Good Bye to Oracle and PeopleSoft

On Wednesday night, I submitted an email of resignation to my manager. After 8 and half years and working in two countries, it was my time to move on. Moving on to the most challenging but rewarding career of all -- being a full-time Mom!

I am glad I had an opportunity to work for one of the largest and the most prominent IT companies in the world. I sure enjoyed the complexities of things, both technical and interpersonal, and I am who I am today because of those experiences. I want to thank all who believed in me and gave me the opportunities to challenge myself further. I want to wish everyone the best of luck!!

I am a very proud ex-PeopleSofter!!

Kids, here comes Mommy!!!!

Almost Christmas ~ Granda's Coming to Town!

Twins decided to empty out the toy bin and get inside!
Sean likes to watch Christmas light shows on YouTube

Noah was sick with high fever but better now

Saya started to eat finger foods

Bath Baby

Mike has been off from work since 12/21 and Sean is on winter break, too. Grandma's on a plane somewhere over the pacific as I type and our Christmas is shaping up to be a cozy family event. We had a "wrapping party" one night last week just Mike and I to wrap all the presents we got for the kids and each other. It's so easy to buy stuff for the kids. Just thinking of the reactions when they open their presents and how happy they will be fed my brain and I again bought too much.

Noah was sick for three days with high fever and is just recovering. Saya is cutting her very first tooth on the bottom and doing a great job! Aly is talking a lot and being funny. She is our in house comedian. She repeats anything anyone says and she tries to copy cat all the gestures, too. When a barely two-year-old does that, it's pretty funny. Sean's quite happy and quite upset, storm and bright sunshine packed in his skinny body of his. I think the out of routine stuff during the break is throwing him off guard. He's alright though. Doing pretty well making amazing progress.

We are just waiting for grandma to get here tomorrow morning. It should be a lot of fun having her around. We'll be going to our church in the early evening. We are a young family and just barely starting our own tradition. It's fun to be able to do that. One of the perks for being a parent!

Videos from Preschool

Here are some videos from Sean's class:

Love my kiddos!

I am particularly happy today thinking of all things I have.  It is so easy to fall on wishing for what we don't have, but I am very fortunate to feel that I have everything I need the way I like them.  My children are such blessings.  They complete the missing pieces in my life and give me a healthy challange to be a better person.  I tell them every day how thankful I am to have them in my life and I hope they feel the same way about me.  I just might be the luckiest person to have four cute kids, smart and kind husband and beautiful home.  I want to thank all my family and friends for their love and support.  I am a marshmallow today!  Am I high on Vitamin B12 or what. I might have overdosed it. 

The Latest and The Greatest

When I miss posting for a few days, the list of things to write becomes too big and I procrastinae, which of course makes it even harder to initiate.  Where can  begin?  In the past week, we've done family portrait, another church visit, pulled out Christmas tree, dentist, some Christmas shopping, celebrated Grandpa's birthday, another ABA doctor visit etc...  My calender is full and I am practically a Mom/personal manager taking kids to appointments everyday.  Sean calls my minivan "Mommy Bus" and it really is! 

Today, Sean's class had a gingerbread decoration party and both Mike and I went to see him at school.  When I walked into the room, he was quietly playing with a toy and I snuk up behind him and gave him a kiss on his head.  He did this face, drawing his chin in, smiling, and was very happy to see me there.  After a while, Daddy came and gave him a big hug from behind.  He was sooo happy to see Daddy at school. He burried his face on Daddy's sweater and was smiling big.  We decorated a small gingerbread house using white icing and candies.   It was interesting because most children in his class did not go nuts seeing all those candies there.  I expected that many children would just shove candies in their mouth but most children didn't!  We had a good time.  Sean was concentrating very hard and very careful when spreading the icing.  He put minimal decorations on the house, so I helped a little with that.  At the circle time, they sang and danced.  He knew all the moves and it was really cute to see him having so much fun with his friends and teacher.

On church hunting - Mike and I have decided that it would be nice to introduce children to the world of faith.  We don't have a preference to what sect or religion, so we randomly visit the churches nearby.  We went to The Unity of Bellevue two weeks ago and we liked it.  It is a dinky looking church from the outside, but it actually is spacious and beautiful inside.  What we liked about the church is that they are open to different beliefs - like they had a Ravi preach there on the day we went.  They also emphasize on meditation and that we could really use.  We liked the calm and welcoming atomosphere and we have decided that we'll go back to it this week.  Last church we went to was a little Baptist church and it was a wee bit too traditional for us.  The people seemed nice, but it was pretty much a classic church lady galore and the average attendees' age would have been above 70.   We sort of felt like we could suffocate there so left before the paster began his sarmon thanks to Alyson (she cried at the nursery and the lady brought her out).  We are excited to have found the church we like and looking forward to going back this Sunday!

Saya is sitting up very well now and can last a very long time without falling.  She has developed stranger anxiety and you should have seen her today with the ABA doctor!  She was terrified!  She puts her arms out to the side when she wants to be picked up.  It's so cute to see her lean all these new skills.  She still hates tummy time and wonder when she'll learn to crawl. 

The ABA doctor visit went well.  One line he told us taught me all that I was missing.  "You are working so hard running around giving him feedbacks when he's acting badly and quiet and unengaged when he is behaving nicely!"  Well, I get it now.  I have to change the way I think and work the opposit way than I am used to.  I feel better about this method.  The doctor said the fact that he is behaving nicely elsewhere means there is something wrong at home.  I feel bad that I was reinforcing bad behaviors by giving him attention, even it being negative.  This ABA thing will take a while to succeed but I owe it to Sean for all the wrong messages I was sending. 

The discovery of the week: Sean can do almost anything by himself!!  Let the kid do it himself and reward him with a sticker!

Saya Sits Up

Saya having solid
Lounging around

Shopping trip to Fred Myer

Cute twin moment in Fred Myer

Saya is 7 month old and she is now able to sit up for a very long time. She loves to sit and play with her toys. We put the nursing pillow around her and she rests by laying down when she gets tired and sits up again by herself when she's ready to sit again.

We had the ABA doctor come by last Wed and he made some suggestions to Sean's behavioral problems. He thinks he acts up at home because he wants attention and the best course of action to take is ignoring the bad behaviors. If he hits Noah, for example, pay attention to Noah and completely ignore him. It can be very hard because our first instinct is to discipline him. We are trying it anyhow. We have to pay more attention to kids now and getting stuff around the house seems impossible. We'll try this method and hopefully we don't have to be as vigilant in the near future. With this method, naturally Noah gets a lot of attention because he is the most well behaved. I am glad we are able to reward Noah with the attentions he deserves.

It's COLD outside! The high today was in low 40s according to the news, but it felt like 35. In fact when I drove Aly to the gym class in the morning, it was 34! It's going to be even colder in the next several days. I am glad that at least it is sunny and no snow.

Amy let me borrow her "Twilight" book last week and I was quite sleep deprived! Initially, I was planning to read one chapter per day (there are 24 chapters), but from about chapter 3 I was sucked in and could not stop reading. Needless to say, I am done with the book already. I will buy the sequel "New Moon" this weekend. I am a rebel and normally do not get into stuff that is "current", but I lost my battle this time! It's easy reading and let me escape from my kids and chores.

Our neighbor, Kevin and Jen, had their second son yesterday morning. He was 35 weeks but weighed whopping 6 pounds and 15 ounces!! I am very happy for them for the safe arrival of their baby. Jen had complications from mid pregnancy and was on the bed rest. Next up is another neighbor, Neal and Sarah. Their baby daughter is due in three weeks. Happy news all around on our street. I cannot wait to meet all the new babies in the neighborhood!

Just Videos

Random videos taken recently.

Quick Post!

Just pictures today as I need to go to bed! We had a good weekend as you can see!

On Friday, Mommy and Sean went to the school playground

Factoria Mall

Kids are dressed up because we went to a church today! Yes, a church!!

Saya overflowing from an infant tub

Happy Thanksgiving!

Saya taking a bath while Alyson looks on - a night before Thanksgiving!
We didn't bake turkey, but had plenty of food.

Sean at Dim Sim place today

Aly liked the mango pudding

She normally stuffs food as much as she can

We had fun!!


We had the Dutts and Yukako over for the Thanksgiving dinner. We didn't cook turkey this year (maybe next year), but I prepared pork tenderloins, sausages, garlic green beans, traditional dressing with sausage, miso soup and a very tart apple pie. The tart part was unplanned... To try reduce the workload on the day, I prepared the apples the night before. Apparently, I put too much lemon then. The rest of the dishes turned out pretty well. The guests brought pasta salad and inari, the sushi rice wrapped in sweet tofu skin. The girls sat at the table almost the whole time and kept eating while chatting... Mike and Baskhar watched football downstairs and came up several times to load up the food. Since Baskhar is not familiar so much with football, Mike was enthusiastically explaining how to watch the game.

The kids were overall behaving well. Hanae's kids, Ayrie (3.5 yrs) and Rion (1.5 years) were champion eaters. Aly enjoyed chasing around Rion while Noah enjoyed playing downstairs with choochoos. Sean played well with Ayrie and he was asking where she was today. Saya was being shockingly loud, but that's not a surprise to us anymore. I just felt very fortunate to being able to enjoy the company of good friends and watching our children play and having a good time. I love my life!! I do feel very lucky to being able to say it.

Today, we were recuperating from overeating. Since Amy came to work this morning, Mike and I took Sean and Aly out. Aly has a gym class every Friday at 10:30, so I took her to the class while Sean and Daddy went to the Crossroad Mall. Aly had a good time at the gym, wide-eyed and constantly running around. We took the kids to our favorite Dim Sum place nearby. As we sat at the table at the restaurant, we joked how easy it is to dine with only two children. It is true!! Try doing it with four little kids and you'll be the grumpiest parents on the planet! We had a good lunch there. It was a really nice treat.

In the late afternoon, Mike cleaned the roof and gutters and hang the Christmas lights. He was being a very good husband. Thanks Mike!! Tomorrow, we'll set up the Christmas tree. Sean has been looking forward to this for a long time, so it will be fun. We'll try to take the kids photos in front of the trees again some time and hope they turn out better than last year!

Saya's Personality

Aly opening the present from Nana and Pinky
Mike showing pictures on iPhone

With Pinky

With Nana

Saya will be 7 months old next week. She is getting ready to sit up and be a little more independent in terms of play. Whenever there is something interesting in front of her, she is not shy to reach out and grab it. She sort of dives for it in a sense, I don't think she's worried about falling and getting hurt at this point. She seems to be a very determined girl. She interacts with Alyson a lot and they both giggle and laugh together. I think they will be good friends. Her legs are strong and her thighs look bigger than rugby boys', more like power lifters'. She rather stand than sit or lay down and she 'lasts' the longest on the jumber. I need to be careful and make sure I trim her nails because she makes this raking motion with her fingers and manages to scratch herself and others around pretty well.

She babbles a lot and currently into blowing raspberries. Her bibs get soaked in no time! She looks somewhat like Daddy and a tad like me. People say she looks like Sean when he was a baby. She has pretty hazel eyes and I think they are going to stay gray/green now that she's passed 6 month. Her hair is medium brown and looks like it is going to be lighter than her brothers' and sister's. It is still hard to picture what she might look like in a year, but she is going to be a pretty girl. I just cannot believe she is going to be 7 month soon and she'll be crawling in a month or so. We were just there with Alyson and Noah a year ago!

The photos are from the trip to Minneapolis. Sean had a blast!! Well, everyone did!! I am glad they got to spend some time with Nana and Pinky. Thank you Nana and Pinky for the presents for the kids and me!

Little Glimps of Sean's Visit to Minnneapolis

Sean and Nana on the first night

Sean enjoying the ride at the arcade in America Mall

Look at his happy smile!!

With Grandma Pinky

With Nana and Grandma Pinky


I wanted to post some photos of my little boy who's visiting his great grandmother and grandmother in Minnesota. Mike sent me those pictures on iPhone. Sean went to the Nickelodeon Amusement Park (situated inside a big shopping mall) on Tuesday and had a blast as you can see in the photos. Today, they went up to Little Falls to see grandma Pinky. They are all having a great time it seems!

All is well at home, too. A friend of mine will be coming over for dinner tonight so should be fun!

Almost Thanksgiving!

Noah looking intently at horses in the Crossroad Mall

Gorgeous Cupcakes from Trophy Cupcakes - I am not a cupcake fan normally, but I am a fan! They are that good!
Aly likes to imitate whatever Sean's doing. Here, she'd grabbed a spoon for herself and a few blocks so that she can be just like her brother!

Noah is happy 90% of the waking hour!

Aly is like a bright sunshine. She really lightens up the groomy weather.

Sweet Saya - she's got very strong grips. She likes to pull out Mommy's hair by clumps!

Aly playing with display toys at a toy store at the Crossroad Mall.

The kids all go to different directions when they are set loose.

All the merchants, it seems, were very eager to get over with Halloween so that they could pull out their cheerful Holiday decorations. Forget about the harvest theme already, it's the money making Holiday season! Well, that's the impression I got when I went to the mall with Sean this morning. Is it just me or I feel more rushed this year?

Mike and Sean are going to Minneapolis from Monday through Thursday to visit Nana and grandma Pinky. This is the very first time I am not with Sean overnight or longer. I will miss him and Daddy very much, but I am sure they'll have a good time over there. So, I will stop worrying about things!! He's a Daddy's little boy anyway, so he'll do fine without me. Aly and Saya are attached to me and Noah's to no one, so things should be ok in the house, too. It's a strange feeling though not having my little boy in the house with me.

Noah is making some progress with speech. He now says "Juice" and makes dog sounds. He also seems to respond better to music. When I sing a song about jumping, he starts to jump etc... So, he seems to be understanding a lot. He still has problems responding when I call his name and that is very concerning. We booked a neuro evaluation with Dr.Vlcek on Dec 17 and his speech eval appointment (for over all Autism eval) should be ready to be set up as I sent in his paperwork last week. He is a sweet boy and since his demeanor is so good, he gets put on the side a lot. I am sorry Noah-chan!!

We will see how the next four days go without Mike and Sean. It will be quieter for sure, but not so much as I still have three little noise makers around, keeping me working hard~