Days of Our lives:)

It's been too long

2007-03-05T15:47:00.000-08:00

Hah...finally...a little break time to blog:)..Feels forever since the last time I wrote anything. This past week has been especially long since I had to prepare for the first exam. But...we're here now and that's done....well, until I have to do the 2nd exam in early May..:) I missed Payton's first b'day last week (sorry big boy), but I really needed that quiet time alone. I always crammed everything at the last minute, I don't think my brain will work any other way...so it was good to have the total peace and quiet time , even only for few hours. I don't know if Dads are the same , but as a Mom, it's hard for me to completely focus on the books and pretended that I am childless...oh well, we'll see.

To pick up where we left off:), we all went to Victoria that Chinese New Year weekend. We haven't been back for a while, and plus we hadn't seen our newest niece Turquoise and plus again it was chinese new year..so after the usual being at each other's throats and packing like we're going to stay there for at least 1 year, the van was packed, the kids were packed and asleep and we were good to go for the 3 o'clock ferry on Feb 15th. Going on the ferries these days is just soo much pain for me...when Shun and I were on long distance, we took turn going over every other week...so yeah, I really am not excited at all when the ferry captain announced that there's a pod of whales swimming 100 miles away from the boat...now is even worse, ..packing for the kids is just crazy...seriously, it almost feel like the house was half empty when we left...and we were only there for 3 nights. One thing for sure is that I should never again let Shun pack for the kids' clothes!:) He pretty much packed Kairo's whole wardrobe:)...I guess the packing part is not that bad, the unpacking part is the worse. Anyways...enough about this, gives me a headache right now:)

Victoria was good and relaxing...it's always nice to have extra set of hands to help:) plus, the abundance of food at Shun's parents' house didn't hurt either:)..We got to meet baby Turquoise for the first time...and she was cute and seems to have this calm presence . Kelly and SJ seemed very relax as a 'first timer':)

It just so happenned that Valentine's day was Jesse's 30th b'day. So his sisters threw him a party at their place on the weekend in the afternoon. We were supposed to go there with the kids too, we haven't seen their newest baby boy either, so it would've been good, but the kids were napping at weird times so we ended up didn't go. Instead, we met up with them later at night at Legends. YES, we finally went clubbing:) It was so much fun....i was just telling Shun how back in the days , like 8-9 years ago when we used to frequent these kind of places, the kids that we saw that night were only 10 -12 years old...elementary school!:)..and now we are partying in the same place:)...It's funny to see how things don't change...all the bumping and grinding...the drunk guys dancing like crazy while trying to 'accidentally' bump into hot girls' asses...girls wearing skimpy clothing dancing ever so seductively:)...ahhh...the smell of youth...hahah...or obliviousness...:)..little did they know how those exact actions would lead them to what we are now...mothers of crying, pooping, screamin babies:)

I lost my voice there, thanks to actually talking with everyone:) It's always fun talking with the boys though...especially when they are sobber:)...we hang out there until about 1:30 ish ....and boy we were beat! we were soo beat that we got up the next morning (bright and early at 6 of course, because the kids got up at that time) with sore throats:(

Anyways, it was all fun and everyone is now back to our normal selves. Phew!

Bopomo

2007-02-11T00:12:00.000-08:00

As Lyn mentioned in her blog, the free pic from Bopomo is done and here. I quite like the picture actually..too bad Indie wasn't smiling and too bad her camou dress isn't showing very well:)

It was nice to hang out with the Bennetts again after a while. Lyn and I took the kids to the nearby park and I went crazy practising my shots:) Kairo is so clingy to Lyn for some reason, hey not that I'm complaining or anything..heheh....ahhh..I should take a picture of Lyn carying Kelan on the back and carrying Kairo in the front:)

Anyways, here are some pictures I took from the park.

Mommies Movies

2007-02-08T00:41:00.000-08:00

Boy what a hectic day today is!! Lyn , my neighbour Mai and I tried out our first Mommies and movies out at the Ridge Theatre. They had free Bopomo photo session and apparently free gymboree class, which we really couldn't figure out where or if it actually happenned. The movie they were playing was Happy Feet, which according to my brother is really cool so I was all so excited about it. Only problem is that Wednesday is not my 'day off'...I have both kids with me...but despite of Shun's suggestion to get Kairo in daycare today, I insisted that Kairo would have a lot of fun and I really want to take him there, I mean Indie can't enjoy the movie..and Kairo has never been to a theatre before and he likes penguins..

But I guess I didn't prepare enough, ...the place was sooo packed with kids and strollers and Kairo didn't seem to want to cooperate. Lyn and Mai helped out a lot in watching Kairo (thank you girls!!) but at the end, I just had to cut it short...(actually, it was only after Lyn took off that Kairo started saying 'Take care mama, I'm going with Auntie Lyn okay"...so really THANKS Lyn!!:) ) I kept on telling myself that there are other Moms that come with both their kids...I don't know if they come with their moms or partners or nannies too but I've seen few Moms having both their kids with them, so if they can do it, I should be able to do it too right? But at the end, I just got too nervous. Before we left, and I've told Kairo that we're leaving , he said okay and took off...I was panicking looking for him in the dark, but he apparently went outside the theatre , grab a bottle of water (I don't know whose) and came back inside the theatre...gosh..and then he told me that he got the water...anyways, since we had to park our strollers wayy in front , I had to drag him to go there too and then went all the way back to leave..and at this point..he said bye bye to pretty much everybody within the last 10 rows...I guess I was lucky that he didn't actually want to chat longer with each one of them.

The lesson learned today is to prepare healthy snacks for him, instead of letting him munching on the popcorn, ditch the humongous stroller, and feed Indira before hand (well this one really depends on the time of the show). I guess this is one of the downsides of having the kids so close together, especially that I'm doing it bymyself. However, I think the upsides of it definetely worth all this headache. As I was driving home, Indie started to get cranky and started to whale...but then big brother started playing with his straw while saying his own version of "Abra-kadabra" and that made her laugh...and then he repeated it and then she laughed again...they did it for maybe 1 minute or two and it was priceless for me. Every morning, when they first see each other again after they wake up, they both had this plastered wide smile on their faces and Kairo would let Indie touches his face and he would giggle about it. I guess I better start video taping...:)

Photography class

2007-02-06T02:49:00.000-08:00

As my favorite person's mentioned in her blog:), Liz and I went to one of the photography class by David Smith at the Surrey Art Gallery this Sunday (Feb 4). The guy seems really nice and laid back but boy, his pictures are very captivating. He specializes in people and travelling pictures , and it must've been a combination of his creativity and the sharp eyes for editing that made those pictures look so alive and the colors so vibrant.

