Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Time with family

So I have lots of catching up to do once I have a chance to write down all the things that we have done. At the moment, we are in all family all the time mode. The kids are having an absolutely wonderful time hanging out and playing not only with all their aunts and their uncle but also all their extended family of aunts, uncles and grandparents.

Max is learning new words and phrases that I am sure we will hear about at his school when he dares to repeat them there! Maggie is just loving all the love and attention that she gets and gets to give especially to her youngest uncles who are 10 and 12. She practically tackles them in glee to give them hugs and kisses. Thank goodness they are both indulgent, kind and gentle.
It seems that Max isn't the only one who has a birthday around xmas as we have celebrated 3 other birthdays with our relatives.

I am sure there is more to write but I am going to keep short for the moment. Hopefully at some point I will do an overload of photos.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Snow Storm Las Vegas



Yesterday was a big day for me and the kids. I have seen snow here before in the north valley but never by us. I didn't really expect it and when Krismon called to ask if we had snow, at that point it was only rain. Around 2pm that changed to snow and it never stopped. It was the heavy, slushy fat snowflakes kind of snow. Maggie and I went out in the snow before picking up Max to take photos and then we hopped in the car and slowly drove to pick him up. He was excited to come home, get bundled up and play outside. He stayed out longer than Maggie before coming in.

Then this morning, Krismon and Max made a snowman to go next to our blow up Santa. It was great for the kids to have snow this year. I really hope we will get to have a couple of years of this so they can remember from year to year.

Love is a sense

Yesterday morning, Max was watching 'High Five'. They were talking about the senses. All of a sudden Max said that there was another sense, Love. He looked at me and said that it was another sense. It was really sweet.

Later I got some bad news about my mom and her cancer returning. She was clearly upset, I relayed this story to her and luckily it helped. Thank goodness for little boys with kind hearts.

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Mapo Ramen

So today was an extra windy day. Airplanes are flying and landing in different patterns. There dirt storms galore out there.

Max had violin concert class today with other kids around his age. It was to go over how the kids would get on stage and at what point and what they should, or rather we as parents should, be listening for before getting them up and ready. On the way to class, I talked about how he is most likely going to be one of the older kids there with the most experience and to set a good example. He listened and behaved really well. I am thinking the eggs and bacon that we made a few hours prior to the class really did the trick. The protein seemed to allow him to focus better. Afterwards, we skedaddled to a birthday party which was to be a hiking party only to be redirected to the bowling alley because of the wind. The 5 minute conversation that we had outside the car really helped to clean my teeth because of the grit that scoured them.
We got to the bowling alley at Red rock casino, it was really nice, the whole place. We met up with his classmate and other friends. The kids had a great time and even we parents bowled as well. It was a fun hour or so. Then we went back in the car, Max took a brief nap on the drive home. We got home and couldn't keep him a sleep so he enjoyed some tv watching.
3:30, he went to another violin lesson. We were worried about the double practice in one day. He did well, even started a new song.
Today's temperature wasn't too bad but it is supposed to drop like a rock tonight and be cold for, I believe a solid week. They are even saying snow. I know, I know Vegas and snow doesn't compute but oh well. So to my mind, soup sounded really good. I thought maybe pho because then the kids could get noodles if they didn't want soup. Krismon was trying to think of other options when ramen came to mind. We haven't gone out for ramen in probably a year or two. So we headed out. We get there, get the kids food decided. Shrimp fried rice. I was looking at all the choices and under the ramen, I saw it.... Mapo ramen. Could it be true, could one of my favorite chinese foods really translate well to ramen? Should I even pursue something spicy when I know that I will have to take mylanta? Ummm heck yeah! So mapo is ground pork with tofu in a spicy sauce. It may not sound like much but it really is another one of those comfort foods that is so enjoyable. It tasted like heaven when it came out. Sooooo yummy and enjoyable. So that is my story of Mapo Ramen.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Not feeling it

I have wanted to write for several days but what to write. That has been the question on my mind. Maybe I could write about the turkey breast dinner I made last night..... yep okay that's a start.

Let the story begin. We went to walmart on Sunday. We saw that they were selling turkeys and we had already decided that we would start eating more turkeys since they are good for more than just one day a year. We found a turkey breast that was still attached to the bone and thought hmm maybe we could rotisserie it like we do whole chickens. It was thawed by yesterday and so I plied it with oil and a bbq spice mix. I got it set up in the machine and then took it back out again and turned it upside down and restarted it.
We had mango slices from costco that were going to go bad soon. They were definitely not our manilla mangos that we love so I figured the only hope for us eating them was to make some sort of dessert out of them. I made a mango peach crisp, much easier than cobbler. I got that going and made the rice. Right before everything was done and ready I sauteed some sugar snap peas and garlic and voila, our meal was done.
Unfortunately, Max fell asleep at some point upstairs. Maggie let me know and I finally after some time (heck I hate waking him up) I went to wake him up. I tried to be as gentle as possible. In the end, I tickled him slightly but then Maggie got in his face. He started kicking and crying. He is really not a happy waker upper from naps. I try to avoid letting him fall asleep in the afternoons when he gets home from school for fear that he will have a hard time falling asleep and sleeping late enough. I got him up, but I don't think he wanted to forgive me.
Later when he came downstairs, he wanted to watch more tv. It wasn't going to happen but I did get him settled with his photo album. Dinner time comes, he decides that he wants to play at being 'soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo tiredddddddddddddddddddddddddd'. That means, he can't be responsible for himself or anything that he should be doing, like sitting at the table and eating. I uninvited him to the table. We sat down to eat, after a bit Krismon went over to talk to him. He came to the table and complained about eating. I had to walk away. I spent 2 hours on this meal off and on. Once Krismon got him to eat a piece of turkey or two, Max settled in to eat all his food and then some. He apologized for his behavior and thanked me for cooking. We all enjoyed the crisp with some whipped cream even Maggie our picky dessert eater.
No real moral to this story but it is rough to spend so much time trying to create a meal that everyone enjoys and then have it denigrated before it is even tried. I was having a hard time remembering my mantra last night, obviously.
Wondering what it is.... "Get over yourself" Max's problem wasn't with the meal or me, he would have found fault with just about anything because he was tired. I just couldn't get over myself to realize it then. Ah well. I guess there kind of is a bit of moral there.

Friday, December 5, 2008

Try to get through this post

And maybe it is too soon because it is so fresh.

We lost our Bubba dog today. We got married 9 years ago. In 2001, we got our first house. In March 2002, we got Bubba at humane society in Santa Clara. We got him neutered there. We brought him home and the next day, he got so sick. We didn't know where to take him so we took him back worried that it had something to do with the surgery. For over 2 days, they wouldn't tell us what was wrong with him. He had pneumonia and I think they were afraid that we wouldn't want him if he was sick. But we fell in love with him the first time we met him. He was friendly and lovable on the get go. We had him for a year before we got pregnant with Max. During that year, he would go often with us for my weekend work with Team In Training. He was the cycle team mascot and would ride with me in the car. He was a whore for a car ride. Our friend, Peggy, had a convertible and he would jump in ready to take off with her.

The more we got to know him, we came to find out he had behavioral problems with shadows and birds. We even took him to Davis to see a behaviorist so we could find out what to do to help him. He got over that for the most part.

We had a Bubba cam that we watched from work... It was a cult favorite among friends and family checking to see if he changed position on the couch or chair. And then if he disappeared out of the frame, we knew we would come home to some sort of carnage. He even had a following of rocket scientists at Stanford.

When we had Max, not long after, we moved to Vegas. The time here with him has been great and we had slowly started to venture out with him more again and do family outings like camping. He had the best bed because he had his dog bed in the mini van to sleep on while we slept in the tent. He loved road trips to visit family. My dad, absolutely, loved to visit and see Bubba and have Bubba come and visit him. He was a great early morning companion and always so happy to see us. He loved to go to CA and visit Krismon's family because he knew the amount people ensured that he would receive quite a bit of love.

This past year, he became Max's responsibility. We wanted Max to care and take care of him. He was learning with some prompting to feed him first thing. To let him outside. They liked to play together. Bubba was always just good for a hug and a kiss. Plus he did the best prom poses. I wish we had done a series of them with all the people in his life. He would sit and if you put arms around him he would lean back and it was cute.

Last night, we came home from a dinner out to find Bubba had gotten sick on the carpet and was outside laying down. Krismon got him to come inside, but I was worried. This morning Max fed him but Bubba didn't eat. Instead, I found him in the dining room laying on a kitchen rug I had left there. Bubba then went into the bathroom and laid down on the tile floor. Max and Maggie and I took him to the vet. They took his temp and he was so cold. They took him out of the room right away to do x rays and take blood. He had a tumor rupture last night and it was bleeding into his abdomen. He didn't really have a chance. The cancer had already spread to his lungs so it was really whether we wanted to prolong for us or do the right thing for him. I called Krismon and he came. It was hard, so hard to say goodbye. Krismon brought our camera so we could get a few more pictures with him. Of course, we look like train wrecks but... Krismon stayed with the kids while I went back with Bubba so I could be there for him in his passing and say one last good bye and give one last kiss.

At dinner, we asked Max what was the best thing about Bubba. He said, taking care of him. I can't even tell you how great that was to hear. And he talked about taking Bubba camping and how great he was to have on the trips.

He was loved and he will be missed.

Thursday, December 4, 2008

I know what you are thinking

Two posts in one day what has the world come to that she would write two posts. I mean really.

I came up with this theory as I was curling my hair and putting on make up for a dinner out tonight. The more prego I get, the more vain I get. I start taking better care of my hair usually or I should say that I do more with it. I, also, tend to then wear more make up and care about that aspect of my appearance. As my body seems to blossom out of all control, I feel this need to at least control some aspect of my appearance so that I can feel good about myself.

Anyone else have this experience?

I am sure I probably thought about this too the last time I was pregnant. But who remembers, I mean I must have forgotten since I said that the last pregnancy would be the last. hmmmm. I guess what they say is true about forgetting all the things we had said the last time around....

Why do socks end up on the floor?

Can anyone answer this mysterious question for me? I would love to know why kids do this. And I am pretty sure that when I was a kid, I did the exact same thing. Why oh why even when it is cold out, the socks still come off when they get home while I have socks and slippers on and I am baking a baby so I am not exactly cold.

It is just one of those that I don't understand but would like to figure out why it is so hard to take the socks off and put them in the laundry hamper or even the basket in the laundry room where I stick the dirty kitchen towels. Did I mention that the laundry room is where all the shoes are and coats and bags?

Any explanations? Anyone with similar experiences. And you don't have to limit it to your children. wink wink.

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

It's a...

Boy! Yep on May 31st we are looking at adding more testosterone to our household. He did not want to sit still for the ultrasound so the technician kept having to move and freeze and move and freeze. I am scared for what we are in for. We, also, learned that instead of the June 12th estimation that we get to move it up a few weeks, happy for me but who knows if Maggie shall be so happy about that in future years!

We got to the ultrasound practice and of course, being the mean mom, I would not let them have the suckers they have there until the end. Yes, I am that mean especially to myself! What was I thinking withholding them was pure torture and then because I had made the decision, I kept to it which was even more torturous for everyone involved.

What truly has me frightened is that this kid was moving that much inside what do we have in store for ourselves when he makes it into the outside world?!

So.... any name suggestions?