October 1, 2010

  • Hilarious video

    Fellow moms will appreciate this. The “mompetition” as depicted in this video is hilarious but oh-so-true, at least out here on the West Coast. Luckily, it’s also easy to find lots of awesome, balanced mommy friends who are nothing like the blonde woman in the video!

September 30, 2010

  • Hello, 30!

    Today is my “golden birthday”: I’m 30 on September 30th! It’s hard to believe that as of now, I have completed the first three decades of my life and am entering into the fourth. Seriously, how is that possible? Where did the time go? I’m a bit sad/panicked about how I’m 30 already. It’s not so much the age, it’s just the fact that youth seems to be slipping by too quickly. But, I’m also proud of what I’ve done with my life so far, and I’m extremely fortunate to have loving, supportive family, wonderful friends, the best husband a woman could ask for (the kind you dream up when you’re a kid but never expect to actually exist), two adorable, sweet sons, a mellow dog, and a cozy house that’s just the right size for us. I can’t express how lucky I feel to have those and all the other amazing blessings in my life.

    So, in honor of my 30th birthday, I found some old pictures. Let’s go back and revisit the highlights of each decade!

    First decade: Well, not too much to say here. Same old story of being born, having a carefree childhood, dressing in horrible 80s fashion.

    Here’s my mom with a barely-month-old me. It’s unfair that she didn’t pass on her “look radiantly gorgeous immediately postpartum” genes to me.

    June and I. I was in third grade, and June loved the walk to and from school with me and my mom each day. At the time, we lived only about seven houses away from the school.

    Me_June 1988

    And apparently, that was where the cuteness ended and the awkward phase began for me! Note this next picture, taken when I was 9 or 10. Bring on the glasses and the chub!

    I’m on the very right in the orange shirt and blue leggings (WTF?!). From left are my cousin Patrick, June, my grandma, my mom and standing next to me is my cousin Stacy.

    Family 80s

    Second Decade: Obviously, more happened from ages 10 to 20. I was a nerd in high school, got into my dream school (Northwestern) to study journalism, and, of course, I met Johnny!

    Here I am with my friend Ben at our Latin Club Banquet in high school. This was in June 1996, so it was the end of our sophomore year. Yeah, high school was not the peak of our physical appearance!

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    Johnny and I on one of our first real dates (a date party for Delta Zeta winter quarter of freshman year in college)

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    The Third Decade: Man, a lot happened in my 20s! I got my bachelors and masters degrees in journalism (in a total of four years; I’m very proud of that!), had an eight-year career with a consulting firm, lived in a total of four apartments in three cities (Chicago, New York, Los Angeles), married the love of my life, got a dog, had two kids, bought a house and became a stay-at-home-mom/tutor. Of course, not everything was rosy … I lost my beloved grandmother in my 20s, and not a day goes by when I don’t think of her. But, I’m lucky to have had her with me for so long, and I’m so happy that she knew I was pregnant with Jack before she passed on.

    Johnny and I before the Delta Zeta fall formal at the start of our senior year

    Fall Formal 2001

    Here I am with my family in June 2001, when they came out to attend my first graduation from Northwestern.

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    How is it possible that I only have one picture of Johnny and I at our college graduation in 2002? Well, here it is, June 2002. I must have some more in an album hidden somewhere.

    Graduation 2002

    Johnny and I at a Towers Perrin Christmas party in December 2002. This was during our brief but angst-ridden on-again, off-again period.

    Xmas 2002

    Here I am with two of my very best friends, Ann and Michelle, the day before my wedding in 2004.

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    Married!  

    Jack is born!

    And, almost exactly two years later, Derek!

    I can’t wait to see what’s in store for me in this fourth decade. It’s hard to imagine my 30s being as exciting as my 20s; then again, I don’t think I would have envisioned my 20s being as fabulous as they were, either, so who knows? The most important thing is that I am happy, healthy and surrounded by loved ones. That’s the best gift ever. Thanks for strolling down memory lane with me!

September 15, 2010

  • Disneyland Getaway

    This past weekend, Johnny and I went on a kid-free getaway to … Disneyland! Yes, I know, Disneyland is a kid’s paradise, and while it’s fun to go with kids, it’s definitely also fun to go without them. We’ll bring Jack next year, for his fourth birthday (I can’t wait!), but for my 30th birthday celebration (yikes, the big 3-0 is coming up in just … gulp … 15 days), we wanted to return to the place where we spent the first day of our honeymoon. We haven’t been back to Disneyland in the last six years, so this was really special for us. We also spent Saturday night at the Grand Californian Hotel, where we stayed on our wedding night. To make the weekend even more awesome, June and Charles came with us. Well, they didn’t stay at the hotel with us, but the four of us toured Disneyland and California Adventure together on Saturday and Sunday. I rarely get to spend time with my sister without the kids, so this was really special. The four of us had such a great time! And, the kids had a blast, too, with “Auntie Susy” (our fabulous occasional sitter). Between the tickets, the hotel stay, our dinner Saturday night at the Blue Bayou, and the sitter, it certainly wasn’t cheap, but then again, you only turn 30 once! We’ll be eating ramen for the rest of the fall to make ends meet.

    If you’re on my Facebook, you’ve already seen all these pictures, taken with Charles’ awesome camera, but I’m going to post some here for those of you who aren’t Facebook friends with me. (Feel free to add me! I’m on FB all the time.)

    Here’s the group! Obviously, Johnny, me, June and my soon-to-be bro-in-law Charles

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    We took many pictures while standing in line

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    For his birthday in June, Johnny received this hilarious T-shirt from June and Charles. He wore it on Saturday and got a lot of high-fives and fist-bumps from various random guys at the park, especially when he was taking a picture with me and June.

    Yes, I can testify that my husband is awesome. He knows it, too.

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    Another key theme of the weekend was food. For lunch on Saturday, we had clam chowder in sourdough bread bowls, followed by two snack breaks (one for kebabs, one for ice cream).

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    That night, we had a delicious Cajun dinner at Blue Bayou, where we waited for a table by the water and watched the Pirates of the Caribbean boats go by.

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    Of course, most of our time was spent in line (actually, the waits weren’t too bad) or riding rides. To pass our time while we waited for Matterhorn Bobsleds, we took a series of “contemplative” pictures. I think the people around us thought we were crazy. Whatevs, they just wished they could be us.

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    I also got a reputation for having “digital drama” because I was constantly doing something on my phone. I recently got a new phone (the Samsung Intercept, in pink floral!), my first smart phone, so I’m addicted. There’s always something to do, whether it’s go on Facebook or check my email or text someone. Johnny made fun of me by sending a text to June that said, “Dude, the people I’m with are SO boring. I have to resort to texting my other friends.” Ha!

    Here I am, embroiled in my digital drama

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    I’ve loved Disneyland since I was a little kid, but this time, there were two rides that I was less than happy with: the Finding Nemo submarine adventure (which I found boring and claustrophobic) and Autopia (seriously, if I want to drive in bad traffic, I’ll do it in my air-conditioned car, which doesn’t stall every two seconds). I do think Jack would love both of those rides, and I can’t wait to see his delight, but my advice is, if you don’t have little kids with you, skip those two attractions!

    However, we did get good pics on Finding Nemo and Autopia.

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    After dinner, we walked back to the hotel so I could get my cardigan and jacket (it got cold!).

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    Then we came back to watch fireworks.

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    The next morning, we got up bright and early to go to California Adventure. Little did we know, the hotel people were wrong when they told us the park opened at 9 a.m. It really opened at 10 a.m. Grr! However, we passed the time by taking pictures with the “California” letters in front of the park.

    June and Charles in the “C” for “Cheng” (yes, they share the same last name; no, they’re not related); we’re in the “O”

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    Then we took a series of jumping photos. They were so fun!

