Author: Faith

A new look for the old blog

In general I’m pretty laid-back but every once in a great while I get a burst of manic energy and I shift into high gear and get all “must-do-everything-NOW!”-ish. And then poor N gets stuck in the cloud of chaos and is left wondering what happened to his mellow wife and his relaxing weekends 🙂

Along with my kitchen and hair I recently got a hankering to update my blog template. And this is what I ended up with–the same basic idea but hopefully with more of an emphasis on woodworking and photography.

HTML/CSS has changed a lot in the past 10 (gulp!) years since I minored in web design in college. As I was working on the new design I fell under the delusions that 1) I could quickly figured out CSS sprites and 2) that I was going to be graded for how clean my code was. (Nerd!)

There are still a lot of tweaks I’d like to make but I figured if I didn’t go live with the design now then I’d just continue to spend hours messing around with it instead of you know, actually posting.

I owe a HUGE debt to Katrina over at Pugly Pixel. This designed is based on her Strawberry Shortcake template and I used a lot of her resources (like the washi tape strips and photo frames) and tutorials. I signed up for her $5/30-day membership and it was fantastic–the only negative was that I feel kind of guilty that I got such a good deal 🙂 I highly recommend her site if you’re interested in design or want to jazz up your blog.

Coming up for air

Phew! After being laid low over the weekend by a nasty stomach bug things are finally getting back to normal. Sweet Mimi is still a little under the weather but E and I are back to normal and lucky N managed to avoid the whole thing.

I have some things I’m working on but in the mean time, you should totally watch this video.


(Found via Asian Mommy)

Aren’t they amazing? Back in college I attended a casual Taekwondo class with the kids from my Korean class but watching this makes me want to sign up for real classes. It looks so much fun and what great exercise!

Thanksgiving



We had a low-key Thanksgiving which is my favorite kind. N’s mom was excited about her first stateside Thanksgiving in 3 years and went all out and cooked an incredible meal. Our contribution was a vegan pumpkin pie for E and some oven-roasted Brussels sprouts with bacon.

The day after Thanksgiving N’s dad help us return our defective TV to the store and pick up the replacement set. For the rest of the weekend we mostly stayed home watching movies and playing video games together. I made some more progress on painting our kitchen cabinets and on Saturday night we drove up to our favorite Korean restaurant for some soon dubu to take a break from leftovers.

It was a lovely, relaxing weekend before the busyness of the next month.

Extended Warranty, FTW!

I’m not much of a Black Friday shopper but this year I’m looking forward to hitting up the sales because we’re going to be getting a new TV–for FREE! (Well, almost free.)

Almost five years ago we bought a new TV on the day after Christmas. We were upgrading from the old CRT model that N had bought when he was in college. At the time it was the most money we had ever spent on anything, other than our house, so we also got a 5-year extended warranty for about $200.

For the most part the tv worked great until the last few years when it’s been having problems. We’ve had the repair guy out several times and he’s replaced various parts but it still kept breaking. Our warranty expires this December 26th so I was getting anxious to get the TV fixed before it ran out but we just got word that the store is replacing our set with a new one because it’s more cost-effective than repairing it. Yay!

So we can either take this set or we can pick out a different model and get the equivalent cost in store credit. On Black Friday we’re going to head to the store and see what the deals are so we can get the most out of our store credit. It almost feels like we’ve won a sweepstakes or something.

Food Allergy Update

I took E and Mimi to see our allergist yesterday. It was E’s yearly check-up and time to do a skin test on Mimi to see if she shows also showed signs of having food allergies. Our doctor is really great but there is always a lot of waiting involved during these visits. We were hanging out in the exam room from for over two hours.

I was able to distract E for the first hour but then I caved and let him play on the rolly stool.

When I got desperate to entertain her I allowed this small shirtless bald man to root through my bag for fun.

E is still very allergic to cow’s milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, and now he’s allergic to shrimp. BUT, Mimi doesn’t show any signs of food allergies! I was SO excited.

On the advice of our allergist I’ve been avoiding milk, eggs, peanuts, nuts, etc… while I’ve been nursing Mimi and now the doctor said it’s time to introduce those things into her diet. We’re suppose to gradually ramp things up and get her eating all of the things E is allergic too, even peanuts. So I’m supposed to be eating those things too. My ten-month fast from everything milky and creamy is over!

