A Horrible Realization- No Picture Will Ever Be Included

Jin had his 15 month well-baby check up last week and picked up a little stomach bug while we were at the clinic. Annoying. Bring a healthy baby in to see the doc and he comes back sick. Anyway, after suffering through the whole weekend with diarrhea I called and got him an apt. on Monday. I made it at 10:15am and they scheduled it for 11:05am... I had to haul butt to get ready! So, I jump in the shower and after drenching my hair I begin to work the shampoo into a nice vigorous lather- I mean, I REALLY worked that crap in to get it done fast! While doing this I realized that during all the cranial activity my pregnant bottom was manifesting a curious flabbiness. It was disgusting and I was very upset about this experience. My tummy, however, was as stoic and solid as a rock. What the blank?! I had my monthly prenatal checkup on Wednesday and I've gained 6 pounds over the past month. That's a little scary, though I don't think it's going to be a monthly pattern (yikes!) but I knew in my heart that no more than 1lb of it went to my growing belly. The rest went below the waist. My pajama shorts that were all comfy and loose last month look like freaking biker shorts now. Come on. That's just unnecessary all around.
Editor's Note: Ravi found my original post to be a little too graphic for readers so I had to tone it down. Disclaimer: If you read my original post, I cannot be held responsible for nightmares or meals lost due to it's content.

Kryptonite

For those of you who are parents I've just gotta know- what is your Achilles as far as kids go? For me it is definitely the "I'm falling apart in desperation" face Jin makes when he is not happy. That face has been getting quite a bit of mileage the past few weeks and hopefully it is a stage because I can't help but come to the rescue when it makes an appearance. This was a pretty dramatic one, as you can see the shout out to Bubba Gump's lower lip. The reason? Well, Jin just woke up from his nap and Ravi gave him a bottle of baby lotion to play with- only Jin couldn't open the cap by himself. He got sooooo frustrated that he just fell to pieces. Of course, just waking up from a nap, still feeling sleepy and then getting handed the crappiest toy in the world to play with may have had something to do with it, but for simplicity's sake let's just say he was plain old upset. I think it took me a few tries before I was able to pop that stupid cap up myself so I could empathize with my little man. Dumb lid. Anyway, I wanted to give you guys the series shot so you could see the progression of emotion coming from Jinster. The tears started flowing in the final shot of the sequence because it was taking me too long to open the doggone lid. Okay, now that I've posted this, I see that the order was switched around. So, the first shot you see is actually the last picture. That's annoying.

Winter Time

More accurately, I know it's fall but now that I've been acclimated to these Texas seasons it feels like winter when the temp drops to the 60's. We've been getting a few cold fronts lately and the difference in weather is dramatic from morning to night sometimes. Like, the difference between 73 and 45 over the course of 7 hours. We decided to get Jin some warm winter gear so he could better bear the rough 40's and maybe even 30's we'll be feeling in the next few months. On any typical night we go on walks before it gets dark, so this is Jin all bundled up, ready to hit the open road in the jog stroller. No, we aren't jogging, or is it called yogging with a soft "j"? But that stroller is nicer than what I call the "mall stroller" for these evening walks. He's really good about his gloves, too! Pretty much all Ravi and I have to do is call the item a "big boy" item and Jin is up for it. That wasn't always the case, but it becomes more so the older he gets. So, Jin kept on his "big boy" gloves until I took them off a few minutes after we got home.

The Worst Day Of My Life

Ok, it wasn't the worst day of my life, but I did get VERY upset for a while. It started something like this...
It was a warm and sunny day. I felt good, Jin was napping, Ravi was at the hospital and would be home by 5. All in all, it was pleasant. I came into the office to look at my blog, check out perezhilton.com, the norm. Strolling past the bed towards the computer chair I saw something shimmering out of the corner of my eye. A $100 bill? A chest of gold doubloons? A unicorn? No, something much better. A Fun Size Snickers bar. She'd been there for about 3 days, maturing, ripening... I'd tried to ignore her cat calls and invitations, but I just couldn't take it anymore! So, I turned away from the chair and grabbed at my delicious little chocolate minx. ALAS!!! Twas a trap. She was empty and someone didn't throw away the wrapper after enjoying her chocolaty, caramely, nougaty, peanuty goodness. How thoughtless of me to trick myself like that. For 3 whole days I'd been giving side looks at the gift on the bed and finally when I couldn't control myself any longer I go for it only to be rebuffed! The sheer agony of it was so overwhelming that I had to try and stifle my urge for decadence with a craptastic Fun Size Butt Er Finger. It is not the same thing.

