Gong Hey Fa Choi

I don't really know how to spell it in English but "Happy Chinese New Year!!" We celebrated with Will's family at our new family "spot" and most of the family came. We had the traditional 8 or 9 course meal complete with jellyfish, duck, chicken, shark fin soup and abalone along with other "comfort foods." =) I actually eat everything and enjoy everything. I guess after so many years, it has become normal food to me.At the same time we were at the restaurant, a wedding party and all of their guests were having a reception in the main dining room. We had to enter through a side door since the front entrance was the backdrop for the bride and groom's photo shoot. The kids were so fascinated with the party that they kept looking out the door to watch the festivities. The music was so loud that conversation was hard even when the door was closed in our room.
Here is Mama and Yeye, a.k.a. Will's parents. I'm so blessed to have such great in-laws. Even though I can't speak mom's language and have a hard time sometimes with dad's accent, I know they love me and would do anything for me. When I thought of in-laws before I got married, I definitely had a different expectation but having Will's parents for in-laws has taught me so many things and has been so much more rewarding than I would ever have imagined. At times, I kind of feel like I'm Chinese...
Oh, and check out mom's jacket. For years, I tried to find the perfect gift for her. (Buying for my in-laws is verrry difficult, as you can imagine.) Sometimes I've actually found something she likes, something actually in her size and will wear. This last Christmas, I found this soft, orange jacket and knew it was just "her." She wears it all of the time and it makes me feel so good. Finally, something I don't have to return! And it fits her beautifully! Just had to brag...

Keeps Me Busy

Every day deserves a little excitement and the past few weeks have delivered many such days to the Lee family. Last Friday was "Twin Day" at Mikayla's school and, of course, Mikayla couldn't wait. She and her friend, Julia, wanted to dress like twins. Julia's mom graciously bought them each matching shirts so that they could be "real" twins since just wearing a pink shirt and jeans wasn't good enough for the girls. (can you see me rolling my eyes?) Anyway, she was so sweet to buy them matching shirts and little 99 cent tiaras. Oh, where are the matching tiara's, you ask? Well, this is where the mommy mess-up happened. Michelle, Julia's mom, handed over the tiara and I was left to assemble it, hard plastic and all. Why they actually thought that plastic would bend almost 90 degrees and attach onto plastic knobs is beyond me but I did try, and for 99 cents, you get what you pay for I guess. With a sweaty brow, I snapped that butterfly tiara together and was actually successful!! Then I realized that the headband part had to go below the butterfly front so I tried to move it. Mistake #1. Within seconds, the headband snapped in 2. Now, at this point, I really thought I could salvage the headband and tried desperately to think of a way to connect the 2 broken pieces while Mikayla looked at me like I'd just killed her favorite pet. Mistake #2, I attempted to fix what was broken and, by bending and stretching, proceeded to snap the butterfly part in half. At this point, nothing was repairable and I had to tell Mikayla that she wouldn't have the same headband as Julia. I felt so bad that I actually started tearing up and asked for a hug. Mikayla still wasn't too fond of me at the moment and thought she would never get over what awful thing had just transpired but she gave me a hug anyway and wore her fluffy crown. They still looked cute.

On to my third child. To her, excitement comes in the form of "teddy." This Winnie the Pooh was give to her by the Fonda family before she was even born. I had left it in her crib to soothe her and now she has to have it when she goes to sleep. We bought her another one just in case I had to wash one but she loves them both equally. Holding both teddies at once is just the ultimate in having a good day, can you tell...maybe not in this picture but she does like it...
And my second son gets excited with juice, his computer games and being with mommy. Oh, and he doesn't like potty training. For those of you out there with boys who have become absolutely despondent over the phrase, "let's go potty," you'll know what I've been going through this past week. I had such high hopes. I'd already started and stopped 3 times so this was going to be a battle that I would conquer and win. The first day was a breeze but, ever since then, Tyler has tried whatever he can to stay off of the toilet, grabbing the door on the way in, dropping to the ground as dead weight, running away from me, screaming, "no, no, NO" while I pull his pants down (as he's trying to pull them up), and scooting off of the toilet as soon as I put him on. I was starting to not like the person I was becoming when my patience started disappearing so I told Will that I could not fight the battle any more and I would wait until Tyler was ready. So for those of you who work in the 3 year old class, I apologize for the diaper changes you will have to do on my son. Believe me, I'd change it if I could.
Finally, something exciting for mommy, this past weekend, my cousin Melody came down with her daughter Caitlyn. It was so much fun to see them inbetween their "Disneyland-filled vacation." Thanks for letting us hang out with you.
Sorry, Melody, I thought this picture was funny of all of us. I guess we weren't ready? Oh, and I loved the Lego building you built for me. I actually wished I could have crawled in there this past week.
Melody and Lynnea.
So, Jaysen, I know I promised to have a week devoid of excitement since I pretty much got my fill last week but life at the Lee house would not be normal if nothing happened....I'll try again next week.

