Nutshell...

I am just way too behind to even start..

so i'll just tell you just what we've been doing. :)

We recently had a girl's night with the Wong sisters!
It was a fun night.
We had food and we chatted.
Alice {the one in gray} had not met Nalin yet so she was able to.
After we stuffed our faces we did our nails!
It was a nice time.
I am so glad that these two sisters came to see us. We've been wanting some visitors too!
Too bad the other Wong sister wasn't here, then that would be a party! lol 

 

We did my mother-in-law's 100th day ceremony in May. It is bittersweet that it is already pass 100 days that she has been gone.
It still hasn't really hit me or any of us yet. I suppose we still would like to think that she is still here with us. She is in spirit.
It was nice to have everyone there to celebrate her life while she was here with us.

It's hard to believe that these kids have grown over just a year. I do remember that last year they weren't as 'grown looking' as now.
Where has the time gone?
I wish sometimes i could freeze time - just for a bit longer so i could hold on to them longer.
Pretty soon they will be off making a life of their own.
Until then i hope that they will always be my babies!
Nilun and Jasmine will be starting high school in the fall! Yep you read that right!
Can you believe it? High scholars!
Naree will be starting Middle school in the fall!
My kids have got to STOP growing! lol
My baby girl is growing into a wonderful lady.
I think i wanna cry.
I hope they will always still want to hug this little old lady though. 

My aunt is visiting from California!
It has been both busy but fun having her here.
This time around we were able to take her to many places. I think she's in heaven! lol
We were also able to take her to Tennessee with us!
She has worked so hard almost all her life. Taking care of 4 kids all on her own for years and she has never taken a vacation.
I admire her dedication to her children. She truly is a great mother and she deserves everything.
We are happy to make her happy. This little vacation of hers is so well deserved and i can see the sparkle in her eyes. She is truly happy. Her kids are all grown now so she is able to take little vacations for herself.
Last time she was here we were only able to take her to Niagara Falls. This time she has been everywhere! lol
She loved it so much she extended her stay for another 2 weeks! :)

More of our life!
We are absolutely enjoying life with another baby in the house. It has been super busy and messy but oh so fun!
Every one is 'eating her up'!
She truly is our savoir from sad times. We definitely needed her in our lives!

Soccer season is officially over...
I'm kinda sad.
I love soccer season.
Yes life does get more hectic but i do love soccer.
I can't wait for the next season to start already.
Nilun will be starting high school soccer in August.
And Naree will either be moving up or staying with her team. We aren't sure yet but hey she'll still be playing soccer in the fall.

That's our life in a nutshell for you.
Right now that's all that's happening.. Just enjoying time spent with our loved ones and taking life one day at a time.
Summer has started for us and we are still not sure what we are going to do for Summer. But that's the best part! Not knowing...
We'll just hang out some more and enjoy the ride! Life is just too short not to. :)

Life's many faces.....

My heart is a little heavy and saddened. The year did not start off so great as we had hope.
My mother-in-law passed but we gained some happiness in the mix with the birth of our precious daughter. We've certainly weathered tremendous storms this year. And it's safe to say we stayed in tack...sanity and all!

My heart is heavy because of many things happening now.
Too many problems arises when one is taken cared of.

How do you keep respecting someone who didn't give you the respect in return? How do you still consider these people family when in actuality they probably don't think of you as family?
These people; people who you've come to include in every aspect of your life. People who have sat and ate with you? People who you share food with?
How does one forget who one is? What goes into ones' mind to forget the people who care for them the most?
How do you sleep at night knowing you've hurt the people who care about you and who are actually the ones who will actually be there for you?
I've found many friends along the road, but i NEVER forget who my true friends are and they will NEVER be replaced.
So why is it that some people are so quick to replace one another?

Maybe i'm just mumbling to myself, i guess this doesn't quite make sense huh?
It doesn't have to, at least not to you?
It makes sense to me!

