Nguyen Wedding 4-18-15

Our good friends Marie and Hung have been engaged for a long time and we were all looking forward to their big day. They have been good friends of ours for quite some time and who ever becomes friends with them is lucky because they are so caring and thoughtful. I met Marie when I started dating Oliver so it has been 10 years already since we've been good friends. I believe it was 2009 when she started seeing Hung and I accidentally called him Andrew ( a friend of Marie's and JUST a friend) when I first talked to him.(Sorry Hung!) Haha but he was a good sport! I had a feeling he would be around for a long time and I was right! He was the one. Now they are Mr & Mrs and I couldn't be happier!

One thing that will stick with me is when I was having family issues years ago and Thanksgiving came. Marie called me and asked if I wanted to join her and her family for Thanksgiving because she knew my situation. That meant so much to me and it also shows how caring she is. I didn't join since I was joining Oliver's family but it was the thought that count and I was touched. Thank you Marie!

OK back to the wedding!! 

The day was definitely busy especially when you have Chinese and Vietnamese traditions to do. Talk about a packed itinerary! Want to join me on this day again? Ok here we go!

First all the bridesmaids went to the bride's parents house to get our makeup done and do our hair and wait for the groom, groomsmen and his family to arrive. Marie's family is from Malaysia and Hung is Vietnamese. Chinese and Vietnamese have similar traditions when it comes to weddings. This being one of them; The bride hides and the groom comes to the brides house with the family and groomsmen with gift trays wrapped in red and usually a whole roast pig. When the bride family accepts, they bring the bride down to the groom. The grooms were holding the red gift trays and us bridesmaids accepted it so I don't have a picture of that LOL. The difference between Chinese and Vietnamese for this is that when the groom arrives, him and his groomsmen have to play games in order to get to the bride. Kind of like saying it's not so easy to get the bride. Here is 1 picture:

The groom and groomsmen had to walk in a circle with a balloon between them and not drop it. They couldn't use their hands either.

There were a few other games like how well the groom knows the bride, etc. but don't have pictures of those! There are also punishments if they get something wrong or mess up. In this case it was to take a sip of vinegar.  Finally after the groom and groomsmen succeeded, Marie came down with her mother and aunts. We all ate and left for the venue and changed into our dresses, freshen up and took bridal party pictures. 

The bride with  her girls and mother. PSST! By the way I did most of the bridesmaids hair! I could probably put that on my resume hehe. 

I thought the bridesmaid dresses being white was interesting but now that I see it I loved it. So different!

  

Afterwards it was showtime. Time to turn Miss Liew into Mrs. Nguyen.

The wedding was at a beautiful venue in Fallbrook called The Grand Traditions

Did I mention both Oliver and I were in the bridal party? Here we are! And he's walking me down the aisle again :)

The bride's grand entrance! Hence the name Grand Traditions!

Yay!

I have to say I was very worried about Violet before and a little during the wedding. Especially having to do all the traditions before. She also got her shots the day before for her 2 month check up and that didn't help my worries considering she could've gotten a fever or sick. (Thank God she didn't get a fever. She was in a little pain though.) But my parents took good care of Violet and they said they had fun watching her at the wedding. What can I say, I'm a new parent and having both Oliver and I in the bridal party was a little challenge but it worked out. I was relieved at the end of the night knowing that we made it home safely.

Party time! 

 

Another tradition is a tea ceremony. This was supposed to be done before the wedding ceremony but during the reception was the only time they got. 

Us and the newly weds! I'm going to lose that baby weight.

Weddings can be stressful especially if you have customs before hand.
But the wedding turned out to be very beautiful and I wish nothing but the best for these 2 great people

Congrats Hung & Marie! We wish you the best and all the blessings you deserve! Love you!

Easter Weekend 2015

Easter weekend was busy and eventful. First off, we went to a Tea house in Old Town San Diego I've been wanting to try on Thursday. Yep, another tea room under my record! We enjoy those though!

My friend Sherry's daughter Stella. She is so cute and can't wait to bring Violet to things like this. 

Good Friday was the day we took Violet to my work to visit coworkers. I'm friends with security so right when we walked in we talked and visited them and of course, Violet pooped all over her self and ruined her cute outfit I wanted to show her off in. So we had to change her in her onesie and pants. I gotta say when Violet poops she doesn't cry and when we are changing her poopy diaper she smiles/laughs haha. We actually visited for a few hours just talking and them wanting to hear my labor story. They brought in treats and even bought us a violet flower pot which was so sweet. It was really nice seeing everyone. And of course everyone said she looked like her daddy. (What else is new?).  I swear we'd be rich if we had a dollar for every time we heard that!

Marie's Bridal Shower

The next day was our good friend's bridal shower. The night before I made all the desserts and that took a while. I haven't done that in a long time! One of the bridesmaids had the cutest idea to make Marie's shower a cooking/kitchen thing. (Thanks Michelle!). It was really cute and it turned out really cute as well. Coordinating with the bridesmaids seemed smooth and that's always nice especially when the bridesmaids are planners and organized. Everything turned out very nice and the girls did such a great job.

Yes I made all this.

First time for most of us bridesmaids to be ready before the guest arrive!

 The bride with her dress models LOL.

The bride with most of her bridesmaids. Few are missing. 