That has got to be the live huh...he is hired by this cruise ship (what was that liz..I forgot.)to be the onboard speaker for the ship's photography class. So that's all he does I guess, him and his wife get to travel around the world for free and while doing so, he takes awesome pictures of stuff and manage to sell those pictures for commercial purposes and make even more moolah...sigh...I pick the wrong carreer..:(

So the class was quite good, got some tips for taking pictures, editing and creating slide shows, I was hoping that we get to actually use our own camera to kinda applied what we've learned...but all in all, it was really informative and got Liz and I dreamed and drooled about vacationing to those places:)

One day Liz...one day:)

Last week...

2007-02-05T10:41:00.000-08:00

Last Friday, Feb 2nd, after about two years of talking about going, we finally went out and enjoyed a piece of Dine out vancouver. The first year was supposed to be in jan 2005, but Kairo beat us to it :)

We picked a Thai restaurant ,Chillies on Beach Ave to try and it was quite good. We were thinking to try Cru on West Broadway, apparently it was really quite nice dining and all, but when we tried to book up the place 1 week before our planned date, the place has already been booked up. So yeah, Chillies is one of the $25 ones, very reasonable, but it really tasted good and after that we got to walk around by the Marina there for a bit only though, yeah, skirt and boots just don't cut it for this weather:)

I started with Tuna Lettuce wrap for appies while Shun started with the prawncakes...both were pretty good, though they could lessen the fish sauce on the lettuce wrap ...ah what the heck, I LOVE fish sauce:)..For entree, shun picked the beef short rib in Thai sauce and I chose the tigerprawn with greenbean and basil. The beefshort rib were quite spicy actually, but nonetheless yummy:) and for dessert Shun picked the boring mango ice cream and fried banana:) and I tried their Thai style tapioca pudding...all were really good and I think my alcohol tolerance has increased since the last time I drank because I ordered a glass of Cesar , drank it all and didn't even get a hive..like at all. This was an accident by the way..didn't really like the taste of vodka but forgot to tell the waitress that i wanted the drink virgin...:)

The kids are doing good, my school is still behind...same old same old:) Oh , we ran into Nat Cliff and Alexis last Sunday at The Bay Metrotown. As soon as the elevator door opened, I heard this very loud " Oh my God" courtessy of Nathalie of course:) We joined ourselves to sitting with them at the food court and at the end kairo got a DQ ice cream treat from Alexis...yum:) It was cute how the two sort of play together...Alexis was very nurturing...she brought her toys to kairo, came and pat his back, and even told Kairo that Indie is his sister...hahahha:) She is really sweet Nat...I think you guys should seriously thinking about getting her a brother or sister!!:)

And the day before that was Mr. Sales' 1st b'day. Too bad I didn't get to use my camera at all. But it was fun to hang out again and for the kids to play around in the ball pit. It would've been a good time to try to practice some shots huh Liz? Lots of colors, kids running around, falling all over the place...ahh..next time:)

Well, since , as mentioned, I didn't get to use my camera at Rylan's b'day, didn't bring my camera when we ran into Alexis and her parents, the only picture we have is the boring one of us at Chillies and one of Kairo and Indie. I don't know how he managed to get in to the exersaucer while Indie is still in it...must be painful for her...ouch..

It's Gymbo time

2007-01-22T23:45:00.000-08:00

We had Kairo's 2nd b'day party at Gymboree last Saturday and it was so much fun, even for me just watching them. Kairo had such a blast there and also at night at Pao and Cheryl's that he's losing his voice now...oh well, once a year is okay i guess:)

It was such a big difference to see him playing at gymbo now compared to when he used to go there for a class. Well the obvious reason was that he is now very mobile and he can pretty much go anywhere he wanted withouth having to drag me or shun with him...hehe....when he was in gymbo class, he was about 8 or 9 months, he was actually showing lots of interest too. He climbed, slided and crawled into the tunnels...I guess that's why I'm in love with gymboree, it really encouraged Kairo to do all these things without having to force him to do it.

Something that I notice now with Indie is that she isn't into crawling at all, in fact, she isn't into moving around at all:) She's just content with sitting and playing with her hands. Apparently, according to my Doctor, boys develops their gross motor skills first, so they can move around and get all over the place i guess:), while girls develop the fine motor skills first, like twirling their hands, wiggling their individual fingers. They will catch up at the end, it's just that the different gender develop different skills first. It was actually a relief to hear that, cause I was worried that my little girl is going to be one lazy ass...heheheh:)

Anyways, here are some pics from the party at gymbo (thanks for Auntie Suzie for doing the deed:) ) There are like 80 pictures from the party, for the complete pics click the b'day cake picture here

Thank you again for coming and for all the nice gifts and nice after party (courtesy of Uncle Pao and Auntie Cheryl) for Kairo and us. It's definetely a memorable one:)

And just like that, he turned 2...

