Fourteen

Happy 14th Birthday to my Babie! 

Truth be told I was very happy with one child and did not plan on another. My mom said raising kids are hard so one can be enough. But one day I was watching Emily play in the family room and she looked lonely playing by herself. I couldn’t not give her a playmate so Hannah was born. A much smoother pregnancy and delivery with my awesome midwife-to-be (at the time she was training) Rhoda Smith. Hannah is nothing like her big sis so it was a new experience for us in raising her! She is extremely expressive,playful, fun loving, and accident prone. We knew she would be the one we would be taking to the doctors/hospital vs her very cautious non risk taking sister. I am so thankful God blessed us with this precious young soul in our family!  #godisgoodallthetime #beingamotherisablessing #mybabyisateenager

To celebrate her birthday she wanted to go to the 'happiest place on earth'... and it was the crowdest! (At least that's how it felt.. not sure of how Disneyland was since we only went to California Adventure). So thankful Marissa could join in her celebration even though she was so tired from rehearsing for the Nutcracker all weekend!
 

Thank you Auntie Lisa and Marissa for the cool Disney shirt!

Hannah with Michelle and Brinly (minus Trinity who met up with them later)

And on her actual birthday today, we took some of her school friends to lunch and shopping. Thankfully the Black Friday crowds diminished significantly and it was not as crowded as we expected it to be.

Seventeen

Happy 17th Birthday to my first born! 

She is a truly a gift from God! It was an unforgettable memory! It was January 2000. I was feeling tired and rundown for awhile so I went in for a blood test and told my doctor that I probably had the flu, was anemic or had a thyroid problem since it does run in my family. Little did I know that it was because I was pregnant! A phone call came through into my classroom phone after school (I was not one of the privileged who had a cell phone) and she told me I wasn't sick .. I was pregnant!! It was an answer to prayer since we had been trying to add to our family for two years. It was only until I decided that it may have been the stress of working and teaching full time that was preventing me to conceive. So I decided to quit teaching at the end of that school year and surrendered my desire to have a child to God. In His time; not mine. And when I relinquished my desire to control my life, He blessed us with Emily Ka-Yen when I did not expect it! #HE>i #godisgoodallthetime #beingamotheristhebest #mybabyisalmostanadult😵

Friends since the womb! Literally! We were having dinner with her family at Chevys when one of the older Yee siblings came up to me and asked 'Ms. Cezanne, I think we need the bassinet back.' Now we've only been using it for like a month or two and I didn't know why it was such a rush for them to want it back! Well Rachel was a big surprise for them! And now they attend school together with the last two years having almost identical class schedules. Thank you Rachel for being Emily's forever friend, sharing your love of bunnies with her and coming by today to wish her a happy birthday!! #friendsforlife❤️