Congrats Marie & Hung! Can't wait for the big day and I hope you both enjoy every second of it because it will go by fast!

Easter Sunday

Violet is officially 6 weeks the week of Easter and it's perfect timing to bring her to church. We thought it would be perfect to dedicate her at church her first Easter. I was actually excited and looking forward to dedicating her to God. It was actually a very nice Easter Sunday. Our family went to church service at our church for the first time for Violet's dedication and they seemed to really like the service.  I'm so glad we did this. Violet is the best blessing we have so what better than to dedicate her in church? :) Afterwards we ate and that was a first for us taking Violet to a buffet and she slept all the way through. Thanks for letting mommy and daddy eat Violet hehe.

Past out as usual!

A little later we went to our friend's house for the kids Easter egg hunt. Violet is still too young to do anything like that but I'm glad to include her in celebrations and look forward to those days. 
She even got a few Easter gifts. The kids had a good time and so did us getting together with friends.

Kids picture with the mommy's and daddy's

 Afterwards, we went home and planned to watch the new Bible series but got really tired and watched it the next day. I was thinking it would be perfect to end the night but it's ok lol. 

Her gifts from the Aunties!

This was the only outfit I ever bought for Violet since she already is spoiled with clothes but you would think she got a dress but she mostly received dresses she can wear when she's older. It was fun shopping for her Easter dress though and she can wear the others for next Easter. 

It was a really nice Sunday and the best since we have our baby girl!

Violet

Our bundle of joy is here and we are officially parents! It's been 5 weeks since she was born and I am now just getting a chance to update our blog. Of course there is so much to catch up on but I'll try not to make it such a long read.

Labor

 I was actually suppose to be induced on the 15th and went in but I didn't feel it was the right time considering I finally was dilating and having minor contractions. So they scheduled me to be induced a few days later if I didn't go into labor on my own. Well the night before I was scheduled to go in my water broke! I was going to the bathroom (#1 ok! LOL) and while I was I felt a "pop". I immediately stood up and noticed I was still leaking clear water. I told Oliver we had to go to the hospital right away. My adrenaline sky rocketed! I was shaking getting in the car and on the way.. I was also leaking on the way too! The water would just flow out like a faucet.

We got to the hospital around 10:30pm and as I was walking to triage to see how dilated I was, I was flowing. After a while my contractions got stronger and stronger. That was the worse pain I have ever felt in my life! You could see on the monitor how strong and close they were together. Oliver's never seen me in that pain before and felt so helpless. I was moaning and crying.. it was terrible.. until I got the epidural. After that I couldn't feel pain but only pressure when contractions came. The only thing was that it slowed down my contractions and dilating. Long story short, I was in labor for 18 hours and pushed for 3 hours. They finally cut me and did a suction and she was out! I had a 4th degree cut though so they had to stitch me up. I am pretty much all healed now but at the time I didn't want to scoot while sitting or go to the bathroom but I had to. Was it worth it? Not even a question. <3

Violet was born February 17th, 2015 at 6:04pm weighing 8pds and 10 oz.

Violet had to go into NICU for 2 days for safety and get on antibiotics just in case she had an infection since I had an infection. Thank God she didn't otherwise we would have been in the hospital for 7 days.

Life after Hospital

I say life after hospital because that's when reality kicks in. I was excited to bring Violet home but when we got home, I realized I really missed the hospital. I got very emotional because they took care of us both really well and now reality hits. I also realized a lot of first time moms feel this way when they come home. It's a lot more comforting knowing you're not the only one who's gone through it. Nobody tells you that when you're pregnant. We had to take her to the pediatrician to get her checked up. That turned into 4 doctor visits to check to see if she had jaundice because she was a little yellow. Thank God she didn't have it and the yellow went away!

Days turned into weeks and those weeks seemed long! Yes we got sleep deprived but we expected that. We enjoy every minute with her. 

Oliver has been amazing!! He is such a big help and he is so hands on. Makes me love him even more! He is such a good dad and he is so happy being a father! He even tells me if I need to get out of the house just go and hand out with friends so I don't get cabin fever being in the house all day and night. He also offers to take care of Violet at night so I can get some rest. Can't complain there!

Just a few days old here

Breast Feeding
I was breastfeeding 99% of the time the first week but it got really stressful and painful. I went and got a breast pump and it has saved my life.. Well nipples LOL. Now she is on both formula and breast milk.
I felt a little guilty not breastfeeding her 100% but hey I figured at least she's getting breast milk and her dad can feed her. I am wishing my milk supply would increase but I think I messed that up with formula feeding her to. I still get a good amount and like I said, at least she's getting breast milk! Maybe not every feeding, but every day. My mom couldn't produce milk so I was formula fed and I turned out ok.. I think! Ha!

My cousin in law Maria is a photographer and her gift to us was a photography session. What an awesome gift! We are so appreciative of that. Here are a few of her pictures.

Violet is 9 days old in these pictures

Can you believe she over 1 month old already? We already see changes! Yes I know she looks like her father. LOL.
Violet at the 1 month mark

Her at 5 weeks.

We're so excited to have her with us and watch her grow up. We can't wait to take her to places and have her first holiday celebrations. We were told not to let her out until 6 weeks so we're looking forward to that.  I never knew how a love for your child felt until now and I have even MORE respect for mothers. It's not easy but it's rewarding. <3