Week 40

Here we are in week 40 and no baby yet. I had my last appt yesterday and I haven't really progressed at all since the last check. I was told that they will try to do an induction on either Friday or Saturday if he doesn't come before then. I am not too happy about this development but I did eat spicy food on Monday. I had yummy Thai food and I walked around the mall for about 40 minutes. Today, I walked around the lake which is about 2 miles and then went grocery shopping and ran other odd errands. I am trying everything that I can to avoid induction, so we'll see what the rest of the week brings.

Week 39

This week I had my appt on Friday and the baby is still growing as expected. No real contractions yet and I am just hoping that I will not have to be induced. The midwife said that they will continue to monitor until 41 weeks 3 days. So he still has a few more days to get here on his own.

I have the hospital bag 95% packed and all of his clothes washed and most of them put away. I still have more to do though so we'll see how it goes.

Ori has been in summer school this week and it has truly been nice. The only problem is that when she is not at home all I want to do is sleep. Not very productive at all. My energy seems to be only in the mornings.

The great excitement this week was that Ori got her teacher and class assignment. I don't know why this makes me so happy but it does. It looks like she will have the teacher that most parents rave about and her good friend will also be in her class. I hope it turns out to be a good arrangement for her. There are only 19 kids in each class which is also nice.

I also took advantage of a nice sale on the uniforms and picked up a few more things. I am glad it is mail prefer so I can finish up even after the baby arrives without making the trek to the mall. My only concern is that it will fit once school starts. Growth spurts can be so unpredictable.

Week 38

This week we finally got our hospital tour. It was not really what I expected. They kind of went over the rules and then took us to a birthing room. The rooms are single occupancy and include a private bathroom and shower. The rooms are also fairly big. I was happy to hear that they strive to keep you in these rooms rather than the postpartum rooms which have a shared shower facility. They only use the postpartum rooms if they do not have enough space and then if they are really strapped they make you share a postpartum room. I hope I get a birthing room and I get to spend as little time as possible in the hospital. Even though the rooms are nice, I really am not a fan of hospitals.


This week the doctors asst brought up that ugly I word... Induction. Since I have no real progress she just informed me what the office's policy was. I hope it does not come to that.

I also started maternity leave this week as well. So far so good. Nothing has come up which I think means I prepared them well for my departure. I am still addicted to my phone though. I guess old habits die hard.

On Friday, they had a nice baby shower for me at work. People just came down and had some cake as I opened presents. It was really nice and relaxing. Unfortunately, since it was on a Friday there were a lot of people who weren't there but it was nice for them to throw me something.

Then on Sunday, my friends threw me another baby shower. It was a tea that was so nice. I really enjoyed it and I think the guests did too. We got to drink some amazing tea and eat some great scones and tea sandwiches. My favorite was the chicken pecan sandwich. Lovely!

Ori also started her classes for dance. She is taking a rehearsal class, tap class, jazz class and ballet over the course of 2 days. She really loves class and is exhausted afterwards. That is the best part.

Week 37

This is my second week of working from home and I can say that it has been challenging with a board 4 year old. We were only a week into summer vacation when she announced that she was bored. Luckily, I mentioned to another parent that I wanted to get her an activity book that she could work through during the summer. She mentioned that she had just purchased some for her kids at Costco. So I quickly went to Costco to pick one up. I got Ori the Kindergarten one and she has been happily working in that book all week. It is a pretty good one with letters, numbers and other activities that really seems to keep her busy.

We also finally took our maternity/family photos as well. That was really important to me since I thought I had not taken any with Ori but then later I found the photo album to prove that we indeed did take some with her as well. It is so funny how I can completely forget about certain things. Amazing! They were some good pictures. I can't wait to put them side by side in the house somewhere. That will be a lot of fun considering I did carry different with Ori than I am this time around.

We have loose teeth over here

I can't believe it, Ori not only has one loose tooth, she has two! I had noticed earlier that her bottom front teeth looked oddly spaced for some reason but I just chalked it up to being because her mouth was growing to accommodate larger adult teeth. However on Monday I noticed that the teeth looked rather strange. So I wiggled them and they were totally loose. Wow!

I, of course, asked her if she had hit her mouth on something and she said no..so I guess she is just loosing them. I almost started to cry. I wasn't that concerned that she was going to Kindergarten or that she was growing so fast, but her teeth..those made me cry.

Week 36

Can't believe I have roughly a month left. It has truly gone by so fast. I am using this week to wrap up things at work. I finally decided what I am going to do in terms of maternity leave so it is all coming together.

I have decided that after my midwife suggested that I not drive into the city anymore for work after 35 weeks, that I would work from home starting July 1st. Then since they will take my sick and vacation time during the course of my maternity leave, I will go ahead and take vacation starting  the 16th. I am pretty excited about it but it also means that I have to wrap everything up at work and make sure that I have informed everyone about my leave as well.

Week 35

I had another busy week but we got to have a little bit of fun this week. Since it was the second to the last week of dance class for our little group, we decided to have a playdate and go see Brave. Ori, Audrey and Sophia met at the new movie theater to see the show. We had such a great time. Sophia's mom is the like the theater queen. She got the girls all set up with popcorn and candy. I made a stop at Target beforehand and also picked up some candy as well as some water.

The movie was in 3D and I thought that I was going to be bored but the story line was really interesting. I thought it was particularly funny when a scarier scene came on involving loud bears. Each of the girls got in their mother's lap but Ori stayed in her seat and cheered the fighting bears on. She is such a dare devil. Not scared of anything. She had a blast and so did I.

Ori and Sophia waiting in line

Ori, Sophia and Audrey waiting for the movie to start. Sophia is dressed up as Merida!

The girls all together. All we were missing was Mikaela.

Week 34

This was a busy week! Ori graduated from preschool and had her dance recital all in one week. Then bought a new to me car and attended the birthday party of a sweet little girl. So I was running around all week but it was fun and the most important thing is that Ori had a blast.

Here are some pictures from Ori's graduation! She will be going to kindergarten in the fall and she is sooo ready too!

Then it was time for dance recital time. It was a perfect day! We got there in time and she did an awesome job. In fact, I think that her class was the most polished and professional one in her age group. They were so good! So good that some of the kids that were not old enough this year for company got hand selected to take some more advanced classes to prepare them for company next year! Way to go girls.

Then we capped off the weekend with a very cute Hello Kitty party at a gymnastic's studio. Here is Ori with the guest of honor!

Now news on the car. After not much debate we decided on the Lexus! I looked at the Acura, and the BMW but they really did not grab me. I really liked the Lexus and went online to research some pre-owned models. I really wanted the hybrid version but it was just not in our budget. So we went for a 2004 RX 330 in Silver. It was really an easy process. We went to Putnam Lexus in Redwood City and our agent Alex was a dream to work with. He fixed all the little cosmetic issues and replaced the tires and we were on our way. So far so good. Love the car and it has just the right amount of room for our growing family.

Week 33

This pregnancy is really chugging along at this point. It is so surprising. I can't believe that I will have a new baby in a couple of months, if it even takes that long! It has been moving so fast that I can't even keep up with the blog posts.

This was a very busy week. I am still obsessing over the boxes that are stacked up but I am content that I went through the clothes and other things that I have and somewhat organized them by size. I think I am pretty good until 6 months where I may need to buy some additional things. I was so blessed to be given a large amount of clothes so I have only been buying things here and there.

One thing that I have noticed though is that there is not that pull to buy boys clothes. With Ori, I was so drawn to things that were so cute and so pretty. It didn't matter that I had a ton of stuff, I wanted to get all these outfits for her. It is the total opposite for the boy. I am look for functional, things that he will need. I am not undeniably drawn to anything really. I can take it or leave it but I do have a distinct style for this baby. It will definitely be preppy all the way. I love that look on little boys. So clean cut. We'll see if I am actually able to pull it off.

As far as I am concerned, I am still doing well. I do have sciatica pain on some days and it can get pretty bad. Wearing a heel seems to help quite a bit and I notice when I don't wear one, I pay the price the next day. So I guess this really is a boy! Quick would want me in heels 24x7 and so does this kid. Lol! Anyway, other than that I feel pretty good. The tummy is insanely big and jutting straight out which makes for some awkward movements but I know it won't be for much longer. He is also moving like crazy! He is a very busy little boy and he loved to move all around and jut various body parts out the sides of the tummy. It is very surprising to say the least. I am always trying to figure out what body part it is but I never really know. When the doctor was taking my measurements, she saw him moving too and was surprised. I thought that was funny. She also said that she feels like the baby is growing and I am shrinking. I thought that would be good because I want to lose this weight as soon as I can. I don't want it lingering for 4 years like it did with Ori. I think I may have a better handle on it this time though so hopefully, I will go back down to a size that I am happy with.

In other news, it is time for us to get a new car. My 93 is 20 years old and at 300k miles. Basically on it last legs. I am hoping we can get what I want so that has me a little bit stressed. I always have that feeling that I am going to lose out for some reason. I hope that it all works out.

Work is starting to put me in a bad mood though. I don't know if they have become too needy at this point or I am just too impatient. It is probably a little bit of both but I find my blood pressure rising way too often way to quickly with these people. I am going to try to stay calm but I could have scratched someones eyes out yesterday. Then I was fuming for the next hour about it. I think I look so calm on the outside that no one knows that I am very close to losing it. It drives me bonkers. That is one aspect of the job that I will not miss when I am on leave. I mean I have bigger fish to fry. Hopefully, when I come back my temperament will have calmed down a bit.

I am also trying to figure out what I want to do about maternity leave. If I still want to work up to the day. I keep waffling on that subject so I guess we will have to see.

Week 32

This week went well as far as the pregnancy is concerned. I am really blessed by a very easy pregnancy with minimal issues. However, this was also the week that it was confirmed that my car is dying a slow painful death.

My car has been shaking when I brake on the freeway. Of course this causes some concern since I have a long commute and I am expecting another child and safety is of high concern. I was also keenly aware that my car would be slightly inconvenient with 2 kids. It is a 325i BMW which is a 4 door sedan. It was difficult with Ori getting the car seat in and out of car and with 2 car seats I think it would be even more challenging. So, getting a new car was on my mind anyway but I was not prepared to have to contemplate one so quickly.

So I had a coupon for AAA's car care and thought I would bring it in to get an alignment. Ori and I got up bright and early to get the car in the shop. I thought it would be cool to drop off the car then go get breakfast. So half way through our breakfast, I find that the car has major problems and they can not go any further without speaking to me first. My heart drops. We finish up breakfast and head back to the shop. The guy tells me all the things that are wrong and ends with...you need a new car. I tried to push back suggesting that maybe I should just get new tires and the guys was like, "Lady, you need a new car. The cost of repairs could be an excellent down payment. Go get a new car." So dejected, I left and broke the news to Quick. He took it pretty well but we were both disappointed. I mean the car has served me well. It is a 1993 which makes it 19 years old and it has 300k miles on it. Not bad at all. So I really can't complain.

Now to figure out what I want to get next. I definitely want a small SUV. So I am thinking about the Lexus RX series, the Volvo SUV, the BMW X3 and X5 and the Acura MDX and RDX models.

In other news, since we were already in the South Bay we decided to check out the uniform shop for Ori's school. Ori will be required to wear a uniform next year and they have a set selection of clothes that they can choose from. One of the places you can buy from is Lands End and the other one is Merry Mart. So, I had already checked out Lands End products at the local Sears store and now we went to check out the Merry Mart store. I really like the Lands End products because I am a stickler for quality and durability and even though it may be more expensive but it holds up better and looks better for a longer period of time. Merry Mart was a huge store with many many possibilities. I checked out all of the approved items and pretty much decided that I preferred the Lands End brand better and since I have been using my points to order her clothes, I have yet to spend one penny on her wardrobe. Yay!

Week 31/Memorial Day

This week, Ori attended the sibling prep class at PAMF in Mountain View. The class was really cute. The purpose is to focus on the sibling that is about to receive a new baby in the house. I thought this might be a good class for her to understand what it is going to be like having a baby in the house and sharing mommy. She was really good in the class. She enjoyed learning how to hold and swaddle the baby and watching the videos of what to expect. It was a really good experience.

This is letter that Ori wrote for her brother.

Learning how to hold the baby.

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Listening intently

We also met one of the nesties and her 2 kids for froyo and to pick up a moby wrap. It has been great to use my community of moms to get some of the things for the baby. It is great to recycle things and it has been such a blessing to have that resource.

Ori's Milestones

Ori had quite a few milestones this week. She went to her last day of preschool.

Then she graduated from preschool.

And she participated in her 2nd dance recital. Of course she was the star! Right in the middle knowing all the steps. All the other girls were looking at her every time they got lost in the dance. Their whole class was very good compared to the others in their age group.

I did not get any pictures that day but I do have one from dress rehearsal!

Week 30

This week was a flurry of activity. My number one priority was getting all of Ori's old clothes ready for the consignment sale. I spent the first half of the week tagging and organizing for the drop off on Thursday. Drop off went really smoothly and there were only about 10 things out of the 70 that they did not accept. On Saturday, I volunteered by just helping out answering questions and handing out bags. It was sooo hot and the parking situation wasn't the best but it was fun! I met this really nice lady named Yvonne, who hipped me to the Gymboree factory store in San Leandro! I will definitely be checking that out. When it died down a little, I did some shopping of my own. I was able to get 8 items for $20. It was a real steal. I got a couple of dresses for Ori and a couple of things for the baby.






Isn't this the cutest little sweater?












I went back on Sunday to help with the clean up. Everyone was really surprised that I was able to hold up. It wasn't that bad plus I really like doing things like that. Not much mental activity needed there which was a big break for me.

One of my friends took Ori bowling and put for McDonalds while I was volunteering. It was do nice of her. Ori and her daughter are good friends that met in dance class. They love hanging out together and have a great time

Week 29/ Mothers day

This week, I went to the doctor and scheduled all of my appts to the end of my pregnancy. I can't believe I am that close. The slightly frustrating thing is that as we get closer to the end of my pregnancy, my doctor and midwife become less available. I will keep checking to see if I can actually get my doctors every time that I go back though. I am nothing but persistent in these things.

I also had to take a CBC test and found out that I am slightly anemic, so now I have to take 1 iron pill a day. I can hardly remember to take my prenatals let alone another pill. We'll see how that goes. In other news one of my classes that I really wanted to take has been rescheduled to a time that I cannot take it and all the alternatives are equally as bad. So, I guess I am going to have to look at some other options. And...I have to wait to the last minute to take my hospital tour too. It is going to be an interesting last month for sure.

On Saturday we headed out to Ori's school track meet so that I could complete my last hour of volunteer work! I am glad that is over. I had to work in the snack bar and this time I just served up nachos. That was perfect because I did not want to get stuck at the registers again. That was a nightmare.


My Mother's Day was quite nice though. After dropping my parents off for their cruise, Ori and I went to Pier 39 and had a great time. We went to Joe's Crab Shack and Ori found out that she loves crab AND shrimp. I guess she is going to be an expensive date but I enjoyed her and her company. She is just a funny and fun little girl. We ended the afternoon with some mini donuts that were divine. Yummy!

Self taken picture of Ori at the track meet

 The lovely frame that she made me and her picture from Preschool. It is in my office

Waiting to be seated at Joe's Crab Shack

Ori's plate. Ready to eat seafood!

My plate. YUMMY!

My parent's cruise ship in the background

Week 28

This week was a very busy one. We had Ori's preschool graduation pictures and her dance pictures. So there was a lot of hair doing going on. I am also trying to complete my parent participation hours as well. So I volunteered for a couple of hours at the book fair and Quick volunteered for the picture taking. I also cut out 120 shapes for her class. Now, I just gave 1 hour to go and I'll be done. Whew!

In other news I have been organizing and tagging Ori's old clothes for the JBF sale. It has been so nostalgic looking at her baby things. It also gives me an opportunity to figure out what we have and what we still need. My friend gave us a bunch if clothes which was great. I feel like we won't have to do too much clothes wise. There are just a couple of things that we will need to round things out.

I am growing exponentially it seems. Even the people at work are surprised to see me day by day. The good thing is everyone says I look great and it appears the only weight I have gained is in belly. I can only hope that it returns to its semi normal state afterwards.

I am still feeling well and doing well. So I can't complain. The only miserable days are when it hits 80 degrees. Then it becomes too hot. But plunging my feet in ice water helps tremendously.

Ori also went in for her 4 year check up and received 5 shots. I was really nervous for her but she took it like a champ. Only a few tears but no crying. She is incredible! The good news is that she won't need any other shots until she is 10! So nice. She is also very healthy and growing fast. I think she is in the 75th percentile for height.

Week 27

I can't believe I am at double digits until my due date. This pregnancy has gone so fast! I felt like I blinked and I'm at 27 weeks.

I have had some anxiety issues though which are a little troubling but I think it is because our house is still not completely organized. Apparently, I am nesting in the sense that I need to find out what things I already have and what I need to buy. Luckily, we kept all the things from Ori so most of the big stuff I already had. I was smart enough to keep all the accessories gender neutral so that worked out really well. We probably just need to round out the clothes to fill in the holes. I'll also want to replace the bottles and I can't seem to find the diaper pail. So I am sure there were be some things that I still need to get.

Ori got her swim ribbon!

I am so proud. Ori got her Intermediate Preschool ribbon. She has really been working on the last skill for a couple of weeks and she finally got it! She is going to be a full fledged swimmer soon.

Week 26

This week I got sick again!!! I think I overdid it with the move even though I tried to take it easy. I was just so worried that it wouldn't get done.

We are settling into to our place but still have about 20 boxes to unpack. I took it very easy this week so I did not try to tackle too much. I also went back to work but luckily it wasn't too bad. Last week, I had my monthly doctors appt and they told me that I had to take the Glucose Tolerance Test this week. So, I decided to take it on Thursday. It was strange because when I had Ori you took the 1 hour test and if you failed you took the 3 hour test. This time around they make you take a 2 hour test and then if you fail I think you take the 3 hour test. Anyway, I came prepared with my laptop to do some work while I waited.

The drill is you fast for 10-12 hours and then they take a blood draw when you come in, make you drink the glucose drink, then in an hour, they take another blood draw, and the last draw is done an hour after that. It is so funny that I got more work done working in the waiting room than I would have at my office. For some reason, every place except my office at work is conducive to working. I guess I better feng shui that office better. It may have to do with the fact that I have no windows and no natural light coming in. I feel like I am in a bomb shelter. Anyway, I am getting off track. The first guy who took my blood did it so well it was almost painless. The next lady went on the same arm and to the side of the other draw. That equaled pain. The last draw was also painful but didn't leave a mark. The other one is still hurting a little after 4 days and bruised. I am glad that it is over.

While I was at the doctors, I thought that I would just go to urgent care to have the doctor take a look at me. I had posted on my mom community that I was sick again, and one of the ladies is a doctor. She suspected I had a sinus infection. So, I thought it would be prudent to get checked out. I saw the doctor and he wasn't convinced that I needed antibiotics which was fine because I wasn't too keen on taking them in the first place. But he said I had an uncomplicated respiratory infection and gave me some recommendations for over the counter products that were safe during pregnancy. Then he wrote me a note to be off from work until Monday. He said he felt that I need some rest. I did too. I was so happy, I have never gotten a note from a Doctor before. Finally a couple of days of rest. It was definitely needed.

And...I passed the glucose test too!

Spring Break Camp

As I mentioned in a previous post, Ori attended Spring Break Camp this year and loved every minute of it. She sang, did crafts and even got to go to the park. It was kind of sad that it rained a lot of the time but it looked like the camp counselors made the best of it.

Here is an example of a piece of art work she created while there. She was on team Rainbow Dolphins.

The best part for me is that she was super tired at the end of the day. After a day of running errands and moving, I really needed a tired child to come home to. One day, I needed to take her with me to run an errand right after camp. This is what happened and I was only in there about 10 minutes tops.

Ori's Room

One of the best part about moving was Ori getting her own room back. She had a room before but it wasn't completely hers. This time she is totally at home in her room and loves spending time in there. She was even excited about getting her old bed back! And the best part is...she has been sleeping in it all night long. Double Yay!

Week 25

This week was the week of Easter and the week of the move! It was a very busy one indeed. I was stressed because I really wanted to see what things that I had for the baby and what I still needed to buy. So I was really pushing for the move to begin sooner rather than later.

The week started rough to say the least. This Easter had to be the worst I have ever experienced. I really should have gotten up and gone to church because I think it would have lifted my mood. Quick was supposed to come home that day but got held up with some client meetings which also put a damper on my day. But I tried to make the most of it.

Monday rolled around and Quick still had not left LA! I was furious. We had to get the move done pronto. I took the week off so that I could focus on the move and cart Ori around to her Spring Break activities. So, I dropped Ori off at camp and ran a few errands and took the opportunity to go and meet up with my friend Hsiaolei who is also pregnant. We had a great visit and went to Buy Buy Baby. She helped me decipher some of the things that I need for the baby. We had a great time talking and catching up even though it was a short visit. Then I went to pickup Ori. She had a blast.

Quick finally made it Monday evening and got half of the storage unloaded. Then on Tuesday he got the rest of the stuff out of the storage and rearranged the other storage to fit in a couple of things that did not fit. On Wednesday, we dealt with all the clothes and things and on Thursday he was back out again. It was a miracle. I did a lot of running around and he organized all the dishes and got a fair amount of things unpacked so it was move in ready. I was so surprised and dumbstruck. They really worked hard and got a lot accomplished. Then we celebrated at Quick's favorite place, Famous Dave's BBQ!

So all in all we had an eventful week. At the end I was exhausted and had to take it easy both Friday and Saturday but we accomplished the goal. Yay!

Week 23 and 24

Looks like I missed a week. It is entirely possible since the past 2 weeks have been extremely busy with lots of major decisions to be made.

I was sick again this week, and this time with the flu. It was miserable especially since you really can't take much. I was the worst on Monday with a sore throat, achy body, and stuffed nose. It also happened to be the day we had to drive to Sacramento to get our taxes done. So, I ended up driving up there because Quick had a migraine and it was pretty miserable for the both of us. But we did get the taxes done, well mostly and the confirmation of bad news regarding our taxes for last year. I really hated to hear the truth but at least we were mentally prepared for it. It really sucks to hire a professional to do your taxes only to find out that mistakes were made. However, it is better than getting audited so we will just have to suck it up.

The bright side to go up to Sacramento was that we got to meet up with good friends and family. We saw Pat, Jenn and David, my cousin Monet and some of Quick's friends. So it was fun to catch up and everyone enjoyed seeing how much Ori has grown.

Also sometime in that week, our tenants broke their lease and caused us to have to rearrange a couple of things. The good part was that we had a little bit of heads up before they left. Another good thing is that we had finally found the perfect place to move into. It was great, with enough space and everything and mentally, we had already commited to the place but not in writing. So luckily this happened before any financial commitments were made and we made the decision to move back into the townhome. Although it was a hard decision, I think it is the best decision for us at the moment. We can revisit some other arrangement a little later down the road.

More adversity, was still coming our way though. My driver windows decided to fall off the track as well, just before a major storm was coming through. Of course this happened on a Friday at almost 6pm. So no service until Monday and we had to use a towel in hopes that it would catch the torrential downpour that was expected. It did and we were able to get the window fixed on Monday. The best part is the auto body shop did not even charge us for the labor!!! We only had to pay for the parts which was about $20. Great Job Janssens Auto Body! We will continue to use them in the future. They were great and located in Newark in case anyone need some help in this area.

Then my husbands car started to act up. It was making a weird noise from the tires. So, he went to Midas to get the tires rotated. Still making the noise. So we went and got 4 new tires $$$$. Still making the noise. Then we took it to a repair shop and found that they suspension was messed up. Got that all fixed up and the noise went away. But there goes more money we weren't expecting to pay. Ugh.

Then I was so sick on the Monday, I took Tuesday off. So Wednesday, I had a large pile of to dos from work and a constant stream of people in and out of my office making the day largely unproductive. Thursday, I dedicated myself to getting everything done and attained my goal by 8pm that night. Despite the long hours, I had a clear conscience and head. Friday, I worked from home and got the rest of the work done so that this week while I am on vacation, it can all pile up...again. Hee Hee. But all in all, I am happy to have gotten it all taken care of and have a clear queue going into this week. Working from home is so much more productive than being in the office for sure.

This coming week, I am looking forward to moving and starting to assess what I already have for the baby and what we still need to get. I have a lot of clothes that I am consigning for myself and I need to weed out all the girl clothes for consignment as well. A lot of projects are in store. Can't wait for the piece of mind.

In baby news, I can say that this one is very active. He is now getting me up around 6 or 7 every morning with a few powerful and swift kicks or jabs. He is very strong. I am afraid for when he actually gets here. I think he is going to be very busy but I hope he is not a morning baby as we are all late riser and that will really put a monkey wrench in things.

Happy Easter!

Dance Audition

Ori had here first dance audition this Thursday. I can't tell you how over the moon and proud I was of her. She is so not like me. She was so excited the day of the audition, where I would have been so nervous. We arrived to a studio full of little and big dancers and she was not intimidated in the least bit. When it came time go into the audition, she marched right in there and never once looked back.

We were hoping to get a chance to see the actual auditions but it was all closed door. There were some little kids that came out crying or went back in forth between the audition and their parent but Ori was a trooper. The audition lasted 30 minutes and we were told that they would do some jazz and tap moves. I'm not sure what went on in there but when we went in to collect her, she had the biggest smile on her face. We asked her how she did and she said, "Mommy, I did awesome". She was also lucky enough to have her dance teacher as one of the judges. She told me that Ori did a great job and she was so proud. I was very proud too. I can't wait for her to start on this journey. It was always something that I wanted to do but I was much to shy. Ori is an entertainer by nature. She loves the stage and performing so this will be no big deal. Now all we have to do is pay for all of this!

I was happy to actually talk to another dance mom whose daughter has been performing with the company for 3 years. She told us how much her daughter loved it and would rather spend hours at the studio than hanging out with her friends. She also showed us the recent competition that she was in. They were so good and professional. I was really impressed. I had no idea that they would be so polished. I can only hope the same for Ori. I can't wait!! So excited.

Sam's Chowder House!

Finally got to go to Sam's Chowder House!!!! Yummy. We took a trip up to half Moon Bay last weekend to just get away and for me secretly to get to Sam's Chowder House. Unfortunately, the weekend was a wash out of rain and wind until it was time to go home :). Typical but we did not let that deter us. After a fitful name of about 4 hours, I woke to a grumbly tummy. Luck for us Sam's was still open, so we went out in the terrible rain and let me tell you it was worth it.

I had the famous Lobster Roll of course. Now, we lived on the East Coast for 4 years and while there we went to this place that was also famous for their lobster roll. The roll was covered in mayonnaise, and overall I felt it wasn't that good. Bland and tasteless is the best way to describe it. The experience was very different! Sam's was gigantic pieces of lobster that were so sweet and tasty dripping in buttery on a perfectly toasted bun. It was so good that I just closed my eyes and savored the sweet flavor. Yummy! My husband had the gumbo to start so you know I could not resist taking a bite, okay a million bites of that goodness. Although it was not a true Louisiana or Texas gumbo it was flavorful, robust and again had lots of buttery goodness. The crab was divine, the andouille sausage good and the okra was not slimy. Then for his entree he had the Petrale Sole. Also very good over some sort of grain that I had never seen before. He gobbled it up and loved it. The daughter had fish and chips.

Needless to say we left full and satisfied. I will definitely come back.

Country Way

There is this restaurant that has been in Fremont for many years and I have heard lots of good things about it called Country Way. It is a building that is sort of shaped like an old alpine house. It never really appealed to me look wise so it never occurred to me to give it a try.

However, a friend of mine started raving about it and since Quick loves breakfast foods and this place serves breakfast all day long, I thought maybe we should give it a try. When we arrived, the parking lot was full but we found a spot right next to the door. We had a 15 minute wait, but it was all worth it. The food was fabulous and so was our waitress. I had the chili omelet and Quick and Ori split the combo breakfast and added the strawberry pancakes.

Week 22

This week was good except that I caught a cold. It passed through pretty quickly though so I only had to stay home one day. Once again, the baby is moving more and more and causing a little bit of discomfort now and again. I think it may be because he is so low compared to Ori. My doctor's appt went well too. Everything is going according to schedule so that is good as well.

We took a brief trip to Half Moon Bay this weekend and it rained the entire time but we had some great food. We also went to see Hunger Games which was good. Not as good as the book but good. There was so much that they did not explore in depth but that is what you expect in a book adaptation.

In other news, my car window decided to come off the track on Friday evening so here comes another repair bill and we visit the tax man this week so I am sure more bad news to come. We'll see how it goes.

21 weeks

Week 21 was quite eventful! There has been more consistent movement nowadays. Mostly when I sitting still watching tv in bed. He also moved quite a bit when I was eating some particularly spicy Thai food as well. I am not sure if he liked it or not but I thought it was delish.

We are also looking for a home to rent and that has been consuming my thoughts more and more as the weeks go on. I am anxious to get everything out of storage so I can inventory what we have and what we still need.  I am hoping something comes our way soon.

Ori is still involved in all of her activities so the week and weekends are filled with activities. I think it is great and I am happy to take her to everything. I really enjoy seeing her have a good time and have activities that are her own to enjoy. It seems that everything that we picked for her is perfect and she is satisfied with them.

In other news, my good friend Hsiaolei whom I have known since 1st grade had her baby shower this week as well. It was so good to see her again. I haven't seen her since October when she told me she was pregnant and I unbeknownst to me was just a week or two short of being able to say the same thing. It is so cool that we will have two kids that are so close to each other in age. Her son and my daughter are 2 years apart and although they play well together, it will be good to see two that are on the same page, well mostly. Hsiaolei is having a girl this time around and I will be having a boy so we both will have one of each. So perfect.

The party was great. It was nice to see people that I haven't seen since her first shower, and members of her family that I haven't seen for awhile. The food was fantastic and so was the cake. Yum. It was also good to see other pregnant ladies in various stages of their pregnancies. The best one was a lady that was 35 weeks pregnant and the exact same size as me at 21 weeks. Amazing. I can say that she was quite a bit taller than me so I have to believe that was the reason. lol! It was a great time and I am so happy that I was invited and I had a chance to go. So much fun!

Week 20

Week 20 day 0 was our anatomy scan! I was very nervous because most of all I wanted everything to measure on schedule and not abnormalities to be present. Second, I was terribly anxious about the sex of our baby. I kept going back and forth over what if it was another girl and all the positives about that and then what if it was a boy and how different it would be. I just had all of these emotions and was very nervous going in.

We met the ultrasound technician and she asks us of course if we wanted to know the sex. Both me and Quick said Yes together. Then she put the wand on my belly and immediately we found out. It was so easy to spot that both me and Quick knew right away...It's a boy! I felt so lucky, so excited and then I held my breath while the tech finished all the measurements. It was quiet as she listed all the parts, the head, the arms, the hands, the legs, the feet, the spine, the heart, etc. After each announcement she said it looked good. Thank goodness. It was amazing seeing him once again and a flood of relief went over me as she said that we were right on schedule and all was well. Then the doctor came in to confirm the results and do a little poking around herself. They said that he was the cutest baby that they had that day. I was already quite proud!

The doctor even gave us some 3d shots along with the regular ultrasound pictures. And...the baby looks exactly like Quick! I couldn't believe it. Just like him. So at least at this stage, none of the kids will look like me. Ori is a combination of us both but because of her personality and the way she moves her face she is so much like Quick it is incredible. So I am anxious to see what this one looks like when he is born. Ori looked exactly the same when she was born so I expect this one will too.

We left the ultrasound place in a bit of a shock. I can't believe that we are going to have one of each. I feel so good and so blessed. Then we went to pick up Ori. I broke the news to her that she would not have a baby sister as she requested but a baby brother. She was so cute, she said, "That's okay, I'm going to have a brother". She took the news better than I thought. In fact she was quite proud too.

I can also report that the Chinese Gender Test, the necklace over the stomach test, intuition and the early guess at the NT scan were completely correct. It was boy all the way.

The a/s scan was just on time too because the Just Between Friends consignment sale was that weekend as well. It afforded me the opportunity to pick up some gently used clothes now that we knew the gender and could not recycle all of Ori's old clothes. I went to the sale on Friday and picked up 6 things for the baby and 2 for Ori for a grand total of $35. I was very proud of myself. Now I am itching to get the stuff out of storage so I can do an inventory of what we have and what we still need. Luckily I purchased all gender neutral stuff for Ori in terms of strollers and high chairs so I have most of that. I just need to get a few supplements and clothing and we should be set.

Differences

As all moms say, each pregnancy is different. Luckily my first pregnancy was a breeze so much so that immediately after I gave birth, I said, "You know, I could do that again! No problem." This time around has been excellent as well but there have been some subtle changes.

Temperature:
With Ori, I was hot all the time. With this one, I'm cold

Appetite:
With Ori, I was pretty ravenous even early on. This one, I am not nearly as hungry. It is just now at 19 weeks that I notice that I am hungry more often. Not too ravenous though which is nice.

Fatigue:
With Ori, I was so tired! I would just camp out on the couch and sleep all weekend. It would just hit me like a cloud and I couldn't shake it. I am not sure if it was purely the pregnancy or the fact that I commuted into the city every day that took 2.5 hours each way. This one, I am no more tired than usual. However, there is a time at night where I just shut down and I can do no more and my eyes involuntarily close. It is usually around 9 or 10pm but can be as early at 7pm some days.

Cravings:
With Ori, I craved all spicy foods. The spicier the better and would regularly stuff myself with Thai food or put hot sauce on everything. With this one I do not crave anything. In fact most of the time I do not know what I want. It is only after tasting it that I can tell if I want it or not. It is quite frustrating.

Week 17 - Movement

Just felt and saw movement at 17 weeks 5 days while sitting in the tub. The movement was all around the belly button. Very cool!

Dance Company

Ori is old enough to be in Dance Company at her studio! I am so excited and a little jealous as well. I always liked dancing but when my mom put me in it I didn't like to perform so I stopped taking it. I still don't like to perform but nowadays it is not required and there is a place for students like me.

Anyway, Ori is a performer. She loves all the attention and is really serious about dance. I think she likes Cheerleading a bit more but since she is not old enough to be on the performing squad, dance will be her thing this year. I went to the informational meeting last night to hear all the particulars. It is going to require quite a bit of commitment from me but I think this is going to be so important for her. I feel like dance is the springboard for so many other activities! I can't wait until she starts. I will very interested in which style of dance she will like the most. Right now she is taking a combo class which is ballet and tap. She says she prefers tap. Next year she will be taking ballet, tap, jazz and a rehearsal class that will either be tap or jazz. I have a feeling that she will like jazz best but we'll have to wait and see.

I am also hoping that with her starting kindergarten and dance company that she will be so busy with her own activities that she will not have time to be jealous of the baby. It will also get me out of the house and back in the groove of things. Hopefully, I will get back into shape faster this time around too. These next couple of months are going to be so much fun!

Pregnant #2

I can't believe it . We are pregnant with number #2! I can say that I really wanted to have just 1 more child for many reasons. One is that I wanted Ori to have a sibling and two because I wanted a chance to fix all the mistakes I made with Ori. I basically wanted to get a chance to do it right and I got it! Quick was on the fence because of the expense aspect of it but I think it is for the best.

Week 8-Pregnancy 2

Week 8 is when I actually went to the doctor for them to confirm my pregnancy and give me the actual age of the baby. Why did I wait so long do you ask? Well, Quick was out of town and I had already suspected around week 5 1/2 and then did a pregnancy test around week 6 and I figured there was no hurry. If I was pregnant, I would still be pregnant later on. I typically don't have any high risk behavior so waiting was not going to kill me.

Then once I found out for sure..meaning saw the ultrasound, I still had to wait a week or so to share it with Quick. I didn't want to tell him over the phone so I just kept it a secret and waited. There was also the little issue of him mentioning that he thought that one kid was enough. I really wasn't quite sure how he would react but I hoped that he would be happy too.

With Ori, I didn't find out for official sure until week 6. So this pregnancy, I really took it easy. Luckily, just like with my first pregnancy, there were no symptoms except an aversion to coffee. So, no morning sickness, or tiredness. Very lucky

Ori's funnies

Ori is such a funny girl. These are her latest funnies:

I went to wake up Ori for school one morning by saying, "Peek a Boo, I see you". Her eyes flew open and she looked at me and said, "Silence!" It was so hilarious that I just started cracking up. What a diva!

This morning, I laid out her clothes for school. I picked a dress that she is not particularly fond of. She walks in the room and puts her hands over her eyes and lets out a huge sigh. Then she points at the dress and says, "That dress is hideous". Too funny.

Week 19

Here we are almost in week 19. Officially it will be tomorrow which is Tuesday. I am feeling more and more movement, kicking. Today we had a very active baby. This second pregnancy has been so different from my first. I remember when I first felt Ori, I was on the Long Island Railroad and I felt those first flutters. It was really amazing. This time, I did not feel any flutters and just started to feel pops here and there. Then something rolled across my stomach that could be seen from the outside. Very cool indeed. Maybe I am just too busy this time around or perhaps I don't sit still for long enough to focus on what is happening. Instead of taking the train for 2.5 hours each way, I drive so I am much more mentally and physically active.

Next week we go for the big ultrasound. The one where they can determine the gender. Well, if the baby cooperates. Once again, me and Quick think it is a boy. Ori thinks it is a girl. However, we have the added support that our NT scan doctor said she was 70% sure it was a boy and my doctor said that she also thought it was a boy based on the heart rate. So, we will see. Of course we thought Ori was a boy too and we are sooo wrong. I am excited to find out if we are right this time.

The best part about finding out the gender is beginning to assess what we will need for the baby. I kept all of Ori's stuff so we have most of the stuff already, it will be mostly clothes if it is a boy. If it is a girl, we'll have all the clothes she will need. The other great part is the Just Between Friends Sale will be on the following Saturday just in time to pick up a few things. It should be fun.

San Francisco

Today I had a conference in downtown San Francisco, well Nob Hill to be exact. Now, I really hate driving in San Francisco because it is just a crazy place, especially when you don't really know where you are going. So when I got the invitation to go, I flip flopped about it all weekend. The topic was going to be interesting and best of all there was catered breakfast and lunch. You can't really beat that and I decided to go.

Let me start out by saying I Hate San Francisco. The hills, the unpredictability, difficulty of navigation. It was torture. New York is so much easier to drive in. It is a nice grid and things are well marked. I also had to pay $36 for parking. I was only there for about 2 hours. What a rip off! Let's not even mention the freezing wind and the homeless panhandlers. It is all very unpleasant. So, once again, New York wins my vote and there are no annoying cable car tracks in the middle of the road.

Downton Abbey

The latest craze! Downton Abbey is a show that runs on PBS that has taken the town by storm. It is a Masterpiece Theater production that is set in England and follows the lives of a wealthy family and their house help.

Since everyone was talking about it, I decided that I would give it a whirl. So I watched the first episode and as with everything I fell asleep about 3/4ths of the way through. I wasn't that impressed. The first episode is mostly introducing characters and I found that I bit boring and labored. So I spoke with a couple of friends and they told me that it gets better and juicier as you continue to watch.

I can know say that I am on Season 1 Episode 5 and it did get better. It is no Eastenders but it is fun and interesting all the same. I will continue to watch and look forward to the next season which is supposed to be more fun than the first.

Compliments

I got the most wonderful compliment the other day from my friend Mike. He called me up last week and said one of his co-workers was having some IT problems and thought that I could help. He said that he told his co-workers that I was an IT Expert and if anyone could figure out the problem, I could. I was so flattered and it totally caught me off guard. What a nice feeling! I

T is one of those thankless jobs. Most of the time all you hear is complaints or people blaming you for equipment errors or the reason why they can't get on the internet. You rarely get a thank you once the problem is resolved or an apology for the rude and nasty comments they made while you were trying to fix the problem. For one of my friends, whom I do not work with to acknowledge my hard work and skill was truly a highlight. Yay! It made my day!

Kindergarten

Ori will be in Kindergarten next year! Wow, time flies. So, I began the process of trying to figure out where we wanted to put her for her first year of real school. Of course, as always we had a bunch of factors that was complicating the whole decision making process. As time went on we decided to go ahead and start the process crossing our fingers that we would hear something before we put actual money down and had to make a commit.

We had two options. One, continue sending her to private school with a hefty tuition or try our luck at the local public school. Ori is doing exceptionally well at the private school. She has learned so much and each day she constantly amazes me with the concepts that she is learning. I also like the fact that it is a religion based school and that she is getting a foundation in religion that I think is important. The two big factors here are the tuition and whether or not she is accepted in the program. Currently, the preschool is releasing 71 preschool student to kindergarten this year. There are only 2 Kindergarten classes with 40 available spaces total. There is no priority given to preschool students. However, there is priority given to students who have an older sibling that already attends the school.

Our second option was public school. We are lucky in the fact that the public school that she would attend is a very good school with great scores and excellent word of mouth recommendations. My issue is that the parents really push the kids academically to the detriment of other activities that I believe makes the student well rounded. Ori loves school and I would hate for that love to be squashed by a highly competitive academic climate. I would like her to excel in academics, sports and other extra-curricular activities as well.

So, I decided to start the process for both schools and pray for the best outcome for Ori. Little did I know that both processes would be difficult in their own way. Her preschool director suggested that all students who want to enroll in the Kindergarten be at the school at 3am to wait in line to register. I was taken aback. 3am!!!! for Kindergarten? Really? Unbelievable. So of course Quick was out of town and it was left up to me to go and make sure that our daughter got in! The night before they had a Kindergarten registration orientation meeting to go over the requirements, introduce the teachers, take a look at the classrooms and learn a little about the curriculum. I made sure I got there early so I could scope out the crowd. I also spoke to the Dean of Schools to let him know that I really wanted my daughter to get in and I was gripped with anxiety over the 3am time to get in line. He tried to assure me that it would all work out and not to worry too much but how could I listen? In the end during his speech, he told us not to lose sleep over this and not to camp out overnight. Basically leave it in God's hands.

With that advice, I decided that I would get there about 5:30am. I arrived and there was quite a line but I was well within the 40 person limit. I only hoped there were no twins or too many sibling applications. The lady who was first in line had her husband there at midnight! Now that is hard core. The atmosphere was light hearted and the school brought in donuts and coffee to help the mood. It was fun talking with all the parents and seeing some people from my past experience at the school. We were all hopeful and when the office opened at 7am, the registration session went fast and efficiently. We were told that we would find out in 2 weeks whether the kids would be evaluated and then accepted.

Then the next day, I decided to see what was going on at the public school. Much to my dismay, they were already accepting applications. I actually went on registration day. So I picked up the packet and proceeded to get all the information required which is a ridiculous amount. They need way more than private and it is a bureaucratic nightmare. Do you know they want a doctor and dentist sign off or evidence of an appt before they will even accept the registration packet? Well, it took about a week or so to gather everything and turn it back in. I wonder do these people know that I have to work too. It is like it is a full time job to get your kid into the basics of kindergarten and you need a PH.d to navigate the system. I am not a fan.

I felt pretty good that I had a Plan A and B but I was still plenty nervous. About 3 weeks later, I got an email stating that Ori got an evaluation appt for the private school. I thought, "This is a good sign, right?" The school never mentioned anything about what it meant or anything and of course I started speaking with some parents at her preschool and some had been told that they were in. I began to get nervous again. Luckily, Quick was home to take her to her evaluation, which was IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY! Where is the consideration for us working parents? So I told him to ask about her status to see if he could find anything out. I think it was good that I wasn't the one taking her since I was a ball of nerves. Turns out that the evaluation took all of 15 minutes to complete and Quick said he didn't think it was a good idea to ask too much about her acceptance. I was bummed. All that anxiety for nothing.

We fast forward to last week, and we got an ACCEPTANCE letter from the private school! Yippeee! Now I can relax. Next worry topic, coming up with the money for registration and finally tuition. I'm bleeding money again.

Best eating week!

This week I got to eat at a Japanese Steak House and a Creole restaurant. Two of my favorite types of food. I feel completely spoiled.

For Valentines day we went out with a group of friends to Hisui in Vacaville to celebrate a birthday. It was a crowded and crazy night and our group ended up waiting 1.5 hours for a table even though reservations had been placed over 2 weeks ago. They were so unorganized that they had a ton of people milling around in their lobby complaining about reservations, and where they were in line, etc. Sheer pandemonium. However, the food was fair in the end. I mean after waiting that long we were all starving and anything would have been mana from heaven. In anycase, we got the standard japanese steakhouse fare. I got the shrimp and steak combo that came with soup, salad, veggies, fried rice. It is all cooked in front of you in a sort of show format. All very entertaining and the you get to eat in the end. Perfect. I was stuffed!

Then the day after Valentines, I decided to treat myself to a long overdue massage. And boy was it glorious but I stopped at Nola's in Palo Alto for a little nosh before hand. Now, I love creole food but it is a bit hard finding the authentic kind that is on par with a trip to New Orleans. I have been to Nola's before and remember not being too impressed and I can say again, it was okay. It did not hit the spot though. I opted for the mixed green salad and the chicken and andouille gumbo with okra. Athough, I was impressed that the okra did not make the dish into a goopy mess, I was a little disappointed to the overall taste. I think the roux could have cooked a little longer to develop the taste and the gumbo lacked a spiciness that I look forward to in good creole food. The gumbo also was not served piping hot which was also a little disappointing in addition, the tiny pieces of andouille did not allow for the nice smokey flavor that I was craving. I will give Nola's another try mostly because there are not that many creole restaurants around and perhaps that was not the most popular dish. In any case, it was a little bit of New Orleans charm that I have been missing. Next time I will try the etoufee which has got to be my all time favorite dish.

Now to the best part...the massage. Watercourse Way is one of the best places for a massage in my opinion. I am the type of girl that is just as much about the service as I am about the atmosphere and this place has both! The massage was so relaxing that I actually fell asleep twice! It was the best 5-10 minute naps EVER! Better than a full nights sleep. I will definitely be going back and I wonder why I stopped going in the first place.