Because it's cute

Just when I thought it was hard for me to get out of the house these days, here's a little bit of inspiration!

Hillary and the Democratic Convention

Last night Ajay and I tuned in to the second night of the Democratic National Convention. Ajay is a liberal democrat, and I'm independent when it comes to political parties (and I like to think outside of political parties, too). Both of us were interested to see to what degree Hillary would back Obama's nomination.

Before watching the convention, I had been online shopping for Alia's Halloween costume. Our fertility doctor has a Halloween party every year for all the little ones that she helped to bring into the world, and unlike my own Halloween costumes that are consistently left to the last minute and scraped together, I wanted Alia's costume to be chosen rather than sorting through what everyone else didn't want.

At this point, there are so many cute costumes to choose from. After looking through hundreds...well, maybe not hundreds, but quite a few baby costumes, I decided this one was the cutest for Alia....

Okay, what does this have to do with the Democratic National Convention? Patience, friends, patience. But isn't this the perfect segue back the the Democratic National Convention?

So we're watching the convention, and after much speculation and commentary, Hillary enters the jam packed stadium. She looks great...only, what's with the orange pant suit? I mean, we all know by now to expect nothing but pant suits from Hillary, but orange? Now, know that this critique is coming from a person who cannot, I repeat, cannot wear orange, so for me, orange is never an option...so perhaps this is why my mind immediately challenged the choice. But also, having spent all day looking at Halloween costumes, rather than this....

I saw this....

So I told Ajay that I had seen a much cuter suit than the one Hillary was wearing, but considering it was a pumpkin outfit maybe she wouldn't be taken seriously enough...

...which lead me to another alternative...Alia's costume...she totally should have worn the elephant outfit!!! And then I couldn't get the image out of my head, and laughed through her entire speech and missed the whole thing!

Does it speak to your soul?

A few days ago, I wrote a blog about the marathon of Tim Gunn's Guide to Style that I watched over the weekend while Ajay was away called Counting the Hours. In this blog, I talked about how Tim Gunn suggested that the things in your closet should both fit and speak to your soul. I challenged myself to be honest with myself about what I wear, what I need, and what fits, and got rid of what doesn't suit me, what I'll never fit into again, and even if I did, I wouldn't wear it anyway. I mean, let's just say after Alia is born I do work myself down to the elusive size 4...would it be the best reward to wear one of my old out-of-style work suits or out-of-style Gap jeans? No! I want to buy new celebration clothes. I guess I was keeping all those old little clothes because I read somewhere that Halle Barry keeps a pair of jeans from high school in the top of her closet and "keeps it real" by making sure they fit at least once a year. But trying on an article of clothing in your bedroom to make sure that you haven't lost your shape is a lot different, I now realize, than keeping a hoard of clothes that are dusty, not in the best shape, and not even in style any longer for future wear. So I kept a particularly small pair of Diesel jeans as my inspiration, and chucked the rest into bags.

Yesterday, I did a little shopping for an upcoming wedding. I already have something that I can wear...this was extra shopping to see if what I really wanted existed...being a maxi dress built for pregnant girls. Sure, all the sales ladies tell you "it's so flowy, there's a lot of fabric there...even you can wear it" but what they don't realize is that there is a BIG difference between a 28 inch waist and a 42 inch pregnant bellied waist. Let's just say that what's flowy on a regular shaped girl is a tight, tragic, outie-belly-button enhancing disaster on a girl like me.

For one thing, most of the dresses I tried on have a flowy top layer of gauzy fabric with a somewhat straight built-in sheath underneath....and when you have a normal shape, the friendly sheath keeps the flowy part from clinging in between your legs when you're walking. But with a pregnant shape, the friendly sheath becomes a misshapen mess beneath all the flowiness...it gathers above your butt at the small of your back as you attempt to stretch it over the belly...which turns the sheath into a wrinkled mess rather than a flow-protector. The girls convincing me to try on this dress and that dress obviously haven't ever had a 42" baby-filled belly.

