Next on the LPGA Tour: Lily Watson

Here's Lily with her newest, and most favoritest toy: a golf set. She got it yesterday and was so excited. Psychotically so. She was swinging those clubs as if fighting demons. Chris had to hide two of the clubs so that she would only have one weapon to play with/hurt people with at a time. But when she's not just flailing her club in the air and actually trying to make contact with the ball- she's not that bad! (The second picture is of Lily this morning. After she finished her milk, she got off my lap and went straight for her new toy. Gotta love the bed head.)

It's kind of funny because my mom was asking me the other day ago whether or not I had gotten Lily a golf set yet, right while Chris and I were talking about it. This may look like just a regular $5 toy from WalMart to some of you, but this is no toy- this is our baby's destiny! With Lily's South Korean genes, and Chris Watson's natural athletic ability genes- she is suited for greatness! Watch out world, here comes the female Tiger Woods. And she is only 15 months old.

Hopefully, Lily will develop a love for golf, as her father and I have. Topher too. Hopefully our kids will like watching the Phoenix Suns, cause if they don't- man are they going to be bored and lonely between the months of November and May! (Just joking...) But what if they don't like the things we like? Or what if we actually lead them to dislike the things we like cause we have pushed it on them too much?

Last year I went to a class for parents who were going to dedicate their kids at church. It was really good cause they talked about how if we as parents don't have dreams for our kids- someone else will. So basically we should think long and hard about the things we want for our kids. This is where a buttload of prayer comes in, because we want what God wants for our kids, so the big question is- what does God want for our kids? And how do we make sure we don't stand in the way of that?

I know it's hard to see our kids make choices we don't necessarily want them to make. For instance, Chris decided to work in Iraq for a year in 2004, just a year after the war started. His parents were not exactly pushing him to go for very obvious reasons. But he went, and he helped lead his roommate to Christ. How amazing is that? Chris' parents could have tried really hard to stop him from going, but they didn't. Sure he was a grown man at the time, but Chris really values what his parents say to him because of the respect he has for them.

So I guess having a good relationship with your kids, and with the Lord is key here. Hopefully the kids will respect our wishes and desires for them, they will reciprocate, and the Lord bless us all as long as we are in His will! Chris and I are trying our best to make wise decisions for our babies. We will try to have God-centered aspirations for our kids, and pray that our kids have the same for themselves. Lily's name is not biblical, but her middle name is Jaye, after her greatgrandma, who is one of the most God-fearing, daily-praising women I have ever come in contact with. We pray that Lily grows up to be a lot like her. (Her first name is after my mom. Though my mom's name is not actually Lily, that's what my dad has always called her. She is fun and full of life. We also hope Lily takes after her Korean grandma.)

Topher's full name is Christopher Joseph Sunjae Watson. The first name obviously being after his dad, who is probably the funniest and sweetest and most talented and most well-liked individual alive. The second name is after Joseph, Jacob's son. He was a visionary, and hard-working, and above all- obedient to God's plan for his life. We hope Topher is all of the above. But if you want to get real technical- he is kinda named after Joseph from Andrew Lloyd Webber's 'Joseph and the Amazing Technocolor Dream Coat.' Yes they are based on the same character, but one of them sings and dances and makes Chris Watson Sr. smile like it's Christmas. Sunjae is Topher's Korean name. It has to do with being a leader/teacher, and something else that I will have to ask my dad about. Lily's Korean name is Nara, which literally translates into 'nation'. Her Korean grandparents have pretty modest hopes for their first grandchild as you can well see...

So for now, those are our general hopes and dreams for our kids. Lily- a golfing, delightful, Jesus-praising fool. And Topher, a colorfully dressed, obedient to the Lord, singing-dancing machine. And should they only choose to be one of the three above listed things, hopefully Chris and I will have taught them well enough for them to decide on their own which one is the most (or truthfully, the only one that is) important.

Once a Week

Today is Thursday. Topher pooped. This is more of a reminder for myself than it is news for you. Cause here's the thing- Topher poos about once a week. Sometimes less. (I know, talk about being a low-maintenance baby! But I would rather he pooed more, not less.) The first time it happened, he probably waited about five days before pooing, and it was a doozy when it finally arrived. Then he waited seven days. Then another seven or so. Then he went for so long that I actually couldn't remember the last time he had pooed. I'm pretty sure it was about nine days. And then he finally pooed and I was SO HAPPY! But when I opened his diaper I was terribly disappointed. It was so not substantial. There was no way that what I found in his diaper was all the waste he had accumulated for over nine days. So I waited. And waited. And waited. And then today, four days after his petit poo, we hit the mother lode. And it was awesome. I have never been so excited about poo before. Ah, to be a mother.

Patience is a virtue...

Topher had his last feeding last night at about 9:30, and he didn't wake up till 5 this morning- Thank you Jesus! I went to bed at 11pm, so that's the longest, uninterrupted bout of sleep I have had in a long time. Lily woke up at 7:20ish this morning (thanks for that too Jesus) and I went into her room and gave her her morning bottle of milk. For some reason I was still exhausted, even though I slept pretty well last night. Lily finished her bottle on my lap and looked at me with her sweet, giant, doe eyes and smiled. Sometimes I just LOVE being a mommy. Then she got off my lap and started to scream. Dang. So I picked her up again and all was well. Took her to the changing table to get her a fresh new diaper. Put her down- more screaming. Too bad so sad, you need a new diaper little lady. After that was done, I went to the laundry room to get her some clean clothes. She let me put her down sans tears. Thank you! We were hanging out, folding laundry, having a gay old time, and out of nowhere- tears. I picked her up, not knowing what could be bothering her. Sometimes it is so hard and frustrating being a mommy. I told Lily that I didn't have any patience today- and we had only been awake for thirty minutes! And I told her we really needed to pray to Jesus for patience. And so we did.

I went over to my girlfriend Christin's house for breakfast. Our other girlfriend, Kelly, who had a baby a month ago came too. I had not seen her since a week before she had her little one. Topher, Cambry (Christin's baby girl) and Grady (Kelly's boy) are all about four weeks apart. They were all very good and let their mommies have quality mommy time. I started telling the ladies that I have been straight up loco since having Topher. By the grace of God, I was pretty 'normal' after having Lily. But with Lily and Topher, and having been pregnant for two years straight- I am not the same person I used to be. Kelly and Christin admitted the same. For the most part, the three of us are pretty relaxed, and it takes quite a bit to get us frazzled. Kelly shared that she started crying for no reason a couple times after getting home from the hospital. Christin admitted to getting annoyed, and even a little bit angry over the littlest things. With each admonition came a series of nodding heads, and excitement that we were not alone. It seems we were all guilty of losing patience- sometimes with our husbands, but mostly with our new crazy selves.

All of us are very lucky to be married to three amazing men. Drew, Christin's hubby, is a sweet and sensitive man. He is really in tune with Christin's needs and dotes on her on the regular. He is famous in our group for having gotten Christin three dozen red roses cause she had a bad day. It wasn't Valentine's Day, or her birthday, nor was he the cause of her bad day. I don't know Tim, Kelly's hubby, that well, but he is also a supersweet and lovely man, who makes Kelly very, very happy. As sweet and kind and caring as our hubbies all are, there is one problem that they all have- though they are all daddies and have babies, none of them have HAD a baby. As in, they were not pregnant and did not have a human being live in their bodies, emerge from their bodies, leaving a mess of insane hormones in their wake. As much as they try to understand what we are going through, and how we are feeling- they can't. Mostly because half the time we don't understand what we are going thruogh or why we are feeling the way that we are!

So what does this all boil down to? Patience. Patience for each other. Patience for ourselves. One of the best pieces of advice I received when I was getting married was this: "be patient with your new hubby, because he has no idea how to be a good husband right off the bat." And it's true. He has never been the head of a household before. He has never had to make choices for anyone but himself. And all of a sudden he has a wife that he is supposed to lead God-fearingly. And it's true that men need to be patient with their new wives- because no matter how domestically 'trained' a new bride is, being a wife, and a good one at that, is not easy and takes much practice. So all this is true with parenthood. Again, patience is needed for the new daddy- he in all likelihood never played 'baby dolly' and has possibly never even held an infant before holding his own. It doesn't matter how excited your husband is to become a daddy- he isn't going to automatically know what to do to calm a fussy baby, or a fussy new mommy either. Patience people. Patience. And a butt-load of empathy doesn't hurt either.

Men, imagine this if you will. You're a woman. You have a baby stuck to you 24/7. When you have a break from holding baby- you have to do laundry, or the dishes, or both. The last thing you want is to snuggle and be held. When it's time to lie down and sleep- it's time to lie down and sleep! I know all us women ever wanted before the baby was to be held and hugged and loved and adored. Well, we are all hugged out for the moment! Yes, sacrifices need to be made. By all. Women- love your husbands so that there is no doubt in their minds that you love them and still find them very, very attractive. Access your uncrazy side as much as possible in their presence. (That's one of my favorite lines from 'The Office') Men- love your crazy wife with all your might and be patient! She's had a human being escape from her body, with different war wounds to prove it- saggy belly, stitched up nether-regions, (or stitched-up belly, which is not any better), and again- hormones running rampant affecting every fiber of her being. Will she ever get back to being the affectionate, loving, not-psychotic wonder that you married? Yes. When? Probably when the last kid goes off to college. Just joking. I think... All I can say, after having had two kids, is- be patient and enjoy the bumpy, saggy, fun-filled, teary, wonderous road together.

