Being grateful - 20121231

I am grateful for cheeseplates and cheap lobster.

We kind of improvised on the new year's eve plans this year. Every year, it seems, we kinda scramble a bit, and it gets to a point where we're not sure we wanna do anything and think about sleeping through it all, and waking up in a whole new year (sounds magical, doesn't it?). This year, we decided to hang out with The Brother and eat. And eat and eat and eat and eat.

We went out for Chinese food and had pretty much all our favourites, and that meant and included lobster. Yes. And then we made a family-friendly cheeseplate, that pretty much became an anythingplate.

2013's gonna be a good year.

A Round of Applause 2!

Remember this?

Well, guess who learned to clap this weekend?

Being grateful - 20120520

I am grateful for fireworks.

We introduced D-nut to Sparklers today, in the spirit of Victoria Day. And, just as expected, he was SOOOOO excited! We lit a few and put them in the ground and he loved it. We also saw some fireworks up in the sky and he liked those too. WyGuy slept inside the whole time. So excited to have the two boys up and about and do this for both of them some day soon. :)

Being grateful - 20120422

I am grateful for social activism and Apple.

So Cover The Night was two days ago and for the past two days, I've been seeing Kony 2012 paraphernalia up in various parts of the city. There wasn't too much to see considering I live in the burbs, but it was nice to see posters up at main intersections and main roads. On Friday, someone even stopped me to ask me about my shirt and it turned out she was actually planning to do some covering of the night herself.

Also, today was a fun day. Even though our initial plans didn't plan out, we decided to do something fun today, something outside to celebrate Earth Day (Happy Earth Day) and decided to become connected. After much research, rationalizing and number crunching over the past few weeks, Mr.S and I finally decided to join most of the world and get smartphones. We are now proud iPhone owners (I know, I know, iPhones aren't really considered to be in the smartphone category) and since then, our marriage has gotten quiet. Too quiet. But we do facetime sometimes. Just kidding. But really, we now understand why we go places and kids are on their phones during dinner or people are on their phones when out with their friends. We're not saying we'll do that nor that it's okay, we just get it now. They're hard to put down.

Your Delivery in One Word

I read this article recently and found the first word that came to my head about when I delivered D-nut was "numb" (I'm referring to the wonders of having an epidural). I know it's not the best word to describe it, but it was the first word, followed by "speechless", "awe", "new" and a few others.

This brings me to the point of my post - to do the drugs or not to do the drugs this time around?

I think about this at least twice a day these days.  I've told myself that I can take pain. I know I can. It's the weakness that takes place during pain that makes me feel like I can't handle it. But I know if I step back and look at myself, I know myself and I can take pain. And I've also told myself that I'm going to go drug-free with at least one of my pregnancies. Will this be the one?

Mr.S and I have had several conversations about this. I don't know why I feel I have to feel what it feels like at least once in my life. I think it's about:

• first and foremost, feeling the miracle of delivering a person into the world, and if that feeling includes pain, then that's what I have to do endure if I want to know what it feels like;
• seeing if I can take it. I know, a crappy reason, but I like challenges, and this'd definitely be a challenge!
• knowing, so that next time, if I really don't want to feel that again, I can opt for the epidural if time/circumstances allow.

So I've tentatively decided that, if I'm not induced again, I'm going to go ahead and do this naturally...unless I'm in labour for like, 12+ hours.

That's what I'm saying now. Ask me again in 3 months.

I'm tickled...

BLUE!!!

It's a BABY BOY!

Mr.S was right. He thought he saw something at an ultrasound and when we had another one shortly after, it was confirmed. It's a boy! Then we saw for ourselves, that Mr.S was, in fact, correct.

Also, he's already got a name. This whole thing with having a name and calling him by that name is already a lot of fun. D-nut already knows it, can't say it, but knows exactly where he is if you ask him where _____ is.

Skin-to-Skin

One of the many, many things I'm looking forward to when this baby is born is our very first skin-to-skin contact. For those of you who haven't had children yet, one of the first things they do after you deliver the baby is put the baby on your bare chest. It's amazing (complete understatement right there). (And honestly, at that point, you don't care that your boobies are out and about for the world to see!)

I remember when D-nut and I were first introduced skin-to-skin, he wasn't even crying, he was just looking around, with his head down. The nurses and doctor were saying "Wow, he's so quiet", and of course, my reply was, "Yeah, just like his father." He was so slippery and sweet. He had our full attention so much that we didn't even know I was delivering the placenta and whatever else was happening "down there".

Ugh, I'm so excited to feel all this again.

Here's a story I read this morning about a skin-to-skin miracle. Be armed with your tissues, people.

This Christmas

It'll be different but that is not to say that different is a bad thing.

This year, we don't have our own home with halls to deck, nor will I be baking. But, we are giving ourselves the gift of relaxation and calm, and will be mixing our decorations with those that adorned the home my husband grew up in.

I will likely never experience a Christmas like this again, and although it is different, I plan to embrace it, for it's the only one of its kind that I may have.

Merry Christmas to a different Christmas.

Note: If I like this non-baking Christmas thing too much, consider yourselves out of luck in the years to come (just kidding).

Firsts of Pregnancy #2

Just like with our first pregnancy, I started writing about it before I actually posted that we were pregnant with the intention of sharing it after the news was posted. Here's what I got around to writing... 


Morning sickness
My morning sickness kicked in at week 5. It was that annoying morning person some people might know (I don't think I know any) who you haven't seen in a while.

*JUMPS IN YOUR FACE* "Good morning friend! Long time, no see! I'm back in your life, and I'm here to. Break. You. Dowwwwwn!"

Seriously, I woke up one morning, and there it was. Swirling around in my stomach and in my head. I did not want to get up that morning. Morning sickness: 1. Me: 0.

As I think I made it clear when I was preggo with D-nut (which I will now abbreviate to "Pw/D"), I am not friends with nausea. We're never going to be friends. Nausea turns me into a monster, makes me grouchy, lazy, sleepy and utterly useless. Ask Mr.S. He's been doing EVERYTHING and I've been lying on the couch or on the bed, being useless. It's shameful, but just like when I was Pw/D, he was a good sport and an even better husband and father and helped me out, by letting me be useless. His thing, he keeps saying, is that I'm not being useless -- I'm preparing for our baby's survival by making a placenta.

I can't wait until this part is over. My thoughts are so negative and irrational lately and they're making me think crazy things like, "I wish I could skip the first three months of every pregnancy I have and just get to the good parts" or even as bad as, "I'm never getting pregnant again; this blows." I was looking at an old couple holding hands today and instead of my usual thought, "I hope one day that's me and Mr.S.", I thought, "Lucky couple, I bet she doesn't have morning sickness."

On the bright side, I'm not actually throwing up as much. Actually, only once. Morning sickness: 1. Me: 1. Let's hope I can keep it (somewhat) together for the rest of this phase.
--
I'm totally gonna get fat this pregnancy. The only thing that keeps my morning sickness at bay is eating...so I'm pretty much eating all day. I've already gained 3 pounds, which is a lot considering I didn't gain much until later on in our first pregnancy.
--
Brother said that the phrase "I hate this" now reminds him of me. I guess I say it a lot these days. And I say it more around him now just to be funny. I'm just really tired of feeling sick and tired all the time and worrying after every meal if I'm gonna get to keep it down. Morning sickness has been really bad this time around and I'm totally afraid that it'll keep on for the rest of the pregnancy. I just don't feel that glow yet and it's starting to feel like it'll never come. I hate this! (LOL!)

Craving
I had my first craving this weekend (week 7). I've been dreaming about Pad Thai, and not just any, but from Satay on the Road. And guess what? Mr.S is on the way to pick it up right now. Thank God for him. I woke him up from his nap to ask him if we could order from there and he groggily agreed. I reminded him that this was my first craving of the pregnancy and he cheered...and then went back to being groggy.
--
I don't even know what week this is anymore, but I keep dreaming about food. And then I've gotta have it. I dreamt specifically of a very hot and cheesily stringy Canadian pizza from Pizza Hut and conveniently, Pizza Hut is just a block away from us. That didn't stop us from ordering it for delivery though. What? We're busy!

Post-Canadian Pizza Hut Pizza - I just threw that stuff up. Not having Canadian Pizza Hut Pizza for the rest of this pregnancy. I hate Canadian Pizza Hut Pizza.
--
Lobster. I want lobster. I dreamt of lobster yesterday and I was wearing a lobster bib and everything. I was tearing that thing apart (ugh, that sounds so savagely!) like "Manhands" from Seinfeld and it was delicious. Too bad lobster is so darn expensive.
--
Pickles. Taste. So. Good. Right. Now. Grmmmmmmmmmm!!!!
--
Nutella. I need Nutella.

Some news...

We're PREGNANT!!!

 

"Kuya" means big brother in Filipino. 

This is the shirt we made for D-nut when we "told" some friends on Thanksgiving weekend.

"Told" because we didn't actually say anything until they noticed what it said. 

And yes, a good chunk of our friends are Filipino too, and those who aren't are around us Filipinos enough to know what Kuya means!

I went and joined the circus.

And now that I have, I actually wish I could! I'm not talking about some run-away-from-my-life scheme. So here's what I am talking about.

I previously brought up that I have To Do List For My Life. Some people call it a Bucket List, I call it a To Do List For My Life. Anyway, I crossed one of my items off yesterday, and that was to learn how to do aerial acrobatics on silks. I first found an interest in it when I had a front-row seat to the Toronto Buskerfest. I worked in a building right beside St. Lawrence Market, in the same area where the Buskerfest takes place, and it just so happened that the circus performers did their show on our street, right outside my window. The woman doing aerial silks was really, just meters away from me, as high as our floor was, twirling and whirling and all that stuff. It was fascinating and so beautiful. Do you have any idea what I'm talking about?

Well, if you think about when you go to the circus, maybe not necessarily Cirque du Soleil, but a normal circus, there are these people who do all sorts of things, hanging, flying, climbing on these long pieces of fabric. That's what I learned to do yesterday. And I did pretty well, apparently.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take pictures, nor was Mr.S, but here are some the things I can do now:

And now that I've learned a bit about how it works, and I've got the basics, I want to go back and learn more! I was talking to my partner at the workshop yesterday (who was a pole dancing instructor and who had done this before in different schools around the world...talk about intimidating!) and she suggested trying out a few schools to see which one I like before I decide to go back to the one we were at yesterday. Luckily, there are several in the GTA. I'm definitely interested in pursuing this.

It's amazing what these people, these circus people, can do. Our teacher yesterday did everything so effortlessly, including the second half of the class, acrobatics (which I wasn't too keen on, nor did I do as well....who needs hand stands anyway?!). I was astounded at the amount of control she had over her body; how easy it was for her to flip herself upside down or to do a walking handstand or to do the SPLITS slowly!! It was amazing. And, she did these classes and other ones too, all day yesterday in a studio that didn't have A/C. She had a lot of energy and a very positive attitude as well.

I've decided that I'm adding that to my list. I want to be able to do that. To have physical control over my body, in that I can be VERY flexible, VERY strong and have HIGH endurance.

But I know I have to start small. And I have to be disciplined. But where does one start? How do I begin to get my body flexible enough to do the splits, or train my body (and my mind?) to be comfortable upside-down? And how do I learn to do this all safely? And at my age? Hmmmm....

Ideas? Suggestions? Talk to me.

P.S. I'm sore like nobody's business.

Okay (okay) Blue Jays (Blue Jays)...

So apparently, the Jays' logo is going to be changing...again. I saw a slideshow today with some of the submissions for a new logo/uniform and found some of them amusing. Enjoy!

Click here.

Something's happening...

...I'm thinking about joining the Twitterverse and I have no idea how it works. I just feel the need to dive into something I know nothing about! I'm craving something new!

Should I? Shouldn't I?

I think I want to think up a name that isn't my usual, "TREEH". Hmmm...

A round of applause!

When D-nut learned to clap it was so cute. We were at Coles, checking out some baby books and out of the corner of my eye, I could see both of his hands were out, fingers stretched and he was just looking at them. He's done this before, but only to play "open close" with them. This time, he looked like he was thinking...and then one moved toward the other. Once I saw that, he had my full attention.

"Did you just clap?" And I started laughing, like he just told me the funniest joke I'd ever heard. It wasn't funny laughter, it was happy, proud laughter. We had been trying to get him to clap for a while, and the closest we had gotten was getting him to clap our hands with his.

Read more »

Momma and Poppa's night out

When it was just the two of us, Mr.S and I said that when we have kids, we'd still try to go out on dates, just the two of us. Last night was our "first date". When Mr.S left in the morning, he jokingly said, "I'll see you later at our hot date!" Hahaha! And then when it came time to say bye to D-nut, he took a little bit longer than usual, adding, "Awwww, I'm gonna miss you!!!" because we were meeting straight after he finished work, so he wouldn't see D-nut until we picked him up from his parents' house.

Mom and Dad S babysat D-nut last night. I was really excited for them since they have been offering to babysit for a while and they're among the many people who ooooooze love when they're with D-nut. That made leaving D-nut a little bit easier. As per Mr.S' suggestion, I brought PLENTY of toys so Mom and Dad would have a ton of things to give him in case Mr. Crankster came out. (BTW, Mr. Crankster's gone on vacation for a few days, it seems, and my ear drums have stopped BLEEDING. D-nut seems to love his new teething toys. Thank goodness for those!)

I drove over to the theater/mall and it was SOOOO weird not parking in a family parking spot, not taking D-nut's car seat and stroller out of the back, not wheeling him inside. I was so disoriented when I got in because I wasn't pushing a stroller.

And then I wanted to cry. What if something happens to us while we're out? UGH, I MISS HIM!!!

And then I felt like a bad mother.

And then I felt my agoraphobia setting in...

Read more »

More LOVE!!!

CONGRATULATIONS to one of the most serendipitous couples I know! Thank you for giving us another wedding in 2011! WOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Shai ♥ Armin

Mr. and Mrs. H

Congratulations to one of my most cherished friends and her husband, one of my favourite ex-co-workers!

It was an amazing day and a wonderful experience, witnessing you, after all these years, coming together as one. We wish you all the joy and happiness times a million that you give to all those you love.

Special Vday wishes

I’ve been meaning to do this for a while, and now that the engagement lovebug is flying around fast, I thought, what better day to do it than Valentine’s day?

I’d like to wish a special V-day to our friends who are taking 2011 to another level…by getting hitched!!

Congratulations to…

Bhadra & Seshan

Tiffany & John

Tanya & Paul

Karen & Chris

What a nice guy

For the first time this pregnancy, someone gave up his seat for me on the crowded subway.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

A Sweet Day

So now that word is out, I thought I’d elaborate on one of the best days of this pregnancy. This goes back to this post.

Before I elaborate though, I must provide some background information. Being the youngest sister of five sisters has been and always will be a ride. You know how sitting at the back of the school bus or at the back of the roller coaster gives the best experience? It’s like that. Yes, you get all the hand-me-downs, but you also get the best advice, the best tips and the best lessons. I wouldn’t trade my position for any other for anything.

At the same time, being the youngest sister AND having the largest gap between all us siblings (my sister before me and I are around 5 and half years apart, the largest gap among us sibs), I’ve watched my sisters all sorta grow up together. I admit that there have been times where I secretly cursed my parents for waiting longer to have me and then my brother, but I know that the benefits of all this had to outweigh the costs some time. And they did, as I mentioned before.

So when my sisters decided to relay to me THE BIN, I had no idea what was in store. There had been jokes about this event so I knew it would be a funny experience, but I didn’t know how much more special it actually was going to be.

Let me first explain what THE BIN is. This is THE BIN.

I had never seen it before that day, so to me, it has been a sort of legend. In it, are the maternity clothes of my sisters, compiled over the last EIGHTEEN YEARS. Clothes that my oldest sister had with her first born in the 90’s all the way to clothes my other sister had with her youngest, just last fall. So, you can imagine the array of fashions contained in THE BIN.

My sisters had decided to make this day extra special and planned a tea. We had gone for tea before, and loved it (it’s so dainty and pretty!) but this time, it was going to be all home-made (with the exception of the teas), which, when with my sisters, is even better than going out for tea.

When we got to my sister’s house, I saw they had prepared beautiful little sandwiches, scones, pastries, cakes and cookies along with the appropriate spreads and had even brought out their pretty tea cups. Before tea, my sister prepared sparkling orange juice in flutes and asked us to go outside.

Then I saw this.

I wanted to cry when I saw it, and now that I’m writing about it, just the memory brings tears to my eyes. There is where I would officially be welcomed into motherhood with my favourite mothers, the exact women who have both paved the way for me and prepared me for this huge event in my life. This was my rite of passage.

Our teacups

Our sister's place - there in spirit

After my sister made a toast, we clinked glasses and were each crowned with little tiaras my sister bought. Each of them, including my sister who was there in spirit (and in Seattle in person) had a pretty tiara, all mothers of three or four. Mine was made from pipe cleaners since I’m a newbie, but it was still really pretty, and well, CUTE!

My other sister said a prayer in thanksgiving for the food, for mothers and motherhood and for my pregnancy, and then we ate and drank. It was a scorching hot day and there were a lot of bees, but I was able to do my “thing” ;) and the bees left us alone. We talked about all sorts of stuff as usual and enjoyed the delicious tea and treats. Meanwhile, my nieces and nephews watched us from a window (they were supposed to be eating too with their fathers and uncles haha), some wondering what we were doing, others wondering why they weren’t allowed to come outside. Some even started crying!

After we finished, we brought everything inside, and then came…the fashion show. I was asked (or told!) to put on several different outfits they put together and “model” them. Thankfully, I have no pictures of these crimes…but my sister does.

The day was absolutely amazing. I am so grateful and so blessed to be a mother AND number five. :D