In and Out

One of Sophie's favorite things to do...

maybe she just likes rubbing the sides of her head...who knows, but it's dang cute!

Sophie just wanted to say "hi"

Well, more of a suck my finger, play with my hair kind of "hi". Sophie loves waving during her mealtimes and she finds it amusing when I wave back.

Christmas is almost here!

Besides the Christmas decorations and music, it hasn't really felt like Christmas for me this year. We normally travel out of state during the holidays, but with two young children and Trung having started a new job this year, we're just hanging out with my family in Houston for a few days. I can't believe Christmas is next week; hopefully I can get rid of this lingering cough and get more into the spirit by then.

Lydia had her Christmas party this afternoon at MDO. Sophie was a mini-celeb with all the other kids as they crowded around her and showed her their stuffed animals. Apparently, when they say "everyone loves a baby", it applies to people of all ages. :)

Lydia loves to eat (and has the tummy to prove it). She was the only one standing as she ate, probably to help the food go down faster. :P Lydia is always hanging out with the twins, Stella and Alexandria; they are so cute! (pictured in the foreground)

Everyone loves a juicebox, though Lydia had a crazy one that started spouting out by itself; hence, the wet spot.

Gift time! Lydia gave away a Santa Mr. Potato head and got a puzzle of a bear. It was fun watching all the kids open their gifts and showing them to everyone!

Picking up where I last left off, Lydia ended up having a fever on Thursday, so I picked her up early from MDO. Her head and body were hot, but after a couple days of rest and a few doses of Motrin, Lydia was back to her normal naughty self.

Our little blanket hoarder when she passed out on the living room sofa Friday morning

Attending Rachel's first birthday party on Saturday.

Sophie hung on to Trung most of the time,

while Lydia ran around making new friends.

We introduced Sophie to Cheerios this weekend, which kept her busy during dinner out with friends Friday night at Red Robin. Apparently they are having a promotion where kids eat free, though Lydia seemed more interested in our burgers than her chicken fingers. She also kept calling the red robin mascot "Big Bird"...that girl watches way too much Sesame Street. :P
Then tonight we went to Eddie V's for dinner and enjoyed their happy hour menu of 50 cent oysters and 1/2 off appetizers. I've been craving oysters since Scottsdale and wanted to eat something yummy after having lost my sense of taste for over a week and this meal of scallops, crab cakes, and chowder hit the spot! I'm hoping to make this oyster feast a monthly thing, but Trung thinks otherwise. The restaurant was quite nice and had only bar tables, so not the best place for kids...good thing we ate at 5!

Pearly whites

Sorry Santa, it looks like Sophie's already got her two front teeth this Christmas.

It's all coming back to me

After nine days, I can finally smell and taste! The girls welcomed back my senses with dirty diapers this morning...how sweet. :P Though I am feeling much better, it seems that Lydia might be coming down with something else. She got sad around lunchtime, but after her nap, she was cheery again. Then about an hour later, Lydia got really sad, randomly just bursting out into tears. Her head seemed quite warm, so she took another nap and didn't wake up until Trung got home from work. Apparently he had not been feeling well either and his co-worker went home sick. I'm hoping that we won't get another round of sickness.

Resting and watching Sesame Street before dinner

Accessorizing

Lydia always messes with the inventory for the eBay store, so I thought I'd let the girls have some fun for once; don't tell my customers! :P

Sophie and Lydia giving their wicked witches' looksFunny, funny

The earmuffs are one of my current best-sellers, so I had to take a quick picture of the girls in them before I sold out. They are SOOO cute, oh, and so are the girls. :)

2.5 out of 5

... that's how many senses I've been functioning on since Monday. I can't taste or smell, and my hearing is reduced; my ears pop regularly. I don't know if Sophie has similar symptoms, but her nose isn't running as much and she seems happier, though she still has trouble getting to sleep for the night and wakes up at least once in the early morning. Please pray for our health and for my Dad , who was involved in a car accident the day we left for Austin. A young college student in a SUV drove into my Dad's lane/car just a mile away from my parents' home. My Dad's airbag deployed and though an x-ray revealed no fractures, he has chest pains whenever he coughs.

Remembering sick-free and pain-free days...

I know this clip is quite dark, but I just love the little song and well, the love.

Better days

Though Lydia woke up sick last Monday morning, then Sophie showing signs of sickness on Thanksgiving Day, and me getting sick on Saturday (waking up at 3:45 AM on Black Friday to hit the Galleria probably didn't help), we did have a great time in Houston. We spent some quality time with my family and look forward to catching up with friends when we are back in town for Christmas since everyone was too sick to visit this time around.

During our trip, Sophie officially learned to crawl on all fours...

and blow raspberries. :P

Lydia had a blast hanging out with cousins Jason and "Jason" aka Jocelyn. It was so fun watching them copying each other while running across the living room.

Cousins Jocelyn (age 7), Jason, (almost age 5), Lydia, (age 2), Sophie (8 months) and Grandpa (age ?)

In all the world, only one

As mentioned in an earlier post, Tiff, Cora, and I took a much needed mini-vacation to Scottsdale, Arizona. Not only was work crazy for each one of us, but as mommies, some time away for the kids is always nice. :) We arrived in Phoenix and realized while driving to Scottsdale that my GPS system that I brought along wasn't charging. Fortunately, Cora's cell phone had GPS and we arrived to our hotel safely. After a quick break, we explored and got a snack at the Borgata shopping center next to the hotel where we enjoyed live music and the first signs of Christmas.
Then after a short wait, we had a scrumptious dinner of sushi and panko-crusted soft shelled crabs at Ra. Afterwards, we walked down to Sugar Bowl for probably the best ice cream that I've ever had. The girls and I shared a parfait of coffee and chocolate homemade ice cream covered with lots and lots of almonds!

The next morning we headed off to world-renown Camelback Inn for facials and Swedish massages.

We spent the day in true relaxed fashion, lounging by the pool, eating at the spa restaurant Sprouts, and chilling the day away...all in just a robe! We didn't even bust out the cameras until it was too late to get the sunset! We headed to Wildfish for a dinner of raw oysters, lobster bisque, and sauteed bay scallops; then took a walk to the Gelato Spot where we got some gelato that really did hit the spot!

Before heading to the airport, we took a hike up North Mountain and got some spectacular views of the city. Here we are looking pumped before our hike...

A quick break during our hike; I didn't notice that Cora was sticking out her tongue until I uploaded this picture...hee hee.The Rocks of the Valley of the SunYay, we made it back down though we didn't have time to make it to the summit.
After some famous grilled cheese sandwiches at Chloe's Corner and some shopping at Kierland Commons, we were off to the airport. What a wonderful (though too short) trip! Let's do this again soon, girls!