fumofu

A Google search of soon-to-be our house’s sellers generated plenty information. Even though it’s public data, it’s scary how easily accessible it is nowadays. I saw photos of the house the sellers upgraded to. Nice purchase - fab kitchen! We Googled our names together and didn’t get too much information, for now at least.

We celebrated Father’s Day early and took Albert’s parents to New Krung Thai for dinner. They seem to like it. Albert’s dad doesn’t often venture out of Chinese cuisine and isn’t a fan of sweet/sour or spicy. But he liked the food we ordered – yay for successful dinner.

Recent events (like our loan application) have made me realize how lucky I am to have found my baby’s daddy. These past 10-11 years have gone by so quickly (OMG, our relationship is a tween!). There weren’t that many kinks to sort out to begin with; and we’ve definitely molded each other even more over the decade. The burp in our relationship definitely did us some good. I know we’ve argued but I don’t really remember what the altercations were about (I have a better memory of the apologies, which were mostly mutual). We think and feel alike so that we operate like a well-oiled machine. But there still are twinkles of individuality (and stubbornness) left in each of us to surprise the other more often than not. We live in our own little anti-social world, and I look forward to our +1, who will eventually pop our bubble. Someday (not now…) we’ll have to prepare this little creature to assimilate into society. We’ll have to *gasp* talk to other parents!

Happy Daddy-to-be Day Chu ‘Mega.

I’m starting to get nervous. 33 weeks: 4 more til Baby’s full term, 7 more til expected delivery date (EDD). I’m watching closely at the slightest signs of labor. Reading about early deliveries in baby forums makes me feel unsettled. It’s like driving by a car accident. You just can’t help yourself but look. (Actually that’s a bad example; I usually don’t look when I’m driving, just to prove that I can resist.) Dr Kent says I’m measuring smaller than age of fetus by EDD. Going in for an ultrasound Monday. I hope he’s doing OK inside. At least he’s very active – I’ll never get bored watching and feeling him move and hiccup. :)

We signed the loan documents at the title company yesterday! Expected to finalize everything and get keys next Tuesday!! The ideal situation is to get the house ready for move-in before Baby arrives. Realistically…that probably won’t happen. We definitely want the house painted (uneven, two-tone paint lines bug). The plan is to drag Albie to the paint store this weekend to get some ideas – definitely spa blue in the master bedroom. :)

Last night’s CPR class marked the end of baby classes. Now I know what to do if a pregnant lady chokes (no Heimlich maneuvers!). Sad thing is if I’m alone in the house, choking and verbally-impaired, I won’t be located via cell phone if I dial 911. Santa Clara county isn’t equipped yet to locate callers via cell phone GPS. It’s possible to locate to the nearest tower, but that doesn’t really help, does it now. Maybe we should get a land line after all.

Too many things going on! I’m grateful for my silly husband, impossibly cute nephews, and a relatively healthy family.

That is how I feel about this loan process. I’ve been in contact with people involved in our home loan application. I didn’t understand why Albert was so frustrated. Well after dealing with these people I understand. A conversation should be a dialogue between two people. One person says something, the other should listen, process, and respond accordingly. How hard is that? I don’t like when people give me responses that do not answer my questions. *sigh* These people tire me out, more than my baby.

We just finished watching “Where the Wild Things Are.” I’ve never read the book (don’t brick me). But the movie is scary. What have we gotten ourselves into?! That’s gonna be us in a few years. Kids will throw tantrums, no matter how good a parent one is.

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves here. One step at a time. Tomorrow is the big 8-hour childbirth preparation class. Wish us luck.

…you start to look for the best diaper deal out there.

I think I’ve got it. Buy two jumbo packs of Huggies with $3-off coupon for each pack and get a $5 gift card from Target. The $11 discount will bring it down to $0.163 per diaper, or $0.177 per diaper after CA tax.

I think I will hold off on that $10-off first-time purchase discount at diapers.com for later.

Pregnancy status:

Week 34 of 40. Weight gain: 21 pounds. Waistline: 6″ gained since I started measuring at Week 19.

Apparently I’m 11 lbs heavier and 10″ wider at the waist than my brother-in-law, who’s 9″ taller than I am. Yippee.

3rd trimester hit me blindsided. Just over a couple of days, I started waking up on my back feeling like a rock is on my belly. I finally mastered falling asleep on my left side, only to wake up with a numb left arm. So I turn to my right side and would have to repeat the process in a couple of hours. Toilet trips have also increased. To the point where we go through a couple rolls of TP a week. I’ve had to cut myself back from 3 to 2 squares. If we go out or I know I won’t readily have access to a bathroom, I go potty even if I don’t feel the urge.

I can tell when Baby has a growth spurt by how uncomfortable I feel when he moves inside me. This week has been the hardest. I’m guiltily hoping he gets big enough soon so that his movements will be more limited inside me.

Albert’s dad flew in from Ohio last night. While I’m happy that his parents are here to welcome their new grandson, I am definitely suffering from cabin fever since I am car-less and I don’t feel comfortable using theirs (especially with the conspicuousness of the Ohio license plate). I’ve also come to the conclusion that American cars are not made for short Asian women. What’s the point of having a rearview mirror if I can’t see anything from it? The back of the car has become one big blind spot. At least it’s been uber hot this past week, so I wouldn’t have wanted to get out much anyways. But I miss shopping, walking around, and not feeling obligated to talk to anyone.

Anyways. Just 5 weeks til Baby is considered full term. I still have a lot of stuff to buy – and I’ve already spent a lot of money!! We bought the crib from IKEA the other day, in case Baby comes early and we’ll have to set up shop at our current place. I just want our loan approved and escrow closed so we can bring Baby to his new home.

We’ve been going to a lot of ultimate frisbee games lately. Baby got to see Daddy run and throw a plastic disc around while getting scorched by the sun. We do a lot more laundry these days. I’m going to miss these HE machines. :-/

One of my favorite pastimes on Sundays is reading the paper – that is, the circulars that are bundled by the comic pages.

• Back in elementary/middle school, I would only care for the comics and sometimes the ToysRUs circular.
• In high school, I clipped coupons, browsed the beauty store circulars, still read the comics.
• In college and grad school, I added Target and drugstore circulars to the list.
• Last year I discovered the Michael’s circular (its 40%-off one-item coupon is a gift that keeps on giving) when I was wedding planning.
• Now that we’re expecting, I found the 20%-off one-item coupon at BabiesRUs.
• Finally, with the gardening and house hunting, I’ve also added Home Depot, OSH, and other home improvement & appliances circulars to the long reading list.

Funny how we obsess over different things as Albert and I go through the phases of life (I never imagined I would ever get giddy flipping through a Home Depot ad). Same goes for TV shows I/we watch:

• “MMC” & cartoons in elementary/middle schools
• “Dawson’s Creek” while on the phone with Hana (after we checked our math homework) in high school
• “Gilmore Girls” and anime on Cartoon Network in college
• “The OC,”  ”House MD,” “Project Runway,” and “Battlestar Galactica” in grad school, then switched over to Japanese dramas and variety shows
• Our go-to channels these days: HGTV, DIY, Food, Travel, sometimes Discovery, Bravo, History, and the Japanese goodness

Plus the fact we got married, pregnant, and are in the market for a house (and car) all within 8 months. Then again we were together for 10 years before the craziness began. Not your typical timeline of life’s events.

We saw the OB today. Dr. Kent is such a nice doctor. We really like him – will probably keep him as Baby’s pediatrician, but I asked for a reference closer to Mountain View, just in case. The little guy is growing steadily, with a good, strong heartbeat. Dr. Kent pointed his foot out to me – so cool that he can decipher which body part is jutting out of my tummy! We’ll start going in every 2 weeks now. 10 more weeks to go…time flies way too fast.

Which will come first – the house or the baby? With the slow loan application process, it’s possible Baby will win the race – a big GRR.

You asked for pasta photo. Here it is! I arranged the noodles all pretty just for you. How many points do I get for presentation?

It’s Michael Chiraello’s recipe for rich chicken “brodo.” I’ve made it a couple times since watching the episode on Food Network back when I was still in Riverside (coz being 45 minutes away from “everything” just wasn’t good enough). The recipe gets better and better as the years pass due to repetition and equipment upgrades. :p

Except this time I upped the ante yet another notch and made my own pasta. Still have problems with ingredient proportioning. Had to rework the dough after letting it sit, and thought I completely messed up with the glutton chemistry that I don’t quite understand. But the noodles cooked wonderfully. I can’t really describe the texture – one that can never be enjoyed from store-bought pasta. The spaghetti is soft, yet springy. It’s got a bite, but you won’t hurt your jaw chewing on it – I think this is what true al dente really is. You’ll have to educate me on this one, Ms. Chef-in-training.

I also sauteed spinach & oyster mushroom (EVOO, S&P, red pepper flakes) using some of the brodo. The entire dinner was a keeper. Both husband and mother-in-law got seconds. I’ll be packing the leftovers for Patricia & Steve. I have full confidence my chicken brodo will hold its place to two Cantonese grandmothers’ homemade soups.

Not sure how big of an impact this is, but I’ve been using coarse light pink Himalayan salt from this company and grinding it “fresh”. It’s a pain to turn that mill (plus the pepper mill) when I cook. Does stale ground salt exist? One of these days I’ll pre-grind the salt and put it in one of those cute little containers. It also acts double duty as bath salt (tested pre-pregnancy, good stuff). My 5-pound bag will last a good while.

This recipe also works if you let it sit overnight in the Dutch oven. The dried porcini is a must. Not recommended: Cooking this when you’re 6.5 months pregnant – I am beyond exhausted.

I have yet to try your recommended chocolate bread. Does Trader Joe’s sell Dutch-processed cocoa? I don’t wanna break the bank at Whole Foods.

P.S. My carrots did not feel like tofu when I cut into them with my chef knife. How dare you shatter my infatuation with my knives?! (Care to smuggle me some cutlery?)

I do not want to relive that episode again – it was pretty horrible. Glad it was over and I caught up on my sleep the next day. Felt awful for making Albie worry and lose his precious sleep. I am grateful for my wonderful husband.

We had forgotten that Albert’s mom is returning from Taiwan tomorrow. No more being home alone… :’( :’(

Makes me want even more so for escrow to close, clean and fix up the house, get it ready for Baby, and move in to our very own place!!! We figured out how much we can spend on the house, which includes closing costs, repair, maintenance, renovation, furnishing, etc. I hope after all the necessities are dealt with, we have enough for some nice furniture!

Baby is uber active today. I don’t think he slept at all… No need for kick count. Should take note on when he’s inactive instead.

My left arm is so freaking numb. I told Joy to be careful of carpal tunnel, but I think I have it. I can’t relieve the dull ache. I can’t sleep. I have a slight temperature and my gag reflex acted up when I was trying to brush my teeth (didn’t actually throw up, just waited til the reflex subsided then went to finish the job).

My OB is out of town I think. I had to reschedule my appointment from last week to next week. What do I do? I feel miserable… I knew this pregnancy was going too smoothly…

The sellers accepted our offer!! We hadn’t heard from our agent all day and were moping that the sellers probably rejected our bid. Can’t believe it!!!

Hope we close soon, get the keys in a month, have a couple weeks to prepare for Baby. Time is ticking so fast these days.

Visited Patricia and Steve today. It was a nice family reunion. Saw Steve’s brother, Eric and his wife Celeste. Got to hold Isaac for a bit. He slept the entire time and made all these facial expressions in deep slumber. I wonder what he’s dreaming about. Saw Winnie and Mason, who has doubled his birth weight. I can’t get enough of his chubby thighs!! My parents are way too busy with grandsons. They’re definitely putting miles on their car now.