Did you watch??

Of course you did. Even if you didn't watch it live, you know you saw a million clips (how could you have avoided it?). Indy and I watched it live (oh, and even James Bond joined us) and had a grand time. A few days before the wedding we went to our local British shop and bought some authentic British goodies to eat while we watched. We had scones with jam, sweet raisin bread, finger sandwiches (cream cheese, turkey and broccoli sprouts-at Indy's request), McVitties Chocolate Digestives (cookies), Mr. Kipling's Cherry Tarts, and tea.  We even used the fancy tea cups.  Indy even insisted on talking in British accents for the duration of the wedding.  It was loads of fun.

So, what did you think???  I have a lot of thoughts.

The hats!  OMG, the hats!!!!  I LOVE HATS!  Why don't American women wear them more?  They are awesome.  Though I have to say Princess Beatrice looked like she lived in Whoville with that thing on her head.  Insane!

William and Harry looked adorable.  Wills looked so nervous.  In case you didn't see it, he apparently said something to Kate's dad at the alter about how they were meant to have just a small family wedding.  Harry also made some sort of comment to Wills about the fact that Kate showed up.  How cute are they?

The dress...oh, the dress.  It was...nothing spectacular.  I was a bit disappointed in it to be honest.  The first thing I thought of when I saw it was Princess Grace's dress.  Apparently I was not the only one, as it was all over the news shows later.  It was elegant and striking, and fit her beautifully (like it wouldn't though), but it just didn't have the wow factor for me.  I did like the sculptural elements of the dress, but it looked like, well, an ordinary wedding dress (a friend on FB said it looked like something from David's Bridal!).  If you marry into royalty, you should bring on the sparkle!  I wanted more!  MORE!  I did think the sheerness of the veil was lovely though.

The tiara...too small!  With all the bling in the royal collection, she should have had something more blingy!  I'm sad she didn't wear one of the more famous tiaras.  I was personally pulling for one of the following:

The Grand Duchess Vladamir's Tiara, which is now owned by the queen, and can be worn with pearls or Cambridge emeralds:

The Cambridge Lover's Knot tiara (which would have been appropriate given that she is now the Duchess of Cambridge):

Or my personal favorite, the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland tiara:

There was so much to love about the day, but my hands down favorite moment was when Will and Kate first walked out onto the balcony and Kate saw the size of the crowd and said "Oh, wow."  That was a moment!

Speaking of the crowd, did you see how orderly they were?  It was unreal!  I was amazed watching them walk calmly down the Mall behind the row of Police Officers toward Buckingham Palace. When they got to the circle in front of the palace, the line of police split, one going around one side of the Victoria monument, one going around the other side.  The crowd very orderly followed them and met in the middle.  It was awesome to watch from the aerial camera.  I've tried finding a video of it, but I can't.  If you know where I can see it, PLEASE let me know.  James Bond missed it and wants to see it.

The guests were certainly a mishmash weren't they?  Royals, dignitaries, singers, actors, soccer stars, military members (several from Wills' own unit), and did you know that Kate invited her postman, butcher convenience store owner and a few other people she knew from her town?  How nice is that?  When I saw Guy Ritchie, I wondered if Madonna regretted the divorce.  If they'd stuck it out, she could have gone to the wedding.  I'm just saying. 

I loved the overall feel of the wedding though.  They seemed genuinely happy and despite all the pomp an circumstance, like two normal people excited to get married.  I hope their marriage is long and happy.

Oh, there are many more things I can say, but I think I'll stop for now.  I'm kind of on wedding overload.  What did you think???

RTT: A whole lotta randoms

Good grief. I have been such a slacker this week. Blog wise, I mean. At home, I've been a dynamo (or not, shut up, it's my blog, I can lie if I want). Han Solo is settling in well and has a great routine (he wakes 2 times a night to eat), but I do not respond well to interrupted sleep and drag around all day. Thank goodness Indy's reading is so much better and he can do more of his work independently. Otherwise, I might teach him something weird like Cedar Rapids is in Texas or Oklahoma (I'm looking at you loser on Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?). Who doesn't know it's in Iowa? Honestly. Anyway, onto the real randoms:

*I tried to put Stacy's cool button on here, but it won't let me copy it.  Boo!!!!!

*While we were watching the whole Taliban prison break out thing on the news (really?  almost 500 prisoners??) James Bond looked at me and said "Wow!  They Andy Dufrained it!"  I found this ridiculously funny.

*We were in the car the other day and an Aerosmith song came on.
Indy: This song is lame.
Me: You shut your face, boy.
Indy: How rude!
Me: Don't dis Aerosmith or Steven Tyler.
Indy: Who's Steven Tyler?
Me (thinking I've seriously erred in his cultural education): He's the singer of this group. He's also the new judge on American Idol.
Indy: Dawg [Randy Jackson] or the white guy?
Me: The white guy.
Indy: He dresses like a girl.
Me: Sigh.

*A few minutes later a Phil Collins song came on.
Indy: Now THIS song is lame.
Me: I'll give you that.

*Only 3 more days until the wedding!!!!! I am so excited. Indy is too. He says we should have tea and biscuits (cookies, for those of you not up on your British to American translation). I think he's really in it for the cookies.

*On the Today Show today they mentioned the day of the wedding was declared a holiday. Indy perked up at this.
Indy (with a gleam in his eye): It's a holiday?
Me: Only in England.
Indy: Darn it. Does this mean....
Me: Yes, you still have to have a spelling test.
Indy: Double darn.

*Random Flashback: Nobody puts Baby in a corner!

*Isn't it amazing how you can't tell who is doing the voice of an animated movie until you close your eyes?  Then it's perfectly obvious.

*Speaking of animated movies, we went to see Rio this past weekend, but when we got to the theater, the movie was "temporarily unavailable."  WTF?  The lady there said it broke at the end of the previous night's showing and they were waiting on another copy.  Indy was totally bummed out.  Instead we came home watched Space Chimps 2, which was horrible.  We were half way through it and had no idea what was going on.  It was just...weird.  Thank goodness we had candy and popcorn to console us.

*OMG, Water for Elephants is coming to our theater this weekend.  I'm so going to leave the boys at home with James Bond and go see it.  I loved the book and hope they do it justice, but I'm really in it for RPattz.  Swoon.

*WHY is it taking so long for Breaking Dawn (part 1) to come out???   Sheesh!

*A philosophical question (courtesy of Pat Sajak of all people!):  Do you actually see a mirage or do you just think you see a mirage?

*Oh, oh!  I have a new favorite time wasting research site.  It's called Kate Middleton For The Win, and it's awesome.  Here are some of my favorites:

Take this Charlie Sheen:

My absolute favorite:

Okay, go join Stacy for all the cool randoms.

RTT: Phoning it in

Oh, Tuesday, again? Really? They just keep popping up, don't they?  It's like they're always after Monday, or something.  Once again, I'm linking up with Stacy, since Keely is STILL on hiatus with RTT.   Like she's got better stuff to do.  Whatevs.


*Indy asks the most bizarre and random questions sometimes.  The other day he asked "Who was the 3rd person on the moon?"   Um, what?  Of course I had no idea and had to google it (OMG, what did parents do before google?  Let kids go ignorant?).  It was Pete Conrad in case you were wondering.  I know you were.

*We were in the car going....somewhere and the song "Born the Way" came on the radio.  Indy likes the song, so I let it stay (I'm not crazy about it), and James Bond said "Wow, it just sounds like she's phoning it in now."  I said I thought it sounded like Madonna and he said "Wait, it's not Madonna?"  So, apparently Lady Gaga sounds like Madonna phoning it in.  Who knew?

*Han Solo was 2 weeks old yesterday!  Already?  It goes by so freaking fast.

*Indy frequently asks bizarre questions about who invented things.  He wants to know stuff like who invented soap, roads, candles, pillows, bottles.  These things are not googlable.

*Hmmm....googlable.  I think I just invented a new word.  Okay, maybe someone else has used it, but I'm claiming it.

*10 days until the big wedding!  Woohooo!!!!!

*Speaking of phoning it in, I think that's all for the day.  I'm pretty tired.  Han Solo is an awesome baby, who sleeps in 3 hour stretches, but the 2 hours I get in those 3 hour stretches is so not enough.  You know me, I need like 12 hours of sleep.  I keep telling myself it won't last forever, but good grief it feels like it.  I'm off to bed (it's late here in Germany).  Have a lovely Tuesday and I'll leave you all feeling sorry for poor Walt:

Less than 2 weeks until the big day!!!

Hi, I'm Mom in High Heels and I am a royal watcher.  I do not say it with shame.  I say it with pride.  Sort of.  I mean, what little girl didn't dream of growing up to be a princess?  Since we have no royals of our own, the British royals are the ones to watch.  Sure, there are royals from loads of countries, but the Brits OWN royalty.  Own.It.  They have it all: money, power, fame, looks (some of them anyway) and even a sense of duty, responsibility (some of them) and charity.  In less than 2 weeks, the wedding of the year, the decade (and likely the early half of the century) will take place, and I will sooooo be watching.  I can't wait to see the pomp and pageantry and most of all, the dress.  Oh, I am dying to see the dress!!!!  What will Kate wear?  WHO will Kate wear?  It's all a big mystery that I can't wait to unveiled (get it?  un-VEILED?).  Until then though, I eat up every scrap of info that comes to the press about the big day with glee in my royal watching heart.  Some of it is ridiculous (do I really care that Posh Spice will be there?  Nope), some of it interesting (the fact that Kate will buck tradition and arrive in a car instead of a carriage or coach-do you know the difference?  If not, check out this Royal Wedding Wednesday post over at Decor to Adore), and some of it fun and silly.  Recently there was an ad by T-Mobile spoofing the royal wedding (with surprisingly good look-a-likes) that made me laugh.  I had planned on sharing it tomorrow, but it showed up today on the Yahoo front page (damn you, Yahoo scoopers), so I figured I'd go ahead and post it.  If you haven't seen it, it's well worth the time.  Enjoy!




Oh, and in case you're into Lego's (and boy is Indy into Legos), Legoland Windsor has a Lego version of the royal wedding.  Impressive.

Loving the second child

Warning:  I'm hormonal, so this is slightly more mushy and slightly less sarcastic than my normal posts.  Fear not though, I'll be back to form soon.  

From the moment we found out I was pregnant with him early in 2002, Indy has been the center of our universe. His birth was much anticipated, especially by my parents as he would be their first and only grandchild as I have no siblings. His early entrance to the world was much celebrated and James Bond and I were immediately and deeply in love with the super tiny little bundle, who would change our world so completely. For 8 years we've watched him grow and delighted in every first and marked every milestone. Since we homeschool, Indy and I are pretty much always together and are very close (not Norman Bates close, but close).  We have a great time together and talk about anything and everything.  He amazes me on a daily basis.
When we found out I was pregnant with Han Solo, we were excited (one the shock and the "how did this happen?" wore off), but wondered how we could possibly love another child as much as we loved Indy.  For months this was a real concern.  There was even an entire thread on my babycenter.com birth board, from parents of other older onlies.  It was good to know that we werent' alone in our fears, but it didn't do anything to make them any better.
We also worried about how Indy would take having another child get our affection.  He had been an only child for 8 years and was used to getting all our attention.  He had wanted a baby brother (and would "even take a sister") since he could say the word "baby" and even said one year that he would tell Santa he didn't need any toys if Santa would just bring him a baby.  Wanting a sibling and actually having one are two different things though.
Two nights before Han Solo made his big arrival, James Bond and I once again talked about how worried we were that we wouldn't be able to love Han Solo as much as we did Indy.  We both felt horrible and guilty for this, but didn't know how we would love him as much.  It's hard to imagine loving anyone, even another child of yours, as much as you do the first.  Would Han Solo feel less loved?  We certainly didn't want him to, but couldn't see how it wasn't going to happen.  I went to bed at night pondering this.
At 10:33 am on April 4th though, all those worries vanished.  From the second we saw Han Solo, it was instant love.  Love at first sight.  Miraculously (much like the Grinch, whose heart grew 3 sizes that day), my heart had enough room to love both boys and so did James Bond's.  I didn't feel more or less love for one boy than the other, I just loved them both with my whole heart.  Han Solo is only 10 days old, but we already can't imagine life without him.  James Bond and I laughed over our silly fears last night.  Was it really less than 2 weeks ago we worried about not loving him enough?   The amazing thing about being a parent is that you really do have enough love to give all of your children.  Of course Indy will always be special because he was the first, but Han Solo is just as special in his own way.  He's our late 30's baby.  The one who will keep us young and exhaust us in a way Indy didn't.  I can't wait to see where the days and years lead us.

Indy is so over the moon in love with Han Solo, it only makes me love him even more.   Look at my boys.  How could I not adore them both?

RTT: Weird sports-more than you ever want to know.

This was the post I planned for last Tuesday, but since Han Solo made his early appearance, I put it on hold.  I think you'll find it was worth the wait.
I'm linking up with the rebel Stacy again, since Keely is STILL on hiatus (what up Keely???).  So, are you ready?  Of course you are.


*Do you get Eurosport in the US? If not, let me tell you, you are missing out! They have the strangest sports. Last week we watched part of some weird indoor soccer match, but it was played with their hands instead of their feet. Strange. My favorite recent event though was the Timbersport World Championships. Ever heard of it? It's all about cutting logs with various types of axes, hand saws and chain saws. It is the craziest thing I've ever seen. My favorite event title: Hot Saw. It makes me giggle just to say it. The crowd is crazy excited. It's so odd, but I can't look away! If you ever get a chance to watch this, do it!

*Okay, I just googled the events (cause I'm cool like that) and they are:
* Springboard - The competitor uses two spring boards to ascend to the top of a nine foot pole and chop a firmly attached 12" diameter block from the top of the pole. The block must be chopped from both sides.
* STIHL Stock Saw - Competitors begin with both hands on the log. When the signal is given, the sawyers, using identical STIHL professional MS660 chain saws, make two cuts through identical logs. No more than 4" of wood, which is marked by a black line, can be cut.
* Underhand Chop - The competitor stands, feet apart, on a 12"-14" log. At the signal, he begins chopping through the log. Before chopping all the way through he must turn and complete the cut from the other side. Time ends when the log is severed completely.
* Single Buck - Competitors make one cut through 18"-20" of white pine using a single man cross cut saw. The competitor may have a helper to wedge the log and keep the saw lubricated. Time ends when the block is clearly severed.
* Standing Block Chop - Competitors race to chop through 12"-14" of white pine. The competitor must chop from both sides of the log and the time ends when the block is severed.
* Hot Saw - In this event the competitor uses a customized chain saw with a modified engine. At the signal, the competitor starts the saw and makes three cuts. The competitor must cut no more than 6" from the log which is marked with a black line.

*From 1985 to 1996, the US dominated these championships. From 1987 to 2010, New Zealand has been champion.

*Indy's good friend General Ham has been transferred and is now the AFRICOM commander.  The new USAREUR commander is Lt. Gen. Hertling.  Indy was very excited because we read that he is very into fitness and eating well and KNEW they would be BFF's too.  On Friday, we read in the local paper that he is a St. Louis Cardinals fan.  Indy looked at me and said "Oh, no!  Now what do we do?"  I told him we'd just have to try to like him anyway.  Indy said "I guess, but how can I have a friend who's a Cardinals fan?"  Indy is a die hard Cubs fan (makes me so proud) and very anti-STL Cardinals.

*Coffee drinkers are gross and weird.  That's right.  I said it.  James Bond will leave a cup of coffee sitting all day and then drink it.  Cold!!!  Ack!  Ack!  GROSS!!  

*Old people coffee drinkers are more weird.  Indy and I went to the PX on Sunday (just the 2 of us, to give him some alone time with Mom) and went to Taco Bell for lunch (FTR, Indy orders a chicken chalupa and nachos-no kids meals for him) and there was an older couple there (mid-late 70's) who ordered burritos, tacos and COFFEE!  Who drinks coffee with Taco Bell?  Ick!  There were some other older people there eating BK and drinking coffee.  Just ewwwwww.

*I so want to see The Eagle.  Don't you?  In case you didn't know, the slave in the movie is Jamie Bell, who starred in the amazing movie Billy Elliot.  If you've never seen it, you MUST. 

*50 years ago today,Yuri Gagarin became the first human to travel in space. 

*150 years ago today, the first shots of the Civil War were fired at Ft. Sumter in Charleston, SC.   I've been there-to Ft. Sumter, I mean.  We lived in Charleston (or rather Goose Creek, SC-that's right, Goose Creek) twice when I was growing up (my dad was stationed at the Naval base).

*Did you know there is a penis museum in Iceland?   Now you do.  And you're welcome.

*This is for all those who are confused:

Can you believe Han Solo is already a week (and a day!) old?  It's already going by too fast!  I must go stare at him for a while.  I hope you all have a wonderful Rebel RTT!

Are you ready for the cute????

Warning! Photo heavy, but I'm a new mom, so what did you expect?

Indy is a proud big brother!  He says Han Solo has his "good looks."  That's my boy.  So humble.

CUTE!!!

Look at those pretty eyes.

James Bond has yet to take a photo of me where I don't look crazy or have my head cut off.  We must remedy that.  BTW, if you'll notice, we all 3 have the same nose.

Look how tiny his little fingers are!

 

This is James Bond's favorite photo.  We call it his pirate face.  Yarrrrrhhhh!

This is a standard newborn pacifier.  I put it next to him for size comparision.

Lock up your girls.  I now have 2 boys with killer baby blues.

Hope you enjoyed the cute.  We're probably going to be in the hospital until at least Friday.  He's dropped down to 5lbs (which is more than 10% of his body weight) and still having trouble regulating his body temp, but hey think he should be able to go home on Friday or Saturday.  We'll see.  Have a great day and try not let the sweetness of the photos give you a cavity. 

RTT: Special Delivery Edition

Tuesday, already??? How did that happen? I'm rebeling up with Stacy again, since Keely is STILL putting RTT on hiatus. 
Soooooo, guess what random thing happened to me yesterday? I HAD A BABY!!! That's right, Han Solo made his grand entrance on April 4 at 10:33am after 20 hours of very hard labor, weighing 5 pounds 6 ounces and 19" long. He's tiny and perfect and adorable (he looks like me, so what do you expect?) and quite likable, really. This is important.  Some babies aren't likable, but he is.  I could be biased, but I think not.  Here are some random thoughts/happenings from yesterday:

*I am freaking awesome.  What?  You push out a baby and tell me you don't think you're awesome.

*Labor sucks. There are no 2 ways about it. Labor is just awful.

*Telling yourself it's not so bad and that the pain is all in your head is a big fat lie.  It hurts like a beeyotch.

*The person who invented the epidural should have been given a gazillion dollars.  His photo should be on all the money in the entire world and every town should have a statue of him.  I'm just sayin'.

*Having a baby in a German hospital is a very different experience from having on in an American hospital.  In a good way.  The Germans were very touchy-feely instead of clinical.  It felt much more...family orientated.  You know, if your family includes an OB, a midwife, and a midwife assistant and they all stand around looking at your business.

*German women labor naked.  I did not.

*James Bond nearly passed out several times.  Of course he's been through delivery with me before, but at American hospitals, they kind of cover everything up.  Not so much over here.  The first time he nearly lost it was when he saw the needle for the epidural.  He was with me when I got it for Indy, but didn't see it.  This time, he did and he went quite pale and his legs nearly gave out.  Another time was when he was trying to match my breathing during a contraction.  He got light headed. I told him to stop and he said he couldn't help it.  I laughed and said if he hit the floor, he'd just have to stay there because I was busy.  And then during the pushing phase, he said he was pushing right along with me and almost hit the floor.  

*James Bond was pretty awesome himself during the whole labor process.  Not as awesome as me, but still.  He rubbed my back and my feet and in my book, that is super awesome.

*During the earlier parts of labor James Bond and I walked the halls of the hospital to keep the contractions going (after 10 hours, no way was I going to let them stop).  The hospital is built around a courtyard, so the halls make a big square.  We walked and walked and walked.  At some point, I began softly sing  the song "I would walk 500 miles and I would walk 500 more..."  At 3 am, this was freaking hilarious.   By 5am, I really felt like I had walked 500 miles.  All in a square.

*After giving birth, I was brought a bottle of champagne, compliments of the hospital.  Germany is AWESOME.
*Indy thinks Han Solo is perfect.  He's right of course.  He came to see him for the first time yesterday afternoon and was thrilled to get to hold him.  Indy says he's the perfect baby brother.  We'll see how long tht lasts. 

*No silly photos today, just a whole bunch of cute:

These photos were taken right after he was born, so he's still covered in goo.  Once I pry the camera out of James Bond's hands and can download non-goo photos I'll post more.  I took some great shots of him and Indy yesterday, but James Bond ran off with the camera before I could download them.  Darn it.

So, have a great Rebel Random Thoughts Tuesday and come back tomorrow for more cutie pie photos.

There's a reason I don't go in the sun.

You'd never know it to look at me, but one of my great-grandmothers was full blooded Native American. My mother (her grand daughter) can go outside for 10 minutes and come back in beautiful shade of brown. My father is a red head. Lucky me, I inherited the very pale European ancestry that goes along with that (burn, peel, burn some more).    I was born with red hair myself, though it turned a dark auburn as I got older. Look how cute I was:

Age 1:

Age 2:

Aside from my debilitating allergies, outside is just not my friend.  Oh, sure, it looks pretty outside and I do love pretty trees and flowers, but for the most part, I enjoy them more if there's a lovely plate of glass between me and them.
Today was a really beautiful and unseasonably warm day here in Heidelberg.  There also happened to be a Flohmarkt (flea market) on the Messeplatz.  Now you know I loves me a good flea market, so I drugged myself up with allergy meds (which I am once again allowed to take now that I am almost full term with Han Solo) and off we went.  We arrived around 11am and it was PACKED.  Holy cow!  It was the biggest flea market since this past fall.  It was warm though, and being grossly pregnant (okay, not really, but to ME I am) I just wasn't in the mood.  There was so much cool stuff, but I didn't feel like talking to anyone or haggling over prices or get close to the many, many bodies that were swarming around me (and some of them smelled terrible).   We stayed until around 2pm, when it shut down.  This put me outside roughly 3 hours.  We went and grabbed some lunch (and ice cream!) and then headed home.  James Bond looked at me when we got in the apartment and went "OMG!  You are so burned!"  What?  I looked down and sure enough, my arms were bright red.  No wonder my skin was tingly!  I pulled up my shirt sleeve and there it was:  a farmer burn.  This is similar to a farmer tan (you know, the definite line where your sleeves was), only red.  Drat.  Fortunately, I had a light weight scarf wrapped around my neck, so my chest was protected and my moisturizer has an SPF in (though my face is slightly burned), but my poor arms are cooked.  Don't believe me?  Check this out:

Pretty, huh?   Now I'm certain that I'll go into labor at any moment and every photo of me holding a newborn Han Solo will have my weird farmer burn in it.  Sigh.  I should know better than to go outside.  Outside is just not my friend.

Dear So and So: Sick Dogs and stubborn contractions

Kat is back baby and so is Dear So and So! Huzzah!!!!




Dear Dutch and Arf,

Really? Two of you sick at the same time? NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! The house already smelled like ass, but now it smells like double ass. Oh, the horror! I suppose the waking up to take you out every 2 hours is good practice for when Han Solo is born, and I know you're not doing it on purpose, but for goodness sake, you need to get better ASAP. I can't take it anymore!  Feel better soon my little loves!

Tired,
MiHH


Dear Coco,

Please do not get sick too.  I don't think we could handle cleaning up any more poo and vomit that we already have.  Don't get sick and I'll let you have an extra treat.  That's right, I'm not above bribery.

Holder of the treat bag,
MiHH


Dear Weather,

Could you make up your mind? That is all.

Annoyed,
MiHH


Dear Contractions,

If you're not going to progress me, could you please stop? You're very painful and making me crankier cranky.  If you want to progress me and bring Han Solo into the world, then by all means, continue.  Otherwise, knock it the hell off.

Painfully,
MiHH


Dear Flash Mobs,

I so long to be a part of you.  I can totally dance. Let's do something to Abba, shall we?  Call or text  me.

The Dancing Queen,
MiHH


Dear Kat,

A deal is a deal!  You lost a stone (14lbs) and I fully expect to see you do a cart wheel on your blog.  

Happy it's not me (but still glad you're back!),
MiHH


Dear Readers,

Got something to say?  Write some letters   click the button at the top and link 'em up!  You won't be sorry!

Sincerely,
MiHH