Sometimes, First Place is just Better!

Didn't seem all that long ago that we're bribing Ethan to ditch his training wheels. Why am I ever surprised anyway? This kid has far excelled in everything he does!

Still, when we entered him into his first bike race, we knew we had a lot of work to do as far as teaching him good sportsmanship.

"It's not always all about winning."

"Always do your best and have fun."

We try to focus on making sure he has fun, above all else. But really, kids know the difference between winning and losing, regardless of whether or not there's a scorekeeper or medals or trophies. I've learned that ranking achievement is something they pick up on their own, and as parents, the best we could do is try to help them not be discouraged whenever they do end up on the losing end. I am a firm believer that sometimes, it's in losing that we learn the biggest lesson, and failing is what propels the greatest to succeed.

As my Tito Jess would say, "Try and try until you succeed!" :)


In Ethan's eyes, of course, things are much simpler than that. Competition is competition. And at 4 years old, he's pretty convinced that you're not a winner unless you cross the line first.

So he did just that this weekend!

This is Ethan BEAMING after he won. His excitement was priceless!

Proudly showing off his medal

Family support is very important to us and there sure is no shortage of that when it comes to cheering on Ethan!

Ethan's biggest cheerleaders!

THIS IS MY FAVORITE SHOT: Ethan telling the baby all about him winning the race!

London-Bound with Baby News

It started with a dream. Just a dream. I dont really even remember what I dreamt about but it prompted me to take a test and sure enough! 3 for 3 and the doc confirmed. Can't tell yet how far along I am until the ultrasound. I kept it from Mike for 2 days, thinking about some special way to tell him on the way to London. The scene from the Wedding Singer kept playing over and over in my head. I hoped I could find a flight attendant cool enough to make the announcement on the intercom....

But I saw a perfect moment last night. Just me and Mike on the couch. Nothing fancy. He gave me the biggest hug and we both couldnt wait to tell Ethan. His reaction was priceless!! He couldn't stop jumping on the couch!

"I made a wish to have a baby brother, and it came true!" he said. And he's right. For months, he's been praying for a baby more than he does for any toy. I can't wait til he actually meets her! ;) We got a while before we find out still....

Well we're on our way to London. I am happily and gittyly imprisoned on my Droid, but I'll prob need to wait til we get back to write more. This keyboard is so darn difficult to write a novel with. Gotta love technology.

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Brentwood Grand Prix

I haven't posted much of Mike's past few races... actually, I haven't posted much of anything lately. We've gone to a wedding, the circus, the waterpark, Ethan's summer school shananigans, Mike's ongoing races and all the other life responsibilities that happen inbetween... I've got tons of photos I want to share, so many things I want to write about, nuances to bitch about, but every time I start, I get bogged down with writer's block. I even downloaded a blogger app on my phone, and still I can't find the juices to write any one-liners!

In the famous words of my little Ethan........... Barnacles!

But I have to try.

And I suppose now's a better time than ever to break the spell because I want to share about Mike and Ethan's race at Brentwood last Sunday.

Mike's cycling season this year is winding down. With Tour de France over with and with only a handful of races left on the calendar, Mike has really vamped up his training and have even finished 12th in Ontario last month.

Sunday's race started out strong, he stayed out front for the most part, while half of the races started peeling off one by one. It was harder this time to separate Mike from the "peloton" (main pack) because of his spankin' new jersey -- IDIOT me, who took charge of packing the overnight bag, somehow LEFT out his jersey at home. So we had to dash (literally breaking the law) the night before to get to the nearest Performance Bike before they closed so he could buy a new jersey. $150 worh of legit-looking Fuji jersey to match his Fuji bike later, I was out of the doghouse and he was a happy camper.

But I digress....

5 laps before the end of the race, Mike was apparently involved in a crash (his first of the season) and lost a minute so he fell back. I'm glad the officials didn't decide to pull him off that close to the end... but you could see the disappointment in his face when he fnally crossed the finish line 38th out of 70. If it weren't for the wreck, I can honestly say he could've finished top 10. He had started out so strong, and could've easily stayed towards the front if he hadn't gotten caught in the accident. I always hear about stories of people crashing and breaking their collar bones and needing surgeries done, so I constantly worry about him when he's racing with 50 other guys and they ride so close to each other going 30 mph. So I'm just glad he was ok!


And then it was Ethan's turn.

Ethan's First Consent Form

Mike had to do some convincing, but eventually, I suppose I knew (despite all the mommy-worries) that Ethan would handle himself just fine against the 8 year olds (he was in the boys 5-8 category). I did all I could do. I brought his elbow and knee pads, which he refused to wear after seeing no one else had them on. I made sure he was comfortable. I had bandaids in my purse. I strategically placed Mike, Sissy, my mom and my dad in increments from start to finish so we could all keep tabs on him. I was a worry-wart.

But Ethan, on the contrary, was ecstatic. It was his first race WITHOUT training wheels... and he wanted to be JUST LIKE DADDY. He just learned to ride on two wheels weeks ago, and we tried to practice as much as we could. You could tell he was a little scared, but I was tearfully impressed by how he tried to be strong. He wanted to be one with the big boys. You couldn't even tell he was the youngest one there (by 6 months at least). He did ask not be up front because he still wasn't 100% with the take-off. I gave him a kiss and he looked up at me with those "I can do it mom!" looks and I couldn't be more proud!!!! With that, I ran to wait for him at the finish line..... but of course, as luck would have it, there were some privileged parents who got to stay on the course to take pictures of their kids and run with their kids. So I didn't really get any great shots of Ethan crossing the line, but I did meet him towards the end, and surprisingly, he was just proud of himself as we were despite not finishing first.

My proud baby!

This will definitely not be his last!!


Of course, my sister, my mom and my dad all came out to support Mike and Ethan so it was a family affair. My mom even got Ethan his first racing jersey! A little foreshadowing maybe? UCLA is a great school that Ethan can go to for free :)


More pics!

Ethan Learns How to Ride after 2 Lessons!!

5 days ago, we took Ethan's training wheels off for the first time and had to come up with some creative encouragement to convince Ethan to TRY......... just TRY.... riding his bike on two wheels.

Mike and I figured we'd take turns with holding the seat, it was less strain on my back because I'm apparently closer to the ground. It was at least good exercise for us having to run after him up and down the street.

Yesterday, we figured we'd try again.... still got some resistance from Ethan, but we eventually got him on the bike.

And within 10 minutes, he was off by himself!!!!!!!!!!

We couldn't believe it!

The look on my face when I first let go of the seat

Ethan's first ride with daddy

AND........ I'm pretty proud to report....... he learned with no scratches/bruises to boot!

Five on Fridays: Birthday Recap

Mike's birthday this year was a hoot. You know what they say.... when the cat's away, the mice will play...

1. All-you-can-eat SUSHI! We did what we do best when it comes to dinner.

Roro's birthday is only 2 days from Mike's, so we've always tried to celebrate their birthdays together every year.








2. Golf by the beach. Yes, that's how much I love Mike. I bought me a set of Lady Cougar clubs at a yard sale for $5 (scoooore!) and finally went golfing with Mike -- Roro and Sissy in tow -- for 9 holes by the beach.

It was actually pretty fun!







3. The Happiest Place on Earth would be happier without the lines. Went to Dland on Sunday with Jojo and Jacob on Sunday. Now, Disneyland without Ethan is little bittersweet. On one hand, we could ride the rollercoasters and all the rides Ethan wouldn't be caught dead in, but on the other hand, he would've loved the World of Color water show. Too bad our passes are blocked for the rest of the summer!









4. A nice upgrade. Mike's birthday present probably tops it all. I say if you spend that much money on a bike, it better pedal itself to 1st place. But Mike says it's still up to him to pedal fast, although having a much lighter bike would help him be that much faster.







5. Of course, Ethan missed all the celebration this year because he's having way more fun in Ohio with Grandma and Poppi. We've just (reluctantly) approved a petition to extend his 2-week vacation by a couple of extra days. Gah!

Wooden Annivesary = Eurotrip!

So it was no secret that I was nearly 4 months pregnant when Mike and I got married in 2005. It put a little damper on our Honeymoon which was a week long all-inclusive trip to Cancun (a wedding present from my mom). We have since then promised we would try to do something special every year on our anniversary.


Year 1 - We went on a Carribbean cruise.


We made out with stingrays

Tubed through caves in Belize

Made friends with Mexicans who can't take pictures after getting stranded with no money for a cab

Drank a little too much in Cozumel

Ravaged through ancient ruins in Costa Maya

Year 2 - We said, screw it, let's jump off a perfectly good airplane.