One day my heavy heart will be lifted because i would have replaced the heaviness with sympathy. Sympathy for these so-called friends because in actuality they are the ones in pain, not me.
They've taken themselves so far from reality that they've forgotten who they are and who truly are their friends. They are lost in a world they claim that is great. But it isn't. Because this world they're in, it makes their heart have hatred, envy and jealousy. They think they live in peace but they don't.
One day it will all hit them. And i hope it doesn't hit too hard. For I still have sympathy for them. I hope that one day they will find their way back. Either i'll be at that road waiting or not, it's hard to tell. I have forgiveness but i also have the courage to walk away from something that has hurt me and i no longer want that in my life.

For now I must put that aside. There are more important things happening in life than to dwell on such "undeserving friends".

For now we focus on coming together as a family to give support, to hold each other, to give our shoulders to cry on, and to make sense of what life is about.

This weekend, we say farewell to a beloved father, uncle, brother, and son.
We will rejoice in his life for he lived a wonderful full life.
We will rejoice in his memory...for it will never be forgotten.
Most of all we will come together to let him know that he is loved by many and most of all he is loved by his family.

Sometimes in life we lose and sometimes we win. There are no guarantees...
So give your loved one hugs and kisses, make sure they know you appreciate and love them.
You just never know when they will have to come together to say farewell to you.
Never take a day granted.
Never take a friend for granted. {forgive and forget - it really isn't that hard}
Never take a family member for granted.
Never not give someone a smile...
For one day you might not get to smile again.

Love with all your heart.
Don't hurt each other.
Laugh til you cry.
And live life to your hearts content.

Remember to love each other - because there might not be tomorrow.

Makes me smile.........

This little chunky monkey makes me smile...........
Every day
Every minute
Every hour

We just can't get enough of her
Spit-ups.....
dirty, stinky, wet diapers......
crying, and blank stares and all..........

We love you little chunky monkey!

R.I.P

February 11th, 2012
We lost a truly wonderful woman. She was a great mother, daughter, sister, aunt and mother-in-law.
We are sorry and sadden to see her go, but we know God had better plans for her. She lived a wonderful and full life. She lived her life just the way she had always wanted....tending to her farm. She loved her farm. We will forever remember the times we have/had with her.

My mother-in-law was a good woman. The years that she lived with us will forever be in my memories. I will remember everything that you've taught me.
Thank you for everything that you've done for me. Thank you for taking care of my kids for me when i needed it, although you lived with us.
Thank you for raising such a wonderful son who became my husband. You did well!
Thank you for teaching me how to cook when i first moved in...
Thank you for cooking all those delicious food for us.
I have many things to thank you for....
But most of all I'd like to thank you for being in our lives.
We truly were blessed to have known you.

I hope that one day i could be as great of a woman as she was. She and my mother are the two woman whom i'd love to be more like!
It has been a rough road for us....dealing with the birth of our daughter and a week later dealing with her death. It has been a difficult time for all of us.
She was fighting for the longest time. Although i hate to see her go, but it was her time and she isn't suffering anymore.
The only thing i'm sad about is that she didn't get to hold Nalin before she left.
When i was in the hospital giving birth to Nalin, my mother-in-law had already been in the hospital for over 2 weeks. The day i gave birth, she was transferred down to ICU...she had gotten worst.
The only good thing was that it was at the same hospital so it was easy for Lien to stay with me and visit his mom whenever he wanted to. She was on the 3rd floor while i was on the 2nd floor.
She got to see pictures of Nalin but never had the chance to hold her.
And now my daughter will not have the chance to get to know her grandma....
I will try to keep her memory in our lives forever. I will tell Nalin of her grandmother.

It's hard to say what i want to say....i have so much to say but i'm at a lost for words. I want to say more but this is all that's coming out.
I know she is in a better place now.

Now we must pick up our lives and live on. We will keep her in our memories and heart forever.....

Him

Just wanted to tell my best friend and my soul mate how much he means to me and how much i love him.

 

He is truly my rock! He has been such a tremendous help to me right now. He has helped with dishes, cooking, diapers and has helped with the older kids as well.
I am such a lucky lady to have found someone as awesome as he is. I have a few friends who complain about how their husbands don't do this or do that and i am truly grateful that i don't have that problem. Lien helps so much. So truly blessed to have him.

