By Julie

This weekend was Ana's birthday party. Friday night when we went to Costco to pick up her birthday cake, we stopped at a Taiwanese cafe called 三年２班 (Class 302) in Rowland Heights for dinner. It's an adorable little place decorated with school paraphernalia, down to the desks and chairs. One of the dishes we ordered even came in a stackable tin lunch box that I recognized from having spent some of my elementary school years in Taiwan. The food, though not the cheapest, was pretty good, but I didn't like sitting in those awkward wooden chairs. Maybe we can go back when I'm not so uncomfortably pregnant.


This year we rented facilities for both of the kids' birthdays because I got tired of worrying about it raining on their winter parties and because I'm too big and tired to host them at home. There are some downsides: the limited menus, the strict time limits, the restrictions on the number of guests, and related to that, the uncertainty over whether the people we do invite will come. I was utterly thrilled about the turnout at Ana's party though, especially when Peg brought Ashlyn and Summer!!! It's been ages since we've hung out with them, and I really appreciated them making the drive up from the OC.

Now we can relax until next year. With baby number 3 slated to show in late April, I wonder if we should have a joint birthday party at home for all three of them next spring, when the chance of rain is next to nil here in So Cal. We'll see...


Here's a picture of Kevin giving Daisy a bath. Being a straight haired dog, Daisy always looks pretty good even when she hasn't had a bath in *mumble mumble* months. What most people don't realize is how much basset hounds shed. Back in the day I used to be the main producer of the hairy tumbleweeds that we find around the house, but ever since Daisy joined the family, she's got me beat. We'd been wondering if she's been shedding even more due to lack of baths, but she proved that theory wrong. Immediately after her bath she shed enough hair to fill a Swiffer Cloth just by doing a few laps around the dining table.

So I'm now 31 weeks pregnant and +18 lbs. Only 9 weeks left, but it feels like an eternity. The bad: I've been sleeping very, very poorly. It's supposed to be normal during the 3rd trimester, but the last two times it didn't start this early. I'm also constantly congested, and my taste buds seem to have a mind of their own. Everything tastes off. The good: I've been keeping the horrid leg cramps at bay just by standing up regularly. Also, at my checkup last week I learned that my 3-hour glucose tolerance test came back negative. Hooray, I'm not diabetic!

Labels: chinese, food, kids, parenting, pets, pregnancy

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By Julie

This is how my new year is going so far. Friday after work I staggered home and collapsed on the couch. I didn't move again until bedtime, when I took massive doses of Sudafed, Robitussin DM, and Tylenol, then zonked out. I don't remember eating anything for dinner.

Saturday morning I woke up and still had no appetite. I forced myself to eat a piece of toast with peanut butter then lay on the couch until it was time to collect ourselves and go over to my parents' house for Chinese New Year dinner.



We took the combination hot pot/grill that my parents had given us for Christmas over to their house so we could use the grill feature alongside their hot pot. Unfortunately I couldn't eat anything, but I did drink a bowl of soup.

This morning I had another piece of toast with peanut butter. After dropping off the kids at my parents' house, we headed downtown for a matinee showing of Tristan und Isolde, Wagner's 5-hour operatic masterpiece. The tickets were part of our Valentine's Day gift to each other. It was the first time either of us had seen an opera live, and we both loved it. The music was complex and demanding, and the set, designed by David Hockney, was gorgeous. Unfortunately we had to leave before the final act because I was still feeling ill.

Since Thursday I've been waking up every night around 2 or 3 am when the drugs wear off, at which time I have to take another dose of everything or not be able to fall back asleep. I doubt it will be different tonight. Sigh. I just hope this time my cold doesn't turn into a sinus infection and also that Alex, as the lone healthy member of the family, doesn't catch it.

Needless to say I didn't have a chance to go buy 年糕 (nian gao / new year cake) from 99 Ranch this weekend. But I swear I WILL go sometime this week before they stop selling it, even if I'm still sick, just because I am that obsessive dedicated to celebrating my Chinese heritage.

Labels: art, chinese, food, meds

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By Julie

This morning I gave the kids each a 红包 (red envelope) after instructing them to say 恭喜發财 (gong xi fa cai / wishing you prosperity) and 新年快樂 (xin nian kuai le / happy new year). At daycare Ana's teacher gave her a 红包 and me another one to pass on to Alex. For dessert tonight I got us a few goodies from the Chinese bakery.

All day today my throat hurt and I kept coughing up loogies. This is probably not the best way to welcome the new year, but it couldn't be helped. First Kevin got sick. Then Ana caught it. After a couple of nights of her crawling into our bed and disrupting my sleep, I came down with it as well. Sigh.

At least it happened right at the same time as my monthly baby checkup. Today I was able to confirm with my doctor that I could take all the good stuff: Sudafed, Robitussin DM, Tylenol, etc. But I also got a stern lecture for asking whether I could skip the 3-hour glucose tolerance test. (Because I tested negative the last two pregnancies!!!) Oh well. It's not my fault the paperwork they sent me via USPS 2 weeks ago never arrived though. I picked up a copy today and made the appointment for next week.

Hopefully this weekend my cold will get better and we'll have time to go to 99 Ranch for some 年糕 (nian gao / new year cake).

Labels: chinese, food, meds, pregnancy

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By Julie

Those of you who've only been reading this page are missing out. Over on our 365 page we've been blogging everyday. Admittedly it's more record-keeping for the 365 project than anything else, but it does push us to find something to say every single day.


The sandwich shop around the corner has a condiments counter with free pickles, and I run the risk of embarassing myself everytime I go there because I always take so many. Finally I decided it would be less embarassing if I just bought myself some from the store, but when we asked the employees what brand it was, they had no idea because it gets delivered to the store in a big unlabeled jar. So Kevin's been on a quest to find me pickles that taste exactly the same. He hit pay dirt on his third try. These Bubbies kosher dills are awesome!


It's been a big week for Ana. She had her first dental checkup. The appointment went very well, and her teeth looked great. We ran into a minor problem with the fluoride treatment, which caused her to gag and throw up afterwards in the car. I'll have to mention it next time and ask if there are any alternatives.


We also celebrated Ana's 4th birthday. That morning we removed her old car seat and installed Alex's old booster seat in its place. She was excited, and so was I! Her party will be later this month. Look in the mail for your invitation :)

In other news, the battery in the minivan died, so we have to go get a replacement at some point this weekend, except Kevin is sick with a really bad cold. I've already harangued him multiple times for not wearing a jacket on the day he came down with symptoms, and Ana's been doing the same, haha.

I'd better get back to work. I brought my work laptop home this weekend and will probably clock 50+ hours this week. Sigh. At least this kind of week is becoming less frequent.

Labels: food, kids

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By Julie

Two examples:

Today my sister came over and brought the kids Ratatouille on DVD as a belated Christmas gift. When we got to the scene where the food critic took a bite of his food and experienced the flashback, I started bawling.

Also, I've always appreciate opera, but I didn't LOVE it until a few months ago, when I caught Paul Potts's performance on Britain's Got Talent via Youtube. It turned me into a sobbing mess. Now I listen to the opera channel on Yahoo Radio.

Labels: famous people, food, music, pregnancy

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By Julie

I started teaching the kids (and Kevin) Chinese over the weekend. They were such good students. We worked on numbers. I taught them 一 through 十二, then extrapolated from there. Here are a couple of the worksheets they completed:


This isn't among my new year's resolutions, but when I went back to work last week, I confessed to a friend that I desperately needed exercise after lazing around so much during winter break. Right then we made a pact to take regular breaks and go for walks together. It's been great. So far she's reminded me more often than I've reminded her.

Then suddenly over the weekend I had a horrific leg cramp. When I mentioned it during my OB appointment today, he said it's probably because I'm over-exerting myself and that I needed to take it easy. Um... okay.

Right now I'm at 24 weeks + 1 day. The baby is about a pound. I haven't weighed myself since the week after Christmas when I was at +10 lb. I've also been eating a lot of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. Coincidence? Haha.

Labels: chinese, food, pregnancy

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By Julie

The red hearts started going up the day after Christmas. I noticed them during the after-Christmas sale. At Target it was just a small aisle full of red heart-shaped bowls and the like. The chocolate hadn't been put out yet. It's just as well.

I have a confession to make: I'm immune to the allure of chocolate. It's not that I don't like chocolate or that I don't understand the difference between inferior chocolate and "real chocolate", it's that given the choice, I usually prefer other types of candies and desserts.

Most people don't know about this quirk of mine, even people close to me. It's just not considered normal. When I was younger and more self conscious, I even considered fabricating a food allergy to respond to the awkward questions that come up when I turn down offers of chocolate. These days I'm a lot less reticent. When the office holiday party cake turned out to be a chocolate one, I declined.

"No thanks, chocolate cake is not my thing." When pressed, I admitted that neither are truffles, fudge, or anything else chocolatey.

"You're a freak," said a friend who knew she could get away with saying it. I know, I said. "I wish I had an immunity to chocolate," she continued, forking a bite of chocolate cake into her mouth.

The only times I've ever craved chocolate were during my pregnancies, but the craving diminished with each one. With Alex I was devouring pounds of dark chocolate. With Ana, I had a standing order at the local doughnut shop for chocolate chip muffins. But with baby #3 the craving has been sporadic and negligible.


So what does a guy like Kevin do on Valentine's Day with a wife who doesn't go gaga over chocolate? Dinner for two always gets a favorable response, whether home-cooked or at a restaurant. Flowers are always appreciated. As for other treats, here are a few of my favorites:

• wine! (unfortunately that's not an option for several more months)
• Dewar's peanut butter chews
• tiramisu
• cream puffs
• cheese cake (no chocolate drizzled on top!!!)
• fresh fruit tart

How about you? What are some of your favorite non-chocolatey treats?

Labels: food, pregnancy

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By Julie

Hope you all enjoyed the holidays! This year we went over to my cousin Lynn and her hubby's house for Christmas potluck. I made green bean casserole and freshly baked rolls, Kevin made bow tie pasta with sausage, and the kids made chocolate cupcakes with green frosting and red/green sprinkles.


Here they are on Christmas Eve, each sampling a cupcake to make sure it tasted all right before taking them to the potluck the next day.


On Christmas morning we opened presents at home first. Kevin won Dad of the Year award with this gift for Alex, a Legend of Zelda edition gold Nintendo DS. Alex is being super careful with it and will be buying a protective case with his allowance soon.

Then we went over to Lynn's house. During Christmas dinner, Lynn offered me a beer. Kevin and I both gaped at her for a beat before she realized what she'd done.

"I totally forgot!" she laughed. "You're so small you don't even look pregnant."

Other than Kevin's daily reassurances, that was the nicest thing anyone has said to me since the start of this pregnancy. At the time I was 22 weeks and +9 lbs. I don't even want to know how much I weigh now.


The day after Christmas we hit a few after-Christmas sales. Got some cards, wrapping paper, and lights. We also stopped at Beard Papa's to enjoy their delicious cream puffs. Kevin had the chocolate, and I had the vanilla. Mmmm, good.


I was so inspired that a couple of days later I tried making cream puffs from scratch. Opened up Joy of Cooking and was delighted to find a recipe that didn't look too hard. The result was ugly but *dangerously* tasty. Kevin and I ended up devouring two whole batches by ourselves.


Let's see, other things we've been doing... Cleaned the house a bit. Donated several bags of clothes to get in the last tax deduction of the year. Most of the clothes were mine. I've held on to all of Alex and Ana's old baby clothes for obvious reasons. Now that I know we're having a girl, I'm waiting to see if my sister is having a boy before giving all of Alex's old clothes to my friend T, who's having a baby boy a few weeks after me. (Can you tell I can't wait to give them away? The amount of baby clothes clogging up our garage is just overwhelming.)

ADDED 01/02/08: Check out this NYT article, Tackling Clutter to Improve Your Health!

I'll blog about our day trip to Olvera Street/Chinatown and our new year's resolutions later.

* FYI, #2 comes on February 7th this year. It's going to be the Year of the Rat!

Labels: chinese, food, kids, pregnancy, toys

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By Julie

I'm still sick, hence the grumpiness. I can't believe I'm still sick. Why the heck am I still sick???



Saturday I took Kevin to see Wicked. It was good. So good, in fact, that I felt compelled to buy my very first Broadway musical shirt, a green thermal with the words, "Green for Good" emblazoned across my ample pregnant chest. I felt slightly less grumpy.

We also celebrated Kevin's birthday with my family. My mom prepared a delicious hot pot, which didn't quite clear my sinuses. Over dinner, I grumped that my colds often turned into sinus infections, and my sis the doctor advised me to get a sinus cleansing kit. Apparently everybody else in the universe has already been told about this product by their doctors, because when we stopped at the drugstore on the way home, that section of the store was cleaned out.



Sunday Ana helped me baked birthday cookies for Kevin. Afterwards I collapsed on the couch from exhaustion, but I was slightly less grumpy.

Monday morning, after a bad night's sleep, I had to wake up at an ungodly hour to drive myself to the airport for a meeting in San Jose. During the flights there and back my ears hurt even more than usual from being sick. Also, it was REALLY COLD in San Jose. I had the foresight to wear a knit cap, gloves, and ski jacket, but my jeans didn't provide much protection. I was extra grumpy.



Tuesday I took the day off to recover from Monday, and I kept Ana home from daycare to cheer myself up. My grumpiness petered off into a mostly manageable lethargy.

Today I went back to work. I answered a bunch of emails, attended some meetings, and blew my nose a LOT. I'm grumpy again.

Now I'm going to go cleanse my sinuses. Have you ever cleansed your sinuses? It's not an attractive procedure. So unattractive, in fact, that I feel more sorry for the model in the instruction booklet that came with my sinus cleansing kit than I do for myself, because modeling the right way to cleanse one's sinuses is right up there with modeling support hose and nursing bras.

Labels: food, kids, meds, music, shopping

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By Julie

I'm sick. I'm exhausted, misanthropic, and full of boogers.

To-do list:
* Finish holiday shopping (50% done, due 12/25)
* Buy a tree (0% done, due yesterday)
* Review two books (0% done, due yesterday)
* Buy a toilet paper holder and door hook for our new bathroom (0% done, due whenever)
* Research answer to question from colleague (10% done, due yesterday)
* Cook veggies in fridge before they all go bad (25% done, due this weekend for mushrooms, next Wednesday for everything else)
* Review an article for a journal (0% done, due -- believe it or not -- 12/26)
* Prep for meeting on Monday (50% done, due this weekend)
* Do lit review for poster session on the off chance it actually gets accepted (10% done, due -- too close to baby time!)
* Replace carpet in study with wood floors (0% done, due whenever I guess :P)
* Write script for two videos (0.5% done, due -- would have been nice this term, but I'll settle for next term)
* Get haircuts for Alex and Kevin (0% done, due a month ago! They look like hippies!)
* Make holiday cards (0% done, due -- is it gonna happen this year???)
* Celebrate Kevin's birthday (50% done, due this weekend! :D )

Labels: food, home improvement, shopping

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By Julie

So, what I was saying is this. Any third world mutt given a dinner of leftover chicken meat (sans bones even!) to complement some boring dry dog food would be totally happy, not to mention healthy. What does our purebred first world dog go and do? Have another heaving attack of diarrhea, all over the dining room.

Here's where I share my trick for deoderizing a room: microwave popcorn. The stuff is amazing, better than Lysol. Just pop a bag and wave it around. It will mask the foulest odors.

(Eating the popcorn after using it for this purpose is totally optional. I know I couldn't bring myself to do it.)

In other potty news, Ana is done using her little potty chair, yay! Now we can pack it away in the garage until number three is ready to use it.

And speaking of number three, I'm now at week 19. Within the last two weeks I gained a disconcerting 4 pounds for a total weight gain of 5 pounds. While putting on a sweater with a geometric design, I had a full on panic attack, complete with a self diagnosis of gestational diabetes.

"I look like a FAT ABSTRACT PAINTING!!!" I wailed.

Then Kevin reminded me that I went through similar growth spurts when I was pregnant with Ana. He wondered if it had something to do with the girly hormones, because my weight gain with Alex had been much more steady. I'm just glad that one of us remembers stuff like this. Hopefully my glucose test next month confirms it.

