Abstracting Art

Over at Wordpress

2011-11-16T06:07:00.001-08:00

I just realized...

I have been posting my blog on Wordpress now, and announced it on Facebook but not here.

So if anyone was wondering where I have gone to... I haven't posted much, but here it is:

http://meltitustsai.wordpress.com/

See you over there :)

Nothing...

2011-08-12T12:28:00.000-07:00

Chase's follow up meeting for the 48hour EEG was this morning...

As I settled in with my mom and the kids to hear the news, our doctor started off saying that he was surprised by the findings.

I thought to myself 'oh no, he is having hundreds of seizures a day, and I don't even know it.' But that was not the case. In the span of those 48 hours, there were

absolutely.

no.

seizures.

(WHAT!?! Really?)

The doctor said that he had never seen someone that has had a Grand Mal seizure, then have a few small seizures on the first EEG, that did not have some type of Epileptic condition. And that Chase still has a 50/50 chance of having something later on.

He said that because of the results, Chase looks completely normal, and that he is not going to give him medicine for something he does not have.

Thank you Jesus.

We still need to have keep watch for any other seizure symptoms, call if there is ever anything 'strange' going on that we might think would be a seizure. And we need to take precaution and not allow him to do anything alone or take baths alone in case a seizure would ever happen at that time.

The doctor said that if Chase reaches the end of high school and has never experienced another episode that it would be the first time ever that a child, with Chases seizure history so far, would just stop having the condition. But he gave room to say that it is not out of the realm of possibility, he just has never seen it.

The over all impression that I had was that this doctor, who is probably in his 60's and very experienced in his profession, has never seen a case like this.

Thank you God.

And thank you to all the family and friends out there that have been praying for us during this time of stress and a world of unknowns. Prayers, above and beyond hope, have been answered.

I went into the appointment ready to cry at the news, and take home a hefty medical prescription that I would somehow have to force down my little guys throat probably every day (I don't know that for sure, this is only what was in my head). And I walked out with the sense of a huge burden being lifted (my worry and stress) and being in almost shock and outright awe at the results. I can only think that this is a small miracle God has done with Chase. I was so worried about the medications, the long term and short term effects of that medication, the long and short term effects of what having seizures would do to his self image and confidence. And then to sit there and be told that NOTHING would be done, because there was no evidence that anything was really wrong with Chase...

I walked in there with little hope and a lot of worry, and praise my God who takes each sorrow and worry to heart, walked out of there with a renewed sense of awe at what a wonderful, amazing, God we have. I wasn't even asking for a miracle, just a comfort for the things we would likely endure... and God answered us with something better than we even dared to hope.

Thank you Lord.

Yes, my boy is completely normal :)

One Year Ago Today...

2011-08-07T07:29:00.000-07:00

(it was a Saturday) I started feeling contractions that started to become fairly consistent by late afternoon.

I was calm though, because Jeff had just gotten home from his internship in Chicago on Friday (leaving early) night after a first scare of very consistent contractions Thursday night till Friday afternoon. As soon as he was on the plane, my contractions slowed :).

My mom was still in town, so she watched Chase while we went out that morning to spend a little more time together before the baby came. That afternoon I continued working on a nursing cover for a friend's baby shower that was happening on Sunday that I had put off until the last minute... I had been thinking, if I am not TOTALLY prepared, the baby will just not be able to come!... flawed thinking, I must say, oh well, I was pregnant, and I really wanted to go to that baby shower.

Throughout that afternoon and evening my contractions went from inconsistent to VERY consistent and I started timing them.... in the first hour they were already 3 minutes apart and about 45sec in duration... SERIOUSLY!?! But they were not very strong so I kept track of them for another few hours, they stayed pretty consistent. At about 9pm I told Jeff what was going on, and we decided to call the Midwife Center just to make sure things were going alright since we had a very different experience with Chase's labor (my water spontaneously broke before any contractions were felt). So I really didn't know what to expect from a 'normal' labor.

We called our midwife Anne and she had us come in to get checked out. Anne told us that she thought I would have the baby by Sunday, and that I shouldn't call back until I couldn't talk through the contractions. The first contraction I had while in the car was much more significant than all the previous... figures. We got home at 10:30pm and I tried to go to bed.

After a fitful time sleeping, I finally started to time the contractions again at about 2:30am when the became stronger. We called the midwife asap because Chase's labor was so quick, and were asked to meet at the Birthing Center in 45 min... I wondered to myself, 'so long?' But after packing up the car, and getting ready to go between contractions, it took us that long to get the the Center that was only 9 blocks away. The nurse met us at the door, and the midwife was only minutes behind us.

We got there at 3:15...

Ami was born at 4:25am.

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

We celebrate you today, the wonderful girl you are. Smiles, deep giggle, 4 teeth, playful nature and dancing queen! We have had a special year getting to know the little person you are and are looking forward to the next seeing the little girl you are becoming.

We love you Ami Michele.

You fill our hearts with joy.

Love,

Your Mama

Absence

2011-07-26T19:00:00.000-07:00

So at the diagnosis today we did not get the 'all clear' from the Pediatric Neurologist as we had hoped. Chase has been having Absence Seizures, which we have not been aware of.

They caught two small seizures during the EEG testing. I believe the Neurologist said they both happened while he was still awake while I was reading him a story. I had noticed him fluttering his eyelids, but I had just thought he was blinking hard trying to stay awake for the story... little did I know I was witnessing one of his seizures. Now that I know this, I realize he has done it before... I just didn't know. (how did I not know?!?)

Absence is one of the most common types of epilepsy in kids, and does no damage to the brain (thank goodness!).... most patients grow out of it by their mid-teens. It is often overlooked because it just looks like the child is daydreaming. It is genetic. While the Dr was giving examples of situations, they completely resonated with me... being in the middle of a class and then 'all the sudden' having the teacher talk about something else, and being confused. 'All the sudden' noticing the kids around you had their books open to a specific page and realizing that yours is still shut and not knowing what you were supposed to be doing. I remember feeling this exact type of confusion as a child in class. Either I really was just day dreaming, had ADD, or just maybe, I was also having Absence seizures and no one was aware of them.... If I did, I must have been one of those people that have grown out of them because I have not had any type of situation like that since high school.

Some kids have only a few seizures, while others might have hundreds per day... scary huh?

To figure out where Chase stands, we are going to be doing a 'take home' two day EEG test. Chase will have the electrodes on his head hooked up to a 'backpack' that he will have to wear constantly for two days. We will also have to constantly video record him during those two days. The camera is on a 3-5ft cord that will need to be positioned so that his eyes can be seen by the video at all times... so that they can see how often he has a seizure as well as measure the brainwaves. There is also a button that the parent/adult can push when the think the child might be zoning out or having a seizure, or even just a strange behavior and it will show up on the readings. Chase is going to need constant supervision. This will be interesting.

We are going to try to have this test done the first weekend in August... which will also be when we celebrate Ami's first birthday. So for the photos, Chase is going to be in that mummy hat again with a funky backpack... that should be an interesting one for the photo album :(.

On the bright side of things, medication has been proven to cure this type of seizure. In Chase's case, the Dr says that about 1-2 years on medication should completely cure him of the seizures and he will be fine for the rest of his life. Side effects might be liver toxicity, but probably not to the levels that would actually hurt him. I guess I am just glad that we know SOMETHING now, and are not just sitting here wondering what is going on. And I am also thankful that this type of seizure 1) doesn't hurt his brain 2) is cureable and 3) that he really is still a healthy kid and will not have a loss of quality of life.

We will just have to take precautions with him, like not letting him swim alone, bike ride alone, climb high places (this will be a tough one), and basically not allow him to be in situations where he could be hurt if he 'spaces out.' But thankfully, this should only be for a few years, not his entire life. So for that, I am especially thankful. But for my baby boy, I just wish I could take it for him and not let him have to go through this. Hopefully he won't remember most of this, because we caught it while he was still young.

Thank you friends and family for all your thoughts and prayers through all of this craziness for the last month. They have sustained us, given us courage and hope in this time of 'unknown' and stress. We rest in the knowledge that God is our creator and knows every sorrow no matter how small... and that in all situations, brings love and hope that sustains us.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absence_seizure

Overwhelmed

2011-07-13T10:43:00.000-07:00

I have been feeling slightly overwhelmed lately. So I apologize to those of you who actually read this and wonder where I have been. :) There has just been so much going on that sitting down to write it out seems like a gigantic chore... and I don't need any more 'chores' around here.

The main deterrent, in my mind, is that I don't have easy access to my photos! Which is super frustrating to me, since I am so visual I rely on photos to tell my story, not my words. My desktop is having issues with the new wireless router we have, grr. Then, last week after finally locating my card reader from the move, I realized that it was broken! So there is no easy way for me to transfer photos to the desktop or the laptop (the one that actually works on the internet). I have photos in my camera from March that I haven't shared, or edited, or even gone through! I feel like I am falling so far behind in this area :(

May:

-Ami pulled herself up for the first time in early May!

-Moving and unpacking boxes in May, workmen, painters, carpet all happening before that. Oh yeah, and the moving company 'lost' one of our crates initially, but found it and sent it out to us a week after the main move in day.

-We visited a fantastic friend of mine, my college roommate, for a baby shower celebrating her first baby! YAY friends!

-Jeff officially graduated from Tepper with his MBA, and was the only one to wear shorts during the ceremony, you could see the flash of red shorts as he walked across the stage... whoops! But on the good side, he did not pass out from the heat like others were about to.

-My cousins visited and we went garage sale-ing all weekend, I got a BUNCH of great kid toys all for under $100!

June:

-Visited my friend again who is pregnant, just to spend some quality time with her before she has a baby and gets busy with life :) It really was great just to spend time talking and hanging out and getting things ready for baby to come!

-In other news, I turned 30... I know right? 30 feels weird to say.

-Father's day we went on a family bike ride, and I survived! We really didn't go far, but it was nice to do a fun activity as a family.

Then, as some of you who are on Facebook might know, Chase had a seizure three weeks ago. It was the scariest thing that has happened to me since having the kids. We still don't know 'why' it happened, initial ER tests came back normal, blood work on a 2 1/2 year old should be avoided at all costs FYI. Chase actually sat very well for the CAT scan though, and was acting more like himself about 3 hours after it happened. The ER Doc said Chase had an ear infection and was put on Amoxicillin. We have an EEG scheduled to check out his brain next week to make sure he doesn't have any type of Epileptic condition.

Then after the scare of that wore off a bit, 6 days later, he spiked a 102 temp, we were told his ear infection was back, asked how many ear infections this would make... I said this was his first one, and got a strange look. Upped the drugs to a more powerful one and were sent home. A day and a half later Chase broke out in a rash all over his face, legs and arms. We went BACK in to the Peditrician's office, and he got diagnosed with the Hand, Foot, Mouth virus and told not to be around other kids... which was G-R-E-A-T since we already had wonderful company in town with their two kids... FANTASTIC. Welcome to the plague friends!

Luckily our friends were pretty cool about it, considering their kids ended up catching it :( Bad fever for their boy, and slight rashes for both those kiddos... now don't I feel like worlds worst host in the world :( But the quality time we were able to spend together on the worlds longest play date was so amazing!

July:

We celebrated the 4th of July weekend with our friends from out of town and my parents. I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful country where we have the freedoms we do. To marry who we wish, to blog our thoughts as we wish, to travel as we wish. Thank you to all those who have served our country and for the families of those who have served. Those people and their family have sacrificed so much for us... Thank you.

Jeff and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary with our friends, my parents and all the kids. Eating crab from the shell, and grilling out on our brand new grill. It was our first 'party' at our house, and the fact that we were casually celebrating the fact that 5 years ago, about 5 miles from our new house we were married. And look how much has happened since then, and how much stronger we are as a couple, and how blessed we are to have two healthy kids. Jeff went all out and got me presents, and even researched that the traditional 5 year anniversary gift is wood. So he searched all over to get me a square wooden bowl.. LOVE IT. And then even went so far as to get me a Bonsai tree! He claims he has no recollection of me saying that I love Bonsai trees and have always wanted one, but it must have stuck in there somewhere, because now I have a gorgeous little tree on my counter :) I seriously need to learn how to care for it though, since it is dropping leaves every day, but I think that might just be from the transplant in to the cool hand made bowl it is planted in... Jeff hand picked the bowl for me too :)

Then last weekend we spent some quality time with old friends from Western Illinois, some of my brother's friends that I knew and got to hang out with in college that now have families, and one of my sisters best friends from college who knows this group of people and also has a family. These people have been getting together for at least three years now, that I know of, every summer at my parents place to catch up. And last year I got to attend since we were living with my parents, and then this year we got a formal invite ;) 11 kids, 12 adults and lots of fun was had last weekend.

As I am sitting here writing, there is just so much to tell and not enough time to write it down... and probably too much information that would bore most people that read this. But here is a little more break down:

Ami is crawling F-A-S-T, and I mean booking it! She could walk if she wanted to, but does not feel steady when she lets go of things and sits to the floor. She will do almost anything to be held, played with and loved on... but will squirm like the dickens to get out of a diaper change, or outfit change... which is why she is just in diapers a lot ;) Ami will eat ANYTHING I put in front of her! She just loves to eat! :) I gave her pieces of homemade organic chicken today and she had two chicken tenders and probably would have eaten more if I had given it to her. At least one of my two kids is a good eater... this certainly will make life a bit easier, and diversify our fridge items! She has this deep belly laugh, but then will screech like a pterodactyl.. not kidding. Ami finally got her two bottom teeth about a month ago. And when she gives her big, squinty-eyed, smile she shows off those two little teeth and a LOT of gums. I just have to get a photo of it before she changes again :) She is 11 months now, oh my... how did she get this old? My baby will be 1 year old in less than a month, and I haven't started planning a party... poor second child. :( But I will make sure she has a yummy smash cake to dive in to... which I imagine she will, the way she likes food.

Chase is acting 100% himself, you would never know he had a seizure. He loves to run, jump off things, climb things and throw things. We have been working on 'learning letters' this past week and he really gets interested now, we will spend about 20min on it before he gets distracted and wants to play something else, which really is a good amount of time for him. We have got most the shapes and colors down for him, but numbers and letters are still a bit confusing. He does often ask, 'What dis say, Mama?' when he notices that a package, book or sign will have writing. His vocabulary is growing every day, and it seems like he keeps dropping those babyish words all the time. I miss how he used to say 'Doing-o?' for 'What are you doing?' and other little things, I try not to correct his speech because I want to hear those cute things for as long as possible... he is growing up too fast. Chase will turn 3 in September... where did the yearS(!!!) go?

Oh well, enough of my writing, this is going on forever. At least I was able to get down most of what has been happening these last few months, and with that I feel better... since I consider this my 'journal' and don't keep a hard copy one, it is like I am allowing myself to forget unless I write these things down.

8 months have come and gone...

2011-04-25T14:02:00.000-07:00

The last few months have flown by in a whirl wind! Ami's 6th, 7th and 8th month birthdays have come and gone without me posting anything about it. It makes me a bit sad. I got photos from month 6 and 7, but only have a few days left of month 8 to get an 'official' photo before it is too late. It just always seems like the days I actually get her dressed up I either can't find my camera or she poops up her back or we have to go to the new house to meet up with workmen and I can't sit down for a photo shoot.... ahh well, so goes life. Forgive me baby girl if you feel slighted when you are older for not having an 8th month photo taken on time.

Happy Easter/8months baby girl!

Here you are at the new house, jumping in your little activity center... not as fun as the Johnny Jumper at Grandma's house, but still a fun way to contain you! :) hehe

This month we celebrated cousin Samuel's 4th birthday... in his own words on that day: "I'm four now, I know things." :) We played at the park, and then went back to their house to hang out, have pizza, little smokey's sausages and ice cream cake... as per request by the birthday boy :)

Here the boys are, making footprints in the sandbox.

My uncle Larry and his family came down to help us on the house. Larry and my cousin Hunter (the giant in the kid house) worked on building us a 'deck' in the garage to give us a better entrance into the house. Katy helped a TON by watching Chase and Ami... and I am pretty sure they both think she is their best friend now. :)

Here they are with my new-to-us garage sale find! Perfect for the new back yard and the upcoming years of having little kids playing in our yard :). I am looking forward to finding some great garage sale finds for the new house! YAY!

Chase's vocabulary is growing every day! He somehow picked up 'butt' at some point in the past few weeks and loves to say it and giggle... not sure if my explanation that it means the same thing as his bottom has sunk in. He also says 'Dvdv' for a DVD :). It is pretty cute. 'Mountain' for fountain and a ton of other things that I just can't recall right now.

Ami has only been crawling for a week but she is totally making it around the house now! She made a complete lap around the family room, behind chairs and everything, and around the kitchen table once in about a half hour this afternoon... now this is with tons of exploration and playing with things she finds along the way, so she is really starting to move now... and finding the outlets, YIKES!

Ami is getting more and more interactive and just LOVES to play little games. Pat-a-cake, peek-a-boo and any type of made up little thing that gives her attention :)

Here is one that she started initiating a few weeks ago...

Password: Chase1

Ami'a silly laugh from Mel Tsai on Vimeo.

Ami has started doing this silly cough/laugh to get attention... and will keep playing this silly game continuously!

Nap time today with Chase:

2011-03-27T11:57:00.000-07:00

Chase wanted to brush his teeth, I said ok since I thought it is fine to delay a bit for a good habit... then after reading a book and getting tucked in, he looks up to me and said 'Thank Jesus.'

This is the first time he has initiated praying before bedtime (we usually do prayers before nighttime and meals, not nap time) :)

So I start our prayers as usual and then asked him, what would you like to thank Jesus for?

He said "Volcano," with a smile.

So I thanked Jesus for volcanoes, and asked if there was anything else he would like to thank Jesus for...

"T-Rex!" He said with another smile :)

So we thanked Jesus for T-Rexes, and I asked again if there was anything else he would like to thank Jesus for...

and he said "mmm....Dinosaurs." Nodding his head.

So we thanked Jesus for all the wonderful Dinosaurs he created that are so interesting to learn about. And then I asked again, if he would like to thank Jesus for anything else...

"umm.... Books" pointing to the Curious George book we had just read.

Thats my boy! Loving the books :) So we thanked Jesus for fun books to read, and all the words and letters and pictures inside that make books what they are. And as we closed the prayer he said a very tired, but very emphatic sounding, 'Amen!'

I stroked his hair and sang the song I have been singing to him since he was born, and we blew kisses at each other until I turned the corner and couldn't see him anymore.

My heart is so full with love for my boy :)

The last 24 hours in Taipei

2011-03-04T13:25:00.000-08:00

Monday was a whirlwind of shopping, packing and trying to squeeze every last thing we wanted to do.

After making sure we were as packed as possible, and the kids were asleep, Jeff and I ventured out for one last night of exploring the night markets. This time we went to the Taipei Tourist Night Market, which I did not like as much as the other two night markets we had visited... but they did have some more touristy type things and weird things, like a huge albino boa constrictor in a cage (no pics allowed), and fresh ingredients for lots of restaurants... just sitting out there!Choose your meal... Fish, crustaceans.... and not shown are turtles and baby eels... yum!
The Lantern Festival decorations were still in full force... very cool
A temple or shrine (not sure which) had some really impressive fish and other lanterns.
We stepped inside ... WOW
BTW do you like Jeff's new 'Cookie' sweatshirt? It is a Cookie Monster sweatshirt from the more shopping oriented night market we visited a few days before.... I think it is cute my hubby likes fun stuff like that, 'cause I do... and I may or may not have got Cookie Monster and Wonder Woman shirts for myself ;)

In a fancier area of town we got 'French' crepes... I got a strawberry, chocolate and whipped cream one... SOOO GOOD! And Jeff got a weird Asian one that had ham, mayo and veggies... so, not French!

YUM!

Tuesday morning I was up at 4am, finishing packing and getting ready. We had a van pick us up at 6:30am and we got to the airport with time to sit and let Mrs. Tsai get those last hugs with the kids :) ... and for Jeff to get a Whopper... ick.
While waiting for our flight on the other side of security, just about 10 min before neededing to board, Chase ran off and Jeff followed him with Ami in his arms... not a minute later I hear a cry, my baby boy's cry and walk around the corner to see Jeff hunched over at the WRONG end of the walkway! I dropped my stuff with my parents and ran over. Chase's drawstring on his pants was caught in the moving walkway under the lip of the metal end... I saw a dollar coin sized patch of blood on the metal end where the teeth are... I stepped on the walkway and almost tripped myself since it was still going, jumped off and searched frantically for the "Stop" button, found it, and Jeff (who had been kneeling at the end, holding Chase up by the arm this whole time so he wouldn't get pulled down, and holding Ami in the other arm this whole time) was able to pull Chase and his drawstring off the belt. Chase's lip looked like it had been ripped open, which it probably had, and was gushing blood (at least that's what it looked like to me). It was already swelling to twice its size and I wasn't sure if he had nocked out any teeth, thats how bloody his mouth was.

I ran with him into the bathroom and started cleaning him up, there was a cleaning lady in there that was SO helpful bringing me paper towels and thicker toilet paper... I don't know if I ever thanked her, but Cleaning Lady, if you ever read this... THANK YOU, seriously, your help was invaluable. Chase fought me cleaning him up the entire time, screaming and crying... it must have hurt for anything to touch that open wound :( But once I could see that it was only his lip that was cut open, no teeth missing, no cut on his tongue... I reminded myself that face wounds always bleed the worst, and prayed hard that he would be ok.. with no concussion.

This is making me almost sick just writing it down again... Chase was trying to go on the moving walkway like he did earlier, the right way, with Baba... but Jeff just couldn't stop him fast enough, and Chase didn't know that there was a 'wrong' way to get on the walkway :(

By the time I got around to taking a photo of his lip as we were leaving O'Hare, it looked like a pretty minor accident... 20 hours after the incident there was barely any swelling, no bruising on his face, and only three scabs.... geesh, very different from the 1/4 inch bleeding gap in his lip, the 3 times more swollen and jutting out lip, and the two smaller bleeding wounds that looked as if his upper lip had been pierced through by the metal walkway teeth. He refused to let me put ice on the wound during the first hour in the airport and then on the plane flight. I was only able to get to ice it for about 5 min in flight to Tokyo with a constant stream of tick tac bribes. Every time he would smile or pout for the first few hours he would re-open it and cry :( Not fun to deal with during travel, that's for sure. At least he is way better now.

The damage 20 hours later at O'Hare...

Seeing the kid today you would never have known he had anything happen to his mouth. No scars or anything... thank you Jesus!

So that was the eventful wrap up to a very eventful trip... it took us a full two weeks to recover from Jet-lag with the kids. I had heard Jet-lag is worse flying East... they were right.

Now we are starting to fall back into our pattern here in Chicago... thank goodness.

In other news, we will probably be closing on our new house March 25th! YAY!

Visiting Cousins, Cool Foods & Our Last Dinner Out

2011-03-04T09:13:00.000-08:00

Finally on Saturday February 12th we met up with Jeff's cousin Sophia, her husband Rex and their two boys! We had met her younger sister Tiffany the previous weekend, stayed at her parents house in Kaohsiung and she had loaned us a stroller (because we forgot to bring one!), if that gives you any context as to why I was really looking forward to meeting her in person!

We decided to meet up and go to a children's library a little outside of Taipei but still considered within the city limits. This area is known especially for its mineral springs... Walking out of the metro station we encountered this cool water fountain/sculpture... the water raised and lowered at what seemed to be a random patter, this pic was taken when the water was spraying fairly high. There was a really cool park on our way to the library, with bridges, cool trees, and work out equipment :)

Sophia's husband Rex crossing a bridge...

Dad and Chase on the bridge, with this cool tree that was spanning the low wall.

Mom and Mrs. Tsai took their shoes of to get a foot massage walking on the pebbled walk way... in the background you can see some of the workout equipment that was scattered in stations throughout the park... in another area there were 'elliptical' type machines - all human powered with English and Chinese instructions as to how to use it and what muscles it will target... very cool!

Jeff... typical

Mom by another cool tree

We got some lunch before going to the library... I got sushi :) I *heart* Sushi YUMMY!

Unfortunately I never got pictures by the library... the grounds were very cool, and the basement was geared just for smaller kids, Chase loved it but was starting to get very squirrelly since it was about an hour past normal nap time... we had to leave after only about a half hour because I was afraid we would have a meltdown. Chase ended up falling asleep on my back in the Ergo on the train ride home, and then continued to sleep after I put him in bed at the apartment. It was a fun and full morning with family! :)

Later that night we met up with Sophia and her family again at Pizza Hut... as well as another of Mr. Tsai's brothers (I can't remember his name at the moment, I will have to check on this with Jeff). and any American who has not visited an Asian Pizza Hut wouldn't understand... these places are NICE and with great service, seriously. They have a fantastic salad bar and pizza buffet, with western things and Asian specific things like Lychee Jello and Kimchi barbeque chicken pizza. I really wanted to take a photo of that, but felt very silly as we were the only westerners in the place and keeping Chase in check was very difficult that meal... he didn't want pizza that night :( He did like the Lychee Jello though. *Sigh*

After the kids were down for the night, Jeff and I ran out to a smaller nightmarket which had more clothing and shoe places than food... which was the opposite of the first night market we visited.
Just thought I would post this photo... I guess Solvil et Titus is a Swiss watch company, who knew? I think it is fun to see my maiden name in Taiwan, of all places!

Sunday Jeff and I went to quite a few department stores just down the street from us, lots of walking, but we found lots of fun things for the kids :) I mean, who else will have a "Dough-doh" food court set that has dumpling and sushi molds? I mean that is COOL, right? Well, at least I am psyched about it, even if the kids don't care.

Sunday night we met up with Mrs. Tsai's brother and his family at a very nice Hot Pot restaurant down the street from the apartment.

Chase did great! We made sure he ate dinner before going out for dinner this time, that way he wasn't hungry and then presented with food that he didn't care to try... it worked great!

My mom and I got the vegetarian ... a whole tier of veggies, different tofus and lots of mushrooms (which, as a person who steers clear of any type of fungus, this was not my thing, but there were some cool looking ones... I just gave them all to my mom :) )

Mom and our separated hot pot, you can see all the dishes, sauces and things that were continually being brought... wow, just wow... so glad I got to try hot pot before we left! I didn't get a photo of the dessert, but it was great! A small (for an American like me) piece of fabulous chocolate cake, and two bruleed banana slices.... I HAVE to try doing this at home, it was incredible... like sugared banana chips with fresh bananas :) YUM! Even Chase ate a bruleed banana, and liked it!
Back at the apartment, I started photographing everything I had been wanting to photograph but been putting off until later... since there was only one day left I had to do it!

Jim Beam Whiskey with Chinese writing :)
Peanut butter and Jelly :)
Gum!
Ami holding her bottle and trying to feed herself... she did OK at it until it got low, and then needed help getting the final ounce or so... what a GOOD baby to drink from a bottle! So glad, since Chase wouldn't take one until he was almost 9 months old (that meant no going out for dates, or basically any type of leaving my baby for 9 months! geesh that was a long time!).
(almost) the end.

One last day to wrap up and then (FINALLY) I will have covered our trip to Taiwan! This is really mostly for me to look back on when I can't remember things, but thanks to all you who have been reading and tolerating my long winded-ness ;)

The Lantern Festival

2011-02-28T11:42:00.000-08:00

That Friday February 11th, was the end of the Chinese New Year celebrations which gets sent out with another celebration... the Lantern Festival. Our plans were to head out to the Sun Yat-sen Memorial where the giagantic bunny (from this post) and festivities were going to be held... our apartment was literally 4 blocks away from the hub of the festival... Jeff really found us a great location!

Before heading out, Mrs. Tsai got to feed Ami rice cereal...

Ami LOVES rice cereal now, I had not been consistent with giving her 'solids' until this trip, since there had been so much going on with the move, the holidays and getting ready for the trip... So it was fun to see Mrs. Tsai's interactions with my somewhat demanding little girl.... if you are too slow with that spoon Ami DEFINITELY lets you know what she thinks about that! HA! She is the total opposite of Chase when it comes to food! :) Chase only ever tried to grab the spoon once, and didn't like the feel of food on his hands and so never tried to touch it again... whereas we have to hold Ami's hands down otherwise she would never get the food to her mouth! Here I am holding her arms down while Mrs. Tsai shovels it in as fast as she can :)

Mrs. Tsai liked our carrier packs we had, and loved holding Ami whenever she could... it was great for me :) Here she is with a very bundled Ami ready to go out in the drizzling rain to see the Lantern Festival
Dad or Jeff was usually pushing Chase in the stroller we borrowed from Jeff's cousin Sophia who lives in Taipei (Thanks Sophia!!!)... here he is all bundled up too :)
On our walk almost anything that could be decorated with lights, was! It was really a cool thing to see :) It reminded me of how American cities get so dected out for the Christmas season...
Even the metro had special signs for the year of the Rabbit :)
Jeff, Chase, my mom, Ami (under the blanket, she was asleep) and Mrs. Tsai standing in front of a really cool 'lantern' display. Tons of Lanter sculptures/floats were lining the Sun Yat-sen Memorial, from high school student groups to individual college people and more...
Here are some of the ones I thought were neat...

A close up of the intricate designs... for those who want to know, I looked closely and it is fabric sewn or glued on elaborate wire forms with lights rigged up inside... all those paper mache floats from my high school were put to shame by this one... done by a high school... wow
Jumping bunnies! YAY
The Taipei 101 building had a bunny on its side and '100' to celebrate the 100 years of the Republic of China... those white balls are balloons for medical aid and a question booth... so smart! And here is a line of individual lantern entries...
Not all were Rabbit themed... This one was impressive, the Mona Lisa in lantern form, with a dragon and other various things 'growing' out... very very cool.

The National Palace Museum

2011-02-27T08:22:00.000-08:00

Wow, I am totally falling behind! Jet lag really hit us last week with the kids and their sleeping (or NOT sleeping) habits. With that, Jeff starting his first week of work at Deloitte, vacation laundry on top of the normal things, and trying to slim down my photos from the trip and be choosy about what I am going to post up here, and the kids constantly needing me because they just feel 'off'.... it has been a bit of a challenge to find the rhythm of life again. I want to post so many things, but I am just falling so behind that it will now be a short synopsis... here goes:

The day after returning from the southern part of Taiwan (February 9th), Mr. Tsai had to fly back to mainland China to return to work. This was taken shortly before he left for the airport, at the apartment in Taipei.

February 10th we went to the International Flora Expo (covered in THIS post)

February 11th (Friday) we ventured out to the Taipei National Palace Museum. Brief history: when the Nationalists were fleeing communist China, they took a few things with them to Taiwan, gold, priceless art and professors. The art in this museum is that collection of works.

Since Jeff was still recovering from his bout of food poisoning, the first thing we did when we got there was stop into the cafe and get something to eat for Jeff... and then, of course, my dad, mom and I could not resist getting some of the yummy things on the menu....

My 'snack' of hot cocoa and a chocolate raspberry cake... on a side note, you wouldn't believe how much I missed chocolate while I was there! It was as if just the sheer fact that they did not have much chocolate to be offered MADE me want to eat more chocolate... does that make sense? Good thing I brought 3 bars of Lindt dark chocolate with me ;) and I couldn't find chocolate croissants my entire trip, which made me sad. I miss Nagano Bakery in Tokyo, they had the BEST chocolate croissants!

My mom got Oolong tea, which she had never tried before, and Creme Brulee French Toast... YUM! We decided to split our treats so we could try them both :)

And Jeff had sparkling water and a ham and cheese sandwich... which to my dismay he consumed the WHOLE thing while I wasn't looking (I was distracted by the yummy treats, after all)... after more than 24 hours of only having water and a small piece of banana, his stomach hurt again from being TOO full, but he was alright and we finally made it into the museum!

Cameras were not allowed in the museum (I really did enjoy the freedom of taking photos of all the art I liked in China last March)... so here are QUITE a few photos of Jeff outside the National Palace Museum... with the very Asian-touristy 'peace' sign

Taiwan was celebrating '100' everywhere, because they were celebrating the Republic of China's 100 years.

Compared to Jeff I look much less enthusiastic... but trust me, I was the one soaking up all that was inside that building while Jeff took a nap on a bench :)

Mom got a photo of the two of us... one of the few on the trip.

And here is mom and dad outside the Museum... you could find dad a mile away in his blue Dodgers Jacket and NY Yankees hat... it was actually a nice little 'beacon' while going around the city :)

Mom by the male guardian lion to the Museum

and here I am by the female guardian lion (notice the cub under her paw? Thanks Asian Art History, you came in handy on this trip ;) )

Back in Taipei for the last week...

2011-02-18T08:12:00.000-08:00

Even though I am now back in Chicago, I want to finish up our trip to Taiwan... It was such a great experience that I don't want to let it slip away by forgetting to write about the things we did and people we visited. Going to the south of Taiwan was so great, but it obviously put me a bit behind on the blogging if you couldn't tell ;) With so much to do and limited internet access (and the fact that I was the only one without a computer, I had to wait until someone was not using theirs and when no children needed me, a very rare occurrence indeed), I got more behind on recording our events than I wanted to.

Back in Taipei since we only had a week left, at nap times I tried to go out more with Jeff, and evenings got full too... which made for less down time to blog, but such great family and adventure time!

The first day back, Jeff and I went out walking around and shopping during nap time, then I stayed back with the kids while Jeff took my parents out the the night market Jeff and I went to before. Jeff must have ate something that was bad, because he didn't feel good and barely got out of bed for the next 24-32 hours.

The second day back in the capitol we decided to venture out (minus an ill Jeff) to the International Flora Expo ... they had some amazing displays of flowers, flower arrangements, and the thing was seriously HUGE. I barely got through a fraction of it with the kids and then headed back to the apartment with the kids and Mrs. Tsai so the kids could go back for naps. My parents decided to stay and spent quite a while walking around the area and said that everything they saw was pretty cool.

In the gift shop there were some signs of the indigenous Taiwanese people groups... the largest group is called the Amis... strange, no? I took a photo for my baby Ami to look at when she gets older, maybe her mixed look will actually look similar to one of the girls on the sign ;)

On a side note, while we were at the Pagoda where Jeff's grandparents' ashes are, Mrs. Tsai was talking to a local monk there who was looking at Ami and asking questions about her and then she turned to us and told us that a typical greeting between Buddhists is something that sounds like "Ami-tofa.' Which is pretty cool, and in the Chinese language is a positive thing that Ami's name sounds like that greeting.... Jeff on the other hand wants to believe it sounds like "Ami-tofu" and has since started calling her that, to my disapproval. It is just kind of neat that Ami's name means so many positive things (or sounds like so many things) in so many languages :)

Flowers everywhere at the Expo, on the sloped walls, around the trees... next to the oblivious baby, HUGE roses, beautiful plantings, vertical gardening and one of the Expo theme characters

Dad was pointing out fish and plants to Chase when....

Chase saw Mama taking pictures and wanted to come over to me :)

1) Dad: Look Chase at those Lilli pads Chase: Look there is Mama

2) Dad: oh now I see what you were pointing at

3) Dad: Careful not to fall in the pond Chase! (as he was getting ready to run over to me)

Trying out the new camera and it's macro functions.... straight out of camera without any color processing... I think it did pretty well.

Little fly on the huge rose... cool

While walking around, another group of teen/college girls surrounded Chase

and of course wanted a picture

I wonder if all these photos of Chase are going to appear of Taiwanese Facebook pages or on billboards or something ;)

Wrapping up the first week in Taiwan

2011-02-13T08:04:00.000-08:00

We only visited Tainan for a short while to see Jeff's grandparents' home... which now belongs to my in-laws. It is a one story home, on a really nice street, with two bedrooms, kitchen, and a HUGE living area (that also doubled as an office while Jeff's grandfather was still working). When we arrived Jeff, Ami, Chase and I stood before the house alter and 'announced' (prayed?) to the grandparents that we were visiting. In the photograph below you can see the alter with fruit in front of it. What I loved most about the house was their wall of graduation photos. They had every child and spouce lined up by the ceiling... Mr. Tsai is the 3rd from the left, and Mrs. Tsai next to him 4th from the left (sorry for the bad photo, I didn't realize the glare at the time :( ). It was really cool that all the kids pretty much looked the same in their photos, cap, gown, and even ties for the guys and girls :). Mr. Tsai is the second of 6 children, the oldest and youngest were girls, and four boys in the middle.

After eating lunch at the house, we went sight seeing around the city. Tainan was originally the main city of Taiwan, since it has a huge port... but the balance has since shifted to the Northern most city of Taipei (the literal translation of Taipei means North City, and most of their cities are named just as obviously... so much more simple than our cities in America!). This is one of their main parks - my dad and Chase loved looking at the huge Koi swimming in the pond. Later Mrs. Tsai told me that this dragon statue has significance in the way it is spraying water on the golden ball, I guess the ball is supposed to be from the dragon's throat, and is very special, and the front 'claw' that is holding it is saying that he is offering good will to the people. I am glad I have my mother in law to explain all this cool stuff to me :)

In another area of the park we went into a shrine/temple... Here is Chase sitting on the base of a column.

And here he is asking Mama to take 'Pi-tures!' of him posing... I really don't know where he got this from, but it is hilarious, and I LOVE it :)

A neat 'brick' wall around the temple area.

After the temple, we went to another sight that was the location of the Taiwanese/Dutch treaty signing. Their history is actually kind of similar to America in that they were a colony and then rose up to fight for their independence. This was a really cool history lesson! While we were there, a group of students (?) were SUPER interested in Chase, and once they got the nod from Jeff they swarmed over to see Chase and take pictures, once they realized that I had another sleeping baby strapped to my chest they started taking photos of Ami too! I can't believe how much attention the kids have received while being here... then again, in most of the places we visited we were almost the only white people we saw, so two Hapa children definitely stood out.... and Chase with his light brown curling hair drew lots of stares, especially when they learned he was a boy (!). hehe! Most boys here have buzzed heads.

After the Dutch/Taiwan treaty site. We went to a fort. It was pretty cool seeing the old cannons and moat. They had two black swans swimming around, but I never was able to get a shot of them since both kids started having melt downs by that point in the day. Jeff got a shot on his iPhone though, which I am glad he did.

Mom with one of the really HUGE and cool trees lining the inside of the fort, there were at least 4 this size, but this one had the neatest trunks.

The tree mom stood by from a different angle, it was so neat how it grew out and over the interior of the fort. To get the whole thing in a shot would have had me standing almost to the other side of the fort wall!

After leaving Tainan we headed a short while away to Kaohsiung to visit Mr. Tsai's older sister's and stayed at her house. We only spent about a total of 24 hours there, but she and her husband were so amazing! They treated us to so much... food, fun and sightseeing... and were very flexible about having the kids, since they have 3 grandchildren of their own. My parents and Jeff got to go out and do more than I was able to, but it was so much better for the kids to have a day of getting good naps and being free to run, or roll in Ami's case, around (at least for Chase, as Ami is not mobile yet!).

The 'garage' door, all hand carved... every door in the house was unique and solid wood... you wouldn't find this in the States! So cool!

