Hail to the Chief

A little late, I thought I'd post my inaugural reflections for, umm, posterity? Or something.

Anywho, (less and less of a) Baby J and I watched the inauguration together. I was unexpectedly most moved when Obama walked out onto the dais, I think because I somehow didn't actually believe that moment would come, but I only realized that fact right then, in the moment itself. J was eating lunch for the first part of the festivities, but he used his newfound clapping skills successfully throughout the introductions:

Then we watched the speech together. I did wish for a bit less doom and gloom and a bit more hopeful rhetoric, but overall I was pleased. Baby J stayed on message at first...
then got a little distracted...
then abandoned paying attention altogether in favor of eating off the floor.

My reactions were similar. Unlike most people I've talked to, I was thoroughly charmed by the little old man's rhyming benediction. It so clearly came out of his pastoral (or, more precisely, preacherly) tradition I thought it was fitting. The poem reading underwhelmed me, and I was too worried that the performers were going to freeze to death to do more than be anxious during the quartet, though I especially liked the clarinet. Aretha's bow was just too much, but you gotta love her unapologetic wearing of it. I don't know what the man giving the invocation saw it necessary to say Sasha and Malia's names with such verve, as if he were trying out for A Chorus Line or Chicago. And the snafu with the text of the oath of office was just unfortunate, not least because many people here (in our red state) thought Obama had messed everything up, when clearly, it was Justice Roberts' mistake that Obama tried gamely to follow. (I also thought the do-over swearing in wasn't necessary but was a nice gesture nonetheless.) I didn't particularly love the color of Michelle's dress, but thought the cut was just right, and I really liked the youngest daughter's hot pink and fluorescent orange.

Aquarius, Aquarius

Saturday was the big day: we finally took (not for much longer) Baby J to get his hair cut.

The trip was much needed, as you can tell from the last few pictures. You see, the husband was told by some superstitious women at work that it was bad luck to cut your child's hair before he or she turned one year old and, for some reason, illogic trumped practicality, and he insisted that we wait until then. So we did and watched J's hair, particularly his "bangs" get longer and longer and attract more and more food and stick out further and further when he woke up each morning. Until at last the day arrived and, after some protest on my part, off we went. (I was concerned that my squirrelly one year old wouldn't do well at a thoroughly adult barber shop.)

Fortunately, J was cooperative, Bubbha the Barber was quick and understanding, and the whole event was painless. It did take three of us, the husband to hold Baby J, me to distract him with the water in the counter sink, and the barber to swoop in and cut when J's fascination with the water overcame his wriggling or his distraction with the doorbell. But the ordeal wasn't really much of an ordeal, and we got the requisite lock of hair, and we even left with a certificate commemorating the first haircut. As the barber pointed out, now J won't have bad associations with getting his hair cut and will be eager to come back.

And he looks so cute, if so very, very grown up. See for yourself with these before and after shots. (And yes, our barber is wearing a KISS shirt and has multiple tattoos. Your point?)

I gotta think twice

We appear to be having some technical difficulties with the pictures in the web gallery. When you click on an album, it looks like all the pictures are blanks. HOwever, if you click on the individual seemingly blank boxes, individual pictures do indeed appear. You can't get an overview of the shots this way, but you can still see individual shots one at a time. We (and by we I mean the husband) are working to fix this situation, so stay tuned while we overcome our tech issues. In the meantime....

Right round, baby, right round

I know I blogged about this before, but these pics deserve more time in the sun. How fun does this look? (Though I will, of course, have to draw the line at cutting bread into shapes!)

Meet at his location

One of my recent frustrations has come while I've been surfing the web via the women's blogging network. Time and time again, links direct me to people who have furnished a "nursery on a budget" and I go visit, because I'm always curious about a good bargain, and baby bargains are my current obsession. And time and time again, I'm disappointed by these people's idea of "budget." (They keep using that word but I don't think they know what it means!) When I think budget, I'm not thinking about furnishing a room for $1000 or more. Are you? In fact, I've got first hand experience with furnishing a nursery on a REAL budget. And no, it doesn't have a designer look, but I think that is more a function of my lack of decorating abilities than the cost of my raw materials.

We start with the rocker. This was, in fact, our big splurge (which we felt we could do because the husband's parents offered to help us out). We went with a Dutallier, the Lexxus of rockers, but we got ours on closeout from Burlington Coat Factory (of course!) for $220. However, before we went with a new rocker, we were given a used model by our good friends (thanks BF!). Several cushions covered in bright red pillow cases and some WD40 later, it was good as new and would have stayed in our nursery for good had not the generosity of the in-laws appeared. As it is, we still use it for rocking in our bedroom.

Next the crib. Ours is, once again, a high end model, very Pottery Barn-esque with solid wood sides and molding, but we got ours for $100 including the mattress on Craigslist from a children's boutique that was remodeling. No one had ever slept in this crib as it had just been part of a display. Some touch-up paint to cover the wear from customers was all that was required and now it's perfect. But, once again, we could have gone much cheaper. In fact, my sister bought some crib bedding from a woman on Craigslist who later called her back and asked if she wanted the crib for free since the woman wanted the crib to go to a good home and my sister and brother-in-law seemed like such nice people. My sister-in-law got her high end model for free as well from a woman at church who was moving on from children. My parents also got the grandkid crib they have at their house for free as well. Now free is REALLY budgeting.

Our dresser is a plain white, four drawer $70 Ikea dresser, not expressly meant for children or babies, but my mother glued pre-painted jungle animals (which I bought for $0.40 each at the craft store years ago for a Sunday school lesson) on the front to give it a custom look and complement our theme. Oh yes, our nursery has a theme, courtesy of our Ikea curtains ($19.99 for two panels), which have jungle animals on the borders. The curtains also gave us our color scheme: bright primary colors with white furniture.

The nursery also contains a three shelf bookshelf (free from an old roommate), a 4 tier wooden shelving unit originally intended for a bathroom ($49 from Ikea), a children's play table and chairs, and, my favorite part, a rug in abstract shapes and primary colors that's looks a little like stained glass (also from Ikea).

And done!