[day 67] hell yeah to chores.

It doesn’t look like Baby L will be coming out anytime this week. I agreed to an induction on May 15^th if my water doesn’t break before then. It’s most likely not going to happen so I’m mentally prepared. I'm ALWAYS late with EVERY SINGLE pregnancy! I’m a tidbit nervous, but excited to finally get to meet our little man that I’ve been carrying around for the past 10 months. My girlfriend texted me last week about how she was sad she had her last OB visit. Then, it dawned on me today that it’s about to happen to me, too! I almost cried on our way home from the doc’s office today. I’m blaming my pregnancy hormones.

Anyways, last night, Aiden came over since he took a late nap and told me he couldn’t sleep. I was on the floor folding laundry and he asked me if he could help. For the most part, he’s responsible every day to put his shoes away, dirty clothes in the hamper, clean up his toys after he’s done playing, dressing himself after I bathe him, etc --- It’s age appropriate chores and he does them. It teaches responsibility. I knew he wasn’t tired because he wasn’t acting wild as if he was sugar high. It’s odd that he acts that way when he’s tired and not mellow out.  It’s the complete opposite from most kids.

While we sat there, I decided to pull out my phone to record him since I didn’t have my flip near me. I realized that our one-on-one time alone was where a deeper nurturing and bonding took place. It was in a very relaxed setting and he always makes me proud to have him as my son. He has a heart that definitely cares for helping our family.

Anyways, here’s our quick conversation for those who can’t understand Vietnamese (yes, he speaks it to me when we're home).

Me: Aiden are you going to sleep yet?

Aiden:  Not Yet.

Me: Why Not?

Aiden: Because I want to help mom.

Me. Son, do you love me?

Aiden: Yes.     

Super, Ahhhh ... moment, right? 

I loved how he also offered to put most of the clothes away (which he did). He even asked me how I knew where to put Papa’s clothes. I said, I fold all the time (almost every night); it’s my chore and responsibility. Oh, Aiden! Anyways, I loved how he folded his undies. It was so perfect!

oh and here's a little piece of my day through my iPhone pics except for the baking one (borrowed from papa)

Love my boys. XOXO.

[day 66] soccer lovin'.

Oh, it's Monday. There's still no baby. Haha!

Aiden and Dylan had the day off from school today. I had my mama duties. I cleaned, fed, bathe, and played with my boys in the front yard before Papa came home during lunchtime. I asked if he would join us at the park since our boys wanted to play soccer. It’s always nice to get out since it was a beautiful day.

Imagine two hours of playing outside. They were drenching in sweat and got tired eventually. We took our boys home to nap. If they were not on the same sleep schedule, this mama would be exhausted to the max. But, I did do one thing, I bathe them again before they got into bed.  One by one.I know. I know. I couldn’t let them go into their bed since they were dirty. Plus, they always bathe before they sleep at night, which meant they took 3 baths today. Woot! Haha!

As you can tell, I’ve been using my flip recorder more lately and it’s so easy to use. I’m in love with it because it makes my movie for me.

Today was an awesome day in my opinion. I wanted to show our boys that together we can create a warm, caring, and encouraging environment doing the things they wanted to do. Honestly, I never request for anyone to cheer me on as a mom. I’m not looking for that. I’m just looking to help my boys grow up with values otherwise society would. It’s scary.

Love my boys. XOXO.

[day 65] an induction? i think not.

today would have been the day that we would have met "lan lan" or landon. we finally settled on a name. during my last doctor visit my OB had given me an option to have my induction scheduled for today, but of course, i said "no", but she left the option opened just in case i did want to go through with it. one of the reason why i didn't want to do it was that it would have cut my maternity leave short by 2 weeks, plus, i still had things to do. i wanted to see if he would come out naturally as in having my water break on its own. I'm really dreaming though because i've never had my water break with any of my other pregnancies, but hey, it's worth a shot.

he is gaining about 0.5 lbs a week as we speak and it's becoming difficult for me as far as carrying him. i'm going to suck it up for the next two weeks because i know i can probably do it unless he decides to come out sooner. right now, the only risk involved is that i'm carrying a lot of amniotic fluid based on the measurement the sonographer took at my last ultrasound. since baby L is active, there's a possibility he might do some flips and not stay head down. life is about taking risk and i'm willing to take this risk as long as we're not being harmed in any way.

i can't believe i'm going to be a mom to four boys soon! but, let me reassure you and myself that i'm not done having kids. we're planning for one more. it's a true blessing to create life and i look forward to it every single time! the odd thing is that i always forget about the pain involved in labor and being pregnant. once i meet my little man, everything from pain to being a dinosaur gets depleted. speaking of which, i am not looking forward to getting poked! WORST PART EVER! 

love my boys. xoxo.

[day 64] planet ocean addiction.

aiden has always been that curious child where he has to know or is eager to learn. honestly, i think he developed this trait from me. yes, there's more to cleaning that i enjoy. a couple of days ago, papa dang was watching the discovery channel and it talked about the planet ocean and the vast world of sea animals living in it. well, his world changed before our eyes. he not only asked a thousand questions, but became addicted to the show and wanted to watch it every night. he wanted to know more about the sea life and kept telling us. i decided the closest thing to this show was to take him to the aquarium of the pacific in long beach. i wanted to give him a chance of experiencing life under the sea. we haven't been back since he was probably 3. i knew this would be an awesome spot for him since he developed a love for the aquatic life (for now). oh, it would also give me a chance to learn about the ocean ecosystems but also to appreciate the cool creatures that exists and appreciate them for living in the aquarium solely for our entertainment.

we purchased a family membership for $115 (arguably small fee), which i thought was quite a steal! this annual pass also gave us two complimentary tickets that i gave to my sister to use with a deal that she takes our boys one day. plus, it gives us something to do that they enjoy. we didn't spend that much time there since we arrived 30 minutes before closing hours. it was, however, a fun experience with the amount of time we had. the aquarium has beautiful exhibits and plenty of opportunity to touch animals outside. we will definitely be back this week. the place is not big, but i know it's catered to families. 

i couldn't have asked for a better evening with my boys. 

love my boys. xoxo.

[day 63] just a fun outing together.

my two sickie boys who finally recovered got to spend time with me before we headed to pick up aiden from school at noon. yup, dylan got to stay home from school today. my husband had purchased a wristband for a church festival and we decided to take our boys right when it opened to allow them to play. we didn't plan to return at night only because we knew it was going to be crowded. it was a bummer that evan didn't meet the heigh requirement for even the slowest ride. he was unable to ride any rides and that was a total failure.

it was a busy friday and i was already exhausted due to lack of sleep these past two days. i wished i had more bonding time with my boys, but i know the weekend will make up for it. today wasn't what i would consider quality time, but more of a fun outing together as a family. i like the quality time we have where it gives me the chance to teach my boys values. to me, quality time is not about taking them out to do fun things, but rather doing things with them  such as helping them with their school work, playing puzzle, reading, cooking, or things that would allow in depth bonding. 

here's a quick video clip from today. it's only a small piece of what occurred, but it's the memory that i can one day look back at.

love my boys. xoxo.

[day 61] ahhhh! coping with a sick child.

this was my first day at home from morning to night without ever stepping outside the house since i started maternity leave. my poor evan was sick and probably threw up about five times. i'm not sure where he got the bug from and am assuming it might have been during one of his classes that i've been taking him to. as his mama, i provided him what he needed most and that was comfort. i tried to keep him entertained, but he slept most of the time in my arms or next to me on the bed. i watched a few shows on tv (which i normally never have time to do) plus looked through my instagram pictures (which i only do a few times a week). 

i hope my little mup gets better soon. it breaks my heart to see him sick.

love my boys. xoxo

[day 60] one-on-one

Today marks two weeks that I’ve been out on maternity leave. Life is busier than I would have ever imagined it to be. It doesn’t feel like a vacation but the thought that I don’t have to make the commute to LA makes me content, although, I have to admit, I do miss the people I work with. I'm playing the role as a stay at home mom and it's one heck of a tough job. It's a day full of errands, cleaning, picking up, playing, and feeding our boys. But, I love every minute of it.

