Videos!

Here are some new videos featuring Gulliver, a little bit of me, and narration by Murray. Gulliver is progressing nicely. He has recently learned to make the raspberry noise and does it all the time. He's pretty much awesome.

Enjoy these videos. My favorite is the video that Murray took at 5 a.m. when neither he nor Gulliver could sleep. Real boy bonding time. Hilarity ensues.




Four Month Visit

Today I took Gulliver to his 4-month checkup. Here's the latest on our baby boy:

Height: 28"
Weight: 18 lbs 15 oz (can we just say 19?)
Head: 43cm (75th percentile)

This puts him once again off the charts in height and weight (but more off the charts in height, which means he's not super fat).

He did very well and of course he cried when he got his shots, but then he immediately stopped when I nursed him right afterward. The doctor says that she can tell from his demeanor that he is a happy, easy-going baby.

Here's a picture of him playing with Grandpa and a picture in the back of the car with the mums.

It's Arlo!

Every one of the 12 times I woke up last night, I had this song in my head. I love it. Maybe we should name our next child Arlo. Or at least write a song for Gulliver. Unfortunately, music and lyric writing is not among Murray's and my many artistic talents.

G, G, G is for Groovy,
U, U, U is for Unicorn,
L, L, L is for Loving,
L, L, L is for Landing,
I, I, I is for Igor,
V, V, V is for Very,
E, E, E is for Extraordinary,
R, R, R is for Rolling!

Not quite as catchy....



(Before you embarrass yourself by saying anything negative about the name Arlo, just know that it's a family name and you really, really don't want to say anything negative about it.)

Enough is Enough

These are words I never thought I would apply to chocolate. Until this evening.

Murray and I have continued to be busy. (Remember how I blogged about Hell week? It's more like Hell month, but we hope things will settle down someday soon and then we are going to spend an entire weekend doing NOTHING.

Amidst the busy-ness, I decided we needed something good to eat, and I've recently busted out the ice cream maker, so I thought I'd give a new recipe a try. I never used the ice cream maker once last year because I'm all about the immediate satisfaction recipes rather than the "cook this and then let it chill all night in your fridge and you can eat this food tomorrow" recipes.

I found a quickish recipe for chocolate sorbet, and figured that putting it in a ziploc bag in an ice bath would be just as good as letting it chill all night long.

And three hours later Murray and I ate the most chocolatey chocolate sorbet that I have ever eaten in my entire life. And I was unable to eat more than one 1/2 cup serving. Which means that we have plenty to last us through the week (since we have the large ice cream maker) and share with Murray's parents since I left the raspberry sauce I made there on Sunday, and this sorbet could really use some raspberry sauce.

Want the recipe?

4 C water
1 2/3 C sugar
1/3 C brown sugar
2 C cocoa powder
1 tbsp vanilla

Dissolve sugars in water in large sauce pan on medium heat. Add cocoa powder and incorporate fully. Bring to a simmer and stir for 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Add vanilla. Put in large ziploc bag in an ice bath. Put in your ginormous ice cream maker for 25-30 min. Enjoy!!

I'm slipping! I'm slipping!


Oh noooooooooo! I'm quickly losing my hold on the #1 spot, due to the fact that someone else realized they were in this competition! It was much easier winning when most of the mothers were oblivious. I wish I'd taken a screen capture when I had over 50% of the vote. Now... well, this may be the last glimpse I get of myself in the lead.

I appreciate everything you have done, my dearest readers, and I can understand if you're burned out on this whole vote on every computer you come across thing. As this contest goes on until Sunday, I am realizing now that unless we rally and give this an extra huge effort, we will lose this thing. And I'm okay with that. It just means that Murray will never be able to be first gentleman, and I will not, in fact, decide to pursue a career in politics.

Taste Testing

A long time ago, I experienced true humiliation. I admitted to my friends that I probably couldn't tell the difference between Coke and Pepsi, even though I refuse to drink Pepsi. (That's not the humiliating part.) And so we arranged a taste test. They blindfolded me and I took a sip from the first cup they gave me. I waited a moment to truly experience the taste. And then, when I was ready, they gave me the second cup. I took a sip. I mulled it around. And then I declared, "Oh! The second one is better. Definitely the second one!" I was so sure. I was so emphatic.

I was so stupid. They'd given me Pepsi both times.

Yesterday I sent Murray to the store to stock up on yogurt. I used to be the type to let yogurt go bad in the fridge, but since the diabetes, it's become a diet staple. I have at least 2 yogurts a day, and more often than not, I have 3. That's an expensive habit, at 50 cents a pop. So I've switched to Walmart store brand, which is a mere 37 cents per yogurt. As I gave Murray specific instructions to get the Walmart store brand, he said, "I can tell the difference, you know. I know you said you can't tell the difference. But I can tell the difference."

"Okay," I said. Then pick up a couple of 50 cent yogurts too. Get the same flavors."

Murray's eyes lit up. "A taste test??"

"Yep. We're going to do a taste test. And in fact, while you're at it, go ahead and buy a Coke and a Pepsi. I want to tell if you can REALLY tell the difference."

You see, Murray would rather drink toilet bowl water than Pepsi.

When Murray got home, we busted out a couple of testing glasses. Murray took his turn first to test me. I closed my eyes while he poured the glasses, and then he set them on the counter. I opened my eyes and took a drink from the left cup.

"Okay," I said. I'm getting the taste of this...

Then I waited for my palette to clear and drank from the second one. "Okay. At least I can tell that there's a difference. Hmm... Which is which...?" I tasted them again and then pronounced the left beverage to be Coke.

"Nope. It's Pepsi," said Murray. (In my defense, I'll have you know that I never drink Coca Cola Classic---I always drink Diet Coke. And I was testing Coca Cola Classic.)

So I failed. I chose Poopsi.


Then it was Murray's turn. I carefully poured the drinks while his back was turned. Then he came to the counter and sipped his first drink. Then cleared his palette. Then sipped the second drink. Then pronounced very emphatically and assuredly, "It was Pepsi both times!"

Ha! Hahahahahahahahahaha! It wasn't! I'm not a mean wife and I would never pull that trick on anyone! But here was my husband, who SWEARS Pepsi is disgusting, and he couldn't even tell that there was a difference between the two beverages!!

I assured Murray that he had drunk both Pepsi and Coke and I showed him the equally depleted soda bottles to prove it. So, appropriately humiliated, Murray tried again. And then chose Pepsi to be the winner.

Hahahahahahaahahahahahahaha!

Stay tuned for the results of our yogurt taste test, which we will be conducting tonight or tomorrow!

(My mom has long wanted to host a taste testing party at which guests bring the brand that they're loyal to and a competitor's brand, and see for sure if they can really tell the difference. My dad tells her that it is mean because why shatter their happiness by proving that they don't actually know what's better.)

Campaign Trail, Day 2

I don't know how long this poll is open for, so I've got to make the most of it while I can! Today I'm going to challenge you a little further. Yesterday I asked you to vote for me. Today, I ask you to go to another computer and vote for me again! I know that this requires a little more effort, so I am willing to reward you by doing the first giveaway ever on Singing Cicada! (And probably the last!)

My giveaway package includes:
* 1 leather passport holder (valued at $20, your choice of brown, green, camel, or orange)
* 1 "while you were out" notepad from Knock Knock (believe me, it's cool and funny, and valued at... under $5?)
* 1 set of three small notebooks (valued at.... under $10?)
for a total value of under $35ish!

What do you need to do to be eligible? Simply find a new way to vote for me today and let me know you did so in the comments section!

I don't know what I'm going to win, but I really really hope it's a tiara!

You like me! You really like me!

Well folks, it's true. I've been nominated for best Utah Mommy Blogger. This is such an honor, especially as I've only been mommy blogging for four months now. I'd love for you all to vote for me, even though I feel I'm the sleeper in this whole thing. I mean, how can I win against the big guns like Petit Elefant? Or Dooce?? (Dooce lives almost next door to my brother and sister-in-law, and I considered dropping by on Friday to introduce myself as her competition...) Now HOLD ON THERE. Don't click over to the link I'm about to give you to go vote for Petit Elefant and Dooce. I want all your votes. Help out the underdog, will you? VOTE HERE!!!

And right now, you're probably asking what's in it for me? Why should you take the 15 seconds to click over to another site and submit your vote? (And do it from every computer you own.) Well, this is my promise to you. If I win Best Utah Mommy Blogger, I make the following promises:

1) I will share more stories about poop. Like about how Gulliver's poop schedule is changing and I can't handle the not knowing. And for the past two weeks, he's blown out of a diaper in a major way at least once a day, and I just did laundry last night and was up to my elbows in poop, Spray N Wash, and Oxiclean.

2) I will post a picture of myself in a sports bra.

3) I'll post more pictures like this:


4) I will post more videos, like the upcoming short film, "What Gulliver Does When I Try to Suction Out His Snot."

5) I will post every day for one month.

6) I will get pregnant again this year.


As you can see from a small sampling of vote tallies, I'm holding strong at 6% of the vote. (And yes, that is after I ceremoniously cast my ballot for myself!)


Please go and vote! PLEASE!



UPDATE: I'm in the lead! Keep the votes coming!

A heart breaking work of lots of work.

I am very happy to announce that after a week of almost non-stop work, Murray and I have our own websites that show our portfolios. Yay! This effort has been to the sacrifice of sleep, sanity, every single family initiative, and general home cleanliness. At the end of the week, I'm left with a kick-A portfolio and a house that is a wreck. (Murray did manage to vacuum the main floor on Saturday, and I was supposed to do some chores too but I opted to take a nap. A big, long nap.)

To link to our portfolios would destroy our anonymity, so I'll just tell you that if you know us, you can find our portfolios at our full names dot com. That is, my first name and my last name dot com, and murray's first name and last name dot com. (Two separate sites.) Check us out!

But we're not the only ones who've been busy this week! This week Gulliver decided to learn to roll over. He can successfully roll from back to front and from front to back. Now more than ever it is important to vacuum our floors! Gulliver also is working hard at sitting by himself. In this picture of him, you see him leaning forward, exhausted by his previous (and more successful) efforts.



Assistant

I've decided to hire an assistant. Please read the job description to see if this is a good fit for you. Leave your application and resume in the comments section.

DUTIES
* Do my laundry every day. Fold and put away clothes in my super-organized closets, which you will have organized.
* Cook meals for me and my family. These meals must be nutritious so that we can lose weight, but so delicious that we don't even know we're on a diet. Three meals a day and three snacks a day are required.
* Clean kitchen every day.
* Vacuum every day so that I can feel comfortable putting Gulliver on the floor without fear of the ants carrying him away to their queen.
* Dust. Because I never do this. Ever. Please remember to take down all knick knacks (of which we have plenty) and dust underneath them. Not just around them.
* Clean my bathrooms. I don't want to see one stray hair. (Post pregnancy I'm pretty much going bald, so you'll be required to clean the bathroom several times a day.)
* Do all the businessy and technical stuff involved in my work while I cuddle and snuggle Gulliver and take him for walks.
* Make my bed.
* Take out my dry cleaning.
* Buy my groceries. Remember to keep us to our $300/month food budget.
* Mail the business card samples for friends that I have had sitting at my door for two weeks (or more).
* Straighten any pictures that are off-kilter.
* Set up my TiVo to record really interesting and educational shows.
* Go through all my design blogs and hand-pick the stuff that I'm actually interested in reading.
* Entertain Gulliver while I shower and get ready every day.

COMPENSATION
* $2/day with possible 30% tep (To Ensure Proper Service) at the end of each month, for a possible total of $80/month (you know---as in half of what we pay for our iPhones each month).

