Bliss

Now I don't want to brag, but Lukas is a great baby. We've been trying to get him sleep without a swaddle. Why would we do that since we have been extolling the virtues of the swaddle since his birth? Well, last week he started rolling over. A lot. In fact, it was the first thing he would do after waking up and I found him one morning wedged against the side of the crib unable to move. So even though it was great for months, we decided to wean Lukas off of the swaddle or maybe he just convinced us that he didn't need it anymore.

On Friday, he cried for almost an hour before falling asleep. On Saturday, he also cried for a while before falling asleep. It was terrible. We would try and give him his pacifier or pat him, but he would just get angrier. On Sunday, he fell asleep in his carseat and slept there all night. Last night, I put him in his crib awake and he played for a while and then fell asleep with any crying. It was beautiful. Tonight, he went down again without a fight. Lovin' it.

Last weekend, I got a fever on Friday. I was able to just sleep early on Friday and it pretty much went away the next day with the exception of a little sore throat. I was glad that Lukas didn't get sick at all. I tried to stay away from Lukas except to feed him. Surprisingly, it's good for me to breastfeed him because I give him the immunity through the milk so that he won't get sick. Weird how that stuff works.

On Saturday, we took it easy since I was still recovering. We also attended a Red Eggs & Ginger Party for our cousin's twins. This is the first one I have attended. We thought about doing something to celebrate Lukas's first month or 100 days, but I didn't know what to do, so we didn't do anything. It was fun. It was kind of like a wedding banquet with 10 courses at a Chinese restaurant. They were even advertising for newborn red egg parties. I guess that's the trend now.

On Sunday, Edwin helped the Schneiders move into their new house. YAY! It reminded me of when we first bought our house and sleeping on the ktichen floor for a week and trying to get setup. Stressful, fun, and exciting. I can't believe that we have been in our house for almost 2 years now. Then, we had dinner with a friend from out of town. Vic is a friend that I have known for almost 25 years. Yikes, there's not that many people I can say that I have known for that long and still keep in touch. He was the emcee at our wedding and always makes us laugh. It was great catching up with him and our mutual local friends Will & Chiao. Lukas loved meeting Vic. He wasn't quite sure in the beginning and would look at me to see if it was OK, but then Vic started making him laugh and it was all over. They are best buds. It certainly helps that Vic is an experienced Dad with 2 kids of his own though I'm glad to see that Lukas loves Vic as much as we do. I'll post pics if I can get it from Vic. We also got to visit Vicki who was also in town, so we got to reminisce about growing up in Cleveland. None of us live there anymore, but there is something to be said about how we have managed to keep in touch. It was so nice to see them again. Reminders of who we are and those who helped us become that way.

Back to the Old Grind

So I went back to work last week. It's been OK. The first day was definitely the hardest. More for me than for Lukas. He was fine going to daycare. For me, it was hard to leave him all day long. It was the first time I left him with anyone except Edwin for 10 hours. We had a little scare last week when I had an allergic reaction to a new type of shellfish called periwinkle. I woke up congested and coughing. I thought that I was sick. I couldn't believe it because I didn't get sick while I was pregnant or in Lukas's first 4 months, so it's been over a year. I thought that maybe I had caught something on my first day back at work.

I was having a tough time getting to sleep because of the congestion. I woke up to get a drink of water and saw my reflection in the bathroom. My lips were completely puffy. That was when I realized that I had an allergic reaction to dinner. Luckily, the reaction only lasted one day and I was able to take Claritin and it cleared up. Now I know what I would look like with collogen- not good.

We are still trying to get the logistics of getting to work down, but it's tough. Lukas's daycare closes at 5:30 and I feel like we're racing against the clock to get back to Alameda in time. That's the toughest part. I really like our daycare provider. She was a little more expensive, but I think that she is worth it. I had interviewed several home daycares and many of them seem to have older children that play a little rougher. Some of them had the TV running while I was there and I found the caregivers paid more attention to me than the children. There was one that had a really clean house, but no toys in sight. What kind of daycare doesn't have toys?

Work itself has also been tough. There have been a few rounds of layoffs while I was gone and a lot of my coworkers were moved to another building. It is very depressing to see all the empty cubicles around me. I used to be able to say that I had fun at work and liked the people around me. Now, the work is OK, but I can't stand my disorganized project lead. It really goes to show that work is really impacted by the people that you work with. If you have good people, it makes bad work tolerable. If you have good work, but bad people, you can still be miserable.

Last weekend, we spent most of it at the new Schneider house in Castro Valley. We painted, helped organize the kitchen, and picked up food. It reminded me of how hectic it was when we first moved in. While we are mostly settled now, there are still some things Edwin and I still haven't gotten around to doing. I feel like we are always cleaning the garage. We also managed to lock ourselves out of our house this weekend. After painting/hanging out until 1AM, we got home and realized that we had left the keys in the house. Our next door neighbor has our spare keys, but we didn't feel comfortable waking them up at 2AM to get it. Jeannette also has a key, but we couldn't reach her either. So we ended up having an impromptu sleepover at Show's since she was also a fellow painter. This just shows that we need to hide a key. Edwin and I keep talking about doing that, but we haven't.

Happy 4th of July!

Last weekend was a busy one. On Friday, we went on our weekly stroller walk. Lukas and I have been walking along the Alameda shore every Friday morning for the past few weeks with a few other new parents. This time, Edwin got to attend with us. It was a gorgeous day to be walking. Then, we all attended Freeman's first birthday party. Of course, everyone had a great time and it was a beautiful day out. Pictures will be posted later.

On Saturday, we attended the Alameda Parade. It's like a little slice of Americana. Lots of homemade floats, families with kids, local businesses, and marching bands. Lukas was of course a little too young to enjoy it, but as usual, he likes to be outside and seeing people, so he was happy. We walked to the parade from our house with our neighbor Leilani, Darryl & Susan, and the Schneiders. This year's parade seemed a little more crowded than last year, but it was still fun.

We also hosted a BBQ. The day was such a blur. We had a great time on a gorgeous day. This year, we had the BBQ in the front yard along with all of our neighbors. We had a little buffet table with 3 types of tri-tip, pineapple sausage, veggies, salad, apple pie, choc chip brownies, chips, fruit, and fresh lemonade. On Sunday, we did a little shopping and then went to hang out with the Schneiders and Banerjees because we simply don't see them enough.

Lukas had his 4-month check-up last week. He's now officially 16lbs. 2 oz. and 25.5 inches long. He is growing like a weed. We haven't posted any photos or videos in a while, so here are some recent ones of Lukas and Daddy playing "Stinky Feet" and Lukas in his new favorite toy, the "Jumparoo."

Sunny Happy Days

This weekend has flown by. On Friday, Edwin had a Guys Night (aka Drinks Night) so I stayed home with Lukas. I thought it was going to be a lonely night, but there was an impromptu neighborhood block party, so Lukas and I got to spend the warm evening outside getting to know some more of the neighbors. It was very nice because there were so many people who wanted to hold Lukas that I got to eat dinner without holding him. Another bonus is that I didn't even have to cook myself dinner since people had brought the fixings for tacos. People are so nice on our street. The neighborhood is one of the best things about where we live. I never expected to get to know so many of them. I have never gotten to know neighbors like this before. It's like something out of the 50's. They have these impromptu block parties pretty often, but we generally are not able to attend because we usually already have plans.

I had to leave a little early because Lukas started getting a little fussy because he was tired, but he went to sleep without a fight which is a blessing in it of itself. Then, I got to relax and watch one of my favorite movies that was playing on TV, "Sleepless in Seattle." I own the DVD, but there's just something about watching a movie live. Edwin got home before the movie ended, so there really wasn't any time to be lonely.

