Her first song, to us.

Yesterday morning while Trina was getting ready for school, this song came up on her iPod. I had personally downloaded it for her because well, it’s kind of cute! Little did I know that it had quickly become one of her favorite songs and before it hit the chorus, Trina blushingly said “this song reminds me of you and Daddy.”

Awww… :) I mentioned this to Ariel and while listening to the song himself, he held my hand and said “Trina just dedicated her first song to us.”

That’s when I realized that even though Ariel and I may argue (although pretty rare), we’re probably doing it right.

HAPPY WEDNESDAY!

Just a little over two weeks left!

That’s right~ I have just a few days over two weeks left of this pregnancy and I’m just about ready to give birth and yet, willing to wait it out until his due date. The physical demand of this pregnancy is much more difficult than my first and having experienced every bit of pregnancy I’m just about ready to wave the white flag. If the baby was born this month however, October is going to be one busy month for me in the years to come with the many birthdays and Halloween as its closure. I’m just planning ahead for the future guys. I mean I wouldn’t mind it if the baby decided to join the world in the next few minutes but like I said, I am willing to wait.

My body has been gradually and mercifully preparing me for labor though. I’ve been getting early pregnancy symptoms for the past week and a half with nausea being the first. Then came the “lightening” or “dropping”, sharp lower back pains, mood swings, and finally menstrual like cramps with added pressure on my lower back. I’m feeling all of these things I listed right now this very moment. It’s bearable but it drains so much energy out of me and I’ve been hibernating like a bear in winter. I have my 38th week prenatal appointment set for tomorrow so we’ll see how far along I am, or how closer I am to going into labor.

Ariel and I finally settled on a name! It took us the entire pregnancy to agree on a name because while I fancied biblical names, Ariel was more geared towards names that resonated strength and difference. Now, coming up with a middle name was a far more difficult task because I wanted a part of my lineage to be represented in his name.

Btw, I can trace my family ancestry all the way back to the late 800 AD. Pretty cool right? I kind of came across this knowledge while trying to come up with a middle name for the baby and I’m surprised I never bothered to ask my Dad about this! The clan that I come from is the Haepung Kim Clan that was started by some Koryo emperor that abdicated himself in favor of some other guy or something. I’m still not quite sure about the whole story of it all but it’s pretty darn neat knowing where I come from.

Okay, back to the name thing.

In Korean tradition, each generation is given a name/letter/syllable according to some clan chart. It helps keep track of which generation the baby might come from. In the case of this baby, it’s “Hui” or “Hee”. Then the child is given a true name where the name giver looks at the birth chart and balances out his/her weakness. Then there’s the surname for a total of three syllables. The name that I was given is Kim Yi-Rang [pronounced ee-rL-ah-ng]. My generation was supposed to be given the name “Jang” or something else (I think it was Chung?) but my Father opted out of this tradition because he thought it sounded hideous. Plus being born a Daughter, I don’t think it was really necessary. Kind of sexist but whatever, I’m happy my Dad opted out of that. I love the name that I was given.

I’ve been really struggling with Hui/Hee because it sounds a bit too feminine in Korean. All of the names I know with that in the syllable (I say syllable because Korean names are usually three syllables) are all females names. Having said that, I might opt out of this tradition as well and pull a letter/syllable/word out of my Grandfather’s name instead. My mind is still not set on this whole thing obviously…

wrath of a soccer mom.

Last month during a Jamboree, I found myself behaving in sorts of an angry soccer mom. Trina got shoved by an opponent girl who must have really wanted that ball because even Trina turned around to give this girl the meanest look her face could ever have conjured up. Then the whistle blew… on our girls. I was so angry I was looking for every opportunity possible to yell at the opposing parents –as they were doing to us. I feel a little ashamed of that day… I was being an incredibly immature parent ready to elbow drop somebody over what was supposed to be a fun game for the girls. I’m telling you though, the competitive shouts started from the other side! I swear!

Just yesterday I received an email from a fellow Pink Panther parent regarding the girls’ behavior during practice. Now, I almost always attend every one of Trina’s practice minus about three out of about twenty when I had to squeeze in some grocery shopping or other errands nearby. Because I was feeling incredibly out of sorts, I sat in the car yesterday crocheting. While I was still there within view, I wasn't sitting on the sidelines like usual. This email was a mass email sent to all Pink Panther parents and while I should have just shrugged it off, I was ready to give this woman a piece of my mind! I don’t really like being confrontational but I was ready to set this woman straight. Pregnancy hormones? I don’t know. But reading this email now, I can totally see I was just looking for someone to release my grumpiness out on.

I just wanted to give all the parents a head’s up that coach has been increasingly more frustrated with the girls’ behavior during practice over the last few weeks. We have talked to Mindy in the past about being too goofy and not following coach’s directions. Today her behavior was a problem again and she will write an apology letter to Coach. I hope I am not overstepping my bounds by sending out this email, but I wasn’t sure if you were aware that this has been an issue for coach over the last few weeks.

Mindy has really enjoyed being on this team. She loves all the girls and coach Steve. I feel lucky that he chooses to coach this great group of girls and I certainly want to give him incentive to coach again next year!

Mindy’s Mom

To which I drafted…

​I'm (Trina's Mom) almost always at her practice and I can assure you, while the coach may get frustrated he handles our hyperactive, mouth-running-at-100mph girls accordingly and appropriately. Although there were a few times Trina had to be reminded to be more attentive to Coach’s instructions, I kind of find it unfair that all the girls were grouped in your email as needing some sort of discipline. I'm also pretty positive that Coach Hair understands that these girls are just that, (young) girls, and has his level of expectations set for this age group.

I understand why you must have felt the need to send out a mass email but I am appalled by your assumption that some of us parents may not be taking notice of what takes place beyond our supervision with your self-righteous need to remind "all the parents" to better discipline our children. Perhaps I'm taking more offense to this because of my pregnancy hormones (I'm suffering through the last few weeks of pregnancy now) or it's probably because a line really has been crossed here and I'm just giving you a nudge back over that line. Whatever it may be, I'm sure the coach is more than capable to type out a complaint email and would have done so if he felt it necessary.

Regards,

Trina’s Mom

As stated, my reply is in my Draft folder. I had clicked “send” but there was an error and the email came back landing itself in my Outbox. I decided to fix the error the next day and reading it now, I’m so glad that the error occurred. I can be such a bitch sometimes!

In all I’m so glad we’re pulling Trina out of soccer after Spring season (Ariel and I want her to be more involved in sports with her schoolmates). I can’t imagine Trina going into a select team and me having to do this soccer mom thing on a much more serious level.

Enjoying the last few weeks.

This is how I found Trina this morning. Her finishing the last Harry Potter series with her feet hanging out of her room window.

She let me sleep in today. Heck, she lets me sleep in every weekend. Being almost 10yo, she’s pretty capable of fixing herself a plate of breakfast and creative enough to entertain herself while I get those extra hours of sleep in.

I’m going to miss these extra hours of sleep. I’m really going to miss it…

Dear Baby Boy.

You are a lucky one.

You have a Dad that will teach you great things. He is an honest man that will teach you the importance of honor and respect. From him you will learn to guard yourself and to be calculative in the decisions you will face in life. He will teach you to be diligent and to give all and a little more in everything you do. You will learn to be humble and to let your actions speak for your character and through his examples you will learn to lead and never follow; to stand out and never blend; to be yourself and always proud.

You are a lucky one.

You have a Sister with a talent to put a spark of laughter and life in everything she does. From her you will learn to see the brighter things in life and the beauty of everything and everyone. You will learn to love all creations of God and to treat them all with equal love. You will learn to be just and fair; to be charitable without expecting to be rewarded; to stand up for what you believe is right. She’s a little sensitive at times but through that you will learn to be thoughtful in your actions.

I am not a perfect mom.

But I can teach you to try and understand everything and everyone that surrounds you. I can teach you to never depend on the world but only yourself for the things you want in life. I can teach you to survive the trials in life and to find strength when you’re weary. I can also teach you the importance of punctuality and the importance of the way you represent us, your parents. I am a little quick to anger with a short fuse to disobedience but you will learn that I have very little but nonetheless important rules.

You are a lucky one.

You have a family who appreciates everything little and big; nothing to all. We will teach you to find adventure in everything you do and to experience life to the fullest. You will learn to value and be grateful for everything that is provided to you by God and by us. You will be born into a family who has already walked through the murky waters of tribulation and have succeeded through. But we are still a young family that still needs to be polished in many areas of life and we welcome you wholeheartedly to join us in the many adventures to come. We’re already in love with you with love greater than that of the universe combined. We can’t wait to meet you.

[image source: pinterest]