The Eric and Sarah Adventures

Mica's First Fish!

2010-06-14T09:58:00.001-07:00

Mica has officially caught her first fish (well, mostly)! We took the canoe out on the Charles River this weekend and, despite a slight drizzle, managed to catch two fish on the good 'ol Spongebob fishing rod. It was great fun and Daddy was very proud of his little girl.
In other updates things are coming down to the wire here-- one month to go. I've finished classes (woohoo!) and now am just working on my thesis which still involves going into school every day but at a slower and less stressed pace. The kids' room is finally in order and the crib is set up. Eric and I have been practicing out hypnobirthing and it's amazing how fast he's able to put me to sleep with this technique. The whole idea is super relaxation and more or less guided hypnosis. I'm excited to see how it works for the real thing!

Mica's First Fishes from Sarah Reed on Vimeo.

Mother's Day 2010

2010-05-09T19:31:00.000-07:00

It's mother's day and I'm 7 months pregnant. I've spent 8 hours at work so far today (sunday), so it has not been the best mother's day. I still love being a mother, though. I think it's a good thing that I don't really want to be here. That I'd rather be home with my family. I'm a few days from being done with classes, possibly forever, and I'm very happy about it. Mica has been playing a lot of "house" lately and especially loves to play that she's the mom and I'm the baby. She "drops me off at school" and says "Sorry honey, I need to go to work, I'll pick you up at the end of the day!" Sometimes I pretend to cry and she comes over to comfort me. Other times I'm strong and happy and say "Ok Mommy, have a good day at work!" Is that sad or cute? I can't quite decide. I'm excited for this new one to join our family and to watch another being grow. That's really the joy of motherhood I think: being there to witness the process-- good and bad. We still have a lot of prep to do to get ready for this baby. All that has been put on hold while I've been in school. But baby is coming whether we're ready or not!

A new short video...plus pictures...

2010-04-17T18:19:00.001-07:00

Spring is officially here and we're happy for it. (I say that even though snow is forecast for tonight, but we'll just ignore that part..) I have 3.5 weeks of classes left and I'm so excited! The end is in sight. I'll still have to finish my thesis, but that's doable. Eric recently got picked up to be the local rep for a big reel company (in addition to Beulah, the flyrod company he's been rep-ing for and doing great) so he's on his way to being a super flyfishing rep. Mica's doing great and says she's excited for the new baby on the way. She's been working a bit these days on "constructive ways to deal with her frustration." I'm getting bigger by the minute and I'm excited to not have to haul myself around so much once classes are over.

Enjoy the video and pictures!

Daddy and Mica sleeping plus more from Sarah Reed on Vimeo.

New Video

2010-02-24T12:07:00.000-08:00

Here's some new video from this winter. I've taken to setting up the video camera and trying to catch more of a "real life" picture than just the funny moments. The result is that the clips tend to go on a bit longer and are quite as exciting, but I think they're still cute. Feel free to fast forward...

Mica Winter 2010 from Sarah Reed on Vimeo.

New Video

2010-02-24T11:27:00.000-08:00

Mica's Drawing

2010-02-16T10:14:00.000-08:00

Mica is a drawing fanatic and her skills have really been getting good! The colored picture above is a poster she made for the class that my lab mate teaches: Toy Design. Specifically the poster says: 2.00B Toy Design, with her signature happy spiders floating around. She did 90% of the drawing-- I only had to help her on a couple of the letters! It's been fun to see it posted up around the school (slightly photoshopped to make it a bit more legible).
The other one is something she drew while I was making breakfast the other morning. I have definitely seen comics with similar style :)

Classes started

2010-02-08T12:36:00.000-08:00

Classes officially began last week. I'm TAing one class, which I'll also be taking. And I'm the lab instructor for another class-- for which I'm getting course credit. The class I'm taking is another Product Design class, similar to the one I took my first semester here-- but this time it will be more Industrial Design (aesthetics) focused, and almost all grad students instead of all undergrads. The project theme this year is products relating to MIT in honor of MIT's 150th anniversary next year. At first I was uninspired by the theme but, with further thought, I think it might be a fitting way to end my time here (at least my time taking classes-- I'll probably have to come back in the fall to write my thesis). I've had very mixed emotions about this place, but lately I've been trying to appreciate all that it is and has given me. We toured the MIT museum last week and here are some highlight pictures from the trip.

This is a sculpture in which the balls continuously spill out of the nozzel and then are sucked back down a hole in the base. Really creepy.

Cute Robot.

This was a display about a group that is studying how abalone shells are made and how to synthesize them since they are so amazingly cool.

For those who don't know, the square root of negative 1 is an imaginary number. I think it's funny.

Feeling pregnant today

2010-01-31T17:17:00.000-08:00

So here's my first baby bump picture. Not the prettiest and I sure don't look big, but I was feeling it today. Some days I barely remember that I'm pregnant. Some days it's blatantly obvious. I started prenatal yoga last week and that helped with the hip issues a lot-- at least for that night. I can feel lots of kicking already. Got a long way to go...
We had a nice weekend of a visit to the aquarium, dinner with family and another 4 yr. old birthday party! Eric was plying the fishing trade again this weekend, and working damn hard at at.

Mommy Mica weekend

2010-01-25T08:06:00.000-08:00

Eric went to his first Fishing Convention with Buelah this weekend, and although I only got to see him for about 4 sleeping hours last night, it sounds like it went really well. How could it go bad--he got to talk fishing for 4 days straight?!
Mica and I had a great weekend to ourselves (mostly). We swam, walked and visited with friends and cousins. We have been struggling a bit with clingy-ness, especially when I'm trying to cook dinner, and then subsequently refusing to eat. She just talks so much! I know it's a good thing that she's so verbal, but being home alone with her it's pretty exhausting. I'm not sure if I should worry or get worked up over her not eating -- as with most of these child rearing issues, probably not.
Pregnancy is going well. I've got a solid belly going on now and the hip pain as started to kick in.I'm starting prenatal yoga this week and I've started swimming twice a week, so hopefully those will help.

Oh, and a fun short video from Costa Rica

2010-01-18T12:00:00.000-08:00

Pictures from Costa Rica

2010-01-18T11:53:00.001-08:00

Since I can only post 5 photos at a time I chosen my 5 favorite photos from the trip. I also strongly recommend going to Eric's website for some really gorgeous photos of the wedding we attended: www.ericreedphotography.com.

Martin Luther King Day Weekend

2010-01-18T11:12:00.000-08:00

This weekend we made our second annual trek up to Sunday River to stay with Michelle and Rhodes. Rhodes' family has a beautiful house up there and Sunday River has been my favorite east coast mountain since high school. Mica spent a half day in Ski School. I think we didn't prep her quite well enough for the fact that we were not going to be there while she skied. Apparently she spent much of the time looking for us and when we did come back (an hour before the class was supposed to be over) she didn't appear to be having much fun. But when we ask her if she had fun she says yes, so who knows. I'm taking her to hopefully buy some skis of her own (used) today so we don't have to keep shelling out money for rentals. These should last her a few years. Eric, Rhodes and I had a great time riding the mountain too. No powder unfortunately, but lots of fast groomers. Baby liked all the bouncing :)

Holiday Fun

2010-01-10T17:55:00.000-08:00

It's been an exciting few weeks here in Reed-ville. I'll have to keep this post short, though, because our office where I sit and write this is about 40 degrees and I can only just barely feel my toes. In short we: 1) went out to western Mass for x-mas and Mica's birthday and had a present-licious good time, 2) flew down to Costa Rica for 10 days for our dear friends David and Julie's wedding and lots of romping in the surf and pool, 3) came back and got Mica on skis for the first time!
The visuals are going to be a bit backward since the first thing I've got ready is the video of her skiing. So here it is. She loved skiing-- almost as much as we loved watching her ski! She especially loved the hot chocolate at break time and the magic carpet ride up each run.

Mica's First Time Skiing from Sarah Reed on Vimeo.

I will write in more detail and post Costa Rica pictures when I get somewhere warmer!

Fall 2009 Video

2009-12-18T12:32:00.000-08:00

Here's the latest installment of the Mica adventures. Today was her first day back in school! Next week we head off to Western Mass for x-mas/Mica's B-day with the Reeds, then off to Costa Rica!

Fall 2009 Conglomerate from Sarah Reed on Vimeo.

Christmas coming-- school done

2009-12-16T17:54:00.000-08:00

It has been one hell of a couple of weeks. Here's the list:
1. Friday Dec 5th, 10 days before Sarah's final project is due, Mica comes down with Salmonella poisoning.
2. Saturday we make the trip to Children's hospital to get her IV fluids.
3. Mica out of school and sick all week (actually, for the next two weeks).
4. Sarah has a migraine for two days mid week.
5. Eric home with Mica almost all week-- no work done.
6. Thursday Granny comes home from Europe! Yea!
7. Sarah spends > 12 hrs a day at school from Friday Dec 10- Monday Dec. 14th getting final project done.
8. Monday final presentation-- all done!

Mica is doing much better now. She's still got some "loose stools" each day, but otherwise she seems completely normal. Poor kid still isn't allowed any dairy, though. And for Mica that's a BIG deal. We think she got it from her cousin who had it 3 weeks before they saw each other (and had no symptoms), but but we still don't really know. Otherwise it's a crazy coincidence. Either way it's crazy, really.

Here's a short YouTube of my final project: It's a Frisbee cast from cork mixed with a liquid plastic and with a circuit embedded in the top. When thrown it lights up!

Thanksgiving Break

2009-11-28T09:44:00.001-08:00

We've had a nice Thanksgiving break. Eric cooked his signature massive turkey, stuffing and gravy and served it up to a cround in Andover-- rave reviews. Now we're out in western Mass visiting his folks. All in all it's been a lot of sitting around, TV and general relaxing. I find it's always a little tough to go from the rush rush of normal life to the dramatic halt of vacation. But I know that I need the rest, so I'm trying to appreciate it. Mica loves seeing all the aunties and cousins and everyone loves to see her.
Two weeks left of school! Final project here I come. I'm aiming for simplicity since I know these things get out of hand. I'll be making a cork frisbee that will light up in some interesting way. In contrast, my class mates will likely cure cancer.... or at least attempt to.
Oh, and my cousin plays soccer for Harvard and told us at Thanksgiving about this news story. Girl needs a bit more than a yellow card in my opinion...

Some Pictures

2009-11-23T06:19:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures of some of the things I've been doing at school this semester. This is really just a random snapshot, though. There's been a lot more.

This is a mold that I laser cut with the intention of casting our cork mixture into it and making cork lace. Unfortunately I couldn't cut it deep enough because it was taking too long on the laser cutter (this took 1.5 hrs as is!) It's pretty though!

This is a fishing rod holder I made on the machine below, called a ShopBot. It's a CNC (computer controlled) router. Lots of fun to work with. Like the project above, the holder looks cool but the rods aren't quite stable enough. A lot of my projects in the class have had the quality-- look cool, but not really functional : /

Here's a video of a circuit I made. It has a temperature sensor on it so in the video I breath on it and the lights light up. Amazing...took a ridiculous amount of time to make.

This is a planter I made that was originally intended to be a step stool for Mica, but didn't end up being strong enough. It's made from Hemp Linen soaked in Polyester Resin --horribly nasty stuff that I never want to lay eyes on again-- and then molded over a small trash can.

We all know who this is!

