This Year in Music

I usually do a write-up of my favorite music from the year, which I LOVE to do because it's a good way to assess the artists I really fell in love with. But, as you can tell, I was totally preoccupied this year with my sweet baby boy. So, now, I am relying on others to tell me who to tune in.

If you too want some suggestions for good albums from the year, here are some good resources:

• NPR's Discussion about picks for Album of the Year, Biggest Surprise, and Song of the Year. Listen here.
• AV Club's Best Album Picks for 2010.
• Truth Comes in Blows picks his favorite tunes from the year.
• Stereogum's Top Albums of 2010
  

And, if you have favorites from this year, I am all ears!

I Miss Music...

Now that I rarely have time to scout out new music, I'm happy that some of my old favorites are coming out with new albums. Like this beautiful song from Azure Ray (who will forever remind me of my college days). Also coming out soon, a new Belle and Sebastian, Sufjan Stevens, and rumor has it, Cat Power. Lovely.

Baby Boy Eating

The end.

Happy

Taking pictures of people I love just makes me so happy. These are my two adorable nieces that I got to take pictures of a couple weeks ago. They are so cute and are the sweetest cousins to my baby boy.

Ready for a Change...

So, I had to stop in to tell you about my sister's fabulous Circuit Training Class, which starts NEXT WEEK. I'm going to do this session because although I had all these ideas that I could get back to my pre-baby weight by myself, it just hasn't happened. I'm either too tired or don't push myself hard enough when it comes to my workouts, so I need help... and, that's okay, right? Right. (I'll answer my own question!)

If you too need a little motivation and push to drop those last-hard-to-loose pounds, come do this class with me... you'll love it!

You can get all the details you need for the class right here.

Jenny & Johnny

As an avid fan of Jenny Lewis, I was excited to see that she's done a project with boyfriend/musician Jonathan Rice. Their first single from their album, "Scissor Runner" is totally catchy, sweet and free! (Download here.) Can't wait to hear the rest.

In the meantime, I need new music! If any of you are listening to something you're lovin' please share!

Baby's Blessing

We blessed our sweet boy this past Sunday. It was such a joy to see friends and family come together for our new little family. Jeff gave the baby the sweetest blessing. A cherished day for this mommy.

One of my favorite pictures is the second one above that my sister took of me and Jeff lacing up our baby's shoes just before he was blessed.

Hello...

I thought I'd drop by to say hello to anyone who may still drop by this 'ol blog. I cannot believe it's been two and a half months since my little boy has arrived. We've been stuck in a bubble the last couple of months trying to figure out our new baby. He's the sweetest and has made our lives a gazillion times better. But, I think we're ready to venture outside of our bubble now... with the little boy in tow, of course.

First up? My favorite flower in our garden has bloomed- isn't it beautiful? I think so.

Edwards Dessert Winners

Hi friends,

Those who get a free Edwards dessert include:

+ Jessica Hills
+ Christy
+ Andrea
+ Ellen

I'll mail you each a coupon, if you'd please send me your mailing address to laceycarl (at) yahoo (dot) com.

Thank you!

Now... go get yourself a sweet treat! You deserve it.

Edwards Dessert

Thank you for everyone's sweet comments on our baby boy! We're loving spending time with him.

Long before the baby arrived (which seems forever ago, truly) I was a pregnant lady who had thee biggest sweet tooth. (Okay, I can admit, since I am nursing baby, that sweet tooth hasn't gone anywhere.) The folks over at Edwards Desserts contacted me because they wanted me to try out their desserts...

Jeff has been a fan of their Key Lime Pie for sometime now, so I was aware of the brand, but not about their "A La Mode" variety of desserts. My personal favorite is their Molten Lava Chocolate Cake: yum!

And, lucky for YOU Edwards has provided coupons for you to also try their desserts. If you're interested in sampling Chocolate Chip Cookie, Apple Crumb Cake, Turtle Brownie, Apple Crisp, or a Fudge Brownie dessert, just leave a comment on this post, and I'll send you a coupon for a free Edwards treat!

For more info about Edwards, see here.

Our Baby Boy!

Look who I get to spend all the day (and night) with. We have the sweetest baby boy who we love and adore! Baby was born on Tuesday, March 23rd at 5:48pm. He was 7 lbs and 3 ounces and 18" long and is growing every day.

My labor started with some good contractions around 2:30am and then we finally made it into the hospital around 10:30am, and baby came approximately 7 hours later. The labor actually went by pretty fast for me (even if my epidural stopped working when I was at an 8- ouch). And, within hours we were holding our precious baby... a memory that I will never forget! We are so in love with our baby.

Thanks for letting me share our fun news!

(I'm going to keep his name on the down-low- just because we're paranoid like that. BUT, I'll be starting a private blog, so friends and family, watch out for an invite soon!)

New She & Him

Here's something cheerful to listen to today- the new She & Him "Volume 2" album. Listen to it in its entirety here. Thanks NPR!

Week 39

Self portrait at 39 weeks

I cannot believe I am at my last week of pregnancy... well, I could go over my due date, but we're already at 39 weeks! Wow.

More observations from my pregnancy, since it's pretty much all I can think about:

+ I have an insatiable hunger. Truly- I am constantly eating. (Which is strange because "they" say that you usually tend to slow down at this point because there's not much room left in the belly.)

+ I love cookies, treats, candies.... sweets. But, today- I didn't let myself get too carried away. (Go me!)

+ While reading in bed the other night, baby boy was making the most amazing moves. Jeff and I were staring at my belly laughing in awe.

+ I can no longer bend down. Really- if I drop something, I just shrug and think "ah well."

+ Jeff and I cannot stop talking about baby. We think about him all the time and can only anticipate what our lives will be like... but, we are so excited.

+ Baby's room is just about done. I love to go in his room to organize all of his cute things.

+ The whole nesting phenomenon? It's true! I've been going non-stop for the past week trying to get my home in order (and clean) before baby arrives.

+ After dealing with some crazy issues over the past couple of weeks, that no one should ever have to deal with, Jeff and I already feel an overwhelming sense of protection for our little boy.

+ I've been listening to this album a lot. I know baby already likes it.

+ Co-workers stop by my office door and constantly say "You're still here?!" (It's getting old.)

+ My stomach is ginormous. It's pretty amazing, actually.

+ I am enjoying my sleep while I can. (Even if I'm constantly waking up in the middle of the night.) In fact, it's time for me to turn in.

I cannot believe that we are just days away from meeting our baby boy! Wish us luck!

New Broken Bells

Are you a fan of The Shins? Then, you'll most likely enjoy James Mercer's new project- Broken Bells. You can listen to the new album in its entirety here. Enjoy!

More About Baby

Remember this shot? I wanted to keep up the tradition, so on Valentine's Day, I made Jeff do a photo-shoot with me. It wasn't the ideal situation because we had to use the self-timer, so a lot of shots I wanted to do, just wouldn't work.

However, I LOVE the results of our little photo-shoot. Don't we look so happy with my belly? It makes me laugh, but it's because our little boy is in there, and we love him so much already.

As for me, when this shot was taken I was at 35 weeks, and am now at 36. (Less than one month to go!) Here are some observations of this pregnancy as of late:

+ I crave sweets all.the.time. I'm not joking. It HAS become a joke though.

+ I wake up a lot during the night with the need to shift pillows, and how I'm lying.

+ Baby moves all the time, and I love feeling his different movements. It always makes me smile.

+ Bending over is pretty difficult. I feel like an old woman most of the time.

+ Heartburn? It still hasn't left me alone. But, thank you to a tip in my comment section (Thank you Marta!) Tums Smoothies are thee best remedy.

+ Baby's room is almost complete! I just need to order this mobile, and we're set. (Okay- and, I still need to organize the room, Jeff needs to paint a couple things, but after a trip to Ikea over the weekend, we're good with the furniture.)

+ We're getting so excited to see our little guy. Just the other day Jeff and I were wondering what his laugh would sound like. I cannot wait to find out.

+ My little sister welcomed her baby boy just 11 days ago. I'm sort of obsessed with her little boy because I cannot believe how perfect he is. And, it's so amazing to see her transition into a mother overnight.

+ Can you tell we're excited? We truly are.

Morning Eye Candy

non plus one final from Tracy ANTONOPOULOS on Vimeo.

If your fans of Jason Schwartzman, Kirsten Dunst, or Coconut Records you'll enjoy this short film with LOTS of eye candy.

Valentine's Mix 2010

I'm so excited to give this mix to Jeffrey... Here are just some tracks that will make an appearance on his Valentine's 2010 mix:

+ "Home" by Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros
+ "The Book of Love" by The Magnetic Fields
+ "If I Fell" by The Beatles
+ "Queen of the Surface Streets" by Devotchka
+ "Love of My Life" by The Everly Brothers
+ "Crown of Love" by The Arcade Fire
+ "My Favourite Book" by Stars

Happy Valentine's Day to you!

Feather His Nest Shower

So... the spoiling has officially begun. So far we've had two baby showers for our little boy and both have been amazing. Our friends and families have been so incredibly generous. Baby boy is lucky to have them in his life already.

This first shower was hosted by my incredibly talented sister-in-law Courtney. She threw it for me and my little sister who's baby should be coming any day now! (Please come soon!)

As you can see, she's got such an eye for detail (not to mention how beautiful her home is). The theme was "Feather His Nest." I wanted to show off some of the cute details:

(Moms-to-be with the hostess. Don't mind the silly faces; they just happen.)




(Not sure if you can tell how giddy I am in this picture, but this was how I reacted to every gift.)

Pretty awesome, huh?

One of my favorite parts of this shower was Courtney asked Jeff to write me and baby a letter. It's a letter I have cherished and will always. So sweet.

Thanks Court for throwing such an amazing shower for our baby boys!

***Pictures by Courtney.

New Music... finally!

Sheesh- I feel like I've been in a music stump for way too long. I don't know if I'm more particular about music these days, but not much has tickled my eardrums as of late. However, these two bands have:

The Watson Twins


I was first introduced to this duo when they were the backing vocals for Jenny Lewis' debut solo album. So, to hear them as the main vocals is very refreshing. Listen here. (New album comes out next week.)

Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros



I was introduced to this band on NPR's All Songs Considered Weekly Podcast- which I finally caught up with- and really enjoy them. They're different and catchy and awesome. Listen here. (The track "Home" will be sure to be on my Valentine's Mix.)

What are you listening to?

We Like Robots

We just purchased this print for baby's room... don't you love these robots? They're pretty awesome. (I especially like "Q" bot.) Print purchased here.