    Johnny as Mario; June and I jumping. Johnny said he was going to jump with us but decided to make fun of us instead. Boo.

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    June and Charles’ awesome kung-fu jump; Johnny and June levitate.

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    Finally, we got into the park. I was underwhelmed — Disneyland is a lot more fun than California Adventure. It felt kind of dead and deserted. We still had fun, though!

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    Charles also got a couple of paparazzi-like shots, which are fun.

    Can’t you see that picture of me and June in a tabloid (if one of us were a celebrity, that is)? And, I love the pic of me and Johnny holding hands.

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    What a fun early birthday celebration. Thank you, guys!

September 7, 2010

  • Derek’s First Steps!

    At long last, Derek is walking independently! Jack walked a week after his first birthday, so for the last two months, I’ve been anxiously awaiting Derek’s first steps. He took his sweet time … Derek turned 14 months on Sunday, and today, he took three independent steps at the pediatrician’s office. Once we got home, he got more adventurous. I managed to capture the following video on my phone (sorry it’s sideways … in my excitement, I forgot to turn the phone in the right direction!).

    What a major milestone! I’m so happy (and a bit sad).

August 31, 2010

  • Weekend fun (no rodents this time)

    As promised, I’m back with more pictures of the weekend (no possums today!).

    One of the things Ann and I did during her visit was take the kids up to the gorgeous Wayfarer’s Chapel up in Rancho Palos Verdes. It’s a beautiful wood-and-glass chapel nestled in the woods, overlooking the ocean. Not only is it a nice little trip on its own, but it’s where June and Charles are tying the knot next summer. Jack’s super into the concept of getting married (he thinks it’s something you do with everyone you love, so he’s constantly asking to get married to me, Johnny, Derek, Atari, his grandparents … you name it, he wants to marry it), so he was excited to go.

    Ann and Jack at the fountain just outside the chapel.

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    Here we are inside the chapel. I’m getting married to Jack, and apparently Derek is our witness.

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    We sealed it with a kiss

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    The boys were very happy to have Ann here. Just look at their smiles.

    OK, so maybe in this picture, the nectarines are Derek’s source of delight, but he was also happy about Ann’s presence.

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    Jack thinks up of his next mischievous plan

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    Sunday morning, at Ann’s suggestion, we made Monkey Bread. I know I must be the only mom in the United States (maybe the world?) to have never made this delicious, gooey, cinnamony, sugary breakfast treat … for months, all I’ve been hearing other moms talk about on Facebook is monkey bread, but for whatever reason, I never made it. Well, I’m SO glad that Ann talked me into it! It’s so easy (there are many recipes, but I used the one I linked to above), and kids can actually help. You basically cut up biscuit dough, shake it in a bag with cinnamon and sugar, put it in a bundt pan, and drizzle lots of butter melted with brown sugar over it, then bake. It becomes this pull-apart bread that you just can’t stay away from. Delicious with coffee, on its own or with other breakfast accompaniments. I’m definitely enlisting Jack and our niece Maddy as my assistant chefs when we all spend Christmas together this year.

    My little monkey, helping me with monkey bread. Please excuse my PJ’d appearance.

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    Here we are, shaking the bread to coat it with cinnamon sugar. We sang “shake shake shake, shake shake shake, shake your monkey, shake your mon-key” while doing this, and also danced in a rather silly fashion. So fun.

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    I was too busy stuffing my face to take pictures of the finished product. I will say, as a warning, do not use a bundt pan with a removable center. I made the mistake of doing this. I thought since batter stays in those pans, it ought to be fine for this recipe, but of course the liquid butter and brown sugar ran right out of the pan. We were able to salvage it using a regular round cake pan, but I’m going to run out and buy a regular old cheap bundt cake pan, without a removable center, just for monkey bread! This is going to go into our regular breakfast rotation. Next up: The O’Neal family gains 100 pounds. Just kidding.

    Sunday night, we celebrated Victoria’s birthday at Chris and Vic’s house. We all had a great time! 

