Baby-shopping Bonanza

Today was one of the rare days I literally shopped 'til I dropped..and for once it wasn't for me, but for our baby boy. I recently started my research on all the baby necessities and though people find the book 'Baby Bargains' to be extremely helpful I found it be overwhelming and a bit daunting. I realized when it comes to certain things in life I find myself going back to the basics and keeping things simple.  Now a days it seems like women are being overloaded with baby info whether they like it or not and personally its difficult not to succumb to the pressure of adhering to all the latest medical/safety recommendations.

With that said my baby's health is of course my top priority, but if I'm craving a piece of salmon sushi once in awhile or don't feel like picking off every piece of sausage on my pizza I just SUCCUMB to it. (I had my first serving of salmon sushi in 5 months a few days ago and it was heavenly!)

Anyways I digress.. Back to my adventures in baby shopping.  Today, we started off by picking up a brand new bugaboo bee stroller we had bought off of Craigslist.  Since we bought our BOB Revolution stroller slightly used I wanted to get our 2nd stroller brand new.

Can't wait to test out this bad boy!

Next we went to Bloomingdales to check out their Friends and Family sale. I urged myself to skip the Y.E.S section and go straight to the baby section and we ending up finding some incredible deals!

Ralph Lauren PJ's, 5 piece set of Little Me onesies, and a swaddle set for $32!

On my way out I passed thru the shoe dept and quickly perused the clearance section. I'm so glad I did because the rain boots I had been eyeing for the past year finally went on sale. Although they didn't have the color I wanted (Olive) I was happy enough with the Taupe. I got them for $39.99..down from $195!

Loeffler Randall Matilde Rain Boot-  Love them :)

 We stopped by Pottery Barn Kids and found the cutest bedding set ever:
http://www.potterybarnkids.com/products/baby-elephant-crib-sheeting/?pkey=e|elephant|12|best|0|1|24||1&cm_src=PRODUCTSEARCH||NoFacet-_-NoFacet-_-NoMerchRules-_-

Organic Baby Elephant Nursery Set

Arnold couldn't get over the steep price tags so we opted out of the matching bed skirt (he insisted that the bedskirt would never touch the baby's skin and therefore we should go with the one at Target for $19.99)

We made a final stop at Stanford's student store to check out some baby gear.  I urged Arnold to pick only 2 items and this is what he ended up with:

Hopefully our baby boy will aim high and follow after his dad's footsteps!

Sigh..it's been a long day but I was excited to come back to my temporary baby substitute!

my new ipad2!

_____ Chong?

For the past week I've been going through several baby name websites to come up with the perfect name for our baby boy.  Arnold and I both want a name that is unique and distinguished yet one that isn't trying too hard to be different.

Up until now, I had a hunch that I was having a baby girl and had my heart set out on a name: Sophie Chong. Arnold of course had a hunch it was a boy and already had a name picked out as well.  Now, I don't want to knock his name down but I wasn't exactly crazy about it when he first told me.  It's slowly growing on me but I have a few default names in place:

1. Cedric

be honest..do you first think of Cedric the Ent or Cedric Diggory from Harry Potter? Thought so..

Arnold, bless his heart seems to be the only one who associates Cedric with the short lived Harry Potter character.  Ain't nothing wrong with Cedric the Entertainer but he doesn't exactly embody the essence of a true gentleman.

The other 2 names in the running are:
2. Colin
3. Darren

So many names to choose from! Although Cedric isn't a name I'd come up with on my own the more and more I recite Cedric Chong in full, I like the sound of it. I wonder who the little bugga is going to resemble. Me or Arnold?  (Growing up I looked, acted, and was treated like the son my parents never had)

That's me at the bottom!

Arnold, the little rascal!

Home sweet home!

I just got back from a 5 day business trip to NY.  I usually look forward to my quarterly visits to the mothership (I currently work in the satellite office in SF) but this time around I was dreading the long flight, 3 hour time difference, and the fact that I could no longer partake in happy hours and late night bar hops.

Nonetheless I tried to make the most of my time out of work by indulging in filling breakfasts and huge dinners followed by decadent desserts.  I'm pretty sure I gained a solid 3 pounds but it's due to the fact that the food in NY is simply better than it is in SF.

My hotel was right next to a Dean & Deluca so this was my daily breakfast stop!

Conveniently, the MTV office is located right in front of a Shakeshack (the east coast version of in-n-out)

The 1.5 hour wait @ Ippudo ramen is always worth it. The chicken wings, pork buns, and ramen hit the spot!

When bed time rolled around I couldn't fall asleep and ended up watching the news for over an hour.  They say pregnant woman should only focus on happy thoughts and aesthetically pleasing images but this was hard to do when almost every news channel had live footage of the utter damage caused by the tsunami.  It was incredible and horrific watching the Japanese locals fleeing for their lives from the spreading tide and screaming 'kowai' which means 'scary'.  Though it sounds trite, I realized how precious life is.  I thought about the little one in my tummy and already felt so protective over her/him.
 

I got in late last night just in time to attend my 2nd ultrasound today morning.  Arnold was giddy as a school girl to learn that we are having a boy!

Home is definitely where the heart is.  I never missed my husband so much and I was so thankful to hear that our baby boy is alive and well and kicking up a storm!

I can get used to this..

So I recently discovered what a push gift was when I went down to LA over Christmas.  My friends back at home enlightened me on this wonderful concept of rewarding the mother for bringing a child into this world.

My wheels started spinning right away and I realized I couldn't wait the remainder of my pregnancy to 'receive' my push gift.  Plus I already knew exactly what I wanted.  I informed Arnold of the idea of a premature push gift and I took his chuckle as a 'yes'.  So the next week I purchased my own push gift before he could change his mind:

Score! Cartier ring from the Love collection in Rose Gold

As silly or plain unromantic as it sounds, Arnold and I have been buying our own gifts (for ourselves) for the last few yrs now.  The element of surprise is mostly gone and now replaced with ease, efficiency, and the certainty that we'll both love our gifts!

Apparently,  I must have been the only one who didn't know what a push gift was because when my parents drove up last week my mom presented her own push gift/early b-day present to me:

Husqvarna Sewing Machine

My mom presented the same machine to my sister as well and she's been sewing away.  I'm looking forward to getting in touch with my inner Martha Stewart!

Weekend Get away!

My parents drove up from LA this past weekend to visit us.  My mom tends to worry that I'm not eating enough well balanced meals and therefore malnourishing the bun in my oven.  So, they loaded up their car with several bags of Korean groceries including multiple packs of galbi, shabu shabu meat, and enough rice to feed a small village.

During dinner we surprised them with a last minute trip to Carmel-By-Sea. This little town is about 2 hours from San Francisco and boasts the most breathtaking views of the Pacific Coast.  We woke up early the next morning and prepped a thermos full of Korean instant coffee and home made kimbaps and were on our way!

The Lonely Cypress - one of the most popular stops on the 17-mile-drive

Having a picnic @ a private beach in Carmel-by-the-sea

@ The Famous Pebble Beach golf course

We had such a good time relaxing and catching up.  During dinner, my parents told me the last time they were in Carmel was when my dad was 32 yrs old (almost 30 yrs ago) and I was 5 months old! Maybe it's the pregnant emotions on overdrive, but it really hit home for me since Arnold is 32 yrs old and we are just starting out our family as well. 

My parents and sister-who's also pregnant (7 weeks ahead of me!) all reside in LA and lately I find myself missing them more than usual.  Though we chat on bbm or gchat at least once a day, it's definitely not the same as hanging out face to face.

older sis and me

my closest friends are both in LA as well!

XOXO
Thinking of you guys!

and... I'm back!

So.. it's been several months since my very first blog. My initial determination to keep it up regularly was cut short by well..pure laziness and when I found out that Arnold and I were expecting our 1st child!

It was a Friday night in December when we went to his company party at the ATT park.  Like with all his social work functions/MBA shindigs, I usually end up getting a little toasted by myself since I can only chitchat with his peers for so long.  Afterwards, we walked home and I found my Amazon order of 10 pregnancy strips (only $9.99!) had arrived.  Not expecting anything..and fully tipsy at this point I carelessly opened the package and took a test.  I was in utter disbelief to see 2 stripes.  Arnold was shocked too but we somehow knocked out soon after. The next morning I took 2 more tests to confirm that I was indeed preggers!

Getting ready for the company party

Wearing a Gryphon sequin dress that I found @ Jeremys for $80 (over 80% off retail!)

the next morning after 2 more tests

We are both so thrilled and excited as this was only our 2nd month trying.  I pray and hope that we will be good parents to our little one!