When I was a child, one of my favorite complaints was "It's not fair!" This was usually uttered in a whiny voice in response to being told anything contrary to what I wanted to hear. Apparently, this amused my father to no end. He would put on his happy face and give me his stock answer: "Life's not fair". I think it was the smiling and calmness of his tone that infuriated my little kid self to no end. I was agitated and he should be,too!
Of course, he was right, life isn't fair. And as much as I detested hearing those words of wisdom from my father, I now find myself repeating them to Ellie. Every day. Multiple times. I try not to appear amused when I say them, but I sometimes can't help it. I am smiling not because it makes me happy to disappoint her, but because it makes me feel closer to my father, who passed away several years ago.
The 17 pound baby born in Russian was shocking, but Kimberly Mueller doesn't know what the big deal was with that. She made headlines for less-much, much less!
The German infant was born during her mother's 25th week of pregnancy and weighed only 10.5 ounces.
Doctors gave the bitsy baby less than a thousand-to-one odds of survival, but after six months and bulking up to a respectable five and a half pounds, the tiny tyke has finally been allowed to go home with her parents.
Kimberly is the smallest baby to ever have been born in Germany and the youngest to survive. The smallest surviving baby in the world was Rumaisa Rahman, who weighed 8.6 ounces, born in Chicago in 2004.
I'm sure Kimberly's parent would agree that good things DO come in small packages!
As you can see, my last name is odd and long. People who I've not met in person tend to think I'm Greek, then change their minds when they see me as "giant" and "blond" doesn't fit in with the whole Greek thing. My last name (which keeps phone solicitors far, far away from my phone, thank you Dad) is actually Lithuanian. I've met exactly one other Lithuanian in my entire life, but I've always been fascinated with the culture of that country and of the area near it. I plan to take Nolan there one day, but until then, I think I will absorb some of the oddly compelling culture of the neighboring countries.
I just stumbled upon this website full of Russian Folk Tales - strange little stories about buns taking off down the road and boys appearing out of sticks. They're certainly not Jack and Jill, but they're endlessly fascinating. The site calls them glorious and magnificent, and though I'm not entirely convinced of that, I do think they're a break from the everyday.Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
I have a serious baby hat obsession. Lately, it seems I can't walk into a boutique without immediately cooing over a handmade hat from Peru or some crocheted ear-flap hat made by a convent in Sweden. Luckily, I (almost) always back away slowly without making any irrational purchases. I mean, C'MON, I live in Southern California. It's not like we're roasting chestnuts and building snowmen around these parts.
But they're so cuuuuute!
Etsy has really compounded the problem lately with their unbelievably vast selection of baby hats. Don't believe me? Last I checked, there were 3,443 results for "baby hat" on their website. Seriously, the obsession is engulfing me. It's like dangling bananas in front of a monkey.
Send help.
I have a plan, though. I will provide YOU the linkstosomeofthesedarlinghats, so YOU can purchase them as gifts for your baby, your friends' babies or you know, send them to Sarah Dorr c/o ParentDish. Hey, I'm just sayin'.
Imagine being on the pill and then finding out you're pregnant. That would be quite a shock, I'm sure. Now imagine it happens twice. I suppose one might start to get a bit upset with the pharmaceutical company. But what if it happened twice, in three weeks? That's what happened to Amelia Spence who got pregnant not once but twice in the course of three weeks, all while on the pill.
It turns out that in rare cases, a woman's body may continue releasing eggs for fertilization after she has already become pregnant. This is called superfetation and occurs in some animals, but is very rare in humans. It has got to be even more rare when the mother is taking contraceptive pills at the time she gets pregnant.
Ame and Lia, now five months old, were born just minutes apart, but were conceived three weeks apart. Doctors spotted the difference in development early on. "We looked at the screen and the doctor pointed out that one foetus still looked like a blob, whereas the other had four visible limbs. It was such a marked difference," said Miss Spence. "One foetus was 12 weeks old, whilst they said the other was three weeks behind, at nine weeks old. I had become pregnant twice on two separate occasions."Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
After a typically hectic morning trying to get Ellie dressed and out the door, I logged on to find this video in my in-box. Comedian Anita Renfroe has captured a day in the life of a typical mom, condensed it to 2 minutes and 55 seconds and set it to the William Tell Overture. It's laugh-out-loud funny and so, so accurate. Enjoy!
Someone has been stealing the toilet paper from the men's room of a Wisconsin town's county government center since June.
The thief makes off with about six rolls of toilet paper a week. The crime happens middle of the day, no doubt causing a lot of yelped "Oh, MAN!''s from the unfortunate who unwittingly visit the crime scene afterward.
So far the thief has gone undetected, but any Nick Jr. fan knows that stupid stuff being swiped items plus "Oh Man!" means this is who you should be looking for:
Dementia and mercy killing aren't conversations that come up at the dinner table every night, at least not at my house. Maybe that's because we usually eat apha getti on bar stools and my dinner companion is two.
Anyway, they are real and impacting topics -- ones that we may all have to deal with one day. I certainly think about it a lot, more since my grandmother died a few years ago, without knowing the names of her children.
Sharon Ozbourne has an extremely matter-of-fact attitude about mental illness and death. "If Ozzy or I ever got Alzheimer's, that's it - we'd be off (to an assisted suicide flat). We gathered the kids around the kitchen table, told them our wishes and they've all agreed to go with it. "
Apparently, Sharon's father had Alzheimer's and she doesn't want to go through it herself, nor put her kids through it. And I understand that. But that must be rough on their kids, even though they're adults -- to hear about their parents dying wishes. I know I hate hearing my parents talk about their own deaths, and I'm 32. What do you think, are death and final wishes something to be discussed with the whole family?
One of my good friends likes to reminisce about seeing Bruce Springsteen performing in dive bars in New Jersey before he became famous. Even then, she says, he was an amazing live performer and it was clear that he would be a star. He is a big time famous rock star now, but the Boss is also dad to three kids: Evan, 17, Jessica, 15, and Sam, 13.
When asked by the Today show's Matt Lauer if he finds it difficult to morph from regular dad guy back to the "rock star side", Springsteen jokes, "Noooo. When you get up in front of all these people, you have to do something."
Meredith Vieira interviewed Springsteen's rock star wife, Patti Scialfa, earlier this month and says of Springsteen, "He's very genuine, very genuine." He also seems like an involved, hands-on father who spends a lot of time with his children. He eats breakfast with his family each weekday and has been seen out and about with his kids, recently accompanying Evan to a concert and watching accomplished equestrian Jessica compete.
With those two for parents, it is no surprise to find out the kids are also musically inclined, playing guitar and writing music themselves. I wonder if they will be hanging out with dad in December, when he and his E Street Band kick off their first full-scale tour since 2003?Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
When snow forces road closures and confines people to their homes, there's not a lot to do to keep occupied. A large portion of Denver appears to have found a way to keep busy, though!
Nine months after two giant blizzards closed the city, hospital staffers are working overtime and using overflow units to keep up with the bevy of births the capital city has been experiencing.
One doctor doesn't expect the storm of blizzard babies to melt away anytime soon, either.
"The snow stayed on the ground throughout December, January, and into February. My theory is that the cabin fever didn't set in until a little bit later," Dr. Steve Grover said.
While officials say it will be months before any connection between the blizzards and babies can be determined, that hasn't stopped one hospital from giving "Proud to be a 2007 Blizzard Baby" t-shirts as parting gifts for to the new families.
My husband and I have a standing date every New Year's Eve because Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year failed to keep our attention one year.
When I was a child, one of my favorite complaints was "It's not fair!" This was usually uttered in a whiny voice in response to being told anything contrary to what I wanted to hear. Apparently, this amused my father to no end. He would put on his happy face and give me his stock answer: "Life's not fair". I think it was the smiling and calmness of his tone that infuriated my little kid self to no end. I was agitated and he should be,too!
The 
As you can see, my last name is odd and long. People who I've not met in person tend to think I'm Greek, then change their minds when they see me as "giant" and "blond" doesn't fit in with the whole Greek thing. My last name (which keeps phone solicitors far, far away from my phone, thank you Dad) is actually Lithuanian. I've met exactly one other Lithuanian in my entire life, but I've always been fascinated with the culture of that country and of the area near it. I plan to take Nolan there one day, but until then, I think I will absorb some of the oddly compelling culture of the neighboring countries.
I have a serious baby hat obsession. Lately, it seems I can't walk into a boutique without immediately cooing over a handmade hat from Peru or some crocheted ear-flap hat made by a convent in Sweden. Luckily, I (almost) always back away slowly without making any irrational purchases. I mean, C'MON, I live in Southern California. It's not like we're roasting chestnuts and building snowmen around these parts.
Imagine being on the pill and then finding out you're pregnant. That would be quite a shock, I'm sure. Now imagine it happens twice. I suppose one might start to get a bit upset with the pharmaceutical company. But what if it happened twice, in three weeks? That's what happened to Amelia Spence who got pregnant 
Dementia and mercy killing aren't conversations that come up at the dinner table every night, at least not at my house. Maybe that's because we usually eat apha getti on bar stools and my dinner companion is two. 
One of my good friends likes to reminisce about seeing Bruce Springsteen performing in dive bars in New Jersey before he became famous. Even then, she says, he was an amazing live performer and it was clear that he would be a star. He is a big time famous rock star now, but the Boss is also dad to three kids: Evan, 17, Jessica, 15, and Sam, 13. 
When snow forces road closures and confines people to their homes, there's not a lot to do to keep occupied. A large portion of Denver appears to have found a way to keep busy, though!