Liana Chen ( lee-ah-na)

Jonathan's story of the delivery :

So to keep everybody in the loop. She was born around 9:19 AM this morning. She was 7 lbs 4 ounces. and 19 inches tall. I will post up pictures later today. 

Chelsea was feeling contractions around 10:00 PM last night and then we went into the hospital around 1:00 AM.We were lucky that we could get the attention really quickly as we are one of the only deliveries this morning. When we were admitted we were already 5 CM dilated. Chelsea progressed pretty quickly and then slowed down. They had to give her some pitocin in order to get her contractions and other stuff going more consistently and at the same level. The doctor came and did a regular checkup on her thinking that she wasn't close. After Chelsea described her pushing feelings and checking that she was dilated to 10 CM they started the delivery processes. Pushing lasted for about 20 to 30 minutes, maybe quicker. It was noticeably faster than Kiera's delivery. 

The baby was delivered very smoothly and peacefully. She did not scream or cry very much and she was a happy baby from the get go. Hopefully that stays like that through her whole life. We will send out more information later and maybe any details I left out. We are very excited for all of you guys to see her. When Kiera first saw her, she was kind of scared and didn't know how to react. She just stared and touched her hands slightly. She was also very happy that Liana gave her a small gift. We'll give you more updates as time goes. if you have any questions please ask away just incase we forget something. 

p.s.- Thanks Reuben for watching Kiera and taking Casey to the airport.

Update from Chelsea : 

We are doing well and are loving sleepy new born Liana. She is so easy so far! Very easy going and doesn't mind not being held all the time and falls asleep on her own and does not have awake time at night! But it's only first week! So who knows I am sure it will change soon. I just feel so blessed of the gift we have been given. Having a second child has made me realize that you just increase your capacity to love. I love my hubby even more after watching him step up and take care of Kiera. I love Kiera even more after watching her love Liana and giving me time with her. She really seems so much older now! I now also have a new love for this brand new angel. Liana is so sweet and I just stay up at night sometimes just to watch her. Having a new born at Christmas gives this whole season a new meaning. Really the best Christmas gift ever. I also feel so humbled being on the receiving end of so much support and love. From my family from afar and close by. From friends all over. 

Love you guys! 

Oh the little joys in life

We celebrated Jonathan’s bday last week and had so much fun. He turned 28! We are getting old ;) . On the actual day I made him a card that he could open a section every couple of hours to receive a little surprise and a note :D. I enjoyed writing it. There is something about writing your feelings about your husband down that is different than just telling him in person. I am again reminded to what a wonderful man I married. We celebrated by going out to eat with his family at one of our favorite restaurants. Lucilles southern bbq. It was yummy! The real big outing was the next day. Since Jonathan’s family has lots of bdays in Oct. We all celebrated by going to the magic castle. It’s a neat place up in Hollywood. Reminded me a lot of hogwarts but much smaller of course. A place where magicians can learn how to perform magic! You can only go to this place if a member of the magic castle invites you. We had dinner followed by a tour around the castle. Where magicians perform magic shows at different parts of the castle. The magic was really mind blowing. Us human beings are just so talented ;).

Besides this neat event we have had our normal wonderful routine and Kiera is just getting so big. For the first time ever in her life she said goodbye to me and did not cry when her babysitter came! She has been so much better at saying bye. We are proud of her being more independent but will miss her clinginess too I’m sure. She has really been picking up more and more chinese words. Which is neat to see. She is also getting good at saying her please and thank yous without me prompting her. She is having a hard time with thinking everything is hers though. Sharing is not as easy as before ;) but she’ll just have to learn. Another exciting thing is that I have discovered the container store and will not divulge how much I have spent. BUT my car looks so much better with these amazing hooks for my bag and a trash bag. Our kitchen is starting to become more organized too and so is my bathroom counter! Oh the little joys in life :D.

     Another huge plus this weekend is that we had my dad over! He transited in L.A so we were able to see him for a little bit. Kiera just loved grandpa and grandpa was nice to play with her even after a very very long flight!

Sneek peak to our new home!

When did she get so big?

Just made this matching onesie and a burp cloth! I'm tired :D

 

http://lemontreecreations.blogspot.com/2011/09/men-shirt-re-do-1-vest-applique.html# I learned how to do this from this link :D

Kiera loved this penguin statue today. I loved her outfit :D

 

 

20 Months

I know what I like. I like mushrooms, tofu, noodles and lots and lots of meat. I am also obsessed with fruit. Sometimes I get my very special treat which is go gurt.  I ask for it by sticking my tougue out. I have started to enjoy swimming alot! I love my new playset and ask to go outside all the time. I love it when daddy pushes me on the swing and puts me to bed. I have gone potty in the toliet a couple of times for fun. I say lots of stuff but most of it I am the only one who understands. I love my friends and get so excited to see my cousins. I don't like nursery or when Mom leaves me with someone else.I am a very busy girl and have play dates everyday where I learn to dance and sing songs!

HELP! rugs....

So the top picture is my formal living room thus far. I really want to add a color possibly yellow since my other room is also this same blue color. ( I know I love it a little too much). How do I go about adding the color? If I added yellow pillows what rug should I get? I CLEARLY need HELP!

Shopping decisions....

WOOD or Plastic Kitchen set??
What would you get your little girls?
The plastic one has cool electronic features while the wood ones are just so pretty!

Manhattan how we love thee

It's been a month since we have moved ! We are starting to feel more settled and are really feeling like this was a great move for our family. We love everything about our new house and everyday it seems I like something more about this house. It has been a learning experience to pick furniture and slowly add things to our house to make it our own. I have loved shopping on Overstock.com. and online in general. Makes things so much easier and I can see why it's addicting! Getting the real thing in the mail is exciting! We got Kiera a play set and have tried to set time aside to put it together but we have been soo slow!
We also have liked getting to know this area although I still get lost all the time. My sense of direction is terrible!
Getting to know people all over again takes a while and makes me miss our old ward but I have been so grateful to how people are so nice to us in this new ward and they have sooo many talented moms who are willing to share their talents. We have free dance class, music class, soccer camp, adventure days and beach days every week! Pretty amazing! Kiera was quite the little dancer today and can really follow all the moves pretty well! I loved watching her learn and get excited. We have also been busy with Mommy and Me yoga. The picture is of her in the class. It's been definitely an interesting experience.  Summer is just so fun! We are heading to spend time with my side of the family for two weeks and we get to go on a cruise too! The only downside is that daddy has to stay and work. We will really miss him on this trip but are glad that he is willing to let us get away :D.

Guess What!

 

Guess What?

 

Torrance has been good

Two more nights in our Torrance home. Having all those mixed emotions. This is the house where Kiera was brought home to. Where she tripled the size she once was. This was our first non-school adventure together as husband and wife. Our first family ward together. I think we will miss the ward the most. It takes so long to get to know people so it is sad to not see them on every Sunday again.  We met so many great people. People who I admire and who made us feel so at home. At least we aren't moving very far away. I think I will also miss the walks/ bike rides around this torrance home. We could reach quite a few locations by foot. The gym/ mall/ farmers market/ Grocery store and the Korean store. Yet I am excited. It will be nice to be in a home where all the furniture is ours. Chosen by us. It will be nice to really organize and have space to create and play. I think kiera and I will diff love the backyard feature. I am also really excited about our new pantry. And also being able to talk/ listen to music in our office so we don't wake up our light sleeper. 

I'll keep you posted on our new ward and maybe even post some pics of our new home! 

Almost a year and a half. This age is so fun.There are so many things that she does that just cracks me up. Her little personality is starting to come through. Some of the favorite things I love that she does is ...that she will say please for other kids to give her the toy she wants. She pats my back when I cough. She gives me random hugs. I make all her owies go away. She blows kisses to strangers . She shrugs her shoulder. She loves to get attention from strangers. I love it when she plays peek a boos.  I love watching her get super duper excited at fish or when she plays with other kids. I love it when she tries to jump. She is starting to become a really good dancer. It's cute when she wakes up at night and she stands in her crib with her head leaning on the side of the crib. I love that she loves food. I love it when she talks. She loves to go brush her teeth. I love watching her really take care of her doll. I think it's hilarious when she calls me Chelsea and daddy honey. I love seeing those lips just pout. She says xie xie for thank you in Chinese all day long when I give her things. And pretends to pray for only 5 sec and sometimes will even mutter something when she folds her arms and puts her head down. She is my best buddy ( after daddy of course :P). Never knew I could become best buddies with someone so little :D.

I love these two!

 

Join me!

Does anyone want to be part of a quilt chain letter? Minimal effort and you receive free fabric! You pass forward the letter ( I'll send to you) and 2 squares of fabric ( you buy) to 4 friends and you eventually receive 72 squares from people all over the country! IF so! The first four to give me your address gets it :D

My first Diaper Cake !

 

Kiera's 15 Month Update!

Kiera has been changing a lot it seems to me. She is starting to practically run and is getting good at running away from Mommy especially when I am trying to put her cloths on. She is starting to pick up more words too. Her favorite/ my favorite word she says now is please. Really cute.

Other words she says

In Chinese:
Shoes
Socks
Strawberries
Dog
Horse
Milk

In English:
More
Please
Thank you/ Xie Xie ( She goes back and forth)
Bye bye
Hello
Hi
Baby
boo

She is also understanding more and can put stuff in the trash for me and other simple commands. Her favorite thing to do right now is opening and closing containers. Dumping everything out of containers and mimicking any 3 year old around! She also loves loves stairs and poor Kiera got her first big nose scatch! Everyone always asks what happened cause it looks so painful.
I have been trying to do more creative play at home now that she is getting older and has better fine motor skills. Her favorite at home activity that I tried with her is playing with something I made from flour it's called cloud dough. We have also been practicing with eating with a fork and spoon. She is really good at it now and can finish two bowls of rice type food mixture with a spoon! We have also been teaching her to pray and she does a good job imitating folding her arms and putting her head down. My favorite thing is that she makes kissing noises after we pray. We never taught her that but I think she must have noticed Jonathan and I kiss after we pray. So funny what they pick up. She is so fun!

Found this on my comp today!

CHELSEA “mY LoVe!!11!!”


I love you!!11!!11!1! 1!!! From your husband in crime….


Jonathan CHEN!!!!!!!!! (extra exclamation marks for emphasis!!!!)


Made my day!

hmm I like

" But there is a third kind of marriage. The third kind of marriage is not perfect, not even close. But a decision has been made, and two people have decided to love each other to the limit, and to sacrifice the most important thing of all—themselves. In these marriages, losing becomes a way of life, a competition to see who can listen to, care for, serve, forgive, and accept the other the most. The marriage becomes a competition to see who can change in ways that are most healing to the other, to see who can give of themselves in ways that most increase the dignity and strength of the other. These marriages form people who can be small and humble and merciful and loving and peaceful.

And they are revolutionary, in the purest sense of the word..."

read this somewhere and liked it

" The last paragraph really struck me: Change your language. Instead of saying "I don't have time" try saying "it's not a priority," and see how that feels. Often, that's a perfectly adequate explanation. I have time to iron my sheets, I just don't want to. But other things are harder. Try it: "I'm not going to edit your résumé, sweetie, because it's not a priority." "I don't go to the doctor because my health is not a priority." If these phrases don't sit well, that's the point. Changing our language reminds us that time is a choice. If we don't like how we're spending an hour, we can choose differently. "

Love this post! Can apply to many things

http://katiewetherbee.wordpress.com/2012/02/06/joy-or-just-wait/

Girls Weekend!

 

SSo grateful for a loving hubby that watched Kiera for me this week for my first get away! I went to Sanfran/ Sacramento to celebrate Ryanne and Nate's wedding with Laura and Linda! I can't believe that I was so lucky to meet them as scared shy young roommates at Helamen Halls. So fun to see how everyone has progressed in life. We have all been pretty lucky so far! Yay to a fun fun weekend!

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Creative play day one

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13/ almost 14 months

Kiera is starting to say some words!

She can say

gou gou ( dog )
baby
bye bye
mama
baba
uh oh
more

She is also a pretty good signer
Besides that she is starting to be more girly.
She loves bags and tries to wear things. She also loves her baby doll and holds it and rocks her, puts her to bed, feeds her.

What a cutie!

Christmas and New years!