The things I have to do to get out of the house...

             With a baby, leaving the house is not simple. In fact, it should be an Olympic event. Unlike the days of slinging on some clothes, swiping on some mascara, grabbing my keys and running out the door, it's a combination of juggling a 9 pound carseat with a 14 pound baby in it (that's 23 pounds for us non-math peeps), plus all his gear, my purse, phone, and whatever else is necessary for where we are going.

Baby P's gear:
carseat
stroller
diaper bag stocked with:
       -3 or 4 diapers (I've tried leaving the house with just 2 and it was NOT good)
       -wipes (lots!! for the obvious uses and the not so obvious-wiping P's hands after crazy
        people touch them, cleaning our clothes after Baby P spits up on both of us, cleaning
        the carseat in case of a diaper mishap, cleaning gunk off the car cupholders...)
       -a change of clothes for Baby P
       -spare burp cloths
       -changing mat so that Baby P's cute little hiney won't touch anything dirty...or is it
        so that he won't get clean things dirty with his cute little hiney...one or the other
pacifiers (2: one on a strap attached to his shirt and one in a pouch on his carseat in case
        of disaster, i.e. losing the shirt paci)
blanket (in case it's cold inside or outside)
nursing cover (if nursing)
toy  (if Baby P is going to be awake and needs to be entertained)
if staying at the grandparents:
         bottle, frozen milk
         thick blanket for playing on the floor
         bouncy seat or play mat
         books (don't laugh, my 4 month old loves to read)
         Kindle (oh, wait, that's my thing...)

All of this to say, I love that big huge purses are in style! Speaking of, I think I need a new one...

Has TLC gone too far?

Take a look at this picture. Could be a normal wedding. Maybe bride and groom in the center and bridesmaids or friends or sisters surrounding...NO!!!!          

          TLC has gone too far this time! I, like much of America, have been sucked into the TLC family reality shows at one time or another. It started with "Jon and Kate...", the Duggars, "Little People, Big World" followed by "Little Couple: Just Married" and I think there are a couple of new ones with many, many children that I can't bring myself to watch. Last night, flipping channels, I stumbled upon the new TLC addition to family reality entertainment.

                                                            SISTER WIVES!!!!

Yes, that's wives plural. A reality show about a Mormon polygamous marriage! Three wives, a fiancee, one husband and 13 children...I'm 'gobsmacked' (to use a little Shopaholic lingo). My mouth is still hanging open.  Take a look here  for video clips, pictures and full bios of the crazy people involved in this nightmare. TLC has reached a new level of weirdness. All the wives are insecure and jealous about relationships with the husband, Kody, who looks like a surfer dude. While we were staring open-mouthed at the TV, I asked 'How can they buy into this type of lifestyle?' W said, 'I can see why he's going for it, but how he talked these women into it I'll never understand.' At first I agreed, then asked 'Wait just a minute, with what part of this can you sympathize?!' Luckily we can joke about this kind of thing, but these poor people are living it.

I've done a little reading on the Mormon philosophy/theology behind polygamous marriage, and it seems to be related to achieving a higher status in the afterlife based on number of offspring. Brigham Young, a forefather of Mormonism, had 56 wives and 56 children with 19 of these wives. Joseph Smith had many wives and also 'experimented with polyandry' (marrying women who were already married to someone else!!!!). Most Mormons today believe that a faithful, lifelong, monogamous marriage is enough to be exalted in the afterlife, but that in Heaven there will be polygamy. Look here for a history of Mormon polygamy.

Anyway, I think this TLC circus will probably be a hit. I can't imagine any more drama than a man with three wives (one pregnant) with a girlfriend/fiancee and many, many children...at least TLC's keeping it consistent.

Trick or Treat!

               I am so excited this year for Halloween! I get to dress up Baby P for the first time and there is nothing cuter than a little baby in a costume! I've been shopping for a while and have it ruled down to a few.

Here are the finalists:

Monkey and cow...I know, aren't you just dying over the cuteness?!?

Fruit and vegetables? What could be better? I'm a little obsessed with the peas in a pod.

I know, I know! Irridescent wings, but still boyish! Too much cuteness to go around, help me and vote!

Confessions of a Shopaholic

            I read the first book in this series (at the recommendation of my friend, Ashley :) several years ago and while I thought it was funny and entertaining. I must 'confess,' that I was not amused by the utter lack of responsibility and foresight of the main character. She-Bex, Becky or Rebecca-is presented as an intelligent, educated, young woman with an uncontrollable addiction to shopping and spending and an inability to tell the truth if it is disappointing to others. In the books, she is constantly pursued by creditors and bankers while she tries to pretend this is not happening and lies continually to cover up her folly. I don't see the connection between her intelligence and her utter lack of self-control besides the fact that she uses her cleverness to lie and finagle a way out of the messes she cooks up time after time. I recently read books two through six and only once in those five did she actually do something self-sacrificing to reduce her monstrous shopping debt (she organized a sale of many of her designer clothes in the second book, Shopaholic Takes Manhattan). Otherwise, she is bailed out of her problems by extraordinary means and without much inconvenience to herself. In Shopaholic Ties the Knot, Becky allows her mother and mother-in-law to simultaneously plan two different weddings in two different countries on the same day up until 3 weeks before the big day. She is stressed and worried, but continues to lie and try to ignore the reality of the situation. Instead of coming clean, she lies to her mother about a supposed financial conference to get that wedding changed to the following day and asks an important client to fly her and her fiancee on a private jet directly from New York wedding to British wedding. In Shopaholic & Sister, Luke wants Becky to go on a budget. Instead, she begins selling truckloads of honeymoon souvenirs on E-Bay to fund her luxurious lifestyle. In Mini-Shopaholic, Becky is trying not to spend much money, but buys loads of things from the dollar store and clothes of any and all sizes for her two year old daughter, while planning a surprise birthday party for 200 people for her husband. She gets into a mess and is bouncing all of her credit cards and unable to pay for the event, until Luke's estranged mother comes into the picture, pays for and helps organize the party-an unbelievably lavish event.

Now, I realize that these books and their outlandish situations are not to be taken too seriously. The tangle of problems that Becky winds up with can be funny. I've read all of them, so obviously I find them entertaining and the main character usually has good intentions (apart from the self-obsessed shopping) throughout these wild scenarios. Becky is warm and caring, loves her friends and family, and is usually in these tough spots because she's trying to please everyone at once. The problem that I have with her is her lack of integrity and the constant lying. She lies to her friends, her husband, complete strangers, her parents...the lies multiply as the stories go on, until Becky is caught in the lie or manipulates her way out and covers the lies. Interestingly, the movie ends with a better message than most of the books. The character owns up to her deceit and finds help for her shopping addiction.

These books are an odd mix of foolish fun and cuteness, but are sadly lacking in 'moral of the story.' I'm not sure if I'll read a 7th book, but heroine Becky is adorable and it would be hard not to know what comical mistakes she will make next in her quest for happiness and shoes.

WEG

             So, this weekend, I went to watch the cross country event at the World Equestrian Games with my Mom and some friends. The weather was gorgeous, really chilly in the morning but sunny and 70's with a cool breeze in the afternoon. I love the fall! There are about 25 jumps and they were all spread out across the Horse Park. We didn't see all of them, but it was neat to be in an area where there were 2 or 3 in a row. Like this:

            I always forget how amazing and beautiful and huge horses are, even though we had them and rode all growing up. Made me miss it! Although not the mucking stalls or breaking ice on water buckets on frigid winter mornings...

and he's gone...

              You can't even imagine how impressive these horses are, and they have to be really tall and in amazing shape because the course is soo long and challenging. Some of the jumps were like 4-5 feet wide. Like this one...

Craziness... this one was taken by a friend that came with us.

 Here's the same jump and horse taken by me, can you even imagine?

What if he didn't have enough momentum?!?

                 The jumps were all named after Kentucky places or things you might find on a farm or in nature. The long series of pics at the top is Fort Boonesborough, the one above is Hayfeeders and the one below....I don't know the name, but I'd definately expect to find it in nature.

I think that might have been the squirrel that destroyed our beautiful pumpkins. (more on that later!)

                  It was really interesting to see all the horse people from different countries and the wide array of clothing. There were people in athletic gear (like running tops, shoes and stretch pants--probably Americans). There were people like us in jeans and medium dressy shirts and comfy shoes for walking. There were serious horse people in riding clothes, vests, boots, etc... and then there were the dressed up people--jeans with blazers (probably foreign or own a big horsefarm). It wasn 't what I expected after going to Keeneland and seeing the Derby and all that, but very fun! There was a really neat shopping area with fancy horse stuff, Kentucky crafts, food (not great) and other things. I'm totally amazed at what the organizers had to do to get ready for an event with this many spectators and competitors (horses, horse accomodations, riders, handlers, owners, trainers...). I know some people who've been planning for the past 3 or 4 years for this, they're having a party and planning a long vacation after this week!

           We had a good time watching the events and visiting with our friends. Overall a really different and fun way to enjoy the lovely fall weather!

 

 

The Kindle...

