I’ve been meaning to update for so long, but with two kids it seems like everything gets done in slow motion. After 6 1/2 weeks I feel like I’m finally getting the hang of taking care of two little munchkins.

Where do I even start??? Well, Ryder was born on 9/12 at a healthy 8lb 11oz, 21 inches. Since the beginning, he’s been a good eater and an awesome sleeper! On good nights, he can go for 7 hr stretches. It’s a blessing, yet painful for me (since I breastfeed). Rylie acted up a little in the beginning, but she’s her happy self again. I don’t think it was jealousy she was experiencing, but she just wanted to do everything her little brother did. For example, she went through his clothes and wore his socks and onesie one day. Yup, she squeezed her 3 yr old self into a 3 month onesie. Even now I sometimes see her trying to copy him, but I think it’ll pass in time. Overall, she is an awesome older sister and has so much love for Ryder. I hope their relationship continues this way as they get older.

Moving onto some pictures of my loves

I love these next two.

Rylie to me: What’s your name?
me: Mommy
R: No… what do your friends call you?
me: You tell me. What do they call me?
R: HELEN!!!!!!

Rylie to Youkeun: What do your friends call you?
Y: What do they call me?
R: YOUKEUN!!!!!!

After she goes #2, I usually ask her if she did a big one or a small one. Here’s how our conversation went.

me: Did you do a big one or a small one?
R: a snake one
me: a snake???
R: Yea… and daddy put a blanket on it. (meaning, he put a wipey on it)

In the midst of looking for a home and waiting for #2 to arrive, we had Rylie’s 3rd birthday party to plan. Hubby and I were both hoping that I wouldn’t go into labor anytime before or on the day of her party. Thankfully, the baby stayed put . Rylie knew what she wanted for her party and had several requests: 1) She wanted Twinkle and her friends 2) party hats 3) wanted all her friends to come 4) and a flower cake. The only thing I couldn’t fulfill was the flower cake, but I told her I would make it up to her by making a rainbow cake instead.

Now that her party is over, we have two more things on our list to cross off!!! I’m at 38 wks now and just waiting…
I’m feeling super swollen these days and feel like “bleh.” On top of that, why is the weather so HOT!?!?

Here is the slideshow from Rylie’s bday party. All the pictures are taken by hubby and sources for the DIY’s are listed below! Enjoy

Cupcake Bites: Bakerella
Party Hats: Hip Hip Hooray
Rainbow cake: The Idea Room
Photobooth Fabric: Ikea’s Sofia Fabric
Entertainment: Twinkle and Friends
Cupcake Liners: Here and Here
Cupcake Topper: Here

Our goal for Rylie this summer was to teach her how to swim w/o the floaties … and she’s finally done it! She loves swimming so much that she will not let a day go by without mentioning that she has to go in the pool. I’m so proud of her and can see that she is too. She tells me to video tape her and will show me little tricks that daddy has taught her. Now it’s my turn to learn how to swim

I came upon THIS recipe awhile ago and always wanted to make them. I knew Rylie would love them, but I knew I would love them even more After her nap, we surprised her by telling her that we were going to make doughnuts. She was super excited and was eager to start helping out. The recipe is so easy to follow and even Youkeun’s been raving about it ever since. The recipe says that it makes 16 doughnuts, but we made a lot more by making them smaller. I didn’t have powdered sugar on hand, but used sugar and cinnamon instead for the coating. I also saved half of the batter and can’t wait to make them again!

 

Waiting…

  

 

Eating a few doughnuts before going in the pool with daddy.

  

This past weekend, we went camping with two other families at our favorite campsite in San Clemente. Youkeun and I used to go camping at least a few times during the summer, so we were really excited to finally introduce Rylie to it. We all ate so much food, I have no doubt each person gained a few pounds.

Rylie did so well sleeping on her Aerobed (see below) and requested to put herself to sleep at night. We did the same nighttime routine and at the end, she would say, “You go out, I sleep by myself. Mommy and daddy sleep in the tent later.” Outside the tent, we could hear her playing with her stuffed animals and singing to herself, but after about 30 min, she was sound asleep. Hallelujah!!!!

Other than a few skunks frequenting our site and an unexpected wake-up at 4:30am the first night (a camper was on fire), we had a wonderful time on this trip.

I’m gonna have to catch up on some sleep the next few days. Taking frequent bathroom trips during the night, being woken up by hubby’s snoring, and checking to see if the blanket was still on Rylie … I’m one tired momma.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from our trip.
 
      

       

  

   

Rylie said Bella was her favorite person from this trip.

At the beach on the second day.

Rylie chillin with her 2nd favorite person.

 

I purchased this AeroBed for Kids and I would definitely recommend it to anyone needing a portable bed for kids while traveling. We’ll be taking this with us to our SD trip next month!

 

Proud of her finished product.

Rylie isn’t going to school yet, but when I saw this owl backpack and lunch bag, I just had to get it for her. I love the design and the bright colors.

  
 

Update on pregnancy: I have good days and I have bad days. Out of the week, I think I have about 2 bad days. My nausea is definitely lasting longer this time around. I still don’t eat much meat, but I can now eat kimchee and the smell of rice doesn’t bother me as much. I still love all things spicy . I usually don’t eat things too spicy, but these days, the spicier the yummier.

Big Sister to a baby brother! I’m at 20 wks and we just found out yesterday that we’re expecting a baby boy. When we first told Rylie, the first thing she said was, “Why?” She wanted a sister, but I think she’s slowly accepting the fact that she will have a brother instead. Since we don’t have a name yet, she refers to the baby as “my baby brother.” She says things like, “Is my baby brother hungry?,” “I wanna hug my baby brother,” or “When is my baby brother coming out of your tummy.” I think Rylie is more than ready to be a big sister and she is super excited.

I can’t believe I’m at the halfway point! My nausea is finally going away, but I can’t even describe how bad it was up until a couple weeks ago. I had mild hyperemesis with Rylie, but it was worse this time. I was throwing up everyday and was on the verge of going crazy. I’m really fortunate to have Youkeun working from home because without him, Rylie would have been mommy-less. Rylie was also super understanding. Whenever they ate any meals, I had to stay in my room until they were done. She would eat really fast and yell,” Mommy! There’s no more food!” I’m finally able to play with her more and hoping the nausea will be completely gone in a few weeks.

Some minor differences in this pregnancy:
* The smell of rice cooking, garlic, and onions really bothered me this time
* I feel like I’m carrying the baby really low
* I want to eat spicy food this time

Same things:
* No meat please!
* fruit, fruit, and more fruit!
* Bad nausea

Youkeun and I also celebrated our 5 yr anniversary a few wks ago. We initially wanted to go to a nice place for dinner, but plans changed when my nausea was still really bad at night. We decided instead to go to Pasadena to eat lunch at Mi Piace and stroll around Old Town. We had a great time except for a minor meltdown during lunch. We got stares from many people around us which resulted in us eating lunch as quickly as possible and getting dessert elsewhere. Here are some pics from our day out.

I don’t remember what she was upset about, but this is a rare occurrence for us.

Happy to get some cheesecake and ice cream!