My very own twinkling star!

I just love the way he makes a little diamond with his fingers! 

Joe signs the darndest thing!

Here's a little demo of Joseph communicating through sounds and signs!

Gotta love it!

People first, then food, then things...

JOSEPH'S FIRST BIRTHDAY WAS SO MUCH FUN!

As Suze Orman says, "People first, then money, then things"... well, to describe the pictures, it's - People first, then FOOD, then things :)

Since it was Oct 25, a few days before Halloween, we started off having Joseph and his guests have a photo-op in their costumes. It was a zoo- because we had lots of animal costumes, and also because of the mayhem that happens trying to take a picture of lots of kids at the same time.

After the pictures, we had some yummy lunch, and followed by a great puppet show! It was called "Baby Bear's 1st Birthday". Super cute.

After the cake, Joseph gave all his guests a little white pumpkin and a balloon.

It's hard to believe that a year has come and gone. Joseph is such a cute little toddler now. He's a great walker, talker, and all around shaker! He is so sweet whenever he says "mama" and "daddy". The best is when he folds his arms when we pray. He will always be our precious little guy.

Hope you enjoy our pics! We hope you can come at the next big bash!

Joseph as a lion.

Jefferson, Micah, and Joseph

The sweetest monkey, bear, and lion on the block!

Joseph with Daddy and Grandpa Whit

Kids with their dads :)

Daddy, Mommy, and Joe

The crowd watching "Baby Bear's 1st Birthday!"

I love my balloon!

The Velasco's with Joe

Joe and Tita Kat

Kat, Antonio, Dad and Kristine

Mama (far left), Grandma Hazel, Grandma Noelle, and Joseph

Joseph with Aunt Ness and Babu (Grandma Noelle)

This delicious food provided by my dad, mom, Lola, and Joel's mom just completed the par-tay!

Personalized M n' Ms for Joe's big day!

Last but not least, the yummy cake!

Joe had a good taste of a little bit of the icing.

Joseph's 1st birthday!

Happy Birthday, Joseph!

Here is Joseph with his favorite gift of all... a balloon!

Joe "the Hitman" Pincock!

Dear Ve-La'an, my adoring fan and trusted friend, in Canada,

Per your mother's request, here is Joe walking around, strutting my shades.

My brain can't seem to figure out how to convert my cell phone videos to put on this blog- (must've been those supplexes and piledrivers kicking in), so the link will just have to do.

Hope this will motivate you through exams and such.  And if it's getting too cold up there, send me a looney and I'll send you my leather jacket.

Yours truly,

Bret

"sorry for being tired"... i guess ?

I went to a soccer clinic today hosted by Real Maryland (I couldn't believe part of my job was to be outside on a soccer field on a beautiful gorgeous day and watch kids do soccer drills- just brilliant!).  Anyway, apart from some cool soccer tricks- like picking up the ball with your feet, splicing the ball, and kicking it from behind to change directions- there was one thing that stuck with me that the instructor said.  It was to be aware of your posture when you are tired- because "You don't want anyone to see you tired- because when you are not tired, you look stronger.   And when you look stronger, you become stronger"

And apparently- the following picture is the INCORRECT way to look tired:

In this position (even if you are Kobe), your opponents will think they can take advantage of your fatigue.  

The following is the CORRECT way to stand when you are tired.  Your opponents will think you were tall-er and not think of you as tired.

I know it's beyond just playing sports the attitude of "I'm dead tired- but I will overcome!"- so I was glad to pick up that little suggestion to apply in my day-to-day.  Now, instead of hunching over while reading my Scriptures- I will stand tall and read them standing up :)

These are a few of my favorite things....

Joe loves the feel of grass. He likes to walk on it- and inevitably, pluck some to eat!

"Hello?! Dada.... dada...dada...."

He's so adorable when he puts the phone (or remote) on his ear and starts babbling as if talking with his dada.

In the mornings, Joe will play in his room- and he has a few things he can tinker with- one of them is his wave machine. He loves all the buttons- and he just gets so excited when it starts blaring music...and even more so when it's on NPR.

Here he is waving his favorite treats- Gerber puffs! He also fancies the dried apples and just recently, the yogurt melts. And let's be honest, mommy enjoys them, too! :)

It's difficult to capture him "walking" by picture- so I'll be sure to get a video of that soon.

However-- his next favorite thing to getting around the house is... climbing the stairs! Here he is climbing so readily. And why wouldn't he? Mia is at the top of the stairs!

"i will do anything for love..." (meatloaf)

And my favorite "Joe's favorite thing" is.... flowers!

Here we are walking home from the park- and you can count on Joe to "stop and smell the roses"- or the pretty purple flowers, in this case.

Hope you enjoyed getting a glimpse of his "faves" for now. I sure love discovering them with him!

