Without Halos

2010 Recap

2011-01-13T10:47:00.000-08:00

First of all to my fanbase: I love you. I did not ignore your suggestions/requests/demands for updates because I'm spiteful and want to see you suffer. If I could, I'd send you each a super yummy cupcake as a way to make up and it'd be your choice between 1-chocolate with chocolate ganache glaze and chocolate mousse filling or 2-yellow with chocolate ganache glaze and vanilla custard filling. I think that would increase my fanbase. But since I can't do that, you'll have to settle for a short video of me singing a heartfelt apology. HA! Just kidding. Wow, so funny. About as funny as the lady at the library who walked in the bathroom as I was wrestling a poopy baby and said, "Do I smell a baby in here?" Kick her, Mika. Ok, here's the blog.

Events or Common Scenes for the Rabes During 2010

Rose begins to emerge from the ugly newborn stage

Mika and Rose with their Hello Kitties (Mama Kitty & Baby Kitty)

Mika graduates to a bed

Rose graduates to a high chair

The Dancing Dress

One of many fort variations. Most included the DVD player.

Grandpa and Louise get married

Mika in her super chic dress at the wedding

A blue 3rd birthday...

...with Pinata! (which she tucked into bed and
slept with the night before its demise)

Kayaking excursion

Gasworks park

Classic summer fun at cousin Gabe's

Another childhood classic

Childhood classic #2 - just kidding. I've never been on a camel, have you?
Mika's ultra cool like that.

Cousin buddies at the zoo

Definitely out of the ugly newborn stage

Forget the zoo animals!

At the flower garden. Yo.

The Sistahs. I'm pretty sure Rose isn't eating a rock. Might be a petal.

Hiking Mt. Rainier

View of the mount and proof that I went

The Sistahs in plaid

Rose n Grandma

Rose and new cousin Nyomi

At Maris Farm. This picture is included solely
because that bunny's stinkin cute.

Meeks and buddy Hudson at Maris Farm

Mika picks her pumpkin. Ten times fast.

Rose in (eating) the rose cow car. There was a train of these
pulled by a tractor and when filled with a
bunch of 3 year olds, cuteness factor was high.

Mika gets her first haircut

Birthday number 1 for the Roser

Digging in

My latest hobby.
I wasn't kidding about those cupcake options mentioned earlier.

Cali Christmas - a top notch time

Sending Out an Apology

2010-03-06T13:00:00.000-08:00

Had a rough night last night. Slept from 10 to 11:30pm and then a sweet 3 hour stretch from 2:30 to 5:30am. Then I got up and went grocery shopping. I could tell I was grogster as I was driving but I felt pretty safe at that time on a Saturday morning. Unfortunately, other people's carts at the grocery store were not safe from me.

I would like to offer a formal apology to that person out there that I stole the cart from this morning at Winco near the bulk food items. I zipped all the way down to the milk before I realized the cart wasn't mine. Took it back as soon as I noticed my boneheaded mistake, but didn't see anyone. Very very sorry. Yummy looking chocolate covered raisins. Hope you got to enjoy them.

Til Darth Do We Part

2010-02-25T15:42:00.000-08:00

Anyone else think there's something funny about this? I guess I never considered the romance of a Darth Vader head.

And while we're at it, take a look at this fortune I got a few months ago.

I'm still wondering what it means. Should I do right...or not? I don't think this is authentic Confucius.

Blog Ketchup

2010-02-15T13:08:00.000-08:00

Yes, it's time to update the blog already. But, you say, it's only been 5 months since the last entry! I know, I know but my public's clamoring for more. So this one's dedicated to you, Rochelle.

First of all, Mika's baby doll got a twin sister in November. We call her Rose and we like her an awful lot.

In December, like good Christians and consumers, we celebrated Christmas. Justin's parents and older sis came up to join (create) the festivities and we're so glad they did. Mika's Big Present was her bike and bike hat. She LOVES them (phew!).

And finally, here's a true story.

I thought lotto tickets might make a funny gift so I was at Albertsons standing in front of the ticket machine pondering the options and moral implications, when an unsavory fellow came up. He wasn't the sort I'd normally start a conversation with, but a common interest in the lotto machine created a bond that empowered me to speak. Besides, I wanted information. "So how do these work?" Before I could continue, he started thumbing a wad of cash that I hadn't noticed til then and said in a condescending tone, "Well you put in money and push a button and out it comes at the bottom." He put actions to words, bought a $1 ticket and said, "Here you go!" That was unexpected generosity. I took the ticket, said thank you, and asked what I really wanted to know in the first place. "Do I have to scratch this right away or can I wait a while?" He gave a helpful but incorrect answer and left. I looked down at the ticket he bought me. Triple Latte. Ha! Gambling and coffee - how perfect for a devout Mormon. Couldn't he have spent a buck more and bought me a bingo card? That looked more fun. I was too embarassed to give it away so two months later I finally got around to scratching the ticket myself. I won $2.

Mika Photographer

2009-09-15T15:51:00.000-07:00

Actually, we'd rather she become a dentist...

But I suppose a photographer's not bad. Not that she has any special skills at it, but 1 out of 50 of her pictures turns out surprisingly well. That's about the same as my success ratio. Just goes to show, any monkey can do use a point-and-shoot. Her forte is apparently in portraits. Here are my favorites.

It's a Girl!