Beautiful Weekend

2009-11-22T17:41:00.000-08:00

We had a nice weekend at home-- hanging out with our gorgeous new windows. Our landlord got us 6 Huge new windows on Friday and we are infinitely grateful--changed the whole place. Mica had her first swim lesson at the Y around the corner from us on Saturday morning. Had to have been one of the cutest things I have ever seen. I thought I would be going in with her, like when she was a baby, but, to my embarrassment, when we walked down to the pool none of the other moms were in bathing suits! Luckily I brought my clothes down with us. Apparently I had fudged a little and when I signed her up I told them she was three (she'll be in a month) so they put her in the 3-6 yr. old class. She was the tiniest of the group but did awesome! She let the teacher lift her right in with a little floaty tied around her waist and she hung onto the side of the pool and kicked happily. By the end of the class she was swimming on her own holding onto a kick board (with the floaty still, of course)! I was amazed! She was laughing with the other kids and had the "this is the funnest thing I have ever done" look on her face the entire 30 min. So glad I signed her up.

Start of a new commitment to this blog

2009-11-19T12:24:00.000-08:00

So, I have a friend here at school that has a great little blog that he posts to at least a couple times a week. A picture here, a quote there. Little stuff. I want to do that too. So I'm going to try.
Our big news these days is that we're pregnant! Again! I'm about 6 weeks along which, by my own count, puts us due in about early to mid July. Just around my birthday (July 9th). We've told various friends and family, but we're kind of just letting the word get out "organically." I don't get morning sickness, but I am feeling pretty tired and I seem to have a near permanent sinus infection. We told Mica and she seems excited, although I think it's still pretty abstract for her. She first asked if we could name the baby Cappy, which is her name for every toy. She's been asking more questions as time goes on-- like on the bus the other day when she asked how the baby was going to come out!
We're all very excited for Thanksgiving!

FAll

2009-11-04T06:32:00.000-08:00

Well the pressure has been on to make a new entry and put some photos of the Mica Monster. I am now bowing. We have busy this summer and fall. Sarah chugs along at MIT, Mica continues to be a brilliant exciting and loving little girl, and i am still working to make the photography biz work for me. I have made my biz licenced and now am the Owner, President, Accountant, and Janitor of Eric Reed Photography. I have been shooting Weddings all summer and have learned alot. I look forward to next Season. I have also become the North East Sales Rep. for Beulah Fly Rods. Alot to things to juggle but I wouldn't have it any otherwise. Well thats enough words lets look at the photos. Love you all and See you soon.
Eric

Summer coming to an end

2009-08-30T13:11:00.000-07:00

This is Mica talking to Granny in Sweden via Skype

As the summer comes to an end, I'm inspired to post some of the photos and videos we've collected. It's been a nice summer and I think we're all a bit sad to see it end-- I know I am. We've been to Maine a lot and spent lots of fun time on the beach. Mica has grown into the beach bunny the Reeds always dreamed she would be. She loves the sand and the water and quickly got over her fear of water. She now asks to go into the waves, and happily runs through sprinklers (just this morning she was running through one naked at the playground because we forgot to bring a bathing suit:) I've had a great summer playing with cork, but it's back to class work in a week for me. Eric's busy working on taking over the East Coast salt water fishing industry. More pictures from him to come....

Enjoy!

-Sarah

Video from the Summer

2009-08-30T13:08:00.000-07:00

Untitled from Sarah Reed on Vimeo.

Mica on the yellow slide from Sarah Reed on Vimeo.

Some more pictures

2009-07-20T11:53:00.001-07:00

Entrance to Grandpa Peter's Garden

Poo On the Go

Here are some new cute pictures from this past weekend in Vermont. Also, you can see some of the stuff we've make with cork this summer:

cork pictures

2009-07-15T10:58:00.001-07:00

So, apparently we're just not born bloggers since our last post was in February! But we've amassed some pictures and some video since then so I figured it worth posting. Life is quite happy here. We've recently moved to Somerville and love our new hood. It's lively and diverse and easy to get around. We've all been happily riding public transportation to and from school/work (something we only barely and unhappily could do from our last place). My cork research is going slowly, but I'm enjoying it a lot-- mostly because I get to play with weird substances all day long. Eric has been taking advantage of his privileges as a NESOP employee by using their computers and printers and taking one class. He's of course itching (no pun intended, Eric) to go fishing, and will be heading back down Martha's Vineyard this weekend. Mica and I will be going north to Vermont to visit Grandpa Peter.

The pictures below go in reverse chronological order: starting with a recent hiking trip and trip to the zoo, then on to Mica's and my trip to Colorado. Hope everyone is having a fabulous summer!

2009-07-15T10:55:00.000-07:00

Colorado, June 2009

2009-07-15T10:42:00.001-07:00

New Fun Video!

2009-02-09T07:16:00.000-08:00

Movie for Bob from Sarah Reed on Vimeo.

New Year

2009-01-30T09:02:00.001-08:00

So, after some gentle pushing, it is time to update the blog. Its a new year and so far its been a bit of a mixed bag. The holidays were a great time and thanks to all who came to Mica's b-day party and sent presents. We've all headed back to school, although I've mostly been doing research this month since my spring classes don't start until next tuesday. I've finally chosen a research project: An Investigation into the Feasibility of Using Cork Composite in Wind Turbine Blades. Yes, it's a bit random, but I think it will be interesting. My professor has funding from the Govn't of Portugal, where apparently 53% of the worlds cork is grown.
The financial crisis you all have been hearing about, and many have started to personally feel, has hit home here, so some changes are in the works. We'll let you know when they're finalized. Otherwise Mica is awesome and working hard on her sentences. We attempted some potty training over break but didn't get too far. Try again later.
The photos are compliments of Michelle Reed, thanks! They were taken during a wonderful weekend away in Sunday River Maine.

Love to all.

2009-01-30T08:49:00.000-08:00

Vacation!

