What's in a name?

Today is Mary Colette's "due date." I am so glad that we have been enjoying your beautiful face for six days now and that you decided when to come.

By the way how did you get your name?

We had many girl names in the hopper; Emma, Rose, Felicity, Madeline, Adeliade to name a few and I had all but settled on one for you. You might notice that Colette was not in the hopper.

I very rarely have baby dreams when I am pregnant, in fact my baby dreams are usually when my sisters are pregnant. So far I have never have a dream with a name of our baby until early in this pregnancy.

The dream went like this:

I approach Philip and said matter of factly, "We should name her Colette."

Philip, "Isn't that the girl from Les Meserables...."

"No that is Cosette, who was not a saint. Colette is Saint"

Philip nods his approval.

I wake up kind of amazed because, well, Colette was not at all on my radar of names. It is not foreign to me as the name popped up during our search for names for Avery (our surprise baby) I had not revisited it for over 2 1/2 years.

So, the next morning I tell Philip, "I had a dream last night that we should name our baby Colette."

Philip replied, "Isn't that the girl from Les Meserables..."

Me, smirking in disbelief that he actually said the exact same thing as he did in the dream, "No that is Cosette who was not a saint, Colette is Saint."

Philip gave his nod of approval. I laughed as I relayed how the entire exchange was dreamt about just hours before.

So that was settled, we were having Colette. Philip is the one who paired Colette with Mary and I must say it sounds to me exactly like you .

We interrupt this program...

I've been thinking much about life lately--just can't quite figure out why--and since I'm drawn to anything Russian, I thought this would perhaps not too greatly disturb the steady stream of photographs of pure sweetness and beauty.

It finally rained!

Momma said yes to the mud!

Anything for rain.

She has little tiny finger nails

This was the first observation Paul Thomas made about Mary Colette and right now remains the most astonishing part about her.

Celebrate!

Yesterday we celebrated five years of marriage...

Today we celebrate our third blessing.

Welcome Mary Colette!

What do you do when...

your buddy has to take a nap?

Improvise.

Friday Photo Favorites

Unprecedented Move by the Vatican

This will come as a surprise to everyone who thinks that the Church is opposed to scientific progress.

Can I get a Beeee-ne-de-tto, (clap--clap--clap clap clap)?

Jump 'n' Jive

There's a new joint in town called Jump 'n' Jive which is a big building filled with different types of bounce houses and mazes. We were intrigued and had to check it out.  Especially since Avery's main mode of movement is jumping.

The boys proceeded with caution.

After a few turns they relaxed a bit.

And in the end they had a blast and can't wait to go back.

The more and more active these boys get the harder and harder it is to get decent pictures of them!

What we have being doing lately

We have ventured into the cloth diapering world!

With tons of advice and support from fellow bloggers, friends and family, we made the leap.

It didn't hurt that on Earth Day several diaper shops were having awesome sales which meant that I got new BumGenius Elemental for what most sell their used ones. Yeah for tree huggers!  Along with those I got a couple of Flips and Econobums.  Since the initial purchase we have added three Bum-Wares because Avery is a tad long in the torso

So far I have really enjoyed cloth diapering, as has Avery. He is learning his colors with them as he picks out his new diaper.  By the way can you guess his favorite color? Yes, pink. My thought was that the new diapers would encourage potty training, but Avery is very attached at the moment to his "cloth diap diaps." so we will cross that bridge after our little one comes. (At least there won't be a back slide after baby's arrival.)

So we are using 4 different diaper and I have opinions for each.

BumGenius- is an all-in-one, no stuffing, no lining just like a disposal that is a one size, grow with your baby diaper. I really like the ease and absorbency of this one. However, it will not do as a night time diaper as it is too short for Avery. The great thing about this diaper is it will be used for both baby and Avery with a simple snapping to adjust the size.

Flip-this works well with two inserts for an overnight and has a slightly higher rise. Not as simple as an AIO, but allows more options and is still one size to grow with baby. It is also cheaper than most AIOs which is very attractive on the pocket book. Less drying time too.

Econobum-Does not work well for my big kid, too little of a pre-fold and the cover is not as versatile with just one row of snaps up top.  Still holding out hope for baby.

Bum-Ware-Nice sung fit and super trim all-in-one; as trim as a disposal. Made by a stay at home mom and in the USA! Both worthy of supporting. She does not suggest to use as an overnight and we take her word for it. It is sized so you will have to replenish once your baby grows. I really like this one because it comes clean with ease and is super sharp looking. It also has the best fit for Avery.

I have been really pleased with the entire process and look forward to adding one more hiney to the diapering line up.

Avery is modleing his blue Bumgenius here.

This is actually happenning

Blame it on my outdated classical sensibilities, my lack of imagination, or my unhealthy expectation for things like beauty and meaning in all art, but recent creations which purport to be just that and are described as "Neo-expressionist", "Post-modernist" and "Massurrealist" I think belong in the category of another movement of the gastro-intestinal variety.

My fist thought whenever I encounter an especially abstract collection of color is, "Okaaaayyyy, that looks like something a 4 year old would do when his parents have left out the paint and are not paying adequate attention to the curious bundle of energy."

I should know by now not to joke around about these sorts of things.

Parents as Burdens

I really hope I got at least a few few of you with that title.

If you want to know what I really think, check this out.

Friday Photo Favorites

And now he is four.

Finally, Some Good World Population Perspectives

Is the world on track for overpopulation because of Mormons, Catholics and other ignorant demographic groups in Africa and India? Will Social Security implode because of an aging population whose fertility rates are insufficient to replace the outgoing workforce?

Here is a great article outlining the opposing positions, each using the same data as evidence. Which do you think interprets the data correctly?

Friday Photo Favorites

A Helping Hand