Being Thankful!

Yet again! This is a little bit late, but I was waiting to document the big NY blog before hitting up the holidays!


Emmie is really grasping the concepts of the different holidays we celebrate. She talked to us about Tanks-gibbing and turkeys pretty often. I'm thinking she got it from school! So one day when she was bringing up Tanks-gibbing, I asked her what she was thankful for and told her being thankful for something meant we were happy that we had it.


This year, ladies and gentleman, she was thankful for her Pet Shop. A gift that her Lola bought her that she hasn't received yet but knows is coming! Of course I followed up with asking if she was happy to have Drew as a little brother, to which she answered yes! Then was she happy to have Mama and Daddy and she just laughed out loud! That's my baby!


I'm thankful for the simple fact that I have a happy and healthy family! There's not much more I could ask for...well there is but they're all material things that if I didn't have a happy family I probably would care for anyway!


So thanks to...
...my little babies for being my little babies!
...my hubby for loving me even when I'm moody (even if he's the reason I'm moody)!
...to my mama for being there for me like no other mama can be (even if she's a little kooky)!
...to my brother and his wifey for giving us our first nephew!
...to my in-laws for not being those kinds of in-laws and for spoiling my kids rotten (someone's gotta do it)!
...and to all my wonderful friends, who I couldn't live without!

Happy Halloween!

Yes! Its a little late, but better late then never...it took me a while to load up the pictures from Halloween! We've been busy!

Last year I was able to coordinate my two little babies in the cutest little costumes. I personally believe if we made it on time to Sugar Land Town Center for the contest, we would have taken it home...but alas we were late and it was already in progress!

If you can't tell, Emmie was Andre Johnson, Houston Texans Wide Receiver, and Drew was an adorable football.

This year all Emmie wanted to be was a sparkly pink princess of some kind, so I had hard time coming up with what Drew was going to be. I was able to score a good deal on a princess fairy costume that had wings and a wand...everything she asked for.

Since I found Emmie's costume pretty early on, I just settled on Drew being a soccer player since Dennis's parents got him a soccer outfit during their trip to Europe and I found a soccer ball basket on clearance right after Easter.

So about 2 weeks before Halloween we decided to take the kids to the Zoo Boo, basically just the zoo with some Trick or Treating stations and a pumpkin patch. Figured I wanted to get as much use out of Emmie's costume as I could. I searched high and low for the shorts that went with the soccer jersey and couldn't find it. It didn't look so good with just plain shorts so the soccer thing was losing its luster! Drew donned Emmie's Texans jersey from last year for the Zoo Boo, because I was determined to find those shorts. A week later, I still couldn't find the shorts, and I took the kids to meet Alisa and Mimi at a local pumpkin patch. See the soccer outfit just wasn't complete without the right shorts!

About a week before Halloween, we took Drew to get a hair cut because his long locks were getting his poor little eyes. I just wanted a trim and Taysa's mommy gave him a trim and it looked very much like a bowl cut. I looked at him and instantly thought he looked like one of the Beatles. Since I was so disappointed with the soccer costume, and Dennis wasn't keen on it from the beginning, I decided to make him one of the Beatles. I figured I would run out of times where I could pick out his costume for him, so it was decided. Luckily, I have a very talented cousin who was able to quickly throw together a graphic of a black suit jacket, white shirt and tie. She even added the Beatles logo on the buttons. It was the BEST! She was able to iron everything on for me and it looked absolutely adorable. Drew won't be happy to know that I purchased some awesome tuxedo pants from Walmart in the girls' section for $2, that just made the outfit (no one could see the button on the pants was sparkly)!

To make Emmie all the more sparkly, we got some hot pink glitter hair paint that we applied for all Halloween events we attended this year. She got good wear out of her costume and an old costume she got from Ashley even. This year, I think she really got Halloween and it took a while for her to let Halloween pass. She is still talking about what she wants to dress up for Halloween next year. It changes daily, but some how always goes back to being one of the Disney Princesses...although she was stuck on being a pirate for a day!

Dennis snapped this awesome picture of Ems at the zoo and I just had to post it!

Let's hear for New York, New York, New York!

I know this is long overdue its been in the works for over a month! Its hard getting on the computer with 2 babies at home and the pictures weren't on my work computer! ENJOY!

Early this summer, we had decided to take the kids on an airplane trip. The plan was set to go Southern California for a visit with some family, hit up Disneyland and meet up with the Hoang's before their big Maui vacation. Well someone (not naming names), wanted to wait to see if airfares would go down and waited too long that airfares actually went up. So we decided to postpone the trip until the fall when prices might be a little lower and Disney might be slightly less crowded. Fall rolled around and we found out that our friends, John and Christine, would be moving to Houston from New York soon, so on a whim decided we should hit up New York when we would have some people to visit. Dates went back and forth a little because October is a busy month for us, so eventually we settled on for some days in September.

Once the date was set, someone was a little more diligent about getting the other someone to actually purchase tickets this time. And low and behold Jet Blue had a sale and tickets were booked, no fuss no muss! The only issue was that we'd be leaving Houston on a 7 am flight, so there were some concerns about getting to the airport that early, but things turned out great. Next big decision was accommodations, at first we thought a hotel would be best because we didn't want to impose on John and Christine. After searching for some hotels, we found out that NY hotels are EXPENSIVE, so we decided to take John and Christine's offer to let us stay at their place. We saved some $$$ and the kids still thought it was like staying at a hotel so we were golden!

So for trips in general, I do like to do a little research and plan out our days so that no time is wasted, but for this NY trip I figured we'd play a lot by ear seeing how the kids are feeling at any given moment. I didn't want to set any expectations. So needless to say Dennis and I both felt very unprepared on Tuesday night. Tuesday, Dennis laid out what he wanted packed for himself and then went off to work. I even had Emmie pack up a backpack with some toys that she wanted to take, and I packed up one for Drew. Tuesday night after the kids went to bed, I started packing us all up and amazingly finished up in about an hour. Since we had to leave around 5 am for the airport, I waited for Dennis to get home from work and we packed up the car with everything.

The next morning went smoothly! Of course on a morning where I need Drew to be up at 5 am, he sleeps soundly. So I had to wake him to change his diaper and outfit. Emmie went to bed in her in clothes because I figured she'd be sleeping for a while. We were on the road to the airport a little ahead of schedule which made me feel good. I thought for sure the kids would fall right back to sleep, but they were wide awake.

We grabbed some airport breakfast and were set for the plane ride. Drew and I sat at the window seat, Emmie in the aisle seat with Dennis right across the aisle. As we were were heading to the runway, I decided it would be a good time to distract them with the surprise I had gotten them to entertain them on the plane. I had read it would be good to wrap up a little something so that the kids think its extra special and it really worked. Ems loved the coloring book and since it was the color blasters mess-free thing so did I. Drew could have cared less about his Thomas the Train one, but that's ok. Emmie held on to my arm for dear life as the plane took off but then was engrossed in coloring immediately afterwards. Eventually, Jet Blue's DirectTV system started working and we found Go Diego Go and Dora!

Emmie was in heaven...chewing gum, eating cheetos, drinking juice, and watching shows. Drew eventually fell asleep so I was able to lean back and relax. Towards the end of the flight Emmie no longer wanted to watch TV, but continued to color in her book. Drew began getting a little antsy and wanted some milk so I gave him some and everything was all better...until we landed! As the bell rang to signal that you could get out of your seat, I was thinking to myself not too bad for our first flight. Then Drew threw up all his milk. I didn't catch a drop of it in the barf bag, and felt so horrible for him and the people having to clean it up. It didn't phase him because he seemed to feel a lot better right afterwards!

I got Drew all cleaned up while Dennis got the luggage and we grabbed a cab to head over to John's place in China Town. Emmie fell asleep for maybe the last 10 minutes of the ride and that was her nap for the entire day. We got to John's relaxed a bit and enjoyed some yummy Bonchon chicken wings (Korean wings), courtesy of John. We decided to head over to the World Trade Center area and John said taking a cab would be the best way less than 5 miles he said! $20 and about 30 minutes later we finally got there!

We strolled around the construction area. As we walked around and I saw all the little memorials it brought a few tears to my eyes. I just can't even begin to imagine the devastation! We made our way over to the World Financial Center, stopping in for a potty break. It ended up being the place a lot of people went to to see into the World Trade Center construction zone. It was a nice building to spend some time in because 1. it was air conditioned and 2. it had clean potties! Later on, we also learned during the Harbor Tour that the World Financial Center's glass atrium area was the first thing that was rebuilt after 9/11.

We eventually made our way out of the building and into Battery City Park. We strolled along the harbor and stopped at a few parks along the way. This is also around the time that Emmie broke out in hives, so we thought it might be a good idea to start heading back to John's place. As we walked back we came across a really awesome playground, so we stopped to let the kids play. They spent a good 45 minutes playing here and I spent my time being envious of all the fancy strollers everyone had! I guess you need really good strollers because you're walking everywhere! Luckily my kids didn't have the stroller envy and were happy with their cheapy umbrella strollers! That night for dinner John brought home some White Castle, since I figured the kids would be pretty grumpy after such a long day. After dinner it was bath and bedtime. I was a little concerned about how the kids would sleep with the apartment being small and the noise level but the a/c unit in the room made for great white noise. At first I was trying to figure out how our family of 4 would sleep on a queen bed. It went something like this, all laid horizontally on the bed, with Drew between the wall and me, Emmie between me and Dennis and Dennis right on the edge. Drew went down fast and hard. Emmie took a little more convincing and I think the little shot of Benydryl helped! She wanted to talk about what we were doing tomorrow and what we were going to see, but eventually she turned in. I passed out also because I was exhausted after the long day. Dennis was up late chatting it up John so I have no idea when he came to bed!

The next day Drew and I were up early, so John us took us to a yummy donut shop and picked up some gourmet donuts: PB&J, Almonds, and Creme Brulee. By the time we got back Ems and Dennis were up and we started getting ready for our day. Against John's wishes we decided to brave the subway to head over to where we were suppose to take a New York Harbor tour (the only thing we had scheduled). It was a pleasant surprise when we came out of the subway station right in front of the NY Stock Exchange, so we got to see Wall Street without planning on it.

We made our way to the area we thought we were going to catch the ferry for the tour. After walking back and forth from pier to pier trying to find the place, some one finally told us that we needed to go back to the park area that we were at to get our will call tickets. The tour was good once we finally got to where we needed to be. Drew was pretty tired and passed out once the boat got going. Emmie loved being on the boat with the wind blowing in her hair. The whole point of the tour was to really see the Statue of Liberty without the hassle of the Statue of Liberty tour. It was exactly what we expected! We made our way back towards John's place via subway but made a couple of stops. We found a fun park area and the kids played their hearts away.

We decided to hit up the Little Italy street festival for dinner, San Gennaro. Lots of yummy food and the kids got to ride a little merry-go-round. Drew enjoyed the roasted corn. The best part of the night was the canolli I decided I needed to try. There's no pictures since we were too busy devouring the sweet goodness!
After a restful night, we were up and ready to go again! Since it was our last day there, we had a lot to see: Times Square, FAO Swartz, Central Park and the Central Park Zoo. Christine got back to NY from her San Francisco trip that morning so the plan was for them to join us for the day. Christine was on a red eye flight so needed to catch up on sleep and John needed some snuggle time with the wifey, so we headed out on our own. Another quick subway ride and we were in Times Square!

My old friend from high school, Gregory Tran, made the trek out to Times Square to hang with us tourist for a bit. He was a good sport spending time with us at Toys R Us, Hershey's and the M&M store. He also took us to what I thought was going to be a giant Sanrio, which turned out to be pretty average sized. But Ems and Drew enjoyed the ferris wheel ride at TRU, Drew got an awesome little toy called a Sing-a-ma-jig which looks kinda freaky at first but is pretty cute! Ems got a butterfly container full of lovely colored M&Ms. John eventually met us in Times Square and we grabbed lunch at some Italian place. Lunch was longer than expected so we needed to make up for lost time.

We headed to FAO Schwartz and Central Park via Fifth Avenue. We swung by a store called Little Miss Match, which sells mismatched socks, 3 different coordinating socks to a pack. I picked up a pack for Ems and Maddy, and at the last minute found these cute little arm warmers for the Vinh girls. Dennis questioned my pick but when we gave it to the girls they jumped around talking about how they've seen these and thought they were the coolest! Ems was getting pretty grumpy with the shopping, but we walked by H&M and I couldn't pass it up. We strolled in, and I was thinking I could pick up some cute clothes for the kids. As we waited to use the elevator to go to the "kid's" section (with Ems whining since we walked through the store). I turned to a guy stacking some shirts and asked if they even had a kid's section, and good thing I asked because they didn't have one! So off to FAO we went!

Drew loved all the animals.

Ems fawned over the Barbie display!

They both loved the BIG piano!

They jumped and ran all over that thing. There was a lady doing glitter tattoos, so Ems choose to do a fairy...I went off to change Drew's diaper and left Dennis in charge of the tattoo purchase and application. Luckily, I came back just in time to stop the lady from applying the bright purple glitter tattoo that lasts up to 2 weeks on her FACE ("because that is where she wanted it"). I convinced her to get it on her arm...it didn't end up lasting 2 weeks just a week, but still I preferred it not on her face.

We made it over to Central Park and headed to the zoo. That was at 5:05 pm and the zoo closes at 5:00, so we missed the zoo! I was so disappointed but not as much as Ems. She was looking forward to seeing the polar bears, we were able to see the polar bear tank but not very well so there was no chance of seeing the polar bears themselves. After the zoo disappointment, Dennis saw this rock to climb and Ems decided she was going to conquer it too. We took a walk around the park and found Bethesda Fountain (the fountain in Enchanted). It was really pretty and the kids had a good time just hanging around there and near the little lake. That's how we wrapped up our time in Central Park.

We headed back to China Town to meet two of my friends for some soup dumplings. The place was a super hole in the wall place, but the food was obviously good because there was a line to get a table. The dumplings were super tasty, once you bit into it some yummy hot soup oozes out. It was a great last meal in New York and we were able to share it with my friends and John and Christine. Drew passed out before dinner ended, so we had to call it a night...even though we were right next to the Italian street festival again, and I wanted one last canolli. John and Dennis offered to pick up a canolli for me while Christine and I took the babies back to the apartment! Apparently, it was John's evil plan all along to make Christine help with lugging up 2 babies and their strollers up the stairs to their second story apartment...to prove his point that having babies in NY is hard. I rushed putting Drew down, so that I could come back and help Christine with all the stuff, but she had carried everything up already. She came in saying I think John planned this all along...and she was right! So she came up with her own plan, saying that it was easier than she thought since the strollers were so light! When the guys got back, John didn't buy Christine's story and he admitted to his evil plan. It must have worked because they'll be moving to Houston some time soon!

The next morning we didn't have time to do much, since our flight was around noon, Dennis went out and got some steamed buns for a quick breakfast and then we were on our way to the airport. On the ride there, we talked to Ems about the trip and what were her favorite things and she whispered "we didn't get to see the polar bears" with this bitter air. I felt so guilty and promised we'd have to come back to see them! We'll make it a priority next time!

The plane ride went just a smooth as on our way there. We even hit some turbulence at one point and I was trying to play it cool so Ems and Drew wouldn't freak out...then Ems yells out "Wee, wee, wee, wee" and started laughing out loud, which caused Drew to laugh which caused everyone around us to start laughing. It was a good time for everyone! Like I said everything went just as when we went to NY, including Drew's little throwup mishap after the landing! I have a feeling it had to do with the milk we gave him since when we asked the flight attendant for a box of milk, she gave Dennis a look (like are you sure you want this) and then said yes we do and reluntantly gave it to him. I thought it was weird at the time but maybe she knew something we didn't! I was able to catch most of it in the bag but not all over it, so there was clean up for the crew. I felt bad but I guess for the next plane ride we'll try to avoid milk!

It was an awesome trip and we were happy to get in a visit the "Wynn's" before they leave NY. We definitely didn't get to see everything so we'll for sure make another trip. So happy that we took on this little mini trip! There will so many more trips, can't wait for the next adventure!

Paci Weaning

For those of you that know Drew, you know he loves his paci, and we (really I) was at a loss on how to start weaning him off of it. He started out on the paci much like his sister, but I think we were more diligent about only giving it to her for naps and bedtime. With Drew some how he just ended up having the paci throughout the day for no reason at all except he was so grumpy without it. Sometimes he'd be in the middle of playing something and all of the sudden start throwing a hissy fit and nothing would appease him except for the paci. And it was (is) a must for car rides...he'd fight getting in his carseat but if you whipped out the paci he'd do anything for you. So it was probably our fault that he's addicted the paci, since it just made life with Drew easier. Of course at a year, the doctor started talking about weaning him from the paci, but I felt he wasn't ready so I ignored the doctor and Dennis. I was hoping miraculously he'd give it up one day like his sister did 3 Christmas's ago. I mean he started giving up the paci during bedtime, where he'd only suck on it for a few minutes while I read to him then hand it to me when was ready to get in his crib, so I figured that was progress. No such luck! If anything his dependency on the paci just intensified during the day! At 18 months, I saw no real sign of him giving that baby up, so I started thinking to myself what to do...coming up with no solutions really.

Then we went to NY, where the paci was Drew's best friend. Anytime he fussed any bit, I just handed him a paci and it was done. The entire 4 days we spent in NY, I was thinking to myself that I really screwed myself over with the weaning thing. He loved that thing more than ever now (you'll see later in the NY Trip post, how every picture of Drew he's got his bestie with him)!

So the other night (September 28th to be exact), when we couldn't find one of his paci's before bed, we (Baba and I) searched the house high and low. Baba said I'll run to the store buy him a new one, I said no he's just going to have to deal with not having one. So when it came to bedtime, we started the bedtime routine. I took him upstairs rinsed him off, attempted a teeth brushing (he's not a fan), gave him a cup of milk, and began reading his book (sans paci). We were off to a good start, I thought to myself this is awesome he's hugging on his pillow not even thinking about his paci...half way through the book he started the search. He did his make shift sign for the paci (he rubs the tips of his fingers together, its pretty cute), and I asked him where is the paci and told him we couldn't find it. He pointed to the door, so I asked him if he wanted to go look for a paci. He nodded yes, so we went out to Emmie's room. We looked around her room for a bit couldn't find anything and it seemed to appease him; he said he was ready to go back to his room.

We started the book again, but before long he was lifting up pillows and blankets searching again. I helped him lift things and look, but came up with nothing. He wanted to go out again, so I took him to search in our room. I lifted the bed skirt and he quickly laid on the ground to look under the bed, and shrugged his little shoulders when didn't see a paci (cutest thing ever). I took him around the room and searched...nothing. He again signaled he was ready to back to his room. I restarted the book again, this time he was antsy and wouldn't pay attention, pointing to the door every few seconds. I told him it was too late and it was night night time! We finally finished the book and he whimpered and pointed to the door several times, but I continued to tell him it was night night time. Finally he caved and pointed to his crib...so off to bed he went or so I thought. He began crying the instant I closed the door to the room. I quickly ran around searching again for a paci...nada! I headed downstairs to get a little more milk for him and searched downstairs...at this point Baba was seriously ready to run out the door to get him a new one. I said no again! Headed back up with some milk, but he had fallen asleep...so that was his first night no paci.

Early the next morning he woke at about 530, normally he gets a cup of milk, sucks on his paci and quickly falls asleep again. So I was expecting him to just stay awake after finishing his milk and mentally prepared myself. He gulped down his milk, signed briefly for his paci, but then turned to hug his pillow and fell back to sleep. SUCCESS...I was thinking to myself. I knew we still had a long road ahead of us but I felt we got over a pretty big hurdle. So before I left for work, I wrote Baba a note to help him find his paci if he asks, but try not to let him have one if she ends up finding it first.

Later on the day I get a call from Baba, she goes you know you left that note, but before we even went downstairs he had found a paci upstairs. She said she was laying in Emmie's room with him when he started trying to get her attention. She just pretended like she was sleeping, so then he left her alone but came back a short while later. She opened her eyes and guess who had a paci in his mouth. A paci that we hadn't seen for weeks! She was cracking up because she said he was so happy to have found it. He eventually gave it up to her when they went downstairs. Then later that afternoon, I get another call. My mom is telling me how amazing Drew is because he showed up with yet another paci. We had totally turned the house inside out looking for just one and found nothing! So he is pretty amazing for finding 2 of them!

We're still on paci weaning mode though. Last night there was a rough car ride home from playing at Rice, but once we started jamming to Kids Bop's "I gotta a feeling" he forgot all about his paci. We listened to that song about 5 times in a row. And it was another successful night of no paci bedtime! Unfortunately this morning, he woke about 600 and I got his milk and gave him to Baba so I could get ready for work. Before going downstairs, I could hear him and knew he wasn't sleeping but was hoping he would soon. Next thing I know he's crying so I decide I better leave before he sees me but too late Baba has brought him downstairs for a little more milk since there's no paci! But I have a feeling Baba dug out the paci and gave it to him.

We'll have to see how long paci weaning is going to take updates to come...it sure is an adventure!

Double-Teamed

I can't believe at this age my two little babies have started double teaming on me already. After their naked baby dancing session and cleaning up their toys, we were starting to wind down for the evening. Emmie turned to me and asked if I could please open up the storage bench so she could get some toys out. I said no, not right now we're getting ready to go to bed. She gave me a pouty look and pleaded. I was still holding my ground, when I turned and saw Drew standing there staring at me with those melt my heart eyes, signing please (very aggressively). After that I couldn't continue to say no, but before I caved I forced them to each give me a kiss! How could anyone resist those two!?!

Almost 20 Questions

When Emmie turned 3 I wanted to start a new tradition, asking her a set of questions to see how her answers change from year to year. Well 6 months ago, she wasn't so responsive when I asked her questions...she chose to ignore me. Today she's officially 3.5 half years old, so I thought to give it another try. This time I spread the questions out over a couple of days so that she wouldn't get so antsy and decide to ignore me again. So I didn't quite come up with 20 questions, here's what we got:

What is your name? Emmie

How old are you? Two (She’s really 3.5, so I casually mentioned that fact so she changed her answer to “Three” while trying to hold three fingers).

Who do you like to play with? Maddy’s friends

What is your favorite color? Ok I showed you…geen…see! (as she takes out a book she loving highlighted pink and points to her scribbles).

What is your favorite food? Rice and noodles…she’s a carboholic!

What is your favorite snack? Fruit Snack (I think Cheetos might be her favorite snack but she was influenced by the word “snack” in the question).

What is your favorite restaurant? Mcdonald’s with a big silly grin on her face

What is your favorite kind of candy? Cho-co-lat

What is your favorite toy? Cinderella and lots of make-up.

What is your favorite book? Cinderella (which she has 4 Cinderella books so I’m not exactly sure which one she is referring to).

What is your favorite animal? Lion and Chihuahua too

What is your favorite TV show? Mickey Mouse

What is your favorite song? Telephone (Original by Lady Gaga, but she loves the Kids Bop version)

What do you love about your Mama? Butterflies

What do you love about your Daddy? Toots

What do you love about Drew-Drew? Umm…(followed by at least 10 seconds of silence) Toots!

What do you love about BaBa? Toot toots – there’s a common theme for her!

What do you want to be when you grow up? A Mermaid

My Little Princess the Little Lady

The other night Emmie while we were laying in bed getting ready to read her bedtime story, we had a fashion crisis.

Emmie: “I can’t wear these to sleep.” (tugging on her shorts)
Mama: “Why not?”
Emmie: “Theys not match my Minnie Mouse.” (pointing at her shirt)
Mama: “Its ok, we are going to sleep so its ok that we don’t match.”
Emmie: “No, I’ll show you.” (as she climbed off the bed and headed to the basket of folded clothes that I have yet to put away).

She proceeded to pull out her Minnie Mouse PJ pants that went with her shirt and said “See, I told you I would find it.” So then I watched her change from her shorts to her pants all by herself and couldn’t help smiling but at the same time sighing sadly to myself, thinking how much she’s grown up in these past few months. It’s an amazing thing to see her growing up and gain all kinds of independence but it also makes me sad that it’s happening too fast.

In these past few months, she’s really blossomed into a new little girl.

• She’ll run off on her own at the playground and make new friends. “Hi I Emmie!”


• She’ll ask questions she knows the answer to, so that when you answer the question she’ll tell you, “no” and answer it the way she wants it to be answered.


• She’s picking up new words and phrases everyday and it never ceases to amaze me that she uses them in perfect context. Here are a few from these past few days: “I got a big scoop of jello”, “Ayuda me, Mama”, “We need to go on this path”.


• She’s on the verge of going potty all by her self and is very proud when she does. “I ‘member to do it, Mama!”


• She loves all things sparkly…and that’s been engrained into her fashion sense. I bought her some cute black Crocs, she took one look at them and said “they are not sparkle light up shoes” and rejected them. She has since gotten some princess sparkle light up shoes from Lola that has made all her other shoes not worthy of her feet.


• Speaking of princess, she’s got to have anything Disney Princess: paper, pens, backpacks, shoes, PJs, and clothes. It doesn’t stop!
  
  

This age is an awesome time to see how she’s developing into her own person…I can’t wait to see what’s next.

When I started this blog and decided to add the tickers to count down toward their birthdays, since Emmie was turning 4, she was no longer in the “infant/toddler” category, but in the “children” category. Initially, I resisted selecting from the “children” category but in the end I just accepted it because she’s always going to be my little baby, anyway!

10 Things I Love About My Bebes

In no particular order of course!

I love...

1. ...that when I get home, Drew claps his hands as he rushes to me and gives me a big ol’ hug, all with a big grin on his face.


2. ...that both of them love to be naked babies.


3. ...the way they love to shake their tooshies!


4. ...that Emmeline always wants to put on a pretty dress so she can dance.


5. ...the way Emmeline plays with Hello Kitty’s bows when she’s sleepy.


6. ...Drew’s little whimper.


7. ...that when I ask Emmeline to make Drew laugh, she does a fake goofy laugh and he actually starts to laugh.


8. ...Emmeline’s elbow dimples…they’re the cutest!


9. ...that Drew asks to be put in his crib at night…with a point of his finger and a little whimper.


10. ...that they’re mine!

This isn't a recent pic, but its one of my favs!

To the Alamo

We decided to take a little trip to San Antonio, since our So Cal trip fell through. Friday morning, everything went smoothly and we were on the road by 9 am (the time I had designated to myself that I wanted to leave). We decided to grab breakfast at Panera Bread and it was good thing because that’s when Dennis realized he took the keys to the other car…which would have meant my mom would have been stranded at home with no car. So we had to head home and drop off the keys, which totally threw us off track. To make up for lost time, Dennis sped down the Beltway where he scored a speeding ticket from Officer D. Dickerson. YAY!

We finally made our way to our first destination, Natural Caverns Wildlife Ranch (an African Safari Texas style). If you haven’t been, it’s something worth checking out. You get to drive though the ranch and feed all kinds of animals (caribou, ostriches, zebras, buffalos, even some longhorns (I think that was the Texas part)).

In the first round, we decided to break from the pack of cars ahead of us and went to the right side of the fork; it was well worth it because we got to the zebras and were able to enjoy them since no one was behind us. They just stuck their heads right into the car to get the food. No shame there! I think Dennis and I were more entertained with those not-so-shy zebras than the kids. The ostriches kinda freaked us out because the peck at you with those crazy becks. This one would have stuck his head all the way in but luckily we rolled it up while approaching. We ended up feeding this guy through the sunroof.

Emmie was content feeding the smaller deer type animals that couldn’t reach their heads into the window. Drew was content on holding onto one food pellet which he proceeded to eat when we got out after the first round…YUM!

Also on the ranch are some animal exhibits and a petting zoo, so we checked those out after grabbing a quick lunch. We decided we needed to go one more round through the safari since we missed a portion at the beginning. The second time through was a little more crowded but we were able to capture this goat in the tree. We tried to stick around to see how he was getting down but traffic was building up. The babies passed out during the ride to San Antonio. Dennis booked a room at the Hyatt Regency, when I checked us in while Dennis parked, they gave us a first floor room with one king bed and a view of the street. Dennis called the front desk and they moved us to the top floor with double beds and an awesome view of the Alamo.

The kids love going to hotels, so once we were in the room there was no hope of getting them to finish up their naps. So we decided to hit up the pool for a quick swim before dinner. They both love being in the water…Emmie has finally gotten over her hate of having water on her face. And she loves using her new floaty swimsuit. She even floated on her back for a bit. It took a while for Drew to warm up to being in the water, half the time we were out there he was walking around the pool trying to throw people’s belongings into the water.

We attempted a family picture in front of the Alamo before dinner. Dinner was anything but peaceful. By that time they were a little grumpy given their short nap and wanted nothing to do with food. So we tried to eat as quickly as possible and then headed back to the room. Where you’d think if kids were grumpy and tired they’d go to bed. It took some time to settle those little ones down.

Bright and early the next morning, we got up and were off to the zoo for some more animal fun. The San Antonio zoo is a top rate zoo, especially for children under 5. I think it has to do with the Tiny Tot Nature Spot and the Discovery House. It’s an area just for kids and there’s an air conditioned building. We wrapped up our zoo time in this area, while Drew napped in his stroller and Emmie played endlessly with the exhibits and toys.
I don’t know which animals were the kids’ favorites, because if you ask Emmie, she’ll talk about the elephant…even though we only got to see the elephant’s butt because he wouldn’t turn around…and Drew well for obvious reasons can’t tell ya. I personally liked watching the hippos lounge in the water: 1) because we were able to watch them in the comfort of A/C and 2) they were just so cute! Before leaving we had to hit up the souvenir shop. Ems picked out a cool butterfly mask and Drew picked up a stuffed monkey. After the zoo, we hit up the pool for a bit then went down to do the Riverwalk boat tour. It was a nice little leisurely trip down the river and we learned a little bit about San Antonio. I wouldn’t be able to recap any of it though. Drew passed out after 10 minutes and towards the end, Emmie got really tired and laid down in my lap. It was HOT!!!

We knew dinner was going to be rough. Thought about just picking something up and bringing it back to the room but decided just to stop at a place that had some appetizing (at least to Dennis) looking ahi tuna. Dinner was quick because the kids wouldn’t stay still, but of course after we left the restaurant and they were able to run free they loved it. We hung out in front of the Alamo where there were multiple sno-cone stands…the only way we could convince Emmie to finish her dinner was the promise of the sno-cone.

It was a nice way to end the evening and our last night in San Antonio! It was a fun but tiring trip and I can’t wait to take more like these. Emmie tells us daily that she's ready to pack and go stay at the hotel.

Emmeline's 1st Year of "Scoons"

This year was Emmie’s first year of “scoons” (well really Mother’s Day Out). We enrolled her in Sugar Creek Baptist Church Creek Kids, right outside our neighborhood. I really wanted to start her in this to get her exposed to different people and develop some independence. She started in September 2009 and went through May 2010. She was put in the Jellyfish class with Ms. Dina and Ms. Tonya and later Ms. Christina because Ms. Tonya moved off to North Carolina.

There was an open house prior to the first day of school. I blogged about here. On the official first day of school, and she was pumped to get to school (I don’t think she realized we were going to leave her there). See how excited she is? The classroom was bubbling with excitement and Emmie was hesitant as always. After hanging up her stuff, I coaxed her over to the kitchen for her to play but when she noticed I wasn’t near by, she started getting antsy. The teachers had advised us to say good bye once and walk out. So I mustered up all my strength handed her to Ms. Tonya, said good-bye and walked out…I could hear her starting to crying but couldn’t turn back! One of the mom’s turned to me and said “oh the look on her face when she saw you walking away, it broke my heart”…thanks lady not that I don’t feel bad enough. I stood outside the classroom door listening to her cry. A lot of moms were there, one mom was staring in asking each mom which was her kid and giving status updates. Eventually I didn’t hear crying anymore and was told she was munching on her snack, so I headed home. Two rolled around and I rushed to pick her up. Her little head was buried in her doggie backpack because the teachers said she was crying for “kitty” but I hadn’t packed Kitty for her. She sat up and gave me a great big hug…”a never do that to me again” hug! It took a couple of weeks for her to warm up to being dropped off but eventually she would run to her classroom and we never left Kitty at home.

According to Baba, the teachers loved Emmie and always praised her (Baba did most of the dropping off and picking up). They said she never spoke to them unless it was completely one on one and would answer questions so matter-of-factly. I think Ms. Dina (she's in the red vest)was her favorite because that’s who she talked about when she was home. I loved coming home on Tuesdays and Thursdays so she could show me what she made at school. “Close your eyes. Ok, open your eyes. What is it? It’s a surprise!” I’ve saved most of the pieces, with the intention that one day I’ll put together a scrapbook for her. I teared up when she brought home a little lady bug with finger print spots and a Mother’s Day poem printed on it (its in my office now). She also started learning about God and Jesus, since she was in a church. Her first piece of art actually had a ribbon on it that said “Jesus Loves Me!” And sometime during the holiday season, she started singing “Happy Birthday Dea, Jesus!”

For a while the only friend she talked about from school was Joey. Joey was her friend and Joey was also the class bully. I know because at Open House, Joey was the boy taking every toy any other kid was playing with, but that was the one kid she talked about the most. One day, I took off work so was able to pick her up. When I got there, the teacher was talking to a mom about giving out birthday party invitations and said that a couple of kids didn’t get invitations because they were not there. The mom immediately said “Was one of them Emmie? Because Emmie has to be there.” I smiled to myself and said, “No Emmie’s right here!” She turned to us and said “Oh good because Joey loves Emmie. She has to come!” So that was the first friend birthday party she attended which also turned out to be the first movie, Alivn and the Chipmunks: The Squeal, she saw in the theater. Eventually she added a couple more names to her roaster of friends: Abby and Paulie were the ones mentioned most frequently, after Joey of course! A few more firsts for Emmie this year were: Rodeo Day, Pajama Party day, Fun Run/Walk, Grandparents Day, and Valentines Day card exchange. It’s been a fun year of watching her grow and developing her personality! She can’t wait to go back to “scoons” next year…or so she says right now! I don’t get tired of hearing her call school “scoons” it makes me smile every time!

Introducing Drew Vinh Quinio

Since I’ve neglected him for so long, I want to dedicate the first real entry to my little Drew-Boo. Let’s start with my pregnancy, which was very similar to Emmie’s, although he didn’t cause so many bouts of heartburn (completely contradicting the only old wives tale that has been scientifically proven: heartburn is caused by hairy babies). He sure did move a lot more than his sister; sometimes I felt like he was trying to break off one of my ribs! Drew’s c-section went a lot smoother than Emmie’s since there was nothing unplanned and I wasn’t knocked out, I was awake with Dennis at my side. The doctors talked about going on a ski vacations and the Oscar’s…I joined in for a little Oscar talk. I was also amazed with what the anesthesiologist could do. I laid there trying to fight off the nausea for about 10 minutes but finally spoke up because I thought I might just vomit…with a little shot into my IV I felt better within seconds. Then I started getting an ache in my upper ribcage (in the same spot that I felt like he was breaking off my rib), which I mentioned to her…again within seconds I no longer felt any pain. I guess that’s why they’re paid the big bucks…future career op, kiddos?!
Drew officially arrived into the world on February 23rd, 2009, weighing 7 pounds 6 ounces and measuring 20 inches with a head full of hair. This pic was posted in the pictorial update, but its got to be one of my favorite pictures. I asked Dennis several times if he was sure he took the picture of the right baby! Of course it took me a couple of days to officially name him Drew. I was picking between Drew, Desmond and Quentin, but finally settled with Drew. After months of wondering, did I pick the right name I think I’ve finally decided that I did. Granted his nickname is longer then his given (Drew-Drew, Drew-Boo, and sometimes Andrew according to his Lola), but it seems to just fit!

From the start Drew was champ at nursing. Maybe because I was a little more experienced, but nursing wasn’t nearly as stressful with Drew as it was with Emmie. Although nursing came easy for Drew, sleep didn’t! He didn’t so much care for the co-sleeper we borrowed from Maddy, so there was a lot more co-sleeping early on with him. The first 4 months of his life weren’t too bad, typical nights of waking one to two times…but in the fourth month we took a trip to Austin for a week for Tita Janette’s and Uncle Khiem’s wedding. Drew spent the week sleeping with us in the bed and being held constantly by adoring relatives…seriously I think the only time he wasn’t held was when he was in his carseat. Upon our return from Austin, sleeping through the night was lost. It wasn’t until Drew was 11 months (Christmas Eve), that he slept through the night. We did try crying it out at 7 months and 9 months but it didn’t stick. It was torture listening to him cry and wasn’t as successful as I wanted! It’d work for a couple of weeks but then the waking in the middle of the night would start again. Now, Drew is a better sleeper then Emmie…his routine is as follows: Upstairs for his last cup of milk (that’s right he gave up his bottle at 13 months), Read Mama Mama/Papa Papa, Snuggle, and then he asks to be put in his crib (well he points to his crib and makes a dog whimpering noise – that’s how he communicates). I set him in the crib and can easily walk out as he settles himself in. Emmie is a completely different story…but this is a Drew blog!

It’s hard not to compare the two, as you can plainly see. I’ve mentioned Emmie a dozen or more times even though I’ve said I’m dedicating this blog to Drew. Drew is a lot more sociable than his sister, he’s always waving and smiling at strangers (at least from a distance) while Emmie would be busy giving people the “look”, strangers and friends a like. When Drew wants something he wants it and there’s no easy way to distract him. When we try to distract him and hide something from him, he’ll act like he’s forgotten it only to return to looking for it a second later. When he gets mad he scratches at you with those lethal nails…and just recently he’s learned to fight back when it comes to Emmie…he’ll pull her hair and pinch her. He gives love bites on your shoulders and sometimes your face! He’s 100% boy because he’s climbing and running everywhere. When he falls over its just like he was stepping over some obstacle…he’s back up and on course. In his first 15 months of life he’s gotten more skinned knees and scrapped fingers (and road rash on his forehead) then his sister’s three years.

One milestone Drew reached way before Emmie, was the first haircut. People made comments about his hair since he was born. In some portraits we took of the kids, a girl mentioned she loved his hat...umm, that's his hair. Around six months his hair started thinning out some, he had what looked like a reverse comb over (hair on top less on the sides)...it wasn't pretty and certain people thought he resembled Hitler.

It was time for a haircut, so at 7 months (September 2008), Drew went to Taysa's mommy for his first haircut. He sat completely still through the whole thing...even when she busted out the clippers. What a champ!!!

I can’t believe how quickly time has flown by and this blog is going to let me look back at all these great memories when he’s too busy running from me rather than into my arms!