    Here we are with Vic’s sister-in-law (on the left), Victoria and Maddy. It was cute — we said, “Let’s take a girls’ picture,” and Maddy came up and stood next to us, like, “Oh, girls’ picture? I’m ready!” Too adorable!

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    I love this sweet picture of Victoria and Maddy blowing out her birthday candles. This is one of those images that makes me really want a daughter.

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    I hope everyone had a great weekend, too!

August 30, 2010

  • Possum eviction

    This weekend, my friend Ann came to visit from Charleston, SC. Ann and her husband, Erik, were here in May, when he had a Navy assignment in SoCal, and we had a blast. This time, Ann came out for some girly fun time (and bonus, this time the O’Neals weren’t all sick!). The weekend went by in a flash of excellent company, great food, and lots of laughs. Perhaps the greatest source of those laughs was what I’ll call the Great Possum Eviction of 2010.

    Last week, Johnny and I began to suspect that there was an animal holed up in our detached garage. There’s a side door leading from our yard into the garage, and sometimes (OK, often), I forget to close it as I come into the yard, because my hands are usually full with kids and groceries. It’s not a security risk, because the big garage door is always closed, and the side gate into our yard is closed. No one can get into the yard just because the side door connecting the yard and garage is open. I try to make sure it’s closed overnight, to prevent animals from accessing the garage, but most of last week, the door was left open at night. I thought, what’s the big deal? It’s open half the time at night, and nothing’s ever happened.

    Well, mid-last week, there were a few times when Atari barked urgently in the night. After checking the doors, we told him to be quiet. One time, I heard a strange noise from outside, but thought it had come from the neighbor’s yard. Friday morning, I went into the garage to get some milk from our spare fridge, and there were two puddles of pee and a pile of poop in the corner. At the time, we thought a cat had been the culprit. I know cats don’t usually poop outside their litter box, but nothing in the garage was disturbed — whatever it was didn’t even get into an open bag of dog food. Anyway, we didn’t see signs of the animal in the garage anymore, so we figured it had left during the night. No big deal, right?

    Wrong! Saturday morning, despite the side door being closed Friday night, I went into the garage to see a holy mess. Stuff was knocked everywhere (but again, no food packages were opened, and the dog food was undisturbed), and there were three piles of poop — big piles — and one giant pee puddle in the garage. One of the poop “gifts” was on top of some metal shelves. And, most bizarre of all was that the animal had taken some poop in its paw and swiped it sideways on the back of the side door. SIDEWAYS! Ann and Johnny’s first thought was: Do we have a monkey in the garage? The swiping just looked so purposeful, and it was sideways, instead of up and down. The width of the paw was pretty sizeable, too. We also thought it looked like the handiwork of a small child, but obviously that wasn’t the answer, either. (For the record, I did make fun of them for thinking it was a monkey.) Ann and Johnny went all CSI, looking around for the animal and taking pictures of the poop piles. They even put a tape measure next to one of the piles, and photographed paw prints that the animal had left after it stepped in its own pee. We have this whole gallery of the “crime scene photos.” After recording all the evidence (and cleaning up the mess — Johnny did most of that, Ann helped, and I stayed inside), our thoughts were:

    1. Some nocturnal animal did this.

    2. It’s probably not a cat (although I really dislike cats, so I was looking to blame a cat).

    3. It’s not a dog.

    4. Is there an illegal pet monkey on the loose?

    Saturday night, Ann and I went out with another of her friends who lives in the area. We returned around 11 p.m. Ann said, “Hey, let’s look in the garage.” She opened the side door, then screamed and pulled it shut again. I screamed because she screamed (and she’s not easily frightened!), and then we both heard a loud clatter coming from within the garage. We called for Johnny to come outside. He brought a flashlight with him and then opened the big garage door. He shone a light on the wall from which we’d heard the clattering, and lo and behold:

    Our unwanted visitor:

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    Yes, ladies and gentlemen, there was a giant possum on that ladder.

