Thursday, November 12, 2009
Monday, November 9, 2009
Heavy Duty
We recently bought an ice cream maker to help satisfy our frozen yogurt cravings. :) It's been great so far!
Anyway, funny story. Dave was opening up the box and taking out the different parts of the ice cream maker. He took out the freezer bowl and said, "Wow! This bowl is heavy duty!" A few minutes later, Lilly came up to me, carrying the freezer bowl and said, "Heavy poo poo!" I responded, "Who said anything about poo poo?" She said, "Daddy." I just said, "No, daddy didn't say anything about poo poo." Heehe It wasn't until a few minutes after that that Dave realized he said the bowl was "heavy duty" and she made the connection duty = poo poo! Dave and I were cracking up, and we're still laughing about it.
Anyway, funny story. Dave was opening up the box and taking out the different parts of the ice cream maker. He took out the freezer bowl and said, "Wow! This bowl is heavy duty!" A few minutes later, Lilly came up to me, carrying the freezer bowl and said, "Heavy poo poo!" I responded, "Who said anything about poo poo?" She said, "Daddy." I just said, "No, daddy didn't say anything about poo poo." Heehe It wasn't until a few minutes after that that Dave realized he said the bowl was "heavy duty" and she made the connection duty = poo poo! Dave and I were cracking up, and we're still laughing about it.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Sickness
It's scary how many people are getting sick so early in this season! Clinics and doctors offices are running out of the seasonal flu vaccine and the H1N1 vaccine is limited, and some schools around the Lansing area have closed because of so many students absent. The flu and other sicknesses are spreading fast and it's not even winter yet!
I took Mia to the doctor last night because she's been really congested since Saturday. I hear a lot of mucus in her chest, rattling when she breathes and when she coughs. Thankfully, she hasn't had a fever and for the most part, she's been her regular happy self. The doctor said it was just an upper respiratory infection. She was happy to write that because she's been writing H1N1 for many others.
All this sickness has kind of scared us. Lilly's already gotten sick, Mia has her upper respiratory infection now, and I seem to be coming down with a head cold. We've decided to stay in the house more and try to limit the times we go out to public places. Hopefully getting sick now means getting sick less in the winter.
I took Mia to the doctor last night because she's been really congested since Saturday. I hear a lot of mucus in her chest, rattling when she breathes and when she coughs. Thankfully, she hasn't had a fever and for the most part, she's been her regular happy self. The doctor said it was just an upper respiratory infection. She was happy to write that because she's been writing H1N1 for many others.
All this sickness has kind of scared us. Lilly's already gotten sick, Mia has her upper respiratory infection now, and I seem to be coming down with a head cold. We've decided to stay in the house more and try to limit the times we go out to public places. Hopefully getting sick now means getting sick less in the winter.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Treats ... Sweet Treats
"It's only once a year ... " when we ...
- buy a dozen donuts from the cider mill and eat them within 3 days
- pick a 1/2 bushel of apples and bake pie, muffins, and other sweet treats until the apples are gone
- eat candy at Halloween
- stuff our bellies at multiple Thanksgiving dinners
- eat Christmas cookies + pies and other holiday treats
Hehee you can see from the list that we like our sweet treats. There seems to be some kind of treat to eat any time throughout the year and we justify eating it by saying, "It's only once a year ..." This time of year seems to be the time to put on extra weight ... maybe for the winter. I guess people usually eat what they want around the holidays, and then out of guilt they set a resolution to lose weight in the new year.
I must be thinking about about my health because I watched the Dr. Oz show the other day. He was talking about heart health and eating good food (it's good when the food you eat looks the way it did when it came out of the ground). I want to eat healthier but I do like my treats too. Well I guess it's always good to follow the "eat in moderation" rule and practice self control. :) Now to teach this to my kids too ... The other night, after Lilly finished all her dinner, she said, "I want a special treat for me!"
- buy a dozen donuts from the cider mill and eat them within 3 days
- pick a 1/2 bushel of apples and bake pie, muffins, and other sweet treats until the apples are gone
- eat candy at Halloween
- stuff our bellies at multiple Thanksgiving dinners
- eat Christmas cookies + pies and other holiday treats
Hehee you can see from the list that we like our sweet treats. There seems to be some kind of treat to eat any time throughout the year and we justify eating it by saying, "It's only once a year ..." This time of year seems to be the time to put on extra weight ... maybe for the winter. I guess people usually eat what they want around the holidays, and then out of guilt they set a resolution to lose weight in the new year.
I must be thinking about about my health because I watched the Dr. Oz show the other day. He was talking about heart health and eating good food (it's good when the food you eat looks the way it did when it came out of the ground). I want to eat healthier but I do like my treats too. Well I guess it's always good to follow the "eat in moderation" rule and practice self control. :) Now to teach this to my kids too ... The other night, after Lilly finished all her dinner, she said, "I want a special treat for me!"
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Lookalikes
Lindsay and I get such a kick out of the shapes of our little girls' heads. We've been saying that Mia's head shape is the same shape as a police badge:
Here's what we thought Lilly looked like when she was a baby ("Thwomp" from Super Mario Bros.):
On another note, Mia giggled for the first time today! I was about to change her diaper but she's always really smiley whenever we lay her down on the changing pad, so I thought I'd play with her a little bit. I pushed her legs up to help her fart a little bit and I got a little smile. Then I called Lindsay in because I could tell that Mia was about to laugh ... and then I tickled Mia's toes a little bit and she let out a cute little baby giggle.
I think Mia is a pretty happy baby. She had a rough first few months with her acid reflux, but since we switched her medicine over to Prevacid, she's been consistently gives us cute little smiles.
Here's what we thought Lilly looked like when she was a baby ("Thwomp" from Super Mario Bros.):
On another note, Mia giggled for the first time today! I was about to change her diaper but she's always really smiley whenever we lay her down on the changing pad, so I thought I'd play with her a little bit. I pushed her legs up to help her fart a little bit and I got a little smile. Then I called Lindsay in because I could tell that Mia was about to laugh ... and then I tickled Mia's toes a little bit and she let out a cute little baby giggle.
I think Mia is a pretty happy baby. She had a rough first few months with her acid reflux, but since we switched her medicine over to Prevacid, she's been consistently gives us cute little smiles.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Potty Trained
I would say we officially started potty training Lilly about one month ago. I'm proud to say that Lilly is now potty trained! Official potty training means we put on underwear all day instead of a diaper (minus nap and night time). We bought a potty seat a while ago (Lilly was 18 mos.) and allowed Lilly to use the potty whenever she felt like sitting on it. I think her first poop in it was when she was 20 months old. But official potty training means we force her to sit on the potty even if she said she didn't want to. We tried to have consistent potty times throughout the day.
We've had our share of accidents and messy clean ups. The first time we put Lilly in underwear, she pooped. It was like put the underwear on and then she went off to take a dump in them. :P That was a little discouraging but we kept going with the training. One month later, she rarely has accidents and she's able to tell us when she has to go potty!
It's pretty cool not to have 2 kids in diapers all the time. We have less garbage and our diaper wipes last longer! I like having Lilly potty trained.
We've had our share of accidents and messy clean ups. The first time we put Lilly in underwear, she pooped. It was like put the underwear on and then she went off to take a dump in them. :P That was a little discouraging but we kept going with the training. One month later, she rarely has accidents and she's able to tell us when she has to go potty!
It's pretty cool not to have 2 kids in diapers all the time. We have less garbage and our diaper wipes last longer! I like having Lilly potty trained.
Friday, October 16, 2009
The Backstreet Boys
Last week we taught Lilly who the Backstreet Boys were. She doesn't really say, "backstreet." It comes out as "backseat" or something like that. Haha We're listening to their new album, This Is Us, that just came out last Tuesday. The music is still pop but most of the songs have more of a dance beat and R&B feel to them. Dave said that he doesn't like the BSB songs that can't be played on guitar. I don't think I hear a guitar in any of these new songs! :( Well I have to be honest and say that I didn't listen to the CD much after I first got it because I didn't like the songs that much. It's growing on me now though! I get some of the songs suck in my head.
It's funny how I even got the CD. It came out on Tuesday and my friend, Laura, sent out an email telling us that she already purchased it on the way to work. That was my reminder that the CD came out that day and I wanted to purchase it to have it count for their first day sales. I know it sounds strange. I guess i felt that way from being a loyal fan all these years. Well the day got away from me, as it easily does these days with 2 little ones, so I didn't get a chance to buy the CD. Wednesday came around and I had in the back of my head "get Backstreet Boys CD" on my to-do list. Wednesday also turned out to be a busy day and evening out at small group. Dave knew I wanted to get the CD so after small group (about 9:45pm) he agreed to stop by Target for me to run in to grab the CD. Lilly and Mia were in the car and I ran in to grab the CD and go. Target closes at 10:00pm and I think I walked in at 10, and they locked the doors behind me. Phew! I knew exactly where to look for the newly released music but I couldn't find the Backstreet Boys CD! Joyce warned me that the cover was dark. At the time, Target started shutting off their lights. Great, running out of time and the dim lighting is not helping! I thought about asking these two young guys in the electronics area, "Can you help me find the Backstreet Boys CD?" I heard them talking about the video game Halo. I didn't ask them. I walked up and down the isles and checked the new releases one last time. I found it! There it was, an almost black CD cover, sitting on the bottom shelf. Hooray! I ran back to the van and Dave was trying to get Lilly to say, "Backstreet Boys" and Mia was still sleeping in her car seat. Yay, a successful trip.
