A Memorable Christmas 2009!

Springroll may not realize it, but s/he is already a Creighton fan!! :)

Our memorable Christmas began on Christmas Eve. We decided that we were going to beat mother nature and still have the company of family for dinner on Christmas Eve. We met for mass at 4pm and then headed back to our house for dinner (yummy prime rib!!) and a few present openings (Tri & Tami's family were not able to make it, so we just let the "kids" open a few presents... including Springroll). Everyone got ready to leave... and wouldn't you know it, Grandma & Grandpa got stuck in a snow drift at the end of our driveway. After a few men & a nice truck helped them get out, everyone was off to face mother nature! Unfortunately (for them), everyone made it home except for Thuy & Brad's family. They couldn't get to their house in Deer Creek :( and so, we had visitors! Thuy, Brad, Benjamin and Tucker (that's an 18 mo old & 3 wk old)! We really enjoyed having them around over Christmas... otherwise we would have all been snowed in... but instead we were snowed in together!!

Needless to say, since Springroll has yet to arrive, we are lacking in the toy department. Especially for Benjamin who is very active! Fortunately, we have a tupperware drawer and this actually entertained him for quite some time. He's a good organizer and I really enjoyed watching him... trying to figure out how his little mind was working. Sometimes he went for colors, other times shapes. I think those stacking cups & legos at home have really helped his tupperware organization skills!

Another thing that we enjoyed doing, was "dancing" to the motion-activated, singing Christmas tree. CAUTION: If you were invited to the party, or just happend to "stop by", you were not allowed to leave until Benjamin was willing to excuse you. The dance was simple... just bend at the knees and bounce. Sometimes we'd pick up our feet... I'd flail my arms, but Benjamin did not add this to his groove. The man's got moves... don't mess with him!!

Thuy & Brad finally got to make it home on the 26th around 2pm. Surprisingly, they were willing to go to dinner that night and come back to our house to finish up our present opening. What troopers!! We definitely had a very memorable Chrismas... and made one really contemplate what the true meaning of Christmas!

We are so fortunate to have such a thoughtful family.

Merry Christmas to all... and a Happy New Year (the year of Springroll :)).

Holidays 2009

The latest and greatest... 30 weeks!! At our last appointment, we learned that I'm measuring a little big (despite my wonderful friends telling me that I look small for 30 weeks.. which I REALLY appreciate :)). Little did I know that maternal birth weight often correlates to baby's weight... Did I mention I was a 9lb 11oz baby. Ouch! We'll get another ultrasound at my next appointment and get an estimate on this little person's weight.
29 Weeks

Have you ever seen a Vietnamese Santa? Well, you're in for a treat! Thuc dresses up as Santa every year to distribute cards at work. I had the opporunity to go with him this year between our OB appointments. I have not laughed so hard in a very long time. A little boy saw him in the periop area at the hospital and told his mom "I saw Santa Clause". Fortunately, a coworker had a teddy bear & so he went and visited the little kid - giving him the bear & asking him what he wanted for Christmas. Fortunately, his beard stayed on (we were a little nervous about this) & so I think the little kids now thinks Santa Clause is Asian. :)

I went out one day and was amazed at how many birds decided our roof was a warm place to rest... they're welcome to stay for the day... and then I hope they leave.

This is after our first big snow storm of the season. Only the reindeers head sticks out of the snow... that's a lot of snow!! Rumor is we're supposed to get another 12ish inches around Christmas. I like a white christmas... but who needs 12 inches when you can have 1??

We hope all our wonderful friends have a warm, relaxing, and blessed Christmas! Here's to a new year!!

26 Weeks and Growing...

Here's sweet baby Avery, not so sure that she wants to open her mouth for her green beans. I don't blame her :).
26 weeks. No need to say more :)

The Nursery & 25 Weeks!

So, the previous owners of our house had a Winnie the Pooh Nursery. I know this may be disappointing, but I'm not much of a fan. So, we repainted, moved Thuc's office to this room and then painted Thuc's office to become the nursery. Why you may ask? Well, my reasons were two-fold. 1. Thuc would be forced to go through his things and rid our home of some unnecessary stuff and 2. His office is connected to a bathroom and the Winnie the Pooh room is not. I think Thuc also likes the change.. although maybe not the painting ;) We're fortunate to have a great Brother-in-law who was willing to pitch in his time & talents.

Here we are at 25 weeks. Why has it been a couple of weeks since I took a picture of my belly and posted it? Well, because I'm coming to terms with my weight gain. It's ironic to look back at just 5 weeks ago when I was thinking, "I can't wait til I have an obvious baby bump". Now, I'm thinking, "man, I sure hope it doesn't get much bigger than this!". I keep reminding myself: "what comes on, can come off... what comes on, can come off" :). I'm going to invest in Adobe Photoshop for Christmas so I can do some weight editing in my photos!

Here's Springroll's new Nursery. We're going with a brown/green/white color theme. So far it's pretty much brown.. but we'll get there.

We paid NFM and extra $10 to set up our crib. It was well worth it. They were super quick except for one bolt... which they determined was defective. Had Thuc & I put it together, we would have worked on it for several hours before we would have figured that out! NFM came back the next day with a new bolt & now we're in business! Well.. except for a mattress & baby. :)

Washington, DC

One of Thuc's good friends from residency got married in Washtington DC on the 7th. We decided to visit his family and do some sightseeing as well. This a a picture with Thuc's 96 year old Grandma Mai. She only speaks Vietnamese and is the cutest/sweetest woman.

These are the bones of a 24 week old fetus... and my belly... which also holds a 24 week old fetus :)

The hope diamond!

The capitol... think they're talking about healthcare reform in there??

This is a video of Thuc with his Grandma. He had just got done loading the car with our luggage and so his hands are cold. I think she's trying to warm them up! I smile whenver I watch it.

New Orleans

Thuc & I decided to go to New Orleans for the Annual Anesthesia Conference since neither of us have ever been. It is quite an interesting city with a lot of history. Thuc and I explored the French Quarters (several times), Garden District, and Algiers all by foot. Needless to say, this pregnant lady was ready for my foot massage by the end of the day!!

The the pictures about, another bystander said that this is the house where Benjamin Buttons was filmed. It's in the Garden District in New Orleans... and is for sale, if anyone is interested.

Then we learned that Sandra Bullock just purchased this home and is making a lot of renovations inside. Its size looks small from the street, but it is actually very deep.

The above ground grave sites due to the fact that they're below sea level. They offer a lot of Haunted Cemetary tours this time of year, but they advise pregnant women not to go... bummer.

This is at a "rep" dinner. We went with one of Thuc's good friends from residency and his fiance. Probably one of our favorite dinners!

The happy couple :)

Baby T - aka Spring Roll :)

22 Weeks

21 Weeks

20 Weeks

19 weeks

He/she is making an appearance. I can't hide it any longer! I'm somewhere between my regular clothes and maternity clothes. I'm LOVING Bella Bands, long tanktops, and loose pants! My newest hobby is sitting around and holding my belly - waiting to feel movement. It's such an amazing feeling.

We had our 20 week ultrasound last week (at 21 weeks, 6 days) and Dr. Simmons says everything looks great. We've decided to not find out the sex.. so stayed tuned!