Geek in Heels - Page 73

Sep 30, 2011 • In Claire, Motherhood, Personal

Happy 1st Birthday, Claire Emmanuelle!

My firstborn daughter turns one year old today! What a difference a year makes…

We will be spending the day preparing, and celebrating at her first birthday party where I hope to finally get some updated pictures of my big girl with her loving family.

Claire, you know that I could write a novel describing my love for you. But I will choose not to on this blog, and hope that my future words and actions will prove stronger than any words. So for now, I leave you with this:

“If you have a mom, there is nowhere you are likely to go where a prayer has not already been.”
-Robert Brault

Love,
Your Proud Mother

The Konami Code Meets “The Last Supper”

I don’t think that I will ever forget the Konami Code. Do you remember it?

(As a Christian, I don’t find this spoof offensive at all. Da Vinci might, but me, no. I’m pretty certain that God has a good sense of humor, and that Jesus himself would have enjoyed video games if they were around during His time. :-))

Via Geeks Are Sexy.

P.S. — Tomorrow is the last day to enter the NOVICA Gift Card giveaway! Have you entered yet?

My (Almost) 1-Year-Old, and 35 Weeks Pregnant

Exactly one year ago today, I began to go into labor with Claire. Sure, we were sent home from the hospital at first, but we returned 10 hours later to be immediately admitted and our Claire Emmanuelle was born at 9:35pm on September 30, 2010.

I can’t believe my little girl will be turning 1 tomorrow.

J and I have been astounded by Claire’s growth — both physical and mental — in the past couple of weeks. J’s parents, like most grandparents, were concerned that she was not eating enough when they arrived. As a result, they have been feeding her like crazy…she now eats two bowls of congee in a sitting and has gotten a bit chubbier in the process. We’re pretty sure she has shot up vertically too, which will be confirmed when we go in for her 1-year checkup.

Claire has also been picking up things much faster than before. For example, a couple of weeks ago I noticed her observing me as I combed my hair. When I handed her the comb, she started to comb her own hair…and as I leaned forward she reached up to comb my hair too! She has also recently started to grab tissues and napkins to “clean” surfaces, attempt to play fetch with Comang, and imitate facial expressions, body motions, and sounds just after seeing/hearing it once.

Additionally, she is starting to do things that we can’t figure out where she picked up. Earlier this week, we received a toy present that had a old-fashioned phone receiver on it. Without our prompting, she immediately picked it up and held it up to her ears. We were absolutely dumbfounded, because we do not have a regular phone in the house. (Just in case you were wondering, she has been holding our cell phones to her ears for quite some time now. Perhaps she saw an old-fashioned phone receiver on TV?)

And while she has been dancing along to music for months now, she is now adding funny facial expressions and arm movements to her repertoire. Just last weekend, she was hanging out with her Auntie Annie when she started dancing like she was in a rap video…

I love her more than words can say.

As for BebeDeux, I am now 35 weeks along in the pregnancy and feeling quite uncomfortable. I will not run through my list of symptoms again, but suffice it to say that my own mother has told me repeatedly that it pains her to see me like this, and is pressuring me to get my tubes tied!

While I may be in discomfort, BebeDeux continues to do fine in the womb. She is measuring exactly on target (Claire was like this too, so I am thinking that she will be about the same size when she is born), and is head down and rear-facing, which is the optimal position for birth. According to the doctor, I have a very healthy supply of amniotic fluid and placental tissue. And with my blood pressure continuing to stay exactly at 100/60, in conjunction with my passing every test they throw at me, the doc tells me that I have nothing to worry about.

I was finally able to take an updated belly shot yesterday. (You can kinda see my ombre dye job here too…unfortunately, I have not had opportunities where someone could take a picture of my hair in good, natural lighting.)

Unfortunately, I do not a belly shot at 35 weeks with Claire to compare this to, but looking through my archives, my belly seemed to have stopped growing at around 33 weeks and I think the same may go for BebeDeux as well. It’s funny, because my MIL thinks that my stomach is too small for this stage in the pregnancy and is always trying to get me to eat more. Meanwhile, my mother thinks that I am once again getting too big and urges me to keep moving around despite my hip pains.

I can’t believe there’s only about a month left until we get to meet BebeDeux! We still haven’t done, or purchased anything for her arrival yet. It’s time to get cracking!

The Four Types of Mario Party Participants

In our pre-baby days, J and I used to host epic Mario Party game nights. Seeing this sure brings back some great memories… (And I think that the same comic can be applied to Mario Kart as well, no?)

J and I also used to party until 6am like we were eternal college students. But at least with Mario Party, we can look forward to the experience with our kids as they get older. 🙂

Via EPICponyz.

The Most Disgusting Thing About Childbirth

(I apologize to anyone who may be getting sick of all the pregnancy and baby-related posts as of late. With only five weeks left to go until BebeDeux’s due date — and just 2 days until Claire’s first birthday! — babies are naturally the #1 thing on my mind. I promise that this will subside…some day. 😉 If anything, you can look forward to the guest posts I’m currently lining up for my “maternity leave.”)

A pregnant friend recently asked me what I considered to be the most surprising thing about giving birth to Claire. Since I am a research fiend, there really wasn’t anything that caught me completely off-guard. There were, however, the squirt bottle incidents immediately following delivery…

Now, most women reading this are probably thinking about the peri bottles that hospitals give you to clean your lady parts after you use the facilities.

(Just in case you were not aware, after giving birth, nurses will give you these squeeze bottles filled with warm water and instruct you to squirt yourself down there instead of just wiping with toilet paper. After squirting — and let’s be honest; it feels damn good because your girl parts are all tender and sore and torn and leaking — you gently pat with a soft cotton pad and spray your cooch with antibacterial spray. Then you wrap an ice pack in extra-large Tucks pads and leave it down there until the next time you have to pee or poop. I know. SEXY!)

I loved these things. I can now understand the appeal of bidets!
(image source)

No, what I am referring to is the HUMAN squirt bottle, aka me.

While I knew that there would be blood and tissue and other wonderful stuff still lounging around in my uterus after giving birth, I just assumed that my body would naturally expel — in other words, slowly leak like a period — it out.

What I didn’t expect was that nurses would help speed that process along by regularly, and repeatedly pressing down on my still-swollen belly.

And when they pressed? Allow this picture to illustrate:

(image source)

The first few times were bad enough that you could hear stuff gushing out. (Ask J. He was there.)

It wasn’t only when they pressed down either; I would shoot and spray whenever I bent over, coughed, or made any sudden movements.

I remained a human squirt bottle of blood and gore for the duration of my hospital stay, and only on about the third day after delivery did the “squirting” turn more into “leaking.” And, as with most women, that “leaking” continued for about 6 weeks.

So that, my friends, is what I considered to be the most disgusting thing about childbirth. I don’t think it would be have been half as bad if I had known that others physically pressing down on my belly would cause that much substance to be forcibly expelled.

What about you? What do, or did you consider the grossest thing about giving birth?

On Sleeping Positions [Pregnant Edition]

Most pregnant women — as well as BTDT (been there, done that) mothers — are well-aware that the recommended sleep position during pregnancy is “SOS” (sleep on side). The left side, in particular, is favored by doctors because it helps increase the amount of blood and nutrients that reach the placenta and the baby.

Sleeping on your back should be avoided due to the extra weight that will be put on your intestines and major blood vessels. And sleeping on your stomach is not recommended either, for obvious reasons.

Well, it’s confession time again. During my pregnancy with Claire, I hardly ever slept on my side. I continued to sleep on my back and stomach, and only stopped sleeping on my stomach during my third trimester, when I started to solely sleep on my back.

It’s not that I didn’t try sleeping on my side — believe me, I did — but I just could NOT get comfortable, especially with my hip pains. I tried pillows between my legs as well as pillows behind my back, but no position beat out my lying flat on my back.

Seeing as regular pillows only contributed to my discomfort, I knew that I would
only be wasting money on expensive maternity pillows like this. (image source)

Additionally, when Claire became large and strong enough for me to feel her move, she would kick like crazy whenever I would lay on my left side. She seemed to like the right side better, but only slightly.

When I discussed my sleeping position with my OB, he told me not to worry about it too much. “Believe me, you will start to get uncomfortable before any harm is done!”

With this in mind, I continued to sleep flat on my back, because this was the position that I was the most comfortable in, and this was the position that Claire seemed to favor the most.

And you know what? My suspicions were confirmed when I was labor, and Claire’s heart rate was continuously being monitored. Because whenever I lay on my side, her heart rate would increase…and it would actually shoot through the roof whenever I flipped on over to the left side! Apparently, she was positioned so that my laying on the left caused her much discomfort in the womb.

So I guess the lesson here is that you should always trust your body, and trust what the baby inside is trying to tell you. And that you don’t always need to follow every little advice to the teeth.

As for this current pregnancy with BebeDeux, she doesn’t seem to like my sleeping on the left side either! She seems to prefer my lying on my back, or on my right side. (And I’m willing to bet that this can be confirmed if we were to monitor her heart rate.)

P.S. — I’m guest blogging over at Married Up with Wine today! Please go say hi, and be sure to check out the rest of Mandy’s awesome blog!

If Mr. T Had a Customized License Plate

This may be the best license plate I’ve seen in quite some time.

Via Reddit.

Loving One Child More

One of my biggest fears about becoming a parent to more than one kid is that I will, one day, find myself loving one child more.

Is it possible to love all your children equally? Absolutely. But as today’s Motherlode article, titled “Do ALL Parents Love One Child More?” states, MOST parents end up preferring one child over the others.

This week’s Time magazine which discusses the science of favoritism

And I think that I have a valid reason to be concerned, because I have a predilection for — subconsciously or not — personally favoring the generally less favored.

Case in point: a friend used to be the proud owner of two Yorkies. And while both were adorable in their own ways, it was clear that one was more (for lack of better words) aesthetically pleasing to the eyes. Not only that, she was more friendly and obedient than her sister, who, when she was not being her moody self, tended to keep to herself.

And whenever I found myself in the presence of these dogs, I always gravitated toward the less-cute, surly sister. I would give her more attention, try harder to win over her affection, and gave her the treats first.

My friend was perplexed by my behavior. “It’s so funny how you interact with my dogs, because everyone else prefers the other one! It’s like you’re compensating for the lack of attention that the unfriendly one receives.”

Thinking back to my interactions with other children when I was young, as well as my relationships with my former students (I used to give piano and violin lessons, tutor students for the SATs, and was a youth group teacher at my former church), I have found that this has always been the case. I work harder with those who are generally less favored by society. With those who are obviously struggling more than others, and with those who tend to be more neglected or ignored.

Again, I do not seek to do these things. I guess it’s just the way that I am.

With all this in mind, I can’t help but wonder if I will be the same with my own children. Will I favor the one who is less popular among her peers? Will I give special treatment to the one who is less talented? Will I love this this child more?

And, my biggest fear of them all: will I end up neglecting the other child in an effort to build up the other one?

I guess that like practically all parenting ‘what-if’s, only time will tell, and that I will just have to do the best that I can to make sure that all my children feel equally loved and attended to.

But I do know one thing: I will never tell a child that I love him/her the most. I actually know some people whose parents have confided in them this admission, and I just don’t see how this could be beneficial to the child.

Do you share with me the fear that you will end up preferring — and loving — one child over the rest? How do you plan on handling it if it happens?

‘The Princess Bride’ Monopoly [I Want!]

The Princess Bride is one of my all-time favorite books.

Sure, the movie has its moments (“MAH-widge…MAH-widge is what bwings us together today. Wove, twoo wove…”), but as with most big screen adaptations of novels, I feel that the film version — while doing a great job of including most of the best parts of the book — misses some of the intricacies and biting sarcasm that makes “S. Morgenstern’s Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure” a must-read in this blogger’s opinion.

(Fact: did you know that S. Morgenstern actually does not exist? He was made up by William Goldman for purposes of the novel and I always find it surprising that so many people believe Morgenstern to be the real author of The Princess Bride!)

Second fact: did you know that it has been 24 years since the film was first released? (There’s your “Ohmigawd I feel old!” moment of the day.) And in celebration of the anniversary, Pleated Jeans has created a Monopoly version of the movie!

If only this were real… (Hasbro, are you listening?)

Via Flavorwire.

NOVICA Review and a $75 Gift Card Giveaway!

Update: This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to Di, who entered via the comments section below!

I will be the first to admit that I am not always a socially-conscious shopper — while I do my best to support local businesses, I hardly ever really hold a newly purchased product in my hands, wondering about the hands that touched it before me.

But whenever I do hear about some of the horror stories behind mass-produced items, I cringe inside and become even more determined to lend my hand (and money) to small businesses and individuals whose products were not only were created with love and passion, but who also rely on the money made from these items.

So when NOVICA first contacted me about a giveaway on my blog, I became very intrigued. You see, NOVICA is a leading fair trade artisan website, working with National Geographic to “offer talented artisans around the world a place to express their artistic talents online and provide access to the world market.” In other words, they not only provide a forum for these artisans to sell their goods worldwide, but also to connect people together to improve lives and help preserve traditional arts and crafts in other countries.

The site offers a wide variety of products — everything from home decor, jewelry and apparel, to paintings and even musical instruments! You can search by category or you can use one of their specialized searches like “Gifts for the Animal Lover” and “Wine & Cocktail Enthusiast”.

Each item that is available for purchase has in its description the name of the artisan and country, along with their photo, story, and even a quote. When you register for a (free) myNOVICA account, you can save specific products or artists to your ‘Favorites.’ You can also choose enter a photo, description, and other general information about yourself so the artisans can find out more about who is purchasing their products — you can even upload photos of the products you’ve purchased and how you are use them!

NOVICA also hosts a microfinance program which helps artisans around the world to enhance their craft and expand their market by offering them 0% interest loans. Additionally, it has also recently launched a new home party division called NOVICA Live, where Consultants can showcase beautiful gifts and jewelry through home parties in an entertaining way, while supporting artisans worldwide. Because it is a fairly new program, there are tons of promotions going on for early Consultants, including a trip to Bali for anyone who becomes a Director this year!

NOVICA generously offered me a $75 gift card to choose an item for myself, and I decided to go with the ‘Frangipani Garden’ Ceramic Tea Set, which is no longer available on their website. But don’t worry — here are some pictures I took of this gorgeous tea set!

Hand-made by the ceramic artist Putu Oka Mahendra, this tea set hails all the way from Bali. I love the single frangipani blossom detail on each of the pieces.

As is the case with all NOVICA purchases, my tea set came complete with an artisan story card in addition to a little personal note.

Here’s another shot of the set:

J’s family, being Chinese, is VERY into their tea and are pretty much tea snobs. 🙄 I’m happy to say that this tea set passed their inspection with flying colors. Additionally, I’ve always had trouble drinking tea from the traditional Chinese tea cups without handles due to the hot temperature of the tea…I know that the handles on these cups — aside from being simply gorgeous — will serve me well!

Now, for the part you’ve been waiting for: the giveaway!

NOVICA has offered to give one of my readers a $75 gift card!

Would you like to purchase for yourself or a friend one of the many amazing items at NOVICA.com? AND support a talented artisan while you’re at it?

If so, here are the rules…

Each reader is eligible for up to three entries via the following methods (each method will grant a separate entry):

Leave a comment to this post about how you would spend the NOVICA gift card.
If you haven’t done so already, go to the Geek in Heels Facebook Page and “Like” the page. Then click on the NOVICA Gift Card Giveaway link (located right under the profile picture, or just use this link) to enter the sweepstakes.
If you haven’t done so already, follow @geekinheels on Twitter and tweet exactly the following: I just entered for a chance to win a $75 NOVICA gift card via @geekinheels at http://bit.ly/qUWzSx and you can too!

Please do not leave extra comments here if you enter via Facebook or Twitter.

You can increase your chances of winning by using all three methods of entry. There is only one entry allowed per person, per method — for a total possible number of three entries — and any additional entries will be promptly deleted. (Yes, I have ways of checking this. And yes, this will only cause me to get annoyed at you.)

For the complete list of rules, go to this link.

The giveaway begins as soon as this entry is published — September 23, 2011 @ 12:00pm EDT — and will run until September 30, 2011 @ 11:59pm EDT. The winner will be announced here on October 1 and will also be notified by email (so please use a valid email when entering so that I can contact you if you win!) or via a Twititer DM.

Good luck, and thanks for reading! (I love giveaways, don’t you? :-D )