Happy Holidays!

So I know I've been a delinquent at posting these past few months, but I have a legitimate reason - dealing with the birth of my baby! To be fair, I did start entries, but I just never got around to posting them. I will do so soon. For now, we wanted to wish everyone a Happy Holidays! I haven't been in the bay area to celebrate Christmas for over 9 years! I really want to get a Christmas tree..maybe there's still some time left...and maybe all the trees are half price by now since Christmas is 3 days away?

labor pains...bye bye!

Details of my labor story. Or, lack-of labor story.

She (yup, it's a she) was born on October 16, 2011 at 9:50a.m. This delinquent baby decided she wanted out 3 weeks early. We were not expecting this and were so fully unprepared - what's new? We didn't have our bags packed for the hospital, the car seat wasn't installed, the house wasn't cleaned... But this little one just couldn't wait to join this crazy world of ours. 

It was around 5:30 in the morning when my water broke. I thought maybe this was a false alarm since I still had 3 more weeks to go. And I wasn't feeling any severe labor pains. In fact, I didn't feel anything at all. But I'm pretty sure there isn't such a thing as "false water breaking". We called the hospital, told her my situation and she told me to go in and get checked out. I asked if I could take a shower first though because I didn't want to be dirty and smelly during labor!

I started to feel a few contractions on the way there, but nothing too painful. Both the hubby and I were surprisingly calm. Well, unless he was faking it. We got to the hospital and they confirmed that my water did break. Not only that, they also confirmed that the baby was in a breech position and that I needed a c-section. Since I was only 1.2 cm dilated (TMI, I know), the nurses took their time to prep me and then around 9 am, I was wheeled into the surgery room for operation moose.

About an hour later, after the cutting, tugging, pushing (on my stomach), sewing and cleaning, Avery Frances Lin was born. The first thing I asked when they brought her over to me was "Does she have any hair?!" The nurse lifted the cap and showed me the head full of hair. I was relieved. The anesthesiologist said I could kiss her but I said no because I had oral herpes (or you know, one of those cold sores on the corner of my mouth) and I didn't want to pass it to her. He thanked me for reminding him. To be honest, I wasn't sure how clean she was and she looked kind of strange. She looked just like her daddy! And then she was taken away. 

That's pretty much it for my labor story. I sorta got everything I wanted out of this pregnancy: 1) A girl 2) early labor 3) a c-section. Maybe Avery was listening to me after all while she was in my tummy.

9 hours old

Happy Birthday, Avery!

AVERY FRANCES LIN

Details to follow!!!!

Nacho Ems & Sushi Shady

Emily and Shady reunited.

the art of swaddling..

Shady is being a good sport and letting me practice swaddling on her.

Baby Pamdrew's Non-Shower

Today was my non-shower, hosted by my godson's parents.  I originally didn't want a traditional baby shower (hence non-shower) but it ended up being really fun and we had a good time catching up with old friends and family. Baby Pamdrew is lucky to have such great godparents! They threw a perfect, non-stressful, non-shower and I can't thank them enough! Muah!

welcome home Shady!

The hubby flew back to Taipei for a few days so he could bring our Shady back to the USofA! We've missed her so much and we're so happy to have her back!

Welcome home Shadesta!

quack quack

These rubber ducky baby shower cupcakes are adorable! I'm loving green lately - it may just have to be the theme color for the nursery. Originally planned on something yellow, but I'm getting a bit tired of seeing the "gender neutral" color at baby stores and online boutiques. Green is also gender neutral, but I'm not sick of it. Yet.

Photos grabbed from A Baked Creation.

missoni gone crazy

I took a stroll to Target late this afternoon to check out the highly anticipated Missoni for Target line. Amazingly, almost everything for women was sold out. The only goods left were some pajamas, undies, and a few accessories. Even the Missoni for home section was completely depleted. Women ARE crazy. I wasn't planning on buying anything, but I couldn't resist this pair of flats for babies. It was the last pair so what the hell. If the baby moose turns out to be a boy, no worries - the BFF is for sure having a baby girl.

baby fever...

Even Bella is having a baby! Can't wait for the premiere of Breaking Dawn Nov. 18! I may have to drag the baby moose whether it wants to go or not.

guess who's back in town?!

My old roomie Ems is here conducting research for her PhD and will be around for at least a month or so! Welcome back, Ems! Old skool photo from 2006:

pizza pizza

I have been on a pizza crave lately. I can't seem to get enough. Bought pizza dough at Trader Joe's and made my own pizza. It's was so easy to make and I'm definitely doing it again! I'm looking like dough these days so adding more to my body wouldn't make any difference now.

jaxsie.

I met up with my godson and his mama today. He is such a big boy now and really starting to look like his mama. What a cutie he is!

rolled out

We tried an all-you-can-eat sushi roll place near our house for dinner tonight. The price per person wasn't too expensive and the rolls were surprisingly pretty good. Up until the end when we had to eat everything on the table or we'd have to pay regular price per dish that went to waste. Every roll started to taste the same and it was disgusting. I don't think I will have rolls for awhile after this.

Happy Birthday, Jo!

My cousin turns 32 today. We celebrated last night with her and her friends at St. George Spirits distillery in Alameda. So I had a few sips of cocktails concocted of vodka and absinthe. Shhh... I think the baby moose enjoyed it. S/he said, more, please more. Happy Birthday JoJo!

one good thing about pregnancy.

Parking spaces for preggo people:

nursery progress.

Clearly, choosing paint colors - and painting walls - is not my forte.

Why don't the colors you have in mind ever turn out the way you imagined them to be? So frustrating. Someone please sign us up for Extreme Makeover Home Edition. FYI,  color samples above were for the bathroom vanity wall. Not nursery room.

sf loving.

I met up with a few ex-workers for brunch today at Boogaloos in the mission. It's been awhile since I've seen them and it was great to catch up on everything! They made me realize how much I miss working. No joke.

I ordered the lemon cornmeal pancakes with scrambled eggs and ham. It was delicious! I may have to reproduce it on my own. I love SF. Sadly, no one ever wants to drive up to the city with me to explore all the good eats. Anyone wanna be my partner in crime? (picture doesn't look as good as it tastes)

fair trade.

We had to return Aiko to her rightful owners today. In exchange, we received a box of Laduree macaroons from my cousin and her hubby.

Worth the trade?  Hmmm...

3D ultrasound round two.

Fail.

This baby moose refuses to spread its legs. Should it really be a girl, I was allowing her to do so just this once. But nope. Either its hiding something or its really prudish.

We give up. Consider the moose a girl for now. Confirmation will have to wait until November.

She looks quite cheeky here:

i want to go to there.

I feel like this piece of art right now.

letting it go.

I've been feeling a bit depressed lately because of how ugly I've become. Ok, utterly depressed.

Bye Bye waist, and soon, Bye Bye toes:

But I guess I should really embrace my fatness and accept the pregnancy ugliness. I have 2 more months of getting fatter and uglier and 2 more months before I am imprisoned for life. So .. I'm letting it all go. Letting myself go that is.

On a side and happier note - my BFF is having a *GIRL! Just like me!! They are going to be big, fat piggies together.

*We're going for the 2nd 3D ultrasound this Friday but I'm almost convinced the baby moose is a girl.

we heart aiko.

We're having so much fun with my cousin's pup Aiko. She's the best Japanese Akita ever! Just like the one in that Richard Gere movie Hachi. I do feel a little guilty though.. like I'm cheating on Shady. But the hubby will be bringing her back soon! I can't wait to squeeze the life out of her. We sure miss having a dog around. Plus, having a dog forces me to walk, which I am in major need of.

mess.

Our garage.

oldie, but goodie

I hear there's going to be a remake of Dirty Dancing . Hopefully, it'll be as good as the original and this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpHQLKK_qQ0

Nobody puts Baby in the corner.

Happy 8/8 Day!

Today is father's day in Taiwan (today's date 8/8 = ba ba = papa in Chinese).  I love you "bottoms up Cheng"!

popbooth.

A fun, new app for your iphone..and FREE! 

pupsitting part II.

My cousin Sooz and her family officially made the move back to Cali from Chicago this weekend. We all met up for lunch today and I finally got to meet my little nephew Max for the first time! Below, a picture of all my nephews and niece. Our baby moose will be an addition to the group of little people very soon. Scary.

Serena, Max, and Jayden

Sooz and her hubby Jim are heading to Paris for 10 days (so jealous!) so we offered to babysit their pup Aiko while they are gone. Our pupsitting days continue! Maybe we should start our own doggie hotel.

Aiko is the most mellow dog we've ever met, but we're having a lot of fun with her as well.

pupsitting.

We're babysitting Shady's friends Milo and Lily this weekend. They seemed to like the hubby a lot, probably because he's too nice. I'm definitely more of the disciplinarian, even with Shady. It was so strange to not have her here. Made us miss her even more.

Aside from pupsitting, the hubby and I attended a "childbirth" class from 9:00am - 3:30pm today. Since I'm on medi-cal, these classes are offered for free so we thought, why not. When we were asked to introduce ourselves, we had to say what we disliked/enjoyed most about my pregnancy. He said he disliked the constant complaining as a joke, but no one had a sense of humor and thought he was mean. It took me awhile to think of something I enjoyed about it, and all I could think of was that people were nicer to me. Everyone else had answers like "the bonding with the baby, the "togetherness" they felt as parents-to-be, and blah blah blah. We kinda just looked at each other and laughed.

And for old time's sake.. 

3D ultrasound.

FAIL.

So we went to get a 3D ultrasound today to find out the sex of the baby. And guess what happened? This baby moose was so uncooperative and just refused to move around for the sonographer to get a good crotch shot! On top of that, the umbilical cord, placenta, hands, feet were all in front of its face. This baby is naughty - we are so screwed.

The owner was really nice and offered our money back or to return in two weeks for another ultrasound, free of charge. We are determined to find out the sex so we will go back in two weeks. Apparently, this rarely happens. Only to me of course. ARGH. Below are a few shots that are a bit more visible.

I think it has my lips and nose. And thank goodness it looks like it has 5 fingers. I'm going to be soooo mad if we don't find out the sex in two weeks. Wish us luck.

butter and cheese.

I want these rabbit eared serving plates from Tina Frey Designs: (not Tina Fey)

Perfect for butter and cheese. Two things I can't get enough of right now but really shouldn't consume anymore.

Her inspiration: