christmas

We can't believe that Christmas is right around the corner! We have our tree all adorned with decorations, lights, and presents. We've sent out our presents as well (thank you Amazon Prime!). Our holiday cards are almost ready to go out too! 

Ollie met Santa Claus at his play gym and would not crack a smile for the camera. He was dead serious the entire time. We finally got an okay picture after snapping about 20 of them. I guess his serious face is better than his cry face. I was hoping for a fat jolly Santa but instead got a skinny Santa that didn't say a word to the kids. Oh well, better luck next year. 

We spent Thanksgiving with friends here in Charleston and will be doing the same for Christmas. We've traveled so much last year that we just wanted a nice and quiet holiday. But of course, that can only last so long right? 

After Christmas and before New Year's Eve, we'll be spending a long weekend in Atlanta, GA. We're not sure what we are going to do there yet. We heard that the United State's biggest aquarium is there. We also learned from the Food Network that there is an amazing international market there as well!

Ollie and I will be heading back west to California in a month to meet his new baby cousin Alexander. We're only there for a short trip. I really didn't want to travel again until the spring but I'm anxious to meet that little nephew of mine. Oh well… I promise this will be the last trip before April when we head up to Washington DC / northern Virginia for a wedding.

busy busy busy...

It really has been busy for us here. However, we're done with our travels for the year (maybe except for a weekend trip to Atlanta, GA). Now that Thanksgiving is behind us, Christmas is just right around the corner.

We spent Thanksgiving with Andy's colleague's family. It was a lot of fun and a lot of great food. I made a pumpkin cake with pumpkin cream cheese frosting topped with candied pecans. Yum.

The Christmas tree is up and our Christmas Elf has made his presence in our home (we have yet to name him). I made a couple of wreaths to hang, and even made one for our neighbors. Andy and I are not huge "Christmas people" so we don't go crazy over this holiday, and Oliver is too young to understand it at this point. We've been purchasing many things for the home and for me to start my business (more information to come as I get started next year). So presents are not high on our list of to-do's. We'll save that for next year when Oliver is more aware of what is going on.

For now, enjoy some pictures from our trip these last couple of months.

4 months old!

We've had a whirlwind of a few months. After my parents left in July, my brother, his girlfriend and my cousin came to visit us. Well, mainly to visit Ollie. All our visits are based around Ollie now. We had a great time hanging out at the beach and in Old Mount Pleasant catching blue crabs. Everyone had a great time despite the aggressive mosquitoes that were out in August.

In September, I travelled with Ollie alone to California for a week before Andy joined us. Prior to our flights, I was quite nervous. Including our layover, we were looking forward to almost 11 hours of travel time! Luckily, Ollie is a wonderful traveller! He barely slept on either of the flights but he was full of smiles. He flirted with all the flight attendants and any one else who paid him any attention! The pressure of the plane ascending and descending did not bother him one bit. 

While in San Francisco, Ollie had a chance to meet most of my extended family and Andy's family that resides in the Bay Area as well. We were busy the entire time with family dinners and parties that we barely had a chance to just hang out. Despite all the commotion, I'm glad Ollie had a chance to meet everyone and spend some quality time in San Francisco. 

Next up was Seattle. We headed up mainly for a dear friend's wedding. It was a beautiful wedding. Both the bride and groom looked amazing! 

While in Seattle we stayed with Andy's cousin Allen's family. Ollie is just one month younger than their youngest, Chan. Ollie is a little shrimp compared to Chan Chan who's built like a tank! What a difference one month really makes! 

Finally, we headed up to Vancouver. This will be Ollie's first time visiting niang-niang, Uncle Evan and Auntie Amanda. Niang-niang threw a meet and greet party for Ollie. It was a lot of fun. He was passed around a lot and received a million kisses from all the ladies at the party. Auntie Rita also claimed Ollie as her future grandson-in-law. 

It was a busy 3 weeks away from home. I'm going to surprise myself by saying this, but I'm glad to be back in Charleston, to our own home and bed. However, we have a lot more travelling before the end of the year. Fingers crossed that Ollie remains a great traveller! 

Oh yes, in the midst of all this, our baby Ollie turned 4 months old on the 11th!

(My hard drive is out of space so unfortunately, I can't add anymore pictures.)

"Whatever you're doing, keep doing it"

said Oliver's pediatrician repeatedly during his 2 month wellness check today. I can't believe how much he's grown since his 2 week checkup. He doubled his weight going from the second to twenty-second percentile! His height though... well he's dropped down to the fifth percentile. We are still hoping he gets his ye-ye's (paternal grandfather) height genes. He was six foot tall! We can be hopeful can't we?

	2 weeks	2 months
Weight	5 lb 15 oz	11 lb 4 oz
Length	20 inches	21.75 inches
Head Circumference	13.5 inches	15 inches

happy 2 months

...to our baby boy. In these two months, you've grown so much. We can't imagine what it was like without you in our lives. There are tough days and nights but every second of it is worth it!

Oliver is more alert now and is just beginning to smile socially. He loves music, plantation shutters and fans. He's a fan of belly blowing and body massages but he is ticklish. 

He loves his night time bath from daddy while he stares at himself in the mirror. We try to put him to bed between 10-11 pm. He's up two times a night, around 1-2 am and again at 5 am. He finally wakes up around 7-7:30 am and stays up until about 10:30 am when daddy leaves for work. Then it's mommy and baby all day until around 7-8 pm.

As pictured below, he has grown so much in a month. He barely fits on the chair laying down anymore.

We love you Oliver.

challenge fail already

So far I've only completed day 1 of my 30 day challenge. Not a great start. I have a laundry list of excuses but they are... well... just excuses. The last time I weighed myself, I was 13 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight. Ideally I'd like to be 5 pounds under my pre-pregnancy weight. Not impossible.

I think my real problem with following through is that I want to workout with someone and not just by myself. I always hated working out alone. I need the motivation of another person. I'm lame. I know. I will get my butt in gear... soon.

30 day challenge

Pregnancy wasn't as nice to me as i would have liked.

Prior to getting pregnant i was on the path to lose weight. I lost 5 pounds from my wedding and was loving it. I was finally fitting into those skinny jeans again and a size zero was fitted instead of a little tight. Hiking in utah during our cross country road trip helped as well. while in utah, we hiked over 10 miles a day. I was feeling great. A was feeling great.

I didn't gain too much weight the first trimester. The second trimester wasn't too bad either. However, the third trimester reared it's ugly fat head and my weight soared. The average recommended weight gain during pregnancy for an average weight woman is 25-35 pounds. I gained close to 40. I don't know how and I don't know why. My eating habits didn't change much. I presume it was my decrease in physical activities. There were no more mountains and/or hills here in South Carolina. It'd take us at least 3.5 hours to drive to the closest mountain ranges in North Carolina. I did keep up with my weekly yoga though. 

Now that O is here and almost one month old (yay!), it's time for me to get my butt back in shape. I've only lost 18 of the almost 40 pounds I gained. My tummy is slowly deflating but the weight is still here and it's driving me crazy. I still can't fit into my "normal" clothes and can barely squeezed into some of my loose tops. In lieu of hitting the gym, which I hate, I found some challenges I can do at home. Once my midwife clears me to really exercise again, A and I will be running again and I will again search for a new yoga studio to join. But for now, I will start my 30-day challenge.

The 30-day squat challenge is based on Khloe Kardashian's program. I also found a 30-day crunch challenge to pair up with it as well. Let the tightening begin (tomorrow)!