Pre-Halloween Fun

Sarah invited the girls and I to Dell's Halloween party where there was plenty to do. We ate some chocolate dipped snacks from the chocolate fountain and cupcakes, and then waited in line for about an hour for animal balloons. We also got to see some very interesting costumes, like Elton John and Octomom.

ARRRR! Pirates Amy and Sarah

The kids got bored of waiting in line, so they decide to pluck the spiders off of this decorative garland.

Notice all the "itsy bitsy" spiders on the ground

All that time we waited in line and Sophie was happy with just a regular 'ole balloon.

Lydia admiring her balloon pig bracelet.

Craziness at Carino's

We joined Henry, Susanna, and Ethan at Johnny Carino's for dinner. The kids ate quickly and were ready play, so Susanna and I went to the entrance and let the kids run around for a bit.

Chilling in the waiting area

Sophie had dessert on the way home

Livestrong

Trung, Sing, Tobias, Allen, and Jason had been training for the 5K Livestrong Challenge for several weeks. They all finished the race in record time (considering the course was supposedly shorter than expected) and certainly "lived" up to the challenge. After breakfast at Mr. Natural and relaxing a couple of hours, the men met up again for yet another challenge...a Magic Tournament. Tobias took home bragging rights after winning the tournament, but everyone went home happily stuffed with baby back ribs, sausages, and Sing's birthday cakes.

After the race...Jason got lost in the crowd

The girls and I couldn't make it out of the house in time to see Daddy finish the race, but Lydia and Sophie were ready with hugs, kisses, and Livestrong colors when he got home.

Sing and the yummy Berry Chantilly cake for his surprise 30th birthday party

The girls helping Uncle Sing open his present

Trung creatively "wrapped" Sing's gift in his lounge pants

Happy 30th birthday, Sing!

And Ethan makes three!

Susanna and Henry went out to dinner to celebrate their fourth wedding anniversary, so we helped watch Ethan for the night. Trung was gone for an hour training for the Livestrong Challenge, so it was just me dealing with the three kids during dinner. I mainly just needed to encourage the kids to keep eating, but overall, they did a great job and got to enjoy hand-picked persimmon for dessert. Ethan had fun playing with the water as Lydia took her bath and had a wet shirt to show for it. It's nice to have a third kid around once in awhile to remind us how it be would be and why we really need to think long and hard about having another child. :)

Playing with the dollhouse. Check out our ever-messy bookshelf in the background; it really is a magnet for kids.


Our own personal internet cafe. Lydia gets to watch pbskids.org every night after her bath and before her bedtime.

Persimmon picking weekend

We went to Houston over the weekend to see Mike, who was in town for a wedding. Saturday, we had hot pot with the entire family and then checked out a shopping center at The Woodlands. My parents had a family meeting at their house that evening, so after dinner, we went to Jimmy's house to put the kids to sleep. Sunday morning we went to good ole Tallowood and had lunch with the Chinese mission. As the kids napped in the car afterwards, we drove to Tomball to pick some persimmon. My mom and I left early so that I could join Mike at his friend's wedding reception at Peli Peli. I got to meet all of Mike's closest friends and had a delicious dinner of seabass and ribeye steak. Monday morning, Cora and I went shopping, and continued after meeting up all the adults (minus Dad) at The Taste of Texas. We left for Austin around five and had to make a pit stop in Bastrop since the kids were getting restless. Once again, a fun-filled weekend in H-town! :)

Lydia enjoys being lotioned down after her bath

Sophie, Lydia, Jocelyn, Charity (Cora's niece), and Jason

The Ly's and the persimmon trees

Sophie trying to pick a persimmon

Lydia trying to grab a fruit (to no avail)


Sophie getting a lift from Daddy


Chilling at the pumpkin patch as I wait in line to pay for the persimmon

Innocence is bliss :)

Brown bag special

Four years

Trung and I celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary at Fleming's. So much has happened these last few years that it seems like we've been married for much longer. I can't wait to see what more is to come! I love you, Trung!

The Last One

I took Sophie to her final specialty doctor's appointment, the GI Specialist, to see if she has any food absorption issues. Once again, the doctor looked at Sophie and said that she was probably just petite, but that if her weight goes down or plateaus again after four months, than an ultrasound would be taken to make sure her kidneys were alright. No tests were taken and a dietitian gave me some handouts of foods with high calories. I am hoping that Sophie has gained enough weight in the next couple of months so that we won't have to go back because I honestly feel that we will hear the same thing over and over again.

Also, the pediatrician called me back after I informed the nurse that we were not taking Lydia to get her blood drawn to test for beta thalassemia minor since we pretty much assumed that she does have it. Apparently, the doc wants to make sure that the blood disorder is indeed the reason for the anemia because if it is not, then Lydia will to start taking some iron supplement. Drawing blood from a three year old? I'm going to need the power of Daddy on this one.

Oktoberfest

Though the weather was a bit dreary, we still decided to go to Oktoberfest in Fredericksburg. We arrived right at lunchtime, so we headed straight to the food stands. After picking up a German Platter of sausages, sauerkraut, and potatoes, we found a relatively dry spot and chowed down. The girls LOVED the sausages and even ate more than Trung and I put together, so I had to grab more food. After walking around a bit, we explored Main Street and ended up in a delightful little cafe/bakery where we had the best dessert...chocolate chip, pecans, coconut, and condensed milk all atop a graham cracker crust, or something like it. :P My friend warned me that Oktoberfest would be just a bunch of old people hanging around and she was right, but we still had a good time.

Our "dry" spot where we ate and listened to good music

Ask and ye shall receive...Mommy with more food

Sophie was the only one who would eat the roasted corn, I don't know what they did to it, but it was tasteless and soggy.

"Feed me"

Lydia always wants the "big" pieces of food, so she loved these long aka "big" Texas Tators

Family picture

Sophie and Trung with Sophie standing by

In case you've never seen a lady with hands coming out of her neck

Apparently I was a bit too amused by these pictures

Trung dancing with his little ladies

Sophie got mad at me if I even laid a hand on the stroller. Good thing people were smart enough to move out of her way.


A rare sight nowadays

Double appointments

I had scheduled Lydia's 3 year old and Sophie's 18 month old appointments together a few months back and was glad that Trung had the day off to help out. Both kids are perfectly healthy with Lydia at 33 pounds and Sophie at 19 pounds. Sophie got her vaccinations and both kids received flu shots; Lydia also got some minor blood work done in which we discovered she might have beta thalassemia minor as well. The doctor wanted some additional blood work done, but after everything we went through with Sophie, we've decided to wait until she really needs blood work to find out. After all, having the blood disorder won't affect her for many many years.

Lydia in her mini horse robe.

After the appointments, Trung took the girls to see the cows while I shopped at Gymboree and Janie and Jack, two very dangerous places.

Lil sis

Trung's artistic side

The girls walking to the car after a yummy lunch at Tomo.

After naptime, we enjoyed the awesome weather playing outside and picking up all the acorns.

Sophie sticking her head out of the car window, good thing it's not moving. :P