Which Bubble is Abigail?

I never thought that filling out the 2010 Census would cause somewhat of a crisis for me.  I blackened all the bubbles for Matt and myself, and became slightly amused starting in on Abigail's section.  It felt great to declare her as a "real" person to the government!  What kept me from easily finishing the census in 5 minutes was choosing which bubble to fill in for Abigail's race.  Granted, I was skimming the questions and didn't see the part which said you could fill in more than one bubble for that section.  So, until I reread it and realized I could describe her as both Caucasian and Chinese (sigh of relief!), I was stuck.  For a minute, I thought I had to pick just one and didn't know what to do.  I guess you could say I had a quick existential crisis...well, not my own, but Abigail's.

I flashed back to elementary school and remembered that this question came up for a biracial classmate of mine while taking some standardized test.  Unlike the U.S. Census, this particular test only allowed for one race to be declared.  I don't know which he ended up choosing. 

For those that know me, my Chinese heritage is not too influential in my life.  I honestly wish it was a little more and for that, I blame my parents (just kidding, Mom and Dad!).  How will Abigail identify herself?  I know this question is not new, and is one that most of my extended family has dealt with in the lives of their kids.  However, it struck me personally as I thought about how we would raise Abigail.  It will be interesting to see how her American-Chinese-English-Irish identity will play out in her sense of self and relationships with others as she gets older.

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Birthday, Abigail!

The whirlwind of Abigail's birthday, my parents' visit, and going out of town has settled down long enough for me to finally get some pictures up here of Abigail's first birthday.  Mom and Dad were able to fly in for the weekend, and we had a birthday party for Abby's little friends and their parents.  What a fun (and exhausting!) time that was!  I can't believe our little baby is already a year old...what a blessing she is!

The spread...

Very unsure about the fact that people were staring at her, singing to her, and encouraging her to eat the cake.

Who needs to use hands when you can just take a bite???

The aftermath of the storm...I thought she did a pretty good job.

We love you, Abigail!

Matt and Dad exhausted from moving around the furniture, cleaning (yeah, I think that's the cleanest my floors have ever been - thanks, Dad!), blowing up balloons, entertaining little kids, and eating lots of food!  Yes, my dad is sleeping in that position next to a balloon.

Wordless Wednesday