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An update

Recent wedding pic from Shannon's bridal suite on her wedding day: 4/26


Oops, my weekly updates seem to have fallen by the wayside.  I think we got busy on the weekends, and then things just snowballed away, as they do.  Here goes a more general update though:


- New House Stuff
The new house to do list has gone way down, almost to the point that there are really only maybe 2 more things that we need to address.  We also still need to tackle putting things in their right place and deconstructing the boxes that are being stored in our "dining/play room."  Alas, the devil's in the details, right?


- Ethan Updates
Ethan is about to move onto his next classroom: The Elephants!  This will be his very first transition to a new class besides the obvious one due to our move.  This will likely be very difficult for him since he seems to get attached to teachers.  Perhaps it's because he has started developing attachments to everything lately including his "blankie" and stuffed animals.  He can say quite a few words now, and is trying to mimic everything we do in gestures or words.  His commonly used words are, "og" for dog, book, ball, yes, ma ma, da da, daddy, bird, and his most pronounced and favorite word to use is no.  Despite my attempts to not use "no" very often in front of him, so that it wouldn't become a favored word of his, he has picked it up.  He enunciates it extremely well as well, it's really quite funny to hear.  Sometimes I feel like he says no without really meaning "no," but just as some sort of response to something we've said.  I really should try getting it on camera, but he always flips out when he sees a phone because he wants to "watch og!"  One interesting development is that not only is he mimicking our gestures, he also mimics the ones he sees in his youtube videos.  For example, he's taken to shaking his index finger from side to side, sometimes, when he's saying no.  We found out a bit later that he learned that from the video of pentatonix on sesame street singing about counting.  The first guy that sings about "one" does it while he's singing, "There's just one me..."
https://youtu.be/0b-v-wMR69k


- Mother's Day
Mother's day is coming up, and while it is nice that I'm now a member of that club, I'm more excited about it as a chance to highlight and celebrate the moms that I have in my life.  I found this new flower delivery service that looks to be pretty cool as it's locally sourced in Cali and the bouquets are beautifully put together: thebouqs.com.  Hopefully the delivery and end result are as good as what is promised.  We'll see.  However, in general, I was having a hard time figuring out what would be a good mother's day gift for my moms.  When I would search online for mother's day gifts, or look at youtube video recommendations, I would keep thinking, "Oh, that's nice, if my mom was white."  Albeit, I didn't have high hopes that doing such a generic gift search like that would yield particularly great results, but I had an inkling of hope.  I don't think most Asian moms are into their kids spending/wasting a lot of money on flowers, spa gift cards, or tea towels.  What they really value is money, but how do you give them something meaningful without it being "wasteful" or "unnecessary?"  I resigned to remotely setting up restaurant reservations for them so that they would be treated to a special experience and spend time with family (minus us of course).  I also chose to send flowers anyway because despite their short lifespan, they're a happy reminder of nature's beauty for the time that they're in bloom.  While my plans may have gone well on one front, and poorly on another, I hope to convey my sentiments with the cards I'm writing in order to wrap it all up.  Everyone loves snail mail, and I love good penmanship despite the hand cramping that occurs from not writing more than a check's contents on a regular basis.  That reminds me, I really want to learn calligraphy...oh to find the time...such is the lament of a mom with a toddler.


-Blogilates
I've turned a new leaf...sort of.  I've decided I'm tired of being unable to fit in normal/non-maternity clothes.  I had heard about blogilates for the longest time, and have watched a video or two here and there, but never knew that she had workout schedules, clean eating recipes, and an app to help you stay on track.  I've subscribed to her app's calendar workout schedule, and am trying to do a few workouts a day while being more aware of what I'm eating.  I've also purchased her fitness journal, and am eagerly awaiting its arrival despite the fact that I have already missed out most of the first half of the year.  Her positive outlook and casual coaching style is infectious.  It almost feels like I'm working out with a friend who wants to see me succeed.  I started a week or so ago, and while I don't see pounds coming off yet, I feel great right after working out.  I had forgotten what it feels like to really use my body and feel different muscles work that have laid dormant for so long.  I consider it a success if I at least attempt one workout a day, and be more cognizant of what I take in.  No more desserts all the time because yolo.  I need to eat food that will give me energy and promote a general well-being that will undoubtedly benefit Ethan and Lucas as well.



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