Battle of the Bow!

A light just clicked on for Miss Caris.  She now has got a mind and strong will of her own!  It started when she was first born, sitting in her PINK bouncer, when someone said, "How cute, is it a boy or a girl?" I held my tongue when what I wanted to say was "would you put your boy in a PINK bouncer?"  Anyway, I then emailed Wendi's sister, Ashley, about the cute bows that her daughter, Anna, was wearing.  Well, Wendi got wind of it and so she and her mom got Caris some adorable bows and headbands for Christmas.  So from 3 months on, just so there would be no confusion,  I was delighted that she was a Bowhead and she was fine with wearing them, up until now, that is!  I guess she has come to the conclusion that she doesn't have to if she doesn't want to!  Let's see who is going to win this battle...

The look of frustration

About to take it off!

Here at lunch with my teacher friend, Lorena...and off it goes...

Church Picnic

Our church recently had a picnic at Telge Park, just down the street from where we live.  So nice to attend a church that is just down the street from us, I'm talking about within 5 minutes! We are so blessed by the teaching of our pastor and the people that we have met there.  Harvest Bible Chapel is a fairly new church, just a few years old in fact.  Pastor Buddy Riddle came from one of our former churches, the MET.  He has a heart for teaching God's Word in truth and really cares about developing relationships within the local body.  Caris will also be dedicated at this church in late June so more to come in a future post. 

Don't think Caris was quite ready and hubby seems to somehow appear shorter than me.  He says I have good posture and he is a sloucher.  Well??? Sometimes you have to be happy with what you can get...

Corrine and her daughter, Amanda, always take great care of Caris in the church nursery.  

Kiddie Pool

It is summer time and that means pool time in Houston! I thought before we took  Caris to the big pool we would slowly immerse her in the kiddie pool at first.  She was a little hesitant like I thought.  She whined a little at first because it was all new to her.  I thought how weird since she loves her nightly baths.  But I came to the conclusion that the water was a little cold for her.  I found this cute kid's pool with the shaded palm trees...perfect for the sun!  I was a little concerned since the reviews I read said the palm trees didn't stay up so well.  But not everyone has the super duper air pump that daddy has.   

I do have to apologize for the picture quality in these pics though.  I know my husband is the photographer extraordinaire and got me a really good Canon Rebel but sometimes that thing is so big to haul around that it's just easier to pull out my Canon Powershot.  So the lighting is a little off and if I had more time I would do something about it but oh well, such is life...

My new jungle kiddie pool

She didn't want to touch the water at first

She was kind of whiny so I got in with her to try it out.

Playdate

We had fun at my friend Tiffany's place for a playdate with three other mommies and their little ones.  Audrey and Caris are about a month apart and it was so cute to see them together!  Audrey's mom, Taylor, is also Vietnamese and her Daddy is caucasian as well.  Sounds familiar!

Caris & Audrey

Couldn't they pass as siblings?

Caris & Jonathan eyeing each other again...

Tiffany overseeing the girls playing

Nga & Avery, Taylor & Audrey, Caris & I.  Jonathan was napping and Tiff was taking the pic :(

Birthday

May was obviously a busy month for us between Mother's Day and my birthday.  Husband did a great job in not combining the two events.  I always feel bad for people whose birthday is around Christmas time or any other holidays.  I love all celebrations but one should not be overshadowed by the other.  So my birthday was low key celebrating with family, just the way I like it!

At La Hacienda with the fam...Margaritaville!

Pecan Pie and Italian Cream Cake...Double Yum!

Pink roses and while stargazer lilies from hubby, just beautiful...they lasted for a whole week too!

Hubby put together is album of his fave pics of Caris and I for my present.

No smile for Mommy :(

All smiles for Daddy:)

With Grandma

With Grandpa

With Wilma

First Mother's Day

Just for fun I thought I would post a pic of my Mom and myself.  I'm not sure of my age then but I do see a lot of resemblance in Caris.  Thank you Mom for all the sacrifices you've made for me over the years.  You are loved!

This was officially my first Mother's Day and my sweet husband made sure that it was a special one!  Just to brag on the hubby, the man got me roses and a spa gift card, baked-yes baked me a cake, made me an omelet for breakfast, took me out for lunch and went to see a chick flick all for Mother's Day weekend!  On top of it all, my birthday happens to be next weekend.  Could I have not planned this any better?!? I told him he is good for the rest of the year!!!

I say "officially" this was my first M-Day since I was pregnant with Caris for 6 months this time last year.  Oh how time has indeed flown by...I was about to break out the tissue box when I was going through her newborn pics from the hospital.  Most of my favorite ones have been already been blogged but I saw this one below and it just brought black a flood of memories of seeing her for the first time.  I know every mom thinks so but I really did thought she had a face of an angel...I have never shared this with anyone, not even with hubby, but I thought for a second they were going to come and tell me they gave us the wrong baby!  Was she really ours???  At each stage of pregnancy, I would always tried to imagined what she would look like and couldn't come up with anything.  She is just a perfect mix of her daddy and I.  I know that she is His and He has entrusted her to us for a short while but what a privilege and an honor to raise her in the admonition of the Lord!  So on Mother's Day, my greatest gift was when Caris made me a Mom...I will always be grateful to God for this perfect blessing from above!  I love you Caris! I've attached a poem that I got from a couple of Mommy friends in an email that says it all for me:

Before I was a Mom,  
I never tripped over toys 
or forgot words to a lullaby. 
I didn't worry whether or not 
my plants were poisonous. 
I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom, 
I had never been puked on. 
Pooped on. 
Chewed on. 
Peed on. 
I had complete control of my mind 
and my thoughts.  
I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom, 
I never held down a screaming child 
so doctors could do tests. 
Or give shots. 
I never looked into teary eyes and cried. 
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.  
I never sat up late hours at night 
watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom, 
I never held a sleeping baby just because 
I didn't want to put her down.  
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces 
when I couldn't stop the hurt. 
I never knew that something so small 
could affect my life so much.  
I never knew that I could love someone so much. 
I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom, 
I didn't know the feeling of 
having my heart outside my body..  
I didn't know how special it could feel 
to feed a hungry baby. 
I didn't know that bond 
between a mother and her child. 
I didn't know that something so small 
could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom, 
I had never gotten up in the middle of the night 
every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay. 
I had never known the warmth, 
the joy, 
the love, 
the heartache,  
the wonderment 
or the satisfaction of being a Mom. 
I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much, 
before I was a Mom ...

 

Caris at 2 days...she looked just like her 3D Ultrasound

Hubby got me these lovely roses and baked me the most chocolaty cake.

Baby Girl was exactly 9 months on M-Day!

Care Bear is still gummy with her smile;)

With the two grandmas

Caris and Ba Ngoai (grandma in Vietnamese)

With Patrick's Grandmother Jessie 

With our two Moms, Patrick's Grandmother, and his Aunt Sharon at Olive Garden

What's in a name?

This weekend I went to a baby shower for a friend, Angyla, from our former church.  Thanks to Wendi, who introduced me to Mod Podge, I decided to make some wall name plagues for Baby Sara.  I was so relieved when I found out the baby's name was four letter Sara and not E-l-i-z-a-b-e-t-h(although a good name) or something! So I've been thinking about names...I've always had a fascination for names and their origin.  When it comes to naming your child, you have to know that this is what he or she will be called for the rest of their entire life!  When we were looking for names for Caris, oh my word, it took me forever to decide on a name!  Then there's always the back and forth between the hubby whether he liked or not.  Even though he said it was up to me and I originally chose Grace, he said it had been overused, and I had to agree with that.  So when Angyla's mom, Paula, told me that Charis meant "grace"in biblical Greek then well I knew that was it!  But I digress, my fascination for names is due to the fact that I really don't think people know the meanings of names and just pick names because they think it sounds good.  C'mon, would you think of naming your child a name that meant "helmet head"? Well, a popular name right now means just that! Just a thought for future parents...Because I chose a different name for our daughter, I can say this, that kids nowadays have such unique names as opposed to, say my generation.  If you have friends your age with your same name, you know it was probably a popular name that year.  So I thought I would look up the top five popular names for 2009:

  

Boys:

 1. Aiden/Aidan/Aden/Adan

2. Ethan

3. Noah

4. Kaden/Caden/Cayden/Kayden

5. Caleb/Kaleb

 

Girls:

1. Ava

2. Isabella

3. Madeline/Madelyn

4. Emma

5. Abigail 

And yes, I must know all the little boys with all the "Kaden" spelling combinations!  But I think Sara(princess) Jolie(pretty) is a good and solid name.  It means pretty princess, how wonderful is that!  Proverbs 22:1 "A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches."