With less than 3 weeks to go before my due date with BebeDeux, I have been slowly making preparations for our new life as a family of 4. The hardest part of this transition has had to do with Claire. Because for the past couple of weeks, I have been purposely spending less and less […]
Pognae Baby Carrier Review
Baby carriers are big in Asia. This is especially the case in urban areas where there is limited space and the majority of the population choose to take public transportation rather than drive. And where there is demand, there is supply. A great variety of quality supply, I might add. The Pognae is one such […]
Claire’s Dol (First Birthday Party)
Last night, as I looked at the pictures from Claire’s dol (first birthday party), I started to cry. You see, in Korean culture, a dol is one of the most significant birthdays in a person’s life. It is, in fact, THE most important birthday in a young person’s life…all the way up until they reach the age […]
Happy 1st Birthday, Claire Emmanuelle!
My firstborn daughter turns one year old today! What a difference a year makes… We will be spending the day preparing, and celebrating at her first birthday party where I hope to finally get some updated pictures of my big girl with her loving family. Claire, you know that I could write a novel describing […]
Family Help
It has been exactly one week since J’s parents arrived from Hong Kong to help me with the last few weeks of my pregnancy. They will stay in the U.S. and continue to help out for the next few months which will undoubtedly be tremendously difficult with two babies that are only 13 months apart. I […]
Lessons My Mother Taught Me
Isn’t it funny how you resist and even resent your parents growing up, and only when you become an adult — and more so, when you become a parent yourself — that you realize how wonderful they are? Many of my readers may already be aware that Korea has deep roots in Buddhism. When I was […]
September 11, 2011
Today I woke up and remembered how a decade ago, I saw smoke rising from lower Manhattan as I drove along the New Jersey Turnpike. I remembered how I, along with other drivers, stopped our cars and turned our radios on full blast while we stared in horror at another plane crashing into the second […]
The Boob Juice Dilemma
I do not consider myself a breastfeeding failure. Yes, I struggled tremendously with breastfeeding. Yes, it is true that I was “only” able to provide my firstborn three months of breastmilk. And yes, Claire has been exclusively formula-fed ever since I decided to quit. But I do not consider myself a failure. Claire has never […]
Fears (When the Floor Drops Out From Beneath You)
I was never officially diagnosed with SPD (symphysis pubis dysfunction, or excessive and/or painful separation of the two pubic bones at the front of the pelvis) with my last pregnancy, but the pain was bad enough that I could not exercise for all of my third trimester. This pregnancy is no different. And while I have […]
Tattletale
J loves our firstborn with all his heart. It is not unusual for him to spend an entire Saturday playing with her, then stare forlornly at the baby monitor after he has put her to bed and sigh, “I miss my baby.” That being said, he is much better at saying “no” than I will […]