Your Score: The Cougar

So I feel like I've just done something good. At the same time, though, I'm hoping I'm not getting in over my head. For the longest time now I've had my two cats, Nimue and Gwynevere. My two sweet little girls who love each other to bits.

Well. I've just added another to the mix.

This kitty, who, at the moment, remains the Nameless One, was purchased by a relation who breeds dogs. This relation has found that having puppies around all the time has been really stressful so they decided to find a cat and attempt breeding kittens (don't worry, they are very conscious of their breeding and make sure the puppies go to good homes and the mommies are taken very good care of). They purchased a wee Himalayan Persian with this intent. When they got her, however, they discovered she was not a very healthy girl. At four years old, she is much too skinny (you can feel her spine and all her ribs, even under all of that fur!) and when they brought her to their vet for a checkup they were told her teeth were bad as well. A very unhappy kitty indeed. They've decided to get her fixed, they just want to make sure she is healthy enough to do so.

Having a couple of spare quiet rooms in the house and more time to devote to an unhappy kitty than said relation, we have offered to house her while she gets a little healthier. So this cat, who had hid in a corner of the basement for three weeks, refusing to eat anything other than tuna or salmon came home with us just this evening. So far she's eaten the dry food I've given to her (I mixed some warm water with it to soften it a bit) and she's been meowing like a madwoman. Not to mention she's super cuddly.

I'll have to post pics of her later and, for now, run off to feed a baby!

Apparently something went wrong somewhere last year and I owe the government money. I figured with not working the whole year and being on maternity leave for the last part of the year, I might just get money back. Nope. Not gonna happen. So now I have to find a way to make money under the table so I can pay the government and hope I don't get caught and have money from my maternity leave taken away because, with the amount I make on maternity, I can't afford it. *sigh* Or I can pray to the beings that be that my 2005 taxes balance it out and not make it bigger.

Admittedly it isn't a large amount and to some people, it isn't a lot at all. But at this point in my life, anything is too much. Once I think I can start getting ahead, something has to pull me down.

"So, if a baby could scrapbook, do you supposed he'd say 'Thanks for the mammaries'..?

Wow. Swimming was so much fun!

Koen and Logan got to hang out in the kiddie pool and ruled the roost. They are so cute!

I got a couple of pictures of Logan in his swimsuit in the family change room/cubicle/thingie. However, no pictures in the pool. My camera isn't water proof and I've heard rumours they don't like cameras in the pool area or somesuch. If that's not true, I'd love to find a cheapo waterproof camera so I can take pictures of Logan swimming!

Anyways, yes. Hangin' out with Koen and family was totally cool today. Mommy and I had scrapbooking (and, obviously, other things) in common, both daddies had computers to talk about and the kids. Well. The kids had pooping and boobies in common. 'Nuff said.

Cheers and goodnight *crash*

Thank you for coming out this weekend, Ruth, it was wonderful to have you! ^_^

I'm becoming addicted, though, thankfully, it isn't the all-consuming addicted. I've already begun removing old photos from yellowing albums and scanning them so I can start scrapping them. I'd love to do a book of my older brother and I through the years and end with a few baby pictures to give to my mom. If I can get it done by Christmas, I think it would be a great present. I also have a good start on my first baby album. I'm not really doing the whole "one month, two month, special moment" thing, I'm more just grouping pictures together that I like and create a nice sense of composition. It's fun.

I'm also realizing just how much of an addiction this is for some people. Must research ways to feed off this addiction.

geh.. get rid of the fucking pink already.

I'm jealous.. Logan looks like he slept so much better than I did last night. Oh well. One more day till the weekend. Then I can make up a few bottles of formula and Adam can get up with the wee one all night long, giving Mommy a one-night vacation from that responsibility. woohoo!

uh.. happy hallmark holiday everyone?

why tf is my lj pink!? who can I shoot for this atrocity?

O_O He just fully outright smiled at me for the first time.

I'm so sappy I'm pretty much crying ^_^

So far I've spent most of my day dealing with fussy baby syndrome. Something a lot of new parents deal with all the time, though so far I've been mostly lucky and have a calm baby (er.. a good chunk of the time.. he still has his moments.. *cough*)

I found one site with a great article on various tips for dealing with a fussy baby (http://www.askdrsears.com/html/5/T051200.asp for those of you who might like to make use of the resource). One of the recommendations was to use a baby carrier. I thought back to about a week ago when Adam gave that exact thing a try and remembered how well it worked. Unfortunately it didn't work all that well for me because I found wearing one of those pre-fabricated baby carriers to be really uncomfortable. They really aren't made for overweight people and the baby doesn't sit in it quite right, not to mention he won't be able to fit at all if I'm this size when he gets bigger himself.

With this conundrum, I went off to a link I found the other day with instructions on wraparound baby carrier positions (http://www.peppermint.com/girasolcarry.htm, this site has some great carry instructions!). Something you can simply take a bolt of material the appropriate length and wrap around yourself. Making a carrier to your body specifications and allowing the child to sit where the two of you find him/her to be most comfortable against your body. Unfortunately for the moment my longest bolt of material is "only" 5 metres long and it is about half a metre too short for my width. Boo.

So I continued my search and found the FrankenKozy! It's an Asian style carrier with wraparound style straps and looks quite comfortable. What's even better is the people who created it have instructions on how to make them (for personal use only!). It looks like I have enough material in the colours and patterns I like. This sewing novice just needs to make sure she can understand the instructions before ruining good material!

Anyway.. I know that was a long drawn out explanation for not a heck of a lot, but there are a few great links in there for other moms and, who knows, maybe you know someone else who may make good use of this info!

Oh, my love, why can't you sleep between 7 and 10 am?

Just for mommy?

Please?

Nifteh. I've never had an inside out glove a la gecko before. He usually eats his skin off before I get a chance to get samples.

Such tiny little fingers... awwh

Mmm.. hot chicken noodle soup on a sore throat is the bestest...

It's been a while since I've worked on anything really art related and since I want to find ways to make money from home, I figured I should start practicing again. A sketch from last year scanned in, so far I have about a day's worth of work adding colour. Any constructive crits are welcome.

Well, yesterday I went to my sister-in-law's house for my very first scrapbooking party! It was loads of fun and I spent money I really don't have to spend.. but I have at least two scrapbooking binders I need to fill up with baby stuff so the money I spent will go to good use. I figure I'm going to give the craft a try on a personal level for a while and if I can stick to it and produce some great stuff (thus requiring to purchase more stuff) I may try my hand at selling it, though I'd wait till after I have my license and my sweetpea is a little older.

I also have to admit I am quite proud of myself. Everyone was really impressed with the page I did up and the lady who was selling the merchandise asked for a picture of it so she can toss it up on her website (unfortunately I don't know what her website is quite yet.. easy enough to get that info in the near future). My sister-in-law took a photograph of it and is going to pass it on. In the meantime, I scanned it in today (had to fiddle with it quite a bit because of the size) and here it is. Yay!

What can I say?

Stunning. Beautiful. Captivating. Brutal. Gruesome.

It is a movie I already yearn to add to my collection. I'm not a big movie critic and when I see a movie, I don't normally have or want to share an opinion about it, but this movie moved me in a way I didn't know a movie could. Don't get me wrong, it could simply be my particular imagination making it more than it is. Or it could be the movie is just that good.

It is an international film so the spoken word is in Spanish with English subtitles. Doesn't take away from the movie at all. One thing I do recommend, though, is that you DO NOT (should I cap and bold that, too?) bring a child to see this movie. The blatant brutality in the movie left me stunned. One of the trailers I saw hinted at the movie (or parts of) being somewhat dark.. that 'hint' was a little too much of an understatement.. in my opinion, this is definitely NOT a movie for children.

Anyways, yes *cough* The movie was beautifully rendered with a unique story that pulled at my heart. I definitely recommend seeing it.

I finally have internet again!

And I have a baby!

Please welcome Logan Alexander into this world. He was born by c-section on January 13, 2007 at 11:53 PM. He weighed 7 lbs 12 oz and was 20 inches long.

He is my world and my life.. and I never knew one person could hold this much love in their hearts.