New introduction

Okay, I'm finally back!! It's been a long time since I've sat in front of the computer to update this blog. I guess you can call it writer's block, or just plain lazy. When I first started this blog, I wanted to share my experience of being a new mom with my friends and family, it was really fun at first, but I often wondered if anybody is actually interested in our ordinary life? I struggled to come up with interesting topics, so I just stopped writing all together. I was actually planning to end this blog, but a light bulb went off during my recent trip to NYC!

Hubby and I recently took a trip to NYC, leaving our baby boy behind with the grandparents. The trip was great (but we did miss Tyler like crazy), and it fell good to know that we can still have fun as a couple! We have been to NYC before, so we skipped all the tourist area and made this trip into a culinary tour! One of the places we went to was Ippudo, a super popular japanese ramen restaurant. That bowl of ramen was amazing, and it totally ignited my passion for food again. I am determine to make my own bowl of ramen, so I ordered the Momofuku cookbook the moment I got home!!

This cookbook is crazy intense, the average recipe takes around 6 hours to complete, which is interesting and challenging, but I doubt my hubby and son would want to have dinner at midnight every day. So my plan is to use this blog to share some of my quick weeknight dinner solutions and also how I tackle the recipes momofuku and my other cookbook collection (which have been collecting dust)....



So come along for the ride!! But don't laugh if any of the recipes are too simple or if I miserably fail trying to attempt the Momofuku 48 hr beef short ribs!

We are changing....

I have big plans for this blog...ok...not really big plans, more like a "relaunch". Yes, I have been very busy and have not updated this blog since September, which is when I went back to work. Life as a mommy is still great, and I'm actually really enjoying life as a working mom. But in order to keep this blog updated at a reasonable manner, I need to revamp this blog all the together! It needs to look different, talk about different things ....so we are (actually, there is no we, it's just little old me, but WE sound so much more professional! HA) under construction now, and hopefully will be ready for a "relaunch" in the upcoming weeks!!!!

STAY TUNED!

The unsuccessful cake smash...

Every one year old needs a cake smash! I love the idea of a cake smash, I love it when Tyler gets messy and dirty, it's fun and that's what a baby is suppose to do! Tyler's bff, Jalen did a cake smash for his 1st birthday, it turned out perfectly! Baby J got dirty, messy, cake was eaten, cake was smeared, cake was everywhere!!! So I was super excited to do one for Tyler!
I was certain that it would turn out perfectly for Tyler as well, the kid LOVES food and loves to stick his hand into EVERYTHING! I put a white table cloth on the ground, the top tier of his birthday cake in front of him, and waited for him to go to town!

So he started off with just staring at the cake, then started to look around at everyone (we had both our families there, around 25 people, all with cameras ready to go), and then back to staring at the cake. So hubby decided to help him out a little by poking his finger into the cake, but still no reaction from Tyler....Tyler was so distracted by all the people around him, he rather crawl around and play than smash the cake!
So I decided to smash the cake myself and feed him some of it, thinking that it might peak his interest and get him going..


But after he tasted the cake, he was outta there...LOL!
Sigh Tyler, why do you always have to make things difficult!! Maybe we will have better luck next year....

Happy 1st Birthday Tyler!!

I started thinking about Tyler's birthday celebration back in Spring, I love throwing parties and was excited to plan this birthday celebration for our sweet baby! I honestly don't know how I came up with the Pirate theme, just one of my odd ideas! After months of research, working on all the little details, and planning in my head, the back to back parties had came and gone!












Tyler was unfortunately sick for both of his parties, luckily, he was a trooper, besides being a bit clingy and wanted to be held all the time, he still managed to party it up with his little buddies! We were blessed with great weather on both days, and it was the perfect way to enjoy the last few weeks of summer. Although I was busy running in and out of the kitchen, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Amongst all the chaos, I was able to stand back and look at all the happy faces, friends mingling, mommies exchanging stories, daddies downing their beers and babies laughing, all the hard work was all worth it. We are really blessed to have such an amazing group of friends and family who helped and supported us through the past year.











As I look at Tyler now, crawling everywhere and busy getting himself into trouble (he is reaching for the TV right now!!), it's hard to imagine that he was a 7 lbs baby just a year ago.














Looking back on this amazing year we had, I spent a lot of time crying in the first few months, tears of frustration, fear and stress. Instead of stressing over every little thing, I really wished I was able to relax and enjoyed the first 3 months more. We had a lot of challenges over the past year, not more than any other new parents, but at least I can honestly say now that the only tears I have is tears of joy! Hubby and I used to wonder why people have more than one kid, taking care of a newborn is really no easy task. But now I know why, the happiness and love you feel when your baby smiles at you, call you mama for the first time and how their little eyes light up when they see you walk into the room, that feeling as a parent is truly indescribable...

Sundays...

Everyone hates Mondays, but I've always hated Sundays more, I hate the anticipation of going back to school/work more than the actual day. I hate the feeling of looking at the clock and realizing that the weekend is coming to an end, and I have to start preparing myself for another week of work. I have been feeling that same type of anxiety for the past weeks. The anticipation of going back to work and leaving my baby is making it hard for me to enjoy my last weeks of mat leave. And fast forward to today, I only have two full days left with Tyler, and I'm trying really hard to soak it all in.


I know Tyler is going to be in good hands, and I know he is going to have no problem spending the whole day with my parents, who he absolutely adores, I think this transition is going to affect me way more than him. Hopefully, in a few weeks, I can look back and realize that this new chapter of our lives is not as bad as I thought, and I can will treasure the times I have with Tyler even more!

THE DAY =(

Milestones.....

Life of a mom has proven to be detrimental to my blogging "career"! LOL! But honestly, I have been so busy lately and haven't got a chance to update this blog. If you were to ask me what I have been busy with, I can't really tell you. Every day seems to be the same but yet a bit different, I can barely keep track of what day it is in the week. I guess this means I have finally settled into my mat leave (at least I am not counting down to the weekend every minute nowadays), but too bad, this is all going to end very soon, I am back to work at the end of September.

It seems like it was just yesterday when hubby and I brought our brand spanking new baby home, the past 10 months were full of joy, tears (happy, sad, frustrated tears) and tons of challenges. Tyler has grown so much in the last 10 months, from a 7 pounds 4 oz blob to an almost 20 pounds crawling machine. As I go through his old photos, I regret not taking more pics, more videos and recording his milestones. I am going to use this post to capture some of his significant milestones, before I forget...

Tyler's first day home (Sept 13, 2009):



First time laughing out loud (December 26, 2009_3 1/2 months):



First time eating solids - he LOVES food (Feb 12, 2010_5 months):

First time rolling over both ways (April 1, 2010_6 1/2 months):


First time crawling (June 23, 2010_9 months):


First time calling mama (June 27, 2010_9 1/2months):


I got really emotional as I went through his pictures, I can't believe my little boy is growing up so fast, way too fast...I just have to remind myself every day to treasure every moment with him!