    It was freaking mean, too! Lookit those teeth!

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    All three of us screamed when we saw it staring at us with those red eyes. (Pardon me. Ann and I screamed while Johnny remained perfectly calm and said, “Step aside, ladies, and let me wrangle this rodent with my bare hands.”)

    It was too late to call Animal Control, and now that we’d disturbed the possum, we were afraid that it would really wreak havoc in the garage if we left it alone. We were determined to get it out.

    First, Johnny and Ann took turns poking it with a broomstick. (I hid behind Ann and squealed occasionally.) The possum looked positively bored by our unsuccessful attempts. Johnny had the idea of going to get Atari. We thought this was a brilliant idea. Yes! Get our loyal, fierce, brave Japanese hunting dog! That’ll show the possum! Johnny brought Atari in to the garage, but Atari didn’t seem to detect anything unusual. So, Johnny picked Atari up so that he could see the possum. We envisioned that Atari would snarl and leap out of Johnny’s arms, slashing his teeth at the possum and enjoying himself a midnight snack.

    Instead:

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    Yes, that’s right. Atari brought shame upon Shibas everywhere by recoiling in fear and shaking like a leaf. I’m not sure, but I think the possum laughed. We quickly let Atari back into the house, whereupon he immediately retreated into our bedroom and threw up a little on the floor. Yup, he threw up in fear. So, if there’s an armed robbery, I can rest assured that Atari will vomit on the villains’ feet. We’re saved!

    OK, so back out in the garage, the possum was yawning and making fun of us. Ann asked if we have a spray bottle so that we can spray water at it. Great idea! Johnny ran inside to grab one. Meanwhile, Ann said, “I’d like a picture with the possum.” All right, your wish is my command:

    Our two weekend visitors

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    Johnny came back with the bottle and began spraying it at the possum. I realized that the bottle was filled with rubbing alcohol, and said, “Wait! That’s not water! It’s alcohol!!” (I use it to kill spiders in the house.) Johnny replied, “Even better!” He sprayed it directly at the possum’s eyes. Instead of yelping in pain, the possum just stayed still and snarled. It didn’t even flinch! It was drenched in alcohol, and it didn’t even move!

    Still hiding behind Ann, I yelled, “Let’s get the bleach! Spray it with bleach!” Ann and Johnny both said, “Are you crazy?” So my next brilliant idea was to poke the possum with the spiky end of our orange picker. Gosh, I hope no PETA fans are reading this.

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    The possum’s reaction was to bite the spikes, and then growl loudly at us while baring its teeth.

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    I almost peed in my pants when it growled at us. Johnny and Ann bravely worked together to poke the possum while spraying it with alcohol. My sole contribution was to scream, “Ann, you’re from the farm!” (Which, by the way, isn’t even true!) “You know what to do! Come on, get rid of it! Aaaaah, it’s going to kill us!” This was so helpful, I know.

    Finally, the possum got tired of us, scrambled off the ladder and scampered out of the garage. After 30 minutes, we had successfully evicted it. All of the stuff under the ladder is soaked in alcohol and probably possum piss, but hey, we won!

    We did do other stuff this weekend, but this entry’s long already. I promise to post more pictures from the weekend tomorrow.

August 23, 2010

  • Funny conversations

    One of my greatest joys as a mom so far has been conversing with Jack. Although he’s been talking and communicating for quite a while, actual, meaningful conversations are a fairly recent development. I love these glimpses into a young child’s mind. I’ve learned that Jack is very observant, and he’s logical in his own way. Sometimes, the things he says are touching, sometimes they’re very matter-of-fact, but more often than not, conversations with Jack are just hilarious. Here are a few examples from this weekend:

    Jack (upon our homecoming from the grocery store): Johnny? Johnny? Where are you, Johnny? Is Johnny home?
    Me: Jack, you call him “Daddy,” not Johnny. We don’t call moms and dads by their names.
    Jack: But you call him Johnny.
    Me:  Yes, but he’s not my dad.
    Jack: Yes, he is!
    Me: No, he’s not. Ah-Gong is my dad.
    Jack (thinks for a moment): But Johnny’s the daddy of this family. So he’s my dad, and Derek’s, and your Dad. Yup.

