Easter, park, birthday and others

There are so many pictures and too many things to update for last month. I had to upload part of the pictures in small size and delete a few too. Here are the show-and-tells:

Happy Easter!!! - We had a fun Easter celebration mainly because Emily really enjoyed doing some activities. I'm sure next year it will be even better since Andy will enjoy it too. Sunday normally was the busiest day of the week. So we celebrated Easter on Saturday with our family. Emily read about the true meaning of Easter for that whole week. Saturday morning, she woke up to a trail of the white bunny tails that led up to her and Andy's Easter baskets.



Then she had her bunny themed breakfast.




When Andy was taking the morning nap, we had an Egg Hunt just for Emily:





















I probably told you that most of these eggs were from a stranger that Emily bumped into last year when she was playing in the front yard. All of these were sealed and every one of them had a toy in it. I added three eggs in with some Easter symbols and Hershey kisses (representing the sweet life that Jesus brought to us) and the characters of Jesus (loving, kind, patient, etc.). Ever since Emily found out that one egg had a Hershey kiss in it, she wanted to open every egg to find chocolate even I told her only three eggs had candies.





Then we made some Easter egg crafts and colored eggs.






Emily even threw a tea party for the Spring animals so they didn't feel left out.



Sunday we had lunch with Gayla's family and the Stolte's. We had a good time there.





A Day At Park: For Andy's first birthday, we wanted to take some pictures in the park by a photographer. But we've never been to the park that we picked out. So we decided to go there before the photo session. We totally enjoyed it. Here are a few pictures from the outing:























After we came back from the park, the kids still wanted to play. So we hang out in the backyard for a little while.

Andy's First Birthday: We can't believe our baby boy is one year old! Wow! How time flies! For Andy's birthday, we decided to celebrate it on Sunday afternoon. David made buck wheat banana cupcakes. Andy didn't really eat it, maybe he didn't know what to think about the big dark cake, or maybe he wasn't hungry since it was right after lunch, or maybe the recipe that I picked out for him was not to his taste, ... But we all had fun!

Balloons were absolutely the favorite thing for both kids. If you noticed the red lump on Andy's forehead, that was because he bumped into the corner of the wall chasing the balloons right before he ate the cake. After the cake, we had a "Chinese Zhua Zhou" (a fun Chinese traditional game to "predict the future profession"). Andy grabbed the measuring spoons first, then a book, at last he took hold of the stethescope. Maybe his interest will start with cooking, then learning, then being a doctor?? Ha! I was surprised that he didn't get a vehicle first.

Now Andy really likes his car seat facing forward.

The picture we put on Andy's birthday table was taken by Babiesrus for free. One week before Andy's birthday, Andy and I were shopping at Babiesrus, a lady strolled by. She started to talk to Andy. Then she came back to us and asked us whether she could take a couple of pictures for Andy. She would give us one for free. We were not prepared for pictures. I didn't know whether Andy was in the mood or not. But it was free and Andy's birthday was coming up, so we did it. Andy did great. Unfortunately the controller of her camera was jammed when Andy had the brightest smiles for the longest time. She showed me all the pictures. But she would only give us this one for free. All other better ones were made into photo collages and they were pretty expensive. So we just got this free one.

Before we had the birthday photo session on Saturday, we wanted to take Andy to have his first hair cut. He was doing fine until the boy sitting next to him started crying. Then it turned into a terrifying experience. Poor boy! We may try to trim his hair at home in the future.

Below are other random pictures:

When I wasn't noticing, Emily fed Andy milk and she was so proud of herself.

At another occasion, Emily poured the toy teapot in Andy's mouth. I bet Andy had no idea it was a pretending play. He was so trusting.

Emily and her baby doll Sarah watching video together

Prestoncrest lady's retreat - a reminder to bring home

Emily loves to wear my shoes. Every time she wore them, Andy would follow her footsteps and try to put his feet in the shoes also. As an attempt to get away from Andy, Emily told him "Mommy's shoes are dirty! Andy. These are mommy's dirty shoes. Don't touch them. OK? " She often commented on my clothes or gave me suggestions on what to wear. Sometimes I did wish I had followed her suggestions (you know the Texas weather!). She would say "Mommy, your dress is so pretty! You look very beautiful!" or "You did a great job!" or "How about that one ... the red one?" ... It warms my heart to see my little girl grows up so fast!

David, Emily and Andy watching the Chinese program on the laptop to learn Chinese together after dinner

Emily's new bedding. It matches the wall border and other decorations in her room perfectly. She loves her bed!!!

Different usage of the baby doll stroller

Here are some pictures of Emily playing in the backyard. She loves being outside and she loves to sing. Her favorite songs right now are: "I'm in the Lord's army" "God is so good" "Holy holy holy". I didn't know that she listened to the lyrics but apparently she did. She knew more lyrics of these songs than I did!

Emily and Daddy

Yogurt is the favorite snack for both kids - All gone!

We didn't plan to take the bluebonnet pictures that day. But since we dropped by and we had the camera. We took a couple of pictures. It was so hot and windy.

Last but not the least, in honor of our birthday boy, I'm posting some of his pictures here. You can tell what a joy he is to our family, just like his sister! We are so blessed! At one year old, Andy has 8+ teeth. He skipped crawling just like what his sister did. He is walking by holding one hand - non-stop! He is pleasant, happy, focused, friendly, smart, cuddly and sweet. He loves his naps. His favorite food are puff, apple, cheerio, cracker, peanut butter sandwich, yogurt, mango and fried rice. He doesn't like to have a bib on. He doesn't like his face or hands to be wiped either. So it's not unusual to see the food stains on his shirt. His favorite toys: vehicles, balloons, balls. He dances with music all the time. Emily often tells me, "look Mommy, Andy is dancing" when I play some kids music. We love you Andy! You are absolutely precious to Mommy and Daddy! We look forward to celebrating many many more birthdays with you!

March Update

We had some wonderful weather as well as some cold/raining days in March. But overall I think this is the warmest March that I remembered in several years. So we had lots of stroller walks, flying kite, playing in the park, etc. During the raining days, Emily and Andy enjoyed playing in their play tent and tunnels. David finished planting the vegetable in the garden. He can't wait for the sprouts to come out. During our foundation repair, the bunnies moved away from our patio in the backyard (under the wooden deck). Now we are pleased to see a couple of new bunnies moved back. Emily especially enjoys watching the squarrels, bunnies and birds in the backyard. We look forward to more good weather in April.

Playing in the tent

Emily is an official "big girl" now since she just got her twin bed. We haven't got her bedding yet. So her bedding right now is made up by all kinds of used sheets and blankets. She is very detail oriented. She does things with a rare precision. When she played with her bath toys, she would line them up in perfect straight line and take them off one by one. One day we were ready to head out for lunch, after I picked up Andy, I saw that my shoes were lined up perfectly at the door - Emily just took my shoes out of the closet and got them ready to put on. "Mommy, here are your black shoes!" When she saw that Andy was hanging on the edge of the sofa trying to come down, she ran to him and held him from behind "Andy, let me help you to get down!" Then she brought Andy toys to the sofa so that he didn't have to move cautiously to the toy area. When she saw Andy still had bib on after he had milk, she went over and took the bib off "Now you will feel better Andy!" ... She just loves to help her little brother and get everything straight.

The toy she lined up at bath time - She asked them to hold hands to pray for dinner

She is more and more independant each day. She has her ideas of what pajamas to put on, which shoes to wear, which spoon to use, etc. She prefers taking the lid off the yogurt and doing many things by herself. At first, we didn't get it and she couldn't articulate what was wrong when we did for her. That caused quite a few tantrams. It's no co-incidence that her favorite video right now is "The Little Engine That Could" with a few lines "I think I can!" "I did it!" "I can do it!" She moved from the toddler bed to the twin bed in one month because we found that she would fall asleep on the floor when she could get in and out of the bed easily. At the same time, she often surprises me with her patience and obedience. She expresses more and more affection to Andy. She said several times: "I love you, Andy!" recently. When Andy's elbow bumped into her forehead, she said "Sorry Andy! Did your elbow hurt?" What a sweet sister!

Andy still adores his sister like no one else. He would hug her from the back or follow every step she takes. So far, Emily and Andy have never made each other fuss yet. Andy is such an easy baby that he is actually easier than Emily in many ways although Emily was a super easy baby already. Like all the babies at his age, he is obsessed by walking and waving now. There are two things that Andy absolutely loves: wheels and music. He loves cars because he can turn them over and play with the wheels. He also turns any toy that has a wheel over to play: the pushing toy, the pulling toy ... He can spin and spin the wheels for the longest time. He responds to the music instantly. He loves playing piano. He also loves to listen to the music. He would stop anything if the music is on. And he still falls asleep with his bedtime music. He always keeps a good mood: quiet, pleasant, happy, sweet, and friendly. Even when he is teething, we would hardly notice if we didn't happen to see his finger in his mouth through the camera. He just seldom gets fussy, if at all. Like one lady said, "he is so good to Mommy!" (and to Daddy, Emily, and people around him ...)

Andy in the playing tent playing with Emily (Sorry about his haircut - I didn't do a good job)

Lunch with Gayla at Cheddars

Teething?

