Naomi asked me to call Aunt Dolly yesterday. She was at work, but I gave in--maybe it could be considered an emergency when your niece says she has to talk to you. Naomi's a regular chatterbox just like me...except more fun to talk to. :) This is just a brief recording of her 10-minute conversation (mostly Naomi talking). I wish I had the whole thing recorded; it was pretty funny. Everytime I laughed, Naomi would say, "What's so funny?" Then I'd have to say that I laugh when she's cute, not that I'm laughing at her. Rough transcript follows.
Naomi [talking about wheelchairs at Disneyland]: And Papi push Papi. I mean, Papi's papi. He's sick.
Me [rudely interrupting]: Papi's papi is grandpa.
Naomi: Mm-hmm. You know, he have to be in a wheelchair today at Disneyland. And I want to wear my Minnie Mouse thing to...and my Mickey Mouse thing to Disneyland to wear-gibberish-to ride. Sometimes Mami don't use real words today. She can say "blah blah blah blah blah" [imitating me when I say blah-blah-blah which annoys her]. It will be so much fun to go to Disneyland.
Dolly says something.
Naomi: And I don't know if it going to have a little tunnel I can go through on the train tide.
Me [rude again]: Train ride?
Naomi: Mm-hmm, on the train ride.
Dolly says something, probably about Dumbo.
Naomi: Well, I hope I get to go on the gold Dumbo [there was one at the 50-year celebration] and the shiny guy...I mean Dumbo and on the golden, I mean Dumbo.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
no diabetes, but lots of needles:
This is why I don't like getting blood drawn:
That was my right arm on the day of the testing. The bruising is much worse now, but it hurts less. They use the tiny butterfly needles, but my veins are too small and often collapse during the draw. Then they have to poke around...poke poke poke. I have a high threshold of pain like Naomi, but this is a time when the tears start welling up. For this glucose tolerance test (gestational diabetes testing part 2), they had to do four draws. On my other arm, they poked a couple of times, then decided to just reinsert the needle into a previous hole and draw from the same vein. Ouch!
I lost a good 5 hours on Friday for the party prep, but the good news is I got a lot of medical transcription practice done while I was there. Plus Julie was able to watch Naomi, and her kids and Naomi had a good time together. I fasted for nearly 20 hours as well, which is really tough when you're pregnant. I wanted to faint. At least I had that lime syrup test drink to hold me over. Haha.
One of the nurses was afraid the blood draw wouldn't be enough and I'd have to come back for more needles. The good news, especially before our vacation, is that the test came back negative! Praise God.
That was my right arm on the day of the testing. The bruising is much worse now, but it hurts less. They use the tiny butterfly needles, but my veins are too small and often collapse during the draw. Then they have to poke around...poke poke poke. I have a high threshold of pain like Naomi, but this is a time when the tears start welling up. For this glucose tolerance test (gestational diabetes testing part 2), they had to do four draws. On my other arm, they poked a couple of times, then decided to just reinsert the needle into a previous hole and draw from the same vein. Ouch!
I lost a good 5 hours on Friday for the party prep, but the good news is I got a lot of medical transcription practice done while I was there. Plus Julie was able to watch Naomi, and her kids and Naomi had a good time together. I fasted for nearly 20 hours as well, which is really tough when you're pregnant. I wanted to faint. At least I had that lime syrup test drink to hold me over. Haha.
One of the nurses was afraid the blood draw wouldn't be enough and I'd have to come back for more needles. The good news, especially before our vacation, is that the test came back negative! Praise God.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
yogurtland:
Chris and Manny's aunt, uncle, and cousin came on Sunday. Uncle Gerard put up some lights in our garage. Naomi was so thrilled for everyone to be here. It was like an extension of her birthday.
We went to Wahoo's Tacos and Yogurtland with Chris and Francesca. Manny told me his coworker said this place is a fad in Hollywood. That might not sway you, but what won me over was the 30 cents/oz price. You get in line, pick your frozen yogurt from the machines, then get your own toppings. We got fresh mangos, strawberries, and kiwis for toppings. The mango yogurt was really good. Pretty much everyone there was Chinese. The music was like a DDR game. Naomi already had a huge lunch of fish, quesadillas, beans, and rice. She still wolfed down that yogurt. Pretty fun. I didn't have my camera (again!), but next time I'll tempt you with the photos. Here's one I took from Google images of the one in Irvine:
Copying Francesca.
Resting on Chris.
We went to Wahoo's Tacos and Yogurtland with Chris and Francesca. Manny told me his coworker said this place is a fad in Hollywood. That might not sway you, but what won me over was the 30 cents/oz price. You get in line, pick your frozen yogurt from the machines, then get your own toppings. We got fresh mangos, strawberries, and kiwis for toppings. The mango yogurt was really good. Pretty much everyone there was Chinese. The music was like a DDR game. Naomi already had a huge lunch of fish, quesadillas, beans, and rice. She still wolfed down that yogurt. Pretty fun. I didn't have my camera (again!), but next time I'll tempt you with the photos. Here's one I took from Google images of the one in Irvine:
Copying Francesca.
Resting on Chris.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Saturday, April 19, 2008
naomi's fairy-tale birthday party:
This is basically my simplified conglomerate of a bunch of castle cake photos I saw online.
She's 3 years old! Naomi's party went really well, although there were 13 kids, and our neighbors weren't thrilled with them running around. Manny and I were kind of exhausted rounding them up. We're thankful for everyone that came, but maybe next year we'll draw a barrier or actually downsize.
At 9 pm Friday night, I questioned if it was worth making the castle cake and the rice krispies wands, but yes it was. We served kosher franks, pizzas, pasta salad, turkey wraps, grapes, and organic crudites (yes, toisan, those cheap veggies lol). We had chocolate and French vanilla layered cake and Breyer's vanilla-chocolate-strawberry ice cream.
I had a number of activities planned, including a coronation ceremony, but the kids were so content playing with each other that we just did the pin the frog game and the piñata. Some of the early birds did the craft, but once more kids came, into the favor bags they went. The costumes were great. In attendance were Snow White, Sleeping Beauty (Naomi), Ariel, Goldilocks, a medieval prince, Spiderman, The Thing, Batman, and boys in sweatshirts. :) Naomi only decided that morning that she wanted to dress up after all.
Happy about dressing up!
I still followed my little schedule as much as possible. The party ended right at 12:58 pm (scheduled for 1:00 pm). I needed some order after this week--fasting for 16 hours for a glucose tolerance test on Friday (thank God for Julie, who was willing and able to watch Naomi for 4 hours), turning in my medical transcription exam Saturday at 1 a.m., having to get the car fixed, people coming over outside of the party, teaching the toddlers at church on Sunday, prepping for the moms group kick-off next Tuesday, etc etc. I'll tell you about the glucose test later.
Naomi's always loves having people over, and often the neighborhood kids don't want to play with her because she's small, so this was just a dream come true for her. Uncle Chris came over later on, and right now she's cuddling with him. Awwww. :)
Some party photos:
The kids playing, in more civilized times. Naomi got flung on this "Ab Dolly" they were using as a sled-like toy. Fearless and tough, as always.
Sorry about the people eating. This was the only photo I had of the decorations.
Wizard-hat piñata filled with Dum-Dums. I decided to do the pull-string piñata and have them all pull at once. Everyone gets a chance, including the littlest ones, and it goes faster.
Spiderman and The Thing with the wizard hat. Yeah, well, I couldn't expect the boys to dress up as princesses! :)
Naomi's Four-Layer Castle Cake. The round part is fudge and the bottom is French vanilla. The chocolate cupcakes were extra batter. I finished at 9pm last night, dissolving my visions of piping and adding the drawbridge, moat, and castle flags.
Fairy wands to go with the other favors.
Opening presents after the party. The title of this book is A True Princess. She liked that. She got some awesome gifts and said "Wow! That's what I only [always] wanted!" after seeing each one.
For our memories, her friends that came were Spencer, Tyler, Kyle, Josiah, Joel, Joan, Dorothy, Mikaela, Miguel, Ben, Jacob, and Baby Sofia.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
naomi turning three:
This is going to be long. I don't do the monthly milestone updates anymore, so I've been adding to this entry for weeks.
What I love about Naomi turning three is how much she does on her own. I let her use my laptop now--she knows how to get to the bookmarked games/stories and plays them on her own. I love it when she offers appreciative hugs and kisses and says, "Thank you, Mami! I love you so much!"
On the other hand, her willful disobedience is increasingly hard to break. When she is in trouble now and has to receive the consequences, she actually punches or shoves me and says, "Yeah, I'm bigger than YOU!" Sometimes we've tried all kinds of discipline with her, and I feel like I'm going to have a nervous breakdown. Denial of privileges used to work well, but now she just says, "Go ahead."
She desires to stir up trouble, and it can have downright disgusting results. Today while I was cleaning, she took a chair, climbed it to get a fig newton, came over and smeared it all over the couch and floor and her face. She laughed and ran off, then she purposely peed on something. She knows I get really bothered at having to clean her stains and messes, so that's the foolishness she sets out to do when she wants attention. I try to have a gentle response (or else I get, "Mami, you're using the wrong voice!"), but it often feels like it's falling on deaf ears. I have to say I discipline because it's right, not necessarily because it's visibly effective. She usually will seek forgiveness on her own after a while. I could always use prayer for more patience and wisdom.
Naomi has developed an ever-increasing imagination. She tells me all kinds of stories, and, if her accounts are true, her dreams are pretty interesting, too. A friend of ours with big blue eyes said Naomi told her her eyes look like bubbles. The first time she saw her striped pajamas in the mirror, she said she looked "all tied up." Various walnuts now look like crabs or butterflies. She enjoys art tremendously, but if you compliment her, she gets a little self-conscious and sometimes destroys it. The downside is that she thinks shadows are monsters now, and just telling her it's not true doesn't comfort her.
She's pretty perceptive, or so people tell me. They must be perceptive themselves. :) She does ask "why" a lot, but not in that continuous ask-for-the-sake-of-asking way that I'd expect from a toddler. It's more like, "At Becca's party, why was the vanilla ice cream white and not yellow?" or "How is the fireman going to smile?" (She thinks their gas masks have a mouthpiece--do they?) "Why does glass break so easy?" (She didn't break anything; she's really great about avoiding anything glass in general.) She's usually satisfied if I can give her a good analogy. Sometimes I just don't know why, and she's okay with that. The other night I was too tired to think of an easy way to explain things, so I told her about momentum and some laws of physics when she asked me about a ball rolling off something she'd built. I did that out of impatience, though. :(
She does seem to have an "engineering" mind. Well, again, that's what people tell me. She likes to create toys, build, and solve things herself. She's also still a bit of a tomboy, but I think it's cute that she likes dinosaurs, bugs, frogs, helicopters, and firetrucks. The other day she said, "Mami, I'll be Cinderella and you be the prince." So I said, "Alright, let's dance!" After a brief moment, she said, "Now you chase me with the horsies!" That's my Cinderella.
One way she's like me when I was little is that she really dislikes being patronized. I can't tell you how many times I got lost or hurt as a kid, and my parents would try to distract me with jokes or laughter. My first memory of it was when I was 3, and I have a lot of memories of it as a kid, so I figure she does, too. After all, Naomi constantly says, "I'm a big girl now. Nobody can trick me." (No idea where she got that, but I used to think the same thing all the time as a kid--of course some of you know I grew up to be quite gullible for a while!)
Naomi has taken up being a prankster as well. That might be a little more like Manny. Or my dad. She once told me to eat this orange slice. I noticed some specks in it. Then she took it away. Everytime she came back, the slice got a bit more smashed. I followed her and discovered she was rubbing her foot on it for me to eat! :P She also has taken up the rude act of pointing her bottom at me when she wants to pass gas. This is nothing she learned from someone else. I think it's just that it happened on accident once and I screamed in fright, so it's yet another habit for me to help her correct.
She is still a little conscience to me at times. I don't know many 2- or 3-year-olds say things like this:
N: Mami, the cookies!
Me: Oh, you want an animal cracker? Here.
N: No. You forgot to put them away. Put them away! I'll want to eat them, and they're not good for me!
or
Me: Naomi, do you want to watch TV?
N: No! Turn it off! It's too noisy!
I still translate for Naomi sometimes. She has a little trouble with some letters, particularly double consonants and "f/v"--an unsuspecting person might wonder why she's talking about "cat piss" (catfish, excuse the French) and "drat" (flat) and "butter dries." On the other hand, I'm pretty impressed by her vocabulary. She uses multi-syllabic words like "properly," "impossible," and "boomshakalaka" (Manny's contribution) appropriately. Manny doesn't always think about how she'll respond to his figures of speech, and it makes for a good laugh. Manny (finding a good way out of a parking lot): How do you like them apples? Naomi: I do like apples! She's regressed a little math-wise, but again, I don't push her too much.
She often does not tell me when she's hurt. At Easter, she slipped on the concrete and scraped her knee. I saw her trip from a distance but didn't check it till much later because she didn't cry. It was a bloody mess by the time I got to it. At Grandma's, she had a large and deep splinter, and had I not overheard her mumble to herself, "I hope my boo-boo gets better" and pressed her, I wouldn't have known. She often says, "I'm fine, Mami. Don't worry about it." Even though she requires less supervision now, I still hover sometimes just because of that. She's so independent that many people will trust her to watch herself, but she can get into a world of trouble.
She's still not completely potty trained. She can be so independent sometimes, setting up her seat, climbing on, going, wiping, and washing her hands. Other times, she just refuses, particularly when it's #2 or when we're out. She says the public toilets are too loud. :/ And rewards aren't enough, not even a toy she picked out almost a year ago or a humongous amusement-park-sized lollipop Grandma got her.
There has been transition for her, I think, with Manny's hours being consistently very late now and the baby coming. She seems a little more clingy than usual, but she's still pretty independent for the most part. It's more of an emotional thing. She keeps telling me how lonely she is.
It's hard to say that she has a favorite anything. She seems to always want to switch things up from day to day or week to week.
Likes to: Have Daddy-and-me time, explore, "read" books, draw/paint, build and stack, make up songs, feed animals and people, dress up, create her own toys out of random objects.
Likes to eat: Mangos, carrots, black olives, pod foods she can open like edamame and peanuts, turkey, noodles/pasta, tofu, yogurt sticks (partially frozen), soft broccoli, avocados, strawberries, vanilla ice cream.
Likes to watch: Anything she hasn't seen before, Curious George.
So there's her personality at three. I could go on and on, but I already have. ;)
What I love about Naomi turning three is how much she does on her own. I let her use my laptop now--she knows how to get to the bookmarked games/stories and plays them on her own. I love it when she offers appreciative hugs and kisses and says, "Thank you, Mami! I love you so much!"
On the other hand, her willful disobedience is increasingly hard to break. When she is in trouble now and has to receive the consequences, she actually punches or shoves me and says, "Yeah, I'm bigger than YOU!" Sometimes we've tried all kinds of discipline with her, and I feel like I'm going to have a nervous breakdown. Denial of privileges used to work well, but now she just says, "Go ahead."
She desires to stir up trouble, and it can have downright disgusting results. Today while I was cleaning, she took a chair, climbed it to get a fig newton, came over and smeared it all over the couch and floor and her face. She laughed and ran off, then she purposely peed on something. She knows I get really bothered at having to clean her stains and messes, so that's the foolishness she sets out to do when she wants attention. I try to have a gentle response (or else I get, "Mami, you're using the wrong voice!"), but it often feels like it's falling on deaf ears. I have to say I discipline because it's right, not necessarily because it's visibly effective. She usually will seek forgiveness on her own after a while. I could always use prayer for more patience and wisdom.
Naomi has developed an ever-increasing imagination. She tells me all kinds of stories, and, if her accounts are true, her dreams are pretty interesting, too. A friend of ours with big blue eyes said Naomi told her her eyes look like bubbles. The first time she saw her striped pajamas in the mirror, she said she looked "all tied up." Various walnuts now look like crabs or butterflies. She enjoys art tremendously, but if you compliment her, she gets a little self-conscious and sometimes destroys it. The downside is that she thinks shadows are monsters now, and just telling her it's not true doesn't comfort her.
She's pretty perceptive, or so people tell me. They must be perceptive themselves. :) She does ask "why" a lot, but not in that continuous ask-for-the-sake-of-asking way that I'd expect from a toddler. It's more like, "At Becca's party, why was the vanilla ice cream white and not yellow?" or "How is the fireman going to smile?" (She thinks their gas masks have a mouthpiece--do they?) "Why does glass break so easy?" (She didn't break anything; she's really great about avoiding anything glass in general.) She's usually satisfied if I can give her a good analogy. Sometimes I just don't know why, and she's okay with that. The other night I was too tired to think of an easy way to explain things, so I told her about momentum and some laws of physics when she asked me about a ball rolling off something she'd built. I did that out of impatience, though. :(
She does seem to have an "engineering" mind. Well, again, that's what people tell me. She likes to create toys, build, and solve things herself. She's also still a bit of a tomboy, but I think it's cute that she likes dinosaurs, bugs, frogs, helicopters, and firetrucks. The other day she said, "Mami, I'll be Cinderella and you be the prince." So I said, "Alright, let's dance!" After a brief moment, she said, "Now you chase me with the horsies!" That's my Cinderella.
One way she's like me when I was little is that she really dislikes being patronized. I can't tell you how many times I got lost or hurt as a kid, and my parents would try to distract me with jokes or laughter. My first memory of it was when I was 3, and I have a lot of memories of it as a kid, so I figure she does, too. After all, Naomi constantly says, "I'm a big girl now. Nobody can trick me." (No idea where she got that, but I used to think the same thing all the time as a kid--of course some of you know I grew up to be quite gullible for a while!)
Naomi has taken up being a prankster as well. That might be a little more like Manny. Or my dad. She once told me to eat this orange slice. I noticed some specks in it. Then she took it away. Everytime she came back, the slice got a bit more smashed. I followed her and discovered she was rubbing her foot on it for me to eat! :P She also has taken up the rude act of pointing her bottom at me when she wants to pass gas. This is nothing she learned from someone else. I think it's just that it happened on accident once and I screamed in fright, so it's yet another habit for me to help her correct.
She is still a little conscience to me at times. I don't know many 2- or 3-year-olds say things like this:
N: Mami, the cookies!
Me: Oh, you want an animal cracker? Here.
N: No. You forgot to put them away. Put them away! I'll want to eat them, and they're not good for me!
or
Me: Naomi, do you want to watch TV?
N: No! Turn it off! It's too noisy!
I still translate for Naomi sometimes. She has a little trouble with some letters, particularly double consonants and "f/v"--an unsuspecting person might wonder why she's talking about "cat piss" (catfish, excuse the French) and "drat" (flat) and "butter dries." On the other hand, I'm pretty impressed by her vocabulary. She uses multi-syllabic words like "properly," "impossible," and "boomshakalaka" (Manny's contribution) appropriately. Manny doesn't always think about how she'll respond to his figures of speech, and it makes for a good laugh. Manny (finding a good way out of a parking lot): How do you like them apples? Naomi: I do like apples! She's regressed a little math-wise, but again, I don't push her too much.
She often does not tell me when she's hurt. At Easter, she slipped on the concrete and scraped her knee. I saw her trip from a distance but didn't check it till much later because she didn't cry. It was a bloody mess by the time I got to it. At Grandma's, she had a large and deep splinter, and had I not overheard her mumble to herself, "I hope my boo-boo gets better" and pressed her, I wouldn't have known. She often says, "I'm fine, Mami. Don't worry about it." Even though she requires less supervision now, I still hover sometimes just because of that. She's so independent that many people will trust her to watch herself, but she can get into a world of trouble.
She's still not completely potty trained. She can be so independent sometimes, setting up her seat, climbing on, going, wiping, and washing her hands. Other times, she just refuses, particularly when it's #2 or when we're out. She says the public toilets are too loud. :/ And rewards aren't enough, not even a toy she picked out almost a year ago or a humongous amusement-park-sized lollipop Grandma got her.
There has been transition for her, I think, with Manny's hours being consistently very late now and the baby coming. She seems a little more clingy than usual, but she's still pretty independent for the most part. It's more of an emotional thing. She keeps telling me how lonely she is.
It's hard to say that she has a favorite anything. She seems to always want to switch things up from day to day or week to week.
Likes to: Have Daddy-and-me time, explore, "read" books, draw/paint, build and stack, make up songs, feed animals and people, dress up, create her own toys out of random objects.
Likes to eat: Mangos, carrots, black olives, pod foods she can open like edamame and peanuts, turkey, noodles/pasta, tofu, yogurt sticks (partially frozen), soft broccoli, avocados, strawberries, vanilla ice cream.
Likes to watch: Anything she hasn't seen before, Curious George.
So there's her personality at three. I could go on and on, but I already have. ;)
Monday, April 14, 2008
Friday, April 11, 2008
party prep:
Naomi's fairy-tale birthday party will be held Saturday in the Hernandez Castle (aka the garage of our townhouse, but her little friends aren't picky). We sent out invitations on stationery that had a scroll with flowers on it. They read, "Hear ye, Hear ye..." (I hope that's right and it's not "here ye, here ye"). Also Evites for some. We're planning a kid-friendly lunch, jewels on crowns for a craft, and Disney Princess music in the background. My mom bought the Princess CD for me...when I was 20 years old. For the "tournament," we'll have Pin the Crown on the Frog, a wizard hat pull-string piñata (it is a pain to do ASCII codes on a laptop, huh?), and possibly Pass the Poison Apple or Princess and the Pea games. The last two may be tough for 3- or 4-year-olds, though. I had a lot of ideas for decorations but decided to keep it simple with just balloons and streamers and a giant $5 Disney Princess picture (to cover the water heater lol).
I am going to attempt to make a princess castle cake and rice krispies fairy/wizard wands. Well, I am going to make them but attempt to make them look nice. For the farewell, we might do a trumpet parade if the kids want. For favors, I have the trumpets, the crown crafts, some leftover rings from the party Grandma threw last year, some gold coins with bible verses on them, and their wands. I'm doing a lot more this year for far less cost and hassle. Last year was pretty hard. Never again. :) I'm hoping for good weather this time around, and for Naomi to be a tiny bit more subdued than usual. :) She doesn't feel like dressing up as a princess anymore, even though that's how I arrived at the theme, but that's fine. She wants to wear the birthday shirt she got from Mare. :)
I finally drew the face on the frog, and, as I expected, I liked it better faceless. It looks like a Simpsons character. Not that I watched it a lot, but Chief Wiggum's son comes to mind...Ralph?
I am going to attempt to make a princess castle cake and rice krispies fairy/wizard wands. Well, I am going to make them but attempt to make them look nice. For the farewell, we might do a trumpet parade if the kids want. For favors, I have the trumpets, the crown crafts, some leftover rings from the party Grandma threw last year, some gold coins with bible verses on them, and their wands. I'm doing a lot more this year for far less cost and hassle. Last year was pretty hard. Never again. :) I'm hoping for good weather this time around, and for Naomi to be a tiny bit more subdued than usual. :) She doesn't feel like dressing up as a princess anymore, even though that's how I arrived at the theme, but that's fine. She wants to wear the birthday shirt she got from Mare. :)
I finally drew the face on the frog, and, as I expected, I liked it better faceless. It looks like a Simpsons character. Not that I watched it a lot, but Chief Wiggum's son comes to mind...Ralph?
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
24 / 40:
I went in for my fifth prenatal appointment today. I am 24 weeks along already! According to Babycenter's awesome size analogies, the baby is the size of an ear of corn. I really don't have much time to daydream about welcoming our addition like I did with our first pregnancy, although I do talk to Naomi about it all the time. She waves at my belly and kisses it every now and then. :) But I can tell there's a bit of insecurity sometimes.
The doctor says the same thing pretty much every time: I'm not gaining enough weight, but my uterine growth is fine. At this time with Naomi, I had already gained probably 30 lbs. Now I've only gained 12, but I'm eating just as much, if not more (except not so many sweets). I think it's just from running around with Naomi every day. I'm definitely much more active than I've been in a long time. And stressful situations abound right now, particularly with my parents and brother, but it only gets to me when I let it. I recently read an interesting passage about how wisdom and discretion will make us secure and not stumble, and our will be sleep sweet (Proverbs 3, paraphrased). That last part really strikes a chord with me these days.
The doctor says the same thing pretty much every time: I'm not gaining enough weight, but my uterine growth is fine. At this time with Naomi, I had already gained probably 30 lbs. Now I've only gained 12, but I'm eating just as much, if not more (except not so many sweets). I think it's just from running around with Naomi every day. I'm definitely much more active than I've been in a long time. And stressful situations abound right now, particularly with my parents and brother, but it only gets to me when I let it. I recently read an interesting passage about how wisdom and discretion will make us secure and not stumble, and our will be sleep sweet (Proverbs 3, paraphrased). That last part really strikes a chord with me these days.
christ's ambassadors:
Manny and I were really convicted by our pastor's message Sunday about being an ambassador for Christ and how that was modeled by Christ himself. There has been a lot of friction and chaos at Manny's job, and this sermon couldn't have come at a better time. As for me, I've had so much going on with my family, even more than usual. But as I was sitting there, I thought about an elderly man who approached us when we arrived at church. I would say I have a heart for the elderly; I have sometimes keep an eye out to help them on their way or just to chat. So an older man with a walker saw me and remarked what a nice day it was going to be. The sky was filled with looming gray clouds, so I just said, "Yes, it might clear up." We had a little small talk, all was well, but then he looked at Naomi and said, "You know, that's the future." So I just nodded and suddenly clammed up and didn't want to talk to him anymore. I don't really even know why. Manny was getting Naomi out of the car during our brief conversation. Once they were out, I was rushing to get to church. As I turned back, I saw the elderly man in his walker trying to navigate over a speed bump. It didn't dawn on me till a minute later that that he might have needed help, that this was a situation where I'd usually offer to help, but I just went on my way. There was an opportunity to help, an ambassador's invitation lost there. It was a reminder once again that we are to represent Christ wherever God has us. He didn't avoid a culture--He got to know it, participated in it, spoke their language, loved all the people, brought people to Himself, while at the same time rejected the legalism and licentiousness around Him.
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
christmas coalition:
Merry Christmas, sort of...
This was a portrait of Naomi with her cousins on Manny's father's side we took in early December. There are a few cousins missing--some part Vietnamese, part black--or it probably would've looked even more mixed. This card was scanned at my in-laws'. Our two portraits appear to have been lost in the mail. :(
It was a very tough trip for us, over 4 hours of driving. It wasn't so much the length, though. I was at the peak of my nausea, so I threw up rather violently in the car. Plus we had to force Naomi to miss a much-needed nap while waiting almost 2 hours past our appointment time. I kept feeling like I was going to faint. Picture People kept saying we were going to be up soon, or else I would've just let her nap at the mall...and maybe taken a nap myself! Haha.
Once in, Naomi held on very well, was very cooperative, and actually took a some good photos. They said, "All done," but then we had to send the kids back for a redo with the dog, and that's when she totally lost it. But there can't be one photo that's perfect with so many kids anyway. We were all pretty exhausted, but we did it--we got our big family photo.
classes:
Just for my record:
In Gardening class yesterday, Naomi
-Harvested lettuce and a carrot
-Learned about water, saw NASA photos
-Really got into the story time (a snake about to eat a frog--she loved that)
-Brought home a bell pepper to grow
-Ate 2 small plates of mangos because the other kids didn't want them
-Pretended to garden by burying little rocks
In Gym Kids class today
-A grandparent told me Naomi's grandparents must love her personality (they do)
-Naomi really enjoyed being center stage again at circle time
-She finally made a couple friends in this new session
-She followed a boy named Daniel around like a hawk, and he was scared of her
-She did tricks on the trampoline and tire swing
She is not in Preschool Adventures this session because we'd be out of town for two of the five classes. Prospects for summer school: Preschool and Exploration (field trips) and Preschool Science. She loves the classes, and it's good to be there to enjoy them right along with her (and supervise). :)
In Gardening class yesterday, Naomi
-Harvested lettuce and a carrot
-Learned about water, saw NASA photos
-Really got into the story time (a snake about to eat a frog--she loved that)
-Brought home a bell pepper to grow
-Ate 2 small plates of mangos because the other kids didn't want them
-Pretended to garden by burying little rocks
In Gym Kids class today
-A grandparent told me Naomi's grandparents must love her personality (they do)
-Naomi really enjoyed being center stage again at circle time
-She finally made a couple friends in this new session
-She followed a boy named Daniel around like a hawk, and he was scared of her
-She did tricks on the trampoline and tire swing
She is not in Preschool Adventures this session because we'd be out of town for two of the five classes. Prospects for summer school: Preschool and Exploration (field trips) and Preschool Science. She loves the classes, and it's good to be there to enjoy them right along with her (and supervise). :)
Monday, April 07, 2008
becca's birthday:
Naomi and I had a great time at Becca's first birthday at our pastor's house, while Manny had to transport some items for our city clean-up and work on the garage. I like to be organized, but Manny has a real knack for it. It's good for him to work in peace sometimes, as helpful as Naomi tries to be. :)
Naomi was so happy in her new green blouse, saying, "I look like a woman!" Then she told someone that it wasn't a good shirt after all, because it got hot. All the older kids were great to Naomi as always. They're really an example of love to her. She got to chase them in circles around the trampoline. Naomi won the stick-the-Cinderella-in-the-castle-window game. She wins a lot of things.
Speaking of which, too bad about UCLA yet again. Our pastor won our group tournament with 92% accuracy in his brackets. He actually picked all #1s in the Final Four.
Setting up--it was a gorgeous day.
Birthday girl watching the other kids swing.
Another silly face. She said, "I never had a hot dog this big before!"
Cute piñata. Naomi scored one pack of smarties. She's not a fan of hard candy (cool with me).
Jungle on the beach cake. Madagascar?
Forget the cake, I love the animals!
Naomi was so happy in her new green blouse, saying, "I look like a woman!" Then she told someone that it wasn't a good shirt after all, because it got hot. All the older kids were great to Naomi as always. They're really an example of love to her. She got to chase them in circles around the trampoline. Naomi won the stick-the-Cinderella-in-the-castle-window game. She wins a lot of things.
Speaking of which, too bad about UCLA yet again. Our pastor won our group tournament with 92% accuracy in his brackets. He actually picked all #1s in the Final Four.
Setting up--it was a gorgeous day.
Birthday girl watching the other kids swing.
Another silly face. She said, "I never had a hot dog this big before!"
Cute piñata. Naomi scored one pack of smarties. She's not a fan of hard candy (cool with me).
Jungle on the beach cake. Madagascar?
Forget the cake, I love the animals!
Saturday, April 05, 2008
Friday, April 04, 2008
health is an investment:
That's what my pastor's wife says. I agree. It's like money--we won't have it after we die, but we must be good stewards of what God has given us in this life. I think a number of the laws regarding food and cleanliness in the OT were to help the people maintain their health.
So I'm now at the point where when I hear the words "stroke," "heart attack," or "eardrums," my mind immediately translates them into cardiovascular accident, myocardial infarction, or tympanic membranes. I've learned a lot of useful information in my course that helps me to understand health issues better. Like when it comes to prayer requests. It's interesting that physical health issues are usually the prayer requests that are acceptably publicized. There's an irony there, I guess.
Anyway, I'm having trouble finding blocks of time to keep up with the deadlines. Even with blogging or certain chores or teaching Naomi, I can do 5 minutes here and there and continue later. The studies and practices don't work well that way. We are not allowed extensions, not for illnesses (as I found out during my flu) and not for vacations. We just are told to work ahead. I put in about 1-3 hours every day at the expense of other things on my to-do list or sleep. Manny has regular late nights (~8-10 p.m.) and a couple hours on the weekends aren't enough. Naomi has had to be very patient, although I let her interrupt me most of the time (potty time!) or I try to find something we can do with limited involvement from me. I'm in the final stretch and really just want to finish this course.
I am in Advanced Cardiology now. Cardiology always kicks my rear--I just can't picture what's going on in my mind, particularly with heart surgery. I really don't want to picture it, actually. And then every so often someone dies, and it catches me off guard.
There have been funny moments, like when someone had the surgeon pierce her daughter's ears during an operation. Sometimes there's someone singing or whistling in the background, or the poor doctor is continuously yawning. One person even ate during his dictation. Multi-tasking at its finest, and he did talk with his mouth full (Naomi would be appalled).
Mostly it's kind of a downer, though. A large portion of the patients are seeing the ill effects resulting from a lifetime of poor habits. Smoking and obesity show up time and time again in the medical history. It's often easy to just indulge now and pay later, I guess. Sometimes I sense a little frustration from doctors who say their recommendations have been continuously ignored or refused. Even me--since I seemed to be able to eat substantial amounts of unhealthy food without gaining a lot of weight (relatively), I didn't really pay attention to nutrition. It didn't alarm me that I ate more than large men around me; it wasn't gluttony if I wasn't full, right? And I don't crave sweets, so I thought I was fine. Yet now I can already see the effects on my health, even at 32. It's like smoking--sometimes when you don't see what's happening to you inside, you think things are fine.
One assigned reading I had included a comment from a gastroenterlogist who was so thankful his insurance stopped covering gastric bypass surgery, because he felt that the problem was not a true medical issue. He stated that most of the patients found ways to revert, regain the weight, and they never addressed the emotional issues underlying the weight gain. We are reportedly an overworked, overeating nation. Some are looking to drugs and surgery for quick fixes, but they are still damaging to the body and often avoidable. On another note, the other day I saw a commercial for a drug (maybe Celebrex) that touted not being pulled off the market, and it emphasized the risks of the drug repeatedly. "Know the risks" was even in the slogan. It's a far cry from the blue-sky, fluffy-clouds approach to drug advertising from not too long ago. Maybe more a result of lawsuits than due diligence, but it's a change.
So I'm now at the point where when I hear the words "stroke," "heart attack," or "eardrums," my mind immediately translates them into cardiovascular accident, myocardial infarction, or tympanic membranes. I've learned a lot of useful information in my course that helps me to understand health issues better. Like when it comes to prayer requests. It's interesting that physical health issues are usually the prayer requests that are acceptably publicized. There's an irony there, I guess.
Anyway, I'm having trouble finding blocks of time to keep up with the deadlines. Even with blogging or certain chores or teaching Naomi, I can do 5 minutes here and there and continue later. The studies and practices don't work well that way. We are not allowed extensions, not for illnesses (as I found out during my flu) and not for vacations. We just are told to work ahead. I put in about 1-3 hours every day at the expense of other things on my to-do list or sleep. Manny has regular late nights (~8-10 p.m.) and a couple hours on the weekends aren't enough. Naomi has had to be very patient, although I let her interrupt me most of the time (potty time!) or I try to find something we can do with limited involvement from me. I'm in the final stretch and really just want to finish this course.
I am in Advanced Cardiology now. Cardiology always kicks my rear--I just can't picture what's going on in my mind, particularly with heart surgery. I really don't want to picture it, actually. And then every so often someone dies, and it catches me off guard.
There have been funny moments, like when someone had the surgeon pierce her daughter's ears during an operation. Sometimes there's someone singing or whistling in the background, or the poor doctor is continuously yawning. One person even ate during his dictation. Multi-tasking at its finest, and he did talk with his mouth full (Naomi would be appalled).
Mostly it's kind of a downer, though. A large portion of the patients are seeing the ill effects resulting from a lifetime of poor habits. Smoking and obesity show up time and time again in the medical history. It's often easy to just indulge now and pay later, I guess. Sometimes I sense a little frustration from doctors who say their recommendations have been continuously ignored or refused. Even me--since I seemed to be able to eat substantial amounts of unhealthy food without gaining a lot of weight (relatively), I didn't really pay attention to nutrition. It didn't alarm me that I ate more than large men around me; it wasn't gluttony if I wasn't full, right? And I don't crave sweets, so I thought I was fine. Yet now I can already see the effects on my health, even at 32. It's like smoking--sometimes when you don't see what's happening to you inside, you think things are fine.
