Being Mr. Mom

I have to say I never thought I would be a Mr. Mom, but then again I never thought I would do a lot of things. I guess it really doesn't matter now...what's more important is what I want to be and how I'm going to get there.Look at this cherub face...Nancy and I get to wake up to this smile everyday.
As for being Mr. Mom...I really enjoy my time with Dylan. He has a really pleasant nature about him. I never really had the opportunity to bond and spend a lot of quality time with Justin during his baby days because I was working 2 jobs. I usually only saw him sleeping. So I try to cherish these days and moments with Dylan. I find it a challenge to take care of him and still accomplish things throughout the day. To be honest...I'm not the best multi-tasker...unless it's within the same field, but it's when I have to cross-multi-task like entertain Dylan, cook, and study lines...it's a super challenge. If I had to clean food, boil, chop, and cook...no problem...that's all within one field. Like I said...cross-multi-tasking...it's hard. I have to learn how to manage my time well and prioritize . It's hard not to make Dylan the priority all the time. I don't really have anything interesting to write about today. Today was a pretty typical day with Dylan. We played together, talked about the birds and the bees, and shared a moment together that we can laugh about later on as an inside joke. I just wanted to share his smiles with the rest of you. I can't imagine trusting anyone to take care of this precious little guy. I guess I'm pretty lucky to have the opportunity to raise him.

Brothers 4 Life

I have to apologize right from the get go for the unfocused images. For some reason the camera focused on the background instead of the foreground. Anyways, I feel truly blessed to have 2 sons, but more importantly I feel more blessed that I have 2 sons who love each other as brothers. I can safely say that I sense not one bit of jealousy in Justin and that Dylan seems to admire his brother. I know that it is too early to say this in reality because Dylan is not old enough or big enough to get into his brother's business and toys which will later change the the tone of the relationship, but I just sense that they will have a pretty good brotherhood.
I will always teach them and make sure that it becomes ingrained in their hearts and minds that they are brothers 4 life.

2 Kids, a Boat, and a Wedding

Let me give you some background information about what it took to attend this wedding. Initially, Nancy and I were invited to her friend Alex's wedding which was taking place on a yacht. The only problem was children were not allowed at the wedding...especially since there was limited seating and boat capacity limits. So, we had planned to find baby sitters for the kids. Of course this was all planned months ago and when the time actually came we came to realize with Dylan being breast fed and realizing later on that a boat wedding is at least a six hour commitment that there was no feasible way of Nancy going without Dylan. Nancy did not want to take the chance of allowing her boobs to think that they did not have to produce milk. Nancy then asked if I would at least go to represent and I said sure, but I said I think it would mean a lot more to Alex and to you if you went. I recommended that she pump and I would stay home to take care of the kids. She came to conclude that this is an important event and that she should attend. Then a week before the wedding she decides that she cannot leave Dylan and take the chance of her milk supply depleting. So...back to me going for the both of us...and she tells regretfully that she will not be attending. We get a call back from Alex that he wouldn't want Nancy to miss out on his wedding day and that some people have dropped off the wedding list...soooo...we could take both Dylan and Justin. Problem solved...kind of...but now Nancy is starting to have some fears about being on a boat...worrying that if anything happens...blah blah blah...all legitimate concerns...but you also have to remember that we never leave the marina...anyways...we get to the dock on the day of wedding, get on the yacht, and we are off. By the time we get off she has had a blast and is considering having a party for Dylan on a boat. Alright, so here are some pictures.

Here is Justin dressed up and preparing himself for the wedding. He is SUPER excited about the idea of being on a boat. If his teeth look nasty to you...it's not because we are irresponsible parents who have not brushed his teeth and allowed moss to grow. We are irresponsible parents who allow our kid to eat sour skittles. Just wanted to make that clear. Hahaha.Here is Nancy and Dylan waiting on the docks to board the wedding yacht. It's pretty cool...3 stories of fun.As you can tell...Dylan was pretty excited too.
There are about 150 people here.I think this was one of my better shots. I like candid shots. I tried to avoid flash shots, but long exposures meant shaky images...I guess I can say the shake was an artistic choice...puhahaha.I think this was a kiss because everybody was tapping their glasses for a kiss.
Here is Alex, Nancy, and the back of Dylan. Alex is a really good law school friend of Nancy's.

Nancy is trying to get Justin to dance on the dance floor, but he is being shy.
Of course later on he overcomes that shyness and is soon cutting the rug with his mother.
Here is a family picture that the wedding photographer graciously took for us with our camera.
Another shot with the bride and groom. The groom having had some drinks by now and flashing a more mischievous smile....hahahaha.

One thing I have learned...now that I have attended a good amount of weddings...weddings don't mean much unless you are truly vested in one of the parties getting hitched. When I was younger...it was just fun to eat good food (when you are young you think all wedding food is good food) and see or meet people. I do have to say that all weddings do remind me of the fundamentals of marriage, but it is when we are allowed to be a witness or better yet a part of a wedding of someone who we truly are connected to that we can participate in that moment of magic. It's like a good book with a good ending. You can jump to the end of the book and a good ending is still good, but when you have read the whole book and you understand what it took to get there...doesn't it make the ending that much better?

Our new mascot Dylan the Beaver

It's 2:42am and I'm pretty tired, but I knew that Nancy's friend Kim would probably go bonkers for the next following pictures. I think she might be the #1 fan of this blog, so this beaver is for you.
Here's Dylan the Beaver waving hi to all his admiring fans. This last picture is definitely a desktop background or screen saver shot. Nancy took these pictures...when I uploaded it I cracked up...he actually looks like he's waving. I hope you enjoyed this Kim and I hope this starts everyone's day with a warm feeling inside and a smile.

Rewind: Dylan's 100 Day Birthday

So I must rewind and post some pics of Dylan's 100 day birthday at my parents' house. I must give my Mom a shout out and give her mad props for the hard work she put in. She stayed up many nights to prepare a feast for all the family members who attended. Dang, I wish I had pics of the food spread she made. Unfortunately, I was busy being a host so I actually didn't take as many pics as I should of. I guess I failed...hahaha...but here are the 4 pics I did take. This is my Aunt and cousin getting mesmerized by Justin charming them with his cooing.This is Justin giving his cousin Benjamin a hug and apologizing for being a jerk. You probably can't tell, but I had to take Justin and give him a time out for being a super rude brat to his cousins. If you look to the bottom right corner you will notice an aquadoodle pad. Justin asked if he could take it out, but Nancy said no because she already anticipated that he would porbably get possesive and not share with his cousins. Justin said he would share...so Nancy let him open it up and lay it out for all the kids to play together. Of course within 5 minutes he was acting up, yelling, telling his cousins to go away and just not being very nice. I was really embarrassed...especially since my other nieces and nephew were so well behaved. My parents used to tell my sister and I that we should always act proper and be well behaved in public because if we don't we make our parents look bad. I really understood what they were talking about. Nancy and I try so hard raise Justin to be a gentleman, but he just has a bit of a nasty temper and a rebelious/fearless nature. Sometimes I feel like...what are we doing wrong? At the same time I have to tell myself...Justin is three. I just really hope and pray that I can teach him to be better.Here is Justin, Megan, Benjamin, and Claire. Look at Megan in pink....she loves to pose for pictures. My cousin So Jung says she never taught her to do that...she just does it. Megan is such a happy kid. Ben and Claire are my cousin So Young's kids. She was the cousin at the very first pic with my aunt and Dylan. Claire is a princess and super darling. Benjamin is quiet and loveable.

I love seeing my nephews and nieces...I hope to show you guys a pic of all them together one day. The Pak clan is huge...I mean HUGE...it is soooo heartwarming to see all them buggers to togther. It's kinda of wierd to see all of us cousins with our kids at family gatherings though because 30 years ago that was our parents with us.

What's for dinner?

Have you ever wondered how two working parents manage to put dinner on the table after working a long day? Take outs, lots of take outs! The other night, we had ribs, beans, fries, and burgers (hmm, very healthy, and did I mention SODA?) from Barbeque King located at the corner of Fig and Cesar Chavez. I've never been to a restaurant with "D" rating, but if I did I would imagine it to look something like Barbeque King's. Yes, it looks kind of scary from the outside, but I must say the food is pretty good. It's definitely John's type of restaurant, and I know Justin also enjoyed the food because we didn't have to force him to eat like we usually do. As for Dylan, the last picture was taken from his perspective. He only got to see a cup, a plate, some to-go containers and his father's head. Poor thing.

Thanking my kids!

Respecting and thanking one's parents is a big part of the Chinese teachings. I was always told that I would one day understand how tough child rearing is when I became a parent myself. I did finally begin to understand that, but I also realized something else. After becoming a mommy, I realized how fortunate us parents are to be given the opportunity to nurture and raise such precious little beings. Everyday I wake up thanking Justin and Dylan for continue to teach me so much about life, love, patience, compassion, and so on. I love being a mommy and I thank Justin and Dylan for being my teachers!

Happy New Year

I don't have any pics to put up tonight, but I wanted to wish on behalf of Nancy, Justin, and Dylan a Happy New Years to all our friends and family. We are only here due to the support and love of God, family, and friends.

We had a simple New Year's Eve...Nancy put a lot of work to prepare a nice hot pot dinner. We had invited her sister Annabelle and her friend Rosanna and son Custo, but unfortunately they opted out. We enjoyed dinner and then put the kids to sleep early. We watched Dick Clark for a little bit, but got bored and watched some other random TV. Eventually, I turned the channel and the TIVO said it was 12am...so we wished each other a Happy New Years and she called it an evening and I am writing this blog. God bless you all....HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!!