Welcome, Conversion Diary readers! It’s so very nice to meet you!
1.
Mr. Beguiles is, at long last, a bona fide blogger!
You’ve read his witty and incisive thoughts on the virtue of modesty in his guest post, My New Wife; you’ve heard a sampling of his music here; now, you can visit his new blog, That Strangest of Wars, to read the tale of his encounter with the demonic, listen to more of his music, peruse his short stories, and more!
2.
Beguiles Child # 3 is having a birthday this weekend! She’s turning 4! We are celebrating! With a Kitty Cat shaped cake! That I am making!
This should be fine.
That’s what I keep telling myself anyway. It helps that until last week she was demanding that I create a “Pegasus and Kitty Cat Flying Through the Sky with Rainbows and Clouds and Love!” cake. We’re all very happy that she’s strictly a one-magical-creature-at-a-time kind of girl this week. Mama especially.
3.
Have any of you heard of Apture’s Embed Builder?
Apparently there are all sorts of cool things that Apture can do but I’m most excited about their Embed Builder. It allows you to select the start and stop times of YouTube Videos before you put them on your site! I use Blogger and have had no problems embedding their codes but Mr. Beguiles and I can’t seem to use them successfully on his WordPress blog. If you use WordPress and can make this work, please let us know!
4.
I made a very special purchase this week. I bought a Birth Ball (also know as a Fitness or Exercise Ball but since I’m all about gestation right now I’m going with “Birth Ball”)!
So, these things are pretty cool. I’ve been rocking out on mine every day while I sit in front of the computer hiding out from the 100+ degree heat outside. Word has it that this little Birth Ball o’ Mine is going to help sweet Baby Beguiles into launch position and make said launch easier on her poor mother–me. I’m dubious.
Still, it can’t hurt to try and, besides, that ain’t all this baby can do! She can keep the rest of the Beguiles brood entertained for hours in the living room! Oh, yes she can! Of course, there was that one incident where one of them almost ran head-first into a plate of glass but they stopped just in time so no worries there. I’m sure it won’t happen again.
This ball of mine has also promised to return my abs to their former rock hard status after birth. The fact that I didn’t have rock hard abs to begin with isn’t something on which I’m choosing to focus. Moving on…
5.
I am very disappointed in the United States Postal Service.
Call me strange but I love the USPS. Always have. I love mailboxes and mail and even the squeaky sounds of those old mail truck brakes. After all, how else would I know when my mail has been delivered if it weren’t for those squeaky brakes?
Sadly, the USPS seems to be on a campaign to hurt me.
First they started installing those lame neighborhood group-mailboxes in the new subdivisions instead of traditional curbside mailboxes and now they seem to be retiring all those cute mail trucks that I so love! I keep seeing these old jalopies (don’t get me wrong I have mad love for jalopies–just not in conjunction with the USPS) with a little detachable light on top of them delivering my mail. The mail guys and gals don’t even wear uniforms anymore!
USPS, where’s your self-respect?
6.
Dreft. Oh, sweet Dreft. You’re so delicious and good.
You make these last few weeks of pregnancy almost bearable. You might just put me into labor one of these days. Or not. That still feels like The Moment That is Destined to Never Arrive. Thanks for trying, though.
7.
I have a little public service announcement for all you manly men out there whose wives have opted to have an out-of-hospital birth.
You may start to notice boxes arriving on your front porch as your sweet baby’s due date approaches. Some of them may be from companies with seemingly innocuous names such as Motherlove or Earth Mama Angel Baby.
Do Not Open These Packages.
There are items that we ladies like to have on hand after childbirth that you’d be better off not knowing anything about. Just trust me on this one.
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I look forward to reading your posts!
Good luck with the cake – that sounds adorable!
Your birth ball adventures are making me laugh
And I love Dreft! Have you tried the stain removal spray? I swear it's better on stains than other products. And I have no babies in the house, yet I keep buying it. It's good stuff! (Plus, I swear it makes me ovulate each time I get a whiff…)
So glad you're hosting this week!
I love sitting on those balls at the computer—too bad the kids destroyed mine. Are you having a home birth??? So exciting! I loved birthing at home!
I love those balls too. and my kids love it even better. I am constantly reminding them it's not a toy. which probably confuses them since it is a BALL!
I've never used a birth ball, but I can imagine it would be helpful, except for my terrible sense of balance.
Thanks for hosting "7 Quick Takes Friday", good luck with the cake. I recently had an adventure in birthday cake decorating with interesting results.
If your birth ball is the same as a stability ball, keep at it, babe. Those things have strengthened my core and helped with my never-rock-hard-abs.
Congratulations on your baby!
I might have to look into getting a "birth" ball! And I'm laughing at #7.
I love my birth ball!
I have one of those community mailboxes. I'm not a big fan. The one good thing about it, is we have to walk farther to get it, when we walk. Most people just stop their cars on the way home and grab the mail.
#7. Lol!
Thanks for hosting this week! I am also disappointed in the USPS this week at least. I had a package returned to the company by them, and the company called and told me that they said it was not deliverable? even though the address was correct and I'd received two other packages in the last 9 days. No packages as exciting as those on your front porch though.
Thanks for hosting in Jennifer's place today! I simply LOVE what you've written in your profile and have enjoyed my visit to your blog immensely! God bless your sweet family (I relate! We have ten and the last six came in seven years' time!) and may you enjoy a safe, healthy, WONDERFULLY JOYOUS pregnancy, labor, and delivery!
I bought a birth ball during my first pregnancy, thinking I would take it to the hospital and rock neatly on it while I was in labor. The thing never left my living room, and years later, it died a sad dead as a children's plaything. I did, however, buy an exercise ball (same thing, different name) after #4, and it did do fairly creditable things for my abs.
My kids loved the birth kit, and several times I had to slap little hands away as I was unpacking mine. "No! Mommy will need those strange mesh underwear! Not for dress-up!"
I bought a birth ball during my first pregnancy, thinking I would take it to the hospital and rock neatly on it while I was in labor. The thing never left my living room, and years later, it died a sad dead as a children's plaything. I did, however, buy an exercise ball (same thing, different name) after #4, and it did do fairly creditable things for my abs.
My kids loved the birth kit, and several times I had to slap little hands away as I was unpacking mine. "No! Mommy will need those strange mesh underwear! Not for dress-up!"
So if I get a birth ball now, can I get rock hard abs? I'm doubtful that there are any muscles left in there. However, Mrs. Darwin is pretty awesome looking, so maybe I need to investigate.
Good luck with the cake baking and decorating. I can bake cakes all day long, but I failed Icing 101.
Love me some Earth Mama Angel Baby!
Don't you love their imaginations and their belief that you can create exactly the cake they were thinking of?
We all need to be able to dream that big!
I posted a link to a recipe for a cocktail that honors the Solemnity that falls on this Sunday. Seriously!
Icing is the reason I stick with Bundt pans, although I did frost a cat cake once with whipped cream sprinkled with toasted coconut.
I laughed about the "boxes arriving on the front porch bit," and I will second your plea to manly men to NOT open them. There are things best left unknown.
I smiled last week when I visited a friend who's two year old was swimming happily in their paddling or birth pool
Home births are the best I have to say. Princess at 2 or 3 took great pleasure in telling people, "I was born there!" whilst pointing at the couch they were sitting on.
Thank you for hosting this weeks Quick Takes. I am enjoying reading your site!
So sad to hear about your disappointment w/USPS. Could it possibly be that you recently moved onto a rural route? They drive their own cars sometimes and don't wear uniforms. I Wanted to cheer you up by saying if it is true that you live on a rural route, they offer some special perks like being able to buy stamps from your carrier…
I wrote four quick takes and then got stalled out. I decided to post them anyway and then the whole thing disappeared into the ether. I'm too tired to rewrite them now.
1. Looking forward to more of Mr Beguiles' entertaining blog.
2. I'm so glad that so far my children have not requested any creative cakes. I guess that's one benefit of their having a curtailed social life, they haven't seen a wide variety of cakes to compare with my boring round ones.
4. I liked the hour or two that I spent with a birth ball during my labor with Sophia– as much as one can "like" labor. I won't blame the ball for the non-progression of labor that ended in a c-section.
OK – I shrieked with laughter at your comment about men not opening "Earth Mother Angel Baby" packages. I ordered a package from them last year. It seemed a little late in coming.
One afternoon, our neighborhood, a young divorced Dad, rang the doorbell. "I got this package by accident – I think it's for you,
" he said. Both of us blushing crimson, he passed me two fat little jars of "Happy Mama Nipple Cream" (for breastfeeding).
My husband and I are still laughing about this…