Princess Grace

I followed Grace around on Saturday morning, trying to record her doing the things she usually does. She started twirling, which made me bring out her "princess dress." She typically hasn't shown any interest in girly things, but on Saturday, she absolutely loved wearing her princess dress (thanks to Shannon, who gave Grace the dress for her birthday in Oct.). She even wore it to play in her sandbox outside!!!


Gracie really enjoys coloring, drawing, and painting. Her pictures are pretty cute. Just so that we'd have something to look back on, I had her explain her picture to Jason and recorded it. I drew the blue cat; everything else is hers. I have to share: the spider was originally supposed to be a picture of me. She drew too many legs, so it became an "appletos" (octopus), and then she decided it was actually a spider. I was trying so hard not to laugh as she was explaining to me what happened to her picture of Mama!


We've decided to enroll her in a preschool next year. In fact, we pre-registered today. I'm excited about the learning opportunities that she'll have at preschool. She's learning at her in-home daycare, but I know she'll really love doing the art/craft projects, learning songs, etc. at a preschool. When I stop to think about it, people are right about how fast time flies by. She'll have one year of preschool, and the year after that, she'll be going to Kindergarten! Amazing.

Baby Showers

Two of my closest friends are expecting babies in these next few months! Christa is expecting a baby boy in the next two weeks, and Jill is also expecting a baby boy in May. How cool is that-Jeremy's going to get to grow up with both of them! We threw Jill a baby shower at the beginning of March, and we had a small surprise baby shower for Christa this past weekend. I'm so excited for both of them! Can't wait to meet their little blessings.

2 New Entrepreneurs

Last year, Jason and I became lenders on a website called, "KIVA." If you have never heard of KIVA, make sure you check out their website (there's a link on the right side of our blog). KIVA enables people to lend money to entrepreneurs around the world who are in need of loans to improve their lives. Last year, we supported four people. The two women that I chose have fully repaid their loans. The two men that Jason chose are extremely close to repaying their loans. The first woman was Juana Patricia Flores Barro from Mexico, who requested a loan to purchase items to expand her home business of making food in order to sell it. The second person was Comfort Nortey from Ghana, who asked for a loan to buy fabrics to sew clothes to sell in her village. I have had the chance to reloan my funds for months- I have been so busy that I forgot all about it. Tonight, I finally had a chance to look through some loan requests on the KIVA website and I have selected two new entrepreneurs: Clara Villafan (Peru), who wants to build a stand at a market to sell chickens; and Ni Ketut Suwadri (Indonesia), who makes brown coconut sugar and is in need of new woks and production utensils. It is fascinating to me, how these women support their families. I am inspired and hope that they will receive the funds they asked for- it would so greatly improve their families' lives. (I have posted links on the right side of our blog if you are interested in learning more about these women).

Already?!

Okay, isn't it too early for our son to already be wanting to feed himself!?!? It started last week- there have been several feedings where Jeremy has been really squirmy and has been rejecting the bottle. It would seem like he doesn't want to eat. We noticed that he kept putting his hands on his bottle, so we tried letting him hold the bottle on his own. To our surprise, he's been able to hold his own and has ended up feeding himself. I must say that it is really interesting to be a parent and to watch your child's personality develop, particularly at such a young age!

Back to "Normal"

After taking turns being sick, our family is finally back to good health. Jeremy still has the occasional cough, but he's usually in such a good mood, you wouldn't know that he's actually getting over a cold!

On another note, I just wanted to share how excited I am for the recent changes at my work! I volunteered to teach a 5th/6th grade combination class about a week before I went on maternity leave back in September. I went back to work right after Winter Break, and it's been non-stop craziness ever since. Jason has been absolutely amazing, stepping in, and helping out with with the kids and housework. I have been overworking, staying at work late and then staying up until 1 am most nights to do work after the kids (and Jason) went to bed. Especially with 2 grade levels, 37 homeroom kids, 28 deployment kids, and teaching all of 6th grade writing, there was always so much to prepare for. Up until last week, I felt like I was drowning and even though it was only 8 weeks since I returned, I was already burned out! I definitely contemplated resigning from my job- after all, I enjoy my job, but my family absolutely comes first. I didn't feel like I was doing a very good job balancing all of my responsibilities. The idea of staying home all of a sudden became very appealing. Anyway, within a week, things have completely changed... It seems like it was from out of nowhere, but my district finally decided to split my class. Basically, a new teacher was hired and all of my 6th graders became their own class. The two other 6th grade classes had 40 and 37 kids so a few students from those classes were moved to decrease those numbers. So imagine this- I had 37 kids in a combo class... and now I have 17 in 5th grade. I can't even begin to tell you what a difference that makes! This past week, my work load/stress load has decreased substantially. I am so thankful! Praise God!

Sick and Foam Stickies

Sorry that it's been a while since I last blogged. Life has not been fun around our house! We've all been taking turns being sick. Jeremy's been the worst off. I guess you could say he doesn't stand a chance- Jason and I are around germy kids all day, and Grace is as well, so when one of us gets sick, it's kind of inevitable that he'll probably catch something. Jason has had to take three days off work to be at home with him. He's got a cold and ear infection. It's so hard to see him so miserable. Despite his hacking, drooling, and sneezing, he tries so hard to smile and "talk" to us. Jason's mom is coming to spend the whole day with Jeremy tomorrow so that Jason can go back to work. We are so thankful to her!

Anyway, I've been wanting to post these pictures, taken last week before Jeremy got sick. I was doing laundry when Jason called me to come out to the family room. I guess Gracie got tired of coloring and painting... Jason and I were cracking up when we saw our two kids laying on the floor together. Umm... I guess we should thank Barb for all these foam stickers (Gracie has "decorated" our entire house with them- they're everywhere, including on Jeremy!).

4 Months Old

Jeremy is 4 months old today! He has his 4 month appointment next week, so we don't know exactly how much he weighs and how long he is right now, but everyone who has seen him lately pretty much agrees that he's a big kid. He's got rolls everywhere! It's so cute. He's become more alert to his surroundings this month. Really, he is the happiest baby- completely laid back and easy going. He is content sitting in his bouncer and watching Grace paint, play, read, etc. Just last week, he discovered his hand. It has been interesting to see him stretch out his hand and intently watch it as it moves. Jeremy also started grabbing for things this past week and pulling them towards his mouth. That also means that he is now able to pull out his pacifier (to look at it), and then screams because he can't get it back in. Aside from moments when he wants/needs something, he is so smiley!

Gracie continues to be the best big sister. She is very attentive to his needs and is constantly kissing and hugging him. I hope they grow up to be close!

Check the Photo Album for more pictures taken over the last little while.

Happy New Year!

Happy Lunar New Year! It's the Year of the Rat... We had our annual get-together this past weekend to celebrate. This year, because of how busy it has been for us, instead of Adam, Jill, Jason, and I preparing the meal, we asked everyone to bring an Asian dish of their choice to share. We actually sat at two tables this year. Dinner was fantastic- the evening was a lot of fun and we ate until we were stuffed. It didn't take long. The menu included: Chicken and Corn Soup, Honey Walnut Shrimp, Shrimp Pad Thai, Spicy Orange Chicken, Kung Pao Chicken, Broccoli Beef, Roast Pork, 2 Thai salads (I can't remember the names, but one had cucumbers and the other had citrus fruits and beef and shrimp- sorry, Adam), Spicy Cashew Chicken, and I made spring rolls- It seems like the last time I made them was last Lunar New Year's! To top it all off, we had Vietnamese Coffee and Coconut Custard. If I were to make a resolution, it'd be to make more Vietnamese food this year... I appreciate being able to share my culture and to celebrate with friends- eating Asian food is like eating comfort food to me. Wishing everyone a prosperous and healthy New Year. Chuc Mung Nam Moi!(Jason's missing- he took the picture)

By the way, since Monday is a holiday, that means I should have more free time coming up in the next few days- check back again for updates about Grace and Jeremy!

Cau Son and Co Teresa

Sorry- life has been soooo hectic, I haven't had time to update our blog! A few weekends ago, Jason and I took the kids on our first road trip since Jeremy was born. It was a short one, but about all we could probably handle for now. Teresa, my brother's girlfriend, had a job training in Morgan Hill (right outside San Jose) so we went to meet up with her and my brother, Peter. They flew down from Calgary for about 5 days, but we could only see them on the weekend. It was good to spend some time with them. It took Grace a while to warm up to them last summer, but she was immediately comfortable with them this last visit. She calls them, Cau Son and Co Teresa (Uncle and Auntie). In San Jose, we went to the Children's Discovery Museum). It was ok. We had been looking forward to it, and were kind of disappointed, but oh well. Grace enjoyed it, and that's what matters. Afterwards, we went to the "Eastside," for some authentic Vietnamese food. Yum- we found a place that served a Vietnamese style fondue. I wish we had places like that in Fresno! After dinner, we returned to the hotel to put the kids down for the night. Grace can't fall asleep if we're in the same room as her, so Jason and I decided to splurge and get a "suite." It had a bedroom and a small living room. Grace and Jeremy were able to go to sleep at their usual time and Jason and I were still able to hang out (and watch a lot of home improvement shows). It was soooo worth it. I don't know how we're going to all stay in one room in the future! The next day, we found a small bagel shop for breakfast in Morgan Hill, and then parted ways. I begged Jason to stop at the Gilroy Outlets on our way home. He gave me a limit of 4 stores to visit- and then he decided to also go shopping. Somehow, he ended up coming home with the most stuff! Click on our Photo Album for pictures of our visit with Peter and Teresa (thanks for the pics, guys!).

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

This post is mostly for my mom and dad... Gracie's been singing songs to them over the phone but they wanted something recorded so they could access it whenever they wanted. Enjoy!

Busy Week!

Whew! We made it... barely, but we made it! This was my first week back at work full-time. I expected that it would be hectic, but really, nothing could've adequately prepared me for my new role as a working mom of two! I had a lot of things to catch up on in the classroom this week, and it'll definitely take me a little while longer to get reacquainted with everything. It has been nice to hear everyday from different people how they're glad I'm back at work. My class has changed immensely since I left in Sept. I now have 37 kids on my roster! We are the overflow school for our district, which means that any student who can't enroll at their home school due to full classes, is sent to our school. Other schools can't go exceed in numbers, but ours can to a certain degree because we're the "overflow." So, I am going to have to get used to having a revolving door for the rest of the year- kids are going to be coming and going. Despite all of that, it feels good to be back in the classroom. After everything my class put my sub through, I really thought I had my work cut out for me, but they're actually a pretty good bunch.
Jason has been amazing this week! He has always been a great dad, but this week in particular, he really helped me with the kids so that I could focus on getting things in order at work. Grace has been great- she loves that Jeremy now goes to daycare with her. She's always watching out for him, and tells us how his day went. Jeremy on the other hand, hasn't quite adjusted yet. We have come to describe him as an easy going, happy baby, but that wasn't the case this past week. He was grouchy, extremely needy, and for several nights, woke up every hour and a half or so through the night. I'd go in to give him his binky and he'd look up and smile at me. What a kid! Even after depriving me of much needed sleep, just a mere look at him and I melt! As of yesterday, he is now 3 months old! Time has gone by so quickly...

Happy Belated New Year!

It has now been a year since I first started blogging! After trying to cram all of our family's news into last year's Christmas letter, I realized that there really was no way to update people with just a letter.... That was the reason why I decided to start our family blog last January. Looking back, it is amazing to see how God has worked in our lives this past year. If you've been checking it every so often, hopefully you've gotten a better glimpse into the daily happenings of our lives. Needless to say, I didn't send out a Christmas letter this year! Hope you'll keep checking during this upcoming year!

This past week, we've had so much fun getting to spend time with our friends, enjoying two of our loves: eating and playing games!

We rang in the new year with Randy & Jamie, Christa & Aaron, and Jill & Adam. The highlight was probably the New Year's cookies (fritters) that Jill made- we only get them once a year and we always look forward to them! Yum!

As well, we were able to spend some time with Kristen & Allen, Teresa & Brian, and Alison & Russ last night. Kristen & Allen prepared a fondue meal- it was delicious!

We are so thankful to have such amazing people in our lives!