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i've moved to facebook....most of my daily activities can be summed up in 3 sentences or less. It's sad. my plan is to come back here to rant and rave...which happens once a month. ha ha ha.

So after last week's disappointment with the park district's preschool, Kate and I went to take a tour of Schaumburg's school district preschool. I know. I was a bit more impressed this time...bright room, clean tables, chairs, rugs, and equipment. I liked that the room was meant for a preschool and that it wasn't previously used as a dance studio. I also liked that I got to meet the actual teacher Kate will be with and that she didn't come to work in her pajamas! She seemed fairly kind and even asked Kate for a goodbye hug but of course, Kate refused. She plays hard to get. Kate introduced herself as Katherine (so cute) and found a big yellow bus with a slide to play in. Kate also made a craft for dad and played in the sandtable next to a couple of preschoolers who were very nice. A super big plus for me was that there were books everywhere! I love a classroom filled with books. I think we may go this route. Now we have to fill out the paperwork.

Sydney's on new formula yet again. I'm at my wit's end. At least she's sleeping better.

Kate and I went to Taste of Preschool today at the park district. It was okay. All the teachers there looked like they just woke up. They were wearing sweats! Um, is this their best effort? Kate enjoyed most of the hour we spent there. She did not enjoy group time when she had to dance/sing/say hello. I'm thinking maybe going through school district or trying one of those "preschool schools".

I have once again been injured by Ellie. Last time she landed on my right shoulder, dislocating it. This time, she tripped off a step stool and either the step stool or Ellie or both landed on my right 4th toe. The right side of my body is busted. I believe soon after I had Kate, I broke my right ankle.

I felt an earthquake for the first time early this morning, but was too drowsy to realize what it was until Jae told me the news before sending off Ellie to school. I feel like a zombie now a days. Sydney is such a light sleeper. She only sleeps well in the swing, but I've been warned not to place her there too long for fear of her developing a flat head. Koreans.

Sydney's starting to laugh but I can't seem to coax it out of her. So far, only dad and grandma have been successful at doing so. I told Jae, "I guess I'm not ugly enough."

overdue

It's been an interesting 2 months since Sydney arrived. So much to say about it, just not sure how to put it all down without this becoming a novel.

Mom's been staying with us for some time and I just love it. Sure, she gets on my nerves once in awhile, but it's nothing I wasn't expecting or know how to deal with.

The girls adore Sydney.

I'm slowly getting more sleep. Sydney slept through the night for the first time yesterday...10:30-5:15am. I'm wondering if this is because Jae slept on the couch last night. Sydney's quite the light sleeper and wakes up at any sound and movement.

Sydney's also on hypoallergenic formula. She has a severe sensitivity to cow's milk. Still trying to figure out the difference between "sensitivity" and "allergic reaction". Anyways, she's also a very gassy child and eats every 2 hours. She likes to snack all day long. I gotta get her to eat more in one sitting.

Sydney's smiles are becoming bigger and more purposeful AND contageous! She cried so much during her first month because of the formula...if she wasn't crying, then she was sleeping. Now she's awake and playing and talking.

Sydney's found both her hands this week and constantly tries to stuff her fists in her mouth. Cutie. She also knows me and can track me from a far distance.

Labor and delivery went well. Other than trying to come out sunny-side up, all went smoothly and am very thankful for a healthy baby.

I'm so sleepy.

Dec. 1

Induction date has been set for December 1st at 6:30 a.m. I can not wait. I used to be against inducing labor, rather wanted for it all to happen naturally, but with the way things are, induction is so much more convenient and no one is running around like a chicken with its head cut off, not to mention that I'm incredibily uncomfortable. I wonder how big she will be.

Not much to Jae's disappointment, Isabella is off the table. We are now looking at 2 possible names. We are not revealing it til she's born. Tee hee hee. Don't worry sis. It isn't Gertrude.

Thanksgiving has come and gone. I'm very thankful the baby didn't arrive during dinner and that I got to sample 5 different types of "pies"! Now that's how you eat dessert. Peach pie was thee best.

The day went by so fast and to me, everything felt mentally stressful...perhaps the hormones are magnifying what shouldn't be magnified. Warning to those who've heard their mother-in-laws say "don't think of me as a mother-in-law", think of them as a mother-in-law. These are complicated women.

Bathroom is still not finished. This is what I feared would happen. Jae is no longer afraid of me and I must do something about it.

