Valentine's Day 2011

Today is Valentine’s Day and while I agree that it is a day to celebrate love for one’s romantic partner, I just don’t see what all the hype is about! Call me a non-conformist but I don’t find myself getting excited over V-day as much as other holidays. Maybe I’ve gotten old and corny. But I like to think that I’ve gotten wiser and more practical. I believe that every day should be a day to show you love your partner. You don’t have to wait till Feb 14th to show someone you care. I do think that if you need one day in a year to go all out and shower someone you love with love, it should be a day that’s special to you. Like your wedding anniversary or the day you first met, something that holds meaning for your relationship, rather than a day designated by Hallmark as the day for lovers. Of course, I respect the fact that others think that Valentine’s Day is special – kudos to them – but luckily my partner, Jojo, shares my sentiments.

Jojo and I shy away from doing the very traditional stuff. We tried a few years back to going out for dinner on Valentine’s Day but after a few tries where we had to wait in line, got our reservations cancelled and had to pay an arm and a leg to eat … well, the idea got old really fast! We also don’t do the flowers and chocolate routine nor do we exchange presents. Instead we get each other what we like throughout the year and call it an early or late Valentine’s Day present. The most Valentine-y tradition we’ve adapted is making each other special home-cooked dinners. It works for us and so far I have absolutely no complaints.

This year is no different. We don’t have any big plans today but we do have an evening planned that is making me quite excited just thinking about it! Tonight we’re making dinner together. I’m preparing garlic mushrooms and a veggie casserole (broccoli, cauliflower and carrots) while Jojo has already marinated a couple of rib-eyes that he’ll be grilling tonight. After dinner, we usually go for a half an hour walk around the neighborhood. Then we’re going to snuggle in and watch our Monday night line-up – Chuck on NBC, Two & a Half Men and Mike & Molly on CBS, and finally Castle on ABC). Then we’ll probably read a little in bed, I may get a back rub since Jojo’s been doing that most nights now that I’m pregnant, and then we’ll call it a night. Perfect date night for me! =)

The only thing different about this year (and I get a little bit sentimental about this) is the fact that this is our “last” as a couple (well, at least our last where it’s just the two of us). I was thinking about this last Saturday. In about three weeks time, my sister and my mom will be arriving. Then Jamie will be joining us in a couple more weeks. While that makes me HAPPY (please don’t get me wrong), it’s also strange to think that it will no longer be just Jojo and me. I’ve gotten used to just the two of us. We’ve been a couple since 1999. Dating for 5 years, engaged for a year, married for 6 years. I’ve been living with my husband, my partner, my best friend. I’m so used to him and he’s so used to me – we are totally in sync with each others’ moods, needs, wants and actions. We only had each other to consider when making decisions. Now, it’s going to be the two of us plus my sister (temporarily), or plus our baby (permanently), or plus whoever is with us. It’s exciting and different but also strange and needs some getting used to. I don’t know if I’m making sense – I’m happy and sentimental all at the same time. It’s all good though. I know things will work out.

Anyway, HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY, Ni. While we may not be the typical couple that gets cheesy on this day … I’m still romantic enough to tell you that I love you very much and that I still think I am the luckiest person in the world to have you in my life. Thank you for being the person that you are and making me a better person because of your inspiration and influence. You continue to make me blissfully happy just by having you around me and I look forward to many more happy adventures together.

Baby Shower Pictures

It started with these invitations being sent out ...

Beanie's shower theme ... baby animals in yellow and pink ...

One side of the buffet ... I didn't get to snap a picture of the other side with the "hot food" and dessert since guests started arriving.

Our very first guests ... right on time!

First batch of guests lining up to eat ...

Still at the buffet line ...

One of the three cupcake towers ...

The party getting started ...

Starting the first of almost 8 games ... "Baby Bottle Drinking" ... our first 5 victims (I mean, contestants)

Serious drinking!

Me, hosting the "Fishing Baby Pins" game ... the other contestants looking nervous!

Awarding the winners a prize ...

Random shot of the crowd and the room ...

Guests forming teams for the "Baby Word Scramble" game ...

Jojo hosting the "Baby Food tasting" game ...

Everyone lining up to get their spoonful of baby food ...

More shots of the crowd ...

Tracy hosting the "Hep, Hep Hooray" game ...

More "Hep, Hep Hooray" contestants ...

Another shot of the shower ...

My nieces entertaining the crowd ...

Still more dancing!

Everyone enjoying the show ...

Moving to the house ... first batch of Beanie's presents to be carried into the nursery.

My many helpers on hand to open the presents ...

Opening presents!

And more baby news ...

Sorry about not yet posting baby shower pictures. I know they are eagerly awaited. The problem is I was checking our camera and we have a bunch of bad photos. By “bad” I mean, they are shots from weird angles, mostly candid pictures where no one is looking at the camera, and are shot sort of haphazardly. This is because Jojo and I were quite busy entertaining guests and would only grab our camera and shoot pictures when we had a spare moment. I am waiting for the pictures from my sister-in-law, Tracy’s, camera and the ones from my brother-in-law, Jay’s. For one thing, they have better cameras and were able to take better shots. I’ll post those pics as soon as I get copies just cause I think those pictures do more justice showcasing Beanie’s shower.

In other baby news. We had our doctor’s appointment again yesterday. All is going just fantastically well. Thank God. Beanie is growing amazingly fast. She is now almost 5 pounds and is about 14 and a half inches long. Isn’t that incredible? She also moves A LOT these days – she must be doing some baby gymnastics in there cause I feel her tumbling around all the time. Dr. Chen’s only advise is for me to take things a bit easier. I’ve been feeling some pain in my lower back and around my groin area – so I’ve been advised to minimize standing for long periods of time, bending too much and carrying things around. The biggest perk is I have been advised to give up doing strenuous housework. Dr. Chen specifically asked Jojo to pick up the load (not that he hasn’t been doing that already – cause my husband’s been just awesome in taking up more than his fair share – but now we have strict doctor’s orders so I can seriously milk the situation!). Hahaha.

Jojo and I begin our baby classes this week too. We have 3 sessions of Childbirth classes (3 hours for the next 3 Tuesdays), 3 sessions of Breastfeeding classes (on Wednesdays) and 3 sessions of Infant CPR classes (on Thursdays). We also have a full day Saturday class for first time parents. Whew! I’ve also enrolled in “Mommy and Me” classes after I deliver so I can meet with a support group of trained nurses and other moms. Next week we are also starting to interview for our baby’s pediatrician. I have three appointments to meet with prospective doctors located around Torrance. These are all pediatricians that Dr. Chen recommended. I want to interview each one to make sure we find Beanie the perfect doctor to take care of her as she’s growing up.

I’ve put away Jamie’s baby shower presents. While she got a lot of great stuff, there’s still a few more things she needs. I marvel at how much stuff such a small person needs. So this weekend, Jojo and I are heading over to the Baby Depot for last minute stuff. I figured we need to get them now before I become too huge to waddle down store aisles.

So, that’s basically that for now.

Beanie's Baby Shower

So, we had the baby shower last Saturday and it was AWESOME. I was really touched at how my in-laws and family came together to make this day extra, extra special. We had it at the Activity Room at the Carson Park Sports Complex. This was a great idea since the room was spacious enough for guests, there were enough tables and chairs for at least 60 people, and we didn’t have to do any major preps or clean ups! My sisters-in-law and my sister, Jenny, prepared lot of good food. There was a huge selection of merienda-style finger food. We had appetizers (chips & dip, and cheese & cold cut trays). We had hot food (boneless chicken wings, lumpia shanghai, Swedish meatballs, and two kinds of cocktail sausages). We also had cold food (tuna salad sandwiches, turkey and cheese sandwiches, and ham roll ups). And then there was dessert (we had chocolate and vanilla cupcakes, chocolate chip cookies, cream puffs and mini éclairs). There was soda, juice and bottled water too.

The party officially started at 2:00 PM but my family was there by 1:00 to help decorate the room. We hung streamers, tied balloons on chairs, hung banners announcing “It’s a Baby Girl” and “We’re Having a Baby Shower”, posted baby murals on the walls, and created mini table centerpieces. Everything was done in shades of yellow and pink. We also set up paper plates, cups and napkins in the same shades and with a baby animal theme (which is the motif for Jamie’s nursery). My brothers-in-law set up the sound system so we could play nursery songs in keeping with the theme.

Guests started arriving a little past two and we had a good turnout. I had originally invited about 80 people, 66 confirmed they were coming, and the actual turnout was about 60 people. Not bad. I was really glad too at the mix of folks who came. My good friend, Karen (from grad school) came with her family – we hadn’t seen each other in almost year! Carol (my boss from 2 jobs ago) also stopped by. Zuly, who is actually Jules’ friend but now a friend of the family was also there. Co-workers from Chinatrust and from my current job also joined the fun. Even my former assistant, Peggy, who I have not seen in 2 years was there. Jojo’s IT staff was there in full force, along with their wives. We also had family friends and neighbors share the special day with us. Atsi Jenny and her friends came too. And of course there was family.

We started with eating (of course) and then played lots of games. First we had a diaper raffle which was won by Atsi’s friend, Gunita. Then our first game was who could drink apple cider out of a baby bottle the fastest – we had 5 male volunteers for this game. The winner was my brother-in-law, Mark. There was a lot of good natured teasing throughout the game. Then we had the second game (this time for the ladies) where they had to fish out baby safety pins from a bowl filled with rice while blindfolded. Not as easy as it sounds! The winner was Rebecca (my co-worker) but Atsi was a close second! Then we had the Baby Word Scramble where guests worked in teams to unscramble baby words. The winner was our family friends - Dennis, Dex and Mye’s team (I think it helps that Mye just had a baby 3 months ago so she knew all the words!). It was funny how competitive everyone was – the room actually went silent as everyone worked on the words! Next we played “Guess the Baby Food Flavor”, we had 12 flavors of Gerber baby food and guests had to taste it and determine what they were eating. Jojo’s assistant, Phi and his wife, Katie won that game. They were really good and fast! Everyone did say most baby food flavors tasted gross though – especially number 8 which was mashed up beef and beef gravy! Next we played “Hep, Hep Hooray” first round with the kids and then round two with the adults – my nephew Jorel won the kids round then Peggy won the adults round. Last game of the day was who could say “It’s a Baby Girl” the longest – we thought my co-worker, Faten was the winner (she had 27 seconds) beating out about 10 other contestants but the last competitor was my boss Osei who took the grand prize with 34 seconds! Everyone was a great sport though even though there was a lot of heckling and teasing during all the games. I am also grateful cause my in-laws and Atsi supplied such awesome prizes for all the winners.

After that, my nieces performed several song and dance numbers that had the crowd cheering them on. They were adorable and were a definite hit. Pretty soon it was already 5:00 and guests started leaving. Luckily my in-laws stayed and helped clean up. We left at around 5:45 and headed to our place to open presents and eat all the leftovers. I have to say that seeing everyone, celebrating Beanie’s arrival with so many family and friends, and just having an afternoon of fun was GREAT. But as a bonus, Beanie got a TON of AWESOME gifts. And by a ton, I mean, she really hit the jackpot! We got so much stuff that after my brothers-in-law carried it into the nursery, the whole room was filled with gift bags and gift boxes. I was really touched. Even guests who could not make it (like some of my high school friends, some of Jojo’s former co-workers, and some aunts and uncles that are not here) sent gifts. It took me a while to open all the gifts even if I had help.

I truly am so, so grateful to everyone who shared in our special day. To those who were here and to those who were with us in spirit, a GREAT BIG THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart!

PICTURES TO FOLLOW, I PROMISE! =)

Eating Healthy

I’ve been reading through my posts and lately all I’ve talked about is Beanie and my pregnancy. Quite naturally, that is the center of my world at this time … of course there are others things going on that I could write about. One is my ongoing love affair with food! Lately, I’ve been trying to eat a more healthy and balanced diet which is all because of Beanie and my pregnancy. But before I digress into more “Beanie and pregnancy talk” … let me share a revelation I’ve had about eating … it’s NOT as HARD to eat healthy as I thought. When I first found out I was pregnant, I thought it would mean a nine month, unhappy dieting ordeal. It kinda, sorta started that way. But later on, things got a bit easier.

We all think that eating healthy means giving up a lot of the foods we love (and while that may be somewhat true), it doesn’t have to be a major life-altering, supreme-act-of-deprivation, complete-sacrifice-of-happiness endeavor. In my case, being pregnant meant giving up caffeine and sushi. But that’s about all I had to give up, really. The rest is all about compromise, substitution and control. Don’t get me wrong, I still give in to my junk food cravings and there is no way I could completely give up sweets and carbs … but I think I have found a way to balance my meals where I am satisfied but can still face my doctor at bi-monthly weigh-ins and check-ups.

As I said, it’s really all about:
1.) Compromise. Let’s say Jojo and I give in to our craving for Chipotle burritos. My compromise is skipping the Burrito order and going for the Bowl instead. That means cutting out on the flour tortilla wrapper, skipping the servings of rice, sour cream and grated cheese. Instead I ask them to load up on lettuce, tomatoes, black beans, salsa and grilled corn. I’ve switched from ordering Steak to Grilled Chicken and we don’t have soda with our meals anymore, just iced water with lemons. Of course, we still get a side order of chips but we now share one order instead of getting one each. Also, if we have a pretty heavy lunch we try to have just fresh fruits or soup for dinner.
2.) Substitution. We’ve totally eliminated eating white bread and have switched to multi-grain. We’ve been eating brown instead of white rice. And have been eating more whole wheat instead of flour pasta. We’ve also stopped using processed sugar and eating foods rich in processed sugar. We eat less pork and beef and eat a lot more chicken and turkey. We’ve switched to using olive oil (and use much less of it too). Also, I’ve tried to cut down on our sodium consumption by using more unsalted products. Instead we now try to flavor with fresh or dried herbs. We still have chips (what can I say, it’s my weakness!) once in a while but we now buy baked or air-popped chips and have cut down on using creamy dips in lieu of homemade salsa and guacamole. And no more cakes and cookies, we now have a lot more smoothies and yogurt if we need a sugar fix.
3.) Control. It’s really hard to control my appetite (eversince!) but more so now that I am pregnant. I find that I am always hungry. Right after a full meal, I actually find myself opening the fridge looking for something more to eat. Also, I find that I am always craving for a variety of food – at various odd times. Jojo has been really key in helping me here. He makes sure we have a lot of healthy options to snack on. When I crave for something sweet, he gets me a cup of Jello with fruit or peels me a tangerine. When I want something salty, he gets me low fat string cheese or microwaves a bag of unsalted air-popped corn. When I’m really in the mood for something “bad”, then he’ll break out our secret stash of Baked Lays potato chips!

These days I feel I am humongous (I love being pregnant cause I can blame it on the pregnancy) but at the same time I’m still within the normal weight gain goal my doctor set out for me. In the last 8 months, I’ve gained about 15 pounds – since I was heavy to start, I’ve been advised to gain a total of 20-25 throughout my pregnancy. I have about 8 weeks to go and may use up the remaining allotted weight gain allowed since at the rate of the last trimester, it’s about a 1 – 1.5 pound weight gain per week. Hopefully it won’t be so bad. But more importantly, I feel a lot healthier too. My blood tests and physical exams show I am healthier now than I was the same time last year. So maybe, I am doing something right! Hopefully this helps with the delivery, post delivery and with Beanie’s overall health too.