Today Rhys is almost three months old...or he could be almost 2 months old since he was born 5 weeks early. I am not sure what to go by. But he has found his hands recently and has been sucking on it as best he can these days. He has trouble sometimes getting his fist to his mouth and you will find him with his fist hitting his cute chubby cheeks. Rhys has also started smiling more at us and at random objects around the house...namely our ceiling fan. He LOVES the ceiling fan. I put him down on the bed and spin the fan with my hand and he will stare at it in amazement!!

Brian and I have definitely gotten the hang of taking care of Rhys. We manage to go on outtings on the weekends and feel pretty accomplished when we don't have a meltdown. Last week, we even ventured out to 30th on 30th and met up with the gang to have some cheap food! We only ended up eating a WAY too limey ceviche and two small macaroni and cheeses, but it was still an adventure and we had fun. Yesterday, we went to Pearl to get some dimsum. He slept pretty much right through our meal. I feel so blessed these days to have Rhys in my life. Watching him grow every day makes me so happy! Thank you God for everything you have given to us.

Currently Rhys is riding on my back as I type this out. This is the only way I can let myself have some lunch and go on the computer (computer is on my mantle so I can be on it while I stand). But I don't care, these very few short moments during the day are like little bits of heaven for me. I can be me again! My plans for this week are to go to Macy's to return an item and possibly do some shopping if the baby permits me.

I ordered a baby carrier from HOSAUSA yesterday. It is called a Chunei. It is basically the same as what I am wearing right now, but I got one in a Dark Jean look. This one works fine, but is pretty ugly and don't really wanna wear this out in public. I am also planning on making a trip to LA to be with my family on Dec 8th. I will be home for about a week so my mom will be very happy. She tells me that whenever she misses him, she closes her eyes and pictures his cute little face. I will be grateful for the help that my mom will be for me...plus I can do some needed bonding with my family.

It's about time for Rhys to wake up so I will end this blog here...Til next time!!!

Zombie parents

These days, all Brian and I do is feed the baby and change the baby and rock the baby when he is fussy and sleep somewhere in the middle if we can even get a chance. The first week with Rhys at home with us was tough because I was doing what is called "Triple Feeding" which is basically me taking Rhys to my breast for 20 or so minutes and then feeding him whatever he will eat of my breastmilk that I express into a bottle and then pumping my breasts for 15 minutes. He would eat and then sleep for about 3 hours so after all was said and done including cleaning the bottles and pumping accessories, I would have under an hour and a half to rest....if we were lucky. Usually he would be fussy sooner than 3 hours. That was a tough time indeed for all of us. Brian and I were not getting any good sleep at all.

Luckily these days my milk has finally come in and Rhys is feeding off of me much better than he used to. I am now exclusively breastfeeding, with a pump or two during the day to make a supply for brian to use when he feeds Rhys in the middle of the night so I can get some shut-eye. Right now, Rhys is sleeping under my arm while I am typing this out. He only at for about 10 minutes or so, so I imagine that he will wake up soon enough and complain of hunger. In any case, I am so glad that I don't have to pump. Pumping and cleaning the pump took about 20 minutes or so and having him take a bottle of expressed breast milk took an extra 20-30 minutes too. These days I will just put him at the breast for 30 or so minutes and if he is full enough, he will sleep for a nice hour. I guess I still don't get much sleep because he wakes up a lot more often than he used to. He used to feed about 7-8 times a day and now he is eating about 10-12 times a day. I am still not as frustrated about him getting enough to eat as I was doing with the triple feeding so life is a little bit nicer than last week.

We weighed Rhys today and he came in at 6lbs 5oz. He has already gained his birthweight and is now starting to gain weight! The lactation consultant that we met up with yesterday told us that she doesn't see any problems with me breastfeeding. She said that in another week or so, he will be doing great on my breast alone. That was good to know. Actually, the nurse and the doctor were both very happy that Rhys was feeding so well on my breast. It made me feel like I was doing something right.

Hopefully they are right and Rhys will grow leaps and bounds in the next few weeks.

We have officially run out of the Mi Yuk Gook that my mom has made for us. Luckily she will be back in SD for the weekend to make all that again and stock pile us with yummy foods. yay!!

In the meantime...Chipotle??

Here are some pictures of Rhys with his eyes open.

Look at those big hands! He is gonna be a big boy!!