    Jack: Mommy, you have two letters.
    Me: Huh?
    Jack: B for Beverly, and M for Mommy.
    Me: Oh! Yes, that’s right, Jack!
    Jack: And I have J for “Jack” and G for “guh-guh” (Mandarin for “big brother”).
    Me: Yes!
    Jack: Daddy has J for Johnny and D for Daddy.
    Me: Uh-huh.
    Jack: Derek has D for Derek and … wait! Another D for “dee-dee” (Mandarin for “little brother)! He only has one letter! (Collapses on the floor in a fit of giggles)

    As you can see, Jack’s obsessed with letters and names right now. But, no worries, that’s not his only preoccupation. He also loves to talk about … penises. Luckily, he hasn’t talked about this in public, but at home, he frequently ruminates on the topic. One of his favorite things to do is to name someone he knows — everyone from his preschool teacher to his relatives to the neighbor’s cat – and declare whether or not that person has a penis. For example, Saturday morning, without provocation, over an episode of Curious George:

    Jack: Uncle Chris has a penis!
    Me: Uh, yes, that’s right.
    Jack: Because he’s a man.
    Me: Right.
    Jack: Daddy, Jack and Derek have penis, too.
    Me: Mmm-hmmm.
    Jack: Auntie (that would be in reference to Victoria) don’t have a penis, because she’s a woman. Mommy doesn’t have penis either.
    Me: Right, women don’t have penises. [I decided not to teach him what we do have for now. All I need is for him to yell "vagina" in the supermarket. I'll tell him when he thinks to ask what I do have.]
    Jack: Cousin Maddie don’t have one either, because she’s a grill [that's how Jack says "girl"].
    Me: Yeah.
    Jack: Atari have penis. He’s a boy. (Thinks for a second.) Hey! Only you don’t have a penis in this house!
    Me: Yes, and that makes me the boss of all of you.

    Honestly, if I wanted to record all the funny conversations I had with Jack, I wouldn’t have the time or the space to do it. I guess my favorite moments, though, are when Jack just suddenly stops what he’s doing and thanks us, or says he loves us. Last night, as he was shoveling down his third bowl of pasta with roasted cherry tomato sauce, he paused and said, “Thank you for this yummy dinner, Mommy.” And on Friday or Saturday, as we were all eating together, Jack beamed at me and Johnny and said, “Mommy and Daddy, I love you guys. Thank you being my mommy and daddy.” That makes up for the (many) frustrating moments!

    As fun as Jack is right now, though, there’s no denying that Derek is at an adorable stage. He has absconded with my heart. He’s always full of smiles, and he’s pretty darn easy to take care of. He loves to repeat whatever we say, and he also dances and claps when we sing to him. On Saturday, we had our friends Karthika and Peter, and their one-year-old son, Logan, over. Logan was wearing a pair of Pedipeds, and I decided to get Derek his own pair that afternoon, since I had a $20 certificate to Nordstrom’s (here’s the pair I bought for Derek). Well, Derek cried when I took them off after having him try them on. So I put them back on his feet, and he clapped. He loves those shoes. In the morning, he makes a beeline for the shoes, grabs them and says, “More, more,” and then claps when we put them on. My theory is that he somehow senses that these are practically the first item that I’ve bought just for him. He’s gotten some new clothes as gifts from other people, and I did buy him a coming-home outfit as a newborn, but other than that, everything is a hand-me-down from Jack. It warms my heart to see him adore these shoes, which are his very own. OK, so I know he probably doesn’t get that, and he just loves the shoes because they’re soft and comfy, but the point is, seeing how happy he is with them helps me justify the fact that I bought a pair of expensive shoes that he’ll outgrow in a couple of months, when I do have old Robeez from Jack’s infant days. (The $20 certificate did help.)

