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02/28/11

Little Gymnast

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Little Gymnast

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Little Gymnast

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Little Gymnast

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Little Gymnast

We were at our friends little girls birthday party yesterday and we all had so much fun. The party was held at Jump Gymnastics in Yaletown and definitely a great place for a party! Luna was too little to jump on the trampoline but she got to try balancing on the beams, hanging on the bars and playing with lots of balls. After all the jumping, running and an hour full of activities, the party ended with lots of sugary treats for the little people. Luna ate a slice of cake, a mini cupcake, two cookies and a giant marshmallow all to herself! She spit out the only non-party food on her plate – a strawberry!


KidsNo comments — Posted by: Nerissa
02/16/11

Little Boys’ Shoes

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Little Boys Shoes

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Little Boys Shoes

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Little Boys Shoes

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Little Boys Shoes

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Little Boys Shoes

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Little Boys Shoes

My mom insisted that I buy Luna proper walking shoes that has ankle support. They didn’t have it in white so Luna is stuck wearing boy shoes. Though, I don’t really mind the navy colour… they look pretty cute on her.


KidsNo comments — Posted by: Nerissa
02/14/11

Happy Valentines Day!

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Happy Valentines Day!

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Happy Valentines Day!

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Happy Valentines Day!

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Happy Valentines Day!

Thanks to Lucy and Orla for the beautiful Valentines card for Luna. Today was spent chatting away with Tracy as the girls spent time playing and eating a whole lot of croissants! Gotta love those carbs. I can’t even count how many croissants the little girls ate but it kept them happy.


Kids3 comments — Posted by: Nerissa
02/08/11

Looking for Treasures

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Looking for Treasures

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Looking for Treasures

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Looking for Treasures

A bookcase full of treasures for Luna to destroy! She can stand here for quite a long time rummaging through our stuff. Our things must be more exciting then her little toys.


Kids3 comments — Posted by: Nerissa
02/08/11

Walking!

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Walking!

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Walking!

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Walking!

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Walking!

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Walking!

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Walking!

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Walking!

The past few days has been exploring the house in circles. Luna has started walking with me holding her lightly on one hand. Imagine how exciting this is for her to be able to explore on both feet! She has to go to every single room, wave to herself when she passes a mirror then sits on her little rocker for a few seconds in her room for a little break. The walking continues after that around and around the house! Non stop.

She has also decided to make my favourite necklace (a necklace I wear everyday) her favourite too. She puts it on as soon as she wakes up and wants it on all day. I want my necklace back Luna!


KidsNo comments — Posted by: Nerissa
01/22/11

LOL! (Lucy, Orla & Luna)

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : LOL! (Lucy, Orla & Luna)

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : LOL! (Lucy, Orla & Luna)

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : LOL! (Lucy, Orla & Luna)

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : LOL! (Lucy, Orla & Luna)

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : LOL! (Lucy, Orla & Luna)

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : LOL! (Lucy, Orla & Luna)

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : LOL! (Lucy, Orla & Luna)

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : LOL! (Lucy, Orla & Luna)

Today, we had our friends Francis, Tracy and their little girls Lucy and Orla over and we devoured my various homemade pizza, lots of coffee, belgian apple torte and Francis’ homemade biscotti. We had a great time  eating and exchanging stories while the girls enjoyed their elephant pizza and play time together.


KidsNo comments — Posted by: Nerissa
01/22/11

A Wintery Adventure

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : A Wintery Adventure

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : A Wintery Adventure

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : A Wintery Adventure

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : A Wintery Adventure

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : A Wintery Adventure

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : A Wintery Adventure

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : A Wintery Adventure

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : A Wintery Adventure

One afternoon, I decided to have some outdoor playtime with little Lily so her very pregnant mother can get some rest. Lily, Luna and I got all bundled up and played at the beach and park by our house. We collected some feathers and leaves and ran around to keep ourselves warm. It was great fun to hang out with little Lily and watch her skip, jump on the swing and say hello to the dogs walking by. It made me feel like I was 3 years old again.


