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Jim and I got to leave early from work, so we were home before 4pm. Martha was glad to see Jim because both babies were crying and my mom was out at Jenny's place. My mom went to Jenny's place to help her cook for her party at her house. When I got home, both of them were already sleeping. Martha had to leave tonight for church, so she left about 6 pm. We played with the kids for a little bit after she left as we waited for my mom to bring home some food from Jenny's party, and she got home around 7:30pm. We quickly ate dinner so that Jim can put Max to bed, and it took him almost an hour. Arie then went to bed shortly after in less than 15 minutes without much rocking and walking. They are just so different.

The end of this year is near, and 2003 is quickly approaching in less than 2 hours PST. 2002 has been an incredible, amazing, and challenging year for Jim and I. I wish you all a happy and healthy new year.

Posted by Winnie 10:35 PM

Today, the kids took their first swimming lesson. These lessons were not given by professionals (except for Winnie) and they were in the bathtub mind you. Max really enjoyed floating on his back. He also really likes to kick his feet. I am sure he will be a good swimmer like his mom. Arie also had a great time. She laughed so hard when her teacher (Winnie) scooted her across the bottom of the tub. Unfortunately we didn't take any pictures to post...well, I take that back...since the instructors were naked it was probably a good thing we didn't! I am sure we would have gotten a lot of fan mail though. After their swimming lessons they had a bottle and went to sleep on mommy and daddy, while mommy and daddy found out why they never saw Rocky IV before (What a terrible movie!). After they woke up, there were moments of laughter, crying, more eating and other stuff along those same lines. Max went to sleep (lets see if he stays in dreamland) without to much crying. I guess he learned it doesn't pay to mess with daddy...(I'll pay for that one I am sure). As for Arie, she is still awake. Mom and Mommy like to keep her up a little later so she sleeps later. Well Daddy is getting a little tired too...so I better sign off before start typing incoherentlysdfkalskdfas dfjas f wadf dss...............................
Posted by Winnie 9:54 PM

Yeah, Jim finally figured it out for me. We signed up to a free commenting service and now others can comment on our blog, which I think is cool. Thank You, Jim. Simply click on the comment link on the bottom of the entry you want to comment on.
Posted by Winnie 6:26 PM

Friday
I had to go to work yesterday, but Jim got to stay home with the babies, Martha, and my mom. When I got home, both of them just finished a bottle and was getting a little sleepy. They both felt asleep at dinner time so we were able to enjoy our meal undisturbed.

Posted by Winnie 10:01 AM

Nobody seems to know what is Boxing day here in US, but I remember how important this day is. It's the day we could only open gifts when I was in Hong Kong. I was quite surprised / happy to find out that I can actually open gifts on Christmas morning when I first got here. Well, the kids don't know what it is yet, but I am sure they won't like the idea to open gifts a day after Christmas. : )

A couple of weeks ago, Max was able to control his hands pretty well. When I held a stuff animal in front of him this afternoon, I was shock to see that he could actually grab it with his hand tightly. His little legs are always moving, and he could almost roll over too. On the other hand, Arie doesn't have any desire to move or grab anything in front of her except her fingers, but she still has the funniest laughs when we bounce her on our knees. She is talking and giggling so much that I couldn't stop laughing every time. Whenever she meets Max, she would make the cutest noises like she is trying to say 'hi' to Max. I got to take some videos one of these days. hint hint...
Posted by Winnie 10:23 PM

Merry Christmas!!! But, Christmas is almost over as it's now 10pm. Everyone is sleeping except Jim and I. I am so excited that Jim got an blog upgrade, therefore, I got to make an entry tonight before I go to bed. Well, he is making sure I will continue to keep a journal for our kids and us. Jim, thank you!!!

The day started out pretty early as Max woke up several times last night. He woke up at 10pm last night, then 3am again, and last at 5 am this morning. I fed him at 5am this morning and played with him before he got back to sleep. Arie woke up at 5am too, and my mom was hoping I could take Arie. Well, she ended up feeding her and Arie felt back to sleep after eating 2 oz. Max then slept with us until 7am and Martha took him, so Jim and I got to sleep until 9:30am. We had grits and eggs for breakfast, then the exciting moment came - opening gifts. I got to open more gifts this years because most of them were for the kids. Thank You, mom and dad in Indiana. Well, I am sure as the kids get older they won't be letting me opening their gifts anymore...so I got to take my chance. I got a gym suit and a CD from Jim. Thank you , Jim. I got a cool Chinese calendar from Bob and Carol which my mom was so surprised that they could get one from Indiana. My mom has been looking for a Chinese calendar for next year for a long time, she usually gets one from the Chinese grocery store, but for some reasons she didn't get one this year. Now, we got one. Thank You, Bob and Carol. The best of all I got a Sony PDA which I have been wanting to get one to keep track of Dr's appointments, Dr's phone numbers, and addresses for the kids. Thank You to Bob, Carol, mom and dad, and grandpa. Jim got some new cloths from me. He also got a CD, air-surfer, and coin set from mom and dad in Indiana. He was so excited when he got socks from my mom as he has been wanting to get socks for work. For the kids, they got mostly cute cloths from grandpa and grandma Castor, Ashley and Joe, Corrine and Pete, Jenny and Paul, Kimmy and Ricky, and my mom. Grandma and grandpa Stottlemyer got them books, musical instruments that don't have an "off" button, ultra saucer that they've been playing before Christmas, and baby bach videos. My mom loves the Beattle's DVD from us, and she couldn't wait to watch it. She has seen the movie 'A Hard Day's Night' more than 10 times, so she is so happy to finally own one so she could watch it over and over again. Martha loves the sweater from my mom, and the Spanish calendar from Dorcia. We finished opening gifts before noon, and Jim started to prepare for our Christmas dinner.

The dinner was a great success, and everyone loved the steaks and the pork chops. Jim has marinated the pork chops for over 6 hours before grilling them, and it was so juicy and tender. My green bean casserole was pretty popular too, and so was Jim's world famous mocha cheese cake. Everything tasted great, and everyone seemed to enjoy them a lot. The timing for dinner was right too for the kids were both sleeping when we were eating. We got to enjoy the wonderful food for over an hour before they both started to wake up for a bottle. Thank You, kids!!! We then opened more gifts after desert. After Max and Arie are both fed, they got to see their grandma from Indiana over the internet. It was great to see you , mom. We all miss you here!!
Hope you had a wonderful Christmas too.

This year's Christmas is especially special for us because of our new additions, and I wouldn't have imagined it this way in last year's Christmas. I can't even imagine what Christmas will be like when the kids get older. Now, the kids are sleeping and Jim is getting sleepy. I am so glad that Jim got this upgraded for me, so that I can always remember what it is like every Christmas. Again, thank you. I love you, Jim.
Posted by Winnie 11:07 PM

Merry Christmas (Eve)!!! I asked Winnie not to enter an update tonight because I entered a special Christmas message. The reason I didn't want Winnie to login and update the blog is because then she would see part of her Chistmas present. Merry Christmas Winnie. I upgraded your Blogspot and Blogger accounts. I hope you like it.
Posted by Winnie 11:41 PM

We celebrated Christmas with our family yesterday at Pete and Corrine¡¦s home in Dana Point. My mom cooked her famous curry chicken wings, and auntie Jenny brought her lasagna to the party. All morning, Jim and I were busy getting the kids ready for the party, and I think Jim got tired of me keep changing the kids¡¦ outfit. So, I finally just picked something more comfortable so that they won¡¦t get too sweaty in the car seat.

It took us over an hour to get to my aunt¡¦s place, and the kids were pretty good the whole time in the car. We got there at about 2:30pm and everyone was already there. Everyone was excited to see Max and Arie and wanted to take pictures with them. Auntie Jenny and Corrine were so helpful that they both volunteered to feed the babies, so Jim and I could enjoy the delicious food. There were so much food, and again I ate more than I should. John was so cute that he couldn¡¦t wait to give his Christmas gifts to Max and Arie. Ashley told me that he purposely picked a bigger gift for Max because Max is his favorite, and he said Max always look at him every time he talks to him, but Arie is always sleeping. Max and Arie both got many presents from their aunties and uncles, and I couldn¡¦t wait to see what they are. Well, Jim won¡¦t let me open them until Christmas day.

We got home about 7pm and immediately we fed the kids. We then gave them a bath, which they seemed to enjoy. Max started to get fussier around 8pm, and he kept crying for almost an hour before falling asleep. We tried the gripe water, water, milk, swaddling, singing, rocking, walking, talking and playing music to him, and they all didn¡¦t seem to work. He finally got too tired that he went to sleep. Jim and I just couldn¡¦t figure why he seems to have a hard time sleeping on Sunday night, but he is usually fine during the week. Arie then slept around 9pm. At last, Jim and I finally got some time alone, but we both felt asleep on the couch shortly until 1am.

Posted by Winnie 12:31 PM

Jim and I took the kids out for a stroll around our neighborhood this afternoon, and it was a bit cold and windy. Max and Arie enjoyed the scenery along the way, and both felll asleep when we got to Trader Joe. We then got some sushi and a corn dog for lunch at Bristol Farm on our way back home. When we got home, I gave them a bath before feeding them. Arie cried and pushed the bottle away as I was trying to feed her, and we could hear gas passing out from her little body. So, we fed her some gripe water, and it helped her a little. Anyway, she just hasn’t been eating as much lately, sometime only 3 oz per feeding. Max is eating almost 5 oz every feeding now, so I am expecting to see an increase in hers too. Well, maybe we are just used to seeing her eating more than she can hold, so that’s why it is odd to see her turning down food. Now, Arie is sleeping and Jim is holding Max as he got woken up from gas. Poor guy..
Posted by Winnie 5:36 PM

Winnie asked me to provide today's update. Today was okay for the kids. They didn't sleep much during the day, so they both went to sleep a little early. The day did start out a little crazy though. One of my favorite cousins from Indiana called me at 4:50 AM. She wanted to make sure she caught me before I went to work. Well, she did! Max then woke up to because of the noise and it took Winnie about 50 minutes to get him back to sleep. Alan got the kids each a Christmas present, and they made us open it now. They were two cute outfits. Mom wanted the kids to wear them to our Christmas party on Sunday. Well, I guess that about wraps it up. Winnie is asleep on the couch, I can hear max grunting over the monitor and I can hardly keep my eyes open because my contacts are drying out. To all a good nite! (shhhh....the babies are sleeping)
Posted by Winnie 10:31 PM

Max and Arie are both sleeping now, and Jim is getting ready for bed so that he can get up to feed Max later tonight. Today is Jim's birthday, and we had dinner and a cake at home. Happy Birthday, Jim / Dad!!! My gift to him is to take Max tonight so that he can have a good night sleep...maybe. : )
Posted by Winnie 11:07 PM

One of the remedies we use to help ease gas pain for Max and Arie is gripe water, and Dr. Sach, kids’ pediatrician, introduced it to us. It is called Baby's bliss gripe water, and it contains natural remedies like ginger and fennel. We have used it on Max several time when he was fussing and crying for a long time, and it did calm him down. Dr. Sach also recommended us to use Mylicon drop, but it didn't work as well as the gripe water. We ran out of gripe water last weekend, and how I wish we had some to give it to Max to ease his gas pain and discomfort from the vaccines. I thought the pump station in Santa Monica is the only place that carries the medicine, but Jim was able to find them at other places near our home. Alan, my brother, was so kind that he picked 2 bottles up for us.
Posted by Winnie 9:28 PM

Max has been feeling a little more sensitive since he got his vaccines on last Friday. He has been crying a lot more, and he has difficulties falling asleep. Last night, he woke up twice - 12am and 3:30am. He was able to fall back to sleep after the bottle, but it was hard for Jim and I to get up in the middle of the night. I talked to my mom this morning, and she said Arie slept through the night again. I wonder if she will still sleep through the night if she has to sleep with us in our bedroom. We are so grateful that my mom helps take care of Arie; otherwise, Jim and I will have a hard time getting any sleep at all. I finally got a chance to do some Christmas shopping with Tracy during lunch today. I got 2 books for John, my cousin, and Tracy got some stuffs too. I have yet to get more Christmas gifts.
Posted by Winnie 12:02 PM

Max and Arie are now 4 months old, and they have been keeping us very busy. Last Friday, they got their second round of immunization, and again it wasn't easy to take 2 babies to the doctor's office. Max was actually handled much better than we have expected, however, Arie cried so hard. Martha went with us, and she couldn't help and cried too. They both slept in the car on the way back home. On Saturday, we didn't want to take them out, so we all stayed home. They weren't too fussy pretty much all day until 7 pm. First, Max didn't really want to eat and sleep, so it was hard to calm him down. He cried for over an hour and wouldn't stop, so Jim and I decided to give him some Tylenol and he slept after 15 min. Then, Arie couldn't fall asleep, and she screamed and cried. By then, Jim and I were already exhausted from all these, and we couldn't wait till my mom come home. She went out with Jenny and Paul to Ontario mall and she didn't come back till 8pm. She then took Arie and helped her to sleep in less than 15 min. It was great and finally Jim and I got to relax a bit.
Posted by Winnie 7:18 PM