The Abominable Pink Snowbaby (and the Inauguration)

Mayumi received a very fluffy snowsuit from her Grandma Glo for Christmas. In it, she looks like a child twice her age. It is very useful; she could be wearing the lightest piece of clothing and go out in very cold weather with this snowsuit round her body. As inauguration day was quite chilly, she donned the snowsuit and went to Great Falls, Virginia. Great Falls National Park has a fabulous visitor's center, complete with an "Environmental Training" board that Nate is pointing to (suggesting that we flush the toilet but once a day). Apparently kayaking down Great Falls is great fun (yeah, like a root canal) and Mayumi seemed interested. Mayumi (read: Nate) enjoyed playing with the puppets in the gift shop.

The ice-skating rink

The strip of land between our house and the next has become an ice-skating rink. I'm not joking...look at this picture! The water is pumped out from below our basement, an arrangement that I believe is called a sump-pump. Funny story about the sump-pump; a huge rain storm hit our town before we signed on the house but after the sellers had moved. Worried, the sellers asked us to do something...anything. Nate met our realtor out here with a 50-ft extension cord. Using his Spanish skills, he made arrangments with our neighbors to plug the sump pump extension cord into their basement electrical outlet (as our power was yet to be turned on). Anyway, this sump pump could be a blessing (no flooding durring heavy rains) but it is also turning out to be an icy burden. We aren't quite sure what to do about the problem now; we do have plans to divert the water to our GARDEN in the spring.

I can't help but include some cute photos of Mayumi. Not being a photoshop pro, I have not even tried to eliminate Yumi's evil red-eye from this photo.

I AM able to switch my camera setting to black-and-white and sepia tone:

And finally, I cannot resist--I must include a video (worth a bazillion words, my friend Micah said). Speaking of words...see if you can pull any out of the following monologue:

What are all these videos about?

So the three people who actually look at my blog regularly might be wondering...why all these videos, all of a sudden? Ah. Great question. Nate's parents very generously provided us with a handy recording device for Christmas (thanks again!!!) and we've been having a BLAST recording things. Nate joins me in wishing we could just "record Mayumi's entire life" for review later when she's grown and gone. Mayumi is just so unbearably cute that I just can't HELP but record her. You'd be amazed (ha!) at my discretion...I've had to stop myself dozens of times from posting every little clip I've recorded. I'll still post photos and whatnot, and I should get back giving the brief little updates on what we are doing. But these videos are just TOO fun.

Learning to Walk

Warning: the following contains content graphic in nature and is not for the sensitive viewer.

Stories

Nate puts Mayumi to bed each night.

Why are you a monkey?

Mayumi took us to the National Zoo today. She, like her father, loves animals.

One small step for Yumi...

Mayumi on the Move

Woops--didn't realize that I had to hold the camera 'horizontally'...enjoy!

Mayumi in the Lights

Enjoy Mayumi's first demo!

The Best Christmas Present Ever

You will agree, I am sure, that the most beautiful present under Sylvester this year is Mayumi. We thoroughly enjoyed our Christmas this year in our new home with our darling little daughter. Nate and I kicked things off with a fondue on Christmas Eve (which turned out terribly and we ended up making cheese sandwiches instead!). Mayumi slept well inspite of the prancing and pawing of each little hoof and woke up to a few fun items under the Christmas tree (mostly books and games, but a few other delightful things such as this handmade 'name sign' by my sister Linday).

Liberating Sylvester

Last Christmas, Nate and I strolled down to Eastern Market to pick out a Christmas Tree for our teensy apartment. Knowing we would need an even smaller tree to fit into our postage stamp-sized place, I was doubtful we'd find anything acceptable. And then I saw him: a potted Christmas Tree that just called out to me. I knew from the moment I laid eyes on him that he had to be a part of our family and I promptly named him: Sylvester.

We enjoyed Sylvester last Christmas and planned to employ him indoors forever more for the holidays, and let him live outside throughout the rest of year in his beautiful green ceramic pot.

The day to move from Eastern Market to our new home finally came and, as it always is, the moving process was much harder, longer, and more laborious than expected. Bizzarly, our tiny apartment yielded, in a very Mary Poppin's carpet bag-like fashion, tons more things than could have possibly fit inside...and, thus, filled up our small moving fan faster than anticipated. Alas, in the end, no room for Sylvester, and with heavy hearts we left him behind.

Two weeks ago, Nate, Mayumi and I came into D.C. to see the newly re-opened American History Museum and decided, in a whim, to see if Sylvester was still residing on the porch of our old flat. Amazingly, he was, and without a moment's thought we tree-napped him and brought him back home to D.C. Thus, once again (and forever more) we are enjoying a now taller and prouder Sylvester in our darling new house. Once we decorated him, Nate took some time to introduce Mayumi to her needly brother Sylvester and they became fast friends.

We hope you enjoy these first few holiday photos. The first is of Sylvester in 2007, the next of our darling tree in our new home in 2008, followed by a photo of us in front of the U.S. Capitol Holiday Tree (notice the stands being set up in the background for the innaguration) and the final is of the cutest stocking-stuffer that has ever existed.

Sixty-four Years Ago....

No Place Like Home

Finally! Photos. No, I am not a photographer (nor a blogger), but at least you'll get the basic idea of our fabulous new home. Getting this home turned out to be much more difficult than we expected. We signed on with a loan broker who, at the very last minute, completely failed us. With just days before we were slated to move out of our home in Eastern Market and Nate still commuting for three hours each day out to work, we had no loan, probably a lost down payment, and, well, no home!! Finally, thanks to essential assistance from several key family members and friends (thank you!!!) we got it sorted out. So...take a look at these photos, and then come for a visit!!

Crepe Night

We have very cool neighbors, Rachel and Jeoffe Wilks. Rachel is starting a crepe business and convinced us to practice on us. We've partaken of her crepe yumminess several times now and look forward to further testing. Rachel is full of all kinds of surprises; she lent us a baby scale to monitor Mayumi's weight. Mayumi continues to be the happiest baby around, doted on by her parents.

Ask not what your country can do for you...

Nate, Mayumi, and I went into the District for Veteran's Day. We expected traffic, crowds, etc., but were pleasantly surprised. Aside from the chill (we were definitely unprepared clothing-wise), everything went smoothly. We stopped into to visit my best bud Heather in Crystal City, parked the car, and metro-ed to Arlington National Cemetary. I hadn't been to the cemetery since visiting with my great friend Steve Orrock in Fall 1998 when I interned with Orrin Hatch. Nate had been years before with family. We enjoyed the fall colors, the pageantry, the solemnity of the setting. We also enjoyed delicious kabobs at our favorite Pakistani restaurant, located hear Heather's house. All in all, a great day. I sure do miss living in D.C. Sigh. Pictures of our new house soon to follow!

Fall cutie

Mayumi may take after her father; she seems to be taking to the cooler weather without a problem. I take her out each day in the jogging stroller, all bundled up and super cute. Thanks to her grandma Rosalie, she has a darling pumpkin hat...that turned into a pumpkin halloween costume. Finally-our pumpkins. Some may say they are self-portraits. You'll notice that I included our pumpkin-portraits from LAST year (after decay and squirrels attacked Nate's). We love that photo!

The Baby-Industrial Complex

Have you noticed how many baby implements there are out there? Humans used to grow from infancy to adulthood without two sticks to rub together and now the average baby has more 'toys' than the average adult. My father, 'you only need two shirts' Roland Johnson,' would probably call this The Baby-Industrial Complex. That's what I like to call it, anyway. I am happy to report that most of Mayumi's toys were handed down to me, but still: her things occupied at least half of the space in our moving truck. Gracious! Several of these items, however, really ARE helpful--no doubt about it. See the "Bumbo" below. I give my mother and Lindsay credit for finding this item. High chair no longer needed--the Bumbo does the trick. Also featured here is Nate, WEARING Mayumi. Yes, babywearing is something I have tried to embrace (no pun intended) and we are making great strides thanks to Karma Baby and Ergo.

Not a Halloween Post (that'll come later)

Nope, just a cute picture of G.I. Nate and his best girl (and toy). For some reason Mayumi wasn't enjoying herself at the U.S. Navy Day in Washington, D.C. Nate sure did, however. Like a kid in a candy shop.