Issue 7

JESS & AARON Issue 7 / July 2020

Purpose Hello! The purpose of this magazine is to let you know what we have been up to and to share about how God has been working in our lives.

Enjoy the photos and stories, and we hope to see you soon!

Contents 1

Lee Update

3

Things We Learned

5

Aaron’s Happenings

7

Jess’ Happenings

9

Linus’ Happenings

11

Ark Mars Lee

13

Ark’s Birth Story

14

Genesis 7:7

15

Our Family

17

Family and Friends

19

Goals for Next Year

Aaron

Jess

Linus

Ark

34

30

14 months

3 months

Blue button up, white long sleeve, black pants, brown shoes, mauve hat

Uniqlo blush sweater, black leggings, Birkenstock

Neutral tee, joggers, tennis shoes

Neutral onesie, diaper

Song on repeat

HSMTMTS The Sountrack

The Muppets We’re Doing a Sequel

John McLaughlin So Close

The Wheels on the Bus

Show of the year

Marvel movies

Marvel movies

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

-

Disney+

Linus’ clothes

Thor hammer

Baby Merlin’s Magic Sleepsuit

-

-

-

-

Hotties Nashville Hot Chicken

Myungrang Hot Dog

In-N-Out Burger

-

Tea Brick

Organizing

Trying new food

Being held

Brown sugar black milk tea

Tenju’s lychee oolong tea

Whole milk

Breastmilk

Age Daily outfit

Favorite purchase Place to study Favorite restaurant tried Addicted to Favorite drink

1

2

3

THINGS WE LEARNED Aaron learned that Jess 1. Would rather make toys than buy toys for the kids 2. Likes to create her own songs to sing 3. Likes to be motherly

Jess learned that Aaron 1. Likes to give baths to the kids 2. Reads super fast 3. Likes to interview people for his podcast

4

Aaron’s Happenings This is my 5th year working as a Registered Nurse Clinical Analyst at Kindred Hospital San Gabriel Valley, and my 10th year overall as a Registered Nurse. I serve as the Social Media Officer of First Chinese Baptist Church of Walnut, where I teach youth Sunday School and lead worship music. I became the assistant digital marketer at the SOLA Network.

Ark was born at the start of the Coronavirus lockdown, so I used 2 months of my baby bonding time to stay at home. During this period, I grew my new hobby of reading and reviewing books for Christian publishers.

Zoom allowed me to turn my audio podcasts into video interviews. I also learned how to juggle.

When the world starts opening up again, I hope to have family and friends over for BBQs, play live music, and have fun with Jess and the kids at Disneyland.

6

Jess’ Happenings I love being a mom of 2 and have been enjoying my days caring and loving them. I am so thankful we had a smooth pregnancy and labor! One of my biggest fears was the unknown of when the baby would come. Looking back, the month after Ark was born was harder for me than the actual birth! With postpartum and the stay at home order because of COVID, we didn’t see anyone for 1.5 months and had to figure out caring for 2 kids on our own. We needed to really rely on God for strength and patience during this time.

I still work at Liferay and FCBC Walnut part-time and am enjoying my time at both jobs! I started to use my Glowforge machine to make toys for the kids. I’ve turned these items into products to sell on my Etsy store and I want to expand the collection.

Some other highlights of this year were celebrating Hannah’s bachelorette in Venice Beach and having her and her husband, Justin, live in our condo’s complex! Another highlight was going to Disneyland with Linus and experiencing the rides and shows with him. We can’t wait to take Ark and experience everything all over again!

7

Linus’ Happenings Linus loves it when people sing to him, especially The Wheels on the Bus and the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse theme song. He will immediately dance for you! He is pretty independent and loves his stuffed animals, especially those with long noses.

Right before he turned 1, he started to walk. When he’s at the door, he’ll grab his shoes because he loves to walk outside. Within the past 2 months, he’s learned how to clap, wave, and give hugs and kisses. Linus’ first words were “I did it”. It’s so exciting to see him learn new things.

Linus notices Ark when he cries and laughs. When Ark cries, Linus whines, and when Ark laughs, Linus laughs.

He’s quite empathetic.

We spent Linus’ first birthday at home, but we plan to celebrate with family and friends when the quarantine is over!

10

Ark Mars Lee Birthday

March 10, 2020 at 8:49 am

Birthplace

Kaiser Permanente Baldwin Park Medical Center

Weight

5 lbs. 7.5 oz.

Height

18.7 in.

12

Ark’s Birth Story Ark’s due date was March 21. I had my OBGYN check up on March 9 and the doctor told me I was dilated at 3 cm, but that could still mean days until I delivered.

After falling asleep watching the Friends episode “The One Where Rachel Has a Baby, Part One” on live TV, I started to have mild contractions. At 1 am my water broke, so I called the hospital. They told us to come in to check and we went to the delivery room at 2:30 am. I quickly asked for the epidural but the nurse said there was someone else in line for the epidural before I could receive it. While waiting for the epidural, I threw up and experienced contractions that I would describe as “feeling like I was dying” and “my back breaking”. After I received the epidural, my right thigh started to be in pain and I was given more anesthesia.

I then fell asleep at 4 am.

At 7 am, the midwife came in and told me that I was dilated at 10 cm and that we’ll start pushing at 8 am. At 8 am the nurse assisted me to push until the baby started crowning.

At 8:30 am the midwife came and after 3 pushes, baby Ark arrived. After I was discharged from the delivery room, I turned on the hospital live TV and watched the Friends epsiode “The One With The Birth.”

The day Ark was born was the first time it rained in a long time. It was also the week where the Coronavirus stay at home order was announced.

And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him went into the ark to escape the waters of the flood.

Genesis 7:7

15

16

17

18

19

Last Year’s Goals (July 2019 - July 2020)

Jess • Make instead of buy things for Linus • Vacuum more • Create more

Aaron • Grow in my speaking and teaching • Record original worship music • Create a physical product

Goals for Next Year Jess • Read • Create • Take the kids out

Aaron • Improve as an interviewer • Make more videos • Watch more Disney+

20

CREDITS Lifestyle photos by Alison and Edwin jessandaaron.tumblr.com since July 5, 2013