I appreciate all that he does for us!

post baby blues?

There has been a lot of things going on here with us for the pass few weeks. My mother-in-law has been in the hospital for a few weeks now. Everyone is stressed out over her care. All her kids have been here on and off.

I had a baby while my mother-in-law was in the hospital. So you can imagine how things have been. It has been a roller coaster ride for sure.

I've enjoyed the company after coming home from the hospital. I was relieved to have the company. In fact i still wish i had the company..........i feel alone. My sister-in-laws were here too so they kept me occupied.

But what and who i missed the most is Lien. He has been very busy since his mother came back and has been in the hospital. He has been very worried about her and have been going back and forth to the hospital checking in on her. He loves his mom dearly.
I am so sad to see him so stressed and worried.............I wish there was something i could do to help him. But there isn't........
All i could do is give him support.

There have been times i feel like being a selfish wife and just tell him............"hey i need your attention too."
I know when he looks at me {whenever he has the time to take a look} he can see how i feel but i'm trying to stay strong for him.
I want him to know i'm here for him whenever he needs me.

But i'm really feeling the pressure now.
Since the birth of our 3rd child, i have not had the love and companionship from my husband so i feel left out, unloved and alone sometimes. I know that sounds so selfish of me but that is how i feel sometimes.
I only wish that i could just have some time with him..........
It's been lonely without him here with us. I feel alone, sad and hopeless.......
It's like i'm walking in a daze just trying to figure out how to survive the day.
I really wish he could be home with me. I feel scared all the time......especially at night. I get this feeling and i can't shake it off. I wish he was here to hold me and tell me that everything will be alright.
I just miss my husband so much.
Again that's me being selfish.
I understand his need to be there for his mom and family. I WANT him to be there for them and her.

But man, i sure miss my husband.
I can't function straight without him. I only get him for a few hours of the day and he is so tired and sleepy at night, there's not even time for us to talk.

I hope things will improve soon and i hope/pray/wish that my mother-in-law will get well soon.

And i hope i get my husband back, even for just a few hours.

I'm not being selfish, i just want everything to go back to the way it used to be. With every one well and happy. We need some happiness right now.............all of us.

Baby baby baby!!!

There past few days/weeks have been so hectic i don't even know where to began. It's been such a blurr for me......

Baby shower 1/14/12

My baby shower was nice. It was nice to get to mingle with some friends and just enjoy some time with them. Thank you to my good friends Lynn and Rochelle for throwing me such a nice shower and i'd like to thank all my friends who made it out there too.
It meant a lot to me!

I got lots of cute girly outfits!
Pink galore i tell ya! :)

Thank you Rochelle! This is gorgeous......

wish i had taken a group photo before everyone left.

I am grateful to have such wonderful family and friends! Truly am blessed. :)
And even more blessed to have my family: Lien, Nilun and Naree............
They were supportive throughout the pregnancy. Yes even when i had my mood swings. But i promise there weren't many of those. I swear! lol

Also my sweet husband! I love you Lien........
Thank you for always being there for me. Giving me foot rubs and belly rubs. Cooking me my favorite dishes and helping me with the kids, dishes and every thing else. How did i get so lucky?
Yep i know, i think i will keep him! :)

The birth of my much anticipated baby girl! 1/27/12

 I went in to do my regular check up with my OB on 1/26/12.....
She checked me and said i was 3 centimeters dilated. Oh boy right? LOL
I have history with this. See every time i go in to see the doc and she checks me down there........usually means i'm having my baby.
The day she checked me with Nilun: a few hours later i had him.
Same thing with Naree i had her the same day she checked me.
And they were both a week early.
So when my doc said it could be another week...................i told her "no i know it'll either be today or tomorrow".
I just know it.
All day that day i have contractions. Although they weren't labor contractions but i knew it was soon. That night it was very uncomfortable. I couldn't sleep at all. So around 7 am i couldn't hold it and Lien and i headed to the hospital. My contractions were only about 10 minutes apart.
Doc checked me again around 9 am and i was at 5 centimeters. She was surprised for some reason. I'm not sure why.
At around 10ish my contractions started getting really bad and i was in pain for sure this time. So nurse checked me and i was at 7 centimeters. The nurse said she wanted me to wait until i was at 10 centimeters to push. Crazy i know!
Lien told the nurse "my wife's a small person i don't think she can wait til 10 centimeters. She is ready now!"
So the nurse said "ok, i 'll get the doctor."
So doc comes in and i'm literally in lots of pain by now.
She says "let me get my gloves and i'll pop your water and i'll start delivery."
Literally a min after she said that my water breaks.
But now i'm like in pain, real bad pain.

"um my water just broke and i feel something coming out, i want to push."
"no don't push yet."

3 minutes later:
{breathing in and out and in pain} " i can't hold it i want to push, she's pushing me."

The nurse and doctor is now hurrying up to get their stuff and the nurse takes my bed off and gets me ready to push.

Lien: "breath honey, you're doing good."
Me: "oooohhhh............i can't, she's pushing. I have to push now."
Doc: "ok when you're ready just push."

And that's when the fun part begins!
2 pushes in i feel my toe cramping up.
Me: "my toes cramping up."
Nurse: "ok i got it."
4th push and the baby is out at 10:49 am!!!!!!
Yay!!!!

And she is here! On my stomach staring at me and i can't help but fall in love. She is precious.......
Just as i imagined her to be. This perfect little thing is all mine! How did i get so lucky?
Her hair so thick and there was plenty of it too. :) {i know be jealous!}
9 months of waiting and she is here.

Oh and if anyone was wondering. NO i did not scream, yell or anything. You know how some people yell or scream? Well i'm not one of those people. Never was. I mean i might have been a little loud on the pushing part but other than that No i'm not one of those. :)
Oh and i did it naturally too. No drugs or anything. Yep be jealous! j/k
Just to clarify.............

We are enjoying our little girl! She is perfect in every way. Even when she sleeps. She sleeps a lot and poop a lot too...........but that's what babies do!
She had a little jaundice but she is doing well now.

Her brother and sister are eating it all up.............she is gonna be one spoiled little sister.
Naree always wants to hold her and she is changing her diaper already. :)
And that's a good thing!
Nilun talks to her and i think he just can't wait til she's a bit older so he can do more with her. Right now he likes talking to her in a baby voice and he is holding her.
I'm still working on him changing her diaper.......we'll get there....i hope!

Ice Ice Baby

You know how woman get really weird cravings when they're pregnant?
Well i'm no exception to that. I've had some pretty crazy weird ones.

When i was pregnant with Nilun all i wanted was orange juice and watermelon. I drank orange juice all the time, every waking moment. Never water. : )
And i had to have watermelon even though it was a pain to ALWAYS have to go to the bathroom.
I had other cravings but nothing as major as these two. I had to have them!
When i had Nilun he came out smelling like orange juice....literally NO JOKE!
I even asked my husband "what's that smell? It smells like orange juice!".
He smelled like orange juice for a week! {sorry nilun} 
And his head was shaped like a watermelon. Again I am not kidding you. Don't ask me why, it just did.
And to clarify.....his head is shaped just fine now! : )

With Naree i had all the usual cravings.........
EXCEPT for two very weird, wacky and crazy one!
I wanted Monkeys and Rabbits.
Ok so i know what you are thinking.
"WTF?"..............right? lol
Yep i did, that was a CRAZY craving.
And NO PEOPLE i DID NOT satisfy my craving for that.
First of all......where would i get a monkey?
Anyways i wouldn't try it. YUCK!!!
Monkeys are my fave animal i wouldn't want to eat it let alone hurt it. Well unless you hurt me or someone i love. That's a different story.
That's when they aren't cute anymore. :)
I did however tried the Rabbit and it was yummy! Taste kinda like chicken. Yes it does. So yummy! :)