2 Minutes

2 minutes that made my heart stop for fear of losing my little Lynnea. 2 minutes is how long the seizure lasted, brought on by a sudden spike in her already high fever.This is what happened:
Tuesday afternoon brought on a slight fever which progressed into the low 102's by the time she woke up from her nap at around 4:30. Before she went to bed that night, I gave her some Tylenol and hoped that all would be well in the morning. Midnight brought with it cries from her bed which I immediately answered. As I picked her up, I could feel the fever through her nightgown and, after testing her, realized that her fever was a scorching 103.8 degrees. I had heard of febrile seizures (seizures brought on by fevers) and was always concerned when any of my kids had high fevers.

I drew a lukewarm bath for Lynnea and put her in it to try to take the fever down. Since I had only drawn a little water, I wanted to lay her down to get her hair wet. While I was trying to lay her down, she slipped. I caught her head before it hit the bathtub but it was enough to send her into a panicked scream. The scream lasted for a few seconds and then her eyes glazed over and she went completely limp in my arms. I yelled to Will that she was unresponsive and pulled her wet body onto my lap, rocking her to get her to come back to me. Nothing helped. Will grabbed the phone and dialed 911 as I desperately tried to get Lynnea to respond to me. Her body shook and shook, her teeth clenched, and her eyes stared straight ahead as if in a trance.In a few minutes the paramedics arrived and took Lynnea and me to the hospital. My heart broke to see my precious, tiny baby in her car seat, naked, strapped to a gurney. Once we got to the hospital, she was doing much better and I even had a quick thought that I should take a picture of the paramedics wheeling her into the hospital. That thought quickly disappeared when I thought about what they would think about a mother taking pictures while her daughter lies strapped to a gurney. Anyway, they did numerous tests and x-rays and nothing was found that would have triggered such a high fever. We spent 5 hours in the emergency room and left at 6:15 in the morning. I must thank my dad profusely for volunteering to come, in the middle of the night, sit on the couch and watch movies until we came home. Words cannot express my appreciation, dad. I know you really did want to watch Casino Royale, right? =)

After being poked and prodded, Lynnea finally fell asleep at the hospital and we took her home. The following night her fever spiked again but there was no seizure. As I reflect back on that night I am overwhelmed by God's presence through the whole ordeal. I could feel his hand of peace as I called 911, as the tests were run, and as His precious child lay on that bed. We are only human, with human weaknesses and human emotions but God is our strength and our hope! Lynnea was always in His hands and always will be. Thank you to all who prayed.
I don't think I've ever experienced such complete helplessness (although Tyler's birth was right up there) and I hope it never happens again but I am thankful for those who were involved, the calm voices and helping hands who treated my baby, a stranger to them, with the utmost kindness and love.

Planet Hollywood

I just thought I'd post a few pictures of our room at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas. It was designed like "old Hollywood." Here's a picture of the memorabilia in our room, Whoopie Goldberg's wallet and driver's license from the movie, Ghost.

Coming Home

Vegas. I'll put it all in a nutshell. *observations included*

4 hours of solitary driving to Vegas...2 hours of Barstow outlet shopping *bliss*

Planet Hollywood room..."Ghost" movie room theme. *freaky*

Mandalay Bay buffet. *yum*

Compared to Steven Tyler by a Sales Representative I just met who meant it as an extreme compliment. *flattered? but still not quite sure*

Scanned badges at Will's convention for 5 hours. Half of the time, the scanner wouldn't scan quick enough. *humbling*

Met all of the Representatives Will has talked about in the past. *rewarding*

Woke up at 5:00 in the morning out of sheer habit. *disappointing*

Got suckered into buying a "revolutionary eye cream" from one of those kiosks in the center of the mall while shopping. Not to mention that the guy who sold it to me pointed out all of my facial flaws and had the personal space equivalent of, oh, 3 inches.*I'm such a sucker but it works, it really does!*

Watched Bride Wars in the theater, by myself, after shopping for several hours, by myself. *refreshing but lonely* Did I mention I was by myself?

