Parents Of The Year

Babies are supposed to like music...right?  So Kevin and I downloaded Baby Einstein's Lullabies a few weeks ago.  Alessia seems to like the music and we usually put it on during bedtime, but I wouldn't go as far as saying it puts her to sleep. 

However, throw on some rap or R&B and the girl is out.  During the day, we usually put a music channel on the TV because most everything else is in German or Italian.  I think she heard so many of the songs when she was in my belly that they bring her comfort...I am serious.  She is a sucker for 50 Cent and Nicki Minaj.  Does it make us bad parents if we let her listen to this type of music?  Probably not, but we definitely aren't going to get the "Parents of the Year" award.  But if it lets us get an hour or so of time to ourselves or allows us to hop in the shower, then we will keep on playing it.

Here are a few of Alessia's favorites at the time...she told me.

Funny Stuff

Being a new parent has consumed me and the kid isn't even here yet.  I'm trying to prepare myself by learning as much as I can about childbirth and parenting.  I've been trying to get Kevin on the bandwagon, but my husband's weak stomach has him cringing everytime we start taking about labor.  He turns a little white in the face, gets quiet, and I'm pretty sure he starts zoning out.  FYI-I'm about 90% sure he is going to hit the floor when I am in labor.  So much for having a tough hockey player as a husband.  

A girl can only read so much about natural childbirth, vaccinations, breastfeeding, and tummy time...I eventually start zoning out myself.  Since I'm sure you would rather not hear about these things either, I've decided to post some funny stuff about parenting instead.  Enjoy!

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Treat yourself and check out some of Dave Engledow's pictures of him and his daughter, Alice Bee.  Here are two, but make sure to check out the links to see more.  They are hilarious!

 Dave Engledow's Fotoblur Gallery 

BuzzFeed

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If you've ever been pregnant you know this to be true...

River City Rubber Works: Pee (clipped to polyvore.com)

Yep, that's right!

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For starters I am a horrible singer, but I know it and I am the first to admit it. But what makes it worse is that I usually only know about 50% of the words to a song, but I insist on singing them all. I either mumble the ones I don't know or just put in a word that sounds good. A lot of times, Kevin and I will argue over what the word of a song is and have to go to lyrics.com to find out who is right.

My new thing now is that I really like some Italian and German songs that are on the radio and TV here, but I don't have any clue what they are saying. I know the beat so I just go with that and make up my own words. But I'm pretty sure the words I'm singing aren't really words. Here is one of my songs that I love, but, again, I don't know what they are saying.

To Ski or Not to Ski!

Kevin and I went and got fitted for our ski equipment the other day and I still haven't figured out if I'm more scared or excited. I'm actually losing sleep at night thinking about it. Why? Because I'm a 29-year-old woman who has never been skiing in her life. Hell, it took me 5 minutes to figure out how to get the boots on during the fitting. Kevin still can't get over the fact that I've never been and so far, everyone I've told looks at me like I'm crazy.

I was born and raised in central Illinois where you can see ten miles down the road in every direction. We get snow, but very little and very sporadically. In any given December, it will be 60°F one day and then 20°F the next. In Springfield, you'll even have a hard time finding a hill to go sledding on.

In addition to not having the environment or landscape for skiing, I didn't have time as a kid to go. As a gymnast for 14 years, my weekends were spent at meets with my mom and my dad was either with us or at work. Our family vacations were usually spent in a city where I had a meet (my poor brother and sister) and we never went on vacations in the winter. So, when and where exactly was I supposed to fit in some ski trips?

Kevin definitely has more faith in my athletic ability than I do because he thinks I will catch right on and be a 'skier' by the end of the year (yeah right). I, on the other hand, am not so optimistic. I'm pretty sure I'm going to face plant in the snow on more than one occasion. My only goal is to get off the slopes without a broken bone.

This will be me in a few days.

Kevin has suggested I YouTube some skiing videos to help me learn the basics. But I bet you can guess what I won't be doing. Instead, I've opted to go to Ski School for 2 hours with the kids. I don't care that I'll be the oldest person there or that someone is probably going to have to help me get dressed. If it will help me avoid an ambulance, sign me up.