How I Love Digital Projection and Kiosks

The two greatest occurrences of the early 21st Century would have to be digital projection and self-service kiosks. I love being able to buy movie tickets without having to talk to a person. And I love walking into the movie, knowing that when the familiar green band of the previews begins the image will turn on, freeze without the jumps and skips of celluloid film, then disappear in a display of the flawless imagery that is digital projection.

Today Honor, Andrew, Braden, Chase, Delainey and I went to go see Ratatouille at the Tysons Theatres. This was the third time I've seen a movie in digital projection, the previous two were Cars and Shrek 3. It's always an amazing experience.

Ratatouille deserves every column-inch of good press it has received. The movie is witty, brilliant, and filled with treasures for both the child and adult audiences. (Think the love/hate couple and the shape of Anton Ego's office.) The visuals were incredible. First to mention are the advances in representing humans in computer animation. Ratatouille is a far cry from the pseudo stick figures of the Toy Story movies. Additionally, watching Remy, the lead rat, you alternately love this goofy character trying to figure out who he is and are repulsed by his mannerisms, that remind you that this is a rat (glowing eyes and creepy movements). The graphics were top-rate, with heart-stopping water sequences. Having taking a computer animation class, I know how hard it is to model dynamic objects. The water was absolutely incredible. I think I squealed in delight at one point.

Brad Bird, who directed the Incredibles, also directed Ratatouille. One of the things I loved most about The Incredibles was the 50s/60s/70s style of the movie, and how perfectly they kept to the style throughout the movie. (I wanted to eat dinner in the island's lava dining room.) Similarly in Ratatouille, you are introduced to a version of Paris that is simultaneously retro and current-day. This results in a film that feels classic and timeless all in the same breath. The rich color palate looks as breath-taking in stills as they do in the movie.

The movie was a hit with all involved. Afterwards we braved the crowds at the Apple Store to check out the iPhone. I held one. It is a thing of beauty. I'm sure I'll blog more about it later.

Visiting the Relations

This afternoon Kristin brought Clara into work for a short visit. Everyone fawned appropriately, and Clara had a fun time being passed around. Afterwards we jumped on Rock Creek Parkway to head up to Uncle Kurt & Aunt Linda's house for dinner and a visit.

And visit we did! Shelly, Nicole, and Emma were visiting from Illinois and Honor & children were down from Philly! Kurt made an amazing tomato sauce for the spaghetti, and we indulged our sweettooths on brownies and fresh fruit. Clara enjoyed gnawing on the watermelon, which she was introduced to in her fresh food feeder. I love that we can feed her solids!

It was fun to meet Emma for the first time, and to be able to talk to Nicole - she was so little the last time we saw her. Shelly looks great and regaled us with stories of their huge house (when am I going to learn that I could afford much more house in a cheaper part of the country) and their family's adventures. Too soon we had to head home to get a certain pill into bed. Lucky for us, the weekend of family didn't end there! Honor and her brood climbed into their van and followed us home for a weekend visit. I think I could get used to having family this close by!

And it didn't hurt that they brought a fourth Wii remote.

Welcome Staci & Brian!

A few weeks ago my brother Jared told me that he'd found the blog of an old family friend, Staci. Staci and her family lived down the street from our family and is actually the same age I am. She's since married, had a couple kids, and has a blog that she co-authors with her husband, Brian. Though I've never met the guy, I must say I'm a Brian fan due to this comment and the background image on their blog a few weeks ago:
Years ago I had a boss who had a print of the painting hanging on his wall. I love the tired tension you see in both the boat, as it cuts across the water, and the riders as they lean to keep it righted. I always imagined that they were heading home after a long day, tired and worn, working to maintain their balance on the choppy sea.

So, go check out the blog by clicking the Staci & Brian link in the links section or by clicking here. Welcome!

Name That Movie

For all you 80's lovers...couldn't resist when I saw this onesie at Carters.



Anyone get the reference?

Hint - starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Gray

Baby Genius?

So I bought Clara some shape-sorting blocks a few weeks ago and over the past few days she's become really interested in playing with them. A couple of days ago I dumped them out for her to play with and ran to unload the dishwasher. When I came back all ten blocks were sorted into five matching pairs. I figured it was a fluke. Well, I've been watching her play with them for the past five minutes and I'm no longer certain it was just a coincidence. As she plays she grabs a block then spins around on her belly until she finds the match. Rarely will she have an unmatched pair in her hands as long as all the blocks are within her reach. Then she'll drop them and start again with a new block.

Frightening, frightening, frightening.

Note the orange block in each hand...and please forgive the stained shirt. She still has some pretty active reflux and I had already changed her twice this morning and wanted to get through one more feeding before the next change. Solid foods just make for, um, "prettier" colors.



And I must be a terrible mommy because this one made me laugh. Never one to hide her feelings, our little Clara.

Dirty Hippies

I ran into my buddy Jerry on the Metro this evening. I've been running into him a lot lately - I guess our schedules are synced up. During the ride home we discussed technology, the place of cash in the future of financial transactions, DC area job boards, and politics. Jerry is a fascinating man.

We also talked briefly about public transportation. We both ride the bus and the metro. The bus leaves from a Park & Ride, and takes us directly to a Metro station. Recently, I've started taking a bus from my house to the Park & Ride, rather than having Kristin drive me. This saves having to get The Boo into her car seat in the morning.

On the way home, I catch a bus from the Metro to the Park & Ride, then another bus from the Park & Ride to a bus stop near my house. From there it's five minute walk to my house. During this walk I often get a thrill from the fact that I have just travelled to and from work using, exclusively, public transportation.

But the question is "Why?" Why do I so love the public transport? Is it because I want to save the environment by reducing greenhouse emissions? No, I've never been one to go on and on like the dirty hippies do (insert reference to brilliant hippie episode of South Park). Is it because I am doing my part to ease the traffic burden on DC area streets? Again I'd have to say "no". People in this area willingly move into a home that requires a 45+-minute commute. You know what you are signing up for when you live in this area. The reason, much more straight forward than any of the above, is evident when I answer that oft posed question, "What would you do if you won the lottery?"

1. Quit work.
2. Buy a 12-foot Steinway grand.
3. Buy a nice car and hire a little man with a hat to drive me around.

Simply put: I hate to drive.

Bath Time & Feeding Myself

Two videos to post today. First off is a video from last night's bath. Clara loves to kick while in the bathtub. As she kicks, she does a fairly good job of soaking Mommy and Daddy. It's really cute because after she kicks she pulls her feet up to her mouth to suck the water off her toes. Our little engineer has figured out a way drink the bathwater that we are attempting to keep out of her mouth. We've sat her up in the tub a few times, and each time she leans over trying to drink the bathwater. Enjoy the video and make sure to watch the outtake at the end.


Kristin purchased fresh food feeders that make mealtime a lot easier. You put a fruit or other soft food inside, close it up, and give it to baby, who then gnaws on it to their heart's content. Kristin first attempted today with pear, which wasn't received all that well. Check out the video. Tonight for dinner we repeated with avocado in one and watermelon in the other. She loved both, gnawing like crazy. Kristin and I sat eating our dinner, with Clara feeding herself her own dinner. It was a great achievement. Here's to having dinner without a child on your lap reaching for your plate or complaining from her excersaucer! (See pics after video.)


Double fisting with avocado and watermelon.

Things of which I am proud

Gmail Inbox.
Down from 131 messages in the Inbox to 23.
Click the image for proof.

I'm Six Months Old

Hello my adoring blog-based fan-dom. Once again, my mommy and daddy have proven themselves to be highly lame about giving you updates about me (I turned six months old a week ago already, for crying out loud, and they haven't posted yet), so it looks like I'm going to have to do it myself.

Mommy says I'm getting too big and growing up too fast. Just last week I figured out how to sit up by myself. Daddy took a bunch of pictures of me playing with my toys and thought this series was funny:


And soon I'll be able to crawl too...I can spin in circles on my belly to get to my toys and do push-ups. I'm a more and more social girl all the time - I love other babies, especially Michael, but I don't think he likes me as much. Mommy and Daddy say I'm too aggressive and it scares him a little. I just like to giggle and talk to him loudly and grab his face over and over. That's not too much is it? And I love talking to the baby that lives in all the bathroom mirrors in our house - she cracks me up.

I'm liking my new foods more and more all the time. Mommy just gave me some whole-grain oatmeal cereal for the first time the other day and I like it so much better than the rice stuff she's been trying to get me to eat. Carrots and squash aren't so good, but I do really like prunes. And sweet potatoes are still my favorite. Mommy is getting annoyed by the number of baby foods that have milk in them, so she's thinking she's going to have to start making my food soon instead of buying it in jars.

For people who like numbers Mommy said I should include these...

Height: 27 inches long (90th percentile)
Weight: 17 lbs 14 oz (75th percentile)
Head circumference: 44.5 cm (90th percentile)

And I'll leave you with some pictures Mommy took a few days ago. Enjoy!

Wii Party & Best Movie Ever

As we walked into the One True Grocery Store today, we passed one of those Red Box movie rental machines. I quickly flicked through the titles telling Kristin all the movies we had to rent. After she rolled her eyes at all the dumb movies she has no desire seeing, I came to Music & Lyrics. We decided it was the perfect type of fluff for a Saturday night at home.

We needed some detox after our early evening activity: five 12- and 13-year-old boys descending on our house for a Wii Party. As a reward for a month's worth of good behavior in Deacons' Quorum Meeting, we grilled burgers & dogs and played boxing, bowling, tennis, and the cow race game on our Wii. Teenage boys are a curious sort. I was highly entertained by the topics of conversation, the need to communicate at max volume, and their ability to turn any social interaction into a wrestling match. The house survived, though the couches received two years' worth of abuse in two short hours.

After they left, we popped in the movie. For those who not familiar with the story line, Hugh Grant is a 80's has-been musician who is recruited by the IT teenage starlet to write her next hit song. Drew Barrymore ends up penning the lyrics to the song with appropriate romantic comedy twists and turns. The band Hugh Grant's character played in was named PoP! and the music video for their hit song "PoP! Goes My Heart" plays during the opening credits.

The music is pure synth-pop and beautifully captures the 80's new wave look while poking just the right amount of fun without pushing it over the edge into the realm of full-on spoof. I can't seem to get enough of the video and keep playing it again and again. Kristin asked me if I realized that they are making fun of the 80's. In response I appropriately glared.

A Visit from Michael David

On Saturday Michael got to come over to visit while his parents went and saw a movie. At one point in the afternoon Kristin had taken Clara upstairs to try to get her to sleep. Michael and I played with toys, wrestled a little, and ended up sitting on the couch and having a heart-to-heart.

As he sat there, looking at me with his round, perfect, baby blue eyes, I realized that, some day in the future, I will be turning my little girl over to another person, possibly him. Some boy, hopefully a man, will want to take my little girl away, care for her for the rest of his life and for eternity, and make a new life for the both of them. I caught myself becoming very protective, scrutinizing Michael from every angle, asking with my eyes, "What makes you good enough? What makes you think you can take care of her? How can I know if I can trust you?"

Michael sweetly looked at me with those eyes, and they said, "I'll be a good man. I will take care of her." And in that moment my heart softened.

Who knows who Clara will end up with. All I can hope is that she is lucky enough to find a man with a soul as honest and pure as the one I see each time I look into little Michael David's eyes.

Farewell to Kirsten

Tonight, to bid farewell to their dear friend Kirsten, Bruce & Julie invited us to accompany them to Shamshiri for a little kabob and Persian dessert goodness. That is truly one of those invites you can't refuse.

We met at the restaurant (thanks to slow buses I was 20 minutes late) and ordered. Julie went outside the norm and ordered a dish that the menu said "tastes like it had been created by imaginative honeybees." Colter ordered his customary plate of rice. Clara ordered a serving of loud talking with a side of the wiggles.

The new dish was amazing, it included orange peel, carrots, and honey on a bed of rice, and the kabobs were tasty as always. I kept having to excuse myself from the table as Clara's dish came out exactly as ordered. When dessert time came, we ordered saffron ice cream, zolbia, bahmieh (I can tell the two apart), and baklava. The safron ice cream is bathed in rose water.

I rode back to our house with Bruce, Julie, Colter and Kirsten. At one point we were stopped at a traffic light. On each of the four corners was a car dealership, a common occurance in Tysons Corner. As I looked more closely, I reazlied that I was playing a game of "One of these kids is doing his own thing." Check it out.

Corner 1: Porsche of Tysons Corner
Corner 2: Moore Cadillac Hummer of Tysons Corner
Corner 3: Mercedes-Benz of Tysons Corner
Corner 4: Easterns of Tysons Corner

Click the links to find out which of the above does not belong. Three of the dealerships have a certain level of sophistication. One prides itself on its "your job is your credit" tag line and annoyingly memorable theme song. They have a dealership in Herndon they call a "Toy Store". Ahh, the joys of Easterns Motors. "Where you job is your credit!" I just had to make a Google Map for the intersection.

Back at the house we played Wii until it was time for Colter to go to bed. I hope the next time I visit someone i get such a send off. One can hope, right?

Blogging from Thai

Overheard at my lunch with Diana today:

"Where's my wallet. I used it to get off the metro today. Maybe it's in my purse holder."

What, you might ask, is a purse holder?

I feel wholly unqualified to answer such a question as it lies so far outside my realm of expertise. Instead I've enlisted resident expert in over-sized female baggage, Alicia, our blog's first ever guest author. What some call a purse holder, she calls luggage. The names are different, the concept is the same. Without further ado: The Luggage Manifesto.

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The Luggage Manifesto

The Purse

People often ask me, "Alicia, why do you carry a bag so large?" I usually laugh because random people I don’t even know make fun of the very large bag. My usual response is, "I just have a lot of stuff to carry." I’ll let you in on the real truth. I carry a bag so large because for some reason, I feel naked without it. There is just no way I could ever leave for work with just a wallet in hand. Are you interested in knowing what I carry in a bag so large? For example, today I am carrying the following items:

• Make-up bag
• Two notebooks
• A book (you never know when you’ll have time to kill)
• Wallet
• 2 Business card holders that I don’t use
• Lip gloss
• Mini hair brush
• Various papers that I’ve been choosing to ignore
• Two parking tickets which have been paid
• Chapstick
• Gum
• A couple of pens
• Nail buffer
• Keys
• Hair rubber bands and bobby pins
• A roll of film that should have been developed over 6 months ago

The large bag often shields me from undesirable situations such as a very crowded bus or crowded metro. If I have to make my way through an angry crowd, I put the bag in front of me and forage my way through. Being almost 5'1", there is no way I would be able to make it through that kind of a crowd with a wallet; it just wouldn't be the same.

The Purse Holder

I remember back in February when I bought Luggage Number Two, I thought to myself, people are going to be pissed on a crowded bus. I quietly laughed to myself and brought my purchase up to the counter at Coach. I didn’t care, I got such a great deal how could I not have bought the bag?! I absolutely love this bag and I take special care of it. I brought it to softball one day, and instead of throwing it on the ground like other people’s dirty backpacks, I took a large map, unfolded it, and placed my bag lovingly on top. I was concerned, you see, about the bottom of the bag getting dirty since the leather is so light.

So to all those haters out there, the large bag is a part of me, kind of like my child, and I’m not giving it up anytime soon. You can continue with your comments and your dirty looks, but I’m not going down without a fight!

Thanks to Meredith

Meredith deserves a shout-out for passing along this clip from the Ellen show. Featured is Gladys Hardy, an 88 year-old woman who comes up with one of the most memorable lines in daytime TV history, "I love Jesus but I drink a little."

Code Red Day

As we stepped off the bus this morning, the two people in front of me and I each momentarily paused as our glasses fogged up much the same way your glasses do when you enter a bathroom after someone has just taken a long shower. The cold air of the bus chilled my lenses and the hot Code-Red-Air-Quality-Day air shocked the humidity in the air into momentarily condensing on them.

Welcome to a Code Red day in Washington. The heat index is going to be triple digits, as a result the buses are free, and I am going on a sales call today, therefor I am wearing a suit. Luckily the buses are well air conditioned. Maybe the muggy air will steam the wrinkles out of my dress shirt.

Wii Love to Play (Updated)

At one point during our trip to Philly I turned to Kristin and said, "I really like playing the Wii." She confessed that she had contemplated buying me one months ago. However, they are a little difficult to get hold of so she decided against it. "I think we should get one as a Happy-First-Mother's-and-Father's-Day present." I'm forever looking for ways to justify such purchases.

This morning when I got into work I did a quick search on craigslist and sent Kristin links to a few used Wii systems for sale. When she called a couple of hours later I figured she had checked them out and wanted to discuss. I was wrong. "Okay, I'm at Costco and there is one Wii with a sign 'Last One'. Should I get it?" You can see why she is the love of my life.

When Kristin picked me up from the bus stop I called David, told him about the purchase and asked when they would be stopping by. I then called Bruce and said, "Wii would like to play." Assuming I said 'we', not 'Wii', he told me to consult with She Who Must Be Obeyed. I told her that we got a Wii, but that I wanted to surprise Bruce. She laughed and said they'd be by at eight.

At eight on the nose the doorbell rings. Burce, Julie, Colter, and Kirsten are at the door with a bag of oatmeal raisin cookies. I pull a Wii controller out of my pocket, bow forward a la the commercial, and say, "Wii would like to play.". Instantaneously Bruce gets it, grabs the controller out of my hand, and races upstairs, where David & Bonnie were already playing.

We had a great time playing bowling, a ton of the cow racing game, some of the shooting game, and tanks. As they left, Julie asked if we were going to have a sleepover Friday night. Let the all-night gaming begin.

UPDATED: I got great reactions when I told people about the Wii tonight (Tuesday night) at Scouts:

• Zachariah: I thought you weren't a console system guy. (I'm not.) Those are tough to get hold of. (Bless Kristin.) You bought the best one. (An expert opinion confirming the purchase. I love being justified.)
• The Little Mormon Boy Scouts: No way, my friend has a Wii. What games did you get? Can we play at our party Saturday night? The new Zelda game is so cool. Did you know you can ...

Needless to say all have been quite enthused. I'll post some pics of our Wii in action later.

Off to See the Phamily

On Friday we piled in the car for what should have been a three hour drive to Philadelphia. Why were we heading up to Philly for the weekend? Honor and the children arrived from Michigan this week and a welcoming party, and par-tay, was in order. Our route up I-95 took five hours. Needless to say we came home via an alternate route.

Clara was pretty good on the drive, but had a little more difficulty with staying in her car seat than our last trip. She's mobile now and didn't like being constrained for so long. One quick stop to give her a bottle was required. We arrived in one piece.

The welcome we received could best be described as exuberant. Delainey didn't remember us, we last saw her at nine months old, and Chase questioned a little, but both quickly accepted the three of us. Neither was very sure of our names. At one point, to get my attention, Chase called to me, "Hey! Big guy!" Clara was "Baby" to Delainey.

Highlights of the weekend include:

• Being introduced to the greatest gaming system in the world, the Nintendo Wii. The cow game rules.
• Playing "Marco Polo" in the pool with Matthew, Andrew, and Braden.
• The new-to-us board game Pirates.
• A trip to their local Wegmans, which was nice but not as nice as the one near us.
• Fathers' Day: a touching card from Kristin and Clara, getting to sleep in until 9am (cue Caleb, "Oh my golly gosh."), German Pancake for breakfast and pot roast with mashed potatoes for dinner, all washed down with some Killer Bunnies.
• Meeting Julie & Josh, parents of JJ, in the foyer at church. JJ is six days younger than Clara. Julie is the same height as Kristin; Josh, the same as I.
• Driving home via Gettysburg - exactly a three hour drive. I'm swearing off I-95.
• Getting to hang out with our new northerly neighbors for what will hopefully be the first of many weekends together.

Photos Phrom Philly

So, I generally am not a fan of bulk photo posts, but I had a bunch I wanted to share from our trip to Philly. Ignore if you so choose.

When first we arrived, Delaney immediately wanted to hold Clara. We took this picture of Clara on Delaney's lap. Delaney is Clara's closest female cousin in age.

A shot of the Liberty Bell. Ask me about my issue with the exhibit sometime.

At Carpenters' Hall there was a drawing of the structure of the building. This enthused my older brother, Matthew, so I took a picture for him.

The actual wall.

Matthew and Delaney standing by a building near Carpenter's Hall, with Chase running into the frame.

Honor and Delaney sitting on the steps of the Military Museum. (Andrew was inside thoroughly enjoying the exhibit.)

Blogging from Downtown Philly

11:30a - we arrive in downtown Philly. Our car is running out of gas, so Kristin and I spend 40 minutes finding a gas station. First, we ask three city workers for directions. They give us decent directions, however a lack of street signs renders them useless. Google Maps to the rescue. Station #1 is closed on Saturdays. Station #2 isn't. After two trips through Chinatown, we know downtown Philly like the backs of our hand.

1:15p - lunching on the Independence Mall. A gorgeous afternoon for a picnic.
1:30p - sitting on the grass of the Independence Mall, Delaney sees a pigeon. "Look. Look. Elmo birdie." Quite the budding ornithologist.

2:02p - while waiting in line to see the Liberty Bell, a horse-drawn carriage driver recommends Benny's on the corner of 5th & Chestnut for cheesesteaks. Actually, his first recommendation was his parents' house in Germantown.

2:21p - inside the Liberty Bell exhibit I find a little corner to change a stinky diaper. Afterwards a park service man comes up to me and says, "Technically we're not supposed to do that here, but I didn't want to stop you mid-ahem-stream. Pun intended." A perfectly pleasant gentleman.

2:45p - an hour after we first started trying to get her to take a bottle - you'd think that gnawing on her stroller straps, the body parts of various cousins, parents, and an aunt and an uncle, combined with not having eaten in five hours, would indicate hunger - we finally got her to calm down and take her bottle. We are seated in the shade of century-old trees in the park behind Independence Hall. The sun filters through leaves overhead, a nice breeze blows, and the temperature is quite comfortable. I might follow Clara's lead and take a nap.

3:00p - The bell in the tower of Independence Hall just chimed thrice. She startled awake! But a well placed father's hand on her cheek, and her mother's arms lulled her back to sleep.

3:04p - Bottle empty. "Well, she was obviously hungry because she ended up eating seven ounces all together," says mom.

3:12p - on our way to meet up with Branch 1, we passed a little shop, the Soho Cupcake Company. Ahhhh, cupcakes. I snapped the accompanying picture, and ran across the street to see if they were open. "Get me a bottle of water," Kristin called after me. Gleefully I ran up to the door and pulled firmly on the handle. Closed. But the sign says "Come in. We're open!" The second shop closed today. Peeking in the window I saw a display case full of tempting treats. Tempting me.

I don't remember who it was, but recently someone was mocking my statement that the cupcake is very in fashion these days. Actually, it was Mike, when I was helping load Dayna & Sara's moving truck last weekend. The cupcake is VERY much in vogue.

3:26p - we meet up with Branch 1 at Carpenters' Hall, which, in addition to being appropriately possessive, is on a quaint little street next to a military museum and a large park.

3:33p - Referring to Clara sleeping in her stroller: "This is a glorious feeling. She's asleep and I'm not holding her." "Should we set that thing up inside the house?"

3:37p - Clara just woke up. Sigh.

3:52p - Braden and I just snuck off to the Soho Cupcake Company. They were open. Don't know what the earlier 'psyche out' was all about. "You don't sell bottled water and you don't take plastic?" Empty-handed we left.

3:59p - passed two couples, just married, each with a photographer and a videographer in tow. Did our own little photoshoot.
4:20p - found the previously recommended Benny's. Cheesesteak here we come ... Hours of operation: 9am - 4pm. Sigh. We can't catch a break today.

4:35p - Cheesesteak from Ye Olde Cheesesteak Company. Boy do I love me some cheez wiz.

My Philly day is complete.

Spitting Queen

Clara has learned how to spit. Most of the time I just find her with rivers of drool all over herself, but she also likes to demonstrate her new-found skill while being fed. Let me tell you, there's nothing quite like being sprayed with applesauce. I caught a little of it on video while we were in the car in Philadelphia (more on that to come); it's a little shaky, but the road was rough at times. And I was laughing.

Let's Hope This Lasts...

Sunday Lunch with Daddy

Sleepy-eyed and adorable. I love it when she's my cuddle bug.

A Long Good-Bye

Dayna & Sara left for Utah this weekend. It was sad to see them go. I first met Dayna the fall of 1999 at a barn dance somewhere in rural Maryland. We got to know each other when he dated one of my good friends. We became reacquainted when he and Sara moved into our congregation a few years ago.

Saturday morning started with helping Sara & Dayna load a Penske truck. Fate smiled on us. Their apartment complex had an elevator and Dayna had furniture dollies, so no backs were broken in the course of the move. The father of one of their neighbors, who was also moving that day, asked where all the extra help came from. I replied, "We're Mormons. This is what we do." referring to helping load and unload rental trucks. I guess it's a modern form of barn raising.

Around noon I noticed that a pregnant Sara was in desperate need of sustenance, so a quick run to Chipotle to pick up lunch and a stop at the local liquor store to get more empty boxes - tip for people who need boxes: go to one of the State-run ABC Stores; they always have empty boxes - and I was off to take care of the other things on my list for that day.

A few hours later I received a call from Sara. A couple of things had come up and they weren't able to get on the road today. Could they crash at our place? Of course, was the reply. We readied the guest room, threw the clean clothes that usually reside on the guest bed onto our bed, and made space for two very tired people. We stayed up a little later than we should have talking and getting one last late-night gabfest in. It was good to be able to spend one last evening with them before they moved. You two will definitely be missed.

Good-bye to the Car Seat

Clara has outgrown her car seat. You would think that the thing would last longer than six months. Heck, we have friends who are still using them with their thirteen-month-olds. Sadly, our freakishly huge daughter won't stop growing, so we had to put it away until the next child ... if there ever is another child. But that's a different post.

Before we put the car seat away, I took a few pictures so I could tell a quick story about the car seat. Clara has three little people who hang on the handle of her car seat. One is blue, one is green, and one is yellow. She loves to talk to them, bat at them, and pull on the rings that are attached. I think she's partial to Blue Man, which is hopefully a sign of future good taste.

As we sat in Sacrament Meeting a few Sundays ago, Bruce leaned forward and asked us to carefully study the back of Green Man. I've looked at Green Man countless times, so I assumed that something had happened and we would have to throw Green Man away. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that the brand name on the back of Green Man was missing something.That's right, we're missing an 's'. Yellow Man says Sassy. Blue Man says Sassy. Green Man doesn't.

All attempts at focusing on the speaker were out the window as we leaned forward to tell David & Bonnie about our special Green Man. They have the same toys for Michael's car seat, yet they have a full complement of S's. We all had a good chuckle, then tried to listen to the speaker. I don't think we were too successful as Green Man was front and center in our minds.

Because she has outgrown the car seat carrier, we had to buy a new car seat and a new stroller. (Our old stroller was a Snap N Go.) A quick trip to Babies R Us and countless test runs with different models - COULD SOMEONE PLEASE MAKE A STROLLER WITH AN ADJUSTABLE-HEIGHT HANDLE BAR THAT WORKS FOR PEOPLE OVER 5'2" SO I DON'T KICK THE WHEELS AS I WALK BEHIND THE STROLLER? - we settled on a nine pound stroller with a fair amount of rear clearance and a nice basket for holding baby stuff.

Afterwards, I went on a walk with David and Michael while Kristin and Bonnie went to a chocolate party. Clara sat very contently in her new stroller as David and I walked to the grocery store to look for cream of coconut, then around the neighborhood next to ours. I'm very pleased with our purchase. Clara didn't even miss Blue Man, Yellow Man, and Green Man. Which is probably for the best.

A Post for New Zealand

It was dinnertime a few days ago when I caught Clara wearing a bib with two sheep on it. "Hey, that's the bib from Adrienne. Let me get a picture to post on the blog." Kristin stopped feeding The Boo, and I quickly snapped the picture to the right.

Adrienne, or Adie as she is called, and I met my senior year of high school. Her family moved from New Zealand to the States for a year; her dad worked for the government. We both sang in the concert choir, she alto and I tenor, and when she moved back to New Zealand we became pen pals. Letters have given way to e-mail, but we still manage to send notes back and forth a couple of times a year. Truth be told, she is far the better correspondent.

When Adie heard of Clara's birth, she sent a box of toys for Clara. In it we found what Adie promised are New Zealand favorites - a wooden pull toy called a Buzzy Bee, a stuffed Buzzy Bee, and a bib with sheep on it. The sheep were obvious, but Buzzy Bee? I'd never heard of it.

So imagine my surprise last Monday at Lobsterfest when one of my coworkers mentioned a wooden pull toy his son received from a friend in New Zealand called a Buzzy Bee. We compared notes and sure enough we had received the same gift. Suddenly I realized that the Buzzy Bee isn't just some New Zealand thing, it's a BIG New Zealand thing. I decided to do a little research...

The Buzzy Bee™ is New Zealand’s most famous children’s toy. This brightly coloured, wooden pull-along toy has been handed down from generation to generation and is now regarded as a major New Zealand icon. There would be few, if any, New Zealanders that don’t immediately recognize this charming little toy as a feature of their youth.

From The Buzzy Bee Story

So there you have it! Clara is the proud recipient of not just any toy, but a toy that is as easily recognized in New Zealand as that popper thing from Fisher Price that kids in my generation pushed around. Thanks for the gift, Adie. I hope you enjoy the picture!

To learn more, visit the Buzzy Bee Toys website.

