So, yeah, this happened

So I kind of dropped off the face-of-the-blog after I got pregnant. Morning sickness hit bad, and then life happened and then I felt pressure to write something amazing upon coming back, and, and, and...

Maria noticed that I tend to write when I'm not as happy with my life (it's like a project that gives me an outlet) and so she said she was kind of relieved when I wasn't writing as much (sounds bad when I put it that way but you know what I mean). Kind of true. (We got pregnant. So happy!) However, I have been feeling such an urge to write lately and the thing I'm using to inspire me and crush the inner critic is this quote on saw recently on Elise Blaha Cripe's instagram: "You do you and your audience will find you." I think there's also a Lewis quote about being yourself and you'll speak the truth.

Ah, here it is. Looked it up and so worth quoting here: "Even in social life, you will never make a good impression on other people until you stop thinking about what sort of impression you are making. Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it." (Mere Christianity, IV, 11)

I don't think I'll ever be a famous blogger and that's never been my intention (it seems like a TON of work and not as much glam and joy as it seems to us readers) but I don't want that to stop me from being me and sharing me because I enjoy doing that.

So I'm thinking realistically that as a full-time mom I don't have time to write super crafted essays but I can document my life in bits and pieces because I want to do that for me. And anyone else who wants to join in is welcome to do so.

So here's to a fresh start and we'll see what happens!

Three straight days

It's been a while. But after 6,000 miles of travel I think I'm ready to be back. Theo seems to have inherited my homebody nature. (That is, being an extroverted homebody.) When we go out, he often cries until we're home and then there's a sweet relief when I tell him we're almost back to his favorite place. He even seems to know that it's almost over when we drive over the last three speed bumps before our house.

I apologize for the hiatus, but we have a reason. We traveled to Richmond around New Years, and for three straight days we were subjected to non-stop celebrations: a repeat of Thanksgiving for David's relatives from Korea who missed their turkey dinner (as if we hadn't had enough this year), Theo's 1st birthday, and David's grand-parents' 60th wedding anniversary. We basically had to roll home.

When you go to Mama Ro's, you pack your stretchy pants.

(That was Twitter-worthy, am I right?)

We had lobster ravioli, baked salmon, and beef tenderloin - and those were not the three separate celebrations. No, we had all three during one meal.

See? I have proof.

But I guess for those of you who know us, you're not really surprised. What is almost unbelievable, though, is that our Theo is now one!

I went crazy when I saw this baby Rex at Nordstrom!

David's mom did an incredible job of setting up Theo's tol.

Hehe, you can see David holding him up.

She tried to replicate David's party from 31 years ago.

I say she did an excellent job.

Poor Theo got croup on his birthday (apparently it's a common Korean thing for babies to get sick around their first birthdays - my mom-in-law says it's because everyone focuses on the party and neglects the baby) and we ended up in the ER that night. I fell asleep on the patient bed. (Not as tired as I had been a year ago, but tired nonetheless.)

Anyway, we still can't believe our little baby is a walking (!) and "talking" little man.


Dear Theo,

We cannot believe you are one. You are one crazy, mischievous, loving, sweet little boy. We love how you smile and babble, how you look at us from out of the corner of your eye when you are doing something sneaky. We love your crooked, toothy grin. You are so affectionate, but you don't exactly love to cuddle (unless you're feeling crummy). You more like to wrestle. And I guess we have Rex and your uncle Kenny to blame for that. You already know I love your thick thighs, which is why I never put pants on you. Your dad loves your pork chop feet and vienna sausage toes, and everyone wants to eat your cheeks. It's hysterical when you shriek from a crazy game we play such as peek-a-boo with the mirror, or riding around on someone's shoulders in circles around the house as someone taunts you with food you can't quite get to. It's hard to put into one letter all the feelings we have for you, but just know this. Our hearts are full because of you.

We love you!
Mommy, for the both of us

Call us overachievers

I apologize for the hiatus. We've been really busy over here, having early Thanksgivings both in California and here at home in Seattle.

You could call us overachievers.

This year we experimented with having Thanksgiving dinner on Wednesday night. I once overheard a co-worker say that his family did it that way. It seemed brilliant to me - get all the hard work done on a day everyone is working anyway, and then enjoy all of Thursday off, when everyone is home from work and school.

So we tried it this year. Knowing that I would have an almost 11-month old on my hands (and under my feet), I started preparing almost a week in advance.

