The Lenz Family

Sea World

2011-07-11T21:29:00.016-05:00

After the game yesterday, we drove to San Antonio to visit Nonna. One of the things we wanted to do was to go to Sea World one more time before my season pass ended and before the summer ended.

Right off when we first got there, we rode Shamu roller coaster. I wasn't sure how he was going to like it--I was scared he might chicken out, cry, or scream (or a combination of any of those three). But he was very brave and did fantastic.

Next, we walked to the theater to watch the Sesame Street Presents Lights, Camera, Imagination 4D movie. Andrew sat through it, but he got a little scared when some of the 4D effects occurred. He was more scared at the movie than the roller coaster ride.

Then, we went to the Bay of Play, which was really cute and fun for Andrew. He rode the carousel, ran through the dancing water fountains, and climbed the big playscape. It was a really nice addition to the park.

After, we headed over to watch the Elmo & the Bookeneer show, which was a big hit. It went over much better than the 4D experience. Actually, I probably have to say that Andrew loved this probably the most of everything we did.

It was getting pretty late in the afternoon and almost time for someone to take a nap (or maybe more than just one of us). So, we ended up going home with the idea of coming back in the evening to do some more activities.

When we came back, we watched the sea lion show since it's one of Daddy's favorites. And then, James and Andrew went around a couple of times on the lazy river while I relaxed on a lawn chair. And the finale was the "rocking" Shamu show...meaning it was filled with rock songs mainly. It is always a good show and a crowd pleaser for our family. I so love Shamu...I think more so than Andrew does, sad to say. ;)

But we had a great day and fun time there. I think Andrew likes it more each time we go there so that's always a good feeling.

I forgot the SLR so the earlier photos were taken with my cell phone; and that's why the quality isn't that great.

YMCA Summer Soccer Week 4: New England v. Philly

2011-07-09T23:32:00.012-05:00

We didn't have a game last week for the July 4th weekend. As such, Andrew was ready to play this weekend. And he did great--even scoring two goals. Well, the second was literally stopped by a dad who was in the goal supposedly helping his daughter play goalie. I am not joking...check out the video. I really don't mind parents helping their kids to play, but I thought it a little odd that the father was the one to make the save with his hands nonetheless. I even did a double take and had to ask James if I saw what I thought I saw!?

But Andrew did great job playing and loved handing out the snacks and drinks to his teammates. And,I guess we are quickly making the rounds at the Weekley YMCA because our coach this season, Coach Maria, is our instructor in our swim classes.

YMCA Swim Class: Day 4

2011-07-08T22:27:00.006-05:00

Just wanted to share a photo and video from today's swim class. Usually, they don't hold classes on Fridays, but today was a make up for the Monday July 4th class. He's making some definite progress. We are just glad he is getting more comfortable in the water and learning a good foundation for swimming.

Flip Flops

2011-07-07T23:42:00.005-05:00

This morning, I took Andrew to the Barnes & Noble story time near our house since we didn't have anything scheduled and it had been a long time since we had been there.

I thought it was so adorable how much Andrew enjoyed himself today laughing and dancing. But what really gets me is him wearing these flip flops. Makes him look like such a little boy.

YMCA Swim Class

2011-07-05T22:44:00.007-05:00

I took Andrew to his first swim class today at the YMCA. Andrew was excited at first, but when we got to the pool, he was a little apprehensive. But he composed himself and did pretty good following the coach's instructions and doing what was asked of him. I was proud of him for being so brave!! Let's see what he learns over the next two weeks!?

Rattan Creek 4th of July Parade

2011-07-04T22:24:00.007-05:00

This morning, we went over to Uncle John's house to go with Peter and Kathryn with their sitter to the neighborhood parade (Uncle Johnny and Aunt Sharon were both working this morning).

Andrew had so much fun with his cousins. They started by playing on the playground while we waited for the parade to start. Soon, the parade was underway and the organizers invited everyone to partake in the parade by walking around the neighborhood with the police car and fire truck. I wasn't too sure if I could walk the whole way, but the kids really wanted to participate. But by the time I tired out and was going to head back to the house, the kids said they were done walking too and just wanted to go play at the park some more. The fire truck also came back around and let the kids check it out, which was a hit of course.

After the parade, we went back to the house to play for a little bit, but had to head back to Uncle Anh Tuan's house to finish packing. We met Uncle John and the kids at Chick Fil A before we headed back to Houston.

Uncle Johnny's Fire Station

2011-07-03T22:39:00.005-05:00

After the lake, we drove down south to Uncle Johnny's fire station where they were hosting a dinner for all the firefighter's families. Of course, Andrew was thrilled to be there getting to check out the trucks and the station.

He had been asking if they were going to have an emergency while we were there; I had told him "maybe, but probably not". Boy, was I wrong! Shortly after we finished eating, there was a call and the firefighters quickly headed out. Andrew was so intrigued. We even went to the bay and watched them drive out with the sirens. I wish I had a picture of his face at that moment.

After they left, he was perplexed and inquired to Daddy as to why they didn't slide down a pole. So James explained to him that many fire stations don't have multiple floors and thus, don't have poles. He was so disappointed, but quickly forgot it and started asking when they were coming back.

Luckily, the call didn't take too long and the trucks came back before we had to leave for Uncle Anh Tuan's so we could get Andrew down for the night.

What a day!! Tiring, but so much fun!!

Back on the Boat

2011-07-03T21:25:00.003-05:00

Andrew was so escatic to get to go on Granddad's sailboat on Lake Travis again. He kept talking about it. After we met Granddad at church, we went for a quick bite to eat and some coffee (decaf for me and a strawberry smoothie for Andrew). Andrew finished eating his muffin and after that, he kept asking over and over again when were we going to the boat. So impatient.

Anyhow, we finally make it to the boat much to Andrew's delight. Andrew takes turns playing in the cabin for a while and going on deck. I was getting kind of tired, so I laid down for a little bit.

Andrew did so great on the boat. He was much more at ease this time around as compared to last year.And all the sleep he's been missing out on finally caught up with him as he surprised us by saying he wanted to take a nap on the boat and actually did!!

After cruising the lake, we met up with Aunt Sharon, the kids, and Nonna at the yacht club for some time in the swimming pool. Of course, Andrew had so much fun with his cousins.

We had such a wonderful time!! Thanks, Granddad, for a great day!

Cars 2

2011-07-01T22:20:00.005-05:00

This morning, I took Andrew for his first movie theatre experience. Aunt Anh, Aunt Jessica and I all arranged to meet at Studio Movie Grill at CityCentre to watch Cars 2. We also invited Aunt Belinda and Evan and they were able to join us too!

I was hoping the movie would keep Andrew's attention along with having food and drinks to keep him occupied as well. He was really cute about the whole movie thing and seemed really excited about being there with all his friends. He was a little scared during part of the movie and slightly covered his eyes until he wasn't scared anymore.

He did a great job eating pizza and popcorn and sitting through the movie. He did ask me one time when the movie was over, but I just told him a little while longer and he was okay with that.
We had a great time; and I was so glad that we got to go with so many friends. And apparently, Andrew liked it good enough since he told me already that he wants to go back.

Kemah Boardwalk

2011-06-26T21:46:00.003-05:00

We were in League City hanging out with Ngoai and Papa and decided to take Andrew for a quick trip to Kemah Boardwalk since it had been a long time since our last visit there. We just wanted to get Andrew out of the house for a little bit.

Andrew and James rode the airplane and train together; and then I rode the carousel with him. Andrew loved having Daddy there since usually we go without him. And I have to say, so did I!

Selene's 3rd and Jolie's 1st Birthday Party

2011-06-25T23:04:00.006-05:00

This afternoon, we went to Selene's and Jolie's birthday party at Houston Swim Club in Sugar Land. Andrew was super excited about a pool party and this was his first time in an indoor pool.

He went around the pool with James and Gage while Sheil and I chatted and caught up. He went down one of the slides once with Daddy there to catch him. He spent most of the time swimming with the noodle and pretending it was a fire hose. And Gage was really sweet with him like he normally is and they swam together for a good while too.

Later, it was time to eat and do the birthday cake. After more playing and socializing, we called it a day and said our goodbyes. It was a great party and we all had a good time.

Happy 3rd birthday, Selene and happy 1st birthday, Jolie!!

Discovery Green

2011-06-25T22:53:00.006-05:00

Today after soccer this morning, we stopped by Discovery Green to check out Target's World's Largest Sprinkler, but the line was way too long. Instead, we headed to the dancing fountains and let Andrew run around. He was having a really good time until he got run over by an older kid and was knocked down. But the pain passed; and he went back out to play. We also had a nice surprise and saw Eliska from our old Gymboree days.

We didn't stay too much longer after that since was time to get something to eat and go home for naps.

YMCA Summer Soccer Week 2: Philly v. Seattle

2011-06-25T22:42:00.010-05:00

We had our second game of the season this morning. When we arrived, we come to find out we missed the team pictures. Apparently, I hadn't gotten the email notice, but it's also my bad because I never checked the website with updates and information. Nonetheless, I was a little bummed about missing them.

Anyways, Andrew was more into the game this week thankfully!! And the poor kids ended up having to play the entire game as we were short players. Andrew ran after the ball and had some good dribbling runs. He had a good opportunity to score, but he missed it just right of the goal. But it was a good effort on his part so we are more than satisfied with that!!

Happy 40th Month Birthday!

2011-06-24T23:09:00.026-05:00

Wow, another month has come and gone...and our Andrew is 40 months old!! Three years and four months or 3 and 1/3 years old!! Where does the time go!? Anyways, as for things Andrew has been doing this past month, he is definitely growing up into a little boy and continues to learn so many things. And we totally love seeing his personality develop.

He still loves to draw and has been drawing lots of dogs, giraffes, fish, turtles, vacuum cleaners (not sure how that came about), donuts, apples (usually on trees), people with faces, arms, and legs (and sometimes with roller skates on their feet instead of shoes).

Drew is also learning to write more and more letters. He can write "AJ" for his nickname since Andrew is a little long for him right now so we thought we would start with something easy and build up to that! He can write other letters and numbers from memory like T, O, 3, 8 and others from seeing them written out as a guide. He can right more letters with guidance or if we write them out first.

When he see toys or gifts in store, he will find lots of things he wants, but luckily, he can be placated by my telling him he can ask to get it from Santa.

He still enjoys computer time playing more Sid the Science Kid and Curious George on http://www.pbskids.org/. He is getting pretty proficient with the mousepad and arrows. As for television, he is watching more and more Fireman Sam.

Andrew is doing a lot of pretending and and make believe. He loves to have picnics at the zoo or on the train. Our little firefighter loves playing with his toy fire trucks. He also wants to put both the firefighters and fire trucks to bed when we are done playing with them. But most of time, we are pretending we are firefighters responding to an emergency, which is normally a cat in the tree where we put on fire helmets and pretend the couches are a fire truck and ambulance. No lie, we probably play out this scenario at least ten times a day for the last couple of weeks!

James has started to let Andrew watch full length feature films especially on long car rides. So far, Andrew has watched Peter Pan and The Jungle Book. We do try to break the movie up into smaller parts. So far, he likes them and loves the songs like "Following the Leader". I had to add them to our iPod in the car and burn a new CD for his radio in his room.

Our little soccer player is still enjoying playing soccer and we are definitely seeing vast improvement. He is starting to grasp the concept of the game and is getting better at dribbling the ball.

Andrew is becoming a water baby. He has also been enjoying going to the pool and almost asking for it everyday. He is getting more and more comfortable just being the water. We have been working with him trying to teach him to move his arms (like turtles) and kick his feet (like dolphins). We have also been trying to get him to put his mouth and nose in water. Mostly, Andrew loves jumping to James and practicing kicking his feet in the water.

As for eating, Andrew is digging Clementine oranges as of late. He is starting to be more like James and eating cereal like Cheerios with milk in the morning for breakfast. And he's been into eating dry cereal at night for his bedtime snack. Something a little out of the ordinary that he has been doing is wanting to wrap his food in bread or tortillas. The other night, he put his spaghetti (noodles and meat sauce both) in his piece of garlic bread like a sandwich and ate it that way. Whatever he wants so long as he eats! Andrew has also been eating lots of Pizza Lunchables. He likes to sprinkle the cheese on it. And he's adamant about flipping one over on the top of another and cutting the third one in half so I can put them on top of each other.

In terms of going to sleep, he is doing better about the nightly routine. James and I still take turns putting him down for bed where we lay with him for five minutes before leaving the room. But the new twist is that he wants to lay in our room for the five minutes and then will walk back to his room. He also has been coming out of his room to give us hugs and tell us "I love you" in order to stall as well. Drew still likes to sleep on the floor, but there will be a random night here and there where he will sleep in his bed. And for whatever reason, we have seen some two hour naps a few times lately and ten full hours of sleep at night. I assume it's a growth spurt, but we'll take it!

Andrew is talking more and more these days and his articulation is really coming along. We still have to remind him to "put the caboose on the words", but he does it on his own sometimes or with as little prompting as saying "excuse me?"

One sweet thing that Andrew has been doing is saying "I love you" spontaneously on his own. It totally melts my heart. He also has been saying "I love it" a lot these days in reference to toys, especially his fire trucks.

AJ is definitely sensitive to people's feelings and aware of his surroundings. James and I don't like to fight in front of Andrew, but if we do have a "disagreement" or "difference of opinion", Andrew will interject "I love you" to try to improve the mood and smooth things over.

We have been working with him to teach him that he needs to earn privileges like going out doing fun activities and TV time. So far so good. We even carry this through when it comes time to do his nebulizer. If he's been good, he can pick between playing games on the computer, watching television, or reading books.

Some of the things that come out of Andrew's mouth are so funny, we crack up laughing. For example, we have been telling Andrew for a while now that he should save his money by putting it in his piggy banks. And usually, we say that we will use the money for school for him. And then, I started saying that he can go to college with that money. And lately, we have been talking about whether to go to Vegas or Chicago later this summer. So this one day, we are putting money in his bank and I say "Andrew, you can use this money to go to college." He then retorts, "No go to college, I want to go to Vegas!" Poor thing thinks college is some vacation place. But it was so funny because I can totally see him saying the same thing to us when he turns 21.

And there was another time when Andrew asked why Daddy brings a beer upstairs. So then I turn around and asked Drew why he likes to have drinks upstairs to which he says, "I'm crazy like that!"

Drew is also becoming my little lawyer. He loves to negotiate almost everything from how much he eats, how much more TV he can watch, or what we do. And then he will end his offer with saying "How about that?" Too bad, I totally say that.

One morning, I was upstairs finishing getting ready before taking Andrew to school. All of a sudden, I hear/see Andrew running up the stairs with my phone in hand. He had answered it and was bringing it up to me upstairs yelling "Ngoai's calling me!!"

He asks us all the time to go to Ngoai's and Papa's house--and it almost never fails that he wants to spend the night there.

Andrew has been doing a great job using the potty. He has been really good about telling us when he has to go pee on his own, but he does tend to forget or ignore the urge when he is playing or watching TV. And lately, he likes to distinguish between big poop and small poop and he will then ask for big prize and small prize respectively according to the size. Hmm, I don't think it quite works like that, but good try!

Drew is still very excited and anxious about his baby brother. Lately, he has been talking about playing with him and teaching him how to play with toys. He even told me that the baby shouldn't eat his trains. And he asks all the time when the baby is coming out. Drew also says that the baby needs to get big and strong before coming out. I am loving how into the baby Andrew is. I am still worried about his adjustment after the baby is actually born though.

Well, that's it for now. Happy Big 4-0, Andrew! We love you so very much!!

And here's Andrew working on his soccer skills.

Sugar Creek Baptist Church

2011-06-23T22:53:00.004-05:00

This morning, we had a play date with Aunt Anh and Josh at Sugar Creek Baptist Church. I had heard about the playscape there from a few mothers, but hadn't had the chance to take Andrew there. And Anh and I thought it would be fun to take the boys there especially since we are trying to find fun things for the kids indoors to avoid the heat.

Well, lots of other people had the same idea as it was packed!! But the boys still had plenty of room to run around, climb, and slide. There was a lot of chasing and running amok going on, but they had so much fun.

After playing, we met Aunt Thuy, Aunt Jessica, Ally and Nathan at McDonald's for some lunch. After the kids ate, the playing continued on the playscape there. And the kids got to enjoy some free ice cream too. Not too bad of a morning, I have to say!

Happy Father's Day

2011-06-19T23:28:00.007-05:00

We had a very nice, quaint Father's Day. We all went to church this morning and luckily, Andrew behaved very well. He colored in a coloring book for the most part though he did get a little loud towards the end (we are still working on inside voice and whispering).

After lunch and nap, Ngoai and Papa came up for dinner. We also celebrated Stephanie's birthday, which is coming up in about a week and a half, with some yummy cake. True to form, Andrew again wanted to blow out the candles on someone else's cake!?

I was really glad that Andrew and I could spend the day with two very important fathers in our lives...of course, we wish Granddad could have been with us, but two out of three ain't bad! I know how blessed we are to have such wonderful dads in our lives.

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there, especially James, Papa, Granddad, Uncle Mike, Uncle John, and Uncle Rick. We love you lots!

HMNS with Nonna and Stephanie

2011-06-18T22:49:00.005-05:00

So after our game, we headed back to the house and visited with Nonna and Stephanie. Before Andrew's nap, we wanted to take Stephanie somewhere and offered up some options, but no on wanted to pick anything. Andrew takes it upon himself to make a decision and tells us that he wants to see the "butterflies and dinosaurs with Stephanie" at the Museum of Natural Science. Since he was the only one with an opinion, we did just that.

We all love the Butterfly Center there and had a nice time looking around. Andrew especially loved the tree frog and iguana today. We perused the dinosaur exhibit and the animal exhibit upstairs for a little bit. Come to think of it, I think the first time James and I went to the Butterfly Center was actually with Stephanie eons ago!!

Then, we headed to a sandwich shop nearby called PICNIC for some lunch before heading home to put Andrew down for a nap.

YMCA Summer Soccer Week 1: Dallas v. Philly

2011-06-18T22:44:00.009-05:00

This morning was our first soccer game of the summer league at the YMCA. Sadly, none of our former teammates from Team Toronto were playing this summer so we were on our own. Andrew was placed on Team Philadelphia. We really hadn't planned on signing up Andrew for the summer league because we were worried about the heat, but Andrew kept insisting that he wanted to play so we thought we would give it a try.

When we first got there, Andrew wasn't too into practice much to our frustration. And it didn't get much better when the game started and Andrew still wasn't trying very hard either. He basically just wanted to sit in his chair and drink water. But after awhile and some heavy urging of both of us, he finally got into the game and starting running after the ball and getting some touches on it. Lo and behold, Andrew end up scoring twice...one legit goal and then an own goal!

And we had two extra cheerleaders supporting Andrew. Nonna and Stephanie arrived in town during the game. Maybe that was the little bit of extra motivation he needed!

Aunt Thuy's Pool

2011-06-17T23:37:00.006-05:00

This morning, we met Aunt Thuy at her neighborhood pool since we had just a great time there last year and couldn't wait to do it again this summer. And this time, Aunt Anh was able to meet us there too along with Josh and Brendon.

Andrew was so happy with being at the pool with Josh. They both enjoyed running around the splash pad and baby pool with the pool toys. But mainly, the boys really were great about working on their swimming. Andrew kept wanting to practice his dolphin kicks as I held him around the pool.

Eventually, during adult swim, we managed to get the boys out of the water and eat some lunch that we had packed. Then after a little bit more fun in the water, we headed home for naps. Andrew totally sacked out on the car ride home!

Thanks for having us, Aunt Thuy! We had such a blast!!

Jungle Beat

2011-06-13T22:34:00.001-05:00

Today was Andrew's first day at Summer Camp at St. Luke's. He had been constantly asking when summer camp was starting since school ended, so he was totally ready for it. One of his classmates from last year, Lily Ana, is in his class so I am happy about that. And his teachers, Ms. Donato and Ms. McIntyre, seem really nice. The camp is called Jungle Beat and so they will get to learn about the jungle and the animals that live there. I suspect that Andrew will have a blast with it!

Here is our little summer camper playing with some green Play Doh.

Birthday Celebration

2011-06-12T23:07:00.005-05:00

Tonight, we spent the evening at Aunt Belinda's house to celebrate our birthdays since they are only about a week apart. Andrew was so excited when we told him that he was going to be able to play with Evan since we don't get to see them as much as we like.

The boys played trains and cars for the most part and later, Uncle Steven and Daddy took them swimming in their pool. They loved playing with the water blasters. The girls stayed inside mostly and we kept the twins entertained. I can't get over how fast they are growing up!! They are so so cute and fun!

Aunt Monica got us one of our favorite cakes from Cafe Rustika; and of course, Andrew and Evan wanted to blow out the candles for us. I love how they get into birthdays at this age.

It was a great evening. It was nice to get to relax and get to catch up and just spend time with everyone!

CMH with Emily and Liya

2011-06-09T22:29:00.009-05:00

So, we got yet another chance to see Emily and Jean on their visit to Houston. This morning, we met them and Sabrina, Liya, and Shaleen at the Children's Museum. The kids spent most of their time in the HEB pretending to shop and then checking out at the cash register. They also enjoyed playing in the restaurant cooking and serving us food. The kids worked up an appetite so we all headed over to the cafeteria to eat lunch.

It was a fun play date. It was nice seeing the kids all play together once more. Brings back fond memories of Gymboree and past play dates. And I was enjoying conversing with Jean and Sabrina that I didn't take many photos at all.

Jean and Emily, we love you guys and we miss you all so much!

YMCA Pool

2011-06-08T23:09:00.006-05:00

This evening, we took Andrew to the YMCA to try out their recreational pool. Andrew loved it with the mushroom and buckets, but had lots of fun just playing with Daddy. I am glad he's getting more and more comfortable with the water.

Bellaire Storytime with Emily

2011-06-08T22:41:00.005-05:00

This morning, we met up with Jean and Emily at the Bellaire Library for storytime. It was one of Emily's favorite things to do when they lived here so Jean really wanted to take her back. Emily totally didn't miss a beat singing and doing all the dance moves. And of course, Andrew always has a good time too! It was nice to be there with them since Jean was the one who told us about Miss Missy in the first place!

Happy 35th Birthday, Mommy

2011-06-06T23:27:00.005-05:00

We have been discussing my upcoming birthday for awhile now. I would ask Andrew things like what he wanted to get me or what we should do to celebrate. His answer was usually to buy me flower. And he would say that he didn't want to do anything in terms of a birthday dinner (which was the plan), but kept asking me about when it was time for birthday cake. He totally has his priorities in check!

Anyways, Daddy told Drew he would take him to the grocery store to pick out my flowers and cake. Andrew was so stoked about it!! It was really very sweet.

For dinner, we went to Pappasito's for fajitas with some friends including Aunt Monica and Uncle Ed. Then, it was back to the house for some cake. Andrew said "Happy Birthday" and wanted to blow out my candles.

I was not very happy about turning another year older especially the big 3-5. I am so not fond of hitting my "late 30s". Eek! But Andrew does make it my birthday a little more bearable. At least there is one person who likes my birthday!

Monkey Joe's

2011-06-05T21:52:00.008-05:00

We went to Monkey Joe's for a very special play date this morning. Mrs. Jean and Emily were visiting from Brazil and invited us for a little reunion. It was nice to see them after all these months along with other friends like Liya, Tessa, and Palmer. Andrew ran around going on all of the inflatables especially the train and the super big slide.

The first time we went to Monkey Joe's Andrew seemed to be intimidated by the big slide with its height and having to climb up really high. He was a little afraid when we first asked him if he wanted to go up it, but we just told him he could do it and to just try. Sure enough, he was able to climb up the steps with little problem and ended up loving the slide. He must have went up and down that thing like ten times.

Anyways, he had a great time having spend most of the time running around with Palmer. And it was nice to get to see dear friends especially Jean and Emily. I am so glad we got the chance to spend some time with them on their visit here. And we might be able to see them again during the upcoming week.

Emily's 3rd Birthday Party

2011-06-04T21:58:00.004-05:00

This morning, we drove up from League City and headed straight to the birthday party for Emily, who is one of Andrew's classmates at school. The party had a water motif, which was perfect for the hot summer we have been experiencing.

Andrew had so much fun with his other friends from school like Paige, Will, and Topher. The kids splashed around in a plastic pool, played at a water table, and swung on the backyard playground. Andrew even went into the bouncey house, which was the Mystery Machine from Scooby Doo!! The big slide was hosed down with water, which made it super fun!

It was a really nice party and Andrew of course had a ball. I am so glad we got to go and love LOVE our classmates and their families.

Play Date at New Territory Splash Park

2011-06-02T23:38:00.000-05:00

This morning, we went out to Sugar Land for a play date with Nathan and Josh. Aunt Jessica was kind enough to invite us all for a end-of-the-year play date with some friends from Allie's school. The play date was held at New Territory Splash Park, which was super cute and lots of fun for the kids. Andrew had such a great time running around getting wet. He totally loves splash pads and I love them too for making him so happy. But all the kids seem to have a great time and everyone was really nice. I am so glad we got the chance to go.

Bellaire Story Time

2011-06-01T21:52:00.005-05:00

This morning, we got to go to the Bellaire Story Time that we used to go to way back when before Andrew went to school. I was so happy that I could take him again; and Andrew had missed it too apparently! Palmer and Mrs. Jenny were able to meet us and the boys had so much fun. Andrew did very well listening to the stories (it was easy since two of them were about construction vehicles) and followed along with the songs very well not missing a beat even with being gone for so long. For the crafts portion, the boys made pseudo metal detectors. Then, we took the boys to lunch at James Coney Island. Andrew and Palmer ate well and behaved nicely. After they finished eating, they played trains so that Jenny and I could talk more.

The Rest of Memorial Day Weekend

2011-05-30T23:25:00.010-05:00

We started the morning by going to see Papa at the tennis courts. Papa even fed Andrew some balls and Andrew hit a few of them. He's showing more interest in tennis so hopefully he can learn the game soon.

After that, Ngoai, Andrew and I went to run some errands and then came home for lunch. Andrew kept asking to go to the pool so we decided to take him hoping it would tire him out for naps. Later after dinner, we went outside to play a little soccer.

We decided to spend another night down in League City since Papa had the day off. And Daddy had the day off too, but spent the day studying and resting. We spent the day pretty much the same as yesterday--going to the pool and playing soccer. Then after dinner, we drove home to see Daddy. I don't know who was more excited about seeing the other person...Daddy or Andrew.

I close tonight's post with a photo of Andrew in a patriotic shirt in honor of the holiday.

Farewell David

2011-05-28T22:23:00.007-05:00

Tonight was bittersweet for me. We had to say farewell to David and Dina, who are embarking on a new and exciting adventure. They are moving to Albuquerque, New Mexico where David has accepted a position at a hospital there. I am really sad that they will be so far away, but am so proud of him and thrilled for them too for this opportunity. And who knows, maybe we can go visit them out there during ski season!?

Anyways, we had a really nice dinner at my folks' house...just like so many other family dinners we have had with Aunt Hong's family since I was little. I have so many fond memories with their family and love them so much. David and MaryAnn are more like my younger siblings than cousins. And I am glad that Andrew is able to share in our close relationship with them all as well.

Good luck, David and Dina! We love you guys and will miss you so much! Hope to see you soon!

Play Date in Pearland

2011-05-28T22:13:00.004-05:00

This morning, Andrew and I headed down to Pearland for a play date at Aunt Thi's house. We had been trying to all get together for the longest time, but it is so hard with so many of the mothers having gone back to work and/or the kids being enrolled in preschool programs.

Andrew had a fun time with all his little buddies; and I enjoyed getting to visit with all the mommies again. The kids even put on a little show for us singing to whatever songs they chose--most of them being songs they have learned at school or as you can see in the video below, just goofing off having a good time. It was so adorable! Oh, how we had missed everyone!! And hopefully, we won't have to wait so long before the next play date.

More CMH

2011-05-27T22:26:00.008-05:00

This morning, Andrew wanted to go to the CMH. He's been having such a good time there playing on the bottom floor with the Legos and building whatever he can. Today, Andrew built a tower with plastic sticks and joints, had me do some face painting (a train and garbage truck), and went "fishing" in the new exhibit about the environment (you could catch many other things besides fish in the water like trash).