 

 

Knitting a scarf in September

 

So I started really getting into cable knitting. I started knitting this scarf on Friday. I've been slowly knitting it little by little and having lots of fun looking at the results as it gets longer and longer. I think I'm about a quarter of the way done. However, unlike other scarves that I've knit in the past, this one really feels like a project. I showed it to my mom and she was impressed with the design that the cabling was making. I imagine that this should make a pretty nice gift once I'm better at knitting in this style.

This past weekend was a whirlwind. Brian and I went to LA to have dinner with my dad for his 60th birthday. We went to a Korean Seafood buffet called Hansong I think. The buffet was OK...but it was pretty fricking expensive. $26 a person! Plus dad always orders his soju so that was a nother $10 bucks on top of that. Anywhoo....we had a good time. Brian and Peter made a suicide pact to try and eat a snail that they were serving up at the buffet. They both had a really hard time swallowing it...bleh!!

After that, Brian and I were off the next day to Huntington Beach to have a belated birthday dinner for Sheila. Ruby and Raf decided to join us as well so it was a nice gathering. We went to a Peruvian place called Casa Inka. The food was decent, but there was waaaay too much salt in their cooking. I know this because I woke up the next morning just about to burst because I was so swollen. Brian had the runs the night before and apparently Ruby had the runs the next day as well. Raf had some heartburn, so we were all suffering in some way because of the dinner.

Brian's grandpa is in the hospital, recovering from Jaw surgery. I guess some of his teeth rotted so badly that it started to eat away at his jaw. The surgery was successful and he is recovering well. We went to visit him in the hospital after we had dinner with Sheila and Ruby. It was a whole lot of driving...but all in all, worth it because we got to meet up with a lot of important people in our lives.

Today is Labor Day and we plan on doing absolutely nothing. The dogs have been walked and they are le pooped. I will probably watch some more Harry Potter or Julie and Julia and continue knitting.  

Cable Knitting

 

I learned how to cable knit last night. I've been knitting for a little while, but I never got around to knitting cables because I thought it was going to be really hard to do. To my surprise, it is quite easy to do! I spent a few hours last night on various websites as well as youtube.com to get better acquainted with this style of knitting. I first started off by cabling every row and ended up with a big bunch of knots. Later, I realized that I only needed to cable after every few rows. Once I figured this out, it was smooth sailing. I started with this swatch of 12 stitches and worked my way into the evening. This morning, I learned how to add stitches to my work. So now I have successfully added on 7 stiches to my beautiful cable swatch. My plans are to make a scarf with this new skill of mine. Don't they look like those twisted donuts? Twisted donuts with glazed sugar are pretty much my favorite type of donuts.

 

On another note, I tried to put my ring on...just to see how well it fit me. The last time I tried, I could get it in, but it was a rather tight fit. This is as far as it goes as of last night.

 



 

This ring used to fit so loosely on my finger that I was afraid that it would fall out when I washed my hands. Sigh...but this is a sacrifice that I am happy to make for our little Stompie. Hopefully my fingers will go back to normal soon after Stompie comes out. What a pretty ring that I can't even wear out these days.

 

Finally, this is Julian...sleeping soundly after long and hot day. As you can see, he is quite possessive about his toys...but I thought it was cute.

Almost 34 weeks

So I'm a couple days from becoming 34 weeks pregnant. That's about 8.5 months along. I feel more and more like a big balloon, waddling my way here and there. Brian says that these days my waddle has gotten quite prominent, especially in the mornings. As I waddle into the kitchen to get some water in the morning, Brian says "waddle waddle waddle." I went shopping yesterday, thinking that I would be fine walking around a mall for 3 hours. I was being passed left and right by walkers who I normally would have passed with ease before pregnancy. I bought 4 maxi dresses because I figure that it's too hot for pants and since I can't fit into my prego jeans anymore, why not opt for some nice flowy dresses! I went to Macy's to start my search for these dresses. I found a really pretty dress that was black and purple, but it was a petite size and came above my ankles. I was really debating whether I should just get the dress and deal with the shortness of it. Luckily I kept walking and came across the Plus size section and there it was! The same dress, but in bigger sizes! I picked the smallest size which was a 0X and it fit perfectly! The dress came down to my ankles so it was an easy decision to purchase it. The retail price for the dress was $99.50. I thought it was funny because it was $10 more than the petite dress. I imagine they take into account the extra fabric it takes to make the dress... who knows... Anywhoo, I went up to buy the dress and the cashier lady told me that the dress was $35 dollars!! Apparently the dress was on sale for 65% off! I checked the petite and the normal sized dresses and those were NOT on sale! I was pretty glad that I checked the Plus size section cuz I ended up with a bargain!

