Fallen Princesses

Saw this link on fMh today and wanted to share it with you. Quite interesting.



Fallen Princesses by Dina Goldstein



Thoughts?


I thought Pocahontas was funny and Belle was sad.

I used to be a straight A student

If I were to get a motherhood report card for yesterday, it might look something like this:

Education: B+ We went to the library for story time. Spiderman did a few pages in his workbook today. And the only TV they watched was an hour of PBS. (Sad that that's an accomplishment for me....)

Food: D Forgot to feed Spiderman lunch. Made mac & cheese for dinner because I felt so guilty and it's what he wanted. Also let the kids have a cupcake before dinner because I was late starting dinner.

Cleanliness: B The boys played outside most of the day and got pretty dirty. But they washed their hands before dinner AND took a bath before bed! Never mind that bath time is easier to deal with than them running around during Dancing with the Stars......

Housework: C+ Did a few loads of laundry, washed enough silverware to get us through tomorrow morning, and vacuumed. Didn't make beds, do the rest of the dishes, or tidy the house. Or put away the laundry I folded.

Keeping my cool: D- I got pretty short-tempered more than once yesterday. By the end of the day, I was just done. The Hulk was being, well, rather Hulk-ish when it came to bedtime. Took a long time picking his book. Jumping on the bed during prayers. Yelling at me to help him use the bathroom even though he can do it by himself. Complaining about monsters. Asking for milk. By the time I finally shut the door, I had been pretty forceful about not wanting to hear another word or else spankings were coming.

But I didn't hear another word.

.....Until about 30 minutes later. Spiderman came out of the bedroom. I asked (very calmly) what he was doing out of bed. He said that he'd had a bad dream where I was a bad guy and being scary.

Guilt: A+++ I held him and told him I was so very sorry for getting mad when he was going to bed. He had been really good, but the Hulk's bad behavior is what received my attention.

Positive Reinforcment: B (But most improved) I spent a good 5 minutes holding Spiderman, telling him all the things I loved about him. What a great helper he is, how good he is at math, etc. I didn't want him to have any more bad dreams with me as the villian.

So maybe a 2.8 GPA?

But can I be graded on a curve for surviving Day 1 of single parenthood? (Superman's gone on business till Friday night.) Does that bump me to a 3.0? That's Honor Roll.

Please oh please?

No?

It's okay. I understand. I'm pretty sure that giving my children nightmares cancels out any points I get for story time at the library.



--sigh-- Today is a new day. I'll do better today. I got a pretty good night's sleep last night, which is a good start.



p.s. For any crazy psycho stalkers reading this and thinking they should come and get me while Superman's gone, I KNOW SELF-DEFENSE. And I HAVE A BLACKBELT in Ka-Ra-TAE. And a ninja assassin Superman hired for the week. So BACK OFF.


To be honest, I'm more worried about my children's survival than my own.

Should you feel inclined to censor

Motherboard talked today about censoring movies. She knew someone who wanted to censor "the ghetto" out of "The Blind Side" with their Clear Play machine. (A DVD player that allows you to choose filters for your movie.)

Motherboard was surprised that this other mother wanted to filter out the ghetto. She asked her readers if she thought people should filter out the ghetto, or the poor.

It reminded me of an experience I had a few years ago. There was a video store in Provo that would rent edited movies. In time, the store went out of business because editing the movies for the masses was deemed illegal. So they had a huge closeout sale. I got a few edited movies then, one of them being The Family Stone.

Have you seen the movie? I loved it. So when I saw an edited version for a few bucks, I grabbed it. There wasn't much I thought should be taken out -- one "rough" swearword, I think. There were also some mild drug references, but those didn't bother me.

When I watched the movie, I was SHOCKED to see that they had removed one of the most important scenes in the movie. If you've seen it, it's the dinner table scene that discusses homosexuality. It's pivotal to the movie. And they deleted the entire thing.

They even deleted the part at the end where the gay couple shows up with a baby they adopted.

Let me be clear: This was not a scene that showed two men kissing. It was not in any way crude or distasteful. I think it was a very authentic discussion.

And they took it out.

But they left in the drug references.

Seriously.

~~ I tried to come up with a question, but wasn't quite sure what to ask. I basically wrote this post instead of hijacking Motherboard's comment form. Thoughts in general on censoring? ~~

Thankful Thursday

Today I'm thankful for Nick Jr. tv and kids who didn't fight for a straight hour. I laid down with Miss Marvel for a 20 minute nap and slept for an hour! But I needed it. I feel much better now.

I'm thankful for the beautiful weather and the chance to go to the park today.

I'm thankful it's Thursday. The Office, Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice and Project Runway. I'm getting into Flash Forward, too. Thursday is seriously one of my favorite days of the week.

I'm thankful for everything flavored bagels. I had some cream cheese that I was never gonna use, so I decided to but bagels last week and not let the cream cheese go to waste. It's been a few years since I've had a bagel and I forgot how deliciously scrumptious bagels can be! I also discovered that Superman likes bagels. So now I have something to send with him for lunch for the next week or two. Yay!

I'm thankful that Superman is only going to Montreal for 5 days. Last week we thought he'd be going to Montreal AND Portugal, with a week home in between. But now Portugal's off. Whew. He leaves Sunday night an returns Friday evening.

I'm thankful that my sisters-in-law will be here for Easter! They live in Chicago and Boise now. The Chicago sister and her family are coming for some weddings in her husband's family, so the Boise sister decided to bring her family down and so we could all be together! We've been spread out for so long that we jump at any chance to be together. The sister in Boise only moved there last month -- she was in Little Rock before that. And the one in Chicago had her third baby just a week after me. I'll get to meet my newest niece!

I'm thankful to have in-laws that I love.

What are you thankful for today?

You know it makes me wanna SHOUT!

Just got a few shout outs for ya today:

Wanna do some good just by commenting? This awesome blogger is donating money to charity for every comment made. It is that simple. Click here - go to his blog - and comment and tell him Melissa (or M-Cat) sent you (since she started this thing out...). Tell him you want him to donate to the JDRF - and he will. You get extra points for commenting on his 17 posts after the contest announcement. (JDRF is Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund. Tiburon's son has Type 1 diabetes and this the charity Tib fundraises for.)


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It's a Baby Shower!!!!

presented by the
Service Soapbox Bloggers
to benefit
The March of Dimes
Teddy Bear Den Program

The March of Dimes Teddy Bear Den Program (TBD) gives low income women incentives (in the form of diapers, wipes, new baby clothes, etc.) to participate in pre- and post-natal care and to avoid high risk behaviors during pregnancy, resulting in fewer infants with life threatening birth defects.

Come enjoy food, games, fun, prizes, and the company of fellow bloggers as we collect baby items and donations for this wonderful charity.

Saturday April 24th, from 10am-Noon

at the beautiful Noah's Event Hall
located at 322W. 11000 S. in South Jordan

This is the group that the famous Navel Gazing Sue started. You should totally come. We're also going to discuss future service projects.

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Need a girl's night? With gelato?

Join the Sassy chicks!

Kind of a hodge-podge post, but just some stuff I wanted to pass along. You can be a do-gooder, or at least a good-eater.



p.s. how is March already almost OVER?! Am I the only one who thinks it's flown by?

random thoughts for friday

Nearly all of my international hits are on Superman's "Women of the Summer of 1000 dreams," aka The Hottest Disney Princess post. I think it's because he used the words sex kitten (Nala) and Kim Kardashian in the same post. And he has images. I just laugh when I think of all the people who end up seeing pictures of Snow White when they're expecting something much different.

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I got a knock on the door yesterday and opened it to find that the Easter Bunny had come early to the aMayzing household. A friend knew I was looking for Cadbury mini eggs, found some, and bought a bag for me! Utahans, check Smith's if you can't find them anywhere else.

I've already hidden them from the kids.

But now that half the bag is gone, I'm thinking I should hide them from myself.

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I found out yesterday that Superman is going to Montreal on business the last week of this month. And probably going to Portugal for a week in mid-April.

I'll survive. Right?

Right?

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I just saw Kellan Lutz on Ellen. (He's Emmett in the Twilight Saga.) He's a Calvin Klein model now and all I can say is

HOLY.
CRAP.

