Joshua turns 1!

Published on Friday, July 4th, 2008

Almost half a year in the making, our celebration of Joshua’s milestone 1st birthday was a day of thanksgiving for the miracle that is our son.

Location, location

We started scouting for a venue in January, panicking a little after realizing how popular Memorial holiday parties were, and how most places were already booked on that particular weekend. We eventually decided to have it at the clubhouse inside our village. Incidentally, this is the same place where we had my bridal shower and both baby showers. An added bonus — it has an adjacent gameroom that was well-utilized during the actual party.

 

The theme is everything

Choosing a theme for someone whose main interests are putting things in his mouth and then throwing them on the floor was extremely difficult. But we did notice Joshua’s propensity towards athletic activities (basketball, golf), and he does have a great pitch. So a sports theme it is!

It’s all in the details

The save the dates, invites, tarps, stickers, sports flags, photo mosaic were all courtesy of the ever-reliable, ultra-talented, mega-patient Melisse. It is a joy to work with her, and obviously, I am very, very satisfied with how everything turned out. The quality of the magazine-type invite was just amazing, much better than I had envisioned. It garnered a lot of rave reviews from our guests.

 







All the (heavy) stuff were especially carried from the RP to the US by our very kind Tito Nestor.

We gave out sports bottles with goodies (kids) and gatorade (adults) as souvenirs. Melisse designed a special “Joshuade” sticker to personalize our thank you tokens.

 

Accumulating prizes for the games was no easy feat so we collected it all over the course of several weeks.

 

And to quench my thirst for D-I-Y, I created a guestboard with matching guestcards, as well as picture banderitas.


May 24, 2008

The day started early for Chris and I as we set out to decorate the clubhouse, with the assistance of Ninong Ferdie. By 1PM, we were at Party City purchasing the balloons. And while I did some finishing touches, Chris went back and forth transporting party goods and supplies from our house to the venue.

 

It was exhausting to say the least. But we would endure anything for our precious Joshua.

Paparazzi

Call time was 4PM and guests trickled in early. As soon as we arrived, Stacy started taking photos of the birthday boy…

 

…and our family.








And as always, Stacy’s work did not disappoint. Just take a peek at these photos of some of the kids — aren’t they adorable?

 

We are extremely pleased with all the details and emotions she was able to capture. With her pictures, we can relive that special day any day. Stacy has given us a time capsule… and it is priceless.

That is how we feel about photos — it’s all about catching those important moments and freezing them forever.

So you can just imagine our delight when our next-door neighbor Laura offered to take additional pictures. I was in her home last weekend browsing through the photos (I will post these separately), and I was in awe. Thank you Laura. We are very honored to be your first “customers”.

Of course, digicams of family and friends flickered all afternoon. And we would especially like to thank the Tamayos for tirelessly uploading their shots and sharing them with us.

 

The third picture in the previous set is Charlie, our very patient videographer. He created a compilation of Joshua’s 1st year photos/videos shown during the party. Watching it was a nostalgic and emotional experience. Once again… priceless.

Food fetish

The first agenda of the afternoon was to enjoy the sumptuous meal lovingly prepared by both Lolas, Ninang Coy and friends of the family. Some of the food, we ordered. But everything was superb!

 

Our menu consisted of yummy nachos with a cream cheese-salsa dip for starters; spaghetti, pizza, hotdogs, and chicken lollipop for the kids; pancit, lumpiang shanghai, vegetable lumpia, puto & dinuguan, chopseuy, steamed fish, sweet & sour fish, grilled salmon, embutido, beefsteak, lechon paksiw and crispy lechon for the adults; cassava cake, leche flan, fresh fruits, turon and a delectable crema de fruta cake for dessert.

As everyone relished the feast, rain poured heavily outside, quite similar to the “shower of blessings” we experienced during Joshua’s baptism. The rain eventually cleared and then Anthony arrived.

Clowning around

We met Anthony at a friend’s daughter’s birthday party and then tracked him down through here. The kids (and the adults) had a ball!




We played a “bring me” game…

 

…the “galabato game”, a twist to the familiar “hot potato” (this was a real riot — take a look at Topher’s smile).








…then he twisted balloons for the kids


…and led everyone to sing the birthday song.

Sweet delight

We again elicited the services of Merrielee of Cakes etc to create Joshua’s birthday cake. She is very creative and her cakes are scrumptious and moist. Joshua’s masterpiece was a basketball atop a jersey with his name and number. Ahia Topher and friend Ryan took care of blowing out the candles. Josh didn’t mind as long as he got to eat his share of cake.








And while the guests dug into their sweet treat, Lola Sally rounded up the kids for more games (pinata, pabitin, trivia challenge).

 







The state of being grateful

It truly was an amazing, fun-filled day. And though Joshua is still a tad young to digest all that was going on, we are pretty sure that he too had a wonderful time. We know his Kuya Topher had a blast. Our boys definitely made all the hard work worth it.

We’d like to thank everyone who took the time to celebrate with us (both in person and in spirit). Below are some posed photos of our guests.

 







We thank you for your prayers all through the past year, and request that you continue the same. Joshua is a happy and healthy boy, and we really couldn’t ask for more. We’d like to leave you with a few more after-party photos of the ‘Fantastic Four’ (Josh, Topher, Ben & KM) taken with our trusty Sony…

 

…as well as pictures of Joshua and Topher opening gifts during the party, and again at home.

 

At last, our chronicle of Joshua’s 1st birthday is now complete. Thank you for coming this far and ’till the next party!

~The Lim Family


Update

Published on Saturday, June 28th, 2008

It’s been crazy busy… so you guessed it, I am still resizing photos of Joshua’s 1st birthday.

But here are a couple of my favorites.:)


 

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And speaking of parties, I am back to planning. Yes, it never ends. Topher is turning 3 on September 19. Stacy, our photographer, already has a Bat Mitzvah on my first choice date, so we had to make adjustments. And then the venue was booked on the alternate date we had in mind.

So we finally settled for Sunday, the 21st of September.  Venue and photographer, check. Save the date!:)

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Joshua had another milestone — his first haircut!  I was at work while his Tita Evelyn snipped away at his sideburns, thus explaining the paucity of pictures.  But it doesn’t matter, because he looks so darn handsome with his new do.


  


The merry month of May

Published on Thursday, June 19th, 2008

Finally, here it is… our long overdue post.

We celebrated Joshua’s actual birthday on May 20th with the family here at our home. After the candle was blown and the cake partitioned, the entire clan settled down to watch David beat David on the AI finals. Josh was in his element — walking all over the place, babbling and squealing together with Ahia Topher and Tita KM.









Another big holiday in the month of May was Mother’s day! We partied at Lolo and Lola’s house eating and swimming the entire day, well into the night. It was halo-halo heaven with Lola’s new ice-shaver. Good times!















We also attended Stephanie’s first communion celebration. Congratulations Ate Stephanie!

And despite the hecticness, we still made it to the library every single Saturday morning for storytime. We love it because we learn so much, and it’s a great excuse to sing, dance and play! We are currently enrolled in the library’s summer reading program where our parents have made a commitment to read to us for a minimum of 10 hours this summer.













Our escapades at Barnes & Noble…



And a few more random photos…





The next post will be devoted entirely to Joshua’s big birthday bash. So come back soon… it’ll be worth it.

Love, Topher & Joshua


Father’s Day ‘08

Published on Thursday, June 19th, 2008

This is what we sent Chris on the morning of Father’s Day…


 

Happy Father’s Day! May God return to you all the happiness you have given. We love you so very much!

~ Monet, Topher & Joshua


Preview

Published on Sunday, June 15th, 2008

I know I still have a lot of pending posts as I have yet to blog and post pictures of Joshua’s 11th month and other happenings this past May, including Mother’s Day etc.  But there just isn’t enough hours in the day.  I am wishing and hoping and praying that I can catch up soon.

