Updates

We're at that point again when everyone is asking us all the same questions. Here are the answers to our FAQs, so you never actually have to have a conversation with us. Convenient. (And so you don't have to wait for Bethany's return phone call, which seems to take her three months to get around to.)

Richie: Plugging along and making quite a bit of progress on his Ph.D. research. He is now in the "writing" stage, which is the final piece of that ominous degree. He is really hoping to graduate with a completed Ph.D. in June, at which time he will be 30 years old, married for just about 5 years, with two bambinos. And finally having to get a "real" job. It has been great that up until now his schedule has been so flexible, he works so close to home, he gets to come home for lunch, and he still gets to wear surf T-shirts to the office. We love it. But our bank account doesn't. So for that reason alone, we are excited for him to finish. His top job choice would still be teaching as a Geotech professor at Sac State, so we're really hoping an opening comes up there, and that he is looked upon favorably for such a position. We are committed to staying in the area, as far as it depends on us, so if that doesn't pan out he will search for a nearby job in industry. Despite the stinky economy, engineers in his field still seem to be being hired. Now if he can just find a firm that lets him wear his surf T-shirts to work...

Bethany: Growing a baby, now in her third trimester. This pregnancy has been so much smoother--stomach flu and a long-lasting cold, yes, but no mystery virus with liver malfunction and a month of drive-you-bonkers itching. She finds herself often forgetting that she is pregnant. Luke is quite the distraction. But this little critter seems even more active than Luke was. Whenever she stops to think, "Oh yeah, there's a reason for this fat belly," she can feel the baby move. Even at 3 AM. Quite the little goldfish in there. She spends all "spare" (i.e., Luke's nap) times getting extra snoozes. When sleep does not lure her, she spends Luke's nap times saving previous blog entries with the goal of getting them printed out and bound into a family album (she gave up on scrapbooking when Luke was 6 months old. Sigh.), and typing up her grandma's journals, which she finds so entertaining and fascinating. The journals are filled with stories from the 1950s, her dad's and uncles' growing-up years. The stories of her dad as a boy are just like reading about Luke, 50 years later. It is a bit eerie! She spent much of last week a bit down and teary, as Nick, Beth, and Timothy finally moved for good, and Orchard Park is a much lonelier place without them. Unless she learns how to speak Mandarin and Korean (a worthy goal, actually), conversations here at Orchard Park are limited; and she is still trying to get used to feeling like a total oddball when watching moms of other cultures teach their children how to pull down their pants and pee in the sand. For the first time since moving to Orchard Park two-and-a-half years ago, she is finally feeling lonely here and not too sad to think about leaving when the time comes. Beth and Timothy were her companions each afternoon, and their dark apartment and lingering toys are more than she can bear... It is much harder on the people left behind! They are off on a road trip to Massachusetts having a grand old time...

Luke: Sprouting his last two baby teeth (we think?), the top two 2-year molars. That whole tooth thing makes him cranky. But when he is feeling well, boy is he a happy kid. Today he surprised us at lunchtime by singing "Frere Jacques" completely in tune, to the words "Da da da da, da da da da, DA DA DA!!!!" He enjoyed shouting for the "dormez-vous" part. How can he keep a tune already??? It was totally fun to listen to, and he laughed each time, too. He seemed a bit embarrassed, but tickled pink. This morning he begged for Tam and Baby (Sam and Siena), so we went to visit them, and he enjoyed petting Siena's head. He also tried to drop a rock on her head, but Mommy caught him just in time. He helped Mommy do three loads of laundry at her parents' house this morning (Sorbellos' Free Laundromat), but he was more into being cranky than into helping Mom. He does not do well with divided attention. At their house he loves to play hide-and-seek in his Poppy and Grammy's walk-in closet and buries himself in Poppy's ties so well that it is scary. Poppy helps him build very tall towers and gets him cookies at the local pastry shop; Grammy (Baba) takes him on long walks and teaches him how to fly like an airplane, reads him his favorite "owl" book (Bears in the Night) and treats him to her sweet tea. This morning Luke even swept mud out of their gutter and played "boats" in their "pool" (floated leaves in their gutter water). His life is good.

Now for the pictures!


Monday night was the Yafrates' last night at Orchard Park, and although they were planning on giving a good-bye gift to Luke, Timothy wanted to spend some time dragging it around first.


Timothy gives Richie some spontaneous hugs. What a little cuddlebug he is. We miss him!!!


Happy wherever he goes, Timothy certainly doesn't miss us! (Though Luke calls out his name each time we pull our car into our parking spot, directly under their dark apartment... How do you explain it?)


They left Tuesday morning, and we returned to our apartment to find a note written to Luke by Timothy. (What fine handwriting he has!) It made Bethany cry. She felt pathetic. This whole pregnancy thing doesn't help with the weepies!


A recent baby shower for Bethany's friend Gilda involved a very fun relay game. Participants had to talk on the cell phone while swaddling a "baby" (sack of potatoes), then holding the baby while folding a load of laundry. Multitasking at its finest. Accurate to Bethany's life as of late, though without the cell phone. (Why such phone aversion?) (Luke's fault.)


Why does Luke still think this is soooo tricky?


It is nice to know Luke has another good buddy, whom we hope to hang out with a lot more! And he's even related. Cha-ching! Alexander is just three months younger than Luke, and they sure seem to enjoy each other. (Manifested by fighting over the same toys.) Here they drive a tractor together at Fairy Tale Town.


Alexander has been to Fairy Tale Town so many times that its novelty has started to wear off, but this was Luke's first time and he was like a lightning bolt zipping around the park. 6-months-pregnant Mommy had a hard time catching him at times, especially when he escaped up a narrow staircase leading to a steep steel slide... <:-\ Fortunately there was an owl at the top that needed a few minutes of his stares, so it gave Bethany some time to catch up!


Ah, a much safer slide.


Everything's more fun with Sarah! The two of them even rode in Luke's bike trailer together this weekend, as Richie pulled them along. What a sight to behold.


Back to Alexander Man.


"Oh Mom, I'm tired! I think I'll just splat down right here!" (On the concrete. Smack dab in the middle of the park.)


Fighting over a water pump, of all things.


At least Luke got the train all to himself! Trains are his most recent major fetish. If you click on the picture you can see his little lips "choo-choo"ing.


Rabbits! Luke stayed still from his hopping for 2 seconds, just long enough for Mom to snap a shot.


And a turtle! Another of Luke's favorite animals. Today with the broom in the gutter, he "painted" a stripe of gutter water on the sidewalk and told his Poppy and Mama that it was a turtle. Quite an imagination.


A last shot of the two princes before they turned into pumpkins and screamed as we put them back into their car seats to head home...