advice, please

so instead of reading a bunch of books right now, i am asking for all your input/advice on changes, difficulties, and ways to make having 2 kids ‘easier’.  i have already heard a few ideas (buy a gift “from the baby” for the first child; trying to read to the older one while the baby naps), but i was wondering if there are more things that you’d advise on doing or not doing as our big day of change approaches.  i will probably tackle some books later, so if there are ones you recommend feel free to let me know.

mahalo and wish us luck!

is it just that age?

kai has been extremely difficult the last few weeks.  hitting and starting fights, not listening when we tell him to stop something, and using reverse psychology on us! partly i wonder if it’s the upcoming changes in our lives with new baby, etc., but many friends have told me it’s just that age.  apparently, when your child turns 2.5 yrs old, they start this rebellion that doesn’t really end until, well, 4.  that is not exactly what i want to hear as we are due any day and i know the sleepless nights are nearing…but seriously, it must be something i am doing wrong, right?  have i slacked in my discipline?  is he just taking advantage of that fact that mommy is slower physically?  what is the deal???

i just read a friend’s blog that says, “learn to embrace the lack of control that having kids brings into your life.”  oh how true that is.

real rainbows

i grew up my whole life never seeing an entire “full” rainbow.  it wasn’t until a few weeks ago, that i saw one for the first time!  before, i had only seen half rainbows i guess.  so today as i was driving into town, i got onto the freeway and there was another one – a gorgeous full rainbow smiling over one end of the freeway to the other.  it was spectacular and made me instantly happy .  i guess this technically could be added to my last post on why driving here is awesome, but we’ll just keep it separate for now.

baby is in motion – i am pretty sure we won’t make the due date.  more on that later.

are you my sister?

the other day we had some friends over who recently had a baby girl (2 months old).  rick was holding the baby, and said “look kai, a baby”.  kai immediately rushed over to come see her, and said, “oh hi, baby kalena”.  we all couldn’t stop laughing that he thought this was his newly arrived sister.  a few more weeks, kai

here's kai after a vaccum hair stylin' by rick

we are still alive

aloha and apologies for a very long lag in our blogging.  r was taking the bar, a&k were in the mainland, and we have recently moved (although still in paradise).  not to mention a is now 4-5 weeks away from having baby #2.  due date is oct 13, and we plan on naming her kalena (“kah-leh-na”).  we are totally excited and looking forward to all the many changes that will occur this coming year.  a is just trying not to pull muscles, eating constantly and trying to keep k in line.

k is growing up fast, as he regularly reminds us – “I am a big boy, not a baby”.  thankfully, logic now works with him (most of the time).   his favorite past times are singing songs to himself as he plays with his animal figurines, swimming, and hunting for lizards and frogs outside.

r is getting ready for some new adventures with work (more later), boogie boarding weekly (and getting nicely toned from it i might add), and working on his business.

even more exciting is that we are now not alone in having the only grandchild in the a family.  j just had an adorable baby boy that looks just as mixed as our kid, even though he’s only a quarter korean!  we can’t wait to meet him.

Pregnancy Countdown Ticker

our family is growing!

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de-lish!

ok, i know many of you will disagree..but this is one of the best sandwiches i have ever eaten (perhaps it’s the pregnancy’s doing)

avocado slices+wasabi passion fruit mustard (or honey mustard)+sharp cheddar cheese+canned japanese style ginger soy sauce marinated sardines+baby spinach+toasted whole wheat bread=HEAVEN!!

i’ve eaten one for the past 2 days in a row. ;D

(r prefers his with salami/sandwich meat instead of sardines)

it’s a girl!

just found out that we will be using those dresses I got in asia before we left (thank goodness i will get to use them now!). we are excited…kai and rick totally called it (every time i asked kai he said it would be a baby girl).

7 years

time really flies – it felt like not so long ago that we were dating and still trying to figure each other out; running around the globe on various adventures, and both working eternal hours in hk.

some things never change, some do. i love that we still love spending simple time together. some things that i love about us:

-we love to eat dark chocolate (esp. this dark choc raspberry kind and sees)
-we love eating authentic ethnic foods (we can do this forever)
-we both enjoy cooking (ok, obviously we like food!)
-we both like beach vacations or the beach in general
-we both love thailand and hawaii
-we both like traveling to new countries and discovering a new culture, people and even more food!
-we don’t like to spend lots of money on clothes or name brand items
-we do things and view our relationship as a team, not “this is your job, and this is mine only”
-when one of us is weak or feeling discouraged, the other one picks up the slack and is ready to pull extra weight.

i love you ricka!

boy or girl?

i know this stuff doesn’t do any real good until the baby comes out (i have had a few friends’ docs guess wrong), but i keep thinking about whether #2 is a boy or a girl. back in hong kong, a lady told me that by swinging my wedding ring (tied to one of my hairs) over my hand or belly will determine the sex. (circular motion=girl; side-to-side=boy). apparently you can do this to see the sex of all your children. for me when i did it, it said i would have 2 boys and then a girl on the third one.

one time when i was in the hk library, i came across this ancient chinese chart, that is supposed to be 99% accurate in telling the sex of your baby. it says i am having a boy.   it was true for kai, but not sure about now.  i have both boy and girl symptoms, according to all the old wives tales.

so i am taking a poll.  guesses, anyone?  and for those who have children – does the chart ring true for you?