Year 3 - We spent a week-worth of free beach-front suites in the East Coast.

We went to our first NASCAR race in Richmond

Almost decapitated Mike in Williamsburg

Climbed our first light house at Fort Story

Drank a little too much in Ocean City

Got diarrhea from jumbo pizzas in DC

Year 4 - BIG FAT NADA

I'm sure we went to dinner or something, but goes to show you that it must've been THAT boring that neither Mike or I can remember what it was. We had just bought the house, so not only were our funds a little low, we probably just didn't have enough energy left to plan anything.

So for Year 5, we are pulling all the stops and we're going to Europe for 10 days!!! We are super psyched!

Is it September yet???????

Ethan's First Tball Season

Well! The season's over... and we're all a little bummed about it. It was the first team sport we put him in, and he enjoyed it a lot... looking forward to every baseball practice and the "real game" on early Saturday mornings. The early wake up calls aren't going to be missed as much, but being able to give Ethan the opportunity to make friends, learn the fundamentals of a sport he clearly loves and learn about teamwork was priceless.

And because I was a bad mommy and didn't post after every weekend of tball, here's my sad attempt of a season wrap up.


The kids were all a hoot, 9 boys and 1 girl. They don't have much concept of "positions"... it's more like "whoever gets the ball first wins". For the first few games, the kids were like puppies climbing over each other to get the ball, arms and legs flying wildly in the scrum. Frequently, whichever kid won the ball in the scrum would just hold it up over his head triumphantly... then look around while the coaches and parents (including myself) yell "Throw it to first base!" Eventually, towards the end of the season, they started to learn to stay within their own boundaries.

But attention spans being what they are, each game would start to deteriorate a bit after the first two innings. The trick was to rotate the kids so that they all have a chance to "do something" other than wait. Seeing as we played 90% of the games on grass and not dirt, the balls didn't normally go past the pitcher's mound, so unless you were the pitcher, the short stop or the first baseman, there really wasn't much action to go around. In Ethan's case, there are times when he said he didn't want to play anymore because he didn't get the ball... but when he did get the ball, you would think the boy had just won the World Series. Their favorite part was batting and running around the bases. They all got considerably better in the few weeks they played, and Ethan especially loved wacking that ball as hard as he could!

He also loved being the catcher, or as we called it, the "Transformer". Putting on all that gear never appealed to the kids until we started calling it that, then everyone wanted to be the Transformer. Since the kids hit from a tee, the catcher's job was solely to get the ball thrown from first base and put it on the tee and sometimes tag the kids running to home plate.

During one of the games, several outfielders got into a wrestling match, which the coach decided wasn't worth the effort to defuse. There was one particular kid who would sporadically take himself out of the "game" and just hang out with the rest of us on the side. Ethan danced when he got bored......

The sidelines (ie makeshift dugouts in the outfield) were always filled with proud parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins in lawn chairs, many with dogs and/or younger siblings trying on helmets that covered their whole head. One of the best parts of the season was watching parents step up to be base coaches. EVERY SINGLE PARENT of the kids on the team were at some point on the field cheering on every player (not just their own). Of course, I instinctively became the unofficial team photographer. Everything was so chaotic, not necessarily in a bad way, but most parents were too busy either coaching on a base or getting the next batters up ready, that they got too busy to take pictures on their own. I made sure all the parents had a chance to have some of those memories preserved....

Coach Mark and Coach Mando were great with the kids, especially Coach Mark. His kid played in the same league last year, but this was his first year coaching. Practices were at 4 on Tuesdays so my mom and dad took Ethan to practice, so my interaction with the coach was limited to the Saturday games.... but he was GREAT with the kids. He coached them no different from coaching his own. And the best part was that at the end of the season, he was truly and genuinely proud of each of one of them. So proud, in fact, that he ended up buying personalized trophies for all the kids (the league would only provide medallions).

The end of the season was bittersweet. Yes, these are only 4 year olds, and yes, there will be plenty more baseball seasons in our future. But this was his first. His first uniform. His first team. His first single. His first slide home. His first coach. His first trophy.

Way to go Ethan! Mommy and Daddy are PROUD OF YOU!

GO CUBS!!!!