2007-01-17T11:44:00.000-08:00

Yep, My boy is turning 2 today...singing happy b'day to himself and wishing himself a happy birthday...heheh...well, we sang and wished him happy b'day too, but when he sang it himself it sounded like he's singing to himself:)

Thinking back two years from today, everything seemed to happen in fast forward. My contraction started Jan 15/05. We were suppose to drive down to that Bowling alley by Holdom skytrain station for John's 27th b'day but since it started to snow around 6.30ish pm that day, Shun decided that we should take the public transit so that we would eliminate any chance of slipping and got stucked in the car:)...I remember that day, my first night on maternity...we walked chocolate in the snow while still discussing what names we should pick if they baby's going to be a girl. I miss those walks now, we used to do it everynight when I was pregnant with Kairo...we bundled up chocolate and my pregnant self, and off we went walking around that Kits neighbourhood, always said that one day we'll buy a house there hhehe....Kairo's name was 'invented' during those walks, along with many other names that got invented and turned down:)

Anyways, on our way to the bowling alley; we had to bus it to Granville station and then skytrain it to Broadway station then change train to Holdom station; I started to feel this pain on my lower back. We thought that it's due to too much walking (although the whole trip I was sitting). As far as I can remember, the pain was tolerable. I think the biggest thing is that I didn't even think that the baby will come anytime soon. It was weird back then, the whole pregnancy seemed so surreal, let alone delivering and carrying the baby in my arms. I kept on telling myself that I was overdue when I was born, so my baby will be too. So eventhough the pain came and went and came again, I really thought it was my body getting tired....until we hit the bowling alley and out of the blue I felt this really sharp pain on my lower back and Shun had to give me a counterpressure....well, I thought for a bit that it might be a contraction, but since it didn't come back, I thought it was nothing:)

Liz and Bry gave us a ride that night, and I remember that we got home right at midnite and I felt that I was really ready to hit the sack. The whole day Sunday was pretty much a write off. I spent soo much time in the shower cause it felt so good and the rest of the time lying on the couch on my side...we didn't actually leave the house until 3 or 4 pm and even then we were only on the road for maybe 1/2 hour and then headed back since my pain started to come again. But it's amazing how your brain controls your attitude, cause even up till then, I still didn't think that it was an early labour or anything.

It was until about 7 or 8 pm that night when I still had the pain that it started to sink in that I might have a contraction already...that the baby might come early and the most terrifying thing...the baby will be here soon....I spent the rest of the night pacing while breathing properly. Shun tried to coach me and being an unexperienced Dad-to-be himself, he told me to go lie down and have some sleep...heheh....little that he knew that if I could do that then I won't be pacing and breathing like a maniac. Past midnite Jan 17, I phoned the hospital and explained my situation, and then she told me that it didn't sound like a false labour like I thought it was, but it sounded like an early labour. She said I could either go there or stay home..and being still on denial, I opted to stay home while wishing that the pain will go away and I can start my day fresh and pain free tomorrow (right!:)...I lasted 2 hours in that pain, and by 2:15 am I jumped out the bed and screamed to Shun that I couldn't take it anymore. So he phoned the hospital and then off we went to Women's.

The whole trip in the car was painfull. Good thing it was in the middle of the night so the street was really empty. And as soon as we got admitted and I got dressed and stuff, the nurse told me that I was 5 cm dialated. I think then was when it hit me that there's no way i'm closing in after 5 cm dialated, the next thing that will happen is that i would get dialated even more, and after that, I would get to see this little person face to face. It was the scariest thought for me...we weren't ready at all!! We didn't even buy a crib yet, we haven't even done any hospital tour yet, and the most important part, I was mentally not ready yet...everything came waay to soon.

By 6 am that day, I was pretty much fully dialated, the more reason why they didn't even recommended me to take any pain killers since the baby, supposedly, was ready to pop out. But being me, things are rarely go smoothly. Kairo was breached and they had, many time, tried to get me to push while they tried to turn him...with no avail of course. I think the contraction part I can tolarate, but once they induce me and made my contraction harder (to try to get kairo to turn on his own), that's when I started to weep and asked for epidural. I tried everything, the gas, birthing ball, shower, squatting, walking, sitting on the toilet...everything...nothing works. At the end, they let me had the damn epidural and that was the most relaxing 2 hours or my life:) After 40 hours of labour(started Jan 15), Shun and I can finally rest..for a bit.

One hour after the magic drug was in, the doctor came in and said that they might have to do a C-section on me since they've waited 7 hours for the baby to turn and tried every thing to get him to turn but didn't work. I was soo sad at that point. Its the thought of surgery and stitching that freaked me out...but the good doctor said that she'll give another hour and see if anything progressed...but in the meantime, they already took my blood sample and got the emergency OR ready.

By around 2 pm, she came back and said that the last resort to deliver naturally is by vacuuming him out. My main concern was whether or not it could have a long term damage to the baby's brain, but she said the only damage would just be a temporary cone head:)... but she said I had to push really hard for the suction cup to catch the baby's head.

Well, the good thing about epidural is that it numbs your pain...but it could back fire that in critical time like that, when the fate of this delivery is based on how hard I push, I couldn't feel a damn thing! I felt like I was pushing but I couldn't feel anywhere else in my body doing the same thing. Lucky for me, the nurses were helpful and after 2 pushes, I felt this feeling of being 'unplugged' and there it was...a baby..with the white umbilical cord attached, got pulled out of me....

Kairo Isaac Dimas Chiang was born at 14:12, weighing 7lbs 5 oz, 51.5 cm long, 12 days ahead of schedule...when he was born, I didn't even remember to ask whether or not it was a boy or a girl..I was busy worying of the fact that he didn't cry. The doctor had to tell me 'by the way, it's a boy':)

It's still hard to believe sometimes how fast he grows. Especially now that he talks back, and copying and having lots of personality:) Like yesterday, as I was cooking and slaving myself in the kitchen (something that I never thought I would ever done before I got married:) ), he pulled up a chair on the other side of the kitchen counter and stood on it and just casually asked me questions like 'what are you doing mama' (he asked this about 10 million times btw), and when he saw I was cooking him some broccoli he went on and on and on at how much 'I love broccoli':)

Anyways baby boy, may you find all the happiness in the world and may your life will always be blessed with love and laughter. Happy 2nd birthday my son....many more years to come..and may your Papa and Mama be around to see it.

This is fun:)

2007-01-12T21:09:00.000-08:00

I love this thing! hhaha:)...if it were not because of this website, I wouldn't know that my daughter have the slight similarity to Will Smith:)

Here's mine:)

Mommies lunch date

2007-01-10T14:15:00.000-08:00

Here are the pics from the lunch date:) We should do this more often...and Richmond is a good place for everyone right...seems that it took everyone 15 minutes to get there...what do you guys think?
In age order:)

It's like they're playing tag...Kelan bugged Rylan, Rylan bugged Payton and Rylan won cause Payton got nobody else to bug:) (cousin Indie might get too feisty if you bug her Payton:) )

Kelan, it's about time you show some affection to me...otherwise....

Yeah, we need to get out more..:)

29 years old!

2007-01-05T23:33:00.000-08:00

Well, according to my Mom, on a Thursday at 3pm exactly 29 years ago, I began my debut as a human being who breaths air, 10 days overdue. I still remember how what seems like a lonnngg time ago when I was 14, I told my brother, who turned 20 then, how old he was! Sigh..little that I knew:)

My b'day started with a little surprise from Shun. I have to say that after all this years, he still managed to really surprise me with his surprises. He asked me to add more time to the dryer after he put my gift on top of the washer. And of course, I didn't even look at the washer and went straight to the dryer and when he asked me to see if the washer was closed, I saw this big box sitting on top of the washer:) Apparently it was 12:07 am already:)

The day was pretty low key, Shun took it off so I managed to have longer nap with Indie while he kept Kairo company downstairs. At night, my cousin came to house sit for us when we sneaked out to have dinner at this greek place less than 5 minutes drive from our place.

To my surprise, the food was reallly good. The place was Santali and it was a chinese-chefed Greek restaurant:)..but it was really good. We ordered from that place before but last night it tasted much better. We started of with a glass of wine for Shun and just a specialty coffee for me. Shun had yummy calamary for appy as I chowed on my dolmates!! love those stuff. We both had lamb for the main course, he picked the rack of lamb while I picked the shoulder...it was really tender and good, melt in your mouth. We closed it off by sharing a dessert of cheesecake wrapped in fillo pasty with vanila sauce. The place was quite small and we were pretty much the only people there. It was a very nice and quiet dinner and we talked and laughed and even argued ( of course:) ) The plan was to have dinner and a movie, but Indie's teething kinda messed up her sleeping schedule that she wakes up before midnite sometimes, so we just have to go see a movie some other time. Have to say the dinner was the icing on my 29th b'day cake:) Shun suggested that maybe we should pick one day in a week and do this once a week...excellent idea but hard to do cause my cousin is the only sitter we have and he's only 20, Friday is of course his partying day:)..but we'll see:)

Anyways, thank you so much for you girls and guys that emailed, phoned, friendster messaged and e-carded me:) Wonderful friends and families ,excellent food and a loving husband...what more can I ask for:) Thanks again everyone!:)

2007!

2007-01-05T23:05:00.000-08:00

This has been redundantly said, but Happy New year everyone!:)...10 years ago on January 2nd, my parents and I arrived in Victoria right after the snow storm. I still remember how this country smell, the coldness in the air and how really super tired I was. The snow in Victoria was like knee high, not very many places were open and did I mention how cold it was for us? Funny that until then, Canada was only a name I saw on those teeny boopers magazine that I used to love, you know how in magazines they have prices in US and Canada. It's crazy the surprises life has for you..never in a million years I ever thought that 10 years from that day, I will be right here, sitting writing my blog, in my house, married and a mom of two...:)

Anyways...our new years eve was really mellow. I didn't even realize that it was new year already until Shun wished me happy new year. He hummed (kinda off tune) the Auld Lang Syne and we had our little goofy dance to start the year:) Earlier that day we went to church and it was one of those moments that I got so emotional. Maybe it was the christmas songs (yes, we missed church on Christmas day!!!!!!), or maybe it was the fact that we were all there as a family (even for only short while cause Shun had to take Kairo to the back), but whatever it was, it really moved me that I cried. Embarassing, since the lady 2 rows in front of us saw me and smiled:) oh well:)

Just like the last two new year days, we went down to the states to pick up another baby item. Were supposed to meet up with John and Lyn down there but kept on missing it and at the end we met up back in Canada, outside Wal Mart in Langley hehhe:) So new year day was pretty much spent on the road.

For the past how many years, my resolution is always the same, including this year of course. So I think this resolution is going to be a decade resolution and hopefully by the end of the decade I will have achieved most of it:)

Many things in store waiting for me this year. As I mentioned, there's this school thing that I kinda sort of started already. There's also 2 photography courses that Shun gave me as a christmas present that I will be taking in Feb and March. Liz and I will be doing them together, so I really can't wait for those days to come!:) A full day course just me and the camera! I guess it's a double gift, the courses themselves and the fact that I can get a break from both kids for the full day!!:) I agree with you Nat...we all love our kids soo much, but yes, a break from them once in a while is only healthy!.

So 2007, here we come!!!:)

Rambling Thoughts

2006-12-29T15:57:00.000-08:00

I just can't believe christmas is over..and my fave christmas radio station, the clear fm 104.9 immediately stop playing christmas music and now back to everything else...so sad...i guess time flies when you are having fun AND not having fun...so time flies anyways huh?!

This past few days have been pretty un-eventful for us, with each one of us still continue to recover. Shun is getting excited preparing Kairo's 2nd b'day, which btw, the invitations will be out soon.

What else...I'm going back to school next month, not really a lecture type of school, but more like a distance ed one...and of course being me, I had to pick the most intense one, the one that's only 10 month in lenght but requires at least 20 hour of studying per week, have 4 exams throughout the 10 months, and a national enterance exam in october. I don't think I ever feel this worried about school ever. I'm just hoping that things will get better with Indie's sleeping schedule. 20 hour per week is like a part time job...so in May, when I'm back to work, I will have a full time work during the day, come home to take care of my kids and then start my 'part time' job for the rest of the night...I'm scared. I just want to get this school thing get out of the way. Shun told me to limit my blogging time to accomodate the studying...sigh...so Liz..don't miss me too much when I don't blog very often anymore okay:)

I have some Christmas pictures attached in this blog. Though we didn't get to go out anywhere during Christmas, I managed to forced Shun and the kids to stay in front of the tree and the gifts...heheh....yes, we looked like crap, but at least I have pictures of Indie's first Christmas:)

This time of the year has always been the best for me ever since I can remember. Maybe because my b'day falls within 4 days after new year, so we always had a get together at my parents place. It's a combo of christmas, new year and my b'day i guess:) It's never about the gifts though. I remember that I always got presents, but I can't remember what they were anymore. What sticks is the feeling of warmth and happiness to have people you love around you, to see how everybody is laughing and happy, and of course being kids, to play those silly indonesian kids games before we all passed out:)

