Category Archives: babyDragon
Gender Reveal Party
Last minute, my cousin Chi Ba (Van) gave me a brilliant idea to have a gender reveal party to share the gender of babyDragon to our family! So we had pink, blue, and white balloons everywhere, ordered yummy Vietnamese catering, and got pink and blue paper plates and napkins to fill out the theme of the party. We made some trivia game questions, and more for some fun activities for our guests. Khoa wore a pink shirt and I wore a blue shirt to throw everyone off so they don’t know what the gender is! Lastly, we placed the giant box with the gender color balloons in the corner of the room for everyone to see and ponder what’s inside that can reveal the long awaited answer! =) It was fun to see everyone guessing with reasons/or lack of reason for their guessing. The most memorable though would be our friend Roger, who was so confident with his guess, that he even brought a giant “It’s a Girl” balloon!!! That was so awesome too see, it just made this even so much more exciting!
We organized 3 games for everyone to play. The first one was filled up a jar with pink and white Hershey’s kisses and told people to write down the guesses on how many pink candy and how many white candy pieces there were. We couldn’t find any blue candy with the short amount of time we had to plan, so we went with white. The second game was a list of trivia questions about statistics of boy and girl babies, and the 3rd was a list of Old Wives Tales about how to tell the gender of a baby, and whether those tales applied to me or not. We also had a betting poll, where people can place their bets on whether babyDragon was a boy or girl! The games were a lot of fun and we gave away Starbucks gift cards as prizes. We had a special prize for one person, and that was for my dearest dad! Every 12 years, the same zodiac animal appears, and this year, is the year of the dragon. However, there are 5 different elements that associate with the animal, and so the same type of dragon only appears every 60 years. This 
year, my dad and babyDragon will be the same exact dragon, the Water Dragon, I mean really, how often does this ever happen?? So we wanted to recognize this special moment and bond that our baby will have with my dad!
The games and food were a big hit and so finally, it’s time for the big reveal! We got our parents up front and brought the box to them, and we announced that what comes out of the box will be the grand reveal! So our parents eagerly dug into the box, like little kids on christmas day opening a giant present, waiting to see what’s inside! Then the flaps open and of course, PINK balloons fly out everywhere!! IT’S A GIRL!!! Our families cannot be more ecstatic to finally know that our baby will be a precious princess! We would like to thank all our friends and family for coming to share this moment with us, and of course, to my sister, Jennifer, for capturing all this on video. Check out her video she made for us!!
Oh Boy! Or Girl? from J.N. on Vimeo.
Boy or Girl?
On Wednesday, January 11th, we got to find out the gender of our sweet babyDragon! We were really bummed that Khoa couldn’t make it to my ultrasound appointment with me, so I wanted to plan some special and surprise Khoa with a plan to find out the gender of our babyDragon together. So what I started my plan by asking the sonographer to write down the gender of babyDragon on a piece of paper. I bought a giant cardboard box (I searched 3 different places, Staples, Kinkos, and Home Depot, for the largest box I can find too, Home Depot is the place to go! I flipped the box inside out so that it didn’t have the Home Depot logo all over it) to Party City, and asked the girl behind the counter for a special request. I handed her an envelope that that contained the gender photo and keyword, and told her to fill the box with either pink and white balloons, or blue and white balloons depending on what the paper says. She was really ecstatic and enthusiastic to help me out, which made the process more exciting, and gave me choices on “It’s a Girl” or “It’s a Boy” aluminum balloons. I waited outside while they blew up the balloons and filled my box, and was called back in when they finished! The girl was really nice and thorough to make sure the surprise wasn’t ruined!
So I lugged the giant box back into my car, and boy was it a tight squeeze. Good thing I couldn’t find a bigger box or it would have be disasterous! So I finally get home, and by this time, Khoa already gotten home from work, and brought home dinner from Chili’s. I wanted to cook, but we were both too excited to find out the answer that we figured this was be easier and faster! I told Khoa to stay inside his office while I brought my box up to dragon’s lair (the nursery), because I wanted to surprise him with my plan, so he has no idea about the box and what’s inside! I must say, carrying a giant 22″x22″x22″ box up 2 flights of stairs is quite a challenge, I kept crashing into the stair rail and wall..but good thing the box is cardboard and not wood or something otherwise we’d have to repair the walls in our house…haha!
So after Khoa and I wolfed down our dinner and talked about our day, and then talked about what we think dragon is. We both think dragon will be a boy. Either way, dragon will be our precious baby and we will love him/her to death!!! Sounds silly, but it’s true. I quickly decorated the box and then called Khoa up for the grand reveal!! I walk him into the dragon’s lair, and right in the middle of the empty room is the giant box. He immediately goes “Wow, you did this yourself??” So still having no clue what’s inside the box, I tell him that once we open it, we will know!! So at this point, I don’t know about him, but I was getting all sorts of jitters and butterflies and a litle nervous too! I cannot believe we’ll find out within seconds!! So we countdown “Ready? 3, 2, 1, OPEN!” and we rip the tape and open the box….PINK balloons come flying out!!!
It’s a GIRL!!!
I was so happy and tears start streaming down my face!! We were jumping up and down and I could not stop saying “It’s a GIRL!! it’s a GIIIIIRL!!! AHHH IT’S A GIRL!!!!!!!!!!” we hugged and Khoa held me in his arms and we just stood there staring at the pink and white balloons and we were just overwhelmed with joy! Khoa and I will be having a little baby dragon girl!!
Here is the gender photo we received. I have NO idea what the arrow is pointing to and what it all means, but I am pretty confident the quick cursive writing says “girl” so that’s all that matters to me!
Dragon Punch & Kicks!
When I first felt babyDragon move, it was on December 23, 2011, I was 15 weeks and 3 days into my pregnancy. The best way to describe it was like a little bubble surfacing, like a big “bloop!” I was at work at the time when it happened, and after it did, I just sat there and froze with my hand on my belly thinking, could it be you baby? Exciting was my next emotional and I was just so thrilled that babyDragon said hi to me! I cannot stress how amazing this whole experience is, and I’m so glad that as the time goes by, babyDragon’s punches and kicks get that much stronger. Last week, Khoa felt babyDragon for the first time!!! We were so excited because that was around the 17 wk mark and that’s quite early for the daddy to feel the baby, so we were just in awe with babyDragon’s strength and eagerness to say hi to his/her daddy! =) So now Khoa always puts his hand on my belly whenever he can, to feel babyDragon as much as possible. We also started belly talking since babyDragon can hear us now! We love you so much already baby, and we eagerly await your arrival!
Love at First Sight!
Our first look at our baby dragon and it truly is love at first sight!!! Head to butt measures 6cms long! I can stare at this picture allll day long! I’m so in love!!!
Also, here’s a video that Khoa took of our precious baby as well! Heart beats at 164 beats per minute, and you don’t see it here since Khoa paused in between recordings but babyDragon moves quite a bit! At the end of the video, she quickly falls to sleep though. What a life, our sleeping angel! =)
Baby Announcement!
We have a special message from someone really special to us and we wanted to share it with all of you!
“I do not have a face to see,
Or put inside a frame.
I do not have soft cheeks to kiss.
I don’t yet have a name.
Not yet can you hold my tiny hands,
Nor whisper in my ear.
It’s still too soon to sing a song,
Or cuddle me so near.
But all that will change come this June 12, 2012;
When they say I am due.
I am your newest baby in the family;
And I can’t wait until I meet you!
All I ask between now and then
Is your love for me to grow.
I promise I’ll be worth the wait;
Just think of all the joy we’ll know!
So as you’re waiting patiently,
Please pray lots of prayers for me.
I cannot wait to be a part
Of this wonderful family!”
As you figured out by now, that message is from our little bun in the oven, and we are super excited to share the news with all of you! Since we don’t know the gender, we refer to the little one as our little baby dragon (since 2012 is the year of the dragon!) =)
With much love ,
Khoackie + babyDragon
Dragon Beats!
Even though we knew we were pregnant and that there’s a little tiny baby growing inside me, it doesn’t really hit you until you hear the precious little (yet FAST) heartbeat for the first time! When the nurse waved the microphone over my belly and we heard the rhythmic whooshing noises for the very first time, it was the most amazing thing we have ever heard in our lives! It felt so surreal and the reality of “wow, there’s a living baby right there!” finally hits you! A warm loving feeling swept over me and I was just soooo happy! Of course, we recorded the precious heart beat, betting at 155 beats per minute with this recording, here is our first listen to our little baby dragon’s heart beat!
Click below to hear the dragon beats!
Telling the New Daddy!
Did someone say baby???? My husband Khoa and I have been married for over 2 years, and the next step in our life together is of course, the wonderful gift of life, a baby! We have been so blessed and fortunate and most of all LUCKY to have the awesome life we have, so when I found out we were going to bring a little bundle of joy into our lives, I really wanted to tell Khoa the great news in a special and memorable way.
So I found out the great new late on a sunday night while Khoa was out. So I didn’t have much time to come up with a elaborate grand scheme so I had to make the most of what I have and so I decided to present Khoa the news with a message on some cupcakes! I had the cupcakes baked, but I still had to make the decorations and the frosting, and by then Khoa already got home. So he asked if there’s anything he can help me with since it was getting late. So I asked him to cut out some fondant scalloped circles for me. I had baked a dozen cupcakes, but I asked him to cut out 18 circles haha. He didn’t really think anything of it even though he knew I only baked a dozen cupcakes, and knowing he knows I have reasons for my requests, he just happily went to work no questions asked! So once he finished cutting the circles, he went to the living room and relaxed on the couch. I decided to write the words “Soon to be world’s BEST dad!” on the cupcakes by hand since personal handwriting seem more personal to me (plus it’s a lot faster than cutting out fondant letters). Things were going so great so far and all I had to do now was place the decorations on the cupcakes, plate them, stick them in the oven for him to find, and then show him the great news!
Too bad the rest of the story didn’t go like that haha. Once I got the decorations on the cupcakes, Khoa decides to check up on me and see how I was doing with the cupcakes! So instantly I panic, and when I’m in panic mode, my common sense shuts down and havoc breaks loose!!! So Khoa was getting close and I didn’t get to plate the cupcakes yet so in the spur of the moment I shoved him away from the kitchen! Immediately he was like “huh?? what the?” and continued to walk towards the kitchen, and so once again I shoved him away! He asked what’s up and I could not formulate an audible sentence. All I can say was “UUhhh…LUNA (our maltese doggie)…LUNA wants…to…THROW SOMETHING!” I immediately regretted my words…why would a dog throw something??? Luckily Khoa corrected me and asked “you want to throw something?” Relieved that it made more sense than my previous statement, is shouted YES!! Khoa looks are my very confused and puzzled, and decides to humor me and asks “Ok…what do you want to throw?” So now I panic once again, and spot Luna’s toy rope on the floor of the living room, and I point to it! Khoa hesitantly walks over to the toy and picks it up, I hands it to me. Once again, I’m stuck, what am I going to do with this rope?!?!? haha. So I just toss it on the floor, and Khoa says “Satisfied?” haha.
I shrug since I don’t know what else to do and I hope he would just sit back down on the couch. Of course, he does NOT do that, and walks to towards the kitchen again, and I shout NO! I proceed to tell him that some of my cupcake decorations got ruined and messed up somehow and so he can’t see it! Curiousity stirs inside him and so he replies “Oh no!! What happened??? Let me see!!” AHHH! NO!!! I then make up some bogus reasoning saying that I’ll manage somehow and maybe I’ll just turn up the oven super high and hope the decorations “bake dry” like in ceramics…I know that’s not the terminology and there’s no such thing as this method of fondant repair, but I know Khoa wouldn’t know what I’m talking about but I was desperate! So he just looks at me very concerned, and so I asked him to walk Luna. FINALLY, something sensible came out of my mouth!!
Once he was out the door to walk our doggie, I quickly plated the cupcakes, and stuck them in the oven and set a timer while the oven heat remained OFF! When he got back inside, the timer finally went off a couple mins later, and he gets up from the couch and heads over the kitchen. I can see the curiousity in his eyes and he eagerly waits to see what on earth I just did and what I have been up to. So trying to keep a VERY straight face, I told him to check my cupcakes for me. So he goes to the oven, and opens the doors. He starts to read the message out loud “Soon to be…wait, who’s this for?” and then looks up at me, at this point, tears are streaming down my face, and instantly he finally got it and says “WAIT, REALLY???? You mean…US??? NO WAY!!!” I nod my head and said yes with all these happy tears on my face, and he gives me a great big hug and we literally jump for joy for several minutes!
I know it wasn’t the smoothest of smooth operations, but it definitely was memorable and special. We are so happy to announce that we will be having a baby, projected birth day to be on June 12, 2012 =). Loving life more than ever!
