3,400 miles and 20 days later

We were finally back in Austin as of Friday around dinner time. Since then, we've been doing random things here and there...tidying up the house, giving the car an oil change, and doing much needed weeding. Right now we have some friends and family over to celebrate the New Year. We had barbequed chicken, shrimp, and salmon; salad; and sweet potatoes for dinner. MMMmmm.

I can't believe this year is already coming to an end (though for the most part, I was pregnant), but we look forward to the next year and many more memories with Lydia. Here's our own little countdown...3...2...1...HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Introducing...Nathan

Congratulations to my cousin Grace and her husband, Edward, on the birth of their son, Nathan Ian, born yesterday at 1:51 PM. Lydia has a little playmate now! :)

Homeward Bound

Yesterday morning we started our journey back home. Rather than staying the night in New Orleans like we did on our way going to Tampa, we decided to stay in Pensacola, FL because it was a couple hours closer. I think those last couple hours really make a difference for Lydia's napping. So last night we arrived in Pensacola around 5:30 PM central time. We drove to the beach, which is supposed to have the whitest sands in the United States, but too bad we couldn't see them. Dinner was at a place called "Crabs", where we, of course, had crab and some raw oysters; I can't seem to have enough of that stuff.

Lydia had a rough night last night even though she got her own full size bed. The temperature finally went down a bit, so she got a little cold during the night. After eating and a little rocking from daddy, she was good to go...until a few more hours, that is. We plan to be in Houston by dinner time, so tonight Lydia should sleep much better; I think we all will. It's kinda sad seeing this road trip come to an end, but I'm sure there will be plenty more to come (with more passengers). :)

Santa baby

We are enjoying a very wet Christmas in Tampa today. There was a tornado watch all morning, but at least that has passed and it's just sprinkling now. Toan had heated up the pool yesterday so that we could go for a swim today, but we may have to pass even though the entire pool area is screened. I guess we'll have to wait and see if the rain lets up because we all know it's not safe to swim when it's raining. Well, tomorrow the weather should be a little bit better so that the drive home to Texas won't be so bad.

We've been over at Toan's house since about 10:30 AM; we had breakfast and lunch, and we opened Christmas gifts. Lydia was content just watching Mommy open the presents for her. Merry Christmas from all of us to you!

Christmas time excitements

Saturday Lydia learned to roll from her back to her tummy, which I've heard takes a few months longer to do, but she managed to do it in a few weeks. She was just laying there on her play mat and one of her favorite toys was just a little out of her reach, so she stretched and stretched and ended up flipping herself. Lydia can pretty much flip all the way, except for the inner arm, which gets entrapped under her body. You go, girl!

Sunday Lydia took her first dip in Toan's sauna, which was warmed up to body temperature. Though she had no expression on her face the entire time, we could tell she was having a blast, kicking the water and stuff.Soon, Lydia got hungry and started eating her fingers, so we cut the swimming experience short so that she could eat. After she ate, she slept really well, after having been in the nice warm water. While she slept, we watched Superman Returns, which was okay, though Brandon Routh looked darn good in them tights. uh-huh. :)

Back in Tampa

Yesterday we gathered all our belongings and said good-bye to Pompano Beach. After Lydia took her nap, we had lunch at what might have been the best restaurant yet, a place called Whale's Rib. We ate raw oysters and split a blackened prime rib with whale fries (homemade potato chips); the only downfall was that we ordered the steak "medium" when we probably should have gotten "medium rare". Oh wells, it was still good...oh, and we especially enjoyed the "whale juice", which was some kind of yellow concoction to dip the whale fries in; Trung couldn't have enough of it.

We arrived in Tampa just in time for dinner at Ma and Ba's house. It was some kind of Chinese holiday where everyone turns a year older, so we had all the dishes that were customary for that occasion. Poor Daniel just got his braces on Thursday, so he couldn't eat much, except for the broth. Everyone else was stuffed from lunch, so there were plenty of leftovers, I guess we'll be eating them today...all day. :P

Today we plan on taking the kids to the mall again to 1) return the gift we had gotten their parents since they already ordered one...a smoothie maker and 2) help the kids get their parents' Christmas presents. It will probably be super crowded today since it's the last Saturday before Christmas, but that could make shopping all the more fun, despite the long lines. That's about it...we're just hanging out with family during this Christmas weekend. Ya'll go on and do the same. :)

Chillin'

Thursday we went to Pompano beach, again, but this time to stay for awhile. Trung and I smothered ourselves with sunscreen and watched the kite surfers hit the waves. Later, my brave husband hit the waveswhile I was happy to just watch from a distance; Lydia enjoyed her first nap on the beach... We chilled in the condo the rest of the afternoon, just relaxing on our last day here. Then for dinner we had stone crabs and might I say, they were quite delicious. The meat was sweet and separated easily from the shell, which was much thicker than your typical crab. I'll miss the awesome seafood here. :(

Miami and its heat

Wednesday we toured Miami and South Beach, but this is how the morning started off for Lydia...For reals! That was exactly how I found her, shirt over her head with one sock and all; Trung said she looked like Mother Teresa.

