Triple the Fun on This Mother's Day!

What a great day for a mama!

Started with getting all the kids in our bed this morning,  a great cup of coffee from the huzband, a short morning jog with a great view of the Bay Bridge and Golden Gate Bridge, awesome waffles w/all the fixings at my sister-in-law's, enjoing the sunshine in the back yard, and then sashimi for dinner! Yay!

Lovin the supa' mama life!

A Pair of 6 month Olds (in a few days) and a 2 Year Old

So I am by myself with all 3 kids all day and evening today. Dropped off Aaron at the airport at 6 am and he won't be back until later tonight...so far so good, in fact as of 10 minutes ago all three are asleep! What's a mama to do? Awwww blog.

Ryo turned 2 the beginning of the month! It's so cool to see how much he learns everyday. He is such a good big brother- tries to be so helpful and I know he can't wait to play with these kids. 

The twins...some milestones:

-tried solids - rice cereal, avocado, squash, sweet potatoes and banana; like Ryo they didn't care for the cereal or avocado

-both can turn over; Rocco can do this a lot easier than his sis

-sleeping more, but not through the night

-they outgrew their crib (they shared it), and now have a toddler bed to share when they are not sleeping with me or on the couch

Almost 4 Months, Almost 2 Years

Two minutes until 5:00 am. Been up since 2:30 am (when I fed Aida). I keep thinking Rocco is gonna get up like he usually does..I hear him rustling in the crib every now and again, but two and a half hours later, he is still asleep! Everyone is going to be up in about an hour anyway, so might as well stay awake this Sunday morning!

Yesterday we had our longest family outing. We went to Japan Town in San Francisco with my mother-in-law (who was a great help!). We must have been out there for 3 hours. That is a long time with infant twins and a toddler. Got to do a little shopping for all the Japanese snacks I love and even had some Ramen (MIL watched the twins, Ryo stayed with us). To be with just one kid is a rarity for us. This is the 3rd time we've been without the twins for a meal. And we have yet to be without Ryo for a meal. Yep, it has been almost 2 years and Aaron and I have not had a sit-down meal together with just us! I hear about other couples who have "Date Nights" and wonder, wow, what's that like?

100 Days!

As of January 7, 2011 the twins have been with us 100 Days!!! As I type, I have Aida in the all-powerful sleep machine - The Swing. I'm thinking back to how different things are with raising the twins compared to Ryo and his first 100 days.....

- With Ryo I took a picture of him every day up until his 100th day. I never printed out much of the pictures, so they are sitting on a CD somewhere....I've taken lots of pictures of the twins, but not daily.
- Gave Ryo infant massages 3x a week. The twins are lucky if I think of giving them one every other week.
- Ryo slept next to us in bed....and he STILL is sleeping next to me (yeah, he needs to sleep in his own bed)...twins...are in the crib (RYo didn't have a crib)
- I went back to work once Ryo turned 10 weeks. The twins are 3 months and a week old and I am enjoying being with them at home. This allows me to breastfeed more too!
- By 100 days, Ryo took his first trip across the state..yeah, with twins and a toddler that is not happening for awhile!
- We used cloth diapers on Ryo up until he was maybe 6 or 7 months. The cloth diapers are neatly folded away in a drawer for the twins....

What things are the same:

- Messy home ALL the time.
- Middle of the night feedings.
- Smiles, cooing, laughing to melt your heart.
- Loving being a mom....

12 Week Old Twins and a 21 Month Old Toddler - Christmas Eve!

Happy Holidays Family, Friends and Colleagues!

What a wonderful year it has been! We have much to celebrate as 2010 comes to an end and we look forward to another year of blessings! 

Here are some of the year's highlights:

• Lani quit her job on January 22 to spend more time with Ryo. She doesn't miss the stress and crazy travel schedule she had!
• Soon after, Aaron and Lani received news that they were expecting.....TWINS!
• Ryo celebrated his first b-day on March 1. We threw him a party with a camping theme (even pitched a tent in the back yard!) at our house in Victorville. Family and friends came to party and grub on camping food (hot dogs, hamburgers, and pancit (Filipino camping style!)
• Took a vacation end of March in Kauai with Lolo, Lola and the Latrique family. Aaron surfed for the first time!
• Took a trip to Seattle, WA in June (work/play) and visited with one of Lani's best buds from UCLA, Rachelle, her hubby Marlon and kidz Kai and Emi. They've got boy/girl twins too! Washington is Ryo's 5th state he has travelled to!
• Lani was put on bedrest in July so travelling on an airplane was out of the question!
• Aaron sold his big red truck and bought a minivan!
• At the end of August, we packed up and moved back to the Bay Area.
• Just in time...Rocco and Aida were born on September 29 - 3 weeks early....

and the rest of the year is just a blur of little sleep, constant feedings, keeping up with a rambunctious toddler, home improvement work, and doing laundry daily. Phew! 

Indeed, there has been great change to our lives as we are now a Party of Five! We are so happy to finally have our little family and are extremely thankful to family and friends for love and support along this journey.

Peace and Love to All!

10 Week Old Twins, 21 Month Old Toddler

I am happy to say that Aida sleeps 6 hours straight now. What a huge difference it makes! Rocco still gets up every 3 hours, but he easily goes back to sleep once he's fed. They are both a little over 10 pounds now...almost double their birth weight. They are growing so fast...I am trying hard to soak up this special time while they are infants! Ryo is doing fabulous. He still has his moments of antics to get our attention....but it's so cute (sometimes...). Nonetheless, he is still a joy and we constantly remind him that he's our first born baby so he feels special too. He surprised us last night by naming the letters on Aaron's shirt that had "CALIFORNIA" stitched across. I just love being a mom....even though there are times we miss out on things...like the other night our next door neighbors invited us to their holiday dinner..their friend used to work at The French Laundry and was preparing a home-cooked 5 course meal. We couldn't get any one to watch the kids, and although our neighbors said they could come along, we just didn't want to change the dynamic of the dinner, especially because the other couples left their kids at home. Oh well....we had Korean food take-out instead...and hung out with the kids.

8 Week Twins 20 Month Old Toddler

Well, here is my first blog entry since the twins arrived. It is 3:14 AM and  I am b-feeding Aida as I type with my right hand. So much has happened these last 8 weeks, and I wish I could have found the time to write earlier...but its been impossible! Literally, I think about documenting this whole experience everyday, but its so hard to find a moment!

What's happening now....

Ryo is a great big bro. He is very loving towards Rocco and Aida...esp. Ai. He loves to rest his check on theirs and pat their bodies and say "baby" in his own "baby talk" way. It's so cute!
Here is Ryo with the twins Day 3

Here is a more recent pix..at 7 weeks

catching up....

Delivery went smoothly. got to  hospital close to 9 am and was 4 cm with moderate pain, contractions ever 3-4 min. soon after the pain increased but bearable. Had the epidural a couple hours later and it felt like bliss! Boy what a difference the drug made! With Ryo we opted to do it natural, so I felt that pain! For this labor, since Aida was transverse, there was a possibility to get a c-section....and who wants to feel yourself getting cut open?

Rocco 2:28 pm 5 lbs 14 oz 19 in

 Aida 3:42 pm 5 lbs 9 oz 19.5 in

okay...it's 4:07 am now and i already put aida down and just fed rocco. they'll be up again in a couple hours...so i'm gonna sleep! (i get about 4 hours of sleep a night!) will write more later!