sue's blog

GIRL!!

and i got an amniocentesis this morning so a bit of cramping but overall feel good.

we've had a hectic month and i've gotten seriously behind on these grand plans to try to DIY alison's birthday decor.  her birthday is in less than 1 week... ahhhhh!  OMG --- she is 1 already!!

i'm trying to have a mostly westernized birthday with the korean tradition kind of mixed in.  i'm probably the whitest korean so my attempts might be poor.  on the korean side of things, i'm going to set up the dol table (birthday table with various fruits, cake, and rice cakes, but no real rice cakes for me) and going to have alison play the grab game where she has to pick from the following to indicate her future:

string: she will live a long life
pencil: she will be a good student
money: she will be wealthy
rice: she will not go hungry... in this day and age, she will be overweight
scissors: she will be crafty and creative
knife: she will be a chef

i don't have a han bok (traditional korean dress) for alison but my mom is insistent that she put one on some time during the party so i'm going to ask my SIL if i can borrow her daughters hanbok.

i ordered invitations from tinyprints even though i very briefly entertained the idea of making them myself. 

the DIY stuff

banner:  i had a banner designed by my sister's friend then had it printed at kinkos. there is this really huge mirror behind where the dol table goes that would create a nightmare for picture taking so it has to be covered.

balloons: i'm going to enlist in people to help me make balloon decorations in the shape of flowers.  here's an example:

Balloon flowers

centerpieces:  i need to buy vases and flowers.  i think i may be crazy for thinking that i can make 10 centerpieces myself.  i just couldn't justify hiring a florist to deliver flowers to the venue for just 10 smallish centerpieces, but now i'm seriously contemplating it.
 
dol table decor: i made these fake rice cake towers out of pink, red, and brown M&M's.  i just hope i spelled alison's name out in korean phonetically correct.  pictures to come later.

slideshow: i just finished the birthday slideshow tonight and in making the slideshow, i realized that i cut off the top of alison's head in  so many pictures. i'm so focused on capturing the moment that i forget that i need to take the whole picture. a couple examples:

cake:  of course, cheesecake!  how can we not serve cheesecake at cheesecake factory?  i'm also having my cousin (Filigree Cakes) make a smaller cake for alison to have for herself.  

my current problem is finding something to wear.  i'm in that stage where maternity clothes make me look way more pregnant than i am but real clothes, even bigger sizes don't fit right.  i feel very fat these days.

this month has been busy with the move, battling morning sickness/exhaustion, and the dogs being inside our new smaller place.  i wish i could've taken more pictures this month, but i couldn't find my camera from the move until recently.

milestones and happenings of this month:

• moved to a new place and required 3 days of adjustment =(  lots of crying, anxiety, and lack of sleep
  
• laughs like the dutch baby in the youtube videos!!!  i have waited 6 months for this!  i'm going to try and catch it on video tape
  
• smiles all the time (yes, this is a milestone for us)
  
• screams really loud for fun
  
• brushes her teeth by herself
  
• uses the sippy cup
• plays peek-a-boo
• climbs onto and off of the sofa, the coffee table, stroller, our bed, etc.
  
• climbs down the stairs the right way
• does that korean reflex exercise thing that all the korean parents try to get babies to do: jam-jam (opening and closing hands), dori-dori (turning head side to side), gonji-gonji (pointing finger into the opposite palm), jahk-jahk-gung (clapping).  this would be better described by video but every time i bring out the camera that's all she can focus on.
• points to everything that interests her
• 2nd earthquake for both me and alison.  feels a different than i thought it would

here is a video with alison and the dogs:
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=76766976561#/video/video.php?v=112974691561

our goal this month: start going to a class again once a week (music, gymboree, etc.)  we need to get out. 

this month we realized that we cannot take alison out to restaurants anymore.  she demands too much of our attention and screams for fun.  our lives are slowly becoming more catered around the baby's schedule and personality.  currently, we are looking for a babysitter so we can have a life outside of the house once the baby goes to sleep.  just basically someone to be in the house so that we are not doing anything illegal by leaving the baby at home alone.

for the dogs, we hired a dog walker who takes the dogs everyday.  lifesaver and so worth the money.  they would go crazy in our 1100 sq ft place.

dean and i are planning a trip to china in august.  are we crazy???  i will be 6 months preggo and it will be so hot out there.  but sadly, i think this will be our last opportunity in a while to go on an adult trip and leave the baby at home.  having our parents babysit 1 kid is enough but adding another might be tough.

pregnancy update:  i am 14 weeks and 2 days today so i'm in my 2nd trimester!  but i'm still sick all the time and have no desire to go out.  my skin is like a teenager and i've already gained 8 lbs!  i eat to feel better.  i had gained 4 lbs by this point with alison but i think some of this weight also has to do with quitting breastfeeding when i was about 5 weeks pregnant.  i had my 1st trimester screen this month and my NT measurement was "elevated."  i knew something was wrong when the ultrasound tech was taking measurements, got quiet, then she told us she needed to show the doctor the pictures.  the doctor then came in and started to take the same measurements. he basically said that after my blood test results are available, i might need to think about having an amniocentesis.  well, i got my blood tests and the news is good.  chances of down syndrome are 1:327 (for my age, it's 1:725) but still less than 1% chance.  chances of trisomy 18 are 1:30,000!  so no more further testing for me! 

i really hope my sister doesn't kill me for this one......

but we are BOTH due within 1 week of each other.....!!!

i am moving right across the street from her tomorrow.....

our kids will grow up together!!!

sorry, couldn't hold in my excitement!

i got a whopping bill for lab work i did associated with this pregnancy and the bill said "claim denied.  services are a non-covered expense of your health plan."  of course i think this is a mistake so i make some phone calls and come to discover that my insurance plan does NOT cover MATERNITY BENEFITS!!!  will they cover the heart-attack i receive from realizing that i have the crappiest insurance plan?!?
 
i did not take it out on the poor customer service rep who had to break it to me, i know it wasn't his fault.  but in the end, i was allowed to upgrade for a premium so now i will be covered but still i have to pay loads (like many G's) out of pocket and i just want to cry.  lesson learned. 

some pictures from this weekend:

 

i've been so tired, exhausted, bitchy, and busy these days that i almost overlooked alison's 10 month post on milestones.  so this post will be long and pretty much an update on a bunch of stuff.

this month was all about imitation.  she tries to imitate everything we're doing, but she can only control so much of her body and facial movements.  it's pretty cute if i must say so myself.  so this month, alison:

• can clap
• waves 'hi'
• sticks out her tongue when we stick out our tongue
• can hold her own bottle -- thanks to katherine who told me she could if i just let her!  this has been a lifesaver because i can change her diaper with ease now... no more turning and fighting with her.  katherine also told me that i only needed to give alison 3 bottles a day.  i was doing 5.  this is a huge savings in dish washing.
• gives kisses.  nice, wet, and open-mouthed
  

in terms of discipline, we've been using a ceasar milan tecnique with alison (for those who have dogs).  the "SSHHHHH" (quick, short, loud) works so well when alison whines at us.  it works.  we also don't get her or pay any attention to her when she is crying for attention.
am i the only one who thinks teething biscuits are a choking hazard?  am i a paranoid mom?  she can break off a chunk and she'll have like an 1"x1" piece in her mouth.  they don't break apart or melt like the other baby snacks do either.  also another issue..  lately alison likes to blow rasberries when she has food in her mouth and she sprays food everywhere.  i'm not sure how much she's eating.  how do you stop this?

a cute thing happened today.  alison woke up from a nap and i told dean to go and get her.  it was quiet for like 10 minutes so i went to go check on them and when dean saw me, he shut the door!  he totally wanted daddy and daughter time.  haha.

we have 2 goals this month:  use the sippy cup more and brush her teeth before bed.  i've been too tired to do either.

pregnancy update

i have a due date!  i'm due november 29.  this means we'll have another holiday baby.  if i go ontime or late like last time, i'll be able to enjoy thanksgiving as a pregnant woman. yum yum!  i think i'm too whimpy for pregnancy.  morning sickness is horrible and for those who don't have to go through it, i'm jealous.  this time, morning sickness is an all day nausea that won't go away.  last pregnancy, i was really nauseous from about 2pm on and it was really intense.  no cravings yet, just more aversions  -- garlic and raw onions, blech!  i can never turn away french fries though. this will be it for me even though i'm "super fertile" according to my friends and family.  we'll really have to try and prevent for real.  i'm really debating whether i want to find out the sex with this baby.  i know most ultrasound techs can tell the sex at the 1st trimester screen and i'm still debating whether to ask them to take a peak.

life updates... well mostly housing updates

we've moving in less than 2 weeks... eeeks!  we're going to hire a moving company that packs for us.  i don't have the energy and dean is in finals right now so neither of us are in the right state to be packing.  but i do plan on having a garage sale to sell all of our crap.

the landlords of our current place are trying to sell the house and they've had 3 open houses in the last 2 weeks!  and they've shown the house once and wanted to 2 more times but i had to say no.  do they not understand that we have a baby?  it's not that easy to deal with naps in the car or crashing at my parents place.  plus we're moving out later next week.

we had a flood in our house in orange county.  it cost us $10K in repair and water restoration plus our tenants asked for 1 week free rent+utilities so i paid them $1100.  all of our vacation money is flooding (no pun intended) out of our account. 

on to funner things... i've started to plan alison's 1st birthday party!  i'll probably post more later as i think of more and do more for the party.

a baby is like a dog.... you teach her tricks.  sometimes i get confused, especially since i work in the dog industry.  i have to switch from interacting-with-dog mode to interacting-with-baby mode and vice versa.  but you know, it's kind of the same at this age.  actually, i think the dogs might be a bit smarter for now.  here are some new tricks:

saying "ahhhh"

 

clapping hands

 

 

jump

 

such useless tricks but i find such pleasure and accomplishment in them at the same time.

another surprise even though we entertained the idea for a brief moment.  we put our plans on hold after the whole CIO so we could enjoy the restful nights, but i guess it was too late.  i'm due somewhere between mid to late november (8-10 weeks) and will get the dates confirmed in 2 weeks.  the strange thing is i've continued to be visited by ol' aunt flow the past few months and would've not found out i was pregnant unless i didn't get morning sickness.

alison and #2 will be 1.5 years apart.

totally cheesy, but happy easter!

alison had a stomach virus on her actual 9 month birthday and made an unexpected trip to the pediatrician.  she also got 2 vaccines due to a delayed vaccine schedule and tested for anemia.  she's not anemic. 

this month was all about physical milestones:

• pulling up
• crawling about 20% of the time, army crawling the rest of the time
  
• cruising
• can say "mamama" but not for real
  
• climbs a flight of stairs
• 4 new teeth
  
• gotten even more clingy
• can get into the sitting position by her self
• sits on her knees which i think is so cute!
• can give a high-5
  
• a lot happier this month with a bunch of smiles
  

weight     17lbs 17oz (25th percentile)
height      28.5in (80th percentile)
head        44 cm (50th percentile)

alison is still not much of a laugher so i tried making her watch videos of babies laughing... still didn't work.