JONARIATHAN

Eyelid infection?!

2009-02-17T11:40:00.000-08:00

Awe...Nathan has been battling an eyelid skin infection on his right eye for the past week. He's been on antibiotics for about 9 days now. His eyelid was all purple, red and puffy -- for about 2 days, he could only open his eye half way. It looked like someone punched him in the eye. Here is a closeup picture of him. His eyelid is still a little bit red and purple.

So many things to look foward to...

2009-02-15T15:52:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it's already February...
The rest of 2009 is going to be even more awesome!
In March, we have my cousin Aric's wedding at the Anaheim Hills Country Club. We are bringing Nathan...I hope he behaves!
In April, we are going to Vegas for 3 nights. We are staying at our timeshare. I love the fact that it's not a casino, family friendly, and NON-SMOKING! Jon, Nathan and I are going to be hanging out on the resort while my parents and Joe will probably hang out at the casinos. We are staying in a 1 bedroom suite for $169 and that includes 2 show tickets to KA!http://www.consolidatedresorts.com/property_tahiti_village.aspx
Then in May, it's my friend Janet's wedding at the Westin.
July is the birth of our son or daughter. We find out the sex on the 20th!
And in September, we have my cousin Angela's wedding at Pacific Palms! For Angela's wedding, Nathan is going to be the ring bearer, and Zoe is going to the flower girl. They are going to look so cute walking down the aisle together. :)

Just another stress free Monday

2009-02-02T15:45:00.000-08:00

So I'm just sitting here on a bench outside because I have nothing to do, and I actually have a headache due to boredom. I just finished my oatmeal cookie that I bought at the cafe downstairs. YUM! Such a beautiful day...I wish Nathan and Jon were here..
My iPhone saves me from insanity.

Dip, Baby, Dip!

2009-01-29T21:50:00.000-08:00

Nathan loves to dance...or try to... :) I don't know why he was listening to rap. Jonathan told me that it was from a cartoon. It's kind of a long video, but please enjoy!

The BOAT is back!

2009-01-23T22:34:00.000-08:00

Yesterday night, my parents, Jon, Nathan, Poe, Kim, and I went to the Clearman's Galley for some good ole burgers and fried chicken! Nathan enjoyed a grilled cheese sandwich with some veggies and fruit. It was long awaited...when I heard that the Boat was open, we just had to go....we ended up waiting in line for 45 minutes! It was worth it. :) YUM!

Recent pictures

2009-01-23T22:07:00.000-08:00

Creating bad habits...Nathan super comfy in bed watching TV...

Nathan enjoys being backpacked around.

Shredding magazines is fun!

Nathan's 1 yr check up

2009-01-10T12:12:00.000-08:00

Shoot! I forgot to blog about Nathan's 1 yr check up! It was on the 29th of December. He measured at 33 inches (97th for length) and is (or was) 24 pounds (50th for weight). He had lost some weight earlier in December because he had the stomach bug for about a week and was only eating bread and soymilk for awhile. :(
Nathan has been on whole cow's milk for close to a month now, and he did well with the transition. He drinks 24ozs day - sometimes 30 depending on what he ate during the day. He loves to feed himself and will sometimes get mad at us if we don't give him the spoon. He is mommy's little monster as Jonathan likes to call him. :)

Happy Holidays Everyone!

2008-12-28T18:23:00.001-08:00

It has been too long since I last blogged. Work is actually blocking the blogspot site now as well as Facebook!!! Let's see....updates...

Nathan -- still working on walking...he's wobbly and pretty clumsy. As we are walking down the street, everything on the ground interests him -- rocks, sticks, bugs--he will squat, pick up the rock, stick, bug...try to stick it in his mouth, then drops it, then 3 steps...squat...pick up...mouth...drop...squat...on and on....He also loves putting objects in boxes, taking them out, and then putting them back in again. He will also give us whatever he is holding in his hand to us if we ask him nicely. :) And...he's back on the pacifier.... :( I had weaned him off of it a couple of months ago, but when he got sick, I used it to help him stay asleep longer at night...so now he is back on it -- only at night. It's funny...I would place the pacifier next to him...and then in the middle of the night when I check on him, the pacifier is in his mouth! He will also try to stick the pacifier in your mouth if you open your mouth. :) Another thing that he likes to do is rip pages off a magazine and hand the pages to us.
Work -- still no news on the sale of the bank, but the rumor is that we are going to be sold as a whole. So....yay!...or nay! I'm torn...yay because I will have a job....but nay because I was kinda hoping to be laid off and collect unemployment and chill for awhile. Gosh, I'm a sucky employee.
Family -- we just came back from San Francisco. We left on X-Mas day -- got there in 6 hours. I was thinking the drive would be worse, but we left at 9:30am and got there at 3:30pm and that's with 3 stops. I was surprised to see a lot of people walking around in Union Square on Christmas Day since all the shops were closed and all. It was beautiful -- all the decoration and the huge tree next to the ice skating rink. Anyhow, we stayed at the Westin St Francis which is pretty much across the street from Macy's, and I am glad we did....on Christmas Day, my crazy mom and I woke up at 7am to shop. It was a good, fun relaxing vacation -- we did the touristy things -- Golden Gate, Fisherman's Wharf, Union Square, and Top Dog (yum!). :)

MERRY X-MAS EVERYONE and to a FANTASTIC 2009!

Mom-in-Law's SURPRISE 60th Party!

2008-11-10T16:45:00.001-08:00

On Saturday, we surprised Jonathan's mom at a Chinese restaurant in Roland. Uncles, Aunties, and cousins and friends were there. I think she was genuinely surprised. :) Here are some pics Joy took of us!

LaLaLaLaLaLa Elmo's World!

2008-11-10T16:43:00.001-08:00

Can't you just tell Nathan's loves Elmo? Thanks Joy for taking this pic!

The big ONE!

2008-11-07T16:03:00.000-08:00

Everyone should have already received their invites. RSVP when you get the chance!

Blogging much?

2008-11-07T15:51:00.000-08:00

I hope I give my readers interesting stuff to read about because sometimes I'm just writing about my random thoughts throughout the day. I want to say thanks to all the loyal readers of my blog. Please leave comments on my blog. :)
Anyhow, I've been blogging a lot these days because I'm SUPER BORED! And I shouldn't be...I'm pretty busy here, but sometimes my brain just needs a break! Latest IMFB news...The FDIC is going to select a buyer some time in the beginning of December...There are 4 potential buyers of the WHOLE bank which means, YAY! There is a good chance I get to keep my job! If not, the FDIC is going to liquidate IMB....this could take at least another 6 months. Anyhow, the ideal is to sell IMFB as a whole, of course...
Side note....the Terminator was here at Indymac last week. He was here to discuss a loan mod program or something....some folks on the 6th floor said they saw him.

Shadow the Homeless Dog

2008-11-05T17:35:00.000-08:00

Shadow must have at least 5 flies on him everyday. So sad...he's so neglected. So, this past Sunday, I asked Jonathan to give him a good bath. After his bath, I groomed him, brushed him out, brushed his teeth and cleaned his ears. If you ask me, Jonathan has the better end of the deal. :) Anyhow, after Shad was nice and clean, we let Nathan pet Shadow. Nathan just loved petting Shad and pulling on his whiskers, lips, and ears. Shadow was very patient with Nathan and allowed Nathan to torment him. I was just cracking up. :) Afterwards, we took him out for a walk with Nathan and a neighbor of ours shouted across the street, "How old is your dog?!?!"....We said, "3 years!"...and He goes, "Gorgeous dog!"....I was thinking myself....."little does he know that he is neglected"....

Ceeeee Peeeee Ayyyyyy

2008-11-05T16:41:00.000-08:00

3 years ago, I passed the CPA exam...but in order to be a CPA officially, I have to have 2 years of experience reporting to an active CPA. DOH! Both my manager and my manager's manager does not have a license...But, 2 years ago, I started to work with the Chief Accounting Officer, and he has an active CPA license! Yea! He signed off on my attestation several months ago...Now, all I have to do is pass the Ethics exam. What? Another exam?! So, the cost of the exam is $125, and the board sent me a huge textbook to read. I don't have time to read that! But, I'm going to have time find the time...the deadline is one year for me to take the exam...or actually 8 months, now....I really need to find the motivation to read the darn thing.

Your VOTE counts!

2008-11-03T14:12:00.001-08:00

I'm actually looking foward to voting tomorrow! For the most part, I already know which props I am voting yes and no on.

Trick or Treat...smell my feet...

2008-10-31T22:30:00.000-07:00

We dressed Nathan up as a dinosaur and went to Santa Anita mall to trick or treat. Of course, Nathan didn't know what da heck was going on, but I think he enjoyed looking at all the different creatures walking around. He actually took the candy from the people handing them out. :) I'll post pictures once I download the pics. Jon and I thought about this after the fact, but I should have boiled an egg and colored it with green spots for Nathan to carry around....Yoshi! All in the all, we had fun, but I think next year, we'll go trick or treating for real. I think the mall really takes away from the spirit of Halloween. You had some stores who are very excited to hand out handy, and you have those who are less than excited... :(
After the mall, we went to Black Angus for dinner....and of course, Nathan had a fun time there. He loves going to restaurants....dunno why...maybe it's because I always give him some tastes of what we are eating.

??????

2008-10-30T10:39:00.000-07:00

So maybe Nathan shouldn't be hanging out with Shadow anymore....

Teehee! Teehee!

2008-10-30T10:12:00.001-07:00

Nathan caught his first bug!

2008-10-28T10:30:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, Jon, Nathan, and I had brunch on Sunday at the Trump golf course in Palos Verdes. It was quite tasty and the view was fantastic! Nathan sat in the high chair and of course was interested in what we were eating and demanded some. I gave him some hard cheese, and he was content with that. :) I also gave him some pasta, and I think he liked that. It was just penne pasta with tomato sauce and veggies. After brunch, we walked around outside and took some pictures. I was surprised to see the water actually being blue in PV--not the brown water in Santa Monica.
But before we headed to brunch, I noticed Nathan had a runny nose and a slight cough. He was still a happy baby so I knew it didn't bother him. But....on Sunday night, I think his runny nose started to bother him when he was sleeping, so he was waking up every hour crying....we did not get any sleep. Jon must have been a zombie on Monday--he had to go in at 6am....Me? I called in and told my manager that I was going to stay at home to take care of Nathan...Nate and I took a nap together from 2pm to 5pm...We were BOTH tired. By Monday afternoon, his runny nose stopped (to my surprise), and so yesterday night, he did not wake up at all in the middle of the night. Yea! But for some reason, my neck is sore today, and I'm at work today. :(

Flowchart

2008-10-22T13:58:00.000-07:00

I'm usually apathetic when it comes to politics, but I just had to share this....Totally cracked me up! Click on it for a bigger version.

Step by Step ooooooo Babay!

2008-10-21T10:27:00.000-07:00

So I just aged myself with my title....anyhooo.

I'm blogging about this so I don't forget--Nathan is walking!! Last week, he took 2 steps, and just yesterday night, he took 3 steps! The look on his face is just priceless. It's a combination of a surprised look and happy look. He falls foward because I think his legs can't catch up with his upper body!!

Shopping for Jewels!

2008-10-17T15:26:00.000-07:00

Yay! My cousin's baby shower is next month! I'm soooo looking foward to shopping for her and her baby boy. I think I already know what I'm going to get her. =D

It's going to be at the Scarlet Tea Room...looks yummy!

