Great news; new job and vacation

Mark gets a new job! Wow! He is so happy to get back to his work that he really loves. We are so happy for him.

We celebrated this great news on Friday evening with a dinner out at olive garden. It had been a while! It was nice to be out but we also had to deal with 2 noisy little ones in the restaurant. Sonya stood up and down on the booth and requested with a shouting? overexciting? overjoying? voice (whatever you said...she just seemed to be happier than ever) to share all the food we had. Tasha tried to steal attention by making "whaaaaa" sound and rehearsing her upcoming performance that everyone near our table could hear her.

Such a great dinner! :>

Anyway, nobody could be happier than me at the end of the day....la la la.. I got a green light from my hubby to plan a vacation. And yes, our trip to outer banks is on the way! We are driving to the beach next week....yeah!

Tasha's first performance at school

We all know that Tasha is going to have her first performance at her school on this coming Monday (June 1). It is called World Music Concert. Today, I was pretty much busy looking for her white dress....It was crazy that when I needed one, I just couldn't find it anywhere. Where were those white outfits I saw before?

Well, Tasha is excited and seems a little nervous now. Yeah! I understand....first time on stage with hundred of people looking at her.

Anyway, one thing we still don't know about the show....what is she going to perform???

She told me "Mommy, it's a secret!"

If so, we need to wait until Monday then. I just can't wait to take VDO and lot of photos for her first performance.

Nothing is something

I don't know what I am going to write on my blog today. My weekend is just boring....like a plain yogurt I think. Why? Because we hardly had any special things to do on weekends. Saturdays are on schedule.....groceries day, bookstores visit and dinner at grandma's.

Why did I compare to a plain yogurt? Plain yogurt is tatseless but healthy.
Our weekend is boring but we keep doing it because we have no other plans ahead so it's convenient and importantly, my girls love them so much....target, bookstores and grandma's house are their favorites.

Well, now I realize what I thought nothing to write...then became something in my today's blog.

Thanks to plain yogurt to give me such a wonderful idea in the shower !!!! LOL

Tasha's first permanent teeth and a tooth fairy

A week ago, after I noticed Tasha often put her fingers in her mouth, I thought she had some food stuck on her teeth because we just finished a lunch. I offered to help her and once I looked inside, I was so surprised to see a new tooth coming up. I didn't expect that she was going to have a permament tooth this soon. Permanent teeth usually starts from age 6 - 21.

Luckily, I have a friend who is a dentist in Florida. I checked with her and she confirmed that Tasha is going to have a permanent one. The problem is that if the baby teeth are not going to loose, she needs to see a dentist to pull them off so the permament one will have a room to erupt.

Currently, one of her baby teeth starts to loose and hopefully, the new one is coming up with no problems (I think I will wait to see until next week or summer break) so we can save a lot of money from a dentist visit :>

Well...it seems Tasha is so excited about it. She has been talking about a tooth fairy, especially, the gifts and toys that she thought the tooth fairy would bring them to her....hmm....how did she get this idea? She told me on the way to school this morning that her dad told her !?!

If so, I think Tasha is going to see a tooth fairy soon and she will be surprised by the look of the fairy and then her first question will be "Why does the tooth fairy look just like my mom?" :>

Kids who have the same interests as mom (doesn't mean good all the times!)

When Tasha started her school last year and Sonya was just one year old, I usually spent my kinda personal time feeding Sonya, watching TV news and checking emails or searching internet at home. When I was on the road, I enjoyed to listen to the music (my favorite activity). However, lately, my 2 young daughters seem to enjoy whatever I do and have been asking to do too but with their own choices.

TV interest :

"Mommy, can we watch our TV shows please?" Tasha and Sonya asked.

"OK, channel 32 nickjr or 54 noggin?" I said

Computer interest :

Tasha seems to be very good at learning computer while we let her play some educational games. So, whenever I turned my computer on....

"Mommy, can I play nick jr. games, please?" Tasha asked.

"OK, I will go to cook then" I said.

Music interest :

"Mommy, can we listen to Gummy Bear music, please?, your songs are so boring" Tasha and Sonya asked.

