Tagged

Lucia, who is a great writer, cool person and a mom to two kids close in age to mine, tagged me--my first tagging experience! I am going to just follow the rules partially and respond but not tag others. Hopefully I won't be struck down by lightning or hit by a car because of it.

So, here are eight random facts about Amy:

1) I have been working for the same magazine for eight years. I started there as an intern (Ryan and I moved to Colorado for my internship in the summer of 1999), then got hired on as assistant editor, then associate editor, and finally editor. It is funny to me and most of my nearest and dearest that I have been doing basically the same job since I was 23.

2) Ryan and I have been together for more than nine years (married for six), and the only time we have taken a traditional vacation was when we'd been dating for two months. (We went to Mexico after he graduated from college.)

3) My parents were never married. They separated when I was 2 and remained good friends, even spending holidays together, until my dad's death last year. He even lived with my mom for the last 1 1/2 years of his life and passed away at her house.

4) Ryan and I unsuccesfully attempted in vitro fertilization at Stanford in 2002. When I first had to give myself shots with the fertility drugs, I literally couldn't do it. I sat there with a needle in my fist trying to work up the courage to jab it into my thigh, and my brain was saying "why would you jab a needle into your thigh?" and not letting my arm move. It was the strangest feeling!

5) I won a "Best in Class" award for poetry at the Santa Cruz County Fair when I was in sixth grade and a red ribbon (second place) for table setting.

6) I threw up on the plane to Taiwan when we were landing and had to use one of those barf bags for the first time ever. It was the smell of the "Chinese-style" breakfast--I still have the menu, it was "Stir-Fried Napa Cabbage with Dried Shrimp" and "Savory Porridge with Baby Seafood"--the man next to me was eating that finally did me in.

7) We kept our adoption paperwork in China (LID 8/1/06) while we made sure all went well with Lauren's adoption. I recently had to write a letter withdrawing the paperwork and it was way, way harder than I expected. I think two children is the right number for us, but still...

8) Growing up, we did not have a television until I was around 10 or so. Consequently, I don't get a lot of the TV references that people often make.

Thanks, Lucia! That was fun.

Some New Pictures

Just a quick update...the magazine I edit is going to press so I've been really busy, but I've been feeling guilty for not updating in so long! These pictures are all from around the beginning of the month. We went to Roseburg for a wedding this past weekend, and the kids were a hit. Aidan rocked the dance floor solo in his little Guatemalan shirt, and Lauren got tons of attention in her adorable cherry dress that was handed down from our neighbors. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures at the wedding. My wonderful friend Jessica arrives tomorrow (along with her two girls, ages 4 years and 18 months) for a weekend of fun and craziness. I'll try to post some pictures next week. Hope everyone is great! Congratulations to Karin and Rob, who just arrived home from Taiwan with their cutie pie baby Ryan.



Aidan wearing his pajamas from Taiwan at a party on the 4th of July.



Our family, even though I look totally goofy.



Running Aidan through a sprinkler on a walk through the university to downtown, when our friends David and Molly were visiting for the day from Austin.



Lauren loves facing out in the Bjorn!

She fell asleep in the back-carry position of the Ergo carrier for the first time--so funny with her head falling back so far! (Don't worry, we took her out right away.)

Birthday Girl

Our little Lauren turned 1 today...amazing! We had a fun birthday dinner with family friends on Friday, and then had a small party this evening with cupcakes, strawberries and peach-raspberry cobbler. She had a great day and we're so proud of her. She crawls fast, stands for a few moments without support, cruises all around, waves, claps, kisses, and says mama, dada, ge ge (older brother in Mandarin), kitty, thank you, uh oh, and hi. She has more energy than we can even explain. We are so lucky to get to be her parents and watch her grow up! Lots of love to Lauren's birthmom today, as this must have been such a difficult day for her.

Checking out the frosting...

Post-cupcake face. Standing in her highchair is one of Lauren's favorite things to do. We actually just switched her to Aidan's old booster so she can sit at the table with us and be strapped in.

Our adorable neighbor Grace with the birthday girl.

Lauren giving me one of her famous open-mouth smooches.

Another favorite pasttime--handing things to people. Here she is giving Ryan her binky. If you are holding her, she will often just pop her drooly binky right in your mouth.

Go Beavers!

We walked the kids over to the University this afternoon to celebrate the return of the Oregon State Beavers baseball team from the college world series in Omaha. They are the national champions for the second year in a row! It was a beautiful day and there was a great turnout to welcome them back, complete with marching band and lots of chanting and general yelling. Perhaps you need a "Beaver Fever" T-shirt in your life? Let me know and I will hook you up! Also available: "Beaver Believer."

And Happy Birthday to Mom, aka Bethie!

Raspberry Picking

We drove out to a nearby farm last Sunday (Father's Day) and picked 5 1/2 pounds of raspberries. We think Lauren ate about a pound by herself. She is a fruit girl!




They also had a duck pond at the farm, and Aidan enjoyed herding the ducks back into their pond.




Bethie (Grandma) suggested that I see if Aidan wanted to feed Lauren--and he did! He gave her the whole bottle and grinned the whole time. Lauren seemed a bit skeptical but still drank her bottle.



Happy Summer to all!

Peaches, Strawberries & Chocolate Chip Cookies

Coming back from a week of having a super hurt back...I seem to be on the mend now. I was basically worthless in terms of child and house care for the last week and am trying to be more careful now about the way I pick up the kids, etc. We are so lucky to have my mom's help--she spent a lot of time watching both kids while I was down for the count. I signed Aidan up for his first swimming lessons today and also signed Lauren up for WaterBabies. She loves the water and I can't wait to see what she thinks of the pool. Both classes start next week. Looks like we will be spending a lot of time at the pool this summer!

Sorry about the orientation of the photos--I've spent a while trying to fix them and can't seem to figure it out. They show up the right way on my computer but when I put them on Blogger they are turned!


Ling Ling enjoys her first whole peach.



Aidan at the Strawberry festival at our Community-Supported Agriculture farm. We get a box of produce from them every week for 22 weeks! We are picking up our third box tomorrow. It is very fun so far! Anyway, the festival was last weekend and very fun.



Lauren's behind-the-binky smile (my favorite!)



Lauren attempts the goofiest face ever while we listened to the steel drum/marimba music at the farmer's market this past weekend.

Aidan eats a chocolate chip cookie at American Dream. If you haven't tried one of their chocolate chip cookies, you must! YUM!

Happy Birthdays

Aidan and I enjoyed our birthday weekend! On Friday (Aidan's birthday), we went to lunch after school and spent the afternoon opening gifts and playing with his new toys. Saturday (my birthday and Lauren's 11-month birthday), I went to Jazzercise and a few yard sales (yay!) and then Bethie watched the kids while Ryan and I went to, wait for it, a MOVIE! (The last movie we saw together was almost three years ago.) Yesterday we had a little party out at Bethie's house. Hard to believe Aidan is 4 now and Lauren will be 1 in less than a month! Enjoy the pictures.

Little List

Numbered lists are the easiest way to update a blog, right?

1) Lauren has a tooth (bottom center on the right, same first tooth Aidan got)!
2) She learned how to crawl over the weekend (we thought she might skip it, so this is exciting; see pictures below)
3) After feeling like I had been doing nothing with Aidan except scolding him for this or that, I took him on a little adventure last Friday to visit some friends (see picture below). Thanks to Jessica for talking to me on the drive home to keep me awake while Aidan snoozed!
4) Lots of birthdays coming up in our family: Aidan turns 4 on 6/1, me on 6/2, my Aunt Karen on 6/15, my grandpa on 6/16, Bethie (my mom) on 6/25, and Lauren turns 1 on 7/2.
5) Aidan is obsessed with the human body ever since reading "The Magic School Bus Inside the Human Body." He is particularly interested in the esophagus and intestines, as well as the bloodstream--red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, etc.

Aidan & Mama's excellent adventure
Little crawler
Thanks Wendy & family for the cutie sweater!

May Faire & Dad

We all enjoyed our first May Faire at our friend Jonah's school yesterday. Aidan saw a puppet show, got a yellow star and a blue sun painted on his face, participated in his first cake walk, and enjoyed popcorn and ginger cake with whipped cream. My friend Wendy (Jonah's mom) held Lauren while I made a flower wreath, which was very fun for me!

Face painting.

Today is the one-year anniversary of my dad's death. We have all been thinking of him and wishing he could be here to meet his amazing granddaughter. We think he would have just loved her spunky personality and busy nature. He was a very special, fun and always funny dad and I miss him all the time.

Cute April Pictures

Here are a few pictures from the last week that I like. We're all doing pretty well. Aidan is in a major Bethie phase--he spent the night at her house both Monday and Wednesday nights this week, which is a huge treat for Ryan and me. Having only one child to focus on now feels like a vacation! I have started going to aerobics classes with my friend Wendy...only two classes so far, but it feels great to be getting back into a routine. Ryan is sweet enough to take care of the kids by himself while I do that, and it's nice for me to have a little bit of time to myself. Hope everyone is doing great!