In the meantime, I would like to leave you with a preview.

(Enter the site, click on Sneak Peek, then enter the password Monina, with a capital M)

Our photographer sent the CD of the rest of the photos in the mail today and I can’t wait to get it!

~This entry was originally posted on June 9th.  As of this writing, the photos are currently being sorted/ resized for uploading.


For Joshua

Published on Friday, May 16th, 2008

Cliche as it may be, time does fly when you’re having so much fun.

It has been an amazing year. And as Joshua turns one, we’d like to request that you continue to include him and our family in your prayers.

Click on the link below to view a montage dedicated to our beloved birthday boy.

With gratitude and love,
Chris, Monet & Topher

 


One last hurrah

Published on Sunday, April 27th, 2008

Yeah, that’s exactly what we did when we celebrated Joshua’s 11th month birthday at the park on Lighthouse near the beach.   And we savored our very first taste of taho prepared by Lola Corrie.  We had a wonderful time!

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  


  

  

And a few days before his 11th month birthday, Joshua conquered another milestone by taking his first steps!!!

Watch it here (please be patient because the walking bit is towards the end of the video).

And listen to him say his first word!

This past month can be summarized with a few choice words… and a barrage of photos.:)

Toys that are out of this world…

Thanks to our Ninang Ea, we were able to splurge and purchase the Boulder Mountain set at B&N!  For train fanatics like the both of us, this is a dream come true.

  

 

  

Another gift that we absolutely love is our ride-on Thomas from Ninang Coy and Ninong Ferdie.  Soon, we will get an Annie (or Clarabel coach) that will hook on to the engine so both of us can ride.


  

  

  

  

Topher goes round and round… ‘choo-choo!’

Our imagination runs wild as we play in our new tent courtesy of Ninang Graciel.  We just have so much fun, together with our Tita KM!


 

 

 

 And of couse, we never get tired of all our other toys (and books).


  

  

It’s great to be a kid!


  

 

But exhausting too!:)


Great parties and celebrations…

Happy 1st birthday Alice!


  

 

Happy 2nd birthday Mia!

  

 

 

 

Happy 1st Birthday Daelene!
  

  

  

  
Happy __th birthday Lola Sylvia!:)

  

 

Happy 3rd anniversary to Ninong Ferdie and Ninang Coy!  May your love continue to grow with each passing year.


  

 

  

 

…learning at the library

Week 1 (Big Bear Club)


  

 

Week 2 (The world of Pooh)


  

  

  

Week 3 (Reading galore)

   

 

 

 

 

Week 4 (The heartthrob)


  

 
Week 5 (Shake it!)

 

  

  


  

Topher dances with the beanbag

 

As you may have noticed, we are at the local library every single Saturday!:)

 

…playing hooky at Barnes & Noble


  

 

 

and spending quality bonding time with the family.


  

 

  

Oh, and you just can’t miss watching these videos…

Playful Joshua and Papa

Tickle-tickle

Joshua plays the piano (and sways to the music!)

 

We hope you’ve marked your calendars because in less than a month, our precious Joshua will turn one.  The whole family is beyond excited.  Can’t wait, can’t wait!:)

Lots of love,

Topher & Joshua


He did it!

Published on Saturday, April 12th, 2008

Joshua took his first (tentative) steps today (a week before his 11th month birthday)!  No pictures, but thankfully, we were quick enough to catch the milestone on video.

Exciting!

And speaking of our little miracle, I had the weirdest dream last night.  In my dream, we were having his first birthday party at my clinic, on one of our busiest days.  I was shoo-ing the last patient away when the guests started arriving, and I haven’t had the opportunity to put up any of the decorations yet!  And the worst part… the photographer didn’t show up (which I only realized towards the end of the party), so we had no pictures.:(  What a disaster.

Hopefully, nothing close to that will happen on Joshua’s actual birthday.