Grateful!

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!

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!

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

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.

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!

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!

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?! :)