The wedding, actually

Tommy, all dressed up and ready to carry some rings.

People coming to the wedding.
Tommy and Rosie, the flower girl.
Dave, Lib and Lyn making their way down the aisle.
Two bridesmaids plus one matron.
Getting down to business.
All done!

The wedding, well, sort of

For some reason it's taking hours to upload photos so here are some outtakes. Of course, not in order.

Tommy and the flower girl, Rosie. This picture freaks me out for two reasons. First, Tommy is drinking soda ("kid beer") and second, do they not look like high-schoolers? With the rolled up sleeves? Something about it kills me.

Lulu enjoying the fruit skewers, and looking pretty raggedy for being at a wedding.

Tommy preparing for the ceremony. I wasn't there, but I hear he was dripping with excitement and enthusiasm.

How Tommy gets into the pool...

Grandma Nancy took this photo at Sun Mountain, where Lib and Mike were married over the weekend.

Photos!

From Lake Roesiger, on Saturday:

Some cute ones from playing with Grandma and Grandpa:

I'm going to bed, but first...an update

We've been busy in Seattle, and I have not been posting. I'm sorry!

Today, we spent the day at Lake Roesiger which was quite fun, and incredibly delicious (we ate and ate and ate). As we left, Tommy said, "John, the ribs were DELICIOUS!" and it is true, they were. Tommy also ate more shrimp than I have ever seen a person eat. Lulu mostly ate hummus, but she also had a lovely time. I think she might be sunburned, though.

Yesterday, I spent the day with Lib and Tommy and Lizzie spent the day with Grandma and Grandpa. Lib and I went shopping and to the spa and then to dinner at a great place in Ballard, and it was SO FUN. I think the kids and grandparents had a good day too, or at least that's what they all tell me.

Thursday was busy with a play date with Margaret and Melora, and before that I went to pick up the wedding dress with the bride. It's a good thing, too, because there are two bustle options on that dress and the matron of honor pretty much has one job, and that's to properly bustle the dress. Crisis averted. Phew.

And honestly, I'm not sure what we did on Monday and Tuesday because I was too tired to think. We arrived a week ago and my kids are finally adjusted to this time zone. It's not their fault, but it has been a miserable process for all of us. (I know, how could I be surprised? We just did this in April!) Pictures tomorrow, I PROMISE.

kisses.

Thank you all...

for thinking positive thoughts about me on the ten hour flight to Seattle on Saturday. Unfortunately, your positive thoughts did not help me and I was stuck with an inconsolable toddler and a demanding preschooler (a direct quote, shouted as I held an almost sleeping Lizzie in my arms: "why aren't you doing what I want right now! I want you to do what I want!"). Finally, and please forgive me readers who are not used to bad words, I said aloud to my daughter who had been fighting sleep successfully for, oh, six hours, "well, fuck it, Lizzie. Don't sleep if you don't want to." While my supply of patience is not anywhere close to endless, I am not in the habit of cursing at my children, and Lizzie realized I was really mad (probably from the tone, not the actual words) so she, and this is not a lie, reached up and grabbed my cheeks and blew kisses into the air. To which I said, "are you kidding?" Finally, with two hours left in the flight, I fell asleep (for maybe ten minutes), so completely had my children worn me down, and when I woke up, Lizzie was sleeping in my arms and Tommy was sleeping as well. I'll try this tactic much earlier next time.

Anyway, the flight is over, and we are at Grandma and Grandpa's house and the kids are having SO MUCH FUN. Playing in dirt, riding a red bike, playing with loads of lego and tinkertoys, eating popsicles, drinking lots of juice. You get the idea.

But sleeping they are not. The first night, we got off the plane, had dinner and went to bed at eight. Lizzie woke up from 12-2, then went back to sleep until 4, and Tommy woke at 3 for the day. The second night, Lizzie slept from 5pm-3am, and Tommy from 5pm-1:30am. He did not go back to sleep until I forced him to take a nap at 10am. (And yes, I have to get up when they get up.) Friends, I had such high hopes for last night, but no improvement. Tommy slept 6pm-2am, and Lizzie 6pm-3am. I was doing fine until this morning, but somehow I am adjusted to this time zone and would like to be sleeping until, say, five, and so I have been a bit less nice than I ought to be to my children this morning (however, and this is not a high bar I realize, I have not been using the f-word). I think the point is this: Daddy, we all really, really miss you and can't wait to see you next week. And we never want to go on a vacation without you again if there's a time change of more than say, three hours. Because I seem to lack the necessary endurance.

I do believe I need a holiday from my holiday.

Mom's pictures are on the other computer, so I give you this one that Dad took, which is actually a very accurate snapshot of life here (Lulu cannot get enough of the dog):

BIG NEWS

Well, actually she is quite tiny. Introducing Eleanor Daly Nguyen!

She is mostly called Baby Vy ("vee") (but you may also call her Eleanor, no nickname) and I've only seen her on Skype but she is so so so so so cute. Her hair sticks up! It is already completely clear that Hanh is a phenomenal mother and has everything under control. (But I'm still sad I can't help her a bit -- like with baking brownies and watching the baby for her at night so she can get a bit of sleep.)

July 17, 2011

6 lbs., 12 oz.

18 inches long

(Sorry this post is so late. I have been meaning to do it, but forgetting to ask Hanh for permission.)

This time tomorrow...

we'll be four hours into our nine hour flight to Seattle. Today I went to the grocery store and bought lots of snacks (some of them unhealthy, but none of them too sugar-filled), and then I went to the toy store to buy little junk toys to keep them occupied. Unfortunately, our neighborhood toy store doesn't really do junk (could've used a Hamley's) and so I ended up with three small things that should keep my children occupied for about 45 seconds.

But here's the thing: I can do anything for nine hours. I really can. (But Eli will owe me big time.) And, luckily, Lib's wedding is going to be reaaaally fun and make this ordeal totally worth it. PHEW!

I'll let you know how it goes in exchange for all the positive energy you can send my way tomorrow.

PS: I met a baby Lulu's age today at the playground and I'm positive he has some sort of dwarfism. (No idea if that's a word.) He was ADORABLE, one of the cutest kids I've ever met.

Introducing...

MANDY! (Mandy is our new nanny!) There she is, holding Lulu. We went to Mandy's for lunch on Sunday. She lives with Alina, who has been our babysitter since we moved here, and Alina's brother. And huge bonus: Alina's parents and niece are visiting from Romania. SO, we had delicious Romanian food for lunch!

Tommy and Daria, Alina's niece:

Lulu with Alina's mother:
And, Lizzie with Alina's brother John who Lulu loves almost as much as she loves Eli (and certainly more than she loves me):

(I realize there is no picture of Alina here, which is due to technical difficulties. Next time!!)

Cutie Pie

Riots, Liz Lemon, and Inside the Actor's Studio

Many of you have been asking me about the riots. Until today, there had been no rioting in Fulham, but I just received a text message from our gym that it will close early today due to events in the area. I have no idea what that means, but I asked Mandy to be careful if she takes the kids out. We'll see. All I know is that I'm not going to the gym tonight and I'm irritated.

Do any of you ever find yourselves at work, laughing at something Liz Lemon said on the episode of 30 Rock you watched the night before? It's getting a little embarrassing. And I'm not sure the British think Liz Lemon is quite as funny as I do.

One final random thought. I really love "Inside the Actor's Studio." I love James Lipton (have you seen the episode where he is interviewed on the show by Dave Chappelle?) -- he's such a good sport, especially when he gets the crazy folks on there. But the best part of the show is deciding which actors I actually like. For example, I used to love Sarah Jessica Parker, but in her interview she was uninteresting and a little bit dumb-sounding. (And I should interject here that since moving to London, two people have asked me if I've ever been told that I look like Sarah Jessica Parker? And then they quickly say, "I mean that in a good way!" Which is my favorite part of the exchange, so now I wait for it.) But last night, we saw part of Jodie Foster and all of Jennifer Aniston and I was relatively impressed by both. We need to clarify that I'm not at all interested in what they have to say about the actual acting process (that's why Laura Linney was a bit boring -- she also seemed sort of snotty to me), just in their childhoods, education, and funny stories that I have no other way of knowing and I especially like the funny stories that involve other famous people. Eli pretends he doesn't like "Inside the Actor's Studio", but he actually does.

Finally, poor Tommy woke up at nine pm last night, vomited up everything he'd eaten during the day, and then slept through the night. He seems a bit less energetic than normal, but is otherwise okay. Cross your fingers that he's tip-top on Saturday for our trip.

What's new, you ask?

Well, mostly, we're dealing with hand, foot and mouth. It all began on Wednesday night, when Tommy woke up at nine and didn't go back to sleep until two. I noticed that his feet had a bunch of bumps on them -- sort of like bug bites -- and couldn't understand why he would have something like that only on his feet. So, and remember, it was late and I was tired, I decided that he must have walked in something that (severely) irritated his feet. Had I been a bit more with it, I might have considered the fact that he seemed to feel awful in addition to the bumps.

(And let's pause here to explain that when one googles "foot rash" one does not get any links to hand, foot and mouth. Friends, one gets links to articles about athlete's foot. Perhaps a search for "foot rash young child" may have turned up something helpful, but I lack attention to detail once it's, say, ten pm.)

The next morning, he still had the bumps, but he seemed okay, though -- and this is where I failed to put things together -- he said he had a sore throat. But I also had a sore throat -- sometimes that happens when I've slept just four hours -- and so I thought we were all coming down with a cold.

Also on Thursday morning, he said that it hurt in his mouth and pointed to what I assumed was a canker sore.

I am such an idiot, really.

He woke up this morning and the bumps had blistered and I still took him to swimming lessons because I am such an idiot.

Finally, as I was drying him off, I thought: ohmigod my kids have hand, foot and mouth.

Oh, did I not tell you about the two blisters on Lizzie's right foot which I attributed to sweaty feet in crocs even though that has never happened to her before?

I know, I know. Idiot. I called Eli on our walk home because we were due to have a playdate and when Eli, after about forty-five seconds (while he consulted the above website) sighed and said I'd better call the pediatrician, I knew we were in trouble.

(Another pause: our pediatrician is on vacation until August 18.)

So, I think Tommy is through the worst of it but that Lizzie might still have a sleepless night in her future (please no).

The good news: (1) it happened this week, instead of next week when we're supposed to go to the US, (2) it only lasts 7-10 days, and (3) adults rarely get it.

The bad news: I am an idiot.

Have a great weekend.

Pictures from the sandpit

A dazzling smile for Daddy: