So yesterday I decided to to take a look at my baby pictures, and I was a little surprised to see the resemblance between Chloe and I--yes, I too had super chubby cheeks and a lot of hair as an infant. The look on my face in the 2nd picture of me is one that I see often on Chloe's face. So, I guess my genetics have at least prevailed for the facial expression trait, for good or for bad. She is becoming more and more fun everyday. We love making her smile.

Siblings

Clancy

Chloe

Anyone see a resemblance? I didn't necessarily think our kids looked all that similar until I saw Chloe do this. I love these open mouthed smiles!

Christmas in the Northwest

Ok, so click on the link to the song on the left and enjoy one of the cheesiest songs I have ever heard. It doesn't sound all that much different from all the other corny Christmas songs until you listen closely to the lyrics. The funniest thing is that it is all about the trees.

"Christmas in the northwest is a child's answered prayer, take away the presents, and they still would have a tree 'cause Christmas in the northwest is a gift God wrapped in green."

Catchy, eh? I love the Northwest, but I'm not a big fan of snow in the northwest. We have 4 inches of snow right now and we're prepared to sit it out until it all melts.

Here is the view we'll be enjoying until it's green again...

Merry Christmas!

Whites, Colors, and ... Pinks

So you may have guessed that the title of this post refers to the mounds of pink laundry we've accrued lately. Yes, thanks to our very generous friends and family, we went from only a few token pink items (one being Andrew's bubblegum pink BYU Graduate Student Association polo shirt) in our household to a whole three-drawer dresser full of them. It is a new experience for all of us--I am not even sure if Clancy knew about pink before Chloe's arrival, but now that is a color he identifies confidently. Poor sister-less Andrew has never seen so much pink, and for most of my life I shunned pink, ruffley, fluffy things for fear that they may cause some sort of brain damage.

We are proudly gussying up our little Chloe with all the rose-colored frills and furbilows, wondering all along what the future will bring for our little diva. Will she, for instance, be as fearful of light-red shades as I was, or will she be more like my adorable little sister who ran around with nothing but several puffy whole-slips and declared herself the "flower princess". If she follows in her auntie's "en-pointe" footsteps, I will certainly need some training from you girly girls out there!

Welcome Chloe!

Welcome Chloe Mae-Lihn (beautiful blossoming lotus) to our family! She was born on November 10, 2008, and weighed 6lbs 14 oz, and 17 ½ inches long. This delivery was much different than when Clancy was born, at least in my perspective. No, we did not take any pictures of the ultimate Frisbee team for work, nor did the baby come in 2 ½ hours after we got to the hospital. Instead, when we woke up that morning, after I came back from working out (don’t laugh, I do work out occasionally now J), Laura said that she was having contractions about every three minutes. So we began to make arrangements to go to the hospital, and dropped Clancy off at Yeh Yeh and Mah Mah’s.

We arrived at the hospital about 9:45 am only to find out that the contractions ended abruptly. The nurse decided that we should walk around the hospital to try and get the contractions started again, which we did. After 1.5 hours of walking around the labor and delivery floor, the contractions started again, and the doctor decided to break the water. 3 hours later, Chloe was born at 3:36pm. It marked the start of my paid paternity leave, as well as double stroller – extended shopping cart using – two child caring lives, which Laura and I are thrilled to have. I am especially excited to be able to claim another dependent on our tax return. J

Chloe has been a pretty quiet and calm baby so far. Then again, I am a pretty sounds sleeper at night, and I am not as involved with the nightly feedings. This is not because I do not want to help, but just that I am not blessed with the ability to help. She is also a very good eater. Chloe weighed a whopping 7 lbs ½ oz today at the well child visit.

Clancy is also very excited to be a big brother. When we woke up the day after the baby was born, he kept pointing to our front door saying “Baby? Baby now? Play toys with Baby?” He loves giving Chloe hugs and kisses, and has been handling this very well.

Thanks for everyone’s love and support during our recovery. What?! I can’t recover too?!

Due Dates..A Cautionary Tale

So here we are bigger than a "parade of homes" at 37+ weeks--pretty good for someone who's had contractions since the 22 week mark, right? Right. How glad we are that the baby wasn't born that early, but after taking medication every 4 hours and being on bedrest (which I interpret differently than my doctor), it is kind of weird that I am still pregnant.

On the Tuesday before Halloween I was in active labor and admitted to labor and delivery for the blessed event, but this baby had everyone fooled. After staying at the hospital for 15+ hours waiting for this little one's arrival, my doctor reluctantly sent me home, but assured me that I'd be back within 24 hours to deliver. Not so, and a week and a half later I am wondering when this baby will decide to make its debut.

As the understatement of the day, I would like to say that I am pretty anxious for this baby to be born so my clothes will fit, we can save the rainforest by reducing our TP consumption, and I can stop second guessing every little bump I feel from the inside. In the last couple of weeks, I have gone from a heavily medicated, doctor-ordered couch potato/semi-sedentery lifestyle to a non-medicated, emotionally volatile, marathon walker (ok the last one is an exaggeration). Last weekend Andrew, Clancy, and I walked around the mall for 3 hours just trying to coax the baby out, and since then Clancy and I have gone on long daily walks through the downpour to the now-duckless duck pond. So far walking is NOT the answer. So since I am not to keen on drinking Castor oil, taking black Cohosh, or going into a deep state of meditation to commune with my baby about why it is not coming out (actually recommended by one online expert), I guess I will just have to do as every other pregnant lady does and wait it out. As my doctor said when I asked what I could do to induce labor, "If there were something you could do, noone would ever get to their due date."

The moral of this cautionary tale is...don't plan a timeframe for the birth of your child. If you just plan to have a baby within a year of the estimated due date, you'll probably not be disappointed. P.S. My doctor pledged to induce labor on my due date if the baby isn't born by then, so Nov.25th, here we come!

Now really, baby!

So it seems that our baby is a bit of a difficult one. Today was my second chance to find out the baby's gender, but to no avail! Not only was the baby laying in a strange position that made it difficult to see important anatomical structures like the brain, the spine, arms and legs, etc., it had its little cheeks (of the posterior variety) clenched tightly together and its legs glued together at the knees. I guess he or she is really hoping for a dramatic entrance. I must say, I was very disappointed in our baby's reluctance to let me get to know him or her, but I am happy that it appears that all systems are go!

Hopefully it will just be a matter of a couple of weeks before we know the gender, size, and newborn personality of our little troublemaker.

Clancy's "Firsts"

Clancy is finally 2! He has recently had some "firsts" that I thought might be fun to share:

1. First day of ABC school--ok... so it is a glorified playgroup with a letter theme, but we call it school. It is an adaptation of a group my friend does with her daughter. We usually have a letter-related craft or coloring page, a story, show-and-tell, and a lot of free-play.

2. First ear infection. One day he just started throwing a fit and crying unconsollably. We just thought he was turning into a monster, but over the next couple of days he developed a fever and mostly slept in my arms and cried intermittently (definitely not his typical style). We never once saw him touch his ear or indicate that his ear hurt, so it was kind of a surprise when we received that diagnosis.

3. First time wearing a tie to church! This was a long, hard-fought battle. I probably asked him to let me put on the tie 20 times before he actually agreed to it. In the end the trick was convincing him that a 10 year-old girl that he has a crush on would think he looked really cute. When we made it into the chapel, Clancy kept looking for his crush and calling her name. What a ladies man!

3. First time being "on the chart" for weight percentile. He also moved from the 15th percentile to 25th for height (though I don't know where those other shorties are!).

4. First time performing his animal sounds in front of the camera. Maybe the "elmo cake", which you see all over his face, helped him loosen up!

A "Pretty" Simple Drawing

Hello all you ladies! I know, this is quite a departure from my refusal to say the word or carry a purse earlier in my life, but I just wanted to let you know about this website on which you can sign up to win one of 24 cool handbags on Oct. 15th. So, visit the link and sign up--it only requires a first name and email address, so it doesn't take long. Hopefully someone we know will win!

http://www.handbagplanet.com/

Our Crazy Little Monkey!

Don't blink or you'll miss something...at least that is how it seems to be with Clancy these days. He has changed so much in the last couple of weeks (ok, he still weighs 22 pounds with his clothes and shoes on). So, other than the lack of physical changes, Clancy is really different now. He is talking all the time. A lot of what he says is in the form of a cheer. He pumps his fists and chants "Choco Muck" (chocolate milk), "Baketball" (Basketball), and today was cheering for "Airbets" (Airplanes). He is also becoming quite a little dictator--sit here, stand up, etc. I just can't believe how much he has learned lately, including all the requirements for entrance into the "Terrible Twos".

Tonight he was saying something that I didn't quite understand, but was sort of similar to how he says "snack". I asked him if he was hungry, and if he wanted a snack. He, being the eater that he is, of couse said "Yes" and shook his head excitedly. I asked him what kind of snack he wants and his response...."food". I wonder if some of the snacks I've been providing are inedible, or somehow don't quite make it into the "food" category.

This movie is just a tiny glimpse into Clancy's new dance moves. One evening after dinner, we put on some music and had Clancy dance. This was what he did. I really think he was attempting a somersault, which I do not know how to teach him safely. This just solidified my plans to put him in some sort of tumbling/gymnastics class next year. The kid is small and pretty tough, so who knows..maybe you'll see him on the pommel horse one day!

GO Cougars!

I know I just posted something a few minutes ago, but it is 10:oopm on a Friday night and Clancy and Andrew are both out for the night, so I decided to post a tribute to the cougars!

A few weeks ago, Andrew, Clancy and I went to the BYU vs. UW game. I was so excited to see them play in person (for those of you that are not aware, I am a big BYU football fan). The game itself was just too close for me. I appreciate a contest, but I was so nervous for the cougars throughout the game. I had been expecting a blow-out, not the hard-fought game that unfolded. In the end, the cougars won when Jan Jorgensen (a fellow Carbon Countyan) blocked the extra point that would have sent the game into overtime. What a relief when the game finally ended! Clancy was glad too, he missed a nap and was hiding under Andrew's legs by the time the game ended.

The night before the Cougars played in Seattle, we attended the team's fireside devotional. It was neat to see that these players and coaches that I appreciate for their athletic abilities also have testimonies of Jesus Christ and are great representatives of BYU. That night Fui Vakapuna autographed Clancy's "Mr. Potatohead Sticker Book" with a Crayon. It was funny, but that was all we had.

The next week Andrew flew down to Utah for a PwC recruiting event--a BYU football game tailgate party. The recruiting event just happened to take place on BYU campus right before the BYU vs. UCLA game (supposedly the biggest home game of the season), so I nagged him until he bought a ticket to see the game. After about 3-4 calls from Andrew (one after each touchdown) I requested an update only after 2 touchdowns. Much to my surprise, I got another phone call after just 5 minutes. This was a blow-out. I couldn't believe it--the cougars were unstoppable.

Clancy has definitely picked up on our love of the Cougars and football, since he is constantly chanting B-O-O (his version of BYU) and begging me to sing the Cougar fight song (lately that has become our diaper changing song). I can't wait to take him to another game! Go Cougars!

A Really Cheap Date

Last night Andrew and I went on a free date to see "Shrek, the Musical" at the 5th Avenue Theater. Andrew's company offered him some really good and free tickets for us and another couple. It was a lot of fun.