Then I see it across the store. A brightly colored maxi dress. With no slim sheath beneath it. Made of jersey rather than silky material. This might work. I try it on...it could work. There really is enough fabric for a girl like me!!! And rather than dainty spaghetti straps, it had real straps so I could wear my behemoth maternity bra, because if you don't know this, strapless or bra-less is not an option when your pregnant...those girls need support. Or maybe it's just me. Regardless, I can wear a normal bra underneath. And there's enough fabric that it doesn't enhance my outie belly button. And it flows for days! But something isn't right.

It's yellow with fucia and aqua squares. Yellow isn't my best color. Unless I have a deep dark tan, which I don't. And the back is kind of lower, which exposes some not so pretty b'acne scars from my troubled pregnancy skin. And it kind of wrinkles at the bottom...I could probably iron that problem away...but it just doesn't lay right. And the square patterns....they didn't take the time to line up the squares on the seams, and it's bothering me...I mean, that's like hanging wallpaper with total disregard for matching the pattern at the seam...who does that?

So while it fits well and the shape is quite good, I'm realizing it doesn't speak to my soul...and I actually heard Tim Gunn's sweetly effeminate voice in my head, asking me the question "does it speak to your soul?"

It doesn't! The old me would have thought, well, just in case I change my mind, I'll buy it...and it is on sale...that's even better...and even if I don't wear it to the wedding, maybe I'll wear it to the upcoming baby shower...and if not then, I can still wear it after the baby is born to any given event. Right? RIGHT?

No! If it's not good enough to wear to the event I'm buying it for, then what's the likelihood that it'll be a prime choice in the future after it hangs in my closet for an entire season with tags on...and not to mention, I'm 25 pounds heavier now than I normally am...I'm normally a size M and this is a size L that I'm thinking about buying...so in the future, it won't fit as well as it does right now.

I hung the dress on it's hanger and put it back. It was a very proud moment. Then I walked downstairs and bought what I really wanted all along...that fit...that spoke to my soul...and yes, were on sale!!!

And now? Now I can say the outfit that I already have and planned to wear to the wedding just got the finishing touch that it was missing!

Because they just weren't cute enough in their original state

I have a lot of onesies...one might say that I have over-bought plain white onesies in preparation for the new little one. So last week I set out on yet another "can't wait for baby to get here" project. Enter the tie dye.

I bought a little teeny-bopper tie dye kit at Michael's, thinking that it might be fun to tie dye a few things for Alia. Well, let's just say that it didn't stop at a few things...this girl has many-an-original-Mommy-made-onesie!

Here they are drying on the line after being dyed and soaked overnight.

And here they are all dry and washed and ready to be worn by the new little one...

The basic pink and white

The little bohemian...

Green and purple...

All yellow...the white tie dye markings didn't come through very well...

Ajay's favorite...the baby pink and purple...

Turquoise and purple...

The back of the turquoise and purple...

Another pink and white...the white circle is targeted for little one's belly button...

The long sleeve purple, red and white...

The back of the purple, red and white...

K Studio...how cute????

I was browsing, and came across this line at Design Public. Seriously....how fun are these????

Definitely the cutest thing I've heard today...

Ajay's Mom, Maya is visiting his brother and sister-in-law, Amar and Lena, in anticipation of their second baby being born any day now. Maya lives in Turkey, and Amar and Lena live in New York. Amar and Lena already have a two and a half year old cutie named Haylah.

Maya told us that Amar took Haylah for the whole afternoon yesterday. After their usual stops, she wanted to go to a park, then another park. When Maya asked Haylah why she went to two parks, Haylah replied "one had no sand and then one had yes sand!"

Baby Changing Table Project

Yesterday the crib and changing table/dresser arrived. I couldn't wait to get started, so I chose to start on the dresser....seemed logical...it was the smaller of the two boxes.

Here's the crib box:


And the dresser/changing table:


The top removable baby changing station went together in a snap...the rest should be a breeze...right?


Except...holy crap! Look at all those pieces...I sense I might actually have to concentrate and follow the instructions!


I assembled the feet to the base of the dresser...


