Renewal

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted anything and I don’t even know if anybody will read this but I wanted to get some of my thoughts down. It was a sad day this past Sunday as we said goodbye to our church, Cornerstone. It’s been our home for the past 3 ½ yrs. We haven’t been fully happy there for awhile as we weren’t growing spiritually and the culture there is pretty koreanized. We didn’t realize it until the past year or so. I did make a few good friends whom I will miss dearly, but we just couldn’t stick it out anymore when we weren’t growing, even though we tried.

A few months ago, we found out about Renewal Presbyterian starting a multi-site church in King of Prussia. It wasn’t a coincidence that we kept running into a couple randomly over the years that went to Renewal in West Philly. It all started with meeting them @ KUC, who happened to be good friends with KCK & shbock. Running into them at the library for storytime & having them even come to Cornerstone 2-3 times was no accident. They even invited us to their son’s birthday party and that’s when we met a few people from Renewal (one of whom used to know Dan a long time ago). I don’t like to read into things too much or try to spiritualize things, but looking back, I really believe God was working through them and planted that seed for us. We were counting down the days that Renewal was going to launch and have been attending for the past 4 weeks. We’ve been blown away by Paul Kim’s sermons & how welcoming the staff has been. We realize no church is perfect and every church has their weaknesses, but we’re happy to say that we’re going to settle down at our new home & are excited to serve and get involved. As we sadly close the chapter of our lives @ Cornerstone, we are excited to start a new one @ Renewal. It’s ironic that the name of the church perfectly describes my spiritual journey.

American Idol Finale

Even though I didn’t really care who won, I was slightly disappointed that Adam didn’t win. I don’t know why. I guess because I think Adam was so different and is vocally more talented and entertaining. Never have I been excited to see what a contestant would do each week until Adam. But I guess I don’t see a lot of people buying his album. He would be great in a concert setting. People either loved him or hated him. Kris on the other hand is more radio friendly and showed that humble side. He really did come from behind as nobody expected him to even make it to the top. Plus, it helped that he’s really cute too. Well, guess Paula was right in that Kris won because of the “Danny Gokey” factor (maybe the judges should stop "pimping" a contestant as it worked against them). I read in an interview that Kris said he hoped he wouldn’t win because of all the “Christian” votes and that people should just vote based on talent.

Loved seeing Nick Mitchell (aka Norman Gentle) again. We knew we had to see crazy Tatiana again. But the best part of the show was when Kara outshined Bikini girl! Kara has an awesome singing voice. Loved it how Bikini girl looked really annoyed that she kept getting out sung by Kara. And who knew Kara had an awesome body, even better than Bikini girl?!!

The end of my American Idol posts until next year!

AI - Final 3!

Yes, Allison went home! The final 3 is what I hoped for: Adam, Danny and Kris. This week was not my favorite week, even though I do like rock. Performances were sub par and Adam's was the best. At this point, I don't care who wins as I'm happy and thrilled with this top 3. They're all talented in their own way and I'm sure they'll all be successful. Simon is hoping that Adam is the winner, so we'll see if he's right. Hubby is thrilled there's only 2 more weeks left of AI.

Looking forward to Daughtry's new album as I loved his first one. Elliot Yamin's new album, "Fight For Love" is actually pretty decent. If you liked his previous 2007 hit, "Wait For You" you'll like his new CD (wasn't too crazy about his debut album though).

I Love New York!

Nathan and I returned from a wonderful 3 day trip to NYC visiting my sister. Nathan had tons of fun riding the train (NJ Transit) and the subway (he was shocked he didn’t have to wear a seatbelt!). We are definitely suburbanites as Nathan got tired very easily walking around the city. I’m actually sore myself from all that walking, but I ended up losing about 2 lbs just from the short trip (with all the walking New Yorkers have to do, it’s no wonder NY is considered to be one of the “skinniest city” as opposed to Philly being “a fat city”). It was funny watching Nathan look at all the tall skyscrapers during the day and all the bright lights at night. Our days were filled with visiting FAO Schwartz, Toys R Us in Times Square, Chinatown, stopping at all the water fountains and the playground in Central Park. I’m thankful for the beautiful weather we had and the good food…we had dinner one night in Chinatown and I got my taro bubble tea and green tea ice cream. Having that always completes my trip and puts a big smile on my face! It was a great bonding time for me and my son and for Nathan to spend time with his aunt and uncle. Also, it gave Dan a break from him and to spend time with Kaitlyn…he did say the house was very quiet and lonely at times!

AI note: how shocking was it that Adam was in the bottom 2?!!! I really hope the top 3 ends up being Adam, Danny and Kris.

Twitter anyone?

Anybody out there twitter? Just got into and trying it out. Since my work blocks all social network sites like Facebook, Twitter, etc, I figure I'd give twitter a try since it's easier than Facebook. I don't have time at night for Facebook as it looks like too much work!

Check it out: http://twitter.com/ihnacho

Marriage Already?!

This was our conversation the other day:

Nathan: Mommy, you look pretty. Someday, I’m going to get married to a girl.
Me: Yeah?! (sad that we have to emphasize these days he has to marry a girl, not a boy!!)
Nathan: Where am I going to meet a girl?
Me: Anywhere….it can be at school, church, anywhere! Do you like Emily & Nicole? (girls from our church)
Nathan: Yes, I’m going to marry all of them and Georgia! (she’s our previous pastor’s daughter)
Me: No, you can only marry one girl! Who do you like? Emily, Nicole?
Nathan: I’m going to marry Georgia!

So sad that he’s already thinking about marriage and leaving me! Sniff sniff!

Pics

Side note on AI: I was mad the judges wasted their save on Matt. They're going to kick themselves if somebody good ends up in the bottom 2 this week. Adam should be safe with Disco week.

She loves the swing (some of you may have seen some of these videos on hubby's facebook). She's a lot more adventurous than Nathan as he was scared of the swing when he was a baby. I was sad I missed this.

Pics from New Year's Day

Her smiles are few and far between for strangers. You have to work hard to earn her smiles! I guess her personality is a lot like mine...cautious like me! Nathan on the other hand smiled for everyone.

Here's a smile!

AI - Top 7

Worst performance has to go to Lil. She was way off tune and just fell apart. Her attitude and sticking up for herself may land her in hot waters tonight and send her home. Also think Allison wasn’t as great as the judges claimed. Her growling is starting to grate on me. In general, I thought everybody was mediocre and there was no standout performance last night, so I have no favorites. Anybody can go home based on last night's performance.

I was thrilled that only 2 of the judges would be speaking for each contestant, but they still ran over 3 minutes!! What is wrong with the producers? Seriously, this is the 8th season and they still can’t get this show in under an hour! Luckily I recorded Fringe so I didn’t miss anything. I did though miss hearing Simon’s comments for each contestant because he tells is like it is and doesn’t tell everybody they sound wonderful (cough cough Paula). Maybe this is his way of sending the message that this show needs him because his contract does end next year and he recently stated that he may leave American Idol because of his other commitments.

Taxes

Talk about last minute, taxes are finally done in our house! If it were up to me, I would have them done in February, but Dan loves to put it off to the last minute. Last year was the first year we actually owed money, so we thought things would even out this year since Kaitlyn was born. We didn’t realize that the economic stimulus payments we received in 2008 for 2007 tax year gave us another $300 credit for her since our tax status changed in 2008, so we were thrilled we got that extra money. However, we got so many other credits we didn’t realize we were going to get, we got a huge refund. Most people are usually excited about getting extra money, but we actually want to owe. I always feel like the government is cheating us out of our money by keeping it throughout the year. I would rather have that money myself spreadout throughout the year!

In other sad news, I was sad and shocked to hear the passing of Harry Kalas, the Phillies broadcaster. I grew up listening to him while watching Phillies games. I can’t imagine listening to anybody else….it just won’t be the same anymore. At least he got to see the Phillies finally win the World Series and to call that final out.

AI Top 8 Performance

Unfortunately my TIVO did not record the last 6-7 minutes of the show, so I was livid that it went over so much and that I completely missed Adam’s performance (I couldn’t extend my recording bcs hubby had 2 shows to record @ 9. He absolutely HATES AI and refused to let AI run into his shows). Seriously, Ryan needs to do a better job at keeping the show moving and the judges need to stop jabbering. If this is FOX’s way of forcing everybody to watch the show Live to get extra ratings, it’s just really evil. I managed to frantically (and obsessively) search for Adam’s performance and a kind soul posted it online….thank goodness for the internet! What would we have done in the pre-internet days?!

