tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99282572024-03-13T13:38:26.912-04:00CKYGoing from a Y to a ZCKYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992760920074962977noreply@blogger.comBlogger149125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9928257.post-50703097207399316062014-11-11T00:03:00.000-05:002014-11-11T00:07:04.587-05:00 Walking water experiment - it actually worked!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MyyiWfOeuvg/VGGYZsUVFoI/AAAAAAAAAOU/tYM3KHgWoCw/s1600/IMG_0039-EFFECTS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MyyiWfOeuvg/VGGYZsUVFoI/AAAAAAAAAOU/tYM3KHgWoCw/s1600/IMG_0039-EFFECTS.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></a></div>
I saw a post for a science experiment that I tried with the kids this past weekend.<br />
Take 3 cups.<br />
Fill 2 with water, and leave the third empty.<br />
Using food coloring, color the 2 with water. I chose yellow and blue, but you can use any colors you want. Set them up in a row, with the empty cup in the middle.<br />
Roll up 2 paper towels into skinny snakes, and put each with one end in the water and the other in the empty cup.<br />
Result: The water should walk up the paper towel and fill the empty cup. The color will be the appropriate combination color (yellow and blue make green), and the water level should be even in all 3 cups.<br />
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I figured the color would turn out as it was supposed to, but I honestly did not think the water would be even in all 3 cups. That's a lot of water to move out of each cup, and I really thought the level would be significantly lower in the middle cup.<br />
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I set up the cups at about 3pm, and Emi predicted that the water would be green (I am impressed that she actually knew that!). When we went to bed that night, there was a little bit of green water in the middle cup, and Emi went to bed thinking she was the smartest person in the world. The next morning, the water level was equal in all 3 cups!! I am shocked... it really moved that much water out of each cup. Even 30-somethings can learn new things!<br />
CKYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992760920074962977noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9928257.post-18513404930099196892014-11-10T23:10:00.000-05:002014-11-10T23:10:06.785-05:00October recap<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hana's Elsa pumpkin</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Emi's Hello Kitty pumpkin</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Frozen sisters</td></tr>
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Those of you that know me, know that I LOVE Halloween. Last year I started a "Spooky Town" collection, and I hope to add to it each year. This year it was setup on the mantle, but if it grows I may have to find a table to build the town on (yippee!). I did not decorate the outside of the house this year, so Mr. 6 Ft Spider hung on our wall inside the house near the kitchen. The first few mornings I think I even startled myself when I came down and was greeted by him. <br />
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Last year, the girls only made it to 3 houses and then said they were scared and started crying. So I did not have high hopes for this year's outing. But we spent the evening with our good friends, and there were about 9 kids total Trick or Treating together, and it was great! The girls scored a bunch of candy, and it made me so happy to see Hana especially running top speed from house to house and getting really into it. I wish I had gotten it on video: she was scaling hedges, walking through front lawns, and even revisited one place again because she didn't want the night to end.<br />
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It was probably August when Emi said she wanted to be Elsa for Halloween this year. They had it all planned out: Emi would be Elsa, Hana would be Anna, Bear would be Sven, Chewie would be Olaf, and Daddy would be Kristof. Oh yeah, the afterthought - Mommy would be a troll. How did I get the bum end of this year's costumes? But then the next week Hana really got into the Incredible Hulk and said for over a month that she was going to be the Hulk for Halloween and she loved him because he "smashes" and would punch the air. So I got their costumes: Elsa for Emi and the Hulk for Hana. When I brought them out and said it's time to try to them on, Hana started crying and said she didn't want to be the Hulk anymore. Either the costume scared her, or she remembered Emi's birthday party when we did face painting and she thought her face got itchy when she asked to be the Hulk. Good think I think ahead (and mostly didn't want to get stuck without finding these sold out Frozen costumes anywhere) and got an Anna costume, just in case. Don't I know my kids well?<br />
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All in all, we had a great October. Emi had her first field trip with her Kindergarten class to a working farm and pumpkin patch. Since each kid needed a chaperone, we were able to bring home 2 pumpkins which both kids were very excited to decorate. They both turned out very cute, and I think we need to paint the pumpkins from now on. It's SOOOO much easier and less messy. The farm did tell us that if you save the seeds, dry them out, keep them and plant them in June, we should have pumpkins by Oct. I have saved our seeds and we'll see if we get any next year! I'll keep you posted. CKYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992760920074962977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9928257.post-80405567140104285592014-08-26T15:35:00.000-04:002014-08-26T15:35:17.573-04:00The summer comes to an endHere we are at the end of August. Hana's bday is tomorrow, and after the annual Concert on the Green at my parent's neighborhood, the summer will officially be done. A lot of people have been asking me if I have enjoyed being at home and if I am going to go back to work soon. I think I eventually will, I just don't know when. But I don't miss my old job (although I miss the people and "working" in a generic sense), which tells me I made the right decision. I achieved my goals of bonding with the kids before Emi started kindergarten, and getting the sleep issue fixed. Our sleep issue is not 100% fixed, but it's better than it was. Actually, we just passed our problem onto our 2 year old (great parenting, huh?) and Emi now sleeps in her room and rarely comes into our room now. But there are other things that I didn't have time to do! I am ashamed to say I only made it to the gym once this summer (but I plan to go on Thursday... oh who am I kidding, I say that every week). I still have a handful of recipes that I want to try out, I need to rid our house of all our baby items (for about a week I started wanting another one, then that passed pretty quickly), I need to paint the kitchen trim, and I need to paint the bookshelves. So lots to keep me busy!<br />
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Here are some highlights of our summer:<br />
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We kicked things off with Emi's graduation from Pre-K. They actually marched in alphabetically, but backwards, so Emi was first in I'm proud to say no tears, but I did get those tingles in my nose as we waited for her to march in.<br />
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Here is a pic of Emi on the last day of dance camp. She really enjoyed it, so we are going to start her in dance class this week. Someone this weekend said that I am in for a ride - lots of shoes, costumes, $$, as this studio is very into getting kids competition ready. Oh oh, I can totally see myself turning into a dance mom, I have that crazy obsessive personality. I have pulled both girls out of swim class, as they both are doing great and I honestly don't think it's worth it unless they are at <a href="http://www.murraycallanswimschools.com/">Murray Callan</a>, which was an amazing school that I miss a lot. We have enjoyed the pool a lot this summer, and I tell time by when the pool pump kicks on, which sounds like a plane starting up! If I am still lounging or on the iPad when it turns on at 11am (like today), I am in trouble and need to get my butt in gear to be at least a little bit productive that day.<br />
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We celebrated 4th of July locally, and found an amazing spot to watch the fireworks. Both girls made it through the entire show without getting scared and no tears (thank heavens, since I love watching fireworks). The next week, Aunt Kara came to town to visit before her conference. The girls really bonded with her, and cried for an hour the afternoon she left. We now have another Facetime buddy that they ask to talk to all the time. <br />
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Emi had been passing out invitations she made at school to her Birthday Pool party since April, so it was a bummer when her Bday party got rained out and we had to celebrate inside. I think everyone still had a good time; and Aunt T, Jess, Caden, and Jordan all came to surprise Emi just in time for her bday. Their visit was nice, and it was good to catch up with Jordan one on one, since it had been such a long time since we had seen her. I can't believe she will be 21 this fall, where did the little 10 year old I met in 2003 go? We took her around LA (btw, how is it that kids these days don't know who Jack Nicholson and other great film stars are? They had no clue who most of the Hollywood stars were!), toured SDSU, visited Scott's office in Riverside, and had a packed week. Emi got a bike for her bday (since she had a balance bike we didn't put the training wheels on), and on the first day she was riding around all by herself. I feel like we do experiments with our kids to see how they handle things, and adjust based on the outcomes. Anyone else feel like that, and I guess that's just how life works, except as a parent the experiments aren't on yourself anymore...<br />
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Around the time of Emi's bday, Bear was diagnosed with diabetes. Dogs get that, who knew?! But he was drinking lots of water, and was having accidents in the house and in his crate when we left him at home, which was uncharacteristic of him. Jokingly, I said it seems like he has diabetes, and lo and behold that's what it turned out to be. Aunt T said that he did seem sad and lethargic when they got here, but he was back to his normal self after the first day of starting his insulin shots. So now I am a SAHM mom and a doggie nurse. I am just waiting for the day that I accidentally stick myself with that needle instead of him, bound to happen one day I'm sure. So now we are at the vet every other week to check his sugar level, until we find the right dose of insulin, and he gets shots twice a day. My mom came to stay for a few days while Scott was in Phoenix, and my dad was in Alaska. We celebrated my Mom's bday here, and Bear sure had a lot of female company/pampering that week.<br />
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Here is a pic of Emi's first day of Kindergarten. Hana is all about wanting to be like her big sister. I asked her what she wanted for her bday, and everything she mentioned is what Emi has (a backpack, legos, play-d'oh), so I am out of original ideas of what to get her. I think she likes having Emi sleep in her room, and is so proud when she "slept in her bed aaaaallll night long", even though she never had that issue (but I reward her, too, with stickers and prizes when she hits a milestone such as 8 nights in a row). Scott says we are creating little consumerist, but if it keeps them out of our room until morning, I'm all for it for a bit.<br />
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So even though it seems like I have been a SAHM for a long time, we have had events or visitors almost each week, so we haven't gotten into a routine yet. Scott's surgery is next week, so Sept will also be out of the ordinary with Scott at the hospital and then at home for his 4 week recovery period. I am glad that I won't be working to be able to focus on him and take him to his PT sessions without any other stress or commitments. All in all, it's been a great summer, and I look forward to seeing what fall has in store for us!<br />
CKYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992760920074962977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9928257.post-84367580260612172472014-07-26T17:41:00.002-04:002014-07-26T17:41:55.470-04:00Just slow down!School called on Wed and sent Hana home with a little stomach bug at 9am, and she ended up having two sick days this week. GREAT - My plans for getting things done during their school days just went out the window. Too bad I wasted my one day alone this week and accomplished absolutely nothing, banking on the fact that I still had 2 days to get my project of the week done (which was to start painting the bookshelves). And of course, she was acting normal (which means crazy). Who are these kids that you see on Tylenol commercials who sleep all day and are slow moving? Mine have never had a sick day like that. But spending the days with Hana, and without Emi, made me realize how much I was missing the small things with my family. <br />
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My interactions with the girls seemed to revolve around getting ready to go school/work, getting ready to eat, getting ready for bed, getting ready to go somewhere, etc. I never really slowed down to enjoy just being with them with no distractions until now. When we're pressed to be somewhere on time (yeah, that never happens) or I had work to finish, or anything else that meant "hurry up and just do XX", I found myself loosing patience with them and yelling. I felt irritated a lot. I felt rushed, and like I couldn't seem to get anything done the way I wanted. <br />
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We didn't really have anywhere to go or anything to do until we had to pick up Emi from school. So every time she said "Mommy, come play with me" I said ok. I learned that her doll is named Teeny, that she's really good at doing the animal jigsaw puzzle set, and she's really bad at playing the matching game by the rules (she's a little cheater, we are going to have to keep an eye on this one). At one point, she took all of her shirts out of her dresser which would have really pissed me off a few weeks ago because I'm sure we would have been trying to get dressed to go somewhere. But today I just went with the flow, and watched her lay each of her shirts out on her floor and pretend that each was one of her friends from school. She had them all get dressed in their bathing suits for water day (which the poor thing missed because they send her home sick) and had them line up to go outside. She then brought then all back in when water day was over, and when I said it's time to go downstairs for lunch she folded all the shirts and put them in a pile to put back in the drawer. See, she really does know how to fold and clean up, she's just been keeping that hidden from us all this time!<br />
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I learned that when I slow down to enjoy spending time with the kiddos, I have sooooo much more patience with them. I have begun to see who I can be with them, and what I have been overlooking and taking for granted.CKYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992760920074962977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9928257.post-64789518164339191642014-07-16T13:28:00.001-04:002014-07-16T13:28:53.037-04:00Bodies in motion...It's been 3 full weeks now, and I am definitely still adjusting and figuring things out. You know the saying "bodies in motion stay in motion", well I am absolutely that body they are talking about. I have noticed that if I come home and sit down, even to check news while drinking coffee, I am most likely still sitting down trying to squeeze a last drop out of that coffee 15 hours later. I get nothing done on those days! If I come home and don't sit down, I may start 10 different projects and not finish a single one, but at least it feels like it was productive day.<br />
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I had a goal, that each week I would do 2 things: complete a project and try/cook one new recipe each week. So, I should have 3 of each done by now, right?<br />
Projects (doing good on this one): reupholstered the kitchen chairs, completed 5 PDUs for my PMP renewal due Dec 1 (only 55 more to go, woohoo), assess finances. I started 2 more little ones, so as long as I don't sit down, I think this is achievable.<br />
Cooking (not so good with this one): I think I have cooked about 3 meals total. And that means I have defrosted dream dinners and Scott prepared at least 2 of them. I hate cooking. And new meals means I have to actually go to the store and get ingredients, and put them together, and follow more than 3 steps. That is so time consuming! Plus, I think this was a goal during my maternity leave with Emi 5 years ago, with no new meals cooked during a 4 month period. I'll give this a few more weeks and we may need to reassess this goal. <br />
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Overall, things are going well. We had a friend in town last weekend, and I got more cleaning done in the 2 hours before she arrived than the 3 weeks I've been home! We had a little get together for friends on 4th of July weekend, which was fun. I think we are definitely enjoying the summer (and the pool) so far, so as long as I get up after writing this, I may complete my goal for this week, which is to organize my closet for the first time since moving in 1.5 years ago!<br />
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<br />CKYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992760920074962977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9928257.post-14771602681504442662014-07-01T13:56:00.000-04:002014-07-01T13:58:22.303-04:00SAHM: week oneI decided to leave my job and career for a little bit, and try my hand at being a SAHM. Originally, I was thinking it would just be for the summer, then thought that this might be permanent, then thought that this would just be until Hana goes to school full time, then that this might be permanent, then that this would just be for the summer... I guess we'll see how things go, and base it on my sanity level and the budget (in that order, of course).<br />
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I am transitioning into being a SAHM, which feels a bit like cheating. For the first 2 weeks, the girls are in daycare 4 days a week. Then, they will go 3 days a week until Emi starts kindergarten mid August. We may drop Hana down to 2 days a week around that time, but I am very concerned that she needs the socialization and that being at home with me everyday may<strike> make her stupid</strike> hamper her readiness for school.<br />
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I was super motivated on week 1! I put Emi into a 3 day dance camp Mon-Wed, since she has been asking to take ballet for a while now. So this was a good opportunity to try it out and see if she <strike>doesn't cry and actually let's me leave the room</strike> likes it. My packed agenda on day 1 ultimately ended up with a fail...<br />
7:30am - Take girls to school, drop off work laptop/badge at UPS and say goodbye to the last 10 years of my life<br />
8:00am - Go buy tights for Emi's dance camp. RANT OF THE DAY: stores need to open earlier! I thought Kohls would be open early, since this is the store that was open 24 hrs the month of Dec, nope. So I walked to Walmart (got my excercise for the day in), but they didn't have what I was looking for. I figured by the time I got back to Kohls they would be open, nope. So walked to Marshall's and Ross, not open. Back to Kohls, still not open. I gave up and went home. How am I supposed to run errands and save gas if stores are not open after dropping off kids at school? It's not like I am dropping them off at 6:30am, geez.<br />
9:00am-11:00am - cleanup office area and shower, the entire time thinking "I need to make sure I leave early enough to find tights"<br />
11:00am - back to Kohls, success at the first store, no need to go to Target and all my backup places I had in mind.<br />
11:30am - Wow, I've never been early to anything in years. What do I do? I'll eat my lunch early and get a Whopper Jr. at BK. It only takes 3 minutes to eat this. Now what? I'll just get Emi 15 minutes early, I'm sure they are done with lunch too.<br />
11:45am - They haven't even started eating lunch! Why is she pretending her lunch bag is a sword and dueling her friends? They are supposed to be eating already!<br />
12:00 - Get Emi dressed, eat lunch on the way to dance camp.<br />
12:30-3:30 - Great time at dance camp, no tears. She loved it. Good, we can come back tomorrow! Killing 3 hours of time is hard. I have no desire to do any more window shopping (did I really say that?) and ended up reading in the parking lot for an hour.<br />
3:35-4:00 - Emi is asleep in the car on the ride home. Plan: I'll let her nap in the van while I clean up the house a bit, then we'll go get Hana and make dinner before Scott comes home.<br />
6:15 - Phone ringing, crap, it's daycare asking if I was going to pick up my child. What actually happened: I cleaned up for about a half hour while Emi slept, the pool guy showed up to do wall repair, it wakes Emi up and I forgot to unlock the door so she's stuck in the van. Scott texts to ask if the pool guy is there while Emi screams that she can't get out of the van. Try to get Emi to finish her nap, but she is being <strike>Emi</strike> stubborn, so offer to lay down with her and fell asleep until phone wakes me up (Emi never went back to sleep, btw).<br />
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Overall a good day, minus the $22 late fee and lifetime of guilt I will feel for being late to pick up #2 at daycare. Day 1was not a success, but the week got better, and the alarm on my cell phone for every step of my day is my new best friend. Day 5 (my first with the kids at home with me all day) was great, although I still did not cook dinner that night. Baby steps, right?<br />
<br />CKYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992760920074962977noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9928257.post-49224169392692165902012-12-14T04:26:00.000-05:002014-11-11T00:04:37.660-05:00Moving to Temecula! Wow, I can't believe it's been a year since I last posted. I know, I said I would keep up with this, but since I joined Facebook there really isn't much of a point to my blog anymore. But, since we decided to buy a house, move, and put our house on the market this holiday season, I thought it was time to start blogging again. This might be just for me to document the stress levels, and home improvements, and to tell our friends and family if we have survived the rest of 2012.
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So... Scott has been commuting from our house to Riverside every day for almost a year. It's a 1 hour, 15 minute commute each way. Thus, we decided to move to Temecula. I had put the reality of moving off for almost 3 years, and we are outgrowing our house, so we decided to take the plunge. We started house hunting in June, put an offer on a short sale in September, and finally closed on the house just days of Thanksgiving. Buying a short sale involves a bit of drama, and our emotions were a roller coaster for a few months. But in the end, we got a house that I thought was a long shot, and I think it's going to be fine once we all adjust to the changes.
Since closing on the house, we have been cleaning, painting, and changing the carpets. Let me tell you, we can't get anything done with 2 kids running around. And one of Emi's outfits is all yellow in the back from head to toe as a permanent reminder that we tried to paint the bathroom yellow with 2 kids running around. Yes, we fixed the butt imprint that she left on the wall.
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Tomorrow the movers come, which has been the cause of my stress these past couple of days. It feels like we have so much to do, and I didn't know where to start. Every time someone asks how packing is going, my response has been "we haven't started". Here we are the night before the movers come, and we finally started packing today. Thank God for Scott, he keeps things together and got a lot done today (and tried to tell me what I could do to help). We are still not done packing, and we figure as long as the movers can get everything big moved, we'll do the rest ourselves over the next week. We still have the kitchen and our room left, so it shouldn't be that bad...
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Things are even a bit more stressful because tomorrow is the girl's last day at Childtime. I think I am taking it harder than they are. Emi now refers to it as her "old" school, and knows she start the "new" school next week. But I am having a hard time breaking these ties. I have spent the past 2 nights trying to make crafts for the teachers, and making sure our xmas cards are done so I can leave one for the school tomorrow. Yes, this is what I have been doing instead of packing...I think it came out really cute, though.
So, I will try to get about 4 hours of sleep, wake up early to go to Walmart to get cupcakes for the girls to take to school to celebrate their last day, and supplies to try to finish up the crafts tomorrow (yes, while the movers are here I will be working and doing craft in the corner). The movers are going to be here at 8am. Wish us luck, and I'll let you know how this all turns out!
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PS - This is my second move, and the first was cross country. But that didn't feel as stressful (surprising, given we had just gotten married, sold a house, bought a house sight unseen, and then drove cross country). I wonder if it's because we have kids now. I am definitely worried about how they are going to adjust, how they are going to sleep, if they will run into walls in the night trying to find our room, etc. Yup, that's what's making this more difficult! Darn kids...
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CKYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992760920074962977noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9928257.post-89220873100359656742011-12-08T03:06:00.003-05:002011-12-08T03:30:54.865-05:00November was a busy month!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZfOIRuI-qC4/TuBzgHrzKBI/AAAAAAAAAIA/w8JVpAOekko/s1600/IMG_0850.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZfOIRuI-qC4/TuBzgHrzKBI/AAAAAAAAAIA/w8JVpAOekko/s320/IMG_0850.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5683669725397329938" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uj-OXmuOGqw/TuBzgIWJ8jI/AAAAAAAAAH0/vq0h0zgqZOM/s1600/Thomas.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uj-OXmuOGqw/TuBzgIWJ8jI/AAAAAAAAAH0/vq0h0zgqZOM/s320/Thomas.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5683669725574984242" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QbLNh8IBqK0/TuBzf7y0VnI/AAAAAAAAAHs/uIa47ah2Vck/s1600/IMG_0808.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QbLNh8IBqK0/TuBzf7y0VnI/AAAAAAAAAHs/uIa47ah2Vck/s320/IMG_0808.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5683669722205542002" /></a><br />October flew by, with Halloween and Brick or Treat at Legoland being the highlights of the month. And November was a packed month with events. I also took Emi out of daycare about once a week to have a day of fun, since she should be able to take advantage of my maternity leave, too!<br /><br />I took Emi to see a helicopter, since she loves Harold the Helicopter from her Thomas books. One of the moms in the group was a firefighter, and she arranged for us to go see her friends who man the one that scoops up water and drops it on fires. I thought Emi would love it, since we were allowed to get in and sit in the cockpit. But the noise of it landing scared Emi, and she didn't want to go near it. But we got some cute pictures of her wearing the helmets!<br /><br />We then went on a road trip to Perris, near Riverside, to ride and see Thomas the Train. Emi still loves Thomas, and The Crack in the Track is still in the nightly bedtime routine. Scott says that he has the entire thing memorized, and can recite it without having to look at the words anymore. <br /><br />And the highlight of the month was going to see Yo Gabba Gabba Live. Emi is absolutely obsessed with Gabba (she was DJ Lance for Halloween), and there are days when we watch 8 episodes or so throughout the day! Our seats were on the balcony and on the edge, and it was a little spooky to be up that high with Emi, but I think she had a good time. I think Emi was more in awe of the show than anything else, since she sat on Scott's lap the entire time with her eyes wide, and mouth slightly open. She didn't want to dance, but given how high up we were on the balcony, that was probably a good thing. For the next 2 weeks, Emi kept on asking if we were going to see Gabba Live again, so we keep telling her that we'll go again next year (if she thinks they are still cool by then...).<br /><br />For all these events, Hana came and slept through them all. See, what did I tell you - easy baby! December is going to be a packed month, too. We already put our lights up, picked out a tree, and Emi helped decorate it. This weekend we are going to see Santa, we have a friend's bday party to attend, cookies to bake (Emi is taking after her dad and likes to help cook), and we'll end the year with Xmas and a visit from Theresa and family. Whew, here we go!<br />CKYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992760920074962977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9928257.post-45205282292300167162011-12-08T02:35:00.003-05:002011-12-08T03:00:29.445-05:003 months already?Time has been flying by since we had Hana, and I feel guilty for not updating. First, I want to say that having a second baby is not easier (as everyone says it will be) because you already know what to do. Breast feeding and lack of sleep is always challenging, no matter how many kids you have. We got off to a rocky start with feeding, and it was a similar experience to Emi's first weeks. Hana lost over a pound in the first 2 days, and milk supply seems to be an issue with me. But after weeks of wanting to quit, we finally got into a good groove and feeding is going well. BUT, things are going so well, Hana does not want to take a bottle now (as Scott found out on Friday when he was at home with 2 kids). The other big challenge was that Hana did not poop, and the longest stretch we had was 14 days. Everyone I tell that to falls out of their chair, but we are on track in that department now, too!<br /><br />Hana is also a very different baby than Emi was. I thought they would be identical, for some reason. But fortunately, Hana is very laid back and relaxed, and she hardly cries (although the past 2 days have been a little off for her). She was sleeping about 6 hours a night in her 6th week or so, and now sleeps from about 9pm to 5am. Since I am staying up at night to pump, I am not getting as much sleep but I hope to phase that out in the next few weeks.<br /><br />I go back to work at the beginning of the new year, and find myself trying to think of any and all options to either not go back, or keep Hana home with me. Maybe it's because Hana is an easier baby to take care of, but I am finding this transition much more difficult than it was with Emi (maybe because I was flying solo at that time, and the financial aspect also weighs on me). But it's looking like there is no way I can not work, so we are looking into how we can keep Hana at home for the first year or so.<br /><br />I mainly came on here tonight to see when Emi rolled over for the first time. I see that she did it at 3 months and 2 days. Hana rolled over for the first time on Monday, and she was 3 months and 1 week. But, Hana rolled over from her back to her tummy, and then from her tummy back onto her back. It's neat to see that both girls reached that milestone at about the same time. <br /><br />I can't wait to see what else Hana does in the next months, and I'll try to be better about updating, in case anyone other than Scott is reading :-)CKYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992760920074962977noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9928257.post-86961586707282052692011-08-30T15:23:00.007-04:002011-09-01T07:08:10.141-04:00Welcome Hana Rae<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wxD3ainFaxU/Tl9MOSU6tpI/AAAAAAAAAHk/nDeD_3QVMKQ/s1600/Hana.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wxD3ainFaxU/Tl9MOSU6tpI/AAAAAAAAAHk/nDeD_3QVMKQ/s320/Hana.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5647316266067342994" /></a>
<br />Dear Hana,
<br />Your first name means "flower" in Japanese, and that is a name that both your dad and I knew you were going to be named since we found out you were going to be a girl. Something about it just clicked with us, and we knew that was your name. Your middle name is one that we both liked and thought flowed nicely with Hana.
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<br />We met you on Saturday, August 27th, 2011 at 1:26pm. I started feeling something that morning at about 5am, and actually thought it was just gas pains. The feeling was very low in my pelvis, and didn't feel like the waves (aka contractions) that I felt with Emi, so I figured this was something different. I started timing them, and they were anywhere from 15 minutes apart to 8 minutes apart, so nothing consistent. Emi actually came into our room a little after 5am (which is early for her to wake up), so maybe she had a feeling you were coming before I even knew! Your dad decided to take her back to her room, and since I was wide awake I decided to start packing a bag to head to the hospital since I figured you would come this weekend sometime.
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<br />I was still feeling the "gas pains" at 8am, so we decided to skip Emi's swim class that morning. I had a list of things to get at Costco, and your dad had a Men's Warehouse credit certificate that expired that day (I was not going to let a $100 free cash certificate expire!), so I told Scott and Emi to go out and run some errands and then check in on me to see how I was doing. Maybe that was not the best idea, but your dad got 4 very nice ties without spending any cash!
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<br />After they left, I decided to lie down on the couch and try to rest and watch some TV. I downloaded a contraction timer app for my phone, and was noticing that I was having irregular waves, anywhere from 8 minutes apart to 4 minutes apart, and that they were all about 45 seconds long. After about an hour on the couch and not being able to take a nap, I decided to take a shower. Once I stood up, I noticed that they got a bit stronger. Every time I had one, the most comfortable position for me to get into was to bend forward and lean on something (the bed, the sink, my knees, whatever there was to lean on) and gently rock side to side. I didn't think I needed to put in my Hypnobabies CDs yet, and each time I had one I just said "Relax" in my mind, and rode them out until it was done. I am guessing it was about 11am when Scott checked in, and I told him to come home right away, and that I was calling my parents to come over and watch Emi for us.
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<br />Your dad got home all stressed out because there was construction traffic and it took twice the amount of time that it usually takes. He called my parents to avoid that street, but they forgot the cell phone at home and got stuck in it too. In the meantime, I paged the doctor on call (Dr. Zaid, who also delivered your sister) and told her what was going on. I still didn't think I was in labor, and she said we should go to the hospital and they would call her if she needed to come in. Once my parents got here, we loaded up the car and left for the hospital.
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<br />I put my Hypnobabies CD in for the car ride there (with earphones), and closed my eyes and tried to listen and relax. With my eyes closed, I could still follow all the turns and pretty much knew where we were, but it seemed like a quick ride and was actually surprised when Scott said "we're here" and helped me out of the car. We walked into the L&D wing, and as soon as we walked through the doors, I had to lean on my knees and ride out another wave. A doctor came out of a room at that time, and was up at the registration desk when we got there. I gave them my name and told them that I was having waves about 3 minutes apart, and he looked at us and smiled and said "Sounds like it's coming soon!". Duh. We checked in at about 12:15pm.
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<br />They put us into a room, and found that I was about 8cm dilated and that the baby was very low. They called the doctor to come in. I told them that I was starting to feel "pushy", and they said to just breath through them. I had my earphones in and was concentrating on relaxing and breathing, so the majority of this is what your dad described to me. While we were waiting for Dr. Zaid, the nurses said that you would be here very soon. When he asked for a more specific description of "soon", they said probably within the hour. At this point, I was having waves every 4 minutes, and they were about 2 minutes in length. It didn't feel like they were that long, it still felt like they were only 45 seconds long. Dr. Zaid arrived and started setting things up. I told her that I really felt like I needed to push, so she checked me and said it was ok, and to follow what my body was telling me to do, and she started putting her gown on. She also said that you were in a position that would be better if I rolled onto my right side. As soon as I did that, I felt the next wave come and you crowned. The nurse said "Doctor, there's the head, you better hurry up!". With the next wave, you were born. You had your hand up by your cheek, and that's how you joined the world, and I still see that's a favorite place for you to put your hand. Your were born at 1:26pm, and I am shocked and amazed at how fast your birth was. I am also in awe of the human brain, and that I was able to do all this drug free, without constantly listening to my Hypnobabies CDs (like I had to when Emi was born). I didn't even have time to switch to the Pushing Phase track!
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<br />After your birth, they put you on my chest and you looked at us and eventually fell asleep. We held off on weighing you and giving you a bath, but we later found out you were 8 lb, 2 oz. I'm glad you came on your own, one day after your due date. The doctor was guessing that you might be 9 lbs when you got to be one week overdue, so maybe you knew this and decided to just come now (if so, thanks!). Plus, I could finally stop the high protein diet I got put on at 36 weeks to keep you from putting on too much more weight.
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<br />As I write this, we are home and you are sleeping in your pack and play next to our bed. It's the middle of the night, and I can't sleep. It's cute to listen to you breath and the little noises that you make while you sleep. I can't wait to see you grow up, and see how you and Emi are similar and how you are different (you look just like she did when she was born), and I hope you two become the best of friends. I wish the very best for you, and a lifetime of love, smiles and happiness.
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<br />Love, MommyCKYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992760920074962977noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9928257.post-4203601767237702062011-06-02T14:56:00.003-04:002011-06-02T15:25:46.544-04:00Growing up, and the big girl bedI never thought of myself as a sappy person, but these days I can't help but look at Emi and realize that she's not a baby anymore and get all emotional about it. I see her talking more, starting to understand the world around her, and wanting to do things by herself without my help. She sits in booster chairs at restaurants now, rather than a high chair. She knows the dogs are not supposed to be on the couch and tattles on them when they get up there. She know that cars can go "crash" (that's a Scott related story for another time - no worries, not his car), that the stove is hot, and that the juicer is loud. She's in a big girl bed.<br /><br />Knowing that we'll need the crib for Baby Z2 in a few months, we decided to get Emi a twin bed. We let her pick out her own sheets (she wanted Thomas the Train), and we set it up on Saturday. I was expecting it to be a long and sleepless weekend, good thing it was a holiday!<br /><br />Saturday night, we put her to bed, and she didn't want to go to sleep. I'm sure it was strange for her. She cried for about 15 minutes, and when she was asleep for about 15 minutes we left the room. At about 11pm, Scott and I were downstairs watching TV. We heard a big thump (Emi falling off the bed), then little feet running, then another louder thump (Emi running out of her room and smack into a wall). When Scott ran up to see her, she was lying in the hallway holding her head and crying "owie, owie". Am I horrible to think this is funny? Emi, when you are old enough to read this, I'm sure you'll be laughing, too.<br /><br />The following morning, she woke us up at 6am by coming into our room (this is the part I dreaded) and was ready to play and start the day. That day, we went and got a bed rail. The rest of the weekend wasn't bad, but she does seem to have a wacky internal clock that has her coming into our room at 6am on the dot.<br /><br />On Tuesday night, she fell out of bed, even with the bed rail. The instructions say that you have to leave a 9 inch gap at the top of the bed (where the pillow normally is), but she managed to fall out of that 9 inch gap. I put her huge Pooh stuffed animal there to catch her, and Wed night she was very concerned about Pooh being in just the right place to catch her. I also stuffed a blanked under the sheet in that corner to hopefully prevent any more falls. No falls last night, but she did wake up on and off all night until about 1am and came into our room every time.<br /><br />Hopefully she'll be in a routine in about a week, and we can all start sleeping through the night again. But for now, I'm glad that she still wants to cuddle and sleep with her mommy and daddy. At least she still needs us...CKYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992760920074962977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9928257.post-30520599903356608172011-04-04T23:53:00.003-04:002011-04-05T00:21:49.643-04:00Baby Z #2 - first trimester thoughtsWe had an inkling that I was pregnant in Dec, and mid-Dec I took a test and confirmed that I was pregnant. So we got through the holidays not telling anyone, and I only took a sip of wine here and there so that no one would think I was acting odd and call us out on it. Xmas week, I got sick with a cough, sore throat and a runny nose, and it was hard not being able to take any medication. So the cough stayed with me for what seemed like 3 months (ohoh, whooping cough thoughts definitely entered my mind). I felt pretty horrible, and don't really know if it was just from being sick, or if it was pregnancy related at all. <br /><br />This second pregnancy so far treated me worse than the first (again, I don't know if it was just because I was sick and it lingered so long). But I didn't feel like eating anything at all, all day long. I felt bloated, had cramping, and actually felt nauseous the majority of the time (but no sickness, thank goodness!). I knew I had to eat something, so i felt like I was forcing myself to eat every day. The only thing I felt (after the cold went away) was drastically thirsty all the time. <br /><br />Given that I felt differently this time around, I started to think that maybe it was going to be a boy - "This boy is already making me feel miserable, and it's not even born yet." But in the back of my mind, I think I was hoping that it would be another girl. I liked the idea that there would be no surprises. We already have a girl, and know what the first year is going to be like. I know, everyone says that personalities are drastically different and you won't experience the same thing - but at least I won't have to buy an entirely new wardrobe for the baby, and I won't need to buy the peepee teepees if it's a girl! I think that's what I'm scared of the most - changing boy diapers, getting peed on, and cleaning IT. But just to be on the safe side, I started buying Emi all gender neutral colored clothes/shoes, and even looked at blue and brown PJs with footballs on them for her (but didn't buy the PJs because I realized I getting extreme).<br /><br />Scott went with me to the first trimester screening, and everything looked right on track. The only item that we had to watch was the location of the placenta, which was low and covered a bit of my cervix. In cases like this, you normally have to have a C-section, and I would have to have an amnio to make sure the lungs develop fully. My doc said that 99% of the time it corrects itself, so she wasn't worried and said I shouldn't either. This was also the cause of the cramping that I was feeling (whew, at least nothing really serious was causing it). We'll just check again during he 2nd trimester screening. <br /><br />For some reason, I'm not as excited to be pregnant this time around. One day, as we were talking about a possible work trip in July, I forgot that I was pregnant. Scott had to remind me that I would be 8 months pregnant in July, and probably couldn't go. I guess it's because the experience isn't new anymore, that the giddiness isn't here. I am not researching baby things on the Internet 24/7, and not telling everyone on the face of the planet that I am pregnant. AND, I felt like I started showing in the second month and started wearing my maternity jeans (it might be holiday weight... but hey, at least there is no guilt about pulling out the pregger clothes and feeling obligated to go on a diet!). I did have a little apprehension but the possibility of a miscarriage. I don't know why, but the thought was always in the back of my mind (don't pick heavy things up, don't exercise, just in case...). Maybe that's why I didn't really want to tell anyone that I was pregnant, at least not until we get past the first trimester.