Fun-tivities : Tips for Moms & Baby Websites

Baby Girl Name Suggestions

Last time I was pregnant with Little Mochi, we set up a website with his ultra sound with a name suggestion box on the site. Our guests had a lot of fun with it. We wanted to do the same with this baby, but didn’t have the time to edit the raw video from the doctor and set up the site. Although we already knew what we wanted to name our baby girl, we wanted to see what other people came up with. So we took name suggestions at my baby shower.

I had set up a basket with pieces of paper next to the basket. The pieces of paper had 4 lines. The first line asked for their name so I knew who made the suggestion, and the next three lines were for the 3 names. As my guests arrived, they can fill out one of the pieces of paper and drop it in the basket. Here are the suggestions my guests came up with:

Dora
Joana
Amanda
Samantha (Twice)
Aaryn
Erin
Katherine
Emily (Twice)
Emma
Elizabeth
Kaitlin
Melanie
Georgia
Ilyssa
Andi
Beyonce
Leila
Jayden
Trysten
Mischa
Autumn
Aurbree
Kayla
Andrea
Stephanie
Cassandra
Maylene
Annabelle
Madison
Addison
Melanie
Aly
Candace
Angela
Amelie
Rebecca

It’s interesting to see these suggestions. I checked the most popular girl’s names for 2008 and according to the social security administration, these are their top 10:

Emma
Isabella
Emily
Madison
Ava
Olivia
Sophia
Abigail
Elizabeth
Chloe

Of the name suggestions that my friends gave, 4 of the names are among the most popular girl’s names! To top it off, the name we chose is one of those 4. Can you guess which one?

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Garlic Mashed Potatoes

My cousin recently emailed me asking for me the recipe to the mashed potatoes we made for Thanksgivign last year. Well, cos, here it is:

You will need:

10 lbs of unpeeled red potatoes, cut into quarters
1 1/2 lbs of butter (let it sit for a few minutes so it’s at room temperature)
10 ounces of grated Romano cheese
1/3 cup of chopped garlic
1 tablespoon and 1 3/4 teaspoons of salt
1 tablespoon and 1 3/4 teaspoons dried oregano

What to do:

Add 1 tablespoon of salt to boiling water. Put in the potatoes and cook until tender but still firm (approximately 45 minutes). Drain. Stir in butter, cheese, garlic, remainder of the salt, and oregano. Mash with a potato masher or with an electric mixer.

For this recipe, you can also use roasted garlic instead if you don’t like the taste of raw garlic. To roast the garlic, simply remove the skin, drizzle olive oil on top, season it with salt, wrap tightly in foil, and place in a preheated oven at 375 degrees for 35 minutes.

The mashed potato recipe serves 20.

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Do You Have a Family Tradition?

I was flipping through our family album this past weekend and looked at the old pictures of my siblings and I. My younger brother is now 27. My sister just graduated from college last year. My youngest brother is now a 16 year old high school kid learning to drive. Where have all the years gone?

It has been said over and over again that your child will grow so fast that you will not know what happened to all the years. Now a mother, I finally understand. Little Mochi is now 15 months, almost 16 months, and I’m wondering where all the months have gone. I can’t even begin to think about him learning to drive. Before I know it, I’m going to be one of those mothers who thinks no one is good enough for my baby so I’m going to hate every girl he dates (oh gosh, I really hope I don’t become like that!).

As I sat there holding the page with school pictures of my youngest brother from every year since kindergarten, I almost cried. Where did the years go? He’s 16 now. And I remember back in Jr. High when my mother brought him home from the hospital. And now that I look around the house, I realized that my mom, who is extremely busy with her own business, never really did anything to preserve your childhood. The only “family tradition” we had was going to Vegas every Christmas for a few days because that’s the only time my parents ever closed the shop. What I regret, however, is the fact that we never take a family picture in front of a Christmas tree while in Vegas! It would have been nice to see the changes every year. Hey, it’s not too late, right?

I think keeping a tradition brings the family closer. It helps create great childhood memories. I have decided to start a family “tradition” myself with my own family.

Here are two things that I would like to do to bring my family closer and to create fond childhood memories for my kids. If I think of more later, I’ll update.

Have you heard of Kids’ Step Stone Kit? Using this kit, I would like to create a “growing foot path” in my backyard. We’ll be able to see how big their feet has grown over the years. Perhaps create one on their birthdays (or some day close to their birthdays).
Gotta finish off every year with a picture with Santa Claus until they are too old or until they realize that Santa is not real.

Other “traditions” that I have heard other families do or have read about that you may want to consider:

Time capsules. Every year, you can stuff a capsule with your kid’s favorite things, quotes, pictures. Anything that reminds you of him that year. Keep it in a hidden place until next year. Pick a special day to give him last year’s time capsule and go over the items together. Keep a camera handy because you’re bound to see some great facial expressions.
At year end, write a “letter” to your child telling him of his past year’s achievements.
Stuff the easter eggs with something else other than toys or candy – something that you can stuff every year, but in a different color, style, size, etc.
Plant a tree together in the back yard every year. You both can see how big your child grows relative to how fast the tree grows.
Make a family year book with all of your child’s cousins. Be sure to include a picture of each cousin and his/her favorite color, cartoon character, places to go, etc.

Do you have a family tradition? Share with us. =)

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SpongeBob SquarePants

It wasn’t until recently did I discover what a great show SpongeBob SquarePants is! I have heard of other parents talking about it, and how their kids love it. And I never thought I’d be watching it with my kids. Forget Sesame Street. Big Bird, Elmo, the Cookie Monster and the rest of the gang just doesn’t seem to strike Little Mochi’s interest.

Little Mochi’s only 15 months old so obviously, he does not understand the show yet. But he loves the theme music at the beginning. Every time he hears the tune, he drops everything, runs to the TV and bobs his head with the tune. (I know, how cute!)

I have found that, even when Little Mochi’s attention has been diverted by a toy that he caught in the corner of his eye, I am still giggling at the yellow sponge in the tube. Not only is the show good for losing a few calories, but also depicts kid friendly messages in each episode.

Of course, by the time he is old enough to understand the cartoon, there will be a new one that will capture the heart of young children. I do have to admit, however, that SpongeBob is my preferred choice over Power Rangers. No fighting with wands involved.

“Aye aye, captain!”

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Gelatin Oranges

For those who are looking for a fun kitchen activity with your kids, I ran into an article on FamilyFun that may be of interest to you: Making Gelatin Oranges.

All you have to do is cut an orange in half, peel out the orange meat (save it so you can use it later), make the gelatin according to the package, add the orange meat, pour the gelatin in the orange halves, and place in fridge. Once it’s done, cut the orange halves into wedges and serve.

You can try it with different fruit meat, such as adding pieces of strawberries or blueberries instead of the orange meat. It’s a great way to get your kid to eat their fruits.

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Having Fun at the Library

I used to go to the library quite a bit growing up. Especially for school. I guess it is because not everyone had a computer at home then. Nowadays, you’re considered “weird” if you don’t have a computer at home. I loved the library. When I had to write a paper or had to study for an exam, that’s where you will find me. Sometimes, I’ll even visit the UCI library even though I was only a junior in high school. There’s just something about it. The smell. The quietness. The books. I felt like I was among the elite – the nerds of the world. And I loved it.

But that was over 10 years ago. I don’t think the word “library” even exists in the kid’s dictionary these days. In a world of computer games, who has time to go to the library, right? I think we as parents need to start exposing our kids to the library at a younger age.

This past Saturday, I brought Little Mochi to the Lakewood library for the very first time. He loved it. I let him run around the children’s section of the library. It’s got a colorful mat in the center where the librarians do their weekly reading program (they’ll read to the kids). Along one side of the wall, there is also a big shelf full of developmental toys. You can guess that is where Little Mochi headed! He grabbed a toy and ran all over the library, giggling and laughing. It was the cutest sight. Along another wall there are CD’s upon CD’s that we can borrow. Parenting CD’s, Lamaze CD’s, children’s CD’s from Einstein, Playskool, Sesame Street, and even good old Barney the Purple Dinosaur! I was amazed.

But it wasn’t as amazing as meeting this little girl who was about 10 years old. Little Mochi ran straight to her, stared at her for 30 seconds, and stuck his hand inside her bag to grab something. She had a few books, some toys, and some putty looking thing in small buckets. Little Mochi was holding one when I got to him (he runs around fast – it’s hard to keep up with him sometimes!). I apologized to the little girl and told Little Mochi to return the putty. He did, but the little girl said that Little Mochi could keep it because she has so many. I was touched. It’s great that she was so willing to share. Perhaps those reading programs teach your kids how to share?

But what strike me even more than her sharing characteristic is that she said she loves the library because there are so many things she can do there. I was darn impressed.

So parents, start bringing your kids to the library when they are young. There are many things your kids can do at the library. It’s especially nice if the kids are on summer break and have a little more time to enjoy their summer vacation. Here are 8 ideas to help get you started:

What are other kids reading at school? Perhaps he can pick up that book too.
Pick up his favorite magazine and curl up in a corner of the library.
Look up new and unfamiliar places of the world with a map or encyclopedia.
Find videos and music CD’s to borrow.
Learn more about your favorite baseball player or animal.
Do research for his homework with all the available resources.
Become a better reader by joining their summer reading program.
Listen to storytellers / authors read their books to other children.

I’m inspired. I am going to make sure we bring Little Mochi to the library more often now.

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Traveling Abroad? 3 Traveling Tips for Going Overseas

I just returned from a one week trip to Taiwan. It wasn’t a vacation, although some may call it that. I went back with my husband’s family for Grandpa’s funeral. The last time we went back (two years ago), he spent the entire week in the hospital to be with him. Back then, the doctor said he had 6 months to live. He lived another 2 years. So in mid July, we made arrangements to attend the funeral. Several things happened during this short one week “vacation” that I wish we had prepared for.

1. Tickets to Taiwan in July are truly expensive! It costed us $1400 per person. PER PERSON! Normally, when we go in October, it’s only around $600 – $700. AND, the weather is much nicer then. But I suppose everyone is on summer vacation in July. Before you decide to travel abroad, find out when their peak season is. It’s best to go when it’s not in their peak season. You’ll end up paying twice as much for airfare.

2. The weather in July is extremely hot and humid. You literally in drenched in your own sweat from just sitting there. Your neck is constantly feeling sticky. And constantly are washing your face. The first few days of our stay there, Taiwan was hit with a typhoon. In retrospect, I really appreciated the typhoon. In fact, I wished for it to return after a day or two of hot and humid air. The rain and winds actually made it cooler for us. In addition, there was mosquitos everywhere! I brought back a leg full of mosquito bites. If I had known it was mosquito season, I would have brought bug spray, although my sweat might have washed it off! Therefore, before you go abroad, be sure you find out how the local weather is so you can bring the necessary gear and clothing.

3. The night before our departure, my husband looked at his passport and laughed at the expiration date. “Look honey! I’ve got only one month before my passport expires! I barely made it!” I quickly double checked mine. I was relieved to see that it expires in December of 2008. Five more months. No problem, right? Wrong! At the check in line, the attendant said we are not able to fly to Taiwan without Taiwan’s permission. With 2 hours before take off, the lady told us they had to ask Taiwan if we can be admitted with what they call a “standing” visa. That’s a one-time 30-day visa. I had a better chance because my passport expires in five months. My husband’s however, may be questionable since his expires in a month. I guess they don’t your passport to expire while you’re overseas. In any case, after an hour of waiting, we got an answer from Taiwan. We’re both able to go. However, we had to go directly to the VISA office at the airport to purchase our standing Visas. I thought it was $30 US. But it ended up being $160 US per person! That’s pretty much the spending money that we brought. *sigh* So lesson learned. Make sure your passport is not within 6 months of the expiration date when you travel overseas or you may not be able to go at all. I blame this part on our incompetent travel agent who helped us book our air fare. Aren’t they supposed to know the passport regulations?

Happy traveling and be safe!

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Happy First Birthday, Little Mochi!

Little Mochi had his first birthday two weeks ago! We had a big party last Saturday (July 6) – the turn out was good and the guests seemed to have enjoyed themselves.

For those of you looking for birthday party ideas for your kid’s first birthday – themes, food, decorations, etc – here is what we did for Little Mochi.

Time of the party:

First of all, the time of the party seem to be the most important. You have to schedule the party around his nap time. Little Mochi usually naps around noon time and then again around 4 or 5 pm. So I scheduled the party from 1 pm – 5 pm. You don’t want him looking cranky in his pictures or camcorder because he’s tired.

Theme of the party:

We picked a Hawaiian theme. We wanted something fun, laid back, and comfortable for our guests. We could have done a western theme but I didn’t think having him wear a Western outfit would have been comfortable for him, especially in July when the weather is hot. Having Little Mochi wear a Hawaiian shirt is not only comfortable for him, but is also easy to put on and take off.

Attire and decorations:

Most of our guests came in their Hawaiian shirts and grass skirts. We had Hawaiian music playing in the background. The music was nice because the tunes are relaxing and laid back. We purchased a box of 50 plastic lei’s for $10 from Party City and had one of my cousins lei’d the guests as they arrived. Although they were just cheap plastic lei’s, it surprised the guests. And besides, it help create the “Hawaiian” atmosphere.

We also purchased a big blow up coconut tree that holds the drinks at the bottom. We just filled the bottom with ice and put the drinks on top. It also makes a nice decoration and adds to the whole Hawaiian theme.

We also purchased some plastic Hibiscus and taped them all over the room. That didn’t do much since our clubhouse (where we had the party) was so big and I had only 50 flowers.

The only thing that I didn’t do was get a tiki bar because I decided not to serve any alcohol (too many kids – bad influence).

Food and Drinks:

We almost catered from L&L’s Hawaiian BBQ but decided to serve ribs instead. The ribs were purchased from Costco. To make it easier on the guests, we cut up the ribs before we served them so you can grab one, two or three ribs instead of grabbing the entire rack of ribs. Also, that way, it won’t be the only thing the guests eat (those ribs get expensive!).

My mom made Pineapple, Bacon and Ham fried rice. I think I would have asked her to use Spam instead of the Bacon and Ham since everyone seems to associate Spam with Hawaii, but Spam gets expensive. Who would have noticed the difference anyway?

I also had lasgna. That went quick. At first, I thought I should have made another plate of lasgna, but towards the end of the party, there was still a lot of left over food.

There was a lot of desserts. My mother in law made a Chinese green bean dessert. My mom made carrot cake. We didn’t buy a birthday cake (thought the carrot cake was enough). And I had fruit for the guests.

We also had chips and salsa and egg rolls as snacks.

As for drinks, I made sure we had Hawaiian Fruit Punch! Lots of it. Root beer is always a favorite in our family. As I mentioned before, I didn’t serve any alcohol because there was going to be a lot of young kids at the party. I didn’t think it was appropriate.

Presents:

Little Mochi got a lot of presents. We opened them after the guests left because I didn’t want the kids to feel bad. I didn’t wrap “gifts” (party favors) for them so thought it was best to just open the presents later instead.

Party Favors:

I bought bubble blowers for the kids to keep them busy. It’s also inexpensive. But for the adults, I purchased a small box of Hawaiian cookies and a small bag of chocolate covered coffee beans for them to take home.

What I regret:

I didn’t take enough pictures or videos.

We didn’t play any games. I really wanted to do the limbo, but the day passed by so quickly that I didn’t realize how late it was. Everyone was either too tired or already running around.

I couldn’t get Little Mochi to take his nap any earlier than 12:30 so I didn’t make it to the clubhouse until nearly 2 pm!

I didn’t bring my cell phone with me so one friend got lost and couldn’t get a hold of me. It took her 2 hours to finally find us. And my cousinn tried to call to get directions, but couldn’t get a hold of me. They ended up not showing up. Their baby is only 2 weeks older than Little Mochi so it would have been great to see them interact.

What I’m thankful for:

My mom for helping me make the food and carrot cake.

My mother in law for bringing the dessert.

My husband and two brothers for entertaining the guests at the poker table. Especially my husband since he made them happy since he lost all his money to them!!!!

My sister for helping out before the party because I was recovering from food poisioning (I almost had to cancel the party because I almost rushed myself to ER early, really early that morning).

All my cousins that stayed behind to help clean up.

My father in law for taking the 5 video clips that I otherwise would not have taken because I barely took any pictures to begin with.

And most importantly, all the guests for showing up in their Hawaiian gear!

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More Baby Shower Games

Before I went to the wrong wedding this past Saturday, my hubby, Little Mochi, and I went to LL’s baby shower. She’s got another 9 weeks to go and is having a baby girl. It’s their first child so it’ll be exciting for them.

Her shower was a small and cozy shower, unlike mine. She had only a few close friends and her parents. Her husband’s family is still in Australia so they weren’t there. Despite the small size, we all had fun. They played a few games. Here are some of the games that they played:

1. The Pin Game: Everyone gets a pin with a ribbon tied to it. If you hear someone say the word “Baby,” you can take their pin from them. Likewise, if someone hears you say the word “Baby,” you have to give them your pin. At the end of the day, who ever has the most pins win. I lost my pin to a little boy while playing the Baby Food Game.

2. The Baby Food Game: 7 baby food jars, with the labels torn off, are labeled 1 – 7. On a sheet of paper, we write down what flavor we think the food in the jar is. I swear I thought I had this one, but I switched the Apple and Pear – they so similar! Hint: Look at the consistency of it.

3. The How Many Diapers Game: Diapers are stuffed into a see through container. We have to guess how many diapers are in there. The person closest to the actual number of diapers in the container wins. I was totally off!

4. The Baby Picture Game: Everyone brings in a baby picture and we all have to write down who we think the baby is. This is actually a rather difficult game, especially if you don’t know the other guests. I didn’t play this game because a) I didn’t submit a picture and b) I don’t know anyone at the party except for the mom-to-be.

5. The Yarn Game: With the yarn, you try to figure out the size of the soon-to-be Mom’s belly by cutting out a piece of yarn. Many of the men just tied the yarn around their waist and consider that the size of the Mom because they have such a big belly already. I was close, but lost to the same little boy that I lost my pin to!

We left early. We couldn’t stay long enough to enjoy their cake and to watch her open her presents. We had to run back home and get ready for my cousin’s wedding later that night.

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Oops, the Wrong Wedding!

This past Saturday, June 28th was my cousin’s wedding. The reception was at Crowne Plaza in Anaheim. Being a summer bride, she chose the color green as her wedding color. Great choice. I love the color green.

I entered the hotel through the back. I saw 4 girls dressed in green dresses taking pictures. Surely, this was the wedding. I walked towards the door and started to stared into the reception room. Suddenly, one of the girls wearing green, obviously a bride’s maid, came running to me. I thought it was one of my cousin’s bridesmaid rushing over to see Little Mochi.

Nope, it was a friend from high school. I wasn’t wearing my glasses so it was hard for me to see. I couldn’t tell that it was my high school friend. The second my friend hugged me, the wedding planner from that wedding came out said hi to me. I was utterly confused. I could have sworn I knew who my cousin’s bride’s maids were. And I know we don’t usually hire wedding planners for our weddings. So what were these two girls from my past doing here? My high school friend, the one wearing the beautfiul green dress, asked if I was going to this wedding?

I answered her question with my question: “How do you know my cousin CL? I didn’t know you’re her bride’s maid!”

Now I confused her. “No, this is P and P’s wedding.”

So I’m feeling really stupid by now. At least I knew two people from the wedding and at least I was stopped from entering the room. Because then, I’d be really stupid walking out of the wedding 2 minutes later.

Of course, I found the right wedding and sat down with familiar faces. Small world.

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