Can't believe it has been 6 months (on January 26), since our little princess was born - wow!...as they say, time flies by (which is why you must enjoy the journey of life).  She has shown some great progress:

We love finding new restaurants to add to our list of fave's....our newly added one is Saffron Grill.  For those that don't know, it's fairly new to the Northgate/Haller Lake neighborhood and serves Indian/Mediterranean cuisine - hmm, hmm, good!  Also same owners of Taste of India and Cedar's (now under new management). 

 

 

To our Family and Friends - we want to wish you all a very happy and safe Thanksgiving!!  Learn about the history of Thanksgiving, click here. 

 

Hi All - last weekend (11/20-11/23) we experienced our first trip together (Nishi, Raya, and I) out of town by air to Phoenix/Scottsdale, Arizona.  I think everyone had a little anxiety, not knowing what to expect.  However, things went really well = meaning, Baby Love (Raya) slept through most of the (3 hour one-way) flight...and the only time she was fussy was when she was hungry (jus like Daddy!).  Overall, it was a success on the plane ride (a BIG sigh of relief for us parents).  As for the time while we were in town - we had a blast in the 80+ degree weather everyday! 

Check out the photo album about our trip. 

 

A few highlights (some of the below were captured in photos):

it's been a while..it's almost the end of Nov.  Raya is almost 4 months old.  Ty's foot is healed, mine is getting there. Uso is almost healed so he can walk etc....

I am getting used to being a mom-very physically draining in my opinion but rewarding as well! We have our schedule down.  When I nap, she naps or should I say vice versa. :-) she calls the shots around here.  What else is going on.....not much else.  I have been able to take time off work-4 months which has been really nice. 

Nishi and I can't believe that it is already November...which means the Holidays are right around the corner, wow!  There is the usual excitement around seeing family/friends you have not visited in a while, homes/towns/cities so decorative, egg nog <grin>, and if you know me (Ty)....the wonderful comfort food....mmm, mmm!  Then there is additional excitement as it's Raya's first Holiday season!  Raya is a little over 3 months right now and we are looking forward to seeing our families and friends this year....

 

Our love,

-Baby Mads and company

Raya's first Halloween and Diwali is officially in the books.  It has been a weekend of celebration and at 3 months+ old, she is already getting used to the festive lifestyle of the family....

 

We are sharing some pictures from the weekend.  Hope you all are well. 

Our love,

Nishi, Ty, Raya, and Uso

Raya has turned 2 months (on 9/26) and we are seeing a lot of emotion from our beautiful princess.  It's so much fun to see her be expressive - from smiles to the "I'm really hungry" face (which we have seen a lot of).  We have uploaded new pics (see Raya - weeks 7-8). 

 

Also, she has been sleeping more through the night and Mommy and Daddy are very grateful. 

Enjoy! 

For all Dad's out there, this one goes out to you...to all the hard-working Men/Fathers who provide for their family, and just do what you gotta do.  In Baseball, we call this the "utility guy".  Speaking of which, my not-so-glamorous role is being the family janitor.  Imagine the phrase, "clean up in <2nd floor>!"....whether it's Uso still adjusting to the new house (having accidents), or, Raya doing "her thing", someone's gotta clean it up....and that has been me. 

Not taking away anything from the absolute tirelessness can-do attitude of Nishi, what I've learned that in order to make the relationship work in certain aspects, you gotta figure out how the best way to work together.  So, I'm the family janitor.....speaking of which, gotta run, duty is calling right now! 

PS  Enjoy the new pics in the photo album - see "Raya (weeks 3-4)"  Raya just turned 1 month on August 26!...she's growing fast!

Now it's my turn to type (give Ty a break :-)).  I still can't believe we went into labor with me on crutches-another unbelievalbe aspect of our life lately.  Now Raya is 22 days old and we feel like it's been longer.  It's all about pumping, feeding, changing diapers, grocery shopping, eating, taking naps and that is about it. We are getting used to this life style and it's not so bad.  Ty has been amazingly helpful around the house as usual.  We are in our new home and love it.  We are all settled in now.

 

It is truly amazing to have child.  Labor was definitely memorable (to say the least) and sometimes i look at Raya and wonder how she lived inside me for 8+ months-just mind boggling.

 

Guess what? I drove for the first time today after 4+ months-wow-that felt good!  I felt independent, free and in control!  It felt a little strange at first, but then felt fine. I no longer have crutches.  Now I am seeing a physical therapist and am on the road to recovery with a walking boot.  I hope to be able to walk a good distance with no boot within the next few weeks.  Am excited about that. Well, let's see what else is new...nothing really..will write more later.

 

 

Hi All - Raya just completed her first week at home....and is doing well!  She is now in her 3rd week of life.  We (mommy and daddy) are doing well - both of us are on parental leave and it has been great to spend time together as a family during Raya's initial moments in the new world. 

We would like to thank all of you for your heartfelt love and support.  You have all been so amazing.  We know that we have not had a chance yet to talk/see all of you yet, but soon enough.  Raya is still needing to be home to eat and sleep but for those that want to come visit, just let us know - we'd love to see you! 

This has truly been a phenomenon seeing Raya in her being - breathing, moving, trying to speak, her reactions (sleeping/waking)....wow, it's just been so amazing....and the reality of being parents has slowly been sinking in.  first week at home is now in the books and we'll update you all with more. 

-Our love.....Raya, Nishi, Ty, and Uso

Hello All - we would like to introduce our beautiful daughter, Raya Jasmine Madarang!!  She was born Saturday, July 26, 9:30pm PDT....weighing in at 5 lbs, 12 oz, and 20 inches long/tall. 

So many stories to share with you all, and stay tuned.  In the meantime, I am sharing some pics - see the photo album. 

Thanks and more later...off to helping feed my daughter....

Hi All - I am writing you as we are in the labor room right now.....moments before going into labor.  We are currently at the U of W Birthing Center.  Contractions for Nishi started at 2am this morning and we checked in to the UW at about 6am.  Baby and Mama are doing great....Baby has maintained a healthy heartrate and Mama has been so strong enduring the contractions.  Daddy....well, he's doing everything he can to be as supportive as possible. 

Doctors told us that since water has broke - that we WILL be delivering by tonight (wow!).  Things are happening fast and will update you all with more soon. 

Thanks to those that have extended your wishes, messages, we love you ALL!

 

Our love,

Nishi, Ty, and (soon to be) baby Madarang!

Hi, I am watching Cash Cab on Discovery thus the title.  Have you ever seen it?  It is on from 6-7pm on Discovery.  One of our fav game shows and we learn quite a bit. 

Anyhow, I had surgery again on Friday.  This was supposed to be a simple procedure to pull out 3 rods/wires not requiring a full on surgery in the clinic, but my rods were in too deep. Guess what that meant, under the knife again.....so Ty and I were at Harboview all day once again.  This time I didn't have to stay over night-thank goodness. We were told this would be a piece of cake compared to the last episode.  I wouldn't say piece of cake...but glad it's over.  So, now I am some pain again and now waiting for the next follow up appt to make sure all is healing well.  I was given given local anesthetic on the right foot and some sedatives to put me sort of to sleep. But normally when you have local like that, they anticipate short surgeries, and this went on to be longer so I could feel some pain and when I would say "ouch", I'd feel some injections on the bottom of my right foot (trying to numb up the area again) and then I'd be asleep again.  That was kinda bizzaro.

 

Well, all else is good.  I am keeping busy working from home.  Without that I think I'd be pretty bored. My dad helped with getting our new house painted today.  That should be done this week-we are hoping for new carpet this week (kinda funny to sit back and watch all this happen without touching any of it or even seeing it).

Baby is good, but probably so tired of my hospital episodes.  Ty and I are so ready for labor-24 hospital stay will be so easy after all of this! :-)

 

Nothing else exciting to write about...so more to come.

 

 

Well, I always resort back to "Life is always an adventure" and it surely is.  So, some may know Ty broke his left foot and one metatarsal and due to some mis-treatment has been trying to heal that every since January.  He ended up having surgery April 9th ish.  So, he's been off crutches now for week.  But in the meantime, I went and broke my RIGHT foot and dislocated/fractured several bones in the middle my right foot.  How you ask??  Well, nothing exciting; slipping down the stairs while getting up to go to work one morning in the house....and landed with my knee bent backwards-and lots of weight on my right foot.  I really did some damage (Ty thinks I had to one up his injury).  I am active, but not very athletic (sports and all) and this is an injury that many athletes/aquestrians get- so it is crazy that I got this rare injury- it has a name "Lis Franc".  I have never broken anything before and it was pretty painful.  Maybe this is a way for me to be prepared for labor!

 

So when I fell, my family rushed me to ER (worried probably more about baby than me).

ER visit-first one was at UW-they couldn't deal with it, so referred us to Harborview-what an experience.  After one night in ER (that was overflowing with patients), we were given one patient room that had policemen in it.  We shortly realized we had a convict as a room-mate.  Call us snooty, but baby and I didn't want to stay there (baby was kicking me) so, we asked to be moved and the next shared room ended up being with an interesting homeless lady who ended up asking me for money!  Again, baby didn't like that either, so got ourselves together to prove to all parties that we were ready for home.  We were out of there after 4 nights  and 5 long days of lots of drugs and entertainment.

 

So, now we are in the 28th week of baby and 6+ weeks of my broken foot.  Next week, I am having some rods removed and then 7 more weeks of not being able to bear any weight on the right foot.  After next surgery, next steps may include some PT and walking boot.  I am starting to get pretty restless-I keep having to have motivating self-talks......

"I am almost 1/2 way there....I should use this time to relax.....I have the rest of my life....etc...”  Baby has been fine throughout all this, but gosh, she is already getting a taste of our world! I would say the most challenging thing for me right now is not being able to help around the house and not getting any/very little exercise.  I am so used to moving-that is tough not to.  I love being outside and walking with Uso and Ty-and can't do that:-(  Uso is pretty funny speaking of him.  He sees me crutching and crawling..he knows something is not right so he rarely leaves my side and is extra protective- very cute! Our due date and my foot recovery date are a little too close for comfort, but I am sure it will all workout-I hope! Can you imagine if i deliver before I can walk...that would be insane!

 

Throughout all this, Family has been just amazing! Ty has been very helpful and supportive so it's making it all a little easier as well.

 

As for our house, move is on hold. But we are still getting things ready, like new paint, carpet etc behind the scenes-taking our time. Ty doing mostly everything!  

Well, that's it for now....we are trying to make some time to get out a little (but I have to have a chauffer since I can't drive).  We'll go to parks that I can easily get to, movies, family visits, etc...I even have a wheel chair that Ty pushes me around in.:-)

 

More to come soon-it should be all about baby…J

Sorry for the brief hiatus but we're back.....Baby's Mama has been very busy.  For those that don't know, she broke 5 bones in her right foot - ouch!  I know you all are wondering, how are Mama and Baby doing?  The surgerical procedure required general anesthesia due to the severity of the injury.  We had one of the best trauma surgeons (from Harborview) involved along w/ a team of others making sure both Mama and Baby are doing well.  Good news, after surgery and about 7 weeks of healing (since injury), they are doing fine - yeahhhh!!!

I have added a recent photo of Baby's Mama (notice a little more bump).  Plus, you can hear directly from her in a blog post right after this. 

Our Love,

-Nishi, Ty, Baby Mads, and Uso

On Wed (4/9), we had our last ultrasound and just found out that we are having a baby girl!  Leading up to the moment, we were approached by so many people (friends/family/co-workers) saying, "what do you want".....the truth is that Nishi and I just wanted a healthy child.....  A girl/boy is all bueno for us.  Selfishlessly, I (Baby's Daddy) wants to have a boy eventually and keep the Madarang name going, so this may not be the only new addition to the family. 

For those wondering if we have chosen a name, let's just say that is "in progress".  Thanks to those that have given us suggestions of names - we appreciate all the interest and thoughtfulness. 

See photo ablum ("week 20") for recent pic of Baby's Mama.....only 4 months to go until our delivery......our love to you all!

-Nishi, Ty, Uso, and Baby Mads

 

We're now starting to see the "baby bump" on Nishi - see "Baby's Mama" photo album "week 16" pic.  Our love to you all!.....

We had a lot of fun last night.  We attended a cd release party for Mycle Wastman along with other local artists.  Proceeds went to Children's Hospital.  It was an amazing time, supporting local artists (who btw, are very talented) and a great cause.  Mycle's style of music is "eclectic soul" - which from my interpretation is a medley of soul, R&B, blues, and pop rock.  They had a full band ensemble (from guitars, drums, back-up vocals, sax, and him on lead).  If you're like me, a good live performance makes the show, creating such a melodic beautiful sound. 

How I even heard about Wastman was one of my college buddies and guitar/piano instructor (Ryan Smith), plays keyboard.....let me take that back, jams on the keyboard.  He is smooth, soulful, and really gets into his performance.  They call him "white chocolate"..... 

 

There were several artists that seem to be part of an up and coming community of talented artists that love to play and take what they do to the next level.  This was a great event to create the stage for them.  They played in the Benaroya Hall, which is an amazing venue - primarily used for symphony, orchestra shows. 

 

Have a great weekend!

It's really easy to take Seattle for granted.  We live in this beautiful city and we love to go on drives, exploring and acting like tourists in our own backyard.  For instance, today we went to Sunset Hills (Ballard) and the scene never gets old (see attached pic).  Sure it was a cloudy day, but just look at that view! 

For those of you who think it rains so much in Seattle, check out this article - we are not even on the Top 10 for wettest US cities....