Mothers Day Musings + Gift-Buying Guide

Mothers Day is exactly two weeks away. This is my first Mothers Day. My FIRST Mothers Day. My son is too young to know what this day means to me, but that doesn't mean that it will not be one of the most special occasions since he has been born. I so look forward to Mothers Days of the future--to getting scribbled portraits that are supposed to be me and my Sweet Baboo, and dandelions clumbsily picked from the backyard and put into a mug to keep fresh, and breakfast in bed that consists of cheerios on a milk spattered tray because he's too young to use the stove. I can't wait until he is old enough to put his sticky arms around my neck and tell me he loves me, that I am the best mom in the world. I have no illusions of grandeur. I am not the best mom in the world, not by a long shot, but miraculously every child under the age of five thinks their mother is the best and mine will hopefully be no exception.

But this year my son will not yet be a year old on Mothers Day, and so this one won't be about me feeling loved, but about me feeling how much I love him.I am nuts about that child. Just nuts. And I am so excited to have a day that is all about the wonder of me being his mama. Sometimes I honestly still can't even believe where I am in my life. It's like I just woke up one day, and I was married with a kid. A real grown-up. I don't remember all this time passing, I don't remember going from 19 years old to almost-25, but here I am. I somehow managed to house life inside of me and here is the proof. This Mothers Day, I will not only be celebrating my own mother, thinking of what to get her and how to make her feel appreciated. This year, I will be celebrating the fact that I am a mother. I can't wait.

There has been lots of talk amongst my first-time mommy friends about what they want to mark this momentous date. It's not just another Hallmark holiday, people. It's a day where we can think about how much we love our little guys and gals, a day that we can celebrate the fact that yes, we have made it. Yes, we are mothers.

I am a very sentimental person, and I like to have trinkets and physical reminders of important events in my life. My first mothers day certainly qualifies. So I am putting together a list of great Mothers Day finds for you to pass on to your husbands and/or children. For us first time Mamas, this will make the first day celebrating the fact that we're moms. For you more seasoned Moms, you have made it through another year with your little rugrats and lived to tell about it. Treat yourself--or have someone else treat you.
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Gift-Buying Guide

For the Jewelry Loving Mom:

Mothers Day Necklace from etsy.

I love this. It's gorgeous, simple, and it conveys the truth. The word love and the word mom just go together.

I love this necklace. Inspired by my favourite poem by ee cummings (we actually had this read at our wedding!). Sweetly personalized with your little one's name and the magical date they were born.

Not your traditional, cheesy locket. Name, birth stats, and a photo of your little guy or gal. LOVE.

For the Shutterhappy Mom:

Ladies, my life was far more frustrating than it needed to be before I entered the world of DSLR. You don't need to be a photographer or have professional aspirations to invest in one of these babies. You just need to be sick of missing all those split-seconds of candid adorableness because of regular point and shoot shutter lag. There is nothing like a DSLR for capturing every precious look, smile and expression. Get your hands on a Canon Rebel.  You can thank me later.

If you're a beginner, this book has great tips and tricks for capturing those moments.

For the art-loving mom:

Turn your kiddo's sweet profile into art.

Think your kid is a budding picasso? Clean out that drawer you have stuffed full of every drawing your kid has ever made and put that stuff proudly on display with http://www.mykidsartoncanvas.com/.

Mommy/Baby Pop-Art. I definitely have this one on my wishlist. I love that we live in an era where we can get a canvas of us with our kids without having to sit for oil paintings.

For the Stressed Mom (Oh, wait, that's all of us.. .):

Give the gift of relaxation, with a spa finder gift card.

For the mom who only shops for the kids:

OiOi - Hobo - Diaper Bag

Because that tattered canvas bag you've been lugging around town isn't going to hold up for much longer.

For the breastfeeding mom:

We've all seen those nursing necklaces. You know the ones I'm talking about--the ones that look like toys. We're willing to do a lot for our kids, but not all of us feel like sacrificing our sense of personal style to wear a giant string of brightly-coloured plastic baubles just so our kid has something to play with while we feed them. Enter: Julian & Co. Eat your heart out, fashionable nursing mamas.

Baby Bond nursing cover. Love. Looks just like a sassy blouse. No more hiding under a tarp for you! Or, if you're like me, trying to breastfeed with the baby in a sling, thinking that's discreet enough, and having a total stranger behind the counter at Burger King go to extreme lengths to see INSIDE THE SLING, despite you repeatedly shifting away, until she realizes OH! Her boob is exposed--and apologizes sheepishly while you bite your tongue to keep from snapping at her to just get your damn fries and stop harassing strangers. True story.

For the Lit-Loving Mom:

Baby-Proofing Your Marriage. Because the rug-rat is already here, but that doesn't mean its too late!



Little Earthquakes by Jennifer Weiner.



A yummy piece of fiction about the ups and downs of mommyhood.

Hope you got some fabulous ideas, ladies. Direct your husbands to this post and I'll take care of the rest.

EDIT: It has come to my attention that there has been a gross oversight. Single Mamas, by all means, skip the middle man and treat yourself! It's actually better that way since you don't have to hope for someone to magically pick the right thing, or grasp any of your not-so-subtle hints.

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101 Things in 1001 Days--April Check-in

Goal # 22--Breastfeed Until End of Flu Season 2010

With one week left in April, I think it's safe to say that I've met by goal of breastfeeding through flu season 2010. Go me! Thinking about weaning causes me serious anxiety. My son will take a bottle, but if he wants mommy milk, he WANTS mommy milk and nothing will convince him to take formula. It would be one thing if I was planning on weaning cold turkey--I could just make my supply dry up and then milk just wouldn't be available, so when he wanted to nurse nothingwould come out and then he'd HAVE to take a bottle. But I want to go with a gentler approach--I think. And I admit, it's only partially for him--it's for me, too. I'm not planning on weaning until we hit the year mark, but I still can't imagine being done with breastfeeding in less than three months time. It seems way too soon. Our Sweet Baboo breastfeeds about 8 times a day, so our plan is to drop one nursing session a week until we're done. I have a feeling it sounds simpler than it's actually going to be. We'll see.

Goal # 7--Take a family vacation

We are planning a vacation this summer out west, where the Hubbs is from. His parents want to use their airmiles to fly us out so Baboo can finally meet his aunts and uncles, so I guess we're going if everything works out, schedule-wise. Do I not seem enthused? lol. I just think its going to be really awkward--when we moved away we definitely weren't on good terms with any of them. On the plus side, we'll also get to see The Hubbs' dad and stepmom and their three precious children, and I'm really excited about that. PLUS, we are hoping we'll get to go during the time when one of our friends is getting married. I would just love to, and we'd leave Baboo with his grandparents while The Hubbs and I have a real, grown-up day and night out. That part of it sounds wonderful. We really need some time to ourselves, as evidenced by the fact that I am now reading Baby Proofing Your Marriage--which incidentally adds a book to

Goal #19---Read Ten Books

Secret Goal # 31--can't reveal yet or will die of embarassment--but talks are in the works. That's all you need to know.

Goal # 33--Refinish a Piece of Furniture

I planned on doing that this weekend, but it's supposed to rain and I need to leave the dresser on the balcony to dry, so I guess I'll have to wait. Supposed to have sunny skies next week, though, so hopefully I get a chance then. I'll post a picture when I'm done. Very excited.

Goal # 46--Make friends with another couple with kids

Done and done! We have got together a handful of times with a friend of The Hubbs from school (and his wife and son), and we are going to church with them tomorrow, which ties in with

Goal # 78--Attend Church More

That's all for now, folks! I've also re-evaluated and either changed or adapted a couple of the goals on this list, but I'll save that for another post. Ta ta!

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Sex ed for Six Year Olds

That's right, folks. Where I live, come September, there will be sex-education classes for children in grade one. What do I think about it? Well, I'll tell you, of course.

This Monday I went to a Moms group at my church. We have children of all different ages, so while some of the subject matter didn't pertain to
my son, it was still helpful to hear what parents of older children are experiencing. The facilitator told us how important it is to talk to our children about sexuality, etc, because she was experimenting with boys by the age of SEVEN and lost her virginity at the age of fourteen.

So do I think that age 6 is too early? Not really. Sex-ed is not a how-to manual. Even when I was in high school it wasn't a how-to manual. Sex-ed in the first grade would consist of teaching children the proper names for body parts. Some people think that this is highly inappropriate, but I don't.

There is nothing sexy about the word "penis" or "vagina." And those parts are really nothing to be ashamed of. I honestly think that having this in school might take some of the mystique out of the form of the opposite sex, so kids no longer feel the need to play "Doctor" or "I'll show you mine if you show me yours." Works for me.

People who are against this are saying that parents should be the ones to teach their kids these things. But do they? Or are they so uncomfortable that they are dropping the ball? I know I wasn't taught jack. My sex-ed talk came in the form of being spanked at age 12 and called a whore for sneaking out to see my much older boyfriend. Perhaps if my parents had had that talk with me, that wouldn't have happened. Perhaps if I knew that raging hormones were normal but that they did NOT necessarily have to be obeyed and that I would NOT go insane from ignoring them, that whole scenario could have been avoided.

And having sex-ed in schools does not mean, in any way, that parents aren't able to instill in their own children values and beliefs about sex. In fact, I think having it in schools paves the way for open communication. Parents can look at the curriculum, ask if their kids have any questions about what they learned in school today, and voila--instant "the talk."

Expecting schools to wait until kids are already teenagers for sex-education just doesn't make sense anymore. Kids are getting involved with sex much earlier than high school these days, and I think its important to address that and not live with our heads in the sand.

Its also helpful to talk to kids about sex BEFORE their hormones start raging, so that the common sense we're trying to impart, the telling them to wait, and explaining the emotional and physical consequences of having sex before they should has a chance to seep in before their libidos get kick-started.

And no, I am not comfortable thinking about my precious 9 month old with any sort of libido. But you know what? I need to get comfortable. This is the world we live in, and hiding from it isn't going to do him any favours. Parents need to address these concerns head-on.

More information:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/muslims-christians-challenge-ontarios-more-explicit-sex-ed/article1542657/

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Blog Awards

I got my first blog award! Yay!

I got it from a lovely lady over at http://givingherallshesgot.wordpress.com/
She is nuts over comments, so go over and say hi!

The rules of this award are that you tell ten things about yourself, and then pass the award on to some other bloggers I love.
I LOVE to talk about myself (Really? A blogger who loves to talk about herself!? Get out!), so this shouldn't be too hard:

1) I love jewelry but I only wear my wedding ring now. My Sweet Baboo has managed to both rip one of my necklaces right off my neck, and pull one of my earrings right out of my ear. Ouch.

2) My favourite ice cream is moose tracks. It is delicious. Peanut butter cups, chocolate ripples, what more could you want?
3) I just got my first pair of glasses. I need them for reading. Apparently spending so much time in front of the computer has compromised my eyesight.

4) One thing I would LOVE to do would be to stay in a really fancy hotel for a night. I have never stayed in a really, really nice hotel before.

5) On special occasions, I buy champange or wine. And then I drink it. And then I wonder why I bought it. I still have teenager tastes when it comes to alcohol, apparently, because I would honestly rather drink a $6 bottle of Arbor Mist. It makes both my mouth AND my wallet happy.

6) As a spin-off to number five, I sometimes forget how old I am. Like, the other day I was filling out a survey, and I wrote that I was 22. Um, I am not. I'm totally turning 25 this summer. Yet I am still 19 on the inside.
7)  I miss writing songs, and one of my projects for this summer is to sit down with my guitar and write a song for my kiddo. All that love has gotta be good for at least one decent piece of music, right?

8) I am slightly worried that the world is going to end in 2012. I can't help it. I would really like to get out of this crappy apartment and travel the world and become successful and watch my child grow up and have kids and grand kids and junk. Please don't end, world.

9) I like pina coladas. And getting caught in the rain. Actually, no. I dislike pina coladas. And whilst getting caught in the rain sounds nice in theory, I actually really hate the feeling of wet clothes on my body. So sue me. I do, however, love the smell of the rain.

10) I have an 8:30 bedtime. I am exhausted by that time every night. Sweet Baboo goes to bed at 8:30 and I go with him. It's sad, really.

Now for ten bloggers I enjoy:

1) Brooke at http://www.threecheersforbabies.blogspot.com/. I have been following the lives of Charlie and Lily since they were in the NICU, and I absolutely love this blog. Brooke and her husband are so upbeat and strong, even in the face of extreme adversity.

2) Busted at Bustedbabymaker.blogspot.com. Head over there to hear honest writing about such heart-wrenching topics as infertility, losing a child, and parenting anxiety.

3) Kelle at http://www.kellehampton.com/. I have written about her on this blog before, but I just love her writing and photos.

4) Laura at Embracing Elijah is a strong and inspirational woman. Her not-yet-born baby has been diagnosed with Trisonomy 13, and she is giving him all the love she possibly can while he's still with her.

5) Family Synthesis is an intro into the world of Fostering to Adopt. I love reading about the latest challenges and joys that come with building a family this way.