The only bad thing was that I went to the Motherhood store afterwards and bought two more maxi dresses.

 

 I didn't like the orange rope that came with the dress so I found a black sash I had lying around from another maternity top and used that instead. Then I found this other dress that was on sale...so I had to buy it as well....

Mind you, I won't be wearing any of these cute shoes that the lovely models have on with their dresses. I will be wearing my trusty flip flops. I literally can't fit in anything besides my flip flops. Well, I exaggerate. I can fit into my tennis shoes, but only because I have let out the laces. When I have it on, I look at my feet and to be honest, they don't look like my feet. They look like a fat woman's feet, or even a fat man's feet! sigh.

So, after my three hours at the mall, my feet were in quite a bit of pain. I found brief relief while driving home, but that soon ended as we went to the Food Truck Night thing at Mira Mesa High School. That was another hour and half of standing. Food was good, but definitely not nutritious. I blame my SUPER bloatedness to yesterday's bbq pork and mac and cheese sandwhich as well as the creamy crabcake sandwich and roasted garlic fries. I can hardly make a fist with either hand.

6 more weeks!! Ugh...the last 2 weeks went by sooooo slowly. How will I wait 6 more weeks!?!?!

Here is a video of the alien in my belly!!! It's ALIIIIIVE!!!!

Not nesting but Knitting

As of Monday morning, I started knitting. This red and green newborn knit hat is my first project. Brian thinks it's pretty hilarious how it fits so perfectly on the koala's head. I was actually quite surprised too, but it does look like the size of a newborn's head. After I finished, I realized that the color was a little too dark for a newborn so I drove myself to Joann's to look for some baby colors. I ended up buying close to $40 worth of yarn! I bought yellow, lanvender, white, minty green, orange and black (for halloween), and a couple multicolored ones. I am currently working on a yellow and lavender knit hat. The brim is yellow and the top is lavendar. I almost gave myself a headache while knitting it, but I stopped in time last night. I either keep Julie and Julia or one of the Harry Potter movies on in the background when I am knitting. I believe that I've watched Julie and Julia probably over 100 times by now. But for some reason, it never gets old! I can always count on that movie to pick me back up again. It used to be You've Got Mail or Sleepless in Seattle, but these days, this movie is by far my most favorite. A close second is the movie "It's Complicated", but that's only because Meryl Streep is in it. I think she is my favorite female actor out there. I think I like her as Julia Child better than the actual Julia Child. I find myself watching actual episodes of The French Chef and getting a little bored. I am more amused to watch Ina Garten who is now my favorite chef over Giada. I can watch that lady cook every day! Now only if my DVR will function properly today so I can get in some good Barefoot Contessa today...

Oh the swollen feet~



This is a picture of me lying down on my bed, staring at my belly with my camera and another of me in the bathroom. These days I wake up in the morning with my fingers stuck open. I try to make a fist and my fingers almost spring back open! There is so much fluid around my joints that it is quite difficult to move my fingers as well as I used to. It hurts even to pull the covers over me...not that I have to often since it's so hot these days. I must be overheating because Brian, the one who is always complaining that it's too hot, actually sleeps with the blanket on without a complaint. I sit there in awe that he is not dying from overheating under the heavy blanket, but apparently I am the only one truly suffering in this heat. My feet are the size of elephant feet. I push the tops of my feet in with my finger and I get about a 2+ pitting edema score. I feel like a marshmallow. I can tell very much when I am swollen because I can't even fit into my pants or my shoes. I have resorted to wearing loose-fitting pants or spandex. I can't wait until I deliver and can shed this unnecessary water weight.

I saw Jill Elder the other day. She is about 1 week less pregnant than I am. She is having a boy and I can tell that she is carrying her baby much differently than I am. She is carrying it all in front. We were sitting at a table and she barely had any room between her belly and the table whereas I had a good amount of space still available. Her belly looked pointier and more round than mine. So this makes me think that I may be carrying a girl instead of a boy like everyone else is thinking. I actually had a dream about having a baby the other night. I had a dream that I had a girl. It was interesting because the baby was already a few months old in my dream...but I definitely remember feeling that sense of responsibility for this child. Funny how other people have been dreaming that I would have a boy and I end up having a dream about a girl. I think it would be more fun to have a girl, so I can dress her up in cute little outfits. Jill said she already picked out a halloween costume for her baby boy. He is to be a little skeleton this year. I think I will make mine into a pumpkin if I decide to get a costume. It should make a cute announcement photo.

Can it be Fall already!!??!

The weather these days is so hot!! Being pregnant is not helping my situation either. I get hot at the snap of a finger! One flight of stairs and I am huffing and puffing. (sounds kinda like heart failure actually...hmmm) Well anyways...I can do the stationary bike and I can walk for an hour just fine so I imagine I am ok. I was vacuuming this morning and I broke out into a serious sweat! I was quite satisfying when I looked at the full canister at the end of it though...the damn dog are shedding like crazy! I wish it was 65 degrees right now. I sometimes wish that I got pregnant in May or something so it would be January right now. But my parents tell me that it's better this way because it will be better for the baby to be born in the fall since it won't have issues with the heat. But what about me!!??? Sigh. I am officially 32 weeks pregnant. The baby is supposed to be a little under 4 lbs and apparently the size of a jicama or a pineapple. The baby is kicking a lot these days. It practices its karate moves on me. My mom saw the baby move this past weekend and she told me that it has to be a boy. She told my dad later that day that she saw my belly jiggle because the baby kicked so hard. haha.

My mom is very worried about my swollen feet. She stands there and gives me the look of worry. I can feel her worrisome eyes pierce the back of my head as I stand to walk to the bathroom. I told her that I can sense her looking at me with pity. I actually cut my stay at home short so I wouldn't be there for her to look at and worry over. But alas...she is a clever woman who will still figure out a way to worry about me. She called me 4 times in a row while I was eating dinner the other night and then had my dad call me as well. I told her that the swelling has gone down a little and then she started to give me a list of foods that I should be eating, including tomatoes, carrots, and something that I can only translate into english as "elderly pumpkin". I told her that I would try those things and I left her feeling a little bit better. But I'm sure I will get more worried calls in the next few days. I love you mommy!!!

Yesterday I went to go get some Hawaiian Shave Ice with Stephanie over in the Scripps Poway area. Now that I think about it, I should have taken a picture of it like every other person who writes on a blog. Imagine an 8 oz cup/bowl with a scoop of ice cream at the bottom and a HUGE mound of shaved ice on top of it. Drizzle on your favorite syrup and you have Hawaiian Shaved Ice. It was a very nice way to cool off. Too bad it only lasted like 10 minutes. The ice is so soft that you end up eating it faster than you think you can. Next time I will get the 16 oz.

Today is my monthly OB appointment. Brian will be joining me today. He actually woke up early today to get to work early. I thought it was so cute that he set his alarm to 6:10 am!!! Unthinkable!!! But he ended up waking up close to 6:45 am...haha. But still! He tried...and I appreciate it. After today's appointment, I am going to have to see my OBGYN every two weeks. I have a lot of questions to ask her. I am most worried about my blood pressure and the swelling that I have in my hands and feet. I also worry about gestational diabetes. I got the okay that I don't have it when I was around 24 weeks along, but I've grown so big in the last few months that I don't know. Hopefully all will go well today.

almost 32 weeks

I'm almost 32 weeks pregnant and I have discovered that I have stretch marks!!! I wasn't actually paying attention to them because they are on the lower portion of my abdomen. I can't see that part of my belly unless I tilt it up. But today, I took a mirror and looked...and there they were...tens of little red stretch marks on my belly!!! Nooooooooooooooo!! I read that women cry when they get their first stretch mark. I didn't cry, but I am sad. I still have 8 more weeks to go and I imagine that I am gonna get much bigger in the next few weeks. Sigh. I think I really need to work out more and eat less. I can't believe that I've gained 40 lbs. I think it all happened while I was working at Tri-City. I was working much different hours than I was used to and I was eating at 8 or 8:30 pm and going to bed at 10 pm. 2 months of that and I guess I shouldn't be so surprised that I gained all this weight. I gained about 30 lbs in less than 3 months!! What's worse is that I've been slathering my belly with honey butter religiously every since I was 4 months pregnant!! I guess my family genes win. My mom has stretch marks on her belly but didn't put any lotions on her belly for any of her pregnancies. I am just hoping that they don't get much worse than they are now. PLEEEEEASE!!! I am gonna gym it and eat healthier starting today!! >.<

