3 + 1

So most of you already know that we are expecting again :-P  We found out on December 25, Christmas day!  I had the suspicions a couple of days before Christmas.  But I decided to wait until Christmas to take the test.  I got up super early and sure enough the test came out positive.  I pretended there's something wrong with the toilet and woke the husband up, telling him "Can you help me?  I think the toilet is leaking!"  He went to the bathroom and saw the test laying on the toilet seat.  The husband told me he knew something was up and didn't think it was the toilet problem, lol.  We told my parents and sister when we went visit them the day after Christmas.  The first prenatal visit was later in the January.  The husband went with me to the visit and we both saw the little baby and heard the heartbeat.  The baby was already 8 weeks by then, and he/she actually looks like a tiny baby!  When I first saw Noelle on the ultrasound, she was just a little dot (6 weeks).  But the doctor was moving the baby around to get his/her measurement, so the ultrasound pics didn't turn out too clear. 

This is definitely a much different and difficult pregnancy.  With Noelle, I had no morning sickness or feeling at all sick.  But this time around, I have morning sickness at night time.  I'd felt really nauseous, sometimes even felt like I was about to puke.  My appetite was not that great at night time.  Most of the time, after I made the dinner, I was not in the mood to eat it.  I guess that's why I haven't gain much weight, I think my weight may have stayed the same so far.  I'm definitely showing already tho, that was kinda sucky and shocking, haha.   The first pregnancy I couldn't wait to start showing and look more pregnant.  And this time around, I think I looked pregnant just a few weeks into my pregnancy.  I guess your body has some kinda memory thingy built in and went right into where they were :-P

I didn't have any craving last time.  But if you really want count it, I'll say I loved Sprite a little more.   However, baby #2 made me having all these crazy cravings!!  I've gone thru a phase when I want to put vinegar in everything I eat, a phase when I want tangy things, a phase when I absolutely love Safeway's blueberry muffins (still like them tho, but not as crazy now, haha), and now I'm in the ketchup phase.  I want to put ketchup in everything I eat.  If I could get my hands on some ketchup chips, I think I'll be eating them all day.  Any food aversion?  Oh yea, big time.  Chicken is out, unless it's McD's nuggest, cuz they don't taste like chicken.  And pork is on the fence.  Sometimes strong food smell still drives me nuts, I guess it all depends on my mood.  There's nights when I get really hungry but I had no idea what I want to eat, or should I say, what I can eat without making me feeling sick afterwards. 


Today was the 2nd prenatal visit.  I thought I'd get another mini ultrasound to see the baby, but I guess that was last time with a different Kaiser campus.  They only used the fetal doppler to listen to heartbeat.  The nurse practitioner was moving around trying to the baby.  And she found him/her at the lower left side of my belly.  The heartbeat was definitely strong and healthy.  The NA thought the baby kicked the fetal doppler because there's a couple of non-heartbeat noises.  She asked if I could feel the baby kicking already?  At this point (when the baby is still really small), I really couldn't tell if it's the baby or gas, hahahaa.  I can't wait to start feeling the baby moving and kicking tho, that's one of the best part being pregnant!! 


So our dating ultrasound is scheduled March 30.  I'm really hoping we will get to find out what we are having.  I don't like surprises, so this is killing me :-P  And I can't believe I won't be seeing my doctor until sometime in May!  I guess 2nd trimester is nothing to worry about, either that or they aren't worrying about me too much since this is my 2nd time.  


We continue to teach Noelle the concept of being a big sister and having a little baby around.  Now if I ask her, "Where is the baby?"  She'll say "baby" and come plant a kiss on my belly.  It's the cutest and sweetest thing ever.  Miss Noelle also loves and is very interested in other babies.  She'll stick around to look at the baby, if we get any at the church nursery.  I'm still not sure if she'll get jealous with a new comer tho.  The other day I was hold a friend's son's hand (he's about Noelle's age), and Noelle had to hold my other hand.  Well, I guess we'll see.  


So far the estimate due date is September 1, 2010.  Last time they moved up the due date after the dating ultrasound, so they may do it again this time.  And Miss Noelle came a week early too.  So my guess is that baby #2 will most likely arrive sometime in August.  I cannot believe I'll be at my biggest, the most uncomfortable stage when it's the hottest of the year.  Lovely!

ABCD

So Miss Noelle is almost 2, in fact, she'll be turning the big 2 in 15 days!! Woo-hoo! And she's definitely more vocal nowadays. We took her to visit my folks in Houston for 10 days. And during those 10 days, she has gotten so close to my parents and my sis. I think cuz she got more people to play with and interact with (on a regular basis), Noelle has become more outgoing and vocal. She loves to play drums with my dad, singing with my mom and goofing around with my sis. Noelle also learned her alphabet! We've been writing it on her magnetic-doodle, and she'll recognize the letter and say it to us. For a while, she kept saying "A-B" or "B" when it's actually "A". She's finally down with "A" now tho, lol. She's still having some trouble pronouncing "W", but it is a hard letter to say. We'll practice on the magnetic-doodle, in the bath tub (alphabet toys, btw, she's in the regular tub now, no more baby tub!!), or whenever we see letters. She really enjoys doing that. I think she recognizes some words too, like "happy", "horse", "toes", etc. And she'll try to spell "elmo" when her Elmo's World is on.

Miss Noelle also learns words from us now. Yesterday, I told her I was going to "pause" the Sesame Street, so I can change her poopy diaper. She said "pause" and sorta got the idea (I showed her the picture on tv isn't moving). And then I told her I was going to "continue" the program, she said "'tinue" :-P I think she got the concept. Or she'll say "open" when she's opening the little coupe car door. She also likes to say and point to the different body parts on herself or others. For example, she loves to dig in my mouth while saying "teeth!"

Over the Christmas, Miss Noelle got loads of great gifts. She's got a kitchen set, leapfrog reader thingy, a coupe car (mind I said it's her FAV toy?), a big magnetic doodle, and some more toys. She's better playing by herself now, I'm not sure if it's cuz she's got so much more to play with or what. But I sure am glad she can entertain herself, instead of asking to watch dvds (she says "dds" too!). Oh and she loves to talk on her cell phones or phone (one of our old cells, and a phone that came with the kitchen set). She says "'llo? hi! bye" over and over. And when I ask who she's talking to, she'll say "Wy-Wy". Wyatt is a little boy that goes to her daycare ;-P not sure what's going on with those two, lol. I think he's just one of her friends. But often time she'll say other kids names too, it's just Wyatt that comes up a lot more frequently.

happy horse

Man, I was hoping this post will have some fun pics. but seeing I'm at work right now, it's not gonna happen. Anyway...

Noelle is getting cuter and cuter each day!! And she's definitely more in the learning mode. She'll listen to what you are saying and copy or repeat the words. She still watches and loves her Baby Can Read dvds. And is now following what they are saying in the video and learning words. Noelle's current fav words are: happy, horse and baby. She'll even say "happy" on her own, just randomly with a big smile. We think she know what happy means.

She also learns to kiss with her little mouth now. Before when we tell her "kiss kiss", she'll put her forehead on you and said "mmmmmuah". It's so fun to get kisses from her. This one time I switched side with Dave, so I was closer to Noelle's bed. She woke up in the morning, saw it was her mama on the closer side to her. She smiled and gave me a kiss. It was sooooo sweet!

Miss Noelle also loves to clean and likes keeping things tidy. She'll take things to the trash can on her own or turn off the radio/light when we are leaving. What a good citizen, lol. She always wants a napkin while eating, so she can wipe the table, her hands or her mouth. However, she prefers using her little fingers over utensils for eating and absolutely refuses using bibs. So mealtime is still kinda messy.

She tells us when she poo, but sometimes chooses not to if she's watching her dvd or playing. At work she'll walk over to her diaper bag and "talks" to me and pointing to her diaper. That's how I know she poo. And she gets really excited to be changed. I guess it's kinda rewarding for her that her mama understands her.

Miss Noelle is going to turn 2 very soon, I'm hoping she'll not become one of those terrible 2s, but a terrific two.

Dinner schedule

When we first got married a little over 4 years ago, I was very excited to cook meals everyday. Before we got married, it was the husband (the boyfriend/fiance back then) who did the cooking. I'd come over after work and either him or his dad will make the dinner for us. So when we finally got married and had gotten all those wonderful kitchen-related wedding gifts. I started trying out different recipes, different cuisine. Heck, I had even gotten into baking and making breads!! But it all changed after Miss Noelle was born. At first it's cuz I was so tired from the lack of sleep. So I tried to whip up something simple and quick. But when she started eating solid food, I try to cook something she can also have. That way, I don't need to prepare 2 different dinner for the 3 of us. That means no spicy food or things that Miss Noelle can't have yet (i.e. shrimp, peanut butter, things that are tougher, etc.) I had also stopped making meals that require reading recipes. First of all, some recipes require different ingredients and I try to purchase similar things when we do our weekly grocery shopping. It's just easier to manage. Secondly, recipes may also means I need to spend a little more time in the kitchen. And that's just not happening nowadays. I try to prep the food during our lunch time and cook the dinner when Miss Noelle is watching her Sesame Street (which gives me less than one hour of time to cook, and that is if she absolutely doesn't need my attention). So this year, I decided to have a set dinner schedule for Monday and Wednesday. For us, Monday is spaghetti night and Wednesday is pizza night. And I've just added broccoli chicken over rice for Friday night about 2 weeks ago. It has been a win-win meal in our household. So 3 days out of the 5 (weekends are my off days), we have something planned already. It's sad that I can't be more spontaneous, however this is the plan I'm willing to stick to for a little while.

TV shows

What are the tv shows everyone's watching nowadays? I don't watch that much tv thanks to Miss Noelle, we now only watch tv when she goes to bed (8:30). But luckily most of our shows are on later at night anyway. This is the list of what I'm watching/obsessed with:

Grey's Anatomy - have been watching it since season 2 (already caught up with season 1)
Glee - this is new obsession, the music is GREAT and the characters are very interesting
Top Chef - this is probably the best season so far, I love Jennifer!! she for some reasons reminds me of Meredith from Grey's, lol. the 2 brothers are really talented too. but Robin needs to go!
Desperate Housewives - I didn't watch it consistently until 2 seasons ago? It's quite addicting

I wanted to watch Fringe again, but it's the same time as Glee. That's about it, not that many shows huh? We do flip the channels when our shows aren't on.

Talking girl, part 2

So Miss Noelle is definitely talking more and more!! Today, she says "ugg", which is really "bug". And she points it out and says "ugg" when she sees a fly. So I can kill it, haha. She also says "nooo", which is nose. We took a video of her at lunch time today, it was very entertaining. Miss Noelle decided to play peekaboo...

Noelle's first youtube

I'm going to see how youtube works with upkeeping videos, we shall see.

Talking girl

Noelle is now 20 months old and she is starting to talk more and more. She has mastered saying "mama" (and it's for me! well, most of the time) and "no" (ever so very clearly). One new thing she enjoys doing is making us go thru the ipod songs, she'll shake head and say "no" if it's not the song she wants. She basically goes thru almost her entire song list, sheesh. Noelle sometimes actually says "what's dat?" or "ooooh, what's dis?" but not very clearly, or at least her words aren't clearly separated yet. More like "whatsdat?" and "oooooo, whatsdis?" But very close! Oh and she loves balls. This little girlie will spot a ball miles away and she'll start saying "a ball" or "ball" while walking toward the ball to get it. Sometimes I think she says "bowl bowl" for her snack bowl, and "ba-ba" for her bottle. She doesn't say it all the time, so it's not official yet.

I love having a talking kid!

She also knows some of her body parts, like eyes/ears/mouth/nose/head/arms/belly button. I may have to start teaching her those in Chinese, just so she can be a little bit bilingual. My parents are on my case to teach Noelle Chinese. But I don't like to use it when her daddy is around, so he doesn't feel left out. And they use only English at the daycare. So it's not much opportunity for me to use solely Chinese with her. But I guess I should try harder.