One assigned reading I had included a comment from a gastroenterlogist who was so thankful his insurance stopped covering gastric bypass surgery, because he felt that the problem was not a true medical issue. He stated that most of the patients found ways to revert, regain the weight, and they never addressed the emotional issues underlying the weight gain. We are reportedly an overworked, overeating nation. Some are looking to drugs and surgery for quick fixes, but they are still damaging to the body and often avoidable. On another note, the other day I saw a commercial for a drug (maybe Celebrex) that touted not being pulled off the market, and it emphasized the risks of the drug repeatedly. "Know the risks" was even in the slogan. It's a far cry from the blue-sky, fluffy-clouds approach to drug advertising from not too long ago. Maybe more a result of lawsuits than due diligence, but it's a change.
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
faceless frog:
"Poor drog [frog]! No eyes, no smile."
I made this frog for Naomi's upcoming fairy-tale-themed birthday party out of three pieces of construction paper and the back of an old desk calendar. Well, it's still missing the eyes and smile because I don't know where they should go. I'm actually proud of it (so far) because I'm not an artist. But I was an engineer, so I can sort of be resourceful and piece things together and draw lines. I'm pretty happy to get rid of all these yellow scraps I had from harps I made for some students years ago. They'll be the crowns to pin on the frog prince. I tried to do at least something that was gender-neutral for the princess-y party since most of Naomi's friends are boys. Yep, while Manny has to organize the garage and set up tables (I did what I could), I have the grueling task of figuring out where the eyes and mouth go on this paper frog.
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
misc update:
23 weeks pregnant. Most women tell me I'm not showing much at all, but a couple men have asked. I don't expect men to know better when it comes to asking about age or pregnancy or whatever. A man once asked my mom when she was due (I think she was 53 or 54 at the time). She seems to only gain weight in one spot. I gain it everywhere.
Naomi's gardening class focused on soil yesterday. She got to plant flowers in the school garden. She also touched an earthworm, roly poly, and a grub (beetle larva). I was so grossed out, standing there stiffly and trying not to gag. You know I detest bugs. I must not have washed her hands well or quickly enough, because she's been having the runs since last night. It looks to be improving, but I feel terrible for her. Her zinnia died over the weekend as I suspected it would, but there is one cosmo flower that germinated. Naomi accidentally broke the other two sprouts. We also came home with a lavender plant, but once I told Manny we needed 30% cactus mix from a nursery, we both knew it was doomed. I'll try for a while to grow it, though.
My current medical transcription schedule, the final module, puts me right at July for completion! Cutting it close with the baby's arrival at the end of July.
I finally did launch the Moms Group at our church. A couple other moms will take it over once I have the baby. Despite some logistics questions (the farthest moms live over an hour apart), we decided to move forward. I was thinking of getting this booklet for anyone interested--has anyone read it? Also, we have a couple structured activities to help the kids put service into practice. Any ideas out there for young children?
I forgot to mention in the last post that when Manny came out looking all dapper in his suit, Naomi said, "Papi, you look kind of ugly. Take that outfit off." When I asked her later why, she said, "Because that outfit is for older people." I used to wear gray all the time, but Naomi tells me to change because "...gray is for Papi. It's for a man." Not that I'm giving in to her, but I guess she's sort of right. Once in a while I could stand to wear something other than gray and black. She also likes to tell me I don't match.
Naomi's gardening class focused on soil yesterday. She got to plant flowers in the school garden. She also touched an earthworm, roly poly, and a grub (beetle larva). I was so grossed out, standing there stiffly and trying not to gag. You know I detest bugs. I must not have washed her hands well or quickly enough, because she's been having the runs since last night. It looks to be improving, but I feel terrible for her. Her zinnia died over the weekend as I suspected it would, but there is one cosmo flower that germinated. Naomi accidentally broke the other two sprouts. We also came home with a lavender plant, but once I told Manny we needed 30% cactus mix from a nursery, we both knew it was doomed. I'll try for a while to grow it, though.
My current medical transcription schedule, the final module, puts me right at July for completion! Cutting it close with the baby's arrival at the end of July.
I finally did launch the Moms Group at our church. A couple other moms will take it over once I have the baby. Despite some logistics questions (the farthest moms live over an hour apart), we decided to move forward. I was thinking of getting this booklet for anyone interested--has anyone read it? Also, we have a couple structured activities to help the kids put service into practice. Any ideas out there for young children?
I forgot to mention in the last post that when Manny came out looking all dapper in his suit, Naomi said, "Papi, you look kind of ugly. Take that outfit off." When I asked her later why, she said, "Because that outfit is for older people." I used to wear gray all the time, but Naomi tells me to change because "...gray is for Papi. It's for a man." Not that I'm giving in to her, but I guess she's sort of right. Once in a while I could stand to wear something other than gray and black. She also likes to tell me I don't match.
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April 2026 (Naomi's birthday, Michael, dinner dates, Frenchie puppies, Artemis launch)
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