One of the coolest things about their house was the room that Jeff, Chase, Ami and I all stayed in. It had Japanese styled doors to close off the bed portion from the rest of the room, which was so great for the kids! I could just slide the panel shut and Chase had an entire mattress room to squirrel around in before settling down for nap, and for Ami I could shut the panel and there was no way she could roll off of the mattress, since they covered that entire area! Love Love Love that room... It is too bad that I wouldn't really be able to do something similar here in our new house... the resale value of that is probably not great to an American family :(

Ami rolling and playing around on the mattresses.

Chase loved to jump from the elevated area into the rest of the room and announce "Big Jump!" I also think he loved that this was a space just for us, and that he could jump around, and fall down on a mattress wherever he landed :)

Mom took a photo of us outside their wonderful house with Jeff's Uncle. (Chase was off to the park with Jeff's Aunt, so he wasn't there for the photo.) Behind that low brick wall was a Koi pond that went around the side of the house to the back with some huge fish! The room above the garage was the room we slept in.

I wish we could have spent more time with these relatives, they were so great to be with! But it was good to head back to Taipei and have some time to relax and space for Chase to consistently go to sleep in :)

Fire, Water and Interesting Foods...

2011-02-09T22:39:00.000-08:00

Before leaving the mountain, we stopped at a few places on our way down to Tainan. The first spot was a place where fire and water were coming out of the mountain side at the same place... pretty cool. It must have been some type of flammable gas escaping, since it was making the water bubble at the source and seemed to come out of the cracks in the rock.

Jeff decided to try to 'photo bomb' my pictures that day, stepping in the way of my subject and interrupted quite a few cool shots... but this one of Nai-nai and Ami actually turned out pretty cute, so in one out of 20 shots, it actually worked... not that I am endorsing it, though
Chase hitching a ride on his favorite method of transport, his Baba's shoulders :)
At the place where the water and fire came out at the same area, there was a whole row of vendors selling TONS of food and trinkets.... a shot of the spread of one vendor.
Some were even selling birds they caught in the wild... another (which I couldn't get a discrete photo of) was selling a squirrel who had a necklace with a bell on it! .... "you should have bought a squirrel!" (anyone know that movie quote?)
Also at some of the vendors they were selling stinky tofu. Mr. Tsai bought a portion, and shared it with my parents.... my mom didn't mind it so much (but then again, she is a person that can eat things that have been in the fridge for weeks and just cuts the mold off of fruit and cheese and eats it... ICK), my dad on the other hand gagged when he put it in his mouth, tried to chew and swallow....
but couldn't get past the stinkiness of the tofu....
what a taste!
I didn't get a photo of him spitting in out into a garbage, but I got one of mom laughing at the spectacle... Although my mom did say a short while later that it wasn't so much the initial taste that got you, it was the aftertaste of rotten tofu that lingered that was kind of hard to take. Needless to say, I did NOT try stinky tofu. Just the smell from the vendors was itching my gag reflex. :)
At the end of the line of stalls, there was a honey stand! YAY HONEY! I just absolutely LOVE honey... I try to get some in each country I visit. :) So I got a 'small' bottle, which was not small at ALL! It is huge! Here is the bee keeper taking a section out of the 'hive.'

Looking at the Comb that the guy pulled out of the hive... we got to see the Queen, who was about twice as large and had a dot on her head so it was easy to find her... very cool.

Ordering some cooked pumpkin... Delicious! There was also sweet potato and taro here, which we didn't try... after eating some taro at Jeff's Aunt's house, I wish I had... I really like it!
Chase got it in his head that he wanted Mama to take 'Pi-ture Mama, pi-ture!' and started posing all around the large honey bee statue! I have never asked him to pose before, so this was HILARIOUS to say the least. I counted a total of 27 photos in this photo shoot, and that is not including a whole length of time that I was pretending to take photos to appease him :) Silly boy... here he goes!

(I think this one is my favorite... silly little man, doing a one handed push-up pose)
All done! :) After a while he actually drew a crowd of people, then he got shy and wouldn't pose anymore... everyone really got a kick out of him though :).

We have had quite a bit of un-American food here, which has all been great! ...but for Chase and eventually the rest of us, familiar foods are welcome.... Skippy peanut butter! And we actually got Skippy strawberry jelly also, which is not very sugary, and super fun packaging, but I haven't photographed it yet.

One of the new foods we have tried is a fruit called 'Buddah's Head' ...It looks like a weird artichoke from the outside, but is squishy and has super hard seeds in little 'pods' inside. My dad really likes it :)
Close up of Buddah Head fruit
"Only share with you" cookies....
with interesting English translation: Formula Cookies - in Chinese it is actually supposed to be Milk Powder. 'Swelling agent' - YUM! I LOVE swelling agent! :) HA! I think it is probably supposed to be leavening, or yeast or something... 'Avoid heat many tides' - I have no idea what that is supposed to mean :)

Leaving the mountain...

2011-02-08T21:24:00.000-08:00

Feb 7: Jeff left early in the morning to go into town and watch the first part of the foosball superbowl via free wi-fi in a hotel lobby, we packed up our things and picked him up in town at around 8:30am.

On our way down the mountain, we stopped by at a place that has fire and water coming out of the side of the hill at the same spot... it was really neat. It had vendors around it selling stinky tofu, candies, toys and tons of other foods, so we got to taste some things there... my parents acutally tried the stinky tofu!!! I declined, since the smell just about gagged me, and I didn't want to throw up in public if I actually put some of it in my mouth. Mom got some really yummy cooked pumpkin, dad got some sausages, and I got honey :).

Our next stop was to the temple/shrine/pagoda area where Jeff's grandparents' ashes are. When we arrived Mr Tsai, Jeff and my dad went to go buy special money to give to your relatives in the afterlife. You are supposed to burn the 'money' in the furnaces there and then your ancestors get that money to spend in the after life... not sure what they are supposed to buy with that money, or as Jeff called it 'Buddha bucks,' but that's what everyone does and has done for generations... its a pretty good income for the monks that sell the 'money' though. I didn't take many pictures, as I felt a bit strange doing so in that environment. I also was not supposed to take photos inside the pagoda where the urns were, so I respected that. After getting the 'money' Mr. Tsai, Jeff, Mrs. Tsai and I all stood in front of the pagoda with incense, and Mr. Tsai said some greetings in Mandarin telling the grandparents that we were visiting and had brought them money. We then went inside the pagoda, to see where their urns were. They had purchased very prestigious locations for their urns, being able to 'look' out of the doors and of the view of the mountain side. As Jeff called it 'First class, aisle seating' ... geesh, this guy cracks jokes at ALL times. I didn't think it was appropriate, but his parents chuckled, which was a good sign :)

After 'worshiping' the grandparents, we took the 'monies' to the furnaces and built up quite a fire to toss the 'money' on. Jeff was actually enjoying this part quite a lot. Even Chase got in on it, and threw some of the packs of 'money' into the flames. The experience was interesting over all, but I was mainly saddened that I was not able to spend more time with Jeff's wonderful grandparents.
(Taking the money to the furnace)
(Creating the fire to burn the money, so it would 'cross over' to Jeff's grandparents)
(Paper money ready to go in the furnace)
(Close up of the burning)

(Mr. Tsai standing in front of the pagoda)

Trains, Faster Trains and Mountains oh my!

2011-02-07T05:00:00.000-08:00

There has been a lot going on these past days, and most of them out of my control and scheduling... so the kids have been taxed to their limits and rarely gotten naps (and when they do, they are about an hour at most!) but really, under the circumstances, they are doing fantastic! Chase's picky appetite really hinders him here, he takes one bite of something, spits it out and says 'All done!' And then won't eat anymore of what is being offered... so he has been eating crackers and peanut butter, popcorn and chips for WAY more 'meals' than I would like, but when he is hungry and there is absolutely nothing being offered that he will even try, it seems better just to get at least something in his stomach before bed :(

Because of the infringement on naps, lack of Chase-type foods, tons of walking, and meeting so many new people, Chase has started getting a bit of an attitude at times. It is hard for him, and it is hard for me to have to handle him in these situations, since I know that is not his normal self. On the other hand, even with all of the craziness going on, and people swarming him in public (because they think he is a cute little girl) I really feel like he is doing well with all that is being put on him and expected of him, while being hungry and tired. He is really smart and is figuring thing out pretty quickly... he has figured out 'Shea-shea' ('thank you' in Mandarin) will earn him a smile and a laugh, and just about whatever he wants from the extended family.... including candy (geesh, at least they only give small things, and they are usually less sugary than American candies).

Ami is doing really well also, with basically no sacred nap times in the last few days, she has been a trouper... sleeping in the Ergo carrier, in Nai-nai's arms and on couches for as long as she can tune out the noise... and then crashing at about 7pm for the night. She recently tried to say 'Ai Lau' back to my dad when he told her 'I love you,' and has done it a few times since, though I haven't heard it myself. And just today while playing peek-a-boo with my dad in the car she said 'A boo' back to him when he stopped for a minute... I am pretty sure she said it at least 8 or more times during the rest of the ride.

What the last few days have looked like:

Feb 5 & 6: We took the subway with 5 pieces of luggage, one back pack, one camera case, two purses and a diaper bag with a baby in a Bjorn (on Baba) and a toddler in an Ergo (on Mama), and six adults a handful of stops to the High Speed train station. Took the high speed train an hour and a half to Tainan, took a van with all of us and our luggage an hour or more through the country side that had tons of rice fields, then up a mountain, on twisting and turning roads that sometimes double backed upon themselves, and to a resort town know for it's hot springs: Guanzihling.

(Chase looking out the van window on our way to the mountains)

Jeff's grandparents bought a house up there about 20 years ago, and since their passing Jeff's father, aunts and uncles have been caring for the place. We stayed at the home (circa American 1950's styling), and walked into the town a few times. I stayed back at the house quite a bit more than the rest to have the kids nap when I could, so I missed out on eating out a few times, and going on a few excursions... bummer for me, but the kids were SOOO much better after the times when I could get them in a bed! The house was cool, but needs quite a bit of repair (as in, there was no hot water, and we couldn't figure out how to make it work so none of us took showers during our stay there, a leaky toilet, and just old house maintenance type things), and since none of the children live close, it is hard for them to keep it up... they are probably going to have to sell it which is such a shame, since it is in such a cool location, and really a pretty cool house... but being over an hour to the nearest kid's residence, when they all have their own homes must be a bit taxing.
(305 TSAI, Guanzihling)
(Inside the addition)
(Original part of the house: kitchen/dining and stairs to the upper level)
(Living area with bedroom behind that cabinet wall, and view into the addition... oh yeah, and my mom, hehee)
(View from the second story 'hall' that looks into the loft bedroom and opens into the two story living room)
(View down from the hall balcony, Mom, Dad and Ami are hanging out)
(View from the 'Japanese' room, where the walls/doors slide and you sleep on the floor. This was Mrs. Tsai's room since she didn't mind sleeping on the floor)
(The cool vintage light fixture hanging in the two story living room)
(Family portraits and memorabilia fill the lower part of the addition of the house)
(Looking out the window to see my neat mother in law bringing Chase back from a walk around the gated neighborhood)
(Funky fireplace, cool floor tiles, and Chinese house slippers)
(A garden table and stools - all natural boulders/rocks)
(Baby orchids hang from the front tree on panels of Snake Wood)
(Baba taking Chase for yet another walk around the neighborhood, this time to see the mountain view with Mama)
(One block away from the house was this gorgeous view, palm trees, elephant ear plants, flowers and mountains ... and a bit of trash, but that can be overlooked when compared to the rest of what you see)
(Jeff and Chase against the setting sun and palm trees)
(Flowers were in bloom in the tropical climate... so warm and wonderful)
(A view of the street with the neighbor's hedges and walls... pretty cool to my western eyes)
(Mrs. Tsai on the porch swing with Chase... he loved it)
(Jeff's Grandparents were both born in the year of the Rabbit... so since this is the year of the Rabbit again, they would have turned 84 this year. Also notice the strange 'bobble head' crustacean thing in the lower left... it was pretty weird ;) )
(Hanging out on the porch)
(Chase playing on the vintage floor)

On the 6th my parents, Jeff and I went into town to a hotel that had private hot spring tubs and got to spend an hour there. It was really relaxing, and I got to spend a little time away from the kids... they were both napping on couches in the lobby while we were in the hot spring tub. That afternoon Jeff's cousin Tiffany, her husband and little girl Ya-ya stopped by the town on their way back from the New Year holiday. It was great to finally meet some more of Jeff's relatives, and Tiffany was especially fun to meet as she is close to our age, has a similar aged child, and studied in the States so she knows English really well and I could actually talk to her! It was so nice, and she was super nice too... maybe she is on facebook so we can keep up with each other :) .. we will see.
(Chase fell asleep at the hotel while we took hot spring baths)
(Jeff and his Steelers garb in rural Taiwan... I doubt anyone else there would even know what football is)
(Nai Nai holding a sleeping Ami at the Hotel)
(Chase got a treat from his second cousin Ya-ya, she is 18 months and they are about the same size)
(Ya-ya trying to open some tea... something she probably wasn't supposed to be doing, but I didn't know)
(Cutie pie Ya-ya playing on the stairs)

Night Market!

2011-02-04T22:44:00.000-08:00

On Friday night Jeff and I made it out to the night market... one of the only times so far that I have had time away from the kids. It is pretty difficult to leave Ami when I don't have any milk for her, nor time to pump any from our hectic schedule. Anyway, here is a little glimpse of our few hour excursion to the night market.

Strawberries and other things (?) on a stick covered in a glaze of sugar! I got a strawberry one, and it was pretty yummy... the strawberries were kind of soft from their dip in hot sugar, but it was a fun treat... one of the only that I wanted to try at the night market :)
Red lanterns on the side of the path... pretty cool
A pan out view of the lanterns, the people, and the signs on the walking street.
yum... Frog eggs! ... although, I showed this picture to my Mother in law today and she said that it is actually NOT real frog eggs, it is the bubble tea 'bubbles' that look similar to frog eggs... that makes sense, since there were about 5 of these stands that I saw during our walk, and I was really confused thinking that frog eggs were popular here.
Silly English translations that don't make much sense ;)... My chic chocolate rocks your taste! Oh yeah!
The mass of people, scooters, cars and signage at the night market... and this is even at a time when the city is not very full because of the Holiday!
Jeff and I had no idea what this thing was until the next day when we could ask Mrs. Tsai... it is called 'bitter melon' and since that night we have actually eaten it on multiple occasions and it is not as bitter as its name suggests. :) ...it kind of looks like a weird kind of corn to me ;)
Taking the Metro back to the apartment, you could see the Night Market from the tracks of the subway :)
The train was coming in and fireworks were going off on the skyline over the market... pretty cool to be in Taiwan for New Years
Looking down the 'infinity' metro on the way back from the night market... multiple people were staring at the white girl taking photos of the metro and staring down the train to see what I was so fascinated about.

The beauty of visiting different countries...

2011-02-03T21:04:00.000-08:00

There are so many wonderful things about visiting different countries! I love that I can step back and review my 'way' of life in America... appreciate things, and be put in check with other things. Having a good check and balance to my view of my life is refreshing and humbling.

Taipei is kind of empty right now, since it is the New Year and some people take off pretty much the entire month for a Holiday/vacation. There are still a decent amount of people here, but not nearly as many as when Jeff was here last (so he says). It is nice though, since everything is new for my parents and me and we can take in the city without all the crowds.

Our plane flight was not as bad as I had imagined, thank goodness... but we will see how the return trip goes before I say that my kids are good international travelers ;). Ami only really full out cried once as we were landing in Tokyo, I must say my ears were popping like mad and VERY painful (my dad's were doing the same thing, I heard later) so it only goes to say that she was having similar problems. Other children were not crying the way she was though, so maybe it was just because we were all congested before we started the trip(?). Once she stopped freaking out enough for me to get her to nurse she was fine, and fell asleep until we had to pack up and get off the plane. Other than that, our 14 hour flight to Tokyo went pretty well. Chase napped a few times, watched Megamine (eek! would not have been my choice if we had more options) about 4 times, and squirreled around in our seats pretty much the entire trip. He didn't have a melt down once, thank goodness! Because of a ticketing thing, we re-arranged the seats and my parents got bumped up to business class, which was really great for them so they could stretch their legs during the trip and almost fully recline their seats (lucky!). Jeff and I were given an extra seat next to us, but we were split between the isle. Two by the window, and two right across the isle. It was good in the sense that Chase got to change his perspective often and lay out for naps, but not so great in the fact that Jeff and I couldn't sit together when the kids were awake at the same time and both needed attention... we couldn't easily swap responsibilities. And since my parents were up a few rows in business class, we did not have their extra set of hands. But for the most part, the kids did great and we didn't really need that much assistance.... and from traveling internationally while I nannied for a fantastic family, first leg with two kids and on the return trip we had three kids all under three years old, I will say that I had it much easier this time around. But again, the return leg might just be a beast with the kids. We will see.

What life has looked like at a glance:

Tuesday Feb 1: leave the house at 8am (late) get to the airport and get delayed an hour, with the real threat of a blizzard coming through, finally leave

Wednesday Feb 2: arrive in Tokyo at 5pm(?ish), have an hour layover (all the while missing living in Tokyo) before taking a 4 hour flight to Taipei, arrive and meet Jeff's parents and uncle at the airport, arrive at our rented apartment, unpack and go to bed at 4am

Thursday Feb 3: Wake up at 7am, meet up with Jeff's uncle and parents, go to uncle's house for lunch, go back to apartment to put Chase down for nap, Jeff, mom, dad, Mr. Tsai, Ami and me all took an excursion to Taipei 101, come back to the apartment and CRASH

Friday Feb 4: Mel stays back at apartment with Ami (she is very congested), Chase and Mrs. Tsai go to a park, Jeff, Mr. Tsai, mom and dad went to the Taipei gondola.

*plans for tonight* Jeff and Mel go to a night market, while mom and dad stay back with the kids

Adventures in Tsai-land! the Taiwan edition...

2011-02-03T17:34:00.000-08:00

Our apartment that we are renting in Taipei! Jeff looked into places a while back and found the jewel of a place. It is REALLY spacious for the city, and totally efficient, which I love :)

The living, dinning, entry, kitchen space, with lots of room for Chase to play around.
From a different angle... classy ;)

down the hall to the bedrooms and two full bathrooms!

Sun Yat-sen Memorial, we just walked by, but it was a really impressive structure (decorated with bunnies for the New Year) :)

Large Rabbit climbs the tallest building in Taipei! hehe

Just in case we didn't know where the tallest building in Taipei was, there was a street sign ;) ... doesn't it look like a big stack of Chinese take-out boxes? hehe!

Mom with a cool row of trees... we both stood there looking at them thinking the same thing, when mom said "why don't you take a picture of me with that cool tree?" ... I wanted to take a photo, but was thinking 'it needs something'... and this was it! my mom :)

Taipei 101 mall, with VERY high end retailers... the mall is build in and around around the building's gigantic supports, and is extreamly classy. Every where you look there are decorations for the New Year, yay for Year of the Rabbit! :)

Mom at the 88th floor of Taipei 101... with a cool architectural detail

My father in law pointing out parts of the city to my Dad (in his NY Yankees baseball cap of course!) and Mom

Sunet over the city from Taipei 101

that's all for now! FYI this is being posted at 10:30am in Taiwan and 8:30pm in the midwest :)

New things

2011-01-10T21:54:00.000-08:00

Jan 10 -

Chase has started to try to say Gwan-ma instead of Gama :( I have started calling Grandma Gama just so he doesn't stop saying it :)

He has started trying to say Okie-dokie and it comes out more like dokie-dokie :)... i have to get a video!

Ami is just about rolling over, and would if she didn't psyche herself out when she is just about to. She just needs to get over that balance point on her side and she would do it.

Ami also has started inch worming across the blanket on her tummy, and all the while smushing her face into the floor. She has only gotten about 6 -8 inches this way, but geez, she is moving already! Chase started inch worming on his back at 5 months, and I think Ami will be pretty much right at his speed :)

Ami plays with her feet all the time these days, and just has the most joyful disposition (for the most part). She definitely gets mad when I am not around to comfort her, and then likes to 'tell me about it' when I actually do try to console her, ha! She loves, LOVES to be played with, and surprisingly likes to be just a little bit scared while playing 'Boo!' She has a belly laugh that is so deep that it sometimes sounds like she is crying, and dimples so deep that she charms just about everyone she smiles at.

Chase has had a great time playing with and getting to know his cousins over the Holidays... but I can tell he really misses his friends in Pittsburgh. He has randomly talked about Boo Kitty, Au-bie (Aubrie), Yid-eah (Lydia), and Ms. Rachel in his frequent monologues to himself.

Ami is loving her grandparents, but getting used to me comforting her all the time from all the travel... she is really a mama's girl. :) She recently met her 'Aunt' Michele, whom she is partially named after (middle name). Michele just adores Ami, and Ami pretty much LOVED being held by Michele :) ... it was really cute.

That's all for now... there is so much going on, but to sit down and write it all out would take a lot of time which I don't have right now. I will try to get some down every day so that I don't fall as far behind as I have done lately!

My end-of-the-year resolution which will continue into this next year is to blog/journal as much as possible; to write down and look back on eventful things in the year... and so I don't forget these little things that bring me joy :)

Happy 1-11-11 to everyone out there!

Four Months!

2010-12-13T19:19:00.000-08:00

Ami is 4 months old!

She loves playing with her hands and attempts to bring things to her mouth.... and gets frustrated sometimes when she doesn't succeed :(

She smiles at just about anything, and cries at just about anything as well. hehe!

Happy 4 month birthday baby girl :)

So Thankful

2010-12-13T12:56:00.000-08:00

There are just some days that being thankful impresses itself on me more than others. Today is one of those days.

I am thankful for warmth on a very cold, snowy day.

I am thankful for my husband, who is home now and starting his new job in February. I am thankful that he has a job that can support me staying at home with our two kiddos, thankful that it helps fund my photography hobby, my attempts at being an artist and designer. And thankful that he supports me in pursuing those passions.

I am thankful that his job can provide any one of these beautiful house we are looking at where we can grow into as a family, and be near to my parents.

I am thankful for two healthy and happy children that give us so much joy and so much love.

I am thankful for Christmas music that reminds me where my heart and head should be, and also reminds me to be joyful and childlike.

I am thankful for the photographer across the street that, when her shop lights up with a strobe, it is like a reminder to be creative and to go do something. I am then thankful for crafty blogs that give me so many ideas...

I am thankful for my baby girl who is 4 months old already, and who brings my heart so much joy... and brings happiness to others too!

I am thankful for my 'big' boy, who is a little over 2, who gives me reasons each day to laugh, smile, give and receive hugs.

I am thankful for friends, who come to help, come to play and come to say 'Goodbye' but somehow that word is never mentioned... it is more like a 'we will just pretend you are not leaving, and make some excuse to come visit you' or a 'see you soon.'

I am thankful that no one threw us a surprise going away party, because honestly, I hate surprise parties. I have only had surprise parties when I was moving away as a child, so really, those parties were no fun at all. :(

So instead of saying "Goodbye" I am going to say that I am so thankful for all our friends that we have met while living in this beautiful city. Thankful for our time together, that we have hopefully all made each other better for knowing each other.

See you soon.

-----------------------------------------------------------

For those friends that are not pictured, please don't feel left out! I have been so busy experiencing this last week with friends that I keep forgetting to document it :(

I shall try harder this last week!

Happy 3 Months baby Girl :)

2010-11-10T19:54:00.001-08:00

Ami started off alright, but quickly got sad :( that is what I get for taking pics of her when she is already tired! hehe... at least she is super cute when she is crying too ;)

You found your hands about three weeks ago, and love to play, look and suck on them!

Your hair seems to get longer every day, and is especially cute when washed and all curly :)

It seems like you are getting teeth already!?! I don't know, but it looks like a ridge is starting, and it feels like one is too.... too soon baby girl, too soon! Stay a baby for as long as possible.

You have slept up to 10 hours in a night, and then promptly woke up every two hours a few nights later ;) But you average about 6 hours a night, thank you VERY much baby girl, you are so thoughtful to your Mama :)

You smile at anyone who will look at you and talk to you, but you are starting to figure out when people are not your Mama and give the fiercest cries and cartoon-like sad faces when you realize it.

You love Love LOVE getting a bath, and will stay in there for as long as I let you (just like your Mama :)), cooing and giggling and talking to me, playing with your hands and taking in everything around you.

You are pretty good at trying to track Chase when he runs by you, and when you are actually able to do it, you smile :)

I love that you smile at me with your whole body, that you want to snuggle in to me when you are tired, that you fall asleep on me when you nurse sometimes... I love being your Mama most of all, and can't wait to see what an amazing person you grow up to be... wait scratch that, stay a baby as long as possible, so I can treasure each moment I have with you for as long as possible.

Kiddo Comparisons

2010-11-04T13:38:00.000-07:00

So I got some photos of Jeff, myself and both kiddos together to see if the kids look like either of us... or like each other... but even though I see some similarities, I don't think the kdis look that much alike... I don't know, you decide! :)

Chase and Ami hours after being born

Three birthdays and a wedding!

2010-10-22T09:17:00.000-07:00

Over the last two weeks we have had lots of traveling, celebrated some Birthdays (belated and not) and a wedding!

Two weeks ago, on October 8th, my baby girl turned 2 months old! I can't believe that she has already been in this world for two and a half months! She still feels so new to me... even though I also feel like I have had her forever in my life :) I just love her so much, and it is such a treat when she looks at me and gives a huge smile and tries so, SOOO hard to talk to me :)

My parents and my Grandmother (Nana) came out to visit us for a quick trip. My Nana had lived in Pittsburgh with my Papa and aunts for quite a few years and so we drove by and visited their old house. At some point after they moved away, the owner put up a railing on the front porch and down the front stairs, but other than that, it looked pretty much the same from the outside. Nana said it was nice to see it so well taken care of... that someone else loves that house as much as she did. :)

Here are 4 generations of Titus'/Tsai's/Price's sitting in our living room in Pittsburgh... possibly for the last time they might visit us while we live here :( . Nana (age 80), my Dad (58), me (29), Chase (2) and Ami (2 months).

My parents and Nana helped me fly back to Chicago with the kiddos (I don't know how else I would have done it!) for my friend Hillary's wedding. I had responded 'yes, I will come!' to the wedding invite before I even knew how I was going to get there with two kids in tow! HA! I just knew I wanted to be there to support my good friend from High School :)

Here is a photo of Hillary, my mom and I at Hill's wedding. I don't know her husband all that well, but it seems like he is a really great guy...I am so happy for her!

I must say though... it was kind of a mad scramble trying to find an outfit for me to wear! Two months post baby does NOT let you fit into former pre-baby dresses! Luckily my mom went with me and we spend a whole day shopping and found a skirt and top for me to wear that was actually flattering to my post-baby shape! :) YAY, THANKS MOM!

Oct. 17, my hubby finally turned my age! (I am already dreading the time when I will be 30 before he will be, it just feels weird to me for some reason... must be all those preconceived social notions of having an older husband ;) !)

We celebrated at my parents house, since we were there that weekend for the wedding. We also celebrated for Chase, since my parents we not able to make it out for his actual birthday. We got an Ice Cream Cake from Coldstone (they have actual cake in the cake, unlike DQ), and celebrated after a dinner of Portillo's... Jeff's place of choice ;)

Here is a photo of Jeff, Ami and me at the wedding... all dressed up and looking nice ;)

Happy Mother's Day/Christmas to Me!

2010-09-30T10:38:00.000-07:00

Yes, Yes... I know it is October... but back around mother's day, I came across a super cool website (which I can't seem to find anymore, otherwise I would post the link) and saw these cool business cards for moms. 'Cause when you are at the playground and meet another mom that you want to connect with, there is just never time to write down someone's info (if you even have a pen and paper!). I sent it along to Jeff in the hopes he would 'gift' it to me ;)... and then totally forgot about it with everything that has been going on this past year. So last week, Jeff whipped these out as an early Christmas present/belated Mother's Day gift for me :) YAY!

Speaking of some things that I would love to have as gifts, because I wouldn't buy them for myself and I would be afraid I would never use them :( are:

A sewing dress form... something about having a dress form in a room just seems COOL... sigh.

Cool boots

(Although I never know what I would wear with them :( )

Things I would love to have as gifts for the kids:

Handmade wooden teethers, rattles and toys... so beautifully made!

And, of course, these cute things

(the leggings, not the baby... I've got one of those already!):

Just some things I drool over ;)

Happy Birthday Chase :)

2010-09-29T13:24:00.000-07:00

Happy 2nd Birthday to my baby boy!

You came into the world on September 26th

at 3:38am

weighed 6lbs

and were 18 inches long

and I loved you from the start...

(Password Chase1)

Chase is 2! from Mel Tsai on Vimeo.

A Birthday Slideshow for Chase :)

What's up Doc?

2010-09-15T14:03:00.001-07:00

Speaking of doctors - kind of - this past summer we learned that Chase was allergic to Cashews. Eeek! Scary to have to deal with, and it wasn't even that serious on the 'reaction' scale!

The doc prescribed an Eppi (sp?) pen for me to carry around in case his allergic reaction would ever get more severe, and wrote me a script to get Chase's blood taken and tested for other nut allergies.... I don't know HOW he thinks I am going to get an almost 2 year old to sit and get his blood drawn, but he was as insistent as I have ever seen him to get him tested. I guess it really would cut our worrying in half if we knew exactly what to avoid and/or the various levels of allergy to each type of nut. I wonder if Ami will have any types of food allergies?

The last two weekends have been jam-packed full of fun :) I really love doing these things, it is just such a bummer that I get so exhausted from all of it :( Last weekend we went to Chuck-E-Cheese to scope it out as a potential Birthday party site for Chase and Asher's shared Birthdays. (Asher is the oldest child of our friends the Keiths, Asher and Chase were both born on Sept 26th, 2008!) But it was all a bit much, especially for kiddos that really don't even stay on the rides for more than 2 seconds. I think it was more for the Dads that liked the concept (and playing the games) than the kids. We did a joint birthday party last year for the boys at a park (cowboy themed), but the day was rainy and cold :( it was the first day like that last year, it was just a bummer that it was on the boy's birthday! I would love to just have it at a park again, but am afraid that the weather might turn on us again :(

Also last weekend we went to our first baseball game(s) as a family of four! Let me explain... We went on Sunday with our good friends Rachel and Brendan Kelly, and then, because it was a Holiday and the Pirates were having another afternoon game on Monday, we called up our good friends the Keiths and got them to go to another game with us. I must say, we got the BEST seats for toddlers on Sunday and then got the same ones again on Monday. After the game we walked around the river (a bit too much walking for me :( I still haven't worked out too much since Ami's birth, and really am out of shape!), saw an old Military Ship from D-day... so amazing. Walked through Heinz Field, which was open for the BBQ festival or some such thing, and came home to collapse!

Tuesday was laundry, recovering, and Jeff's late class day.

Wednesday was Bible Study day.

Thursday was Ami's check up and Chase's nut allergy consultation day... and that afternoon we headed off to another adventure!

Jeff and Micah (Keith) took Friday off of work, and we all went to the Laurel Highlands for the Highland Games (Scottish Festival). Friday we spent at a great local park, with bricked walking/biking trails, lakes and paddle boat rentals. We walked/biked around, ate lunch there and went back to the hotel for the kiddos to take their naps. That night we ate at Texas Roadhouse - a staple from my college days! - It was a bit of heaven to have those warm rolls and sweet butter again :)

Saturday was the actual festival, and it was pretty interesting, there were more people there than I expected, but less to do (I guess I was expecting more of a 'Renaissance Fair' type of a thing). They had huge guys in kilts throwing hammers, and a caber toss - although we missed the caber toss :( Most of the Scottish breeds of dogs were present, with doggie activities and agility courses. There was Highland dancing, which looked similar to Irish Dance, but using arms also. It was just nice to get outside, walk around in the beautiful weather and hang out with some great friends! (Brendan was actually able to meet us out there and hang out with all of us too! YAY!)

On another note, I started cloth diapering the kiddos again. This is week three, although we 'cheated' with disposables for our weekend away... it seems to be going well though. When I have Chase in cloth he really seems to pay more attention to when he has to 'go' and will sometimes tell me. He has told me three times in the last two days that he has had to 'peepees.' Two of those times he was totally naked, but I guess it was good that he told me before he went in the hallway! I just stuck him in the tub for those times, and then rinsed him off. Maybe he just likes standing up versus the sit-down potty method? We shall see :)

Silly boy, he wanted to wear Ami's new Columbia Jacket (size 6months!) and he fit in it! He also needed to keep it on while playing with bubbles, water and ice ;) silly silly kiddo.

Happy 1 Month (and a week!) Birthday Ami :)

2010-09-15T12:32:00.000-07:00

So my baby girl is now a month old! (Technically, as I am writing this she is one month, one week and 20 or so hours old.) Last week was super hectic so I never got around to writing anything down... I am trying to get better at this blogging thing, because I STINK at journaling, and seem to be better at recording our lives this way :)

She is becoming so smiley! She has been smiling since she was three days old, but would only smile about once a day, if that. Now, every time she is awake and not fussy, she is trying out various facial positions.... some of the faces she makes are really funny, I just wish I could have a camera in my retina to capture what I am seeing! Because she really never seems to want to smile when I ACTUALLY have the camera!

We went to the doc for our 1 month check up last Friday, and baby girl is looking great! :) She weighted in at a WHOPPING 7lbs 14oz... I guess I just create gigantic children ;) Some of my friends and family have birthed children at that weight, not waited a month for them to get to that weight! ;)

The past two nights Ami has slept about 6 1/2 hours at night (from 10:30pm-5am) and it has been WONDERFUL. Good job baby doll! You seriously got your sleeping skills/needs from your Mama (before kids, of course!). She seems to really be growing and getting bigger every day. Her legs are starting to loose the newborn fetal 'scrunch,' and straightening out when she is awake. Her eyes were trying to track me around the kitchen yesterday :). And her arms and legs are starting to really get some chunk on them ... at least as chunky as a tiny peanut of a girl can get. :) love love love her so much!

Happy one month birthday :)

Favorite Expressions by Chase:

2010-08-30T08:23:00.000-07:00

"Day go, Mama!" = there you go, Mama!

"Uh Oh Me!" = Chase is doing something that is 'uh oh'

"Mon! Mon!" = Come on, follow me!

"Duk!" = Stuck or Truck or Duck... depending on the context

"Oh....My!" = He looks at his mess and exclaims it ;)

"Ase, Ase" while patting his chest = Chase saying his name because he wants something (he kind of put it together with the word 'please' in sign language), now used mostly when he wants to hold Ami :)

"Doo!" = Two, anything more than one is two in his mind... a flock of birds is 'Doo!' and a pair of shoes is 'Doo shoos!'

"Ai Ni" = 'Wo Ai Ni' which means 'I love you' in Chinese

Chase, you are so loving and kind... I can tell even though you are just a toddler. You love your little sister, even though you sometimes want to drive trucks on her head, or sit on her while she is in her bouncy seat.

I love how your hair makes one big curl at the back, while the rest of your hair just goes wild :)

I love how active you are, even though it makes me tired to chase after you. You are so coordinated and agile, I rarely have to worry about you falling or getting into scrapes. I really need to put you into some type of sport or tumbling! I love how you can kick or throw a ball with surprising accuracy. I love how chill you are with sharing toys (for the most part!), or having them taken from you. A calm spirit is a virtue! I understand when you get frustrated sometimes, because you can't do things that Mama can - balancing toys, rolling play-doh into balls, working the tv correctly. I hope I can help teach you patience :)

I love you, you will always be my buddy, my little man, my Chase-boy :)

Password: Chase1

Chase and his Trains from Mel Tsai on Vimeo.

A snippet into our afternoon... Trains, trucks, and conversation with Mama. :)

Ami's got CURLS!?!?!

2010-08-27T10:07:00.000-07:00

If I were one of those girls who squealed with delight and danced in little circles, I think I would be doing that right now...

except I am NOT, nor will I ever be...

So I took A BUNCH of photos...

That is more my style :)

We are planning to go to B**Rs tonight (a social event at Tepper), to show off the kiddos to Jeff's classmates and co-workers. And I thought "hey, I should totally wash Ami's hair, because she hasn't had a bath for two weeks." Side note: Please don't assume I should be put under the 'bad mom' category, because hey, babies really don't get dirty, and they cry a LOT when they are naked (at least mine do), so the less baths, the more I keep my sanity, just sayin'.

But anyway, her hair is just kind of greasy from my fingers needing to stroke it all the time, I seriously HAVE to touch her thick black hair every time I am holding her. So after Chase and I got all cleaned up for the day, I decided to give her a quick scrub down. Ami's hair has been a bit wavy, and so I was already thinking in my head how fun it would be if it was curly, but not really thinking it would ever come true, with my stick straight hair of childhood, and Jeff's straight as a Kooshball hair, I figured there was no way...

and then I added shampoo...

and oh my, those curls just started popping up left and right! Thick, tight little curls all over her head! :) I love, LOVE, LOVE them!

I really hope they stay.

I really don't know how to work with curly hair though, I am going to have to get pointers from my friend Kim, who has crazy awesome curly hair.

The sides of her hair are already starting to flatten from even just taking the photos, and I guess it is probably just a matter of time before the top of her head is straight again from me touching her gorgeous black hair.

Please don't go away curls, I really, REALLY want you to stay :)

Two and a Half weeks into it ;)

2010-08-25T14:20:00.000-07:00

At this moment....

Chase is running circles in our living room saying "Whoa, Whoa!"

Ami is sleeping in the Moses basket, which is on the chair-and-a-half

Blue's Clues is playing on Netflix - so convenient, and I forgot what a great kids show that was until this week!

I am typing here...

So, I am over two weeks into this whole 'mom of two kids' thing, and I have to say, it is sometimes easier than I expect, and then it is sometimes much MUCH more difficult than I expect. But above all, it is so incredible to have these two kiddos that are so amazing and wonderful.

Chase is doing so well with the transition, he has been a bit more whiny lately (but that was to be expected) and has tried to head-butt and sit on Ami a few times, and for the most part, I am there to stop it before it happens. But in general, he loves 'Bibi' Ami, and has to give her kisses whenever he sees her. It really is so incredibly sweet to see :)

Ami seems to be adjusting to life in our crazy busy house. She can sleep through most things while in her Moses basket, and can sleep crazy deep when I put her in Chase's crib. I think it must be the white noise of the fan, as well as the fact that Chase cannot get at her while she is in the crib ;)

Today is my 3rd day without any help around the house. Monday went fantastic, with the kiddos sleeping great, no real tantrums, and I got to nap while both the kids were sleeping in the afternoon. Tuesday was more difficult, more whining, more tantrums - although Chase's tantrums are really not all that bad compared to most - Jeff had an evening class, so he didn't get home until after 10pm (7am - 10pm was quite a long time to be by 'myself') and I think the worst thing of all was that I wasn't able to get a nap in... And I am still sorely in need of a nap a day, which I keep forgetting, and I also keep forgetting that my body needs to still recover from having a baby two weeks ago. I was so exhausted last night that I think I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow!

Today I made a point to make it to my Bible Study group, and got up at 6am to make it happen. I really hope that I don't have to get up that early to make it to things in the future! Hopefully I will become more efficient and just be able to get up when the kiddos do... which is around 7:30... and another hour or so of sleep goes a long way!

Happy 1 week Birthday, Ami Michele!

2010-08-15T15:07:00.000-07:00

You were born at 4:25am

Weighed 6lbs 4oz

19 inches long

with a full head of black hair!

You waited for your Baba to get home from Chicago before you decided to come, good girl!

You decided to come pretty fast though, in only two and a half hours... but Mama is thankful

In seconds you learned how to breath

immediately you recognized your Baba and Mama's voices

within minutes you learned how to nurse

in hours you were aware and calm with your hair being washed

and in an instant you had Baba wrapped around your itty bitty finger

in three days you gave Mama your first smile

after a week, Chase still calls you "Bibi," but now also calls you "Tiny"

you smile in your sleep when he kisses your head

You are so wonderfully and fearfully made

for God knit you together in my womb

and I am in awe at this gift He has given us

You are a miracle

you are beautiful

you are our Ami Michele

and we love you so much!

A BUSY Summer

2010-07-26T14:57:00.000-07:00

Life has been pretty busy lately, with:

1) Jeff's internship with Deloitte in Chicago this summer

2) Jeff, Chase and I moving in with my parents for 8 weeks

3) Family functions GALORE!

4) Being Pregnant

5) Having an active toddler ;)

6) Losing a good friend

So basically I have not blogged for QUITE a while... Which makes it difficult to sit down and try to share all that has been going on. First off, there have been some 'scares' in this pregnancy, which I have not wanted to publicly share since it was not until recently that baby and I were 'cleared' and approved for a normal pregnancy/birth. They basically thought there was an aneurysm on the umbilical artery, which is VERY rare, and in most cases, the outcome for the baby is, shall we say, not good. They have kept track of it, via ultrasounds, over the months, and the last appointment I had basically showed that there was no growth of this 'thing' and that it was so insignificant that if they had not seen it in the first place, they wouldn't have noticed it now! Can we say "THANK YOU JESUS!" Prayer has become a much more regular thing with this pregnancy, and for that I am glad, trust is such a big thing, especially in the face of the very scary unknown.

The next thing that has been going on with this pregnancy is that, with all these ultrasounds, we have been able to keep track of the baby's growth rate. And when first 'scored' she was in the 50th percentile, more recently she was between 26-28%. For the midwives and the MFMs (high risk OBGYNs, for those of you not familiar with the term... I had no idea they existed before this pregnancy), it is something to note, but not necessarily something to be overly concerned about. Since 1) I am small and most of Jeff's family is small and 2) Chase was only 6lbs at birth, which means that I might just make small babies (good for birthing, mind you!).

The only thing is, that with Chase, my fluid levels were shockingly low (2cm), and I was going to have to be induced with him. But by the grace of God, I went into labor spontaneously the night before they were to induce me, and I didn't have to take any drugs. (I had planned a Birth Center birth from the beginning, and never dreamed I would have to get induced!)

Because of this history with Chase, they have been monitoring my fluid levels as well with all these ultrasounds. Two weeks ago, the day after I traveled back to Pittsburgh from my parents house in IL, I went in for an ultrasound and my fluid levels were at 8.7-8.9cm. (For those of you not familiar, a typical range of fluid levels go from 5cm-25cm. Anything between 5 and 10cm is on the low side, and usually needs to be monitored.) I went in for a follow up ultrasound 4 days later, and my fluid level had rose to 11.1cm. Which convinced us that I had been dehydrated, probably because of the move back to Pittsburgh, the packing/unpacking and the intense heat we were having that week.

Just today, at my now weekly check up with my Midwives, I measured small again :(

That could mean a couple of things, 1) I am dehydrated, which I am almost positive I am, and have been thinking it since the weekend, or 2) I just get low fluid levels at the end of my pregnancies, but which would have to be addressed. I am supposed to schedule an ultrasound for as soon as I can... but I think I am going to try to schedule it on Saturday or after, that way Jeff will be done with his Internship program and if anything comes of the ultrasound results, then he will be here.

Me: 38.5 weeks pregnant:

On another note, we suddenly lost a good friend of our family, Roark. He has basically been an uncle to me my entire life. My parents were friends with him in High School, and he is the only person to have actually visited us in every city we have lived in. He has been such a big part of our lives that to loose him so suddenly by pulmonary embolism (blood clot in the heart) was a huge shock. The worst part of it for me was that there really was no practical way for me to get to Milwaukee, where the Memorial Service and Mass were held. While the Midwives couldn't have stopped me, they couldn't promise that I wouldn't have this baby somewhere along the road while driving there. At 38.5 weeks pregnant, it was just a bit too much to do. Plus, I gave birth to Chase at 38.5 weeks, and had already been dehydrated from one long car drive. Not to mention the emotional stress that I know would come about from being there. It hurt me a lot to have to stay here, but I know Roark would have been the first person to step up and tell me not to risk such a thing. He was such a giving and generous person with such a big heart for everyone. He was greatly loved and will be sorely missed. I love you so much Roark, it is just too hard to say good-bye.

Adventures in Tsai-land

2010-05-04T10:31:00.000-07:00

'Adventures' of the day so far -

1. Getting stuck in a pampers box and screaming at the top of your lungs "Tuk! TUK!"

2. Pulling LARGE pregnancy books off the side table because you saw the brand new Kleenex box on top, and subsequently emptying the box of all Kleenexes

3. While Mama was picking up the Kleenexes, you got into the diaper bag, pulled out the wallet and proceeded to pull out all the credit cards and empty the coin purse

4. Climbing into the dryer as Mama put laundry in the washer, and figuring out how to stand on the 'blades' in such a way to make the dryer spin a little... and saying "WEEEEEEEEEEeeeee!" as you did it

5. So Mama put you on the deck to keep you busy while she was trying to get lunch together, and you pointed the hose toward the house and pulled the handle, spraying water EVERYWHERE in the kitchen then walking inside and slipping on the wet wood, and screaming in frustration that something made you fall

6. While Mama was cleaning up the water in her kitchen, the phone rang and she had to try to reschedule an appointment, of course, since she was on the phone, you wanted her attention, so you stepped back inside, slipped AGAIN on the wet wood floor that Mama hadn't been able to quite clean up yet, started screaming again and wanting to be held all while Mama is still on the phone with this lady and needing to get upstairs to the Google Calendar to double check all this scheduling stuff... so Mama had to take you upstairs screaming in one ear, while this lady was waiting patiently on the phone in the other ear and finally got things figured out as you squirmed and screamed in her lap in front of the computer.

All between 10 and 11am

When people ask what I 'DO' in a day, it kind of frustrates me, because what is there that I DON'T do? It takes so much time to keep the house from looking like a wrecking ball has gone through it (aka Chase), and trying to teach Chase how to help clean up a mess he made...

I get a bit frustrated.

It's a good thing I love my son and husband, because the good days, the fun days, the days where it seems laughter is endless, those are the days that makes days like today worth it.

***I edited this post from earlier, since the 'dishes' comment that Jeff made has only happened ONE time in the FOUR years of marriage, but it happened this weekend, so it was on my mind and I just added it into my rant. I love you hubby, sorry to include you in my rant at people that don't understand how hard it is to be a stay-at-home mom. You do, and you support me without end. I love you, forgive me?***

Chase and Asher - Best Buds

2010-04-29T17:49:00.000-07:00

Chase and Asher (the son of our friend's Sarah and Micah) have been hanging out a lot lately and are really having a great time together! Here is a collage of some of their adventures together:

1. Throwing balls off the deck 2. Visiting the Zoo, and seeing the lions 3. Wondering how to get all those balls they just threw off the deck! 4. Chase in his Chinese outfit for International Festival at Tepper 5. Chase and Asher wanting to sit together in their PJs :) 6. Watching the Elephants together at the Zoo 7. Fitting under the table together, just because it seemed like a fun thing to do! 8. Asher in his Chinese outfit for Int'l Festival at Tepper 9. The boys again sitting together in the chair 10. Before crawling under the table, they were picking at leaves stuck between the deck boards :)

Forbidden City and Engrish :)

2010-03-08T15:29:00.000-08:00

So in our excursions around Beijing so far, we have encountered a few signs, advertisements and products that don't quite get the same message across in English... here is one (just for you Micah and Sarah!). It also looked a bit more runny and had some bubbles in the bottom, needless to say, Jeff and I stayed away from the 'tomato sauce' when eating our fries that night:

Also that night, at the American themed Steakhouse:

Could you read it? In talking about the steak preparation: "...We have developed our very own foolproof way of cooking a steak perfectly every time, using a thermometer to measure the temperature inside the steak is 'just-right.' The result... a nutritious, scrumptious steak to die for!" REALLY? This steakhouse developed a meat thermometer! WOW! They should get a prize for that one.... I think Jeff said that night that their meat thermometer is probably patient pending ;)

On to some more of the cultural sites... the FORBIDDEN CITY (or the not-so-forbidden city anymore, as you can see by the crowds that are still in attendance on a freezing winter day).

That day, Sunday, we walked to the subway and took the metro a few stops over to the station south of Tian' Anmen Square. Stepping out above ground we saw to the south of us a newly renovated (since Jeff had been here 5 years ago) historical looking street with newer shops on the lower levels. This is pretty much what every 'China Town' in the USA strives to look like... and it had a Hagen Daas ;)
To the north of the subway station was Tian' Anmen Square, which is absolutely the biggest flat paved square of land I have ever seen. The square houses the tomb of Mao Zedong and a few other monuments, as well as a huge Chinese flag that is guarded by at least 6 guards facing North, South, East and West, a 500+ ft perimeter that is roped off and also has guards stationed. To enter the square, they also had guards posted with metal detectors and wands. Jeff didn't remember this from his last trip here, but I remembered in a conversation with one of the resident professors that he had mentioned that Congress is in session here in Beijing. I guess it only happens once a year, so I am figuring they are doing some extra security measures to their important monuments.

We walked north across Tian' Anmen Square to the Gates of the Forbidden City, paid for tickets and an audio guide (I would definitely recommend it to anyone visiting), and headed with the masses of tour groups into the main square.

One of the guardian dogs, the female - notice the cub under her paw, in front of the Gate of Supreme Harmony. You wouldn't believe how long it took me, standing there, to get a photo with no one walking through!

Notice the crowds? Here I am in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony... as Jeff mentioned, this place has a lot of harmony going on. I have my audio guide and my 'North Face' hat that was purchased at the Great Wall, best purchase of the trip so far since it has been one of the coldest winters in Beijing, like EVER.

Forbidden City 2

2010-03-08T15:12:00.000-08:00

Less info, more photos... Here is the Hall of Supreme Harmony where the Emperor would hold court. This building had the most decoration of any of the surrounding buildings, specifically the number of sculptures on the corner of each of the roofs number 11, any of the surrounding buildings would have less than that number or incur the wrath of the Emperor, or some such thing.

A gold bas relief of dragons on one of the doors of the Hall of Supreme Harmony.
The throne in the Hall of Supreme Harmony.
The outer doors toward the back of the Hall of Supreme Harmony
The Nine Dragon Screen Wall, is one of the most famous sights in the Forbidden City. It is an extremely detailed large-piece mosaic of hand carved ceramic tiles. Each Dragon is unique in its features and each tile is an original. There is one portion of the white dragon (shown in this photo) that is made of wood, there are various legends surrounding the 'why' and 'how' of the carved wood tile... all on the audio guide :) Here is a tree in the Imperial Garden. Most of the trees are supposed to be 300-400 years old, and are really pretty amazing to look at. I think Jeff and I both agreed that this was our favorite part of the Imperial Palace.
The emperor's personal rock climbing wall! No, seriously, it was. The only way you could get to the top was to climb, so once a year on a certain holiday, the Emperor and his concubines would climb to the top. There was no water pipes at that time, so they rigged some type of gravitational water device so the dragon fountains would spew water. There were other 'rockeries' around the garden, but none as massive as this one.
As we were exiting the city by the north gate, this was a detailed corner on one of the 20+ foot doors.
I have TONS more photos of things inside the City, but I thought I should keep it to a minimum, especially since we are paying for internet per minute here in the hotel. I might have to do a recap of our trip once I am home featuring photos I haven't shown yet... since I just realized I didn't upload any with Jeff from that day! Whoops, sorry Hubby!

Planning to make it to the Temple of Heaven today, by myself, if it is not too cold outside... if it is too cold, I might just take another nap :)

The Great Wall, and a Few Great Naps!