2009-06-23T07:54:00.000-07:00

Shocked me and Justin. We were both convinced it's a boy, but the ultrasound technician was pretty sure. Mika shrugged it off like it was no big deal and went straight back to her Sesame Street video.

For some, the surprise isn't that the baby's a girl, but that I'm pregnant at all. Twenty weeks pregnant with 20 left to go, more or less depending on how lucky I am. So the main reason we thought we were having a boy was because the pregnancy has been so different in nausea intensity. I haven't needed any medication and I've thrown up only 3 times - once on the plane, once right after the plane, and once because I was so hungry I threw up. Didn't know that was possible, but at least there's not much that comes out in that case.

Insistent - Socks & Shoes

2009-05-12T13:33:00.001-07:00

1/5/09

Mika and I were trying on clothes in a dressing room and she got the brilliant idea of swapping socks. "Ha ha, why not?" I thought. So she pulled on my black socks and I put her socks on my big toes and we had a good laugh. The she wanted her shoes on. "Well that's gonna feel gross, but whatever." It was all fun and games until she insisted on keeping my socks, like pitch-a-fit insistent. So I gave up and she wore my socks the rest of the day while I went sockless in my black wingtips in cold, wet weather. Talk about feeling gross.

1/13/09

At first glance, just a fun picture of the Meeks. But if you look closer, you'll notice her shoes are on the wrong feet. Ick. As she was putting them on, I tried to gently explain that she needed to switch, but she didn't want to hear that, see?

3/14/09

And finally, one time after her bath, Mika insisted on putting on her red shoes...before ANYTHING else.

Mika with Animals

2009-05-12T12:52:00.000-07:00

This is part deux of the blog dedication to Collin, Justin's younger bro. He requested a black and white photo montage of Mika with animals. Unfortunately, this is neither black & white, nor a montage, (nor taxidermy for that matter, so sorry Collin), but it is ... Mika ... With ... Animals! Here we go.

Mika with dog and monkey ballerina blanket.

Mika with dog.

Mika with dog, Mr. Bunny and Ann.

Mika wearing Mr. Bunny's shirt.

Mr. Bunny wearing Mika's jacket.

Helping Mr. Bunny stand up in Mika's jacket and boots.

Not just a hug, that's a wipe on the bear's bumbum.

Mika got a rubber snake from Chad and Lindsay at Christmas. She wasn't much interested in it, until Justin taught her it was a Kissing Snake.

Do inflatable aliens count as animals?

A throwback to the Cincinnati Zoo days, when Mika was 10 months old (with a LIVE animal).

This One Goes Out to Collin!

2009-03-05T20:50:00.000-08:00

Strangely enough, after the first post, Justin's youngest brother was the first to request a blog update, so this is dedicated to Collin, rock star professor of the future! (There might have to be a part deux to this, because obviously this post does not contain the black-and-white-photos-of-Mika-with-animals montage that you requested, Collin.)

Believe it or not, we've spent the past four Christmases coast to coast and across the pond, all of them with Collin. Here's the rundown:

2008 - Oceanside, California. True to Lindsay's pregnancy schedule, it was another Rabe reunion. Chad and Lindsay were extremely gracious hosts, even deigning to play "Pass Around the Sick". Mika was 18 months old. The video shows her skill with a bean bag toss (thanks uncle collin).

2007 - Arlington, Virginia. Justin was doing an internship in DC and Collin was in his first year at Johns Hopkins so he joined us at the Haraguchi homestead. Mika was 6 months old.

2006 - Paris, France. (The Meal) Hooray, Ann didn't chicken out and we went to Europe! Collin was in Italy at the time so he joined us in Rome and came along to Paris, probably for the food. Le Odeon was it? Ask for the back room. Mika was a bun in the oven.

2005 - Cleveland, Ohio. (The Deal) A Rabe reunion featuring such highlights as a trip to Niagara Falls and of course the stick that looked like a dog. May May was a bun in Lindsay's oven.

Collin, how bout Seattle for Christmas '09?

Without Halos, Without Pride

2009-02-27T08:11:00.000-08:00

I gave a talk in sacrament meeting a couple Sundays ago. Wanna hear something hilarious? I sang a solo. And I did really bad. My main comfort is that I apologized beforehand. Justin says it's fitting that I sang badly because after all, you can't say, "Sorry but I'm going to sing a song for you" and then sing pretty. Plus it was a camp song. Pretty singing not required. Here's the song:

Do your pants hang low
Does your bellybutton show
Is your shirt too tight
Can you breathe alright
Is your skirt too high
Are you showing too much thigh
Are you dressing modestly

And then at the end of the song you HAVE to say, "Remember, modest is hottest." I debated whether to omit the song or not because I knew it was self-inflicted humiliation. Ann Rabe sings a solo?? I still laugh when I think of it, usually during the hymns. Justin said one lady told him that she felt she had gotten to know me so much better thru my talk. I found that frightening. Actually, the whole business of giving a talk is frightening. Kinda fun, but mostly frightening. It was such a relief to have it over, I felt like the other speakers and I should go have a party.

The Inaugural Post

2009-01-08T11:46:00.000-08:00

Let's start this off right.

Instead of discussing my current love/hate relationship with Pepto, I've decided to show one of my favorite home videos. It's called "Mika Gets a Stunt Double."

The following pictures are the real deal, doubles were not an option.

It's a neat trick! (Name the movie Susan and Mark)

I told myself I wouldn't post this one, butt...