tell me everything you know.

{A fun little preamble to this post: while I was writing this, things got awfully quiet in OBaby’s room, which turned out to be because he had discovered where and how to open the place where we put his dirty cloth diapers. O, the horror.Anywho. Carry on.}~~~~~~Let me just share some facts with you real quick:These boys will be 22 months apart, Lord willing.OBaby climbed out of his crib a couple weeks ago (one time performance, so far).We own ONE crib and I intend to keep it that way.We (all of us) are moving to upstairs bedrooms when they are finished (March? April?).The baby will sleep in our room and bed for at least the first few months (OBaby was with us the first 12 weeks).Then, the boys will share a bedroom.(I hope you like reading “the boys” even half as much as I love writing it. THE BOYS!)So. We have a toddler presently, but not for much longer, in a crib, we have a toddler about to have a bedroom change, and we have a baby coming who won’t yet need the crib, but will this summer and will then be rooming with his brother. That’s a lot of change.Someone please hold me. Maybe rock me gently back and forth, too.DanO and I have been talking about it, and we plan to move OBaby to a big boy bed before Gummybear arrives on scene. Yes, I have heard the arguments for keeping them cribbed as long as possible, but with the climbing and the furniture constraints, it’s just not going to work for us. Because the two will probably share a room for the long foreseeable future, we plan on buying twin bunk beds, unstacking them, and using the top one with rails for the toddler transitioning out of his crib (so when Gummybear goes to a big bed, OBaby will go to the non-railed twin bed and Gummybear will use the bed with railings).But do we switch OBaby to the railed twin bed before the bedroom change? After? Simultaneously? Or would that be too much change? Do we magically make the crib disappear one day? Slowly transition into the big bed with naps?O MY GOSH MY HEAD IS SPINNING.Which leads me to want to pick the collective brain of the interwebs – aka my friends and readers (who are friends I just haven’t met yet) for everything you know about the big switch. How did it go with your kiddos? What should DanO and I prepare ourselves for? What did you find helped the transition for your family? Are you available to come babysit overnight until the transition is made? And, most importantly:TELL ME WHAT TO DO BECAUSE THIS IS NEW TERRITORY AND I AM ALL KINDS OF SCARED. And then come hold my hand while I do it. K? Thanks.

we learn as we go

A summary of what the last 6.5 weeks have taught me about being out and about as a mom.Chicco Keyfit car seats do not fit on these shopping carts:Urban Cub FoodsCostcoAldiThey do fit on Target carts though, and the bigger, fancier Cub Foods of the suburbs. O, and naturally they fit on Babies’R'Us carts. Please.Keep hand sanitizer in your diaper bag. It is impossible to effectively wash your hands while holding a baby after a diaper change in a public bathroom.When out shopping, forget the entrance and park near the cart corral so you don’t have to haul the car seat as far.When leaving a building/your house/your car on a sunny day, check the shadows on the ground to know which way to face your little peanut so as not to blind them.Stroller cup holders are notoriously dumb. By dumb I mean too small. Buy one of these:The Camelbak Better Bottle in 16 fl oz. It’s tapered on the bottom and is yet to meet a cup holder it can’t fit. Best $10 I’ve spent in the last month. (Sporting goods stores carry them, I got mine at REI).Book stores make for fabulous Imustgetout destinations. They have the book selection of the library with none of the ‘fragile silence’ pretense. Also, three words: in-store caf√©s.When you need something, ask. I have found large numbers of store employees and strangers will take pity on a woman with a young baby. Example: I got beef blood on my hands from some meat packaging at the grocery store and I asked the butcher if I could have a wet paper towel to wipe it off (if I add parenthesis after the preposition does that mean I didn’t end a sentence with one?). He more than obliged even though he was in the middle of re-stocking a shelf. Never hurts to ask!Subtract 15 minutes from your “I need to leave by…” time. This will be eaten up by the inevitable and horribly timed blow-out, spit-up, break-down, etc. You name it, it will happen as you are sprinting toward the door.And finally:The top of the trunk on sedans make for fabulous changing tables.

