It's getting really cold. I have to watch my steps extra carefully now a day. I almost fell on ice the other day. Good thing husband was there to catch me. As I am getting closer to my due date, I'm getting butterflies in my stomach. I wonder what it will be like to meet this little person for the first time. We still don't have a name picked out yet, but we are constantly working on it. I was looking at some of the babies clothes today and couldn't believe how tiny they are. Also, I started to feel more braxton hicks lately. Holy crap! I'm really going to have a baby real soon.

Who will you vote this time around? Better yet, how would you vote? Most people vote for their own party regardless of what they believe, and that's the downfall of the bipartisan system. What about voting as a Christian? I don't believe that God is neither democrat or republican. Most Christians like to say that if you are a Christian, then you must vote for a republican. Really? Let's look at one of this year republican candidates for example, Rudy Giuliani. How much of a Christian am I if I vote for someone who's pro-abortion and pro-gay marriage? The thing is now a day, it's unclear what makes a democrat democrat, or a republican republican. As Christians, we should vote for Christian values not a particular party. A lot of Christians think that it's a non-Christian thing to not to vote. They think God gave us the right to vote, and we should exercise it even when the choices are against Christian values. They like to use the "lesser evil" approach. If I have only two candidates to choose, and both of them are anti-Christ, choosing either of them would be wrong. As Christians, we should not partake or endorse any sins, not even political sins. This is not intended to discourage people from voting. I will only cast my vote to someone who I believe represents the Christian principles and not just vote for the sake of voting.

We are so broke. I'm looking at our bank statement online, and it's not pretty. Thanks to the baby, our expenses are going to be huge these few months. I'm sure it will continue to expand. Anyone want to donate to the first time parents fund?

I put in my usual 12 hours work yesterday with only 1 hour of sleep the night before. That's what happen when you have too much diet mountain dew. I need to switch to caffeine free. Needless to say, it didn't take long for me to fall asleep tonight. The problem is I woke up 4 hours later. That's why I'm up blogging at 3 in the morning. At least that's 4 times longer than I slept last night.

Does anyone hate Walmart as much as I do? I don't usually shop at Walmart unless it's for special occasion like when I need to get a gag gift for a white elephant gift exchange. So yesterday I wanted to make chili, and I needed to get a dutch oven. I didn't want to commit to an expensive Le Creuset since I didn't know how often I will be using it. After searching online for a bit, I found this nice reasonably priced one at Walmart. I went to store and they were out. When I asked one of the Walmart "friendly" employee that's stocking nearby if she could find out if another Walmart had it. She hesitated for a second and said she would have to walk to the jewelry counter to call. I could sense that she found my request troublesome. From what I saw, the jewelry counter was only 15 feet away, so I said okay. When we got the counter, she asked this other lady to make the call. I didn't think it would be a problem since they seemed to be having a slow day at the jewelry counter. This lady was even more put off by it. She leaned over the counter with an annoyed face, and she was biting her nails the whole time we were waiting for the other store to pick up. I finally had enough and told them to forget about it. There's no smiley face there. I ended up going to Bath Bed & Beyond and got a Caphalon one like this one.

Yes, it costed me four times more, but the purchase was much more pleasant.

Oh, looks like I have time to get one more hour of sleep before I start my 12 hours work day.

Dear Rice and Pasta,
I miss you...

Things are coming along nicely. Peter has put down the floor in the bathroom. It looks good. We have also cleared out the used to be computer room to turn it into a nursery room. We have chosen the classic Winnie the Pooh theme. I'm not a big Pooh fan, but the classic Pooh Bear just screams nursery. Besides, Peter insisted on them. I thought I was lucky just to get him to go to the store with me, so I was pleasantly surprised to see that he actually cared enough to have an opinion about the nursery. Doesn't it look cute though?

Aunt Suzy and Lynne got us the bedding set, a Pooh Bear plush toy, some decorations, and some baby clothes. They are so nice and soft. What a lucky baby. Tomorrow I will continue my search for the perfect car seat and stroller.

I'm playing with gif files. Never knew how easy it is. It's kinda fun.

I was going to have my first baby shower today, but it was canceled due to the untimely winter storm. Boo~ I was looking forward to see our Kansas cousins this weekend. Of course I'm disappointed, but I'd rather them be safe and stay home. Peter finally put together the crib. I'm at 34th week now, technically I can give birth anytime now without any risk. I think tomorrow we are going to shop for stroller and car seat. I can't believe how many choices there are. We want one that's sturdy but not bulky. We still haven't decided if we are going to be cloth or disposable diapers. Personally I prefer cloth, but I'm not sure how leak proof they are. I can't believe how many things we still need to get. I'm so grateful for baby shower.

The hospital gift shop and salon were having a sale today. Everything was 30% off. Didn't really need anything, but I went to check it out anyway. There I saw this tourmaline ceramic flat iron marked as $120. My first reaction was "what the?!", and it's not even a CHI. After listening to my co-workers who have this kind of flat irons, though not the same brand, telling me how well they work and how much they love theirs blah blah blah... I was convinced it's worth the money. I thought I had a good deal when it ended up being $84 after the discount until I looked it up online tonight. They cost less than $70 every site I looked at. Needless to say, I'm pretty pissed right now. I feel like a SUCKER. I'm going to call them tomorrow and demand a refund.

I'm sure anyone who reads my blog can sense that I have been a little down lately. To perk myself up, I went to get myself some new makeup. I'm quite happy with my purchases. After much researches online, I decided to try Laura Mercier's foundation stick and foundation powder.

I have used Laura's foundation before. I was very pleased with it, but I'm a makeup junkie, so I never just stick with one thing. I had since then switched to Bobbi Brown and Cliniqe. I'm glad to finally be back with Laura again. I wore the two foundations all day at work today, and I was very happy with the result. Not only did they not feel heavy on my face, my complexion was completely evened out giving me a "flawless face" look (Laura Mercier's signature look). I also bought a new blush from NARS called Orgasm.

Such a beautiful color that will compliment any skin tone. I feel a little better already.

Bathroom renovation updates. We still got a long way to go. My favorite part is the glass block window. All done by Peter. The tiles are not perfectly align. Peter said it adds a little character. I don't know about that, but I'm just gonna have to deal with it. It's too late to take it all down and redo it now.

This is the color we picked for the wall. It's called plum passion. It's hard to see in the pictures, but it's a light green, and it goes well with our salmon color tub.

I hope to be able to post the final product real soon. I miss taking baths.

Feeling nauseous this morning... I have been up for 18 hours. As I'm yawning in front of the monitor, I try to think of anything to do besides going to sleep. I'm being irresponsible.

I have not been watching my diet as closely as I should. Even though I have only gained 1lb in the past 3 weeks, I feel like a bad mom already. This baby sure knows how to put a guilt trip on his mama.

(Yawning...)

It's been an emotional roller coaster day today. I had a doctor appointment today. Everything is fine, but before the appointment, I had a nervous breakdown. I'm not sure what pushed me over the edge. All of a sudden I had this unexplainable and overwhelming anger. Instead of controlling it, I let it control me. I was hysterical. After 20 minutes of crying, throwing and kicking things, I finally calmed down. I still don't know what came over me, but sure it would be concerning if I wasn't pregnant. These days I blame everything on hormone.

These are Peter's favorite cookies "toffee crunch cookies". He has been begging me to bake these. They have oatmeal, toffee bits, coconut and almond in them. I know it may sound too much, but all the ingredients compliment each other very well. Because these are thin cookies, they are not as rich as you may think. I was going to bake a cake too, but it's 3am already. I think I need to get some sleep especially when I'm still dealing with some leftover bronchitis. Now I'm going to bed smelling like cookies. Um... how sweet.

Every year I look forward to Thanksgiving, but this year I'm a little freaked out. This Thanksgiving reminds me just how close I am to my due date. By Christmas, I will be in a state of panic. In a couple months, I will be holding a tiny person in my arms. That's just too weird. Before I start hyperventilating, I should remind myself how blessed I am. I truly am grateful for what God has provided me and my husband all these years, and now He has blessed us with our first baby. We indeed have so much to be thankful for.

Our bathroom renovation is going along nicely. Husband is doing a fine job, I just hope that it will be done on time. I can tell Peter is feeling the pressure too as the baby due date approaching quickly. Today he worked on the glass block window. It turned out so good. I will post some pictures later. We have subway tiles all around, and we picked out an elegant pedestal sink. I think when it's done, it's going to look awesome.

Good news! My mom got her visa, and it's good for 10 years. She probably won't stay the whole 10 years, but at least she can get in and out of the U.S. without problem. She plans on staying for 6 months this time. Can't wait to have mom's home cook meals again.

I'm sick again. I have gotten sick so many times since I have become pregnant. I was feeling fine all day, then while we were at Lowes picking out paint color, all of a sudden I felt very weak and achy all over. It was strange. My legs were so weak that they were about to give out. I had to get up in the middle of the night and slept on the couch because my throat was too sore when I was lying down. While I was lying semi-comfortably on the couch, I saw this news on TV talking about an outbreak of a mutated cold virus that has killed 10 people in the U.S. Being a dramatic emotional pregnant woman as I am, my first thought was that must be what I have, I'm dying. So I rolled off the couch and looked it up on the internet. Although I have some similar symptoms, I don't think that's what I have. If you are reading this, please do pray for me for an uneventful final stretch of my pregnancy. I can't believe we are almost there.

Amanda is hosting a baby shower for me. She even used one of the pictures she took to make the invite. How nice!

My friend Amanda took these pictures. I thought they were a little cheesy at first, but it's my first pregnancy, and I'd like to share this experience with my family and friends. There are more in my photo album.

So many updates, but so little energy. I have developed gestational diabetes, so I have been checking my blood sugar and counting carbs. Good thing I only have couple months left. So far I have been able to keep it under control most of the time. I let my blood sugar slip once a while, but not bad at all. I didn't gain anything, in fact I lost 1 lb since the last doctor visit. I will still have to watch it after the baby, they said most women develop type 2 diabetes few years later.

My mom is going to apply for her visa. I wish her luck, and hope that they will let her stay for at least 6 months. I will take as much as I can get.

So I failed my first glucose test, I FAILED! Now I have to go back to have the three hour test. A lot of women fail the first one and pass the second one. I hope I pass. During my last visit, the nurse practitioner said we have to watch my weight. I must have gained more than expected in the past few weeks. I feel like a big fat cow. I should probably start some light exercise like walking. I have been so inactive lately mainly because of lack of energy. Maybe some exercise will do me good and give me more energy.

Peter has done a lot of cleaning and fixing up around the house lately. I'm so grateful to have such loving and wonderful husband.

This my new go to video when I need a good laugh. So adorable and contagious.