Langston's First Post

Ok... here we go. I'm going to try and keep some photos and updates posted of the new addition. I suppose I should start a "Langston the Lad" blog, but I guess that is one of the perks of being the oldest... the family blog is named after you.

The quick update is that Langston and I are both doing great. He is an 'A+' nurser and my healing it going very well. Of course this could all fall apart when Mom and Dad go home. It's easy to relax and recover when you have somebody else doing all the cooking, cleaning and shopping.

Any way, here are a few photos of the new big guy...

Still at the hospital


















Kahlil is holding his little brother and says "He likes me".

At home napping with Mom and Big Brother Kahlil:















Hanging out with Papa and Mom

Aren't I cute!

Update: Skip ahead to Easter

I thought I should skip to the next big event we had at our house - Easter - then I'll start filling in day to day life.


Aunt Pete and Uncle Lloyd came up for the weekend. They haven't seen Kahlil since he was just a couple months old, yellow, and we were still breast-wrestling. Things are a little different these days!


We had a great time during their visit. Saturday we stopped in EVERY shoe store in downtown Corvallis. I never really thought about how many shoe stores there are... but it's quite a few. We also went to the tulip festival at Green Gable Gardens... a garden about ten miles away in Philomath. It was really beautiful. We've never been there before and we plan to go back. Oh yea, we also went to The Toy Factory and Pete and Lloyd bought Kahlil the best toy ever!



Since two of Kahlil's words are 'tractor' and 'wheel' he really loves his tractor. It will be awhile before he can reach the pedals. In the mean time, he likes to push it around, touch the wheels, and sit on it while Mom and Dad give him rides. I'm working on teaching him to steer but we haven't made much progress yet.


On Sunday the Weisels came over for brunch. Aunt Pete threw together a fruit salad and whipped up a few quiches (bacon/broccoli, sausage/mushroom, and crab/asparagus), Lloyd made yummy potatoes, Jay brewed some Gin Fizzes, and the Weisels brought some carrot muffins (VERY tasty) and sweet buns. It was SO good! (Notice I'm not on the list... :-) We had a great time visiting and eating... it was a nice, relaxing day.

Baby Jack seemed to enjoy his first Easter, but he wasn't much into chocolate or eggs this year. Maybe next time.


And now here is a picture the chocolate and Easter industries don't want you to see. This the beginning of a life long addiction...

Catching Up... Curacao

I'm FINALLY sort of caught up and settled in at home. It has been a very busy time since we got back. A few people have asked about this blog, so I thought I better get back to it. It might take a couple days to bring you all up to speed so I better get started!










First on the list is our trip to Curacao. It was really great... exactly what we needed. We got to the resort and didn't leave for the whole trip. It was a conscious decision to NOT go anywhere. We really just wanted to sleep, play, and eat. As it turns out, we are really good at doing those things.


Here is how a typical day went... Get up in the morning and put on shorts, tank top, and flip-flops. Wonder down to the breakfast buffet and eat. Go back to the room and wait for 'poopy time' to come and go. Put on bathing suites and head for water - pool and/or beach - for a couple hours. Get washed up. Eat lunch. Back to the room for nap time (on some days this was also massage or SCUBA dive time). Get up from nap and play for a while, maybe go back to the beach. Eat dinner. Hang out by the pool and watch live music. Go to bed. Repeat the next day. Not a bad way to spend a week.

We also learned a couple things about Kahlil while there:

1. He tans better than me
2. He is a little afraid of pigeons when they go under his chair but parrots in a cage are fine
3. He REALLY likes to play in water
4. 

Home Again, Home Again...

This is just a quick note to let folks know we made it home safe today. Our 'day' started at 1am pacific time to catch an early flight out of Florida. We got into Corvallis about 3pm. Kahlil and I visited Soft Star for a couple hours... just had to go see the shop and say hi to everybody. Tivi was THRILLED to see Kahlil and after about ten minutes, Kahlil was pretty happy to bee seen. All three of us popped next door to meet our new neighbor, Jack. He showed off some pretty adorable dimples and did a little drooling on his dad. It was great to finally meet the little guy. I'm running on empty so I'll have to give the scoop on Curacao and post pictures later.

Last Ireland Post

Well, our time is nearly up. The computer has to come apart tonight, so this will be my last post from Ireland. As expected, the time went very quickly. This was a great experience and I'm SO thankful to Trish and Soft Star for giving me the support to come. I'm a pretty lucky girl!

Kahlil's last day at the creche was today. The kids were very sweet and made him a card and an Irish flag. I'm sure the teachers gave a lot of help with making the card :-)

Today was windy, but very nice out. I saw several pairs of shorts walking around town today. There are trees in full bloom, birds sings, sun shinning and lots of daffodils. I'm sad I wont get to see Dublin in full spring, but I'm looking forward to getting back to my own yard before spring really sets in.

We had a great time here, but I think the Ireland we experienced was different from that of our 'single' friends that were here before kids. We didn't partake of the night life as much as we would have a few years ago... of course that could be as much because we are in our mid-thirties as it is we are parents. Either way, we still had a few nights out and lots of fun.

As for having kids here... the Irish are very accommodating for children. Most restaurants offered to make a side dish, mash potatoes and gravy or cooked veggies, for Kahlil free of charge. And they were generally taken with his "gorgeous brown eyes". That seems so strange to me, having grown up around mostly brown eyes.

We got recommendations to live in Dublin and out close to HP. We decided to live in the city and I'm very happy we did. Being here in the city center allowed Kahlil and I to roam around during the day. There were lots of options when I was looking for childcare and I could walk to every thing we needed. Of course we didn't get a chance to connect with many of the locals since we lived in a part of town where most people just visit or work, even the Irish. But Kahlil did charm the receptionists at the architect firm in our building.

We saw all the main things I wanted to visit while here. I do wish we had made it out to one of the fishing towns and more time exploring the Wicklow Mountains. Oh well, now we have something left for next time! I am VERY bummed we didn't get a chance to meet up with U2; our schedules just didn't allow it this time ;-)

I think that's it.

Cheers Ireland!

Corvallis... see you soon!

Pictures from Irish National Stud

For whatever reason, my pc is now back on line. So here are a few pictures from our trip to the Irish National Stud. I also included the text from "The Life of Man", the story that explains the walk in the Japanese garden. Enjoy!

Some of the mares and foals:

The water garden is actually called Saint Fiachra's Garden. Here are a couple pictures from walking around there:

And now the story from the Japanese garden. The bold text represents a stop on the walk.

The Life of Man

The pilgrim soul enters the garden through the Gate of Oblivion.

The Cave of Birth, a cavern in a mound of rock over-looked by the first stone lantern, symbolises life's beginning. From here, the first steps of life along the path of childhood lead to a dark tunnel, the Tunnel of Ignorance.

The darkness of the tunnel represents lack of understanding the child. Within the tunnel he finds the light of knowledge which leads him up the steps to the Hill of Learning. Here a tall pine tree tempts the student to look too high but an unguarded pitfall reminds him of the dangers which surround him and teaches him vigilance before he comes down the hill to the level of his fellows.

He resists the temptation of the easy path and follows the more challenging rugged path of adventure which leads step by step (through adolescent years) to the Parting of the Ways. Here he has three choices - smooth path of carefree life to the right (LH: I'm not sure what this is in real life... nobody gave me this option when I was growing up!), the narrow path of bachelorhood to the left, or the stepping stones of exploration across the water ahead which lead to wedded life.

After some hesitation he selects the latter and arrives at the Island of Joy and Wonder. (LH: Of course choosing wedded life will lead to joy and wonder!!) Here he meet his future wife and joins her at the Engagement Bridge. This bridge symbolises the decisive break in his life and together they come to the symbolic table of the prenuptial feast before crossing the Marriage Bridge.

Once across the Marriage Bridge, they take the Honeymoon Path to the right and in so doing, turn their backs on the path of bachelorhood. The Honeymoon Path is wider so that they may walk abreast, and so they continue light-heartedly until they reach an obstruction in the path, representing the difference of opinion. Here they part company for a while but are soon reunited and together commence to climb the hill of ambition.

They now see from afar the well of wisdom, from which they wish to drink; the steps toward it are steep, the way is hard and they have almost reached it but they suffer a Disappointment at finding themselves separated from it by water which they cannot cross. In disappointment they must retrace their steps and climb the hill of ambition from another direction. Further quarrels and disappointments are at hand, there are diverging paths and ups and downs, but they again become united and ascent together to the summit of the Hill of Ambition. From here they look back and see the past, it's joys, successes and failures.

Now in their declining years they descend together and pause at the waterfall to pray to their gods. The way is easier and the bridge across the water smooth. Crossing this they reach the Tea House and the miniature Japanese Village, before at last reaching the Well of Wisdom where they pause to wish for enlightenment before crossing the Bridge of Life to the Garden of Peace and Contentment beyond.

In the Garden of Peace and Contentment, as old age creeps on, they find the path is smooth and level - life is easier and tribulations are behind them. Thus they progress until they reach the tottering steps which lead to the hill of mourning. With his wife now seated in peace and comfort on the Chair of Old Age our wanderer traces his faltering steps to the Hill of Mourning where he is laid to rest, surrounded by weeping trees. His soul passes through the Gateway to Eternity and so the story closes.

Quick Puke Update

This will be a quick update because we are having internet access problems. The desktop computer decided it didn't want to be on line any more and we are so close to the end, I'm not sure how much more time we'll put into fixing it. So unless our pc changes it's mind, I'll have limited e-mail and internet access for the rest of our stay.

We went to the National Irish Stud farm yesterday. It was really cool to see the cute babies running around. We also saw the stallions... they were pretty impressive when a mare was driven by. There are also a couple gardens. The Japanese garden - which tells the story of life - was a kick to walk through. There were interesting things like the Well of Wisdom, The Tunnel of Ignorance, and the Hill of Ambition.

Yesterday evening we went to Carrie and Flor's to watch the rugby game... Ireland KICKED ASS on the English. It was the most points EVER scored against the English. It was nice spending some more time with Carrie's parents, Joe and Nancy. They are really nice people. Kahlil and Alex had a great time running around together. Alex is very good at sharing his toys which was nice for Kahlil. There was only a little tension when Alex tried to fold Kahlil into roll out couch. But other than that, they both had a great time together.

Kahlil shared his sickness with me... I was puking at 4:30 this morning. It was fun. Luckily this illness is pretty low key as far as flu / stomach bugs go. I would say I'm about 80% good - quite functional, but not very enthusiastic. I really hope I didn't infect the entire Harris-Marquina household.

Kahlil seems to be ok - no more puke or diarrhea. He has been grumpy all day so his stomach may still be bothering him... but his appetite is picking up... maybe he's teething again.