In honor of St. Patrick's Day, we had corned beef and cabbage with potatoes for dinner. Chris also had a Guinness and I had a Guinness stout chocolate cupcake from Trophy Cupcakes to top off our meal. After half a bite, my dinner changed to cabbage and potatoes while Chris got the full deal plus a double-serving of corned beef. Turns out my Irish side doesn't include my taste buds.
You may remember my posts a couple years ago about Emily and Brett making it legal by getting hitched (twice). Well today, we celebrated their upcoming new addition! And not their home remodel, although that is apparently going well too. Emily's friend Angie threw her a lovely baby shower, where we got to munch on yummy snacks, play games, and watch Emily fan herself as she got overheated. We also got to see Emily do a belly bump boo-yah with Lori, who is due a week after Em. In addition to Em and Lori, there were several other pregnant women there (the second picture below shows the six of us in chronological order of "ready to popness"), including Em's sister Alison! They also got married the same year, so they apparently like to keep their parents on their toes.
I can't wait to meet their little one! Although if they have a girl, apparently we have to keep Z away from her when they reach adolescence.
Couldn't get all of us to look at the camera at the same time, but 3 out of 4 isn't too bad.
Tonight I hosted Wednesday Night Dinners! We had pasta, veggies and salad, plus a couple bottles of wine. Yum. Amanda was supposed to bring stuff for garlic bread, but instead, she bought a house. We figured that's the best excuse ever, so we let her get away with it (congrats to Amanda and Ryan, new homeowners!). It was a nice evening of catching up and enjoying conversation while watching Amanda freak out as she waited to hear if they got the house. Zachary slept through the whole thing (which was good, because even as cute as he is, boys aren't allowed at WND) and Cowboy basked in all the female attention (we let Cowboy stick around, because he's not "all" boy anymore). Thanks for such a lovely time, gals!
Random observations: The letter "M" is a popular one with this group. Margaret, Melissa, aManda, Meg, Mary...and wenMei? And why do I feel very, um, brunette when I look at these pictures?
Last week, we went to the Oasis concert at the WaMu Theater. Oasis doesn't play often in the United States (the only other show they've done in the US since 2006 was in Pittsburgh last January), so we were really excited that they chose to play in Seattle. Especially because Chris loves Oasis. It's almost worth the ticket price just to watch Chris go crazy during the show.
We went with a great group: Ben & Carrie, Matt & Lori, Aran & Kerstin, and Brett & Emily. Carrie got everyone into the VIP area before the show, and they had a great time enjoying pre-show adult beverages and taking fun pictures in the photo booth (see below). I, being the mama, was at home putting the little guy to bed and hanging out until our last-minute-babysitting-savior (aka Z's fairy godmother) Margaret came over. (On an non-concert-related note, Margaret had the very appropriate honor of being the last person to use "her" room -- the next day, we moved the bed out of the guest bedroom and turned it into a playroom for Zachary.)
I made it downtown before the show started and met up with everyone as they headed in to find our seats. We had a great time in our amazing seats (thanks to Matt for getting the tickets so early!). Oasis put on a fantastic show and it was fun to see them in a relatively small venue -- it felt like a college show. Chris almost cried with joy and he got a new Oasis t-shirt that he'll likely be wearing every day for the next 3 months. The night was a wild success.
Here are some pictures from the night, plus a short video to show you just how excited Chris was.
We are in the midst of wedding season! We were triple-booked the first weekend of August, so unfortunately we missed Dave & Ashley and Jeff & Stefany's weddings. But we were able to make it to Texas for Tiffany & Trevor's wedding last weekend!
I've known Tiffany and Trevor for a long time. Tiff and I were good friends back in the mid-80's (we met when I was in 8th grade and she was in 9th grade), and I have lots of great memories of running around Ulm with her and her brother Todd (who is my age). Trevor moved to Ulm a couple years later, when he, Todd and I were in 10th grade. Trevor and Tiffany dated for about 6 months back then, but then Tiffany & Todd moved to Hawaii. Trevor stayed in Ulm until the middle of our senior year, when he moved to Texas.
Anyway, fast forward 10 years. I was living in Seattle, Trevor was in Texas, and Tiff & Todd were in Portland, OR. Trevor and I found one another online and were catching up via email and IM, and Tiff and I reconnected as well. I put Tiff and Trevor back in touch with each other, and the rest is history. At the time, I joked, "If you ever get married, I'd better be in the wedding."
Fast forward another 10 years (to last weekend). Tiff and Trevor get married. And true to her word, Tiffany asked me to be in the wedding.
We had a really good time at the wedding. They were married in a cute little church in Fashing, which appeared to us to be precisely in the middle of nowhere. The ceremony was lovely, and it was so nice to meet Tiff & Trevor's friends and family and see their parents, who I haven't seen in over 20 years. Todd was there with his wife and two little girls, and Tiff's youngest brother Troy was there, looking very grown up. (He must be about 30 now, so I guess that counts as grown up. I don't think we could stuff him into a cardboard box and threaten to mail him to Hawaii now, like we did when he was 8.)
We headed to New Braunfels for the reception, and enjoyed a riverside dinner and celebration. Unfortunately, we had to head back to our hotel after the speeches and bouquet/garter tosses. Zachary was quickly losing steam and starting the loud and ceaseless droning sound he makes when he's tired. Even though we had to leave a bit early, we really enjoyed the whole day! And we were disappointed to miss the newlyweds make their get-away...via decorated tubes on the river. Sweet.
Here are a couple pictures from the event, and I've posted the complete set on flickr.
Pictures: Tiffany & Trevor's wedding
As you know, since Zachary's been eating solids I've been making his food. I started out with just purees, but now I'm adding some chunkier foods as he's getting better at chewing/gumming. In addition to the smooth purees, he's eating brown rice, barley, oatmeal and lentils quite well. He's not so great at finger foods yet (the transition from fingers to mouth is a bit inconsistent), but he's managed stewed blueberries, "oh" cereal, bits of tofu and some cantaloupe.
Anyway, when I make his food, I make a big batch and freeze it in ice cube trays. Then I transfer the cubes to plastic containers and mix and match cubes for each meal. I mix some of them together (sweet potato, chicken and barley) and serve others on their own (peas, peaches, zucchini). I also defrost fruit cubes and add them to his oatmeal.
This system works really well when we're at home. The problem comes when we travel, because the frozen cubes don't travel well. Not only are they difficult to transport, but I need a microwave/stove/hot water to heat them for meals. Thus, I use store-bought baby food for traveling.
I just got enough jars of baby food for the first three days of our upcoming trip to Texas. That's 18 jars, since he eats 5-6oz of food at a time (one 4oz jar + one 2.5oz jar per meal). 18 little glass jars! 18 glass jars we have to pack in our luggage, six of which need to be in our carry-on bag so we can feed him en route. I felt silly and a bit wasteful buying so many individual jars at the store. I can't imagine doing this for all of his meals, every day. Where would I put all of those little jars? And who would help me carry them home from the store?
Here are a couple baby food pictures. The first shows my freezer, with about 20 days worth of frozen food cubes (plus about the same in frozen milk, just in case we need it). The second shows my pile of 3 days worth of baby food jars.
In the spirit of Mariah Carey's latest album, E=MC² (it stands for Emancipation = Mariah Carey 2), and to honor the proud Seattle tradition of appropriating a common three-letter acronym to mean something else (PSA = Pine Street Annex, obviously), I've decided to embrace the title "WmD". It means "Wenmei, Domesticated". That's me, the domestic diva.
Hah! Anyone who knows me well is probably rolling on the floor laughing right now. Although I have my moments of domesticity (like when I went on a hat-knitting frenzy two winters ago and knitted a hat a day for several weeks), I'm not exactly known for my flare on the home front. Instead, I've been known to eat the same meal every night for a month (could be noodles, or avocado & cucumber sandwiches, or a bowl of Cheerios), and our refrigerator tends to be stocked with beer and yogurt rather than actual food.
But now that I'm cooking for Zachary (I've read way too many books like "The Omnivore's Dilemma" and therefore will not allow anything that has the slightest possibility of being processed or of containing non-organic ingredients pass through the lips of my precious baby boy), I've started cooking for us as well. Although I'm not as picky about organic for us, considering how much it costs and the fact that we are now living on a single salary.
I wish I had "before" pictures of our refrigerator. To give you an idea, when you opened the door you could hear crickets chirping. And you could watch them sip beer and lick up yogurt in the vast, nearly empty tundra. But look now! There's food in there! And not a single box of take-out! Instead, there are bowls of various homemade dishes, as well as actual staples like eggs and milk!
OK, this might not be that impressive to you, but you didn't see the refrigerator before.
I'm including a couple pictures of our kitchen as well, giving further proof of this new WmD. There are not one, but two pots cooking merrily away on the stove, fresh fruits and veggies on the counters, and did you notice the plate of homemade red velvet cupcakes? And I'm adding a picture of the peaches I blanched for Zachary's food, just because they are pretty.
And yes, I do recognize the incongruity of the fact that I insist on organic homemade foods for Zachary even though he spends the vast majority of his day sticking things such as Chris' phone, my slipper, and Cowboy's tail in his mouth.
I've recently made a big decision. After 7 years of college and grad school, followed by 11 years of full-time professional work, I've decided to quit my job in order to stay home and raise Zachary for a while. It's been a really tough decision, because I've always been very career-focused and driven to achieve professional success. The thought that I'd leave it all to raise my child was laughable to me a few years ago, but things changed once I had Zachary. My focus sharpened, my priorities shifted, and my perspective changed.
The perspective is the thing that has been most interesting to me, because my perspective on things has gotten both narrower and wider. No longer do I think in terms of next month's deadline or next year's project roll-out. I think about this afternoon's nap and tomorrow's new solid food introduction. At the same time, I think about how the two years it takes to deploy one enterprise-wide project is the same two years that it will take for my son to grow from a helpless newborn to a walking, talking toddler.
Looking at things that way makes me realize that taking a few years off now is only a drop in the bucket professionally, but it's a huge investment in my baby's (and my) life. In a few years (or a few months -- who knows how things will go) I can always go back to work. But I can't look back five years from now and say, "Oh, I think I'd rather be home with Zachary to watch and help him grow." And I have serious doubts that I would feel as fulfilled by systems and processes I deploy as I will by the things I'll learn from and teach to my son as he discovers his world.
So, starting on June 21st (the first day of summer, the first day of this next phase of life), I will officially be a SAHM: stay-at-home-mom. I have a lot of thoughts about this as I'm working through things, and I'll probably be posting them here.
A wonderful part of this has been the amazing support I've gotten from my friends and family. To a person, each one has said, "Congratulations!" when I tell them. One in particular said something that I really appreciate: "Finally, you're going to put that MIT education to good use." Thanks, Mike. That's how I feel too.
Oh, by the way, I got a haircut. I always seem to do that when I'm about to embark on something new (as anyone who has witnessed me hacking off 12+ inches of hair after every graduation, break-up, or new job can attest to). At least I didn't get anything pierced this time.
This year, the tulips have been amazing! Our front garden is wild with them, and they are enormous and gorgeous. It's really a shame that they bloom so quickly and then are gone for the rest of the year.
As I've written before on this blog, tulips are my favorite flower. I mention it pretty much every time Chris gets me a bouquet of tulips for a special occasion. Have I also mentioned that my engagement ring is a Tulipset mounting? He's a good guy, that Chris.
I have lots of pictures of our tulips (including our failed attempts at having Zachary tiptoe through them), but I don't have time to post them right now. Here's a teaser to whet your appetite:
Note: The following message was copied directly from babyhill because I'm too lazy to type a new one.
I just wanted to let you know that I've updated the layout of this blog to remove the slide show that was displayed at the top of the page. It was too much of a hassle to maintain, so I decided to go with the simpler one-image slide show now displayed at the top of the left column. The new slide show will automatically show the most recent pictures posted to flickr.
I'll now return you to your regularly scheduled blog...
I'm still trying to figure out the best way to manage my pictures. I'm posting in three different places right now (see below for descriptions) and it's getting confusing.
It was much easier when I only had one blog and I organized all of my pictures by event. But since Zachary was born, I take a lot more pictures (believe it or not) and the vast majority are event-less, unless you consider things like "drooling" and "sitting in his rocker" to be events. So for Zachary's pictures, I've been organizing the sets by date and posting them to his blog. I post the rest of my event-based or non-Zachary-centric pictures here on this blog.
The problem is when I have pictures of events (such as the baby class reunion) that include pictures of Zachary. Do I post them here or on Zachary's blog? And regardless of where I post them, will people be able to find them if they are scattered across two blogs? And I haven't even factored in the third blog yet.
Hmmmm...gotta think on this one a bit longer.
Here's a run-down of the three blogs, if you're curious:
