Lone Star Californian

Emma and Madeline's Blog

2015-01-01T21:49:00.001-06:00

Our Little Firefly is the blog originally created for our daughter Emma, but since the birth of our second daughter Madeline we will use it for both of them. :)

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T21:34:00.009-05:00

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!Emma loved her Wow Wow Wubbzy pumpkin. This year we got 131 kids and gave out a lot of candy, glow bracelets, and little toys. Mama practiced trick or treating with Emma by having her ring the front door, saying trick or treat, and then I would give her candy. The funniest part of the evening was before they left Emma kept saying trick or treat and pulling candy

Pregnancy Weight Loss

2009-10-11T01:07:00.002-05:00

I didn't gain as much weight with Maddy's pregnancy as I did with Emma's. My total weight gain was 27 lbs. and the weight was pretty much all baby. I have lost most of the weight and only have 2 more lbs to go to hit my pre-pregnancy weight. :-)

Emma and Maddy

2009-08-15T18:53:00.000-05:00

Emma holds Maddy for the first time. She gave her a few kisses on the forehead as soon as Mama put Maddy in her arms.

Hello World!

2009-08-15T18:51:00.001-05:00

38 Weeks and 4 Days

2009-08-11T22:13:00.000-05:00

Ob/Gyn appointment today revealed no changes. We actually thought the baby was coming last Thursday. I woke up from a nap and had contractions every 2 - 5 minutes for 3 hours (every 2 minutes the last hour). They weren't painful though. For the 2nd hour the nurse had me drink lots of water and lay on my side. Since they didn't stop after the 3rd hour we went in to be evaluated and wouldn't you

37 Weeks and 3 Days

2009-08-04T09:40:00.002-05:00

We had an Ob/Gyn appointment yesterday and the baby is doing well. Her heart beat was great and the doctor thinks she may only be about 7 to 7.5 lbs at delivery. Wow! We're thinking that's pretty small even though it's average size for a girl, because Emma was 9 lb 1 oz. My cervix is a fingertip open (about 1 cm) and I'm 50% effaced. I had a lot of braxton hicks contractions last night from about

I'm a SAHM

2009-07-08T21:58:00.003-05:00

As a result of the economy, the hospital construction project I was working on was put on hold and I was among 25+ employees that were laid off at the end of April. I've been an official stay at home mom (SAHM) since then and it has been great to spend so much time with Emma. She just loves being home with me and has been thriving.We decided that I will stay home until Maddy is at least 3 months

Week 33

2009-07-07T21:54:00.006-05:00

So, I've been neglecting my blog for a long time. We are already in week 33 and I last posted when we were 8 weeks pregnant. To sum up the time, the pregnancy is going well and we are looking forward to our second baby. Even Emma is getting excited and has to go see the Maddy's room whenever we go upstairs.We chose the name Madeline Helen for our baby girl. Madeline is a lovely name and we'll

Going to be a Mommy Again Necklace!

2009-07-07T21:41:00.007-05:00

Here is my new "Going to be a Mommy Again Necklace" from my wife. It's a beautify 18k white gold pendant necklace with "Emma" written on one side and "Maddy" written on the other side in Chinese characters.

We're Pregnant! Again :-)

2009-01-13T21:57:00.001-06:00

Tuesday - 1/13/09This morning at home was bad and I was so nauseous that I threw up. Afterward I felt better and the morning sickness throughout the day was much much better than yesterday. Still ate soup for lunch and dinner and didn't drink much. Was tired today, but not as bad as yesterday. Mama again took care of Emma tonight. She's so great and the best partner one could have.We had another

It's Snowing!!!!

2008-12-10T22:21:00.003-06:00

Videos are in Emma's blog.

Barack Obama Wins!

2008-11-04T23:25:00.001-06:00

And we now control the Presidency, the Senate, and the House!!!!!

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T21:53:00.003-05:00

I just love Google's doodles. The one above was done by Wes Craven.We took the day off and in the morning went to Emma's halloween parade and party. Then we went out to lunch and saw a movie in the theater! It's been a while since we went to the movies (we do netflix now). We saw the Changeling and thought Angelina Jolie did a great job. I had never heard of the Wineville incident (I'm being

When to Go Home?

