There's something great about Daddy

I just had to take a blog moment to brag about my incredible husband. Not only does he try to make my days happy and fun-filled when I feel that I am no longer "supermom" but he is a GREAT dad. Every day when he comes home from work he takes 1/2 an hour to play with the kids in the backyard or joins in whatever they're doing at the time. Usually this is when I'm cooking dinner so it's a nice break for me. In the mornings when my son wakes up at the crack of dawn, Will takes him and goes out to the couch so I can sleep in for another half hour or so. When he's home he takes care of baths, getting more juice or changing diapers. All of this, as you moms know, makes my night go by so much smoother.

Thank you, Will, for being my strength when I need it, my ear when I need someone to listen and my "babysitter" when I need to get away. I love you more than I can ever say. You're one great dad! and hubby!
The kids agree! They had to sit in their booster seats right next to each other one day so they pulled the chairs out, sat in their seats and kept trading by climbing over each other. It's amazing how something so simple can keep them interested for at least 10 minutes!

Frank Lee turns 80 something...

The Lee Family had the annual birthday party at our common Chinese Restaurant this past weekend to celebrate Will's dad. As you can see from Tyler's face, he didn't want to be in the picture. I don't think I've ever seen his lips quite that sad. It is always such an ordeal to get all of the grandkids looking good in the picture.

We feasted on lobster salad (smothered in a mayonnaise sauce, one of my favorites), giant scallops (Bryan loved these), abalone, fish, and numerous other gourmet dishes. My sister and her husband were able to make it as well and it was good to be able to speak to someone in English and have a conversation while eating. I'm not really used to that. By the way, Michelle Kwan was in the room next door to ours celebrating someone else's birthday. I didn't see her but my nieces were starstruck.

The grandkids with Mama and Yeye (grandma and grandpa)

Mikayla loves the gelatinous decorations on the bean paste bun plate that we are always brought for dessert. They're made with flour and water and something else and one of the leaves has to come home with us every time. It gets pretty disgusting overnight but then it magically disappears the next morning.

My sister Cara with her youngest, Austin. He didn't like sitting for 3 hours (who would) but absolutely inhaled the crispy shrimp chips that came with, what I call, the chainsaw chicken. It literally looks like they took a chainsaw to a cooked chicken and then decorated the plate with shrimp chips and the head of the dead chicken. It's quite a sight. Thanks, Cara and Bryan, for making the dinner fun for me!

Julie is #1

You know when someone fun comes to the house and your kids only want them to hold their hand, sit by them at dinner, play with them, be with them at all times? Well, this happened in our house this last week with my cousin, Julie. After we spent the weekend at her timeshare, my sister and I agreed to share her the next week and have her spend a few days at each of our houses. It was difficult to share, that's for sure, but I managed it ok. From the moment she arrived, Mikayla latched onto her and that's the way it stayed. She even volunteered me to run all the errands so that Julie could stay and play with her. (Lets me know which rung of the totem pole I'm on.) I was so happy that they loved her so much because so do I. She's one of the greatest people in this universe!! =)

Here's a picture taken right before Mikayla had a meltdown. We left Julie with Auntie Cara and Mikayla wished we could have Julie with us "forever and ever."
Julie and Mikayla

Play dough was so much fun, especially when cousin Julie made a huge snake, complete with bandaids to hold it together where it was falling apart. This snake is so loved that, even after playing with it 2 times after cousin Julie left, the snake still has to be curled up and placed back into his respective cup.

Weekend Getaway

Wow, this last weekend was so much fun!!! Thanks to my cousin Julie, my sister, Julie and Janelle (her sister) and I had a relaxing, resort-filled, hot and wonderful weekend in Palm Desert. Julie used her timeshare to bring us all together for some R&R together and I am so grateful! We laid by the pool, hung out, went out to lunch, hung out, watched movies, talked, and did absolutely NOTHING we didn't have to. It was like paradise! Coming home was the hard part. Julie spoiled us all weekend!

Janelle, me and Julie in the condo.
me, Janelle, Julie and my sister Cara trying to get a picture of the 4 of us.

This little praying mantis was on the wall or the stairs every time we walked past him. I'd never seen one in "the wild." He was so cute!

Trip to the Dentist

I haven't updated the blog in a while so I have a few posts to get posted. The other day was my wonderful date with the dentist. It was Mikayla's turn to go and she was so excited! They picked and cleaned her teeth and then she got her very own timer (for 2 minutes to brush her teeth) and got to pick out 2 toys because she had done so well. My adorable daughter chose one gift for her and one gift for Tyler since she didn't want him to feel left out. She had a great time. Unfortunately, I don't think she'll like the dentist after next time. He told me she had a cavity coming along in the back of her mouth and it would require a shot of anesthetic....uh oh.

