On Sunday 3/18, we got a new addition to our extended family. My cousin John and his wife Nuch, who live in London, were expecting just weeks before us and little Natsha arrived two weeks early! Apparently it took mom only 30 minutes of pushing and baby weighed in at 3 kg (almost 6 1/2 pounds).
Here’s a video of her at 18 hours old:
Boy, our family just keeps growing! Congratulations, Cousins!
We spent a quick 48 hours in Cerritos this past weekend. Not only was it for the Kumquat Shower but our mission was also to pick up the dog and drive the car back up to SF. When we arrived in Cerritos on Friday night, Dog was super excited to see us after 3 weeks at The Magical House. On Saturday, I got up early enough to get some of my mommy’s waffles for breakfast. I also got to see what Koa had been up to the last three weeks.
Apparently there’s a cat that lives behind my dad’s fountain in the backyard and Koa has been on the hunt for him. He runs outside and goes snooping around the fountain and the rest of the backyard. It’s pretty cute. Unfortunately I didn’t see this phantom cat-cat.
Before the Kumquat Party, we went to the Cerritos Farmer’s Market where we picked up some cilantro roots and I got a big bag of Hula Pop.
I also found these kumquats. Aw…cute.
On Saturday night, Jes and I attended the Clarendon Foundation’s Annual Valentine’s Dance at the Omni Hotel in Downtown LA. It’s a fundraiser for a shelter/dormitory for girls in Sri Lanka. It’s run by Dayantha’s dad and Ti was in charge of the event this year. It was like a wedding with no couple to celebrate. Instead there was a silent auction, raffle, and a presentation including a Skype call to the girls at the house. Neato. 
For the event, I bought a little black dress and actually wore heels for the first time in many months. There was a cool water thingy outside of the hotel where Jes took my 31-week belly bump photo. Afterward, we met up with Brother and Joy for a midnight meal at Pacific Dining Car. They didn’t have the stone crab that Jes was craving but Jes had his baseball steak.
On Sunday, we got up at a decent time and said our goodbyes.
We left The Magical House around 10:00 am and somehow we managed to get home by 4:30 with a few pee stops and lunch at In-N-Out. So now life is back to normal with the car and dog at home where they should be. Yay!
On Saturday, there was a big party for Kumquat.
Marie, Patti, and Patty planned it and it was held at Patty and Johnny’s house in Irvine. The family from both sides attended along with some old friends. All the decorations were so cute and of course Marie designed them all.
They also hired a taco truck that we happened to see on the freeway on the way to the house. What fun! They were called Dos Chinos and I really liked the pork belly taco and the Korean beef taco and their fries were tasty too.
Johnny also played bartender and had a menu and everything. His cocktails must have been good because the non-alcoholic versions were pretty tasty.
There were a few games including one where everyone was asked to kiss a teddy bear earlier in the day and then later had to kiss me on the same place. I got some smooches on the elbow and on the head and even on the tummy. It was a little embarrassing for everyone but definitely memorable.
There was also a game where everyone had to memorize the 28 baby items on a tray and Katie played along too. She managed to remember a lot more than I could have a I loved the way she spelled the word “suction”…it was spelled “sukshen”. Cute.
It was great to have family and friends around to celebrate this occasion. My two roomies from UCLA even came and Sandy and I got to compare baby bumps. We’re due in the same week!
The kids all played together and it’s funny that they’ve all met at least once or twice at the pool. It was like the 4-year-old swimming club.
We also brought Koa and he got to hang out with his brother Mochi. They didn’t exactly play like they used to but they didn’t get into a brawl either.
It was a really fun afternoon and Kumquat is very lucky to have so many people who are excited about her arrival. A big thank you goes to Marie, Patty, and Patti! Here are the photos that I got from the party. If anyone has any others, I’d love to see them!
We drove down to Cerritos on Friday afternoon and made it in 6.25 hours including dinner at In N Out and a gas fill-up. The purpose of this weekend was to 1) get the car fixed and 2) to return Jason’s car. In all the planning for the weekend, I couldn’t find someone to watch Koa. So, not only did we leave Jason’s car and our car but we also left the dog. It’ll be three weeks of no car and no dog. That’ll be interesting.
On Saturday, we got the new rim installed at Costco (at no charge!) and I got a good look at the crack in our old one. It’s pretty big crack. No wonder our tire kept going flat. Crazy.
After our trip to Costco, I dropped Jes off at LAX. He flew out to Vegas to visit Kev for the rest of the weekend and Chinese New Year. Meanwhile I got to hang out with the family.
On Sunday morning, my mom and a family friend went out to buy a bunch of food for the Chinese New Year altar. Unfortunately, it was very tempting to Koa. I caught him red-handed with the pork (bottom right) in his mouth and the plate falling to the ground.
Immediately, he was sent out to the backyard for some alone time away from the food.
When it was almost time to catch my 6:30 flight back to SF, I got a text message from SWA saying it was delayed to 10:05. So, I called Brother and Joy and made arrangements to hang out with them until my flight. Before leaving, I took this photo with my parents. Again, I look HUGE! I also said “see ya soon” to the dog, who seemed a little confused that he wasn’t following me and my bags into the car.
For dinner, we had Souplantation, which I had not had since college. I was so excited for the peas and corn and soft serve and it was so cheap!!
Later that night, I got another text saying that the flight was delayed even more and not leaving until 10:55! Yikes. So, after a bumpy flight through the SF rain and a crazy cab ride, I was home by 1:00 am. This morning was rough but I was pretty relieved that I didn’t have a dog to walk in the cold rain.
Here are the rest of the photos from the weekend.
On Wednesday afternoon, I ran some errands with my mom. I made some returns at the mall and then we went to several places to find some salty chicken for dinner. My mom made Kao Mun Gai (Chicken Rice) for dinner and Brother and Joy came over to join us. It was the perfect last meal before heading back up to SF.
Today we got up at a reasonable time, had Mommy-made waffles and bacon for breakfast, and then headed out. It was a smooth drive up with a stop at In-N-Out in Kettleman City. We got home by 4:30 pm with lots of time to order pizza for dinner and to do the laundry.
It was a fun 5 days in sunny Southern California but I wish we had more time to hang out with our friends and family. I think the dog enjoyed his time in The Magical House too.
Here is a collection of all the random photos I took this past week.
On Tuesday night, we had dinner at TGIFriday’s, with Huy, the Fernandos, and Agustins. It was fun to see them all together and I got a bunch of good laughs.
On Wednesday, Jes and I had lunch with Marie and the boys. Jes had his favorite ramen and the boys gobbled up their noodles too. Cole loved his Ninjago kit and Brandon was excited to play with his Cars. 
It’s always great to see the Suminos and makes me miss the days when I would spend random afternoons with them when I lived in Irvine.
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