So, I expected there to be tons of bikini-clad girls, rollerblading around South Beach like in the movies, but there really weren't any. The beach was a nice though, with soft white sand. Too bad it was a bit cloudy and rain kept coming and going, but at least Lydia got to ride her first swing...We had lunch on Miami Beach at a lovely little cafe facing the Atlantic, drove around downtown Miami to check out all the construction going on, and ate dinner at a lovely seafood restaurant. On the way back to the condo, we rented the movie A Scanner Darkly which was confusing, yet interesting. I guess we'll be renting that one again so that we can analyze it better.

The Florida Keys

Tuesday we hit the Florida Keys. We had lunch at Key Largo at a place called Buzzard's Roost, which tasted better than it sounded. We finally got to Key West, which felt like forever, and visited the southernmost point in the US...After stopping by Ernest Hemingway's house and getting some delectable ice cream, we quickly drove to a park to capture the sunset. The entrance guard was really nice and didn't make us pay the entry fee of $3 a person (does Lydia count too?) since we were going to stay, like five minutes. We've been getting free stuff all over the place...free drinks, free side dishes, and a free soup at lunch...these Florida waiters should really double check their orders. :P Oh well, their loss, our gain.

I wish that I could have captured the seven mile long bridge, which was quite breaktaking, but I couldn't get a good shot. I was taking a little nap when Trung woke me up just as we went over the "hill" on the bridge. As we drove down the incline, all you see is the bridge and water; the Atlantic Ocean on the left and the Gulf of Mexico on the right. I'll have to buy a postcard and scan it for ya.

More of Pompano

Monday we slept in a very long time because Trung couldn't sleep and I was a bit engorged (too full of milk) that I kept waking up. So when the baby got up at 7:30 AM, I fed her and laid her between us on our bed in hopes that she would go back to sleep. Fortunately, she did and we got to sleep another couple of hours. I had a headache when I woke up, so I took yet another nap when Lydia napped after having some cereal. We finally got out of the condo at 1:30 PM to have lunch at Panera so that we could use their wi-fi. The wireless connection was undetectable during our entire meal, but we finally got access right when we were packing up to leave, so we stayed so that I could publish a post and do a bunch of miscellanous things.

We visited the beach again during the afternoon where a bunch of kite surfers were hitting the waves. Here's one of them getting lifted up by the wind...By the way, in case you're wondering, I do most of the posts because, frankly, Trung has nothing important to say (not that I really do either). Actually, it's probably because he's too busy playing his PSP...

Exploring Pompano

After a few hours of browsing, I finally decided on a pair of slippers and Trung got some sandals. We were unable to find slippers small enough for Lydia, so I just put a pair of her really cute socks on her. Can you tell which ones are mine and which one are hers? By the way, it's a yellow duck and a blue bear on the socks, which match a Peek-a-Boo outfit. Trung's sandals were plain Jane, so I didn't bother with them. :PWe've also been able to continue with Lydia's tummy time though she's been really into putting things into her mouth lately. Poor Mr. Elephant, I thought he was your friend!So we finally hit the beach just before dusk. Our condo is only a block away from the Atlantic Ocean, which is very convenient. Lydia got to visit her first beach and she seemed pretty excited about it, laughing and drooling all over the place.Soon after, we had dinner at Damon's Grill and made it back in time to watch the Survivor finale. I couldn't decide who I thought would win, but I didn't think poor Becky would get no votes at all! How embarassing! Congrats, Yul...by the way, I think you should ask Becky out. *wink wink*

Fourth stop: Pompano Beach

We'll have pics posted soon, we just need to upload them to the laptop. We arrived around 8:30 PM last night and picked up some italian food to-go. Our condo is not too bad, it's got a kitchenette and microwave, which is convenient for those evening snacks. This morning we ate at IHOP since we didn't find anyone who could tell us any good local restaurants. Now we're at the nearly opened mall here in Pompano Beach at Panera using their free wifi; we'll be back, I'm sure, to take advantage again. The main reason we're here...we need slippers for walking around the tiled condo and I want some flip-flops for the beach. Once we accomplish our mission, we are off to the beach. I'll have a picture of Lydia in here little swimsuit regardless if she goes into the water or not. :)

Third stop: Tampa

We arrived at my in-laws’ house at 9:30 PM Tuesday night and, boy, were we glad to finally get there. After a quick “dinner” of chicken curry and banana/coconut milk dessert, we hit the sack. Wednesday we slept in, had brunch, went to a fruit market (wow, fruit here is cheap!), and visited Toan’s lovely new home about 15 minutes away from Trung’s parents’ house. Our nephew Daniel just so happened to be done with his finals and wanted to watch Eragon too and niece Amanda didn’t, so we took him to the movies with us. The in-laws were kind enough to watch Lydia for a couple hours as she took her early afternoon nap. The movie was very good and reminded me of the “Lord of the Rings”, except with dragons. Toan, Teresa, and Amanda met us at Ma and Ba’s house for dinner; we got to introduce Lydia to them, which is always fun.

