Guess what?

My baby is walking! Yup, she's officially walking. We had tons of errands to run today (including visiting my new nephew in the hospital!), so Kevin helped out by keeping Leala busy while I had to do what needed to be done at each place. Well, we were at Ross to pick up a shirt or two for me, and Kevin was playing with Leala. He was trying to get her to walk and then she actually did! She did several 3 steppers and 2 steps, but she took 5 steps.. twice! Aww, I'm so proud of her. We've been saying she can walk for a long time.. She's just afraid to. Silly girl.. But now she's growing up and moving forward (literally!).

*I do promise to post birthday pictures... I know, I'm totally slacking, but I did just throw up my dinner, so give me a break! (And no, I'm not pregnant.. haha)

It's been a while...

So I figured I should give you all an update, since it has been so long.

- I am pretty much all the way better now.. Still some drainage every now and then, but a lot better now.

- Leala is still sick, but getting better. She is doing a lot better than she was before, which makes all of us feel better. She is such a trooper. :)

- She is weaning herself... yup, you heard me right.. I'm actually not sad about it. It means she's growing up and moving forward. We're having some trouble with her eating, but she's doing good. She's not wanting to eat much at all right now, but she's definitely preferring to eat solids over breast milk most of the day.

- We are trying to figure out our schedule nowadays.. We need more structure in our days, and I'm trying to cook more at home, rather than eating out so much. It's all a work in progress, but we're doing alright with it so far.

- Leala's birthday party went well. She didn't feel her greatest; therefore, not many great pictures, but oh well. Her actual birthday went well too.. Still not the greatest pictures, but we got a few. :) I will post them soon, I promise. We have been so busy, that I'm still trying to edit some and then I'll have to pick out some to post.

- Leala now has her 8th tooth. She is such a big girl!

- She hasn't actually walked yet, but we all know she can, if she would just not be scared. She walks with us, while only holding one hand, and we don't even feel her weight on it. It's just a matter of time, until she realizes she doesn't need to hold on to something to walk.. Then we're in trouble!

I think that's about it for now.. I need to get busy with some other things. Like I said pictures will be posted soon..

Happy Birthday Leala!

Today is Leala's birthday. We had a lot of fun, and her party yesterday was great. She's sick (very sick) and that put a damper on things, but she still had fun.. I will definitely post pictures and more details of how the days went soon.

I have decided though that I will not be blogging as often anymore. I used to make sure I at least said that I was sick and wasn't up to blogging that day. Not anymore. I need to worry about my family and myself first.. I will be shortening my time on the computer in general. I will still follow your blogs and keep up (as much as possible), but probably won't comment as much. I'm sure you all understand.

I have been very stressed lately about a lot of things, and while, I can't make the big things go away, I don't have to sweat the small stuff.. So that's what I'm doing.. I will casually blog and casually keep up with your blogs. While being sick (off and on for months now), I have come to see that I can't "do it all".. So, I am picking and choosing and prioritizing.

You'll still see me around, and I'll comment when I have something comment-worthy to say. I hope you are all enjoying your monday. I need to finish my feeding my big 1-year-old and put her to bed. Good night everyone.

Long, busy day...

So, today I feel a lot better than yesterday. I am still very sick, but a lot better.. There has been so much to do lately, so today Kevin and I divided and conquered. We got a lot done and then came together and did more.. lol..

This evening was the first time that Leala was not with Kevin or I (meaning, not in the same house).. yeah, it was strange. Kevin's sister, Hang, watched Leala for 40 minutes while we made our second trip to the storage place. I don't even think she realized we were gone! She was playing with Serenity and Hang. It's just one more sign showing me that she is growing up.. :)

Anyway, I'll approve all comments to yesterday's post, but I'll blog about it all in tomorrow's post.. I'll answer all questions at that time. :)

For now, I'm putting the monster done for the night and going to bed..

Went to the doctor.. again..

I have bronchitis.. I finally got a steroid pack, another antibiotic, a different allergy medicine.. more nose spray, and was told to get more Mucinex DM.. ugh... That was expensive, but oh well.. Hopefully this will get me on track and I can get better soon.

As for Leala, she has a runny nose and is sneezing quite a bit.. She is still on her antibiotic from last time and some runny nose medicine.. I'm hoping she gets some of my meds (which are safe) from my milk and it will help her out too.. Who knows..

Anyway, that's about it.. I feel better this last hour than I have all day... but about 3 hours ago, I felt worse than I did this morning.. *sigh* Is this ever going to end?

One question for everyone, any tips or suggestions on weaning? I don't know anyone in person (who speaks enough English) that has breastfed for this long (everyone else is a couple of weeks or so).. So let me know.. Please, no bashing.. I have done what I think is best for my daughter. If you don't agree that I should have breastfed for this long, or that it's wrong that I start weaning my daughter now she's a year old (in a few days), please keep it to yourself. I don't need to here it. If you have genuine help, thank you! And as we all know, each child is different.

