Rougher than usual week

Katie's new harness by Corinne S.

This week Katie was fitted with this harness to correct the formation of her hip joints and avoid hip dysplasia. She's not a fan, but is gradually adjusting. After a couple of major freak-outs, resulting in the overnight removal of said harness, we're working up to having her wear it 23 hrs/day. :'-(

She'll get another hip ultrasound in early March to see whether things have improved. Can I tell you how much I want that to be the end of the harness? I miss my leg-kicking, sweet dispositioned girl.

Showered with babies

Rob and Keston by Corinne S.

Our big co-ed baby shower was today at Miller and Nathan's house. The place was flush with babies and it was great to see our friends. We received lots of adorable gifts and some seriously useful hand-me-downs. I only took two pictures, so hopefully Rob will post a bunch of his photos soon. I know he took a few that weren't just of his adorable son Keston. ;-)

Babysitting Dash

Dashiell sleeping well by Corinne S.

Last night I babysat Dashiell for about 4 hours starting at 8:30pm. It was in an effort to give his mommy some uninterrupted sleep (his daddy divided the time between working and sleeping). As you can see, Dash didn't give me a ton of trouble. ;)

Visiting friends

Family concert by Corinne S.

Yesterday I visited Piper while she was in town staying at Sara's house. We hung out in the kitchen talking and snacking almost the entire time. I got to see Reszi, Kaimi, Joyce and Sara as well (and the boys too). Only sister Suni wasn't around since she was at work. I never broke out the camera. Today I was supposed to go to the zoo with Meghan N., S. Ben, and little Nathan. Claire and Amelia might have joined us too. Unfortunately toddler sickness and bad weather required a rain-check be made on that plan. Instead, I slept late and then trekked up Sand Point Way to visit Leanne and little Asha (and saw Charles just long enough to give his car a jump start--literally). Asha was as cute and fun as ever. I posted the best photos from my visit today and then realized I had a bunch of photos from previous visits over the last year that I had never posted. So my Flickr stream is now dominated by adorable little Asha Ruby faces. You can see them here.

Cutie pie

So happy with her grandma by Corinne S.

The Saturday before Christmas was when we celebrated with the Sherry family. My parents in-law hosted and made the traditional Sherry Christmas curry, which was delicious (we've been snacking on it since then). The kids were cute as always, so they dominate the pictures.

Christmas night

Velvet ears by Corinne S.

We spent Christmas morning at Mimi's house enjoying my dad's famous homemade cinnamon rolls along with Mimi's special scrambled eggs and many yummy meats. Benjamin's parents joined us, too. It was delicious and relaxing, even though I did get only about 4 hours sleep Xmas Eve night. I didn't take any photos at breakfast.

In the afternoon and evening of Christmas day we were at home this year hosting my mom, step-dad, and grandma (as well as four small dogs including Maple and the neighbor dog who stopped by for a while). More pictures from this Christmas.

Christmas past

Maple looking attentive by Corinne S.

I've been crappy about blogging lately, but I am catching up on my photo posting. This is one of the pictures I posted fom Christmas 2006.

Birthday girls

Urban traveler by Corinne S.

This was a busy weekend for us. TJ and Gabe were in town for an early family Christmas celebration, which happened on Saturday. Then Sunday we celebrated three birthdays--our niece's first, Steph's (not first), and Sylvia's (also not first). Here's Steph packed up and ready to trek home with her birthday flowers on her back. :-)

Great Saturday

Joyful smile by Corinne S.

Saturday afternoon I met Claire to swim some laps (in an outdoor pool!) and then spent the rest of the day at her house. Two delicious meals, several episodes of Harold and the Purple Crayon, lots of play time with the iPhone, a couple of hours of fetch, and 181 photos later, I went home happy. It was a fantastic day.

Birthday pictures

Girls' table by Corinne S.

I forgot to mention that I posted some of the photos from my birthday party. More to come when I get around to it.

Maple's new playmate

Pepper pants by Corinne S.

I am so happy that Maple has hit it off with our neighbor's new puppy Pepper. They run each other ragged in our combined back yards and it makes me so happy! Admittedly this takes some pressure off me walking Maple, which is probably not good, but it's still a fabulous addition to our lives. It's also great to see Joyce falling in love with her dog. :-)

My big brother

Big brother by Corinne S.