Favorite performance is Adam by far, although I think he was off on a note or two. But who cares? I don’t remember the last time Simon gave a standing ovation. I forgot to mention last week that I like Adam even more when he gave kudos to the band. I know how it is being in that "support" or "accompanying" role and being forgotten or unmentioned. The band does a lot of work behind the scenes and people don't give them enough credit. I can't imagine the amount of practice they do everyday for all those singers. Next favs would have to be Danny, Matt & Allison.

Worst performance has to be Scott. When I heard the intro to Survivor’s “The Search is Over”, I thought for sure Scott was going to be on the piano again. I was shocked to see him playing the guitar, but after hearing him play horrendously, it might’ve been better if he stayed at the piano. Give him props though for trying to come out of the comfort zone, however his vocals just don’t even come close to the others. The judges were being awfully nice to him and not being as harsh as he probably deserved. Hard to say who’ll be the bottom 3. It could be anybody: Lil, Anoop (even though he was good last night), Matt (because he’s been there b4 even though he did well and he was shorted on the judge’s comment). But Scott should definitely go home.

Lost - Whatever Happened, Happened

Quick thoughts on Lost:

-I thought the conversation between Hurley and Miles were hilarious. The Back to the Future theory is exactly what I was thinking…it’s as if the executive producers were reading our thoughts before we were even thinking of it and addressed our questions directly through them! That’s just brilliant writing!

-Who would’ve thought Kate was the “blabber mouth” and would tell the truth about everything in the future?

-Did anyone find it disturbing that she left Aaron sleeping alone in the hotel room, even though it was 2 doors down? I would not feel safe doing that knowing that I “lost” my child a few hours before!

-So, it looks like we get to see how little Ben (or “Harry Potter”) becomes evil Ben (or “Voldemart”)! Looks like the “mind wipe” is similar to what they did to C3PO in Star Wars Episode III to explain why he wouldn’t remember Anakin or anything in Episode IV.

-Did anyone find it a bit creepy that Roger Linus was a little flirty with Kate?

Top 9

Top performances were Adam, Kris & Danny. These 3 are still my top 3. Funny how Kris wasn’t in my fav list in the beginning, but he’s really inched up there and had some great performances. Lil was really off key….I think the judges definitely hear something different in the auditorium than what we hear on TV, but she picked the wrong song AGAIN. Allison really messed up the chorus and wasn’t as good as last week. Scott definitely had his best vocals last night and he can definitely play, but don’t know if he’ll escape the bottom 3. He really needs to get away from the piano once in awhile and stop using that as a crutch. Did not like Matt’s performance, which is a shame because I was starting to like him after last week.

Bottom 3 should be Scott, Matt/Anoop & Megan with Megan going home. But I get this feeling she won’t even be in the bottom 3 as she’s somehow missed it the past few weeks.

AI - Top Ten & Lost - He's Our You

AI:
The top performance last night was Adam by far. He has such incredible control in his voice and played it smart by not doing anything crazy after last week’s creepy performance. I always look forward to what he’s going to do next (but I definitely don't want to see another "creepy" performance like last week). I also liked Kris, Matt and Allison. Anoop did pretty well too. Lil is disappointing me as I expected her to be the star with the Motown theme. I think she’s over singing some of her songs, which is making her go off pitch. This year is definitely a men’s year…the women are a disappointment.

The bottom 3 tonight should be Scott, Michael and Megan. I really don’t think Scott can handle big songs. He’s an amazing piano player, but vocally is just not there. Amazing back story which is why he made it this far, but unfortunately I think it’s time for him to go.

Lost (spoilers ahead):
What a great episode! I was laughing hysterically when Sayid was given the truth serum. Didn’t he sound so ridiculous as he was telling the truth? I loved when he said, “I’m from the future!” and when Oldham thought he should’ve used half a drop, Sayid crazily says, “You used exactly enough!”

