One Laptop is NOT Enough in this Household

I guess I should have my own laptop before I become so gung-ho about updating my xanga. :)  J and I do have our own laptops, but I got a nasty virus on mine so it has been sent to tech support (our friend R who lives a few blocks away :P).  J's snoring away right now so I can have all the computer time I want.  But I'm sooo tired from cleaning all day, I think I'm gonna have to turn in soon too...  My old co-workers came over tonight, so of course I wanted to spiffy the place up.  And I haven't spiffied up in a while, so there was a lot of spiffying up to do (Hehe, I don't believe I used the word "spiffy" some many times in one sentence).  I had to do marathon cleaning sessions while Carson was napping because while he's awake, he's commands my complete attention - Yes, he's got me wrapped around his little (and cute and chubby) finger!  But I don't mind.  Before I know it, he'll be a little man, like his big brother!

Too Long for a Status Update

Oh, how I miss being here.  It feels like coming back to an old familiar place from your childhood.  I've been on facebook and updating my status just hasn't been meeting my needs.  Well, it does to a certain extent, but here I don't have to limit myself to just a few blurbs here and there, as nice as that is sometimes given the limited commodity of time.  (Oh, speaking of facebook, I would love to request you as a friend on fb, if I haven't already - Please send me a message so I can tell you my real name, or you can tell me yours. :P).

So much has been going on.  So much to digest and think about.  So much to pray for.  So much to share.  I have no idea where to start.  It's always fun to talk about my kids (at least fun for me, hehe), so I'll start there...

Carson is almost 9 months old.  He is a smiley, smiley guy.  Just learning to sit and grab and mouth things... and recently started solids too.  Oh, how awful of me - I realize he hasn't even made his xanga debut yet.  I'll need to post pics of him as soon as I'm on the computer that has his photos.  But let me assure you that he is a cute lil' guy, hehe!

Cameron is 2 years and 9 months old and just started preschool this week from 8am -12pm.  I feel like I get the best of both worlds with this arrangement - He gets some socialization and time to be his own person apart from me, I get some 1:1 time with Carson, and we still get to spend the bulk of our time together when he's off school.

J's looking for work and I'm still a full-time mom, so the four of us get to spend *a lot* of time together, which has been a huge blessing.  J and I just celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary and we're still not sick of each other yet, even though we spend 24/7 together, so things are looking good.

I'm gonna try to get back into posting more frequently (Yeah, I know that's what I said months ago, but this time I mean it, lol!). 

Last Post of 2008

With minutes left before the new year, I wanted to jot down some noteworthy happenings since my last "real" post in August:

September 2008 - Celebrated both my sister-in-laws birthdays, my former co-worker's 50th birthday, little R's birthday... as well as attended a memorial for someone from my church who was around my age when he passed away.  Everyone respected the family's wishes to keep the details of his death private.  His mother was at the memorial - Oh how my heart ached for her especially.   

J, my fil, and Cameron were in my sil's car leaving a supermarket parking lot when they were rear-ended.  Thank God it was a very minor accident and no one was hurt.  It did lead to very amusing re-enactments from Cameron for days... weeks... even months after the fact, though.  He'd say (in Cantonese), "Auntie's car got hit.  BOOM!  Auntie's car broke.  Broke at [name of supermarket]".

October 2008 - I savored a glorious weekend with my dearest girlfriends in San Diego - Something we knew would be hard to come by once Carson was born.  Fond food memories include brunch at La Jolla, carne asada fries, seafood burritos, farmer's market's goodies, and carrot cake.  Favorite vacation memories include lounging at the beach, playing charades, watching random youtube videos, and just spending some quality time together as girlfriends. 

On Halloween, Cameron wore costume we got at Babies R Us for just $2.49 the day before - It was a sweatsuit with a skeleton printed on it.  He got a bit overwhelmed while trick o' treating amidst a sea of fellow trick o' treaters at our local mall in the afternoon, but warmed up more to the idea at night when we went into the neighborhood with his buddies, Austin and Addison.  After Halloween was long gone, he'd talk about getting his pumpkin and going to the mall to get candy, even though he didn't have any candy at all (The candy was enjoyed by me, J, and my family who came over a few weeks later :P).

November 2008 - The day before my 33rd birthday, Cameron got a 1/4 inch gash at the corner of his lip from an innocent looking fall that required about 6 stitches at the emergency room.  Holding him down while trying to console him, through my tears and his, was one of the toughest things I've had to do as a mom.  But my little guy was a trooper.  After a nap in the car, he was back to his old self.  He does have a scar now, but it's barely noticeable.  Phew... Glad that's over!

Cameron is officially no longer a baby - He turned TWO this month.  We threw a fiesta-themed party in our backyard.  We knew it would be quite a gamble because the weather this time of year and in this part of town is usually dreary, foggy, and cold.  But the clouds parted and the sun shone - It was even on the hot side... which was perfect with the fiesta we created.  We served Mexican food and passed out maracas as party favors.  The only things missing were the margaritas and Coronas, lol... But what d'ya expect at a kid's party, right?

December 2008 - I finished almost all my Christmas shopping by December 11th, the day before my scheduled C-section.  I was quite proud of myself! 

*8/29/09 edit - I never did finish this post... Wish I did!

Birth Announcement

The newest little guy in my life, Carson, was born on Friday, December 12, 2008 at 8:45am via scheduled C-section.  He was 6 pounds 1 ounce and 18 1/2 inches.  He's an easy-going, mellow little guy.  Such a cutie pie, too.

Big brother Cameron is incredibly sweet towards his "dai-dai".  Every morning he asks to see him, so he can gently kiss his head.  He often holds out his arms and asks to carry him, as well.

I have pics that I will upload after things slow down here - I'm going to get ready for a gathering with extended family now, but just wanted to say a quick hello and share my big news, albeit two weeks late.  Sorry I've continued to be so awful about posting!  I'm thinking of you all this Christmas season and hope to catch up soon.

Love,
M.

What a crummy Xanga friend I am!

Has it really almost been 5 months since I've updated?  Ai-yahhh!  I've been meaning to come back here and catch up with you all for a while now... Really!  I feel I've missed out on so much!  I was explaining to my sil that it just became a bad habit *not* to xanga... Plus, I wanted to come back with a bang - Perhaps with a new background or a rockin' new profile pic at least.  But, hopefully this will make up for the lack of that... I have an announcement to make for those of you who don't know me outside of xanga.  It's a biggie, hehe...

I'M ALMOST 21 WEEKS PREGNANT with A BABY BOY due DECEMBER 29TH!    J and I are thrilled!  And Cameron seems to have some grasp that he's going to have a dai-dai (little brother).  It's the sweetest thing when he cuddles up to and kisses my belly.  Awww...

Now that the big news is out of the way, here's a quick update from the past 5 months:

April 2008 - Spent a month in Hong Kong and J's hometown in Southern China with J, Cameron, and J's mom, dad, and sister.  Cameron was a dream to travel with!  He slept soundly at night while J, my sil, and I went out and enjoyed street food and restaurants within walking distance from the hotel.  We got back home on April 30th and found out I was pregnant when I took a home pregnancy test.  Yippee!

May 2008 - I was stuck in bed all day because the pregnancy symptoms hit me *hard*.  I didn't have the energy to go out and had a horrible time keeping food down.  I lost weight and felt horrible.  But thankfully I was able to enjoy myself during a relaxing weekend vacation at Lake Tahoe with my family.

June 2008 - Mid-June, I began to feel much more like myself.  I counted it a luxury to be able to get out of the house and "only" throwing up around once a week (versus after most every meal)!

July 2008 - I felt well enough to venture off to Toronto for a week with J, Cameron, and my little brother to visit our friends who moved there from Vancouver.  It was Cameron's 4th flight and he did well, as usual.  On July 26th, J and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary.  We attended a party that evening instead of doing something romantic, which was fine by us!  We can always do something couple-y another time - We always welcome the opportunity to hang out with a bunch of friends.

August 2008 - I've caught Olympic fever... bad!  From the Opening Ceremonies to Michael Phelps winning 8 golds to all the talented gymnasts to now, diving and track and field!  I love it all!  The other exciting thing this month are two weddings - One for the ring bearer in my big brother's wedding back in 1990.  I got all weepy-eyed while I reminisced about him growing up.  He was one of the "kids" when I was a counselor for the high school fellowship at church. *sigh* I almost lost it during the wedding, but sitting next to J, who always thinks I'm silly when I do a sappy cry, I held it together.  The other wedding (tomorrow) is for my good friend whom I've referred to as my other big bro.  We knew each other since we were in diapers.  In high school we were on the phone almost every night while procrastinating from doing our homework.  We'd talk about life and love (as much as we can as teenagers) as well as frivolous things for hours and hours.  Ah, those were the days...

Well, there's my quick update.  I'm so sorry for my long absence!    Talk to you all soon!  For now, I'll leave you with pics of my big boy from last month in Toronto (in his cheapie US$1 sandals from China! :P).