Domestic 2.0 / Kids / PlacesNo comments — Posted by: Nerissa
01/08/11

Baba’s Buddies

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Babas Buddies

I would like to introduce Luna’s favourite buddies from Left to Right: Elephant, Teddy, Ducky, Ollie, Sweet Pea, Little Lamb, Punky and Owl. These are her stuffed friends that keep her company. Little Lamb is her favourite as she stays with her in her crib during naps and throughout the night. Little Lamb also gets the most hugs and kisses from Luna and without Little Lamb, naps and sleep time just wouldn’t be the same.


Domestic 2.0 / KidsNo comments — Posted by: Nerissa
11/28/10

Playdate for Little People and Big People

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Playdate for Little People and Big People

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Playdate for Little People and Big People

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Playdate for Little People and Big People

Today was spent at Francis and Tracy’s place for a little Lucy, Orla and Luna playdate and for the big people to re-connect. Francis and Tracy made us some fabulous sandwiches, banana bread and homemade apple tart made on a whim by Francis himself. We brought Peter’s yummy rosemary parmesan baked polenta chips and a couscous salad. Food with lots of chatting and laughter makes for a perfect weekend, again.

After lunch while the kids played and the two big boys chatted in the living room, Tracy and I had some time to talk mom to mom. It’s rare for two moms to be able to sit down and have a nice conversation without kids climbing all over us. Tracy and I both come from the creative industries so it was nice to be able to talk to a mom who understands the need to not loose your creative self-identity. I think it’s always a challenge to find the right balance of motherhood and rediscovering yourself again. While there are many challenges, there’s also lots of  opportunities to chart out personal passions and steer life in new directions. While there will always be decisions to make and paths to find, I believe we have the power to shape our dreams and nurture a family at the same time.

I feel like this past year, I’ve had the time to re-discover who I am again as a creative person. Even with limited alone time, I feel the most creative I have ever been in years and ideas are bouncing out of my head. I’ve learned to really stay focused and to continually remember all the things I want to achieve and to only work on things that bring me closer to what I want to accomplish in my life. With all the choices that I am constantly faced with daily, I always have to stop and ask myself this question, “will doing this bring me closer to my goals and aspirations in life?” If the answer is no, then I turn around and simply don’t do it. If the answer is yes, then I jump right on it.

Though things will continue to change while Luna grows and our family grows with her, I feel it’s important to staying focused on self-defining what matters in life. There’s no simple solution but the answers become a little easier when you’re surrounded by good friends and supportive households. The big people are growing up as much as the little people. As they should.

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Playdate for Little People and Big People

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Playdate for Little People and Big People

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Playdate for Little People and Big People

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Playdate for Little People and Big People


Domestic 2.0 / Interior / Kids3 comments — Posted by: Nerissa
11/16/10

Luna’s First Year of Life Book

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Lunas First Year of Life Book

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Lunas First Year of Life Book

This past year, I’ve been working on a special book documenting Luna’s first year of life. When we had Luna, everyone kept on telling us to take a lot of photos as the year will go by really fast. Well, we did and we took A LOT! In this digital age, I was a little concerned that the photos we were taking were just getting lost in our computer. I grew up (Which I’m sure all of you did too) where we had tons of albums at home documenting our life. I think that’s been non existant lately as our computer has become our photo album. But I don’t find the satisfaction looking through photos on my monitor screen – I feel less attached to the photos I am looking at. It’s just not the same. I want to be able to hold a book, go through the pages, feel the paper… it’s more intimate and feels more special.

So I came up with this idea and jumped right on it the first month Luna was born. It’s a 276 page book with different chapters for every month of her life. Here’s a little write up taken from the book:

To my daughter Luna,

I made this book, for you, to document your first year of life. Whenever you were having your afternoon naps or dreaming away in the evening in your cozy room I would be working on this book – creating something special for you to have. For such a little person, you sure have taught me so much about patience, love and to see the world with fresh eyes. When we first laid our eyes on each other when you were born, it was as if you knew who I was already and I felt the same. The love that I feel towards you is so powerful that I always have a hard time describing what it feel like. This book shows how much you have impacted our lives and how much love you have brought into our lives too. I hope that when you grow up and look at this book, it will be a nice reminder of all the special moments we have shared with you during your wonderful first year of life. All the milestones you had accomplished, your first frustrations, first solids, first rollovers, first vacation, first birthday… everything you learned and discovered, we were always there beside you, watching you discover your world and grow to become such a beautiful little girl. We are so proud of you, our dear daughter and thank you for coming to this world to be part of our lives.

Love, Mommy

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Lunas First Year of Life Book

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Lunas First Year of Life Book

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Lunas First Year of Life Book

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Lunas First Year of Life Book

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Lunas First Year of Life Book

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Lunas First Year of Life Book

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Lunas First Year of Life Book

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Lunas First Year of Life Book

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Lunas First Year of Life Book

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : Lunas First Year of Life Book

I plan to do one for every year of her life (crossing my fingers), kind of like an encyclopedia with different volumes. It’s really not that much work. I just take a few hours per month working on a few pages. Looking through this book now after a year has past, I can’t help but get a bit emotional as it’s really been such a special year. We now look forward to what year 2 will bring!


Art / Design / DIY / Make / Kids35 comments — Posted by: Nerissa
11/14/10

As The Months Go By

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : As The Months Go By

If you haven’t noticed, we take monthly photos of Luna. This idea was inspired by a story my photography teacher had told me back in highschool. It’s too bad I can’t remember who the photographer was but he took a portrait of his son, each and every day, during his first year of life. As a present to his son, he put all the photos together as a poster from day 1 to day 365. Normally, it’s hard to notice the little changes on a daily basis but with him documenting his son’s daily development he was able to capture all the little changes you ordinarily wouldn’t notice.

Years had gone by and I had never forgotten this story. When Luna came to this world, I decided I would do the same. Well, the responsibilities of parenthood took it’s course and I realized that taking the exact portrait photo of her everyday seemed like such a big task to a new mother. So instead, I decided to do a monthly photo of Luna with different patterned fabric background every month. With my love for pattern and fabric, I decided it would be fun to use a different pattern every month to make the photos fun and whimsical. Now that I look at these photos after a year had passed, it is amazing to see them all side by side and see the little and big changes the first 12 months have brought.

Twelve months was my end mark for doing this but I find it fun to do and I want to continue. But I need to find an easier way to do it – like a quick snapshot every month of her in the exact same location. Maybe sitting on one of her chairs in a corner of a room? Mmm…


Domestic 2.0 / Kids / Luna's Monthly Photos4 comments — Posted by: Nerissa
11/07/10

12 Months!

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : 12 Months!

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : 12 Months!

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : 12 Months!

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : 12 Months!

Peter Hoang & Nerissa Goco : 12 Months!

What an amazing 12 months it has been. Just a year ago, our little girl was born. She was so little when she came out and although she’s not that tiny now, she will always be our little baby. Luna has developed 4 teeth now and mostly refuses being fed by a spoon. She would rather feed herself finger food which for Peter and I, means major cleaning up after every meal. Luna traveled for the first time with us to Mexico, and she surprised us by being such a great little traveler (she slept for most of the 5.5 hour flight and happily waved and smiled at people around her).

At 12 months, she’s finally crawling and loves exploring the house. She finds going through our bookshelf and ripping pages from magazines and notebooks to be more enjoyable then playing with her toys. We’ve also realized just recently, that Luna fancies birds. When we were in Mexico, Peter would take Luna out and point out the birds flying in the sky. Surprisingly, she remembered that experience and gets excited whenever she sees any type of birds whether real or not.

Luna also enjoyed her first birthday party. She was so excited all day and was happy to play with her baby friends. It was as if she knew that it was her special day. We are also surprised to see by how many words she understands now. Like: “hi”, “bye”, “balloons”, “clap your hands”, “don’t eat it”, “birdie”, “eat”, “play the music”, “shake it”, “brush your teeth”…

It’s been a fun first year and we are looking forward to more growth and adventures in year two!


Domestic 2.0 / Kids / Luna's Monthly Photos6 comments — Posted by: Nerissa