The Lo Family

Family trip Dillon Beach

2011-08-21T15:46:00.000-07:00

Okay, I wish I could say that I haven't been posting because I've been busy...nope, I've just been lazy. But all is well. My youngest and only brother, Benjamin, received his mission call. He will be going to the Minneapolis, Minnesota Mission! Hmong speaking! LOL, he'll finally learn how to speak Hmong fluently! Yay! :) Anyhow, to celebrate his mission call and to just hang out with the Fam Bam, we went to Dillon Beach. We rented out an awesome beach house and stayed there for the weekend. The kids totally loved it. I forgot how much I LOVE the beach. Just to sit there and watch the waves and enjoy the breeze. Luckily while we were there, the weather was perfect! A little cloudy in the mornings and then some sun during the rest of the afternoon. Fi Dan isn't really a beachy kinda person, but he actually enjoyed it this time too.
We had such a good time just hanging out. I'm crossing my fingers that it'll be an annual event for my fam bam. :)
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The Lo Family ♥

Surely Clam Beach House

Lo Family

My favorites

Dillon Beach

Summer 2011

Grandparents ♥

2011-05-03T23:00:00.000-07:00

**Just to let you know, this blog entry is a little lengthy!

Today marks the 4th year that my dear Pog (Grandma from dad's side) passed away. I've been thinking about her a lot, and also my Yawm Txiv (Grandpa from mom's side) who is very sick at this time. While growing up, I've only known these two grandparents.

My Yawg (my dad's dad) passed away a very long time ago while still in Laos. I believe my dad was only 12 years old when my Yawg passed away. But my dad always told us stories about my Yawg, and what an honorable, hard working and amazing man he was. He was very respected and loved by many of his people. I now see where my dad gets it from! :)

My Niam Tais (mom's mom) passed away when I was only years old. I was given her name as my middle name in memory of her. Kalia Ying pao Ly Lo. I have also heard many wonderful stories about her from my cousins that grew up with her. She was a kind, sweet, and loving grandma. I believe that my mom also inherited a lot of my Niam Tais's characteristics.

My earliest memories of my Yawm Txiv was when he came to Utah to help my family move to California. I just remember him being really nice. As I grew up and learned more about him, I remember being amazed at what a brave and courageous he was. He played a very important roll during the Vietnam War. He was one of General Vang Pao's Generals. I heard stories about how he led hundreds of Hmong people through the jungles of Laos, and how he got food to them. Not only was he amazing because he led the Hmong people out of Laos, but because he brought my family into the church. In order to understand how amazing my Yawm Txiv is, you have to know a little bit about the Hmong culture. The Hmong culture believes in a Shaman, a person who acts as a mediator between the world of the dead and the world of the living. He performs spiritual healings by going into the underworld and bringing back the spirit of the person who is sick or lost. My Yawm Txiv was one of these Shaman, and a very respectable one to say the least. Very few people can become a Shaman, it's said that you're usually chosen, and he started at a very young age. A couple of years ago, I recorded my grandpa, and he told his life story. I was at awe. Many of the old folks say that The mother land (Laos) has "dab" or supernatural beings. He spoke of when he was still a Shaman, and how he went to the underworld and saw things. (Growing up in the LDS church, I've never been taught or heard of these Hmong beliefs, and so hearing these things gave me goosebumps, to think that these stories were real! I just found it fascinating.) While he was a Shaman he performed many spiritual healing for many people, but then one of his granddaughters got sick. He did his Shaman healing on her, and nothing he did worked. I remember he said, "Kuv ua tas kuv luj tswv yim thiab kuv lub zog lawm", it doesn't translate into Hmong very well, it means more than this but it basically means that he tried everything that he could think of and did everything that he could within his power, but still she was sick. So, in order to save her he gave up everything that he was and knew, to he decided to join this religion called Christianity, and accept Christ as his Savior. Because of this very brave decision, he brought his posterity into the church. It wasn't the LDS church that he joined at the time, but he opened the door to allowing us to find the Gospel. Many Hmong people who knew my Yawm Txiv as a Shaman either lost respect for him or shunned him. They couldn't understand why he would give up such a position of wealth (being a Shaman is also an occupation) and power. But I remember him saying that he has no regret whatsoever. Even though he gave up a lot, he gained back even more 10 fold. My Yawm Txiv is such a wise and humble man. I love my Yawm Txiv so much. It breaks my heart to know that he doesn't have much time and that he is my last living grandparent. I remember the day that my Pog died....and I was crying. My Yawm Txiv saw me and he came to me, and he said, "Me ntxhais, txhob quab, hmog. Tseem muaj Yawm Txiv." (Daughter, don't cry, there's still Grandpa) and then he patted my head. I'm so sad, but I also know that we have the Gospel, and so that means that we have everything...it means that families truly be together forever someday.

The family with Yawm Txiv and Niam Tais (Grandpa and Step-grandma)

Christmas 2010

My Pog has been such a HUGE part of my life. Both my parents had to work when I was younger, and so it was my Pog who stayed home and took care of us. My grandma was beloved by many, many people. My dad always told me stories of how generous and kind my grandma was. She never let anybody go hungry. And it was evident by how many people loved her when people would randomly come and visit her year round! She really was a special person. She was the second of 3 wives that my Yawg married. Thanks to Yawg, my dad's side of the family is crazy-confusing to try and keep track of who is who. I always have to draw pictures in head to see who is who. Anyway, my grandma was an amazing person and she had such a big heart.
Just writing this blog makes my mind flash back to a million things that remind me of my Grams. Elvis...biggest Elvis fan ever. She thought he was so handsome and always watched his movies. Her favorite Elvis movie was the one where he's in Hawai'i. Michael Jackson...another huge fan. She always talked about how handsome he was when he was younger. Soap Operh...General Hospital...every single day like at 12 noon. Needles, and thread, bright pink and green fabrics for making Hmong clothes for me and my sisters. Noodles, pizza, bread dipped in pepsi, hmong sausages, apples dipped in pepper, scrambled eggs were just a few of the things that she cooked for me and my sisters. My grandma wasn't like any other Hmong Grandma, literally, she wasn't Hmong. I don't even know how to say what my Grandma's ethnicity is in English, but she's doesn't have an ounce of Hmong blood. She was adopted into a Hmoob Yaj family when she was little and raised as a Hmong child. But what I meant by she wasn't like any other Hmong Grandma was that she was so funny, yet stern...and so stylish with her purple bottled perfume, furry black hat, and colorful sweaters that she wore. She had a mouth that could tongue-whip you, yet it was always out of love. My Pog also loved to make fun of people. She made fun of just about anyone that walked her way. She also gave nicknames to everyone. Some of those names were not so nice...but it was out of love and so you like it even if your name was something mean. :) Also, my grandma traveled a lot between California and Georgia. My dad and uncle lives here in California, but by Aunties all live in Georgia. I remember she was always so specific about her flights....she only flew Delta. Sometimes she'd stay with her for a year or 2 and then go to live with my Aunties for a year or 2 and then come back. It was always so much fun to have grandma come back home.

I remember when my grandma met Fi Dan. Fi Dan and I had been dating about 8 months, when she came back from Georgia. I was really nervous that she wasn't going to like or make fun of him so bad he'd leave! But I remember she looked at him and smiled...and then she just loved him from then on. I think she especially loved Fi Dan because he ate EVERYTHING that she made. He loves Hmong food, and so to this day he still talks about how he misses her cooking. I remember she would make Hmong food or something...and my siblings and I wouldn't eat it. Fi Dan would come over and gobble the thing down. So she started making lots of food, especially on the days that she knew Fi Dan would be visiting. She would get so mad at me for making spaghetti or Mikas cov mov (American food) for Fi Dan. I must say that my grandma grew very fond of Fi Dan. It makes me so happy to know that she approved. :)

Me, Kashia and Grams

Me, Grams and Fi Dan

We had a party for Grandma

**I wish I had better pictures of both Yawm Txiv and Pog, but the scanner is just 20 feet too far for me to walk to! :D, but do enjoy the ones I have.

The thing that makes me saddest is that she passed away 2 months before my wedding. I know she probably would have made fun of my hair, dress, or make up, but I know it's only because she loved me and I would have just loved to have her there. I know she would have had so much fun, especially since 2 of 3 of my Aunties were there. Also, I just really wish that she could have gotten to meet my babies. My sisters and I always have a blast guessing what nicknames she would have given our kids. Trust me when I say she would have named them something along the lines...."cry baby....burnt kitty...chubby"...all in Hmong of course. (When you say these names in Hmong...they're just a lot funnier and endearing. :)

I am so grateful to have had my Pog and Yawm Txiv be such a big part of my life. I am so lucky to have come from such wonderful, strong, honorable, and amazing people. :)

Happy Birthday My little Ry-bug!!!

2011-05-02T15:12:00.000-07:00

I know it's late, but Rylan turned 1 last month!!! He is such a chunky monkey! We didn't do anything big but we did have a get together for him. My family, along with I-I, Ariadne, Cheng and her little family came to celebrate Ry's birthday. I made some delicious food from my new favorite recipe book...."Our Best Bites". I shared their link a few months back, but they came out with a book, and I just had to buy it. It was delicious! Kalu was also kind enough to make lasagna for us. It was a fun little gathering.

Rylan is now transitioning between crawling and walking. He prefers to hold someone's hand and walk. If you let go, he'll stand there and then sit down. Sometimes when he's not paying attention, he'll just stand up and walk around. He LOVES to smile, laugh, and play. He is probably the happiest little boy you'll ever meet. He weighs close to 28 lbs. He loves to snuggle at night and is starting to sleep through the night. Although he is happy, he's also very sensitive. If I try to discipline or use a stern voice with him, he gives me his sad puppy dog face and quivering lips and then he starts to cry REALLLLLLLY loud. I love him so much and is so blessed to have such a sweet boy as my own.

Happy Birthday my little Rylan Meejmom Lo! I love to you to pieces.

We love birthdays...because we get to buy the most delicious cakes!!!

Cream cheese stuffed, chocolate covered strawberries!

Yum! Stuffed mushrooms, lasagna, and artichoke dip!

Happy Birthday Rylan...and Nenji!

We're looking at Nenji because he thinks it's birthday too. :)

Look how happy my little Rylan is!

Yum! He gobbled this cake up. He really enjoyed it.

Happy Birthday my little Rylan!

College Friends!

2011-04-18T08:59:00.000-07:00

I have been meaning to write this blog for some time now, but I was always too lazy to scan the pictures! Fortunately, the Young Women Presidency in our ward asked Fi Dan and I to talk about our dating experience and how things came to be, which meant we would have to scan pictures. So I just scanned a bunch of pictures, including my college days. :)

After going to Utah a couple of weeks ago, I was reminiscing about my college days at BYU. What good times I had! I made some lifetime long friends while I was there. I really do feel that if we all got together, we would just talk and laugh like old times. (Which is proof whenever Cami and I get together. We just talk, and talk and talk...our poor husbands. They just sit there and listen. :)

One of my very best friends from BYU, Emma Lee, will be moving to Gridley, CA (about 1 hour away from here) with her little family. I am super excited because I haven't seen her for about 4 years!

Hopefully my other good college friend, Cami, will move here to California after all is done at BYU for her little family. But here are some pictures. Good times!

Enjoy the pictures. :)

Freshmen year!!! Deseret Towers :)

My dear friend Cami and roommate Tiffani.

SOOOO much fun. I would have to say this is when I fell

in love with the Hawaiian culture and started my

hula dancing voyage. :)

BYU Luau 2005.

I believe we were at a Ward Activity.

Emma Lee, Rachel, and me!

Roommates.

My favorite girls from BYU. Emma Lee and Cami.

Tutasi, Me, Melani, and Emma Lee.

Best roommates ever!

:) Porn Stars. (It's a joke...long story)

Getaway trip...

2011-04-17T23:07:00.001-07:00

I so wish I could end the title with "to Hawai'i", but I can't. Fi Dan and I however, did get a semi-getaway trip to Utah last week! Fi Dan was scheduled to defend his Master's project on Tuesday, April 12, 2011. Initially, Fi Dan was going to fly to Utah and do his defense by himself, but I just couldn't let that happen. I really felt that I needed to be there to support him. So off we flew to Utah last Monday. We ended up flying most of the day on Monday, which I didn't mind, especially since we didn't have the kids with us. As many of you may know, I LOVE Cafe Rio, and I wanted that for dinner, but Fi Dan suggested Indian food at one of our FAVORITE restaurants in Provo, so we had that instead.

So glad to have had this time alone with Fi Dan!

I'll never get over the mountains! Probably

one of my favorite things about Utah. :)

Monday night was wonderful...for me anyway. I had dinner with the love of my life and watched a movie on T.V. and just RELAXED! I haven't done that for over 2 years! My poor Fi Dan, on the other hand,was doing last minute preparations for his presentation and rehearsing. And if any of you know Fi Dan, public speaking is not his forte, so he was worried all night. I called and checked on the kids several times while we were there, and they did great! Nenji cried for us the first half of the day, but then he was okay after that. Oh, and may I add that I have the most amazing mom who took time off of work to watch Nenji and Rylan. Also, Kashia, Max, and my dad were also wonderful with the kids. :)

( **and everyone kept telling us that they cry more when we're home than when we were away. This makes me want to take mini-trips with Fi Dan more often, since I know they're perfectly fine when we're away. :D)

Another reason why this trip was so great was because we got to meet up with our good friends, Cami and Josue & of course their sweet little Kaleb! We met them at Denny's for breakfast. We had a few hours of free time and so we went to hang out at Cami's place. It was so nice to chat with Cami, it always is!!!

The Rivas Family!

Aren't they such a cute little family? :)

Fi Dan gave his presentation in front of his committee that worked with him through out the semester, me, his friend Alex, Cami, Josue, Kaleb and a 1st year MPH student. He did so good! I was so proud of him. I must say that he's come a long way with speaking in public, and I loved it that his passion for working in the Hmong community showed. I love my husband, he's amazing in so many ways. So after the deliberation, he passed with some recommendations. That means that he has to make some corrections to his paper and then submit it in. :)

Fi Dan giving his presentation.

*pictures courtesy of Cami Wright Rivas!

Thanks Cami.

His committee.

We had dinner at Cami's and flew home to our wild children. It was such a memorable trip. One, because Fi Dan got his master's!!! Two, because we got to hang out with such good friends. :)

Joyce Hnub Ci Lor

2011-04-09T13:28:00.000-07:00

Our family has been blessed with another little angel! I'm a few weeks late, but it's better late than never! Kalu had her beautiful little baby girl on March 18th (just 4 days after Aunty Kalia's birthday :D). She was 6 lbs and 3oz, I think. She came out with a bunch of hair....and just perfect too. She has the sweetest, tiniest little face ever. I love going over to Kalu's house to hold her. Nenji LOVES and adores her too. He always wants to give his little cousin kisses. Rylan on the other hand, hardly ever notices baby Joyce. The only time he did was when he wanted me to hold him and then he flipped out because I was preoccupied. I love holding little Joyce, but does it make me want to have another one anytime soon? Nope, I am good for now. I think Fi Dan and I will wait for a few more years. I'm happy with my boys. :)

So, Welcome little Joyce! We're glad you're finally here.

I know, this isn't Joyce, but Nenji is too funny

He is always trying to impress Maddy now.

Here he is singing to her while she eats a cookie.

Nenji giving cousin Joyce a kiss.

As you can tell, from my face,

I'm making sure he doesn't kiss too hard.

Sweet little Joyce.

I LOVE her!!!

Look at the face. She's so precious!

Nenji getting a peek at Joyce. :)

Old Sacramento and 1 year older!

2011-04-07T22:22:00.000-07:00

I love living in California....and living close to Sacramento! We don't go to Old Sacramento much, but I LOVE it when we do! We took the boys out to Old Sac a few weeks ago and they had so much fun. We went to eat at Round Table Pizza, and walked a round for about an hour or so. They boys really enjoyed all the people who were there that day. Lots of people did a double take at the boys and asked if they were twins. Really?! I realize that Rylan is a big boy...but they don't even look that much alike. Fi Dan and I just looked at each other and laughed.

Yum! Pizza!

In front of the Delta King...someday I'd like to have dinner on it...

Birthday request for next year!

This one's for Nenji...trains!!!

I love when people are nice and they take family pictures for us!

Anyway, Happy Birthday to me! One year older and wiser too! Thanks to all my friends and family who wished me a happy birthday on my Birthday. It was quite a relaxing and special day. That morning I went to an interview. When I got home, Fi Dan and the boys took me out to eat Thai food! So yummy! Then we went and got a cake from Freeport Bakery. My new favorite bakery!!! My family came over and we had Panda Express and Pizza Guys for dinner. So good! And then we had cake! My favorite part of my birthday was when my family sang to me...not because I like people singing to me, but because Nenji was standing by me and he had the silliest smile on because he thought everyone was singing to him. That was definitely my favorite part! I wish we could have gotten it on film because his face was priceless. Right when my family started to sing...Nenji just smiled from ear to ear the whole time. I love my little family and family for being so wonderful and making life great!!!

It's blurry, but this was his silly smile.

Nenji is such a big helper. Look at his lips...

ready to help mommy!

I love them!!!!

Happy Birthday Nenji Jaxeem Lo!

2011-02-26T23:01:00.000-08:00

My little Nenji turned 2 on February 25th, and we celebrated his birthday today with friends and family! My in-laws came all the way from Fresno to join us. Many of our relatives and church friends came to celebrate as well. This year we decided to do "Thomas the Train" theme, since he's been so obsessed with it! Fi Dan and I decorated the kitchen the night before and when he woke up this morning, he was so excited. It was like Christmas morning all over again! :)

Nenji shouting, "Horay! Happy Birthday!"

Thomas the Train!

His face says it all!

For Nenji's birthday, I decided that I wanted to make him a cake. I've always imagined I would be a decent cake decorator...and that thought was definitely put to the test. The baking turned out good, as expected, but the icing, assembly, and decorating of the cake gave me a hard time. In the end, I was happy with the outcome and so was Nenji! That's all that really mattered. When I heard his little voice say, "Thomas Train!" while pointing to the odd-shaped cake, I was happy he recognized it, and rather proud of myself. :)

My masterpiece! ;)

Anyhow, I had been asking him all week, "Nenji, how old are you?" And now he can answer back, "two"...while holding all his fingers...we'll be working on finger counting next! We also practiced blowing out the candle, and he did a fabulous job of blowing out the candle all by himself.

He's so funny. He was really blowing..let's say more than just air!

Nenji and Maddy!

We hired a juggler! :D

My beautiful little Rylan. So ready to celebrate!

♥ my little family so much!!!

Fi Dan and I are so blessed to have Nenji and Rylan in our lives. Sometimes I still cannot believe that I am a mommy of 2 beautiful little boys. I truly am so lucky! :)

What we've been up to...in a nutshell!

2011-02-20T21:45:00.000-08:00

So we're back here in California now. We've been back since December 18th. The kids, Aunty Kashia, and I flew into Las Vegas and stayed the night at my cousin Susan's house. I'm so glad that we did, because it was nice to just visit her. :) Flying was the kids wasn't too bad. Nenji was absolutely ecstatic that he was actually flying on an airplane and actually cheered while we were taking off. He slept most of the time the airplane was in the air. Rylan did alright, he stayed up most of the time and smiled, laughed, and flirted with people on the air plane...which was fine, I was just really glad he didn't cry!

Here are some pictures of when we were in Las Vegas.

Here we are in Vegas with Susan! So glad we went to see her. :)

Nenji LOVED the aquarium.

He's so handsome. :)

Look how happy they are! I was so glad that everything went well.

In January, we went down to Fresno for Maykaylah's sealing. She was so excited. I can't believe how much she's grown already! She is one smart cookie, and I'm glad that things have worked out the way it has. We are lucky to have her in our lives. :)

Maykaylah's sealing.

My first time at the Fresno Temple, simple, small, yet beautiful!

Me and Maykaylah

The brothers and Maykaylah.

One of Nenji and Rylan's favorite thing to do is go into Grandpa's room and dance to his singing. My dad plays the guitar and they just jam out to his singing. It makes me laugh. :) And we are so glad to be back with Maddy Paddy! Nenji and Maddy butt-heads a lot, but they love each other too. It's a love hate relationship. Maddy and Rylan on the other hand, get along just fine. Maddy LOVES Rylan and mothers him. :)

Max (Fi Dan's younger brother) is going to California State University of Sacramento, and plays for the Club Volleyball team. We've been going to watch the team play, but they have been on a losing streak. :( They aren't bad, but I think they just need to work together more. Anyway, good luck to them!

Me and the boys at Sac State

Daddy and the boys!

Nenji loved the River.

I get nervous standing on the bridge.

Go Uncle Max! His team is to the left in the white.

My boys....I love them so much!!!

Look at my Ry! He's 10 months now, so handsome and chubby!

Trains, Santa, and lights!

2010-12-08T09:26:00.000-08:00

We've been trying to keep ourselves busy as the semester winds down, and as it gets closer to going home! It seems the closer it gets the slower time gets! Anyhow, our plan is go back to California, BUT I just got 2 interviews for teaching jobs in Kearns, UT...so we'll see. One is for a 4th grade class and the other one is for a 1st grade class. I should know by the end of this week if they'll offer me the job or not. Either way, I'm excited. If I get the job, that means I get to teach! If I don't get the job then we get to go back home! (and I'll look for a job there).

Anyway, last week we went to the mall. Of course we rode the train for Nenji. And when we rode the train, they made a stop and guess who climbed aboard! Santa Claus!!! He sat in the cart ahead of us, and Nenji was terrified...at first. I told him that it was Santa, and that Santa would give him a present if he was good. After I told him that, Nenji wanted go sit with Santa! **And we didn't bring our camera! So sad :( **

**Here's a clip of the train I keep talking about,

this was taken at another time.

While at the mall, we ran into our friends, Alex and Eliza (Alex is from Fi Dan's MPH cohort), and their two kids. They told us that Mrs. Claus would be reading books to the kids and that the first 100 kids would get a free toy! Yay, we were excited. We went to the reading...I am sorry, but it was SSSSOOOOOO boring! Mrs. Claus didn't have a microphone, so you couldn't hear her. And she didn't even show the kids the pictures in the book. And she read for like 45 minutes! I thought she'd read for like 10 minutes and then it would be over. Towards the end Nenji and Lisa (Alex's daughter who is about 6 months older than Nenji) started getting restless, which I don't blame them. Even Santa, who was sitting next to Mrs. Clause, looked like he was about to pass out! Anyway, Nenji got a little stuffed animal moose toy. He's so cute, when he first got it, he looked at it and said, "bear!" :)

But here's a picture of Nenji and his moose "bear".

And yes, he still likes to sit in his walker.

On Saturday, we decided we wanted to go so the lights at the Salt Lake City Temple. Little did we know there was going to be a mass of people there! It took forever for us to find a parking spot, but we finally did. It was cold, but beautiful! It was cold too, so we were there for a total of 40 minutes. Nenji really liked the lights, but his favorite part was seeing the horses who were pulling the carriages on the street. Good times! I love my little family and our little adventures!

The temple! Beautiful for more than one reason!

Daddy and the boys!

Mommy and Rylan with the lights.

I just wish you could see us better.

But I'm glad for strangers who are willing to take pictures for us!

Here's Nenji looking at the horse.

This was his favorite part!

Thanksgiving!

2010-11-28T20:06:00.000-08:00

This year was the first year that I was away from my family for Thanksgiving. It was a little sad, but I'm glad we didn't have to do the 12 hour drive. This year we just stayed home and hung out. Fi Dan was able to stay home for most of the week, so it was wonderful spending time with him. We went to my cousin's house (Mai Kou), who lives in Orem. She prepared a fantastic Thanksgiving meal, and she packed a good amount for us! On Friday we went shopping, Black Friday. We were able to get a few things for the kiddos.

They survived their first Black Friday!

Today we woke up for church and found a beautiful snow covered Provo. I love it when it first snows, but after a few weeks, the snow gets slushy, ugly, and grayish black...then I don't like it so much! :) Overall, it was a good Thanksgiving week/weekend.

Growing up!

2010-11-17T22:43:00.001-08:00

Sometimes I'm so busy with trying to get through the day that I forget to take a look at my boys and realize how big and grown up they are already! Last night Fi Dan and I were watching clips of when he was about Rylan's age, Nenji and Rylan are so much alike! I love them! Yesterday they went for their check up appointment. We absolutely love our Pediatrician (Chris Iris), she's a lady. She was the one that helped me and Fi Dan get through Nenji's fractured collar bone. Anyway, here's an update of Nenji and Rylan.

Nenji will be 21 months in a few days. Only 3 more months and he'll be 2 years old! Nenji is in the 83 percentile when it comes to weight and 93 percentile when it comes to height. Fi Dan was so happy that Nenji is considered "tall" for his age. Now he's convinced that Nenji will be 6'0". Nenji can say over 50 words. His most recent word is "Harry Potter". He loves to watch Harry Potter and I don't mind at all because it gets me ready for the newest Harry Potter movie. :) He's learning something new everyday. Sometimes it's hard for me to say no because now he can verbally say "please" with a sad voice and face.

Rylan is now 7 months old! He's a big boy! He weighs 23 lbs which puts in the 97 percentile! I wasn't really surprised, I can't carry him for very long. And he's in the 90th percentile for his height. Rylan loves to eat his rice cereal. He is the sweetest little baby ever. He loves to hug and cuddle with you if he hasn't seen you for a couple of minutes. I think he's getting ready to crawl because he's always on all fours...and then he moves and falls flat on his tummy. Rylan is a very determined little boy and will not stop at trying to get something he wants until he crawls to it or rolls to it.

I am so blessed to have these two little boogies as my own. :)

Hats courtesy of Aunty Kashia!

Getting ready to go to the mall.

I just can't get over Nenji's smile.

He's so silly.

At Provo Town Center Mall.

On the train at the mall.

This train takes you around the mall.

Nenji absolutely LOVES it! He's obsessed with Thomas the train,

so you can imagine his excitement whenever he sees trains, or

when he gets to ride in one. :)

Horay for Wonderful Moms!

2010-11-13T14:50:00.000-08:00

My mom came to visit us, here in Provo, for about a week. She got here on a Friday night (November 5th) and then left on a Thursday evening (November 11). It was fantastic to have her her here with us. When my mom walked through the door for the first time, Nenji just froze in place...I believe he was in shock because he couldn't believe she was actually here. Before we came out to Utah, Rylan loved my mom, and it seemed like they picked up right where they left off. Nenji really liked having his tais-tais around. When she would come out of her room or bathroom he would cheer, "YAY" and run to her. Sometimes she'd be in the room, and he'd be playing, but as soon as he remembered that tais-tais was here he'd run to the room and try to knock it down. :)

We didn't do much. Although I ate A LOT! She cooked for us everyday and cleaned and took care of the kids. It was a good thing she was here when she was, because Rylan was really sick and was really needy. And she didn't mind holding him all day long. She's amazing!!! It was the exact break that I needed! I even got to sleep in a little. We did get to get to Danny and Nancy Bird's baby's blessing that Sunday. Their little Helen is so tiny, sweet, and beautiful! That following Tuesday we went to Danny's to have dinner. Yum! Wednesday night my mom made pho and a few of our friends...okay, like all of our friends (we dont' have that many friends, but the ones we do, we love!) Jeanny, Yu, Cami, Josue, Kaleb and Marcel were able to come over and have some pho. And the Rivas family brought some yummy fruit--Ponche...I think it was, over for dessert. :)

Thursday afternoon before she left, we took her to Olive Garden for lunch. Anyway, let's just say it was so very nice to have my mom here. I was sad to take her to the airport, but I'm sure my family back in California were excited to have her back, particularly my dad. (LOL, my dad is too funny, I think he called her every night and told her to go back early). Yup, I love my mom. She's great. :)

Here are a few pictures that we took. When I say a few, I mean it, literally. I've gotten really bad at remembering to take pictrues. :(

Mom took Nenji out to play in his SPIDERMAN pajama pants!

Nenji loves this pink bike. Every time he goes out, he rides it.

This one's a little blurry, but I love Nenji's smile.

Getting ready to go to Danny's house.

I love them!

I know, gross, but my mom and I had a good laugh.

Nenji was totally grossed out and kept yelling...he even tried to pop it.

Nenji and tais-tais after eating at Olive Garden. :)

3 1/2 nights of Halloween fun!

2010-11-02T19:00:00.000-07:00

Halloween this year was pretty busy! Nenji had 3 1/2 nights of Halloween. Fi Dan bought the boys' costumes like a month early so that they could get used to wearing them. After weeks of wearing their costumes (Nenji in particular), and days of practicing saying "Trick or Treat", Halloween was finally here! On Thursday night, BYU had a Halloween festival that we took the boys to. Nenji went last year, but he was too young to do anything. This year, he had fun. He "fished" and got candy...and then he played game that was kind of like musical chair, except for you just walk on numbers, and he won more candy. There was a huge blow up slide but Nenji was too scared to go on it. They also had face painting, but he was scared of that too. We stayed for only a little bit and then left.

Thursday night, before we went to BYU campus. My superheros!

Spiderman, Super-daddy, and Mr. Hulk!

Mommy and Nenji playing golf....and getting candy!

My little Hulk!

Friday night was our Ward Halloween Party. We went and had some delicious chili. They had a chili competition. Nenji once again fished while Rylan sat and watched. Again, he got more candy. I love living here in Provo, on BYU campus, because grown ups dress up! Here are some pictures.

I didn't have a Halloween costume this year, so I just wore my

Halloween shirt and put leaves in my hair...I'm what I like to call:
"The Spirit of Halloween". :)

"Happy Halloween!"

I saw him walking down the hall and HAD to take a picture with him!

Can't wait for Harry Potter VI !!!!!

On the third night, we went over to my cousin's house to trick or treat. When we got there it was lightly raining, but by the time we were ready to go out, it was pouring. We noticed that there were no trick-or-treaters out at all. We went to two houses and then came back home because it was just raining too hard! Plus, Nenji was getting a nasty cough.

Brayden, Ariya, Nenji, and Sueyen

On Sunday, Halloween night, Nenji wanted to dress up in his Spider man costume. So we just let him play around the house with his costume on for a few hours. I tried taking it off a couple of times and he would run away or cry. So we didn't really do anything, but Nenji did dress up...so that counts as 1/2. **Nenji now knows how to "candy" and wants to eat a piece of candy everyday. Oh, no.

Nenji on Halloween night, dressed up as Spidyman yet again...

but no trick-or-treating.

Good news and Sad news

2010-10-21T21:44:00.000-07:00

This past week has been good and bad. Last Sunday I got to see my old roomie, Rachel Snyder. She was in town and was kind enough to stop by. I haven't seen her for over 5 years, so it was nice to chat and catch up with her. :) It felt like I never left...except for the husband and 2 kids.

Now the very bad and sad news. My little family and I just came back from a funeral in Driggs, Idaho. A cousin of mine passed away this past Tuesday. :( Angela Ly Cooke passed away Tuesday night from a car accident. She was pregnant and neither her or the baby made it. My heart hurts just thinking about her being gone. The funeral service was in Driggs, Idaho....that's where she lived and she had the accident about 15 minutes away from her home. Her family from Minnesota was there, and her sister who lives in Rexburg were there too. It was so nice to see them all, but I was it was for a happy occasion. My heart really went out to Angela's husband. I can't even begin to imagine the sadness and pain that he must be going through.

But I've realized that in times like this, it's when the gospel and atonement comes into play, and it becomes more real than ever. All the sadness and pain eases just a little when you remember that there is life after this one. Because our Savior was willing to give his life for us, we will live again. It warms my heart to know that I know the truth, and that I'll see Angela again one day.

Cornbelly's Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-16T15:53:00.000-07:00

Yay! I absolutely love October because it's the month that starts off the holidays and festivities! I bought Nenji, Rylan, and me Halloween shirts and was way excited about wearing them to the pumpkin patch. I wanted to get a shirt for Fi Dan too, but I knew he wouldn't wear it, so it was just me and my babies. Anyhow, we took them to Cornbelly's pumpkin patch yesterday. It's located in Lehi, and it was an awesome pumpkin patch. It was more than the regular field of pumpkins, corn maze, and a couple of hay stacks. This place had it all. It had the usual pumpkin field, cornmaze and hay stacks, but it also had a tractor train, swings, jumper house, a stage where Princesses tell stories, haunted house, etc. It was a really nice day. It was a sunny day, it got a little warm, but it's better than the kids being cold. We rode on the train tractor, and Nenji LOVED it. (His new thing is trains...he loves Thomas the train). Afterwards, we ate and took some pictures. It doesn't seem like we did much, but it felt like we were there the whole day.

While we were there, I saw some kids with the most amazing face paint! I wanted to get in line and get my face painted too. I tried getting Nenji to get his face painted, but he just screamed and cried when we got in line. :( Party pooper. We were there for about 2 hours and the kids were pooped out. They came home and took a nap, and later that night they slept almost the whole night through. :)

I am excited for this Halloween though. Fi Dan, who hardly gets excited about the holidays (before we had kids), has already bought Nenji and Rylan their Halloween costumes. Nenji is going to be Spiderman and Rylan is going to be the ever adoreable Hulk! Can't wait, hopefully we'll get some good pictures. :)

Yay! We were in the Princess tree house! :)

Nenji totally thought he was cool.

My little Farmer Ryaln.

Mr. Farmer Nenji!

Daddy and the boys.

This was the "Chicken Show". There were little chicken puppets

in the cages that would pop out and tell chicken jokes.

Nope, daddy didn't give us a warning.

Inside that monster was a haunted house.

Nenji and Fi Dan went through it.

Ry and daddy on the tractor ride!

Me and Nenji on the tractor train!

He loved it.

Halloween shirts! We had such a good time! I love the holidays! ~

Similac Recall...and more!

2010-09-28T14:52:00.000-07:00

Last week was a drainer on Fi Dan and me. We usually get Similac formula for Nenji and Rylan because that's what WIC gives us. Anyway, starting last Sunday, we noticed that Nenji was not eating well and that he was having diarrhea. He also started throwing up in the middle of the night. Not good. When Rylan woke up that Monday, he had diarrhea too. I happen to be watching the news (which I don't normally do) and I saw that there was a recall for the Similac formula that Nenji drinks. We immediately took him off of the formula and by the end of the week he was feeling better. Rylan has also gotten better. Rylan's formula wasn't recalled, so we can't figure out why he had diarrhea too! By the end of the week I was a very cranky and tired mommy, but I'm so grateful for Fi Dan because he's such a good daddy and husband. He really hung in there with me, even though he has school, he was up with me every night taking care of the boys. I'm just glad that they've recovered from it, because diarrhea and throw up are not a good combination... especially in the middle of the night.

Another exciting thing that happened last week, Cami, Josue and little Kaleb came over for dinner! Kaleb is so tiny, I forget how tiny newborns are! I'm so excited for Cami and Josue and can tell that they'll make excellent parents! **and I can't believe that I didn't take pictures...or that I didn't even hold Kaleb! No worries, I have many plans on seeing that cutie again.

Today has been rather uneventful, which I am grateful for, but here a few pictures that I took of the boys. I did laundry last night and didn't get to folding it. I left it in the living room and found Nenji laying on it like it was his bed. And to make it more hilarious, he was watching TV. He is such a silly kid.

Rylan is now about 5 months and 1 week. We decided to start him on rice cereal. He's doing really well. I love the way he eats and just thought I'd share it. :)

Delicious Ideas from ourbestbites.com

2010-09-24T13:10:00.000-07:00

With two babies, I find it nearly impossible to eat healthy or even cook. When I've had time I've been looking up some yummy recipes. My go-to blog lately has been http://ourbestbites.com/ . I love the ladies that write the blog and their awsome ideas. I just thought I'd share the site and maybe you'll find something you'll fall in love with too!

* My favorite recipes from this website:
-Apple Dumplings
-Breakfast English Muffins
-Creamy Chicken and Bacon Pastry Pockets

**AND since Halloween is coming up, I should point out that under their Crafts & Special Features, there's a super cute substitute for carving pumpkins. It's their Mason Jar Lanterns. :) Enjoy!

Early Christmas gifts!

2010-09-17T19:57:00.000-07:00

Our camera was lost (or stolen, if you asked Fi Dan) during the process of moving. I haven't been able to take pictures of the little ones. Originally, Fi Dan wanted to get one of those hi-tech cameras, with the big old lens. I totally objected to spending that much money, and I knew if I had to haul a huge camera around, I would never use it. I just wanted a small little camera to carry around and have it in hand whenever I needed it. Of course I wanted a nice one too, that would be fast, with good quality. So he went and did research and found an awesome one. We just received it yesterday, and I've been snapping pictures of the boys.

In addition to the new camera, he's wanted a mini-laptop...or whatever they're called. He's using our 2nd room as his study room, and we have the laptop in there. His laptop is pretty big and heavy, and sometimes I take it into the living room to use while the kiddos play. He's worried that I might drop it or something, so he bought me a mini-lap top.

I'm loving my early Christmas gifts, and now I'm so not expecting anything for Christmas. :) Yay for husbands who like to keep up with technology!

Nenji playing. :)

I love his smile!

My Rylan sitting at the edge of the slide....so brave!

Love him! I should have wiped his drool first.

Good Sunday!

2010-09-12T22:12:00.001-07:00

One reason I love living here in Provo, UT is because it is so peaceful and quiet on Sundays! When you take a walk down the street there are hardly any cars, you don't feel rushed and you can just enjoy the moment. Today was a good Sunday. We went to Stake Conference, and heard wonderful talks. My personal favorite was one given by Elder Holland. He spoke about not giving up in these latter-days. We came home and took a nice long Sunday afternoon nap. Then we took the kids out to play. Since it was such a nice day, Fi Dan asked if I wanted to go have a dinner-picnic by the temple. I absolutely love Fi Dan, especially when he thinks of great ideas like that. It was a perfect evening. :)

My boys! I love Fi Dan, he's such a wonderful daddy.

*notice Rylan starting to bug Nenji already.

Yay! I'm so glad we got one with both of them smiling

and looking at the camera!

Rylan thinks Nenji is the funniest thing in the world.

My little Rylan at 4 months and 3 weeks!

What a chunky little monkey!

Cousin-Friend-Sisters

2010-09-09T20:29:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I was so fortunate to be in the company of one of my dearest cousin-friend, who I consider sister to me, because we practically grew up together, Susan. :) She came to Utah for a friend's wedding, and stayed with us from Saturday to Tuesday night. Nenji and Rylan loved having Susan there too. Sunday, we went to church. Monday we had a BBQ with some friends and walked to the Creamery on 9th. Tuesday Susan and I took another walk to the Creamery on 9th for their yum-o ice cream. We did a lot of talking and catching up. It's been so long since any of us cousins have been able to hang out for a long time like that, and it brought back good memories. Hanging out with Susan made me remember how lucky I am to have such good cousin-friends who are like sisters, and sisters who are such great friends. So here's a tribute to them! I love you all so much and you cannot imagine the joy you bring into my life. :)

*I wish I had old pictures too, but unfortunately digital cameras weren't around yet.

Susan! I love you! Truly one of my dearest cousin-friend.

Kashia and Me. :) Sometimes I think we should have been twins.

Me and Kalu. I love to tease her, only

because we're sisters and good enough friends she won't mind.

Such a good older sister because she has such a big heart.

Aww, Tser! Sum it up: You make my heart smile.

**I couldn't find individual pictures of I-I and Cheng, so this will have to do.

I-I, life would not be the same without you. You've touched my life

in so many ways. Thank you!

Cheng, you are the best. Thanks for all that you do for all of us..

especially the awesome bridal/baby showers.

Yay! I found a picture with all the girls I meant to find.

Pakou, Tser, Penny, Jamie, I-I, Kashia, Maychee, Susan, Kalu, and Cheng,

you girls make my life all the more sunnier. Thanks for the memories,

laughs, and joy you bring to me.

Back at the Y!

2010-08-30T10:52:00.000-07:00

We got here in Provo on Thursday night around 8pm. It was about a 12 hour drive....boo! I have decided that I never want to do that drive again...but we will see about that. The babies did really well. Rylan was such a good baby, and I was rather impressed with him. Nenji was probably the bigger baby of the two. :) Anyway, we're living at Wymount Terrace again, but at a different apartment complex. We now have a two bedroom apartment, woo-who! It's good to be back!

*Sorry, no pictures for this one. :(

Gotta Love them :)

2010-08-24T14:23:00.000-07:00

We will be heading out to Utah Thursday morning. I'm excited but I know that I'm going to miss my family a lot. I'm going to miss having my sisters around, and I'm going to miss Maddy Paddy as well. I will especially miss my parents though. They are the greatest. They are wonderful parents and fantastic grandparents. Thanks mom & dad for your all that you've done and for your support. I love you guys and am I deeply grateful for both of you. :)

my boys!

2010-08-10T15:45:00.000-07:00

Sometimes they drive me crazy....but I can't imagine life without them. :)

Family Day trip to San Francisco

2010-08-02T11:58:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, the whole family went to San Francisco. We stopped by the California Academy of Science. It was a fun experience, but there were so many people. The kiddos had a lot of fun. We also went to the Japanese Garden located close to the academy too. It was beautiful! Fi Dan and I have decided that someday when we buy a house, we want our backyard to look like a Japanese garden. :) Here are some photos.

Here we are in front of the Academy.

Rylan! He was so good the whole time. :)

Daddy and Nenji, this is his new smile.

Me and Nenji. He's so silly!

The had an awesome roof on top of the academy.

Precious Maddy and Nenji at the Japanese Garden.

My parents. It was quite a climb to get to the top of that bridge.

Summer post

2010-07-28T22:10:00.001-07:00

Things are winding down here in California. We have about 1 month before we head back out to Utah. We've already got a place in Provo. It's the same apartment complexes that we were living in before, just in a different location. I'm excited about having a place of our own again, but I am SUPER nervous about taking on two kids. I've tried handling both of them at the same time, and it is chaos! If Nenji could just be a little more independent, I don't think it would be so hard, but it seems that lately he needs me just as much as Rylan needs me...and around just the same time too.

Nenji is now 17 months. He is one of the funniest kids that I know. I absolutely love his sense of humor and sneakiness. I can tell that he's always up to something, because he has this sneaky little smile and gleam in his eyes that give him away. I introduced him to time-out a few weeks ago, he totally gets the concept, but that doesn't keep him from doing things that he shouldn't. Sometimes when I ask if he wants to go to time out, he looks at me, puts his little finger up, and waves it around while say, "no, no". Sometimes that's enough for me to not put him into time out. :) His new favorite movie is BOLT, he loves the action at the beginning of that movie.

Rylan is now 3 months and 1 week. He is a good 15lbs!!! He is turning out to be a not so good napper during the day, but an excellent sleeper during the night. :) He is such a happy and bubbly baby. If anyone talks to him, he'll smile and laugh and talk back. I enjoy watching him interact with people, because he really does have the sweetest little face. He can now sit the Bumbo chair with out any help! That's great for me and him, so that I don't have to hold him all the time during this hot weather where sweating is inevitable.

Fi Dan is almost finished with his internship at Hmong Women Heritage Association. He's been able to finish a big part of his project, which was having over 100 Hmong women fill out surveys. He might be able to finish in December, but we're not too sure yet, if not then definitely in April 2011.

As for me, I passed the RICA (the California state Exam to get your teaching license) just this past month! Woo-who! I also took the PRAXIS II test to see if maybe I can get my teaching license in Utah too. I don't know the results for that test yet, but hopefully it'll be good. Crossing my fingers!

Anyhow, here are some random pictures that we've taken during the summer. Enjoy!

The Lo Family

Here's Fi Dan's side of the family

I just love this picture!

Nenji and his Txiv-txiv (grandpa)

Me and my little Ryce-ball :)

Don't you just want to squeeze him?

Rylan, Nenji and grandmas at Ry's baby blessing.

Update!

2010-06-11T17:34:00.000-07:00

I do apologize for not bloggin lately, but as you can imagine, it's been CRAZY with two little ones. :) Rylan Meejmom Lo was born April 18, 2010 at 3:15pm. I was in labor for only 6 hours this time, and it felt like a walk in the park compared to when I had Nenji! He was 7 lbs and 9oz, and 20 inches long. :)

Rylan is a sweet heart. He is now 1 month and 3 weeks today! He loves to smile and cuddle with anyone that is willing to hold him. He is a lot more demanding and impatient than Nenji ever was, Fi Dan thinks that Rylan is going to take after me. :)

Anyhow, Nenji is doing great! He is now 16 months now. He is sooooo grown up and curious. He loves to bother his cousin, Maddy, and he absolutely LOVES his dada. Nenji loves to watch music videos on youtube. He also likes to sing and dance. Whenever he hears music he just can't contain himself, his little body just has to "move it, move it." (One of his favorite songs to dance to is Move it, move it from Madagascar).

Fi Dan and I are doing well. It's a BIG help having family help out. Kalu and Maddy often come over to hang out with us, and Kashia is always willing to help out with the babies. :)

We'll be here in Californa until late August, and then it's back to Utah!

Back in California!

2010-03-17T22:22:00.000-07:00

Nenji and I have been in California for over a month now. I know the original plan was to wait until March 9th, but on February 10th, Nenji and I came to California! It's been very different having to learn how to not have Fi Dan around all the time. It sure does make me appreciate and love him more than ever. He just came to visit me and Nenji last week, and boy was it great to have daddy around! Fi Dan will be coming back again to California when I have the baby...so I've been hoping to pop tummy-baby out soon! And then he will be home for good on April 23rd. Can't wait to have him here with me and the babies!

My family has been a great help. My parents have slept with Nenji a few times to give me a break. Kashia has been a tremendous help with Nenji, she's practically his second mommy. Kalu and Maddy have also been big helpers. Kalu and Maddy come over almost everyday to just hang out with me and Nenji, which I'm very grateful for because it makes the day go faster.

Maddy and Nenji are so cute together. I call her Mother Maddy because she loves to baby Nenji even though he's bigger than she is. She gets his bottles for him, brings his dirty bottles to the kitchen, she brings him food and water, and she finds his blanket for him when he's sleepy. She is going to be a GREAT older sister....and mother some day. I am very grateful for my family and I feel very blessed to have them helping me out! :)

Here's my handsome little man.

Happy St. Patty's Day! Mommy made green french toast!

Poor Maddy Paddy, Chuckeecheese came out and scared her. :(

Here's my brave little man! I have to admit, Chuckee is pretty scary in person!

Here's daddy and Nenji. I love these two soooooo much!

This was Nenji's favorite thing to ride while we were there.

Happy New Year!!!

2010-01-30T15:56:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I know the first month of the "new year" is basically over, but happy new to everyone anyway! Lots of things are happening. As of today I am 29 weeks and 3 days pregnant...so that means about 11 more weeks of being uncomfortable and fat...and until I see my little bundle of joy that likes to use me as a punching and kicking bag. :) I just took the gestational diabetes test 2 weeks ago and will know if I have diabetes at my next doctor's appointment. I am really crossing my fingers that I don't...but I'm not too sure, because tummy baby LOVES sweets. All that I really crave with this baby is sweets...cookies, ice cream, apple dumplings, oohhh....I think I'm going to have to get some sweets in a minute. He is very active and loves to stay up late. He starts to get really active around 9 pm and he doesn't stop until about 12am. When Nenji sits on my lap or leans against my tummy, little tummy baby will kick and push back. Oh boy, I hope that isn't an indication of how they'll get along when he comes out! But Fi Dan and I are very excited.
Oh, and I have decided to have the baby in California after all. The baby's due date is April 14th (which is also my dad's birthday) and that is the week before finals for Fi Dan. Fi Dan found an internship in California for the summer, so that means we'll be going back home for the summer. And so, we just figured it would be easier for us both and the babies if Nenji and I just went home a month early so that there could be people there to watch Nenji while I had the baby. And that way we wouldn't have to travel 12 hours across Utah, Nevada and California when the baby was only 2 weeks old.

Okay...now onto Mr. Nenji Lo. He is almost 1 year old! Yikes, already...I can't believe he's getting so big already. Only 1 more month and then my little man will be 1 ! :) He is such a joy to have in our lives. He just loves to make me and Fi Dan laugh. He is especially hilarious when he's ready to go to bed or when he's stayed up his bed time. We can tell he's going to be a really funny kid already.

Nenji stayed up past his bed time. As you can see he's laughing but he's also super grumpy. He's so silly.

He LOVES being around other kids and for some reason he also likes to climb on them and have them try to hold him up. He usually just ends up pinning the poor kid though. Nenji and I go to the Provo Library for reading time and he really enjoys that. We check out books and videos, but he just ends up reading his old books anyway. His favorite thing to do is spontaneously clap! I love watching "The View" or "Who wants to be a millionaire" with Nenji because whenever he hears the people clap he'll start clapping too. Nenji's favorite fruit is starwberries. He just learned how to feed himself a couple of weeks, which is good because I was a bit worried about his fine motor skills, but he seems to be doing pretty darn good now. His favorite songs are "I'm yours" by Jason Mraz and "Hey Soul Sister" by Train. He can just sit in front of the computer and watch those two videos on Youtube for hours (not that we've let him). He absolutely loves to slow dance with his dad when they're listening to music, it's the sweetest thing I've ever seen! We just enrolled Nenji in a swimming class a couple of weeks ago and he is doing a FANTASTIC job! Whenever we tell him we're going swimming or going to take a bath his waves his little hands around like he's splashing the water.

Anyway, that's about it for us. Fi Dan is doing well in the MHP program. He might be able to finish in December of 2010 instead of Winter of 2011, so we're happy about that. And as for me, I love being a stay at home mom/wife...most of the time. I just don't like the washing the dishes part. :) If we had a dish washer, life would be grand!

Grateful!

2009-12-14T21:29:00.000-08:00

The people in our ward have been amazing! When they found out that Nenji had fractured his collar bone, the Relief Society Presidency called to make sure that everything was alright with us. They even set up meal plans for us so that we wouldn't have to cook. My visiting teachers were the ones who cooked for us. The first night we had tacos and the second night we had fish, rice and salad. Although Nenji wasn't suffering to the point where I couldn't cook, it was still so nice of them to bring over some food. Fi Dan and I joked that we would tell the Relief Society Presidency that we needed a meal plan for the week. :) I am so grateful to be living in an area where people are very thoughtful and kind. :) In return, I baked goodies for them. I made some thumb print cookies and chocolate truffles. Fi Dan loved the thumb print cookies and asked if we could just keep them. Of course I kept a few so that he could have some.

Crazy week!

2009-12-12T21:33:00.000-08:00

My poor little guy has had a rough week. Last week he fell off the bed. :( He usually sleeps in his crib, but in the early mornings when he's fussy and cold, we let him sleep on the bed with us. He has this bad habit of sleeping on his tummy with his little bum in the air...and then he'll kick and kick until he bumps his head on the wall. Well, on this particular morning he kicked and kicked himself right off of the bed. :( Don't worry though, he was alright. When I picked him up he was all smiles. Later on that day, while I was cooking for Samuel's birthday party, I took some really hot cookie sheets out of the oven and placed it on a chair ( I KNOW! what a dumb idea). I had completely forgotten about the hot cookie sheets and turned my back for just a moment, when Nenji walked into the kitchen. I just remember hearing him yelling and then giving me this really sad look. Then I saw his little hand opening and shutting. I realized what had happened. Fi Dan ran him to the bathroom and ran his hand under cold water. We treated his little hand and within minutes he was his happy self again. I hadn't realized how bad the burn was until I saw a blister starting to form. (I still feel so bad just thinking about it....I just might start crying!) Through out the week I kept a good eye on him and his hand. I am happy to report that his hand is almost completely healed and perfect again!

Unfortunately, this isn't he worst of what happened to my baby. A couple of days ago he fell out of his booster chair. Fi Dan and I did everything to comfort him but he wouldn't stop crying, so we knew there was something wrong. We took him to the ER and had him examined but they said he was fine. They took X-rays of his little body and said that nothing was broken, but we knew there was something wrong because every time we held him or touched him a certain way he would wince and start to cry. The next morning we were convinced something was wrong because he woke up almost every hour crying that night. We took him to his Doctor and had him examined. She discovered that he had fractured his little collar bone. :( (tears are starting to form in my eyes right now!) She said that if he were to fracture anything, it should be his collar bone because it heals on its own and it's not too serious. Fi Dan and I were relived to find out what was causing our little boy pain, but at the same time we felt horrible about Nenji even being hurt! It's been 2 days since Nenji's sad fall, and he's doing better. He's not allowed to crawl, so he's in his walker or sitting on our laps during the day. He's as cheerful and as happy as ever, but is limited with his left hand/shoulder. Fi Dan and I have to be super careful because once in a while when we pick him up the wrong way he'll wince and start to cry. He has another doctor's appointment next Thursday to follow up on his collar bone, and I am hoping that everything will be okay.

Being parents, Fi Dan and I finally realize why our parents were the way they were. We also realize how much they've done for us and the sacrifices that they did for us. I see my parents in a whole different light. You'd give the world to make your children happy and you'd do anything to take away the pain or take their place if possible when they are hurt. Being a mom has definitely made me a better person. :)

Thanksgiving!

2009-11-29T15:41:00.000-08:00

I love the holiday season! I especially enjoy it now that we've been away from family for so long and we get to go visit. We were actually planning on spending Thanksgiving here in Provo, and going to my cousin, Kazua's. But then one of our friends from Sacramento (who is also attending BYU), Joseph, went home and we wanted to go soooooo bad too. We decided Monday night that we would rent a car and go down for the week for Thanksgiving. It was all very last minute. We would have left on Monday night, but I had my ultrasound Tuesday morning at 10am, so we decided to wait until then. (Oh, and by the way we are going to have another BOY!!!) We left around 12:30pm and got home around 9:30! It was the greatest feeling to see the family. Of course they didn't care much for me and Fi Dan because they were more excited to see Nenji, but nonetheless, it was still sweet to see my family.

Nenji was terrified at first, he had just woken up from sleeping in the car, and the next thing he knew there were tons of people. I was so happy that Madison and Nenji got along. She's so cute. She's such a little mother to Nenji, she took such good care of him while we were there. :) We had an awesome Thanksgiving dinner that Kalu, Kashia, and I prepared. My favorite part...was the food! My dad made some delicious papaya salad...sooo good.
My in-laws also came up to Sacramento to see Nenji the last two nights that were there, and it was great seeing them too.
Being home reminds me of why I love being home so much....there's so much LOVE! I truly am so grateful to have such a wonderful family. My parents are awesome, and they make such wonderful grandparents. I love watching them with Nenji and Maddy. I am so grateful for my sisters and the bond that we share. I am also grateful for Ben, he's a silly kid. And of course I am grateful for my husband, Nenji and the new baby! As stated before, I love the holiday season because of the wonderful memories that are made. :)
We had a wonderful time in California and can't wait to go back in 3 weeks! Ready to chow down again!

Nenji and Maddy fought over who grandpa would hold,
so he ended up holding both of them!

Nenji's new favorite thing: being outside with grandpa.

Grandma and Nenji!

I Love this picture!

Life in Provo

2009-10-09T10:21:00.000-07:00

We've been in Provo for almost 2 months now and we're adjusting really well. Sometimes it's strange to be here in Provo, because it makes me miss college life and my college friends. :) Fi Dan has emerged himself in the MHP program and is doing really well. He's up all night studying, because that's the only time that it's quiet! Even though he has tons of homework and readings to do, he always sets time aside for Nenji. Nenji is doing quite well. I think he misses the family back in California. Now that it's just me, daddy, and him, he's grown quite attached to me. Before, when there were always lots of people around, he never really cared to look for me, now he keeps an eagle eye on me wherever I go.