Last night we were watching a VH1 special of top 10 songs from the 90s. It was fun to watch and reminisce when we first heard that song or whatever memory we have of the song. MC Hammer's "Can't Touch This" was on the top 10 list along with "Baby Got Back", Mariah Carey's "Vision of Love", R.E.M. "Losing My Religion", Pearl Jam "Jeremy", and Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was #1. BUT more importantly, the Backstreet Boys made it onto that list at #3 with "I Want It That Way". One of the commentators even said that it's the perfect pop song. He said that even if you don't like boy bands and the whole pop thing, when "I Want It That Way" comes on the radio, you turn it up and sing along. Well whether it's the perfect pop song or not, it certainly is one of the most popular pop songs. Dave commented today and said it was nice to hear people say nice things about the Backstreet Boys. Yeah it is nice! I also thought, I love how my husband has never dissed the Backstreet Boys (in front of me) and their music is something we enjoy together now. :)
It's funny how I even got the CD. It came out on Tuesday and my friend, Laura, sent out an email telling us that she already purchased it on the way to work. That was my reminder that the CD came out that day and I wanted to purchase it to have it count for their first day sales. I know it sounds strange. I guess i felt that way from being a loyal fan all these years. Well the day got away from me, as it easily does these days with 2 little ones, so I didn't get a chance to buy the CD. Wednesday came around and I had in the back of my head "get Backstreet Boys CD" on my to-do list. Wednesday also turned out to be a busy day and evening out at small group. Dave knew I wanted to get the CD so after small group (about 9:45pm) he agreed to stop by Target for me to run in to grab the CD. Lilly and Mia were in the car and I ran in to grab the CD and go. Target closes at 10:00pm and I think I walked in at 10, and they locked the doors behind me. Phew! I knew exactly where to look for the newly released music but I couldn't find the Backstreet Boys CD! Joyce warned me that the cover was dark. At the time, Target started shutting off their lights. Great, running out of time and the dim lighting is not helping! I thought about asking these two young guys in the electronics area, "Can you help me find the Backstreet Boys CD?" I heard them talking about the video game Halo. I didn't ask them. I walked up and down the isles and checked the new releases one last time. I found it! There it was, an almost black CD cover, sitting on the bottom shelf. Hooray! I ran back to the van and Dave was trying to get Lilly to say, "Backstreet Boys" and Mia was still sleeping in her car seat. Yay, a successful trip.
Last night we were watching a VH1 special of top 10 songs from the 90s. It was fun to watch and reminisce when we first heard that song or whatever memory we have of the song. MC Hammer's "Can't Touch This" was on the top 10 list along with "Baby Got Back", Mariah Carey's "Vision of Love", R.E.M. "Losing My Religion", Pearl Jam "Jeremy", and Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was #1. BUT more importantly, the Backstreet Boys made it onto that list at #3 with "I Want It That Way". One of the commentators even said that it's the perfect pop song. He said that even if you don't like boy bands and the whole pop thing, when "I Want It That Way" comes on the radio, you turn it up and sing along. Well whether it's the perfect pop song or not, it certainly is one of the most popular pop songs. Dave commented today and said it was nice to hear people say nice things about the Backstreet Boys. Yeah it is nice! I also thought, I love how my husband has never dissed the Backstreet Boys (in front of me) and their music is something we enjoy together now. :)
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Saturdays
I like Saturdays. I especially like the Saturdays we can spend as a family. This Saturday morning we ate breakfast together and cleaned the house. The house really needed a good pick up and vacuum. Dave was a big help. He did all the vacuuming in the living and dining room and the basement. Lilly was a great helper too. She helped with some dusting and then entertained herself for the rest of the time. And Mia helped by sleeping in our room while we cleaned. What a productive morning!
