Friday, March 19, 2010

[ i heart family ]

my mom and dad and sister cassie came to visit last week and what a treat it was. I haven't seen any of my family since i've been pregnant and this is my parents first grandchild, so needless to say, it was pretty exciting to see everyone. it was sadly kind of rainy/windy most of the time, but we got a perfect saturday, so that was nice. did some baby shopping (thanks mom and cass!), did some organizing and getting a room ready for the baby (thanks again mom and cass!) and hung around. perfect.
This is what us womenfolk were doing in the meantime...
And a really hyper whale was going crazy out in the ocean not to far away. Luckily he was in the mood to put on quite a show.

he was patting my big belly in this picture. dad missed that part :)
on the tower at the red house. thinking about a sunday afternoon/evening walk but it was sooo windy.
thanks for taking some cute pictures cass.

And pretty much this is how exciting it was to have everyone here for a little while :) love you guys.

[ visiting grandma barbara ]

Two weeks ago Doug and I went on a quick trip to California. Me to help take care of my grandma who just had surgery and wasn't doing very well, and him to help a bit and then snowboard a lot. We left the night before the tsunami and when we got there we both had a ton of texts and messages making sure we were aware and OK. Luckily nothing ended up happening, but we were watching it on t.v. and doug was getting super depressed that we weren't there for all the action. i felt kinda bad for him, but really, i was happy not to be there and glad to be on the couch resting with grandma :) I'm really glad we got a chance to go over and help out. We took a lot of short walks around the complex with beloved Gilgo, ate a few loaves of Panera's rye bread (which is absolutely addicting), ate at Salsa with Aunt Barbara, Uncle John and Rachel, bacon and eggs for breakfast, In N Out, did our best at fattening grandma up, had a great time seeing how cheap everything is at Winco and spending about an hour at the candy bins :) We got to meet some of her friends, hang out with Aunt Barbara, Uncle John and Rachel and eat some delicious food. Doug stepped in dog pee in his socks :) Made some delicious spaghetti sauce and meatballs from scratch for the first time and just hung out, watched tv, and relaxed together. I'm happy to report that grandma was looking better when I left and I pray she is on the fast road to complete recovery.

 bbque chicken and delicious dinner at aunt barbaras
 doug being humbled by rachel in foosball. thanks for that :)

[ young artists of china ]

So, the last three weeks or so have been kind of busy :) Let me catch you up...

Three weeks ago we hosted two of the leaders that were here from Inner Mongolia for a choir and dance special presentation at BYUH. It turned out to be a really fun experience, but I thought Doug might kill me when I was like, yeah, they are actually older men (we were expecting kids) and they don't speak a word of English (usually the kids speak decent English). Needless to say it was a very interesting experience. They ended up to be really nice and mainly we just had them for breakfast and dropped them off after that, and then picked them up around 9pm. They were pretty busy. In the morning I just took out every single thing that looked breakfast related and put it on the counter and then they just picked and made what they wanted. What did they choose you ask? Fried eggs, cereal and milk, toast with jam, and oatmeal. Pretty easy. The last morning they were here we took them to Hukilau Cafe and they got a loco moco and spam and rice :) and ate them all. I think they must have been full all day. My friend that was there translating for us said that it's rude in their culture not to eat everything so she said they didn't have to... You know you all miss this place if you're not on this lovely island anymore :)
Luckily the one night we had them for dinner my friend Peipei that speaks Chinese and her friend came over to help translate for the night and to cook a delicious dinner. We went to Foodland together to get some shrimp and then went home and made garlic shrimp, some rice, american salad, they made spring rolls and we had a feast. it was sooo delicous :) Thanks Peipei!! And i really loved to have them around because they wouldn't let me do anything because I was pregnant. They wanted to do it all for me. Called me the Panda I think. I think Peipei said it meant like deserves respect or something like that. In any case, can't say I minded :) It really was a great experience and we had some fun. I hope they did too!

 Wei Zhang choreographer/teacher and Qinglin Chu the Vice Headmastr

Thursday, March 18, 2010

[ before 8:00am ]

5:26am: hear doug's first alarm, snooze it. cuddle up and stay cozy.
5:36am: doug's second alarm, snooze it. get cozy again and fall back asleep.
5:46am: third times a charm. i get up and start getting breakfast ready for my handsome husband while he gets ready. you know, just some fresh squeezed orange juice (with a little help from the juicer), and some cereal with strawberries (that were free with a Maika`i reward). talk a bit while he eats and both enjoy the delicious juice and i take my vitamins. get him his lunch and he's off.
6:00am: decide not to walk because it's raining, notice the really ripe banana's that need to be used for banana bread and decide to start making it. then realize i don't have enough eggs.
6:30am: hop in the shower so i'm presentable at the store.
6:50am: notice there is no gas in the car so i quick pull into chevron for a bit. but pulling into chevron in laie is never quick because the pumps either don't have gas or the credit card thing is broken. i seriously despise that abominable station. but i'm still glad it's there.
7:00am: so after a not so quick stop at the gas station i get sugar and eggs from foodland and head home.
7:02am: but for some reason my stomach is all of a sudden doing funny things and i have to open the windows for some air, but that doesn't help so i screech to a stop on the road in front of pcc and run around the bushes to see my delicious orange juice and one strawberry come right up.
7:05am: make not to self not to take vitamin with only oj or on an empty stomach.
7:10am: get the banana bread going and in the oven
7:15am: make myself some eggs and toast for breakfast
7:30am: get myself some lunch packed and clean up my mess
8:00am: pay off time. i finally have a delicious piece of warm banana bread with lots of butter on top. and it pretty much makes the whole fiasco of a morning worth it.
 Anyone want some banana bread?

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

[ 24 weeks - purrrrrr ]

Ok, I have a ton of back posts coming because it has been a really busy/action packed past three weeks, but didn't want to keep you in suspense much longer. it's starting to feel like my stomach is getting pretty big, and this last week when my parents and cassie were here i'm pretty sure it grew right before their eyes. just ask them, they'll tell you.

And just for my own remembrance, lately i've been having a sharp pain in my side... and apparently my doctor says it's normal because my ligaments are stretching. how delightful. i think this might be the last week i can lay on my stomach while i'm getting my weekly massage (still from the car accident last year, that is one nice perk ;)), i can totally feel the baby kicking and moving a lot now and it's kind of cool. mom and dad and cass felt him too while they were here :) it was fun to see their faces when they felt it.

And, I've saved the best for last. For some reason all of a sudden, the hair on my legs doesn't grow so much and not nearly as fast. It is a pregnancy miracle and seriously that might be the best miracle ever, even better than i could have dreamed up on my own :) not sure how long it will last, but you better believe i'm enjoying it while it lasts :)

anyway. last week at the doctors she said that i have a kitty in my stomach. well actually i guess she said that our baby in there is now the size of a cute little kitty. and he is viable and that means it's time to sign up for birthing classes, tour the hospital, and pick out a pediatrician. how exciting.