The Baby Gear Debate

So, we are appraoching the high chair stage of life, and I need input. What's really important?

- sitting up straight vs. reclined in a super soft chair for younger babies?
- sitting up at the table with his parents so he learns to eat like an adult, and gets to interact with us or having a tray in the middle and not being able to grab things at the table and meal time is more relaxing for us?
- a tray with a lip for spills or just using the table top and getting rid of one more thing to clean?
-big, ugly and plastic but possibly really practical and a potential play place for your kid?
-Hone that converst into a chair so they can sit at the table as toddlers and not have to be too short?

My issues are I have a tiny house, and the dining/living rom are all one, so I want to care about style, but I could possibly get over that. Folding doesn't help because I don't even have a place to store a folded chair. I'm not sure I'm really into the whole booster seat idea b/c I don't have enough dining chairs as it is, don't really want to assign one to create the high chair. And I have NO storage, so something that is practicle until the next kid is attractive. Do they use it longer if they can eventually sit up to the table? Are the cool wood ones worth all that money??

Here are my options:
Chicco or similar standard plastic with comft seat, adjustable heights, reclining positions, and dishwasher-safe tray for the dishwasher I don't have.
Fisher-Price model that is supposedly similar to above, but without legs so it sits on a chair.
FisherPrice booster seat that doesn't recline or do other common ghigh chair functions, but folds up so small you may just take it to the restaurant with you?!?! I added this one because Nor praised it, and I always value the opinions of a person I really know over the anonymous epinions people.

Tripp Trapp. My favorite style-wise, comes in lots of colors with lots of cushion options, serves as a chair with lots of adjustable heights for toddlers, infant rail to hold babies in, and they just sit up to the table, no tray.
Svan. A hybrid. The features of the Tripp Trapp but with a tray with a plastic cover. I just like the look of the other a bit more.
Gabe in his little rocking chair that my mom gave him, where he can likely sit and eat reclining until he wants to feed himself.

Please share your wisdom and tell me what to buy. Feel free to comment Ashley and Heather, as you will be hauling it with you! BESOS!

the end justifies the means???

This is gross a skull that I first saw lurking on a high shelf in Mario's bedroom at his parents house. After giving it a glance of disgust, I quickly added it to my mental list of items that would NOT make it into any joint living quarters.

When we moved into our house we went over to Mario's parents' to clean out his old room. When I saw him packing this I blurted in a high-pitched almost-shout "what are you doing?? Can't you leave that here?" He replied that he needed it to study.

Over the last year, this skull has continued to reappear. It goes something like this. Mario takes out skull to study. I see skull, I hide skull in some dark corner. Mario finds skull, ponders skull in what passes for studying, and then places skull prominently on bookshelves. I discover skull, hide skull in new place.

During these many months of skull hide-and-seek with involved much CONTACT with the skull, I go merrily about my way believing the skull is a fake, reproduced to study. Not too long ago, weary of the skull game, I threaten to get rid of it "once-and-for-all!!" Mario says I better not because he paid a significant amount of money for said skull. Not believing him, I asked him where the skull actually came from. This is the story.

The skull was his brother Paco's, who used it to study when in dental school. Paco went all about town to medical teaching supply stores looking for a skull, and couldn't find one. He mentioned this in a class, and some girl in his class offered to help him out. She went home to her small town CEMETERY and acquired this skull for Paco. Paco sawed the top off, and when he was done using it, passed it down to Mario. "where else would you get a skull" Mario asks me...

THIS WAS A REAL PERSON!

I am disgusted. This has been floating about my house for over a year now! I don't know exactly how it works, but not too long ago we took Mario's mom to the cemetery to visit her mother's grave. She pointed out to me her future grave site. I was confused, because it is occupied. She said she doesn't know exactly how it works either, but you pay for your grave site for a certain amount of time, then someone else buys it, and when the new owner bites the dust, you get dug up and they get placed in your spot. And apparently medical students needing skulls can just pop on by and pick one up!!


This is Mario receiving his latest in a growing list of diplomas. This was a three-year post-graduate course in Osteopathy. It was very difficult, intense, long, and out of the 60+ students that started the course, he was one of about 20 that finished. We are very proud of him, and hope he feels accomplished enough to take a break from studying for a while, and if we're really lucky, retire the skull. This is his professor - an French man who taught the class in Spanish, and who at the end made a small adjustment to Gabe's spine which has massively reduced the amount he vomits. Apparently it's common in babies that their stomach doesn't develop entirely and since all the nerves go to the spine, with small adjustments to vertebrae number 4 you can eliminate the acid reflex which was causing Gabe to vomit cup fulls all over me and the house. For that alone, the three years of study and dirty skull were worth it. And hey, now I'm ready for Halloween.

Sweet Dreams

This is a story about deliciousness. It begins with Emy.
This is Emy with her husband Drew. Emy is one of my favorite people ever, and perhaps the best roommate I ever had. That may have been due to the fact that we lived next door to each other and so shared crazy maintenance men, cooking supplies, love of shopping for bedding, but did not share space or mess. But I digress.

On the right is Emy's sister Megan.
Megan came to live with "us" while she did an internship in congress. I like Megan almost as much as my own baby sister. Megan now has her own husband, an adorable baby, and a business creating these:
The most beautiful and delicious treats ever. I have always knows that whatever a Faulkner woman concocted would taste amazing. I am again taken back and how ADORABLE it all it. You should visit Megan's Web site: thesweettoothfairy to be reminded that good things can come in great packaging. And if you live in Utah, you should take advantage of this bit of wonderfulness that is available to you.

I have been dreaming of these treats for the last 3 days. I am very sad I am too far away to partake, and trying to figure out how to recreate this in my distant life.

A Note to Kallie

an extra picture to demonstrate that I do actually smile, just not when my mom wants me to.

Public Retraction

Quoted by one Adrianne anytime previous to 2005: "I choose not to shop at WalMart because I am opposed to their corporate policies and don't want to support them. Besides, creepy people crawl out of the woodwork and appear at WalMart."

Quoted by the same Adrianne last Saturday: " I don't know if we have time, but if there is nothing else planned I'd LOVE to go to WalMart."

I was visiting Mario's family in Santa Fe, and they have a WalMart. I have developed a strange obsession with going to this WalMart whenever I can. I walk around very slowly, absorbing the American-like atmosphere. It's a lot like home. The workers where terrible blue smocks. That dumb smiley face is on everything. They have less creepy people because it's considered more expensive here. I like to buy foreign things like peanut butter and Mexican Salsa.
The peanut butter says "Mediterranean food" on the label, but at least it doesn't have any sugar. I am the last one in the store and they have to kick me out to close at 11pm.

A wedding dress.

Not THE wedding dress, but a dress for a wedding. That's what I'm referring to.

Mario and I went to the wedding of some friends last Friday night, and in typical fashion, I decided I wanted a new dress about 1 week before. Knowing I would never find anything to buy that 1. I liked 2. was modest enough and 3. was in my price range, I called my friend Stephanie for moral and logistical help in making it.

Like everything else, sewing is also a whole new ballgame here in the Republic of Argentina. First, there are no pattern books with hundreds of patterns that come in nice little envelopes in a variety of sizes so you just measure and cut.

I was referred to a magazine store downtown, where they had Burda pattern magazines. Burda patterns are terrible, but that being my only option, I found one that approximated a shirt that I liked, and figured I could wing it from there. Here is Stephanie showing the crazy SINGLE page that is to represent ALL pattern pieces from the ENTIRE magazine! We had to buy fine tissue paper to lay over it and cut out our pieces.

Next, we got out the necessary items - the sewing machine and DICTIONARY, because this is not vocabulary covered in my basic Spanish classes. You will also note that all of the instructions for the pattern were printed on one-half of one page. That is why Burda patterns are lame - they lack about 75% of the needed information!


The sewing process was quite an adventure, with lots of poor craftsmanship and made up quick-fixes, but the dress did get completed on time for the party, and I think I had the fanciest dress there.

Mario and I in the lobby. Sometimes I forget how tall my Mario is. I'm wearing like 4" heels, that makes me 6' and he STILL towers over me!
With the bride and groom.

Stephanie gets extra good-friend points for staying the night at my house to babysit Gabe while Mario and I went to Buenos Aires for the wedding. Thanks Steph!

RETRO

"As is often the case in retro fashion, historical accuracy is somewhat beside the point"
(New York Times).

Last Friday we had a "Retro Dance" as a ward activity, and it was a smashing success for three reasons:
1. It had DECORATIONS!!! I've never been to a church activity here with decorations, and these were really fun.
2. The food was GOOD. Okay, so you had to buy it but I'd rather pay $2 for something I want to eat that get gross stuff free.
3. Almost everyone dressed up. I'd say about 40% of the attendees were in definite costume, 20% not in costume, and the other 40% I was afraid to compliment their spirit because it could have been current every day wear??? But still, points for interesting fashion.

We covered 3 decades within our family unit. I tie-dyed one of Gabe's onsies so he could be 60's-hippie. I flared out my jeans and feathered my hair for the 70's, and Mario was an 80's wonder. I was having a grand-time with my curling iron trying to recreate a good Heather Locklear 'do, but I live in a swamp, so by the time I finished curling both sides of my hair the first side was already flat. I was SOOOOOOOO annoyed. Mario had to remind me to focus on something more important in life, like anything. My frosty lipstick lasted a bit longer.

Gabe hanging out in his crib in my fantastic creation.

Gabe and I ready to go. Hair already flat.Us at the church - notice the great streamers hanging down, and where Gabe has already puked on my arm. My kid has a serious puking problem, any advice out there???With our friends Cecilia and Adan. Cecilia looked fantastic and Adan came straight from the airport from a business trip so Mario lent him the glasses.Cecilia and I bogeying, hair beyond flat.Total props to Mario's mom for her TOTAL Gunny Sax 1980's dress. And this is a guy in our ward that I love because he is super funny, but I have been freaking out for like two weeks, ever since I found out he's only 25!!! He has a daughter who's 7 and his wife is like 35...seriously, blew my mind.

A Tribute

This is a tribute to my very lovely sister Ashley on the occasion of her birthday. I was reflecting back on some of the pearls of wisdom she has shared with me over the years, and I thought I'd share my favorites here:

• "I almost hit that mailbox because I'm night blind, but you are less experienced, so drive worse than me, so I have to drive."
• "You can DIE from a toe wound!"
• "Adrianne, don't have sex with that man for fabric!!!"

Clearly, I never would have made it so far in life without her. Happy Birthday Ashley - I love you!!!

Gabe is very excited you are coming so soon. As is Mario, who had to get in on the picture taking.

And to all you readers of Ashley's blog, she is NOT bringing me a chocolate fountain. Therefore, I think she should fill her baggage allotment with other items. Please comment on what you think she should have to bring her poor sister who lives without all the finer things in life, such as Nordstrom, Trader Joe's, any kind of ethnic/spicy food, TJ Maxx Home Store, and I could go on. So please, if you were living in a 3rd World Country, what would you miss most??

A Dr.'s Office and a Camera...

What else does one do while waiting to see the doctor, other than take pictures of your child! So here's is Gabe's 3-month check-up photo shoot. Mario particularly likes to make him scowl. He is now weighing in at 13 lbs. 10 ounces and is 24 inches long. He is in the 50th percentile on the growth chart for everything except head-size, where he's a little big... He is still a faily calm baby who if fed sufficiently, does not cry, has been a champion night sleeper for a month now (8-10 straight hours) and is getting better with naps. He is just starting to babble and it's really the most amazing feeling when he looks at me like he really knows me, and then will make noises like he wants to tell me something. You can't see it so much in these pictures, but his eyes are still very blue.