Nana & Papa

A few weekends ago, we had the priviledge of seeing my mom's parents, Nana and Papa (to me). The kids loved seeing their grandparents since they see their pictures every day but they loved playing with them and loved Nana and Papa watching them while they swam and played with each other.

The boys hanging out

Nana demonstrating the fine art of rolling play dough into a ball.

The whole clan before they left.

You Know You're Pregnant When...

For some reason, this pregnancy has been challenging when it comes to the amount of energy needed to cope during the day and the amount of energy God has given me the last few months. I can't believe I actually got out and went walking with the kids this morning (even though it ended with really bad back pain) but I did and it reminded me of the many ways I feel pregnant...

1. Making dinner consists of finding whatever furry leftovers you can see in the fridge and then pairing it with a box of rice-a-roni. I almost reheated a piece of chicken that was more than a week old but not even a pregnant woman wants to risk that food poisoning.

2. Walking from the back of the house to the front, or vice versa, makes you feel you ran a half marathon. You almost have to put your hands on your knees and take a breather.

3. You resist the urge to have that Nutter Butter Freezee from Tastee Freeze because you're scared to death you've gained more than the allotted amount for your doctor's appointment next week. This happens especially after the doctor mentions your 9 pound weight gain of the previous month.

4. Cravings are pretty strong but as soon as you get that food you want, you no longer want it.

5. Shoving the kids outside to play is your relaxation time because "mommy can't run around too much so I'll sit here on the chair and watch you while I read my book." Then it's exhausting just watching them run around and sweat.

6. Standing for too long causes all the bodily fluids to fall to your feet and puddle at your ankles. Unfortunately, then, you can no longer fit your feet into those 3 pairs of flip flops you bought that most consider comfort shoes.

7. Everything you eat at toward the middle of pregnancy comes back to haunt you a few hours later in the form of a burning esophagus. This can happen even if you eat the most mild of foods. (although this wonderful event didn't happen with Mikayla)

8. Feeling the baby kick is a necessity for your spouse. As I told my husband, "if I have to carry three of them, you have to feel all 3 of them kick. It's your responsibility."

9. Bending over to do anything, period, makes you want to throw your arms up in defeat. (It also makes you impatient when you're the only one cleaning up the child's toys because she feels like 'it's too much'")

10. A clean house does not exist. If it looks clean, it's just because the toys have been moved to another location, out of the eyesight of guests. All other dust and dirt doesn't get picked up for a few weeks-what's the point? The hour after you sweep, all hidden dirt finds it an irresistible playground.

All in all, it's worth it to have a new life growing inside of me, a true miracle. I do wonder if it would be too much to ask God why men don't have to carry any of them, especially if you reach #3.

Busy Weekend, last weekend

I've had these pictures in here all week but didn't have a chance to write until now. Here goes...
I finally decided to weed and hack back my garden in the backyard and only got through half of it before I had enough. Gardening is not my calling. Anyway, I ended up finding this cute little inchworm in the mass of garden clippings and gave the poor thing to my kids to manhandle. They loved him and eventually put him back into the garden when it was time to come inside. Who knows if the poor thing made it to crawl to another leaf.

The corn festival was held in La Habra this weekend so we decided to see what the hype was all about. Figuring it was called the corn festival for a reason, we were wondering what mouth-watering goodies they would be selling to taste test. We walked the whole craft sale area, the ride area and the park area and couldn't even find a picture of a corn cob until we got to the food aisle. Amid the corn dog signs, cotton candy booths and BBQ grills, we saw it; a drawing of a corn cob with the price next to it of $3. THREE DOLLARS for a corn cob? Needless to say, we didn't need to sample the goods to know it just wasn't worth it. Give me a cob from Albertsons, I'll grill it and sprinkle some seasoning salt on it and save the other $2.50. Before we left, we promised Mikayla she could ride one ride so she picked this Shamu looking thing. $2 later, she left happy and I left happy that the ride didn't collapse on her through all of its creaks and groans. We had fun and even saw a couple we hadn't seen in years and ended up spending the next few hours having dinner with them and hanging out.
Here's Tyler and Daddy waving to Mikayla, the sole rider on the Orca of Peril.

This weekend also brought with it visitors from Texas, our friends the Ecks. It was so much fun to see them and spend some time with them and their 2 kids, Madeleine and Ethan. Madeleine and Mikayla get along so well and love playing Princess with each other for hours on end. Amanda (Madeleine's mom) and I hope that they will be friends for life. Here we are outside of Red Robin where we went to dinner after a day of play.

Tyler was fascinated with the cat at the Eck home (Madeleine's grandparents) and had to keep touching him and "loving" him. I accidentally caught this shot of him feeling the wrong side. The cat jumped a little and tried to get away but Tyler kept finding him.

The girls swimming in the backyard.

The fabulous foursome sitting still long enough to kind of get a picture taken. Thanks Amanda and Erik for taking the time to be with us!!

Tyler and Ethan. They're a year apart so next year they'll be playing together too.