Amy Blackwell..

Amy Blackwell's solid graphics have been on my radar lately and I just love the boldness and crispness that she brings to her drawings. Plus, I am always stoked when an artist renders an animal in an ever so cute light. Or when they take it upon themselves to just make hybrids out of existing animals. That always rules. I'm a sucker for the animals. You can buy her prints on Folksy. So cute. Check out her blog for daily updates and drawings.

no but really theyre my friends.

“What are you headed to in New York?” my hair dresser/cousin/neighbor/flight attendant asks.…I really need to come up with some generic answer to this…“A blogging conference.” I say, and then brace myself for the reaction. It usually consists of being looked at like I have 5 heads, not too dissimilar to the time I walked into the NYC pizza joint and tried to order 3 whole pies. Apparently New Yorkers don’t do that. Ever.The responses vary from “O, I didn’t know there was such a thing. What do you guys talk about?” to “A what? Frog conference?” and in the ensuing minutes I try to give an explanation of the blogosphere community that is shorter than our elevator ride. I cannot do it justice.It is next to impossible to communicate to a woman at the library story time just what an art and a creative outlet blogging is for many of us. That there are techniques, creativity, inspiration and even Federal Trade Commission regulations involved. I can tell she is a bit baffled that there’s enough to say about blogging that it would justify 2,400 women converging on a hotel in NYC and sitting through multiple 2 hour sessions on honing our craft.I went ahead and handed him my business card anyway, despite the skepticism dripping from his beard. He’s right. It’s strange. Thousands of women and mommies typing out summaries of their quotidian activities does not sound like something companies or the rest of the world should pay attention to. I know. I get that. Thing is? They are paying attention. Why? Because they get it, too.I cannot adequately express to my hairdresser that the women I am going to meet face to face for the first time are already dear precious friends of mine. That they know more about me than some members of my family. That I would offer them my spare organs if they had a need. How these are the women who helped me through my postpartum struggle. How many of their cell phone numbers are on my speed dial. How many times I’ve cried when reading about their struggles and their joy.How much God has blessed me through them and their friendship.And after spending a surreal 3 days living face to face with the community I usually only interact with over the interwebs, I am no better off. If anything, my answer to the questions of those on the outside are even more convoluted.There’s just so much more going on here than words can do justice.{Amanda, Suzanne, Blair, Kacia and me}

Silent Hill Homecoming avancé d'une semaine

Pour le plus grand plaisir des amateurs du fameux survival horror Silent Hill, Konami annonce que la date de sortie du nouvel opus, Silent Hill : Homecoming, sera avancée d'une semaine. Le jeu sensé sortir le 26 février sera donc disponible à partir du 19 février sur Xbox 360, PS3 et PC.

Histoire de se remettre dans le background, vous incarnerez un vétéran de la guerre du Vietnam à la recherche de son frère disparu. Niveau gameplay, vous découvrirez un système de combat bien plus souple que ses prédécesseurs.


· Forum Silent Hill : Homecoming

New zine website from Nigel Peake..

Nigel Peake just posted a brand new zine about birds on his bigcartel shop. It's an edition of 200 - 28 Pages hand stitched, 150 x 190 mm. The birds are perfect Nigel drawings, they're darling. I love what he says about the book:

"A set of new drawings about those feathered wonders that are all around us. A round this time of the year, the trees and hedges are full of colour, flurry and noise. The drawings are some of the birds I see every day. And some that I have yet to see."

Be sure to check out Nigel's spankin brand new site. He's got lots of stuff to pour over...and his blog is kickin it too.

New Clocks from Chroma Lab..

My good friends Tony and Alicia from Chroma Lab just released a whole batch of new clocks. They're looking super sharp! For those of you who need numbers on your time pieces...Chroma Lab has 'em for you! If you like some mystery with your clocks or humor, they have an answer for all your timely needs. Plus, you can now get them directly from Tony and Alicia in their brand new web store. What's more is the clocks are priced nice and easy for the pocket. Perhaps one for every room?