Post-Easter

We just got back from Bakersfield last night and were so happy to be back home. We loved the trip, as we always do, but getting home for us is the best.

The four days we were there, I swear Dianna progressed a bunch. Being around so many kids, I knew she'd learn to stand up for herself. So she learned how to say, "No" and "Stop!" Pretty funny. But in that same time, she's also become much faster and I would venture to say that she can run now. Something awesome about our family in California is that they have a HUGE backyard, which our little girl thoroughly enjoyed. It was just nice to sit back and let her play with the many, many toys they had back there. No worrying about a pool or rocks, both of which we have in our completely unusable but large backyard.

I was also surprised at how easy she made it to put her to sleep. She is really becoming a big kid now and I guess I'm still in denial about it. This past weekend has convinced me that 1) she's ready for a big girl bed and 2) she's ready to start potty training. Oh boy. Dianna took to Anthony, her cousin who is a year and a half her senior. One day, Tony saw her after a bath and said, "Baby Dianna looks coot."

That same day Dianna gave him a bunch of kisses after dinner. I think Tony kept a safe distance from her after that!

While there, we enjoyed going to Camelot--a family place with go-karts, mini golfing, water bumper rides, etc. We spent an entire afternoon there, and Steve and Michelle had Dianna for that time. We got back to see adorable pictures of Dianna falling asleep with Steve on their trampoline.

Another day, we had a little camp fire where we played the story game. To our family, the story game is played with one person starting off a random story that comes to their mind. After setting up a general scene, the next person continues the story and it just keeps going around the circle. The rest of the weekend, we kept bringing up the ridiculous story we had created in side jokes.

Our last day was Easter Sunday, which was spent going to church, Easter brunching, and Easter egg hunting.

To our one-and-a-half year old, Easter egg hunting is all about putting the eggs in her basket then dumping them all and starting again, all while singing the clean-up song to herself. Michelle got a kick out of it every time Dianna started up the song again.

We had to leave right after the egg hunting, but there was an air of, "Ya know we're only a gas tank away..." With a baby on the way and due to arrive this summer, I'm not so sure we can come again this year. But the Mr. and I actually think about them whenever we do have time off. We'll have to take them up on the offer soon!

Easter Prep

I don't have much time today since the Mr. and I are hurrying this way and that trying to get ready to leave to Bakersfield for our annual Easter celebrations there. We really, really love coming home to a perfectly clean house with fresh sheets in the bedrooms and no dishes in the dishwasher. Needless to say, cleaning of all sorts has been in our repertoire for the past two days.

This is the first year that we'll be going to see our cousins on the Mr.'s side without his parents as they're going through a separation. While it is weird and a change, it's for the best and keeps a semblance of normalcy for my young brother-in-law, John. During long trips, our family likes to listen to audiobooks. So to prepare John, we've had him listening to Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer. Not much of a reader by any stretch, we hoped he would like that the male protagonist is his age.

In the spirit of all the grandparents being away from their little girl on Easter, yesterday we set it up so that both Poppy and Grammy (the Mr.'s parents) got to spend some time with Dianna. They seemed to really enjoy themselves. According to the Mr., both of them were all smiles from the few hours they got with our little one. Poppy just got a few new toys for Dianna and she apparently loved her todder-sized stroller. You can see the handles to it just peeking behind her head.

Tonight will be my parents' turn. Then tomorrow, we leave early in the morning on our adventure!

In Awe

There are so many days that I just sit and watch Dianna play. She's getting so smart, finally able to put her mega blocks together on her own, "counting" (which is really her mimicking our grown-up sounds), and really understanding what clean up means. It's just so exciting to see the wheels turning in there.

As I've been typing, she just grabbed a rag from the kitchen and started wiping the coffee table off like I do.

I love it!

For a lot of people without kids, I know it sounds ridiculous to just watch a little person toddle around. I'm sure it seems as boring as watching paint dry; however, I have to say that when it's your little bundle whose intelligence hinges on what you teach and expose her to, it really is fascinating to see what sticks with them and what they absorb in the everyday things you do.

Now we just need to get her vocabulary up! Days away from turning 1 1/2, she's saying "Daddy", "doggie", "Mama", "uh-oh" and "clean up". She's not shy of talking at all. She just needs to communicate  a bit better! Right now, her way of getting our attention is saying, "atch!"

