Hymn to a Good Wife

Some things I will strive for until the day I go to heaven.

A good woman is hard to find,
and worth far more than diamonds.
Her husband trusts her without reserve,
and never has reason to regret it.
Never spiteful, she treats him generously
all her life long.
She shops around for the best yarns and cottons,
and enjoys knitting and sewing.
She's like a trading ship that sails to faraway places
and brings back exotic surprises.
She's up before dawn, preparing breakfast
for her family and organizing her day.
She looks over a field and buys it,
then, with money she's put aside, plants a garden.
First thing in the morning, she dresses for work,
rolls up her sleeves, eager to get started.
She senses the worth of her work,
is in no hurry to call it quits for the day.
She's skilled in the crafts of home and hearth,
diligent in homemaking.
She's quick to assist anyone in need,
reaches out to help the poor.
She doesn't worry about her family when it snows;
their winter clothes are all mended and ready to wear.
She makes her own clothing,
and dresses in colorful linens and silks.
Her husband is greatly respected
when he deliberates with the city fathers.
She designs gowns and sells them,
brings the sweaters she knits to the dress shops.
Her clothes are well-made and elegant,
and she always faces tomorrow with a smile.
When she speaks she has something worthwhile to say,
and she always says it kindly.
She keeps an eye on everyone in her household,
and keeps them all busy and productive.
Her children respect and bless her;
her husband joins in with words of praise:
"Many women have done wonderful things,
but you've outclassed them all!"
Charm can mislead and beauty soon fades.
The woman to be admired and praised
is the woman who lives in the Fear-of-God.
Give her everything she deserves!
Festoon her life with praises!
- Proverbs 31:10-31

Time with God's been hard to find/make with Maxx but it was doable. Now with Ellie as well, it's even harder. Nowadays, it has shrunk down to a chapter of the bible a day, read online on weekdays only, and a short prayer, either when I'm rocking Ellie to sleep for the night or as I'm passing out in bed. Gotta start again somewhere.

Catching Up

By midafternoon, Ellie had already taken 2 long naps. For both, she was in her crib for the most part. That used to be rare but is getting more common these day. Yay!
Her 2nd nap was at the same time as her brother's. Even better.
I also got to shower too! Feat number 3.
The hair's been starting to majorly fall out but that didn't stop me from feeling like it was a good morning. :)


Yesterday...
I took Ellie to the doc for ther 3 month appointment. Time flies.
Ellie's skin's extremely dry in patches. She has 2 big patches on the lower part of each cheek that rub against her clothes so it gets raw. It's been a healing cycle...dry & flaky skin, rub, raw skin, heal...dry, rub, raw, heal...erf. Her face overall is less dry but the areas that are dry are REALLY dry and it's now spreading to her arms and legs. Darn ezcema! Why do you have to be genetic!!


Anyhoo, the doc thought it was bad enough to check to make sure her skin's not reacting from milk allergies. When she was a few weeks old, I had a feeling she might be. So the doc gave me 2 prescription meds. One antibiotic cream to heal the raw skin and the other, 2.5% hydrocortizone cream for overall healing of the dryness. Both of which she prescribed to Maxx when he was about Ellie's age. Again, darn genetics! She also told me to change her formula to Similac alimentum. I actually thought it was adamantium and later realized that's what Wolverine's skeleton is made of. ha! She said it doesn't taste very good so I was nervous Ellie wouldn't drink it but after a couple meals, she's gulping it down fine. I'm not too worried because I don't think her allergies are from milk or if they are, they aren't too severe that she isn't in the process of outgrowing it already. Optimism is good.


Over the last few weeks, there have been a bunch of firsts and funnies. Here are some I was able to capture.


First SNOWBALL - Maxx seems to be sick every time it snows so it had to be indoors. He called it "eye-sh" after a few minutes because it lost its white color and melted so quickly.

First ICE CREAM CONE - Don't you love what hats do to hair?

