Seattle or bust

We are heading to Seattle tomorrow morning to spend Christmas with my parents, or so we hope. Seattle has been hit by a huge snow storm and they are slowly digging their way out of the mess... but only time will tell if we will get on our flight or not.

I gave Oliver a (much needed) haircut this morning... and I think you will agree that he looks like a new kid!

BEFORE: (his comb over wasn't even combed over)

AFTER: (I could eat him and his lil dimple)

I took advantage of him being in his high chair while Derek was trying to put in a new light bulb... which then smashed on the floor. Derek and Miles were busy vacuuming it up and Oliver was in a trance watching them. I starting clipping away and even had time to use the texturizing sheers! (Hmmm... maybe I've found a new career path?) LOL. He's all ready to see his grandparents in Seattle.

Wish us luck on our travels tomorrow!

Happy Holidays!

Man of steel

I just had to share this story...

This morning, I was in the bathroom when all of a sudden I hear Derek let out a VERY LOUD and PAIN FILLED "Argggghhhhhhhh!!!!" which went on for about 45 seconds.

All the while, from the bathroom I am yelling "What happened?? Are you ok?"" and I was rather concerned.

I can hear Miles laughing his head off and Oliver got very scared and was crying.

I come out and ask him what happened.

And he said ...

A sippy cup fell on my toe.

Wow - this is the brave, strong man that I married.

A sippy cup?!?! Are you kidding me???!!!

Here I was, rushing out of the bathroom, thinking I was going to find a severed toe or that he was at least going to say that pot had falled on his toe.

Nope.

A sippy cup.

Now I know where Miles gets his sensitive, dramatic side.

Happy Friday!

******* UPDATE *******

In an effort to gain sympathy from his non-sympathetic wife
I just caught Derek
in the kitchen
with a black permanent marker
marking up his toe nail

LOLOLOLOL

This is not a joke.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Saturday is my dear mom's 40th birthday and she will be celebrating it with my dad is the place they love - Honolulu! I have no doubt that they will have an amazing time.

Mom - I just wanted to say thank you for being an amazing mom, grandma, and most importantly, my friend. You are such a special part of my life. You have always been there for me and I love knowing that I can count on you for anything. I appreciate your daily phone calls, emails, and instant messages - others make fun of me for talking to you so much, but they are just jealous! ;)

I cherish our memories together in Europe, in San Francisco, in Seattle, Honolulu, and so many more. You have helped me learn how to be a mom and to trust my instincts (I am still learning) are you are so incredible to my boys. They love you so much.

You and dad have always been so supportive of my life, my decisions - thank you.

Here's a cute little slide show of some of our memories. Thank you for being an amazing mom and friend. I love you.

O Christmas Tree

After spending a very nice Thanksgiving day with our sweet boys, Derek's mom and brother, and the Schaefer family... we headed out bright and early on Friday morning to find our Christmas tree.

We headed up to a tree farm not too far from our house off of Hwy 17 in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Being the impatient Lu family that we are, we turned off at the very first "tree farm" that we found. We quickly learned it was not your typical tree farm and that turning off at the very first place we saw was looking to be a bad decision. The owner was sitting in a old wooden chair and really didn't look like he knew what the hell he was doing. In previous years, the other tree farms we had visited had a handful of staff, looking eager to help. Not this guy.

We pulled up to the "parking lot" (this is in quotes b/c it was no parking lot... just some random logs on the ground) and looked at the sign that said which types of trees were in which section, and a then saw an assortment of saws. Hmmm... something seemed off about this from the get go, but we decided to get the kids out of the car and go for it. We walked down the hill and the trees were spread out and it didn't seem like a tree farm. There was not a good looking tree in sight and it almost seemed like we were in someone's backyard... odd. Miles seemed to care less... he had fun hiking around and looking for sticks. We decided to get back in the car and drive up the road in search of a real tree farm. (Of course our gas tank was on "E" but we like to push the envelope, haha).

