Hand Foot Mouth

Leelee contracted Hand Foot Mouth disease and is sitting at home with dad as I type away on a Monday. I did not realize how many little strains of sickness kids could contract. Sheesh! It seems like there is always something going on, and now that we have Kindercare a couple days a week, he can't go if he's sick so one of us had to stay home with him. Bummer. I wondered all yesterday why he was yelling and crying everytime he drank milk out of a sippy cup or ate anything. Finally I caught a glimpse of his tongue which had an aphthous ulcer (the technical name!) on the tip of it. I found two more ulcers on the inside of his mouth and cheeks and as the day progressed, pinpoint rashes began to appear on his hands and feet. The back of his legs were covered in rash before, but we didn't know what it was at the time.

Anyway, diseases aside, it was a fairly monumental week for Christian. He got his first real bed and seems to be enjoying it, although he helps himself off of bed and over to our room anytime we make the mistake of leaving his room door ajar.

Saturday was a very nice 70 degree sunny day so we hit up two food cart pods (Belmont & 43rd and Clinton & 50th) and babysat Mal and Didi.

Easter Sunday we dyed eggs with cousins, had brunch at Ken and Jane's and spent the rest of the day trying to entice Leelee with anything he would eat. Gummy vitamins and popsicles made it to the top of the list without a problem, and Dae texted me this morning to inform me Leelee had no problem gobbling up a Krispy Kreme donut, no complaints. Of course.

Week thus far

Ev told me it's National Screen-free Week. So, naturally the kids spent the morning glued to the screen:

Later in the day, Mal practiced her riffs on the guitar:

And last Sunday it was a nice day for our Mom's Potluck at Lori's house:

Ronan, Christian, Zoey, Olivia

I Love Smoothies/Ricky Gervais

I feel like he looks like Ricky Gervais in this photo...

Food Carts

I think we've decided to become food cart people. A little history: I like to pick and choose from a variety of offerings. I don't like to be boxed into one type of cuisine on any given night (that's why buffets suit me so well, to the embarrassment of Dae. I thought Koreans loved buffets but he's a Korean of a different ilk). Anyhow, the last two nights were a big treat since Dae and I were both free and able to get dinner as a family. So we chose a Mexican food cart for our first adventure on Friday night per a recommendation from a friend at work. The tacos were good, the burrito and quesadilla just so-so, and the carbonated orange drink was delicious! Leelee loved splashing in the puddles in front of the cart.

Tonight we went to the food carts around 50th and Division. Dae had wanted to go to "Kim Jong Grillin" purely because of its name and then because he read the reviews on Yelp and they were actually decent. The Bi Bim Box was sooooo good...we'll be back to this place. I sniffed around and saw a Turkish cart which was right up my food alley. So out of the three carts at this location, the third being a rib place, we got 3 different cuisines.

We will definitely be back to Kim Jong Grillin. Even though their prices are a little steeper than the average cart the food is definitely delish.

We're having a Boy!

He's an active little thing...arms and legs were flailing about everywhere on the ultrasound. I should have known with all that kicking it was a boy!

Things to Remember

I wanted to document a few things so I don't forget:

This morning I gave Christian a banana and he said "Thank you so much!".

After the first week of Kindercare, which is going pretty well I think, the director said that he was doing well "even with the language barrier". I am not sure why I think that is so funny! I had told them that they may not really understand him since he pretty much only speaks Chinese, but can't help but think of poor little Leelee speaking his Chinese gibberish among the other tots. I hope they will still socialize with him!

We find out gender tomorrow on the ultrasound. I am nervous!

60 degree Phoenix

So fitting! (Jessica who couldn't make it was our 'distant' one)

Our weekend in Phoenix was colder than anticipated (especially on Saturday when it was a chilly sub-60) but we laid out on sunny Sunday, took a yoga class, went on a hike up Camelback Mountain, shopped (and shopped and shopped) and ate (and ate and ate). Girls' weekend success!

Mexican dinner at Blanco

Hiking Camelback. I was huffin' and puffin'. Luckily we did not climb to the top.

This was the first trip I didn't take my real camera and just relied on my iPhone. I did realize that I take way less pictures when I just have my iPhone, and also came to the realization that my regular camera photos aren't much better than iPhone photos! So sad that I am such a poor photographer.

The weekend was pretty funny for a variety of reasons:

* Our days of hitting the nightlife are over (and I'm pretty sure a pregnant woman is a bit of a buzzkill). The heaviest partying came in the form of a second margarita for Terra, while Trena stopped at one. I think we probably overdid it on guacamole and salsa more than anything else!

* The shower didn't get touched for a good 48 hours into our trip, as bathing has become second priority and optional on most days. hehe.

* We talked about how these days getting prepped for a trip took some serious thought and weeks of proper planning (self-tanning, maintenance, etc.)

* Trena had a shirtdress which, when accessorized with a belt, was her fancy dinner outfit. It quickly transitioned into her sleep outfit when she realized her only other sleep shirt was soiled after it had doubled as a hiking shirt. So we called it her 'day-to-night' outfit and joked she could even roll out of bed and straight to the airport to make it her 'day-to-night-to-day' outfit!

It was a really good weekend. I know I'm pretty lucky to be able to take a lot of trips. Fortunately, while Dae was held up late at the hospital on Friday, Ev and family stepped in to take Leelee to the beach. This left Dae free as a bird until Sunday! So nice. Leelee asked about Aunty Ev today so I am thinking he's missing his cousins as well as the Burgerville and McDonald's lunches (and perhaps not in that order! ha)

Off to do some laundry...

Vitamix and Kindercare

Two important things happened this week: the debut of the Vitamix and Christian's first day at Kindercare. The Vitamix, I believe, is going to change our lives (ha!). I am pretty much sold. I've made several mixtures for Christian which include spinach and he always asks for more, I made a smoothie for Dae last night and even he thought it tasted like Jamba Juice and I am tackling Chicken Tortilla Soup tonight in the mixer (no cooking! no pots!). The smoothies so far have involved spinach, tofu, carrots, avocado, and all sorts of fruits and I am dreaming of adding beets and kale...the possibilities are endless! So as you can tell I am excited.

Christian and Vitamix

Christian's first day at Kindercare was Monday and boy was I nervous. It had already been a weird weekend since Dae was gone and Christian had all sorts of breakdowns so I was so relieved that Dae was able to come from work to meet me at Kindercare for the first dropoff. We packed Leelee's little tote with his stuffed frog, blanket for napping, and some extra clothes. When we dropped him off he cried, but Dae said he went back and looked in the window and he had already stopped crying and was playing. All day at work I checked my phone every 5 minutes but got nothing (thank goodness) until an e-mail from the director at 2pm that said Christian was doing great and had eaten well and napped. Whew! Best e-mail I've gotten in years! I rushed from work at 5:20 to pick him up and when I arrived, the caretaker was holding him and said he did well but had a 'sad moment' when they had to switch teachers at 4:30 and was wanting to be held during the afternoon. (Big surprise about the holding :)

All in all a good week so far. I'm heading to Phoenix this weekend with dental girls where the weather is 59 degrees as a high on Saturday! In Arizona - in April!!! I'm trying to find the silver lining and I think I've found consolation in thoughts of shopping, reading magazines and eating lots of Mexican food.

Pregnancy pic at 4 months. I feel considerably bigger than last time:

I can (finally) see clearly now

The rain is gone! Literally and figuratively. Christian was all smiles today after a week of pretty much constant crying.

Yesterday was a real lowpoint. I got the stomach flu and was pretty weak. Meanwhile, Christian hadn't fully recovered and was crying, seriously, all the time. (Ev and my mom can vouch for that as they experienced it first hand on Thursday!) So yesterday there was about an hour there in the morning where I actually thought to myself "I can't do it". Dae has been working 24/7 at the hospital and spent Friday and Saturday night there. Ugh. I hope to never feel that way again! I know people have it worse than me which makes me wonder how single mothers and people without family nearby do it. Not to mention those that are working two jobs or having the added stress of not being able to pay bills!

Anyway, all is better today.

My mom came last week and cooked and cleaned for us - we were super spoiled. I ate better than I have in months. Of course that's not saying much, as since I have become pregnant I have more than once eaten popcorn and applesauce for dinner. And fed Christian that as well.

On the subject of nutrition, after an onslought of questions for Selynn I made the executive decision to purchase a Vitamix today. I am so excited to try it. I used to think that I would just force my child to eat vegetables but, oh how I am realizing it is just not that easy. So here's hoping that I'll be able to camouflage some leafy greens among some more appealing items!