twolims's Xanga

Thursday, April 30, 2009

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 00:24:46 GMT

Promise

The moment has come to revisit all that's done
And welcome you home, through you the pain is gone
Through your eyes, I'll see the heights of all that you will be
And I will shout among the loud a sense of pride in you in me

I imagine this, lights shining on your face
To five the first kiss, love realized in this
I've been waiting to seize that day to hold you in my arms
To give you all I couldn't have, to be the one that guides you

I want to be the one who holds your hand
I want to show all you need to be a man
I want to be used to teach the hope I have inside
The one that gives you joy to thrive
The one that gave a life to guide you through

This promise is made, I'll never leave your side
To take on my plate, the task to grow your life
To see you through these weathered eyes is all the joy I need
To know that I will be your dad is something I'll treasure inside

-Garrett Lim

Pregnancy Week 29

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 18:04:16 GMT

It's official: I can no longer run. I have to stick with walking. I go for a 2-mile walk in the morning (because that's all I have time for - walking is so much slower than running, didn't you know?) and I try to walk in the afternoon, depending on how much time I have and whether or not I have to teach a SET class. I remember the day when I would whip out a 6-7 mile run in the morning in under 1 hour, come home, shower, change, and start my day. Ahh, those were the days. I guess I'll pick up the tempo after all this baby comes out.

The main reason I can't run is because my belly is too heavy. There's too much weight there and as the baby is getting bigger, he is starting to stomp on my bladder. Multiply that with the impact of jogging and you have a really painful (and embarrassing!) experience.

One of my favorite times of the day is at night, when G and I get into bed, and we have our pillow talk moments. These days, pillow talk includes talking with the Baby. G likes to rest his head on my ribcage, and talk to him about his day, his ups and downs, and that he can't wait to meet and hold him. Last night's conversation went something like this:

"Hello in there...you're growing bigger and bigger. Son, let me tell you about this little sac that's next to your home. It's called a bladder. I know you're running out of room in there and you're doing your slam dunks, kicks, and punches, but if you could please avoid Mommy's bladder, she would really appreciate it. Thanks!" Baby usually responds with a kick and G feels it on his cheek!

-NL

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 18:53:40 GMT

I feel like we're really cutting down to the wire. Even though I still have about 2 1/2 months before Baby arrives, my nesting senses are kicking in and I'm in a constant state of anxiety about the state of the baby room. It's nice to have deadlines to help get our butts in gear and know that by a certain date, we have to paint the room, so by a certain date, we need to clean all the crap out of there. These past 4 years since we've lived there, that room has been a big storage room. We shoved all the stuff that we didn't want to look at in that space. We just assumed that if it's "out of sight", it's "out of mind". Well, now it IS "on our mind" and we can't ignore the mess. Every single item in that room must be cleaned out. And where does it all go? We have no more space to shove it. True, there is some storage space in the garage, but what it comes down to, is "what stuff do we REALLY need"? And the reality is, not much. That stuff has been out of our sight for 4 years (some even longer - we just transported it from our old house) and we did fine without it. I don't want to shove more junk into the garage and just keep displacing it, which is what happened when we last moved.

Last night, 3 bags of trash were disposed, but it looked like hardly a dent was made. Why did we keep these things for all these years? I have a feeling that many more bags will visit the landfill. Books are going to be donated. E-waste will be taken care of. We found enough pencils, lined paper, graph paper, pens, hi-lighters, tape, other school supplies that will last our kids until college. I did allow Garrett to keep his Super Nintendo games. He believes they will be collector's items - he still had the console, although he threw it out cause it was definitely broken. We also created a little box for his Chicago White Sox 2005 World Series memorabilia (newspaper clippings, ticket stubs, etc).

It's time to organize and start anew, and to stop buying "stuff".

-NL

Pregnancy Week 25

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 04:21:43 GMT

Sorry for the lack of updates. I've been cheating on Xanga with Mr. Facebook. I'm feeling little Lucas kick more and more. He used to kick really low but now he's all over the place. I like to mess with him. Apparently, babies can now detect light as their fused eyelids begin to open. I shine a flashlight directly onto my bare belly and he moves away from it. Then I shine it to the other side so he spins around. Then I move it to around and so does he! It's hilarious. Garrett thinks he'll get me back by being rambunctious and disturb ME when I'm trying to sleep, which I'm sure will be the case anyway.

It's been fun teaching exercise classes. Everyone asks me how long I'll continue to do them, and I say "as long as the baby stays in my tummy!" I hope that stays true cause I must admit, it's getting more and more taxing to keep up with all the choreography, etc. But I do what I can and it's a great workout. I tried doing tricep dips the other day and it was really hard. I then realized it was like I was wearing a huge weighted vest on my body. Yes, I have gained quite a bit of weight, but most people say it's all in my belly. I really hope so.

I'm really looking forward to what our baby will look like. I wonder whose eyes he'll have. Whose smile. Whose height. I can't wait!

-NL

Tuesday, March 03, 2009

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 19:07:22 GMT

Garrett says to me: "This is what my life would look like in Heaven."

-NL

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Sat, 21 Feb 2009 22:46:20 GMT

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a penis.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Thu, 12 Feb 2009 05:20:02 GMT

If you guys are looking for a great deal on a gym membership, I can get you one at 24 Hour Fitness.

The new club at Walnut/City of Industry is beautiful. We got a tour today and the equipment is amazing! So many new things I did not know even existed. The club is big (although there's no basketball court, sorry) and there are some amazing features. My favorites are:

-the super cool treadmill that can go up to 30% incline (usually treadmills go only up to 15%). There are handles cause you're basically climbing up a nearly vertical tread. And the best part? You can make it DECLINE! That's right - I can do my hill runs and train downhill! (After the baby is born, of course)
-the brick wall where you throw the medicine ball
-the medicine ball/ab workout seat that's like a little basketball game. It's a little difficult to describe, but imagine that move where you throw the medicine ball at a partner and they throw it back at you and you catch it, but this machine allows you to do it all by yourself
-really hi-tech cycle room with overhead fans
-the swimsuit dryer in the locker room (cause who likes to bring home a wet, soggy swimsuit, right?)

But..the best part is that on Tuesday nights at 5:30, I'll be teaching 24SET! So come and join me! Let me know if you're interested in a discounted membership, too!

-NL

Friday, January 30, 2009

Fri, 30 Jan 2009 03:22:51 GMT

I have failed. I'm ashamed. What better place to admit my short-comings than here on the world wide web where friends and stranger can read and judge.

I have not eaten Taco Bell since I was a sophomore in high school. That was 13 years ago. It all happened because I read somewhere (probably an unreliable source, but hey, I was 16 years old) that Taco Bell used meat that was equivalent to dog food. After I read that, I never wanted to touch, smell, nor be near anything that came out of Taco Bell. Yes, it was convenient. In fact, at UCLA, it was located right at the bottom of Bruin Walk where almost every day, Garrett would eat a Nachos Grande and it would sicken me. Not once did I have any curiosity about how their menu had evolved from the regular soft taco to the chalupa to the whatever they have now.

Fast forward 13 years. I'm pregnant. I haven't actually had any cravings, but a few weeks ago, I just wanted nacho cheese. Not the real shredded cheese that gets heated up and melts. I mean the fake stuff. The fake orange glob that comes in a bag. The kind of cheese substance they serve at a ball game where they run a plastic tray of chips under some machine and presto instant nachos! Yes, the kind they serve at Taco Bell. I make my craving known to Garrett, but insisted he not indulge me in crap like that. After all, I'm proud to be a semi-organic food consumer, a non-processed food eater, a whole-grain kinda granola girl.

Today, I failed. I gave in. But it was the best damn nachos I have ever tasted. With the best fake beans, fake sour cream, and who knows if those tomatoes are real or not. I asked them to leave off the fake ground beef because, well, it could be like dog food.

-NL

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Tue, 27 Jan 2009 04:52:38 GMT

My belly is growing, but I'm still at the stage where there's not much shape. I just look like a fat girl. My non-maternity shirts are getting too short so I look like those girls who have shirts that ride up their bellies and show their muffin tops. I feel very self-conscious about how my body looks.

Also, I keep reading how people are so attached to this growing baby inside of them. Honestly, I just don't feel that way. Maybe it's because I don't feel him or her kicking yet. It almost seems like I'm imagining pregnancy. I can't wait to feel the first flutter or movement. At this point, it's just a mass that's pushing on my stomach which makes me totally full after eating half my meal and taking forever to digest a meal.

I can't complain though. I have much more energy than in my first trimester and I can actually stomach most meats without gagging. I'm supposed to get 60-75 grams of protein a day. How is that even possible?

-NL

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 21:24:49 GMT

I received very exciting news from the director of Group Fitness at 24 Hour. They offered me my own class! I'll be teaching the middle of February when I'm 20 weeks pregnant. I can't wait to see the look on the students' faces when they see a big-bellied woman up there.

I know people who are my age or younger who get zero amounts of exercise. Then I hear the complaints that they're getting fat. That their clothes don't fit. That they're tired. Blah blah blah. Shut up and do something about it. You are too young to be inactive! Can you imagine what your body will look and feel like 5 or 10 years from now? Gross, I don't even want to think about it.

I have the best motivation for taking this baby weight off - I need to fit into a bridesmaid dress! Congrats Nae and Doug!

Here's a picture of my favorite Christmas gift from my sis-in-law:

The cutest onesie! I think it's too cute to wear; I'll probably wear it once for a picture and frame it cause baby Lim's gonna be a super-star!

-NL