On Saturday, Steve and Pablo came by to meet Lukas. We had took a walk to downtown Park St. for some lunch at La Pinata which Pablo had introduced to us so many years ago. It was like old times. After they left, Edwin and I did some spring cleaning. We have been meaning to clean out the garage for a while. We have these garment racks that were in our old garage for our suits and outdoor gear that we never put together. The clothes have been hanging in Lukas's closet. We couldn't put the clothes in the garment racks until we found a place to put them in the garage which we needed to organize. We also were able to organize our front closet because we were able to put some of the coats into the garment racks. It felt so good to be able to clean something up. We're still not done. We are having people over for a 4th of July BBQ next week, so it's good motivation for us to clean more. We just need to donate more to the Goodwill. I'm leaning towards just throwing out the boxes of stuff in the garage that we don't know what is in them. Obviously, I haven't needed what is in them for almost 2 years. I would just remove them, but Edwin wants to go through them (probably because it's mostly his stuff!)

Today, we spent another beautiful day outdoors. We went to a Les Nubians concert at Stern Grove. We purchased tickets to see this band a few years ago at Bimbo's (a club near our old apartment) but realized that we couldn't go because we were scheduled to fly out of town at the same time. We were able to sell the tickets on craigslist, but we never got to see them in concert until today. It was a free outdoor concert where you just pack a picnic lunch and lounge on the grass. We were surrounded by lots of other families with young kids. We haven't been to Stern Grove in a few years, but I think that we will definitely be going more often with Lukas. He loved being outdoors and fell asleep looking at all the trees. He took a nice, long 2 hour nap which would have been longer if someone's football falling near us hadn't startled him.

Sniffles

This past week, Lukas has had a slight runny nose. It's not actually even runny. He's just had some mucus in his nose and a little congestion. We're not sure if he was ever really sick because he never complained. We haven't been with anyone who was sick either, so we're not sure where it came from. We haven't given him any medication since it didn't seem to bother him. He's really such a happy baby. We are very lucky. Occasionally, he'll cry when we try to put him to bed, but once he's out, it's OK.

One more week. That's all I have left of my maternity leave. Next week, Lukas starts daycare. I went to his daycare today to fill out some paperwork. His daycare provider's name is Mallory. It's a family daycare, meaning that she runs it out of her home. She's only allowed 4 infants per caretaker and there are 2 caretakers. He'll be the 4th child and 3 of the kids are part-time. Lukas will be the only one who is full-time. One of the reasons I chose her is the low ratio of children to caretakers. I'm sure that she will have more children over time, but at least in the beginning, he'll be getting lots of attention. Another reason, I chose her is that I like her gentle nature. I saw how she interacted with the other children while she was with Lukas. Today confirmed my feelings. She was taking care of Lukas and 2 other children while I was filling out the forms. She doesn't raise her voice, but she does tell the children to be gentle or distracts them with other toys if they want something they shouldn't have. I also watched one of the children who was 14 months say good-bye to her mother. This was not a child who was crying or screaming as mom left. Her mom did not have to sneak out the door while she was distracted. She happily waved good-bye to her mom as she left. Seeing this interaction made me feel a little better about leaving Lukas there. Still, Edwin is going to have to be the one to drop him off next week because I don't think that I can do it. I'll be sniffling even as they leave.

I'm sure that Lukas will be fine. He hasn't exhibited any separation anxiety at all. It will be me who has the separation anxiety. I'm trying to ease my transition back to work by taking Wednesdays off in July so that I'm only away from him 2 days at a time. Then, in August, I get 4 summer Fridays which I'll use. So for 2 months, I'll only be working 4 days a week, but getting full pay.

Here are the latest photos of Lukas and our trip to Pismo Beach:

Happy Father's Day!

So we did another little video for Father's Day. This past weekend, we went to Mason's First Birthday on Saturday. He has changed so much since we last saw him in January. Lukas had a great time watching Mason eat his birthday cake. More pictures to come later. We also got to catch up with Chris, Dana, and Jayden. They come up from Santa Cruz unexpectedly and so we got to catch up with them as well. It was so cute to see the 2 boys together. They are about 2 monthes apart, so we get a little preview to what Lukas will be doing shortly.

Chatting & Pismo Beach

Last weekend, we went to Pismo Beach for Jon & Kim's wedding. Jon has become a good surfing buddy of Edwin's and he worked with both of us while we were at KSA. It was a nice 4 hour drive down to the Central Coast. Pictures will be posted later. It was a good time, so we wish that we had more time there. We stayed in the downtown area and had some great seafood and clam chowder at Splash Cafe and Brad's. We also got to see a few whales while we were there.

Lukas did well in the hotel room that had paper thin walls. We heard the man next door snoring and the people upstairs pacing, so when Lukas woke up crying at 5:30AM, we hoped that our neighbors would be as forgiving.
We just got a new camcorder- the Mino Flip HD. I think that almost all new parents within the last 2 years have this camcorder. It's smaller and lighter than our camera and is good for making videos quickly. I'm pretty sure that we'll be using it often. We have been thinking about getting one for a while and we saw it at Costco, so decided to bite the bullet. Now, we just need to get the HD TV to watch them. Haha. It was actually good timing that we got it because Lukas has decided that he likes to talk now. He had quite a few conversations this past weekend with everyone he met. I'll post that later too.

This week, we got another surprise visit from our friend Bo from NYC. We got to have dinner and dessert with her and Show and reminisced about old times. Bo's blog was the first blog that I had ever read. She's inspired me to create one because she always has an opinion and can always make me laugh. Bo only lived out here for 14 months, but we have many happy memories with her in that short period. We all reflected on how things have changed and still stayed the same in the 5 years that have transpired since she left SF. Hmmm... I wonder who will show up unannounced in the Bay Area next week. I only have 2 more weeks left in my maternity leave, so I welcome more visitors!

Also, I was informed that my videos of Lukas from 2 postings ago were asking for you to become my friend to view them. I think that I have changed the setting so you can view it. If not, let me know that there are still technical difficulties!

Come Visit Us!

So we have had a lot of visitors in the past few weeks. It's been really great to be able to catch up with people and to introduce them to Lukas. Last week, Alex and Flora came to visit from Toronto. I haven't seen them in almost 10 years. It was great fun even though it was a short visit. We made breakfast and took them around for some quick SF tourist spots. We went down Lombard Street, walked around in Fisherman's Wharf, ate some clam chowder, and stopped by Chrissy Field for some photos of the Golden Gate Bridge. We did all of this in 2 hours. I told them it was a teaser tour to make them want to come back to visit soon. Edwin and I love to travel and we love to have friends take us around to cool spots. It's so much faster and much less stressful.

This week, our friend Vicki came for work and to visit. We walked along the beach and in downtown Alameda and just talked for hours. It was a great time. Chatting with Vicki was like food for my soul. Last weekend, I had Girls Night which helped to energize my spirit, but talking with Vicki helped me to feel like I was me again. I'm not just a mom. It's not that being a mom is bad or that I don't want to be a mom, but I think it is really easy to lose your identity when all your energy is spent taking care of a baby, house, and husband. It is a really hard job. When people say that it is hard for a new mom to shower or even to pee, it's not an exageration. You really don't have a lot of time for yourself or to reflect. You feel like you're living ground hog day over and over again where time resets every 2-3 hours based on feeding and sleeping schedules. Talking with Vicki reminded me of all the times when we lived in Chicago and we would meet each week and talk for hours over dinner. It's as if I went back in time. I used to spend a lot of time hanging out with my girlfriends talking about our problems and relationships. Now, there are usually husbands or children or both around. It's not that I don't want either Edwin or Lukas around, but I can't have the same types of conversations or even have the ability to finish conversations sometimes. Girls Night was great because it was a group of girls and we were able to pack in a lot of activities, but talking one-on-one with Vicki was nice because I could focus on just one conversation and we had no agenda. Edwin and I had a similar experience when Ellen came to town for a visit and we were able to go out with her and float around SF without an agenda and just having a spontaneous night hanging out.