A new rug I couldn't resist getting to spruce up the place for the holiday. My father-in-law called it Theo's magic carpet.

So last week my friend Karen came over for dinner* and we hashed out menu plans and decorations. I told her that I'm not into the "newfangled stuff" - I love brussels sprouts (not being sarcastic), but in my opinion they do not belong on a Thanksgiving table.

We agreed on a classic menu of turkey, gravy (two boats, just being realistic here), mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, peas, and rolls.

Sketching out which serving dishes I plan to use helps ensure I'm not stressing about it at the last minute.

Karen offered to bring appetizers (spanakopita (!) and eggrolls) as well as Connie's Corn Casserole, which turned out to be the most amazing thing we had ever had. At the table, Kenny dubbed it "corn butter."

"Corn butter" on the bottom right. David generously offered for it to be placed next to him.

With everyone at work/school and a baby who doesn't nap very much anymore, I knew I needed to plan ahead as much as a could, down to the details.

David and I broke down the cleaning and set-up tasks and spread them out over the days before The Dinner. When we finished an item we got to move the post-it note to the back. (Ah!)

This was by no means the complete list.

And I didn't stop there. I also made an Excel spreadsheet. Yes, you heard that right.

I totally nerded out and it was awesome.

Planning ahead allowed me to develop shortcuts that made the day of so easy. Here are the things I would do again next year in a heartbeat, whether or not Thanksgiving was on Wednesday or Thursday or in the middle of November:

• prepare all the vegetables for the stuffing the day before. When I cooked the stuffing, it was like a cooking show as I dumped already chopped veggies into the pan. (BTW, Mom, everyone loved your stuffing recipe.)
• start the stock for gravy and stuffing in a crockpot the night before. David also set the turkey in the roasting pan and in the fridge the night before so all I had to do was pull it out.
• make the mashed potatoes a couple hours before dinner and keep them warm in a crockpot. (Karen lent me hers so I had two to work with.)

Also, next year I'm definitely asking my sister-in-law to bring dessert again. She made the most amazing pumpkin cheesecake ever!

Diana thought she made a mistake and put "too much" sugar in the crust, but we just proclaimed that PAULA DEEN MADE A MISTAKE when writing the recipe and didn't include the amount Diana used.

We had a lovely dinner with way too much laughter. I asked Kenny to serve the mashed potatoes. He kept trying to give people HUGE portions. By the end of the meal, we were calling Kenny a "potato pusher." Karen caught David "trying to go horizontal" after the meal. We ended the evening with drawing names for our gift exchange and sharing what we were thankful for. (Kenny was - you guessed it - thankful for potatoes.)

I called my parents this morning. They were on the road driving somewhere for breakfast, and because my mom and I had hosted our Thanksgiving there two weeks ago, my dad named us the two most relaxed moms on Thanksgiving day.

Karen said it best when she said that having our dinner last night was like "getting our homework done before it's even Saturday."

I'm looking forward to this day lounging with family and eating leftovers. On the menu so far is turkey pho for lunch (!!!) and turkey enchiladas for dinner (!!!!).

My mom got these cute animal placecard holders on a missions trip to Africa.

So I heartily commend to you having Thanksgiving dinner on Wednesday nights. 

Happy Thanksgiving all!

_______________________________________

* We had a true Dave Ramsey dinner, beans and rice and torn-in-half napkins. Actually, truth be told, Karen tore off and used the "less used" portion (her words, not mine) of a paper towel David brought back from the hospital cafeteria. I tried not to feel too embarrassed, but in actuality I have to love the shared frugality Karen and I have. 

The most whimsical thing

Yesterday my friend Chelsey called me last-minute to see if we wanted to join them at The Farm in Snohomish.

I am a homebody to the core and normally do not love to go out, especially at the last minute, but I'm so glad we decided to go.

There were piglets. (!!)

We shared the most delicious apple pie, and overheard some girls talking about xiao long bao. I had a "squirrel moment" and turned around and asked, "Did you just say xiao long bao?" Haha. 

On our way there we drove past a literal (i.e., not-yet-picked) pumpkin patch. The picture below doesn't quite capture it - we were driving - but it was the most whimsical thing I had seen in a long time.

Best of all, we got to take home some pumpkins.

Thanks, Chens! We had a wonderful time with you. :)