Growing Up Hertz

Camera Giveaway

2010-03-02T14:13:00.000-08:00

Okay, so this makes my headspin... Epiphanie, who already make the best camera bags ever... is giving away the camera we're saving up for. This would be so amazing to win, so I'm definitely playing along as much as I can. I'd tell you to play along too... but you'd hurt my chances of winning, LOL.

sigh.

Okay, seriously, you should play. But if you win... free photoshoots for life if you give me the camera. ;)
haveanepiphanie.com

And the name is...

2010-01-11T01:29:00.000-08:00

This is the name I'm shooting under. <3 <3

I'm pretty excited.

But it doesn't take much these days.

Little Mister

2009-12-27T15:28:00.000-08:00

So my FB friend, Stephanie, and I finally met for the first time today so I could take some pics of her son, D... he was so adorable, he's almost 2 and I had to chase him most of the morning, but it was well worth it, he's a real stunner, and his mama ain't half bad, either.

Missy Pants

2009-12-26T22:02:00.000-08:00

I'm not done adding pics to the other shoots, but thought I'd share this shoot I did today of little Miss G. She's the daughter of our friends, and my son's future wife. <3 <3

Sisters

2009-12-21T20:29:00.000-08:00

I also got to shoot my friend Nicole's gorgeous daughters! These two were so adorable, I was so sad that little R wanted nothing to do with me or my camera that day... I vow I shall win that little peanut over. I'll be adding to these posts as I edit, so keep checking back, girlies!!

The Wright Brothers

2009-12-21T16:21:00.000-08:00

I also got to photograph these 3 little dudes, too. I'll be adding more to this post as I edit some goodies.

This is B, he was the sweetest little hammy, don't you think??

Here's big brother, A, he had so much energy, I'm completely sore today from chasing after him!

And this is baby brother, C, he was so sweet, I wanted to stick him in my pocket and take him home.

This is right after little C went into the drink, poor little bugga was so cold... it's a great pic of A and B... poor baby C!

I'll be adding a few more from the Baby A shoot today

2009-12-21T10:42:00.001-08:00

So Tired.

2009-12-20T18:18:00.000-08:00

So we took the boys to see Santa today... it was traumatizing.

But I did have a super fun day shooting some of my friends' gorgeous kiddos... I know they're going a little stir crazy to see their proofs... and I can't resist to post a sneak peek.

This is Baby A, doesn't she have the most gorgeous eyes?! She was so sweet and docile for this shoot, so easy.

My Gosh

2009-11-13T14:02:00.000-08:00

That was a big pain in the patoot. I'm all set up with my new duds now.

I promise to be a better mommy and post more often. It's been a rough day... they got up at quarter to six this morning and have definitely been acting like that. They were both done with their naps before noon.

Having Bloggity Issues

2009-11-13T13:36:00.001-08:00

... please stand by.

Just one of those days

2009-09-03T13:58:00.000-07:00

Sittin' around. I hate The Fresh Beat Band they creep me out... they never stop smiling, it looks like their faces are gonna break. They're horrific.

I'll be back with more later, maybe...

Some Pics From The Park

2009-08-31T20:25:00.000-07:00

So, Josh stayed home and telecommuted today, and Yorick actually took an early nap (11:30am!!), so when he got up, I decided to take them on a walk to the park that is a few blocks away. This never ever seems as far as it ends up feeling!

He pointed out all the colors he saw along the way, and even started yelling "OCKA-GON! OCKA-GON!" and when I looked to see what he was pointing at... it was a window... in the shape of an octagon. Sometimes he surprises the hell out of me.

So me and the boys hung out at the park today, here's the photo essay:

He was so proud that he balanced this ball on the see saw.

And then he watched with dismay as it rolled off, he had hoped it would stay.

He's naming the colors of the climbing pegs as he goes up, lol.

Never wants to be left behind...

I kept making him run back and fetch his hat.

Phin feeling ambitious.

Mmmm, bowl of wood chips.

He ended up with the hat for awhile.

Looking bored as per his usual... the swings just aren't the stuff.

Yorick looking amused as per his usual.

I always earn myself a flower somehow.

Imaginary boo-boo, we're too much alike, it's so scary.

Phin making a break for it, while I was occupied with Yorick's hypochondria.

And then he got distracted by dandelions. I mean... who doesn't?

This park can be sooo pretty for pictures.

My little sandeater.

So, I figured out the best way home without a tantrum (Yorick would never ever want to leave) and yes, I played into his hypochondria, I'm a terrible parent. He skinned his knee, and knowing his love for bandaids, I told him we needed to get him immediately to bandage that up. Omg, he totally hopped in the stroller, ready to hit the Bactine.

And my favorite picture...

Phin demonstrating how we'll kill the shark.

Day Out

2009-08-30T21:05:00.000-07:00

It was cooler today and I was SICK OF THE HOUSE. So, at 10am we packed the boys up and our intention was to just go to the park and come back. We ended up at Lincoln Glen park in Willow Glen and I'm hesitant to rave out about this park, because I don't want it overrun!! LOL

We didn't play in the playground part today, we just played with the water feature. Yorick, of course, dove right in. There weren't any big kids hogging the water feature today, so it was AWESOME.

Phin was a little hesitant as per his usual, and since he had just woke up, he clung to daddy for a bit.

Seeing all the crazy fun his brother was having

encouraged him a little...

still warming to the idea...

and then there were girls...

I swear, I've been bitching and moaning about this photo all day... Yorick went in to hug Phin and I prematurely shot off and he hugged his brother while my camera was "thinking about" that last photo and I missed it entirely and, sure enough, there was no way Yorick was hugging his brother again.

Daddy had to constantly block Phin's escape...

Yes, ladies, that's Josh's new Billy Mays' beard. RIP Billy.

And then, of course, Daddy couldn't stand it any longer and he had to jump into the fun.

Some other interesting/cute shots I got:

So after that, the kids were tuckered out and actually were a little cold, also Phin slipped and hit his head on the concrete, he was fine, but the party was definitely over. We got in the car and I realized we were going home and I realized I was up for an adventure (after all, I had pigtails in today, dammit) and it seemed Josh was up for one and he said, "Where to?" and I said the first thing that came to mind, since i still hadn't seen it, and said, "Berkeley."

So... off to Berkeley then. We ate lunch at the most bizarre, unwelcoming Jack in the Box in the world. It had two booths, several high bar tables, 3 two person tables, so... right off the bat, not exactly family friendly. One of the booths was a handicap booth, which is the one we had to sit in because some guy was sitting in the only other regular booth with his newspaper spread all out. So we wheeled the boys up in high chairs to the other side of us (since it was a handicap booth, there was only one side with a bench). Nobody takes your order, it's an automated kiosk that takes it and it was the approximately the same temperature as Alaska in February. It was horrendous. Next time, we'll be more adventurous and pick a mom and pop stop.

We discovered our path to the university was blocked off by a massive Farmers Market which Josh deftly avoided by distracting me with pretty houses (I think he was afraid he would take it in the pocketbook if he let me out of the car at a Farmer's Market, and he was right, I was itching to get out). So we drove around the hills surrounding the University and happened upon this RAD park. So we got out to play.

First of all... it's a three story park... the parking lot level has an enclosed toddler area with all kinds of sand toys, a small playscape, some kiddo swings, and a train to play on. Then you go down the hill to the lower level, where there's a big kid playset with a hot to trot slide and a sand pit. And then the lowest level there are bathrooms and a sports field.

And the view... was amazing, this is from the toddler tier, the top level, from the top of their playscape:

This never happened to Fred Flintstone...

And oh yeah, ladies, he's allll mine...

And.... that was our day. Phew.

Thanks for looking!

So. Hot.

2009-08-29T17:33:00.000-07:00

It's so hot, it's not "SoCal" hot, but it's still "97 degrees living upstairs with no air conditioning" hot. We even decided it was way too hot to go to the park. Our freezer is super lame, so it doesn't make ice very fast and all of the popsicles are mushy. Speaking of popsicles, I made the living room a cave and gave the kids popsicles in the dark today, lol... so last time my pic was of Yorick, so today, it's of Phin.

It was his first time getting a whole popsicle to himself, he was super happy about it. (Not "Yorick" happy, but "Understated Phin" happy.)

Not Model Behavior

2009-08-28T01:04:00.001-07:00

So, you ever get a kit that you just need to set up a photo op for?

Well this morning I wanted to scrap a picture of how toothbrush obsessed these two boys are... but... I had no pictures of them being said obsessed.

So I take them in the bathroom, Phin crawls on top of the toilet and stands up on the toilet lid, ready to go, but Yorick was being uncooperative, so while I'm getting the flash and toothbrushes ready, I put him up on the toilet, too...

What does he do? He immediately pushes Phin off the toilet, where he faceplants on the linoleum and immediately starts howling. I call for Josh to help wrangle the kids because at this point, even though I've jammed toothbrushes in their mouths, they've oddly decided that this isn't fun anymore, mommy is acting like a crazy person and they want to neither stand anywhere near each other, but Yorick is so mad, he's now refusing to face the camera and he's shrieking NO NO NO NO NO, all the while, Josh is sitting on the toilet trying to get the kids to just stand together for a sec with their toothbrushes.

No, not happening, so I've got Phin crying because his face hurts, and Yorick screaming NO NO NO NO and trying to scramble into the bathtub and refuses to even hold the toothbrush at this point and I say Fuck It, and just take a damn picture while at lease ONE of them is holding the toothbrush...

and

and

and

this is what I got:

He looks like an abused orphan.

I Wuh You... Too.

2009-08-27T23:50:00.000-07:00

So, today, Josh stayed home because I had a playdate with the boys at Fremont Park. Phin fell asleep for the playdate, so I left him home with Daddy and me and Yorick went to the park ourselves.

The parking was atrocious, I don't know if they were hosting free bingo at the Senior Center next to the park, or what, but I had to drive around the block a few times just to find some street parking. Yorick is always so hyped up to see "FRENNNNNNNS" all the way there, and then we get there, and he really doesn't play with the other kids. This bothers me so much, he has a brother, he should be used to playing with other kids by now. All he likes to do is take their toys and hoard them.

M was there with her two kids, T, who is about 6 months older than Yorick and J, who is about 3 or 4 months younger than Phin. T and Yorick ended up fighting over a plane and helicopter that was another kids' altogether. This was the same park that Yorick coveted a Thomas the Train spoon that was being used to feed an infant and he had to be carried kicking and screaming to the car because he couldn't have it, so, already, I have bad feeling about Fremont "Free Bingo" Park.

We went and got his Lightning McQueen ball, which I thought would chill him out, but he latched on to two tiny balls, a soccer ball and a football, and he hid up in the playscape with them when he saw N (the balls' mommy) looking for them. He apparently told her "NO" and played keep away when she requested he return them so she could leave. She actually sent me after the balls and, while I took the McQueen ball to compensate, a shrieking fit definitely occurred. So, I told him we were going to pack up and leave, after we had been there for about an hour and fifteen minutes, which seems to be my limit, we always seem to start to leave right at the 75 minute mark, ha. He wanted to go on the swing, so I relented and let him swing, but I made him go too high and he wanted "DOWN" pretty quick.

Leaving was... spectacular. I had everything packed up, gave him something to do ("can you push/carry/kick/throw your dirt truck allllll the way to the car??"), promised him Da-Da and a sandwich if he'd just get in the car, but no... meltdown-o-rama ensued. What the hell must these other mothers think of me?? Their kids certainly don't do this... and 8 times out of 10 playdates, I have to carry a shrieking, kicking Yorick all the way to the car. It's completely humiliating.

We got to the car, he wanted to play with the steering wheel, I let him while I packed up the trunk, and apparently we were friends again over this. He even hopped into his carseat and let me strap him in for it and LO AND BEHOLD, I EVEN GOT THE HOLY FRICKIN GRAIL...

I said, "Kiss?"
And he KISSED me!!! I couldn't believe it!! Those are rarities in this house. Usually, I get, "NOOOOO" and the avoiding head twist.

His nap was oddly short after we got home.

Putting him to bed tonight during me and Josh's nightly NYE-NYE Waltz was actually sweet. He requested a baba refill and I said, "What do you say?"

And he replied with, "I wuh you...

too."

**thud**

Some Days Suck

2009-08-26T15:03:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I know I should be happy that Y's so independent, but it never works out well when I'm trying to get him to nap... and not wake up his brother with his vehement (re: shrieking) refusals to stay in his room. It's really frustrating, all I get are two crying children when this happens and no break.

No. Break.

Motherhood is sometimes such teh suck.

Random pic from today:

We're Back!

2009-08-26T13:17:00.000-07:00

So... I have a new site, dedicated mainly to the troublemakers.

I'll be back in a couple of hours with some updated pics of said troublemakers.
Phin is a big big boy now!

Carrots

2009-01-26T08:46:00.000-08:00

Phin has started solids and he's not a veggie fan, he must get that from me. I can't believe my littlest guy wants his own spoon and everything. I'll post more pics later, but I'll leave you with Carrotface.

To The Park!

2009-01-12T14:36:00.000-08:00

So, yesterday we took a trek to a park that was much farther than it looked on the map. I got blisters and pictures. Yorick loves being outside so much, I can't wait until we can get a place with a yard... I'll only see him for lunches and naps at that point.

Stupid cat

2009-01-11T00:05:00.000-08:00

If anyone feels they can't live another second without this cat... email me.
It's definitely doable.

Sitting.

2009-01-09T15:25:00.000-08:00

One doesn't think of how to sit very often. It just comes natural.
Kind of mundane. It's something I do more than anything else, lol.
Everyone does it, it's no big deal.
But... for some people... they're just learning to sit.

And then it becomes amazing.

and

NOM NOM NOM

Window Bunny

2009-01-08T12:54:00.000-08:00

So, I've been having so much trouble grasping "exposure"... it was constantly eluding me... I have been trying and trying and have been getting nothing but blur on my manual settings.

Until today.

My first pic on manual and taken in raw format.

This was taken in the window after his meanie big brother flipped him over on his back again.

Impatient

2009-01-07T00:03:00.000-08:00

I think one of my biggest problems is impatience. I'm so impatient to learn everything I can, I'm impatient to move back down to Southern California, I'm impatient to start doing stuff, yet... I get so easily distracted that it takes everything 3 times longer than it should.

Like... my camera... I should just be reading and playing with it as much as I can because I want to be more knowledgeable in photography, but I get so caught up looking at other people's pretty pictures (granted, that's how I learn composition), that I totally screw off playing with my camera and learning.

I want my house clean... but I'm so impatient about it, like I don't work fast enough for myself. I get distracted doing stuff like... oh! An empty frame, I'll go and edit and print a photo and fill it and put it away. Now it looks lonely, it needs more... and then where I'm supposed to be cleaning the house... I'm suddenly swept up in this picture printing and matting and framing project that looks freakin' great when it's done, but holy crap, there's still spaghetti in the carpet.

Sorry... this is just me going on some weird tangent. I want so much to move back down near my friends and start a business and be... well, settled... it's this in between part that just KILLS me.

I hate being so impatient.

And I wish I was a faster learner... or no...

I wish I were more disciplined. Yep. That's totally freakin' it.

Phin Phineas

2009-01-06T15:44:00.000-08:00

Phin Phineas

Phin Phin Phi-ree

When you're with a baby

You're in glad company....

I sing this to him all the time.

Josh thinks I'm off my nut.

My New Lens

2008-12-23T13:26:00.000-08:00

I have the most awesome man in the world. He just got me the 50mm lens I wanted for Christmas. I'm so retardedly lucky.

Anyway, here's a couple of quick shots I took with it, still getting used to the fixed lens, but it's spectacular and I'm in deep love.

Christmas Gift for my Scrappy Friends!

2008-12-22T16:17:00.000-08:00

Okay, so as a Christmas gift for my scrappin' friends, I have made a 5x7 card sized collage for all of those awesome Christmas pics you'll be taking, just think what cute Thank You notes you can make!!

Here is an example of my New Year's Card made with the template.

This is for Photoshop, dudettes. Click here to download!

TEMPLATE

My Boys

2008-12-21T23:10:00.000-08:00

So, I was going to take Yorick to the park today to get some cute pics since I'm so annoyed with the very expensive, very ugly Santa pic that we had done yesterday... but it rained and rained all day.

So while Yorick was napping, I took some shots of Phineas by the window and then Yorick got up and joined in. His face looks like that because he fell asleep on the carpet in his room. ;)

and yes, they're the same pics as on my facebook, I just like sharing, okay?

Why So Serious?

2008-12-17T10:45:00.000-08:00

Monsterkid got into Mommy's lipstick today.

The world's biggest mess ensued.

Awesome.

Today

2008-12-11T13:19:00.000-08:00

Long time no blog!! I know, I know, I suck.

The holidays have me really down. And not for the reasons you might think (or maybe they are the reasons you think)... I really like doing stuff for my friends during the holidays, baking, entertaining, etc and being so far away from home, this makes it nearly impossible. I just want to be settled so much, Josh has always felt like home to me from the moment he kissed me, but being so far from Orange County has made me really homesick. I'd really like to find a cute little house to fix up and call our own and money sucks right now.

I love giving stuff for the holidays and money is so tight right now that it's making it nearly impossible and this just... makes me depressed and a little crazy. Being a Sahm is rewarding in it's very special and unique way, but it wreaks havoc on our bank account.

Hopefully I'll just keep learning about my gorgeous hobby and maybe, maybe maybe we'll make a little extra income from it in the near future.

I've been sifting through some professional photography sites and it makes me cringe just thinking about posting my stuff, but I have to show off my beautiful boys somehow!! This is some shots from this morning that I took:

TFL!! We'll be down in SoCal on the 23rd or 24th and we'll likely stay until probably the 29th? I'll see you guys then!!

Dear Adam and Josh,

2008-10-27T12:59:00.000-07:00

I can has two boyfriends?

Kthnxbai.

I've been a bad blogger...

2008-10-27T09:45:00.000-07:00

So these are at least a couple of weeks old, but I thought I'd share anyway... and then later I'll put up some pics of our Pumpkin Patch adventure at Casa de Fruta this weekend.

Our birdie nest

2008-10-23T13:30:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd share a pic of our nest... we put the crib in our room to make more room for the kids... but neither of them will sleep in there, still, they both want on our bed. But how cute is it?

Photos...

2008-10-20T11:20:00.000-07:00

I'll be adding photos here throughout the day... <3>

Josh, the Barker and Adam, the Jester

Adam as Our Scary Jester

Dayna, our Gypsy/Hootch Fill-In

Dayna and Jess, Our Gypsies

Gina and Troy, Our Popcorn Carnies

Jason as our Birthing Man Sideshow Freak

My Slightly Unbalanced Twin with the Bearded Lady

Our Favorite Emo Rap Group, Closed Heart Surgery (Suman and Sanjay), as our very Emo Circus Monkeys

It's The Lynds and Kristen! Our Magician and Snake Charmer...

Meesh the Magnificent, one of our Magicians

Captain Spaulding always good for beer and chicken

The Barker and his Doll

Team DizDine, please don't ever ask us about Character Dining.

Miss Lynds and Me

Halloween Party

2008-10-20T09:22:00.000-07:00

Thanks so much everyone who came and made our Halloween party so successful!!! We'll definitely be doing a theme every year from now on, we had a great time! It was a huge hit and we're tired, but happy girls.

Keep checking the blog for the next couple of days as I add pics and I'll have links to my file as soon as I'm done editing. (the light was a little too low, so most of the pics are a little blurry, but we'll see what I can do!)

Later, boobs.

Bryn

Smiley Phin

2008-10-07T13:40:00.000-07:00

Look at all the squishy goodness I have around here:

I'm also taking part in a Skinny Jeans challenge and failing miserably.

Like EPIC FAIL.

That is all.

Oh.

AND We get our Bags of Crap from Woot! Tomorrow!!! We're so excited!!! (we as in Josh and I... I haven't started talking like Queen Victoria or Golem, I promise)

Phin's 3 month Pics

2008-09-30T19:01:00.000-07:00

One Week

1 Month

2 months

3 Months!

Awwww!!! How cute is my little tubber? (He refused to smile)

On the funny side, Josh took Yorick to Gymboree today, thinking it was Wednesday. He went through the whole class and when he came home, he told me today was much louder and more rowdy than usual.

He took Yorick to an older class! LOL

It was Level 5 class and Yorick is with littler kids in a Level 4 class!!

I thought it was adorable, he said Yorick ran amuck with the rest of them.

I don't think he realized it was Tues until he got to work.

Twilight Zone

2008-09-27T21:50:00.000-07:00

So, I didn't get nearly enough sleep last night, and neither did Josh. Some server broke on him around 3:30am, so he was up until like 5 fixing it and then Yorick got up at 6 something. I don't know, some devil's hour...

It was a pretty crabby house all day around here. So we were watching Sahara, and Yorick turned it off, because that's what he does when we're watching movies, and I kind of fell asleep on the couch...maybe 5:30-ish. Phin started fussing so we went and laid down on the bed and Josh took Yorick out for a walk. I swear, it was only for a minute.

When I woke up... it was all weird, everyone was in bed, it was dark, and it was 8:30.

Uggh, I hate that... now my internal clock is all cracked out.

Some pics from yesterday:

Peace out, boobs.

Heroes Tonight!!!

2008-09-22T16:58:00.000-07:00

**bounce bounce bounce**
We will be missing the hour long recap, however, as we have Sarah Conner Chronicles to watch. SCC is a decent show, it shouldn't get bumped for stuff we already know. ;)

We didn't do too much this weekend, we went to Ikea for desk legs, that was pretty exciting.

Why did we need desk legs, you ask?? I'm so happy to tell you that it looks like Josh will start working from home soon!! We needed to set up a desk in the boys' room for him to work at. Yay!!

Some pics:

Yorick vs Phin

Feeling Caffeinated

2008-09-17T14:07:00.000-07:00

That's right, bitches, I still drink caffeine and nurse... sometimes at the same frickin' time.

So what is it that Yorick sees something, he must topple it over, doesn't matter what it is. We hear resounding crashes all day long coming from whatever room he happens to be occupying at the time. My mother's precognition (you have instinct, I have precognition, I'm so much better), my mother's precognition tells me he's going to topple the swing with Phin in it one day when I leave for, like, a second to grab a paper towel or something.

Random thoughts about things I love right now...

I love

Burn Notice

Life on Mars - the BBC version (Josh thought I should specify)

Fringe

Pumpkin Cheesecake ice cream from Ben and Jerry's

artichokes

my sons' doctor

the fact that my boyfriend dreamt about World of Warcraft last night

Bessie Higgenbottom

my toddler's babbles

Lightroom 2

Here's what we're doing right now:

Just chillin' like villains, foo'.

Muir Woods

2008-09-15T10:32:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went just north of SF and visited Muir Woods. I don't think I've ever seen so many redwoods before, so it was really neat. As most of you know, I loathe being outdoors, so this was the perfect forest for me to visit... it had paved paths. hahhahaha

There wasn't any pooping incidents (thankfully), but Phin did have a complete meltdown. It's so nerve rattling when your child won't stop crying his head off. I ended up putting him in my moby wrap for awhile, then he slept in the stroller, and then he woke up too fussy again and Daddy ended up bjorning him for the walk back. We pretty much walked 3 or 4 miles... so I'm pretty sore today (I'm absolutely not used to any kind of physical activity, so it was good for me, but, ughhh)

Here are some pics of our trip:

Random cute chick I tried to catch

My first trip on the Golden Gate Bridge

and showin' off my photog skillz on this pic

Yorick being cute in the backseat

Fallen tree

I couldn't believe how dark it was under the canopy

Yorick loved this branch so much

silly daddy

Yorick kept trying to tickle people's butts with the branch

As usual, thanks for lookin', boobs.

Peace.

My Book And Tummy Time

2008-09-11T16:54:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to get the last finished version of my book up online for those of you who expressed an interest in reading it. I'll let you know when it's done.

If anyone out there wants to watch 6 whole minutes of tummy time... knock yourselves out.

Back on the Air

2008-09-10T13:52:00.000-07:00

Sorry! We didn't do anything last weekend except the EXTREMELY tedious task of deflea-ing our home. One more reason for me to hate that cat. I don't even know how we got fleas, he's an indoor cat. Anybody want a very needy, stupid cat who still thinks he's a ferret? I'm not kidding. I'll ship him anywhere in the country. Just let me know.

Anyways. Josh found the charger for the video camera... so I have a couple of clips of the boys here for you.

Phin Growed.

2008-08-31T23:33:00.000-07:00

One Week:

2 months:

Crazy, right?
L8r, boobs.

Children's Fairyland and the Continuing Adventures of PooButt

2008-08-31T11:01:00.000-07:00

So...
Yesterday I thought, "Hey. Let's drive up to Oakland and take the kids to Children's Fairyland." Children's Fairyland is what Walt based Disneyland on after taking his girls there in the very early '50's. It looks like it hasn't changed a whit since then, either.

Okay, so those of you who don't know, my 2-month old poops once a week. He's decided that this should be our Family Fun Day, since it obviously adds so much to the Fun, so... it's Saturdays for him and his colon to get together.

I was... sliiiiiightly prepared for this, should it happen again. Well, better prepared than last time, which isn't saying much.

We pull up to Children's Fairyland, pay for parking to a guy I suspect was a bum who found the parking attendant's vest in the trash, and drive quite far from Fairyland to park. We get out of the car and I go to lift Phineas out of his carseat, where he's sitting in a mustard pool of poo. And quite angry about it.

I do my panic dance and hand him off to Josh, who for all of his Eagle Scout training, always looks like he wishes he could do the panic dance as well. Let's see, did I forget the changing pad again? Check. Looks like Phin is getting laid out on Daddy's BlizzCon shirt on the front seat. I remembered a onesie that fit this time, and expressed my lament that he would not be wearing the adorable onesie I had picked out for the park. =( (It had a rhino and said "Here Comes Trouble")

It was all great and terrible, and Josh had recently cleaned the car out, so there were no trash bags in there for the poo and three thousand wipes we went through trying to clean up our youngest. I grabbed an old baggie of Cheerios and stuffed the diaper and wipes in there and set about cleaning out the cesspool that sat in the carseat.

All the while, families are pushing strollers of bright, clean, happy children past our stinkfest and looking on with disgust. Why does this always have to happen to us?

Well, we managed, with minimal damage, I'm just going to be a little more prepared for next Saturday. I know what's coming now. ::glare::

And, as usual, here are my pics of our Family Fun Day!

I can't even remember what he was crying about now.

Josh summing it all up.

Thank you, Mafia!

Again, with the crying.

Can you believe how much they look alike??

Refreshment break.

This was hilarious...

Daddy lost in the card maze.

I was sad Yorick didn't lose his shit like Damian when we took him into the little chapel.

Playing with the creepy garden dolls. I love these pics.

Just to prove we didn't leave Phin and his poopy butt in the car.

This didn't last, he popped out the paci and started screaming like a second later.

Momma and Yorick by the play ship.

Check out my adventuring boy...

He climbed up six feet!! What the hell??

Okay, boobs, thanks for lookin'.
Peace out.

Phin went swimmin' today!!

2008-08-29T18:28:00.000-07:00

He was largely indifferent, but liked it better than most other things. Look how serious and grumpy he is. He's like that 100% of the time.

I still have to take his 2 month pics... dammit.

We had a fun weekend (metric ton of pics)

2008-08-24T20:33:00.000-07:00

First up, Josh got a promotion! Yay!!! (My foxy boy is so useful...) This means he got he the position he originally applied for! And that means he might get to telecommute and we can move back home!! Home home home!!!

So, as a present to himself, he bought an iPhone. He loves it. He can't put it down. It's quite hazardous, actually.

So, he wanted to try out the GPS on it, and insisted we take a road trip with the boys. We went to the Santa Cruz Boardwalk, because I've been bugging him that I wanted to see it. It's free admission with the added bonus of carny food. (Ridiculously overpriced carny food)

Here are some pics of our trip:

Pic with the iPhone

I took this one for Shosh:

Phin slept the whole time we were there.
He woke once to eat while we were having lunch, but then went right back down.

Yes, I partook in deepfried fat on a stick.
It was deelishus.

In case you thought I was kidding:

When we were done, Josh decided, "Hey, we haven't used our GPS nearly enough, we should go to Half Moon Bay. So we drove out to Half Moon Bay. On the way there, we saw this gorgeous lighthouse and hostel.

and yes, I am sad that we whipped past the Hostel sign to soon for me to get a pic of it. C'mon... Hostel, you guys know my horror fetish.

Okay, now is where you get to laugh. So about halfway to Half Moon Bay, Phin starts howling in his carseat. Well, Phin howls a lot. He's a high needs baby. So I sat there trying to put his pacifier back in his mouth. It wasn't working. He was really upset. So I told Josh he needed to pull over so we could check him. We pull over to the side of the road, and I get out, thinking I'll just nurse him a bit and we can get back on the road.

I reach down to pull him out... and he has crapped all up his side and out his diaper and it's... it's... EVERYWHERE!!! Poor little guy, he was completely traumatized by this sudden overabundance of shit. So, Josh, your hero and mine, set to cleaning him up. He was in poo up to his elbows. Serious business.

At one point, Josh actually said, "It's like he'll never be clean again!!" We had to take his onesie off via the neckhole, resulting in poo all over my little guys head, too. He was a mess. We had to toss the onesie, it was a casualty of war. The only other onesie I had in my bag was preemie sized, so Phin got a muscle shirt. (He's a little tub monster)

So I didn't take pictures of him getting his butt cleaned on the side of the road. You are spared that, but here's a pretty pic of me Josh took while I fed Phin:

We actually drove through San Francisco and then back to San Jose. I'd never been to San Francisco before, but it was getting dark, and we just drove around a bit so I could see it a little. It's very pretty, I wish it weren't so expensive.

That was yesterday. Today we went to Round Table for lunch and let Yorick go nuts in the kids area. It was really cute.

If anyone speaks Chinese, could you tell me what (sounds like)"Shey, shey" means? Two little Chinese kids were pointing at me and saying that today at Round Table. Like they were calling me that. I'm sure the word starts with an "x" but I haven't the foggiest how to spell it to look it up.

Here are some pics of the kid monster at Round Table, but they're all from the iPhone, so I can't vouch for the quality. (yeah, right, it's awesome, I hate Josh so much. I covet his iPhone)

And then Josh took Yorick swimming. Yorick had such a freakin' blast. Here are some pics of that.

So yeah, picture perfect weekend. I love my guys, they're the best.

I'll write more in a bit and promise to post more pics of Phin, I took some, they just don't go in our "our weekend rawked" post. =)

8 weeks old and bored already

2008-08-19T11:09:00.000-07:00

So Phin cries.
A lot.
At first I thought it was colic... cuz he's the gassiest baby on the block...
but then I thought... hmm... I haven't been giving him any baby toys because Yorick just seemed to be indifferent to them at the same age, but Phin isn't Yorick.
So I whipped out the playmat and he loved it. He even reached for stuff, I'm not sure, but he's really not supposed to have that kind of stuff down yet. I mean... his actual due date was only a couple of weeks ago.

And then Yorick completely lost his shit and got over-excited in the play area of his brain and started roughhousing, which consists of kicking and slapping... and playtime was over.

sigh.

I was hoping more for Coen brothers and less Manning brothers.

Pics:

I suck at Blog

2008-08-18T00:49:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, my posts are about as consistent as a World of Warcraft storyline, but I do try!!!

My current thoughts:
Holy shit, my house is a riotous mess. I need totes, lots of them. Hopefully I can send my delicious boyfriend to Big Lots tomorrow to fetch me some. I also need some kind of wall organizer for the little dudes' crap... baby clothes and diapers are everywhere. It looks like some kind of landmine went off in the boys' room.

I need to stop mentally setting up my bff with cute boys I see when she just bought a house with her boyfriend. Someone needs to write me a reality check on that one.

We went to grocery store today, what a headache. We hadn't fully shopped in a couple of months and we were down to ketchup and noodles... I completely overflowed the shopping cart and then the register took Josh's card before she scanned the coupons (and I had $10 in coupons, man, so she had to put them through manually and "credit" Josh's credit card - reTARDed)

I'm supposed to blog about something for Sweet Shoppe and I can't remember what it is...
lemme go look... oh yes... what American Accent do you have...

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The West Your accent is the lowest common denominator of American speech. Unless you're a SoCal surfer, no one thinks you have an accent. And really, you may not even be from the West at all, you could easily be from Florida or one of those big Southern cities like Dallas or Atlanta.
The Midland
Boston
North Central
The Inland North
Philadelphia
The South
The Northeast
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Okay, so on Saturday morning we did our newest little tradition, we went to the Farmer's Market. We actually have a good time and we eat all the fruits and veggies we spend and arm and a leg on and we've found an awesome baker and hummus dude, too. (artichoke hummus, to die for!)

Here's some pics of our excursion:

Yorick still sporting that shiner.

Daddy and Yorick

It's just a closed off street, but it's pretty.

They have orchids that I would kill as soon as it exchanged hands, but still pretty to look at.

Crazy hat lady singing. I think she looks like Bessie Higgenbottom's mom on The Mighty B.

Another view of Crazy Hat Lady.

Okay, I'm done, I'll try to post more this week.

Shoo.
Sheesh.

Okay, my boyfriend found this, it gives me a nerd boner.

2008-08-16T15:47:00.000-07:00

Death Star over San Francisco // Current

Blogged with the Flock Browser

And this is for SSD:

You Were the Arty Kid

Whether you were a drama freak or an emo poet, you definitely were expressive and unique.

You're probably a little less weird these days - but even more talented!

Who Were You In High School?

Our Trip Behind The Orange Curtain

2008-08-12T17:37:00.000-07:00

Okay, so we're back from visiting family and friends down in Orange County. I threw a surprise birthday party for Josh with the help of Shosh and others, and it went off really well! He was actually surprised! (The first surprise party I've been to where they were actually surprised)

We stayed at Shoshana and Brian's new pad, it's really cute and they had a guest room, which was pretty exciting. The first night there, though, I elbowed Yorick right in the eye and gave him an awful shiner... I felt like such shit the whole weekend over that.

Yorick's shiner:

I'll definitely write some more on this after I edit some party pics and make it all cute, but lets just say, Josh ended up sleeping on the bathroom floor, next to the toilet. It was pretty hilarious.

Be back later, boobs.

Awesome.

2008-07-31T22:21:00.000-07:00

Ahhh, a new baby.

You yen for one and yen for one... and then it's here and you're up at 3am wiping a breastfed yellow-poo butt, with one boob hanging out of your bra because you haven't put it away yet and you realize in the morning that you were so tired you somehow managed to wrangle the little sucker into his diaper backwards and inside out and he's pooped up the back and peed out the front.

Yep, it's awesome over here.

>.<

ZombieHarmony - One of the Best Free Dating Sites for Zombies

2008-07-24T20:23:00.000-07:00

ZombieHarmony - One of the Best Free Dating Sites for Zombies

'nuff said.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Pics of the Nugget

2008-07-23T20:52:00.000-07:00

There, he's awake. Finally.

Dude. My boobs RAWK.

2008-07-23T17:58:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I don't know if I mentioned it, but I was a little apprehensive about Phin's weight check today...
I took him off formula and ebm last week and let him go exclusively on the boob, so I didn't know if he was getting enough.

I ROCK!!
7/2 7 days old 5lb 9.75oz 3.43%
7/10 15 days old 6lb 8oz 4.92%

7/23 28 days old 8lb 9.5oz 27.91% !!!!!!!!!!!!!! woohoo!!!

He is getting some nystatin cream for a yeast infection he got because he sat in a wet diaper when he had a good 6 hour sleep stint a couple of nights ago.
But other than that, he's awesome!!
His length went from 17inches at birth to 19.75inches at 2 weeks to 21.25inches today... he's in the 45th percentile on height!!

My little preemie!!

Now for Yorick...
Yorick's height SERIOUSLY jumped!!
at 14months he was 30.5inches in the 43rd percentile and today he was 33inches in the 76th percentile!! =) I knew he was finally getting really tall, he's been reaching EVERYTHING.
and his weight did really good, too, at 14 months he was 20lbs 5oz in the 6th percentile and today he was 23lbs 14oz in the 25th percentile.

She did want to address his speech delay, we're going to talk about it in a month, she's a little concerned that he's not really talking yet. She's happy that he's blathering and chit chatting in his own language, but she wants to catch up with us in a month and see how he's doing.
He has words for mama, dada, bottle, balloon, car noises (which she said counts), and ball. He's also imitating the cat by following him around on all fours and he pretends to vacuum and he can fetch me things if I ask for them, so his comprehension is good, she'd just like to see him talking more.

All in all, even though I was disappointed that he does have a slight speech delay, I think it went well. He got a hib shot today and we gave him a bottle while he was getting it and he only peeped once, so that was really good.

I'll go and take some pics of them now... if I don't go FRACKING INSANE first!! Yorick did something to the carbon monoxide detector and now it's beeping every 60 seconds and I can't figure out how to make it stop.

YARGH.

Oh. And I scrapped a page today:

Slughorn Photo

2008-07-22T01:44:00.000-07:00

I don't know if I've mentioned this before... but I was the one who originally said that nobody but Jim Broadbent could play Slughorn...
I'm such a genius. Look how perfectly awesome he is as Slughorn.

**pats self on back**
I love being me.

OKAY OKAY I'm BACK, JEEEEZ

2008-07-21T23:32:00.000-07:00

So. I've been totally avoiding updating my blog because of the sheer enormity of everything that has happened.

Phineas Morgan Hertz was born, surprisingly, on June 25th at 2:52pm, about 3 hours after I got to the hospital. He was 6 weeks early and 5lbs 13oz and 17in long. He spent 1 week in the NICU.

Had his Fairly Oddparents not been there, I would have had my c-section ALONE. Ryan and Sara happened to be visiting Sara's parents up here and we had a playdate for around that time, albeit, not in the waiting room of Labor & Delivery, but a playdate, just the same.

I let Yorick go to Gymboree while I packed a bag for me and, just in case, Phin while they were at Gymboree and emailed Sara to let her and Ryan know where to meet us, since we weren't going to be home.

I took a book (Twilight - more on that later) to read, since it's always hurry up and wait at the hospital. I thought they were just going to stick me on some monitors, pop in an excruciating IV and make me sit around... but, no, they decided to give me a c-section, much to my surprise. Especially since they told me without Josh there. I don't know if you guys all know, but Josh is usually there for everything when it comes to our kids. So I was a little peeved. Ryan and Sara got there and Josh had them watch Yorick while he came to check on my status... about 10 minutes after they told me about the c-section.

And we were being wheeled away about a half hour after that. So if Ryan and Sara had not been there, since we don't know anybody up here in San Jose, had they not happened to be here on that day, at that time, I would've had my c-section alone.

So, please, everyone give it up for Phineas' Fairly Oddparents, Ryan and Sara!

It was a really long hospital stay. They gave me pitocin, which I had a terrible reaction to when I was in labor with Yorick, they gave it to me after the c-section to cause me to contract and shrink my uterus, but they didn't ask how I reacted to it and gave me 3 freakin' IV bags full of it, so a few hours later, I was in so much pain, I couldn't breathe or speak to tell them what was wrong. I could just lay there and cry. They finally took the pitocin away.

It was just a big long series of complaints that I'm sure none of you want to hear. But, the NICU was pretty far from my room, so I ended up having to walk a little earlier than I would have liked to after major surgery, just so I could go see my son. As it was, I wasn't able to see him until he was more than a day old, and it just broke my heart.

He had an IV in for the first couple of days and then they took that out. He was only on oxygen for the first few hours of his life, he was breathing fine without it. (I had been given steroid shots for his lungs a few weeks prior to his birth at one of my other hospital stays) His temp kept dropping and that concerned them and he wasn't eating as well as he should have been.