Wait! Now i can't remember if the Monkey craving was with Nilun or Naree.
OH well it doesn't matter which one because i did have cravings for them. lol

So with this one i have the usual cravings too. But nothing sour or no papaya salad like the typical Asian pregnant woman do. :)
If you're Asian {Thai or Lao} you will understand what i'm talking about. I didn't have a feel for them. In the early stages i did eat lots of sour mango but it stopped around the 6th month.
I don't crave those things. I eat all the regular stuff, nothing too out of this world.
What i crave are fruits, especially Honeydew. I love Honeydew even before i was pregnant but now even more.
And the number one craving of all this time around is......................{drum roll}

ICE!

Yep these frozen suckers!
I can sit on the couch all day and just munch and munch on these things. I think i probably irritate the heck out of my family sometimes. Because i'll even munch on them when we watch movies or TV.
Sorry guys!
Now it's not that much of a crazy craving but i crave this all the time.
My ice maker broke so now i'm reduced to having to buy the ice at the store.

I'm so crazy about them.
Case in point:
Today i went to the store to get some fruits. And i bought a bag of ice. While at the register i looked at my bag of ice and actually thought of opening the bag and eating some right then and there!
I'm a nut case! The girl would have thought i was psycho or something. :)
Glad i resisted the temptation. But all the way home i couldn't wait to get to my ice.
And while putting the groceries away i actually opened the bag and snuck in a few. It was ooooh so good. :)
When i'm drinking water or juice i add a lot of ice but just enough juice or water to drink just so i could get to the ice quicker.
Yeah i know i'm crazy.
But hey at least i have a friend who understands. Yuki loves the ice too. He'll munch on some with me too. :)

So what is or was your crazy, wacky pregnancy craving?

Snowboards and count downs.....

This year we took Nilun to snowboarding....for the first time! He's never been. So we headed out to Findlay to see my husband's good friend and his kids so we can go snowboarding with them. I think Nilun was pretty excited about it.

 It was also nice for us to go too, since we were cooped up in the house since winter break. We NEEDED to be out and it was the perfect time.

Too bad when we got there, there wasn't much snow. In fact there was no snow at all. :(
I added the snow in this picture. :)
But there was enough for them to still snowboard.
Nilun looked like he had fun......
So much fun that he didn't even want to come inside the building when it started raining. They were the only three still out there!
Silly kids! Boys will be boys!




Naree didn't want to do it......probably because she didn't have a friend on do it with her. But i think next time {if there is a next time} she will try with her daddy. :)
He is always up for something. He even offered to go with her if she wanted but she was a little hesitant and then decided against it.
So we just walked around, took some pictures and then hid out in the car when it started raining.....
The boys took a while, they did not want to go home! :)

After hanging out at our friends' house in Findlay for a few hours after snowboarding, we decided to head home that night/morning {1 am} because we wanted to rest before our annual Cleveland Laos Association New Year party.
It was fun even on our way home. We talked and joked..... The family had a conversation about life and responsibilities. It was a nice and productive drive home. :)
We got home at around 3 am. We were pretty tired.

At first we didn't really want to go to the party.....for many reasons. One major reason was that i was still getting contractions once in a while and such and we felt the loud music and excitement might affect the baby. But all in all we decided to go anyways. Simply because Lien needed/wanted to help out {he is to sell tickets for song dedications} and i also didn't want to stay home. :)

It was a good choice. I got to see some people i needed/wanted to see that i haven't seen in a while and Lien was able to hang with his friends whenever he could. The kids hung out in the lobby with their friends, as usual.

I didn't dance like i usual do but i did get one slow dance with my busy hubby. :)
Too bad we couldn't get close.....my tummy is out there!
The baby did, on the other hand, get to dance.......and dance did she do! She did not stop moving. I think we have a dancer here! lol
She's already got 2 dads' reserving her for their son! lol


They didn't do a count down, too busy with the music going on and on and on. :)
But i did get my kiss from Lien.
We had a good time even though i didn't get to spend much time with my hubby....