<br /><br />So, Baby Z #2, coming in late August. My guess date is August 26th (hmmm, Emi was July 26th and she didn't come till August), so I am thinking it's going to be a Sept baby. We'll see!CKYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992760920074962977noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9928257.post-63228685757693841132011-01-10T22:44:00.004-05:002011-01-10T23:02:28.883-05:00What a difference a year makes!<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_y0vRcDZOYRE/TSvVxjH7fZI/AAAAAAAAAHU/U0dCJ7HcrrM/s1600/_MG_4108.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_y0vRcDZOYRE/TSvVxjH7fZI/AAAAAAAAAHU/U0dCJ7HcrrM/s320/_MG_4108.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5560773212137815442" /></a><br />Sorry I haven't written in so long. I can't believe the last time I wrote was August. It seems like such a long time ago, yet really nothing significant has happened since then.<br /><br />I had a girl's weekend in San Antonio in October.<br />We dressed up as garden gnomes for Halloween.<br />Emi took her first trip to Vegas in November. She didn't do too well at the slots, but Scott did!<br />We had a great Thanksgiving and Xmas, with a lot of face time with Scott's family. <br />We had a very uneventful New Years, with me falling asleep on the couch at about 9:30pm. Scott woke me up at midnight, and then I promptly fell back asleep.<br /><br />What I couldn't help thinking tonight is what a difference a year makes in the life of a baby. Last year, Emi was too young to really appreciate Xmas. This year she was still a tad too young (I think next year is going to be a fun one), but she was at least able to play with toys and really enjoyed the cookies that Papa made. Last year she was eating baby food, and this year she is almost eating everything we eat (although she is a picky eater). Last year, getting her to sleep was pretty painful with lots of rocking and singing and crying, but now it only takes a few minutes to get her to sleep. She might cry a little bit on a rare occasion, but after 5 minutes she's usually fast asleep. And the biggest difference is that she's walking, and running, and trying to communicate (in the form of whining mainly).<br /><br />The one thing that strikes me is how little she's gotten sick this year (knock on wood, since it's still the middle of winter). Last year, it seemed like we were at the doctor and on antibiotics almost every other week. This year, she got a runny nose and seemed pretty congested prior to Xmas, but other than that she's seemed really healthy. Even with molars coming in this fall, she did great.<br /><br />Parenting has not gotten easier, but I think Scott and I are more comfortable with it. Everyday is something new, and right now the excitement of all the positive changes (I can't wait until she talks clearly!) outshine the negative (like when applesauce ends up all over the dogs after a bowl chuck).<br /><br />So we had a pretty good 2010, and I look forward to a fun and exciting 2011. Happy New Year!CKYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992760920074962977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9928257.post-44210621463131405182010-08-23T00:22:00.007-04:002010-08-23T01:01:49.967-04:00Emi's new haircutPrevious haircut:<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_y0vRcDZOYRE/THH51rPKwDI/AAAAAAAAAGY/AmQ1mrI-hCI/s1600/IMG_0376.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508458519785553970" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_y0vRcDZOYRE/THH51rPKwDI/AAAAAAAAAGY/AmQ1mrI-hCI/s320/IMG_0376.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Meet Emi Ray Cyrus (mom and dad's attempt of a haircut):<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_y0vRcDZOYRE/THH-Q_q76qI/AAAAAAAAAHA/FNSMktR26GI/s1600/IMG_0447.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_y0vRcDZOYRE/THH-Q_q76qI/AAAAAAAAAHA/FNSMktR26GI/s320/IMG_0447.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508463387173710498" /></a><br /><br />Today:<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_y0vRcDZOYRE/THH52YJtnTI/AAAAAAAAAGo/RGbXq7gL7ng/s1600/IMG_0454.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508458531842268466" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_y0vRcDZOYRE/THH52YJtnTI/AAAAAAAAAGo/RGbXq7gL7ng/s320/IMG_0454.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Background: About a month and half ago (I think), Emi started pulling her hair out. It started out with just a few strands here and there, and then we noticed the receding hairline across her forehead. Then it turned into a completely bald spot spanning almost 1/4 of her head (the left front quadrant). We asked the doctor about it, and she said it was probably a bad habit that she has developed along with sucking on her finger. As she pulled the hair our, she kept going back further to find more long hair to pull. After a bunch of lab work to make sure she didn't have a mineral deficiency or anything else, the recommendation was to shave her head to break the bad habit. I didn't want to completely shave the kid bald, so we tried a half way solution. Not good, and we chose not to go with the hari krishna look either. So meet the new Emi, bald for the first (and hopefully last) time in her life. I think in about 3 months she'll have the head of hair she was born with...CKYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992760920074962977noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9928257.post-1653756004270084582010-07-21T01:18:00.004-04:002010-07-21T01:38:09.168-04:00GoodnightI'm not sure why I am feeling so sentimental tonight. It might be because it's so quiet in the house tonight, or that things have settled down a little earlier in the evening than normal, or because I just finished watching a relatively intense episode of "The Closer". But I can't help but think that life is short, and that it if you are not careful it can pass you by faster than you could ever anticipate.<br /><br />As I turned the TV off, prepared bottles for daycare tomorrow, turned off the lights and headed upstairs, I had to fight the urge to pick Emi up and just cuddle with her for the rest of the night. If I am lucky, I will have a very long time to hug her, to show her I love her, to get to know her and hopefully become friends with her. I think about my parents and how lucky I am to have them as such a big part of my life. They are some of my favorite people in this world, and I am fortunate that our relationship has blossomed into what it is today. I hope that I am as lucky as they are. I hope I get at least 35 years to know my daughter, to see what she becomes, and stand by her every milestone in life.<br /><br />35 years sounds like a very long time, and hopefully it will turn out to be much longer than that. But right now, I just feel like Emi's first year has flown by. If the remainder of the years pass at this pace, it might make 35 years feel more like 35 seconds. I can only hope that one day I will be old and gray, and Scott is by my side and we can look at the daughter that we created and know that the world is right. But right now, I just feel like I want to hug Emi and not let this moment, this age, this day, this overwhelming love I feel for her go.CKYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992760920074962977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9928257.post-10769515333730321502010-07-12T19:44:00.002-04:002010-07-12T20:00:09.333-04:00July, already?!I sometimes see Scott going to this blog to see if I have updated it lately, and he sees that nothing has changed and goes onto the next surfing site on his list. Of course the guilt has set in, and I am now updating things so that he has something to read next time he checks. I am still convinced that he is the only person that reads this...<br /><br />Emi has started walking up a storm. We definitely see her walk now; every day, all around the house, up the entire flight of stairs (ok, that's more crawling), and right out the back door. She seems to prefer being on her feet now, and her balance is getting better every day. She can walk the entire circle of our living room and kitchen without falling, and we can sit on the couch and listen to the sounds of her heavy footsteps on the floor as she disappears from sight on one side and comes back on the other side of the kitchen. It's the cutest thing.<br /><br />We had a nice 4 day 4th of July holiday. I packed it full of activities, and maybe it was just too much because I got sick on the last day of our holiday. We went to see The Last Airbender, took Emi to her first Padres game, saw Avenue Q, and met with friends. Emi did great at the Padres game, and I think she really enjoyed it. She ate almost an entire pretzel, and bounced every time the music played. She even took a nap through the 8th and 9th innings.<br /><br />I have been sick since that weekend and spent almost this entire past weekend in bed. Scott was a lifesaver and took care of Emi and let me get the rest that I needed. It seems like we didn't have quality time with each other this past weekend, which really sucks and it's going to make this week feel very long until he's home again on Friday. <br /><br />All in all, things are great, and I can't believe that the summer is already half over. Where is the time going? Next things we know, Emi will be 1 year old (I am a little sad about that) and it will be fall.CKYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992760920074962977noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9928257.post-44364884522608833912010-06-21T13:49:00.004-04:002010-06-21T13:58:26.030-04:00Mom and Dad are the last to see things happenOn Friday, I picked Emi up from daycare, and they asked me what I had been practicing at home. I'm sure I had a confused look on my face, and they explained that they thought I had been practicing walking with her because today she took 3 steps, and yesterday she walked a little, too.<br /><br />So that's the trouble with daycare. Your kids will most likely take their "firsts" when you are not around to see it happen. <br /><br />All weekend we watched and waited, and urged Emi to walk. No luck. She stood up on her own (a first for us, too), but no walking.<br />UNTIL, Sunday night when grandma/pa were over for dinner. Upstairs, grandma and I were getting Emi's PJs on, and she walked a few steps towards grandma. Then downstairs, she took a few steps in the living room. Yay!<br /><br />As much as I have been waiting for this moment, it's a little sad now that it's here.<br />My baby is growing up so fast... I look at some of her newborn pictures and think "who is that baby, you look nothing like her anymore".CKYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992760920074962977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9928257.post-74292223657213510372010-05-01T21:21:00.002-04:002010-05-01T21:36:41.561-04:00Guess how much I spent for this?<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_y0vRcDZOYRE/S9zUDrepFeI/AAAAAAAAAGQ/isfazXaAE9A/s1600/IMG_0354.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_y0vRcDZOYRE/S9zUDrepFeI/AAAAAAAAAGQ/isfazXaAE9A/s320/IMG_0354.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466477207396881890" /></a><br /><br />Scott says I have a new obsession (this time I agree, unfortunately). But it is saving us a boat load! I paid $3.58 for all of this: 11 boxes of pasta and 4 roma tomatoes. <br /><br />I always clipped coupons, but I was the person who looked through them every 5-6 trips I made to the store only to find that they were all expired. I have started following various coupon websites and blogs, and have started matching up sales at the store with my coupons. The trick is to try to get multiple coupons (mom saves the adds for me from the paper, I print them off the web, etc). <br /><br />I must give credit where due:<br /><a href="www.thekrazycouponlady.com ">The Krazy Coupon Lady</a><br /><a href="moneysavingmom.com ">Money Saving Mom</a><br /><a href="http://www.jillcataldo.com/">The Coupon Queen</a>, who may have a weekly column in your newspaper (she does in mine, and started this craziness for me!)<br /><br /><br />Above, Ronzoni Smart Taste pasta sells for $2.49 a box. They had them on sale for $1, and I had 11 $.75 off coupons. Each box only cost me 25 cents! And those who know me well know I love pasta, so this will eventually all get eaten.<br /><br />Now, I need to hunt around for some sauce on sale and I'll be all set!CKYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992760920074962977noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9928257.post-6896829795448159342010-04-20T18:21:00.003-04:002010-04-20T18:28:36.083-04:00Socks!<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_y0vRcDZOYRE/S84qMuYuhRI/AAAAAAAAAGI/H_xfNpvRDJM/s1600/IMG_0308.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 179px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_y0vRcDZOYRE/S84qMuYuhRI/AAAAAAAAAGI/H_xfNpvRDJM/s320/IMG_0308.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5462349796145530130" /></a><br />The other day, Scott said that I had a sock addiction. I think it's completely normal, you have to buy what your child needs, right?<br /><br />Last week I noticed that she outgrew all her plain white socks. All the socks that she had were colored or striped, and didn't go with some of her outfits. So we went and got the 6 pack of plain white socks at Target.<br /><br />Here's a pic of my sock score this past weekend. Since she's starting to stand up on everything, and Bema thinks she's going to walk soon, I figured I should stock up on socks that have the little rubber grippies on the bottom so she has some traction. It's a tile floor at daycare, and regular socks can get awfully slippery! They had a sale going on, so I figured I would also buy the next size up, to take advantage of the sale. I also found the cutest knee high socks to make more legwarmers for her. It's getting to be summer (and her old legwarmers are getting a little small), so she'll be in onesies and creepers more, and needs the legwarmers to cover her knees for all the crawling that she does.<br /><br />Completely normal, right?<br />BTW - I am still so irritated that all girl baby clothes (and socks) are always pink! What if we don't like pink? How about some cool colors like magenta, or black, or leopard print?CKYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992760920074962977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9928257.post-24926103237756089112010-04-11T23:38:00.002-04:002010-04-12T00:01:35.850-04:00Our new normal - for now<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_y0vRcDZOYRE/S8KbBFcHlGI/AAAAAAAAAGA/7saifpDFPiI/s1600/IMG_0271.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_y0vRcDZOYRE/S8KbBFcHlGI/AAAAAAAAAGA/7saifpDFPiI/s320/IMG_0271.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5459096141268751458" /></a><br />It's been a while since I've updated this, so I wanted to get something out here since we've had a lot going on lately.<br /><br />Scott:<br />On March 18th, Scott graduated! Emi and I went to DC, and both sides of our families were there to help him celebrate. We all flew home from DC together, and after a few days off, Scott reported to his first day of work in LA. It sounds like he's starting to get settled in, doing a lot of admin "new guy on the block" kind of work, but hopefully he'll be getting some exciting assignments soon. Until we decide what to do with our living situation, Scott is staying at Eric's place Sun - Thu night (thank you Eric!), and coming home on the weekends. His commute from the office to our house is about 2.5 hours, and his commute from Eric's house to the office is about a half hour on good days.<br />On April 10th, Scott had a birthday (the first birthday as a father). I didn't get him a card (oops), but we were together and had a great weekend. Happy Birthday, honey.<br /><br />Emi:<br />Right before we went to DC for Scott's graduation, Emi started crawling. She is now all over the place, and the little bugger is fast. She seems to love the dog's bowls, and has more than once put her hands in their water bowls and made a mini-mess. We got her a jumperoo, and that thing is her favorite toy. I try not to put her in it too much (don't want the novelty to wear out too soon), but when she does go in, she can jump and play for about an hour. That's plenty of time to get things around the house done without having to chase Emi. A few weeks ago, Emi started pulling herself up. She can stand herself up in her crib, on the coffee table, on Bear, on us, pretty much anything. And I guess we are lucky that she also knows how to plop herself down again. I've heard stories of kids standing up in their cribs in the middle of night, and cry because they don't know how to let go. <br /><br />Colette:<br />I've become a pro at flying with Emi (ok, maybe it's her that's become the pro). I've also gotten in a pretty good routing with work, daycare, and taking care of Emi. Things at work are pretty busy, and I'm also trying to squeeze in a bit of quality personal time during the week with Emi, with friends, and getting out of the house for errands and shopping. This past weekend we splurged and decided to get the BOB stroller, and it's great. Hopefully now I can work some exercise time into mix. At least now there is greater incentive to walk to daycare! Last week, we had an earthquake which we all felt. We were in the kitchen, and Emi was in her jumperoo. That was the most exciting thing to happen in a few weeks!<br /><br />Our new normal feels pretty good for now (after Scott being gone for 5 months, this is a big improvement). I know he's sad to leave every Sunday night (it must be so much harder for him than for us, since we get to stay in our house each week), but things will work themselves out and we'll end up where we are supposed to be in a few months. Overall, the Z's are hanging in there!CKYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992760920074962977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9928257.post-65644353172175849082010-02-26T18:47:00.003-05:002010-02-26T19:08:04.288-05:00Commando CrawlingEmi can now sit up on her own, and she is getting very close to crawling. It's getting to the point where you can't really take your eyes off her anymore (and unfortunately, I have to vacuum a lot more!) She gets up on her hands and knees and rocks as if she's about to take her first crawl any day now. When she wants to get from point A to point B she will do her "Commando Crawl".<br /><OBJECT class=BLOG_video_class id=BLOG_video-a1805ec36d6f5947 height=266 width=320 contentId="a1805ec36d6f5947"></OBJECT><br /><OBJECT class=BLOG_video_class id=BLOG_video-2ba7edf00fe424d0 height=266 width=320 contentId="2ba7edf00fe424d0"></OBJECT>CKYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992760920074962977noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9928257.post-26959154707215974482010-02-20T19:04:00.002-05:002010-02-20T19:18:59.760-05:006 months - how time fliesI can't believe my little girl is 6 months old. At our last check up, she didn't gain any weight or grow at all, so the doctor said it's time to really pick up the amount of solids that she's eating. She is getting cereal twice a day (once at daycare, and they said she's doing great with it) and veggies at dinner. I'm going to start giving her fruits in the morning, too - so she'll be eating 2 full meals a day along with all the milk that she normally gets.<br /><br />So far, she has had (and loved): rice cereal, oatmeal cereal, squash, sweet potatoes, pears, carrots, and apples. I am trying my hand at making baby food, and I have made her the carrots and apples. Hopefully I'll be able to make most, if not all, of her food. The challenge is finding containers to store them all in. I bought little baby food containers, but the batch of carrots made so much that only half of what I made fit in all the containers. I am keeping the Gerber containers that she finishes, and I still had no place to put the rest of the carrots. Mental note: don't make so much at once, and don't throw out the ice cube trays that come with the fridge next time (no matter how much I think that I will never use them since we have an ice maker).<br /><br />She also was diagnosed with an ear infection at her last doctor's appt. So she started another round of antibiotics, and she seems to be feeling much better. She still tugs a little at her ear (she finished the medicine about a week ago), and I'll have them check her ear again at her next appt in 1.5 weeks.<br /><br />Emi and I went to DC to visit Scott for President's Day weekend. I came down with some sort of stomach thing the day before our trip (I blame the Chick Fil A that I had that night), but was feeling well enough to travel. I didn't take a stroller, and checked the car seat in, so it was a very easy flight with nothing more than the baby in the Ergo carrier and the diaper bag to carry. She did great on the flights, and even ate dinner on the plane (sweet potatoes) on the way home. It was a short but great trip, and of course it was wonderful spending time with Scott. We got to visit with family and friends, too.<br /><br />Six months has really flown by with Emi, and I still can't believe that I am a mother and I seriously still feel like I am learning about Emi and how to take care of her every day. I guess that feeling will never go away, huh? As soon as I get use to something and we get into a good routine, she starts to do something new and we have to adjust again. Oh well, I take it one day at a time, and I love every minute of it (most of the time :-P )CKYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992760920074962977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9928257.post-21635163948520578582010-01-14T01:55:00.003-05:002010-01-14T02:05:12.054-05:00Firsts (cont.)<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_y0vRcDZOYRE/S07CDa1_slI/AAAAAAAAAF4/Wa6Lbu6mk20/s1600-h/IMG_0224.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_y0vRcDZOYRE/S07CDa1_slI/AAAAAAAAAF4/Wa6Lbu6mk20/s320/IMG_0224.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426487965029216850" /></a><br />At Emi's 5 month check up, she weighed in at 14 lbs, and 26 1/4 inches. The doctor said she is definitely teething, and that she's ready to be started on rice cereal. Wow, my baby is growing up!CKYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992760920074962977noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9928257.post-6118429109600105432010-01-14T00:55:00.004-05:002010-01-14T01:55:22.892-05:00FirstsEmi went through many firsts, in the span of just 2 weeks.<br /><br />First cold<br />First sinus infection<br />First antibiotics<br />First plane ride<br />First trip to DC<br />First Christmas<br />First New Years<br /><br />Minus the sickness, we had a very nice xmas. The trip to DC was actually easier than I thought it would be. Flying with Emi wasn't bad (she was only a little fussy on the last 2 hours of the flight home). The biggest hassle was all the stuff that we traveled with. Next time, I plan to check the car seat in as luggage, and not bring the stroller. I'll just bring the Moby wrap, or borrow or buy an Ergo Baby, which I hear is the best baby carrier around. <br /><br />Scott's parents drove to DC to spend New Years with us. Scott spend all xmas day and half the following day in bed - but that's the price he paid for having his sick family in town for the holidays. Even through the sickness, I'm sure he thinks it was a small price to pay for having us with him (at least I hope that's what he thinks!). Seeing him over the holidays made me miss him even more once we got home.<br />I've already booked my flight to be in DC for President's Day weekend. <br /><br />Hopefully 2010 is a great year, and I have a feeling it's going to fly by.CKYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992760920074962977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9928257.post-63019430419643156362009-12-17T11:35:00.003-05:002009-12-17T11:51:53.442-05:00Those darn kids!!!!I hate the kids in my neighborhood, and I completely blame them for the fender bender that I got into yesterday. There are a lot of elementary-plus age kids in our neighborhood, and they like to run around in the middle of streets, taunt cars, leave bikes lying in the middle of the street, and go zooming into the street without looking for cars. I secretly hope that someone runs over one of their bikes one day, just to teach them a lesson. And the worst part, is that the parents are no where in sight. If one of them ever got hit by a car, I bet the parents would never know unless someone knocked on their door to tell them. Irresponsible!<br /><br />Yesterday, I was on my way to pick Emi up from daycare, and the kids seemed to be hovering around the area by our houses. It's strange, I didn't recognize any of them, and the girl from across the street was not out with them. What are they doing in front of my house! They were zipping back and forth on their bikes and scooters in the middle of the street. I then saw a black SUV come down the street, and turn the corner by the dead end. I put the car in reverse, look both ways, find the stupid kids (who are on the sidewalk directly across the street) and back up slowly. Then BUMP. I hear one of the damn kids squeal. OMG - I hit a kid! I am freaking out! I look behind me, and I backed right into my neighbor across the street, who was also backing out in that black SUV (our butts hit). First - I guess we were both in each other's blind spots. Second - what's he doing in this black SUV?<br /><br />This is a neighbor that I have never talked to, but he was so nice. We exchanged info (he told me it's his daughter's car that he's watching over the holidays), and we agreed that we hate the kids. We were both watching for the stupid kids, and not looking at the driveways. What a way to meet your neighbor, huh?<br /><br />So, normally I drive about .5 miles a day (to daycare, and back from daycare). And go figure, I get into an accident. They do say that accidents happen close to home - who knew it would be in my driveway? And why is it that every time Scott leaves home, I get into an accident (this makes 4!). I really am a good driver, I swear! I think this is the world's way of telling us that Scott and I should never be apart, what do you think?CKYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992760920074962977noreply@blogger.com2