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?! :)

Ahh! He's an amazing sleeper!

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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!