peggyhuang1

I am so excited tomorrow we will get to see baby again on the sonogram. I wonder how much she will weigh... I really don't believe she is bigger than what she's supposed to weigh. I think I've been measuring large due to the way I carry... and the maybe extra layer of fat I've had on my tummy :0) Oh we will see. I am having mixed feelings, on the one hand, I don't want to have the baby too early, I want her to be fully grown and come out all healthy, but on the other hand, I am so uncomfortable(especially at night I can hardly sleep now) that I want to be done being pregnant!!

Today at the church several people asked : "one more week?"... well, actually 1 more month!! These past few days I feel my tummy has dropped a little. just a little but I can see it a little different now. Baby is SUPER active at night, last night there were 2 times where she was just jumping around, kicking hard on my ribcage and I couldn't do anything to stop her. I could only wait for her to finish her gymnastics exercises...

Our ice cream store should open in a week or so, yesterday Philip was so busy transporting the ice cream from storage to the store. Tom and some other brothers were also working hard to try to set up things in the store. I hope the Lord will bless our investment and keep the brothers who are involved in oneness.

Alex turned 29 this week. I can't believe my little brother is already so "old" haha.

ok. I should report again tomorrow after our sonogram.

Well, as the weeks went by, I am getting bigger and bigger. I don't like to stand on the scale anymore because everytime I do, there is weight gain. Actually comparing to last time, I am doing pretty well, but I just don't understand why... I am not eating more, I sill exercise, and no matter what I do, my body gains weight (like it has its own mind). I blame it mostly to water retention since I am swollen in my legs, feet, and even fingers by the end of the day. In an hour I am going in for my 31 week checkup... I wonder what brother Mike will say about the weight gain and I am going to ask him when to set up an induction date... in about 8 weeks or less our little princess will make her debut. I can't wait!!

Jacob started his level 2 swimming lesson yesterday morning. The teachers seems pretty good because Jacob was pretty cooperative and was willing to try floating on his back instantly. There were only 3 kids in his class and one bigger boy didn't even want to put his head into the water, I think he would have to go back to level 1 for some basics... that leaves 2 kids in Jacob's class.. which is great because it's actually semi-private lesson with a group class rate.

Yesterday at yoga class I realized I couldn't do most of the poses anymore... sunside rotation is really hard now because the tummy is in the way.. and I miss all the inversion poses.. but I still tried to do as much as I can. Maybe I should stop yoga and start swimming instead.

Yesterday was 端午節 in Taiwan. I really like to eat some yummy 粽子, so I ask my mom to make some this Saturday. This is why I miss Taiwan so much, so many good foods to eat.

The boys enjoy each other at home. But once in a while they would offend each other. But I can tell they have a lot of fun being together. I am truly glad they are so close in age and can be each other's companion. As for Acacia, I think sometimes she will feel lonely being the only girl and so much younger than her brothers, but she should enjoy her 2 noisy and rough brother as well. Can't wait to see how they 3 interact with each other.

I've been watching "baby story" on TV, everytime I see a baby emerging into the world I would cry. Such a miracle. This time I hope I will feel more actively involved with the whole labor and birth process. I get Braxton Hicks everyday now. My body is starting to prepare for the birthing. It's weird I don't have control over my body. It does its own things... I just have to go with the flow

 It was Mother's day yesterday and I sure had a good one. The boys and their daddy went to swimming on Saturday afternoon and went to Sams to get me some flowers(light purple 菊花). The boys picked the flowers so I didn't complain they were not Carnatians. Yesterday Philip went to pick up Tabo from Denton because she will fly back to Taiwan on Wednesday and finish her study here in the US. We all went to Cheesecake Factory for dinner. We had to wait about 45 minutes but we were at Barnes and Noble reading books so it wasn't too bad. As usual the food was great and we also had a piece of Tarimasu cheesecake. Very yummy. The boys kept telling me happy mother's day so I enjoyed being pampered as a mommy. And soon we will have another child joining our family. Can't wait for my 3 children to say "happy mother's day" to me in the near future!

