Family Visits

First Family Pic

The days are flying, I'm seriously losing track!  I'm still thinking we're in the beginning of the December, yet we're 5 days away from Christmas! 

Our house is full with all the kids toys and the Christmas tree - felt like just the other day we packed away the playmat, swing and rocker for Emma - now they're out again for Addi.  Who would have thought this house would ever feel small   Not only is our house full with all those good things, but with my family!!  So wonderful to have mom and dad here.  Shanny has been travelling in New York, and off to Philly and Washington now.  Her and Bryan head to NC on Thursday and will be with us for Christmas. 

Emma has gotten to know her Por Por and Kung Kung - really enjoying the attention.  Emma took to my dad a little easier than to my mom, had a lot of "No Por Por", but we're hearing less of that now.  I take it they're loving her to bits, taking her to the park when it's no too cold.  The weather has been quite warm for this time of year, normally we're wearing our heavy coats, but just a light jacket is needed.  My folks are even able to get a game of golf in.

Mom has been cooking us great dinners, I must say its so good eating mom's cooking again.
Even tho I cook the same dishes my mom cooks, it just doesn't taste the same.

We've really been spoilt with the family around, the extra hands really help.  Great to be able to hand over Addi to my mom or dad when Emma is being difficult or vice versa.  And Emma must be adjusting to her little sister, she finally sat on the potty again.  Emma is really the big sister, running to her sisters side when she starts crying, saying, "Whats the matter baby Addison?", and "Don't cry".
Rocking her in her seat.  When Addi carries on crying, Emma will look at me and say, "She doesn't like it".  The things Emma comes up with these days, quite amazing what she says.  It's almost as though things are just clicking in her little head and she's able to put so much together.  Some of her speech is still a little unclear, feel so bad when you ask her over and over what she said, and we still can't make out.  Slowly tho it's getting better and we're understanding more.  Quite funny to see the family able to speak Emma.

Por Por bathing Addi

  

Addi is a sweet little angel.  I do feel bad that she hasn't always got my attention and I hardly have the one on one time with her, except at feeds.  And because she's a fussy sleeper during the day, I constantly feel I'm focused on getting her to sleep, rather than "playing" with her.  Grateful that we have a good night sleeper tho, giving us anything from 6 to 7 hour stretches. 
So hard for me to get to bed early and make good use of the long stretch of sleep.  Day naps never work out for me, just when I think I have timed it right and have both girls down, Addi will start crying and need to be rocked or held or fed.  She's definitely one for the arms, which my folks love, as they get to hold her lots.

Just a quick update from our side, and a few pics to go with it.

I can't wait to celebrate Christmas with the family here, can't believe I've missed out on 5 Christmas's with my family.  It's going to be fun, and cannot wait to see the excitement on Emma's face when she gets to open all her presents!!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays All!

 

Addi's Red Eggs

Our parents were wonderful enough to invite friends and family to Addi's Mun Yuet (one month celebration) in South Africa last weekend.  Unfortunately the baby of the moment was unable to attend, as we are here in the US, but we were able to connect for a few minutes via skype and see how the party was going.  It was great seeing everyone there. 

Even though it's just us (Rod, Shan, Emma and I) here to celebrate on this side of the world we had to make the red eggs and eat a nice meal.  We can only eat so much, so we decided to break the meal up over 2 nights.  Last night Sweet and Sour Pork, tonight See Yow Kai (Chicken). 

Since I took pics of Emma and her red eggs, I had to do the same with Addison.



Happy Mun Yuet Addi!

Addi is one month old today! We had our one month check up and Addi is weighing 8lbs 10oz! Almost a 9lb baby. Growing too fast already - loving the baby rolls forming.

Addi is definitely the more alert baby, awake more than Emma ever was at this age, think Emma was only waking up at this age.

We're on a kind of a schedule - Addison's schedule, having to take each day as it comes and naps as they come. Not yet consistent with her naps, sometimes lasting 10 minutes, other times an hour. Overall a very happy baby. Just love watching her grow, her smiles are forming and every now and again we hear a little, "Eh". We just moved Addi into her own room. So nice to finally have it all set up for her. We've been very fortunate that so far Addi is been a good night time sleeper. For the past week we're been getting a 6 hour stretch from between 8pm and 3am, it's been great. I just need to get to bed earlier and make use of that long stretch of sleep.

Life with two is quite busy and it's only the beginning. Constantly trying to care for both, making sure both kids are happy. Not an easy task. Times I'll just have shushed Addi to sleep, then Emma starts shouting and wakes Addi....or when I'm able to have a little one on one time with Emma, Addi starts crying!

Shannon has been here for almost 3 weeks now, so so wonderful to have her here. Honestly I think I'd still be in my pjs and not have washed my hair for 3 weeks if Shan were not here. We've been spoilt. Great knowing someone is there to entertain Emma while I'm busy with Addi, or hold Addi while I see to Emma. Gives me time too, to think how I'm going to handle these situations when I'm alone. Which ends up me not wanting to think about it just yet.....

Emma seems to be adapting well, she has her moments, but some are hard to say if it's because of Addi, or just being a 2 year old. Our Ped said that the jealousy escalates now, as Emma will realize that this baby is not leaving the house - so we'll see. I do wonder whats going through her mind each day....even tho this little person has stolen some of her time, she's still wanting to hold her sister, help bath her, willing to give Addi some of her toys and books.
Talking ever so much, talking 5 - 6 word sentences. The other day we were at the mall on the top level, Emma caught sight of the kidzone area and did her usual, "whoa!!" when she sees something she really likes. Then asks me, "how do we get down there?? how? how?" I was asking myself how did she know to ask that?? So wonderful to see her face light up when we finally made our way down and she got to run around and play a bit.

Not quite the lit up face - but a cute pic nonetheless
Emma coloring in at her little table

My mom and dad arrive in less than 2 weeks time - another exciting thing to look forward to. Going to be so wonderful spending Christmas together. Can't wait for them to meet Addi and see how Emma has grown.

Happy one month Addi!! and can't believe Emma is 27 months!

Tickle Tickle

At least once or twice a day, Emma has to hold her baby sister.  Sometimes it lasts a minute, sometimes a second.  Today after lunch Em asked to hold Baby Addison, and decided she'd tickle her while holding her.  It was so cute to see.  It was almost as though Addison was laughing.
Our sweet girls!

Two weeks with our girls

We've been home for two weeks now....why does time go by so fast??

Today we went to the Dr for a weight check and general check up to make sure everything is looking good.  Our little munch is weighing 6lbs and 10oz, so she is back to her birth weight plus some oz.  In 7 days she's picked up 7 oz, the Dr generally wants to see at least a 3/4oz weight gain per day, and so far Addi is gaining an oz a day. 

Addi has been a real angel for us, we're already at 4 hour stretches between feeds, last night was our best night so far....we only have one feeding session at 1am, and then she slept until 6am!  So wonderful!  We definitely can't complain about lack of sleep.
Dr says that a growth spurt should happen within the next week, so I'm prepared for more feeds and night disruptions...

So funny that going to this appointment I had no questions for the Dr.  I remember with Emma I  had my list of questions to ask....at that time didn't realise there is a wide range of normal for babies!!!
I do however go back to my books and reread to make sure I'm doing things "correctly".
It's really been great with Rod at home.  Daddy has been busy preparing the nursery (painting done, now for the finishing touches), cooking for us, taking Emma out in the mornings for some sort of activity, then fitting his work in too and allowing me to take my naps when I can.  It's been good that we've been taking turns playing with Emma and keeping her busy.  Hopefully she doesn't feel any sort of neglect.  The first week was a little trying for Emma, but this week seems a whole lot better.  Emma is very interested in Addison, asking for her as soon as she wakes, wants to hold her every so often, very keen to help change diapers and bath Addi.  A very sweet moment, I had told Emma I was going upstairs to change Addi's diaper....a few minutes later I heard Emma saying, "Here you go mommy."  She was sitting at the bottom of the steps holding the wipes wanting to give them to me.  Whenever Addison sneezes...Emma will say, "bless you Addison", and when she cries, quickly runs to her side, tries to cover her or tuck her in, saying, it's ok Addison.  Just amazing seeing Emma being the big sister.  I think Emma's favorite time tho is when I feed Addison, Emma gets to sit next to mom and watch her shows on the iPad! 

Despite having to adjust to the new person in the house, Emma has just grown up overnight.  She's constantly making us laugh, her manners have improves, constantly saying "please" and "thank you" (guess we've drummed it in her head enough).  Her vocab has increased significantly...still unclear at times with her speech, but she's really putting sentences together, she talks about everything from what we're wearing, to what we're doing.  It's incredible.  Her latest is copying what we say...the other night Rod said, "Oh gosh", then we hear Emma saying, "oh gosh" she runs into the kitchen and laughs...then continues with "Emma, copying dad!"  since then, lots of copying!  Last night I had tripped over Addison's rocking chair...Emma says to me, "Becareful mommy, becareful!" and shakes her little finger at me.  Where did she get that from??

Its so great that lately she's joining in our conversations.  Rod and I were talking about the hospital,  I had mentioned all the cots that were lying around by the elevators and how grateful I am for having such healthy babies.  Em obvisouly listening to me then spoke about the fish that she saw and a button that she pressed to make bubbles.  Right where I was talking about there is a fish tank and Rod had taken her there to see the fish.  She just amazed us that she knew where I was talking about without even mentioning the fish tank.  Such a big girl.

Last night Addison was wide awake at 8pm.  She had the hiccups and made a few baby noises and I managed to capture one on video.  I know 2 weeks is too early for this, but I'll just take it as talking to mommy.  So weird to have to talk in Parentese again...please excuse the high pitched voice....Addison has been very alert and awake alot sooner than Emma was.  It took Emma what felt like a month to open her eyes for longer than 5 minutes.  So cute to see these two beady eyes.

Have I told you how much we're loving our girls?? 

Halloween

I was really looking forward to Halloween this year, dressing Emma up and taking her around the neighborhood to collect a bit of candy!  Unfortunately we couldn't go trick or treating...but Emma at least got to wear her costume to music class and to story time the week before Halloween.

So glad I took the above pic after music class - the teacher her decorated her front porch quite nicely.

Emma chose her outfit, she wanted to wear a Cinderella dress.

The other day she asked to wear her dress for Halloween  so I think she's still waiting for the day to come.

I thought to hide candy in the garden and have her find them...or take her to our neighbor to ring their bell and collect candy, but the day I asked her if she wanted to get dressed up, Emma said no.

Next year should work out better for us - lucky Addison gets double treats and gets to dress up every birthday!  Guess that doesn't mean Emma can't dress up on her birthday!

Superman and Cinderella (storytime at the library)

Cinderella in music class - jumping into the hulahoop - thought it was a cute action shot

Welcome Addison Kate Fok

One week ago we were hours away from meeting our next bundle of joy.  Time is flying even faster now that we have two....
We are so excited and thrilled to have welcomed our little Addison Kate into our lives on October 31, 2011 at 00:47.  Quite the surprise, as I wasn't expecting her until November 6th.  I was kind of hoping for an 11/11/11 baby, but knew I wouldn't be able to hold her in for that long, I thought I'd at least reach my due date, but Rod and my friend Amy had a feeling baby would be born a week before.  Amy's exact words, "by Sunday you'll be holding your baby"...she wasn't far off.

So begins our birth story - be prepared for a long read....if you wish to skip all the details you can go to the last few paragraph.

Saturday I felt awful, almost as though I were coming down with the flu, dull aches and pains (cramps), tired and just no energy to do anything, thankfully the weather was cold and rainy, so made us stay indoors the entire day.  I think Rod was having sympathy pains as he wasn't feeling too good either.  Sunday morning I woke at 5:30am to slightly more intense cramps.  In my mind I was thinking, uh-oh today is the day.  Feeling a little anxious I wanted to wake Rod, but left him to carry on sleeping, I would need him to be rested too for things to come. I tried to take my mind off of it but not very easy.  I just laid in bed and started timing the contractions, very erratic 6 - 8 - 10 minutes apart.   Rod eventually woke and I told him today might be the day...his response...uh-oh are you okay??
I messaged my folks, told them I think something is happening and also messaged our babysister incase we needed her urgently.

