Pizza, Ponies, and Party Hats, Oh My!

Feast or famine around here, huh? I know, I know. I've got all sorts of fantastic pictures of my little munchkin to share, but there just aren't enough hours in the day - between working full time (27 days to go!!!), spending time with my beautiful little girl, and trying to prep our home (and our lives) for this incredible new addition, there just isn't a lot of time for blogging. That being said, I do appreciate all of the folks who stop by All Things Ng to see what's going on with our family, so I'm going to try very hard to get back on the wagon. :-)

On May 27th, Abby attended her first birthday party. One of Abby's friends from daycare, Ajay, was turning 3, and his parents were throwing him a party at White Post Farms. We had a great time! While Abby wasn't really into feeding the animals, she loved watching them, and she had a blast riding the pony and eating pizza and cake. We have another birthday party this weekend, and I know that Abby is looking forward to another fun party!

Trying very hard to see what's in the pond beyond these bars...


My two loves!


Riding the train with her friend, Tommy.


"Fishies, mommy! I see fishies!"


Abby liked the zebras.


The camels were okay, but she wasn't as impressed...


Abby's very first pony ride! She wanted to wait for Dakota, who was the smaller of the two horses. She was very brave, and while mommy did walk a few steps to the side, just in case, Abby did great! In fact, she was telling anyone who would listen that she rode Dakota!


Climbing on the hippo at the big playground.


Pizza... Yum...


Petting the bunnies, Marshmallow and Fudge.


Mmmm!! Cake!!

Congratulations to the Miller Family! Again!

While taking a peak on Facebook this morning, I was greeted by the most wonderful news! Our friends, Karen and Brian Miller, welcomed their baby girl, Chyler Anne (pronounced Ki-ler, rhymes with Tyler) into the world this morning at 3:40 am. Mommy and baby are both doing well. Baby Chyler joins big sister Sierra, and the Millers are now a quartet. Congratulations, and big hugs from the Ngs! :-)

Abby's Visit to Fordham

Abby with mommy, Tim, Cathy, and Marlo

On Tuesday, Abigail came into the city with me. Carey had scheduled a lot of work to be done on the house that day, and we both agreed that we didn't really want Abby around for it. (More on this in a future post.)

In addition to spending the day with me at NYIF, I took my lunch hour to walk Abby over to visit with my friends/former co-workers at Fordham. While I don't miss my job at Fordham (way too high stress and pretty thankless), I do miss all the friends I made while I worked there. It was great to see them, and I was so excited that they all got to see Abby. (Last time she visited Fordham, she was only two months old, and she pretty much slept the entire time!) This visit, she was awake and loved being cuddled and held by everyone there.

Thanks to Marlo for taking and sharing these pictures from Abby's visit!

Abby and Fiona

Abby and Cathy

Abby and Marlo

Uncle Tim: What do you mean this is the first time you've ever held a baby?!?! Should I be scared???

Abby with Melissa, Tim, and mommy

And finally, my favorite picture of all. Look at that face! She loves her carrier, so I'm not sure why she was making that face, but it's adorable!

THANK YOU!!

I wanted to thank everyone who was kind enough to respond to my last blog post, either via the blog, email, or telephone. I was really worried about Abby (like I said last time, I'm Polish, and we're good at this whole worrying thing...), and it was a relief to have people tell me that their kids have done the same thing and that it's not necessarily something to be worried about.

Secondly, I want to apologize. I think my post might have been somewhat unclear, leading some of you kind, caring folks to worry more than you should have. When I mentioned the 'alarm' going off in the morning, I meant my alarm clock. Carey and I looked into getting one of those sensors that you either put under the crib or on the baby's head to monitor breathing, but we never ended up getting one. When I said I was worried about Abby's breathing, that was just me being an over-active worry-wart. Thank God, Abby has never given us any indication that she has trouble breathing while she sleeps. (If anything, she snores like her daddy, so it's sometimes very easy to hear that she's still breathing!)

Occasionally, friends will ask Carey and I for parenting advice. Carey's usual response to this is "Why are you asking us for advice? We've only been parents for, like, 20 minutes!" Well, as someone who stills feels like she doesn't know what she's doing most of the time, it was such a relief to hear that Abby is doing what most kids do and that we shouldn't worry to much. (Of course, I'm Polish, so I'm sure I'll find something else to worry about...)

Here's Abby!

Little Abigail Elizabeth Ng arrived on September 12, 2008 at 1:58pm. She arrived at 7 pounds 11oz. and 21 inches. Mom and Abby are doing great. Thank you all for your prayers and best wishes.

A wonderful weekend and 35 weeks!!

Carey and I had a great weekend, thanks in large part to our wonderful family and friends!!

I had the day off from work on Friday and managed to get the house cleaned up and some more boxes sorted. (Carey was a huge help when he got home on Friday night!) On Saturday, Carey's family was coming out for what I thought was a birthday celebration for our niece Gabriella, our nephew Luke, and Mama Ng. Well, we got to Bart and Melissa's house to find a surprise baby shower! (Surprise for me, not for Carey. He's getting very good at keeping secrets from me...) There were lots of cameras there, so I promise to get a slide show up in the next day or two. (I still owe everyone a slide show from my "Bergen" baby shower, too!) We had a great time, and I felt very blessed to have so many friends and family members who were able to make the trip out to Long Island and celebrate Abigail with us! (Many others who could not make it also took the time to send in their well-wishes, so I felt doubly blessed!)

Sunday was a "chill out" day for us. We did some shopping after church and had a relaxing lunch together. It was such a beautiful day, that we took a nice (not too long) walk to enjoy the sunshine, and Bart and Melissa invited us over for a barbecue. (They just got a new puppy. Hannah is 10 weeks old and soooo cute!!) We also did our first load of Abby laundry on Sunday!! (Her clothes are so tiny and adorable. It took us one load to wash her entire 0-3 months wardrobe!) This week I'm planning to tackle her bedding, towels, burp cloths, blankets, etc.Yesterday, we had our 35 week check-up with Dr. Siegel. He said that everything looks good. I gained another 3.5 pounds. (Before, I couldn't gain a pound no matter what I did. Now, I'm gaining almost two pounds a week!!!!) But, this is good, since Abby is now spending most of her time putting on weight. Her heartbeat was strong, her position was good, and my uterus is growing right on schedule. Plus, Dr. Siegel was very happy with the results of our third trimester ultrasound. It looks like September 10th is still our target date! I was also swabbed for Group B strep, so I will hopefully have those test results no later than our next appointment (August 15th). After the doctor's office, we went to lunch and to the movies. (The third Mummy movie: good if you like action sequences and special effects, not so good if you are looking for a decent plot line...) I think this might be our last trip to the movies before Abby arrives. She was quite fidgety throughout the whole thing, so I'm thinking that she might not like the noise...

Anyway, it was a wonderful weekend, filled with family, friends, and a good report from the doctor. Plus, I think I finally shook my cold! Tonight, Carey and I have our breastfeeding class at Huntington Hospital. I know that breastfeeding is going to be a challenge, so I'm looking forward to the advice and guidance that we'll receive at class tonight. I'm also hoping that class will help me better mentally prepare for the experience!

Congratulations Bernice and Sammy!

Yesterday, Bernice (who is one of Carey's co-workers) gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Lily. Congratulations to Bernice and Sammy on the new addition to their family!

We're New Yorkers again! (and Week 26)

It was a VERY busy weekend, but Carey and I are now officially New Yorkers again! Thanks to our great friends and family (especially Alison, Dave, Carrie, Craig, Melissa, and Bart), we had the smoothest move I could have imagined. (And believe me, a low stress move was just what this pregnant woman needed!) The remainder of our belongings left Hoboken shortly after 1:00 on Saturday afternoon, and we arrived at our new home around 2:30. Everything was unloaded into the downstairs, so now begins the process of sorting through all of the items that are downstairs and in our garage and putting everything away. The required rooms (bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen) are usable, if not quite done, so it's a matter of tweaking those rooms and really getting down to business in the rest of the house. Our 'To Do' list keeps getting longer and we spend hours cleaning, sorting, storing, etc., but at the end of the day, it's a great feeling to know that it's our house!! :-)

Also, a huge THANK YOU to Mom and Dad Ng, Anne and Jon, and Bart and Melissa. After seeing the condition of the oven/stove top that came with the house, they chipped in and bought us a new oven as a house-warming present! It arrived on Saturday and it looks amazing. (Funny how changing one appliance made such a HUGE difference in the look of the room...)

And finally, I don't want to neglect Abby. (As if I could ever forget about my little kick boxer...) Today we hit week 26. (No picture though. I have the camera, but the camera cable remains hidden away in one of the myriad boxes downstairs.) According to WebMD, Abigail "measures about 9.2 inches from crown to rump and weighs almost 2 pounds now." She's still giving me heartburn (which I have as I write this), and I'm noticing some pain in my lower rib cage. (WebMD says that's normal though. My little sweetheart is causing all my internal organs to shift around, so some discomfort should be expected.) But, other than that, her little pokes (and not-so-little kicks) are reassuring and she's been great in allowing me to work on the house during the day with no problems. (So long as I eat and drink a lot and get a good night's sleep, I don't think Abby much cares what I'm doing!)

Congratulations to the Miller family!

Congratulations to our friends, Karen and Brian Miller. Karen had been in active labor since Tuesday, and Baby Sierra entered the world a little before 1:00 am this morning! Please keep Sierra, Karen, and Brian in your thoughts and prayers.