6 month photos

Since lil a turned 6 months old a week ago, we wanted to get some more pictures of him taken. He's changed so much since he was 3 months old (the last time we got pics taken). Last time, we went to Flash Digital Portraits in the Vancouver Mall. The pictures turned out great but I was disappointed in a few things, including the fact that we could not purchase a CD of the pictures. And we paid well over $120 for 3 5x7s and a montage.

Anyway, this time we thought we'd try somewhere else. My sister and the VWs both had pics done at Kiddie Kandids in Babies R Us and were very happy with the results. So yesterday we tried them out.

I couldn't be happier with the results. We were helped right away, and within about 5 minutes of arriving they were already getting the first picture all set up. The photographer was very fast and every picture she took looked great. The best part was that we were able to purchase a CD of every shot. All this was under $80!

You can see the rest of the pictures on flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ernmeg/tags/6mo/

Fred Meyer - Family Friendly?

Fred Meyer has had some problems recently with their family-friendly image. Just a few weeks ago, a local mother was asked to cover up while nursing her baby at the Gateway Fred Meyer because some other customers were offended. I stopped shopping there during that debacle to show support for that mama and the right to nurse your baby wherever and whenever he is hungry.

Anyway, that situation resolved itself in a positive way, and I started shopping there again. So, last night, I noticed they have a "Family Friendly" checkout aisle. That seems like such a good idea. I figure the line must be clear of any impulse buys, candy, and magazines. Well, apparently their definition only includes the magazines, so the line still has little trinkets and candy bars at a kid's eye level.

I'm glad to see that there are no magazines in the checkout but if you ask me this is a feeble attempt at best. If it were truly family friendly, it would be free of anything that harmful to children (i.e. candy) or things that cause parents additional angst at the checkout line.

Hot, hot, hot

You might think that I'm referring to the early summer weather we've been having around here lately, but you'd be wrong. We woke up this morning and discovered that we had no hot water in the house. Eno had to leave for work so he couldn't look into it for very long. Neither of us is very handy so I figured I might have just a much luck as he would.

So, I started reading online and discovered that the pilot light might be out on the water heater. Lo and behold, I could see no light in there! Yay - problem diagnosed.

Now, I'm TERRIFIED of messing with anything related to the Natural Gas that comes into the house. If one of the dogs farts, I'm convinced there's a gas leak. So, the idea of re-lighting the pilot light on the water heater was daunting to say the least. I was just not going to do it.

However, you have to realize that I haven't showered since Wednesday. That's right folks, Wednesday was the last time I cleaned myself of the oil, dirt, and spit up that is showered on me throughout the day. That smell is me (not a gas leak). As you can now understand, getting hot water today was a priority.

Enter Thomas, our resident handyman-friend. If it's broken, he can fix it and make it work better all using only a Phillips screwdriver and some duct tape. Eno asked him to call me to see if he could help.

We confirmed that the pilot light was indeed out and he said all I had to do was follow the instructions on the heater to light it. Um yeah. I could just read the headlines now, "YOUNG MOTHER BLOWS UP HOUSE; EPILEPTIC DOG SURVIVES BLAST". But, with his encouragement, I proceeded.

Our water heater apparently is slightly ghetto in that it does not have its own igniter. It requires that you light a match to light the gas (and blow up the house, in my mind). After getting the only lighter in the house, and with complete trepidation, I pushed the button and ignited the pilot light. With each move, I waited to hear the roar of a giant fireball beginning to ravish our house.

But...

All I heard was silence. No fireball. No gassy smell. House still in tact. After an hour or so, we even had hot water. Woot!

I still haven't showered though.

Shh! It's a secret!

Niyah, Did you know that my daddy dreams of Mech Warriors?

Baby Cheer!

My husband is really talented. Since lil a was born, he's coined several new phrases, including the ubiquitous lippy.

The latest addition to his vocabulary arsenal is best demonstrated by this picture:


Baby Cheer!

He eats!

Note: The ghetto spoon in the video has since been replaced with a more baby appropriate spoon.


[If the video doesn't work, download it directly:
http://megan.cosmicpixel.com/eating.WMV]

Everyday Food for a Week

We have a dinner problem in the household. Mostly, it involves what we are going to eat for dinner that night and whether we have any of the necessary ingredients in the house. Unfortunately, we usually only start the dinner discussion after Eno gets home from work and by that time we are both already too hungry to wait for one of us to make something. Not to mention our pantry is filled with dog treats and dried pasta. Not exactly the fixings for a gourmet meal.

We've tried several different methods in the past to combat this issue. My favorite includes "Dinner Dictator". Each week we'd switch off on taking on the DD role. Like our illustrious President, that person was the decider. The DD was to figure out and prepare each night for that week. Sounds great, but it never worked. Unlike other deciders, we just don't have that dictator spirit in us.

Which brings me to this week. I picked up the latest issue of Everyday Food and it had a special "All in One Bag" feature. The premise is that they give you a shopping list that you could presumably fit in one bag (took us 3 or 4) and you can prepare a week's worth of dinner with the ingredients. It cost us about $50 for the groceries, and we were able to use some of the produce delivered last week from og2u. It is designed to feed 4, so I we were able to get a few lunches out of it too.

We actually completed the whole week of food! I love the fact that I didn't have to think about dinner except to read the recipe. The food was pretty good -- not stuff that I'd think to make, really, like the Thai-style Steak Salad. Tuesday night's Mustard-crusted Turkey Breast was to die for; I'm making it again tonight.

Now, if I only had this plan every week...

Back from Lala Land

I'm Going To Squash You!
Originally uploaded by planephotoman.

Last week, the whole baby-makes-three family took a trip to Los Angeles so I could attend a technical conference down there. It was our first trip via airplane since lil a was born.

Getting to the airport and through security was not a problem, just a hassle as I couldn't wear lil a in my sling. We got to the gate in plenty of time. Much to my surprise, as we were waiting for our flight, my boss arrived at the same gate. Not only was she on the same flight, but she was seated directly in front of us! Nervewracking to say the least.

Lil a was pretty good on the flight down there; he didn't cry too much. But when he wasn't crying he was shrieking with glee (right in the ear of my boss). Luckily she was a good sport about it.

The way back was so much better. He slept almost the entire way. We were seated in the last row of the plane, which ended up being a great place to be since I only had to worry about him disturbing the people in front of us.

We sat next to Mira Sorvino's nanny on the way home. Apparently Ms. Sorvino was in Portland visiting some friends. I invited them over, but they never called. Hmprh. :)