February blog postings have also been posted! This time, I even managed to get a couple of videos included. Pretty cool, huh?
Reflecting back on February, the crazy snow week definitely stands out. I managed to stay at home with the kids for seven days straight without leaving the house, a feat previously incomprehensible, but actually not that bad in actuality. We did lots of the usual (arts and crafts, playrooms, baking) plus some extra to fill in the gaps (bounce houses, blanket forts, and snowball fights!).
A huge event was Claire turning three. She has grown up so much over the last year, and it's hard to face the fact that she's not my little baby anymore. She's talking in full sentences (paragraphs sometimes!), making tons of decisions on her own from what to wear and what she wants to eat, and teaching her baby brother everything she knows. At the same time, I feel like I am probably tougher on her because I think of her as so much older than Gavin ... and then I realize she's only three!
I can't wait to get the blogs up to date to July so that you can see what the kids have been up to the last four months since these Feb postings -- karate, dance recitals, swimming, family trips, and more!
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Sunday, July 24, 2011
January Blog Postings DONE
FINALLY posted the January blog updates for the kids. I know, I know, it's now July, but what spare time I have doesn't seem to be devoted to sitting in front of a computer for recreational purposes.
That being said, I honestly love going through the pictures of the month and picking out a handful that I think others would like to see. Picking out the pictures themselves is an art. It's a blend of what's good photographically-speaking (composition, lighting, all that jazz), what does the best in capturing all the events of the past month, and what I think others would actualy be interested in looking through. As I pick out each picture, I have a silent monologue of the caption that would post right underneath the picture in the voice of each child because I've been told it's the captions that really express the moment.
It also gives me a few minutes to reflect on how much I love my family and am so proud of them. It makes me appreciate my friends and feel blessed at everything we have. It forces me to actually enjoy the moments that seem to pass all too quickly and to give each memory a moment of respect to acknowledge how it has helped to shape who I am today.
Plus, I get to re-smile at pictures like this:
This is me ... as soon through Claire's eyes and drawn by Claire's hand
01/17/2011
Don't forget you can check out pictures from January in our album online!
That being said, I honestly love going through the pictures of the month and picking out a handful that I think others would like to see. Picking out the pictures themselves is an art. It's a blend of what's good photographically-speaking (composition, lighting, all that jazz), what does the best in capturing all the events of the past month, and what I think others would actualy be interested in looking through. As I pick out each picture, I have a silent monologue of the caption that would post right underneath the picture in the voice of each child because I've been told it's the captions that really express the moment.
It also gives me a few minutes to reflect on how much I love my family and am so proud of them. It makes me appreciate my friends and feel blessed at everything we have. It forces me to actually enjoy the moments that seem to pass all too quickly and to give each memory a moment of respect to acknowledge how it has helped to shape who I am today.
Plus, I get to re-smile at pictures like this:
This is me ... as soon through Claire's eyes and drawn by Claire's hand01/17/2011
Don't forget you can check out pictures from January in our album online!
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Match Day
March 17th was a big day for our family -- must be the Irish in us. Joking. Actually, Thu, 3/17 was Match Day for all the med students across the country. It's a pretty complicated (and stressful!) process that all culminates in this one morning of announcments.
Our family spent the morning watching the presentations for the Wash U students online. Zong's school does an awesome job where they do a webcast of each student receiving their letter on stage and reading the results live in front of their friends and family. It was incredibly touching to see the excitement and joy on the faces of these students who have worked so hard and achieved so much.
I ended up watching it from beginning through the end even after Zong was done because I felt so honored to be a witness to these couples finding out that they're matched in the same city, families discovering where they'll be living for the next 4-8 years, and ... drum roll ... hearing that Zong is going to be spending some quality here in our very own Dallas! Zong matched for Plastic Surgery here at UT Southwestern which, incidentally, was his first choice in locations. So not only will he be close by, he's one smart cookie that his #1 wanted him, too!
So proud of you, Dr. Zong, and can't wait to have you here in Dallas! No pressure to hang out with us ever, but at least you know that you'll always have family nearby, a room to crash, meals to share, fridges to raid, and hugs ready to give.
P.S. If I'd known my dad was going to take a picture (well, duh, what was I thinking?!), I would have taken video of the annoucement instead!
Our family spent the morning watching the presentations for the Wash U students online. Zong's school does an awesome job where they do a webcast of each student receiving their letter on stage and reading the results live in front of their friends and family. It was incredibly touching to see the excitement and joy on the faces of these students who have worked so hard and achieved so much.
I ended up watching it from beginning through the end even after Zong was done because I felt so honored to be a witness to these couples finding out that they're matched in the same city, families discovering where they'll be living for the next 4-8 years, and ... drum roll ... hearing that Zong is going to be spending some quality here in our very own Dallas! Zong matched for Plastic Surgery here at UT Southwestern which, incidentally, was his first choice in locations. So not only will he be close by, he's one smart cookie that his #1 wanted him, too!
So proud of you, Dr. Zong, and can't wait to have you here in Dallas! No pressure to hang out with us ever, but at least you know that you'll always have family nearby, a room to crash, meals to share, fridges to raid, and hugs ready to give.
P.S. If I'd known my dad was going to take a picture (well, duh, what was I thinking?!), I would have taken video of the annoucement instead!
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
The Merchant Prince (working title)
Support my baby brother Dwo as he sets off to create a film of his very own!
Any monetary donations $250+ are tax-deductible through the University of Texas at Austin, but only by check. You can also donate with cc from his website, and every donation comes with a "thank you" item.
The Merchant Prince blog
Email Dwo (Huay-Bing Law) for more info
Thanks!
Way-Way
Any monetary donations $250+ are tax-deductible through the University of Texas at Austin, but only by check. You can also donate with cc from his website, and every donation comes with a "thank you" item.
The Merchant Prince blog
Email Dwo (Huay-Bing Law) for more info
Thanks!
Way-Way
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Bookstore Update
Something I'm trying to catch up with is all of the photo books that are long overdue. Without furthur ado, I have three new books from 2010.
Visit My Bookstore
Cathy Baradell's Caring Bridge
I took Cathy's Caring Bridge site and made it into a book. I wanted to make sure I -- as well as her family and friends -- had physical access to her spirit and last days.
June 2009 - Phoenix, AZ
Pictures from our Law Family trip to Phoenix, AZ. You can also read Claire's account on her blog. I made a small accident with this book and selected 12x12 inches instead of 7x7 inches. Imagine my surprise when I went to order it and discovered my mistake! I tried to change the size of the book, but, alas, I would have needed to start from scratch to move everything over to 7x7. Given that it was a good year after the trip that I got around to putting together the book, I figured I'd punt and just enjoy us in megasize!
San Antonio, TX - Sept 2010
One of our two Law Family trips last year. I went a new direction and took the text from the kids' blogs to be the text in the book; might as well take advantage of the fact that I actually wrote some stuff down (albeit months late!). Here's Claire's account as well as Gavin's blog, which I just updated a week or two ago. I have to admit, it certainly saved me time, plus I managed to sneak the book into the first tier of pages/price range. Woo-hoo! The only bummer was that I didn't ge any pictures with the whole family this time around. Hopefully we did a better job at our second 2010 Law Family Trip (the pictures for which I haven't even looked at yet).
Happy shopping!
Visit My Bookstore
Cathy Baradell's Caring Bridge
I took Cathy's Caring Bridge site and made it into a book. I wanted to make sure I -- as well as her family and friends -- had physical access to her spirit and last days.
June 2009 - Phoenix, AZ
Pictures from our Law Family trip to Phoenix, AZ. You can also read Claire's account on her blog. I made a small accident with this book and selected 12x12 inches instead of 7x7 inches. Imagine my surprise when I went to order it and discovered my mistake! I tried to change the size of the book, but, alas, I would have needed to start from scratch to move everything over to 7x7. Given that it was a good year after the trip that I got around to putting together the book, I figured I'd punt and just enjoy us in megasize!
San Antonio, TX - Sept 2010
One of our two Law Family trips last year. I went a new direction and took the text from the kids' blogs to be the text in the book; might as well take advantage of the fact that I actually wrote some stuff down (albeit months late!). Here's Claire's account as well as Gavin's blog, which I just updated a week or two ago. I have to admit, it certainly saved me time, plus I managed to sneak the book into the first tier of pages/price range. Woo-hoo! The only bummer was that I didn't ge any pictures with the whole family this time around. Hopefully we did a better job at our second 2010 Law Family Trip (the pictures for which I haven't even looked at yet).
Happy shopping!
Welcome back!
Okay, so it's been awhile since I posted. In fact, I just published three entries (June, July, and October 2010) that I started and never finished. I'll also go ahead and admit that I didn't re-read or proofread them just now before I published them, but at least they're out there. I'm going to try and post more often, especially those funny little stories that I'm constantly telling about the kids. I'm not out for a Pulitzer; just looknig for a way to record the highlights of life.
So, come back often, dear friend.
So, come back often, dear friend.