I'm not a very spontaneous person. Most people would say that I'm a planner and I don't like to have changes to preset plans, but I love it when we have plans to just hang out and we go place to place with our friends all day long. It's very freeing.

Today, we got another out-of-town visitor. My friend Binh from college came up from LA unexpectedly. She came to visit the Jamba Juice tasting kitchen and we got to have lunch with Nikki. It was a leisurely lunch and reminded me of all the times in college when we would cut class and go shopping. Another blast from the past.

This weekend, we're going to Pismo Beach for a wedding with a former coworker from KSA. So many reminders of people from our past. Then, on Monday, I am meeting another old college friend Amy and her family for breakfast. I try to keep in touch with people and it seems to get harder as the years go by, so I am so happy when people come to visit and call me up when they are in town. I used to feel a little hurt if people didn't call me to meet up when they came to SF, stay with me, or call me last minute since it felt like I was last on their list to call. Now, I don't take it personally. There have been a few times myself when I have not been able to see everyone I wanted to see on a trip or called last minute to see if people are free to meet. Now, I am just happy if our schedules work and we are able to meet up and catch up. I have come to realize that everyone just gets exponentially busier when you add another person to your life such as significant others or kids. Everyone's got a schedule- even when they are only 3 months old.

My point after all this reminiscing? It would make me so happy if you would come out and visit us! And if you can't visit, call me and tell me what's going on with you.

Blink and You Might Miss It

People talk about missing their children's learning milestones while they are at work like their child's first word or first steps. Well, yesterday, I was home alone with Lukas and I missed one. I had put Lukas down on his play mat for some tummy time. I usually will either play with him or come in and out of the room to get other things. Since it's on the floor, he can't really injure himself too much since he can't crawl. So I stepped out of the room to go to the bathroom. Normally, Lukas doesn't like tummy time and will usually complain vocally while he is on his stomach. I noticed that he seemed a little quiet as I returned to the room, but I thought maybe he has learned to like being on his tummy or just stopped complaining. To my surprise, he had rolled over and turned onto his back! I think he was either stunned or just happy to be off his tummy because he was just quietly looking up when I entered the room. I couldn't believe it. I was there and I missed it!

As soon as I realized what had happened, I turned him over on his stomach and told him to do it again. (I'm not sure he understood me, but he probably knew something was up because I was talking excitedly and looking frantically for the camera.) He actually did it again while I was watching this time, but unfortunately, I couldn't get the camera to turn on fast enough and all I got on video was him lying on his back instead of the action of him rolling onto his back. Of course I tried to get him to do it a third time, but was unsuccessful. I tried to get him to do it again today and even demonstrated to him, but he still wouldn't do it. I guess it will be like his giggle- we'll get to see it a few times before he actually lets us catch it on film.

Here are a couple of videos that we did get. This is a video of a giggle session that Edwin and Lukas had before bedtime:


Here is a video of Lukas and Edwin playing Nai-Nai-Nai-Ba which is basically the Japanese version of Peekaboo (sorry it's sideways!):

Girls Night

What a difference a weekend makes. By the end of the week, I am totally frazzled and exhausted. Last night, I had a fun girls day and spent 8 hours away from Lukas- the longest time I have been away from him since he was born. It was both needed and hard. Absence does make the heart grow fonder. We started the afternoon wedding dress shopping with Show. Unfortunately, they wouldn't let us take any pictures at Amy Kuschel where Show tried on all these beautiful dresses. Show looked great in every dress since she's tall and slender. Kaori, Matilde, Jeannette, and Corinne all joined in and we had a nostalgic walk down memory lane as we remembered our own weddings. For a future Girls Night, I think that we should all wear our wedding dresses to a fancy dinner so that we get another use out of them. Unfortunately, that would require us all to open the martinized boxes that they are sealed in. I think it would be great fun, but all the girls thought that it was a bit silly.

We went to a second dress shop, but the dresses were not the right style and we got there too close to closing time, so they wouldn't let her try on any dresses. Nikki and Michelle joined us for dinner at Doobu in Japantown and then had some crepes for dessert. Kaori, Matilde, Show, and I stayed for a little karaoke. It was so nice to be with my girlfriends and be able to finish conversations without the distractions (ie-kids!) We had so much fun that we decided to try and plan a Girls Night every other month. Can't wait until the next one.

Here are some photos from our trip to Chicago for Memorial Day weekend.

Throwing out the Books

Lukas has been such a great sleeper since he was born which I say he got from me. I used to feed him, change him, play with him, and put him to sleep about every 2 hours from 10AM to about midnight. Then, at midnight, he would sleep pretty soundly until around 5 or 6AM which people would say was good. Then I started reading more books which say that he needs more sleep like he should be sleeping 3-4 hour stretches in the afternoons and then like 10-12 hours a night. (We're not worried about him gaining weight or needing to eat since he's 14lb and 5 oz as of last Thursday and 24.5 inches long which puts him in the 75th percentile for weight and height.) I was happy thinking that he was getting enough sleep and I was getting enough sleep. Now I have ruined it all by trying to make him sleep more. He never used to cry when I put him to sleep, but for the past few days, that's all he does when I try to get him to sleep. He just doesn't want to sleep that much. His naps have been getting shorter and shorter so he only naps during the day for 30 minutes to an hour. I know I just need to surrender and let him be. That's how it was with the breastfeeding. There were times when I felt like he was telling me that he didn't need to eat anymore and that he would fight me, but when I started listening to him and didn't force him to eat, it all got a lot easier. (All the books said that I needed to feed him both breasts, but I have a good milk supply, so he only needs one side.) I now know that he's a big boy, so I don't have to worry about him not eating enough anyway.

It's been a struggle this week. I used to rock him to sleep and everyone says that's bad because he needs to learn to sleep on his own. Sometimes he does sleep on his own, but sometimes I think that he still needs help. The one thing that I have done is that he is able to sleep throughout the night without eating. He's been going down around 10 and then waking up around 5 or 6AM to eat. I almost fed him last night at 2:30AM, but I decided to just give him his pacifier (for an hour!) and suck it up. (Ha ha! Pun intended.) He slept through the night without eating just fine. I don't want him to start waking up in the middle of the night and expecting to eat so that it becomes a habit. As a result, we took a morning nap from 8:30-11:30AM. Don't ask me what I'm going to do when I go back to work.

I know that he needs sleep, so I'm going to focus on getting him to sleep more, but these books don't seem to be helping me on the how to get him to sleep more. The crying method doesn't seem to work. That just leaves him so exhausted that he falls asleep after crying for hours. He just gets all worked up and then can't calm himself. If I can rock him to sleep in half an hour, that seems faster to me and then neither one of us is upset. He'll learn to go to sleep on his own some day. I don't expect a 3.5 month old to be able to do that yet. All the kid wants to do is eat, sleep, and play. Sometimes, he'll fall asleep himself if he's just swaddled and given a pacifier, but that doesn't always work, so when it does I should be thankful. If it doesn't, I'm just going to rock my baby to sleep. It's like that lullaby- "If that mockingbird won't sing, mama's gonna buy herself a diamond ring..." Well, maybe those aren't the exact lyrics, but I like them better that way!

