The Two Musketeers

Ian and Brandon

2009-02-21T21:14:00.000-08:00

Some pictures of the boys as they are growing up....


Familiar...??


OK...mom is trying to make me look like Ian when he was a baby. Ian used to wear this hat cloth as well.


What's up!?

Zzzzz....... .(I am taking a nap from my workout)

Look at the snow! I am shoveling!

More shoveling

Ok..I am done!


Here's my Kung Fu kick in action!

Ian asleep with his clothes and jacket

2009-02-15T20:42:00.000-08:00

** Sigh** As usual, Ian will passed out in the car and we will have to bring him into the house and into our bed. He will be sleeping with his clothes and jacket on (Daddy didn't want to disturb sleepy Ian) till he's finally awake or till when I can't stand him sleeping with the clothes and jacket on and decided to change his clothes while he's sleeping.

Brandon in the Jumperoo

2009-02-06T07:21:00.000-08:00

And, my youngest child, Brandon is ready for the Jumperoo (which used to be his brother's). Brandon loves the Jumperoo and I think he enjoys playing with it more than Ian used to be.

The boys

2009-02-06T06:46:00.000-08:00

Here are some of the pics of the boys taken recently. :)

Guess Ian misses his old rocker :D

Brandon in the laundry basket

Brandon with a boo-boo on his face (he scratched himself a little too hard)

Ian wearing his daddy's old Chicago Bears hat

Happy CHinese New Year

2009-02-06T06:17:00.000-08:00

Even though the first day of Chinese New Year was on January 26, I would like to wish everyone a Happy, Health and Prosperous 2009. May everyone has the best of health, great luck & wealth and abundance of joy! CNY in Chicago is boring. I wish I was at Chinatown in NYC. :( Anyways, we had our sorta reunion dinner on the 2nd day of new year. My mom made a Burgundy Pork Tenderloin dish(basically a pork dish soaked in red wine and other flavorings) , shrimp cocktail and stir-fried shrimp with oyster sauce, and a mushroom with chicken dish.

And the only Chinese New Year decoration I have in the house is my homemade Chinese lantern made out of red packets and origami paper for the birds. Isn't that sad? I wish I can get some CNY decorations. Hopefully next year!

And for the first time I made pineapple tarts for CNY. :) Very proud of it even though it needed more filling for the tarts per my mom. :) And I think the tarts might be a little too big. :P

Well, nevertheless we did go out for 'Loh Sang' yesterday, Feb 5 at a Malaysian restaurant called Penang (nearby my mom's place) The Loh Sang was pretty good. We also indulged ourselves on Hokkien Char Mee, Fried Lo Shee Fun and Petai Belacan (btw my mouth is still stink from the beans!) and Coconut drinks. :)

At least we still get to celebrate a little on Chinese New Year. :)

Brandon's First Cereal

2009-01-12T14:11:00.001-08:00

Wow! How time flies! My second son, baby Brandon is already 4 months old. He has developed a small personality of his own and is able to track someone from one end to another end. His first cereal was on Friday, 1/9/08. He didn't like it at much at first since this whole eating thing is new to him but then quickly became a semi-pro this morning after he has learned to open his mouth when the spoon touches his lips. He has been taking 2 tablespoonfuls of rice cereal mixed with milk twice a day for the past 2 days. I can't wait to move him to stage 1 food in a week. Maybe I will make vegetables for him. :)

Homemade Bread and the kids

2009-01-12T10:33:00.000-08:00

Well, for the first time I made bread from scratch(no bread machine at all). I have made Cinnamon Swirl bread once (sorry no pics), an Amish cinnamon friendship bread (no pics either) and lastly Rye Swirl Bread pics below). I am more excited and proud with my Rye Swirl Bread because it looks more like a loaf of bread compare to others. :D :D It has been so much fun to make the bread but it takes a lot of time especially when you don't have a bread machine to do all the work of kneading for you. Nevertheless it has been a great experience for me and I am definitely going to make more and other kinds of bread. My next bread will be Pumpernickel bread (a German rye bread) when I have the time to make it. Hrmm....

First Loaf (Rye Swirl Bread)

Second Loaf

Ian in his monkey sleeper

Brandon in his holiday-ish clothes

Ian with his Superman outfit

Christmas 2008

2009-01-09T07:27:00.000-08:00

OK...I guess I am seriously lagging on my postings. In between the holidays, work and the kids I've been quite busy and pretty tired.
Christmas was pretty good. We went to the Keller's on Christmas Eve and then Jack's parents stayed overnight at our house on Christmas Eve. We open presents on Christmas Eve with my parents and with his parents on Christmas day. Ian was really excited opening the presents (mainly unwrapping the gifts and not the actual gift that much). Lil Brandon just stare at everything and smile and goo-goo & gaa-gaa-ing the whole time. The kids have tons of clothes and toys. :) Awesome!
We hosted the Sackis' Chrismas party on December 27 in our house. All the Sackis families were down here for the party and we had a blast. I made ham, Italian beef(store bought), an eggnog bundt cake and a pumpkin roll cake. The rest of the families brought drinks/liquor/wine/beer and tons of dips and cheese and crackers and buffalo sausage, etc. It was a fun day and we might host it again next year in our house. :)
Here are some of the pics during the holiday season.

