2/4/2010 Washington is like Washing Clothes! Grandparents Moy arrive today!!!

After a good nights sleep, Julia woke up all refreshed and in a great mood, getting into our King bed and saying "Daddy I love you, you are warm and toasty." Then as we were driving to school you said "Where is Zach and Zoe?" to which I replied "they live in Washington and are probably on their way to school too." and Julia said "What's Washington" and I replied "It's a state northeast of Oklahoma" and then Julia said "Hey, Washington is like Washing Clothes." Followed by giggles and laughs!


Grandparents Moy arrive today at 1:30pm!!! We are all so excited - house is in order (considering the toddler and baby), Meme has dinner planned - kalbi, tilapia, broccoli and rice, guestroom prepped with towels, snacks, water...let the good times and new family memories begin! When I asked Julia if she wants to stay home and wait for Yie-yie and ah-mah to arrive at the house or go to the airport, her reply is "Go to the airport with Daddy!" OK!

2/3/2010 Memory like an elephant!

Oh Julia - you have such a great memory! Last night at dinner she asked for cheese, so I said finish your rice first and you can have a cheese square, daddy got new cheese from Sam's Club today. "Cheese can be my dessert" our 3 1/2 yr old said - yes, it can. But as the evening went on the cheese was forgotten, Julia was asleep with Mom by 8pm and Daddy was on Stella duty. So an hour or two later, J wakes up and tells Mommy - "I didn't have my dessert - my cheese dessert." Meme was so tired she told J it's too late, you already brushed your teeth, go back to sleep...then this morning as I was getting ready in the master bath, Big Girl Julia comes in and says "Daddy, I didn't have my cheese dessert yesterday." Oh boy - so I told her we all forgot and she can have it for breakfast...

1/31/2010 Today's activities and Updates from Meme and my FB Posts...

Today Meme got a well deserved break - a date with herself to see the play "August - Osage County." So Daddy braved 5 hours alone with both kiddos - not bad - we all survived. Our day was filled with watching Alvin & The Chipmunks, Sleeping Beauty, Hi-5, singing songs, eating snacks, bouncing baby Stella on the big exercise ball, got to read some pages of my book "Push" and ended with Julia playing on the laptop till Mommy came home. Stella had almost 3.5oz of formula, slept in my arms more than 1/2 the time and was ready for mommy to nurse her for her dinner ;0) The entire family went to bed around 8:30 or 9pm - J and I laid in bed and made up short rhyme songs for 5-10 minutes - it was fun and she's really creative and good at it! If only each and everyday was as relatively easy...

1/31/2010 Last night as I was getting J to sleep she told me "Daddy, tomorrow let's play the you do what I do game." Okay, I said, sounds like a plan. Then J says, "Good, I will dream about it now. Goodnight."

1/29/2010
J "Mommy what are those dots on your nose?" uhhhh "blackheads" - J- "Can we vacuum them?" - okay no more sitting too close to mommy.... I need a facial BAD

1/28/2010
How do you define what a policeman does to a three year old? J asked the other day and I didn't want to introduce(i.e. open a whole can of worms) the "bad people" concept to her yet... or the whole protecting us from "bad" things -thing.... ended up mumbling something about road safety and traffic-- which is WAY lame- I know...

1/26/2010
J has decided to name our (very) future dog "I love hearts" when daddy said you can't give a dog 3 names she replies "rosie has 3 names- Stella Rose Moy" 'nuff said.

January 25, 2010 - Over due update!

With the move and Meme's mom leaving for Asia we have been so stressed and swamped...but Julia has been a trooper through it all and wants to "help" pack and organize. She loves her baby sister, knows that her name is Stella Rose and had some cabin fever from the cold weather and mom and dad trying to prep for the move, still adjust to a two kid family and stay alive - LOL! Recent highlights, a super helpful visit from my friend Jim Ng - he had a 24+ hr layover in Tulsa so we fed him and put him to work helping move boxes and some small furniture pieces. Julia loved having Uncle Jim around for the day, chatting up a storm, playing at the only "good" Chinese restaurant in Tulsa...

Hip hip hooray - Hsiu-Mei arrived 1/20 and is here till 1/31 to help us get organized! She's a wonderful friend/auntie and is helping us get our new home together! We swear she should have her own TV show *(like Nanny 911 or Super Nanny) where she helps people get their home in order in 1 week and then returns 6 months later to see if they kept it up! We are making progress - the movers moved the big furniture on Friday 1/22 and we have been working on a box at a time, a corner at a time, a room at a time. Julia just needs some good attention on a regular basis - not too much to ask for a 3 1/2 yr old...thankfully she loves her Montessori school!

On Saturday 1/23 we thought she needed a good outing and meet our friends Sive, Patsile and their son Pele at Incredible Pizza. Meme stayed home with the baby to get some rest and continue the progress.

After getting Julia's closet set up and "organized" in the new house, I showed her the closet - "Here's your short sleeve then long sleever shirts, skirts, dresses, sweaters, pants..." So at night she wanted to select her PJs, OK, no biggie. Then when we were getting ready for bed, I called for her and she said "I'm here, getting my clothes for school tomorrow." And low and behold, she was standing in her closet, selecting a dress and leggings! I cracked up and yelled out to Meme what was happening - Julia still needs a little lesson in some basic coordination of clothing, no pink patterned dress with green different patterned pants...i think she just doesn't like "boring" solid colors and we know she LOVES sparkly and shiny!

When we went to a short play date at the Whiteheads, and Caroline and Julia were playing Mommy Princess and the baby, J was the mommy and when C told her I can't sleep, J said "Don't be scared, there's nothing to be scared of, just close your eyes and go to sleep." She gave me this look like "right Daddy - that's what you and Mommy always say to me! Too funny!

Oh boy - NEVER move with an active toddler and newborn...unless you absolutely have to!

Julia and I have a new game where she wants me to "do what I do" and I just copy everything she says as she says it and we end up cracking up laughing and having a great time.

She was asleep around 7pm last night, finally got a full 12 hrs of sleep, had a great day at school (music class with Ms. Jo on Mondays) and came home in a great mood! Oh, and on the way home from school today, Julia told me she wants to name her dog (when she and Stella are old enough to take care of their own pet dog mind you) "I LOVE HEARTS" What a long name I said and she replied, but Stella has 3 names, Stella Rose Moy and I have 3 words, Julia Manuela Moy, so the dog can have 3 words - I LOVE HEARTS...okay, no argument there!

Ahhh, things are getting better and more organized each day (thanks to Hsiu Mei being the drill Sargent for us) and we all can't wait for Grandparents Moy to arrive on 2/4-2/22 and then our trip to Chicago the week of 3/15 when Julia is on Spring Break.

Will get around to posting some new pics soon...now that we got DSL set up today and hopefully the Direct TV is up and running too!

January 15, 2010 Daddy's Birthday and Julia's first Parent Teacher Conference

Daddy took the morning off to go to your first Parent Teacher conference. We dropped you off at the "child care" room of the school and went to your classroom to see your teachers/guides Mrs.Karmazin and Ms. Mia. It was strange to see the classroom so empty. They gave a printout of your progress report and of course you did so well in everything (Montessori was more about your life skills rather than just reading and writing) Mrs. Karmazin said that you are a Montessori "natural" and a great addition to her class (smile) funny thing is the only thing you got a "2" for was "leadership" and mommy thought you certainly showed a LOT of leadership when you're at home LOL. She said in the beginning you would follow her around closely, but when you got comfortable with your friends and surroundings you got more independent.

Mommy and Daddy are SO happy that we finally found a school where you belonged and could thrive - from trying out the Kirk, to B'nai, we just knew that our little girl had to be comfortable with her school in order to truly shine :) You are so lucky to have a daddy that was open to your neurotic mom's ways and understood that for this time in your life it is so important that you love your school.

We followed the conference with a trip to the Cheesecake Factory where we celebrated daddy's birthday and you had your favorite Mac n' Cheese. It was a great day.

Sun. Jan. 10. 2010 - Lets Read Our Statements!

Oh boy, after having Korean buffet for lunch we went to the new house to unpack and organize some more. Grandma LPS held Baby Stella most of the time we were there, Julia was playing and helping and Meme and I were robots emptying out boxes and organizing stuff. It was a productive 2+ hrs and at the end while Meme was nursing Stella and grandma LPS got to relax, Julia and I had a perfect simple and fun way to end the day at the house - there were 2 pieces of real mail, our ATT cell bill and a mutual fund statement, so Julia helped me open them and we laid on our backs on the carpeted floor and pretend to "read" our statements, taking turns saying silly things, giggling and laughing together...it was a great way to end the day of unpacking and organizing - as simple and silly as it sounds, these are the great easy pleasures with our kids that keep us young!

Jan 6, 2010 Part 3 "Announcement"

While getting Julia to bed tonight all of a sudden she tells me "You know what Daddy? I'm going to perform on a stage like a ballerina. Mommy measured me for a costume today. You, mommy and baby Rosie are going to watch me!" She was so darn excited and happy, in the dark room I could feel her happiness and glow of excitement! I said "Wow, how exciting, we can't wait!" and Julia said "I can't wait either!" And then within a few minutes she was sounds asleep...