Please Don't Interrupt Me

When I'm talking on the phone or rocking the baby, Elina knows that she isn't supposed to interrupt me. Sometimes if I'm rocking the baby, she'll sneak in and whisper something to me. But she's always greeted with an evil eye, so she's learned to just leave me alone. (I know that sounds mean, but if you met my baby you would know how precious her nap time is to everyone.)

Nowadays, Elina has found another way to communicate with me if I'm busy. She writes me notes. (Pretty smart, right?) Since Elina is so young, we let her spell things the way she thinks they are spelled unless she specifically asks us the correct spelling. KL (a former kindergarten teacher) told me to do it this way because for now, we just want to encourage her to write--we don't want to keep correcting (and discouraging) her. So this makes for pretty funny notes (not that I tell her they are funny). Even though they aren't spelled properly and require some deciphering, I love seeing these notes because it reminds me how much Elina has grown and how much we've been through.

Below are 2 recent ones. See if you can decipher them!
(Answer: "Who are you talking to?" and "When you are done rocking the baby, take my pigtails out please.")

2 Peas in a Pod

I seriously love these kids. They're so cute and lovable. They have been such good sports ever since Evie arrived. They love on her, look for her, coo at her, and often try to help me soothe her. However, most of the time I have to soothe the baby by rocking her or doing squats and lunges. I usually do all this in the master bathroom with the bathroom fan on while Elina and Eli play in the playroom (and everywhere else). Sometimes, if I'm lucky, it takes about 10 minutes to get the baby to go to sleep. Other times, it can take 20-30 minutes. Going into the master bathroom to rock the baby is like entering a time warp. By the time I make it out alive, I have no idea where the kids are and what they have done. Fortunately, Elina is a good rule-follower (and rule-giver) so I know they haven't gotten into too much trouble. Honestly, these days I just let them do whatever. I can't control what they do when I vanish into thin air for half an hour. So I just go with it and hope for the best. They never complain that I've been gone too long or anything. And they know not to enter the master bathroom while I'm rocking Evie...unless one of them is bleeding. They're so good together. Even though they look similar, they have their differences (namely, their personalities), but they have been so great about the whole rocking/soothing routine...that's why I love these 2!

But then the other day, it was just me, Eli, and Evie at home. I went into my time warp while Eli played by himself. Well, his big sis wasn't there to keep him in check. So when I came out, I discovered that he had drawn on my wall with marker (luckily, it was a washable marker) and he had taken one of Elina's window clings off the window and ripped it to shreds. I made him clean up the marker and reminded him about the rules, but honestly, I couldn't get that mad. What do I expect if I vanish for half an hour while a 2 1/2 year old boy is running around free in my house? I'm lucky my house wasn't burned down.

Anyway, I just thought I would post about how much more I love Elina and Eli these days. They're incredibly understanding and patient about the whole new crying/screaming situation. And I'm so thankful they play so well together while I'm missing in action!

Father's Day with a Great Dad

Father's Day weekend was pretty laidback this year. On Father's Day we went to one of our favorite restaurants, Silo, for their special Father's Day brunch. I've been dying to go here for brunch and the menu looked yummy. (I have to admit that I was probably more excited about going than B was.) Anyway, when I made the reservation, I told the person on the phone that we'd prefer a table off to the side since we didn't want to disturb others with our new, fussy baby. When we arrived at Silo, they actually sat us in their semi-private room. It was awesome! On normal nights, you have to spend a hefty minimum to be seated in this room, so I was pleasantly surprised. Who knew that Evie could get us such a nice table at Silo? We were really grateful to have the room because Evie fussed a bit and we had to rock her and do lunges/squats...but in our own semi-private room! So we didn't complain.

B ordered a pork shank that was huge. I got the Eggs Benedict with chicken fried oysters. Yum! J got grilled shrimp and the kids shared a pasta dish. Then for dessert we all got a dark chocolate mousse and a toasted coconut pie. The coconut pie was delish...and we're all not fans of coconut! So you know it was good!

Then B and Elina left for their father-daughter date. They went to paint pottery, just like last year. Elina was so excited and said, "Mommy, this time I'm going to paint even better." As she's getting older, she looks at the stuff she did when she was younger and she always wants to re-do them to "make them better." Elina had a great time at the pottery place. B said that she concentrated so hard on all the pieces. We can't wait to see the finished products.