Tofu Cubes on the Floor

Here are two pictures I took after a night alone with the kids.

It was Monday night, the only night of the week when Chris has to work until 9pm.

The day had gone off without a glitch. I went out for breakfast and the kids were great.

Lily played in the water at the outdoor mall and had a blast. She had a great nap in the afternoon. 4 hours I think it was. Topher was awesome as usual. Then it hit 5:30 and we were in the house, and bored to tears. Lily was getting restless, as was Topher. So the only way I know to 'entertain' both kids simultaneously without going crazy myself is to take a walk. God bless the person who invented the double-stroller. We went on a walk, and it would have been great if it wasn't still about 100 degrees out. But it took so much effort to get the kids into the stroller and ready for our walk that I decided to just rough it out. And as hot as it was, the kids roughed it out too. Needless to say, when we got home to our air conditioned sanctuary, we could not have been happier.

So, here's where the pictures help paint what happened for the next hour. Topher's car seat is in the kitchen because that's the first place we went to after our walk. It's the coolest room in the house, and I wanted to get something nice and cool into Lily's system. She downed her Yo-Baby yogurt as if she hadn't eaten in months. Then I decided I was hungry and would make some dinner.

The high-chair is in the kitchen because Lily likes to be higher up so that she can see what's going on at my level. Don't worry, the high-chair was not that close to the stove when she was in it. I'm not the best mom, but I'm not that bad either. When Lily was tired of watching me, she wanted to be on the floor so that she could 'help out' by opening and closing her favorite cabinet. In the picture it's still open. She didn;t get around to closing it this time. All the ingredients that I used to make my 'Bokum Bap' (fried rice) are still out on the stove or on the counter. You can't tell from the picture, but the sink is full of dishes. Which is why there are dirty dishes littering the countertop beside the sink as well.

Topher's ducky swing is the other large piece of baby equipment that is usually in the kitchen. Bless the person who invented chairs that rock on battery power and have fun animals swirling over-head. Though it is a great piece of machinery, it takes up a bunch of room in the kitchen, and aids in making the kitchen look messy and crazy. And as you can see, Lily and I don't need help making things look messy...

The eating of dinner was just as hectic as the making of it. As you can see from the other picture there is an overturned bowl on the floor, along with a bunch of food. Yes, those little white things are cubes of tofu. Sometimes Lily likes to eat them. Sometimes she likes to throw them. Today was a throwing them day. Of course it was. I wasn't mad at her though, because she managed to throw them into a pentagonal formation, and we have been working on geometric shapes for weeks now.... (I am of course joking.)

The booster seat is our seat of choice for when we are sitting at the table to eat. The high chair that is seen in the kitchen does not restrain our children (Lily or Sungu) nearly well enough. I think it's the tray that's attached to the booster seat that really keeps 'em nice and locked in there. We got one for Sungu for his birthday, and decided to get Lily one too. Eating with the kids has become so much more pleasant since we got those things.

Anyway, other stuff that the camera was not able to capture on the floor- Cheerios- both smooshed and whole, baby porridge (from the Super Baby Foods book), as well as chunks of my patience and pieces of my sanity.

And that was my long evening alone with the kids.

Jun-Lee

Lily got the cutest little baby doll for her birthday. It's an asian baby girl. Squinty eyes and all. No wait, to be politically correct- almond shaped eyes and all, as my mother-in-law would tactfully put it. Or football-shaped and all, as a Korean girl I tutored last year would say. Anyway, we thought we lost her, but she was over at Grandpa Wes' house. So Lily and Jun-Lee were reunited after about two weeks apart, and boy was it a heartfelt reunion. Lily hugged it, kissed it at our prompting (kissing for Lily means opening her mouth and pressing her face on whoever, or whatever she is 'kissing'. Baby kisses are probably the best things in the world. Next to chocolate Haagan Daaz ice cream.) and she just carried Jun-Lee over her shoulder for a while, the way I carry Topher.

Lily is actually the sweetest little mama and it's so funny what she picks up from me. Funny and scary. Sometimes I 'spot clean' the floor with baby wipes. Lily pulls out a bunch of wipes when she can get a hold of the package, and just as I am about to get angry cause she has pulled ut about ten of them, she starts wiping the floor too. So funny. She has seen me wash the dishes numerous times, I am waiting for the day that she can start doing that... But anyway, it definitely makes me think twice before doing stuff that I don't want Lily to do, cause she is definitely in the 'Monkey See Monkey Do' stage.

I don't know if I mentioned this in another posting, but once Topher was crying while in the basket part of the shopping cart (while in his car seat), and Lily took the handle of the car seat and started rocking it. And when he cries she stops whatever she is doing to go find him and to check if he is ok. The other day Sungu was crying and she went over to him to give him a hug, just the way we hug her when she is crying. Then she tried to pick him up, which was ridiculous cause Sungu weighs a bit more than she does. But she tried none the less. She has been trying to pick Topher up too, but has been unsuccessful in that endeavor as well. But I am being much more vigilant about strapping him into his swing than I was before (I know you are supposed to strap them in every time. Get off my back. The kid can't do anything yet!)

Anyway, it is nice to see Lily treating her baby so well if she is imitating me, cause maybe that means I am doing a pretty good job at being nice to my babies as well.

Ps. 'Jun-Lee' is a name that Chris came up with for the doll. I just flat out called the little asian thing 'China', but Chris' stereotypical name won out in the long run.

Root Canal

I got a root canal today. I HATE the dentist. I don't know why pain in the mouth is so bad, but it is. I had braces for about three years, and once a month for three years I got those danged braces tightened and man did that suck. I would be subjected to just having soup for a day or two, and of course those were the days my mom would make the best meals- kalbi, bulgogi, and the like. Anyhoo, those were days that I do not look upon with any fondness.

So I have been psyching myself out for this R.C. for the last week. Sitting in the dentist's chair today, I was expecting the worst, and my expectations were never met. Fortunately. This guy was GOOD. I did not feel the numbing needle (actually I got two shots), which is my least favorite part of going to the dentist. After that, everything was fine. The sounds that the drill and other torture devices make are blood curdling to say the least, but they are just sounds. I managed to fit in a little nap while in the comfy dentist's chair- no kids, no worries! It was pretty good, except that I am pretty sure I was snoring, but the drill drowned most of it out (I hope!). Provided that things go well, hopefully I will never see that dentist again (or endodontist, or whatever he was called.)

The fun didn't start until my face started melting. My sister picked me up from my appointment and asked if I had been crying. I told her I was fine cause I couldn't feel anything still. The right side of my face was completely without feeling. But once the feeling came, I did feel like crying after all. Especially because I was at the mall, and I didn't have any Tylenol with me. I was so sure I had some in the diaper bag, but alas I was wrong. And what a time to be wrong. We were at the mall because Chris was helping his older brother out with some yard work, and he lives quite close to the mall. As soon as they were done though, Jeehon, kids, and I were there to pick him up in two blinks of an eye. Everything in my mouth hurt. My jaw hurt from having been opened so wide for so long. My tooth was killing cause of all the drilling they did in it and on it. I felt like crying until I reminded myself that I have given birth to two kids in the last two years. If I could get through that, I could get through anything, right? With Tylenol in hand (and in the diaper bag) I think I will be alright.

Communal Living

My sister and I have always been quite close. She is the oldest of five, and three years older than me. We shared a room for as long as I can remember, we still share clothes, and I can proudly say we have NEVER shred boyfriends. (I know a couple sisters who have done that and I just do not get it.) Admittedly, I always wanted to be just like my sister. She was always way smarter than me, so the only way I could imitate her was physically. She would get dressed first, and then I would put on the same outfit. This vexed her to no end. In fact, right after she moved in a few weeks ago, she was wearing a polo three-quarter length shirt with rolled up jeans. She left to go sign some papers for our house stuff (which we still don't have a house to move in to! we are going on over a month! I thought this was a buyer's market????) and when she came back I was wearing an identical outfit. It was awesome! Just like the good old days.

Anyhoo, she has always done things first- graduating, having a boyfriend, moving out, getting married, etc. But somehow, I managed to have a baby (actually, babies) before she did. Lily is three months older than her son Sungu. It's pretty funny cause Chris and James (Jeehon's husband) are literally like day and night- Chris is the prototypical Aryan that Hitler was trying to get the world to be full of, and James is a skinnier (and poorer) Hines Ward (we can't all be Superbowl MVPs). In short, James' dad is african-american, and his mom is Korean. So Sungu is 3/4 Korean, and Lily is 1/2. But they look like twins sometimes. It's the hair I think. And the sweet, giant doe-eyes. So cute. Nothing makes me happier than the fact that Lily and Topher get to grow up with their cousins, since Jeehon and I never had hat opportunity.

But with all the great things that come with living together come some negative things as well. No matter how hard we try not to, we pin our kids against each other. Most of the time it's a joke, but sometimes it's not. We 'joke' about which kid is the 'winner' of the day. The winner is the kid who cries the least, eats everything that's put in front of them, and naps the best (and longest). This automatically makes Sungu the winner everyday pretty much. Except with the food thing. Lily is quite the little piglet. But just as much as she can eat, the girl can cry. I really wish I knew why she cries so much, but I don't. She cries when she is tired, and when she's hungry, or thirsty, or hurt, truth be told- she cries whenever she feels like it. It kinda sucks and I really hope she grows out of it soon. Real soon. Sungu on the other hand does not cry even when he is hurt (he fell on his face the other day. Not a peep outta him) but will occassionally cry when he is tired, hungry, or tired of being in his car seat. But that's about it. Sometimes I feel like pinching him just so that he will cry more and so that my sister would stop bragging about how little he cries! (I would never hurt the kid. Don't call CPS). But she's got a right to brag. I would brag about that too.

So Sungu doesn't cry, but you know what else Sungu doesn't do? Walk. (Yeah that sounds harsh, but it's the cold hard truth!) Jeehon came out to Arizona at Christmas and she distinctly remembers Lily 'walking' between Chris and I. I don't remember that, but I will take her word for it. She was nine months old then. Sungu just started taking steps between the couch and her, and he is eleven months old. Does it matter? No. But will I hang on to this nugget of info about Lily developing a touch before her cousin? You betcha! Should I? No. Everything is a competition. EVERYTHING. Wait till we get to the serious stuff- like how long it takes to potty train, and who gets into an Ivy league school, and who will marry a millonaire... There will always be a winner, and there will always be a... non-winner. Is this healthy competition? No. Not for the kids. Not even for Jeehon and I. But that sadly will not stop us. We will try to keep our kids out of the competition as much as we can, even though they are the ones who are competing against each other. But isn't this just another ugly side of human nature?

But here is the good, no the great, things about living together. When the kids are napping, one of us gets to leave the house for some alone time. Even if it's just to go grocery shopping, it's nice to just go into a grocery store without worrying about a little one catching germs off of a shopping cart. Another great thing- Jeehon does all the laundry! And she is so good at it. The whites have never been whiter, everything smells fresh and clean, and all the clothes are folded perfectly. She is a laundry-doing genius. I do the dishes, and that's fine with me cause though there are always a butt-load of dishes to be done on the regular, I feel like it's easier than the laundry. And another great thing about communal living is the fact that I do not have to cook all the time. Jeehon is a great cook and loves to experiment. Fortunately for her, Chris and I will eat pretty much anything she makes. But not only does she cook for Chris and me, she cooks for the babies and that's HUGE. She read 'Baby Super Foods', which I read too, and actually has been making stuff from there. That's a step beyond what I did. She is so careful about what she puts in Sungu's body, which translates into being careful about what she puts into Lily's too. ONce Lily turned one, I bought a bunch of those Gerber Baby Meals which are full of preservatives and who knows what else. Jeehon is Little Miss Organics which is great for everyone. Plus, since she's still breastfeeding, and so am I, she makes sure that I eat well for Topher's sake. She is mother/sister/aunt supreme.

So all in all, living together is going pretty awesomely well. Jeehon and Chris get along perfectly well, and in our off time we all sit around and play Speed Scrabble together (Chirs has kicked our butts the last bunch of games now), or watch Korean videos (have Jeehon translate them). If only we could remove that competitive side of it all, things would be perfect, but alas we live in a fallen world, and what it all comes down to is that Jeehon and I are just big babies who happen to have babies.

My Amazing Husband

Just another post to brag about my amazing husband. Chris took my sister, another girlfriend, and myself to go see the Sex and the City movie on Sunday. (It was our belated Mother's Day outing) Acutally, he took us all out for dinner at a Japanese Restaurant, and then he took us to the movie. We all had a great time. The food was great, the movie was lots of fun, and the company was perfect. I don't know a lot of husbands who would take their wife to see this movie (which is why my girlfriend came along with us), but to take their sister-in-law plus another woman, that's nothing short of awesome.

So on the home front Chris is great. And at work, he is equally wonderful. Here is a link to a news segment about Chris and his hard work for the City of Scottsdale.
http://www.abc15.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=351d45bb-b307-4798-b6df-77f338d03387
Enjoy it.
(Too much to do, too little time. I will be back again some day...)