Hell Week

It's been a very long time since I've put together an important project in a short amount of time. But on Friday, Murray announced that we needed to have our portfolios online by Tuesday. We've had our domain names for almost a year now, and we haven't done anything with them other than create snazzy parking pages. We have had plenty of time to organize, collect, and put together our portfolios. But we didn't do anything about them until now. It's almost 2:00 a.m. and Murray and I have been working on this almost non-stop since Friday after work. Right now, I am working on the laptop in the bedroom, with Gulliver passed out beside me, and Murray is working in the office. He's turned up the audio version of Me Talk Pretty One Day loud enough that we can both hear it.

I feel like I'm in college again.

Earlier this evening, I expressed to Murray my strong desire to have soda. I never drink it anymore because I refuse to drink anything but diet, and usually there's only caffeinated beverages on tap, and I don't need Gulliver to get caffeinated through my breast milk. Murray admitted that he went on a trip to Wendy's during the day to get a big drink of Coke.

Murray got into the shower and the doorbell rang.

"Did you hear that, Murray? Was that the doorbell?"

"I can't hear anything. I'm in the shower."

So I grabbed Gulliver and went downstairs. A neighbor was there to tell me that the lights of our car had been left on. So I went and turned off the lights. And, well, I was downstairs. I was dressed. I had my baby. So I just put Gulliver in the car and went to Walmart to pick up an assortment of diet beverages. I forgot my phone.

It did occur to me while I was out that Murray might freak out when he got out of the shower and his wife and child were gone. Without the phone. Whoops. And the Saturday before Mother's Day, Walmart was a zoo, so it took me a little longer. Also, there were six or seven different scents of Downy Ultra. Sometimes it's just too much selection. I had to smell each one of them at least twice before I made my decision.

When I pulled into our parking space, Murray cracked the front door and peered out at me. I knew I was in trouble. I brought Gulliver to the door.

"You are in so much trouble. I almost called the police."

"I know! I know! I suck!"

"And I even went so far as to think, I can't call the police! They'll think it's me! The husband! It's always the husband! And what am I going to tell them? They left while I was in the shower? Of course I was in the shower---washing off the blood!"

Apparently Murray had opened every room and closet in our house to see if my bloody corpse was stashed anywhere.

And all this time I was just in Walmart, getting myself some diet beverages. Whoops!

Anyway. Murray and I are about ready for bed now. And we still have plenty of work to do in the next few days. All our initiatives have gone out the window. Also, the house is a WRECK. Maybe getting my portfolio online will get me enough clients that I can afford a maid. So that I can work more. Sheesh. I'm taking a day off next week to actually tend to the house needs.

The Walk

Today I decided was a good day for me and Gulliver to go on a walk. He was napping when I made this decision. So all I had to do was wait for him to wake up, feed him, wait for his big bm of the day, get him dressed, and take him out.

So he woke up and I fed him. And I waited. I did some work. And I waited. And waited and waited.

FINALLY he did some pooping, somewhere between 1 and 2, which may be his new major duty time, which does not bode well for church on Sundays. But I cleaned him up and got him dressed and as soon as his clothes were on he started making fussing noises, which surprisingly meant it was time to feed him again. So I fed him and then he went straight to sleep.

So much for my walk plan.

I had to wait for Gulliver to wake up again. Once he was awake, I got him immediately into the stroller and took him for a wonderful walk in the sun, during which time, his pioneer bonnet protected his wee bald head from the sun and his wee baby eyes, too. Those pioneers sure got one thing right!

Whenever we started heading a new direction, I'd check him to make sure that the sun still wasn't in his eyes. Invariably, this is what stared me back: A really bored baby. I mean, couldn't he muster some excitement to be outside in the fresh air and sun?



I even tried getting him out of the stroller so that he could feel the grass, but that was met with indifference, too. (Don't worry---his bald baby head was only exposed to the sun for about 2 minutes.)




Oh well, Gulliver. We take it one day at a time. And someday soon you'll be excited about going outside.

Big Chickens

Murray and I chickened out. I feel I need to reread the sleep books before I decide to do anything drastic. Plus, everything says that I can follow his sleep patterns at least up until 4 months, or something like that, and our little baby is not four months old. He will be tomorrow. So tomorrow I can start to think about changing his sleep routine. After I read the sleep books. But every time Murray and I are faced with a decision like this, we ultimately decide, "Oh, that's not our parenting style." We're all about the love and the no crying.

I do legitimately have concerns about his ability to self-soothe, though. I mean, I want little Gulliver to develop that talent, for sure.

Last night I tried having him sleep in bed for the whole night. He still woke up about 6 or 7 times. This is so not typical. Any ideas?

A Letter to My Baby


Dearest Baby Gulliver,

You are the cutest, sweetest, darlingest baby on the interwebs right now. We love you very much and we can't get enough of you. We love snuggling with you and we think it's so adorable to wake up to your smiling baby face.

But we think it may be about time that you stop sleeping in our bedroom. It seems, in our best estimation, that when you are sleeping in your bassinet, you are aware that you are not sleeping in bed with us. And so you keep waking up all night lately, whereas you used to wake up just once! I think that I have spoiled you because you have ended up in bed with us by about 8:00 a.m. every day since you were born. And I'm telling you---you are adorable sleeping next to me. I love snuggling you right up to me. But baby, I need to sleep through the night, and I don't get to take that big, fat, 3-4 hour nap that you seem to like to take at 10:00 a.m.

Also, we think it's probably time that you start going to sleep before 1:00 a.m. Just a suggestion.

And I'm not really even sure how to do this, despite the books that I've read, because some part of me is reeeeeeally curious how you're supposed to magically go to sleep at 10:00 or 8:00 or whenever, if you've been used to going to sleep at 1:00 a.m. And I'm reeeeeeeally not looking forward to this whole "crying it out" thing because when you cry, I stress eat, and I've already eaten half a jar of Nutella with a spoon, so I don't need extra stress eating in my life. Also, I can't get over the feeling when you're crying that you're despising me for not immediately catering to your sweet baby needs. And I think that mothers are programmed to go berzerk if their babies are crying. You hardly ever cry and I'm really not looking forward to intentionally leaving you to cry. I'll just have to keep reminding myself that it's for your own benefit.

I am not looking forward to tonight. You, on the other hand, have no idea what's coming, so at least you get to enjoy your day today.

18-24

Well, this weekend was a double anniversary weekend. Except that sometimes our anniversaries confuse us, so we both kindof missed it. Saturday was the 2-year anniversary of our first date when we first met. To celebrate, we had El Senor over for breakfast. (This was before we realized it was the 2-year anniversary of when we met.) And by "breakfast" I mean we ate at 1:00.

I had been meaning to go to the Farmer's Market because Azucar blogged about the Belgian Waffles there. But I woke up at 6:00 to feed Gulliver and it was pouring rain. And then I woke up at 8:00 to feed Gulliver and it was pouring rain. And then I woke up at 10:00 to feed Gulliver and it was pouring rain. So much for Belgian waffles (I hear they weren't even there... see you all next week?). But I needed some amazing breakfast to make up for the waffle let down, and I decided that deluxe French toast would fit the bill. When El Senor called to ask if he could come over for design help, I told him that I'd be feeding him French toast, and then he suggested Nutella-stuffed French toast, which he had seen somewhere.

I was up for the challenge. Also, I needed to make up for the crappy "Nutella" crepes that I had at IHOP a few months ago that were the biggest Nutella let down in the world. I think that the recipe used---no joke---1 tsp of Nutella.

I went to Wammart and bought manager's special egg bread and Nutella (I don't keep it in my house because I will eat it all and to this day I have always held strong and not bought the double pack of large jars at Costco for only $6). And I bought real maple syrup because I was out. So I brought it all home and whipped up Nutella-stuffed French toast with maple syrup dip and a mango yogurt side while Murray and El Senor watched Chopped. I have to say, now that we watch Chopped, I have a much better presenation at my meals. It's like it's always a challenge to come up with a great presentation! I left Murray's French toast unstuffed because he does not agree with the gratuitous addition of chocolate to any recipe. I must say that breakfast was spectacular. And then afterwards, El Senor introduced me to "breakfast dessert"---the oft forgotten course. He took straight nutella, dipped it in straight maple syrup, and topped it with whipped cream. Why oh why do people forget about breakfast dessert?? (When we told Murray about our breakfast dessert, I think he started dry heaving.)

