My first "Hair-did"

6 Months, 1 week

I had a moment there...

My dear computer came down with a virus. It was in sickbay overnight. The next day I (the doctor) fix it back to "health" and changed some settings to where I lost my bearings! I forgot my Blogger log-in info. I thought I lost "Garden of Jasmin"! I almost had a panic attack.

But- all is better now. Did you know that I've played 4 instruments in my life? Well, I am trying to get back into teaching the young-ins.

I wish I knew how to upload files and not just pictures as I'm a computer freak (which is the frustrating part of why I can't do it) and I can format ingenius worksheets and such. I will work on that so I can share with you guys.

Anyways- I got over the hanging question: Will Jasmin say "ma ma" or "da da" first? Well- last night Jasmin went to town with "da da". And to my surprise- I was totally fine with it. (ok, I was initially bummed but then I realized this was a boon time for Todd to explode a very awesome relationship with growing Jasmin) So, in truth, I am happy.

BTW: did you miss my posts? (wink)

http://www.budget101.com

Check out this website!

It makes the frugal lifestyle seem easy and the common-sense choice.

This website has a free toolbar that links to their webpage for quick searches, boards, chat, spam blocker, weather, the most recent web freebies, your favorite radio station, and email alerts!

I've had the toolbar running for a few days now and I love it.

Dad & Jasmin at the entrance

Jasmin after a swim

Todd decided to kick off is summer break from teaching with a trip to Indians Springs Resort in Idaho Springs, CO. It was a quick overnight trip that we enjoyed as a family. We walked through the quaint downtown center before dinner and visited a flowershop and chocolate store. Mmm chocolate makes the world a sweet place! =p We had a BBQ dinner at Big Kahunas near the resort. It was a beautiful stay in the mountains and the weather behaved!

Larger than Life!

6 Month Well-Baby Checkup!

I can't believe it's been six whole months already! Today she played peekaboo with her Daddy for the first time. It was the cutest interaction yet! I'm still enjoying her antics and blooming personality.

The Doctor's appointment: Jasmin weighed in at 19.5 lbs and 26 inches. Growing Strong! She had her third battery of vaccinations- just two this time. Poor girl! She screamed until I picked her up; and then, she was fine and dandy. She even tore off one of her bandaids by herself today. I'm glad that it didn't go in her mouth. Yuck! Well- at least I have some "stickers" for her Baby Book entry under "Six Months".

BTW: She was very happy that Taylor "Soul Train" Hicks won American Idol! She's like Kat- she didn't cry when she was born- but I'd love for her to sing like an angel. (wink)

Latest Movie:

Memoirs of a Geisha

Here's my two cents:

The first twenty minutes of this movie were dragging. It didn't pique my interest until Xiyi Zhang came into the "picture". I had a feeling that I'd like this movie because I'm a big fan of "period pieces". I like to be taken back to a different time: to visit the society and time of the characters. Travel is much more broad when you think of travelling through the times and not only the places.

I had no idea that this movie was about love. It was a great surprise because I thought there was such a powerful example of the impact of love. I had a feeling/ predicted the outcome, but it unfolded in such a beautiful and captivating way.

I would definately recommend this movie. I know when a movie was excellent (to me) when I don't want the movie to end, and when I wish I were part of the story. As long as you wait out the first part- the rest of the movie (2.5hrs) is worth anticipating and savoring.

This was the best movie I've seen in a while. My previous favorite movie was "The Notebook."

Happy Birthday to Me!

It was a nice beautiful warm day in the Rockies. I had a full house of parents and their kids for a casual family barbecue this evening. It was an enjoyable day with great company.

Jasmin is going to hate me when she's a teenager and sees the pictures of her in her "birthday suit".

I can't resist! And she hasn't changed much in two months. I counted the rolls! lol

Newborn: Nov. 23rd, 2005

Today: May 18th, 2006

God didn't prepare me for how fast six months would go by...

I can't believe how much Jasmin has changed and grown in six fast months!

