CSI: Arlington

Agent Sunny and I came upon this tableau of sorrow on an afternoon walk to the park. Two dead, a local squirrel and some kind of bird of prey (hawk, perhaps?). We investigated the scene to ascertain cause of death and whether a crime (if any) occured.

The placement of the bodies close together suggests the two deceased had a prior relationship. Given the species, the most probable relationship was that of predator and prey. However, the logical end of that relationship ends with the death of prey alone. Predator goes on to fight another day.

One workable theory is that a third force intervened in the activities of the deceased. Their bodies were found underneath several power lines and boxes. Perhaps the predator caught his prey on the line and accidentally electrocuted both.

This seems reasonable, but one more piece of evidence discounts that theory. The arms of the squirrel are outstretched...to her fellow star-crossed lover. Yes, thus ends this tale of woe. Two species, torn apart by the laws of the animal kingdom. Predator and prey cannot come together in harmony. And because the world would not celebrate their love, they bathed it in the holy waters of death.

A suicide pact. Case closed.

Take That JC Penny

Today Seth and I set up a little photo studio in our home. Of course we used our favorite model.

Sneak Peak

Here is a small sample of the cuteness that is going to come Wednesday. We tried on Stella's Halloween costume and this is what we found. I don't even really like cats that much but Stella is the cutest kitten ever.

Man vs. Dog, the line has been crossed

Yesterday I went to the Tysons Corner mall with a few of my baby friends. It was a lot of fun and our babies were surprisingly good. We took a feeding break and went to the mother's lounge in Nordstrom. I love this lounge. In fact now with Stella I only go to malls with Nordstroms because I know I will have a place to feed her.

As we all sat there feeding our babies and chatting a woman comes in. Mind you, this is an indoor mall. She has a small dog on a leash. She sees us with our babies and comes over. Just then the dog jumped up and licked my friend's beautiful three month old baby. All of us just watched in horror and could do nothing. The dog owner found it cute and blamed the use of lotion and baby products on her dog's licking habit.

Within five minutes my friends baby started to develop a rash from this dog. Which brings me to my point. When did we get to the point in society that we went from the Peanuts-esque "No Dogs Allowed" tone to the now, "bring your dog to a high end retail store and let it lick three month old babies."

Let me clarify here, I am not a dog hater. I grew up with almost every imaginable pet. My mother was in the habit of buying a new pet every time my dad left for business, which was about 1/3 of the year. We went through all pets: frogs, iguanas, tarantulas, cats, dogs, and birds. Here is the catch though. We had limits.

As a mom, I do not let Stella go scooting anywhere she can get and lick things. I keep her restrained, and so should dog owners.

Warm Fuzzy Blanket Time

I was inspired a month ago to learn how to use my camera's manual features. So I have been really trying to get the natural light. Here is my favorite model.

Entropy

For me Sundays have become examples of entropy. We start off refreshed (in fact for some weird reason Stella frequently sleeps in on Sunday, as if she knows it is our day of rest). We eat freshly made pancakes or waffles. I take my time in the bath and then Seth brings Stella. We enjoy our time. We give Stella a nap and all seems to be perfect. We dress her in her cute dress, put a bow in her hair, get her socks with the lace on, and even cute baby shoes.

For me Sunday is the one day of the week where I have time to dry my hair instead of letting it sit damp in a pony tail all day. I sometimes even curl it or attempt to do my hair.

Then we go to church. Within the first hour one of Stella's cute implements is gone her shoes or hair tie or what. My hair is instantly momified in a boring ponytail (fortunately I now have bangs so it is less boring). By the end of the second hour we have lost usually the Stella's hair bow, shoes, and sometimes the dress is soiled and she puts on the emergency onsie that is too small.

By the time we are done at 4:00 both of us look haggard. My hair is a mess from her pulling it. She has no more cute implements on; she is rubbing her eyes and whining from missing her afternoon nap. It is a mess. I almost gave up today and left after the first hour but I marched on and made it. They reminded us to be reverent in relief society today and I was feeling guilty the entire time as my unnapped daughter protested the cruelty of three hours of church. All those around her wanted to protest as well but remained silent.

BANGS!

I got bangs today. This is what I look like.

If I was a Simpsons character I would look like this.

Sophie and The Evil World of Corn Subsidies

My friend Sophie came and stayed with us a week ago. It was a lot of fun. Sophie is going to law school and has ambitions to be a lawyer that does good. She had interviews with a lot of non-profit do-good places. She tells of one interview that ended with the interviewer saying, "Hmmm, I am just not sure we want a Mormon." Don't you love the law?

Anyhow, Sophie is the one that introduced me to the evils of corn subsidies. This is an issue that I don't know enough to tackle but I do know this: our government subsidizes corn farmers...making corn uber cheap....making everything we consume have some form of corn in it and making us fat. Don't blame your lack of self control, blame corn. Seriously though, it is quite a problem. Anyhow, some people thought it was interesting enough to make a movie.

Oh, and here is a cute picture of Sophie and Stella.

Paul Potts

First of all I will refrain from any British dentistry jokes in this clip. This is a video of a British cell phone salesman who auditioned for the UK version of American Idol, except they don't make you sing lame songs. Anyhow...this is his first audition, pretty cute. He ended up winning and now has an album coming out.

The Terrible Benefits of the Human Condition

It has happened before but it never happened when someone was completely dependent on me for their survival. My lower neck/upper back decided to put up a unionized strike against me. This is how it went down.

I had just taken a shower, gotten dressed and was getting ready for the day. Stella, fortunately was having a lazy morning and was still sleeping. I took the towel off my head when I heard a snap. Somehow the muscles in my body gave out. I was stuck.

This is a problem when you have a small person depending on you for life. Knowing this I called Seth, who came home. Since then I have been using the rest of my c-section drugs to get me through until my muscles quit hurting. It is Monday, this happened on Friday and as I type I can only move my neck to one side.

This really has been one of those experiences where I realize how important my health is, if not for me, than for my child who depends on me for everything. Yikes, I can't take a vacation or sick day from motherhood.

Stella Plays

Stella has this new toy and she loves to play with it. She thinks she is such a big girl. It is so much fun to watch how happy she gets when she plays.

Stella Squeals

Stella has been squealing non-stop lately. It is super cute.