Monday, October 11, 2010
It Does Get Easier
For some, going from being DINKs (dual-income, no kids) to having a child is mind-altering, life-changing, sleep-depriving, patience-testing, hardest thing they'll ever do. It was for me ... until I had a second kid, and I realized having the one was easy! Sure, I'm more relaxed in taking care of Gavin's needs, but the challenges of juggling two -- two schedules, two tempers, two naptimes, two meal plans -- has challenged me to multi-task like never before ... and I still can't seem to remember my own antibiotics because my brain is apparently full.
But it does get easier. I tell that to my other girlfriends that just had their #2 (and myself!) all the time ... and some days I actually believe it. The trick, though, is being able to answer when asked (and you WILL be asked), "when?! WHEN does it get easier?!"
Take last Friday, for instance. I managed to get a load of laundry, a load of dishes, and a loaf of banana bread going all before going to playgroup in the morning. Of course, I was 30 minutes late to playgroup (which is really "on time" nowadays), the load of laundry is still sitting unfolded in a pile on the couch, the dishes were just the first of about three loads I needed to do to clear out the sinks, and the bread ... well, I'll take credit for the bread. :)
It has gotten more manageable incrementally over time. I first acknowledged it about the time that Gavin learned to fight back a little bit more and I didn't worry every minute about him being mortally wounded by Claire. She would lay on him on the ground, and he would complain and push her back. When he started sitting up, I could put him on the ground to play with her, and she would roll a ball back and forth. Crawling brought on more freedom (and headaches) as he could now follow both of us around the house as we did tasks, and pulling up has been a whole new set of adventures.
The moments that make it totally worth it are when I catch them rolling on the ground together laughing or just quietly playing together. It's only with Claire that Gavin really lets go the chuckles, and it's her he looks for first in the morning when he wakes up. Usually I try to wedge myself between them so they don't disturb each other, but he'll pop up and try to climb over me first thing to go for her. And Claire will go out of her way to make sure Gavin is happy. When he tries to flip over when I change him, Claire will dance for him to distract him. When he's done being in his high chair during breakfast but I'm doing the dishes, she'll sing songs and blow bubbles for him to buy me just a few more minutes. When he's crying in his car seat, she'll try to console him, "Don't worry, Gavin. We're almost there!" just like we did for her when she was little. Claire will protect Gavin and make sure he's okay because, as she says, "that's Gavin; he's my bru-dder".
Sure I still worry about the poking, crushing, tipping, etc, etc, etc that goes on, but as long as they're relatively safe, I'll take it for all the hugging, kissing, and loving they show towards one another. That's what family is all about.
But it does get easier. I tell that to my other girlfriends that just had their #2 (and myself!) all the time ... and some days I actually believe it. The trick, though, is being able to answer when asked (and you WILL be asked), "when?! WHEN does it get easier?!"
Take last Friday, for instance. I managed to get a load of laundry, a load of dishes, and a loaf of banana bread going all before going to playgroup in the morning. Of course, I was 30 minutes late to playgroup (which is really "on time" nowadays), the load of laundry is still sitting unfolded in a pile on the couch, the dishes were just the first of about three loads I needed to do to clear out the sinks, and the bread ... well, I'll take credit for the bread. :)
It has gotten more manageable incrementally over time. I first acknowledged it about the time that Gavin learned to fight back a little bit more and I didn't worry every minute about him being mortally wounded by Claire. She would lay on him on the ground, and he would complain and push her back. When he started sitting up, I could put him on the ground to play with her, and she would roll a ball back and forth. Crawling brought on more freedom (and headaches) as he could now follow both of us around the house as we did tasks, and pulling up has been a whole new set of adventures.
The moments that make it totally worth it are when I catch them rolling on the ground together laughing or just quietly playing together. It's only with Claire that Gavin really lets go the chuckles, and it's her he looks for first in the morning when he wakes up. Usually I try to wedge myself between them so they don't disturb each other, but he'll pop up and try to climb over me first thing to go for her. And Claire will go out of her way to make sure Gavin is happy. When he tries to flip over when I change him, Claire will dance for him to distract him. When he's done being in his high chair during breakfast but I'm doing the dishes, she'll sing songs and blow bubbles for him to buy me just a few more minutes. When he's crying in his car seat, she'll try to console him, "Don't worry, Gavin. We're almost there!" just like we did for her when she was little. Claire will protect Gavin and make sure he's okay because, as she says, "that's Gavin; he's my bru-dder".
Sure I still worry about the poking, crushing, tipping, etc, etc, etc that goes on, but as long as they're relatively safe, I'll take it for all the hugging, kissing, and loving they show towards one another. That's what family is all about.
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