She was born 7 lbs, 5oz and twenty inches. Now, I'm guessing she's probably 27 inches and twenty pounds! We'll find out for sure next week on her six month well baby appointment.

I can tell she's in a transition/growth spurt right now. Her activity has shot through the roof and her appetite has increased. She has continued to be an absolutely precious and very very happy baby all throughout. And she's only been minorly sick once!

My beautiful Baby Niece:

Jerilyn Eryn H.

Born 8 lbs, 12 oz.!

I am so proud to be a new auntie! I love Jerilyn already and can't wait to see her and my other gorgeous (apple of my eye) niece, Jessica.

Therese! I bet you did this to make me/us feel guilty for moving away. I may never want to go back to the Springs after visiting you guys in IL again! (grin)

I never understood how special babies were until I had Jasmin. And now- I'm just smitten. I can't wait to be a nurturing aunt and build memories with Jerilyn. Now we have more pictures to put in Jasmin's baby book!

Love to Aaron, Therese, Jessica & Baby Jerilyn!

WE MISS YOU SOOOO MUCH!

Champion Breakfast!

Nutella smothered banana bread!

YUM!!!

My latest book.

I've been trying my luck selling items on eBay. So far I've only sold one thing out of over 10 postings! So- I basically read this book (the important helpful parts) all today.

Now I have to produce the results! Wish me luck and fortune. LOL

Candied Ginger anyone?

~wink~

Birth
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Birth is the process in animals by which an offspring is expelled from the body of its mother.

Congratulations Jessica, Therese & Aaron!

Today, Todd and I became an aunt and uncle again. Our niece was born about 4:00pm today! I had a gut feeling that she would be born around Mother's Day! I'm so excited for us to meet her and to introduce Jasmin to the rest of the family!

What a happy day after Mother's Day!

Happy First Mother's Day To Me!!!!

I think I was more excited for Mother's Day than my own birthday!

Our day went like this:

9AM: Wake up

10AM: DH cooked a delicious full breakfast

11:30AM: The Three of us went to a nature park nearby. We saw a Whitetailed Deer off in the distance.

12:30PM: Visited a garden center looking for what a "Jasmine" plant looks like- we got lost and frustrated; mission incomplete. We did, however, enjoy walking among the beautiful plants

1:30pm: Went to the local Korean restaurant for presto service and yummy asian food. Tip: for fast seating on holidays- try your obscure asian food establishment.

2:30pm: Visited the new Dollar Eporium with coupon. How great is that! A coupon at a discount store! Love it. AND, the owner gave me a free beautiful Mother's Day pottery/planter set. Was God smiling on me, or what? :D

3PM: For me, I decided to repot my spices by the kitchen sink window so they could explode with growth. I also took an old 18pack egg-carton to start a variety of seedlings; and used other containers for other plants.

5PM: Played with Jasmin while watching my favorite channel: TLC!!!!

7PM: At the left overs from lunch. Yum! The leftovers are the best part of eating out- in my opinion

9PM: Plan on watching Grey's Anatomy (one of my favorite shows)

A very nice, laidback family day! I'm happy!

Watch out, Janice

Dickenson!

Does Jasmin love the camera-

or does the camera love her?

Just Plain Silliness!

Where does she get it from?

Notice the lovely sundress; it's hot out today, about 75 degreesF. It looks like I packed her into that dress, which is sad b/c it's the first time/first opportunity she had to really wear it. I think it might be her last. It doesn't fit very well in the shoulder-crotch measurement. Nobody told me that she'd grow so fast! LOL

She's rolling along!

It's Jasmin's first day of rolling from her back to her belly on the left side.

She is so proud of herself! Can you tell from the picture?

If you notice, she has a little purple star clip in her hair. Todd would kill me if he knew I had it in her hair since he thinks she'll choke on it; but I was watching her the whole time. So Cute! I think purple is her color. I chose lavendar for her babyroom when I was pg with her- I just got the purple vibe from her. lol

I'm a proud mama!

It's hard to deny the affect that baby girls have on their Daddies!

It's funny that Jasmin knows exactly what pose to do for the pictures!

I thought this picture was much more powerful in black-and-white. I think this is my new most favorite picture of Jasmin.

I looooooooovvvvvvvvveeeeeee taking pictures of her. Every day I can see more of a weird wise-ness and playfulness in her. Her eyes tell me soooooo much.

I wish Todd would take more Mommy-Daughter pictures for posterity, but she outshines me in every pictures- so what's the use? LOL But still, I'd love to have a whole bunch of pictures of the two-of-us and three-of-us together.

Some pictures have the power to melt the heart; this one does it for me. Becoming a parent is so powerful! I love it!

Holding her head High!!!!

Jasmin is such the poser! I can remember the first time I put her on her belly and her nose clunked the floor and shortly thereafter, she bawled. Now look at her! Does she look happy, or what?! =)

I love how big her eyes look. From my Asian point of view- I'm ecstatic about that! And her cute up-turned non-oriental nose! I remember all through pregnancy wonderful how she'd look. I wished that she'd have Todd's Scottish nose and rounder eyes. Actually, she may -at first glance- look like me, but if you examine her features singly- she has a lot more of her Daddy's facial structure. Anyways- I'm happy! I'd love her no matter what.

She's barely five and a half months old and I'm sure she weighs twenty pounds by now! But, she's become more energetic and active each day. Underneath the rolls of fat- I can tell she has lanky bone structure. Wahhoo! I'm a very compact person- so I'm thankful she appears to be following her daddy's bloodline.

Then again, I don't think I look like my birth mother. Other than my mom and step brother's picture, I have no other clues to my heredity. I don't have any medical files either. I'm not too worried because I've done pretty well in the health department so far.

I had a fairly smooth pregnancy and made it through labor without a c-section or cuts. I was only in the hospital 24 hours, so that's a clue of what kind of health I maintain! GO ME!

It's a beautiful sunny day today! My mood mirrors the weather. =)

Just when I was getting to love holding my daughter, she's now a squirmer ( almost overnight! ) Now I'm sad, because a new chapter in her life has started. Now- all she wants to do is sit up and stand. She's learned standing very fast. I'll pull her up from sitting when I feel she wants to stand- that way she exercises those thigh muscles that will eventually pull herself up. She, now, hates to lay on her back...and if she does- she's usually trying to flip over her left side onto her belly.

She's looking so much older, day by day. I'm afraid that one day I'll look into the mirror and see an old me with wrinkles. Have I done well enough as a mother in her first five and a half months of life, for her to stay close (at least in spirit) to me for the rest of my life?

Lately, I feel as if the only thing I've excelled at is being a mom. And now- my daughter is on her way to be independent! BooHoo.

I love being a mom!

Strong legs, Wobbly knees

I wish I could post a picture, but I'm usually holding her up a little bit while she tries to stand. She prefers (it's happened so quickly) to work on standing more than crawling. Well, her trunks for legs I think are serving her well right now. Strong like bull! She's trying to concentrate so much that she looks like she's constipated. And when I praise her, she acts all excited and smiles and giggles. She's alreadying turning her hips around slowly in the UltraSaucer... so she's catching on very fast- and all by herself!

I'm such a proud mommy! I can't wait for my first Mother's Day as a Mommy! Yay!

Big "J" Makin' Progress:

Month Five has been a big month for Jasmin so far! She's been more vocal, mobile and dextrous! Today, she passed a rattle from her right hand to her left hand. (BTW: do you think she'll be a leftie?) Anyways, I'm getting daily reminders of why I want and love to stay home with my baby! I can't imagine anyone else being as watchful and appreciating such developments enough to tell me if I weren't there to witness them.

I have to be honest to say that I was worried that she wasn't doing very much; and I was feeling as though it were my fault b/c I might not be doing very much to stimulate her. But I also trusted her that she'd progress at her own speed. Now- all of the sudden- it's going full speed ahead! Perhaps, her body is still catching up because she was born on the early side-barely thirty-seven wks.

I have the most fun turning on the radio and singing and dancing for her. It cracks her up every time! Then later, she gets very vocal. She's really growing to love her Ultra-Saucer (given to us by a friend: Thanks Yoko & Craig!). She's getting more relaxed sitting in it and is slowly moving her legs underneath her. Before- she was scared to move. And now she's paying attention to all of the little toys more than 180 degrees around her. And she laughs everytime I cheer her on! We're a growing team! I LOVE IT!!!!

I'm getting the idea that a video-camera is going to come in handy very soon! I guess just more stuff to organize and file to keep in our "memory" bank.

She's growing more and more comfortable with her Daddy. She likes to curl up next to him and "talk". When she was smaller, she enjoyed laying in his lap while he played snowboard games on our XBox. What an adorable sight! There's nothing sweeter than witnessing a Dad with their little baby girl.

I can't say that timing is ever right, but I know that I've wanted this type of life for a long time. Thank you Jasmin for making it such a magical experience for your Mommy and Daddy! MUAH~

Baby Book Mania

Yesterday, I finally rounded my photos, tools and material to finally tackle the "baby book pile". So far, I'm about six months behind!

I'm not at the point where I can go "all out" and spend uber buckeronies on the budding hobby, but it's a worthwhile endeavor. I don't have any of my own "baby" pictures. And honestly, I feel a little heartbroken over that. It's the "adoption" part of my brain that feels robbed of certain memories from the first 4.5 years of my life. =(

I've come to the realization that I can do artsy projects even though I don't have the "vision" that my husband is blessed with. I avoided and put off the baby book stuff because of the potential "investment" I'd have to make. But, with my newly upgraded creativity and resourcefulness, I can see everyday items that make nice accents to the book. The "dollar stores" are also gems for the crafty population. I don't have to go broke to give my daughter the gift of precious memories.

So far, I have a wonderful Kodak EasyShare Photo System that allows me to print/organize/size my pictures at very low cost. I bought the digital camera for our wedding pictures and now it's becoming even more invaluable. I realized that there are plenty of items that can double for "baby book" use: old magazines, baby cards, etc. Actually, my "card making" kit has the same type of supplies required for scrapbooking as well. Now I have a wonderful new use for my dusty card supplies.

My efforts may not come out "Creative Memories" quality, but it will still look beautiful and show my loving intentions. Three hours down- and I have countless hours left to devote to Jasmin's baby book.

My Husband: the Artist

I have a new project that I'm adding to my "stack". I'm helping Todd develop his own website and keep track of his art and accomplishments. Thankfully, I love everything that involves computers and writing.

It's a work in progress, but check out: Art Unleashed

Did I mention that he's an amazing artist and teacher? I wish I had him in school- I would have been much more enthusiastic about developing my visual art skills. And, he's a killer singer. We used to play music (singing & guitar for him; keyboards & violin for me) with other musicians when we lived in Chicago. Hopefully Jasmin will love music and the arts as well. I have her violin picked out already! lol

To My husband's Wonderful Mother:

Happy Birthday!

I'm so fortunate to have such a wonderful mother-in-law. I admire you and am so happy that I have gotten to know you. It's a bonus that we're family. =)

Wish we were there to celebrate with you.

I'm going bonkers on the photos! But they add a lot to my blog and my sentiments. They are burned into my mind and I'll treasure them forever. ((HUGS))

Back in the Day...

Have I mentioned that I'm home/family sick? I feel like half of my life is empty/missing. I dont' know what we were thinking moving away from Chicago just afterI was "inducted" into Todd's family. Then, I wanted to kick my own franny when I got pregnant; I thought about how the family will miss some milestones (not just here in CO, but also in Chicago).

This is a picture of my niece Jessica on my wedding day. The last day I've seen her in almost 2 yrs. I can't explain it, but when I first met her- we clicked on all levels. I balled my eyes out the day we pulled the U-Haul from her driveway. I remember for months thinking of reasons to write her and send her little gifts.

Now, Jessica is seven (I hated missing her last 2 birthdays!) and has a baby sister or brother about to be born. I'm sure I'm last year's old news to her- the first child that stole my heart. I think I try not to think of my homesickness as it makes me tear up- like I'm doing right now.

This probably sounds awful, but I think I was more excited about becoming part of the "family" than really being "married". I wasn't just gaining a husband and I appreciated that fact.

Now I'm going to be an aunt, twice over, and I'm not giving my daughter the gift of life with her extended famil and cousin who will be close to her age. What a bummer! I have many memories of Jessica playing with her cousin and best friend, Stephanie, who is in the same grade. I want that for Jasmin.

Maybe in the next few years we'll move back to Chicago and put our family back together.

BTW, if you're reading this, I love and miss you guys!

Yup, I hosted my 2nd Playdate today!

MOM "Helped "

:D

I Surrender!

I have to let go! I can't stay sane and be a control freak at the same time.

I admit- rarely has anything gone the way I planned it. So why do I insist on planning everything so meticulously? I do conceed that even though most of my plans have gone awry, fate has been nice to me and things have ended just as well. It's like God is saying to me: "I know you want this, but I'm going to give you what you really want/need-my way."

My new challenge is to sense the point that I should stop planning and determine which situations I hold absolutely no control. I'd save myself a lot of stress.

I should take a cue from my own daughter. Jasmin is very relaxed and laid back. Though she doesn't have as many worries and responsibilities as I have, I can still take her unspoken advice.

Look into my eyes and find peace

Taking Frugality Seriously!

I never gave myself much credit for my sense of creativity and resourcefulness. It's only been the last six years that I've had to expand my brain capabilities to include bizarre creativity and making full use of whatever I had. I was brought up in a very structured environment where I chose different mapped out paths. When I moved out on my own- I had no map! Okay, so I wasn't the brightest lightbulb in the pack- but at crunch time/s, I came through for myself.

How I thought I could start an independent life with $200 to my name, I don't know. Again, I was very ignorant of the world outside my "Pleasantville" hometown. God has truly been looking out for me. But- I did the rest...

When I moved into my first apartment in Chicago, I was making $7 an hour and paying $540 for rent. Of the rest of the money, I had $30 for 2 wks worth of food. I don't know how I stayed sane. It's stressful to be broke. lol

I've also been fortunate to me very generous people where-ever I took my ignorant franny. I guess that's why I take all of my friendships/relationships seriously. You never know who will be the one to bless your life with generosity. And who knows, you may be the one that puts light back in someone's life- and isn't that such a rewarding honor?

Enough heavy thinking- even that's my true personality.

It's funny how I had this random question pop into my head today: "How many other ways can I use deli meats"? Oddly enough, I ended up doctoring up roast beef- Korean style. I bet that sounds strange, but it sure tasted delicious! We at the beef with sushi style rice, egg, kimchi and kimchi pancakes and rice-cake on the side.

My random tip: Let say you have dry milk, milk, cheese and sour cream. Use dry milk and liquid milk interchangably, but use the one you have the most of at the time. For instance, if I have a little bit of milk left and plenty of dry milk, I'll use the dry milk to make the liquid milk last longer provided the milk is still fresh. Same goes for the sour cream and milk, and sour cream and cheese.

Mrs. Green-thumb Reporting...

Houseplant Tips:

Watering: Make sure you have good drainage around the roots to prevent rotting; or better yet, leave a watered plant in your sink or tub to drain.

When should I water the plants? The easiest way to tell if your earth sister (lol) is thirsty, pick her up. If she's heavy, you watered her recently; if she's light as a feather, give her a drink! Generally speaking, water once a week for green plants, and every 3-5 days for blooming plants depending on sunlight (food production).