After dinner we went to Central market to buy some stuff Tabo is taking back to Taiwan. Using a coupon I got 5 pretty long-stem roses for free. Three pink and 2 white. They look very nice. I have plenty of flowers for my mother's day!

On Saturday we went to Lowers for our kids project(made woodbarrels, the boys loved it)


after that we went to Dallas zoo. It was a nice day, we had picnic there in their new picnic area. We also took the monorail train to see the African animals. It was getting hot and we decided to go home after that.  Then mommy went to take a nap and daddy took the boys to swim... Thank you daddy for taking care of the boys so mommy could rest!!

Today is the last day of February and I am now 18 weeks pregnant.
 
I-ching came and stayed with us on Sunday and left on Monday afternoon. We had a good time chatting, and we tried to make a Tiramasu, it was pretty good for the 1st try, although it will probably taste better if we could find lady finger cookies instead of using an angel cake. We had to look for the special cheese for about 30 minutes in Kroger. But gladly we found it at last but we didn't find the wine we needed so we just used coffee(decaf) so the kids could eat it too, but because we had to use raw egg(as the recipe called) Jacob had a little allergy.

I started prenatal yoga on Sunday, it was pretty good. I like the teacher Heather a lot. We only had 3 students in the class, so it was almost like a private lesson. The other 2 women are about 32 weeks and 20 weeks, so I am the least pregnant. Heather talked a lot about good postures and how postures could help labor. We have 6 more weeks for the class and I will probably continue if they still offer the class.

Jacob has been doing VERY well in learning at home. His phonics skill is very good and he is willing to learn everyday. Jacob also loves his math practices, always asking for more. Timothy also does homework everyday, I usually print out letters and numbers for him to practice. He also draws tons of pictures everyday, sometimes coloring, sometimes free drawing.

Only 1 more week then we will find out what we have. I can't wait!! But it's only 1 week away so I am not that anxious anymore. Shirley(Ho) is having a girl soon and that's great for her. I am sure the baby girl will look beautiful, as all mixed babies do.

Jouma's father(grandpa Yang) passed away last week. I miss him and grandma Yang because they took care of me when I was in high school for a period of time. I loved staying at their house, because they were so loving and I enjoyed grandma Yang's cooking very much, I still think she makes the most delicious domplings in the whole world. Also the lamb hot pot. I hope I still have the chance to eat her cooking once again soon.

We've been enjoying very sweet oranges and pineapples recently. Mom usually buys Texas oranges from Fiasta, and they are so cheap and sweet! But the season is probably gonna be over soon for oranges, then we will enjoy watermelon in the summer!! Can't wait!

I will start taking the boys swimming very soon now the weather is getting better and warmer. Maybe Philip can take them swimming while I do my prenatal yoga class.
 I hope Jacob still remembers how to swim, and Timothy will have the courage to start leaning swimmimg and not just clinging to the wall. 

I will end here. Time for lunch!

It's been a while since I updated the diary. Only one word: tired!! I am 17 weeks 2 days pregnant today. Time surely flies, soon I will be half way through.

Went to my OB appointment last week, everything was fine, there was really not much to be checked. I had my blood drawn for AFP test, and still haven't heard from the OB's office, I guess everything is ok. Exciting thing is we have the date for ultrasound: March 8 on Wednesday at 8:30am. Hopefully we will be able to find out if I am having Summer Grace or Joseph. Philip will go with me of course and mom will send Timothy to school for me.

We got the result from Reach testing. Jacob is not qualified. But I am ok with it. I think the main reason Jacob didn't test well was his language barrier. Maybe next year we will try again and see if he gets in, if not, no problem. I know how talented Jacob is. He is excelling in school and learning well at home too. I am proud of him. He is already on hooked on phonics level 3. He takes home learning very well. He is a very obedient child. Thank the Lord.

I've been feeling the baby moving a lot recently. With this pregnancy I started feeling very early, when I was 12 weeks, but this past week it's been so strong I feel it a lot during the day and at night. This makes me think we are having a boy because the baby is surely strong!

Last week on Valentines' day Philip brought home 2 small cakes from La Madeline's. That was very sweet of him because after his class it was already over 10pm and he had to knock on the store's door to ask them to open the door so he can buy the cakes for me. I was already in bed when he got home so didn't see the cakes until the next morning. But both boys and I enjoyed the cakes. Thank you daddy!

Tomorrow morning I will be in Timothy's class for about a hour to be the "substitute" teacher because Ms, Becky has something to do and can't be there. I gladly agreed. Love to be with Timothy!

Time to pick up Jacob!

only 3 more days then it's winter break for both Jacob and Timothy. We still plan on going to Santa Fe
for snow play. But Timothy has a cold right now and we are not sure if we will go, everyone has to
be healthy in order to play in the snow. We will see on Friday how Timothy is before we can leave on
Saturday.

Last night I felt like eating salty stuff so I asked Philip to buy McDonald's fries and chicken nuggets for me.
I didn't really think he would go and buy it for me, so I went to bed early. But after about 10 minutes he
came in to the room and said he was going to buy night snack for me. I was really happy. The hormone is
making my stomache upset a lot. I really wish I could be in Taiwan to eat all the foods I am craving for.
But for now the fries will do. So at almost 10pm my dear husband went out to buy fries and chicken nuggets
for me. which I finished in about 3 minutes!!

I think most people know about my situation now. But I am still waiting for the doctor's confirmation
next Wednesday when I go in for a checkup. I hope everything will be fine and all my family and friends will be supportive.

Tomorrow morning Timothy's class will have Christmas party, and I am bringing in juice boxes again (I always chose juice boxes because it's the easiest to buy). Then on Thusrday Jacob's class is doing something... I still don't know if I will be asked to go into his class, but it will be fun.

Today Tobo will come to our house, and Philip will take her to the airport tomorrow morning. How blessed she is that she can go back to Taiwan so often... as for us, we will probably have to wait until the summer of year 2007.

今天是特別的一天， 至於特別在何處，要過一陣子再說， 因為還沒確定。

晚上Cherie帶Henna and Tirzah 來玩，小朋友都好高興，四個小可愛還一起洗澡，
也許再過不久他們就會不好意思咯。

明天要去尚傑班上代課幾小時，因為要表示對老師們的敬意，家長會請老師們吃午飯，
幾個家長分別到各班幫忙。其實我很高興有這機會，可以看看尚傑上課的樣子。

ok... that's about it now...

it's been 10 days since I last wrote. Mainly because I've been so busy. It was the
thanksgiving holiday in the US. It's considered the most important holiday for people
here, and families get together and eat eat eat. The kids were off school since Thurday
and we had a great time together for 4 full days. Timothy had a thanksgiving party
at their school last Wednesday.. and of course he didn't cooperate. He stood there
and just hang around while other kids sang the songs and did hand motions. I am used
to it so I only found it funny. Last week both boys went in for dental cleaning.
Timothy did VERY well. I was really surprised. Last time it was very bad, he cried,
kicked, hit, and screamed the whole way... so I really didn't get my hopes up this
time before we went... I even thought about cancelling the appointment.

But we prepared him a little, by borrowing the books from the library about a child
going to see the dentist. He even cried when I read the story to him :0)

Well, in short, he did very very well. He cried for about 1 minute, then becuase I
held him really tightly, that probably made him feel safe. He stopped crying and
Dr. Mai was able to clean his teeth. We even got him to take some x-rays of his
front teeth. They tried his back teeth but becuase it made him gag so maybe next
time. I totally agree with Timothy though because I myself really don't like having
my teeth take X-rays... so uncomfortable.

Yesterday was my 32nd birthday. I didn't feel any big emotions, as I am used to getting
older and older each day. We pretty much had a very ordinary day until it's dinner time.
In the afternoon after we picked up Jacob from school we went to order the cake for me.
It's made from Chinese bakery and it's 鮮奶油水果. Quite yummy. Because we had to
wait 1 hour before we can pick up the cake, we went to buy 火鍋料 from Asia super-
market.
I reminded the boys several times it was Mommy's birthday... and Timothy drew a picture
for me... I hope when they grow up they will always remember mommy's b-day and will
send me a card then I will be totally satisfied.

I prepared materials for 火鍋 and mom came back and helped me a bit. We waited and
waited but Jimmy got lost and didn't come until 8pm!! Poor Jimmy! Mom had to pick him
up at Kroger. He brought a dozen of 香檳roses and a balloon. What a gentleman and I
appreciated his effort trying to get to our house and took 2 hours. We blew the candles and
ate the yummy cake, and sent the boys to bed.

I got a flu/cold the day before my birthday. Still recovering today(11/19)... so as I siad,
not a very special birthday,, but I guess this is pretty common as we get older. We are
happier to celebrate our kids' birthdays rather then our own...

32 歲的一年, 希望大家都平安快樂!!

每到星期五, 就覺得真快, 一個禮拜就"咻"一下過去了.. 小朋友也一天一天長大...
再過幾分鐘就是Saturday了, 剛才從Cindy家小排聚會回來, 今晚的聚會很享受, 交通到我們基督徒所活的生活乃是一個接枝的生活, 除了我們天然屬人的生命, 更有 神屬天的神聖生命, "no longer I that live, but Christ who lives in me". How glorious. How uplifted. How sweet.
I tried to laminate Timothy's school pictures the other yesterday and the picture jammed inside the laminating machine. I was so upset to lose the precious picture of Timothy. It's rolled up and ruined in the machine. We finally managed to get the broken picture out and it took us a LONG time to put the machine back into 1 piece. I am going to return the machine at Walmart and maybe exchange for a new one. I think they will let me do that... although I've bought the machine for a while but I have really only used it for a few times. It's a good thing that stores in the US mostly take returns with no problem, unlike Taiwan. It's a totally different culture. I know most Americans are very honest and won't abuse this "福利".
Tomorrow Lowes will deliver the Granite tiles Philip ordered. He will put them in our side yard. It's a very big task. With over 200 pieces it's VERY heavy. I hope it doesn't hurt Philip's back. He is such a handy guy. I am glad I have such a wonderful husband because I can do nothing and I don't want to do anything. :0) (hey but I did put the laminating machine back into a whole)
Not sure what we will do tomorrow. Usually on Saturday morning we gather together to eat a better breakfast becuase we have more time(no one is rushing to work or school). I will make sausage crossants becuase the boys love them and they're rather easy to make, and we will eat some fruits... happy breakfast time!
Oh, I asked Howard if I can borrow his graduation gawn, and he said yes!! YAHOO!! So now I can return mine back to the store and just spend under $10 for the string thing(which says 2005) that attches to the cap. I am so glad! Saves a lot of money!! thanks Howard!

所以又好幾天沒寫blog了. 每天不知道怎麼回事, 時間永遠不夠用. 今晚七點要去
Richardson School District 辦的REACH progam information meeting,
所以請老媽六點半回家幫我看小朋友. 有點傷腦筋不知道晚餐要煮什麼. 要是可以像
小叮噹一樣吃一粒大力丸多好.... 煮飯好累啊...

早上去UTD校園辦一些關於這學期畢業的事, 也去書店買了畢業袍, 還真貴, 要$70
多哩. 其實我根本不想去, 但是希之說要讓小孩也經歷媽媽的畢業典禮, 是對他們
以後有幫助... 希之真的想太多哩.. 也許這真的是我一輩子的最後一個學位,
穿著美麗的加冠袍走過教授們的面前, 也拍拍照, 也許真的不錯...

This afternoon I watched Thomas for Patti for a few hours while Tom
picked up Jacob for me. It was a lot of work to take care for a baby,
I am not sure if this is what I really want. A child is a lot of work,
and a lot of responsibility, and a lot of money. We will really have
to consider it hard before we decide to have one.

企煮飯吧...

Yesterday was Halloween night. I thought about going to the mall to
avoid the kids coming to our door to ask for candies. Since we are
christians we don't celebrate halloween because it's a holiday
associated with ghosts and other unholy things. But I decided we would
stay home and just treat it as a ordinary night. I told the boys with
a very serious tone that I didn't want them to go "trick or treat" for
several reasons. One being that we are children of God, the other reasons
like it would be very dangerous to knock on stranger's doors since we
didn't know who would answer the door(and the example of how a Japanese
student was killed in the 90s on a halloween day when he went to ask
for directions but was shot to death because that house owner asked the
student to freeze but the poor student didn't understand". This story
really scared the boys. I don't think they will ever want to knock on
people's houses. :0)) Another reason is that candies are BAD for their
teeth, and the boys are really good at protecting their teeth so they
decided it's a bad idea to go "trick or treat". So we printed out a
door sign which read "No candy! Sorry we don't celebrate Halloween. Have
a happy and safe night" and we taped it on the door and also covered the
bell with some paper. Amazingly NO ONE rang the bell, I was truly

Today is Friday again. Time goes by so fast. Today Jacob has been a
super good boy. He was so obedient, so loving and so perfect(he even
asked for piano lesson!!). I am having a cold I think. At first I
thought it was allergy, but now I am more convinced it's a cold. Sore
throat, lost my voice, and mucus in the back of the throat. Sigh. As
usual I don't really worry I am sick but I don't want to pass it to
my boys. We were going to Nokia for its halloween party, but Philip
said it didn't look too exciting so we cancelled it. We went home and
Jacob did all his homeworks, learning phonics and wanting to learn
piano. I didn't take it too seriously so after teaching him one song
I told him I was going to the restroom for a minite, but I then
decided to take a shower... but Jacob came to say "mommy i've been
waiting a LONG time"... I was truly surprised. So I quickly finished
my shower and went back to teach him some more piano. Evem Timothy
wanted to learn piano too, he learns things so quickly. But I didn't
really want to start Timothy on piano yet becuase he is really too
little and his fingers don't have enough strength yet.

For dinner Jacob ate a lot of salad, I was really happy because lately
he didn't show much interest on eating vegetables.

這幾天開始練習打中文...速度當然還是混慢啦, 不過相信慢慢會愈來愈快底...

Let's come back to the English mode so I can finish today's blog and
go to bed before dawn :0)

Yesterday we went to the park after I picked up Jacob. It was perfect
weather, so I decided we've got to make good use of the good weather,
and not just stay home all the time. The boys had a great time riding
the bikes, they rode along the sideways in the park, on the grass, and
even in the shelter. There was another little boy who is 3 years old,
he followed my boys all the way, and the 3 of them rode bikes chasing
each other. I was able to sit on the bench and relax. It was just
wonderful. The boys tried to play on the playset, but realized they
have grown so much in the last year, and the swings and playsets now
seemed so small for them. It's really amazing how much my boys grew just
in 1 year. we visited the ducks, as usual, and saw some squirrels running
under the trees,...all was like a picture, calm and peaceful.

Today we were planning on going outside to play again, but grandma
Joanne called and said her molar teeth on the right upper side were

I Ching came to visit from Germany and stayed with us yesterday. We had
a good time chatting.. I stayed up late and the whole morning was having
some neck ache. Took some ATP2 with water a few minutes ago and am
already feel better. Yesterday we went to drop off PeiHsuan at UNT and
pick up I Ching from her parents' home in Corinth. We went to 阿宗麵線 and
we didn't like the food at all. For some reason it didn't taste as good as I
went before. Then we went to Tom's for Big Tom ice cream, I didn't feel
it's very good either. Maybe it was something wrong with my taste buds!?

The boys were almost crazy running around and jumping up and down in
the house last night, I think part of it was the ice cream(too much sugar),
and part of it was having I Ching at our house, they were being "人來瘋".
After I sent them off to bed finally at around 9:30pm, they chatted to
each other for another 30 minutes before they finally dosed off.. Philip was
sitting outside of their room listening to their talking, and found it very funny
as they were playing some kind of game, that Jacob asked a question and
Timothy answered and Jacob made a ring sound announcing either the
answer was right or wrong.

I ching brought me 2 bottles of instant decaf coffee from Germany. It tasted

It has been 4 years since I last saw Yi-Chen in Taiwan. I was pregnant with
Timothy and we went to eat Dim Sum together in Taipei. For some reason we
lost contact with each other, probably due to my busy schedule with a new
baby. Yesterday when I saw Yi-Chen's email I nearly fell to the floor, what
a nice surprise! Thank the technology I got to find several good old friends
through the internet. Yi-Chen got married last year(to the same boyfriend we
knew years ago :) and is now a piano teacher/performer in New York. So next
time we have a good excuse to go to New York, to see her!!

Today is great. Weather is great, Jacob was a good boy doing homework, Timothy
is as sweet as he can be, too bad Philip has to go to class tonight. I cleaned
the house a little, knowing it will all go back to normal mess soon with the
2 boys running around, digging toys out of the toy chest.

It was also nice to see Sallytree's comment on 神州六号. She left the very
1st comment on my blog. Something to cheer me up :0))

Talking about 神州六号, yesterday we watched the news about it's safe landing.
Wonderful! All is safe and happy. What a great accomplishment! I am sure
everyone who is Chinese is proud of this space advanture.

I am sick. I thought it was allergies, but now I don't know anymore. I
started having low grade fever starting last night. Now my temp is 101.7,
not a big deal but it's enough to make me feel uncomfortable. I don't want
to take any more medicine because it the past few days I've taken way too
much medicine. I want to try to cure it the natural way, drinking lots of
water, getting more sleep...

This Saturday is Timothy's 4 year old birthday. Time surely flies. All the
details of birthing Timothy 4 years ago are still clearly vivid in my head
(and my heart). Happy birthday, my little boy. We are thinking of having a
small birthday party for Timothy on Saturday afternoon, inviting some
children and their parents, having simple dinner like pizza and beef noodles.
And of course we will have to have a cake. Cakes here are terrible. They
are way too sweet and except for sugar you can't taste anything. I will
probably end up ordering a cake from the Chinese bakery, they are much better.
I really miss the cakes and breads in Taiwan. So delicious!

Being a housewife is not a very easy thing. Because at work you see what you
accomplish everyday and often get praised. At home we have endless housework
to do, the house is never clean enough. The dishes never really go away.

Today is Taiwan's National Day. 10/10. Happy birthday, the republic of China!

Today the kids are off from school because of Columbus Day, while the teachers
attend their training. I enjoy being home with the boys, especially for the last
2 days I was busy helping with the Osteoporosis Screening test held in front
of Asia World supermarket. The reason we held this test was to introduce ATP3
to the public. ATP3 is a wonderful healthy product - Calcium and Magnesium which
is neccessary for a lot of people. Especially to those who are low in their bone
density. It was quite an experience to me. The thing I enjoyed the most was being
able to sit side by side with my sisters in Christ and support each other, at the same
time learning to speak to people I don't know. This is a good training for me, I believe
I have leant a lot.
I have been severely affected by hay fever(allergies) these days, to the point I
can't function without taking medicine. Last night was bad, I couldn't sleep at all,
every few minutes I had to blow my nose and try to be able to breath. Poor Philip
didn't get to sleep much either because of all the noises I made. Philip is having a
test tonight with his accounting class, I pray to the Lord that he will be strengthened
into his inner man, that he will have the wisdom and knowledge to do well on the

Today I have sores and aches everywhere from doing yoga yesterday.
I feel like I am 70 years old. SIGH.
My yoga teacher Rita is great. She teaches those movements that
are so powerful, you don't really feel it until the day after!! I really
enjoy her class. The class is always packed full, if I go in a few minutes
late the space is all gone.

Fall is finally here. The weather is suddenly cool and a little chilly. This
morning I got all fall clothes for the boys out. It took me 2 hours!! I
don't have energy to take out my fall clothes now. We really enjoy
this cool weather, because it won't be long before winter is here when
it will be so freezing cold.

My best friend is coming from Germany in 2 weeks. I am happy to
think about it. She is coming for her dad's birthday(a surprise) but
hopefully we will have time to get together. We've been friends since I
was 15 years old. And it's been 17 years! Can you believe it!! Oops I
just unveil the secret of my age! When she comes we will be able
to celebrate our birthdays(1 month apart) together. Although I will be
32 we've decided we will celebrate our 18 year old birthday... :p