Our New Year's Pumpkin Patch

Ravi planted a ton of pumpkin seeds a few months ago in order to grow Jin his very own pumpkin patch in time for Halloween. Well, we just got our first orange pumpkin about 2 weeks ago and there are a ton of green ones in the patch, along with lots of flowers. Needless to say, we were a bit off with our timing, but Ravi's intentions were honorable! The first pumpkin was very small and I asked Ravi what he wanted me to do with it. Usually he would say something like, "can you make something gourmet out of it?" Seriously, Ravi asks me this question at least every other month about some random item we have. I said, "I don't think there is enough of it to do anything with, babe." But I knew if I didn't try the next question he would ask is, "well, will you pickle it?" UGH. So, I began to cut the skin off and we were left with like 2 tablespoons worth of edible flesh. Ravi seemed disappointed but I felt liberated. No roasting pumpkin seeds (there were about 5 seeds in the entire thing, and I recalled feeling slightly bent when the Halloween pumpkin seeds I roasted weren't completely eaten before they went stale), no roasting pumpkin flesh (the 2 Tbsp would have become 1 Tbsp), and no trying to concoct a gourmet entree (unless I made it SO gourmet, it would literally be one tiny mouthful of a flavored little morsel)... oooo, that sounds good now. Regardless, I was spared that evening but the now-prolific patch overtaking a corner of our yard teases me with it's little green pumpkins and bright yellow trumpety flowers. I know I'll have to do something soon, but what? I told Ravi we are going to celebrate New Year's by carving New Year pumpkins. He didn't think it was funny. I guess I better start collecting recipes now... Here is a pic of the first pumpkin mid-slaughter. I should have placed a quarter next to it so you could see the true size of it. And Jin in our patch looking cute as can be.

I was WAY Off With That One

I have a little time on my hands right now. Ravi just got off from a 29 and a half hour overnight call, so he's catching up on some zzzzz's and our little man is taking his nap too. It's very exhausting pooping your pants and eating random things from the floor. (No, no more flies- and I'm talking about Jin, not Ravi.) Since starting my blog I have become somewhat obsessed with it. Checking it all the time... have more people voted? any new comments? blah, blah, blah. However, after getting on it today I decided to click on the links to see my family's blogs and find out if they'd been updated. The first one, Beckstead Adventurers, was what I thought was my cousin Tiffany's blog. I clicked on it and was like, uh, what the heck is this stuff? Why do they have a picture of someone else's newborn and kids and parents and WHAT THE HECK?! Needless to say, that is not my cousin's blog and I will be removing it asap before the Beckstead Adventurers think some stalker fan of their site is posting the link on her blog. If you clicked on their link you'd see they look pretty outdoorsy in a Second Ammendment kind of way, so time is of the essence!
Update: I just scrolled down a little further in their blog and my initial impression was way off. Apparently they are from Vegas (small world) and are LDS (small world)... funny how family photos with EVERYONE wearing camo- on purpose- can immediately make you think of backwoods, Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Or maybe just me. Anywrongblog, I'll be removing the link and replacing it with the real, true, authentic Beckstead blog. No camo there, just flowers and happiness and love. Ahhhhhhh.

Jin Ate A Huge Fly

We had a nasty, rotting jack-o-lantern on our front porch next to the door with flies and gnats and all sorts of things buzzing about. I'd say its time had expired around a week after Halloween, so it was pretty ripe. Now, Ravi and I started noticing these really strange looking flies in the house, dead, and I figured that they were from the rotten pumpkin so yesterday I asked Ravi to remove its disgusting collapsed form from the porch to the compost heap in the back- which he did. But I guess there were still a couple generations worth of flies in the house because Jin brought one to Ravi this morning, and this evening as I was talking to my sister-in-law Pili, Jin walked up to Ravi and me on the couch and was chewing something. Ravi asked him what he was eating and Jin just smiled enough for us to see the HUGE weird fly in his mouth!!!!! AHHHHHHHHH! I got off the phone and Ravi frantically swiped his finger back and forth through Jin's mouth. Nothing. My heart was racing. Jin started to cry probably because his mom can't handle small issues like this with grace, and Ravi was like, "Great, I think he already ate it." Ugh. But as Ravi pulled his saliva encapsulated finger away in defeat with just a single fly leg or arm or whatever it was, stuck to it, we saw the fly pasted to Jin's face in the crease of the smile fold- just where a beauty mark would be!! Hooray! Ravi then went around the house to see if he could find any more of these things... magic number was 6. We never saw them flying in the house, we only ever found them dead/dying on the window sills or on the floor next to the sliding glass door. Creepy little critters. Here's a cute picture of Jin in March to make you all feel better.

Belly Update 20 Weeks

I am at 20 weeks right now, and it's a scary thought to think that I am less than half the size I will be in 20 more.  Crap.  I need to soothe myself with some more Fun Size Snickers.  I already make grunting noises when I bend to pick things up, I can't imagine what it'll be like when I am 9 months pregnant.  Ravi is very supportive of my plight, though.  He usually obtains the above Snickers and anything else I, er, my baby, desire.  If anyone puts their foot down it's me.  "No Sunli, you may not eat another Sonic Root Beer Float today." Or, "No, Sunli, we are not going to the grocery store just so you can have some eclairs."  I'm telling you, this baby is demanding.

eTrade Commercials

Have you guys seen the eTrade commercials with the baby sitting in front of the computer trading stocks and stuff?  The newest one where he's on his Blackberry and his girlfriend calls is so funny. "Hey, hey, hey girl.  Can I hitchu back?"  Man, I died laughing because Jin has always been interested in our remotes, computers, cell phones, etc.  He loves it when Ravi lets him hold and play with his phone.  We took a couple pictures of him on it.  What's even more funny is that he knows the correct way to hold the phone, too.  Our little man is growing up.  When he gets a hold of one of our phones Ravi or I always quote that commercial.  I quote it correctly, while Ravi, who has heard it on TV at least a half dozen times and has heard me at least a dozen times, quotes it incorrectly.  He says stuff like, "Hey girl, talk to you later." or "Hey girl, call me back."  It's really cute.  He'll get it right soon.  One pic is of Jin on Ravi's phone, the other where it looks like he has a massive cataract is on our fax machine phone.

Farewell 1997 Sentra

Well folks, we finally did it.  We traded in the 97' Sentra, a.k.a. The Intimidator, and bought a brand new car.  Ravi and I feel very spoiled since neither one of us has ever had a new vehicle before.  You might be asking, "How could they afford it?" answer: we can't.  But, it had to be done since our family car was a 95' Toyota Tercel, 2 door, no power anything (I think I have carpal tunnel from turning the steering wheel without the help of a vice grip), and no passenger side view mirror- just to name a few things lacking.  Apparently in 1995, the extra mirror was considered an "option".  Anyway, we got 0% financing for a 2008 Subaru Impreza, and let me just say this thing Imprezas the crap out of me.  It's awesome.  Thank you, slumping financial market, as you somehow did not affect me and Ravi from getting approved without a cosigner or any income to speak of.  Swizzle!  So, we bid adieu to my sweet Sentra, as she was good to us for many years, but she'd never pass the safety inspection without a complete overhaul this year.  We are lucky, my fair lady, to have received the $1,000 trade-in money we got for your non-working horn, interior liner drooping like a hammock, broken hubcap in the trunk, missing driver's side sun visor connector, 145,000 miles, etc... and even more lucky our car dealer promised us at least 1k sight-unseen for you.  Though we could see remorse shadow his face like an eclipse once he gazed upon your "seasoned" visage, he kept his word.  We will, no doubt, reflect upon the good times we had with you in the past while we sit in our cozy bucket seats (standard) and listen to the CD player (standard) glancing back at Jin using the auto-dimmer/compass rear view mirror (standard- not really, but thanks for the freebie dealer Joe!) and revel in the safety of power everything (standard) and all wheel drive performance (standard on every Subaru).  Don't hate.   

Halloweeners

Our little man was a steel ninja for Halloween this year, courtesy of Grandma Shelley.  Thanks!  The costume was really cute but pieces kept falling off or being dropped throughout the night.  Jin's plastic sword kind of worried me, so initially I had a cloth wrapped around the top half of it and duct taped over it so it would still look like the rest of the blade.  Ravi, however, was not down with the idea of his little guy carrying around an even more fake, fake sword so the tape/cloth ensemble was promptly removed before my dramatically narrowed eyes.  Men.  Anyfakesword, we had a great time and got to go to Trunk-or-Treat with Mamaw Shirley since she was down helping me out for a while.  Thanks Mom!  I am 18 weeks along in this picture.

For the Grandmas

Jin absolutely loves spending time with his extended family.  There is an over the top amount of cuddling, ooooooohing and aaaaaaaaahing over him and lots of "that's too cute!" being said.  Who wouldn't love that?!  Anyway, this is a shout out to Grandma Shirley "Mamaw" and Grandma Shelley.  We love you guys and appreciate all your support!

The pics are of Mamaw Shirley with Jin on Ravi's 31st birthday and of Grandma Shelley and Ravi's brother "Uncle" Ramesh, down for a visit.

Splash Park Days

Ravi and I took Jin to the Splash Park a couple of times when the weather was still warm here and we all really enjoyed it.  I usually sat off to the side with my huge green glass litre of sparkling water (because I still had morning sickness and that did the trick sometimes) and casually ignored the "what is she doing with a glass container near the water area" looks I am sure I was getting from the other parents while Ravi played with Jin in the spouts and fountains.  Since I was SO good at casually ignoring the looks, they may not have even happend since I'd bet money most of the parents were boozing it up while their kids had fun.  That's Texas for ya.  Anyway, Jin had a little admirer in the form of a 2 year old girl, cute as can be, who gave him a grape which he smooshed, dropped and only then found worthy enough to eat, and also ran up to him and gave him a surprise hug that knocked him off balance and he landed on his Lil' Swimmer padded bottom.  It was very sweet. 

Blogtarded

If you are reading this, there's an 85% chance you are one of the many who pressured me into starting this darn blog.  So, you're welcome.  However, the straw that broke the camel's back was my wonderful husband, Ravi, who would have continued to make the case for this thing if I hadn't atleast given it a whirl.  Lower your expectations, folks.  I may not ever get to post #2 and if that happens consider it a lovely token DNA trait of the McComas family.  Procrastination at its best.  That's how I'll always roll, but I'll try to be as dilligent at keeping up with this blog as possible... blah, blah, blah.