diapers, budgets & paint

... or how we celebrated presidents' day 2008:


in the hospital


and at home with the big sis

welcome, maddie!

Labels: emmy, maddie

since a certain maternal person around here
is still too lazy to post, i'm continuing to fill in.
man, i sure hope i get paid for all this work!
(btw, this is how camels walk. learn from the master.)


so here's my mommy impersonation:
step 1. get comfy in your favorite chair.
step 2. eat.
step 3. repeat.
c'mon, you know i'm right...


but me, i'm staying busy.
i'm working on my rodeo routine.
check out my fierce beast!
look, ma - no hands!


anyhoo, we're at two weeks and counting.
either mom's gonna pop soon or someone's
been sneaking too many oreos after i go to bed.
guess she still needs to learn about sharing, eh?
(special shout-out to my peeps, miss carolyn and auntie becky!)


so that's it. me and dad, we're just chillin'.
i'll keep you posted if anything cool happens.
peace out for now, yo.

Labels: emmy

ohmygosh, my mom is like, sooooo slacking on this blog
so i finally had to take things into my own hands
silly mommy thinks i'm napping...
but instead i'll recap the past month for you guys


there was christmas, obviously
i got lots of loot
(mom must hide presents in her belly, she's getting big!)


but then the holidays were over
family and friends all went home
what a bummer


so we all went back to work
and dad hit the books at school


and i was all like, that's it?


so mom and dad took me to iceberry
(it's not a pinkberry but we take what we can get!)


and i even got upgraded to some new digs
i'm rockin' the big bed now, jealous?


apparently...
i won't be the only kid in town come next month
kiki lilypad's on her way


good thing i'm ready for her!
muahahahaha

Labels: emmy

disclaimer: expect a lot of randomness here - i've had a gazillion updates floating around in my head recently but only now have the time to post some. on the plus side, my work-work is almost done, 5 paintings just got finished, gifts are done and wrapped, and my to-do list is finally almost empty. yahoo!


so our little girl has officially moved to the "big girl room" in preparation for baby #2's arrival. although her new room has been ready for quite some time, i finished moving the rest of the clothes, toys, and decorations over on monday, and emmy got her first chance to sleep in the big bed that night. i figured we'd sing an extra song or two, or maybe even toss in an extra story to commemorate the occasion. instead, we read one book, sang one song (not the usual three) and was quickly told "get off the bed, mommy. time to go sleep." snif.

and in true emmy fashion, yet another milestone was accomplished with little fanfare. she loves the new room, adores the big bed, and has even slept late every day since the move! the only slight hiccup is that it takes her a good hour to fall asleep at naptime, and that's only after a couple of stern warnings that it's quiet time. and that she better stop walking / running / bouncing on the bed.

and now i'm addicted to our new video monitor. seriously, if i'm still watching her when she's sixteen, someone shoot me. but for now, i want need my emTV.


**************************
recently, while watching the animal planet channel...

em: "what IS that?"
me: "those are ferrets, honey."
em: "actually, it's a dog."
me: "no, that animal is a ferret. it's long and - "
em: "ACTUALLY, it's a DOG."

um, okay. i stand corrected.


**************************
remember my obsession with prizey? i haven't been able to check it in ages but was extremely surprised to find that i won an old contest that i entered back in november! courtesy of the hostess with the mostess, i'll be receiving a cool new pulp factory calendar soon! it's no surprise that i picked the "a new baby's life calendar" and the timing couldn't have been better. thanks, jenn!

and i'm so excited about my NaBloPoMo painting prize in the works - matt is doing an original 8"x10" canvas for me. can you guess what i've requested? there's a certain movie that's been a favorite since childhood... and now em's inherited my love for the main characters too... mei and satsuki would be so proud! hint, hint!


**************************
oh, speaking of new babies, i've been feeling a little panicked nesty lately. i'm consumed with the thought that baby #2 will come early, throwing off our oh-so-carefully-planned delivery. in the past week, i've washed loads of em's old clothes; the nursery is now stocked with EVERYTHING for 0-9 months. i've purchased diapers in sizes newborn to 1-2. wipes are coming out of my ears. and i have more nursing pads that you can shake a stick at.

but i'm keeping my fingers (and legs) crossed that we'll make our scheduled delivery date.


**************************
i just gave copies of the green frogs: a korean folktale to the kids in our korean playgroup. the drawings are wonderfully quirky and emmy keeps begging us to read the tale. while it does mention death (which may be an early / confusing concept for a child so young), i highly recommend the book. in fact, blair and i both remember hearing the tale from our respective mothers growing up. kids, do what your moms tell you to do, okay?


**************************
after reading a farm book...
"emmy's not a piggy. piggy is a piggy. emmy is a piggy!"

while using crayons...
"i like red... because... i like blue"

in the car, after running lots of errands and skipping naptime...
"sing twinkle [twinkle, little star], mommy. i need to go to sleep."

toddler logic: priceless.

Labels: baby #2, books, emmy, things i love

thanks to the unexpected snow "storm" yesterday and em's horrible wet cough, she got to accompany me on my monthly excursion to the ob. while sitting in the examination room...

em: "what IS that? it's an oven mitt!"

have any idea what she was utterly fascinated by? yeah, the stirrups and their little "socks." seriously. and she continued to ask the doctor about them all during my exam. she even wanted to put her own tiny feet in them! needless to say, the doctor was quite amused.

between this and a little bit of bribery, the visit was an easy one. thank you, hello kitty fruit chews, and thank you, um, oven mitt.

just ten weeks to go till kiki lilypad makes her grand entrance!

Labels: baby #2, emmy

snippets from today, brought to you by the letter e and a seriously runny nose:

on the way to school, when asked what she wants for lunch...
"cole slaw. we talked about that yesterday."
(sorry, my bad - yes, we did. and no, it was just a side dish.)

while eating lunch...
"water chestnuts in there? no, lettuce? no, cabbage!" said while eating cole slaw.

after nap...
"i'm awake! time to play. mommy come play with you downstairs. daddy had to go to school to do study."

at dinner...
"dere is chocolate in there!" said while inspecting a sheet of seaweed.
when corrected and asked where seaweed comes from...
"oh, seaweed comes from a cow"
uh oh.

while playing...
"mommy read pocahontas, and emmy read this book in the green chair. better in the green chair."
moments later...
"this book is weird." said about her princess mini-book set. (hallejuah!)

and miss smartypants quickly caught on that mommy will do pretty much anything to keep her chatty daughter quiet during an impromptu work conference call. even if that means we're now running out of the chocolatey pepperidge farm cookies. oops.

Labels: emmy

me: "hey em, let's make some pom-pom animals for the tree. what kind of animal do you want to make?"
em: "an emu! a giraffe! a lemur!"

hmmm... so this is what happens when you take your kid to the zoo one too many times. now, when all the pom-poms were finally put away, and "ooey-gooey" glue-y hands washed, we were left with...


1. an orange and black, uh, turtle-like, 4-legged critter
2. a large (grey) beak'ed penguin
3. a "standard" penguin
4. a squirrel, in two shades on brown (i couldn't resist!)
5. a... um... why don't you tell me? and...
6. emmy's beloved caterpillar, complete with TWO sets of mismatched eyes

thank goodness for my felt stash - some of these guys might actually get feet (and scarves!) before they make it on the tree. or into grandma and grandpa's christmas gift. muahahahha...

******************
em: "how was your day, mommy?"
me: "i had a great day because i got to spend it with you. how was your day, emmy?"
em: "i had a noony-noo day and a doony day. *insert wild laughter here*"

hope your day was just as noony as ours. just one day to go till the end of november. hallejuah!

Labels: crafty, emmy

at yesterday's 2-year check-up, the pediatrician remarked that em's ears need to be cleaned on a regular basis. she explained that asians tend to have drier wax due to the absence of some small oil gland in the ear, and that we'd want to address this issue before we might need to (i.e., if emmy ever gets an ear infection). the doctor recommended mixing 1 ounce of hydrogen peroxide with 1 ounce of water, then using a dropper to put some of the solution into each ear, every other day, at bedtime. she also said that we'd want to put in a little cotton plug so that the liquid doesn't drain out immediately.

ahem. okay, riiight. cause emmy would love to have that done each night, cotton and all.

nevertheless, curiosity killed the cat and there's actually quite a bit of discussion about this issue out there. so i guess we should address it... have you run into this? coming from my apparently very caucasian ears, i'd love to know how asian parents deal with the wax buildup... and if you mention the scoop, at what age did you start to use it?

yes, this is random and tmi and bizarre. it's almost the end of NaBloPoMo - so shoot me.

Labels: emmy

today's public service announcment, brought to you by the emerson lee foundation: (looking at a picture of a red barn...) "open it up" "gnomes live in that barn" "gnomes like to dance" "gnomes eat chicken nuggets... with jam! and syrup! sticky!" "gnomes are stinky - peeeeeyeeeew!" "grandma gnome and grandpa gnome give them all a bath"

i think there was even a little something about how they just wear their underwear too.

and now you know.

Labels: emmy

yes, we decided to put our tree up EARLY this year. i'd normally wait until december but blair's exam schedule will have him swamped until mid-month, and i just can't manage the giant tree box on my own with this belly in the way. so the tree went up last night and emmy came downstairs this morning to greet it with much glee. (it doesn't hurt that grandma and grandpa were still around too.)

this afternoon, i opened up the box of special ornaments. many of these were taken from my folks years ago, and some of the critters date back to before MY birth. i've always had a special fondness for these ornaments, especially the simple plush ones (essentially made of pom-pom balls and missing the occasional eye at this point). i vividly recall waiting to help my mom place them on the tree each year when i was growing up, so i was thrilled when emmy had the same reaction. she picked her favorite - a "little blue walrus!" - and held him carefully while we did most of the tree. he was finally allowed to be hung towards the end of the decorating, but i made sure to hang him low when emmy can see him all season long.

on a related note, i've told emmy several times this week that i'm very thankful to have our family together to celebrate the holidays, and most importantly, that i'm very thankful to have her in my life. she then responds with, "what is emmy thankful for?" so i ask her the question. her responses so far:
"ms. kathy" (the teacher from our mommy-and-me type class)
"food"
"playing"
and best of all... "bucket!"

oh, and now she cocks her head to the side and sweetly asks me "how was yooooour day, mommy?" about 67 times per day. she must be buttering me up for christmas...

Labels: emmy

super awesome bonus post o' the day:


coming to a preschool near you
(well, if you happen to be emmy's classmate tomorrow)

Labels: emmy

whew - what a wonderful yet tiring weekend! i know that baby #2 is impacting my stamina but i could easily crawl back into bed today. from catching up with old friends to preparing for em's birthday party, i was pretty much go-go-go from friday until yesterday afternoon when i finally snuck a nap in. bliss!

anyhoo, here's a quickie recap of the festivities-to-date...


saturday evening was spent making the cake. look familiar? overall, i was pretty pleased with the end product although i'm horrible at deciding when to call it quits. add more icing? add more detail? becky had to restrain me from playing with the caterpillar all night... and now i hope to get another chance to make a similarly shaped cake again. you know, to perfect the process!


the party itself went off without a hitch. thanks to the great folks at wee play, we didn't have to do a thing except show up with food. i think many of the dads - and parents of younger guests - were quite surprised to see just how adhd-like a gathering of 14 tots can be. once again, we are soooo thankful that we didn't bother hosting this at home! btw, notice how it's almost just all moms in the circle? dads sure like to man the cameras and nod, don't they?


emmy was quite thrilled with the art project of the day: making glittery green and purple dragonfly "puppets." she has since named hers "jake" and allows him to interact with her new dinosaur set. yup, she kept asking for dinosaurs so blair and i got her a set of the plastic beasts. they are doing quite well and occasionally get to enjoy a ride in her new doll stroller. emmy's also quite concerned about the darkness of t-rex's mouth, insisting that she needs to clean his teeth and tongue. perhaps we have a budding dentist on our hands?


between the circle time, art project, numerous free play activities, sweets, and all the rest, emmy came home thrilled and pooped. i think she adored being surrounded by so many friends, and we are truly thankful for the kindness, generosity, and friendship shared by all. future birthdays will be scaled back drastically but we figured, aw heck, this is the last time emmy gets to celebrate her birthday all by herself - let's make it crazy fun! (and the party let us give our parent friends the best gift of all: a long, quiet nap-ful sunday afternoon... hurray!)

thanks for all the well wishes sent via comments and email, and special thanks to carol for her sweet gift! i'm constantly amazed to see how lucky we truly are to know so many wonderful friends!

Labels: emmy

you hear the door come crashing down - those birthday monsters are in town! happy birthday, emmy! thank you for the best two years ever... you sure have come a long way! (and we can't wait to see what's next!) love always, mommy & daddy

Labels: emmy

current mutterings from the crib:

"i need JAVA!!!"

"i'm a diaper, i'm a diaper"

"apple juice - apple juice - apple joo! absolutely!"

"i need to go out of the house, dolphin's house?"

"bumble bee say ahhhhhhh"

"big bunny bear and baby bunny bear think, think, think. who's missing?"

"loop-de-loop-de-loop..." (and repeat)

... all while i listen to christmas carols on the cable music station. yes, it IS freakishly early to tune in to that, but for some odd reason i get more of an urge to clean when i hear christmas music... must be all the associations with entertaining and having guests over for the holidays.

my best friend and her family arrive tomorrow for the big birthday weekend, and us girls have dessert reservations for the melting pot for the late evening! i'm already salivating over all that fondue goodness.

Labels: emmy

update from yesterday's cryptic post: so we opted *not* to pick a valentine's birthdate for our second baby girl after all. it's a little odd getting to pick your kid's birthdate, that's for sure, and i just kept second guessing myself about the 2/14 date. i was half-surprised that our selected c-section date was already fully booked at the hospital but we were able to settle on another safe, non-candy-heart-associated day. seriously, all i kept thinking was that the little one would potentially enjoy valentines as a kid but hate it when she's in her late teens/twenties and potentially date-less on her birthday. now everyone in the family can have an almost-holiday birthday... and since #2 claims valentine's, i guess i get groundhog's day by default. snort, snort!

em boycotted nap time today so posting time is limited. must go to bed while enjoying the lingering effects of my grilled rib-eye and fresh apple pie dinner on the town. oh how i love work-related dinner meetings... mmm...

*********************



special thanks and lotsa hugs are being sent to a dear friend who goes above and beyond in her thank you notes. i can't wait till emmy gets to wear the shirts, esp. this one! (and our korean playgroup friends will be so jealous!)

Labels: baby #2, emmy

thanks for all the recent crafty kudos, ladies! yes, em's recent photos have shown her sporting some kiddie clips, and yes, i did design those birthday party invites! i do so adore photoshop and would probably curl up under the bed if i ever lost my copy. between that and the nifty printing services of vistaprint, we're usually set for party time. since this is emmy's last solo birthday year, i figured i might as well make use of my "extra" time to design something fun. i'm just thrilled that she picked the bug theme herself; i'm guessing the era of pink and princessy parties is right around the corner so i'm enjoying the gender neutral goodness. next up: baking and decorating the caterpillar cake, to be modeled after our famous hungry literary friend. (i found some good pics online as inspiration and will post photos after the party!)

speaking of food, today's cold, rainy weather has me craving warm soups and giant hunks of crusty bread. unfortunately, our cupboard is bare until i drag our butts to the store - which i usually save for em's preschool time. instead, i've decided to share one of my all-time fave soup recipes today. i have no time for cooking anymore but this rachael ray recipe is super EASY and pretty quick; the most time consuming part is just getting to the store for the fresh seafood. i also skip the celery and occasionally an herb or two (or even the mussels), based on what we have on hand or what's in season. it's an amazing crowd pleaser and i can't wait to make it for my little seafood eater. enjoy!

Seafood Cioppino


1/4 cup (3 turns around the pan in a slow stream) extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 to 3 flat fillets of anchovies, drained
6 cloves garlic, crushed
1 bay leaf, fresh or dried
2 celery ribs, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup good quality dry white wine
1 (14-ounce) container chicken stock
1 (32-ounce) can chunky style crushed tomatoes
4 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves removed (about 1 tablespoon)
1 handful flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1 1/2 pounds cod, cut into 2-inch chunks
Salt and pepper
8 large shrimp, ask for deveined easy-peel or peel and devein
8 sea scallops
16 to 20 raw mussels, scrubbed
A loaf of fresh, crusty bread, for mopping

In a large pot over moderate heat combine oil, crushed pepper, anchovies, garlic, and bay. Let anchovies melt into oil. The anchovies act as a natural salt, the pepper flakes will infuse the oil, providing heat.

Chop celery and onion near stove and add to the pot as you work. Saute vegetables for a few minutes to begin to soften and add wine to the pot. Reduce wine a minute, then add chicken stock, tomatoes, thyme, and parsley. Bring sauce to a bubble and reduce heat to medium low.

Season fish chunks with salt and pepper. Add fish and simmer 5 minutes, giving the pot a shake now and then. Do not stir your soup with a spoon after the addition of fish or you will break it up. Add shrimp, scallops, and mussels and cover pot. Cook 10 minutes, giving the pot a good shake now and again.

Remove the lid and discard any mussels that do not open. Carefully ladle stew into shallow bowls and pass bread at the table.

Labels: emmy, food

just one week to go!

Labels: emmy

emmy, circa december 2005... and she's still laughing at me
had my monthly ob exam today, including the super tasty glucose test. while it's really not so bad, trying to gulp down 5 ounces of concentrated-fruit-punch-gone-horribly-wrong while taking care of your toddler's potty needs AND rushing out the door to get to school on time is just not the way i'd prefer to start my day. needless to say, i'll be reaching for that pint of ben & jerry's during grey's tonight, thank you very much. the doctor mentioned that after next month's check-up, i'll start having exams every two weeks. yikes! how did my pregnancy fly by so quickly? where did all the time (and second trimester energy) go?! and most importantly, isn't there something i need to buy for baby #2? it's pretty convenient having girls born in roughly the same seasons but i'm sure there's something that poor kiki needs, other than the giant jug o' baby detergent i lugged home this week. or the leftover boxes of nursing pads from all my mom friends. (tmi?) aside from diapers, what do you recommend getting for a second child?

oh, and i think little kikums realizes that she's going to get the shaft as the second child. she's decided to remind me of her presence 24/7. emmy never kicked this much, and i'm pretty certain that the baby will squirm her way out of the ol' c-section scar one of these days.

*****************************
in other news, i'm sending a big thanks to all you readers / commenters out there; your comments have kept me at this NaBloPoMo craziness so far (along with my all-consuming thirst for free stuff!). i've loved reading about your randomness this week and hope that we can all be graced by free chicken bObles one day. and more recently...

auntie becky - you'll always be cool in our book! emmy's already so excited about seeing "baby v" this month, although i have to keep reminding her that she's not such a baby anymore!

halfmama and mama nabi - i wish *we* could all sit around and play with those cool pretend foods and kitchens. seriously, we didn't have anything nearly this cool when we were kids! you're both invited to come "cook" at our house post-holidays... and i *guess* the kids can come too. (who am i kidding? they'd have to be there!)

lastly, thanks to superha for the shout-out idea - what a nifty way to find more to write about. peace out, kiddos, it's time for ice cream and mindless tv!

Labels: baby #2, emmy

tonight at dinner, emmy told me that "there's a giiiiant tarantula at ms. shelley's," a.k.a. her preschool. better still, "tarantula's name is bo bice!" i asked to confirm this naming several times and emmy stood by her tale: the spider is bo bice. given that we never watch american idol in this house, shall we just call this one heckuva strange coincidence? (and no, shelley does not have any insects in the classroom, although she did dig up some earthworms in the yard once. she tells me that emmy watched it for a long time and finally proclaimed, "worm is soooo cute!")

after this conversation, i was serenaded with the first half of san-toki; every word was dead on. the grandparents will be so proud.

and mr. onk is still around; he's finally allowed em to share in his daily grass feast. yum.

Labels: emmy

wonder pets, wonder pets
we're on our way
to help a little puppy and save the day



we're not too big
and we're not too tough
but when we work together, we've got the right stuff



goooooooo wonder pets, yay!!!!!

linny, tuck, and ming ming too
we're wonder pets and we'll help you
what's gonna work?
teamwork!
what's gonna work?



um, how about some candy instead?

Labels: emmy

beauty can be itchy, sometimes

Labels: emmy

two posts in one day... practically a record nowadays, i know, but i had to get this one down before i forgot. here's our conversation from today's ride home from school:

emmy: "what kind of work? teamwork!!!"
me: "yep, that's what the wonder pets say"
e: "they save da mouse"
m: "that's right, we saw them save the mouse"
e: "mouse in da saxophone. owl plays saxophone!"
m: "well, yes, the owl on sesame street plays the saxophone"
e: "owl is very shyyyy!"
m: "um, yes, the owl in bear's new friend is very shy"
e: "he bashful"
m: "yes, but then he makes new friends and they go to the swimming hole together"
emmy smiles, seems satisfied, and tells me to drive home NOW.

so to recap:
all you parents wondering how to connect ming ming the duck to big bird or bear's friend badger can now thank little miss know-it-all... who's FINALLY asleep upstairs. whew.

Labels: emmy

after dinner each evening, emmy peers over the side of the sofa to look down into a vent. it's time to check on "mr. onk". "onkie" is a white elephant. and he likes to eat grass (... or maybe crabs?). "don't eat his grass," she tells us. we promise to leave his food alone. welcome to our first imaginary friend.

Labels: emmy

guess this is what life with 2 little girls looks like, eh? we* can't wait! *seriously, emmy's been certain of her baby sister for weeks now. in fact, her teacher told me today that she's told all of her classmates that "mommy has baby kiki in her tummy." yeah, she's named her "kiki lily(pad)." where did this kid come from?!

Labels: baby #2, emmy

in honor of my 100th post and glorious (heh, heh) return to the blogging world, here's my version of...
1. oops, i did it again!


well, just without the oops part - c'mon, i'm no britney spears. us silly ol' only children decided that it was about time to expand the family tree and give emmy the gift that keeps on giving... and giving... and occasionally taking. i'm currently at 15 weeks and eager awaiting to find out what we're having. i think that will make everything more real to us, especially once we can start calling the little one by a real name! baby #2 is set to debut next february, probably mid-month or so thanks to the miracle that we call a c-section. at least that lets us plan around blair's horrible exam schedule so we can pretend to have a reasonable birth / recovery plan in place. riiiight.

2. party like it's 1999 2007


although blair had a research job this summer, he was actually around A LOT! with all that free time, we probably accomplished a ton around here, right? well... not quite. but who cares if the backyard is still a mess - we had family fun time, all the time! with trips to see mama-ga and grampa, my best friend and her family, and a crazy busy weekend in baltimore's inner harbor, we kept very busy. it was nice to have blair around during the first trimester hibernation-and-nausea fest too (slogan: sleeping so you don't feel like puking since 2007!). and yes, that's a picture from emmy's last dance class. ain't she cute? we're taking a break from the dance for a bit since em will be plenty busy elsewhere...

3. new girl in school


yikes, where did the time go? we talked it up, we visited, we went to orientation. and today was emmy's first day of preschool! i originally planned on waiting until emmy was a little older to even think about school, but she's so darn chatty and curious that i think this will be perfect for her... and mama needs some quiet time to get work done. (yeah, i still do that part-time thing, although with fewer budgets and more, um, organizational / change management / training stuff. boring, i know.) anyhoo, emmy will be exploring the world of academia eating paste two mornings a week. today's recap: she sang a bumble bee song, read books, ate a snack, did a lot of painting, played on the playground and was practicing "blowing bubbles like avery" when i picked her up. the teacher says she briefly cried about 25 minutes after i left and sobbed "i want mommy back" but was quick to be consoled and snuggled during circle time. oh, and did she cry when i left? no. did she even say goodbye? nope. i just can't even hold a candle to the mystique of "oh my gosh! toys!" at preschool.

4. tinkle, tinkle, little pee


in preparation for preschool, baby #2, and all things related to "being a big girl," we stashed away the pull-ups over a month ago. emmy was a relatively quick study (thankfully!) and is now sporting some nifty big girl panties from haute designers including hello kitty, curious george, and the backyardigans. while we still use overnight pull-ups since she's a bit inconsistent with that, i'm quite relieved to see her, well, relieve herself on the big potty now! m&ms and stickers were the holy grail(s) of potty training in this house, and now em's just happy to see which panties she gets to wear each day. fave quote: "monkey panties say alriiiiiight!"

5. you know you make me wanna shout


my summer has been spent in absolute awe of how aware and talkative our little girl has become. here are a few random yet frequent quotes from the chatterbox:

- "emmy gets messy sometimes"
- "stellaluna hold on to the nest real tight"
- "you want some [fill-in-the-food] now too please?"
- "can i have some [fill-in-the-food] please?"
- "green light says goooo!"
- "owl plays saxophone" (courtesy sesame street)
- "reading is moooovelous"
- "carrots are crying!" (damn you, yo gabba gabba - you made her cry!)
- "mommy and daddy go sleep on a boat!" (wonder if she bought us a cruise vacation for our 6 year anniversary)

yeah, we're just that random here in the lee household! i'll start updating this blog a little more frequently now, so follow along as we see what the next few months have in store for us. and if you really, really want to waste some time, come find me on facebook, my new crack habit. i'll probably bite you. *wink*

Labels: baby #2, blair, emmy, kim, summer vacation

99 bloggy posts on the wall
99 bloggy posts
take one down
pass it around
98 bloggy posts on the wall...

amazingly, i'm one post shy of 100 for this incarnation of kimelee.com. it's been a lot of fun posting random tidbits about the life of emmy, making new friends and reconnecting with old ones, and filling up my occasional bouts of spare time. and while i'm sneaking up on this posting milestone, i'm officially on hiatus. yup, mama needs a break. here are some recent "lessons learned" to explain why:

• we love daddy. having blair around for the summer has been wonderful. no school, no books, no teacher's (or kim's) dirty looks. i'm getting spoiled by all of the extra attention, even down to the simple "let's veg out in front of the tv" time. we have 5 weekends left before year 2 of medical school officially begins... and we're currently booked for 4 of them. i'm sure i'll be hitting the computer like there's no tomorrow come mid-august, but until then, i'm opting to spend my nights with the man of the house.



• i'm tired. chasing after a toddler by day, and working on budgets, reports, and everything else at night, takes a toll on you. on top of that, my current role ends in 2 months and i'm stuck playing the game to find a new project. in the past year, i've bcome quite comfy in my flexible work-at-home (at night) arrangement. going to the office to schmooze it up is no longer in my repertoir. after an hour or two, i'm dying to get home, shake my booty with the emster to a rockin' episode of jack's big music show and put on my mommy cap again. and when did my fave work pants get so darn tight? sigh.


• it's summer. 'nuff said.


• my to-do list is too long. knowing that we only have a few short weeks left with daddy time, the lee family to-do list is a mile long. between improvement projects, landscaping that begs to get done, organizing, em's big girl room and personal projects (that darned baby book!), i'm swamped. like i said, i'll be back as soon as blair retreats to his fortress of textbooks and i lose all motivation to be productive.

so as i said, i'm on hiatus. call it an extended summer siesta and i'll promise to write "what i did for my summer vacation" when i get back. there might even be a little show-n-tell if you're lucky.

and on that note, here are some recent pics from a private rocknoceros concert. yes, we are VIPs, and yes, we do roll like that.



front row seats, baby


put your shakers in the air like you just don't care


look at my hardcore guitar skillz, i know you're jealous


tots gone wild
(i have no idea where she learned this one)


no more fotogs, no more paparazzi - we're on vacay
and on that note, i wish you all a wonderful summer! hit the pool (or beach if you're so lucky), explore a new playground, taste a new flavor of ice cream, play without schedules and hug your kids lots - that's what we'll be doing.

oh, and in case you wanted one last glimpse of what summer laziness does to us lee folk, ponder this:

blair.
magikarp.
separated at birth?



hope you're having a good day at work, hon! muahahaha...

Labels: blair, emmy, hiatus, kim

hope you hug an eagle today too

happy 4th of july, everyone!

Labels: emmy

from our trip to visit the grandparents, a delightful detour to the virginia living museum:


fish and turtles and crocs, oh my!
(and i don't mean the shoes)


look at what sharp teeth you have!


girl power: mommy and her bestest friend in the whole world,
auntie becky, with daughter victoria


well... i guess if our mommies are friends...
you're pretty cool too
someone is refusing to nap today, courtesy the booming thunder outside; good thing daddy's around to help entertain her while i work. looks like i'll be headed back into the office soon for a few hours each week. business dress in the humid heat of summer, how peachy. sigh.

Labels: emmy

life's gotten too busy lately for a proper post, so here are a few tidbits to tide you over...

• i think we've started to hit emmy's "word explosion" in the past week or two. she's suddenly repeating multiple words at a time and stringing 2 to 3 words together to talk to us. right now, as she's tossing around in her crib, i've been listening to her practice many words like her fave "mommy up." she's picked up "blue is the sky" from a rocknoceros tune, plenty of useful phrases like "daddy come home," and has even invented a funny new game to play with us!
  
  emmy: "know what?"
  you: "what?"
  emmy: "what?"
  you: "what?"
  
  and on and on... really, it's loads of fun, even on the 632nd time of the day.
  


• emmy's loving the "happy birthday" song right now. however, she insists that you fill in the name with "robbie" about 95% of the time, and will occasionally let you slip in "allie" or "andrew." we've tried to show her that it can be anybody's birthday, but apparently our friend robbie's first birthday overshadows all others. (or does she have a thing for cute little hapa boys? heeheehee, one can hope!)


• emmy's so wonderfully korean when it comes to eating! she can't gobble down the chapchae and kong namul fast enough, and will literally try to self-serve from all the little panchan dishes. but the best part? i frequently give her rice rolled up in those flavored nori sheets. last weekend, she decided to take a lettuce leaf, carefully place it on her tray, methodically fill it with rice, roll it up, and toss it back! i never knew that the art of ssang-chu was so innate!
  on a similar note, she really likes cinnamon shikhye (cold, malted rice punch). while the regular stuff is okay, i think the cinnamon variant is a horrible ending to a lovely meal - it reminds me of christmas potpourri! at least i know where my serving will go from now on...


• for all you northern virginia locals, the washington post had a great article about some local playground gems today. we decided to check out discovery park in sterling this morning and loved it for the 45 minutes or so that we could stand the heat. it doesn't have the wow factor of clemyjontri, but it's still a cool, more cozy alternative.


• i'm off to work on the. baby. book. yup, emmy's over 19 months old and silly ol' mom has been VERY delinquent with this project. my goal is to have her first year scrapped over the next 2 months, while blair's around to give me the occasional bit of free time. i hope i'm not the only slacker out there... i feel like if i don't do it right this minute, it will never, ever get done. at this rate, any and all future kids will be lucky if i manage to remember their birthdate(s).


• when i tire of the book, i'll just go slink away to the tv and immerse myself in my lovely sam-soon, the bridget jones of seoul. while i can't believe i've gotten sucked into this cheesy soap opera, i love the fact that a non-korean-speaking hapa actor, daniel henney, has risen to fame from it. wonder when that will happen to me... lol.

Labels: emmy, food

these are beeeyoootiful


thanks for sharing, mama-ga


sitting in the tree that mommy used to climb


and now back to my plans of world domination

Labels: emmy

before we dive into "vacation" photos, let's play a little catch up, shall we?


welcome back, my friends!
check out a day in the life of... me!


i'm trying to eat better and watch my girlish figure
so let's check out the farmer's market


look at me, i'm a strong woman! i do all my own plowing


hmm, how did this get in here?


picnic, rice-cake style


after all that work in the fields, time to cool off
and yes, that's another rice cake... mmmm


some days, i work on my dance routine instead
(shhh, i'll be in timbaland's next video - but really, who isn't?)


who needs a pole when you've got a hoop?


at the end of the day, i just like to kick back with my peeps and go for a little drive
where's my cristal, ma?

we're halfway through the week... hope your's is going well!

Labels: emmy

...we're catching up on our sleep...

Labels: emmy

the mister, tot-tator and i just got back from a last-minute trip to see my folks. since we don't see them too often, we try to reserve lots and lots of time for open emmy playtime. with the 90 degree temperatures for half the visit, it was pretty easy to opt for staying in with "mama-ga" and "gam-pa-ga." and while it was super nice to have delicious home-cooked meals and no chores to do, it's nice to be home again too.

lots more photos and tales on the way... once the laundry is done and we're unpacked.

Labels: emmy

waaaay back when, one of mama nabi's posts had some of us commenting about our desire for mixed-race playgroups, or at least some way for our kiddos to see and play with kids who *big shock!* might look like them, or heck, at least look different than what's considered the "norm" in our various areas. at first, even blair didn't really understand what i'd want from such a group, but i think he mainly didn't understand just how homogenous my moms' group really is. since knowledge of the group travels mainly by word of mouth and the occasional online search, i guess it's just not getting to the more diverse communities... or those moms are all too busy with their own groups, working daytime jobs, or the million other things that keep us all super busy. i do know several korean moms, for instance, who have korean-only playgroups... and by that, i mean all of their kids speak korean, the moms speak only korean, etc. since i wouldn't exactly fit in with such a "hard-core" group, i was hoping to find a group of laid-back multicultural moms with kids around the same age who'd be interested in playtime and the random discussion about culture and such.

so i posted a note about it on my local community website.

and another on craigslist.

and i got... nada.

but then by random luck, a new mom joined the moms' group. it's such a big group that there are all sorts of sub-groups by location, interest, and so forth; sarah also joined the "world cultures" sub-group that i'm a member of and posted her introduction. we quickly started exchanging emails and amazingly, with little effort, she and i decided to put together a korean playgroup of sorts! we've been meeting for the past couple of months; after a slow start, she found a few other moms who are also interested in korean culture, so now we've got:

• sarah, a korean mom who grew up mostly here in the states, with daughter hailey
• linda, another korean-american mom, with her half-korean daughter ava
• tina, a 1/4th korean and 1/4th japanese mom, with her hapa son nate
• nikki, a caucasian mom, with her korean adopted son issac

somehow, we've managed to find a wonderfully diverse range of korean relationships and experiences among the five of us, and hopefully we'll even find a few more interested mommies and their tots out there. our kids are currently between 15 and 20-something months old and get along pretty well. in fact, the three little girls will even be taking dance class together this summer! it's been nice to learn a few new korean words, share some paht bing soo, and chat / vent / laugh over what it means to be korean each thursday morning.


c'mon, you knew there'd have to be something yummy involved, right? it all comes back to the paht. and sac sac. mmmmm...

Labels: emmy, kim, mamas

man, us celebrities have a rough life...


always hiding from the paparazzi


but no matter where you go, they find you


your days are full of book signings and public appearances


and you always have to appease the crowds
(i hate these promotional gigs - like i even cook!)


don't even get me started on the dating scene, what a pain
(but sometimes you meet a few nice guys too)


but at the end of the day, i'm still me...
i'm still emmy from the block*


now here, have some autographed rocks
i *heart* my fans


* emmy's wearing her very own little orange oven mitt here... this one's for you, halfmama!

Labels: emmy

Labels: emmy

hey emmy, do you like corn?


oh yeaaaaah. you get a corn smile* for that
other recent emmy sightings...
- acting out the song "if you're happy and you know it..."
- dancing the hokey pokey
- walking like an ajumma (no joke!)
- figuring out the difference between "dog" and "puppy"
- wearing her backpack all by herself
- getting ready for her first dance class on friday... leotard and ballet slippers, oh yeah!


later dudes... i'm outtie

*yes, we call it her "corn smile" - who needs to say "cheese" for the camera when you've got corn? mmmm...

Labels: emmy

time for yet another installment of "what's been hanging out on mommy's camera?"


mommy, mommy, come look!


reliving a tractor moment... how time has flown


even elmo wouldn't eat this popsicle
(yet she wouldn't let go of it, of course... why on earth do popsicle makers put so much horrible dye in their product? somewhere, those execs are laughing their butts off at all of the clothing that's been stained over the years)


with such nice weather, even the squirrels have to take a break


and finally, proof that we can still clean ourselves up and attend fancy schmancy events like we used to
(alright, i'll admit it - this was our first "date-night" since emmy was born, even if it was a med school function. it only took 17+ months. we suck.)

Labels: emmy

we finally uploaded the photos off my camera last night - time to play picture catch-up! and if you're wondering, yes, we do spend a LOT of time at the local zoo. today's post is dedicated to that fantabulous place, just 10 minutes down the street...


that's one hot crib... monkey-style


mmmm... roast duck, anyone?
(just kidding! i didn't bring my hoisin sauce today)


so three turtles walk into a bar and...


wow, when did she get so big???
(yes, i meant emmy!)

and happy (early) birthday to the gosselin sextuplets tomorrow - they'll be three! i am in love with their show, jon & kate plus 8, as well as their 2 previous documentaries. any parents that can handle "2 6-year olds and 6 2-year olds" totally get props in my book, and the fact that all the kids are hapas is just icing on the cake for me! aren't they sooooo adorable?
__________________________

ASIAN DOLL UPDATE! one last thing, i found the perfect doll for emmy today! while browsing in the right start store, i came across the asian corolle "poupette" doll. it looks like she'll be perfect for em: she's huggably soft, easy to dress and just so darn simple and cute! i'll be stashing her away for a special occasion, that's for sure! have you found any particularly good asian dolls / toys?

Labels: emmy, korean dolls/toys, zoo

did you know that tomorrow (may 5) is children's day in korea? i didn't - thanks for pointing this out, sarah! since blair will be buried in the endocrinology books all weekend, i think i'll try to make tomorrow extra fun for emmy. there's a big "pet fiesta" festival at the town center; perhaps we'll go and get our animal fix for the day. have i mentioned that emmy is totally obsessed with cats? seriously, sweetie, did you have to pick the one animal that both of your parents are totally allergic to? oh well, maybe i'll just paint one for her...

oh, and did i also mention that she got her first "boy kiss" yesterday? heeheehee... em's pretty affectionate with the people that are extra close to her and she'll even kiss and hug her playgroup friends from time to time. yesterday, "ben-ben" and "memmy" exchanged their first ever boy-girl smooch - it was so adorable and i'm kicking myself for missing that kodak moment!

in terms of randomness, another notable thing happened yesterday. here's an excerpt of the recap i sent to blair (who was sadly at school and missed all of the excitement):

dude, 3 police cars were blocking our court, behind l's car
i just called her - she saw a potential intruder trying to get into (neighbor's) backyard
man was dressed in women's clothing, carrying a pillow case and covering his bottom
he looked right at her and then she called the cops

um, yeah. for a very quiet, family-oriented type neighborhood, that was bizarre. and when i was typing that out, i seriously felt like i could have been playing mad libs with those underlined words up there! (so which nouns did you pick?)

now it's time for bed... i spent 2 hours outside after emmy went to sleep tonight, attempting to plant new azalea bushes in the front "yard." although my mom has quite the green thumb, mine's more brownish black... you know, the color of all those dead leaves piled up in the decaying mulch bed that we've been ignoring for months. i am totally NOT the gardening type, but the $800 estimate i got from a landscape guy motivated me to get my lazy butt outta the house and into the dirt. i managed to plant 3 small azaleas before it got too dark to work anymore; i'll have to plant the last bush and several liriope tomorrow. too bad the ginormous oak tree out front sucks the soil dry... oh how i hate digging holes and hitting roots, roots, rocks and more roots. anyone want to come dig with me?

Labels: emmy

(sorry for the blurry camera phone shot)

• sharing a yummy dinner with your daughter
• sharing a quiet dinner with your daughter, who's totally mesmerized by sitting on a deck overlooking a lake filled with boats and birds
• sharing a FILLING dinner with your daughter, who's so entranced by the experience that she gives you extra time to eat your own food

blair's busy on campus today so emmy and i had a girls night out. yum!

in other news, just call me "mommy do" from now on. does every kid go through this stage?

Labels: emmy

time to brighten things up over here...

first of all, a hearty congratulations to one of my absolute favorite cousins in the world and his wife on the birth of their beautiful little boy, yong han. i haven't seen cousin yong dae since about 1993; my last trip to korea was right after i started high school, but he and i tried to be pen pals for several years after. he was definitely a super cool guy that i always looked up to... who was also cool with the idea of having his hapa cousin follow him around all summer. welcome to parenthood, yong dae!


and in more local news...


looks like it's time to go shopping again - need anything?


chillin' with my peeps at miss shelley's crib
btw, have you seen this will ferrell short? go get your drink on and enjoy!


___________________________

for more thoughts on the va tech massacre, check out the recent discussions over at the kimchi mamas site

Labels: emmy, family

hmmm... now what did i do all weekend?


oh yeah, we went to that farm museum place again. horses rock!
(and i got to milk the cow again - moo!)


easter was fun but it was too cold to dress up or go outside.
check out all my loot from our living room egg hunt.


still eating...
i *heart* m&m's!


geez, where are my manners? want one?


mmm, what a tasty day!
i'm still drooling over all that choc-o-laty goodness!


now back to work - it's tax time.

Labels: emmy

dude, where are my bunny ears?

Labels: emmy

  
some days you're sweet, my playful bunny
some days you're brave - oh crikey, honey!


  
sometimes you're sad to brush, brush, brush
sometimes you slow down mommy's rush


  
on other days, you're playful! silly!
in a tizzy, willy nilly!


  
and other times, you work real hard
on the farm and in the yard


  
you're growing fast, my little one
and mommy hates to miss the fun...

...like when she has to go to training for work
and sit through eight long hours of blah, blah, blah.
(i can't imagine going back full-time, that's for sure!)
see how inspired i get when my brain turns to mush?
hallmark, i'm sending you my resume asap.

thanks for staying home today, daddy!

Labels: emmy, things i love

grrr... i had this great long post all ready to publish and blogger ate it. ugh, how i hate you tonight, blogger. i'd try to recreate it but i'm sleepy and annoyed so we'll see how i do tomorrow. for now, a few quick updates...

wow. i never thought it would be so hard to play email/blog catch-up but it sure felt like it this week. have you ever had one of those weeks where you just don't have the energy to do much of anything? or, more specifically, where you don't want to look at anything that requires an internet connection? (i know, that's sacrilege - how could i ever turn away from my beloved laptop?) perhaps it's because daddy's on spring break this week; we're trying to make the most of our real-life connections while we can. i'm sure i'll be hittin' the blogging bar hard next week. in fact, make it a double, bartender.

in the meantime, i'm slowly catching up. for my pals in blog-land, sorry for the lack of commentary... but i'm still reading! :)

we spent the past few days visting my folks in southern virgina. we were supposed to see my best friend's daughter get baptised too but emmy's horrible stomach bug kept us quarantined for the entire trip. on a um, positive note, we now know how to thoroughly scrub and clean a britax car seat to remove stinky 3-hour-old macaroni and cheese. mmm... yeah, it was just THAT fun. emmy got lots of good bonding time in with my folks while we were there; in fact, my mom started showing emmy the intricacies of playing hwa-tu. blair doesn't play so i look forward to challenging em... of course, that might take a few more years. right now, we're just excited to point out all of the "birds!" and "flowers!"


at least she's not chewing on 'em...
now that we're home and healthy, we're trying to make the most of daddy's time. today's stops: the reston zoo and playground time...


i can't believe my baby is all grown up - look at her drive!
i dunno about her choice in friends though...


these two baby porcupines were just born at the zoo this morning;
we were the first people to see them!


every good asian learns to use the abacus from a young age, right?


riding the whale does a body good

next up: today's mommy wars discussion, or the one that blogger ate

Labels: emmy, zoo

you know you're a mom when...
- your daughter is on her fifth set of clothes for the day because her lunchtime chicken and rice is covering the first four
- you're on shirt, um, #3? and forget about those nice suede-ish pants you were wearing earlier

and the best...
- you're naked in the tub, trying to wash both a very slippery toddler and yourself, and the smoke detector starts beeping LOUDLY because it's located right outside the bathroom door and you forgot to turn on the fan / shut the door / beat the detector with a hammer and throw it out the window

this was going to be a longer post but em just woke up. wish us luck!

Labels: emmy