Thursday we slept in again…hey, we’re on vacation! :P We picked up the kids at 10:30 AM and headed to International Mall for some Christmas shopping. Trung went with Daniel to “research” aka playing around in electronic shops and buying a gift on-line. Boys will be boys. We girls were much more productive and hit all of Amanda’s favorite shops and got something at each one. Spending money, yes, that’s what I call a productive day.  I even got a little something something for myself at Banana Republic courtesy of the hubby. For lunch, we each ordered a pizza from California Pizza Kitchen and had a piece of each other’s pizza. All the pizzas were good, now I’ve got to try four more new pizzas next time. We headed back to Ma and Ba’s house afterwards, where the kids waited for their parents to pick them up and Trung and I packed up to head off to Miami, well, Pompano Beach actually...close enough. As Will Smith would say, "Bienvenido a Miami, Welcome to Miami".

Second stop: N'awlins

We had a great start Tuesday morning, leaving Houston exactly at 9 AM as planned. I took the first shift driving since I had already eaten breakfast and was wide awake from playing with Lydia for an hour. We made really good time and only stopped to have lunch around 1 PM; Lydia didn’t wake up until we reached the little diner. After feeding the baby a couple times and eating a lovely lunch of gumbo and cabbage rolls, we headed off again for New Orleans. Trung drove the second shift and we arrived only a couple hours later. So far, this whole driving with the baby has been a breeze; Lydia must love sleeping to the vibration of the car. When we got to the hotel, Lydia took another little nap while we settled in. Here she is in her first hotel room...We soon ate at a nearby restaurant since Acme Oyster House was packed and we felt strange walking around the French Quarter at night with a baby stroller; I have to admit though, it was a sight to see. :P

Wednesday we slept in, well, I kinda did. Lydia didn’t sleep too well, probably due to the unfamiliarity of the place, so she woke up a couple times during the night. It was nice that the Marriott set up a crib for her though because she’s been waking up scrunched up in her travel bassinet. For breakfast, um, brunch, we had beignets at Café du Mont, which was quite yummy. The only place in Austin that sells beignets (that I knew of) closed down, so I was really looking forward to having them again. After a quick stroll, we headed back to the hotel for the baby to nap. We caught lunch at Acme Oyster House, which my friend Jeff highly recommended…great choice, Jeff! J Lydia was napping just fine in the stroller, so we walked down Canal Street and in the French Quarter to check out the shops. Nap time again for baby, then dinner at one of the famous Brennan family restaurants, Bosco. Trung had tuna and I had redfish; the portions were mighty small but very scrumptious. It was bath day for Lydia, which was definitely interesting since we had never bathed here in anything other than her baby tub. She looked so small in the adult bathtub, but we managed and she came out squeaky clean.

Thursday…one word: driving. Dang, Florida is long! We headed out 9 AM and stopped at 12:30 PM for lunch at Cracker Barrel in Crestville, FL. Lydia woke up once on the way to lunch, but just played with the car seat mobile and fell asleep again. Now we’re back on the road again, and probably won’t get to Tampa until night. I actually wrote this post in the car since I’ve got lots of time on my hands. See ya when we get to Ma and Ba’s house, um, actually Toan (Trung’s oldest brother) and Teresa’s house since they’ve got internet access.

Hmmm, strike that; we found wireless connection from one of Ma and Ba's neighbors.
Shhh...don't tell!

Roadtrip...first stop: Houston

Trung had a great turn-out for the LAN party, maybe too good; it was hard coordinating games with 15 guys at times (so I've heard). Lydia and I stuck around the house during the morning and later met up with the girls at the mall for lunch and some shopping. When they went to watch a movie, the baby and I headed home; I did some laundry while she took her late afternoon nap. Lydia actually slept through the night just fine considering that the guest bathroom is right next to her room.

Sunday morning, the baby and I kept it on the down-low so that Daddy could catch up on his sleep. When Trung finally got up, we all finished packing and headed off to Houston for the first stop of our roadtrip to wish my family a Merry Christmas. We made it to my parents' house in time for some hot pot. Today Trung and I took it easy in the morning and then we went to Costco and Chinatown in the afternoon. He also got his first haircut in a salon in years; he even cut his own hair for our wedding! Now Jimmy's family is here for dinner and we'll be off to bed not long after. Early tomorrow we're off to New Orleans, let's hope Lydia doesn't mind the ride. Wish us luck on our eight hour trek to the French Quarter.

