He granted my wish !!

Ups, it's been a month I haven't update my blog. Time flies so fast and I didn't realize a lot of things going on within a month. I will try to get back and count backward what is going on in life.

Well, we have a big news to share. After 37 weeks being pregnant, she finally here. Welcome to our family baby Daniella Malia. She was born on November 14th. She weight 6.15lbs and 20,5 inches long. Jeremy and Nicole were so happy to have a new sister. In my surprise, Nicole was so excited. When she saw the baby she pointing at her and said ' baby'. I asked if she wants to hold the baby and she said yes. So we let her to hold the baby. She treat her like a doll. When the baby tried to open her eyes, she laughed so hard. She thought it's hillarious. When we take the baby from her, she cried and still wanted to hold her. When her brother touch the baby, she said it's mine !! She probably think it's a real doll. hahaha...That's so cute.

I am glad that everyone is so love their sister. Seeing them so happy and excited for the new member of the family makes my heart feel gracious and blessed. God has been so good to our family. He gave me really precious family. Though they all different but they love each other as a brother and sister.

I will share about my interesting labor. It was quick and in my surprise. But I thank God that He granted my wishes. Although the pain is unbearable but it is a grace.

A week before, I went in to the hospital because of constant contraction. It was every 5 mins. But back then I only 36 weeks. So they didn't want me to have the baby, because it was too early. They told me to bed rest and wait for another week. By then I already 2 cm dialated. So I went home and take some rest for couple days. Try to make the contraction slow down.

And it worked.

The night before on Thursday, I felt that my back is killing me, and the contraction keep coming back and forth all day. But I thought, well, it's probably still another week to go. I even make plan for the next week to do some stuff, thinking may be the baby will born next week.

That night on Thursday night, after watching CSI I went to bed right away. So it was around 10pm I went to bed, because I am so tired. At 1.30am, I woke up because the contraction was so painful. I can't even flip to the other side. I tried to ignore it and go back to sleep, but I couldn't. The contraction is getting stronger and unbearable. So I finally sat on my bed and count my contraction. After constant 5 mins, and unbearable pain, I decided to take a shower. hahaha.....In the middle of the pain I still urged myself to get a shower. I woke my husband up and tell him we need to get ready to the hospital. He's like....ARE YOU SURE? I'm like....just get up and go. Not until an hour later we finally ready and go. We got in to the hospital at 3.10am. I barely even get out from the elevator, the pain was so strong. They took me right away to the labor room. They checked me right away and it was 5 cm. So they prepare everything, get things ready, which is take forever, .... they tried really hard to get the IV on, but it was too late. The contraction getting stronger and stronger. 35 mins later from 5 cm went to 9 cm. I didn't get a chance to get epidural. I cried and scream and I think I am loosing it. I was so tired and think I will not going to make it. But the nurse really help me to go through that moment, ... put me on oxygen, calm me down, help me with the breathing, and wait until the doctor come. In a minutes from 9cm went to 10cm and I am so ready to have the baby. I am so ready to push, but the doctor still not here yet. I scream and said, get the doctor here now, I can't wait anymore, the baby is about to come out. As soon as I saw the doctor in front of the door I just push without thinking anymore, I thought well, the doctor is here, he will have time to catch her. So I did push, when the doctor came back to the room after changing his clothes, he pull the baby's head right away. In 5 mins, 2 pushes she is out. O my goodness....it was a wild experience. Within 50 mins, we had the baby. We came in at 3.10 and the baby is out at 4.05am.

Remember I ever debating on whether I should use epidural or not, well, God answer my prayer. He let me went without epidural, yet He made things goes so fast. Not letting me suffered. In His time He knows what is best for me, yet the pain is....unbearable. But after seeing the baby it's all worth it. Praise the Lord.

Ice Cream Time

Usually I always let myself get busy after picking up Jeremy. You know...it's time for them to have snack, preparing dinner, etc. I feel like between 4-6pm is a critical hours. Specially when you have other activity that evening. It's crazy.

So today I let myself enjoying the them and relax. I let both of them having an ice cream , just because mommy is craving for ice cream. hehehe.... We had a great time. We ate ice cream together in the kitchen, the kids starting to act silly. Specially my little girl, she has ice cream all over her mouth, it's so cute. Then we starting to sing, play the music and they all dancing like crazy. I sat there enjoying them and laugh with them. It was a fun evening. I thought to myself, I should to this more, enjoying them while I can. My chores can wait, but the moment that I have with them is different.

Here's some picture that I took, while they become silly.

It ends with helping mommy unload the dishwasher....!! Yey...!!!

Quiet Morning

Today is Saturday, It's only 7.30am. Everyone still sleeping, which is great. Do not expect that in the weekdays. The chaos start at 7am. I got up early today because last night I went to bed at 8pm. hahaha......that is never happened before, but yesterday I had a loooong day and sooo tired. I just can't do anything anymore. So I decided to sleep early and I did it!

Yesterday was a crazy day. Whatever happened yesterday made me realize that I am in another stage on parenting with my 18 mos old little monster. When I said kids are different, THEY ARE different. I can see it clearly now. That little girl is just something. I have to start preparing myself to be in that parenting mode again. I think that's happened with Jeremy when he was about 24 months. But not this early. With this one...no matter punishement I give it to her, she just doesn't care, she just make fun of me. Yesterday, she starting to throw her tantrum when I said no. She will either cry as loud as she can or she will throw herself on the floor. When you let her outside, --- I am 7 months pregnant, --- have to run and chase her, because she doesn't understand S-T-O-P !! I grab her and put her on the floor, and tell her to look at me, and I said... when mommy said STOP it means STOP, do not run anymore and you have to listen mommy. She will nodd her head and when I asked her do you understand she will give her sign language YES !! But when I said it one more time that she need to listen mommy, she will give me a big smile and said Mommy and laugh. Gosh....!!

Another disaster last night,... she put the Wii remote control in the toilet. It drives my husband crazy. Seriously crazy. With all that chaos, we finally put her in the crib earlier just to calm her down. After we caught her playing in the other toilet. She is just too busy. I have enough chasing her around.

It's been a long time since I am trying to discipline 18 mos. I need to refresh my mind to think what should I do. It's easier to discipline Jeremy, since he is old enough to know what is he doing. I need a wisdom to really organize my life right now. With terrible two's and up coming baby, I don't know how it will play out. Sometimes I think I'm in denial and do not want to think about it, but then I realize I can't just let it go. At some point I have to work that out. What a life. ;p

Anyway, I just prayed that God give me a wisdom as a mom. Yesterday, when we have our women's bible study, one of the woman share, how she feels that everyday, she did nothing. I feel the same way too sometimes. My husband go to work everyday, doing something, he has check list of what to be done. But here I am, running here and there and yet the house is still a mess, the kids just keep asking for help, the dinner is hardly finished on time. I feel like I did nothing all day. Yet, the older woman, they encourage us by saying, you did something. You taking care of your kids. They are still young. That is your ministry to them. That is what God is calling you to do. So... I did feel better now. As a mom, I have to do tons of things. Cooking, Laundry, calming the fuzzy child, changing diapers, taking and picking up them to school, cleaning, doing dishes, groceries shopping, etc.... Gosh, I wish there are more than 24 hours a day. That will be great. ;p

Well, enough complaining!! I just have to cheer for myself today. ;p Thanking God for the things that He had given me, a wonderful family, great kids, and His trust for me to be a mommy!

Have a nice weekend !

Mommy ... I am ready!!

There are a lot of things that I wanted to share, but I think this is the precious moment to share to everyone. So I wrote this first....another story will come later. ;p

After 2 weeks Jeremy been asking me about God, heaven and hell. He constantly asking me, no matter where we are, even in the morning, on the way to school with the traffic and my heavy eyes, when my mind didn't work at all, when I feel that I wanted to shout his mouth, he just keep asking and asking tons of questions. I also keep telling him, whenever you are ready to accept Jesus, tell mommy and daddy to pray for you.

Tonight on the way back from DC, after meeting with a friend, he suddenly asked us again about why people could die and leading to the heaven's conversation again, until he said, mommy I am ready to accept Jesus. I think I am almost cry. That is a very special moment for us as a parents to hear him to said that. This is a previlage for us as a parents that actually leading him to Jesus. It's been my prayer for a long time...... I always pray that God will allow me to lead my own child to Him. I don't want him to do it with anyone else except his parents.

That night although it's kinda late, but we took sometime to talk to him, explaining to him one more time about why he needs to accept Jesus. He seems to understand. Both of us pray for him and he repeat the prayer after my husband. Thank you God for the opportunity to be able to lead our child to you. It is such a precious gift for us. To be able to know God and believe in Him in his young age, I just feel honor for being his parent.

17 Mos Nicole

Time flies, I can't believe that my baby girl will be 18 mos this month. She is a toddler now. Not a baby anymore. She also changed a lot. She understand things more than she does before.

There are couple things that she learn lately. First, she recognized the difference between trash in the kitchen and her diaper pail. Before she will throw all the trash in her diaper pail, but now she knows that only diaper goes to diaper pail, and regular trash goes to trash in the kitchen. For example, when she finished her snack she knows where to put the plastic's cracker. O she also know the difference between the hamper and diaper pail. Usually when I ask her to put her dirty clothes, she will put in her diaper pail, but now she knows where her dirty clothes goes. That is very exciting.

She also learn not to throw her plate, sippy cup,spoon and fork on the floor while eating. She used to do it and drives me crazy. Now, when her plate is empty she will hand it in to me. What a release for me not to clean all the mess anymore. She starting good at using spoon and fork too. Another cute thing is, whenever she is waiting for me to give her snack, she will find a corner in the kitchen and sit on the floor waiting for her bowl of snack. I think that is so cute. Well, sometimes she doesn't wait patiently.
She is a good eater. She will eat anything. If my pantry is open, my goodness, she will help herself with all the snacks. She will come to me and hand me a cereal bar and asked me to open it for her. Any kind of snack that she can get, she will ask me to open it for her. She is also a stealer. She will steal food from anybody. Specially unattended food on the table. She can just grab it. What a girl...!!

Potty train goes well so far, it's been couple weeks I almost never have pup in diaper. Yey...save the planet by saving diaper. Well, actually saving money from diapers. She loves sitting in the toilet now, cause we always play or read in the toilet. I show her flash card, toys and some books. So she is really enjoy it.

Another progress.... I've been teaching her sign language since she is 6 months. She finally now to do it properly now. At least now I understand when she start to communicate. Specially PLEASE and ALL DONE. Now I make her to give me sign PLEASE when she want something, although sometimes she can be really stubborn and do not want to do it, but I made her do it.

This is been going on a while, in her crib she has this musical kinda thing. When you pushed the blue shell the music will on. She loved it so much. She use it as a clue for me that she already up. If I hear the music from the door, I know she is awake already. When I pick her up from the crib, she will turn it off. That is kinda cute.

This is her favorite sandals. It's disney princess sandals. Almost everyday when we are at home, she will ask me to put it on for her, she will walk around with those sandals, although it's hard to walk, but she just go for it.

My baby is growing now...huhuhu....But I'm going to have another baby. So another baby to play with, meaning another baby to train again. ;p

She is not a big fan of TV, she can not stay in front of the TV for 2 seconds. But she does has her favourite TV Show, it's called Ni Hao Kai-Lan, it's for kids that wanted to learn chinesse. You can find them on Nick Jr. I made both of my kids watch them so they learn chinesse. She also likes Curious George.

Well, there are still a lot of things that needs to be done, one day at a time. I tried to switch her bottle to sippy cup. For a while it works, but then suddenly she wanted the bottle again. Last week I tried to take away all her bottle, but she refused to drink the milk in the morning and before bed. After couple day fasting from the milk, I finally gave up and give her the bottle again. She actually can do it without the bottle, after nap I usually give her sippy cup and she finish it. She just wanted the comfort laying down with bottle. We are going to try again next week.

Enjoy all her picture.

Fairground

We finally made it this year to the county fairground. Jeremy was looking forward for weeks now, until we decided to go at the last day. I know he will be dissapointed if we didn't go. He has this in his mind..... In fairground we could play some games, eating cotton candy and popcorn, also riding some cool rides like roller coster, etc. He wanted so badly to have cotton candy. Believe it or not...he never has one before. ( I know....I'm a very louzy mom, but that's ok! It's good for him).

We got there and had to walk. Not very thrilled about long walk, but I was really excited about it. I told my husband that we might be able to stay the whole day until it's close. My husband and Jeremy got the unlimited ride wristband. Nicole and I just watch them play. It was a very beautiful day. Jeremy play a basket ball game and he won a prize. If you can see his face, my goodness, he was so proud of himself throwing the balls in the hoops 3 times in the row and they all got in. When the person offer him the prize, he choose a blue dolphin doll, and he loved it. He add it in to his animal's family. He named it Dolfy. Isn't it cute? ;p His face was glowing when he got that prize. It was one of his finest day.

Nicole got to enjoy walking around and got in some rides. She loves the caraousel, it was her first time, but she seems like know what to do with that. She was holding the pole really hard, she is afraid that she would fall down. I am so glad that they are having fun. Mommy is so tired. After 5 hours in the fairground, we finally gave up and wanted to go home. I can't handle the walk any longer. Well, I am carrying extra pounds in my tummy. One mistake that mommy made, I forgot to charge the battery for the camera, so some of the fun just passed like that without being documented. It was so dissapointed.



















It was a blast day for our family.

Contentment

Contentment is a restful and trustful acceptance, appreciation and enjoyment of God's will, work and provision at each juncture of our journey with Him.

Two weeks ago I heard this sermon about contentment. It's kinda waking me up with all my dissapointment and disatisfying of life... (well, sometimes...). I forget that despite of everything that I complain, God still is good and provide for us. As in Philipians 4:12,13 says, I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed and hungry whether living in plenty or in want.

Paul learned to be content as God taught him to do so. When we are at the stage of having is chronic discontentment, it will drive our life crazy. What is chronic discontentment can do to us? Let's see what is the definition says ... it is a persistent dissatisfaction, frustation, agitation and impatience about our lot in life.

I am totally in there. Persistent dissatisfaction ... without I realized when I complain about things I am practicing that dissatisfaction of life. I will complain about how small our apartment is for the (will be) 5 of us. I will complain about how no one help me during the hard time when I needed. I will get frustation knowing that I will not get help all the time, like to have a maid or a sitter ( for those who is in Indonesia, I envy you sometimes!). The more I complain the more I get frustrated. It will drag me to a further negative thought and being depressed and starting to get impatience wanted to fast forward my life and see what happen next. Isn't it sad when you can't really enjoy your life?.

Well, after thinking for couple days, I think I starting to realized that I can make my life easier by doing the right things. To have that Chronic discontentment is a symptom of serious spiritual problems. I don't like that. I just wanted to be close to my God and have a satisfying in my life.

Here are the symptom of chronic discontentment just in case you need it to screen yourself :

- Fear and mistrust

- Pride

-Misplaced values and priorities

-Comparisons, greed, jealousy and envy

-Unresolved disappointments and unhealed personal pain

Being content can be learned. If we go to Philippians 4:11-13 --- I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed of hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.

Contentment can be developed when we have the right attitude, such as :

- Consistently count our blessings

- Replace grumbling with gratitude

- Deal quickly with disappointments

- Manage dreams and expectations --- make sure they are realistic

- Develop and live in a spirit of worship

- Trust God's love and power

Hebrew 13:5 --- Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, " Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you".

I can just keep going on and on about things that dissatifying in my life. But I choose not to continue put all that list in my life. I wanted to have a freedom of being discontent and starting a new perspective of life. I hope you can do the same too and I will pray that each of us can have the breakthrough in our life being content to what we have.

Have a great day...!!

taken from the sermon at the church of redeemer by pastor Dale O'shields

Park

After couple weeks of staying home, we finally decided to go to the park today. The weather was so nice. Considering it's summer, it was a really cool and breeze. The kids having fun in the park. Nicole starting to enjoy her time in the park. She walk more stable so she is able to walk around and do whatever she wanted to do. It was fun for us as a family to watch the kids play and also play with them. Time goes so fast, they are growing so fast.




Nicole trying to walk on the brigde that can move. She was a little scare. Jeremy was helping her , he make sure she doesn't fall down. They really had a great time in the park. We used to go to the park a lot during summer time, just to worn them out and get really tired. So there is none energy left at home. But guess what? They just have tons of energy that I have no idea where that come from. I wish I could have just 30% of it.



It's time to go.... summer is over soon. We still have 2 weeks to relax and have fun. After that Jeremy has to go to school. I'm glad they are having so much fun. Kids just love play outside. It seems like never enough for them to play in the playground.

Sonogram

Last Friday I went in for my 3rd sonogram. They don't usually do as much as it is, but since I have the fibroids they kinda wanted to watch closer just to make sure the fibroids doesn't getting bigger.

The sonogram went well. One of the fibroids already shrink and they can't even see it. Another one shrunk really tiny. Thank God everything went well and I don't have to go back until another 8 weeks and they are going to do the 4D sonogram. I can't wait for it. It will be exciting to be able to see her clearly.

Here is some cute picture that the doctor print it out for me. She said hi to her mommy. Look at her hand, you can actually count her fingers. They are 5. ;p

I can't wait to be able to see her in the next couple months. Still have to think about her name. It's getting closer and we have no clue what to name her. ;p

Midnite cry !!!

Sudah beberapa malam ini Nicole nangis terus tengah malam. Ampun deh....rasanya emang kalau punya anak itu nggak bakalan bisa tidur nyenyak sepanjang masa. Biasanya Jeremy yg nangis gara2 mimpi buruk. Dia sempat kena yang namanya night terror sejak umur 3 thn. Katanya bisa get better pas umur 5-6 thn. Emang sih getting better, but still, skrg jd nightmare. Parah deh. Dah berapa malam ini Jeremy did great. Nggak mimpi2 buruk lagi. Eh malah gantian si Nicole.

Hari pertama, begitu nangis digendong trus dibawa masuk ke kamar kita. Eh, malah mau main. Begitu dibawa langsung ketawa-ketawa, gua jadi tau, ternyata dia nggak apa2, cuma mau minta pindah aja. Buktinya begitu dibawa lsg segar bugar gitu. Hari kedua, masih dibawa lagi sampai bolak balik 4 kali. Sampai akhirnya gua putusin buat biarinin dia nangis aja. Dia tuh udah dari sejak 5 bulan udah sleep through the night dan nggak pernah lagi dikasih susu pas tengah malam. Jadi nggak mungkin donk gua balik lagi ke masa2 infant. Ogah banget, secara beberapa bulan lg gua bakalan punya newborn, so boleh dunk sekarang tidur nyenyak tengah malam. Gua gimana nggak sleep deprive kalau gitu terus.

Hari ketiga, dah nggak ada lagi deh pindah memindah. Yang ada gua samperin, gua gendong bentar, gua suruh tenang, dan gua taruh lagi. Dia sih dah kasih sign suruh gua jalan ke kamar gue. Tidak ada lagi deh migrasi ke kamar gua. Secara gua n suami dah sepakat bahwa nggak mau anak2 tidur bareng. Kecuali sekali2 kalau lagi sakit or lagi weekend semua ngumpul bareng. Other than that, kita nggak mau jadikan habit. Kasian donk mami papi kan perlu intimacy and ngobrol2. hehehe......

Jadi skrg ini tiap malam gua dengerin dia nangis sampe gua nya ketiduran. Dia nya jg akhirnya sadar nggak diladenin ya udah dia tidur juga, kan cape nangis terus. Mana anak itu drama queen, jd kalau nangis kaya disakitin gitu, pdahal nggak ada apa2. Tadinya sempat kepikiran mungkin dia mau tumbuh gigi grahamnya, gua olesin orajel diseluruh gusinya, yg ada dia kelabakan ada rasa2 aneh dimulutnya. Dari dia 4 minggu mang gua sudah melatih dia buat tidur sendiri. Waktu dia umur 4 minggu, gua tahanin diri dengerin dia nangis, sampe gua pikir gua tuli. hehehehe......kebiasaan dengerin dia nangis sampe 20menitan, tiba2 one day dia pas ditaruh cuma nangis 5 menit, gua bilang ma suami gua, eh coba cek si Nicole dah tidur ya? Kok tiba2 hilang suaranya. Eh beneran ternyata dia dah tidur, akhirnya sejak itu tiap ditaruh dia cuma nangis bentar trus lsg tidur sendiri. Gua jadi dah spoil bgt karena dari kecil dia dah gampang banget tidurnya. Jadi sekarang rada stess kalau dia bangun2 lagi.

Mudah2an tidak berlangsung lama, kasian Jeremy 2 minggu lagi dah mau sekolah. Kalau dah sekolahkan nggak mungkin tidurnya terganggu. Stages anak2 itu memang ada2 aja.

The Result

Well....after that crazy day... the result starts to coming in. The X-Ray's result came in first. They said nothing serious, it looks like he had constipation problem. I'm like...that's impossible. He goes to bathroom every single day and its a soft stool. He never having hard time pup. The doctor said it looks like he has small stomach ache and still have a lot left over that never get out. So they gave him Miralac, to empty his stomach. I thought that was it.

The next day, on Thursday morning a phone call woke me up. I had to woke up cause I know it must be the doctor calling. They always call early in the morning. So I forced myself to get up and pick up the phone.

The doctor said..." we got the blood test result back! we found something interesting. His blood sugar is really high. He can get in to diabetes category for being that high". It was like lighting struck in my head. How that possible happened? The doctor asked if he fast before they took the blood, I said no, he's been fasting long enough and couldn't wait anymore. So I fed him poptart before they draw his blood. So that day the doctor asked me to come early so they can draw another blood with fasting. So that morning we rushed to the doctor's office. Thank so much for my friend Janneth that came over with her twins to picked me up, cause I don't have my car that day.

The test didn't take that long, but the result was so disappointing. His blood sugar still high. Although it is so much better. From 160 to 102. Still over 100. So the doctor called some of the specialist to discussed what to do next. So he has to go through diabetic screening next week. Besides that, he need to see GI specialist, to find out what cause the stomachache.

I'm so nervous and going crazy. Imagine 5 years old kid have diabetes. It will be miserable for both the kid and the parents. Even right now, they said it's pre-diabetic condition, but I have to maintain the blood sugar level. It gave me headache to think about what to feed him. Every time he asked, can I eat this, can I eat that? I have to check all the nutrition label, make sure the sugar and the calories not too high. What happen when the school start?

Please pray that it's just a temporary thing and nothing serious. I never imagine if my child is having diabetes. He ate healthy food. He doesn't even like sweet. He can't even finish a lolly pop. How that happened? Only God know what is the purpose of that. We as the parents can only pray and pleaded for healing.

Stomachache

It's been two weeks that I haven't wrote anything. It's been a SUPER busy week for me. Within 2 weeks I have tons of story to tell.

After Nicole get better from her sickness... finally she can eat, play and walk around the house again... It's Jeremy's turn. My goodness....both are my kids hardly ever get sick. Around the year I can actually count how many times they get sick.

Anyway, he had VBS (Vacation Bible School ) that week. It was starting from Sunday evening through Thursday. That last day, I got a called from the teacher. It was 6.45pm, which is only 15 minutes after my husband dropped him off. I didn't get his message until 8.10pm. I was at work at that time. I tried to call my husband and wanted to know if he got him. He didn't picked him up until 8.15pm. Poor little guy.

After they got home, my husband told me that he throw up. I thought he probably ate too much watermelon before had dinner. So there was gas in his stomach. I just take it easy. The next day, he slept all day long. He threw up 5 times for the whole day. He can't even take a bite of bread. He was really miserable. He kept telling me it is hurt him so much. After a while I think its probably just a virus or Gastroenteritis. They said it can last for about 5-7 days. So I decided just to wait for the next couple days. See how he is doing.

Well, finally on Monday I took him to the doctor because there is no sign he will get better. I'm kinda confuse because his symptoms just confusing. He doesn't have fever, not throwing anymore, but he is still in pain. So I took him to the doctor. The doctor decided to run some test. Sonogram, X-ray, Upper GI, blood, urine and stool test. Just to make sure it's just a virus.

We had a long day with all the test. It took 2 hours for all the test. He had to fast, so we have to did it early in the morning. So all of us left the house at 7am. Trust me it's not fun when Nicole have to come a long. Thank God that Jeremy was cooperate and did everything by himself.

Since, I am pregnant and had Nicole with me, I wasn't been able to participate in the X-ray room.

After all done. We had lunch together with my husband. Since the lab and my husband's office kinda close. We went to the mall for lunch. I did that on purpose too cause I have to wait Jeremy to pup. I don't want to come back and forward just to drop the sample. After lunch he finally did his business. My husband dropped the sample to the lab.

On the way back, suddenly my car died on the road. My goodness......what is wrong with my day. I think I had enough. Nicole was so tired. She is been up since 6.30am and it was 1.15pm. She missed her morning nap and was so tired. I have automatic car, so when the machine died, it switch in to manual. It was scary if I have to push it to the highway. So I tried to park in the parking lot. It won't start again. I called my husband and he had to take half day off. I waited for 45 mins. We called the tow car and didn't come until 2 hours later. I am super tired. That night everyone went to bed at 8pm. I called out from work, I won't be able to make it.

What a dayyyyy.....!!!!

TO BE CONTINUED......

When I'm feeling blue

Well, not really blue...lagi feeling melow aja. Don't have to work. My little one is sleeping, browsing some songs from internet. Tiba-tiba kangen sama lagu-lagu Indonesia. Trus cari-cari lagu yang enak di telinga. Lagu Dygta kayanya enak juga. Berhubung katanya sudah banyak banget band-band baru yang enak-enak, jadi bingung juga. Jadi dipasang yang tau aja. Kali buat yang lagi iseng-iseng buka blog malam-malam jadi terinspirasi buat ngeblog. hehehehe...

Kalau dah gini, kangen pengen pulang, hiks..... mana lagi ngidam makanan indo pula. Gawat deh. Hhmm yang dipikirin macem2. Mulai dari masakan manado, soto mie, sate padang, bakmi ayam di pluit, pisang goreng, dan segala macam seafood. Wah nggak selesai-selesai deh kalau diurut terus. Tapi apa daya cuma bisa memikirkannya doank. Hiks....

Kalau ada yang bisa kasih rekomen juga lagu-lagu yang lagi bagus sekarang ini. Boleh juga dikasih tau.

Have a great weekend!!

Hand Foot Mouth Disease

Suddenly on Tuesday morning ? Nicole got up with a fever. I have no idea what is going wrong with her. She hardly ever had fever before. Not even fever from immunization. I though, well may be something going on in her body and will go away the next day. So I just ignored it. But then she became so cranky and drive me crazy. All she wanted is just being hold. When I put her down she will cry. That's not her. I gave her tylenol, it didn't work at all. Suddenly, her fever went up so high, about 102.5 F. It scares me. So I called the doctor and ask what should I do to help the fever down. They said I better bring her to the doctor, since the fever kinda high. So I made an appointment whatever time they have. They gave me like in 20 minutes. Thank God it is close.

I went there, she was kinda a little bit happy, I offered her cereal bar, and she took it. For half of the day, all she wanted is breakfast. She ate waffles and muffin and banana a little bit but refused to eat rice. I'm like,.... Ok I don't care as long as she eat something. So I'm glad she finished one cereal bar in the waiting room and drank half of her water from the sippy cup.

After we got called in, the drama start. Nicole is a drama queen. Her drama is always real. When the doctor check her heartbeat, she cried like it is hurt so much. Usually she never cried. Well, while she scream to her lungs, it's a good opportunity for the doctor to see her throat, and he saw some blisters forming in her throat. After some exam, the doctor said, it looks like she has Hand Foot and Mouth Disease. I'm like? What? Never heard of it before. He said it's just like a virus, since this is summer, a lot of things going on in the air. Plus since we are going to the park A LOT, that's probably where she got it from. Well, kalau di indo namanya penyakit jorok! hahahaha.....

I'm glad till today, she doesn't have any breakdown through the skin. But she still have a fever every couple hour. We just try to maintain it with either Motrin or Tylenol. Just alternate those two every 4 hours. I was preparing myself to stay up late, but I'm glad she slept well all night. She just get up super early. I guess cause she is hungry and the medicine start to worn out.

She doesn't need antibiotic. I'm glad she didn't need that. The doctor said her body can fight the virus by itself. Which is good. Her body never been touch by antibiotic yet. Thank goodness.

I have really traumatic situation once, when Jeremy was 2, he had a seizure from high fever, so I have to really watch Nicole when she has fever. They said it runs in to the family. So she might get it too, if I'm not careful. It was so scary. The worst part was, it happened in the airport on our way to US. We were in line to get in to the plane to Singapore, suddenly he had seizure in his stroller. I was so lucky that I was checking on him. When that happened, I wasn't thinking of anything I just picked him up and ran looking for a clinic, I ran like crazy, do not know where to go. We missed our plane, and catch the next one. While transit in Spore, he had to go to ER at 2am. They test him everything, but everything came out well. They said that's probably from the MMR shot he just had 2 days ago, but it shouldn't cause the fever that high. So after being admitted in the hospital for 2 hours, we have to rushed back to the hotel to catch the morning flight to US. It was a nightmare, flying with the sick kid. Trust me, I am really traumatize with that. On the plane while everyone wearing a sweater cause it's so cold, he only wear a sleveless shirt (aka. kaos singlet). Every couple hour, I brought him to the restroom to poor cold water in his body to keep him cool. He will scream...people think I'm abusing my child. I have no choice, I can't have him have another episode again on the plane. But the good thing is, when he is under the medication he slept well. It's kinda nice. Since we didn't get any sleep the whole night, the flight that took forever seems short. All the clothes that I brought all being used and dirty. He throw up again when we were in Japan. My goodness. I have to washed his clothes in the bathroom over there. The fever suddenly dissapered after 2 days we were in US. None of the pediatric knows what was happened to him. It was just a scary experience for me as a mom.

For all of you that have kids, be really carefull with the fever. Make sure you keep maintain the temperature. Bath them if neccesary. Yesterday I let Nicole stayed in the bath tub for 20 mins. When I picked her up, her body was cold. Which is good.

Batik

Kemarin ada temen yg kebetulan datang ke US, so my mom titip beberapa batik. Katanya di Indo lagi musim batik. So dia beliin deh masing2 buat cucunya. ;p Cute jg sih....

Kebetulan si Jeremy mau recital, jd perlu baju rada formal. Jadi pas deh. Trus si Nicole juga punya. Jadinya sekalian di barengin pakainya.

Batik sekarang dah nggak seformal dulu lagi ya, model2nya jg dah lucu2 dan bagus2. Kalau dulu pakai batik gimana gitu. Sekarang malah bisa buat gaya. ;p

Recital

After waited for Jeremy to turn 5 , we finally put him on piano lesson. He always like music. He also show interest to play another instrument. But I wanted him to be able to mastered the piano first, because I think piano is the basic for all instrument. Once he is good at piano, it will get easier to learn another instrument. He wanted to learn violin, guitar and drum. I said just take your time for piano and we'll see the next 2 year if you can take another instrument.

He made a really good progress. After only 3 months, he almost finished his book. It amazed his teacher. She offer him to use another book, so he can do two books at the same time, but I think one is enough. The problem is, it takes a lot of effort to make him practice every single day and teach him. Anyway, they had recital 2 weeks ago. He did so well. It was perfect. He memorize it, while other kids look at the book, he didn't. I was nervous, cause I afraid he will get nervous and forget about what he should play. I was wrong, he was calm and confidence. He played song called " Russian Sailor Dance".

It was his first experience and also mine as a mom. So proud of him. I can't believe that I'm at the point of take him to the school, piano lesson and all his activities. What a life.....!! It won't come back. But, I stil have 2 to go....;p

Epidural

It's getting closer to the due date....well, 4 months to go, but time flies. I'm starting to think about epidural. I just told my husband last night, may be this time I will pass epidural. I don't think I'm going to need one. Why? I had bad experience with epidural both with my first and second labor. The first one I needed because I was induce. I was shocked and not prepare for it. So the doctor offered me epidural. I was agreed to had one. Since it was my first one and had a long labor, I was able to sleep and rest. Not until I was 9 cm dilated and was ready to give birth, guess what....? I had to wait for the doctor. It was Sunday that day, no doctor, my doctor was on vacation. The doctor that supposed to stay in Graha Medika, was in PIK. While I was waiting ... the nurse gave me second shot for epidural. It was horrible, one hour after they put more epidural, the doctor came and I'm ready to give birth. Yup....I can't push at all, I couldn't even feel the contraction. Isn't crazy? So they have to tell me when to push. It was horrible delivery. I don't know when to stop and start, my baby stucked for second and his head kinda in the bad shape. That's the first experience with epidural.

The second one.....

I was in long labor with the second one. I was admitted in the hospital at 1pm. Around 5pm, I'm still 4cm dilation. The nurse starting to offered me epidural, I said I'll think about it. I still can handle it. Half hour later, they warned me again, they said if you are getting close to give birth, I won't do it for you. IF you are about 6cm dilation, I won't give it to you because it's too close. After thinking for awhile, I decided to do it, because I thought ... well, if the baby born in the middle of the night, at least I still can get some sleep during the labor. It's 5pm and still 4cm. So I said, ok then, you can give me epidural. After awhile, I still can feel the contraction. I asked the doctor and they actually add the dose. I was numb up to my chest, I was scared because I feel that I couldn't breath. I hang in there, but the contraction getting stronger and stronger. About 2 hours later, I said to the nurse, I think I wanted to push. She said...no...don't push. I said, I am ready. Can you believe, I'm on epidural yet I can feel whatever is going on. The nurse didn't believe me, suddenly the doctor came in just wanted to check how I'm doing. And he said...you are ready. I'm like...yeah...that's what I've been telling the nurse, I'm ready to pushed. So they prepare everything in rush. It was like I never had epidural before.

I am wondering if anyone ever not using epidural may be you can share your experience about that. How much pain do you think it is? It's kinda tricky though, since every person has different tolerate of pain. I wanted to try may be this time go on birth without epidural. We'll see. I need to prepare myself from now. ;p

Well, another 4 months to go....I believe it will give me enough time to think about it.

Fiborids

A week ago I went in to my doctor for another sonogram, they wanted to do 2nd trimester screening. I am also so excited cause I'm hoping to see the sex of my baby. My husband came with me, he is so curious what we are having. He can't wait, so he wanted to come with me. The good news is, we are having a GIRL again....yey....that's what we wanted to. So exciting !! After couple minutes of looking around, the doctor said....do you have fibroids? I'm like....what? What's that? Never heard of it before. I said, I don't think so. Then she said, sometimes it could be genetic. Do you know if your mom has it? Again, I have no idea. Finally she said, well you have 2 fibroids, but it's not too big. I don't think I like that. They said it can grow. Until certain size you can do surgery, but right now they want to make sure it's not growing.

Fibroids is not dangerous. It's like a tumor, but benign. It's kinda relief for me to hear that.

I said, I had a lot of cramping lately, my lower back hurts, and on Sunday I had pressure under my belly, it was so hard, I thought I'm in labour. But then she said, that's probably why. Cause you have fibroids. It gives you the pain.

Thank God, that the Fibroids didn't effecting the baby. The fibroids stay in front of the wall of my uterus. They wanted to do sonogram every month just to make sure, it doesn't grow. The baby is growing healthy and all the measurement are just perfect and she is in the good size for 20 weeks.

I just keep praying for the baby. I pray that the fibroids will go away and the baby stay healthy. Sometimes I feel so guilty....I didn't know the first two months I was pregnant, I keep drinking coffee a lot, just to keep me awake. Sometimes it makes me scare. BUT I believe that God is in control, He will taking care what He suppose to do.

Now, I just can't help myself to keep looking for the name. It's so harddddddd!!!

Lemonade

Two mornings ago, Jeremy got up and said, Mommy let's get ready and we are going to the groceries store to buy some lemons. I'm like.......what is it for? He said, I wanted to sell lemonade. I asked him, where are you going to sell? He said let's go to the city and sell it over there. My goodness, what another day with crazy idea. He so excited about his idea, he took a shower and had breakfast and keep pushing me to get ready. So, I finally said ok, let's go. After thinking for a little bit...I said, let's sell it in our swimming pool. He agreed with that. I went to the management and ask their permission. They were ok about it.

We went to the groceries store, bought some lemons, (since I work at a restaurant and they sell lemonade, I know how to make a really good one!). We went to Target for lunch and bought some diapers and wipes for Nicole and went home.

As soon as we got home, I made the lemonade and put Nicole down for her nap. After she fall asleep, Jeremy and I went down to the swimming pool to sell the lemonade. Beyond my imagination.....a lot of people like it, and it all sold out. I can see Jeremy's face was glowing and he is so happy. I am so proud of him. Within 10 minutes, everything was gone. He earn $4. We sell the lemonade for .25 per cup. It was a great day for him and I am glad that I can help him do whatever he wanted to do. He is so proud of himself. He asked me if this is called a job. I said yes. He said, can you call dad and tell him I have a job? Hahahaha........that's so cute.

I asked him what he wanted to do with the money, he said he wanted to buy a bible. It makes my heart melt. Thank God that he still can remember what is important.

What a day....!!!

My little girl

Having two is hard enough. I feel bad if I only talking about the oldest one without remembering another one. My little girl, Nicole, is now 15 months old....my gosh, where is the time goes? She is a great blessing. I just love to see her every morning. She always has this big smile for me. She also a disaster, since she start walking, her favorite place is toilet. If I forgot to close my bathroom's door, guess what, in 5 second you can hear someone playing with the toilet water and you can see toys in there....and she will try to flush them. She also loves dishwasher, as soon as she hears someone open the dishwasher, she will rush to there, and start playing with all the utensils inside of it. Sometimes it is yucky! BUT....she is a big help to. One of Jeremy's chores is unload the dishwasher. She will help him by passing all the spoon, fork and small stuff. She loves doing that. They are already a team in unloading a dishwasher. FUN!! but something Jeremy yelled at her because she over helped! It is so funny to see them both. I always love watching them.

New stuff that she can do now is bringing her own diaper to put in the diaper pail. This morning I took off her diaper, because it's already full. I gave it to her and asked her to put it in the pail. So she took it and put in there. That's so cute. She is always brightten up my days. She is such a sweet baby. She also a really easy baby to take care. She doesn't cry a lot... BUT... she screams. My goodness, at one point I think I will put chili in her mouth so she stops screaming.

I can't wait until she can do new thing. Jeremy always told me that he can't wait until his sister can talk. ;p That will be a big disaster. I'm going to have another non-stop talker in the house.
I just enjoy my time with them.

Voicemail

About couple months ago, Jeremy starting to learn how to use a phone. He tried to remember my cellphone and his dad's cellphone number. Since then, he always call one of us whenever we are out. Sometimes I only get out for 2 second, by the time I get down and start my car, I already get a call from him. After know how to use a phone, he started to know about leaving message. Before that, he keep asking if he leave a message mom and dad can actually listen to it. I said yes. So now every single night, when I'm at work I always got a voicemail in my cellphone from him. Either he is reporting what is going on in the house or he will tell me that he loves me. He will ask "mommy when are you coming home? When you come home can you give me a big kiss and hug?" or " Can I sleep in your bedroom tonight? if not can you sleep in my bedroom?" or " I missed you" or " I'm sorry that I made you sad this morning". Those are really sweet message. I always smile or something almost cry when I listen to it. It boost my energy when I listen to his messages. It's such a great blessing....!

My son is growing

Last week, after I decided to put Jeremy at Chinesse Immersion School, they have orientation for kindergarten. That day, when we walked in the hall for registration, they gave Jeremy a name tag and take their picture with the name tag. I almost cry.....my baby is not a baby anymore. He is going to school soon. In 3 months he'll be at school all day.

It was a great battle for me. I was struggling a lot letting him go. As a mom I think I need to learn to let go my kids step by step. I know that time will coming. Altough it is hard I have to face it. ;p

I believe that God has His own purpose by placing him in that school. I hope he will do great at that school.

Fun Day in Philly

This is the second day of our stay in Philadelphia. We start our day by visiting Please Touch Museum. I really recommend this place for family that have young kids. This place is awesome. They can pretend whatever they want to be. Bus driver, construction worker, playing in Alice wonderland world, etc. They also have an area for babies, called barnyard babies. The babies can pretand plant some vegetables, also, there are a lot of animal's sounds. In Indonesia we have this place called Kidzania. Kidzania is more real and cool. But still, the kids will having so much fun in Please Touch. Jeremy and Nicole had a blast. Jeremy wanted to go back again so badly.

After that we went to National Constitution Center and The Bell. It was so great to learn about American History. The way they did the presentation was fantastic. I was so impressed! I wondering when our country actually realize how important it is to preserve their history and share it to the younger generation. On the second level they have the whole area where they tells us about their constitution article by article. Very informative.

It was a long day for us, well, specially for me. We walked around the downtown the whole afternoon. So tired, but worth it. The kids just enjoying the time we were together. Which is really great.

Dinner time is coming...guess where we go...? Yes, Indonesian food again....we went back to Indonesian restaurant. We order a lot of food again. That day they served pempek ( my gosh...you have no idea how happy I was!). I ordered Es Campur....yyyuuummmmyyyy......and again we ate gurame bakar, mie goreng jawa, kangkung terasi, and sate ayam. We definately satisfied....!

Time to go back to hotel and get some rest. It was a blast day. That day we were able to be together the whole time was priceless. We enjoyed it so much. We hope that we could do that again. Hopefully soon!!

Finally we get out!

Today the sky looks so beautiful. All I can see is blue with the white clouds spreading perfectly. It looks like someone actually draw that. It was a perfect day for a vacation. We finally decided to go to Philadelphia for couple days. The kids are having so much fun. Jeremy is very excited knowing that we are staying in the hotel. He said he wanted to stay for 100 days. ( I wish someone want to pay for that!) Thanks to Stanny that help us a lot to get a stay in Marriot.

We didn't do much today. We went to satisfied our craving for Indo food. Trust me, people will think we are crazy family. We ordered the food in panic mode! You name it.... Kangkung terasi, ikan goreng gurame (ala US), nasi cap cai, tahu telor, ayam panggang kalasan kecap. Hahaha....it's only the two of us that actually eat all the food. It was SO worth it...! Suddenly my nausea is gone. Haha..... We also visited some of Indonesian store that we couldn't find one in Maryland. Guess what we bought? Yes, a box of Indomie, a box of teh Sosro, srikaya.... I think again...I'm in my panic mode. Barang langka soalnya! hahaha......misses home so much.

This is the most relaxing day after all. We strolled to the Philly's down town just to enjoy the crowd. We stopped by at Rita's Ice cream. What a beautiful day. I don't have to think about what to eat today, no worries about cleaning, don't have to rush to work. Be able to get out from the routine is so nice. I hope we can do this again!!!

After we came back from all the places, we went down to the swimming pool. The 4 of us just enjoying the water in the hot day. It was so fun! I'm so glad all my kids are finally fall asleep and looking forward for what to do tomorrow. Hope we have a great day tomorrow!

Yey......!!!!

Long time ago friend

Two weeks ago, on mother's day...in the morning I've got a message from my friend. She is a friend from college. We haven't see each other for a loooooong time. I was surprised when I got her called. She said she is in the area and wondering if we can meet. I'm so excited.

So that afternoon, I drove to Washington DC. It was raining all day, nothing much we can do, we end up hang around in the Mariott hotel and having a dinner. We talked for hours. My gosh....trust me if the next day is holiday, we could end up staying up all night.

It was so fun. I'm so glad she called. We had a fantastic time catching up a lot of junks! ;p
She is so different now. Well, she always very mature, but since she just having a baby, she looks more mature than she used to be. Having baby is always life changing.

I got home at midnight. I'm glad we got a chance to meet. Hope to see you again friend.
I think we've been friend about 10 years now. How fast time goes. Unbelievable.

Use your time wisely so you never regret it.

It's hard to decide

It's been second night this week I sleep past midnite. My nausea still bothering me. It's killing me. But what can I do. I have to bear with all of this. Hopefully it will pass soon!

This past week was a very busy week. A lot of decisions to make. Gosh, life is so complicated. Never thought that deciding what is the best education for my son is so hard. For once I thought I'm 100% wanted to homeschool him, I'm still now,...it's just when I heard about immersion school, I'm kinda want to try that. It's a huge benefit for him to be able to speak another language. I said to my husband, since it's a lottery he might not get in, why don't we just try and see if he get in or not. In this county, the chinesse immersion program, we only have 2 schools. They only take 25 kids per school. so they are doing the lottery system.

After waiting for a while, I thought...well, he is probably not get in. I was about to fill up the homeschool application, ....until the next day when my husband came home and said....good news, Jeremy got accepted. I'm like......WHAT? that's unbelivable. He got number 24 out of 25. How lucky he is. Well, may be he is not lucky, it's just the way God has plan for him. I'm still struggle making decision. Finally today I called the school to re-enroll him and have the orientation on Friday. I can't believe I will be missing my boy for almost all day. It's hard to let him go.

I said to him, are you sure you wanted go to reguler school? He said...mom let's try it first, if I don't like it then we do homeschool. He always has this positive thinking and encouraging word to say. I said, well I'm gonna missed you. He said, you still have Nicole and soon the baby. Hahahaha....Yeah, I still have two at home. Still a lot of work to do. But having him at home is another joyous moment for me. It's still different without him.

Anyway, I hope we are making the right decision by putting him at that school. He just too smart to do kindergarten, another reason why I wanted to homeschool him, he is way too advanced for kindergarten. I'm worry he will get bored in the class coz he has to start learning everything all over again.

I believe that God is the one in control and He knows what's the best for my son. I just have to follow my heart and trust Him. It's not easy being parents yet it's an honor being parents.

I can't sleep

It's 3.10am, and my brain keep thinking about a lot of things. I think the main reason is because I'm nausea and not feeling really well. So I thought, well, rather than I just thinking about something, I better fulfill my desire to write a blog. Which is something that I wanted to do so badly, but I just have no time.

I'm 11 weeks pregnant. Some of my friends asked me to blog my pregnancy. I guess some people just love to read about pregnancy's experience, which I think it's funny because, it's actually yucky. Specially the first trisemester. Well, maybe for the first time mom it's very exciting, I can understand that. But for me the 4th pregnancy, .... not so much. Although I love baby so much. I'll do my best to write whatever I can share about my pregnancy. Also, I will try to write whatever in my mind. I bet it's a lot.

Tomorrow is my husband birthday and also mother's day. I feel bad because this time I didn't even get him a card. I never failed at that. This time I just couldn't help it. I'm just not feeling well for the last couple of weeks. He is ok though. We plan to celebrate it tomorrow with some friends at a steakhouse ... yum... I've been craving for a steak about a week now. Yey....we are going to get some.

I always enjoyed reading people's blog, eventhough it's just telling their story about what is going on in their life that day, I think it's fun. ;p Maybe someone else will find the same way too reading my story. How fun!!!

Anyway, I better try to go back to sleep. I have 2 kids to take care in the morning. I better get some sleep.

I hope you all have a nice weekend.

Adios!!