Facelift!

Hey! I figured out how to use stuff on the internet and on my blog! I'm not a total and complete moron! Even though...
-when I was leading our Small Group discussion the other day, I forgot the word 'definition' when I was trying to explain the different 'explanations' for the word 'patience'. Yes, I have a degree in English Literature. But even if I didn't, the word 'definition' is not some obscure word that only brilliant scholars know.
-I totally forgot to feed our dog this morning. Oops! Chris is out of town! It's normally his job...
-it took me 2 tries to pass the written portion of the driving test here in Arizona, and it took me 3 tries to pass the actual physical driving portion of the driving test in Canada. Oh those blasted stereotypes about Asian-women-drivers!
-when I became a bookkeeper, I had to look up 'bookkeeper' to make sure it really did have all those double letters.
-some of my friends just recently created supercute and wonderful blogs. I have had my blog for almost two years and I am just now figuring out how to spice things up.
-it's 11:04pm. I am going to have to wake up at 6 am. I will be tired in the morning, and I will blame my tiredness on Lily, even though I am in complete control over when I can go to bed at night. If I was smarter, I would have been in bed two hours ago. But my blog would still be boring (looking. If it was boring to read before, it's probably still going to be boring to read now and forevermore.)
So I guess I am not a total and complete moron, I just happen to have moronic tendencies.

Great Dates Part III

Today we went on an incredible date with Uncle Charles, and Aunt Grace (Korean friends of ours) to the Phoenix Children's Museum- and it was so great!

It's kinda pricey to get in ($9 for anyone over 1! Yowsers!) but if you can get a Culture Pass from the Library, then it's free! Grace did the hard work of waiting in front of several libraries this week to try to get two (good for 4 people), but she could only get one. Still, that saved us a lot of money!

Once we got in there though, I could see why everyone over the age of 1 has to pay- it's so fun! There were tons of things for everyone to, even Topher, who still insists on crawling to get from point A to point B. We went to the Arts and Crafts room where we used glue and glitter to make fun pictures. We hung out in the front room and watched scarves zipping through tubes filled with compressed air or something. There was a huge area with a bunch of foam pool noodles hanging from the ceiling. And our favorite was the 'playhouse' where the kids hung out in the kitchen, planted flowers, etc.

It was a fun and exhausting time for all. We are especially thankful for Grace and Charles for coming all the way to Phoenix with us, cause it really is a place where the kids need to be 1-on-1 with an adult for maximum safety, and learning potential. And if that's not the recipe for a great date, I don't know what is ; )

Great Dates Part II

This date is a lot less romantic, but it did end with a big smooch...

We were FINALLY able to connect with our lovely friends, The Brantons, and have a play date! I haven't hung out with Amy and her kids Bella and the infamous Zach, since Zach's birthday party in February. Yes, more than two months ago. So lame! How can we all possibly be that busy?!?!

So our date was at Amy's beautiful and SUPERCLEAN home. The kids played in Bella's newly redone room. So cute and perfect. There was a music concert, lots of stroller pushing, some cooking in the kitchen, and much mess making in general. It was great. Jeehon, Amy and I were even able to converse like real adults! I am finding my kids are letting me do this on a more regular basis, which is great. Thanks babies, you are the best.

We had one of the best homemade lunches I have had in a LONG time! Amy made roast beef sandwiches complete with au jus dipping! AMAZING. Better than Arby's folks. No joke.

Amy and I haven't even been friends for all that long, but there is something to be said for having friends that are superlow maintenance in such a hectic time of life. There is no 'drama for yo mama' when we get together, no guilt in the fact that it's been two months since we've seen each other, it's all pleasant wonderment! And I have to say that I am SO disgustingly blessed because God has actually given me a very large and generous handful of beautiful and amazing girlfriends and family that I just love love love to hang out with and talk to on the phone (that would be my long distance girls. I am otherwise not a 'phone person'.) I just love you all!

Chris and I keep praying that Lily and Topher will be so lucky as to meet the same kind of amazing people we have, and to develop amazing friendships with them. Here are some pics of baby friendships budding!

Oh yeah, and the kiss at the end of the playdate was between Bella and Topher! Topher is not even all that responsive to me when I ask him for a 'bbo-bbo' (kiss in korean), but he puckered right up when he saw a pretty girl coming his way for an innocent hug. Like father like son...

Great Dates Part I

Chris and I went out for Mother's Day last weekend, thanks to my mom who sent money from Canada for us to go out for dinner and a movie, and to my sister who watched our babies so that we could really go out ALONE! So great!

I decided we should try a new restuarant cause we usually just eat at teh same old places- Olive Garden, Chipotle, Taco Bell, etc. I truly love all those places, but this was a special dinner, so I chose 'Chelsea's Kitchen' up by the Biltmore. I looked at a bunch of places online, and this looked like it would suit us the best. It was upscale casual. My fave. I thought their primary offerings were burgers and tacos, but Chris ended up with a steak and I had short ribs on mashed potatoes. Not bad at all! And the restaurant was truly so cute and cozy. The patio was beautiful but we sat inside at a booth. I LOVE eating in booths. Also, Game 7 of the Celtics vs Magic happened to be on at the bar which was right behind our seat, and we were both very happy to watch the Magic pull out a victory in the first 15 minutes of our awesome date.

Next we went to watch a movie, but I really wanted a coffee! No Starbucks, or any other fine coffee shop in sight. So we had ice cream at Coldstone. Just as expensive as what I would have ordered at Starbucks, and just as enjoyable! So we went to watch Star Trek, and I thoroughly enjoyed the story line and the cast. Sure Chris picked the movie, but it's cause he really wanted to watch it, and there was nothing that I was dying to see (obviously this was a night where I could have gotten away with anything! Like when we watched Sex and the City last year with my sister and friend.)

There are so many things I love about my hubby, but I truly feel extra special about being the mother of his two children because he really has gone all out every Mother's Day that I have been a mom to show me how much he appreciates me, and to let me know that he thinks that I am doing a great job. It's definitely one of my favoritest days of the year!

Rite of Passage?

Nothing ruins my night like poo in unexpected places.

Watching the three kids alone is no big deal anymore. They kinda all play together, or all seperately, but the demand for attention has diminished quite a bit. Chris is even going to watch the three kids by humself on Monday when I go to work, and Jeehon goes back to taking some more real estate classes.

But, the thing that makes watching the three kids difficult is when you already have very little patience for life in general (read: you are sleep deprived) or when you find poo in unexpected places (remember when I stepped in Sungu's poo a few months ago?)

So here's how my kids pooed on our lovely evening last night:
I was on the phone with a friend who was having a SERIOUS issue. Serious beyond serious. In fact, if you feel led, pray for her and her hubby- let's just call them J & J. (NO. Not James and Jeehon. 'J' names are so common!) Anyhoo, I was on the phone with her, and I made the kids grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup. They have eaten this before, and liked it. So I thought it was going to be an uneventful dinner. Wrong. Because my attention was elsewhere, Lily thought this was an opportune time to entertain Sungu and Topher by smearing grilled cheese in her hair. She was a hit! They loved it.

Then round 2- I made some fried rice with peas, another fave of the children. More food was tossed about and landed in hair. And I was even paying attention to them at this point! Anyway, this didn't make me so annoyed, cause a lot of it was my fault, but it didn't exactly put me in a great mood.

So then we went upstairs to take a bath and get ready for bed. I put Lily and Topher in the bath too, and made Sungu potty before getting in. He peed for half a second and started to stand, where I proceeded to make him stay seated. This was great because he immediately started to poo. Then Lily made a motion like she had to pee so I pulled her out and put her on the toilet. I was still within arms reach of Topher in the bath, but I could really just see him from the chest up.

When Lily and Sungu were done (Lily did not pee. We are trying to do this whole pottying thing again...) I was about to put them back in the tub, except that there was a whole lot of poo in it! So gross! Topher had eaten quite a bit of fruit that day, so his stool was not firm by any stretch of the imagination. There were bits floating all around him. There was even a piece of poo stuck to his chest. I wanted to cry. Lily just started saying 'Eeewww.' Understatement of the century little girl. I unplugged the tub and watched most of the poo go down the drain, and for the pieces that wouldn't go down I picked em up (with my bare hands!) and threw them in the toilet. Not happy mama.

So there Topher was, sitting naked and disgusting in the tub with no water, and Lily and Sungu were standing there watching, also naked and I decided the best thing to do was bring them to my room to take a bath.

After everyone was disinfected and put to bed, I had the fun task of disinfecting lots of toys and the bath tub. Can't believe this is the first time I have dealt with poo in the tub, but what a way to be inducted into the club! Hopefully this will be the first, and the last?...

A Very Happy Mother's Day

Chris is doing the dishes right now. I am SO in love with him.

I woke up at about 8am, even though Lily woke up at 6:45am. I took a shower and was greeted by a half-naked Lily, and a happy Topher, and a cute husband holding two plates of breakfast with ketchup nestled under his arm. So sweet. This was actually the first meal he has EVER made for me that did not come from a box, or that doesn't rhyme with 'sac and peas'.

He presented me with wonderful cards from him and the children, and he got me a gift card even though I very seriously and HONESTLY told him not to get me a present. So wonderful he is to me.

We went to church and then had some Wendy's drive-thru while the kids were napping. Then I read some of the Sunday paper, did two or three Sudoku puzzles, watched Chris work out, then got the kids ready to go out. We stopped by Chris' dad's house to drop off a little 'gift' for his step-mom. We had already seen his mom, grandma, and all our sister-in-laws yesterday so they were already stocked up. This is definitely the year of frugality, so I stayed up till 2am the other day making cookie flower bouquets that went into mugs with ribbon on them. I got the idea online. It was tons of fun. It probably wouldn't have taken so dang long if I actually had cookie cutters though. Definitely going to look for those so I can buy them with my gift card!

Admittedly, I did ask Chris for a Shark Steam Mop (the commercial looks amazing. I will have to do some internet research before I make the big purchase though), and the gift card is mostly supposed to go towards that. I couldn't have been happier. Chris has a thing against buying me anything 'cleaning' related as a gift. He remembers that his dad bought his mom a vaccuum for Christmas one year, and he also remembers that it was their last Christmas together. So in Chris' mind Household appliance= divorce. Crazy, but I will take a gift card any day of the week!

We went to Chipotle for dinner which is really one of my favorite places to eat. No real line up, plenty of places to sit. It was perfect. And now the kids are asleep, and Chris has been the most incredible husband/slave all day. He's even been folding laundry! We are going to sit on the couch and eat ice cream (that he dished out!) together. Couldn't have asked for a better day. Just gotta make sure we finish this ice cream before midnight so that he washes these dirty dishes too :)

MOBs

I am part of a very fun and very amazing group called MOBs- Moms of Babies. Which sounds like a kind of obvious, and therefore stupid name, but we like it and are sticking to it!

We are just a group of stay-at home moms who meet about every other week and just hang out with our babies and each other. 'We' consists of my sister and Sungu, my sister-in-law Lindsay and Gabe, and our friends Christin and her baby Cambry, and Kelly and her baby Grady. Our group started out really small, but it is about to bust at the seams come July! (Lindsay and Kelly are both having their second babies.) Christin will follow suit in October.

It is so great having a group of friends with you whom you can be in such an amazing and draining period of life. I always look forward to our bi-monthly get-togethers! Before we started MOBs, I would only see these women every once in awhile, even though we are all stay-at-home moms. But I have discovered that all it takes is a little organization, prioritization, and cupcakes, and all of a sudden we have a cool group with a cool name ;)

I just wanted to give a shout out to these amazing women that I am so blessed to have as friends, mostly because I just love them to pieces, and also cause it's almost Mother's Day and I think these women are all such great mothers. I don't know where I would be without you guys. Probably sitting in the corner sucking my thumb, bored as all get out, with Lily and Topher who would be doing the exact same thing as me. Thanks for being great friends to me, and for raising supercute and sweet and wonderful kids who are going to be such great friends for Lily and Topher. Happy Mother's Day MOB ladies. I love you much.

Here are the babies or MOBs, without Lily or Sungu. This was taken in July when the babies were really just babies. The next one was taken about 3 months later. they grow so fast! I know I have even more recent pictures, I just can't find them! I have litereally been looking for DAYS! I need to organize my photos better... one day...

Do I have urine in my hair?

We had a bit of a busy day yesterday. Our small group was coming over so the house had to be relatively tidy. We met with our girlfriend at the mall in the morning, so cleaning up did not happen then. And of course Lily had fallen asleep in the car as soon as we got in so she was not tired when we got home almost 30 minutes later. So no nap for her. Which meant no alone time for 'mom'. (That's my new name from Lily. It's pretty serious and hilarious all at once.)

This crazy hot weather is kinda getting to me already, and mostly because it means I need to shower everyday in order to not scare away the neighborhood children or my husband. But did you see any time for a shower in there? No. So I did the next best thing- I took a bath with my babies. Chris takes baths with them all the time and it is SO CUTE. This was actually my first bath with the two babies. No. My first time taking a bath with any of them cause I never took baths with Lily cause I was pregnant with Topher.

Anyhoo, we had a great time! Splashing about, spraying each other. They thought it was very interesting how I was washing my hair cause I have considerably more than both of them combined. And as we were getting out of the bath, I thought about the likelihood that one of my babies peed in the bath water. I even went as far as to change out the bath water halfway through, but even still, one could have peed before the change, and the other could have peed after. The chances that I was sitting in pee bath water was very high, which makes the chances that there was urine in my hair very high as well. So I went from being time efficient supermom, to crazy woman with pee in her hair. Awesome.

Pat Tillman Run

Admittedly, our family did the Pat Tillman run a bunch of weeks ago, but I just needed to add a post cause we did the Pat Tillman Run as a family! And I have pictures to prove it!
The main reason we went is cause my husband has a betting problem, and the main problem is that he bets his buddy that he works with that the Suns are always going to win their games, and this last season- they didn't win a lot of their games. Which means Chris didn't win a lot of his bets. Which meant Chris either had to buy this guy about five dinners, or do the Pat Tillman Run with him. The latter choice seemed like the easier choice. Until we got there...

Our day started at about 5:30am, cause we were supposed to be in downtown Tempe by 6:30am to be registered by the 7am start time. Chris ran with his buddy in the 9 minute/mile group, Jeehon, Sungu, Lily, Topher, Chris' buddy's wife and their baby, and I started in the last group reserved for very very very slow people.

Here we are getting ready to almost start...


Chris ran with his friend, ate a creamsicle, then walked the back half of the course to find us at the 3 mile mark (the whole thing was 4.2 miles). I have never been so happy to see Chris in my whole life! Our double stroller is really heavy! Or I am really out of shape... or both...

Here we are at the finish line! We were one of the last 10 to cross the line I think! I guess that's a different sort of accomplishment that most people wouldn't brag about.

Here are the kids (and parents!) enjoying some free ice cream (at like 9am! It felt like it was noon though.)