Chubby Baby Photo Shoot

Our last night at my Grandma's house we ventured down stairs with our naked Bailey to try to snap a few pictures of her chubby rolls.

Of course she was more than okay with all the attention she received during the photo shoot.
I think we all should have been embarrassed at the voices we made and and the ridiculous faces we gave in order to get this chunky baby to smile.
Sometimes it worked...
Sometimes it scared her...
sometimes it confused her...
Occasionally she tried to grab the camera or act like a deer a caught in headlights...
She attempted to stand for awhile...
but quickly realized that lifting a body that size is not at all fun...
and laying down is much easier on the knees.
Of course there is nothing more exciting to a 7 1/2 month old than figuring out how lungs work and screaming as loud as possible.

Clapping hands is also a close 2nd in the fun department.
Good luck trying to count the fat rolls on this one! I am pretty sure it is impossible. Another thing that is impossible? Trying to put shoes on this little babies feet. Can you say cankles?
This is Bailey's disappointed face. She was mad at Uncle Craig. He got a flying helicopter for Christmas. My cousin Timmy tried to generously give it to Sam. Sam felt bad and said no so Craig gladly scooped it up. We now get to go buy one for Sam because he wants one so bad.
During the photo shoot this little helicopter was flying around the large room. It kept Bailey very entertained. That is until it flew right into her face. Then it made her cry.
For revenge she got to hold Craig's helicopter...
...and eat Craig's helicopter. And that brought a smile back to our happy chubby baby.
She also made sure to tell him that he better never do that again...
or else...
And then our little naked baby found her pajamas, Rex and a new bed to play on.

Sushi Rolling 101

While we were in northern California visiting everyone my Uncle Kevin and Aunt Judy took on the crazy task of trying to teach Dana and I how to roll sushi. I had seen it done a million times. I watched my Mom make California rolls when I was little, my Uncle showed me quickly when he was making them for Robby's reception, and heaven knows how much sushi I saw made when working at Happy Sumo, but I had never really attempted it on my own.

First my Aunt Judy showed us how to make the sushi rice. Then we prepped the sea weed (Sam's favorite), crab, and veggies. And then we started to roll.
Stopping only to pose for pictures :) ...

Sam had to document everything. He really wanted me to learn so I could make him his special vic roll on soy paper.

Then Rachel Baby wanted to try...
and we all learned quickly that wasn't a good idea :)

All rolled out...
and finally, the finished products all ready to eat...
and as soon as the calvary arrived...aka Robby, my Dad, Connie, and Brandon (the folk that went to church) it was gone as quickly as it was made.

And that is when the all the dancing started again...
funniest thing ever to watch.

And Bailey got her yummy dinner...
it wasn't sushi
But the kid sure does love sweet potatoes.

Ho Ho Ho! Merry Christmas!

Christmas morning started out like every other morning on vacation. Bailey is our alarm clock and when she wakes up happy, we have to get up.

Happy as a clam since she got to sleep cuddled up next to me the whole night while simultaneously taking up half of the air mattress. Lucky baby.

we then ventured out of our room to spread the Christmas cheer.
After some breakfast and waving hi to everyone we all got ready and then headed over to Grandma and Grandpa Galeria's house.
Meeting for the first time.
half unsure, half curious...
And this is how we spent the next few hours. Sitting around talking, laughing, and opening presents.

Here is Craig laughing. Probably because Grandpa just called him a smart a$$, which Craig most likely deserved.
Robby stealing some jelly beans. Something we all used to love to do. Me? Not so much anymore since there is a possibility they are the same ones we used to fight over fifteen years ago.
Grandpa talking to his favorite grandchild.
If you thought for a second that bringing his first great grandchild into the world would have bumped me up on the favorite list you are probably right. But there is absolutely no competing with getting into Berkley law school at the ripe age of 20, finishing up the third year at Harvard, getting a prestigious clerk ship, and then landing a sweet job with a huge salary.

No amount of children trumps that...so we will settle for 2nd best.

Make that third. Because it just so happens that Janet probably can not even beat out my beautiful Mom for favorite.
In the words of my Grandpa..."Your Mom is a peach."
And who doesn't love peaches?

Bailey reading her new Christmas books from Great Grandma and Grandpa with her Grandpa...
My Sam...
and of course; more hanging out.
Grandma bought a few cookbooks for the girls. We got to pick which ones we wanted. There may or may not have been a few fights over who got what.

For the second half of Christmas we all loaded back into our cars and headed over to Aunt Teresa and Uncle Ron's house for delicious dinner and the white elephant gift exchange.

