Good bye 08!

Wow what a year it has been for us!! Now that it's nearly over, it seems only a blink of an eye but in reality it was the longest year of my life thus far. Physically, I gained and lost 40lbs in one year. Emotionally, it was one heck of a rollercoaster ride from being shocked to not knowing what to expect to breaking down in tears of guilt before asking for epidural. I'm sure hubby didn't find it any easier listening and watching me go through it all but he did well keeping me/us on our two feet.

Our lives are definitely different now with Katie. We don't think of her as a hindrance to how our life uses to be before her. Obviously, making her was a choice we both agreed to and knew what sacrifices we had to make. She's so worth it no matter how much we miss staying out late, going to a movie, extra room in the car, etc. etc. She's the cutest thing in the world to us.

Unfortunately, we can't always be around to see her be cute. She's starting the New Year off at Grandma's house. I'm going back to work on the 5th and both Grandmothers have agreed to babysitting duties twice a week. We anticipate frequent phone calls the first week or two but all three of us will learn to let go eventually. For Katie, she'll learn her independence and for us to learn to trust our little girl.

We're looking forward to an awesome 2009 watching Katie be mobile and both Yogi and I promote in our jobs. In this economy every little bit helps :o) Best wishes to all of you in the New Year!!

Merry Christmas!!

On Christmas Day last year we got confirmation I was pregnant. From then on I...

...carried snacks 24/7 to help with the morning sickness,
...trotted around in the cold, wet rain the rest of the season,
...found ways to stay healthy and exercise,
...dealt with the summer heat 110+ degrees,
...carried around 40 extra pounds (at times seem much more),
...took lightrail with the 40lb belly,
...worked till two weeks before I was due,
...took Rolaids nonstop for heartburn,
...endured 24hrs in the labor room,
...bared the pains of breastfeeding,
...adjusted to sleeping 2hr intervals,
...and the list continues!!

All SO worth it for this healthy little miracle to happen!!

Merry Christmas everyone. From our family to yours!!

4 Months!

Gosh how time flies when you’re having fun. I go back to work in two weeks Jan. 5th. I suppose I’m looking forward to a paycheck again but going to miss all the cute things Katie does throughout the day, her smiles, laughs, cries, moans and groans. Not to mention, she’ll be missing me just as much.

Once I go back to work, the plan is to have Yogi’s mom babysit her Mondays and Tuesdays then my mom on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Yogi and I will both be working a 9-day work schedule with alternating Fridays off. She’s been babysat by both Grandmothers every now and then; although, she doesn’t take it lightly and usually puts up a fight for the first hour or two. I know…my poor baby but the time has finally come for her to get uses to the new environments so Mommy and Daddy can make mola for her diapers.

Before I do go back, Yogi took a couple days off this week so we can take a mini vacation to the bay area to visit the new Academy of Science museum and enjoy the holiday lights and sounds downtown. Katie and her cousin Tyrus hungout and enjoyed the museum like going to the zoo. The colorful fishes were their favorite. Amusingly, Katie gave the same interesting stare to a passenger who boarded the train at Castro on our way downtown. Trust me, there were obvious reason the way he/she(?) was dressed…haha…

Katie turned 4 months today and growing in leaps and bounds. She’s getting around to sitting on her own pretty well and those legs don’t ever like to be bent. She might actually run before she crawls! Yes, we’re very afraid! She also slept through the night last night from 9pm-6am. Then we put her back to bed and she slept till 10am. It’s amazing how soon we’re able to say, we SLEPT IN!! Hope it’s not just an early xmas gift cus we can definitely get uses to that sleeping pattern.

Lastly, I’d like to mention our condolences go out to my cousins for my aunt’s passing and our dear friend Cindy’s family for her passing. Two funerals in one week is not how we wanted to end a beautiful year with Katie coming into our lives. Nevertheless, they suffer no more and can rest in peace.

First Surprise Doc Visit

Wow what a week. Katie broke out with eczema and hubby got sick. Translates to a visit to the doctor's office for Katie, lots of rest for hubby, and endless night shift for me.

Katie had a rash that started on her left cheek a couple weeks ago. At first, she seem fine so we moisturized it with lotions and was able to sustain it. But a few days after, the rash spread to her other cheek and neck. By then, she was very uncomfortable and found all sorts of ways to scratch and rub which made it worst. So, we took her in to see her doctor who confirmed she has eczema. It’s a common allergic reaction typically in cold weather conditions when skins are very dry. As to what she’s allergic to? We haven’t yet figured out but it could simply be the weather. Her doc prescribed a tough dose of steroid cream twice a day to make the rash disappear. Amazingly that is exactly what the cream did. Within hours, the redness lightened and the itchiness subsided. However, because the cream contains steroids, it is not a very healthy solution we prefer to use. Thus, we're researching alternative lotions recommended by friends who have been battling the same skin condition with their kids. Hopefully this evil will go away soon for good. It's tough to see Katie not her usual happy self. At night, we've had to swaddle her and keep her hands tie down out of scratch mode. This also prevents her from playing with her bedside toys when she wakes up :o(

Developmentally, Katie is same-o same-o from last week. Since she’s been so bothered by the rash, she doesn’t have much patience to try anything new apart from sucking on her toys. Not at all a bad thing to have her practice her grip and occupy her hands elsewhere other than rubbing her face. We plan to have a better week skin wise then hopefully she’ll pick up on her tumbling skills.

Above pix taken yesterday so her skin is definitely getting better. Yay!

We're Thankful

It’s 6:30am and Katie is back to sleep comfortably on a full tummy and clean diaper - thought I take advantage of this time and write a blog entry before she wakes up and who knows where the day will go from there.

Thanksgiving weekend turned out great for us. We were especially thankful to have Katie healthy and active with us this year. She had an exceptional time playing with all the grandparents, aunties, uncles, cousins and little friends at a couple birthday parties.

Oh and having nice naps while we take her out and about on the shopping runs. We didn’t go crazy especially on one income till I go back to work next month! Nonetheless, we did complete our shopping list and got what we needed and not much of what we wanted. We can work on that list after I go back to work and file our tax return with our sweet little deduction.

As for an update on Katie, she continues to be a very active baby. She enjoys talking to whoever would talk back and especially verbal when she’s due for a change - verbal meaning baby language and not crying which we think is a cool trick. On Thanksgiving Day she also started holding on to her toy and bringing it to her mouth. If the toy is too heavy, she’ll move her mouth to it. It’s the cutest thing!

I suppose things are back to normal this week. Hubby decided to go back to working at work rather than working from home. Who would have guessed he can’t concentrate at home these days. The good thing is he’s back on a 9 day schedule and gets every other Friday off. I hope to get the same schedule when I go back to work and get the alternate Friday off so we’ll only need 4 days of daycare out of the week.