Welcome to the World Boys

 

A quick congrats to Alex and Mike who both had baby boys born into their families yesterday!

Jake Alexander & Michael Todd

Both families are doing great, and the little men are darling!

Peeing the the Shower

Speaking to some friends, and we were discussing a celebrity tid-bit that came out in early July about Jennifer Aniston brushing her teeth in the shower to conserve energy, and be eco-friendly:

You can read a small story about it on Sponkit  here:

Jennifer Aniston, the “Break-up” star, has a novel way to save the environment: she brushes her teeth in the shower.The actress revealed her eco-friendly tip on the eve of Al Gore’s Live Earth concerts on July 7.

She revealed, “I take a three-minute shower. I even brush-wash – brush my teeth while I shower. Every two minutes in the shower uses as much water as a person in Africa uses for everything in their life for a whole day.”

We then started to discuss ALL the things you could do in the shower, you know, to conserve energy.  We all want to be eco-friendly like Aniston. . . .

You Could :

• Shave face/legs/other
• Bath the cat/dog/baby
• Steam vegetables for dinner
• Wash the dinner dishes
• Laundry
• Talk on the phone
• Use your Blackberry or other handheld device
• Do your taxes
• Write an Opera, or musical based on a classic rock band.
• Of course you could pee in the shower too.  Of course that would be stupid.

Welcome to the World Little Adeline!

My good friends Cheryl and Michael from back home had their first baby today at 8:27 am.

Her name is Adeline.  She weighed 9lb 5oz.

Congrats you two!

Corona Inspired Quilt

I’m going to a baby shower today. This is the quilt I made last night for the occasion. . . .The first time Dad-to-be is pretty cool guy, and he loves Corona beer, so the colours in the quilt are inspired from that! Plus it gave me an excuse to buy fabric with FLAMES on it!

Marty, Minou and Manny all approve. . . .

He and his girlfriend are expecting a baby boy in September. . . .

The inspiration :

Oh Baby!

This has been a week for milestones with my family and close friends.

We just found out our good friends Geoff & Becky are expecting their second baby in December this year! Naomi, their first baby, will be turning one in August. Becky and Geoff just celebrated 5 years of marriage on May 24th as well.

Congrats you two!!!

source

One Small Step For Mankind. . .

A BIG HUGE wooooohoooooo going out to my little buddy Ryan, who just took his first steps this week!

Way to go Ryan!

Now it will be much easier to chase after the girls!

source

Ruby Friday

Cheryl and Michael are visiting tonight, they are headed to Quebec City for a wedding tomorrow.

It will be really nice to see them.  They will also be staying over on Sunday night before driving back to Ontario on Monday.

Cheryl and Michael are expecting their first baby in late July, the sex of the baby is unknown, and currently the baby is simply and humourously called ‘Ruby’.

“I Told You So” – Birkhead is the father of Anna Nicole’s baby Danielynn

Today news broke that Larry Birkhead is in fact little Danielynn’s father, by results from a DNA test.  He left the court proclaiming “I told you so”.

Howard K Stern will not fight Birkhead for custody, although none of those details have been decided.

I’m glad that this long coming decision is finally out – but I hope Birkhead realizes that Stern has been an important part of the baby’s life, and allows him to continue to have a relationship with her.

 

Another Day of Sewing : Bit off More Than I Could Chew.

Colin and I are headed to Ottawa tomorrow to see some friends, B&G, they had their first baby last year and we really haven’t gotten together with them since the baby came.

I wipped up a quick blanket today to take with us, along with Christmas presents and shower gifts we never got to give them. We’re looking forward to the scenic drive.

Of course Manny helped out as usual. I washed and cleaned the blanket to de-Manny the blanket because I’m sure Scout, B&G’s Dog would just *love* to smell Manny. (I do try to keep the cats off my sewing projects, but they just love to help)

The blanket was perhaps too hard of pattern, and I think I bit off more than I could chew, but I’m learning. And enjoying it.

I also wanted to try to make a bag. I took my hand at making covered buttons and Yo-Yos. . . . . I’m reasonably pleased. I still need lots of practise though.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tonights Crafty Bits, before I ran out of thread.

One of Colin’s paintball friends, Will and his girlfriend, just welcomed their first baby over the weekend. A little girl.
I thought I’d make something I could squish into an envelope to send to them to congratulate them. . . . so I made a pair of baby shoes. I’m pretty pleased for a first try.

I also made another headband, I love love love that pattern! So easy! Including cutting and pressing its no more than 15 minutes!

