Happy birthday Lala Flory!!

Like I said in an earlier post, Zoe is quite the party animal. Today, my family put together a birthday party for Lala Flory. It was great to have so much family over to be with Zoe =). Those are ALWAYS the most ideal of situations -- when both my side and Michael's side can be all together in one location. Hopefully now that Zoe's here we can continue to celebrate more holidays/occasions together!

We had lots of food and of course, lots of mahjong. Even Monsignor Kevin stopped by to give a special birthday blessing!

Happy birthday Lala Flory!!! We love you!

The Zoe Cycle

It's funny how routine yet unpredictable my life has become. While so many other things may be going on in our lives (jobs, living situatin, etc.) there are some things I've come to count on: The Zoe Cycle. I know for sure that after about 2 hours, Zoe will want some milk. Once she finishes her bottle, I spend the next 5 minutes trying to burp her. After the burp comes the diaper change. 45 minutes later, she is ready for a nap. She then sleeps anywhere from 30 mins - 1.5 hours (sometimes 2-3 hours is she's going through a growth spurt). Once she wakes up, I then change her diaper and bam! - the cycle repeats!!! You'd be surprised how quickly the day goes by due to these cycles. It's crazy how fast the days are going! At least the Zoe Cycle is one of those few constants I have in my life and I must say I really love going through these motions. I feel like I have her down to a science (for now at least) and it feels great knowing how to take care of her so I can keep this cutie smiling!!!

Valentine's Day!!!

Today is the "official" day of love ... although Mike and I won't be spending it together (he is staying up in Woodland Hills tonight to save gas) I am feeling so MUCH more in love than the past years ... why? Probably because every time I look at Zoe, it's an instant reminder of how loved I am -- not just by my husband, but also by God. Zoe is a poloroid of me +Mike + God. How convenient is that?! While other couples are probably dining at a fancy restaurant tonight complete with a dozen roses and chocolate, I'm here at home with my little girl feeling just as fulfilled. It's funny how life teaches you new ways to feel loved ... to feel romantic ... to feel happy. While I wish Mike was with me today, I completely understand the situation and know that all I have to do is snuggle up with Zoe to feel close to him as well.

As an extra bonus for today, Mao dropped off a box of chocolates for my family to enjoy. Of course, we took pics of Zoe and her first box of chocolates (there's a first for everything, right?!).

We found a place to live in Oxnard!

Mike and I found a place to live in Oxnard! After checking a number of townhouses and houses in the Camarillo and Oxnard area, we finally decided on a cute four bedroom/2.5 bathroom house in Oxnard. It's in a great neighborhood (there's a park across the street!!) and is close by to lots of shops (Walmart, Costco, etc.) and eateries (Chick Fil-A!!!!). The rent is also very affordable and the style of the house is perfect for us. I'm so excited to be able to live in an actual house and not a condo, loft or apartment. Although the distance from LA is not so great, there are so many other things that ARE great. The other great plus is that Mike's company is paying for the moving costs!! Even though we've become quite the moving experts lately, it would be nice to have other people do all the heavy lifting and organizing!

I think we're aiming to move stuff out one of these Fridays with Mike staying up there during the week (to lessen his commute) to slowly unpack our stuff (no heavy lifting for me quite yet) and me and Zoe will move up around Feb. 27ish. Admittedly, I'm going to miss being around my family and having them help me take care of Zoe. However, I can't wait to be all together as ONE family once we're in Oxnard. We miss Mike a lot and look forward to him being able to come home by 6:30 and spend the rest of the evenings with us as opposed to just seeing him on weekends or a few week days. Lots of changes for this family!!! Gotta make sure to keep praying for guidance and the courage to trust that God is leading us to better things!

Zoe's one month celebration!!

Zoe will be one month old tomorrow!! Wow that flew by so fast!!! She has grown so much since then and I'm happy to say I've learned a lot on mommy-nomics in these last 30 days =). As a thank you to our family members for all their help (especially Tita Bot and Tito Charlie for opening up their home to us) and to celebrate God's gift of Zoe Grace, we invited everyone to King Hua for a dim-sum celebration!

The food was wonderful as always and none of us could believe she was already one month old! Jay and Mao got her a "happy birthday" balloon and we all decided that we would try to celebrate her "monthsary" by getting together and each person would be in charge of that particular month. Who needs to celebrate life just once a year when you can do it every month??!! We'll see how long it lasts ... lol ...

In AWE

This afternoon, as I was swaying Zoe to sleep, I looked down at her sleeping face and I suddenly was overcome with so much emotion. A tidal wave of pure happiness just came over me and I couldn't believe that I was so deserving of this child. I couldn't believe God gave me such a BIG gift and that He deemed me worthy to be able to raise this child to her full potential. Seeing her breathe in and out and to be at such peace in my arms made me so very happy. Perhaps it was the hormones but I really just broke down and cried. I just kept saying "thank you Jesus. thank you. thank you. thank you" while tears streamed down my face. I was literally in awe of the baby in my arms. All of a sudden, all the anxiety and fears that plagued me (consciously and sub-consciously) the past nine months welled up and were immediately extinguished with each inhale and exhale of my child. What if I wasn't around to hold her and to smell the sweet scent of her breath? What a blessing to be able to carry her for nine months, go through a risky c-section and for the two of us to come out of everything 100% healthy?! Thank you Zoe for reminding mommy how WONDERFUL life really is and how much more we both have to look forward to!!!

I swear, I could look at this sweet face FOREVER ...

Dancing at 3 AM

Every night, at around 2 or 3 am Zoe wakes up to be fed. The only light in the room comes from a tiny lampshade and all the noise from the day has quieted down to a whisper. I always love this time of the day ... it's as if me and Zoe are the only ones awake and it's our special time to really take a look at each other and get to know one another. I call it the magic hour. Sometimes so much is going on during the day -- from taking care of Zoe to all my family members being around to oogle at her to just regular day-to-day stuff that I don't really get a chance to LOOK at her and to appreciate how precious she really really is. As I sway her to sleep after her bottle, I pretend we're dancing under the moon and the stars to a song only the two of us can hear. I call it the magic hour. I know most people hate to get woken up at this un-Godly hour, but to me, it's the Godliest of hours ... it's our hour! I know there will come a time very soon where she won't let me hold her this way and will want to do her own things ... so for now, I'll take as many of these magic hours as I can so I can have something to look back on for when Zoe says "No mommy ... I don't need you to help me. I can do it myself." or "Mommy -- can you give me a little privacy please?" or something like that =).

Again, last night (or technically, this morning's) magic hour just reminded me how truly blessed I am to be holding this little miracle in my arms. To have her look and me and love me and want me to never ever let her go. Being a mother to a child is so incredibly beautiful and I am so very honored that I am a mother to this child. Thank you Jesus for loving me this much!!!!

Superbowl!

We decided to invite a few of our friends over to Sunbeam for a super bowl party. It was, after all, Zoe's first superbowl (there's a first for everything, right?!). Jay and mom prepared bbq for everyone while the Yumuls, Mao and the Sayo's played with Zoe and watched the game. It was fun to have everyone over -- kind of the first time since I gave birth ... I always enjoy other people interacting with Zoe. I have a feeling that this is going to be the first of many parties Zoe will attend (she seems to be pretty social and enjoys good food and drink (ha) ....)

PS: Can I just say I really love that Jay has a girlfriend now? It suits him ... they seem very happy =D ... again, thank you Jesus for helping him find a good woman!!!

Meeting Oma Lisa, Uncle Bryan and Aunty Liana

Today's special visitors were Aunty Lisa, Bryan and Liana. They all just recently arrived back from Jakarta and were all excited to finally meet Ms. Z. It's always so cool to watch people you care about and love meet Zoe for the first time. They were all impressed at how mellow and well-behaved she was (I think she gets it from yours truly). Zoe enjoyed meeting them (they did feed is VERY WELL while I was pregnant with her so she should at least recognize their voices). Aunty Lisa is now officially an Oma!!!

Here are the pics!

Ninang Tash

Can I just say how awesome of a ninang Tasha is??? I love that she loves Zoe so much!!! She has been coming over to visit at least once a week and is totally winning Zoe over each time. Not only does she pray for my baby girl, she also takes the time to "practice" holding a baby with a rolled up hoodie. She said she wants to make sure she holds Zoe correctly and isn't nervous when she does it. How cute is that? I'm so thankful the Lord introduced us to her ... I know she will be such a positive light in Zoe's life! She has such a beautiful spirit to her and I know her goodness will definitely rub off on Zoe. I know she will make an amazing mother one day and I have no problem whatsoever letting her "practice" on Zoe! Her weekly visits always cheer me up! Truly, we are so blessed to have her as Zoe's ninang. The first words that come to mind everytime I think of her are AWESOME and SINCERE. I know as we continue to get to know one another we will create many more beautiful memories and I can't wait for the day when Zoe can actually verbalize how much she loves her ninang and how cool she thinks she is =). Seriously -- best.ninang.ever!

Swaddling ... and missing Mike

I'm getting pretty good at this whole swaddling thing. Zoe really does like to be burrito-fied. I'm also getting the hang of taking care of Zoe and her needs. At this point, we no longer have to wake her up every two hours at night to feed her. She already knows when she's hungry and is able to wake herself (and me) up. Mike is still working at his new job in Carpinteria. Sometimes he commutes from LA. Sometimes he stays at his parents' place in Woodland Hills. As much as I love taking care of Zoe all by myself (not really by myself since have my family here), I really do miss Michael. It still feels like something is missing when he's not here. Hopefully we can figure out a housing situation soon so that we can all be together as one family. We are both making sacrifices for each other ...

For now, I'm enjoying every single moment with my Zoe. I find myself just staring at her in awe and still can't believe that she's ours and is here to stay. She's growing and changing everyday and I make sure to send Mike a daily picture so he can see her progress.

I'm so thankful to have my family here with me helping in any way that they can. I know it's a big burden off my shoulders to have so many people pitching in to help. Even if its just holding her for an hour so that I can take a shower or a nap ... thank you Jesus for all the people in my life!