1% Baby

They look so tasty!

Tammy made these for me for the baby shower this weekend.. I haven’t seen them yet (or eaten them!) because they are trapped at the Long Beach post office until we can figure out how to retrieve them.

Aren’t they cute though?

Tammy's Baby Shower Cookies

Looks Just Like the Quinny Buzz Stroller!

Yesterday was our baby shower. It was held down in Long Beach at Rick’s folks place on the beach. Beforehand a few of us went for brunch at Claire’s at the Museum - overlooking the water at the Long Beach Art Museum. Part of the festivities involved everyone decorating their own onesies for the baby to wear. Here’s some pictures of the fun and madness.

Jennie looking sour at brunch

Jamie looking sunny in the sunshine at brunch

Gerald at brunch - all smiles!

Rick & Laura at brunch

Dave, Allie & Tiffany with Moxie puppy

Gerald & Jennie at the shower

Tiffany & Dave showing off their custom designed onesies

Gerald & Jennie showering in the sun

Rick & family: Dina, Andrew, Kaden, Beth, Rick & Adballa

Beth, Rick & Abdalla

My husband and my boyfriend

Tonight we watched Penn & Teller’s Bullsh*t show on “Being Green.” Here’s how they describe it:

In episode 606, Penn and Teller consider the popularity of the “green” movement, a largely bogus and hypocritical philosophy that links sanctimonious politics to an “ethical” lifestyle while doing little or nothing to actually create a healthier ecosystem.

Part of the show is debunking the whole notion of buying carbon credits. Rick had never heard of such a thing and started laughing at how ridiculously “bullsh*t” the concept sounded. Then I had to tell him that I’ve bought carbon credits from Expedia/Terrapass for my flights for a while. He laughed even harder, claiming I’d clearly fallen for the eco-bullsh*t.

Ah, the fun of soon-to-be mommy and daddy having different views on things. Lennon, my son, my darling, you are going to have so much fun with us and our different perspectives. Daddy guys to the deli and buys the super stacked meat sandwich. Mommy’s been vegetarian since before she turned 18. Daddy thinks buying carbon credits is “bullsh*t” while Mommy has actively engaged in the idea for a few years now.

We decided that the solution is to come together on the carbon credit cause and find a compromise. First we went to TerraPass and calculated our annual carbon footprint. It turns out that driving our 2 BMWs, taking a small handful of flights per year and our usual energy consumption at home comes to approximately 53,000 lbs of CO2. On Terrapass, we can buy carbon credits to cover that amount for $315.35. So Rick challenges me to go do some carbon credit price comparisons. In other words, how cheaply can we buy off our carbon footprint? So I found this site listing a Carbon Emissions Offset Directory. On this site you can price-shop your carbon credit purchase and get a ton of carbon credit for as low as $5.00 per ton (compared to TerraPass’s $13.12 per ton price). But then, here’s the better part. Not only does the directory tell you how and where the credits go, but it also tells you which organizations are non-profit. TerraPass is not.. but CarbonFund.org is.. And their carbon credits are priced competitively at $9-$10 per ton. The advantage here is that you can both offset your carbon footprint and make a donation to a non-profit - which translates to a tax credit! Brilliant. Saving money while saving the planet.

So that’s what we’re looking at now. Thought we’d share.

I guess this means we really are having a baby.. We just went and picked out and ordered our nursery furniture.

Here’s what we’re getting:

Conveniently it’s made by Baby Italia. It’s not the black color we were originally planning on, but after looking at the black nursery set, they all seemed a little cheap. So this is what we’re getting. It is supposed to come in about three weeks. Rick is all excited to put the crib together too. He thinks it’s a rite of passage for soon-to-be Dads. How cute.

Of course, much thanks goes to Rick’s folks who bought us this set as our baby gift. What a lifesaver! Now we can focus on buying ridiculous baby Halloween costumes.

I like this one:

Today is our one month anniversary of being married! I know we haven’t updated much on the site since then - but things have been a combination of exhausting and busy. This past weekend was 4th of July weekend and we took the time to catchup on sleep and get our finances together. Now that we’re married we have a joint checking account. That means lots of discussions and decisions about how to spend “our” money. I think we’re doing pretty well so far.. but I’m reading some books to try to get more couples-money-management advice.

We’ve paused our house hunting for now. I am too nervous that we’ll get all worked up over a house and then the baby will come the same day we close escrow - and that would just be too much. I’ve never owned a house - or had a baby. I think we should try not to achieve both on the same day. Plus we would really like to have a solid offer on the condo first. Knowing that we won’t have to carry two mortgages for any length of time would be good. We’re in the market for a good realtor to help us sell the condo too - so if you know of anyone, pass them along.

In other news, Rick has formally announced that he is leaving his job. I should let him blog about that but he is crazy busy with work now that he’s leaving in a few weeks. I think he is excited but also anxious about not working a full time job. He will have the whole month of August to take care of household and baby related stuff before Lennon is due (yes, I think we’ve settled on “Lennon” as the baby’s name) - but I hear that is enough to keep him super busy too. We have to buy and assemble the crib and other baby stuff. He has to get all our finances in order and rearrange the condo to make room for baby. Meanwhile, I have to work and he has to hear me gripe and complain about whatever it is an 8 month pregnant lady gripes and complains about.

We go to the doctor on Wednesday and we are hoping to do another ultrasound to see how the baby is coming along. He is very active and spends lots of time kicking me around. Hopefully we can get another cute profile shot to post online for all you “Lennon” fans. Generally, we know Lennon likes to go to the movies. Whenever we go, he gets excited over the loud noises and spends the whole two hours kicking up a storm. I also think the super-buttery popcorn and the extra pack of pregnancy-indulgence candy I get help get him worked up. We’re taking everyone’s advice though and trying to see as many movies as possible while we’re still mobile and only a couple instead of a threesome. This past weekend we saw “Hancock” - who didn’t? - and Wall-E.

Also this weekend, I turned 33. We had a little bowling party but most of my friends were in Vegas at the WSOP. If I wasn’t pregnant, you know I’d have been there. Sipping margaritas, playing craps, basking in the sun. Instead I bowled a “turkey” and won the first of five games (actually I won 2 of the 5 games). So take that! This pregnant lady ain’t so easy to beat!

About two months til the baby comes! As Rick said last night, he has now officially known me longer pregnant than not pregnant. Such a weird state of being! I’m looking forward to rectifying that once we catchup in December with my non-pregnancy time.. That is, of course, assuming we don’t end up with a 2nd 1% baby!