    Derek in his shoes
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    I’ll leave with some fun pics of the boys playing in the yard. They both love the water table.

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August 16, 2010

  • Whirlwind weekend

    Sorry I’ve been absent for a little while. Between tutoring and family events, I haven’t had much time to post! This past weekend, we attended Johnny’s cousin Patrick’s wedding in La Jolla (just north of San Diego). The ceremony and reception were on the rooftop of a boutique hotel overlooking the ocean. It was gorgeous! Kids were not invited, so we hired Susy (our wonderful occasional evening sitter), who held down the fort while Johnny and I had a rare day alone. To be honest, I breathe a sigh of relief when weddings are the “leave your kid at home” kind … I love my kids, but weddings are so much more fun to attend when you don’t have to tend to toddlers and don’t have to leave early due to their bedtimes! My mother-in-law flew in to attend, too.

    A couple shots of Patrick and his lovely bride, Kelly, during the ceremony

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    For the occasion, I borrowed a dress from June. It was like going shopping … but for free! Love that.

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    Johnny’s cousin Catie (Patrick’s little sister) was a bridesmaid. I was so happy to get to spend some time with her! She’s lots of fun.

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    Here we are with my MIL (in the scarf) and Johnny’s aunt (the mother of the groom)

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    This wedding had some yummy drinks. During cocktail hour, there was a mimosa tree, so I had two mimosas. Then I had a pineapple vodka and a glass of wine during dinner, and then I realized that the bartender was also making pina coladas and strawberry daiquiris with whipped cream! You can guess what happened next …

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    I don’t normally drink much, so that was definitely a lot for me. I practically fell asleep on the drive back home! I think I’ve hit my alcohol limit for the entire month. Ah, fun times.

    Yesterday we mostly just hung out. The kids got to play with Nana, and then Chris and Maddy came over for dinner while Johnny was at WWE Summer Slam (for work). Hope everyone had good weekends, too!

August 9, 2010

  • Pretend City

    Yesterday, we met up with Chris, Victoria and Maddy at Pretend City in Irvine. It’s a hands-on children’s museum with a kid-sized “grocery store,” restaurant, farm, beach, health center, fire station … you get the idea. I’ve wanted to go ever since I heard about it, but up until this point, Derek’s been too young to enjoy it. Now that he’s cruising and playing with toys independently, it makes more sense to take him.

    We had a great time! All the kids enjoyed it, and I really liked it, too. Funny how shopping for groceries is so much more fun when the food is in miniature … and the money is pretend. LOL. We got a lot of great pictures, too!

    Jack and Derek browse the produce section at the grocery store

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    Johnny and Jack make a sandwich at the fixins bar, and then Johnny samples the results. Mmmm, plastic sandwich!

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    Jack has a cute moment of pretend with an older boy at the checkout stand; Derek and I at the “farm”

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    While Derek and I chilled on the farm, Jack was working on pipe construction nearby

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    Jack was fascinated by the pipes; meanwhile, Maddy has excellent taste in cars!

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    Jack had fun in the “Persian Restaurant” kitchen

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    They also had a water play area, which Derek LOVED! There was one area where the pipes dispensed gusts of wind, so that the kids could control their sailboats. Really cool!

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    After the water play, we all headed into the health clinic.

    Chris examines Maddy; Maddy listens to Derek’s heartbeat

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    Me and my baby!

    August 064

    After that fun morning, we were hungry for lunch, so we went to the nearby Irvine Spectrum. I’d never been there before … what a nice shopping center! We had a yummy lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. For a meal with four adults and three children, I think it went pretty well. Victoria treated us to Cold Stone afterward.

    Look at Jack and Maddy holding hands!

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    Jack and Maddy play a game of chase around a giant planter

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    After lunch, the kids napped while we drove back home, then we enjoyed a nice couple of hours playing in the backyard. It was an idyllic Sunday.