Done for the year

YAY! Trung is done with work for the rest of the year; we're officially on vacation! Typically we would head out to Houston to hang out with my family, but Trung's got his fourth LAN party to host (fifth to participate) on Saturday; we'll be going to Houston on Sunday instead. So, the rest of today and tomorrow we're cleaning up the house and getting ready for the "party" and our road trip to Tampa.

I finally cleared out my maternity clothes to make room for my winter clothes and it was kinda sad, but I'm sure I'll be seeing them soon (soon enough :P). Also, I was filtering out Lydia's baby clothes that are too small...now that was very sad. Just seeing the itty bitty clothes that she barely used to fit into as a newborn really made me want another baby. ALREADY! I know...sikes! But as Cora said, I don't want to be a Britney, so we'll be waiting for a good many months. :) Plus, even though I miss the tiny-ness of everything, I am enjoying the sleep tremendously.

Rolling rolling rolling

Lydia proved today that she is a big girl now at three months by rolling over for the first time all by herself. She was having her second tummy time session this morning and decided that today was the day to roll onto her back. I personally think it's to avoid tummy time (which is to strenghten her neck muscles) because she often gets frustrated, even in the company of her friends Elephant and Butterfly. I just know that half the time that Lydia's babbling during tummy time, she's complaining to them about me. :P

Okay, so here's how the roll-over progressed...TA-DAH! Too bad the pacifier went MIA. :P

SOLD!

After months of my nagging, a handful of Craigslist posts, and an Ebay auction; Trung has finally sold his mustang. I posted an ad on Craigslist Saturday morning for, I believe, the fourth time, but this time put "no haggling" for the price. Tyler e-mailed that day saying that he was "very interested", so we called him and set up an appointment on Sunday. You know, I almost didn't open the e-mail because the name read "Hibnotic" and the subject read "Very Interested"; it just didn't sound right. Anyhow, he came and test drove the car and said it was exactly what he was looking for. A few hours later, Tyler was driving off in the car that Trung was driving when I first met him; ah, the memories we had. *sigh* Now we get to make new memories with Lydia! :)
So long, red mustang, it was nice driving ya! (well, just riding for me...I never did like shifting in that car)Oh, by the way, the whole reason why we sold the car is because Trung works from home and now that I'm a stay at home mom, we have no use for it. Plus, it's not what you would call a "family car"; car seats don't go in and out too well. We'll eventually get a bigger car, but are content with my Maxima for now.

Okay, so I finally figured that I'd let Lydia have her thumb to suck on to help her sleep through the night without waking us up. Back to the whole pacifier versus thumb-sucking...well, I only let her have her thumb at night because chances are, the pacifier will fall out and she'll want something to suck on if she wakes up in the middle of the night. Since it has been chilly lately, I put a mitten on the non-sucking hand, so at least that hand doesn't freeze; and let her have her other hand should she need it.

Experiment time! Lydia went to sleep with her pacifier last night and I could hear her babbling around 4 AM. It was soon quiet again and she didn't get up until 8:30 AM. This morning, her thumb looked a little raw, but otherwise in good condition. I considered alternating hands so that the thumb doesn't get all messed up, but I think she really favors her left thumb; maybe I'll try it out tonight. Anyhow, if I hadn't forgotten to turn her baby monitor off in our bathroom, I probably would have slept through the night as well. Let's see if this works again tonight!

Argh

When we came back home to Austin, I was excited that Lydia was consistently sleeping until at least 4 AM if not through the night. The first night back last Saturday we all went to sleep at 9 PM due to the buildup of sleep deprivation from the previous few days. Lydia woke up around 6:30 AM; the next evening she did even better...7:15 AM! So, it's understandable why I was so confused when the next three days she kept waking up around 2 AM! Sometimes I would have to feed her, and other nights she just needed her pacifier and then would be fine.

So nowadays, every night I keep Lydia up from 6:30ish (it used to be 7 PM) on until 10 PM, I feed her as much as possible, and I try not to put too many blankets on her (I'm just paranoid she'll get a chill). She has been sleeping a little bit better considering that she has a little bit of a runny nose. Hopefully that's all she's got because let me just tell ya, it's awfully hard to not face and breath on your baby when you've got cold symptoms and are nursing.

Today someone is coming by to see Trung's mustang, which is currently for sale on Craigslist. We specifically said "no haggling" and the money should be readily available, so we're hoping this guy's the one to get the car off of our hands. Keep your fingers crossed for us!