Halloween costume preview

I'll have more time later to blog, but for now here's a preview of Nadine's Halloween costume. This fantastically adorable costume is from Old Navy. It was a great price, and is amazingly well made (especially considering the price). AND it's machine washable; we're converts based on that alone.

I added the eyelashes to make her a girl blue monster. I love the eyelashes.

I'm back. Did you miss me?

Man, it has been forever since I blogged. Especially about Nani. Her blog is updated, with TWO posts even.

The first post is about her birthday. She just turned 2. I have a toddler. Crazy.

I actually really enjoy the toddler stage. I like that she can interact with me (even though she talks nearly all the time), use her imagination, understand being silly and playing games, understand things I explain and teach, etc.

I did not enjoy the infant stage. I always loved my baby, but I had a really rough time with motherhood. Truth be told, I still do. There was a perfect storm of things that had an impact on me not enjoying an infant, but my ridiculously long postpartum depression and my inability to have someone dependent on me were definitely the biggest factors.

I've struggled with postpartum depression since she was born, and it wasn't until just a few months ago that I started feeling like I'm getting the better of it (instead of vice versa). I still have rough days, but it's so nice to feel like I'm finally digging myself out of that hole.

Recently I've discovered I internally let my sadness define me, that I know I'm sad and that's the biggest battle so therefore I've won. I am currently working on not just being content with recognizing depression, but actually taking steps to live my life despite it. To actually try to overcome it. It's slow going, but I'm looking forward to actually empowering myself.

I don't know why I just shared this with the Internet. Maybe because I know other people struggle silently with these feelings, and it's nice to know you're not alone and you're not weird.

So, the moral of the story is, there are two new blog posts about Nadine, who I love and adore and cherish and who brings me much joy (when I allow myself to realize it).

Nani blog updated

More bedtime videos. We finally got the Winnie the Pooh song!

Glass

I've been trying to find fun dates for us that aren't just dinner and a movie. Every once in a while Living Social will have deals for activities that are completely different from the norm. We took advantage of one of those deals and went to a glass blowing class in Baltimore.

It was so fun! It only lasted about 50 minutes, but that was definitely enough being in a small-ish studio surrounded by several kilns heated to a ridiculous level (I had sweat dripping from my nose). The guy who owns the studio was a great teacher; he was with us every step, making sure we didn't ruin our projects.

He took a long metal pole and dipped it in this huge vat of molten glass until we had a bulb at the end of our stick. Then we got to dip the molten glass onto tiny spots of colored glass (this is what gives the projects color).

Then you put that into a kiln, and you turn and heat the glass so it all starts melting together. Then you begin shaping it, by rolling it on a metal table and then putting an air bubble into the glass. The poles are hollow, and at the cold end you blow puffs of air that make the glass expand and turn it into a circle (we had to do the air for each other's projects, because the other was too busy turning the pole). Then you can really shape it into your project, using metal instruments and then going back to the kiln to use heat and gravity to get the shape you want (you're continually turning the pole so the glass doesn't get lopsided).

It was such a fun, different date.

I thought we were going to make lame, homemade-looking projects, but we didn't. We got to choose from some really cool projects. I made a small bowl, and Todd made a Christmas ornament. We got to pick our own colors, which was fun because I really like creating color combinations (I'm such a nerd).

Our projects had to cool for 14 hours, and then we got to take them home. I'm so pleased with how they both turned out.

Todd's ornament. The colors weren't as bright as we'd hoped, but I think it's so cool he has a hand-made glass ornament. That sucker is huge, too--it's about the circumference of my palm. I especially like that he got to shape the little loopy closure thingie at the top. The glass is beautiful.

My bowl. I love the turquoise and purple combination, with the random yellow flecks.