Alas! A few miles up the road we can to a real tree farm, which even has it's own website so it must be legit! LOL. We got the boys out and were among lots of other families in search of the perfect Christmas tree. There were rows and rows of great looking trees and we quickly found the perfect tree. We sawed it down and Derek "tied" it to the car. (I sure am using a lot of quotes today)

As we drove home down Hwy 17, we heard lots of noise coming from the roof of our car and then noticed the tree hanging in the back window... uh oh. Derek quickly pulled off at the next exit and at the same time, the tree flew off the car and onto the exit ramp. LOL. Derek pulled the car over and ran down the exit ramp as fast as he could and Miles and I were CRACKING UP watching him run to save the tree! Low and behold, not one car exited and Derek saved the tree!!! We decided to put the tree inside of the car for the rest of the drive home.


Miles had a blast helping me decorate the tree... he was super cute about asking which decorations were too fragile for Oliver and then he was sure to put them up high.

And he was his usual clown self when it was time for pictures.

Wheeeeeeeeee

Just wanted to share some pics of Oliver on his rocking chair "swing". As much as I worry about this darn thing getting a baby finger stuck in it, he sure loved playing on it (as the pictures show). :) Since we are all done with bedtime/nighttime bottles (yay!) and we are pretty sure there will be no # 3 (sniff), I'd really love to get rid of it and get a more child friendly chair in his room. It was a great chair for both Miles and Oliver, but it's time to move on. (The funny thing is, I am sure I wont get around to getting a new chair for months).

*Sidenote: I have to say that I love the bright orange walls in Oliver's room. It's a lot of orange, but I just love it.

The discovery of YouTube on the laptop

Miles has discovered that he can watch endless videos of trains on YouTube and it's his new favorite pastime (in addition to watching Curious George on Tivo). Of course we don't let him watch TOO much, but he just loves it. He doesn't care what kind of train it is - steam train, passenger train, or freight train. And, he even started calling the home laptop "his laptop". He has quickly mastered the touchpad mouse and is able to navigate pretty well. We just have to keep a somewhat close eye on what he's watching because he's stumbled upon a few crashes and things we really don't want a 3 year old watching.



This morning Oliver sat next to him and watched, too. Of course Oliver had a big stick in his hand. He really loves to have something like a stick in his hand at all times. And, he loves to beat things with that stick. Have I told you that he reminds me so much of my father? LOL. At any rate, please don't ever think of taking that stick out of Oliver's hand. He gets SOOOO mad. He's got a serious temper!

1 year stats

Oliver and I went to see Dr. Lan for his 1 year check-up this morning and all is well. :)

He weighs a healthy 25.2 lbs (75th percentile), he is 30.5 inches tall (75th percentile) and his head was ?? (75th percentile).

It was a quick appointment as I didn't have a whole lot of questions (funny how much more relaxed you are about almost everything the 2nd time around). Just the standard... try to stop the bottle, no peanut butter until he's 2 and no shellfish. Cool. He is a happy, healthy baby.

Dr. Lan asked me if he was saying any words... and I said yes "momma" (that's my boy!) and "cool" (that's daddy's boy!). haha.

Poor guy got 3 shots - he was not happy about that.

Happy 1st birthday, Oliver

Our sweet little Oliver turned 1 on Saturday and we had a big celebration in his honor!

We had a western party with cowboy hats, bandannas, and badges for everyone. Lots of food, cake, and pinata fun.

Happy 1st birthday, sweet little man.

First steps...

We were up and at em early this morning (5:30am... thank you, daylight savings) and we were all hanging out in the playroom and Oliver stood up and took a few steps and then lunged into Derek. Even though it was only a few steps... they were his first steps!!! Very exciting for me and Derek!

What a happy halloween

Miles wanted nothing to do his costume and trick or treating last year, so we were ready for the same this year.

Well, what a difference a year makes!