I started reading The Portrait of Dorian Gray yesterday. Pretty interesting book. I, like others thought the men in the book to possibly be gay as well, but I guess times were a little different back then and saying that you were intimate doesn't mean that you really were "intimate" the way we think of it today. It just means that they were close friends. Reading this book, I thought to myself that I am not like this man. I am not the type to be enlightened or changed by one man's words and become a different person. Does that mean I am scared? Probably...or probably more careful than I need to be. But I guess I am still young enough to live life to the fullest and hopefully not have a list of regrets when I am old and wrinkly. Yes...I have to say it's because I'm scared. I'm scared of the unknown, of the unfamiliar, of being alone. But at the same time, I've seen myself through a few changes in my life that I was sitting on because I was scared. So I know that I can do it if I just do it...it's that just doing part that takes a lot of courage. I also realize that I come out the other end, realizing that it wasn't that scary...whatever it was. I also think that change doesn't happen as drastically as I fear it will. People do change, but they are still the same. Reading about other people's lives on facebook makes me depressed for my own life not being as fun. But then again...I also think that these fun lives could be a fabrication as well. Who knows. I need to not be on facebook so often and just live my life and enjoy it for what it is...my life. My life right now is my pregnancy. Feeling the baby kicking everyday brings so much joy to my often dull days laying in bed, and not being as active as I want to be because my feet are swollen and hurt when I walk long distances. My bladder is also hurting these days and I would have to say getting in and out and moving from one side to another in bed is the most tortuous for me physically. Getting down on the floor to hang out with the doggies at eye level and having to get back up on my feet is quite the task these days. I have to get on all fours before I can get back up. I've developed some sort of pregnancy arthritis in the last month. If I don't move my hands for a bit of time, it starts to stiffen up and I have to warm it back up again. Sometiems I sleep with my hands curled up and I find it stuck in that position in the morning. I have gained about 24 lbs and I am only 26.5 weeks pregnant! My mom always told us about how she gained so much weight when she was pregnant with me because she gave no regard to her diet. She said she would eat whole baby chickens at Bob's Big Boy at least once a week (bones included). But in the end, when I asked her how much weight she gained, she only gained 38 lbs. I imagine that I will be right up there in another 3 months. What's worse is that I'm not even indulging...well at least not like my mom was. I just need to walk more...but oh my feet...and oh my bladder...sigh. All I wish for is for this swelling to subside a bit. I don't even try to put my wedding ring on because it doesn't fit anymore. I remember when I first got the ring, I was worried that I would lose it because it felt so loose on my finger. I could make it go round and round back then. Someone told me that when I got older and hand children that the ring would fit better. Nay! I am determined to make it loose again once the baby is born. That will be my goal...not lose __ lbs but rather, make my ring fit nice and loosely on my finger again.

Saturday on Monday

This was my first official working weekend. It felt a little weird because although I knew it was Saturday and Sunday, it sure didn't feel like a weekend to me. I weirded myself out a few times when I was on break watching the news. They would talk about the #1 weekend box office movie and I'm like...why would they be reporting on the weekend box office movie when the weekend isn't even here yet? Then I'd come to my senses and realize that it was Sunday. Sunday also happened to be my 31st birthday. Brian, Steven, Stephanie and I went to Manna BBQ to get some good meat grub going. It was the best dinner! I had initially requested we go to URGE so I could get myself a nice Milk Burger, but unfortunately their kitchen closed at 8:30 pm on Sunday. In any case, I got a nice meal and a yummy cake. I also bought myself a b-day gift. Went to DSW to buy a pair of cute sandals for the summer and I ended up buying a nice bag instead. It is quite utilitarian with lots of pockets. Brian was pleasantly surprised by my choice and remarked that he was rubbing off on me. I think that may be true.

I also FINALLY found a place where they sell blueberry ice cream!! Last winter, we went to Reno and I found a wonderful new flavor of ice cream called Huckleberry. Apparently they sell this type of ice cream in other places like Montana, but not really in California. I searched and searched for even a blueberry ice cream which is the closest thing, but no grocery store carried such a flavor. I read somewhere that since blueberries are not cheap, people don't make ice cream out of it commercially much...whatever! Anyways, Brian and I were buying Banh Mi one Sunday and while we were waiting for our order, we decided to roam around the Fresh N Easy store that was nearby. We looked around...overall not too impressed, but when we turned the corner to go back to pick up our bananas I noticed the Blueberry ice cream being sold for a mere $2.99!!! What a steal!! I wish there were more blueberry chunks, but overall I love the taste and I will go back and get some more when I run out.

Today is Monday, but it is my Saturday!! A little lonely for a weekend, but I'll manage.



A Quick Visit Home

Picture of Carol's Bridesmaid Bouquet hanging over the living room calendar

Decided to go see my parents on Sunday since I have Monday off. It was quite the drive up to LA but it was worth it. I got to eat a nice dinner with my mom and dad. I also used my time on the road listening to Fifty Shades of Grey. I think I've gotten through about 6 chapters of the book so far. It's pretty interesting, but the lady who does the narration for the audiobook also does the male voice as well. It's really hard to visualize a hot man when his voice sounds like a woman's voice trying to sound like a man's voice. Anywhoo...I am looking forward to my drive home to find out what happens to Anna Steele and Christian Grey. I'm going to go get some lunch with Dad today and then head home. Dad is really happy that I am pregnant and he told me that while I am pregnant, he is going to treat me to all the yummy food that I want. How cute. I also am planning on buying some protein powder at the Korean market. I've been drinking the protein powder that Carol had left me with (Thanks Carol!) and I really like how it keeps me full longer in the mornings when things at work can be quite hectic.
Stompie is doing well. Stompie is kicking and punching and rolling around like a happy baby. Ooo! Just felt a kick!

So I've been watching Maury and Jerry Springer this morning and the theme of both episodes were paternity tests. A teen mom comes on stage to say that she doesn't know who the father of her child is. She has slept with three men and they are also on stage, waiting to hear if they are the father of the child. All the men are refusing to accept that this child could be theirs, saying "It's not mine! It's not mine!!" One man is the father and once revealed, all hell breaks loose. The woman wants her current boyfriend to be the father, but that is not always the case. Watching shows like this makes me so happy that I am not in any situation like this. It's entertaining to watch to say the least, but the reality of their situations makes me a bit sad. Poor kid...what a horrible thing to know that your dad doesn't want to be your dad. sigh...enough of this!!

My attempt at French Toast

Made some french toast this morning! I saw that my sister made some french toast that looks a lot more delicious than these and I figured I would make some since I had some leftover sourdough bread. Not the best lighting but whatever,....I was hungry! I didn't have time to sit there and get better lighting so I could take a pretty picture of my food. It was quite yummy but I think two slices was a bit much for me. I ate my breakfast in the living room watching "That Thing You Do". I think for one year, sometime during my teen years, that movie played on HBO or Cinemax just about every week. Thanks to that, I probably have watched that movie at least 10 times. Anyways, I love the end when the guy who had always loved the girl finally confesses to her that he loves her with a kiss as she is waiting for a cab to go back to her hometown. After the kiss, they walk arm in arm back into the hotel, staring lovingly into each other's eyes. <3

I will savor this weekend the best I can. This first week at work for me has been exciting, nerve-wracking, tiring, and sometimes frustrating. But now I am going to spend the next three days doing nothing but relaxing and resting. For me too, but mostly for the baby. Poor thing has been going around the hospital as mommy runs from here to there, helping people. I feel Stompie kicking a lot these days and to be honest, it is actually quite comforting knowing that I have someone with me even through all the chaos at work. I have Stompie to remind me of what is important in life...to sit down and take a break and remember to eat and take care of myself instead of trying to please everyone else.

I am hoping to go get some dim sum today...maybe tomorow since I already ate my breakfast. We'll see.

Weekday morning

The morning started off quite busy for me. I went to the doctor's office for my Glucose Tolerance Test that took 2 hours. I fasted the night before and went into the office to get my blood drawn. Then, the lab tech gave me a bottle of an orange colored juice for me to drink. It tasted like super sweet fruit punch. I made a face when I realized how sweet it was and the lab tech acknowledged that it was indeed quite a sweet drink. It took me about a minute to drink it all, but I did and then I went back to the waiting room to wait for an hour. Around 9 am, they called me for my second blood draw. Then it was back again to the waiting room for another hour. But instead of waiting in the waiting room, I decided to get a car wash. It took me only 5 minutes to drive to the car wash in PQ so I figured that the actual car wash wouldn't take more than 30 minutes. Well, they must have put a lot of extra attention to my car because it took just about an hour for them to be done. I rushed into my car and raced back to the doctor's office and as I opened the door, the receptionist recognized me and told me that the lab tech had been waiting for me. I was about 10 minutes late. The lab tech told me that he was yelling for me in the waiting room like I was a celebrity! He continued to describe a scene from A Streetcar Name Desire and yelled, "Ciiiiiindy!!!!" haha. He said he was just about to give me a call to see if I was okay. I was glad that those guys have a good sense of humor. I apologized, but they said it wasn't a big deal.

Brian came home for a little bit and I watched him care for his lawn. He loves his lawn so much. I just wish the dogs wouldn't dig. Many of our plums are also fully grown! The only bad part is that they get regularly pecked by the birds in the neighborhood. I have found several with holes on the sides of them...bummer. Today marks the last day of my weekday-weekend. I go back to work for two more days and then....3 day weekend!! w00t!!! Too bad I have the sniffles. It feels like my head if full of snot. I wanna blow it out, but I think my brain will come out with it...so I will just wait.

....and one more wedding!

Brian and I went to a friend's wedding today. This wedding marks #3 this month! But this one was different since I wasn't part of the wedding party. It was just a little more relaxing not being part of the wedding spotlight. The wedding ceremony was at the Palisades Presbyterian Church and the reception was at the Seaside Room over in Marina Village by the Sea World area. During cocktail hour, the boys and I found a good spot by the door so we could catch the servers as they brought out the hors d'oeuvres. The second a server came out the door, Brian would say, "Hey! Whatcha got there?!!" and that was our que to grab whatever was on the plate.

The dinner was a buffet-style which was alright...besides the waiting we had to do before we could get in line to grab the food. We anticipated leaving the wedding around 10 or 11 pm, but the crowd at the wedding was more family than friends so we decided to leave early...around 8pm. We didn't even stay for the cake!! But I have some red velvet cake from Sorrento European Bakery that I bought this morning along with 6 Banh Mi!! I looooove Banh Mi!! I love it especially with red and yellow baby bell peppers. We had some for lunch along with a cup of strawberry and banana smoothie. Stompie was probably very happy with my selection for lunch....quite healthy. Well, I felt bad because yesterday night, my dinner consisted of mini corn dogs and popcorn with soda. We watched Prometheus at 9 pm so decided to enjoy some junk food. Halfway through enjoying the corndogs, I realized that hotdog sausages were one of the foods that I put on my "Foods to Avoid" list. It was good though. Sorry Stompie...mommy will try harder to eat healthier for you.

Back to the wedding...I usually don't have many complaints when I go to weddings...but at this wedding, I actually had several. Well first of all, the reception did not have assigned seating. I did not like this because we had to search for a table that had 6 empty spots. We eventually found a spot, but I did not like having to look for a seat. Second, the roof at the reception started to leak! Brian told me that the water was from the condensation from the AC system...which by the way, wasn't working because it was a bit warm in there. Third, was one that I mentioned already...the buffet line. We were told when we could go up to get our food and this would be okay, but we ended up waiting a good 45 minutes before we were allowed to get some food. I know this would NOT fly well if it was a group of older Korean folks. Finally, when Brian went to the bar to ask for some wine glasses, the guy gave him a stack of USED plastic cups with wine stains on the rims of the cups from when other people drank from it!!! That was it. What kind of place WASHES their disposable pastic cups and gives it to their guests!?!?! Ridiculous. What's worse is that when Brian brought the cups back to the guy behind the bar, the guy's reply was, "It's just wine." Ugh!! Who hired these people?!

Anyways, that's enough venting for one day. Now for some good quality time staring at my belly.... hehehe.

Twitch twitch

I am currently watching the left side of my belly twitching. It looks like I am having a muscle spasm in my abdomen. It almost feels like it a muscle twitch too. But I'm going to think it's the baby kicking or punching. It feels weird to think that I have something inside of me that is making those twitches in my belly. I've been feeling the little critter move around and kick for a couple weeks now, but this was the first time I actually saw it. It was only about a month ago that I wasn't sure if the baby was or wasn't kicking and here I am...only a few short weeks later, able to see them! It's quite amazing how fast they are growing. The baby tracker app on my phone says that my baby is as big as an ear of corn. I can't believe that soon enough, this little one is going to be something that I have to take care of! AHHH!!

Work is going to officially start for me on Monday. I'm excited and nervous to see how I will do under various types of pressure. We've all been trained well so I think it should go okay. I just have to remember to stay calm. We got these purple jackets that will allow people to recognize us when we are on the floor. Sizes run way too big. I should have gotten a small...but our choices are final. I am stuck swimming in a medium for now. Luckily I know that I will be getting bigger, so I will eventually fit it...haha.

Julian and Pepper are both doing pretty well being left out in the backyard during the day. Having them out there makes my life a little easier when I get home because they are so beat from being outside that when they do settle down, they are very much inclined to take a nap if it is quite enough.

Here is a picture of my belly:

Acai Fruit Bowl



Sunday afternoon in PB with Acai Fruit Bowls and Cali Steak Sandwiches

No one told me about these wonderful Acai Fruit Bowls until this past week! Well I'm sure someone probably told me about it, but I just wasn't listening. I can't believe that I'm finally, after so many years, getting on the Acai bandwagon! I tried it one morning with my friend Isabelle at a place in PB called Cafe by the Bay and I was amazed at what I'd been missing all of these years! It tastes like a rich and wonderful fruit smoothie, but on top there are slices of bananas and strawberries with a sprinkling of granola and coconut shavings. It is heaven in a bowl! Their sandwiches are pretty darn tasty too! So I decided to take Brian to try this new eat that I found...and to my surprise, he's actually had it before! Apparently, Jamba Juice used to make these like about 6 or so years ago when Acai berries were the big craze. In any case, we ended up having a very delectable lunch. We came back home and in the backyard, I found a lot of our plums getting bigger on our plum tree. There actually was one red one that I picked off the tree before I realized that I should take a picture of it. It was quite sweet! I imagine that Julian will enjoy this fruit tree very much…although I read somewhere that dogs shouldn’t eat plums. We’ll have to pick them before he does.



Sheila and Frank's Wedding (6.02.12)

Beautiful wedding at Tivoli Terrace in Laguna Beach, CA

Sheila's Wedding Rehearsal

Chicken with Parmesan Risotto

Yesterday was Sheila's wedding rehearsal and dinner. I unfortunately only have this picture to show for our day. I realize that I should maybe start taking more pictures. I was actually a little wary that I would somehow get on that website, "Asians taking pictures of food". But in any case, this was a very tasty dinner. The risotto was creamy and had a wonderful infusion of parmesan without it tasting too greasy. The chicken was moist and crispy at the same time. It was all very good. Sheila is to be married in Laguna beach at a place called Tivoli Terrace. It's a show theater that is used on the side as a wedding venue. I will definitely post pictures of that day and post them for you to see.


The interesting thing about this wedding will be that although I am a part of the wedding party, I am actually going to be standing on the groom's side. With the pregnancy and my body getting bigger, I could not even zip up my dress halfway. Something had to be done, and Sheila decided quickly that I would instead be on the groom's side. She fortunately already had a girl on the groom's side so it was an easy switch. But it will definitely be weird standing with the groomsmen instead of the bridesmaids during the wedding ceremony. I also will be getting a boutonniere instead of a bouquet. I'd been practicing my standing with a bouquet so I am not sure what I will do with my hands.


I also realized yesterday that Laguna Beach is a really nice place to spend the day. Highway 1 was absolutely full of wonderful and cute little shops that I would LOVE to take a day to just stroll along. It would be a great place to have a first date. I will definitely try and go one of these days with Brian...hopefully before the baby comes. I saw a place where we could make our own t-shirt prints that I want to try out. But one thing I didn't like about that place was the traffic. So many people come here that massive traffic jams are bound to happen. It took me 35-40 minutes to travel 9 miles on that road! But still...I think it's worth it. 

Birthday Cake for Brian

It's become a tradition in our little, but soon to be growing family that I make a strawberry and whipped cream french vanilla cake for Brian's birthday every year. This year was no different. I particularly like this cake because it's not as sweet as the vast majority of cakes we eat these days. Brian and I love it.

So we've decided to name our baby "Stompie" while it is in the womb. During our ultrasound a couple weeks ago, we saw our baby stomping around and decided that was a good name to call it since we won't know if it's a girl or a boy until the little bugger comes out.

I definitely feel the baby more and more as the days go by. Its kicks right now feel like little taps at various places in my abdomen...but more towards the bottom. I feel Stompie the most when I am laying on my side, watching tv. Brian is definitely more excited about our baby. He likes it when I point out to him exactly where I can feel it kicking me. He also enjoys telling our baby that he is the father in a very low and sometimes creepy voice. Seeing Eric and Yoojin's Baby lat week made this pregnancy way more real to me and Brian both. As I held the little newborn in my arms, I say to Brian, "We are gonna have one of these soon!" Quite surreal, but very exciting to know that we created something together!

I am counting my blessing so far that I have not gotten any stretch marks. I am diligently applying Bella B Tummy Honey Butter on my belly every night. I get grease stains on my clothes, but I don't care. I'd rather get grease stains on my clothes than red stretch stains on my belly.