More Pix of Baby Sasha

So here are more pictures of baby Sasha.

I know many of you are mad that I didn't call to let you know that Suzi had the baby... but I have been super busy with Graduate school.

Today is only the second time I've seen Sasha... the other time was for a brief 15 minute visit in the hospital the day AFTER she was born.

I took this picture of the litte cuttie pattootie today.

Here's Zac holding her.

Is there anything sexier than a big man holding a little baby?

Bryant was really scared of her at first. Now he wants to hold her but he's nervous.

He likes to touch her ears and her tiny nose.

Ganny couldn't be any prouder.
I'm just in awe. You forgot how small newborn babies are.

I don't have any pictures of Suzi and Austin yet.

Suzi is just starting to feel human again after her c-section.

They were released from the hospital today... so hopefully I can take some family pictures of them next weekend.

For any of you locals, call Suzi if you want to set up a time to go see Sasha.

I'm an Aunt... Baby is here

I know many of you are checking here for news of Suzi and Austin's baby...

Here is what I currently know (I've been in graduate school all night and only know information via the phone messages I received)

Sasha Elizabeth was born this evening via c-section.

She weighed in at 7 lbs 6 oz.



Everyone is happy and healthy.

More tomorrow after I get the real "scoop..."

Bryant's First Kindergarten Homework!

Bryant's been dying to get his first "homework" from Kindergarten...

and finally his dream came true.

His teacher sent home a "Parent and Me" project.

The directions were for Bryant to make a paper replica of himself for the bulletin board outside his classroom.

Anyone who knows me knows that I like things like this to be perfect.

For the last 24 hours I've been plotting and scheming on how cool we could make his Bryant replica.

But, alas, I came to the conclusion that even though this was a "Parent and Me" project, I needed to sit back and see what Bryant had in mind.

And of course my little guy didn't fail me.

He made the perfect replica of himself.

He asked to use my scrapbooking supplies and of course I let him.

He even made his guy hold a sign that says "use extreme caution"... which is so funny since Bryant is as dare-devilish as they come!

Bryant is really looking forward to more homework from his teacher.

He's begging to show off his mathematical adding and subtracting skills
(let's just hope that desire to homework carries on for the next 10 years!)

Why do we even buy kids toys?

I don't know why I bother buying Bryant toys....

He and his friends had a much better time playing with this wheelchair I had borrowed from work last weekend!

They pushed each other up and down the sidewalk for hours...

And when that got boring, they got out a pillow to look "sick" and in need of a wheelchair!

And eventually they got really ingenious and raided our cupboards for band aids and other treasures.


Bryant and Karsyn used Cooper as their Guinea pig and covered his body with bandages and masking tape (to look like big bandages).

They loved hammin' it up for all the passing neighbors.

They actually had cars almost come to stop to make sure they were okay!

These kids are precious.

They love being outside and they love pretending.

Look at their faces, can't you tell they're having the times of their lives?

PS: I'm back and will be blogging on a regular basis. Thanks for being patient!

I promise to get back to my regular blogging soon. My home computer is still effected by that darn virus that has corrupted my keyboard...not to mention my hard drive!

We've finally decided we're going to break down and just buy a new computer. The computer repair guy said it would cost us about $400 to fix ours. For that price it seem like we'd be better off to just buy a new one and upgrade to better bells and whistles!

In other news:

• I've been going to new teacher orientation for the past 3 days. WOW. My head is swimming with information.

• Zac and I have been busy decorating our classrooms. I am going with a Rainforest/Jungle theme and Zac is going with a Under the Sea theme.

• My mom moved into her new house in Boise last Thursday. My dad is still in Portland taking care of some business and then he'll come over too. It sure is nice to have my mom here. Saturday she called to see if I wanted to go to Art in the Park... it was fun to have someone to go with! And Sunday when I needed some help in my classroom she readily agreed to lend a hand. Ahhh family. I've been without family here since 1991... so it is so nice to have family close.

• Bryant is geared up for kindergarten to start next week. He sorts and re-packs his school supplies every couple of days. He's so excited to finally be old enough to go to school.

• Soccer is about to start for Bryant. He's still not old enough to play football... so soccer is going to have to do. He's such a die hard sports fanatic that he's been wearing his shin guards everyday (even sleeping in them) so they'll be "broke in" before his first game.

• Tomorrow is my last day of work as a social worker. It will be sad to leave after 14 years. More about that in tomorrow's post.

From the Jewels . . To the Crown . . .

...To the Fancy Gown!

The Grand Floral Parade is the centerpiece of the Portland Rose Festival and the second largest all-floral parade in the United States. More than 500,000 spectators line the parade route.
As long as I can remember, my mom would take us to see the Grand Floral Parade each year, and I loved it ... the excitement, the anticipation and looking down the street, asking, "Is it coming yet? Can you see it?"

But honestly… what I was really waiting to see was the Rose Festival Princesses.

You see, every year (since 1930), girls from Portland high schools were chosen to be princesses and form the Royal Rosarian Court. The princesses would ride on their parade float looking so beautiful. Their tiara's would sparkle and I was in awe.

For years I dreamed of being a princess. What Portland girl didn’t? My friends and I spent years practicing our best elbow-elbow-wrist-wrist princess waves.

And so, when I finally turned 17 and could try out to be a princess, I found out I was pregnant with Hannah. I was crushed.

And then it Happened...

Shortly there after, we decided that we were going to be the “unofficial” princesses of the Rose Festival. We dressed up in our finest dresses, purchased tiaras and sat along the parade route waving to everyone with our elbow-elbow-wrist-wrist princess waves.

What started as a family tradition, quickly grew into an annual event for my family, my friends and even my mom’s co-workers! We have had as many as 40 princesses in our group at one time.

Our 2006 group of Princesses

Each year our dresses change... sometimes we wear wigs to liven things up... but one thing that NEVER changes is that we all wear Swarovski rhinestone encrusted tiara's.

A Princess can never have too much bling.

Hannah, Myself and Suzi

My brother, Travis, and Jenny Oh, the princess attitude comes out...
As the “unofficial” princesses of Rose Festival, we have quite the following. We have been on the front page of The Oregonian several times and have had multiple TV interviews. We are quite the site to see.

As “unofficial” princesses, we have met many people from all over the world who walk by and ask what we were doing and who we are. Just try to imagine the looks on their faces when they find out we are just normal people who decided that every girl has a princess inside her who is dying to get out. Yes, we get lots of laughs, but many, many folks have sat down with us or come back the following year dressed up and ready to join us.

The crowd surrounds us...

These little girls came up to have their pictures taken with Princess Suzi...

This random stranger in his Tuxedo wanted to be our prince charming...

Sometimes we're nice and even let King Travis join us...

It is just such a cool tradition. Something that make me proud and proud of my family. Even Hannah (the baby I had when I was 17 and subsequently placed for adoption) and her mom, Debbie, have taken to our Rose Festival tradition. I’ve watched Hannah go from a middle schooler who feigned embarrassment at dressing up, to a high schooler who is inviting all her friends to be a part of the family fun. I imagine before long she’ll be coming home from college for the parade and introducing her boyfriend to our annual Rose Festival group. And soon we’ll have Suzi’s new baby girl to add to our princess list.

Suzi (my sister), Hannah (my birthdaugther), Me, and Ganny (my mom)

My mom and Hannah's mom enjoying a moment of bonding...

We have seldom missed a parade. In 35 years I have only missed 2 parades. And in her 62 years, my mom has only missed a handful more!

We plan to keep our tradition going strong and bringing the joy of being a princess to girls of all ages.

Do you have a princess inside of you?