My poor little Evan caught the fever tonight and of course; I probably won’t be getting much of a shuteye. I put together a quick flip movie video of our day but it doesn’t account for what occurred to its entirety. Today, I did less yelling and took a step back to value the key to making our family a success with our family rituals. I always try to keep the same routine with our boys and I learned as a mom that having three kids, they still require individual attention. I’ve learned that one-on-one bonding time doing what my boys want puts a meaning into our family structure. By doing so, it would help build trust and really shows that I do care for each of them. I try my best to attend to their needs because I know that the more I do things like this, the easier it will become.  

Today's one-on-one all by choice before bedtime except for Evan since he's still a little baby:

Evan - Gymboree Music & Play
Aiden - Math & Lego
Dylan - Learning how to write his name & playing a board game

The one thing I don’t want for my boys to grow up is to think that we never talked or did things together.  There are some families I know out there who don’t talk much and just put each other down. It’s not going to happen with ours. I want the cohesiveness of our family to live on even after I die.

Again, I’m not perfect, but I do try and use the patience I have to make it work.

Love my boys. XOXO.

[day 59] there's no contest. home depot wins.

it's time to repaint part of our nursery. we've been to lowe's at the tustin district several times since it's in the area. however, i must add that the store carries almost the same stuff as home depot, but one thing stands out. the staff is courteous but not super knowledgeable. can i say incompetent customer service? home depot folks never fails when there's an issue, they can solve it most of the time. anyways, i love being at these home improvement stores. it inspires me in so many ways! if only i had more time .......

well, all i gotta say for now is that i can't wait to see how the nursery turns out! we could have hired someone to do it, but i like doing what we can on our own. it makes me proud of the work and effort put into it once the project is completed (that's if it turns out right). haha!

love my boys. xoxo.

[day 58] lets redecorate the nursery.

we stayed up together until 2 a.m. working on taking down the old wallpaper and putting up a new one for our newest arrival. yeah, we were probably cray cray to the max, but it was the only time that we ever have to do any housework we want accomplished. we watched a few youtube videos (love youtube to death) to teach us the basic of removing and putting up wallpaper (it has been awhile). i love my husband for many reasons. he didn't complain about working with me since i felt that it was time for a new and modern nursery rather than the same one we've had for the past five years. i had to stick to the same color scheme since i didn't want to buy any new furniture and use what we already have. as soon as this project is completed to its entirety, i'll make sure to share it with you! i love all these DIY projects. i even want to build a tree bookshelf, but that's too extreme for the amount of time we have. haha!

p.s. my husband doesn't always read my blog, but if he is right now (oh, hi honey), he might make me delete the pic below of him. he's wearing his favorite undies while working! now that people, is HOT!

love my boys. xoxo.

[day 57] stop being the "yes" mama

I love the fact that Saturday mornings are spent at my parent’s house.  Our boys need to bond with their grandparents, too. We’re always there for at least two hours. My dad never had that “boy” that he wanted and I’m sure he’s trying to live it through his grandsons. He has a helmet and scooter to ride with them every weekend if the weather permits. I think that’s cool. I don’t understand how all my boys follow my dad even with the small amount of time that is spent with him. I guess, he wins their heart every time he plays with them and gives into what they want.

Besides that, I had to stop being that “yes” mama today. I had four events that I’ve committed to for today ONLY and surprisingly my body only allowed me to make it to one. I couldn’t be superwoman and felt obligated to attend my friend’s wedding dress fitting, my girlfriend’s 32^nd birthday, my friend’s son’s 2^nd birthday, and my cousin’s graduation from art school! I attended my friend’s son’s birthday party at Pretend City because it was the one that would make my kids most content while under my care. It was the only kid-friendly event.

So today, I stopped and realized why I’m always busy besides having a family to take care. It’s the fact that I hate saying no, but as life gets busier, I think it’s going to be OK and I’ll have to stop being that “yes” woman.

Love my boys. XOXO.