Belly Cam: Baby Peanut Loves Cadbury Eggs

And I would know because I ate two, TWO of them last night before getting in bed, and then realized BP was hosting a small dance party in my belly thanks to my Cadbury Egg pig-out. Keep your eyes peeled on the left of the screen to see her kick and then you should notice 2 more after the camera swivels.

Things I Get Really, Really Excited About

3. Quick lunch trips to Anthropologie
2. Finally beginning to uncover some of the mysteries associated with ABC's Lost
1. New promos for one of my favorite shows, Glee. Like the one below:

Healthcare Reform: How Do You Feel?

It's tough sometimes... being a lone liberal among a huge sea of right-wing friends and family. I feel as though I'm occasionally put on the spot to speak on behalf of all Democrats (and PS, would you ever have me represent and iterate on behalf of say, all women? Or suburbanites? No.); and joked with a friend one day when he recounted how his conservative Texan family members approached him with SO JOHN, IT'S 40 DEGREES IN DALLAS TODAY -- WHAT ABOUT ALL THAT GLOBAL WARMING CRAP YOU KEEP SPOUTING?

Perhaps a bad example, but you may understand where I'm going with this point. Which is this: Regardless of what side of the fence you reside on re: healthcare reform, a monumental and historic step was made this week. It's one that will shape the future of our country and of the way we care for our fellow countrymen. You may not agree with all of the terms (heck, I'm not sure that I do), but I fully support the message behind the bill signed into law yesterday. And that's the beauty of it: This law can be modified, optimized and improved. It's not an end-all/be-all and certainly won't fix everything wrong with the present health system. What I don't support are all of the naysayers who have narry an idea to their names in replacement, but rather keep running their mouth in access about what won't work. BRING SOMETHING TO THE TABLE WHY DON'T YOU?!

And because my written eloquence compares little to this following excerpt from Nancy Giles, a CBS Sunday Morning contributer, I'll leave you with her words (character assassinations aside, I hope you'll just take in her message):

"(It) is a crucial first step, and can be amended and improved, but doing nothing is not an option. Health care should be a basic human right. And no one should be uninsured, or underinsured, or go broke paying their medical bills in the richest country in the world."

It Must Have Been A Long Weekend

Because BOTH of my boys crashed into naptime this afternoon...

Things We Are Loving This Week

• Little baby kicks and flutters, courtesy of Baby Peanut
• Being greeted at the end of a workday with MOMMY!!!! shouted from across the daycare
• H's latest words and phrases: lookitlookitTHAT!seethat?YOUSEETHAT?, (said with utter enthusiasm) 'um, OKAY!!'
• Planning for our 5-year anniversary trip: Savannah? Big Sur? Or Mexico?
• This week's random pregnancy cravings: raspberry sorbet and slices of challah
• The return of spring Mom2Mom sales, with the finest pickings starting at a mere 25 cents. I am LOVING this little gem for Baby Peanut's 2nd official Michigan football season (Ryann/Christian: Seriously ladies, try to contain your excitement!)




• The expectation of new music from She And Him: due out Tuesday, 3/23
• My new job and my new team. They're utterly fantastic!
• The anticipation of Baby Stropp's arrival to our dear friends, Heath and Dee
• Watching Brad embrace his new passion: running. I've never been more proud of someone accomplishing a 12-mile 'jog'
• The presence of Time Magazine in Detroit. Reading all they chronicle is enough for the people of southeast Michigan to realize action is needed in order to transform this great city.
• Cadbury Mini Eggs... and receiving a care package from my mom containing multiple packets of them
• Prepping the yard for spring... and finally purchasing these adorable herb garden markers from a faved Etsy seller

The Strangest Check I've Ever Written

For the record, this check was drafted for our new lawn fertilization service, not the funding of any illegal substances. So for good measure (and to ensure I didn't receive any calls of skeptic inquiry from Chase Bank), I added the words LAWN CARE before tossing this bad boy in the mail.

The Top 5 Reasons Why I Know My New Agency Is For Me

5. I'm already head over heels in love with my new team.
4. Free fruit Mondays and free bagel Thursdays.
3. They actually BUY YOU office supplies to stock your new office with. Oh and by the way, I actually HAVE an office. With a door. And walls.
2. There are currently 2 girls wheeling a case of beer around on an office chair asking people if they'd like a late Friday afternoon beverage.
1. It is located a mere 9 DOORS AWAY FROM ANTHROPOLOGIE. I rest my case.

An Open Declaration To All Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Etc.

Well, the Great Baby Clothing Swap has officially been cancelled as I'm excited to announce that Bryndon and Holly discovered this week they will be adding a 3rd baby girl to their brood! See, Hol and I had this grand plan to trade out all of our baby clothes should the Skeltons welcome a baby boy this summer but I think Baby Girl Skelton #3 would look awfully peculiar donning H's old blue and green argyle jumper.

And so I make this following declaration to all you grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends and anonymous blog voyeurs alike: YOU NOW HAVE THE GREEN LIGHT TO PURCHASE BABY GIRL BOBENMOYER CLOTHES AT WILL. I repeat: Purchase at will. And yes, ruffles, polka dots and all things pink are absolutely accepted.

ToonArt

Day #2 of being in my new work digs has ended and it has definitely been an adjustment rejoining the adult workforce. I'm enjoying getting to know my new co-workers and office layout (not to worry, I nailed the location of the women's rooms in the first 15 minutes of being in the building!), however was dealt a blow today when I heard the following words: Our e-mail systems are not compatible with iPhones and the AT&T service within the building is horrendous. You will need to get a Blackberry. A BLACKBERRY. As in no App Store, no scroll screens, no Apple love. Just boring, run-of-the-mill, every-Creative-type's-worst-nightmare Blackberry. And so I choose: Carry 2 phones with me at all times (personal = iPhone and business = Blackberry), or bite the bullet, be thankful of an $82/month savings and transfer everything over to a new Blackberry. Lend me your thoughts in the Comments section below.


P.S. Lose the iPhone and I also lose access to my newest fave app, ToonArt -- responsible for transforming the above photo of HWB into a fun, colorful new pic. Decisions!

The Scoop

So the scoop is: I'm employed! Everything was finalized this past Monday, but I've officially accepted a position at my former agency, McCann Erickson, working on the XM Satellite Radio relationship with GM. Start date is Monday which is quite bittersweet. The past 4 months have been very challenging in embracing my SAHM role, but it has also allowed me some wonderful bonding time with H before Baby Peanut's arrival and I will dearly miss these little moments with him. In a strange turn of events, I learned yesterday that my new boss quit to accept a job at Brad's agency so I will going in somewhat blind Monday to inform someone I've never met about my pregnancy (as if they couldn't already tell by this quickly growing belly!) so please send me some good wishes. Until then, I'm going to soak up every minute with Hunter as possible.

Catch Some Zzzzz's

Always fascinating is how quickly H can fall asleep, and that it is sometimes done in the strangest positions and/or situations: