Grow Where You're Planted

Ready to Run, Run, Run

2011-12-10T09:57:00.000-08:00

I wanted to do a post a while ago about the three 10-K's I ran this summer/fall, but never got around to it. I'm doing it now because I just completed the first week of a friend's fitness challenge to run a half-marathon (13.1 miles) per week, every week until the end of the year. The challenge definitely encouraged me to get out and run, when I otherwise would have stayed in. This post is to provide some inspiration for next week.

My first 10-K was at the end of August in Ashton, Idaho. My dad has been running the Mesa Falls Half-Marathon (and Marathon a few times) for a while and they've started to add shorter distance races to go along with it. This year my sister and I ran the 10-K together. The route was flat and empty and wound through lots of farm fields. Our goal was to finish in less than an hour and I think my time was 59:23 or something like that, so we made it, but just barely!

Pre-race

Post-race, with my dad

The next 10-K was in September, in Plymouth, Massachusetts. It was called the Run to the Rock and the final stretch was along the waterfront and passed Plymouth Rock. I did it with a group of friends from church. When the weather was warmer we had a running group one night a week, but now that's it winter we've stopped doing that. There was a big, big hill right after the first mile and the course ran the gamut from residential streets, to industrial areas. I didn't really like the course, but it was really fun to visit Plymouth. My time was 54:15, which was great, especially since I got hot in the second half of the race and slowed down quite a bit.

Sophie in front of Plymouth Rock (can you see it way down there?)

Heading to the finish line. We made t-shirts for the race, which was fun

Our group after the race. The woman on the left, Emily, won the women's race!

Family pic with the reconstructed Mayflower in the background

My last race (by this point I was pretty raced out) was the Tufts Health Plan 10-K for Women on Columbus Day. I had run this the past two years, so I thought I'd continue my streak and run it every year we had been in Boston. They changed the course this year, which I didn't like, and it was REALLY hot. The race started at noon and normally in October that's fine, but I think it was in the 80's, so that really slowed me down and made everyone miserable. My goal was just to finish and my time was over an hour, but I was happy to be done. My dad came out to watch the race, which was fun.

My friend's husband took this awesome picture along the river

After three races in three months I was ready for a break. There's a Valentine's Day race that I've done before, so that is my new race goal. And so far, the winter here has been really mild, no snow or anything. That means my training prospects look good. Did I inspire anyone else to go for a run?

We have video!

2011-11-10T14:14:00.000-08:00

I am posting the first ever video on this blog! Sophie has been going to a co-op preschool with three other kids from our church. It's once a week and the parents take turns teaching. So far it's been going really well. Yesterday they learned about musical instruments and her teacher of the day, Christian, shot this cute video of her playing the piano and singing her ABCs. Enjoy!

Halloween 2011

2011-11-07T12:57:00.000-08:00

I have a couple of things I've been meaning to post about for awhile now, but I'll start with our Halloween activities, since I'll bet those are the pictures people most want to see. We had a fun and eventful October leading up to Halloween night. We kicked things off with a pumpkin carving party, hosted by our friends C and E Parker. Sophie had picked out a pumpkin when we went apple picking, but Loren and I needed a potential jack o'lantern, so we stopped by the same pumpkin place we went to last year to get one.

A repeat pose of Sophie with the pumpkins, just like last year (if I was ambitious I would make the "year" a link to the actual photo... ha ha oh well)

Sophie was not interested in affiliating in any way with the pumpkin innards, so Loren took care of them for her. He carved a happy face for her jack o'lantern

Loren and I both cleaned out our pumpkin, then I did the outline and large-scale carving, while Loren refined it after I was done. We did three ghosts. I don't have any finished pictures because we put our pumpkins in the hallway by our door, but pretty soon they got moldy and yucky, so Loren made us throw them away. He was so concerned about spores that he wouldn't even let us take a picture with them :( He's kind of a germ-a-phobe like that

The week before Halloween Sophie's playgroup had a Halloween party, which was her first official opportunity to dress up in her costume. She decided that she wanted to be Rapunzel, based on the movie Tangled, and I was happy to comply, since that meant I wouldn't have to put in too much effort. I'm usually not very gung-ho about Halloween costumes since they're just for one night, but I was proud of my effort this year.

Scary Rapunzel!

Sweet Rapunzel

She didn't wear a wig, but I did put all of the flower clips we own in her hair, found her a lizard which Loren creatively tried to attach to her costume, and she carried a frying pan from her kitchen set. I think she looked amazing, but if you haven't seen the movie then you won't fully appreciate it.

The Friday night before Halloween I insisted that we go to Salem. I had heard that you had to visit in October and this was our last chance, so we rode the commuter rail up there and wandered around a little. It was fun and we got there early enough to avoid the adult Halloween celebrations, which get a little crazy. We had a plethora of witch-related museums and attractions to choose from. We ended up going to the Witch History Museum (I think that's what it's called...? All of the museum names are also very similar) It was kind of corny, but I expected that, so I still had a good time. They had a bunch of diorama scenes in the basement that we got to walk around in. Pretty spooky.

Tituba telling the girls about witchcraft

Sophie and I in front of one of the scenes - I think it's depicting the hanging tree, where the victims of the Salem witchcraft trials were, well, hung.

And of course we had to take a picture with the Samantha statue. Samantha, as in from the tv show Bewitched

The Saturday before Halloween were went to the annual Donigard Halloween party, which is co-hosted by two families in our ward. They go all out! The apartment where it was held was decorated very spookily and everyone must wear costumes. I knew the competition would be fierce (they give out trophies for the best costumes!) so that motivated me to actually put effort into our costumes. Since Sophie wanted to be Rapunzel, Loren and I also chose to be characters from the movie. He was Flynn Rider and I was the old, drunk, cupid guy. Again, you have to have seen the movie. We did not win a prize, but check out katewangsgard.blogspot.com to see the competition we were up against. You should definitely check it out, because there were some cool costumes. We had a great time at the party and they even had babysitting downstairs for the kids!

Flynn, cupid and Rapunzel

Loren giving his best Flynn Rider face

The awesome poster Loren made for his costume. He even changed his nose!

Friends who were the Mad Hatter, a bowling ball and a Sprite bottle

And then finally, on Halloween we managed to get out the door after a rough dinner with Sophie and went trick-or-treating around our neighborhood. She had a great time and after every house kept asking, "Are we still trick-or-treating?" She ended up with quite the candy haul too, but now agonizes over which piece of candy to choose.

See, I told you October was eventful. Happy Halloween!

Apple Picking

2011-10-18T19:49:00.001-07:00

I have been waiting to post this until we used all of our apples, so I could report on what I made with them. On Sunday I finally used the last of them! I ended up making: apple crisp, apple pie, applesauce, caramel apple pudding cake and apple cobbler. The apple crisp was my favorite, but the homemade applesauce was really good, as was the caramel apple pudding cake. Anyway, I had to list what I made so people could appreciate how many apples we came home with after going apple picking with our church playgroup. We had been picking once before in 2009, but didn't go last year. Apple picking is quite the tradition here and I wanted Sophie to experience it before we leave, so we were happy to have the opportunity to go with our friends. Sophie had a great time running around, climbing up the ladders and of course, eating apples.

The mini pickers, getting ready to head out

The new poster girl for apple orchards?

Climbing up the ladder. She wanted to climb all the way to the top of every ladder she got on, so I constantly had to talk her down!

The orchard we went to also had pears, pumpkins and cider doughnuts, which are the best reward for carrying around a heavy bag of apples. We had a great time picking - welcome fall!

Money Smarts

2011-10-17T14:10:00.000-07:00

"Sophie, where did you get your sucker from?"

- "From the quarter store."

"What store is that?"

- "The store where you get money and suckers."

"I think you mean the bank."

Can you tell we have coin-operated laundry facilities?

Big News!

2011-09-29T14:09:00.001-07:00

I have several important items to bring to everyone's attention. Each one deals with one member of our family. I'll start with mine, as it's clearly the most exciting. I got a haircut! The humidity in Boston wreaks havoc with my long hair. I used to have stick straight hair, but in Boston, I have wavy hair. Sigh. I was tired of having it look bad unless I put a lot of time into it, so I decided to chop it off. I've had my new haircut for a week and so far I'm very happy with it. As a side note, Sophie was not so happy with the new cut. As soon as she saw it and for several days afterwards, she kept saying, "I don't like your new haircut. I want it to grow back longer." I knew she was coming around though, when one day she said, "I love your beautiful haircut, Mommy." I'm happy she changed her tune. And of course, here's a picture.

We'll move on to Sophie's news now. She has been potty training, hooray! When we went to Utah in August she finally started to get it and since we've been back, she's been doing pretty good. She can make it through naps wearing underwear and yesterday she conquered her fear of using strange toilets, when she went to the bathroom while we were apple picking (more on that later.) For your sakes, I don't have a picture of that, so instead here is a picture of us on a river cruise that our ward did. I love Sophie's crazy eyes, plus it shows a before-haircut picture of me.

And lastly, Loren's news. After much consideration he accepted a job offer in Boise!! He will start working full-time for Clearwater Analytics in June or July 2012. We are very excited, but also a little sad to leave Boston, so we're trying to make the most of the time we have left. Also, consider this a notice to all of you: You have until June to come visit us in Boston, so please come! Here's Loren with his hand-painted congratulatory sign and a homemade pumpking pie. I tried to write "Boise" on the pie with whipped cream, but it was still too hot so it just melted. I am so proud of all your hard work, Loren!

Rain in Maine

2011-08-09T12:36:00.001-07:00

We went on a weekend trip to Maine at the end of June. We decided to go to Old Orchard Beach because some friends had gone a few weeks before and loved it. Unfortunately for us, the weather did not cooperate one bit! It was cold and rainy the entire time we were there, so no beach days for us. We drove to Portland one morning and went to the Children's Museum there, but other than that we tried to find things to do around the boardwalk and downtown of Old Orchard Beach. The trip was definitely a disappointment for me, but I guess that means we'll just have to go back and try again!

Eating my obligatory lobster in Maine. It was big! I eventually got tired of trying to figure out how to eat it and settled for the easy to find meat. Sophie was afraid of it!

Lobster fisherman Sophie, at the Children's Museum

Playing dress up on the stage. She was desperate to find a crown to wear.

Can you spot the crazy swimmer?

On the boardwalk, that sticks out over the water. Gray skies the whole time.

Playing around in one of the shops

Thanks to Loren wearing my Wellesley sweatshirt, we did meet an older alumna at the candy store, who asked us all sorts of questions about Wellesley. Ahh, connections.

Summer Fun

2011-08-05T14:48:00.001-07:00

Here comes another one of my signature long picture posts. Yay! These pictures cover most of our activities before we went to Utah after the 4th of July. And if you make it all the way to the end, the last picture is probably one of the cutest things you'll see that day. Or ever.

While Loren's mom was in town for graduation, we went to Prospect Hill Park, which was where the first American flag was raised during the Revolutionary War. There is a big tower you climb up and you can look out over Cambridge and the surrounding environs and it's pretty cool.

Later that day we went to Walden Pond, made famous by Henry David Thoreau. There is a little beach you can swim at and there is a trail that goes around the pond and passes by the site of Thoreau's cabin.

Walden Pond is a place for deep thoughts, clearly.

Pond monster

Then of course we've been doing other assorted summer things, including lots of outings for playgroup, including going strawberry picking for the second time.

Painting picture frames for Father's Day presents

And as promised, the sweetest picture of all

Fire Station Visit

2011-07-03T13:19:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from when Sophie and I went to visit the fire station with our playgroup. At first Sophie was a little hesitant about the fire truck, but once she saw her friends playing on it then she relaxed.

The wheel is as big as she is!

They gave plastic fireman's hats to everyone

Sitting in front of the truck

Sophie at the wheel. The kids could also ring the bell and of course, they did it constantly, so it was a noisy visit.

Last Days (at Wellesley)

2011-06-26T12:50:00.001-07:00

As I'm sure you can imagine, my last few weeks at Wellesley were filled with end-of-year and end-of-college activities. I'm not sure if I got the events in chronological order, but here's a run-down of the highlights. First up, hoop rolling. This is an annual tradition at Wellesley where the seniors race across part of campus while rolling hoops. The winner gets thrown into the lake, but is supposed to be the first to achieve her dreams. Through a series of miscommunications I didn't end up with my own hoop, but my good friend Cyndhia let me share hers. And let's face it, I was carrying Sophie so I didn't have a chance of winning anyway.

The leaders coming down the hill.

Can you spot Sophie and I?

Struggling to get a family picture. "Don't pull Daddy's hair, Sophie!"

My friend, Amy, and I. She's from Utah, just like me!

Sophie loved being by the lake.

Making the Olympic rings with friends Anagha, Dora, Kimberley, me, Kate and Cyndhia.

Maybe someday Sophie will participate in hoop rolling as a student?

On the last day of classes there was step-singing, a bbq and a concert. Step-singing is also a Wellesley tradition where everyone gathers to sing together, but each class also has it's own cheer and taunts the other classes. Here is some of the gathering.

Cyndhia and I. The seniors actually get to stand on the steps, while the other classes are below them.

Afterward we went to check out the Senior prank decorations in the History department. Lincoln is thinking, "History has been good to me" while adorned in yellow accessories, my class color.

Then there was the Matt and Kim concert, where Gina was rocking out. They were really good, but so loud!

Me with Cyndhia, Kimberley and Nandita at the concert.

Finally, Loren and I went to Senior Gala, which was one of the events of Senior Week, after everyone else had left campus. It was at a restaurant on the waterfront.

Easter Happenings

2011-06-17T12:14:00.001-07:00

Here I am again, planning another catch-up post. But since I last wrote I've been pretty busy, what with graduating from college and all. Cum laude. With honors. But I digress. My wonderful cousin took my "official" graduation pictures and since I haven't seen them yet, I thought I would pass the time by trying to get the blog up to speed. Again.

We ended up having a pretty eventful Easter, thanks to two egg hunts, plus Easter Sunday itself. The festivities kicked off with an egg hung put on by our church playgroup. The weather was a little chilly, but Sophie had a great time. I present Easter Egg Hunt #1: A Series

Sophie is sad. Why?

Because she doesn't have any eggs, obviously.

She did cheer up enough to pose for a lovely spring picture.

Let the hunting begin!

The second egg hunt was put on by our friends, the Gentry's. The weather didn't cooperate this time either. The hunt was scheduled to be outside, but since it was raining all the kids got to run around Christian and Laci's house! And let me tell you, they did not skimp on the prizes. The eggs were crammed full of yummy candy, plus they had pencils and bubbles for the kids to find, plus super delicious cookies for everyone.

Sophie and the host, yukking it up for the camera. Ignore me in the background.

Waiting while the Easter bunny finished his preparations outside the room. Sophie is showing off her new camera smile, in which she scrunches up her face and puts on a big smile.

Posing with her basket.

Sophie took over Berkeley's chair to enjoy her spoils.

I saved the best picture for last...

Happy Easter!

Where's Sophie?

2011-05-10T13:02:00.001-07:00

Last night we had kind of a scary moment. I put Sophie to bed around eight o'clock, but shortly before ten Loren heard a noise from her room. He went to check on her but couldn't find her! She wasn't in her crib, so we turned on the light and were frantically looking around her room, in closets and in the other rooms in our apartment. We finally (actually it didn't take that long) found Sophie hiding behind the rocking chair in her room. She was huddled up with her hands over her head, trying desperately not to be seen. When we found her she burst into tears because she knew she was being naughty. Loren thought the whole thing was funny and I guess I do too, but I was really worried for a second when we had trouble finding her! Does this mean it's time to get her a toddler bed or is this evidence that she's totally not ready?

And the speaker is...

2011-04-10T18:32:00.000-07:00

Jane Condon

Yo

2011-03-29T20:20:00.001-07:00

Sophie Update Part 2

2011-03-25T12:00:00.000-07:00

Here is the promised conclusion to my previous blog post. After Loren and I finished school it was really all about Sophie's birthday and visiting family. I don't have any pictures from our visit to my family in January and if my parents sent me any they are in my email and it would be too much of a hassle to put them up.... Anyway....

Sophie's second 2nd birthday celebration was in West Virginia with Loren's mom, younger sister and older sister and family.

Sophie's sweet cousins made her a special train for her birthday

We missed most of the major snowstorms at home since we were gone in January, but the big piles of snow stuck around for quite a while

Playing in the snow at the library

Sophie made some doggie friends

Trying to be like daddy - she put the mouse and power cord next to her computer

Waiting for mommy, pop pop and our friend Aubrey to start a Valentine's Day race

Sophie also went on more long, solitary walks

A team fit for the circus!

Ready for her first day of daycare! We have decided to put Sophie in daycare one day a week to help us with babysitting and let her spend more time around kids her own age. So far she seems to love it.

With Ann at daycare

Hat hair

Happy Birthday to mommy!

She knows she's the best gift of all

Sophie Update Part 1

2011-03-05T20:06:00.000-08:00

Warning: This post is basically a barrage of pictures, not in the order I wanted, to showcase what Sophie has been up to for the past few months. I realized that I didn't post any pictures from this past fall, so eat your heart out now. This post covers until we left for Christmas Break.

Here is what Sophie has been doing:

Having a happy 2nd birthday, part 2/3

Going to the Aquarium to celebrate

Making new penguin friends

Having a happy 2nd birthday, part 1/3

Partying with her friends - she runs with a sophisticated, older crowd

Taking her birthday celebration very seriously

Going to the Harvard-Yale game

Being cold in the Harvard Stadium

Practicing her undressing skills

Apparently not enjoying Wellesley Fall Welcome

Going on long, solitary walks

Using her charms to get food and attention

Dressing up as a tiger for our ward's Halloween party

And the bunny shall lie down with the tiger...

Picking out pumpkins that unfortunately never got carved

Hanging out at Wellesley's Lake Day celebration

Going to Flower Sunday at Wellesley and showing off her black eye

Watching a neighborhood street festival

Going to a picnic at Harvard

Making her parents look bad by displaying the black eye she got when she pulled a stool down on her face

Supporting mom at Convocation

I hope you enjoyed your journey backwards through time. Next time I'll try and catch you up to the present.

Harvard Crimson article

2010-12-15T09:27:00.000-08:00

There's an article about our family in Harvard's newspaper. I think it's great that Harvard is paying some attention to their married undergrads and this article is really very positive. Check us out!

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2010/12/15/mcginnis-married-westphal-nadler/

Babies

2010-11-21T19:14:00.001-08:00

Several good friends of ours have either just had babies or are about to so we have been explaining pregnancy and babies to Sophie. No guys, not the birds and the bees stuff, just that some of our friends have babies in their tummies and now some of the babies are out. Sophie understands....most of the time. Case in point: after church she was being held by a college friend of ours. This female friend is beautiful and also, shall we say, well-endowed . Sophie points to her chest and says, "Baby in there."

Oops. At least our friend took it well and said that she "totally understood" why Sophie said that. Better luck next time, kiddo!

My Anniversary Surprise

2010-10-16T19:21:00.000-07:00

Life has been ridiculously crazy since school started in September! I have had a relaxing weekend so far though, so I'm putting the extra time to use by finally writing my last post about the summer. L and I's anniversary is August 16 and he cooked up a big surprise for me! I was hoping that he was planning something fun, but really didn't have any ideas until the weekend before. I accidentally stumbled upon a packed duffle bag stuffed in one of the closets and knew something was up. Then, Loren's sister Sherilyn showed up at our apartment on Friday afternoon. She lives in New York, so this wasn't a casual visit. Loren finished working and then told me to get in the car. We said goodbye to Sherilyn and Sophie and started driving. I still had no idea what was going on. We drove and drove until we got to New Hampshire, finally arriving at Pawtuckaway State Park! We were going camping!
If you're not an outdoor type this probably doesn't sound fun to you, but let me explain. Loren and I had our first kiss on a ward camp out in Vermont and since we don't own camping gear, we don't ever have the chance to do it. Plus, Sophie was safe at home with Sherilyn so we got some time to ourselves under the stars. It turns out that Loren had rented a tent and bought sleeping bags and chairs for us to use. (He did this when I thought he was helping someone move! He's a convincing liar) We got everything set up and started a fire, made s'mores and sat back and relaxed. Loren even brought his laptop so we could finish watching Season 1 of Castle, one of my favorite tv shows.
The next day we had leftover pizza for breakfast, went on a beautiful hike and stopped by the lake. Then we drove back home to our beautiful daughter, who probably didn't miss us at all - thanks Sherilyn! I am so blessed to have a husband who would plan an adventure like this, just for me. Yes, we are busy and stressed out, but I wouldn't trade it in for something different. I'm so happy to be married to Loren and grateful that we have Sophie in our family too. I love you, Loren!
We didn't take very many pictures, but here are a few we did capture.

Some Kids Never Learn

2010-10-16T18:49:00.001-07:00

August 12 - Mommy's lipstick

October 13 - Mommy's lip gloss

Boston Breakers Game

2010-09-05T06:24:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we went to a college volleyball game. I played volleyball in high school and sometimes really miss playing, so it was kind of bittersweet to go to the game. Sophie had a great time though and was by far the cutest spectator. That was only the second sporting event she has been to. The first was a Boston Breakers game we went to in August. The Breakers are Boston's professional women's soccer team. They play in the giant Harvard football stadium. I'm not sure how much of the soccer game Sophie could see since we were sitting kind of high up, so she mostly amused herself by climbing around on the cement bleacher benches (thankfully she didn't ever fall and hurt herself). As a bonus to the nice weather and fun time we all had, Boston won the game, 2-0 against Atlanta (I think).

View of the Charles River, walking over to the game

We walked past the very fancy Harvard Business School and couldn't pass up a shot in front of the beautiful campus

I think Sophie should be a baby model

She loved cheering so whenever people clapped, regardless of for what team, Sophie would enthusiastically join in. We also taught her to say "Go!" and move her arms. We must have taught her well because she did the same thing at the volleyball game.

It was a fun family outing!

Summer Vacation

2010-08-30T18:12:00.000-07:00

Clearly I am not good at coming up with catchy titles. This post is about our vacation to Ocean City, New Jersey and since my sister-in-law already claimed "Jersey Shore" as a title, I am left with only boring title options. Don't worry, for the most part our trip did not resemble the popular MTV reality show and mostly consisted of hanging out at the beach. This summer I have come to the realization that I'm actually not much of a beach person, as in going to the beach and hanging out isn't my idea of the best time ever. I say this not to rag on the trip in any way, because we all had a really fun time, thanks in large part to the planning of Loren's brother, Boyd, and his wife Emily. All of Loren's family was there except one brother (we missed you Seth!) I think Sophie had a good time hanging out with her cousins and she got plenty of attention from cousins, aunts and uncles alike. She is, however, soon to be replaced as the youngest grandchild on Loren's side of the family so I guess she should enjoy it while she can. Besides going to the beach, playing in the sand and swimming, we went on an ill-fated crabbing expedition, played games and strolled on the boardwalk. Here are the pictures!

Bekah made an amazing Humpty Dumpty pinata from scratch!

The cousins! My favorite features of this picture are Lincoln kissing Eli on the far left and sweet JJ holding Sophie on the right

Everyone got a swing at the pinata, even Sophie. I think she was a little too excited about the bat

The booty

It took Sophie a long time the first day to warm up to the water and the sand. She doesn't like to get stuff on her and as everyone knows, sand is the worst

The two youngest girls

Can you see why Loren is a popular uncle?

That's my girl, nice and ladylike

Independence Day

2010-08-23T14:57:00.000-07:00

The Fourth of July was over a month ago, so I really shouldn't care about posting this, but I am determined to record important events chronologically on my blog, even when I'm very slow about updating it. It was really cool to be able to celebrate Independence Day in Boston, the city where the idea that became America began. We went to the celebration along the Charles River and stayed on the Cambridge side. The official party is on the Boston side, but they broadcast the musical program so it doesn't really matter. Sophie managed to stay up and not be too grumpy until the fireworks finally started. The show was really good and I was definitely happy we went. That happiness evaporated a little bit when it took us an hour to drive the two miles back to our apartment. Sometimes... it would be good to have bikes for the whole family.

Sophie's Fourth of July dress

Beautiful shots of the Boston skyline:

The tall building is the Prudential Center, known to us locals as the Pru

My happy, oh so photogenic family

I was proud of myself for using the fireworks setting on my camera

Monkey See, Monkey Do

2010-08-05T18:14:00.000-07:00

I took Sophie to the zoo for the first time at the end of June. We went with our friends from playgroup to the Franklin Park Zoo, in the suburbs of Boston. I think it's a comparatively small zoo, but it still had all the main attractions: lion, tiger, giraffe, zebra, etc., but no chimpanzees :( Here are some cute pictures, thanks to my friend Brittany.

Sophie was the first kid in the pen to pet the goat. No fear!

The lion was sleepy

I love this one!

And I'll leave you with a little Sophie...

Sophie's Summer Activities

2010-07-10T17:56:00.000-07:00

Hello devoted blog readers,

My husband recently complained that my blog is too much like a Flikr account, i.e. it's just a collection of pictures without any "deep thoughts." That point is well taken, but I have to catch all of you up on semi-recent happenings first and then I will spend more time pontificating. Since I'm not in school this summer, I have had a lot more time to spend with Sophie and we have been able to attend all the activities we had to miss during the school year. Here are some of the things we have been doing:

Strawberry Picking at a farm with our church playgroup

Spending a Saturday afternoon on the Boston Common, riding the Swan Boats

In case Sophie's face didn't give it away, she did not like the Swan Boats. That's mostly because she doesn't like sitting still, something that is obviously necessary while on a boat.

Playing in the water with the playgroup

Sophie had kind of a hard time with the fountains. As long as the water didn't shoot too high she was fine, but whenever it did she got trapped in the middle and ran out crying with her hands up.

The park had an awesome teeter-totter!

Let me know if you agree with Loren's opinion and if I need more thoughts to balance out all the pictures.

Castle Island

2010-07-05T09:21:00.000-07:00

We took an afternoon trip to Castle Island and Fort Independence in June. It's great to live so close to the ocean and it was my first time going to a beach in Massachusetts. I guess I forgot where we were because I was fully anticipating getting in the water and playing in the waves. Wrong! The beach was kind of rocky and the water, of course, was freezing! Sophie was deterred at first, but gradually warmed up to splashing around and ended up having a great time. After our fun in the sun was over, we went to a family-run hamburger joint there and had a yummy, unhealthy dinner. It was a good outing!

Us with the fort in the background. We couldn't go in because they only give tours on Saturdays. John Adams christened it Fort Independence, changing the name from Castle William. This was where colonial governors came to hide out when condition in Boston were thought to be unfavorable or dangerous.

Sophie loved looking at the water. She would have tried to jump in if we had let her.

Logan Airport, practically in the ocean

After a while she got sand on herself, so I filled one of the cups up with water and washed her off. She then repeated that over and over, splashing cold water (and more sand) on herself :)

Wellesley Reunion

2010-07-05T09:10:00.000-07:00

The first weekend in June I was a student worker for Wellesley's reunion weekend. I didn't get paid very much and it was really hot all weekend, but the annual alumnae parade on Sunday morning made up for it. Classes have a reunion every five years, so this year's group was all the classes ending in a 0 or 5. The oldest graduates were from the class of 1935! It was really inspiring to see the legacy and sisterhood of Wellesley on display and to feel a connection to all of these accomplished women. Pretty soon that will be me in the parade!

Sherilyn's Day and Memorial Day

2010-06-19T19:01:00.000-07:00

Loren is at a bachelor party tonight so I have no excuse to keep me from chipping away at bringing the blog up to date. The weekend after I finished my exams we took a trip to Denver to celebrate Sherilyn's (Loren's little sister) high school graduation. We also helped Sherilyn and Marianne (Loren's mom) get packed and ready to move to West Virginia. I know Loren was sad because it was our last trip to Colorado for a long time and that will always be his home, but it was great to see Sherilyn graduate and we were happy we could help with the move.

Sophie made it through the graduation ceremony with the help of her cousins, who fed her bits of graham cracker, but she conked out right after it was over.

Part of the McGinnis (and Nelson) family

Us with the proud graduate

Cut to Memorial Day. We had a relaxing family day, took Sophie to a cool park and went on a walk to the beautiful Mount Auburn cemetery. We finished the day with hot dogs, yum!

The Mary Baker Eddy Memorial

Life is full of surprises

2010-06-16T16:01:00.001-07:00

Two amazing things happened yesterday:

1. Sophie let me rock her to sleep for a nap. That has not happened in months because we have trained her to fall asleep on her own in the crib, plus she is usually way too fidgety to sit still on anyone's lap. I felt very proud and happy that she let me cuddle her and put her to sleep. This is a more typical view of Sophie:

2. I ironed the big pile of wrinkly clothes that was in our closet. I rarely, bordering on never, iron. That's mostly because I'm too lazy, not because I enjoy wearing wrinkled clothes. Loren was very impressed.

Oh and also I lost my voice. Right now I am reduced to whispering and Loren keeps telling me not to talk at all (because he hates the way I sound). Now would be a bad time to call me on the phone. This is also surprising because I don't think I have ever lost my voice like this.

Missed May

2010-06-09T14:13:00.000-07:00

I started off the year by doing so well on blog posts, but that streak was snapped in May. It could have had something to do with my end of the semester exhaustion and the stress of two students in the same apartment both dealing with finals and a busy toddler... but also I've just been a little lazy. To make up for it, I offer a collection of pictures from both April and May to sketch a faint outline of what the McGinnis family has been up to.

Marathon Monday at Wellesley - it's tradition for all the students to cheer on the runners of the Boston Marathon

The sign says, "Kissing since 1897" because all the students offer kisses to the runners. Sophie had a sign that said, "Kiss me I'm getting a tooth." Sadly, it was ineffective.

"Quiet as a clam" - Sophie at 16 months

I took at canoeing class to fulfill a PE credit. It was so fun!

My partner Caroline

Looking at the Wellesley campus from the other side of the lake

Happy 21st Birthday Loren!

I made him apple pie

Happy Mother's Day! Loren got me Gilmore Girls Season 2

Coming up: our trip to Denver and Memorial Day activities

Maple Sugaring

2010-04-19T15:55:00.000-07:00

This month, or possibly at the end of March, some friends from church invited us to go to a maple sugaring farm in New Hampshire. As the spring temperatures warm up the sap starts to run. We ate a humongous breakfast at the restaurant first and then went on a short tour of the maple sugaring barn. We actually couldn't hear very much of the tour, but the food and company were good, so I think the trip was well worth it. It's always nice to get out sometimes.

Sophie with her twin Caitlin Yamamoto and her sister Megan on the swing. Grumpy old...kids!

Loren's pose is very manly, look at how his shoulders are thrown back

We are trying to teach Sophie how to use utensils. It's a messy business.

Sleeping like a baby. This was the first time we saw her do this, but then after this it's happened two or three more times. We just laugh and then move all her limbs back into the crib.

Easter

2010-04-19T15:48:00.001-07:00

It's still April, so I'm improving slightly in the promptness of my posts. We had a wonderful Easter this year. On Saturday we dyed eggs, which Sophie didn't like because she wasn't allowed to touch the eggs. Then the Easter Bunny came Sunday morning and brought lots of candy and a toy laptop for Sophie. That night some friends from Wellesley came and ate Easter dinner with us. It was my first time making a holiday dinner and I may have overextended myself slightly, but everything was delicious and we had a great time!

Like Father, Like Daughter

2010-04-01T18:46:00.001-07:00

Nintendo and Computers. Oh no, Sophie. People have always said she reminds them of Loren...

February Catch Up

2010-04-01T18:33:00.000-07:00

February is a busy month - my mom's birthday, Valentine's Day, my birthday, etc. Let's just say it gets a little stressful for Loren because he constantly has to buy me presents. Poor Loren. That being said, it's full of exciting things and we had lots of fun doing them. Here are two events that I am slow blogging about, but didn't want to forget to mention.

1. Wellesley's annual Waltz n' Schmaltz

This is a dance that the Wellesley LDSSA hosts every year for other members of the student ward. Loren and I were special guests since we're not in the ward, but I am in the LDSSA (technically, even though I'm lax about participating). We had a wonderful time and it brought back fun memories of our first year.

What a sharp looking family!

The Wellesley LDSSA: Gina, Maryn, Kirsten, Kelsey, me, Kristal and Jesyka (minus Arbor who is on her mission)

2. My 21st birthday! I had a great birthday, thanks to Loren and my friends. Maryn and Kelsey made me cookies which we ate during institute and then Loren, Sophie and I went out to dinner that night. Sophie wasn't on her best behavior, but she must not have realized how important a day it was. Loren got me a beautiful dress, which I unfortunately had to exchange because it was too short, but he gest an A++ for the effort. Marianne sent me some of her beautiful, homemade scrapbook pages and my family sent their presents with my mom when she came to visit the next week.

No alcohol for this 21-year old!

Sophie got a kick out of my birthday card with sound

My beautiful cake that Loren made and decorated all by himself - thank you lovey!

Valentine's Day

2010-02-27T12:22:00.000-08:00

We celebrated V-Day on Saturday, February 13 and kicked things off with a 5-mile race in Bradford, MA. It was about a 45 minute drive to get to the race and thankfully the weather was pleasant, although a little windy. The race is sponsored by a local church and everything was nice and organized. My goal was to finish in under 40 minutes and my time was 39:49! I didn't win anything in the raffle afterwards, but all the finishers got a flower and a box of chocolates in honor of the holiday.

Pre-race, with a very bundled Sophie

Coming down the hill at the finish line

After the race, where they had yummy food, including homemade soup

I had a good time at the race, so I might do it again next year. Loren and I were supposed to go out on a date that night and drop Sophie off at the church, where some students were offering free babysitting. However, Sophie was sick so we felt guilty leaving her with strangers and other kids. Luckily, our good friends Lindsey and Stephanie Parker babysat for us and we were able to have our date after all. The three of us went to dinner at a Greek restaurant, then we dropped Sophie off and headed to a movie. We saw "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus." I thought it was weird, but Loren really liked it. It was definitely weird.

Also on Saturday night, Loren and I exchanged Valentine's gifts. He got me a beautiful pair of earrings with amethyst stones (that's my birth stone), while I got him a bike helmet. Lest you think my gift was less romantic, I also got up early Sunday morning and made Loren a heart-shaped breakfast tart, plus we had hamburgers for dinner, which was Loren's special request. I guess the way to a man's heart really is through his stomach.

February Catch Up

2010-02-27T11:46:00.000-08:00

February has been a busy month and since it's about to end, I thought I had better give an update on what we have been doing. We haven't had very much snow in Boston, although it seems like everywhere south of us has been getting pounded. It's nice not to have to deal with the weather, but the scenery is much uglier without a blanket of snow.

I had my first celebrity spotting ever this month. The occasion was Harvard's Hasty Pudding Society's parade for their woman of the year. The Hasty Pudding Society, so far as I understand it, is a group of guys who cross-dress for their strange events. Hmmm. Anyway, I was walking home from the T (the subway) and saw policemen blocking of the street one block before ours. It turns out the parade was about to start, so I went home to get my camera and got a front row seat for the very start of the parade. Scroll on to see who the woman of the year was!

A few of the lovely ladies

Anne Hathaway!

Also this month was the Harvard LDSSA retreat in the Berkshires, which is an area of western Massachusetts. A member of the stake presidency has a home out there so everyone stayed there. Their house is huge and beautiful, with a pool, hot tub, ping-pong table, trampoline, tennis court and lots of backyard space. We had a good time and Loren was able to play board games the whole weekend, so that kept him happy.

A view from the backyard

And finally, Sophie is growing and getting busier every day. She can now climb on the couch, chairs, etc all by herself and has already fallen off several times. She likes to put mommy or daddy's gloves on her hands.

Crab hands!

Beautiful Baby

2010-01-28T15:30:00.000-08:00

We have just entered Sophie into Regis and Kelly's annual beautiful baby contest! We had some technical difficulties uploading the picture, but Loren finally figured it out -- thank goodness. We already think she is the most beautiful baby in the world, but I guess we'll find out if others feel the same way. How it works is parents upload pictures of their kids, ages 6 months to four years. A panel of judges whittles down the thousands (or tens of thousands) of entries to a handful of contenders and then I think people can vote and determine the semifinalists, then runners-up and winner.

Obviously the chances of Sophie winning are slim(!) but the prizes are amazing, so we figured there was no harm in trying. The contest is in partnership with Gerber, who provides the winner with a $125,000 college scholarship! The four runners-up get $25,000 apiece, while the 10(?) semifinalists receive a year's worth of food from Gerber, specially customized for their child. Wow! Anyway, I think they show a bunch of the pictures everyday on the show, so if you watch Live with Regis and Kelly and see Sophie let us know. There is also a gallery of all the entries on their website. We'll let you know how it turns out. This is the picture we submitted. No matter what, Sophie will always be a winner to us.

The Children's Museum

2010-01-23T12:25:00.000-08:00

It has been an unbelievably long time since my last blog post, but with the start of a new year I have re-resolved to blog more often and offer more frequent updates on our busy life. Last Friday, Loren took Sophie and I to the Boston Children's Museum. They have $1 admission on Friday nights, so we figured even if we didn't like it, we would only be out $3. Luckily we all had a great time. There were so many fun and creative exhibits and activities that I think Loren and I had more fun than Sophie. We definitely want to go back again, but maybe wait until Sophie is a little older so she can enjoy it even more. It was a great date - thanks Loren!

I'm always amazed at how much Sophie can do!

Go Red Sox!

Independence Day Weekend

2009-07-07T06:42:00.000-07:00

Our little family had a great three-day weekend to celebrate the 4th of July. Loren had Friday off so we, along with Heather, went swimming at the former Bountiful Bubble. It was our first time taking Sophie swimming here and I think she really enjoyed it. She especially liked to watch the little kids run around in the pool. That night we set off fireworks with my family in Kaysville. Surprisingly, they didn't wake Sophie up. It was fun, but I think that fireworks, along with parades and many other things and geared more toward little kids. The pleasure for adults must come in watching their children enjoy themselves.

Bright and early the next day my dad, Heather and I got up to run the Kaysville 4th of July race. Heather and I ran the 5K (3.1 miles) and my dad ran the 10K (6.2 miles). My goal was to be under 25 minutes, but I fell just short, finishing in 25:31. On the bright side, I did beat Heather by a minute! Dad finished in 48 minutes (I think) and got second place in his age group. He and I are going to run the 24th of July 5K in Bountiful and hopefully I can achieve my goal time there. After the race Loren and I went to breakfast where Loren was loaded up with 6 pancakes, 2 slices of ham and scrambled and fried eggs. He said he was starving while waiting at the race. We then watched the parade and, later that night, the big fireworks display. Sophie handled the fireworks pretty well, but after a while her curiosity turned into fear so we left a bit early.

Even though all the festivities were fun, the main event for me was on Sunday when Loren was able to bless Sophie. She looked beautiful in her white dress and we even got her shoes and a bonnet to wear as well. She was fascinated by the shoes, but not a big fan of the bonnet. Loren gave her a very sweet blessing and I was so proud of him for all his preparation. My family came to watch and we all celebrated together. The only thing that would have made the day better is if Andy Roddick had been able to beat Roger Federer and win Wimbledon. They battled it out in an epic 5 set match and Roddick just lost. Oh well, I guess you can't have everything.

Health Update

2009-06-28T08:00:00.000-07:00

This past Monday Sophie was 6 months old! We can't believe how much she's already grown - time really does fly. On Tuesday she had her checkup with the doctor and he said she's doing great. She weighs just over 16 pounds and is 26 inches long. She also had to get another round of shots :( Next time Loren is definitely coming so I'm not the only one who has to watch.

Sophie also had to go to the hospital on Thursday for some tests. When we got back from Hawaii last month she had a really high fever for a few days. We took her to the doctor and after some tests he told us that she had a kidney infection. We were able to give her medicine to combat the infection, but were told there was a chance that something was wrong internally that would make Sophie prone to bladder and kidney infections. So, we went to Primary Children's on Thursday where she had an ultrasound and a VCVG test. Everything looked fine in the ultrasound, but the VCVG showed that she was having some problems. She has problems with reflexing, i.e. some of her urine flows back up to her kidneys, instead of all going down into her bladder. We will probably have to give her low-dose antibiotics for a year and then she will likely grow out of it, so to speak. We were hoping that nothing would be wrong, but this isn't extremely serious so we are grateful for that.

In other news, Loren and I are doing well. We are enjoying the more relaxed pace of summer and love watching Sophie grow. She is such a happy baby and has just learned how to sit up and is starting to try and crawl. We are looking forward to the Fourth of July and would also like to wish a very happy birthday to our nephew Gavin. Happy 4th bud!

Wellesley Woes

2009-06-12T14:55:00.000-07:00

Ever since we got married, Loren and I have been planning on moving back to Boston to finish college. The time is finally drawing near and we anticipate moving in late August. Loren will be returning to Harvard as a sophomore studying computer science and I am set to be a junior at Wellesley, majoring in history. Our well-laid plans have, unfortunately, hit a major snag - Wellesley's financial aid policy. They only recognize students over the age of 24 as being independent from their parent's household. This means that even though I am married and Loren and I filed our own taxes this year, Wellesley still views me as dependent on my parents and so when assessing my financial aid application, they will also take into account my parent's financial situation. In all likelihood, this will result in little or no aid being offered to me to help pay for my education and may bar me from returning to Wellesley.

I find this extremely frustrating and saddening. I realize that my situation is unusual when compared to my classmates, but I thought an institution such as Wellesley would be be able to take that in stride and make accommodations for me. Loren and I want to be considered as an independent household and we have worked hard this past year to save our money and prepare to return to school. It seems to me that Wellesley should make a change in their policy and recognize married students, no matter their age, as independent and treat them as such. By not doing so they are not truly recognizing my marriage and not granting me the same status as the federal government does. Wellesley claims to want a diverse student body, but they only want certain kinds of diversity, not the type that I would bring as a wife and mother. The purpose of financial aid is to allow all students to attend, regardless of their financial situation. The hard truth is that $38,000 (and that's not including room and board) is too much for my parents to pay by themselves anyway, even if I weren't married. They want to help, but it shouldn't be their responsibility to pay for my education anymore. Unless we can work something out, Wellesley will lose a student and demonstrate that they are unwilling to help those in need who want to attend Wellesley, but just can't make it on their own.

At Last

2009-04-13T12:24:00.000-07:00

I have, at last, started a blog. It was the desire to procrastinate my history paper that finally made me do it. I hope this blog will accomplish several things. First, I intend to use it to keep family and friends updated about our life, especially Sophie. She is learning and growing so quickly and I want everyone to know about it! Second, my wish is that those who follow this blog will find it at least somewhat entertaining and interesting. Who knows, maybe this will help others procrastinate on their own projects. Third, I want to practice my writing and get better at expressing myself that way. Finally, I want to show off my tech savvy to Loren by running this blog. I doubt he'll be impressed, but there's no harm in trying!

Regarding the title, "grow where you're planted" is something my dad first said to me when I was starting my first year at Wellesley. I was nervous and homesick and questioning my decision to attend college so far away from everything familiar. He told me to blossom and grow at Wellesley, to do my best right where I was and to not be afraid to shine. I still need to remember that advice today. Last year has been full of surprises - some good, some bad. I am trying my best to flourish in Bountiful, to enjoy being a mom and to focus on the future, not regret the past. When we move to Boston this August, Loren and I will need to adjust to our new lives, try our best in all our endeavors and grow where we will be planted.

So, more posts will come and I hope the blog will stay fun and be updated regularly. Now, I better get back to my history paper...