Cara's Birth Story

It all started around 4:30am on 11/7/08. I started getting contractions that would wake me from my sleep and really grab my attention. I was so excited because this was the first time that my baby was "late" - it was already 3 days AFTER my due date. I know that due dates are only approximations but since my other 2 were early, so we were especially excited to finally meet Cara. ;) Since I didn't want to go to the hospital too early and wait around, I decided to try to sleep. I slept a bit on and off but around 7:30am, the contractions got close enough that I wasn't able to sleep anymore. I labored at home for a few more hours and took a nice, long shower that helped soooo much. When the contractions were about 3-4 minutes apart, we decided to pack the hospital bag and head on over. [I know, the bag should have been packed and ready a while ago...hehe.] After arriving at the ER, they sent us to the triage room for some monitoring and I was promptly admitted. We were really excitedly and called some family members to start praying for a quick labor and delivery.

I was really blessed with excellent nurses this time around, who worked with me and encouraged me. I was also assigned a student nurse who was sooo excited because this was her first time assisting with a birth. She even stayed past her assigned time so she could see the baby being born and almost cried when the baby emerged. :) I also felt blessed because her instructor was a midwife - I had wanted to go with a midwife from the start because of my VBAC status but the closest one to me was too far - but there I was, getting one anyhow! Even though I wasn't technically her patient, she advocated for me to be able to experiment with different alternative pain-relieving techniques. It was really neat! My doctor was also really great. Even though I was a VBAC #2, he let me walk around, take a shower and try different things that I didn't get to try when I was laboring with Jana. [Back in Jersey with Jana's birth, I was strapped to the monitor from the moment I got to the hospital and had to stay in bed most of the time, so this was a welcomed change. :)] Kev also helped so much in giving me lots of massages and applied counterpressure when I needed it. He was the best coach and encouraged me so much!

Anyhow, I ended up doing lots of laps around the maternity suite to get things moving. I was making great progress, dilating and effacing well until 9cm. I got 'stuck there' for a while and got really tired, esp with no food since breakfast - and it was already 6:30pm. Finally, I opted for the breaking of my bag of waters, which only helped a bit. As the night wore on, I decided to get some pitocin to help me dilate but not before I got an epidural. [I had pitocin WITHOUT an epidural last time and I really don't think I would ever do that again!] I've heard so many people rave about epidural, so I thought I'd give it a try. :) Man, it definitely works to numb you up, esp your legs - I had what I call 'pillow legs' for a long time even after they turned it off. I was really thankful for the epidural since it gave me the chance to rest and regather myself to push. So, shortly after getting the pitocin, I reached the magic 10cm and began the hard work of pushing. I had ask my OBGYN to promise not to do the episiotomy, so he really worked with me to stretch out the perineum and I had barely any tearing this time around!!! Anyhow, after about 2 hours of pushing, I saw Cara's head emerge [I had a labor mirror] and at 11:51pm, she finally made her debut! :) [I had also asked to see the placenta again this time since I had no recollection of what it looked like last time from being so tired out - it's really interesting looking!!]

It was such a different experience from last time - I can honestly say that I had a good experience giving birth! Having a supportive husband, a supportive staff and a supportive doctor really made all the difference. Maybe next time I'll get to use the tub and skip the pitocin/epidural all together but I really can't complain. ;) The whole having a baby experience from the pregnancy to actually giving birth is truly such a miracle - I'm in awe of it everytime! :)

It really made me think....

Ever since we got satellite TV with a DVR included, I've been taping episodes of 'What Not To Wear' almost daily. I've always liked makeovers and things of that nature, so that's what initially got me watching the show. Plus, there are many moments in my life, esp after having kids, that I've felt so frumpy and sloppy (and hope that no one is taping secret footage of me for the show! LOL!) that I felt like I needed some tips. Anyhow, I've gotten into the habit of watching an episode every other day, if not everyday and something started to click in my head: there is truly a strong connection between how women dress and how they feel about themselves. It seemed like such an obvious thing but I feel like I'm now starting to get it FOR ME.

I used to think that what you wear on the outside can't really, truly affect how you feel on the inside. I mean, of course the occasional sweats and ratty tees are still totally ok but I really had no idea that wearing clothes that fit can change the way you feel about yourself - to a point where you might be motivated for real change. Sorry if this is very convoluted - maybe if I give a personal example...

After I had Aidan, I went back to my pre-preg weight in a few months without doing much. But I didn't gain much excess weight because I was so busy at work I could barely get time off to eat and I took the stairs all the time. Anyhow, fast-forward 2 years and I'm preggers with Jana. Because of my experience carrying Aidan, I thought I could eat whatever I wanted but, unfortunately, I was proved wrong. Doh! I ended up gaining more weight than I wanted to and really had to work to shed the pounds. Not easy since I barely had any time to myself from taking care of the expanded family. But I put off buying new clothes because I didn't want to waste any money buying clothes that I would only wear for a few months since I just did that buying some new pregnancy clothes. So I wore sweats all the time and if I did buy anything, I bought more stretchy clothes that were super comfy. [Now, this was hardly the way I dressed before I got pregnant. I would like to think that I had somewhat of a style or just that I wore things that fit me. ;)] I started to care less and less about what I wore...or so I thought. But looking back at my journals, I really didn't like the way I looked and was almost in denial that I had to work at getting back to my normal weight. I was waffling between giving up and sweeping it under the rug. Anyhow, then I saw an episode of 'What Not to Wear' on moms and the things that Stacy and Clinton (the hosts of that show) that said to these women I found were true of me. I realized you can't keep waiting til you lose the weight before you find clothes that fit because it might just sabatoge whatever motivation for change you had. And that finding clothes that fit make you look slimmer and can increase your motivation ...and that's exactly what happened to me. It was almost like dressing myself the size that I was reminded me that I can make myself look good and even though I might look ok now, I can look even better....it reminded me of my potential! :) Especially when Kevin gave me the ok to buy some key piece in my current size and then gave me compliments when I actually wore the style that I used to pre-preg, it really boosted my self-esteem! :)

Anyhow, it had always amazed me how much better these women felt about themselves just after a few days of getting the right clothing, getting style tips, and getting a complete makeover. It's like super intense therapy but you get a whole new wardrobe out of it! :) And so many of them have breakthroughs during the show about why they dress the way they do, whether it'd be a weight issue or self-esteem issue. It's so interesting to see how self-esteem issues can manifest in so many different ways - dressing really loudly or in muted colors only to blend in. But when they saw how good they can look, even with the problems areas that they felt they had, their thoughts about themselves changed dramatically. And I'm sure hearing experts talk about "your small waist, beautiful skin" and such doesn't hurt, either. :) And after discussing this with my hubby, I think he summarized my thoughts well: Some people dress confidently because they are confident. But some people need to see their potential with some outside help to become that more confident person.

Before I end this entry, I wanted to share about some books that I thought was great for getting to know what fits without having to go on the show:

The Science of Sexy by Bradley Bayou - hilarious title but has a formula to help you figure out your shape and how to best dress it
Dress Your Best: The Complete Guide To Finding the Style That's Right For Your Body by Clinton Kelly and Stacy London - by the host of TLC's 'What Not to Wear' and has their cheeky humor; also has a list of essentials of men and women
The Little Black Book of Style by Nina Garcia - it wasn't as practical per se but gave me an idea of what inspired people in the fashion industry re: what they wore
The 5 Minute Face: The Quick & Easy Makeup Guide for Every Women by Carmindy - I really have no clue about makeup and rarely wear it - but for special occasions, I needed some guidance; an easy read

Welp, thanks for reading what's on my mind tonight! :)

How I've changed as a mom....

The fact that I'm having another baby soon has made me more contemplative and self-reflective lately. I realized that being a mom has changed me in a lot of ways, some good, some bad, and some I have yet to digest. But I figure I would write down some of my thoughts of how I changed personally BEFORE baby #3 comes, so I can have a point of comparison for later on. :)

Being a mom of one -
1. I became more environmentally-conscious, esp as I take out a bag of diapers every other day to be disposed of in the landfills. [Note: Totally a personal conviction that I only applied to myself.] And when Aidan started chewing everything, I started to think about the chemicals I cleaned with and started researching more natural ways of cleaning, as well.
2. I was a nap-nazi! :) Almost everything revolved around whether Aidan could take a good nap or not. I got annoyed when he didn't get a good nap or when circumstances prevented him from even having one. My main thought was that if he didn't nap well, MY day didn't go well because he was grumpy or fussy. A valid point but I think in retrospect, it prevented me from doing some things that I wish I could've done. I did have days that were just for me when I got to do things when I wanted to regardless of his nap schedule but on other days, his naps took precedence. Thank goodness he had a pretty good schedule, so I did go out when he was supposed to be awake! :)
3. I made charts and list of when he hit his milestones - our calendar was covered with what Aidan did. :) I also had a mega chart of when he slept, how long he slept, when he ate, how often he poo'd/pee'd til he was about ONE - it was a masterpiece! LOL!
4. I discovered how much I could care for someone I had only known for a bit. :)
5. Because Aidan was such an easy-going and happy baby AND I did a modified version of Babywise with him, I totally believed in the Babywise method and touted it to anyone that asked. I had no idea that it doesn't work with every baby. Oops. ;)
6. I took advice from trusted sources pretty seriously and tried to do everything by the book - giving veggies first, tummy time everyday, baby sign language, blah, blah. But, thank goodness, early on, I had people in my life who were moms of many kids give me advice as well - this helped broaden my thinking a bit at the time. :)
7. I learned how important it is to still have 'couple time', even though taking care of Aidan took up a lot of time. We went out on our first date within 2 weeks of him being born. Having in-laws 7 minutes away really helped! :) Even so, sometimes we would forget and months would pass before we would go on another date...

Being a mom of two-
1. Naps are still important but now that I have 2 schedules to contend with, I realized that Jana would be ok even if the naps were interrupted sometimes. I also try to schedule their naps together, so that I would have some 'peace and quiet' time for me - and those weren't exactly the times that they were super sleepy. :P What they say is true, parenting became more relaxed for me (though I thought I was pretty relaxed before...;)). Maybe the fact that less things are in my control that made me decide to be more relaxed! :D
2. I did the modified Babywise method with Jana, as well, but she didn't sleep through the night as early as Aidan did. New conclusion: This method doesn't work the same with every baby. :)
3. Cloth diapering and being more 'natural' became more fun! Girly diapers are like girly clothes - so much more to choose from and more fun prints! :)
4. We tried to record all the milestones for Jana, as well, but started falling behind when the busyness of just taking care of the kiddies took over!
5. Jana didn't love solids, so I ended up giving her fruits first *gasp* - but she turned out to eat a bigger variety of foods than Aidan..hehe.
6. I started to understand what my priorities were and tried to manage my time better, esp with 2 vying for my attention. I also knew that I needed something other than mothering in my life as an outlet of sorts. So I joined the condo association board in my neighborhood for a start. Still trying to revive my interests and make time for those.
7. I continued to be more open-minded about how others parent and learn from the moms that I'm friends with but are so different from me. I also learned to take things less personally, esp when others make comments about my style of parenting. But that's so hard because when you stay-at-home and parenting is "all you do", it almost becomes a reflection of who you are...at least that was subconsciously how I felt. After praying about this a lot, I felt like God was saying that you can do only the best you can and leave the rest up to Him. And children are going to be children, no matter what we do - they are going to have their quirks, their bad days, but also days when they are so lovable! :) Plus, you are not just a mom but so many other things as well....that yes, being a mother is the prominent thing in this season because we have kids but that I have to keep growing as a person, too.

Anyhow, all this to say that mothering showed me who I really am as a person (all the good and bad) and stretched me in ways that I didn't know I could be stretched. I definitely do enjoy it and am looking forward to see what other ways I am refined as I become a mom of three. I've been told that this transition is a real doozy, so please pray for us as we embark on that journey in a little over a month! :) Feel free to share your thoughts, too!

A bunch of fun sites for deal-lovers!

Hi all: I know a lot of you like deals and I wanted to share 2 different types of shopping sites with ya. The 1st type is the A-Deal-A-Day sites. I haven't heard of these websites til this year and I think they're getting popular really fast. Now I know why! ;) The premise is that they offer one deal a day at a great price and stay 'open' until the deal is over or the item gets sold out. Pretty interesting concept, eh? I've only made one purchase at the first site today so I'll be back to report on how it all went. But after doing some online sleuthing, they seem to both get good marks for follow-through and customer service (with the first site being touted with even better cs then the second). And, yes, they both have RSS feeds so you can be notified when they have a new deal! :)

Anyhow, without further ado, here are 2 sites:

MamaBargains (sometimes has more than 1 deal a day)

Baby Steals

Another type of a shopping site I've discovered are these invitation, member-only sale ventures. These sites offer special pricing on usually quite expensive designer clothing for a set amount of time and sometimes, it becomes very reasonable. :) Some of them offer kiddie clothing, too. Anyhow, I haven't purchased anything from these sites but have been simply observing and doing some research. :)

Here are some of the ones I found:
Gilt Groupe
Rue La La
Hautelook
The Mini Social (I think it's just for kiddie stuff)

If anyone has any experience with either of these sites or have another site to recommend, please let me know! :) Happy browsing!

Has anyone read this book?

I've been reading "Positive Discipline" by Jane Nelson these days and it's been a great read so far. The funny thing is that I didn't even know about it to look for it - I just happened to pass by it at our local library when the title caught my eye. Some background: I've been having discipline issues with my kiddies and my current methods have worked but seemingly only for the short-term and has almost made me not enjoy my kiddies as much. :( So, I've been looking for something else and praying to God for wisdom. So when I read the description of the book at the library and it says it's "the classic guide to helping children develop self-discipline, responsibility, cooperation and problem-solving skills", I figured, what's not to like, right? So i checked it out :) Plus, those qualities are truly some of the things that Kev and I want for our kids - we want them to grow up to be responsible, conscientious adults who love God, love others and love themselves. [We've been talking about some goals we want for our kids lately, anyways - what a coincidence!]

Though I've only read 2 chapters, I've already learned so much and gotten many insights - it's very encouraging! I've also implemented some new discipline strategies and it's really resonated with the kiddies, too - how exciting! :) Anyhow, I'm curious if anyone else had read this before and, if so, had any feedback for me. I will do my best to update you guys on what I've learned when I have more time to digest it. But looking forward to hearing from you! :)

What this preggo mama really loves....

....is my new handvac. :) Yes, my hubby loves me and he ordered me the Bissell Featherweight Lightweight Vacuum a few weeks ago. Hehe! Not having to bend down very much but still have a clean, crumbless floor for a few hours everyday is such a wonderful thing. Even the kids have really taken to it and are fighting for the chance to use it - and of course, I let them! :) Anyhow, just wanted to put in my plug for it.

I'm also really loving the Belli line of skincare for preggo and nursing mamas (though I like it so much that I want to use it afterwards as well!). I found it while I was searching for something that has a refreshingly light scent that will also quell my itchy preggo belly. With every pregnancy, as soon as I hit the 3rd trimester, my belly starts to itch. [Sorry if this is too much info!] But anyhow, in the past, cocoa butter made me a bit nauseous and my DHC Virgin Olive Oil was a bit too pricey to rub all over my belly. So, I went online and happened upon this line. It's supposed to be super safe for baby and mommy and the belly oil and lotion really did the trick! It is a bit pricey but they were having a major sale a while back that I thankfully caught. :) [I think it's on sale at drugstore.com right now.] I'm also taking my flaxseed oil and dandelion root capsules to hopefully quell the itchiness from within and reduce any swelling - we'll see what happens! So far so good, though!

And lastly, these 2 sites have been a godsend: Safe Mama and ZRecommends. The mamas behind these sites do lots of reviews and investigation on what's safe and what's not for families with young children. For example, they were way ahead on the whole BPA issue and Safe Mama came out with a 'cheat sheet' of which bottles and sippies were BPA-free, which was so helpful. And they are not alarmists but do good research on what they report, which is refreshing. :) Anyhow, check them out!

Alrighty, happy reading (and surfing)!

Yes, we moved to PA!

Yuppers, we are finally here and almost all settled! Our journey began way back in the beginning of July after we had gotten back from being abroad. We had a week between being back in the States and the mover's arrival, so thank goodness we had started before we went on our vacation. We had some problems with communication (I'll spare you the details here but if you're curious, email me) with the moving company's local office, which resulted in some stressful moments but it turned out all right in the end - praise the Lord! But since we had almost a week and a half before we could see our stuff again, we decided to embark on a road trip to visit friends and family! You can see some pics here.

First stop, my parents in Cary, NC. The only other time we had gotten to visit them was a quick overnight stop when we were driving down from NJ to FL, so it was really nice to be able to spend a few days with them. The kids absolutely loved it and so did we. :) We got to meet some of my parents' friends, eat some Goodberry's frozen custard (it was so absolutely delicious!!!), meet up with some of Kev's cousins and eat some homecooking and just take it easy. BTW, if you're ever in the Research Triangle area, we highly recommend the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh - not only was admission FREE (they take donations), there was a Discovery Room where kids could touch everything, from fossils to polliwogs! It was a great trip. :) Thanks, parents!

Next stop, Ray and Christine Liu's place in MD. They had just settled into their new place not too long ago, so we were their first guests - we felt so honored!!! They did a great job hosting us and the kiddies had a blast. Uncle Ray served as a human jungle gym and the kids got to play with Sydney - Ray & Christine's niece. I even got to catch up with some UIUC grads that happened to go to their church that Sunday - fun stuff! Anyhow, we ended the trip with some amazingly good peruvian fried chicken and yucca fries at Crisp & Juicy. Yum!

Then, we drove up to DE to visit our old friends, Michelle and Jomy Mathew. :) As always, it was great chatting with them and having our kiddies play together. And they always make us feel right at home - thanks, guys!

Finally, we ended up at Kev's parents' place in NJ where we were several days, waiting for our stuff and car to be delivered, hunting for furniture (can you say IKEA?) and hanging with old friends. It was a really great time and the kids did really well considering how much we travelled this summer. :) Their schedules got a bit mixed up but we are now back on schedule. Phew! I never knew how much I loved schedules...hehe.

What else? We spent the first week or so, unpacking, doing car stuff and getting oriented to our area. Our neighborhood is really quiet and our neighbors have all been very nice. There is a tot lot in our nieghborhood, so the kids have been making friends. :) Kev started his job last week and is catching on to how things work pretty quickly and his hours have been very nice - yay! I've been finding stuff to do for me and the kids and trying to make friends. :) We've joined the local YMCA and have been making it to storytimes at the nearest Barnes & Noble and local library. Still looking for a church, though. We hope to find one soon!

But anyhow, we are now ready for guests!! If anyone is ever in the area, please let us know - we'd love to see you!

Warning: Hodge Podge Post :)

Welp, I have a quiet night, so I thought I would do some decluttering of our online photos...NOT! My eyes are getting blurry, so I decided to procrastinate further and write a blog entry or two. :) Hehe! I will write about our move in another post but here are some updates on things I had written about previously:

-I've gotten a lot of comments on the post re: Aidan's ptosis. I've come to realize that there's barely any laypeople's info on this topic. If would be nice to have a site where people can discuss what procedures they've tried, the results, which doctor they've seen, etc.. Maybe something to tackle later....after baby #3. :) But, I do want to say that it's been 6 months after Aidan had his surgery and the results have been great! The eyelid remains raised to the point where his field of view is not obstructed and no more comments from strangers about what happened to his eye! :) We are now searching for a new pediatric ophthalmologist since we just moved to the new area - but once we find a good one, we will also know how his vision is doing in the affected eye. [If anyone knows of one, please email me!] Although his eyelid is open a bit while he's sleeping, it hasn't caused him any discomfort, which was one of our concerns. So, praise the Lord for such a great result!

Due to popular demand: Before surgery pic and after surgery pic (his affected eye is closer to the camera). Feel free to poke around our online albums 1 & 2 for more. :)

-We had written about the dilemma with our car since we will be having #3 this winter - should we get a bigger car or get narrower caresats?! So, this is what ended up happening. We were going to keep our '01 Camry for now since Kev might be needing a newer car soon and try to fit 3 in the back. So we purchased 2 Sunshine Kids Radian 65s from Target. We thought we were set. But after moving to PA, we realized that we had to deal with my 'check engine' light problem AGAIN (for the 5th or 6th time) or else we won't pass inspection. Long story short, we had a friend working at a Honda dealership who could get us a great deal on a CR-V or a Odyssey. (Kev had narrowed it down to those 2 for now - we wanted decent gas mileage and stability control for all our hilly roads. And we wanted to take a break from Toyotas after all we had been thru with the Camry.) Anyhow, after much discussion, we ended up with a new CR-V because it is a 4WD with all-season tires (meaning no need to change to snow tires and get charged extra for recalibration of some system - didn't quite catch the explanation from the car guys) and with all the snow the neighbors say we get and all the hills we have, we felt it was the safest option. Plus, it gets great mileage for an SUV - something like 26 MPG! :) And, yes, I can stow my double stroller (Joovy Caboose Ultralight) in the back with room to spare for groceries and such. It even comes with a shelf for double the storage space, if needed. Anyhow, we'll see what happens. With more room in the back, I'm hoping that the 3 in a row will not be too much of a problem. ;) Updates to come...

-We have a new favorite toothpaste and mouthwash! I know I had raved about Tom's of Maine but now I have a better tasting option with no SLS! It's Jason's Sea Fresh Toothpaste and Mouthwash! I really feels like it cleans my teeth well and leaves my mouth feeling very fresh. And the fact the the mouthwash is concentrated and needs to be diluted by equal parts water makes it a great value! There's no burning sensation like Listerine but a super minty feeling. So, yep, I really like it! Even Kev likes it (he didn't love my Tom's stuff - hehe)! :)

-Aidan got a train table for his 4th birthday that we absolutely loves! We researched for a while and picked a barebones one that can withstand lots of play, takes a minimal amount of time to set up and matches the kiddies' play kitchen. :) We highly recommend the Kidkraft Train Table. We ended up ordering it from Walmart and got free shipping with the Site to Store option, which made it a great bargain because it's really heavy and might be costly to ship! [And because we got it from Walmart, we could return it to the store, as well.] Anyhow, the assembly took all of maybe 10 minutes - it took more time to break down the box for recycling and put the rest of the trash in the garbage! Hehe! Anyways, Aidan can also play his Melissa & Doug puzzles (love those super sturdy puzzles for preschoolers) on it, which is really key...that way, I can reclaim my kitchen floor! :)

Anyhow, I'll end the post here, so I can talk more about our move. Thanks for reading!

Page 111

Hey guys: Sorry for not writing for a while - we are finally ALMOST settled in our PA home! More on that later...the move itself is definitely something to write about since we did a road trip up Route 95 and visited lots of friends and family!

Anyhow, I have an announcement: Aidan recently contributed to a book that was actually published! It's call Dinosaur Soup (and other dubious recipes written by children). It features recipes from kids of various ages that are not corrected but written down verbatim. Really hilarious stuff. :) His recipe for Purple Jello is on p. 111. You should ask Aidan about it when you see him; he's so proud that "he was in a real book". Hehe! :)

Alrighty, more later. I promise. Check out pics here in the meanwhile. :)

Cheers!

We made it: Taiwan/CA Edition!

The City of Taipei

Welp, we did it - made it to Taiwan/CA and back with our toddler, preschooler and bun. :) Overall it was a great trip, we got to see grandparents, friends, and other relatives that we haven't seen in a long time, ate great food, and saw some awesome sights of Taiwan that people normally don't get to see. I wish I had written down the names of those places in English - but we were in the mountain regions where they grew tea and various veggies and a sheep farm! The weather up there was beautiful - a breezy mid-70s most of the time. Anyhow, the grandparents were so happy and that made us so glad we went. More on CA later...

The kids did relatively well, though the 12 hour time change really did a number on all of us. We also took turns getting strange fevers, which didn't help. The multiple layovers also made getting there and back a bit tedious. But thank God for some super helpful relatives that took care of the kids when we were too exhausted to!! A big thanks, also, to all the moms that gave great advice for traveling!! Anyhow, here's what we learned with pics to come soon. :)

Gear

-We brought a single stroller and the Ergo baby carrier. Man, those were lifesavers! If the kids wanted to walk, our lugagge went in the stroller. Plus, since the stroller was gate-checked, so it made the long walks from gate to gate a breeze. Aidan also fell asleep in it a lot, which helped so much. Now that we think back, a double would have been fine, as well, since we didn't end up schlepping it too much, though we did use the stroller some in Taiwan and those narrow streets and throngs of people wouldn't have been as forgiving as in airports. But having a single is definitely good enough. The Ergo was also a lifesaver and allow little Jana to take naps whenever we went. I just felt bad for Kev who had to carry her in the front, his backpack in the back and pull the luggage along with him at the airport. I tried carrying her in the back but it wasn't very comfortable anymore at this stage of the pregnancy.

-Babylegs were great in helping Jana transition from really hot and humid (FL, Taiwan) to cold and dry (plane, San Fran) - we love them!

-We also brought them their jackets and favorite blankets to help them sleep wherever we were at the moment.

-Klipiis bib clips were a lifesaver - they converted any napkin into a bib, so I didn't have to carry around wet, foody bibs. :)

-Avon's bug repellant was another lifesaver. Those mosquitoes in Taiwan were persistent, everywhere and huge! Just thinking about them makes me itchy! Since I have been known to be the moquito magnet, I found Avon's sunscreen and repellant in one lotion (DEET free) and their unscented Expedition repellant and suncreen spray which can be sprayed upside down (also DEET free) and they worked wonders to keep the bites to a minimum. So I only came back with about 15 bites. ;)

Boredom Busters

We had a lot of traveling to do - on the plane and on the tour bus - so it was imperative that we had a lot of boredom busters for the kiddies. The kids liked:

-sticker books and new paperbacks we got from Sort Floor Books (an online outlet with free shipping over $14.99)

-DVD player with some new DVDs (Taiwan has the same voltage)

-pipe cleaners to make things

-Dinosaur play scene from Mudpuppy

-little tubs of playdoh

-Under the Sea lacing cards from eeBoo

-lots and lots of snacks!! I bought some 100 calorie snack packs so it would be easy to pack and that worked out pretty well. On the way back, we bought some fun snacks at I-Mei and they loved those!! Taiwan definitely reigns in terms of snack assortment. Hehe.

-Aidan and Jana also took to a lot of the aunties and uncles, so they helped a lot in keeping the kiddies occupied. :)

-We even resorted to buying a Leapster on sale for Aidan but that never even got used. Can we say birthday gift? ;)

For next time

There were some things that we wish we would have done but didn't get to do.

-Show the kids pictures of all their relatives, distant and close, even if we weren't going to go on the trip. We feel that seeing those picture often and maybe knowing some of their names would be key in helping them feel more comfortable in meeting these people they haven't seen in a while. A friend of mine (Hi Leah!) has a deck of pictures in a ring for her kiddies. Will definitely have to make one soon!!

-Pack in less activities. Because we were in Taiwan and CA for such a short amount of time, we were busy visiting people. We also embarked on a tour of Taiwan for 5 days in hopes of spending time with Kev's grandparents, which was great but a bit hectic. If possible, we would have loved to have more time to do all this leisurely.

-Less layovers. We had 2 layovers because of the ticket we could afford but the kids kept falling asleep toward the end of the flight and had to wake up again to catch the next. And all that going up and down also woke them up a bit. We tried dum dums to help alleviate the ear discomfort but it was such a mess, I ended up getting gummies as a substitute for the way back.

-Nix the kids' backpacks. I think having them carry some of their toys, snacks and blanket would help lighten the load and give them some responsibility but since they kept falling asleep everywhere or was being really cranky from being woken up all the time, I ended up carrying them or putting them on the stroller. I would have rather have it all in one place, esp for security checks and for sanity of mind as I strove to keep track of all of our bags everywhere we went. 2 bags is easier to keep track of than 4. :)

I'm sure there is more but that's all my brain can unpack right now. Pun intended. :)

The Berkeley part of our trip was very refreshing and enjoyable. Our lovely hosts: Stephen, Hanna and Mayah did a great job helping us readjust back to life in the States. :) We got to visit Berkeley University, see some of our hosts favorite spots, and enjoy many delicious home-cooked meals (thanks, Hanna!). We even got to see a bunch of people from our old Youth Group - what a treat! Anyhow, we all must get together again!

Anyhow, I'm sure you're mostly here for the pictures. ;) However, we haven't had time to put them up just yet but when they're up, they'll be on this new site here since we ran out of room on our old site.

Cheers!