 

And then I ran out of thread. . . . .     

 

A Quilt for Ruby

I started a new quilt today for “Ruby”. Ruby is C&M’s soon-to-be baby, and the sex isn’t even known yet. I have no idea why C&M call their baby Ruby, but all the same, its kinda stuck. Although, talking to C she says if it is a girl, she won’t be named Ruby.

Ruby’s arrivial is probably late June, but I wanted to get a head start on it now while I had a realitivly free weekend.
This is my second quilt, another small baby sized quilt. I’ve tried something a little different than my first. I’m not sure how its going, but thankfully if I decide I don’t like it I have enough time to try it again.

C is a very very talented musician and music teacher, so I wanted to reflect that in my quilt – looking for “music” fabric you often find black and white stuff, so I decided to add a bit of “Ruby” to it, and go black, white and red.

I like the combo, and so does Manny. I’ll update soon when I get the border, backing, and quilting done. . . . .

Joey’s Crafty Weekend

This weekend I spent alot of time attempting to be crafty.

Project Code Name: Sewing Guinea Pig Subject: Ray of Sun

• Project Code Name : Sewing Guinea Pig
• Subject : Baby Quilt Blanket for Solenne.
• Mission : Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to make your first quilt – for even more of a danger factor, do so without a pattern. 

———————————————————— 

I mentioned in my entry about Solenne’s shower that I would post about the gift I made for her.Solenne’s mom is no shrinking violet and isn’t a “pastels” kind of girl, so in that spirit, I made a wild and loud baby quilt for them.

It was my first attempt, so I apologize little Solenne that you had to be the Guinea Pig, but all in all it was a ton of fun and as far as first attempts go I was pretty pleased.  I will probably inflict this new found talent on others.  Be warned!

 I’ve been reading up on quilting etc, so I think I know how I can make some improvements on my technique.  Lucky for me, another friend is having a baby, so I have my next victim  guinea pig   gift recipient already lined up.  Hahaha, poor “Ruby” Cheryl Jr.

———-MISSION COMPLETE———-

Friend

I have a great and wonderful friend named Christine.   I don’t think I tell her often enough how much I appreciate her friendship. 

I’ve ‘known’ Christine since I was probably about 10 years old; we danced at the same studio in Milton, the Audrey Meredith School of Dance.  Although it wasn’t until I was in my teens that I ever did a dance with Christine, she was always someone I admired.  She is a very talented dancer.

I have several very fond memories of Christine dancing, probably the most memorable and the one we chat and giggle about still is “Funky Town” – My mother used to buy all the videos at the end of the season, and I remember playing that dance over and over again learning all the moves.  The 2 person cartwheel was mint, although very hard to do by yourself.

I also remember a jazz solo she did (the infamous “jump” picture), “The Wind beneath My Wings” and all the dances from the Merry Widow and Hello Dolly (Christine, you are one rocking dancing chef!)

As we got older, both of us went to Kent State University in the summer to do our teachers training course with the Dance Masters of America (or DMA for short).

During school Christine moved around a bit, but in the end she always came back home to Milton.  Eventually both of us starting teaching dance, which was the common denominator that sparked our new adult friendship.

Christine and I started hanging out a bit, going to the Good life for aerobics and boxerise classes and the occasional film.

It wasn’t until after I was married, and half way across the world in England I realized what a friend and admirable person Christine is.

While I was in England, Christine decided to take one of those ‘singles’ tours all by herself.  She chose to do something by herself, and did it for herself.  She was fascinated with Europe and decided on a small jaunt trip which covered the UK, France and Netherlands.  She worked her trip in such a way that allowed her to spend a few days with me.  At that time I was very lonely and missing home, and having her there felt like a little piece of home.

The bravery and confidence she exudes is one of the things I admire most about Christine.  She lives her life for her, no excuses, no regrets, and no apologies

 

Next it was her turn to marry.  She met and fell in love with Chris, who is quite the catch in my opinion.  He is a superb guy, who is funny as heck.  I was still in England at the time.  I really wish I could have been closer to home to share more in her planning of her day with her.  Thankfully I was in Canada for her wedding, it was a beautiful, simple, elegant evening – and you could see in every detail the love Chris and Christine share.

Plus I got to call them CH2.

 

Soon after we found out Christine was going to have a baby, and then little Ryan was born.  Still to this day, the only baby that doesn’t cry when I pick him up.

 

Christine calls me all the time (even when I was England) In fact; she calls me more than my own family!

