Starting Early

So far I have been pretty good about holding back on buying stuff for Baby Brady. I don't want to buy too much now because it's still really early, I know I'm having a shower, and I have two big outlet trips planned. Also, I have a shopping addiction. I can get carried away, very quickly. So I have restrained myself.

But today at The Getty, Brady and I saw this book, Make Van Gogh's Messy Bed, a touch and feel book about Impressionist art. It is so cute! We couldn't resist and bought it for Baby Brady.



The book has major Impressionist paintings with something that baby can touch and feel. Like the netting on the tutu of Degas' ballerina. I used to be so obsessed with Degas' ballerinas, I had prints of them all over my bedroom. This was back in the day when I dreamt of becoming a ballerina. Too bad I royally sucked at ballet and had awful turn-out. For the record though, I was a kick-ass tap dancer.




Who doesn't love "Starry Night?" I know it's reproduced a ridiculous amount, but it's just so magical. And Baby Brady will be able to run his little fingers over the picture and feel the glittery swirls. So precious and educational!




With Brady being the biggest sports fan I have ever met, Baby Brady is going to be inundated with sports. I am glad he'll also have a little art education, just to make sure he is a well rounded infant. It's never too early to start thinking about those college applications. Just kidding...I think...I hope!

Detox

These past two weeks have been killer on Brady and I. I have had the cold from hell and Brady has been absolutely swamped at work. We have had no time (and I had no energy) to do anything fun or interesting. On Friday night, I actually had a sobbing breakdown over being sick for so long and not being able to do anything. That was probably being a tad dramatic, but I was really sick of it.

To get us out of our funk, Brady took me to The Getty in Los Angeles.

Not only does The Getty house some amazing art, the grounds are just phenomenal. Brady said it perfectly when he said that strolling the gardens was "detoxifying."



We walked through all the exhibits, sat outside and enjoyed the sunshine, chatted about art, chatted about life. It was like a wonderful mini-vacation.



Brady is so enigmatic sometimes. He can be such a guy's guy, his knowledge of sports is scary, he likes his meat and potatoes, he is obsessed with football, he hates shopping. But then we go to an art museum and his knowledge of art amazes me. I took a lot of art history classes in college but Brady still blows me out of the water with his knowledge. And he genuinely likes going to museums and looking at art. He has such a fantastic memory, he can recall all kinds of details he learned about artists and paintings years ago. I hope Baby Brady gets his memory because mine is crap.

The day was such a perfect, beautiful Southern California day of sunshine and art. It was also a great day of reconnecting with the husband after a prolonged period of crazy work hours, stuffy noses, and me going to bed at 8:00 p.m.

And I found this photograph, I have made it my new life mission to find a print of it for my home. This is "Gypsy Rose Lee and Her Girls" by Ralph Steiner. Gypsy Rose Lee was a burlesque dancer in the 1940s. I love the flamboyant costumes, the sign that says "curves ahead," and of course, the Louis Vuitton luggage. I must have this print.

I came up with another life mission today at The Getty. I want to touch a famous Impressionist painting. I want to feel the clumps of paint that Monet or Van Gogh placed so painstakingly on a canvas. I know that touching paintings is highly frowned upon, so I am going to wait until I am a little old lady to do it. Nobody would mess with a little old lady fulfilling a life mission, right?

Nursery Decisions

Last weekend I was deathly ill with the worst cold known to man, in fact I am still suffering from this horrendous cold and if you stand still long enough I will whine about it to you. Anyways, last weekend, I stayed in bed and researched cribs using the Baby Bargains book, reading online reviews, and price comparison. I have my crib/dresser combo narrowed down to two choices:

The first is the DaVinci Kalani crib in cherry:

And the matching dresser/changer combo:

This is actually the front runner right now. I think it looks classic and stylish, it is a good price, I like the color, it got good reviews, and good safety ratings.

