Deleted.

For those of you who may have checked this blog earlier today and seen a posting that has now been deleted, I will tell you why: despite my outrage at the popularity of the insane demagogue, I simply could not tolerate the sight of Glenn Beck or his network's logo on our blog so...

delete.

This could be one of my favorite pictures of ALL TIME.

(Taken, of course, by Kelly.)

Swimming Lessons.


The Sellwood Pool- our local wading hole.

Starting her climb in the 'swimming hierarchy' as a Goldfish, Audrey had the time of her life in her first swim lessons. The fact that we got a snow cone almost every day probably didn't hurt either.










She has now graduated to become a Penguin. Stay tuned...

Mila's Daydreams

These are incredible.

Sib Love.



My dearest Gitte is always saying that siblings are the best gift you can ever give your children and I must say that I am completely blown away by how quickly a special bond has formed between Kellen and Audrey. He has a special smile when she is around and she is the most tender, loving sister. Seeing them together brings tears to me eyes and makes me laugh out loud. They are amazing and my heart positively breaks with love.

Audrey knows what a mullet is.

.

Happy

...belated Fathers Day to my honey.

It brings tears to my eyes when I consider the incredible father, husband, man, that you are. Loving, joyous, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, self-controlled--all the fruits--plus wicked smart, fun, and hot too. A modern man who knows that housework is a shared responsibility, not 'women's work'-- (even if it doesn't bug you as much as me when the house is dirty. :)

You're the kind of man I hope Audrey marries and Kellen becomes.

Soooo grateful that you are ours.

Yours,

Audrey, Kellen, b.

Courtesy of Kelly...

Photos of our babies...and family

*not seen in this photo is Kellen's mommy in an uncomfortable squat, hovering just below the frame, with hands up the entire time.

* You may, or may not be able to see how extremely tired the parents in this photo are.

Isn't Kelly so incredibly talented?

Ladies and Gentlemen:

I give to you...

The Violet Garden Preschool Class of 2010.

Classmates, from left to right:

Back row: Calvin (Maki; 'the dreamy Calvin'), Angus, Kennedy, Gideon, Zachary

On sofa: Ms. Annette, Eleanor, Ruby, Ravi, Nola, Ms. Jody, Calvin (R.)

Front: Ms. Meg, Tessa, Lucy, Leighla, Anna, Audrey

Kellen @ 5 weeks

* This picture courtesy of Molly Winn- our friend, best friend of Kelly, and photographer/proprietor of Molly Winn Photography.

Our little guy is already 5 weeks old!

In addition to being delicious enough to kiss constantly, our guy seems to be a fun mix of easy going (in spite of some discomfort--more on that later) and feisty at the same time. A total love bug.

He's a keeper.

P.S. More pictures of Kellen soon to arrive from Aunt Kelly! See one more here.

PSA

Public Service Announcement

We interrupt these festive tidings of the recent birth of our newest family member to bring information valuable to the public broadcasting audience: how to remove Flubber from hair. (Flubber is a gelatinous, sticky material made out of water, white glue and borax. Extremely strange stuff.)

A couple of weeks ago, Audrey received a small container of Flubber in a party favor box. Ecstatic, she had only held it in her hands about 60 seconds before she just HAD to put it on her head. Bad idea.

Flubber absorbs its way into hair about as fast as water would. Unlike gum, it didn't need to work its way in--it was just automatically a gooey mass of hair, completely inseparable.

So what does a mother do? Laptop, please. Google search: 'how to get flubber out of hair'. Results? Turns out good old fashioned mayo does the job. You have to massage it in for a few minutes, dissolving the glue bond in the Flubber, then shampoo & rinse. Then you get to have greasy hair for several days because mayo is a deep conditioner of sorts.

Happy Birthday...

Kellen Henri Morris

Born at 12:58 am this morning, May 7, 2010.

7lb. 140z, 20 inches.

Precious.

Seeing Audrey and he meet for the very first time was one of the most adorable scenes that I have ever witnessed in my life.

Sad.

For the past many months I have been very aware of the fleetingness of these last precious moments together with Audrey as my 'only child.' Every little thing we do together seems extra special and almost every time I look at her throughout the day, I feel teary and nostalgic. Appreciative.

What an amazing little person that calls me 'mommy/mama.' As Henri says, "Children are honored guests." Indeed they are and my little daughter is truly an angel come to earth. (I'm not claiming she's perfect...just that she is a heavenly gift.)