2008-09-14T23:51:00.005-05:00

Mama was thinking of flying down tomorrow to assess the house and clean any mess up including the refrigerator/freezer, but Southwest said the airports are closed until Tuesday. Tickets are expensive too and it was going to be around $260 RT from Dallas to Houston and she would have to rent a car or take a taxi to and from the house.Then she thought about driving, but we heard that a neighbor had

Time to Move

2008-09-14T23:41:00.005-05:00

Nope not out of Houston, but out of the hotel and over to my cousin's house. They have graciously offered for us to stay with them. They did right away when we told them we might head up here to Dallas during Hurricane Ike, but we really didn't want to inconvenience them. They've keep their offer open and so we've now accepted. It would be nice to spend time with them and good for the girls (dogs

Power Outage and Restoration Updates

2008-09-14T23:35:00.002-05:00

CenterPoint Energy is posting information on power outage and restoration updates by zip code.We also hear at 9:29 p.m. tonight that our neighborhood still does not have power.Some neighbors have "sweating floors." Apparently their floors were too wet to walk on and some think it's from the condensate in the house because they've gone from A/C cold to hot and humid inside. Yuck!

Keeping Food Safe During an Emergency

2008-09-13T22:46:00.003-05:00

USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service has great information about keeping food safe in an emergency (posted below): Did you know that a flood, fire, national disaster, or the loss of power from high winds, snow, or ice could jeopardize the safety of your food? Knowing how to determine if food is safe and how to keep food safe will help minimize the potential loss of food and reduce the risk of

Electricity

2008-09-13T20:16:00.003-05:00

Another neighbor reported:"My mother works for Centerpoint Energy and I am getting updates on the status of our electricity. If I know something I will let you know. Last she told me is that it would take about 3 days to assess the damage and then up to a few weeks to get power up and running for all. I do not know where we stand on that assessment, but if I here anything I will let you know."

Help is on the Way!

2008-09-13T20:14:00.002-05:00

One of the neighbors send this information shortly after checking on our house:"We decided to leave this evening to find a/c. We are currently just outside of Katy & have passed several HUGE caravans of EMS vehicles, power trucks, national guard, HEB trucks, charter buses, etc. There must have been several hundred trucks."Good to know emergency personnel and supplies are on the way. :)

Good News!

2008-09-13T20:08:00.002-05:00

Woo Hoo! Two neighbors checked out the outside of our house and said it looks fine. Our trees and fence are even still standing. The fence is leaning, but still standing unlike a lot of other houses. From what they could see, the windows and roof look good. We are hoping we don't have water leakage from the roof or windows on the inside.We are discussing the possibility of Mama going down when

Water

2008-09-13T14:32:00.002-05:00

They are asking people to conserve water and boil it before using it for drinking or cooking.

Another Neighborhood Update

2008-09-13T14:25:00.002-05:00

In a little while a neighbor is going to drive by our house and let us know how it looks. " looks ok. Shingles gone and fences along golf course down. looks like a tornado went down it. has fences that were exploded and on top of houses."Here are some more observations from quick drive-by of our neighborhood. As bad as it may seem, the damage seems minimal in regards to how bad the storm

Neighborhood Update

2008-09-13T10:17:00.001-05:00

A neighbor posted this at 9:34 am:"My husband drove around the neighborhood to see how everything looks. Just from a quick look, there are a few trees & fences down & shingles in the road.Our house did pretty well, but had one of the side fences blown down & had water go in a window through a seal when the rain was horizontal.It seems like everything did pretty well though. There may be water

Emergency Response in Harris County Suspended

2008-09-13T07:21:00.000-05:00

HOUSTON -- The fierce winds and heavy rains from Hurricane Ike forced the suspension of all emergency response in Harris County, emergency management officials said Saturday morning. All emergency services within the county were suspended at 4:06 a.m. and will not resume until conditions improve. That means if residents call 911 for an emergency, help won’t come until the weather gets better.

No Power for Nearly 3 Million in Houston Area

2008-09-13T07:14:00.001-05:00

Looks like we may be in Dallas for quite a while...HOUSTON -- Nearly 3 million people are without power in the Houston area as Hurricane Ike slams the Texas coast. It will likely be a while before electricity returns. CenterPoint Energy says it could take weeks before all the power in the nation’s fourth-largest city was restored. Utility spokesman Floyd LeBlanc said 1.3 million customers—or

Neighbor with Water Damage

2008-09-13T07:12:00.002-05:00

A neighbor posted that they have water dripping through ceiling in downstairs living room, from an isolated location. The window right next to it is leaking water from the upper edge (parallel to ceiling, not the actual window). Similar story on acouple of windows upstairs.We hope our house didn't sustain damage like that, but our next door neighbor who lived in Beaumont during Hurricane Rita

5am Updates

2008-09-13T07:07:00.002-05:00

Mama has been up all night posting weather news for those who stayed in our neighborhood. This is what her 5am post contained:-- windows reported broken in Chase blgs in downtown Houston as well as in other highrise blgs-- possible tornado reported in Highlands-- downtown Houston not going to get the eye but stuck in western eyewall which the news says is not good-- Says moving N/NW at 15 mph--

Ike hits Galveston at 2:10 am

2008-09-13T02:35:00.000-05:00

Ike hit land at 2:10 am this morning.

From www.chron.com...No help for those who didn't leave Galveston

2008-09-12T23:35:00.000-05:00

As Hurricane Ike pushed a swelling surge onto Galveston Island tonight, many Galveston residents who ignored a mandatory evacuation order phoned for rescues to no avail because emergency workers were called off the streets, officials said.Help wasn't expected until after dangerous storm conditions subsided."We don't know what we're going to find tomorrow," said the city's mayor, Lyda Ann Thomas.

Image of Ike from Int'l Space Station

2008-09-12T23:29:00.001-05:00

Image of Hurricane Ike from the International Space Station. Image credit: NASA. Taken off www.wunderground.com

www.khou.com Storm Chaser Blog

2008-09-12T23:23:00.002-05:00

If you are wondering what is going on around the Houston area you can read Khou's blog.

It Has Begun

2008-09-12T20:42:00.003-05:00

Neighbors have reported intermitted power outages since 5pm ish tonight and now places are totally without power. Also a curfew has been annouced from 6pm to 5am every night, so the police are expecting some looting. A neighbor said in New Orleans with Katrina the Walmart and sporting good shops were looted and all guns and ammo taken.Heard that some in Galveston have tied themselves together and

Uncertainty

2008-09-12T07:31:00.004-05:00

There is so much uncertainty with Ike. Early predictions of it's strength at landfall said it could get as high as a 4, then a 3, then last night a 2, and late last night a 1, but now this morning they are back up to a possible 3.The one thing that hasn't changed yet is it is still projected to hit Galveston."Six hours after the National Hurricane Center forecast that Ike would make landfall on

Ike Update

2008-09-11T20:27:00.002-05:00

www.wunderground.com's update predicts Ike will probably be at the top end of Category 2 strength at landfall, with 110 mph winds. We feel a little relieved since the models still show Ike right on top of Galveston/Houston.Earlier this is what they posted which was pretty scary:What should Texas residents do?We must assume Ike will intensify to a Category 3 hurricane by landfall, which would

Lasted www.wundergound.com Post

2008-09-11T13:14:00.002-05:00

Here's the latest from www.wunderground.com:"Hurricane Ike's winds remain at Category 2 strength, but Ike is a freak storm with extreme destructive storm surge potential...Winds at the surface may only be at Category 1 strength, even though Ike has a central pressure characteristic of a Category 3 or 4 storm. This very unusual structure makes forecasting the future intensity of Ike nearly

Lots of Residents Boarding Up

2008-09-11T13:02:00.003-05:00

We heard many people in our community are boarding up, so we are keeping our fingers crossed that our house will be okay. They said HomeDepot is loading up cars with plywood as fast as they can and still has water available, but the local Target is out of water, batteries, flashlights, and other emergency type items.Still trying to get a report done while watching the news and reading the

And the Freeways get worse...

2008-09-11T12:58:00.003-05:00

Houston Freeways

2008-09-11T12:00:00.004-05:00

Houston freeways are already begining to fill up.

Hurricane Ike

2008-09-11T11:08:00.002-05:00

We're safe in Dallas and should only experience Tropical Storm winds up here and we should be on the clean (west) side of Ike. I won't be able to blog as much as I did with Hurricane Rita, since we now have a little one to watch in addition to Teeny, Scout, and Mitten. Not to mention we're on a wired connection here and we can't both be on the internet at once.We're staying in Plano this time and

Edouard is Heading Our Way

2008-08-04T10:21:00.003-05:00

It's been a while since my last post and wouldn't you know another tropical storm/potential hurricane heading our way has prompted me to post once again...NOAA's 5-day cone prediction shows Edouard's path hitting Houston:Edouard is expected to pick up speed and become a category 1 hurricane when it makes landfall:We've gassed the tanks and stocked water and canned food. Last night the shelves

Gong Xi Fai Tsai!

2008-02-07T08:38:00.001-06:00

Happy New Year!I just love these Google logos (yep it's Year of the Rat):

Eagle Cam

2008-02-05T10:05:00.000-06:00

Check out this cool eagle cam. The eagles have a nest with two babies and now that they are a bit older you can really see them. You can also watch while they are fed by one of the parents.Here's a static pic I took from the cam:

Holiday Weekend Weather Forecast

2007-11-21T19:35:00.001-06:00

Thanksgiving is tomorrow and here is our lovely weather forecast for the long holiday weekend. Cold and rain. The high drops almost 30 degrees from today.

Baby Yawn

2007-11-20T19:52:00.000-06:00

We have a new niece today! Isn't she so adorable and precious. :-) She is 5 lb. 11 oz. and 19 inches long. Her parents will be letting us all know her name soon. Robia's sister is tired, but doing well.

Birthday!

2007-11-06T23:31:00.001-06:00

I received lots of great gifts for my birthday this year. Among them, the cool tech gadget I got from my wife was the Ipod Nano! On it I was able to put all the pictures from my Flickr account, six episodes from this season of Heroes (to watch on the flights to and from San Diego), and I have a lot of room to spare. Woo Hoo!I even got the cutest card from Emma. :)

Halloween

2007-11-04T22:11:00.000-06:00

Emma wasn't able to wear her costume to school, but they let her wear a Halloween onsie.This year we had 121 kids come to the house trick or treating. This was 25 more than last year. We blew through 6 bags of candy and only had a couple of handfuls left when we closed up at 8:30 p.m.Some kids were very mannered and said trick or treat and thank you, but I would say the majority of them said

Wildfires Update

2007-10-28T08:36:00.000-05:00

My younger sister and her family went back to their home on Tuesday night when they were letting people back into some of the evacuation areas but our BIL is stilling fighting the fires. My older sister said he might be able to go home today if it rains. They are getting the fires under control and the air quality is improving, so our trip to San Diego in a week and a half is still on.

BIL Fighting Wildfires

2007-10-24T10:27:00.000-05:00

Our brother-in-law is fighting the wildfires in San Diego County. Here is an update from my sister's blog yesterday:10/23/07Jeff called last night - he and his crew are still fine, they were up in the Ramona area. Hopefully they were able to get a rest break as they had been up fighting the fire for 36 hours.Jeffwas able to call this morning: he and his crew are still safe just incredibly tired.

San Diego Wildfires

2007-10-23T11:44:00.000-05:00

My younger sister's family evacuated yesterday morning and are safe with her in-laws in Orange County. They also had to evacuate in 2003 when the fires hit the same area.You can watch live video news from San Diego's Channel 8 News.The mandatory evacuation area is huge and they keep adding more areas. Channel 8 also posted voluntary evacuation areas along the coast on their live TV news. The

Willow

2007-09-11T22:39:00.000-05:00

Willow my hamster died today. :-( She was a beautiful white russian dwarf hamster. Robia got her for me two Octobers ago, so Willow was around 2+ years old. I'll miss her and how she would always run to the top level of her cage to greet me when I came into the room.

Work and Daycare

2007-09-10T22:24:00.000-05:00

I went back to work on August 6th and that was the first day Emma started daycare. We were very fortunate that she decided to start sleeping through the night the night before work. I also made the decision to not wake up in the middle of the night to pump, so I've been getting a decent amount of sleep. It's not my required 8 hours, but it's enough to keep me going.I still feel a little sad about

Future Travel Agent?

2007-08-01T19:51:00.000-05:00

Our niece Quinn is practicing to be a travel agent like her Aunt Debbie.

Gotta Catch Up with My Blogs

2007-07-28T23:47:00.001-05:00

I'm so behind on my blogs. I just finished several small posts on Emma's blog and hope to add more there and here soon.

3 Weeks Left

2007-07-15T20:58:00.000-05:00

I just checked the calendar and can't believe I only have 3 weeks left of my maternity leave. Wow, time has passed so quickly and Emma is still so young. It's going to be hard to leave her at daycare when I go to work. I've gotten so used to spending my days with her. I'm really going to miss her. She is such a special little girl and I love her so much.

Windstorm Insurance

2007-07-13T13:30:00.000-05:00

We've been notified by Allstate that they are no longer carrying windstorm insurance for our county, because our county is a coastal county and hurricane Rita and Katrina caused a lot of insurance claims. Even though we live in the furthest most northern point far away from the coast we are still within a coastal county, so they would have to get a separate windstorm policy for us from the Texas

Bored of Mommy

2007-07-05T15:10:00.001-05:00

A few days ago Emma only took two 1 hour naps. For her that was unusual since she naps for 2-3 hours at a time and had even consolidated 2 of them into one 5 hour block during the day. We went through our normal play routine during her waking periods, but because she was awake longer than normal, toward the late afternoon she got bored of our play. Poor mommy. I didn't think I could get that

Emma

2007-06-27T13:01:00.000-05:00

The first time I used the word daughter to reference Emma was when I put her on my health insurance. It was such a new word that it felt different, but then my heart just warmed over. The same was true when a nurse at the hospital called her my baby. When I heard her say that my heart swelled with love.We just love Emma so much. It's amazing how she's growing and changing. She loves to smile and

Our Little Firefly

2007-06-08T16:44:00.001-05:00

I finally managed to put a little time in here and there to put together a blog about Emma. Hopefully I'll find the time to keep both of these blogs up to date.

Recent Family Visits

2007-06-05T19:10:00.000-05:00

Pre-EmmaGreat Uncle Brett, Aunt Lichu, cousin Winnie, her fiance Tam, and their dog Scooter came to visit on my due date 5/6/07. They were in town from Dallas to see Tam's family and do pre-wedding family gatherings, so they stopped by to see us and check in on how I was doing. Winnie and Tam's wedding date was 5/19/07, so we weren't able to go.After Emma's BirthGrandma P. came out from Colorado

Post-Pregnancy Weight Loss

2007-06-04T22:04:00.000-05:00

I gained a total of 36 lbs during my pregnancy. They say after you give birth you should lose an average of 12 lbs. This includes the weight of the baby, placenta, amniotic fluid, and blood. When we came home from the hospital I only weighed 4 lbs less than my final pregnancy weight. Where were those other 8 lbs? I had severe edema and it was all water weight. My legs and feet were so swollen

Week 3

2007-05-31T22:52:00.000-05:00

Today Emma is three weeks old. She is so great and such a sweet little baby. We love her so much. Sometimes we just can't believe she was recently in my belly.Breastfeeding is going better and Emma is actually asking to breastfeed when she's hungry sometimes, so I always offer her the breast before the bottle of formula. I'm hoping her formula needs will go down, but this past week she must have

Weeks 1 - 2

2007-05-31T22:01:00.000-05:00

Three is a magic number (Robia my wife, me, Emma):Isn't she just adorable:GrandmaTwo days after we arrived home from the hospital Robia's mom came to help. It was great, she was very helpful, and even took part of the graveyard shift with Robia so that I could sleep for most of the night. It was so nice how she absolutely adored Emma.BreastfeedingI've been working with Emma to get her to

Postpartum

2007-05-25T16:45:00.000-05:00

After being taken up to my postpartum room I had to move into the room's bed. Boy is it hard to try to move from one bed to another when you just had a c-section. The nurses helped, but I was still feeling the anesthesia effects and was trying to be careful of the incision.I don't remember exactly how long it took them to bring Emma to me, but it was definitely over 4 hours since the time she was

Recovery

2007-05-24T16:52:00.000-05:00

So I thought I would be wheeled into the postpartum room for recovery and would get to hold Emma, but I was taken to another room instead where a nurse could watch my recovery for a while. I was thinking the whole time, I want to see our baby, when can I see her. I soon found out that I would be in this recovery room for 2 hours.Time seemed to go awfully slow in this room. After about 1 1/2 hours

C-Section

2007-05-24T11:23:00.000-05:00

My wife was allowed to come to the OR for the C-section, but she had to wait in the LDR room until they were ready to start. Since I already had an epidural in, once I was prepped they wheeled me out of the LDR room into the OR.In the OR, the anesthesiologist who did the epidural was there with a nurse who would assist him. Our doctor and resident were there and several other people I didn't know

Labor

2007-05-23T14:59:00.000-05:00

Finally have some time to post about my LDR experience, but since it's been 13 days since delivery I may not remember too many details...5/9/07We left for St. Luke's Hospital right after I called them at 6 p.m. and they said there was a bed available for me and to come on in. I felt a sense of excitement, nervousness, and apprehension. This is it I thought as we locked up the house and left.We

Emma Carolyn has Arrived!

2007-05-15T08:21:00.000-05:00

When I can grab the time, I'll post more pictures and our labor experience.

3 Days Past Due - Induction Day

2007-05-09T15:41:00.000-05:00

We're headed off to the hospital now to start inducing labor. We're excited and nervous about the whole process, but very ecstatic that we will be holding Emma in our arms by hopefully sometime tomorrow.I doubt if we'll be able to get some sleep at the hospital tonight, but that's what the doctor wants. We're not quite sure where my wife will sleep since the LDR (labor, delivery, recovery) room

2 Days Past Due

2007-05-08T17:51:00.000-05:00

Well Emma's still not here, so we went to our ob-gyn appointment today. I told the doctor I was feeling lots of braxton hicks contractions and some premenstrual type cramping and lower back/pelvic pressure in the evenings. She thought that sounded like we were progressing, but when she did the exam she said that my cervix hasn't changed much and Emma's head is not as low as she would like to see

1 Day Past Due

2007-05-07T13:14:00.000-05:00

I'm feeling pretty tired today. After my wife made us some pancakes, I showered, we went to the grocery store, and then I took a short nap before lunch. I might take another nap this afternoon.The other change I've noticed this past week is that sometimes I get very warm as my body temperature rises.Here's today's belly pic:

Where's the Baby?!?

2007-05-06T21:24:00.000-05:00

That's what my wife keeps asking me. Today is Emma's due date and we've finished our 40 weeks of pregnancy. It's funny how stir crazy my wife is getting waiting for Emma's arrival, so we rented God of War II for her to kill time on the PS2.I'm watching tv, helping her with her game, reading, and resting. I didn't realize how tired work was making me until I was two days into my maternity leave. I

The Baby Human

2007-05-03T21:38:00.001-05:00

Friends from Los Angeles sent us another gift to prepare for Emma's arrival. It was a dvd called Baby Human: Geniuses in Diapers. We started watching the section of the dvd dealing with walking and it's pretty amazing how baby's develop. They recommended this dvd as the best child development video they've seen. It was so sweet and nice for them to get us one.

"She's Not Small"

2007-05-03T21:28:00.000-05:00

At our ob-gyn appointment on Tuesday we didn't even think to ask again how big the doctor thought Emma was getting. After we heard Emma's heartbeat, she felt around my stomach and said "she's not small."My wife and I were a bit shocked at first and then my wife asked "Well how big do you think she is?" And her reply was "8 or 8.5 lbs."Yikes! And I thought I was safe with an Asian donor...

Maternity Leave

2007-05-02T20:09:00.000-05:00

After being wiped out from yesterday and slowly winding down from sleepless nights I'm finally listening to my wife and my body and started maternity leave today. I rested most of the day and tried to take an afternoon nap, but couldn't get comfortable. Last night I was up almost every hour, so I hope I can sleep better tonight. My wife is right that I should conserve my energy now for labor. My

Ob-Gyn Appointment - 1 Week Left

2007-05-02T19:40:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we had our doctor's appointment and while Emma's heart is beating strong, there has been no progress with my cervix. It's still only < 1 cm dilated and hasn't made much progress with effacement.Since my feet have swelled up a lot, my right more than my left we showed them to the doctor and we were sent to the hospital to rule out blood clots in my right leg. She said that if there were

Last Night

2007-04-30T19:46:00.000-05:00

I have never had a problem getting into bed, rolling over or getting out. Last night was different. It felt like my belly was so huge and the top of my uterus would hurt when I tried to move around. Also it felt like Emma was stretching out my skin a bit. My wife looked it up and said it was a contraction and when we felt my belly it was very tight, so she was right.I was also feeling some lower

Wife's Lovely Garden

2007-04-29T21:20:00.000-05:00

This year, my wife decided to plant lilies and morning glories in her garden. She grew them all with her own little paws from seeds. She even put in a solar powered fountain. The fountain created a wonderful sound that we enjoyed while sitting on the patio, but unfortunately the fountain doesn't seem to be working anymore.

Houston Museum of Fine Arts

2007-04-29T19:59:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we went to the Houston Museum of Fine Arts to see the The Masterpieces of French Painting from The Metropolitan Museum of Art: 1800-1920 exhibit. It was totally crowded and my wife was being protective and making sure no one ran into me. We really enjoyed the exhibit and it was amazing to see the originals up close. Some of the pieces I really liked were:Cypresses by van Gogh:Study for

Week 40

2007-04-29T19:47:00.000-05:00

OMG! We are starting week 40 today. That's 39 weeks down and 1 to go. Emma's due in 7 days on May 6th. People have been commenting to me that she's lower. In fact we went to the museum this weekend and my wife said we walked past two women and they smiled at us, but when they saw my profile they whispered to each other "she's low". I don't feel that she's much lower or can really tell that much

Ob-Gyn Appointment - 2 Weeks Left

2007-04-25T21:29:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we had our ob-gyn appointment. Emma's heartbeat is strong and her head is a little lower than last week, but not much else has changed. We're now playing a waiting game...since she can still come at any time.After my appointment my wife gave me my "2 weeks to go" gift bag. Inside were two cute gifts. The first was a bumble bee kit, so I can make a little bumble bee for Emma. The second

Frogs! A Chorus of Colors

2007-04-23T21:20:00.000-05:00

On Saturday we went to the Houston Museum of Natural Science to see the Frogs! A Chorus of Colors exhibit. I mainly wanted to go to see the poison dart frogs. I think they are so beautiful and my favorite ones are the blue and black frogs:The exhibits were very cool and some of the other frogs on display were very unique in their looks.We had weird encounters with two of the poison dart frog

Week 39

2007-04-22T17:29:00.000-05:00

Week 39 started today and we have 2 more weeks to Emma's due date. I'm doing well except for waking up throughout the night to either go to the bathroom or roll over to my other side. Sometimes it's a bit uncomfortable to lay on my right side since that's the side she favors and she doesn't like to be squished. She'll move and kick if she doesn't like it, so then I'll roll back to my left side.I

Ob-Gyn Appointment - 3 weeks left

2007-04-17T21:08:00.000-05:00

We had our ob-gyn appointment today and Emma's heartbeat is beating strong. Although my cervix is still soft it hasn't opened any more. Emma's head is lower than it was last week, so I'm still progressing just slowly. We asked the ob-gyn if she could tell how big Emma was and she felt around my stomach and guessed that she might be 6.5 or 7 lbs now. Wow! With 3 more weeks to go and a possible

Week 38

2007-04-15T21:42:00.000-05:00

Week 38 started today. 3 more weeks left! The braxton hicks contractions seem to happen every day now. What's weird is that Emma has also been moving around a lot more. This morning I felt her kick three times on my right side and when I felt my left side it was flat. Another braxton hicks contraction. Guess she didn't like it. Poor thing.I'm still feeling good for the most part. My cankles are

Braxton Hicks Contractions

2007-04-14T09:13:00.000-05:00

I'm starting to get more braxton hicks contractions. I didn't realize what they were three weeks ago when I noticed my first one. It was when I woke up in the middle of the night and felt my belly on my left side. It was flat! I thought "oh no I squished the baby" since I was laying on my left side. In a few seconds my belly reshaped itself. It happened again a couple of mornings later. Again I

Ob-gyn Appointment

2007-04-12T20:18:00.000-05:00

We had our ob-gyn appointment on Tuesday. Everything is progressing perfectly and on schedule. Emma's heartbeat was between 140 and 150, my fundal height was 36 cm, Emma's head is down, my cervix is softening, and it has opened slightly (less than 1 cm).I wasn't looking forward to the appointment since I dislike having my annual well woman exams and knew this would be just as uncomfortable if not

April 8

2007-04-08T20:58:00.000-05:00

Today was the day we usually celebrated my mom's birthday even though her legal birthday was February 23rd. I think she told us when we were younger that one day was her birthday on the lunar calendar and the other was on the western calendar. We wanted to mark her April 8th birthday by going out to eat dim sum. My mom loved dim sum and we would often take her to eat it. This time we went a day

Week 37

2007-04-08T20:29:00.000-05:00

Week 37 starts for us today and only 4 more weeks to go until our official due date; however, Emma can come any day now. We're counting down until May 6th.For the most part I'm still feeling pretty good. I do get tired more and just a little out of breath, so I can only really walk around our short block. Today we also went to the Japanese Garden in Hermann Park. It's a very pretty place to walk

Scout in the Snow

2007-04-07T19:27:00.000-05:00

This is our baby Scout when she was only 8 months old. It was Scout's first time in the snow. We went on a road trip to Colorado in May of 2003 and were lucky that there was snow for all of us to enjoy. In fact it happened to snow the night before and morning of our snowboarding outing. It was great!

Only in Texas...

2007-04-04T20:25:00.000-05:00

...can we go to the movies and only spend $5.50 per ticket. Sure it was the matinee price on Saturday, but when you consider full price is only $7.50 compared to over $9.50 or more in California maybe Texas isn't so bad after all...

Baby Showers

2007-04-01T22:40:00.000-05:00

We had two very lovely baby showers. My office organized one for us a week ago and my wife's department organized one for us this past Friday. They were both wonderful and full of yummy food, good company, lots of happiness, and we were overwhelmed by the many loving gifts. It was so nice to celebrate Emma's coming arrival with so many people. Some friends from California and Oregon as well as

Week 36

2007-04-01T22:27:00.000-05:00

Wow! We're starting week 36. Time seems to be moving so fast and there are still many things I would like to take care of before Emma arrives. I guess you're never fully ready though.We went shopping at BabiesRUs today and bought a lot of items we were still needing. I can't believe how much money we spent, but I guess we'll have to get used to it. I think we're all set now for the first couple

Surf n Surf

2007-03-27T22:28:00.000-05:00

We were going to have Surf n Turf for Sunday's dinner, but winded up having Surf n Surf. We went shopping at Costco on Saturday and bought lobster tails and tiger shrimp. My wife then cooked us a wonderful meal on Sunday night. It tasted great! Hehe, I am so spoiled I love it! Maybe I should be pregnant all the time. ;-) Actually she treats me like a princess even when I'm not pregnant. No, she's

Week 35

2007-03-27T21:54:00.000-05:00

Week 35 started on Sunday and I'm feeling good. I'm very happy that my pregnancy is going so well. I'm having to use the bathroom at least every hour and I'm starting to get a little more tired. We ran a lot of errands on Sunday and I was so tired that I had to take a 1.5 hour nap in the afternoon.My wife still takes awesome care of me and is the best!We had an Ob-Gyn visit this morning and my

Mini Co-Sleeper

2007-03-19T20:50:00.000-05:00

We made a trip to BabiesRUs this weekend and bought an Arm's Reach Mini Co-Sleeper and some other supplies to get ready for Emma. My wife also picked out a cute butterfly dress.Emma's room is upstairs and ours is downstairs, so we will have her sleep in our room for the first couple of months and thought this co-sleeper would work out perfectly. It's small, portable, and can attach to the bed. We

Week 34

2007-03-19T20:37:00.000-05:00

We started week 34 yesterday and I'm feeling big and a little tired. Emma is still moving about a lot, some days more than others. Sometimes my wife is startled by how much she feels when her hands are on my belly and Emma rolls or her arm/foot moves across my stomach. Emma is also starting to push into my ribs a little more, but it's still manageable. I'm beginning to wonder how much larger I

March 14th

2007-03-16T20:32:00.000-05:00

Wednesday marked a year passing since my mother died. My wife and I went out to dinner and had Chinese food while we shared memories of my mother with each other. We talked about her some more before bedtime. It was good to remember her in this way with love, fondness, happiness, repect, and some sadness. It would've been too much for me to watch the DVD my wife made for her funeral, so we'll

Week 33

2007-03-11T21:47:00.000-05:00

Wow, the weeks are going by fast. We're starting to get everything ready for Emma and I'm worried I won't get everything done by the time she's here. There is still so much cleaning I want to do and taking care of things around the house. My wife says it's the nesting instinct.We accomplished a lot of tasks this weekend: the A/C guy came over to check the A/C unit and make sure all is well for

Cankles! :-(

2007-03-08T22:27:00.000-06:00

I'm getting those dreaded pregnancy cankles! My lower legs, ankles, and feet have started swelling up a little and are very noticeably swollen by the time I get home from work. I have to remember to elevate them at work and when I get home. By morning they are back to normal size. My wife googled it and said I'm not drinking enough water, so I have to start drinking more which means more bathroom