just a little happy me

and tis true.

My church does this thing where members of the church submit photos to be printed for following week’s bulletin filler. The thought of having a photo of mine seen by hundreds of church attendants was appealing but I always shied away from the idea. I mean it’s not like they’re asking for any professional photos but me? Why mine?

Last week after church I was looking through some photos with just an “interest” in mind. As I was looking through all the photos, I thought “wow, I’m not that bad.” Having had no lesson in photography what-so-ever besides hours of experiments and reading, I was pretty impressed with my level of skill (still extremely noob but far better than I give myself credit for). I ended up picking out half a dozen photos of Trina and emailed them over to the person in charge of bulletin fillers and [insert heavenly tune here], one of my photos got picked. I don’t know which one, but I’m excited!

Little things like these will get me happy and I won’t get over this tiny bit of good news until probably next week.

[photo source: weheartit.com]

and you sir, is fifty-five now.

  [my Dad, my Artist, & the Diva—my niece]

I’ve always delighted in knowing the endless characteristics I inherited from my Dad; the good and the bad. I take it as a huge compliment when people comment how similar I look like him because like all daughters, the most handsome man in my life is my Dad—not that I want to look like a dude but it means I’m erm, handsome?

And this man, my super freaking awesome Dad, is turning 55 today folks!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!

I’m sorry I’m not some super-genius-rich daughter but hey, at least I’m not a stripper right?

A wreck.

  [the Arellanos]

Me: “Hey, you know something?'” 

Him: “What?”

Me: “I was such a wreck in the beginning of our relationship.” 

Him: “Yeah you were.” [he replies playfully] 

Me: “I’m serious. How did you ever manage to fall in love with me? Weren’t you scared of what you were getting yourself into?” 

Him: “The way I see it, I was a wreck without you and you were a wreck without me.”

28 weeks – third trimester!

 
nesting phase
waddle master
craving everything within sight
obsessed with organizing
only fits loose fitting dresses &
lives in workout gear
no stretch marks [yay!]
outgrew all bras

I’m eating more than ever, weigh more than ever, and am organizing more than ever. I practically live in my workout gear when I’m at home and can be found in loose fitting dresses when I’m out and about. I haven’t bought any maternity clothes because I’m a cheap-skate and am thankful for my taste in loose fitting clothes pre-pregnancy. I’ve been organizing just about everything I can think of from Trina’s school-day schedules & soccer day schedules, chores, and budgeting. This house has never been so clean for as long as it has because along with pregnancy’s nesting phase came OCD. I think my nesting phase/OCD has also rubbed off on Ariel because the poor man has been working twice as hard around the house with projects of his own. Even though I’m getting heavier and heavier, I find myself more and more energized with some to spare at the end of the day so I’m still having a bit of a trouble falling asleep. I have been banned from the bedroom during day time hours to prevent me from sneaking in naps so I’ve turned the entertainment dining area into my own little office. This is the only room that hasn’t been affected by my nesting phase/OCD but it just might soon…

My guilty pleasure at the moment? I like to enjoy a cup of coffee every so often.

Knowledge vs Luck

When I was a few years younger, I wanted seven children. I don’t know why I wanted seven and not eight.. or four.. or three. I just wanted seven. Helen once told me that the reason behind me wanting seven children was because my daughter was a good daughter and it’s true. I can’t imagine wanting any more children if my first was a hellish monster (not that kids are hellish monsters but you get what I mean. Don’t get your panties in a bunch). Now I want just three. My Mom practically gave me a high five when she found out I was having a boy this time around and said “You have one of each now so no more! You’re going to ruin your body!” Asian parents, what can you say? Anyways, I want three. I want one more little girl because I feel like my artist grew up too fast for me. I was still a youngin’ and had a lot of growing up to do myself, you know? A woman once tsk-ed at me and said “It’s a child raising a child. How sad!” (I’m telling you, Asian women are brutal) and although my then young and proud self wanted to punch her square in the jaw, I can’t help but agree with her now.

When friends see the kind of girl Trina grew up to be, they ask me for advice as if I’m some sort of an expert. I get questions like “how did you do it? How did you raise a girl so smart and obedient?” and you know what? No matter how hard I think, my smart ass mouth can’t come up with anything but “I got lucky.” I was there for Trina as a Mother, Guide, and Teacher… but I really don’t know how I raised such a wonderful little person and it scares me thinking that I could have done something wrong to ruin all of that. Don’t get me wrong, I do my very best but I could have really damaged this little person and she could have been raised into a polar opposite version of who she is now.

Having said that, I am deathly afraid that I might fuck everything up this time around. I’m so, so, so afraid that I might not be as “lucky” with this little child growing in my uterus. I find myself panicking as if this is my first time having a child even though I have a bright, young girl making me proud every single minute of every single day.

I’ve been asking God to guide me more than I ever have my entire life. I’ve realized how fragile a balance is between choice A and choice B and I’ve been asking begging Him to guide me, guide my children in the right direction. I can only hope that He sees me ready now for His grace than later.

Nesting Phase

Ariel loves it, I think my Father-in-law appreciates it, and the kids are driven crazy by it.

I’ve been exterminating dust bunnies like nobody’s business the past few weeks. This house? I have conquered it with a mop in one pink rubber gloved hand and a duster in the other. I have crowned myself with a maid’s hat and donned myself with an apron worthy of the dirt of this house.

Ha…. kidding. I have a steam mop so it makes mopping helluva lot easier and I’d look silly in a maid’s hat.

Point is, I have just entered the third trimester of pregnancy and although I find myself walking up and down the stairs a lot slower than my 17yo dog, this house looks so good that my Mom would be proud.

This photo has nothing to do with this post but I can’t wait until I can try this out! Just imagine the balance and strength it must take to keep yourself from tipping over sideways… or a crazy person who cannonballs smack in the middle.

[photo source]

our wedding anniversary adventure: Part 2—August 3-6, 2013

 

Great Wolf Lodge was an experience all its own. I’ve been to my fair share of water parks and although this place was small by comparison, it was an adventure haven for T and O. Being pregnant, I was very limited to what I felt comfortable with doing and missed out on most of the excitement this place had to offer but I had a splendid time nonetheless! Plus it gave me the opportunity to get some memorable shots of our fun and adventure at the Great Wolf Lodge of Grand Mound, WA!

This photo is one of my favorite because Ariel fell off the raft on one of their bigger slides half way down! The expression on each of their faces tells a story of the event.

 
MagiQuest was a whole lot of cardio and I’m sure I came back home with a nicely toned butt thanks to running up and down the stairs. It even wore out my nephew and he puts the energizer bunny to shame. Trina was very determined in finishing the quest and was able to do so before we left for Portland so she’ is now a Master Magi! Upon finishing the quest she had other children run up to her for assistance in finishing theirs so it was nice to see that she made friends in the wild chaos of determined little Magis on a mission.

In all I had a blast at the Great Wolf Lodge. I do wish I could have screamed my head off in excitement with the kids going down the big slides but it was just as nice seeing the huge smiles on their faces. I did enjoy some quiet time to myself when all the children in the building went to bed in the lobby with a book and was surprised at the energy I had the next day with very little sleep. I was a freaking trooper I tell ya!

PS. The Paw Pass was so worth it! It came with just about everything a child would need to really get the full experience of Great Wolf Lodge. If you are staying for only a night however, I suggest that you opt out because it took us a good few hours of our second day to check off everything the pass had to offer.

our wedding anniversary adventure: Part 1—August 2, 2013

Ariel was awarded Honor Guard of the Quarter (let me brag a little and say that he was nominated for this twice!) and was given these passes amongst other things. It was the only rainy day that weekend but with Washington State being uber sunny this summer, it actually felt quite refreshing. I’ve never been to Sea Fair before so I didn’t know what to expect but the free food (and free alcohol for Ariel), a private sheltered area away from the crowds, and front row seats to hydroplanes wooshing by was exciting. I took in all of Sea Fair that day by exploring the entire ground as I possibly could while getting soaked in the rain and waddling happily like a little penguin with free stuff I will never find use for.

don’t mind the hat. I actually had a really cute outfit on but it started to rain and had to put on the sweatshirt I so happened to have in the trunk.

before it started to rain we sat right where these girls are sitting. If it was a sunny day it would have been such great seats! But as you can see, these folks are true Washingtonians-Sea Fair lovers because they fought through the rain like a champ.

 
I’ve never seen a hydroplane up close before so having access to the pit was pretty sweet! Wait, let me rephrase that… I’ve never seen a hydroplane before so having access to the pit to see these beauties up close was pretty sweet.

 

It really would have been super if the weather was nicer but once again, it felt refreshing to have some rain and it was cozy with the sheltered area. Thanks Albert Lee Appliances for that by the way and thank you to the Major who provided us with these passes!