Stealth Photography

Micah and I could have a future in this.

See, this isn't just a picture of our cute kid. It's also secretly (and intentionally) a picture of the proposal happening behind her.

And no, we're not creepy. The guy doing the proposing is a cousin of a good friend of ours, and essentially "hired" us (whom he had never met) to be his undercover photographers and document this exciting moment. To his unsuspecting significant other, we were just a little family who happened to be at a particular bridge in a particular park, taking pictures of our baby and the ducks...

Worked great for them, because she wouldn't recognize us and get suspicious and ruin his surprise. Worked great for us, because we earned a little extra cash and treated ourselves to lunch (And, of course, it was exciting to get to help them out and be a part of their special memory. And all that mushy romantic stuff...).

To respect the privacy of the happy couple, the above is the only picture of them I kept, because they're pretty much unrecognizable and it's mostly Maddi anyway (I guess if they ever happen to see this and would prefer we remove it, we'll be happy to oblige). But we did get a few good shots of Madison before they arrived on the scene:

Congratulations to our new friends, and thanks for lunch!

This is our vacuum.

It sucks.

And not in a good way. Because aren't vacuums supposed to suck? Ours spits more out than it picks up (Eww. Especially if you are vacuuming with bare feet. And even more especially when you have a kid who likes to eat things off the floor...)

Lucky for me, I spent the afternoon with a friend who happens to have an extra vacuum.

There we were, talking about upcoming graduations, full-time salaries and some of the things we are excited to get once we're out of the starving college student phase. On my list: pots and pans (currently we are using the ones from the all-inclusive kitchen-in-a-box set purchased my freshman year of college), a salad-spinner, new sheets, a staple gun (really), a vacuum...

That's when my friend interrupted me. And said, "I have an extra vacuum in my trunk." And then she gave it to me. That's when I started jumping up and down.

Isn't she a beauty?

Pretty sure it could eat the old one.

Thank you Sarah!!! I owe you. A whole lot.

Happy New Year!

Probably not what you expected me to write about today. But today is Chinese New Year. Besides, Micah told me he wanted to be in charge of the Valentine's Day post (be very excited).

In my family, Chinese New Year is a bigger party than, well, regular New Years. Or maybe even Christmas. (We really do love it that much.) During college, my dad spent two years in Taiwan serving a mission for our church and grew to love the Chinese people and culture.
We love that he learned to cook their delicious food.
Because every year for as long as I can remember, we have celebrated Chinese New Year with a veritable feast of the most amazing homecooked oriental cuisine.

Micah entertaining the kiddos:

My sweet grandma. And her sweet dog.

...And my sweet baby girl.

My contribution- Red velvet cake truffles (Recipe here):

My dad telling stories about his time in China.

Holding baby Taysen (my cousin's). I really just wanted to steal him away because he was so tiny and cuddly.

So there you go. If you need an excuse to party some more after the
holidays are over, celebrate Chinese New Year. We do. And we love it.

Happy New Year!

Rant.

Dear Craigslisters.

If you want to come see my house, please be on time.
Please do not come 20 minutes late. (I will wait and wait and then assume you aren't coming, so I will finally put my cranky, overtired baby down for a nap and then you will show up and wake her.)
Please do not come 20 minutes early. (My baby will still be sleeping, because the last people who came 20 minutes late woke her up and she hasn't napped long enough, but then you will come early and wake her.)
Please do not call me after 11:00 at night. (I am exhausted and in bed because my baby had a rough day because her naps were continually interrupted.)
Please do not assume I have unlimited text messaging.
Please do not tell me you are coming and then not show up.
Please do not beg me to allow your dog. I don't make the rules. Really, I can't do anything for you.

Thank you! Come again!

she looks so sweet & innocent.

But don't let it fool you.

Her latest trick: removal of pants.

Keeps me on my toes, this one.