Our Christmas tree (actually it's Jack's parent's tree)

My little shrine at the corner

The boys on their Christmas outfit pose

Our family Chrismas picture
Baby Brandon on his brother's ex-Santa suit

Christmas Eve at the Kellers
Christmas Day at our house
Sackis Christmas party

Random pictures

2008-12-03T02:07:00.001-08:00

At WindyCon (a Sci-Fi Convention)

The Kids

Lovely hutch made by Jack for me :)

Thanksgiving 2008 (gobble,gobble, gobble)

2008-11-28T07:04:00.000-08:00

We are thankful for being alive and healthy, a shelter to live in, food to eat, clothes to wear and most importantly able to share and laugh with family and friends. This is my Thanksgiving.
We had our thanksgiving dinner at Aunt Sue's house yesterday, Nov 27. It was great! Each one of use contribute food to the dinner and Jack made the Pumpkin Crunch and I made the Sweet Potato Casserole. We had turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, rolls, green beans casserole, 6 different desserts (brownies, pumpkin crunch, 2 different pumpkin pies, french apple pie and a regular apple pie), vegetable platter... mmmmm..yummy!
We had fun. The food is good. The company is great. Everyone had a good time.

Baby Brandon

2008-11-19T10:08:00.001-08:00

My little Brandon has grown quite a lot since he was born. He is smiling and cooing and even able to carry a conversation with you (with all his cooing response). He's more alert now and able to track his brother running and walking.
My poor baby had his first dose of shots on Monday. He had 2 shots on Monday and another shot sometime this week or next week. He didn't cry on the first shot but then he cried on his second shot (didn't last for long..). Poor baby.. Here are some of the latest pictures of baby Brandon.

Ian's 2nd Birthday Celebration Part II

2008-11-19T09:31:00.000-08:00

Well, he had his first birthday celebration with the family on Nov 9. This is just a simple 2nd birthday celebration with friends on his birthday, Nov 12. I made a giant cookie with a not-so-great looking "thinking chair" from Blues Clues.

Baby Brandon

Ian's 2nd Birthday

2008-11-16T19:07:00.000-08:00

My oh my! My son Ian has turned 2 years old. How time flies so quickly. I am still amazed till today that I have a 2 year old son and a 2 month old baby. Our little man has grown up and definitely very much independent. He likes to do things himself like brushing his own teeth, helping out with laundry, try wearing his own shoes and helping to take care of baby Brandon when he cries or if he spits up. He's definitely has grown to an independent little man.
He's definitely more talkative now. He speaks more words ( eventhough half the time you have no idea what he's talking about) and repeats everything you said. He imitates whatever you do and say.
He loves drawing and sort of trying to write alphabets as well. He has written an A and a B couple times even though it might not look exactly the alphabets but it's awesome! He is LEARNING to write. How great is that!
We celebrated his 2nd birthday in our new house with his cousins (Keller family) on Nov 9. I made a Blues Clues birthday cake (my first character cake. Pretty proud of myself :D ) for him. We had homemade Mexican for food. I made Spanish rice, refried beans, fajita chicken and steak, and cornbread. And we also had guacamole, tortilla flour and fruits (store bought).
Overall the birthday party was a great success. Everybody had a good time!

Oh by the way, Ian had his first hair cut from his daddy. It might not look super professional but he looks more of a boy now than before. He was mistakenly thought of a girl from 5 people when he went trick or treating on Halloween. So daddy cut off his hair! :D

There will be more pics to be posted.

My First Character Cake :)

"Awesome cake, mom!"

Pre-Halloween pics

2008-10-30T04:51:00.001-07:00

We have carved a couple pumpkins with Dan & Pam last Thursday. I also took some pictures of Ian with his vampire costume. :) ( a little overboard on his pics :D )
We will be going trick or treating with his vampire costume on Halloween day which is tomorrow! Hooray! We might trick or treating with Keller cousins as well.

Left: Dan & Pam's giant pumpkin
Right: John & Karen's

Ian with his vampire costume

A day with Harte & Prasad families

2008-10-30T04:29:00.000-07:00

The Hartes and the Prasads came by to visit our new house and lil' Brandon last Sunday, Oct 26. We had a great time hanging out and seeing the kids. Baby Peter Prasad and Baby Claire Harte are both 1 year & 1 month younger than Ian.
I didn't get to take many pictures because my camera was busy dumping 369 pictures into the computer. (should have done it the nite before). So, uncle Sean we need more pictures from your camera, please!

Melissa with baby Claire & Sean Harte

Naren, Emily and baby Peter Prasad

Melissa with baby Claire

Baby Peter Prasad

Ian & Brandon

2008-10-30T03:08:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the pics of the 2 musketeers.

Brandon at 7 weeks old

Brandon at 1 month old

Ian eating his pasta (aglio e olio)

"Leave me alone!"

Fell asleep watching Blues Clues

Ian with his yuppie looks

My lovely boys

Life in a new house with 2 kids

2008-10-30T02:15:00.000-07:00

Wow! It"s definitely been awhile since i blogged. It has been pretty hectic for me for the past 1 month. It's been more than a month since we have moved in to our lovely house. We are still in the process of unpacking & decorating the house. As you can see (pics below), our house definitely need more furniture. None of the paintings are up yet. Still a lot of things to work on at home. It is not easy to do house chores with a toddler and an infant. For some reason these 2 kids of mine do not sleep during the day. It's crazy! especially lil' Brandon who is only a lil' more than a month DO NOT sleep much during the day. So....here I am running around a day just to take of these 2 babies.
Brandon's been doing pretty good. He's starting to have a rounder face and a little fatter and definitely bigger which is good. He's beginning to smile more and making the little cooing sound. Ian loves his baby brother. He always gives kisses and rock the baby when he cries. It's just so cute to see the 2 of them. Brandon absolutely adores his big brother. He will stare at his big brother whenever Ian plays with him. My gosh! My babies are growing too fast!
We had the 1 month celebration with Brandon about 3 weeks ago. I am upset coz I have forgotten to take some pics of Brandon during the party. We were so busy entertaining everyone that we forgot to take pics. How disappointing. Nevertheless the party went really well. I am glad everyone had a good time. I didn't really follow much of the Chinese tradition but we had red-dyed eggs, chicken with ginger and wine from my mom, fried rice, fried noodles, fruit salad and cupcakes.

Here some of the pics from the house (as you can we are still unpacking/decorating the house)

Living Room (aka foyer/airlock)

The kitchen

The dining area (aka breakfast nook) The basement

The boys room

The backyard (overlooking from the deck)

Dan with Brandon

Daddy with 2 boys

Pam, Ian, Karen & Brandon

Pictures from the old house

New Home

2008-10-02T21:19:00.000-07:00

Hi! I'm back again. Finally, I have a little time to blog!

Well, it has been a stressful, overwhelmed 4 weeks since Brandon was born. We bought a house in the countryside (well, away from the bigger city where we used to live) 1 week ago. We are now the proud first time homeowner in Marengo, IL. Wow! It's awesome to be able to own a house finally. We bought a 3 bedroom house that has a 1 car garage, a full size basement, a decent size deck, a good size backyard with a play set (3 swings, a glider and a slide) , and a storage shed. It is a neat little house. We call it the "surburbia" home because the inside of the house looks very much like any suburban houses in a bigger town.

Marengo is a small town that has a population of 5000 people (census dated in 2001). There isn't much of anything to see or do in this little town. There is a Subway, a McDonald, a Sprint store, a grocery store, a few restaurants, a small theater and a couple of shops. There is no plaza or a mall in town. We basically will have to travel either 20 mins to the next town or 30-45 mins to a bigger town. It's definitely new to us and we are trying to adjust to our new lifestyle here.

The downside living in Marengo is that we are 45 minutes away from Schaumburg (our old place) and our parents. However we have our cousins, Mike & Val and Aunt Sue and Uncle Howie who live here which is one of the main reason we move out to this small town.

Well, one thing we learn about living in a small community town is that never offend or make enemies with anyone around town or else you will be the talk of the town. Other than that the people here are very friendly and very nice to each other which you don't find it in a big city.

Anyways, we are still doing a lot of unpacking, decorating the house and taking care of the kids at the same time. Brandon is going to be a 1 month old (gosh! time flies!) on October 8. We will be celebrating his first full month (Chinese customs) on that day. We will be having eggs (dyed in Red- the symbolic dish), noodles and all for dinner.
Ian is doing great and he has been learning to talk in short sentences and hasn't shut up since! He imitates everything you said and he's definitely a stitch! He has been showing all his little tricks and his little cutie acts in front of people. Gosh! Our boy has grown so much. He is soon going to be 2 years old and I already miss him when he was just an infant. :(

Well, there won't be any pictures up at the moment. I will definitely post some on my next blog. So, stay tune for more!

Brandon Keller Sackis

2008-09-12T22:01:00.000-07:00

As promised here are some of the pics of baby Brandon.

Well, it has been a crazy week for me. Having two kids at home have definitely changed our lifestyle and our routine. It is definitely a different environment especially having a toddler and an infant. Life is starting to get crazy for me!

Let's start with my labor. I was having contractions for the past 2 weeks but nothing crazy till this past Sunday when I started to have more contractions at about 1p.m. Again it wasn't a bad (feels like a menstrual cramp) every 30 mins or so throughout the day. We went for Jack's concert at the Prairie Center of Arts and then to dinner with our folks. My contractions started to come a little stronger and closer at about 8:30p.m. That was when I called up the doc and was advised to relax and calculate the mins. Finally at about 12:45a.m I realized that I couldn't hold it any longer and the contractions seem to be a lot stronger and closer (even though they are still not consistent) I woke up Jack and Ian. I started to pack a little(didn't really pack much ahead of time) for me and Ian and we headed to the hospital.

When I got to the emergency room, the nurse checked on me and found out that I was 7cm dilated and right after that my water broke. Gosh! It was one of the scariest moments of my life especially when I was told I had Strep B and needed antibiotics when I am in labor. They rushed me to the labor room trying to hook me to the Ivy which took them about 15 mins because they couldn't draw my blood. They have to poked me 4 times on my arms to get my blood out. (Thanks to the nurses I now have to huge bruises on my arms) I was in excruciating pain and already felt like pushing when obgny came running in on time for the baby to come out. That moment was one of the craziest moment of my life especially when I didn't get a single drug in my body. I couldn't get an epidural since I am about to push the baby. Wow!I will not forget(at least for now) that experience of giving birth without any drugs(not my first choice but definitely an amazing experience). Shortly after 3 contractions and a few pushes baby Brandon is out to this world. He was born at 1:41a.m on Sept 8, 2008 . He's a tiny little baby with a loud voice. He cried the moment he came out and my gosh he is loud. Baby Ian however didn't cry at all when he was out. Baby Brandon is a feisty little child the moment he's inside my stomach. Nevertheless, we are very, very happy to see baby Brandon finally. Little Ian loves him very much even when he's a little jealous with his baby brother at times. He's starting to want to help with the bottle feeding, giving him many kisses and yell for me when baby Brandon cries. I can't wait for the two of them play together!

This picture is taken by Grandpa Bud when he was just a little over an hour old

Taken in the hospital shortly after he was born

Baby Brandon and Mama

Baby Brandon with Mama and Daddy

Brandon Keller Sackis

2008-09-08T08:22:00.001-07:00

Was born on 9/8 @ 1:41 AM. 6 lbs 8 oz. 20.5 inches long.

Mama and baby are doing fine, pics will be up later.

Palatine Fest

2008-08-30T00:02:00.000-07:00

August 24, 2008- We went to the Palatine Fest at downtown Palatine with Liz Bertke. There wasn't much to see or to do at the fest on that day since it was the last day of the fest. We had a roasted corn on the cob (pretty good) for snack and Ben & Jerry ice cream for dessert. Then we met up with Liz's sis, Reagan at Half-Priced Bookstore(not far from the fest). We bought a couple of cool children books for Ian, a Vietnamese cooking book for myself and a few books for Jack. After that we came back to our house for dinner. Liz and Reagan helped to cook Chicken Quesadilla and instant wild rice. The food was great and the company was great as well. Overall we had a good time with the Bertke sisters that day.

The picture of the moose is the one that scared Ian. We tried to have him give the moose a high five, but he was too afraid to and clung to daddy for dear life.

Brookfield Zoo- August 2008

2008-08-23T02:07:00.000-07:00

August 22- Well, this is probably going to be our last summer visit to the zoo for this year. Jack took 2 days off this week (Thursday and Friday-supposedly for our Minneapolis trip but I could not travel that far per the doc's instruction) so we spent our trip to the zoo today with Dan and Pam. We had a good time especially at the fountain. Ian was ecstatic running around soaking wet from the water. Our first stop was at the Hamill Family Play Zoo which is mainly for the kids. Ian had fun playing toys with the kids and running around. They have an animal hospital where the kids can play dress-up as a Vet, a zoo-keeper dress up, etc. It started to rain (POUR to be exact) heavily not long after we got into the family play zoo. I am so glad that I have decided to take the stroller into the play zoo. We were stuck in the play zoo for about an hour before the rain decided to stop pouring. Our next stop was at the Living Coast where all the cute penguins and cool fish live. Then we went to the food court for lunch and rest. Our last stop was at the Children's zoo. We didn't do much animal-sight seeing on this trip since I couldn't walk for long(being pregnant) and Ian was getting pretty tired and cranky. Overall, it was a fun day for us to be out even though it rained today.

Ian's First Artwork-August 2008

2008-08-18T12:26:00.001-07:00

Micellaneous Pictures

2008-08-18T12:09:00.000-07:00

Ian on his diaper- August 18, 2008

Baby Yoda!

November 2007

Christmas week-2007

August 16, 2008

2008-08-16T19:39:00.001-07:00

We spent our day mostly at home or I should say Ian and Karen because Jack didn't go anywhere for the whole day. Ian and I went to Michaels to get some paintings for Ian to paint and play. This is his first time playing with paints. I bought him finger paints and regular paints (washable of course) and a fingerpaint pad. After that we went to Grandma Pat's house to pick up a couple packages for daddy and mama's birthday gift from grandma. Grandma Pat made a very beautiful necklace for mama. I also received a House-Mouse baby stamp(my favorite stamps!) Then, we came home to hang out with daddy. Ian had a blast with the paintings. He absolutely loved it and I am very happy that he enjoys playing with the paints. I can't believe my baby is getting so big!

Beautiful necklace from Grandma Pat (made with my birthstone color- Peridot complement with Coral color)

A House-Mouse Baby stamp-"Yaaaawn"

Ian and his masterpiece!

Video Clip of Ian and Daddy

August 15, 2008

2008-08-15T16:44:00.000-07:00

Well, I spent my birthday morning killing flies in our house. Doesn't that sound disgusting? We have a fly infestation in our living room. Well, the flies mostly hang out by the patio doors mainly because of the light. I feel like we are in one of these horror films- "The Flies".We have no idea where the flies come from and we don't see any flies hanging out by our balcony. So, it must be coming from our house and mainly around the dining room where it is surrounded by bookcases and boxes. Hopefully we can find the culprit soon. Actually we had one infestation a couple months ago and it went away and now we have another one. Thank god we have managed to kill 99% of them(at least the ones that we are visible to us :) )

After the horrible morning, Ian and I had our breakfast and played some puzzles together. Ian loves the block puzzles where he can fit the pieces into the puzzle board. He learned all kinds of animals and ABCs. He finds it fascinating and in fact wants more puzzles to put together. So, we will have to go out and shop for more block puzzles. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who bought Ian the block puzzles for his birthday! They are brilliant! You should check out Melissa & Doug puzzles. They are awesome!

Oh! Guess what Ian can do for the first time? He put on his sandals all by himself! Too bad I wasn't looking when he did that as I was too busy meddling with the blinds and the flies. The next thing I knew he was clapping his hands and when I turned around he already has his sandals on. The only thing has hasn't mastered yet is to put the velcro flaps into the hole first before closing the flaps together. "Hooray Ian! I am so proud of you! Good job, baby!!"

Later that afternoon, my mom and Carl took us out for lunch at a Thai restaurant nearby. The food was great. We all had Green Curry chicken with an egg roll (lunch special :D :D) except Ian (of course). We had Thai Ice Tea for drink. Then, I went for my small grocery shopping.
Jack and I was supposed to go out for dinner and a movie for my birthday that night and Ian to spend a night at Grandma Pat's house but it didn't happened. Here's the story why- Jack got sick from me (I've been having a cold and minor sore throat) and apparently he got it pretty bad. So, our plan was canceled. We will have to reschedule it for another weekend.

However I did receive some cool birthday gifts from my hubby. I have 3 Jane Green books (Fiction/Lit)- hardcovers which 2 of them I already have (he replaced my paperback ones) and the 3rd one is the latest book from her. I have a whole collection of Jane Green books (Fiction/Lit). Also, do check out Emily Giffin books as well if you can. I love her books! She only has 4 books written - Baby Proof, Something Blue, Something borrowed and her latest book, Love the one you are with. I highly recommend the women folk to read it.
And the last gift was the coolest gift ever- A fairy lamp. If you wonder why it's the coolest- I love fairies. I think they are the cutest creatures in the fantasy world.

Jane Green books

Orchid Fairy Table Lamp

Ian wearing Grandma Judy's sunglasses. Looks like we will have to buy him a kiddy sunglasses

August 14, 2008

2008-08-15T01:32:00.001-07:00

I was at work today and my co-workers threw a birthday/baby shower party for me. They me bought a chocolate cake from Portillos for my birthday and a changing table (which I have been yearning to get one) for the baby gift. I was pretty emotional when I received the gift. It was so nice of them. Now with the changing table I would not have to suffer with a backache. I can't wait to set up the table! Here's the picture taken from the web.

After work, I met up with my brother, my mom, Carl and Ian at a Best Buy store. They bought me a digital camera for my birthday- Nikon S550-Coolpix 10.0MP. The digital camera that we have doesn't work anymore which kind of suck especially when lil Brandon is coming out soon and we need one desperately. Some of the pictures that I have posted on this blog (I meant the new pictures of Ian) are contributed by my mom. I have been using her digital camera for the latest pictures of us.
I wanted a blue digital camera and they don't carry that color in the store. The only one that the store carry is the black one which is a pretty boring. So, the store ordered one online for me which will take 5 business days to arrive. I can't wait to see it! Here's the picture from the web.

Well it is Uncle Peter's last night in Chicago with us. We went to Red Lobster for dinner and also for mama's birthday eve celebration.

December 24, 2007

2008-08-15T01:23:00.000-07:00

We went to Boston Blackie's for dinner. We had a great time!

Miniature Golf

2008-08-15T01:07:00.000-07:00

August 13, 2008- Ian, mama, Grandma Judy and Uncle Peter went for a miniature golf at Top Golf-Wood Dale, IL. Ian had a blast golfing and we all had a great time there.

Navy Pier- August 2008

2008-08-15T00:51:00.000-07:00

Ian's trip to Navy Pier on July 29, 2008 with Grandma Judy and Grandpa Carl

Ian at Grandma Judy's house-2008

2008-08-15T00:38:00.000-07:00

Ian with rocking horse

2008-08-15T00:31:00.000-07:00

"Yee-Hah!"

Christmas 2007- Ian's 2nd Christmas

2008-08-15T00:08:00.001-07:00

Christmas at Grandma Pat's house

Christmas at Great Aunt Sue's house

Ian with Uncle Peter- August 2008

2008-08-15T00:02:00.001-07:00

Ian with Great-Aunt Sue

2008-08-14T23:58:00.000-07:00

Ian with Cousin Rachel

2008-08-14T23:53:00.001-07:00

NYC trip 2007

2008-08-13T05:24:00.000-07:00

We decided to take a trip back to New York to visit my dad and his family last August. It was our first long road trip with Ian who was only 8 months old at that time. We embarked on August 3 at 6p.m and our first stop is in Toledo, Ohio. We stayed overnight at Reagan & Rami's house.