He's now zooming around the house with in his walker. He's quite amazing actually. He loves to come into the kitchen area and watch me clean and cook, sometimes he'll even attempt to help me clean by taking the garbage out. Several times I've caught him dragging the garbage can across the kitchen. Sometimes I have to block him off from the kitchen while I'm cooking and he will just scream and yell at me because he's angry at me for blocking him. Whenever me or Fi Dan go to the bathroom, Nenji will follow us down the hall and wait for us to come out. Another thing that he likes to do, is watch TV...except when I'm not lookin he'll get two inches from the TV and just sit there and enjoy the entertainment. He is a joyful and very happy baby. When his daddy comes home, he gets so excited. He hugs his daddy and gives him kisses ( it's more like licking his face) but it's a sweet sight. He'll be 8 months on the 25th of this month. Fi Dan and I can't believe how big our baby is getting!!! I can hardly carry him around anymore, he's so heavy! Nenji does a lot of "talking" mostly he says "mamamamma" or "ddadada" so we've decided that he's saying "mama" and "dada". The only thing is that....he isn't sleeping through the night yet. :( Sometimes I only get a few hours of sleep...but he takes naps through the day, so that's when I catch up on my sleep too.

And for our other exciting news, Fi Dan and I are expecting again! I'm 13 weeks along now...and we still cannot believe that we're going to have another one already. Let me tell you, it was unplanned and a huge suprise, but we are happy and excited as well. Our due date is April 15, 2010. But there's a big dilemma because we're not sure if we want to have the baby here in Utah or if we want to go to California. Since the due date is so close to Fi Dan's finals, and we're planning on moving back to California in April....we're thinking it would be best if I went about a month or 2 before my due date and have the baby in California, that way there will be lots of people to help look after Nenji. The only downside is that Fi Dan probably won't be there for the delivery of the baby....and I've refused to be taped. So, things are still up in the air! We're just ganna have to pray and see what will be best. :)

Here's the new baby at 11 weeks. :)

Here's my little Nenji up by the Provo Temple.

Nenji and Daddy at Temple Square.

Mommy and Nenji at Temple Square during Conference weekend.

2009-08-20T22:41:00.000-07:00

Fi Dan, Nenji and I are now living in Utah! Fi Dan was accepted into the Master's of Public Health Program at BYU. We left on August 14...and have been here for about week. It was nice of my parents to drive us all the way here. You never realize how much your parents do for you until they're away from you! I miss them terribly. I was really glad that Kalu, Maddy and Shon were able to come too. It was great to spend some time with them. We got to hang out with Danny Bird, and we met his wonderful wife Nancy and adoreable son Zach. Kashia stayed a week with us, which was really nice. She washed the dishes and helped me cook for the boys.

Oh, I forgot to mention Joseph and Sam are living with us for the moment, until they can get into their dorms. They've been very entertaining so far! Kashia left today, and now I miss my sisters terribly! Above are some pictures of us since we've arrived here in Utah. I miss California already with a passion!

Yay! Friday Fiesta!

2009-07-18T16:14:00.001-07:00

So, sometimes I get strange cravings and I must eat the foods that I am craving. When I was pregnant I wanted to have Thanksgiving dinner early....so we had Thanksgiving on the first day of November and then again on Thanksgiving Day. Well, On Thursday I was craving Cafe Rio...so I looked up a bunch of recipes on the internet. I found a recipe for the Chicken Tortilla Soup and Pork Salad. I was sooo excited. Kashia (my partner in eating and cooking and cleaning) and I went to the store and bought a bunch of stuff. Early Friday morning we started cooking....and the cooking lasted until 5 pm. We finally had dinner at 5:30 and it was delicious. To my suprise the soup tasted a lot like the soup from Cafe Rio! The salad was okay, because I made the meat too sweet, but the dressing was almost exactly the same. Needless to say, it was scruptious. Kashia and I spent like an hour cleaning though. We hate that part, so we vowed we would never do another crazy cooking day just to satisfy my craving....but I'm sure given enough time we'll be cooking up a storm in the kitchen again. Yum-O is all I have to say. :)

Needles, Nurses and no sleep oh my!

2009-05-22T17:44:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been quite a week for my little Nenji. Last Thursday he got his 2 month shots...3 of them to be exact. Then Fi Dan and I decided to go to Fresno because it was his little cousin's, Maykaylah, birthday (his family adopted her and she now lives with my in-laws). We promised that we'd take her to the beach for her birthday, and how could we break our promise? Well...we ended up breaking it anyway, cause we didn't take her to the beach. Fi Dan and I both decided we didn't want to travel 2 1/2 hours to the beach on a hot California day. We just ended up taking her to eat breakfast at Denny's, and then to Blackbeards where she played games and won prizes. We also got slushies...they are so delicious on hot summer days! Anyway, we went back to Sacramento that same day. Nenji was exhausted so I put him to bed. When he woke up later that night I noticed that he was really fussy and warm. I took his temperature and it was 100.04...:( I figured it was his shots and so I just gave him some Tylenol. In the morning he was still really fussy and warm. Needless to say, we eventually took him to the ER later that night around 7. They took his temperature and he was 103.5 degrees. I felt like such a horrible mother, I just wanted to break down and cry. They admitted us into the ER and we got our own little room. The man-nurse came and put an IV in Nenji's little hand...and cried for like 3 seconds and then was over it. They had to do some blood tests, urine tests, and then some chest x-rays on him. We were there from 7-2:30am and then they transfered us to another hospital.

This other hospital was much nicer and they had a section of the hospital just for kids. Nenji had his own little hospital bed...and there was a pull out chair for me and the floor for Fi Dan :( Nenji had a really high fever Monday and Tuesday. The nurses had to poke his spine to do a spinal tap to test the fluids. He was tested for bacteria and viruses but everthing came out negative. The Doctor noticed that Nenji's lips were really red (like he had just eaten a popsicle), his mouth was dry, his hands & feet were puffy, and his eyes were really pink. She finally diagnosed him with Kawasaki Disease. He didn't have all the symptoms but he had enough. Well, on Wednesday they put some medicine through his IV and then on Thursday he was feeling brand new! All week while he had been sick all he did was sleep and cry, and he'd hardly eat at all (which is not typical of Nenji at all). Thursday came and he was jumping and smiling and talking, even though he had lost his voice.

Anyway, we're back home and I am soooooo greateful that is all over with. Thanks to the prayers of our family and efforts of Doctor Boggle and Nurse Amy, Nenji is all good! He's back to eating 2 1/2 ounces per feeding and he's back to napping as well. He's so precious and I'm glad that nothing happend to him.

Fi Dan and Maykaylah...he's showing off his muscles...

Me and Nenji at the ER. They wrapped his arm so he wouldn't pull his IV out.

Kashia says he looks like Hellboy with his big arm. lol.

Grandma and Nenji...with all his little tubes...he's not feeling quite himself yet.

Here's Nenji with Nurse Amy. He's really cheesin'.

This was right before we were discharged, as you can see he's feeling all better.

Aunty Kashia and Nenji...we think he has Einstein hair.

Can you see why we call him Grandpa's partner?! :)

Ahh! He's an amazing sleeper!

2009-05-12T14:11:00.000-07:00

Nenji has been such an amazing sleeper! He hasn't quite gotten through the night just yet, but he's waking up only at least 2 times to eat and then he goes straight to sleep. Saturday night was his first night sleeping straight from 10pm-5pm! I woke up and felt like I had slept for 3 days! And in addition, he takes several naps through out the day. As a matter of fact, he's napping right now...and it's been about almost 2 hours. I'm sure he'll be waking up in a couple of minutes to eat though. Yes, but he's a great napper too. He'll usually wake up for about 30 min-1 hour and then go to sleep for an hour or two, and then repeat the process through out the day. And then I'm amazed that he can still sleep through the night. I guess he's got the sleeping gene from his mommy. :) Since he's been napping so much, I've decided that I need to start studying for the RICA, since I have yet to take it. I'm planning on taking it in August...and hopefully I'll only have to take it once. I've forgotten everything that I learned while I was in the credential program already.

Anyway, Nenji's growing everyday and he loves to talk and sing, espcially with his daddy. Sometimes they just sit in the room and I'll hear Nenji screaming cause his dad gets him so excited. I've got tons of clips, but unfortunately my computer crashed and I only have this really sloooowwww computer to work with. Hopefully I'll get my computer fixed soon so that I can post up pictures of Nenji and videos too!

Oh, and Susan, I miss you! I never got to say "Congratulations"...so "Congrats!" Please start a blog soon so that we can keep up with you too!

My poor baby!

2009-04-22T15:22:00.000-07:00

So my little guy had been constipated for 1 week...meaning no poopey diaper for 1 week. Fi Dan and were really worried about him, since we know how much poop he can have in just one day. Anyway, yesterday marked a week from when he had his last dirty diaper and I was really worried. Since Nenji doesn't have his Pediatritian yet I had to take him to the Emergency Room. It was the first and LAST time I will ever go to the ER. It was the worse experience ever! Nenji and I were there from 9:00-2:30...5 1/2 hours and 5 hours of it was just sitting around waiting. The nurse and doctor probably saw us for a total of 15 minutes...and then we just waited the rest of the time for the x-ray and suppository for Nenji. I felt so bad for Nenji because they kept poking him in his rear end to "stimulate" him. When they finally put the suppository in, he finally pooped! I never thought I'd be so happy to see him do a dirty diaper. :) The thing that sucked really bad though, was that it was freezing in the ER. Luckily I brought enough blankets to keep Nenji warm, but I was freezing! By the time I got home I was sick. :( I hate being sick, and thank goodness Fi Dan stayed home with me to help take care of Nenji. I feel like I can fall over any second now. Anyway, Nenji's story does not stop here. This morning he was crying because he was constipated and he was trying really hard to go, but nothing. The doctor said that we should try Prune juice, and so this morning we went and got some. We gave him about and ounce, and and hour later he had a big dirty diaper. My goodness...it's kinda funny because in my family all we ever seem to talk about is when Nenji is going to have his next dirty diaper! Anyway, I'm just glad Nenji is okay and hopefully he'll be regular again soon.

Poopey Pants!, photos and video

2009-04-06T13:28:00.000-07:00

Just to warn you, the following pictures contains poop! Don't look at them if you are easily disgusted. After coming home from General Conference yesterday, Mr. Nenji had not pooped all day. Sometimes I think he likes to save his poop for a big poopey diaper. Well, in his short life he's had plenty of overflowed diapers that were not fun to clean, but not as bad as this one. Also, for a couple of days he made it a habit of poopin' in his towel after he had taken a bath. Fi Dan would be holding him after we took him out of his tub...and then he would feel vibrations from Nenji. When we would put him on the bed...lo and behold there was a pile of poop in the towel! My goodness.

Anyway, going back to yesterday's poopey diaper. This one was the mother load of all poopey diapers yet. I was holding him when he woke up, and then I heard noise coming from his behind. I was just holding him waiting for him to finish....when I felt gushyness from his pant leg. I stuk my hand in his pant leg and my fingers were covered in yellow yuckiness. I'm afraid of what'll come out of him when he gets bigger. I'm not quite sure diapers will do the trick. I'm definetly going to have to potty train him early, as my Aunt Youa suggested. Anyway, once again, I am warning you, if you have a weak stomache or are easily disgusted, skip the poopey diaper pictures and continue with the next ones!

Yuck...he pooped in his new clothes that Fi Dan's cousin had just bought for him.

Close up. I'm actually not that grossed out by his poop anymore...Kashia's right...only mothers would clean their baby's poop and not be grossed out. LOL...that's why I love watching Kashia change poopey diapers because she squirms. I'll have to record her one of these days. It's hallarious.

LOL, this picture was taken after we cleaned his poopey diaper. Nenji doesn't look too happy, but he's still so cute!!!

As promised, I'm posting a picture of Nenji when he's smiling. This is the only picture I have of him smiling. I think he hates the camera or something. Everytime I take it out to take a picture of beautiful smile, he'll stop. But this is the best one I have of him for now. I can't wait until I catch him when he's got his full blown smile!

This is the most recent picture of Nenji Lo. I took it just before I posted this blog. He's napping!

He's getting so big. I just love him.

Here's a video of Nenji smiling. He was smiling bigger before I got the camera, but he's still so cute in this video! Enjoy!

Motherhood

2009-04-04T08:51:00.000-07:00

My goodness! Being a mother is craziness. It's Saturday morning and although I would usually be sleeping in, I'm bloggin in stead. My little man woke up at 5 this morning and decided that he would be a fussy wussy. He just wanted to be held...and so I held him for three hours until he wasn't fake sleeping anymore. For the past month I've been feeling a little coo-coo! No sleep. But it's my fault too. During the day instead of napping, my sisters and I decide to take the little ones out to the mall for adventures. We intend to buy new clothes for ourselves, but we always find a way into the baby stores, and then the babies get new clothes. It's quite funny actually. We've gone to the mall twice this week, and to Target, Walmart and IKEA...but no new clothes for the mamas.
Although I am finding that no sleep is driving me insane, I have also discovered that when Nenji smiles (he just started smiling this week...and yes, he does smile when he's awake now) it keeps me sane and it's all worth it. His beautiful smile...with his eyes closed and toothless mouth wide open makes me laugh and makes me forget about the 12, 2, 4 and 6 am feeding. Anyway. I'll have to post up his sweet little smile so you guys can all enjoy it too. I just love being a mommy...and I love sleeping too, so I can't wait until he starts sleeping through the night! :)

Oh...and General Conference is starting right now anyway, so I guess I'll just watch it on the internet!

Nenji's Baby Blessing

2009-03-30T15:12:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Nenji's baby blessing. My in-laws came up on Saturday and stayed over at my parent's house. I love it when people come over because my parents make delicious food! It was seriously Thanksgiving all over again. We had turkey, papaya salad, curry, soup, and some other hmong food for the old folks. It was yummy! Fi Dan blessed Nenji and he did such a good job. He's so cute. He's a great husband and a wonderful dad. I love the way that he's so gentle with my little guy. Sometimes he's distracted by his fish, but for the most part he's doing a wonderful job.

Nenji is getting so big already! He's already 9 lbs and he's almost as long as Madison already! He's as heavy as a rock! I can hardly feed him without my arm getting sore. This week on Wednesday he'll be 5 weeks! And he'll also be getting his shots. I'm really nervous for his shots cause I do not want to see him cry. When he was first born and the nurse had to get blood samples from him, I was so sad for him. She had 5 circles on a piece of paper that she had to fill with blood, and she had to poke his heel to get blood. She kept squeezing and squeezing his little foot and he was screaming! I was so sad....so I'm going to make Fi Dan go in with him when he gets his shots!

Anyway, here are some pictures of Nenji's blessing. :)

The Lo Family on Nenji's big day!

A snapshot with the family!

My Little guy is so silly. I put him down and he striked a pose. He's just relaxing.

I just love him. Don't you love his outfit? We bought this shirt just for his blessing :) His daddy dressed him. He's so cute.

He's ready to go shopping with mommy & aunties at the mall. Kashia says he looks like a mountain man. LOL, he's growing!

Temple & Family

2009-03-28T18:44:00.000-07:00

Today we went to the temple. My grandpa and uncle got their endowment done. I actually wasn't able to attend the session, but I heard that it was good. We went there to take pictures. I just absolutely love the Sacramento Temple. That's where I was endowed and that's also where Fi Dan and I were sealed. I really do love the temple! Here are some pictures of us at the temple.

Mommy and Nenji at the Sacramento Temple!

He's so stinkin' cute with his little shoes. :)

The Whole Family with Grandpa

Us and Grandpa

I love this picture of daddy and little Nenji...so sleepy!

Uncle Max and Nenji...just chilling :)

Little Nenji doing tummy time! He's so strong, he can lift his head already.

Favorite TV shows

2009-03-26T17:11:00.000-07:00

Now that I'm not going to school anymore....or working at the moment, the highlight of my day is when Fi Dan comes home and TV! I love to watch Biggest Loser. It's amazing to see the transformation that happens. Fi Dan and I want to be on that show someday. LOL, totally kidding. But seriously, we have been meaning to go on a family diet and sign the whole familia up for the gym. I use to be a faithful "John and Kate plus 8" watcher, but that was when we had cable. Now that we don't, my other favorite show is American Idol! I think this season is awesome!!! I absolutely love Danny Gokey and hope that he wins! He totally rocked last week with the song "Jesus take the wheel" by Carrie Underwood. He gave me chicken skin. This week, eh, he did okay. But Adam Lambert was amazing last! He was my favorite for motown night. I'll have to include the videos of Danny and Adam so that I can come to my page and watch it. :)

*Okay, maybe I won't post the videos since I don't know how. The videos are on youtube if you'd like to watch them!

New Favorite Movie & Update on Nenji

2009-03-23T17:12:00.000-07:00

AUSTRALIA! I just absolutely love this movie! We got this movie for my birthday last week and I watched it 5 times already. Unfortunately we had to return the movie after the 5th day...so I'm going to go and buy it! Horay. If you haven't seen it already I highly recommend it. It's full of adventure, romance, and also includes historical facts about the Aboriginie people. I won't give away the movie but here are a few highlights that I thoroughly enjoyed...the kangaroo part and the part where Hugh Jackman (The Drover...he's so attractive in this movie by the way) pours water on himself...so cheesy but I love it!

Little Nenji Lo

Nenji's growing everyday. When he sleeps he loves to pose. He comes up with creative poses. He's a pretty good sleeper when he wants to be. He only smiles in his sleep...never when he's awake. So there I am trying to make him smile on the far right. He's got such a cute smile when he does smile. In his daddy's words, "he's a manly man". I love to squeeze his little fingers and toes...and skinny little thighs. :)

Life's Changing!

2009-03-22T20:21:00.000-07:00

Here's Mr. Nenji. He's getting ready for Easter. Daddy and Nenji at the hospital.

I'm making this post mostly to keep in touch with lost long friends...and Tser! I can't believe how much has changed in the past 2 years. Fi Dan and I have been married for almost 2 years now...June 22, 2009 will be our second year anniversary! And the most recent and exciting news is our new baby son Nenji Jaxeem Lo. He was born on February 25, 2009. He was 6 lbs and 14 oz. and 20 inches long. He's adoreable. My favorite thing is to hear him laugh in his sleep. He's growing so fast! I just love him and he sure does make my heart smile!