We were all so stuffed from brunch that we ended up not making B's red velvet cupcakes on Sunday. So Elina and I made them on Tuesday and we've been decorating and eating cupcakes every night after dinner. Fun!

Even though this year wasn't very eventful, I have to say that B is one of the best dads I know. He always puts us first and that's what I love about him. He knows that I spend most of my day rocking and holding Evie while he's at work. So the minute he walks through the door after a full day's work, he empties his pockets, takes off his watch, and takes Evie from me and starts rocking her. I don't have to say a word and B just swoops in and helps me out. Working dads definitely get the short end of the stick when it comes to babies because they see babies at their worst...during the witching hour. I mean, Evie's still crabby during the day, but her quiet/alert periods are longer in the morning and progressively get shorter and shorter as the day goes on...until the evening hours when there is basically no quiet/alert time left in her. That's just the way it goes, but B is such a great sport about it. She'll be screaming and he'll still take her out for a walk to get the mail so that I can take a shower. He will do squats while holding her (because that's the motion that soothes her) until he can't physically stand up anymore. He will rock Evie in the middle of the night if she's woken up after I just fed her. B's a wonderful dad. He doesn't complain and he's always so patient with the kids. I really lucked out. Thank you for being such a fun, loving, kind, and caring dad, B! We love you!

Good Times

Even though I'm sad KT has left, the 2 weeks before she moved we all did lots of fun things together as our last hurrah.

1. L and Elina had 2 sleepovers. The first time they went to bed at 3:30am, the second time they went to bed at 1am. So we definitely made progress. This second time, we let the girls stay up and watch Tinkerbell and the Lost Treasure in the bedroom. We set them up on a blanket on the floor with lots of popcorn...they were in heaven! Elina also gave L our gift for their family--it was a photo book with almost all the pictures we have of Elina and L. There were A LOT of pictures. It was insane! I put together this adorable 100 page book using Blurb. I was amazed to see all the fun things we've all done over the past 4 years. Elina loves this book and flips through it a lot while she reminisces about past adventures.2. KT and I went out for dessert 2 times after the kids went to bed. Both times we had yummy sweets and shared some great conversation. Definitely something I'll miss!

3. We played Killer Bunnies 2 times at our house (with J, too). The first time we played the game lasted until really late. I think we all went to bed at 2am! The second time things moved along quicker, so we finished up by midnight.

4. B and I took KT and her husband, G, to Acenar one last time. It was a nice date night. We sat outside next to the river and the weather was actually really comfortable. I had the duck crepes (yummy!) and B got the spicy grilled shrimp. We all enjoyed our food and KT and G were brave enough to try some ice cream that had habanero in it (they said it had a kick at the end!). Anyway, a great meal with great friends.
5. We had KT and her family over for dinner one night. I made fried rice, pan-fried dumplings, and a lemonade chiffon layer cake with strawberry filling. (The cake sounds fancy, but I got it from my Cake Mix Doctor book. It was delicious and not terribly difficult to make--gotta love that recipe book!) Icing the cake was a total disaster. I am just the world's worst "icer." Seriously, the cake kept sticking to the icing so I had to keep wiping the spatula. I wiped so much off that I didn't have enough icing for the sides of the cake! It looked pretty awful at one point. (But Elina was nice enough to tell me that the cake still looked really yummy!) So I consulted with my cake friend (LW) and she told me to use crushed graham crackers to cover up the sides. In the end, the cake looked pretty good. I didn't have time to really decorate the top of the cake, so I just wrote "Don't go!" on the top (to make sure KT and her family knew how I felt about their imminent departure).

Anyway, even though I'm sad about KT and her family leaving, we still managed to squeeze in a whole bunch of fun at the end of it all. We shared lots of good times with this family and they will be dearly missed. We love you guys!! Until our paths cross again...

The Sadness Sets In

I can't sleep. I woke up at 4am to feed the baby and I put her back down at 4:40am. I've been lying awake in my bed for over an hour. So, why can't I sleep? Because one of my best friends, KT, moved away today.