Taken at a Waffle House with Reagan and Rami. We had our midnight supper. The waffle was awesome!

Our journey continued the next day, August 4 from Ohio. We passed through Pennsylvania(the longest drive ever!) and finally arrived to New Jersey at about 9:30p.m. We stayed overnight at a motel in Moonachie, NJ which btw is the worst motel ever! We left the motel the next morning and headed towards my dad's place which is in Brooklyn, NY. We went through the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge which is connected between Staten Island and Brooklyn.

View of the Verrazano Bridge posted on Google.

Finally, we arrived to Brooklyn in the afternoon on August 5. We spent the afternoon in Brooklyn with my dad, Wendy, Sara and Sandra. We went to a toy store and a clothing store where my dad bought an enormous amount of clothes and toys for little Ian. After that we went to a playground by the beach in Brooklyn which is absolutely beautiful.

Ian in a baby swing at the playground.

August 6- Our first day in New York City. We took the subway from Brooklyn to NYC the next morning. We spent our day at Chinatown, Little Italy, Greenwich Village, Soho and Broadway district. We went to a used bookstore- Strands which is the biggest in NYC and we had famous cupcakes at the Magnolia bakery in lower Manhattan.

Ian with Grandpa Michael in Chinatown

The Slaughtered Lamb Pub in Lower Manhattan

View of Little Italy across the street

Ian asleep in his stroller with the rings his mouth.

Ian with daddy

August 7- Second day in New York City. We had dim-sum in the morning in Chinatown and then we spent our day at the upper Manhattan- Midtown (34th and 42nd st) and uptown (central park).

Ian with mama and daddy at a dim-sum restaurant in Chinatown

Left: Sara, Ian and Sandra

Left Back Row: Sandra, Wendy, Grandpa Michael
Left Front Row: Ian, Karen, Jack and Sandra

Left Back Row: Aunt Rose, Grandpa Michael
Left Front Row: Ian, Karen, Wendy, Sandra and Sara

Ian and mama, cousin Wilson and cousin Elly

View of 42nd Street

Toys "R" Us store at 42nd St.

Ian, mama, cousin Elaine and cousin Carter

August 8- 3rd day in New York City. We went to Chinatown again to meet up with my Great-Aunt Kim (KimYee Poh). Then, we went to a Thai restaurant for dinner later that evening with my brother, Peter and his friend, Chris. On the way home in a subway train, Ian started to throw up. Poor baby. He wasn't feeling so good that day. We think it might be the stress and the weather in NYC.

August 9- Stayed at home in Brooklyn. Originally our plan is to leave NY and stay a night in NJ to meet up with my ex-coworkers but I was down with a very bad stomach flu. So, we have to cancel our appointment with them. :( Both Ian and I were sick and it was the worst day of my life. I couldn't even get up from the bed. So we stayed at home the whole day.

August 10- Our original plan was to leave NJ in the afternoon and starts to head back to Chicago. We were supposed to spend a night and visit Punxsutawney, PA. Unfortunately, Jack was down with the stomach flu as well. So another day for us at home in Brooklyn and not going anywhere except for dinner that night.

August 11- We finally have the strength to pack up things and leave NY that day. We were still sick but we managed to arrive home to Chicago that night around 11:30p.m

Ian's 1st Birthday Party 2007

2008-08-13T04:26:00.001-07:00

Birthday Party at Grandma Pat's house

My first homemade train cake. Not bad,huh?

Well, this is a store bought cake. :P

2nd Birthday Party at our house

OK..another store bought cake. :)

August 13, 2008

2008-08-13T03:19:00.000-07:00

The time now is 05:21 and I couldn't go back to sleep. I guess it must be the third trimester sleeping problem. I had a minor cramp on my right leg(don't you hate it!). Adding to my bad cold and scratchy throat doesn't help at all with my sleeping. :(
Well, it all started with a minor sore throat this past Saturday and turn into a bad cold and cough the next day. Thank goodness I will be seeing the doc today, Wednesday for my OBGNY follow-up checkup. Maybe I can take something for the cold.
The baby is doing great in my stomach except a couple of ppl think that the baby has dropped a little which means it's getting very close to the date! Hopefully baby Brandon will stay full term if possible.

Well, Ian finally met uncle Peter yesterday at Asian Noddle House for dinner. He was a little hesitant to say hi at first but started to warm up with him halfway through the dinner. Although I don't really think Ian knows who uncle Peter really is but it is great that he finally gets to meet my brother for the second time.

First Christmas Pictures With Grandmas

2008-08-11T16:40:00.000-07:00

Ian's first christmas picture with Grandma Pat-2006

Ian's first christmas picture with Grandma Judy- 2006

First Christmas Picture With Mama & Daddy

2008-08-11T16:38:00.000-07:00

Ian's first Christmas picture with mama & daddy- 2006

Ian with Aunt Laurie

2008-08-11T16:36:00.000-07:00

Ian with cousin Tracy

2008-08-11T16:34:00.000-07:00

Ian with Aunt Karyn

2008-08-11T16:31:00.000-07:00

Ian's first pose with Aunt Karyn on Christmas 2006

Jon & Kate Plus 8

2008-08-11T09:09:00.000-07:00

My favorite TLC show is Jon & Kate Plus 8. I have been watching it for the past few weeks trying to record all the episodes that I can find on that channel.For those who do not know who Jon & Kate PLus 8, here's the web link- http://www.sixgosselins.com/
This is a reality show about Jon & Kate with 8 kids (2 sets of multiples- Twins and Sextuplets). They are from Pennsylvania. It's amazing how Kate can take care of 8 kids and still able to get the house super clean and chores done every day. This show has given me some inspirations and motivations to organize the house and cook healthy food for the family. Kate is into healthy, organic home cooked food and I am hoping that I will be able to provide the same to my kids. It's funny to see how Jon and Kate speaks to each other and how much they can relate to any couples out there. I love their little outing trips with each kids and able to show their love and care for them so much. It's a thumbs up from me to this show!

Second room

2008-08-11T08:56:00.000-07:00

We have been trying to clean up the second room (which is the computer/craft room) for a month for little Ian to move in. He has been sleeping with us and his crib in our room for the past 20 months and poor baby will have to move out from our room to his new room. I don't know how he is going to adjust but definitely would be the hard one. We are almost half done with the second room except there are still a lot of my stuff and my craft tables which we will have to be stored at Jack/John's mom's house (thanks to Grandma Pat). *sniff* I will have to give up my crafts temporarily for now.
At the same time we are excited to decorate and organize the room for the boys. Baby Brandon will be sleeping in our room till he is ready to be transferred to the boys room.
In the meantime we are hoping to buy a house by next year sometime in Spring. We desperately need a 3 bedroom house.

Baby Brandon

2008-08-11T08:52:00.001-07:00

Baby Brandon has been a very, very active baby in my stomach for the past few months. He has been kicking and moving around like crazy. I guess he knows his big brother is out there waiting for him to come out and play with him. He has been doing great for these past 71/2 months and I am very thankful that he is healthy and kicking around although it hurts like crazy when he does that.
Little Ian has been giving lots of kisses to baby Brandon on my belly. We can't wait to see baby Brandon!! Hang in there baby Brandon! We are going to see you soon!

Ian's Favorite Food

2008-08-11T08:42:00.000-07:00

Hrm...I don't really know if Ian has one favorite food but he is definitely becoming like his daddy. He loves cereal, pizza, and practically anything that has sugar in it! He likes orange juice and milk the most and almost all kinds of fruits. He is getting a little picky on vegetables although he used to love vegetable puree when he was 6 months old. The only way that we can make him eat vegetables is to mix it in a dish that he would not be able to taste it or see it that much.

Ian's Favorite Shows

2008-08-11T08:34:00.000-07:00

Well, Ian's favorite shows are Elmo, Barney, Bob the builder, Baby Boost & Teletubbies. He has beginning to show some interest on Dragon Tales as well but the winner of the kids show is still Elmo! He is a TV addict! Although it might not be a good thing for him to watch TV as such young age but I totally believe that he learned most of his alphabets and pictures through tv shows.
He is the expert in turning on the tv and ask for the kids program (depending on his mood and choice of program that day). His favorite word, "MOTE" (remote).

ABCs

2008-08-11T08:23:00.000-07:00

Ian has learned how to recite his ABCs a few weeks ago. Being only 20 months old we are very, very proud of him. He can say A-L,O,P,R,S&T, a little clumsy on M,N,Q and haven't really learned to say U-Z yet. Although he might not be able to say all of the alphabets but he is able to identify almost all of the alphabets on keyboard.
Thanks to his daddy he will be a computer geek just like his daddy.
Our next goal is to teach him to say the numbers from 1-10 although he has learned to identify the numbers on a jigsaw puzzle. He is also able to identify shapes like Triangle, Square, Oval, Circle, Star.
He is able to speak a few words like bubbles, milk, pour, mama, daddy, poh-poh (grandma in Cantonese), park, pants, up (for actual up & cup), bowl, book, baby, eyes, air (as in hair), ead (as in head), please, fish, more, shoes, etc. Hopefully he will be able to put it those words to a sentence pretty soon!

Uncle Peter

2008-08-11T08:09:00.000-07:00

Well, Peter (my brother) will be coming to Chicago to visit us tomorrow, Tuesday, August 12. Ian met uncle Peter briefly once back in 2007 when we went back to NYC for a visit. I don't think he really knows uncle Peter at all and might be a little afraid to meet him. We'll see how it goes!
Grandma Judy and Grandpa Carl are currently in NJ and will be coming back to Chicago with Uncle Peter tomorrow.

Extremely Tired and Sleepy

2008-08-11T08:01:00.000-07:00

Well, the time now is 10:03a.m, Monday, August 11. I have been blogging since this morning at about 2:30a.m or 3a.m maybe? I guess as a first timer on blogging it just got so much fun and you could easily lose track of time.
Oh boy! Am I tired and sleepy! Ian has been awake since 8:30a.m and I couldn't go to sleep at all. We had homemade Oat & Cinnamon Waffle for breakfast. I can feel myself floating from being so tired now. I guess this is the price I will have to pay. :(
There are more pictures to be posted so tune in for the next round. :)

Ian with Grandma Barb

2008-08-11T06:49:00.000-07:00

Ian with Aunt Pam

2008-08-11T06:44:00.001-07:00

Christmas 2006- Ian's First Christmas

2008-08-11T06:29:00.001-07:00

Ian on his Santa suit and his special Santa pose. :)

Halloween Pumpkins

2008-08-11T04:32:00.001-07:00

Carve pumpkins with Dan, Pam, Chad and Linda.
Second Left: Karen & John's pumpkin

Halloween 2007

2008-08-11T04:29:00.001-07:00

"Look! I am Tigger!"

Navy Pier

2008-08-11T04:23:00.000-07:00

Ian' first trip to Navy Pier on June 2007

Trips to Brookfield Zoo

2008-08-11T04:12:00.001-07:00

First trip to the zoo with Vanessa, Will and Karyna on April 2007

Second trip to the zoo with grandparents- Grandma Judy, Grandma Pat, Grandpa Carl and Grandpa Bud on May 2007.

Stroll at a park

2008-08-11T04:02:00.001-07:00

First time at a park with daddy on June 2007

July 2007

2008-08-11T03:53:00.000-07:00

"Eww! I don't want to eat it!"

"I can't believe you made me eat it!"

Valentine 2007 Part 2

2008-08-11T03:49:00.001-07:00

"Do I look like a Japanese Chef?"

Valentine 2007

2008-08-11T03:47:00.000-07:00

"OK. I am not wearing anything Valentine-ish but my daddy made this little silly, cute hat out of my blanky."

Ian 2-1/2 weeks old

2008-08-11T03:42:00.000-07:00

Little Ian when he was only two and a half weeks old

Ian with baby Luke

2008-08-11T03:38:00.001-07:00

Attempt picture with Mark's son, Luke

Ian with cousin Zachary

2008-08-11T03:35:00.000-07:00

Attempt picture with cousin Zach.

Bears

2008-08-11T03:32:00.001-07:00

"Go Bears!"

Ian with Daddy

2008-08-11T03:29:00.001-07:00

Car

2008-08-11T03:27:00.001-07:00

"I am learning to drive." "Vroom! Vroom!"

Cousins

2008-08-11T03:23:00.001-07:00

From Left to Right: cousin Garridan, cousin Andrew, cousin Alena and cousin Kian

Ian with Mama

2008-08-11T03:21:00.001-07:00

Ian with cousin Teana

2008-08-11T03:19:00.001-07:00

"OK. Not so great picture but I managed to pose with my cousin Teana in front of the camera."

Safari outfit

2008-08-11T03:16:00.001-07:00

Harley Davidson

2008-08-11T03:13:00.000-07:00

"Well, well, well...what do you think of me on the Harley Davidson? I am posing with my Grandpa Carl."

April 2006

2008-08-11T03:08:00.001-07:00

"Hi there! Look at me. I am a pro now sitting by myself (almost)! "

Chewing on a spoon

2008-08-11T03:05:00.001-07:00

"Well, I can chew on my spoon and show you my three tiny fingers at the same time!"

Another Hat Session

2008-08-11T03:02:00.001-07:00

Jumperoo

2008-08-11T02:57:00.001-07:00

"Me posing in the Jumperoo."

Hat

2008-08-11T02:53:00.001-07:00

"How do I look with my hat on and chewing the burp cloth at the same time?"

Teddy Bear

2008-08-11T02:49:00.000-07:00

"Hrm...the Teddy Bear tastes good!"

Green Beans

2008-08-11T02:46:00.001-07:00

"Oops! Candid Camera!" Well, what do you think of my eating style?

June 2007

2008-08-11T02:39:00.000-07:00

"I'm Popeye the sailor man!"

Sitting Up

2008-08-11T02:36:00.001-07:00

My first attempt. Not bad, huh?

March 2007

2008-08-11T02:32:00.000-07:00

Sitting on a rocker with cute dangling toys in front of me is just awesome. I am so happy!

March 2007

2008-08-11T02:29:00.001-07:00

Well, well, look at me. I can lift up my head and be all serious about it!

Kung-Fu kicking

2008-08-11T02:14:00.000-07:00

Ian learning his Kung-Fu kicking. :)

February 2007

2008-08-11T02:11:00.000-07:00

Look! I can sit up :)

Ian with Dave Cho

2008-08-11T02:02:00.001-07:00

Ian posing with Dave Cho.

Mary Kay- Dec 2006

2008-08-11T01:59:00.000-07:00

Ian with the Mary Kay girl. Isn't she pretty?

Little Ian

2008-08-10T07:16:00.001-07:00

Name: Ian Connor Sackis
Born: November 12, 2006
Weight: 6lbs 11oz

Ian as a baby. He was only a month and a half old on December 2006.

The Two Musketeers

2008-08-10T07:10:00.000-07:00

Welcome to our blog for Ian and Brandon. We will start posting pictures shortly.