Weekend Recap: Sept 25-26

The Halls had another jam packed weekend full of friends and festivities. On Friday, after work I sped home to Mill Creek to ready the homestead for girls' night. Of course, I prepped too much food, but in the end it turned out to be a good thing considering I burned an entire batch of feta bruschetta. The ladies brought plenty of other appetizers to suffice and we enjoyed an evening of margaritas and pina coladas (with an occasional mocktail for Laura and I) until well past midnight. Exhaustion eventually overcame us and the husbands called with an S.O.S.: "We're out of brownies and Barbie movies, are you coming home soon?" Charles and Bella had a father-daughter date to the movies and she came home talking non-stop about it!

Since this mama isn't used to late nights after a busy work week, I slept in (thanks to Charles and Bella) and then we proceeded to lounge in our jammies until the early afternoon. We eventually got dressed and headed out for some "back to school" shopping. After successfully replenishing Bella's wardrobe with better fitting fall attire, we headed onto Grandma Joan's for a birthday dinner for Josh, Melina, and Rico and into another late evening.

Sunday morning brought church and a great sermon about remembering that we are God-made, not self-made. That we are not self-made success stories, but rather, God-made. Great reminder that we should always point our blessings and successes toward God rather than ourselves. After church, we had friends and their 5 kids over for barbecue and football! Talk about a full house of kids. Bella has taken a particular liking to one of their kids, Brandon. They look for each other at church and then attack each other with tickles as soon as they can escape their pews. The kids must have run a thousand miles in our house!

After the game, our friends left and Charles headed to the office to get some work done and Bella and I were left to resume our Sunday evening routines.

Phew. Keep the busy weekends coming - I love it! This coming weekend brings a church conference on outreach (which I'll attend with Charles if we can get a sitter) and then another favorite fall fair: Issaquah Salmon Days. Love, love, love.

I Must Have Been Momentarily Crazy

I can't believe I put Bella on a roller coaster ride. The entire time, my heart was beating outside of my chest. As she slid across the seat with each sharp turn, I held my breath. Lindsey and I sang a chorus of "Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh..." until they were through.

A glimpse

As we were out "back to school" shopping for Bella, I caught a glimpse of myself in one of the mirrors (and Bella) and caught it to share.

Our Glee Was Free...

...at the Puyallup Fair!

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Get your own

That was the theme to this year's fair and also this region's largest fair. This weekend's plans initially entailed a quiet Saturday of lounging, napping, cleaning up, and laundry - but around noon we decided to hit up the Puyallup with a group of friends. Our friends were originally planning on going Sunday, which eliminated us since we already had plans. But with an 80% chance of rain threatening on Sunday, they decided to go on Saturday instead -- hooray, we could go!

So, imagine 5 little girls who were mobile (various ages from just over 2 to 4), 2 infants (4 & 6 months old), my womb child, and 8 parents trying to navigate and herd our children to and fro throughout HUGE crowds and uber stimulating rides. The head counts were endless. At one point I thought we had had 8 children and started to panic at the thought of losing some. Blame it on the pregnant brain. We had 2 wagons, 2 strollers, and 2 ergos. All the mobile girls had brown curly hair and they were all just barely tall enough to ride the rides. The day was long, but full of laughing (both adults and kids)...ZERO NAPS, 5 faces painted, 3 elephant ears, 2 bricks of curly fries, lots of barbecue, highly coordinated potty breaks, and a few meltdowns were had, but we made it. Did I mention it was sprinkling/raining the whole time? It's amazing how much $$ you spend at fairs - but it's almost obligatory, you can't go and not have fair food and ride the expensive rides!

By 9 p.m. Bella was falling over in the wagon as she passed out and it was raining buckets - so we laid her down in the wagon, covered her in rain coats and made the muddy trek to the car. I was glad to have an excuse to leave because my feet were on fire and my back was screaming in agony by 9 p.m. and I could hardly walk to the car. The next morning I felt like I'd been in a car accident.

Sunday offered no rest for the weary. I'd planned on making my dish for our friend Laura's baby shower on Saturday night, but the Puyallup obviously took priority. So, Sunday morning I achingly got up, made the dish, got Bella ready, and made it to church (a little late). The men and the kids all went over to our house for beer, pizza, and football while we girls enjoyed showering Laura with baby girl gear! It was fun to see what's been invented in the last three years! The shower was adorable and super enjoyable.