Dinner was so good. So much food and variety. Multiple kinds of salad, meats, potatoes, vegetables, california rolls, appetizers, etc. You name it, it was there and tasted good. And then before you knew it, it was time for the gift exchange. There was a fifteen foot table filled to the brim of presents both big and small. If you were Craig, you would always pick the biggest box you could find. You would announce that the best presents came in the biggest boxes, and then you would pick a twenty pound bag of bird seeds with a bird feeder. Then you would bribe every person to try to steal it from you, until it was Uncle Mel's turn.
He would steal the bird feeder and seeds from you. You would then proceed to pick the next biggest box. And then you would leave the gift exchange with a bag full of zip ties, still claiming that the best presents were in the biggest boxes.

Sam and I made out like bandits. I picked the last number, and he picked the third to last so we had the pick of the litter. We stole the Target gift card from Zenna and Toy Story 3 from Janet.

Bailey, however, did the best. She got a new car...
new clothes, stackable cups, books, money, toys...etc. She got so many things that we may or may not have decided to keep our Christmas present for her hidden away until her birthday comes around in May.

a picture of all the cousins...
too bad you can barely see the kids on top and Robby was thinking about what he was going to eat next.

And the whole Christmas gang...
we had such a fun Christmas day with the whole family. It was just like old times.

Baby's Day Out in San Francisco!

On Christmas Eve we all woke up, got ready, ate delicious breakfast at my Grandma Sugiyama's house, and then headed out to San Francisco for the day. We wanted to ride the Bart into San Francisco, but tickets were $10 each round trip and we decided it was not worth $70 for the eight of us to ride icky public transportation so we drove instead.

And got killer parking spots. They were right next to each other and about 100 feet from Pier 39. Someone remembered to say their prayers that morning.
Of course Sam had to get a picture of it because this kind of thing makes him so happy. The only thing that could have made this better for him was to see another car not get the spot right after he got it. Oh Sam.

Boopers fell asleep on the ride over. Nap time was very askew the entire trip.

And then conveniently woke up happy three seconds after we stepped on the Pier.
There were a million sea otters and nasty birds for her to watch. As well as strange people. Bailey couldn't have asked for anything better.
Dana wearing my shirt and sweater, and yes it does look like a dress on her. She is itty bitty. She is also the most unlucky person my Mom has ever met. Her suit case got packed in the wrong car so for the first 30 hours at Grandma Sugiyama's she had her cell phone, a bag of yarn to knit, and the clothes on her back. It was funny to the rest of us.

Please forgive Sam for that horrendous shirt and his crazy hair. We weren't married yet so I had no control over the wardrobe and hair decisions.
A little bit of Alcatraz over the years!
Then:
and Now:
Boy have we changed!

And Bailey with her second Mom that trip!
Aunt Dana

A little golden gate in the background.
A little bit more proof that Sam actually came on the trip.
And yes, we did think about Full House almost the whole time; and Sam did sing/whistle the theme song at least 7 times.


Watching the sea otters and boats.
And in the spirit of Christmas because it was Christmas Eve after all...
A huge Christmas tree with presents bigger than Bailey, and in a few cases, me.

Before we left for the day to get back to San Jose for our delicious family dinner we decided to get a little closer and more personal with the golden gate bridge.
This look out spot was so crowded. We had to wait our turn to grab a spot on the wall and we got about two feet to ourselves.
It was windy, cold and we almost saw an Indian guy kill some other dude over a parking spot.
Half hilarious, half scary.
While we were posing for this picture we also had three asian teenagers walk behind Dana, hold up their handy dandy I phones and start snapping away while looking at us and smiling. I was confused. At first I was thinking we were in their way while they were trying to get pictures of the city line and the bridge.
So we scooted over a little but there camera was still aimed at us while they laughed, smiled, pointed, and jabbered away in their language. We finish up and are about to leave when all three of them come running up to us. They begin to coo and poke at Bailey while she just stares at them.
All 3 Asians: (all talking at once) what a cute baby....blah blah blah
Asian Boy#1: Such a cute boy.
Me: smile so I don't punch him for calling my baby a boy.
Asian girl to Asian boy #1: (really fast chatter in foreign language)...girl (with a heavy accent).
All 3 Asians: (all turn to face me) girl or boy???
Me: girl
Asian Boy #1: Oh so sorry. Cute girl.
Me: thank you (smiling thinking what the heck is going on and how many pictures of us are in their phones?)
All 3 Asians: (once again all talking at one) cute baby...blah blah blah
Sam: (grinning from ear to ear hardly able to contain himself)
Dana: (half death scowl and ready stance to fight / half laughing)
Me: (slowly walking away and waving) Bye!
And then just as quickly as it all started we go our separate ways.

Another weird, yet highly typical encounter in the lives of Sam and Terri Braden.

And one more picture to make you double take...
And yes that is Bailey's tongue sticking out of her mouth.

And then we left San Francisco and headed back to Hayward to meet up with the rest of the family. We had the most delicious food at Aunt Judy and Uncle Kevin's. We stuffed ourselves to the brim and then half of us (including me) sat around playing games while the other half (not me) looked silly dancing to the x-box and burning off those calories...
I bet I burned just as many laughing at all of them though.