When we got home we were hungry so we made surf clams and shrimp and then the kids made cupcakes! We ended up sleeping at around 5 am!
We enjoyed our New Years celebration! :)

I am blessed to have such a loving and wonderful family. Even though there were times we struggled with things but we always had each other for support and we manage to get through the tough times. And that's what matters to us.
We might not have much money but we manage to deal with it. And i'm glad/blessed that we have kids who understand that sometimes you can't always get things. I hope that quality will always be with them.

Cheers to a new year! May our lives be blessed with health and wealth throughout. May we always have our laughter, tears, joys and happiness. May we always have our families to give us support and love. May we always have our friendship give us smiles.
May we always have LOVE and HAPPINESS to last us a lifetime!

I am truly blessed and i hope i will continue to be blessed throughout my life.

Happy New Year!

Break

We are in Findlay right now. We decided to 'gift' our kids with snowboarding. Our friends in Findlay have been asking us to come out here to snowboard with their kids for a while now so we just decided why not since we will be busy soon, what with the baby and all.

Nilun is pretty excited and i'm not sure about Naree. She is still a nervous i think. I'm not even sure if she wants to do it or not. We will see tomorrow.
Too bad there hasn't been any snow here in our neck of the woods. Ohio hasn't has much snow. It snowed about a total of 2 days this year for winter. I have a feeling we will get hit hard sometime in January or February. Not looking forward to that.

We had wanted to leave a little early for Findlay but we had ordered shoes for Naree for Christmas and it was to get here today.
So we decided to stay home and wait for the package to get here before we head off since my sister-in-law wasn't home either.
We ended up waiting till 6 pm!!!! OMG i was a little frustrated. I wanted a head start on our drive. Lien was pretty mad.

I had tried to call them 3 times around 3 pm and 4 pm to try to see where the package is now or if we were even going to get it. I couldn't get any one on the phone.....just the machine. {i really hate these automated calls} Seriously why can't a live person just pick up the phone now a days? Is it that hard?
Anyways i couldn't get through.....
Lien got up from his nap around 5:30 and he was getting irritated. We really wanted to get going. So he called them up. I will spare you what he said or did. He was upset and ok so he yelled into the phone a bit and demanded to the automated voice that he wanted "a representative dang it!"
2 minutes later he WAS TALKING to a live person!
WHAT?
I tried 3 times and couldn't get through!
I guess i will have to learn to yell and scream my way to a live person! lol
Hey whatever works right?
He talked to someone and he demanding to know how the status of the package was and if he was even going to get it.
The other person on the line said they didn't know when we would get it but they know it's been in the truck out for delivery.
Lien was livid....on the line of saying "you saying you want me to wait around ALL DAY for you to bring me my package? What if i have something to do? I've been waiting all day and i have to be out of town. YOU need to have some kind of system that will at least tell me what time the package will come or between what time it will come...."
The guy made the mistake of telling Lien "you can come pick it up."
Bad idea!
"if i wanted to pick it up i wouldn't be waiting for you all day long. I would be there this morning already. YOU were suppose to delivery, that's your job."
He then said this is the worst customer service ever and hung up on them.

We decided to just leave. So i left a note for the delivery guy to just leave the package by the back door. My sister-in-law would be home by then of course.
While we were packing up the car, just only 15 minutes after, the call the UPS guy shows up.
He was rude.....
We were outside by the car loading and up and he didn't even come give us our package. He just left it at the front! Jerk......
We are usually not mean or bad customers. We are the opposite, we always think of other people and such and try not to give any trouble but this was beyond ridiculous.
We didn't mean to be rude but it was just too much. They really need to work on their deliveries. Get some kind of time system or something. Technology is booming right now, there's got to be a solution.

But we did get an extra package! We also got a package from my dear friend, Bori and her boyfriend. Christmas presents!!!! {i forgot to take pictures.}
I knew the package was coming but didn't know it was coming with the shoe too. Two in one.....not bad!

I am blessed to have such a wonderful friend. She is so thoughtful to send us Christmas gifts. She didn't have to but she did and we appreciate that.
She is also my children's' Godmother.

