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Monday, September 23, 2013

28 Things on My 28th Year of Living

YES...it is true...I am in fact, in my late 20s...

I am not ashamed to say coz it's fun to see people's reactions when they find out that my kids aren't my siblings and I'm not in high school anymore. 

Anyways, a few month ago, I read a blog post stating some random facts about them on their birthday and I thought it would be fun to copy. 

Some are kinda self righteous and borderline bragging but its my birthday so lay off. I just thought it would be a fun way to get to know me better and for my kids to find this someday and realize how cool or weird their mother is. 

So here are my 28 fun facts for my 28th year of birth. 
  • I frequently talk to myself. While walking around, driving, shopping, exercising, whatever. I always find myself jabbering to myself. Weirdo alert!
    Before the show and in our introduction wear.
  • When I was 18, I lost a bet and ended up joining a pageant. Miss Philippines-New Zealand Asia Pacific pageant to be exact. I did the talent, swimwear, cultural wear, evening gown and all that shebang! My question was "what do you think about the nuclear bomb in North Korea?" uuuhhhmmmm??? i chocked BIG TIME and needless to say, I did not place AT ALL.  But it turned out to be a fun experience.
  • I was (and still am) quite messy. I can never keep my room clean. Once when I was still in high school, a robber came into our house and immediately left coz he saw my room and realized that someone already robbed it before him. True story!
  • I'm a closet cryer. I've always tried to tough it out but I cry easily. I just stop it before the tears come out.
  • I had my little stint in modeling. Even landed a couple of jobs with it. But  never couldn't have made it tho coz I'm quite uncomfortable in front of the camera. Im a behind the scenes kinda gal. This got me interested in photography, I'm much comfortable behind the camera.
  • I don't know my times tables. Besides the 1, 2, 5, 10 and 11 times tables, I still use my hand. Or my handy calculator on my phone. Just goes to show that its not that important since I got a Degree...LOL!
  • I went bungy jumping one time and I did it because I got jealous of Maverick who did it 3 days before I did. What a RUSH! and I would TOTALLY do it again!!!
  • I had an inventory for all my gel pen collection and I would check it once a month. I didnt want any of them to get lost...and I was always so sad when my favorite ones dry out or run out of ink...
  • Same goes for my sticker collection (that I still have today). WOW!!!
  • I got a $50 a week allowance when I was in high school. (And Mav was APPALLED when he heard this) which I used for food and bus fare.
  • But when a Spice Girls magazine comes out, I would use my bus fare money to buy the magazine and walk home which would take me an hour.
  • I am OCD about how my stuff are organized. BUT I am also quite lazy. And most of the time my laziness trumps my wants to organize. So it's safe to say that my OCDness takes a backseat.
  • I am CHEAP! Yard sales are my addiction and I have found some pretty cool stuff for cheap cheap cheap!!! Such a thrill getting a deal that it greater than great!!!
  • I write my feelings. I have always been better at writing what I feel than saying it and becoming a big blubbering blah. If I can't express how I really feel, I write it in a letter. So if you have ever received a letter from me, you know my true feelings at that present moment.
  • When I was a teenager I won a "make egg whites fluffy using just your hand competition". I was pretty proud!
  • I did a year of piano lessons when I was 8 and every time I see a piano I still play my recital piece that I did back then. Mainly because I don't know how to play anything else.
  • I have double-jointed fingers and I use it to freak people out.
  • After a heartbreaking break up with a boy, I decided to serve an 18month mission for the LDS church. I went to my bishop to get the process started but he denied me and said that he will give me a month. If I still feel the same way in a month then we can go ahead with the paper work...I met Maverick 2 1/2 weeks later...
    With my campaign partner Andreas
  • I ran for BYUH student body vice-president and lost. It was a very grueling week of campaigning but I learned a lot. Extra super embarrassing note: for the Q&A, I was the first person to answer of all the 8 candidates and the question was, "if u were a fruit or vegetable, what would you be and why?" Well, my answer was a radish! A RADISH!!! I panicked and CHOCKED, yet again!!! Mav reminds me of this moment ALL THE TIME...
  • I have Glossophobia. A fear of public speaking.  Probably why I lost the above campaign and the pageant. Come to think of it, I don't even know why I did those two in the first place. I still get anxious and sweaty palms whenever I have to speak in front of people. Then I get the shakes afterwards. I can dance in front of thousands of people without a problem (given that I know what I'm dancing to) but I freak out if I have to speak in front of 10.
  • When I was 7, a girl in my class broke her leg and got a cast and was carried around every where. I thought that she was the coolest person ever so I wanted a cast too. So I purposely tried to brake my leg by placing rocks on my path and skating over them "by accident". It never worked... And I have yet to break a bone.
  • I played 1st 11 (varsity) soccer in high school but quit mid season on my third year coz we left for a trip to the Philippines.
    I got bumped up to executive class on my way to Japan coz I flirted with the guy checking me in. 
  • I've been to Thailand, Hong Kong, Philippines, Bahamas, Japan, Australia, Fiji, New Zealand and of course USA. Heading over to Singapore in December. And I don't plan to stop traveling. I love seeing and experiencing other cultures and I am very grateful my parents put traveling as a priority and I would like to do the same with my kids.
  • I used to sleep with a light on. Nighttime is creepy!!!
  • I learned to crochet through YouTube and got quite addicted.
  • I don't wear make-up. Ok maybe once a month I would wear it to church. But only if we had enough time to get ready.
    Pretty sure this has been the longest that my hair has ever been
  • last time I got my hair cut was when Hyrum was 6 months old. I'm quite sick of it and I'm ready to chop it off. Just waiting on a buyer...
  • I actually enjoy cooking. Up until we moved to Idaho (and I became a stay-at-home mom) cooking was NOT my forte. I was a bad cook. Like sworn forever to ramen noodles, hamburger helper, and TV dinners kind. BUT, if I was gonna do this whole 'mom' thing then by golly I'm gonna do it good! So away I went, chopping and dicing and mixing and boiling and sautéing and tasting. I am quite proud of my 'new found' culinary skills. And nothing beats the feeling that I get when I make something wholesome and healthy for my family. Especially if they ask for seconds of a dish with Quinoa and spinach in it. 
Sooooo there you have it. 
CHEERS to my late 20s! 

Friday, September 13, 2013

Toddler Lab for Little Miss

This is Halia's first day in Toddler Lab.

She is part of the Early Head Start program and they are partnered up with College of Southern Idaho who has a program called Toddler Lab in which Halia got a 'scholarship' for.

It is basically 'pre' pre-school as it is for 18 months - 3 years old and it is a great program where they learn through play. The 'staff' are mainly college students who are studying early childhood but there a person in charge who is there all the time.

Hyrum was part of it last year and he LOVED it! It taught him to be more social and it took away his separation anxiety which was great! So when they approached me to see if Halia would like to go to, I of course, said yes.

So twice a week, for 2 hours, she is in someone else's care, which I get kinda nervous about but I know she's in good hands.

I wanna say that she clung on to me and bawled her eyes not wanting me to go on her first day BUT NOOO...quite the opposite...

When I dropped Hy off the first time I hung out in the waiting area spying on him and I nearly cried (he was soooo sad walking around with his head down looking miserable) When I dropped Halia off the first time I also nearly cried coz she didnt care!
Owww the dilemma!!!

Potty Training at 18 months

At 16 months, little Miss Destructonator was already showing signs of potty training readiness. I was back and forth with the idea of starting so young coz the way I see it was start at 18 months and take 6 months to be fully potty trained or wait 6 months and be fully potty trained in a week...

Well then I remembered that we have a big overseas trip coming up (more on this later). Sooo if she's ready then I will go ahead so that I won't have to worry about finding clean places to change her diaper. 

So I decided to be brave and just go with it. Bought cute little monkey underwears, printed potty charts and bought my sticker and candy bribe. 
 Then away we went. Home bound, butt naked, juice overload, paper towels ready and spray cleaner loaded for a whole entire week. 

Hyrum (and I) got cabin fever. Halia loved all the attention coz I never left her during that one week. The minute I loose her (cooking dinner or on the phone) she has an accident. Grrrr! After 3 days though, she started getting the point of catching it before it trickles out. So there was hope...

The next week I started getting more lenient on going out. We would only go to the park though so if she had an accident, it wouldn't be such a big deal. 

She hasn't had a lot of no.2 accidents so I'm really glad that she got that sorted out first. It's easier to clean up pee accidents than poops. She has never peed in her underwear (since starting potty training) during nap time or bedtime so I'm also really happy that night time potty training is out of the way. 
We only did 3 filled potty charts till she became uninterested.
So week two went great! A lot better than I expected...

In the beginning of third week, we are down to 2-3 accident a day. Then got 2 days of accident free!!! I was SOOO impressed!!! Then we went to Utah on Saturday...

I said that the ultimate test would be in Lagoon. I didn't want to put her in Pull-ups the whole day so during the car ride she was on it until we got to the theme park. As soon as we got there, I changed her into her underwear and hoped for the best! Only 2 accidents! Which I am still happy about coz the public toilets were big, loud, bright and kinda intimidating for a potty training girl. 

This week marks week four and she is still doing great! She is in big girl underwear all day and all night now. Even all throughout church, trips to the park, grocery stores, out and about. She has accidents here and there, especially when she busy playing (or when we forget to ask for a while) so still not 100% there but we got three months away from the big trip so as long as she's ready by then, I am fine with it...

It isn't as bad of an experience as with Hy coz I think I am more patient, and more knowledgeable and more relaxed about it. I just hope that she doesn't regress like Hy did coz I don't think threatening to put her back on diapers wouldn't work. 

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Impromptu Lagoon

We had an all of a sudden lets pack and go to Utah kinda weekend. My in-laws talked about it but never really confirmed that we are going until the day before we were leaving so it was kinda hectic.

So Friday after Mavericks work, we loaded up and headed to Oakley so that we can get up and leave bright and early on Saturday to spend the day at Lagoon. 

We got there around noon and I was disappointed a little coz I wanted to arrive early so we can ride a lot of rides without the big long lines. To our surprise, the lines were fairly small. Longest wait time was about 20 mins which is GREAT! 

Anyways, long story short, we had a GREAT day! Kids loved being spoiled by grandma and grandpa, Mav and I got to ride the big roller coasters without worrying about the kids, lines were short, sun was shining, brought plenty of food and everyone enjoyed themselves. 

Hy bawling his eyes out
 
 
He wasnt allowed to go on the bumper cars with us and he was so sad...
I couldnt take any pictures in the swimming pool area coz we left the camera inside a locker. And we didnt have any photos of the big rides coz well, we were riding them and i dont think bringing a camera in a roller coaster is a good idea.

Two lessons learned:

• Hyrum does NOT like rides. Halia was more excited, braver and rode more rides than Hyrum did. What a surprise! 

• My days of endless roller coaster riding fun is limited. I actually blacked out a couple of times and got really close to loosing my lunch on a few occasions. I am terribly sad about this. Me thinks its my deaf ear. Dang you deaf ear! 


Thank you to Grandma and Grandpa for treating us to a wonderful weekend!