P.S. I started writing this a few weeks ago. It has now been month since I started working again! Man, time flies!
P.P.S. I just recently discovered the Savory Sweet Life blog. Alice’s recipes have inspired me the past month I have been reading. I’ve made or been inspired by a few of her recipes. Thanks Alice!

“Before”:

And “After”:

Yumm…

I have to say that I love my silpat liner. It is awesome for baking cookies! Can you tell that it has been used quite frequently?
]]> http://mokiworks.wordpress.com/2010/01/31/snickerdoodles/feed/ 1 mokiworks http://mokiworks.wordpress.com/2010/01/05/first-day-back/ http://mokiworks.wordpress.com/2010/01/05/first-day-back/#comments Tue, 05 Jan 2010 07:14:55 +0000 mokiworks http://mokiworks.wordpress.com/?p=88 ]]> Today was my first day back at work. Let me tell you, the hardest part of today was leaving. I just dragged my feet as I got ready. When I got in the car, my dear hubby left this picture (at least I think it was this one!) of Molly and a little note that basically said “Hang in there!” (Isn’t he so sweet? I LOVE BUB!)

As I drove to work, I teared up a little thinking about her. But also, I teared up at thinking about how good God has been to me. Once I got to work, I felt much better. I was just thinking about how excited I would be to see my little Mollipop at the end of the day. The day went by pretty fast, considering. I squeezed in a 2 pumping sessions, but today was a shorter day. (Went in late, left a bit early.) I think I will try and squeeze in 3 pumping sessions a day. How do other moms do this? Plus when I get home, I want to squeeze in time to work out, sew, blog on top of my other musts, like play with my daughter, cook dinner, do chores, etc! Maybe moms don’t sleep? Well, I need to! Good night!

Well, as you know Charlie and I were expecting our first child! Molly was born October 8, 2009 at 4:58 AM. Meet Molly:

*Sigh* She was so worth it!  I cannot express into words the love I feel for her! She is so precious! This little girl came 10 days late! I went into the hospital on October 6th and out she came on October 8th! All I can say is that the pain medication and epidural made labor and delivery almost too easy! My friend Jessica told me that labor and delivery is easy compared to taking baby home. (Just to drive the point home, this girl gave birth naturally with no epidural!) So anyway, I have to say she was right. I think the most overwhelming part about coming home was dealing with the aftermath of pushing out a baby. My body felt so tough and weak at the same time. Let’s just say that I moved gingerly for at least a week! I kind of expected the lack of sleep, but the thing that alarmed me the most was learning to breastfeed and pump. My friend actually let me borrow her Medela Pump In Style. For some reason, I just could not express much milk with it (like 1 ounce combined, if I was lucky!!). I think this was due to a few different reasons:
1. I was so new to breastfeeding
2. Molly wasn’t drinking much
3. It hurt. I think it was because the breastshields weren’t the best fit.
Luckily, I was able to get a screaming deal on a practically new Medela Freestyle Pump through Craigslist and it has been working out so much better! At my best, I’m able to pump about 6 ounces combined!

So tomorrow is my first day back at work. It’s funny. I prayed to God a while back that He would either help to me be at peace about going to back to work (this was when I was thinking that I had to go back when Molly was barely 10 weeks old) or help me figure out a way to go back to work when Molly was at least 12 weeks old. All I can say is God is good. He let me have both. I’m thankful that I had the time that I did at home with Molly and I feel okay about going back to work. I think I understand what working moms mean when they say that they feel torn. My priorities have changed and Molly’s well-beings the MOST important thing to me. I would love to be at home with her, but that is not a feasible reality right now so I must work. And if I must work, I will do so with a cheerful heart. Plus, I do like my job and miss my co-workers. Anyway, off to bed I go. I will let you know how things go!

I plug my iPhone to iTunes.

iTunes asks to sync and update with new version of blah, blah, blah.

I say yes.

I think it’s syncing, refreshing, etc.

Check it later and it appears to be frozen.

Hubby comes by and says it looks like it’s trying to re-set my iPhone.

He unplugs and the iPhone says it needs to be connected to iTunes.

Re-connect. I am prompted to re-set my phone.

Everything has been erased…including all the pictures I took to share here! All the craft projects, food pictures, etc. Erased!

Boohoo.

I’m trying to be an Apple but maybe I should just stick to being a PC?

I feel retarded and exasperated. Maybe my aspirations of becoming a blogger are not meant to be??

Also, Charlie and I posted our condo on a FSBO website about a month ago. (I think??) Just when we were thinking of listing our condo with a real estate agent, we got a bite from our FSBO posting. We got an offer, but we are in the middle of negotiations, so please keep your fingers crossed for us. We are praying for a favorable outcome.

Baby girl is growing rapidly! So far everything seems good. My bump is getting denser! I just finished making a nursing cover (AKA “hooter hider”) for myself. I’ve made about 3 or 4 as gifts for others so it’s about time I made one for myself! I’ll post pictures of my projects soon! (I promise!)

Seattle is dang hot! (Like 99 degrees today! So unusual!) Stay cool!

• Lower back aches (especially on my left side)
• Upper back ache (that was there before I was pregnant)
• Occasional rib aches
• Random charlie horses that wake me up scowling in pain at night
• Squished organs + nasal congestion = trouble breathing
• Full size bed (for hubby, me and my dog who thinks she is human)
• Being responsible for cooking or figuring out what to do for dinner EVERY night (typically I don’t mind being in the kitchen, but I just get tired so easily and my hubby is a picky eater, even though he thinks he isn’t!)
• Everyone thinking I am dumber (even if I am) just because I’m pregnant
• The little ding I just put on my Mini…and my husband who has hawk eyes is very anal when it comes to cars  :*(
• Being clumsy, slow and easily fatigued

Okay, that is enough of my pity party. I just had to get it off my chest. I know that when I look at the big picture, my life is pretty blessed.  I am so excited to meet my baby girl for the first time. I’m scared of all the pain and trauma that goes along with birthing a child into this world, but I just know it will all be worth it. And the thing that excites me the most is that I will have someone to love and nurture and pour my heart into. 

There alot of things that Charlie and I have to figure out before she comes, but I am leaving it up to God.  Whatever happens, happens.  It’s not like I have any control over what will happen anyway! If we are still in our one-bedroom, then will will all just be nice and cozy. She will get a room over her own one day and I will be bursting at the seams to decorate it!   I hope this baby likes arts and crafts…because I do! (I think she does because she just kicked me!)

Well, thanks for reading.  I hope me venting hasn’t been at the expense of turning you into a crabcake!

Slept in, made a box-mix of Fischer scones (and stuffed with raspberry jam and butter, of course) and an iced caramel americano (with a splash of milk), got ready slowly…and now I’m sitting outside… (and listening to Jack Johnson…)

How many days will I have to languish before baby girl comes? Hopefully, she will be a mellow little girl!

Hope you are enjoying your day wherever you are!

Sorry! I know have been MIA for the past few weeks. To explain, my hubby and I went to Maui for our babymoon a couple weeks ago and it took me a while to get off of vacation mode.

Maui was fabulous! We went there for our honeymoon back in 2006 and when we were trying to figure out where to go for our babymoon, we both thought, “Maui!”  Charlie and I were not really feeling the international travel destinations and I was not willing to go where the food was unfamiliar or the flights were particularly long.  (It takes a little over 5 hours to get to Kahului, Maui from Seattle.) 

Being uninformed as I am, I didn’t really think about or realize how little pregnant women could do in terms of tourist activities. Pregnant women are not allowed to go on a tour of the pineapple farm, for crying out loud! (Charlie was trying to convince me to just go and see if they would kick me out, but I didn’t want to risk it.  I hate feeling like I’m hiding something! I’m a terrible liar.) 

The one thing we were able to do is go on a snorkeling trip to Honolua Bay. 

Honulua Bay is a marine life preserve located towards the north of Maui.  We heard that this bay has a split personality — in the summer time the waters are really calm and ideal for snorkeling, but come winter time it’s where the surfers go to catch big waves.  It was B-E-A-U-tiful!  Going out on a catamaran is soooooo much nicer! We saw a sea turtle, eels like the ones on “The Little Mermaid”,  all sorts of tropical fish (we saw the fish that looked like Scarface on “Finding Nemo”) and a pod of dolphins as we were leaving the bay! They came right up to our catamaran and swam alongside us until the waters got too deep. It was amazing! (It’s sad that the only fishes/sea creatures I recognized are the ones I saw in Disney movies!) Charlie and I had gone snorkeling from the beach earlier on and I got freaked out b/c the coral reef was a little too close for comfort. Charlie ended up scraping his knees a bit when we came back to shore.

The other thing Charlie and I always love to do while vacationing (and in general) is go on gastronomical adventures! (I love saying that word! Gastronomical)

Delectable dining spots we found this time around:  (In no particular order…)

*Let me just say that everything in Maui is expensive! The “$” is adjusted for the cost of food relative to the location!

• Fish Market (Seafood) – $
• Sansei (Sushi) – $$$

• Da Kitchen (Hawaiian BBQ) – $

BIG portions!

• Lahaina Grill (Gourmet) – $$$$

Charlie had a little lamb…

• Mama’s Fish House (Seafood) – $$$
• Cheeseburgers in Paradise (Isn’t it obvious??) – $$

Good weather, good company and good food… Now do you see why it was so hard to come back to reality?

Enjoying our last sunset…

Mahalo for the good times, Maui! 

Monica 

Me in a silly hat!

I am a hobby crafter. I love to make things! (I’ll share my latest projects soon!)

I am married to my one and only. (Literally!) He was my first and only boyfriend. (Can you believe it?) At this point, we have been married for more than 2 1/2 years, but have been together for almost 12 years! AND…he still makes my world go round. <3 Oh! One more important detail…his name is Charlie! 

Us at the M's game!

At this point, we are living in a small condo in Seattle (downtown) and are enjoying the city life with our dog, Bella. 

Queen B

And…we are expecting our first child! A GIRL! (I’m due in late September.) 

She's waving hello!

So, as you can see, I have a lot on my mind these days…more than I normally do! E.g., what to do about our living situation, what to make for baby, dealing with prego symptoms, etc!  Did I mention that we have a Mini Cooper and that is our only car right now?  Eek! 

On that note, I will talk to you later! Break is over. I need to get back to work! (Working from home today…)