Once we figured out it was the 2-year anniversary of us meeting, we decided to go out to Bombay House, where we first met. I would have worn the same outfit that I originally wore, but apparently I've had too much breakfast dessert in the last two years...

Then Sunday was the 18-month anniversary of our marriage. I celebrated in the morning by spending 15 minutes ironing Gulliver's church clothes. (Minutes spent ironing Murray's church clothes in the past 18 months: 0. But that's because before meeting me he bought only clothing that didn't need to be ironed.) Then we went to church where Gulliver pooed all the way up to his neck, and all over my Sunday dress.

Seriously?

He normally has his biggest BM at around 11:00 a.m. but apparently on Sundays he likes to save it for some time between 1:00 and 2:00.

Anyway. We took a trip down to Moroni with Steve and Cici to meet up with the rest of the family for a niece's birthday party and had a great time playing Memory, eating really good food (my brother-in-law is a turkey farmer and does the best bbqed turkey and baked beans in the world), and playing wii fit, which Murray is convinced is the end to our obeisity.

Happy 18 months and 24 months, Murray. I can honestly say that they've been the best of my life and I love you very, very much.

I once knew a girl named Pandora...

(Murray and I watched Notting Hill recently and I maintain that it is the greatest romantic comedy---my measuring stick of all romantic comedies. And if you don't know the rest of that quote... I'm not going to share it with you here.)

I came home from the Goldsmith Jeweler's red carpet event last night to tell Murray about my whole experience. And to admit that I spent $50 during our "let's be frugal" initiative. (There's lots of initiatives going on in our home right now, like the aforementioned AFFITPBHAS, and the Limit the Family Food Budget to $300 a Month Initiative [LTFFBT$300AMI], and the Let's Do Our Laundry More Than Once A Month Initiative [LDOLMTOAMI].)

So anyhoo, I digress. Last night I attended Goldsmith Jeweler's red carpet event. Let me tell you how this happened. And then I'll tell you what I told Murray. And then I'll tell you what Murray told me. And then I'll tell you about how Murray saw my $50 expense as an excuse to spend $50 himself, which doesn't totally make sense when that means that we've just doubled what we're spending during our time of frugality, but kindof makes sense because Murray doesn't have a cool new bracelet but I do, and he "needed" a pair of new shoes.

Anyhoo, I digress. When I was first invited to the red carpet event, I started immediately planning my outfit. I mean, what do I even have that I can wear to a red carpet event? Because we're not spending money on unnecessary things, and because I didn't need or even "need" a fancy dress, I'd have to piece something together with what I already had, and I was having a hard time doing so. Mercifully, a day or two before the event I received word that it was casual dress. And since it's still "red carpet," that must mean fancy casual, which is great because all my fancy casual clothes are buried deep in the closet where Gulliver can't drool on them.

So I got my fanciest pink ("magenta," Murray corrected me when I asked if I should wear pink or green) silk shirt and my hottest pair of dark jeans and my sexiest pair of clunky orthotic shoes, which are still one of the few pairs of shoes I can wear since my foot surgery, and sometimes people compliment me on them and I think oh my gosh are you smoking crack but I say thank you. (And still thanks to my mom for buying them for me because they are the only pair of shoes I could wear for months and they made my life much, much better, and my jeans cover most of them anyway. And no thanks to my dad who made fun of them the moment I came over to visit in Maryland, because my mom already has at least two pairs of these shoes in different colors and all of a sudden another pair appeared at the front door, and my dad asked "Where did these ugly shoes come from?")

And once I was there, the moment I tried to put a bite of food in my mouth, a chunk of saucy chicken fell from the skewer and all the way down my beautiful pink magenta silk shirt. So yeah. I attended a red carpet event with stains all down the front of my shirt the whole time.

But more about the event. The idea of this evening was to promote Pandora charm bracelets, which are the hot thing in Europe right now and are starting to make their way over to the United States, not unlike the Swine Flu (except that that's coming from our neighbors to the south). But they are unlike the Swine Flu in that you actually want to get one. But like the Swine Flu in that they are clearly contagious. Let me explain.

There were three stations during the evening. The first that I attended was a little group where we got to talk about where men get gift giving right and where they get it wrong, and I got to brag about Murray whose art is the greatest gift he could ever give me. The next stop was the Pandora station where we received our bracelet and got to choose a charm. There were so many to choose from, so this was the station that absolutely took the longest! I chose my charm, but couldn't help but choose two more to buy (enter the $50 expense). At the third station, we were taught a little bit about jewelry repair, and it struck me that I have two pieces of jewelry with sentimental value that need repair. One is a ring that El Senor gave me for a birthday and that I ruined rock climbing, and one is a necklace that was given to me by my host family when I lived in France. So guess who'll be returning to Goldsmith's very soon...

Oh, and speaking of returning to Goldsmith's, did I mention that this is where Murray and I found my ring? And Trevor, who worked with us, recognized me and greeted me by name when I walked in. And I haven't seen him for over a year. So yeah. Major points.

So at the end of the evening, I went back home to tell Murray about my experience. I explained the whole Pandora bracelet thing, telling him that it was actually a cool charm bracelet and I'm surprised at how much I like it. And that it makes gift giving easy for me because if anyone is ever wondering what gift they can get me, they can just get me a new charm for my charm bracelet! I showed him the charms that I chose, and told him that I did spend $50 on two charms. And then he told me that if the charms represented him, me, and Gulliver, he'd be much more likely to approve of the expense. And at the time, they didn't necessarily represent us, but I've since given it some thought and I've realized that I subconsciously chose these charms to represent each of us. And here's how:

1) The hedgehog. The hedgehog is me because it's the closest thing they had to a porcupine and I grew up in Porcupine, Ontario.

2) The fish. The fish is Murray because when I was single, people told me that there were lots of fish in the sea, but what people don't get is that it takes a LOT of work to find the RIGHT fish, and I held out for years till I finally found the ONE fish in the whole sea that was right for me.

3) The flower. The flower, which is between the fish and the hedgehog, represents little Gulliver because he is the fruit of the love that blossoms between me and Murray.


Ta da! There are actually a few things that I love about this bracelet. First of all, it is as simple or as intricate as you want it to be. The bracelet looks great with one charm on it! Or you can just keep piling on the charms! There are so many charms that it's easy to find ones to remind you of great life moments. So you can actually tell a story with your bracelet because everything on there has meaning.

Another thing I love is especially with little animals like mine has, I think this may be a great way to play with kids in church. When I was little, I used to love to play with my grandma's ring and with Mary Moo's necklace that had an apple on it. So I think that this is something nice that I can wear that Gulliver can quietly explore while we're in church when he's a little older.

And another thing I love is that they'll keep developing new charms. Do I see a cicada in the future? Fingers crossed!

So I told Murray all about it, and I think that he actually does think that the bracelet is nice. But he said that it's like opening Pandora's box... And I think he's right. But I'm glad to have opened it!

I was just surprised to find out that a pair of Camper's shoes came out of Pandora's box this morning. Yep. Murray found them and bought them on Ambien. I hope that he doesn't become a midnight-ambien shopper... But I'm glad that he can find something that he is equally excited about.

And now to share with you some Pandora pictures. They kindof make me laugh:

This one I call, "Oh my gosh, I love jewelry and off the shoulder shirts!"

This one I call, "Life has its moments. So many that you're going to have to get a bunch of bracelets and a necklace to fit all the charms you're going to have to buy because without the charms you'll never remember them. And PS you're a bad mom if you don't."

This one is called, "Hey, did I mention that you don't have to limit yourself to one bracelet? Oh and did I mention off the shoulder shirts because they are hot."

And this one I call, "Seriously, you should print this out and redeem this before May 9th, and make Goldsmith your jeweler because I have always been thrilled at their service and products!"