All in all, it was a great trip. I did miss the kids (although that quickly faded when they woke up at 5 in the morning on Saturday). However, I did not miss the constant questions, clean up, and fight break-ups that are a regular part of my everyday routine. I must say, though, on Saturday morning when I picked Lynnea up from her crib, it was like the world was where it should be.

Over the "Hill"

This last weekend, spur of the moment, Will and I decided to take a trip out to see the family in the good old "909" (you know what that means if you live here). Anyway, we had a great time with Bryan, Cara and Ethan and Austin. I apologize in advance, Cara, for any influence my husband has on your son in the electronic arena. Look at the 2 of them, birds of a feather.Here is Lynnea, inspecting the caramel apple given to Tyler by a friend of mine at the birthday party we visited early that morning (sorry Aly and Matt for showing up 2 hours early for the party. I could have sworn it said 10 but it was on the 10th...it's been that way with me lately.)
Cara showed me how to take a widescreen shot with my camera so now I'm addicted. It looks professional and gets in a lot of detail. The next few shots are the kids riding their bikes in front of the house. "What are they all looking at?" you may wonder. If you look to the left of the shot, you can see Bryan holding a remote control device. Yep, what you don't see is a jeep the size of a small animal racing in and out of the bikers, narrowly missing wheels and stealthily taking Cara's shoes off as it races under the truck we're sitting on. The kids loved it! I even got in on the action. Unfortunately, I haven't steered a remote control car since..hmmm...4th grade? As you can probably imagine, I ended up hitting all of my kids at least once, especially Mikayla and Tyler as they begged me to run the car between their outstretched legs. I did warn them that I didn't have much experience. Here they all are dodging the offroader.
Lynnea enjoyed the afternoon on Thomas.
Thanks, Cara and Bryan, for a fun afternoon. I keep thinking we need to go out there more often. What's more important than family? I know this year we'll make more time to spend together and just enjoy being together. Oh, by the way, this is Lynnea's newest "skill," walking while pushing something. Oh, and the pants...forget the Oxy Clean. They've now become "play clothes," along with most of her wardrobe.
So, as some of you know, I'll be joining Will out of town this week and leaving the kids with my parents who have graciously offered to keep them alive for the next few days (that's not an easy feat, especially with my accident prone 3 year old). I'm looking forward to the time away but it's hard to think of leaving them. I find myself wanting to be near them all of the time (ok, I do get tired of them once in a while, especially when they need to constantly be disciplined) but I can't imagine not holding Tyler when he wakes up from a nap, not cradling the baby as she drinks her bottle and not being able to listen to Mikayla's school stories when she comes home. Pray that this will be a relaxing trip for me and that all will go well as we're apart.

One...again

Before I share the birthday festivities, I had to share a picture of Tyler and Mikayla riding their bikes in our local park. Mom and dad, they're loving their new wheels.On to the title of the post. Since the holidays were so busy, we decided to celebrate Lynnea's 1 year birthday this past weekend instead of actually on her birthday of December 14th.
I just had to share a photo of the cake (and cupcakes) that my friend, Aly, made for Lynnea. She has an amazing creative talent of cake decorating and made this adorable cake, complete with a cake just for Lynnea. They were so delicious!! Thank you Aly!!
Here's a close-up of the main cake. She even covered it in fondant. For all of you bakers out there, that means she's a professional. *wink*
Lynnea LOVED her cake. She was a little tentative about digging in so I cut her a dainty slice to eat. She went on to have another. It was a hit!
Grammie and Gramps were there to celebrate with us.
We kind of had a garage party. Let's just put it this way...we were planning to have it at the park so at 5:00, Will got up to go to the park and "claim" the area for our guests. Unfortunately, God had other plans and send down a little condensation. At 5:30, Will shook me awake with the words, "we'll have to have the party here." That sent a bolt of fear through my body but, in the expanse of 3 or so hours, our house was transformed into a party zone and the garage was cleared out for the kiddos to eat. We must thank Craig and Rebekah for the garage idea. The kids all had fun even though it wasn't at a park and I think the adults enjoyed themselves as well.
Cousin Cheryl played red light, green light with Tyler and Mikayla when everyone had left and then spent the rest of the evening with us.
We also said goodbye to Julie, Bill and Ryan before they headed home after the party. I will definitely miss them. It was so good to have them around. I'll miss my squishes but I guess we'll just have to plan a trip soon. In answer to some of your questions, No, Lynnea isn't walking yet and no, we are not planning on having another one. Unless God has other plans, our family of 5 will stay that way. This was the last "1 year party" we'll have in our family.