Opt-out?

Notice the sudden string of blogs in such a close time range. Can I make it more obvious that it's been slow at work? That just means next month is gonna be nuts. I'm blogging more frequently to keep up with my own life since everything seems like a blur these days. I don't want to be so swamped as to forget to jot down particular memories and thoughts I know I'll appreciate stumbling upon later.

Well, onto a more personal update.

My baby toddler is walking/stumbling along with his newfound use of legs and feet whilst holding whatever glorious discovery he can find whether it be a toy or the dog food, which I have to pry out of his hands. He looks like a little drunk guy - freakin' hilarious. He's finally mastered unlevel areas such as from the playmat onto the hardwood floor or vice versa. He already mastered climbing the stairs months ago. I do miss his newborn infant days, when he cracked his first smile, started rolling over, doing the military crawl (army wife terminology there), babbling.

I'm stating that *gasp* I'm ready to take on this next one, that I miss those newborn days. I never even pictured myself as a mother of even one and sometimes I still can't believe it. I thought I wasn't ready. I was so stressed out, thinking I wasn't ready for no sleep and nursing and colic and ten diaper changes a day. But here I am, anxious for the day he arrives. Having children close together has its ups and downs. Of course, the down is that you have an overactive toddler running around wanting your attention while you're trying to comfort a crying infant in your arms. The up is that you haven't forgotten the ins and outs of rearing the baby and you have all the necessary items from the first child already. First-time parents, no matter how much they planned beforehand, are never ready for that first child(s). They don't know what hit them in the first three months of the baby's life, going through it in a zombie-like state, wondering when the baby will ever come to terms with his or her new world. At least, that's how we were. I'm so glad we went through it though, because we are stronger and more confident as a couple, parents, and as a family. I truly believe newborns come to this world to test our love and limits. Once we come through, there never was such a more wonderful thing. So now, I actually feel ready, extremely content, and relaxed about this second one - and I'm more than sure he'll sense our more relaxed nature and be more relaxed himself. We're crossing our fingers at least - ha.

I notice the big brother is taking a liking to my growing belly. We get a kick out of him rubbing it and then smiling his big whole-hearted smile. He obviously doesn't realize what's baking, but he knows it's growing. I'm so grateful he's going to have a brother so close in age with him. Who doesn't want a sibling the same sex? I always wanted a sister, and B always wanted a brother. With this stroke of luck, our first two children will have this fortune.

Who knows what the third will bring? Of course, I want a girl, but a boy again is fine too. B is the one who wants a third, and surprisingly, I'm not completely against it. I always thought a bigger family is more endearing.

I realize I'm young with goals that I wish to attain within the next ten years (hopefully), but it seems motherhood is the best thing that has ever happened to me, the thing that I'm best at, and the most rewarding. Since I have the option of doing it full-time, Opting-out doesn't seem like a bad idea in the near future...

What do you think about opting-out? Is it so wrong that women simply don't want to be in the workforce despite their education and experience? That they ignore all the eye-rolling and the opinions of those who choose to stay child-free and/or opt-in?

I was once an advocate of opting-in, but you truly don't know the meaning of motherhood until you enter it. It's a whole other splendid ball game. My take is if you have the luxury and yearning of being a SAHM, especially if you feel torn between work and home, by all means, do it. That's something you will never regret. And if you choose to work, then that's great, too. Having your own day, your own paycheck, and extra income for the family can't go wrong either.

Sew in love

My new want: a sweet sewing machine! *drool*

I got one as a gift (from my bridal shower, thanks loves!) which I'm alright with. But compared to my mom's classic 20-year-old one (which are THE best sewing machines, hands down, even better than the newbie technologically-enhanced ones sometimes), my current one is no comparison. Sigh.

I stopped by a nearby Singer store and my eyes were literally glued to one. It cost $499, a far better price than I had expected, because as you can imagine, they go up into the thousands depending on what brand and features you're looking for. Then I saw there were machines that ranged from $200-300 (refurbished) with the essentials I needed. The $499 one was a tad out of my price range and had features I probably won't touch unless I became a better sewer.

I consider myself a beginning to intermediate sewer, sewing and hemming my own things since I was a little girl. My mom was a tailor back in the day and I was drawn to her Singer sewing machine (the same one she uses to this day that I love). She used to make clothes for my Barbie and Ken dolls with scrap fabric. Oh, those were the days.

I was always more into the arts & crafts rather than make-up and shopping. I did multiple crafts since I could pick up a pen: sew, knit, crochet, cross-stitch, embroidery, lanyard-making, jewelery-making, scrapbook, etc. Either I was playing outside or doing my nifty crafts - never bored on a rainy day! Then when middle school and high school came around, I found love in painting and drawing. My hubby even got me this awesome easel with some incredible painting supplies that I have yet to tackle. I don't consider myself great at all of that, but when you like something so much, you try hard to be good at it, right? So I want to tackle sewing next.

A good sewing machine that can suit my needs will be my next big for-fun buy, so I'm doing my research for now. Some other important (or not) purchase always comes up instead, ya know what I mean? I might just hint to the hubster though. I already have but he didn't seem to pick it up. Maybe I gotta nudge him a bit harder. If that doesn't work, maybe an elbow to the gut when we drive by the Singer store. Ha, just messin'. But it might work.

The greatest compliment

The greatest compliment you can ever receive from your own mother is that she thinks you're a good parent. All the difficulties between you and her seem to not matter anymore. I take it day by day on how hard my parents can be, but the simple fact that my mom believes I'm good at what I do makes all those issues seem minute. And the fact that I don't live with them anymore does wonders.

I consider myself an overall confident person with the average flaws, but becoming a mother has brought out a newfound confidence. I've always been self-conscious about very insignificant normal things like the average person. Things that I never thought I would get over. Things that I never knew could be gotten over. Yet here I am, content as ever, with a clear path and clear goals. Oddly enough, I really think it's due to my parents not being in-yo-face with me now. I cared about what they thought of me so much that I let it affect my deepest core.

It's a slow process to mend. Distance from the source does wonders, despite the fact that you can be drawn to the same problems elsewhere. So I've learned to simply deal and not bring up the past any longer. Now I feel free that they are at least happy for me.

The main thing is that image is no longer an issue. I no longer worry about what people think. I wish I can say I was one of those people who never cared what people thought, because I acted like it, but deep down, even those who say they don't care what people think really do care. Otherwise, why would they advertise as such? Think about it, those spirited people who claim they are carefree and do as they please hear that so-and-so is backstabbing them - they confront them straight up. There, they obviously care what people think.

There should be a balance. Never too happy, or hurt, or angry, or excited. By all means, have opinions but don't let them eat you or others up.

I talk of these things because I don't need anymore stress than I already have. And neither do you all.

~~~~~~~~~~~

On another note.

For those who have had dear pets who have been lost or have died or you're just one of those people who have sensitive heartstrings.

"We sat together for a while after Belker's death, wondering aloud about the sad fact that animal lives are shorter than human lives. Shane, six years old, who had been listening quietly, piped up, 'I know why.'

Startled, we all turned to him. What came out of his mouth next stunned me. I'd never heard a more comforting explanation.

He said, 'People are born so that they can learn how to live a good life - like loving everybody all the time and being nice, right?' The six-year-old continued, 'Well, dogs already know how to do that, so they don't have to stay as long.' "

Ah, the pure bliss of health.

I say that because I got my first case of food poisoning and/or stomach flu yesterday! Uggghh..one thing I can tell you without going into TMI mode was that it was g-g-grosss. Maybe that's TMI right there..haha. Good thing I didn't get a fever though or it could've been pret-ty bad. I called in late to work and did go in anyway thinking my system was cleared by the afternoon, but it wasn't. I still have cramps today so I called in sick since I didn't wanna take any chances of doing disappearing acts while on the job.

I had no idea what I ate that caused it because hubby and baby didn't eat anything different from me and they were fine. I had next to no appetite (from nausea) and was too scared to eat anything that would mess up my digestive tract. But needless to say, I'm back to my good ol' diet - the eat-as-much-as-I-can-til-I-have-heartburn-again diet. I'm more careful not to eat old food or stuff that would be hard to digest though. Sigh, how wonderful being healthy and preggerz is - can't take it for granted anymore! I thought I was invincible since I've never gotten morning sickness or any complications during pregnancy. And not to worry, having a day or two of such digestive issues with full recovery afterward doesn't affect the fetus. Supposedly, that thing can survive off a few days or so off the remnants of nutrition that is in the mama's body already. I was really wondering if the constant strong kicks and movement from him was from him being mad at me for not eating. I don't blame him because I get pretty darn angry when I'm hungry too.

Glad that's over!

Carribean Princess - Part IV: St. Thomas, USVI, and Princess Cays

St. Thomas
Just FYI, we didn't have many pics from this stop because we used the underwater camera, which still has yet to be developed since we wanna get our money's worth and use the whole roll. So this is what you get so far anyway.


^^On the boat ready to go snorkeling.


^^Hoping to catch some rays.


^^It was a tad overcast, but got pretty sunny later, thank goodness.


^^Showing off the ship's towels.




^^The ship.



Princess Cays
This island is actually owned by the cruiseline, so everything and anything was catered to them. There was even a bbq buffet there! Anything you rent and such can be charged to your room. And there were all these souvenire stands of course with locals doing the selling. It was probably the most relaxing stop we had since we didn't go on any excursions here - just chillaxed on the beach and snorkeled freely along the beach. Absolutely breath-taking.


^^A pond within the island. This area was still being developed into somewhere you can get to so it was closed off.






^^Please excuse my lack of tone.


^^Here too.


^^And here. You get the point.


^^Excuse the farmer's tan here.




^^B exploring the unimpressive coral. There were little fishies, but nothing spectacular except the water.








^^He just had to.




^^Now my turn to get out there.


^^Other activities they offered.




^^Over and out.

Sophia and Calvin Part I: Sophia's bridal shower

Sophia and Calvin's wedding was by far one of the most unique, colorful, and long weddings I've ever been a part of and attended. It consisted of four parts: the traditional Chinese tea ceremony (which took place the day before the long day and which only consisted of immediate family so I wasn't there), the morning Cambodian traditional ceremony, the church ceremony, and the reception. Imagine experiencing/planning a week-long wedding, as I've heard some cultures do (i.e. Indian weddings). Indian weddings are probably the most elaborate and expensive weddings I've ever heard of. They actually need sponsors! I'm going to my first one in August and another in Sept, so expect to see some eye candy from those too!



^^Table set and ready to surprise the bride upon her arrival. I am constantly impressed by what ideas/decor people can come up with and find. I suck at party decor! I just copycat stuff I like that I see at other people's parties..no harm in that, right? (Or I just use my trusty party-decorated n0smoking, of course.)


^^Bundt cake made from scratch! Impressive. Made by the maid of honor (bride's sister).


^^The bridesmaids.


^^Surprise! (Well, more like "Wow, it looks so nice!" because she already knew about it, but didn't know where and who.)


^^The cute balloon.


^^Bride and guests.


^^Bride and moi.