Life as a Mother

let's just organize this LOOOOOOOONG entry by dates:


earlier that week, my Aunt Karen flew in for her yearly visit to Taiwan. since we now have an office for Saito-san to work in without any disruptions, hubby suggested that she come and visit us instead of meeting up somewhere. that way she could play with Kay as long a she wanted for the day. Aunt Karen took us up on that offer and came a couple days after she got settled in at my other aunt's place. since i didn't ask for anything from home, i didn't expect her to bring anything when she came, but she ended up bringing a biiig box of 30 different kinds of cereal from Costco in the States. they had all the cereal that i love from back home (Pops, Apple Jacks, Rice Krispies, etc.). she also brought Kay's birthday present from mom which was a butt-load of stickers and hair clips that has her set for the next few years ^_^;; Kay hasn't stopped playing with them, so i have random stickers stuck everywhere in the apartment that i have to keep transferring into her sticker albums :P

hubby was great in taking care of Aunt Karen. he knew that Aunt Karen can't walk very well, so he decided to get a big tonkatsu lunch and brought it back to the apt for us. after a yummy lunch, all of us chatted about home, my other cousins and whatnot while Kay played around. Kay was so happy to have her great aunt there that she didn't nap until Aunt Karen left a little before 5:00. :)



ever since the start of June, hubby and i decided that it was time for me to go back to translating. since Kay is a lot bigger now and doesn't need as much of my attention as when she was a baby, we figured that it was the right time. so after weeks of hubby making calls, sending e-mails and mailing resumes, i finally got my first case on the night of the 25th. originally, we had plans to go down south that weekend, but ended up canceling them because i had to get working on the case right away. even if there was about 15 pages to translate, the deadline was only 9 days long, and i knew i would need every free minute i had to get things done. it was a really rough and stressful that week, but hubby was really supportive and tried to keep Kay out of my hair when i needed the time. Kay didn't take a liking to me ignoring her at times and would either go into fits of crying or sniffle quietly with her blankies in a corner (broke my heart when she did that ;_;). after about three or four days though, she got used to having her own quiet time and would sometimes spend it by lying down somewhere and literally spacing out for almost half an hour, which kinda had me worried sometimes... :P

when the deadline was just a couple of days away, i ended up staying up until 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning trying to get things done, which really made me kinda loopy during the day. hubby was really worried for me when i told him that, because he knew how unhealthy that is for a 28 yo woman. i agree with him and i know that the more i abuse my body now, the more damage will happen to me in the next couple of years, so i'm gonna try getting up early in the morning instead now.

since i had plans on the weekend that was coming up, i knew that i had to get everything done before Saturday, so that cut my deadline even shorter. none the less, i got everything done and hubby sent my translations off on Saturday morning. :) even if the case is over now, i still want to keep on working, so i think i'll try translating some old patents for practice until i get my next case :)



we got a pleasant surprise on the first when a package came from chiarents in the mail. it was full of Kay's birthday presents! since Kay's birthday isn't until the 9th, we didn't expect to get anything that soon :D suffice to say that Kay was ecstatic about her presents which were from the BBC kid's show In the Night Garden. she got a set of little board books and a couple of plushies of the characters in the show that she's starting to take to bed with her :) i was really happy with the card that chiarents made since all of her handmade cards are always personalized and are of Hallmark quality ^_^ again, thank you chiarents!!! XD

another early surprise birthday present came the next day from Kay's Japanese grandparents. it was a bag full of teddy bears! there were small teddy bears, medium teddy bears and even a backpack shaped like a teddy! we had thought it was a set that they had bought since it was all nicely wrapped up, but after talking to them, hubby found out that everything in the bag was hand picked and personalized! that's when we realized that one of the teddies had Kay's name and birthday imprinted on its feet!! :D i was kinda hoping for a doll from them, but no doll would be as great as that ^_^



even if we didn't celebrate July 4th with fireworks and a barbeque, we still did a bit of celebrating in the form of a family reunion! my cousin had a baby girl three months ago and was inviting all of our relatives to a big luncheon to meet the baby, so of course some 30-40 people went, including me and sis. since it was set for Sunday, my sis wanted to come up on the 4th and give Kay her birthday presents and cake. so hubby suggested that they stay at our place instead of a hotel since they probably wanted to play with Kay as much as possible. i was really happy that he said that, and my sister thought it was a good idea so took us up on it :)

the night before they came up from the south, i had just finished my case, so the timing was prefect. it took a little bit of preparing before we got the office ready for them to stay in, but they came in the afternoon along with my Aunt Karen, so that gave us ample time to get things ready. actually, hubby was the one who was thinking of all the details to make everything as accommodating as possible for my sis and bro in-law (Ray). i didn't think as much because i'm not used to entertaining guests, and also because i had my mind set on both the case i was working on and Kay on the side, which was already stretching my mental capacity... if it wasn't for his decisions on what to do, i don't think things would have turned out as well. sigh, that's why i love him ^_^-

i hadn't seen my sis since her wedding in November 2008, so it was really great to have her come over carrying my soon to be nephew Xavier (yea, you heard me! his name is Xavier after Prof. Xavier in X-men; my brother in-law chose it ^_~). i was so happy to be able to feel him move in her tummy that it made me want to change my mind and get pregnant again at one point ^_^;; her due date is Sept. 11 (yeap, you heard me...), and i can't wait for him to get here!! now i know what she felt like when i was pregnant with Kay ^_^

anyway, Kay started to unwrap her presents when Aunt Karen arrived. since there were so many, we decided to let her open a couple and leave the rest for the 9th. sis got her this adorable sundress that she ended up wearing to the luncheon the next day, (i'll post pics later) and a pink Sugarbunnies backpack that she insists on wearing the whole time ^_^;; even if Kay was excited about everyone coming to see her, she ended up taking a nap while we were talking because sis lulled her to sleep. he he, Kay's always been able to fall asleep when sis is around even when she was just a little baby :)

all of us later went out to Watami at Global Mall for dinner. while there, sis reminded me that Harry Potter is coming out on the 15th, which totally got me psyched for this month (just 10 MORE DAYS!!). i've already asked hubby if i could take a "day off" around then to see the movie ^_^;; but then again, i'll probably be working then, so dunno when i'll be able to see it :P it was already late after dinner, so we all went home and let sis and Ray settle in for the night.

the next morning started off early since i had to meet with our landlady for rent. sis and Ray bought breakfast for all of us, and later in the morning, we celebrated Kay's birthday with cake and candles :) we left shortly afterward (hubby couldn't go because he didn't want anyone to catch the cold he had) for the luncheon and met a few relatives along the way. the lunch was very yummy and filling. Kay was an angel the whole time and even ate a good fare of her share of the food :D she started out a little overwhelmed by everyone, but later gobbling up all the attention she was getting. other than the baby, she was the youngest among us, so was lavished with more birthday presents from some cousins of mine and showered with attention by everyone ^_^ this is when having a big family pays off, because you get to have all of these relatives pamper your kids :P the luncheon took about 2-3 hours (forgot to take pics...;_;), so Kay and i were home by 4:30. sis and Ray took the high speed back to Tainan and didn't get home until around 7:00. when Kay and i got home, the both of us zonked out for a nap, because we both only slept about 6-7 hours the night before. i woke up right before my sister called me to say she'd made it back to Tainan safely and was turning in for the night. i got to watch a bit of CSI on TV before Kay woke up, and we all finished the rest of the birthday cake as a late dinner. despite the long nap we had, we both still ended up sleeping at 11:00. guess all that exhaustion and stress during the week affected the both of us.


all in all a busy but eventful weekend :) after i've organized my videos and pics, i'll post them up here for y'all :D here's hopin' for a great July!!