Blood Brothers

Time for a new post, eh?

For your viewing pleasure, I'm posting this preview we made for our Foster Family Film Festival held over Thanksgiving break. If you're a Foster, I'm sorry--I know you've already seen this. But I wanted to share it with my other bloggin' family and friends. It's called "Blood Brothers." Enjoy.

Monica Jayne Foster

Monica was born at 8:40 am on Monday, October 22, 2007. I was only in labor for about 4 1/2 hours--alright! She weighed 8 pounds, 3 ounces and was 20 3/4 inches long. We came home from the hospital on Tuesday afternoon and everything is going great. We are very happy.

Proud parents.


Big girl.

Welcome to the world.


Proud Papa.


Mom, baby and our wonderful doula Nicole.


Dr. Forschner - a great man.


Proud big brother.

Goofy face.

Tired face.

Cal, Monica and the gang at the hospital.

I've Been Tagged!

My awesome sister-in-law Dana tagged me, which I'm grateful for because I was struggling with finding ideas or energy to post. However, since I'm not totally sure what the tagging rules are--whether I'm supposed to answer the same questions or come up with my own--I'll just assume there aren't any hard fast rules and do a little of both. (?)

4 jobs I've had
1. Paper route in 6th grade
2. Teaching cello lessons in high school & college
3. Working at Old Navy during the summer after my freshman year of college
4. Teaching string classes full-time for a school district in Peoria, AZ...so fun!

Places I've lived
1. Provo, Utah
2. Orem, Utah (I know...a big move...)
3. Phoenix, AZ
4. Denver, CO

Movies I love (This could be a long list...)
1. Apollo 13
2. Sense & Sensibility
3. Shadowlands
4. The Adventures of Robin Hood (old school)
5. Lord of the Rings
6. X-men
7. Big Fish
8. The Corpse Bride
9. Toy Story
10. The Incredibles
11. Finding Neverland
There are a lot of other movies I like, but I guess those are most of the ones I loooove.

Favorite Foods
1. Ice cream
2. Dessert
3. Oreos

Favorite Music/Bands
Anything beautiful

If I Could Have One Super Power...
The ability to freeze time. Think about how much more you could get done in a day!

4 weird things about me
1. I can fall asleep in almost any position at any time of day, with any kind of background noise.
2. I hate blowing my nose. It's true--ask my husband. I would rather leave it plugged up than blow it.
3. I love flossing my teeth.4. I love doing random crafty things. What can I say? So much joy.

Favorite Shows
Aaaa! Now it comes out... my confession to the world: I have issues with watching TV. I just don't usually like to do it. Maybe that should be in the "weird things about me" category. Sometimes I'm a little tempted by some of the TLC shows, like Super Nanny, and I enjoy a good episode of The Office every once in awhile, but Michael Scott drives me crazy and I usually feel like it wasn't worth the time I just spent watching. That's not to say that TV is always waste of time and that it's better not to watch it...it's just that I'd rather be doing something else. You know, something...crafty.

Places I'd rather be
1. In my postpartum room, recovering from having pushed out a baby.
2. Oh, wait... that's the only place I would rather be right now.

People I'm tagging

1. Megan Foster
2. Emily Ricks
3. Rachel Jenson
4. Laura Knight
(That means if you don't already have a blog and you're reading this on Adam's, you've got to get in on the Foster Family blogging action. Just kidding...no pressure, although we're all very excited to get to know you!)

Hi, My Name is Callahan

I just wanted to write you all on my mom's blog and tell you that I'm learning how to say new things every day. I love talking, especially saying hi to people. My life's pretty exciting because I'm getting ready to turn two. Mom and Dad keep talking about stuff like using the potty and having a new baby sister come. I sort of know what they're talking about, so I just go along with it.