Assembled the side walls of the dresser to the back braces, and then installed the top two drawer guide gliders (note, I was tempted to install all three drawer gliders, but the directions said only the top two...and because I committed to following the directions, all of them, I did what they said and stopped with the top two)


Then I attached the top of the dresser to the sides, and then installed the backing to the dresser.


Then I installed the bottom drawer glider...why it was important to do this later rather than before, I have no idea...but look who's following the directions like a good girl!!!


I assembled the drawers, minding there were slots to slide in the base of the drawer...miraculously not a single side drawer component was assembled facing the wrong way, so everything slid right together.


I installed the drawer gliders to the drawer, again, miraculously they all ended up facing the right way, so that when it was time to put the drawers in the dresser....


the drawers all worked! Voila! The baby's first piece of furniture!

15 week checkup

Yesterday I had a pretty decent day....I had an appointment with my OB late in the day and felt well enough to attempt a trip to Target beforehand. Just to pick up the normal stuff...you know, toilet paper, cleaning products, vacuum cleaner bags, and these, for Baby Boy Lalvani.

These are Newborn size...from 5-8 pounds...adorably small...I think they might fit my cat, but she hasn't really given me the opportunity to try them out on her. I try not to even look at, let alone buy any of this stuff right now...I'll be a lot more comfortable with baby stuff in the house at around 7 months. But who could resist the little frogs, I ask! And I thought girls' clothes were supposed to be the irresistable ones!

Anyway....from Target I went to my OB and had another ultrasound. The stenographer pressed around on my belly and said...okay, here's Baby B---your little girl. Immediately I thought...hmmm, they must have changed position; Baby A was always my little girl before...(they reserve the label Baby A for whomever is closest to the exit, and Baby B for whomever is farthest). The stenographer then pressed around some more and said okay, and here's Baby A, your...other little girl! Immediately my mind ran in 200 different directions....from the obvious shock of having two little girls rather than what was in my head already-having one of each. Then I traveled to "well, at least they can share clothes!" Then, "I wonder how Ajay will feel!" Then, "uh-oh, maybe this is why I should have listened to my gut and not bought gender specific clothes! Oh well, I can return them." Then, "wow, two little girls looks a lot different in my mind than a boy and a girl". At that point I told the stenographer they had been pretty sure that Baby B was a boy at my last ultrasound, which prompted her to reposition me and do some more pressing here and pressing there....all the while she was saying, "yeah, I'm just not seeing that!" So as my mind becomes more at ease with having two girls, she says "oops! There it is!" She went on to point out Baby Boy Lalvani's boy parts and explained that his position was just very tricky and he was being modest. So once again, we have a little boy and a little girl.

From the ultrasound room I headed to the patient room and waited for Dr. K. When she came in she reviewed my file and said everything looks fantastic. My cervix is greater than the minimum length to put her at ease---no bed rest at this point. She also answered all my questions...from the caffeine study on the Today Show (small sample size and applied only to first trimester---which means I'm still okay with my Excedrin Migraine for those awful headaches) to my continued nausea, upon discussion she told me that it's completely harmless to take the Zofran for nausea, and that I'm not doing anyone any favors by being sick all the time. We also talked about my lack of ambition when it comes to exercise. She basically told me that people with migraines and non-stop nausea typically don't feel like exercising....good point. All in all a very good appointment!

Cribs...finally a purchase for the babies!

So I've made a decision on the twins' cribs. I think I may have mentioned before that I was delusional to think that I could keep the twins in one crib, thereby managing space and finances with one decision. I've since read a book about twins by a Mom of twins and she says eventually, you need two cribs, and don't wait until it's too late, either....one day your little babies will sleep nicely like two peas in a pod and the next day they'll literally be on top of each other.

Previously, I was almost sure that I had found "the one". It's at Room & Board. I fell in love with the whole setup...I love the way the dresser has the removable changing table on top, which can be tossed aside or recycled into a non-government approved dangerous toy for the potty trained toddlers. I loved the crib's modern lines, and the fact that it isn't froo-froo. The room where this crib is staged actually resembles the room we'll be using for the twins, so it really felt like it was the one since it was so easy to visualize.

However, after my realization that we should just go ahead and bite the bullet and get both cribs at once, this setup became more expensive than I cared to justify. It's not outrageous...just a little more than I wanted to spend. Although it was still within reach, the final price tag with two cribs inspired me to shop for alternatives.

I re-thought about my criteria...I wanted a modern feeling nursery with gender neutral colors and, well, gender neutral everything, basically. I didn't want cutesy (not that there's anything wrong with that). I wanted modern lines. Basically I wanted something similar to the crib photographed above. So I went to my old standby, http://www.babycenter.com/ and began the search looking for modern cribs...when I spotted this gem....at a much better price than the Room & Board crib (I know, you get what you pay for. And we've been very happy with our other furniture from Room & Board...this isn't a question of quality or the R&B nursery being worth it...I'm sure it is---I'm just looking to spend a little less right now considering everything else that we'll be spending in the near future!) So, as I was saying, I came across this one:

Okay, forget the God-awful bedding they chose to adorn this smart looking crib with...just put it out of your mind. Is it modern? Why, yes, it is! And is it gender neutral? Why, certainly! And less expensive, too? YES! About half the price!!! Why, I think we've found it! Now wait a minute...is there a matching little convertible dresser with a removable changing table that the twins will find in the garage years from now and convert it to a street luge? It does! It does! And here it is!!!!!
"Buy me! Buy me! Buy all the parts of me right away!", the newly found nursery furniture shouted from my computer screen. And just as I was placing the items into my basket, I thought, hmmmm, since this isn't Room & Board exclusive, I wonder if other vendors carry this line and could save me MORE money. I became crazed. I Googled "comparative shopping" to see what came up.

That's when I stumbled onto my new second-favorite website http://www.thefind.com/ (second only to Consumer Reports since I am a research junkie). This brilliant website is basically a world wide web comparison shopper. I entered the name of this furniture and it searched it out. Not only did other vendors carry it, but thefind.com found it at a significantly better price....it saved me $100 on each crib, took another $20 off for buying the crib/dresser as a set, and they threw in the shipping for free and saved me the tax. We're talking hundreds of dollars!!!! I LOVE to save hundreds of dollars!!!! So the magical site where I found the best deal on the above furniture was http://www.csnstores.com/ since I feel that they deserve mention for saving me money!

And that, my friends, is why the internet is the best thing ever!!!!

Just because this is sooo cute

Okay, first I have to preface this blog entry with a notation that I am NOT this person...I do not post cute things for the sake of cuteness. Yes, I am a bona fide animal lover, but I do not normally feel the need to share cute things. In fact, when I receive that irresistible cutesy cartoon image of round kittens basking in sunlight with bluebirds circling their heads with positive affirmations written below, I typically curse the person that sent it to me. I know. It's mean.

However, according to a few books I've been reading, with pregnancy comes a certain maternal tie to all things cute and sweet. So here I am, breaking all my own rules, and offering up a very cute thing that was passed to me this morning.... and what can I say...I love this. My sister sent it to me and I watched it over and over...turn up your sound so you can hear the sweet story attached to this hug....(while proofing this paragraph, I rolled my eyes at myself...I even became a little nauseous....or is that just a constant state these days?) Who am I and what happened to my old jaded self????? Enjoy this hug???? OMFG! I want to kick my own ass! So without further ado...here is cuteness and sweetness personified....courtesy of my sister, who now wants a baby lion so it can grow up and give her hugs. (Push the arrow to play the video)






Subject: Read First then view the Video

READ THIS BEFORE WATCHING THE VIDEO:THIS WOMAN IN THE VIDEO FOUND THIS LION INJURED IN THE FOREST READY TO DIE.SHE TOOK THE LION WITH HER AND NURSED THE LION BACK TO HEALTH. WHEN THE LION WAS BETTER SHE MADE ARRANGEMENTS WITH A ZOO TO TAKE THE LION AND GIVE IT A NEW AND HAPPY HOME.THIS VIDEO WAS TAKEN WHEN THE WOMAN AFTER SOME TIME WENT TO GO VISIT THE LION TO SEE HOW HE WAS DOING.WATCH THE LION'S REACTION WHEN HE SEES HER. AMAZING!!!!!