Miles had a blast cruising the bustling streets of Westchester manor with his buddies Brent and Mateo. I think the fact that he understood that he was going to get candy at each house was a huge incentive for him. And, he even braved the (lame) haunted house that was in someone's garage. (Well, I had to hold him, but I was very impressed that he went in). It was so much fun watching him get so excited at each house and he was so good about saying thank you. :) And, Oliver was in the stroller and loved watching all of the action. But, it started raining and Derek took Oliver home early. But the rain wasn't going to stop Miles!

Another great part of the night was was trick or treating at the houses where we are friends with the neighbors and they invited us in for something to drink... a juice box for Miles and a glass of wine for me! We both arrived home with a nice buzz... Miles from sugar and mine from a few drinks. :) Everyone was happy.

35

Last Friday, I turned 35 and while I made a few jokes about turning 29... I have to say that I am honestly not in denial and I am very ok with being 35.

While 35 does seem (or sound) like a very "adult" age (god forbid I say old), the fact of the matter is that I am very adult now. Well, I am definitely 35 on paper - when it comes to owning a house, having two kids, a husband, two car payments, and a full time job. HA. But, I still do consider myself 29 in spirit - I still like to get out and do and try new things, fire it up, laugh a lot, and ignore my aging skin.

But, 35 feels like a good age. I feel like I get respect at work and at home (the two boys next door call me Mrs. Lu which I think is HILARIOUS and I always tell them to call me Angie) and I don't get carded when I buy liquor anymore (I mean, really, I sure hope I look older than 21!)

I also feel like I've done the things I thought I would do by the time I was 35... I've traveled a bit, I am married to an awesome super model husband, I have a house, I have two amazing kids, I have a handful of best friends who I can rely on for anything, and I have a Honda Pilot (LOL).

Life is good. Speaking of live is good... I spent a wonderful weekend in Tomales Bay with wonderful friends, great food, amazing weather and hiking. Good times.

Simple cuteness

What's up with the tongue, Oliver?

Sweet San Francisco (and car naps too)

Today we took the boys and Hao-bu to San Francisco to check out Fleet Week. As you all know, Derek and I loved living in SF and we really miss the city (even though we know we have a great life for our kids in San Jose). We went to the Ferry Building for breakfast and then rode the street car to Pier 39 (I know, I know, it's such a tourist trap nightmare, but when you have young kids, the sea lions and the carousel come in handy). Then we met up with Christina and Justin and went to Crissy Field to watch the Fleet Week air show and get a bite to eat. It was a beautiful San Francisco summer day (fall = summer in SF) and I am so glad that we took the family up there.

The boys seem to have had a great time too... and both boys (and Hao-bu) managed to conk out on the drive home.

While napping, Miles wouldn't let go of his $6 hot dog (no joke, it was $6... and in this economy, that's a lot for a hot dog!)
And Oliver wouldn't let go of Hao-bu's hand... so very sweet.

11 months... huh?

Today my sweet Oliver is 11 months old. I really have no idea how the past 11 months flew by so fast. I really cannot believe in 1 month we will be singing happy birthday and he will be 1. I cannot believe that in 1 month, we wont be feeding Oliver with a bottle anymore. Time flies. Too fast.

Tonight, I really felt like I slowed down, forgot about work, the mess in the house, and just played with the boys. We crawled around the living room couch, we tried to scare each other and we laughed ... I loved every minute of it.

Girlfriend time in Portland

This past weekend I flew up to Portland for a 3rd annual girls weekend with a handful of my favorite girlfriends from home (Colorado), including my amazing sister. Since I live far from home and my friends, this annual trip is really a special treat each year. We had a really fabulous time... lots of great food, drinks, shopping, walking, laughing, and more shopping, drinking, and eating. The people in Portland were super friendly and we even got some gray, rainy weather (which I loved). We stayed in a really fun, hip hotel which had an incredible coffee shop and a restaurant/bar that served some darn good margaritas. I had a great time with great friends... and loved seeing Heather's growing belly (baby # 3 - GO Heather!).

A special thanks to Derek and his mom for watching the boys... I know I've had a busy fall with my Breast Cancer walk and this and I appreciate you supporting me and giving me this time. :)

Pre-dinner drinks with my sweet sister Cristina...


Heather's incredible laughter - this goes down as one of my very favorite pictures...



Amazing dinner at Paley's Place...

Look ma, no hands

Oliver's new favorite thing to do...

Walking coming soon.

Heart of gold

Tonight Miles and I were eating dinner and I got a call from the Breast Cancer Association asking if I could make a donation. I politely told her that I already made a donation to the Susan G. Komen fund and that I wouldn't be able to make another donation at this time.

When I got off the phone, Miles said that he wanted to call her back and I told him that I didn't know her phone number. He asked why she called and I told him that she was asking for a donation for breast cancer, but that I told her I couldn't make a donation. He immediately said, "Well, I can give her my money from my piggy bank. Ya, I can give her my money." And my eyes welled up and my heart melted and I gave him the biggest hug. It was just so matter of fact - he wanted to give them his money. Kids are amazing.

I hate my car seat

The picture says it all...


Our daily struggle of getting Oliver in his car seat. He thrusts his hips, screams, wiggles, turns... he's a strong little man, I must say! When it's all said and done, we are a sweaty mess and he's pissed off. Good times.

I love fall...

A few days ago, Miles told us that it was fall. He was right - it is officially fall and I just love that he is learning this stuff at his daycare - Layla is a wonderful teacher.

Well, I just love fall...
I love back to school (Derek thinks I am a total nerd, but I loved school)
I love the crisp smell in the air and that it's finally cooling down a bit
I love the leaves changing (well, not in California so much, but I remember the leaves changing colors in Colorado)
I love fall foods (pumpkin, squash, apples...)
I love fall colors
I love Halloween
I love Thanksgiving
I love fall.

Here is a funny picture of Miles in his aviator costume. He wore it for Halloween in 2006 and tried it on again the other day. :)



And here is a very adorable picture of my sweet Lu boys - they are the light of my life. I am a very lucky lady.

Breast Cancer 3-Day Pics

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AYuGzJm4as2sp

Welcome to Holland

My dear best friend Katie, whose son was diagnosed with Fragile X about 1 year ago, sent me this article which she received from a friend/mother in Canada. I think it's a very well written piece. I wanted to share it because it helps me better understand what Katie is going through with her sweet Ryan, but I also think this can be applied to other things in life that didn't quite work out the way we thought they would.


WELCOME TO HOLLAND
by Emily Perl Kingsley. c1987

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique
experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel.

It's like this......when you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans.The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.
After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland." "Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy." But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.
The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease.
It's just a different place.
So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It's just a different place.
It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.
But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."
And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.
But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things

...about Holland.

I did it... 60 miles in 3 days!!!

Woo hooo -- I did it! 60 miles in 3 days! The Breast Cancer 3-Day was an incredible experience! THANK YOU for your support, encouragement, and donations! To date, I raised $5,694.99 which is INCREDIBLE!!!

Here is a summary of my amazing experience…

I walked as part of a team called "Trisha's Trailblazers." Trisha is a 32 year old who was recently diagnosed with Imflammatory Breast Cancer, a rare and very aggressive cancer. This type of cancer is usually late Stage 3 or Stage 4. Things are changing daily with her diagnosis and treatment, so her family is keeping a blog to keep everyone updated. If you are interested, you can read more about Trisha and her status here: http://trishafaggiolly.blogspot.com/

Day 1 (Friday) was awesome! We started in south SF at the Cow Palace with opening ceremonies. Trisha’s mom was part of the opening ceremonies holding the “daughter” flag. Then we were off through the streets of south SF… here are some pictures of Trisha, her husband Oak, and their 2 year old son Caden greeting us as we started the walk. http://www.oakbarrett.com/3day/

We then walked to Lake Merced and over by the SF zoo, along the Great Highway and Ocean Beach, up through the Golden Gate Park and over by the Presidio and Pac Heights and down to the marina to over to our “home” Crissy field where we camped for 2 nights, which was amazing. Who can complain about camping under the Golden Gate Bridge?!

Day 2 was brutal – our longest day 24 miles – we went over the GG bridge down to Ft. Baker and through Sausalito and then on to Mill Valley. And it was a cooker - 90 degrees! The walk back from Mill Valley was definitely my lowest point -- the only way I got through it was by reminding myself that I was doing this for breast cancer and that my aches and pains were nothing compared to what cancer patients go through (chemo, etc.) On the final leg of Day 2, seeing our pink tents at camp from the GG bridge was the best sight ever! It was mentally and physically the hardest day for sure.

Day 3 (Sunday) was amazing... a cool, foggy morning (my favorite SF weather) ... We started from camp and walked the Pac Heights hills (ouch), through the GG park, down through downtown SF and down North Beach. The finish was a Ft Mason and the Marina Green. The closing ceremony was very touching – many survivors where there and it made every mile very worth it.

Today… I feel tired today but not super sore… and not one blister to show for the entire weekend!

Thanks again for your support and donations!

Is everyone doing ok?

My sweet Miles never fails to crack me up... we had a BBQ on Monday night with 2 other families from our neighborhood and while we were all eating, Miles suddenly got up and went around the table and asked each person "Is everyone doing ok?" It was so funny and he was being such a good host. We aren't sure where he got this? Perhaps from when we eat out? It sounds like something the waitress would say.

Later on that night, he asked if we could invite more people to our BBQ next time because he likes it when we have big BBQs. Oh Lord... he's showing early signs of being a party animal like his daddy.

Another funny thing... Miles suddenly started calling me "mom" yesterday, rather than "mommy". Mom seems too old and formal... I told him to call me mommy and now it's his own little joke to call me mom. (Maybe it's kharma since I jokingly call my mom "mother" which she doesn't like. LOL).

My new motto when people ask me for something

Kids...
Husbands...
Mother...
Co-workers...
Friends....



And Oliver has one too... for when Miles bugs him...

5 years

Derek and I celebrated our 5-year wedding anniversary yesterday - yay! We both look back at our wedding day so fondly - we had a great celebration with our family and friends.

We had a wonderful dinner last night at The Plumed Horse in Saratoga. My amazing and very generous parents surprised us by paying for our dinner! At the end of the meal, the waiter came over and said "Your dinner has been paid for by John P. Ramstetter (my dad)" and we couldn't believe it. I started crying and Derek said "Stop crying, people are going to think I am breaking up with you!" LOL

Thank you mom and dad! You are way too good to us.

Happy Anniversary, Derek. I love you.

Steven Curtis Chapman

I am not sure if you've been following the Steven Curtis Chapman story about the loss of his youngest adopted daughter (http://www.stevencurtischapman.com/). There was an article/interview in People magazine this past week and it's just so tragic and sad. (Click here for an excerpt). He seems like an amazing man, father, husband, and song writer. I especially love his song Cinderella.

Here's a great interview of him about why he wrote the song Cinderella:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhDDzbA8unA&feature=related

Here's the song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLYxtuC0oRk&feature=related

Great message, one that I need to remember.

Check ups at the doctor

Today we took the boys for their 3-year and 9 month check-ups... it was a family affair. :) We love our pediatrician, Dr. Lan... he's a very nice Asian (young) man and he just loves kids (I guess this is a given if you are going to work with sick kids all day long, but I have met some grumpy pediatricians). He's very patient and kind. We talk about how we'd love to set him up with Goo Goo, but that will never happen.

Miles is 34 pounds and 39 inches
Oliver is 22.6 pounds and 30 inches (pretty tall for a 9 month old!)

Knock on wood - they both are in great health.

Dr. Lan got out a book to test Miles on his objects and when he got to a computer he asked "What is this Miles?" and Miles said "It's a computer." And Dr. Lan then asked, "What do you do with it?" And he said "You check your e-mail." LOL. That's our tech savvy 3 year old. Too funny.

Our first family vacation - Lake Tahoe

We took our first family vacation (as a family of 4) this past weekend to Lake Tahoe and we had a really great time. We spent the weekend with Christina and Justin who were so much fun, very patient with us, and very helpful with the boys. We wonder if they still want kids after spending a weekend with us! LOL.

A few (of many) highlights of the trip:
- Oliver crawled for the first time!
- Tractors were everywhere which means Miles was in heaven
- Great wine, champagne, food and great friends
- Miles and Oliver did great on the 4 hour car ride there and back
- The boys slept great

The not so fun parts of the trip:
- Miles having a meltdown while I was carrying Oliver in the Ergo and me having to "carry" both of them (seriously, see the picture below)
- Not bringing a lime juicer for our margaritas :(

Derek with the boys and his margarita (hand squeezed limes)


Tractor heaven


Are you kidding me?

Old man

Derek celebrated his 35th birthday today and he said that for the first time, he feels like 35 sounds old. I said that I wouldn't know... since I am still the young age of 34! LOL.

We had a very fun birthday weekend... we went to San Francisco last night for a very yummy dinner and then I planned a surprise party at a wine bar, which was a lot of fun! Derek was very surprised and loved celebrating his birthday with his family and friends. :)



Today, we took the boys to the beach in Capitola and spent the day there and it was such a fun family day. No complaints here (other than being hung over from last night!)

THREE!!!

Our sweet little Miles is three today! We cannot believe he's three ... how did that happen?!

We celebrated with a green John Deere tractor, mini cupcakes for breakfast, mini cupcakes at daycare, McDonalds for dinner with Hau-bo and Da bo bo and ice cream for dessert! Enough sweets and junk food?! :)

Happy Birthday sweet Miles!

Words

As my sweet Miles quickly approaches his 3rd birthday in 1 week from today, I decided I would write about all of the funny little words he used to say when he was learning to talk so I could remember them in the upcoming years. We take his speech totally for granted these days... and he had so many words that made us giggle and they are so easy to forget.

cubumber = cucumber
car trans po po = car transporter
labydug = ladybug
pomato = tomato
pin nan yo = piano
pupcake = cupcake
old mcdonalds = mcdonalds (fast food place)
sesame seed street = sesame street (the tv show)
hold you = hold me (when he wants us to hold him, he says "hold you"... too cute)

Alas, there is a few words that he doesn't say correctly and we are holding onto it for as long as we can.

gloves = glubs.
sesame seed street = sesame street (the tv show)
hold you = hold me (when he wants us to hold him, he says "hold you" instead of "hold me"... too cute)

Oh, my sweet little man. :)

Do you like his new hair cut? I love it. Daddy is on the fence.

Oliver eats like a king

After work last night, Hau-boo and I were hard at work making Oliver's baby food and we were able to make 10 ice cube trays of food in about 2.5 hours (for you non-parents... that's a lot!) (Thanks Hau-boo)

Our kings tasting menu:
- Baked Cod with orange juice, sauteed onion, and little bit of sweet potatoes
- Baked Chicken with grapes, cauliflower and potatoes
- Ground turkey breast with tomatoes, carrots, onions, and cauliflower
- Cauliflower with sweet potato
- Apples and peaches
- Pears with raspberries

When we were all done, it dawned on me that Oliver eats WAY better than the rest of us in the house! LOL. Kinda funny.

And, he also drinks Fat Tire! Pretty good life...

Early Halloween

Miles decided that he finally likes the fireman costume which I got for him for Halloween last year and he refused to wear it.

So, happy early Halloween. Or happy late Halloween. However you want to look at it.