6) Mama Quiere Beso is a dedicated Mama who still manages to remind us to look for balance.

Check them out!

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I've become one of THOSE parents

. . .One of those mothers who will advise their child to "Do as I say, not as I do." It's unfortunate. And I feel bad about it. But if my Sweet Baboo decides that he wants to get married and have children before he's done college, I don't know that I'm going to be able to hold my tongue.

Of course I will support him. Of course I will allow him to make his own choices. But I will definitely, definitely tell him how hard it is. I will tell him how his own mother took SEVEN YEARS to get a Bachelors degree because she got married and had responsibilities and could only take a couple of classes a year instead of a full course load.

I will tell him about how his parents hadn't planned on having a child before they were done school, but that these things happen, and how difficult it was to try to write a paper with a baby clinging to my leg and fussing to be picked up and relentlessly reaching for the keyboard and mouse until the entire 6th paragraph of my paper looked like this:

ASNILASHIOLSAHIOASBjkbjkadflanhhhhhhhhhhhhh ;////////////////////sdfgfgfgfgfgfgfgkjdarhflikhasldjkhaldfhakldfhdlafhkbh
asdfhjidfhjasidlhadfuklkaudhfasffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff           fffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,olllllllllllllllllllllllllll888888888888888888888888888888888
iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

I will tell him that I didn't do as well as I could have and that my assignments didn't reflect my best work because I just wanted to get them out of the way so I could get back to the new most important thing in my life---him. That college, which should be a wonderful time of travel, experimentation, forging friendships and really challenging ones self, was put to the back burner. That Daddy couldn't go to bars with his friends after class and mommy couldn't even go to class and had to do the last half of her degree from her living room with a baby hanging off one boob and toys scattered everywhere. Not exactly the college experience we all hope for.

Of course I will tell him that I love him and that I wouldn't trade him for anything in the world. Of course I will tell him that he was the greatest surprise ever and that I wouldn't change a thing.

But I will tell him that life would have been easier, just easier, if I had finished school before he came along. I will advise him to really think about it, and let him know that once you have a kid, they're yours forever. You can potentially always become a parent, but you can never go back. You can potentially always become a spouse, but if you do it right, you won't un-become one.

Marriage is hard. I went from living in a house full of girls who came and went as we pleased and paid barely anything in rent because there were so many of us to renting a house with my husband and having to work a lot more to keep a roof over our heads and food on the table. There just wasn't time for school, friends, extra-curricular activities. Even now, my husband wants to run for student union,  and he's really going back and forth on it because any time he spends at school is time he's spending away from us.

I wish he could have had a normal college experience. I wish he could have lived with friends and focused on school and activities and just enjoyed himself. I wish that for me too. And *gulp* I wish I'd listened to my parents!

But not really. Because I love my husband and we were at the place in our relationship where it was time to get married. It just was. There was agony involved in every goodbye. We were sick of trying to fit each other in around everything else, of not coming home to one another, of loving each other as much as a couple who is married but living like a couple who is just casually dating. And love is the most important thing of all. And all you need is love. And love conquers all. And what other cliches can I throw into this paragraph in order to make myself sound even more cheesy and unoriginal?

If my son finds that kind of love, if it is agony, if he just can't wait, then I will tell him to go for it. I will warn him, but I will give him my blessing and send him on his way. Just because something is more difficult, or not the ideal way to do things, does not mean that it isn't right.

I love my boys.

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Happy birthday, mom. Sorry your family sucks.

Today is my mom's birthday. And in true psycho-family fashion, it is already a fiasco. For over a week, the hubbs and I have been trying to organize people and figure out what we're doing today. But my family likes to fly by the seat of their pants, are never organized, and things always end up going horribly because of it.

For instance, on my sister's birthday last month, we were all supposed to get together for lunch and cake at my parents' house. My sister had plans that night. We were supposed to do dinner, but my father had to go to "work" (read: get-rich quick scheme) , so we decided we'd do lunch and then she'd go to her thing. His get-rich-quick meeting got cancelled, so we could have done dinner, but he didn't tell anyone that.

Anyway. We all get there at one, like we planned, and my parents had spent all morning at church and hadn't done anything for my sister's lunch. Nothing was made, and she had plans that afternoon. She wanted to go, and then come back afterwards and do dinner (since it was now possible because the meeting was cancelled), but by the time she got home, our sweet Baboo would have been a mess (he gets really cranky at night) so we wound up just having cake, then she came back and had dinner with my parents afterwards. It really sucked and she cried and we were all really irritated and my "father" refused to apologize or admit that it was any of his fault. He refused to admit that he should have told us his meeting was cancelled, and refused to admit that he shouldn't have gone to church and instead stayed home and prepared my sister's birthday lunch.

This ALWAYS happens with my family. ALWAYS. This is why The Hubbs and I plan two celebrations--one with them that gets ruined, and one with just the three of us that doesn't get ruined. We have two thanksgivings, two easters, two birthdays, two Christmases, and this year we are planning on having two mothers days as well.

Today is my mom's birthday. And my sister "might" be working smack in the middle of the only window of time that we can get together to eat. 12-7. Ridiculous, especially because it's not like my mom's birthday is a new thing--TAKE THE DAY OFF! She claims she didn't know we were going out, and she says that she  doesn't even know that she IS working for sure--she has to call in and find out. Ugh.

My "father" (and I use the term loosely), learned nothing from my sister's birthday fiasco and is going in to "work" this morning. He promises he will be back by noon, but all of his promises are made to be broken and it would be a miracle if he was back by two.

I had very strong words for him. I told him that if he ruined my mother's birthday, after the horrible year that she has had, I wouldn't forgive him. I told him he had BETTER be back when he says he will (which he won't).

If my mother's birthday gets ruined this year, I will be very, very unforgiving towards both my "father" and my sister. I really hope and pray that everything works out. But what I'd really like to give her for her birthday is a divorce. Too bad a third party can't enforce such things.

Happy birthday, mom. Sorry your family sucks.

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Writer's Workshop: What I'd Do as New Mom

Oh, there is a long list of what I'd do differently given the chance. A long, long list. I am not ashamed to admit that one of the reasons why I'd like a second child someday is so I can have a do-over. That sounds terrible, but I've realized some things in my 8+ months as a mommy, and I'd like a chance to use what I've learned with our next baby. So sue me.

I would definitely, definitely get professional maternity pictures done. Definitely. I love the photos that my husband took of pregnant me. They are lovely. But the problem is, he isn't in any of them. There's a couple crappy snapshots people took at my shower, and a couple where we did that awkward production of holding the camera up above our heads and snapping blindly, hoping that both of us are in the photo. In those ones you can't even see my belly. Awesome.

Another thing I plan on doing is going natural. Before you jump in and say "You don't get a medal for going med free" and "Don't try to be a hero", let me explain to you what happened in my last labour. The stupid epidural froze ONLY my legs. That's right. I felt EVERYTHING above my waist, but I was powerless to walk around, take a shower, bounce on my yoga ball or any of the things I'd planned on to get me through the pain because my legs were totally numb. Not cool.

Next time, I am getting a midwife instead of a bossy OB and I am having my baby at a birthing centre, in a birthing tub. I am taking hypnobirthing or hypnobabies to deal with the pain, and it is going to be a magical experience. And I WILL give myself a medal. Or a trophy. Because I've never won one and it makes me feel sad.

Don't judge me for being a hippie. The over-medicated, impersonal hospital birth didn't work for me last time, next time I'm trying something new. I would do a home birth if I wasn't terrified, so maybe that interferes with my crunchy, earth mama status, but baby steps. No pun intended, I swear.
 
 

To capture this magical experience, I am hiring a photographer. Again with the photos, I know. Our hospital photos, while precious to us, are terrible. Two exhausted brand new parents were in absolutely no frame of mind to be creating great art. Grainy, blurry photos of the most important moment of your life are NOT cool. I will not be getting any crotch shots or anything like that (I still have a very tiny sliver of dignity left), but at the end I will have a beautiful, non-crotch shotty slideshow like this. Best slideshow ever. Seriously. Watch it. Go now!

Aside from the stuff I will do differently during the pregnancy and birth, I'm happy to say that there isn't a whole lot I would change about the way I mother. I may look back in a couple of years and think WHAT WAS I THINKING!?!, but for now, I am satisfied and happy with the way that I am taking care of my son. You know what they say, though. Hindsight is 20/20, and I may be living in a sleep-deprivation induced bubble of rose-coloured denial.

Check back with me when I have a toddler and I can talk from a safe distance about everything I'll do differently next time.

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This has been part of Mama Kat's pretty much world famous writers workshop. Head over and check out the other submissions, or enter one of your own!

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My Sweet Baboo. . .

My Sweetest Baboo,
you are changing so much that I just need to take a few minutes to write down what you're up to these days. I can hardly believe how fast you're growing up. It makes me so proud and so sad at the same time. But mostly proud.
These days you are pulling up to stand a LOT on couches, chairs, laundry baskets, toys, you name it. You love to stand. You've also started letting go for a split second at a time, but as soon as you realize you're standing on your own, you sit down immediately. It's precious.
You also really have a mind of your own now. You don't like it if I take you away from daddy, or if daddy takes you away from me, or if anyone takes you away from either of us. You only want to CHOOSE where you go, you don't want to be told.
You love going out of the apartment, and as soon as we step out the door into the hall you squeal with excitement because you know that we're going out. Amazingly, though, you also squeal with excitement as soon as we come back into the building, because you are excited to be home.
When you hear your dad's keys in the hall after a day of hanging out at home with me, you immediately perk up and start laughing because you know that your dad is home to play with you.
My favourite new development, though, is that you now LOVE having a book read to you. A month or two ago, you would just take the book and close it and try to eat it. But now you get excited when you even see a book, and even though you take it sometimes in the middle of the story to check it out, you fuss when we stop reading until we start again.
Your favourite book is Mr.Brown Can Moo, Can You? But you pretty much love being read any story. Especially when we read in funny, dramatic voices. I love that you are a bookworm, just like Mom and Dad. I've been stocking your very own shelves with books for you in the hopes that you would follow our love of reading. It makes me so happy because you will learn so much and use your imagination so much if you continue to cherish books.
You are my most favourite favourite.
We can't imagine our lives without you, and we don't even want to try.
You are a wonderful, curious, active, non-sleeping through the night little miracle and we are crazy about you.
Love, mom

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Education Schm-education

I have a pet peeve. I am beyond annoyed with the trend that says that all childrens toys MUST be educational. The other day I was strolling the toy aisles of Wal-Mart, and in the baby/toddler section, I couldn't find any toys that were SOLELY aimed at kids playing pretend.
If I want to buy my son a toy phone, it has to sing the alphabet song and teach him to count to ten.
Ditto on toy cameras, toy steering wheels, toy laptops. Oy!
A toy phone should make ringing sounds. Maybe it could say things like "Hello" and "Good-bye", but that's it.
A toy camera should make the sound of a shutter and flash--it should NOT be responsible for my kid learning his ABCs. And clearly a toy car should go "vroom vroom", not "One, two, three."  Better yet, the toy phone would say nothing and my son would make the sounds himself. He would also be the one imitating a car motor and horn, and the click of a camera. He would use his imagination.

 He has plenty of time to learn his numbers and his alphabet, and that is something that I, as his mom, can teach him. I don't need Playskool or Mattel or Fisher-Price to do it for me.

And then I came across this.

And all I can say is that a bacon-flavoured baby formula claiming to be responsible for 4 month old babies learning to walk, and 2 year old children composing symphonies, has got to be a joke. It has to be. Please, God, let it be a prank. Because I just don't think my blood-pressure can take it.

I am not feeding my baby formula fortitfied with bacon in order to turn him into some kind of super-genius, and I'm not having my child learn a second language from a toy drum. This super-babies obsession is really starting to chap my tush.

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Faith, Hope and Grace

This weekend I'm thanking Jesus for coming to the world and showing us a better way to live. I am so grateful to have his example and for God's love and forgiveness when I mess things up. For the weekend, I changed my playlist to some of my favourite songs that remind me of my faith. Scroll down and press play if you want to take a listen. Enjoy hope and faith this weekend, and here's to passing along grace to others this spring.

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To be "that talented"

I have two new favourite photographers.

Erin Jean and Kelle Hampton.

 I've been practicing photography a lot, lately, so I've started following photographers who inspire me. Well, part of me is inspired, the other part of me wants to throw in the towel right now because I know I'll never be that good.

Kind of like when I listened to Ani DiFranco throughout my teen years, when I was really into song-writing and poetry. I ended up getting so much better at writing honest, cutting prose because of her, but at the same time I kind of felt like she must've sold her soul to the devil to be that talented.

I very rarely come across someone whose talent makes me so breathless with awe and envy that I can barely stand it, but these photographers definitely do. And it doesn't help that the second one is also a blogger and incredibly talented writer as well. 

Thankfully I'm too busy to indulge much envy these days, so I'll just pass these gems along. I hope you're inspired and if you are, let me know what you think.

Oh, and check out some Ani Difranco while you're at it. I'm pretty sure there can only be one "world's most brilliant lyricist" in the world, and she's it.

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