I knew this was coming, but I didn't let myself think about it at all. Every time I started to think about it, I'd get a lump in my throat so I kept avoiding the topic in my head. I'm not a big crier. I rarely shed tears when I watch sad movies. I didn't cry when I hugged KT goodbye and watched her drive away. But tonight, when it was time to get ready for bed, I sat down and started to cry. KT just left, but I can already feel a little emptiness inside. I feel this pit in my stomach. I feel really sad. I don't like making all these military friends because they eventually have to leave me. Last year KL and EH left...this year it's KT. I seriously need more friends outside of the military! I mean, it's not that I don't have other friends, but KT was my day-to-day friend. We could count on each other for so many things. We talked on the phone and saw each other almost every day. How can I not feel sad?

Over the past 4 years we've had so much fun together...outings, dates, playdates. She and her husband got us addicted to the card game Killer Bunnies (a fun game where you kill each other's bunnies and try to get the magic carrot at the end in order to win--sounds weird but, trust me, it's super fun!) and we'd stay up late playing at each other's houses. We could always have long conversations about anything...from religion to baby poop. We'd have meals at each other's houses. I would borrow her daughter, L, to keep Elina company while I got things done around the house or if Elina needed a companion on fun outings. I think the thing that makes me so sad is that KT's not accessible anymore. I mean, I know that we'll always be friends no matter where we go, but the thing is, she's no longer here with me. I can't just drive down to her house to hang out. We can't take our kids out together to do fun things. She and her family can't just come over for dinner. It's the little things that I'm going to miss. All those little things add up to a big part of my life.

The thing is, I knew this was coming. I knew a year ago that it was coming. So as I lay in bed tossing and turning, I keep thinking to myself, "We should have gone out more often. We should have had KT and her family over for dinner more often. We should have played Killer Bunnies more often." Isn't that sad? I know that I must sound lame, but KT has really become a close friend over the years...she's like family.

Well, that's enough sadness for now. I guess I just needed to vent a little. Hopefully this will help me sleep. The sun is rising now and I know I'm going to kick myself for staying up once the kids wake up.

Miss you already, KT. Wish you and your family could have stayed!

Camp for a Day

On Friday morning I took Elina and Eli to Elina's school for camp classes for the morning. Elina took a Fairy Fun class (with her teacher's assistant, Ms. L.) and Eli took a Little Fish class. Eli's class was only until 10:30am, but to keep my sanity we paid extra to let the school keep him for the Stay and Play part (like daycare) until 1pm so that I could pick the kids up together. This meant that both kids needed to bring lunch so I had to pack 2 lunches and 2 backpacks in the morning.

I have to admit that I was getting a little choked up when I put the backpack on Eli and when I handed him his lunch bag. It was the first time I was sending him to something for that long. I couldn't imagine him sitting at a table eating lunch with other kids. He's still so little! I'm definitely not ready to send him off to a Mother's Day Out program or anything just yet. I need my little Eli with me for a few more years. (Call me selfish, but they're only little for so long...and the time flies right by!)

Elina was a little sad that she wouldn't be in the same class as Eli. She even shed some tears. I asked her why she was so sad and she said, "Because I want Eli in my class. He's the best little brother." (Again, I got choked up.)

So that morning I had a little one-on-one time with Evie and even some actual alone time while she took a nap. It was a nice morning.

When I went to pick up the kids, all the teachers told me how well Eli did and how much he loved doing everything. That kid is definitely ready for a school setting (but I still won't send him for selfish reasons). I mean, when I took him into his classroom, he barely turned around to wave bye to me. Ms. L. said that during the entire school year he wanted to stay and play in Elina's class whenever I dropped her off or picked her up, so Eli was probably pretty excited that he could stay for once! Eli's Little Fish teacher (Ms. M) said that Eli was a really good boy. He participated in everything, was really engaged, and even played with other kids. I was so happy that he did so well. Elina would not have been like this at this age. She was definitely more of a scaredy cat.

Anyway, both kids had a great time making crafts and playing with friends. Maybe I'll have to sign them up for another Friday of fun without their mom.

Share a Drawing (and Some Quiet)

Yesterday I tried out a new activity with Elina. It's called Share A Drawing. I had read about this in an old Parents magazine awhile ago, but never got around to trying it. The concept is simple-each person takes a turn drawing something on the same piece of paper. The idea is that you build on each other's drawings. The thing is, you can only draw one thing, basically without lifting your pen. Sometimes the other person doesn't know what you intended on drawing, but she/he has to guess based on the initial shape or mark you made on the paper.