Memorial Day Weekend

So we spent Memorial Day Weekend in Chicago with my parents and my sister Laura came out with her family as well. As usual, time passed by quickly. Lukas got to meet the cousins from the other side of the family. (He has a total of 4- Freeman, Hannah, Timothy, and Phoebe.) Photos will come later, but we got to see Stacy, Ryan, & Eli for lunch at Lou Malnoti's. We got to have dinner at Big Bowl and watched a Angels & Demons with Santiney & Carlos. We actually watched 3 movies in the theatre while we were in Chicago. It was great. Gong-gong & Po-Po baby-sat Lukas while we also saw Star Trek and Wolverine. We saw Wolverine with Sandy and had breakfast with Vicki. We also got to visit Xochitl, Eddie, and their 3 boys. Xochitl's youngest was Andrew and he was about a month older than Lukas, but their due dates were about the same, so they look about the same age. We also got to see our other friend Ryan who worked with us both at KSA, but unfortunately ran out of time to see his 3 boys. So many boys.

This was also Lukas's first plane ride. We were a bit nervous, but he did great. On the flight there, he slept virtually the entire flight and I fed him on the way down. The return wasn't that bad except that we had to sit on the tarmac for about 1.5 hours, so our time on the plane got expanded to 5.5 hours instead of 4. Though he didn't sleep the entire time, it went as well as we could hope. The main difficulty was that he had a poopy diaper and needed a change, but even that wasn't so bad.

The weather was warm for most of our trip. We also got to go downtown briefly for some italian beef and hotdogs, but we didn't get to walk around as much as we wanted to. The day we chose to go downtown was rainy which curtailed our outdoor adventures. Can't wait to go back!

Look Alikes?

So here are some pictures for you to compare. The first of course is Lukas in his car seat. Then, it's me on the sofa and finally, it's a photo of Edwin's dome. So does this change your votes about who Lukas looks like? It looks like a majority of people think that he looks like me or some mixture of the 2 of us. However, not one of you voted that he looked more like Edwin. While Lukas seems to have my eyes, I think that Edwin's photo looks a lot like Lukas to me. (At least the hair- or lack there of!)
Lukas:
Michelle:

Edwin:

Just a Wee Bit Cranky

So this week has been a little tougher with Lukas. He's been crying a bit more during the day. However, the moment we step outside the house, he stops, so I have to figure that he enjoys being outside. Here are some new pics of Lukas on days where he is happier:

Happy Belated Mothers Day!

So this was my first Mother's Day and it was very nice. We started the day off at church where we had an infant dedication for Lukas. Then, we headed into the city and went to the Asian Art Museum which was free for the holiday. Lukas enjoyed the culture by blissfully sleeping in his baby carrier. We had dinner at Suppenküche which is a German restaurant that I have always wanted to try. I still like Berghoff's in Chicago better (too bad it closed down a few years ago), but it was still very tasty.

So here is a video of a class that Lukas and I took a few weeks ago where they tricked me into exercising (I am in the black tank top and Lukas is in the zebra baby carrier sleeping):


So here is the class description that I read: Lullaby Exercises is a series of fun, easy-to-learn movements–dancing, swaying, stretching & relaxing–that are performed while holding a baby in your arms or in a baby carrier. It’s designed for new moms to share moments with their baby, put a little one to sleep, and to feel good emotionally and physically. Doesn't that sound like it's going to be pretty low intensity? This was more like a hip hop class with your baby. It was fun and I will go back, but I just thought it was funny because it was totally not what I was expecting.

Don't forget to vote in my new poll!

Giggles

My days are a blur now. I have a hard time remembering what I did 2 hours before. I never really know what day it is or what the date is. It's a happy time. We heard Lukas laugh for the first time today. Edwin was making faces at him and then all of the sudden, he giggled. He's been smiling for a few weeks now, but today he giggled. Of course after we heard it once, we tried to get him to laugh again. They say that babies change quickly and I never really knew what people meant until now. It's like something new happens every week. One week, he's lifting his head. Another week, he's smiling. He's also gaining more control of his hands. I can tell that he purposefully touches my hand or hits a toy.

People are curious about my days with Lukas. I don't really know what to tell people because it's such an effort to just eat, get dressed, and out the door.

This weekend, we're going to Kai's 2nd birthday party at a park in San Mateo. It's also my first Mother's Day, so we'll see what happens.

3.5 inches in 2 months

That is how much Lukas has grown during his lifetime. I wish that I could grow 3.5 inches in 2 months. I don't know that I ever grew that much that fast. He is now 23 inches and 11 lbs. and 13 oz. Check out photos from the last 4 weeks:

I'm a Horrible Mother!

I don't know of any mom that hasn't felt that way at some point. Being a mom is a tough and thankless job. You don't get paid any money. You have to deal with pee and poop that is not your own all day long. You have a boss that has unpredictable mood swings and is extremely demanding. That's not to say that motherhood doesn't have perks- a feeling that your baby is happy and healthy at the end of the day, that adorable toothless grin, having a dance marathon/karaoke session anytime you want, and nothing beats a hug from baby. It's just that you can never do enough.

I try to plan one activity per day whether it's to go to the pediatrician, go to a class, take Lukas to the park, or run errands. I feel guilty when I am not able to do at least one of those things in a day and I think to myself "I'm a horrible mother!" when I know that's not true. Or when I feel a little selfish and want to watch some TV like Oprah or Desperate Housewives and Lukas is awake. (I try not to watch TV while he is awake unless I am feeding him so he can't watch.) I also feel guilty that I haven't mailed out birth announcements, I am behind on Thank You cards, I haven't taken as many pictures of Lukas as I have wanted, I haven't posted the pictures that I have on the camera, I haven't figured out what to do about childcare, I haven't returned emails/phone calls, I haven't been cooking much, I haven't been reading much on child development, Lukas hasn't had his tummy time, I forget someone's birthday (which I never used to do...) and the list goes on. I can't seem to move fast enough or there aren't enough hours in the day. It's just overwhelming sometimes. Then, I read that I should be napping and resting to make sure that I can produce enough milk. So I feel guilty when I do nap and guilty when I try to get things done. It's a double-edged sword. I guess it's like a marathon (not that I have ever run one!) in that it doesn't matter how you do on each individual mile, but that you finish. Lukas won't remember the days that I didn't take him to the park, I just have to hope he'll just remember the ones that I do.

So Hot!!!

So we're going through a mini heat wave here in the Bay Area. It's been over 80 degrees for the past 3 days. This is not normal for us and our house has no AC. Poor Lukas is like me in that he doesn't like to be hot. Edwin likes the warm weather- maybe because he's from SoCal. However, the basement has been nice and cool, so we have been enjoying our days down there.

The past few weeks have been a blur. Last Friday, we headed down to Santa Cruz for our first road trip with Lukas. We had a great time since Lukas slept both ways. (Like I said, the boy gets his sleeping habits from his mom.) We attended Tyler's first birthday party last weekend. It was Lukas's first party and I guess he was a little nervous because he pooped while Jamie was holding him. Luckily, Jamie is very experienced with poop, so we didn't feel too bad. I think we had a record of 3 complete outfit changes that day. We also had a nice brunch with Show, Derek, and the Schneiders on Sunday to celebrate their engagement. Our cousins had their twins, Justin and Ashley over Easter, so we're going to visit them this weekend.