I started having a little time to read some parenting books recently. Here are part of the books that I got using my birthday money. The last book "Organized Simplicity" was David's favorite since he already finished the book and implemented it before I even started reading. I can't wait to read all of them! I picked them out because these authors have inspired me to become a better mother in some way or the other through their blogs, articles or newsletters. I'd like to quote some of them here. I'm sure you will be inspired too! David started going to the "Revolutionary Parenting - how to raise spiritual champion" class on Sunday mornings. He liked it a lot.

A Paren's Manifesto:

1. Today, I will make our home a house of prayer. I will pray at set times. And I will invite our children to come move into an interior space that lives with God.

2. Today, I will transfigure all things into beauty, and I will refuse to see anything else.

3. Today, I will not have any emergencies. There are no emergencies! Only amateurs hurry.

4. Today, when stress mounts, I pray to dismount it with gratitude. My stress management plan will be intervention with verbal thanks. I can only feel one feeling at a time, and I choose to give thanks at all times. Fight feeling with feeling!

5. Today, I will pray to speak words that are only STRONG words, words that make these children feel strong. Grace words. Grace is the only non-toxic air. All other words I breathe are death words.

6. Today, I will pray to be consistently consistent. I will create safe rhythms that our children can find security in. I will create daily ceremonies because everyday we are CELEBRATING the gift of now!

7. Today, the moment when I am most repelled by a child's behavior, that is my sign to draw the very closest to that child.

8. Today, I will hug each of my children as many times as I serve them meals -- because children's hearts feed on touch. I'll look for as many opportunities to touch my children today as possible --- the taller they are, the more so.

9. Today, my priorities will be all Things Unseen.

10. Today, I will laugh! And I will let the little children laugh! I will create a culture of JOY!

"... my goal–raising my children to the very best of my ability, using every day for His glory, was my calling. The beginning point is for moms to yield to God–all that they are–and to submit to the limitations of the vast amount of time it takes to build children into godly, whole, inspired persons. It all starts with the mom’s heart, as she responds to God’s heart."

"When I studied scripture and found that the stewardship of a child’s life, his training, education, character, emotional health, spiritual vigor, well-being, mind heart was entrusted to me, I realized that I needed to give my whole self to it. I had to work through selfishness, giving up my rights to my own time, my body, my sleep, and I had to learn what a servant heart was. And so, when my kid needed me yesterday and I could see that she needed my ear, my time, my encouragement, my attention, the grid through which I had learned to practice life–she is my priority—told me what to do–to take the time today, now, this moment, because this is the day to parent. She will not be with me always, but I have her this day, to love and serve her and to point her to the God who will always be with her and who has a plan for her life."

I have a heart to train my children in righteousness, but my focus is on winning their hearts and instructing their minds. I want them to love Jesus and God with their whole hearts–I do not just want them to obey rules, so that they will say “I am obeying on the outside, but I am rebelling on the inside.” Works and performance is not my goal, a transformed and inspired heart is my goal. Jesus did that by cultivating a deep, loving and committed relationship with his disciples. They all loved and respected Him so much, as He served them so generously, that they wanted to follow him to a death on the cross, because they believed in Him and wanted to serve them out of a loving and transformed heart. I want them to love righteousness and truth and beauty and so I come along beside them as an advocate, morning, noon and night, to show them and help them and instruct them.”

"Children never for us, to please us, to fulfill us, but I am for her, to nurture and protect and serve and children are the gift and parents are the ones who give. I know not of tiger mothers, but He speaks of lamb mothers with the heart of the Lion of Judah who lay down their lives for the sheep. Who lay down happiest laughter, realest joy, lay down story and wonder and questions and discovery and prayers and protective boundaries and words that make souls stronger, who lay down memoried loved upon memoried love and here we might."

At the one year mark of the professional motherhood, I too wanted to re-commit myself to raising my children to the very best of my ability, using every day for His glory! Happy parenting to every parent!

Big Girl and Big Brother

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35)

We can't write about Feburary without talking about Valentine's Day. David got us this Valentine's balloon. It has been our family's favorite gift on Valentine's Day. Every member of our family loved it! We had the heart shaped pancakes for breakfast. Emily spent the morning to make a love heart out of the red paper and the pink paper. We made the paste out of the flour. Emily cut the paper, brushed the paste and sprinkled the paper onto the heart shaped paste. Then Emily and I drew on the patio with the chalks. In the afternoon we made the chocoloate covered cheerio treats. Emily could hardly wait to have them when David came home. My favorite part of this Valentine's Day was the "How can I love you better?" talk. I was so blessed to have a humble loving husband who strives to be a better lover in his daily walk with Christ. That alone is better than any gift I can receive. I surely pray that Andy will be like that when he grows up. I also look forward to the day when Emily and Andy are old enough to do some serving projects together for others on Valentine's day.
















The second famous day in Febrary probably was the President's Day. Emily and I read the story of "George Washington and the Cherry Tree" and colored the picture together. David and I thought it was very timely because we recently found Emily made up things to say a couple of times in order to answer our questions (when she didn't know how to answer). Although it was totally innocent. Maybe it's the stage that she is in right now since she loves playing make-believe. But it's never too early to teach her that she doesn't have to give us a good answer to please us.





Speaking of make-believe, you can tell how Emily loves it from these pictures. She is playing with little people, animals, cars, teapot, ... every day and multiple times a day. It warms my heart to listen to her sweet caring talks with every character she encounters:







One highlight this month was our friends Darren and Brian's visit. Emily loved them. Can you tell from the picture how much she loved Darren?








Another highlight was Chloe's birthday. We all went to Austin to celebrate Chloe's and Kendall's birthday. Unfortunately we didn't have any picture of it. We are look forward to seeing the pictures from Amy and Dad. Dad stopped by on the way back home. Emily couldn't get enough time with Grandpa. Here's her sitting on Grandpa's lap watching Winnie The Pooh.

Now let me give some updates on the kids. Emily is very proud of herself being a "Big girl". She moved from the crib to the toddler bed without any problem. She loves her new bed. Luckily we don't have to put on the child-prove device on the door knob since she is doing great both at night times and naps. She did get up a few times at night but she went right to sleep after we put her back in bed. No struggles so far! She loves singing (she made up songs for everything she does with familiar tunes) and watching videos (probably more than I wanted her to); climbing and sliding; jumping and running; spinning and dancing; giving her teddy bear or baby a stroller walk along with me and Andy (that puts a smile on every driver who saw us in the neighborhood); playing with the doll houses; imitating Andy and teaching Andy; going to Bible classes ... Oh, did I mention that she has asked to be baptized twice already? She asked me the first time after a baptism at church "Mommy, I want to be baptized". The lady in front of us said, "it's never too early to talk about it." She asked again at bedtime after David read the books (her favorite bedtime story recently is David and Goliath. She always asked to read it again and again). David told her "you can when you grow up." Being the first child who is only 18 months older than her baby brother, Emily radiates her maturity and sweetness daily in our life. Almost every Sunday her Bible class teacher would tell us how sweet, precious and amazing she was. The most amazing character that we see from her is that she really cares about other people's feelings and thoughts. She asked many times when I sat across her:" Mommy, what are you thinking?" or "Mommy, do you like it?" We began to jot down daily what she said and did in a binder along with our family verses. We just don't ever want to forget how blessed we are to be her parents.

Our Andy is as sweet and precious as his sister. David said "I can see one day our Andy will be like Christopher Robin (the character in Winnie The Pooh)". Andy admires and adores his sister every moment. He's eager to catch up with her. Here are some things that make Andy Andy: He is friendly and easy-going; he likes to drink water from a glass or a straw bottle and hates drinking from a sippy cup; he seldom (almost never, except puffs, his blanket, and a couple of stuffed animals) puts things in his mouth; he is very determined to reach his toys; he doesn't like his mouth or face to be wiped or touched (except brushing his gums and teeth); he is more mobile than Emily; and he is pickier in food than Emily. In his nine months old checkup, his weight was 80 percentile, height 97 percentile, head 100 percentile - He is Big. Now he wants to put almost all his energy practicing walking. At this rate, he may be another candidate who skips crawling before walking. Here are some pictures of him:

As far as David and I, we finished up the foundation repairs. Then we installed a whole house water filter system (wished we had done that earlier) and shopped for the insurance company. David also worked on the dryer and other house projects. For the last two weeks, we've been dealing with the hospital bills (from Andy's birth) and FSA. Based on what FSA told us, the hospital over-charged us and it won't be covered by FSA. It was no surprise because Emily's hospital over-charged us also. In addition to that, we didn't do a good job estimating the health care expense. So we are losing quite some money. Lesson learned: don't pre-pay the hospital until you receive the actual bills and have the modest estimate if you don't know how much to plan for.

It will be a whole year since I quit my job to stay at home on March 5th. What a year! There were times when stresses were high and the hands were few; but I wouldn't trade one minute for anything else. I love catching every milestones of my kids and recording them; I love listening to my kids laughing and giggling; I love watching them acting like a little adults; ... how fast time travels! The only thing I wished was that I had read enough parenting books before the kids were born so that I would have both practical and theoretical early childhood education applications along the way. But it's never too late. I'm setting out for another great year with my lovely kids!

Here are some additional pictures:
Emily is showing Andy how to crawl:

Emily is helping out to vacuum the play area:

Emily wants to walk like Andy (she can imitate Andy's every movement - that just cracked David up):

Emily is playing with Andy: