The Beginning of Summer

This summer, I’m going on three big trips with Lili and our family: Las Vegas, Canada, and Hawaii. We’re actually leaving for Vegas tomorrow! We’re driving, since we will have all of Lili’s stuff.

So far, it’s been an interesting transition into summer, full of adventures and events. Gregory and I finally took Lili to our second home, in Sacramento. He really wanted to spend quality time with her, because most of the time our families are helping take care of her. I totally get where he was coming from, and I always want Lili to spend as much time as possible with her dad. I was personally kind of dreading it because I knew I would have less help, haha. But it was actually alright.

We stayed indoors and ran the AC because Sac is too hot. I slept less, of course. Haha. Well, we didn’t get to Sacramento until 7 on Saturday evening because we came from a graduation party. Lili did better than I thought. I thought that she’d be uncomfortable because she had never been there before. But the first thing she did was play with our roommate Sara. They love each other. Lili actually had fun!

The hard part wasn’t until night time, when she couldn’t fall asleep. She didn’t sleep until 12:30 AM, then woke up at 3:50, then at like 6:45 AM. But then she stayed awake for a while, and went back to sleep until about 10. I was still tired.

I still wanted to take her out a little bit, though. We went to Nut Tree Plaza in Vacaville. I never realized they had an amusement park for kids. We ate at Fenton’s, then we took a train ride and rode on the merry-go-round. Lili, Greg, and I all had a lot of fun!

At the end of the train ride, as if on cue, all the parents said, “Yaaaay!” in high pitched, childlike voices and clapped. Haha. Including me, naturally!

I watched ALL the NBA Finals (Warriors vs. Cavs) games at home. I normally like to go out to watch big games, but it was actually nice to be able to focus on the game (some of the time) in the comfort of my own home, no crowd. I can’t pay attention to sports for 3 hours nonstop. 

I just had déjà vu: Saying I can’t watch sports for 3 hours nonstop with a Corona commercial playing in the background, haha.

I went tanning with my girl friend in her backyard. I love being sunkissed! And then I went to an escape room with my friends. It was super fun! And super frickin’ puzzling! At some point we were all just STUMPED. It was definitely a unique experience. 

I’m sad that one of my best friends is moving to Florida. One of my best friends already moved to Texas. And I really missed my dog who passed away in December. It’s been a while, but I’ve just been remembering him.

I’ve been feeling like I was just really in need of a deep talk. Fortunately, I got my fix with a couple of my best friends. We reminisced and I got some stuff off my chest. ‘Twas nice!!

My sister graduated from fashion and design school! Congrats Bri! Then my cousin also graduated in a design, and we had a lovely courtyard party and then an after party in the city with her friends.

Finally, today I have a “for fun” photoshoot, 1950s style! Super excited. My friend Amanda is a professional makeup artist. She asked me to be a hair/makeup model again so her artists can practice. So I decided to take advantage of getting my hair and makeup done. Kris is my partner in crime and also happens to be a photographer! She’s been wanting to do a 1950s themed shoot for a long time. My sister graduated in Visual Communications, meaning she specializes in making things look good! She is the stylist. And my friend Melissa will be our assistant on set! 

It’s really cool to head my own quick, creative project. I’ll share pictures later!

Growth Spurt

   

I have a cute baby. That’s a major life goal accomplished right there! Of course, it’s more important that she have a good heart. I look forward to teaching her values, in the future. At this rate, it seems like it will be time for that sooner than I think. Time goes so fast when I’m watching Lili grow before my eyes.

Recently, she learned how to open and close her hand on command. I thought it was really cool because it’s the first time I could say something to her and know that she knows exactly what I mean. She can high five, too! Her crawling is a bit uncoordinated, but she will get to something close by if she wants it. I guess her next lessons will be waving, blowing kisses, and clapping her hands?

Oh, you know what’s cool? When we’re reading to her, she can turn the page. I’m happy that she likes being read to. It’s important that she loves to read, like I did. She doesn’t have to do it as much as I did… I don’t really know of anyone who was as obsessed with books as I was, lol… But reading helped form my perspective on the world and put myself in another person’s shoes… Or, Walk Two Moons in another person’s shoes.

I would actually prefer she spent a little less time reading than I did, and more time developing social skills, honestly. I wish for her to be less shy than I was, then maybe growing up will be a little easier for her.

We hung out with my best friend and her kids while they were in town. We went to San Francisco twice. The most fun I’ve seen her have so far is when we visited the Kids’ Discovery Museum by the Golden Gate Bridge (the Marin side). She’s pretty fearless and loves to explore new places and try new things!

   
 
It means a lot to see her have fun… I had fun there even as an adult, but as a mom, her experience there took priority… I wasn’t thinking of my own fun, I was thinking of hers. And she had a lot of it!

At home…

She snatches my glasses off my face. Rude. Lol. But it’s okay, she’s just a baby exploring the world around her.

She likes playing with everyday items, like remotes and cell phones, as much as toys, if not more. I just have to make sure she has her pacifier in her mouth so she doesn’t eat them. And make sure she doesn’t text anybody. Lol.

She can go from lying down, to sitting up, to pulling up to stand in seconds. She is still quite active. And still quite attached… Sometimes she cries when I put her down and clings onto my arm. This is usually when she just woke up , or maybe feeling discomfort from teething. For the most part, she’s in a good mood and pretty easy to watch, but still tiring.

A rough week for Lili is a rough week for me. A rough week will happen when she’s going through a growth spurt, like she did recently. It’s crazy, one day I’ll look at her and see that she’s gotten noticeably bigger, seemingly overnight. But that would explain the shorter naps and fussy moments. Greg says she looks more like a one-year-old than a newborn. She is closer to one now… 7 and a half months.

Where does the time go? It’s the most valuable thing. You can’t get it back. Nothing has taught me that lesson better than watching Lili grow a little every day.

Mom Workout

Oh shoot, it’s Tuesday! That means it’s blog day!

My life used to revolve around volleyball, as a player, and later as a coach. I don’t know how I will balance the sport with being a mom, but if other women can do it, I can too. 🙂

My first volleyball game keeps getting pushed back, but now it’s really supposed to start next Monday. Now I have to miss a game in July :(. Yeah, I don’t like changing the schedule all the time, but I’m glad that this league is motivating me to practice volleyball and get in decent shape. The other day I played beach volleyball with some friends. We were just messing around, but the sand made it a cool workout, and at least I touched a volleyball, even if it wasn’t that serious. Plus, it was fun!

I never go to the gym… I’m just not comfortable working out around strangers, and I don’t use machines, or even weights… I just do what I’m used to, the conditioning I did in volleyball, which is a good overall workout. Legs because I stay low, core because I crunch my abs when I serve and spike, and arms to set the ball up and smack it down.

On the 1st, I started some of those 30-day challenges they have online. I chose my challenges based on what I need for volleyball. It’s not P90X or Insanity, but I’m combining the 30-Day Beach Body, Abs & Squats, Triceps, and Easy Push-ups Challenges… because I want to have strength and endurance for volleyball, and even if I still don’t feel great in a bathing suit this summer, at least I’ll know I tried. Lol. I had great triceps when I was a setter in high school. I used to be good at push-ups, but to get back to my former shape, I have my work cut out for me. I guess carrying Lili has been working out different muscles than I’m used to. And of course, squats. That’s partly a vanity thing, lol, but in volleyball I’m practically in a constant squat. So all that adds up to gradually increasing crunches, sit-ups, planks, squats, tri-cep dips, and push-ups. Oh!! And the occasional dance break when Rihanna comes on. If only I had a coach still yelling at me to run hella suicides. But I’ve been my own coach for a while.

I ran into an old volleyball friend at a party. He really seemed to admire my skills LOL. It was nice to hear, after going through that little mental journey through volleyball, which I blogged about a few weeks ago. I didn’t realize he was a couple of years younger than me, and I know when I was just starting out, I looked at the older players and never imagined I could be as good as them. But soon enough, I was one of them.

We played in a volleyball clinic together, and he said he remembered I would stay late and practice. I don’t even remember that, but it sounds like me. He remembered wanting to be as good as me, or wanting to pass (AKA bump) as well as me, or something like that. That’s sweet. Well, now we’re about to be opponents in our co-ed league, lol.

I hope I let loose and have fun. I wish I had more fun on the court, in my past years of volleyball. But I get hella focused. I guess that’s my idea of fun, cuz I feel great after playing. The competition was high back in high school, but now hopefully I can laugh things off more often and just have a good time with my teammates.

BUT I also wish I had more of a strategy to win in the past. lol. I mean, I say that now, but I probably did. But now I know more about strategy and hope I can utilize it. Since I’m out of practice, I get pretty preoccupied just trying to remember how to play, though. lol.

My friend’s little brother, who is also my friend, is in high school. He said he wished I was his coach. Aw. It’s nice to know I can have that persona of authority and respect, or at least to be reminded. I’m not trying to brag, trust, I’m my own worst critic. The affirmations really help sometimes.

Yeah, that made me want to return to coaching, and I know teams that can use a coach, but it’s all in due time.

My uncle busted me out on a Facebook picture that my “shoulders, lats, and deltoids” are shrinking, meaning I haven’t been practicing archery. Nah… I haven’t. I’m barely getting back into volleyball just now. But his comment did kinda put me in check. I don’t mind that those muscles are smaller, maybe it gives me a more “girlish” shape haha. But it would be nice to get them in better shape. I’m not great at archery, but maybe I’ll pick up my bow again soon.

Greg just got a new gym membership. That’s great, because I am not okay with “dad bod.” Women deal with pressure to fit some kind of mold, even after having a baby, which can change your body forever, so it’s not fair for guys to get away with slackin’ after becoming a dad. I have standards. Lol. Well, sports and working out is a lifestyle that brought us together, so it’s important to keep it up.

I’m on Day 2 of my 30 day challenge. Do or do not, there is no try!