We are the children...

I spoke to a beautiful couple at a recent wedding and what they said to me just hit me on the head now. "When we have kids, we often become the children and learn from them." Maybe not those exact  words. They worded it better.

Adoree is growing and becoming her own person. She definitely has her own way of doing things. Her thoughts are spoken loud and firm. She will tell you want she wants or doesn't want. And she has begun to talk back. One minute she is the sweetest little girl and the next she's flipping out about the smallest things and telling me "no". Or using my own words against me. She is such a good big sister, never acting jealous or mean to Eyslee. She's soo caring and gentle with her and such a big helper. But she definitely has started to voice her opinions, make excuses, and reasoning. I know that they eventually reach this stage but I didn't realize so soon.

From trying to teach her what's right and wrong, I've learned that maybe I'm the one that's been approaching her backlashes the wrong way. If anything it might be making her want to rebel even more?

Is it just her personality? Maybe I need to talk to her differently. Will she grow out of this stage? --- All these questions. I feel like I need a class on how to teach my child to be good. Or how to be a good mom?

Because...maybe I'M the bad one? She is so so smart, she remembers everything. Will she hold grudges? She still hugs me and says she loves me so she must not?

I've been googling and googling on children behaviors, toddler tantrums, how to discipline. How do I teach her the right ways and not change who she is. 

No matter what, I just need to let her know I love her. Let her know that I'm trying to guide her. 

For the first time these past couple months, I have realized how hard it is to be a mom. Sure...running around making sure she's fed, bathed, happy can take up a lot of time but it's the how to guide a child that's the hard part. 

Everyday is a learning day...for all of us. 

This made me remember the day when my own mom yelled at me because I kept making the same mistake cashing out some change from the cash register back when we ran a restaurant, and I was so sad and had tears streaming down my face, but what made me even more sad was that after my mom yelled at me, she went and sat and cried to herself. 

Now I see myself in her shoes (big hugs for my mom!!!)...a few times when I've yelled at adoree for doing something naughty, I couldn't help the tears that formed in my eyes as she looks at me with sadness and tears running down her face. (Could be due to the raging hormones trying to balance itself after birthing Eyslee... ) Now I see my moms struggles as they begin to be mine. 

Anyways, I keep reading that you have to pick your battles. And try to not fret the small ones. 

One day she will understand I'm just trying to prepare her for the real world right? And she'll know that we discipline because we care?

*takes in a deep breath* 

I'm sure this is nothing compared to what's to come when she becomes a teen @_@!

Just some thoughts for the day...everyday ^_^

I love them.

And I love my mom & dad for everything they've done or not done.

I need to pee...wait...my water broke!

Eyslee Tong Cao, born 12:57pm- July 31st, 2014. 7lbs 14 oz,

20.25 inches long. 

Better blog before my brain deteriorates anymore than it has already. Been forgetting things left and right! I still had my pregnancy brain from having Adoree, and having Eyslee only added to my already forgetful brain! 

Here's me posting my baby bump. My calendar tells me Eyslee will be due soon! Lol, like I needed a reminder.

So here's my birthing story with baby Eyslee. If you don't like reading about labory stuff, and about bodily fluids then I suggest you stop reading here :) 

I've been having close contractions since Tuesday, July 29th, two days before due date. I had timed them and followed the 511 where the contractions come within 5 minutes at where each contractions lasts for at least a minute and coming consistently for one hour. We had Adoree the last time my contractions were timed. So surely Tc thought I was going to go into labor that night or soon. But I didn't think the contractions were that strong. Nonetheless, I went and showered just in case and we all slept on the fold out couch that night so if we needed to head out it'd be convenient. Well nothing happened and we headed downstairs to bed. The same thing happened Wednesday night and I ignored the contractions and went to bed again. 

Thursday morning comes along and I wake up at 6am needing to pee. I sat up with my big belly and moaned "I need to pee", then felt a gush of water. "uh o, I'm leaking! I think my water broke!" More gushing followed. I had Tc pull me out of bed quickly and hand me towel after towel. I was so nervous and even shaking from being so nervous! More so than I was when I went into labor with adoree! My water never broke with adoree and the doctor broke it when I was in mid labor to progress more quickly so I was just really surprised with my water breaking this time. 

We had everything packed so just had to throw in the last toiletries and get adoree ready. Yes, she came with us. At this point I did have contractions but they weren't coming very frequently or intense. Just the amniotic fluid gushing out was extremely uncomfortable because I have absolutely no control over it! I grabbed another towel to put on the seat in the car and we headed out.

Tc dropped me off so he could park and I wobbled into Mercy. The man at the lobby said "you look like you need to go up to the third floor" (birthing unit). And I said thank you and headed up.

We checked in, no biggie. No hurry. I'm just standing here leaking away. And finally got situated inside the birthing room. Adoree was super excited that her sister was finally coming. She walked around in circles. Pulled up a chair and sat next to me while I laid in my birthing bed. Our nurse Katie asked if we planned to have adoree there for when I deliver and I looked at Tc. I think he really planned on having her there haha. I wonder what it would've been like to have her as my birthing partner lol. But tc's mom had called in and took the day off so he took adoree home and came back before my contractions got intense.

Oh ya know, just Adoree making sure I'm ok while daddy plays his 2085 or whatever that number game is haha ^^. No worries, I wasn't in pain here yet. 

Katie asked how long my first labor was. I told her 12 hours of labor and 20 minutes of pushing. She said that hopefully with this being my second labor we can cut the amount of time in half. I'm like that would be awesome because contractions hurt like none other.

I handed Katie my birthing communication sheet.

No epidural, check

No episiotomy, check

birthing ball to get through contractions, check

Walk around as much as possible. (Didn't happen this time, the contractions hurt so much more it seemed, I was perfectly happy laying there squeezing Tcs hand as each contraction came)

Have skin to skin contact with baby and breastfeed baby as soon as possible, check

Have Tc cut umbilical cord, check!

It was about 6:30am when we were situated in the room. My contractions didn't get intense until about 10am. Katie said anytime I felt the need to push, I'll need to let her know. I was 4cm dilated when we first got there. At about 7 cm I was feeling intense contractions that were much more painful than I remembered. With every contraction more amniotic poured out. Can't believe there was that much fluid! 

Tc sat next to me while I squeezed his hand with every contraction. He thought it wouldn't be as painful since I've already gone through this...that is not the case. Shorter labor maybe, but not as painful? Nooooo. You wouldn't think that while your enduring this much pain, that simple supporting words like "you're doing real good" or "come on, you're almost there" could be so helpful and encouraging, but they are!! It pushes you through each contraction even though you know another one will be coming soon. 

At about 8cm-9cm I wanted to push but needed to wait til 10cm and for the doctor. I whispered to Tc I needed to push and Tc told Katie. She called for the doctor and I heard she was on her way. 

I laid there imagining the doc out grabbing coffee and driving back for my delivery. I'm sure she was in the building somewhere, but I noticed docs only come in when baby is ready to come out. The rest of the work was done by the nurse. 

Soon the doctor came in and I was pushing as hard as I could. Soooo much more painful than I remembered! 3 minutes later baby Eyslee came! 12:57pm, 20.25 inches long. 

Woohoo!!!! Tc caught everything on camera for me to watch later ^_^ Its pretty amazing that this 7 lb 14 ounce baby can come out of...there. :) Yes I've birthed Adoree before, but it's just as new the second time around to me. Each birth is different and special in it's own way. 

Baby Eyslee was placed quickly on my chest as Tc cut her umbilical cord. What chubby cheeks she had!!! They wiped her up and weighed her. Then brought her back for me to breastfeed. Eyslee latched on right away just like her big sister had. We are blessed. 

Our nurse Katie did an awesome job. This pic was taken by her not too long after Eyslee came out. You can tell she really cares about her job and enjoys doing it. She took really good care of us. She helped me get cleaned up and 

even got us a double bed for the room. Can't thank her enough! 

Later grandparents brought Adoree to come see our new addition! Adoree has been really hands on and can't keep her hands off of her new sister. She helps so much and will even ask me " what do you need mama? What you need for baby?" What a sweetie! Will she stay like this forever? 

As I continued to nurse Eyslee, I realized how much I had missed this baby stage!

Adoree has probably become more attached to daddy since i haven't been able to do as much for her. When we go to bed, she used to need me next to her, but with baby breastfeeding at bedtime, she has gotten used to daddy laying down next to her. 

Time is flying and before you know it, neither girls will need us next to them!! But right now I just need to enjoy these precious moments and not look too far ahead. 

Thank you to everyone who called and sent us happy messages!! Thank you to those that were able to visit Eyslee! We are so lucky to have so many family and friends welcoming baby Eyslee into this world!! 

Sleep. Stretching baby. And nearing 36 weeks!

We are nearing 36 weeks!! Eeks!

The past week has consisted of me sleeping...and sleeping. No matter how much sleep I get, I can still take a long nap. I guess my body just knows that it won't be too long before we will be lacking sleep!

I can still remember after bringing Adoree home from the hospital, those few days were the most exhausting and how much we wanted to sleep. So I shall not feel guilty now and just sleep as much as I can hahah :) Adoree hasn't seemed to mind sleeping in with me ^^.

Hmm...changes recently? Baby Cao #2 likes to stretch. A lot! Adoree kicked a lot but this one is just constantly stretching. Her foot, knees, or butt just sticks out everywhere! It's gets pretty uncomfortable especially since she wakes up during my sleeping time. So I have to rock back and forth in bed to try and get her to fall asleep or calm down. 

Last doc appointment went well at 35 weeks. Measuring good and no dilation yet. Not surprised, I wasn't even dilated on my due date. I have one more two week check up and then it'll be every week from 37 weeks out! This is crazy!!! We will be meeting baby cao #2 soon! So excited! Adoree is too, she actually brought her doll to me the other day and told me her baby came out of her tummy. Hahaa, oh our little girl!! 

I've started reading about labor signs and labor stages again...and I'm getting just a little nervous! Hours and hours of contractions! I didn't want an epidural with Adoree and managed to pull through without any so hopefully it'll be the same this round. Ahhhh I don't know how I got through it the first time. Squeezing Tc's hand with every contraction. I think those are the hardest. It just seemed like they were never ending! Pushing was hard and hurts like none other but it just feels so good to finally be able to push and know that the baby is almost out!!

I am looking forward to the complimentary kitchen pantry mercy offers haha! Even though I won't be able to eat any of it before the baby is here. :) But Tc and my guests can eat whatever they'd like. 

Oh my, the baby stages! Looking forward to the poopy diapers and engorged boobs haha ^^ This time Adoree will be around to keep baby company and help us with stinky diapers and spit up onsies! She's pretty smart though, she'll tell you if she doesn't want to do something or make up some kind of excuse to avoid the situation like "but I'm busy." 

Lounging around at home, don't mind the pjs and shorts that no longer look like shorts because my big belly is hanging over it. 

Ah I love these two. Adoree loves playing with daddy. Soon there will be a stroller with baby sister in the pics ^_^

Again, only a month of just us...

And we'll have two sleeping like daddy!

Scattered mind of a prego

My thoughts have started to gravitate in directions everywhere. One moment thinking about what I need to do next and then forgetting within the next second. Then I start thinking about having to leave Adoree while we are at the hospital giving birth! :( It makes me sad thinking I have to spend a couple nights without her and if she will behave for ba noi and ong noi (grandma and grandpa) overnight. She has been sleeping in her crib throughout the night with me laying on my bed right next to her crib pulled up. I wait till she falls asleep before I turn away. She has a habit of having me face her for her to fall asleep. If I turn the opposite direction of her she will throw a fit. And she has to have skin contact whether it be her touching my face, me scratching her back, her holding my hand...you get the idea. Wonder how this is going to be when new baby gets here! @_@!!

That reminds me I need to send in my labor admittance form. I've filled out my birthing communications sheets. It's pretty similar to my first one. No episiotomy, no epidural, want to breastfeed and hold baby right away, want baby in room with us as much as possible, want daddy to cut umbilical cord. Of course every pregnancy is different and this sheet only allows me to communicate what I want if everything goes smoothly!! I hope this labor goes faster than the first!! 

Can't believe we have less than two months left before baby cao #2 arrives! Need to pick out a name!!! Tc has one in mind and we may just go for it. I've been looking but haven't found any that I'm extra thrilled about yet. Will keep looking.

My left rib hurts occasionally and I feel like baby doesn't have enough room to move inside this buldging belly. Adoree was quite active in the womb but this one is even more so. 

Docs have scheduled extra ultrasounds to make sure baby is measuring good since they can't tell from measuring my belly. And she is! Last time we checked she was 3lbs 10ounces. And we got to see a 3d ultrasound of her!! Amazing! She looks like Adoree :)

Here's me in my work clothes taking my weekly baby bump pic! Notice my belly button sunk back in a bit. She must've not been up against it like she usually is.

I think I've gained about 16lbs so far. I gained a total of 25lbs with Adoree at due date. So maybe I'll be around the vicinity? 

We are, or at least I am super excited to meet precious baby cao #2!! Hehe, Tc might be getting nervous and dreading the lack of sleep he will be getting on top of the lack of sleep he already gets. Even so, he is going to be such a supportive loving husband and daddy!! Instead of us taking turns tackling down Adoree's stuff to do, we are soon going to be one on one with each child!!! Life is about to change. 

Instead of just Adoree and I selfies, there will be baby cao#2 to add! Maybe daddy will want to join in on more of these. ^^

Over last weekend uncle Frankie and Uncle Jim was in town!! Adoree had some bonding time with them and she loved their company!! She was all wired and hopping around the room screeching and yapping!! She was sad when they had to go back home, but I made sure to let her know she will see them again! And we sure will this coming Sunday!

We will also get to visit Vic, Renee and George!! Adoree has a busy weekend and week ahead! Next week Uncle Tony, Aunt Lili and Aiden will be in town!!! So much to look forward to!

I'm taking Adoree to a sibling class this Saturday morning while daddy works. It's to help young kids adjust to having a sibling and to kind of show them what to expect? Haha, I think it'll be educational and she'll have some fun for sure. 

I feel like I have so much more to say but this post is getting long and I should be asleep so I'll leave it at this. Until next time!!!

Our little girl making sure my bonsai is watered.  

Just Adoree and I

I know we have a lot to look forward to. Many more new amazing moments with new baby and watching her and Adoree bond, but I know I'm going to miss just adoree and me time. She's had Tc and I all to herself for 3 years!! Soon she will need to share our attention with her little sister. And we will need to split our time with each of them. It will all work out for the best I'm sure. But it's just a emotional time for me right now thinking about it. 

She wants to take "picture of adoree and mama".

Making "daddy and me" arts and crafts.

Daddy and Daughter coffee bonding time. :)

 We love this little girl! I know we are going to have so much more love to give when baby sister comes!!! 

Lots of love! <3

Adoree is 3! And baby cao#2 is almost 27 weeks!

Happy birthday to our baby girl...er..big girl Adoree!!! 3 years!! I feel like we have been celebrating a birthday month since she has been mentioning her birthday everyday since we started telling her she's turning 3. Today is the actual day, but we got to celebrate once in Seattle with tc's siblings and this past Sunday with ong noi and ba noi and friends!! Today it'll be just adoree and I. We will go visit daddy at work tonight ^^

She never really had terrible twos so I'm thinking maybe terrible threes this year? Eeks. She is starting to reason with us and finds excuses to avoid doing things already! But aside from the obnoxious adoree, she does have a very sweet side like telling daddy "don't worry, I'll protect you" or "daddy, you drink too much beer, you need to drink more water and sleep to feel better" and "I love you mama, I wanna stay with you." 

It is very much a learning process for all of us. How to make sure she behaves while with other children, how to make sure she shares but not to expect that other kids will do the same. It is definitely lots of contradictions because when I tell her to share she remembers but then if another child doesn't, she says "but she need to share with me". Or how do you go about telling her no when another child is doing something that their parent is allowing but not something we approve? If I tell her not to do it, she'll say "but friend is doing it". I don't want to offend any parent but I want Adoree to know she can't do something just because someone else is. 

Yep. Learning everyday! 

I hope Adoree will still give us hugs and kisses when she's 20....30...40. She'll always be our little girl. 

 Sand!!! She was quite addicted to the sand at the beach in Seattle. Uncle Frankie sent some to her for her birthday so now she has her OWN sand! Then we received some more from aunt Truc and uncle Huy!!! Now we need a little sand box to contain it all!

Even I'm having fun playing with it. It's 98% sand and 2% polymer which makes the sand stick and pack together like wet sand! This keeps her busy for quite a bit!

Enjoyed some playtime at the mall with her peers. She told quite a few kids and even a couple moms that it was her birthday today and tried to invite them to a birthday party @_@.

Had mama's favorite Panda Express.

Earlier we had an OB appointment. Had to take the glucose (gestational diabetes) test. I PASSED! So glad. With Adoree, I didn't pass the first test so I had to take the 3 hour test which I passed. It's just such a long process when you've had to fast and then can't eat anything the entire time your there until it's all done! So I'm

really happy I didn't have to fast again.

The doctor comes in and measures my stomach. Then feels around for the baby and baby's position, quite rough too >_<! I didn't know you could push so hard on the belly! He tells me I'm measuring small. He said "was your first one small too?" I told him I was way smaller first pregnancy so I thought this was huge!