My belly is huge now. Not wearing a maternity belt is no longer an option. For weeks I tried and failed to find my old belt, and I was despairing at the thought of having to brave holiday crowds at the mall just to get a replacement when I finally found it in the last box of baby stuff, huzzah!

I've also started wearing nursing bras. Yeah, real sexy :P but none of my normal bras fit anymore, and I'm too cheap to buy new bras in a bigger cup size only to have to give them away in five months.



Here I've recruited Alex and Ana to my cause of cultivating plants that Mommy isn't allergic to. Costco apples come in these plastic packages perfect for sprouting seeds, sunflower seeds in this case. The kids are spooning potting soil on top of the seeds. Now the trays will sit in the garden window in my kitchen, where it's all snug and warm, until the seedlings get a few inches tall, and then we'll plant them in the back yard.

Recently Kevin wore a dark red sweater over a button down shirt.

Ana: Daddy, you look funny!

Me: Ana, that's not a nice thing to say!

Ana: (in a stage whisper) But mommy, he looks like a TEACHER.

Labels: allergies, food, gardening, kids, pets

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By Julie

Yesterday the dog had a bad case of diarrhea. It stunk up the house and took half a roll of paper towels and a ton of Simple Green to clean up. We're not sure what she found in the backyard that gave her such a major case of the runs. What we do know is that she has a tendency to do the same dumb things over and over again, so we're steering ourselves for another attack before long.

Tonight at dinner I told Ana that if she would eat half of her tuna fish sandwich, she could feed the other half to Daisy. When Ana finally put the last bite in her mouth, Kevin dropped the other half into Daisy's bowl. He was about to add his own leftover grilled cheese sandwich when I reminded him of our little incident from yesterday. A little tuna wasn't likely to re-irritate our dog's delicate gut, but cheese? And butter?

So Kevin extracted the grilled cheese sandwich from the bowl and dropped it in the trash instead. I hated to see the waste, but it beats cleaning up watery poo. Sometimes I think about all the things we're not allowed to feed our dog because it might 1) make her fat, 2) give her indigestion, or 3) choke her to death, and I have to believe that if third world dogs ever met her, they would think she's a complete nincompoop.

Labels: food, nablopomo, pets

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By Julie

Is age 3 too young to experience unrequited love? Today Ana burst into tears because Daisy refused to come when called. She sobbed uncontrollably into my shoulder until I made her laugh, I don't even remember how, just one of those things that desperate parents do when they see their child unhappy.

Later Ana played with Daisy while I kept watch, occasionally glaring at the dog, daring her to break Ana's heart again, not that Daisy would even notice my glaring as something out of the ordinary. She already sees me as The Enforcer and tries to stay out of my way, except when I'm cooking. Then she can't help herself but come sniffing around my ankles, looking hopeful.

Other than making Ana cry, Daisy's second day home was uneventful. Kevin took her out for a couple of short walks, and she seems to be reacting well to them. If you've watched The Dog Whisperer or read any of Cesar's books you'd know that taking your dog for regular walks is his prescription for just about everything. During the morning walk Kevin was accompanied by Ana. During the evening walk he was accompanied by Alex, who took along a golf club at my insistence. Alex got a big kick out of that.

Today I did five loads of laundry. At one point I asked Kevin to hang up the stuff that needed to be line dried, and I went back inside to put away some clothes. I found a stray hanger and asked Ana to take it to Kevin.

Ana: Daddy, I have something for you!

Kevin: Oh yeah? What is it?

Ana: (holding up hanger) It's a hooker!

I also cooked a ton of chicken today, with enough garlic to drive away vampires from the entire neighborhood. This family is NOT getting sick this winter.

Labels: books, food, kids, nablopomo, parenting, pets

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By Julie

Today the kids and I attended my niece Abby's 2nd birthday party. I'd bought her present weeks and weeks ago, a set of six pairs of Disney princess shoes, so it was only a happy coincidence that her party today was Disney princess themed. I was overjoyed that she liked the present. As soon as she unwrapped the box she wanted to try on a pair. Here she is wearing the Snow White shoes.