"OK" I said with rolling eyes.


Huh, huh and huh! That's all I can do now I think. Perhaps, I have to wait until Sonya goes to school, so I can get my happy time back.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JxL_nfKWZQ

Sonya who taught her mom to calm down

Yesterday, it was supposed to be a fun day with my girls. We agreed to clean our house in the afternoon. However, it didn't happen because I started in a wrong place....my girls' playroom.

When I looked inside, my first question "Where should I pick up first?". Everywhere filled up with small pieces of toys. "Oh my! how many toys do I have to throw away today?"

Tasha helped make decisions which one she didn't want to keep anymore and Sonya helped spice my mood by running away from her potty when she needed to go. I had to change her 6 pants in 2 hours. What a day! In the end of 2 hours in the playroom, I got 3 big heavy bags out to the garage. I was so exhausted and quite upset with Sonya's potty misbahavior.

Then 15 minutes later, Sonya did it again. My mood swing became a bomb, I started to quack very loud to Sonya "Sonya, look at me....where do you have to go when you want to pee?" She said nothing but still looked at TV. Then I said "Sonya, you are making me so tired and I'm very mad now". Immediately, Sonya looked at me and said "Easy Mommy....easy"

"What did I just hear from my 2 years old?" I questioned to myself. I asked Sonya to repeat and yes, she said "Easy Mommy" Omg! I felt like something bumped to my head...I was so guilty. What did I do to her? I asked myself. At moment, only thing I wanted to do was that I gave her a big hug with a sorry feeling from my deep heart. She just taught me to calm down!!!!!

"The Dead", she said

About several months ago, on a dinner night, Tasha complained her daddy that he didn't cook what she really wanted to eat....

Tasha : I don't like it, you should ask what I want to eat.
Daddy : Try it, it is good. This is what we have now.
Tasha : Daddy, when I grow up and you're dead, I will cook my own food for my children.

When we first heard what she said, it was kind of funny and showed how innocent she was. We also were surprised why and how she got the dead idea in her mind (or was it from learning about the bone from her school?)

Two days later, Mark came home after he dropped Tasha off at school, he had a strange look on his face and told me what Tasha said to him in the car...

Tasha : Daddy, I think you are going to die this year.

Mark & I looked at each other and we felt scared a bit.

Then again...and this time she told me....

Tasha : Mommy, if you are buried under the ground, you will be dead forever.
Me : Tasha, you are scaring me, do you want mommy to die? It's also not polite to say with anyone. Please don't say it again.

Tasha didn't seem to understand but she agreed not to say again.

A couple days later, we all realized what was going on after we got a phone call from Mark's dad. Mark's grandmother passed away.

As I was born in Thailand and Thais believe in superstition. I think Tasha may have a spiritual sense that I believe it happened with me sometimes......anyway, I may be right or wrong, who knows?

After the funeral of Mark's grandmother, she had never mentioned the dead.....until......

A week ago, Tasha asked something about the dead while she was reading with her dad. I couldn't remember what exactly she asked, however, I remembered that I said "Oh Oh! Who is going to die next? Guess what? Last Monday (May 11), I received a bad news from my sister in Bangkok that my uncle in law just passed away.

"Is Tasha a medium?" I wondered. LOL.

Sauteed Apples Recipe from Allrecipes.com

Yummy! Sauteed Apples with Pancakes and Waffles....the best breakfast I've ever had. http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Sauteed-Apples/Detail.aspx

Tolstoy

It has been an emotinal day for me since I watched Tolstoy, one of our cats lost his balance of walking (leaned on one side) twice this morning. It was like a warning sign to me that Tolstoy might leave us soon. Tolstoy is very old and he is about 19 years old now. My husband adopted him in 1990. He is like our oldest son...very sweet and gentle. I can say that he has been an important part of our marriage life.

