If You Need a Pick-Me-Up Video...

I saw this video a while back, and saw it again tonight. Never fails to make me appreciate the little things in life.

my favorite CHRISTmas song

It's that time of the year when it's considered "legal" (figuratively) to play Christmas songs. It's all over the place - radio stations, shopping malls, TV commercials/shows, etc. I love it because I love the spirit these songs bring about Christmas, especially if those songs are indeed about our Savior (not Santa. Gosh, I hate "Santa Baby")

My husband and I have the same favorite Christmas song (well, at least he said so just recently). It's been my favorite since I was a little girl, maybe because I liked the melody even though I didn't understand much of the lyrics back then. The melody is so powerful, it always gives me the goosebumps.

Then one day, while we were visiting my relatives in California during the holidays (and attended their ward at church), this young man sang my favorite song. Only, I didn't know the COMPLETE lyrics before then. So when I heard him sing it with parts of the lyrics I've never heard before, I almost bawled. He sang it so well and so powerful and meaningful, I totally felt the message of the song. Before that day, I didn't pay so much attention to the song even though it was my favorite because I heard it all the time. But ever since that day, I always, ALWAYS stop and listen to the song and relish the whole meaning of it as it plays on our computer/radio.

I've attached a video below to go along with the song although it's not really the whole song in it. I'm having a hard time finding someone on Youtube with a complete lyrics of this song. As you read the lyrics & listen to the video, try not to overlook the message of the song no matter how very familiar it already is for you. I was actually singing it in my head as I was typing it here and I got the goosebumps again. The message is sweet.

(John Sullivan Dwight's Version)

O holy night! The stars are brightly shining,

It is the night of our dear Saviour's birth.

Long lay the world in sin and error pining,

'Til He appear'd and the soul felt its worth.

A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,

For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

Fall on your knees! O hear the angels' voices!

O night divine, O night when Christ was born;

O night divine, O night, O night Divine.

Led by the light of Faith serenely beaming,

With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.

So led by light of a star sweetly gleaming,

Here come the wise men from Orient land.

The King of Kings lay thus in lowly manger;

In all our trials born to be our friend.

He knows our need, to our weakness is no stranger,

Behold your King! Before Him lowly bend!

Behold your King, Before Him lowly bend!

Truly He taught us to love one another;

His law is love and His gospel is peace.

Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother;

And in His name all oppression shall cease.

Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,

Let all within us praise His holy name.

Christ is the Lord! O praise His Name forever,

His power and glory evermore proclaim.

His power and glory evermore proclaim.

"Hey Jimmy Kimmel, I Told My KidsI Ate All Their Halloween Candy"

A lot of people have posted this and I keep skipping it. Well, since both of my kids were down for their nap kind of late today (thank you DST!.. not), I checked this one out. It made me laugh, especially the first several ones. Poor kids...

I wonder if this would've worked with C. He's probably just gonna say, "all gone!"

Doing the Dishes

I saw this from my friend's Facebook wall and it made me think of Caleb 8 years from now (of course, I will be the one behind the camera) when he does the dishes. He loves dancing to Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal" (except when somebody else is watching other than mommy) right now so who knows.. hahaha! This video made me smile.

I Got By With A LOT of Help....

Today was kind of an interesting day and I just want to write it down so I can write it down in my journal once I catch up again (I'm more than a month behind).

I signed up for babysitting in my ward at our Church here in our area BEFORE I got pregnant in hopes that I can somehow help my husband earn some income. A few weeks ago a sister from our ward emailed me asking if I wanted to do babysitting for her, 3 consecutive days a week from 7:30am-4:30pm for three weeks. I was like, "sure"  (because I could still move around freely those days even though I had my baby bump already). I figured I would be done by June which would be my "uncomfortable" month to move around belly-wise. But then she got back to me asap and told me that she didn't need me to babysit for her anymore which I totally understood.

Then yesterday morning, I opened my email and BAM! There she was again - a last minute favor to babysit for her (today and tomorrow). Unfortunately I have something coming up tomorrow but I agreed to babysit for her today because I felt bad saying no. She just seemed like she needed someone to look after her kids. Anyway, I wasn't sure how I was going to do it, though, because I have been really uncomfortable moving around lately. I didn't think she'd want me to be her permanent babysitter (knowing that I'm pregnant) so I didn't charge her (she was asking how much I want to charge her).

It was a good learning experience. Ever since the kids (3 and 5 y.o.) got out of their car, I've been wondering how my stay-at-home sister-in-law ever did it when she was pregnant with their 4th child.. or any other parent for that matter. I guess what made it kind of "stressful" for me was the fact that I didn't have it slowly, it wasn't like an additional child in our family every year or so - it was BOOM! Here you go with two more kids TODAY (making it three if you count my son)! And that freaked me out, I guess. Plus, I am very much inexperienced taking care of children older than 2 years old. Sure, I taught the primary (ages 4-7 y.o.) in Hawai'i but it was only for an hour. This day was different, it was longer than 1 hour. 

Well, I'm glad to say that I didn't just do it alone. My very good friend (and the bombest.com person ever) Erin helped me out. The older child was asking for a videogame as soon as he walked into our door earlier this morning - and we didn't have any. We don't even have cable to have them watch something and I didn't want to let them spend the whole day watching movies. I figured they might get bored being stuck in our little condo. So I let them play a little while with my son's toys (it's pretty cool how creative kids can get with their imaginations) while I asked Erin if she could help me take the kids to the park. Luckily, she said yes. I didn't have the kids' car seats so we had to walk ... under the hot sunlight ... before lunchtime... only to get there and they didn't want to play much. Well at least we tried. It was a good thing I had a stroller and a little bike so at least only one of the three kids had to walk (they all took turns walking). 

I felt like I was going to pass out on our walk home from the park (it was darn too far to walk and too hot). Erin was really so nice to me when we got home. I thought she was going to go home as soon as she helped me take the kids back to my home. But she stayed with me and did so much in helping me feed the children some lunch. Now I know it can really get frantic when you have more than 2 kids. I almost always forgot about my own son ... and I always forgot what I was about to do and for who. My mind was occupied with different things (and being pregnant doesn't help remembering things either) while the children asked for this and that at the same time. Other than the mealtimes (I also served them breakfast this morning from our own stash because all they had packed for them was their food for lunch), everything else was better (though not mellow) because they were just content playing with each other. My son was kind of left out all the time, though, but that's okay. He's still trying to learn some social skills because he mostly spends his days just with me. I did encourage him every now and then to join the other two children in their "pretend-play." I guess their pretend-play is far too advanced for him and he still couldn't talk in a complete sentence which made it harder for him to play with them.

I tried to put them down for a nap, all three of them. But the siblings just wouldn't go to bed. The little girl (3 y.o.) was really tired but her older brother kept playing with her in our bedroom so she couldn't sleep. We (Erin and I) waited and tried quite a few times to let them take a nap but it was just hard because the older brother just wouldn't take a nap. So I decided to stay with them in our bedroom (I was exhausted too) and Erin went home to take a nap. It wasn't long 'til I snoozed a little bit and the little girl fell asleep (they behaved the whole time I was there). The two boys (the older brother and my son) didn't take a nap, though. C RARELY doesn't go down for a nap by himself. Today was one of those days. 

Their mom picked them up an hour earlier than she said she would which is always a good thing. I had to wake up the little girl from her nap, though. I cleaned up our little condo (a place where it looked like a tornado just passed by) before Jesse came home and it reminded me of the post (a joke) I had earlier about stay-home moms. All in all, they were nice children with great imaginations and I learned a lot from them today - especially on how it MIGHT (because not every family is the same) look like for me someday.

Calming the Baby Beast

I just can't get enough of this video.
Who won't agree that this one's sooo darn cute?
My favorite parts are in the timelines 0:31 and 1:22.

It NEVER FAILS to make me laugh!

I hope it cheered you guys up, too. 

Reading

Caleb loves reading books.

We read to him everyday.

He loves it when you ask him where things are.

Most of the time he'll get it right.
He'll point at the right drawing/object.

Reading is always beneficial not just for babies but

for adults as well.

I just thought to share this video.

She started reading on her own when she was 13 months old!

AMAZING!
She could even read a cursive "Baby."

WOW!

Siblings

(photo from BabyandPregnancy)

Jesse's been feeling sick since yesterday.

He had food poisoning, probably from the pasta he ate for lunch at work.

Anyway, he was still not getting some food down today,

and he was really hungry. 

I was so tired with C, I fell asleep in the afternoon.

By the time I woke up (for the nth time),

Jesse was lying next to me and giving me hints

to make him some dinner.
I didn't even know I've been sleeping for almost 3 hours.

Poor guy.

I meant to take care of him, too, besides C.

But since it was going to take me long to make dinner

(I still had to thaw the really frozen chicken and find something I can make it with),

we decided to just go out and eat.

He wanted to try eating something more solid than jello and crackers.

We went to Panda Express, which is only a block away.

But - Jesse didn't want any.
I think just the sight of solid foods make him nauseous.

Anyway, while I was in line,

there were these two siblings playing around the seats.

Their parents were in front of me in line.

Then I heard the big brother (probably 5 y.o. or almost 6) 

talk to his younger sister who is probably 3 or 4 y.o..:

Bro: "Hey, guess what?"

Sis: "What?"

Bro: "We can't marry each other when we grow up."

(by this time, I had a smirk on my face)

Sis: "Why not?!?"

Bro: "Because my teacher said siblings don't marry each other."

Sis: "Oh.."

I wanted to laugh.
Their dad noticed that I was trying not to.

His comment - "yeah, they learn a lot in school!"

Kids say the funniest things!

P.S.

I hope Jesse will get well by tomorrow.

Laughing Baby

Have a great day!

Counting her Blessings

This video is way too cute to pass.

What a way to start your day, huh?!?
I guess I can be like this girl everyday.

Enjoy!