Eli's first year

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Our boy turns one today. This has been the best year of our lives.

thank you uncle Jon

Eli got a package from his uncle Jon yesterday.

Christmas tree

You know what's crazy? That we got rid of all the food I cooked for the Christmas dinner. (see previous entry) We ate all the chicken wings, sickening I know, and I took most of the lettuce wraps to work this evening.

We went to the mall yesterday, and we finished our Christmas shopping yay! We only had a few people to buy for. I hate mall shopping these days. Eli was good, but really, there's no place for babies or little children at the mall during holiday seasons. It's too crowded and too much stimulations. I'm sad that I can't put up our Christmas tree this year. We don't need to have a fake tree filled with lights and breakables for Eli to destroy.

Christmas dinner

We had our church Christmas dinner party last night. The theme was national cuisine. We were supposed to bring dishes from different countries or heritage, preferably our own. I didn't have any family recipes, but I picked up one of the suggested recipes from church the other day. I was going to make chicken lettuce wrap ( I ended up making turkey because I couldn't find any ground chicken) and chinese marinated chicken wings. The recipes were very simple and didn't require much time. I didn't start cooking until three, and the party started at six. I did have enough time, but I didn't defrost the chicken all the way. Some of them were still frozen inside. They were delicious, just weren't cooked all the way. So I thought at least I had the lettuce wrap. On our way out the door, we were in such hurry that my husband grabbed the lettuce and the chicken wings. I didn't realize until I got to the party that I had lettuce, no fillings, and half cooked chicken wings. I quickly carried my food back to our car. Not too many people noticed. Some asked me about the food, and I had to tell them this embrassing story. I actually got really sick on the way to the party that I didn't feel well enough to be embrassed. Also, I had never cooked for fifty people before, so I overestimated the ingredients and got tones of chickens and round turkey left. We know what we will be having the next few months. We had to much fun at the party. The food was great. There were plenty of food that my little mishap didn't runin anything. After dinner, we all sang Christmas hymns. Eli was good most of the time. He wasn't happy when he had to sit in the high chair. All he wanted to do was walking around. After the dinner, there was piñata. Eli got scared from people hittimg the piñata. Haha... Silly boy. We had a blast.

happy days

The low gas price is the best Christmas gift this year. Everyone is smiling at the gas station, well not literally. The other day, it only took twenty bucks to fill up our suv. No more "back in the good old days when gas only cost...". I hope this will last for a long time. At least until our economy improves.

Eli is walking, and he's loving it. He's very skilled too. We have hardwood floor, and we always put socks on his feet. Sometimes they are very slippery, but Eli learned to balance himself most of the time.

ignorance

[I just want to make it clear that this post is not supposed to offend anyone. I'm no better than any of you. This is just my two cents, so you can take it or leave it. Also, this post is somewhat incoherent, because that's how my thoughts are.]

My college roommate came to visit this past weekend. It was nice to be able to catch up. We both have been really busy, her with career and my with changing diapers. On the last day of her visit, she asked me how I can live in a place that has so little diversity. I can see why she asked such question. I live in a caucasian dominant town. During the three days she was here, she only saw a few asians and few mexicans. She also mentioned how borthersome it is to be around people that are igorant. I was agreeing what she said, but now I have time to think about it, I have a different view on that. It's easy to quickly assume small town people are ignorant because of their lack of exposure to other cultures. If that's that case, aren't we all ignorant on some level? Big city people aren't necessarily less ignorant. When we city people laugh about how the country folks know nothing about the world out there, do we know anything about their culture? Wouln't we seem complete idiots when we walk into their daily lives and know nothing about it? And aren't we a little arrogant to assume just because they prefer the small town life style, they are automically narrow minded? I have lived and been to quite a few places around the globe, but there are still so many cultures I haven't been exposed to. I can pretend to be an expert if you ask me topics about Asia, but when it comes to other parts of the world, the Middle East for example, I know very litte. From my personal experience, it is safe to say that people from big cities can be just as ignorant. While most of my asian friends often talk about how americans are always wrong about their asian knowledge, I have to laugh, because if you ask the people in asia, most of them are probably wrong about their american knowledge too. They probably think all women in america wear stiletoos and sip on cosmopolitant like those in the "sex and the city".

Nowaday with the magic of internet, there's really no excuse to be ignorant. I think the worst kind of ignorance is the arrogant ones. There are people who are ignorant because they too prideful. They can never admit that they ignorant. It's okay to not know about something, just don't assume you know everything. Those are the true ignorant people that I can't stand.

awkward childhood

This picture makes it look like I was born in an old era. I'm only twenty eight.


There are so many things wrong with this picture. Why were my cousin and I eating apples outside, why did my mom allow me to wear that, and why was this taken???


I look a lot like Eli in this one.


I'm not sure what we are trying to capture here. Maybe to show that we love climbing on metal bars.


I was thrilled.


Look at the makeup our moms put on us. I got an expression to go with it too.


Classic pose of the 80s.

By the way, do people know it's wrong to have Christmas decorations up before Thanksgiving?

tickle

I'm sorry I have been MIA, but there's not much to update right now. Eli is doing great. His skin has been clear since he started taking zyrtec. Finally baby soft skin. He just started walking today. I know, I should sound more excited, and I am. Even though it was just a few steps, we are so happy for him. I didn't take a video of his first steps, but here's a video that may tickle you.

daily dose of cuteness

it's winter again

I was sitting by the window today, all of a sudden, I saw snow flakes coming down. I said to myself, "Is it really snowing? It can't be. It is!". I forgot it is November already. We have had a beautiful fall this year, now it's time for winter. Last year this time, I was still pregnant. I remember the anticipation of the birth of our first child and how exciting it was. The mood is a lot different this year. There's a baby in the house! I still feel strange sometimes that I'm a mom. Watching Eli crawling around, standing on his own, trying to talk to us with his own baby language are the biggest joys in our lives right now. We are so excited to share this Thanksgiving and Christmas with him. That alone has made the winter my favorite time of the year regardless of the snow and the cold.

pathetic

Working at the hospital, I see all kinds of people. I would be lying to you if I say I don't ever judge them. It's really impossible not to judge anyone. We even judge ourselves sometimes. The important thing is no matter what I think of my patients, I still treat them the same, still give them the best care with respect. Just this past weekend, I had a 19 years old patient. He is what I would call... well, I'm not going to tell you what I thought. He was pretty much a big baby. He had his girlfriend, mom, and grandma at his bedside. When I was taking out an IV site, he would have his girlfriend hold his hand on one side, and his grandma on the other. He was always nasty to his mom and grandma. He would have his mom to adjust the pillows under his leg just to the exact way he wanted, or he would be effing this, effing that. His mom helped lift his leg while I was changing the dressing, he wouldn't help at all. It was really hard for the mom's back after holding her son's leg for a while. When I was done with one part, I told the mom to put his leg down to take a break, she asked her son if she could take her hand out from underneath his knee, he yelled "NO!". I didn't say anything, well, not out loud at least. Although I was pretty disgusted with this young man's manners, I know he is this way because of those around him allow him to be. If they are enabling this kind of behaviors, they are to be blamed just as much. So I don't really feel bad for those, especially females, who are in his life. No matter what he does, he's still probably the apple of their eyes. Seeing someone like him made me realized how lucky I am to have a husband who treats everyone with respect and just a genuine nice guy. His parents raised him well, and we will try out best to raise Eli to be the same.

BPA

Husband just found out from the internet news that many of the baby bottles here in the US contains Bisphenol A {BPA}. Apparently this organic compound is hazardous to humans. Canadian government has banned the use of BPA, but US hasn't. FDA has started investigating it, but no official ban yet. When we found out some of the bottles we have been using contains BPA, we were horrified. Here's a report on BPA on children products.

first halloween

We had fun with the Luceros last night. We went to their neighborhood and went trick or treating with all the kids. I worked in the morning yesterday, so I made a few phone calls at work and found out their still have some baby Halloween costumes at the Nobbies. I ran over there after work and got Eli a Tyrone costume. If you don't know what Tyrone is, I didn't, google search "Backyardigans". That's not my first choice of costume, but that's the best one I could find. He's still looks cute.

P.S. When I went to the mall today, they have a Halloween store there that has all kinds of baby costumes. They even have a lion costume that I wanted for Eli.

*Photos are provided by Amanda*

costume emergency

I got off early tonight, so I thought I could run over to the store to get Eli a Halloween costume. I went to Target, Babies R Us, and Nobbies, and I couldn't find any. Most of the costumes have been sold out. What am I gonna do? I'm not crafty enough to whip up a last minute costume. I think I'm going to try Walmart and maybe Spirit tomorrow after work. This is Eli's first Halloween, and it's important to me. Not to Eli, he won't know any difference.

I have been wanting to share this with you guys. These two guys are so hilarious. Every time I watched this video, I was gasping for air from laughing so hard.

playtime with dad

My husband doesn't want me to post this video because he thinks he looks awful. It was before bedtime, and he's already in his pajamas. I say who cares?! Nobody is going to be watching him, people are going to watch Eli and how cute he is. So here you go.

long overdue

Family and friends keep asking me for recent photos of Eli. I admit I have been slacking off. I have been enjoying our time together so much and forgot to share. He started standing on his own. Yesterday, he attempted to make his first step but not quite ready yet. He will be walking very soon. Here are a few long overdue pictures.

What's that smile? It's poopy diaper smile.

gas price

Gas price oh my gosh! I forgot the last time when gas price was under two dollars. When one of my patients told me gas went down to one ninety nine, I filled up our SUV after work. It only cost me twenty six something to fill up an empty tank. That's mid-western living for you.

my response

This post is a response to my friend's recent post "friends in cyber world". I'm so grateful for internet, e-mails, blogs and such. I'm a really shy person, and a classic introvert. I don't think there's anything wrong with being an introvert, and I have never had the desire to turn myself into an extrovert. I'm comfortable with the way I am. With that said, I found that e-mails, blogs, or anything in text forms are perfect communication tools for me. I like to think through my thoughts first, and I like to be able to edit my words so they are exactly the way I want before I share with others. This doesn't mean I always write long e-mails or blogs. Couple of well thought lines are just as genuine as bunch of nonsense words that come out of people's mouth. Just because I don't call someone doesn't mean I don't care about that person. How often do we feel annoyed we get a phone call from a friend that we don't want to talk to at the moment. Or when your friend wants to hang out with you, but you don't know how to say no. So you ended up engaging in something that you wish it will be over soon. When you e-mail someone, you don't have to worry about bothering that person or fear of rejection in your face. A lot of my friends and family get updates on me and my family through my blog. This way, I don't feel like I'm imposing my life on them. Not everyone is interested in you. But if they have a moment and would like to know how we have been doing, they can simply go to my blog. There are even photos and videos. That's about all I have to say.

a lay back guy

This is so unusual for a blog addict like me not to update my blog for this long. I haven't been consistently blogging. Motherhood is kicking my butt. Eli needs a lot of attentions, and even when he's just playing by himself, which he does a lot, I found myself want to spend all my free time with him. Sometimes I feel like I'm smothering him, but that's impossible. He's really lay back in general. While seeing a lot of kids who are always clinging to people, Eli, in comparison, seems like a loner. When he's in church nursery, he's always off to his own playing. He can play with other kids too, but when there's no one around, he's completely okay to play by himself. Sometimes, he will be looking into the distance thinking about something, then all of a sidden starts smiling. I can't wait for him to be able to share his imaginations with me, and I hope he will continue to be a lay back guy like his dad.

code blue

I know I have been MIA for a while. I have been that busy, but I have been feeling depressed lately. I'm not sure why, but I guess that happens when you are a living human being. Work has been going okay, until tonight. One of my patients coded tonight. It's hard to believe, but this is my first code in my six years of being a nurse. I had only had that patient for two hours when it happened. It all came down really quick, and my patient didn't make it. The worst thing was it happened right in front of my eyes. We were just helping her to reposition, all of a sudden she turned blue and was out. I had helped with a code before, but this was the first time it happened to my own patient. I tried to stay calm, but you could tell I was kinda nervous from my shaky voice. The family happened to be there already. They saw it happened too. After almost an hour of rescuing, the doctor took the family to a quieter room and explained to them that their loved one was not going to make it. I was standing in the corner trying to again stay calm. We are still not sure what happened. It seemed like the patient might have an aneurysm that bursted because they suctioned tons of blood from her abdomen. I keep playing the whole thing my head again and again trying to see if there's anything I missed or I could have done better. I know better not to be too hard on myself. If this happened to my co-workers, I would say the same too. We can't save everyone. Whatever happened, it was God's plan. No matter how hard we try, when God decided it's time, it's time. I pray though God would give me peace in my heart and strength to continue to do the job I love.

work sucked

I had the worst night at work tonight. I don't want to go into details because it will bore most of you. I kept thinking how it was unfair all the problems happened to my group of patients, and I was secretly complaining how nobody helped me. At the end of the night, I had to tell myself, shit happens. This time, it happened to be mine. Instead of throwing myself a pity party, I looked to all the helps I got from my co-workers. They did help me a lot, I was just too overwhelmed at one point to appreciate their help. I'm glad the night is over, so I can enjoy the next three days off.

Johnny Cash's little fan

Y'all wish you could dance like that, don't you? It's genetic. Don't you think he's the cutest! He is.

precious moments

Look what Eli can do now, clapping and giving out high five! It feels funny to high five someone with such tiny hands. The other one was just a silly video of us playing before I tried to put Eli down for a nap. I tell ya this baby is so smart, I'm sure he's going to take over the world someday.

socks suck

The only thing I don't like about the fall and winter is I have to start wearing socks. I recently realized how much I hate wearing socks. The other day it was raining, so I thought I had to wear shoes to keep my feet and toes dry. I was having the most difficult time to find a matching pair. Then I decided to screw it and just let my feet and pants get wet. That was probably my fault, because we put all our clean clothes on the bed in the guest room, and we don't bother to fold them. I also hate wearing socks because they make my feet itch. I have been wearing slippers all summer, and my feet loved it. Now I have to suffocate them with socks. It stinks. So will my feet.

sick again

I'm the blogger of this family. Peter{husband} has no interest in blogging though he used to have a blog. We revisited his old blog today. I told him he should start blogging again because he has great perspectives on things and he's so funny, but he said he doesn't like to advertise his thoughts. By the way, he's sick again, oh no! This is like a sick cycle that never ends. I hope Eli and I won't catch it this time. Contact isolation please.

Looks like I'm going to pick up some extra hours at work to help pay for some upcoming bills. Ah, the joy of being alive and responsible.

night terrors?

We just got woken up again. This is the third night in a row. Eli had been a really good sleeper, but few days ago, he started to wake up screaming in the middle of the night around 2-3. This is very frustrating and confusing for us first time parents. We thought things were going so well. I did some research on the internet while my husband was feeding Eli. Feeding seems to be the solution to every problem we have had with Eli. I'm not sure what is really going on, could it be night terrors? Ladies if you have any similar experiences or suggestions, please do share.

random thoughts

So I was talking to the girls at work last night. I love girl talk. We talked about relationships, friendships, work, just all the good stuff. I miss having my girl friends here. They are back in Hong Kong, and I'm here... None of my friends back home are married. I know many people have trouble to stay connected with their non-parent friends after they have babies. I don't think that would be the case for me and my friends if they were here. We are like family. Even though we haven't seen each other for a few years, we talk all the time online. We care about each other a lot, and they always ask about Eli. We never had problem picking up where we had left off every time I went back to visit. So yeah, I miss them a lot. Lucky me though, I have made some good friends here through church and work. I don't have any asian friends here. Many people think that's strange. Having friends that are the same ethnicity as me is not that important. It's more important to me that my friends have the same faith and similar values as me. We are so blessed to belong to a wonderful church. We have made friends with most of the people there regardless of their ages. Sometimes I feel that having a baby has helped me open up to people more. Maybe it's because I love talking to people about my baby and parenthood.

favorite time of the year

My favorite time of the year has started. Unfortunately I have welcomed it with a cold along with my family. I hope there will be no more cold or flu for the rest of the year. I'm so looking forward to all of the fall and winter holidays this year because they will be Eli's first. First Halloween, first Thanksgiving, first Christmas, and first New Year. Ahh! I can hardly wait.

baptism

Eli and I were baptized together today. It did not go as smoothly as we hoped. That's expected though. There's no way Eli would stay quiet and cooperative the whole time. With all eyes on us, Eli was whining and squirming constantly. My husband was having a hard time to contain Eli in his arms. I was nervous when our pastor took him from my husband's arms. I was worried that he would be kicking and screaming. Fortunately he was captivated by the new face and was quiet and still long enough for the cleansing. He has been showing some attitudes tin he last couple days, which has really drove his parents nuts. At the same time, he does a lot of sweet and cute things daily that completely wipe out all the frustrations we have with him. Tonight my husband was shaking his head, and Eli was copying him. He makes us laugh everyday.

Eli and dad dancing

I have a wonderful husband, and he's also a wonderful dad. Eli loves his dad too. He feels safe and content in his arms. Dad is so in love with Eli, I know because he told me so everyday. Eli loves his dad too. He greets his dad with a big baby grin every morning. Their favorite time together would have to be dancing to their favorite music.

D.A.N.C.E.

Bill Melendez

Those who know me know I'm a HUGE fan of the Peanuts. I love its simplicity and down to earth humor. My favorite characters are Charlie Brown and Linus. I watch A Charlie Brown Christmas and other Charlie Brown holiday specials every year. I read on the news today that the Peanuts animator Bill Melendez has died. I was reading his bio and found out that he also did the Pinocchio and other Disney cartoons. I thought it was interesting how he looked so much like Geppetto.

Bill Melendez was the only authorized person to animate the Peanuts characters. I found this to be interesting too:

"The first special was 1965's "A Charlie Brown Christmas." The show reportedly worried CBS because it broke so much new ground for a cartoon: It lacked a laugh track, used real children as voice actors, had a jazz score and included a scene in which Linus recited lines from the New Testament."

I think I'm going to carry on this tradition with my kids.

sick family

Everyone is sick in the house right now. We all got the cold. It started with my husband coming home early from work last Friday after developing cold like symptoms. He slept for a long time and got better. Couple days ago, Eli started his turn of runny nose and cough. Today, it's my turn, and it seems like my husband is getting a second round of the cold again today. I advise everyone to stay away from this family for now.

slow down

Wait a minute, Eli is eight months old already. We are so proud of him. He's growing fast, and I can't seem to find the slow down button. He's going to start walking anytime now. Very soon, we are going to teach him how to ride a bicycle, then comes elementary school, high school, prom night, college... AH!!! Sometimes the thought of me being responsible for this person, who is completely depended on me really freaks me out.

M.A.C. haul

I went to the M.A.C. counter last week to get a new foundation. I decided to try the M.A.C. studio fix liquid foundation. I have to switched to a liquid foundation because summer is almost over, and I need something more moisturizing for the fall and winter. The studio fix liquid foundation goes on smoothly and stays put throughout the day. Love it! I also bought their primer: prep + prime skin. This stuff is A-MA-ZING. I don't like to put a lot of stuff on my face because I'm afraid they will make my face too oily. This primer is ultra light, dries quickly, and it smooths out your face to create a nice canvas for your makeup. This has quickly become one of my must have makeup. I also got the cult of cherry lipglass and tempting eye shadow compact. They are part of the cult of cherry collection. I love the vibrant colors. Oh by the way, their cult of cherry video is so creative, brilliant, and I was totally tripped out when I first watched it.

allergies

I haven't blogged for a couple of weeks. This is what happened when you are having too much fun in life. First off, a little update on Eli's allergy. He had a blood test couple weeks ago to test for common food allergies in children. It showed that Eli has allergies to eggs, wheat, peanuts, milk, and soybeans. We are going to see an allergist next week. This pretty much sucks. I feel sorry for the little guy. Hopefully he can grow out of some of the allergies if not all. Otherwise, he's a happy healthy baby. Look what he can do now.

Eli likes to play under the table while I'm on my laptop

husband on street view

My husband is famous! Okay, that's not really true, but he's on google street view.

See, there he is.

There he is again.

Just thought I would share this little excitement with you all.

celebration

We went to my friend Mary Ann's graduation party last night. Her boyfriend's family made tons of asian food. At the end of the night, they were bagging left overs for guests to take home. Mary's cousin Nick was chatting with me the whole time. He's probably about ten. I'm not good at telling kids age, especially white kids because they all look the same to me, haha... Anyway, We had a great time. Nick's sister was watching Eli. Looks like Eli just made a new friend.

It's funny how kids just love babies.

When I went to the store to get a card for Mary Ann, I saw this!

and it does THIS!

The music you hear is coming from the card. Sound and motions, how cool is that?! I know I'm a a dork, but this is the most awesome card I have ever seen. I ended up buying this for myself. Hee...

Etsy

I'm a big fan of one of things that are handmade. Months ago, I discovered this website called Etsy. It's an online shop where people buy and sell anything handmade. I have made quite a few purchases there and have been satisfied. My first purchase there was my now wedding band. It's a square sterling band with customized engraving inside of the ring. This is my third wedding ring. My husband still has his second one. We are not very good at taking care of our wedding bands, but I will spare my readers the details. The most important thing is we are still happily married. After the ring, I purchased a stand mixer cover pattern. I had always wanted to get a cover for my kitchen aid stand mixer. I got my fabric and the pattern, all is lacking is my motivation to actually get started. I hope to be able to reveal the final product sometime in the future. Okay, moving on... Recently I have gotten into wearing headbands. I love them. it's the easiest way to dress up an updo. One of my orders came in the mail today. I ordered from two different sells, but I think the other ones are coming soon. This one is made by Bunson Burner.

The little flower is a vintage clip on earring that is removable. Lovely, ihsn't it? She also sent me these scrap papers. Some of them look vintage. I don't really know what to do with them since I don't scrapbook, but I think it's very thoughtful.

Also came in the mail the other day were these lovely nail polish I got from Missha. I love their jewel-like colors.

emergency room- adventure of first time parents

We had our first trip to the emergency last night. Twenty minutes after Eli ate from broccolis that were cooked in alfredo sauce, the left side of his face and upper lip started to swell up, his left eye became almost swollen shut, and his voice was getting hoarse. At first I thought maybe it was from all the crying and scratching his face, but the more we observe, the more scared we got. His breaths seemed slight labor at times. So we quickly grabbed the diaper bag, later found out there was only one diaper left in there, and off we went. Peter sped through traffic. Good thing we only live ten minutes away from the hospital. We were led to the back room right away. Long story short, Eli ended up staying one very long night there. He was released this morning. When we got home, he was still sleeping in his car seat. He was up screaming and crying most of the night. I hope he didn't get his day and night mixed up. Mom and Dad are exhausted, but they are happy to have their healthy baby back.

baby teeth brushing tutorial

I saw this mini Häagen-Dazs the other day. So cute and just perfect size.

We love sweet, but we also love nice teeth. Today, Eli is going to show you how to brush your teeth.

Make sure to get those teeth that are way back there

Smile while you brush

Brush the top

Brush the bottom

Brush to the left

Brush to the right

Now put your clean teeth to good use

beauty talk

Hey girls! So I want to talk about makeup and hair product this time. Since Eli was born, I haven't felt pretty or the need to pretty up myself. I mean, I think it's important to put his needs first, right? Now that he's older and easier to take care of, I'm spending more time on myself again.

As most of you know, I'm a super girlie girl. I love playing with makeup and hair. I also love reading about it. I even enjoy reading the descriptions and instructions that come in the box. I know I'm weird. Before I try any new products, I always read tons of reviews. One of my favorite website to go to is makeupalley.com. They have reviews on all kinds of beauty products posted by actual customers. Since this a neutral site, I think the reviews are as honest as you can get.

So now you know I am a beauty freak, you must think that I have tons of make up. Actually, I only have a drawer full of it. That's really not a lot if you ask a true makeup junkie. I guess you can call me a recovering makeup junkie. I try to keep my quantity to the limit of my drawer. As long as I can still close it, I'm fine. I have never been fateful to any of beauty products that I use. Wait, I take it back. I have been using the same Laura Mercier's secret camouflage concealer for years. By the way, Laura Mercier is one of my absolute favorite makeup artists. The other one is Bobbi Brown. I love how their makeup enhance your natural beauty without looking fake. When it comes to foundation, I always go to Laura or Bobbi. I feel like if I keep talking like this, I'm never going to finish this blog. Maybe I should just make a list of my daily makeup routine. Here we go...
Face:

• Laura Mercier secret camouflage concealer or MAC studio finish SPF15 concealer. I just bought the MAC concealer yesterday, and I really like its smooth texture and medium to full coverage.

• Laura Mercier foundation powder in the summer. Bobbi Brown moisturizing cream compact foundation in the winter.

• NARS orgasm blush or Bobbi Brown shimmer brick compact.

Eye:

• MAC eye shadows for really special occasions. I'm still trying to learn how to apply eye shadows. It's tricky with my small asian eyes. If apply it wrong, it will make my eyes look even smaller.
  
• Bobbi Brown long-wear gel eyeliner or MAC liquidlast liner. Also bought this MAC eyeliner yesterday. This eyeliner is seriously long-lasting. I made some smudging this morning, and it was so hard to get off.
• Shisedo eyelash curler. Hands down The best eyelash curler.
  
• Kanebo 38℃ silk performance mascara. I like how it gives my eyelashes a feather like texture. As for the name 38℃, it can be washed off only with water at 38℃. I can say that based on my own experience, it's true. Interesting, isn't it?

Lastly, I set my makeup with a few spritz of MAC fix+. Then a little lip gloss or C.O. Bigelow lip tint No. 1139, and I'm good to go. Really, it only takes me about fifteen minutes to do my makeup every morning.

As for my hair, right now, I'm trying to grow my hair out again. When I was pregnant, I decided to chopped my hair off to above my shoulders. A lot of people said it's cute, but I really wish I kept the length. Oh well... no big deal, it's just hair right? It will grow back... very slowly. I like switching out my shampoo and conditioner every so often. I don't have the scientific proof, but hair products do seem to be less effective overtime. It's like you hair becomes immune to the effectiveness of the products, if you know what I mean. When half of my Aveda shampoo and conditioner (I used the rosemary and the scalp benefit lines) bottles were gone, I decided it's time to try something new. Right now, I'm using TIGI bad head control freak shampoo and conditioner alternate with L'Oreal vive pro nutri gloss shampoo and conditioner. I love how they make my hair feel so soft. I don't blow dry my hair. I wash my hair the night before and let it air dry. I find it easier to style my hair the next day after I have slept on it. Speaking about sleep, I'd better go get some beauty sleep. But first I have to finish watching the men and women swimming events. Go Phelps!

olympic and lasagna

2008 Olympic is finally here! I know it's weird to hear this me, someone who doesn't care and watch any sport. Actually, Olympic is THE ONE sport event that gets me excited. My favorite events to watch are swimming, diving, and gymnastic. I was looking forward to the opening. I had high expectation for my people. The Chinese know their fireworks and if all fell short, they could still put on a kick-ass firework show. I have to say, the opening ceremony was spectacular. I heard the drums count down at the beginning was incredible. My husband said it was so good that made him feel proud for the Chinese. Well, I had to cook dinner for my husband and baby, so I missed the first half. I was so upset that they didn't broadcast it live, and I had to miss the best part. I tried to find that on youtube and was sure there would be many. I mean, what can you not find on youtube anymore. I was so bummed that all of the videos were removed due to "copy rights claim by a third party" ARGH!

With all that said, I have to give kudos to my friend Amanda. I found a link to The Pioneer Woman in her blog. I have to agree with Amanda, Pioneer woman is awesome! She is a great cook, photographer, and a cowgirl. I made her "the best lasagna. ever" tonight. It's very easy and full of flavor. I forgot to take a photo. I was too hungry. Wen it comes to Italian food, my husband always has a strong opinion. No, he's not Italian. He loves his Italian food. I asked if he thought it was the best lasagna he had ever had, he said the Paula Deen's seafood lasagna that I made was the best. But then he admitted it's the best meat lasagna he had ever had. While I was preparing the lasagna, I managed to make a pan of brownies using the Ghirardelli brownie mix. I feel productive today.

Eli's new favorite snack

seven months

Eli is seven months old already. Can you believe it?! I'm still amazed that he came out of me. He's been trying to pull himself up lately and crawling everywhere. He's a speedy crawler. He started having more redness on his left cheek and chin. We think it's from all the drooling. I'm not sure if this is just a phase, but he's gotten more whinny too. What happened to that sweet little boy? I'm just trying to keep myself cool and patient these days.

date night

We just saw the new Batman movie. It's not bad. This is the first date night for my husband and I since my mom left. My husband's friend Omar and his wife offered to babysit Eli. Their son Henry-Pete is just a couple months older. We thought they could be good playmates. I admit at first I had the first time parent paranoia, but I decided I didn't want to be the mom that keeps her kids in a bubble. We hung out at Omar's place for a while before we headed out for the movie to make sure Eli was okay. He quickly warmed up to Omar's family. He had such a great time with them. Looks like there will be many more play dates for Eli and Henry-Pete.

cans

I was shopping at the dollar general today and saw this. I was mesmerized.

just feel like venting

I don't understand grown men and their computer games. It's not like I don't know how to have fun or enjoy life, but how is staring at the screen shooting things and people fun? Besides, computer games can be very time consuming and take your time away from your family. I wonder if they will ever grow out of it.

crafty mind

I have been trying to be crafty, but I haven't had much time lately. Also I'm not as motivated as I hope to be. The first thing I need to do to get my crafty spirit going is to create a craft work space for myself. We have a big basement that's not being used much right now. We just need to install some good lighting down there. I also need a nice big table to do all my drawing and cutting. I want a table with simple design, a smooth top with four straight legs. Once I get that, I will need a new sewing machine and few sewing supplies then I will be good to go. We will see if we can get this going in the next couple months.

videos

I love laughing baby videos. It's more fun when it's your baby. Eli has a low laughing point. Here all I have to do is to brush my hair against his hands, somehow he thinks that's funny. The other two are Eli crawling. Hurray for reaching another milestone!

baking and cooking

I had a sudden craving for cheesecake yesterday, and I used a recipe from Martha Stewart living to make a cheesecake with blueberry topping. This is the simplest cheesecake recipe I have ever made, yet it's so rich and creamy. After putting Eli to sleep, I stayed up to bake the cheesecake. This tells you how bad I wanted it. I was so tempted to take a bite after it came out of the oven, but of course every baker knows you have to refrigerate a cheesecake for at least eight hours or overnight before it can reach the right consistency. I didn't go to bed until one in the morning, and I had to wake up at five to feed Eli. Although I was very sleepy, I couldn't help but to serve myself a slice of cheesecake before I went back to bed. That was good breakfast. For lunch today, I made a curry chicken salad sandwich. I used the recipe from my friend Amanda. I chose to use a store bought rotisserie chicken instead of making my own, and I think it added extra flavor.

jayhawks baby