I proved stubborn and started showing up in NICU like clockwork, every 2-3 hours to feed him myself and I think that contributed to them letting him go home as early as he did. I did go home a couple of days before he did, which was harder than I thought. It was really hard leaving the hospital without my baby.

Anyways.
Here's some new pics of the little nugget:

And a week old, compared to Yorick, who is a giant stinker next to him:

And here's a pic of his first real bath, taken a couple of days ago:

I'll post more later, I have lots to talk about, that are non-baby related...

Things we need:
diapers
a non-manual breast pump (lol)
diapers
socks and hats
Phin is wearing preemie sizes, and I love most everything except sports and baby ducks (ducks are too girlie)
diapers
and believe it or not... receiving blankets and burp cloths... I don't know what the heck happened to Yorick's... but ugh
and...
diapers

Thanks for checking in on us!!
We'll be down in the OC for our whirlwind Baby Tour '08 the second weekend of August.

Phineas has arrived!

2008-06-25T20:14:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! This is Shosh writing for Bryn. I am not as talented with words as Bryn is, so I am sorry if this does not even come close to what Bryn might write.
Phineas was born today at 2:52 pm. He was 5 lbs. 13 oz. and 17 inches. He is doing well and there were not any complications. Bryn is doing great, other than the pain that she is in. Josh was able to be there for the birth. He fortunately had some friends in San Jose that could watch Yorick during the C-section. This wasn't the planned date for the C-section, so having the baby today was a little bit of a surprise to everyone. Hopefully Bryn can update this soon and fill you in on more of the details.

Back to the fracking hospital

2008-06-25T08:38:00.000-07:00

So, it's 8:30am and I'll be heading back to the hospital a little after 11. I started bleeding last night and it hasn't let up, so I'm reluctantly going back in. I don't think they're going to release me before Phin is born this time, so everyone, seriously... wish me luck.

I don't deal with pain and surgery and needles and doctors, and I'm so freaked out by all of this, more than I'd ever let on if you knew me personally. (As most of you do, you know I'd just laugh this off if I were in front of you)

I hope I get to update this soon, hopefully I'll get some intertron connection while I'm there. ;)

July 7th...

2008-06-20T23:45:00.000-07:00

dum dum dum...
That's the date, people. D-day... or should I say, C-day?
That is the date Phineas Morgan Hertz will enter the world, according to my doctors. I went in today just to find out the date and talk to the peri and ended up in the hospital for a few hours on a rehydrating IV drip... it's like they've got it out for me. They constantly want to put an IV on me. I guess this wonderful "First Day of Summer" got the better of me and I was severely dehydrated. Josh says I sorely lack in survival skillz. (It was 103 degrees in San Jose today!)

Okay, so back to C-Day... we are so not prepared...
we need to get a double stroller, stat. And not just any old double stroller, I want one I love, dammit. We got some cool preemie clothes from my kick ass friend Nicole and one of my new scrapping friends, Brynn, so we're good... we need diapers, as per usual, but other than that... I think we're golden. Oh! We do want a snuggle nest for co-sleeping with the teeny guy pretty bad... anyways, for those interested, we're registered at Target and Babies R Us, under both our names.

And YES freaked out as all get out about the C-Section!!! Holy shit, so freaked out.

This is normally Sci-fi Friday around here at the Maternerdy blog, but feeling sorry for me-self over the heinous vein invasion has left me a little... meh.

Last weeks big BSG mid-season finale... WTF. How could they leave it like that? And EJO!!! Holy COW... if he doesn't get an Emmy nod for that performance, there's something seriously wrong with everything.

I'm caught up to Doctor Who and reluctantly decided to catch Season 2 of Torchwood... there seems to be something missing on Torchwood and I can't quite put my finger on it. It's really like John Barrowman has no idea how to hold down a series... he's the exact same character on Doctor Who... but vastly different. He's wonderful when he gets to play against the Doctor and shit when he's on his own.

Serious business on Doctor Who... we all know Billie is busy with that stupid Callgirl series that is calling her "naked, but dull"... so why even tease us with a "Maybe Rose will come back"? I don't understand it. I'm personally a Martha/Doctor 'shipper myself. Yeah yeah, suck it, people, seriously suck it.

I got picked for a kick ass creative team from one of the designers at Sweet Shoppe!!! I'm pretty stoked about it!! And my nerdy girl Erin Keith, who's art adorns this blog, has me on her creative team as well... which... frankly, kicks more ass!! Woo hoo!! This is all pretty much silly scrapping news for my real life friends. And... still.. people, seriously, donate to my sick habit by clicking the Buy me a $5 gift certificate to help with my bedrest link to the right. I love new scrappin' stuff... it's kind of an illness.

Off-topic of c-sections, sci-fi, and scrapbooking... anybody know what it means when you dream about your ex? I love my boyfriend so much it grosses people out, so it's annoying when you dream about an ex. And it's more annoying when the dream doesn't just GO AWAY. (And it wasn't sexy, pervs) Anyways, why if I'm so so so so happy with my dream man would I dream about an ex? I hate it, it makes me feel guilty and annoyed.

Lastly... I need to post this cute little quiz for some challenge points over at Sweet Shoppe...

What Your Fridge Says About You

You like to be surrounded by things you love. You aren't exactly greedy, but you can be materialistic at times.

You are not careful with your money. In fact, you rarely think about how much you are spending.

You don't tend to be a very adventurous person, but you do surprise everyone now and then. You have a bit of a wild side.

You try to be responsible, but you don't always succeed. Your heart is in the right place though.

You are likely single - and spending many nights alone at home.

What Do the Contents of Your Refrigerator Say About You?

Sci-Fi Friday

2008-06-13T16:20:00.000-07:00

Woo-hoo!! Another week gone by and we're back to Sci-Fi Friday!! Possible Battlestar Spoilers below. You have been warned.

Recap from last week... how much does the hybrid suck?? I mean all those jumps made me motion sick. Gaius is a weenie, but thank god he's not a dead weenie. Josh was disappointed as hell when the centurion that Gaius was busy converting to his theology was blown to bits.

And how cute was Adama's response to Roslin when she got back??

And seriously, only Jane Espenson could have made that relationship between Helo and the random 8 as complicated as that. That was just ookie. It's seriously like he's married to the whole line.

In case you guys all don't know... my boy, Helo (Tahmoh Penikett)will have a main role in Joss Whedon's Dollhouse. Can I just tell you how frackin' excited I am???

Josh and I have been playing catch up to this season's Doctor Who. (Another tall freckled boy that has my heart) We watched the new Steven Moffat episode, and he's just so awesome. I love Ray Davies, but I'm so glad Steve will be taking over the franchise in 2010, he really really gets his audience. Plus... The Doctor's Daughter?? How cute was she???

Speaking of the Doctor... I'm supposed to blog about where I would want to vacation for a Sweet Shoppe Challenge. (No, it's not weird, you guys, it's one of my scrapbooking sites...)

And to use a nice segue since it's here... I'd love love love-ity love to go to London, Wales, and Scotland. Who can hook a sister up?? They film most of Doctor Who and Torchwood in Wales... and Scotland is where Harry Potter came from. So... yes, Edinburgh, pretty high on my list. I need to take my completely nerdy Doctor Who/Harry Potter tour.

And yes... as a matter of fact, I will be on the look out for a Blue Police Call Box... thank you very much.

Okay, As Promised, New Yorick Pics

2008-06-10T17:13:00.000-07:00

Serious business nap time... he passed out while playing by the window in our bedroom...
he's never done that before.
Josh threatened that if he did again, he's going to draw on his face.

No Phin Yet

2008-06-10T13:17:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I was stubborn and didn't go to the hospital, and I got the bleeding to stop. =)
Josh is mad right now because it's so difficult to keep the house clean with a 1-year-old and me on bedrest, and his 40 hour a week job... he's like a single mom. It totally fracks with my head when he's pissed.

I took some pictures of Yorick today, but, as usual... my stupid laptop is disinterested in recognizing the memory card, so I can't get them to load.

