Dear baby

"Son, I am so glad you are healthy and well in my tummy. Your daddy is so glad your car seat is installed properly and even got it inspected. Your grandparents are so glad you decided not to come out on february 29th ;). But I have a favor to ask of you. Will you consider coming out in the next few days so that mommy can be done with pregnancy? I have been having heartburns lately and it's horrible. You are not actually planning to stay longer than the due date though, right?? I wanna see your cute face and play with your little fingers and toes and give lots of kisses on your chubby cheeks. Your mommy and daddy are so excited to see you, we have been dreaming of you every night"

Life in DC

Nice warm weather. Many historical and educational places to visit. Fun shopping. Great places to eat... and yes, can't ignore the ugly gas price. 

I don't know if I can ever like the gas price in DC

It has increased dramatically in the last few weeks, the price only climbs higher and higher.

Updates: it is $4.19 as of February 29.

I call this one, dessert from heaven

Mmmmm... this became one of my favorite desserts! It isn't too sweet so you can eat a lot and not feel grossed out later, since it isn't sour my "anti-sour everything" hubby likes it too! More importantly, it is SO EASY to make. I am eating again as I am posting this :) Here is the recipe I got from my friend and want to share with you. I would be guilty not sharing with people.

3/4 cup white sugar

1 envelope Knox Gelatin

1/2 cup water

1 cup whipping cream

1 1/2 cups sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

In a saucepan, mix sugar, gelatin and water. Let stand 5 minutes.

Bring to a full boil, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat and allow to cool a little.

In a mixing bowl pour in whipping cream, sour cream, and vanilla.

Gradually add the sugar mixture, and mix until smooth.

Cover and chill 4 hours.

Serve with berries.

 

ENJOY!

DIY

When I thought I did everything I needed to prepare for the baby boy to arrive, I visited this Korean website and realized I missed a minor detail. We all know Asian moms are very SERIOUS when it comes to education and will go to extreme measures if necessary. When I saw this book called 초점책(Focus Book) I was like, "no...way..." The book is for babies 0-3 months old, designed to strengthen the visual focus for infants. Since newborns can't see color, the entire book is black and white. The book contains shapes and patterns to help infants focus and strengthen the development of their vision. I first thought this was a little too crazy. But to my surprise, I found out a lot of moms made the books themselves instead of buying it. I was like, "...ummm... okay, why not?!"

I bought 4 black and 6 white felt sheets from Michaels for 29 cents each. I searched patterns and shapes used in these type of books and printed them to use as a guide. I cut out these felt shapes, used a glue gun to stick them on to a sheet of felt and sewed these pages together to make a book. Ta-da!! I stayed up till 1:30 in the morning finishing it. It was pretty addicting. I hope my baby enjoys his little book that mommy made.

I heart CRICUT

For those of you who don't know Cricut, be ashamed!!! hehe :) I am just kidding. It is a personal die cut machine that allows you to cut different shapes, fonts, and much more. You can make a wide range of things from cards to decorative wall stickers. I am a big scrapbook hobbyist and having lived in Provo for the past 7 years, it would be weird not to have Cricut :) I use it pretty regularly. I make cards for special people and little project for Eus's students.

A few weeks ago, I was brainstorming ideas of how I could track my baby's physical growth and I  came up with an amazing idea and had to buy a new cartridge called, BABY STEPS for my Cricut machine.

I cut out numbers and cute images that would be used as markers to indicate how old the baby is in number of days. 

I even laminated them with my YOURSTORY bookbinding/laminating machine!

the bump

Here we go!

Thanks to my sister-in-law. 

Though you can't feel it, we almost died taking these pictures because of the freezing cold and gusty winds. The pictures turned out amazing, didn't it?

Blessing

My wonderful sister-in-law came down to DC from Philly to take my maternity pictures. The results were amazing! I could not stop looking at my own pictures. Even after being pregnant for 9 months, whenever I look at my big belly I still feel like the baby won't ever come out. I still can't believe that I am pregnant and will be having a baby in less than a month.
Now that my belly is so noticeable (well people at church didn't even know I was pregnant until my 7th month. That's how small my belly was), random people smile at me when they pass by.

Wow. I do look like a pregnant woman!

I am so grateful for the last 9 months of my pregnancy. I am not saying everything was smooth and picture perfect. However, I learned so much from all the challenges, it brought so much happiness. July 11th was when I found out that I was pregnant, I was initially worried than happy. I wasn't sure if I was ready, or more so if I'd be good enough to be a mom. I felt so inadequate and grateful that a baby carefully chose me to be his mom. I always wanted to have babies of my own. I used to go to baby stores and spend hours looking at baby clothes. I would visit friends who had babies more often than those who didn't have babies. But when I saw two lines on the pregnancy test, I did not know how to react. My first trimester was horrible. I could not hold any food down at all. The smell of rice irritated me and made me gag. I was tired all the time. I hated myself cause I couldn't do anything on my own and needed help. I was nervous about everything and just about anything would freak me out. I would tell my husband that I wouldn't have another child every night. However, after seeing the doctor for the first time, after hearing my baby's heartbeat, after feeling my baby move from subtle flutters and now these painful thrusts, getting ready for his arrival, buying everything he'll need, after all those tears of joy and pain; I am so grateful to become a mom to my little baby boy. I know I don't know what the blessings of having a baby are quite yet, but I know it will be incredible. Becoming a mom isn't easy but definitely worth it. Worth every second.

I am so grateful that I haven't experienced severe problems or difficulties thus far. I am so happy that my baby is healthy and happy in my stomach. Looking back, one of my favorite things to do during the  whole pregnancy was listening to hymns in a warm bubble bath and put both hands over my belly and talk to my baby. My worst part of being pregnant? It would be the restriction to certain foods, especially sushi and coke.

I will post more maternity pictures soon!