Guess who has pigtails???

Well it took us a good half hour of wrestling and struggle with Bailey to get 2 rubberbands in her hair. We took these pictures real quick because a minute later, she pulled them off.

Watching TV

View from the top

Thanksgiving 2007

First of all... I never liked this holiday. I didn't grow up with it, so when we moved here, it was thrown at me as a major American holiday. I didn't understand its history and they why's or what it was about until recently. Even then, I still don't appreciate it fully.

This year is a little different than any other year.

My dad has been gone for 2 years now and my mom moved to Florida. It just dawned on me that 2007, I'm officially parent-less for the holidays.

Well... I am a parent of 2 kids now. So it's my turn to make every holiday more special than the last one for them. My parents never really did that for me so I want our kids to appreciate everything they have.

Happy Thanksgiving!

One Bad Day

I was in a fender bender yesterday. I rear-ended an SUV and did some damage to my car. It's not drivable at all so we'll see if it's worth fixing. The SUV I hit had practically no damage.

We were on our way to pick up Reese from school (Bailey and I). From San Tomas turning right onto Williams where there's usually no cars. Well... this time there were cars backed up to the intersection of San Tomas and Williams. Bailey was screaming for me to take her cup so I turned to get it. And right then was when I hit the SUV.

No one got hurt. Bailey had a cut on her lip from the cup jamming into her face. My neck and back are sore, but I am ok. This was my first accident EVER... so I'm still shaken up by it.

Needless to say, other than not having a car, I won't be driving for a while.

The Daily Grind

I haven't really talked about life at work on here at all.

Things are good on my little corner of the office. I am thankful for everything I have there and how much people really do appreciate my contributions to the company. Recently it was time for our annual raises, of which I was very nicely compensated. There is still everyday drama. The drama that seems to only come from one person.

My Mondays aren't dreadful and Fridays usually come too soon.

So overall, things are pretty good. We'll see what this coming year brings me. More new things and bigger accomplishments probably.

Restaurant no-more

Yesterday Chris and I met a friend at the Red Robin in Rivermark. This came after we met with a potential new daycare provider for Bailey. Not that that made any difference but keep in mind that by the time we went to Red Robin, it was 7pm. It's late for our family to have dinner by now and it's approaching Bailey's bedtime.

We get our seat. The waiter brought us drinks. And right then, it was over.

Bailey wanted to play with my glass of coke, the ice in it was her ultimate goal. The straw was in the way so she threw it out of my reach. Not to mention she didn't like the booster seat they gave her. She took a piece of ice then realized it's been soaking in Coke. So now she wants to drink my drink. I took it away from her and she threw a tantrum.

Chris took her outside to distract her while I place our orders.

They came back inside when we got the chicken wings. Of course she wanted some of those. I gave her a celery stick dipped in ranch. mmmmmm... that kept her for a while, but damn, that coke is still sitting there calling her name.

She tried to climb on the table to get to the coke or anything else she's not supposed to touch. The second I'd say no, she screamed.

Finally, I ate my burger in 2.5 seconds flat... grabbed our stuff and took her outside. Chris stayed behind and ate his food with Reese.

In the meantime, Reese just sat there watching the tv show I downloaded on my iPod the entire time without a peep. I couldn't help to think that he was just like Bailey at one point in his life and it was over before I knew it. I have to keep that in mind and repeat to myself - Someday we will be able to eat in a restaurant again - over and over.

On a different note: PROJECT RUNWAY is back on! Season 4 baby!!!

Uh.... really??

This morning I strolled into my Starbucks just like I do everyday for my daily iced mocha.

I stand in line as the person infront of me place her order. The cashier told her what the total of her purchase was $4 something.

The girl hands her a $100 bill.

Starbucks girl: Um... Do you have something smaller than that?
Customer girl: No.
Starbucks girl: Well... I can't break that. We put all the $20's into a safe when we get them. We're not supposed to take anything bigger than a $20.
Customer girl: Get a key and open it
Starbucks girl: The person with the key isn't here right now. I can't break your $100. Do you have anything smaller?
Customer girl: No. Well, then my coffee is free, isn't it.

Starbucks girl just stood there, didn't know what the heck to do.

Customer girl put her $100 away, walked around to the end of the bar and grabbed her Latte and left.

Another customer behind me said outloud so she could hear "Well that's one way to get free coffee"

Happy Halloween!

Of course Jeff P took all the pictures last night when we went trick or treating with the kids.

The 2 boys, Reese and Derek would go up to 3 houses by the time she gets to 1. She would stand there and talk to people and ask for 'cookie'. Because everything that comes in individual packages are cookies to her. The boys would take off to the next house and she'd barely make it down the the door steps by the time they get to the second or third houses. It's ok she's only a toddler.. those guys are expert trick or treaters now.

At one point in time she had a sucker in her hand with the wrapper off. For about 10 minutes she was sucking on it and then it disappeared. Oh yeah, it's on the back of her head stuck to her hair.

I guess I have to expect that on Halloween night.

Will post pictures later. Here's one of her in her costume.

Get in, lock the door, and stay home for a while

Have you ever had one of those days that just continue to get worse as the day goes on??

Yesterday was that day for me and Chris. Thank goodness the kids were with his mom. Let me try to recall the day I would rather forget.

3:00am - At least I thought it was 3am. The house phone rings. Are you kidding?? Who the hell is calling us at these hours. I barely opened my eyes and figured if they really need to talk to us, they can call my cell phone which is sitting next to me.

4:30am - The house phone rings again. And again, I ignore it. Chris is sound asleep, he heard the phone but didn't bother to open his eyes. The baby twitched a little but it didn't wake her up.

8:00am - We finally get up and get going for the day by this time. I took a look at the caller ID and it says City of Santa Clara. Hmm... my first thought was that my office's alarm was going off last night and they tried to call everyone on the list until someone answers. One of the stray cats in the yard probably tripped the alarm.

8:30am - Chris goes off to rehersal at Independence and I was going to do a little laundry, jump in the shower and we'd go drop the kids off with his mom around lunch time in Pleasanton.

I put my 6 quarters in the washer and they are stuck. No laundry for us today.

9:30am - I'm talking to LLMM on the phone and the other line beeps. I looked at the ID and it said Bad Boys Bail Bonds.

.... ok WTF

I jumped off the phone with LLMM and jumped on the other line. A family member had been arrested and now needed to be bailed out. I called Chris, he's freaking out. No one else is answering their phones today apparently. Chris left rehearsal early to go take care of the situation and he eventually came home with no answers.

Side note: Did I mention it's our 2nd wedding anniversary weekend and we're pawning the kids to Chris' mom and going to enjoy a ridiculously expensive but worth every penny dinner at Benihana's tonight?

Several phone calls later things are still in shambles and we leave for Concord as planned for today. We get to Pleasanton where we meet Chris' mom half way (she lives in Manteca now and we're on our way to Concord). She pulls up as Chris and I are composing what to tell her about this particular family member who's still sitting in custody IF she doesn't already know.

..... and she had no idea. We made some phone calls to people Chris and I didn't have numbers to and finds out that things are now semi-ok and the family member is now free. This person has a lot of explaining to do. Especially to Chris' mom.

She takes the kids regardless of how she's feeling. She didn't have to but she wanted to. The need for pleasant distraction of having a 7 year old and a 16 month old in your care for a day.

Our phones stopped ringing and we're on our way to concord.

3:00pm - We get to DVC and the kids aren't there yet. Apparently there was some issue with the bus and one had to turn around to go back to the school. Chris gets out to go meet the other staff members and I take off to get some snacks and find one particular item that 4 stores in a 1 mile radius didn't have. But oh yeah... 7-11 directly across the street from DVC had it. DUH!

5:30pm - The Indy kids perform their show spectucularly as they should. Too bad it's not under lights. They get great reception from the audience regardless.

Immediately after they performed, Chris and I were leaving to go have our ridiculously delicious yet expensive anniversary dinner at Benihana. As we pulled out of the driveway of DVC parking lot, Chris noticed we came out the 'in' way. It was too late to back out since it would have been up hill and no one was coming or going anyway. We got about 30 feet from the entrance Chris uttered "ah shit". Sirens and lights behind us.

Is that for us?

Yes.

Damn.

We pulled over. I'm reading the program from the band show and had to think for a second if we had anything in the car that we should be worried about. Nope we don't.

Chris had all the documentation for the police officer. The only thing he did wrong was coming out of the 'In' way. Oh yeah... and his license is expired.

And for that... the nice police officer asked us to step out of the car and proceeded to search inside and patted him down. He didn't search me but he did ask me if I 'had' anything on me. What does that mean? Illegal substance? Packing a gun, knife, nail file? No I don't have anything. If I did, I wouldn't admit it since you're not going to search me.

Thank GOD we didn't have anything.

By the end of this stupid ordeal... the car gets towed to an impound yard and Chris will have to come back with a good license to get his car out. To concord.

7:00pm - We go back into the band show inside DVC on foot... found our friends... told them what happened and established who's taking us home. That was the easy part. But dammit we're hungry!

We stayed at the show watching a few bands with our friends eating snacks the kids were selling which made us even more hungry for food with substance.

9:00pm - We finally leave the show site with our good friend Harry and Kelly in her car not too far behind us. We made a unanimous decision to eat at Denny's. Benihana vs. Denny's. Well at least we avoided spending an arm and a leg and our first born. We leave the restaurant shortly after we finished our comparable fried food but cheap dinner.

10:30pm - We're still on the road just over the Sunol Grade on 680 and I'm in and out of sleep in the back seat. Suddenly I'm awaken with Harry and Chris discussing the fact that he's stepping on the gas and there's no response.

OMG.... wouldn't you know it. We are OUT OF GAS.

I called Kelly since she's about 5 minutes behind us and she had to pull over to laugh. She stopped to help us get some gas and we were on our way.

We finally get home around 11:00pm.

Get in, lock the door, don't come back out until it's safe to do so.

Old pictures

Yesterday I went to our mailbox to retrieve our mail that's been sitting in there for about a week. Lots of useless ads and some bills and a note card from my mom.

I think it's finally hit her that we're 3000 miles away and she's no longer 'home'. She misses her grandkids pretty badly and I don't blame her. She moved to Florida for good reasons. But she also sacrificed a lot of her past life.

In the envelope she sent there were a bunch of odd dimensioned photos of our us. Me, my mom, my dad, a few of me and my friends from Thailand when we lived there. One of my passport photos my dad took.

There were 2 photos in particular that caught my attention. They were polaroid pictures of me when I was about Bailey's age now. I did a double take and my jaw dropped to the floor. The image infront of me appeared exactly the same as my daughter's now. The thin hair, rolls in the neck, big eyes, unibrow, and that serious 'thinking' look on her face.

But she really does look like her dad to the T.

I will have to scan those photos somehow without damaging them and post on here.

My new hair

Well not new hair. Just new color job. I finally broke down and got highlights.

Her Eyes

Chris says this song reminds him of me and it makes him smile everytime he hears it.

Pat Monahan - HER EYES

She's not afraid; she just likes to use her night light
When she gets paid, true religion gets it all If they fit right.
She's a little bit manic, completely organic
Doesn't panic for the most part.

She's old enough to know, and young enough not to say no
To any chance that she gets for home plate tickets to see the Mets.
Like everybody, she's in over her head, Dreads Feds, Grateful Dead, and doesn't take meds.

She's a Gemini Capricorn Thinks all men are addicted to porn.
I don't agree with her half the time, But, damn I'm glad she's mine.

Her eyes, that's where hope lies.
That's where blue skies Meet the sunrise.
Her eyes, that's where I go When I go home.

She got the kinda strength that every man wishes he had.
She loved Michael Jackson up until he made Bad.
Tells me that she lives about a hundred lives, Scares me to death when she thinks and drives, Says cowboy hats make her look fat, and I'm so glad she's mine.

She doesn't know the word 'impossible'
Don't care where I've been and doesn't care where we're goin' to.
She takes me as I am, and that ain't easy.
She's beautiful. So beautiful.
And sometimes I think she's truly crazy. And I love it.

Her eyes, that's where hope lies.
That's where blue skies Always meet the sunrise.
Her eyes, that's where I go When I go home.

She's not afraidshe just likes to use her night light.

Why why why...

Why can't Bailey sleep?? She kept waking up last night for no reason. Wake up, cry, go back to sleep.... wake up, cry, go back to sleep. I should just give up sleep altogether. UGH!

It's a wonder who I can function during the day anymore. Maybe my body is just so used to it now it really doesn't matter anymore.

So.... it's almost Halloween and Reese still can't figure out what he wants to be this year yet. Maybe he will once I take him to the costume shop. He's got a party at the Y on Thursday, so I should take him soon.

Bailey will be a fluffy pink flamingo

Videos

Ok I just figured out how to post videos on here.

Bailey's first steps - This was back in April of 2007

Bouncing Bailey

I can't imagine her being embarrassed by this picture in 15 years, can you?

October 22, 2007

Ok lots of things to update...

Let's see...

Our little precious monkey girl still doesn't sleep through the night. Not on a regular basis. And it's doing a number on my sanity. She can sleep through 4 out of 7 nights a week. That's it. Those nights are usually clumped together. Then she will wake up 3-4 nights in a row. We have already tried all the tricks of the trade. Seriously. Nothing seems to be working. We first blamed it on teeth... then she would leak through her diaper so she wakes up wet and irritated... Her teeth are all in like they should be now... and we switched to nighttime diapers (duh) so she's not waking up soaked anymore.

Yeah... I still hear "... Manna?" at 3am.

That's the other thing. She doesn't say "Mommy" ... I think I heard her call me that once. That's it just one time. When she's really tired and whiny. I want her to say it when she's happy and calling me because she wants to. I guess that will come with time.

Bailey says simple words and understands a lot of things you tell her now. She has total common sense. She will pick out shoes from her shoe basket and they'd be a matching pair. And then she will put them down to try to put them on, always the correct foot in the correct shoe. When we change her diaper, she walks her soiled diaper to the garbage can. Can't open the can, but she will put it on the top of the lid and go about her day.

She's starting to play like a girl. She takes her baby dolls and line them up and tuck them in like she's putting them to bed. I caught her trying to diaper a doll yesterday. It was cute and funny. She did get frustrated because it wouldn't stay on the doll. I guess we'll have to look into investing in a play kitchen or doll house soon.

___________________________________________

In other news...

Our good boy Reese has been suspended from school. Today he's not allowed to be at school because he punched another kid in class.

Apperently the kid said something about me that was pretty naughty. So when he got up from his seat, Reese punched him in the ribs.

The principal of the school called me to let me know what happened and that he's suspended. She also told me that she knows Reese pretty well and this is out of his charactor. Reese knows what he did was wrong and he felt horrible about it. On the one hand I can't imagine my kid punching someone like that. On the other hand I'm kinda glad he did what he did and is getting the punishment that is harsh. He knows that being suspended from school is the ultimate worse. That's what the 'bad' kids get.

Hopefully this is the last and only phone call like that I'm going to receive from the principal.

________________________________________

Chris is doing well with his work. So far nothing has changed with his job but you never know what's going to happen tomorrow.

He's also the visual tech guy at Independence High School. My alma mater and Chris marched in the band. No, he didn't attend the school, but Mr. M let him march in the band back in the day. He takes a lot of pride in teaching and those kids are really lucky to have him. Yes he does talk, marching is his passion and he's been eager to teach for a long time.

________________________________________

Speaking of teaching. I've also been helping out a colorguard. My good friend Lolita teaches a little band out in Ceres, CA at Central Valley HS. Brand new school, brand new band. She's also very passionate about what she does and I am proud of what she has accomplished in just a year's time. I am honored to be there with her and to help with her group of kids.

We have big plans for the winter program. It's really too bad that the school is 2 hours away from me and I can't be there all the time. But they are willing to work hard and they really do put their heart and soul into everything they do. Just like Lolita. I think they will do fine.

_________________________________________

I am trying to make Christmas cards. Yes Christmas cards. I figured if I start now, I will actually send them out in time for Christmas. We need to go take family pictures for the holidays. Although we have to wait til after Thanksgiving. The baby doesn't look the same from month to month. You laugh, but it's true!!

What else...

Oh yeah... I've decided not to march Renegades. At least not for another few years. It's not fair for the kids that both parents aren't available during the summer weekends. Reese wanted to be in baseball this year and we couldn't put him in because we actually want to be there for his games on Saturdays. It was impossible. The baby will have her own schedule also. We might put her into swim lessons or something. The local YMCA has a lot to offer.

Although I'm not marching anymore, I will continue to be involved with the corps. They are setting up committees so us alumni and other supporters of the corps maybe able to do to help. Without people doing all the hardwork in the background, there wouldn't be a corps on the field. I will do my best to try to help.

I have mentioned this to Chris before, but if there's a hole in June, I might be persuaded to fill it. Don't know until we get there. It's not fair to do that to people who were there all season though. I did it in 2003, that was HARD WORK!! Plus I have mommy brain now anyway. That means you don't remember things as well as you used to before babies. Shut up Kathy. lol.

Here's a little video of Bailey laughing. It's the most perfect sound any parent hears. It's true, ask a parent.

Ok... that's all for today.

Another year another dollar

Tomorrow is my birthday... again. Why does it seem like I just had a birthday not too long ago?

The weather is getting chilly... leaves are turning autumn colors. Well not really because we live in northern California, but in some areas it really does look like Fall is creeping up on us.

It was so windy the other night that the neighbor's backyard gate was slamming against its post all night. Looks like mother nature can't decide whether to cry or to smile.

______________________

Chris and I are doing well. Chris's job is currently going through a blender of change. Not is job perse... his entire building where he works. My job is here... it never changes. I don't mind that at all. So... because of Chris's current position at work... we might come to a major crossroad in life soon. It might take us to eat some real pulled pork bbq on a daily basis.

This comes at a time when I'm excelling at my job finally. Things are going well here and I'm 'needed' in many aspects.

Will update more later.

Appreciating my friends

I wanted to note these thoughts before I forget.

Recently I came to a realization that I really appreciate my friends.

Kelly reminded me that I have a birthday coming up and rearranged her schedule of a busy weekend so we can all have dinner together that night. I hadn't even thought about it. Much less remembered that it's coming up soon. My own mother hasn't called me on my birthday for a few years now. Every now and then I will get a 'make-up' call later in the week. Sidenote: I am her only child... how hard is it to remember?

Suzanne brought some pajamas from her daughter's closet for Bailey. I'm also the first person she tells things at work when there's something going on in her personal life. We confide in one another through the work week just to amuse ourselves because our colleagues are loonies.

I got a message from Tiffany on MySpace today saying she misses me. I really miss her and her picturesque quirkyness too.

Tonight I just found discovered the fact that my good friend Lee has my blog as a 'Blogs of Note' blog on his blog. (how many times can I say the word 'blog' in that sentence?) All I can say is DURRR! I had no idea. Chris says it's been there for months, even a year now. I had no idea I was getting such advertisement. I would have been updating this thing more often for sure.

I talk to Lisamomeesa nearly every single day. She's one person I can tell anything to and she will have something to say that's just as vibrant in personal thoughts or even more opinionated. To me, that's totally not a bad thing. I love her for being exactly that. Colorful.

Jojo keeps things real and me grounded. In life, in thoughts, all around. I can't imagine not having her to confide my random moments to. Having her in my life is like having a big sister I always wanted. Except this one doesn't go through my closet.

My bestest friend in the world Chris. Our anniversary is coming up soon.

What do I get him this year?

Some recent pictures

I will update this blog with a wrap up of our NY trip very soon. Definitely before I forget all the details!!

Random Reese Conversation

So coming home from Mars after a long camp weekend a few weeks ago. I had Reese and Derek in the car. It was non-stop chatter. Which was great because I was so tired and they kept me company. Derek is a smart cookie. No lie.

