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OK folks... blogging has officially... died.

Life has become soooo busy, and maybe someday we'll pick this up again.  But for now, if you want updates, you can subscribe to either our picasa web album for pics, or our youtube account for some fun footage.  Can't promise those will be up to date either, but we shall try!

We're currently moved into our new home in Austin, TX.  Josh starts his new job this week at St. David's Medical Center.  Still unpacking, setting up the house, and kids are swimming in the backyard everyday!  Wheeeeeeeee!

mmm...

i couldn't resist with this one - a favorite of ours whenever we visit Texas, which we did way back in May. sophie was such a big fan of rudy's sauce that she wanted to take it home with her. great to see family and friends - we miss you guys!!

-j

july already!?

sarah: sigh. back to the feeling of "why do i keep this blog anyway?" there's just always way too much to catch up on with the taos.

well, the spring has sprung and we're in the heat of summer already. our friends (hannah, philbert, & rachel) came to visit for a week of st. louis fun - unfortunately, the week they came, it was hot, hittin the high 90s (UGH) so we had to keep play indoors. too bad the week after they left, the heat dropped down to 80, and it feels like a perfect cool upper 70s in the evening (sorry yaus...). nevertheless, gabriel went wild having a big sister in the house for a week, and he still longingly asks for rachel jie jie.

time for mei mei to grow up so they can play together. just wait gabe! sophie will be 5 months in one week, and as her brother once had, she's got those monster thighs and chubby cheeks, at a hefty 17 lbs. lugging that pumpkin seat around (with a 2-year-old, mind you) is getting tiresome for mom. 95% in all categories at her 4 mo. checkup (actually, >97% for length) - she'll be a tall one! AND in the last couple months, with much persistence, she's finally taken to the bottle. Tried like 4 different kinds til I found THE ONE! thank you, jesus. anything to make my life a little easier... i'll put off spoon-feeding as long as possible...

but now to add on another challenge, we're starting to potty train gabe - just a trial period. two mornings so far. 4 misses and 3 hits. but we'll post more on that later...

josh is busy with work, but i'll pester him to post something soon. he's on the prowl for a job, and we're open... where should we live next? shall we stick around st. louis (it will be a wonderful 6 years) or time to move on?? for those of you out there married to doctors in med school, or residency, or fellowship, or in research... you know about that "never-ending" feeling.. of what it's like to live in 3-4 years increments. I think i've finally gotten used to it, and now preparing myself for the next segment. over and out for now.

being productive

today i fed the kids, worked out at the gym, made lunch, put the kids down for naps, showered, watched an episode of glee, did 3 loads of laundry, swept the patio, cooked dinner, cleaned the bathroom and guest bedroom. after josh came home, he watered the plants, mowed the front lawn, washed the dishes after dinner, vacuumed the house, and helped fold laundry. did i miss anything, honey?

sigh... all in a day's work. =)

how time flies

winter is finally over, and the spring rains have brought warm weather. nearly 12 months since i was last in the classroom, 6 months since i finished my program... gabe has successfully entered his terrible 2's, and sophie is nearing 3 months old already!

we survived the first few weeks - most without our parents or outside help. the second time around is just as exciting, and certainly not easy, but as parents we were clearly more confident and calm in the ups and downs. and i have to admit, we were pleasantly surprised by our second child. Is it because she's a girl? or are we better parents? or is she just a better eater and sleeper? probably a combination of all of the above. but at a stunningly early 9 weeks, she already started sleeping through the night (Gabe took 9 MONTHS to do this!) And we mean, really sleeping through the night... like a whole 8 hour chunk. A few nights ago, with the quick pop of a binky, she went an extra 2 hours, and without milk from 9pm - 7am. Not always consistent yet, but we get some pretty nice stretches most nights. Amazing.

I'm tired though. My list is ever growing of things to accomplish: decorating the nursery, painting letters for the kids' rooms, planting annuals, setting up patio furniture, buying another gallon of milk, working out a couple times a week, teaching gabe how to read new words, and finding new recipes to try... the list goes on and on...

but i can't wait til the sun comes to stay. i can't wait to host parties, and break out the grill. i can't wait to put sophie in some cute summer clothes and show off her chubby, adorable arm rolls. i can't wait to watch gabe gleefully run around in the sprinkler in our back yard. and amidst the busyness of being a mommy of 2 little ones - i am truly excited for this new season, and welcome all the crazy, chaotic, exciting, and wonder-full changes that this summer will bring.

Gabe's Milestones - Year 2

Before we start smothering this blog with photos and videos of our newest addition to the family, I thought I'd post some of Gabriel's milestones from this past year. Also, trying out youtube here for the first time, so we'll see how this goes...

Our little guy is learning SO FAST and is one brilliant little dude (of course, mommy and daddy think so :) - by now, he's a big talker and absolutely loves to learn anything new. Just for fun, here are some of his firsts from 2009:

First Steps (11.5 months)

Learning Chinese
Yes, teaching Chinese to Gabe is a work in progress...

Identifying Colors (18 months)

Here he is learning his colors... and some other stuff.

First Haircut!! (18 months)

Gabe got another haircut a few months later (20 months)... here's the before/after.  check out that winning smile.

ABC's (20 months)

First Snow (23 months)

Ok, well, technically, he did see snow last year... but this year he could gear up, run around, throw snowballs, and experience it firsthand. Uncle Chris helped him make a snow angel, and Daddy even took him sledding this year. Gabe loved it!

Reading Words (20-24 mos)

Somewhere in between learning his capital letters, Gabe picked up the lower case alphabet and all the sounds that go along with them.  He's pretty much got the phonics down.  Thanks to leapfrog, magnetic letters, his easel, flashcards, and big giant foam letters, his new love is spelling words - by now, he can pretty much spell/read any 3-letter phonetic word, a few 4-letter words like stop, book, and milk, and some other longer words like daddy, mommy, and gabriel.  (Thanks to Auntie Sherah, he also knows how to spell way, eat, and poo.)  he races downstairs to spell words every morning, I kid you not!  He's gonna be a big nerd.

Gabriel's Other Obsession



Counting in Chinese (24 mos)
He could definitely use some work on his pronunciation... but nevertheless, he loves to show off his counting. Here he is practicing with Nai Nai and Yeh Yeh on Skype.

Turns 2 Years Old

It's amazing how much Gabriel has changed this year.  His pronunciation is much clearer, he's understanding more Chinese (responding in English, of course) and can speak more Chinese (like counting, colors).  It's fun to watch him interact and respond verbally with shows like Dora the Explorer or Ni Hao Kai Lan (his favorites - yes, both girly shows).  He's become a fantastic napper (2+ hours) and sleeper (10+ hours)... he eats much better (usually), and he's much more social and talkative... loves the church nursery, gymboree, and of course going to his best friend Ellie's house.

Happy Birthday to our very special boy. 

2009 Year in Review

Here are some highlights... of what we can remember from this past year...

JANUARY 2009

[s] Time to put pencil to paper - I became a mac and diligently plugged away on my dissertation.  Josh (on research at the time) made some pretty big sacrifices for me... a few nights a week, he would feed gabe dinner and put him to bed while i whisked away to a nearby starbucks or borders to work until late hours.  needless to say, the first few months of 2009 were clouded by work.

[j] Took Gabe on his first overseas trip - to Hong Kong of all places!  My grandfather's funeral was a sad occasion, but definitely a great chance to see and hang out with the extended family.  One lesson learned - don't bring a carseat with you to HK - no one uses them over there!

[s] oh yeah, also went skiing in denver with the chong family.  fun at beaver creek!  here, Gabe took his very first steps.

FEBRUARY 2009



[s] We celebrated Gabe's 1st birthday!!  Along with his little friends (bella, ellie, alyssa, and caleb), Gabe enjoyed his first birthday cake, bubbles, and loads of presents.

[j] Started off my research time with a bang - this is the month I started suffocating baby ferrets in the name of science. =)

MARCH 2009
[s] Spring Fever.  As the weather got warmer, these two grew closer =)

APRIL 2009
[s] More outdoor time for Gabe.

MAY 2009

[s] we spent some time in Houston for Mother's Day... Gabe loved having a swimming pool in the back yard - swimming with daddy and yeh yeh was a real treat!

[s] I walked down the aisle of chaifetz arena, dressed in a big black gown, to blaring (off-tune, i might add) bagpipes.  it was a formality, but good for my mom who was in attendance.  i felt extremely young among all the other Ph.D. candidates... but it was nice to have my husband and little boy waving at me high in the bleachers.  i still had some loose ends to tie up with my dissertation before publication, but a ceremonial closing of this chapter was good.  kim & ellie even came to surprise me!

[j] More traveling with a 1 year-old - this time to Houston and Austin.  seeing old friends is always a treat - and sharing our growing families with them makes for more good memories.  we also had some good friends in for a long visit  here in st. louis.  nothing like exploring museums and parks right in your own backyard...

JUNE 2009

[s] we found out we were pregnant and expecting baby #2!  Also, had my final defense of my dissertation - more a formality than anything else, but NOW i felt like i had really finished.  some good friends sat through a powerpoint of my project, which was pretty long and probably quite boring, but they were all good sports.  they also brought food to that small conference room, and helped to celebrate crossing the finish line!!

JULY 2009

[s] our first family missions trip.  destination: navajo reservation, arizona. temperature: uncomfortably hot  (especially for a pregnant woman!) i worked with the middle schoolers and high schoolers, and had a pretty awesome team.  it was a challenge, however, being a mom and also sharing team responsibilities...  

[j] after the navajo trip, it was time to get back to work in the NICU.  another six months straight of in-house call and 80-hour work weeks.  uggghh...

AUGUST 2009

[s] will God provide the opportunity for us to move into another home?  we weren't quite sure whether our condo would adequately house two babies.  started searching for a bigger place to rent...

SEPTEMBER 2009

OCTOBER 2009

[s] i finally completed and sent off my paper to the press.  whew!  the last few months i had taken a break, and just slowly completed some of the final corrections and paperwork for the department.  after this point, i finally let go of all things related to my Ph.D. and turned that darn thing in once and for all.  Yes, all 278 pages.  God, you are so good!

NOVEMBER 2009
[j] with the help of sarah's family who came over for thanksgiving, we moved!!  from the city into the suburbs, complete with leaf-raking and snow-shoveling.  having nearly twice as much space is truly a blessing.  next project - sell the condo!!!
[s] seriously, this was all the Lord's provision.  I had spent the last several months endlessly surfing craig's list and spending weekends looking at houses.  it was getting late, now entering my 3rd trimester, and we weren't too hopeful.  yet one day, we found this place in creve coeur, called to inquire, fell in love with it on our first visit, and immediately signed a contract - exactly what we were looking for... lots of open space, affordable, and a great central location.
   

DECEMBER 2009

[s] amidst unpacking boxes and trying to settle into our new home, as well as traveling to Chicago to spend Christmas vacation with family, we were on a clock to put our condo on the market.  so this month we left most of our boxes untouched and spent every free hour preparing, cleaning, and staging our condo.  lots of work with carpet cleaners, painters, and other contractors.  and especially challenging with an energetic toddler!

[j] it was definitely an eventful year for us - we look back and are awed by God's amazing provision for the two of us and our growing family - His timing, His blessings, His love for us...so perfect.  bring on 2010!!!