 

We talk about our families, our lives, our friends.  We share catty stories about people we both know, and gossip about the town we both grew up in.  She offers a sensitive listening ear, a confidant for information, a tender soul of compassion, and a no-nonsense reaction for any topic we branch.  She has been a voice of reason for me on numerous occasions

 

Nothing is off limits.  Its that no holds barred approach to our friendship that makes it so raw and fulfilling, especially since we only get to talk over coffee together in the flesh every month or so.

 

I look forward to our calls. . .  .

 

Christine is a lot of the things I want to be.  She has herself well put together. 

She has taught me that you need to do things for yourself to make yourself happy – because when you enjoy your own life, its easier to enjoy others lives and the things that fill your life.

 

I’m ever thankful to have Christine.  I must remember to tell her more often.

Crying over Spilt Milk: Toys ‘R’ Us Changes Contested Baby Contest Ruling

Source

(AP) NEW YORK Toys “R” Us Inc. agreed on Saturday to award a Chinese-American infant a $25,000 prize in a New Year’s baby contest after the company came under fire for disqualifying the girl because her mother was not a legal U.S. resident.

Chinese-American advocates said they were infuriated by Toys “R” Us, which opened its first mainland China store less than a month ago, and launched an e-mail campaign on the issue.

The company responded by awarding each of the three babies in the grand prize pool of the “First Baby of the Year Sweepstakes” a $25,000 savings bond. Toys “R” Us is the parent company of Babies “R” Us, which sponsored the contest.

“We love all babies,” the company said in a statement. “Our sweepstakes was intended to welcome the first baby of 2007 and prepare for its future. We deeply regret that this sweepstakes became a point of controversy.”

Yuki Lin was born at the stroke of midnight at New York Downtown Hospital, according to hospital officials. The Wayne, N.J.-based company had said the prize would go to the first American baby born in 2007.

Although promotional materials called for “all expectant New Year’s mothers” to apply, Toys “R” Us spokeswoman Kathleen Waugh said eligibility rules required babies’ mothers to be legal residents. Many sweepstakes have such requirements, Waugh said.

Waugh said the prize instead was awarded to the runner-up � Jayden Swain, born 19 seconds after midnight at Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville, Ga. � after the contest administrator was told that Yuki’s mother “was not a legal resident of the United States.”

The third baby in the running was born in Bay Shore, N.Y., to a couple from El Salvador.

Some Chinese-American advocates said the company’s decision smacked of second-class citizenship.

“People are just pretty much outraged,” said John Wang, president of the New York-based Asian American Business Development Center.

Albert Wang, an attorney, who launched the e-mail campaign said “She was deprived of $25,000 intended to be used for her college education because of who her parents are,” he said.

The controversy had Janet Keller worried her winning grandchild in Georgia would lose the money, and said revisiting the contest would be unfair.

“She was disqualified — that should be it,” Keller said. “Don’t go changing your mind now.”

The company hopes the matter is settled now.

Attempts to reach Yuki’s parents, Yan Zhu Liu and Han Lin, 22, for comment were unsuccessful early Saturday. Their immigration status was not clear.

Let me start off by saying kudos to Toys R Us, for being the ‘bigger man’ in this controversy. Giving 3 scholarships exceeded any generousity they were required to give.

Am I a heartless soul if I believe that the company was would have been justified in giving the scholarship to only Keller family in GA?

Why should this Chinese woman and her family get that money? I’m sure if they read the rules and regulations and it probably did say “Open to legal residents of the United States only”.

I get hundreds of emails about getting a free laptop if I fill out a survey, or a gas card for a couple hundred dollars for answering a few simple questions. I have on occasion clicked the link, and there in the fine print “Open to US residents only. Must be 18 years or older to participate”.

If the contest was being run by Bacardi, or Smirnoff – and the ‘winner’ was a 16 year old boy, could he cite that he won the prize fairly and its ageist not to give him the prize? Of course not!

What if it was a scholarship given by the Negro College Fund, if the ‘winner’ was white – would they award it. No! Because its not intended for that person to win.

The article says that the baby is being discriminated because of who its parents are, the parents made the decision to enter a contest knowing they should not qualify. .  . .It drives me nuts when people don’t use common sense!

All countries have a legal process to enter the country, and a process to legally stay in that country – I’ve been there, I’ve done that, I’ve got the stamp in my passport. Why should people get to take benefit of the services of a country (and subsquently their contests etc) if they have no legal right to even be on the soil of that country?

Source 

Another perspective, an Asian-American born in the US, and his dealings with crossing the Canadian/US borders.