Reese: Mom, why do they call it the "Big Ass halt"
(he's referring to a part in our show during Jazz Police where everyone parks and blows, or spin)
Me: Well that's not a good word to use, it's an adult word so you shouldn't say it. But it's a part of our show that we all know.
Derek: Well, sometimes adults make bad choices.
Me: Yes... yes we do.

Oh Geez

It's been almost a month since I last wrote something in here. How much do I suck?

Our laptop at home has a virus. Neither one of us have the time or energy to take it to Geek Squad or ask someone techy. Bleh. To post at work (like I'm doing right now) is pretty much impossible. I can't stop long enough to think about personal stuff anymore here. Too many tasks too many responsibilities. Which is okay. I love being busy here, I like feeling wanted, needed by these guys.

We leave for DCA Championship week in Rochester, NY with the Renegades next week. Wednesday night to be exact. I can't believe it's here already. This season just FLEW by. I guess that's what happens when you have a good time with friends and not stress out. 2005 was not a good year for me personally... I was way stressed and couldn't wait for it to all be over.

Bailey is getting smarter by the day. She sits and reads a book with us at night. We sing to her and she makes hand motions. She points to the fridge and says 'melk? melk?' when she watns milk. She takes her dirty diaper to the garbage herself. The kitchen sink is now too small for her to bathe in. I'm kinda sad about that really. She's grown so much right before our eyes.

She found her belly button recently.

The only thing that annoys me is that she doesn't have a sleep pattern. We spoil her in that department because we dont' have a set bedtime ourselves. She winds down when she feels tired enough. We don't put her in her crib and let her cry like they advise you to do in those parenting magazines. Chris and I rock her to sleep and it works most nights. Last night though, she fell asleep too early, around 8pm. She woke up at midnight when WE were trying to go to bed. I picked her up out of the crib, she wanted to play. I swear she walked around in the dark living room for an hour while I nodded in and out of sleep. She finally came to me and laid on my chest and fell asleep. Girl! I can't do this all the time!

Ok 2 things that annoys me. Bailey doesn't let me eat. Drives me crazy. She wants what I'm having, but wont' sit in her highchair to eat it. I give it to her and she wants to walk around and eat on the go. What are you so busy doing that you cant' sit in the chair and eat??

She runs everywhere. No more walking, that's old. She's in a hurry... all the time!

Reese's first day of second grade was yesterday. He's been so excited to start school again. So far so good. We bought some new school clothes since he's grown out of everything we have from last year. I do have to go get boxes for his old clothes to make room for new ones. We had a little shopping spree at Target for school supplies last night. I forgot what that was like!

Chris has decided he now wants to start teaching visual at Indy with Dave. Ok baby, what ever you want to do, I will support you. Just know that I will have to go see Lo in Ceres after NY. lol.

This is all for now, gotta get back to work.

Life's little disappointments

Today I got to work... late as usual. But I am there and happy to be there.

Today I also came to a realization that there are people out there who take others for granted. I used to look forward to coming in to work. Working with a good boss, nice people, and one of my bestest friends. It's only been in the recent months that I have been feeling like I have to drag my feet in the mud to walk into the office. I really don't want to be talked at, starred at, and pick up someone else's slack all the time.

I am disappointed and I am taking it personally. It was my job after all that isn't getting done.

It's not that I *have* to pick up the slack. In fact, I probably shouldn't.. that way others will see I am too busy with my own stuff to take on someone else's job.

However... all of the above is only about 20% of what pisses me off day to day. It's the attitude... the non-stop chatter... the refusal to take on new tasks ... the dress as you please days (my favorite is the black too-small camisole top) ... the 7 times a day 15 minute smoke breaks PLUS one hour lunch everyday ... the cell phone conversation inside the office after the boss leaves ... the phone ettiquette, or lack there of ... oh and there's so much more.

And for the cherry on top... today there was a message on the voicemail letting us know of the absence providing no reason whatsoever... that was left last night at 10pm. <-- sidebar: this is not the first time, it's probably the 4th or 5th time.

Tomorrow ... hopefully will be a better day. Hopefully with one less.

I am a raging bitch about this. Maybe I'm just a little more dedicated than some. I feel my job is not to be taken for granted and it's been a priveledge to be employed there.

Maybe it's just me.