2008-12-15T17:25:00.000-08:00

So the presentation went as expected... the stove didn't actually "work", in that it didn't heat or sense, but it looked great so the presentation went well, considering. The audience was very forgiving and seemed to understand the complexity of the problem and therefore rated us high (we came in third out of seven). You can watch a video of the presentation at: http://web.mit.edu/2.009/www/index.html (click on "infinite range"). You can also check out the other teams' projects there.
I'm officially on vacation now and loving it. Eric has is final critiques this week. Then on thurs. we head to LA for my brother, Sandy's wedding. It's promising to be a swanky, fun time! I even bought new makeup!
Merry Christmas to all....

Sarah

Looking forward to tomorrow

2008-12-07T15:12:00.000-08:00

So tomorrow is the final presentation for the undergraduate product design class I'm in. This class has been absolutely mad. The team I'm in seems to have aimed for the stars and barely reached the treetops. We are making (with emphasis on STILL MAKING 24 hrs before the presentation) an electric stovetop the can sense and heat a pot anywhere on the surface. As of right now we have some mild heat. No sensing, no water boiling. We have been working basically round the clock for the past month. Apparently we should have been working round the clock for the past three months. The worst part has been that only two out of the sixteen of us have much experience with electronics. I am not one of them. I imagine that I have learned a lot from this class but it might take a semester, or lifetime, to get a sense of what that was. I really think the expectations for this class are ridiculously high for the time we're expected to accomplish them. But that's just me. I'll post photos of the final product (it does actually LOOK really cool, even if it doesn't work) after tomorrow.

new video!

2008-11-11T17:49:00.000-08:00

So, as Eric said in his post life here is hectic. Graduate school at MIT with a baby at home is exactly as stressful as everyone said it would be. The shear vastness of knowledge that people at this school have (and that I don't have) is humbling and has taken a bit of a toll on the ol' ego. BUT, I persevere. I'm in a undergrad senior level design class and these kids are crazy. All plan on going out and making at least $100 grand after graduation-- compared to the kids I graduated with who's main concern was which ski mountain they planned to take up residence in after graduation. The overall culture shock is a bit more than I expected. But, despite all that bad stuff I am learning A LOT, which is something I like to do. Mica, of course, is doing great. Singing, talking, running, peeing in the potty. All that good stuff. She loves her daycare and only sits on other kids occationally (or so we're told). Enjoy the film!

more mica from Sarah Reed on Vimeo.

Mica 1 from Sarah Reed on Vimeo.

p.s. I would LOVE some advice on how to get these videos to not be so blurry and pixelated if anyone can tell me!

Shots of importance.

2008-11-02T17:10:00.000-08:00

Pictures and words for November 1st.

2008-11-02T17:01:00.001-08:00

2008-11-02T16:40:00.000-08:00

So I am writing and putting up pictures because we have neglected to do so since last month. Wild to think that we are already into November. I have already been in school for five weeks and I am loving it. I haven't taken that many pictures with the Digital camera this term because we are really working exclusively with film. Black & White and color film. I really like color printing but it looks and sounds as if it is on its way out. To be replaced with digital soon. I have been getting alot of great feed back from the professors and the other students. Great to be in a creative and supportive environment. But they really treat this school like a job. Very strict policies regarding being on time, deadlines, and equipment usage. Really not a problem for me but for the folks that had never had a job in the past. It has been tough for them. Enough about me. The ladies are great and continue to become more amazing every day. Mica just had here first Halloween that she could really walk around and trick or treat. Mommy and daddy have lots of candy now.

School Starting

2008-09-01T18:27:00.000-07:00

So I officially start school tomorrow (well, really, I register tomorrow). I'm wicked excited and actively suppressing any feelings of panic. I've been going to orientation events all week and the kids there don't seem THAT smart, really. Eric was nice enough to join me on a MechE field trip today around the Boston Harbor Islands (granny watched Mica). It was fun and sunny. I've posted a new compilation for viewing. The breakfast scene is a bit long but I think it's worth the time (but she is my kid and all, so I love looking at her). Love to all.

New Video (Finally!)

2008-07-31T03:31:00.000-07:00

So we're finally settled in enough here in our new digs to be able to sit down and post some new stuff. Unfortunately all of the video I've taken since we moved won't move onto my computer but I've made a fun conglomerate of some older stuff. Get ready to boogy! The dancing queen is in the house!
BTW, if someone savvy with these things can tell me why some old videos on this post have spontaneously stopped working I'd be much appreciative.

More Pictures

2008-07-30T10:06:00.001-07:00

More Pictures for the Masses

2008-07-30T10:00:00.001-07:00

End of July, Begining Tomorrow

2008-07-30T09:36:00.001-07:00

Alright. We have been very busy with our new lives here in the Greater Boston area. We are dug in and the art is on the walls. We are eating out side in the backyard almost every night, while tasting tasty treats from my new Grill (thank you dad). Love that grill. Any way. Mica continues to become more and more amazing as the hours go by. She is putting words together and making simple sentences. Just like her father... It tends to be hot here in the summer and the need to be sprayed with water is great. So we have found the water structures at several playgrounds. Not to mention the time we spend at the beach in Maine. Love Maine. My family has had the pleasure of playing in the sand and splashing around in the shallows with Mica and they love it. Michelle and Elisa are in a tight competition for favorite Auntie. Hard to tell who will win the award but it sure is fun to be able to go back to bed when you pass Mica off at 5 a.m. Love you Both. Mimoo is also having time to spend with Mica My mother has been down from Maine to babysit, that is great. About me. I have been doing some fishing, lots of house stuff, grilling, and part time super-hero work. Photos are going well and am really excited to go to my first class. for now that is the story. But we will have more soon. enjoy the pics.
Eric

A few new pictures

2008-06-08T06:08:00.000-07:00

We've just been up in Maine at the Reed's beautiful house. It was grey and dreary but a treat to be up there, nonetheless. I expect to spend much more time up there this summer! It's been an eventful couple of weeks since Eric and Blue arrived. I spent my first weekend away from Mica last weekend-- which meant that Eric spent his first weekend alone with Mica too! He took her up to Maine so he had help from his eager mother and sister, Elisa. All went well and my boobs just barely managed to not explode from the lack of nursing. On a sadder note, my grandfather passed away last Monday. He was 96 and it was certainly time for him to go. It's tough either way, though. Then on tuesday we signed the lease for our new place! It's a single family home about a 15 min walk from my mother's house. It has a big back yard and lots of space to grow. It's a bit dilapidated, but we don't need anything fancy-- just space. It's a block from Fresh Pond which is a big resivoir with a park all around it. Great Blue walking. And according to the real-estate lady Ben Affleck's mother lives around the corner and when he's visiting he takes is daughter to the local playground. Goody.
Enjoy the pictures and we'll post more soon! Love to all the San Fran. folk, and we miss you much. To the Colorado folk-- we'll see you soon!

We've arrived!

2008-05-28T11:59:00.000-07:00

Ok, still no pictures, which is really why everyone reads this anyway, but I thought I'd update that we have all safely arrived in Boston. Mica and I flew in via the red-eye (predictably painful, but could have been worse) about a week ago and Eric and Blue just drove in today. Us girls are VERY happy to see them! We've been searching for apartments but still haven't found "the one." I'm confident it will appear, though. Apparently here in Boston not only is our dog a liability but Mica is too! There's a law that says that for a child under 6 to live in an apartment it has to be deleaded-- which is a huge and costly renovation, not appreciated by owners. So our field is narrow. Eric took pictures along the way so we'll get some of those up soon and I'll try to take some pics of Mica too. Our wires for hooking up the video camera are packed away in the containers so probably no video until we move in. Sorry.
Hope all are well around the country.

much love.

moving update

2008-05-14T19:15:00.001-07:00

We move in 6 days and counting. No new pictures or movies to post but I thought I'd share thoughts anyway. San Francisco has been a great city and at the same time very difficult. I would say it's not the best place to move to and immideatly get pregnant. Maybe this transition (to parenthood) would have been hard no matter where we were, but I can't help thinking that the abundance of bars and young pretty people made it just a little bit more awkward. We've made some great friends here-- family friendly and not. Young people here are ready and willing for the world to spill down on them. I think (hope) we go to Boston, wiser, more mature and more understanding of what we need to be happy. Hopefully we can find it.

Lots of firsts!

2008-04-27T20:53:00.001-07:00

Hi all,
It's been a fun month for the Reed family. March was busy and then Mica and I got sick, but once that was all over we've been doing much better. Mica is talking up a storm. New words every day! She's really good at mimicking an will try to say nearly anything you encourage her to. I got inspired by a friend to attempt some early potty training. I got it all set up way in advance-- got the potty, the training pants, the book... ANd she's been watching ME go for months. Amazingly the first time I tried to have her poo on the potty she did! It was incredible (highly orchestrated, but incredible nonetheless). Unfortunately the excitement more or less ended there and she has since pooed in the hallway directly outside the potty at least 3 times. I might give up for now and wait until she's a bit older. It was fun while it lasted, though.
We've been instituting some new sleeping policies, that while they are hard, seem to be working. Mica has been moved out of our bed and into her crib. We're not allowing her to get out of the crib or nurse at all until morning (although as part of the weaning process we have been waking her twice at night to feed, and will be dropping it down to once tonight). This is a HUGE change for her, and me and it's been a bit traumatic for both of us. What really worries me is if this is so hard what am I going to do when she goes off to Kindergarten?!! Or, god forbid, wants to go to college!!! She is sleeping much better, however, which, for all of us, is long awaited.
The biggest news as of today is that we've just gotten back from our first camping trip with the little Bean! We went with 15 of our closest friends here and it was great fun. We camped amongst some enormous redwoods and drank great wine. I still have a belly ache from the chili! Mica and Blue both had a blast. I barely saw Mica as she wandered from one eager caretaker to the next, and she slept great considering our tent was barely 10 feet from the party (so that we could hear her when she woke). It was great and makes us very excited for some good east coast camping this summer!

Sarah

Pictures For The Masses

2008-04-08T21:23:00.000-07:00

April Already.

2008-04-08T18:54:00.000-07:00

Well I have been told that people are getting tired of the last post and they need their fix. Well. You ask and you shall recieve. Sarah, Mica, and I are doing well and are gearing up for the move. We just got back from an amazing trip to Oahu and I learned that it really is that amazing. Pictures above show just a small part. Thank you Kathrine and all the crazy Swedes. Sarah has not only been excepted to MIT but she has already been given her Research position (of her choice). Mica just found out that she is going to to be attending Harvard in the fall:) Im sorry thats not true at all. Mica has been making great leaps in the language department. She can say (not all in order): mama, dada, bob, eye, ear, blue, woof, No, clock, bird, car, dog, and can also make the sound an elephant makes "with the whole arm". She can also point at her ear, eye, nose which she kind of said this evening and her belly button. I am sure that there was something I missed but you all get the drift. She is getting faster and has now figured out how to get down in the crawl position and slide backwards. Stairs are her favorite thing to play with going up and down for as long as you can stand it (while holding her hand of course). Enough about those to glory hogs. I am doing well and just three days from a well deserved unemployment. I gave my notice and Im out. I have had a pretty good run at this job and for all who know what I have been doing I only had to go to workmens comp. Twice. Not bad. I have become very tired of being hyper vigelant and stressed about the saftey of myself and of others. I have been sleeping less and angry more. Not a good combo. I have givin myself some time to be at home with Mica more and to enjoy SF before we leave for our next Adventure. I have learned alot but look forward to getting away from this field for a while. Well thats the scoop for now. Until next time. Tight Lines.

2008-02-25T17:32:00.000-08:00

We have exciting news! I got word last week that I got into MIT's Masters in Mechanical Engineering program! I'm astounded and very excited. What this means is that we'll be moving back to Boston in June! So to all the east-coasters: we're comin' home. It's going to be a lot of work but I think we're up for it. Eric's still not sure what he's going to do for work so if anyone has any suggestions I'm sure he'd love to hear them.
Otherwise life is chugging along and Mica just keeps getting cuter. Poor bean has another cold! She seems to be the definition of the "snot nosed kid."

More photos

2008-02-02T15:36:00.000-08:00

Some shots from the zoo. Love My Family

Hello

2008-02-02T10:13:00.000-08:00

Well its been a while since I have posted and I have lot to say. I have been busy with work, my new hobbie, health issues, Sarah, and of course Mica. I am still working for Edgewood and getting more comfortable every day. What that means is that I am able to do the hard work that needs to be done while I am there and leave it there when I go home. It has taken some hard practice but it is working. I am building the relationships and learning alot about Emotionally Disturbed kids. At the end of the day I feel like I did some good in some small way. That I think is job satisfaction. I have also been getting into the photo game. Like Sarah said earlier in another post I got her old AE-1 going which turns out is a workhorse of a camera and a great learning camera. It allowed me to take alot of pictures and spend lots of money on film and developing. I got some great shots and it made me think in ways I hadn't before. I was never one for doing art as much as appreciating it. Well now I DO ART. I have had a great time walking this city and beaches finding the little lovelies that can be seen through the view-finder. I have even taken pictures of something other than Mica. I kinow its hard to believe. I am looking into getting a flicker page going and then you can bookmark even another of our sites. Well I hope you are all doing well and enjoy all the photos I am about to load onto the page.
Love ERIC

Mica Salad

2008-01-22T08:51:00.000-08:00

She's screaming in excitement, really.

Some New Photos

2008-01-09T09:56:00.000-08:00

Mica and Uncle Tony
href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_kdxLJv6oPrQ/R4ULfKSOaxI/AAAAAAAAAF0/PO88cCp-iGs/s1600-h/DSCF1428.JPG">
Mica Having Lunch

Packed and Ready to Go

Super Cute

It's a New Year

2008-01-08T20:19:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year to all! Mica is now one year old and people keep asking me if I can believe it's been a whole year. I definitely can. It's been a LONG year. That said, I look back at the pictures of her when she was first born and I have a hard time imagining that it is the same person. I have learned so much this past year about babies, about myself, and about Eric. I look at those pictures and think of all the things I didn't know when she was born and it makes me want to have another baby just so I can feel more informed the next time. Mica's an incredible being and brings joy to our lives every day. She still wakes up multiple times a night, screams when she has her diaper changed and eats copious amounts of paper, but we lover her for all of it. One special joy recently has been to watch Eric and Mica's relationship grow. They are more comfortable together and have more fun than I remember them having this whole year and it's great to watch.
We went home to Eric's family for Christmas/Mica's B-Day and had a great time. It was very relaxing and nice to see the family. Mica cleaned up in the present department and Sherry had to mail 5 boxes back to us! There's video of her first birthday cake in the newest conglomerate (it was a bit anticlimactic). Eric has recently taken up photography having found my old film camera while we were digging through the Boulder storage unit last summer. He's officially obsessed and quite good at it too! He's been so far a die hard film guy, but after spending obscene amounts of money on developing he's decided to embrace the modern age and go digital. Once that happens we'll be sure to post some of his artwork on the blog.
We're home now and happy to be back in the swing of things. Thanks to the Springfield crowd for a great week and see you soon!

New Video

2007-12-11T13:21:00.001-08:00

Some day we might have video of the rest of the family, but really it's the Mica video you all are looking for anyway right? It's been a big month-- walking, talking, waving, clapping... Big things happening at the Reed household. My first two grad apps go in this week and Eric starts a much needed two week vacation as of this friday. Party! We're looking forward to flying home to visit with the Reed contingent over the holidays and celebrating Mica's 1st Birthday! Still can't believe it's been a whole year. Although Eric and I were discussing that with all the lost sleep we've actually experienced more hours of this past year than probably any since we were her age! Makes me tired just to think about it. But it has been fun and we're totally in love with our little bundle of trouble.

much love to all,

Sarah

New Video!

2007-11-10T20:10:00.000-08:00

Hi All!
So we had a great Halloween. Mica got all dressed up as a punk rocker-- mohawk and all. Eric's been really into my old film camera and took some great pictures but as they're on film it might take a while to get around to converting them into the 21st century. Mica's unfortunatly getting her second cold in so many months and is wicked congested. Poor little bean. But otherwise life is good. Eric and I have been getting out on our own more thanks to some great babysitters. Our compound (our building and the two next to it that all share the crazy backyard) had a big party last night with a tiki bar and all. One neighbor brought in a big screen and projector and showed some crazy indipendent short film that was super funny (and wierd). Mica continues to be quiet the party animal and was a total hit. Her friend Lorcan (two weeks younger) came over and they wrestled for a little while. Really Lorcan crawled around at high speed and Mica tried to tackle him whenever she could catch up. I hope to get video of the two of them soon because they're hilarous! Finally a baby that's not terrified of Mica!

I forgot to put captions on the movie so I'll explain the first part: in the shot are Mica's newest and greatest British nanny, Charlotte, and the little boy is Lukas. As you can see Lukas is sort of warming up to Mica!

Enjoy the show!

New Video!

2007-10-28T11:37:00.000-07:00

Hi Lovelies!
Mica has just turned 10 months old and she's quite the fire cracker. We've been spending a lot of time at our local playground and she's quickly learning the ropes. She's facinated by the other children and shrieks with joy whenever one comes over to play with her. She can now climb up the stairs on the play structure and just made it through the tunnel for the first time yesterday. She also attended her first halloween party yesterday (not quite on the same level as the ones we used to throw in Boulder, but similar). She was the rockin'ist puck rocker of the bunch. The parrot and kangaroo had nothin' on her. I'll post pictures of that soon.
The twins (mentioned below) didn't work out so I now we have a fabulous British nanny watching Mica and Lukas. She's the wife of an old friend of mine. She's miraculously patient and energetic with the tots and Mica is totally in love. I can't wait to speak British with Mica when she gets older!
Eric and I are both tired but hanging in there. I'm taking a one academic class and two evening art classes. I'm also beginning my research as to which grad schools I'll be applying to. Having 22 hours of nanny time really helps but somehow I still feel constantly a bit frazzled. Eric's working very hard to keep up with the crazy kids at his school. They're certainly testing his limits. We see eachother in short spurts during the week, mostly just to confirm that the othe still exists. But we're going to our first concert PM (post Mica) today! It's called the Bridge School Benefit Event and apparently is quite famous. It's put on by Neil Young and a lot of famous bands come play. It's all acoustic, though, so it should be extra interesting. Metallica is on the lineup this year!
Hope you all enjoy the video and new photos.

More Photos

2007-10-11T23:45:00.003-07:00

Photos for Reading Below.

2007-10-11T23:31:00.000-07:00

Read Oct Or So below.

October Or So!

2007-10-11T22:25:00.000-07:00

Hey, to all our fans. Go Sox! No really just wanted to get some new stuff on the site so lonely nights and long afternoons can go bye with a little smile from that spot made just for babies. Yea you know the spot.
So Sarah is busy at school with day and night classes, baby, weddings, and all round rockin it. Lookin really great is hard to do but she does it with so much more on the plate. With good lookin on the mind how bout that baby. Mica has had some WOW moments in the past few weeks. As seen in the last movie installment we expeienced some crawling. Well now she moves with direction. Will follow you and seek out new things to sink her four teeth into. Has seen her first crazy San Fran hippie love-in jam protest groove in the park gathering of the heads, third wedding, met the CO. family, danced in a cage (see photo), and daily makes me feel like a proud papa. I have been busy myself. I have been working hard at my job making small changes in relationships between myself and the kids. This is the hardest work to do. Lots of sadness, pain, and anger. But I like it for some reason. KIDS... I have been east to fish with Grandpa Reed (sorry dad), Greg, Tim, and the MV. crew. Then to Philly. Just alittle about Philly. Cheese Steaks Are For Real In Philly. Well its late and daddy gots to make the chedder early in the morning.
Love,
Eric

P.S. Love you Mom

new video!

2007-09-02T16:26:00.001-07:00

Here is another wonderful conglomerate of video from the past couple of months. Enjoy!

long time comin'

2007-08-30T21:45:00.001-07:00

They warned us it would. Life moves fast with an infant at home. 8 months doesn't sound like a long time but if you figure Mica has now grown from a semi-gelatenous blob of a being into a card- carrying, pulling-herself-up-in-the-crib, real-life baby, it's a really long time! We've had a number of fun adventures this summer. We've been to the east coast, the eastern Sierras and Colorado-- plus, Eric started possibly his most challenging job yet. Mica officially loves to travel. She loves the people, the activity, and the fact that she gets to sleep in king sized beds snuggled in between Mom and Dad.
But Fall is upon us and what is fall, really, without the smell of new textbooks? I'm heading back to school and that means that Mica will be in the care of her new nanny (nannies, really). We have teamed up with another family with a little boy just two weeks younger than Mica who will be brought to our house for day care every day. Lukas is an adorable little red-head who is absolutely terrified of Mica. It could be because she's loud and active, or maybe it's because everytime he gets near her she tries to eat him? It's good for a little boy to learn that little girls run the roost right? We've hired a pair of eccentric but fun identical twins who have had to miss this first week because of Burning Man (yes, it is still San Francisco after all). They will be sharing the job and we won't know necessarily which will show up on any given day. Anyone want to take a guess how long it will take me to tell them apart? I'll make sure to post pictures of them as soon as possible.
Enjoy these pictures for today and I hope to get some new video on soon. Love to all....

Sarah

Getting some fresh air in Mammoth

An old picture sent recently to us by Sinead. Mica was about 4 weeks old.

more pictures

2007-08-30T21:20:00.000-07:00

Mica's favorite playground passtime

Sarah on a goofy bike at a goofy fair

Mica with Sandy's puppy, Bork. BFF

Sandy hiking near Mammoth

some more pictures from the trip

2007-07-15T10:20:00.001-07:00

Blogger only allows me 5 pictures per post so here are a few more.

thoughts after a great trip

2007-07-15T10:15:00.000-07:00

It's taken me two weeks since we got home to collect my thoughts. It was a great trip. Admittedly, better than I expected. Before we left I had visions of 6 hours with a screaming infant trapped in a cave of an airplane with snarling cabinmates at every turn. I had nightmares about having to smile for the inevitably endless flow of family after only minutes of sleep the night before. I worried that Mica would cling incessantly to me or Eric and scream when anyone even looked at her. But, thankfully, all of my fears proved unfounded. We actually made friends on the airplane! It turns out Mica is an international star having now been photographed and video taped by swarms of Asian tourists who seemingly had never seen such a cute baby in thier lifetimes. Mica's sleep, or lack thereof, wasn't disturbed at all by the cross- continent travel and she proved time and again to love strangers more than she loved us. All in all we visited 5 states, 4 great grandparents, 6 grandparents, 2 aunts, and uncle and cousins galore. Mica even cut 2 teeth on the trip without even seeming to notice! Granddaddy Perls' Mercedes wagon proved to be the perfect family wagon, keeping us riding in style. We got to see an old friend of ours marry a beautiful woman and aquire an adorable new daughter. Mica took her first dip in a pool at Eric's dad's place in Holyoke and witnessed her first lobster feast in Maine. We had a beautiful luncheon in the garden at my mother's place in Cambridge and took some classic Rousmaniere photographs with Grandma and all the cousins. So, enjoy the pictures and thanks to all that hosted us. We hope to be back soon!

love, Sarah, Eric and Mica

new conglomerate of funny Mica video

2007-06-08T11:52:00.000-07:00

Hi loving friends and family. Lacking one outstanding video bit, I've made a conglomerate of video clips that seem cute and funny. Life with baby gets easier and more fun every day. Eric is home with us these days and has proven to be the doting father that I always dreamed he would be. Motherhood is still a trip. Sometimes I look down at her and wonder how she got here and when they're gonna come get her? We get out a lot-- none of us like to be cooped up all day, even Mica. We walk the city and go hiking out in the hills. Our assortment of baby gear grows every day. Apparently our years of outdoor sports-- and the gear maintenance required-- was just training for all the baby gear. Before I had her I was definately one of those moms who thinks that "modern parents have too much gear!" What do they need all that stuff for? But I must admit that I have officially been proven wrong. The stuff is great. Bring it on.
We're still struggling with sleep issues and Mica has discovered a shriek in range of pitches heretofore unknown to man (dolphins far and wide have been mysteriously beaching themselves on Ocean Beach). In a week we head east for her Grand Presentation. We will visit every possible Reed and Rousmaniere in the New England area in 2 1/2 short weeks. A feat to be seen! Hope we get to see some of you there.

Pictures Galore

2007-05-15T10:47:00.000-07:00

Off to the Party

Granny and Mica

more pictures

2007-05-15T10:29:00.000-07:00

Beautiful Time with Daddy

Gangsta' Lean
Push-ups
Smilin' Child

Thoughts on my first Mother's Day

2007-05-13T16:53:00.000-07:00

Today is my first Mother's Day and I have to say it feels a lot less momentous than I expected it to. Yes, Eric, Mica and I have had a nice relaxed day wandering the city and Eric will be cooking a delicious fish dinner for me today, but otherwise it feels much like the other days. Maybe it's that after the shock of welcoming a newborn into our lives there's little that feels new or surprising to me anymore. That is, of course, for the ever changing being sleeping peacefully right now in our bed. I'm totally in love with my little girl. She's soft and warm and her eyes literally sparkle when she smiles. I always thought that was just a figure of speach but now I have learned the truth. Her skin is soft and smooth. Her hands are nimble and always searching. Her little lips are a rosy pink like the porcelain dolls they sell on TV. Although I know it happened and have a physical memory of it, I can not believe that she came out of me. Pregnancy and motherhood feel like two completely separate states of being. Birth is sudden and drastic, like a tornado, and there is only before and after. Although it is often unimaginably hard, I am so glad to be the mother of this wonderful little being. Thank you Eric and thank you Mica.

2007-04-22T19:50:00.000-07:00

After much effort I have finally figured out how to post a video!!! We made this video for Eric's sister, Elisa's, birthday and it was so cute I just had to post it. Now that I know how, more to come.

Thanks for the comments

2007-04-07T21:27:00.000-07:00

So I got some feed back about this blog and it seems people just want to see Mica. SOOOO... Here you go all you good friends out there. Here she is. Oh yea here is the other Brown I caught. It is really nice to get feed back and I will try to keep blogging if you all send comments. Great to hear from those who said hello. Till next time.

2007-04-05T12:46:00.000-07:00

So Sarah, Mica, and I left for LA around 3 on Monday the 26th of March. Of course when driving anywhere in the Bay area you will hit traffic. And we did... So we made it in to LA late with a long drive down the 5 with a lot of stops for baby feeding and bouncing time. The next day we walked and drove (more driveing in LA then walking) and saw the sites. We got to introduce Sandys puppy and Kerry O'Brian to Mica. The following day we made our move towords the easter sierras. We drove to I-395 and went North. Now if you don't know this is the land of giant mountains and alpine desert. And the Owens River runs right along the interstate. we had some trouble with screaming baby but we made due. We made some false casts, maybe to many, and saw some great views. I was able to come home with two Browns on film and thats the way I like it. It was hard and fun and thats the way Sarah and I have always traveled. Hope you are all doing well and doing your own traveling.
Love,
Eric, Sarah, and Mica

Welcome to the new family Blog.

2007-04-05T12:00:00.000-07:00

Hello,
Everyone this is Mica Perls Reed. Cute right? Mica this is everyone Anyways Sarah and I decided to make a little website so we can set pictures and stories to our busy lives and allow others to get involved also. I have never done this before so if it looks sloppy and lame give me sometime to get used to it. I know all of you are so nice and easy this wont be a problem.
So welcome and enjoy. Please leave some suggestions and comments when you feel like it.
Love,
Eric, Sarah, and Mica Reed

The Eric and Sarah Adventures

Mica's First Fish!

Mother's Day 2010

A new short video...plus pictures...

New Video

New Video

Mica's Drawing

Classes started

Feeling pregnant today

Mommy Mica weekend

More skiing video!!

Oh, and a fun short video from Costa Rica

Pictures from Costa Rica

Martin Luther King Day Weekend

Holiday Fun

Fall 2009 Video

Christmas coming-- school done

Thanksgiving Break

Some Pictures

Beautiful Weekend

Start of a new commitment to this blog

FAll

Summer coming to an end

Video from the Summer

Some more pictures

Colorado, June 2009

New Fun Video!

New Year

Vacation!

Looking forward to tomorrow

new video!

Shots of importance.

Pictures and words for November 1st.

School Starting

New Video (Finally!)

More Pictures

More Pictures for the Masses

End of July, Begining Tomorrow

A few new pictures

We've arrived!

moving update

Lots of firsts!

Pictures For The Masses

April Already.

More photos

Hello

Mica Salad

Some New Photos

It's a New Year

New Video

New Video!

New Video!

More Photos

Photos for Reading Below.

October Or So!

new video!

long time comin'

more pictures

some more pictures from the trip

thoughts after a great trip

new conglomerate of funny Mica video

Pictures Galore

more pictures

Thoughts on my first Mother's Day

Thanks for the comments

Welcome to the new family Blog.