When I think back to how much she has changed my life...inspired me to be so much more than anything or anyone else before her, I feel guilty. That first week after she was born, I recall what mixed emotions --bliss and absolute, total love! Annoyance, resentment, misery. Sleep-deprivation, hormones and wondering if life would ever be 'normal' again...whether we'd ever sleep or watch a movie in peace again. Dreading the future stretching out into endless diaper changes, feedings, baths, laundry. Oh the mundaneness of it all. And hence, the guilt. To be honest, surrender is a long process. One will probably always be underway. But somehow there was a definite turning point when it occurred to me: what other better or more worthwhile thing did I have to do? Was anything in my former independent life more worthwhile or significant than sacrificing for, investing in-, loving and nurturing this little person entrusted to me for such a short time?

Oh sure, I can still long for the control of a structured workday, work clothes, the kudos of a job finished and well-done. The paycheck :) I miss reading a book without interruption and being the master of my own day with few responsibilities for anyone outside of myself. The sleep.

But what is all of that worth compared with the flowers and weeds that my little girl picks for me every single time we're on a walk? Her 'gifts' --feathers she finds ("feathers that eagles left"), drawings. Her laughs or deep appreciation for the smallest of joys a fort in the living room, digging in the dirt, a craft together...or perhaps best of all those tight little hugs and sighs when she nuzzles up to me and says "Ooooooo I LOVE you mommy." The stories she tells. How she tries to help me with everything...I could go on and on.

Every time I give her a bath or dress her I marvel at how this strong little child-body was once as small and flailing as the one inside of me now. That tiny newborn is now a kid. A bona fide kid. How quickly life passes. And baths and stories and diaper changes and hugs and kisses and feedings. This is life. A million tiny moments strung together like beads on a string.

I hope that this second time around, I can slow down enough from the very beginning to treasure each and every one.

Message to 3 people.

3 responses.

Last night, after watching 'Lord, save us from your followers!' on Netflix, I was overwhelmed with the urge to name our coming son, Bono.

I mean, seriously: Bono ROCKS. Ok, truth be told I know next to nothing about what he's like as a husband, father, etc. But as an artist? Genius. As a force for change in the world? Social Justice? Philanthropy? Being for the things Christ would be for? Absolutely.

For those of you who don't know, we have really struggled to decide on a boy name. There are lots of 'nice' names but they're either too common, don't sound right with our last name, already used by close family and friends, and so forth. We've got our short list, but just haven't had that 'Yes! This is it!' experience.

So last night, I was thinking what a cool name and namesake Bono would be. Even so, I can't see pulling the trigger on that one but for fun I sent out an email this morning to 3 friends:

Subject line: Found a name.

Body of email: Bono (Jude?) Morris.

Each response was hilariously indicative of the personalities of each of these beloved people. (Responses are in quotes below.)

First, the ever diplomatic but forthright Kelly:

"I dig. Very cool. He's gonna have to have major cool-cojones to wear it, but I think your kid could pull it off."

2nd, blatently frank and hilarious Lindsay:

"No. Try again."

3rd, the ever-supportive and earnest Mish:

"That's awesome!

Yay for finding a name!!!!!"

To say that I love these 3 is a massive understatement.

P.S. On a totally different note: MAJOR stroke of luck today. After getting my haircut, stopped into the Gap where a big sale was happening (not sure why I did this since I am obviously not fitting into normal-sized clothing at this point in time. I think it had something to do with feeling like this was a final moment of freedom, probably for a long while.) Found a super cute $89 sand colored light canvas trench on the sale racks marked down to $6.99. Asked sales lady what was wrong with it since it was marked down so severely. 'Oops!' she says. 'That's supposed to be $69.99!!!' They offered it to me for the marked price. SOLD and MAJOR SCORE!!!!!!!!!

White bread

Commercial sandwich bread has changed alot in my lifetime. When we were kids, most wheat breads were dry and exceptionally heavy. For the most part, my mom bought the best-tasting of these 'wheat' bread varietals: 'Home Pride' or, if she was really on a health-kick, 'Roman Meal' both of which, in retrospect, are actually white bread with small flecks of wheat and some caramel-coloring. Kinda funny.

I don't remember having every kid's fantasy-Wonder Bread in our house, but we must have at some point because I remember how smushy and thin it was. (Side note: am I the only one who despised (still do) room temp lunchbox sandwiches? Made in the morning, but by lunch time disgusting? Lukewarm turkey or ham...all curled up...dry and translucent mustard and mayo. Bleck. Even PB&J lost all it's appeal by noon. But I digress...and feel a separate blog posting regarding this issue coming on...)

Wheat bread has come a long way since then. Nowadays when I buy sandwich bread, I look for one that has minimum 4 grams of fiber per slice and no high fructose corn syrup, etc. (Gotta get that fiber in to compensate for the LC's , right?!) Modern technology has made it possible to have this high fiber bread with excellent taste and still nice, moist and fresh tasting.

In my adult years, with the exception of buying french or sourdough loaves, I don't think I've bought a loaf of true white sandwich bread. It has been a very, very long time since I've had a sandwich on white, unless it was a baguette or something like that.

Until February. When, for my friend Kara's shower (a tea), I bought Country Potato or Buttermilk or something like that to make English tea sandwiches on. Standing in Costco, I asked a couple buying such loaves, whether it was 'good bread.' With a look of annoyance, the wife said, 'I buy it for him (pointing to a happy looking, chubby guy standing next to her.) But to me it tastes like cake.'

So I bought it and sure enough: chicken salad on cake, cucumber cream cheese on cake, egg salad on cake--and so on. Admittedly tasty, also definitely not as filling/satisfying as a sandwich on wheat (need I even mention, less healthy?) And we do really like good wheat bread in this house. In fact, when I had the white bread in the house for the tea, I made Mike and Audrey some toast with it--but she wasn't having it. ' I want my wheat toast!!!!!' she implored. A proud moment for a mom. When kidlet wasn't listening, hubby confessed how delicious it was and how it made French Toast infinitely superior to that made with wheat bread.

Incidentally, I confess to being very embarrassed to having white bread in my shopping cart. Nowadays, it's kind of like having cigarettes in your basket. Another confession: I almost never buy wheat hot dog or hamburger buns and yet never feel any embarrassment about that. I ponder the hypocrisy...

Nevertheless, today at the market while shopping for sandwich materials (we have no use of our kitchen sink as the surrounding area is being re-tiled), I found myself buying one loaf of wheat...and one loaf of white. Is this the slippery slope to the good old-fashioned American malnutrition and/or obesity? I know a couple friends are rolling their eyes at what they might see as 'holier than thou' food philosophy while others are shrieking in horror, having lost all respect for my culinary discretion. But when all else fails, I ask myself WWTDID? Translated: 'What would they do in Denmark?' And in Denmark it is a well-known fact that 'French loaves' are served alongside the heavy Rugbroed (Ryebread of a particularly dense variety). Ok, so sensible Danish consensus would be that only children and unhealthy souls eat more than one piece of the 'Franskbroed' at a sitting.

Do you buy white bread?

Happy Birthday Honey!

Today the love of my heart turns 39.

An incredible father and husband...Audrey and I are two of the luckiest girls in the world.

I hope you will live a long, long, long time babe. And me too. Because despite your noble wish that I remarry and be happy if you die before me, my friends have sworn a solemn vow to make sure that you never remarry. Moreover, I would haunt you. I'm just selfish and immature like that. :)

Pink

Two pink things going on in our home:

1. Pink muscat grapes = YUUUUUMM.

If you've never tasted them, you must. New Seasons Market has them right now. Somewhat tough skins but an incredible, fragrant, honey-like jelly-ish center. A work of art straight from nature.

2. Pink eye = YUUUUUCK.

***I considered it but will spare you the photo after all***

Audrey contracted her first case of it on Friday. Talk about DISGUSTING! In the space of just a few hours, her eyes went from watery looking, to oozing yellow goo and then crusting shut and red, swollen and blood-shot. Antibiotic drops hastily improved the situation but when her mommy woke up with an ever-slightly-sticky eye, she immediately got herself a prescription as well. Call me paranoid but I do NOT need another malady with the birth of our baby imminent.

If you've never had it, it looks pertty darn ugly.

I'm not so sure about this preschool thing. Feels like paying 100% tuition to send your kid 20% of the time and catch disgusting diseases the other 80%.

Invasion of the body snatchers.

It's a baby invasion, in case you didn't know it. It's kind of crazy, actually. Just among my own friends, here they are (those who are ready to admit it, anyway.)

These are in order of (expected) arrival...

Kara and Ainsley Bea (born in January)

This was taken at the shower I hosted for Kara, after Ainsley Bea's arrival. Ainsley is Kara's 3rd daughter!

Myself

First belly shot back on our anniversary in September--taken in Vancouver B.C.

Funny, how I felt so huge already at this point. Silly, silly girl.

Mrs. Sonja Barclay-Schloss

Ok, this pic was taken last August at Audrey's birthday party and I should show a more recent pic but I'm way behind on keeping my photo albums current.

Sonja's due 2 weeks after me, having a wee-girl--her 2nd daughter. Firstborn, Ava Moon, is super pumped.

My dear, sweet, Gitte

A very, very old picture because I cannot find a newer one. We were last together last Winter, at which time I think we were just happy to be seeing each other amidst the happy rush of Marian's wedding and the depressing overwhelm of all of our kids taking turns being sick. I think we just forgot to take any pictures.

At any rate, Gitte is a very brave (read: crazy) woman who is about to give birth to #4 in July. She's already got one son and 2 daughters. I think she's about to make it 3 little ladies in the house. Just my hunch.

Mrs. Phoebe Elizabeth Fillmore

This picture was also taken last summer (man do I need to take more pictures, or what?) (photo ruthlessly stolen and edited from Phoebe's blog, to crop out her husband. The original photo was given to Phoebe by the photographer, my sister, Kelly Ry who, I'm sure will deeply appreciate her work being massacred like this.)

Anyway- Phoebe is also a brave (read: crazy) woman, daring to bring child #4 into the world--coming summer 2010. She's mama to Henry, Calvin and Agnes. And I think it's gonna be another girl.

P.S. Phoebe says that her Vietnamese manicurists have a 100% accurate gender-prediction rate.

P.S.S. How do these people (Gitte and Phoebe) not want to know whether they're having boys or girls? It kinda bugs me that they won't find out just to appease MY curiosity.

Mrs. Bong. Lindsay Bong.

Just back from Indonesia and one of my favorite peeps here in Pdx, Mrs. Bong is expecting her first child at the end of September. She is already quite sure that her progeny will be gifted due to strategic inter-racial breeding and her birth plan is to have an epidural started before labor begins. Her loving and adorable husband, Koes, read the book 'The Expectant Father', in its entirety, the very first weekend that they found out they were about 4 weeks pregnant. SOOO cute.

Mrs. Julie Braden

This mommy and her hot new hair-do are baking up this long-awaited baby #2, due this Fall. Big sister Sarah is overwhelmed with anticipation and Julie's husband, Matt (Mike's we-almost-can't-explain-how-they-are-related-cousin), is suuuuuper excited about recent health-care reform which will mean that his new baby can now be born into a world where no child will be excluded from insurance coverage due to pre-existing conditions. : )

Lucky Charms Philosophy.

Man, I am on a roll.

A blogging roll (hahaha). I figure I might as well go with it while it lasts.

I just have to follow up on this Lucky Charms thing. I had a major revelation about myself and how I've changed...and how I eat Lucky Charms is a true microcosm of that change.

You see, when I was a child and we occasionally got to eat Lucky Charms (it was only a rare occasion. Mom cared that we had 'healthy' cereal most days unlike some 'cool/relaxed mom's' that I know who's initials are K.P. and who always, always has L.C.'s in stock), I always ate the 'boring' oaty-cereal parts first, leaving all of the charms for last. Seriously, I would eat around the marshmallow charms and save them for the end.

As an adult, I just scoop em right up at the same time. I don't save them--no way. Why should I? Life is too short to play it safe and prudent, saving the best for last. Nah, I say eat your charms right away because who knows whether you will even be around in 4 minutes? And if you die before you eat your charms, how lame is THAT?!

* I used to do that with my burgers too--saving the middle for last. And so on and so forth with many things in life....but it's just too darn short.

P.S. I think that there might be a biological reason as to why baby is craving L.C.'s--and it can be found on the packaging, as shown. Folic acid and Iron. It's 50% of my daily requirement of the former and 25% of the latter. I mean, everyone knows that pregnant ladies are supposed to take extra folic acid. And my blood test results showed that I am anemic and need to boost my iron intake. So the way I figure it, these are practically medicinal. Right? (Help me out here.)