I'm also enjoying the last dregs of having just one around. The coming months will be difficult for myself and Dianna. We're already anticipating a lot of poking and prodding of Dean. We're expecting a long bout of jealousy. But I'm sure when the time comes, there will be more. Of everything. Just thinking that this time next year Dean will probably be crawling is crazy! Oh boy, oh boy.

It's Been a While

Yep, I'm baaacckk! Lots has been going on in my life and in my head these past ten weeks and I guess I'm finally getting around to sharing about it.

I think the first and biggest thing I should share is that we had the ultrasound and (drum roll...) it's a boy! The Mr. was so happy to hear it and I was too. We've had the name William Dean in our heads since baby number one and it's so exciting to be able to put it to use. During the ultrasound, Dianna had a fit watching the technician mess with mommy's belly. It was hilarious and in the end, she only calmed down when she got to sit by my head on the exam table and watch the screen.

The Mr. and I have also been to a couple more Centering Pregnancy sessions, which is my prenatal class with other women who are also due in July. The sessions are getting to be extremely fun, because we're all going through the same thing. This last class, we went over breastfeeding and random questions everyone had. One of our ladies asked about hot tubs and we all had a laugh when someone asked, "Would that cook our baby?!"

Like all our weekends have been lately, we've been nonstop. Is it odd that that happens once you have kids? Friday morning, the family got up early to get to the As They Grow Kids' Consignment Sale. They offer all kinds of childrens' goodies for low prices--everything from clothes to car seats. The first time we ever went was for Dianna, which was amazingly timed to be the week right after our baby shower so we had a bunch of spending moolah. I remember buying an entire travel system with two bases, a high chair, swing, car seat cushion, foot muffler, etc. well under $350! Since then, I have never missed a sale and I never miss a chance to tell someone about it. And while I haven't had to ever purchase as much stuff as with baby number one, it's still an amazing deal. In the two years we've been attending, the sale has grown exponentially. We first ever arrived a half hour before the sale opened at 10 in the morning. I'm glad that this time around we had the forethought to arrive an hour early! Even an hour before, the line was wrapping around the side of the building.  By the time 10 o'clock rolled around, the line spanned the parking lot and had reached the other end where a movie theater is located.

Since we got into the sale so early, we got a great selection of the few things we do happen to need for Dean: a bassinet and an extra base for our Peg Perego car seat. All under $100. I went again with my mom the next day for clothes for our little one and Dean.

The Mr. has this desire for his son to always look "fresh". He knew a kid who always looked "fresh" when he was growing up, so much so that his nickname through grade school and beyond was Mikey Fresh. For Mikey, looking fresh was characterized by collared shirts and polos, though not ever in a comb-over, uncomfortable-Sunday-best kind of way. So when I went to the sale, I had my eyes peeled for just that and oh how my hubby's eyes lit up when he beheld the "freshness" of his coming son's wardrobe. Wait til the next sale, when they're selling winter clothes!

While typing this post my daughter came back from her customary Sunday outing with my parents, who are referred to as "Lolo" and "Lola". Can she say that yet? Nope. But that is how to say grandma and grandpa in Tagalog. Every Sunday, she goes to church with them and then on a field trip somewhere. Today they went to the gardens at the Wynn casino. I got a picture of her smiling by all the flowers on a bench.

What a great way to spend the afternoon! And of course I instantly missed her. The Mr. and I planted some flowers with our time alone, so we were kind of with her in a way.

With the month winding down, I keep thinking about how Dianna will be 1 1/2 by the seventh of April. I can't believe it! But then again, I also cannot believe that I'm already 25 weeks pregnant. Time passes so quickly. I'm already thinking about the baby shower...

Another Semester and By the Way, I'm 15 Weeks Along

The Mr. just started school this week. It's gotten me thinking about how much I got used to him being home all the time with us and how much I had come to rely on his help with working and everything! This semester is going to be hard, and I can already see the huge change that my hubby is feeling about it.

During winter break, he began his coaching job at Adelson, a private school, where he is coaching fifth grade boys' basketball. Thankfully, he had two weeks of undisturbed work before his own semester began. He's loving it so far and I'm thankful he has the opportunity to do what he loves.

For the first time since I have known him, the Mr. is taking five classes. Add on the coaching job, which happens to jive perfectly with his schedule, and he's got a pretty full plate. He actually doesn't seem to mind being fully booked, though. It's teaching him to stay on top of everything, and I hope that same enthusiasm sticks through the coming months!