The contractions carried on throughout the day, and we already knew I was going to contract at home for as long as I could just so we could spend as much time with Emma than in the hospital.  I had told our babysitter at 10am, that nothing frequent was going on that she must carry on with her day, but to please be oncall.  The Dr had advised that I come in when contractions are 4-5 minutes apart consistantly for half an hour to an hour.  I was also advised that I try come into the hospital a little earlier as I was Group B positive (bacteria in my body that could infect baby at birth) and needed to be administered Penicillin through an IV and receive 2 doses at least 4 hours apart.

My last request before delivering Addi was Dunkin Donuts - not something I eat, but had this craving.  While Rod went out my gut told me to call our sitter and tell her to make her way through within the next half hour to an hour, this was around 5:30pm.  I called, but no answer, smsed her, no response. called again...  An hour later still no response from her....now I start panicking as contractions are going from 6 - 4 minutes apart!  I had to go for Plan B or Plan C.  Plan C was for my friend Amy to come through, she has 2 kids of her own, but was willing to leave them with her husband and spend the night here to watch over Emma.  After my call to her I remembered Plan B and called our other friend Annie at 6:45pm.  She got here by 7:10pm.  Before Annie arrived, we quickly bathed Emma and fed her dinner.  Then Annie arrived and we ran her through Emma's night routine before we dashed off to the hospital.  Quite comforting to see Emma give Annie a hug when she arrived since we hadn't seen Annie for a few weeks.  Around 8pm I was checked in at the hospital, and around 9pm was told I was 4cm dilated and at -3 station and would not be sent home - with contractions like that I would hope not.  I got my first dose of Penicillin around 9:30pm and then was set up in my labor and delivery suite.  I got to meet my nurse Carleen and Doctor, Dr Nieves...he is quite a delightful and funny Dr, gave us a two thumbs up and said, "we're going to have this baby tonight." 
Around 11pm I was at 7cm and contractions were coming fast and furiously....I had to hold out pushing until 1am I was told so I could get my second dose of penicillin, I did not see this happening, but tried to hold it off, however there is only so much I have control of.  Closer to 12am the nurse walked out the room and said if I feel the urge to push I must call her right away, I think she put one foot out the door and we called her back.  The nurse dashed off and came back to say that it was okay to administer the second dose of penicillin, so I was quickly hooked up and she literally squeezed the penicillin into my arm - actually the faster it enters your body the more it burns...the nurse asked if she could carry on at that rate and even tho it burnt it wasn't anything compared to the contractions (in the back of my mind I was thinking is this the rush drug users go for?).  All I could see was the nurse squeezing the penicillin as quickly as she could...then it was time to push.  About 5 attempts and 30 minutes later I was told a head made an appearance, then her body, I had reached down to try grab my baby girl - Rod saying, "no not yet", and Dr saying, "no she can".  So with Dr's help I pulled our baby girl to my chest and just smothered her with hugs and kisses, it sounds crazy, but the warmth and smell of a newborn baby is beautiful.  I was wondering when they would take her away from me to suction her and clean her up, but the nurses left her with me for quite some time before they did this.  Once cleaned up, shots given and measured we got another 2 hours with baby.  This was great as Rod and I really got to bond with baby, I even got to breastfeed which was successful.  We could not stop looking and aweing at our second precious gift, was like having Emma all over again.

Eventually we allowed the nurse to take baby to the nursery to have her bath and other checks done.  I was told I'd be staying in the labor room for the rest of my stay, which I didn't mind as it was one of the bigger rooms.  Rod was going to go home, but instead decided to stay at the hospital (4am) and then left to see to Em in the morning, (6am).

This was another unforgettable birth experience, great Dr's and nurses and Rod was once again the best supporter, being there for every moment and holding my hand whenever I needed it.  At times squeezing my hand harder than I was squeezing his, that I had to tell him to let go.  He said he was feeling my pain.

Rod brought Emma through to the hospital later that morning to meet her sister.  Such a special moment seeing Emma hold Addison and just showing her love, and being so gentle.  Emma actually got the final say as to what her sisters name should be...we gave her options and Addison was the one she chose.  Wonderful to see the first moment of our two little girls together.  Rod took Em home for nap and lunch, then came back later to have dinner with me.  That night was hard for Emma to leave, so hard to hear your daugther cry for you, made me want an early discharge even more.

I had to be at the hospital for at least 24 hours before I was allowed an early discharge.  All checks were able to be done in time so I could leave the hospital, but crazy thing....the wheel chair to wheel my out the hospital took longer to get than anything else...I waited in my room for 2 hours for this "service", all part of the protocol. 
The one nurse who had seen me waiting and eventually wheeled out, said she could have piggy backed me out the hospital, I told her I was eager to just use one of the stools on wheels to wheel myself out.

We are all home now, and it's still early days to say how it's really going - right now it's wonderful as we have a sleepy newborn and can still focus alot on Emma - as days progress and baby becomes more awake, it'll be most interesting how we manage the time to see to baby and entertain Emma.
Em adores Addison, she talks about Addison as though it's her doll, so I'm not sure she gets the whole big sister, little sister thing.  It was such a weird but blissful feeling, the one night I checked in on Emma in her room sleeping, then walked into our room and there was Addison sleeping - our two girls....still unbelievable that we're parents of two now. 

We managed to capture a few (a few in my book is alot to others) photos of the birth.  Rod was the photographer and manage to capture some great moments of Addison's first hour.  We couldn't have pics of Emma's birth and none of Addison.  So another chapter in our lives captured....

(sorry quality isnt great so pics are a little grainy)

I love you so much

A moment like this deserves a post of its own....
We just finished dinner and as I took Em out of her seat I told her to thank her daddy for dinner.  I then asked for a hug.  Em wrapped her arms around me then said...."I love you so much!"  How I've been waiting for Em to say this on her own accord.  Too sweet for words.
Rods response.....I've been training her to say that to me....and she goes and says it to you.....
I love you so much too Emma.  Precious precious moments.

I can't not laugh at my little Emma

As the pregnancy is nearing it's end, I'm trying to do as much as I can with Emma, keeping her busy and enjoying this fall weather.  Em has really been such a good girl and just keeps me entertained.

Yesterday morning I took Emma to Barnes and Noble, she normally enjoys playing with the train set there, and also looking at the water fountains at the mall.  Surprisingly she wasn't too interested in the train set, instead chose books and wanted me to read to her.  I happily obliged to read - it's so great to see her concentration span increasing these days, enjoying books by Dr Seuss, Curious George, Disney stories and the like. 

So we get to Barnes and Noble, and the escalators aren't working.  We decide to walk up the stairs, as we reached the top, the thought that ran through my mind was, gosh I feel so unfit, my legs were burning.  Then Emma bends down and says, "Knees sore" and starts rubbing her leg.  Obviously her little legs were burning too from climbing the stairs.  Poor little dear.  Then when it came to leaving I gave her the option of walking down the escalators or using the elevator, and she immediately replied with, "no, elavator".  Too funny.

We then walk to the mall for lunch, and Emma gets all excited when she sees the escalators there working.  Saying, "these ones working". 

We had a nice little lunch with daddy, and we gave Emma a treat after lunch - ice cream.  We are able to exchange the toy we get in Emma's meal for an ice cream - so I asked Emma is she wants the ice cream now (since she had eaten quite a big lunch), or if she'd like to have it another day.  She looks at me and answers with, "Now".  Like that's a silly question mom. 

I/We can't not laugh at this little girl - the way her mind works and the responses that come out her mouth.  Too funny.

With this great weather, we've tried to spend as much time outdoors as possible with Em, and just enjoying this one on one time with her.  Such a great age, so much fun.  Two more Saturdays till we meet our due date.  Soon soon Em will be sharing her toys with a real baby, and not just balancing it on her mommys tummy saying, "here you go baby sister".  I just wonder what her reaction will be like when she sees a real baby and I lose my tummy.  It's become a favourite resting place for Emma's arms and head during storytime.

Some latest photos of Emma...and us!

enjoying a picnic at the gardens - eating grapes



Emma just loves her daddy - sweetest picture!

 and a video - Emma playing "soccer" with her daddy - we received a flyer in the mail the other day showing kids playing soccer, after I explained the picture to her, she waited for her daddy to come downstairs waving the flyer saying, "Emma want to play soccer".  We'll see how things go and maybe enrol her in a few classes, should be cute.

Busy few days....

This weekend and today are part of the reasons why we love living in the States, and also having Emma around, so we actually get to see all these things too.

There is never a shortage of things to do with your kids.  From storytime at the library, the variety of parks to play at, different music classes going on and other festivals that happen throughout the year.

This weekend we were busy with the Lego Expo and Hillridge Farm.  Lego was more for Rod, but we knew Em would love it just the same, being able to build with lego and see all the amazing creations these lego people come up with.

I haven't seen so many lego pieces, they had different stations - duplo, monochrome bricks and then regular lego stations, where pieces were just dumped on the floor and everyone is free to build.  Then other theme related areas where you can explore and build some more.  Em seemed to enjoy the smaller pieces than the duplo.

 

  

amazing attention to detail

We also went to Hillridge Farm for the Fall Festival.  Held every year, but this was our first visit.  So great that Em is at an age that she can enjoy it.  This farm is like an amusement park with so much for the kids to do, from jumping castles, to playground equipment, pony rides, farm animals to see, bunnies, mazes, pumpkin picking, hayrides, train rides and more....  It far exceeded my expectations, we couldn't believe how many people were there already when we arrived and the line to get in.

kids maze

Pony ride which Emma requested she go on

almost 3 feet

 To get to Hillridge was almost an hours drive, Em fell asleep just as we got there and probably a good thing she did, as it gave us more time to enjoy it there.  Em had a blast.  She was most enthralled by the hayride and seeing the masses of pumpkins on the ground.  This farm does not grow their own pumpkins, so we didn't get to pick our pumpkin off the vine, but still fun nonetheless searching thru all the pumpkins for the perfect one!  Funny how everyone is looking for the biggest to get their monies worth. 

Emma's reaction to seeing all the pumpkins from the hayride

so exciting

Ben and Emma

I had just got Emma a book about the Fall, which mentions hayrides and pumpkins etc, so I think for her to see it in real life was great.  She was quite excited to pick her own pumpkin...we would ask her which pumpkin she'd want and she would point and say, "this one, this one, this one...." then be so adamant that she carry her pumpkin, but when she did and realised how heavy it was, she'd say, "daddy carry".

Emma's friend, Ben and his folks (Avi and Tom) joined us, so it was fun to see both kids enjoy themselves.

We were all wiped out after this....Em had a great 3 hour plus nap and Rod and I managed to get a good hour and a half nap too.

Then today, we met up with Avi and Ben again at Duke Gardens - we (Avi and I) were a little unsure how much fun the kids would have, since there are no jungle gyms to climb.  But with all the space to run around, water fountains to see, fish and ducks to see too, the kids had a grand time.  We had packed a few snacks and were able to have a small picnic, so it was another funfilled day

Another good napping day for Emma, over 2 hours!  Bliss, gives me time to kick up my feet for a bit and have a nap of my own.

This video is from today at Duke Gardens - Emma just being Emma and having fun.  It's so amazing to see the little things that we take for granted, being enjoyed...like walking up a step, jumping down a step, venturing up a hill and running back down, chasing a bird....really makes you realise to stop and smell the roses every once in a while.



Family/Maternity Photoshoot

About two weeks ago, we had photographer Sarah Elaine take a few family photos and maternity photos before our 3 becomes 4.  Trust it to have been the coldest and wettest day!  Days leading to it were glorious and sunny.   After numerous calls and emails back and forth to the photographer and constant watch on the weather we decided to just go for it, and see what happens....worse case we reschedule.

But it didn't turn out too bad in the end, we all got soaked, wet jeans, wet feet, poor Em caught a bit of a cold from this session.  But the end result were memories captured of our growing family.  These moments with Emma are precious, she's brought so much joy and happiness to our lifes the past two years, we almost feel bad that she's not going to get ALL the attention, but we are so looking forward to another addition and experiencing life with two girls and seeing how much more joy and happiness...also chaos and tantrums can be added to our lives! :)

5 more weeks to go!!!!  Can't wait!

Duke University with Aunty Sharon

Two posts in one weekend....

Today we took Sharon to see Duke University.  We did not get to show her on her last trip.
It was a great day to walk around and enjoy the campus.

I couldn't help but take pics of Emma, as Duke sets such a nice background.
I especially had to take pics of Emma in her Ralph dress that I got for her for our family photoshoot, which she unfortunately did not get to wear.  Also with the weather cooling down, best she wears it as much as possible, as next spring or summer I doubt she'll fit into it :(