On a somewhat-related not, we have dinner reservations at The Melting Pot tonight.

(Doctor’s orders, you know.)

Letter to E: Year Four

Music: “Rollerskate” by Call & Response

Dear E,

You grew so much this last year. At the beginning of the year you still had a bit of toddler shyness about you but now you are very much a big little boy.

You love going places; every morning when you get up you ask me where we’re going today. Your favorite places to visit are the dinosaur museum, the library, and your Aunt Jan’s house. Weekends when our family gets to spend all day together are your favorite.

In general you’re still fairly well-mannered but this year you’ve grown a little sassy. Sometimes when I tell you do something you don’t want to do I’ll hear you muttering, “okay, okay, oKAY” under your breath. And when you keep asking “why?” instead of doing what I asked I find myself channeling the frustration of parents throughout the ages and across the globe and the words “Because I’m your mom!” burst out of my mouth.

But that same sprightliness that makes it difficult to get out the door on time also makes you a lot of fun to have around. I sincerely like going places and spending time with you. You crack me up. You also love being your dad’s little pal and you can’t wait for him to come home in the evening so you can hang out together.

You have an acute sensitivity to the feelings of others that is very endearing. If you sense that someone is a little down or tired you’ll ask them “Are you happy?,” your face full of concern. And if someone bonks their elbow or gets hurt you’re the first to rush over to see if they’re okay and to plant a kiss on their owie.

This year you’ve finally outgrown your crib so we bought you a twin bed for your birthday. We had never had a problem with you climbing out of your crib but I was a little bit worried that you would have issues staying in your new bed. But you transitioned awesomely and now lie down like a champ for your nap and for bedtime.

Your imagination has really bloomed this year. You like to name all your toys “Dommas” which we’re mystified by. You make us songs and silly jokes (current favorite: “How does a monster count to 13? On its head!”) and like to pretend your a robot or a super hero. When we watch Batman cartoons you like to run around the room during the opening credits jumping off the couch and pretending you’re Batman. My favorite part is how you put on your imaginary Batman costume–the gloves, the mask, the pants–before you jump around.

Your imagination can get away from you, though. Halloween really threw you for a loop this year and now you’re afraid of monsters. Going to bed is a little hard because you’re worried about them but we put imaginary force fields around your room and the house which seems to help.

These last couple of months you’ve been more anxious in general. Besides worrying about monsters you don’t like to be separated from your dad or me. Last week, after going to your primary class at church happily for months on your own, you flat out refused and preferred to sit in time out on a metal chair rather than leave your dad’s side.

I think it’s because you’re just starting to realize just how big of a place the world can be, that with your growing sense of independence you need extra reassurance that your mom and dad are here and that we’ll always keep you safe.

It is humbling to see you take these steps towards growing into your own person. It throws me for a loop to realize I have memories from when I was your age. In some ways it feels like dress rehearsal is over and now we’re playing for keeps. I know that I’ve made mistakes as a parent and that I will make many, many more but I hope that as you grow you will view them with same generosity and love that you show us now.

Your dad and I love you so much.

Yours,

Mama

Goodbye, Long Hair!

After having long hair for 20+ years, yesterday I decided it was time for a change.


So far reactions have been mostly positive. As soon as he saw me E’s eyes got really big and he exclaimed, “Wow, your hair looks so good! I like it!” (He’s going to make someone a great husband one day.) My sister Jan and cousin Young Shin, who were babysitting the kids for me, said they like it. According to Young Shin, who just moved here from Korea, it makes me look “like a New Yorker.” And N thought it looked cute.

But poor Mimi kept looking at me in confusion and then looking around the room and back to me until she scrunched up her face and cried like her heart was broken. Poor thing. But as you can see, she got over it.

After having long hair since I was a kid it feels strange to have it so short I can’t even put it in a pony tail. But so far I really like it–no regrets! I’m kind of a beauty/fashion newbie so I’m sure there will be a bit of a learning curve to getting the hang of styling it. But I already feel more put together.