Browse Author: beakatude

Last Day of Leave

IMG_6604Today is my last day of maternity leave.  It’s been a good run.  I’ve been off work since June 27 so it’s been almost 7 months – the longest period of time that I’ve ever not worked.  Unfortunately, a lot of it is quite a blur.  Sleep deprivation has had a lot to do with it but it’s also because raising two small children is a lot more work and chaos than I imagined.

A part of me is relieved to be going back to work.  I don’t know why because the work sounds hard and not as fun anymore.  Likely it’s because I miss seeing my friends.  I’ve missed our day-to-day antics and sometimes a weekly text message just doesn’t cut it. I’m thankful that I work at a place where the people miss me. I’m also looking forward to the additional income.  We’ve been doing fine while I’ve been off but it will be nice to have that little extra money to save and use for what we need or want.

A bigger part of me is very sad for more obvious reasons. I’ll really miss my baby boy.  But now that he’s turning 6 months in 10 days, I suppose it’s time for him to explore the world without me around.  He’s a social little guy and will love being taken around to the park, the library, and wherever else Mirian decides to go.  He’ll also learn Spanish and play with other kids. I went out quite a bit these past months but not to the same extent.  He’ll also get more attention since her time will be devoted to him and not to the laundry or dishes.

IMG_0010I’ve also had some quality time with my first born.  I admit, we’ve had some rough times but it’s been worthwhile. She’s become more independent, strong-willed, and opinionated (aka 3 years old) and I have had less energy, less patience, and less time for her.  It was nice to have had that full month with her before Peanut was born but I just wished I wasn’t 8 months pregnant.  All she wanted to was for me to run with her outside or play with her on the floor.  Both were very hard at that point in my pregnancy. It was nice to be able to walk her to school, pick her up, and just be there when she needed a little extra time to warm up. I’m also so thankful that the addition of a little brother has been positive for her and that she has completely embraced her role as a big sister.

One of the advantages of being off was that I was able to travel more frequently and for longer periods of time.  We were able to take a long weekend in Napa, go to Vancouver for a week, spend a week in Cerritos, play in Hawaii for a week, and then stay in Southern California for 10 days for the holidays.  I never felt rushed to head home and I didn’t have the same sense of anxiety that I normally do when I know I have to return to work the next day.  All these trips were so memorable and gave us some needed time as a family of 4 and with our extended family as well.

I suppose I’m ready to embark on this next stage.  It’s back to full-time work and hopefully I’ll find a way to balance family and work in a way that doesn’t drive me insane.  Wish me luck!

FYI

1/13/16: The site is back up.  Hooray.

1/11/16: KK and Peanut’s site got hacked this morning.  It’s getting fixed but won’t be up for a day or so.  Thank to Brother for helping me out.  🙂

Year in Review 2015

IMG_5856Happy New Year!! I can’t believe it’s 2016 already.  I don’t really know where 2015 went!  At this point, it’s all kind of a blur.  It must be the lack of sleep.  All the days have sort of blended in with each other.  I was either pregnant or taking care of an infant, which made it one crazy ride!

IMG_8256Best Moment:
Meeting my baby boy on July 31st.  He was born healthy and big.  He came out hungry and still has quite the appetite.

Best Meal:
Unfortunately, Jes and I don’t get out much anymore. Honestly, my favorite snack of the year was the night we brought Peanut home and Jes poured me a small glass of wine.  I drank that glass in bed with some Pringles.

IMG_9918The most memorable meal, however, was when we went to Morimoto in Napa with 6 adults and 5 kids.  It was in the middle of a heat wave and the A/C in the restaurant wasn’t working.  I don’t think all 6 adults were ever sitting at the table at one time and at least 4 adults had a child in their lap.  The meal was still really good but the experience was a little more chaotic than we would have liked.

IMG_2484Best Vacation:
It’s a tie between the two trips to Hawaii.  Both were with family/friends and both were really fun.  I feel fortunate to have been able to go TWICE in one year!! Runner up was our trip to Vancouver.

IMG_5005Other Highlights from 2015:

    Jes and I turned 40. We also celebrated our 20th anniversary as a couple.
    KK started preschool and took Yoga and Soccer classes.
    We went to Disneyland twice this year. Actually, KK got to go any extra time over Memorial Day weekend too!
    I spent half the year pregnant and the other half on maternity leave.  Both were hard.
    Jes started traveling internationally for work. In 2015, he went to Grenoble, France x2 and Shenzhen, China x1.
    Jia gave birth to twins.
    We have four fish tanks in our tiny home.