My only bit of selfishness I'm truly feeling is that we basically only see eachother for lunch and dinner. I know that's how most relationships work, trust me, I know! But I had become accustomed to our lazy winter days when everyone had sweats on and we just hung out all day.

See, like this?! This is nice!

But now it seems like our weekends are even choc-full of things that need doing. When did that happen?! And why am I feeling it all in one shot? One sobering, overwhelming, icky shot?!


Which brings me to my pregnancy.


I am 15 weeks pregnant and so far, no weight gain! Hallelujah! The only big difference between my two pregnancies right now is that my headaches are more annoying in my second trimester...oh, and that no weight gain thing.

Today is my first appointment for the new prenatal classes my provider is teaching. But that's for a later post. Suffice it to say that I'm really excited for this. Also, last night the Mr. and I decided that even though he can't come to all of it, he's coming to the first half hour to see how the class goes.

Also, I just scheduled my ultrasound for February 17th! I'm definitely sad that it feels so far away, but at least it's scheduled!

That is enough for now.

Oh, What a Week

We have had an amazing week. I called my professor on Thursday to ask him about my grade on the final exam. I did badly on the first test--I flunked it, in fact. I aced my second exam. As the tests make up most of the course grade, I figured I was averaging out at a C. This being my final economics class, I was honestly okay with a C. Obviously, though, I was hoping for better. And better was what I got! My teacher told me I got an A! So, overall, I get a B+ for the class. I've been on cloud nine about it all week.

Second, I set up the Mr. for some financial aid and we managed to have all his classes paid for the next semester. And there's even some extra to buy books!

Then, the Mr. got two calls for two interviews...for two youth coach positions! If you know anything about the Mr., you know that he loves sports. Even more so, he loves teaching kids sports. So, he went in for an interview with a private school for a fifth and sixth grade level basketball coach. Afterward as he recounted meeting with me, he felt really good about how it went. You could really see it from the smile on his face, and he also felt comfortable with the two men who interviewed him, who would be his superiors. Yesterday, he received a call that he got the job. He's beyond excited to be part of this season with them. On top of that, his classes next semester are timed perfectly so that he can make it to practice without having to sacrifice his own school work. Right now, he's in the second phase of an interview to be a youth soccer coach. This position would be ongoing and also jives well with his schedule. In this phase, he's shadowing a class of six and seven year olds. They wanted to see how he would do. Even though he hasn't played soccer in quite a while, it was his past in soccer that helped him start kicking in football for his high school and then for UNR. He's a natural at sports, so I'm sure it's all coming back to him now. I hope he's enjoying himself!

Update: He came home with a COACH shirt on! He got the second job!

I know I am right now with my little hellion. I can't believe all this good fortune this week. It all feels like a great Christmas present. God is good.

It's Just Soup Weather, Isn't It?

I ended up finding an amazing recipe for arroz caldo. In all my years, I never thought to add a boiled egg to this. And now that I tried it, I'm thinking, "Why DIDN'T I think about it?! Eggs make everything better!" This is one of my new favorite blogs, too, by the way. So thank you, Jun, for your awesome contribution to the blog world. And done so beautifully, too.

Today, I made corn chowder a la Mimi's Cafe. It's our favorite version, and I thought I'd give the Mr. a break from all my regional Filipino fare. However, I realize now that I should have just checked the Mimi's website before taking the word from others that their version is the right one. The recipe I used just wasn't quite as creamy as I expected, but now I realize the one thing I didn't do was include just one can of creamed corn. That was literally the only difference between what I did and what Mimi's Cafe does. But ya know what? I'm going to just throw some darn creamed corn into what's left of the soup, which is A LOT, and see how that that goes. I'm pretty sure that'll perk it right up.

Along with the chowder, I made cornbread. Yummy. I like the lightness in the recipe that I used--which I'll share another day. I'm just happy eating it with a pat of butter right now and I mean right now. It's so good. Patience makes the heart grow fonder, remember that!

And to top it all off, I think I'm getting a hang of washing the dishes while the food's a cookin'. But that was just today. I may feel much different tomorrow.

P.S. I was gonna post a picture of my cornbread and soup, but it's just no use taking pictures of an empty bowl and plate.