Happy 39th Month Birthday!

2011-05-24T22:53:00.040-05:00

Wow, another month come and gone!! Our little guy continues to grow into a little boy, which sometimes makes me so proud at his development, but also makes me sad that my little baby is growing up.

Some of the new things Andrew says this past month include:

"I do it myself!"
"I need to go pee!" and I need to go poo poo!"
For those times he goes poop, "I want privacy" and sometimes if I don't leave fast enough, adds "Mommy go away!"
"I want to go outside!"
"Why?"
"When?"--usually asking when things will happen
"Who are they?"

When he really wants something, he will make his request and then add "plleeeaassseee!" on the end of it especially for things that he thinks or knows we will say "no" to. For extra politeness, he will also say "May i have [insert whatever here] pleeaasseee?"

One of my most favorite stories of Andrew of recent is when we were at my folks' house so Daddy could study peacefully. Andrew was about to go down for a nap and asked if he could eat some chocolate covered walnuts my parents had. I said no and left the room. When I woke up from my own nap, I went to go check on Andrew who was sleeping next to my mom. Ngoai proceeds to show me some brown stains on the bed. My first initial thought was it was poo, but Ngoai said it was chocolate from the walnuts Andrew wanted to eat earlier. When Andrew finally woke up from his slumber, Ngoai asked him what the stain was and he replied "chocolate." And then I ask him "who gave you the chocolate when I already said no?" Andrew replies "that silly Papa!" Mom and I totally bursted out with laughter. He totally threw Papa under the bus even though Papa had said yes where I had said no!

Andrew has been enjoying coloring and drawing more and more. Some of the newer things he's been drawing are the sun, stick figures for people, trees, bird nests in trees, turtles, and fish. He still draws lots of trains and trucks of course.

He has been working in some math workbooks involving counting, shapes, and patterns. We also have been working with him on tracing and writing letters and numbers. He can write A and T on his own without any guidance from us.

Our little boy really likes to play outside and constantly asks to go outside to play soccer, which makes us very proud--especially Daddy. Drew has been hounding us when is he playing soccer again. We are glad he seems to like it so much. He "big" kicks a lot with his left feet which we are happy about, but he tends to dribble with his right. He has also been asking us to go swimming and swim classes.

He has also been playing quite a bit with Melissa & Doug city blocks set that Nonna gave him recently and will also pretend and act out that there are emergencies. Usually the emergency is a fire at a building or cat stuck up a tree and more often than not, there is constantly "another emergency" right after the other.

Andrew has also been enjoying board games, such as Candyland, Chutes & Ladder, and Hi Ho Cherry-O, and Thomas memory game. We are still working on rules, but he is getting a good grasp on how to play the games. We also try to instill into him good sportmanship and have him shake hands after the game and tell his opponent(s) "good game".

Our little builder is also getting more into Legos and Duplos especially his fire engine. He will also build his own trains like from rectangles. He still has trouble with Legos and how small they are, but in due time, we know he'll be able to get it. Also, he has been more excited about building his own towers in Marble Run. We really like when he is building and constructing things with his hands and love to see him plan things out.

Oh, and Andrew is totally into swimming now. He loves jumping into the pool and has been working on kicking his feet and swinging his arms. Drew is really into his pool toys especially his green plastic boat and killer whale that goes really far in the water.

Chef Andrew still has a good time with his kitchen and loves making noodles and eggs in the kitchen and also pretending to have picnics. We even get out a blanket and lay in on the floor too!

And speaking of eating, Andrew has been very big into popsicles probablydue to the extreme heat of the summer. He has been eating a lot more yogurt parfaits from McDonalds. He will see the golden arches while on the road and say he's hungry just so he can get nuggets and parfaits especially when coming home from League city. He still loves Asian noodles with chicken and broccoli. This past month, he has tried lasagna with ground beef and spinach (so that's another green vegetable he can eat) along with various soups depending on where we are at. Drew still loves grilled cheese sandwiches and pizza. Though, he had started to eat mushrooms besides the normal cheese and pepperoni pizzas he has been eating. He will sometimes have it with sausage, but that is less common.

Daddy and Andrew are starting to eat a lot more cereal in morning with milk--he'll eat the cereal with his spoon and then drink the milk from the bowl after. Andrew will also eat cereal as snacks too, especially Cheerios. Another breakfast favorite is muffins (favorites are blueberry and strawberry) especially if we make them!! Drew also loves scrambled eggs with toast and cheese (and he prefers that they be cooked with butter and not overcooked).

And thanks to Ngoai and Papa, a new favorite for night night snacks is Jell-O with fruit in it with a side of ice cream. And thanks to Mommy, Andrew has been introduced to the world of Nilla wafers and dunking them into milk. Yummy!

Andrew's potty training in coming along. He does a pretty good job of peeing in the potty; and we've been lucky that he will even tell us when he has to go pee. We have had some bowel movements in the potty here and there and then we had a three-day stretch and now he almost always goes in the potty. He will ask for his privacy and yell at us when he's done--"I did it! I pee/pooped". He does ask for his rewards to which we are happy to oblige. His "I need to go pee" or "I need to go poop" is a little frantic and then he will run towards the bathroom. But there have been more than one occassion where he is too busy playing or watching TV and will forget to tell us and then have an accident. And he's been really good about not peeing during the night. More often than not, he's dry in the morning.

Drew talks a lot about growing "super really big" and "super really tall". We tell him he needs to eat lots of meat, veggies, and fruit and drink a lot of milk to do that along with sleeping a lot too.

He's been really great about taking his nebulizer and will hold him himself while watching TV or playing games on the computer.

Andrew has been better about putting himself down at night and sleeping better through the nights. We have told him that he needs to be good about putting himself to sleep so he can whatever privileges we set out like birthday parties, the park, TV time, etc. He's been skipping more naps lately, but we just put him down earlier. I am hoping he's not dropping naps! I am going to be so sad when that day comes! Mommy's little lawyer will try to negotiate especially at night time. For example, he likes to swap more games on the computer for less bedtime books.

We've been working on his learning his alphabet and writing . He's been great about doing alphabet books where each letter of alphabet has a page with three words that begin with that letter. I have also downloaded some worksheets where he can practice tracing and writing his letters and numbers too. He can type "james5" for the password to the laptop. I am thinking about changing it to "Andrew" so he will have more motivation to learn how to spell his name.

Andrew is still very much the socialite. He loves to play with his friends and constantly asks to play with them and for them to come to our house. He also frequently asks when we going to Ngoai's and Papa's house and always wants to spend the night there. He also asks quite a bit as to when we are going to the airport to fly on an airplane to Aunt Anh Thu's house.

He's missing school too and asks about when he's going back and when he is getting his new teachers. Thankfully, summer camp will be starting soon enough.

Another thing he seems to be getting more and more ready for is his baby brother. Andrew asks me all the time as to when the baby is coming out. He's been talking more and more about holding him and feeding him. The other day, Andrew told me that he wants the baby to be super really tall because we have been telling him that the baby still needs to grow bigger before he is ready to come out.

Andrew has done some pretty funny things this past month. When he burps and farts, he will say "excuse me" as we have taught him. But one time, he instead said "I love you!" James and I just burst out with laughter and he thought it was so funny he got that reaction out of us that he will do it just to make us laugh again.

Another thing is that he is acting out the GeoTrax DVD down in League City. For example, one of his favorite episodes is where a train derails so Andrew will act it out and help the train get back on the tracks.

Here is anouther picture from today at Stomping Groundz and some videos taken recently.

Stomping Groundz

2011-05-24T22:41:00.008-05:00

This morning, we had a play date with Josh and Nathan at Stomping Groundz, which is an indoor play area for kids. The boys immediately ran into the playground and never looked back. Well, they did come out for water every now and then and eventually to eat lunch (but probably because we made them). But they seemed to have a great time running around. And boy, were they ever sweaty!!

And it was nice because when the boys were running around, it allowed the grownups to sit and have some nice adult conversation! Have I said how much I enjoy that Andrew doesn't have to be watched every single second while playing nowadays!?

Balance Beam

2011-05-23T22:27:00.006-05:00

This evening, we met our neighbors Emily and Mr. Donnie at a nearby park that Donnie introduced us to. It was an instant hit--it's got a great playscape, close to the house, and usually not very crowded.

And Andrew loves playing with Emily! The kids had a great time playing together...there was a lot of chasing around the playscape, going up and down the slides, and the balance beam, which Andrew has been trying to master.

League Park

2011-05-21T22:34:00.008-05:00

This morning, I took Andrew to League Park while Ngoai went to work and Papa played tennis. I had been wanting to take Andrew there for the longest time after seeing that there was an old red caboose in the park.

When we arrived, we immediately walked over to the caboose and looked around. Andrew kept asking why it wasn't on the track and why it didn't work anymore.

Afterwards, I took Andrew to the playground, which was really nice. They had a little musical playscape and another more traditional one with slides and tunnels. Andrew thoroughly enjoyed both even with the heat. We really had a great time playing this morning!!

Ice Cream Fiend

2011-05-20T22:16:00.008-05:00

I thought I would post these photos that I took of our little ice cream fiend today after lunch at the mall. Geez, what a mess!? But he's all ours!

Last Day of School

2011-05-18T22:51:00.006-05:00

Wow!! I can't believe today was Andrew's last day of school--his first last day of school. They had their end of the year party, which was an ice cream social. Andrew didn't eat as much as I thought he would. He instead left the table to go play with his friends, which makes sense to me now. He was cute with all of his classmates. He read books with some of them and listened to shells and told me he could hear the ocean. Ben's mom, Anna, presented Ms. Faruolo and Ms. Quiroz with their gifts (Visa gift cards) and they also presented Anna with a thank you gift for serving as our room mother. Then, it was time to say goodbye. It was a little sad for me. I don't think Andrew gets it though. He gave goodbye hugs to both his teachers just like any other day and walked out of the room. But it's nice to know we can come visit them during the summer and next year so it's a little easier to swallow.

Reflecting, I first think what a ride this school year has been. I still remember being so anxious that first day during drop off. And now, here we are eight months later and we all love school now. I have to say I was initially nervous about Ms. Faruolo. She is more stern and even intimidated James and me. But we quickly came to appreciate her firmness and realize she is exactly what Andrew needed in a teacher this year. She was still very nurturing, but really kept Andrew in line. And then, there is Ms. Quiroz who is so sweet and kind. And she totally dotes on the kids. You can tell she really loves all of them. They were a good team and balanced each other well. We were very lucky with our teachers and we are so grateful for all they did for us this year. They provided us with a good transition and we never had to worry about Andrew at school because we knew he was in very good hands. And that's very big for me because he is our little guy and sending him to schol was very daunting for us...well me for sure. So, to have such amazing teachers and to have such a wondeful experience with his school has been such a blessing.

So, here's to one fantastic school year and hoping that it's just the first of many.

Happy 35th Birthday, Daddy!

2011-05-17T20:32:00.008-05:00

Today is Daddy's 35th birthday! And to celebrate it up right, he took the day off to study...yes, study! Daddy has been in study mode and didn't want a big hoorah for his birthday and I understood that, but we had to have a little birthday fun nonetheless.

First, Andrew asked that Daddy come pick him up school and then we went to Pumpkin Park so Andrew could run around and play. James wanted something very lowkey for dinner...nothing fancy. So, he chose Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner. After, Andrew wanted Yogurtland for dessert. But after that, we came home and had birthday cupcakes which Andrew helped to pick out earlier.

Andrew was really cute about James's birthday card. With my help, he wrote "Dad" and signed it "AJ" and then drew some pictures on the card. He was so excited about it! When we gave it to Daddy, he said "Happy Birthday!" It was so sweet. He becomes more and more into birthdays--his own or others--that I really love how excited he gets.

Happy Birthday, Daddy!! We love you so very much and are so lucky to have you in our lives. You make our world and we couldn't ask for a more loving, caring husband and father.

Pregnancy Journal: Second Trimester

2011-05-15T10:36:00.042-05:00

Thirteen Weeks:

I am starting to get bigger, but have been able to hide it still. I am not quite comfortable yet with showing my baby belly especially since we haven't made it public information yet. But I can definitely tell that my skin is starting to stretch.

My due date is September 19th, but Dr. Samuels wants to go ahead and schedule a c-section before that. Susan, one of Dr. Samuels's nurses, has put us on the books at Texas Women's Hospital for September 14th. I did ask for September 15th at the request of Ngoai so she and her new grandbaby can have the same birthday, but Dr. Samuels will be working in Sugarland that day. So, that's a no-go.

Fourteen Weeks:

Andrew has been talking lots about the baby putting Andrew's trains and toys in its mouth. We explained to him that babies do that, but as the big brother, he can help to teach him how to play with toys appropriately.

And even in a week's time, it's getting harder to hide my belly. I remember starting to show around the 13th week with Andrew and I have heard that usually with subsequent pregnancies, moms-to-be show even faster, but it's really coming on strong now!

Fifteen Weeks:

We are starting to tell more and more people. Sometimes, I still can't believe we are pregnant again. I am so excited for this new addition to our family; and Andrew is getting more into it as well for which I am so happy about.

My tummy is getting bigger and I have had to pull out more maternity clothes instead of just wearing my baggy clothes.

Sixteen Weeks:

I felt a few flutters this week. Oh, how I love feeling the baby inside me. It was one of my most favorite parts of being pregnant and this time, it's no different.

And unfortunately, the heat is starting to get to me. I get hotter so much more quickly and severly as the summer starts to come upon us. The heat also makes it more uncomfortable for me at night. We don't want to get too crazy with the AC because I don't want to freeze Andrew in his room (especially since he kicks off the covers) so I just bought a small fan and put it on my nightstand, which has helped considerably.

Seventeen Weeks:

Things are pretty much the same. The one big difference this week is that it's getting more uncomfortable sleeping. I am getting pretty warm especially at night for whatever reason. And it's getting more difficult to find a comfortable position. Eek!

With the heat, I am eating a lot of popsicles especially late at night after Andrew's gone to bed. But we have had our share during the day too. Lately, I have been craving French fries especially from McDonalds (along with a large sweet tea!) I have been eating a lot of fruit specifically strawberries and blueberries too.