Ever since I had Kairo, I always wanted to create that type of atmosphere for my family. But of course it's difficult since most of his close relatives are scattered around the globe. So I'm just glad that we could have that christmas exchange thing as a tradition, which actually, the gift exchange is what my family used to do when we grew up. I know that the aftermath of the last party has been bad, but I hope that it won't stop everyone from coming to the next one. Shun and I already have another idea for the 5th christmas exchange, but it won't be fun if nobody else is coming:) Maybe I can borrow one of those breathelizer thing and scan everyone at the door. If you carry more than 'normal' amount of germs than we'll just take your food, wish you merry christmas and wave you goodbye...hahhahaa....:) Nah...we're all adults here, I'm sure we all learned our lessons and continue living:)

Anyways...here are some pictures from this holiday. Shun tried to incorporate Kairo to build the gingerbread house (thanks Gene and Terri), but the still-sick little man just refused to do anything but wanting to eat the cookie. At least he ripped open all his gifts and had fun with the presents as well as the wrappers:)

Enjoy the rest of your holidays everyone...

Merry Christmas to all

2006-12-25T19:33:00.000-08:00

First of all, I would like to say Merry Christmas to everyone!! Hope all your christmases be merry and bright, full of love and laughter, spent with family, friends and all your loved ones. Thank you so much for all the presents for Kairo and Indie and us!!

Our christmas this year is nothing like the other christmases we had before. Well, the obvious difference is that this year we have two kids celebrating it with us:) But the biggest and kinda sad difference is that all four of us are sick. I have to say, after a little over a week, Kairo is finally getting better, picked up his appetite and being a cherful little man he is. Indie is slowly recovering, still has the barky coughs and the runny nose, but appetite is slowly comes back and she finished a bowl and a half of her solids!

Since this is Christmas (and you tell the truth at Christmas time (according to my fave movie 'Love Actually')) I would like to let out what's bugging me this past week.

As most of you know, both Kairo and Indie got sick pretty much right after our Christmas party. This week, I spent my days, driving back and forth to a walk in clinic, Kairo's pediatrician, Children's emergency for Kairo and a pediatric walk in clinic for Indie. As a mother, the physical fatigueness is nothing compared to how emotionally drained I am when my kids are not eating, not being themselves, have high fever and seemed in pain to say the least.

Though it is true that you can pick up the bug just about anywhere, it is also true that you can at least avoid getting the bug by not having sick kids around your kids, so long that you know or been notified that those kids are sick. To me, being a mother is for most about taking care of the well being of your children. But with that, comes the sympathy and understanding to the other mothers when their kids are sick. Having been thru what I've been thru when my kids are sick, I never wish any kid to be sick, let alone kids of my family and friends. For example, the plan for this christmas was for us to spend the night at the Bennett's,but looking at how contageous my kids are , we decided that it is not very wise of us to impose Kelan to the sickness and having him expose to the germs. We've been planning this christmas get together for a couple months or so, and if you ask me, we can't wait to hang out with John and Lyn and play whatever games they already prepared for that evening (after the kids are in bed of course). But again, it would be selfish of us to take the kids there anyways just so that we can have a break.

A break...that is certainly one thing that we need but just couldn't seem to get. It so happens that our families and relatives are all far away, so we don't really have a sitter for the kids so that we can catch up with our lifes..per say. I'm not complaining..really! This is the life we chose and to be honest, I am glad that we are what we are. But this past week has been very unnecessary, not only that both kids are sick, but at the end, Shun and I got cought up with the bug. The effect of this has snowballed to not only ruined our christmas, but also ruinned the Bennetts.

Maybe it's a lesson for us next time, to constantly watch where our kids are and what they do , even in our own house! Sounds dumb, but apparently necessary. The other thing that bothers me, is that apparently Kairo spread this bug! Yes, weird but true. And here I am thinking that if he spread the bug to begin with, he would have the immunity to the same bug now wouldn't he? But hey, that's just me I guess.

So there it is...I let it out. I know being angry is really pointless, since it can't change anything really. But I figure, since this is also close to the end of the year, I'm hoping I can let it out my chest, say what I needed to say, and start the new year fresh, and of course careful.

Anyways, hope you guys' holidays are better. And may all the sick kids be better..SOON.

Christmas Party--and the aftermath

2006-12-19T11:36:00.000-08:00

After all the husles and bushels of having the tree up, decorating the house (well, I guess we just put the lights up and some garlands:) ) and cleaning the house a bit, the 4th annual 'Christmas at the Chiangs' came and went succesfully:) The gift exchange still opened with how it should be played and seriously, it sounded justtt like last year. Maybe Bry is right, maybe I'll tape the next one and so the following year's we'll just play the tape:)

Party started at 1pm and ended at about 7pm, and pretty much all of the kids were spent! Thank you for all of you guys that came...it was good to see everyone again in the Christmas atmosphere. Too bad the karaoke didn't work...but we did get a little performance (and little encore) from Vats and Chris:)

Mrs. Sales was the only one who brought a camera...so we'll just wait for her to post her pictures:)...Darn...I wish we did a group picture. I know we had a group picture for the 2nd one...can't remember if we did or not for the 3rd one and I have to dig in for the 1st one....oh well.

The aftermath of the party is not the greatest...for us anyways. Kairo started to have a runny nose on Sunday and yesterday(Monday) he had a fever. I'm watching him closely to make sure that his breathing is still okay, darn respitory problem!! It got me so sad when I checked that his temperature was close to 40 C. Last time he had a temperature that high was 3 days before Indie was born and we had to rush him back to the emergency at Children's. Hopefully this is just a mix of the cold season and him being tired maybe. Hopefully all the other kids are doing okay too. Nothing's worse than having to witness your child being sick.