Christmas in SoCal

IMG_4949I had the privilege of spending 10 whole days in Southern California for the holidays this year (Dec 19-29).  This was probably the longest I’ve had with the family in a long time.

IMG_5660The girls had lots of good quality time together and we heard a lot of giggles this time around.

IMG_5198I loved just hanging out at the Magical House and it’s so nice to have Brother and Joy living there right now.  He and Joy even made some molasses cookies for us to snack on.

IMG_5204In the mornings, KK would often go to the Cerritos Mall with my dad.  She loved the riding toys and my dad just couldn’t help putting coins in for her.  Jes and I usually just tell her that we don’t have any money.  Heh heh.

IMG_5241What I love about being home is meeting up with old friends that I don’t get to see as often as I’d like.  I met up with my UCLA girls at Linda’s house one night and it was so fun to catch up and reminisce.

IMG_5273Holly also came over one day and brought Andrew.  KK hadn’t seen him in over a year and after a little warming up period, they were buddies again.

IMG_5320Before heading down to SoCal, we made a list of things we wanted to eat and one of them was Din Tai Fung.  IMG_5315So, on Christmas Eve, we went to the new location at South Coast Plaza.  IMG_5314Yum yum yum…love their xiao long bao.

IMG_5387On Christmas morning, we were in Buena Park and it was fun to open gifts with all the kids.  IMG_5346Every year, Jes’ mom buys him and Jason matching sweaters or jackets.  Jes usually gets the blue one and this year was no different.  Here they are with their matching sweaters.

IMG_5424Somehow, we managed to get a photo of all the kids together on Christmas night before dinner.  The twins were so cute in their matching Christmas jammies.

IMG_5462For dinner, Jes made a standing rib roast for the whole family.

IMG_5463He made Yorkshire pudding again this year and they came out perfectly!

IMG_5532Another item on our list was a pastrami sandwich and chili cheese fries from The Hat.  I forgot how enormous the fries were.  We saw couples in the restaurant eating just that as their meal.

IMG_5559Another family tradition is to gather all of my cousins together for a Thai feast at Thai Nakorn.  IMG_5558With Ishya and family also in town, our party was even bigger this year!

IMG_5639Another SoCal favorite is Wahoo’s.  This wasn’t on our list but a nice bonus meal! Jes was so happy with his enchilada.IMG_5645I had my usual fish tacos with extra salsa for my rice and beans.  Boy, I wish they had Wahoo’s up in the Bay Area.

IMG_5617One afternoon, all the cousins on both sides of the family were all together at the Magical House.  So cute.

IMG_5651On our last night in Cerritos, we had some more Thai food for dinner with my family.

IMG_5681Before leaving for our long drive back to SF, we had one last meal with Jes’ parents.

It was so much fun being home for so long.  We accomplished almost everything on our list and I got s few naps in too.

Disneyland

IMG_5127We went to Disneyland again this month since it’s our family tradition and it was the end of my family’s annual passes.  This year, we only went to Disneyland (and not CA Adventure), which was plenty for us.

IMG_5025We were smart to borrow Jason and Jia’s double stroller for this visit.  It was a real back saver.

IMG_5013We ventured up to Toon Town, which we hadn’t gone to in a very long time.  When we went to visit Mickey, memories of working there suddenly flooded my head (both good and bad).

IMG_5115The kids took their annual photo with Santa and Peanut was loving his comfy lap.  KK was still a little weary of the man in red but sat next to him and told him she wanted “Octonauts” for Christmas.

IMG_5125One of the best treats I’ve had there was this apple pie funnel cake that all 9 of us shared.

IMG_5054It was so much fun being there with the whole family and it never seems to get old – especially now that we have our own kids to relive the magic and fun.

IMG_0256What’s also nice about having the whole family there is that I actually get to ride some of the faster rides while the grandparents watch the kids.  They were like “mini dates” for us.  This is a photo of me and Jes waiting to board Star Tours.  Jes, the rebel, put his 3D glasses on before we were allowed to.IMG_5066We also rode Hyperspace Mountain with Brother and Joy.  Fun fun fun!

IMG_5110I also love the Christmas decorations all around the park.  Makes Disneyland even more special.

IMG_5095Looked like Peanut enjoyed all the lights and colors too.

IMG_5079Since it was Disneyland’s Diamond Celebration, they had these funny backdrops for us to take photos.  IMG_5289Too bad KK was sleeping because only Peanut made it into these pictures.  Pretty funny stuff.

IMG_5152After dinner, the rest of the family went home and we stayed until closing time.  It was fun taking KK on Dumbo and the rocket ships at night.

IMG_5153We also stayed for the fireworks and watched Fantasmic one last time before they closed it for the building of Star Wars Land.

IMG_5164We may or may not visit Disneyland next year if it’s not worth it.  I’m glad we went one more time this year.

So much to eat…

IMG_4403One the best things about Hawaii is the food!! In between trips to the pool and beach, we ate and ate.

IMG_4100Of course, we started the trip with Jes’ favorite ramen.  Interestingly, Kurt and Yoon suggested their favorite ramen place and Jes HAD to try it.

IMG_0215He had the tonkatsu ramen at Yotekko-Ya and he agreed. It was delicious.  He thinks it ranks at least #1 or #2 on his list now but he’s debating because their fried rice and gyoza are no good.

IMG_3979Our first meal in Hawaii was actually at Nico’s Fish Market.  It’s close to the freeway and on the way to Waikiki.  I love their furikake ahi and Jes substituted the salad for a mac salad for me. Yes!

IMG_4124One of my favorite breakfasts is the coconut waffle at Eggs ‘n Things.  I don’t know how many times I’ve had it or taken a photo of it but I just can’t help myself.  It’s like I just want to remember the yumminess forever.

IMG_4192For an early dinner, we went to Tonkatsu Ginza Bairin and I had the katsu-don, which also keeps really well for the next morning.  KK never stays awake for dinner here so she always gets this dish for breakfast the next day.

IMG_4276From Rainbow Drive-In, I had the loco moco.  KK loved it so much that she ate half of my plate.  I don’t blame her because it’s so tasty and comforting.

IMG_4302On this trip, I had a whole ‘lotta poke.  I guess i was making up for the last trip when I was pregnant.  One afternoon, we bought some poke and had a picnic in our hotel room.  KK ate her fair share of poke today.

IMG_4321

Since Leonard’s was down the street from Rainbow, we stopped to get 6 original sugar malasadas and then 6 filled malasadas: lilikoi, haupia, and chocolate.  IMG_4317We had plenty to share and the first one I ate was the haupia-filled one and split it with Ranee.  DE-lish!  Even Avia looked excited.

IMG_4374We always have at least one breakfast at McDonald’s.  Their Spam and eggs platter is always tasty – especially when you can have a fried haupia pie after. 🙂

IMG_4408On one of the days, we took Jason and Jia to North Shore for garlic shrimp.  I ate this whole plate all by myself. Don’t judge! KK actually gobbled up half of Jes’ plate after her peeled them all.  That’s my girl!

IMG_4424We also stopped at Matsumoto for some shave ice. We picked coconut, lilikoi, and pineapple today.IMG_4456We also made an impromptu stop at the Dole Plantation on our way back and KK scored a second treat that afternoon.  She loves Dole Whip as much as Mama.

IMG_4602At Yoon’s house, she served brunch including macnut pancakes and fried rice from Boots and Kimo’s.  YUM!IMG_4603She also picked up poke from The Hibachi.  Their hamachi poke was so good.

IMG_4552Back at Sheraton Waikiki, we had a few meals at their poolside bar.  As SPG members, kids eat free with a paid adult meal.  The kalua pork nachos and korean chicken wings were pretty good.  IMG_4687I also had the kimchee fried rice loco moco one afternoon and scored a free crudites platter for KK.

IMG_4695Of course, my favorite part of Hawaii is the refreshing mai tai.  I had quite a few and they taste even better when both of your kids are sleeping.

IMG_4288Also, as SPG members, we got to visit the GIFT store where you can take home whatever you can fit into their tiny paper bag.  Ranee and I raided the store and managed to stuff two full bottles of wine and a cooler bag into it.

IMG_4709I even balanced a little pretzel/peanut butter snack on top for good measure.  Haha.  We’re so ghetto but we followed the rules fair and square!

I love Hawaii.  I can’t wait to go back.