8/23/10

the goonies

37 weeks/full term....
what you see above is HM proudly showing off her watermelon smuggling skills. just so everyone knows...the belly is starting sag lower. make your predictions now!


this past weekend was an awesome experience for both HM and i. rather than to go on a full rant of how much my family and friends mean to me - i want to dedicate this post to everyone who contributed their time/money/effort into our baby shower this past weekend. we couldn't have asked for anything more as we welcome our first child.

how is this related to the goonies? well, after watching it again this past weekend, i noticed at the end of the movie how much their families and friends meant to each other. nothing else mattered other than being back in the arms of their loved ones. just another sappy happy ending, right? i guess u could say so, but maybe i've just become more disgustingly melodramatic. or maybe they just had a really cool journey that i wanted in on...


ok -- on to the festivities...

HM and i contacted party planner extraordinaire GR a few weeks ago and informed her that we wanted to help out and bring the cake to our baby shower. we planned to use the same bakery that did our wedding cake since we were happy with the pricing/quality. after a few unsuccessful emails, we had to think about other options (prices went up!). in the end, we opted to get cupcakes. i came up with this idea of letting people choose who they thought the sex of the baby would be - baby c or baby z. yes. idea. me. all by myself.

lately it seems that cupcakes are apparently the 'in' dessert of choice. new stores are popping up all over high end parts of the city. HM and i waited in a 10 minute line at sprinkles one day to see what all the fuss was about. we were quite happy with the product, but not so happy with the price. we're talking $3.25 per cupcake! not to mention the $2 they charged me for an EIGHT OUNCE diet coke. so... $36/dozen. $46 for a 'pre-assembled' dozen (which just means they have a their own set designs that can't be changed). OR if you wanted a truly custom dozen for the winning price of $56/dozen! keep in mind i was told there were 100 RSVP's.

anyways -- i did a little more research and found they also sell cupcake mixes. $14(!) to make a dozen (which i read online can be stretched to 15-16). as you can see below, i opted for the cheaper route and bought the mix with one of their custom 6x2 boxes (will explain later)...

the worst to make was the red velvet. as i read from another blog, this mix basically exploded my kitchen into a cloud of red EVERYTHING. i even blew my nose red. i have never baked any desserts before, but i figured that if i'm saving over $100 by doing this... then damn it, i'm going to do this!!

i HAVE to show you what the chocolate mix looks like before being baked. it seriously reminded me of walking my dog on a bad day. though the end product tasted fine, i still opted NOT to lick the batter from the bowl.....

the party planners went for a 'school theme' for the baby shower. i think they must have taken HM's side, because they obviously didn't realize that i didn't do so well in school...


the diaper 'cake'. i've seen one of these before in pictures, but never up close. props to those who worked on this (MR?!). each diaper is individually hand rolled and rubber banded. talk about sweatshop!!

here's another marvelous idea that HM loved -- washcloth lollipops. i believe these were all custom made as well....hand rolled, wrapped and stickered!

'art class' consisted of a onesie making station. my coworker buddhaCC's wife made this gem below in honor of the fighting phillies!


as for our contribution - i didn't realize that people would make such a big deal about ME making something....and making something edible at that! listen -- everyone should know by know that it's HM's cooking u should all be afraid of (garlic mashed potatoes, anyone?). i actually follow directions listed on boxes and recipes. i can't tell you how many times i've caught HM trying to shortcut her way out of something. COOKING AT A HIGHER TEMPERATURE WITH A SHORTER AMOUNT OF TIME DOES NOT MAKE THE SAME PRODUCT! hehe...i had to throw that jab at my wife sometime!

i'm guessing more people were surprised that they LOOKED decent and not like some child made them. HM contributed the letters of choice. i will say that frosting 45 cupcakes in 30 minutes is quite a challenge for someone who is a virgin at using a soft spatula. don't get mad at me blind cook!
so the 6x2 box could not be found ANYWHERE and it so happen to perfectly fit C-A-L-V-I-N in a dozen box that i had in mind, so i decided that the $10 was worth the purchase. Z-O-E-Y found her way into one of the 'freebie' standard 4X3 boxes that Sprinkles gives out. suckers!! the baby C vs baby Z battle was in full effect. calvin took the first vote from KH and ultimately emptied out earlier than zoey. though it must be mentioned that mommy HM seems to have voted for baby Z..with her cupcake choice and her toenails. poor calvin.

mad props go out toe PP/NP for their surprise visit from hawaii. i would love to say that they came just for us, but luckily they had other family events that happened over the same weekend and made a trip back more valuable. HM and i were enthused nonetheless. they were also able to leave with a prize as displayed by PP below. shake it!


shot out to my nephew who was a good sport for sharing his bday along with our baby shower. MR/GR's daughter looks happy before the sugar rush begins. after they ate the ice cream cake (in addition to cupcakes!), i specifically remember all of them running in circles for a good 45 mins straight. it may sound rough, but their awesome innocent faces are the reason why we have kids, right?!!

speaking of innocent faces, i was able to get a snapshot of big wil's and CL's son after he had a minor bump on his head. you can tell he was very amused at me being all up in his grill...


baby prep - the crib. thanks again to NB for the hook up to the resto furniture. definitely would NOT have been purchased without your help. and as the picture shows, the box was no punk either. i know i'm not a tall guy, but c'mon - a 5x5 box that weighs over 150 lbs?! i could have unloaded elvis from that thing!

fortunately, it was just a bunch of solid wood pieces. unfortunately, they didn't come in a 'pop-up' mode like i would have preferred.

before.....

after!

here is the room at my parents house so far. we still have wall decor and accents to add once the baby comes. HM has already expressed the joy of what she has planned for either boy or girl....(though she's already secretly chosen baby Z).

back at our place, we decided on getting a bassinet for our downstairs area, but found this nice little product. it's basically a playpen, but a smaller version. it also has a bassinet area for newborns. it's perfect for our place as we are quite limited on space. though i'm not so sure mr. peanut approves of it yet.....

and last - HM called me today and was excited about a gift that her interns/team bought us. she said it was an elephant humidifier. i said, "huh?" she explained again what it was. i had an idea of what it looked like, but couldn't really picture it. when she got home, she pulled out this little bugger.....
i could see why she was enthusiastic. who can resist smiling after looking at that?


post was quite long, but it's due. 3 more weeks until expected day. i forgot to mention that i went to a primary care physician today. it's a big day for me. HM kept bothering me about getting an annual checkup. it took almost 10 years and a massive earache to finally get me to go. my left ear has felt like poop for almost a week now. constant ringing/pain and feels like it's swelling closed. diagnosis: outer ear infection.

why doesn't HM just take a look at me, one might ask? well, first, she doesn't have a $500 earscope. second, she wouldn't take anything i say seriously. and it's true. as her constant-joking husband, i don't think i would take her seriously either. we both agree that work and home life should stay separate to an extent. if dr. o'brien tells me i need to start eating better and lose some weight...it's easier for me to listen to her than to HM. sounds funny, but it works.

120am - definitely time for bed. i apologize for any typos as i probably won't edit this until after HM reads it tomorrow.

-EZE



8/9/10

reality bites

*i've decided that since i like movies so much, i'll be using them for post titles more often.*

moving on....

35 weeks.

i told myself that i would keep up with this blog, but it seems that i've run into the old saying of 'there aren't enough hours in a day'. and for me to say something like that is surprising considering i average 5-6 hrs of sleep. sitting down to gather my thoughts as well as organize a post the way i want will only cut more into that beauty sleep...which i SO desperately need. on top of that, my iMac mouse SUCKS, which just makes me despise posting pictures -- MR, hook a brotha up!

here's a quick roundup of what's been going on:

u should know by now that i love to make lists. and for goodness sakes, it helps me get sh*t done. i get it from my mom. my june list to-do list consisted of a lot of room prep at my parents house...which consisted of the massive disposal of old textbooks/binders, college paystubs, high school mums (which HM wanted me to keep for some reason), and a lot of ex girlfriend memorabilia....HM snickers at my cheesiness. it also reemphasized my dislike for painting...

july coasted by extremely fast. i'm not sure if it's because it was budget season at work or the fact that HM had to work massive hours and i hardly saw her. this time, i had to start doing prep at our own place. thanks CC for the help! i actually didn't get to finish most of these until the end of the month...

at the beginning of this month, my work threw HM and i a baby shower. its seems our building has something in the water because i know of 3-4 other showers coming up. our green decor is contagious..... (i forgot to tell them zoey is spelled with a Y!)

HM told me that people at work must really like me. i asked her why she would say something like that?! she didn't think that workplaces gave showers for men.....and didn't expect much other than to meet some people and maybe open a few gifts. our intake so far made her a little giddy...

..and now we are almost into mid august. 5 weeks left to go and had a Dr appt today which went well. baby C/baby Z is still in the 14th percentile in weight, but HM is steadily gaining slowly. what u don't see in the picture below is all the handwritten 'extra' stuff that has come up...

and as if my list wasn't extensive enough, HM came up with another to-do item for me LATE last week...

yes folks, my nemesis. the only thing fun about painting (if there is anything) is test swatches. u get to splatter a few spots here and there and don't have to worry about messing things up. heck, my dog could do it...

speaking of dogs, i had to do some patch spackling from the friction of ol' peanut's cage against the wall. i actually don't mind this kind of work. i'm not very good at it, but if i mess up, i just sand it and start over!

working hard or hardly working? u can decide. u can't see my facial expression below, but i'm sure it looked something like this. i still haven't completed touching up, so no finished photos yet.

even after all the dreaded work and running around i did today, i still managed to find time to make some baked chicken before HM got off her 13 hr shift! gotta make time to eat, people!


it's now way past my bedtime... gnight.
-EZE