it's been a while

Well, we've been pretty busy, although I can't really think of anything too exciting to report.  We've been trying to gradually move our stuff over to our new place.  I think we've been doing pretty good.  We still have the quite a bit of stuff, but we've managed to set up most of the stuff in the Peanut's room, like his crib, changing table, and all of his loot.  (We've also had 3 baby showers:  one at Neil's work, one with my friends that kari and rachel threw (mom and grandma skyped in for the occasion), and one at my work).  I'll have to take some pictures of the house and all of the loot next time we're over there.

We also started our classes at the hospital.  Last week we had a 3 hour class on "the art of breast feeding".  It was pretty good.  The teacher was really knowledgeable.  And outside of the swim locker room I've never seen so many boobs.  

On Tuesday we had a tour of the maternity wing of the hospital where we're going.  It seemed pretty nice.  The lady who gave the tour was really nice.  They have a Jacuzzi, and the rooms are pretty nice.  They have real furniture in them, and don't look that much like a hospital room.

Tomorrow we have a baby care class, and then two birthing classes next week.  Then apparently we're officially ready.  

Happy Birthday America! (and me!)

For the 4th of July this year Emily and I took it pretty easy. We went and saw the new Transformer movie in the morning (maybe 'saw' is the wrong verb for Emily, since she slept through most of it. Maybe a better word would be 'accompanied'). When we came home we prepared our picnic lunch for the look-out loop at Flattop and Emily made me birthday cupcakes. Then we had our picnic and took a little walk on Powerline Trail. And let me tell you, it H-O-T hot! Probably the hottest I've ever been in Alaska.
When we got home from Flattop I talked to my Mom, Dad, and Scott who were up on The Juan. My Dad said that in 6 years he wants to have a three-generations of Hoff's compete in the doughnut eating contest they have at Roache Harbor. I said I'd be game.
After that I opened up presents and had some birthday cupcake. Ruth got me a fancy Sounders FC scarf, while Jeane sent me $29 dollars and scored me two tickets for a Mariners/Yankees game in September, when we'll hopefully be down. Emily got me some sleep shorts, some biking shorts, and the third season of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. And Banjo got me a new wallet, since he was sorry he chewed up my old one.
After that we walked over to the catch the Anchorage Bucs (black) battle the Anchorage Glacier Pilots (grey). They play in the Alaska Baseball League, which is summer league that college kids play. These teams had players from Gonzaga, Oregon, California-Riverside, and LSU. It's cool because the stadium is about a 15 minute walk from our house. They were playing a double-header on the 4th, with fireworks following the last game at midnight (they only played 7 inning game due to the festiviteis). We just stayed for the first game, which the Pilots won 9-7.

Emily and Banjo enjoying a 4th of July picnic on Flattop.
It was a really sunny day, but still a little hazy. Anchorage is down in the background.

Me and the 'Dood out for a birthday hike. Not only was it my 29th birthday, but Banjo turned 21 (months that is)! How cool that we have the same birthday?Now I can support the Sounders FC in style. Hopefully Cam can hook me up with a ticket when I'm down in September.We were pretty close to the action in the bleacher. So close that a lady got hit by an errant ball right in the shin during warm-ups. Ouch!
What's more American than enjoying a game of baseball on July 4th? How about seeing a kid jack a Grand Slam in the first inning, which a player on the Pilots did. They scored 5 runs in the top of the first before the poor Bucs pitcher could get an out (he ended up leaveing before he even recorded one out - rought start). But then the Bucs came back in the bottom of the First and put up 6 runs themselves. The Pilots took the lead again with a 2-run homer in the top of the Second, and held it for the rest of game.
Things got a little testy in the later innings when the manager of the Bucs started jawing with the Pilot's pitcher. The benches cleared, and the manager was ejected, although there wasn't a fight. I forgot to take a picture until both sides started going back into the dugout.

How do you celebrate 2 days before your birthday?

You have a potluck with your co-workers and then sing "Yoda" at one of the two gay bars in Anchorage.  That's how you rock it out before you turn 29.

My co-workers like to get together every once in a while (we had a potluck at my supervisor's house back in February), and since Sara, one of our new Casework analysts, just moved a few months ago she wanted to have everyone over.  So that's what we did.  And since my birthday was a few days away, Cheryl made a super-delicious chocolate-peanut butter mouse cake.  Kim bought the corn hole (it's a lawn game - really), which Emily and I won.  Emily came for the food part, but didn't want to go sing karaoke with us.  We had fun in the bar - some of my co-workers can really belt them out.  I think I surprised everyone with my song selection and rendition.  I had fun.  It was the first time I ever sang a song at a bar by myself (I remember doing 'Baby Got Back' at Barnaby's in Walla Walla with a bunch of people on John Bennet's 21st birthday, and of course rockin' out the karaoke at Mary's parent's house in Spokane during Thanksgiving before Jimmy had to head off to Iraq).  I feel I may be rambling, so I'll stop.

But speaking of rambling, did anyone catch Ex-Governor Palin's farewell speech today?  That lady can't string two coherent sentences together if her life depended on it.  If you want to check it out, go to adn.com.  Good news for Alaska, potentially horrible news for the rest of the US.  Now Palin will be unleashed upon the rest of this fine nation's citizenry.  And did you catch the little dig she made at global warming?  She's unbelievable!

Eagle River Hike

Today Emily, Banjo and I did a new hike by Eagle River, which is about 10 miles north of Anchorage. Actually, it was only new to me and Banjo - Emily did it with snowshoes with her co-worker before I was here.

It was a glorious day for a hike - super sunny and warm, but with a slight breeze. The trail was mostly flat, which was why we picked it (Emily still likes to do things outside, but isn't too keen on elevation gain these days). We packed a lunch but didn't eat it until we got back to our car. There were a decent number of people out on the trail. One group of folks we kept playing leap-frog with. One guy was nice enough to offer taking a picture "of the 4 of us" at the river.

At night Emily got really hot. So hot that she needed to get closer to the cool night-time temperatures. But she didn't want to get to get eaten up my mosquitos again, so she had to be creative.Emily and Banjo out for a hike on an awesome day.

The US got out to a 2-0 first half start....but ended up losing 3-2 to Brazil in the Confederation Cup final. Damn!
This was the group that kept passing us. This is where we turned around. It took us a little less than an hour and a half to get here.
The happy family.
Here is Emily taking a page out of the Book of Banjo. That's one way to beat the summer heat.

Wednesday April 22nd - Polynesian Cultural Center

So after the Swap Meet and the Killer Tacos, Emily made our way up to the PCC. We got hooked up with a pretty great deal for admission to the center and the night show thanks to one of Mark's (who is Jared's brother -in-law) friend.

Maybe first I should explain what the Polynesian Cultural Center is. There 7 'islands' that make up the Polynesian people - Tahiti, Fiji, Samoa, Maori (New Zealand), Hawaii, Tonga, and one other one. And you visit each 'island', and they do a little show/presentation about their culture. In Samoa they climbed up a coconut tree, in Tonga they banged on the drums (they had audience participation, and this poor guy from China had some trouble following the beats), the Moari had singing (this one was my favorite). Since we got there a little late in the day, we didn't catch all of them.

Once the park closes they have a luau. We wanted to go to this, but it was sold out by they time we arrived at the PCC. So we had to settle for some lame cafeteria food. But then we went to the Night Show, which was pretty spectacular. They had lots more sining and dancing, cool things with fire, hot coal walking, etc. We were glad that we saw it - a really great show all around.

Of course I drove back to Honolulu afterwards in the dark (which I was still getting to use to - the dark). And to make matters a little more complicated, we were moving living arrangements - now we would be in a hotel. It wasn't too tough to find, thanks to Kari and Jared's directions and his sister's map. It was a long day, but a fun day.
Emily watching the parade of Islands. That's Hawaii.
A Somoan climbing a tree to grab a coconut.
The Moari singing and chanting. This was my favorite island.
Tonga getting ready for their drum show.
Here's Emily by one of those crazy Easter Island statues. I love thos things.

More Hawaii - Swap Meet/Killer Tacos - Wednesday, April 22nd

Back to Hawaii we go! On Wednesday Emily, Jared, Kari and I went to the Swap Meet at Honolulu Stadium. It was pretty sweet. There were tons of shops set up all on the outside of the stadium. We bought a few outfits for Little Peanut - a cool white and blue Hawaiian Island shirt/pant combo (and I later found the exact same print in a shirt that fit me, so of course I got it) and a cool bright orange pair of overalls. We also picked up a few other things - some little surf board bookmarks for us (and one for my Dad), a "Mahalo for removing shoes" sign, and a Hawaiian print red dog lease for Banjo.

There was this guy selling a glass cleaning/non-fogging cleaner, so he tried it on Emily's glasses. Later when we got back she swore that the stupid product left this nasty film over her glasses that she couldn't get off. Jared and I wanted to know if the anti-fogging feature worked in -20 degree weather, but he didn't know.

After the Swap Meet Emily and I went to the North Shore to go to the Polynesian Cultural Center. On our way there we stopped off at one of Kari and Jared's favorite tacos places on the island - Killer Tacos. It was JUST LIKE Taco Del Mar, complete with the surfer theme, menu items, AND slogan. But the burritos were a little tastier (sorry Scott).

Me infront of the home of the Pro Bowl....except for 2010.Emily and Jared walking the concourse. Lots and lots of clothes, and other goodies, to buy.We bought that middle orange overall for the Peanut.
We tried to convince Jared to buy this hat, but he thought it made him look gay. He said cowboys in Quincy don't wear hats like that.Hmmmm......does that slogan sound a little familiar???

Saturday

Today we had wonderful weather in Anchorage!  We walked over to the farmers market to get some produce.  I guess it's not really late enough for too much stuff, but we got some lettuce, rhubarb, and choi.  (Tonight we'll have the choi and the rhubarb--which I made into a rhubarb chutney with a recipe from the Seattle times).  On our way home from the market our we saw that our neighbor was having a garage sale.  She had a bunch of baby stuff, so we got a few items that we'd originally put on our registry.  We got a little swing, a boppy nursing pillow, a bumbo (this little thing that you can sit the baby up in before he's able to sit up on his own), a nursing cover thing and this over that you can use over the car seat so that the baby will stay warm and dry.  It was all in really good shape, so we figured it was a good deal.  

Afterwards we went to the dog park with Banjo.  Banjo had a great time.  He played with his chuck-it for a long time, and then he even went swimming for quite a while.  He's been sleeping ever since we got home.  

Solstice weekend

As fatherhood quickly approaches Neil looks like a man in a nursing home
Happy Birthday Clave!
Banjo's new home

Rachel going strong into the final stretchWeird green man


We didn't do anything too crazy for Solstice this year. On Saturday our friend Rachel was running the the mayor's marathon. The course happened to finish right near our house, so Neil, Banjo and I walked over to the park to get a glimpse of her wizzing by. It was pretty fun. People were a little past mile #24 where we were and tired. We cheered them on, including this strange guy in a giant green unitard. Even his face was completely covered in the green cloth, which was soaked. I'm not really sure how he was able to see, but he managed to stay on the path alright.

Later on Saturday we went out shopping for a new kennel for Banjo. Meghan, the old roommate, got word that we were looking for a new place to live so she wanted her kennel back. I guess she was afraid that we'd skip town without it, because she called all of our phones within 12 hours of us telling the landlords. The new one we got for him is quite a bit large. Now I can lock both boys into it at once.

On Sunday Neil celebrated his first father's day (I guess last year being Banjo's dad didn't count). I made some blueberry pancakes, and he got a book from the peanut: 500 Places to Tae Your Kids Before they Grow Up. Later in the day we had some friends over for a solstice bbq. It was pretty fun. We grilled up some chicken, and others brought hot dogs, salmon and shrimp. Lot's of tasty food! Neil and I stayed up till around 11:30 and it was still quite light out!

Week 32

Last week we had another doctor appointment. Nothing too exciting. The nurse that we had been seeing moved back to Arkansas, so now we have a new one named Sue. She's a lot more peppy and friendly. Everything seems to be going well. The heart beat was normal (around 130 beats per minute). Next visit we get to have another sonogram to make sure that the umbilical cord is connected in the right place.

This weekend when we were walking around Costco I passed this little kid in a shopping cart with his dad. Not 2 steps after I'd passed I heard the kid ask, "Daddy, what's wrong with that lady?" I have a giant tumor!

Brattleboro with baby Jude

Me, TeTe and baby Jude.
Jude having tummy time on the quilt that Grandma and mom made.
Me and little Jude Liston.
Jude taking a cat nap on his daddy's lap.

Following the conference I went to see Tessa and Elliot and little baby Jude. My visit started off a little rocky. Tessa had caught a bad stomach flu, and on top of things little Jude was going through his 3 week growth spurt, which meant that he was eating pretty much every hour. Tessa soon felt better, and it was great to see her and Elliot again--this time as parents. Jude was a really precious baby--definately a cutie. And I got a little test run for Peanut: eat, burp, gas, sleep, repeat. I had no idea that babies make such a loud noise when they poop!

Some more Buffalo pictures

At the hotel I slept pretty good with my 6 pillows!
Some of the fellows at the Pierce Arrow museum.
Paola posing like a gas pump.
A little mini car.
Some of the museum collectibles.

On Monday night we had the opening reception for the conference. Last year when the conference was in Denver it was at the museum of history and industry, which was really cool. This year...it was at the Pierce Arrow museum, which was on par with the rest of Buffalo. At first I thought we were going to the Pierz Indian tribe's collection of arrow heads, it turned out it was a couple's life-long collection of Pierce Arrows, which are apparently some sort of car. It was a pretty surprising site when I first walked into the museum to see all the cars and things.

Buffalo

Me with the falls in the background
The falls create quite a bit of mist.
You can see the high rises in Toronto
Down they go!
Buffalo was pretty much like a ghost town.

This past week I was in Buffalo, NY for the CSTE conference. I'm not so sure I'll be visiting Buffalo again any time too soon. Highlights include buffalo wings, roast beef on weck (a hot roast beef sandwitch on a roll with big grains of salt and caraway seeds with horse radish sauce), and Niagra Falls. The falls were pretty cool. I took the city bus out there, which seemed to be pretty easy. Unfortunately I didn't bring my passport so I couldn't walk across the bridge to Canada, but it was still fun. (Definately a lot more fun than sitting in the boring workshop.)

The conference itself was pretty good. I liked the plennary sessions, and there were a few interesting breakout sessions. My talk went okay, although people had a lot of hard questions afterwards. I felt like I was defending my thesis. And, we had graduation ceremony for our fellowship. We each got a little framed certificate, and Nicole the fellow in North Carolina won the special award that our class created to honor Hilary (my roommate in Atlanta who died suddenly).