Did anyone expect him to shoot little Ben (aka creepy looking Harry Potter)? I thought about it, but didn’t think he would do it. For a split second, I almost thought he was going to shoot Jin. I hope Jin isn’t dead. Now, how is this going to change the future? Is little Ben really dead? Will adult Ben disappear?

Lost - Namaste

Random thoughts on last night's show:

-Why didn’t Sun and Ben disappear in the flash of light like everyone else? Did the island not need them or are they supposed to fulfill some other destiny?
-Where is Daniel Faraday? Mysterious how Sawyer said he’s “not anymore”.
-Was that the smoke monster Frank and Sun saw rustling in the trees?
-What is this long journey Christian referred to for Sun? How will she get back to 1977?
-How great was it to see Sun clobber Ben with that oar?!!
-Did anyone else think Juliet was messing with Kate when her name wasn’t originally on the list? They always say keep your enemies close!
-How funny was it when Juliet found out the baby’s name was Ethan and put the baby down immediately?! I keep thinking of Amy as “Michelle Dessler” from the show “24”….I wish she was still on with Tony!
-Anybody else disappointed the baby was Ethan? I thought the baby was supposed to be special.
-Loved hearing Sawyer’s nicknames for Hurley again…..Kong.
-Loved how Hurley was shocked by Jin’s English…..dude, your English is good!
-Interesting to watch how Sawyer is now the leader as opposed to Jack. You know he loves it. Loved Jack’s reaction to him being a janitor….think Sawyer had any part in that?!
-Creepy to see little Ben Linus….saw that coming as soon as I saw the boy wanting to give food to Sayid. That boy was just as creepy looking as adult Ben.
-Are they all there to stop Benjamin from being the leader or to stop the Purge from happening? Maybe the island is trying to “correct” itself?
-Whatever happened to Faraday’s theory that whatever happened happened? Looks like to me they’re changing history….ugh, reminds me of the movie “Back to the Future”…we need the Doc to explain this whole time travel!

Quick note on American Idol results: was anybody else disappointed Alexis went so early and the judges didn't use their save? You know they're going to save it for Adam or Danny. Megan or Michael should have gone last night!

Top 11

Favorite performance last night was Kris Allen. Anoop and Matt G comes in 2nd for me. I was disappointed in a lot of them as pitch problems seems to have hit them again. I don’t know what to make of Adam….I give him props for his uniqueness and I still think he has great vocals, but last night’s arrangement was a bit kind of scary…you either loved it or hated it. I hope he doesn’t go quite yet.

My bottom 2 predictions are Alexis (unfortunately) and Megan, with Megan hopefully going home. Vocally she’s the worst one in the competition and those weird hip shaking moves have got to go! If she goes, hopefully the judges won’t waste their save on keeping her.

Kelly Clarkson's CD "All I Ever Wanted" is awesome!! She has some great rocking songs that I've added to my exercise playlist on my iPod. I still think out of all the AI winners, she's by far the best one vocally.

6 Month Pics

Here's some pics of our little "fat" girl. She now weighs 16 lbs, 8 oz (56th percentile). Nathan weighed exactly the same at his 6 month appt, but he was in the 30th percentile. Funny to see how the percentages are different for boys and girls. Even though they weighed the same, Kaitlyn just seems soooo much heavier. Maybe being an inch shorter than his brother at his age makes her look more pudgy!

Lounging around. Love how she's holding up her tiny little feet!

I love it when babies don't have teeth!

Big brother helping out.

Her cheeks are red because she's a thumb sucker. Who knew that saliva was toxic?!! Friends have told us to use vaseline and it's been working wonders.

He always tries to include Elmo as part of our family.

First big snowstorm we had this year.

Top 13

I think I can safely say that this season’s Top 13 does not have any Sanjaya’s, Carmen Rasmussen's or Haley Scarnato’s….everybody is actually pretty decent, so there’s no controversy or outrage. My absolute favorites are Adam Lambert and Danny Gokey. If I have to pick the worst, it has to be Megan Corkrey & Jasmine Murray. Megan obviously made it because of her looks and her “quirkiness”. Her weird dances has got to stop! I guess the judges see something in Jasmine that I don’t, but every time I’ve heard her sing, she’s been awfully flat and looks scared to death when she sings.

