free museum day - LACMA

Jathan wanted to spend a day going to museums, but he didn't know that it was free museum day. We attempted to go to MOCA because they have an Andy Warhol exhibit. When we drove pass the entrance to find parking, there was an extremely long line. Instead of dealing with the headache of downtown parking and the long line, we went to LACMA. This was a much better experience.

When we got there, they told me about NexGen. It's a free youth membership program for kids under 18 years old. They get free admission, including one accompanying adult. This is an awesome program and we will be going to LACMA more frequently now.

Before exploring the exhibits, we made reservations to eat at Ray's restaurant. Special thank you to Weeze and Vince for the complimentary champagne (of course, a non-alcoholic version for me) and chocolate dessert, it was a nice treat for Jathan and I. Now that we're parents and are living off of one income, we don't eat at nice restaurants very often anymore. If it weren't for my friends, we would of settled for the food trucks in front of the museum, which also smelled delicious as we walked by them. Ideally, I would make lunches to save money but I haven't quite mastered the art of making good picnic style lunches that we both like to eat.

These days Brookie doesn't like sitting in high chairs and I am not sure when and why that became a problem. So for the entire meal, she was on my lap.

This was Jathan's idea to have me lay on the bench with my hat on my face. He's comes up with some really interesting ideas. When it comes to photography, he is definitely more creative than I am.

I am glad Jathan made me go out today. I was really adamant in going because I wanted to stay home all day to do errands and work on a dresser we bought on Craigslist for Brookie's room. 

the little things at 20 months old

The transition from baby to toddler is such an interesting time. When they're a baby, you look forward to them walking, crawling, talking, and being more independent. Then when they start walking, crawling, talking and being more independent, you sometimes wish they were still a little baby who stayed in one spot until you moved them. Tantrums, screaming and crying in public places is not enjoyable, frustrating and often times you want to pull your hair out. Chasing them around the house so you can put clothes on them, change their diaper or comb their hair can get annoying. Then there are those little moments that happen randomly throughout the day that make you smile. Those moments remind you why being a parent is such an amazing experience.

Here are some moments to remind myself because before I know it my little, wild daughter won't be a little toddler anymore.

- When I give her an orange, she says "Tank you mama, Oh you welcome"
- When she bumps into the dog, she says "Oh sorry Zeus!"
- When she counts to 10, "one, two, tree, four, fives, sic, seven, eight, nine.... ten!"
- When she tells you to sit down in her little chair, she says "Good girl" after you sit down.
- When she's trying to sing the words of her favorite songs that are constantly on repeat:
                       Taylor Swift - "Shake it off" (she calls the song "Shake")
                       Michael Jackson - "Love Never Felt so Good" (she calls the song "Jackson")
                       Justin Timberlake - "Pusher Love" (she calls the song "JTT" but lately she's been into
                                                        his other songs, depending on her mood)
- When I open an image of her on the computer, she say "Cool!"
- When her dad is doing whatever he can to make her laugh, she says "Papa silly"
- She loves music, so every time she dances is a special treat!