Favorite Picture Friday

Tinkerbell

Lucille Ball

Aphrodite, Goddess of Love

Marilyn Monroe (that's my hair, not a wig)

These are some of my favorite Halloween costumes over the years. And Cheerleader Heather, just for good measure. Happy Halloween!

Book Review

Book: Black Heart, Ivory Bones edited by Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling

I have read another of their collections of re-written fairy tales. This one is more for an adult audience than that one was. I really loved this collection. Some of the stories had such distinct and interesting voices that I had to read them out loud. There were several stories that were based on the same fairy tale and I loved to see the different takes each author took.

There were some stories that I liked more than others, of course, and I found that the ones that I liked the best were the ones that told the story in a succinct manner. I over-write quite a bit and I think it's that part of me that appreciates anyone who can tell a story in as few words as possible. It has given me a lot of ideas for re-writes of my own story, for sure!

It always amazes me the way that short stories make every word count. They are able to set the scene and make you care about the characters in a few short paragraphs. That is definitely something that I struggle with.

All in all I am incredibly happy that I read this book. Apparently it's the 6th in a series of collections that they did and I am going to hunt down the other five now. I hope that those of you who like fairy tales will read them too!

Happy reading!

Happy Winds-Day, Piglet

It is a windy, snowy, yucky day today. I, however, am feeling better. I was even able to do the dishes! Here are some pictures of my Dutchie to make the day less yucky for all the rest of you!
These are all of Dutch in his Halloween jam-jams that Grandma Kellie sent.

No List for Tuesday

I am so sick that it's taking a bunch of energy just to type this. I just wanted to let you know how lucky I am. I have the worst cold that I have ever had in my whole life. I barely have enough energy to get up to get something to eat or drink. That's not why I'm lucky. I'm lucky because I have the happiest baby in the world. I haven't been able to kiss him or snuggle him as much as usual (I don't want to get him sick). I haven't been as energetic or been able to play as much. But Dutch is such a princely prince that he doesn't seem to mind. He is just so sweet to me! If anything can make me feel better, it's him.

125th Post!

I figured since this was such a momentous occasion I would write 125 random things that are on my mind. Unless I get bored, then I'll just stop where I get bored.

1. Dutch is in his crib. He needed some alone time.
2. Bo is on his pillow. He needed some alone time.
3. I am watching the news. I needed some alone time.
4. Chris is at school.
5. Dutch's 3-month pictures are ready today!
6. When I type my password for anything, I always trace it again with my fingers to make sure I had hit the right keys.
7. My hair is messy but I don't feel like combing it.
8. My throat hurts.
9. I'm tired of this election and wish it were over already.
10. Because I'm in Pennsylvania every other commercial is political and it's annoying.
11. People are mean.
12. From where I am sitting I can see 3 different types of glue that we have. Is that weird?
13. Our roof leaked the other day and the pot that caught thewater is still sitting on the floor.
14. There are about 10 other things I should be doing instead of this.
15. We bought Dutch some Winnie the Pooh finger puppets and I think it's hilarious every time I think, "There's Pooh on my finger!"
16. The news is depressing.
17. I am wearing Chris's "Employee of the Month" shirt from UPS.
18. Chris was Employee of the Month twice at UPS.
19. Chris is a good daddy.
20. And a good husband.
21. Dutch will turn 4 months old on Election day. It's like his pre-Golden Birthday, 4 months on the 4th!
22. I know who I'm going to vote for, but you might not like it.
23. You didn't know I could see you, did you?
24. Well I can, and I appreciate you taking the time to read this.
25. Don't you have anything better to do though?
26. Aunt Pat gave us some Halloween dishes for our wedding and I just drank hot chocolate out of the ghosty mug.
27. I ate almost an entire bag of Kit Kats on Saturday, but it didn't make me sick. It made me want to keep eating them. I stopped though.
28. I'm not wearing my wedding ring. I don't feel good and I forgot to put it on this morning.
29. Chris never wears his and it hurts my feelings.
30. I have never thought about my stance on egg donation. They are talking about it on the news right now.
31. I think Dutch is asleep, he hasn't cried since I put him down. Like I said, he needed alone time.
32. I have a bunch of pictures of Dutch that I need to put on the blog, but I'm not on the big computer, I'm on my laptop.
33. I use my laptop so often that I've worn away parts of it.
34. Dutch is crying now. Apparently he was not asleep.
35. This is getting boring.
36. And I need to get Dutch.
37. Okay, I'll stop.

Little Monster Baby

For Halloween Chris and I bought Dutch a little pajama outfit with a hood. We weren't sure if it was a dinosaur or a dragon, but when we put it on him last night we noticed that the feet said "Little Monster." That's about as far from the real Dutch as you can get, so it's the perfect Halloween costume! Here are some pictures that we took of him all Halloweened up!

Dutch with his Fairy Mama!

The reason there are so many different shots of his face is because our camera takes a bunch of pictures in succession and it's impossible to erase any--he's just too cute!

Favorite Picture Friday

This is my favorite picture that we got of Dutch. It's the closest thing to a smile we got out of him that day. I love him so much!

GROSS! He just sneezed all over my computer screen. Ah, babies!

Book Review

Book: Off With Their Heads!: Fairy Tales and the Culture of Childhood by Maria Tatar

Last semester I read a book similar in topic by Jack Zipes. It was not very good, convoluted, and he obviously thought way too much of himself. Tatar's book could not have been more different! It was a breath of fresh air compared to most fairy tale theory books. Although her last chapter was completely unnecessary and could have been left out completely, I still really loved this book.

One of my favorite quotes from the book: "It may seem pedantic to demand logic from a genre that traffics in the supernatural, but even fairy tales have their ground rules, and those rules assure a degree of predictability in the plot." I thought this was great and it really shows the complexity beneath the supposed simplicity of fairy tales.

There were so many interesting things that I learned from Tatar that I will be able to incorporate into my own fairy tales. I'm so glad that I chose this book this semester. Turns out it doesn't have to be painful to read fairy tale theory!

Happy reading!

The Bouncy Seat and a Broken Screen

Grandpa Greg sent Dutchie a gift card for Target and we went yesterday to buy some things. Dutch got a bouncy seat that he LOVES. He gets to be in the same room as us and it elevates him enough that he can look around at everything. He doesn't like the toy bar very much right now, it gets in his way. He's such a busy guy, it's just hilarious! The bouncy seat is constantly bouncing with all of his movement.

In other news, our computer screen is on the fritz and Chris hasn't been able to fix it yet. It just keeps flashing on and off. We looked at buying a new screen and JUST a new screen is ridiculously expensive! So we won't have any new pictures for a little while because we can't scan or download pictures to the computer until we get a new screen. Don't worry though, we will be getting Dutch's 3-month pictures next week, so you won't be picture-less for long!

P.S. It's a Halloween miracle! Shortly after I wrote this blog our computer screen stopped freaking out.

Dutch's First Job

Yesterday Dutch had his first job. Chris said it's about time he pulled his weight around here. He was a practice patient for Chris' PA classmates to do examinations on for their Pediatric module. He had 4 examinations total, one right after the other and he did awesome! He didn't cry at all. Mostly he just wiggled a whole lot, which made for some interesting moments, but overall he was really well-behaved and happy to be there.

Of the 4 students that examined Dutch only 1 was a boy. The girls outnumber the boys by a lot in Chris' class. They were all really nice and did a good job. They all thought Dutch was super-cute and really well-behaved. All of the girls lingered as long as they could so they could play with him. For some it was there first time being around a baby! I guess if you've never been around one Dutch is a good place to start. Lucky them!

His paycheck for the day will go toward Dutch-related things like diapers and formula and maybe a bouncy seat.

A List for Tuesday

Five Things I Love About My Sister Carianne

1. Even though she's 6 years older than me people think she and I are twins.
2. She was the first aunt to see Dutch.
3. She's probably the most amazing mom ever.
4. Although "High School Musical" sucks, she defends it.
5. When I was in labor she helped keep me calm, which led all the nurses to tell me I was a rock star.

Happy Birthday Cari!

Things You Might Not Know About Dutch

My friend Anna (she's Donny and Marie Osmond's niece) often updates everyone on things about her baby. Inspired by that I wanted to tell you some things about Dutch right now.

• He eats about 50 bottles of formula a day (okay, I'm exaggerating, but not by much)
• As of a couple of days ago he no longer has any interest in booby milk (too much information?)
• He's wearing some 0-3 month clothing and some 3-6 month clothing
• He still fits into some of his newborn pants/shorts because he has no butt
• At night he sleeps anywhere from 8 to 12 hours
• Most nights he goes to sleep without any help, but every once in a while he needs a car ride to help him into dreamland
• When I sing to him he smiles and laughs
• His favorite songs right now are "Baby Face" from "Thoroughly Modern Millie" and "You're Just Too Good To Be True" by The Four Seasons
• His favorite pastimes include watching the news (he really does watch it!), eating his arm and/or hands, and watching his dinosaur rattle that Maggie gave to him
• Noises make him laugh, especially blowing raspberries
• Chris and Dutch seem to have some weird secret language that they talk to each other in all the time
• When I pull out the camera or video-camera he immediately stops doing whatever it was I wanted to capture on film
• Although he has his bad days, overall he is a very happy baby

And I'm one lucky mama!

Laughing While You Sleep

Chris and I are watching TV with Dutch sitting between us. Dutch is so tired, but he still wants to be a part of things. Every time we laugh, he opens his eyes and smiles. Then he goes back to sleep. It's so funny! He doesn't want to sleep, but he's so tired.

The Dirty DMV Story

After living in PA for almost a year I finally decided to get a PA driver's license. I went to the DMV with Dutch and a nice man opened the door for me. He then asked me the usual questions about Dutch: what's his name, how old, etc. Then he asked me if he was my first baby. I smiled and said yes. The man then said, and I quote, "All that practice must have paid off."

What do you say to that?

That's My Baby Part 5

That's My Baby Part 4

That's My Baby Part 3

Note: Chris said I had to take the nakie pictures off. So I did.

That's My Baby Part 2

We took these especially for Grandma Kellie. Happy Halloween!