Cravings

With pregnancy, obviously comes cravings, and mine are BAD. I was hoping that I wouldn't balloon like I did when I was pregnant with Lucy. Average weight gain for a pregnancy is 25-30lbs, and with Lucy I gained a whopping 55! I'm slightly embarrassed about it. My BIL's wedding is only a short 6 weeks after my due date, and I do not want to be huge for the pictures, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to be.

Lately I have been having cravings that I cannot satisfy. I crave things that I'm not supposed to have while pregnant and it is rough. I'm only allowed to have one fish meal a week, and although I make myself SALMON SINIGANG or SHRIMP PANCIT every week, it just is not enough!

Lucy loves salmon sinigang btw. I work 2 nights a week, so when Tommy has Lucy for the majority of the day while I get some rest, Tommy will request for me to make a sinigang of some sorts in the crock pot. Even though Lucy always eats all of her food, sinigang is one of the dishes where Tommy doesn't have to sit her down at the table to eat. He let's her play and she will diligently come back to get spoonfuls of it, so he can do his work on the computer at the same time. I have a filipino baby for sure =]

I told Tommy that I didn't mind him not being there for the delivery of this baby if it was because he was getting me a spicy tuna roll from our favorite sushi place here. hahah. You think I'm joking! I just can't wait to go to California soon so I can have super fresh sushi, baked pampano, fried tilapia, calamari, and fried bangus all in one meal!!!.... ughhh so good!


Until then, please do not post pictures of your delicious raw sushi rolls!

Mail-Order Bride

"Mail-Order Bride" HAHA. I just have to laugh every time I think about this. =] So it's not a secret that Tommy is going gray. Somehow genetically (AND I do say "genetically" because I know I'M not the stressful factor in his life that causing him to gray prematurely! =P  HAHA) some men in his family have a full head of gray before they are 35. I don't mind it so much, but we talked about it and decided that Tommy has the rest of his life to have gray hair. So every once in awhile he will dye it, so that I don't look like his Asian Mail-Order Bride. HAHA
So Tommy dyed his hair. Now, there's a 5 y.o. boy at our church who's blonde hair was getting darker as he was getting older, and I said, "Hey buddy, your hair looks like it's getting darker!" and he said, "Yeah Mr. Tom's too!" HAHAHAHAHAH i LOVE this boy. He is so adorable, and I just laughed soooo hard! It was the cutest thing ever! haha. It was so funny!

Anyways, we are having a BabyGirl!!! I'm so excited! We just had another OB appointment this morning to discuss the 20wk ultrasound, and our Dr said that everything looked really good, no malformations, and she looks very healthy! PTL.

After the appointment...

  Tommy- "We make good, healthy babies."

  Me- "More like God is merciful to give us good, healthy babies."

  Tommy- "Yeah, that's probably it. Definitely it."

I know that if God gave us a child with a disability or a handicap that I would love that child no matter what, but to have a healthy normal baby is something that I pray for daily. Also, I know that God doesn't ever give you more than you can handle, and I always felt that because I'm a nurse, it'd be more of a reason God would give me that challenge. You may not understand, or think that I think weird or whatever, but I'm pretty sure it's every momma's worry that their pregnancy won't be normal. I'm just thankful that everything so far with this pregnancy has been well. =]

So that's my story and update for the day. Until my next post! =] Have a good day everyone. God Bless!

"I-I Gotta Get Outta Here"

Look at Lucy's dog! 

First time playing in snow

So we are back home in MI after spending 2 weeks in San Diego. I'm glad to be back home. It's always a nice feeling to put your bags down and just be back to your own house after being gone so long.
Our vacation to California was AMAZING, to say the least. We got to escape the cold MI weather for two weeks. Tommy didn't have to take days off because he worked remotely while we were there. This was a big help because this year, he saved up 4 straight weeks of vacation! It will be much needed because we have A LOT of trips and big events coming up this year, way more than 2011.
We did so much in SD and baby #2 enjoyed all the yummy food too.

Sea World

We went to Sea World 2x

We're ALL here! i LOVE SD Christmas weather. 

I had such a good time with my siblings this Christmas. Every time we get together, we always talk about the past, and reminisce on our "younger" years. One time, we were in church and I forgot to put my cell phone on vibrate. During the middle of the message,  I get a call and my ring tone is Relient K - "Be My Escape" and my cell phone was one of the crappy cell phones that was like one of the first to play "real" songs as your ring tone, so it was beta and only played one line of the song over and over! Of course the only line in that song that played was, "I-I gotta get outa here."  EMBARRASSING! hahah anyways, we always get a good laugh out of that one. 

I miss my brothers and sister so much already! I really hope to see them soon again. 

Filipino vs. American

I can't believe it's been almost a month since I blogged last! I feel so sick constantly with this pregnancy, but hopefully all the nausea goes away soon cause I'm headed into my 2nd trimester next week! My house is a mess, to say the least. I powered through to have it clean for our Thanksgiving party, but since then, I have not been able to keep up. Tommy and I both work, and he's pretty much been helping to do everything around the house. He's such a great husband.

On another note, I can't wait for Christmas! We set up our Christmas tree last week. It's a little fake one that we got when we still lived in an apartment. The other day while I was making lasagna in the kitchen, I heard a huge clash of ornaments hitting the floor... Lucy pulled on an ornament and took the tree down. She didn't even cry or anything, just ran to me scared! haha She got a scratch on her cheek, but no real harm done. Good thing we still have carpet in the living room, or some of our ornaments would not have made it.

