Dave was on call yesterday at the hospital, so we decided to celebrate Father’s Day today.

It’s Dave’s first father’s day, and he’s really excited to spend it with Benjamin. It’s amazing how easily Dave has transformed into a father - from changing diapers to entertaining the baby with a whole assortment of noises, games, and baby talk. Ten years ago if you would have asked me what kind of father Dave would be, I would never have imagined him to be the father he is today. He’s a completely different person! It really warms my heart to see him interact with his son.

So I hope he has a great day today. We want to do a lot of activities, but I bet we’re just going to take a long nap to rest after such a busy weekend. But that’s a treat, too, since it’s our favorite past time!

So to end my post, I wanted to share my favorite photo of Benjamin so far, just because it was such a candid moment that I caught…Dave had just gotten home from working 24 hours with no sleep and he was exhausted. I needed to take a shower so I asked him to watch the baby and he groggily agreed. I put the baby down in his arms and Dave was talking to him.

When I got back into the room, Dave was fast asleep but I could see Benjamin’s arms flailing around next to him. I approached the bed to get a closer look and saw that Benjamin was lying in his father’s arms, just laughing and entertaining himself. It was so adorable! Luckily, I got a terrific picture to capture the moment!

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Yesterday, my sister Claudine married Dan, better known to you all as Redpac and the rest of the internet community as the guy who runs the “Countdown to Legality” website.
It was a wonderful day, even though it was a sweltering 96 degrees and there were a couple hiccups here and there. I’ll go more into it tonight but I’ve got to head out to the day-after party.

Here’s one of my favorite shots from the day, the couple in their first dance. Maui played the keyboard, Fatima sang the words, which I had never listened to until yesterday, but which made me cry when I heard them. It has truly been a journey for Claudine to find her true love, and I’m so happy that she found someone that compliments her so well that will treat her like a queen.

I set out on a narrow way many years ago
Hoping I would find true love along the broken road
But I got lost a time or two
Wiped my brow and kept pushing through
I couldn’t see how every sign pointed straight to you
Every long lost dream lead me to where you are
Others who broke my heart they were like northern stars
Pointing me on my way into your loving arms
This much I know is true
That God blessed the broken road
That led me straight to you

I think about the years I spent just passing through
I’d like to have the time I lost and give it back to you
But you just smile and take my hand
You’ve been there you understand
It’s all part of a grander plan that is coming true

Every long lost dream lead me to where you are
Others who broke my heart they were like northern stars
Pointing me on my way into your loving arms
This much I know is true
That God blessed the broken road
That led me straight to you
- Rascal Flatts - Bless The Broken Road

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Tomorrow is Claudine’s wedding to Redpac, and I’m the matron of honor. I really have no idea what the “of honor” duties are, other than fixing up the bride’s dress during the ceremony and planning the bachelorette party. So I’ve been trying to help here and there where I can. I thought I’d have a lot of time since I’m on maternity leave, but I never realized how much of my attention my little booger needs.

But I’ve been able to help out a bit, even though Claudine is the type that likes to do everything so it’s under her control. I know she’s been stressed out a lot by the wedding and other little quibbles surrounding it, so I’ve tried to de-stress her as much as I can. I remember when I got married and had my one breakdown the week of the wedding (who knew doing a seating chart could be so stressful?) and I don’t want Claudine do go through that. However, it seems that every bride must get to that point at some time before the wedding, it’s almost like a rite of passage - get so stressed you want to pull your hair out, then you get the best day of your life.

I truly want her to have the best day of her life, just like my wedding day was for me (before the birth of BenBen that is). So tonight I’ll make my little checklist of emergency things to bring - safety pins, stain remover, hair spray, bobby pins, breath mints, flask of alcohol - you know, the essentials. It’s good I share the “in honor” duties with Fata, the maid of honor. Then she can cram crap in her purse, too.

Of course, I’ve got to write a speech for the reception, too.

But I’m not worried about that - all I need are a couple keywords written onto my palm and I should be good to go. Anyone who knew me in college knows that I’m a master of speeches. It will be a masterpiece! There will be laughs, there will be tears, there will be eyes rolling, and maybe, just maybe, a standing ovation! OK, maybe not the last part. Maybe just a tear and giggle.

Hopefully I’ll have some pics posted of the rehearsal dinner tonight…

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Many thanks to Tara, who sent me these wonderful layouts she did with some of the pictures that I (and Melanie) had posted. It was so sweet of her to do! (click for a larger size)

I have tons of scrapbooking supplies. The paper, specialty scissors, cutting mats, swivel cutters and templates, stickers, albums, etc. But I have yet to complete a whole scrapbook. To tell the truth, I have no idea where all my scrapbook stuff is since I moved in here. I’ve always been pushing back making a scrapbook, though this year I really want to make an effort and do something crafty. Why? Because everyone else is!

I adore getting hand made cards in the made by my wonderful crafty friends. But it gives me a little bit of craft envy - I can be crafty, too!

So I’m working on my first big scrapbooking project - a father’s day present for my dad and Dave’s dad containing a bunch of pictures of Benjamin. Since I’m too lazy to look for my supplies, I just bought a kit that already had the papers cut and I have to do is cut my pictures to fit, design the layout and glue everything. Maybe I’ll take some pictures so y’all can see my handiwork.

So anyway, thanks again to Tara, and thanks to my crafty friends for inspiring me to be creative again!

Tags: Daily by Yano
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Since I’m usually up for late night feedings, I need something to watch on TV. However, there’s not much on at 4 in the morning except for news and informercials. So I usually just keep the tele on Vh1 or MTV because they always have videos playing on in the wee hours of the morning. Actually, these are the ONLY times I really see videos on those channels!

Anyway, I’ve discovered a lot of great videos while up late at night, so I wanted to share some of them with you every week or so…

Today’s video is probably a song you’re all sick of by now, since they played it OVER and OVEr during American Idol (I know that Fatima loathes this song) but the video for it is just so cute that I had to pick it as my first one - Daniel Powter’s “Bad Day”. It stars on of my favorite up and coming starlets, Samaire Armstrong.

Tags: Video Gaga by Yano
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Benjamin has been sleeping for an average of 5-6 hours for the last week, which has been a real blessing! Of course, it happens when he’s in his little papasan swing which he ADORES (the Fisher Price papasan cradle - I have yet to meet someone whose baby does not love this thing). I asked my doctor if it’s ok that he sleeps in his papasan and he said whatever works is fine for right now.

So yeah, it’s great that he’s sleeping for so long. Then I can get some rest! However, this 5 hour stretch happens from about 10pm - 3am or so, and since I can’t fall asleep til around 12am, I’m really just getting about 3 or 4 hours of sleep. But even that is a blessing since Ben used to wake up every 2-3 hours. Or during the really bad nights every hour and a half. Having a 6 hour stretch of time where I can relax, either by sleeping or taking care of tasks that I’ve left untouched is so helpful!

The only downside to all of this is that since I’m not feeding him for that time, when I do wake up after a long stretch of time I’m engorged. I’m so full of milk that I feel like my boobs are going to explode and there’s a lot of pain! Hopefully my body gets used to that stretch of time at night when he doesn’t feed and learns to just take a break until the day time.

I’m really cherishing these nights because I know at any moment it can change and he may go back to his old schedule. Also, I know I’ll have to start him off in a crib soon so he doesn’t get too used to sleeping in his papasan. The only reason he’s been sleeping in it lately is because I’ve got so much work that I’ve been doing in the room where the papasan is that he just falls asleep there.

*yawn*

Mmm…I’m getting sleepy talking about all this sleep. I guess I’ll get in a good 3 or 4 hours before he wakes.

Goodnight!

Tags: Ben by Yano
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So the time is coming where Benjamin needs to start his initiation into this crazy, wacky family we call the Catholic Church. I’m hoping to have his baptism next month, but there’s a lot of red tape I have to go through at the church before I can set a date.

Dave and I went to the first pre-baptism class a month ago and we had to sit through a movie that lasted for about an hour that looked like it was filmed 30 years ago. We had to fill out a form, more like an application, stating why we wanted our son to be baptized. I felt like I was in school again!

I’m going to my second class today (we have to attend at least two) without Dave, since he’s working tonight.

However, that’s the easy stuff.

The hard part is planning the afterparty, the reception after the baptism. I don’t think we had any big shindigs after our baptisms. I think it was just a simple get together by close family and friends at the house.

But no….Benjamin can’t have that, can he? He’s having an all out party at a banquet hall and everything. I feel like I’m planning another wedding. The guest list has gotten out of control, but there’s a lot of people we “should” invite, so there’s nothing I can do about it.. Anyone who’s planned a wedding with a lot of relatives and family friends involved knows what I’m talking about. I’ve been trying to prune the list so it isn’t too out of control, but this is ending up to be a big affair. Luckily, since I’m not working (too much), my stress level isn’t too high. Then again, I’m a little stressed about Claudine’s upcoming wedding, but not as stressed as she is!

So, I give my apologies to those of you who normally are invited to my functions but who aren’t invited to the baptism. I’ve had to make some painful cuts, but I swear, you’re going to be invited to his first birthday party. Hopefully that will be a little more low key and I can invite more of the “wants” than the “shoulds”. Even with just the “wants” though, it’ll probably end up being a big affair anyway!

Of course, I’m putting a lot of this stress on myself. I could just put my foot down and say, “No…I want to have a small party and that’s it!” But I just want to make everyone happy, and there are some things that I have to sacrifice. Also, there’s no such thing as a small party when my family and Dave’s family is involved!

Tags: Ben by Yano
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Today marks Benjamin’s two month birthday! He’s grown so much in the last month, it’s hard to believe he’s already two months. But in another way, it feels like we’ve had him forever!

Here’s the latest Ben Collage…I didn’t have much time to take pictures of him this morning because we were headed to the doctor. So these pics you’re going to see were taken in a span of about 2 minutes. He goes through a lot of emotions in two minutes!

He’s smiling a lot now, but seems to get nervous in front of the camera. That’s why he constantly has a bewildered, curious/annoyed look in my pictures. I did manage to capture a smirk, though!

The pictures ended up looking a lot like last month’s, so I decided to spice ‘em up a bit in photoshop.

As I said before, we headed out to the doctor today. It was time for his two month vaccinations. I was a bit nervous because I’ve heard some horror stories. Seeing all the needles laid out before they were put into Benjamin didn’t help! The staff at my pediatrician’s are awesome, and they handled it perfectly. He needed to get 4 shots (for tetanus, polio and stuff like that). But what they did was this: the doctor had a nurse come in, and they each took one of Benjamin’s legs, and each one of them had a needle with a vaccination. They did a 1,2,3 count and then both put in their needles into Ben’s leg. Then they repeated it with the other 2 needles. That way, Ben only had to fee the needles twice, rather than 4 times. He cried for a minute or two, but once he was back in my arms he calmed down.

He didn’t cry for hours like I’d heard other babies did. But later in the afternoon he did get a bit fussy. I think that his little baby thighs are sore from the shots. Poor thing! I’ve got him in his little rocker and I’m going to make sure he gets some extra TLC tonight. He was a brave little boy!

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Tags: Pictures by Yano
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I know I’ve asked this already, but I know I have new readers since I last asked, and some of you may have upgraded since the last time. Anyway, what screen resolution are you using? To check your screen resolution, just right click on your desktop, go to properties, and then click on ‘Settings’. You’ll see something that says ‘Screen Resolution’.

The reason I ask this is because I want to make sure that people who are using lower resolutions can see the designs I make. I usually design using a 1024×768 template, but I try and make sure that the people who are using 800×600 are able to see it, too. However, that makes it a lot harder to come up with cool designs.

Also, I’d like to know what browsers y’all are using. My stats report it, but I get a lot of miscellaneous traffic so the results are skewed. That’s also very important because I want to make sure I test for the browsers that people are using. I normally use firefox and one of my biggest internet peeves is when I go to a site that is poorly designed in FireFox. Just because it works nicely in Internet Explorer doesn’t mean that it’s gonna look great in FireFox! I’m also curious to see if any of you out there are using other browsers. I don’t have access to them, but I’d love to use you as a beta tester for designs!

Anyway, thanks for the help…your input makes YWIM a better place to be!

Tags: Questions by Yano
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