This actually turned out to be a very fun, very quiet activity. I couldn't believe that Elina basically didn't say much for the whole 30 minutes that we were playing this game. It was awesome.

This is the picture we ended up drawing. For the most part, I tried to keep my stuff simple so that Elina could figure things out. But there were a few times when we were both confused about the other person's drawings. For example, the thing on the top left was supposed to be a sun. I drew a circle and then Elina drew a line going down so I drew another line and then she just looked at me with this confused look on her face. I thought she knew I was going to draw a sun. Turns out she thought it was going to be a butterfly. So we just tried to salvage it the best we could--as some sort of unknown flying animal.

Then on the right side, I initiated by drawing an arch because I wanted to draw a rainbow. But then Elina put this flag on top. This time I gave her a confused look and drew a second arch underneath it. Then she looked REALLY confused. So we had to start speaking. I said, "I was drawing a rainbow." She said, "Oh, I thought it was a tower so I put a flag on top." Funny, right?

This game was more fun than I thought it would be. It's a good way to put your imagination to the test. And, as an added bonus, it's a good way to get a little peace and quiet in a hectic house.

2 Months and Cooing

Evie is now 2 months old. I can't believe how quickly time is passing. It feels fast when I tell people she's 2 months old, but, in all honesty, the time seems to be passing slowly at the same time. It seems like time cannot pass quickly enough when Evie gets into her cranky moods and screams all day long. So the time has been passing both quickly and slowly...if that even makes any sense.

Things have been slightly weird since Evie turned 2 months. Before she was still cranky whenever she was awake, even with the Prevacid. I was about to give up hope, but then she started to almost act like a “normal” baby. She would be awake and alert after every feeding. (That’s when she started smiling more and cooing…well, because she wasn’t CRYING anymore.) During the day, she took solid naps and at night she was going straight to bed. It was almost like a dream for 3-4 days straight. We took her out to dinner and she just sat in B’s lap examining the world around her (a total first). She even sat quietly through our bedtime music time with the kids one night. We were in awe, but didn’t really want to mention it to each other (lest we jinx it all, right?).

Then the dream ended. For the past 2 days and nights Evie’s been giving us a run for our money. During the day she only does her “light sleep” where her eyes are half open. She only sleeps about 10 minutes after you put her down when she’s in this state. At night, she hasn’t been going to bed until 2:30am!! (This is the first time she's done this to us!!) We do our normal routine and try to put her down, but she keeps waking up. So we’ll try to put her down a few times and then after that we just let her cry for awhile because we feel like we’re going to lose our minds. And after she goes to sleep around 2:30am, she still manages to wake up for another feeding around 5 or 6am. I’m dying. We don’t get it and the worst part is, we can’t figure it out…you never really can. You just take guesses and wonder if they’re ever right. Oh well. That’s why we just take it day by day now. I can never really plan ahead to do anything because everything is contingent on sleep—for me and the baby.

Evie is definitely our biggest and longest baby. At her 2 month doctor visit she weighed 10 pounds 12 ounces and measured 22.5 inches long. She was barely 6 pounds just 2 months ago! She's in the 50th percentile for everything, which is unheard of for our babies. Eli wasn't even on the growth curve for most of his first year of life. But we know that Evie will definitely be longer than her siblings because her toes and fingers are really long (for our family). Maybe she'll be "tall" for an Asian?? One can only hope.

Here are a few things Evie can do now--

Evie is really good at focusing on faces now. We can finally tell that she is actually looking at us. It's pretty neat. She can also track things with her eyes when she wants to. She can hold up her head pretty well, but she's not an expert yet.

She likes to smile a lot now, too. She even smiles if we tickle her. She has also started cooing. If we coo, she'll also coo back to us. Like B says, "Finally, signs of life."

It's still a tiring period, but at least now she's responding to us...so it makes it a little easier to get through the exhaustion. I mean, when she's not crying, she's pretty darn cute. But, even with her "off days" I can still tell her non-crying periods are getting a little longer...little by little. It can only get better, right?...it can't possibly get worse at this point, right?? Right??

