snow what fun!

mommy's little angel

Being from Minnesota, I know snow. Little Miss J, on the other hand, was only four months old when we fled the winterland, and this year after seeing some of her favorites, Max & Ruby, Dora, etc. experiencing snow in their holiday television specials, she had been asking to go "snowing." So Saturday, we bundled her up and headed to Lake Tahoe. We went to Soda Springs Ski Resort, which boasted a kids area from munchkins under 8 years old. The snow was a bit pathetic for us Midwesterners, but nonetheless, the place was jam packed with parents and kids.

getting ready

Notice the lack of snow in the parking lot. Thankfully, there was a small patch of snow where kids were tubing and skiing. This is Little Miss J on the snow carousel. It was her favorite part of the day.

She also did a little tubing.

 

And the best part ... we even got her on some skis for a couple times down the hill.

 

up the magic carpet

 

down the hill

"I DID IT!"

We are prepping her for Big Sky with Papa Ralph!



three months

Dear J2,

The past three months has simply flown by. I will try to write this letter without comparing you to your sister too much, but it's really hard. You are a shining example of Darwin's evolutionary theory. You have evolved to be a chill, laid back baby as a survival mechanism. I think you knew that Umma was not going to make it through another "challenging" (for lack of a better word) child.

Going back to work has been much more difficult than I had anticipated, and after a long exhausting day at the office one of my favorite ways to recharge the batteries before I even attempt to conquer Hurricane J is to sit for a little cuddle with you. Even better? When your Appah takes Little Miss J for a field trip and leaves us at home to hang out in the peace and quiet for some mommy-son time.

You are simply the sweetest baby and so easy to love. You are officially into 6 month jammies and can hold your head up well enough to sit in the Bumbo - although you only seem to tolerate the thing for a few minutes at a time. You do quite well in the swing though (best purchase ever!) and can often be found napping while rocking away. Despite every single person who takes care of you being sick, from your Appah, who landed himself in the ER, to me, who had a day or two of the sniffles, you have managed to stay illness free, in part I believe because breast milk, like unicorn blood, is magical. Go me and my magic boobs! You have a layer of permaglitter stuck to your head from all your sister's sparkly things, which only adds to the magic.

We just celebrated your first Christmas, and you were a right jolly old young elf. All my concern about not really getting you much of a gift (we did wrap you up a box of diapers) was completely misplaced as you got several toys from friends and family. So whenever you're ready to really get into it, we're set! For now you are happy to smile, laugh, and "talk" to us.

I can say without hesitation that you are my all-time favorite baby. With you, I don't even mind the sleepless nights (that much). You have, however, started sleeping better at night. *I think* Or we could just be so exhausted that we simply no longer have any grasp on reality. As I started to type this, you were sleeping peacefully and more importantly independently in your bassinet, which was a completely foreign concept to us three years ago. The sleeping bar was set extremely low by your predecessor and anything short of being held 24/7 makes you a champion sleeper in our books. So even the illusion of longer stretches of sleep is much appreciated.

Thank you for allowing me to actually experience being in love with, and sitting around with my baby and having a peaceful restful maternity leave. This time three years ago, I was just the mom who said all the right things to people to distract them, hoping they wouldn't notice how much I loved/hated my baby and being a mom. I can now say all the right things and actually mean them.

love you for a thousand years and a thousand more,

Umma

don't be fooled ...

- by our family's picture perfect Christmas card. That is not really our life. It goes a bit more like this.

This Christmas I had visions of sugar plums - and by sugar plums I mean a photo of my two munchkins in their Christmas jammies in front of the tree that I could post on Facebook and rack up the "likes." But the reality of the situation was that Little Miss J got some dress up clothes for Christmas and all she wanted to wear was -

This

Or this

J2 being the cooperative (and by cooperative I mean virtually unable to exert free will) one let his Umma put on his Christmas outfit and even wore the elf hat.

THIS was the best we could do ...

But amidst all the chaos, which is really what our family life is like every. single. day., I'm pretty sure this was one of the best Christmases ever!

And I did thoroughly enjoy all my friends' photos via Facebook! Particularly, the one from Gus's cousin, Monica!

once upon a time

Two attorneys hopped a plane to Las Vegas. When they landed they went to

Then put a deposit down on a wedding chapel at -

After a couple days of gambling - the one lawyer BTW was really skilled (apparently, they just call that lucky) at roulette and hit the number TWICE! And the other lawyer said that since they were winning that the one lawyer should buy some Manolos - the other lawyer didn't realize that they hadn't won THAT much. They decided that since they were in Vegas, and since they were getting married they should probably just do it right. So they rented a Mercedes and went -

If it is good enough for Michael Jordan ... and no they didn't get fries with that.

And they lived happily ever after.

wordless wednesday

oh what fun!

I am exhausted. It's not as though our family was a well-oiled machine or anything, but we are definitely still adjusting to adding another human being. Between being buried in work and sleeping only 2-3 hours at a time, I have definitely had my better moments. The sleep deprivation is taking its toll on the magic of Christmas. With Christmas mere days away, I feel like I haven't done a very good job of giving Little Miss J the full Christmas experience. I can't even manage to keep up with an advent calendar.

This weekend, I made an attempt to redeem myself ...

Saturday we went to see the lights at the Folsom City Zoo Sanctuary. It is certainly no Bentleyville, but it was also a hell of a lot warmer than Duluth.

waiting in line for Santa

talking to the big guy

me and my girl

J2 came along for the ride and woke up briefly for a photo opp with Gus.

On Sunday, we baked cookies. Notice the sprinkle explosion ... this has been added to the nine circles of hell - so far it goes glitter and glue, gingerbread house making, and cookie decorating. It takes a lot of self-restraint on my part to not stifle the "creativity."

 



 

We also have presents wrapped and finally under the tree. The Chunglund Christmas is starting to come together.

tea for two

Last weekend I took Little Miss J to the Sugar Plum Fairy Tea hosted by the Sacramento Ballet. It was certainly not the most organized event, and for $30/ticket not going to lie I was expecting a bit more. Nevertheless, Little Miss J had fun seeing all the ballet dancers and getting autographs. With postpartum induced anxiety, Umma had a little less fun trying to wrangle her excited preschooler through a throng of 400+ people. As NKOTB would say, this one's for the children.

Sugar Plum Fairy & Nutcracker

Getting autographs

This bunch was particularly impressed
with Little Miss J's dance moves


wordless wednesday

thanksgiving 2013

Better get this Thanksgiving recap in the books before Christmas rolls around. I finally got rid of pumpkins on my porch so my house no longer looks confused as to which holiday it is celebrating. We are full. on. Christmas. from here on out, people - and as much as I love Christmas we had a very lovely Thanksgiving holiday this year with the west coast Chungs (and Chunglunds).

Thanksgiving morning was our second annual Run (aka walk) to Feed the Hungry. I figure I earned me some pumpkin pie walking 3.2 miles with an extra 12 lbs strapped to my front.

Gus also earned his Thanksgiving dinner pulling an extra 100 lbs in the wagon.

 

After the 5K it was time to get dinner ready. Gus and I prepped the traditional Thanksgiving fare and I have to say I think it was the best Thanksgiving meal I have ever had, in part, because I made all my favorite sides. Gus is turkey was bomb too. I had been giving him a hard time because last year's turkey left something to be desired, but this one was delicious. Or "spectaculous" as Little Miss J likes to say.

Ben and Rosa and the family came over to Gus's parents house for dinner.

Playing with Uncle Ben

Cousin Alex holding J2

after 1st dinner comes 2nd dinner (Korean food)


We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with good food and time spent with family - and of course my two favorite blessings ... J1 and J2.

two months ago ...

Dear J2,

Two months ago, I had no idea how I could possibly love any kid more than your sister. We had a rocky start, and I will be the first to admit that she was what some might call an "acquired taste." But after the initial newborn stage, our relationship evened out and her little personality won my heart over.

You, on the other hand, came out of the proverbial gate being mommy's little sweetheart. I was so prepared to struggle through the first several sleep deprived weeks loving/hating life, but everything has been nearly perfect since your arrival. We spent 8 lovely lazy weeks hanging out - dressing up like skeletons, sushi, and wearing pacifiers with fake mustaches. You slept in the rock 'n play or the swing, allowing me to do laundry, make dinner, put up a Christmas tree, etc.

There is no blog post at your one month mark because frankly, you slept so much it was kind of boring. A few times I was tempted to wake you up so we could hang out. But in the last few weeks, you've started laughing, smiling, and playing with us. You are such a good little boy. At your two month check up you were 12 lbs 8 oz - exactly double your birth weight.

You are my unicorn baby - the mythical baby that sleeps and barely cries. If all babies were like you, I can almost see why people like them so much. You have single handedly restored my faith in newborns. Don't get me wrong, we aren't having another one. I'm not one to gamble. If you were thinking you'd be a big brother, you were mistaken. You will be the baby of the Chunglund family always. Happy two months J2!

love you to the moon and back,

Umma

wordless wednesday