JsQT

This is Joel's Quirky list (according to him)-- and of course, Joel is a QT (according to me!) :)

1) I turn the shower on when Joseph is having a hard time going to sleep. It's a tested and proven way to conk him out.

2) At work, if someone goes on the elevator, I'll race them up the stairs- without them knowing.

3) Even if we're running late, I insist on setting out plates and making a proper breakfast (i.e. toast, cereal, fruits, yogurt, eggs, etc)

4) I wear three pairs of socks to fit in my Kung Fu shoes.

5) I think a nap will replace a doctor's visit.

6) I can put yogurt on anything and it will taste good!

SQT- 6 quirky things

I thought this would be a cool subject to write about...

Six quirky things about me (according to me):

1)  I carry floss everywhere!  in my purse, in the car, in my 72-hour kit!

2) I am usually aware when it is 10:20 am or pm.  

3)  I have Domino's Pizza, Continental (subs), and Mayflower (Chinese) - in my cell.  Ready to order, when you are! 

4) I have programmed my phone for one-touch- single digit for cell phone, and double digits for home/alternate number.  example- 3- Dad's cell.  33- Dad's home.  2- Joel's cell, 22- Joel's work.

5) I am not afraid of bugs (spiders, crickets, centipedes, etc)- but I freeze around dogs- I can't even pet them!  even now, my heart just skipped a beat thinking about it!

6) I like all my in-laws.  ALL OF THEM... a very rare gift, I've been told!

obviously, not an all-inclusive list- but i do find these items "quirky/unusual" about me.  Do you agree?

Tag: Nadia, Jenna, Natalie, Ashley.

Feel free to "self-tag", as I did here (from my sis-in-law's page!).

 

Red, White and Baby

Today, Joe and I drove to UMD with Joel.  We wandered around campus while Joel was in class.  We had a few good stares as we walked around the student center and some smiles as Joe pushed around his stroller.  I did not envy the students doing Chemistry problems and discussing reports and assignments over lunch-- but I  enjoyed the school atmosphere- the hustle and bustle and always being with friends  :)  I looked around and thought- "wow, I can't believe these kids have no parents around them."  ha!  as if, right?  

Here we are at the UMD clothing store- surrounded by UMD paraphernalia.   Joe is sporting some baby socks and chillin' in a UMD chair.  

KVP hearts DWTS

YES!  Dancing with the Stars is back on- season 7! 

Who am I rootin' for?  Honestly, I'm pretty much a fan of the pro as much as I am a fan of the "star."  I could probably tell you more about the professional than the star.  

The first couple that caught my eye was Kym Johnson and Warren Sapp. 

 Did you know that Kym was the Australian DWTS Champ?  I think she's pretty cool esp after she coupled with Jerry Springer and Joe Fatone!  

I am a Cheryl Burke fan- right from the getgo.  I think she and Maurice Green have a good shot at being champions.  The Olympians have had a good track in this competition- I think it's the mindset of being able to train so hard.  Look at Apollo Anton Ono and Kristi Yamaguchi.  Just brilliant!  I think it's great for Cheryl to finally get her Olympian!

Let's not forget my loyalty to the Hough siblings.  Julianne Hough is partnered with Cody Lindley- aka "Jake" from Hannah Montana.  I feel like they're a great pair because of they have an advantage with energy and the "cuteness" factor.  I look forward to seeing Cody lose a little bit of the pomade and let his hair be.

And of course, Derek Hough.  I do not know Brooke Burke as a "star" - other than that she is married to the cute guy from Baywatch (the cast from a decade ago).  I'm glad Derek has another potential of a partner.  I think the producers are setting him up to have a better chance in winning.  He's clearly a great choreographer- I just hope he doesn't lose to his little sister again. 

Bottom line: Be prepared to get my voicemail Monday and Tuesday nights.  DWTS is penciled in my calendar!  Are you a fan too?

DC Adventure- a success!

Here we are: ready for a day of Scavenger Hunt!

I registered us with High Trek Adventure a few weeks ago.  

Each team had to be matching- we wore white shirts with blue tie, and plaid shorts.  Super cute :)

Other nice combos we saw were- Sarah Palin and Hilary Clinton, and a trio wearing Hawaiian motif.

There were 11 clues total- took us 5 hours to finish.  Here are some of the sites we saw--

This is one of the first clues we  completed:  

"There's an establishment located within a 1/4 mile of the Dupont Circle Metro that has a character from the popular children's tv show Dora the Explorer in its name"

Thanks to our friend, Nadia, a devoted Dora follower due to her daughter- she helped us find "Fox" as the answer!

We walked and walked and finally reached the WWII memorial. The clue was:

"Locate the name of the country, state, or territory carved in the WWII Memorial- -

Discovered by Spain

Palm tree and proa on flag

Can't vote for the Prez."

Not Puerto Rico... but Guam! <--check out their flag!

And we walked some more- apparently 14th street is a very far 7 blocks from 7th street.  Where the Spy City Cafe was.    we summoned a smile nonetheless :)

Poor Joel had to do a handstand for this clue:

 "Do a handstand with a sign showing the first or last name of any one of the US presidents (Washington does not count)"... somewhere on the sign is JOHN.

And our last clue was "This TREKpoint shares its name with one of Hollywood's greatest leading men, though he's dead now.  You'll find it located South of M street in G'Town"

The name Christian Bernard has a whole new meaning to me now.

Needless to say, this was more walking than we bargained for!  But we didn't want to "not finish" or cheat (like take a cab)- so I just imagined we were in the Olympics and we were representing our family name and country-- and of course, just visualized how much fun it would be to blog with all these pictures :)

 So, hooray- we finished the race!

20 questions- can you guess?

I've put together a "surprise date" for Joel for Saturday, September 20.
To prepare for it, we played 20 questions to see if he can guess what the activity is. Here are the questions he asked along with my YES/NO answers.

Can you guess what it is? I'll take questions :)

1. Woods? NO
2. Outside? YES
3. Laptop needed? NO
4. Did you pay for this? YES
5. Interact with others? No-Maybe?
6. Away from the city? NO
7. Following a map? YES
8. Have you done something similar? YES
9. Going to any building? Maybe- yes?
10. More than $100? Heck no!
11. Paying for anything tomorrow? Maybe-yes
12. Any friends have done this? NO
13. Activity available all year round? NO
14. Fun date? YES
15. Uniforms because we’re competing? YES!
16. Is there a prize? YES- $300
17. A lot of people? Maybe- yes
18. Will help to run faster? NO
19. Riddles/Clues? YES
20. Closer to our home in MD than in VA? YES

Joe loves Babu

Joe's favorite words are: Dadu, Babu, Mama, Dada, Baba

He can be quite the yapper once he gets started!

btw- "babu" is the equivalent of "grandma" for the Pincocks (started by his sister, Sarah).  It's short for the Russian word, "babushka".

Monday, Tuesday, Longday, Thursday....

My dad was such a huge help to me these past two days.  Joe had a cough that developed into this wheeze, so we had to start him on a nebulizer treatment.  Seems like Joe has some allergies and has acquired some asthmatic tendencies.  The treatment worked faster than expected and he's back to his normal chatty and playful self in less than 24 hours!  

Here he is doing a super cute trick- handing over my dad's glasses to him- then clapping for doing such a great job.  Is my baby really this cute?! :)

9.2008 week 1

We went to the Kensington Ward Labor Day picnic at Sandy Point State Park. They say that there are a lot of capitals in the English language- I think the previous sentence just proved that.
We had lots of fun. Joel and Joe jumped in the jellyfish ridden Chesapeake bay! So brave.

I also had a visit with my friend from McGill, Crystal. It was really fun visiting after a 4 year hiatus! After travelling the globe, Crystal found herself in Silver Spring. Thanks, babe- it was so great to see you!


And last but not least, here's Joe with Mia Barker- just chillin in the living room with their baba.

The "Me-Monster" by Kristine

Where were you born? Makati, Philippines
Middle name? Audrey
How old will you be this year? lemme count...28? yes, 28!
Nicknames? Krisco- back in the college days
Are you taller than your mother or father? YES
Do you cry often during movies? absolutely.
What is your biggest pet peeve? people leaving several messages in a day
Favorite color(s)? brown, blue, gold
Favorite food(s)? anything already cooked and made :) and nutella.
Favorite restaurants? Pho
Favorite smells? anything baking!
Favorite time of the day? night time!
What brand of shampoo/conditioner do you use? sheesh, is this for the CIA?
What brand of make-up products? oil of olay, l'oreal
How many pillows do you sleep with? 2
Do you play an instrument? some guitar and I can probably play some violin
Have you ever been skinny dipping? please...
Did you play any sports in High School? yes- field hockey, lacrosse, tennis, basketball, soccer- i'm embarassed I don't play any of them now!
What was the last movie you saw in the theatre? Iron Man
What is your favorite article of clothing? a comfortable long sleeve that I can layer
What is your dream vacation? European tour- France, Spain, Italy.
What was your first impression of your spouse? He's so nice- it's hard to believe he's French.
If you were an animal, what would you be? Lion! rarr
What is one of your weaknesses? I stay on the computer to blog way late in the night.
What do you fix for dinner when there is nothing to fix? I call the Mayflower Chinese restaurant.
If you could live in a different decade/era what would it be? The 2nd coming
What is the emotion you feel the most? glad
Do you consider yourself outgoing? Yes
What is something you are constantly working on? My freakin budget. Listening skills.
What is a word or phrase you overuse? inconceivable! just kidding. "yiyoy go yeyi" - "little guy" in baby talk.
What was the hardest thing that happened to you this past year? Trip to the Philippines
What is the best thing that has happened to you this past year? Just being where I am now- safe and happy with Joel and baby Joe.
What is one thing you hope to accomplish this year? finish "Miracle of Forgiveness" ha!
The best piece of advise you learned this past year? To focus on the mote in my eye...

weekend 101

Some noteworthy things from this weekend that has made it very interesting:

 

1)  Sarah Palin as VP for McCain!  in all honesty, since I will be eligible for the first time to vote this presidential el

ection, I'm paying 

more attention when I can.  I just had chills when 

they introduced Gov. Palin as his running mate!  Wow- a mother of five- definitely gets me more interested in politics!

2)  Pho night out with the Fergusons!  This pic is of Adam Ferguson holding his son Charlie, and you can see Joel and Joe next to them.  They are mesmerized by the shooting fountain in downtown Silver Spring (that fountain gives me the heebiegeebies...but Natalie said it must be chlorinated).  We had a yummy dinner at Pho- perfect end to a rainy day.  Thanks Natalie and Adam!

3) Rachel (Turner) & Mark Distelhorst's wedding reception.  Darn it, I forgot my camera, but it was a really a great gathering.  The bride and groom were just so sweet together.  I got to know Rachel as her VTer- and I'm so glad I did because I just love her!  They left the reception wearing matching t-shirts saying "Rachel & Mark, August 30, 2008".  Tres adorable!

4)  Little cute things about Joe- here he is "reading".  He got this book from it's bin, opened it, and started flipping the flaps (ha!).  He's been doing animal sounds on cue- such as, "arrf arrf" for doggie, and "rarrr" for lion/tiger.  He also says "baba" (bottle) and "bal" (the L is very soft) for ball.  

Tomorrow is Labor Day- Joel is going in to work- but Joe and I might make it out to the annual Kensington Picnic over at Sandy Point Beach.  Hope you have a great weekend too!

Red Hot!

It's Thursday but it feels like a Friday.  In fact, yesterday felt like a Friday.  It's hard to believe that with everything we've done this week we still have Friday to go.  ha, the irony.

So, here he is- Joel and his new, hot ride! We went back to Mr. Lu's tienda Latina-chinese in TKPK (Takoma Park) and got a pretty good deal for this bike.  The other option was a man selling a "49.5 cc" that looked like a 150cc.  The latter we coined as a hippie in Kensington.  Well, we went for Mr. Lu's "no brand" bike :)

And as the heavens would have it, "Red" was baptized with a good amount of rain today.  Quite the adventure for Joel- but hey, a full tank of gas was $3.81!  There is however, a magic trick with starting it and there was one bully car that honked at him.  But he got to and from work and had a blast going 40 mph downhill... so overall, I'd classify that as a successful first day.

Brownie Day

Joel is usually home by 4pm from work.  But today, being Tuesday, Joel had Kung Fu after work- and he was not going to be home until after 6pm.  I've been spoiled having Joel be home so early, and I admit, I get a bit anxious about the 2 extra hours I now have with baby- when I usually have Joel's help.  (A bit strange actually- I liken it to a plane ride- 10 hours is long, but 12 hours just seems like eternity. )

So, at 8am, when Joseph fought against his morning nap- I knew we were heading towards a "loooooong day."  My solution? Make brownies.  Brownies with walnuts!  yummm. 

It's a good thing too- because- after Joe decided to miss his afternoon nap as well (he does morning, noon, afternoon naps)- my "looooooong day" only seemed like a "long day"  :)

FYI- Joel is working on his broad sword form in Kung Fu- he's a lefty but holds the sword by the right hand.  very impressive!

Joe has been pushing around a mini chair as a walker.  He's so stinkin' cute- here's a video.  There's also a picture of him driving around--- sportin' a Tai Yim (Kung Fu) shirt.  Just like dada!

Weekend with G and R&D

Two fun gatherings we went to were: Grandma Hazel's 87th birthday, and the dinner with our friends Rachel, Dave, and Stephen.  Rachel and Dave are friends from Montreal.  We met when we were all students at McGill University.  In fact, their first "get together" was a Sunday dinner at my house- where all the YSA's did a potluck, David didn't bring anything, but Rachel brought some brownies (good girl!) :)   After 5 1/2 years  after missions and Bachelor degrees, Joel & I attended their sealing at the Manhattan Temple.  

Stephen joined the church when Dave was a missionary in Florida, and now he's in the DC area.  It's nice when things come to full circle- just as another one emerges!