munchies333's Xanga

Saturday, September 05, 2009

Sat, 05 Sep 2009 05:38:24 GMT

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!

Friday, August 28, 2009

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 20:14:01 GMT

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!).

Thursday, January 01, 2009

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 06:49:30 GMT

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!

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Sat, 27 Dec 2008 21:09:39 GMT

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.

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 05:16:22 GMT

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).

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 21:01:42 GMT

FOUND!!!

The cops found our stolen goods! Can you believe it? Thanks soooo much for your prayers because they were certainly answered!

Early this morning at around 2am, J and I were awaken by a phone call. An officer called to inform us that our laptop was located. Hallelujah! The car that was involved in the burglary was pulled over in a part of town that is known to have high drug activity. The cops discovered our stuff, among other people's stuff, in the trunk and contacted us through the information they found on J's laptop. How's that for detective work? :P

The officer asked if J could come in and identify which items were ours. J sprang into action and drove across town to the police station. When he got there, he was directed to the car and a backpack containing most of our stuff - the 2 laptops, 2 cameras, and the camcorder. He saw my laptop and said, "Oh, that's definitely my wife's laptop. It still has the plastic cover on it", lol... He then turned the cameras on and saw the pictures of Cameron displayed. Yay! The pictures are still in the camera! That's all we ever really cared about. When J came home and told me, we were sooo happy, we couldn't sleep! We are so thankful to the police department for doing such a fine job with our little burglary case, finding our stuff and arresting the crooks.

Our things are still being held as evidence linked to the case, but we might be able to get them back on Monday if the District Attorney releases it. Either way, we can't be more thrilled that justice is served and that we will get back what is rightfully ours.

Yay, yay, yay, yay, YAY!!!

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 05:15:52 GMT

Burglarized

We left the house today at 10am. At around noon, we got a call from the police informing us that our house had been burglarized. It's one of those things that you think will never happen to you. We came home to find our bedroom ransacked, dresser drawers opened with its contents strewn on the floor. Every other room was relatively unscathed, but some valuable items were definitely missing:

- Two HP laptops - one mine, the other J's: $2,000

- One laptop backpack: $100

- One Canon SD900 Camera (which was bought around this time last year when we left our other camera at the nursery at our hospital): $400

- One Nikon D40x Digital SLR Camera (My Christmas present from J a few months ago): $800

- One Sony Digital Camcorder: $1300

- J's watch: $300

- Cash (including 4 Ziploc bags-full of change): $300

So... over $5000 worth of stuff. Ugh... But the most devastating thing they took is worthless to them but priceless to us - All of the pictures and videos on my laptop and cameras that we hadn't backed up yet... about 3 months worth. I was planning to share a bunch today for Cameron's 16th month update of him...

- laying down flat on his back and "reading" his grandpa's Chinese newspaper
- bending over at the waist and looking at me upside-down through his legs
- intensely walking across the room
- scribbling on paper with markers
- wearing his cute green argyle sweater vest yesterday on Easter Sunday

I was beyond mad when we first discovered we were victims of a crime... Mad at the thieves for invading our space and taking our stuff (and breaking one of the drawers in my nightstand), mad that I had to pick up after them, mad at the situation that led them to steal in the first place (Yes, the empathetic side of me actually kicked in and I actually blamed society for a bit there), mad at myself for not being more proactive about protecting our home, and mad for not backing up all those photos and videos. But yes, I realize that the important thing is that we're safe and that in the grand scheme of things, this is just a rough patch. It just sucks really bad for now.

Well, hopefully they catch the felons. I directed the CSI Unit to some blood I spotted on my bathroom door after they said there was no evidence for them to collect (I felt so cool! :P), so maybe that will lead to an arrest. There are some good leads - Our neighbor said there were 3 young African Americans in a white Lexus. The police said that this group has been canvassing the neighborhood for some time, so they've already been looking for them.

The really cool thing about this experience was that I got to meet so many of my neighbors. They all saw the police lights in front of the house and came over to say they were sorry about what happened. I always wanted to get to know my neighbors better (Love thy neighbors, right?) and I never imagined it would happen under these circumstances, but I'm glad I finally got to.

Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Tue, 04 Mar 2008 07:15:35 GMT

It's been way too long... We should get together soon!

Yes, long title for this post, but that seems to sum up my sentiments towards xanga, as well as friends I haven't seen in a while. I'm up late again (as usual), but there have been a few nights of late where I was in bed early (Well, early to my standards) so I haven't had time to xanga since I usually update and comment in the evenings (if you've noticed). Hm... that again was ann incredibly lengthy sentence, with an over-use of parentheses, but oh well! :)

Here's a quick update:

- Cameron is now 15-months-old (I need to work on a 15-month udpate post!). He took his first steps - *first steps*, woohoo! - two weeks ago!