When Ellen showed his ad, my mouth dropped. I actually blushed.

I tried to find the ad to put on my blog, but I couldn't find one that I felt comfortable enough posting!! Here's a link to a youtube montage of images from his shoot.

But I'm warning ya: you'll be picking your jaw up off your lap.

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That's all folks! Don't forget about Kristina's snuggie drive/blog lunch tomorrow!!!

Thankful Thursday -- illustrated edition

I finally broke down and bought a Boppy for baby #3. I wish I would've just bought one with Spiderman and been able to get my money's worth out of it, but I think it'll still be worth it this time. It's fantastic for nursing, and Miss Marvel sometimes just stays asleep right on top of it. Also great for tummy time.


Melissa B, or as I prefer to call her, Missy B, sent me some cute stuff she made!! I love the hat and can't wait till Lil' Miss is old enough to wear it. I love the bows, too. Especially the white and pink one on bottom. It's got ballet slippers on it and I think it's just adorable.

I thankful for the generosity of my friends in general. I've received gift cards and diapers and a swing and tons of baby clothes, and they're each a big help.


So thankful for parks and the beautiful weather we had the past few days that allowed us to enjoy the park. I'm also SO THANKFUL for my friend who volunteered to take the boys to the park and allowed me to get a nap!


This is the Moby wrap. I didn't buy one from the site, but had a friend help me make one. It's 6 yards of that "specialty cotton" that a lot of summer skirts are made out of. Kind of gauzy and wrinkly with some stretch to it. It was about $30 for the material, but I only needed half of it. I split the cost and material with a friend. We cut the fabric in half length-wise so it's 6 yards by about 18 inches. We stitched the sides to keep it from fraying, added a ribbon as a marker for the middle, and voile! We had Moby wraps. Then we just got online and figured out how to tie them.

Miss Marvel LOVES the wrap. She slept for FOUR HOURS in it the other day. I did the dishes, folded laundry, did my hair and further tidied the house while she slept on my chest. It was marvelous.



And finally, I'm thankful for my crazy kiddos. I'm thankful the boys still want to give Lil Miss hugs and kisses all the time. I'm thankful that they are best friends and play together so well. Sure makes my job easier. I'm thankful Miss Marvel's such a good baby. I may feel like a walking zombie right now, but at least she's not fussy all the time. (The Hulk was.)


And just to prove that not everything in my life is baby-centric right now,
I'm really thankful for Diet Dr. Pepper. I know I mentioned it yesterday, but I'm really, really thankful for this stuff. I'm also thankful it was on sale for a buck a bottle at the store. I may or may not have bought 4. I may or may not be becoming an addict.

Wednesday's Wrandom Wramblings

(Yup. Totally stealing a page from her book today.)

Some women look forward to the return of coffee or cigarettes post-baby.

Me?

I looked forward to the Diet Dr. Pepper.

I am one happy girl right now. I ordered one yesterday, took my first swig, and honestly thought I could feel my anxiety melting away. I may or may not have thought, "I wonder if this is what it's like for alcoholics......."

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Where are the Cadbury eggs? I could only find the mini creme eggs at Walmart. Not the big ones. And I couldn't find the pure chocolate eggs with the thin shells. I searched all the aisles and heard one woman say to her husband, "You know. The ones in the dark purple bag......" and I was like, "Are you talking about the Cadbury eggs? I can't find them." She said she hadn't been able to find them anywhere.

Do we have an Easter crisis on our hands?!?!?!? What am I going to do without my eggs?

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Are you in Utah Valley? Do you have plans this Saturday? If not, you should totally come to Kristina P.'s Snuggies for Seniors drive.

The lunch is this Saturday, March 20th, at 1 PM, at the Golden Corral in Midvale, 665 E. Fort Union Blvd.

I know. It's a buffet. But Kristina has this weird affinity for buffets. And Snuggies, for that matter. And the Hoff. And Bumpits.

But I digress.

You should go to the lunch. Bring a Snuggie if you can. She's collecting them for a few nursing homes in the area because apparently there's a population of people out there who have a legitimate need for a Snuggie.

Who knew?

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And while I'm plugging blog stuff, let me just say that I FINALLY have my ticket to the Casual Blogger's Conference!!!! Unfortunately I'm only able to go to Friday night's social hour, but I WILL be there!!!!!

I'm bummed that I won't be able to go to the whole conference, but it is what it is. They're going to have classes on growing your blog, photography, finding your voice, inspiration, writing, social media, etc. All the things that bloggers care about when it comes to their blog.

I would attend a writing class or two if I could. But I'm content just going and meeting people. It's Friday and Saturday, May 28th and 29th. It's gonna be fantastic. You should totally go check it out.

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A few days ago, I mentioned that we were doing GREAT. Miss Marvel's sleeping more at night, boys are adjusting well, yada yada yada.

I retract that statement.

Mostly the sleeping part. The past few nights have gone something like this:

Nurse lil' miss. Put her down. Fall asleep myself 30 minutes later. Lil Miss wakes up an hour later. Nurse her on the couch. Both fall asleep. I wake up, lay her down, which wakes her. Then she's still hungry since she fell asleep instead of eating.

Rinse and repeat till 6:45 am when she's ready to sleep for 3 hours and the Hulk is yelling at me that he needs to go potty.

I'm just a leetle tired. My house is just a teensy bit messy. A few dishes are piling up. I've got a load of laundry or two to do.

But the boys are going to play with friends this afternoon and I fully plan on napping. Even a power nap would do wonders for me at this point.



Maybe I need a Diet Dr. Pepper. Nectar of the gods, it is.

Perspective

Addicted to Lost? There is help.



Superman and I are finally caught up on Lost. We'll be able to watch tonight's episode and know what's going on.

Ha ha. That was a joke. We know that we'll only end up with more questions.

Are YOU Lost?

Birth Day + update

The story, the story. Here comes the story.

On Monday, March 1, my labor with Miss Marvel was induced. I was supposed to be there at 6:30 am, but my alarm didn't go off and I woke up 10 minutes after we were supposed to have left. I flipped out for about 2 minutes, then realized it really didn't matter that much. It wasn't like a surgery that I had to be punctual for. Plus, I had lost more than a few hours of sleep the night before in anticipation. My body needed the extra rest.

So we got to the hospital a little after 7, and they started me on the pitocin. Luckily I was already dilated to a 2 and almost completely effaced, so the pitocin took effect right away. After about an hour of steady and fairly strong contractions, I asked for the epidural. (I had thrown around the idea of going without one, but you've got to be one TOUGH broad to handle the pitocin sans epidural. Oh. Wait. I've DONE that. With Spiderman. It sucked. It sucked rocks. DON'T TRY IT.)

So I got the epidural and got much happier. Warm and tingly in my legs, and much less stressed otherwise. Doctor came in around 9 and broke my water.

Miss Marvel did great throughout almost the entire labor. She was moving the whole time. The nurse had to put a monitor on her head because we kept losing the heartbeat in her movements. I had to smile at her still moving all the time, thinking about what a little dancer she was. It was remembering that that made me finally decide to name her Aubrey. (If you don't know the song Aubrey by Bread, it's on my playlist. I set it to autoplay just for this, so sorry if you're not a fan of that.)

By the way, I had an AWESOME nurse. I decided to deliver at Orem Community Hospital because they're rated #1 in patient care in Utah. (I think. They're rated #1, but I'm not sure out of how many.) I'm so glad I went there. I had the best labor and delivery nurse yet. She was very thorough and attentive and good at putting me at ease. She explained everything she was doing and why she was doing it. She was fantastic. I highly recommend Orem Community. I stayed in the same room the entire time and took a relaxing bath in a jetted tub the 2nd day I was there.

So a few hours in, I had the epidural and was progressing nicely. By about 10 am I was dilated somewhere between a 3 and a 4. We (Superman, his mom, my mom and I) were starting to get bored, so I sent Superman to the closest Blockbuster to pick up the next episodes of Lost we were ready to watch. (Remember how we started watching it for the first time a few weeks ago?) We got through another 3 or 4 episodes during the labor.

I think around noon they turned off the pitocin. I was progressing well enough on my own, but Miss Marvel was starting to show some signs of distress. They turned it off, put me on oxygen for a little while, and her heart rate went back up immediately.

At 1:30 I was dilated to a 6. By 2:30, I was fully dilated and ready to push her out. But my doctor wasn't there. In fact, he had two other deliveries ahead of me. (Ironically, my OB is the one who convinced me to deliver at Orem Community over Utah Valley. But if I had gone to Utah Valley, I would've delivered sooner. One of the people ahead of me was there.) So he took care of that woman, then came to my hospital and delivered the other woman. Then he came to deliver Miss Marvel.

I think it was for the best, though, because it gave Miss Marvel an hour to stretch me out. For the first time, I didn't have to have an episiotomy, and I didn't even tear! WOO HOO!!!! I gave two good pushes once the doctor got there, then got nauseous. The doctor said my body would be pushing when I was throwing up, so just to puke then get right back to pushing. (He was really nice about it, though.) So that's what I did. But when I had to stop pushing to puke, Miss Marvel started to turn purple. I threw up then started to push again. The doctor reached in, put his hands around her head, interlaced his fingers around her neck and popped her out. (This info is according to Superman and my mom. I'm not one of those ladies who wants a mirror down there. No thank you.) Superman said he was really nervous when the doctor did that, but figured he was the professional and knew what he was doing.

Miss Marvel was really purple and not crying immediately. I remember being mildly alarmed at that. The doctor suctioned her out and she started crying and pinking up, which made me oh-so-happy. The nurses cleaned her up and did her APGAR stuff, then they got her right over to me. Miss Marvel and I cuddled skin-to-skin for a good 30 minutes. And she was just an angel. She didn't cry at all. She was just content for me to just hold and talk to her. It was a really special moment.


And guess what song was playing when she was born? I had the Glee soundtrack on, and by the time she arrived, "Somebody to Love" was on.

Now it's two weeks later. Miss Marvel had a stint in a light suitcase to get rid of some jaundice, but she was only in it one night. She's a great eater. Spiderman and the Hulk just adore her. They want to hold her and play peek-a-boo all the time. They are adjusting really well. The first week wasn't easy, but that was understandable. We had several changes all at once.

Hulk and Spiderman

My mom and grandma were here till Saturday morning. I am SO GLAD they were here. It was a huge help. Mom took more than one night shift for me, and now Miss Marvel's got her days and her nights straight. Well, she hasn't had awake periods the last few nights like before. I was able to nap almost every day, go to doctor appointments with ease, and have dinners for the next week and a half. They boys got out a LOT las week -- lots of playtime with Nana.

Hulk, Nana and Spiderman. If you're wondering, they're pretending the headbands are Indiana Jones's shoulder bag.

4 generations

So to sum up, we're doing GREAT. Really, really great. I'm still a little paranoid about taking Miss Marvel out, so we're as homebound as much as possible for the next week or so. Maybe. It snowed on Saturday, but the high is 60 on Wednesday. We might hit the park, depending on how crazy I've gone.

So what was it like for you other moms out there going from 2 to 3? I've heard it's the hardest. So far we're doing okay, but Miss Marvel's still sleeping a lot. Was it as hard as everyone says?


p.s. here are her newborn pics!!!!!

Pictures to Marvel at

Get it? "Marvel" at the pictures?! I'm so clever. By the way, Miss Marvel is an actual superhero. Superman tells me she's the one Rogue (of the X-men) stole her original powers from. Not a great story, but I thought the name was appropriate. Since I think she's marvelous.

Anywho.................on to the pictures!!!! As I've mentioned before, a friend in my ward took the pictures. They turned out fantastically. Angie's taken a lot of family pictures, too, and I'm always impressed by what she sees and focuses on. She's a photographer that's actually an artist -- not just trying to make money. I think she's fabulous.


I call this "pretzel baby." And see how she has no fat on her bottom? This is what a 6.5 lb baby looks like.


A close up. I can't figure out if it's cute or kinda weird that her toes look like another hand.


Classic.


I love this one!! I love the green behind it. I love her hands under her chin. But I especially love the slight furrow in her brow. A friend was there to assist with the pictures. She posed Miss Marvel and left her own hands supporting Miss Marvel until the last second, then Angie snapped the picture. In case you were wondering.