My second choice is the Graco Kimberly dresser/changer:

And the Graco Sarah crib:

The Graco crib is a Baby Bargains top pick and it is a smoking good deal. But the dresser did not get very good online reviews. I'm so torn. The crib and dresser have to match or else the baby will think we don't love him enough to worry about properly decorating his nursery right? Maybe I need to sleep on it. I'm starting to sound like a crazy, sick, pregnant woman.

Sick of It

Being sick sucks.

Being sick and pregnant sucks even more.

I have seriously spent the entire weekend in bed, leaving only to eat and to go to Babies R Us. I'm on a hunt for a crib, not even sickness can slow me down for that.

I have some annoying sore throat/nasal congestion/ear ache thing going on right now. This is a very common condition for me, I get these symptoms at least once a year, sometimes twice. And I have a foolproof way for battling this nasty type of cold. I take a bunch of advil cold and sinus, maybe some benadryl, possibly some nyquil, and definitely top it all off with a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon. So basically I pass out and sleep the entire thing off.

But I can't partake in my foolproof remedy now! Cold medicine is out and it would be highly inappropriate to drink wine for a cold given my delicate condition. So now there is nothing I can do but drink lots of water and hot tea and rest. Blah.

The Great Debate

I love blogging, it's fun, it's a great creative outlet, and it gives me a good excuse to go through old pictures and post pictures of my bulldogs. I also love to read other blogs. I read blogs of people I know in real life and people I only know in cyber life. I have recently stumbled upon a blog of a new mom who just recently went back to work full-time. This is currently my favorite blog because as a future working mother I am interested in how women juggle baby, work, husband, and keeping a home. I know I will find my own path in maintaining a healthy balance but it is interesting to see how other people do it.

My new favorite blogger recently posted this: a post about her going back to work and the routine she keeps to make sure she spends time with husband, baby, and gets her job done.

I thought it was a cute, interesting post. I liked that she and her husband set their alarms 15 minutes early just for some cuddle time. What shocked the hell out of me were the comments on the post. Some were supportive, some said "this sounds like my day," some said thank you. But some where down right cruel, telling her she was a bad mother, telling her to stop complaining, telling her to re-prioritize. I couldn't believe that some of these commenters actually took the time to write such mean and hateful comments.

The post and the comments had me thinking of the cold war between stay at home moms and working moms. I am very proud of the fact that I will be a working mom. My mom worked, my grandma worked, my great-grandma worked. I come from working stock. I have my own personal reasons for working and I know that it is the best decision for my family. And I hope that my son will be grow up to be proud to know that his daddy and mommy can be successful attorneys. I also know that women who stay at home are making the best decision for their family, and I'm sure they have their own personal reasons and situations that make that decision best for them.

What I don't understand is why can't the stay at homers and the workers get along!?! Nobody should try to impose their views on this issue on another family because you just don't know what another family's situation is or what is best for them. I have mommy friends that stay at home, that own their own businesses (a couple of them even!), that work full time, that work part time, that have gone back to school, that work and go back to school at the same time (that's just impressive). And all of these women are great mothers and doing what they have determined is best for themselves and their family. And I would never judge that. I just don't understand how people can judge a woman's decision to stay at home or go back to work.

I have been pretty vocal that I will be going back to work after the baby is born. The vast majority of people have been supportive. But, I have gotten minimal negative feedback about it. I have had some questioning of my choice of daycare (which is funny because I haven't made a final decision yet). To these people I usually just smile and nod and change the subject. I am future working mom to be, I don't have time to change your closed mind. And your closed mind? That would be a "you problem." That is not a "me problem" because I understand that everyone makes their own personal decisions and that it is really none of my business. I just wish that women on both sides of this debate could relax, be more open minded and stop being so damn judgmental! This isn't a sorority ladies, this is life!

Suits

Things my baby boy will not be wearing:


My son will not be wearing a velour Juicy Couture track suit. Nevermind that this little suit costs $98.00, I am just morally opposed to men (or baby boys) wearing Juicy Couture. Me on the other hand, that's a different story. I'll rock my Juicy sweats until I can no longer squeeze my prego ass in them.

I will also not be dressing my son as a 1980's rapper.


Whatever happened to a little baby pair of Levi's and a cute t-shirt?