I've been inspired to blog more. Every now and then I get a little kick of motivation to blog more regularly. A few weeks ago I saw the movie "Julie and Julia". I liked it! Mia was only 4 weeks old but I went out for dinner and a movie with friends from church. Thanks to Dave and the bottle for serving me and allowing me to get out for a girls night out! So anyway, in the movie the young girl, Julie, blogs about cooking through Julia Child's cookbook. Well she commits to cooking a recipe every day for 365 days and commits to blogging about it. I don't know if I'll go as far as committing to blogging every day for a year, but I'm going to try to blog more often - at least a few times a week. My goals for blogging:
- Document the daily happenings of our family - especially the kids
- Use the blogging time as a time to reflect and process my thoughts and what's going on
- Practice putting those thoughts and reflections in writing (blogging)
- Post pictures with detailed captions to capture the memories
- See how God's working in our lives
I keep telling myself that the blog entries don't have to be deep, profound, well-written or super funny and witty. I lower my expectations to just get entries out there and done quickly! I don't have much time to sit and think for too long or even have time to reread/proofread my entries!
So expect more blog entries and hopefully not too much babble - just more documentation on the happenings of the Cheng family!
I've been inspired to blog more. Every now and then I get a little kick of motivation to blog more regularly. A few weeks ago I saw the movie "Julie and Julia". I liked it! Mia was only 4 weeks old but I went out for dinner and a movie with friends from church. Thanks to Dave and the bottle for serving me and allowing me to get out for a girls night out! So anyway, in the movie the young girl, Julie, blogs about cooking through Julia Child's cookbook. Well she commits to cooking a recipe every day for 365 days and commits to blogging about it. I don't know if I'll go as far as committing to blogging every day for a year, but I'm going to try to blog more often - at least a few times a week. My goals for blogging:
- Document the daily happenings of our family - especially the kids
- Use the blogging time as a time to reflect and process my thoughts and what's going on
- Practice putting those thoughts and reflections in writing (blogging)
- Post pictures with detailed captions to capture the memories
- See how God's working in our lives
I keep telling myself that the blog entries don't have to be deep, profound, well-written or super funny and witty. I lower my expectations to just get entries out there and done quickly! I don't have much time to sit and think for too long or even have time to reread/proofread my entries!
So expect more blog entries and hopefully not too much babble - just more documentation on the happenings of the Cheng family!
Friday, October 2, 2009
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Amelia's Birth Story
I wrote the last blog entry the day before little Mia was born. God did have the right time for our baby to be born. The timing of when she would arrive seemed so important to me then, but now it really isn't a big deal at all!
Amelia Kelly arrived Sunday, July 26th at 12:15pm at Sparrow Hospital in Lansing. She was 7 lbs. 7 oz. and 20.5 inches long. I received an epidural when I was about 5 cm so labor and delivery went quite smoothly.
Since I was experiencing pretty strong Braxton Hicks contractions, I thought for sure the baby was coming early. Nope! So when the baby's due date past, I was telling myself and others that I'm not going to guess anymore - I don't know when the baby's coming! Well, the early morning of the 26th, at around midnight, I started feeling contractions that felt different from my strong Braxton Hicks contractions. I told Dave that I was feeling some contractions but I guess that wasn't the first time I said it so he dozed off. I woke him up at about 1:30am because the contractions were becoming more regular. I nudged him and said, "Dave, baby's coming." Dave always gets startled when I wake him up and sometimes has a look of panic on his face. I'm pretty sure he did this time too. So now Dave was up and was recording my contractions on his iPod with the iContractions application. It was really helpful!
We both felt like we needed to take care of some things before we went to the hospital. So for the next 2 hours we were both cleaning around the house and packing things up for the hospital. Contractions were now getting stronger but I was still up and moving around. I called mom at around 2:30am to come watch Lilly while we went to the hospital and she arrived at about 4:00am. Lilly was sound asleep so we snuck out and made it to the hospital by 4:30am.
My contractions were pretty strong but manageable - I didn't feel like I needed the epidural immediately. So I got checked into Triage and the resident there said I was 3cm dialated. She said I probably won't get sent home because this is my 2nd child but she had to check with the doc in charge. No! We don't want to get sent home! I got sent home when I was in labor with Lilly and only 3 cm. Thankfully, we didn't get sent home and I progressed well, not too quickly, not too slowly.
Well the rest of the labor story was pretty uneventful. I got the epidural and felt very relaxed. Since it was Sunday morning, Dave and I kept thinking about what was happening at church - like oh, service just started, they're probably still singing now, and Norm's probably preaching right now. Dave told Larry he'd call him after the baby arrived.