Smile!

2008-10-17T15:00:00.000-07:00

This is how much I love my Orbit Toddler Seat! A funny smile from Nathan. He smiles like this sometimes. It just cracks us up!

Oh...a word on car seats...so we went to Houston and rented a car there...we decided to just rent a toddler car seat because we didn't want to lug around the Orbit. Anyhow, when we received the car seat...the thing must have weighed only 5 pounds, no joke. I looked at it and had a disgusted look. It's nothing compared to the 15 pounds or so Orbit seat. So I installed the darn thing and it was just floppy! The whole time we were in Houston, I was so paranoid. I don't even know how to explain...I felt that the car seat was not secure...who knows...maybe it's because I am used to the Orbit? I don't know....if anyone is curious, just give me call or I'll explain to you the next time I see ya. So, I was so paranoid, when we arrived at the hotel, I hopped online to the Evenflo (the brand of the car seat) website, and sure enough, I installed it correctly. Piece of junk...the other night, when I went to Target, I saw the same car seat!! And guess how much it was??.....$60!!!!!.....and guess how much the rental car place charged us....$60.

Lesson learned: Bringing car seat next time we go on vacation!

IMB Current Events

2008-09-24T11:26:00.000-07:00

So I received the specifics of my retention bonus here at IMB...it's enough to make me wanna stay here. It's going to be paid out on my term date, so it's a percentage of my salary starting from 9/1/08 until my termination date. The next question is...when am I going to be laid off so that I can collect my retention bonus? The new Controller believes that we are still going to be here until the end of 1st quarter '09. I don't mind...the longer I'm here, the more my retention bonus is going to be. Things have been pretty slow, so I figure....why not stay? The new Controller even suggested flex time where we can work more hours in a day, keep track of them, and then use them to take half days or whole days--all based on the honor system for us exempt employees. The FDIC is still trying to sell IMB as a whole....if we do get sold as whole...chances are, I will be retained for the "new" bank. Who knows....maybe, maybe not....we'll see. I'm good either way. If IMB doesn't get sold as a whole, then the FDIC will sell IMB off piece by piece...in that case, I will definitely be out of job as the company gets sold off in chunks.

Our old Controller left last Friday.... Through the 4 years that I have been here, he has always believed in me, supported my work and my family, and has stuck his neck out there for me...for my department...it was hard saying good-bye...I hope our paths will cross again in the future....

2nd Cousin Zoe's 1st B-Day!

2008-09-22T11:50:00.000-07:00

Me and mommy had a lots of fun at my 2nd cousin's Zoe's 1st b-day party! It was at Roxbury Park in Beverly Hills! It was nice seeing Zoe and all the aunties and uncles. We have had several play dates already. I couldn't have any cake or food, but I had a good time playing with the balloons and playing with Zoe's cheerios...and Auntie Jess' plate. :)

Happy 1st B-Day, Zoe!!!!

-Nathan

p.s. Thanks Rick for taking these photos! -gloria

I like my bear outfit

2008-09-16T17:06:00.000-07:00

Thanks Auntie Charlene, Grandpa and Grandma Chang for this outfit!

Beep! Beep!

2008-09-16T16:57:00.000-07:00

Nathan looooved floating around in the pool.

This is the first time he was actually in the pool....he did well, although, when we were trying to get him into the car, he kinda shrieked and was looking very worried. After awhile though, he was okay. :)

Wheee! Look at meeee!

2008-09-16T16:28:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday, Nathan was very busy.

I took him to meet one of my friends, Fumiko. We went to the Langham hotel (formerly, Ritz) to have some afternoon tea at 1 pm. He was very well behaved. So well behaved that one of the employees there gave Nathan a Langham shirt and a cute stuffed horse! :) Fumiko and I actually got married there, too....me in 10/2005 and she in 10/2006., so after tea time, we walked around the hotel grounds. Nap time was 3pm, so we had to go home. Nathan had a good nap from about 3:15 pm to 4:15pm. When he woke up, we drove to Grandpa and Grandma's Chang home. He had a good time gnawing on plums, trying to climb on the coffee table, and tormenting the family dog. He even got to play with his Cousin Skylar, but Nathan was already cranky and actually kinda pushing her away..... :( I hope Skylar's feelings weren't hurt. We left Grandpa and Grandma's house around 6 pm....got home around 6:30 pm....Nathan had some baby food, then at 7 p.m. we then had a very quick dinner with Uncle Poe. We got home a little before 8 p.m., and then I gave Nathan a bath, and he was in bed by 8:30 pm. Wheew! Anyhow, he woke up twice in the middle of the night crying...I'm assuming it's becuase he was overly stimulated...

Watch out for the mom in the minivan!

2008-08-06T15:56:00.000-07:00

Make your way for the mom driving down the street in the hoopty! My car is now permanently the Honda Odyssey. I think my coolness factor is now in the negatives...hahahaah. We bought the car Memorial Day Weekend, and I have definitely been enjoying it. It's got all the bells and whistles...who do you know has a car that has 2 wireless headphones and that could play DVDs and seat 8!!! :)

Jon is now driving around in my lil bro's old 2001 (or 2000?) Mercedes Benz CLK 320.

My mom is nowing driving around in my RX330 (gasp!). Yea, I gave my mom my Lexus. I just paid the car off, too!!! Bank account is sad. =( OH, well....

My dad is driving around in a new silver 2008 E350. Leases ended and the S-Class was too expensive to lease, so my dad decided to save some money and leased a E350 instead.

The Nissan MINima is the "whatever" car...

And...my lil bro is waiting for his ordered 2 door 2008 MANUAL BMW 335. I hate him. Hi Joe! Yay! I can learn how to drive stick on his car!!! He's been waitin' for this car for 2 months. I think it arrived today and he is going to pick it up this weekend.

Awesome News!

2008-08-06T15:42:00.000-07:00

I am so happy for my cousin. We found out that they were pregnant about a month ago! I didn't blog on it sooner because I didn't know if they had told everyone yet, but yea! I'm so happy for them. They invited us over for dinner...and then she goes, "yea, we are going to be staying at a 3 bedroom apt in Irvine"...I go, "why do you guys need a 3 bedroom apt!"...and she goes, "well, one room is the master room, 2nd room is for the office, and the 3rd is for the nursery"...after she said that, I said with a shocked and surprised face, "why? are you guys pregnant?"...and she goes, "yes...."....I said, "congrats!"....giving my cousin a hug and Ben a hug...and holding back tears....happy tears. :)

I'm looking foward to visiting them in a couple of weeks when we go to SD. Yay!

Meet my cousin Skylar

2008-08-05T16:57:00.000-07:00

My cousin Skylar come over a couple of weeks ago. She was born on April 4, 2008. It was fun getting to know her! Check out these pics that my Grandpa took of us!

Why is she touching me, Mommy?!?!?

Do we have big feet??

Let's hold hands...

Cousin Skylar, Auntie Charlene, Me, and Mommy!

Blogging on new milestones!

2008-08-05T14:39:00.000-07:00

I should probably blog more often or else I am going to forget when Nathan reaches his new milestones! Just recently, maybe a week or so ago, Nathan started to master his crawl. Up until then, he was doing a army crawl and had many face plants into the ground!

Anyhow, so he crawls to the couch and then pulls himself up into a standing position! I was so amazed! I only let him stand for about 5 seconds before I picked him up. Reason - both my parents and in-laws say that if a child stands up too early or for too long, then it might cause bow-leggedness....fact or fiction? My pediatrician says fiction, but better to be safe...I don't let Nathan stand for too long even though he just loves it. I would pick him up and place him away from the couch and guess what? He crawls to the same couch again so that he could pull himself up to stand.

Also, recently his two front teeth came out!! I saw that his gums were swollen about a week ago, so I knew to expect the teeth to come in...and sure enough, just a couple of days ago, I saw 2 little white stubs. And yesterday, when he was chewing on a sucking pad, there was blood on it. Kind of scared me a little bit, but it didn't seem to bother him.

Hmmm...what else...solid feeding has been going well...He has tried sweet potatoes, peaches, apples, pears, peas, carrots, avocado, banana, zucchini, and blueberries. I think that's it so far.

Oh, yea! So this past weekend, we took Nathan for a dip in the pool, and he just LOVED it! He was kicking the water and he was swimming freestyle! =) I wish I knew how to post a video on this blog....Maybe I'll learn someday. =)

Here are 2 recent funny face pics...He was making this expression daily for awhile.

Body Worlds 3!

2008-07-21T13:56:00.000-07:00

Hello!
For the people who actually read my blog....we are planning to go the Body Worlds 3 Exhibit on August 3rd if anyone is interested!!! It's going to be at the California Science Center in L.A.!
-glo

The FDIC has taken us over!

2008-07-15T16:34:00.000-07:00

I'm sure most of you all have heard that the FDIC has taken Indymac over. It happened last Friday on the 11th at 3 p.m. It was pretty crazy here at the corporate office. I was looking out from the window from the 4th floor and saw the angry customers wanting to get into the branch to take their money out. The media was everywhere. The branches were also closed on Saturday but was to reopen on Monday. On Monday, there was a 3 hour wait to get into the branch. A lady fainted due to the heat and had to be carried out on a stretcher. Crazy, huh?

With all that has happened, I am definitely shocked and deeply saddened. I remember talking to my manager in her office only to tear up. We totally did not see this coming. Indymac was definitely doing their best to cut down on expenses -- no more 401(k) matching, no more subsidized parking, a cut on bonuses, no pay raises... When kept me here was the many working relationships that I had formed over the past 4 years. I'm not sad about not having a job in the near future...I'm sad because I'm going to miss all the people I have come to know professionally and personally. It's one thing to quit a job by choice, but it's another thing to have a job taking away.

It's going to be interesting to see where all of us end up, but I plan to stay here to the end until I get laid off, and then I plan to take at least 6 months off. My hope is that I will receive some sort of severance that will at least help me for a couple of months and of course, the cashing out of my vacation days. There is always collecting unemployment from the gov't as well, too. The last time I checked, it was $450/week.

Superbabeeee!

2008-06-26T16:46:00.001-07:00

OMG....when I saw this picture, it totally reminded me of one of Jon's baby pictures...even his ears are lookin' more like Jon's! =D

We popped Jon's cherry!

2008-06-26T16:04:00.000-07:00

Old news...but we went cherry picking about 2 weeks back and was surprised to learn that Jon had never been cherry picking! Despite it being a hot weekend in Palmdale, we had fun! I had Nathan in the carrier and had fun pointing out the big cherries for Jon to pick and hiding in the trees to avoid the sun--I even had an umbrella. =)

All I want...is my 2 front teeth!

2008-06-12T11:17:00.000-07:00

Well not quite...
Just yesterday, when I came home from work, Nathan felt a little bit warm. I took his temperature and he was just a little toasty. So then I wondered if it was because he was sprouting teeth because I heard that some kids run fevers when their teeth come in. Sure enough, I opened up his mouth and I saw two little white stubs trying to push out through the gums. I actually kinda freaked out because I wasn't expecting to see anything. When I saw it, I shouted out, "His teeth are coming in!" Anyhow, I picked him up, and he started to suck the back of my hand (it was clean!), and I felt the two teeth scraping against my skin. It was a weird feeling.

Our Photo Blog!

2008-05-27T16:25:00.000-07:00

I created a photo blog! Check it out, here! It's from Shutterfly, and I think it makes it so easy to share photos!

Back from Hawaii!

2008-05-22T15:07:00.000-07:00

Beautiful sunset. Look at the dude to the left on his surf board!

We got back 5 a.m. on Monday, and I went to work! Soooo tired, but I really had no choice. No vacation/sick days! Overall, Jon and I had a lot of fun! We did a lot of much needed relaxing. We had 3 scheduled excursions, and that was enough! We did a lot of sight-seeing, walking around, some shopping, and lounging by the pool. Check out our pics here!
A lot of people asked me how I handled not being with the baby for 9 days. I think I did okay. Of course, there was the crying at the airport, and the occasional tearing up whenever I saw a baby. So, yea, I think I did okay. =)

Photography

2008-05-07T11:13:00.001-07:00

It's time to get some professional photos taken of Nathan! My co-worker takes her daughter to this place in Pasadena, and the pictures are sooooo cute! Lil Hearts Photography is where I'm taking Nathan later this month. I hope the pictures will turn out cute! They have this baby plan, which I'm already late on---3,6,9, and 12 months plan. I guess I'm just going to do 5,6,9, and 12 months plan. I called yesterday and the lady told me it was $79 dollars, but I'm sure I'm going to have to pay more if I want to buy more poses...I'm sure of it. We were originally going to go to our wedding photographer, Kavan Lee, but he's all the way out in Beverly Hills, and I'm sure he's a lot more $$$$.

Back to tummy

2008-05-05T10:26:00.001-07:00

Over this past weekend, Nathan finally learned how to roll from on his back to tummy. All the baby books that I have read say that baby's usually learn how to roll from tummy to back first. Heh heh...he's backwards.
"Your baby may be able to kick himself over, from his tummy to his back, as early as age 2 to 3 months. It may take him until he's about 5 or 6 months to flip from back to front, though, because he needs stronger neck and arm muscles for that maneuver."
It was funny to watch (and hear). I was napping beside him, and then I woke up to him grunting and making funny noises. He was on his side trying to get that arm out of the way so that he can flip to his tummy.

Milestones

2008-05-02T10:17:00.000-07:00

For the past month or so, Nathan has been more interactive. He can now reach for his toys and grab his toys. The other night when I was eating dinner and he was on my lap, he reached for my plate and pulled the plate towards him---the plate almost fell from the table. He also finds pounding on the table with his hands/fists amusing. He now sits with assistance and looks at us with curiousity when we are eating at the dinner table. He hasn't quite figured out how to roll over yet, though. He will roll to his side, and then he wouldn't know what to do with his arm, and then he rolls back to his back. Oh! Just last night, he let out a different kind of laugh. It was a half scream/half laugh--deep in the stomach kind of laugh. Cracked me up. He loves being propped up and held over our shoulders. I guess because he wants a bird's eye view of everything. =)

I plan to take him to work on May 9th--just for the morning. My mom is busy that day. I hope he behaves!

Makeshift shoulder pads!

2008-04-30T15:05:00.000-07:00

Heheheheh, Nathan is almost growing out of his infant car seat. The criteria for the infant car seat is that the infant needs to 1) be less than 22 pounds; 2) be less than 29 inches; and 3) be less than a year old. Well, at four months, he's 17 1/2 pounds and 27.75 inches. I'm guessing he's going to reach 29 inches in a month or so. I'm going to have to switch him out into the Toddler car seat soon. Anyhow, so here is a picture of him in his infant car seat. I had to remove the shoulder pads that the car seat came with because Nathan just looked super uncomfortable, but then I didn't want his head flopping everywhere when we are driving, so I decided to get 2 of his socks and I just placed them on top of his shoulders....hahah. Nathan says, "what are you doing, mommy?? I look silly."

Maui in less than 2 weeks!

2008-04-30T14:47:00.000-07:00

I'm definitely excited about our trip to Maui on May 10th. What I'm not excited about is not being able to see Nathan for the 9 days that we will be gone. We are planning to bring a laptop, so that we can setup a webcam. Yea!
So, we are staying at the Westin Kaanapali Ocean Resort Villas, and from the pictures, it's look cool. http://www.westinkaanapali.com/rr_images.htm We traded our timeshare week in Vegas for a week at this resort, so it only cost us $150 to stay here. So, we are leaving the afternoon of the 10th, and coming back on Monday morning, the 19th. I think our plane arrives at 5:20am...then I'm off to work. Yup, off to work. I actually don't have any vacation/sick days because they got all used up when I was on maternity leave.
Anyhow, some things that we are planning to do are: biking down Mt. Haleakala, snorkeling at Molikini, and a full-day rainforest hike. I'm looking foward to all three. On the days we don't have anything scheduled, we are just going to lounge around and drive around. There are two places that I want to check out. Blackrock and Kapalua Bay. I hear great things about these two places, and they are only minutes from our resort.

My mind is back!

2008-04-03T12:07:00.000-07:00

It's my 3rd day on the job, and it's nice to finally use my brain again.
Throughout my pregnancy, I was....a little air headed (haha, some people may say, "What, you are always air-headed!". Anyhow, I had what I call pregnancy amnesia, and I was...slow...yea, slow...my brain just didn't want to work when I was pregnant.
But now, back to crunching numbers and analyzing financials...and I'm just zipping through them. Whoopppee! It's nice to finally not feel stupid. You know, the feeling you get when everyone knows what's going on except for you? Actually, another thing I mastered while pregnant is the I-don't-know-what-you-are-talking-about-but-I'll-look-as-if-I-do look. HA! =)

Cobra and scorpion drink, anyone?

2008-04-02T17:39:00.000-07:00

So, one of my staff members showed me this drink of his. He says it's from Vietnam. It's alcohol + a cobra snake + a scorpion. I told him that I was really grossed out, and that I couldn't even hold the bottle.

Check it out...the scorpion is in the snake's mouth. EW!

Second day back at work...

2008-04-02T15:27:00.000-07:00

Well, back at work...After going through 1,000 e-mails, my eye balls are very sore now. So many changes these past 4 months at IMB...I found out that we are going to have to pay $72.50 a month for parking now (as opposed to $25), no more 401(k) matching, no more raises and bonuses...sad...

I must say it's nice to go back to work after a 4 month break, but I sure do miss Nathan. I've been going home for lunch though, so I can spend some time with him.

Here is a recent picture of him...

And I still haven't done anything with my hair yet...

Bleh

2008-02-29T15:45:00.001-08:00

My hair is getting really long, and I don't know what to do to it! Cut it, grow it even longer, perm it, highlight it...dunno. Getting my hair done is not on my priority, but I should do something to it! Random.
Oh, yea...so Jon and I were planning on going to Maui in May...but with Jon's job situation...we don't know if he will be able to go. Heh. BUT I'M STILL GOING. =) Would it be weird if I just went with Joe? I have always called Joe my liability because ever since we were little, whenever we would go somewhere, he would always get hurt or sick!! Examples: 5 years ago, when Jon and I visited Joe at SD, we went to the beach, and we were walking on rocks or something....and Joe SLIPPED!! These were sharp rocks, too! Another time we were at SD, Joe, Jon and I went kayaking...Jon had his own kayak, and Joe and I shared one. We flipped over in the ocean. SCARY. 10 years ago, when we went to Hawaii, we were all supposed to go snorkeling, but Joe get sea sick!! So, he was passed out on the boat, while I snorkeled by myself. SAD, I know. Well, my Dad was in the water with me, but I had to always turn around and watch him since my Dad doesn't know how to swim.

Valentine's Day!

2008-02-22T15:31:00.000-08:00

Oops! I forgot to blog about Valentine's Day! Jon and I went to Ruth's Chris, and it was yummmeeee. It was our first time going there...food was great, service was great. I had a filet mignon with creamed spinach and mashed potatoes. The meat is served on a 500 degree plate with a scoop of butter. I seriously thought that the filet was being cooked in butter. It was very tender. I definitely recomment the filet mignon.

Thanks to Pogel for taking this picture and sending it to me!

2 month doc visit

2008-02-22T00:25:00.001-08:00

Nathan had his 2 month doctor's visit on Tuesday, the 19th. It was hard seeing him get his shots. I think I had this worried look on my face because the nurse asked me if I was okay. As the needle went in, he had this shocked/lost look on his face, and then of course, he let out a loud cry soon after. He cried for about 10 seconds, which isn't bad.....his hungry cry is a lot louder and worse.

He measured at 24 inches and 14 pounds, 6 ounces. Recently, when you talk to him, he would "talk" back and coo. It's pretty fun to hear. Also, he's been sucking on that thumb of his. Cute to watch, but a BAD habit. A couple of weeks back, he was just trying to stick his whole hand in his mouth. Today, we decided to see how Shadow will behave around Nathan. It went very well. They have met before, but I have never brought Nathan this close to Shadow for a picture.

Time sure does fly...

2008-02-22T00:16:00.000-08:00

I can't believe that I will be going back to work in 5 short weeks....4/1/08. Did I count that right? I think so...It's been great not having to go to work. I'm starting to like this whole housewife/ stay-at-home-mom thing. My day is spent cleaning, taking care of Nathan, running errands, and of course, SHOPPING!! I now know how it feels to be one of those moms I see at the mall with their kid (or kids) in the stroller. That reminds me...I was at Target the other day, and I saw this super Mom. She had an infant in her Baby Bjorn, one kid in the shopping cart, and ANOTHER kid on the bottom of the shopping cart. I just kept on staring (yea, I had a staring problem). I htought that was super dangerous...but, they were in line so I guess it wasn't THAT bad...

Happy Chinese New Year!

2008-02-04T17:30:00.001-08:00

Happy Chinese New Year, everyone!

Yay for red envelopes! =)

So many things to look foward in the coming months.

A baby shower for my sis-in-law in March (her due date is in April), my cousin's wedding in April, and also, Jon and I are FINALLY moving into our home in Arcadia! February 10th is the tentative date.

Baby Update: Nathan is 7 weeks old as of yesterday! He's still not giving Jon and me a break though. He's still waking up for feedings every 3 hours. But, just recently, he started to "socially smile"! It's so precious to have him smile back at us. =D He are MORE recent pics of him.

Another bath time pic...(G-rated)

Huh? This pic just cracked us up...

Nathan's 1 month doctor visit

2008-01-29T00:45:00.000-08:00

Nathan's 1 month doctor visit was on Jan 18th.
He measured 22 3/4 inches long and weighed in at 11 pounds 13 ounces.

Bath time!

2008-01-28T21:57:00.000-08:00

Wow...as each day goes by...I see more of Jon in Nathan...
Does Nathan look like me...even just a little bit??? =)

Baby Jon

Baby Glo

Nathan

Daddy & Me

2008-01-28T21:54:00.000-08:00

A poem that I stole from my cousin's blog. =)

2008-01-13T22:50:00.000-08:00

A new year begins, an old one ends,

What brings us joy?

Our loved ones and our friends.

All the happy times,

How they enrich our lives,

We reflect upon what really counts,

As the fresh and bright new year has arrived.

What would YOU do?

2008-01-13T22:12:00.000-08:00

Amazing how paint and hardwood floors can drastically change the look of a room.
Check out the pics below. It's before and after pics of our living area.
We painted the walls and got rid of the carpet. The hardwood floors were underneath the carpet!

Before

After

Anyhow, I have no idea what to do with the fireplace. Should I leave the mantle dark brown, or should I paint it white? Or, any other suggestions?

Quarantined

2008-01-07T23:32:00.000-08:00

Can't believe it's already been 3 weeks! One more week to go before I can leave the house.
It's been rough, but I think Jon and I are getting used to the daily and nightly schedule. The first week was definitely the hardest.
Feedings are still every 3 hours...sometimes 2 hours when Nathan is really hungry. Just yesterday, he was really fussy and angry because he just kept on wanting more milk! Supposedly, babies have a growth spurt at 3 weeks, so that's what Jon and I assume what was happening.
He is taking in about 4 ounces at each feeding (normally)...peeing 8 times a day and pooing 4 times a day. =)
He smiles sometimes when he's sleeping, but that smile quickly turns into a frown. It's amusing to watch.
Well, here's a recent picture of him...I'm trying to burp him.
I hope everyone is having a wonderful '08!!
-glo

Baby Nathan!

2007-12-22T03:31:00.000-08:00

Hope all is well with everyone!

Nathan was born on Sunday, 12/16/07! He is 8 lbs, 6 ounces and 21 1/2 inches.

-glo

It's official! We are homeowners!

2007-11-27T15:08:00.000-08:00

Money went out yesterday. Bank account is sad, but we have a home now! Can't move in for at least a couple of months, but still excited! Being married and living at home for 2 years is hard...eesh. Bathroom work will hopefully begin soon. With the help of Thomas, Jon and I have picked out the tile colors, the cabinet color and design, countertop color, sinks, faucets, shower head, etc...it's tougher than it sounds...it's like how many different types of shower heads can there be!?
Anyhow, I'm still at work...Friday is my last day! Woo-hoo! I've been trying to catch up and clean things up a bit.
Oh! This is gross...last week there was a cockroach on my desk at work!! It went into my coffee cup, and I freaked out! I was seriously considering getting someone to kill it for me (I don't kill insects), so I put a pile of paper on top of my cup. The last thing I wanted was for the cockroach to come out of my cup and attack me. So, I forgot all about the cockroach over the Thanksgiving holiday, and when I came back to work, I had dead moldy cockroach in my cup. GROSS. I had to seriously disinfect my cup with hot water, and I poured dishwashing liquid into my cup. EW. It still grosses me out whenever I think about it.

Back to work...

2007-11-13T16:43:00.000-08:00

I must say it's hard coming back to work after a 3 day weekend. Anyhow, I can't believe it's been more than a week since I have blogged! Well, I guess that's because nothing interesting has happened. I have been driving EVERYWHERE (well, it feels like everywhere) trying to find furniture. I REALLY wanted this 3 piece sectional from Pottery Barn in suede, but it came out to be like $4K! =( Sad face. So, then I went to Wickes, and found a similar sectional for I think $1,200ish...don't remember. But then I went to Easy Life and found one for $750! BUT...it's smaller, which might be a good thing because our living room isn't that big. So...we'll see what we end up buying...haven't decided yet...

Tea time with some gal pals

2007-11-05T11:34:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, Charlene, Cynthia, Jean, Jennifer, and I went to Two A Tea in Glendora for tea and sandwiches. It seems like lately, I've been going to afternoon tea a lot. So much fun! And it's always nice to get together with friends and just chat and catch-up!
On Sunday, I will having afternoon tea and sandwiches again at Julie's Bridal Shower, so I'm looking foward to that, too! =)

The House Hunt is OVER??

2007-11-05T11:08:00.000-08:00

Jon and I are excited to let everyone know that we are in escrow! The house is located in the Highland Oaks area of Arcadia (near Foothill and Santa Anita). As most of you know, we have been looking for a LONG TIME and during this time, there have been many disappointments.
We close escrow on 11/27 (it's kinda bad timing because I will be delivering around that time...but we are still happy and excited). It kinda works out because we won't be able to move in for at least a couple of months. So I guess it works out? =)
Some work needs to be done on the home (such as ripping out the carpet, updating the bathrooms, and adding some recessed lighting). And after that is done, we have to order our furniture which will take about 2-3 weeks to arrive. So...unfortunately, we won't be having guests over any time soon, but we look foward to inviting everyone over at some point when we are all settled in. Well...maybe not everyone at the same time. It's a small starter home. =)

THANK YOU!

2007-11-05T10:50:00.000-08:00

Family and Friends:
Thank you all for taking the time out of your busy schedules to come to our baby shower. We enjoyed seeing everyone and hope everyone had a good time. We sure did!
Also, many THANKS to all the great gifts! We are so grateful to have such wonderful family and friends! Everything will come in handy! I can't wait to put Nathan in all the clothes and have him play with all the toys!
-Jon & Glo
p.s. I hope everyone ate because we have a lot of Panda leftovers!

California Wildfires...what is the world coming to??

2007-10-23T09:43:00.000-07:00

OK, so here is my first blog in my life so if its utterly boring and cheesy, then TOO BAD! :)

So I started my day waking up at 4:45am and leave the house by 5:15am(ish). I hop on the road and my daily ritual of listening to Kevin and Bean or that annoy a$$ Adam Corolla. But today I went with Kevin and Bean. As Lisa May reports on the traffic, I noticed that she mentioned that there were a bunch of road closures and one of which is the toll roads that I take every morning, 241. I was hoping she would say the northbound 241, but to my dismay, it was for both sides. Lisa May didn't seem too bothered by the fact that there were brush fires and what not, so I just went my normal route thinking that maybe when I get closer to the 241, it would be reopened.

I get on the 71 South (moooooooooo!!) and probably a mile before I hit the 91, traffic started and it was definitely busier than normal. After chugging along the 91, I am getting closer to the 241, but lanes getting to that freeway have already been blocked off along with a cop car sitting in between the lanes with its lights twirling. I then used the navigation to help with my route. I knew that I could probably get off on Imperial Highway, make a right, get on the 57 South to make my way to work, but the navi told me to make a left so I did it. After driving a good 15 miles, it wanted me to make a left on some street. "Make a left turn in 500 feet". Turns out there are cops there and they wouldn't let anyone through. I pass that along with a good 5 or 6 other routes that the navi wanted me to go, but they were ALL blocked by officers due to the fires. So, just a few seconds before saying screw it, I'm driving back home...I find an entrance to the 5 freeway and from there it was slow moving to work.

I get to work and do my thing, turns out that a good 75% of the employees were not even going to be in and had issues getting into the office. Our CIOs secretary tells me to go to one of the offices to look at how close the smoke is to us and I took a few snapshots of it. The picture on the very top is the shot I took in my friends office. At around 11am, I end up not wanting to stay since it would probably take me YEARS to get back home so I am about to leave when the company decided to close the facility and have everyone go home. I leave as fast as I can, but there was somewhat of a traffic jam in our parking lot since everyone is going at the same time.
So the last piece of my story is, as I'm driving down Bake street, I notice 6 or 7 MTA buses escorted by several police motorcycles and a few vans all loaded with sheriffs officers. They get on the 5 South as well and I'm thinking, what is going on in there?? Must be some high-profile criminal that they are escorting. So I turn on KFWB 980 (traffic on the 1's), they said that they are moving the prisoners out of some jail that is close to the brush fires.

The arsonist that caused these fires will find himself/herself or themselves in one of those facilities soon enough.

The search continues...

2007-10-22T18:53:00.000-07:00

Why is it so hard for Jon and me to find a home? I think it's because of our pickiness and our indecisiveness. The house is too old....the floor plan is weird....there are not enough bathrooms.... the lot is not big enough....we want a pool....it's too expensive. These are some the common complaints coming from the both of us. By now, our friends and family must be tired of hearing this from us. =) Well, anyhow, we just met with our agent, and we just made an offer on yet another house. We are giving the buyer 3 business days to accept our offer or to counteroffer our offer, so we shall see in a couple of days...

Tea time with cousins

2007-10-22T15:02:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, my cousins and I went to Chado Tea Room in Old Town Pas for some tea and sandwiches. It was very nice catching up with Stephanie, Julia and Nina, and the food was great! I definitely recommend this place for a girls day out. =)

Whatta dodo bird

2007-10-18T13:20:00.000-07:00

Shadow loooooves tennis balls. I caught him trying to steal one.

This arrangement is yummy!

2007-10-15T13:15:00.000-07:00

Instead of flowers, Jon sent an Edible Arrangement to my work! This is the first time he's ever sent me one of these, and it's yummeeee! I've been munching on it the whole morning. =)

Can't believe it's been 2 years

2007-10-14T19:00:00.000-07:00

For our 2nd wedding anniversary, we went back to the Ritz-Carlton for dinner. After dinner, we decided to walk through the Japanese garden and guess who we saw?! Kavan! Our wedding photographer! What a coincidence...

When should I go on maternity leave?

2007-10-12T14:17:00.000-07:00

My due date should be 12-17-07 based on my LMP, but based on Nathan's size, I'm due on 11-28-07. So, today, when I went to my doctor for my checkup, I asked my doc when I should leave work. He suggested the beginning of December. So I guess just because Nathan is big, it doesn't mean that he is due earlier. I suppose that makes sense. He has to be ready! So, now whenever people ask me when I'm due, I don't know what to say. =) I think I'm going to tell my boss that I will take off on 12-1-07 and come back in 3 months.

Oh yea...boo...I need to watch what I eat. Even though I've gained about 25 pounds so far (which is average), my weight gain these past 2 weeks was higher than average, so my doc told me to watch what I eat or else I will be getting a lecture from him the next time I see him (in another 2 weeks). On a lighter note, I did pass my glucose tolerance test. =)

Shad's getting the boot

2007-10-11T13:26:00.000-07:00

Once the baby is born, Shad is going to be an outdoor dog. =( He is a big dog and when overly excited, he can potentially be dangerous.

This is a picture of him all nice and comfortable in his crate in the family room on his bolster bed. He's going to hate being outside.

I think we are probably going to have to slowly wean him outside. He'll be fine during the day, but I think he'll have problems during the night. I'm guessing he'll bark and whine non-stop until we come downstairs to get him. Hope the neighbors won't call the Human Society on us like they did with Brandon.

Flu Shot and Bummer

2007-10-10T14:27:00.000-07:00

Jon received the flu shot this past Saturday and now the poor guy has a cold! From reading the CDC wesbite, the most the flu shot will cause is a sore throat! He received the dead virus vaccine in the arm instead of the live virus vaccine up the nose. Anyhow, he's now sleeping on the floor on an extra bed we have. It was weird when I found him there in the middle of the night. When I asked him where he found the blanket, he told me he got it from my paren'ts bed. Good thing my parents are in Taiwan!

Work has been going well. With my promotion at the beginning of the month, my workload has increased, but not to the point that I'm totally stressed out. I barely have any OT...coming in at 9:30am, taking a 30 minute lunch, and leaving at 6pm is my day to day schedule. To the right is a picture of my shelf in my office. Those folders are reconciliations that I still have left to review...down from the 769 that I review each month!

Oh yea! To all the Prison Break fans out there...were you just as sad as I was when you found out that the writers killed off Sara! I was so bummed out for the rest of the episode.

Looking for a few good people...

2007-10-09T14:05:00.000-07:00

Indymac offered a voluntary severance package last month, and I had one person in my staff take it. Nice deal if you ask me. One month of pay for every year you have worked here. IMO, I can't see myself volunteering to sever myself from my job...well...maybe if it was 12 months of pay! Anyhow, in addition to her leaving, I have one other person transferring to another group. So...I have two open spots. If anyone is looking to work at Indymac Bank or knows of anyone, please foward me their resumes! These are for Senior Analyst positions in the General Accounting department!