How's that for a day huh?
So now I'm all showered and relaxing. Hubby is out in the living room chatting with his buddy and the kiddos are in their buds' room playing.
Tomorrow morning we head out to the mountains and maybe get some snowboarding done. How exciting is that?
It's been a good Christmas break so far!
I'm so blessed to be with my family.......there's really not much i could ask for. :)

Merry Christmas 2011

This year has been an adventure for us. Some bad and some good but we have made it through. I'm so blessed in so  many ways with how my life has turned out.
I have such a wonderful family who loves me and cares for me so much. How did i get so lucky?

I am grateful for my family and my friends. Grateful to have a life full with love, laughter, and happiness.

No amount of gifts or money can buy me those things.

This Christmas we were able to get the kids some things that they had wanted. The kids seemed pretty happy to get everything that they wanted.
To see my kids face while they open their presents......that's a great feeling.

When i was a kid, we didn't get many presents. One for each of us and it was pretty much something cheap. But we were still excited to open it. A barbie from the dollar store, t-shirt or underwear.....we were still happy.
We didn't have much growing up so to see my kids happy and having more than i could - that is a feeling i can't explain.
I am grateful that i have a life that enables me to provide for my kids and to give them what i didn't have growing up.
I know that i am blessed. I have a wonderful husband who works hard to provide for us and i thank God every day that i have him.
Did i mention that i'm a very lucky girl?

I hope every one had a very Merry Christmas and i hope every one was/is as blessed as i am to have such blessings.

As usual we went over to mom's for Christmas Eve so the kids can open their set of presents from grandma. And then we had dinner.

They were pretty spoiled. :)
We stayed and chit chat for a few hours and then off we went for our annual Christmas lights outing. I try to keep that as a tradition for our family to go every year around Christmas time to see all the holiday lights.

I was pretty disappointed with downtown Cleveland this year. They normally have lights on every tree on every corner but this year there was nothing. The only holiday lights they had up were in the middle of downtown and that was it. We were disappointed. Only shows how our economy is still in the shits. What a shame.

At midnight we let the kids open presents at the house. They were pretty excited. After presents we hung out and ate {again} and then we watched a movie {i forget what movie it was}. We didn't sleep til about 4 am but we enjoyed hanging out as a family. :)

See, even Yuki got presents but he was only interested in only one. A toy gingerbread. :)

Lien bought me a Coach purse. Had no idea he was going to do that. Didn't even think he paid any attention to what kinds of purse i liked. He picked the right one. I like big bags. :)

This time around next year we will be celebrating Christmas with an addition to our family. Can't wait!!!

Merry Christmas!

photo challenge

A picture of your most treasured item.

My Monkey pendent zodiac necklace.
For over 7 years i've had this necklace and i've never taken it out. It is my prized possession.
The Monkey is my Chinese Zodiac sign.
Sad to say i've lost my necklace. After over 7 + years i can not recall where i've lost it.
One day i was showering and i was wiping my neck and realized it was gone. I just don't know where it went. I searched and searched and searched but i still can not find it. It is a sad situation. I am so mad at myself for losing it. I wish i can recall where it is or when was the last time i remember wearing it. I know i didn't take it out.
It has gotten loose a few times but i've always managed to catch it in time. I'm so bummed {even now, after 2 months} and sad that i've lost my most valuable thing. This is the only piece of jewelry i like to wear constantly. I don't even wear my wedding ring! Well now i do simply because i wore it before finding out i was expecting and by the time i wanted to take it out, i couldn't. My fingers got too big! lol

Hopefully one day while cleaning or something i will find it. I hope it is somewhere in the house. I really miss it. I feel weird without my Monkey necklace. :*(


Have you seen it?

Christmas Concert

Some pictures from Nilun's Christmas Choir concert a few days ago. He has been into getting dressed up lately. Ties and all. I think it's pretty cute! My little boy isn't such a boy anymore is he?

