I_Am_AOK

Fast Five!

Since I tend to only blog on "momentous" occasions like birthdays or when I find spectacular online coupons haha, I thought I'd write a post to commemerate our fifth wedding anniversary.  

Here's my list of five "memorable" moments as a couple (excluding answers involving the kiddos) within the five years of marriage:

#5.) When we found out we were preggos with KG after only being married for five months, we took the test NINE times since those tests are only 99.999% accurate. :)  

#4.) During one of our first disagreements (over something silly like laundry), I got so upset, I attempted to make a bold, aggressive statement and throw our hamper down; but, since we have a mesh one from ikea, instead of making a loud sound, the hamper floated  gracefully like a willow flower in spring's soft breezes, and landed ever so gently at EK's feet. 

#3.) For our first Valentine's day as a married couple, EK gave me The Departed DVD.  Nothing says love like organized crime, guns and bloodshed.   Truth be told, I asked for this "gift", but it was still funny to receive it for Valentine's day. 

#2.) The first reaction EK had, literally his very first utterances after the ultrasound technician revealed KG was a girl, was:  "Oh my gosh, how do I explain the menstrual cycle?!"  

#1.) The second reaction EK had, literally his second utterances upon finding out KG was a girl, was: "You know how our friends that are cops and FBI,can be polishing their guns when their daughter gets picked up for her first date?  I'm a Pastor - what am I supposed to do?  POLISH MY BIBLE?!"    

 

These are just the first five that came to my head right now.  I'm sure there are funnier ones but I'm so sleep deprived right now (KJ is still waking up at 2:00am) I currently can't remember everything in vivid details.  For instance, I just realized right this second while I was typing this, that the roll in my front jean pocket is KJ's string cheese that she dropped at Target this morning.  That was at 10:00am.  It is 6:30pm now and I've had this in my pocket the entire day thinking that it was a roll of quarters... which makes no sense whatsoever since I haven't rolled quarters since I was 10 years old and received a quarter rolling machine for Christmas.  And I digress.  

Anyways, the five above moments are what I sincerely enjoy about me and EK's relationship.  While it's far from perfect, I love that EK helps keep it "real" in our relationship and I know that we can truly be ourselves with each other because there's never judgement - I can express myself in a true manner, whether it's silly or "fake, poser tough" (i.e. my rage via mesh hamper) and he loves me the same. Happy 5th anniversary EK!   

 

 

 

 

Just found out previous coupon was not intended for sharing

Sorry guys!  I had to remove the post with the Happy Baby coupon.  I received the coupon via email from another friend, but another friend just tipped me off that the coupons were only intended for pledge takers via the Happy Baby fb page.  Thus, if you'd like the coupon, you must sign up and take the Happy Baby pledge.  Hope that helps!

-AOK

Happy Birthday Erik!

The girls (KG is 3 and KJ turned 16 months last week) wish their daddy a "happy birthday" while he's away.

It's so funny seeing KJ copy everything KG does, such as trying to sing "happy birthday."   KJ speaks a lot of words for her age and speaks often in two to three-word sentences; however, on the flip side, she just finally started walking at 15 months old!  She was the biggest crawler I had ever seen.   KG on the other hand walked at 11 months old, but didn't really formulate 2-word sentences until about 16 months old.  It amazes me how different they are.  Erik and I always joke that KG got Erik's athletic ability and KJ got my ability to chat and have big thighs. haha 

Happy birthday Erik! Enjoy the videos from your favorite peeps, minus Jean Claude Van Damme... :)

Happy 3rd birthday Karly!

Dear Karly,

Has it really been three years already?  I think I'm about to have a nervous breakdown knowing that in just 10 years you'll be a teenager. 

You are truly an original little girl.   For your third birthday, all you really wanted was an xylophone.  Yes, an xylophone.  I don't even know how you know what it is, but you've been asking for one since your little sister's birthday this past May.  Thankfully Amazon had an awesome one that qualified for Amazon prime, so it could be delivered free to our doorsteps within 2 days.  

You still love singing and Barney - Probably my current favorite video of you is the one where you're singing, "Where is Thumpkin?" from Barney.   I crack up everytime you get to "Tall man."  You also think that "ring finger" (the fourth finger) is the "bad one" so you always skip it.   haha   Enjoy the video Karly - Love mommy -

Coach Wooden: Love personified

Another old post I forgot to take out of draft form - 

JUNE 6, 2010 -

I had the extreme pleasure of working with Coach Wooden on Coach Wooden: One-on-One.   As part of the publicity team that promoted his book, I worked on book signings with him and went to his home so he could pre-sign books/basketballs.   Here are some of my favorite memories with Coach:  

- "Dear God,  Please, please, PLEASE do not let me get pulled over, drive too fast, hit a speed bump, get a ticket, or get in an accident while I'm driving Coach Wooden to the book release party. Please. Thank you.  I love you and I know you love Coach Wooden too. Amen.  Remember Coach Wooden is in the car and I'm driving. Please. Thanks again. Amen again."

This was pretty much the prayer I frantically prayed while I pulled up to Coach Wooden's condo.  While this was our fifth time spending time together during the promotion period, the other four times were either inside his office or at a book signing event.   This was the first time where I was to pick him up, by myself, and then proceed to drive 50+ miles to Ventura, CA, during morning rush hour and then 50+ miles back during afternoon rush hour.  Everyday I took this commute and it was already stressful being on the hectic 101.  This time, I had to take the same commute, but with the greatest basketball coach in the passenger seat. 

Because I was so nervous and focused on driving slow, but not too slow, and staying in the right hand lane, I only recall discussing his family and grandchildren and answering questions about my family and my time at UCLA.  I do remember talking about how every year myriads of reporters called annually for NCAA predictions and though he never told them, he thought it was sweet that they called every year like clockwork, just in case he changed his mind. :)  So while I don't recall all of our conversations during the 50 mile trip, I remember how he made me feel through his actions.  The way he thanked me and expressed genuine gratitude that he could "catch a ride with me" and told me how he always remembered people who fulfilled a need he could no longer meet (like driving long distances).  He made me me feel valuable as a person.  For instance, he could name the last three people who had helped him at to various events (one whom was also named Amber).  For man who was in his 90's - his heart and gratitude for people was evident. 

- I remember praying with him inside his office with my fellow co-worker Steve.  And Coach prayed for me.  While I don't remember the specific words that were said, I remember feeling the genuine love as we held hands in a  circle.  Coach was truly love personified.  

- I distinctly remember  commenting on all his trophies and honors and pictures of him and other famous celebrities.  However, he didn't really want to recall any of that, rather he wanted to show me his poem collection, written by former players, fans, coaches, UCLA alum, etc...  Here the greatest coach in the history of basketball wasn't taken aback by the celebrities, fame, awards, he was taken aback by poems written by special people he had encountered during his life. 

Coach, I know you're singing with the angels right now, and I hope you're looking down and seeing the millions you inspired just by being you - love personified. 

Happy 1st birthday Katey

MAY 24, 2010 - 

Dear Katey,

You truly are a butterball of joy, laughter, sweetness and all things lovely.  I can't believe a year went by so fast.  Even more incredible, I've survived a year of no sleep - You still enjoy daily 3am wake up calls.  Now that you turned one, we seriously need to discuss the end to this.  :)  

Looking back, I selfishly became really scarred after discovering my pregnancy with you.  Your big sister was only 12 months old and I didn't know how I would handle both of you so close in age.  I often cried during my days off, because I felt so guilty not being able to play that much with your big sister due to my gynormous tummy and extra 42 lbs. of fat.  While I knew you were a blessing from above, there were several nights where I sadly questioned your purpose.   

However, even though it's been only a year since your debut, some of your purpose has already been made very clear and I'm so so so thankful for you.  You truly have been a huge blessing for the entire family:    

- You laugh ALL THE TIME at me/PoPo/GonGon/Daddy for no apparent reason.  It's as if you're reminding us that even in the mundane day-to-day routines, there's time to smile.

- You've helped your big sister become more loving and caring as is evident in the way she tries to comfort you when you're crying and the many times she kisses you.   You've helped give your sister purpose as a big sister/teacher.  

- You love crawling/cruising towards us.  Your sister always crawled/cruised away from us haha, so it's nice to know that you desire to hang out with your goofy parents. :)

- You love to cuddle.  Even at five months old, your favorite way to "fall asleep" was to lie down and hold me like a big stuffed animal.   It's as if you're reminding me of a child's pure and unconditional love. 

- You have the cutest, little raspy voice and know quite a lot of words for just 12 months old.  Hopefully you'll continue to love reading/storytime.  You seem to love to learn new words, which is a reminder for me to take time out of the busyness of the day and spend time teaching you more.  It's easy for me to want to just veg out and watch Bravo TV reality shows all day haha, but you help me see that your needs are greater than my wants and have helped me to become less selfish of a mother and hopefully a better teacher for you.

We love you Katey!    Hope one day you enjoy this little video of you enjoying your favorite book at the time - "Where's the Fish?" 

A letter to Karly

As it's the dawn of Karly's second birthday, I realize that I've been really bad at keeping a log of her hilarious antics, great expressions, funny gestures and overall growth as an individual.  Hopefully, she'll find this letter helpful when she learns how to read and will forgive me for the bad record keeping her first two years.  Here's to you little Karly:

Dear Karly,

Two years ago you literally pushed yourself out of the womb.  You really did.  I don't have pictures or video to prove it because they wouldn't let daddy film down there, but if memory serves me right, I pushed maybe two times and for only about 5 minutes when the doctor told me to stop.  You, however, were having none of that and pushed yourself out with one hand in the air like super-baby.   Daddy and I should have known then that you would keep us on our toes from that point out.

So far,  my favorite part of being your mom is simply loving the many hilarious things about you, such as:

I love the way you love anything musical and how you instantly dance to anything with a beat -even if it's the microwave.

I love that your favorite song right now is John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt.  It's the oddest song and makes no sense whatsoever, but you've listened to it probably 342 times at the very least.  You can't get enough of it.

I love that you like to walk around in everyone's shoes, except for your own.

I love that your favorite thing to do when you wake up in the morning is to put your forehead on my forehead and rub noses together.

I love how after rubbing noses, I always ask you for a kiss and you smile and say no, but then kiss me on my cheek. 

I love that you have favorite youtube videos.

I love that you will try everything at least once.

I love that you prefer all your food cold - even pot roast.  (When you get older, you'll see that some food really is a lot better warmed up.)

I love that when you ask for such cold food, you say it while acting like your shivering, like: "Mama,  I want meat...coooollllddd  meat."

I love that you always want to call your friends on the phone, like Jo Jo, Neil, Debbie, Ashley, Arlen, Brianna, but only say, "hello" to them 24 times and then you immediately say, "Bye Bye."

I love your hair.  I seriously am jealous of how it naturally curls and has volume. 

I love how you love jumping - on EVERYTHING.

I love how you loved jumping so much with the 4 and 5 year olds in the bounce house, that the directors of Toddler Open Gym thought you were three years old, when you were really only 15 months.

I love that you changed my view on being a mother.

I love that you taught me how to truly love unconditionally.

I love being your ma ma Karly!

P.S. - Me and Daddy's prayer for you is that we would allow you to continue to grow in your fun, independent personality and gracefully stand by your side, protecting and loving you each step of the way and more importantly, never limiting or preventing you to become who you are destined to be.