Thankul for our blessings...

Thanksgiving this year reminded us of all our blessings, big and small. With the economy the way it is, many of us are struggling, and can easily give in to the “I’m poor” mentality. If we simply look past the present tribulations and focus on what surrounds us: family, friends and love, we can receive even more of what truly surrounds us.

Last year we were blessed with Celestia’s arrival. She came home from the NICU on November 15, 2007. Her big brother Tyler and I picked her up from the hospital, as Al had to work. The past year has been one of many discoveries for her: smiling, laughing, learning how to crawl, and then walk, and then run! She is a vivacious and inquisitive tiny little girl, and surprised us all with her achievements. We erroneously thought we had a couple more months of her crawling before walking, since she was a preemie, but she decided differently and started walking at 10.5 months, exactly the same time as her big brother started walking.

Tyler marked a milestone this year as well…he turned a decade old! We have been so blessed with Tyler’s presence in our family for the past ten years. He is a bright, loveable and sensitive child who is on the brink of “tween-hood” He still practices Tae Kwon Do and plays piano and clarinet. He loves amusing his little sister and has adjusted quite well to having another little one around.

Al continues to work very hard at his job in NY. Last year at this time, he received a promotion and has worked very hard on many projects from Albany to Connecticut. He recently attended his 20^th high school reunion in Long Island and had fun reliving the past with his now older classmates. He’s now addicted to Facebook, which I innocently introduced him to a couple of weeks ago. He still jams with his bass guitar with a few guys he connected with up here in Orange County.

As for me, my business has really taken off! I re-launched the business I’ve had for 10 years over the summer (http://www.bestvirtualsupport.com/) and have been super-busy since then. It’s been a challenge, with Celestia not liking my office (despite the toys, she wants the forbidden items, always). But I am VERY thankful to be able to work at home. This week I start teaching yoga again at Tyler’s martial arts location.

Celestia's Birth Story--one year later

For Celestia's birth story I really have to start at conception. After three years of trying and two losses, including her angel brother Gaby, we went through two rounds of IVF. We still had two fertilized eggs that were frozen and decided that financially and emotionally we just could not go through another round, but decided to do a frozen embyro transfer (FET) to "bring our last two babies home." So we transferred two on March 30, 2007. One stuck.

The pregnancy was pretty rough with morning sickness and fatigue but I was happy because that meant she was strong and growing. My due date was my birthday, December 10.

On October 13, 2007 we were 31 weeks pregnant and went apple picking. After spending a day pumpkin and apple picking we thought it would be fun to paint my big belly like a pumpkin. It was a great day and we laughed all day long.

On October 20, a week later, Tyler got sent home sick from school and at 7:00 at night I was at the pharmacy searching for cold medicine for him and all of a sudden I felt a gush and discovered my water broke. We rushed to the hospital where we had planned on giving birth, only to find out that I was going to be sent 45 minutes away by ambulance to a hospital that had a NICU unit. Tyler was sent to my neighbors to spend the night (we thought) and Al met me at the hospital, which was across the river from our town, about a 45 min. drive. The hospital admitted me and gave me a steriods shot to help Celestia's lungs to develop and drugs to try to stop labor. They worked but I was still leaking amniotic fluid and told I would not be discharged until I either stopped leaking or gave birth. So I was put on bed rest and told that they would perform a c-section not before 33 weeks, so I was stuck. In the meantime, Tyler, at my neighbors house, was getting sicker. Turns out he had bronchitis, so Al had to stay home to care for him while I was on bedrest at hospital almost an hour away. I had nothing with me, no shampoo, no robe, no charger for my cell phone, nothing...and I was so devastated I could not be with my son while he was so sick. I was scared and lonely but knew that I was in a hospital where Celestia would have the best chance.

On October 28, a Sunday, ONE DAY before my 33 week mark, and a scheduled c-section, I was watching my favorite NASCAR (Go Junior!!!) and looking forward to a day of rest before Celestia's birth, when low and behold, labor started again, and bad. The doctors really wanted to do a c-section because they didn't want to chance her heartrate being low or any added trauma, so they told me to get my husband there ASAP. Well, I called him and he was in church and hung up on me, saying he would call me after church. I called him again. Before he could hang up again I told him to get to the hospital ASAP if he wanted to see his daughter being born. An hour later, he still wasn't there and so I called him again. He was trying to get the car seat installed. LOL. I told him the baby would not be coming home today and HE NEEDED TO GET TO THE HOSPITAL NOW!!!!! Another hour later, they were prepping me for the surgery and couldn't wait any more. I was alone and again scared and 5 MINUTES before they wheeled me to the OR, he comes RUNNING down the hallway. JUST in the nick of time!!!! 45 minutes later, at 4:59 pm, they pulled her out. I was busy throwing up from the anesthesia and didn't hear her cry and was out of my mind worrying....and then I heard the mewling. They brought her over to me all wrapped up and then they snatched her to the NICU unit. Apgar was 8 out of 8.

I first held her in my arms the next day, after struggling to get out of my hospital bed and get to the NICU. She weighed 4 pounds 11 oz and was 17 inches long. For the next week, she dictated to the doctors her care, first dislodging her CPAP from her mouth, telling the docs she was breathing on her own fine enough. Then it was the IV fluids she didn't want.

Three weeks later, I was finally able to breast feed her (she had been gavage fed with my milk since birth) and she took to it like a champ. When I got discharged 4 days after her birth, it was the hardest day of my life to leave her at the hospital. For the first time since the whole thing began, I sobbed in the shower (so my hospital roomie couldn't hear me) and felt like my heart was ripped out. But I knew she was in the best hands possible. I cried all the way home. Three weeks later, after going to the hospital every day and then rushing home to pick up Tyler from school, she finally came home, November 15, 2007, one week before Thanksgiving. Now, a year later, she's still breastfeeding and eating most foods (she LOVES to eat!) and walking and talking and is PERFECT. Our miracle baby, beloved by us and her brother Tyler.

Fall is in the Air...

The kids, the dog, and Al and I all went on a 2 hour hike with Tyler's 4H Club last week. It was a glorious day and the leaves were so beautiful to look at!

We also had a chance last week to go pumpkin picking...although it was crowded, the pumpkins were plentiful and the apple cider donuts delicious!

Celestia Turns One!!!!

Celestia's first birthday was a smaller, calmer sort. Attending were Al's parents, Rosalie and Santiago Wong, along with Al's brothers, Santiago and Francisco (Celestia's Godfather). Al's Auntie Vangie came along with Al's parents from Long Island. Also attending were my parents, Jim and Phyllis Fisher. Her Godmother, Michelle Boczko and her daughter Isabella, as well as friends, Gloria and Lauren Lacroix, neighbors Laura, Sam and Nathan Greco.

I made all the food, including Eggplant Parmesean, Penne a la Vodka, my famous meatballs, sausage and peppers and other munchies and a deli platter for sandwiches. I also made a birthday cake, as is the tradition here at our house. I made Tyler's first birthday cake and wanted to do the same for Celestia. Three outfits later, Celestia clearly enjoyed the food and cake!

It's hard to believe a year has gone by already! Celestia started walking at 10.5 months, just like her big brother Tyler did, much to our surprise. At her one-year doctor's check up she weighed in at 15 lbs. 14 oz and measured 28.5 inches. She's the tiniest person you ever see walking but is so adorable and petite. Hopefully she doesn't inherit her mom's hugeness! LOL!

One Decade Later...

Both kids had milestone birthdays this year...Tyler turned 10 and Celestia turned 1!

Tyler's birthday was celebrated with the sneak peek premiere of The Clone Wars on Cartoon Network and 15 of his closest friends, along with his uncles, Santiago and Francisco Wong. The kids played games related to Star Wars: The Clone Wars Bingo, Pass the Death Star, Anakin Says and Keep the Lightsaber off the Ground! The kids enjoyed the premiere on Dad's big screen downstairs, ate pizza and finished it off with birthday cake. The kids had a blast and so did the adults!

Tyler continues to do well in school and plays both the clarinet and piano. He particpates in extracurricular clubs at school: the environmental club and the band club, in addition to Tae Kwon Do and his 4H Group.

Summer Fun!

It's already August!!!! We've been so busy we didn't know what hit us! First was Tyler's stint at History Camp up in Little Falls, NY at the General Herkimer House. He had a great time learning how the colonials did things and even won an award for his dedication to his hand sewn journal!


He had a great week and learned what games kids played back then and even made his own pewter spoon! The week ended up with demonstrations at an Open House.


We had a nice week visiting with our relatives up North, especially Jim and Julie (Jenn's brother and sister-in-law) and their kids, Caleb and Andrew. It was particularly wonderful for me to be able to cuddle and spend time with my cutie patootie nephews! Big shout out to Caleb from Aunt Jeffner!!!

This is Tyler, showing us how much he's grown!

Next was Cartooning Camp, where Tyler created his own cartoon (unlike most of his classmates who copied other cartoon characters) and made cells and posters and a comic strip.



Monday marks his first day of Golf camp and he is so very excited he cannot wait!



Celestia turned 9 months on the 28 of July and celebrated by crawling REALLY fast all over!! We had an Early Intervention Assessment conducted on her as she was a preemie and the great news is she did NOT qualify for Early Intervention! In all the areas she was tested she tested AHEAD of her calendar age! At 9 months old, she is amazing her doctors with all her abilities---crawling, cruising, taking steps, talking non-stop and eating like a fiend! She absolutely ADORES the men in her life (Bobuddy included) and will have conversations with you randomly.



Al has been very busy at work with a huge workload, but we look forward to him taking off the last week in August for some much-deserved rest! No vacation plans due to the economy, but there's lots for us to do up here in the country together.



I am trying to re-launch my virtual office support business and am busy every moment I get while the kids are sleeping or busy looking for work. When my website is newly re-launched I will send everyone an invite to view it.



Here are some summer pictures to enjoy and perhaps reflect on your own fun times this summer...

Tyler and his cousin Caleb, cruising!

Celestia and her bud, BoBuddy!

Growing Growing Growing!

Well it's been a while since we posted. We've been so busy with activities plus Celestia is in the grabbing stage so I don't get much computer time anymore.





Tyler is in his last week of 4th grade and can't wait for summer to begin. His class won their kickball tournament today (with Tyler scoring the last home run!). And his class celebrated the end of the school year with an ice cream party--now that's my kind of party!





Over the summer he will be going to history camp at The Herkimer Home in Little Falls, up by his grandparents, Jim and Phyllis Fisher. Celestia and I will be staying up there with them also while Tyler goes to the camp. After history camp, Tyler will be attending Golf camp and Cartooning as well as another day camp sponsored by our church.





Celestia is just shy of 8 months old now and just recently figured out how to crawl. Despite being a preemie, she is right on track with when her big brother figured it out too. She is a smiling happy baby who always is observing her surroundings. She eats lots of solids now besides the cereal and we're working with her on developing her self-feeding skills. She LOVES her big brother Tyler who always makes her smile and talks constantly to her dog BoBuddy and cats, Sassy and Saussy. And she also talks to Tyler's school bus every day!

Look how Celestia's grown!

Make a scrapbook - it's easy!

Celestia's Baptism

On Feb 17, 2008 we baptised our precious girl. Baptism was held at Grace Episcopal Church in Monroe and Rev. Alon White baptised her and we celebrated afterward in the parish hall with about 40 people. Then moved to our house where everyone hung out and had a great time.

It was a beautiful day and very special in that we were surrounded by our family and friends.

Godparents are: Francisco Wong, Godfather and Michelle Boczko, Godmother

Growing like a weed...

Both kids are growing like weeds right now. It occurred to me recently when Tyler climbed up in my lap, how very big he is now...no longer is he my skinny toddler. When he sits in my lap, there is no lap left anymore! And Celestia is also growing about a pound every 2-3 weeks. At our last doctors' appointment she weighed 8 pounds 10 oz. Not bad for a kid who was a lightweight at birth: 4 pounds 11 oz. Here are some updated pictures of the kids...gosh I love saying that...my kids...





Celestia is smiling quite a bit now and loves kisses from mommy, daddy and Tyler (who wants to hold and kiss her all the time he's home)

She's HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well so much has happened since our last post. Celestia decided to come 6 and a half weeks early (we think she was inspired by the pumpkin on my belly!) She was born October 28 at 4:59 pm, and she weighed 4 pounds 11 oz and was 17 inches long. She was born at Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, NY. After a 3 week hospital stayat their NICU, she came home to us on November 15. She weighed 4 pounds 15 oz at discharge.

We celebrated a very quiet Thanksgiving with just the four of us, Tyler, Al, Celestia and myself.

Celestia's first moments in this world are on this video, shot by Al, the proud papa



Christmas was celebrated, Celestia's First, with Al's family joining us at our house. Besides the traditional cookie baking, I made a pork crown roast with cornbread sausage stuffing, potatoes au gratin, green bean casserole, creamed spinach, shrimp cocktail, crab rangoons (homemade---they were yummy!) Al's mother brought lumpias (filipino spring rolls) and poncit (a very popular filipino noodle dish--a Wong family tradition to have at holidays). For desert, we had home made egg custards, made by Al's mom, and two cheesecakes, made by me: pumpkin and cherry (my personal fav!)

Even though we did not have a lot of money for material gifts this Christmas, the gifts we received were extremely generous. The gift of family was the most precious for us this Christmas, with us celebrating our first as a family of four, and with Al's family joining us, which made it even more special. Unfortunately we were not able to travel up to see my family, but will get up there as soon as the doctors think it's okay for our preemie to travel.

Tyler gets his Wii from Uncle Panchito

Tyler with a state map of quarters from Lolo and Lola

Tyler with his Bumblebee transformer from Poppy and Grandma

Lolo and Lola hold Celestia

Celestia's Uncle Santiago

Celestia is held here by Auntie Vangie

Here Celestia is held by her Uncle and Godfather, Francisco Wong


Here are pictures of quilts Lola (Rosalie Wong) made for Celestia

Here's Tyler assisting me in showing one of them off:

And here is a picture of a beautiful afaghan blanket and pillow made for Celestia by Susan Sullivan who works for Al's parents

This was our best Christmas present ever...