TJ stayed over at my house last night because he had a meeting in Seattle today. We took Maple and my neighbor's dog Pepper for a walk around the neighborhood and then Benjamin brought home delicious Penn Thai takeout (that's the same people who own my favorite Chantanee Thai in Bellevue). After his meeting today TJ headed back to Leavenworth only to discover that his room in forest service housing had been broken into. What a bummer!

Big kids and babies

Aawwww by Corinne S.

Yesterday with Miller & Nathan's coed baby shower. Baby Mabry is due on July 28th. This isn't Miller's "isn't that cute?" face. The hat is part of an outfit Benjamin and I gave Mabry for her baby shower. I had so much fun shopping for baby clothes at Bootyland on Saturday after my hair cut. I bought enough clothes for a small tribe.

Leanne's pretty family

The family by Papa Morris

It makes me happy to see my friends' happy. Life is great journey.

Be a good little guinea pig

Guinea Pig by Futuregirl

Here's another place to sign up to participate in usability studies--Amazon.com Usability Sign-Up. This is in addition to the ones I've blogged before, such as Adobe, Microsoft, and Fieldworks (market research).

Cuties

Silk worm by Papa Morris

Clearly Leanne's baby Asha is still adorable.

Last night in Poland

Poland -75 by Rob Gruhl's Quick & Dirty Page

Apparently this is what Benjamin and I missed by not going out drinking on our last night in Poland. :-)

Creativity meets execution

will he make it in time........?? by hb19

Check out this fantastic Woody set on Flickr.

Celebration is relative

Happy birthday Dad by Corinne S.

Today Benjamin and I went to Vashon and helped my Dad clean a bunch of stuff out of his house and move things from one place to another in preparation for carpet installation, and ultimately the sale of the house. Benjamin did a lot more heavy lifting than I did, but with my fibromyalgia flaring up lately, that's a good thing. Thursday was my dad's birthday, so once all the heavy lifting was done for the day we also celebrated with a delicious dinner and some leftover birthday cake. He did get candles and singing again, though. :-)

Visiting Vashon

Maple keeps Benjamin company while he naps by Corinne S.

Last weekend Benjamin and I went to Vashon to celebrate Mimi's birthday and see how the house is coming along (they're preparing it for sale). The house looks good, but the water main broke Saturday morning so it was a rough day for my dad. Before dinner, Benjamin took a nap on the couch and Maple was nice enough to keep him warm. ;-)

Dad-in-law's birthday

Zane with Daddy by Corinne S.

Today was my father-in-law's birthday and we celebrated by having brunch at my sister-in-law's house. I took a lot of photos today since the kids and I were having fun with it.

I've been playing around with the beta of Photoshop CS3 and Bridge CS3 with the Camera Raw beta. Overall, it's an improved experience and I'm really enjoying it. I have a few nitpicks, but nothing major. I guess the biggest thing is that they still don't have any presets for multi-mon. I'll have more photos from today later, but you can more photos from today on Flickr.

Cutting into the backlog

I am so excited...I have no photos awaiting processing now except the ones from Christmas and a few from Piper's birthday party. That's a major improvement and a doable task. w00t!

In utero

Pregnancy Favs by Amelie81 So many women in Benjamin's social circle and mine are currently pregnant. There are actually four that I am aware of, but that feels like a lot. I think our "group" is about to explode with babies, as it were.

Flickr gets flicked

Oh no wait, that's phished. Flickr is warning all of their users that there are phishers (can you say that?) posing as Flickr and asking you to enter your password or download bad things. Don't do it. Don't download. Beware phishing.

Lunch with the babe

Asha Ruby by Corinne S.

Today I had lunch with Leanne and Asha Ruby at Grateful Bread. Asha Ruby was a model baby the whole time and Leanne and I had a nice, long chat. I even got the hold the little munchkin twice. :)

Happy new year!

Happy new year! by Corinne S.

Benjamin and I were on vacation for the last two weeks of December. Once our holiday celebrations were complete, we started staying up later and later and ultimately we were sleeping on a completely backward schedule (sleep during the day, awake at night). In fact, there were a few days I didn't see the sun at all. Benjamin and I stayed home on New Year's Eve and watched Mission - Impossible III on the couch with the dog. We noted midnight pass by mid-movie, but afterward we celebrated with pretty chocolate-covered strawberries from Whole Foods. YUM!