Eight years ago (Jan 1, 2001), when I first met him, I was so surprised how big and tall he was. I visited Mark's home in Florida while I was on a vacation. I fell asleep on the floor and when I woke up, Tolstoy was right there lying next to me. Once Mark & I got married, as I mentioned, he was always a part of marriage or family life....welcomed our first adopted kitty "Lily", then second & third kitties "Amy & Amanda (and a couple more...but I mentioned only those are still living with us). He also witnessed our first single house in Fl, our first baby "Tasha", he even joined our long 12 hour trip moving to Greensboro, NC and of course, welcomed our second angel "Sonya".

I know we will be very sad if that day is arriving. Just only today, I was almost in tear several times. I just wish he would be able to stay, witness and celebrate our 8th anniversary in June with us.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all moms!

Tasha was so excited and couldn't wait for today to come that she could give me her drawing picture and a handmade flower she made them at her school. I love them, of course (and I love her & her sister more than anything). If Sonya were 4 or 5, she would have done the same. They are such sweetheart daughters. Moreover, My hubby, Mark, also gave me a present (hair straightener) that I was looking for weeks (I just waited until it's on clearance:).

We celebrated today by going out to GYC Carnival organized at Coliseum Complex in Greensboro. It was a great fun day for the girls on the rides. Even though Sonya was so hungry and sleepy and no smile on her face, she never stopped asking for more rides.

Well...I assumed that a lot of stay at home moms would love to have a break from kids on special days. For me, I love to spend time with my family doing different activities that we hardly do on normal days and then come home to lie down on the sofa for a short nap (only few minutes since my girls never let me nap easily).

No summer vacation

Summer is coming up. The girls & I really miss the beach. However, we can't make it to the beach this year! Yeah! it's quite disappointing. The only & most wonderful bonus or merit increase that I have been looking forward to, is not going to happen. My husband, Mark, has lost his job for a while....we lost a big family income. Bad economy should be blamed. We just hope he would get a new job soon...he is a great computer programmer. Recently, he just created his own small business website. Check this out http://www.daeusmedia.com/. I'm so proud of him.

Breast cancer and breastfeeding vs bottle feeding

Recently, I just talked with my cousin who lives in Seattle. She just had a breast surgery (had one breast cut off). She told me she had Breast Cancer. I couldn't believe what I heard because she had breastfed 2 children for over 4 years. As most breastfeeding moms know, the more you breastfeed, the lower risk of breast cancer.....is this information still true?

Since I had experiences with both breastfeeding and bottle feeding, you know what, I did love bottle feeding. Why? It was so convenient and less exhausted.

When I was a new mom, I had a strong intention to breastfeed my baby...I learned a lot of benefits after I joined childbirth class ie. great bonding between mom & baby, lower risk of breast cancer, money save, etc. I actually did breastfeed Tasha for 22 months. However, it was 22 months of exhausting because I hardly had enough sleep and I got a tail bone pain after giving birth (I had been in pain for over 3 months). Tasha didn't accept bottle feeding at all...so, her daddy couldn't help me!! The consequence was that Tasha had slept with us in the same bed for 9 months and she hasn't been a good sleeper until now (she is better after going to school though). Overall, I think breastfeeding just helped save money for the first year formula.

When I had Sonya, I also wanted to try breastfeeding again but I didn't have much milk come out on the first few days...I had to bottle feed at the hospital. I was little disappointed but more relieved (oops!). However, Sonya has been growing up wonderfully. She is smart & healthy just like her sister and importantly Sonya is a great sleeper. I can also say that we are so attached to each other/stronger bonding even if she was bottlefed.

Well..all new moms...if you are hesitating to choose between breastfeeding or bottle feeding, I'd suggest you choose what you think it suits your lifestyle and best convenience.

Taekwondo

After watching "Backyardigan - Great Pie", one of Tasha's favorite TV shows, Tasha started to say "Pie-ya" to imitate a ninja fighting with a bad guy. Sometimes she ran and jumped to the couch with her little sister "Sonya". It was fun to see them have a silly time together.

Since Summer is coming soon, I had to think ahead of what camps Tasha would love to join. Yes, Taekwondo became only interesting program I thought of. Tasha is so excited and can't wait to start her Little Dragon class in June. Unfortunately, Sonya is too young to join at this time, but she will join me to observe her sister until she's ready (that will be the next 2 years).

It is kind of a peace of mind for me that at least Tasha and Sonya will be able to protect herself with confidence. Perhaps, I'm going to enroll the class too!

Shopping with young kids

"'Shopping with young kids is fun" I don't think so. Most of my experiences when I went shopping with my 5 and 2 years old girls were crazy. When shopping was done, I had to tell myself that next time would be better with a fun time and no more feeling upset with them..Unfortunately, it hardly happened.

Since 5 years old loved to talk all the times and 2 years old loved to run around the stores while I had to shop and get it done quickly, I couldn't concentrate on anything. The worry that they would get lost anytime would never go away.

When you watched TV news everyday, you started to be aware more of dangers outside especially kidnapping that happened almost everyday. You felt sorry for people who lost their families, kids, etc....however, you would never feel really terrible until it happened to yourself.

I have a true story that happened with me and the kids when we went shopping at a Walmart.

Last fall in 2008, after Sonya & I picked up Tasha from school, we stopped by at Walmart on the way back home. Tasha and Sonya often played at the toy department before we shopped something else. I noticed a black guy with long curly hair over his shoulder in a gray jacket playing around the shelves, I thought he was playing hide and seek with his kids...but I had a strange feeling about him over my mind. Later, we were at the shoe department....while Tasha was trying on a pair of sneakers, we heard a very loud bang from behind a shelf we were . We asked each other what was going on. A minute later, we saw that guy walk out, laugh and look at us. That moment my strange feeling was stronger and my heartbeat was faster and faster. At the same time, I saw him walk to the other shelf behind us and disappeared but my sense still told me that someone was looking at us somewhere. I started to check every inch behind until I saw someone's eyes through the shelf (a bit lower than my petite height level 4"11"). I asked him angrily what he was doing and the answer was "I'm watching you". Immediately I grabbed both girls and told him that I was going to call the police then we ran away. As soon as I met a walmart staff, I told him my situation and pointed to the guy....I got a shocking response..."Don't worry, that is our security".

I was so scared and upset with the answer. I decided to walk to a cashier and asked for a store manager. The store manager was sorry (she seemed to believe me because I was so shaking) and promised to talk with the guy. I couldn't believe Walmart was hiring someone like a stalker to be a store security? How will customers feel safe? By the way, Walmart security did not wear a uniform or badge at all. I hope that guy was not working here anymore.

A great day off

I have to say with a big smile that today was a great day ever after 5 years of my motherhood. My hubby "Mark" got up early and helped get my 5 yrs. old daughter "Tasha" (finally, I revealed her name) ready for school. Then he dropped her off at school while I spent an extra hour in bed (including my little one "Sonya"). Late morning, I dropped Sonya off at my mother in law's house which is just 3 houses away from us. Some Fridays, Grandma worked only half day...so it was perfect for them to have a playdate. Then I drove to Tasha's school to join her classroom's taco party @ 11:30 a.m. There were not many activities there, just parents spent time with their kids and had a special lunch together....but for me, it meant a lot especially spending time alone with Tasha (I knew it meant a lot for her as well) as I hadn't done since her little sister was born. Although I was there only an hour but we did have a great time together. I had to leave for her to go back to the afternoon class schedule until 2:30 p.m.

So, it meant I did have 2 hours break without the girls (ooh.la.la). What did I do? Same stuff that I always did with the girls (and hubby sometimes)...shopping at Target, bookstore and Fresh Market, but today was totally different in the way of feeling freedom and relieved. I could get in & out of the car without going to the backseat to buckle & unbuckle 2 carseats. I didn't have to chase after the girls who loved to run away in the stores and worry that they would get lost. I didn't have to run & find a bathroom to change diapers for stinky accidents while I already had a lot of stuff in the shopping cart. I didn't have to listen when the girls yelled at each other in the car. Anyway, all the time that I had my personal time, I still didn't think to shop anything for myself though...except sweet snacks for my hubby and books for the girls.

Overall....I had a wonderful time and wish I would have it again.