The nursing staff was really good. They took excellent care of us. The nurse told me I was having contractions less than a minute apart. I couldn't imagine feeling contractions so close together without much time to regroup in between. Once again, I was thankful for my epidural! I was 10 cm and ready to push! The nurse told me to try pushing. So I pushed but then she told me to stop because the baby's head was starting to come out! She called for the doctor immediately. He came and I pushed again. Both times I was pushing as hard as I could because that's just what I thought I was supposed to do! :) Well I pushed and the baby just slid out! The doctor even looked surprised when she slid out and plopped Mia right onto my chest. The doctor told me that usually with the second baby, you push for 1/2 the time as you did with the first. He was right! I pushed for about 20 minutes with Lilly and 10 minutes with Mia.
Dave likes to retell the story of when he saw Lilly's face for the first time. This time around, with Mia, it all happened so quickly that he doesn't have much of a story to tell about what Mia looked like when she first came out. Haha Instead, Dave's been telling the story of what happened to him when Mia came out. She slid out and he unexpectedly burst into tears! He was so weepy that he decided not to cut the umbilical cord. Well and he was holding the video camera to capture baby's first moments out in an appropriate video-recording place. He captured some great footage! We can see from early on that Mia is so sweet. She was cooing and making sweet sounds from the moment she was born. All the nurses thought it was so sweet too.
Well that's pretty much the birth story. This is really more for our records. I really just wanted to get it up on the blog as soon as possible because it's already been 2 months! Mia is a sweet, healthy little girl ... even though she gets fussy sometimes and very demanding because she's bothered by her acid reflux. We're hoping the recent switch from Zantac to Prevacid will help sooth her discomfort. We love our little Mia!
Lilly says she loves her too. She likes to say all the same things that we say to baby, like "It's okay baby", "We're almost home baby!", "Baby so cute!!!" Before Mia was born, Dave and I had a hard time envisioning Lilly as an older sister, but now it's so clear that she's the nurturing big sister. Lilly likes to help out when she can, like throw diapers away, put the paci back in baby's mouth, put the button on baby's swing so her toys will go around, and give the swing a little push (except Lilly gives a big push and says, "Look mommy! Baby sister goes so high!"). Lilly's doing amazingly well with the adjustment to having a new baby. We tell Lilly that baby loves her so much. Then Lilly will tell us, "I love baby and baby loves me so much!" We love our two little girls ... there's just a lot of love going around.
My emotional and physical state after delivery is also amazingly good. God is so good and gracious. I was surprisingly calm and chill about everything when we got home from the hospital. Dave noticed too. He would be stressing about one thing and I'd just say, "It's okay!" Truly an evidence of grace! I was not quite as relaxed the first time around. :P
Juggling 2 kids, 2 months after Mia's birth is not easy. It's true that the 2nd kid does not just mean double the work. The 2nd kid brings exponentially more work. Physically, my body wants more rest/sleep but I can't rest/sleep when the baby naps because I'm caring for a toddler too. I can tell that Lilly misses having mommy one-on-one time, but she's been enjoying more of her daddy one-on-one time now! But when I'm home with the 2 kids, I've learned to let one cry if I need to tend to the other one. They'll survive! And by the grace of God, I will too.
* No time to post pictures on the blog. Crying baby on my lap. Check Flickr for picture updates!
Amelia Kelly arrived Sunday, July 26th at 12:15pm at Sparrow Hospital in Lansing. She was 7 lbs. 7 oz. and 20.5 inches long. I received an epidural when I was about 5 cm so labor and delivery went quite smoothly.
Since I was experiencing pretty strong Braxton Hicks contractions, I thought for sure the baby was coming early. Nope! So when the baby's due date past, I was telling myself and others that I'm not going to guess anymore - I don't know when the baby's coming! Well, the early morning of the 26th, at around midnight, I started feeling contractions that felt different from my strong Braxton Hicks contractions. I told Dave that I was feeling some contractions but I guess that wasn't the first time I said it so he dozed off. I woke him up at about 1:30am because the contractions were becoming more regular. I nudged him and said, "Dave, baby's coming." Dave always gets startled when I wake him up and sometimes has a look of panic on his face. I'm pretty sure he did this time too. So now Dave was up and was recording my contractions on his iPod with the iContractions application. It was really helpful!
We both felt like we needed to take care of some things before we went to the hospital. So for the next 2 hours we were both cleaning around the house and packing things up for the hospital. Contractions were now getting stronger but I was still up and moving around. I called mom at around 2:30am to come watch Lilly while we went to the hospital and she arrived at about 4:00am. Lilly was sound asleep so we snuck out and made it to the hospital by 4:30am.