    And now, back to the grind. I’m now tutoring three evenings a week, for two or three hours at a time. It’s exhausting to take care of the kids all day, and then go straight to tutoring, but I really love working with the students, and it’s good money. The biggest plus is that when I’m not doing it, I’m not on call at all. Yay! For the rest of August, I tutor Wednesday through Friday. When the school year starts, I’ll be tutoring Monday through Thursday, from 7:30 p.m. to 10 or 11 p.m. Whew! So far, my mom’s been sitting for us, but soon she’ll be leaving to spend a few months with my dad in Taiwan, so we’ve hired the (very responsible) 16-year-old son of a family friend, who has experience with kids, to hold down the fort while I go tutor. The kids are already in bed by then, so all he has to do is sit here and make sure nothing out of the ordinary happens until Johnny gets home (which usually doesn’t happen until after 8 p.m., unfortunately). It’s a pretty good deal for a high schooler to get paid for doing his homework! At most, he’d be here for two hours, and even if Johnny happens to get home five minutes after I leave, we’ll still pay him for the whole two hours. We interviewed him last Friday, and we really liked him. He wants to be a nurse, so we know he likes to take care of others. My students live close by, so I told him to just give me a call if the (extremely unlikely) situation ever arises that he doesn’t feel confident handling by himself.

    I’ll leave you with two adorable pics … one of Derek pushing his push car backwards, and one of me and my boys!

    August 018  August 010

August 4, 2010

  • We’re Baaaack!

    Hi, Xangaland! We’re now back safe and sound. We rolled into SoCal just before dinnertime on Monday, and thanks to my mom fixing dinner for us (and cleaning our house for us before we arrived … what would I do without her??), we were able to get Jack and Derek fed, bathed and in bed by 7:30 p.m., and we also managed to unpack everything we brought home, then put away our duffel bags before sinking into bed, exhausted but happy, at 11 p.m. Not bad for the end of a four-day cross-country drive! I should also mention that my in-laws are shipping back the bulk of our stuff in boxes … my mother-in-law insisted that I had enough to do, so she was kind enough to pack the stuff, too. All Johnny and I had to do was pack the stuff we needed for the trip home. It sure made our last days at the cottage a lot easier! 

    Anyway, the month at the cottage just flew by, even the part where Johnny was here at home, working. Of course, we all missed him a ton, but the kids and I were all busy, and Johnny had a hectic two weeks at work, what with Comic-Con and all the time that requires. Jack played tennis (I use “played” very loosely) every weekday morning, we went to the beach a lot, Derek soaked up all the extra attention from Nana and Papa, and I was spoiled rotten by my in-laws. Every morning, a freshly made latte awaited me when I came down the stairs, and each evening, I had a yummy meal made with locally grown, organic food, topped off with fine wine and plenty of handmade ice cream. (It’s no wonder that I gained two pounds while I was there … yikes!)

    The day after Johnny flew back to Michigan, our friends Will and Shannon, along with their 3-year-old daughter, Audrey, and five-week-old son, Gus, drove up from St. Louis to stay a few days. I really have to hand it to Will and Shannon — not every family would take a 12-hour drive with a newborn. Heck, I drove cross-country with the boys, and I wouldn’t even attempt a 12-hour drive with a newborn! The two of them are always so calm and collected, no matter how many children are swarming around them, and they’re just awesome with kids. Jack ran around with Audrey — the two of them played pretend pirates, totally unprompted by us adults, and even made up little voices as they went around hunting for treasure. Last time they saw each other, Jack was only 16 months old, so there wasn’t a lot of interaction. I loved seeing them converse this time. We all had a blast!

     July 023  July 011

    July 002  July 009

    PaPa built Jack a tent, and he told Audrey to “stay out”!

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    Look at these adorable pics of Jack and Audrey hugging and kissing goodbye!

    Jack_Audrey Hug   

    Jack_Audrey kiss

    The drive home went very well. I thank my lucky stars that both drives were so fun. We were very glad to get home, too. Now it’s time to catch up on all the posts I missed!