Pregnancy survey

I got this from Leaner and thought I'd try it too.

1. Where were you when you first found out you were pregnant?
At home in SC in the bathroom.

2. Who was with you?
No one.

3. What was your first reaction?
Disbelief.. I was soo happy though.. I jumped up and down.

4.What was your husband's reaction?
Very very happy. I told him when he got back from a boat DET.

5. Who was the first person you told?
Hubby. Then we told my parents at the same on the phone.

6. Were the pregnancies planned?
Yup!

7. Was everyone happy for you?
Of course.

8. What was the sex?
Girl

9. What was the nursery theme/colors?
Pooh.. want to change it to Plum Blossom

10. Did anyone throw a shower for you?
Yup, my best friend Jennifer did.

11. Did you get any outfits you wouldn't use?
Yup, from the Ombudsman.. haha

12. How much weight did you gain?
50ish

13. Did you get stretch marks?
Yup, I was huge!

14. Did you crave anything crazy?
mustard cheese sandwiches, bacon (weird for me)... eggs (weird for me)

15. Who or what got on your nerves the most?
Stupid drivers.. and Sandi

16. Where were you when you went into labor?
Sleeping on the floor in our living room.

17. Did you have any complications?
Gestational diabetes.. then I had pre-eclampsia and had to go on magnesium.. Then had a c-section.. Then the next day, I had a blood transfusion.

18. Did your water break?
Doctor broke it.

19. Who drove you to the hospital?
Hubby

20. Did you go early or late?
Started labor the day before my due date.. Had her on my due date.

21. Who was in the room?
Hubby, doctors, nurses.

22. Did you video tape it?
Nope

23. Did you have any pain medication?
Yup

24. Did you have a c-section or natural?
c-section.. after pushing for an hour!

25. What was your reaction to the birth?
I wasn't really all there due to the magnesium.. I was happy though.

26. How big was the baby?
9 pounds 8 ounces

27. What was the baby's full name?
Leala Xuan Lam

28. Did your husband cry?
Yeah

29. When is the next one coming?
Um in a couple of years.

30. If you could, would you do it all over again?
Yup, I just hope next time I don't have the magnesium... it really messed things up...

Still sick..

Can't blog.. no energy.. just put baby down for the night (hopefully).. going to bed now.

Blah..

I don't feel like blogging... Maybe tomorrow.

Not Again..

Someone must be playing some type of sick joke on me... Just as I am feeling better and getting things done, this evening, I can't control this new couch of mine... ugh!!! And Leala now has a runny nose... How is that possible? Her runny nose went away after the first few days of being on her antibiotic, she's still on it, and then all of a sudden she has a runny nose!

I can NOT wait for all this to be over with...

One a better note, we visited Kevin's brother today. We've been trying for weeks, but we've been sick.. (At least if I was going to get sick, it was this evening, and not this morning, so we were able to go finally.... a silver lining? I guess a very small one, huh?) Anyway, Leala did well with him. :)

Okay, I am hungry and tired.. I need to get a snack and go to bed (I know, not the best thing, but oh well..). I can't wait til my head hits the pillow tonight.. I just hope that I can actually sleep..

Best Dessert I've had in a while..

Yesterday, I made something new. It turned out great! We all loved it. In fact, it's already gone, with the help of Kevin's family. It was so good, I can't wait to make it again.

Since we all liked it so much, I thought I'd share it with all of you.

Berry Trifle

• 1 4-serving-size package instant vanilla pudding mix
• 2 cups milk
• 1 8 ounce package cream cheese, softened
• 1 6 ounce container vanilla yogurt
• 1 10.75 ounce frozen loaf pound cake, thawed and cubed (3/4-inch cubes) (I used creme cake from the bakery section on walmart instead.. didn't freeze or anything, just cut it - turned out great)
• 6 cups strawberries, quartered
• 2 cups blueberries and/or raspberries (Hubby wanted blackberries, so we did those instead).
• 1 recipe Berry Sauce

Prepare pudding mix according to package directions using the milk, set aside. In a large mixing bowl beat cream cheese and yogurt with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth; stir in pudding.

To assemble trifle, in a 2 1/2 to 3 quart glass bowl, layer one third of the cake cubes, one third of the pudding mixture, and one third of the strawberries and blueberries,. repeat layers twice. Cover and chill for 4 to 24 hours. Spoon Berry Sauce onto serving plates, top with trifle. Makes 8 to 10 servings.

Berry Sauce: In a blender or food processor combine 2 cups fresh or frozen (thawed) strawberries or raspberries (I used a frozen bag of mixed berries), 2 to 3 tablespoons of sugar, and 1 tablespoon raspberry liquer, rum or orange juice (orange juice for us). Cover and blend or process until smooth. If desired, press sauce through a fine mesh sieve to remove seeds. Cover and chill until serving time or for up to 24 hours.

YUM!!!!