Monday, April 21, 2008

back to blogging...

*disclaimer* this post will not contain any pictures since i am at my parents' house and cannot connect to the internet via my computer. well, it's giving me mixed signals. mac is showing me my signal is full strength but telling me it can't find the server. i have no idea what this means except that i can't load any photos until later. sorry! they will come soon! in the meantime, there's some cute ones from Lily's party on Bleecker's blog so hopefully that will do for the time being.

Now, here are a few things that have been rattling through my mind during the unintended blog sabbatical of nearly a month:

*baby names:
I think we have a winner: Luke. Or "Baby Luke" as Lily likes to call him. (sidenote: she's actually getting used to the idea of being a big sister! today i asked her what her little brother's name was and she replied, "Baby Luke!" so sweet.) There's really no big story behind selecting the name Luke. We just thought it sounded strong and masculine, and I LOVE the way it goes with "Lily." So now we're discussing middle names. Generally, I like two syllable names beginning with a consonant. Sometimes the "k" links the two names together if the second starts with a vowel. So Luke Allen sounds like "Lukallen" which is not what we're going for. (no offense if your name is Luke Allen - merely personal preference here.) Although Josh is not on board with the following idea (yet), if we have a third child like we're hoping to later, I am really liking the name "Lucy." Lily, Luke, and Lucy. Maybe that's overkill, but I just can't get enough of the L's for now. Let me know if you have any suggestions.

*kid shows:
I have a two year old so I watch my fair share of toddler tv. And I must say that one common theme across several shows has me perplexed. Why on these particular shows do some animals get to talk and some don't? Take for example "Little Bear": a show about a Bear cub and his family. Other characters include Duck, Owl, Cat, Hen, and Emily (a human.) But the weird part is that Emily (who is Little Bear's best friend) has a dog who can't talk but behaves like a normal dog. While she and Little Bear are playing fetch with her dog, I can't get past the fact that HE IS A BEAR. How does this make any sense? On another episode, Duck complains to Little Bear about the plethora of frogs in the pond that kept her up all night with their croaking. That's right. These frogs can't talk. They only "ribbit." And so they don't understand when DUCK is TALKING to them in ENGLISH and telling them to leave. Is there some kind of weird "election" going on here in the animated kingdom that I'm unaware of? Some are enlightened and able to talk while others are just behaving as the animals we know and love. And has anybody seen that show "Franklin" about the turtle? Why is he the only one with a name and everybody else is called "Bear" or "Fox" or "Mr. Mole?" Please offer any insight you may have. In the meantime, I might need to lay off the Noggin network for a while.

*belly buttons:
Mine has officially popped out and is no longer an "inny." I'm not sure I ever had a true inny though. Josh has a much nicer belly button than mine: one that is smooth and goes way in. Mine has always had lots of ridges to it and makes me wonder if something went wrong cutting my umbilical cord. So if you look closely at my preggo belly, you'll see my little button making itself known.

*top chef:
love this show. it's this and American Idol for me right now. And the Office when it's not canceled due to weather warnings. If you like food and/or reality tv, then you will LOVE this show. It's amazing how these chefs can create these masterpieces in such little time and with such crazy guidelines to follow. Week by week, I am in awe of how well they know food and what an art it is to putting all those different elements of flavor and smell together. Let me just say that Bravo does reality TV better than anyone. Loved Project Runway too.

Alright. That's enough random thoughts for one night. Hopefully pictures will be coming soon!

12 comments:

Andrea "The H family" said...

Oh girl! Baby Luke!! (big smile)
The meaning..you remember? Josh repeated this at our wedding: "Bringer of light".
Yes, it's strong. And we still call Luke "Baby Luke". (at 2.5yrs old)
I'm elated for you. And I love Luke and Lily combo. (and Lucy)
Hugs---

B-HO said...

Yay NAT PAT is Back!!!And thanks alot yet another thing to keep up at night...I am currently pondering all of the points you brought out about Children's Programming...I think it could be some sort of conspiracy...

Elizabeth said...

You are so cute!! To answer the Noggin, questions, I LOVE Franklin more than any of the other shows..not sure why, but I do. However, I have NO insight as to why they do the things they do. Not to contradict, but on Little Bear, there is ONE frog that speaks..he is Budist I think, b/c he's always in meditation & 'ohmming'....We moved to playhouse Disney for awhile, and PBS!! I had to take a break. Although we like Backyardigans too.

Love the name Luke. Perryn did the same thing with Teagan, I think it really began to make sense to her that she was going to be a big sister (or at least I was having a baby)when she was able to talk to him and say his name. Lily will be a great big sister.

Fair warning though, when you have more than one child with the same first letter, there seems to be a tendency (in my extended family at least) to get their names mixed up. My grandma is forever confusing Josh and Jake...she threatened me with my life if I named any of my children with a 'J'.

I have a gift I am making and would like to send to you, but I need to get some details from you. Can you email me at elizabeth.cakes@gmail.com so I can ask my questions, please? thanks.
Later.

Anonymous said...

I love the name Lucy too! I think we share love for the same names! Luke is a great one! =)

faith bleecker said...

Yay for a new post!! I didn't know your thoughts on Lucy for a 3rd... I like the "L" theme. :) Maybe I should stick with "E"s.

Them Chandlers said...

Lily, Luke and Lauren...doesn't that just have a beautiful ring to it?? :) I don't get the animal thing either. But, I will say, Little Bear is our favorite around here. You know Top Chef is close to my heart. Have you seen You Are What You Eat on BBC America? Or, How Clean Is Your House? So great. I think I like to watch it just to hear their accents. Love you, girl.

The Ice House said...

Love the name Luke and Lucy! I always said that if I adopted a little girl from Africa I wanted to name her Lucy. Not sure why. Its just a cute name!
but you and Josh can make that decision when the time comes!!
: )

Colored With Memories said...

I about fell off my chair when I read "Luke"! Our firstborn is "Lily" and if our second had been a boy, he was going to be named LUKE! Needless to say...I love your name choices!

Dawntoya and Adam said...

I love the name Lucy!! I am cracking up over here about the animals and how concerned you are. Like dying laughing:) geez

Katie said...

don't worry about all the Ls. my brother, sister and i are all Ks: kyle, kristen and katie. i don't think our parents really planned it that way, but that's just kinda how it happened.

love the name luke, by the way.

Lauren Williams said...

Yes! go with the L's! they are so pretty in cursive -and isn't that what matters!? i have never watched top chef but i have watched MILLIONS of IRON CHEF!! and of course A.I. is intensely watched every week! loved seeing yall the other night!! so fun to pretend we are big time with a fun filled night ;) ha!

Regina said...

I'll add to the Franklin commentary that he doesn't wear shoes but the opening says, "Franklin can count by twos and tie his shoes." Also, I get creeped out at the cat in the Little Bear show. I think it's the way he talks. Anyways... I like the show about how the people make the amazing cakes. It's amazing how artistic they get. Fun post Natalie! I love the way it's like having a conversation with you. We liked Joshua for the same reason, it was a solid name that would be great from little boy to man, plus it was tricky finding something that would flow with Stankowski. Pwhew! How about Luke Davis Patterson...