Last night when I lied down with him, couldn't help but cry. I went to his room at around midnite, to check his temperature again and found that he was up, just lying in bed and looking at me. I asked him if he's okay and he raspily answered "yeah"..and when I took his temperature it was nearing 40 C. So I rushed down to get him a cup of warm water and his tylenol. The guy just loving tylenol..heheh...thank goodness for white grape flavour..(btw...what is white grape? don't think i've seen one in store before). He chugged his water and asked me to go lie down with him for a bit. So I did. He asked me to tell him a story about donkey, and I did(btw, the most boring story ever, but he still loves it):) My baby boy seem so grown when I lied down with him. We had a quiet conversations and I sang a bit for him. After that I asked him to put down his cup and offered to put him up onto his trucky bed and he agreed. While all this happening, I was just thinking if things got worse and he had to go to the hospital, I couldn't stay with him because Indie still needs me too. So thank goodness that everything is better now for him.

Brought back really bad memories of having him to stay in the hospital for one week, in the isolation room. And during that one short week, he visited the emergency one night, visited the Operating Room once and scheduled for a Day surgery...and this all happenned when I was 7 month pregnant. In times like that, I sure miss having my family around. They phoned me from Indo almost everyday, heck if this were to happen in Indo , I sure would see them everyday; my parents, my brother, sister, nephews and my in laws. So for you girls that knew about this then and care enough to phone and visitted me, I can't thank you enough. A friend in need is a friend in deed:)

Anyways, that what's happening so far in our house. I hope all the kids that came to the party is doing okay, especially Alexis since her and Kairo kissed and hugged..hahha...Nat, your daughter finally gave in to my son's persistent-ness...heheh....a lesson for Kairo, no means no, but if you wait long enough, it might changed to a yes...hahahha:)
Merry Christmas everyone. Now here's a toast for a wonderful new year ahead!

Lazy days

2006-12-11T22:50:00.000-08:00

Feels like ages ago since the last time I blog, thank goodness for all you girl-bloggers that keep the new blogs coming:) Things have been quite hectic (and messy) around the house this past few weeks. Shun and Pao put on the laminate in our living room, so it changes the look of the house a bit. I am so glad to get rid of that carpet, it just looks disgusting and dirty and I don't think it helps that Kairo has a respitory problem.

We just got our tree from Ikea today...man oh man was it ever windy there!! Both kids were in their peaceful slumber when we got there, so I couldn't really leave them in the car . Poor Shun had to untie the tree, showed it to me, re-tied it and tied it up on the car roof . Anyways...now that the tree is here, and he's done with all the remainder touch up he has to do in the house and everything is out of the box, we can start decorating the tree tomorrow...yay!!:) so excited!! Btw, Ikea is selling the tree for $20 this year, which goes toward your $75 or more worth of purchases, gone up a bit from last year. Last year, we got our tree for $15 and it could be used towards a $50 purchase or more. Oh well.

What else,...we just got back from Victoria this weekend. I forgot my camera since we were rushing in to catch the 6 pm ferry on Friday..sigh.. We had lunch with Kelly and SJ , I guess for the last time before their baby's born:) and also met up a bit with Andre and Tiana with their two kids. So cute:)

The kids are doing great, no more colds for both of them. Indie is as loud as she always is. I wonder if she has an attachment issue or something, she seems to be very clingy to me. Maybe I'm sort of comparing her to Kairo, who, I realize more and more now, was such an easy baby. Very happy and minding his own business type of baby.

Anyways, enough update:) I'll add more pictures tomorrow or something. And yes, loving the lilypies tracker thing, they're too cute:) Hey, I was inspired by Nat as I was inspired by everyone else to do the blog. Nah...copying will means exactly the same thing right...like the strollers...hehehe:)

Baby It's Cold Outside!

2006-11-26T14:53:00.000-08:00

If it's still snowing in 3 more hours, then it means that it has been snowing for 24 hours straight. Perfect timing too, happens on a weekend, so we can enjoy it as a family:)..Sorry Nat, it's just too pretty outside...I'm just loving the snow:)

We managed to go outside and play with the snow a bit...the snow is very soft and powderry, I was so tempted to take out my skis...hehe...but again I realize how moronic that would look to ski around our complex...sigh..:( Kairo seemed to enjoy the snow...Shun showed him how to build mini snow man, but I guess he's too young to comprehend that..:)...I taught Kairo how to throw snow balls at his dad...hehhe....maybe it was his gloves, or maybe his hands are still too small, he couldn't really form a good size snowball to throw..lucky Shun..:)Maybe next year. He tried to face wash me with the snow though...to no avail of
course:) Cheap move btw!:)

Everything is so perfect outside,...but Indie wasn't cooperating. Tried to sit her down in the snow, and didn't really like it. She was soo dressed for it too. Maybe she didn't like the snow on her face...I don't know, but because of that I don't get to take lots of pictures...oh well.

Anyways...we'll just enjoy watching the snow from inside the house while we still have it. Hey, maybe this unexpected snow fall could clear up the contaminated water and bring our life back to normal again:)...

Happy Snowing everyone...dress warm and enjoy this while it last

Friends

2006-11-25T23:53:00.000-08:00

Kelan: "Fun , eh Indie"

Indie: "Hmh Hmh"

Let it snow Let it snow Let it snow

2006-11-25T23:30:00.000-08:00

Oh, it's soo beautiful outside...so peaceful and serene...I wish I could take pictures with all of us today in the snow.

The Bennetts and us took a day trip to Bellingham today. It was one interesting one since each kid participated in whining and crying in the car at different times. Before, Lyn and I used to fall asleep on the backseat, well, not on this trip. Shun and John were joking how they should have one of those plexy glass thing to block all the noise, kinda like in a limo...yeah right..that will be happening anytime soon:)

We didn't really get to do too much shopping, we only went to Bellis Fair and they did have some good sales there, but the line ups are soo long in each store. But we were able to fulfill our Taco Bell crave...hehehe...I love Taco Bell for some reason...loving those challupas with those hot sauce...Yum! Darn it...why don't they have Taco Bell here in Canada? I know they have one in Surrey, but it doesn't taste the same and the menu is different too....sigh, maybe it's a good thing, less junk food in our neighbourhood:(

Anyways...as we were driving home, the snow started to fall. And by the time we got back to our place, the side road and roof were all covered in snow. Kairo got to play a little bit with the snow. Got to touch the powder and totally loved it. This is pretty much the first time he sees snow since last year he wasn't even one and I don't think he could enjoy it as much as he can now. We'll go for a little family walk tomorrow and hopefully we still have snow to play with.

Then and Now

2006-11-16T17:34:00.000-08:00

Kids sure humble you down:)

Try outs

2006-11-16T16:35:00.000-08:00

Wow, this Picasa thing is pretty cool...

A giant book or tiny babies..?

2006-11-16T16:29:00.000-08:00

Flying home

2006-11-16T15:52:00.000-08:00

Reading Liz's blog about her vacation (wait a minute, you ARE on 1 year vacation now anyways Liz..hahaah:) ), reminded me about the crazy cost we have to pay to fly back home to Indo.

To fly International, kids under 2 still have to pay some fee, compared to domestic; US and Canada I guess; where kids under 2 can fly for free. The cost for infants is approx. 10% of the regular ticket price. And the regular price isn't the price that you would've paid as an adult. I guess travel agencies have deals with airlines or something that at the end, the price that we pay to the travel agencies are actually a discounted one. So last year, when we took Kairo home, his ticket costed around $300; that means the regular ticket price for an adult is around $3K..thank goodness for travel agencies.

Now after they turned 2, there's this fee called Child fare which is pretty much 80% or so of your adult discounted price. That's crazy!!!! So the difference between flying a 23 month old and a 24 month old is approximately $800.

But then of course, if you are paying infant fare, your child has to sit on your lap. It's such a dilema, since no toddler would sit on a seat, let alone on your lap for 10 hours straight. At least a seat has a seatbelt, so you can sort of force them to sit down for few minutes before they throw tantrums and every other passangers start giving you dirty looks:) But at least he can nap there and you can sort of have your hands free (unless you have another infant in which case might as well stay home and cry...hehhe...just kidding:) )

All in all, the conclusion is that if you will take your 2 year olds, you will have to pay that extra $800 or so, for JUST IN CASE he needs to nap. We just can't win..:(

So yeah, we are not going home this year. I remember the last time Shun and I flew back from Indo for my sister's wedding,we were watching tons of movies, cuddling, sleeping , playing games, basically doing whatever the heck we wanted to do. Gone are those days now..:) Oh well...

Hair by Mama

2006-11-16T15:33:00.000-08:00

I was watching Indie when she woke up yesterday, and she seemed to be soo annoyed by her bangs. It did look long and pointy and I could only imagine how itchy it must be for her. So being (or should I say trying to be) a good Mom and all, thought I eased her pain by trimming her bangs...

Well, the result sure brought back bad memories of my own hair. I used to love combing my Mom's hair and doing stuff to it. My mom of course would let me do whatever I wanted EXCEPT cutting it . So one bright day after school, I was in grade 2, I thought I played salon with my own hair, since all my dollies were either just animals or bald. I tried to cut my bangs, but I just couldn't cut it straight, so I continued cutting it until...yes, I had 'army style-crew cut ' bangs...it was sooo bad. It looked as if a mouse had gnowed my hair or something. Needless to say, it was soo embarassing to go to school for the next few days.

So as the saying goes; history did repeat itself. Indie's bang looked jagged too. But , knowing my lesson, I stopped right then and there and just let her bangs look like that for now. Kinda sad to see it though, my baby girl looks like a boy now with that bangs...sigh...

Hat's Off:)

2006-11-16T15:25:00.000-08:00

Well, for a while now Kairo has been trying to copy his Papa. For example, in the car one day, he insisted on wearing his shades and hat so he mathced Shun, not to mention the fact that every time we're in the car with Shun he always say "Wow, buddy, Wow!":)

Anyways, I guess he's now bored with putting Shun's hat on himself, so he must've figured that Indie must've loved to wear it too. Poor girl...always become the subject of Kairo's experiment....I have a feeling that she'll grow up feisty...hehehe.... Well, I hope so, she needs that to survive her older brother:)

Bad Hair Day

2006-11-16T14:58:00.000-08:00

Indie's crazy hairdo...I don't know what I'm gonna do if her hair continues to grow this way:)

Jump-a roo

2006-11-04T00:48:00.000-08:00

Indie is hitting 5 months next week and that means...out come the jolly jumper thingy that you hang on your door frame:) I can't believe how much she loves this thing.

When we put Kairo in this, he wasn't as thrilled. He moved around but didn't really jump around. Kairo was 5.5 mths in this picture and Indie is almost 5 months now.

Another reminder for me that each baby is different. Sigh...how time flies...

Swim date with Kelan

2006-11-02T00:29:00.000-08:00

Lyn, Kelan, Indie and I went on our second swim date today. We thought, what would be better to do on such a cold rainy day than to dip in a warm pool:) It was awesome. Not too many kids, in fact, it was just us and another little guy with his mommy in the tots pool in Bonsor. Should've taken pictures with that little boy since he managed to steal a kiss from Indie...heheh. Yeah, the little guy started with bribing. He offered the rubber duckies, rubber boat, whatever toys he could find in the pool to Indie. Then he got closer, flashing his sparkly whites and then, BOOM, he landed a sweet kiss on my baby's cheek:) It's fun to be kids huh...no worries, no worries that your ass gonna get kick for doing stuff like that...hehehe....anyways, I just laugh...for now...in 14-15 years..it WILL be a different story:)

We finished off the date with a visit to our usual Thursday Hotpot and bubble tea...Yumm...

Here are some pics from the second swim date and also from the first one. This second one was definetely better than the first one. The water in the pool in Bonsor was so nice and warm, not like the one in Eileen Daily (the one we went to the first time) This second time around, the kids were actually floating and enjoying the water...the first one, they were cold and terrified cause the other much older kids went crrrazy splashing around them...:) Not to mention how blue Indie looked ...ohh poor girl:)

Visit to the Zoo

2006-10-31T23:51:00.000-08:00

Yes there were regular animals that we found there; chickens, cows, bees to name a few. But we also found some of the more 'exotic' ones, like dragons, dinosaurs, bears...If you guessed that we didn't go to an actual zoo, you're right:) We went to Metrotown for Kairo's trick or treating.