Post - shower I went home to see what damage was done to the home front (surprisingly not much considering all the kids and men-folk) and Charles, Bella, and I all took a nap on the sofa.

What a weekend. I'm exhausted just writing about it!

BH2: 24th Week

In 24 weeks my net weight gain is 12 pounds. I didn't gain weight in my first trimester, but I've made up for it and can feel it. Everything is measuring just right and moving along just as it should.
I'm getting really excited to meet this tyke!

Charles and I wandered up to the Mother/Infant unit after my doctor's appointment and because Charles is who he is, the manager jumped at the chance of giving us our own private little tour. Sometimes it's nice to have connections. The rooms and equipment brought a wave of memories and emotions to the front of my mind and suddenly, it became real real. I can't wait to have this baby!

I didn't wear scrubs today because I was planning on a half day (for my doctor's appointment) and three, THREE, people stopped me to say, "I had no idea you were pregnant!" So you thought I was just large and waddled all this time?! I'm going to think positive and believe that the scrubs just concealed my growing soccer ball.

Baby is throwing jabs and kicks left and right at all hours of the day and I enjoy it as if it were the first time each time. I still have zero inclination about a gender and haven't really thought about it much - I'm super excited to be surprised again. It's the way to go if you ask me!

Feeling good, just lacking in the sleep department. The pillows, rolls, lumbar support and neck pillow have all been deployed this week with varying results. Some nights I manage to stay in bed and other nights I have to get up, pace around the house, read a few pages of a book before I can fall asleep again. All part of the deal!

Our next appointment is in 4 weeks and that will involve the whole exam to check for signs of pre-term labor and the glucose tolerance test... After that appointment, we meet again in 3 weeks, then every 2...

Church ladies are planning to throw a baby shower - which is only slightly awkward because we've only been going for 9 months or so and I don't feel like I've gotten to know the ladies other than the 30-somethings. Laura (who's baby shower is this weekend) and Julie (who's youngest of 5 is just a few months old) are the driving forces and have insisted that I don't have a choice in the matter - they want to throw a shower. My only choice is, before or after the baby comes? So, in an effort to decide, I went online to browse and perhaps start a registry but I didn't get very far. We don't need much of anything in the way of baby gear... we've got the pumps, the bottles, the nipples, the furniture, blankets galore, bedding, bags -- I could hardly think of a dozen things. There are a few big ticket items we need before baby comes (car seats since we sold Bella's stroller/car seat system) and some "luxury" (not necessary) things that would be nice. So, if baby's a boy, it would be nice to have the shower after to get some boy clothes and things... Or, they suggested it could be a diaper and gift card shower if I choose before... decisions, decisions. What would you do come baby #2?

Yikes!

We picked up Bella at school today and I was floored - floored - to find her first ever permission slip for a field trip in her cubby. Really? Is she old enough for a field trip? I just stared at it and read it repeatedly.

Must resist temptation to take day off and be a chaperone...
Must let Bella grow up just a bit...

This is where they are headed: http://www.south47farm.com/

For two hours, they will be off-site...she will be in a vehicle driven by someone else...she will be supervised by someone else in a large, public place... scary!

Saturday Drive

Again, love, love, love exploring this state. This past Saturday the fam loaded into the Jeep for a leisurely afternoon drive. Our destination was Ross Lake in the Northern Cascades. It was supposed to be a 3 hour drive out. We left at one. Didn't get home until midnight. We stopped a lot and explored a lot of scenic viewpoints. We saw one beautiful scene and waterfall and glacier lake after another. Breathtaking.

On another note, Bella is an incredibly great road tripper. She's never created a fuss on road trips. Never. She can go hours and hours and hours in the car without so much as a complaint or whine. Even when Papa Goofy took her on day-long drives during his last visit he commented on what a good road tripper she is. We don't even have to give her anything to do! She just talks and sings and points things out along the way. We. are. lucky. Who knows how BH2 will travel...

Bella's Class

Here's Bella's class! Most of these kiddos have been with Tree of Life since Bella started. The girls are inseparable. It's so cute!

Fil-Am

I've been struggling to start this post for some time now, essentially since our last visit to Rockford. The effort was renewed after my family's visit here. It has many tangents, questions, and points - all intertwined into an entry that I just can't formulate.

The question is: How do I give my children the cultural inheritance, knowledge, and appreciation of being Filipino, when I, myself didn't have any of those things until much later in life? And, now that I'm here, wanting to give my children those things, I'm completely removed from all the things that represent the Filipino side of me.

