Lily & Leo

I got the honor, privilege, and blessing of celebrating my first mother’s day this year!!  Khoa surprised me first by sending me flowers to my work a week early!  He got a pretty arrangement called the Royal Spring Lilies where there were light pink, orange and yellow lilies!  He then told me that day that he also booked me a Mommy and Me photo session with his friends who’s a photographer, Brianna Caster!  So he took me and Lily shopping that evening for new outfits for our photo session, talk about getting spoiled!  It was such a nice gesture, at first I was shy and didn’t want to do it, but it made a lot of sense to do it though because I’m always the one taking the pictures and so I’m rarely in any photos WITH my precious baby!  So thanks a lot baby cakes for the wonderful gift!  Due to the time crunch and schedule, we were only able to take pictures midday, and so we mostly took pictures under the trees to avoid the harsh lighting and shadows, but it was a very nice location at the Carbon Canyon Regional Park in Yorba Linda.  I definitely want to come back and enjoy the little lake and surroundings!  They have nice hiking trails and picnic tables and gazebos there too for parties!  Click HERE for more pictures from this session!

The next day, Khoa surprised me again and booked me a nice relaxing 80 minute massage at the Burke Williams Day Spa!  I never been there before and so it was quite a new and wonderful experience.  They had some nice hibiscus tea and lemon water everywhere, with bowls of fruit for you to enjoy.  They had a quiet room you can sit and relax in and a lounge area for you to browse through magazines.  They also had a Jacuzzi,  steam and sauna room.  They even had showered equipped with body wash, shampoo and conditioner!  It was amazing to enjoy some peace and quiet to recharge my batteries because I was really starting to get burned out.  For my massage, I got the special Burke Williams treatment too where they gave you a back arm and leg exfoliating scrub, and they were suppose to use heat pads on my back when they weren’t working on my back, but since there weren’t any heat pad available, the masseuse used a heated clay pad and threw in some heat stones too!!  It was very nice!!  I can totally get use to this kind of pampering!!  After my relaxing morning at the spa, Khoa Lily and I went to lunch at Shik Do Rak in Irvine!  We haven’t been there in ages, and boy was it tasty as ever!!  Lily was also so good playing and hanging out in her booster seat chomping on her cheerios!  She kept getting the attention of the waitresses and they waitresses kept coming back to play with her!  That worked in out favor because we didn’t have to flag them down to get refills on our side dishes!  Haha!  Thanks Lily!

Fast forward to the following Tuesday, the week of Mother’s Day, Khoa surprised me yet again with ANOTHER bouquet of flowers sent to my office!!  This time it came with an aroma therapy bath set, and a box of chocolates!  The flowers were these pretty stargazer lilies and irises!  It came with a little sign that says “Greatest Mom” on it too!  I had quite a stir of emotions when I saw the sign, but it hit me again that wow, I AM a mom!  I mean I know I am a mom, but wow, I still can’t believe it!  When I picked Lily up from school the Friday before Mother’s Day, there was an envelope on her cubie with my name on it.  I opened it and it was a card, my very first card that she made me!!  It has some crayon scribbles and paint blots on it, and I was so amazed with it, and so touched.  I didn’t even know she can hold a crayon and do that, and I didn’t even know her school was planning on doing anything at that age!  So it was a very nice surprise, and I will for sure keep this, my very first card from Lily!!! =)  On the actual Mother’s Day, it was the day after our friend Siv and Carney’s wedding.  So we were still in the valley, and so we went and had a Mother’s Day lunch at Nat’s Cafe with Luce and Yang with their cute kiddos Avery and Mia!  We then relaxed at home and went to church in the evening.  I got to be part of the special Mother’s Day blessing at the end of mass for the very 1st time!  It felt a little weird cause I still can’t believe I’m a mom, but it was a very special and honoring experience!  We then went to dinner with Khoa’s family to celebrate the day with his mom.  After that, we cleaned up the house a bit and then relaxed before real life started all over again!  Khoa did surprise me with another gift, a gold necklace that’s in the shape of a heart, that’s also a locket!  He even put two pictures inside, a family one of me, Khoa and Lily, and the other side is one of just Lily!  It’s a Rembrandt Charm too!  Fancy!  I love it a lot, I can wear it every day and keep my family close to my heart!!  Thanks so much for this thoughtful gift baby cakes!

When people ask me how life as a mom is, and how does it feel, there’s no good short answer for that.  Sometimes when I’m by myself and really reflect on my journey as a mommy so far, I get emotional, and I get overwhelmed with emotions, happy emotions, that I just cannot put into words.  I must say that the past 11 months were and are the best times of my life, and will continue to be because I’ve never felt so much more complete, grateful, lucky, and most of all, loved.  I’ve also never been more tired in my life haha, but it’s completely all worth it!  Everyday I get to see Lily’s beautiful face in the morning, and just seeing her there, whether she’s sleeping, eating, playing, laughing, or even crying, it just warms my heart.  She gives me so much joy from just existing, and I’m so grateful to share my life with her.  I love the sound of her voice, her laugh, I love the way she stands, the way she holds my hands and touches my face, I love that she pulls my hair and tries to eat it, I love the face she makes when she’s going number 2, I love her baby smell, her soft baby hair, her drool, and I love her big curious eyes and the way she blows bubbles with her mouth.  I can hold her and squeeze her and smother her with kisses all day long!  I can just sit there and watch her play, sleep, or eat and never get bored.  She continues to grow everyday and I and continuously amazed by her with her new developments and funny personality.

Life as a mom is the best thing ever and I cannot picture my life without her.  Everything I do is for her (and Khoa =P), she never escapes my mind, I wouldn’t want her to anyways.  I rush home from work just so I can see her face light up with a huge smile when she sees me.  She turns my bad days into wonderful days and my good days to perfect days!  Lily keeps me grounded and enriches my life by making me work harder to be a better person, a better example, a better role model.  She makes me strive to cook healthy not just for her, but for our family.  She teaches me patience; patience in understanding that you cannot control the will of others, but you can only control your own actions and positive energy onto others.  Therefore I try to be positive, and happy, and do whatever I can to have aura and good karma, so that she can live in an environment filled with good vibes.  She is the affirmation to my hard work as well, and seeing her happy and healthy assures me that I must be doing something right!  This whole journey is a learning process, and I will always and forever be learning how to be a good mom, but I cannot have a better teacher and daughter than Lily.  Lily teaches me to learn my limits bother physically and mentally, and teaches me to focus on the important things in life, and learn what’s worth my time and energy and what’s not.  Family is number one, and she is there to constantly remind me that I must be healthy and happy to enjoy my life with her, otherwise, what’s the point?  Lily is my little baby, full of pure innocence and wonder, and she inspires me to try to look at the world in her eyes.  She’s so full of happiness and trust, and curiosity   That only motivates me more to protect her and provide and wonderful life for her.  Sometimes when I’m feeling stressed and overwhelmed with life’s hardships, I think about Lily, and she reminds me that there’s no need to dwell on our adult troubles, we just have express our emotions and then move on, just like babies, and we’ll be able to spend more time doing things that matter and enjoying our life, than feeling stressed and unhappy.  Lily inspires me to be more selfless and forgiven too.  Also, I learn to be more patient with my own parents, and I am so much more grateful and appreciative of all they have done for me and will continue to try to take care of them the best I can!

I also wanted to that I would not be able to be the mom I am to Lily if it weren’t for the help of my loving Khoa.  He’s there to step up to the plate when I’m feeling too tired to function, he’s there to lend me an extra pair of hands, and extra set of eyes, and a second wind of energy.  Khoa helps keep me sane among the chaos, and he’s there to keep me excited about all our parenting adventures.  He is my partner in life, my baby’s daddy, and my sun and my stars.  Hehe.  I cannot do all the things I do without him!  So thank you Khoa for all your love and support, and for making it look like I’m a super mom, when really, you’re there playing with Lily so I can have that extra time to do all the things I need to do!  Life is a previous gift, and I will cherish my gift of Lily till eternity.  Happy Mother’s to all the wonderful moms in my life, and to every mom out there!  We celebrate this day for us, but really, I celebrate this day only because of my precious angel Lily.  I love you Lily pad, thank you for the best 1st Mother’s Day, and cheers to many more to come! =)  Thank you to you too my sweet husband Khoa, for making me feel so special and loved on this special day, but I have a strong feeling this treatment will continue all year right? =P  Happy Mother’s Day everyone!