Category: holidays

Belated Birthday Photos

Not actually photos from a belated birthday but belated pictures from a birthday. (You know, just in case you were wondering…ahem. Carry on.)

The hat, predictably, did not stay on for long.

E’s cousins were more obliging about the hat-wearing.

E in the traditional hanbok my aunt in Korea sent him.

And the requisite shot of the birthday boy eating (vegan) cake.

Happy Birthday, E!

E turns one year old today. I made a photo slideshow to celebrate the first year of his life. I was going to post his month 12 letter as well but it took me entirely too long to get the video together. So that will be another post.

Just FYI, there’s something wrong with the aspect ratio and so the photos look a little smooshed. I’m posting it as is because I’ve spent over an hour on it already and still don’t know how to fix it.

Music: “Everything will be alright” by Andy Partridge (of XTC)

Happy Halloween!

E seems to be feeling better. So far he hasn’t thrown up since yesterday morning (knock on wood) and seems to have some of his appetite back. The doctor said that E would stop being contagious 24 hours after his fever broke and it broke on Wednesday night, so if E’s still feeling better this afternoon I’m going to dress him in his costume and take him by N’s office and maybe my office if there’s time.


It’s hard for me to believe that it’s Halloween already! E was actually due last Halloween but he wasn’t born until a week later. It’s been a great year.

All’s Well that Ends Well

So my birthday yesterday started out pretty lame. By lame I mean that we discovered that the basement, which had finally dried out Monday night, had flooded again. AND that it was worse than ever. Um, so there was that. N. used the wetvac to suck up 45 or so gallons of water, but then he had to go to work. So I had to flit between sucking up the water in the basement and pumping it down the drain, playing with E. who was freaked out by the loud wetvac noise and would cry heart brokenly every time I would leave the room, and trying to get some work down on my slides for work which were due last night.

So when Amy called me yesterday morning and asked how I was doing…well, I told her. Amy’s the president of the Relief Society (the women’s auxiliary) at church. Anyway, when she heard about the basement and my deadline for work, she offered to watch E. for a while so I could focus on those things. I usually don’t ask for help with things; I pride myself on being pretty self-sufficient. But things were so crazy and I could tell her offer was sincere, so I accepted. So I packed E. off to her house where he crawled around and was fascinated by her 2 year-old and preschooler. And then I dashed home and worked on the basement and my slides. It was only for an hour and a half, but I felt like I had made some real progress by the time I picked up E.

A couple hours after I picked up E. from Amy’s house the doorbell rang. It was Amy and her preschooler holding a tasty-looking, still warm vegan chocolate cake! I could not get over how thoughtful it was of her. And there was also a package of cookies from another friend on the porch. AND another neighbor swung by with a little present. I felt very lucky to know such thoughtful people.

So after that things kept getting better. E. took a nap which allowed me to tend to the basement and work some more on my slides. N. came home early from work bearing gorgeous flowers and we went out to dinner at a steakhouse (I ‘heart’ prime rib!) where E. proceeded to charm everyone within a ten foot radius. After dinner we put E. to bed and N. took over pumping out the basement so I could finish up my slides. Then we had slices of Amy’s delicious cake with scoops of coconut-milk-based ice cream (actually pretty good) on the side and I opened presents from N.

N. totally blew me away with his thoughtfulness. He got me a few cds and books I had wanted and one that I didn’t know I wanted but actually did. And he got me this print, Ninjas All Over the Place, by one of my favorite artists, Scott Campbell.

I am so, SO excited about it. I’m going to get it framed and it’s going to hang in my sewing room/office and it is going to be AWESOME. Here’s a detail of it.


So yeah, pretty much everything was lovely thanks to the kindness of others and the thoughtfulness of N. Now I’ve got to hustle and pack up E. and drop him off at my sister Jan’s house (speaking of kindness) so I can attend a two-hour meeting in the office to go over my slides.

What’s that you say?

The colonies have declared their independence? By George!

Happy Fourth of July!

I hope you have a lovely holiday. I think we’re going to putter around the house and then see some friends (and hopefully fireworks) in the evening.

I forgot to post about our trip to the ENT on Monday. Our pediatrician’s office had gotten us a 3:45 appointment but the doctor was really behind and we were stuck waiting for almost 2 hours. E. held it together pretty well for the first hour, but then started falling apart. So I put him in his stroller and walked laps around the hallway. It was good for him because he quieted down and fell asleep and it was good for me because I hadn’t had time to exercise that morning. We ended up walking around for 45 minutes!

Lateness aside, I really liked the doctor. He had a very competent and deliberate manner about him. After he checked E.’s ears the doctor said that they look like they’re in the process of draining. He said that the pressure is more painful to E. now that his ears are draining than when they were totally plugged up. He didn’t think it would be worth it to jump the gun and put tubes in when the problem may resolve itself. We have a follow up appointment to check E.’s progress in 2 weeks (thankfully it’s the first appointment of the day and so there won’t be a horrendous wait). So tubes are still a possibility, but they’re a slim one.

E. has been fussier these last couple of weeks than he has ever been. Luckily, it’s still not too bad. However, I’ve been spoiled by his previous mellowness and so this new behavior kind of wears me out. He has taken to shrieking in a super-high pitch at the drop of a hat. Hopefully the shrieking is related to his ear pain and only temporary rather than being a new hobby he has decided to explore. Because I have to admit that I am not a big fan.

Did you hear the one…

…about the German and the 200 Koreans?

They all went camping together.

So, every Memorial Day weekend the members of the Korean branch (church congregration) that my mom attends go camping. They’re done it every year for over 15 years. Growing up it was pretty much a given that our Memorial Day weekend was going to be spent in the middle of the woods with Korean food simmering over the campfires (even if my sulky teenaged self was not at all interested in being there). Looking back on it now, there were some good times. One year I entertained myself by trying to convince the younger kids that I had a twin sister (named Hope, naturally); another year (I think I was 14) I spent most of the time clumsily flirting with the only boy my age there; and yet another year my sister got engaged to her now husband of 10+ years. So yeah, good times.

Anyway, my mom is a great Korean cook. And she REALLY likes sharing her food with other people. Since they live by the water, she will go dig her legal limit of clams for days leading up to the campout so she’ll have buckets of clams ready to make her special soup when the camp-out arrives. Last week she was digging clams when a “VERY nice looking young man” (her words) came up to her and asked her what she was doing. She explained how you dig clams and he asked her what she was going to use them for. She explained all about her special soup and the Korean campout. It turned out that the guy, whose name was Oliver, was from Germany and on a month-long tour of the States. Anyway, Oliver was intrigued by my mom’s description of Korean food, which he had never tried, and about the church campout.

Long story short, my mom invited him to tag along with her and my brother to the campout and Oliver accepted. He thought that hanging out in the wilderness with 200 Koreans sounded like fun. What a brave guy!

Our First Mother’s Day

Yesterday was low key but lovely. N. surprised me with a fancy bread machine for a combination Mother’s Day/anniversary gift. I’m really excited to use it. It makes a 2 lb. horizontal loaf and comes with recipes for all sorts of bread. I’m particularly intrigued by the recipe for the cheese and onion bread–yum!

In the evening we went up to N.’s parents’ house for dinner. Holidays with N.’s parents are getting a little poignant because in June they are moving to Korea for three years to perform full-time service for our church. So it was N.’s mother’s first Mother’s Day with E. but also her last one with him until at least 2012!

I wasn’t able to see my mom yesterday since she lives out of state, but I wanted to thank her for everything she’s done for me. I know it’s trite, but becoming a parent does give you more appreciation for everything your own parents did for you.

Hooray for mothers, grandmothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, and friends!

Happy Birthday to N!

N. and my dad both had birthdays over the weekend. Happy birthday to both!

To celebrate N.’s birthday we left E. with N.’s mom on Saturday and went to dinner and a movie with friends. We went to an MacCool’s, an pub restaurant because N. had a hankering for pierogis and MacCool’s was the only local place we could find that had them. I had the sheperd’s pie which was quite tasty.

After dinner we went to see Ironman. I enjoyed it. I think Robert Downey Jr.’s performance was good, which was pretty key to the success of the movie. And even though Gwyneth Paltrow didn’t have a lot to do, she was appropriately plucky and likable. The writing was better than I expected. Over all, I would recommend it. If you go, be sure to stay until the end of the credits – we didn’t and we missed a stinger with a cameo by Samuel L. Jackson.

Yesterday we went to N.’s parents house for a birthday dinner. It was fun to see E. and his cousin L. interact. There’s only two months between them. Right now they mostly just look at each other, but it will be fun when they’re old enough to play together.



E. has his 6-month checkup tomorrow and so we’ll see how much he weighs and how tall he is. The eczema on his face has pretty much cleared up, but the cradle cap on his head has gotten worse. Over all his skin is really improving. So goes the war!