Sunday, December 18, 2005

Evan's Television Debut

Well look who made it to the Sunday Morning News on CBS with Charles Osgood December 18...Starring, Evan! And Beverly! CBS was doing a story about the Mormon church being one of the fastest growing religions in the world, and a few Sundays ago, the camera crew came to our congregation and was following a family to be their storyline. I guess the cameraman couldn't resist the hand-sucking, bright-eyed, poised for stardom Evan-man, so he has a 3-second spot! Lucky Mama too!


Daddy made it on there too, but not nearly as clear and long. If you squint and look hard, you'll see me sitting next to beverly on the top (to the right (his right, your left) of the man in the white shirt). I'm just not as irresistable as the one...the only...Evan-Man!

Friday, December 16, 2005

dog bones

I knew it was going to happen sooner or later... Evan's become quite good at scooting around the room. Everytime I look at him he's in a new location. I was sitting on the couch when I looked down to see Evan sitting under the coffee table. His head just bearly clears it. I thought, "how cute! Evan just scooted towards me!" Next thing I know Evan's picked up one of Lucy's old raw hide bones and it's in his mouth faster than you can say "NASTY!!!"
Lucy leaves her 'toys' all over the house. She'll sometimes bring them over to sit next to Evan to play with. She'll even go as far as hiding her bones in his blankets. I'm surprised Evan hasn't found those yet.
Today dog bones. Tomorrow dog food.

evan's first (typed) word!


It figures that the son of computer geek parents would type his first word before actually saying one. I was watching Evan on the webcam while in class Wednesday night, he was punching away at the keyboard, and types in "/yum." Funny. I thought he actually said yum, which wouldn't surprise me since he eats so much...a true Chang!! What a funny little man.



Well Lucy had to get some airtime as well...

Thursday, December 08, 2005

Fussy Poopy Man


I know what you're thinking...awwww, isn't he just darling? Look a little closer...notice anything? He's sleeping on a bare mattress! I woke up this morning to a fussy, poopy Evan, who managed to crawl around my side of the bed and leak poop all over the bed sheet, comforter cover, and even the sleeve of my shirt! What a rude awakening, but what can I do? After he was cleaned up, he conked out! Awwww so cute!

Movin' Up!


It's amazing how quickly this little Evan man grows. I was going through the thousands of photos we have of him, and I found this one of him back in early November, I placed him on the middle of the floor, and he just laid there, content...well, for a few moments. Ok just a few seconds, long enough for me to take the picture. This was before he could fully roll over on his own, before he could do his backwards crawl, before he could roll off the bed, roll off the couch, before he could suck his bottom lip...

...and definitely before he could sit in his new high chair! He now joins us for dinner, sitting happily at the table, throwing his aminals on the ground, playing his soft piano with his chin, and getting impatient because we eat too slow! Well, it's better than tag-team dinners, where one of us eats while the other holds Evan, and switch (hopefully) before the food gets cold!!! Look at him sit there...he's like the King, throwing stuff around and hitting the table demanding attention :)

Uncle D Time!

Quality bonding time during Thanksgiving time between Uncle D and Little E.


Surprise Visitor!


Evan was pleasantly surprised Monday evening by his "Grandma" Bi-shiou, (my cousin Kevin's mom, see Kevin's blog), who was in town attending a conference in DC. She survived the cold and the snow and made it to our house all the way from Dupont Circle!

do you like?

Well, it started out as just a "comments" problem, but as I tried to do a little Operation on the code, the little red nose buzzed, and ended up having to put on a temporary template (with a little truck which I thought was cool at first, but then I thought was lame, but didn't have time to change it as I was on my way to class), and after some long hard searching, found a good template, customized it, and now it all works again. Woohoo!

Those who use newsreaders can click on the "feed me" link to subscribe to our blog. A lot of people are jumping on the RSS (Really Simple Syndication) bandwagon..and it's pretty convenient too. I can subscribe to ESPN, CNN, travel, stocks, weather, tech geek stuff, other people's blogs, podcasts, and so on, and as soon as an update is made on one of those sites, I receive the posting almost like an e-mail. Mozilla Firefox 1.5 (browser) has the feature, so does Mozilla Thunderbird (email/newsreader), and www.feedreader.com is also a really good RSS/ATOM newsreader/aggregator.

I know this sounds all geek/greek to you, but try it. You'll like it. I'll put up some more stuff about it later for those interested...it's 2AM over here and I can barely keep my eyes open! And it's NOT because I'm Chinese!

Wednesday, December 07, 2005

why didn't I think about that?!

Thanks to Jerin I realized that something was up with our blog that was throwing all our comments out! So, as a bad boyfriend would say, "It's not you, it's me." ;)
Well, our comment box is under construction until I figure out what's wrong. Or you can drop us an email!

Thursday, December 01, 2005

I know you're reading

I love statcounter.com, it lets me know, down to the city, who is hitting out site. I haven't seen any comments lately, which would lead me to believe no one is reading the blog if I didn't have my statcounter.com. So, what are you waiting for? comment comment comment!

What I'm listening to: Ever heard of this up and coming young crooner Michael Buble? (pronounced boob.lei hehehe) Don't you think I've forgotten about my #1 Josh Groban. But Michael is pretty happenin. Like a little lounge, big band, and jazz. I guess he's comparable to Harry Connkic Jr. I was listening to Michael's song "Home" and it put fussy Evan to sleep. Way to go Buble! I heard that song "Home" when I was pregnant and with hormones off the charts, it put me in tears. hehehe And if you know me, I'm no sap like that. I don't know if I ever fully regained hormone "normalcy", cause now sappy commercials and Oprah make me teary eyed! *sigh*

Evan's making milestones faster than I can record them. He's well on his way to crawling. Which is a bittersweet thought to me. Happy he's more independent and developing well, but sad that he's not that tiny quiet newborn anymore. I hate packing away clothes he's outgrown. Poor Evan has to put up with his mom trying to squeeze him into small clothes. hehehe
His newest thing: I lay him on his back, he'll roll to his tummy, push up with his arms, push up with his legs, gets up on all fours, pushes back and sits up smiling at me. He'll sit there for a while playing and enjoying the view then falls to his side or back. Repeat. Every time I check on him he's sitting in a new part of his play mat.

Thanksgiving was fun. Mark's sister, brother and his wife came to spend it with us. I didn't want the hassel, so I ordered a pre-cooked meal from Giant Supermarket. And acutally the pre-cooked turkey was the best turkey I've ever had! Who knew?! The side dishes were ok, I guess I could have made that... next year, get pre-cooked turkey, and make everything else. We also ended up watching the entire 1st season of Lost. I knew I shouldn't have started! It seems all normal at first but each episode gets more and more weird! Invisiable monsters that eat people, crazy french lady, the 'others' that live on the island, the hatch in the ground that leads to even more weirdness, and psyhco numbers that show up everywhere! My conclusion is that everyone was abducted on this flight by their oxygen masks and are in a group dream/nightmare, where all their fears are brought to life. I'm not going to watch anymore cause I'm gonna get sucked in to it's pointless storyline.

I've made it tradition in our home to set the Christmas tree up after Thanksgiving. Over the last 3 Christmases I've gotten more decorations for our skinny tree, and this year it's really looking great. Each ornament has a story behind it. It's like the tree looks better with age. It's beautiful! We bought a remote for our tree this year. It was a splurge, but it's the coolest thing! It looks like a key fob for keyless entry to our car but really it turns the lights on and off! hehehehe It's like anti-thieft for our tree!

Thursday, November 17, 2005

our little shoplifter

You may be asking yourself, "Bev, did you forget to change the time on your post? because it's reading 4:30 am"
Nope that's the right time.
I have a little boy that likes to wake up at odd hours of the night ready to play. I'm tired, but more tired of trying to put him back to sleep. So I've fed him, changed him, and let him play by himself on the floor. I hope he wears out soon...

I went out with my friend Jimmie today to the mall. It was nice to be able to hand Evan off to her while I shop a bit. We went to the Gap, and I did my usual routine of looking for deals. I found a hat and a cute little teddy bear for Evan and picked up 2 more for friends having babies. We walked over to the women's section and I found the perfect winter coat that fit me perfectly. After looking at the price tag that dream quickly faded. I'll wait till it goes on sale.
So we headed out to a store down the mall that might have winter coats at a better price. After walking through and not seeing anything I noticed that Evan was making cooing noises.
I looked down and what did I see?
Evan was so happy cause he had 3 teddy bears and a hat keeping him company!! I had just walked out of Gap with things still in the stroller. Of course I intended to buy them, but after my disappointment over the perfect coat I forgot about them. I'm very careful of what I put in the stroller while shopping cause I don't want to be accused of stealing. And here I was stealing without knowing it! I'm glad there wasn't a sensor on it, that would have been SO embarrasing!
We walked back into Gap and pretended to look around and then went to pay for the items. I'm really surprised how easy that was, but you won't see me and my accomplice make that mistake again.

Friday, November 11, 2005

Monday, November 07, 2005

Happy 4 months, Evan!

Its been a while since I've really written anything. Pictures may be worth a thousand words, but you still gotta hear it from the horses mouth. hehehe if that made any sense...

Evan is growing and developing in leaps and bounds! It just amazes me how the human mind develops. I think one of the best things about being a stay at home mom is being a front row spectator to God's ultimate creation. I watch as Evan makes connections in his mind of how this world of ours works. He concentrates and focuses on sights and sounds more than ever. I'm constantly looking for ways to stimulate his mind and he's always up for the challenge too! He's my own little research subject.

I've joined up with a group at George Washington University studying how depression, anxity disorders, and other social behaviors pass from one generation to another, i.e. mother to child. I've really signed Evan and I up as test subjects, but the research is really interesting. I took Evan into their 'playroom' where they hook Evan up to all kinds of machines to chart his reactions to different toys, sounds, and situations. They put this cute little skull cap on him that had electrodes and wires comeing off of it to collect data about his brain waves. I would have loved to borrow that for halloween! They put 4 more electrode patches on his cheeks to measure his rate of blinking and eye movement. 2 more on his chest to gather heart rate. And they strapped a belt around his chest to measure breathing. By the end of it he was a sight to see sitting in a car seat! Wish I had my camera with me.
Here's my drawing of what he would have looked like if I had my camera with me...

They had him look at different toys, bubbles, listen to a tape recording to monotone voices, and had me intereact with him with a mask on and different toys all while there was a white noise machine that would give off pulses of noise every few minutes. And they've intereviewed me about my personal history, if I've ever had certain fears or anxities in my past and what my stress levels would be in different situations. They get pretty personal!
At 10 months they will bring a video camera by and have me record him while sleeps at night over 2 nights. And every so often I send in a sample of his saliva to track his cortizone levels. And a few more visits in the playroom and at my home. All over a span of 2 years.
What's in it for me? Well, $150 by the end of the 2 years and little toys and gifts for the both of us along the way, but the knowledge that Evan and I will be single handedly saving millions of lives is good enough for me! ;)

Other quickies:
- Upon Evan's reaching his 4th month in exisitence, he's alreay traveled cross country to Seattle 3 times, and been out of the country once. I think we're gonna have to start collecting frequent flyer miles for him too. I'm gonna put a map on his nursery wall and track all the places he'll go.
In fact I'm in Seattle now! And the only way I have time to blog is cause my sister has got him. I love being home.
- Halloween! Evan was a cute little ducky. We actually bought his outfit a month ago and he's so freakin cute in it that I've dressed him in it many times before just to take pics! I love the little duck feet! I placed him on his tummy just to see him kick his little duck feet! (he's actually trying really hard to hold himself up :) We took him trick or treating, and I think he really enjoyed watching us eat his candy.


- Not a weekend has gone by where we didn't have somewhere to be or friends were visiting us. It's great to see our friends and have them stay with us, but I can't shake the feeling that I should just open my home as a bed and breakfast while I'm at it.
- Brian and Lisa are old high school friends of Mark and they were here to tour DC and spend time with us. Brian is the amazing photographer friend that snap this great pic of Evan that I can't stop staring at.


There's just an energy in the picture that I love. I can see Evan ready to jump out of it. Like he's ready say something or laugh out loud. I love it! Thank you so much Brian!


I had a great time with them, touring parts of DC I've never been before. You'd think that I would have seen it all by now given how much we go into DC. Its definately more interesting by foot.

Well, there's more that I want to blog about. Like my recent thoughts on family history, my views on life post pregnancy and how no one told me about the insane amounts of hair I'd be loosing, marriages and births,the $$$$$ spent on gifts and never receiving a thank you note, let alone acknowleging that they received it, my sister's rise to homecoming fame, student of the month and a new job at Stadium Flowers as a graphic designer, Mark's new job at Booz Allen Hamilton as a senior consultant, and of course Evan's many milestones... but it's getting late.
I've got a flight to catch tomorrow. Pray for me that Evan will cooperate and sleep the entire time!

Sunday, November 06, 2005

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

1000 pics and counting


We've passed the 1,000 mark of pictures that we have of Evan. And he's only 3 months old! There are TOO many pictures I love to choose which ones to highlight here... so click here to see them all!
They are Evan's milestone, trip to Seattle and Canada, and some pictures from sightseeing in DC with Brian and Lisa.

*Its been a while since I last posted... Sorry for the dryspell. You can only type so fast with one hand while holding Evan with the other.

Saturday, October 22, 2005

Evan takes flight

Mark had some leave time to burn so we decided to take a vacation. And what better place to vacation than in Seattle where gransparents can take care of Evan and give us a break! ;)

Evan had a great time with his grandparents and aunt. He even took his first out of country trip to the Great White North (Canada).

His flight there went well, but his flight back didn't go over so well. I thought he would sleep well with the noise and motion of the plane but he just wasn't comfortable. I figured it was a combination of altitude and air bubbles that made it hard for him to fall asleep even though he was tired.

I tried for a bit, then Mark give it a try, but still no sleep. A nice old lady across the isle offered to try. She got him to stop for a few minuets but still no sleep and his cries are getting louder. Another lady traveling with her young daughter thought she'd give it a try. I guess everyone thinks they have the magic touch that will calm a crying baby. Evan lets out a loud cry and his whailing can be heard by everyone around us over the noise of the engine.

Oh, and did I mention that this was a red-eye flight?

Evan gets passed back to Mark who gets up and walks to the back of the plane hoping the walking will calm him. The nice airline stewardess that thought he was so cute when we boarded asked to give it a try too. Sure why not? Now Evan is really upset at being passed around and big tears are streaming down his chubby red cheeks.

As his mom I have figured out what some of his different cries mean. Evan went from being mad to absolutly sad and desperate for comfort.

So, what did the stewardess do? *this part kills me* She decided to walk him up and down the entire length of the plane! Everyone from first class to the lavatories in the back sees him and hears his cries. I'm so embarrassed I can't even get up to go get Evan back.

Mark gets him back and tries again. This time he gets Evan to calm down and even smile for the stewardesses. Already he's charming his audience. After a while Evan remembers that he wanted to sleep but can't and starts fussing again. I'm seated midway on the plane and I can hear him crying in the back. He must be keeping the riders in the back awake. So, I take over and after about half an hour of swinging and bouncing and chating with the stewardesses Evan's wiped out and sleeps fairly well the rest of the flight.

The stewardess reassures me that people really don't mind and offers me a glass of wine. For me or Evan?

Friday, September 30, 2005

luv our cereal

We go through quite a bit of cereal here in at the Chang Ranch... lets just say we bought 9 boxes of cereal yesterday. Here's a new one by Cheerios that I enjoy, Yogurt Burst Cheerios in Strawberry.






I was so sad to find out my all time fav was going to be discontinued... so I bought 5 boxes. :P How can you go wrong with peaches?


*note: I know this was a lame blog entry. Why'd you read it anyway?

Friday, September 23, 2005

Spaz

One of the hazards in the line of motherhood, I’ve come to find out, is back injuries. I woke up Wednesday morning with a slight kink in my neck. “No problem” I thought, “it will go away in a few hours”. I left the house in a hurry to meet up with Julie to go for a morning walk. Well, in my hurry I grabbed Evan’s carrier and suddenly felt a *pop* in my neck. THAT HURT!!! I should have just called Julie and told her I wasn’t coming, but me in my “I’m supermom” mindset, went walking anyway. I came home from that walk in so much pain I couldn’t hold my own head up for more than 5 mins! I couldn’t hold Evan for long either.
I eventually went to see the doctor the next day, and she confirmed that I had a back spasm and because I’m breastfeeding Evan I couldn’t get any of the muscle relaxant drugs she would have prescribed me. I can take Tylenol but for the most part I’ve had to live with the pain in my neck and back.
Mark’s taken off work to stay home and help take care of Evan and all the little things I can’t do now that you’d take for granted, like turning your head!

Sunday, September 18, 2005

Happy 1st Anniversary!

Wow I've been blogging for a year now... interesting how my blog has morphed since then. So, if this blog is supposed to be a reflection of me, then its safe to say that I have changed in the past year as well. Yeah, having a baby has a bit to do with it too.

Its been a while since I personally blogged. I got lazy and posted pics instead.
So, a quick recap since my last installment...

Evan had to have a picture with Moose too* We took a trip back home to Seatown for my brother-in-law's wedding. Evan held up VERY well on the plane. I was worried that he'd be fussy the whole time, so Mark appologized in advance to our neighbors. But I guess because of the engine noise, Evan slept for the entire 5.5 hour flight! He'd never slept that much before. I had to fly back to DC alone with Evan and he did the same thing too. Not only is he so dang cute, but so great on long trips!

my sister Juliana getting swept off her feet by Moose my brother Leroy* While we were in Seattle my dad's Merril Lynch office had a BBQ and we tagged along. The food was pretty good, but the best part was the cart full of all the ice cream and popsicles you can eat! Plus, there was a guest appearance by the Mariner Moose. They also set up a blow up pitching cage that gaged your mphs. I think I hurt my shoulder from that. All in all it was pretty good afternoon at the Red Hook Brewery.

Spirit of Washington dinner train* Mark and I celebrated our 2nd year anniversary by booking a trip on the Spirit of Washington dinner train. Our anniversary was really May 24th but better late than never! It takes you from Renton, along Lake Washington, to the wineries of Woodinville, and back. Dinner and entertainment was pretty good. We asked our friends Geordy and Amy to come along, which I'm glad we did, because they seat everyone 4 to a table. So, we could have been stuck sitting across from a couple we didn't know having to make small talk.Geordy and Amy enjoying their deliciouse apple crisps The train moves faster on the way back so we found ourselves having to struggle a bit to enjoy our dessert. We also noticed that the volume of the people on the way back was a lot louder. Amy made the oberservation that it was probably the result of the wine tasting table from our stop at the Columbia Winery.
We had a great time, and I'd recommend it to anyone visiting Seattle!

* It blows my mind how responsive Evan is getting day by day. He can look you in the face now and turns to watch me as I walk around the room. He smiles and 'talks' back when you talk to him! He's got more different types of cries now. And is actually entertained by the toys that hang over him on his play mat. ok so it doesn't sound that amazing, but it is to me! I've watched him since he was just a little bundle that just slept and woke up to cry and eat and poop. It makes those long sleepless nights worth it!

not the best picture of me, but that's not the point of the picture!* It doesn't matter that I'm Evan's mom and I'm not being bias when I say that he is one of the cutest baby around! Granted all babies are cute, but there are some that are just beautiful. Perhaps I'll get Evan an agent and get him an early start to his career as a male model. I can tell you that the pics you see here online are only .001% of the total pics I've taken of him. I thought my parents took a lot of pics of me when I was little, but with the help of digital technology I've dwarfed that collection easily!

* Mark had a conference for work in Charlottesville, VA (about 2 hours South from where we live) and Evan and I tagged along. And why not? The hotel was paid for, free buffet breakfast every morning, pool & hot tub, and extended cable TV (we downgraded to basic cable at home to save $)(I love HGTV, TLC, & Discovery). Plus throw in a Mitsubishi Galant V6 3.8 liter for a rental car, also paid for, and I'm sold! I didn't care for it's aesthetics as much as what what under it's hood. That car was a blast to drive around in! There weren't enough straight-a-ways in Charlottesville to satisfy my need for speed. A big plus was that the gas was paid for too!

So while Mark was at the conference, enjoying death-by-powerpoint, Evan and I cruised around town and went shopping! Another perk of working for the gov't is per diem, they give you an allowance for food everyday. If you don't use it up, you keep it! However, if you've read Mark's previous entry, our per diem is going towards the missuse of the Galant's V6 3.8 liter engine. oh well.

* Last bit of news... We have a new addition in our parking lot. Welcome 2002 Honda Accord VP. I never thought I'd own an Accord. Its such an Asian thing to drive. And cliche for a family car. yada yada yada. I'll get over it. We got a very good deal on it; buying it from someone selling it at Mark's work. Its a good car and its nice that I have transportation of my own now. Mark's going to drive Accord, while I take Camry. Only because the Camry's got power windows and locks, the one thing lacking in the Accord. It feels like a throw back to the stone age; I'm so spoiled.

Friday, September 16, 2005

The day has come.

I think the Virginia State Police are on to me, and have been tracking our blog. Me and my big mouth. Well, the time has finally come for me to get a speeding ticket. After ignoring the warnings of all the conference attendees and coordinators, saying US 29 near UVa/Charlottesville is swarmed with cops (since on the way down we didn't see any, I guess it was because it was Sunday evening!), I was pulled over by an unmarked Intrepid going 73 in a 60. Which is pretty good, because I was (of course) going faster than that. So ten years with a "clean" record (I had traffic school twice in Utah, which more or less erases the record that I ever got a ticket, but the cost is equivalent to a ticket), and was slapped with a $121 ticket. $5 per mph over the limit, plus a $51 processing fee (!!! worse than Ticketmaster!!!) and a $5 random fee. So that's $121 / 10 years, means I got the equivalent of $12/year for speeding. That's not too bad! Especially with all the warnings I've received, I really can't complain :)

Thursday, September 08, 2005

Yet another revamp

I know, I know, I can't seem to stick with just one. This one seemed more appropriate for our lifestyle, though. Plus, we noticed with the last blog template that we couldn't see who was commenting!! So, here it is, another makeover...enjoy :)

New and improved!

Well, went to work super early Wednesday morning, and then came home and took a 4-hour nap, so now I'm, well, sort of wide awake. More awake because Evan seems to sleep for 10 minutes, and then wake up and cry. Bev says I'm "acting like I don't have to work tomorrow." I think I'll be feeling it soon if I don't! Anyway, how do you like our new look?

Wednesday, September 07, 2005

couch potato in training

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pfft!

the princess


little happy man & his mama

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Auto Legalization Complete!

At last, the Camry is legal to drive in the state of Virginia! I even put to rest the old license plates to symbolize the passing of the baton from illegal to legal...now the plates are the 9-11 "Fight Terrorism" ones.

But the drama is not complete...I guess when the Midas guys worked on my brakes, when they were putting the wheel covers back they broke one of the connectors, so now it's only a matter of time before the driver's side cover pops off and we have to get new ones!!! Oh well, I've been wanting to get new ones for some time now anyway.

Thursday, September 01, 2005

Auto Legalization Week Update

Auto Legalization Week Update

The tint removal and restoration phase is now complete.

Wednesday, August 31, 2005

Auto Legalization Week

Freak, MAN!  I’ve been pulled over TWICE for the same thing!!! Those who have been in my car while driving would probably think I have two tickets for speeding…but they’re NOT.  I was barely going 10 the first time, and 10 under the speed limit (whatever the limit was—HA!).  Any ideas?  Ok, they pulled me over because I had license plate covers over my plates, and the tint was too dark for Virginia standards!!!  I had the stupid tint done more than FIVE years ago…back in Seattle!  And the plate covers—I can’t remove them because, well, long story…while I was in Arizona last Fall, Beverly got the registration stickers in the mail, and had to put them on the plates.  Well, the screws were so rusted over that she couldn’t get them off to take the cover off and stick the sticker on the plate…soooo she put it on the cover where it would go if the plate could come off!  So, now, the cops keep telling me to take the plates off, but I can’t until I get my new stickers for 06/07!!!  First time they pulled me over not even 100 feet outside our house; second time we were pulled over while I was picking up Beverly and Evan from the airport!  

So this week has been “auto legalization week.”  I’m sick of having to roll down all my windows when I see a cop pass by, hoping they won’t look, etc etc etc.  The first lady that pulled me over wasn’t very nice although she only gave me a verbal warning because “she ran out of paper warnings and didn’t want to give me a ticket”—which she could have done because I had left my license and registration at home!!  Come on, I was only going to church!  It also seems that Sunday is the day they like to enforce this law!  The second guy was a lot nicer, and just politely told me what needed to be done.  He gave me a paper warning this time, so now I’ve been trying to legalize my car so I don’t feel so paranoid!!!

To add to the car drama, the brakes were at 2/32 if anyone knows what that means.  Ourisman Toyota in Fairfax, even though they said in their advertisement “Appointments Recommended but not necessary”,  their service guy said, “oh, we have openings NEXT Tuesday or Wednesday”…YEAH Right.  The brakes are soo squeaky it’s embarrassing.  The car’s a 98 but it might as well have been the Yugo Le Car.  There was a Midas nearby, and since I brought my car there back in Utah to get the brakes done, I thought I might as well try and see if they have time.  Anyone who has gone to Midas to get their brakes done…KEEP GOING THERE!!  Even though I still had to pay for the remachining of the rotors, the brake pads were free because they have a lifetime warranty for the life of your car!! So even for normal wear and tear, they will replace for free!  Of course, they get you on the rotors, but any place will!  Two and a half hours later I was on my way, no thanks to the dealer!  Sheesh, why don’t they just say “Set an appointment!”

This evening I finally used a little (a lot) of elbow grease, cooking oil, and pliers, to take off the rusted screws on the back of the car.  Our plan of attack is, since these cops seem to look at the back more often, I’m taking the front plate, which has the 05 sticker on the plate, and putting that on the back, and then put the back one, which has the 04 sticker now, to the front.  Didn’t mention before, but fortunately (!!!), our registration renewal is up this month—September!!!  So as soon as I do my emissions test and state inspection, we’ll be on our way!

Oh yeah, and to conform to the state inspection, I also had to change back the corner lights to manufacturer standard (the ones I have now are clear, they don’t have the little orange thingie), and had to change the headlight bulbs to manufacturer standard (instead of cool blue whatever whatever).  So much work!!

As with the tint thing, I called one company on Monday and they said they’re open all week, just bring it in in the morning and they’ll have it done in about hour and a half.  I finally find the place Tuesday morning, and they have a note on their door saying “closed Tuesday August 30, will be open Wednesday…ARGH!!!! So I try another place close by because I always have a Plan B.  The place says it opens at 10am, so I sat around until 10:30 or so, and still nobody came!  Hmm..won’t go there!  These tinting places all seem a little shady…hahahah get it?  But really, they do seem kinda odd.  Even the one I went to in Seattle.  Hole in the wall, but did a really great job.  Let me know if you want to know where to go.  Or ask David, he told me to go there (

So here’s checklist of items for “auto legalization week”:
Brakes – Check
Corner Lights – Check
Headlights – Check
License plate covers removed – Check
Tint removal and replacement –
Emissions –
State Inspection –
Remove standard engine –
Install Hemi – (no, Evan can’t say it yet)
Install 30 inch rims –
Lower car –
Install pimped out car seat for Evan –
Fuzzy Dice –

Saturday, August 27, 2005

Bluetooth Evan


Evan talked to me on the phone the other day…with Bev’s Bluetooth headset!  He’s a techno-geek already!  That’s my boy!

Monday, August 22, 2005

Wedding Bells!!!

Alexis and David were married on the 16th of August! What a beautiful wedding, beautiful couple, beautiful reception!

u-Dock

See Brian's Photo Lab for more!

Back by Popular Demand: EVAN the Emperor! (Thanks Brian!)

We found a nice tuxedo from Build-a-Bear Workshop since nobody makes tuxedos or suits for infants...Evan was walking around with a hole in the back of his pants for a tail :) The tux shirt was a little short for the ever-growing Evan, so we bought a red onesie from Old Navy as an undershirt/cummerbund. What a knockout!





More at Ofoto!

What the Pho?


Darn it! Someone beat me to it! Actually I was thinking of opening the Pho King...hope you didn't just read that outloud!
I wonder if it's any good. It's in Bellevue WA if anyone's been let me know how it is!

Sunday, August 07, 2005

Blue Steel!

"I gradiduated from the Derek Zoolander Center for Kids Who Can't Read Good and Want to Do Other Things Good Too, where they teach you that there's more to life than being really, really good looking!"

Yes, Evan really did make this face on his own. Hairstyle provided by his aunt Juliana. Mom must have been watching Zoolander while he was still in utero.

Wednesday, August 03, 2005

Happy 1-Month Day to Evan!!!




















Well, we didn't have any red eggs or sticky rice, but we celebrated with a nice German Choco Cake and Spumoni Ice Cream!! Well, Evan got a little taste of the cake. Us parents enjoyed it a little more than he did...All Evan wanted to do was go back to sleep anyway! Lucy did not eat any of it...although she is doing a lot better eating her own food on her own...woohoO!






































This pic is posted a little late... Beverly's 25th birthday on July 17th. With Evan around things get put on the back burner.