So, I already posted about my birthday, but the rest of my gift from my sweet husband came two days ago. It was a Kindle!! Ok, so I've always said I didn't want any sort of electronic reader. I'm a book purist, I love the way they feel and smell and I love reading books more than once. I love all different sizes, I feel that I should have a large copy for home reading and a tiny copy for travel reading of the things I really love-Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre are two examples. I love a good bookstore and shopping for new books is sort of like a treasure hunt to me. I would be horribly sad if one day there were no bookstores, only virtual books, or real books that you have to special order and that cost a fortune. I also don't like looking at a glowing computer or phone screen for long periods of time, it makes my eyes and head ache.

However, there are times when I wish I could travel more easily with a week's worth of reading (you can't find tiny copies of everything). I had to take 5 books with me to the beach a few weeks ago and several were hardbacks. I felt no resentment, because I heartily enjoyed them all, but it would have been trouble if we were flying. Also, I don't often use the library, which would be a smart thing, because I like to own books. This becomes a problem with limited space and when you buy things that you realize later you will never read again. I will never read the Stieg Larsson books again. They were exciting, but way too much for a second go. Now, I have two cheapo paperbacks in weird fluorescent colors (can't use them on a mantel) and one hardback, which I actually am going to return to Target, because it's in perfect shape. Don't mention it to Target, please. Those would have been great books to read on the Kindle. I'm also reading Shopaholic on the Kindle-I do not want to own those books, I probably will not want to re-read them, but they're funny, light stories that I am enjoying for now at a very discounted price.

Furthermore, the Kindle is super light (only the width of a pencil)! I can hold it in one hand while feeding the baby and not get tired (it weighs less than an ounce), not fuss with page turning, and not drop the hardback on my foot binding down, for the third time (all hypothetical of course). You can turn pages from either side, forwards and backwards, with just your thumb. This is great for me because I like to read in bed lying on one side, and I'm constantly having to flip the book back and forth to see the pages and flip my reading light as well. With a Kindle you can buy a new book anywhere there's wi-fi access. You can highlight or make notes if you're reading something for a book club or study, like I'm going to be doing with Tim Keller's Counterfeit Gods. (A book that costs $19.99 in real life, but only costs $9.99 on the Kindle).  Also, the Kindle screen looks like a printed page. It's doesn't glow or light up in the dark (so you do still need a light) and it doesn't hurt your eyes--although reading anything for 9 hours straight will strain them a bit. I've never done that...except for Harry Potter 5, 6 and 7 and maybe all the Hunger Games...ok, never mind... Also, the makers of the Kindle seem to be kind of reading purists themselves. They are not going to make the Kindle in color, or with games, or any function other than for reading. (Update: Obviously I wrote this before the newest Kindle tablet came out, color, touchscreen, games, etc...) Ok, that's all good, but...Amazon sold more books on Kindle last year than real books. I'm still not sure about the repercussions of that.

In conclusion, the Kindle has it's place. I'd rather people be reading good books than watching a billion hours of TV or Facebook stalking and looking at pictures of total strangers for hours on end. Also, there are millions of free books on Kindle, anything in public domain and written before 1923 is free. That means most of the classics and all of Jane Austen. Last time I checked, bookstores were still making you buy them. So now I can have my big copies, tiny copies, Kindle copies, and audio copies (on my phone for when I'm cleaning or driving, not a joke). I will never be without Jane Austen again!! Thank you, husband!

P.S. It stays charged for a month!

Mini Mantel Makeover

             I got the idea in my head last week to 'mini makeover' my mantel, so I finally finished yesterday. After I painted last year, I just chunked a bunch of photos up there without really thinking about it, got busy with baby stuff and never fixed it. So after looking at some inspiration photos online and of course referring to my fav home decor blog-younghouselove.com- I realized again how much I needed to do this little re-vamp. Here are a couple of befores:

No real order, too much red, even worse... boring.

So I started rounding up things from around the house: pictures, stacks of books, etc... and finished this mini-makeover for just $1.99. I bought one little thing that I couldn't resist on clearance at Cato. Let's see if you can spot it.

Those biological prints (they're actually framed pages from a neat calendar) in black frames I used to have in our bedroom until it became a nursery. The glass urn things came from TJ Max super cheap (like $5 each sometime last year when I wanted more green in our house). The frames I've had for years, they were already on the mantel (the sweet pewter one was a bridesmaid gift from Sarah!), the wooden candle holder was also a wedding gift, and there's no shortage of books in my house. I robbed the piano for that houseplant on the left--I love a fresh, green houseplant.

Oh yeah, the metal circle deal was something I got years ago on clearance at Pier 1. It's been all over the house, on the wall, propped against things, etc...

It's not perfect, but it's definately an improvement! Any guesses on what I added for $1.99? It's probably obvious since I already mentioned everything else. It's that cute, little ceramic bird. I'm not one for knick-knacks, but it's so green and was so cheap I couldn't resist.