>.< I'll work on it some more and come back later to post the pics. Oh! And Yorick has been saying baw-baw in reference to his ball, like when I ask him to go get the ball. So, it's official, I've decided that's a word, god damn it. So he says, mama, dada, ba-ba (bottle) and baw-baw, and still signs when he's hungry... which is good, otherwise we'd let him starve to death.

For my Sweet Shoppe challenge, I need to blog about my favorite summer activity... which I might have to admit is hibernating... but I'll come up with something better. I love taking Yorick to the pool, he's so cute and amazed by the big "bath". I really like warm pools in the shade, I'm not a fan of cold water, or the sun beating down on me, so it makes me really miss the lanai covered pools of Florida. =( I want the boys to grow up trying to "break the guinness record for how long anyone has stayed in a pool" like my sister and I used to do when we were little.

If it gets too hot, we do like to break out the ice shaver machine we save for margaritas and have snowball fights. ;)

Here we go again...

2008-06-07T14:22:00.000-07:00

I've been home a couple of days from the hospital and I'm bleeding again. Pretty bad this time. Like... I'm sitting here trying to use the force to make it stop so I don't have to have a c-section today. (I want Josh to have the opportunity to be there when his second son is born and I'm only 32 weeks!)

I'm a little bit more freaked out as it was a lot worse this time than it has been in the past... but I'm going to give it an hour to stop, as both my previous bleeds stopped within the hour last time.

Please guys... use the Force, make this stop.

Okay, seriously, folks...

2008-06-07T09:18:00.000-07:00

AND, how much does this suck??

Things I Get Out of this Cushy Prison For:

2008-06-06T08:52:00.000-07:00

That's right, cylons and viper pilots, it's BSG Friday. I didn't post anything last week because Lee Adama isn't worth a report. That was a horrible episode, sound off if you agree. And Husker just sittin' out there waiting for Roslin to come back seems a little retarded to me.

Sci-Fi Friday News

So, my love informed me last month of Peter Berg's intention to direct another Dune. Don't get me wrong, I love Peter Berg... he was awesome in Shocker. (hahahahahahaha) And I really liked Very Bad Things, which was his directorial debut. I know there are a lot of Friday Night Lights fans out there, but I hear there's no time or space travel in football so I opted to skip it.

Peter Berg directing Dune might not be the most "stellar" idea. *sorry sorry sorry*

And NOW... I find out that fracking Brian Herbert and Kevin J "I LOVE to fuck with beloved franchises" Anderson are co-producing.

kill me now.

Seriously... someone fetch me that gorram Bene Gesserit Pain Box and put me out of my miesry before the real pain begins.

Ultrasound Today aka Placenta Watch '08

2008-06-05T19:59:00.000-07:00

We went back to the PEP lab today and I met yet another doctor... I don't officially "have" a doctor. And... she thinks that my placenta is pretty firmly rooted over my cervix. =/

So... they don't think it's moving any time soon. They want me on bedrest for 4 more weeks until they take Phin out by cesarean. I have another ultrasound on the 20th.

It's really hard staying in bed, especially when I feel fine. I'm hoping JJ can come up and stay with me until my surgery, it'll be nice to see her and the boys before they move so very far away from the world.

Waiting For A Preemie...

2008-06-03T17:28:00.000-07:00

I don't think anything can prepare you for the knowledge that... no matter how hard you try, you're not going to be able to carry your baby to term.

I've been to the hospital twice in the last week, once for two nights and once for one. They think if I make it to 34 weeks, we'll be doing awesome, their description, not mine. =(

34 weeks is far from awesome. In fact, you can't even catch a bus to Awesome from there.

I'm on bedrest now, I mean, serious, in your face, just shower and go to the bathroom bedrest. How do I explain that to Yorick? I feel like a failure.

The house is a mess, poor Josh... and I'm an anxious wreck, though I do a pretty good job of hiding it. I mostly sit here and scrap, because it gives my brain something to do besides think about not bleeding.

I'm going back to being a Professional Scrapbook Designer, but I am going to be at least doubling my prices. I can't think about what I would pay for my work, I have to think about what I'm worth, and what other people will pay me for it. The nurses at the hospital were gobsmacked when they saw my work and were asking me for business cards... so, I'll be more than happy to oblige upon my next visit.

I feel like I'm going a little crazy, of course. I'm sure Josh does, too. He's been staying home and working and I can't tell you how much it helps us keep Phin cooking a little longer, but I can't help but worry for the security of this job that he really loves. He now sees things a little differently, from the "with Yorick 24/7" front, which... I'm a little glad about. At least now he knows where I've been the past year and a half.

Yorick is good, but he's whining and demanding like most toddlers. He still isn't speaking, but I refuse to freak out over it. He'll talk when he has something to say.

A bunch of you have asked if you can get me anything to help me pass the times, books or whatnot... I have a Kaboodle list you can check out... it's 99% Scrapbook gift certificates, just because I've become a junkie, and that's really all I do... if I tried to read from here, I'd just go nuts.
I'll also add that Kaboodle link to my links list for future reference, too.

Anyways, here are a few of my recent pages that I thought I'd show off... and I apologize for not posting for so long... I promise, I'm back.

Last Night's BSG... (spoilers)

2008-04-12T09:44:00.000-07:00

So Josh and I have speculating for awhile on the repercussions of Raptor and Centurion cognizance and Viva La Revolucion! Anywho... I digress...

So it's totally obvious that Adama and Roslin are now doing it, I mean, why else would she turn into such a shrew so quickly? (And was it me, or did he seem totally embarrassed that she missed Starbuck while standing 3 feet in front of her?)

James Callis is the man. I think he has pretty much slept with everyone on the show except Mary and Grace. Everytime we see people having sex on this show and they haven't shown their faces, you have to assume one of them is Baltar. Which is incredible considering the source of his character:

I was going to assume that Helo was the new CAG until it seemed he was going to be joining Kara on the trip to Earth. Which... hello?! This is why Adama is 10x better than Roslin... her goal is to get to Earth, they might be going the wrong way and she doesn't want to risk the fleet if it's an ambush, so why the fuck didn't she think to send a ship on it's own? The man has to nail her and think of all the reasonable alternatives, too? No wonder she keeps getting cancer.

Speaking of Roslin... I, personally, think she's the final Cylon. Why, you ask? Because she's sharing dreams with two other cylons and a dingbat. (I love him deeply, but Gaius is a god damned nimrod who Gumps his way through life.)

And it looks like next week we're finally going to address the issue that Hera isn't the only half-cylon, half-human baby, but that Guilt-Generated baby Nikki Tyrel is as well. FINALLY! GEEZ.

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Battlestar Friday!!

2008-04-11T14:59:00.000-07:00

Yayyyyyyyyyyyy!!! New epi of BSG tonight... so we get to hear Starbuck continue her quest to be a BackFleet driver...

"YOU'RE GOING THE WRONG WAY!!!!"

I'll post my thoughts after midnight tonight. Josh and I are TiVo/DVR deprived, so I wait until the midnight showing of BSG so I can watch it with my SkinJob of Love. (He gets off work at the normal viewing time of 10pm, so he's usually on the way home while it's on.)

I watched American Idol Gives Back this week, so I searched for a charity I could really get behind... I think this is for a good cause, and would help millions of toasters in need. Please give all you can:

Isn't is adorable how it's standing in front of a Meat Market??

Blogged with Flock

Yorick's New Doctor

2008-04-10T14:06:00.000-07:00

I love love love-ity love Yorick's new doctor. She's really rad, she doesn't care one whit that Yorick still sleeps in our bed, and she agreed to let us set our own immunization schedule, since Yorick isn't in daycare. She's going to split up his MMR, he'll get his measles part of it when he's 2, and the mumps/rubella part when he starts kindergarten!! Does she rawk or what???

He got a Prevnar shot yesterday and let out a blast of disagreement until he noticed the nifty new Snoopy bandaid attached to his thigh, then the shot was forgotten.

Today we were supposed to be cleaning the house when I decided to put the scarf from Josh's shinai on Yorick's head... this completely tickled Josh and he ran to get his shinai for a photo op.

Our little shodan:

And then after lunch today (it was messy which is why he's naked), I put him down for a nap in our bed, unaware of the trap he would lay for me. I laid down next to him until he fell asleep, but he fell asleep holding onto my necklace! He couldn't outdo the master, though, and I took it off, leaving him holding it while he slept.

I couldn't resist:

As an addendum, there was a hit and run outside my apartment just minutes ago! Somebody slammed into the back of some girl's car, and took off, apparently. (I was peeking through the window blinds, as I inherited legitimately from my grandmother.)

And THIS is how much I've changed, people!! I actually contemplated going down and seeing if she was okay and taking her some water or something.

But then I thought, "Nah, I'm still in my jim-jams."

So... not that much, you still have your Bryn.

What to do, what to do...

2008-04-08T15:51:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, don't be aghast in horror but I like digital scrapbooking. I just didn't know where I fit into it... I discovered that I don't much like doing it for other people as much, so I've decided to nip that in the bud. Besides a few gifts here and there (and yes, Mike and Leslie, I have started back to work on your wedding album after I got severely burnt out), I'm just going to work on books for our two boys. Whom I don't scrap enough about.

So, I have given it some thought and realized, my god... I really hate bad kits. I'd really like to start getting into the design aspect of it. It would be a good creative outlet for me... as Josh won't let me Shabby Chic any room in the house ever. So... I may be getting back into digiscrapping, but not on the end of... hey, tell everyone you know I make scrapbooks for money... because I wasn't making hardly anything on those at all... they would have to be $500 books to make it worth my time and effort. And nobody is going to buy a $500 scrapbook.

Of course, knowing me, this will all change in two weeks. I have the attention span of a gnat these days.

Yorick is going to meet his new pediatrician tomorrow, I'll update afterwards. I'm actually excited, there's nothing I love more than talking about my son with someone who actually has to listen.

No More Snail Mail Submissions?

2008-04-07T00:04:00.000-07:00

So there's a site called Creative Byline that seems like it could be worth any of my writer friends while. It seems it is trying to hook up publishers with writers via online submissions (which they charge you for)... now while this sounds like an awesome idea... spending money on stamps versus the $19 submission fee they charge just to get the same Form Rejection Letter, might sting a bit more.

For all of those of you who knew me during my, "I'm going to sell my book!" phase... you know that I started collecting those various rejection letters, and while, yes, waiting for months and months just to get those letters hurts you in ways only writers know... it's still not $19 a pop. I might be wrong, it might be just $19 for your manuscript and they'll send it to your list of potential editors, which might be worth my while... but if it's individually... forget it... we're not called starving artists for nothing.

Anyways, please, if you write... and I'm hoping maybe one of my writer ex-boyfriends is stalking me just for this post alone, use it and let me know... I have given up all hope on publishing... it seems writing is easy, selling is not.

But... more to the point, what a frakkin' awesome idea... IF they can pull the publishers over to the digital side. They're a pretty stodgy lot, them.

Of Malls and Playlands

2008-04-06T16:29:00.000-07:00

So my son has a passion for Mall Playlands. This one is very similar to the one we frequented in Orange County, so he didn't pay it much difference, it was definitely all the same to him. With maybe the exception of the rubber playmat floor, which made him feel the need to crawl often, so he could feel it on his hands.

Of course, he came down with a fever the day after our Playland visit, only strengthening our resolve not to put him in daycare. Damned sickie babies.

Anyways, here's a few pics from our trip... including one of him salivating over the prospect just before:

He loves the cars in this play area a lot better because he can get in and out of them himself, which he couldn't at the one in Orange County:

He frequently tries to run out and into the mall, which is why I bring my "wrangler" with me (Josh is young and full of energy):

Loves his daddy so damned much:

I just love this pic, I don't know why:

You can't catch me!!

The natural light by the playhouse:

What happens when Daddy is in charge of the bath after ravioli:

And I thought this was hilarious... this is the half second before a sneeze:

He's a character.

And I think he likes the mall because he can pick up chicks.

And the shoes... oh god, does he love to grab the other kids' shoes.

We're deeply concerned.

Worst Mother of the Year Award Goes To...

2008-04-06T11:36:00.000-07:00

Me.

Serious business. I just cut off the top of my child's finger with his baby nailclippers. Which I have been telling everyone from day one, aren't a good idea for me to fiddle with.

After clawing my face this morning, I thought, "I guess his nails need a trim." Do not attempt this without a bright source of light. To my horror, he began bleeding, he didn't make much fuss about it, but one of my constant sources of anxiety had just come to fruition! I quickly popped his finger in my mouth and ran to the bathroom door where Josh was sitting on the throne. I yelled through the door, "JOSH! I JUST CUT HIS FINGER!!"

Of course, in typical Josh fashion, he replies, "Well, why'd you do that?" It will be the Zombie Apocalypse and he'll have some smart-assey response for me.

It bled and bled and he pulled off bandaids, and then gauze and tape, until Josh just had to whip out his Boy Scout First Aid Training:

I am the Worst Mother EVAR [sic].

Charity Navigator

2008-04-06T10:22:00.000-07:00

Do you, like me, want to be sure that all those tampons you donate to girls missing out on school in Africa aren't going to some strip club in Fargo, North Dakota?

Well, Charity Navigator is your answer!! I <3 this site so much! It does all of the research for you and even gives you donating tips, and it separates your Animal Abuse charities from your Elderly Abuse charities!

Seriously, this is a gorgeous site and makes you really want to go out there and paint a house. Make sure it's someone who needs it and isn't the lazy guy down the street whose back pain is only alleviated by Budweiser. You know the guy... he can't drive a forklift for medical reasons, but rides his Harley to go cash his monthly check.

Ahem. Anyways, please go check this site out. I've found some really neat charities here, and don't think that it's always about money, charities can use your help by donating your time and spreading a little buzz about them, so go find a good one today!!

Moses, Moses, Moses

2008-04-06T04:10:00.000-07:00

Charlton Heston died last night.
He will be missed...

by the NRA.

43 Things and Better Me

2008-04-05T23:08:00.000-07:00

Have you guys heard of the 43 Things website? It's a place where you can list your goals and be held accountable for them. I'm really liking it and finding goals I didn't even know I had!

Like the Cleansweep Your Life goal! Now this is serious business. It's an assessment on your quality of life and how you might want to improve, it's a great list to start changing things. I'm a little too embarrassed to post my seriously low score, so I'll give it a few months until I can start checking some of this stuff off.

If any of you guys join 43 Things from this, please leave me a comment and let me know so I can send you cheers for your goals, and help you keep on track. =)

New Blog!

2008-04-05T17:00:00.000-07:00

So welcome to my new blog, where I shall spout off about everything of interest to me, this may or may not include shows you have no interest in, comic books you'll never read, video games you'll never play, or diapers you would never ever have the hubris to change.

I don't update people on my life very often, being the preggo mommy of a precocious 1 year old in a new town, so I thought, "Hey, if people are that freakin' nosy and want to hear how I felt about last night's Battlestar Galactica and how much I saved at Walgreen's this week, who am I to keep them from peeking into the wonder that my life as a stay at home mom has become?"

The truth is, I love my life, I love my boys like you wouldn't believe, all three of them and I love sharing it with you guys. So, now I have a little corner of the intertron to tell-all.

So most of this will be things Josh and I have shared with each other, that you might find of interest (like right now he's informing me that Matt Fox is playing Racer X, which I'm vehemently denying, as I have my fangirl rights to do), things Yorick said or did, or pooed, and, of course, my couponing lifestyle, which all of you know, I try to push off onto all of my friends, because I like money, so I figure my friends do, too.

I'll try to keep it down to a post a day, but it'll be difficult, as I generally have loads to share, and may try to keep them separate. Especially when it comes to reviews.

Anyways, Yorick is stirring in my lap from the tapping of the keys and pissing and moaning about it now and batting my hands away from the keyboard... so apparently that means the end of this post. I am a virtual slave to his naps.

And here's me, a couple of weeks ago! I'm 23 weeks preggo now, but don't look too much different... so many of you guys want to see "Pregnant Bryn"... so here's Phineas and me, in the boys' room: