Well, E and I have been back in California for about a week now. We still have another week and a half to go before we head back to Japan with Jason.

Jason will be coming soon (yay!) I’ve missed him terribly this whole week and it hasn’t been easy taking care of E on my own most of the time. I just miss having him around to talk to and to get a hug from when E is having one of her grumpy moments.

Our trip so far hasn’t been too bad. E has been on good behavior for the most part. She’s definitely less scared of people than last time we were home. She’s also walking a lot more since there is definitely more space here. She’s also figured out how to climb stairs while at my in-laws because she wanted to chase after their cats. It’s cute how she is so curious about the cats and always runs to them but stops just a few steps away from them, too afraid to touch them herself.

We also went to the cupcake challenge with meems, Will, z, pickle and her boyfriend. It was quite an interesting event since we went with high hopes of eating lots of cupcakes only to fail before we even made it through half the list. I blame it on the buttercream frosting that everyone seems to be using. It’s way too sweet and it really does kill the taste buds. One great thing they had there was this photobooth where we can take unlimited photos. Here’s a group shot:

and here’s one with me, e, meems and z

I actually had played with the idea of renting one of those booths for e’s upcoming birthday party but the last minute decision, cost, space and the amount of guests we were actually having didn’t make it worth it.

Z is a really cute baby boy.  I wouldn’t mind having another baby if I can have one with his personality and temperament.   I still love my e most though! :)

Coming up:  Jason joins us in CA and E’s 1st birthday parties!

E and I are pretty much ready for our flight home. It’s going to be weird traveling without Jason for so long but time will fly by quickly.

Wish us luck on our long flight!

Going to try putting 3 different updates in this post…

There’s a link to each one that you can click on to view.
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Korean style beef stirfry

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Ring in the new year!

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One day, she’ll get us back for this

The story…

I know I don’t have many people read my blog other than my family (hi, mom, dad, meems, Nicole and auntie Mary) and a few friends (hi Jen and Angel!) but I figure there’s no harm in sharing this with you.

Growing up, my dad has always taught us to be generous and to help those less fortunate than us.  It’s one of those lessons that’s stuck with me all my life and probably why I have no problem with donating to charity even when I’m tight on cash myself.

No, I’m not going to talk about helping Haiti by donating to all the relief agencies out there (though if you haven’t, it doesn’t hurt to go check it out and help out a little bit.  I know I did.)  This time, I’m talking about March of Dimes.  It’s a non profit organization that focuses on and brings awareness to the prevention of premature births and preventing birth defects and baby mortality.  You can read more about them at their website: www.marchofdimes.com.

Of course, ever since E was born, my heart grew very soft for charities and organizations that work on improving the lives of children and the March of Dimes is no exception.

They are an important organization for me because I referenced it a lot during my 3rd trimester when I was diagnosed with high blood pressure and anemia, both rather scary things to have when pregnant since it is potentially life threatening if not monitored.  Without the information that was provided on their website, I wouldn’t have been as informed about my own condition and about the risks I was putting us in by not having an induced labor.

So why am I bringing it up now?

It’s because Lori and her husband, Aaron, over at I Can Grow People, will be participating in the walk that is being held by their local chapter of March of Dimes.  Also because they went through a lot when their son, Porter, was born prematurely and she has been a strong advocate for bringing awareness to premature births through her blog.  Plus, her blog has helped me deal with E and my own experience as a first time mother.  Mostly it’s because I admire the courage and strength that they have with raising their son despite some of the bumps they’ve encountered after he was born.

I donated a little bit to their cause and if you are interested, you can also help them meet their goal also by donating at their team site.  They are doing this for Porter and I donated for E and for my nephew, Z’s sake.  If you’d rather donate directly to March of Dimes, you can do so by going to their website and look for the donate button.

Even if you don’t feel like donating (and since I probably just have 2 people who read this blog, this probably will be the case), please go check out Lori’s blog and read about her life as a mom to Porter.

Oh and speaking of blogs, another one of my favorite blogs that I read on a regular basis, Confessions of a Young Married Couple, is up for blog of the year award at the Bloggies 2010 awards.  Now, I don’t normally care for these types of things much but I really do love their blog and their take on parenthood so even if you don’t want to go and vote, you should really go read their blog.  I know I turned meems into a fan and I’m sure you’ll love reading about their son, the Bean.

Actually, you should just go check out who’s nominated for the Bloggies because I did and I found several new blogs that I absolutely fell in love with and will be following on Google reader from now on.

J.

2010…

Another decade has passed us by once more.  So far, January has been quite busy for all of us.

Jason’s working on middle shift which means he sleeps in an hour or two and gets to come home for dinner and quality time with me and E. With E being so mobile these days, it’s more fun for Jason to interact with her.

Ellie’s been quite active this month.  She’s heading towards toddler-hood and at quite a fast pace too.  Over the holiday season, she went from a baby that did a slow, jerky crawling movement to one that constantly needs to be chased.  She cruises a lot now and she is fast!  (and I don’t mean cruising as in the boats but as the walking-with-assistance thing)  She’s even managed to free stand a lot now and can take a step or two on her own.

On the eating end, she’s taking in more solids and less breastmilk these days.  We’re still giving her 50/50 boobie/formula so she still gets that but she’s definitely eating a lot more solid food.  (and her diapers definitely holds proof of that!)

She’s also sleeping through the nights on her own in her crib now.  No more co-sleeping for us.  She still wakes up once in the middle of the night but is easy to put back down.

Yes, my baby hamster is growing up fast.

Me, well I’ve been preoccupied with several projects I’ve started to keep my mind sharp in terms of designing things, etc.  I also cook a lot more now since eating out isn’t good in the long run for me, Jason and now E.  We have groceries delivered to us every week so I have no excuse about not cooking because we don’t have food.  In fact, a lot of the food I cook also has a side note on how to prepare an infant friendly portion.  So these days, E pretty much eats what we eats.   I’m hoping I can put some of these recipes up on this blog under the food section soon.

I’m also in the process of figuring out what to do once I go back to school and possibly work.  The daycare situation gives me a headache because there just isn’t enough daycare spaces available and sending E to an international preschool seems too expensive an option.  I still have some time to try to figure out what to do…but time is also running out.

Anyway, back to January events…

Jason celebrated his 30th birthday on the 4th (same day as his mom coincidentally).  We didn’t really do anything big since he worked that day.  The 3 of us headed out to Akiba for some kaiten sushi and just to visit the hamsters at the amusement centers and stores.  E ate a plate of tamago-yaki.  I helped her out by eating some of the rice but she pretty much polished off the plate on her own.

On the 15th, E and I met up with several other mom friends and their babies and just hung out with them.  It’s really amazing seeing how much everyone has grown since we last saw them.  I really enjoy their company and I’m pretty sure E will one day appreciate her little friends.

On the 20th, a good friend of mines from high school gave birth to their first daughter, Lily (short for Lilian).  I recently got to see a picture of her online and she is one cute baby!  I hope that one day she and E can become friends too.

And that pretty much brings us up to speed as to the January happenings in our lives.  Not too exciting maybe but for me and Jason, watching E grow from an immobile infant to a lively little toddler has been amazing.  Of course, there are still days where we wish we can just hold her and not have her grow up so fast….

J.

Sigh…

This year, my resolution was to update more often. A month later, I only have 1 post up and it’s the end of January already. Can we all say slacker?

Truthfully, I think I just have too much on my plate. I stupidly picked up several personal projects that require more time than I was ready for.

I’ve also been trying to figure out how to turn this blog into a multi-blog since I feel like some things don’t quite fit into the main blog.

Brain…too…tired…

For now, I will just say that I’m busy with stuff. I’ll put up a summary of January either tomorrow or the day after…

Let’s hope I can do a restart and start blogging more often soon.