Did i mention how much i hate my camera right now? The blurriness of my camera is really irritating me. The diopter that adjusts the blurriness of pictures is right where my thumb goes and it has been moved a few times. Now i just can not adjust it to where it was when i first bought it.
Now all my pictures are turning out not as clear and crisp as they used to be. I'm so mad and annoyed. I need to take it in to Dodds and see if maybe {please please} maybe they can help me with this before i pull my hair out.

Lights and gingerbread houses.....

I love Christmas! It has to be the best holiday of the year. I love looking at the lights. I love the music/sounds all around the mall. People mingling and enjoying themselves. I love the atmosphere of this holiday season. There is something about it i just can't explain.
I love that we get to be with our families and share traditions. What's not to love about that right?

When we were living in Idaho - back when we were kids. Every year for Christmas dad would take us girls and head out to find us a real Christmas tree. Mom worked two jobs so she wasn't able to go.
Every year we get a real Christmas tree. I really don't know why but it seems that was the tradition in our house back then.
When we get home with our tree dad would go about making a stand for the tree. He would nail it to the tree so the tree will stand and we'd decorate it.
Dad wasn't around much....or should i say he wasn't much of the kind of dad that would spend time with us. He was more of the provider type and not the 'there' daddy type..
So this was always a welcome treat for us.
That's about the only time we actually do spend time with dad: Christmas tree shopping!
We didn't mind at the time. We knew our parents were busy parents. Working a lot to provide for us girls.

We didn't have much presents around the tree because we couldn't afford much but we were still happy just to get something.
A barbie from the dollar store, socks, underwear.....etc.....
It was just awesome to unwrap those presents. And back then, let me tell you! I was as excited as a kid in a candy store to get a barbie from the dollar store! Seriously.....i thought i had won the lottery.

The kids made gingerbread houses a few days ago!  I am trying to get this to be one of our tradition. So far so good....

And now i feel like my kids are having it so much easier than we did. They are some lucky kids. So i hope this holiday season and for many more holiday seasons to come.....They will remember how it is to be grateful and remember that there are some out there who aren't as fortunate as they are and that they will appreciate all that they have.
I also want them to always remember that it isn't what you get, it's what you give. And never expect anything in return.
I hope to start many traditions with my own little family. So far we are doing good. :)

We will be adding one more to our family soon. This Christmas we are enjoying the time for the 4 of us....
We are going to celebrate having another year with us each other.
We celebrate having another year of health...
We celebrate another year of love and laughter. ...
We celebrate another year of friendships - old and new..
We celebrate being a family....

We celebrate being able to provide for each other....
We celebrate life!

This time around next year, we'll have another reason to celebrate! It'll be our baby's first Christmas! We just can not wait.

29 weeks

You are moving like no other. Every minute of every hour. But i love that feeling. Sometimes you hurt me sometimes you just love me.
Right now you move like crazy - all over the place. Your brother has felt you {he loves it} and your sister too. She was a little freaked out but she loved it.
Your cousin Jasmine felt you and went a little nutty.......She's dramatic like that but we all know she loved it. :)
Grandma is spoiling mommy like crazy. Buying mommy whatever she wants to eat so that you can be healthy and fat {hey grandmas are like that}......she is so excited to just meet you.
Daddy loves to feel you and sometimes tease you by trying to wake you up just to feel you move. He secretly wakes up at night and rub mommy's tummy and gives you kisses.
You are truly one loved little baby!

I can not wait to hold you in my arms and give you kisses............
But i do love the time i have right now with you in me. I love the feel of you- knowing that you are protected in there. I hope that every time i talk to you or when daddy talks to you that you will hear us and love our voices.
Your brother and sister also can not wait to see you.

They have nick named you Piccachu for now! lol
We do have a name {we think} but we also want to wait to see your sweet face to give you that perfect name. I hope that you will love your name and your family as much as your family loves you!

We hope that you will be just as excited to see us as we are to see you. But lets wait until you are suppose to come out okay baby. So as much as we'd love to see and hold you right now, we'd also want you to grow and be the healthy baby that we know you will be.

See you soon my little Piccachu!