Weddings

This past month, we have had the privilege to attend three weddings.  They were of friends from three very different stages of my life.  Interestingly, Jimmy was unavailable to go with me and so I had the honor of having EV as my date for all three events.

I am not a very emotional person but I can get very sentimental.  Interestingly, at these weddings, I choked up and held back some major tears at the very same moment--when they bowed and hugged their parents.  This never happened before, but that's when I realized it's because one day we will have to give EV away.

The last wedding I went to was a friend of mine from middle/high school.  It definitely brought back memories of sleeping over at her place and talking about boys all the time.  She looked absolutely stunning but I would not expect her to look any other way.  She was always very pretty--shy and pretty.  Well, I was trying so hard not to break down when her dad gave her the biggest and sweetest hug a father could give his daughter.  Maybe it's because I have known her for so long; maybe it's because I used to be so scared of her dad and seeing him hug her like that showed his soft side; maybe it's because one day Jimmy will give EV a hug like that; maybe I'm just a big softy now that I have EV. Either way, it was touching and it made me want to cherish every moment I have with EV.

EV on the other hand has had a very different perspective after attending these weddings.  She now associates weddings with dduk (Korean rice cakes).  It's so like my daughter to associate everything with food.

Congratulations, friends!  I wish you all the best as you journey into the next chapter of your lives together.  May God bless your marriage and you grow with more love each and every day.

The Holidays

Wow, I can't believe it'll be Thanksgiving this week and soon after that Christmas and New Years.  I feel like once August came around, we hit the ground running.  This may sound a little vain, but I really enjoy getting my picture taken and I really like taking pictures of EV even more.  We also have a very near and dear friend who is more like family who is always so willing to take photos of us.  So, in preparation for our holiday photos this year, I made a few items, including EV's holiday dress, ruffle pants, hairband, and Jimmy's neck tie.  I didn't want to be too matchy matchy but I did want everyone to have some pop of red in their outfits.

Here's a preview of our photograph session:

Things to look forward to:
--Thanksgiving with family
--Beginning of home renovation
--Christmas and New Years in Maryland
--Visiting friends in New York
--Holiday food, traditions, smells and festivities

Adventure Time

Jimmy told me about this cartoon called Adventure Time that has a talking Rainbow Unicorn called Ranicorn and get this she talks in Korean!!  The show is completely American and everyone speaks English except for Ranicorn.  I am very intrigued and will definitely check it out.  Click here for youtube clips on Cartoon Network:  Adventure Time

I'm not going to lie, it looks a little hocky but I can't help to be proud that the weird Ranicorn thing speaks Korean.  So, tell me what you think!

BINGO

Before we had EV a co-worker of mine told me that she would let her kids have a few Halloween candies but gave them the option of turning in the rest for a toy.  I thought that was such a great idea and was excited to try it out this year (since the last two years we just told EV that her candy were "treasures" and were just used for sorting and playing).  Well, it worked out beautifully!  As per our Halloween tradition, we went to our dear friend's neighborhood to take pictures and go trick-or-treating.  The kids were dressed as one of the three little pigs (EV), the big bad wolf (Weston), and little red riding hood (Madelyn).  The kids did great and got tons of candy. 

Once we got home, EV was excited to dump it all out and sort it.  She was also very excited to eat it.  So, at first I told her she can have 5 and turn in the rest for a toy.  She started counting but would grab a handful and call it one, another handful and call it two.  So instead we decided to give her a small bag and told her that she can fill it up with all the candy she wanted but once the bag was full that was it.  Then we told her in a very excited and full of anticipation voice, that she also had the option to turn in the rest of the candy to mr. candyman and get a new toy or book.  (We use this MISTER (ajhushi in Korean) to help us with lots of things, like Mr. diaperman came and took her diapers away, but I digress).  So EV got super excited, she handed over the rest of her bucket and asked when we can go get her toy.

The next day we went to the toy store and out of all the options, she picks this BINGO game and a book of stickers.  EV has a love for puzzles and things that require her to figure things out, so I thought this would be a good addition to her collection of games.  Yes, to say that she loves this game is an understatement.  She wants to play BINGO morning, day, and night.  It's a bit scary how obsessive complusive she can get.  I guess it's better that she plays BINGO than wanting to eat all that candy.

Home Renovation 101

We have been living in our current home for 6 years now.  A year and a half ago, we made an attempt to sell our house because we thought my parents were going to move in with us.  Circumstances changed and my aunt was able to help my parent's out.  At the time we were sad because we actually really liked our house.  After putting the house on the market and falling in love with another house, when things did not work out, we found that there are many things we do not like about our current home anymore.  However, we love our neighborhood, our back yard, and the memories we have made in our home.  So, we have decided to renovate and make the changes we want instead of trying to find the perfect home (which isn't as easy as you would think).  There has always been little things I wanted to change here and there, but this is a complete make-over.  We are only 1 month into this process since we have made the decision and this is where we are/what we've learned:

1.  Find a bank.  So, when you decide to do any major home renovation, the bank will have to be involved unless you have lots of money saved up.  The problem is a bank will not loan you the money until you have a blueprint that they can appraise.  You can't have a blueprint until you know how much money you're going to have.  You don't know how much money you're going to have until you know what your new home is going to appraise for.  You can't get an apprasial until you have a blueprint.  Then you're back at square one.

So what's the solution?  You make a lot of assumptions.  You assume that you can remodel your house to appraise for a certain amount so that you can get 80% of that to do the remodeling.  It's a vicious circle and a lot of gambling.

2.  Find a contractor.  There are many options out there and many types of contractors.  Intially we were going to have a friend who does general construction to help us piece everything together but then after we went to the bank we realized that we may need someone who does this regularly.  So, through a co-worker we got introduced to a really awesome family business that will be the project manager for this whole process.  They take care of everything!  From helping us identify the right bank, to building the blueprints, to finding sub-contractors to do the work, to supervising the remodeling, to helping pick out materials, to keeping us within the budget, everything!  We also found out that we have mutual friends which made it all the better.

3.  Build a blueprint.  Now we are getting into the meat of things.  Although the nerve-wrecking part is that you don't know how your finances will work out--again you are basing everything on several assumptions.  But this is the fun part.  Based on our current blue-print, we start moving this wall here and that room there.  You can really start envisioning what your renovated home will look like.   This is also the part where you start developing real hopes and expectations, you start day-dreaming about your renovated home, and can't concentrate.  Now that we have a bubble design of what we want, the architect is going to draw everything out to scale with all the details.

We are just getting started but we are super excited.  We have cut back on eating out, buying clothes, and going out.  Life will be a little messy and we'll even have to find a place to live temporarily when they actually start construction, but since we plan to live here long-term, we think this is well worth it.  I'll try to take pictures and document the process as we go along.

Potty vs EV's Will (2:2)

EV has been potty ready for awhile--she stays dry in her underwear, tells us when she needs to go, and can hold her pee until she is ready to let it go.  However, the usual scenerio is, she's in her underwear, she tells us she needs to go, she sits on the potty for a little bit, then says she needs her diaper while crying.  There's no convincing her to try going in the potty as long as she knows she has the option to go in her diaper.  No bribing, begging, coaxing, assuring would convince her to use the potty.

Solution:  Last week we told her that Mr. Diaper Man called and will be coming in 7 days to take all the diapers from the house.  At first she was actually excited and was saying how she's a big girl and that she will be using the potty in 7 days.  As the countdown continued, she started getting more anxious and unsure.  On the last day, she quiety came to me and said that she doesn't want Mr. Diaper Man to come.  I assured her that it'll be okay.

Day 1:  EV wakes up and is excited about wearing underwear (not really thinking that eventually she'll have to go pee).  She plays, goes grocery shopping with daddy, eats lunch but refuses to go pee.  After lunch, we try to convince her to go pee--she starts crying and saying she's scared.  We comfort her and she says she will not go.  We make the decision to put her down for her nap without a diaper because if we do then she'll always hold out until naptime to go pee.  We are sure that she will wet herself but after 2 hours of napping she wakes up and she's DRY!!!!!!!!!  We were shocked!  Poor baby--she hasn't peed since we took her diaper off at 6AM!  She's miserable, cranky, and in pain.  She sits on the potty and asks if she can watch some videos.  So I concede and let her watch videos on the iPhone.  She's whining and suddenly she clenches my arm and then she PEES!!!!  Potty: 1pt

After she pees what seems like a gallon of pee--she is super happy, proud, and excited.  She wants all her treats now.  She's dancing and singing and lauging.  She plays, eats, and the afternoon passes into the evening.  We go to buy her chocolate ice cream to fulfill our end of the bargain.  We come home and she has to pee but refuses.  It's late, she's tired, cranky, and it all seems hopeless.  We turn on the bath and she's in agony.  The bath water makes her want to go pee.  She refuses.  I am confused--didn't we have a victory?  Shouldn't it be all better now?  Isn't she officially potty-trained?  I guess not!  I tell her it's okay to pee in the bathtub.  She takes a bath, pees in the bathtub, and gets ready for bed. 

To give her a diaper at night, now that is the question.  We decided to keep her in her underwear and change her later.  We check in on her at night, she has peed, we change her. 

Day 2:  It's a new day!  EV wakes up and immediately asks for her underwear.  She goes with daddy to breakfast club early morning and is in an overall good mood.  As we are getting ready for work and school, she says she needs to pee.  We sit on the potty but no pee.  She is dropped off at school and we tell the school the situation and absolutely no diapers.  I think of her all day.

Jimmy picks EV up from school and is told, "EV is a very very strong-willed child."  Apparently, they tried putting her on the potty every 45 mins and would let her sit for long periods of time but she would absolutely refuse to use the potty.  She naps and pees.  She plays outside and pees.  EV's will:  2 pts

EV comes home and tells me that she peed in her underwear and the she doesn't like peeing at school.  She says she wants to pee at home.  She sits on the potty and is noticeably uncomfortable.  She refuses to pee.  We have dinner and afterwards, she starts crying.  I immediately take her to the potty and that's when the heart wrenching crying begins.  She's peeing little bits at a time and cries, cringes, and cries with every drop of pee.  She's sweating, she's hysterical, she says, "Mommy, I don't want to be a big girl.  I am a baby.  I want my diaper."  My heart is breaking and I am wavering.  I call Jimmy in and ask if we should give her a "d-i-a-p-e-r".  Jimmy says that we have to be strong and not give in.  She pees a little more; she's clenching my arm now; she's in so much pain.  After what seems like hours, she's peed a good amount and says all done.  We cheer and give her some sprinkles as a treat.  She paces back and forth, then runs back to the bathroom saying she has to pee.  She sits on the potty and cries again and pees a little more.  We do this 2 more times.  Then finally, after the third time back on the potty, she just lets go.  She pees and pees and pees.  She says that she feels better and that it doesn't hurt anymore.  We tell her how proud we are, especially how she went back to the potty every time and did not have any accidents.  Potty: 1pt

She takes a bath, gets ready for bed, and goes to bed in her underwear (around 7:30pm).  We check in on her at around 11pm and she's still dry!  We were shocked, but decided to go ahead and put her in a diaper, unsure if she can stay dry the rest of the night. 

So currently we are tied 2:2 between the potty and EV's will.  We are on Day 3.  It's going to be a long week but I am confident that we are making progress.  Now we just have to convince her to go poop...

Addiction to online subscriptions

So, I've jumped on the online subscription bandwagon and it's sucked me in and I don't know how to get out (or if I really want to)!  What do I mean by online subscriptions?  They are different types of services where you pay a monthly fee and get a box of goodies.  Here are my current subscriptions:

Wittlebee--I love this subscription!  I pay $40 and get a box of clothes for EV.  I can pause whenever I want to and I have my very own stylist.  I let them know what kind of clothes, season, style, color, print, etc. that I want, including detailed notes about what I like and do not like, and then I receive a box of hand-selected designer clothes for EV.  So far, I have received two boxes and have loved almost every piece that I got.  I wish they had a service like this for adult clothes.

Birchbox--I think my anticipation was much higher than what I got, but I was still happy with my first box last month.  This is a subscription for beauty products, such as make-up, cleansers, lotions, hair products, fragarences, etc.  It's $10 a month and you can cancel anytime as well.  I think the only thing is that the samples are smaller than I thought.  Although in my last box, I got a full-sized liquid eyeliner that retailed for $15 so it made my box worth the $10 I spent.

Little Black Bag--This is my current obsession (thanks @MaryLee)!  You pay $50 a month and get a box of bags, jewelry, accessories, and makeup.  You pick your first item (I picked a purse worth $72) and then the stylists will pick an additional 2-3 items.  After you submit your payment, that's when the addicting part begins.  You can trade out any of your items for other items for 7 days.  All items are fully refundable.  I love my bag and one of the jewelry pieces I currently have in my bag; I'm just waiting for the right trade for my other jewelry item.  Plus, on Monday's and Thursday's they have new inventory so I'll wait it out until Thursday before deciding on my bag.

I also have a few other subscriptions that I want to check out (but since I'm a sucker for these, I'm sure I will try out others as I learn about them):

-Conscious Box--a monthly delivery of pure and sustainable products
-Glambag--this is similar to birchbox but it looks like the samples may be larger (at the same price!)
-KiwiCrate--this is a monthly subscription of crafts and activities for kids with all materials included