FIRST time EATING RICE on his own with a SPOON (aka hands). Thankfully this is just rice and not a boogie. He'd have suffocated. And this time, it's not hat hair. It's umma's bad hair cutting skills.

Look CAREFULLY. No, not the soggy diaper. It's what Maxx likes to do with umma's "weeng". I don't think appa liked it too much. :)

How appa likes to position Princess Ellie. She got so big but still makes our sofa look huge.

By the way, I need to do some serious tummy time with her. I was so good about it with Maxx. Poor Ellie. At this rate, she'll be 2 before she can crawl! Bad umma!

FIRST "REAL" PHONE CALL
sem-che = samchon, uncle in korean
comp! = come!
nite nite = sleeping
Maxx opened my phone and said "sem-che, comp!". It was 8 in the morning so I told him that samchon's still sleeping. Hence, the "nite nite".



uncle, come! from joohyon doo on Vimeo.


FIRST time at the new 5 GUYS by the new Walmart. Appas, it's nothing personal.



appa from joohyon doo on Vimeo.


I went with my sister, 2 mommy friends, their kids, and one of the hubbies came to meet us after work. L's mom pointed out that we probably looked like a guy and is 4 wives & 3 kids. hahaah~!


Moms, take your kids. They just LOVE the cajun fries, music and (I dunno why but) drinking cups with straws. The kiddies were boppin' to the music the entire time. They will have a blast while you enjoy a yummy hot burger with everything on it. Oh and of course don't forget to give them some real food too. :)


Oh and I know I mentioned it before but I L-O-V-E Walmart. I'm now going there regularly to get some of the basics for my house. Maxx's organic half gallon milk is $3.50. 50 cents cheaper than shoprite or hmart. Gunn has Activia every morning so I make sure to have that stocked up. The 8-pack is $3.98 at Walmart and shoprite's got it regularly for $5.98! That's $2!! Hell-ooo! And they're hardly EVER on sale. Eggs are way cheap too but I've never heard of the brand so I'm wondering if I should keep getting it there. I figure at least the brand name items are fine. :D


Okay, last but not least, what Maxx says EVERY night...



five! from joohyon doo on Vimeo.


Okay. Goodnight!

Outdoor Fun Indoors!

Nice stairwell, right? Did you look closely on the other side of the rail? Yep! It's a friggin' SLIDE! How awesome is that! Your mom You call your kids to come down for dinner and they might just come on time.

Here's another. You'd never know it were a slide unless the kid was there, right? Simple enough that the design doesn't make your home look like a playground.

Its so cold out and I love snow but when you have kids, ideas like this seem so awesome. At one time I wanted to be an architect, then I wanted to marry an architect, and now, well neither of those things happened AND I don't think I could ever spend the amount of money it costs to make such major changes to any home SO...this one from Ikea will have to do. :)

You can't get it online but our local Paramus Ikea has it. I would totally get it for Maxx's 2nd birthday but its not as cheap as you expect from Ikea. I think it was $150? Hmmm....maybe. Its times like this that I wish I had carpentry abilities as well.

Besides slides, the other obvious outdoor playgroud fave is the swing. Imagine having a jungle gym & swings like this one in your home? I WISH!

Again, not too realistic but these are!

You can use your doorways. If you own, you can make your own & for dirt cheap too (photo left). If you rent, then you can buy a pressure mount support beam and swing separately (photo right). At least you can easily move it from room to room or if you move, to your next place. The other advantage to the pressure mounted style is that you can also get other "attachments" like a trapeeze bar, rings, or even a toddler swing if you have a little one too.

And of course, Ikea also has their version. It's part of the Ekorre line which also has hand rings & a rope ladder.

I can't wait to get or make one of these for Maxx and Ellie one day. Gotta make sure it can hold the weight of an adult too. I know myself. ha~!

By the way, I found most of these ideas over the last few weeks on Ohdeedoh.com.