Eighteen Weeks:

April 19, 2011

We had our ultrasound today with Dr. Kirshon. And we know we are definitely having another son. Dr. Kirshon said everything looks great so far and our little boy is growing and developing right on schedule. So now that we absolutely know the sex, Andrew has started saying "I'm going to have a baby brother!"

From all the tests done, we are at low risks for Down's, which is a huge relief and everything else looks really good.

Nineteen Weeks:

I am getting a lot more fatigued that's for sure. I take naps pretty much everyday either when Andrew takes them and even when he's at school before I pick him up.

My belly continues to enlarge and I can feel my stomach stretching away. I can't believe my tummy is getting so big by the week!

Big brother Andrew has been talking more about how he wants to help especially holding and feeding the baby. I love hearing him get so excited about the baby knowing he will still have a huge adjustment after the baby is born.

Twenty Weeks:

We are halfway!! Well, more than halfway because Dr. Samuels won't let me go to the full forty weeks. I can't believe how fast it has gone! I have managed to skip a couple of naps this week, which is amazing! So I've definitely had a little more energy this week, but am still pretty tired for the most part.

The new baby talk from Andrew is how he wants the baby to have a blanket so both he and his brother will have one. I think this is kind of funny since Andrew has about five different blankets that he likes to sleep with and not just one. But I find it very sweet that he shows concern for his little brother already and wants to make sure he's comfortable. But notice that Andrew doesn't offer up one of his blankets, but rather get the baby a different one! ;)

Twenty-One Weeks:

I am growing bigger and bigger!! But luckily, it seems like it's just my tummy that's getting big and not the rest of me. I am not swelling in my legs or ankles thankfully. But the bad news is that I am starting to get a lot more uncomfortable.

And this week, I have been having stomach pains (and no, not gas), but some pretty sharp and severe cramping. On Tuesday, the cramping lasted over an hour and it got so bad, I finally called the on-call doctor who told me to take some aspirin and try to sleep it off. Luckily, this did the trick and felt much better in the morning.

Twenty-Two Weeks:

May 17, 2011

My OB appointment was today--Daddy's birthday. Our little boy's heart rate was good and everything is looking great so far. The stomach cramps have subsided, which brings me great relief...both physically and emotionally.

With summer in full swing, I am finding myself incredibly hot especially my legs. Thank goodness for air conditioning!! I joke that I may have to spend the rest of my pregnancy in Alaska or somewhere cold just to be cool!

Twenty-Three Weeks:

Things are continuing to go well. I have some cramping in my stomach, but not near as bad as the other week. They have been less severe and less frequent, which is good. But sadly, I am noticing that I am waddling even more when I walk.

Big brother Andrew asks us all the time "when the baby come out?' Ten months is such a long time for a kid. He will still come up to my tummy and kiss it and say "I love you, baby." And it still makes my heart melt.

Twenty-Four Weeks:

May 31, 2011

At this week's doctor appointment, I expressed to Dr. Samuels that I am not feeling much movement from the baby especially compared to how active Andrew was in the womb. She went ahead and suggested that we go to Texas Women's Hospital to have an ultrasound. The doctor said the baby is moving around enough. He said I do have a higher level of amniotic fluid, but it's still within normal range. But this might be why I can't feel much movement along with the position of the baby (something like breach, high, and behind my placenta).

Well, the heat is really starting to get to me. To cool me off, I usually want to eat cold things like watermelon and ice cream. I have been eating a lot of popsicles!! But it's only temporary relief. We got the AC cranked up keeping the house cool and I have to sleep with the extra fan on my nightstand in addition to the ceiling fan.

I can feel my stomach stretching more and more. And it's starting to get harder to move around especially getting up and down the stairs and bending over.

Twenty-Five Weeks:

Andrew has been talking more and more about when the baby will come out. He also said this week that he will "teach him everything." He even said that he wants to take the baby to go to Thomas Day Out, which is highly unlikely since that will be like two weeks after the baby's arrival. Andrew has also told us that he wants the baby to sit on the right side of him in the car.

As for me, I am feeling more and more hot and uncomfortable. I am still using the extra fan in the room, which helps a lot!

Twenty-Six Weeks:

At this week's doctor appointment, Tammy performed another ultrasound to check the fetal movement and she said the baby is moving around enough, which is such a relief. I watched his arms and legs move as Tammy pushed on my belly to make him move. I can't feel it, but as long as he's doing it, it's good enough for me.

I also took the gestational diabetes test, which I am always nervous about. But I passed when I was pregnant with Andrew and I am eating less sugar this time around. So, I was thinking I would be okay this time too. And I am measuring a little big, but Dr. Samuels isn't too concerned since it's normal to be bigger the second time around.

Andrew gave us a good laugh this week too. He was talking about how big his stomach was after eating and said very matter of factly "I not pregnant." Wow, we are glad he cleared that up!!

Twenty-Seven Weeks:

First, I got my test results back from the doctor's office and don't have gestational diabetes. Whew! I was worried for a little bit since I am kind of big and didn't want to have to worry about what I eat.

I am still not feeling the baby move around very much, but unfortunately, I do feel my stomach stretching more and more. :( But I have felt the baby lower in my stomach especially sometimes when I am walking around, which makes it pretty uncomfortable.

Also, I have noticed that my left leg falls asleep quite a bit especially when I am at the computer and sitting on it.

I am getting pretty big. What's really sad is that people are amazed that I am not further along since I am so big or they think I am having twins. Boo hoo hoo.

Twenty-Eight Weeks:

I am measuring thirty weeks, but Dr. Samuels wasn't too concerned with it. I am still doing great weight wise so no one is really too worried about it. It's nice that I am for the most part, all belly.

I am still incredibly hot though. It's pretty warm in Houston this summer with very little rain so I feel like it's even more hot!

Andrew has been talking more about the baby sleeping in our room, but will say that he wants the baby to sleep in his room. Speaking of sleep, I am also sleeping more and more on the couch for the fact that I can rest my back on the back of the couch.

I can't believe my second trimester has come and gone. This pregnancy is going by so much faster than the first one. I can't believe our second son will be here before we know it! It's definitely been harder than my first pregnancy, but they say it's harder the second time around since we have another child that keeps us busy and tired. Not to mention, I am three years older too, which I don't know how much that plays into things as well. But all in all, it's been more difficult, yes, but it hasn't that been that bad--especially compared to others I have heard about. So, I am pretty happy with how things are progressing.

Below is the ultrasound from 24 weeks from Texas Women's Hospital.

Claremont Park

2011-05-14T22:16:00.005-05:00

This morning, I took Andrew to Claremont Park, which is in the neighborhood next to Ngoai's and Papa's house. We had a great time going back and forth between the two playscapes there (one for toddlers and one for older kids). He loved going down the slides and through the tunnel, but the highlight was going down the fireman pole. He must have gone down it over ten times.

The Houstonian Club with Jack

2011-05-12T21:03:00.006-05:00

This morning, we met Jack and Mrs. Keryth at the Houstonian club for a play date. We hadn't been able to get together with him in so long with school and differing schedules that it was nice to finally connect up again.

After we arrived, we headed to the playroom where the boys mainly played with all kinds of vehicles from trains to cars to construction vehicles. We even raced some for a little while.

Then, we ventured outside for a bit so that the boys could play on the playground. Andrew and Jack had lots of fun chasing each other around the playscape more than playing on it.

Next, it was time for lunch and we had a great lunch there complete with frozen yogurt! Andrew had such a great time and didn't want to leave. It was a great morning and it was so nice to getting to spend time with Keryth and Jack. We definitely will have to have another playdate with them soon!

Fish Artwork

2011-05-11T22:41:00.005-05:00

Since it's been a while that I have posted any of Drew's artwork, I thought I would share what he brought home today from school. I think it's so creative...I don't know how they did it, but I love it.

Thomas Live on Stage

2011-05-08T21:52:00.005-05:00

This evening, Andrew and I went on a double date with Aunt Anh and Josh. He has been so excited about this "date" since James and I had been our date and he had asked about when he was going to get to go on a date too. I wasn't sure about taking him still skeptical after the circus fiascos we have had, but I hoped that he would enjoy this more since it was Thomas after all. But he did seem very excited about it asking me when we were going and even earlier today since he knew it was close to time to go.

Anh picked us up so we could all go together, which worked out great. We found parking relatively easily and walked to Jones Hall. As we walked up, we saw Janie and Selene (Uncle David was parking the car). It was so cute to see some other friends there. And they ended up sitting a few rows behind us which was nice because Andrew waved at Selene while we waited for the show to start.

Once the show began though, Andrew was captivated. Both boys were. They sang along and clapped and laughed. I love watching Andrew's expressions on his face. I wish I would have gotten more of them on camera, but I didn't want to disturb him or any of the other patrons. The show was good all things considering. I have to admit I am skeptical about kid shows. But they kept the kids entertained and there was a lot of singing and dancing. Andrew and Josh loved seeing the trains on stage, but they both asked why there weren't more trains like Gordon or Henry. But they didn't seem to really mind all that much because they seem to really enjoy the show anyhow regardless of how many trains were there.

After the show, Andrew kept asking when we could go again. Hopefully, there will be another show in the near future so he won't have to wait so long for another date!!

Happy Mother's Day

2011-05-08T21:35:00.011-05:00

Happy Mother's Day out there to all the moms in the world especially the special ones in our lives--especially Ngoai, Nonna, Ba Co, and Aunts Anh Thu, Janine, and Sharon. We love you very much!! And an extra special thanks to Nonna for spending the weekend with us! We appreciate all that you do.

Here's a picture that was included with the Mother Day cards that we gave to all the special moms in our lives.

Uncle Foo's Birthday

2011-05-07T22:52:00.003-05:00

Uncle Foo came into town this weekend for Mother's Day, but we took the opportunity to celebrate his birthday, which was on Thursday. We headed down to League City where Ngoai and Papa cooked a special dinner for Anh Tuan--crawfish and grilled fish. We ended up having a lot of desserts, which is normally not the case. Nonna, who also was visiting this weekend, made cheesecake with a cherry topping while I made sopapilla cheesecake because Monica wanted to learn how so she could make it for her mom for Mother's Day. And Andrew had it in his mind that he wanted to baked a cake with sprinkles on top. It was all about the sugar tonight!

Andrew was really cute about singing "Happy Birthday" to his uncle and wanting to blow out his candles. And the great uncle that he is, Anh Tuan obliged his little nephew.

Spring Parent/Teacher Conference

2011-05-04T23:21:00.004-05:00

This morning, we met with Ms. Faruolo and Ms. Quiroz for a parent/teacher conference. They both were pleased with Andrew's progression from the beginning of the year. They said he had met all the Fall goas and listed some of his strengths as great focus and attention span, working difficult puzzles and matching shapes, and being a good friend. As for recommendations, they suggested we continue to work with Andrew on listening to instruction including repeating the instruction and helping him work through it if needed and also working on enunciation (which hopefully speech therapy will help us with that).

But overall, they were very pleased with Andrew's progression this school year and so are we!!

After retrieving Andrew from Kingdom Kids (childcare for while we were in the meeting), I asked Andrew where he wanted to go and he said to the Children's Museum. So, we headed there for a bit to pass some time before lunch and nap. Andrew had a great time of course and is really getting to enjoy the first floor where he loves all the Legos and Duplos blocks.

First Class Photo

2011-05-02T23:27:00.000-05:00

Here's Andrew's class picture for his first year of school!! So adorable! I can still hardly believe it.

And for when I forget their names...

Teachers: Jan Faruolo and Rebecca Quiroz

First Row (left to right): Sebastian Gibbons, Andrew Lenz, Emily Matthews-Ederington, Scarlett Glazner, Helen Shamaly, Ben Sheehan

Back Row (left to right): Chase Bedortha, Lily Ana Hilpert, Will Landers, Paige Smart, Topher McCord, Gray Sullivan

YMCA Spring Soccer Week 8: Toronto v. Philly

2011-04-30T22:52:00.009-05:00

With Easter last week, there was no soccer game scheduled. But this weekend was the last game of the season. I have to say I am a little sad to see it end. We have had such a great experience with Team Toronto and have met lots of nice people that we hope we will have the chance of playing with again.

Andrew played well running around and getting to the ball. He is fast when he wants to be. He didn't score a goal this weekend, but that's ok. I was just glad he played well the entire game and paid attention for the most part. I know it's hard for a three year old to stay that focused for the whole game, so I will take what I can get.

And after the game ended, it was time to hand out trophies, which Andrew was so stoked about. But we had a good laugh afterwards when he asked not thirty minutes later when he will get a bigger trophy. We told him that when he plays more soccer when he's older, it will probably happen.

We hadn't planned on signing him up for the summer league since it would be incredibly hot to play, but Andrew has kept asking to keep playing, we decided we would go ahead and sign him up. Hopefully, next season is as good as this one has been.

Potty Training Progress

2011-04-29T21:28:00.010-05:00

Well, Andrew is making vast progress with potty training. He gets better about it everyday. I love how he will tell us when he needs to go pee. And yesterday, while at a friend's house, he told me that he had to go poop and did. I wasn't sure if he would feel comfortable going somewhere other than our house, but I guess he does.

Then, today, he has peed in the potty all day with him telling us when he needs to go pee. And for a while, I had even forgotten that he was wearing his underwear. I am so proud of my little guy. I knew he would come around. I was worried for a while, but I am happy we didn't have to push him and he has done this on his terms in his way on his own timing.

Here's a picture of my big boy with his new fade (sorry for the quality, they were taken with my cell phone camera).

Happy 38th Month Birthday!

2011-04-24T22:59:00.018-05:00

Wow, 38 months!! How fast this past month has gone by!

Andrew's speech continues to improve. In speech therapy, we have been continuing our work on final consonants. As for his language development, Andrew is really making crazy progress such as his sentence structure and grammar.

Some of the things he has been saying this past month include:

"Whoo hoo!"
"Yup" and "Nope"
"All right" (which sounds more like "orite")
"I do it. Me, me, me!" or "I do it myself."
"I love parties!" and "I love soccer."
"How 'bout that?" (sadly, this was learned from Mommy)
"Why?"
"Who them?"
"Where they going?"

Drew will also tell us when food is "delicious" and that things are "so funny", "so silly", or "so cool". He loves saying "super" as in "super really fast", "super really tall", or "super really big". And he still talks about going "on airplanes to see Anh Thu in Vegas."

He also told us a few times that Papa is his best friend. One time I asked him if he loves Papa and he replied in the affirmative. And then, I asked him why. He then says "because he's my best friend." So sweet! To add to the adoration, he told me that he wanted Papa to stay with him while Daddy and Mommy go to work.

With all the anniversary and marriage talk, he said that he wanted to marry me too, but later changed it so where he wanted to marry Ngoai and Papa. Hmm, good luck with that one, kid!

Andrew is still pretty inquisitive about his baby brother. He asks us when the baby will come out and when can he hold him. We talk about his needing to grow big and strong in my belly before he comes out; and he seems content with that. I love how Andrew will come up to my stomach and kiss it. And usually when he does it, he will also say "I love you, brother" or "good morning, brother". Makes me warm all over.

Our little socialite constantly asks for his friends to come over to house to play or asks for us to go over there. Drew will also ask if his friends can go to places with us especially if he has been there with them before. It cracks me up how he remembers certain things. He asks all the time "will you play with me?" or tells me that "I want somebody play with me."

When it's time to go to sleep, he asks to lay in our bed for five minutes after which he will go to his room or we lay with him for five minutes. But it never fails that he will ask for more minutes.

Andrew is becoming more involved in the dressing process. He will tell him he wants to wear green that day or what shoes he wants to wear. He is also working on dressing and undressing himself and getting much better at it. He loves to wear anything green or anything with trains.

And lately, Andrew has been very willing--even wanting--for us to go on dates. He says that he wants to sleep at Uncle Anh Tuan's house or at my folks' house. And of course, he will also tell us that he wants to go on a date with James or me.

Our little man still loves to play with trains and fire trucks. He has been working in his letters and numbers. He really is into doing math workbooks lately learning more about counting, patterns, and shapes. Drew still loves to draw especially trains, fire trucks, and people with faces, bodies, arms and legs. He'll also draw bunny rabbits with ears and whiskers in the spirit of Easter.

In terms of the television, he still loves Team Umizoomi and Max & Ruby the best, but also likes this new cartoon on Nick Jr. called Bubble Guppies.

Drew still loves to play outside riding his trike and scooter. He's getting much more comfortable on the scooter; and I have to admit, he sometimes goes faster than I am comfortable with. And much to Daddy's delight, Andrew still loves soccer and seems to be getting the hang of it as the weeks go on. And he always asks when his next game will be.

Our little chef loves to help to make Gatorade from powder by pouring water and stirring. He adds his own touch, but drinking out of the spoon and then go right back to stirring with the now germ-infested spoon. He still loves ice with his drinks. He will get his own ice from the fridge, but at times will get too much ice. So, I try to tell him he can have three cubes since he's three years old. So far, he's going along with that.

Some of the things he's eating lately besides the usual pizza, nuggets, grilled cheese, and noodles include things like strawberries, blueberries, and grapes. He also loves Toaster Strudel and Eggo waffles for breakfast. He's back into popsicles again. Usually, he can't finish them fast enough before they start melting.

Andrew so loves to sings his ABCs and can count to 20 when he wants to (he will get lazy a lot of times and try to rush through them). A new thing he loves is cutting paper with scissors ever since his teachers let him do at school--I so need to buy him a pair for here at home!

He's been earning his TV and computer time by putting himself to bed. He is also been wanting to trade reading night night books for extra computer time. Our son is already getting sucked into technology! He earns these privileges by laying down nicely in his room, not making too much noise, and keeping the stalling to a minimum. We usually give him one or two times to come out, but it's usually to get something to drink or give hugs or tell us he loves us. Yes, we are such suckers!!

Another new thing is that Andrew has been wanting to sleep on the floor instead of his bed. We don't know if it's because his bed is too small or uncomfortable or if he just wants a change of scenery. But I can't say anything since I loved sleeping on the floor for most of college. Andrew will also asks to lay in our bed for five minutes and then go back to his room to put himself to sleep.

As for his allergies and asthma, Andrew started taking some medicine via a nebulizer this month. At first, he was very hesitant, but now does very well on it. He will now hold it on his own the whole time it's on. And where he used to ask for breaks when he first started using it, he can now go the ten minutes or so all in one stretch. I think most of his willingness to do the nebulizer is that we allow him to watch TV in the morning and the evenings when he does it. His coughing has subsided in both frequency and severity. He only coughs after waking up a couple of times a week and the cough is much less harsh. James and I have been so happy with our allergist, Dr. Collaco! We totally recommend to anyone!

Potty training is going well thus far. Andrew is pretty good about telling us when he has to go pee and poo. We have even started to go without diapers and pull ups. Andrew, at first, loved wearing underwear, but the novelty quickly wore off. I don't know if it was because he was embarassed when he did have accidents and just wanted to wear diapers or pull ups to prevent that.

One cute thing that Andrew does now is how he loves to see people off when they are leaving the house. He used to only do it for James when he left for work, but that's no longer the case. He will go onto the balcony and tell people "bye" and "I love you" as they walk away. Drew will also blow kisses and give shout outs too.

It still amazes me how fast time is going by and how much he's growing up. I look at him and wonder where my little baby went and when did Andrew turn into a little boy. I really wish I could stop time sometimes so I can revel more in this time right now. I know I can't, but it would be nice.

Easter Sunday

2011-04-24T22:37:00.012-05:00

This morning when Andrew woke up, the first thing he said was that he wanted to go downstairs to see his Easter basket. He checked out all the gifts and made me happy that he read the books first before asking to open the train, Lego Duplo fire chief truck, and candy. After, we dyed and decorated Easter eggs. This year, I bought the sticker set and Andrew loved it! He spent a great deal of time putting all the stickers on the eggs.

Then in the afternoon, Ngoai and Papa came over and brought over their Easter basket for Andrew. He spent most of the time playing lots of train with Papa. I so love watching them together.

Since Daddy gave up meat for Lent, I asked him what he wanted for dinner. He wasn't craving anything in particular just meat in general. I decided to cook a prime rib, which turned out fairly good if I do say so myself.

It was a really nice quiet Easter and just nice to be around family. Happy Easter, everyone!

Sugar Land Easter Egg Hunt

2011-04-23T21:17:00.009-05:00

This afternoon, Daddy and I took Andrew to an Easter egg hunt that Aunt Belinda invited us to. Her and her friends do a pot luck dinner and egg hunt for all the kids and it sounded like fun. Andrew is always up for an egg hunt!! We all met up an elementary school in Sugar Land, which worked perfectly since they have a pavilion where we could eat and playgrounds for the kids to play on.

Andrew had so much playing with Evan. It was just like old times. They ran up and down the playscape. And both of them even perfected their fireman pole skills! After we ate, it was time for the egg hunt. Andrew did very well and ran quickly scooping up eggs. And I again asked him to share with the younger kids; and again, he obliged.

I didn't think anything could top the egg hunt for Andrew, but one of the boys and his dad brought a rocket launcher with stryofoam rockets that you propel by stepping down on the launching pad. It was a hit with all the kids!! We may just have to get one for Andrew!

We had such a nice time. It was good to get to hang with Evan and Anna and their families. We never get to see everyone enough. And Andrew had a wonderful time so that always makes it better!!

Paige's 3rd Birthday Party

2011-04-23T21:15:00.004-05:00

This morning, we were invited to Paige's birthday party at the Briar Club. Paige is one of Andrew's classmates from St. Luke's. The party was also held in conjunction with her older brother, Brody, who was turning five as well. The party was so cute! They had a playground and a bouncey house--Andrew just ran back and forth between the two. He had a great time playing with some of his friends from school.

Later, there was a magic act. Andrew sat right in front and laughed and smiled at the tricks. I really wasn't sure how it was going to go over, but he really seemed to enjoy it. Afterwards, there was an Easter egg hunt, which all the kids enjoyed. Andrew was totally into searching for eggs and prizes. They were even hidden in the bushes and flower beds and Andrew wouldn't stop looking there even after I said there wasn't any left. And then, he found like two more eggs!! Prove me wrong!

Next, it was time to sing "Happy Birthday" to the guests of honor. And then, it was time to leave since we had another outing to attend.

We had such a wonderful time. We love getting to spend time with Andrew's classmates. We parents always talk about what a wonderful group of kids we have in the class and how well they get along. Happy Birthday, Paigey!

Good Friday

2011-04-22T23:26:00.006-05:00

Today, Ngoai and I took Andrew went to go see the Easter Bunny at Baybrook Mall but the line was "super really long" as Andrew put it. I had totally forgotten that people and kids were out for Good Friday. I am guessing it would have a good hour or so to get through it. Luckily, Andrew was easily swayed into just seeing him from the side and waving to him. And the Easter Bunny was nice to wave back to him too. So, we just ended up taking pictures around all the Easter decor they had put up.

Wonderwild

2011-04-21T23:47:00.007-05:00

This morning, we met Mrs. Andi, Gavin, and Shane at Wonderwild. When we first entered, the boys went to play in the ball pit and kitchen. You would think that they would go for the train or playscape. But eventually, they made their way over and rode the train and climbed in the playscape. They had a great time with the slides! One of the cutest things was when Andrew let Shane ride in his train and took him for a little ride. I am proud of my little guy because not only did he share the train, but also because he was strong enough to move the train with the extra rider.

Soon, it was time for lunch and we asked the boys where they wanted to go to which they responded Mission Burrito. The fun continued there with some yummy lunch and playing on the playground. Then, it was time to come home for nap! I sure was exhausted!

SLDS Easter Party

2011-04-20T23:17:00.017-05:00

This afternoon was Andrew's Easter party with his class. Unfortunately, I was a little late arriving to the courtyard and missed the beginning of it (phone call from Ngoai about Papa's car being hit in a parking lot). But I did get to see Andrew and his class hunt for eggs for a little while. Andrew was doing pretty good from what I saw. And I was very happy to see him get some eggs and give it to some of the other kids. Ms. Faruolo also told me that Andrew was being really nice by helping other kids find eggs so that made me all the more proud of him.

After the egg hunt, we came inside for cookies and juice. The kids sat properly and ate nicely. They are too cute!! Towards the end of the party, the teachers handed out their Easter arts and craft project--a cross with rhinestones glued to it. It is really cute; and Andrew is excited to put it up in his room.

The first three pictures of from Ben's mom who was kind enough to send them to me since I was late when they started.

It's a.....

2011-04-19T23:03:00.012-05:00

BOY!!!

We had another ultrasound this afternoon; and Dr. Kirshon said 100% it's a boy!!

Sure, it might have been nice to have a girl, but to be honest, I had a feeling it was a boy since I had been dreaming it. So I have been getting on board with having two sons ever since the ultrasound at twelve weeks.

I know there are advantages and disadvantages to having either, but I really do love the idea that Andrew will have a little brother to play trains and cars with. And it's also comforting to know his toys and clothes will have another go around. I have always thought there was a crazy strong bond with same sex siblings like Uncle John and James and Aunt Anh Thu and me; and I hope that Andrew and his little brother will have one. And maybe this way, I can talk James into having three kids and trying one more time for a girl.

Dr. Kirshon said everything looks great and our baby boy is developing beautifully! We are so happy that he's healthy.

Well, now we can focus on finding a name for this little guy!

Here are our ultrasound pictures from today.

Twins' Senior Photos

2011-04-18T22:34:00.014-05:00

This afternoon after nap, Andrew and I drove over to UH to pick up the twins. I had offered to take some photos of them that they could use as their senior pictures. They had taken the ones at school with the usual cap and gown and then black dress ensemble, but I thought they might want something more fun, which better suits their personalities. We figured out that we could do the photo shoot at Hermann Park since there is so much there for photo backdrops.

Andrew was excited to see them as always. And when we started taking pictures, he wanted to get in them too. Luckily, the twins didn't mind; and it ended up giving us some cute pictures. I had suggested we try the Japanese Gardens in the park and see how it was having never been in there before myself. Well, I am so glad we tried it. The garden was really nice and so beautiful!! I will definitely have to come back here for another photo shoot in the future sometime.

We weren't too far into the shoot when Daddy called to say he had arrived at the park. We quickly found each other; and Daddy took Andrew to the playground while the girls and I went back to shooting pictures. After we were done, we headed over to the playground and found the boys. Then, we took the girls back to UH where they met up with Lam to give them a ride home.

For my first shoot, I think I got some good shots. I was having lots of trouble having to constantly change the manual settings on my camera. And the sun wasn't helping at all. At times, it was pretty bright, but then, we would be in shaded areas. So, I would have to change the settings again...and sometimes I just couldn't get it how I wanted it. But I had to do the best I can. I just hope the twins are happy with a few of them to use for their graduation announcements.

Below are a few of my favorites from the shoot.

Finally!

2011-04-18T22:32:00.013-05:00

After lunch with Daddy, I took Andrew home to put him down for a nap. Drew said he wanted to sleep downstairs; and I obliged since he had slept so well down there yesterday (taking a three hour nap after we got home from the zoo).

About forty minutes later, Andrew still wasn't asleep. Then, I heard him say something, but didn't quite make it out what it was. He told me he said something about "poo poo". I still didn't hear all of what he had said, but normally this means he has already gone in his diaper and needed to be changed. But when I asked him if he already went in his diaper, he replied, "no" and said "in potty". I wasn't sure if he was saying what I thought he was saying and in curiosity, asked for some affirmation. He said he wanted to go in the potty, so I took off his diaper; and he sat on the toilet. I wasn't sure if this was a ploy to stall taking a nap, but not five minutes later, he said he was "all done". Shame on me, but I assumed he hadn't done anything and had given up trying. But sure enough, he said he had pooped already and when I checked, he sure had!! I was so proud; and he seemed to be proud of himself too.

He quickly reminded me that he had earned his prize that we had been telling him he could have once he had gone poo poo in the potty. After giving him some choices, he told me he wanted Dash, a newer train from Thomas. And right when he woke up from his nap, his first words were "I want my prize." So, I ran upstairs and got it for him; and we rushed off to pick up the twins from UH so I could take some pictures of them.

Here's a few pictures of my big boy playing on the playground with Daddy, who was sweet to meet us at the park later in the afternoon so he could watch Andrew while I took pictures of the twins.

Happy 7th Anniversary!!

2011-04-17T23:42:00.012-05:00

Happy 7th Anniversary to my wonderful husband!! It's crazy how fast it's gone by and how much our lives have changed since that day in Tahoe. It hasn't all been bells and whistles. We have definitely had our rough days, but at the end, we always make it through and are a stronger couple because of it. And it makes me truly appreciate what we do have.

I love you more than anything and I love our live together, especially the family we have with our son that we have now and the baby we will soon have. I wouldn't want to share my life with anyone but you.

We didn't do anything special today since we celebrated on Friday. I ended up taking Andrew to the zoo (before it gets too hot) so Daddy could get some studying in. Andrew said he wanted to eat there, but it worked out great because Andrew fell asleep on the drive home. Then, we just all hung out the rest of the day together playing. It was nice being with the two guys I love the most.

Here's to seven years and hoping to many, many more!! And here's two pictures of Andrew from our outing at the zoo this morning and then some more from our wedding seven years ago.

YMCA Spring Soccer Week 2 Make Up: Toronto v. New England

2011-04-16T23:23:00.011-05:00

Andrew had another soccer game which was a make up for when the game was cancelled due to rain in Week 2. The Weekley YMCA was hosting a health fair so our game wasn't until 1pm. I don't think any parent was thrilled with this considering the heat and nap time. But that's how life works sometimes. We still had a good turnout thankfully!

We told Andrew to take it easy during practice so he could hopefully save most of his energy for the game. We even told him to take breaks and he chose to spend his breaks sitting under the shade of a nearby tree.

He played hard and ran lots. He wasn't totally into the game, but we wonder if that had something to do with him needing a nap. But we were also happy that Andrew had a breakaway dribble and redirected the ball to a different direction more towards the (right) goal. He's definitely getting better, but the season is coming to an end soon. Andrew seems to really like playing; and he always asks to play more. So hopefully, he will want to continue playing after the season.

West University Egg Hunt

2011-04-16T23:13:00.013-05:00

This morning, we drove up from League City and picked up Andrew to head to the West University Easter Egg Hunt. We were running a few minutes late and I wasn't sure if we would make it on time. I had read that this hunt started promptly at 10am. Luckily, we arrived and rushed right to the area for toddlers and the hunt hadn't started yet. But it did start like not even two minutes later. Andrew was hesitant at first, but it didn't take him long to get into it. He was running around everywhere picking up eggs and candy eggs. For a little while, he said he just wanted to pick only green eggs!! Such a goof!

The goodies were picked up quickly; and the hunt was pretty much over. Andrew had gotten quite a lot so I told him to start giving out some to the younger kids that didn't get as much. And sure enough, my sweet boy did just that. I was so proud of him.

After, we played a little on the playground there at the rec center. I spotted the Easter Bunny and the line to see him. It wasn't crazy long so we walked over and got in line. It didn't take us too much time to get through the line. And Andrew wasn't a bit shy on going up to him.

It was a fun activity for Andrew and he seems to be ready for the egg hunting season.

Anniversary Dinner

2011-04-16T23:04:00.005-05:00

Last night, Daddy and I celebrated our seventh wedding anniversary. Ngoai and Papa were kind enough to keep Andrew overnight for us; and it made more sense to do it tonight versus tomorrow night.

We decided to go back to Mockingbird Bistro since our previous experience there was so wonderful (and it didn't hurt that we had a gift certificate). Additionally, we also didn't have other place that we had to try.

Dinner was amazing again!! The chef sends out a little complimentary tidbit of food, which happened to be seared tuna. I could have had it, but decided to forego just in case. The waiter overheard James and I talking about it and offered his apologies immediately. He offered to get me something else, but I told him not to worry about it. But five minutes later, he came out with another dish from the chef. It was really sweet, but I did feel bad.

We started with a delicious Caesar salad. Sadly, I didn't have the duck as it wasn't on the menu (they change the menu each season). But I ordered a pork chop while Daddy ordered Chilean Seabass (still eating no meat for Lent). Both were ever so delicious. And for dessert, we had this apple pastry thing with nutella. So yummy! And they even decorated with "Happy Anniversary" for us.

It was a great date night with a great date!! And thanks for my super sweet parents to take care of the little guy so we can enjoy some alone time together since they will probably be fewer and farther between when Baby #2 is here! My folks said Andrew was very good for them and didn't really miss his parents all too much. He says he is ready for us to have another date so he can stay at Ngoai's house!

Making His Own Tracks

2011-04-14T23:35:00.005-05:00

Today at the doctor's office (so Dr. McGrann could check him out since he hasn't fully recovered from his recent sickness), I was going to draw on the white paper to keep him entertained while waiting for the doctor as I have done quite a few times in the past. Usually, he wants me to draw him train tracks for his Take Along trains.

But today, he decided he was going to draw the tracks himself and did a pretty good job of it I have to say. I know the pictures aren't clear as they were taken with my cell phone. So, I have zoomed in on the second photo to provide a closer look .

My Fireman at Pumpkin Park

2011-04-13T23:12:00.003-05:00

Just wanted to share a few images from the park this afternoon. Andrew is becoming lots more confident (and daring) with the fireman's pole wanting to do it by himself--I guess I just lost my job as spotter! :)

Three Year Photo Shoot

2011-04-11T23:26:00.008-05:00

Yesterday, we had Andrew's three year photo shoot with Aunt Thuy. Papa and Ngoai were going to come up to visit us that afternoon so I invited them to join in the photo shoot too.

Andrew decided to throw a wrench in the plans by skipping his nap so we weren't sure how he would be and was also feeling a little under the weather to boot. But we just gave it a go and hoped for the best.

We had originally wanted to take some pictures with bluebonnets, but due to scheduling problems and a lack of initiative by yours truly, we were late in having the photos done. But we met Thuy and Phi at Terry Hershey Park and hoped that there might be some bluebonnets left (Uncle Phi had seen them a few weeks earlier during his bike rides). Sadly, there weren't any bluebonnets left, but the park was really nice and quaint and still provided a very nice backdrop for pictures. So, it all worked out well.

Next year, I will have to be more on the ball about scheduling something so we don't miss the bluebonnets.

Aunt Thuy sent me some of the photos from the shoot. I can't get over how old Andrew looks!! And in some of the shots, he would grab our faces to get them closer to his in the pictures. I don't know where he learned that from!

And thanks to Aunt Thuy for making the time for us and taking our pictures. We really appreciate all you do for us!

Max's 4th Birthday Party

2011-04-09T23:08:00.005-05:00

This afternoon was Max's 4th birthday party. Andrew and I headed over to the Armstrong residence and left Daddy at home to study. Aunt Linda created a mustache themed party where the kids could put on fake mustaches among other things like big lips or smiles. And she also got sombreros for the kids to wear. At first, Andrew didn't want anything to do with either. He just wanted to play which was mainly following Max around and playing with the birthday boy. The only thing that distracted Andrew was one of Max's trains. Andrew did go outside to play on the bouncey house and their little playscape with some other kids. He was pretty well behaved for the most part. He didn't want to share the train, but relented after a little while.

Anyways, the party was a hit! All the kids seem to have a great time especially Andrew who always has fun with Max! After the party, he kept talking about how he wants to go back to Max's house to play with him.

Happy Birthday, Max! We love you lots!! Thanks for allowing us to share in your birthday celebration.

YMCA Spring Soccer Week 7: Kansas City v. Toronto

2011-04-09T22:59:00.009-05:00

This morning, Andrew had another soccer game. It was actually our turn to bring the snacks for the team. We had little choice to bring strawberries and grapes based on Andrew's affinity towards both especially after the strawberry incident last week! He was still very interested in eating during the game, but we had a little talk about when the appropriate times were to eat snacks and when he needed to just play soccer.

And he did heed our words thankfully and it seemed to do the trick because Andrew had two goals this morning. The first was a legit goal (finally on the opposing team's goal). It was actually a decent little rip. But it was later followed by another own goal, which happened when the ball was in front of his team's goal and Andrew just kicked it in. He's still confused about whose goal is whose. We are disappointed by the own goal, but we don't blame him too much. We just need to work with him to learn the game more. I am glad he is just getting the concept down of putting the ball into the goal.

I wish I would have gotten his legit goal on tape, but I didn't. I just don't know when the big things will happen. I am seriously considering just bringing out the camcorder and recording the entire game just in case!! But the third photo below is of Andrew is running right after scoring his goal.

Monster Ball

2011-04-09T22:54:00.011-05:00

Last night, Aunt Monica and I attended Lady Gaga's Monster Ball. I had talked about going with Monica and she was game. Neither of us were hardcore about going so we decided we would let fate decide for us. We would go try to scalp tickets just before the concert. If we couldn't find tickets at our pricepoint, then we would just go have dinner somewhere with that money instead.

So, we headed to the Toyota Center in Downtown and parked. We walked towards the arena and had a few conversations with some scalpers who quoted tickets at three times their face value. Hmm, no. Then, we went to the box office and inquired about what tickets they had too. But they were still more than we wanted to spend.

So, we kept walking and thinking to ourselves that this might not pan out. To be honest, we didn't see as many scalpers as we thought. From previous experiences, we have been hit up by tons more scalpers. We agreed to just wait until after the concert started at 8pm and then see if they got a little more desperate to sell. But as we walked back towards the Toyota Center, we didn't see any scalpers. They must have sold their tickets or took off. So, as our last ditch effort, we walked back up to the box office and thought we would see what they do with the Will Call tickets that don't get picked up.

But while we were in line waiting, a guy came up to us and asked if we were buying tickets. I said we were trying to. He then told us about how he had bought tickets for he came up from Mexico and had bought tickets for himself and his two friends. He told us that they bailed on him and he had two to sell and he just wanted $100 each for them, which was lower then face value. But we told him honestly that we didn't want to spend more than $80/each and would be willing to accept that. He quickly agreed so we had a deal.

When we got to our seats, we were anything but disappointed. We were just right of being center stage and in the lower level. They were great seats!! Score!

We saw a few songs from the opening act, who were okay. Neither of us knew any of their songs so we just chatted. But finally, after their set and the waiting time, the time was upon us. And she finally arrived!

The show was really good and we were both glad we ended up going. I only knew about half the songs she sang, but she sang all the ones I wanted her too (Just Dance, Bad Romance and Telephone mainly). She and her dancers were just amazing and she did show a lot of artistry in her show. But I have to just say that we both agreed that we still love Madonna and her show better (but we also concurred that we may have a biased opinion having grown up on her music).
We had lots of fun and I am glad things worked out that we got to go. Thanks, Monica, for venturing out with me. And thanks to my dear husband who took care of Andrew so I could go. James even sent me a picture of Andrew. Even though I was having fun, I was missing him on my night out. This is the message that accompanied the first picture below: "Hot. Took my shirt off and playing computer games."

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Zoobilee 2011

2011-04-09T22:42:00.004-05:00

Yesterday evening, Andrew and I went to the zoo for their members-only party, Zoobilee. We have gone the last two years; and it's always nice so I definitely wanted to take Andrew again.

The party started at 5pm; and we arrived a little before then (thanks to a late nap for Andrew). The line was pretty long (the zoo stops letting people enter at 430pm so they can get non-members out of the zoo). I was worried about how long it would take to get inside, but thankfully, my worries were all for naught. The line zoomed by and we were inside the zoo in no time!

Andrew and I walked around the zoo seeing animals and getting the necessary stamps for his booklet to receive the prize at the end. We passed the area for face painting and Drew said he wanted to get his face painted so we waited in line for that. The line was fairly long again, but he said he wanted to wait it out. And then when his turn came up, he whined that he didn't want one after all. Well, the stubborn mom that I am said wasn't about to let all that time we stood in line go to waste. So, I told him that we would watch the other kids get their faces painted and then he could get his done (hopefully). After watching two other kids, he was finally ready! Whew!! He chose a giraffe; and the gentleman airbrushed it on. Personally, I think the air brushing method is pretty cool and also nice because it's relatively quick.

Afterwards, we continued on collecting stamps and also hit up the bouncy houses they had on the way to the African Forest. Then, we saw some kids dressed up in various animal costumes who were stopped there for some photo opps. Andrew said he wanted to get his picture taken with the giraffe (it was all about the giraffes today). Then, he took a picture with the monkeys. For some reason, he didn't want to take a picture with the lion.

Anyways, we got all his stamps and it was time to head home. Andrew's prize was an animal coloring book, which he was excited about. Again, Zoobilee didn't disappoint and I am glad we got to go.

Party on the Piazza

2011-04-07T22:31:00.006-05:00

This evening, we attended Party on the Piazza at St. Luke's. It is a little bit of a fundraiser, but more so just a chance to have some fun with the St. Luke family. It's just an evening of good wholesome fun for the kids. And this year's theme was Italian obviously, which was really cute. We had speech therapy just beforehand so we met Daddy at school; and we happened to arrive almost simultaneously!

In the courtyard, Andrew enjoyed some activities such as pizza tossing (throwing felt pizza into pizza boxes and using Italian-related stamps to make a picture. Andrew also wanted to get his face painted and chose a green frog. Andrew played with Helen from class for a little bit while we all waited in line. And since the line for the face painting was rather long, I took Andrew to made an Italian flag from construction paper while Daddy waited in line to save some time. This worked out well because Andrew got to see his buddy Will at the table too.

After face painting, we went inside to eat some dinner--pasta and pizza. Afterwards, we enjoyed gelato for dessert! Delicious! By the time we finished eating, it was nearing closing time. So, we walked back outside to the courtyard and Andrew got to see some kids using a pasta machine to make Play Doh noodles. We waited for our turn, but didn't have much time. So, we just let Andrew crank the machine a little bit.

Then, we came home and got Andrew ready for bed. We all had a great time; and I really enjoy experiencing all the St. Luke's events throughout the year.

The Evil Eye

2011-04-05T23:20:00.007-05:00

I got a few snapshots tonight of Andrew doing his little "evil eye". Daddy had a work function tonight and didn't call us on the way to the dinner so I told Andrew to give Daddy the evil eye so I could send it to him on the phone. It was hilarious! Then, I grabbed my other camera to get a clearer shot of it.

The Phamily

2011-04-04T23:28:00.006-05:00

Tonight, we had a family gathering at Uncle 10's house since Duc and Y were still in town for the funeral service this morning. Nhat left earlier in the evening. I wasn't sure if I was going to go, but Andrew took a good and long nap until about 5pm. So, I thought since he wasn't going to go back to bed anytime soon, we could go down for dinner and just to hang out. I am really glad we did. It was just what we all needed--"pham"ily time. Yes, the reason we were all together sucks, but at times like these, you really need your family. And it was nice getting to spend time with everyone and just revel in the closeness of my dad's side of the family. We definitely laughed and enjoyed each other's company. It was good for all of us.

And let me mention, the food was incredible. The California cousins love seafood and they don't get the same things we have here in Texas. So, we ended up with oysters, clams, crab, and crawfish! What an incredible meal it was!!

Andrew had a blast hanging with everyone too and it touched my heart to see him spending time with Kristie. It was like he knew or something. It was really sweet to see them together and she is so wonderful with him.

I am just reminded once more how blessed I am to have such an amazing family. Not that I ever forget, but it is nights like tonight that I really feel how lucky I am.

I didn't take any pictures myself, but my cousin, Vanna, sent these shots of the family at the temple after prayer (I didn't attend but instead took Andrew home for naps).

YMCA Spring Soccer Week 6: Salt Lake v. Toronto

2011-04-02T22:23:00.013-05:00

We had our third soccer game this morning. Both Nonna and Uncle Footon were in town and came to watch Andrew. He must have really wanted to make it worth their wild because he really put on a show today!

Something totally clicked this morning because Andrew was all over the ball. He was running quickly to get to it and dribbling like a mad man. Unfortunately, it wasn't always in the right direction, but at least he was doing it.

A parent had brought strawberries for snacks and Andrew wanted to eat them. I told him he had to wait until during halftime. During which, he scarfed down a few, but apparently, still hadn't had enough by the time the game resumed. During the second half, he would run over to the strawberry container and grabbed one. Then, he would run back on the field while eating it. We yelled at Andrew to eat later, but he must have had like three or four during the second half. It was hard to keep from laughing!!

But I guess the strawberries did the trick because Andrew scored a goal!! Unfortunately, it was in his team's goal, but we'll take it. I know it's hard for Andrew to understand that each team has a goal and then to remember which one is which when he is running all over the field. Drew was right around the goal line and just kicked it into the goal. Of course, I suck and didn't get a video!

But we are so proud of Andrew's play today. He did great job getting to the ball and kicking it. And of course, we are thrilled he scored a goal. But we will definitely work with him on differentiating between his team's goal and the opposing team's goal.

We also got our professional photos back after practice. Look at my little soccer player!!

Ian's 35th Birthday Party

2011-04-01T23:48:00.000-05:00

Tonight, we went to Ian's 35th birthday party at his house down in Sugarland. Ian is an old high school friend who also attended UT with us. Daddy and Ian lived together one year; and Ian and I actually played IM doubles one season too!

We hadn't seen Ian and his family for a few years now--definitely pre-Andrew. It was back when Daddy was in business school. He and his wife, Kelly, have three cute kids (we had met the two older ones, Menya and Eli, before, but not the youngest one, Sawyer). And Andrew had a blast playing with the kids!! He immediately dove into playing with all the kids like he had known them all before. Sometimes, he is such the social butterfly.

Anyways, it was great to get to see Ian and his family after all these years. It had been way too long and it's always nice to see old friends and catch up. We definitely need to do it more often!

Nho Thi Pham

2011-03-31T22:26:00.007-05:00

Last night, we lost a beloved member of our family. My dad's younger sister, Nho Thi Pham, passed away after a three year battle with cancer. I have always called her Co Bay, which means Aunt 7. Co Bay was diagnosed when I was pregnant with Andrew and was given only six months to a year to live. The cancer had spread into her brain and she had to have surgery to remove the tumors. After the surgery, she recovered and began treatment, to which was very successful. She seemed to become pretty healthy again and we were all overjoyed. But we always knew, we were on borrowed time.

Over the past few months, her health had deteriorated including one of her kidneys stopped functioning. And then we found out that more tumors had reappeared in her brain, but she wasn't able to undergo surgery because of her weakened state with the kidney failure. Things went okay for awhile, but she never fully recovered after that.

Last Monday, she was readmitted to the hospital and the doctors said she didn't have much longer. Sadly, there wasn't anything left to do. We all braced ourselves and waited and prayed. But she held on and was later moved to a nursing home/rehab clinic. She wasn't very responsive at this point and was sleeping most of the time due to all the medication to keep her comfortable. And last night, she passed away.

Of course, I am heartbroken and filled with grief. But I am glad she's not in pain anymore. I hated seeing her in the hospital like that and we all just wanted her to be at peace. But the things I am most distraught over is the sadness I feel for my dad to lose his younger sister and for my cousin, Kristie, who is only fifteen and having to lose her mother at such a young age. I don't know what I would do now if I lost either one of my parents and I am thirty-four years old! I can't imagine what my cousin is going through. I feel so terrible that any child has to go through something like this, but more so a girl I love dearly. She's such a good kid--very well behaved and does very well in school.

Co Bay was very big on family just like my dad. She was the one who initiated the procedure to have Uncle 9's family and Uncle 10's family come here from Vietnam. She housed them and took care of them quite a bit until they were on their feet.

I can still remember the first time I met Co Bay. She and my paternal grandmother had just arrived from Vietnam. I can picture her sitting at our old dining table at our old house that I grew up in. I didn't spend a whole lot of time with her, but when I did, she was always very sweet and kind to me. And how she adored Andrew too. I have a very fond memory of Vanna's graduation party where Co Bay was making Andrew laugh hysterically. I knew then I would remember that moment always. And I will.

Co Bay, we love you and will miss you so very much. Thank you for all that you did for our family. Thank you for being a wonderful aunt.

Nho Thi Pham
05/12/1955-03/31/2011

Harry Connick, Jr.

2011-03-30T23:31:00.007-05:00

Last night, Daddy and I had a very special date night. For years, we had been wanting to see Harry Connick, Jr. but something always ended up getting in the way.

Seven years ago when we got married, James's wedding present to me was to a weekend trip to New Orleans for Jazz Fest soon after the wedding. But Saturday, the day of the show, it rained so hard that Jazz Fest was cancelled including Harry's show. We had a great time in NOLA nonetheless, but we were of course disappointed having missed the show.

Then, in 2007, Harry was coming to Houston for a show up in the Woodlands, but it was the night before James's graduation from Rice. We had lots going on including family in town that it would have been too hard to go.

So, earlier this year, when I was looking for tickets for a Thomas show at Jones Hall for Andrew, lo and behold, the website listed a show for Harry, which I hadn't heard a thing about until then. I immediately emailed James. He didn't even hesitate to say we would get tickets. We decided it would be an anniversary present for me since it was a redo for my wedding present.

Ngoai's car was in the shop and she was without a car so we were lucky when Kavi's nanny agreed to watch Andrew for us. I was a little nervous since Andrew had never seen her. This would be the first non-related babysitter since our nanny when Andrew was young. We explained to Andrew what was going on. We said we were going on a date and Ms. Racquel would come over and watch him and play with him. He was cute about asking questions like "why you go on date?", "what's anniversary?", and "why you get married?" But he seemed pretty excited about Racquel coming over.

And upon her arrival, we all ate some pizza together and talked a little bit. Once Andrew was finished eating, he hopped down off the chair and grabbed her hand to go play trains. He then said "Mommy and Daddy go bye bye now." I knew he would be okay.

During the concert, I texted Racquel a bit and she told me that Andrew was doing great. He had asked about me one time and got a little sad, but didn't cry. And to our surprise, she was able to get him to sleep at 845pm!! He never does that for us!! We totally need to get her to come over again!! And he has already asked us to go on another date so that Ms. Racquel can come back and play with him again. She is a hit all around!

The concert was incredible. Harry was as every bit good as I had thought he would be. Not only was his singing and piano playing amazing, but he is so funny and witty too!! It was such a great show and I am so glad that we went. And it made it all the better knowing Andrew was okay with Racquel.

I only had my camera phone on me (my point and shoot was out of battery). The bartender took a picture of us at the restaurant, but it was blurry. This is all I got of my wonderful date and me at the concert. I love you, James. Happy Early Anniversary!

Elise's and Kage's Birthday Party

2011-03-26T23:31:00.006-05:00

This afternoon, we were invited to Elise's and Kage's birthday party. Elise is turning four while Kage is turning two. The party began at 4pm, but Andrew took a longer than usual nap and we were late.

Drew had a blast playing with everyone especially Max. They were basically inseparable during the party even riding on one of Kage's ride on trains for a good while. Later, Andrew and Anna played kitchen with me for a little bit too. We pretended to make ice cream and cake--totally fitting for a birthday party. Evan even joined us for a bit and served up some red bean ice cream!! He's so Asian, I love it!!

Uncle Chris and Aunt Thi had an inflatable moon bounce set up and the kids loved that of course. Andrew was going every which but loose. He even tried to copy the bigger kids and walk up the slide.

Later, we made smores on the fire pit before calling it a night. Andrew thoroughly enjoyed the marshmallows. It was a fun time and I loved catching to see everyone and hang out.

Happy Birthday to Elise and Kage!! We love you two so much!!

YMCA Spring Soccer Week 5: Seattle v. Toronto

2011-03-26T23:21:00.012-05:00

It's crazy how long it's been since we had soccer. Week 2 was rained out, but we will have a make up practice and game later in April. We missed Week 3 with our trip to Vegas. And then, we didn't have the next week after that for Spring Break.

We had spent Thursday and Friday in League City and Friday night, Andrew said he didn't want to go home. I didn't care too much either way because I know he loves spending time down there and Uncle Foo was headed into town as well. The only thing I don't like is having to get Andrew up, fed, ready and out the door a good thirty-five minutes before practice to drive back up to Houston.

This morning was also Picture Day in addition to our normal practice and game. Papa, who was battling another round of gout wasn't able to play tennis this morning, decided to drive up with us to keep Andrew and I company. Then, Uncle Foo would drive up later for the game and drive them both back to League City.

For the photos, Andrew was little hyper to say the least. He was actually first to be called for his team (alphabetical by first name). I felt bad because the photographer must have taken a good twenty shots of Andrew because the kid didn't want to cooperate!! I know lots of kids do that, but I don't like it when Andrew doesn't act appropriately and he wasn't doing so at the moment.

Once he was finally finished with his individual picture, we had to wait for the all the other kids to do theirs before the team photo. Andrew was behaving then and was trying to play with another little boy, Winston. They even sat and posed for a few shots for his mom and me. Then, it was time for the team photos and Andrew did pretty good for those sitting nicely and he even got to hold the ball with another kid, Isaiah.

After, we headed to the fields and practiced a little. Finally, it was time for the game. Andrew did better this time even getting a few touches on the ball. He definitely was understanding more about the game and would go after the ball more than the first game. But he was still a little tentative at times not running as fast or waiting for the other kids to run after the ball first. He's still learning quite a bit, which we are very happy about, but we are more so just thrilled that he seems to like it.

Unfortunately, my camera ran out of battery during the game. I can't believe I forgot to recharge it!! :( So, I don't have much to share sadly. But here's some of what I did get.

Happy 37th Month Birthday!

2011-03-24T21:55:00.029-05:00

Another month has come and gone and Andrew continues to grow into such a little boy. He is still very happy and very social, but of course, we have our moments where Andrew will test our patience with meltdowns and tantrums...and other acts of disobedience. But we know that's just a part of life and it's bound to happen. We are just happy and thankful that they don't happen too often!

Andrew's speech continues to make vast improvements and progress. We are still going to speech therapy every week. One new thing I love is that he asks now, "Where's my Daddy?" versus "Where's Daddy?" So possessive already! But he is constructing several word sentences and his pronounciation is making leaps and bounds. In therapy, we have been working on Andrew pronouncing the final consonants in words.

The inquisitor still asks "why" all the time. It can be very draining at times to answer all the questions, but we try to answer him as best we can. We don't like to say "because I said so", but I have had to use "because God made it that way" a few more times than I would like to (when he asked me why we have two arms). And we also will turn it around on him to see if he is really listening to our answers. Like if he asks me why to something, I will just him why right back and more than half the time, he knows the answers. Sometimes, we just think he likes to ask us questions and then maybe he just likes to hear our answers for affirmation.

When playing trains with Andrew, he takes it upon himself to build the other person a train to play with versus letting us make one ourselves. I do try to tell him that sometimes I like to make my own train and he's okay with that. He's also been obsessed with freight trains versus passenger trains lately. When he plays Thomas, he likes to passenger trains and freight trains. Sometimes, he mixes them, but for the most part, he keeps them separated. And he enjoys telling us what freight the trains are carrying for their cargo like milk, lumber, animals, etc. As for other toys, Andrew has been really enjoying building with Legos more and more. He is getting better with putting them together. Additionally, he still enjoys playing with fire trucks and garbage trucks.

One of his little buddies, Jack, gave Andrew a kids' game very similar to Charades called "Kids On Stage". There are three colors of cards--red, blue, and green. Red cards have action words, like sleeping and washing hands. Blue cards contain animals like duck and horse. Finally, green cards have other objects like backpack and refrigerator. At first, Andrew kept saying the word before acting it out, but after a few games, he got the hang of it. He is pretty good at acting things out and even better at guessing. Daddy and I love how Andrew uses his creativity and imagination. Drew also likes to play with another birthday gift called Marble Run. Daddy does most of the building while Andrew loves to send the marbles down the tubes.

He still loves playing outside and asks for it most every day. Drew the Daredevil loves riding his scooter in the courtyard. We got him a helmet (green, of course) and he's pretty good about wearing it. He looks so cute in it!

When he wants you to play with him, he will say "come on" and then will you’re your hands leading to wherever he wants you to play. Sometimes, if it is more pressing, he will say “Hurry, come on!”

He also likes his Thomas Big Storybook collection book. We have been reading one story from the book a night. He also likes that we keep our place for the next night with bookmarks.Andrew has also been very into his Curious George books especially the one that Uncle John and his family gave Andrew with the older stories, which are quite long. We think one of the reason he likes them is because of their length and thus, allows him to delay night-night time longer.

Drew has been into coloring books and shows improvement with coloring inside the lines. It is like a big blog of color right on top of the object and a little around the object. He draws stick figures with arms and legs and will draw eyes, nose, and a mouth on faces. He will drive a square and a rectangle for fire trucks and then add a ladder and circles for wheels.

Andrew is doing great continuing to learn his alphabet and numbers. He recognizes just about all of them and can recite them as well. As for numbers, he knows 1-10 and can count into the teens at times though it’s not perfect all the time.

Drew still loves Down by the Station and The Eyes of Texas. He will totally just bust out into song sometimes and sing to himself. It's so cute! As for television, Andrew still likes Team Umizoomi and Max & Ruby.

Andrew still has computer time at night and is getting much better with his ability to use the touchpad and arrow keys. He now can navigate through some of the websites to get to where he wants to go and can also start games on his own. Drew still enjoys www.nickjr.com and www,pbskids.org probably the most. He still has been playing lots of the Team Umizoomi and Max & Ruby games online, but he will also play Curious George and Dinosaur Train.

As for food, he has been really digging fruit lately especially grapes, apples, strawberries, and blueberries. As for vegetables, the only one Andrew will eat consistently is broccoli. He will eat potatoes every now and then, but broccoli is by far his favorite. He will sometimes pick it out and eat them first.

One of his new favorite drinks is lemonade and loves to order it in restaurants. He will drink pink lemonade, but he definitely prefers the greenish/yellowish one. Also, he loves having ice in his cups with his beverages. He will get them via the ice dispenser out of the fridge. We have had to tell him to only get a few cubes because he will get an entire cup full.

I know I have said that Andrew loves pizza, but I don't know if I have mentioned before that Andrew loves Totino's pizza in particular. He loves Pizza Hut probably the most, but maybe Totino's second. We do buy the more expensive frozen pizza, but Andrew never goes to town on it like he does his Totino's. He's been eating half of the pizza lately, while I eat the other half. I can't believe he can put down as much as me!! At first, I had to pick off the pepperoni, but thankfully now, he's starting to like meat on pizza.

He has also been eating french fries and potato chips more and more these days. He will dip his fries in ketchup, teriyaki sauce or barbeque sauce. He is also likes the cheese crackers with peanut butter probably because he sees us eating them. Andrew still loves to eat chicken nuggets (especially with barbeque sauce) and grilled cheese sandwiches. He has been more in an apple juice phase and not drinking as much milk.

Our three year old continues to try to become more and more independent. Usually, this is a good thing, but not when it is him fighting naps. There are have been a few days this past month where he will sit in his room for over an hour before falling asleep, which can be very frustrating. I wish I could make him realize how awesome naps are and how much he will wish he could take them when he's older!! I also wish I could make him realize that he still needs his naps! He is totally not ready to drop them completely. If he skips his nap, he can become very ornery by the late afternoon. On those days, we just put him down for night night super early so he can catch up on his sleep.

More signs of Andrew's independence is that he is trying to dress himself (and undress himself), washing his own hands, and getting food and drinks from the kitchen. He's also gotten good at taking off his shoes and socks.

He definitely knows his mind. He never likes to take band-aids off so now won't ever want one on like after his shot at his three year checkup. And when he gets scrapes or cuts of any kind, he might cry a little bit, but will be more concerned about not putting a bandaid on. He also loves to show boo boos to people

He is more into taking showers rather than baths, which is nice for us because it's less messy! We don't have problems with him spilling water out of the tub!! Sometimes, he will try to get out of baths or showers. He’ll sometimes tell us "I no take bath. I not dirty.

Andrew is still loving school especially his classmates. When he sees any of them in the parking lot, he will want to run to them and walk to the classroom with them. Same for leaving school too--he will tell him he wants to "follow" whomever and walk with them to the parking lot.

He does asks me about whether it is a short day at school and if he has to go night night there. For whatever reason, he is apprehensive about taking a nap at school. But apparently it's all talk because he hasn't ever missed a nap at school. I think he just likes to nap at home better for whatever reason.

Andrew can totally crack us up with the things he says and does. For example, one day, Andrew and Daddy went on a little grocery one (I think I stayed home to rest). Daddy was listening to some song on the radio. Andrew then tells James he wants a train song. So Daddy replies back "what does a train song sound like?" Andrew candidly replies "train songs go like this 'whoo hoo, all aboard!'"

And in imitation, he has learned to give the evil eye stare down when he's not happy. I do this to him all the time--sometimes joking, but usually in seriousness. When he first did it, I laughed hysterically so he thinks it's just a funny thing to do and now will do it on command. I will definitely have to take a picture of it soon.

Drew has also shown a little bit of becoming a smart alleck too. Since he turned three, we have bumped up his time outs to three minutes. Well, one day, I told him to go to timeout and told him he had to sit for three minutes to reinforce the new time length. He then asks me "one minute?" like he used to ask when I told him two minutes before. So I ask him "how old are you?" to get the point across that he has to stay in timeout for as many minutes as how old he is. He calmly replies "one year." The punk!!

I guess he misses our road trips because he asks all the time to go to Uncle Anh Tuan's house and Nonna's house. And he keeps asking when we will go to Aunt Anh Thu's house again. I have to tell him we probably won't have any trips until after Daddy's test and he doesn't give me any grief over my answer. But then a few days later or when he thinks of it, he will ask me again.

He asks all the time when we pull into the complex that he be allowed to drive the car. I let him about 20% of the time. He's pretty calm at the steering wheel. I was hesitant at first because I thought he would go crazy turning the steering wheel back and forth.

We have been trying to work with Andrew about cleaning up after himself. He's always been pretty good about picking up his toys. But now, we try to get him to pick up whatever toys he's been playing with last before he gets a new toy out. It's working so far, but we have to keep after him.

Also, we have kept at trying to instill a reward system with Andrew. We tell him if he can put himself to bed without too much difficulty, he can earn his TV time for the next day. We tell him he needs to lay still, not come out (too many times), and go to sleep fairly quickly. Granted it's a fairly objective standard, but it does seem to be helping.

Recently, Andrew has been sleeping on floor. I don't know if he's because he doesn't have enough room in his toddler bed (which uses a crib mattress) or if he just finds the floor more comfortable right now or maybe this is just a phase and he just needs a change of scenery. I joke that he is like his mother liking to sleep on the floor, but I wish he wouldn't be. But we are letting him for the meantime and see if he goes back to his bed or not.

He has always loved spending time at Ngoai's and Papa's house, but he is totally obsessed now since we have been spending even more time there so Daddy can study. He asks all the time when we are going to go to their house. He never wants to go home. He tells me all the time that he will stay there and I can go home and pick him up later (like when Daddy and I have date night). One time, I threatened that I was going to go home without him and he just calmly replies, "bye bye Mommy". But when I do get him home, it's all about Daddy. He just likes to stay where he is. But I understand why he loves going to League City...Ngoai and Papa spoil him rotten. And he is over the moon when Papa plays with him. It's so sweet. I just feel bad that Andrew never gives Papa a break! Luckily, they love having him there just as much as he loves it, so it all works out.

Here's my little boy in yet another new shirt--the shirt from his birthday party. I was sad the guests didn't get to see another cute creatiion from Aunt Thuy, but I guess we will just have to blame the cooler weather and live with it. But Andrew loves to wear it whenever he can.

Three Boys!?

2011-03-22T22:57:00.005-05:00

Don't get too excited...we aren't having twin boys. But today, I got a little taste of how it would if we were. Mrs. Andi had a doctor's appointment here in town this afternoon and her normal babysitter wasn't able to watch Gavin and Shane. She asked if I would mind watching the boys while she went. Of course, I didn't mind. I was excited at the thought. I need to practice, right?!When I told Andrew his little buddies were coming over, he was super excited as well.

Soon after they arrived, Mrs. Andi left for the doctor's office and it was just me with all three boys. I have to say I was a little nervous, but it was all for naught. The boys did so great and played together so wonderfully. We didn't have any crying, yelling, or fighting. We had to work out some sharing issues, but the boys cooperated without much hesitation. They really took it easy on me!! And Gavin is such a good big brother offering Shane toys all the time (I hope Andrew will be the same for his younger sibling).

Before we knew it, Andi returned back from her appointment to find all four of us happy and unscathed!! We asked the boys if they wanted to order pizza and eat it at the house or go out to eat at Mission Burrito. It was a unanimous choice by all to go to Mission Burrito where the fun continued. The boys ate great and after, played in the playscape. We couldn't have asked for a better afternoon!! And I am so happy that I made it through an hour or so of having three boys on my own without too much difficulty. I guess there may be hope for us after all! ;)

Pregnancy Journal: First Trimester

2011-03-21T21:53:00.001-05:00

Here's a small rundown of my pregnancy during the first trimester:

Five Weeks:

January 18, 2011

I took two at-home pregnancy tests this evening, both giving positive results. Officially, my due date is September 19, 2011 and I am 5 weeks and 3 days along. I am in total shock, but so very happy and excited!

January 20, 2011

I went to my OB/GYN to get confirmation of my pregnancy. Andrew figured it out probably from the discussions we had with the nurse.

After the appointment, Andrew began talking more about the "baby in belly" and even asked about seeing and holding the baby right now. We talk about how the baby needs to get bigger before the baby comes out.

And the cutest thing is that today after nap, he came up to me, kissed my stomach, and said "love you, baby" all on his own. Love it!

January 22, 2011

We have worked on him telling our family and some friends that he's "going to be a big brother". He will try to lay on top of me like always, but I have had to tell him that he may hurt the baby when he does that to get him used to the idea of when both the baby and I get bigger.

Six Weeks:

January 26, 2011

At this morning's appointment with Dr. Samuels, her nurse Tammy did an ultrasound to check on some things and everything looks fine so far.

So far the only symptoms I am experiencing is mild stomach pain stomach pain and a little queasiness at times too, but no official morning sickness thankfully!! But the thing that is affecting me the most is fatigue. But I know it happens a lot with the second pregnancy. Especially when you are chasing after a very active three year old!

Week 7

Nothing really to report. I am still very tired and don't have near as much energy. I wonder how I am going to make it through this pregnancy with this lessened amount of energy. :(

Thankfully, I am feeling a little less queasy and less stomach pain too!

Week 8

I am happy to say that this week, I have felt more energized, but not up to my standard level by any means. I am still experiencing some queasiness and stomach pain, but it's definitely bearable.

One night, I had a dream that it was a boy. When I was pregnant with Andrew, I had two dreams of boys. My first dream was the night right before the ultrasound appointment where we were going to find out the gender. In that dream, I was in the doctor's office and he was telling me that we were having a second boy. And in my second dream, I was picking out clothes for a boy. This morning's dream was again picking out clothes, but this time, I was looking for matching outfits. We'll see if I am right!

Week 9

This week has been more of the same. Still experiencing fatigue, stomach pains, and queasiness. I am still taking naps during the day to help me reenergize myself. And I am trying to be more cognizant of eating more often to fend of the queasiness. Unfortunately, the stomach pains come and go as they please, but they aren't too unbearable.

Week 10

This week, I had a doctor's appointment and got to hear the heartbeat via the Doppler machine. It still pulls my heartstrings when I hear the heartbeat!! And with my decreased appetite, apparently, I have lost two pounds. Thankfully, I have plenty to spare!!

Week 11

I have started feeling my stomach stretch already! I know most people will show sooner in their subsequent pregnancies, but I wasn't expecting it so soon.

As for other pregnancy symptoms, my energy level is gradually increasing, but I still take naps almost every day. Else who else if I would be able to function!

The queasiness is definitely subsiding. I have started to notice that I get more queasy when I tend to overexert myself. So, I am very conscientious about not pushing myself too hard or to slow it down if I start to feel it coming on, which is working very well so far.

Week 12

March 8, 2011

Today, we had our ultrasound with Dr. Kirshon. Everything looks good so far with the baby, which we are so grateful for. Andrew went with us and liked looking at the baby on the screen, but it was hard for him to make the baby out on the monitor. Dr. Kirshon was about 85% sure of the sex, but he didn't want to say 100%. He told us he was pretty sure, but he wouldn't be making it known to the world in case he was wrong. But we will get to find out for sure in six weeks.

Andrew's New Shirt

2011-03-20T23:25:00.015-05:00

This is Andrew's newest shirt!

Yes, it means Andrew is going to be a big brother. I am still in awe that we are expecting our second child!! I am officially due September 19, 2011!! We are so excited and are over the moon thrilled!!

I took two pregnancy tests on January 18th. For confirmation, we went to the doctors on the 20th. I could only get a Thursday appointment so we had to take Andrew with us. I had initially told him that I was going to see the doctors to see if I could have a baby. We didn't want to tell him so early on in case something happened. But I guess with all the talk between the nurse and myself, Andrew figured it out. Because afterwards, he asked me point blank, "Mommy have baby in belly?" And since I don't like lying to him, I told him "yes", but then explained to him that the baby was very small and it was still very early on.

We had our twelve-week ultrasound March 8th before we left for Vegas and everything looks great so far. Dr. Kirshon wasn't sure about the sex yet, but was leaning 85% one way, but we won't say until we know for sure, which will be at our next appointment with him when I am eighteen weeks. We weren't quite ready to go public with our news quite then either because we were awaiting the results from some tests just to make sure all was well with the baby. And then, there was Vegas (which is why I couldn't go sledding myself.) And when we got back, I enlisted my cousin to design this big brother shirt for Drew--by the way, he was very adamant about having a coal car, passenger car, and caboose!

So far, the pregnancy hasn't been too bad. I haven't had morning sickness, but have just been queasy quite a bit. And then, the most prominent symptom of pregnancy I have been experiencing is fatigue. I have been really, really tired a lot!! And it sucks being this tired with an active three year old. I feel so bad that there are times when I am too exhausted to give it my all with Andrew. But he's been very understanding allowing me to rest. And so far, he's been very excited with the news of having a baby around. I just hope it continues to be this way. I will describe more about the pregnancy thus far in another posting. I just wanted to share the big news!