I suppose that's the challenge of growing up, first-generation, in America. My parents moved here, hoping to give us all the opportunities that come with growing up in the U.S. Without ever having been here, my mother packed up her few belongings and set herself on a journey that she couldn't possibly imagine. Not to mention, she left her husband behind after only a short time of marriage, to start the citizenship application process that could take many months. (I feel fortunate that my mom's dad served in the U.S. Military and therefore she and her siblings were "given" U.S. Citizenship and could come over easily to America.) It's the classic immigrant story - one that I admire and can appreciate.

Growing up, I was exposed to everything "American" through school, while at home, I was raised in a very traditional Filipino household. I was teased for all the stereotypical Asian things - knowing karate (which I don't), my slanted eyes, playing the violin (which I don't), being short, brown-skinned, being good at math (which I'm not), and of course speaking funny (which I didn't). It all seems incredibly silly - but at the time, I was very sensitive about it all. It's hard to distinguish now, but I suppose it was a combination of purposeful act and subconscious act that I clung to all things "American" - activities, language, expectations, childhood - and ignored all things Filipino. Maybe I didn't ignore, but I certainly didn't embrace it, either.

I can't imagine that raising me was easy for my parents. In their eyes, I probably rebelled against Filipino child-rearing principles and insisted on being allowed to do the things the other kids were doing. They struggled between wanting me to have "normal" childhood/teen experiences and their own comfort level.

I didn't really have any Filipino school friends and I never did date a Filipino boy -- both of which would have made my parents so much more comfortable through it all. Instead, I found myself surrounded by blond-haired, blue eyed kids year after year. If you look at every picture of me and friends, dates, dances - I'm always the only Asian chic. I never learned to cook traditional Filipino dishes and I didn't learn to speak the language. Filipino history? Nope, didn't learn that either. (Yikes! I'm a disgrace!)

So, anyway, in my adulthood and growing maturity, I've begun to realize the importance of my Filipino heritage. My last few visits with my family have been wonderful - quirky, but wonderful - and I just wish Bella (and BH2, 3, and 4) could grow up around them and be immersed in the culture. Maybe they'd have a chance at learning the Filipino cuisine or learning the language.

So, it's one of my new missions - must. learn. to. be. more. Filipino. So that I can give some "Pinoy pride" to my kids.

I Smile Every Time...

...She says, "Mommy, you have my sister in your tummy. I better go in there and find her!"

...She exclaims, "Mommy!" When she sees me.

...She greets me in the morning with, "I'm so glad to see you, mommy!"

...She says, "No, mommy not like that (tha-at, two syllables)!" when I pretend wrong.

...She wants to kiss her sister and talk to her...

...She says, "Excuse me, I'm talking now!" to get our attention.

...She puts her stethoscope up to my tummy to listen to her sister. When I ask her what she hears, she says, "Goo Goo Ga Ga".

...She makes herself laugh...

...She imitates my laugh (thanks to her daddy)...

...She's confirms things nowadays by saying, "Yes, yes I am"when I say "You're cute, funny or a good helper" or "Yes, yes it is" when I tell her what something is. And she says it so seriously!

...She steps away from her food and tells me, "Don't eat my food!"

Let's be honest, I can't be around her without smiling and laughing! She's turning out be quite the comedian and performer these days.

Bella's First Haircut

Finished & salon spectacular...

All done!

Ready for my First Haircut!

We've avoided getting Bella's hair cut all this time simply because we LOVED her long, curly locks. We've heard so many stories of how little girls get their curly hair cut, only to have straight hair the rest of their lives. However, Bella's hair was getting increasingly difficult to brush through and it was not enjoyable for any of us. So, we agreed to cutting off 2-3 inches to even out the back and get rid of her dry ends. To the untrained eye, it probably looks like we didn't do much, but I can already tell the difference. Her hair looks healthier, tidier, and it's already less of a birds' nest! Win, win.

Tall Enough!

It's just about time for my favorite season: FALL! With it comes some of my favorite activities: fairs, apple picking, pumpkin farms, and trick-or-treating! We went to the Evergreen State Fair last night and lo' and behold, Bella was tall enough (just over 36") to go on the kids' rides all by herself! To top it off, as we approached the ticket booth a family on the way out handed us 18 ride tickets! Yahoo! Bella was delighted as she rode the rides (mostly car rides) and we were tickled to see our "baby" take on the fair rides by herself. What a big girl! She did so well and behaved like a good girl the entire time - we're so thankful to have such a polite young girl for a daughter.

Spinning Makes Little Girls Fall Over & go Bump

We picked up Bella pictured above the other day. Apparently, she was spinning and spinning and then fell over and smacked her head on the corner of a wooden bench. She earned herself a forehead and nose laceration and she was so excited to tell us all about it when she got home!

2010 School Pictures

Just some teasers. Bella's teacher, Nathan, is a new-ish photographer trying to build his portfolio and start a freelance photography business. I was hoping for the same quality of photos we got last year, and I think he more than succeeded in capturing sweet Bella. He also gave us a CD of 20+ pictures he's taken of Bella over the last year - we loved it.

Illinois to the Pacific Northwest

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Get your own

Last year, my aunt mentioned she and my Uncle would be visiting out here in August 2010. Over the course of the year, one more aunt & uncle, my parents, two family friends, and an aunt & uncle from L.A. joined the bandwagon. None of them had been out to the Pacific Northwest before. I just knew this would be my opportunity to show them what they didn't know existed in the U.S. To me, the Seattle area is most like the Philippines compared to anywhere else in the U.S. I'm not sure how a group of Filipinos, water-loving and nestled in the mountains, as they were in the Philippines, ended up in land-locked Illinois. Who knows?! Needless to say, I was excited about their visit. The week prior, I readied the house by setting up air mattresses, borrowing an air mattress, washing sheets and spreads, and cleaning. Eight overnight guests is no easy task, but as my mom put it, they're all "cowboys & cowgirls"-- they didn't need fancy accommodations. They arrived Sunday morning at 6 a.m. and I welcomed them with a HUGE breakfast spread. They all rested after their 2.5 day drive, showered, and we were all on the road again. They had planned to stay most of the week at my Aunt & Uncle's in Bremerton since they could take the week off of work to show them around. I knew that they would show them the enticing side of living in the PacNW and the things that appeal to my Filipino family: fishing, crabbing, clamming & oystering.

The entire group reunited at our house on Thursday night to prepare a traditional Filipino feast (and stock Charles and I up with food to fill our Filipino-food appetites for a couple of weeks). Josh, Lina & Kids came over as well to partake as they usually do when my mom is here. A couple of my Uncle's friends also came to eat. When family is here, our home is their home. It was a loud and enjoyable evening. Alas, we retired relatively early as we planned on heading up to Vancouver the next morning.

Despite my doubt, my entire family was up, showered, and ready by 7 a.m. the following morning (good thing we have 3 full bathrooms!) and we were on the road to Vancouver in three cars. We spent the day exploring the big tourist sites, Chinatown, Stanley Park, and the Richmond Night Market. Charles and I wanted to stay longer, so my parents stayed with us and everyone headed back to Bremerton. We enjoyed the Richmond Night Market, now a much smaller and easier to travel group. There we experienced a strong Asian influence with quite eclectic food fair. Vancouver proved to be quite an international city, surrounded by water and mountains. We'll definitely head that way again soon. The aquarium is supposed to be one of the best in the world.

The Orats & the Halls stayed in Mill Creek for the night, but in the morning we were off to Bremerton again for some oystering. My family behaved as kids in a candy store when they saw the oyster covered shore. They'd never seen anything like it. They quickly filled coolers and buckets with fresh oysters, eating a few here & there. It was fun to see how excited they were. For the rest of the afternoon, we ate...and ate...and ate some more. (I was in Filipino-food Heaven!) Unfortunately, that evening we had to say our good-byes...until next time. I'm told the whole drive back to Illinois there was all sorts of plans to move out here. I'll believe it when one of them puts their house on the market.

BH2 Ultrasound in Motion

Walkin' in Memphis

If it hadn't been for the pool, the best host & hostess, and meeting our amazing new nephew, I don't know if I would have survived the heat. As I was leaving the airport, the sliding glass doors parted, and this thing, this blanket of heat swept over me and I just about got back on the plane. I really didn't know how I'd survive the week, let alone do anything outdoors. It's true, I love Seattle that much more...I love it's 70 degree and sunny summers, I love the mild weather year-round...

So, despite almost vomiting due to the heat, I reunited with my two loves, Charles and Bella and went "walking in Memphis". (I intend to completely overuse that quote.) I had taken an overnight flight and was able to sleep for the 7 hour leg from LAX to Memphis. Yes, I was a bit tired, a bit gross, and A LOT sweaty, but how could we pass up Graceland during Elvis week? We did the mansion tour and explored the property. My favorite part was walking in the Hall of Gold Records among many other Elvis fans when Bella asked (loudly), "But, where's ELVIS?" An older lady chuckled, smiled, and responded, "Honey, he's not here, but someone just saw him in Michigan!" Too funny... and a little bit quirky.

After dutifully checking off Graceland on my "Things to do in Memphis" list, we ventured on to the Bergeson's to meet up with the rest of the family. Talk about Southern Hospitality! We had the greatest time staying with them with all the Swanson's. Bella LOVED all the attention from her Uncles and swimming every day. Her tan lines are so incredibly significant, but like her mama, she doesn't burn apparently. This trip was vacation at its best: I didn't have to cook a single meal, I napped whenever I wanted, Bella had plenty of people to entertain and look after her, and I was poolside for the most part if I wasn't napping or eating. To top it all off, I got to hold 6 week old Josiah and spend time with family. There was plenty of BBQ and ribs to go around. The only other thing on my "Things to do in Memphis" list was go to Beale street, which we accomplished the Sunday before we left. We got some quality time with the Monty's, Beth & Josiah, so Beale street was that much better. Who'd a thought I'd walk on Beale 20 weeks pregnant and with my 2.5 year old? By the end of the trip, Bella was calling me "Mamaw" like a sweet Southern Belle...so impressionable and sweet.

BH2 Half Way

All is well with BH2! Measuring right on target. Ultrasound looks good. Still pretty amazing the second time around. Can you fall in love 3 times? I think I did just that today! Ultrasound lady said she was able to determine the gender, but kept it to herself as asked.

The Weight

…and responsibility of parenting has really been on my mind lately. The magnitude of this job, really, is just unbelievable and magnificent.

Bella is growing up so rapidly. She’s this little person who interjects, interrupts, who ponders before decisions, who has preferences, who says things like “Xyz is my favorite” and “I Love xyz”, who rationalizes, who offers opinions. She instructs, she constructs, she plans, she role plays. And, in no time, she’ll be flying the coop to conquer the world if she’s anything like her parents.

This sounds all crazy-worry-mommy-like, but really, Charles said it the other day, we’ve got 15.5 years to equip her with everything she needs to be an independent, positive, strong, God-fearing, good person. There are things like us wanting her to be able to defend herself, cook for herself, stand up for herself, change her own tires – trivial things when really what’s most important is that she continues to nurture her relationship with Christ. 15.5 years is no time at all in the big scheme of things and considering how fast time has already passed.

What does this mean and how do we create the desire in her to want to be this God-fearing, good person? How do we foster her desire to make day-to-day decisions so she'll live the way God wants her to live?

Good thing we’re not parenting alone. Charles and I had a long talk about this last night and I’ve been praying about it – and the bottom line is, it’s not just Charles and I raising Bella, we’ve got a third parent--Jesus--in all of this. What a blessing.

In my search for enlightening parenting articles, God led me to this really great article that described four cornerstones to creating this “want to” in our children. To summarize:

• Kids today need to hear that there are absolutes when it comes to right and wrong. And when they do, they'll want to know more about what is right and what is truth.
• Next is the concept of rewards and consequences. We need to teach them decisions really matter. The impact of good decisions needs to be stressed as much or more than the consequences of sin, or you run the risk of just scaring kids.
• Reveal to kids how the world is constantly trying to influence their choices and desires.
• For kids to truly want the truth of the Bible to guide their lives, they must see it as the obvious place to go. How you position the Bible will make all the difference in the world as to whether kids embrace or ignore Scripture.

Sound simple? It could be if I could just submit it to God instead of constantly worrying about it!

The children’s message at church today seemed directed at putting my mind at ease. Pastor talked to the kids about the inheritance that they would receive from us as their parents. He joked about maybe a special watch, the house, tons of cash (ha! Or debt?!)—but he said we were already leaving them a HUGE—and the most important--inheritance just by bringing them to church to hear God’s word. Imagine that! We are doing something right!

The bump!

18 weeks

16 weeks

It feels silly to always be asking Charles to take pictures of my bump--especially since I want it "just so". Something about taking them myself on the iPhone makes me still feel petite!