Anoop, why did you sing “Beat It”?!!! Seriously, that song is only meant for the King of Pops!! Tsk tsk, I don’t know if his fan base can keep him in the show after last night. I cringed the whole time he sang it and was almost embarassed for him. Out of the 13, I think Adam is the only one who could have pulled off Beat It, but even then, that song should not be touched by anyone but Michael Jackson…is anyone else hoping he makes a surprise appearance on AI since he recently announced his tour? I won’t be surprised if Megan, Jasmine, Anoop or Jorge goes tonight. It’s a shame because I do kind of like Anoop and Jorge…bad song choices!

AI - Group 3

Well, this group is definitely the best out of the 3 during the past 3 weeks, so I’m having a hard time picking the best ones. If I have to choose, my top 3 are Lil, Jorge and Scott. Even though Scott didn’t have the best vocals, I’m rooting for him…I’ve read that he leads worship in his church along with the other 3 male contestants that went through the past 2 weeks (Danny Gokey, Kris Allen and Michael Sarver). Felicia Barton falls in my top pick too…she also leads worship at her church. Please don’t bring back Nathaniel. We don’t need a drama queen! Dan and I were cracking up last night because the blue headband he was wearing looks an awful like the headbands Kaitlyn wears!

I think a “Simon Cowell week” is an excellent idea…that way, the judges can’t blame a bad performance on poor song choice.

All Done!

I'm officially done breastfeeding and pumping as of yesterday and made it to my goal of 6 months! It was good timing as it was starting to get busy at work and getting more difficult to get away from my desk. But I'm really thankful to my company for having a dedicated lactating room fully equipped with a sink, refrigerator/freezer & locks on doors. At my last company, they didn't have such a room, so looking for an open office, covering up the windows, putting up a sign, going to the bathroom to wash things, etc made it difficult for nursing mothers. I was a little bit sad as I saw myself drying up and that this will be the last time (as we don't plan on having any more kids), but at the same time I'm happy to get my freedom again and that we can go places now. I have to say I became a master at pumping...at times I've had to pump in the car, even while we were driving! Very difficult to do when your husband is driving wildly on roads like Lincoln Drive (it's a very windy road here in Philadelphia).

Now on to concentrating on losing this belly fat that just won't go away. With Nathan, I was able to fit back into my skinny jeans 5-6 months after giving birth with minimal workouts. I've been working out 2-3 times a week and doing situps every night and I still can't fit into my regular pants. My weight right now is what I weighed when I came home from the hospital with Nathan, so I still have another 10-12 lbs to go. It's so much harder the 2nd time around! I've determined that everybody falls into one or all three of these categories in losing baby fat:

1) Good genes
2) Breastfeeding
3) Dieting and exercising

Unfortunately I fall into #3. Breastfeeding/pumping only helped me lose 15 lbs and then it just stops. I know some people who fall into #1 and/or #2 and they became even skinnier than they were b4 they were pregnant...I hate those people and it's so unfair! I just have to watch my portions and exercise consistently. I realized that my metabolism has dramatically slowed down and I can't gorge and eat whatever I want anymore. But I am proud of the fact that I can now run 20 minutes straight...when I first started out a few months ago, I was dying after 5 minutes. I'm thankful to my company again for having a gym so that I can workout during lunchtime...it's a great energy boost in the middle of the day.....I just don't have the energy to wake up early or go after work.

AI Group 2 and Lost Thoughts

AI thoughts:
I’m not impressed with anybody from last night and was actually bored. I’m sure a lot of these singers are talented and did well in earlier auditions, but based on last night’s performance, they all did horrible. Poor song choice or pitch problems seemed to have been the theme last night. Although I have to say Adam Lambert does have an amazing vocal range and can really belt out those high notes better than some girls. But the most entertaining by far was Nick Mitchell/Nick Gentle. Hubby and I are actually hoping he makes it through the next round! He actually doesn't have a bad voice, but Dan's motivation for him going through is to prove that this show is a sham.

I was not thrilled with the new format this year as I was worried if there were too many good singers in one group, it would be hard to pick only the top 3 to go to the next round. Looks like I don't have to worry about that so far. Let's hope next week's group is better.


Lost thoughts:
-So, it looks like the Losties are changing history as Charles Widmore remembers Lock when he was 17. I wonder why Danielle doesn’t remember Jin when we met her in earlier seasons then? This time travel is getting me dizzy.
-Is there anybody Locke doesn’t fall for? He’s so gullible and falls for the tricks of his father, those drug dealers, Matthew Abaddon, Ben, Mr. Eko, Richard, Daniel Faraday, and Christian. I wish they’d explain why Locke is so special.
-How did Kate, Jack, Hurley, Sayid & Sun get back to the island without Aaron? Didn’t all 6 of them need to be on the plane?
-I can’t believe how big Walt is. I saw the actor on a Tyson’s chicken commercial and was worried he wasn’t coming back to Lost!
-Abaddon is so creepy in this show and on Fox’s Fringe. But when the actor speaks in interviews, he sounds so normal and not so creepy/mysterious!
-Is Helen really dead or is this a setup for Locke to go back to the island?
-Did Ben kill Locke so that he can be resurrected on the island or to take back control of the Others? What was it about Eloise Hawking that made Ben decide to kill Locke?
-Hard to believe who we can trust – Widmore, Ben??? Anyone, anyone?
-How were Hurley, Sayid, Sun and Kate convinced to come on the plane? Loved it last week when the pilot realized they weren't going to Guam!

So many questions….I hope they don’t bring too many new characters, especially unnecessary ones like they did with Nikki and Paolo.

First AI Top 3

I'm thrilled that Alexis Grace and Danny Gokey made it past this round as I thought they did the best last night. I was ready to scream if crazy Tatiana went through, but I should have known the producers did that for more drama. I'm neutral on Michael Sarver. I was hoping it would be Anoop..maybe he'll come back in the wild card. But the real loss was Danny's friend Jamar...he should have been in the top 36! The women last night was really disappointing. Let's hope next week is better. Bye bye drama queen Tatiana!

Bikini girl

So far, nobody has stood out for me yet on American Idol. I do have one rant though about the bikini girl….that girl cannot sing and yet she got through another round because of her body. She clearly went flat and was all over the place on that Faith Hill song as Paula and Kara said, but of course Randy and Simon were too busy salivating over her and remembering her in her bikini. Clearly other singers who didn’t make it to the next round were much better than her….what kind of message are they sending to young girls?!! This show has had its controversy and the most talented never wins or even makes it to the top 12. But this girl just sickens me with her little smirk, knowing that she got through undeservedly. And her making out with Ryan Seacrest is just even more disgusting….clearly this girl knows how to get ratings and attention. I do feel a little sorry for her as she’s clearly insecure and has to use her body to get what she wants. Having a daughter now just makes me think how to raise her in this shallow world, where looks are unfortunately important to a lot of people.

Random Thoughts on Lost

Don’t read if you haven’t seen the 2 hour premiere of Lost:

-I loved seeing Ana Lucia back…hilarious that she said, “Libby says hi”!
-Who initiated the request for a blood sample from Aaron and Kate?
-Does Sun blame Kate for Jin’s “death” and want revenge? She was hard to read.
-Sayid’s fight scene was really cool!
-Nice to see a short back story on Dr. Marvin Candle/ Pierre Chang.
-Who are these other group of people that look like they’re wearing WWII uniforms? How far back in time did they go? I figure they went back pretty far if they’re using flaming arrows instead of guns…the Others and Dharma Initiatives would have used guns.
-How dumb was Hurley to go back to his parent’s house?
-Who is Mrs. Hawkins (the hooded lady from the church basement and the lady from the pawn shop who sold the ring to Desmond)?
-Shirtless Sawyer….need I say more?!!
-Hurley pretty much sums up the whole show to his mother, but didn’t it sound really ridiculous when he told it?!! And yet, we still are hooked to this show.

Old TV Sitcoms

These days I’ve been watching old TV sitcoms while I’ve been pumping. It’s the only thing that’s been keeping me motivated to keep going and it wakes me up in the early morning b4 going to work. I’ve been watching all the episodes of The Brady Bunch, Full House, Three’s Company, All in the Family….all compliments of the local library. It’s nice to see these shows in order and understand the shows now that I’m older (like Three’s Company). Every once in awhile I’ll have Three’s Company on while Nathan is playing and he likes it whenever Jack Tripper falls down or knocks things over! He doesn’t understand the conversation, so I figure it’s safe to leave that on in front of him. It was sad to see the progression of Suzanne Somers leaving Three’s Company, see some of her lines going to the other actors and just seeing them film her part on the phone separately.

Dan also got me all the episodes of Seinfeld and Friends on my iPod, so it’s been keeping me entertained while pumping at work. I miss the corny and cheesy sitcoms from the 80’s and 90’s and the innocence back then (The Cosby Show was one of my favorite shows). Now everything is much grittier or filled with reality shows. I’ve been watching so much TV these days…..with watching these old shows on top of the new ones at night (like 24, American Idol, Lost, Fringe, Grey’s Anatomy, The Office, ER, How I Met Your Mother, etc.), I must have watched hundreds of hours of TV in the past few months! I really should cut back, but I just love TV. Maybe I love it so much because my parents tried to restrict me from watching too much TV….they even went so far as wrapping the TV cord around the TV stand and putting a lock on it! Of course one day I found the key and unlocked it….my sister and I thought we got away with it for awhile because we would watch it on low volume, wrap the cord around the stand and lock it back up. Wouldn’t you know my parents finally caught me because they felt the TV was warm!

Only 5 more weeks until I stop pumping and I’ll be watching a lot less TV….hopefully!

100 Days

We had Kaitlyn's 100 day dinner a few weeks ago with my parents and Dan's parents. I was nervous about it since the last time they sat down for a meal together was Thanksgiving 2004. I was happy though that my parents agreed to get together and didn't force us to have 2 separate parties. Luckily, our pastor was there and my dad knew him, so they talked almost the whole time together. They were civil to Dan's parents, so we're happy everything went well.

Kaitlyn is now 4 months and 13 lbs, 1 oz (48th percentile). We gave her rice cereal today and she loved it. She is such a piggy! Nathan cried the first time we gave him rice cereal!

I'm still pumping 4 times a day and am exhausted. I've been tempted many times to give up, but I'm pushing myself to do it one or two more months. 1/2 to 2/3 of her feedings have been breastmilk (which is a lot more than Nathan had), so I'm really happy about that. A little bit of suffering for another month or two will be worth it in the long run, especially since formula is so expensive. Thankfully she's taking the Costco brand well, so we'll be sticking with that...it's so much cheaper than Enfamil or Similac ($17.99 for 2 huge cans!).

My mom bought this beautiful dress for her 100 day & Christmas

She's had very good head control since she was born. It's so interesting to see her reach her milestones a lot faster than Nathan did...is it a girl thing???!!

A friend took this picture from her professional camera

Changes

These days Nathan has been giving us the worst attitude and saying no to almost everything. He never went through the terrible two's and has always been very compliant. But now, he's like a different boy and is capable of lying to us. If I ask him if he spilled water all over the place, he would say no and say either I made the mess or nobody did. It's interesting to note how this sinful behavior is not taught and is naturally ingrained in them. Also, meal time has been stressful as he's been playing with his food and not eating....I've lost it a few times with him and yelled/screamed at him. I feel guilty about not setting a good example to him. I'm actually kind of glad to be going back to work this Wednesday, but I also feel guilty about being glad to go back to work...shouldn't I want to stay home with my children like some Christian conservatives say I should be doing and let the husband work? I know some people, like my parents, judge us and think our family situation is not normal and Dan should be working while I stay home. But this is what works in our family and we're satisfied with our situation. But there are some days where I feel like I'm a terrible mom for working and not staying home with them.

One great thing that happened in the last month is that Nathan is now fully potty trained at night! For 5 nights straight, his pullups were completely dry without any prompting from us. We were shocked as we were expecting him to be wearing pullups/diapers at night for a while because everybody says that boys are slow. But he's been accident free and either holds it in at night or goes to the bathroom by himself in the middle of the night. It was cute hearing him the first time get up, turn on the light, go pee, flush the toilet, wash his hands, turn off the light and climb back into his bed. We're very thankful that this transition was so easy and that we didn't have to do anything. Now that this last "baby" phase is done, we have to do it all over again with Kaitlyn!

Updated Pictures

Nathan still fits in his Winnie the Pooh outfit from last year's Halloween. Kaitlyn looks like a little bear, all warm and fuzzy! It was a beautiful night here and Nathan got quite the stash of candy...we went through our whole neighborhood and another neighborhood....townhouses are the best and quickest way to get a large stash!

Kaitlyn was baptized today at our church. She was perfect and didn't cry once. I loved her dress and look forward to buying more pretty clothes for her! :)

She's quite the chunker compared to Nathan...we went to her 2 month appt and she now weighs 10lbs (33rd percentile)! Nathan was a little over 8lbs in his 2 mo appt, but he was in the 3rd percentile and way too low. She's smiling and cooing a lot these days. We're eagerly waiting for the day she sleeps 11+ hours at night consistently. All of us are not looking forward to me going back to work in 2 1/2 weeks....these past 10 weeks flew by way too fast.

Do you still have baby inside Mommy?

Now that it's been 7 weeks, it's time to do some serious exercising. I've lost 15 lbs from pumping, but I still have 10 lbs to go on top of the 10 lbs from the first pregnancy. My stomach still looks like I'm 5-6 months pregnant. I hate that in-between stage where you can't wear your regular clothes, but the maternity clothes are too big. I seriously don't want to be wearing maternity clothes when I go back to work in 5 weeks. Last Friday we went to the mall and I decided to get a quick 10 minute massage. The guy at the table asked me to fill out a pregnancy form! I looked at him and told him I just gave birth 6 weeks ago and this is all baby fat. He was so embarassed and apologized! Even Nathan keeps asking if there's still a baby inside of me. I know it takes a while to lose the weight since it took 9 months to put the weight on, but it's so depressing when you see celebrities like Angelina Jolie have good genes and lose the weight within weeks by not doing any exercise.

Kaitlyn is eating very well these days and is chunking up compared to Nathan. One major difference we noticed between our two is their poops. Nathan hardly ever pooped and when he did, it wasn't that messy. Kaitlyn's on the other hand are quite explosive and "soupy" and sticky. She poops every 2-3 days and we always brace ourselves. She poops so much that it sometimes comes out onto her stomach (one time, it went onto her umbilical cord b4 it fell off). I'm scared what her poop will be like once I stop giving her breastmilk, which I'm hoping to continue for 6 months instead of 4 months with Nathan. Nathan had major constipation once he started drinking formula exclusively. Whenever she poops she's in so much pain and cries hysterically...lucky for me, I designated Dan as the poop diaper changer!

8 Years and 1 Month

One month has already flown by. It's strange being home for this long and I'm not looking forward to going back to work in 8 weeks. I lose track of the days now....I never understood when Dan would ask me everyday what day it was. By not going to work, all the days just run together so now I know how Dan feels.

Kaitlyn is growing and eating very well. She's had her 1 month appt and is now 7 lb and 14 oz (20th percentile) and 21 1/4" (50th percentile). We remember Nathan was so much skinnier and wasn't gaining weight very well as he was always in the 5th percentile.

So far, Nathan hasn't been jealous of Kaitlyn. The most stressful part these days is making sure Nathan doesn't wake up Kaitlyn. He constantly wants to play with her and tries to wake her up by touching her or shaking her Pack 'n Play. Because he has a little cold, he wants to kiss her all the time so we've been busy making sure he doesn't kiss her lips or eyes!

We also had our 8 year anniversary, which was very uneventful. We usually do a dinner and movie date, but there's just no good movie out there worth spending. We saw so many good movies this summer in the theater, we didn't want to throw our money away on something bad or mediocre. We ended up having a nice steak dinner and going to Walmart & Assi! We couldn't remember the last time we went shopping together with just the two of us...no chasing after Nathan, making sure we stop by the toy section, running to the bathroom, etc. It was actually relaxing and strange not having him and Kaitlyn with us.

Pics of Kaitlyn

Here are pics of Kaitlyn's 1st 2 weeks:

http://picasaweb.google.com/danielcho7/PicsOfKaitlynUpdatedWeekly?authkey=hBN5KOK4zK4#