2010-03-06T06:51:00.001-08:00

Yesterday, instead of going to that bookstore I mentioned, I ended up going back to the room and crashing. I think I slept for around 3 hours, just in time to wake up and meet up with Jeff, Sylvia (Jeff's boss) and Professor Bao Hung Sun. Professor Sun took us to a wholesale Market that most of the locals go to for purses, trinkets, jewelry, clothes and TONS of other things. Jeff and I found a couple of things there, but nothing really unique. Then we took a cab to the Silk and Pearl Markets, which are both indoor at the same place. An interesting thing about most of the markets now is that for the Olympic Games the city tried to ‘clean up’ a lot of the street vendors, and so built buildings on the site of the original markets to create more of a mall type experience (if you think going through narrow aisles and getting grabbed or having clothing pushed into your view is a ‘mall experience’). We got a few things at this market though because it was more geared toward tourists and had more of the ‘Chinese’ style things. I actually was able to purchase 100% silk brocade fabrics, a yard of each, so I might have some sewing projects up my sleeve in the future.

Today (Saturday) we took an excursion to the Great Wall of China with a guide (her name was Lotus), driver, Sylvia, Jeff and myself. We went to the less touristy spot of the wall that was an hour and a half outside of Beijing by car. We arrived at the wall very early, about 10:15am, before most of the crowds started funneling in. They built a gondola lift so that you can go to the top of the wall, saving your energy for hiking the actual wall, and not wasting yourself on the steep climb up. It was pretty tricky footing in parts, but since this section has been restored, it is in very good shape otherwise. I took a lot of photos and took it easy, I was getting easily winded by the altitude, my asthma and the fact that I am pregnant. Jeff and Sylvia decided to hike up to the highest watch tower on our section of the wall, there was one part that was about 5 stories (Sylvia lost count around 500 stairs) straight up of stairs… needless to say, I stayed at the lower part! I took photos of their little ant sized bodies as they climbed up and away from me… I will see if I can zoom in on some of those to see them more clearly.

Here we go, this is the same photo as above, Jeff is in the black coat and khaki pants, and Sylvia is in green. They went up the the second guard tower from the top, the wall above the guard tower with the 'rails' along the stairs is in disrepair, so you can't go higher than that.

Jeff and I at the wall, Lotus took our photo.

After the wall, we went to lunch at a greenhouse-like restaurant. There were plants all around with a water fountain, and we were served at a table with wicker chairs. There were some interesting, and tasty, vegetable dishes, that my stomach is telling me may not have been ALL vegetarian. It is difficult to find vegetarian things here, and some places think that ‘vegetarian’ means just vegetables, but might have a beef or chicken stock or sauce base. Those are the dishes that I figure out a few hours later that something was not quite right :(

After lunch we went to a tea house and had a tea demonstration. It was very much like how I imagine a wine tasting to be like (since I have never been to one, I really have no idea, but I think it was similar). We were able to taste about 5 teas, see some ‘tricks’ that the hosts would do with color changing mugs and whatnot, and of course the entire time they are marketing their products that they conveniently walk you to after the ‘tea ceremony.’ I must say though, loving tea, this was some of the best tea I have had in a long time. Probably because it is so fresh, and they know at which temperatures each tea should be steeped at and how long. We ended up buying a few things of course ;)

After all that, Sylvia and I came back to the hotel, while Jeff ran out to do an errand for work. I started downloading photos, but since it said it would take about 15 or so minutes to upload I laid down a promptly fell asleep again. I woke up an hour or so later and Jeff and I went out to the connected upscale mall to grab something to eat. We walked around, then went outside, but didn’t stay out for long, as most of the stores were closing up and it was getting fairly windy and cold.

At 11pm our time, 9am Chicago time, I was finally able to video chat with my parents and Chase! It was so wonderful to be able to see my little buddy again, even through a screen! He didn’t know what to make of it at first, but then got to kissing the screen and playing peek-a-boo. It was the best thing I think I could have had before going to bed tonight.

I love this adventure in China, but I miss my little guy so much, I wish I could have the best of both worlds, but a 17 month old on an international flight with jet lag and everything would have been stressful for EVERYONE involved. Thank you mom and dad for watching Chase, it means so much that I know he is in loving hands while we are away.

Jeff, Chase and I at O'Hare before we left.

First Days in China

2010-03-04T16:34:00.000-08:00

It has been a bit of a whirlwind trip so far, with a 14 hour plane ride, and a 14 hour time difference (from Chicago). It was cramped in Economy Class and Jeff and I are seriously considering upgrading to business class if the price is not too steep. Jeff can barely fit into those seats with his 6' frame.

About hour 6 I started asking Jeff when we would get there :). It was nice that the plane had personal tvs in the headrests so we could watch movies, listen to music or track the plane as it moved across the globe. Flying over the mountains in Syberia was kind of cool. We had middle seats, and so only got to look out the window when going to the bathroom. I felt fine during the flight, thirsty and got a foot cramp, but other than that felt fine (Baby Ginkgo was moving a lot during the flight, maybe it was the engine noises).

After landing and going through customs, we met up with Jeff's boss who was on the same flight (but in Business Class) and had a hired driver take us an hour to the hotel through the outskirts and then the inner city of Beijing. It was pretty surreal while we were arriving, there was a dense fog (smog? it smelled like I was inhaling plastic fumes, thanks super sensitive pregnancy nose!) over the city, and the sever industrial architecture of some of the city made it feel dominating and opressive. But then we saw more structures that were clearly designed to awe and show what a powerhouse China is becoming.

Our hotel is, in short, Amazing! The Grand Hyatt Beijing http://www.beijing.grand.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/index.jsp our room overlooks the water fountain that is in the main circular pull-around. The room, though small (Asian size!) is delux everything, I really REALLY wish I could have this bathroom... I will have to take photos for future renovations ;) HA!

We only had about 30min after arriving at the airport to quickly shower and change before we had to head out to go to dinner. Dinner ended up being VERY nice. With traditional Chinese food, Peking duck, vegetarian options and the best home made noodles I have ever tasted (seriously!). We had our own private room for the Bosch people, the professors and research people that are putting this thing on here (about 14 were there, including me). I had to wear jeans, because I didn't bring any other pants (can't fit in nice regular pants anymore, and pregnancy pants are too big for me yet, so I have this one pair of jeans that fit right now!) but it was alright, especially since I was a spouse, and sitting at dinner, you can't see my pants anyway! At least that is what I told myself! :)

I have not seen or heard or held by baby boy since Wednesday at 11am, and it is 9am here on Friday. I am missing his little noises and hugs. I miss his way of yelling 'Mama! Mama! Mama!' until I asking him what's up, and he just looks at me strangely, runs on his way and starts yelling 'Mama, Mama!' again :). I think it is just his catch all word for 'hey cool, look at this' and 'Yay, I am having fun' and 'Mama, look at me!'

Right now I am at the business center in the hotel and being charged by the minute, so I should wrap this up, but when I get some time on Jeff's computer where I can upload photos and put them up here I will.

Our tentative plan right now is to go to the Great Wall tomorrow (Saturday) and the Forbidden City on Sunday. Also a great thing about this hotel is that it is literally two or so blocks away from the Forbidden City, some great parks, a night market, a SUPER upscale mall (think Burbury and Rolex and a Astin Martin (sp?) dealership and more along with a McDonalds, HA!). There is an international bookstore somewhere around here that I might try to find this morning while Jeff is working... but we will see, it is cold outside, and I kind of want a nap ;)

2010-02-23T18:49:00.000-08:00

The Creative part of me just needs to DO something... and so I search blogs and find all this fun stuff that is PRACTICAL!?! I mean, me, a fine art student doing something that is functional? Who would have thought!

Here are some recent 'finds'... aka: what I want to make!

Should be fun now that I have some Amy Butler fabric on the way! YAY!

Teaching myself how to sew!

2009-12-06T07:42:00.000-08:00

So, even though I kind of knew how to sew before this year, it was mainly only hemming my pants of taking shirt straps up... This year I became a bit more adventurous :)

I decided that I didn't want to spend $40+ on a nursing cover when it look SOOO easy to make! So I did a bit of research, found a free pattern (tweaked it of course, because I just can't leave anything as it... gotta put my own stamp of creativity on it, or something) and 'whipped' this puppy out in about 2 weeks...

I know, two weeks doesn't sound fast, but when your baby boy is crawling and attempting to ingest pins, needles, fabric straps and chew on scissors... the sewing time is limited to nap times and after bed time (which half of the times I either needed to do household chores, or wanted to veg out).

So long story short, this probably only took me a total of 3-5 hours TOPS... and that is mainly because I am super slow with everything creative and would stop mid process to research a better hem, or a better way to turn a corner... here is what I did :)

Fabric is cut, strap is sewn and ready to be attached to the main swatch of fabric, pins EVERYWHERE!

Detail of the pockets (not on all nursing covers, thought it might be handy, kind of is sometimes). I also added a bit of burp rag to the corners, cause Chase always seemed to detach himself more when we were in public and a burp rag would have been useful at those times.

close up of the neck strap

After sewing! YAY it actually worked! Sometimes I really do surprise myself! :)

Detail of the finished pocket and improved finished corner

Detail of the Over-all clasp, I thought it would be an easier feature than having to thread two D rings every time I needed to nurse... and I was right :) Super easy to use. You can also see the insert of boning in the front area.

Finished product with my funky pattern! You can see here how the boning is used to keep the fabric away from the neck so Mama can see her baby :)

Used it SOOOO much during the summer months, and wish I would have made it sooner to get more use of it... Oh well, I will just have to wait for our next kid to get full use of it :)

Ahh... Young Love ;)

2009-11-24T18:15:00.000-08:00

We watched Chase's girlfriend Lydia the other day... and OH MY did they have a BLAST together.... no kidding, these kiddos didn't want to be apart for one minute!

Here they are chasing each other up and down the hallway, from room to room! :)

Even though it was SUPER cold, I walked them to the park since they were starting to get stir crazy being inside all day...

Hey Mama, I'M HAVIN' FUN!

Lydia didn't know what to do with the leaves at first, but then really liked the way they made noise when she smacked them :)

Here they are in action!

Awww, what a beautiful little girl...

Here we are, packing up to go... and what does Chase do?

He goes in for a KISS!!!

Lydia gets a little shy... :)

Here is the little cutie pie having fun with me (and watching the traffic go by) as Chase took a nap...

What a sweet little girl... makes me want to have one ;)

I must say though, having two kids (the same age) on rotating nap schedules was challenging... but wow, did we have tons of fun (and tons of GIGGLES!)!

Talyor 5 Year Reunion

2009-11-24T17:59:00.000-08:00

Has it seriously been that long?!? or... has it ONLY been 5 years?!? I don't know which describes it better... but it seems weird that chapter of our lives is now being marked by '5 year' increments.

Here are two of my lovely roommates... who are two of my closest friends (sorry I never call you guys)

Here is a pic I just found from our college days! Sorry Shan, I can't find a digital one of you :( I guess I will have to scan all my negatives in one of these days (wasn't life before digital so, so... stone age?!?) But here is our other roomie Jen :) YAY JEN!

(oh my goodness! Do I actually have some color?? aka - days before the dermatologist)

Chase met up with Lucas, who is a month(?) younger and like 110th Percentile... ahh, Chase, you are destined to be tall someday, I just know it... at least taller than your Mama! :)

Of course, they both wouldn't look at the camera at the same time (ANY TIME) but they were super cute playing together among the college students who watched them like they were a rare species... which I guess you COULD consider babies a rarity on a campus ;)

Lucas' mom texting in the background, as she and I 'herd' the boys away from the non-baby-proofed bulletin boards where brightly colored tacks were conveniently placed at child level... thanks college students! ;)

I didn't get to take any other photos of the weekend, as I was busy running after our little guy... but it was fun to see old friends and professors :)

Happy Birthday again...

2009-10-14T19:12:00.000-07:00

To my baby boy, I love you with all my heart

Chase's 1st Birthday Slideshow from Mel Tsai on Vimeo.

Happy Birthday

2009-10-14T12:32:00.000-07:00

To my baby boy:

You sure are silly...

especially when you go for something as yummy as cake with cream cheese frosting

and then you cry because you got it on your face, and your hands are now sticky with it

you cry and cry (demand, is a better word) that Mama wipe it off, and PRONTO!

oh, but look, your buddy Asher (who shares your birthday), is calmly plugging away at decimating his little cake, can you watch and copy what he is doing?

no, oh no... you won't touch it anymore... so Mama takes pity on you, you teary-eyed, pitiful, helpless thing, and feeds you your birthday cake a bite at a time

yeah... 'see!?!' you say... 'that's more like it, I can have my cake, and have you feed it to me too'

Silly quirky son of mine, I hope you had a wonderful first birthday!

love always, your Mama

Urban Baby

2009-09-17T06:53:00.000-07:00

Sometimes mama gets a thought in her head to do 'interesting' photo shoots, and I gotta say "Mama, what are you thinking?!?"

But then I get happy 'cause Mama makes silly faces and noises... SO BIG!

And laugh 'cause she rolls in the grass with me...

But then it goes on too long, it gets kind of get boring... and stuff on the ground is SOOO much more interesting than Mama's noises...

with the engrossing task of using this new jean jacket as a teether... the city buses that drive by and make loud machine sounds are {also} more fun to watch...

While the pre-rush hour traffic goes by, Kung Fu is sometimes in order...

but above all, trying to pretend Mama {the photographer} does not exist, is my goal especially when the photo shoot should have been done a LONG time ago...

And so ends our {somewhat} unsuccessful Urban Baby photo shoot *sigh*

I think I will have to try again, when the beginning of rush hour is NOT happening...