celebrating no. 9

To celebrate nine years, we actually got a babysitter and went out on a date, just the two of us. It's kind of a rarity...definitely something we should work on. 

We ate at Stella's in Lyme, which did not disappoint. I filled myself so full of calamari, shrimp linguine and creme bulee that I was sick for the next 24 hours. It was worth it. There just isn't space in my stomach right now!

And here you have the second picture of just me and Ryan in 2012. We'll work on that too.

jiu

About a week ago, we were driving in the car with one of Ryan's classmates, who is from China. Somehow it came up that we were celebrating our ninth wedding anniversary and she got extremely excited for us. 

Apparently, nine is a very lucky number for wedding anniversaries in China. The same word, jiu, is used for both the number "nine" as well as a phrase meaning "a long time" or "ancient." 

While we do feel a bit ancient {are we really old enough to have been married nearly a decade!?}, the phrase in Chinese is translated to mean that our marriage will last a long time. 

I sure hope so. Happy "jiu" years, Ryan. Here's to an eternity...I sure feel lucky to have snagged you nine years ago.

p.s. We kind of are ancient. The photos prove it.

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

 

2010

2011

2012

guessing time

Okay, folks. It's May! Time to place your bets. I've been saying all along, I have to be prepared to have a baby any time during the month of May. My hospital bag is half packed {better than with Leah!}, the quilt is finished {way better than with Leah!} and we have the necessities washed and ready to go.

A point system will be applied and the winner will receive a prize {yet to be determined}.

We'd like to know the following about what you think about Billy:

1. When will she arrive? (Due May 19, so today I am 37 weeks 4 days)

2. How much will she weigh?

3. How long will she be?

4. Tie breaker: Will she look more like Maren (olive skin, dark hair) or Ryan and Leah (fair skin, light/no hair)

If it helps, this is what she looked like at 19 weeks:

Some background:

Ryan was born February 14th, a Saturday. But he has no idea when he was due to arrive (I'm pretty sure it wasn't the 14th). He thinks he weighed about 7 pounds something, but he doesn't remember and has no idea how long he was. He was fair skinned and had a little bit of blonde/light brown hair. As you can see, Ryan's information is very helpful. 

*UPDATE* (from Ryan's mom who was much more helpful!): Ryan was due February 18th. He was 7 lb. 13 oz. and 21 inches long. 

I was born at 39 weeks, on a Thursday (my mom was induced a week early because she was a professional when it came to delivering babies and had them in record time). I was 18 inches long and weighed 6 lbs. even. I had dark brown hair (enough to tie a bow in) and olive toned skin.

Leah was born at 37 weeks 5 days, on a Thursday. She weighed 5 lbs. 14 oz. and was 17 inches long. I had no idea I was in labor until my water broke and I was at a 7. Good thing I was already at the hospital. She was fair skinned and had a little bit of blonde/light brown hair - similar to that of an aging man.

Also, induction date is Saturday, May 26 if she doesn't come before then. 

Ryan's guesses:

1. Friday, May 4 at 5:00

2. 6 lbs. 4 oz.

3. 19 inches long

4. like Ryan - fair skin, a little darkish hair (more than Leah), blue eyes, Maren's nose (which, by the way, is probably the only genetic input I had on Leah).

Maren's guesses:

1. Sunday, May 13

2. 7 lbs. 2 oz.

3. 19 inches long

4. like Maren - olive skin, some hair (not a ton, but some...and dark), brown eyes.

Guesses will be accepted from now until word spreads I have headed to the hospital.

Ready. Set. Go!

deere john

Lots of people have asked about our plans for the summer with regards to Ryan's internship. I'll give you the short story because you seriously do not have time for the full version.

Ryan interviews with TONS of companies here at Tuck.

Ryan gets lots of second round interviews.

Ryan gets four fly-out interviews, we'll call them choices #1, #2, #3 and #4.

Ryan gets offers from #2, #3 and #4 before his fly out for #1 is scheduled.

Ryan declines offers #3 and #4.

Ryan interviews with #1 and tells them the offer to tell #2 yes or no is expiring in a few days.

Ryan did not get an offer from #1, so he accepts a position with #2.

Ryan is happy. Maren is happy. Sort of. Mostly because #1 was in the Bay Area and #2 is in China. But, it's cool. We're very happy with the offer.

Ryan has to tell #2 which project he would prefer working on this summer.

Ryan chooses a project based out of Beijing. He hopes he will get it. He doesn't really want any other project.

All in the same day: Ryan gets a voicemail from #1 saying some things have changed on their end and to please give them a call. {Remember, this is his #1 choice.} Also remember that Ryan has already accepted with #2 and will be in trouble with Tuck if he changes his acceptance at this point, if that's even what the phone call was about. Ryan calls them and no one answers, so he leaves a message. As soon as he hangs up the phone, Ryan receives an email saying he was accepted for the Beijing project. A few minutes after the email, #1 calls him back saying they are, in fact, offering him a summer position.

Ryan spends the next few days in complete and utter turmoil {rightly so} trying to figure out what he should do. After talking to lots and lots and lots of people and discussing it over and over and over and thinking and praying and researching and, and, and...

Ryan decides to stick with his acceptance with #2. Which is...drumroll, please...

John Deere!

Yup. He nearly wrote a Dear Deere John to John Deere. {Insert laughter.} He's willing to work out tractor trades with you if there's something you think he might like in return.

And that is the short version. We both feel good about it. You might be wondering HOW we feel good about it when we're having a baby this month and he will be in Beijing all summer? Well, he won't be in Beijing all summer. In fact, this is what his summer could possibly look like:

Yup, with a mix of China, India, Singapore, Illinois {John Deere headquarters} and New Hampshire, that's a lot of miles racked up. He's sure to get a free flight out of that! He will be staying at hotels all summer, which his boss described as "fun for a few weeks. After that, it will be less fun." So, so true. He will be exhausted with work. I will be exhausted with two little ones. But, he gets to work from home for one week in the middle and i'm planning to visit family/friends near the end. AND we both feel really good about the experience he will be getting over the summer and feel like it will lead us to the right job after school.

He has worked so hard this year and we are beyond proud of him for receiving so many interviews and FOUR excellent offers. Here's to Deere!

term at last

37 weeks. In medical lingo, that means term. No risk of ever having to answer that my baby was a preemie. Sigh-of-relief. 

We rearranged some furniture in our room to make room for ugly orange rocking chair, so that means there's no room to take a picture in front of the door anymore. Good thing we got Leah one for her birthday. The only downside is that I had to crouch because we hung the mirror according to Leah's height. And yes, her mirror is filthy. Whacking that mirror is kind of her only form of entertainment each morning before we let her loose. Just call us parents of the year.

And, for comparison's sake, here's the shot I took at 37 weeks with Leah.

Which, if you were wondering, was the last shot I ever had to take with her. She was born a short 6 mile hike and 4 days later. I think I'll take a hike this week...

Grandma Elmo's Granola

When I was a little girl, my mom used to make granola. It was her mother's recipe - Grandma Elmo. I remember those afternoons like they were yesterday. The smell wafting through our house and the warm, fresh, chewy yet crunchy goodness overflowing from the large, green Tupperware bowl. 

Granola making days were good days. 

When I moved away from home, my Grandma Elmo's granola recipe was one of the first I requested. I've made it a lot over the years, but not often enough. I just made my first batch since moving {loooooooong overdue} and just a few weeks later, it's almost entirely gone. Lots of people have asked for the recipe, so I figured I'd take some pictures and post it.

I love it with milk for breakfast. Ryan loves it with yogurt and fruit for a late night snack. Leah loves stealing bites from either of us whenever she gets a chance.

Any way you eat it, you'll love it. But thanks go to Elmo, not me. And yes, you can easily halve the recipe, but you'll regret it later.

Grandma Elmo's Granola

6 c. rolled wheat                      

8 c. old fashioned rolled oats 

2 c. untoasted wheat germ       

2 c. coconut

3 t. salt                                                 

1¼ c. brown or raw sugar

1 c. canola or olive oil              

1 c. water

2 t. vanilla                                

2-3 T. honey

Almonds                                 

Raisins (I like Craisins, Ryan likes neither)

Sunflower seeds

Pumpkin seeds (new addition from my mom)

1. Mix together rolled oats, rolled wheat, wheat germ, coconut, and salt.

2. Add brown sugar, oil, water, vanilla, and honey to the mixture.

*If you use delicious, fresh honey straight from a farm in CA like me, but find that it has crystallized a bit, don't fret! Just boil the (glass) jar in a bit of water and your honey will be good as new. Seriously.  

3. Mix together thoroughly and spread in pans (cookie sheets or jelly roll pans) and bake at 225° for 2 hours. Stir occasionally. 

*I usually don’t bake for 2 hours because I like it a little more moist, but the longer you bake it, the drier it will be, and the longer it will keep.

4. Add almonds, raisins, and sunflower seeds and bake 15 minutes longer. 

5. Store in airtight container. Will keep for quite awhile ~ but it’s so yummy that it won’t last long anyway.

ASW - jump in!

Admitted students weekend is admittedly different for current students than it is for prospectives. And I think I appreciate it all the more now. 

We went last year and had a great time. 

I went this year and had a great time as well. But with a lot more effort put into it. And not the jump-on-a-red-eye-flight-and-hang-out-in-your-raincoat type of work. 

The theme this year was "jump in" and jump in I did. 

As I'm a member of the Tuck Partner board, I was on two committees - one for registration and one for a "Tuck with Kids" panel. Both committees were great and I'm glad I volunteered my time. But this 36 week pregnant body was ex.haus.ted. by weekends end. 

I spent the weeks prior compiling information about activities for adults and kids to enjoy, organizing the panel, and putting together name tags for 1,400 people (current students, faculty and staff as well as prospective students). 

I spent the actual two days of the weekend welcoming new admits (and their partners) to Tuck, 

answering questions about life in Hanover with kids, 

hosting a darling couple from DC at our home all weekend (read: serious deep cleaning of this house), opening our home for a tour so prospective students could see various layouts of student housing (read: more serious deep cleaning), and hosting a dinner for 12 people Friday night (that ended up being 7 people so we have a few bags of freezer meals waiting for our tired bodies to reheat in a few weeks). 

 

The weather this year could not be beat. And could not have been any different than last year.

It was an enormous amount of fun. And an enormous amount of work (and there were plenty of people who worked exponentially harder than me, let's not forget that!) . But, after meeting so many wonderful new admits and working with so many incredible current partners and students, it's simply reaffirmed the fact that coming to Tuck was one of the best decisions Ryan and I have ever made. He worked hard to get here and it has been an incredible place for us to be. The community here is more than anyone could ask for and I wouldn't trade this experience for the world.

36

With t minus one month left, the count down is officially on...and the toes are officially disappearing. This week was Busy with a capital B - filled with all things Tuck. I spent my week trying my best to fit into t-shirts that are obviously too small simply to show my school spirit. For that, I apologize.

And a certain someone with cute pink toenails didn't want to be left out of this week's photoshoot either.

Of course I obliged.

boston marathon monday

I love the Boston Marathon. There's just something so inspiring about it - in a different way than other marathons are inspiring. When I worked full time, I used to sneak into a fellow counselor's office because I knew each year he'd have a TV in there with coverage going all day long. I still try to watch the coverage each year at home.

This year, it had an added bonus. There was a team running for Rett syndrome and we knew one of the runners! A fellow California Rett mom running for her beautiful daughter and all the others who deal with the monster on a day to day basis. I wanted to be in Boston in person, but didn't brave the 2.5 hour drive down in traffic, not knowing how Leah would handle the crowds and heat nor how I would handle being so far away and relatively close to my due date {Leah did come 3 weeks early, remember?}.

So, instead, we tracked the progress of our friends online and we donned our running clothes {well, Leah did...you do NOT want to see me in running clothes right now} and ran, ran, ran to our hearts contents with some friends. That girl did not stop. 

Until we got home. Then she looked a little more like this. 

And this. 

So I put her to bed and I did this.

It was pretty awesome. 

Despite the heat, the Rett syndrome runners finished the race and ended up raising more than $100,000 for research in the process. 

I can't think of a better reason to run. Hope to be out there myself next year...

showered

I was lucky enough to be showered by a small group of some good friends from both Tuck and church. I've been so blessed to be surrounded by these wonderful women for the last nine months and was so grateful to spend the evening together celebrating baby-to-be. 

{top: Jen, Lauren, Liz, Michelle, Maren, Andrea, Catherine, Ashley, Elissa

bottom: Emily, Tiffany, Brittani}

I was shocked and humbled that everyone on the invite was able to arrange their own schedules - as well as those of their children and husbands - in order to make it {although one did have to drop for a last minute emergency}. When does that ever happen!?

It was a "diaper shower" so I got loads and loads of diapers from newborn to size 2 and I fear we will go through them much faster than I remember! Two of them were made into these beautiful cakes that I have yet to take apart. They're just too pretty! {So pretty, in fact, that I've had multiple children ask if they can have a piece of it.}

In addition to the much appreciated diapers, baby Layton will also have some new clothes and toys of her own, which is nice because she really doesn't have many!

And to top it off, as we were standing in the parking lot after dinner, we all got hit on by a group of high school boys. Yup. Even at 8 months pregnant, I've still got it...