The announcement

For those of you who didn't know, I found out the sex of the baby at my last doctor's appointment the last week of November. Trung wanted to wait and find out with his family on Christmas Day, so I had to be careful not to slip for almost a month. It sure was tough keeping such a secret from Trung, but it was well worth the wait witnessing his and his family's reactions to the news.

Back in Texas

Our flight was at 6:55 AM this morning, so we woke up at 4:15 AM to finish packing and to load our luggage into the car. We ate a quick breakfast and then woke up Lydia at the last minute, so as to expedite the departure with to interruptions. Sing & Maggie took the same flight as we did, but they didn't have enough room in their rental car for our luggage (4 check-ins and 3 carry-ons), so Toan drove us to the airport. As luck would have it (again), the flight was not full, so Lydia got to have her own seat. She fell asleep soon after take-off and woke up about fifteen minutes before we landed. *Note to self: Lydia is more likely to sleep if we take an earlier flight.*

Jimmy picked us up from Hobby Airport and dropped us off at my parents' house, where we had a bite to eat and then took a nap. Sasha looked quite fat when we saw her; I don't know if it's because we were playing with little kittens these past two weeks or if Sasha has been veging out. I guess I'll have to start portioning out her food again. Later we went to Mike's townhouse to help with some odds and end, and then off to Jimmy's house to visit with some younger church kids. Lydia missed her afternoon nap, so hopefully she will sleep well tonight despite the time change. Tomorrow we head home and our vacation is pretty much unofficially over. It has been great fun, but we sure do miss our home oh, and sleep.

Beach Day

Today we went to Ft. Desoto Beach with whoever was left of the family. I had intended to make pancakes for breakfast that morning, but Lydia woke up at 5 AM and then at 6 AM, the earliest that she had the entire vacation. So, I took a nap while she took hers and woke up just in time to get ready to hit the beach. We had a great time eating Vietnamese sandwiches and frolicking in the sand. Lydia especially loved splashing in the water with Daddy; she's such a water baby! :)

Several people got together to build a sand castle, and then decided to destroy it.
Before...and after...

Lydia took a nap on the way home from the beach and we had Mai's homemade pho (Vietnamese beef noodle soup) for dinner; the pho was a delicious way to end our vacation. Then we said our good-byes and headed back to Toan's house to put Lydia to sleep and to finish packing. We also played a couple rounds of Pictionary before heading off to bed.

Latest news from Tampa

The Ly family members are slowly going their separate ways now that the wedding and Christmas are over. The first to go were Tai and Paula on the 26th; and today, An, Angie, Jacob, and Angie's mother headed back to Maryland. They dropped by on their way to the airport to say "goodbye". Fortunately, Lydia woke up from her nap just in time to blow them kisses. Sing & Maggie and our family are leaving Sunday morning; it will be nice to get back into a routine and get a good night's sleep, but we'll miss everyone.

Trung lifting 40 pounds, the most he's lifted in awhile :P

Other news...I finished reading the last Harry Potter book, which I thought was pretty good. I haven't read a book in so long, so it was nice to finally find time to read something. Also, as of today, I have 100 days to go until the baby's due date. I was relieved when I hit the 25 week mark because the chances of a baby surviving if born prematurely after that time is much higher. These next few months will seem long, but will probably end up flying by just like these past 15 1/2 months with Lydia. Upon my return to Austin, I plan on joining a gym to swim (which I believe helped shorten my labor the first time around) and I have the gestational diabetes doctor's appointment. I sure do hope that comes out negative since I've been eating too many sweets since I've been here. :/

Lydia catching a lift

Today has been a pretty slow, relaxing day thus far. Trung has gone to the mall with four others , while Lydia is napping and I'm finishing up the last quarter of Harry Potter book #7. It's been nice having older nieces and nephews around to watch and play with Lydia . She had a great time getting pushed around in a cardboard box last night by her cousin Kaitlyn.

Family Christmas

Trung, Grace, & Lydia

The Ly Family Clan (plus some special guests & sans Sing & Maggie)

Lydia opens her first Christmas gift

Merry Christmas!

We're having a ...
That's right, Lydia is having a little sister! :) Christmas photos to be posted very soon and a clip of Trung's reaction to the announcement of the gender to be posted upon editing after our return home.

Merry Christmas from our family to yours.

Oh Happy Day is the eve of Christmas...

Sing and Maggie arrived last night, rounding up the Ly family headcount to 21! Today they got married at Clearwater Beach; it was a very unique and special event. Here's Trung, Lydia, and I before the tea ceremony at Ma & Ba's house; Lydia took a nap soon after as to prepare for the long day ahead. The whole Ly family clan next to the heart of flowers in which Sing and Maggie were wed....
Lydia contributing a flower to the heart of flowers...
The newlyweds...
Congratulations, Sing and Maggie! Welcome to the Ly family, Maggie!

Relaxing with the relatives

Last night's rib dinner turned out pretty good. Trung and I were able to prepare everything by 6:45 PM as Lydia frolicked in the jacuzzi with Uncle Tai and Cousin Daniel. She had a grand ole time drinking the water and jumping/walking into Tai's arms; she's gotten quite brave these last few days.So, Trung bought spare ribs instead of baby back ribs, so I was not quite sure it would taste the same, but it was close enough. We also had guacamole, salad, grilled red bell peppers, sauteed green beans, potato salad, bread, and petite cheesecakes for dessert. Everyone seemed satisfied and stuffed when they left, so we were happy. :) Whew, our turn to cook was over; now we can just eat eat eat. Also, Tai's wife Paula came into town late that night to make the head count to 19; all we need is the bride and groom to arrive Sunday night and we're all here!

Today Trung and five other family members went to Universal Studios; they are still not home so I bet they are enjoying themselves. Lydia and I stayed home and chilled with Teresa, Amanda, and about five of Amanda's closest friends. Lydia got to dip in the pool with them; she enjoyed hanging out with the big girls.

Food and more food

Yesterday morning Ma, Angie's mother (An's mother-in-law), and I went to a produce market. I bought 4 bags of fresh fruits and vegetables for $12! Of course I also picked up Plant City's famous strawberry shortcakes to go. Ma dropped me off at Toan's house where we had sandwiches for lunch. Then the guys went to watch "I Am Legend" while Amanda and I watched "Enchanted"; Teresa kindly watched Lydia for us. The movie was entertaining and I'm glad I finally got a chance to watch it.

After dinner at Ma & Ba's house, the guys came over to Toan's house to play Warcraft 3, an addicting computer game. I continued reading Amanda's Harry Potter book 7 and soon retired for the night. Mai (Trung's only sister, kid #2 between Toan and An) and her family arrived around midnight, making the headcount to 18!

We haven't done much today, though Lydia and I got to watch the kittens at play.

Lydia also learned to climb down the stairs sometimes with and without assistance, but with constant supervision. After her nap, we're having hot pot at Ma & Ba's house and tonight Trung and I are making baby back ribs for all 18 people. We decided to take turns cooking this year to give Ma and Toan's family a break every now and then.

And then there was 13

Here's what Lydia did this morning...

Every day we stay at Toan & Teresa's house until after Lydia gets up from her morning nap. Afterwards, we go to Ba & Ma's house for lunch. Then back again to Toan's so Lydia can take her afternoon nap, and then back to the in-law's for dinner. Today I just went back with Lydia after lunch so that Trung and Tai could put up Ma's brand new 32" Samsung LCD TV in the kitchen; supposedly a Christmas present to herself, but the kids will probably all end up pitching in for it since she rarely ever wants anything.

After Lydia's afternoon nap, we headed back to Ma & Ba's house and waited for An's family to arrive; An is brother #2. We all got to meet baby Jacob for the first time since his birth in March! The Ly family headcount is now up to 13 with plenty more people to come. Here's a picture of Trung & Lydia and An & Jacob.

Lydia's present for Ma & Ba

After having lunch today at Ma & Ba's house, Lydia had a very dirty diaper. I'm talking all the way up her back and in her hair. So, Ma gave Lydia a mini bath and we changed her into a shirt that we somehow were able to find amongst all of Ba's things. The yellow shirt was about two sizes too big and had "Batman" written on it. Lydia really did look like a little boy and seemed to enjoy it.

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas

Yippee!!! We've made it to Florida, but not after a loooooong plane ride yesterday. The flight itself was less than two hours long and direct; it was Lydia that made this flight feel like the longest one we've ever taken. After our experiences with our last trip, I thought Lydia would surely behave just as well if not better since she was older. I did everything the same as before, but for some reason, Lydia was just not up to sleeping that day. Several other children were aboard the plane, but I think Lydia was the only one crying practically the entire time. Sorry, peeps, at least it was a short ride. :/ Trung and I had to switch seats about 3/4 of the way because I needed a break. We think Lydia was upset about having to be back in her infant carseat again (it's much more portable than her current one) and because she was strapped in again after a 45 minute ride to the airport beforehand. The flight was half full and we got an extra seat for Lydia's carseat, but it almost defeated the purpose when she didn't even want to be in it.

Anyhow...we're here and that's what matters. Trung's oldest brother Toan picked us up from the airport in his brand new Acura. On the ride to his house, Lydia fell asleep for about 20 minutes, which would be the only nap she got all day. We waited for our nephew and niece, Daniel and Amanda, to come home from school and then headed off to the in-laws' house for dinner. We put Lydia to bed at 7:45 PM (EST) and she feel asleep almost immediately because she was so tired; I went to sleep soon after.

This morning we had an early wake up call because the host family got up at 6:30ish. We are currently sleeping upstairs in a loft-like area where there are no doors, so we could hear every cling and clang coming from the kitchen. Wow, what a difference a door makes! :P It's all good; we can always take a nap if needed. Oh, I had some company during my blogging session today. Meet Esay (short for Esmeralda) and Wooly, the newest members to Toan's family.

No real plans for today, just maybe lunch at Ma & Ba's house, and chilling the rest of the day with Toan's family. Tai, brother #3, flies in late tonight, which will bring the Ly family head count to 10.

Houston for a day

We left for Houston this morning around 10:45 AM, though we had intended to leave around 10.  So, we arrived around 1 PM and met Mike and Jimmy & Jason at Fuddrucker's.  I didn't think I was in the mood for a hamburger, but boy, was it good!  Then again, anything is good when you're starving.  Afterwards, Trung, Lydia, and I went to Mike's new townhome; he just moved in a couple of weeks ago.  It was very nice and very "bachelor-like" with the fridge filled with only an assortment of beverages and a to-go box.  :)

When we got to my parents' house, Trung and Lydia took naps while I went to Jimmy's house to help decorate their Christmas tree and to deliver the kids first Christmas gifts (and a birthday gift for the Christmas baby, Jason).  Then back to my parents' house I went to have hot pot with the entire family and Tiff & Christian. Tiff knows everyone in my family pretty well, so we all had a good time. Too bad we didn't get to spend that much time with my family for Christmas since our flight is tomorrow morning, but we'll be back in a couple of weeks for a couple of days; plus they got to have us all week for Thanksgiving!  There just isn't enough of us to go around!  :)

 

Sing & Maggie Day

The men took Sing, Trung's younger brother and the youngest of the Ly family, out all day to celebrate "his last days of freedom"; he is tying the knot on Christmas Eve in Florida. As far as I am aware of, they had BBQ for lunch, went race car driving, played some Wii, ate dinner, and then played poker. I guess these are activities considered "fun" to a guy. *shrug*

The ladies, on the other hand, had a short, but sweet gathering for Maggie. We met for some snacks and presented Maggie with hopefully Sing-pleasing lingerie. A few ladies went to dinner afterwards at Jeffrey's while the mommies when home to tend to the kids. Congratulations Sing and Maggie, we are "finally" looking forward to your big day (after over eight years)! :P

One more day and counting...

Trung has to work one more day tomorrow and then he's done for the rest of the year...YIPPEE!! In the meantime, I've begun packing for Lydia and myself for a whooping 15 days! The weather can change so much during that length of time, especially in Tampa, so I've really got to plan it out well. For example, last year Lydia and I took a dip in the pool on Christmas Eve, but then it was chilly and rained on Christmas Day. The 10 day weather forecast for Florida seems to be in the 70s and 80s, which is good since I only have a few warm articles of maternity clothing. I figure that I can always layer or slip on an unzipped jacket rather than purchase any more clothes.

Anyhow, the plan is to leave for Houston Sunday morning, meet up with Tiff sometime during the afternoon, and have hot pot with my family that evening. Our flight leaves Monday morning from Hobby Airport and we return on the 30th. This Christmas we've got a new nephew to meet, a beach wedding to attend, and an elfster gift exchange to do. 'Tis the season of family and fun! :)

Yet another phase

This past week, Lydia has been going through her long naps, less food stage. She used to take two 1.5 to 2 hour naps, but then a couple of weeks ago, she started getting dirty diapers during her morning naps and would wake up after about thirty minutes. Sometimes Lydia would go back to sleep after her diaper was changed, but usually not. Plus, her afternoon naps would last for no more than an hour at a time.

Okay, so back to this past week...Lydia has been sleeping about 2.5 hours during her morning nap and about 1-1.5 hours for her afternoon nap. Thankfully, she has her poopy diapers after she wakes up, so she sleeps without any interruptions. Also, Lydia eats only about half as much as she used to. Trung and I have noticed her round and profound tummy going down a little, but she still sleeps almost twelve hours at night. Fussiness comes frequently; Lydia will throw her head back and sometimes refuse to eat anything. Hopefully this is yet another phase that will soon pass, at least the eating part.

The next Mia Hamm

Trung discovered yesterday that Lydia could dribble a ball with her feet. To my amazement, the little squirt showed me today that she really could. Now, all I need is a minivan and then I'll be a bonafide soccer mom. :)

Congrats!

Congratulations to my cousin Grace and her husband Edward on graduating today with their doctorates. Wow, what an accomplishment! We got to celebrate with them during dinner at Shanghai Restaurant, which was actually not too bad since we've only eaten there for dim-sum. My church friend Rebekah's little brother TJ also graduated today, so she was in town from Boston to attend the graduation. She got a chance to drop by the house after dinner to meet Lydia and for us to catch up on the last year and a half. Interesting stuff...a waitress at Shanghai Restaurant struck up a conversation with me and told me that she knows someone that is trying to potty train her four month old. And I thought training Lydia now was too early! Also, Rebekah told me that a friend of hers just delivered her baby at 23 weeks...and I'm 23 weeks to the day today! Hopefully since Lydia was full-term, this baby will be too, but everything is in God's hands from the moment the baby was conceived. It's crazy how so many things can go wrong during a pregnancy; babies are truly miracles.

Hot pot

Last night we had hot pot with a bunch of people at our friend Jason's house. We hadn't seen most of them for awhile, so it was fun catching up over yummy food. Lydia got to see her friend Parker again; he is exactly eight months younger than her. Here's Parker with his mommy, Joy, and Lydia...We caught a shot of Parker and Lydia trying to sneak a kiss. :P

Massive destruction

Ever since Lydia started solid foods, she has rarely had any major diaper blow-outs. So, it was quite a surprise for me when I came home from running a couple errands and was informed by Trung that he had just given Lydia a bath because she had pooped everywhere while taking her afternoon nap. He wasn't kidding either...it was on her clothes, all over her body (even her feet), on the sheet, on the crib rails...EVERYWHERE! And here I was thinking that I'd spend a nice Saturday afternoon hanging out with my family, but now I had an abundance of stains to get out. Well, I guess this prepares me again for the really bad stains that baby #2 will provide. Oh, and something for new parents Dennis and Daisy to look forward to with their new son, Lucas Dylan, born yesterday morning. :) Congrats, guys; it's really not that bad...it's worse! j/k

Toy chest mess

We have been using a natural-colored woven basket to put all of Lydia's toys, but lately, her toys seem to be everywhere. So, Trung and I researched a little bit on toy chests/boxes and decided on the Lift & Hide Bookcase Storage Chest with Pink Lid by Step 2. <--- It got really good reviews and Trung liked the look of it better than most other plastic toy boxes. (He preferred the red lid one, but Lydia has to have pink! hee hee) Plus, we wanted something really durable, yet safe for the kids; hopefully something that would stand up to crayon markings later too. Eventually we'll get something nicer for the kids' bedrooms, but for now, we need a toy chest that can handle crazy little kids and look fine in the living room.

Mike wanted to get Lydia the toy chest for Christmas, so I passed on the information to him. He went to Toys "R" Us today to pick it up and first, they said that they didn't have the pink lid one, only the red one. Then they found a pink one and after Mike purchased it, they discovered that it wouldn't fit in his car, so he had to return it. Sorry, Mike, but thanks though; after all, it's the thought that counts! :) Well, after a mess of calling Jimmy to see if my parents could borrow his minivan on Sunday to bring me the toy chest when they attend my cousin's UT graduation, Trung and I decided to see if it really was worth all that trouble. Oh, Mike mentioned that it didn't look that great either, so we wanted to physically see it. The south Austin Toys "R" Us location had the red one with no pink ones in stock, so we went there to at least check it out. As it turned out, they did have a pink one in stock, it looked just fine to us, and it fit in my car. Problem solved!

Stats and Santa

Lydia had her fifteen month old doctor's appointment today. According to the doc, she is doing great! Lydia weighs just over 20 pounds (15%) and is 30 inches tall (45%). I honestly don't know why I'm so concerned about her weight because she eats so much; maybe it's because I know so many big baby boys. Her head circumference is in the 75%tile, maybe that's why she's so smart...hee hee.

I'm surprised we got a decent pic with Santa...man, Ray is good!

Fifteen months old

It really is amazing how a child's mind works. This past month Lydia has accomplished so much, I really ought to write it all down. Here are some of the highlights that I can remember off the top of my head...
- We bought her a pink Disney princess ball, which she loves "fetching" for us, but not before exclaiming, "ball"! She'll try rolling it back, but gets it to go only a few feet at a time.
- Lydia discovered the "PRESS" sound button on her Soft Sounds cloth books. She'll find the button and immediately press it, sometimes before you can even finish reading the sentence on the page. Lydia also understands "turn the page", though she likes to turn the opposite page when the book is done or just for kicks.
- Though she can only say a few words, Lydia understands so much more. "Close the door", "get your shoes", "take a bath", "are you hungry?/do you want some food?", and "finish your food and you can have the fruit" are only a few of the phrases that she knows. One word that we are still unsure if she really knows is "no". Sometimes she totally listens, but often times, she'll continue to go at it. *sigh* Is there such a thing as the terrible ones?
- Lydia loves waving at random people and saying "hi", at least it sounds like it. It can be a person walking by us at the grocery store or a car driving by on our street, regardless, they will almost always be presented with a wave. Oh, and her waves are side-to-side now, unlike the up-and-down ones she used to do when she was just a baby. :)

Boys will be boys

The majority of my friends expecting boys had their babies this past week. Meet Landjuvan...
William...
and Nathanael.
Congratulations to all my friends that are new and second time parents!

Lydia meets Santa

My photographer friend, Ray, of Everafter Images invited us to his community clubhouse where he was taking pictures of Santa and the neighborhood kids. Trung and I had a feeling that Lydia's stranger anxiety would kick in, but we hoped for the best. Here's what happened...

Okay, so Mommy to the rescue! If only I had known I was going to be in the picture, I would have dress nicer. Plus, I should have just stuck any ole diaper cover on Lydia too since this dress didn't come with one; anything would have looked better than her diaper. :P

Camera face

We discovered last week during Thanksgiving break that Lydia loves waving at pretty much anybody and always makes this one silly face when taking a picture. Even when you pretend you have a camera in your hands, she'll start making this face. I don't know if I should try and teach her to "unsquint" or just let her keep it up; after all, at least she's somewhat smiling. *shrug* BTW, you'll probably recognize this face if you've been keeping up with my blog.
Last night Lydia watched her first full length movie, Ant Bully, and in HD! We rarely get animated movies from Netflix, so this was a treat for her. Lydia started off watching the movie sitting next to me on the couch, but got restless after about 30 minutes (which is about how long her usual Sesame Beginnings DVDs last). So I put her on my lap and she sat there quietly, watching the movie. Towards the end, she started whimpering a bit because, I think, she started getting scared. When she went to bed, she also started crying when she typically doesn't, so maybe bugs are still too scary for this toddler.

Cars

Whoo-hoo, yeah for Helio! He's just to dang cute with those dimples for America not to choose him. Oh, and it probably helps that Julianne is his partner; they should really hook up if they haven't already. Were those kisses for real during the foxtrot or is it just because he's Portuguese and they maybe kiss a lot?

Today I went to my insurance claims adjuster and afterwards, dropped off the car at the shop. The loaner cars available were a Chrysler minivan or a Hyundai Elantra. Trung and I chose to go with the minivan to see how it felt to drive one if we decided to purchase one later and because the Elantra is pretty small. Too bad the minivan has over 94,000 miles on it and smells like urine, but it's the experience that matters. :P

Boy or Girl?

I had my doctor's appointment today and got my "20" week sonogram. This isn't the gender revealing picture, but just for kicks, what do YOU think we're having?

Stay tune on Christmas Day for the results!

Results

I went to four mechanic shops today to get an estimate on the car; we're looking at $2500-$3500 worth of damage. Since it was more than we had expected (isn't it always though?), we decided to file a claim with our insurance company because who knows what else needs to be repaired. Now we've just got to wait for the claims adjuster to take a look at the car so that we can take it to the shop. The sooner the better though because the hood is currently being strapped down by rope.

Some good news...we sold the HD plasma TV for a $350 profit. Now all we've got to do is find a really good deal on the TV that we want, sell our old TV and we're set!

After watching Dancing with the Stars tonight, my prediction is that Helio and Julianne will win. Everyone did quite poorly, especially Marie, considering that it was the finals. Anyhow, it will be nice to see all the celebrity dancers again tomorrow night.

Woes back at home

We were only about 20 miles away from home on our trip back from Houston when we got into a little fender bender. Basically, the car in front of us had someone cut in front of it, but we couldn't brake fast enough and ended up skidding right into the car. The whole accident seemed like it was in slow motion; all we could do was wait for the hit. Of course, it didn't help that the weather was horrible on Saturday and it had been raining almost all day. *sigh* Well, at least we had our new plasma HD TV to look forward to, right? Not really. Trung and Henry went to go pick it up later that afternoon and it ended up looking a bit small for our entertainment system. The TV was awesome, but we thought that we needed a bigger one. We had gone through a lot of trouble buying and returning items to get a really great deal on the TV, so rather than return it, we decided to post it on Craigslist and maybe make a little profit to put towards a bigger one.

Friends

Friday we had a great time meeting up with some of my old classmates. We met with Sid and Rami at Starbucks after eating lunch at my parents' house with a couple of Mike's friends. Trung and I shared a Caramel Apple Spice, which was pretty good.Then after Lydia's afternoon nap, I had some yummy desserts at Sarah's house. She had wanted to meet at Starbucks as well, but her flight was delayed for three hours due to mechanical problems.
When Lydia and I got home from Sarah's house (Mike dragged Trung to Sears to buy more stuff), we had dinner at Thomas' house. Unfortunately, Chi had to work that night, so it was just Thomas and Daniel this time around. Great job on the Christmas decorations, Chi. I don't think we'll be doing Christmas stuff at our house this year since we'll be gone for half of the month anyways.

We elfed ourselves

We ELFED ourselves! Check it out.

Catching up

Today after a snooze of a nap, we headed to the mall so I could make some returns. Then we hopped over to Le Peep to meet Tiff and Christian to have some breakfast for lunch. The food was very good, especially since we've been having Chinese styled breakfasts these last few days. My has little Christian grown into a handsome boy AND he's got little freckles like his mommy now! Too cute!

Finale and Finals

I forgot to watch the season finale of The Bachelor last night, so I caught up on abc.com; I almost wish that I hadn't. I cannot believe Brad did not choose either girls! I'll definitely have to watch "After the Rose" to see what he has to say for himself. I also read up on the web just now that Jennie got kicked off of "Dancing with the Stars". I kind of saw it coming since everyone seems to love Marie, and Mel and Helio are "neck and neck". I am now okay with either Mel and Helio winning (though I still prefer Helio); I just don't want Marie to win.

Tonight Mike, Trung and I had dinner at Bluefin, a trendy Japanese restaurant near Dairy Ashford off of Westheimer. I "enjoyed" watching Mike and Trung eat sushi and sashimi while I munched on tempura, unagi, and a spider roll. Afterwards, we watched "Beowulf" at Memorial City Cinemark, which is quite a nice facility. The movie was entertaining and unique with its animated effects. Overall, Trung had a great time and it was nice taking a break from Lydia for an evening!

Much ado about nothing

Here's a family picture that someone took of us at my parents' reception.

We didn't do much today...ate breakfast at Panera Bread, ate leftovers for lunch at my parents' house, and had hot pot with the family for dinner. Trung looked up the items he wanted to purchase on Black Friday, but mostly we just sat around and flipped through advertisements. This will be our only real "down" day since we will hopefully be meeting up with friends and hanging out with family the rest of the week.

Family Weekend

This weekend was all about the Lee Family. Saturday afternoon we had a reception for my Dad's 25th anniversary at the church and my parents' 35th wedding anniversary. The program ran a bit longer than planned, but overall everyone, especially my parents, enjoyed it. I didn't get a chance to eat for awhile since everyone wanted to talk to me, but it was great seeing people who I hadn't seen for ages. After getting a moment away and chowing down some Americanized Chinese food, we rushed over to my niece Jocelyn's first piano recital. Unfortunately, we arrived ten minutes late from all the socializing and missed her thirty second performance.

Today after the 11 AM Tallowood Baptist Church service and lunch with the Chinese mission, Mike and I dropped Trung and Lydia off at home for Lydia's nap while we picked up balloons for Jocelyn's 6th birthday party. The event was held at Teddy Bear Forest, a knock-off of Build-a-Bear, at Katy Mills. The 14 kids got to pick out an animal, help stuff it, and then clothe it; I made one for Lydia too...a teddy bear with a purple gingham dress. :) After making the animals, the kids played some games and then had pizza and birthday cake

We helped load up the birthday gifts into Jimmy's minivan after the party and then headed to his house for an early dinner and to hang out with Cora's sister Kate and her family. Jocelyn and her two female cousins had a great time playing with each other and opening her presents. Lydia was kind of a loner since she's much younger than the other girls; the boys were either sleeping or way too young. We ate some fajitas and chilled for a little while before heading back to my parents' house. I am exhausted and am afraid that I may be getting sick (Mike and Lydia had the sniffles). It's going to be a long, but fun week, so I hope I get better soon.

Packing for Houston

First of all, I want to mention that I want Helio to win on Dancing with the Stars because Jeannie is inconsistent (Helio is too, but not as much) and Mel B, I think, is just plain lucky. Frankly, I don't know why America keeps Marie Osmond around...for kicks, I guess. Anyhow, that's my two cents about that.

Next topic...packing for Houston has been harder than ever before. I've always had the problem on deciding what to pack based on the weather this time of year, but this trip, I've got my belly size to consider as well. I'm in that in-between stage where I can wear some regular clothes, but they are a bit tight or I can wear maternity clothes, but they are a bit loose. So, the question is whether I want to look pregnant or kinda fat. :P Anyhow, I've been packing a mixture of the two because I'll probably be bigger at the end of the week from all the eating that I will most definitely be doing.

Getting smarter every day

When Lydia got her first knob puzzle for her birthday, she could only put in the circle piece. Gradually she figured out all the pieces and on those days when she really concentrates, she can complete the puzzle all by herself in record times.

First playdate

Today Lydia and I went to our first playdate; we met up with ACC church friends Joyce with her daughter Rebekah and Vicki with her kids Isabella and Ethan. We had a delightful lunch of noodles and dumplings at Joyce's house. Rebekah took a quick nap while the other kids "played" though Ethan and Lydia are still a bit young at fourteen months (one week apart) to really play. Ethan didn't want Lydia too close to him, so that's why she's a bit distant in this picture. :P

Isabella (3), Rebekah (2), Ethan (1), Lydia (1)

Showers of blessings

Saturday, I attended two baby showers. The first one was for my one of my bridesmaids Wendy, (middle front) who is expecting a little girl in late January.

The second baby shower was for my neighbor Grace, who is expecting a little girl next month.

Congratulations to you both! We cannot wait for Baby Cheng and Rachel to arrive!

Come one, come all

Come and celebrate the goodness of God with us!


You are cordially invited

to a reception to celebrate

the 25th anniversary of

Pastor Jason Lee

as a Minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ

to the Tallowood Baptist Church

Chinese Congregation.

and

We will also celebrate the

35th Wedding Anniversary

of Pastor Jason and Mrs. Ruth Lee

on Saturday, the seventeenth of November

Two thousand and seven

at three o’clock in the afternoon

Tallowood Baptist Church Fireplace Room

555 Tallowood Road

Houston, Texas


Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt His name together.

Psalm 34:3


Your love is a treasured gift we request no other.

Please pray

Please pray for my maternal grandmother who originally was thought to have stomach cancer, but has now been diagnosed with lymphoma, a cancer originating from the white blood cell in the vertebrate immune system. She is in her 80s and undergoes chemotherapy today. Grandma has not yet met Trung or Lydia, so we hope that all goes well so that she can meet them and the new baby next winter when we plan on traveling to Taiwan.

Preggers here, preggers there

Jennifer Lopez officially announced last night at a concert that she was indeed pregnant. She didn't say when she was due, but from what I've read, she's expecting right around the same time that I am. Also, Giada De Laurentiis from the Food Network channel is also expecting in early April...a baby girl. If you don't know which chef she is, Giada cooks Italian food and is the one with the big smile and tiny little waist. Here's a fun fact: her grandfather is film producers Dino De Laurentiis.

Here are some random tidbits:
- I have no clue who is going to win Dancing with the Stars, but I kinda hope it's not Mel B. She a really good dancer, but I think she's just been lucky lately because she doesn't dedicate even half as much time into training as the other dancers and their schedules are just as hectic. I do enjoy watching Jennie, Cameron, and Helio dance, so I hope one of them wins.
- My childhood church friend Susan Mitchell was on Jeopardy's Tournament of Champions yesterday. She didn't win this time around, but got second place, so she still might make the wild card round. Good for you, Susan!
- Lydia got her flu shot today. The pediatrician's office ran out of preservative free ones quite some time ago, so she got the regular one. There has been so much talk about the shot causing autism that I honestly would have preferred the preservative free one, but Trung and I think that she will be just fine.

Chilly

Lydia and I went to get the mail today and brrr, it's chilly out there. It's nice having the cooler weather, but in a couple days it will be gone again, and then back again, and then gone again. Gotta love the Texas weather! I taught Lydia how to put her hands in her pockets, well, more like I just put them in for her. :)

Contact

This past weekend I thought I felt the baby moving, but decided that it was gas; last night I definitely felt him/her. I can usually feel the movements when I'm laying down and nothing else is going on around me, like last night when I was going to sleep. I felt the baby move two weeks earlier than my last pregnancy; I already knew the sex of the baby the first time around before I could feel anything.

Okay, so I have a gut feeling now that we're having a girl. I don't know if I can wait three more weeks to find out, much less wait until Christmas. What to do, what to do! I KNOW that I'll slip somehow if I find out first, but I HAVE to know now. Oh, and it doesn't help that I talk in my sleep either. AHHHH!!!

Fourteen Months Old

Every month I'm amazed at how much Lydia has developed and grown. She truly is no longer a baby, but rather, a little girl. Lately everyone has been saying that she exactly looks like me (especially as a child); I can't help but beam with pride. What do you think?

Or does she look more like my niece Jocelyn?

Changes

Yesterday we finally turned Lydia's car seat front facing because though she has been over a year old for a couple months now, she just now got to the twenty pound mark. She thoroughly enjoyed her first car ride facing forward, laughing at loud as Trung and I would look back at her. (I just recently stopped sitting in the back seat with her because she was getting kind of spoiled). I think that Lydia could definitely get used to the change of scenery.

Today was Daylight Savings, which I thought putting Lydia to sleep an hour later last night would help her adjust, but she ended up waking up at 6:30 AM (7:30 AM) still. Our usual church service starts at 9:30 AM, so we definitely weren't going to be able to make it to that service since Lydia woke up from her morning nap at 9:45 AM. So, today we made our occasional visit to Hyde Park Baptist Church. Trung and I enjoy the sermons there quite a bit and we seem to "get" the pastor more than at Austin Chinese Church. We have been attending ACC mainly out of convenience because it is one block away and the service time fits better with Lydia's naptime. We do like it at ACC and have meet new friends, but once the kids are older, HPBC will probably be our church of choice.

We attended our temporary former roommate Henry's housewarming party today after church. Homemade pot stickers and sweet rice wraps were only a couple of the treats provided. Henry settled his family in a new house only three miles away from us; we like to think that he wanted to be near to us. :)

Lost and Found

Wednesday as I was returning home from shipping my eBay items at the post office, I was thinking how fortunate I have been in receiving all my eBay purchases. Well, I "thought" too fast because just that same day, I did not receive my first package. The USPS track and confirm website reported that the shipment was delivered that morning, but where was the package? I called the post office that delivers our mail and they said to call back in the morning to talk to our mail carrier Joe. The next morning Joe said he remembered putting a package in our box, which he did, but it wasn't the "lost" package. After claiming that he would find it and dropping by my house for the tracking number, Joe finally admitted that he couldn't find it yesterday.

I had ordered a bunch of self adhesive labels to make printing shipping labels a lot easier. The package's total cost was about $7.00, but it was the concept that USPS had lost my package that really bothered me the most. Last night I ordered some more labels, but fewer this time just in case the original package turned up. As I was mailing our Netflix movie this morning, I noticed on the floor next to our neighborhood mailboxes a package with my name on it. I guess a neighbor got it and just put it there for someone to claim...it would have been nice to have it hand/door delivered, but at least I finally got my package. Well, I ran into Joe just now and told him about it; maybe he'll pay closer attention next time.

Butterfly in the sky

Lydia went trick or treating for the first time tonight with Lily (Jasmine) and Mary (Ariel), and had a great time. She understood the concept of taking the candy, but wanted to give it back and then go into the person's house. You have much to learn, my young padawan.

We got another camera just in time for Halloween...yeah! Happy Halloween!

Speechless

I cannot believe Sabrina got kicked off of Dancing with the Stars tonight. Sheesh, America, give her a break! Jane or Marie definitely should have been the one on the chopping block, but I suppose one bad (not even really that bad) week really does make all the difference. Well, at least now she can concentrate on her Cheetah Girls movie, which I honestly doubt that I will be seeing. I never that I'd say this, but I think Mel B really has a chance of winning the competition now, but I'd rather Helio win. Mel B has improved quite a bit, but she doesn't seem much of a crowd pleaser...to each to his own.

Here's a cute shot that Maggie took of Lydia when Trung was watching her while I was at a shower. Peek-a-boo, I see you!