Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Let's go to the movies: Expelled: No intelligence allowed


One word .... booorrriiinnnggg. Holy crap this movie was 1 hour and 30 minutes, but it felt like F-O-R-E-V-E-R. Ben Stein did a documentary on the debate over intelligent design and Darwinism being taught in schools and how some teachers and scientists who believe in I.D. are being black balled for it. I was anticipating being totally annoyed at the content, but I was more annoyed at the simplistic ideas and lack of passion. I am not a Michael Moore fan, but at least his stuff gets you thinking and elicits SOME sort of emotion. Bill Maher makes you think and laugh hysterically, but Ben Stein put me to sleep. If he was able to form a convincing argument I could at least respect that, but it was so watered down he appeared sort of neutral, but somehow ... not. I was impressed that he was able to talk to some pretty important people in the whole "intelligent design vs. evolution" discussion and there were some impressive graphics, but his correlation that people who believe in Darwinism are Nazis is moronic. Who really believes, that? Anyone? Anyone?

Monday, March 30, 2009

After being a parent for 6 months I have learned that ....


... in a battle of who will wear out first .... I will always loose.
... a baby will make you realize if you really are patient or not.
... terms like "late" or "early" (as in am and pm) no longer mean anything.
... I now choose what to wear based on if I care if it gets puked on or not.
... a baby will not save a marriage, but it will strengthen a strong one.
... I feel sad for people who don't get to experience a whole new type of love that only a child can teach you about.
... I want Devon to have more than I did. Definitely not less. Not the same ... but SO much more.
... a t-shirt can double as a burp cloth.
... you have to figure out your morals and values and be sure what they are because you will have to teach them some day soon.
... they DO grow up so fast.
... you learn who your true friends are.
... even though someone may have more kids than you, no one knows more about your kid than you do. Trust your instincts.
... people who offer to babysit understand that it's not just about taking care of the baby, but about taking care of Mom, too.
... babies don't really need shoes.
... I'm so glad that Joe and I went to college and can set the example that education is important.
... you can't kiss a baby too much or snuggle them too long.
... loosing "baby weight" is hard, not impossible, but not priority #1.
... the house will not always look perfect.
... being a stay at home mom is a luxury.
... Daddy does things his own way and it's a good way ... even if it's not my way ;)
... days are long, but months go by fast.
... babies are expensive!
... sending a kid off to school is sad. I always thought that it would be a nice break, but now I understand why parents cry on the first day.
... I have become a more careful driver.
... life is short, but love is forever.
... I have a really cute baby!
... having a baby is a gift.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Let's go to the movies: Yes Man


You gotta love Jim Carrey, right? He is perfect in this role of a bank loan officer whose life is in a rut after getting a divorce and stuck in a dead end job. He avoids calls from his closest friends, stays in watching movies every night, never goes out and never dates. Until he goes to a seminar where he had to say, "Yes" to anything anyone asked him to do. Can you buy me a drink? Yes. Can we take this outside. Sure! Can you throw me a bridal shower? No problem. Saying yes to everything changes his life completely and he really starts living and having adventures. Jim Carrey was totally himself .... super funny, but not Robin Williams obnoxious. He was looking a little skinny, but he will make you laugh and sometimes cringe. Zooey Deschanel was the perfect quirky leading lady and Terance Stamp stole the show as the carismatic YES MAN himself.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

6 months: Devon (March) Sitting up


All together now .... awwwwwww.

Apples and bananas



We started Devon on rice cereal when he was about 4 months old. He liked it, but probably wouldn't have minded skipping it. I gave it to him every other day and he was really catching on to the whole eating with a spoon thing. Adorable. As I mentioned in one of my recent blogs, I have been having issues with an adequate milk supply and I am taking medication to help give it a boost. It still seems to not be enough so I decided to start him on baby food in hopes that the extra food would tide him over between feedings. Again ... adorable. We started with bananas and then apples,but he clearly prefers the pears. All flavors got funny, squinty, squishy faces. Such a fun stage.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Let's go to the movies: Methadonia


I really enjoy documentaries more than movies for the most part and I thought this was going to be an intensely gripping account following 18 people on their journey off drugs through Methadone and onto recovery. It was done by HBO so it had to be good, right? I thought it was going to be shocking and edgy like a longer version of A&E's show "Intervention", but better. Boy was I wrong. This was totally boring and barely interesting. It was only and hour and a half, but it really felt longer than that. The people in the movie were colorful to say the least and I did learn that Methadone, while it helps people get off drugs is by most accounts harder to quit than drugs like heroine, meth and cocaine. I also learned that the effects of Methadone were heightened when benzodiazapines (a.k.a. "benzos") were added to the mix. The facts that they did give about drugs were very pedestrian for the most part so I would only recommend this if your knowledge on the subject is minimal. In the end all it did was make me angry at the woman who had to have her newborn baby go through detox and recovery before it could even learn to smile in her first 6 weeks of life. It made me feel bad for a few of them, happy that one made it through recovery and annoyed at the others for wasting their lives.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Let's go to the movies: Hamlet 2



This movie was hilarious. We laughed all the way through it. I think at times it was unintentionally hilarious, but we really loved it. It doesn't take itself seriously ... ever. Set in Tucson Arizona (of all random places) a high school drama teacher is in jeopardy of having the drama program cancelled forever due to lack of funding. In an attempt to raise money to keep the program alive he uses his students to act in a play he wrote. His greatest work ... Hamlet 2. I know in Hamlet all the characters die in the end, but he brings them back and it is super entertaining. I have honestly never heard of Steve Coogan, but he is amazing. He plays the high school teacher and steals the show with his wide range of intense emotions, comedic facial expression and three scenes that involve his bare bum. It doesn't sound funny, but trust me it is. Elizabeth Shue played herself as a nurse who gave up acting and was a great addition to this movie. She is still beautiful and was able to poke a little fun at herself and it was fantastic. You forget that she was in Leaving Las Vega, Karate Kid (my personal favorite) and Adventures in Babysitting to name a few. David Arquette had a small role as did Amy Poeler. I would definitely recommend this to someone who likes their movies a little irreverent and silly, but brilliant at the same time. My only complaint is that even though the movie was set in Tucson, it was not actually filmed here. It was shot in New Mexico. Lame. I guess Tucson was too expensive and New Mexico gives better tax rebates. This movies was made for $8 million, but with the tax rebate they made it for $6.6 million. They took a couple of cheap shots at my sweet little city (the last line in the movie was,"No matter where you go in life after this, it will always be better than Tucson." It was actually funny ... in a sad way of course), but I forgive them. Rock me, rock me, rock me sexy Jesus!

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Iron maiden


It is pretty safe to say that I hate doing laundry. I should say that I used to hate doing laundry. I know that this declaration does not make me unique in the world of stay-at-home mom's, but there it is. I probably hate it most because I feel the compulsion to iron everything before I put it away which adds hours of work to a relatively quick wash/fold/put away process. I don't fold ... I iron or steam. I have been dubbed the "Iron Maiden" when up to my eyeballs in baskets of wrinkly whites, lights and darks. Yes I iron jeans, t-shirts and pillow cases and no, I'm not coming over to do yours. I don't iron baby clothes, but I would if a collar was "too crinkly".

Like I said ... I used to hate doing laundry.*



Until I pulled my husband's warm clothes out of the dryer. I realized that this particular load of laundry contained all the clothes he wore to work for the week. All the tireless hours he spent going from one job site to the next, meeting with clients, doing the marketing and web design. These were the clothes he wore when he got up early and worked late. These were all the clothes that he wore to work so I could stay home and raise our son. These were all the clothes he wore working to take care of our family and secure our future.

Like I said ... I used to hate doing laundry.


Until a few days later when I pulled a load of warm baby clothes from the dryer. Tiny socks, onesies, footy pajamas and blankets came spilling out and suddenly I was grateful. Grateful for the baby that I wanted more than anything else in the world and that I get to take care of everyday. And let's face it, sometimes he takes care of me. Grateful that he is healthy and thriving. Grateful that I get to see all his firsts. Grateful that I get to be his Mom and do his laundry.



* The picture of Joe and I is from prom 1996 our first official date.

Friday, March 6, 2009

5 months + 5 days = sleeping through the night: Devon (February)


We have arrived. Devon is sleeping through the night ... at least I hope last night was the beginning of a beautiful nightly tradition. The night before last he slept from 8:30 pm until 6:30 am, got up to feed, then back to sleep until his usual get up time at 8:30. Last night he went to sleep at 8:30pm and I basically had to wake him up at 8:30 am! He was laying in his crib doing that creepy eyes-half-open thing and I just said, "Good morning" and he came out of that all smiles and coos. Things are looking up!

On a related, but different baby topic this is for all the nursing mothers out there. I know that "generally speaking" it is pretty easy to nurse. If they latch on, get in the right position, you eat properly, drink plenty of water, and nurse often then there should be plenty of milk. This has not been that case with me. About a month ago I noticed that Devon was pretty fussy after a feeding and seemed like he was still hungry. He was agitated most of the day and wasn't napping well. He was eating every hour to hour and a half and my body can't make milk that fast. 2 weeks ago he was particularly cranky and wasn't calming down and in spite of our best efforts Joe finally asked me if he could make the baby a bottle. I sighed a heavy sigh of defeat and gave him a bottle of formula. Not only did he inhale it he was happy, cooing and even laughing afterwards. We both noticed that in the last few weeks he wasn't cooing at all so it was nice to hear his little voice again. For the next few days I was struggling with the decision of switching to formula (which I was giving him at every feeding) and pumping what I could. I would pump every 4 hours and get only drops or nothing at all so I knew there wasn't enough for him to nurse. I know that Mama's milk is best so I gave it one last shot and called my doctor. I heard there was a pill that was available to help increase the milk supply. It is often given to mothers with a low milk supply, adoptive mothers who want to nurse and has even been shown to induce lactation in men! Wouldn't that be nice. I figured that if the pill didn't work that I could definitely say that I tried my best before switching to formula. Well ... it worked. "They" say that it should take 2 weeks to kick in, but it is already working for me and though he isn't totally off formula it is no longer the main event. At the end of the day you have to decide what is best for you and your baby and sometimes fighting to get them to nurse is not worth it. If your body isn't making enough milk then you have to make sure that your baby is getting the proper nutrition weather it comes from the breast or the bottle. But for those of you who are committed to it, and think that you can make it work then there are things out there that can help.

P.S. On a side note the pill does make me very, very drowsy which is a very common side effect.