At first I wasn't sure I would like the show because I really wasn't a fan of the movie, but I really like musicals and we went for it. There was definitely a lot less potty humor in the musical than in the movie, and the songs and acting were really amusing. It also seemed that the moral of the story--you know, not judging people before you get to know them--was more obvious in this version. The acting, the dancing, the sets, and the singing were really impressive, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised since many of the cast members have either won or been nominated for Tony Awards. Soon Shrek will be leaving Seattle for Broadway, so if you liked the movie or are willing to give the story another chance in a different setting, I recommend it!

Surprise!..well, maybe not

Well, I suppose you probably guessed that we are awaiting the arrival of baby #2 in November from the baby floating in the digital womb (look to the left), but just in case...surprise! Now for all the answers you are looking for...we don't know if it is a boy or a girl since the baby was crossing his/her legs during the ultrasound. We aren't sure if we will have an opportunity to find out our baby's gender before birth and we're not sure if we will find out even if we get a chance (a surprise could be fun, right?).

So far the baby is an active one, and Clancy really seems to like him or her. Clancy is constantly coming and laying his head on my tummy so he can hear the baby, pointing to my belly button and saying "baby", and waving to the baby with his hand about an inch from my stomach. It is pretty funny. I hope he will learn to be gentle before this baby is born--that is something that we are working on.

Lately I have been having pre-term contractions, not painful but pretty consistent. My doctor prescribed some medication and bed-rest and with a combo of the meds and bed-rest (once in a while) I am able to keep the contractions to a minimum (You may have noticed the wheelchair in the picture). I've also just been diagnosed with gestational diabetes, so I guess I won't be needing any chocolate anytime soon.

That is my update, I hope I covered all the important baby-related info, if not let me know and I will try my best to answer!

OK this is scary...

Here is Clancy picking flowers during a recent camping trip, it looks innocent and harmless enough, unless you know that the flowers he is picking are from a Foxglove or Digitalis Purpurea plant. I never would have known that this plant is poisonous except that my mom saw the pictures of our camping trip and calmly warned me not to let him play with that plant! I googled Foxglove and the Wikipedia entry caused me to utter a hurried prayer of gratitude that Clancy didn't die from this seemingly harmless activity.

Just to give you an idea, here is the portion of the Wikipedia entry that describes the toxicity of the plant:

"The entire plant is poisonous (including the roots and seeds), although the leaves of the upper stem are particularly potent, with just a nibble being enough to potentially cause death. Early symptoms of ingestion include nausea, vomiting, anorexia, diarrhea, abdominal pain, wild hallucinations, delirium, and severe headache. Depending on the severity of the toxicosis the victim may later suffer irregular and slow pulse, tremors, various cerebral disturbances, especially of a visual nature (unusual colour visions with objects appearing yellowish to green, and blue halos around lights), convulsions, and deadly disturbances of the heart."

So, I guess while I was a little shaken by Clancy picking up a slug on a recent trip to a blueberry farm, I had no idea about his earlier brush with a potentially lethal plant. I guess it is just a testimony to me that Clancy is being protected by a power greater than my constant worrying and hand sanitizing.

Blue Angels

This weekend the U.S. Navy's Blue Angels graced the skies over Lake Washington as part of Seattle's Seafair. Since we were in Seattle for Andrew's internship (two summers ago), this event has become one of my favorites. Seafair lasts for probably a month, if you consider all the events that are held; there are milk carton derbies, torchlight parades, pirates (the Arrrrrgh! kind) landing at Alki Beach, and of course the jet boat races and Blue Angels airshow.

As we watch the Blue Angels perform I am inspired, impressed, and super nervous. I can't imagine how the families of the Blue Angels let them do what they do (Andrew is lucky that I let him cross the street by himself)! For those of you that have not seen the Blue Angels perform, it is an incredible experience. The show is full of stunts where 4 planes fly very close together (some upside down) making tight turns, where two planes head towards each other on a collision course and then pull themselves sideways to avoid impact right at the last moment, and lots more crazy stunts. My favorite stunt is where six planes fly together high up and then suddenly dive straight down for a while before fanning out (the exhaust trails make an awesome shape).

One of the most impressive things to remember as you watch the Blue Angels is that they are merely representatives of our the talents and skills possesed by our country's service men and women. Across the world there are pilots doing similarly dangerous maneuvers, just not for the enjoyment of an admiring crowd. I am truly inspired by those who serve in our country's armed forces and serve to protect the people of our country and the world.


The Blue Angels In Flight - Amazing videos are here

Happy Birthday Andrew!

Today is Andrew's birthday, and I just want to say that I am glad he was born! He brings the perfect mixture of laughter, logic, joviality, responsibility, skill, luck, and expertise to our family. No wonder Clancy loves his "Dada" the most!

(Note: this picture was taken on New Year's Eve a couple of years ago, but I like it)

Clancy's Recent News

Well, as you can see from the pictures, Clancy recently acquired a new toddler bed. He loves to sit on it and read books, but he has a bit harder time falling asleep in it. The sleeping picture was taken after we brought him home from church and laid him in the bed already dreaming. He did sleep there for about 1.5 hours, so I guess that counts as his first nap in his "big boy" bed. Last night we read books and sang songs to him while he laid in the bed. We planned to transfer him to his crib before he fell asleep, but it didn't quite work out that way (which pleasantly surprised us all). At about 12:30am he rolled out of the bed and gave a little cry, so I picked him up (still asleep) and put him in his crib for the rest of the night. Maybe this won't be such a hard transition after all (fingers crossed).

As a side note, Clancy still has not revealed if his little sibling is a brother or a sister. I've asked him many times, but he doesn't seem to want to tell me. A few times he just covered his mouth with his hand (his surprised look). The ultrasound tech couldn't tell either, so I guess we'll have to wait and see. A friend told Andrew she is bringing by a book of 10,000 baby names, and I guess we're going to need it because we only have a few weak contenders for boy names.

Oregon...

We had a great time in Oregon at the Tillamook Cheese factory, the rainy cold beach in Lincoln City (where we saw a huge group of harbor seals), the outlet mall (it was raining), Munson Creek Falls (an impressive 319 feet tall), The Octopus Tree and Cape Meares Lighthouse, and the beach view cottage we rented where Andrew and I nearly beat the "Incredibles" game for PS2 (we had to stop because it was like 1:30am and I had blisters on my thumb).

Some highlights of the trip that you can see from the slideshow are:
1. The cheese factory where we ate great ice cream; saw the cheese we buy at Costco being made; and when asked if he wanted a picture with the cow, Clancy ran over to the nearest cow, pointed and "Moo"ed.
2. The crazy waves at the beach. Who would have thought we'd be wearing coats and doing a lot of inside things (like shopping) in June?
3. Making a sea turtle out of sand and rocks at the beach. Clancy gathered quite a few of the rocks himself, including the heavy one featured in a series of pictures. We weren't sure if that one would make it to the turtle, but Clancy is very persistent and quite a little beaver (just like his dad).
4. Munson Creek Falls. It is a beautiful place, requiring just a short hike on a trail with lots of vegetation and lots of butterflies.
5. Cape Meares Lighthouse. It is the shortest on the Oregon Coast, but I like that because you can get the whole thing in one picture. There are also some pictures of off-shore rocks that can be seen from the lighthouse. They look kind of wierd in the pictures, but that is because the whole rock is covered with birds (including puffins). Isn't there a poem about puffins..."There once was a puffin just the shape of a muffin..." (I'm sure Popa knows).
6. The octopus tree. This is a giant Sitka spruce that has 5 limbs coming out of the base (all the others are just really tall and straight trees with one main trunk). The circumference of the tree and all her appendages is 50 feet! Clancy demonstrated his true inner tree-hugger when he ran up and embraced the sign that says "Protect this tree" and flashed us a charming grin. Was he just being cute, or sending some kind of message to his parents about how we should treat our little "humble tree" (the meaning of Clancy's Chinese name), I guess we may never know.

We left Oregon at 11 am on the only sunny warm day of the trip and started the roughly 6 hour drive back to Seattle, and arrived home 11 hours later. I guess we didn't really want to get back to "real" life.

Free Music!

Download. When I Take Your Hand

You're probably all wondering who this angry-looking guy is. Well, his name is Shaun Barrowes (he isn't angry in person), and you may or may not have seen him on American Idol last season. He made it to the final 48, at which point he was cut (probably because he isn't a rocker). Andrew and I met him at BYU when Andrew was the BYU Graduate Student Association VP of Activities. Shaun was on the BYU-approved artist list, which Andrew scoured for someone that would provide fun and FREE entertainment. Luckily, Shaun agreed and Andrew and the rest of the graduate students really enjoyed the music. Shaun's style is jazz, which is Andrew's favorite, but he makes it even more interesting by jazzing up songs that weren't previously jazz (for example, "Yesterday" by the Beatles). He also writes and performs his own music (singing and playing the piano simultaneously). He is pretty fun to watch in person because he is high-energy.

I guess he has just finished an original composition for a video game and is working with other famous artists on some things. He gave us a link to one of his original songs "When I Take Your Hand" which is sometimes called "The Wedding Song". If you'd like to hear it, click on "Download. When I Take Your Hand" link below the picture and check it out. If you like what you hear, just google his name and it will lead you to all sorts of different websites where you can hear more of his music.

Captured...

Well, I finally snatched some pictures of Clancy and Aga together (see previous posts for why this is important). Now I need a picture of Aga's charming smile that she was flashing at Clancy as they sat in their strollers all the way home from the park. She held her head up high and squinted her eyes with all her force. Her bottom jaw thrusted forward and exposed all her teeth with the corners of her mouth curling upwards in a happy grin. Words are hardly adequate to describe this smile that encompassed all her tiny facial features, but lets just say, she was happy.

Aga's mom and I were chatting away when our dialogue was interrupted by the excited laughter of two toddlers with an inside joke. They laughed at each other most of the way home.

More Tales of the "Teen-Aged" Toddler

Well, Clancy has had more adventures in flirting..or something like that. If I thought he really knew what was going on I would probably lock him in his room until he's old enough to date, but right now it is just fun to watch him and pretend he is really girl-crazy.

Andrew and I were recently assigned to watch the children 18-months to 3-years-old at church while their parents attend Sunday School and other church classes (yes, we are the nursery leaders). At first I must admit I was not thrilled about this assignment since my full time job is watching Clancy everyday, but it hasn't been as bad as I supposed. There are about 15 children that come regularly and it is pretty funny to watch them interact. Clancy is a very social little boy and he likes to give hugs right now, mostly to girls. During the 1 hour 45 minutes that we were in nursery last week, I saw him try to give at least two girls a hug only to be turned down when the girls ran away and hid. He was trying to show his nurturing sensitive side by pushing the baby dolls around in a pink stroller while all the other boys played with cars (lets just say this technique did not work!). Now I need to try to figure out how to keep him from becoming like the kid all the girls hid from on the school bus so he wouldn't kiss them.

He also had his first dance with a girl (other than me of course). The lucky girl was his 5-year- old cousin Maya. Andrew said it reminded him of the church dances from our teenage years because Maya is at least 2x as tall as clancy. He basically just hugged her legs and they danced to the romantic tunes of Disney's "Highschool Musical".

One more charming little thing he has picked up is rolling his eyes. One day I saw him do it and thought that it was pretty funny, but on Father's Day he did a full show of it for his Dadda and Grandparents. The more we laughed, the more he did it.

Disclaimer: He just finished eating chocolate-covered strawberries, which he managed to get all over his body (including the soles of his feet). That is not dirt, we bathe him everyday (at least once).

Survival

Well, Andrew and I really enjoy watching "Man vs. Wild" on the Discovery channel, in fact, that is mostly what we do on Friday nights after Clancy has gone to sleep. This usually ends in one of us sleeping while the other stays up until the wee hours of the night watching several episodes to see what crazy things Bear Grylls (the man in "Man vs. Wild") will eat! Let's just say it is the best in vicarious living. I have always wanted to explore and discover things in the jungle, but I think my fear of spiders and snakes (and everything else that bites and stings) makes that nearly impossible.

While Andrew, Clancy, and I drove back from Oregon, we made a list of some interesting things that we have learned from Bear Grylls. If there are any other fans out there, please add your own lessons learned to ours:

1. In order to figure out how long until sunset, place your hand and fingers (fingers together) parallel to the horizon with your pinky finger right on the edge of the horizon. For each finger between the horizon and the sun, you have 15 minutes. I think it is pretty accurate. We kept trying it in Oregon, but then forgot to check the exact time of sunset.
2. You can make a compass by using a piece of magnetized metal that is suspended. Bear did this by placing a piece of wire (that he magnetized using his hair) on a leave in a pothole with water in it. The metal caused the leaf to turn in the water so he could find a north-south direction in which to travel.
3. If you have diarrhea or stomach problems, which you would probably have a lot if you went everywhere Bear goes, you can help to cure this by placing some charcoal (fire remains) in some sort of cloth pocket and drinking water that you pour through the pocket. I guess this adds some charcoal to the water and that absorbs some of the problem-causing culprits. Bear added that he has used a sock and underwear for this purpose, so be creative!
4. If you are in the desert and are concerned about heat exhaustion, you should urinate on some cloth (in his case his shirt) and then wrap around your head. This will keep your head cool.
5. If you are in a frozen wasteland, like Siberia, and you need to get down a mountain, you can make a tobogan (sled) out of an animal carcass. You just place some sticks in the hollowed out carcass to stretch it out so the bottom will be somewhat flat and you can fit inside, then place it in the snow and wait for it to freeze solid. He kept moving while wating, which is probably a good idea unless you want to become a tobogan too!
6. If you happen upon a dead camel and need a place to sleep, you can sleep inside the carcass because it will keep you warm.
7. To catch fish without a pole or net, remove your pants and tie the legs shut. tie a branch around the waist hole to keep the waist open and to attach a handle for yourself, and place the waist upstream of the legs. The fish will swim right into your pants and then bon appetite!
8. Always build a fire in order to keep predators away, boost your morale, and keep yourself warm
9. Streams and rivers usually lead to civilization, so follow the river.
10. Make sure to cut off the scorpions stinger before eating it (be prepared--it tastes like cheese that has been sitting out for weeks).

Happy Fathers Day to all the guys! I don't expect to see my own dad eating scorpions anytime soon, but I'd have to say that he is ingenious and innovative and pretty equipped to survive in the wild!

A lesson in dating, from the experts...

Well, Clancy is not even two years old yet, but I think he had his first date yesterday. He has fallen in love with our little Polish neighbor, Aga. They've never communicated in words, but Clancy's crush is obvious when he gets a huge smile on his face at the mention of Aga. After sequestering ourselves in our apartment for two weeks of sickness, we broke out yesterday and joined Aga and her mom for a walk.

Aga looked beautiful, as always, in her adorable denim mini-skirt and pink wooly heart-clad tights and pink leather boots. As we walked Clancy and Aga leaned forward in their stroller seats and stared into each other's eyes. Aga doesn't like riding in the stroller much, and prefers to walk on her own, so soon she was a pedestrian. As soon as she was free, she came over to Clancy's stroller and tried to hold his hand. I freed Clancy and they walked proudly hand-in-hand down the sidewalk with huge grins plastered to their faces. I just wish I had my camera!

Clancy, being the boy that he is, frequently became distracted and went off in search for mud (plentiful in Seattle), sticks, rocks, pinecones and anything else that could make him dirty. Aga didn't seem to mind the mud all over his pants or his hands and continued to seek him for a hand to hold (frequently using her right hand to grab his right hand--which required some parental intervention). Clancy enjoyed the company, the mud, and the puddles. After a while it was him chasing Aga down to hold her hand, but she just kept running. He spotted a steep hill with some yellow flowers growing amongst the grass and went for them. He picked one, and I encouraged him to bring it to Aga. After scaling the steep slope with much grunting and panting, he presented Aga with the flower. Despite Aga's mother's failed attempt to have her say thank you in appreciation for his hard work, Clancy repeated his quest four or five times. He must have inherited his talent for chivalry from his dad!

The afternoon ended with more hand-holding and a 20-minute long melt-down when I took him home. Watch out when those teenage hormones kick in!

An Interesting Book

So I finished reading this really interesting book about a month ago and have been wanting to write a blog entry about it, but....you all know how often I update this blog!

The book is called "The Mormon Way of Doing Business: Leadership and Success Through Faith and Family". The author, Jeff Benedict, spoke at the BYU Marriott School of Business graduation in 2007, when Andrew graduated and all of the graduates received a free copy.

In this book the author explores how eight very successful Mormon businessmen have balanced their busy careers, church service, family, and interests and how religion and family have spurred them to success. Some of the featured businessmen include: David Neeleman founder and CEO of JetBlue Airways, Kevin Rollins, former CEO of Dell, Jim Quigley, CEO of Deloitte and Touche USA, David Checketts former CEO of Madison Square Garden Corporation, Gary Crittenden, CFO of American Express, and Kim Clark, former Dean of Harvard Business School (Current President of BYU-Idaho).

Some things that I found very interesting about these men is that for the most part, they have very demanding church assignments. Many are bishops (ecclesiastical and temporal leaders of congregations of approx. 400) and stake presidents (leaders of several congregations). How they find time to excel in their demanding work assignments and still find time to serve (without pay) in the church for 10-15+ hours per week amazes me. Another thing that amazed me is that many of these successful business men have large families, and all are still happily married and have never been divorced.

A few chapters in the book talk about how David Neeleman (JetBlue CEO), Gary Crittenden (American Express CFO), and Jim Quigley (Deloitte CEO) dealt with the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Their leadership in the face of that disaster in which their employees were in danger and their companies debilitated, was inspiring to me.

For all of you that are business people, or have people that are business people this book shows a great pattern for success and balance in your life. For the rest of us, it is just interesting to read about the crazily busy lives of these businessmen and be glad that we have time to read!

Tempting..isn't it?

Well, as I looked back at my postings, I noticed that in pretty much every one I am trying to tempt you all to come visit us in Seattle. This posting is no different.

Last weekend we had a family reunion with Andrew's family at this new resort town on the Washington coast. The resort is called Seabrook, and the design is largely based on the Florida beach town Seaside (the setting of "The Truman Show"). It is still just in the beginning phases, so there aren't a lot of distractions (stores, entertainment, etc.), just the beach and the forest. It was a perfect place to get away from our busy lives.

Clancy loved the beach, of course, and as always his favorite thing was grabbing a handful of sand and throwing it as far as he could. Maybe that's because I hardly ever let him get really dirty and muddy. It was great fun!

The up-close picture of Clancy is of him enjoying s'mores...or is he?

Progress...

Progress...Lately Clancy has been learning a lot of new things. We have been going to story time at the library, and we've learned some fun new songs. He loves to do the actions to head shoulders knees and toes, and now he actually points to his head, toes, eyes, and ears. We still have shoulders, knees, mouth and nose to get down, but hey, it's progress. He also likes a song called open, shut them which involves clapping, creepy crawling, and tickling. We are trying to record him singing these songs, but have not yet convinced him to perform in front of the camera...hopefully soon.

He is also saying a lot of new words:

ball, duck, head, toes, shoes, eye, banana, apple, mama, dada, out, outside, star, pop (popcorn)

snack snack (nana), dog, don't touch it, sit down, all done, books, baa (sheep), Jesus, desert, waa, (Chinese for wow), wo (like in the scriptures, wo wo unto you), boo

He folds his arms for some prayers now, mostly if the tv was on and then is turned off while he is sitting in his high chair. He gives lots of hugs and kisses, and pats you on the back when he hugs you. He also likes to dance, mostly head bopping and spinning, though we have seen him do the moonwalk a couple of times.

His new favorite game is crawling around on the floor panting and pretending that we are dogs. I am glad to know that he is starting to learn to pretend. If he masters that, he won't have to have so many toys! Just kidding.

He is now sitting forward-facing in the car since his legs had to be bent to be backward facing. We just have to make sure we load him up with 2 pounds of clothes and shoes before we put him in his car seat. Hopefully by 18 months, he will actually weigh 20 pounds. He is starting to grow out of some of his 9months clothes. Progress....

Yummy Salmon Recipe...are you jealous yet?

I went to cooking 101 (an enrichment activity for the ladies in our church) the other day and learned a few new recipes. I made them that night and Andrew asked me what the special occaision was. It wasn't that hard or that expensive to make, but it was good.

"Gigi" Salmon

Ingredients:
1 slab salmon (I used a fillet of a whole 12"+ salmon)
3/4 teaspoons powdered ginger (or enough to sprinkle all over the fish)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt (kosher salt is best, but I used sea salt)
1/2 teaspoons fresh ground pepper
2 cloves minced garlic
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup brown sugar

Directions:
Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and lay the fish down in the center, skin side down. Sprinkle evenly with salt, pepper, ginger, and garlic. Rub down with olive oil and pat on brown sugar. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes, or until done (not translucent, and flaky when you stick a fork into it).

Serving suggestions: serve with brown rice. Trader Joe's Brown Rice Medley is really good with this.

Spring Salad with Goat Cheese and Tangerine Vinaigrette Dressing
Ingredients:
2 Tangerines, oranges, or blood oranges
2 teaspoons cider vinegar (you can use white if you don't have cider vinegar)
3 Tablespoons orange or tangerine juice
1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard (I used spicy brown)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground pepper
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 Tablespoon fresh chives, chopped
8 cups mixed baby greens (I used Trader Joe's Herb Salad mix)
1/2 cup (2 ounces) goat cheese (Chevre), crumbled
1/4 cup golden or regular raisins

Directions:
Using a microplane grater, grate 1 teaspoon of zest into a small bowl. Peel and section fruit, cut segments into bite size pieces and set aside. Add juice to zest and whisk in vinegar, mustard, salt, and ground pepper until mixed. In thin steady stream, whisk in oil until the vinaigrette is blended. Stir in fruit segments and chives. Set aside.
Place greens in a large bowl with raisins and crumbled goat cheese. Just before serving, pour dressing over the salad and toss to coat thoroughly.

So, if any of you in a land-locked state find yourself drooling at this point, just hop on a plane and come to Seattle. We'll make sure that you get some tasty seafood.

Funny, Funny, Funny!

Someone sent this comic to Andrew at work (if you click on it you can see the enlarged version and actually read the words), I think it was another auditor. I don't think it is entirely true for Andrew, but it is funny anyway. Of course like you'd expect, Andrew is very successful and effective at work. His bosses and clients are constantly amazed by how much work he accomplishes and constantly praising him for it. I am proud of him, but not surprised, and really happy about how quickly he accomplishes it so he doesn't have to live at work!

Now for a Clancy update...his favorite song is "Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree". He can do all the actions and when it gets to the popcorn part, he says "Pop, pop, pop". He loves bananas and could eat several each day if I would let him (I don't, so don't worry). His new daring feat is to climb up some stairs or on a stool or box and jump down (I am not too fond of this practice). He also loves story time at the library because of the parachute song and the bubbles.

True Washingtonian

Well Andrew says that I am a true Washingtonian since I have been mourning the loss of some pine trees near us. When I saw a large area that used to be wooded clear cut in order to make room for some single family homes, I was really sad. Who would have thought? I should be happy because the more houses there are, the more likely it is that we'll be able to afford to live here, but instead I feel like we have lost something that is really irreplacable. I guess the tree-hugger hippiness of the Northwest is rubbing off on me, but I have had seeds of that for a while. (The picture is one of my favorite Washington tree pictures, obviously not the pines that were cut down).

Playing Favorites

I am starting to learn how I fit into the family....A couple of weeks ago Clancy had a bit of a diaper rash and was feeling a little bit sick. After he woke up from a late nap (about 6pm) he screamed and screamed as loud as he possibly could. I figured that his diaper rash was hurting him so I tried letting it air out and he screamed, I tried rocking him and he screamed, I tried singing to him and he screamed--no matter what I did, he screamed. I finally got him to sleep for a couple of minutes (he was exhausted from screaming) and then he woke up and screamed. He was unconsolable so I figured that I would wait until Andrew came home to figure out what to do. The minute Andrew walked through the door, Clancy stopped screaming, jumped off my lap and was happy. Since Clancy was screaming for 20 minutes or more, I didn't have time to clean up his toys or to make dinner, so I was a little stressed. When Andrew offered Clancy some crackers, he ate them, though 10 minutes earlier when I offered him the same crackers he just screamed. To add insult to injury, when Andrew asked Clancy to help him pick up his toys that were scattered tornado-style all over the living room, he did! He never helps me when I ask. I was hurt and suggested that Andrew take Clancy out to find something to eat. I actually just got to work and made something for dinner and Andrew sent Clancy in to give me a hug. He hugged and kissed my legs while I cooked. Now, a couple of weeks later I am humbly accepting that Clancy is a daddy's boy and I am not so hurt by his playing favorites. A caution though, the next one better be mine!

Sun Lean Fie Lock! Happy Chinese New Year!

Well, it's the year of the rat. It's not all bad though, rats are actually a symbol of wealth and prosperity in Chinese culture. I was just reading about the chinese zodiac symbols and found out that there is a legend about a race between all the animals that was sponsored by "the Gods". The first twelve animals to the finish would be the 12 animals of the Zodiac calendar. Somehow, during the race, the rat caught a ride on the bull's back across the river and jumped off early enough to cross the finish first, thus becoming the first animal of the 12 in the Chinese Zodiac calendar (this is an internet one-sourcer, so don't bet your life on it!).

Last night Andrew, his parents, Clancy and I went to the Seattle Asian Art Museum in order to celebrate Chinese New Year. Every first Thursday of the month the museums in Seattle (are free, so we try to go every month. I think we will have to live here for 50 years in order to see them all, and then they will have new exhibits!

We dressed Clancy in his special Chinese outfit that his MahMah and YehYeh bought for him in Hong Kong, and toured the museum. In the Japanese wing there was an exhibit of paper cutting that was amazing. The paper was made from Mulberry wood and was cut with very intricate floral, bamboo, or animal designs. Some had a grid-like design with paper strands as thin as hair. After Clancy took a rest on a tatami, he proceeded to point to everything and say "Wow!". In the Chinese section there was a ceremonial jade dagger from 11oo b.c. and tiny glass snuff bottles that are painted from the inside (I have no idea how you fit a brush into the neck since it is less than a centimeter in diameter). After touring the museum, we went to Seattle's Chinatown and had a feast at the "Jade Garden" restaurant. Clancy is so lucky to have such a cool heritage, the Chinese, Cajun, and Scotch-Irish. If anyone has a kilt I will have him wear it on Whoopite Scoorie (March 1st for those of you that don't keep track of Scottish holidays).

Success!....I think...

Ok all you blogging experts, if you can't see this picture, then I need some serious blogging help. When I posted "Boon" the picture was visible, but when I revisited it, it was not. Hopefully this picture will work and all will be well. I am going to ignore the risk of sounding ancient and technologically illiterate, but...what is a "blog roll"?

On a different subject, Andrew and I barely made it to a U2 3D concert last weekend. We dropped Clancy off at his MahMah and YehYeh's house (Grandparents Wan) and rushed to find parking and to run to the theater. We were so disappointed when they told us that there is no late seating, but then they had pity on us since we had already purchased the tickets. We ran down this hall/ramp that seemed like it would never end, and the nice worker at the end let us go in.

I have been to a live U2 concert and they were both totally fun. I think I liked the 3D concert better--the music was still loud but not deafening, you still see the crowd but you don't smell them and aren't getting pushed around, and you get very up close views of the band. At one point it seemed like Bono was just feet away! Andrew and I were totally impressed, as always, that U2 lyrics actually have meaning and a purpose. It is refreshing that there are famous people that adopt causes and use their fame to make the world better for someone. If you like U2, you should try to see this concert--it is a lot more budget-friendly than a real concert and really awesome. It is playing at IMAX theaters all over the country.

Book Lists

The other day at Mother Goose Story Hour I picked up some flyers that gave suggestions about books that you should read to your kids. I was glad for the suggestion, so I thought I would pass it along.

100 Books Every Child Should Hear Before Starting School:

Babies:
Ten, Nine, Eight; Molly Bang
Goodnight Moon; Margaret Wise Brown
The Very Hungry Caterpillar; Eric Carle
Freight Train; Donald Crews
Lunch; Denise Fleming
Where's Spot?; Eric Hill
Is it Red? Is it Yellow? Is it Blue? An Adventure in Color; Tana Hoban
Brown Bear, Brown Bear; Bill Martin
Chicka, Chicka, Boom, Boom; Bill Martin
Who's Counting; Nancy Tafuri
How Do I Put It On?; Shigeo Watanabe

Toddlers:
On the Day I Was Born; Debbi Chocolate
Good Dog, Carl; Alexandra Day
Feathers for Lunch; Ehlert, Lois
Go Away, Big Green Monster!; Ed Emberley
Ask Mr. Bear; Marjorie Flack
Is Your Mama a Llama?; Deborah Guarina
Hush! A Thai Lullaby; Minfong Ho
Rosie's Walk; Pat Hutchins
Harold and the Purple Crayon; Crockett Johnson
Jump, Frog, Jump!; Robert Kalan
The Teddy Bears' Picnic; Jimmy Kennedy
Whose Mouse are You?; Robert Kraus
The Carrot Seed; Ruth Krauss
Over in the Meadow; John Langstaff
Dim Sum for Everyone!; Grace Lin
Little Blue and Little Yellow; Leo Lionni
Guess How Much I Love You; Sam McBratney
Whose Hat?; Margaret Miller
Shades of Black; Sandra Pinkney
The Little Engine that Could; Watty Piper
Good Night, Gorilla; Peggy Rathmann
We're Going on a Bear Hunt; Michael Rosen
Cars and Trucks and Things that Go; Richard Scarry
Lizard's Song; George Shannon
It Looked Like Spilt Milk; Charles Shaw
Farmer Duck; Martin Waddell
Mouse Paint; Ellen Stoll Walsh
"Hi, Pizza Man!"; Virginia Walter
Noisy Nora; Rosemary Wells
The Lady with the Alligator Purse; Nadine Westcott
Buzz; Janet Wong
The Napping House; Audrey Wood

Preschool:
Happy Birthday, Moon; Frank Asch
Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing; Judi Barrett
Madeline; Ludwig Bemelmans
The Mitten; Jan Brett
Stone Soup; Marcia Brown
The Story of Babar, the Little Elephant; Jean de Brunhoff
Mr. Grumpy's Outing; John Burningham
Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel; Virginia Lee Burton
Mama Zooms; Jane Cowen-Fletcher
The Empty Pot; Demi
Pancakes for Breakfast; Tomie DePaola
Abuela; Arthur Dorros
Are You My Mother?; P.D. Eastman
Corduroy; Don Freeman
Millions of Cats; Wanda Gag
The Three Billy Goats Gruff; Paul Galdone
The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses; Paul Goble
All the Colors of the Earth; Sheila Hamanaka
Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse; Kevin Henkes
Bread and Jam for Frances; Russell Hoban
Amazing Grace; Mary Hoffman
Angelina Ballerina; Katherine Holabird
The Wolf's Chicken Stew; Keiko Kasza
The Snowy Day; Ezra Jack Keats
The Caterpillar and the Polliwog; Jack Kent
Anansi and the Moss Covered Rock; Eric Kimmel
I Took My Frog to the Library; Eric Kimmel
Tacky the Penguin; Helen Lester
I Love You Like Crazy Cakes; Rose Lewis
On Market Street; Anita Lobel
Frog and Toad Are Friends; Arnold Lobel
Frog Goes to Dinner; Mercer Mayer
Make Way for Ducklings; Robert McClaskey
Raven; Gerald McDermott
Goin' Someplace Special; Pat McKissack
Pigs Aplenty, Pigs Galore!; David McPhail
Martha Speaks; Susan Meddaugh
The Day Jimmy's Boa Ate the Wash; Trinka Noble
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie; Laura Numeroff
The Ant and the Elephant; Bill Peet
The Tale of Peter Rabbit; Beatrix Potter
Martin's Big Words: the Life of Martin Luther King, Jr.; Doreen Rappaport
Curious George; H.A. Rey
The Relatives Came; Cynthia Rylant
Grandfather's Journey; Allen Say
Where the Wild Things Are; Maurice Sendak
The Cat in the Hat; Dr. Seuss
Caps for Sale; Esphyr Slobodkina
Imogene's Antlers; David Small
Snapshots from the Wedding; Gary Soto
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble; William Steig
There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly; Simms Taback
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day; Judith Viorst
Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile; Bernard Waber
Owl Moon; Jane Yolen
Seven Blind Mice; Ed Young
and
Harry, the Dirty Dog; Gene Zion

Now, if you don't have kids of your own, or they won't let you read these books to them for some reason.....then come to Seattle and read them to Clancy. He loves books and he loves visitors!

"Boon"

Clancy loves these mylar balloons. If I had only known before his birthday, I would have filled his room with these things. Every week Clancy and I go on a grocery marathon--usually going to Safeway, Fred Meyer, QFC, and Albertsons, and sometimes even Costco, so we can get all the best deals. Everywhere we go, he always points to the balloons and says "Boon". Sometimes he spots them through the glass doors before we get into the store.

I didn't give in until this week, but he has been loving it ever since! Every morning when he wakes up he says "boon", during his bath he says "boon", when he's done eating he says "boon" and all the other times he carries it around with him. If only we could all be so happy just because we had a heart-shaped, half-way deflated mylar balloon.

All Aboard!

Well, we have finally boarded the blog train! Although we have not yet been successful at posting pictures on our blog, we are hoping that we'll soon get that figured out. In the meantime, just imagine Andrew typing away on his computer, Clancy giving me the pirate grin as he stands on top of his plastic ride-on car (which he is not supposed to do), and me trying to figure out how to buy a house in Washington and what to make for dinner. Most of our days are pretty similar, but every once in a while we have some pretty fun adventures. Hopefully this blog will take you on an exciting journey (think steam engine instead of high speed bullet train)!