From 6-7 pm today, the Lower Level (where Toys r us is) turned into a zoo of kids and parents. We got shoved and pushed by PARENTS who can't wait for their kids' turns for candies. This one mom, speaking anthusiastically to her son while pointing passionately towards the lady at le chateau who was handing out handfuls of jelly beans to each kid. Now, the mom spoke some sort of foreign language, but judging by the tone of her voice and the direction she was pointing to, I'm positive it was something like " get your bum to that lady that handout tons of candy NOW" Well, here's to the kid in all of us...or should I say..all of them:)

We didn't stay too long there, it was too much to handle I guess:) Oh, we saw one of our neighbour there, out and about with their two kids also. Below is a picture of Kairo and Katherine, the girlfriend...hehehe......so after that short visit, we walked Kairo around the neighbourhood for some more candies.

Tonite is pretty mellow for us. Too mellow that we decided that next halloween, we just won't bother buying candies but instead, hit the mall way earlier and then get home just in time to recycle the candies.....hahahha....hey, considering that we only got 1 (ONE) trick or treater tonite:)

Here are some pics I took :) Btw..it's really really cold outside...anyways...Happy Halloween everyone!

Our 2nd Annual Canucks Super Skills

2006-10-30T09:21:00.000-08:00

Well, this is our 2nd year of watching the Canucks Super Skills with the Bennett:), but this year is so different though. I don't really know most of the new players, so that part alone wasn't really that fun. Top it off with us, 4 adults, and 3 under two. Needless to say, the show went on so long for me..oh well, provided that they won't make major renovation on the team by the end of this year, maybe the show will get more enjoyable again next year:)

Here are some pics of us and some of the Canucks, and yes, they have this new digital type screen at GM Place, produce much better quality shots of the game.

The new screen (top) and two of the Canucks that still looks familiar to me:)

At the end of the show, Kelan was hidden under Lyn's jacket to snooze and Indie was sit sleeping on Shun:)

Costume party at the Scott's

2006-10-28T23:50:00.000-07:00

Happy BOO day:) We just got back from the party at Cam and CJ's. It was fun to see everyone again , especially in all those creative costumes...(all except for that ghost.(cut two holes and draw black mouth with a marker on a bed sheet)costume) hahah:)

I didn't get to take as many pictures as I wanted to, my Robin needed to be fed and the Bat girl was just getting cranky.

Anyhow, here are some pics from the party...just for you Lyn:)

Kairo the Robin

Rylan the Jedi

Snow White and her heroes..(dwarfs are all sleeping?)

Batman and Batgirl:)

Indie lounging on Cousin Beaver and Brother Robin

Our Bat family:) Who would've thought that a union of a catwoman and a batman will produce a human and a batgirl:)

Batman saved me...rrrr:)

The Jedis and a Gypsy...didn't realize that gypsies are in the spaceship...

Robin and Wonder Auntie:)

The ladies and the little guys:) Let's see, Vat was a sexy Red Riding hood:), Nat was the lady from the Phantom of the Opera, Ly was Raggedy Ann and Candy was Peach from Mario Bros oh, and Fara was a Witch I think...

The guys:)..The Wolf was Chris, Dave was a 60s guy I think, Deepa was Don King:), Joe was Toad, Cliff was the Phantom, Cam (the one with green head) was some sort of a Sea Monster and Pao was a ghost:)

That's all the pics I have:) Ceej's sister Joy and her man came out just before we left, I think he was a Vampire and she was a freshly bitten Geisha...hehehe...I know, we had to leave early, like 9.30pm....Kairo passed out before we even left the parking spot and Indie was pretty much too... well, We were there for a good time...not a long time...hehehe:)

Worth stopping for

2006-10-28T14:40:00.000-07:00

haha...I love this picture, worth stopping for for all the drivers don't you think?:) I mean, would you rather stop for one person walking or 4 adults, their babies and their buggies?:) You're right Liz, we should contact Graco and offer them to buy for the rights of this picture...hahaha....hey, maybe next time we should walk on the side of the bridge and get Vats or Susan maybe to take picture from the other side...what do you think?? :))

The Fellowships of the ring

2006-10-28T13:58:00.000-07:00

These are the faces (and feet) of babies who are forced to be friends since it's just convenient for their parents...hahah:)..man, 4 boys and a girl, can you imagine when they start to fight with each other?

Picture of the day...for me anyways:)

2006-10-28T13:48:00.000-07:00

That's right Indie, you don't get to do any of that till you're AT LEAST 20!:)

Siblings

2006-10-28T13:37:00.000-07:00

Just few pictures I have with Indie and Kairo...I can't imagine that in no time Indie will be able to walk and RESPONDS to her big brother's roughness:)..

Shopping for babies

2006-10-27T22:23:00.000-07:00

Before I was pregnant, I used to think that shopping for baby girls is easy. Lots of different styles, cute colors, and not to mention the accesorries for the hair:)

Now that we are use to shopping for Kairo, shopping for Indie feels so much harder. I mean, there are so many options to choose from!:) ..plus, they usually come in rays of bright, velvety type of material that are also over priced. Boys are easy; pants, shirts/t-shirts, shorts and that's it.

I actually like Carter's. We were able to find cute, simple and cheap stuff there . But again, we don't have Carter's here in Canada...not in BC anyways...So the grass IS greener on the other side....sigh:(

I guess jeans are that 'little black dress' for baby girls:), even that flowery, 60's style long sleeves she has on can get tone down by the jeans:)...Btw..who invented jeans?

Kickboxing II ..and the reward after:)

2006-10-26T21:40:00.000-07:00

As Liz mentioned in her blog, we had our 2nd Kickboxing practice today. And she was right, it flew by really fast and it felt soo good, especially since we had those infectious bubble teas while geebreshing those unjuicy conversations after. Sure felt good to be out and about again at night time without having to say 'ssshhh' or 'you're okay' or 'what's wrong baby?':) , even for only a little bit.

I brought up something that I thought is weird, you know how you always find instructions on shampoo bottles, ie. wet hair, wash, repeat if necessary:), well, do you ever notice that there are no instructions on how to put on diapers? I mean people start shampooing themselves ever since they are what..5 maybe? but diapers? I didn't start using them until I was 27. Do you ever wonder why they don't put any instructions on those diapers? Are they much easier to use than shampoos? Hmh.....