Here are some of my new-found favorites:

Food: "Ju-Juice" in my car cup
Color: Hmmm...brown, and orange and red and white...I really like all of them, but I get blue and green mixed up, and yellow's kind of tricky, too.
Story: Bob the Builder and A Potty for Me
Movie: Baby Einsteins and Nemo
Song: Hands down, my favorite song is Wheels on the Bus.
Best Friend: I've played with so many cousins and aunts and uncles and friends lately, this is a tough one. I'd still have to say my dad.

Why I Like Travis

Last night, in celebration of Jeff being done with Step II of the Boards, he told me we were going out to eat at some Italian place in downtown D.C. that had been recommended to him by our friend Nick Alder. We took the metro and then had to walk a couple of blocks to find this place.
When we finally got to the address that matched his post-it note, let's just say I had my doubts. It looked pretty scary. It was a grungy-looking brick building with one little set of couble doors in the corner and there was a huge line of people trailing out the door and down the block. My first impression was that it was a bar...or maybe...some sort of homeless shelter? Anyway, in my head I was thinking, "That is not an Italian restaurant. I am not going in there, no matter how good Nick said the food was." But Jeff insisted this was where we were going and that it "must just be a popular joint." Then he pulled a couple of tickets out of his wallet and said, "I guess you need one of these to get in." I looked down at the tickets and saw one word that helped me make sense out of everything: Travis.

If you don't know, Travis is a scottish band that Jeff and I really love and we had talked about someday going to see them perform live if we were ever in the right place at the right time. I couldn't help but laugh at how great of a surprise Jeff had planned and how perfectly it was executed.
So last night we got to see them, live! We couldn't have been standing more than 25 feet away. It was so cool! Especially because I'd never been to a rock concert before. I don't even listen to a lot of rock music because I have a hard time getting into it, but this is one of the only bands that I've ever really cared about (so far) and that I would want to hear live. And they were there, in the building, standing and playing really close to us. Anyway, it was awesome.

So now, why do I like Travis so much? I'm not sure...I guess I feel like I can relate to their song-writing and musicianship more than most other bands I've heard. Most of the time a band will have two or three songs that I kind of like, but Travis songs are consistently noteworthy. Plus, they seem like pretty clean, down-to-earth guys, which makes them really likeable. This is just my personal taste, but if you've never heard them, you should check out thier myspace page: myspace.com/travis. You won't regret it.

Our Recent Adventures

Well, we've moved to Denver and are now visiting my sister Emily and her family in Maryland. We're here so that Jeff can take some tests for school (his standardized patient exam was last Monday in Philedelphia and is going to take Step II of the Boards this next Monday), and so that Cal and I can hang out with Ems and her cute boys during the day.

Cal's really loved being with all of these family members (with Grandpa Mick and Maggie and Megan in Denver, and now with Emily, Weston, and their boys, Peter and Adam) and seems to be doing great with all the travel.

I want to post pictures of our adventures, but we don't have our cord to download them off our camera, so it will have to wait until August. However, I wanted to share this video, taken by my brother-in-law Weston. You'll have to listen closely towards the end, but it's really funny. If nothing else it might say something about how hard Jeff has been working...

Our Growing Family

Hey, everyone. I thought I'd share some photos from our most recent family picture session. They were taken at the end of March, but we haven't ordered any prints yet, and we wanted you to see them. These were taken by Heather Peck, who's a good friend in our ward:

Also, for the sake or posting something official, although most of you already know, we ARE having a girl for sure. Our plan is to name her Monica Jayne. Monica is after my childhood cello teacher.

Whew!! What a Last Couple of Months!

Hey, Family! Here are a few pictures from the last couple of weekends. It would be easy for me to say I'm glad the concerts are all over, but as I look back on the last couple of months I am reminded of how blessed we've been with so many visitors and opportunities and things to keep us busy. Thanks for all of your support, everyone!!

Margaret at Phillip and Marissa Boice's wedding reception at the Irish Cultural Center in central Phoenix

Callahan and the Mags playing a little basketball
We discovered that "Maggie" is actually easier to say, and a lot less confusing when you have two grandmas visiting during consecutive weekends...

Jeff and me with my parents Claude and Cynthia, and sister Emily after the first performance

Me with my handsome hubby. Thanks for everything, Jeff! I love you a lot.

My brother Dale and his buddy Dustin also flew out for the weekend,
pictured here at the Mesa AZ Temple Visitor Center

So that's what we've been up to the last few weeks, along with a few other school-related performances. If you asked me what I was up to now, I'd say relaxing, painting my toenails (significant as a symbol of long-awaited free time), and packing up our things for the exciting summer ahead...

We're Thinking in Pink!!

Just wanted you to know that although it's too early to tell for sure, we got a sneak peek today and it's looking pretty girly in there!
You can't actually see the area in question in these pics, but we got a good angle at the appointment. These ultrasound shots are (in the top picture) of her head, looking at us, with her little body bending around to the right, and (in the bottom) a side view of her tummy with her little knee bent up. Anyway, whether you can make sense of them or not, the point is that Cal and I got to see her today and she's doing great...AND she is probably a she!

A Couple Nostalgic Videos

I happened upon these videos yesterday on youtube when I was doing some research for a puppet skit for our ward activity. Hope they make you feel like a kid again.

Talking!

The other day Cal was holding my hand while we went up the stairs. Half-way up he stopped and I couldn't get him to keep going. He was babbling something, but I didn't pay attention because I was in a hurry to get him to the top of the stairs. My other hand was full of stuff, so I couldn't pick him up. Finally I realized what he had said was, "Shoes.....shoes.....uh-oh..." I looked down at his sandals and his toes were sticking out of the straps. Once I fixed that, he was fine to keep going. It just took me aback how he had tried to put those words together to try to convey something that was wrong. I was pretty excited.

Lately, it seems Cal has had a huge boom of new words. He has started repeating (or trying to repeat) everything we say. I made a list of all the words he uses regularly, and it was longer than I expected:

Baby
Basketball
Again
Amen
Juice
Jesus
Daddy
Mommy
Dog
Birdie
Airplane
All Done
More
Mommy
Guitar
Phone
(which sounds more like "boam..."
but we know what he's talking about)
Draw
Straw
Truck
Stuck
Outside
Cheese
Please
Bubble
No
Yes
Bye-bye
Shoes
Uh-oh
Spoon
Blue
(as in, the cartoon character,
not the color)
Book

Anyway, this is a fun stage for us. It's fun to be able to hear his voice and some of the thoughts going on in his head. It's also nice to have him be able to tell me what he wants or what's wrong. He's just a great guy. Here are a couple more pictures of him being silly.

Angie vs. the Beast: Who Will Come Out On Top?

Some of you already know this, but I am in the middle of preparing a concerto, Concerto in e minor by Edward Elgar, to solo with the ProMusica Arizona Orchestra in May. It's kind of a big deal for me because I didn't get to solo in college and I'll probably never get to do it again, and I really love the piece, so I'm excited for the opportunity. But I've got to tell you, it's the hardest, longest, fastest, highest piece I've ever had to play by myself. Sometimes, this is how I feel about it. (That's me with the red cape and the sword, fighting against unbeatable odds...)

I question: Can I do it? Why does the director want me to play the whole thing? Wouldn't a part of it be just as nice?

Last week I was starting to feel pregnant and was struggling with an intense lack of motivation. "Well, it's time for me to go practice. Hmmm.... I really don't want to practice. Okay. I'm going to go to bed instead." That day I got a practice session in 2 out of 6 days, and they were both short and half-hearted. So I'm writing this post in reconciliation. Now you all know that I really am supposed to be practicing every day (whether you wanted to or not). This week I've done 3 out of 4 days...day 5 isn't over yet. Who will come out on top today? Me? Or Elgar? I may have lost a couple...well, several battles, but I'm determined to win the war.

Bathtime Fun

You Will Not Believe What Happened...

Two days ago I was sitting on the couch watching a little Baby Einstein with Cal, when all of a sudden I became aware that I had been hearing a consistent little crackling noise for the last few minutes. I turned around and my eyes were drawn towards a little cluster of bright color on the kitchen floor. I didn't have my contacts in, so at first I assumed it was the dying mylar helium balloon I had gotten Jeff for his birthday. "I guess it got a hole in it and it's eeking out the last of its juice..." Then I looked more closely and realized it was what you see in the pictures below:

I was a little spooked because I had closed the door about fifteen or twenty minutes before and I wasn't sure how long the bird had been there, but I tiptoed into the bedroom to get the camera. I would never have been able to get such good shots if the bird hadn't been such a brave, stubborn sucker. In fact, I had a hard time convincing him to leave. He seemed pretty happy.

The funny thing is that we have a couple of wild birds that like to sit outside our door and walk in while we're not looking to eat the crumbs out of the carpet (especially below where Cal sits...that tells you what a sad state our carpet is in a lot of the time). But those are little black and brown birds. This one caught me completely off guard because, well, look how colorful! It looked like it had escaped from a pet shop or a zoo and found its way to us. Anyway, Cal and I both got a kick out of it.

The Doorbell Song

Portrait of a Great-Grandmother

A week from last Thursday, I was busy stressing out about my orchestra class. I felt like I had a lot of things to get ready, copies and phone calls to make, planning to do, parents to inform...you get the idea. It probably didn't have to be as hectic as I made it that day, but so it was. (I don't have a better coping mechanism for when lots of things need to be done, except to get a little stressed out.) I spent all of Cal's nap time and a lot of his wake time (sadly) getting ready for the 4:15 rehearsal. Finally, at about 1:30 in the afternoon, I reached the point when I felt like I had done everything I could do before the actual class. I was as ready as I could be and whatever would happen now would happen. It was a nice feeling, and I was glad it came early enough before the rehearsal to still enjoy a piece of the day with Cal.

The rehearsal went fine, and I rushed home in time to zip to Grandma's house for dinner. I always love visiting her because we have so many common interests. Also, my last surviving grandparent--the only one I ever knew--died when I was in eighth grade (when I was just starting to not be a little kid) so visiting Helen makes it seem like I have a grandma. As usual, we had a nice time. We helped her take care of a few things around her place, served up dinner, and watched Cal toddle around her apartment and chase her cat.

Listening to her talk always makes me think. What would it be like to be in the sunset of my life? She has such an independent personality that I imagine, and she's mentioned to me, that it's hard to have to depend on people. To not be able to trust your body to do everything you need it to, to not be able to see well enough to thread the needles you've been threading your whole life, to not be able to remember previous conversations you've had...and yet she's so admirable because she just copes with everything. For example, she's been having huge difficulty moving her right arm (because she was folding some heavy sheet and injured something) and she just finds new ways to feed herself, or write a letter, or do whatever.

The impression I get when I talk to her is that she's doing her best to stay occupied while, sort of at the same time, waiting for the inevitable to happen. I don't mean to sound morose, but she's mentioned several times in a "joking-but-not" way how "I'm not sure I'll be here that long" or "I better not be here that long" or "Why the h*** did I have to live so d*** long?" And on this particular Thursday evening it occurred to me that maybe she feels about her life like I felt about my orchestra class. She's taken care of all the important things she needs to do, and now she's just waiting for whatever is going to happen to happen. I thought about how relieved I was when I'd reached that point earlier that day, and what a relief it would be when I get that old to be able to say the same thing about my whole life. I'm not sure she would say the same, but for my sake I hope she'll be with us for another long while.

Caption: These pictures are of the amaryllis from the bulb garden Mickey gave her for Christmas. She wanted us to take a picture and share them with you.