Officially 2 weeks

There are 2 more weeks til D-Day or due date. Jae and I had a couple of scares this week. I was feeling contractions on a pretty consistent basis for a few hours on Monday and then again for about 7 or 8 hours Saturday night. The contractions weren't strong or close enough to warrant a trip to the hospital...we were just waiting at home. I got tired, fell asleep, and when I awoke, the contractions were gone. I guess this is what you call false labor. We were quite disappointed, but to see the silver lining, these false labors has forced us to pack the diaper bag, and buy a going home outfit, blanket, and baby book for the baby.

Saturday night, we told Ellie and Kate that they might wake up to see their new baby sister and Ellie began to quickly make a card for her. It read "Welcome baby Isabella." Jae wasn't too thrilled. I thought it was funny. Under the quote, she drew a picture of me and herself holding her baby sister with a little bubble coming out of her mouth that said, "Awww." She's so excited.

All Kate wants to do is feed the baby. It'll be interesting to see how Kate reacts when this little one arrives to say the least. She's all of a sudden lost the ability to walk, talk, eat, or sleep without the aid of Jae. Of course Jae has no memory of when Ellie was this way before Kate arrived. =)

I can not wait for this baby to arrive. I can't wait to hold her and feed her and hug her and smell her and take pictures of her with her sisters. I'm trying to do everything I can to get these contractions to become more productive.

Jae's been busy tiling the bathroom floor. "It's taking longer than I thought." Duh! But I didn't say that outloud...just gave him that look. The tile cutter we got is pretty neat. I always see people cutting tile on home improvement shows, it's nice to actually own one. The one we got isn't huge or elaborate, but does the job.

After tomorrow, Jae will be working from home as long as he doesn't have any meetings which would require him to go into the office. I am looking forward to it.

Got my h1n1 flu shot. It hurt!

Finally

There's only 7 more weeks to go...hopefully a week or so sooner. I just realized we didn't get a baby book for this one and am feeling a little guilty. Heck, Kate's baby book has only 4 pages filled in. With Ellie's, we collected newspapers, a lock of hair from her first haircut and a bunch of notes I wrote down. The last born always gets gipped. Sorry baby. We still haven't decided on a name for her yet. Sheesh.

I'm feeling a little bit more relaxed about the bathroom. Jae says all that's left to do is finish up the drywall, patch it, and then put one more layer of mortar on the shower floor and then we are ready to paint and tile. So excited.

Feels like everything is finding its place and coming together. We've finalized tiles, bought bathroom cabinet and mirror, solved Kate's dresser issue and where grandma's going to sleep while she's here to help out issue all by purchasing a genious-space-saving bunk bed, wallpaper in the foyer is almost removed, and carpet guys are coming in 3 weeks. Still have a handful to do, but the list is getting shorter which means I'm getting happier. =)

Breathe!

Potty training Kate

I've begun potty training kate yesterday. She did absolutely fantastic. She tried to make it to the potty every single time (not always successful) but she tried to go when she felt the urge to go. I think now it's just a matter of practice and time before accidents are gone. Later in the day, I had her back in pull-ups because I needed to get some things done around the house. But she's on the road to success.

i didn't realize just how impatient of a person i am. was it today or yesterday i gave ellie some words of advice, told her if she doesn't learn to adapt, she's going to have a difficult time in this world. now that i read it back to myself, it doesn't really sound like advice, does it? more like a warning or prophecy. anyways, i should take up that "advice" as well.

wait wait wait. i always tell the girls to wait. i want to teach them the virtue of patience. don't want to raise instant gratification kids. i don't know why waiting is so stressful upon me. i want the bugs gone now...i want my car back now...i want my bathroom ready now...i want the baby out now. i'm just tired of waiting.

News

So this is the stupid thing I did to my car last week. Scraped my car on a corner of a truck. I swear, this is why I hate trucks but it's my own stupid fault. Pregnancy must be affecting my center or something. I could have sworn I had enough space to pull up to the curb. Oh well. Can't wait to get the momi-van back. I can barely fit in the rental car...baby does not like it.

Speaking of whom, I can feel her moving at incredible strength sometimes. She makes me take trips to the toilet more often than I'd like. I can't wait to meet this little one. So far, she's healthy, I'm healthy. If I was to make a complaint, it would be that I'm cramping more than I'd like. This little one doesn't like me cleaning. My kind of gal.

Exterminator is coming tomorrow to spray the house again. I'm so sick of these little springtails. They gross me out. I hate bugs of all sorts. They are relentless and I fear they are breeding in the walls or under the floors. They sure arent' coming from outside cuz we've been getting our house treated on a regular basis and we are still encountering problems.

Nesting instinct is kicking in big time. I want to clean and rearrange and organize everything. Wish we had the funds to do it. There's just so much to do.

Ellie keeps asking me what the baby is doing on an hourly basis. i think it's so cute that she's curious and sometimes she imitates what the baby might be doing or how she may be reacting in my tummy. Ellie's such a character. She was also very intrigued that I was putting on make up today...sitting right next to me asking me what I'm putting on my face and why...what is this called and what is that called. She gave me lots and lots of hugs and "i love you"s this weekend. I thought she didn't like me.

Kate is such a riot. She's grown up mentally so much these past few weeks. Her vocabulary's grown and she's just growing up too fast. My biggest focus these days with her is making sure she adjusts well to the arrival of the new baby. I have a feeling she will handle it much better than Ellie did, but kids are kids and Kate will eventually end up becoming the middle child so that's an issue I want to address as early as possible but am clueless as to how to go about doing that. Much prayer.

All in all, I feel very blessed. Why is God so good to me?

Smells are enemies this week. Can't stand the smell of anything and all I want to eat is citrus and watermelon.

Next appt. is this Friday. Anxious to tell my doctor how the prenatals melted upon themselves.

There'a about a little over a week of school left for Ellie and then it's our trip to Disneyland. I'm feeling a bit aprehensive about it just because I'm me.

Things to do this week, color my hair, update my driver's license. It's expiring just like 33 years.

Morning sickness with #3

I haven't said too much about this pregnancy thus far. I feel a bit removed and exhausted and sleepy and hungry and nauseated all the time. With Ellie's pregnancy, I threw up a few times, usually before bedtime and the feeling to throw up lingered well into the second trimester. With Kate's pregnancy, the morning sickness came and went like clockwork and with a vengance. I've never felt so bad, but it went away like a storm, much like kate's temper. With this pregnancy, the morning sickness kind of snuck up on me. I'm hoping that it will go away in a couple of weeks. My next doctor's appt. is at the end of this month.

Why is Kate always on the left? Or is it right?...depending on your perspective.

I miss the sunshine.

Kate looks like she's been sucka puched. Ouch! That girl is a trooper though, all smiles. I'm sure Jae will have more to say about the ER trip, it will be one he will never forget. =)

#3

It's official. Jae and I are expecting baby #3 and we couldn't be more excited. Ellie is extremely excited about the baby and keeps asking when he will arrive. She wants a baby brother because she already has a sister. Of course, it's all about her. =)

I plan on delivering this baby at a different hospital. I was a bit disappointed with the hospital where I delivered Kate. This one's not too far and the doctor's office is only a 20 minute drive. I truly desired to deliver where Ellie was delivered, but it's much much too far away and the doctor's office there is always so busy.

The due date is December 7th...about 33 more weeks to go.

The morning sickness has settled in now and comes very strongly in the evenings, so it's more like evening sickness. I check out mentally at 7pm. I feel wiped out and can't stand the smell of anything greasy...or Chloe. I'm craving sour juices too.

Kung Fu

Another wonderful day.

Do you like my chalk maze? The kids had fun being "chompers" as they chased me through it. I took this picture while Ellie took a break. Kate decided to trail it with her trike. You can't tell from this angle, but I drew a little pond the explorers must cross as an obstacle.

Fresh muenster and cheddar cheese slices with sesame water crackers....yum.

The kids enjoyed it very much.

So here's the grown-up version of cheese and crackers. It's sesame water crackers with honey infused cream cheese and chopped walnut spread topped with shreds of green and red lettuce and orange and red baby peppers.

It's so divine!!!

I'm trying to be a healthier, happier, more energetic me.

the weather was so nice today that i actually did my hair and dressed up. of course, the husband doesn't notice...he's too involved in his own drama of feeling worn out from the day. watching him eat at the dinner table with a somber mood is getting to be quite a chore. is it my cooking?

on days like this, i really miss running. i'm actually one of those crazy people who enjoys it, but my ankle's been feeling testy and a bit sprained since i took a long walk with chloe. working out with a game system has been pretty fun except for that my muscles are completely sore and I can barely walk. I'm glad I can shop for groceries online. Tis a treat.

kids are doing well. ellie went to the dentist for another filling and did a great job. kate is kate. she's been a bit moody...more than i'd like. i don't know what she's going through. i want to update her blog but not sure how to go about doing it.