Mothers Day 2012 & Thank You, Lakers!

Posted by on May 13, 2012 in Blog, Confessions, Lakers, Special Occasions, Traditional Holidays | 4 comments

Mom Day Plate 2012

Happy Mother’s Day!

As it turns out, we are spending our Mother’s Day weekend at home, but I have no complaints about this. My little one is still recovering from her cold, and as feared, I came down with a sore throat yesterday.

I should have known I was coming down with a cold when I slept through both Round One Lakers games #5 and #6 this past week. I barely watched last night’s game #7, but thank goodness I stayed awake to scream at the TV, cheer and clap, much to my husband’s annoyance and persistent comments of “YOU’RE going to wake up the baby!” and “Why, sweetie? Why are you so noisy?”

Although I was a nervous wreck, it was great to  watch the Lakers amazingly come back after losing their 16-point lead but finishing strong 97 – 86. This morning, I ♥ Pau, I’m proud of Kobe for moving the ball, I ♥ Blake, and I’m even willing to give Bynum kudos for stepping up, despite his bad attitude that I am always so critical of. Good job, Lakers!!!

Second round of the Western Conference Championships starts Monday night against Oklahoma. While many believe we won’t make it through the next round, and I too, have my doubts about dominating a strong, young and fast Oklahoma team, I can still hope.

The beautiful sushi plate you see above is my Mother’s Day gift from the girls. ♥ Those are Bebe E’s little handprints… so precious! Bebe E absolutely could not wait to give me her gift. Last night as I was putting her to bed she said, “Happy Mother’s Day! – I’m going to tell you that tomorrow morning. An’ I going give you your (whispering) SUUUR-PRIZZE!” :)

Yesterday, I got an early Mother’s Day gift as my first ever photograph was accepted by Food Gawker! There might be hope, after all, for improving my photography. For now, you can see my gallery of one photo here. However, if you want to see photography at it’s best, you’ll need see the photos my brother-in-law, Hideki Ueha, took of my Nobu’s Miso Black Cod, and the wonderful picture he took of my little one at the bottom of this post. ♥ To view his full gallery of professional photography, follow this link.

Today, we are spending Mother’s Day resting at home while we watch the other L.A. basketball team, and clap for Bebe E as she dances to our Glee Concert DVD and the ‘Hot Diggity Dog’ theme song from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Last weekend, we celebrated Japanese Children’s Day along with Mother’s Day with both sides of our family, and while we scratched our plans to go out today, my husband made us a nice breakfast and he is making my favorite wonton soup to help nurture my cold (recipe to be shared in the future). Most importantly, I’m spending time with Bebe E, and enjoying being a Mommy.

On Motherhood…

♥ I am thankful for the chance at mommy-hood. After a challenging pregnancy where I spent the last trimester lying on the couch, bedridden, we welcomed a healthy, beautiful little girl (Bebe E) into our family. Note: During my time on the couch I discovered that an entire day can be passed by a) reading novels; b) watching Food Network; c) playing games on FaceBook and d) not cooking or cleaning.

♥ I am thankful for witnessing the beauty of many “firsts”. As an innocent little baby, there are many things in our world which are new. Motherhood has reminded me of all the important “firsts” that we sometimes take for granted as adults, and enjoy these moments as I have never been able to do before. Note: When Bebe E is cranky or misbehaves and I am having a challenging day as the mother of a toddler, I try to remind myself that: a) she is my innocent little baby; b) she is my innocent little baby; c) she is my innocent little baby.

♥ I am thankful for the number of things that I find cute about Bebe E. Here are just a handful of things:

1. Can’t pronounce “s” in: ‘traw, ‘teps, ‘mells, ‘treet, ‘tuff, ‘tamps, ‘piders. Can pronounce “s” in: Santa, some-ting, send, swim.

2. In the bathtub, Bebe E likes to fill a cup with water and toss the water in the air. She says, “look Mommy, it’s ‘World of Color'”. Note: This is often followed with, “PLEASE keep the water in the tub!”

3. When Bebe E wants me to lie down with her at bed time and I ask her why, these are my favorite responses: “because I love you”; “because you pretty, Mommy”. This is usually accompanied with a smile that screams, “I know you can’t say ‘no’ now!” ♥

4. When one of the first of her many fish passed on and sunk to the bottom of the tank, she asked what was wrong with “Guppy” (that was probably Guppy number two or three). I told her that Guppy was sleeping. She then proceeded to look for her favorite blanket, brought it to the tank, and held it up against the tank ‘for guppy to sleep’. ♥

5. When I ask her if she would like to be a doctor and help people when she grows up, she says, “no”. When I ask her if she would like to be a vet and help little doggies and kitty cats, she says, “no.” When I ask her if she would like to cook food when she grows up, she says “yes”. Note: While culinary school wouldn’t be discouraged, I might need to return to work in order to broaden my daughter’s career horizons.

♥ I am thankful for Nene, Bebe E’s big sister, who takes great care of her little sister and makes being a step-mom a serious piece o’ cake! I couldn’t be any luckier to have a buddy to scheme about dessert with, watch teen TV drama on ABC Family (you know, “Pretty Little Liars”) or watch “Iron Chef” and “Sweet Genius” on Food Network, and only occasionally have to ask her to stop texting and pick-up her things off the floor. :)

♥ I am thankful for all the laughter that my little one provides us with. She is silly! As a toddler, she makes very funny comments based upon her perspective of the world. She keeps us constantly entertained. As Nene says, “She is WAY better than a puppy!”

♥ I am thankful that, about a week before Mother’s Day, Bebe E ran excitedly to me with wide eyes and loudly whispered, “We gonna put a SUUUR-PRI-ZE in the oven for you. We going bake it!” A few mornings before Mother’s Day, when I was hugging her after she woke-up, she whispered to me, “I got you a PLATE, Mommy.” The Friday before Mother’s Day, she and Dada went to pick-up THE surprise, but it wasn’t ready. Later that day, we had the following conversation:

Bebe E:”I went with Daddy to the Nice Lady place and she said it not ready. It still in da oven. So we went home. And we stopped at Target.”

Mommy: (Laughing) “Nice Lady place?”

Bebe E: “Yea. Where da Nice Lady is. We had to open our door. It didn’t open.” (I’m guessing she is comparing the Color Me Mine door to all the doors she and I usually walk through – you know the ones at Costco, Target, Sprouts, Trader Joes, the Asian supermarkets – they all open automatically or are already open for us when we walk up to the store. So funny!)

Mommy: “Oh~~~. Got it – the Nice Lady place doesn’t have automatic doors.” :)

♥ I am thankful for the random moments throughout the day when Bebe E tells me, “I love you mommy,” or when she looks at me and simply smiles her smile that melts my heart or makes funny faces that make me laugh. In the picture below, I’m not sure whether she’s trying a modified “peace” sign, or practicing her future age.

Photo Credit: Hideki Ueha

To My Mom…

Thank you, Mom for always being there for us. Thank you, for all you did for us when we were growing-up: driving us everywhere, making our favorite foods and obento for me. Thank you for everything that you continue to do for us! I’m sorry we couldn’t visit today as we had planned.

Bebe E and I love sleeping over at your house because we enjoy spending time with you and “Ojiichan”, Casie and Stella. We especially like it when you cook dinner for us, and sometimes make lunch and breakfast too. :) Bebe E loves your breakfasts (although I feed her the same stuff you do). Thank you for giving me a Mommy-break whenever we’re there, participating in many tea parties, and bringing the basketball hoop inside when it’s too cold outside to play. Please keep making more gyoza and okonomiyaki for us when we come over, oh and making Jello and buying ice cream too. After we’re over our colds we’ll visit again. See you later in the week! ;)

Love,

Your Daughter | Judy

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