Very difficult to get three children
to look at a camera

Aunt Sarah was trying to teach Miriam how to climb stairs.
Good idea or bad idea? I'm not sure

Miriam playing with Bika for the first time

It's been a while, hasn't it? I'm a bit shocked when I look at the date of our last post.

Anyway...

Tonight I caught a great encounter between Miriam and Bika. We both absolutely love Miriam's laugh.

Apple Sauce Girl

Old Photos

A couple months ago, I used my EPSON scanner to scan some old photos of me and my sister. The photos were taken in late 1977, so they have yellowed. I was hoping to just use Adobe Photoshop's Auto Levels adjustment tool and everything we be magically fixed, but this wasn't so. I feel very lukewarm about the results. Once again I have come to the conclusion that I realy need to learn how to use Photoshop.

Below are the two pictures before I adjusted them with Photoshop.

Now, here are what the images look like after the Auto Levels adjustment. Certainly, there is less of that yellowing look, but the colors still leave a lot to be desired. Any suggestions all you Photoshop gurus out there? :-)

Ducks at Riverside Park (Watertown, WI)

Today (June 21st), we went to Riverside Park to feed the ducks. The park is in Watertown and it has been flooded for the last few weeks. We all really enjoy going down there and feeding the ducks with stale loaves of bread.

My first time swinging

The Tongue

The best part of the day.

Miriam is not impressed with her first parade.

Yummy Toes

'Oober McGoober' drooling on the bed

Amy's first blog post

Moved to Watertown

Hey everyone!

Sorry for the big delay. As of mid-March, I started off my career as a librarian by taking a job at the Watertown Public Library (Watertown, Wisconsin). Since I've started working 40 hours a week, I haven't had time to keep up with email, let alone the blog.

That being said, Amy has declared a desire to start uploading images and videos to the blog. Please be patient. She has tons to learn. :-)

All Apologies

Howdy folks!

I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for not getting newer images/videos uploaded. I realize it's been almost a month! (Time is flying!) Things got halted when I was unable to upload a 100MB+ video from our Valentine's Day evening. I didn't want to move on and wreck the chronological order of pictures (I know that sounds obsessive, but hey I'm a librarian: order matters), so I somehow let it halt everything.

While I'm trying to get more uploads prepared, may I suggest to anyone who is new to blogs, or reading blog posts, that you consider using a news/feed reader like Google Reader or Bloglines. (I use Bloglines.) Basically, you sign up for an account through one of these services. Then, you subscribe to blogs that you tend to frequent (email me if you have questions on how to do this as it can vary). This way instead of having to go to each blog that you read to see if there are updates, you just log into your Bloglines or Google Reader account and it'll indicate whether there are new entries for your subscribed blogs. It's pretty handy!

Miri in car seat on dryer (2/9/2008)

Miri was having a crying fit so Amy put her in her car seat and set her on the running dryer to simulate the feeling of riding in a car. It actually worked...for a while!

Beauty & the Beast (2/7/2008)

Beauty...


...and the Beast

Finally caught-up!

I just realized that we haven't taken many pictures of Miriam since the week after she was born. (Sometimes we think she doesn't even look the same as she did the first two weeks or so. We understand this is normal.) I think the only reason I didn't take new ones is simply because I have been overwhelmed with getting caught-up in blog-posting the ones we'd already had. I'm going to need to find some balance in doing this in the days to come.

Peter & Sarah's visit - Miriam meets her cousins for the first time (1/18/2008)

Uncle Peter and Aunt Sarah came down to meet Miriam for the first time a week after Miriam's arrival. Their boys (Miriam's only cousins to date) were curious about their new cousin.

From left: Jonah, Aidan, and Uncle Peter with Miriam. I like this picture (too bad Auntie Sarah isn't in it to complete the family a bit more). For whatever reason, I can't help but think this photo has some sort of Norman Rockwell qualities to it. Call me crazy. :-)

From left: Jonah and Aidan with Miriam. Aidan was more than eager to hold...sometimes he was almost too insistent to hold her.

From left: Jonah, Aidan, and Aunt Sarah with Miriam.

Aidan and Jonah hamming it up for the camera.

Jonah sporting his dad's extra large hat and shoes.

'The boys' don't know what to think of their crying cousin.

Cutesy pics (1/18 to 1/25/2008)

The above picture is a favorite of ours. I am currently using it as wallpaper on my desktop computer. We have also chosen to use it for our ever-so-delayed birth announcements. Admittedly, the picture is a bit blurry or grainy. This is because I couldn't use the flash: flashes always wake her up.

With a slight case of the hiccups.

Notice the little weasel peaking at me while I complain about our sleeplessness.

Miri's new cousin: Meng Xue

My sister (Sarah) and her husband (Peter) have been in the adoption process for a long time. As of yesterday, they found out who their daughter is and they shared their pictures of her which I have included in this post. Her name is Meng Xue and she is 2 years old (born on on Christmas Day 2005).

'Meng' is her first name and 'Xue' is her middle name. Sarah mentioned that they will probably give her a new first name and use her current first and middle names as one middle name.

In about 6 to 8 weeks they will leave for China to bring her home. Tentatively, my mom and Sarah are going to China. Meanwhile, Peter is staying home with their boys. His mom will be accompanying him as he holds down the fort.

Amy and I are anxious to meet her, but can only imagine she will need some adjustment and bonding time with Mom and Dad...and two anxious brothers.

Enjoy!


Updated 2/8/2008
Peter and Sarah have agreed to name their daughter Aurora Meng-Xue Scott.

Kitties adjusting

Occasionally, someone asks us how the kitties are getting along now that 'Miri' is here. The following are a few pics of the cats during the current adjustment period.

Bika checking out the bassinet.


From left: Bika and Mr. Jones on the baby's changing table.


Me holding my baby (Mr. Jones still clings to me and follows me around the apartment).


I start off holding Mr. Jones and Bika joins in. We have something like a weird love triangle. Mr. Jones is in love with me; Bika is in love with him. Mr. Jones drives me nuts with his clinginess, yet he hates Amy. Meanwhile, Bika is scared of every human (including Amy and me), but she does nap with Amy whenever she can. None of this has changed so far, except Bika has been getting less nap time with Amy.

One big conglomeration of nap partners. Amy lies next to 'Miri' while Mr. Jones cuddles with Bika.

Bunny feet? (1/18/08)

I always tease Amy of having 'bunny feet'. Her second largest toe is almost as long as her big toe. To be honest, I'm not sure how I relate such a condition to that of a bunny's foot. I guess it's because I picture bunny feet as having toes that are all of equal length.

Megan stops in (1/18/2008)

From left: Mom/Amy and Megan with 'Miri'.

One week after this visit, Megan came back again and brought her fiancé, Jeremy. More importantly, she also brought us an apple pie!

Grandma Malosh gives 'Miri' a bath (1/17/2008)

My mom meets 'Miri' (1/17/2008)

Grandma Malosh with 'Miri'. 'Miri' is her third grandchild, but first granddaughter.

Perry & Darin stop in (1/16/2008)

Shortly before we headed out to Miri's first doctor's visit, Perry and Darin (our ministers) stopped by to meet our new addition.

From left: Darin and Perry with 'Miri'.

Perry wouldn't let Darin leave without holding 'Miri'. (Apparently, Darin's baby handling experiences were pretty close to that of my own so he tried to decline until Perry insisted he give it a go. Unfortunately for Darin, our camera was ready for his awkward experience.)

Biran & Sara visit us while in the hospital (1/13/2008)

Brian, Sara, and Nolan stopped by to visit us in the hospital the day after Miri's birth. (I was grateful for the Chipotle burrito they brought me for lunch!)

From left: Brian with 'Miri' and Sara with Nolan.