My sister's pregnancy is about a month behind mine. The poor woman is still nauseous all the time, so I don't think she was able to eat a single thing during the party. I, on the other hand, was able to add to my *ample layer of pregnancy fat* (see my post yesterday :P ) by ingesting large amounts of shiitake mushrooms that I picked out from the delicious chow mein my mom contributed to the buffet table, plus a couple of squares of Hawaiian pizza.

Kevin didn't attend the festivities because he was planning to paint the bedroom. He was also waiting on a guy to come move our air conditioner, which had been sitting askew during the entire construction project, blocking the walkway on the side of the house and making it impossible to wheel the trash bins into the backyard. Once the guy came, it was tedious how much of Kevin's attention he needed to do the job right. Kevin couldn't actually start painting until after dinner, but luckily from there it went fast.

Tomorrow we'll lay the flooring together. Hopefully that will go fast as well.

Labels: food, home improvement, kids, nablopomo, pregnancy, toys

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By Kevin

Tonight I learned that the boy has been discarding the sandwich I lovingly pack in his sack lunch. Julie attempted to console me. "I'm sorry hon, it's hard work making those lunches every day." I reassured her that I was fine and that I think it's hard work eating the same thing for lunch every day. I remember what it was like eating the same ham sandwich and red delicious (Why the Red Delicious No Longer Is) apple every single school day for years. For whatever reason, as a kid it made complete sense to me that there was no point in trying to change the contents of my lunch. Eventually I stopped eating at school altogether and had lunch when I got home around 3:30. "No," I told her, "this is just one of many conversations I'll have with him about his lunch. He's really excited about trying a Zone bar tomorrow."

These days I alternate between wanting to try new restaurants or recipes and wanting the same thing over and over. Nobody could be happier than me that Julie has gone into nesting mode with a vengeance. She has been making the most amazing food every weekend in quantities that increase every time. Her beef with daikon soup has surpassed both miso and spicy beef tendon noodle to rest securely at the top of my personal pantheon of soups. I can't get enough of her Taiwanese sausage fried rice. I'm not the only one. Tonight after karate the boy was ravenous and was nearly giddy with delight when he got to feast on mama's fried rice when he got home. Sometimes we get so busy that there's no time to reflect on how outsourced our diet has become. Losing touch with the way food connects a family is a big loss for our emotional well-being.

Labels: food, nablopomo, parenting

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By Julie

My current pet peeve is people ranting about retention vs. social promotion in U.S. public schools when they don't even understand the basic underlying issues. There aren't any simple answers, and I wish people would stop acting like there are.

Other than that, I greatly enjoyed my three-day weekend. (Happy Veterans' Day!) Yesterday a couple of Kevin's friends from work came over to hang out. The one who brought his Xbox 360 is now Alex's new best friend.

Today I didn't get out of bed until 10:30. After a leisurely brunch Kevin went to paint our bedroom. I tried to be productive as well. At first I tried to concentrate on a presentation for work tomorrow but after two fruitless hours I gave up and turned my attention to the kitchen, where I spent over four hours cooking enough food to last us all week, starting with dinner tonight.

The awesome thing is both kids ate without complaining about my cooking. It put me in such a good mood that after dinner I went straight back to my presentation and finished it. Yay.

Here's what I cooked: beef and daikon soup (using the slow cooker instead of the stove), potatoes au gratin, Taiwanese sausage fried rice, and chili relleno casserole. I haven't cooked regularly for years and now I've cooked every weekend four weeks straight. Must be something in the air.

Labels: food, home improvement, nablopomo, parenting, toys

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By Julie

Since discovering Elizabeth George I've been devouring volumes of her work, so much that I've been neglecting to watch the BBC show based on her books, the DVDs for which I keep renewing from the library. Don't get me wrong, the show is superb, but there's only so much you can crowd into an hour, and besides they always show the crime scene too many times for my taste. The books are just a lot richer in other kinds of details.

I got some news today that made Kevin want to celebrate, even though I didn't really consider it good news, more the lesser of two evils, like if the doctor said your extremely sore back was not a slipped disk, but Kevin said it was worth celebrating anyway because it could have been much, much worse, which was the honest to goodness truth, so we had a lovely meal to commemorate the event, and it all made me smile despite myself, so it was a good day after all.

Labels: books, food, nablopomo

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