Welcome Brig-ham!

I have a cousin named Brigham. He is a rather fine fellow. Quite the intellectual, fun to chill with, great for the random metaphysical or deep conversation.

I do not call Brigham as many people would. In my pronunciation of his name there is a pronounced break between the Brig and ham, and the h involves an h sound in the back of your throat. It is the correct way.

Brig-ham now has a blog. And you must visit it. Go now.

Earplugs, Anyone? Please?

Clara has been expressing herself vocally for quite awhile now with some very distinct sounds (ie, screaming) guaranteed to get our attention. Today she decided to take it to the next level and began babbling in earnest. For those not in the know, a baby begins babbling when she starts to string together a consonant-vowel sound and repeat it over and over. Like ma-ma-ma, da-da-da, ga-ga-ga. Clara's favorites so far are ya-ya-ya and la-la-la. Oh, and it must be spoken at full volume. Seriously, full volume. All day. Hence the request for earplugs.

Here's a little video I managed to get. Take this and multiply by ten and you'll get an idea of what I've heard all day long. It's actually very cute, especially when she does it with a mouthful of cereal.

Apple. Ads. Amazing.

Months ago, when the new iPhone was announced, Steve Jobs said it would be coming in June. I've been eagerly awaiting an update to the Apple iPhone website. To my surprise, nothing came on June 1st. However, when I went to look last night, I found that four TV ads for the iPhone have been posted. The thing looks beautiful. But will it get me to give up my BlackBerry?

Oh, and the release date is June 29th. *Barely* making it in June. Guess they needed a little more time. Images below are linked to the commercials. All commercials can be seen here.

It was a Mandate, not a Man Date

My second cousin-in-law, Bryce, and his wife Lisa were given a pass for two to last night's advanced screening of Ocean's Thirteen. Unable to secure a babysitter for little Sophie, Lisa insisted, nay mandated, that Bryce look for someone to take along. Figuring that it was highly unlikely that the parents of a five-month-old had plans for a Tuesday night, they gave us a ring to see if one of us was interested in attending. Kristin really wants to see the movie, but the prospect of having to come into the city at rush hour squashed that idea, so I met Bryce on the platform of the metro station near my office and we headed downtown.

Though we had to wait in line for a little under an hour - the passes to such screenings say, "Events are overbooked and seating is first come-first serve" - we were seated about fifteen minutes before the screening began in decent enough seats. (I know someone in the peanut gallery will make the comment, "Any free seat is a great seat." so I'm preempting you.)

The movie was a lot of fun, Clooney and Pitt's interplay was impeccable, the visual style very Soderbergh, and the special effects stunning. The three spiraling gold towers of the fictional hotel Bank were seamlessly folded into The Strip. It was so outlandish that I half expect someone to actually try to build the thing. There was plenty of eye candy for those who prefer men in fine suits. For those of us who prefer the fairer sex, the lone prominent female actor was a skeletor who could stand to gain a few pounds. Overall, it was a good Ocean's movie with high stakes, double and triple crossings, and crazily staged plots and ploys to get even. I would highly recommend it.

At some point in the evening, Bryce and I discussed the classification for our trip to the screening. The man date is a term popularized by the media that applies to an evening outing for two men who are friends. We, however, felt that the term mandate better applied, for the reason mentioned above. Regardless, I had a great time and look forward to spending some time with Bryce, Lisa & Little Sophie before the big move.

Lobsterfest 2007 (Updated with photos)

I have a coworker named Rob. Rob has been my coworker for over seven years. Rob lives in Maine. Rob telecommutes from Maine. Except for the one week a month that he comes down to the DC office. Rob has a very unique sense of humor. I'm rather fond of Rob.

One of the benefits of having a coworker who lives in Maine is that he can bring fresh lobster when he comes to visit. It is with fond memories I recall the first time, three years or so ago, that he came bearing gifts of crustacean goodness. He brought four lobster, one each for the three members of our team and one for Kristin. Kristin and I had Rob and our teammate, Jen, over and we cooked and ate the lobster. Two highlights of the evening were Kristin freaking out over the fact that something had now died in her kitchen and Jen getting a lobster tail stuck on her finger. In the recounting of the latter event, I must confess that I tend to embellish on Jen's flailing motions, lobster juice flying everywhere, and a huge chef's knife employed to free her finger. Even taking all this into account we had a wonderful time.

Last summer our technical manager, Dove, was gracious enough to open her house to our our tech, design, and product teams and Lobsterfest was born. As this summer approached, we decided that, as we had so much fun last year, we had to have a Lobsterfest 2007. Dove once again offered up her house and last night was the night. What a party it was.

Highlights of the evening:

• Appetizers on the deck with drinks, a fun herb dip purchased from a local vendor at a farmer's market, and Trader Joe's artichoke dip
• Dinner in one of the best kept gardens in the county
• Tim taking pictures of Oliver serving each person their lobster
• Getting to see new mother-of-twins Holly, who is currently on maternity leave
• The picture of Oliver dropping Dove's lobster (see below)
• The grilled vegetables, strawberry and goat cheese salad, and tomatoes and mozzarella Dove served as side dishes
• Hearing about the time she-who-will-not-be-named mistakenly sent her boss an instant message, intended for a friend, complaining about her boss
• Eating dirt for dessert
• Chatting under the stars until 11:00p with good company

Thanks to all who made Lobsterfest 2007 a success. Until next year, check out the pictures below and be jealous.

Meredith's lobster attacking her as Jen signals her approval


OOPS! Dropping Dove's lobster


Rob being shocked by either Oliver or the lobster. Who can tell?

New Google Features: Part I

Recently Google introduced a new feature for their popular Maps product that allows users to create their own maps. In these maps you can add landmarks (blue dots), trace routes, and highlight areas of the map. For each item you mark gets its own pop-up where you can enter text, images, and video.

When you set up a map, you can set it to public or private - the former if you want the world to be able to see it; the latter, if only a select few. I found a great public map called "Our Earth as Art". Definitely worth a viewing.

I decided to test it out by creating a map of my mission in Paraguay. I was amazed at how many of the towns I served in have high-quality satellite pictures. I added landmarks for all the houses I lived in, except the house for my second area, Ñemby. I only lived in Ñemby for one month and can't find the house on the map. I also added the chapels and the Paraguayan temple. Oh, and a really big mango tree I used to walk by most days when I was serving in Ca'acupé.

Check it out and let me know what you think.

Resigning myself to the fact that I'm a father

I was looking at a picture of Clara from her adventure with sweet potatoes, and thought, "That is such a cute picture that I should make it the background on my computer."

Then it hit me: I'm so a Dad.

I've written before about things that made me realize that I am a father, that Kristin is a mother. But I'm finding more and more little things that remind me that I am eternally connected to a little life, a life that I helped to create.

It is similar to your mid twenties when you start to do things your mother or father does, and you realize A) I'm an adult and B) I turning into my parents. You never really get used to it. Doesn't quite fully sink in.

As I played out each Sunday night's scene of telling Clara how much I enjoyed playing with her over the weekend, and not to miss me during the day on Monday, I gave her an extra hug and realized that what our good friend Jody told us really is true: having a child makes you realize that your parents love you a whole lot more than you love them, that the love a parent feels for a child, love that develops as you take care of their every need, is unmatched. Clara will never love me that much, unless she has some reason in my old age to care for me. But until them, I'm okay with the unbalanced equation. All I hope is that she knows that she is loved. And that some day, when she is grown, she has the chance to be a mother. And to love another in this amazing way.
I still think it's an adorable picture.

A Weekend Visitor

Friday, as I was walking out the door of my office building, my phone rang.

"Hey Oliver, it's Matt. I'm heading home right now to pack then I'll be hitting the road."

"Oh, you're coming down?"

"Didn't you check your e-mail?"

"No."

"I'm coming down."

"Cool! When will you arrive?"

I then checked my e-mail and, sure enough, there was a message from Matthew as well as one from Kristin asking, "Is Matt coming down this weekend?"

Matthew is halfway through a move from Michigan to Pennsylvania. Halfway means that he is in Pennsylvania, his wife and family are still in Michigan. And with no one else around to hang with, we offered a warm meal and a place to sleep should he decide to head south. We're so glad he took us up on the offer.

Matthew is an engineer. Actually, he may go beyond mere mortal engineer to minor engineering diety. As a teenage, he would take apart the lawnmower and, when he put it back together again, if it still ran and there were pieces left over, all the better. When he was here for my father's retirement celebration, he helped me fix a leaking shower. So this time, he made a list of all the things that were in need of repair, took me to Lowe's, and had me buy a bunch of stuff so he could fix it all. He truly embraces that old Boy Scout saying, "Leave an area better than when you found it."

• Toilet in master bathroom no longer leaks
• Toilet in guest bathroom has new flushing mechanism
• Door to garage no longer sticks
• Door to waterheater closet correctly latches
• 50' coax cable no longer trailing through two stories and three rooms in my house

That last item is the amazing one. When we moved our TV to our middle floor, we had to run a long coax cable through the house since we don't have a cable jack in our living room. Matthew figured out that by cutting a hole in the ceiling of our garage he could drill a hole in the subflooring, the poke a hole in the carpet and run the cable from the cablebox in the garage straight into the the living room. It was executed perfectly. Now we have a simple wire coming out of the carpet next to the in-floor electrical outlet. It looks so nice. And I now own a keyhole saw.

Not only did he fix the house, but he is always wonderful company. At Stake Conference (definition of Stake here) today, Matt even took Clara for a little while so Kristin and I could sit and listen to the talks. He also got us a new carseat for Clara from a clearance sale at his new company. We're so excited that he's now only three hours away. I believe we're going to try to head up to he new house when his family joins him in a couple of weeks. Oh, and feel free to call me if you need to borrow the keyhole saw.

Clara and Daddy "help" Matt with the guest bathroom toilet.


Matt sawing a hole in the ceiling of the garage.

NOTE: Matthew is not trying to pull a Lemony Snicket. The pictures just came out this way.