A lot of people have been asking me how I am coping being at home with Lukas. I think we're doing pretty well. He likes going out, so I like to take him to run errands or go shopping. When we're at home, he tends to sleep more maybe because there is less to interest him. I definitely do not get bored, but I could see how people might get lonely when there is no one to converse with. I consider it a good day if I am able to do the laundry, return phone calls, or run the dishwasher. I find that I have very little time on the internet now or the ability to use the computer is limited since it requires 2 hands to type. I can read more which is nice. I am definitely not looking forward to going back to work, but I still have 2 more months, so I'll try not to think about it. Alright, I gotta run because I think I'm melting and having a warm laptop on my lap is not helping.

Perfection

As a new mom, I consider myself very lucky. Lukas has continued to sleep quite a bit at night and is still gaining weight, so those long stretches of sleep at night are not affecting his growth. He loves to be outside and does not cry very often. We are absolutely spoiled. So another 3 weeks have passed and I have been remiss in posting photos. We have them. They are just still in the camera. Guess I'll have to post those later.

What have we been up to for these past few weeks? We have had a few out-of town visitors. Bro-in-law Alex came 2 weekends in a row for work. Then, Cousin Esther came in for a few days to visit. Priyanka and her family came for a short visit too. In the past, we used to go to nice restaurants for dinner to catch up with Priyanka and Matt. However, parenthood certainly changes things. We now run to the supermarket to find food for the kids, get them in bed, order take-out or cook, and then make breakfast. Activities are a lot more home-based, especially when there are more than 2 children involved. We're still able to go out since Lukas spends most of his time sleeping, but I see that this is how our future will most likely be. It was still a great time, just different.

Ellen also came for a visit last week and it was a really great timing because Edwin's went back to work last week as well, so she helped me ease into taking care of Lukas by myself. Last Monday, it was just me and Lukas. It was pleasant, but I was nervous. It does take longer to do things by myself. Ellen arrived on Tuesday and we had a great time with her baking banana bread, having a semi-impromptu party, and "meandering" around SF on a lazy Friday afternoon.

I now find myself constantly fighting the clock. You remember that game Perfection? You know, the one where you have to put all the puzzle pieces into their respective spots before time is up. That's how I feel. I have to try and fit things in between Lukas's naps. Shower, breakfast, lunch, chores (laundry, dishes, paying bills, etc.), email, return calls, blog, etc. all have to squeeze in and before Lukas wakes. The difference is that I never know when Lukas is going to wake up whereas in the game Perfection, the time you are allowed is constant. I used to sweat and get stressed out by the game, but I find that with Lukas, it just makes me more efficient. I move faster and watch less TV. I try not to stress out if I'm not able to finish what I'm doing and just figure that I'll do it during my next "break."

I have also found that perfection has changed for me. Perfection is now defined as a fun day out with Lukas and Edwin with no poopy explosions, not getting peed on, a 7-hour stretch of sleep, and a toothless smile from Lukas. Lukas has started giving us his social smile which means that he is now smiling because he wants to, not just because he has gas. We haven't really been able to capture it fully on film yet, but it's really priceless.

Not So Fast!

So Lukas will be 3 weeks old tomorrow. I feel like he has changed and grown so much already. He is probably over 8 pounds now. His face is fuller, his ears are bigger, and his hands are bigger. The past 3 weeks have been such a blur. Days run into each other and I never know what day of the week it is much less the actual date. I guess yesterday was St. Patrick's Day. Happy belated!

Here are some photos of Lukas from his first 2 weeks:


Breastfeeding was not easy in the beginning, but I think that it's much easier now. I remember in the beginning that there were times I felt like he was fighting me by waving his arms in front of his face and didn't want to eat anymore. I discovered that there are times he does tell me when he is done eating or when he needs a break. How does he know how to do that only a few days after birth? Amazing. After I started "listening" to him, we did a lot better. I can even watch TV or read a book while I am doing it. Lukas was sleeping really well at night, so I used to hate waking him up to feed him. I am so glad that I went to see a lactation consultant who finally told me that I didn't need to wake him up at night to feed because he was gaining enough weight and feeding well. In the beginning, I would set my alarm to wake myself up to make sure that he was eating, but then he kept sleeping, and I kept thinking it would be crazy to wake a sleeping baby, so I would let him sleep. After a few nights, I stopped setting my alarm and would let him tell me when he wanted to eat. There was one blissful night he slept from 11:30PM until 6AM the next morning. I know we are very lucky and I don't take it for granted. Most nights, I feed him once or twice. Usually, he'll sleep for 4-5 hours straight so I get a nice long rest.

We've had quite a few visitors in the first 3 weeks. My parents were here for 9 days and Edwin's mom was here for a week. We are finally on our own this week. It was nice to have help nearby, but it's also nice to be able to get into your own routine. A lot of people are amazed how mobile we are, but I kind of get stir crazy at home and Lukas seems to like going out as well to see new things so it works for both of us.

As we are getting to know him, here are some of the things we have learned in the past 3 weeks about Lukas so far:

• He likes riding in the car.
• He does not like diaper changes.
• He likes sleeping.
• He does not like being cold.
• He likes being held or being in a sling.

We are also excited because we are going to have some out-of-town visitors soon too- Priyanka's family and Santiney and Carlos. Woo hoo!

Introducing Lukas Anthony Lager

As most of you probably already know or probably have guessed from my lack of posts, our little boy Lukas has finally arrived. There are 2 of you out there who guessed it correctly. It's been a whirlwind experience, but here's how it all started...

On Wednesday morning, I woke up around 7AM and went to the bathroom like I do every morning. I went back to bed and 10 minutes later I noticed that the bed was wet. I'm thinking to myself, "Oh no, not again. Did I just pee on myself again?" Then I remembered that I had just gone to the bathroom, so I probably didn't pee on myself. I called Jeannette, who is an OB, Edwin, and my OB's office. My OB's office told me to call them when my contractions were 5 minutes apart. I stayed at home for most of the day and Edwin came home from work to wait for those contractions. Here were my activities that day after my calls:

1. Had some breakfast.


2. Took a 2 hour nap. (I mean, I should get some rest before the big event, right?)


3. Had some lunch.


4. Watched some TV, emailed, and read. Edwin decided he would clean the house.


5. I called the OB around 4:30PM because I wanted to talk to them before the office closed. They told me that I would need to check into the hospital that night because there would be a risk of infection if I didn't deliver within 24 hours of my water breaking.


6. Went out to dinner with the Banerjees for Korean food.


7. Checked into the hospital at 9PM.

One of the worst parts of the process happened at the beginning as I was getting admitted into labor and delivery. I had to have my blood drawn and an IV inserted in my arm. The nurse that inserted the IV was terrible. She missed my vein which hurt a lot and hit a valve, so there was a gauze pad full of my blood. Then, she had to do it again and I'm thinking to myself, "Do you know what you're doing?"

After checking in, they brought us to the labor and delivery room. The original intent when I arrived at the hospital was for them to give me a drug to start dilation, but when the OB checked me at midnight, I was already 3cm dilated which meant that I didn't need it. At 2AM, they checked me and said that I my contractions weren't strong enough or regular enough, so they wanted to give me pitocin to make them stronger and more regular. They seemed strong enough to me! The contractions were the worst part of the process. Edwin suggested trying to sleep between contractions, but they were so strong that there was no way that I could.

Edwin was pretty sleepy since he spent his day cleaning while I took a nap during the afternoon. I'm also more the night owl than he is because he is more a morning person than me. To focus on something other than the pain from the contractions, I asked Edwin to talk to me. Edwin thought that this meant that I wanted to converse, so he started asking me questions like, "When are your parents arriving?" This was not the type of distraction I was thinking of. I didn't say that I wanted to talk. I just wanted him to talk to me. Then, Edwin had a brilliant idea. I had put together a playlist on my ipod for the labor and delivery. He put the music on and I was able to focus on the words and sing along. They should offer karaoke for women in labor. Just a suggestion.

At 4AM, the nurse asked if I wanted an epidural for the pain since the anesthesiologist was nearby. My original thoughts on a drug free delivery were that I would try and do it without the drugs for as long as I could, but that I was not opposed to an epidural. Several of my friends have had them and I have not heard of anyone having a bad experience with it- though my friend Lei said that her bad experience was that her epidural stopped working. I thought for a minute that I could rough it a little more and then I thought, "Why am I doing this? This hurts a lot. Who knows how long this will take?" So I changed my mind and said, "Yes, I would like an epidural, please." Labor after epidural was VERY nice.

After the epidural, I was able to sleep from 4:30AM to 8:30 AM. This is the closest thing I can think of to sleeping through labor. It was SO nice. The nurses and doctors were still coming in to check on me intermittently throughout the night and I didn't care. Some people say that they don't like epidurals because it doesn't allow the mother to feel how she is pushing. At around 9AM, they told me to start pushing and an hour and a half later, Lukas showed up. Funny thing is, I had a dream when I was 8 months pregnant that I was sleeping and woke up with a baby. Maybe it was a premonition.

The labor and delivery nurses said that they really liked my playlist. Maybe I'll publish it someday to the blog. It was like 5 hours of music, so we'll see. We were listening to Cowboys and Angels from George Michael when Lukas arrived.

Another funny anecdote about one of the labor and delivery nurses who was a nurse in training was that a Jem song started playing and she said that she used to listen to that song when she was studying in high school. I think that Jem became popular only 5 years ago. How old was this nurse? Just a little scary, but the other nurse was clearly more experienced, so it was OK.

I'll definitely be posting more pics of Lukas's first week, but here is the birth announcement that we sent out via email. The time was actually 10:44AM when Lukas was born, but who really cares except us?

False Alarm

So today is my due date and still no baby. The OB says that there is no dilation and we are scheduled to induce on Monday at 6PM which means that if baby does not come out on his own this week, he's going to come out next week. Thanks to everyone's well wishes. I can't believe people even remember what the due date is. I have trouble remembering myself!

I had a false alarm yesterday. I was meeting Matilde for lunch at her place. While I was waiting for her to open the gate, I felt a slight contraction and then warm liquid running down my leg. As Matilde approached, I told her that "Either my water has broken or I have just peed in my pants. Neither of which is good." I have experienced a little leakage before when I sneezed or laughed, but it was nothing like this. I called Jeannette to ask her and she told me that if I continued to leak, then it was my water. If not, then it was probably the contraction which also caused my bladder to contract which caused me to pee. Turns out it was just urine. Matilde jokes that she doesn't think that I even had a contraction and just said that I did so that I didn't have to say that I peed on myself for no reason.

So this past weekend, Edwin helped the Banerjees move into their new house while I watched Maika and Kai. After the move, everyone came over and had pizza at our house. That's when Show finally announced the news that she and Derek got engaged- though that's not entirely true. She didn't announce it, but that's when she finally showed us her ring. She had been hiding it all day and hadn't told any of us about it even though they got engaged last Monday. We were all super excited for them. We'll have to wait to hear Derek's side of how he proposed. Congrats you guys!

No baby yet!

So I went to the OB today and she tells me that baby is not coming out yet (no dilation.) She's not working this weekend and we are slated to help out the Banerjees this weekend with their move, so in terms of scheduling, I've told the baby that Friday, Monday, or Tuesday would be best for mom and dad. Depending on how long it takes him to come out, late Sunday night would not be a bad option either. Since we're getting down to the wire, I have put a poll on the blog to see when you all seem to think that he will be coming. Polls close next week because my OB says that she wants to talk about inducing if he doesn't come out within a week. The doctor is hoping that he comes soon because she thinks he's getting big- like he's in the 7 lb range and hopes he doesn't wait until he's 8 to come out. Mom hopes that he is not an 8 pounder either. Then I'll be able to say that I gave birth to a butterball. Small is good, but healthy is best. I told Edwin that people were expecting him to post the news, so maybe you will see a posting from the elusive blogger.

Year in Review

While I know that I have not been the best at posting this past year, I realized today that I have been even worse at keeping up with other people's blogs and updates. In the past, I would typically take a lunch hour about once a month to catch up on other people's blogs to see how my friends were doing. I realized that I probably haven't done that in a while because when I started looking at my friends' blogs today I noticed that many times, I was reading back to posts that were dated in early 2008. Yikes.

I found out that there were friends who were also pregnant and those who are thinking of moving. What was very amusing to me was the number of people that also apologized for not posting as often as they used to. I thought it was just me. You get busy and forget to document the things that you meant to. There are times I think to myself, "Surely, no one reads my blog anymore" only to be reminded of those handful of loyal readers who are somehow amused by my blathering. Or maybe there are more out there like me who decide one day out of the blue to "catch up with Michelle and Edwin" and read about what we have been doing for the past few months and are able to forgive us when we haven't posted anything for several weeks.

I wonder if the baby will leave me any time at all to post or check email. We'll see..

Happy Presidents Day!

Yesterday, we got a welcome day off. I know, I know. Everyday is now a day off for me. There are actually a lot of things to do during the day for someone who isn't working. I used to wonder what Edwin would do while he was home during the year of Edwin. I still wake up in the mornings- mostly because I either have to drop Edwin off at the BART or we have construction workers coming in to work on the basement. Here is my typical day. I eat my breakfast- usually cereal like Golden Grahams or toast with peanut butter or jelly. On the weekends, Edwin makes me bacon, eggs, and toast. Then, I'll shower or make some phone calls (not fun phone calls to friends, but companies on the East Coast) or calls to state disability, the OB, some pediatrician, or some childcare facility. I might clean up the house a little, check my email, or do a little prenatal yoga and then I'll start preparing myself some lunch or meet a friend for lunch. I have a few friends who work in Alameda and Matilde is still on her maternity leave, so I might meet up with her. After lunch, I'll typically run errands like buying groceries, going to the post office, returning stuff to stores, or some baby-related thing like go to the OB, send out Thank You notes, or setup something in the baby's room. By the time 5PM rolls around, I'm usually ready for an afternoon nap because it starts to get dark. If I have the energy, I'll make a dinner. If not, I'll take a nap before I pick Edwin up from the BART. We'll have dinner together, watch a little TV, and then go to bed. Time passes by quickly. I always have my To Do list. I keep trying to get things done without straining myself too much, but there's always so much to do. This is me without a baby. What happens when there is a baby and nothing gets done? At least Edwin will be home for the first 6 weeks.

So we had a pretty relaxing Presidents Day weekend. I already told you what we did for Valentines Day. Sunday, we spent most of the day cleaning and doing stuff around the house. On Monday, we hung out with the Schneiders and Banerjees (again!) We'll be seeing the Banerjees again this weekend if the baby hasn't arrived. Edwin is going to help them move to their new house in Orinda (yay!) while I help watch the kids. After that, we're hoping that the baby comes relatively soon. Seriously, the countdown has started! T minus 8 days! I think that I'll be ready then...

Happy Valentines Day!