I love these in the basket. I love this profile shot, just because it shows a different perspective of her face.


The basket straight on. Love the green with her flower. And no, Ashley, she didn't sleep through the whole shoot. That was the plan, but of course it's the ONE day since her birth that she hasn't slept all day!! She was sleepy, but didn't stay asleep. We had a space heater on the table where we were taking pictures, and a blow dryer to keep her warm while she was naked. The warmth plus the sound kept her nearly asleep most of the time. (Angie, hope you don't mind me giving away trade secrets!!)


My 5-year-old niece told me a few months ago that we should name Miss Marvel "Angel Face," and I can't help but think that when I see this picture!! The wings aren't attached in any way -- our helper friend was actually lying on the floor behind the table and had her hand supporting the wings. Thanks again, Amanda!!!!

Another fave. My children!! Unusually pensive.


I just love this one.



This is of course another favorite. It's the only one of the two of us that I really like. (I am SO not photogenic.) But Angie was able to capture a genuine moment of love/happiness and so it works.


Thanks again, Angie. And if you're in Utah County and need some great pictures at GREAT PRICES, give a ring. On the phone. She doesn't ask to be paid in jewelry. Though I know she is willing to barter for her services.....

friday randominity

For all you Lost viewers: Have you ever noticed that all the main characters have Daddy issues? Jack. Kate. Sawyer. Locke. Ben. Sun. Jin. Hurley. I think Sayid's the only one who doesn't, though his dad was all like, "You're a killer. You're a man."

Think about it. They all have serious Daddy issues. Wonder what that means.

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For the record, I never blogged from the hospital. Last Monday when I said I was there having a baby, I just used the little "post ahead" feature. That's also why you got a bunch of mumbo jumbo code instead of my baby playlist.

Then when Miss Marvel was under lights, it was just a light suitcase that we had in our home. We {thankfully} never had to take her to the hospital. And it was only for one day. Whew.

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Don't hate me. Please. After you read this next part, PLEASE DON'T HATE ME.

I'm wearing my pre-pregnancy jeans right now. Without a slimmer.

I saw this post a few weeks ago on Mormon Mommy Blogs about getting rid of the baby pooch. The big secret the poster was sharing was to wear a slimmer/Spanx/Belly Bandit right after giving birth. It helps the muscles grow back together and tells your other innards where they need to go back to.

I've always had a bit of a pooch, so I already owned a slimmer and decided just to try that. I put it on on Wednesday. I seriously doubted it would fit, but I was able to get it on. I still wore my maternity jeans, but I only looked 5 months pregnant instead of 7. By Monday (one week postpartum) I was wearing my pre-pregnancy jeans with the slimmer. Today I decided to see how things would look sans slimmer, and I was SHOCKED to see that I could button my jeans! And zip them! Without doing the dance!!

So for those of you who just had a baby or are about to, GET A SLIMMER. If you don't already have one, get one that you think would've worked for you pre-baby. You can get one at Walmart for $10. And wear it right away. It works!!!! The MMB poster talked about wearing it for a few months and being slimmer than she was before she got pregnant, even though her weight was about the same.

I bought a new pair of jeans yesterday but can button them eaily without the slimmer, so I think I'll take them back and wait a while longer to see if I continue to shrink. If I move down a size, it'll be to a smaller one than I was when I got pregnant. (And by the way, I've never been one to lose a lot of weight breastfeeding.)

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I went to a funeral this week for a woman I didn't know. Actually, I was playing the piano for it. There were only about 30 people in attendance. It was such a small showing mostly because the woman had never been married or had kids.

I spent the first 20 minutes furiously wiping tears from my eyes. They talked about her loving her dogs and them being her children. They talked about her as a gym teacher and her students being like her children. All I could think was that I was so grateful to have my children. When I die, I don't want my greatest accomplishment to be that I was the organist in every ward I ever belonged to, or that I spent a year on the newspaper staff at BYU-Idaho. I want them to talk about me as a mother, and the things I taught my children.

For the record, I realize that I am much more than a mother. In fact, there's a good chance that my blogging life will be mentioned in my eulogy. But I recognize and am proud of the fact that my role as a mother is vital and one of the most important.

After that initial 20 minutes of weeping, I spent much of the rest of the funeral trying not to laugh. Old people can be kind of crazy. Here are some things I heard at the funeral:

* "Watch out. You'll get your head cut off." (Said to a little boy who got too close to the coffin.)
* "She would make dinners that...... her brother liked." (She lived with her brother, who was also never married.)
* "She could stuff more dishes into a dishwasher than anyone I ever knew. They may've had to call a plumber more often than most people, but she'd still load that dishwasher till you couldn't fit no more in it."
* "She was a great golfer." (I only mention this because the guy said it about 8 times.)
* "She was great in the kitchen..........and in the yard.........and in the bedrooms.................keeping them clean."
* "She was a lousy dancer. She could never get the right step with the right beat. But I sure had fun dragging her around the dance floor and telling her she was doing good. But she sure was a lousy dancer."

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I got Miss Marvel's pictures!!! I'll post them soon. I did load them on to facebook, but I just don't have the time to do it here right now. Angie's got a lot up on her blog, though. She did SUCH a great job!! And prints from her are CHEAP!!! I'll actually be able to buy them! I'm so excited!! Thanks, Angie!

Miss Marvel's first photo shoot

Miss Marvel had her first photo shoot the other day. A talented friend from my ward needed a newborn to practice on, and I was all to willing to offer my girl!

To be clear, this is NOT Miss Marvel, though it does look like her. This is another newborn my friend shot and made me realize that I needed similar pics of Miss Marvel.


I'll probably have images to show you in a week or two -- I am SO EXCITED!!! We got some great shots. If you're looking for a good photographer, give her a call.

Some more baby shots of hers that I love:




Aren't those precious?! I can hardly wait till I have pics of Miss Marvel!!!

Just something I want to remember

~Forgive the indulgence~

A few weeks ago, Spiderman gave a talk at church. And he did it all by himself. My little 5 year old. He decided to talk about Nephi building the ship, so Superman and I spent much of Sunday morning repeating the story for him.

He stood up by himself in Primary, and his talk went something like this:

"Nephi didn't know how to build a boat, but Jesus told him how to. Then his brothers were mean to him. But he wasn't mean back. He was nice. Then Jesus told him how to build the boat so they could go to the promised land."

My heart melted like butter in a skillet.

Then a few days later we were talking about the good samaritan at breakfast. I told the boys that a man got hurt and the only one to help him was someone who wasn't his friend. He was nice to the man, even though the man might not have been nice to him. Spiderman said, "Like Nephi. His brothers were mean but he was nice because that's what Jesus wants us to do."

It's pretty dang cool to see my kids connecting gospel principles.

Curs-ed hormones.

Miss Marvel is under lights.

I can't really be in the same room without breaking down into tears.

Postpartum hormones suck.

Also, Spiderman had a M.A.J.O.R. meltdown today.

Left the doctor's office screaming, thrashing on the ground. I actually had to drag him out of there.

As he was screaming in the car, I nearly started crying myself, then had to laugh.

It wasn't my newborn that was screaming, or my "strong-willed" 3 year old. It was my mellow, easy-going 5 year old. What are the odds of that?

And now..........I just want to cry. I haven't had a good bought of tears since giving birth, and I *always* do, so maybe I should just lock my door and get it over with, eh?




p.s. Other than being near-tears, I'm doing really well. I'm feeling really good physically -- very little pain. It was a pretty easy birth and delivery. Miss Marvel's eating well, which I know will help her. Just gotta get rid of the jaundice.

It'll be okay.


Update: I blogged. I cried. I fed my daughter and got over it. We're good.

Introducing....

Miss Marvel!!!

~Aubrey Liana~
Born at 3:31 pm on March 1, 2010
6 lbs. 13 oz., 19 inches

Miss Marvel and Wonder Woman, 15 minutes post-birth

Superman and Miss Marvel

The Hulk, Spiderman, and Miss Marvel

The new and improved aMayzing family!

I'm in the hospital right now.

Giving birth to my daughter.

More to come.