8 Months Baby Update + Must-Haves

I can't believe that Gray turned 8 months yesterday!! It's been awhile since I've been updating this blog so I just wanted to pop in and say hello. Grayson is doing very well and we're seeing more and more of his personality everyday.

Postpartum: 1 Week, 6 Days

So since my last "rant," I've given birth to our little Bubba! His name is Grayson Lee. For nicknames, we call him Gray, Baby G or I still call him Bubba. I know I'm biased because he is mine but I find him so cute and perfect! He was born small for his gestational age (he was born a week and a day early), so the challenge was to make sure he was nursing well to gain weight and have enough poopy diapers.

Since he's been born it's been full on! First couple of days..the struggle was all about latching and breastfeeding. I tried to maintain a positive mindset to make sure we're both calm through all the feedings but nights got pretty hard. After about a week, the latching has improved a lot, especially during the day feeds. He is now a pooping and farting machine!

First night, he would only sleep in our arms, so needless to say, sleep was nonexistent. By the end of the week, he started to go four hours between feeds at nighttime, which gave me 2.5 hour of sleep 2-3 times a night. Fast forwards to these last few nights, it's a different story. He hasn't been sleeping well at night. There's about an hour and a half between feeds which means I have only been getting roughly 30 minutes of sleep at a time and it's really catching up. Maybe it's just a growth spurt and I know it'll pass so I'm trying to not feel bummed about it. I'm just so exhausted. We just a family nap midday because all three of us are feeling the sleepless nights.

I'll go into my labour story next time maybe. It's a fun one. 😉 Let me know if that's something you're interested in hearing about.

Pregnancy - 37 weeks, 4 days

It has been 4 years since I was last on here. I feel like every time something new happens with my life, I come back to this blog. It almost feels like an online diary.

I guess I'll start off by filling you in about how the past for years have been. I no longer do makeup on others, although, I'm still pretty obsessed with it for myself. I am definitely focusing more on the skincare aspect more than covering the canvas with makeup. In 2014, I got a full time teaching job as an Elementary School teacher, which doesn't allow for much time to do makeup on others after hours or on the weekends.

Fast forward 4 years, here we are, pregnant. My hubs and I got married last year and is now expecting our first child. I've been very lucky, this Bubba has been very good to me. I didn't really have morning sickness my first trimester. My 2nd trimester, I had a lot of energy and was able to travel to Paris for our 1st anniversary and babymoon. I am now in my 3rd trimester, 37 weeks, 4 days pregnant. Things are starting to get really uncomfortable. I don't even sleep on my bed anymore. Most nights, I sleep on the couch with my body elevated to help me breathe better. My fingers are starting to get really swollen and stiff so typing and cutting is starting to get difficult. I've been getting Braxton Hicks type contractions as early as 5 months. My entire abdomen gets really hard and tight but it's not painful at all. Now, I get them more often and they're more uncomfortable. It's harder to breathe when it happens now and they last a little bit longer. Bubba is jabbing me in the ribs a lot during the day but it's actually one of the most satisfying feelings. I remember the first time I felt his kick, I don't think I've ever been happier in my life.

It's still fall in Toronto but we had our first snowfall today and it's beautiful outside. Well now, most of it has melted into a slushy mess, so it's not as "beautiful" as it was. I am in the middle of this waiting-for-baby-to-arrive game and I am getting very impatient. I try to be as active as possible but if any of you have ever been 37 weeks pregnant, you know your activity level is pretty limited. Walking around for a long time feels exhausting. All I want to do is take naps. I'm currently off work, which I'm thankful for, but as a result, I am home alone for majority of the day. I don't want to complain because I am very lucky to be able to have time to rest and relax before the baby comes and I know it's not a luxury that everybody has. BUT, I still can't shake this restlessness feeling of being bored.

I'm pretty prepared for baby. Being a teacher, I'm very OCD and I've planned ahead so the nursery is pretty much done, clothes washed and folded, hospital bag packed, house is pretty clean, car seat is installed, meals are prepped. Now what?

For those of you in the same boat, what are you doing to keep yourself busy? Any other moms or moms-to-be in the Ajax/Durham area?

Out of the Hat Challenge

What I enjoy most about taking classes at Canadian Beauty College is how they provide the opportunity for a lot of practicing.  Honestly, the content has only more or less confirmed what I have already learned from the awesome world of YouTube, but getting to work with many different faces, eye shapes and skin tones require a lot of practice and you can't get that from YouTube =P.

Embarking on a New Journey

I don't even remember the first time I started playing with makeup.  I have always been intrigued in how makeup can change how people feel, think and look.

Hong Kong and Singapore

I've been back in Canada since last Sunday and it's been exciting and exhausting to get back into the swing of things.  From looking for jobs to reuniting with friends to spending time with family, it's been insane.  So much has happened in so little time.

I started this blog when I left to Korea so it seems weird to still be blogging now that I'm home.  I think I'm just going to keep it up only because 1, nowhere in my blog does it indicate that this is a Korea blog (lol) and 2, I just want to =P.  Also, I did promise a HK, Singapore blog so here it is.

All You Can Eat Tuna!!!

Who doesn't love good tuna sashimi? After I read this article, it didn't take a lot for Claudia and John to be convinced to try "Lee Chun Bok Tuna" (이춘복참치) with me =)

Everland!

Sorry, so this is a very much delayed post but I've been busy and travelling and watching the olympics sooo I didn't get around to posting this till now.  Forgive me please =D

Monsoon Season!

So, July/August is monsoon season here in Korea.  We just missed it when we arrived last year but there was a huge flood.  So far, we've only had one or two days of heavy rain.  Apparently it started late this year as well...sooo we got lucky?

DMZ

Last weekend, Claudia, John and I went to the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone). Basically, went on a tour to the border of North and South Korea.  Apparently this is dangerous and not a lot of Koreans take these tours. You could click here to find out more information about the tour, costs and how to make a reservation.  We chose the combined tour: 3rd tunnel and Panmujom.  It was kind of pricey, it was 120 000won, but it was very interesting and informative.  Our tour guide was hilarious too.

Around the World!

FLIGHTS BOOKED!

Wicked!!!

May was super busy, Michelle, family, Jessica (Claudia's sister) all came to visit.  To top it off, I got really sick the past week and missed two days of school.  Sorry I wasn't able to post as much as I wanted to....BUUUUT last night was amazing.  Now that my cough is finally going away, I have more time and energy to DO stuff =).

Last night, we went to watch Wicked in Korea.  How random is that?! It was pretty freaking darn amazing though! I can't stop listening to the songs..I can see the show in my head right now.  I want to see it again!

Teacher's Day =)

So in May, Korea has Children's Day (5th), Parents' Day (8th - they don't have each parents' day separated like us), Teacher's Day (15th) and I think there's a Black Day or something too for single people.  Needless to say, a crap load of celebrations.  On Teacher's Day, students bring letters, flowers, gifts and even cake for their teachers.  I was very sad when I didn't receive any cake, being the fatty that I am, but no teachers at my school did either.  I wasn't sure why this was, until my co-teacher informed me today, that our VP announced in a meeting, for homeroom teachers to not allow (more like discourage) students to bring gifts for teachers.  Apparently only letters were allowed.

Dobongsan

Koreans LOVE to hike.  My co-teacher pretty much goes hiking every weekend.  All the ahjummas and ahjusshis are always decked out in their hiking gear on the subways, streets, restaurants, you name it.  Since living in Korea, I've always wanted to try hiking, but I was always a little nervous.  Also, I didn't always have time and the weather wasn't really on our side until recently.  Since Michelle is here visiting with Sabrina, we thought what better time to go hiking.  I could show them a little bit of Korean culture and check an item of the list.

Food..food...more food =)

So, as I mentioned in a previous post, all of us are starting to freak out a little bit since we've already been in Seoul for almost 8 months now and it feels like there's so much we still haven't done.  Especially with the weather warming up a little bit, we decided to kickstart this weekend by eating at the restaurants we've been craving but haven't had time to check out.

Rain..rain..please stay away...

For as long as I've been in Korea, there hasn't been too many rainy days, but I still can't stand them.  All you people who love rain.....you're crazy LOL. The weird thing about Korea is that no matter how light the rain is, you will see everybody on the streets holding umbrellas.  You have no idea how many times I left the house without one and people look at me like I'm crazy because I'm only wearing a hood in the rain.  Needless to say, I've learned my lesson: never leave the house without an umbrella, even when it's barely drizzling. 

Freakin' Geocaching..

You may or may not know that pretty much every Sunday, Claudia and I go lesson plan at our local Zoo Coffee.  Obviously we spend a lot more time chatting, web-surfing and the occasional facebook stalking.  This past Sunday, Claudia read about our fellow Canadian Epiker, Holley and her boyfriend's Geocaching adventures.  Claudia worked her little magic and suddenly now we have a brand new adventure to look forward to.  Seriously..this has probably been the single most exciting thing I've done yet!

White Day

Double post? =D

So March 14th was "White Day" in Korea and it's another "couple's day."  Seriously, to be a single Korean living in Korea..it must be extra depressing.  As far as I know there are 3 Valentine's Day-type days in Korea and White Day is one of them.

Korea...you're so awesome....you boggle my mind!!

So..if you guys have read this post, you know that Korea has some amazing and cheap clothes/shoes/accessories, you name it.  Claudia and I grabbed dinner at Sadang Station today and HOLY CRAP..we found the best deal yet.

Big Bang - Big Show Concert 2012

On the same Friday that Ace left for Toronto, Claudia, John and I had bought tickets to see the Big Bang concert.  I was so conflicted..I was sad that Ace left..but I was also pretty excited about the concert.  Similar to the feeling I had with the YG family concert..I was just meeeh about it until I got there..people there just gets you SUPER excited!  Honestly..by the end of the concert..whether it was the heat, the screaming VIPs or  Big Bang themselves, I started to feel like I was drunk without the alcohol LOL.

I'm very happy that they sang a lot of their old songs too.  Me..being the bad fan that I am..only knew two of their new songs from the Alive mini album that they just released, buuuuut I liked them =P.

None of the YG concerts I've been to allowed cameras buuuuuuuut...I kiiinnnnddaa..maybe...sorrrrta snuck mine in......lol..I managed to get some good shots..but then a man came over and said something in Korean..and I would like to say I was being smooth and pretended that I didn't understand..but I ACTUALLY didn't know what he said even though I could assume from the way that he looked that he wanted to take my camera or delete my pictures.  Whichever the case may be...he failed..soooo here are some of the not-allowed-to-be-taken pictures that I have......I'm horrible...I know