My contractions were pretty strong but manageable - I didn't feel like I needed the epidural immediately. So I got checked into Triage and the resident there said I was 3cm dialated. She said I probably won't get sent home because this is my 2nd child but she had to check with the doc in charge. No! We don't want to get sent home! I got sent home when I was in labor with Lilly and only 3 cm. Thankfully, we didn't get sent home and I progressed well, not too quickly, not too slowly.
Well the rest of the labor story was pretty uneventful. I got the epidural and felt very relaxed. Since it was Sunday morning, Dave and I kept thinking about what was happening at church - like oh, service just started, they're probably still singing now, and Norm's probably preaching right now. Dave told Larry he'd call him after the baby arrived.
The nursing staff was really good. They took excellent care of us. The nurse told me I was having contractions less than a minute apart. I couldn't imagine feeling contractions so close together without much time to regroup in between. Once again, I was thankful for my epidural! I was 10 cm and ready to push! The nurse told me to try pushing. So I pushed but then she told me to stop because the baby's head was starting to come out! She called for the doctor immediately. He came and I pushed again. Both times I was pushing as hard as I could because that's just what I thought I was supposed to do! :) Well I pushed and the baby just slid out! The doctor even looked surprised when she slid out and plopped Mia right onto my chest. The doctor told me that usually with the second baby, you push for 1/2 the time as you did with the first. He was right! I pushed for about 20 minutes with Lilly and 10 minutes with Mia.
Dave likes to retell the story of when he saw Lilly's face for the first time. This time around, with Mia, it all happened so quickly that he doesn't have much of a story to tell about what Mia looked like when she first came out. Haha Instead, Dave's been telling the story of what happened to him when Mia came out. She slid out and he unexpectedly burst into tears! He was so weepy that he decided not to cut the umbilical cord. Well and he was holding the video camera to capture baby's first moments out in an appropriate video-recording place. He captured some great footage! We can see from early on that Mia is so sweet. She was cooing and making sweet sounds from the moment she was born. All the nurses thought it was so sweet too.
Well that's pretty much the birth story. This is really more for our records. I really just wanted to get it up on the blog as soon as possible because it's already been 2 months! Mia is a sweet, healthy little girl ... even though she gets fussy sometimes and very demanding because she's bothered by her acid reflux. We're hoping the recent switch from Zantac to Prevacid will help sooth her discomfort. We love our little Mia!
Lilly says she loves her too. She likes to say all the same things that we say to baby, like "It's okay baby", "We're almost home baby!", "Baby so cute!!!" Before Mia was born, Dave and I had a hard time envisioning Lilly as an older sister, but now it's so clear that she's the nurturing big sister. Lilly likes to help out when she can, like throw diapers away, put the paci back in baby's mouth, put the button on baby's swing so her toys will go around, and give the swing a little push (except Lilly gives a big push and says, "Look mommy! Baby sister goes so high!"). Lilly's doing amazingly well with the adjustment to having a new baby. We tell Lilly that baby loves her so much. Then Lilly will tell us, "I love baby and baby loves me so much!" We love our two little girls ... there's just a lot of love going around.
My emotional and physical state after delivery is also amazingly good. God is so good and gracious. I was surprisingly calm and chill about everything when we got home from the hospital. Dave noticed too. He would be stressing about one thing and I'd just say, "It's okay!" Truly an evidence of grace! I was not quite as relaxed the first time around. :P
Juggling 2 kids, 2 months after Mia's birth is not easy. It's true that the 2nd kid does not just mean double the work. The 2nd kid brings exponentially more work. Physically, my body wants more rest/sleep but I can't rest/sleep when the baby naps because I'm caring for a toddler too. I can tell that Lilly misses having mommy one-on-one time, but she's been enjoying more of her daddy one-on-one time now! But when I'm home with the 2 kids, I've learned to let one cry if I need to tend to the other one. They'll survive! And by the grace of God, I will too.
* No time to post pictures on the blog. Crying baby on my lap. Check Flickr for picture updates!
Saturday, July 25, 2009
2 Days Past Due Date
Baby #2's due date was on July 23rd. Now I get to tell people my due date was last Thursday or I'm 2 days past my due date. They respond, "Oh wow!" I've gotten that same reaction when I told strangers that I was due any day. I must be pretty big and look like I'm ready to pop at any minute.
I pretty much feel that way right now. The later I get in pregnancy the more discomfort I feel. My body feels like it's been preparing to birth a baby for the last month. My hips and joints are super sore and achey. So yeah, I've been preparing myself physically and mentally to have the baby for about a month now.
It's hard enough to wait for the actual due date to come around let alone wait multiple days after the due date. However, many women have had to wait past their estimated due date. I've heard and read stats that say the majority of women deliver past their due date. My mom said I came 2 weeks late and had to be induced! It's rough on my body to wait and Dave, Lilly and I are also super excited to meet this little baby inside my belly. Come out little girl!!!
God is teaching me to be patient and also content with where I'm at. I look around at other people and see them holding small babies. I have the temptation to want what they have - their bodies are on the road to post-baby recovery and they get to enjoy their new little bundle of joy. God has been gracious in this time though. I'm still able to drive around and run errands, go to the park and library with Lilly, take naps when Lilly naps, and have time to clean and prepare the house for our newborn. God knows the right time and the right doctor to deliver my baby. I want to rest in knowing that and not be anxious.
Well there's no sign of baby coming tonight or even tomorrow. I have a doctors appointment on Monday to check in on our little girl. We'll make a decision from there whether to consider scheduling a induction date or wait for natural labor to begin. As long as baby is okay and everything in the womb is normal, she might not be born until August! We're not going past 2 weeks though! I worry about her getting bigger and bigger inside, and then I'll be trying to push out a 10 pound baby! We're still praying that she'll come soon and come out healthy.
I haven't been as good about posting on the blog. I'm hoping to post another entry soon about how funny Lilly is now at age 2 1/2. Dave and I just want to remember some of things she says and does. She cracks us up! We're so enjoying her and this toddler stage right now.
Thank you God for our 2 precious little girls!
I pretty much feel that way right now. The later I get in pregnancy the more discomfort I feel. My body feels like it's been preparing to birth a baby for the last month. My hips and joints are super sore and achey. So yeah, I've been preparing myself physically and mentally to have the baby for about a month now.
It's hard enough to wait for the actual due date to come around let alone wait multiple days after the due date. However, many women have had to wait past their estimated due date. I've heard and read stats that say the majority of women deliver past their due date. My mom said I came 2 weeks late and had to be induced! It's rough on my body to wait and Dave, Lilly and I are also super excited to meet this little baby inside my belly. Come out little girl!!!
God is teaching me to be patient and also content with where I'm at. I look around at other people and see them holding small babies. I have the temptation to want what they have - their bodies are on the road to post-baby recovery and they get to enjoy their new little bundle of joy. God has been gracious in this time though. I'm still able to drive around and run errands, go to the park and library with Lilly, take naps when Lilly naps, and have time to clean and prepare the house for our newborn. God knows the right time and the right doctor to deliver my baby. I want to rest in knowing that and not be anxious.
Well there's no sign of baby coming tonight or even tomorrow. I have a doctors appointment on Monday to check in on our little girl. We'll make a decision from there whether to consider scheduling a induction date or wait for natural labor to begin. As long as baby is okay and everything in the womb is normal, she might not be born until August! We're not going past 2 weeks though! I worry about her getting bigger and bigger inside, and then I'll be trying to push out a 10 pound baby! We're still praying that she'll come soon and come out healthy.
I haven't been as good about posting on the blog. I'm hoping to post another entry soon about how funny Lilly is now at age 2 1/2. Dave and I just want to remember some of things she says and does. She cracks us up! We're so enjoying her and this toddler stage right now.
Thank you God for our 2 precious little girls!
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Chengs in the House
Lilly got this little playhouse for Christmas and sometimes if she's looking for something I'll say something like, "Kitty's in the house." Well we've been staying in the house more often these past few months. I wasn't feeling the best in the first few months of pregnancy, but now I'm feeling much better. It's also been a very cold winter. The sun has started to come out more this week, so thankfully, we've been able to play outside ... even in 20 or 30 degree weather.
Oh, yeah, I'm pregnant! I'm about 20 weeks along with an est. due date of July 23rd. We went to get our ultrasound last week and found out we're having another little GIRL! Lilly will have a little sister to grow up with. I was the little sister growing up and I so enjoyed having a big sister to look up to, play with, and grow a friendship with.
Since the last blog entry, Lilly's now 2 years old. She's grown up so much. She's a funny little girl. Some of Lilly's latest things are:
- Loves her blankie and stuffed animal friends, "Tio" = kitty and "Pandy" = panda but the stuffed animal is actually a hippo.
- Loves Curious George. She's always asking, "See George!" = wanting to see George on TV.
- Loves reading books. We recently started borrowing books from the Children's section of the library, not just the little board books. She can sit through longer books now! A few favorites are: Curious George, Rainbow Fish, Maisy books, Bernstein Bears, and all books by Leslie Patricelli.
- She's a social little girl. She's always asking questions, "What's that?" And she waves to strangers when we're out running errands. Even though the cashier at Meijer doesn't always tell us, "Thanks for shopping," Lilly will chime in and say, "Thank you for shopping at Meijer!" She's picked that up from the self check out lanes.
- She's quite the singer. She'll sing along with everyone at church. She's able to follow along too like sing louder or softer and stop when everyone else has stopped. She's been into singing the ABC's and the Gospel song when she puts her stuffed animals and dolls to sleep.
- Lilly my sou chef. When it's time to cook in the kitchen, Lilly will run over and say, "Help mama! Help mama!" She likes to help peel garlic and onions, wash veggies, and whisk/stir things in a bowl.
I could probably go on and on about her funny and cute little stories. It's what parents like to do. :) They like to talk about their kids! It is such a joy to be Lilly's parents. People often comment how fun this 2 year old stage is. 2 year olds are able to show more of their personality. I add that it's fun to see their personality come out but you see the sweet and the ugly. We've been learning how to lovingly discipline and train her. God has been teaching us that he's the loving authority over us and we need to remain close to him to know how we should be teaching Lilly. Hm, I know, kind of a vague statement. I could probably write a separate blog entry on this topic. I guess that will have to wait for another day and a free opportunity to sit at the computer for a long period of time (so that day might not come for a while).
In other news, Dave and I are doing well. We feel a little refreshed after a weekend of just being a married couple again. Lilly spent the weekend at Grandma's, so we had the chance to go to Dave's company party, a long Sunday brunch, and out to see a movie at night. It was a nice, relaxed, slow-paced weekend for us. Hopefully we'll get another one of those weekends before baby #2 comes!
Oh, yeah, I'm pregnant! I'm about 20 weeks along with an est. due date of July 23rd. We went to get our ultrasound last week and found out we're having another little GIRL! Lilly will have a little sister to grow up with. I was the little sister growing up and I so enjoyed having a big sister to look up to, play with, and grow a friendship with.
Since the last blog entry, Lilly's now 2 years old. She's grown up so much. She's a funny little girl. Some of Lilly's latest things are:
- Loves her blankie and stuffed animal friends, "Tio" = kitty and "Pandy" = panda but the stuffed animal is actually a hippo.
- Loves Curious George. She's always asking, "See George!" = wanting to see George on TV.
- Loves reading books. We recently started borrowing books from the Children's section of the library, not just the little board books. She can sit through longer books now! A few favorites are: Curious George, Rainbow Fish, Maisy books, Bernstein Bears, and all books by Leslie Patricelli.
- She's a social little girl. She's always asking questions, "What's that?" And she waves to strangers when we're out running errands. Even though the cashier at Meijer doesn't always tell us, "Thanks for shopping," Lilly will chime in and say, "Thank you for shopping at Meijer!" She's picked that up from the self check out lanes.
- She's quite the singer. She'll sing along with everyone at church. She's able to follow along too like sing louder or softer and stop when everyone else has stopped. She's been into singing the ABC's and the Gospel song when she puts her stuffed animals and dolls to sleep.
- Lilly my sou chef. When it's time to cook in the kitchen, Lilly will run over and say, "Help mama! Help mama!" She likes to help peel garlic and onions, wash veggies, and whisk/stir things in a bowl.
I could probably go on and on about her funny and cute little stories. It's what parents like to do. :) They like to talk about their kids! It is such a joy to be Lilly's parents. People often comment how fun this 2 year old stage is. 2 year olds are able to show more of their personality. I add that it's fun to see their personality come out but you see the sweet and the ugly. We've been learning how to lovingly discipline and train her. God has been teaching us that he's the loving authority over us and we need to remain close to him to know how we should be teaching Lilly. Hm, I know, kind of a vague statement. I could probably write a separate blog entry on this topic. I guess that will have to wait for another day and a free opportunity to sit at the computer for a long period of time (so that day might not come for a while).
In other news, Dave and I are doing well. We feel a little refreshed after a weekend of just being a married couple again. Lilly spent the weekend at Grandma's, so we had the chance to go to Dave's company party, a long Sunday brunch, and out to see a movie at night. It was a nice, relaxed, slow-paced weekend for us. Hopefully we'll get another one of those weekends before baby #2 comes!
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