- I've been praying about whether I should return to work for a few hours a week to prevent my skills from getting too rusty and to help out a bit financially. I'm also praying about how I should serve in church again (I previously served on the worship team and as a high school fellowship counselor).

- J and I strolled Cameron to church Sunday morning, then to a restaurant nearby to have lunch with my bro, sil, and niece... Then to J's parents' place in the afternoon - A total of over 5 miles! For those of you who think that's not a big deal, well pretend that you're impressed! :)

Here are some pics of the little one from February (since recent pics are still in my camera):

Cameron's Chinese New Year outfit:

Jailed by the baby gate:

Ah, the sweet taste of freedom!

I can walk, but why, when there's zero risk of falling when you're crawling?

I hope to come visit your pages soon! Missed you all!

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 03:56:38 GMT

What would 1990s me say to 2008 me!

If the younger, pre-mommy version of me could have a conversation with me now, "she" would probably say something like this...

You're shopping more for your kid than for yourself? What is up with that?
=> My response: I just looove shopping for Cameron! Anything that can make his life brighter, better, or a bit more comfortable or beautiful, I'm totally into (within reason :P)!

You're taking your kid out in his pajamas? I would sooo dress up my kid in cute outfits every single day!
=> My response: When we're just going to run errands or visit grandma and grandpa, it's just easier. Cameron loves to take off his socks and shoes, so those footed sleepers are handy - and warmer!

You're breastfeeding your almost 15-month-old? Are you cuh-razy?
=> My response: I never thought I would be so passionate about breastfeeding, but I am! It's such a special gift to be able to nurture him that way. And for those of you who are concerned that I'll be nursing forever... Cameron is already self-weaning (He's down from 5 to 3 nursing sessions a day).

You're banning TV from your son? You were raised on TV! You had your television viewing line-up during summer and winter break which lasted from morning to night/early morning!
=> My response: I'm shocked myself, but no TV means not only less distrations for Cameron, but for everyone else! Which means more quality family interaction and less background noise so he can really focus on what we're saying to him (We all know how hard it is to hear someone in a noisy environment!).

You're banning junk food from your son? You were raised on soda, chips, ice cream, candy, cake, danishes, and all the goodies a kid can dream of and you turned out fine!
=> My response: I know! Another shocker. But I'm sure all those things weren't good for me, as yummy as they were/are, so I want to give Cameron a good start. He's not missing anything, though. Our boy loves food - The way he wolves down bananas, sweet potatoes, yogurt and jook (Chinese rice porridge), you would think it was cake and ice cream!

So, basically, Younger Me, I'm doing what I think is best for my little one. Becoming a mother is such a transforming experience. I felt it soon after I found out I was first pregnant. All my priorities shifted. Things that were monumental in my life at that time suddently dwarfed in comparison to the huge responsibility of being a parent.

I understand where you're coming from with the criticism. Honestly, I would probably share some of those sentiments, too, if I were on the outside looking in. But you know how parents say you won't understand until you become a parent yourself? Yeah, I hate to admit that they were right, but it's true! One day when you become a parent, you'll understand. :)

Friday, February 08, 2008

Fri, 08 Feb 2008 06:50:07 GMT

Chinese New Year

For Chinese folks, the holiday season isn't over yet! Today is the first day of the lunar new year, the year of the rat. We've had traditional family dinners with J's family yesterday and today, and tomorrow, there will be another one to round out the festivities with the immediate family (There'll be more get togethers with both sides of the family this Sunday).

Before I had Chinese New Year's dinners with J's family, it was nothing out of the ordinary - just the usual stuff my mom would make at home (which was predominantly meat! Mm... BEEF!). J's family is more traditional. There are a certain number of dishes that are present for these special meals (There was 8 today and 9 yesterday). The dishes themselves are traditional, too - like "jai", a vegetarian dish, and different foods with different symbolic representations, like noodles pertaining to a long life. In previous years, we start off the meal with a spoonful of each of three soups - one made with dried bean curd and pigs feet, one with vinegar, and the other with wine (This year, they skipped the wine soup because no one usually drinks more than the required spoonful).

J's family bought these pretty pink blossoms, put them in a vase and hung red envelopes on them to display in the living room. It's so festive, much like a Christmas tree at Christmastime. Oh! I have this Chinese outfit that my girlfriend included in her bag of hand-me-downs from her son to Cameron - It's totally gaudy, in red silk and a gold print. I *have* to take a pic of Cameron wearing it! :P

Gung Hay Fat Choy to all!