Ornaments. Which brings me to why the title of my blog today is. Or maybe I should have titled it California vs. Michigan. While growing up, we didn't collect ornaments. We didn't get a new ornament as a stocking stuffer every Christmas. Ornaments, at least in my parents house, weren't really part of our Filipino traditions.  I'm not talking about the regular red or silver ball kind, but like the Hallmark special kinds. Now, I'm sure that there are some Filipinos out there that do this, but seriously, every Filipino mom I know would probably say, "Ornament? Ha, Wat's da need op dat?" or something like that. [Maybe my Taglish is a little rusty from being so far from Filipinos for so long] Anyways, here, Tommy has had an ornament pretty much every year since he's been born. It's kind of intimidating for me to have people over now cause our Christmas tree just has the regular ornaments kind and there's like 3 "Hallmark" ones that stick out. Compared to everyone else's tree, our's is a noob, like lost-new-kid-Freshman-on-the-first-day-of-school status.

But what I can say is, there's one ornament that my Mother-in-law got for us last year for Lucy. It's a pink rocking horse with a little baby on it and says, "Lucy's 1st Christmas" and when I put it up this year, I just took some time to look at it and remember how Lucy was only 2 months old last Christmas. She was so tiny! And now, within just a year, I have an active toddler who drinks Yoohoo and pulls down Christmas trees!

There's a lot of differences between cultures from just where you live, and then try adding the differences of cultures from a another ethnicity. Sometimes Tommy and I have a hard time compromising between things, but I'm just so glad that we have the same FAITH. Jesus is the foundation of our marriage and we know that without Him, I really don't know how we could do anything. If you're reading this and don't know Jesus as your own Savior, ask me about Him. I'd be glad to share Him with you! =]

just in case you missed it!

I feel like i just did a food marathon! oh my gulay! Lucy and i went to SD for a week. I'm currently at the Las Vegas Airport and Lucy bear is sleeping. She is so good at flying! Can you believe that this 14 month old has already been on 19 planes, and is about to get on her 20th for Detroit! My little one is such a travel bug! Not to mention the many times we've gone long-driving with her to Canada, Chicago, and more! Lucy got her passport when she was less than a month old!! The story was pretty funny. Every passport picture has to be taken with the person's eye's open and looking at the camera. When they're that young, babies usually sleep about 16-20 hours a day! Needless to say, the cameraman at Walmart was very patient and understanding. =]
Anyways, back to the food!! In the week i was able to have:
   -  Vietnamese: Pho
   -  Mexican: California Burritos [Lolitas]
   -  Mexican: Carne Asada Fries [Tacos el Gordo]
   -  Mexican: Tosti Locos
   -  Hawaiian: Chicken Katsu & Spam Masubi [L&L's]
   -  Filipino: Sinigang [Home cooked!!! theBEST!]
   -  Filipino: Bangus [Chow King]
   -  Filipino: Banana Langka Pie [Jolibee]
   -  American: Babyback Rib Tickler [Phil's BBQ]
   -  American: Almond Crunch Pretzel with Glaze [Wetzel Pretzel]
   -  German: Fresh Fruit Cake [Hans & Harry's German Pastry]

I'm sure i don't need to post any pictures for this post, I'm pretty sure everyone saw them on facebook! =]

ALSO!!! i'm excited to say that i will be back in SD in just a few short weeks for Christmas!! and Tommy will get to share in the indulgences as well! Any recommendations? Send them my way! Korean BBQ is already on the list! =]

time to get lucy a "Big Sister" shirt!

Yes, you read right! Lucy is going to be an Ate! =] She doesn't quite understand it yet, but I know she'll be a good big sis! I am in my 8th week of pregnancy. 8 weeks! Even though it's still early, there's so much of a difference between this pregnancy and my first. When I was pregnant with Lucy, nausea came very fast and was intense, but with this pregnancy, I'm an constantly nauseated. Right when I wake up, I already feel like i've been in a car for 12 hours. I just feel carsick constantly. I would say this is worse than throwing up out of nowhere. Hopefully it goes away soon though.
It has also been a struggle to keep up with the house. It was hard to pick up after a toddler as it is, but add working 3x a week, pregnancy, and nausea on top of it, it is difficult. My house has definitely been neglected lately. Tommy has been a real help though. He really does a good job at watching Lucy while I'm at work, or when I'm sleeping after work.
Please keep my growing family in your prayers, and also let me know if there's something specifically you would like me to pray for about you as well. I'll try and keep everyone posted on the new jelly bean! =]

busy is an understatement

to say that i was "busy" since i blogged last, is definitely an understatement. There are so many new and upcoming things that i'm so excited to blog about very soon, but first, a picture of the bebe!

I was going to use this for our Christmas card dress, but i decided against it. Lucy will probably not be making it to church this Sunday. She has had a fever since yesterday, poor girl. She usually doesn't get sick often, but during the winter months, we're fighting illnesses left and right. Lilu is getting smarter and smarter everyday! She understands more, like when I say, "Get your binky and come here, please." She knows exactly what I mean! For those of you who aren't parents yet, it doesn't seem like a big deal, but for those of you who are, you know how long it takes for a baby to finally understand sentences!
    
     Why I love this developmental stage she is in right now!
            - Understands full sentences
            - Doesn't get into too much trouble
            - Listens to what I say because she likes when I clap & say "yay"
            - Sleeps 12hrs through
            - Can play by herself
            - Still takes two naps a day

I've been looking for new recipes because I've been feeling like eating has been more of a "chore" lately. Which is SO SAD! Don't get me wrong, I LOVE food, but ever since Lucy got off the baby food and started eating real food, I've been cooking 3 meals a day, and now I've run out of recipes. There was a stuffed peppers recipe that I tried from online, but now I can't find it anywhere! I wanted to try it a second time, so I did without the recipe. I have to say, it turned out better. hahah Well, that's according to my husband, and he can be a little biased towards me. =] If anyone has bomb recipes, please send them my way!