Sometimes I just have to listen to my husband! :)

He told me a long time ago that I should have organized the photos I took and just pick whatever the best from each month so I can make them as slide shows on our daughter's wedding day.

I decided to do it tonight.. gee!!!! I am bummed with gazillions of photos!
Instead of studying, I just stopped after 1 hour of study, then went to the office room, playing with the computer and it's 2.52 am and I am up and still running!

Help!!!!

Since Aidan was born, I see more bonding between Nadia and her daddy. He takes her to school 3 times a week every morning, and he reads her books almost every night at bedtime.
I also worry when I found him curling in her firetruck bed, lying down with Nadia after story time. Gee, Ammar weighs 200 pounds and this is a toddler bed we are talking about. I am just afraid he will break it.
Tonight, Ammar had to call the other physician for a sign out since he is starting his service today. I read her book, after reading a loooong Indonesian language book of her choice (she insisted to read it, BTW), it hits me how much I miss reading her books and say good night to her, I lay (curled) down in her firetruck bed, and I just know now how nice it was, curling out with your own daughter, whispering about how lucky we are, and made her promise that she will go to school, and gets a wonderful education so she will make a good living, and kissing her all over her face, telling her how much you love her.
PS : Her firetruck bed is soooo comfortable. No wonder Daddy loves lying down with her.
Nadia told me : "Mommy, I love it when you sleep with me in my bed."

I promised Nadia to have a horse ride, which is only on the weekend, so we came back again to Domino Farm with Auntie Lisa and Uncle Bill, and Kenna, our neighbor. Thanks Lisa, for taking pictures of me and Nadia. I can't count on Ammar. :)

One of the Monarch's eggs hatched last night. It was so tiny, very dark in color. I am excited!!!

Monarch Butterfly.

I am soooo excited today that one of my friend gave me 3 monarch butterflies' eggs. We went to her house to pick them up, Nadia got a friendship bracelet from her 11 year old daughter, Thanks Serena. And I got all the explanation about the butterfly from our friendly/nice new friend, Belita.
She has been growing monarch butterflies for 4 years, and boy, she knows a lot about it.

I am debating between putting the whole story of this miracle of life in Nadia's blogspot or just in mine. I am way more excited than Nadia, at the same time, I got so excited to show Nadia the real life lessons about monarch butterflies.

Photos will come in the chronological orders soon. I just don't have time to be in front of the computer for so long.

PS : Thanks Sue, for letting me see the eggs at the 4th of July party. That really inspires me.

Proud Mommy!

I have never been more proud of my children this morning. For the last 3 days, we have been talking about shots to Nadia. She got her 2 shots today due to the trip we are going to do in August abroad. I scheduled her appointments the same time with Aidan's continuing vaccines appointment. Both me and Ammar talked about how it will be, it will be a little bit hurting, but it will make her strong to the actual disease, she won't get sick, what not.
I also played the Bear's House movie about shots.

I was a bit nervous last night that I asked Ammar if he could come along to the clinic just because I am not comfortable having 2 crying kids after the shots. He said he couldn't come because he is having a meeting with the division chief. Oh well. It turned out he drove me over to the clinic, waited with Nadia in the waiting room, and left to the hospital. I was left with 2 kids.

I talked with Nadia again about the shots, bragging her that I would be proud of her and have a special brave girl's present ready in my bag.

Nadia got the shots first, she squinted and moved her legs a bit while I am holding her hands, and believe it or not, she is not crying at all. Then she got the second one, she was so brave. I could see her face turned red holding it but, no crying!. She got her self-picked Curious George bandaids for both thighs. Then she sat down to wait for Aidan's turn, happily and smiled proudly.
I gave her the present and she loved them. It's Lightning McQueen and Sally cars.

It's Aidan's turn. He got oral rotavirus vaccine and 1 shots, the Hep. B. He cried like 5 seconds only. I hold him and we all walked out the doctor's office happily, no one cried.

I walked out the door, thinking, that was the easiest appointments ever, very very proud of them.

As a present, we went to see the B's family again for Urban Toddler's playdate. It's 4.25 pm, and we just got home! What a wonderful day.

Back to school ?

Yes, I decided to go back to be a dentist again, and getting back my career as a dentist. It's been a while that I haven't done dentistry/orthodontics works, and I would have to study again for it. Wish me luck! I know it will be tough for our family, but the kids will have better future with the education savings and our retirement's savings.

I you find out that I am playing too much and not studying for my board exams, please remind me!! Especially you, Amora!

I heard about Google that this big company will make office in Ann Arbor. Time flies, and I drove down downtown AA and notice this building right in front of me.. Here we comes, Google in AA is here. Google has been my favourite thing since 2000, they are doing great job.

Here is some info about it :
"Though some don’t think much of it, Ann Arbor’s a pretty nifty little town. It’s got great food, great music and (as one would expect) lots of beautiful trees.
Now it may have Google, according to a story in today’s Detroit News, which has speculation on the company’s plans to build a new technology center housing up to 1,000 employees.
Though it’s still unconfirmed, the choice of locale makes sense. Here’s why:
The Print Project: Last year Google and The University of Michigan launched a project to digitize the school’s 19 libraries. They’re looking for space to work on incorporating U of M’s thousands of volumes into their engine. Right now their employees are in less cushy digs where we’re pretty sure they don’t have access to those famous gourmet lunches.
Lots of Young’uns: According to a 2000 census, Ann Arbor’s largest population groups are those ages 20-24 and 25-34. That means a large talent pool of recent grads to draw from.
Larry’s Alma Mater: Founder page earned his engineering degree from U of M and the university consistently ranks among the top schools in the nation. Though their recruitment ads remain neutral with most requiring a plain old Bachelor’s Degree from Any School, USA, the company has a bit of a rep for being school snobs. When I worked there I was surprised to learn I was one of the few people in my department who didn’t go to an Ivy League school.
Cultural Fit: Not to generalize a city of 140,000+ people, but Ann Arborites a mostly liberal, creative, and quirky bunch. In other words - a lot like Googlers. It’s easy to imagine the city embracing the firm and like-minded recruits lining up at the door."

I am having a new disease right now, becoming an obsessive compulsive just in one particular thing... the lawn!!! I decided to trim the yard again today. I was right, it was just grown so much in just 3 days!!! I could see the lumps of the cutted grass scattered all over our yard. Ammar brought Aidan and sat on the front door, watching me trimming the grass. If anyone asked why not Ammar doing it ? Just because I don't let him do that. When he trims the grass, he didn't do a meticulous job as I did, as usual, he would do it so fast and he would miss some spots. Sorry babe!! Well, we both agreed that I do good jobs, with the lines I made.
Anyway, when I moved to the backyard, I saw Ammar brought Aidan to the sunroom, to watch me again. It was nice to see both of them cuddle up together. Like a warm feeling all inside your heart when you see your husband with the kids having fun. I love them so much!

I finished the mowing, Ammar came out with the blower and he finished blowing all the cutted grass on the driveway and sidewalk. He came to me said that Aidan took naps, and he wanted to change the oil of the tractor.

While he was changing the oil, we talked about how much we love our home, it's very nice, nice neighborhood, and what not. We have been living here for 2.5 years, and he said to me : "There are 3 things we did to the house worth every penny : "The sunroom, the natural gas power generator, and the power washer!" Yep, I am agree with that! Good thinking.

It took Nadia 3 years and 5 months to reject sleeping in her own bed and her own room by herself. I don't know what she ate made her so wired!!! It was 10.30 pm and she came to our room (now, we are just having this problem now!! :) ) and asked us if she could sleep with us in our bed. At first, Amora said no, then she stayed on the chais lying down there while we both were lying down trying to get some sleep, and of course, the room was pitch dark, and we told her that if she doesn't want to sleep in her fire truck bed, maybe early in the morning we can switch the crib to her room and Aidan will sleep in the fire truck bed... Usually she would protested .. big time! But no, she said : "Then, can I sleep in the crib with Baby Aidan ?"
When she said so I just realized that she really mean it, she doesn't want to sleep all by herself, for any reason, maybe she was just scared for something, she was willing to sleep even with the baby, as long as someone with her. So I made room, scooped her out from the chais and let her sleep with us...
Again, for the first time, she slept with us until morning, yes.. until morning, for the first time in 3.5 years of her life. Usually she asked us in the middle of the night to take her back to her own bed.
Of course, even though with a king size bed, it was still hard for me to sleep peacefully as she kept pushing her head towards my ribs... like 3-4 times...

6 am, I have never woke up and run to the supermarket just to get chocolate milk for Nadia, I did.. for my little girl, I wonder if I love her that much... never bought anyone at 6 am in the morning milk.. not anyone before!! I guess, I become a typical mom who loves her family so much. She ran out of milk, and I was just too tired to stop by at the supermarket yesterday on the way home.

Life has been so busy lately. It's summer and we all just go bananas enjoying the weather. Of course, Nadia sometimes skips her naps just to enjoy what Ann Arbor can offer during the summer months.

We are so blessed that we surrounded by so loving families, friends, and families. Not a whole lot but really significant good people. One family in particular, is the B's family. Maria, she is just a georgeous woman, kind, thoughtful (if I can come up with all nice words about her, they are belong to her). I am literally in love with this woman. I consider her as my sister here in the States. She is half Japanese, her mother is Okinawan, and her father is an American. She has a wonderful, beautiful family, 2 kids, one of which Nadia has been telling me that he is going to marry her (oh boy!), and very very nice and smart husband, who coincidently is working at the same cancer center where my husband works. Life is small. It has been 2 years since I met her at Gymboree class, the minute I met her, I knew it that she would be one of the gems that we will be friends forever.

We had girls night out, of course it was Ammar's idea to have just me and Maria time, and she responded very well, we both the fans of Harry Potter, there we went to the cinemas, dressing up like we had a date (yes, we ARE having a date), and for the first time since Aidan was born, I let my long hair just loose freely. At the cinemas, I saw lots of teenagers couples, I can't help not to smile inside, it was way long ago that I had some dates and boy, how lucky I am now that I found the ONE.

We had a 9.30 pm movies, and it was midnight that the movie ended. It was cool outside, so we talked in Maria's car, and of course, so much to say, we ended up getting home at 1.15 am. It was one hell of the wonderful night. Thank you, Maria. I love you so much!

Ammar still waited for me in the bedroom. I told him how much I loved the date with Maria. He suggested for me to have more dates in the future. I think that's a great idea. I love her unconditionally, her children, and of course Oba, her mom.

Phew! What a busy weekend.

Starting Friday, I went to IKEA, bought the home organization stuff, designed it myself and put them together when I got home, and it turned out that it was so good to be put in the basement (according to Ammar and Lisa). Then I cooked dinner for the family, thought that Lisa and Bill will come and eat dinner with us, oh well, they came late, the kids had already slept.

Saturday :
1. Cook breakfast for the guests, the yummy "bubur ayam" (chicken porridge) and eat together.
2. Photo shoots for Lisa and Bill pre-marital life photos (supposedly while Nadia as the cheering agent for Uncle Bill.
We stayed at our backyard, picking up blackberries while waiting for Ammar coming home from tennis, then we left Aidan, went to pick blueberries, and another photoshoots at Jenny's Farm.
3. Come back home, feeding Aidan, then continue to take some more pictures of Lisa and Bill.
4. Went to Ammar's tennis friend's birthday party. The kids had the blast!
5. Grill the marshmallow, Nadia's favorite food recently.
6. Exhausted!!!!!!!!

Sunday :
1. Clean up the mess in the kitchen.
2. Sat together in the sunroom, enjoying Aidan who can sit now.
3. Made breakfast for Nadia and I (with the fresh blueberries, blackberries, and strawberries.
4. Lunch together (Ammar cooks)
5. Clean up the inside of Ammar's car (The cleanest detailed work)
6. Mowing the lawn.
7. Bathing the kids.
8. Laundry
9. Dinner (yummmmy!!! Again, Ammar cooks)
10. Put the kids to bed
11. It seldom happens in my life : I put the mask on, went to Nadia's room to say good nite.. here is what she said to me : "What are you doing, Mommy ?" (laughed, following the sentence), "You have funny face!!!"

Aidan and I went to the mall to buy some presents we are bringing for Ammar's family for our first trip to Syria. I saw someone who is playing the piano at Von Maur, and I stopped to see his playing. He saw us, and started to play "ABC" song. Then I asked him if he is willing to teach Nadia piano. He comes to the houses, and he thinks that 3 year old is still too small. He teaches 7 year old. So I started to ask if he wanted to teach me how to do improvisation, as I am very interested to learn. Right now, I am playing just old style, reading and improvisate a bit.

Since I saw him, I just realized that I have never played my piano for almost 2.5 years since we moved here..... how busy I have been, no time for anything.
For the last 2 nights after dinner, I played piano, it's so funny how Ammar and the kids, they all together listened and sat down nicely in the room while I was playing.
I think he misses me playing piano and Nadia loves me playing piano.
I tried from classical to the pop. Once I picked the song "Under the sea", she started to jump on me and said : "Mommy, it's the Little Mermaid song"

I have a feeling that this girl really into art and music.

I promised myself that I have to keep playing, since I realized that how rusty the way I play compare to a while back when we were kidsless.

Happy Fourth of July, everyone.

Can't put all the pictures from the 3rd and the 4th, but we HAD wonderful time.

Check out the Fox Ridge Neighborhood blogspot link and you will find all the pictures there.
Most of them are taken by me, and got some nice compliments from the neighbors.
God, do I love photography!

My husband is mean/funny.

Aidan and I went to go toys and clothing shopping today. He enjoyed every minute of it because I carried him the whole time with the baby bjorn and I used the stroller as my shopping basket.
I got toys for my niece and nephew, some clothes for me, and cute outfits for the kids.
When we got home, Aidan was asleep in his car seat. As the previous experience, I would guess he would wake up when I moved him inside the house, so I decided to open all the car's window, open the garage doors, and I start mowing the lawn. Every 10 minutes I would peek on his window just making sure he was not awake yet, until one point, I peeked, I freaked out. I couldn't find him, only his car seat's base. I looked around to the road... AMBER ALERT!!!!
I tried to think positive, that maybe I put him inside the house but I forgot (hmm.. that doesn't make sense.)... or maybe Andrea (the neighbor) found him crying and took him to calm him down (that doesn't make sense, either, because they would tell me which I was not far away).

After 2 minutes, I got panic, I started to think how I am going to tell Amora about Aidan who is dissappeared. I walked to the house, and suddenly I saw Ammar's car, his car door was open, and the office shirts he laundered were still hanging in the car.
I was so relieved.. Thanks you God.. I will never leave my child again.. ever!!! Even though he was in my sight.

It turned out that Ammar decided to go home earlier, eat dinner together, then go out to play tennis. I was not thinking that he would come home early because he said he would come home at 10 pm, not 5 pm....!!!!

I got inside, found Aidan was awake, his daddy hold him, Amora laughed at me and said : "Someone took Aidan ! I had a thought of hiding my car away from your sight" (laughing ear to ear).

Okay.. my heart almost came out from my thorax, thinking I am losing my baby... but at the same time, I couldn't get angry at him, just a huge relief... I kissed both of them.

Later on, this will be a funny story to tell Aidan about his Daddy, the stinker.