First Bath

Andrew is now 3 weeks old. He took his first (and second) bath this week and loves it! We are so glad! Katsu's favorite part is styling the hair afterwards - last time he went for a Jimmy Neutron (is that what that character is called?) look. We think he is going through a growth spurt right now, because he is eating all the time! He ate 13 times yesterday - and most of those were half an hour feedings. I think all he does it eat lately.

Who does Andrew look like?

Andrew
Amanda
Katsu

Long weekend with Daddy

Hi. I'd like to introduce myself. My name is Andrew Issei Funai and this is my first post. I am 16 days old and I weigh somewhere in between 8 and 10 pounds. My dad thinks I weigh around 10 and my mom thinks around 8. I think I weigh around 9, because I am just a great negotiator like that.

My dad told me that if I wanted to get my profile up there for future professional soccer recruiting then earlier the better. So I am putting two of my best pictures. As you can see, I have a fairly strong arms already and my hair is growing fast. This is important because as David Beckham is getting transferred to LA Galaxy this summer, a lconcept for the look for the sport players is going to change forever. I have a brown hair which apparently looked more black when I first came out of the tummy of my mom (which was an interesting experience to say the least). According to my dad I look less Asian day by day but my mom thinks that he is just hallucinating. By the way, the second picture shows that I am not only capable of mesmerizing look, but also am able to make people laugh. I've heard a lot about gas prices going up, so thought I should lighten up everybody's mood.

The last picture is with my parents. They insisted that I put this picture up because my dad thinks that it is important that people know how they are doing. I think that's plain silly because if people wanted to know how they were doing they could just go read their blog, not mine. Beside the picture does not really show how I am doing, because I am in this weird contraption that is supposed to protect me from global warming, at least that is what my father tells me. I can kind of see that because it's kind of green and it's got this sunshade and probably some other stuff like solar panel and carbon oxides distiller. Also the small silver canister that is sitting just below me is not a Budweizer but it's this cherry soda that my parents thought that was so important and significant that they just couldn't resist to leave it on their while the picture was taken. At least that's what my dad tells me, but secretly I just think he forgot to take it away. He forgets that I am a genius sometime.

Montage Andrew 051407

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Baby Andrew: May 14, 2007

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The name is Andrew Issei Funai

Our friends and families

We'd like to announce that Andrew Issei Funai was born on May 10th, 2007 at 6:27pm (EST) in University of Michigan Mott's Children Hospital. He was born 7 lbs and 7 oz (3380g) and 21 inches (53.3cm). He has dark brown eyes and abundant black hair which we are yet uncertain whether it is a product of his oriental gene or a beautiful dark brown hair that Crookstons and Clarks have been famous of. He has several favourite outfits but he mostly likes to be either swaddled tightly or little clothing as possible. He has a strong grip and a sucking reflex that will surely become useful when he fluorishes his career as a professional gripper and sucker. He has lots of other things that we could go on bragging, but since he actually does not have an email address yet, you will have to correspond through us. We would love to hear from you (perhaps not too many via phone at the moment), and we created a file cabinet just for his fan letters.

Wish you all the best and have a happy spring time unless you are in a southern hemisphere in which case your fall must equally be good.

Katsu and Amanda

Our Story - Katsu and Amanda

Since everyone else seems like they are doing it, here is our story.

It all began in Sept. 2001. I was still in Texas waiting for school to start, but my friend Crystal kept calling me on the phone and telling me about this guy named Katsu who she met and thought was really cool. He had just got back from his mission and was starting his sophomore year at Boston University. I finally met Katsu after getting back to Boston University. We met on Columbus Day - Oct. 8, 2001 - hiking in the Green Mountains in New Hampshire. Everyone else was hiking either too fast or too slow, and so we ended up hiking together. It was beautiful between the snow and foliage and I kept slipping and Katsu ended up having to help me a few times (should have worn hiking boots).

We met paths several more times as our friends starting to all become friends with each other. We started dating at the end of October and went on a first real double date in November. Our first kiss was a few weeks later and we were inseparable by then. We were apart for about a month around Christmas, which was really hard, but we made lots of long distance phone calls from Japan to Texas and emailed each other constantly. It really cemented our relationship.

We dated for the next year. We had so much fun dating - we walked all over Boston, went to symphonies at the BSO, saw plays and musicals and ballets and operas, visited the science and art museums, went to friends concerts, movies, the beach, out to eat, volunteered together weekly at Mass General Hospital, went on trips to Cape Cod and New Hampshire, and so much more.

Then, on our one year anniversary of dating (Nov 9, 2002), Katsu proposed. We spent the entire day together - from a parade at Northeastern, to a walk along the Freedom Trail, to lunch at Legal Sea Food, to a walk up to Bunker Hill, till we ended up at the Harbor where Katsu proposed. And of course, I said yes!

We got married June 7, 2003 at the Boston Temple and did a reception on a harbor cruise in the Boston Harbor with our friends and family.

This June we will have been married for four years! We have had a lot of adventures and a lot of fun and we are more in love with each other every day!

Spring

It's beautiful and springy here. I love it. I walked to the Farmer's Market yesterday (about 1.5 miles away) and everything was so green and there was tulips everywhere. It's my first trip there of the season. I picked up some asparagus as that is about the only thing that is in season in Michigan right now. I'm not a huge fan of asparagus, or so I thought, but we had it for dinner tonight and it was delicious! I guess freshness makes a huge difference! I also went on a lovely walk through the Arboretum today along the Huron River and it was gorgeous. I especially love the pink trees. We have a lot in our apartment complex and everytime I look at them, it makes me so happy. So, here, for all the curious types is a picture of me (at 40 weeks pregnant - well, close enough since my due date is tomorrow) and the trees from our porch.

Graduation

Well, I guess I officially, more or less, have a master's degree now. I didn't walk, but we decided to go to the main ceremony today anyways, mostly to hear the commencement speaker: Bill Clinton. It's funny - I know people (from church) who absolutely refused to go because they didn't want to hear him speak and he was the whole reason I came. Well, and to get the program because my name is in it! I enjoyed all the speakers actually. All those speeches really get me to thinking about my citizenship and what I can do to be a better citizen - mostly, I would like to volunteer somewhere in the community and also I think I should start recycling and also, I really really need to get my act together and buy some reusable grocery bags - getting so many plastic ones just kills me every time (if anyone has suggestions). Anyways, here are a couple of pictures of graduation.

Oh, yeah, and the main reason I didn't walk is because I saw no point in buying a cap and gown if for some reason I went into labor early. But I haven't. So, at 39 weeks 1 day pregnant, I spent about 2-3 hours sitting in the tiny bleacher seats and then standing in a very crowded non-moving crowd for at least half an hour before walking back downtown. And frustratingly, I swear, if I am wearing a jacket people can't even tell I'm pregnant - arghh.

5 Things You Might Not Know About Me

I am skipping the picture - I attempted to take one, but they all turned out really badly, so to anyone who is interested ...

1. I love to learn new things, kind of like an obsession. In college, after they laid off our entire team at Sun Microsystems where I was interning, I spent the few weeks before starting a research job at school watching lectures on World History, the history of the english language, etc. I still love to watch/listen to lectures, whether at home or whether I am dragging Katsu to physics lectures on Sat. mornings at U of M or to medical lectures at Harvard Medical School.

2. I am compulsive about our personal finances and hate to spend money (but I am getting better ...). Katsu would probably say I am addicted to Quicken, but at least we have quite a bit of money saved up considering we are still in school and both students.

3. I like walking. I still walk to (and from) school almost every day even though it is 1.5 miles away (it is getting a bit more uncomfortable with just 3 weeks till the due date). In Boston, I would regularly walk 3, 4, or 5 miles just for fun, just to get out and see the city. I really want to live in a walkable city.

4. I like to cook, but I hate to cook for other people. I get really nervous about taking food over to other people or bringing a dish (unless it is a dessert) to a friend's house, because I worry they won't like our food. I really feel like I don't know what people like to eat. And we don't eat a lot of meat and we eat quite a bit of beans, so I think people won't like that. Seriously, it's like an anxiety attack trying to cook food for people.

5. I think I am a "mean" wife. At least, I think I expect Katsu to do a lot of stuff. For example, I expect him to do a lot of chores - taking out the trash, cooking a few times a week, cleaning the kitchen and the bathroom, and taking care of the car are all his jobs. I also do not find him coming home late at night on a regular basis (i.e. later than 6 or 6:30) acceptable and will not accept this in the future either. He will have a family-friendly job and it starts now while he is in school. I think at least I have always made this very clear to him - one reason, I didn't like the whole med-school track. On the other hand, making big bucks is not the biggest priority to me. I can manage on not too much money (see #2). I guess I just think that other wives seems so much nicer to their husbands - doing all the housework, child care, picking him up from school (Katsu can take the bus ...), etc. and I am just not like that.

and a few others (I'll keep it shorter)

6. We plan on raising our kids bilingually - i.e. I need to learn Japanese ASAP
7. I have a HORRIBLE memory.
8. I am horrible at sports - basically all of them.
9. I have bad knees and kind of walk/stand funny.
10. My main goal in scrapbooking is getting it done and up to date, so I write directly on the pages without stopping to check spelling (or even the facts ... I get dates/people/things we did wrong all the time).