recall, last year Alexa was a duck and a ladybug. So what should she be this year? She's too old to wear a baby bunting costume... And almost too old to wear a silly animal costume as well! Here are some costumes I liked on my first go round... I really like the owl costume and a bunch of outfits from Pottery Barn Kids, but they are $50 each! I still like the Wonder Woman costume...

So, basically, I didn't find the perfect costume. I wanted to find something cute and comfortable, but also clever and unique. And I wanted to find something that would allow Alexa to dress up with her Daddy. Then it hit me... How about a football?! These photos were my inspiration... But mainly I was looking for a football dress, like the one in the picture below, top right.

I e-mailed my mom and she immediately pulled out a pattern, requested measurements and hit the fabric store. In literally just a few days, she sent me these photos! The cutest costume ever!

And now... Here's Alexa, all dressed up in her football dress! She can't wait for Halloween!

Click to enlarge!

Holy Cute Summer Dresses!

Alexa got a package in the mail today from Grandma Lil -- A set of three reversible summer dresses! Look how CUTE! I was browsing Etsy when I saw this listing. I fell in love with this simple pinafore dress and mentioned it to my mom. Before I knew it, she was headed off to buy fabric so she could make Alexa her very own one-of-a-kind pinafore dresses! Of course Alexa had to model her new dresses immediately... Wow! Could she be any cuter?!

This one above is my favorite, a bright and bold orange print. I remember seeing a pretty turquoise bow at a store in Bethesda for $3. I bet it would look great with this dress!

The orange dress reverses into this darling, sun-drenched yellow outfit! I love it!

I also really like this simple print with birds, especially paired with hot pink bloomers. I'll have to add Alexa's hot pink hair bow and she'd be ready to go! (Look closely in the above picture, I snapped a couple of Alexa standing without holding on! She is so close to walking!)

This green print is on the other side! How darling!

The third dress is a little big for Alexa right now, but she'll wear it soon! This baby is gaining weight pretty fast as she continues to eat up a storm. Thanks, Grandma, for such a beautiful and thoughtful gift! Alexa can't wait to show off her new dresses!