So we had a pretty low key Valentines Day. We went to a wine bar and to go see a movie in our local theatre. The movie we saw was Taken which was entertaining. We thought that it wouldn't be too busy and showed up too late to get decent seats, so we decided to trade in our tickets for the later show. That's how we ended up at the wine bar next door. I thought it was kind of funny to be 9 months pregnant and in the front window of this wine bar. We have some pictures- don't worry, all I had was some fancy grape juice!

I also thought this video was kind of funny:

Maternity Leave

So I started my maternity leave this week. The week has gone by fast! Unfortunately, I started the week sick. I think I had either food poisoning or some kind of stomach flu. I thought that I would escape this pregnancy without vomitting once, but I was wrong. 3 times. And then when I thought I was finished, diahrrea was next. Given that we are about to have a baby, I guess I better get used to bodily fluids. Needless to say, I spent most of my Monday in bed except to go see my doctor and attend an informational pediatrician session.

Tuesday I got my haircut and had a breastfeeding class. On Wednesday, I went shopping for food and Target and then cooked. It takes a while to prepare food. I'm so used to just getting home from work and heating up food. I forget how long it can take to prep everything. I made steamed fish with ginger and green onions, napa cabbage soup with tofu and wood ear mushrooms, and rice. Actually, I cut and prepped everything and then ran out of energy, so Edwin did the actual cooking when he got home. On Thursday, I cooked some more. I made jook (Chinese porridge) with the leftover rice by adding chicken and century egg. Made phone calls and took a break. Then, I started cooking lunch which was pasta and Prego added with a seafood medley, red pepper, and squash. (I have no idea how Priyanka's hubby Matt does his gourmet dishes. I take short cuts like jarred sauce and pasta from a box and it still takes forever. I am in awe because he makes the sauce and pasta out of fresh ingredients himself.) Maybe one day I'll be that inspired. In the meantime, I'll stick to my shortcuts.

Everyday, I start with my list of To Do's and it doesn't seem like I get to half the things on my list! How would I get this stuff done if I didn't have maternity leave?

Baby Shower

Matilde and Jeannette threw us a baby shower yesterday. We had a great time. There were kids everywhere. The weather was beautiful so we were able to hang out outside on Jon and Jeannette's deck and backyard. There was a monkey theme since we'll be decorating the nursery in green, brown, and white. Guests were asked to design onesies for our little one and we never knew how talented and creative our friends are. Here are some pictures from the event. Thanks guys!

This past week was also my last week at work. They threw me a small baby shower at work as well which was very nice. I still have a few things to wrap up, but for the most part, I am done. People keep asking me what I'm going to do for the next 3 weeks since I'm not due until the 24th. However, I feel like I have a ton to do. My whole Monday is pretty busy. I have a nutritional counseling class that my OB recommended, an OB appointment, 3 pediatrician interviews, and I need to file for my state disability. I'll probably be out of the house from 9-7. Tuesday, I have a haircut appointment and a breastfeeding class. The things that I want to have done first are finding the pediatrician and figuring out what to do about childcare. I'll be setting up appointments on Tuesday for the rest of the week. It was really hard to make time to interview pediatricians and visit childcare providers while I was working since they are available only during business hours.

Here are some more pictures of me at 36 weeks. I keep thinking that if I upload the pictures in the smallest size I can, I won't look so big...you can compare it to what I looked like at 26 weeks in my posting on December 18.

Irritable and Tired

5 weeks to go until baby arrives. 7 more days of working. It's a constant countdown now. We've started attending classes like infant care and childbirth preparation, we're going to see movies in the theatre like Gran Turino, we're researching childcare and pediatricians, and taking hospital tours. You could say that we have ramped up our baby preparation efforts.

It is getting tougher to get around and sleep is sometimes good and sometimes bad. That makes me a little more irritable and tired. I think that it's either to prepare for some future sleepless nights or to get me to start feeling like I would like to have this baby come out. I can see why the home stretch can be agonizing for some pregnant women. I've been pretty lucky. I haven't had bad morning sickness or gestational diabetes, so if this is the worst it gets, it's not too bad. Mostly uncomfortable.

This week was rather historic with the inaugeration of Barack Obama. I've never really been interested in politics. I'm still not that interested, but I did vote for Obama because he seemed different than most politicians and I think he will be an inspirational leader. I have voted in past elections, but this is the first time that I watched the inaugeration. There seems to be excitement and hope with this new president that I have never seen before. I like that he promotes volunteerism and change. I also like that he seems to garner a respect from other countries that we have not had in a long time. Most other presidents I would feel embarassed that we chose them because they seem to perpetuate the stupid American persona. Though Obama flubbed his oath, I think that it is interesting that people seem more forgiving of his blunders. If Bush had flubbed his oath, people would have made fun of him and thought "how typical." For some reason, Obama's temporary memory lapse makes him seem more endearing and human. Even those that did not vote for him have to admit that he does seem eager to make changes, that he is able to motivate people, and inspires hope for country that is in need of it.

After New Year's, there was a shooting at the BART station near our house. The BART police shot a man that was on the floor with his hands behind his back. (He was in some kind of altercation and was trying to calm his friend when he was shot.) I dropped off Edwin at the station the next morning without even knowing about it. We saw TV cameras there, but didn't know why they were there. A few days later, there were riots in Oakland. There were also peaceful protests, but the riots I think are more a result of the economic times and for people who want an excuse to justify violence. With this new leader, I hope that it ends that negativity and helps people to move in a more positive and constructive manner with their restless energy. For too long, I think that the people of this country have been irritable and tired.

Get What You Really Wanted

After Christmas, I saw so many stores advertising this slogan "Get What You Really Wanted." That statement just hit me the wrong way. It implies that you shouldn't be happy with what you have. There are so many people out there that are having financial difficulties or are just depressed over things that are happening in the world. It's such a negative message when people just don't need it. I saw this slogan while I was shopping (I don't remember the store) then I got an email from ebay, and then I think that I saw it on some ad. I'm in advertising and it pisses me off.

I think people have a hard enough time just being satisfied or thankful for the things that they have. As I get closer to becoming a mother, this is something that I hope to teach my children. Believe me, I am not the best example. I know I am always striving for more and better, but I would like to think that I am getting better at being happy with my current situation. It helps that I have a baby on the way and that I am going to stop working in 3 weeks. So what do I really want? Stuff that money can't buy- an easy delivery and a happy, healthy baby.

I am now 33 weeks pregnant. Baby is kicking me everyday (right now!) after I eat and when I am getting ready to sleep. I think that my pregnancy has been pretty easy for me until the last 2 weeks or so. I'm starting to have some really weird aches and pains. For some reason, my right thumb is swollen and sometimes gives me a shooting pain. I have heard of swollen feet, but just my right thumb? No other fingers, just the thumb. Weird. I've also started having more trouble sleeping. Anyone who knows me well is that I am always able to sleep- anywhere, anytime. Since my first trimester, I've been waking up once a night to go to the bathroom. It never really bothered me before and I would just go back to sleep no problem. But in the last few weeks, it's been harder for me to fall back asleep. I don't really know why. Then, on New Year's Eve, I got sick. Not vomitting sick, but we went over to Michelle and Mike's and when we arrived, I just felt sick to my stomach. A few people thought I might be delivering the baby that night, but I didn't think so. I spent most of the night sleeping in their guest bed and I woke up at 11:45PM to ring in the new year. I recovered over the next few days, but I can't explain why I got sick. I would normally blame food, but Edwin ate the same thing I did that day, so I blame it on the pregnancy.

We have started getting ready for the baby. Edwin painted the trim in the baby's room. We removed the bed and cleaned the room. Do we have a crib? Not yet, but we have been researching cribs, pack and plays, and car seats. Of the 3, the only thing I think we have to get soon is a car seat. I'm told that we can't take the baby home from the hospital without one. We have a ton of baby clothes from friends who have had baby boys and from Freeman, Edwin's nephew who is now 6 months old. We have diapers. We're starting to take our baby classes next week. We still have 7 weeks, right?

Babies!

Wow- it's been a while. I feel like it was just Thanksgiving and now it's almost Christmas. Since then, we have put up the Christmas lights, gone to Cincinnati to see my new niece Phoebe, and baked Christmas cookies. Not a lot of time to be able to blog, but wanted to share a few photos. These are of me at 26 weeks. There isn't a lot of photographic proof of my pregnancy, so this is to help document my growth.

We had a good time in Cincinnati with my sister's kids, but I'll write about that another time. Here's a picture of me and Edwin with our new niece Phoebe.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Where did the weekend go? I started last week with a cold. It was disappointing because I thought that I had escaped it since it seemed like everyone I knew got sick a few weeks ago. I guess I was just holding out. It sucks having a cold and being pregnant. You're not supposed to sleep on your back when you are pregnant, so what happens when we're congested? You have to keep tossing and turning so that you can breathe. I thought that the cold was going to last only a day or 2, but I haven't been able to shake it.

We had a good Thanksgiving. We cleaned the house which we have needed to do anyway. We had Edwin's mom in town, Jeannette's family and in-laws, Edwin's aunt and cousin, and my Uncle Glenn and his family over for dinner. We had 13 people around the dinner table. We had a 12 pound turkey which I thought might be a little too small, but we managed to have leftovers. Edwin cooked the turkey while I helped with the lemonade, glazed carrots, green bean casserole, and apple pie. Edwin's mom made the stuffing and yams. Jon's parents brought over pureed carrots and broccoli. We also had a leftover dinner with the Banerjees, Schneiders, Jeannette, and Edwin's mom. We used the leftover turkey to make a turkey pot pie like we did last year. Maybe we'll start that as a tradition. It's so easy. I don't know why we don't make it more often.

This is the first time that we started using the basement. We got the Ikea sectional that we wanted off of craigslist for half the price. Here are some pictures of the finished basement. I'll post pictures of the new bathroom a little later.

Edwin's Low-Key Birthday

Last Friday, we hosted a game night for Edwin's coworkers. There was a lot of cooking and cleaning and Show and Derek came by for the games. Show of course won, but that's expected.

Last weekend was also a baby weekend, not for our baby, but to visit other babies. On Saturday, we went to Marin to visit our friend Sully who had a baby girl 3 months ago. We had brunch and she loaned me some of her maternity clothes. I've been very lucky in that I haven't really bought much. I've mostly been borrowing clothes from Jeannette and now Sully. I don't know how they found so many things that are cute. It seems like when I go shopping for maternity clothes, I can't find anything that fits right or is cute. Both Jeannette and Sully's clothes seem to fit and be cute, so I'm happy to just wear theirs for now. That way, I can also return stuff and don't need to store a lot when I'm done with them.

After brunch, we went to visit baby Mena at Matilde and Sujay's. She was tiny at less than 6 pounds. It was fun hanging out with them and we also got to see Janet who was visiting from Hawaii.

On Sunday, we had a casual pizza party at our house for Edwin's birthday which was on Monday with the Banerjees and Schneiders. On Monday, Edwin and I went out to dinner to celebrate his birthday at Cocina Poblano and then for ice cream at our local ice cream shop Tuckers.

Also, did I mention that the basement is done? I'll post pictures later, but we are just happy that construction is officially over. We didn't get everything that we wanted, but it's close enough.

Happy Birthday, Mena!

So Matilde and Sujay welcomed their new little girl yesterday. I am in awe. I still have to hear all the details, but here is what I know. She was in the hospital room at 9AM and delivered at 10AM. All natural and NO DRUGS! What?? Granted, this is her second child, but that has to be one of the easiest births I have ever heard about. All the other stories sound more like, "I was in labor for 50-60 hours and then I had a c-section." I think even with Kokomi, Matilde had only 10-20 hours of labor. Either this woman has a high pain tolerance or she has the best birthing hips in the world. Amazing. I can only hope that my birthing experience will be half as good as hers.


Speaking of birthdays, Edwin's is next Monday. Anyone have any ideas on what I should get him for his birthday? And no, I will not be getting him a surfboard, so don't even suggest it.

Tea Parties and Housewarmings

Last weekend, we also had a tea party for Matilde. She didn't want to have a second baby shower, but we wanted to have a little something for her before the baby came. We very rarely get to have a leisurely afternoon without kids to just sit and converse without distraction. Though it was a rainy day, we didn't really mind. This is probably the most recent pic of me pregnant. Matilde looks barely bigger than me and she's about to deliver any day now.

This weekend, we have 2 housewarming parties to attend- one for an old KSA coworker and the other for our friend Steve. Steve has lived in his place for almost a year now, but has been busy remodeling like us, so I guess he's finally ready for the unveiling.

Basement saga- the saga continues as the basement was supposed to be completed today. What happened? When the contractor went to pick up the shower enclosure, it didn't have all the pieces at Home Depot. Surprised? Not at all. Just par for the course since the last time he went to pick up the shower enclosure, it didn't have all the pieces then either. Normally, we would just try and find another shower enclosure. However, since our ceiling is low, we need a shorter one that is below 72." Most models are 72." Does anyone know where we can buy a shower enclosure for less than $500 besides Home Depot, Home Expo, or Lowes? Most glass places are more expensive and we have also tried OSH, but I feel like there are so few options. We're looking for a corner neo-angle shower enclosure. Holler if you see anything!

Maybe if we're not too tired this weekend, we'll get around to starting to make the baby's room look like a baby's room. People have been very generous with their outgrown diapers and boys' clothes. I don't think we'll need to buy any of that stuff. Baby is doing well. He kicks me pretty much daily and especially after I eat. I'm starting to eat beef again which is nice. I was never really liked beef that much, but since I haven't been able to have it, it's been a little tough. This week, I had vietnamese pho noodles and wonton beef tendon soup noodles. I still don't want to eat a steak, but it looks like a little meat is OK.

Happy Ha-Ween!

Last weekend, we had a great time celebrating Halloween. We don't have any pictures right now, but we went through over 30 lbs. of candy this year. We thought that the prediction of rain might decrease the volume of kids knocking on our door, but it was a nice balmy night and it only drizzled, so the kids still came a knockin.

This year, we dressed up as a white trash couple. I used my pregnant belly as part of my costume. Edwin wore a trucker hat, plaid shirt, and wife beater t-shirt. I think that the cutest part was all the kids giving away candy at the door. Maika was a pro since she gave away candy last year as well. It was Kokomi's first year giving away candy and it was just adorable how she would say, "Happy Ha-Ween!" I'm not sure that she fully grasped what we were doing, but she knew that we were giving away something and that it was fun. Even Kai who can't even talk yet knew that he was supposed to put candy in the bags that kids carried outside the door.

We also cooked and baked quite a bit this year in preparation. We made brownies, rice krispie treats, banana bread, chocolate and vanilla cupcakes, chili spaghetti, and pulled pork sandwiches. We have been eating tons of dessert this week.

Did you all vote? I had my absentee ballot and dropped it off at 7:55PM to the polls about 10 minutes before we heard that Obama had won.