He set me up for a 2nd ultrasound in 4 weeks to make sure baby is growing on track. I don't mind seeing baby again :) But...I thought I was getting pretty big. He told me to eat more and don't smoke or do drugs or anything crazy. Yes yes I nodded. ^_^ and confirmed that I don't do any of that. 

So here we are...heading into 27 weeks this Thursday!

26 weeks above.

Lots of movements and kicking. Even felt her drawing circles in my stomach. Felt like a finger poking out swirling round and round. That has been the weirdest feeling yet!

1st vs. 2nd pregnancy. Still big even a at week and a half behind! 

Got some good recommendations from friend Megan (thank you!!!) on books about same sex families for Adoree! Love them! She had been so used to the idea that every animal family she sees is "mommy sheep, daddy sheep and adoree sheep" you can sub the word sheep for any animal you think of... That's what's she will say. These books will help her learn about all kinds of families!

With some of the princesses that were at her party! There were a couple even younger princesses and a prince we didn't get to capture in the pic! 

Sporting some pretty awesome colors and designs thanks to Ngan!! I'll be trying out the ombré colors more often!!! It always takes so long to do them myself and into the wee hours of a.m!! So I always feel so pampered when she does my nails!!! Thank you thank you!    

Remember this sexy guy? Well he's still sexy. Anyways, his locks have gotten quite long if you've noticed ^^ and he's been itching for it to be cut! We have an appointment set up already so you'll be seeing this baby face soon again!

In case you forgot how his lovely shiny lustrous locks look, here's a pic to refresh your memory. They will be going to Locks of Love.

Have a great day!! And thank you for all the wonderful birthday wishes to Adoree!!! She has really really enjoyed her birthday so far! For a whole month! 

Adoree's birthday month!!!

So many things for little Adoree (and let's be honest, Tc and I) to look forward to!!! It's adoree's birthday month and she has so many activities coming up!

There's our Seattle trip to visit her aunt and uncle, Easter egg dying and hunting, her birthday, and Sesame Street live!! 

She has been chitter chattering so much about having a birthday party and having her friends come over! And she made sure to mention that she would have birthday hats! These 3 years old toddlers to be know what they want!!! It's so fascinating to watch her grow! Everything she does I'm always making sure Tc sees. "Look at her, look at our baby!!!" As I increasingly get louder when he continues to stare at his phone.

Recently she's been very into being a caretaker to her dolls. Playing doctor. I'm sure a lot of this she's learned from going to me Ob appointments ^^. A random object was used as an ultrasound device for her to check her dolls tummy as she said "can you see? You see the baby?" Ahh, she cracks me up!

On our way to the ob April 2nd.

Burning her mouth on some "deadly hot sauce" bottle she grabbed from the fridge. We gave her ice cubes, milk, and lots of ice cream...and hugs to get rid of the hotness!!!

Having lots of arts and craft days makes Adoree super happy. 

She always wants to wear dresses.

Snap chats!!!

Gotta love pics with daddy and his ever growing goatee and stache ^^ I love these two.

Here's me today!!! 24 weeks!! Going fast..and GROWING fast! Yes my belly button popped out. It did a while ago actually. Everything is going at a faster pace the second time around!!

Here's my bump 1 vs. bump 2!

I wonder if bump one will ever catch up.

On a totally different note, I did my hair yesterday! I've been wanting to get my hair dyed ombré for a while but wanted to wait till my hair got longer. And well it's sort of longer now so Tc thought whynot take advantage of the Asian hair salons in Seattle while we are there to get it dyed! But of course it'd cost more. So I started googling for DIY tutorials. And I found one I really liked!! But it's quite a process. Gah. And it probably won't turn out until a week or so after I've finished dying to get all the toning done. But for less than $30, whynot. I went out and bought two dying kits, some red gold corrector and a blonde shampoo thing to keep my hair not brassy. 

Here's my pics during the process.

I snapchatted a couple of friends and family ^^

Yes I'm in a garbage bag.

After first dye kit and before toning. Bottom of hair compared to top.

And final result. Well as of yesterday. We'll see if the brassiness will get more toned as I use the shampoo. 

Okie, that's it for today! We were suppose to do Easter eggs yesterday after I did a vinegar run! But it was so nice out that Adoree decided to play outside and it wasn't until dark that she wanted to do eggs. But by then it's too late so if she wakes up early today we will dye some eggs!!! You'll be seeing some pics of that on here next time! 

Toddles!

Toodles!! Darn autocorrect. :)