He's Just Too Cute

Ok, so Eli is seriously our resident Ladies' Man. This guy is cute and he knows it. The bad part is he's also a troublemaker...but it's really hard to get upset with him because he is too darn cute. He knows how to work his puppydog eyes and his charming smile. He's pretty rotten...and we help him become rotten because it's so difficult to get mad at him!

I don't know what we'd do without an Eli in our lives. He really provides the comic relief in our family. Elina and I have personalities that are more serious and intense (at times), so it's nice to have a funny guy around. No matter how tired and cranky we are, it seems that Eli can always bring a smile to our faces.

He's naturally silly and sweet. He loves to give hugs and kisses. He loves to snuggle. Not only that, but he loves to sing. Check him out singing the toddler hits "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and "ABC."



C'mon...could you get mad at this guy??

3:30 AM

Yup...3:30 AM...that's what time Elina and L went to bed during their sleepover. Boy, they were up partying late for their sleepover! B and I were asleep by 11:30pm and those 2 girls were still up. J is here this weekend, so she stayed up until they went to bed. For some reason she couldn't go to sleep knowing that they were still awake. (Ummmm...I definitely didn't have that problem.)

The girls were so excited about the sleepover. L came over before the recital with a little suitcase, a baby doll, and her sleeping bag. Very cute!

When it was time to get ready for bed, the girls were excited about everything. They were screaming and jumping up and down...just "excited about life" (as KT would put it). They were especially excited when B set up Elina's pink tent for them to sleep in. (I'm not sure if you all remember, but last year we tried out a sleepover with Elina's other friend, M, who was leaving for Alaska. We had set up the tent for them and it was a big hit back then, too.) We also gave the girls little flashlights (again, more excitement) and they were already making plans to read with them and to make shadows with them. This is how excited they were (don't try to decipher what they're "saying" because girly screams are not meant to be understood)--


Here they are doing things that they think are fun and entertaining...wouldn't it be nice if we all thought something like this was fun enough?--


Here they are getting ready for bed (first brushing their teeth, then using mouth rinse)--

Here they are making silly faces before bedtime (the faces are "normal," "silly," "worried," and "surprised"...J thought Elina's worried face was Oscar-worthy...so subtle, yet emotional)--



Silly faces seem to be the theme these days. Here are some more silly faces (with Eli) from dinner at Luby's (starting from the top left corner going clockwise, they are "normal," "silly," "sad," and "angry"...check out how scary Elina is!)-- The girls were in the bedroom by 9pm, but we could hear them talking, giggling, laughing, and screaming from downstairs. They were definitely having lots of fun! We tried to listen in on them a little with our IP camera. This is what we heard Elina say, "Lucy, we should go to sleep. It's late." Then after a little pause, we heard her say, "I have an idea!" And J said that's basically what happened all night...they would think about going to bed, but then they would come up with a new idea for more fun. Figures, right?

J said that when she checked on the girls around 3am, Elina told her, "I think my bed is more comfortable than the tent." So J moved the tent aside and the girls crawled into Elina's twin bed together. Shortly afterwards, they were both asleep. J checked on them again and said that L had Elina's children's Bible storybook on her chest while she slept. She must've been reading Elina a story or something and then fallen asleep. How cute. We were wondering how they would finally decide to go to sleep...or if it would "just happen." I guess it just happens!

The girls woke up a little after 8:30am and came downstairs for breakfast. I said, "I heard you guys went to sleep really late!" L replied, "We just weren't tired, were we, Elina?" And Elina just nodded.

Later that day the girls attended a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese. It was funny because while they were eating ice cream, all the kids were invited to go dance with Chuck E. Cheese. Everyone at the table left...except for L and Elina. They just sat there and continued eating their ice cream. We told KT that they were just chillin' because they had a late night partying. Later in the afternoon, Elina even took a nap! Talk about being beat!

Anyway, even though the girls didn't get much sleep, it was totally worth it...totally worth the memories and pictures. It's just sad to think that L will be moving in a few short weeks. These 2 girls have known each other since they were a little over 1 years old. Can you believe that?? It just blows my mind how much they've done together already. I wish they could grow up together, but the military calls. I guess it just means we definitely have to go visit them some day soon!

Look at these great friends...*sniff sniff*...from chubby toddlers to cute little ladies...

(October 2006)

(May 2010)